Application Yo!

[Degorram]

Ascara bowed her head as the raindrops ran down her face, dripping off her nose and lips. She stood in front of a great forest, shivering, watching the trees be tossed by the wind. Her short, silver hair grew stringy as they water washed it free of the silver blood that had previously matted it. The blood was also on her face and arms, and as the water touched it, it began to run again, causing her to look streaked with it. Storm clouds rumbled in the east as they charged towards her, bringing with them more rain and torrential winds.

Taking in a shuddering breath, Ascara turned away and headed for the cliffs that lead to the ocean. She was leaving everything she knew behind her. Every step she took lead her further and further away from all she knew, all she had loved. Her eyes, an exotic mixture of blue and green, reflected her anguish as the thoughts chased around in her head, and painful memories brought a torrent of tears and sobs from her. She stopped and crouched fighting off the outburst, her body racked with the intensity of her sorrow. She stayed there for many minutes, fighting off the pain.

Gathering her strength once again she stood, swaying on her feet. Her sorrow was draining her of energy, making her sick. She took a steadying step towards the cliffs again, followed by another, then another. Finally she was walking, and as she went she refused to think of what lay behind her, especially of what lay dead in the middle of the forest.

Her black leggings clung to her legs as the rain soaked through her. Her black shirt stuck to her skin likewise. The leather trench coat she wore, along with her boots, was the only thing keeping her remotely dry, though in the torrent of rain and tears, it really didn't matter. Nothing mattered anymore....

The crash of thunder made her jump, her hands flying up to her ears. She shivered and continued on, eyes squinted against the rain that stung her face. Stopping for a moment she dropped her hands to fasten her coat tightly around her waist. Another roar of thunder had her jumping and hastening her fingers. Rubbing her shoulders and leaning into the rage of wind that pushed her back, she stumbled the last few feet towards the cliffs.

Standing at the very edge she shivered and closed her eyes, teeth chattering. Every time she opened her eyes, she was forced to look down into the depths of the sea, laid open by the massive whirlpool that churned the waters only a few miles out to see. A heavy mist rose above its open maw, concealing it cleverly to ships that could be swallowed by it. Within the whirlpool, Ascara knew, was her only hope to make things right.

Her voice wavering, she called out softly: "Gedogem....." Her voice did not carry over the rage of wind however, so she tried again, louder. "Gedogem!" She received no answer. Leaning into her cry, she poured her emotions into a scream of sorrow that she knew would reach him. "GEDOGEM!!!"

The whirlpool seemed to heave, and a spout of water and wind shot out of its center. A howl ripped the air and a silver dragon pulled itself from the maw. His long, lithe body twisting and spiraling as he moved towards her, the dragon seemed to float over the waters. Instead of scales, his body was covered in fur, and his face was like a great wolf. Two horns, like a stags, poked out of his head near his ears, and spines lined his back. Tendrils poked through his skin near his nostrils, waving wildly in the wind he rode upon.

Ascara closed her eyes as he rushed towards her and curled his long body around her in a swift movement. His green eyes were concerned as he brought his huge face towards hers.

"What are you doing out in the storm?" he asked, his voice melodic and young. He raised a great wing over his head, blocking out the rain as it tore at their bodies. "Why are you not in the forest?"

Ascara shook her head and sobbed again. "Denota is dead..." she cried, lifting her hands, showing him the last drops of silver blood that clung to them. "She was murdered by someone I did not recognize."

Gedogem's eyes hardened and his hackles rose threateningly. "She is dead?" he asked, his voice taking on a terrible tone.

Ascara raised her hands again, eyes pleading. "It wasn't my fault! We were playing hide and seek and she was hiding! I heard screams and laughter......"

But Gedogem had backed away, uncoiling, eyes wild. "Denota," he said in a growl, "last of the Pegasi clan, princess of the mountains, our only hope, is DEAD?!?"

Ascara shivered and shook her head, tears streaming down her face again. "It wasn't my fault," she whispered.

Gedogem's eyes softened and he curled back around Ascara in a dragon hug. "I know little one," he said in a whisper. "The pain is as great for you as any others. But my brothers will not understand that. As guardian of the east wind, I am the youngest and weakest of the Four Dragons. You know I cannot protect you from their wrath."

Ascara raised her eyes. "Can you do nothing?" she whispered in terror. "Nothing at all?"

Gedogem raised his head and regarded the coming storm. Ignoring the question, he spoke again. "You should not be out in the storm. You could be killed."

Ascara defiantly shook her head. "Don't change the subject. A little thunder will not kill me, no matter how sensitive I am."

Gedogem was about to argue when a shout of thunder sent Ascara to the ground. She curled into the fetal position, shaking violently, her hands over her head. In the distance she heard Gedogem cry out to her. His words, however, were masked by the terrible noise in her head, the pain that racked her body. Vaguely she felt the sensation of being carried, vaguely felt the days go by. Only vaguely did she sense Gedogem arguing with someone. Not at all did she realize who he was arguing with.

