Chapter 1: Silver's Beginning
Silver Fall has always been a unique dragon, partially due to her ancestry. Her mother, Sky Blaze, was of clan of a fire drakes that were more rapidly approaching their end. The clan had some distinct aspects aside from their power of flight, most drake tribes and clans were incapable of flight. Their mindset made so that other drake tribes and clans were both drawn to and repulsed by them. The clan believed that physical might gave you the right to do as you wish, that's the part that drew the other tribes and clans. However they also thought of a dragon's Greed Rage, as they called it, was good because it showed a dragon's potential physical power and one of their rites of passage was to drop the young into a pit filled with so many gems and glittering objects that it actually forced the young dragon in the pit into a frenzied greed, that's the part the other clans and tribes didn't like, and if the young dragon didn't gain some measure of control after a day of the pit they were dropped to a location lower than the pit and had to crawl through the tunnels beneath after their Greed Rage had subsided.
Sky Blaze overcame her frenzied greed in only six hours, faster than any of her clan before that point. Sky Blaze was also one of the most physically dominating females in the clan, at just a head and a half shorter than the clan head she was in fact the second largest dragon in the clan. She had also denied advances of every male in her clan, including the clan head. This caused a bit of quandary for her clan because only males were allowed to duel, and if a female denied the advances of the male then that meant you tried for the next female you considered acceptable as a partner. Sky Blaze was considered a beauty amongst her clan. With her fire orange wings, fire green panther-like body, fire green eyes, Fire blue claws (she had five claws on her forearms and four on her hind legs) and horns (she had four that started at the sides of her head and swept back in a flame design before arching back around to stop at a a point three feet past her muzzle), a tail that ended in with bones that formed a razor sharp sickle formation, and brilliant crimson flame breath she was considered a beauty in all motions and acts.
Her father, Guiding Guardian, was dragon from a far eastern land. His serpent-like body with a set of four strong legs that tucked under him in the design of an eagle, with forest green eyes, cat-like head with two horns at the side of his head that swept back to his shoulders with soft points was like what no dragon in the clan had seen before. Something he would later share with his daughter was the tradition of renaming oneself after a defining moment in their life (His original name was Wave Mist).
He and Sky Blaze seemed to form a loving relationship the moment their eyes met. His multi-colored scale pattern was also like none seen before. His upper torso was colored midnight black and brilliant white (and formed a yin yang where the two colors met), a rich scarlet and ocean blue set of scales met on his lower torso (creating a set of clashing swords where they met), his tail was colored in an almost icy indigo with no adornments (although it was highly articulate). His breath was not fire, but instead a sort of mist that had incredible restorative and healing properties. He had no wings, but seemed possess the power of flight regardless. The clan wanted to see what his potential power was so they told him if he wished to mate with Sky Blaze he would have to undergo the rite, he saw no problem with this request. He showed he was just as susceptible to greed, and broke free of his greed induced frenzy in only four hours. The clan was impressed, and gave both their blessings.
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Nine months after the two were mated they had an egg, it was an unassuming rock orange. Four months after the egg had been laid out hatched a wyrmling with scales of pure silver color (so similar to the metal they resembled that she could be confused for a silver statue if she kept perfectly still), snow white claws (three up up front and four in back) and horns (one on either side of her head in the styling of her father), her body design was a sleeker almost serpent-like panther body style (a reasonable hybridization of the body designs of her parents), she also had wings that were modeled after a flame pattern that seemed to just blend into her sides that that tip to tip were almost a quarter of her length each and her eyes were a vibrant snowy indigo. They named her Treasure Wing, because to them she was their little treasure. All these features combined to give a unique, and rather exotic, beauty. However the her mother's clan cared little for the silver coated hatchling, especially after she displayed an inability to breath fire. Her dragon's breath was actually ice, which her father told every dragon was a rare ability. They didn't care, to they stated a dragon of their clan with no skill for fire was as close to useless as any could get and they tolerated his breath because of the usefulness they saw in it.
