Paradise Village

cover by otaku. icewing on the cover was colored by otaku, base was by peregrinecella.
==Prologue==
Seven Years Ago...
A cloud of dragons landed on a small ledge and readied their strange contraptions.
Using their machine they dug deep into a mountain, looking toward the stars and moon for guidance. They needed to build their village in precisely the right location, not a inch too far north, east, south or west.
This village was necessary. There was no getting away with not building it. That one day, seven years from now, the dragonets they had chosen would be grown and out of their eggs. 
"These dragonets are crucial to our plans," Morrowseer had growled. "They will not end the war. They will not choose a queen. But they will ensure we all get what we want."
And Nautilus listened to him. He and the Talons built their drill and dug a large gaping crater into the center of Quartz Peak. They chopped down trees for wood, they gathered volunteers. 
"We are digging too far north," Morrowseer hissed, his scales blending perfectly with the night sky. "Alter your course and dig farther east."
Nautilus eyed him warily. "Are you sure? Does the position of the village have to be this...precise?"
Morrowseer glared at him. "According to my prophecy, yes."
Nautilus gave the order, the drillers altered their drilling, and they kept on working.
When, weeks later, they were ready to construct the village, the Talons listened to every detail Morrowseer spoke to them. All the houses must be exactly the same, all the stores and doctors' offices, the fountain in the courtyard must give only the freshest water. The only exception was the asylum, a large white stone building with no windows and only one door, locked at all times.
Finally they gathered their volunteers. A few families, some old dragons looking for something new, and eggs, soon to hatch into dragonets.
The "special" dragonets were already hatched, about a year old now, and Morrowseer himself herded them to the asylum, where specially chosen doctors would raise them until they were old enough.
The last step was sealing them - the new citizens, their supplies, their dragonets - in. Forever.
If Morrowseer was correct, and all went well, only the chosen dragonets would see the sun again.
==Chapter One==
Whose stupid idea was it to call this village Paradise?
Because it was most definitely not.
Well, sure, Iceblink was due to escape Paradise any day now, but she was still stuck. Stuck in not-paradise.
"Cheer up, 9-IB!" Doctor ? said, grinning through the window at her. "You and your friends will be given plenty of time to find an escape, so rest your spiky head and come get your breakfast!"
To all the WorkeRs of the Paradise Asylum, like creepy Doc. ?, every meal was a breakfast. The first was when sunlight peeked through the crack on the North Wall, which the villagers called the Rising. The second was when the light took on an orange tint, which they called the MidLight, and the third and final was when the light grew dimmer and dimmer and nearly disappeared, called the Setting.
There was a time-telling hourglass in Iceblink's room, and from it she guessed it was MidLight.
She was not hungry for Doctor. ?'s slop.
She walked over to the small screen in the wall and whispered, "Lumina? Are you there?"
"Yes," answered a soft, high voice.
"Hey, are you two having conversations without me?" joked a deep but friendly voice. 
"This one just started, Squelch." Iceblink said throuh the screen. 
She couldn't help but remember how their friend Pumpkin used to say the same thing. "Hey, are you having conversations without me?" But that wasn't the only thing about Pumpkin she could remember. Pumpkin had died a few years earlier, attempting to escape Paradise alone, and being crushed by tons and tons of solid rock.
Iceblink gave a little snort. Pumpkin was a dizzy idiot, and what did she care that she was dead?
But a small part of her whispered, We have a destiny. Me and Squelch and Lumina...and Pumpkin.
Pffft...yeah right. Pumpkin was dead, so much for destiny, right? Iceblink wished she could find the idiotic smokebreather that stuck them under this pile of rock and stuff his face in a volcano. 
"We're not getting anywhere in this life!" she burst out, exasperated. "Destiny, shmestiny, just get me OUT OF HERE!"
"Don't talk like that..." Lumina whispered. "We'll get out. I swear."
Squelch snorted. "Like any of us have anything to swear upon."
Iceblink glanced around. 
We could swear upon our shelter...?
Nah, our shelter sucks. Our uh, our food and water?
I'm feeling like, nooo. I guess we could swear upon...
"I swear upon my life." Lumina said firmly. "If you two do too."
"Fine. I solemnly swear, upon my life and soul, to get the three of us out of this asylum, and out of this stinking rat hole of an underground village, into the world." Iceblink said, placing her right front talon over her heart, though neither Squelch nor Lumina could see.
"I swear upon my life and soul to get us out of this hecking snake burrow full of depressed dragons." Squelch said.
"Excellent wording."
==Chapter Two==
That night, as Paradise Village slept, Iceblink wedged a claw into the lock and wiggled it around.
Click.
She was out! She was...lost.
