Man, the whole no views thing that happened was really disconcerting, especially when it happened just as I got the motivation to make this new story. So, full disclosure, I have an end goal in mind for this story, but not a clue of how long it's going to be. I've also been contemplating if I should make the chapters longer, but I want to find a sort of stable upload schedule as I really want to make this into a good story, and well, a big part of fanfiction is feedback, so the no views thing was a bit of a bummer, but now that it seems to have been fixed, I'm good to go to keep this story going. Here's the next chapter, where the dragonets finally meet the mystery dragon. Hope you all enjoy.
I own nothing in this work other than the OC, all rights belong to Tui T. Sutherland.
Normal speech
Thought speech
3rd person POV
The 5 dragonets could only stare at the monstrously huge dragon in front of them, their eyes wide and all of them shaking in nervousness... well, that was a lie. 2 of them were. Starflight, as per usual when he got scared, was backed into the darkest corner he could find and doing his best imitation of a statue. Glory's scales had started to fade into camouflage, vanishing from sight. Sunny hid behind Clay, while Clay put his wings up protectively, but one wing stayed limp, unable to fold out. Tsunami answered in the only way she knew, reckless bravery. She stood her ground, growling as if she was poised to strike. "Who the heck are you? What even are you? No dragon tribe has scales like that!" The huge dragon looked down at her, his eyes both mesmerizing and terrifying, like a night of blood red stars. He spoke, having to modulate his voice so it wasn't ear shatteringly loud. "I believe I asked a question first." Tsunami growled, flicking her tail and accidentally smacking a crab into a tree. Sunny peaked out from behind clay. "W-we're sorry. W-we didn't know someone lived here." The large dragon looked to the sandwing, before settling down, a wave of dirt and sand being pushed outward as he settled.
"Alright... As to answer your question Seawing, I am nobody important. Just... An anomaly staying out of the way of the rest of the world." He Lifted a talon, before slamming it down to his right, Glory giving a yelp as she came out of her invisibility, the talon missing her by a bare inch. The dragon looked to her, his expression becoming mildly amused. "Impressive for one so young, but I have seen better. I would prefer not to get in a fight on my island, so don't try anything please." Glory hissed as Sunny started to control her shaking, realizing the lack of hostility in the huge dragon's voice. "Um... I'm sunny. this is Clay. That's Tsunami, Glory, and Starflight." She gestured to each of her friends as she named them, the large dragon tilting his head lightly in acknowledgement. "Alright. You all seem unharmed. Now..." His face turned into a scowl. "Get off my Island." The 5 dragonets blinked, Clay shifting nervously. "Not sure I can. I can't move my wing." The large dragon turned an impassive look to Clay. "Not my problem." Tsunami whirled on the large dragon, barking at him. "You can't treat us like this! Don't you know who we are!? We're the dragonets of destiny!"
His face was blank as he stared at Tsunami, the last words processing in his head. His expression was that of stone, cold and impassive. On the inside however... Was a full-blown panic attack as his day just went from bad to living nightmare. "No. No no. No no no. No. No! NO! This was NOT supposed to happen! This was the LAST thing that should have happened! Any dragon with half a brain would never fly over this part of the sea! It was a day's flight between the mainland and any of the islands in the sea kingdom! So why were they here!? Of all places!?" He took a deep breath. "You don't say... Pray tell, how did you end up here?" Tsunami huffed at him while Clay gave a nervous look to him. "Sunny fell off my back in the storm yesterday. I caught her before she crashed into the island, but not sure what happened after..." Sunny gave him a reassuring smile. "You hit your head on a rock and got knocked out, and you were way too heavy to carry."
He had to stop himself from gritting his teeth. Yet another instance of the universe making his life miserable. "Okay. This isn't that bad... I just need to get these 5 to go away then I can find a new place to call home... It's been awhile since I was in the mud kingdom... Oh, wait... the dislocated wing... It's fine. A day won't hurt, right?" He stopped his train of thought, thinking back to what they said. "Wait, you rested on my island... Where?" Sunny looked up to him nervously. "Um... Apparently right next to you." His heart stopped for a few seconds; all of his willpower being held to keep his face from turning into an expression of horror. "These dragonets... They were so close to dying without knowing it... No, stop. Just get them out of here." "Well, Regardless, you all are still dragonets. And I need you all to leave as soon as possible."
