The Eyes of Prophecy (2021 Special Edition)

== Praise for the Eyes of Prophecy==
 
"This. Is. GORGEOUS!!! This so far is so compelling and amazingly written, like it's from the hands of Tui herself!! I'm definitely watching this, and I can't wait until the next chapter comes out!" 
- ThatMooseDragon 
"[...] Characters are so well done! Will be back for more!" 
- CreativelyUnSuRe
"Not only was the cover art amazing, but I am actually so excited to read the next chapter!"
- MrBrianJames
"It's just...MY FAVORITE FANFIC EVER."
- AnubisTheSandwing
"I love the story so much! Can't wait to read more!"
-Orchid and Monarch the RainWings
The Eyes of Prophecy is a fanfiction about the life of RainWing seer, Terracotta, by Sarahyasmine. It will be released chapter by chapter on this page.
When you're born different, how do you recognize what's normal?
When you see the future, how are you supposed to know what the present is?
When you're rejected, how are you supposed to feel safe?
==Prologue:==
When Terracotta first opened her eyes, she blinked up at two loving, happy faces shining with adoration above her—Her mother and father. She knew immediately that she was theirs…and that they were hers. This was the beginning. Her beginning. She could feel the tingle of excitement in her talons, and she wanted to walk, to fly--to touch the moons shining bright above her. She reached out with her tiny, clawed talon to feel the cool breeze...
And then, like a burst of sudden wind, she was hit with a vision.
Her mother crying over a grave.
Her father screaming in pain, clutching his arm.
A dragonet hatching out of an egg, tumbling to the ground.
A dragon's life being snatched away by quick black talons.
And a cool breeze drifting through the leaves of an abandoned tree.
Terracotta had no idea what these images meant, nor could she put them into words. She cried out at the unfairness of it all, wanting to discover, to teach, to learn-- but she knew she couldn't. Not yet, at least. She was, after all, just a newly-hatched dragonet who had no control over her destiny, or her future—only the gifted eyes of prophecy.
==Chapter one:==
(Four years later)
Terracotta sat, perched on a tall tree, tilting her head thoughtfully at the sights of the rainforest. A toucan cooed at a sloth that was getting in it’s way, a blue tree frog happily hopped from leaf to leaf, and a slightly round, bright purple RainWing lay dozing on a lower platform.
Terracotta smiled, and shifted her position so that she could see the dragon better below her. This RainWing had one clear vision in Terracotta’s mind. In a few years she would break up with her longtime boyfriend, resulting in an explosive fight with her parents. Terracotta giggled loudly at these images, which made the resting dragonet frown in her sleep and roll over uncomfortably.
“Oops!” Terracotta whispered, covering her snout with her talons. Due to this sudden change in footing, she promptly fell off her branch and crashed straight onto the platform below her, squishing the sleeping RainWing beneath her body weight.
“Hey!” the dragon yelled, waking up. “What—What is wrong with you?” she said groggily.
“Sorry, sorry, sorry!” Terracotta yelled, quickly scrambling off the mass of now-bright-red scales. The RainWing laughed gayly. “You must be preeeettyy clumsy to fall on the 'Royal Princess of the RainWings' like that, during sun time.”
“What?” Said Terracotta, alarmed. “Royal? Oh no, oh no no no no.”
The dragonet burst into racious giggles. “I was joking!” she said, doubling over and clutching her stomach as her scales turned a bright yellow, accentuated with spots of pink here and there. “You’re GULLIBLE too! Ha!” Terracotta frowned. “I’m not Gullible,” she said, confused. “I’m Terracotta.” The RainWing giggled once more. “And my name is Allspice!” she said. “Nice to meet you, not-gullible-I’m-terracotta!"
“You as well,” Terracotta said, making her mind up that she liked this dragon. She had been told she was weird on multiple occasions, and this young dragonet definitely couldn’t be any less weird than herself, right? “You know, you have a funny future, Allspice.” she said, tilting her head. “Fights and rivalries because of things you can control. I’m not sure I fully understand your reasoning.”
“Uhhh.” Allspice’s jaw dropped. “You can SEE the FUTURE!?” “That is one of many ways of understanding my predicament, but yes, yes yes.” Terracotta replied. “But alas, I am not authorized to spread this information, I didn’t mean to—“
“COOL!” Allspice yelled, innocently unable to hear past the fact that Terracotta was a RainWing seer. “That is SO AWESOME! Our tribe hasn’t, like EVER had a seer! Does the queen know? Oooh, can you see her future? Are you part NightWing? Is that why you wear glasses? RainWings don’t normally wear glasses…And it makes you look all cool and smart and prophecy-ish! I like the way they twist up your horns, by the way. Did you do that on purpose? Did you KNOW you would do that on purpose, when you saw the future? Are you, like, totally SECRET with your powers... Am I the only one that knows? Oh wow, we’re like, best friends now right? You told me a secret didn’t you?! This is so cool.”
Terracotta was purely dumbfounded, and had no idea what to say. She knew she wasn’t supposed to tell anyone about her powers, but… well, it kind of just slipped out. And her parents wouldn’t be mad at her for just one mistake, would they?
“Oh, and Terra?” Allspice said, waving her violet-colored talons in Terracotta’s face. "Is it okay if I call you that? Never mind. What I was going to say is… I don’t know if this is rude, but could you maybe not read my future anymore? I mean, if we’re gonna be friends.”
“Friends?” The word echoed in Terracotta’s brain. No one had ever, like, ever asked to be friends with her. All the little dragonets she used to play with when she was small only taunted her because of her glasses, and made fun of her because she had a hard time changing colors. All of the sudden, this joyous purple dragonet wanted to be friends with her? Terracotta swallowed a rising lump in her throat. She had absolutely no experience with this kind of stuff. She usually liked being alone, and didn’t interact with other dragons much. She had no idea what to do.
Terracotta was jolted back to reality when she remembered what Allspice had said. “Yup yup yup.” she said. “Of course I will not read your future. Nope, nope I won’t. But my powers do not work as well as you have been made to believe. Nope. I only see the future when it wants to be seen. Not all the time, no no. I have only envisioned one teensy tiny event in your large, unfolding life so far.”
Allspice sighed with relief as her scales faded to a calm, sea-blue. “Oh good.” she said. “For a second I though you, like, knew EVERYTHING in my future. I really don’t want to know what on earth is going to happen to me, my goodness! Oooh, ooh, ooh, but maybe you could tell me the tiny thing you saw…Like, is there a super-cute guy named Sugar in my future? Like…You know, maybe we're DESTINED for each other...?” Allspice looked at Terracotta eagerly.
“Um…” Terracotta glanced around. Didn’t Allspice just say that she didn’t want to know anything? “Yes, I do see him.” Terracotta said. “But unfortunately—”
Allspice obviously couldn’t hear her. She had launched herself off the platform into the air, and was flying in circles, whooping out loud. Terracotta couldn’t help but notice what a clumsy flier she was. Nearby, RainWings in their hammocks were glancing over at Allspice and grumbling angrily.
“Allspice!” Terracotta whispered loudly. “Come down here! Please!”
Allspice landed next to Terracotta with a loud thump, grinning ear-to ear, her scales now a eye-straining hot pink all over. “DID YOU HEAR THAT PRISTINE!?” She yelled over at a pretty nearby RainWing. “Sugar is MIIINE!” Terracotta covered her head in her talons as Pristine and Allspice started arguing loudly. “NU-UH!” Pristine yelled back. “He hates you! You muddy scum!”
“Well if I’M muddy scum, YOU’RE a pile of scavenger dung!” Allspice stuck her tongue out at the pink dragonet.
“How DARE YOU!” Pristine screamed. “I’m gonna go tell my MOTHER!” she climbed out of the hammock and swept away gracefully to the queen’s platform.
“CRYBABY!” Allspice yelled, cupping her talons around her snout to magnify her voice. “YOU’RE A LITTLE—” Terracotta smacked her talons straight over Allspice’s loud snout. “Shh!” she whispered. “Is that not the current queen’s adopted daughter!?"
“Ahh,” Allspice said, brushing Terracotta’s talons away. “Who cares? We’ve known each other for-ever. If she keeps crushing on Sugar, Im’a break her horns off.”
“That doesn’t mean she won’t make your life completely terrible, and extremely off-track from important planned events and milestones!” Terracotta argued, exasperated.
Allspice raised her eyebrows. “Ah, silly future-seer.” she said. “I’M the one making her life terrible!” She giggled, and then snorted, covering her snout as a surprised expression hit her face.
Terracotta couldn’t help but grin slightly. She had a sunshine-filled glimpse of the future right then and there, and she knew this happy, bouncy dragon would be a part of her life forever.
==Chapter two:==
Terracotta snuck through the forest with Allspice, poking her head curiously around a tree to locate Sugar. 
“Terracotta!”  Allspice whispered loudly. “He’ll hear you! And he’ll see you! Why can’t you blend in, prophecy-dragon?” 
Terracotta shifted shamefully on her talons, staring down at them, trying to force them to change color. She had never known why her scales were solidly one color; the dragonets she played with had mocked and ridiculed her for years, taunting and teasing her to no end. Sometimes, just sometimes Terracotta would manage to change the color of her wing membranes to blend in with her surroundings, but she stopped doing that once someone pointed out that that made her look wingless.
“I’m…I’m sorry,” Terracotta mumbled. “I don’t know why I can’t change my scales, I’m sorry.” Terracotta dipped her head, embarrassed.
