Running is my strength. I use the wind and all its glory to carry me from sloping mountainside to nearby peaks and ledges. My feet only touch the earth for a moment at a time, and I spend the rest of my time blissfully suspended in air. I feel the power singing in my blood as the air obeys my will. I follow a pattern; two running steps toward my next mountainside, jumping with all my might, creating a gale force wind from behind me to send me sailing in the right direction, and as a landing I create a pillow of air so that I don't splat against the hard rocks below. My only worry is being followed. I am not running for pleasure today, I have to get away, and I have to escape.
From behind me I can hear the men calling their dragons. If I don't make it off these mountains before their dragons arrive I will be caught, and I can already feel the beating of powerful wings churning the air around me. In front of me was salvation, the edge of the Araki borders, just a few more steps and I will be in the land of the Fotia, the ones who controlled fire, the most unstable of all elements. I jumped one last time and instead of aiming for the mountainside in front of me I aimed downward and used the wind to slip into a small opening on the side of the mountain just large enough for me to fit into. Once inside it opened into a cave. I asked the wind to carry my scent farther in the direction that I had been heading to lead the guardians in the wrong direction. I held my breath and waited, barely peeking out of the opening. Then I saw them, four green dragons. Each dragon blending in with the ground below them. If I had been above, I would never have seen them. Atop the dragons sat my pursuers, one of which was my brother, Ark. The dragons attempted to follow my scent and disappeared from view within minutes.
I could finally breathe. I'd made it outside of the Araki borders once more. It was in this cave that I would meet with Lily, Lilly Zontanos. We had found each other almost a year ago on my fifteenth birthday. I had been wandering into the Fotia lands avoiding my family, for they were always attempting to squeeze me into lavish dresses and parade me around at large parties for all of the 'suitable boys'. I had been so inside my own head that I had run straight into Lily, and I almost knocked her over. We were somehow instant friends. A sheet of flame covering the entrance of our cave tore me from the memory and signaled to me that Lily had arrived. I used the wind to fill the sheet Lily always hid near the entrance and pulled her up to the entrance. Her fiery red hair was the first thing I saw, and then there she was, my closest and my only friend.
"Luna!", she swung gracefully forward into the cave and dropped the sheet behind her, grabbing both my hands and squeezing me into a tight hug. "They didn't follow you again did they?", her voice was muffled as she spoke into my hair. Holding my shoulders, putting me at arm's distance, and trapping me in her emerald green gaze.
"Of course I was followed, I always am.", this was the reply I always gave and I usually resulted in a pouting Lily so this time I added, "But today I was miles ahead of them you don't have to worry about me." I was rewarded with a heartwarming smile from my friend and she released my shoulders.
"I'm glad you didn't get caught today, but what happens when they do catch you?", Every time she asked and everytime I ignored her question, for I didn't know what would happen. All I knew is that it wouldn't be pleasant.
"What are you talking about 'when'? I'm the best runner in the whole tribe. They can't catch me." I said proudly, crossing my arms. She crossed her arms right back and her face grew hard.
"I won't be ignored again, I want to know what will happen, I get so worried about you." Her tone began turning from boisterous to angry so I knew that something was different today. "Yesterday I heard rumors that the Araki whip insubordinates." Her face turned all pouty again as she saw the surprise in mine.
"There are no whippings in the Araki tribe" the word fell out of me with a sigh, "at least none that I've heard of." I couldn't believe those rumors, but I also didn't want to think about it, so I said, "I truthfully have no idea what would happen if they caught me so let's just have fun and I'll do some investigating before we meet next week." She agreed and with that we resumed the decorating of our cave. We had created this cave with our powers. She would heat the rocks until they glowed and then I would hit it with winds strong enough to blow away the heated parts. Now that the cave was big enough, we had started cutting small designs into the side of the caves. They looked like burned etchings and we had the whole cave almost covered in flowers, animals, designs, and as a centerpiece in the back of our cave we had a detailed map of Chora. Today we were going to finish it. We spent hours in silence, focused on our work. After a while I noticed the sun shining directly into the entrance, signalling that it was time to leave.
