Post by Goldenwolfmidna on Feb 25, 2021 19:27:02 GMT
Chapter 1
Helpless
1202 words
1202 words
Atolla was hatched with the rest of its clutch, on a deserted island in the Sea kingdom, near the rainforest where its father had lived. The smallest, in the pile of four eggs that its mother had laid however-long ago. The second to hatch, after its brother. Already, its mother cooed and fawned over the large, dull blue dragon who had stumbled over to her minutes prior, and Atolla still remembers the look of concept it was given when it walked up to Mariana, who reluctantly comforted the reddish hatchling.
Soon, all of the hybrid dragons were hatched. Of them all, Bullwhip, Atolla's brother, was the most SeaWing-looking dragonet, with Atolla as a second. All that was strange about it was its reddish color, but that seemed to be enough for Mariana to think it unnatural. Its sisters, Urchin and Gannet, looked more like their father, with dark scales and the slim, beak-like snout NightWings have, with starry underwings, but still keeping their bioluminescent scales. Atolla knew that its mother favored Bullwhip above them all, thanks to him looking similar to something "normal", but it was young. It relied on its mother to keep it alive.
Several days after hatching, when the dragonets were all ready to swim, Atolla remembers its father coming to see them. A dark shape, diving down out of the mist so common around their island. The NightWing practically melted out of the darkness, his claws skimming the water with an easy grace as he came to see his children. Undying, as he was called, was quite pleased with them all, seeing them all as far more beautiful creatures than Mariana ever would.
The crimson-colored hybrid was still a little odd in his eyes- a reddish color was strange, even among pure NightWings, but he accepted it. He would come back often, the hybrid remembers, often with fruit- a welcome change from their diet of mostly fish. In that time, the siblings all learned to swim- it came naturally to Atolla and Bullwhip, though Urchin and Gannet had more issues, as even with their gills and webbed claws, their wings were all the wrong shape, and their tail not nearly powerful enough to act as a rudder in the ocean's currents.
One day, maybe a few months after they had all hatched, Atolla remembers Undying had come. He brought fruit, as usual, but while the hatchlings ate, it remembers hearing him talk to Mariana about taking Urchin and Gannet. He seemed to think they weren't built right for the ocean, and from what Atolla could see, this was true. Its sisters seemed to struggle to swim, and eventually Mariana relented. She agreed to let him take the hatchlings back to the rainforest and raise them as NightWings.
That night was the last night Atolla saw Urchin and Gannet. It had never really cared about them, but still something in it was a little sad to see them go- perhaps the fear that now they were gone, it was the worst at swimming. And even if this wasn't false, it wasn't true either. Atolla was quite good at swimming, though never really seemed to be good enough for its mother. Bullwhip was the favorite- he could pass as a pure SeaWing, without any odd looks at his scale color or the silver spots on the underside of his wings. No, that was reserved for Atolla. Or, at least, it would be. For now, though, it stayed on the island it was born on, since that's what its mother said to do. They'd go to a village once the two were a year old, so she didn't have to carry them both.
The year passed quickly, and it was time for the dragonets to leave their island. They did so with reluctance, but eventually accepted it was best. This was the first time Atolla remembers feeling free- finally, it was off the island, and wherever it looked, it had opportunities. Possibilities to go see, things to do, everything had opened up to it as it followed its mother in the current. And then they got to the village- a sea cave, with the houses carved into the cliffside, above and below water. The school was half in and half out, the dragon remembers- you'd be swimming and then walking.
They were lead into a house, full of things that Atolla had never seen. Beds, scrolls, lights- it was all so new, and Atolla didn't know what to make of it. It was a child, after all- barely a year old. Its mother told them where to sleep, and all Atolla can remember for the next few weeks is how good it felt to be on something other than rocky beaches.
About a month after they got to the village, the other hatchlings its age started wanting to play, and of course Mariana insisted that it and Bullwhip go out and make friends. Not like she much cared whether or not Atolla did- it was a matter of getting the red dragonet out of her claws for a while. That was about the time Atolla discovered that other dragons didn't like it much. What with a snippy personality and a tendency to lash out when upset, combined with the constant teasing of the other dragons, Atolla was an outcast quickly. Not like it minded- it was happy to stay alone in the bay and hunt for fish and pretty shells.
After a few years of this, Mariana sent the hatchlings off to school. Bullwhip loved every second of it, relishing the learning of information, while Atolla was bored and distractible. Its first-year teacher would constantly go on about how you needed to be nice to everyone, but that was mostly a pointed remark that Atolla didn't ever take the hint on. It wanted to be allowed to live without someone looking over its shoulder, but it was four. And it wasn't like Bullwhip was going to defend it- he spent his time with the SeaWings their age, playing and having a good time. Whenever Atolla said something about the harassment, to its teachers or mother, it was dismissed as something they couldn't control.
By the time this had gone on for years- the time it was ten- it was done with this. Done with being helpless and unable to do anything, unable to lash out at the world that kept beating it down for no reason other than the curve of its horns and the colors of its scales. It wanted to find a way to fight back- finally be free from the tormenting. It got into fights at school, sure. But that just got Atolla in trouble while the aggressor walked away with a smug grin. It needed to find a way to break free of all of these arbitrary rules, all of this that kept weighing it down for no reason.
It heard a merchant would be stopping by on the mainland about their cave, selling high-quality SeaWing-enchanted objects, and the hybrid, covered in scratches and cuts from that day's fight, began forming a plan to finally hurt all of the people that'd hurt it.