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The girl stepped into the cave wondering what treasures lie within. Surely such a wonderous place would hold adventure?
But, how could she? She musn't go back on her word. She'd made a vow on the graves of her parents, a vow that could never be broken.
She hopped rock to rock on a still pond and ducked into a cavern. The first thing she noticed was the beautiful stalagtites hanging from the ceiling like nature's homemade chandeliers... Then she noticed the huge green dragon glaring at her with thinly veiled distaste. Why didn't she notice the dragon first?
The girl took a deep breath. This should be fine right? She obviously had the skills to do this job since the old dragon picked her. But... What if the other dragons didn't feel the same?
At first the dragon was angry at the girl. He demanded things of her. Her name. Her purpose. Blah, blah, blah. The girl stood her ground admirably and apologized for her intrusion. The dragon began to respect her for this. Then they began to talk.
The girl sat down on the lush grass and tried to pull herself together. She could do this. She could do this. She could... Easily die at the hand of vicious taloned dragons... Shoot...
They talked for quite some time and then the old, scarred dragon seemed to grow weary which troubled the girl. "Hey, Sir Dragon. You haven't told me your name." She hoped to re-energize the dragon. She enjoyed making friends.
The dragon smiled at her in the way dragons do and said "I am called Gren, small one..."
"Don't you wish to know my name too?"
Gren seemed thoughtful for a moment and then looked at the girl with an unsettling scrutiny that made the girl feel as if he were looking at her, through her, and around her all at the same time.
The girl began to walk through the forest, hoping to absorb the positive vibe of nature. Surely she could find inspiration.
Gren began to tell the girl a horribly depressing story about the Great War. She knew of the legend, but never had it been described so vividly.
Gren then went on to tell her about his life and experiences. His hopes and dreams. His dreads and worries. Then he told her what he needed of her. Once he finished... The girl could scarcely believe what he'd said.
The girl looked to her arm and saw the ornate mark from which she'd recieved from Gren. "The Cayretaker Emblem" he'd called it. Just because she had the emblem didn't mean she deserved the title...
Gren asked a great duty of the girl. It was an odd thing to do especially after he'd met he that very same day. But the old dragon was quickly approaching his Dying Time and needed someone to fill his position. He'd convinced the girl to take this role and she'd sworn. Upon her parents' graves that she would fulfill her promise. Then he bathed her in ceremonial flames that passed his burden onto her. After he had done this, Gren sank to the ground in exhaustion.
The girl put her head between her knees. She couldn't do this. She was human for goodness sake. What did she know about caring for dragons? She'd never even recieved any training. She only made the promise yesterday!
"Tell me young one, for it is my wish to know. Tell me your name."
"It's Kaspartha."
Gren has said that he saw someting within her. But what could it have been? She didn't know of anything terribly important about herself. Then she suddenly realized how weak she was being. This wasn't about her! It was about Gren and her promise to him!
Kaspartha jumped off the ground and ran to the mouth of the cave. She stared it down and made her first step to the cave that held not only her destiny, but the destiny of thousands of other souls who have entered and exited its walls.
She snuck out while her parents were sleeping, and had gone close to the mouth of the cave, waiting for someone to enter. She had hidden herself from view with soem high rocks she had difficulty getting to, just incase someone else found the cave. She actually fell asleep waiting, but was awoken by the sounds of someone entering the cave. She put her head out, and saw a female human, or at least something that looked like what her parents told her a human girl looked like. Something about this girl seemed trustworthy, so Kivuli got form her hiding spot.
She flew down rather slowly, due to her body only weighing 5 pounds, it took her a while to go down. This proved to be the case when she actually landed behind the person, instead infront of her. She began to run up to the person, and stopped when she was infront of her. She looked up, she felt she as getting tired again, but she wanted to play with the new person.
"Hiya!" She said, moving aorund a bit, her fur somewhat dirty form the rocks, "You must be Gren's replacment, I'm Kivuli, nice to meet you." She said, and then began on a series of questions, "Whats it like outside? How come your scales are so tiny, I can see your viens? Do you like to nap? Want to take a nap?" She said it all very quickly, excited about the new person.
The little one- Kivuli was it?- had nearly scared her to death and she had just stopped herself from jumping into a stalagtite that would've impaled her for sure. When Kivuli started her long stream of questions Kaspartha only became more confused. But, she guessed she might as well answer.
