| Warm sunlight spilled through the open window set roughly into the side of the new cottage. The cottage had been built by Desiree and Iris almost a year ago, the first sign that the Forest had been available for people and animals to live in. Now, after so much time had passed, dragons and unicorns lived in the depths of the Forest in harmony, happy for a place to have a place where they may live in safety. Risshun, Ris for short, had heard of the Forest not too long ago, spoken on the wind and her curiousity had gotten the better of her. So, she soon found herself in the magical Forest, wanting to know more and to associate with the dragons who came to live within such a peaceful place. She sighed as she looked outside the window and into the bright spring day. She longed to go out into the clean air and run through the wind, enjoying the rebirth of the many plants around her. Spring was her favorite season of all. A small breeze came through the window, bringing with it a scent of herbs and moist dirt. She breathed in the familiar scent as she looked around the cottage once again. She shifted in her seat, her legs starting to fall asleep. She had been sitting in the small cottage since noon that day when she had first made her way into the Forest. She could remember clearly the morning's events. She had been searching for the Forest she had heard the wind whisper of for weeks. That morning she had come upon a large forest and decided to enter, hoping to find some inkling as to the Forest. Halfway in she found herself confronted by a black horse who had told her his name was Yama. Yama had been kind, offering her to visit the dragons in the Forest. But, Ris had come here for a different reason. Yama had then brought her to this small cottage which was covered in growths of ivy and blooms of spring flowers. Since then she had been sitting in this small cottage. The cottage was small and roughly built. The walls were made out of hundreds of branches wound together with taut rope.The roof was made out of dry, brown grass which let in small dots of sunlight through. The furnishings were few and without decoration. She sat on one of the two chairs which were low and cozy, making her want to fall asleep in them. The only other peice of furniture was a desk made out of a dark oak wood. On top papers with dragon names and sketches of homes lay scattered seemingly unorganized about. She had not realized she had been sleeping when the door to the small cottage had open and a fairy walked in. Her eyes snapped open and she stood up quickly, knocking the chair backwards. She righted the chair as the fairy smiled and sat in the chair behind the desk. "Hello," the fairy said as she smiled once again. "My name is Iris. Yours is?" "My name is Risshun, but you may call me Ris," she said nervously as she sat down in her chair once again. "Your name means spring, something like that, right?" "That is right." "Very pleasent name," Iris said as she smiled once again. "Yama told me why you have come to the forest. I talked to Desiree, and here is what we propose." Ris nodded and Iris continued. "Well, there is a meadow on the edge of this Forest. Unexplored as of yet, and the area seems to be dead. You are an Eirkan, right?" The last answer caught her unawares. The Eirkan were a race of fairy which specialized in both earth and air, using the two elements in perfect harmony. Her race celebrated plant life, especially plants that gave off many colors. And Spring, when Nature came back from Winter's death throes, life was reborn. She was surprised this other fairy knew, not many could tell just by looks who was Eirkan or not. She nodded dumbly to Iris who smiled in return. "Well, we were hoping you could use your own fairy lore to restore that Meadow. We hope you can make it so that a dragon may live there one day. Do you think you could do this?" Ris nodded her head eagerly, happy for something to do in the Forest. And she had a chance one day to with a dragon, raise it and keep it safe. She smiled gleefully, glad to be able to do something that would make the world a better place. "All right! Let me go and get Yama, he will take you to the Meadow." Iris got up from behind the desk and headed towards the door. She opened up the door and walked outside among the newly reborn plants, beckoning for Ris to follow her. Ris got up, almost knocking the chair over once again. She found Iris outside with Yama who nuzzled her hand. "Alright Yama. I need you to guide Ris to that dead meadow. You would not mind, would you?" Yama makes a small snorting noise. "Of course not! Come on Ris, follow me." Yama stops nuzzling Iris and begins to walk westward towards the setting of the sun. Ris shouldered