The Darkest Journey to See the Brightest Light

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Happy to see that she's not always hungry any more, I give a gentle smile, nuzzling her happily once more. I watch as she speaks to me intelligently, asking about her wings. In turn, I spread my own, the feather glowing brilliantly, shimmering brightly even in the sunlight. "Those, my bubble, are wings. We use them to fly - to get around much quicker by taking to the air. Io and Po don't have them because they are not flying animals, thus not having the capabilities we do. As for changing forms, well..." I give a chuckle. "Changing forms is a little tricky of someone still so young. It is something we dragons have a natural defense, so that we might be safe in a world that would rather shun us. Think about the form you wish to take, and you can take it. Some dragons can even take many forms, but I can only take the form of a human, and I don't get to choose what I wear. What I wear in my human form is actually a part of me."

Watching as she takes it all in, I give her a tilt of the head. Then, I come to a conclusion. "Would you like me to show you? How to fly...and how to change forms. We can begin lessons today, if you'd like. The suns are still low, so daylight is going to be here for a long time. You are quick to grow, so I am sure you will be quick to learn as well."​
 
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Wiggling the wings again but in a frantic manner Iri nods enthusiastically and stomps in place. The action startles near by small animals which she totally ignores in her excited state. They scatter in all directions into the bushes and trees. If Xiamara is paying attention she will see an unusual change in Iri's eyes they glow brightly and look like opals of a blue tint and spin wildly, also she is emitting an intense aura of magic unlike anything seen before. "You mean I can fly like the birds do??" Her voice goes up a couple of octaves with her growing excitement.
 
Another smile and a nod. I don't miss the sudden change in her appearance, the swirling eyes now showing more of a vivid color as well as the air of magic around her. Truly, she could be the savior of our race...but that has yet to completely show, only allowing for subtle hints here and there. A squirrel skitters across my foot, screeching his outrage, and I can hear Io chattering above in amusement. But for now, I decide to take things one at a time, knowing that the teaching of magic will be harder - and take longer - than the teaching of flight. Flight, after all, comes naturally to most dragons.

"Are you ready?" Without much hesitation I begin taking her through the steps. First, I spread my wings wide, glad that we're in a clearing instead of a heavily forested area. "Be sure to give your wings a good stretch before flight. Otherwise, you'll get all cramped up. Then, when they're all the way out, bunch yourself up and give a good leap into the air. The moment you're in the air, flap hard." I do each movement in sequence, understanding that taking off from a standstill is a little harder than a running leap. So, I speak again to keep her confidence high. "You can take a running start if needed. Most dragons have to."​
 
Iri watches closely as her momma explains the art of take-off to her and then she gives her wings a good stretch and it feels good so she starts flapping, dust and dirt and debris fly everywhere. All that work and she only manages a few inches off the ground but she screeches her excitement at Xiamara and then lands hard with a thump. "I did it! I did it! Did you see me? I did it momma!" Breathing hard she tries it again with somewhat better results, at least this time her landing didn't rattle trees or woodland creatures.
 
My glee mimics her own, for even inches off the ground are inches further to her development. Landing with a graceful touch to the ground, I seat myself, my long tail curling around my feet as my wings are pulled halfway in. "Good, good! Keep going until you're tired. Then we can try working your mental strength. After that, we should get something to eat." Of course, my own stomach is already growling, but I'm not going to mention anything. By now, there aren't many animals in the vicinity save the grasshoppers as well as Io and Po. The air is crisp, and when I take a deep breath, I feel a rush of fresh energy flowing. Today will be a good day. I just know it.​
 
After a while Iridacea settles down to earth puffing up with pride and very happy with her new found abilities. Her wings droop to the ground like forgotten kites as she waddles over to her momma dragging them along behind her. Iri nudges her momma for affection and praise for her deeds, "Did you see that last bit momma?? I actually almost turned around in the air!" She raised her wings and puffed out her chest as she spoke then turned on the ground to mimic what she had done in the air and almost swipes Po across the back and comes even closer to smacking Xiamara with the other wing in all her excitement over her almost achievement.
 
