wadjet | (no subject)

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It was such a ridiculous thing. Great big wings tucked at his side as they always were. Just as they always would be. A grounded dragon. There had never been anyone to teach him how to fly when he was living in Cairo. And no where for a dragon, as big as he was, to hide. So it had just been that tiny, helpless, human form he had for most of 28 years. No real opportunities to stretch his wings. No where he could go to be himself.

He was a legend who had never fulfilled his destiny. He had never even made his grand entrance. Wadjet's Dragon. The great dragon of Egypt.

Nothing but a giant lizard with useless wings and no fire.

How was he supposed to darken the sands with his shadow, if he could never get up to the sun? And how would he turn the desert to glass with no heat in his lungs?

Here in this tiny box, things were different. There were great, tall forests of trees he could hide in. Mountain caves for him to explore. And the harsh, beating sun of the desert never burned his fleshy skin. He changed in a clearing in the forest, and hesitantly, bracing his legs on the soft, leaf-covered ground, he stretched his large, powerful, useless wings.

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Amery had never seen a real dragon before, one that was flesh and blood and not metal and gears and bellows. Metal dragons he was used to, comfortable with, even, but real dragons? Those didn't exist in Volstov. Didn't exist anywhere, as far as he was aware of. The last place he expected to see one was here.

All things considered, he probably shouldn't have just been standing there at the edge of the clearing, staring. A thing like that, in a place like this, it would probably try to murder him. While he didn't fancy the idea of becoming a dragon's dinner, it was a dragon and he couldn't help but stare. Instead of leaving, even, he took a step closer.

Zaid had tried to find the clearing that was farthest from any of the living spaces, but the Box was so small, and there were so many people in it, it was impossible to safely avoid every human. Try as he might, he was still a large dragon, even as young as he was.

He started when he caught movement, and the gust of air created by his abrupt pull of his wings, back to his sides, was enough to knock some men off their feet.

He swung his head around, scanning the clearing for more humans before turning his attetion to Amery, a nervous shift on his large, heavily taloned feet.

"What are you doing here?"

If Amery was not already fleeing he would hear panic in the Dragon's low voice.

It would be just his luck if the Guard were here, too. Just when he thought he might be safe.

He was no stranger to wind. That said, he also wasn't very fond of it. That said...he was still staring at the dragon. Staring was rude, he knew that, but he was too in awe to remember his manners for a long moment. He wasn't running, though. Havemercy was the fiercest dragon he'd ever dealt with, and in comparison, thus far at least, this wasn't intimidating.

"Ah-forgive me." For staring. But he blinked now, tore his gaze away for a moment to compose himself. "You're a dragon. Of course-that's obvious. I simply mean, I've never seen a dragon such as yourself, before."

"Well, I'm not a lizard, that's for sure."

He sounded disgruntled. But the man watching him wasn't attacking. Not only that but he seemed curious more than afraid. He lowered his head down to Amery's level and studied him, staring right back with silver eyes that looked like molten treasure.

"I will forgive you, if you tell me your name. I'm not fond of strangers staring at me."

He tucked his wings tight to his sides, still gripping tight at the ground beneath his feet. I am not afraid. I am a dragon. I could eat you up in two bites. His teeth bared when he spoke, but it wasn't intentionally threatening. He was just uncomfortable.

"I am the only dragon."

And how depressing that was.

Edited 2014-02-22 05:28 (UTC)

Oh, he had to smile at that though. No, it was certainly not a lizard. "My apologies; the dragons I'm used to are made of metal. My name's Amery, though. Amery Vallet. It's a pleasure to meet you."

He meant that, too. He didn't even have to fake any politeness or sincerity. He'd never met an actual dragon before, and this was one of the most amazing things he had ever experienced.

"The only one? How unfortunate. There aren't any that are flesh and blood where I'm from."

"Metal dragons?"

Zaid tilted his head, curiosity evident. He did not approach Amery, but he slowly lowered himself, laying on his belly on the ground and curling his tail around his body.

"I am Zaid Ammar, and it is a pleasure to meet you, as well, Amery Vallet."

He was sincere and, now that he had determined Amery was not here to trap him, more at ease.

"I am the last dragon. The rest of my kind were killed long before I hatched."

Alone in the warm sands of the White Desert. His siblings had had the misfortune of hatching before him, and they had all been slaughtered by The Guard. Assumed to be the last of the dragons. It was only thanks to Wadjet herself, that the runt of the nest had survived.

"These metal dragons you speak of. Are they truly like dragons, or are they the giant, screeching metal birds humans call 'planes'?"

"That's a shame." It really was, especially if they were all as nice as this dragon seemed to be. And even then, such an amazing creature had a right to live as a species and not be wiped out.

"What are planes?" No, they didn't have planes in Volstov. The dragons were the only things that flew in the sky. "The girls were beautiful, all teeth and claws and wings. Very much like dragons."

"I think I would like to have seen these metal dragons."

Dragons of metal? Teeth and claws and wings made of metal. He could almost imagine the sun glinting off them like it does off the cars in Cairo. The clean ones that weren't covered in sand and dust.