 

Ascara awoke slowly, head still aching, ears still ringing. Sunlight pooled in the room like liquid gold: it was mid morning.

Sitting up slowly, Ascara looked around. Scratched into the wall by a dragons claw was a new carving of days, Gedogem's way of telling her how long she had been out. She winced as she counted the scratches, their number too high for her to dare finish counting. She stopped after the first week and then stepped gingerly out of bed, stretching her sore muscles.

She reached slowly for her clothes, which had been washed and folded. Pausing, she smelled them and tears sprang to her eyes as she realized that they still held the fresh smell of pegasi feathers. For the first time, anger shadowed that despair, and her eyes burned with hate.

Ascara jumped as the door opened. Glancing over she blushed as she saw her friend Yegtholien walk in. He quickly averted his eyes and turned towards the wall. "I beg your pardon," he said in his murmuring voice, cheeks aflame with embarrassment.

Ascara turned the other direction and shrugged off her nightgown. "It's alright..." she said softly. She quickly pulled on her clothes, strapping the leather buckles up and down her legs and arms quickly so that they would cling tightly to her body and not flap around as she moved. Looking down at herself she realized how thin she had gotten, lying in bed for almost a week and a half.

"They say you collapsed in a storm," Yegtholien said softly, rocking back and forth on his heels as he waited. His long black hair hung to his waist, and his bangs poked sharply over the red cloth he had tied around his forehead. His pointed ears revealed his elven heritage, as did his angular and almost femininely beautiful features. He wore brown clothes and a red cape that was severely tattered at its edges. "They fear there may be permanent damage."

Ascara frowned as she turned to regard her friend. "The only thing damaged here was Denota. She is dead you know."

Yegtholien bowed his head and turned slightly, straightening when he saw she was fully dressed. "I know. The brothers are not pleased." His eyes flickered and they darted around the room, trying to look at anything but the girl in front of him.

Ascara blanched. "They are not here, are they? What did they do to Gedogem?"

Yegtholien shrugged. "He has not been seen. They had an argument and Gedogem went into the forest after it to find Denota. It has been two days. Perhaps he is in mourning."

Ascara nodded, eyes tearing up again and threatening to spill over. Rubbing her arms and taking a deep breath, she shook them away and walked forward. "What now?"

Yegtholien motioned with an arm towards the door. "The brothers wish to speak to you." He raised his soft, brown eyes to hers and a flash of red assaulted her eyes. She blinked hard to remove it without alerting Yegtholien. He noticed, however, and grimaced. "I beg your pardon," he said again, averting his eyes. "I have not fully learned to control it yet."

Ascara shook her head. "It's fine. You'll get it. At least flames are not jumping from your eyes anymore."

Yegtholien smiled softly. "Not if I don't want them to."

They walked into the adjoining room and the happy morning disappeared as Ascara realized what was in the middle of the room. Standing before them was a portal, shaped like a mirror and swirling like the great whirlpool that Gedogem lived in. Her stomach dropped and she took a step back.

"Forgive me," Yegtholien said mournfully. "I forgot to tell you that the brothers are not here."

"We have....to travel.....to the mountain?" Ascara asked, gulping. "To the home of the winds?"

Yegtholien nodded. "To that dreadful mountain slope where all winds come from. I am afraid so." He raised an arm and motioned towards the portal. "If you remember, the brothers do not enjoy waiting."

Ascara nodded, walking forward into the swirling portal. Not for the first time she was whisked away into oblivion as the portal threw her into another dimension. Her stomach lurched as she was twisted this way and that.

She fell to her knees as she came out on the other side of the portal. Portal etiquette kicked in and she stepped aside just in time to witness Yegtholien step through, upright and un-phased.

Raising her eyes, she glanced around the massive cavern into which they had been thrown. The walls were a mixture of colors; like a dancing flame they shifted from blue to silver to red to brown to orange to yellow and back to blue in waves of color. Torches were lit every few feet along the walls; larger than any human torches, Ascara knew she could never fit her arms completely around one. The flames danced and growled softly, licking at the oxygen that fed their insatiable hunger.

Further down the hall were stairs that lead to a huge doorway. Ascara took a deep breath and walked towards it, Yegtholien right behind her. Knocking on the doors before her, Ascara waited.

As expected, the doors simply blew inward, sucked in by the largest of the three dragons Ascara knew was sitting beyond the doors.

The doors opened to reveal a throne room. Four thrones stood on a raised platform, only three of them filled. Ascara recognized them all with increasing fear and displeasure.

The second youngest, Havdemthi, was like Gedogem in body build. His fur was blue and his yellow eyes glinted coldly. The north wind brother watched the two approach with a cold dignity that he reserved for everyone.

The second oldest of the four, Lazgdebben, was quite different: a scaly, lizard like creature. His red scales shone in the torch light and his sinister red eyes glittered like rubies. The two horns that spiked out of his brow, unlike the two younger brothers' stag-like horns, were smooth and swept back, two simple horns that spoke of age more than anything on the dragon's body. His tail lashed back ond forth like a great cats, and he twitched his claws eagerly as the two young humanoids walked forward. He was fiery, like the southern wind he governed.