“Forget it, Terra,” Allspice whispered, waving a talon and turning a dark green all over to match their jungle surroundings. “Just shh!” Allspice poked her head out of a bush eagerly, spying Sugar dozing peacefully in a hammock.
Sugar was quite a handsome dragonet, correct to Allspice’s belief. He was a light pink all over, with hints of magenta and yellow, and he had a slender, attractive face. “Oh, just look at him,” Allspice sighed. Terracotta giggled, muffling the sound with her talons. “You are very awestruck aren’t you?” she asked Allspice. “Understandable, but yet so NOT understandable! Yep, yep.” Terracotta giggled.
“Euurrggh!” Allspice said, withdrawing from her bush and closing Terracotta’s snout. “I am NOT AWESTRUCK!” she whispered loudly. “I’ve merely found my perfect soulmate.” Allspice settled her wings contently, lifting her nose up in the air with feigned dignity. 
“Soulmate?” Terracotta wanted to laugh, but the vision of Allspice’s future came up in her mind again, just as it had two months ago—still as bright and crisp and clear.
A bright pink dragon finding his true love.
Allspice yelling furiously. 
Two elderly dragons frowning with terrifying glares. 
Terracotta buried her head in her wings and curled up tightly until she was the size of a fruit basket. “Hmmmm,” she moaned to herself quietly. “Should I tell her or not…”
Allspice kneeled down next to Terracotta’s cocoon. “You know I hate it when you do that,” she said gently. “What is it? Another vision?” 
Terracotta unfurled her wings and looked up at Allspice with worried eyes. “It is actually an old one, yes, yes…but you need to know—“
“WHOAH!” Allspice interrupted loudly before snapping her jaw shut as to not wake Sugar. “Terra! You’re eyes are BLUE!” 
Terracotta furrowed her brow. “No, no that is incorrect. My eyes are a light violet with tints of a deep purple around the edges, I distinctly— “ 
“No! They were just purple! Now they’re blue! Oooh, Terracotta, I think I know why!” Allspice reached forward and eagerly tickled Terracotta on her underbelly. She giggled, and flailed about, asking Allspice to stop. “LOOK!” Allspice yelled again. “I KNEW it! Now they’re PINK!” Allspice whooped so loud a pair of parrots suddenly took to the sky, screeching noisily. “Your eyes change color depending on your emotions, Terracotta!” she said gleefully, all traces of Plan Spy-On-Sugar apparently gone. 
Terracotta self-consciously touched her glasses. How come I never noticed that before? She thought sadly. Maybe it’s because my parents never told me. They think I’m a freak already, why would they point another odd thing out anyway?
Terracotta tried to grin. “This obviously means that subconsciously you will be checking my visuals through the glass all the time, spying on my every whim, won’t you?” 
Allspice looked over at a sloth nervously. “Uhh,” she said. “I’m four. You’re four. So why do you speak like a twenty year old sometimes?” she asked.
Terracotta laughed, and Allspice joined in.
“Hey guys—what’s all he ruckus back here?” A pink dragon gracefully made his way through the bushes, yawning and stretching his neck. 
Allspice’s eyes widened like two pools in a rainstorm. “Sugar…” she whisper-squeaked, her voice barely audible.
“What was that?” Sugar asked politely, tilting his ears forward to hear her better.
“Ahh, wanna go eat some fruit or something?” Allspice burst out suddenly, grinning widely in the poor dragon’s face. “I mean, go adopt some sloths. Or pick flowers. Or we could, like, sunbathe together, ‘cause that totally wouldn’t be weird due to the fact that I’ve never spied on you. In my life. Like, ever.” 
Sugar blushed, obviously getting the message despite the fact that Allspice talked so loud and fast that he probably missed half of her rambling. “Um, sure?” he said, shifting his wings, embarrassed. He inclined his head to Terracotta and quickly left the clearing. 
Allspice turned on Terracotta. “Did you HEAR THAT!?” she asked, whispering as loud as whispering could go. “Sugar is my new BOYFRIEND!” 
Terracotta sighed. The future is so hard to control, she thought to herself. I wonder if it will ultimately turn out better…or worse then I expected.
==Chapter three:==
Terracotta smiled down at the little handmade cake below her as her family wished her happy hatching day.
“I can’t believe you’re SIX YEARS OLD!” Allspice grinned, clapping her talons excitedly. “Of course, I was six about two years ago, so obviously I’ve matured far more then you…”
Terracotta tittered happily. It was her sixth birthday wasn’t it? Goodness, Terracotta felt so much older then that—probably due to the fact that her best friend was more aged than her, yet so much more childish. 
“Yes, happy birthday darling,” Terracotta’s father said, beaming down at her. “I’m so proud of my little daughter!” Terracotta blushed. “For what?” she asked innocently. “I have not done anything to greatly improve your life, no, no no.” 
Taproot bent down, coming to Terracotta’s eye level. “Listen, sweetheart,” he said, looking directly into Terracotta’s eyes, his blue ones shining with adoration, “You have done everything to improve my life. Without you, I’d be a sad puddle somewhere in the rainforest.” 
Terracotta beamed up at her father. “Yes you would. And I likewise,” she said simply.
Terracotta’s mother folded her wings. “On with the cake,” she said crisply. “Enough with the squishy formalities.” 
Terracotta dipped her head obediently towards Tualang. “Yes miss,” she intoned. Terracotta’s mother had always been the strict and proper sort, much removed from her family’s social and happy life. She did her best in part to make Terracotta’s life miserable…and Terracotta had no idea why.
Allspice’s brown eyes darted uncomfortably around the family circle. “Ahh,” she said, trying to break up the awkwardness, “I still don’t understand your guys’s 'family tradition' of keeping your eggs. I mean, why not just leave them in the nursery like…” Allspice trailed off, both of Terracotta’s parents glaring at her. 
“I wanted a child I could raise to be a proper, intelligent, un-lazy RainWing.” Tualang replied. “Unfortunately,” she looked at Terracotta, “I received a slightly...dysfunctional dragonet.”
“Tualang!” Taproot whispered, grabbing her by the shoulders. “You can’t say things like that about our daughter!” Taproot led his wife into another room, conversing with her quietly.  
Allspice turned to Terracotta. “I’m soooo sorry!” she bursted. “I’m not at all used to family situations! I ruined your birthday, didn’t I?” she dipped her head sadly.
“Most certainly not, Ally!” Terracotta said, tilting her head sideways. “That was my mother that dared to do such a thing.” Allspice and Terracotta giggled together quietly. 
“I must say I am sorry, according to your father here,” Tualang said, reentering the room with Taproot in her wake. She settled down, shifting her wings haughtily. 
Taproot didn’t look at all pleased or satisfied by this, but he settled down next to his wife anyway. “Go on!” he tried to smile at his daughter. “Take off the flower and make a wish!” 
Terracotta sidled a little in her scales, thinking. I wish… she thought. She knew wishes were useless. You couldn’t do anything to change the future, and what was the use trying anyway? Nevertheless, Terracotta tried to make her family happy. “I send out into the universe a wish that my family would…” Function properly, she thought, but what came out of her mouth was “Be happy.” 
Everyone clapped as Terracotta lightly blew the petals off the flower, watching as one of them fluttered to land on the bridge of her glasses.
“Ahh, that cake was DELICIOUS!” Allspice said, burping loudly. “Your dad’s an awesome cook.” 
Terracotta giggled, doing a graceful flip in the air. “You almost ate the whole thing,” she said. “No wonder you’re so chubby.” she laughed as she easily dodged Allspice’s clumsy charge at her. “How DARE you!” Allspice said, flying next to her. “Sugar thinks I’m cute. You know we’ve been dating for twooo yeeeeaarrss, right!?” she chortled happily. 
Terracotta spread her wings out a little wider, feeling the warm air envelop her body. “Yes, I am quite aware,” she said, closing her eyes. Oh moons, she thought. That fight is coming soon isn’t it? Allspice is going to be so mad at me. Allspice looked over, worried, as Terracotta faltered slightly in the air. “What’s wrong Terra?” she asked. She knew the symptoms. Whenever her friend was having a prophecy, or thinking of a vision, she became quite distant. Which was, ah, most of the time actually. 
“I’m fine,” Terracotta said, wistfully staring at the horizon that met the rainforest in front of her.
“Okay…” Allspice shrugged, flapping her wings to ascend further towards the sun. “Ah, look!” Allspice yelped, pointing down at two dragons flying below them over the wide canopy of trees. “It’s Sugar!” she swooped down to fly side-by-side with her boyfriend. “Heyyy Sugar,” she said, grinning.
“Hi Ally!” Sugar said, twirling around in the air. 
Terracotta rolled her eyes. These two are just the stupidest, she thought. When I meet my soulmate, we’ll be much more put together then these two lovebirds. Then she faltered. Me? Soulmate? she thought. I highly doubt I’ll ever find anyone that’s as…strange and weird as I am. Terracotta sighed quietly, watching Allspice and Sugar twirl around each other, laughing. Who knew what the future would bring.
And then a vision hit her—two dragonets, rolling around playfully in the grass, a blurry image of their parents hovering over them with happy mannerisms. The breeze that gently wafted by smelled like honeysuckle and guava, enveloping the little family with warmth and love. Is that...? Terracotta thought, squinting at the mother of the two happy little dragonets. No, it couldn't be... and then she was yanked out of the vision by sharp branches and twigs grasping at he scales. 