Treasure's father said this to her whenever she was feeling dejected or down, “oh my little snow child you are more special than they are willing to see, never forget that you are a treasure who's rarity can not be easily compared, you are a priceless gift that the true worth of which can only be determined by those that truly care for you.” He would always follow up with an affectionate nuzzle to her. These acts always made her feel good and helped her to cope. Her mother would tell her about how the clan was not accepting about things that were vastly different.
When she was old enough, about four years, she was put through the rite of passage, her mother's clan decided to see what her 'potential power' would be. What met every watching eye was nothing short of a miracle, but only her parents could see that. Treasure Wing seemed to let greed in for only a few seconds before its opposite overwhelmed her, she felt the spirit of generosity flood through her so fully that she was literally taking each and every greed inducing item and climbing out to give to random dragons watching through the special magical lens safeguarded them from the pit before crawling right back in to repeat the process with another dragon. Many of the clan started muttering out how the child must have some sort of defect in her mind to not even grow an inch from greed and instead willingly return to the greed inducing source just so that she can spread it all around for the benefit of all the viewers.
Her mother took her on the dragon migrations every year until she was old enough to fly on her own, the clan barred and banned her from ever attending the migration again (with no explanation why). Her interactions with the other young dragons was confusing for those she played with in the clan and at the migration. She was a calm, sweet and gentle dragon that had no interest in the roughhousing of other dragons. When she was taken on a “quest” with the other dragons after she reached her early teens, she was still unable to look after herself unaided so the clan tolerated her presence at the gatherings, she defied all their dragon logic.
They said she was more of the mindset of a weak little pony than a dragon and that it would be a blessing to see her demise in the near future. This hurt her feelings greatly and this is when another of her unique abilities showed itself in sadness she cried tears that turned into something akin to a pearl, which other young dragons found quite tasty and thus did everything they could to make her cry whenever possible. These Dragon's Sorrow Pearls were another reflection of her ice abilities. She didn't feel sad about being told she had pony's mindset, she had never met any so didn't know how to make a proper judgment on the subject, what made her sad was that they told her the world would be better off without her in it. After she had reached her mid twenties she was finally able to be self sufficient unaided, and thus was exiled from the clan. Before that happened there was an event that would shape her life in a way that would lead her to a unique relationship.
When Treasure Wing was fifteen her father was challenged by Inferno Rage, a dragon known for issuing challenges and cheating during official dragon duels. Dragon duels had very few rules, but one of them was only the combatants were allowed to attack each other in any way. Inferno Rage always managed to arrange it so that the attacks he made weren't the only ones made against his opponent, of the twenty confirmed matches he had nineteen included attacks from the spectators on his opponent. Every match before his duel with Guiding Guardian. Every clan match had never lasted more than five hours, the match between Guardian and Inferno (as they were often called) would prove to last almost five days, a record of lasting combat that would never be matched or approached by any other dragon.
Treasure Wing begged her father to call of the match after he had accepted it. Saying things like, “we all know he's cheater, he has supporters in the spectators that would make your wounds worse if they don't just give you new ones, none of his opponents ever saw the day after the match because they passed on to the hereafter. I don't want to lose you daddy, please don't do this.”
Just before entering the arena her father said, ““while a challenge can be ignored what the one who issues the challenge does not, we must always meet the challenge of those who reflect or represent what we are unwilling to let continue in the world. I will meet him for he stands for dishonor, something I can not abide by and will show him how far one can go in an honorable duel. I will fight only according to the rules and will never exploit holes in the rules for any reason, remember my little winter breath that even if he defeats me I will be the true victor of the match because I was the one of stronger character. I have known the madness of greed, as has your mother and we have managed to come back from the brink. You however have been placed in a predicament that would make a dragon centuries old fall into greed and felt its opposite, you desired to share with a generosity that I have only heard of in tales to teach lessons to hatchlings, you must keep that rare spirit that does not succumb to the weakness of our kind. Even if you are denied a place when I am gone keep that incorruptible soul, while the winter may be harsh as it is beautiful it can also be as gentle as it is unforgiving. When you are told your place is longer within one clan you must seek a new clan and see how accepting they are of you. Let this not shatter you, but instead temper you as one would temper a metal tool and let every test and challenge to who you are do the same. Remember little winter breath; genuine love, honest honor and true friendship are the three pillars of true faith and true faith is an armor that only weakens when you let that which challenges it make you doubt what you have put your faith in. Even if I fall this day I shall be the genuine victor regardless of what is said by others, always remember what I told you this day when you asked me remain out a fear that comes from genuine love, so I ask this of you put your faith in me and even if I take the eternal fall I will always remain with you in your memory and your heart. When you have offspring tell them of this day and how their brave grandfather stood up against what he felt needed to be felled.” With that the centuries old Eastern dragon stepped into the combat arena.
