//------------------------------// // Nostalgia // Story: Convicted Hearts: The Dragons Stone // by SaphireHoyt //------------------------------// I had been waiting here for about four hours. I had fallen asleep for a while, and tried desperately to grasp at the memories in the fog. There was one that I relatively enjoyed. It was something hot and sweet, with little wisps of peppermint, small, fluffy, sugary clouds, and a type of sweet cream on top. I remembered shivering so much I could barely speak. Yet I was happy. I felt a different type of warm. It was strange... I was happy with the memory. I was content as I tried to relive it as many times as I could, soaking up every part of it I could. I clung to the dream. The sequence was always the same. I burst through a door into a strange home, and flung off my warm clothes, shaking as I did. I had a smile on my face, rushing past bright blurry lights and something tall and green in the corner. I was shivering more, shaking now with anticipation of the warm cup of sugar and treats that were coming my way in a few moments. I let out a strangled call, as if I was talking, but I never understood what I was saying. Something happened, and there was a flash, and then a loud croaky gasp. Then I felt something heavy over my shoulders as I was made to sit in front of a crackling blur of orange and yellow. It had socks hanging from it. I felt the heat, almost real. It felt great. I felt something press to my forehead and I was handed the big steaming mug. I felt tears prick my eyes. I hadn't felt this in so long. Why couldn't I feel this more often? I took a sip, and the hot liquid burned my throat on its way down, but I enjoyed every sensation it gave me. I felt something press against my forehead, and I felt something hot trail down my cheek. I never wanted the memory to end. "Savra... It's time." I blinked a bit and looked at the blurred face of the one before me. "What... What did you call me?" I felt confused. "It's time to wake up Savra..." I felt the warm drink being slowly sucked out of my hands. I felt tears prick my eyes. "No please... Just a few more minutes. Please, just a few more times! I'm not ready! Please, please don't- don't leave me!" I cried out as everything faded to black and I jolted awake, tears in my eyes as I clung to the branch. The cold wood was a reminder of my reality. Why couldn't I have had just one more sip? one more reliving of the memory? One more time. One more. One more and I would have been ready to wake up. I covered my mouth to hide a sob. Next to me, Flutter Shy hovered with saddle bags and water bottles to fill my backpack. She had seen everything. "A-are you-" I stopped her, motioning her to be silent as more tears streamed down my face. I just laid my hear on the branch in silence. I didn't want to talk. I didn't want to think. Maybe... When I'm finally free from this place... I can get to the place that was in that memory. Maybe I can have more memories. I wiped my tears before Diamond Shine arrived, smiling with Zecora, carrying bottles of glowing green and red, with a big silver flask, and a shall wagon full of apple cider and food on Diamond Shines back. I raised my eyebrows and looked at her. She had a few boxes covered by a tarp in the back of the cart. I jumped down, throwing my stuffed animals into the back of the wagon and smiled when she looked at me. "We've got everything we're going to need. A tent for when it rains, canned food, apple cider for treats, and even..." She looked a little uneasy. "Even some meat for you, Savra." She smiled and trotted up to me, nodding back to the beef jerky in the back of the wagon in a box labeled "NEEDS". I felt my skin crawl. How long had it been since I had eaten any meat other than fish? I shook my head and slung my backpack onto my shoulders, and buckled it into place. "It's time to go. Come on Zecora, we have to get to the Dragons Isle within a few weeks." I smiled and she nodded, and off we walked in silence. I found most of the day was spent cowering next to Flutter Shy because I had never seen the area before. It was making me feel strange but happy. I was looking around the darkness, cold but familiar. I knew I had been through a lot that was similar to this. I felt my heart stop whenever there was a twig snapping or a branch groaning. I hated the dread that filled my being when I was trying to stay calm. I was in a cold sweat. "We have been walking for a very long mile, but I sense the whether will change in a very very short while." I stopped and made a face at Zecora. We had been walking for more than a mile. "We've been going for longer than a mile, right?" Flutter Shy giggled at my question and looked at me. "Yes, she just means that we've covered a lot of ground in the past few hours." There was a crash of distant thunder, and then a feeling of dread filled me as I stumbled over a root. I scraped my knee a bit to much, causing blood to leak from the raw wound. "Oh dear... It appears we will have to set up camp here." I nodded, holding back a few curses that I wanted to usher forth from my mouth that I had learned from the elder dragon youths at the Dragons Isle. I felt like my heart had sank when I was told to stay seated instead of help them erect the tent. I fumed a bit, silently, but they also had Diamond Shine sit aside with me so I wouldn't be scared. I leaned against her and closed my eyes, hyper focusing on my heart beat, to slow it down. But... It didn't sound like my own. It wasn't my own. It was probably Diamond Shine's. I felt my body relax to the rhythm, but I tried to force myself to stay awake. I stretched and closed my eyes, feeling the excitement of the day fade into the background, as well as my knee. I felt exhausted. I smiled in the dream, having the hot cup back in my hands. But that was the only thing back in my dream. The rest was a mystery, lost to the fog. At least it let me keep the hot cup of steamy, creamy comfort.