Clay floundered a bit, His wing hanging limply. The large dragon sighed, before reaching out as the others yelped, Tsunami and glory protesting as the large dragon grasped clay's wing, the other holding his body, and pulled. The crack was nearly sickening as the wing bones popped back into place, and Clay's cry of pain didn't help either. Sunny rushed up to clay as she held his talon, the large dragon backing off as Tsunami hissed at him. The large dragon waved a talon dismissively "It needed to be done sooner or later, I just sped up the process." He gets up. ".. Fine. You all can stay here until Clay is recovered, but there are three rules." He turns to all of them, holding up his talon, extending one talon each time he expressed a number. "1: Do not talk to me. 2: Do not disturb me. 3: Stay out of my way. Understand?" Tsunami huffed, Glory bristling, but Starflight was nodding his head turned to look at clay and sunny, seeing them still holding talons as the pain in Clay's wing faded. Large dragon sighed, getting up and going out to the beach.
The 5 dragonets stared at each other for a long moment in silence, before Starflight said with a shaky breath. "Th-That was terrifying! His eyes and scales... He's so big!" Tsunami scoffed. "I could have taken him. Especially if glory got him with her death spit." Glory frowned, shaking her head. "He somehow saw through my camouflage. I was as quiet as a mouse. I think he'd see it coming." Sunny frowned. "Guys... I don't think he's a bad dragon. He hasn't... hurt any of us on purpose." Clay nods. "Yeah. Even though it hurt for a minute, my wing feels much better now." His stomach growled, Tsunami and glory rolling their eyes. "Seriously? You ate at least a dozen crabs just a few minutes ago." Clay scratched the back of his neck. "What can I say? Getting nervous makes me hungry." They all heard a loud splash off the beach, the large dragon gone into the sea.
Tsunami sighs. "We need to get out of here, fast. Who knows if that... thing is associated with burn, or even worse, Scarlet." Starflight shakes his head. "If that were the case, he would have either captured us by now, or would have been a part of her Arena. And Burn... doesn't seem the type to be okay with dragons bigger than herself." Tsunami thought it over and... Yeah, Burn definitely would take offence to a dragon more intimidating than herself. They hadn't interacted with the largest of the 3 sandwing queen candidates, but they knew enough that she was sick, twisted, and loved how much power she had. Glory frowns. "Regardless, we can't trust him. I mean, huge dragon living alone on an island in the middle of nowhere? That just reeks that he's insane." Sunny sighs. "Come on guys, he hasn't done anything to us."
The others turned to the sound of 3 loud splashes and looked up to see three figures falling from the sky towards them. Sunny and Clay scrambled away as 3 adult tiger sharks landed on the ground, the impact killing them, leaving them flopped on the dirt and sand. The dragonets looked confused until the huge dragon came out of the ocean, shaking himself off as he came back towards them, grabbing one of the sharks, and dragging it next his cave as he began to eat. He chewed for a second, until he noticed the 5 of them staring at him. He glanced back, before gesturing to the other two fresh sharks. "Eat." Sunny blinked as she approached on of the sharks. It would definitely be enough to feed the 5 of them. "... Thank you." The big dragon rolled his eyes. "Whatever gets you 5 out of here faster." Sunny frowned but didn't stop Starflight from taking one of the sharks, he and clay roasting it with their fire.
