The Ballad of a Dragon

[ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ 1: ʀᴇʙɪʀᴛʜ ]

Present Day...
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They say that eyes are the window to a persons soul; the afterlife & whatnot. If not for my vacant eyes that lead no emotion, I could fool one into thinking my story was filled with greatness, but it wasn't.

I sat perched atop a large mountain, a large cave that I knew as my home had a lingering feeling of coldness as I stared out into the world I could not go into, given both my history, & rather large wingspan.

As the sun rose, I felt my body change, the silver skin of scales shifting into something of a mortal, though distinguishable features remained. I let out a sigh, a cloud of cold air lingering for a brief moment before vanishing into the great atmosphere once more.

To be a mortal & only mortal, that was a dream. My tail flicked slightly as snowflakes melted, small droplets replacing the cold as the dripped onto me, as if I were crying. I wasn't, but I should have been.

Reincarnated over & over again, I had begged the gods thousands of times to remove my curse, the burden I held for killing my beloved centuries back. 

The stories were both right & wrong, I had been foolish & power-hungry, but for what reason, & at what cost? Thousands had come to know me as the evil Queen Starmory, but I was far from that person. Her corpse lay buried & bruised under the oceans waves.

Eventually, I gave myself a new name, or rather, the citizens of my once beloved Efrait did. I became known as 'Celui d'argent', though others referred to me as a wise Sage, rather than the horrid evil Queen. I had become attached to that name, & therefore, my name was Sage.

But to gain a new name was not to gain a new life. I was still trapped, stuck in between my own actions & history with little hope to reform & change my ways. If nobody accepted me, I could not accept myself.

As the heat of the sun became evident, I stood up, dusting non-existent dirt off of my clothing as I stared off the edge of the cliff. Despite my efforts, I could not die peacefully, & therefore I was forced to live on & face the same judgmental words & faces of people I once knew.

I sighed, grieving myself would do no good. I glanced around, looking for any sort of company in the forest, my only friends being animals, which was rather depressing.

"Are you going to keep moping?" said a voice behind me with a sigh. I frowned, turning to a young man who I recognized as my friend, Noah. He had long maroon hair & deep green eyes, which paired well with his glasses. Noah also had Foxen features, I was surprised he didn't have a man himself yet. 

"Contrary to your belief, I was not moping. I was pondering my past decisions" I replied, my tail flicking slightly as I furrowed my brow, a bit annoyed that he had interrupted my internal monologue. "Wait, when did you get here?" I asked, slightly confused about his sudden presence.

Noah shrugged in response, the sunlight gleaming off his glasses & straight into my eyes, which slightly burned, though I couldn't complain as an immortal. "Just a few minutes after you transformed out of your scary dragon form," he replied, his tone nonchalant, as if it were completely normal. 

"Oh," I replied, my confusion lingering for a brief moment as I glanced at the sunrise, a sign a new day was beginning. My stomach grumbled, by Eliza I was hungry. "Did you bring the food I requested?" 

Noah nodded, whipping out a large bag of groceries behind him. I blinked twice, my eyes wide...that was a big bag for food. How much did he spend on that? Regardless, my interest was piqued, & I walked over to take the bag from him.

"I got the seeds you requested," Noah started as he pointed towards the bag with his thumb, "Some other vegetables, water jugs, & some of those gelatin flowers you like" Noah continued, pulling a small clear box out of the bag, a small jell-o flower inside. I rolled my eyes, he didn't have to spend his money on stupid crap for me, but I muttered a small thanks as I took the grocery bag from him.

"Also," Noah continued, pointing to the bag, "I got some stuff for Willow." I arched a brow at Noah, who usually wasn't this willing to buy random crap, "Oh? You seem in a good mood, then." 

He shrugged, "Met a new person, that's all." I blinked, while I didn't really understand love, given my past, I assumed this was what it looked like. I thought for a moment, deciding I should be a good friend (or rather, an annoying one), and I cleared my throat. "Ooooh~" I said, my voice cracking halfway through.

Noah stared at me. "That was painful to both watch & hear."

"It was painful to do," I spoke as I stared at him blankly.

"I figured."

"Would it be rude of me to start eating those gelatin flowers now?"

"Knock yourself out."

"Why would I do that?"

"Just...yeah, go ahead & eat it."

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Hours later...
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A few hours later, the sun was now high in the sky, & Noah had left to go back into town to meet up with this new friend of his. Apparently he was a gambler, which I disapproved of, but Noah said he was apart of the government's strategic branch, so I brushed it off.

I dug a small hole in the dirt, placing a few tomato seeds inside of it before covering it back up with the excess dirt, letting a soft sigh escape me. Farming was one of my only food sources, since I didn't dare go into town myself, & while I had Noah to fetch groceries, the hike up to the mountain where I was resided was quite the trek.

I patted the dirt in before wiping a small bit of sweat off my forehead, glancing up at the sky. The sun had no mercy today, even in a cold area like my home. My tail flicked slightly as I suddenly felt somebody watching me.

Swiftly, I turned around to investigate, though was only met with a small brown tabby cat with light pink eyes, holding my small pack of lettuce seeds. I sighed (which I seemed to be doing a lot), frowning as I held out my hand.

"Willow, give it back" I instructed, my expression firm as I stared down the animal. As expected, the cat rolled it's eyes. dropping the lettuce seeds. With a small flash of light, the cat was replaced with a human of similar appearance to the tabby, being adorned with some of it's features. 

"You're no fun," Willow pouted as she picked up the seeds & handed them to me reluctantly, a grumpy look on her face. I rolled my eyes, "Imagine how different I would be if I met the standards of your idea of 'fun', though" I retorted, my voice painfully kind, since Willow was really just a teenager. 

Willow paused, considering my words, "Touche. But you still need to be less..." she made motions with her hands towards my face, which was stoic. I arched a brow. offering for her to continue,* "...Less 'i'm depressed since I can't die.'"

I rolled my eyes, turning back to my planting as I sprinkled a few more seeds in a newly dug dirt hole, "Well excuse me for being over 10,000 years old & looking like a a 27 year old. People won't even let me apologize to them from killing my wife."

Willow scoffed, "How do you know? That's a very bold assumption for a 10,000 year old who's been living on a cliff for most of her life."

"Well maybe I'm bold"

"I seriously doubt that, grandma"

"If you call me 'grandma' again I'll slit your throat like I did Eliza."

"I thought you regretted that."

"...Leave."

Willow rolled her eyes before shifting into a cat once more, scampering away almost gracefully, though I noticed she tripped ways down the mountain & went tumbling. I chose to ignore her, though, & went back to planting my seeds.

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