Chosen (BEING HEAVILY REBOOTED)

snippet from chapter 1 of draft 1

A/N: sharing this bc i have no patience and I'm lowkey proud of the dialogue (usually, dialogue isn't my strong suit lmao)

'You alright, Cal?' he asked.

'M'fine,' she replied, snorting dust out of her nose. 'Maybe try not to be so fast and agile next time, Cosmo. It's making me look stupid.'

'Can't help it. All part of being weird old me, ha ha,' he landed beside her, grinning.

Cosmo was right in his statement. Aside from his glossy black scales, which he inherited from his father, he certainly looked unusual compared to other Fire Drakes. Along with his long and slim body, his two largest horns each had a small branch on them. However, his most unusual feature was that between those horns was a tuft of white hair along with smaller tufts on his elbows and tail tip. Still, he had wings, scales and could breathe fire, and that was more than enough for her. He would still be her best friend even if he didn't have his more 'normal traits'.

'That is true,' said Callisto, smiling back at him. 'Plus, it wouldn't be fair to you if I won all the time.'

'Eh,' Cosmo shrugged. 'It's not like I would have cared that much. You're a particularly strong dragon, Cal. You would have earned it.'

'Don't say you didn't earn it this time, and all the other times you've won,' she replied. 'You're a particularly fast dragon. And a quick thinker, too.'

Cosmo only responded with a smile. Much unlike Callisto, he was never the best at taking compliments, no matter how true they were. And there were so many true compliments she could share with him, some of which she didn't exactly feel ready to share yet. Even if he never fully believed them, she always did.

Callisto stretched her wings and shifted her gaze to the clouded sky above.

'Can you see the sun?' she asked Cosmo.

'Not really,' he replied; he was always better at making out the sky above the clouds than she was. 'They've been so thick today. I think it might be afternoon. Or noon. Or morning. Ugh, ever since the Mount started getting more active it's been so hard to make out the sun.'

'Glad I'm not the only one, then,' she then looked at the volcano in the distance. Even in the shrouds of ash, she could see the deep amber glow from its crater. 'It doesn't look too far from erupting.'

'Already?' said Cosmo. 'That would be the fourth time this month we'd have to evacuate here.'

'When's the queen gonna do anything about it? Food has been scarcer than ever this year. She could at least lower the hunting taxes. Or, even better, get rid of them entirely. Forever.'

(NOTE: 'The Mount' is short for the name of the volcano, Capital Mount)