The forest was glowing.
No, correction, the sun was glowing and the light was making it look like the trees were shining. The forest wasn't capable of glowing. It was just trees. And trees didn't produce light of any kind. Even he knew that.
The woods were exciting for a two-year old. They presented a kind of adventure that could not be found in the sea kingdom, and a challenge that a brilliant scientist like him couldn't turn down. That's how he had ended up there, exploring the golden forest, all alone. And the funny thing was, he didn't remember ever leaving his room, and he definitely didn't remember swimming anywhere. Not that he could. Not yet. But, Gale had promised. One day he would be able to. One day, he would see the world.
Then this was a dream. It had to be. Nothing else made sense. But never had his dreams felt so real. Was this what Gale had called "dream-jumping"? Was he somehow in someone else's dream?
Please don't let it be Lionfish's, he pleaded to the unseen force guiding his steps as he crept further and further into the trees. Then, he decided that it couldn't be his angry brother's. There was far too much happiness and love. Not nearly enough blood and gore.
The cheerful chirping birds were a dead giveaway.
He didn't know who's dream he'd accidently wandered into, or how to get back out. Gale hadn't taught him that. So, he did the only thing he could. He kept walking.
The trees grew thicker the further he trekked, and he couldn't help but shiver slightly as the sunlight began to fade away to be replaced with thick green leaves nearly the same color as his scales. He found himself traveling faster and faster, and his small wings unfurled themselves almost as though they knew something that he did not.
After a while, he emerged into a small clearing with a bubbling creek. Letting out a sigh, he crawled along a cluster of rocks toward the water, settling beside it to rest and wait the night out. He stared at the crystal surface, watching it gurgle and splash, and thought of his family. Why did they always laugh at him? Was there something wrong with him? What was it? It was because of the way he talked, wasn't it? He'd tried to stop stuttering, he really had. But it was so much more difficult than that, and the jeering just continued no matter what.
He leaned forward to look at his reflection, finding the scrawny blue-eyed figure staring miserably back at him. He wrung his talons, tears welling up in his unfocused gaze. Another thing the other hatchlings of his realm laughed at. The nameless hatchling couldn't see. He couldn't fight back. He would only curl up in a corner like a blob. An odd, strange-looking, hyperactive, spineless, far too inquisitive blob.
Gale had also promised to fix that.
He was still waiting.
He sighed again, dipping a talon into the water as he began to drift off and flipped his tail carelessly onto the rocks.
And that was when he heard the whimper.
At first, he thought it was a wild cat of some kind. Wild cats could eat baby dragons. His head shot up immediately, and he scrambled to his paws with a splash, ducking up against the rocks and peering through a peephole.
He expected to see a furry monster with sharp teeth and glowing red eyes ready to devour him and steal his soul.
There was no cat.
But, there was a dragon.
Seeing that it wasn't some murderous creature, he cautiously glanced over the rocks at the huddled mess of pale scales and sharp, daggerlike emerald spikes. He could tell immediately by it's form that it was female, and, by her size, perhaps not much older than him.
And she was crying.
He froze, wanting to turn tail and run. It was the smart thing to do. He didn't know this hatchling, or what she was doing there, but she certainly wasn't a sea dragon. However, the gentledrakely side of him knew he could never leave her here in this state. She would be helpless to defend herself.
Which meant he was going to have to go over and talk to her.
He gulped back his fear, feeling his talons beginning to tremble as he backed away from the rocks and came around slowly as not to startle her.
"Um...excuse m-me? M-miss?" he began nervously as he got nearer to her. "A-are you a-all right?"
The dragoness started as he approached. Her eyes widened and she gasped, jumping up and backing away, wings flared. "Stay...stay away from me!" she hissed. "I...I'm dangerous! I...I'm warning you!"
She didn't seem dangerous. She seemed frightened.
He flatted his wings, and curled in his tail in the effort to look smaller and less intimidating. "I-I'm sorry. I d-didn't m-mean to s-startle y-you!" he stammered, taking a step back and staring at her with huge eyes. "Er...A-are you o-okay?"
"I'm fine," she huffed.
"Y-you're c-crying."
"So?" she snapped, bristling. "Dragons can...can cry! It's not...it's not forbidden!"
He nodded, watching as she slowly uncurled herself from her protective ball and began to slip away. "W-why are you c-crying?"
She paused to sniff. "Why do you care?"
"I...I d-don't k-know," he admitted truthfully. "B-but, maybe if y-you t-talk a-about it, t-then maybe it won't be s-such a b-big thing."
She blinked, looking as though he'd just landed in a spaceship and proclaimed himself some kind of alien squirrel. "Talk?"
"Yeah," he said. "Y-you can t-talk to m-me," he added, sitting down and attempting to look inviting.
She wrinkled her snout at him. "No thanks. You're not a Raynbow dragon. What are you? And how...how did you get here?"
"I don't k-know the a-answer to either of t-those q-questions," he replied. "But, I-I'm a s-sea d-dragon. I...I t-think."