Each of the combatants were given the chance to say their potential final words. Inferno went first saying, “I am the strength this clan needs and this outsider has brought us weakness, his child defies everything we stand for at almost every turn, he always tells us to calm ourselves when we feel action is required and most importantly he tells stories to hatchlings that his kind believe can improve upon our natures and thoughts which we already know to be superior. Might gives right has always been our motto served us well over every generation,” cheers from the spectators erupted when he finished. With a smug smirk he turned to the eastern dragon and said, “now they will never listen to you. You are weak and we all know it.”
Guiding Guardian stepped forward and said, “there is more than one kind of strength, you are all focused on strength of body, but what of strength of character, what of strength of mind, what of strength of spirit? You all know this one to defy the rules, but are willing to ignore it because you see it as a strong entity pressing an advantage. I see a being of weak character showing an inability to rely on his own strengths to achieve victory. Even if he may win the fight of body I will be the one to achieve true victory because my character was the stronger among us. Remember a win does not always mean victory and a loss does not always mean defeat, believing those two things show an inability to see the true possibilities. You say my child is weak, her spirit and character are stronger than even my own. You say that she is unwelcome because her colors do not speak of fire. You say she is undesirable because she breaths ice instead of fire. You say she has no great potential because she did not succumb to greed. Then I say unto you that you are all of weak mind. A strong body is meaningless without a powerful mind to properly support it.” There was an awkward silence after his speech, most had just expected him to spout some vague philosophical expression and be done with it.
“Let the match begin,” said the clan leader, “let the strongest prevail.”
Inferno opened up with an attempt to body check his opponent early on, Guiding Guardian took quicker than he thought possible for dragon in terms of taking off. Inferno tried to blast guardian with a stream of fire, but the Guardian merely used his mist breath to create a sort of shielding cloud that blocked all attempts at damage (it in fact turned the fire into a sort of healing flame jet that soothed Guardian like an embrace from his mate.
The two continued their dance of fierce aggression vs a gentle defense long into the first night, neither dragon stopping to rest. In the third hour of the second morning Inferno attempted claw to claw combat, only too discover his opponent was far more capable in close quarters combat than he had been lead to believe. The two kept at the dance of fang and claw combat for a whole day and night. The next day Inferno was started to show signs of tiring as he landed in the designated combat arena, Guardian seemed to be handling it just fine.
“How is it that you can keep this up for so much longer than me?” Inferno panted in tired huffs, “we've both been flying and fighting for two days straight.”
Guardian landed gracefully on the other side of the arena and said, “I am no stranger to prolonged flights, I also am no stranger to prolonged combat. I have seven elder brothers and five elder sisters, we would play fight for days on end in our youth. You have done everything in your power to make sure your chances at victory are short, which means you have little to no experience in long fighting exercises and games. I pity you for not only do you have no honor, but also have no sense of what a true fight is. Let us rest for a few minutes and then resume, I do not wish to fight an opponent that is anything short of his best.”
“We keep going until there is a winner, those are the rules,” huffed Inferno.
“Those same rules say that if all combatants of the fight agree to a rest period then a ten minute rest period is proclaimed," stated Guardian, “you only read the parts about engaging an opponent and never bothered to so much as skim the rest.”
Those rules that do not speak of combat are pointless and not required,” shot inferno as he suddenly felt a surge of energy course through him.
