Breath of Freedom

This was written for the May WoW by Garnet the Skywing
currently editing - the prompt was tears, fortune, breath
if you can't tell I barely followed the prompts sorry :( also I tried not making tragedy but then it ended up becoming one-sided romance / tragedy so I hate myself
the ocs in this are all made up so any similarites to other ocs on this wiki is accidental!
They always said that his tears were a fortune, a blessing upon our poor village. He didn’t think the same, he thought it was a curse, a restraint, something that isolated him from the rest of the world.
He always told me that he wanted to taste the breath of freedom, to leave the accursed village once and for all.
That’s why when the monsters came I didn’t cry for him.
That’s why when he disappeared from my life I smiled.
I could never leave the village, but he could. He was able to, and on the day I realized he had left I was overjoyed.
How was I to know about the hole in my heart he would take with him?
How was I to know that the hole would be filled with dark desires?
I paid the price for my arrogance, the pride and wrath that had consumed me, the envy that had corrupted me, and the greed that made me act. Sloth was also part of it, sloth towards not acting on my own, sloth towards making others do the work for me.
Lust and gluttony did not have to act, the rest of the sins already corrupted me.
---
“Sky!” mother called, her voice taut with anger, “help your poor family out with chores now would you?”
I take one last breath of the mountain air around me, taking in the harsh mountain skyline with the azure blue skies. Puffs of white clouds littered the sky and I take in one last gaze at the freedom I wish for, the freedom I’ll never have and headed back into my family’s tiny little hut.
The small village I live in has no name, the citizens call it “home” and it's not important enough to be on a map. I call it “prison”, the “gilded cage”, a place that could never be called a home.
Chores were meaninal and boring, and the only time the dismal life in the village was fun was the new moon.
A night when the laws of the universe could be defied.
One wish for one dragon, the dragon in question was chosen randomly but whatever the wish was it'd be granted.
It was the wish that caused the monsters to come, it was the wish that cursed him, and it was the wish that allowed him to leave.
It just happened to be that today was three cycles from when the monsters came for him.
The minutes before sunset were rushed. 
"Ma where's the necklace I wanted to wear?" exclaimed my older sister, Ruby.
"I was going to wear that scarf!" yelled Crimson who was courting a lame dragon and wanted to impress him.
"Shut up Cris! Y'know that Soar only has eyes on Maroon! At least I'm using it for someone whose only looking at me," retorted the thief of the scarf, Cloud.
"Y'all need to shut up!!!" yelled the eldest of us siblings, Crow, "be like Sky! Sky isn't being chaotic like y'all!"
"Sky is too busy moping about you know who, plus we're not like Sky!" they chorused together.
"Gee thanks guys," I mumble under my breath.
"C'mon kids! It's sunset!!" exclaimed father.
I was pushed along with the bustling crowd I need to call "family" and take off towards the village center.
"Remember kids, wish for nothing different happening this month."
"Yes, pa…" chortled the rest of my siblings, I remained silent, not wanting to make a promise I didn't want to keep.
Crow sent a knowing look over to me. Don't you dare wish for something else, he seemed to glare at me.
I give him the evil eye in response, no way in hell am I wishing for the same old wish y'all want me to wish for.
Crow shook his head sadly, his tangerine eyes full of disappointment.
I turn my head away in retaliation. Don't try to guilt trip me Crow.
The one problem with the wishes was that it always went the worse way possible, channelling the inner most desires of the wisher. The fact that the monsters exist is because of a wish gone wrong.
"I wish that those went to war came back" a sad yet naive wish. A wish made by an orphaned dragonet, a dragonet selfless enough to ask for more than her parents to come back. A wish of envy and pride. Pride towards making their wish selfless.
Their selflessness was a curse. Yes, the dead came back, yes, the wish was granted. However the dead were not the living they knew.
Rotting piles of flesh, barely supported by a bony skeleton, internal organs having already been eaten by vultures.
Immortal beings that craved the souls of the living. Every full moon they took one of our own away. Perhaps the dragonet was angry at those who had experienced the love of their parents, maybe their internal envy had wished for tragedy, but all is speculation, the end result stays the same.
"Wishes cannot be taken back,"
That commandment cursed us with the monsters.
He was also the product of a wish. The wish of greed.
"I wish that my child shall grow up fortunus"
And he did, every tear he shed turned into a diamond as soon as it fell to the ground.
Then there was our wish. A wish of envy, envy towards those who were free, those who had left the gilded cage.
"I wish that he will be free of this village."
The result: him being taken away by the monsters on the full moon.