her pack and followed the black horse. Yama walked slowly so as not to leave behind Ris, a fact she clearly noticed and was grateful for. The horse was still young, in his teen stage of life. His horns were not yet full grown and he walked with a spritely step which flaunted his youth. "So, what do you know of the meadow? Iris was kind of brief," Ris asked the unicorn, her curiousity about this new place where she would be rising with each step. "Well, the meadow was first discovered about a month ago. Several elves and fairies tried to turn the meadow into a place for a dragon to live, but the land just would not respond. Eventually people started calling it the Dead Meadow and have left it alone. But, we have always been waiting for someone to come along and maybe make the meadow habitable. Do you think you are up to it?" "Maybe...but I guess we will not know until I actually try, right?" "Yeah, I guess so." The two laughed a bit as they walked through the forest. Sunlight shined through the forest canopy, warming Ris' cheeks in the cold wind. Ris enjoyed the plantlife all around, breathing in deeply of the earthy scents, enjoying the spring weather which hung thickly in the air. Birds flew through the upper branches, their song echoing in the forest all around. It took them the rest of the day to get to the edge of the meadow nicknamed the Dead Meadow. Yama snorted softly as he stopped, not intending to go on any further. Risshun stopped also and looked across the meadow in the failing light. The land was desolate, not even a single green blade of grass growing in the area surrounding her. Risshun's heart lurched as she looked across what was aptly named Dead. The wind blew towards and a strange scent was brought to her attention. The smell was that of decay, old decay. She took a few steps onto the meadow, and was immediately surprised. Even a feeling of decay and desolation emenated from the ground. Her first conclusion was that something unnatural seemed to plague this land. Nothing natural could make this sense seem almost palpable in the air. Her second conclusion, she had a lot of work ahead of her. She turned to Yama, clearly displeased at being so near the Meadow. Ris smiled and said, "I will be fine, maybe you should go back to the Forest?" "Yeah, I should be going back to my duties... You will be all right? I could probably find someone to come and help you." "No, do not worry," Ris said, encouragement in her voice, as she ran her hand down Yama's gray and black mane. "Okay... There is a small house in the center of this meadow on top of a large hill. There is food in there to last you for a while. If you need anything, do not hesitate to ask." "Thank you," Ris said as Yama turned gracefully around and headed to the center of the Forest. Ris waited until she could no longer see his shadow winding through the trees. Then she turned towards the meadow once again and went in search for the small house which was somewhere in the meadow. The sunlight dully shone through the open window in the small hut. Ris yawned and stretched in the small wooden bed. She rubbed her eyes and sleepil climbed out from beneath the sheets. She had found the house not too long before night had taken complete hold over. The meadow. Once night had settled, she could see no more than a foot in front of her, the darkness acting like a thick blanket. The moon and stars had barely lit up the area around the house. She had stumbled into bed, tired and unsure of herself. She headed towards the small cupboard against the wall. She opened it up and took out some bread and oats and ate her morning meal. She then headed towards another cupboard which was located on the opposite wall. She pulled the simply carved doors open to reveal rows of herbs and seeds. She clapped her hands happily as she saw the abundant stock at her disposal. She hurried out the door after she grabbed a small trowel and a watering can. The day outside was warm but with a cold wind. The clouds blocking the warm rays from the morning sun foretold of rain, which would fall from the sky in only a few days hence. Ris was glad that rain would treat the dead meadow, something which would help her make the plants which she was about to plant grow faster. She set about with her trowel, making small holes sporadically around the hill on which her new house sat. The ground was hard and very dry, making the task hard and dirty. After the holes were made, Ris then dropped seeds into the unforgiving ground. The seeds were asylum plants. The plants bloomed with small white flowers and would cover the whole hill in a very short time. Also, these plants were able to grow in hard dry soil, making them a good choice to start out with. As