"You...think?" she echoed. "You mean you're...not sure?"
He shook his head sheepishly.
"What's your name?" The dragoness sat up and wiped away her tears, putting on a brave face. "Oh, wait, let...me guess. Squirm. No...not fishy enough. Seacucumber."
Seacucumber? He outright laughed at this.
"What? That's not it?"
"N-no."
"Well, what is your name then?"
"I...I d-don't know."
"You don't know?" The hatchling looked absolutely stunned. "How?"
"T-they never t-told m-me."
"You mean you don't have a name?"
"I...I guess."
"Well," the dragoness snorted. "That'll never do. You need a proper name. Okay." She stood up and cautiously crept toward him, continuing on to circle his body and examine his wings and tail. "Well," she said again. "You don't really look like a sea dragon. You look more like a...like a...a prairie dragon!"
"Prairie d-dragon?" he repeated. "That's n-not a t-thing."
"Just go with me on this one," she argued, tapping one of his talons as she appeared before him, all signs of sadness gone as she faced this new challenge. "You are green, like a prairie. Or a meadow!"
"T-technically, meadows a-aren't green. The grass is," he pointed out.
"Oh, so what?" she growled. "You want your name to be 'Grass'? That's kind of a stupid name."
"M-meadow. I l-like Meadow." He watched her face as she began to think.
"Okay. Meadow. Sure. Meadow what?"
"M-meadow G-grass."
"'Meadow Grass'?" She snorted. "Are you sure? That's not very...intimidating."
"I...I don't want...to be."
"Ok...ay."
He smiled shyly at her. "T-thank you," he said to her. "I...I like it."
"Oh," she drew back, blinking in surprise. "Well...you're welcome, I guess."
They watched each other in silence for a moment, neither knowing what to say, and they looked away nervously.
"Y-you're not crying a-anymore," he finally stammered.
She barked out a tiny laugh. "I guess you were...right. Talking does help."
"See?" He grinned back at her. "T-told y-ya. So...w-what are y-you doing h-here? W-where a-are we?"
She frowned. "I was actually hoping you knew. I've never seen this place before."
"Oh...m-me n-neither."
"I was running away though. I remember that."
Meadow twitched his ears curiously. "Oh?" He'd never had such a long conversation with anyone before, let alone a dragon of an opposite gender. And a pretty one at that. "W-why?"
"Because..." she hesitated as though deciding whether or not she actually wanted to tell him anything. "Because my family doesn't understand me."
He tilted his head. "What d-do you m-mean?"
"Let's just say...just because your born into one family, doesn't always mean you belong there."
He understood that. His family was the same way. Certain that he didn't belong to them, despite his insistence that he was their "adopted brother". He didn't know what "adopted" meant, but he did know "brother". And that made him family, didn't it?
"I...I'm s-sorry." He looked down at his talons.
"It's not your fault," she huffed. "You didn't do anything. It's just something I can't change."
"Why not?"
"My family is...rather difficult. I have duties, and I can't avoid them. It's just...who I am."
He took a step closer to her, but she pulled away. "T-then why don't y-you c-change who you a-are?"
She laughed mournfully. "It's not that easy for me. I have responsibility of a lot of dragons. They look up to me. They need me to protect them."
"You're o-only a h-hatchling," he argued. "Y-you can't p-protect a-anyone y-yet."
"You don't know me."
"I'd like to." The words popped out of his mouth before he could stop them. She looked at him in surprise, but he didn't deterr. "I've...n-never had a f-friend. I-I'd r-really like it i-if you w-would b-be o-one."
She blinked. "You want to be friends? Why?"
Why did he? An excellent question. "Because...because I t-think I see s-something in you that I don't think a l-lot of dragons s-see."
"Oh?" she arched an eyecrest. "And what's that?"
"Y-you're b-beautiful," he stammered. "A-and n-not ju-just on t-the outside. I think...I t-think y-you have a good heart. A-and I am a p-pretty good j-judge of c-character."
She looked up at him for the first time. She didn't seem so afraid of him now. Curiosity sparkled in her eyes. "I've heard about the sea kingdom," she commented, "and how vicious and wicked they are. But you...you're not like that.
"I-I'm n-not l-like m-my t-tribe," he stammered.
She gave him a small smile, standing up and sweeping her large wings out to shake leaves from her body. "I can see that, Meadow Grass." She looked over her shoulder as though hearing a sound that he couldn't. "I have to go," she went on sadly. "It's going to be daylight soon."
"Oh..." His shoulders slumped. "But...w-what if I c-can't f-find y-you again?"
"Don't worry," she said. "I'll see you again someday. Count on it. After all, we're friends aren't we?"
He nodded, watching her disappointedly. "B-but, h-how will I recognize y-you? I...I don't e-even k-know your name!"
"I'll recognize you," she promised as she turned once more to leave, her scales already beginning to shimmer with awakening light. "And, as for my name...you can call me Cotton Scale."
