//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: Reborn // Story: Dragonland's Fiercest and Fairest // by JeromyTG2 //------------------------------// Edited by Hotel_Chicken Darkness, was all I could see, a pitch black void that could have been anything from a black wall to an eternal and endless void. Aside from the intense blackness filling or blocking my vision, I also felt a strange heat, something warm and cozy, like a heated blanket on a cold winter day. However, unlike the soft embrace of a warm blanket, comfort didn’t come with the warmth that enveloped my body. Instead I felt a weird stiffness, as if… my body was made of stone? I began to stir, not wondering why I was asleep, but rather why I was still alive. Feeling my body, I no longer felt any pain from the incident I had to experience, and I felt… well, different doesn’t even begin to describe the alien and foreign feelings in and on my body. I remembered there was a voice that spoke to me while I was on the verge of death, saying something about giving me 'new life'. My thoughts on those mysterious words were quickly swept away as I felt something move at the base of my spine and shifting slightly, causing me to chase away the last bits of sleep as I began to wake up. Opening my eyes, the first thing I saw was a somewhat dark ceiling. It wasn’t as dark as the black void I was staring into earlier, but the lack of light in my new surroundings didn’t help me see anything any better. Looking around more, I saw a far light off in the distance, leading to the mouth of a tunnel. Along the pathway to the mouth of the tunnel were several small pools of lava that slowly bubbled like warm pudding. H-how the hell did I get in a cave? I asked myself as I continued to stare at the path leading to the exit. I expected a few things, a hospital, white fluffy clouds with angels, the interior of an ambulance, maybe even the inside of my bedroom back home, but a cave was definitely not on that list. My eyes slowly began to adjust to the darkness of my surrounds, revealing an orange hue to the stalactites that hung precariously over my head. As I stared at the stalactites, I noted an orange liquid slowly drip from one of them and land right next to my head. As the glowing orange liquid hit the ground I hear the unmistakable hiss of something being burned away. Realizing that my head was right next to a slowly growing puddle of lava I jolted upright and banged my head against a low hanging stalactite, causing it to surprisingly brea off of the ceiling with ease. As I began to rub my head to alleviate the pain I stopped and slowly tapped my fingers on my head. Tap. There was my forefinger. Tap. There was my middle finger. Tap. There was… My pinky finger? Slowly bringing my hand into my vision I expected to see the mangled flesh of my hand with a missing ring finger and exposed bone. But instead I saw a purple leathery hand that had four terrifyingly long sharp claws. I checked my other hand and as well and was greeted to a mirrored version of my right… Claw? It had four skeletal like appendages with three of them acting as fingers while the fourth one acted more like a thumb. My new alien appendages ended in in bone like talons that grew ever so slightly as I gave my hands an experimental flex. "That’s… That’s new." I said, and soon noticed what my voice sounded like, "Hello hello. Test test." I said aloud. My sounded deep and had a small growl to it, as if I was always angry. "Is that really my voice?" Not wanting to stay in this cave any longer, I tried to stand up but was met with sharp bump on my head. I rubbed my head to dull the pain, but again I felt something odd. I didn’t notice it the first time as I was too focused on my hands, but I soon noticed that my head was different as well. My head, once smooth and covered in hair, felt rough and had a short cone shape, almost the size of an extra large ice cream cone. Having enough, I immediately began to crawl out of the dark and damp cave to find something I could look at myself with. Finally out, the sun blinded my vision for a second, causing my eyes to squint as I began to adjust to the new light. once my vision finally cleared I was completely shocked and baffled by the view in front of me. The first thing I noticed was that the area around me was like a mountain slope and in the distance I could see the ocean. Turning my gaze from the ocean I was surprised to see something purple take up a good portion of my lower field of vision. Grabbing the new object in front of me I was terrified to find out that it was part of my face. Looking around with even more determination to find a mirror or some type of reflective surface. My