Forgotten Legends (DRAFT VERSION)

Chapter 2*

Coal's bellowing chatter reverberated above the eerie stillness of the caves, ringing off the walls and rebounding to the poor sleepless bats hiding away from the ruckus. "What do you think Clouddusk is going to do when he realizes that we were heroes all along? Do you think he'll let us protect a whole city? Oh, oh, oh! Do you think we'll get powers like real superheroes? What do you think my power will be?"

Cloud, who was lying on a stone ledge nearby, consoling his dreadful misfortune over a half-read scroll, glanced up tetchily at the discordance the younger hatchling presented. "You can talk the villains to death."

Coal ignored his cynicism. "I'll bet I'll be able move through the shadows like a ghost! That's it! I'll be the shadow warrior! Bad guys beware! And then you can be the sky hero, the best partner ever! The dashing and graceful blue dragon who swoops in at the last second, saves the day, and gets the girl!"

Cloud wished he could do a little less saving and more stuffing cotton into his ears. If you spent as much time saving villagers as you did talking, we wouldn't ever be in danger at all. "How very heroic of me."

Coal paused his yammering long enough to glance down crossly at the blue hatchling. "Your enthusiasm is so noted, Cloud," he said mordantly. "I thought you were my best friend. You're supposed to be supportive! Could you at least pretend to be excited about what I am telling you?"

Cloud raised his eyes from the scroll, spotting the midnight-scaled dragonet fluttering overhead, weaving amongst a cluster of stalactites. Honestly, he was surprised they didn't come crashing down on his head and put him out of his misery. The amount of preposterous proclamations the hatchling was making was way too much to bear, especially when they came before breakfast. "Really, Coal, it's not that big of a deal," he muttered, flipping the manuscript over to read the final few paragraphs. "Sure, being a hero sounds all peachy and sunshiny, doesn't it? But you heard what Clouddusk said, right? Dragons have died trying to be those guys. Do you want the same thing to happen to us?"

To you?

The opportunity to be a real hero; that is all I want, but not at the risk of Coal's life. He won't do these stupid stunts and be so attention-seeking if he gets his chance. But he can't do that with me around holding him back and I'm not going to be the one to sell his soul to this mission.

Coal came to a screeching halt, frowning down at his cavemate. "Wow. When did you become such a grouch? Only hours ago, you sounded like it would be a dream come true if you got the opportunity. What happened to the Cloud I know? Can I speak to him now, Mister Killjoy?"

"I don't know," Cloud grumbled, pointedly looking away and sinking back into the realm of scrolls and knowledge. "But I do know Clouddusk won't like us going to Flairforge. You've seen how he is about that kind of thing."

"Yeah," Coal sighed, dropping into the cave floor below him. "I do, and honestly, he's an even bigger curmudgeon than you are. But I also know what he would say if we didn't go and we could've saved someone from some unforeseen disaster."

Curmudgeon? Is that your new word of the week or something? Oh, forget it. I don't know why I bother trying to reason when he's like this. Cloud growled, dropping his scroll in a huff, knowing he wasn't going to get anywhere with his studies while Coal was running his tangent. "You're too excited about this," he admonished. Plus, Flairforge isn't in danger. It's just a sleepy little town in the middle of nowhere where nothing exciting ever happens.

"No, you're just not excited enough." Coal opened his wings and beat them, peeved. With a short bound, he landed in front of a scroll shelf and began digging through the assortment of documents as well. "This is an adventure, Cloud! We can be just like the Winged Five! Everybody will love us and no one will ever have to fear your scales again!"