Terracotta gasped as she emerged from this vision. She realized she had crash-landed on a flowery platform, her wings sticking out from underneath her at weird angles. Allspice quickly landed next to her, Sugar following behind.
“Terracotta!” Allspice yelled, worried. “Is everything alright? Did you have a vision? Are any of your bones broken? TERRA, ARE ANY OF YOUR BONES BROKEN!?” she shook Terracotta strongly. “Errrgh, I’m okay,” Terracotta murmured, clutching her head.
“She’s fine, Ally!” Sugar said, pulling her gently away from Terracotta. “Your going to hurt her.”
“What!?” Allspice said, rounding on her boyfriend. “Hurt her!? I was making sure she was okay!” 
Sugar stepped back, holding his talons up in submission. “Sorry, sorry, I was just trying to help, you’re right…”
Allspice started fuming at the ears. “Stop that!” she yelled. “You NEVER express your own opinion when I’m mad, I’m sick of it!” 
“Yes I do—” 
“No, you absolutely DO NOT!” Allspice interrupted. “Even if I’m mad at you for one reason or another, you just mutter things like ‘sorry’ and ‘I agree with you!’ What kind of STUPID BOYFRIEND does that!?” 
“Shut up Allspice!” Sugar yelled. “Your always controlling me. It’s not my fault that I never speak up! You’re too loud to get through to!”
Allspice yelled with deafening volume, making Terracotta cover her ears and curl up into a ball. They’re arguing like my parents do, she thought. No, no no, this can’t be happening. My visions are coming true.
“LOUD!?” Allspice screamed. “LOUD!? You only think i’m loud thanks to your DEAFENINGLY QUIET voice! I hate that you won’t tell me anything! You’ve probably been sneaking around with Pristine too, haven’t you? You guys are best friends, right?"   Allspice fumed, her talons shaking with rage. 
“Best friends!?” Sugar yelled. “Of course not! Why do you always jump to conclusions? I’m getting really tired of this.”
“Well you know what, I AM TOO!” Allspice yelled, planting her feet in the interwoven leaves and grasses below her. 
“What does that mean!?” Sugar asked. 
“We’re done, that’s what it means!”
“Does that mean I’ve had to put up with two years of this for nothing!?” said Sugar angrily.
“I guess so!” Allspice yelled.
“I’m leaving.” Sugar said, shaking his head. “I’m just leaving.” Terracotta watched, terrified, as he took to the air, his wingbeats droning quieter and quieter, lifting him further into the sky. 
Allspice turned around, her chest heaving as she took in great gulps of air. “I HATE that dragon!” she said to Terracotta. “He’s so insufferable. Honestly, I’m glad we broke up.” 
But Terracotta knew Allspice was putting up a front. She could see the disappointment in her eight-year-old friend’s eyes. 
“I’m sorry.” Terracotta mumbled, fiddling with her tail.
“Sorry?” Allspice said. “For what?” 
“Not telling you that you two were infinitely destined to fall apart like a cracking seed under the soil.” 
“What was that!?” Allspice asked, a tint of hostility in her voice. “Are you telling me you knew, this whole time, that we would break up, and you didn’t tell me? What is wrong with you?!” 
What is wrong with you. The five dreadful words spun around in Terracotta’s head, bouncing around and echoing over and over, getting louder and louder until the sound was deafening. WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!? Her brain screamed. Terracotta cried out, clutching her ears and trying to block out the clamor. She rocked back and forth, tears spilling from her eyes as they turned green with fear. “No, no no,” she murmured, terrified. “NO!” 
The clamor stopped. Obviously Allspice couldn’t hear it, because she was looking at Terracotta with a look that matched her thoughts perfectly. Are you okay? Have you gone mad?
“I’m sorry, sorry, sorry,” Terracotta said, still rocking back and forth, wrapping her arms around herself. “Every time I tried to tell you you would ignore me, yup yup yup. You—you wanted to force reality to become a perfect picture of what you had in your head, so you blocked me out. I tried to tell you! Yes, yes yes!” Terracotta cried, her eyes gushing.
Allspice put her head in her talons. “I suppose your right,” she admitted. “We’re still friends though?”
Terracotta looked up at one of her favorite faces in the world, stroked with worry and care. “Yup, yup, we are.” she said.
==Chapter four:==
Terracotta hid in her room as Tualang and Taproot yelled at each other outside in the main space, raising their voices so loud even the neighbors could hear them. 
I hate it, I hate it, I hate it, she thought to herself quietly, rocking back and forth on her talons, mumbling to herself and hoping it would drown out the awful sounds of her parent’s thunderous voices. But disappointingly it came to no avail. She could hear every single word their snouts uttered—and most of it was about her. 
“WHY is she so DIFFERENT!?” Tualang yelled from outside Terracotta’s door, “Tell me, Taproot. Who’s fault is it? Your genes? She’s not mine, for sure!” 
Taproot moaned with anger. “Not YOURS!?” he retorted. “We had her together, she is our child Tua! And there is nothing wrong with our child. She’s merely…unique.” Terracotta winced at the pain in her father’s voice at the word ‘unique.’ She knew she wasn’t normal. She knew no one could accept her the way she was—but she absolutely hated it when being herself made her parents argue. It’s okay dad, she thought. I’m fine, I’ll get better when I’m older, I’m sure! Terracotta buried her head in her talons and sobbed softly, tears making little splatters on the lenses of her glasses. 
“Terracotta. Unique.” Tualang said slowly, as if Taproot was a child to be scorned. “Terracotta is ruining my reputation—she can’t even get a job at the market for moons sake! How will she make a living, make a family? She could never have a family Tap. She’s broken in the head! Broken!”
Taproot growled. “My daughter is not broken. She will find a job and she will meet someone. I’m sure of it.” 
Terracotta could hear the rising hostility in her mother’s voice and she didn’t like it. “Oh, so now she’s your child, hmm?” she snapped cooly. “After all this mumbo-jumbo about how I need to appreciate her, how I should ‘like’ her more, how we raised her together, now she’s YOUR child? What kind of liar are you!?” 
“Tualang, please—“ Taproot sounded pleading as he muttered Tua’s name. Terracotta wished she could see her mother’s face—wished with all her might it would be filled with love and support, and soon tell Taproot that she loved him and their daughter more than anything in the world. But of course, her mother’s response was negative.
“I am so fed up.” Tualang said simply. “SO fed up. I’m leaving for a while—If anyone asks, tell them I’m out hunting.” Terracotta listened as angry talonsteps left the house, large wingbeats thrumming into the air, getting faster and further away—until there was nothing. A bird of paradise twittered in the tree outside Terracotta’s wide window, mourning softly and gently, as if all it wanted was to console her. What a beautiful creature she thought, sighing. It needs a beautiful name… Terracotta thought for a while, then whispered under her breath “Twitter. Your name is twitter, yes?” she giggled softly as the bird hopped around on the branch and flew away. What wonderful creatures. she thought. So pure and sweet and agreeable. I wish I was agreeable, like my parents want me to be. Terracotta looked up just as her father entered her room without knocking, a sad smile caressing his features. “Hey Terra-ific,” he said, settling down on the grass blankets beside her. Terracotta tittered, despite herself. Her dad always made the weirdest nicknames up for her—Terrable, Terrafying—but Terraific was her favorite. “Hello father, yep yep,” she said, fiddling with the bridge of her glasses. 
“Your eyes are blue.” Taproot noted. 
Terracotta looked down, wishing she couldn’t show her emotions so easily. 
“Listen—I’m really sorry.” Taproot said, a note of pain in his voice, “I’m sure you heard all that, with your wonderful little ears. Your mother is going to be gone for a small while, and I thought you should know I’m going to the market—the weaving and fruit departments need me!” but Terracotta knew her dad just wanted to get away from her, get some time by himself.
“Of course father, yes yes yes.” she muttered, burying her claws in her woven blankets, flexing them uncontrollably. “You must go…otherwise a crowded brain will lead to events of you making mistakes even I cannot follow. Please leave—the stars wish it to be so.” Terracotta clenched her talons, willing them to stop flexing in frustration and sadness.
“Thanks for understanding, Terra.” Terracotta smiled weakly at him, but she knew he didn’t understand a word she said. Taproot stood up and climbed out the window, but not before turning back around to meet his daughter’s eyes, smiling. “See you when your mother brings home one of those disgusting dead snakes.” and then he was gone. 
Terracotta stared after him, tilting her head wonderingly. Her father, despite his wonderful attitude and caring demeanor, had never, ever told her he loved her. 
Terracotta swept gracefully through the plaza, scanning the stands, markets and art setups, noting that she had tried to fit in with almost every one of them—but alas, she wasn’t meant to be a healer. Or a market sales dragon. Or a merchant, artist, cook, trader or taskdoer for that matter. She sighed as a pretty flower breeder giggled at her behind her talon, whispering to her friend. Now I’m known for being terrible at everything, she thought. Why on earth did my parents make me apply for innumerable positions!? Terracotta kicked at the bright green forest foliage beneath her claws. She despondently scanned the crowded street for anything that she hadn’t tried to be a part of, and failed miserably. The only available area was a scrap of bare grass, sitting lonely next to a healer’s antidote stand. I wish I could sit right there and do nothing, she thought. Maybe that would show everyone how amazing I am at things. Too bad my prophecy talents are useless. Terracotta swept her tail across the dirt, frustrated. 
