~Ouroboros~
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1st - 5. The Heavy Price of Freedom
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How long has it been?
How long have I been stuck within this cocoon of darkness?
This endless abyss…
Floating within the eternal darkness that stretches all around me.
Instinctually I know that this is not the real world – there is just something different about this place – a feeling of endlessness and freedom (even the darkness cannot completely muffle that), a feeling of infinite expanse around you in any direction that makes you want to just curl your wings to your sides and dive down (if you had any wings that is). And yet there is an innate knowledge and an instinctual fear of going too deep – if that makes sense.
If I had to relate this to something I might say it is like swimming in the ocean – where you can just continue floating with water all around you – where no matter where you look there is only water – endlessly in all directions. But it is not water that surrounds you…
It is the essence of souls – and you are nothing but a single insignificant being within it – insignificant to all but you and those that you allow to swim close by.
Is it really any wonder that we believe that this realm of the mind, the place where we are all born into and live in – the aptly named sea of souls – is the domain of the twin sky goddesses of the moon and the sun that govern all life and death?
Raising my eyes – or considering that here we are nothing but a cloud of existence; a brightly burning flame – shifting my perception upwards I know what I expect to see…
The nearly blinding expanse – stretching into the far reaches above – the infinite freedom from which we are all born from, so akin to the endless sky in the material world… A sharp contrast to the darkness below – where pressure constantly builds up upon your mind until you can no longer take it and your soul condenses into a small marble to float within the endless darkness of death – a crevice so deep that depth itself no longer matters, only the infinite pressures within – the abyss of souls where none may venture – the furthest depths of consciousness.
But there is no light above me; no sky to offer hope – instead… there is only darkness.
Darkness – just as with everything else around – nothing but an endless black fog surrounding me…
Darkness and pressure smothering me within its embrace – and yet deep down I know that I have not fallen down into the realm of the moon goddess; for within the true abyss all thoughts flee and the flame of your mind goes out. Thus I know that I am still within the boundary between light and darkness – whatever it is that surrounds me does not have that feeling of finality of the abyss.
The fog around me is something akin to a half-hearted attempt to recreate the realm of the moon goddess – but unfortunately even half-hearted attempts can be dangerous.
It eats away at me – coming closer and tearing away at the outer layer of my flames, tendrils of it slowly encroaching into the inner flickers of my mind.
A sense of dread passes through me as I realize that the tendrils have long since surrounded me – penetrating deeper into my mind much like roots digging into earth.
I would attempt to force them out – but they have already reached in too deeply – just as with everyone else, my power comes from the soul and is molded and directed by the mind – with my mind in the condition it is in, the glowing light of power from my soul slips through my grasp and disperses uselessly into the darkness around me…
How long has it been… really?
The nearly imperceptible movements of the dark tendrils – so painstakingly slow, and yet inevitable in their movement that I have long since gotten used to the fiery pain that I know I should be feeling as they literally rend my mind apart; that I must have felt when this all started – when was that… really – when did all this start… why haven't I been able to stop it when I still had the power to?
The pain of corruption is nothing more than background noise to me now… Guess it is true that your mind can get used to anything if it exposed to it long enough…
Oh goddesses please tell me – How long have I been trapped here…
How many times has the goddess of the night relinquished control of the material world outside the sea of souls to the goddess of the sun…
A single moon's worth?
Or a moonfull of Cycles worth?
Who really cares – my people have never been beings of the past or future as those humans – we dragons are beings of the now.
Perhaps it is the influence of being trapped within this shadow– whatever it really is – that I wonder about the past and try to access my memories which surround the center of my soul so as to figure out the exact time since I fell into the darkness…
…Nothing…
I would be horrified if I could only muster the strength to care… Those forsaken tendrils have long since passed and corrupted the outer flames – for I cannot feel the link to my body outside. They have long since passed deeper into my thoughts and emotions for otherwise I would not be so dispassionate about all this… And they have likely already spread their corruption into my memories for I cannot remember anything beyond the endless darkness that surrounds me.
All that is left is the inner core – the center of my mind – my soul.