attention was almost immediately grabbed by a slow flowing river flowing down the mountain on my left that led into an area filled with large naturally formed hot springs. If I wasn’t freaking out at the moment I may have considered the idea of taking a nice relaxing dip to clear my head, but I had other plans as I rushed over to the warm and steaming water. As I stumbled closer to the water, I noticed that my balance was terribly off, as if I was missing a few toes. Looking down, I noticed that both my feet formed a 'Y' shaped, the odd appendages reminded me of something, but I couldn’t focus on that as I made my way to the water. Picking up my pace, I stumbled a bit and used my arms to stop my fall. As I fell down I noticed that my chest didn’t hit the ground, but rather stayed arched as I supported myself with my arms and legs like a cat. Like so many other things at that moment I didn’t have time to question it as I used my new posture to walk over to the water with a fast trot. As I reached the water I gazed into the steamy liquid as I waited for it to clear and show me my face. Once it finally cleared, the first thing I saw was a recognizable creature that I knew all too well. I probably would have been terrified of the monster that seemingly lurked under the water if it wasn’t looking back at me with a dumbfounded and terrified expression. As I slowly opened and closed my mouth, the monster below mimicked my actions, telling me that this wasn’t just a video game monster… That was me. Amber eyes stared into my own with a look of abject horror and dread as I slowly placed my hand my mouth… Or was it a beak now? Regardless of what it was called I gave it a tug, hoping to pry off a rubber mask and reveal my face underneath. But it didn’t budge, it was real. All too real. I got a better look of my new body as I looked behind me, my neck bending at an angle it never could before. My body was a deep purple color that clung to the thin muscles and bones underneath like an airtight suit. Upon my bony body laid two large purple leathered wings that spread out like a second pair of arms. As my gaze shifted lower I noticed a chain like appendage at the base of my spine, comprised of the same purple leather color and ending with a silver spear like barb at the end of it. "... no way. No way. No fucking way!” Taking a step back, taking in the fact that I was now one of the most deadliest beings known to nerds. "I... I'm Ridley? I became, Ridley!?" As I am about to freak out, I thought of something that would best fit to my reaction and test one the abilities my new foreign body should have possessed. "Welp.... here goes..." *Deep breath* *Elsewhere* Perched at the tip of a tall cliff, a cyan dragoness, with a light-blue underbelly, and navy blue spines that lined behind her head along with short horns on both sides, observed the land up high with her ruby colored eyes, seeing anything that might catch her interest. Her name was, Ember, daughter of the fearsome Dragon lord, toughest dragoness in the pack, and overall most badass dragon…. And she was bored. So bored that she contemplated jumping off her perch and land head first into the ground so impatience could make way for agony. At least agonizing pain would give her something to do, although it would probably make her father put even more restrictions on her freedom. For almost her entire life, Ember never got to go anywhere due to her father's wishes. She was only allowed to be at a maximum, five miles away from her father’s nest, restricting her freedom and confining her to a three mile radius. Despite being allowed to be five miles away from the nest, dragons were not the best at measuring things with a glance, so there were days where her guards would think one mile was ten and five miles was three, her current guard was one of the dumber ones, believing a mile was a yard. Despite her limited freedom she kept her body and mind sharp by occasionally fighting with other dragons. However, even that little freedom would end quickly whenever the ground would rumble, announcing the arrival of her mountain sized father. "Ugh! I can't take it anymore!” Ember yelled to the sky. “I’m tired of being bored out of my mind! Is there anything cool I could do here?!” *Distant Roar* Ember stood up immediately and looked at the direction where the loud roar came from. It wasn’t like any dragon roar she had ever heard before. She heard most dragon roars from big to small, old to young, and angry to the rarely sad, but unlike those, this particular dragon roar was different. "From what I can tell, that roar might have come from all the way to the southern ocean side," Her brow raised with a great