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Lonely paw prints left a track through the forest, taking anyone who followed them deeper into uncertainty. Ivy just kept marching forward, not really bothering to remove her tracks, too busy with keeping Sin out.
"Come on, LET me in." Sin insisted, a cruel smile playing on her lips.
Go away, you annoying pest.
Sin widened her smile, just enough to unnerve Ivy. "I don't want to LEAVE," Sin screeched, her voice like nails on a chalkboard. "After all, we don't want dear Ullr to get HURT now, do we?"
Ivy flicked her gaze at the annoying illusion her mind liked to keep throwing at her. "Is mocking me your new strategy?" She snapped, patience dancing on a fine line.
Sin narrowed her eyes, cruelty sparkling in them like gemstones. "PERHAPS." She replied, a mocking tone thick in her voice. The bushes rattled, and a little kitten came rushing out, its tiny eyes filled with fear. "MOMMY, please help me." Sin slowly turned her head towards Ivy, her smile widening into the most horrifying thing she had ever seen.
Furry crashed over Ivy in tidal waves; her mouth opened, her voice coming out icy cold. "Want to try this again?"
Sin's eyes sparkled ominously, but she shrugged, and the illusion of Ullr vanished. "Still worth a try." She remarked.
I hate this thing so much.
Sin gasped as though hurt before cackling Ivy's ears off. "Is that supposed to HURT my feelings? Remember Ivy," Sin pressed her head against hers. "I'm a PART of you, whatever you THINK OR, FEEL I know of it the moment you do." She retreated a couple of steps, the cruel smile still splayed on her face. "See you SOON." She waved her tail as she vanished into a puff of mist.
This is so annoying. Ivy walked to the last stick before dragging it back and placing it with the others. "This will hopefully be enough to keep a fight from breaking loose."
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No:1 opened his jaws again; it felt so freeing not having a hunk of metal constantly forcing his jaw shut. They never removed it even when he was being fed, they just forced a metal tube, which the man in gold called 'a straw', in between the little space that formed when he opened his jaw as far as the muzzle allowed, which wasn't a lot. The patch of snow-white fur hung from a rope around his neck; it smelled strongly of pine and earth. His nostrils flared, sucking in a rather large amount of air. A bit to the right. No:1 tilted his body in a way that the airstream took him that way, only leveling out when the scent stopped turning. His heavy wings forced the air into submission as he flapped them to gain more altitude. The tree canopies turned to a dark green haze as he flashed over them. The scent is stronger here. His muscles tensed as his neck snaked downwards, and with a tilt of his wings he streaked towards the ground.
As No:1 neared the earth, he pressed his wings taut against his body while he dodged the trees. He felt free, unburdened by chains keeping him locked up in a wet, moldy, reeking prison cell. His body halted abruptly as he opened his wings, pausing the momentum. With careful beats of his wings, No:1 landed safely, the ground crunching under his massive weight, while his eyes searched the area.
No monster with white fur to see. His eyes continued searching for clues, his gaze raking over every shrub until it stopped. What's that? Slowly he bent his long neck to look closer. A patch of white, no snow-white pelt, swayed gently on a thorn, an earthy scent mixed with pine wafting off of it. So it had been here. Carefully he took a step closer only to hear a bunch of sticks snap, an unnatural amount of sticks. Quickly falling back to his previous position, No:1 looked down with confusion. A weird rustling noise came from behind followed by the scent of pine and earth, but way more concentrated, with great speed No:1 turned his massive head to the bushes behind him. He narrowed his eyes when they landed on one of deep-turquoise.
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Ivy stared, frozen in place, at the bright crimson orbs; two fine black lines were gazing down on her from the middle of those orbs. Her instincts were tugging at her fur to get her to run, while her muscles instead decided that becoming concrete was a viable alternative.
It's smaller than I imagined. Or this could be a whelp. A shiver ran down Ivy's spine at the idea that this beast was still simply a cub and not even fully grown.
"You in the foliage, I know you're there, come out."
Ivy's despair continued to grow when the deep, gravely voice reached her ears. I should run; what was I even thinking? Talking to a brainwashed dragon that thinks his mother's life rests on his shoulders… or wings. The dragon began turning, visibly sinking a bit into the earth because of its weight.
"Stop hiding." He said, his tone measured, carefully so, revealing it wasn't an order, though neither was it a suggestion.
Ivy couldn't budge, not because she didn't want to. She did, however, it was because her muscles were still stubbornly role-playing being concrete. The dragon snorted, filling Ivy's lungs with sulfur reeking air. Tears started pricking in her eye, she didn't want to die or get taken away to who knows where.
"My patience wears thin. If you won't show yourself, I will do it myself."
Terror ripped Ivy's pelt off as a massive clawed hand reached for the shrubbery she was hiding in. Ullr's hurt face flashed before her while regret filled her to her core.
A booming roar ripped the air apart, and the clawed hand jerked back, followed by the sound of a collision. Leaf-green scales mix with onyx-black ones, while furious screeches, pained hisses, and deep threatening growls all easily gave the remaining context. Ivy's muscles decided they finished role-playing and chose that they're much rather what they're supposed to be. Without hesitation, she stepped back while simultaneously catching a better glimpse of what's happening. A massive green dragon, easily dwarfing the black one, was clawing at his neck, wings, or anything that was in range while screeching that he invaded her territory and that he should leave, or die. Now Ivy decided it was time to get out of there, and she quickly scurried away, leaving the roaring beasts behind to their slaughter.