"Hey Lily." I kept my voice soft but she still jumped slightly as I broke her focus.
"Hmm? Yes?" mumbled as she tore her gaze away from the heated stone in front of her.
"Look at the sun Lily, it's time to go." her eyes widened slightly in surprise.
"Already?" her voice had risen and she seemed worried.
"What's wrong? Isn't this our normal time?" I quizzed her, wondering what could be the issue.
"Well yeah it's the normal time, but I promised my mom I would be home early today. I have to go!" and with that she grabbed the sheet and I lowered her gently to the ground. I watched as she hid the sheet under a pile of rocks once again and sprinted towards her home, whatever was happening must have been important. I guess it was time for me to make my way home as well. I took a deep breath and churned the air up where Lilly had just been. I jumped and fell for a few blissful moments, then let the air catch me and once my feet touched the ground I released the rough air around me. I turned towards home and began the run home. I climbed the side of a mountain with assistance from the wind and once back in Araki land, I called Fidi, my dragon. Our dragon's powers fed off of our own. The stronger the Araki, the stronger the dragon. I could feel the air shifting slightly as Fidi grew nearer, and I closed my eyes in an attempt to receive any images he wished to show me. I could now see his bright red and yellow mottled figure, a stark contrast to the blue sky. His serpentine body landed silently by my side in moments. He came close and I rested my forehead on his, enjoying the moment of being alone with him, for he knew me better than anyone. I slid onto his back and asked him to take me home. He did so joyfully, sending bright images of the fireplace and the garden into my mind. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the feeling of flying. I had to convince Fidi to take Lily sometime, because I just knew that she would love it.
I was hit by a gust of wind that sent me toppling, separating me from Fidi.
"Fidi!" a high pitched scream escaped my lips, I hoped with all of my might that he was okay. Then I had to focus on myself, I had to find the ground so that I cushion my fall. Before I could figure which way was down I hit a solid green mass that was Rocco, my brother's dragon. I quickly sent out the image to Fidi, if Rocco attacked Fidi, he could do real damage. My side hurt and I could feel sticky warm blood soaking my shirt. I placed my hand over it and winced, I must have landed on one of Rocco's tail spikes. I pulled myself to a sitting position and saw Ark's broad shoulders, he hadn't turned around or even said anything. I threw my senses out to find Fidi and make sure he was okay. Closing my eyes I felt he was nearby and coming closer I sent him one more image of exactly where I was and waited.
"Why do you keep doing that?" my brother asked me sternly. I could see the muscles of his back tighten under his shirt.
"Doing what Ark?" I'm sure he could feel the daggers that were flying from my eyes, "Flying with my dragon?" I snapped back, irritated at the pain in my side and his rude greeting.
"Running away Luna." He still hadn't turned around.
"I'm a runner, Ark, it's what I do." And with that, I slid off of Rocco's tail and landed neatly behind Fidi's wings. He tucked in his wings and tore away from there as fast as he could, forcing me to lean forward and calm the air in front of me just so that I wouldn't be torn from his back. Fidi made a single circle over the house and landed in the grass by the front door, letting me get off. At the sight of my bloody shirt and pained face he whined and then bared his teeth in the direction we had just come from. I chuckled softly at that and gave him a reassuring pat. My side was still bleeding, so I wanted to take care of it. I started to head inside, but before I even made it to the door my mother, Ava, came running out with cloth and pressed it to my side hard, making me wince. I assumed my mother's dragon, Silva, had clued her in based on the strong scent of blood.
"What happened?" my mother asked me frantically. Her dark eyes were wide with fear.
"Don't worry mother, Ark can tell you everything." I spat out as I heard Rocco approaching. She looked up to the sky, a stunned expression painting her face.