A brow rises at the treatment of her wings before I shake my head, glad that the thick skin is more durable than simple kites and won't tear so easily. I nod at her, smiling with glee. "Yes, you're learning quickly. I'm glad. And soon enough, you'll be able to do so much more." Quickly, I back away from her wing as she twirls around on the ground, narrowly missing the sensitive feathers of my left wing. Po, however, is not so calm. The Percheron rears, giving a spooked whinny before panicking further and bucking around the area a few moments. Pulling Iri out of the startled horse's way, I step up to Po and place my muzzle on his back. Instantly, he's stopped bucking, but he still trembles with fear at the near hit to his sensitive skin. "Iridacea, you may want to be a bit more careful. Had you hit Po, you would have torn his skin and hurt him badly. Aplogize to him, please. He's scared." My dark eyes watch the little dragon carefully as my wings extend out slightly to shield and further calm the horse. I know she was only trying to have fun, but everyone must learn to be aware of their surroundings.​
 
Abashed , Iridacea folds her wings and extends her neck toward the horse and purrs then she whispers to it calming words she had heard her momma say to it. The beast calms a bit and Iri looks to her mother to see if she has done well. She is learning quickly, almost unreal is the speed with which she sucks down knowledge of the forest, flight and now animals. It has only been a few days since her hatching and she is five times bigger than she should be, smarter too than she should be. Nothing seems normal about the young dragon. Why is she like this? In a world where magic is dieing, why would a dragon be born that is so full of it?
 
Smiling a gentle and happy smile, I give her a nod. Po settles himself before huffing and trotting off to the nearby stream to get a drink, and in the tree above, Io screeches before leaping down to follow the old horse. Seating myself back on my haunches, wrapping my tail around my legs once more, I look the little dragon over. Five days, and not only have I gone from searching for an egg to raising a dragon, but I have also managed to raise a dragon who grows both physically and mentally at the speed of light. Pondering over this a moment, I remember what that strange black dragon had said to me the night before...she will save the dragon race...and bring the old ways of magic back into the respects of the world. Perhaps her strange growing rate is just a part of her being the savior...and the thought of it only fills me with renewed energy.

Looking down at her again, I give another smile. "Well, now that we've gotten that out of the way, how about we try discovering your shape changing ability, huh?"​
 
Eyes brighten to an almost white and glow brightly as they whirl with excitement over the idea of being able to change form like her mother does. The young pupil nods emphatically as she settles into a seated position to better pay attention.
 
"Alright." Smiling down at Iri, I focus on the instructions I must give her. "First, close your eyes and think about the shape you want to take. Think about every little detail you can, and picture it in your head." While stating this, I do it, going through the steps in my head. "When you have a clear picture in your head, focus on it. Make it reality. Think to yourself, 'This is what I will be.' And if you have enough focus, you'll be able to take that shape." When I open my eyes again, I am human, staring directly at Iri with a gentle smile, waiting to see if she takes to this knowledge like the rest that has been provided.​
 
Listening intently to her mother's words she puts her best efforts forward into the endeavor of learning this new trick. She closes her eyes and concentrates hard on making her body form into a human, like her momma. There is a feeling of warmth grow threw her body and opens her eyes and asks, "Did it work?" and then looks down in horror at the mess of limbs pointing askew from the main trunk, if it could be called that, and the goo oozing from everywhere, the smell or reek rather. She closed her eyes again and frantically thought of herself as being herself. Then once again opened her eyes this time to find herself back to normal. breathing a sigh of relief she decides there is more to this trick than what momma is telling her or maybe she isn't cut out for it.
 
Confusion covers my face as I ponder over what could have possibly gone wrong. Typically, a dragon will take the form they think of spot on with no exceptions. If they think of a human shape and then while shifting think of the shape of a wolf, the two shapes might mix, or the form will simply change to the most recent thought. That is how it has always worked. So when I see the mess of limbs that has become of the baby dragon, I begin to worry. Perhaps the shifting part of her isn't as keen to learning as the other parts of her, or perhaps it is just what she thought of. Raising a brow, I look at her skeptically. "What was the shape you had thought of? Are you sure it was truly human?" This is said with all due seriousness. The steps in this are simple ones, and the ways of doing it typically come naturally to a dragon...so suddenly I get the feeling that she hadn't pictured a human very well...​
 
"I..I..well, are you human momma? I tried to be like you..." Iridacea unconsciously grabbed her left wing and began to wring it. She felt like she had done something bad by the way her mother looked at her intently but for the life of her she couldn't figure out what it was. It made her very uncomfortable and she wished she was down at the stream fishing instead of standing here. Just that fast...

((POOF))
...she was down beside the stream at the exact spot she was at when she had been fishing. Iri looked around her in puzzlement and wondered how it had happened. Did momma do it? Was she really angry with her for not being able to change?
 