And then it hit her. What if my powers were useful? she thought. More then just reading my family and Allspice’s tiny little prophecies? What if everyone knew about me…and they could pay for a vision, if I have one? Terracotta looked around excitedly, her gaze falling on that of a bright orange and red RainWing, dozing at his setup. She saw a glimpse of his future—a couple of loud dragonets, a pretty gal, or maybe a couple of pretty gals. 
Whoa. She thought.
I can do this.
The next three days were spent tidying up that sad little patch of grass, turning it into a makeshift stand. Terracotta bought a large sturdy basket with her parent’s earnings, turning it upside down to form an improvised worktable. She built a simple frame out of eight very large branches over the hamper, hanging all sides with a dense, impenetrable layer of vines, leaving the top covered with a thin layer of violets. The entrance to her homemade stand was draped with honeysuckles instead of coarse vines, offering a sweep-aside curtain entrance for her customers. She hung a piece of parchment on a branch that read ‘Terracotta’s Future Glimpses.’ What a cheesy name, she thought. If i think of anything else, I’ll change it. But of course, she didn’t think of anything else. Terracotta, of all things, wasn’t a witty dragonet. 
Terracotta flew back to her treetop home after the last day of setting up, quietly sneaking into her small bedroom. Her mother hadn’t been back for days, and Taproot was starting to worry—Terracotta didn’t want to bother him with her silly ideas. I still have no earthly idea of what I’m going to do, she thought as she scrambled around her room, finally finding the little mahogany box under her bed that held three coins. My mother is going to kill me.
Terracotta soared towards the market, landing gracefully next to her makeshift stand, her beautiful wings stretching wide to take in the green-tinted sunlight. When she padded over to move aside the curtain of honeysuckle, she took a sharp breath of surprise—an older female RainWing was standing in front of the upturned basket, her brows knitted, probably wondering what on earth this place was.
“Oh, uh…greetings!” Terracotta stumbled awkwardly. “Is there anything I can assist yourself with?” 
The dragon turned around, her eyebrows raised in a questioning manner. “Aren’t you the dragonet that failed miserably at my shop?” she asked. Terracotta dipped her head in embarrassment, her cheeks flushing a shade of scarlet. “I believe so, yes yes.” she mumbled.
“Well, I’m sure you remember me as Banana,” the dragoness rolled her eyes. “Come on girl!” she snapped suddenly. “Are you going to ‘glimpse my future’ or not?” Her tail swished back and forth impatiently. “I highly doubt your serious about this mumbo-jumbo, but I can spare a few coins to brighten up your miserable life.” 
Terracotta’s glasses slipped down her snout in surprise. “Of course!” she said, scrambling to place her money box on the counter, and settling into her small spot behind it. She tried to ignore how awkward she felt, and took a long look at Banana, closing her eyes…
The flight of an assassin.
A dragon’s egg splitting down the middle.
A a heap of gold, black talons running through it with pleasure.
Terracotta gasped, trying not to choke. She saw Banana’s sarcastic gaze directed towards her, but it was as if it was from miles away. An assassin, she thought, her head screaming with terrible, splitting pain. Murder, reward, what does this all mean? I’m absolutely unprepared for this, Terracotta thought, trying not to throw up as splintered eggshells and bright red blood spilled into the corners of her mind.
“So?” Banana said, amusement playing across her snout. “What ‘amazingly terrifying things’ await me in my future? Hmm?” she fluttered her yellow wings with mirth.
“It’s…complicated.” Terracotta said swallowing, trying to shove the vision out of her mind. “But you must listen to me, yes, or what lies ahead is definite—they cannot be saved. None of them.” 
Banana bought none of it. “This is ridiculous—I always hated the way you speak—I’m leaving, take your ‘hard earned’ coins girl.” she tossed two pieces of bronze onto the counter, storming out of the tent, her angry red tail flicking out behind her.
“Wait!” Terracotta said, clambering through the honeysuckles to catch up with the RainWing. “Please do not go—you mustn’t ignore what it is i have to utter. Are you expecting eggs?” she blurted, turning Banana’s angry face purple. “Yes!” she snapped. “Why do you ask?” 
“Three of your eggs will be split in half by the talons of a hired assassin, and the fourth will be stolen—gone forever. Please listen to me, yes? Your dragonets will die if we do not do something, no no no!” Terracotta struggled to keep up with Banana’s long steps. 
“You are worthless, aren’t you?” Banana said with a cold glare. “What a pile of dung.” she turned away, disgusted, and took off into the air. “I would try a different approach on your next customer!” she yelled behind her, muttering foul insults. 
Terracotta sank to the ground, her tail twining miserably around her legs. She ducked her head, trying to hide her flowing tears from the dragons around her, who had stopped their many tasks and were taking their precious time to stare at her. A young dragon carrying a bushel of fruit looked at her with pity as he passed by, led by an older dragon in front of him.
Terracotta stooped into her pitiful shack, her wings drooping, eyes a dark shade of blue. What am I supposed to do? she thought. I wish the future wasn’t so inevitable. 
==Chapter five:==
Over the next few days, rumors of Terracotta’s vision spread like wildfire. Terracotta knew Banana was known to talk, but she hadn’t realized the consequences. The morning her mother came back, Tualang yelled at her for three hours straight about how disgraceful she was, and how she should have kept her powers to herself. “What have I been telling you all these years!?” she had shouted. “No one needs to know! Do you have any IDEA what you’ve done to my stature!? I knew you were just a useless, stupid dragonet with a snapped mind! What is WRONG with you!?” 
What is wrong with you. Terracotta had a feeling those words would never go away, would plague her throughout the rest of her life. “I’m sorry mother!” she had said, shaking. “I was merely trying to fit in like you wanted me to.” 
“Well you did an AMAZING job, Terracotta!” Tualang snapped. “I’m sure weird, mental ‘prophecy dragons’ fit in JUST FINE, wouldn’t you agree!?”
Terracotta ducked, tears streaming from underneath the lenses of her glasses. “I…you implied that I must have job, I was just…” 
Tualang snorted and shook her wings out, getting ready to leave the house, probably to stop by Taproot’s market to scream at him as well. “Shut your snout, girl,” she said harshly. “Go ‘work’, if that’s what you call working. I’ll have none of it. If anyone asks, tell them your my niece.”
Terracotta burst into loud sobs as her mother took off from the balcony in the main room. She buried her head in her maroon and purple talons, her body shaking uncontrollably as she cried. 
Eventually, Terracotta looked up to be welcomed by the sound of clumsy flapping wings, and an eye-burning purple color, signature look of Allspice.
“HELLOOO…Terra?” Allspice landed immediately, realizing Terracotta was upset. “Your face is red—were you crying? Actually, your face is always red; that’s the color of your scales. Um, never mind?”
Despite her sadness, Terracotta had to laugh. “Oh wonderful dragon,” she said, smiling up at her best friend. “How did I ever happen upon meeting you?”
Allspice blushed. “Yeah, I know, I’m SUPER amazing,” she said grinning. “But seriously, you need to come over to the market square.” Allspice beckoned hurriedly with her talon.
“Why on earth am I required for this?” Terracotta wondered out loud, reluctantly rising from her spot on the floor. 
“Because!” Allspice said impatiently, lifting off from the balcony. “Your prophecy shop has a LINE, Terracotta! A line!! Like, a total, actual line! Did you hear I said a—“ 
“Yes, yes yes!” Terracotta cut her off, flapping gracefully into the air beside her friend. “I heard what you said.” Despite her reaction, Terracotta’s heart was actually pounding as they flew through the bright green trees of the Rainforest Kingdom. Could it be that Banana’s prophecy made other dragons want to come? How odd. Terracotta and Allspice entered the large clearing of the RainWing market, marveling at the humongous line the stand had created. A few dragons looked quite displeased due to the fact that nobody was in the shop, and a few were grumbling to themselves, leaving the line impatiently.
“Whoa,” Terracotta whispered in wonder, landing gracefully outside her stand. Allspice crashed down next to her and immediately bounced back up, brushing the dirt off her scales. “Go on!” she whispered. “Just make sure you don’t…you know.”
Terracotta ducked her head, entering the stand, the honeysuckle vines sweeping gently around her wings. Make sure you don’t warn them about death, she thought, finishing Allspice’s sentence. Even if they or their family are in mortal danger. Terracotta sighed, settling behind the upturned basket and softly calling the first dragon in. 
“Hello,” she said quietly to the RainWing. The dragonet standing in front of her was only about a year younger than herself, around five or so. She had pretty, dark purple scales and hints of blue here and there. 
“Hello,” the dragonet said, her tail twining around her feet as she sat in front of Terracotta. “I’m Crystal.” she quickly handed Terracotta two scales before scurrying back into her former position, ducking her head shyly. 
“I am Terracotta,” Terracotta said, just before a giant vision hit her. 
Crying
Sleepless nights
And a handsome dragon staring down at her, his eyes the color of charcoal.
Terracotta blinked. She was getting better at controlling her reaction to the visions—she hoped the look on her face was calm and reassuring. Apparently it wasn’t though. Crystal’s face blanched, her eyes practically popping out of her head. “What?” she said. “What is it? What did you see?”
So much for controlling my face, Terracotta thought, annoyed. I must have looked like a freaked-out sloth.