He hesitated a moment. How much like dragons were they? If this man knew of dragons, even ones made of metal, and not his tough hide and bones, it was just possible...

"Could they fly?"

How badly did he wish he could fly? How often had he stared up at the blinding blue skies and wished he could leap into them and soar through the clouds. Feel the wind on his wings....

Edited 2014-02-22 06:21 (UTC)

"A lot of people always hoped to get a look at them. They were the pride of Volstov." Amery himself sounded proud, even now, when all of the dragons were gone. At least, he had been told they were gone. Either way, he missed them so.

"They most certainly could," he smiled. "We flew them at night, because it was too risky during the day." During the day the sun caught on the metal and shone, making it far too easy to see them.

Zaid's eyes turned skyward, as if he were looking for dragons winging above them. He daydreamed of what it would be like to be up there. To fly the way his ancestors had. He had seen paintings, heard stories. But he had never experienced it for himself, and he doubted he ever would.

But then he registered a specific set of words, and bright silver eyes directed back to Amery, the dragon leaning his neck forward to be closer to the man he was speaking to.

"You flew them?"

"Yes." Oh, he hoped that wouldn't be offensive in some way, that they had commanded dragons. That was what the girls had been built for though, after all. "Each dragon had a rider. We couldn't have done what we did without them; we owe so much to them." How he missed the feeling of flying, though. But not the feeling of falling.

In an instant, Zaid was on his feet again. The large, powerful dragon nearly encircled the man. Curled around him like a serpent waiting to strike. He brought his head down above and in front of Amery's and studied him intently.

"Were you a rider? Did you teach them to fly? How did you fly them."

He had to know. And his wings were spread again. Like barriers around them. Amery was surrounded, though it had not been Zaid's intent. He had to know.

Oh.

Oh.

Instinctively, he started to back up, fearing that he had said the wrong thing after all, but after a moment, he realized that this wasn't an attack. It was almost more baffling than if it had been, until he heard what the fuss was about. But, what did it matter how they flew them?

"Ah." He just. Needed a moment to recover from being startled, not that he would even admit that he had been startled in the first place. "I was, though I'm not sure; the girls knew how to fly by the time I arrived there. Perhaps the Margraves taught them."

Disappointment rippled through him like a physical rendition of a sigh. His wings slowly withdrew, pulling back to his sides, and he forced himself to take a step back, away from the rider. He lowered his head again, looking almost chastised, if such a large creature could manage it.

"I am sorry. I got carried away with myself. Are you alright?"

He did not know who taught them to fly, or how they flew. Which meant in all likelihood he could not know how Zaid might fly, either.

For a brief moment, the sky had held hope again.

Somehow, even though he wasn't yet sure why, he felt bad that he didn't know. That clearly hadn't been the answer that Zaid had been hoping for.

"Yes, I'm fine. No harm done. Might I ask why you wanted to know?"

Dragons were a species known for their pride. But Zaid had never had anything to be proud of. He was a runt hatchling who could neither fly or spark a flame. He was the last of a species that had been hunted to extinction by the very people his kind was meant to protect. And even the goddess who had spared his life had acknowledged that he was not the dragon who had been destined to survive that day.

She had to work with what she had managed to salvage, and that was him. Being a last of his kind and a last resort was not exactly the hi-light of a life.

Still, even a dragon as useless as he liked to hold onto some illusion that he was worth something. So Zaid turned his head, staring away at the treeline when he answered Amery's question.

"I can not fly."

Zaid couldn't fly. Somehow that seemed very silly to Amery, that a creature born with wings either couldn't or didn't know how to use them. Then again, he didn't know how to swim, himself, so he supposed that it wasn't really that far-fetched of an idea.

"You...can't fly. Forgive me if this seems rude, but isn't learning to fly an instinctive sort of thing?"

"Perhaps it would have been."

The words came out a deep and threatening growl. He had not grown up to a family of dragons. He had grown up with a human family. When he should have been playing at stretching his wings and using them in play, he had grown up stumbling on tiny legs. Climbing and crawling.

He was an excellent climber.

But Zaid had barely even stretched his wings in all his life. And the few times he had attempted flight, he had injured himself. Falling off buildings when he was still a tiny hatchling. Smashing cars as a juvenile. Stumbling over his wings as a teen.

He bared his teeth in frustration, mouth curled in a snarl.

"Are you a dragon?"

What did a human know of his instincts. It was clear the comment had struck a nerve. And the dragon huffed, hot air blowing over Amery. He turned on his talons and stalked a few feet away, his back to the human and his eyes glaring at the trees.

Only to slowly raise up to the sky.

Truth be told, he was afraid. Afraid of injuring himself. Afraid of losing himself mid-flight and falling. What if he couldn't do it? What if he was a dragon who would never fly?

"My apologies." Well, there it was. He had the same affect on dragons that he had on people. Sooner or later, he was going to say the wrong thing and upset someone. He took a deep breath.

"I can't swim, myself. Some people say that should be instinct, and that everyone should know how. You had no one to teach you; neither did I." He was assuming, at least, if Zaid said that he was the last of the dragons.

"Perhaps I could try to help." Not that he was sure how he could, but at the very least, he could try.