"What have you done to your sister Ark?" her voice had a much sharper tone to it now. My brother told her the story and then disappeared into the house. My mother stayed and fussed over my side for a bit longer and then went back inside and sent Silva, her sky blue dragon, to fetch a doctor. When she came back out, she resumed her fussing, but I was tired from both the run and from the numerous attempts at telepathy, so I gently grabbed my mom's hands and asked her if I could go lie down. She pulled back, seeming slightly shocked, and let me do just that. Opening the door to my room I was welcomed by the familiar bedroom, with a window covering almost the entire back wall that my bed occupied and smaller windows on the other two walls. Once I was in my room Fidi pushed his head through the large window and studied me. The bleeding had already stopped so I wasn't worried.
"Don't worry about me bud, I'll be just fine." he replied with a whine, I don't think he believed me. I slid onto my covers and relaxed. It felt good to close my eyes. I felt Fidi rest his head on the bed beside me and I felt his slow breathing push my sleek black hair away from my face. At some point I must've fallen asleep, because I woke to the doctor in my room, prodding my side and Fidi carefully watching him.
"Hello Luna. You seem to have had quite the crash today. How are you feeling?" he was an older man and spoke gently.
"Hi Johan, I'm doing okay." the words came out slower than I expected, "Just tired, I guess."
"Well that is perfect because you should be just fine after a little rest, and no more dragon jumping for at least a week, okay?" he chuckled a little and stood up to leave. There was a clean bandage wrapped neatly around my waist, covering the new injury. "Your ribs will be fine, they are just bruised and the puncture wound should heal in a week or so." With that he left. Alone again I fell back into my bed and pressed my fingers to the bridge of my nose, and I let my other hand fall and rest on Fidi's snout.
"Sorry." The voice startled me, causing me to sit up a little too quickly. My newly bruised ribs protested the quick movement. Fidi's head shot upward and looked accusingly at the perpetrator. It was Ark. "I didn't mean to hurt you." He said sullenly, staring intently at his feet.
"Well maybe you could've thought of that before attacking me?" I snapped at him, not ready for an apology quite yet.
"I brought you some chicken soup. I know it's your favorite when you're sick." He looked so sweet that I couldn't stay mad much longer. "I don't know why I did that earlier, I just got so angry." His sandy brown hair had grown a little too long and it fell in front of his eyes,
"Well Ark, thanks for the soup, even though I'm not sick." He chuckled slightly and walked across the room to sit on the side of my bed, holding the soup in his lap. I shifted backwards and leaned against the wall, wincing slightly at the movement. It was hard to stay mad at Ark, for when we were little he had always taken care of me. I didn't really know what to say because I felt bad for upsetting him, but I didn't regret going to see Lily either. "I'm sorry that you're always having to chase me around." was all that came out.
"You could make my job easier if you wanted to." he whispered, his eyes were so dark that I couldn't find his pupils as he locked me in his stare.
"What would be the fun in that, big brother?" I forced a laugh and looked away, examining my blanket which seemed to have a new stain on it. Most likely from the blood.
"Well you wouldn't be hurt if you would just stay here, where you belong." his voice was rising. I guess we just couldn't get along anymore like when we were kids, not now that I was escaping to meet Lily, not now that I didn't tell him everything. Rocco sensed the tension in the room and pushed his oversized head in next to Fidi's.
"And where do I belong?" My voice was rising now too, "Locked up here? I was born to run," I gestured at Fidi, "I want to see everything and learn as much as I can. Why is that such a bad thing?" Ark visibly tensed and looked me straight in the eyes, his dark into my light.
"You need to stop running Luna, or you're going to get into serious trouble with the Iget." His eyes were unwavering, but mine were also steadfast.
"If you would just let me be I wouldn't be getting in trouble. I'm not hurting anyone, Ark. I don't even take Fidi with me when I leave, no one knows where I'm from." That was a lie of course, but I knew Lily wouldn't tell anyone and no one besides her even knew I was there.
"It's my job to watch over you. I can't just let you go galavanting around." with that he stormed out, taking the pity soup with him. Alone at last, I slipped down under my covers and got comfortable once more. As darkness overtook the landscape outside my window, I let sleep take me.