she planted the seeds, she sent thoughts of growth and health into the small seeds. Her race, the Eirkan fairy, was connected to Nature. They could make plants grow faster or give them good health just by sending their thoughts into seeds or the plant itself. They could do the opposite if they wished, but never did. Her kind enjoyed being around natural beauty and only intervened when it was needed. Once she finished watering the newly turned soil, she lay down upon the hillside. She laid her head upon her arms that were stretched behind her. She sighed with contentment as her eyes followed the clouds racing through the bright blue sky. She breathed in the wet earthy scent and the traces of rain upon the wind. Once the flowers began to bloom, this place will be beautiful, she thought. Her eyes fell from the sky above and turned towards the meadow around her. Flat land stretched around her in all directions, no plant life that was green evident. A few plants had tried to grow in the dead soil, but they in turn became withered and eventually died. Tracing the contours of the old meadow, she spotted another hill not too far away from her current position. She had not seen it as she had come into the meadow, the darkness to palpable to see very much. She decided to head on over to the hill and plant some more plants to bring the meadow back to what it once was. As she walked on over to the hill, she suddenly realized something. No animals were present in the meadow. Not even a single bird flew over the meadow to add its song to that of the meadow. Also, the strange unwelcome feeling that came from the soil grew stronger. Perhaps this unnaturalness echoed from this hill. The air surrounding the large hill was harder to breath and forced Ris to take shallower breaths. She hated being so near this hill, but she knew she must remedy whatever problems were plaguing this meadow. Risshun circled around the hill giving the hill a wide girth while looking at the ground and the loose dirt. She noticed one side of the hill had a dark shadow on it. She went closer to the hill to examine and see what was making the shadow. It was a small hole in the side of the hill, leading farther beneath. A natural underground tunnel which was crumbling and breaking. She sat down upon the loose soil and stared into the small tunnel marring the face of the hill. She could not see very far into it, however. The darkness was to tangible to see very much. A sudden gust of wind came over the land of the dead meadow and blew wildy through her hair. Her hair then covered her eyes, taking away her view of the tunnel. When she looked back at the tunnel after brushing her hair back, the darkness swarming in the tunnel seemed darker. She did not want to go into the tunnel, but she knew she must. It is evident in the ground and in the air that the source of all that was wrong in this meadow originated from this hill. She cursed herself for not having realized the day before. She had to travel down the tunnel, find her answers to help this dying land fulfill the expectations that Iris held in her. Ris set all of gardening supplies upon the ground and checked to make sure her dagger was secure at her waist. Once she was ready she stepped to the edge of the tunnel. She hesitated before stepping in, wishing she had some kind of light. She was forced to walk bent over, and her back soon began to hurt with the strain. Her hand trailed the wall of the tunnel, giving her a stability which she needed and to help take away the sense that she was being lost in the darkness all around her. Her hand was soon covered in dirt that flaked off from the wall of the tunnel. The dust filled the air of the tunnel, which was already hard to breath, making breathing forced. Already her sojourn into the tunnel was painful and terrible, reminding her of a nightmare she had had not too long ago. The floor of the cave began to slope downwards, leading towards the center of the hill. She was soon forced to crawl along the tunnel for the ceiling dropped dramatically. Ris cursed her luck and hoped that the ceiling would lower no more. Suddenly, she was free from the tunnel. She found hersel in a wide open space without the tunnel's constricting walls. She sighed happily and then began to cough. The air here smelled of decay and and the ground felt perverse. The two feelings were stronger here than she had felt anywhere outside, this must be the location of the strange feelings. She stood and noticed that the ceiling of the small cave was only a few inches from her head. She walked forward, towards what must be the center of the cave. She held out her arms, just in case, not wanting to crash into the opposite wall. Her steps wer small