"Um, hi Kivuli. Yes I am Gren's... Replacement." Kaspartha hated using that word and scowled a bit when she said it. She could hardly be what Gren must have been to this hatchling. That also meant that Gren must have already passed... The amount of sadness and regret she felt was a bit shocking. "Outside? It's nice actually, really green with plenty of birds. Have you never been outside? I actually don't have any scales because we humans just don't. You can see my veins because I'm kinda pale. And I personally don't take naps. I'd rather do something constructive or fun! Wouldn't you like to play rather than sleep?"
After Kivuli's face paced questionaire, Kaspartha couldn't help but feel encouraged. After all, Kivuli behaved much like the children in her village. The only difference was the fact that she was a dragon.
Once she was around the eye level on the girl, she put her tail around the girl's shoulders, something she did to prove she trusted someone, the tail was the most vaunerable. "I can't really play that much, I need LOTS of sleep, but don't worry. There are a lot of dragons that like to play, like Rosebuds. And I have never been outside, my parents say I am too young, and I can't fly that good yet, so Istay in here. Now follow me, you have to meet everyone." She said and started moving slowly, her tail still on her, but she was moving forward. "By the way," She said turnign around, "What's your name?"
As Kaspartha watched the little on flap her surprisingly tiny wings, she couldn't help but smile. It seemed she'd created a habit of instantly bonding with dragons she barely knew. Kivuli really struck a chord with Kaspartha. She didn't really know what the tail thing meant, but she was comforted by it anyway.
When she mentioned the sleep requirements of Pillow Dragons, Kaspartha decided to start categorizing the characteristics of the race she would be caring for.
"My name is Kaspartha." She began to follow Kivuli and realized she felt a bit better about what she was getting into... But not by much.
"Kivuli, is flying terribly hard for you? I could carry you if you get tired." She was supposed to be caring for dragon young so she figured she might as well go ahead and be all motherly.
"Yes, please." She said and then landed on her shoulder and currled herself up around her neck to hold on. "Sorry, but I am feeling very tired. Ok, to get were we need to go, just go straight ahead, then you should see some other dragons, they will tell you what to do." She said, her eyes getting very heavy. "You seem nice Kaspartha, everyone will love you. Oh yea, when my parents say I can go outside, can you show me were these little blue-berries grow, they are great." She said before closing her eyes and falling asleep on her, making slight snoring sounds, wondeering if her parents were awake by now, she highly doubted it.
Izotz saw how a furry dragon a little bigger than he flew toward the stranger who left the cave, he tried to hide but failed completely and watch how the strange creature and the dragon chatted happily and then looked surprised how the dragon jumped on the shoulders of the thing, the newly hatched had never seen a creature like this in the world, but hey, he just came out of his egg.
That warranted a closer look, he didn't like to get closer to the people he was watching but longed to know more about the being who had the ability to speak, Small icicles formed all around his body while was waiting but once he began to move they fell from his body and the sound that made when they broke easily betraying his, until then, stealthy advance towards the two figures.
She continued to head forward as Kivuli instructed. She had started to absentmindedly pet Kivuli when she heard something in the cave. It sounded a bit like glass breaking. Surprised at the sound, Kaspartha froze in place and looked around to see what, or who, that sound came from. Then a little blue dragon stepped out in front of them. She couldn't help but notice the temperature drop as the small one advanced.
"Hello little one," Kaspartha said with a gentle smile. She then crouched down, careful not to disturb the sleeping Kivuli, and extended her hand, palm up, to the youngling. She meant to portray her friendliness and show the dragon that she could be trusted.
"My name is Kaspartha. What do your people call you?"
The possible-dragon crouched and her face formed a strange thing that dragons couldn't do then spread one of her extremities toward Izotz, the little dragon couldn't resist the chance to test if she had scales or not, so he lightly bit her.
"You're not a dragon" he said proudly of his discovery and then introduced himself "I'm Izotz, what are you?", Stepped back and looked at her curiously, her body was soft and had brown fur on the head also her body has various colors and he could't tell very well how was formed, at least she didn't have visible wings.
When he commented on the obvious, she couldn't help but chuckle a bit. "You're right, I'm not a dragon. It's nice to meet you Izotz."