interest. "That's... impressive." She desperately wanted to go and see who or what caused the mysterious roar, but the limits that her father placed on her made that possibility a slim chance in Tartarus. But, what if he doesn't have to know? She thought as she flew off the cliff with her light-indigo wings, to make a quick visit to her father's den. After sneaking in as quietly as possible, she saw her father, an enormous dragon, sleeping soundly in his nest with many of his guards distracted as all of their willpower and attention was focused on not eating the king’s horde. Burning Ledge was never the same after that fateful incident. *ZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzz* The cave rumbled as his loud snores shook the earth beneath his body, shaking the cave with such a force that several stalactites broke off of the ceiling and crashing into the ground, causing the guards in her father’s cave to fly and catch them falling derby to protect her father’s horde. Now that Ember confirmed that her father was asleep she slipped by the guards and flew off towards the direction of the roar. “Let's hope it will be less boring than just sitting and flying all day." *Meanwhile* WOW THAT WAS LOUD! I thought as I tried to regain my hearing. After releasing a mighty roar that would make Godzilla blush I grabbed the sides of my head where I thought my ears were to alleviate the pain. My entire body vibrated furiously as if I was standing next to a body size stereo with the bass up to max. It was a surprisingly fun feeling, like lying on top of a washing machine. As my body finally stopped shaking from the roar I started shaking in excitement as I looked at my new body. I was Ridley, one of the most deadliest beings in the Metroid series, and it's me! "Wow. I'm Ridley." I said as admired more of my new body. I looked at my large dragon like wings, giving them an experimental stretch as I spread them out. My new wigs had pink membranes with, for some reason, octagon shapes as my netting. The tips of my wings had two white hooks on the edge, similar to the claws on my fingers. "I wonder how I can use these." I tried testing out my new limbs, it was an odd sensation to move them, they felt strangely like an extra set of arms, it was definitely weird to have extra limbs. Speaking of... "And then there’s my tail..." I picked up my rope like tail which was impressively strong, and examined the sharp tip at the end of my tail, it had the shape of a large spear and has a white sheen to it. "Looks pretty sharp. I wonder if I can move it." Testing it out, its movement was strange, yet shaky since I never had a tail before. It was similar to how my neck would move, moving with the spear tip instead of moving the spear. After a few minutes of practice, I started to get the hang of it and tried to move my tail in patterns like wave, spiral, and metronome. "This is too cool." I said as move my tail more, until... *Grumble grumble* I look down at my scaly stomach, and I realized that since I was living in the body of a so called space dragon, I needed to find a way to get food. I wasn't too sure of the area I was in, but where there was water there was life, meaning I could probably find some animals or fruit to eat. I could also use the cave as a temporary home until I came up with a plan for… Something. I couldn’t really go back to MY home as a space monster, so I would need to find a new home. "HEY YOU!" I froze, hearing a voice was something that I never expected on the first day of being a space dragon. Looking around to find out who called me out, I was greeted by the empty space I saw when I first left the cave. "Up here moron!" I complied to the person’s demands, only to find out it wasn’t a person at all. Looking up I saw, what I can't believe, was a flying short blue dragon. A REAL DRAGON! I just stood there in amazement, seeing a fictional creature that was described as a myth flying right in front of me. She then suddenly swooped down, landed elegantly, and started to walk towards me. Looking at the strange creature closely, it appeared to have a feminine figure, which made sense as I heard her voice calling me. "Hellooooo!?" She said, as she tried to get my attention by waving a claw in front of my face. I shook off my gaze and looked down at her, I noticed she had cyan scaled skin, two large bright red eyes, and stood up to my chest. "S-sorry. I... I-It's just that... I never seen a dragon before." I said, as this blue dragon gave me a questionable look. "Never seen one? Have you ever looked at yourself? Do you even know where you are?" She asked inquisitively as she glared up at me. Slightly shrinking under her gaze, I attempted to come up with a