At the very least I know that no matter what happens the tendrils will never encroach upon my soul – for the soul is incorruptible, and I draw strength from that.
It matters not that my body has been sealed away from me…
It matters not that my emotions have been dulled such that I cannot even feel happiness or vindication at this thought and even my thoughts feel sluggish in my mind…
It does not even matter that the last of my memories flee from me and I can no longer even remember what I have been thinking about before stumbling to this topic…
My soul will survive – and perhaps sometime in the future the tendrils that even now surround it will be removed and my soul will heal what is left of me.
My body may rot away and my memories be mercilessly stripped away as I finally descend into the cold embrace of the goddess of the moon – but my soul will survive and rebuild my mind – re-establish a connection to my body outside.
If not my current body; then perhaps the next one…
If not in this life…
Then the next.
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He could feel the dark veins binding themselves around his core – He would fight against it, but the last remains of his resistance has long been sapped away. Dispassionately he knew that any moment now the last connections between his core and the rest of him will be…
[Disconnected]
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The eternal darkness that was all I knew for what felt like forever was finally coming to an end.
After an eternity of knowing nothing, feeling nothing, and worst of all thinking nothing – just existing – I finally felt in control of my own mind again.
Again? I can't quite remember – but something within me tells me that this is not the first time I was master of myself – there was another time before.
Before the darkness? – Was there ever such a time?
I can't remember – but it does not seem important at the moment for I have glanced at my own mind and recoiled in horror.
Even though I can't remember ever seeing another mind (or my own before this for that matter), I know that it should not look like this. The flame is barely burning with an almost imperceptible red flicker –
It should be a bright majestic sky blue color and almost three times bigger than it is!
Now where did that thought come from?
No matter – the dark fog around my mind is dispersing and my soul will heal my mind – as long as the mind is still awake, any damage to it can be healed, no matter how great… I hope so at least – for I doubt I have or will ever see a mind as bleak as this…
The shattered remains of my mind, barely holding on to my soul which in and of itself is surrounded by the tattered memories that I could not even access as they were as close to falling away as they could be while still being there…
And the cursed dark tentacles surrounding my soul, stretching outwards through my mind – no longer connected to the darkness that had surrounded me, but still there, like a strangling vine – or perhaps poison ivy, unwilling to let go even after their core had been torn away.
I wonder then if they would shrivel up and burn away once the flames of my soul get back to their healthy state and shiver at the possibility that they will not.
But this is not the time for it. If there is a way to remove the blight upon my soul, I will have to find it – and before that I need to grab hold of my body. I search out the connection between my mind and body – slowly at first, but more franticly as the first search yields nothing. There is no way for a mind to survive without the body…
Am I already dead then?
Suddenly – with all the force of a lightning bolt searing its way through the skies, the connection between my mind and my body snaps back and everything that it feels slams into me.
The sudden influx from it draws me out of the sea of souls and completely obliterates the remainder of the vile cloud that has been my prison for what feels like forever, leaving only the deep rooted tendrils surrounding my soul and the tattered existence of my mind as testaments of my long captivity.
I can no longer perceive the eternal freedom of the mind as my consciousness slams into my body and I take my first breaths [again…] with the lungs of my mortal body.
I can feel it again – feel the wind caressing my nose and flowing around the wind sensors on my head – feel my wings and paws – feel my tail effortlessly guiding me through the air with instinctual movements of its two tail fins…
I do not know how it is possible to miss something that I do not remember experiencing, and yet I do – something deep within my soul resonates with the exhilaration of flight.
I attempt to open my eyes so I can see where I am, and notice that they are already open – just extremely blurry.