My face softens at her nervousness, and a give her a gentle, reassuring smile. "I'm sure it's just hard for you since you haven't seen very many humans. I only wish I had the ability to take many shapes so that you might see more of a variety." I give a sigh, stepping towards her to place a hand on her muzzle. But before I have the chance, the baby dragon disappears into thin air. Surprise written all over my face, I look around to see where she might have gone. Instantly, my form melts back into that of the dragon, and I leap into the air to hover and see out into the expanse of the area around me. Mere moments pass before I finally spot her by the stream, and I zip through the air to land before her in a panicked motion. "Oh, my goodness! I would say you are more attuned to disappearing than to changing your appearance!" I give a hearty laugh before pulling the baby close to me, holding her tight in a hug. "You had me wrought with worry when you poofed like that."​
 
Looking up at her mother from the comforting confines of the hug, Iridacea is now completely confused about today's lessons. It started out good with the flying exercises but had gone down hill after that and now she felt totally exhausted and wasn't even sure she had the energy to go feed even though she was terribly hungry. She snuggled her snout in under a wing fold and closed her eyes to the dizziness that was creeping up on her and sighed as she relaxed somewhat in her mother's arms. In the short space of time that it took for her to transform twice and then to teleport a short distance her body had taken on a sickly greenish hue and her eyes were hardly moving at all and almost a brown in color when they were open.
 
Looking down at the baby, Xiamara panics, lifting her and flying back to the clearing and into the cave where she had first found Iri. Laying her there on the pile of gems, the dragon zips back out to gather food and water. The hunt for both takes little more than half an hour, and before Iridacea can really notice, she is back with two deer, seven rabbits, and twelve fish as well as a skin full of fresh water. "Here. Eat and drink and feel better." She smiles down at the baby, hoping that the strangeness of the coloring is just exhaustion. After all, learning for any young dragon is hard...but for a dragon at five days to learn flying as well as...teleportation...well...it takes a dragon almost a year before they get the chance to fly. And few types of dragons even have the power of teleportation. In fact, Xiamara had only known of a single type of dragon to have that...and that was the Platinum. Deadly beasts with no souls...but as she already knows, where there is good, there must also be evil...there must always be a balance. Xiamara just hopes that the balance isn't tilted too much with such a stunning little creature like Iri.​
 
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While her mother was away, little Iri did move some. She felt drawn to the gems, it was odd, but she looked at the shimmering mass as she lay in the middle of them as if they were food. Iridacea licked one experimentally and found it to be a sweet flavor that made her mouth salivate. Taking a few into her mouth she swallowed them whole and then lay back down, to tired to do more of the same, however she did begin to feel somewhat better by the time momma came back.

The deer looked so good she had to eat at least one and so she did, then the other and then the rest of the food as well, topped off by the cool water. Again just as every other time she yawned and burped and then slipped into a sound sleep before her head even had a chance to rest on her arms, the smell of those wonderful gems aiding her to dream of flying high above the trees.
 
Glad that all seems better, Xiamara slips back out of the cave to go hunt for her own food. Her body aches already, even though it can only be midday, but despite this, she leaps back into the air and hunts, deciding on more of the smaller things. She catches at least a dozen rabbits, all in different areas as to keep the popluation from dwindling before moving to the rivers of the area to catch almost three dozen fish. With her belly full, Xiamara takes a moment to drink some water, letting if flow through her and cool her heated muscles. It is there that she streches herself, allowing her entire mass to be stretched out...and when she is done, she takes a running leap towards the clearing, flying there in less than a minute. There, she takes the shape of a woman again, walking to Po, who rests himself in the shade by the stream. Sitting beside him, she leans on the old horse. He turns his head toward her, huffing in her platinum hair as Io leaps from the trees with a squeal, landing atop her head. "Hello to you, too." She grabs the little monkey, pulling him from her head and holding him against the warmth of her chest. Leaning her head back against Po, she begins to doze in the warm air, listening to the music of nature and basking in the luxury of having no current worries.
 
While sleeping Iri's color returns to normal and, in fact, it becomes stronger than before. The colors becoming deeper and more intense with the iridescence that she was named for becoming much more noticeable. Also, she again grows at an alarming rate and now is truly comparable to her mother's size if not weight. In that area she has thinned out, loosing all of her baby chubbiness.

The dawn comes but Iradacea sleeps on oblivious to the world awakening around her. Dreams of deer leaping enticingly in front of her, wonderful rainbow colored fish swimming about her feet begging to be eaten and bunnies hopping about the fields begging to be snapped up. The child-no-more sleeps on well into the afternoon and then the evening comes and she finally stirs. With a very long yawn and a mighty stretch of her wings Iradacea, the fully grown dragon, wakes and rises to meet the world around her.
 
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