Kaspartha straightened out and put her hands on her hips. "You know, where I come from, it's very rude to simply come at and say 'what are you' like I'm some kind of hideous creature. You should try to be a bit more tactful Izotz. Ok?" She was in full mothering mode now, and she wasn't sure she had a problem with that. Telling people what to do can get kinda fun.
"But, I'll let it go this time. I'm a human. And I might as well tell you that I don't have fangs, claws, talons, scales, wings, or a tail. Unless you already knew that about humans?"
As Kaspartha listed off the things she didn't have she watched Izotz closely to see how he reacted to her presence. As a hatchling, he was too young to hate her for what she was, at least, that's what she hoped. Kivuli had been nothing but kind to her, but she still had to be cautious around the others.
Exited to meet this new dragon, she shook out her silky petal-like feathers and happily bounded towards the source of the noise, at the mouth of the cave. Her excitement grew when she saw her other dragon friends, Izotz and Kivuli. But with some other strange creature.
"-I'm a human. And I might as well tell you that I don't have fangs, claws, talons, wings, or a tail. Unless you already knew that about humans?"
Larissa bristled and let out a very distressed, urgent sounding whimper. "I know about humans! Izotz, they are the ones that killed my mother and my father!" she growled, backing up quickly.
Hevel opened his eyes and lifted his head when he heard several dragons leaving the cave. He strained his vision to see where they were going, and it didn't take long for him to spot a strange creature. It was perhaps the ugliest thing he'd seen since emerging from his egg, so he snarled as the human came closer. This must be the creature the Gren had been trying to explain to them before he went to forever-sleep.
As the human continued to advance towards the cave, Hevel whimpered and tried to scurry back inside of his shell. Too quickly, he placed one fore-foot into the hole and snapped more of the shell, creating a bigger hole. Continuing to cry softly, he tried to shuffle himself into the cramped egg. One more foot in and he slipped his head in the hole as well, leaving his back end exposed.
He heard footsteps coming closer, and he realized that he couldn't see what was around him and got extremely frightened, so he began to wiggle free of the egg, shaking his head back and forth quickly while he stood on his back legs, but in the midst of his panic, the shell flew off of his head and landed against the cave wall, cracking into several shards.
Hevel gasped and looked at all of the pieces lying on the ground and began to cry, hurrying over to the place where they were scattered, moving them around with his claws, trying to get them closer together so that maybe they would reform the egg.
He scraped them together into a pile, but nothing happened. "Oh, no..." Hevel sighed and laid on top of the pile of egg shells. Then, the human was in full view and he looked down on the ground, unwilling to stare into the face of such a hideous thing.
Kaspartha started a bit at that. But then she thought about the youngling. If this breed was so beautiful at such a young age, it was certainly they were downright astounding as adults... She was willing to bet many a nobleman would pay for wings such as hers. The thought made her sick. She could barely stand hunting for the sake of sustenance, much less sport. And moreover, these dragons had had young to care for, not that those who struck them down cared...
She thought back to the day her parents were taken from her and winced in sympathy. She'd hated, and still hates, royals for that soul crushing loss. She'd come to believe that all people of noble blood were selfish, ruthless people, so she could hardly blame the pink hatchling for looking at her the way she was. Also, she was expecting hatred from the dragons anyway. Kaspartha started to stroke Kivuli's pelt, happy for the only friend she she was going to make.
She smiled a bitter smile at the hatchling. "Well little one, you and I have something in common. Humans killed my parents as well. I can hardly apologize for the passing of your mother and father, because I myself didn't participate, but I understand your hatred. And you are entitled to it."
Kaspartha then frowned a bit as she heard some mild cracking noises. She decided that they were just Izotz' ice crystals falling and decided to ignore it for the time being.
To increase the confusion Larissa came saying that humans killed her parents, "What is killing?" he asked curiously, the Hatchling didn't have any specific knowledge about such action but thought for their reaction that was something bad, it meant that humans were bad?, was something quite worrying for the little dragon.
Sounds came from the cave and Izotz just saw something shining, "Kasperita, there's something there," he said proud of his discovery trying to make up for the time he earn a scolding but failed to remember the name of the human.
