Strings of Sin

Chapter 6

And Thorn noticed how compulsive the little nightwing's rage was and spoke to him calmly. "Don't worry, Stardom. I'm here for you now. I couldn't possibly imagine how hard it is to have a dragon like that as your father."

December came over to the dragons and joined the embrace with her wings. "I'm here too, Star."

Stardom continued his sobbing as the deepest darkest areas of his soul grew through his despair. "Why are you doing this?" He wailed through his unspeakable thoughts.

"Because I know a very similar dragon to you who needed to be reminded that he is worthy of love," she said softly.

And Stardom unwillingly broke the hug as he felt his rage boil over. "You don't even know anything about me! Get away from me! I don't need love! I hate it! I hate it! I hate it" His mind reminded him of all the bad things, and he broke down completely as he felt all the parts of his soul scream in fear of others' capacity to inflict pain upon him. "I don't need your pity! I don't... I don't deserve it... I'm fine! I've always been fine! I've never been anything but fine!" And he watched the other dragons' strange expressions in horror. "Stop looking at me like that! I'm just as bad as he is, aren't I? I deserve to die, don't I? Kill me! Spare me of the burdens of life! Kill me! Kill me! Kill me. Kill me..." He fell to the ground as if the fire of his rage went out and instantly lit his flame again in rage towards his show of weakness. "AAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"Stardom," December whispered as she felt terror creep up her spine. "I want..." she withdrew herself from confrontation and then realized just how much her friend was suffering, and at that moment, she felt like she could be a true heroine. "I want you to realize something." She got more confident as she spoke. "You are incredible! You have helped so many dragons and have accomplished so many amazing things in your life! You are nothing like your father! I don't understand why you see yourself that way! Please, stop hurting yourself! I don't want to watch you tear yourself to flesh and bones over this!" The confident icewing gave the nightwing space and held Thorn back with her claws. "We understand if you don't want a hug right now. How about we go see that room now, Thorn?"

Stardom calmed himself down and felt understood. He trailed behind the two dragons at a distance and couldn't hear their conversation, and he wondered why all dragons couldn't be like The Dragonets of Destiny and December.

Maybe they just didn't want to be.

After a short bit of walking, the dragons heard a cry from one of the guest rooms.

"What was that sound, Thorn?" December asked the queen, curiously, as they entered a long hall full of doors.

"That crying noise is coming from a very forgettable dragon," Queen Thorn snorted as she thought of the business industry trend that had recently arisen in dragon culture. "They are starting to call the bets on this new business industry investment, calling it the future or something, I don't know... it's pretty brutal because not all dragons succeed with these global business operations. If you really want to get mixed up in that drama, go ahead, see the source of that wailing." The queen laid her claws on a doorway, marked with the number 7, and told the dragonets. "This is your room. Don't forget the number, and I hope to see you in the morning for lunch tomorrow. It's getting very late, so you dragonets should get some shut-eye."

The queen patted each dragonet on the head and put more effort into her affection towards Stardom. She left the dragonets to get used to their room, and December opened the door. The curious icewing went in, first, and Stardom followed her inside. They looked around at their home away from home, and December smiled boldly.

"Isn't it wonderful, Star?" the icewing glanced around and admired the moody atmosphere. "I love it!" She leaped on the queen-sized bed and spread her legs out on the red and black blankets.

Stardom noted the windows straight across from the door and analyzed the dressers and mirrors. He admired the purple carpet with a shining golden rim that lay in the center of the room and felt the warm sandstone walls. The room smelled musty and old as if it hadn't been occupied in a while. He dodged his eyes from torch to torch and gazed deeply into his soul to search for unpurged fury, but he only found coldness. Why did he find coldness?

"Very dark," Stardom whispered to himself as he approached December. "I like this room."

"Hey, Star," December called from the bed. "Can you come up here?"

The nightwing did as she said and struggled to climb onto the bed. "What is it that you need?" He considered that this bed was possibly made for a bigger dragon than December and him and looked over at his shy friend.

"I don't know," December ignored desire.

The nightwing tried asking again. "What is it that you need, Queen Glory?"

"You remembered?" December blushed, awkwardly, at how stupid she was acting. "Do you think that's stupid?"

"What's stupid?" Stardom squinted his eyes and stayed a comfortable distance away from December.

"You know what I'm talking about!" the icewing threw her head back onto the neat pillows beneath her neck. "Stop pretending you don't know! I know you're just trying to make me feel better because you're like that all the time!" The neat arrangement of pillows was destroyed and squashed and wrinkled against each other as December rubbed her misery in them. "You're so much better than me! Why do you even want to hang out with a stupid icewing like me?"

"What's really going on, Glory?" Stardom leaned closer to his friend.

"Well, I'm just... I'm just... I-" she stopped, suddenly, and felt insecurity climb up her throat. "What if I want other dragons to call me by my nickname, but I get too scared because it's stupid and weird? What if I want to be something that I'm not? What if I want to be another gender? What if I'm not really a hero... heroine... I don't know anymore!" she cried and hugged Stardom's wing. "You don't need me. Nobody ever needed me. I'm dragging you down, aren't I? I'm no hero... heroine... I don't know!"

The nightwing united his heart and brain and manifested a speech. "Listen up, Glory, you are valuable to me, and I do need you. And anything you value I value too because you are valuable to me. Friendship is about appreciating each other's values, and I appreciate your names and games, just as much as I appreciate my books and logic. You are different from the others, which will always be a good thing. I know it's hard to be different right now, but later on in life, those differences will make all the difference in your success. Right now, you are figuring things out for yourself, and I am too; I know, it can be confusing. We are all we got in this world, so we need to figure things out together. Whatever is on your mind, be it stupid or weird, share it with me because I want to help you figure out who you are."

"Thank you," December whispered and held onto Stardom tight. "I really wish I could do something to help you. You seemed really distressed, earlier."

"Enough about me!" Stardom raised his voice at the thought of receiving help. "I need to help you."

The icewing watched his friend with curiosity and asked him a question. "Can I tell you something?"

"Anything," the nightwing said with pride.

"The icewings back home always judged me. They thought that liking The Dragonets of Destiny was childish and stupid," December let her wings go limp as she felt stuck in the past, and Stardom waited patiently for her to continue. "My father, especially, hated my likings and always made me feel bad for being... well... me." She let her head fall to the bed. "He was so controlling of me, and sometimes, I thought of leaving home because nobody even wanted me. Sometimes, I felt like my life would work out, like a prophecy, and that I was being prepared for a greater destiny by all my adversities. But spending all your time, waiting on a dream, won't get you anywhere in life." She sighed deeply and felt her youth crumble in her clenched, strained claws. "And now we're here."

"I'm glad we left, Glory. I'm glad you told me this. Don't worry one bit," Stardom spoke softly, like the mother he never had. "We will figure things out, I promise."

"I don't need a prophecy to know that everything will work out just fine," December met Stardom's eyes with growing enthusiasm. "I think I know exactly what we must do now."

"Queen Thorn mentioned, earlier, that there was a certain dragon who needed help, and we're going to help them."