Inferno charged Guardian, his opponent merely sidestepped his opponent, and this is when one of Inferno's 'supporters' slashed Guardian's right left leg. Guardian just gave a look of annoyance at his opponent and moved into the center of the arena. Both took to the air shortly after Guardian weaving about his opponent like a massive celestial serpent and dropping small mist clouds at a moment before Inferno belched fire at his opponent. The aerial dance soon took on a new meaning when fire blasts started getting through the serpentine dragons defenses, he even flew a few times into an oncoming attack. He smiled to himself, and smirked at his opponent, because Inferno was finally using his powerful mind fight intelligently. While still in midair Inferno swung his immense twin headed ax like tail protrusion at the other dragon, Guardian fluidly dodged the attack only to be hit in the face with a large ball of fire.
This strange dance kept on going into the third day. The fourth day was the same, only this time Guardian was much more wary looking with Inferno only just starting to feel tired. Guardian released his mist breath then sucked in providing some revitalization to his body and thus continued the dance.
When the fifth day came both dragons were crawling around the arena floor, neither had the energy to unleash the power of their breath and were both looking very ragged. Inferno managed to get a hold of the other dragons horns and started the act of pulling the other dragon's head off and in a ragged voice said, “any last words, Outsider.”
“I have shown you what honor looks like, I pray that this match has taught you what it means to adhere to the rules and fight with dignity and honor.” With those words Guardian's heart gave out and he collapsed in a limp pile of draconic muscle and scales. Every dragon watching waited for another hour with no movement from the clan head declared the winner of the competition.
“What do you have to say about that outsider that was your father Treasure Wing,” said Inferno in a voice dripping with contempt as he walked by the young dragoness.
“I am no longer that child,” said Treasure, “I am Silver Fall and the true victor of this match was my father, nothing anydragon says will ever change that truth.”
“You're as weak as him,” said Inferno, “I will greet your leaving us with a great fanfare.”
At the age of twenty-four Silver Fall was exiled, she was not given anything beyond a short farewell to her mother and a singular item requested from her mother. Just as she was about to pass the threshold that marked the edge of the clan's territory Inferno stopped her and said, “Silver Fall I know we've had our differences, and I know you have every right to despise me after what I did to your father. I just want you to know that it took a few years for your father's words to sink in and I now feel ashamed at myself. I may have been a sinister calculator, but I was still a brash young idiot who didn't know anything about what the truth is. I'm going to be a father someday and when that happens I hope I can be a tenth as good a parent as yours was.”
“I don't feel aggression towards you,” said Silver Fall, “I never did, I'm proud that the last lesson dad taught sunk in. I don't know why they're kicking me out of the clan, but frankly I don't want to know because of how I was treated. You were only a score older than me when this all began, I'm not very much a dragon am I? I've never fallen prey to greed, I breath ice instead of fire, and my form is nothing like any other dragon.”
“For what it's worth I'll try to teach my offspring what true strength means, maybe it'll make the clan more appealing to the others in time.”
“The clan is dying out, Inferno, maybe by the time the changes you have enacted can truly take hold the clan will be so close to collapse that there will not be anydragon to remember that duel. I wish you luck, when you choose a mate make sure she's strong of character as much as body. And make sure your offspring have names that you and they can be proud of.” With that Silver Fall crossed into the lands beyond.
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It had been five months since her exile when Silver Fall found an unoccupied cavern. It looked like a dragon had up and left, leaving only a small treasure behind. She sighed to herself wondering how to share the meager treasure that was now hers. Silver Fall curled up and went to sleep, if the cave really did have another occupant she would cross that bridge when she came to it. Silver Fall had always been an odd one with her scales that could be confused for silver and everything else, she was calm and collected at almost every time. But when she finally settled in she began to cry harder than ever before, and before she new it she was in a small island of Dragon Sorrow Pearls that were half her mass.
“I don't want to be alone,” she whispered to herself, “I just want to have at least one individual that accepts me for who I am. I don't care if it's animal, dragon or pony at this point, I just want a companion to talk to. I don't need a life partner, I just need company that visits every once and a while.” With that she cried herself to sleep in a dry sorrowful cry.