and measure, making sure she did not trip on a loose stone or small hole. The farther she walked in, the worse the smell. A light started to grow in the center of the cave. The light was dim, but the farther she walked into the cave, the brighter the glow which came to be. Ris stopped and the light did not brighten anymore, but glowed at a consitent rate. She was unsure of what it might be, so she had to creep closer to get a better look. She walked until she stood about a foot away from the glow. The light was bright enough to illuminate the entire cavern in which she was in now. The origin of the glow looked like an ordinary rose the color of dried blood, but its center glowed. Its branches hard and gnarled, the thorns looking more like daggers than small pinpricks. Something about this strange plant from which wrongness emitted from tugged at the back of her mind. She though back to the lessons she had done with her parents when she was young. Each child of her race was schooled in plants and the weather, each plant name and their uses engrained into their minds. Her mind ran through the list of normal plants and herbs, none fitting the description of the plant before her. She began to feel weak, she was not sure why, maybe it was because she was stuck in such a small area. She went through the list of rarer plants, ones not normally not seen. Nearing the end of the list she gasped as she came upon the plant called Ticchen. The description of that rare plant matched the plant that grew before her, its roots covering the floor of the cavern. The Ticchen was a dangerous plant, and just by being so near she was at danger. The plant stole energy from other plants, animals, and an occasional elf or fairy that was unfortunate enough to come across it. No wonder why no plants would go in the meadow, the Ticchen stole their energy. And no wonder she felt so weak. She had to do something. If the plant was not taken care of, destroyed, it would take her and the meadow would never be able to grow plants ever again. She drew nearer to the plant as her resolve grew. Her hand left her side of its own accord as she steeled her resolve. Her hand closed the plant's main limb, being careful not to touch the razor like thorns. She then called upon her fairy magic, the magic of plants and their demise. She had never killed a plant before, so it took her a while to get ready. She thought negative energies and those of dying and sent them into the plant. The plant's light began to dim, her energy starting to come back to her. The plant writhed beneath her palm, making her hands start to bleed. The plant was fighting back, trying to survive. The light began to grow once again, her attempts beggining to fail. Ris cried out in exasperation as she doubled her efforts. She put her other hand upon the plant, not bothering to worry about the thorns. She felt she was on the verge of fainting when the plant beneath her cracked. The plant and root, along with the flower, crumbled into ash and sifted gently to the floor. Risshun gasped, and in her exictment forgot about her own pain. She headed out of the cavern, unable to contain her excitement about telling Iris and Yama. Iris sat at the old desk, shifting papers and piling them. The day was uneventful, no task needing to be done. Even Kami had gone to see her mate, leaving her alone and bored. She sighed and looked out the window. Spring was now full in, summer vanquished for the year. Warm sunshine played softly upon the plants, bringing out the colors of the fragrant blooming flowers. A soft tap at her door broke her from the small reverie. "Come in," Iris said distantly. The door opened and in came Risshun. She had been gone for over two weeks. She had come to report on the strange plant, the ticchen, telling Iris that it was the cause of the death of the meadow. Iris had been glad that the meadow now had a chance to live naturally once again. "Risshun, glad to see you!" Iris exclamed as she stood and smiled. Ris smiled back and sat down in the chair before the desk. "I have some good news!" Ris began. "Oh?" "The meadow is finally ready for you to come and see it!!" "Wow, that IS good news! Come on, we can go now!" Ris quickly followed after the excited fairy who bolted out of the cottage. The two quickly went to the small clearing in which Yama was sleeping. They tiptoed bye, trying to keep the young unicorn sleeping. Ris quickly located a small sign which bore the words, Meadow upon them. Alongside ran a small trail leading towards the meadow which Ris had taken to heart. Once she had taken care of the Ticchen, the meadow was accesible to all of those who lived within the Forest. It did not take them long to reach the end of the trail. And