[OLD] Cursed

Chapter 14

     "There was this one story of the Orca and the Lion." He started. "Captain used the moral of this lesson, don't pick fights you can't win, with me all the time." Caroline nodded. "Go on." "Well, it went something like this."

     Centuries after Planet was at peace, Life was enjoying her job as the creator of animals. To rule the land, she took a handful of sand and wrapped it in sunlight. She carefully picked out leaves to make the golden mane, then breathed life into her creation. This was Lion, king of the land. He controlled the plant eaters, and the whole food chain relied on him.

     Then came Orca. Life wanted Orca to protect the seas, a place that even Lion wouldn't dare go. So she took a stone, obsidian, to be exact, and decorated it with the foam from the seas. This created Orca. Life wanted Orca to be fair. A protector. But what Life didn't know, was that Orca had a plan of his own.

     Orca was well known all right, but not as a kind leader. He would terrorize the seas, wrecking ships and chasing fish into the depths of the ocean. He would drive sailors away to the land, keeping them away from the waters with fear. He even went after the former rulers, the sharks and the whales.

     As you can imagine, Life was not pleased. But she couldn't do anything. Her creation was becoming more powerful than her. So she went to Planet and asked for advice. Planet replied by saying, 'Have you forgotten your other creation? Call upon Lion. Let the blood be shed as a sacrifice to the seas.'

     With dread, Life went to confront Lion, for she knew that he had great pride. She found him prowling the savannah, mane gleaming in the sunlight. 'Orca is taking over the seas, and no one can stop him.' Lion just laughed at her. 'So you come to me, your own creation to stop him? How pathetic.' But Life knew her creation well, that he was full of pride, which could be deadly to him as well as his enemies. And Life would do anything to protect the rest of her creations, for they were there first and she would always favor them over her later creations.

     'Are you, Lion, king of the land, saying that you cannot stop a creature of the seas?' Lion thought about that. His pride filled him up to the tips of his mane and he let out a soft growl as he thought of how much his fame would grow if he toppled this sea creature. 'I will.' He growled, then set off to find Orca.

     Meanwhile, Orca was swimming through the seas, chasing a school of fish. They swam towards the shore, and he followed them in pursue. Then he heard Lion, roaring in challenge. 'Who is this king of the seas? Who is this terrorizer I've heard about? Who is my opponent?' Orca, pleased by the challenge, swam as chose to the shore as he could. 'I am Orca, ruler of the seas. And I accept your challenge.' He leapt out of the water, grabbing Lion between his massive jaws. He dragging him under the waters, swimming to the depths. It got darker and darker, and Lion was rapidly losing oxygen. He clawed Orca and bit his fin, and Orca released him, swimming away. Lion, too tired, too far below the surface of the water, unable to swim, drowned. All because he had a foolish pride, and was unable to resist the challenge.

     Caroline stared at him as he finished, wide eyed like an owl. "And that is it? What is the ending?" "Lion drowned." "But that cannot be the ending! That is too sad!" She shook her head. "I will tell you about the story of Mother Earth and Father Sky, the first dragons, the creators of this earth."

     Long ago, before even Shootingstar and the rest of the night dragons existed, all that was on this whole universe was an endless chasm full of unknown horrors. No one really knows what happened, since no one was there to witness it. They say that out of the depths of the chasm was a spark of light, then the whole chasm reformed, creating the first dragon, Mother Earth. But she wasn't made up of the whole chasm, only the inside. The outer shell of the chasm reformed, creating who we know as Father Sky. The material that was not used became a huge ball of useless material, floating in the air. But Mother Earth and Father Sky both knew that it could be used.

     So Mother Earth spread her wings wide, wrapping them around the useless material, making the outer layer of the earth. Father Sky filled in the rest of the empty space, creating the sky. When the two of them collided, this created Sister Sea and Brother Stone, who decorated the earth.

     One day, Sister Sea gazed up at the sky, sighing. 'Brother Stone, don't you think it is so lonely up there? We are the only ones on this whole world, with no one to enjoy our creations. What was the point of creating it?' Brother Stone, seeing his sister's sadness, thought about what he could do. 'I know! How about we make other dragons to live on this earth?'

     So Brother Stone reached into the depths of the earth and pulled out a stone from the core, covering it with fire. Some of it melted, some of it stayed, but this created the first night dragon.

     Mother Earth was very pleased. From her wings sprouted trees and grass, mountains and plains, forests and deserts, all for Brother Stone's new creation.

     But Father Sky was not pleased, for the new creatures were taking all of the attention. In his fury, he turned the whole sky ebony, creating an endless night. He did not get what he hoped for. The night dragons thrived in the dark. But it also turned their hearts dark as well.

     And this is where the story of Shootingstar began.

     A gleam of gold filled the air, making everything around him glow. Thomas looked up, seeing the sun climb the horizon. Caroline also looked up, her expression unreadable. "Must return to my world now. Cannot stay." The silver moonlight was rapidly fading, replaced by the brilliant glow of the sun.

     Thomas looked down, seeing that he was fading. Caroline was too, her brown eyes becoming more of a transparent, light gray. "Wait!" She turned around, waiting for him to speak. "What was the end of the story?" The corners of her mouth twitched upwards. "I will tell you next time." With that, they both faded completely.