What was I thinking? Concentrating my scent in an area, at least it would have kept Ullr safe. I knew a dragon would come eventually, but not now. Ivy rushed through the forest blindly, letting her feet carry her to an unknown destination. I should probably tell that kitten to move now that there's a dragon in the area that's after me. With a sad smile on her face, Ivy hurried towards the den she had left behind, where she had left Ullr behind.
"Ullr, please, I need to talk to you and it's best if Luna and Angela listen in." Ivy cried out, walking around in a random direction. When she arrived, she found the den where she left Ullr behind abandoned, but the freshness of the scents told her it was rather recent. "It's important!" Slowly she followed the scent trail, still calling for Ullr until finally she, or rather he, found her. "What do you want, mo... Ivy?" He asked, his voice was cold, and his face was a perfect mask of indifference, but his eyes betrayed him as they shone with longing, pain, sadness and ever so slightly flickering with love.
Ivy's heart broke; she wanted to curl around the kitten and comfort him with gentle licks over his head. Ivy took a moment to let air flow into her lungs, calming her mind. Words left her mouth, her voice more strained than she would have liked, "Ullr there's a dragon further from here, and I think it's looking for me, no, I'm sure it's looking for me," Ivy paused letting the words hang in the air, the words she wanted to speak coming slowly. "Look, Ullr, you need to leave this forest or at least get a great distance from this place, and if it's not for me, please do it for your own safety." A lump blocked more words from coming out, but she said what she wanted most.
"ARE you sure THAT'S what you wanted to say most?" Sin's cackle sounded for a brief, unsettling moment.
That annoying little witch.
"Please, Ullr, you may not trust me… Anymore, but I don't want to lose you as well."
Shock flashed over Ullr's eyes, while his lips moved as if he wanted to ask what she meant, except only silence stretched on. "Alright." He finally said, taking a weight off Ivy's heart.
"Thank you," she whispered, her voice filled with regret and longing. "And I'm so, so sorry." Ullr nodded in response and turned away before disappearing into the undergrowth, leaving Ivy alone once again, like moments earlier.
All alone again, just like before. Ivy shot her eye skywards, shooting a prayer to Tsalice for Ullr's safety. Casting her eye level again, she turned right and headed forward, her feet stopped midair. Slowly she turned her head towards the left, and her eyes met the gaze of the black dragon. Her heart dropped. That is a problem. The creature narrowed its massive, slitted red eyes. A tiny trickle of blood escaped a wound at the side of his head, and smoke circled out its nostrils. A small, sharp hiss rose from the dragon as it started creeping forward. Quick, think of something to do! Now! Ivy started panicking, quickly walking backwards at the same pace as the dragon without letting it out of her vision once. Out of nowhere, it surged forward, consuming the little distance between them. No, think of something right now! Before Ivy could stop herself she screamed out. "Wait, I'm your niece!" Instantly Ivy's entire face turned beet-red. What have I done? But to Ivy's utter surprise, the dragon stopped its advance, and he stood there like a statue, blinking slowly.
"How is that even possible?"
Ivy shifted her weight from side to side.
"Someone WORKED herself into quite a pickle, no?"
Ivy's eye turned to look at Sin, who was lazily watching from on top of a rock, watching them with a bemused expression. Shut up. Ivy tore her gaze off Sin to look back at the dragon. "Well, I'm not your niece, but I met your god."
The dragon's eyes widened for a second before narrowing back into narrow slits. "If so, what is his name?"
Ivy swallowed, nausea creeping in. "His name is Doroadum."
The dragon blinked. "So you met him. I can't see a creature knowing his name without meeting him or getting that info from another black dragon. So what did he tell you?"
Ivy waited a moment to respond. "He said you're shackled to the king of the fleshbags under threat of your mother's life, probably." She whispered the last part.
"Correct, but she's spared from death if I take you with me. Now enough talk. I need to get her out of danger." The leg muscles of the dragon tensed, signaling that he was readying to pounce.
"Wait, he also told me that… The king had already murdered her!" Ivy hastily blurted out.
The dragon went lax, collapsing to the ground after the words sank in, whispering quietly. "No, it can't be."
"I DIDN'T think I would ever see a dragon being this pathetic… KILL IT."
Ivy turned her head to look back at Sin, whose fur was standing upright, making her look like a deformed hedgehog. Can you shut up? Slowly Ivy started walking to the dragon, who had now curled himself into a tight ball of sadness. Leaves crunched under Ivy's paws as she neared. The beast simply didn't hear her or just ignored it as he gave no reaction to her approach. Once Ivy was before the mighty beast, she started rubbing her head against his, silently trying to comfort him as best as she could at the moment.
"I'm terribly sorry."
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Author note:
Hello again, sorry for the long wait. I had a lot of work to do, so yeah.
I'm also using a new correcting tool to remove mistakes, so I don't really know if it's better or worse. Anyway, have a fun time reading.