“The only things I see in your future are…a hoard of sleepless, starry nights, mourning for something I do not know of, and a dragon in your near future; possibly your brother? I do not know everything, no no.” 
Crystal giddily sprinted out of the tent, calling someone’s name as she left. When the next dragon entered, Terracotta’s head thumped down into her talons. This is going to take so much energy, she thought.
After hours of receiving and dismissing customers, Terracotta headed back home and said goodnight to Allspice, settling down in her room to count the coins she had made. Terracotta herself didn’t care a wit about how much she had, but she knew by experience her father would be quite interested. I wonder if my mother will love me now? she thought as she slowly drifted off to sleep, the symphony of the night seeping into her mind.
Terracotta woke to the sound of chirping birds, and the bright, warm feel of the golden sunlight on her scales. She stretched, breathing in the moist air, her green wings catching the light. She would never admit it, but suntime actually energized her beyond explanation. This is going to be a good day, she thought. I can feel it; its almost as if I’m sensing the future. My prophecy skills must be elevated this morning. Terracotta stretched her talons toward her balcony, grabbing the edge and pushing off. She let herself dive in freefall, wrapping her wings around herself tightly. As the cold wind whipped past her scales, and she rocketed closer and closer to the ground…she dove, stretching her neck out to the grass; and then released her wings, feeling the exhilarating thrill as the air gathered underneath her body and she was jerked up, five, six, ten feet into the air. 
Terracotta cried out in happiness, gathering stares from nearby RainWings—but she couldn’t care less. “WOOH!” she yelled, swooping around a tall Redwood. “I am extremely invigorated this magnificent morning!” she beamed at a dragon hanging dumbfounded out of her hammock. “Hello!” she called, letting the dragon’s future flash by in an instant.
Terracotta aimed herself towards the village square. Today will work out, she thought. She landed happily outside her stand, darting inside quickly…only to find the first customer already waiting patiently for her.
“Hello my dear dragon!” Terracotta announced, her talons fluttering excitedly. 
“Hi…?” the customer said nervously, looking around the tiny, homemade shack doubtfully. They had purple and blue scales with hints of black, and it seemed as if they were recently in a battle—scars and cuts were covering their delicate RainWing body. “Are you going to read my future?” they asked uncertainly, as if they knew their fate would hold nothing good.
“Oh yes, oh yes, yes yes!” Terracotta giggled, her tail flicking around the grassy floor in excitement. 
The dragon, who later announced them self as Vyn was a hard customer to get behind. Terracotta actually had to reach for their future, grasping to it with the tendrils of her mind. I’ve never tried this before, she thought. But why is their future…so…slippery? Suddenly Terracotta had a firm hold on a vision.
Dark whispers, grey rain coming down in torrents as a dragon’s eyes flashed white in a flicker of lightning.
A blue tail, slithering through the wet grass, the plants behind it shriveling up in fear.
And a lost trinket, a piece of jewelry that was priceless beyond comprehension.
Terracotta opened her eyes, her pupils and iris’ turning a milky, marble white as they did sometimes when she was uttering a cryptic prophecy.
“The wind that snatches treasures lost,
Follow and caress it you must not.
The bridge that leads to the open sea,
Will swallow you whole in misery.
A dragon, dark, brooding and cold,
Comes to steal your very soul.” 
Terracotta blinked, taking in the dragonet’s horrified face. “I’m sorry about that, yes yes!” she chirped. “What exactly did I say? I always black out when uttering abstruse prognoses.” 
Vyn swallowed. “I…I better go,” she said, walking halfway out of the stand entrance. “I really don’t—I really don’t need any cryptic death-prophecies this morning.” She tried to smile, and Terracotta could see that she was trying her very best not to hurt her feelings.
“Oh…” Terracotta said, frowning. “Alright then! I shall see you some other time if Fate wills it, yes yes.” She waved the dragonet out of the shop and settled contently in her place, brightening a little. It couldn’t have been that bad, she thought. At least she wasn’t like Banana! Terracotta giggled wildly to herself as her next customer walked in. She looked up, still tittering quietly, to see a slender, handsome RainWing with bright orange and green scales, his blue eyes sparkling attractively in the dim light of the shop. 
“Oh hi!” Terracotta said, waving giddily at the spot across from her. “Sit! Sit! I have loads of cryptic prophecies to hand out this fine morning!” Terracotta giggled so hard at this, she fell over, her wings vibrating with her amusement. The dragon looked quite handsomely confused as he helped her up, sitting down where Terracotta had gestured to. “Hello,” he said smiling, his brows still knitted in slight amusement. “Nice to meet you…?”
Terracotta tilted her head. “Why did you trail off?” she said. “I’m sure you know what your name is, unless your as dumb as a toucan.” she looked at the dragon with bewilderment.
“No—I was asking you what your…It’s like a way of…ah, never mind,” he blushed, looking down at his talons as Terracotta continued to stare at him oddly. “I’m Tangerine,” he said. “What’s your name?” 
“Oh, I’m Terracotta,” Terracotta stated, matter-of-factly. “Terra-cotta, a type of fired clay, typically of a brownish-red color and unglazed, used as a building material and in clay modeling.” She swayed back and forth happily, reciting a few recent prophecies in her head.
Tangerine watched her with curiosity, a swirl of bright pink flashing across his scales. “Nice to meet you, Terracotta,” he said.
“Nice to meet you as well, Tangerine!” Terracotta said. “A small citrus fruit with a loose skin, especially one of a variety with deep orange-red skin.” she recited, closing her eyes gayly. “Alright, let us focus on your imminent future,” she said, suddenly growing serious. She squeezed her eyes shut further, the bridge of her gold glasses digging into her snout. 
Laughing.
A long, happy flight over the rainforest canopy.
A pair of bright violet eyes, filling with delight.
Terracotta stared at Tangerine. That’s not what I thought it was, was it? She immediately dismissed the thought. Just get on with the explaining, she scolded herself. “Um,” she said, trying to think of a way to put the short vision into words. “You will be extremely exhilarated with life not too long from now.” 
Tangerine smiled. “Is that all?” he asked kindly. 
Terracotta nodded hastily. “That’s all, yep yep.” she fluttered her wings nervously. Tangerine inclined his head. “Alright,” he said, dropping his two scales into the money box; plus two more, Terracotta noticed with bewilderment. Tangerine looked at Terracotta closely, tipping his head. “Do you…remember me from when that yellow dragon left your shop?” he blushed again. “I was walking by with a crate of fruit.” This was making him more and more embarrassed by the second, Terracotta could tell. But she didn’t stop him. It was fun to watch. “You know…I think you saw me?” Tangerine shook his head, red-faced. “You know what. I’m not even sure what I’m talking about anyways—“ 
“Yes, I remember,” Terracotta said finally. In fact, she thought herself stupid for not remembering sooner. She envisioned the look of pity Tangerine had gave her as he passed by on that dreadful day. “You were shouldering quite the burden of brightly colored fruits.”
Tangerine looked relieved that she had remembered him. “Oh…well, I guess I’d better get going,” he said, his tail swishing nervously. 
Terracotta blinked. “Yes, I suppose you must,” she said, her heart panging a little, which was quite a foreign feeling. Maybe I’ll ask Allspice what it means, she thought. Terracotta straightened, watching as Tangerine left the shop, yellow honeysuckles sweeping gracefully around his beautiful, orange scales. “Bye,” Terracotta whispered, but he had already gone.
==Chapter six:==
The night was filled with the sounds of hooting owls and screeching lemurs as Terracotta rolled over fitfully in her sleep, pulling the grass-woven blankets tighter around her. She moaned quietly, her brow wrinkling concernedly over her tightly shut eyes. The green-filtered moonlight shone wide reflections on her glasses, flooding her face with an eerie, pale light.
The same vision kept breaking into her mind, repeating itself and whispering over and over into Terracotta’s disturbed mind, which was already colorful enough. The vision was like that of Tangerine’s own; but modified and much clearer and sharper, digging into Terracotta’s head with it’s fateful talons. 
Tangerine, reaching a talon out to touch Terracotta’s face,
A pair of dragons sitting on an old Baobab tree, their tails entwined, just as their fates were.
A pair of kind blue eyes, sparkling in the dim light.
Terracotta woke up with a gasp. It was just a dream, she tried to convince herself. But she knew better. Every single dream she had ever had eventually come true. 
Terracotta slid quietly out from under her covers, taking deep breaths of the cool night air. She sunk her talons into the wood below her, taking comfort in what was real and solid in this moment. The problem with seeing the future was that Terracotta sometimes couldn’t tell what had already happened; and what hadn’t. It felt like a blur between timelines, like her whole life was incomprehensibly intwined with everyone else’s. She tried her best to block the idea of her dream out, but it was still there, fresh and crisp and convincing, like the leaves hanging outside her window. 
Terracotta snuck to the door of her parent’s room and pushed it open, the edges creaking slightly. She held her breath as she watched Tualang and Taproot lie there, curled around each other like squirrels in a nest. They must love each other beyond thought, she wondered. But they never act like it. I wonder if Tangerine will treat me like they treat one another. Terracotta stifled a heartbroken sob with her talons, pressing her claws to her snout to muffle her cry. She gently closed the door and fled to her balcony, tears flowing from her eyes. She looked up at the moonlit canopy of trees, the delicate leaves blurry without her glasses on. She felt strange, as if Tangerine were already beside her, their tails twining together in the loud silence. Terracotta dug her claws into her arm, slicing through her scales and drawing a trickle of bright red blood. She held her jaw shut tight so as to not scream, but the pain had done her good. The world is still real, she reassured herself, covering up the many other self-made puncture wounds with her blankets. For the past two weeks, Terracotta had been having dreams and nightmares of her future with Tangerine. She knew she wanted to be with him, but that didn't make the dreams any more comforting. She liked the idea of shaping her own destiny, not letting fate decide it…but the visions she had been seeing  completely erased that small hope. 
