~Ouroboros~

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Nth - 2. Interlude ~ Uneasy Beginning

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Nightwing was still asleep when I woke up, and while that is uncommon enough, it is not what causes me to worry. No, what worries me is that we are surrounded by thousand year old trees in a small clearing. The calming sounds of the ocean that we have fallen asleep to are no longer there, replaced as they have been by soft wind rustling the leaves and distant bird cries.

Oh, I am used to waking up in places I have no memories of, but the 'falling asleep' part before those times is usually at least somewhat painful and most definitely not something I would have so easily forgotten – at least not so fast.

From the looks around me, it is obvious that a new Cycle had begun. And really, that is what worries me the most – because I did not expect it to spring on us like this. For the first time (I think so at least – my muddied memories can only be relied upon so far) – for the first time I was not aware of the Cycle coming to a close.

Even worse, I can feel something out of place. Something about this Cycle is different…

It does not take me long to figure out what – the simple harness I made to tie us together for those particularly tricky flight maneuvers we love so much is still here, bundled up near the campfire as it had been before we went to sleep; as was the crude knife I made out of obsidian for the off chance that I would lose the original metal dagger that had always been with me.

Speaking of which – the campfire from yesterday was there… Cautiously I poke at the cold pile of ash and coal to make sure that I am not just imagining things. Every time a new Cycle starts everything returns back to the way it was in the beginning (or at least as so far as we remember) – meaning that the harness, knife, even the remains of yesterday's campfire should not be there.

I shake off the feelings of foreboding and gingerly standing up so as not to wake Nightwing proceed to grab the obsidian knife before stalking off into the forest. There would be time to discuss the inconsistencies once Nightwing wakes up – and before that happens I can at least catch us some breakfast.

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Completely silent, I stalk through the forest – mindful of any twigs or unstable rocks along the ground that could reveal my position. A familiar sense of expectation and excitement passes through me; making it feel as if there is a tightly coiled spring inside me just waiting to be released. Looking around I can tell with uncountable years of experience that a herd of deer has been through not too long ago – as well as several rabbits and at least one lynx.

Personally, I think a nice young deer would be an acceptable breakfast for the both of us – it would after all take quite a few rabbits to satisfy Nightwing, and something within me balks at hunting another predator… At least not when there are other options – and while lynx meat is not as satisfying as say deer or fish, it still sates your hunger. To be honest, the two of us must have tried just about all types of meat and fish available in the world – possibly human too, though I can't remember the actual occurrence. I do remember tasting dragon though – more because of the weird funeral rites of that Cycle than any other reason, though I doubt it was the first (or the last) time.

An infinite life certainly did wonders to break away all of our innate inhibitions…

I close off that chain of thought as I hear bleats coming from in front of me and spot the small herd of deer – fourteen of them resting in a clearing nearby. My body must have subconsciously continued tracking them while I was l was lost in my thoughts, as I found myself in the bushes near a tree overlooking the clearing – the forest around me completely unfamiliar to me.

Some may have considered me as lost at this point, but it was impossible for me to get lost – or at least impossible for me to not be able to find my way back to Nightwing. Together we can quite easily get lost – and in fact have often times spent entire Cycles not knowing where we are, not that it really mattered. Still, no matter how far apart we are from each other all it takes is for me to close my eyes and I can easily point in the direction Nightwing is in – be he right next to me or across the world.

All of that of course in addition to our minds always swimming securely latched to each other within the river of souls – I can even tell that Nightwing is still sleeping through our connection to each other; but never mind that now.

Reaching into my jacket I unhook the obsidian knife and glancing over at the herd, I pick out my prey – a young deer at the edge of the clearing that ended up lying quite close to my position. Better still, it seemed to be lame in one foot as one of its back legs was stretched awkwardly to the side in a fashion that would have made me wince if I haven't seem worse many times over. Still, I knew it would be almost kindness for me to take its life as I knew the death I would deliver would be much faster than other alternatives hiding in the forest.

Closing my eyes I focus my mind, and breathing deeply strengthen my bones and muscles to be able to handle what I am about to do. Opening my eyes I focus on them as well and watch with satisfaction as color bleeds out of the world around me, the sounds becoming deeper and more prolonged; the flutter of the leaves slowing down.

With another breath I launch myself at my prey, my claw held in a reverse grip in my left paw. The deer does not even have time for a single startled bawl before the nook formed between my paw and the claw within it slams into the deer's neck. A single slashing motion on my part results in a large gash opening up in its neck, and it is over.