A few quick blinks takes care of that and I gaze at the world for the first time in my life –
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The beam of light striking me into my eyes for the first time through the cracked shell that defines my world… The feelings of encouragement and happiness within the soft crooning entering into my world through its boundaries – suddenly the world around me, so safe and cozy is suddenly so constricting – I push at its boundaries with renewed vigor… The two dragons looking at me with concern as I stumble out of what has been my entire everything for my still short life… A feeling of terror as I look around the new world that seems infinitely bigger than what I am used to… Sharing a gaze with the closest dragon while a feeling of safety passes through me and making me forget any terror that I may have felt earlier. A single thought passes through my mind – mother…
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The memory comes unbidden from the dark recesses of my shattered mind and I feel a sense of hope when I realize that perhaps my memories have not been completely lost – perhaps I may regain some as my mind heals…
For now though, I focus on checking over my body and taking in the situation into which I have awoken.
The darkness of the night brought with it a sense of peace for me – unlike the other dragon kinds which are blessed by the goddess of the sun and live under her shining gaze, OiraRae like myself are considered the hatchlings of the goddess of the moon, making the night with the moon's gentle shine upon us our home. We can live in the light of day, but we can only truly thrive under the moonlit skies. We are the only nocturnal dragons, and we are proud that the goddess of the moon chose us for that honor.
From my eyes and the twin sets of wind sensors along the back of my head I realize that I am flying through the air at roughly my normal speed – nowhere close to how fast I can really go. Not exactly the best place to wake up, but I can tell that I have at least a few seconds before my flight path becomes dangerous. Certainly it is fortunate that the perception of time slows down for us when we fly – quite handy for those truly tricky flights.
Still – I should land before doing anything else – never a good idea to fly in the condition my mind is in – after all even now I am barely hanging on to my consciousness and preventing myself from falling into a deep sleep to heal my mind's wounds.
I open up my wings and a piercing pain passes through me from them. They will not open!
Franticly twisting my head around my blood freezes and an unbidden moan passes through my throat as I realise that some strange things have been coiled abound my body which have effectively tied my wings and paws tightly to my chest.
How fitting then – mind and body, both tied up by vines… No~!
Goddesses no – this can't be happening! How could I have possibly been tied up when I am mid-flight!?
And then the all-consuming terror as I realize the situation I am in.
I don't know how many Cycles I have lived out already – My muscled body has long since reached its adult size and I must have left my parents behind many Cycles ago – but that does not matter as I call out in desperation while at the same time releasing all my terror in a shrill scream, even as I helplessly watch the treetops approaching me from below.
::Mom! Help! … Please!::
There is no response – and only moments later my entire body burns in pain and I hope for it to just end – What have I done to deserve this… – The feeling of exhilaration at finding myself in control of my body has long since fled. Even the terror that was oh so prevalent when I realized my situation no longer has any place in my mind – all of my existence has been consumed by pain.
I try to flee from my broken body into the sea of souls to escape this pain – but I can't even bring up enough concentration to do that and am instead forced to experience everything that my body suffers without any buffers in between.
The pain! – Oh goddess of the night, let this end – the empress of the moon take me into your calm embrace… Please let this end!
Perhaps she did, for only moments later I passed out and the blissful darkness swallowed me whole.
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The sounds of birds and the gentle flutter of leaves is the first thing my muddled mind experiences as I wake up.
Next the aches and pains of my body hit me and I involuntarily growl. What have I been doing to end up in this situation?
My mind is still barely halfway conscious and no memories spring up to explain where I am. Nothing to it then – opening my eyes I take in my surroundings.
My ears have not deceived me for I find myself surrounded by trees in a small clearing within a forest. The rays of an early morning sun shine through the trees and into the fog rolling along the ground – it is not dense enough to block my view, and instead provides volume to the rays of light, giving the scene an almost idealistically peaceful quality.
What a sharp contrast to my current state of existence…
Trying to stand up only results in more pain as my entire body groans in protest, my paws being the most vocal. Something about that strikes me as odd – I seem to remember that my wings were hurting the most along with a piercing pain from my tail.
Trying to move around to check on myself I only manage to turn my head and notice the vine like things that have bound my body. No wonder I can't move my paws…
Visually I check on my wings to the extent that I can while still bound, and a feeling of relief passes through me as I find the left one unharmed – if you do not take into account the vines that have coiled around it or the awkward position it was in, or the minor tears in its membrane – easy enough to heal with enough time. Trying to position it better against my chest fails spectacularly as the vines hinder any movement, but there was no sharp pains from it – whatever wounds I have gained during the crash were not enough to threaten my life, meaning that I could focus on them after getting out of these vines and fining a better place to rest.