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Specks of sunlight caught the shell and decorated the cave's stalagmites with shimmering light. He noticed this and beamed; he was very proud of himself for causing such a beautiful scene. "I haven't seen anyone like you before," he declared to Kaspartha just after climbing to a medium-sized rock and perching on top of it like a lizard would bathe in the sun. He knew it would be extremely rude to call her ugly, so he withheld this accusation. "Gren said you'd be coming. You must be a good human, then," he said softly, noticing the irritability of the other dragons and wanting to ease them with thoughts of their old caretaker.
"He wouldn't send us a bad human. That would be like sending us an Ember Dragon to be our new caretaker. Nobody wants to be taken care of by an Ember Dragon," his eyes were big and blue as he spoke, pondering what it would be like to have an Ember Dragon take care of them. He knew that Ember Dragons would be mean once he met one. He just knew it. The way that fire looked like it would bulge from their skins made them scary to look at. They'd probably have all of the hatchlings living with him in a volcano instead of a nice, lush cave like this one. That would be a terrible place to raise baby dragons, Hevel thought.
"It's Kaspartha Izotz. Ka-spar-tha. Now then-"Kaspartha looked at the pink hatchling and the new hatchling in turn. "-what are your names? I'd like to know all of you in time, if that's ok. "
Then she remembered Izotz' question. She didn't particularly want to answer it. After all the reason why children were so precious, no matter their race, was because of their innocence. But, she thought grimly, in the world we live in it's better to let them understand why evil is wrong at a young age. Yet, she couldn't bring herself to answer him just yet. He should enjoy ignorance while it lasts.
She turned to Izotz and sighed. "One day, Izotz, I will tell you what killing is... But you're not quite old enough yet."
Larissa turned away from the human, padding over to the fellow dragon as he spoke. "He wouldn't send us a bad human. That would be like sending us an Ember Dragon to be our new caretaker. Nobody wants to be taken care of by an Ember Dragon." he spoke earnestly, causing her to glance back at the human.
"She doesn't look as bad as an Ember Dragon." she muttered, still wary of her. "I still don't trust you. But. . . I am Larissa." she told the human, still sticking close to the new dragon. She trusted him more.
Now that his curiosity was satisfied and the mistery about the wingless being Izotz decided to retire to a safe distance and keep watching them hidden from afar, he ran dropping icicles that form every time stands still long enough, these theings were the culprits of most of the times he get discovered, either by sound or by the liquid trail they left when melt.
He hid behind a rock and began to look, he didn't realize that his tail was completely visible from where they were, so he believed that his hideout was perfect.
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"I don't think the others have met all of their parents yet because they're fighting." Hevel had literally just explained all that he really knew about their situation. It was sad how clueless they all really were. He didn't really know who they were fighting or why. Because Larissa's parents didn't come back around because of the humans, Hevel assumed that all the fighting had to do with them, but he didn't feel it was his place to judge beyond what was his understanding. It wasn't the humans fault that they were born so ugly. They have every right to be jealous of a dragon's beauty- especially a Lumina Dragon's beauty like his parents.
Kaspartha listened intently to Hevel's account of his relationship with his parents and began to pity him if only a bit. Did dragons pay attention to their children? Surely they must?
"I don't think the others have met all of their parents yet because they're fighting."
Kaspartha frowned at Hevel's words. Were the hatchlings fighting or were the adults fighting? She decided to ask as much.
"Tell me Hevel, who exactly is fighting, and over what for that matter." She wasn't quite sure Hevel could answer the second question. For some reason she had a feeling he was a bit... Self-absorbed. Not to the point of a detrimental fault, at least not yet.
Although it was sudden, she still took a minue to open her eyes. She saw all of her friends: and she got happier when she saw Larissa, she was fun to play with. And Hevel, he was cool.
"Larissa! Hevel!" She shouted, and then saw Izotz, "And Izotz!" She jumped off Kaspartha's shoulders and then began to jump around a little bit, she then remembered that Kaspartha was there. "Hey Kaspartha, I guess you met my friends, yay!" She tackled Larissa and then went back to nudging Izotz. "You have a soft neck, can I sleep there more?" She then remembered she had heard her ask a question while she was half-waking up.
"Our parents are fighting, even mine, and Pillow dragons don't really fight. They don't tell me what they are fighting about, just stay inside, thats what they tell me too do." She said, and began to wrap around her legs, just moving from the burst of energy she got from sleeping.