Even as the others in the herd scatter away I step away from the deer, expertly dodging the splattering blood that quickly turns into a slow trickle as the heart stops. As color returns to the world around me I wait for my prey to stop twitching before grabbing it by the legs and hoisting it to rest on my shoulders. Almost without thinking about it I reach into our minds and locate where the two of us are in relation with each other. Carefully wiping off my knife I clip it back to my jacket before turning around and walking off.

Halfway back I pause as I feel a prickling in the back of my neck, and turning around I find a lynx on one a branch of one of the trees surrounding me. I almost smile – it has been a long time since I had last feared any predator, and that list includes humans and dragons as well. Heck, even death can be listed within it.

Seeing as the lynx was about to jump on what it believed to be easy prey I narrow my eyes much the same way Nightwing would and grin as I spot the now fleeing hunter. A human would not have been scared off so easily, but then again, it's not like it would have made much of a difference in the end except for a cooling body on the floor.

Still, it does not matter. Turning back to the way I was going I continue trudging my way back to camp.

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I wake up without Heru at my side, and am instantly on high alert. Not because of his disappearance – I can feel him somewhere around coming back with a feeling of satisfaction around him – no, what worries me is the forest surrounding our camp. Instinctually I know that the last Cycle had come to a close and another one had come, and yet the presence of the campfire unnerves me.

So it has progressed this far…

I had breached this subject with Heru before, but he had never taken me seriously. I understand him – really do, after all were I a human I would possibly scoff at it as well – but being a dragon there are some instinctual memories within me that make me understand what is happening much better than anyone else. Knowledge buried deep within the soul of each dragon, only coming to light if the soul is chosen as mine has been.

Our minds have mingled together and become inseparable countless Cycles ago, forming a single pattern. However the pattern was never meant to be drawn from two souls – never meant to have two holders.

I will have to talk to Heru about this again – the premature end of the last Cycle shows that there is less time that I had hoped.

The bushes off to the side rustle and spotting Heru with a young deer across his shoulders and I decide to breach that topic later – after we have eaten.

Scratching at the birthmark upon my chest – a strange almost scar like line around which scales did not want to grow properly (I had asked Heru about it, but besides the darkening of his eyes I have not been able to get anything out of him about it – same with the claw marks on his chest), I walk off towards a nearby tree, picking one that is relatively young compared to the gargantuan beasts around us.

It does not take long for us to take apart the young deer, with Heru cutting out a nice chunk of meat to roast over the newly burning campfire made from the tree – several quick shots having brought it down and broken it into manageable chunks before Heru tossed some into an acceptable arrangement for me to set on fire.

While Heru waits for his portion to cook properly, I finish off the rest before plopping down on the other side of the fire to patiently wait for him to finish. If there was a single thing we both became masters in, it is the art of patience. How could we not if we wanted to remain sane?

"Something is bothering you – and don't say that its nothing, you know I can tell it isn't"

:: Finish cooking your meat and eat first. It's not something to discuss over food ::

"It's about the weird end of the last Cycle and the start of this one right?"

:: Later ::

"Fine"

As Heru takes the time to flip the hunk of meat around for it to evenly cook, I look into his eyes and not for the first time marvel at how different they are from when this all began. I can remember with ease the almost childlike bright fern-green eyes he sported when I first met him – childlike but already with a carefully hidden depth to them. A depth hiding experiences and emotions he did not want anyone to see – even me.

Now though? That same depth has taken over – I look into his dark moss-green eyes and see an infinite abyss that draws you in and threatens to swallow you. There is no need to find a lake or river for me to know that my eyes look the same way – or perhaps even worse.

Of course they would be worse…

Sometimes I am envious of the distinctly human qualities of Heru's mind. I have never told him – and never will – but one of the biggest differences between humans and dragons – a difference that can never be overcome – is that humans can forget. For humans their past experiences slowly blend together until they are completely forgotten. Some may say that that is a flaw of theirs, but I consider it as a blessing; for unlike humans, dragon memories remain crystal clear forever unless forcefully destroyed – something that cannot be done selectively.

I never told Heru that I can remember all f12r2r8f6r5f3 Cycles that we have lived with perfect clarity. Every time I close my eyes I can (if I wish) see each and every one of them. I can see and experience both of us dying so many times that it no longer matters to me. What matters is the knowledge that even death will not separate us.

I can even remember the exact time when pain ceased to matter – when a red hot knife through the eyes became nothing more than an inconvenience until the next Cycle sets things back again.

We certainly are twisted beings aren't we?

And yet… there are several Cycles that I do not remember. I can tell because the memories are there, closest to the half-pattern of my soul, layered beneath the infinite other memories of the Cycles afterwards. They are there, and yet I cannot access them.

I have asked Heru about them before – wondering what it was during the first cycles that could have caused me to be unable to remember them – but the only reply I ever got was that those cycles are his sin – his burden to shoulder alone.