From what I can tell my right wing is stuck under my body – quite uncomfortable, but except for some dull aches it also seems to be in… I wouldn't say good, but I guess (hope) acceptable condition.
Unfortunately the vines prevent me from moving around and I cannot get a glimpse of my tail. From the dull aches I feel from it I assume that it is in an ok condition as well and focus instead on trying to figure out how I got here…
The last thing I remember is waking up from the darkness, quickly followed by exhilaration. Then there is nothing but terror and pain before I passed out into the blessed darkness again.
Strangely enough that was all that I could remember.
Well, let's start from the basics.
I am a dragon – an eternal wanderer obviously.
My name is…
My eyes widened as I realized that I did not know who I was.
Calm down – just try to remember anything before waking up in the air – there must be something…
I shiver as I remember the cocoon of darkness that bound me for what felt like forever, and the sorry state of my mind when I first looked at it when the dark mist dispersed, leaving behind only the tendrils of darkness upon my mind.
Tendrils?
Oh – right… Those tendrils. Slowing down my breathing I enter the sea of souls and take in the state of my mind. Well I can see some definite improvement – the color is finally blue, not yet the sky blue it should be, darker, but infinitely better than red. Still much too small from what it should be…
The tendrils of darkness are also still there – unchanged from the first time I have seen them. It was a futile hope after all to think that they would disperse or burn away within the flames of my mind - perhaps they are forevermore my stigma to carry – the taint upon my soul.
I shudder at that thought – of the three things that are meant to always belong to me, two have been taken from me for an indeterminate amount of time. My soul would have probably been as well, if the cursed darkness could have managed it. I cannot imagine any being capable of encroaching upon a person's mind, body, and soul – an action even more vile than taking another's food… something that I cannot imagine doing even if I was to die of hunger otherwise.
My mind, defiled until it was barely a shadow of its former self, and my memories shredded so far as to become inaccessible…
Still, I could do nothing but move forward, the past is always to remain in the past. Speaking of which, I had to do something about my tattered memories – and considering that my body is tied up outside with no chance of escape considering its weakened state, what better time than now? After all it will take at least another sun cycle for my mind to heal enough to be able to exert its influence on my body and allow me to strengthen my muscles enough to break free of the vines binding me…
I search within my mind for the sphere of memories around my soul and wince at seeing their condition once more.
My memories are in a sorry state – unlike the rest of my mind they have not healed during my forced rest. Instead they are just as they were when I first woke up – shredded pieces barely hanging on to the obsidian surface of my soul between the vile vines of darkness surrounding it. Not that I expected them to heal – I had the knowledge that they wouldn't from some part of my shattered memories.
Just as I had the knowledge of what I needed to do to fix it.
It was simple really – all I had to do was reconnect all of my memories back to my soul, stitching up the fabric that they composed back into the single spherical weave around my core. Unfortunately it could be attempted only once – as if I stopped in the middle then all the memories I had not connected would dissipate and be lost forever. Even worse – to reconnect each memory meant that I would have to relive it – effectively meaning that I would be forced to relive my entire life.
Whether that was a blessing or a curse remained to be seen.
Well, I would have to do it sometime – and perhaps within my regained knowledge there would be something to help me out of this mess I found myself in.
So without another thought I dive inwards to experience my life from the beginning.
And so, once again my perception is swallowed in darkness…
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The entire world for me is composed of the darkness within which I exist, the hard edge of the world surrounding me, and the comfortable heat in which I float. There is no distinction between my mind and my body – for my world is the same in both planes of existence; synchronised so perfectly that I experience them both at the same time in a sense of oneness that simply cannot be described.
I do not remember any time when my world was anything but this – but ever since I came to acknowledge my existence the boundary of my world started shrinking in upon me. My wings / flame scrape at the boundaries as I realize that the world is too small to hold me – Is it my fate to be smothered in this world that has been everything I knew?