decent lie to tell her. Since Ridley was basically a dragon from outer space I could just say I was a normal dragon like her. "Umm... well. There wasn't any other dragons where I come from, that's why. Uh… As for where I am, I don't know actually. I just... uhh... moved here? Yeah." I told her. She looked at me with keen eyes that caused me to flinch, thinking she saw right through me, but then she relaxed her stern stare which in turn made me feel at ease. "Hmm. Well, I have never seen a dragon like you before, so it makes sense. And as for what this place is, you are in the Dragonlands. Uhh.... welcome. I guess." She said in a somewhat sheepish manner. Judging by her stance, she looked like she didn't talk much. Dragonlands, huh? Pretty sure this place is full of them. "Th-thanks." I answered. Neither of us spoke for a while after that, leading into an awkward silence until bluey decided to break the ice. "So. I heard a roar from the distance, and it was something wanted to check out. Was it you?" she asked. "Uhh... Yeah. That was me." "Really? I gotta say, that is one impressive roar. Judging on your size and how far I heard, it might have been five kilometers." Blue told me with an impressed tone as she crossed her arms. "That far!? Holy shit! I might have a voice of a giant or something." I said excitedly. "Yeah. You could say that. It kinda surprised me of how you manage that roar with how boney your body is.” Blue said as she was commenting about my body. You know what? I'm gonna stop calling her that and just ask. "Yeah... I had a... shortage of food on my way here. That's why! Anyway, I don't think I got your name." "... Ember. Yours?" I was about to answer, but hesitated. Should I tell her my name? ... Maybe not. Jake died. So I guess I'll just go with it... "It's... Ridley." "Ridley? Kinda of an odd name for you." yeah, kinda figured. "Well whatever, I was on my way here to just see who made that roar. But I guess that solves my question. So, I'll just-" *Grumble Grumble* Just as Ember was about to leave, she heard my stomach growl. I felt a bit embarrassed but realized that since Ember was there she could point me to a nearby food source or something. "Uhh... Sorry. I haven't had anything to eat since I got here. Do you know where I can find some grub?" I asked. "Seriously? Have you at least packed a few gems on your way here?" she asked. "... Gems?" I asked, causing Ember to give me a disbelieving look. "Wait, don't tell me. Have you ever eaten gems before?" "... No. Why would I? Won't they destroy your teeth the moment you try to crunch on them?" "Wha- why... BECAUSE YOUR A DRAGON! DRAGONS EAT GEMS!" Ember shouted. "Do they? Uhhh…. Dragons where I’m from eat meat?” I tried to say, creating a lie in hopes of covering up my blissful ignorance of how dragons actually act. "Ugh! You are the weirdest dragon I have ever met! I mean look at you! Might as well die here in starvation." "Oh come on! Give me a break! Isn't there like a 'dragon code' where you help your kind and stuff like that?" I said, using my new fingers to make air quotes as I talked about the dragon code. "Dragon code? Are you an idiot? Dragons don't do helping. And what you should be doing, is kicking me out of your territory, beat me up into a pulp, or eat me if you are so desperate!" "Eat you!?” I asked in disgust. “I’m not a fucking cannibal! I don't plan on hurting you just because you're within my spot, and again. NOT. FROM. HERE!" I pointed out, hoping me being from somewhere else could both explain my weirdness and diffuse the situation. "Well too bad! There is no point of you living here with all these rocks around, a useless river, and a worthless hot spring that just screams pathetic! Face it, your dead where you stand. You’re pathetic.“ She snarked, breaking the final straw on the camel's back. Out of instinct I thrashed my tail violently and shattered the rocks behind me. "Fine! Don't help me! I'll just find other ways to get food! You can leave without the necessary beat up! Don't let a bird shit on you on your way out!" I turned away from her and started to head to the river, where I could hopefully find a fish or two. "Your welcome!" She called back. "What!?" I turned and instinctively snarled at her. I looked at her as she pointed a claw at the shattered rock, and to my surprise, there are tons, and I mean TONS, of different colored gems. Coming closer, they all shined like chandeliers and all too bright to look at. "I thought getting you all pissy will help you destroy this rock, but I guess seeing how strong your tail is, you won't have any problems finding natural gems around this place." She said, calmly. "So... all this argument was to get me