They all ate in silence, giving glances at the giant dragon to make sure it was safe, but he hadn't moved from his spot. Starflight swallowed lightly. "... I know this breaks your first rule, but... Who are you?" the big dragon glanced up, looking annoyed. "As I said, nobody important." He went back to eating, sunny frowning. "Um... Mr... giant dragon... Do you know what direction the kingdom of sea is? We're trying to get to queen Coral's palace." Tsunami huffs. "You mean my mom's palace." The giant dragon needed a lot of willpower to keep his eye from twitching. Just how many times could this day go from bad to worse? He was going to have to work fast if he wanted to get away without too much attention. "... Further east. Look for an island with a stone structure in the shape of a dragon's skull. At its base is a pool of water filled with golden kelp. Swim through and you'll be inside the summer palace." He took another bite of the shark, but then noticed they were all staring at him. Again. "...I'm only telling you so you'll be out of my scales sooner."
Sunny gave a small smile. "Thank you. We appreciate your help... We just lost the only place we called home." Glory scoffed. "You mean our underground prison?" Sunny frowned. "Hey, the guardians were just taking care of us." The big dragon idly watched them as they bickered with one another about their guardians. Sunny sighed, looking over to him as Clay and Tsunami's argument started to get heated. "I really mean it. Thank you." He looked to her. Such a small dragonet... He sighed, getting up. "I'd like to not be disturbed for a while. So, stay away from the other side of the island for now." He moved through the brush, going to the beach where his instrument was buried.
He pulled it out as the 5 dragonets continued eating, dividing the sharks amongst themselves as he set it down, choosing to play a song he had faintly heard from a bar he listened to before. He didn't hear the lyrics, but the notes were clear as day to him. He plucked the strings lightly, nimbly and with great care, playing the song more as a melody than the rambunctious bar song that it originally was. He had played it a few times when he heard shifting sand behind him, turning to see Sunny, the little sandwing looking to him bashfully. "Sorry. I know you said not to be disturbed. Are... Would you happen to be a member of the Talons of Peace?" He blinked lightly, remembering the small little peace group. He wasn't all that fond of them, since they seemed to take their 'peace' a bit too far with their methods. "No, I am not... why?" Sunny blinked. "Oh... It's just... The song you were playing, it's called 'the dragonets are coming'. Our guardians used to sing it when they drank." He blinked, before internally screaming in frustration. "Of course. Why not? Of all things, I apparently played the ONE song that specifically involves these 5! ARGH!... Calm down. Calm down, nothing good comes from panicking."
He sighed, putting the instrument away. "I only eavesdropped on it from outside a bar. I didn't hear the lyrics, just the notes." She smiled. "I could tell you the lyrics, if you want... Just don't get tsunami to sing it. She knows the words but is completely tone deaf." That caught him by such surprise that he actually gave a chortle. "I could guess. More bravery than common sense, that one." Sunny giggled. "Yeah, but we love her just the way she is... sorry if I bothered you." He sighs. "It's not that... I have been alone for a very long time. By my own choice, mind you. I'm used to peace and quiet and would prefer to keep it that way." Sunny gives a small smile. "Sorry again, Mr... giant dragon."
She started to trod back to the others when she heard him say "Wither." She turned back, tilting her head. "What?" He got up, turning to her, his black and red eyes staring deep into hers. "If you must refer to me by something, it might as well be my name." She blinked. "Oh... so your name is... Wither?" He nods. "Yes... Tell your friends if you want, but... If you see queen Choral, I ask that you don't bring any attention to me. Getting involved in this war is the last thing i want to do." Sunny nods, smiling. "I promise, I won't tell anyone about you." He looked at her, studying her. "... You are a very trusting dragon... See to it that it doesn't get you killed." She nods, before bounding off to the others. Wither looked out to the sea. "... Knowing my luck, the exact opposite is going to happen... Maybe... I can't run from this forever... no. I've thought that too many times... I can't get involved... I can't get attached... Not again."
He sighs deeply, curling his talon in the sand. He had no idea how much his life was about to change.
There you all have it. I really like this OC that I've made, and I look forward to introducing and exploring the backstory I've made for him. The character interactions I've made so far, I feel are fun, so I hope you all enjoy him as well. I'm glad to be back into the groove of having a desire to write again, and it's led me to have some ideas for other stories that I might get back into writing, but for now, I want to focus on this one for the most part. Hope you all enjoyed, leave a review if you want, and I'll see you all next time.