A crack appears along the spherical boundary of my world, then another.
Perhaps not.
The beam of light striking me into my eyes for the first time through the cracked shell of my world causes me to instinctually clench my eyes and my perception suddenly splits into two.
I can feel my eyes burning from encountering something besides darkness, and at the same time I can feel the shell around my mind dissolve as my flame expands outwards, eating away at the boundaries that had surrounded me for what felt like eternity. I gasp in wonder at the sense of freedom that passes through me as my mind glimpses at the boundless world of souls around it – the blinding whiteness of the kingdom of the sun goddess above, and the chaotic darkness of the abyss where the moon goddess resides below. The knowledge is innate for me – just as I know that the soft bluish flame that surrounds me – is me – is my mind.
Then my body calls out to me, and I respond – instinctually following the unseen thread that ties my mind and body out of the world of souls. I slowly open my eyes again and here the light does not burn. That was when my aching body informs me of how uncomfortable the position I had to take as the shell shrunk – Or have I grown – really is. I try to move around, but the boundary of my world is so restricting!
I pause as the shell vibrates, bringing with it sounds from the outside. The feelings of encouragement and happiness within the soft crooning that enters in through the hard boundaries of my world flow into me and seem to vibrate within my mind – suddenly the world around me, so safe and cosy just a few moments ago, is so constricting…
I push at the boundaries with renewed vigor – I simply have to get to whatever is making that sound!
Another crack appears, and then a few moments later yet another one. My mind nearly bursts from euphoria as the boundary crumbles and I fall out of my world – Outside…
My vision is blurry, but slowly adjusts as terror grips at me – everything is so far … The new world is simply too big… I try to get back into the safety of my shell, but stumble instead. Moving my body for the first time is not as easy as it seemed when I was curled up within my world…
Franticly looking around to try and spot the entrance from which I came into this world and somehow get back, I spot the source of that sound – two dragons, incomparably big to my eyes. Looking up – and up again – my gaze settles on one of the eyes of the closest one… Who was also looking at me.
::Mom::
A feeling of safety passes through me and makes me forget any terror that I may have felt earlier. The crooning has not stopped, and even now my body vibrates in tune with it, filling me with a strange calm and a sense of belonging. Through her eyes I can sense her love for me, and I reach out to her – both in this world and within the sea of souls.
She moves closer, and our snouts touch. At the same moment I also feel a soft heat emanating from a nearby flame – my mom's mind – I realize. Her flames surround and embrace me, and I know that there is nothing to fear – for she will protect me.
I fall asleep for the first time within this gentle embrace.
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Memories flash before my eyes as I experience them all while at the same time remembering them from memory – a very strange and surreal feeling to say the least. The memories flow past me so fast that it would seem impossible for me to get more than a glimpse at the life before they pass me by, and yet no matter how fast they go as they reform their intricate pattern around my soul, I experience them all in completely perfect detail – to me it feels as if I am living through them again; which in a way, I am.
I remember my day two sun cycles after birth as I stumbled around and attempted to get familiar with my body enough to be able to walk properly as my parents encouraged me with that constant song – for it is not just the sound of their crooning, it also carried within it all of their feelings of pride and hope towards me…
I remember running and jumping around the cave that is our home – only half a moon cycle has passed since my hatching and yet already I have near perfect control of all the muscles of my body! In my euphoric mood I fail to place my front paws correctly and stumble down, flipping over on my nose to land painfully on the wings on my back… The concerned cries of my mother as she withdraws the pain from my mind and carefully proceeds to heal my body – something that she says I will be able to do by myself once my mind is strong enough. Then the familiar screech pierces the air as my sire dives into the cave ready to protect his family – he had returned the moment he felt my pain and my mother's worry…
I remember both my parents coiled protectively around me as they embrace me both in reality and in the world of souls…
I remember waking up with pitiful cries after a strange nightmare to the concerned faces of my parents - listening to their soothing song as they explain that there is nothing to fear; the nightmares happen to all newborn dragons, they explain, possibly a shard of memories from my previous life that remained with my soul after its rebirth…
I remember the feeling of power flowing through my muscles as my sire directs his mind to enforce them – being told to never try and repeat this without him there to guide me through it…
I remember the rapidly escalating terror as my sire picked me up with his claws and flew several miles above the tallest peak of my island that we inhabited, the air so thin there that it was difficult to breathe. That single moment of weightlessness and dawning horror as he released me and as I plummeted towards the unforgiving rocks below… The instinctual opening of my wings and hearing the shrill scream as my half open wings changed my wild fall into a controlled dive… Then euphoria replaced terror as my wings opened completely and the dive changed into a steady flight. More of a controlled glide than true flight, but that hardly mattered.