angry enough to break this rock?" I asked dumbly. "Well, yeah. How are you going to ever going to smash these rocks with just raw strength?” She explained. "Judging how you are so boney and hardly any muscle, you have no chance of breaking the same rock you just shattered." I had a thought in mind where I can prove her theory wrong just by going to break another rock. "Really?" I muttered. "Let me try something." I said as I walk to another rock similar to the one I smashed. The new rock was a lot larger than the one I previously shattered, it was nearly twice my height and three times my width. I walked up to it and started observing it by giving it a few experimental taps on its surface. "Are you sure you want to smash that? By the looks of it, there is no way that a scrawny dragon like you is able to brea-" Ignoring Ember, I took a quick breath, tightened my right claw, pulled back my arm, and thrust hard as I gave a solid punch. *BOOM!* Looking at my result, the rock was shattered and numerous huge chunks of multicolored rock gems decorated the ground beneath us. I was really impressed with how much strength I now had, I could seriously do damage! "HA! Whaddya know! I shattered it with my fist! Though it hurt a little, but HOLY SHIT!" I shouted with glee. "... woah. Now THAT, was impressive! Rocks that holds gems are pretty hard to break, but you just destroyed one that twice your size!" Ember told me excitedly, completely awed with my performance. “I mean... not bad for a scrawny dragon." She fin wished, suddenly reverting back to her snarky attitude. "So..." I picked up one of the shattered pieces and looked at it. “I can you really eat these?" I asked, as Ember came closer and took the gem I was holding and tossed it in her mouth. "*crunch crunch* See? Nothing to worry about. Just try it." She reassured me. Seeing her eat the gem like candy gave me doubts on how this will be my new diet. These dragons are strange. I picked up a light blue gem, which I'm assuming was aquamarine, and gave a shrug. "... Bottoms up." Popping the gem in my mouth, I started munching it. I felt no resistance and no pain as I crunched the gem, it felt similar to chewing on brittle ice. Then it happened, a sudden burst of flavor exploded in my mouth, the gem tasted like Blueberry and lemonade. I took another gem, a ruby to be specific, and ate it with gusto, the taste of watermelon, strawberry, and apple exploding in my mouth. "Wow! I never knew dragons could eat these. They are amazing!" I said while stuffing more gems in my mouth. "Glad you liked it." Ember told me as shy gave my a sly know-it-all smirk. "Oh! Hang on." I picked up a rather large chunk if gems (gem chunk? Rock Gem? Meh.), almost the size of my leg, and handed over to Ember. "Here. Thanks for helping me, to settle in around here." For some reason, my offer of generosity caused her to recoil as she took several steps back. “What?... N-No! Dragons don't share their gems or treasures! Plus, you should start your own horde so you don't have to worry about starving." She said as she turned her back to me. She had a decent point, since I was sort of a dragon, I should save up some gems. But that didn’t mean I was just going to let her leave without giving her a proper thanks. "Come on. Just take it, and besides, I'm pretty sure I can find more gems around here. Also, if I want to eat something else other than gems, I'll manage." I said, while inching the gem chunk closer to her. "Just take it." After what felt like twenty seconds, she finally decided to take it, albeit very reluctantly. "... Ugh! Fine!" She said as she lifted up the large chunk which was almost the size of her whole body. "I'm taking this because I feel like it." Even though she has a snobby attitude, she is actually a nice dragon. "Okay. Whatever you say-" "EEEEEEMMMMBEEEEEERRRRRR!!!!!" Suddenly, a loud thunderous voice spoke as the whole place trembles, “What The Fucking Hell Was.That!” I shouted. "*sigh* That was my dad." "Your WHAT!? HOW FUCKING BIG IS YOU DAD ANYWAY!?" I asked. "You know what? You have the most creative tongue in the Dragonlands. I suggest you quit it!" she said, clearly annoyed. "Well excuuuuuse me, princess, for saying weird shit!" "Well whatever." She said, rolling her eyes, "Look, I gotta get going, or else I'm gonna get it." She stopped for a second before she turned around and gave me a small smile " Well… See ya." And just like that she took off flying. "Yeah. See ya." I watched as the blue dragon flew towards deep in the Dragonlands. It wasn't as much of a warm welcome she gave me, but that is just enough for someone who tries to be civil to others, even for someone who wants to change things. I guess