Terracotta shook herself from head to talons and turned back around into her little room. Her mother had laid out a silk scarf on the floor, and twenty bracelets to choose from. “One for each wrist, Terracotta,” she’d instructed. “You can choose which colors you like best. I doubt they’ll make you any less ugly though,” she’d added with a smirk, making Terracotta swallow hard.
Terracotta stared down at the bracelets as the sun peeked above the horizon. There was a small party going on near the Queen’s hut in three days, and Tualang and her family had been invited. Tualang was shouting for days about how Terracotta would have to ‘act normal’ and ‘look normal’ so she could impress the Queen with her shining daughter. “I just hope the rumors haven’t spread too far,” she snapped coldly. “I don’t want her thinking I’ve got an insane, delinquent daughter.” 
Terracotta glanced down at the scars on her arms and wrists. She grabbed all the bracelets determinedly and slid ten on each wrist, covering the wounds with jewels and woven silk. She sighed, wrapping the scarf around her neck three different times, and then discarding it. I should be allowed to wear what I want, she thought. I look…fine. Terracotta glanced into her small mirror, wincing. Her mother’s words came back to her, loud and clear, ringing through her head. “I doubt they’ll make you any less ugly,” she’d said crisply. Terracotta straightened her wings, trying to stand up as straight as Tualang did, but it was useless. 
She was just a weird piece of treasure that no one would understand…no one. Not even her own family.
Terracotta spent the next three days answering questions miserably at her stand. She half-hoped Tangerine would be there, but he didn’t show up; Terracotta tried to convince herself he was just busy, but a voice that sounded eerily like her mother’s kept creeping into her head. You’ll never be good enough. No one likes you. Why are you so weird, and different? What is wrong with you. Terracotta traced words and prophecies into the supports of the hut so that she wouldn’t forget them, snippets of other dragons lives that seemed more important then her own. This attracted even more attention to her prophecy-telling business, as dragons paid extra to read and study the writing on the branches. 
Terracotta flew home the day of the Queen’s party, her wings heavy, and her mind muddled. She let out a deep sigh as she sunk into her bed, smiling slightly at the warm scent of leaf woven blankets. She had barely heard her mother enter before she was scrambling to attention, standing up; her wings as straight as possible, and her injured arms behind her back. “Yes, yes mother?” she said in what she hoped was a lighthearted, obedient tone. 
Tualang’s eyes narrowed. “Why aren’t you ready?” she snapped. I laid your required adornments out days ago!” Terracotta opened her mouth, but her mother interrupted. “No excuses!” she said. “Just…I want to see you ready, polished and by the door in ten minutes. The Queen can’t see us late.” she gave a slight cold smile and added; “Not the new advisor and her husband and daughter.” 
Terracotta slid on her bracelets as soon as her mother had left. She scrubbed her scales with a porcupine bristle brush until it hurt, and polished her glasses until they were probably more dull then shiny. Tualang had been offered a position as one of the Queen’s advisors, and she seemed to be more stuck-up about it then ever. She doesn’t even know if she’ll get the job yet, Terracotta thought angrily, then immediately felt bad for it. She’s your mother, Terra. She scolded herself. If she gets promoted, it’s good for all of us… like Dad.
Terracotta shook her head angrily and straightened her bracelets with force. I can do this, she thought. I can do this.
 
==Chapter seven:==
“Ah there you are darling!” Taproot exclaimed as Terracotta quietly shut her room door behind her. She gave a halfhearted smile to her father, but she could see he was staring at her bracelets, already worried about what Tualang would say. “I shall be alright, yes,” she said reassuringly to him, patting his wing gently. There’s no way on Pyrrhia I’m taking these off tonight, Terracotta thought, feeling her forearm gingerly. The bruises and cuts underneath the bangles were still fresh, and the ones that had healed over already looked ghastly.
Taproot returned Terracotta’s smile, tenting his warm wing around her small, thin body. “I suppose you’re right,” he beamed. “Anyway, you’re mother is very exited about this…promotion. Tonight’s very special for her. Needless to say, I don’t want you getting in her way or drawing too much attention, okay?” Terracotta nodded quickly, not trusting herself to speak. I’d just say something stupid anyways, she thought bitterly. Mother’s going to kill me if I say a single word at that party—
“TERRACOTTA!” Tualang shouted from the other room, causing Terra to jump with fright and smack her fathers wing against her head. “S-sorry, sorry,” she said apologetically, scrambling into her mother’s bedroom. “Y-yes yes Mother?” she said shyly.
Tualang turned around, and Terracotta’s breath caught in her throat. Her mother looked like a queen, or some kind of radiant goddess. Her scales were a light, sky-blue, with swirls of black and teal strategically twirling through her wings and horns. She wore a delicate gold chain around her neck, and her posture expelled ‘high-rank’ with breathless ease. Her amber brown eyes pierced through the room as if she were here to sentence Terracotta to the worst fate imaginable with a flick of her royal blue talon.
“Come here, and put this around my neck,” Tualang snapped, jolting Terracotta out of her reverie. She handed another gold necklace to her, that matched the one she was already wearing perfectly. “I’m having some trouble fastening it.”
Terracotta ducked her head and did as she was told. As her mother’s smooth scales scraped against her own, she squeezed her eyes shut with fear. She felt as if, at any moment, Tualang would whip around and grab her wings to give her a good hard smack, or that she’d rake her bracelets off her arm and discover the puncture wounds. Terra shivered. Who knew what the punishment would be for such ‘harmful behavior.’
Terracotta finished clasping and winding the chain around her mother’s scales, and stepped back hastily. Tualang turned towards her, her eyes narrowing. “What’s this?” she asked, eyeing Terra’s bracelets and bangles.
“I-I-I decided I should like more of the decor then just one or two gracing my appearance. I quite favor the way it l-looks, yes yes. Altogether m-m-more more dignified.”
Tualang let out a harsh bark of laughter. “I could not imagine you ’dignified’ for all the gold in the world.” She grabbed a scarf from her rack of jewelry and looped it around Terracotta’s head, yanking it tightly against her neck. Terra held her breath, her heart beating rapidly in her chest as Tualang tied the scarf and dropped her talons. “There,” she said, not unkindly. “That’s more…presentable.”
Terra and Tualang stared at each other for a moment, and then the silence was, of course, broke by Tualang’s sharp snarl. “Go!” she barked. “You’re in my way. We’ll never get there in time if you…insist on tripping over your clumsy talons.”
Terracotta swallowed, drawing her eyes away from Tualang. She hustled out of the door and past her father, climbing up on the balcony to gaze at the trees below her. “Where are you Twitter?” she called softly to the trees, tears leaking from her eyes.
Suddenly she heard the soft mourning of a bird of paradise, and she smiled. It gave her courage, and the feeling that she wasn’t alone. “Thank you,” she whispered.
Terracotta drew a sharp intake of breath as she heard her mother and father step out onto the balcony behind her. “You ready Terra-ific?” Taproot called. “Yes yes, I am ready.” she stumbled. As ready as I could ever be, she thought.
The beautiful orange sun set below the trees as the family of dragons glided through the rainforest to the Queen’s party court. Terracotta heard the faint clinking of glasses and the indistinct murmur of conversation. Her small talons started to shake violently, and she tucked them close to her chest, hoping her parents wouldn’t notice. “H-how many incomprehensibly dispositioned dragons s-shall be at the p-party, yes?” she asked her parents.
Tualang rolled her eyes, but Taproot just smiled at her. “You mean people? Only around fifty, I suspect.” Terracotta’s eyes widened with fear, and she faltered in the air.
“Are you okay darling?” Taproot asked. “I know you see about that amount of customers every few days at your stand.”
“You happen t-to be correct,” Terracotta answered. But only one at a time, her brain panicked. I don’t know if I can do this. She braced herself as the noise of the gathering got louder. Soon they landed in the clearing, a half-mile wide platform made of fallen trees, hovering two wing lengths from the ground. Beautiful, dainty lights were strung around the trees, casting a warm light over the mass of dragons, contrasting perfectly with the barely visible sunset. Torches were planted in the ground so that the dragons cooking and preparing meals underneath the platform could see.
Terra touched down, her breath leaving her. “It is beautiful,” she exclaimed.
“That it is,” her mother agreed, making Terracotta jump.
The party was filled with sound; RainWings eating, talking, singing and laughing, mixed with the sweet melody of a musician trio. The dragons all around them flashed with colors; mostly pink, yellow and orange, Terra noticed. Everyone was enjoying themselves.
Terracotta had just begun to relax when a handsome, green dragonet passed by her and she was thrust into his future.
The cool, night air.
A dragon screaming as she was dragged away from her mate.
Drops of venom spattering the ground.
Terracotta covered her snout to muffle her gasp. She pushed the feelings of the vision down; she had trained herself to do so. He’ll be okay, she thought to herself reassuringly. Something bad happens in everyone’s life. Nevertheless, his sweet, happy face enjoying the celebration and loudly singing along to the music made her heart feel cold.