the site at the end took Iris's breath away. Lush green grass covered the entire area of the meadow. The hill where the house stood was covered with hundreds of white flowers all waving in the wind. On the other hill a sngle Rose grew, white and perfect in all ways. Birds, returning to the awaitng spring, had built nests in the newly planted trees, some of them blooming and beggining to bear fruit. All around a fresh fragrent hung heavily in the air, sweet and earthy. The meadow caught in the throes of spring seemed to sing of a song of vibrant life. "You know what?" Irs asked as she turned to Ris with a smile. "Hmm?" "I think this place is ready for a dragon." Risshun slept peacefully in her small cottage, having dreams of dragons yet again. She had sent in a form for a dragon not too long ago, and had been waiting for a reply. Since then, she had been dreaming of dragons, not being able to contain her excitement. She turned in her sleep, trying to get the sunlight off of her closed eyes. A knocking at the door awoke Risshun, soft yet insistent. Ris yawned and woke, stretching. She quickly pulled on her clothes, while yelling, �I am coming!� She went into the small front room, and out of the window, she saw Iris and Yama standing outside. She wondered why the two would be here. Usually Iris was too busy handling incoming dragons and her own Kami, to come and visit. And Yama was too busy guarding the entrance to the Forest. She opened the door, giving full view of the fairy and unicorn. In Iris� hands was a big oval satchel, closed and bound carefully. Both bore a happy smile, well at least Iris did. Yama being a unicorn had a bit of trouble� �Congratulations!!� Yama said happily. �This just came for you, delivered by Desiree.� Ris, befuddled, advanced. She undid the bonds, and opened the top of the satchel. And lo and behold! Risshun found herself looking at a green egg, catching the falling sunshine. �Tee hee! Finally, a dragon to take care of!� Iris and Yama looked happily as Ris carefully took the egg into her arms. �We will be back to check on you when the dragon hatches. Take care!� With a last smile, Iris and Yama headed back to the Forest. Ris took the egg into the house, forgetting to shut the door behind her. The warm spring air drifted into the cottage, giving an earthy scent to the house. In her bedroom, she headed to the far wall. At the far wall, a nest had been made out of grass and twigs. She took the egg out of the satchel and set the egg into the deep nest. She caressed egg, and happily said, �I just cannot wait till you hatch!� Risshun stood in her small cottage, looking at the green egg in the corner, nestled gently in the nest. She could not keep her eyes off of the egg, contstantly checking over the egg. She had not spent very much time outside tending to her gardens, always finding herself wandering back into the cottage where the egg was situated. A knock at the door broke her out of her reverie. She went to the door and opened the door to find a smiling Iris at the door. Iris walked in without being invited and went straight into the bedroom where the egg lay in the nest. Iris stood before the nest, watching the egg expectenly. "Uh, Iris?" Iris holds her hand up, signally Ris to be quiet. Ris looks down to the egg, and is surprised to find the egg rocking back and forth in its nestly confines. "Most of the dragon eggs from Silver Valley hatch around this time," Iris whispers quietly. Risshun bends down to the egg, watching but not touching as the egg rocks back and forth even harder. Soon a peice of the egg breaks, revealing the inside for the first time. The dragon's snout peaks above the shell of the egg, fighting for the air not allowed within the egg. Risshun quickly breaks away the remaining egg shell, allowing the dragon to come out and sprawl into her lap. There the small gray hatchling chirped happily and stared up at Risshun with bright green eyes. Risshun laughs and hugs the small dragon, happy that the egg had finally hatched. Ris sat on a grass covered hill, Shoshun curled up next to her. The two were enjoying the small breeze which blew gently over them. Suddently Shoshun rose to all four feet. His gray scales began to ripple and stretch. "Wha the..?" Ris murmured as she watched in awed amazement.Shoshun grew in size and her color began to change. By the time Shoshun had completly grown her color was green and orange. "You grew into an adolescant!!" Risshun cried as she looked fondly onto her spring dragon. *** Shoshun grew into a adult!! |
| Dragons Stats: Name: Shoshun (early spring) Gender: Female Stage: Adult Color: Spring Type: Earth Mate: Irihi Clutch: Wild Clutch |
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