"Well it's good to see you hatchlings all get along fine... Maybe I'll talk with your parents a bit. I'm sure they can help me get adjusted and all that.
Kaspartha took a minute to take in her charges. All of them were beautiful and special in their own way, she could already tell. Getting to know them is sure to be an adventure! Whether it's Larissa and her rosey smell, Hevel and his beauty, Kivuli and her sleeping habits, or Izotz and his inquisitive manner... Speaking of which, were was Izotz? He was right here!
Oh no, I've already lost a hatchling? I've only been here for a few minutes! This is not good.
"Izotz, where did you go off to," Kaspartha yelled. She hoped he hadn't wandered far. Was this a prank or something? Maybe he decided to go outside.
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Early in the morning, just as the sun was peaking over the mountain, which created a large shadow over the forest visible from the mouth of the cave, there was a thunderous wind approaching the entrance. The cry of an adult lumina dragon echoed through the forest and into the cave, rattling the stalagmites enough that tiny specks of the rock began flaking from the ceiling. It stood at the mouth of the cave, perched in the shadows while its long neck peered inside the darkness. In its left, front claws, it hoisted up a large branch with plenty of greenery and tiny fruit. Within its right front claws, the Lumina dragon was carrying a large, green bush that also contained small fruits.
The dragon dropped its possessions just within the mouth of the cave before peering inside further by beginning to walk through the cave. His back scraped against a few stalagmites, knocking them hard enough for them to crash to the ground. After this accident, the dragon crouched lower to the ground as he walked.
"Greetings," he said heartily to anyone willing to listen, "I bring nutrition to the younglings."
- -
Hevel was sleeping in the same place where his egg had hatched weeks ago. He found the spot very comforting, and was rarely found sleeping elsewhere.
When the dragon entered the cave, Hevel slowly began to awaken, squinting his eyes in the direction of the newcomer. Dazedly, he got to his feet and waddled over to where the large dragon laid, crouched on the floor. "Xenos!" He called out happily, there was a bright, cheery tone to his voice. His waddle fastened to a gallop, and he was quickly at Xenos' heel where he nuzzled against him momentarily. "Where is Nyx?" He asked patiently about his mother.
- -
"Nyx is hunting, youngling. She should arrive before starfall," Xenos affirmed, "Where is the caretaker?" His eyes darted around the cave where younglings began to spring up around him or travel to the mouth of the cave where food was present. Last time he'd arrived here, Gren explained that there were currently no eligible dragon caretakers, and that everyone already had their purpose to fulfill, so in his time of death, he would be forced to step beyond the normal bounds of dragon caretakers.
(( I can make profiles for Xenos and Nyx if necessary, but they'll mostly be background characters. ))
"Tencen, Rixa, please stop this! There is no reason why you can't just share the rabbit."
"But I got to it first! Tencen will just have to wait for the next rabbit that the adults capture."
"No fair! You know I love rabbits! You don't even like them!"
Rixa responded to his comment by lifting him into the air with magic.
"Rixa! Stop that! You know you shouldn't use magic on your cave mates!"
Kaspartha's comment was met with a contemptuous sneer from Rixa.
"What do you know about draconic rules flesh bag?"
Kaspartha let out a puff of air in her frustration. Rixa's parents were some of the adults who hated her with a vengeance. The youngling had played quite a few nasty pranks on her and, though she had been able to outwit Rixa every time, she didn't appreciate the dissension. She lowered her voice to a soft, soothing tone.
"Rixa, set Tencen down and you can have the rabbit. Tencen, I will catch a rabbit just for you, ok?"
Rixa complies with much trepidation and Tencen accepted the terms of peace. As the two hatchlings walked off she her a summons.
"Where is the caretaker?"
She turned to the direction the sound came from. It had to be an adult dragon by the sound of it, so she hardly wanted to keep them waiting. Sometimes dragons could be very impatient. So she gathered her skirts and ran to the mouth of the cave.
"Coming! Coming! I'm sorry, I was dealing with something."
As she came to the entryway she saw Hevel speaking with a larger version of himself. She assumed this was what Lumina dragons looked like when they grew up. No wonder Hevel was so vain! The adult's scales were absolutely gorgeous!
She curtsied slightly to the newcomer as a sign of greeting. "Welcome, I am the Cayretaker."
She showed him the mark on her hand to prove her credibility.
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