The day dawned bright and clear.
Alaena was sitting on a rock which was deeply rooted in the sand beneath her when Rukbat's first rays hit her small frame. She closed her eyes and inhaled a breath, taking in the sea and the dawn, drinking in the glory of nature.
A stick in her hand and an odd drawing in the sand--a half finished rune--showed she had not been idle in her time awake. She was practicing, and keeping her knowledge fresh.
A voice to her left drew her attention however, as it flowed forth in rolling Draconic. "Mistress Alaena! I do believe I've found something. Come look!" Alryuhn, her silver dragonet.
The Journeyman Mage wiped the sand clear of the pattern with her foot, not daring to leave it half done, even if no one seemed to be near or not. The rune was harmless enough if cast properly, but as it had been it could have been twisted into so many more harmful spells. It was far too early to fight something that could have been easily avoided.
The Elf pushed herself up, letting her stick drop to the ground as she went to see what Alryuhn was getting so excited over. "What is it, Rune?" she called after his silver shape as she followed him.
"A clutch, mistress Alaena. A fire-lizard clutch!"
Alaena pauses mid-stride, puzzled by his excitement. "Is that all, Alryuhn? Why would I need another dragonet? I've already got you, and you're wonderful by yourself. Why are you showing this to me?"
Because this one is special. Like my clutch was. Oh, please come and look! It's hatching!
Alaena sighed faightly, eyes rolling skywards for a brief instant before she trotted over to him. If it was that important she would at least feign interest if nothing else. "Hatching, you say?" she queried, trying to sound more enthused than she was.
"Yes, mistress! Look! See, that egg is moving!" Alryuhn's foreclaw pointed to one of the eggs near to top. It was a small egg, surprisingly, and looked to be besmirched by flurries of ice, and snow, all choatic as if swirled by violent gusts of wind.
Alaena squatted down, one hand on the sandy ground for balance as she leaned forward. "Hmm..." she drawled out softly, watching the egg twitch. "But, Alryuhn, I don't have any meat handy!" She looked around. "And for that matter, where are these hatchlings' parents?"
"You can conjure food, Alaena, and their parents are off hunting. They'll be back shortly. I talked with them, and they said you could take as many of their younglings are you wanted. I told them all about you. They think you'd make a great caretaker."
Alaena inwardly winced. All about her? Shells. "Well, if you say so Alryuhn." He had been her friend for five years. She would humor him, at least once. She closed her eyes, murmuring an incantation, her hands moving to trace icy runes in the chilled air. How this clutch had kept warm she had no idea. Any thought of conjecture was cut off, however, by the shattering of an egg shell, even as she completed the spell and meat--raw and bloody--appeared in her hand. She took a breath, ever so slightly nauseated by it, but opened her eyes to offer it anyway.
As she opened her eyes, however, she received a great shock. The dragonet before her was not any of the normal fire-lizard shades she had grown accustomed too, but rather she was a stark, brilliant white. "Alryuhn!" she exclaimed, falling backwards onto her backside.
The silver dragonet chuckled. "I told you this clutch was special, Alaena!" He chortled. "Now offer her the meat."
Her? Shock laced Alaena's mind further as the fact that this fire-lizard was not only albino, but female. But would she be capable of reproduction?
Yes, she will be. Now, would you please offer her that meat? She's starving. And as if to further attest this the young hatchling creeled pitiously.
Alaena's heart wretched in her chest, and she couldn't refuse the fire-lizard any longer. She got down on her knees, and offered the meat, her hand moving forward and opening slowly, revealing the many oozing gobbets inside.
The white started to creel again, only to have her nostrils filled with the scent of raw meat as she inhaled and--quickly locating the source--she pounced.
Alaena felt the meat being eaten, and opened eyes she had shut out of she overwhelming nausea. She was a vegetarian, not a carnivore, and raw meat just gave her the shivers. All animals must die she knew, but for them to be raised solely for the slaughter... She blinked to see the white looking back at her, and blinked again as she felt a nice sort of warmth pass through her being, like being accepted for who she was, without question almost. A good feeling, though not as strong as when she had Bonded Alryuhn.
"What will you call her, Alaena?" Alryuhn prompted gently, his eyes whirling slowly, their hue of deepest violet.
"What?" Alaena asked, startled out of her reverie by his voice.
"What will you call your new friend there?" he asked again.
"Oh. Uhm..." she trailed off, thinking, and looked back into the white's eyes, whirling a steady cyan now. Maybe she wasn't albino after all. In fact... Alaena let her vision drift over her tiny form, and found that her hide was not pure white, but rather multicolored. Pastel hues of prisimed light were painted all over her. "I think..." she began. "I think I shall call her Raela, for she is the light of Rukbat revealed to me."
"Raela," Alryuhn repeated. "Nice. I like it. Raela." He grinned draconicly.
Alaena smiled back at him, even as the newly dubbed Raela crawled up her arm, creeling hungrily for more food. Alaena laughed. "Alright, my new friend. You shall have more food. Come, let us head back to Ryslen, Alryuhn. It's time for breakfast and chores."
Raela finished crawling up her arm, and settled on her shoulder, clinging unsteadily as she instinctively wrapped her tail about the Elf's neck, trying to stay on as Alaena started jogging back to the Weyr.
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You are listening to Yasunori Mitsuda, Chrono Cross -- Time of the Dreamwatch (2:00)