she was really trying to be nice and friendly, just she doesn't know how to yet. I smiled for that thought. "I hope I get to see her again. Now to find me some gems and punch some rocks.” *Elsewhere* The Dragonlands, home of the dragons(obviously), land of rock and lava. A world to behold and awed as dragons roam the skies and land, and mostly showing off their strength over turf and territory. All have proven their might, but all can't be guided by their own. Their ruler, King Torch, a Goliath among dragons, is the main patriarch of their kind, showing and leading their ways of being a dragon. King Torch was waiting patiently outside his nest, which was the size of a large crater, when he called out a name that he keen all too well, the name of his only daughter. “EMBER!” Ember is her name and she is the precious daughter of Torch. Hearing small flaps, he looked at the direction where it came from, and to no surprise, he saw his daughter making her way to him. She steadily flew close to her father's face and held a large chunk of rock gem in her left arm. "WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?" Demanded Torch, waiting for his daughter to answer. "... Out." She hesitantly replied. "WHAT?!? I GAVE YOU STRICT ORDERS TO NEVER LEAVE WITHIN OUR TERRITORY! YOU HAVE DISOBEYED ME ONCE AGAIN, EMBER!" The mighty king exclaimed. "Well... all I did was travel just travel to the oceanside, southwest from here! Nothing out there, really. Except for that one dragon-" Ember tried to explain, but she was quickly interrupted by her father as his booming voice left little room for argument. "THIS IS WHAT I MEAN, EMBER! YOU COULD HAVE BEEN EATEN OR SLAYED BY ANOTHER DRAGON! YOU ARE INSIGNIFICANT WHEN YOU ARE OUT THERE ALONE." "Well I can prove that I can take care of myself!" She shouted back. "NO! I'VE HAD ENOUGH! AS YOUR FATHER AND DRAGON LORD, I FORBID YOU TO LEAVE YOUR DEN UNTIL I AM NO LONGER DRAGON LORD!" "WHAT!? You can't let me stay here forever!" "OH PLEASE. NOT FOREVER, JUST ONE WEEK." "... What? What do you-" "I'M FINISHED, DAUGHTER.” The King explained. “IT IS TIME FOR ME TO STEP DOWN AS DRAGON LORD." "So then that means..." "DRAGONS ACROSS THE WORLD WILL NOW COME AND MIGRATE HERE. THEREFORE, ALL WILL BE SUMMONED TO PARTICIPATE THE GAUNTLET OF FIRE. THEY MUST RETRIEVE THE BLOODSTONE SCEPTER AND ONE OF THEM WILL BE CROWNED DRAGON LORD." Ember paused for a moment, and thought about the situation. Since her father's rule was coming to an end and everydragon would be participating, this would be her only chance. She had the opportunity to rule over the dragons and prove to her father that she wasn’t soft like those little Ponies in Equestria. But knowing her father, he for sure would not allow her to enter. She had to keep this plan to herself, or she would never have the chance again. "I see. May go to my nest now?" "... YOU MAY." Ember made her way, but was stopped by her father's claw, "AS PUNISHMENT, OFFER THAT ROCK IN YOUR CLAWS." Said Torch as he opened his jaws. Ember looked down at the rock in her arms, she thought about the dragon who was strange to her, and the one who gave it to her as a gift. "*sigh* Here..." She said as she tossed it inside her father’s jaws. "HMM... IT HAS BEEN SO LONG THAT I HAVE EATEN GEMS THAT ARE FROM THE OCEANSIDE. THAT DRAGON YOU MENTIONED, HAS IT CAUSED YOU ANY TROUBLE?" "... no." "MUST HAVE BEEN A WEAK ONE. YOU MAY GO." Ember, finally flies to her nest, and start thinking about what her father said. Since the Gauntlet of Fire was a week away, she thought about the odds on getting the Bloodstone Scepter. Knowing her father, he would be the one to set an obstacle and plans to make it difficult and cunning. Yes, it would be dangerous, but this wouldn't stop her from getting what she wanted. But, the only thing that was in her way were the other dragons. They all seek the power of dragon lord, and she knew what could lead to if one of them gets the scepter. She had to make a plan and figure out a way to get the scepter before anydragon else got it, especially the strange purple one. In her honest opinion, he looked terrifying despite his near boney appearance, he looked really powerful, and deadly too. "Wait... WHY AM I THINKING ABOUT THIS!?" shouted Ember, "Ugh. Great. Now there are other things to worry about. I hope he doesn't get the scepter, who knows what would happen." Ember worried even more, but something in her head reminded her what that dragon said. 'Not from around here.' "Wait... WHAT DOES HAPPEN IF HE GETS THE SCEPTER!?" And yes, her worries built up even more, causing her to nearly forgetting her main objective. *ACHOO!* Huh. I usually get this if someone is talking about me... “NAH!”