And then she was gone.
Meadow awoke with a jerk and a silent scream. A jet of bubbles erupted from his jaws and his eyes shot open as water entered his lungs instead of air. Acting insticitively, he kicked out with his talons, scrambling for the surface.
His head broke through the waves and he pulled himself to the edge of the pool, gasping for breath. As he drug himself out onto the rocks, there was a clatter of talons and he felt two gentle wings brush against him and he flopped against the wall, heaving.
"Oh my goodness!" Lilac gasped, dropping down next to him. "Are you all right?"
"I...I think so," he coughed, removing his glasses to squint at the water warily. "W-what was that?"
"I told you," came Granite's sterner voice behind them. "The Seeing Pool shows both your past and your future. What did you see, son?" He leaned against the wall, seeming winded from the short trek across the cavern.
"I saw...I saw..." Meadow frowned. What had he seen? He didn't remember the events of his vision, even though it was obviously something from his past. Back when he was what? Two? He didn't recognize the moment in his history, and he didn't recall dream-jumping until he was three. But there was something that did look familiar. Something he had seen very recently.
The golden forest had been in one of Cotton's paintings.
She remembers.
The shock raced through his core. How? How did she remember him after so long? And why did she continue to pretend to hate him if she knew who he was?
"I saw something," he finished in an embarrassed mumble.
"Ohhhhh, something personal!" Lilac guessed, nodding knowingly. "Those are my favorite!"
"Hush, Lilac," Granite grumped, whacking her gently with a wing. "Be polite. Grass, did you see anything else? Anything that might have been a clue to the key's whereabouts?"
Meadow frowned. "What do you mean? I thought you knew where the key was!"
"I do," Granite said. "But the chosen one will be given a vision of sight, meaning he will be able to find the key on his own."
"I...I don't remember," Meadow confessed. "I was...a bit distracted."
"There was a girl, wasn't there? Who is it? The grumpy princess out there?" She jerked her head toward the corridor, beaming excitedly.
"Erm..."
"Lilac..." Granite warned.
"It's okay," the green hatchling gave the dragoness a nervous smile.
"Well, if it were me," Granite went on. "I would go back in. At least once more. Just to be sure."
"Are you sure?" Lilac inquired. "I've never heard of a dragon going twice. Oh, also, your secret's safe with me." She winked.
"It might be the only way," Granite explained.
Meadow looked from one to the other hesitantly. "And what will I see this time?"
"Well, you saw the past last time, right?" Lilac barreled on before Granite could derail her. Meadow wondered how she could know that, but she didn't give him a chance to ask. "So, logically, you should see the future this time."
The future? Did he really want to know what was going to happen? He swallowed hard. What future would it be? The one where the team emerged victorious, or where Twisterheart took control of him and the rest of the galaxy? Or was it one of those weird time-warps where the future wasn't decided and could still change sporadically?
"All right," he said slowly, turning back toward the pool once more. "I'll try again."
"Great!" Lilac's eyes sparkled excitedly. "Tell me how it goes with the dragoness. Oh! And the names and breeds of your hatchlings! Oh, Seasprays are so adorable!"
"LILAC!" Granite roared.
Meadow twisted his head away so they couldn't see his furious blush. Then, without another word, he closed his eyes and threw himself once more into the waves.
Darkness. Utter darkness.
He was surrounded by thick trees. A similar forest, but not exactly the same. A faint breeze trickled between the leaves, a whisper of new life in the otherwise motionless world. He took a step back, inhaling the stale air worriedly. His talons crunched against brown, decaying leaves, and he shivered, pulling his wings close as he looked around, searching for something to help him find his way out.
"RUN!" screamed a voice from the air.
As he twisted around, a long thin shadow fell over the forest, and he watched two figures race across the sky, carrying something large and square between them. He spread his wings to go assist, when a great ball of fire came whooshing out of the trees, nearly singeing one dragon's left wing. The two shrieked and jerked back. The object slipped from their talons and crashed through the forest canopy.
Meadow broke into a run, sprinting between the trees toward the fallen object. He tried to fly, but his wings got tangled in the branches. He hoped he could find the square before whoever shot the two from the air.
But he wasn't the only one pursuing it.
There was a rustle in a nearby bush, and Meadow twisted to see a flash of yellow disappear ahead of him into the shadows.
He ran faster.
The trees thinned ahead, and he followed a trail of rubble and debris to the crash site.
Someone beat him there.
He skidded to a halt, finding the object, a blanket thrown over something rock-like. An egg, he realized. A dragon stood between him and it, wings and talons hovering protectively over it. Meadow twisted, trying to get a better look at the egg. He recognized the distinct blue and silver swirls across it's surface.
The egg was a sea hatchling.
He gasped and the dragon whipped around in shock, bracing himself immediately for a fight.
Meadow froze, recognizing him immediately. Though he didn't know why he was there, or how, he would know this dragon anywhere.
It was Sun.