Terra closed her eyes. “I require something to drink, yes yes,” she told her parents. Taproot nodded, and she walked over to the long table filled with food, squeezing her small body through the mass of dragons around her. Terracotta picked up a coconut water, gulping it down gracefully. The vision had left her tired, and she knew she needed to keep her energy up if she was to survive the party.
“I extend my thanks for the drink,” she said to the round dragon loading more fruit onto the table. He smiled at her kindly, although he looked slightly befuddled by her choice of words. “Have as much as you want!”
Suddenly, Terracotta dropped the coconut, and she heard laughing—not the laughing of the crowd, but a pure, clear laugh.
A beautiful dragoness, lounging on a tree branch, laughing.
The healer’s ward, a dragon’s eyes blinking open slowly.
A bowl of blueberries, a pair of graceful orange talons gently handing them to someone.
A dragon yelling.
A hatchling, his wings the color of cream, surrounded by eggs, but all alone.
The server tapped Terracotta on the shoulder. “You alright?” he asked, looking a bit scared. “Your eyes turned all white—half blind or something?”
“Um…yeah,” Terra answered, turning away from him. She darted back into the crowd, feeling dizzy. A dancing dragon slammed into her and she sank into another vision.
A body being covered by layers of dirt.
A dragon’s smiling face, covered with paint as someone laughed softly.
Claws raking through a tree, lightning splitting the sky.
Tattered wings flapping uselessly in the wind as a storm raged, the lungs of the dragon filling with seawater as their vision faded.
A pair of kind eyes, a mother wishing her dragonet goodnight.
“No, no,” Terracotta said, clutching her head as events swirled through her mind. She imagined squashing them down with her talons, and grinding them to dust…almost there…they were almost gone…and then a girl skipped by her and flung a flower garland over her neck, and her joyful face was suddenly in the middle of the desert.
A dragonet calling out, a sandstorm raging around her.
No one comes.
A frail-looking IceWing, putting a talon over hers.
A little dragonet being shoved around by others.
Tears pouring down somebody’s face.
“Please…please…”Terracotta whispered, but no sooner had the words left her mouth than a red dragon came up to her and handed her a banana.
Screaming.
A dragon’s mouth being yanked open, their jaw splintering apart.
A girl hanging happily from a tree.
A knife, dragging through a dragon’s flesh like a shark fin.
Terracotta whimpered, shrinking in on herself. The visions were terrifying. A RainWing flew above her and she stumbled into a prophecy once more.
Bright light.
Bodies being buried by the thousands, a dragon in chains.
A queen laughing giddily.
The dragon’s chest being sliced open.
Blood covering the sand.
Suddenly, Terracotta felt as if hundreds of dragons were closing in around her at once. Visions shot through her head like wildfire, and she could no longer tell them apart. Death, birth, happiness, more death. Murder, sadness, laughing. Over and over. Tears leaked from her eyes as she was jostled through the crowd, barely moving herself. Eventually, during a vision of two RainWings locked in combat, she fell off the edge of the platform and landed hard on the ground. Terracotta felt her arm snap underneath her and whimpered in pain. She squeezed her eyes shut. They’re gone now, she thought. The visions are gone now, and that’s all that matters.
Terracotta struggled to get up, but her left arm was useless. It hurt terribly, and Terra was sure she’d broken something. What will I tell my parents? she thought, her violet eyes watering. They won’t believe me. They’ll just think I tried to run away or something, and ended up crashing into a tree. She dipped her head, limping towards the platform. A RainWing underneath who was preparing food saw her and beckoned her over. “Here you go!” she said cheerily, handing Terracotta a mango drink. “Let's go back to the party. You need some cheering up.” Terra raised her eyebrows, still shivering. Why do all RainWings act like they know me at this party? she thought. Her mind was definitely made up. She hated celebrations.
Despite her continual efforts, the dragon forced her up to the higher platform and laughed over Terra’s excuses and pleading. When they reached the top, Terracotta was caught with the sudden sight of the queen patting her mother on the shoulder. “I know you will do amazing! Truth is, you’ll probably do better than me!” Queen Gentile let out a bubbly laugh.
“Thank you, your majesty,” Tualang said, giving her a curt nod. As the queen swept away, Terracotta’s mother turned around to catch sight of her. “Terracotta,” she said bitterly.
“H-hi Mother,” she answered. Tua’s eyes narrowed as she saw that Terra couldn’t stand properly, she was shaking visibly, and her left talon was hovering above the ground. “What’s wrong with you, girl?” she asked, coming over to her instantly. “Have you—Terracotta, your arm is broken!” she said, feeling Terracotta’s shoulder. “What did you do?”
“I, um…fell off the d-dais yes, yes.” Terra stumbled.
“Well that’s awfully clear, but how?” Tualang asked.
“I had…there seemed to be…” Terracotta couldn’t hold it in. She burst into tears and covered her face. “I was obtaining visions from all the d-dragons gathered here, a-and, and there was a great amount of them, all c-cluttering up in m-my mind, and they were altogether f-frightening…”
Tualang was silent for a while, and Terracotta did’t dare to uncover her face. Then she felt a wing brushing hers and her claws slid a few inches apart. “I can’t say I agree with your stupid visions,” Tualang said. “But I do know your arm is broken, and we’ll have to get you to the healer’s ward.” She summoned Taproot over, who had a papaya in his talon. “Taproot. Your daughter’s arm is broken. Take her to the Healers, now.”
“Terra!” Taproot said, rushing over. “How on earth did you do that?”
“It’s…complicated yes yes.” Terra said, glancing over at her mother…but she was already gone. She had left her for someone else, once again.
==Chapter eight:==
The sunlight streamed warmly in through the windows of the healer’s hut as Terracotta lay curled up on one of the many leaf-covered tables. Her father had left a few hours ago to go check on her mother, and Terracotta’s only company was the two healers and the three other sleeping dragons in the ward.
Terra sighed, pushing her nose through the leaves to rest on the edge of the table. She gazed forlornly at the other patients, trying to see their futures.
The closest to her was a bright red RainWing, with speckles of yellow scattered about on his wings. He was snoring quietly, and had a venom scar tearing across his side. Terracotta winced, almost feeling the pain he felt. He couldn’t be more than twenty, yet he would probably have that scar for the rest of his life.
Nevertheless, his future didn’t hold much intrigue. All Terra saw were six bumbling dragonets dancing around his claws and a plate of warm mango cookies. She sighed. Some dragons had the most wonderful lives, where they lived long and died peacefully. That’s what I want, Terracotta thought. I want to have dragonets and a mate and be happy for the rest of my life. Terra’s snout wrinkled with humility. It sounded cheesy and fake, kind of impossible if she thought about it. I’m a weird freak, she reminded herself. Dragons don’t…like me.
But I like other dragons, her mind whispered. Terracotta covered her head with her talons. Tangerine popped up in her mind again for the hundredth time in the past two days. She didn’t like the way it felt thinking about him, like she was completely helpless controlling her feelings. I forgot—she thought. I need to ask Allspice what this means.
Terra lifted her head up from the leaves and pointedly stared at the dragon across the room, forcing herself to read his future. Two of the healers were on suntime-break, and the other was pretending to stand guard outside the door; but Terracotta knew he was really just passed out on the porch, soaking in the sun. Until they returned, Terra had to keep herself occupied.
This next RainWing was a small dragonet, and she was curled up comfortably on her table. Her scales were a sugary pink with jets of yellow and red all through her ruff and talons. She burbled in her sleep and rolled over, her tiny pink talons twitching.
Terracotta closed her eyes. This dragon’s future looked…cloudy. For the first time since she could remember, she couldn’t see the vision clearly. There was a scent…strawberries. Mixed with something else, more of a metallic, pungent smell…
Blood. Terra thought, her eyes jerking open. All she could smell was blood. A whole lot of it, streaming over the rock and mixing with a pool of dark mud. She shivered and turned away from the tiny dragonet. I can’t help her, she convinced herself. I don’t know how. Things flashed through her mind, images, smells, shapes…but she couldn’t grasp on to any of them. They were all swallowed by the mist faster than she could blink.
And then suddenly a vision came to her. It wasn’t the pink dragonet’s, though; it was crisp and clear, and the images took up more of her visual space than the real world did. She turned to the dragon in the middle of the room, between the scarred RainWing and the dragonet. He was a rich, leafy green with shoots of black and dark blue through his wings. He had a long, deep cut running through his skull down to his chest. It was stitched up, but it looked like the stitches were struggling to hold the wide gap together. Terra suspected the bonds would burst at any moment.
The images she saw were brief, but telling. She saw his face lighting up with happiness, a pink tail twined around his. She saw him struggling to fly, the gap in his chest healed, but wide and gaping. She saw blood, running down the rocks and mixing with a pool of dark mud. Angry screaming, the wings of a black dragon unfurling.
And then suddenly, Terracotta blacked out.
“Hey, uh, hello?”
A dark orange RainWing was hovering above Terracotta, poking her. Terra sighed deeply, taking in her immense exhaustion. She turned her head to see another healer, the one that had been sleeping, standing frozen in the doorway, his eyes wide open with terror.
“W-what is wrong yes?” Terra asked, heaving herself up, wincing at the pain in her arm. She noticed the other dragons in the healers ward were also awake, and all staring at her oddly.