For that reason perhaps, I believe it is Heru's mind that is keeping me from those memories; whether consciously or subconsciously I will never know.

No matter – I will trust Heru's judgement on this – although I am curious about how we came to be together during those first Cycles, it does not really matter to me. What is truly important is that we are together – whether during our f1r13 Cycle, the current one, or the next few.

Funny considering how many of them we have lived through that they are coming to an end – I truly did expect to spend all of eternity like this.

"You know, I have been done for almost three hours now"

I turn to look at Heru and only now notice that the fire had long since gone out and the sun had moved quite noticeably in the sky.

:: I was lost in thought ::

Besides which he could have shaken me out of them once he finished in any case…

"You looked so peaceful; I didn't want to break you out of them"

There was no reason to ask how he knew what I was thinking – we knew each other as well as we knew ourselves – and when you have an infinite length of time for self-reflection, you get to understand yourself quite well.

:: You noticed how this Cycle's beginning was different from before. ::

Heru sighed

"So you still believe that the pattern is slowly being corrupted."

:: Yes, and I already told you want we need to do – we need- ::

"Don't say it! You already know we can't do that." There was genuine worry in Heru's tone – worry and desperation.

:: Can't or won't? :: I knew the answer, but I wanted him to say it again. From the exasperation in his voice I knew that he knew the reason for my question – knew it and didn't like it.

"Both. Look – I told you before – It will all go away soon. It's been fine for countless Cycles, so why do you think it wouldn't continue that way for countless more?"

:: - :: I tried to reply but he over-rode my argument. It didn't really matter since he knew it already, but perhaps he just didn't want to hear it expressed aloud again.

"Do we even have to talk about it? "

I stared straight into his eyes and sent images of all the inconsistencies that have started popping up since I have last breached this topic – starting with the weirder and weirder endings for each Cycle, and ending with the cracks along the sky that were sometimes visible in the periphery of our vision within the river of souls. Fortunately they haven't appeared in the real world yet, but I knew it was only a matter of time.

Heru's gaze dropped and his shoulders slumped down in defeat.

"Fine – but not now. Perhaps tomorrow or the day after. It's not like the world will end any time soon. Let's just explore the place we started this time – perhaps we may even find some soul-based life somewhere during this Cycle."

I accepted, if only because I knew he would ignore me if I tried to bring it up again. Partially, he is right – there is still time to talk about it, time to weigh the options. However he is quite wrong about the rest – we do not have as much time as he imagines.

Certainly not enough to keep postponing the conversation like this.

Even as I stand up and walk over to let Heru attach the harness that will hold us together and watch him climb up to sit approximately between my shoulder blades, I can feel the pattern breaking apart into two distinct parts – neither of which would be able to hold without the other, resulting in the disintegration of both.

While Heru is adequately familiar with the soul world, he is simply incapable of clearly seeing our actual souls that make up the pattern – and without that, he cannot see just how bad the corruption has gotten.

No… if it continues speeding up as it had, I fear we do not have that much time at all.

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A/N

If you have not noticed it, this interlude follows the story told in the prologue, and will be continued in subsequent interludes to be finished in the epilogue. Yes, this story and the one told in the actual chapters is all tied together, although how may not become apparent until quite some time.

The reason for the weird number that Toothless links to the number of cycles they have already lived is because I wanted to show that he knew the exact number, while simultaneously not telling any of you guys the actual number (It doesn't really matter for the story – suffice it to say that it has been A LOT).

For those of you interested, the number is not random, and there is a pattern to translate it into a normal value. I have used the same style before several times, but this is the first truly large one. Incidentally, to the first person to figure it out (and post or pm me the correct number along with the way the conversion works) I will answer any three questions about the story – and by that I mean any, so you can ask about how it will end, who 'she' is, or whatever you want. I have quite a lot written down for the way the world works and the full plotline written out so… Just don't spread it out k?

As to the long wait… It was unavoidable. I had to write roughly 10 chapters worth of story that compose all the interludes, as I did not want to have to change them (too much) every time I had to post the next one. This way I am at least guaranteed a sense of continuity in the story that takes place amidst the prologue, interludes, and epilogue.

As always, thanks to all who read/reviewed/favourited/followed this story. For anyone interested, this marks the end of roughly an eighth of the entire storyline (by plot arcs, not words – by words it may be a fifth or so), with 76 reviews, 30 favorites, 25 followers, 6,411 views, and from what I can tell perhaps 150-200 actual readers. Grats to PokeThat for submitting the 75th review!

Expect a lot more differences between the movie and my story to appear in the next arc. As to the arc after that… let's just say it will be a different story all together at that point.

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Saienai