Now there was my wish. A wish of wrath. A selfish wish made up of all the sins intertwined. A wish made on dark and stormy nights, the type of wish made when your mind is full of hate.
The wishing ceremony was held in the center of the village, we would all wish the same words and then it would choose.
We never knew who ‘it’ was, the concept of animi had never entered the secluded village, and so we had turned our heads to the moons.
“Luna” some dragons called it, “lune” was another variant name. All of the thousands of names derived from the moons.
The village stood around in a circle around the bonfire, after the wish there would be dancing and singing, laughter and bliss from having another boring month ahead.
A few years ago, a dragon had wished for the wish and the wisher to be revealed in front of all. I knew the shame and anger I would receive from the town, from my family, the few friends I made, everyone, but now I did not care.
“Don’t wish for something stupid Sky,” Crow chided, “I know you’re still depressed from your boyfriend leaving--”
“He’s not my boyfriend!” I exclaim, annoyed by the constant teasing, “and don’t worry Crow, I won’t wish for something stupid,” 
I am going to wish for something great.
“Good,” Crow said, patting me on the back, “I was worried about you during the fly over,”
I shake his talons off, hating the feeling of heat on my back, the feeling of home.
"Well I'll go join the rest of our family," he said and left to join mother and father.
I realize with a start that I would miss Crow, miss the brotherly concern, I might even miss the rest of my chaotic household, but in the end there’s nothing I can do about it.
I already made my choice.
The village elder took a step forward, “silence!” he said towards the crowd, and we all shut up.
“Now, let us think of our wish!”
Everyone closed their eyes and wished the same thing, except for me.
As my eyes closed, I went over the same thing I had thought during the night, the same words so that nothing bad should happen.
I prayed that this time, my true wish would be granted.
I opened my eyes in time with the rest of the village.
There was no turning back now.
I had made my choice.
It spoke from the flames of the bonfire.
Sky’s wish has been chosen,' it said, and everyone turned to face me, I could see the anger in their faces.
Why has Sky been chosen twice this year? Their faces seemed to say, and even I was surprised that my wish was chosen out of the countless others.
Sky’s wish is too-- it stopped for a second and let out a laugh, I felt shame rise to my cheeks.
Was my wish really that stupid? I thought annoyed, the rest of the villagers seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, if it laughs, Sky’s wish can’t be that bad, they seem to think.
How wrong they were.
It was evil, it fed off of the corrupted wishes of the heart, its laugh was because of the complete monstrosity, the fact that it didn’t need to corrupt the wish because it was already as corrupt as it could be.
Sky’s wish is too-- the voice repeated, hints of humour on its usually monotonous voice, be free from the accursed village, have those who caused him to suffer to suffer even more, 
The villagers looked at me with shock, I grinned back. My wish is still not done, I think, you’ll be suffering even more.
--have this village burn to the ground, reverse the curse keeping the monsters at bay, and to have him come back.
I didn't bother looking back at my family, I could already picture what they looked like in my head, the betrayal and disgust, the anger and the shock, the denial that their child could do this. It hurt my heart but it would all be worth it.
I only laughed as a stone was thrown at me from the crowd. The circle had been broken, dragons yelling, dragons crying.
The chaos of the villagers drowned out the rest of the wish.
Laughing, I took up to the air as somehow the bonfire left its barrier. The village burst into flames from the flames of the bonfire and flames of the panicking dragons. Attracted by the fire the monsters came into the village but were soon burned into ashes by the raging flames from the bonfire.
“IT’S YOUR FAULT!” cries the mother of him, the one who cursed him in the first place, “if you didn't make the wish--”
I laugh again, “and I wonder who caused me to make the wish, huh? I’m free of this village now! You guys can’t do anything to me! You should turn your fangs towards the reason why this wish was made! The reason I turned to cursing this village! The greed and avarice of those around us! The untimely death of the product of your greed! That’s why I turned!” I pause, taking deep breaths and looking upon the crowd.
The mother of him had turned pale, her hands shaking as more dragons turned towards her, their teeth bared.
“Instead of cursing me for making a wrong wish, curse the greed that made your wishes before! Curse the dragons that made him, curse those who made him suffer! Then maybe, then perhaps, the curse I set before you will be broken! Only through their suffering will you be free!” I end my speech with a flourish, and turn away from the flaming ruins of the village.
The mother tries to explain herself, her face becoming more and more pale as more and more dragons send their glares towards her.
Perfect, I think to myself with a grin, no one realized the truth, the fact that they caused this all themselves.
I set off for the distance, understanding the fact that I would never go back to my house, my village, the gilded cage, my home. I made that sacrifice the moment I made the wish, I understood the corruption the moment he came, and maybe now, finally, the village will look upon its actions with more understanding.