Zaid was silent a moment, but he slowly peered over his shoulder at the rider. He was a young dragon. Fire lived in his mind and in his temper, even if it evaded his chest. It took little on the sore subject of flying to get under his thick skin.

He twisted around and brought his head down, this time less than a foot from Amery's face.

Amery could not swim. Zaid could not fly. They were both condemned to the ground of the earth.

Except Amery was a rider. He had flown. He knew the feel of the sky.

Zaid's voice went low and soft. A rumble of a sound deep in his throat as the words came out.

"Flying... What is it like?"

He managed not to flinch, at least. While he still wasn't used to flesh and blood dragons, the girls back home had gotten into his face on multiple occasions. And in Have's case, he was lucky to still have a face at all.

He smiled softly. "It's...amazing. Just the wind and the clouds-weightless. Free. Like there's nothing in the whole world that can stop you."

Maybe not the wind. At least, not the sort that sent you spiraling to your death. But the normal sort of wind, that was nice.

He laid down again, staring up at the sky before closing his eyes with another rumbling sound. As if he were a massive cat attempting a purr.

"Sometimes I close my eyes and face the sandstorm. And imagine how the wind would feel without the bite of the sand."

Free. Wadjet wanted him to learn to fly so he could destroy. Zaid wanted to learn to fly so he could see and feel. The rush of the wind. What a cloud felt like to wing through. How it was to see the sands stretched out for miles below.

He wanted it so badly it hurt.

"If I could teach you how to swim. Do you think... you could tell me more about your metal dragons. Maybe I can learn from how they flew."

Teach him how to swim. He wasn't really sure what he thought about the idea of a dragon teaching him to swim. For one, Amery would be a great deal more embarrassed if he had to be saved by a dragon should he start drowning. Not that he wouldn't be embarrassed if he had to be saved by a person, but.

"Ah. You wouldn't even have to do that for me to tell you more." Actually, he had something of an idea. Who knew if it would be any success though. "Does that mean you can swim, then?"

Zaid studied the human before him, mulling over his options. It would be simpler to speak to Amery when he was at the same level. And to explain how it would be easier to teach him to swim in a form that could not simply stand in most bodies of water. As a dragon, he disliked the water. But as a human? Sometimes it was the only way to escape the harsh desert heat.

"You seem like a human capable of being trusted."

It was both a statement and a question. The hesitance lingering at the end as he studied Amery. Could he trust him?

"Ah. Well." Trust. The actual word had never been tossed around very much, at least not at the airmen, but they had all trusted each other, and he knew that the other men had relied on him when they were up in the air, when their lives depended on it. He wouldn't betray someone, and he wouldn't hurt them without a good reason. Not counting the times when he lost control of his temper.

"I believe I am, yes. At the very least, I would do nothing to harm you."

Magic is a tricky thing. Trusting humans with it, however? That was a far more dangerous monster to toy with. Zaid's magic was limited by his age. But the ability to change from one form to another was a simple one. When he changed, it was not a flash of smoke or a computer generated shrinking of limbs until he resembled a human once more. It was a harsh gust of hot wind that stung the eyes and forced them to close.

And where Zaid had been standing, between the impressions the large, taloned feet had left, was a rather unthreatening man.

"Don't think just because I am smaller, I'm any weaker."

He was, but that was besides the point. The point was he could talk to Amery now, without craning his neck. Or worrying he might knock the man down with his wings or a heavy breath.

Well, that was certainly something, and Amery raised a hand to shield his face from the wind. All that had to have been said was magic and he would have understood why trust had been brought up, he really would have. There was so much magic at home, not just in Volstov, but everywhere, and it was what powered the girls. What had killed him.

This though, was a different kind of thing. Different in that it was completely unexpected. Just like Amery had never seen a real dragon before, he had never seen one turn into a man. At least this time he managed not to stare. Not for very long, anyway.

"I never would have thought that. I had no idea dragons were capable of such a thing."

"They aren't... Weren't."

It was just him. Well. And the other surviving dragons. But he had no idea they existed, and so, assumed it was only himself.

"This was a gift that was given to me." He hesitated a moment, rubbing the back of his neck.

"To protect me."

"Ah. I see." Then that explained how he had managed to be the last remaining dragon, didn't it.

"It's quite an impressive gift." He knew there were magicians capable of a lot of things in Volstov, but he didn't think any of them would be capable of something such as this. It made him curious who was capable of it then, where Zaid was from, but he didn't want to pry.

"Yes. It is. I would have been killed long before now without it."

He rubbed at his hand with the other, watching Amery warily. Like one might watch a tiger in a cage with them. He was only a couple feet away now that he had shifted, but he made no move closer or farther.

"I thought it would, likely, be easier for me to teach you with this form, than my own That and people have a tendency to feel more at ease when I am not towering over them.

Edited 2014-02-23 05:13 (UTC)

What Amery had said was true; he didn't have any plans to hurt Zaid, or anything of the sort. Unless it was self defense, he would never be able to bring himself to harm a dragon of all things.

"Yes, quite. Dragons can be quite intimidating. It also makes more sense now, how you'd be able to teach me."

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