There truly is nothing to compare that glowing contentment that a dragon feels when he is in the air to; there is just something truly wonderful and indescribable about the first flight…
And so the first Cycle passes as I experience myself growing up for a second time in my life. The happiness at controlling my body enough to walk; to run; to fly…
…And the pains that came with the initial failures or simply with stupid mistakes. I remember my first crash on the rocky slope on the sunset side of my island, and how my parents guided me through healing myself after it – and later hearing stories about their own crashes, for as they explained to me – a dragon crashes only once in their lives, for that one crash cuts down our gloated pride enough to become cautious and respectful of the boundless sky in which we fly – and that allows us to truly become masters of the air.
I experienced my first winter when I was kept inside the cave without ever leaving, and listening instead to the teachings they imposed upon me, forcing me to train my mind to feel the other minds around, to both connect with them, and to block them out. The seemingly endless history lessons where I learned all about the OiraRae or the Eternal Wanderers as we are called in the human language – given this name to represent our spirits within which lurks the unstoppable wanderlust that forces us to leave our home every few Cycles and find a new place to live. The same wanderlust that separates us from other dragon kin – for unlike them, we OiraRae do not form clans or communities; or even a permanent home.
I remember my parents teaching me the language of dragons that we all speak, as well as several dialects of humans – for with them being incapable of speaking directly with their minds, the humans have developed methods of communication based on sounds – and it was always a good idea to be able to at least understand the only other soul based beings in this world.
I relive my first painful attempts at augmenting my body through my mind to allow it to become faster and stronger – only succeeding in ripping my muscles and ligaments instead. For the first time in my life my parents did not protect me from the pain – as that was to be my punishment for disregarding their warnings and not waiting for their guidance before this attempt. That was not my first encounter with pain – but for the first time I had to experience it for longer than the few seconds before my parents shielded me…
It was a long night for me as they guided me through healing my wounded body while at the same time watching my attempts – and more often than not failures at holding the pain at bay.
I never controlled my body with my mind this way without their guidance after that.
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My second Cycle went by the same way as the first – in a blink of an eye that seemed to last an eternity.
By that time I had already grown to half the size of an adult and my parents started leaving me to fend for myself – for I was rapidly leaving my Hatchling Cycles behind. Already all the healing and strengthening of my body was done without their help; and any mistakes were quickly followed by a sleepless day full of pain and promises to myself to be more careful next time.
I relive the first time I was left alone – my first day under the gaze of the goddess of the sun without my parents' protection and love.
I feel the same terror and fear that I felt that day – it was impossible to sleep, and I spent the entire day curled tightly into myself – both in body and mind. By the time the goddess of the night graced me with its presence, I was too numb to care. The joy I had when I saw my parents again was indescribable, for I had by then long since lost any hope of surviving to see them again.
It felt like the longest day of my life, but it was only the beginning of my trials.
More lonely days followed, as did a gradual increase in their expectations of me.
I remember having to hunt and fish for my own food. The first few attempts with my sire guiding me; but soon I was expected to hunt without him. The shock when I came in empty the first time and attempted to get at the pile of fish my parents caught – only for them to gently push me away.
It wasn't gentle the next time I tried to get at their food again, and that was when I started thinking of food in terms of mine and theirs instead of ours as it was.