Maybe they’ll finally use the wishes for good, understand that it's not the voice that’s corrupting the wishes, but it's themselves. 
I did my part in the village, I helped out the best I could, now it was up to them.
I may miss them during my journey I must depart from, there may be some days where I miss Mother’s cooked meals, but it’s because of that, it's because of all those memories, that I must leave this way.
Severing the ties of my past, I take a breath of freedom, glad that my days in the cage were over.
Now it was time for me to find him, find the dragon I sacrificed so much for.
The one who first showed me the hidden corruption in the cage. The one who would not allow himself to be killed by the monsters, the light of my life although everyone considered him the darkness.
His tears should have brought fortune to all, that’s at least what his mother wished for, but instead his tears brought sorrow and pain.
“I was the only one who gained fortune from his tears,” I say into the harsh cold wind, fingering a diamond necklace made out of his tears, “I was the only one who liked him, I was the only one who tried to understand,”
Even if I wasn’t cursed like him, even though I can never understand what he went through, that won’t change my feelings, it won’t change the fact that I-- I cut off my thoughts, deciding not to hesitate any longer.
The wind was harsh but at the same time healing, for once in my life I felt like I could spread my wings.
I soar up to the tallest peak that the two of us saw from the village, the peak we had promised to go to.
I call out his name, the syllables flowing out like a song, the name I was unable to say for the longest time, a name I couldn’t say because of our promise.
I see him exit the cave, his smile even more beautiful than before. I instinctively smile back, glad that I could see him once again, and continue to see him till the end of time.
Because no matter how many times I may live again, be born again, every time I would choose him, continue to support him from the back no matter how much it might hurt me.
Even if my feelings are never reciprocated I don’t care, him being alive, him being in front of me, him looking at me with those orange-amber eyes, that is all I need.
“I knew you’d come,” he said grinning, “come on in,” he says gesturing inside.
“Of course,” I say bowing, “your wish is my command,” a smile spreads across my face.
This is all I need, him in front of me, our innocent friendship, nothing more, I need nothing else.
He laughs, “I missed you so much Sky,”
“I missed you too,”
He gives a pat on my back, “I found some friends in the months you were away, I’m glad you could leave before we put our plan in place,”
“Friends? Plan?” I ask in wonder. What did he do over this time?
“It’s a long story, but let’s just say there’s more of those cages out there, and we want to destroy them,”
“Oh,” I pause my steps into the cave, “are your friends trustworthy?” 
“Yeah,” he grins, “don’t worry Sky, I may have changed but you’ll always be my best friend,” he looks at my necklace, “you’re still wearing that, huh? It’s super lame,”
It’s the first gift you gave me of course I'll wear it, I think to myself, but I respond with a simple nod.
We finally enter a big cavern, three dragons look up towards me from their work.
“Who’s he?” one of them asks, I visibly flinch at the dragon’s words.
“Sky,” he replies, “the friend I was talking to you about,”
He turns towards me, “the dragon that just spoke is Gem, the dragoness over there with the pink scales is Blush, and the other dragoness is Rachel,”
Rachel stands up and walks over to him, “and we all call him the leader,” she says with a grin, “he hasn’t told us his name yet, not even me, and we’re dating,”
A jolt of pain runs through my heart, but I try to make sure there’s no visible reaction. I’m the one who decided to not confess on that day, I think to myself, as long as he’s happy it's fine
He moves away from Rachel and steps closer towards me, “how did you escape?” he asks.
I think back on my wish, onto the second part of my wish, the part that was never heard by the villagers.
“Well they self-destructed themselves,” I admit, “I just gave them a spark and they ignited the way you told them they would,”
Gem looks at me, “do you know the leader’s name?” he asks, I exchange a glance at him, the name at the tip of my tongue.
“No,” I finally say, “he never got a name, right leader?”
“Yeah,” he says, giving me the signal that I said the correct words, “well gang, it’s time for us to uproot the corruption,”
“Yeah!” we all say in unison. As we left the cave, the hole in my heart was filled.
It didn’t matter if he got a girlfriend, got married, had kids, I would still support him, I know that I’ll never get what I truly want but that’s what got sacrificed when he left the village, the sacrifice so that he wouldn’t be eaten.
We take off into the sky, and I realize that I will always be happy, as long as I was breathing the breath of freedom with him.
~Fin~
Category:Fanfictions (Completed)
Category:Fanfictions
Category:Fanfictions (Fanon)
Category:Genre (Short Story)
Category:Genre (Romance)
Category:Genre (Adventure)
Category:Content (Garnet the Skywing)
Category:Mature Content