The eldest of the four brothers, Savagedek, lord of the west wind that brought all storms, was like his brother Lazgdebben, except that he was a shimmering black color. His scintillating lavender eyes captured the imagination so completely they were almost hypnotizing. Ascara kept her eyes away from the cruel gaze of Savagedek so that she would not be captured.

"The triumphant return," Savgedek snarled. "Eight years ago we sent you to that forest to protect Denota, and we find that because of your carelessness, she is now dead."

"It was not Ascara's fault," Yegtholien said softly without raising his eyes, although his hand did move to the sword belted to his slender waist. "Perhaps you should concentrate on finding the murderer instead of pointing fingers." He then raised his eyes and connected them with Savagedek's gaze, his own eyes reflecting a sharp fire that neither Ascara, nor the dragons, had ever seen before in the usually soft-spoken, mellow elf.

A spark leapt into the air from Yegtholien's hands, igniting his form into flame. His eyes hardened as the dragons stared, impassive. Ascara gasped as she saw the pyro elf's power leap into a raging blaze that whipped around his body.

A few minutes later the flames extinguished with a hiss of smoke that rose off the top of Yegtholien's head. He relaxed and sat back on his heels, watching the dragons.

The winds did not respond to the show of power, nor did they seem to care. However, Ascara sensed that they were very well shaken. Either that or impressed.

Savagedek shook his head and turned to Ascara again, this time speaking in a buisness-like tone. "Finding the murderer is exactly what we need to do. You and you fiery friend are to set off at once tracking down this killer. Bring him to us when you have found him, alive or dead. If you can do this you, human, will be redeemed and will be allowed to go back into protective works. If you cannot, then expect to be banished from this organization, your title stripped, your place in this council diminished. Go!"

Ascara, though fear was again gnawing at her, knew better than to reply or argue. She merely bowed, then turned and stepped back through the portal, feeling the piercing gaze of not only those three powerful dragons, but also her pyro elf friend as he followed her steps.

 

 

~To Be Continued~

 

 

 

sorry it is so long. i couldnt find a way to break it off and now it's gone on and on and on! i hope it's not too long.

 

Degorram

[Wyvern]

Wyvern races into the Recruiter's Office upon hearing word of Degorram's application, skipping in gleeful claps and grinning from horn to horn. Degorram curls her tail between her legs as Wyvern begins prancing around her in circles. She clutches her application story close to her chest as the lizard pokes her left and right.

 

"Gold? Platinum? Ssssilver? Titanium?" Wyvern comes to a halt and jumps up and down in place like an overzealous Orlan groupie. "Let me see let me see let me see!"

 

"Uhhh." Degorram frowns, then brushes a hand over her story to smooth it out. "I-I just have this."

 

"An letter of acknowledgement that you've joined the 'I Wyvern' cult?!" Wyvern snatches up the application piece and holds it in front of himself with trembling claws. The claws gradually steady themselves as his eyes read over the first few sentences of the story, and he glances over the sheet towards Degorram for a moment. "Hmmm... Gwaihir didn't happen to passs by the Office, did he?"

 

Degorram's ears droop slightly.

 

"That works O.K as an application, doesn't it?"

 

Wyvern scratches his chin, then glances over the dimensions of the sheet of paper for a moment and smiles.

 

"Well, I do suppossse it could be used to make a paper mache of a muscular Wyvern idol. But I thought I specified precious meta-"

 

"Errrr." Degorram narrows her almond eyes and steps forward. "Actually, that's a story."

 

"Oh." Wyvern glances again at the page he was about to tear in half and slaps his scaly forehead. "Right, lemme read over this and I'll get back to you in a sec."

 

Degorram lets her tail back out from between her legs and loosens her shoulders a bit, only to tense up again as Wyvern begins giggling at the text. She bites her lip and presses her palms together as she watches the overgrown lizard's mirth, then freezes up as she notices him shaking his head.

 

"Sssorry." Wyvern tosses the story on top of his desk and flashes a razor-sharp grin towards Degorram. "For laughing, I mean. The elder brother conference just reminded me of the typical Pen Minstrel Hall open debate. Only Havdemthi is like Tanuchan if she belonged to the "I Wyvern" cult, hah! By the way, I certainly sssympathize with Yegtholion's little problem, and I loved all the almost dragonic detail. Like Gedogem- that's definitely my kinda name!"

 

Degorram raises a brow at the reptilian Elder's ambivalent response, then breathes a long sigh of relief as she watches him stamp her application story ACCEPTED.

 

;-)

 

OOC: A very good beginning to your story and an ACCEPTED application, Degorram. Welcome to the Mighty Pen! I look forward to reading more of your stuff, as well as participating with you in a variety of community events, particularly "I Wyvern" cult whipped cream rituals. Once again, welcome!