I understood all too well what this gesture meant, and the realization of it pained me more than the bruises I received upon being pushed away.
Food is one of the very few things that can be said to belong to someone – the sky, the waters, the endless forests of the world; all these do not belong to anyone. Besides one's mind, body and soul, it is only food and hunting grounds that are labeled as belonging to someone – be it a single dragon, a tribe, or even their human analogs. Even caves and nests are only granted such distinctions at times of hatching. We may call things ours, but in all other cases it is but a term of endearment – much the way I consider my mother and sire as mine.
The second winter was more difficult still – for I was not allowed to stay in what I had come to call home and instead was forced to rest in another cave that my sire made for me, as well as braving the horrible snowstorms outside to hunt for food. Dragons can survive in any temperatures, from the coldest nights of winter to the scorching hearts of forest fires – even smoke is only a minor annoyance to us. No, it was the lack of vision and ease of stumbling to your death during snowstorms, combined with the inability to safely fly in such conditions that made snowstorms so dangerous. Worse still, I was not good at hunting and very often had to risk going out in the hopes of better luck – even in such horrible conditions as snowstorms and blizzards.
I was certain that if I was near death my parents would come and help me, but that did nothing to fill up my stomach when I often times had to go for days without food.
I remember frustration and uneasiness at failing to catch anything in the deadly seas around our island, or in the snow buried forests on it. And the feeling of triumph at getting even a single fish – for some days that was all that I had.
By the time winter had finished and my second Cycle had ended, it had been several moon cycles since I had last seen my parents. Finally I could take it no longer and went out to search for them.
I relive the dismay I felt as I found their cave empty and snowed in; the increasing feeling of distress as day after day yielded no results.
Four sun cycles later I gave up and accepted what my mind had already known but my heart refused to believe.
It must have happened sometime during the few clear days of the winter – possibly while I stayed in my cave while waiting for night to arrive so I could attempt to hunt and fish for food to fill my empty stomach.
They have left.
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It was then that I knew that my Hatchling Cycles have come to an end.
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A/N
That's all for now. The next chapter is short since it covers Toothless's life from the end of his childhood until he arrives at Berk, so I will publish it along with the chapter after that. If you are excited to be getting two chapters, please review so I know how well (or bad…) I am currently doing. While I highly doubt I will change the storyline based on anything said in the reviews (difficult to do considering part of the second book / 2nd cycle is already written and just waiting for me to get to that point), I would like to know what you find interesting / boring – good / bad. Personally I find that I tend to stretch scenes out longer than I expect them to be, but any time I re-read the chapters and edit them the chapter length just grows. So tell me if you think there is too much / too little detail in the story and I will see if I can oblige.
While we are on that topic – thank you to those that took the time to review this story!
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Finally, perhaps you noticed that I used a different 'name' for the race of Nightfuries instead of 'Nightfury'. For each of the six types of dragons (Nightfury, monstrous nightmare, hideous zippleback, deadly nadder, Gronckle, and terrible terror) I will use three names: the standard one that the Vikings use (which will be how they are called in all 3rd person POV / human sections), the 'draconic' name (such as OiraRae for Nightfuries), and the 'human translation' of the draconic name (such as 'Eternal Wonderer' for Nightfuries).
Both types of draconic names will be used for 1st person POV / dragon sections of the book. I do not however quite expect you to memorize the table of names (as that would be stupid), and thus will always try and put in recognizable details that would point out the dragon type I am writing about even if you do not know who the draconic name relates to:
So for example (taken from the next few chapters):
Down below I could see one of the RunaEfai spitting its liquid fire at a group of humans who were blocking it with pieces of wood as they attempted to get out of the way. At either side of the RunaEfai a MaegNur stood with their tail quills out.
As you can hopefully see from that, RunaEfai translates to monstrous Nightmares and MaegNur stands for deadly Nadders. Besides which, with the drastically different ways the dragons act it should not be too difficult to understand what type of dragon you are dealing with.
Wow – that was a long a/n wasn't it? Almost 10% of the entire chapter…
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Saienai Signing off.