“I don’t really know,” the healer next to her said cheerfully. “They all just been freaked out since I walked in!” she giggled. “Serval’s face is amazing.” she pointed a talon to the frozen healer.
Terracotta straightened her glasses. “What is w-wrong sir?” she asked again.
The red dragon turned on his table, grimacing at the venom scar on his side. “You woke me up, that’s what’s wrong,” he said a little grumpily. “I heard this rasping voice, and then—“
“And then you said a bunch of weird stuff!” the green dragon blurted. “Something like blood, blah blah blah, leaves, blah blah pinkish something, slicing into something something, blah blah muddy something.”
The red dragon raised his eyebrows. “What,” he asked, “was that?”
The green RainWing flushed, embarrassed. “I don’t really remember most of it,” he mumbled shyly.
“I do.”
The healer standing in the doorway suddenly spoke up. “It was freaky,” he gulped, his scales flashing green. “It went something like; 'when entwined are the tails of two, one with pink wings, the other blue, a chain is made that draws rivers of blood, when awoken and free a dragon rises from the mud.'”
Terracotta gasped, and then covered her mouth. I said a prophecy, her brain screamed. Out loud, in front of all these dragons. Serval noticed her expression. “What? What is it?” he asked.
“Oh, n-nothing pivotal,” Terracotta lied through her teeth. “In fact it w-was quite inconsequentially trivial.”
Everyone looked confused. “It w-was only the libretto to a musical piece I’m w-writing,” Terracotta blurted, feeling caught.
Everyone still looked confused, but they all shrugged and accepted it. Terracotta couldn’t help but notice how little most RainWings actually liked to think about things; lining up almost perfectly with Tualang’s ideals about the ‘stupid’ tribe. Terra ducked her head, avoiding the other dragons’ gazes. She didn’t like this feeling, of being different. It raised mind-boggling questions in her head like was she weird? Or was the rest of the tribe weird? And maybe they weren’t all unintelligent; maybe she was just…different. Again. Different. The word kept popping up in her mind, becoming part of her. After all, it was really the only word that could describe her, simply.
“You should be all set!” the jolly healer burbled at Terracotta, re-wrapping her bandages tightly. “Just take some comfrey root in your tea twice every day for about a week! Oh, and if you don’t drink tea then you might want to start! Heal, heal heal is my motto.” She winked, her scales a bright, bubbly magenta. Across the room, Serval slid a few knobby-looking roots and some purple flowers into a cloth and tied it up gently, handing it to Terra.
"Th-thank you yes, yes.” Terracotta mumbled, carefully getting down from her bed. She winced at the pain in her arm, but it already felt loads better than it had just a few hours ago. She squeezed through the other RainWings, her tiny build letting her slip almost unnoticed to the door. She glanced back at the other patients, her heart thumping as her gaze landed on the tiny pink dragonet, who was now wide awake, her round, inquisitive eyes locked on Terra’s. Terracotta swiveled her head away, breaking eye contact. “I can’t help her,” she whispered to herself. She choked on her words, holding back tears. She lifted off from the porch of the healer’s hut, just catching herself as she faltered in the air. Her wings felt sore and weak as she struggled to fly, trying to remember which direction her house was. She passed by thousands of sloths, all who were eying her oddly. What on Pyrrhia did she do to her arm, Terra imagined them saying. Must be stupid, probably smashed into a tree. A brown sloth actually sniggered as Terra’s brain finished this sentence, prompting her to glare at it. “Shush it, sloth,” she said. An orange and lilac RainWing shot through the trees, laughing as her own sloth gripped onto her neck, looking terrified at her flying speed. Terracotta rolled her eyes. Sloths, and pets in general had always annoyed her. Why not leave the animals be?
The sunny sky suddenly rumbled, and raindrops splattered on Terra’s glasses. As she tiredly winged her way around the trees and hanging vines all around her, the sky was slowly eaten up by grey clouds. Her glasses fogged up and she braked in the air, narrowly avoiding actually smashing into a tree. Maybe I’ll just go above the trees, she thought. Terracotta pumped her wings, straining at the effort, until she broke the thick green canopy that covered the rainforest.
Rain battered down on Terra’s head, the smell of fresh water filling her snout. This is helpless, she thought as she scanned the canopy. The trees were more dense from above, and there was no way she’d even be able to find the market square from this height. Terra sighed in frustration and lowered back down into the forest.
Terracotta swerved around trees, ducked under vines and tolerated the heavy rain pounding down on her wings. She asked a couple RainWings for direction, but they ignored her; too busy rushing home. When it wasn’t sunny, the tribe was bound to be inside. Eventually she crash-landed into a soft thicket and curled up under the leaves, trying to gather her thoughts. The shiny green leaves above her drip-dripped onto her head, making clinking sounds when they landed on the lenses of her glasses. I cannot fly in this weather, she thought. I guess I’ll have to…walk? She put her head down on her folded talons. She didn’t want to spend the night in a thicket in the middle of nowhere; plus she was hungry, and her parents were probably worried about her.
Terracotta sighed deeply and rose from the thicket, trudging softly through the mud as thoughts raced unbidden through her mind. Why can’t I stop them? she wondered. Why can’t I stop the prophecies? She could almost smell blood dripping, almost hear dragons screaming their throats out. She shivered, the cold rain seeping through the cracks of her delicate scales. And what about Tangerine? she thought. A light flush crept up her cheeks. The vision of his piercing blue eyes kept popping up into her mind.
A giant mango tree loomed out of the rain and Terracotta stopped, sighing with relief. Her house must only be a few winglengths away; she knew where she was. She trudged through the mud and climbed up the branches of her tree, flapping her wings to ascend. Terra crawled over the edge of the balcony and slipped in through the door, smiling at the warmth of her home.
“Father,” she called softly. “I have arrived home, yes."
When no one answered, Terracotta stepped over to her parent’s room and pushed open the woven door. Her father was passed out on the blankets, a few fruit cores and a broken glass scattered across the floor. Terra sighed, turning her back on him and slunk into her own room.
Terracotta blinked slowly, coming to. It was just before sunrise, and the rain had receded into a light, foggy drizzle. Before she had gone to bed, Terracotta had dried herself off and made herself a bowl of kiwi.
Terracotta heard talonsteps; it must have been what had woken her up. She yawned and popped her head out from her blankets. It was a cool, misty morning and the air was chilly. Her door swung open and Taproot walked in. “Ah, I see you’re up,” he said.
“Indeed,” Terra replied tiredly. She carefully withdrew her injured arm further into the blankets. “Where is mother currently located?”
“Oh…that,” Taproot rubbed his eyes, looking exhausted. “She went to the village market. Got herself some jewelry or something. This promotion is…it’s good for her.”
Terracotta felt something spark in her chest; a tiny flame, almost instantly smothered. Anger. For the briefest of moments Terra felt angry, angry at her parents for fighting, for ignoring her and for being dishonest. But in an instant it was gone—anger was against her programming. “I see,” she said softly, gazing at her father’s blurry face. She realized she wasn’t wearing her glasses and quickly snatched them up from her wall nook, sliding them up her snout and wrapping them around her horns. “Why was there a shattered glass object contained in your living quarters then?” she felt her talons twitch unconsciously. Taproot looked cornered. “It—she—there was an accident. That’s all.”
“Yes. Okay.” Terracotta’s chest felt restrained, as if she wasn’t breathing properly. She got up and quickly slid on her bracelets, her back to her father so he wouldn’t see her scars. She turned around and briskly swept past him and out of her room. “Wait—Terracotta, where are you going?” he called after her, quickly scrambling up to follow.
“I am planning to travel swiftly to the market,” Terracotta answered, neatly slicing off a piece of comfrey root from the healer and plunking it into a stone pot. She lifted a water pot from the floor with some difficulty, her left talon still weak. She poured water into the pot and scarped her claws on the flint to start a small fire underneath it.
“Why would you need to go there?” Taproot asked.
“We are deprived of all sources of food and nutrition in the house,” Terracotta replied. “I digested the last two kiwis yesterday. You consumed the rest of the fruit in it’s entirety.” she shot her father a look and he sighed, scratching his head. Terracotta suspected the fruit cores and skins were still in his bedroom. She poured her tea into a coconut cup and drank a few sips, her tail twined around her talons. Her father came over to investigate. “What’s that?” he asked. “My medicinal cure for this injured arm,” she said, shifting her talon a bit so he could see the bandages. “Oh, yeah,” Taproot said, smiling at her. “I completely forgot—how are you feeling?” he asked, reaching towards her injury to inspect it. Terracotta gently withdrew. “I am doing as well as can be comprehended,” she said, drinking the last of her tea and advancing towards the balcony. Taproot looked a bit confused. “Well…have fun Terra-ble,” he said. “I would come with you but—“
“But mother may be residing there at this moment,” Terracotta finished for him. Taproot smiled. “Of course not,” he lied. “I’m just feeling a bit tired after the party last night, that’s all.” he turned towards his room, presumably to clean up his mess. Terracotta felt tears pricking her eyes as she launched herself off the platform and into the rainforest. He forgot about me, she thought. Just like everyone else.
==Chapter nine coming soon!==
If you like this fanfiction, and all it's characters, check my page for more on Terracotta and her friends at Sarahyasmine! I'd really appreciate it if you could visit my message wall, to get you more involved with the story and it's plot; Who knows, your character could make an appearance in the background!
Thanks! -Love Sarah and Terracotta
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