Dammit! Why does this place have to be so big?
Of course, Iceblink knew she had never seen big. She had heard that there were palaces bigger than the entirety of Paradise Village. Cities with buildings as high as three dragons! She hadn't even seen the houses of Paradise, so small you could barely stand inside.
First things first. She needed to get Lumina and Squelch out.
She slipped a little down the hall. The floor was made of smooth, black-and-white checkered tiles. She waved her wings, then fell on her tail. A dull thud resonated across the hall.
She glanced around. Did anyone hear that?
Evidently not. No talonsteps. No voices. No one was coming.
Iceblink could read, of course, there was nothing keeping the workers from teaching her. They had stopped by the time she was six, but she was an excellent reader, though perhaps not as excellent as Lumina. Or Squelch. Squelch was probably the smartest, though the goofiest, of the group. 
Find the smart, goofy MudWing.
Her talons clicked on the floor, and she tried to stop them, but it was no use. Her serrated claws seemed to be scratching the tiles.
She came upon a map on the wall. She studied it, knowing full well she wouldn't get most of it. But on the side, there was a list. The residents (listed as their ID codes) and their rooms were on it. 
This is what I need.
She peeled the list off the wall and took a visitor's map from the nearby box.
Lumina and Squelch are...I believe 12-LM and 19-SQ... she thought to herself. Right. Their rooms should be just around the corner.
She turned, and sure enough, there were the labeled doors. Lumina's was closest, so Iceblink wedged her claw into the lock and wiggled it around until she unlocked it. Squelch's was harder. The doctors must have realized he was smart enough to pick the lock, which is probably why the lock was extra secure and why Squelch's claws were trimmed every few weeks. 
Squelch gave her a thumbs-up. "Let's get out of this stinkhole," he whispered.
They slipped and slid across the smooth floors, wandering until they saw a door. And another door, and a left turn. Lumina and Squelch took the left turn, but Iceblink wandered into the door in front of her.
Files and Records
She slowly turned the knob. The inside, the room was dark. Looking around, she realized there were no torches or coal niches to light on fire. Not that she could, being an IceWing. 
There were boxes. Boxes of scrolls, each titled something else. Iceblink looked around. There was an animal skin mat to sit on and a screen of holes next to it. The system of communication that used sound waves to echo one's voice throughout the walls. This room was much like Iceblink's, with an hourglass like hers.
Mid-Dark. It's rather late.
Iceblink shook her head. Wait. Lumina, and Squelch. I need to find them.
Suddenly, a voice resonated throughout Iceblink's mind. "Knock knock,"
Iceblink froze. "Who's there?" she whispered, glancing around warily.
"Your," the voice answered.
"My what?"
"Your worst nightmare."
Iceblink whirled around. She blinked. She rubbed her eyes. "What....?"
Her eyes fell again upon the boxes of scrolls. One was titled "Subject Analysis Files." Another was labeled "Danger Levels." A third was labeled "Test Records and Experiments."
On one talon, test records. On the other, Lumina and Squelch, who were probably waiting outside, wondering where she was.
Oh, screw it.
Iceblink reached into the box and glanced at the labels on the scrolls. Other names of other dragons. Wrong...wrong...wrong...who's Erich?...wrong...Iceblink, that's me...wro-
She did a double-take. Wait.
She eagerly grabbed the scroll labeled with her name and unrolled it on the floor. Yes, it was. All those DNA tests, those health tests, the test purely out for research (or so they said), they were all here. She glanced at the Danger Levels box. Was she there too? 
She was. Iceblink unrolled this scroll too, skimming the words on the paper. Hostility level 8...strength level 9...intelligence level 7...not bad, she guessed.
Lumina. Squelch.
They were there too. Squelch's intelligence was labeled 10+, fitting. Lumina's hostility was labeled 3. Also fitting.
At last, Iceblink turned toward the Subject Analysis box. She was just reaching in, finding her files and her friends', when suddenly a tap-tap-tap sound reached her ears. Talonsteps. Coming closer.
She dove behind a particularly large box labeled "Blood Samples.", taking the scrolls with her.
Shuffling. Whispering. "Where could she have gone?"
Iceblink sighed with relief, scooting out from behind the box. Lumina was glancing around in confusion, but Squelch spotted her. Iceblink put a claw to her lips and winked. Squelch nodded an infinitesimal amount.
"BOO!"
Lumina jumped. Scrolls went flying.
Iceblink snickered. "Come on, let's go."
They walked down halls and halls of identical walls, the only difference being the labels on the doors. It wasn't until they were in the lobby that Iceblink's friends noticed her scrolls. Squelch, being Squelch, put things together immediately. Iceblink gave him a shush look, and he shrugged and turned away to inspect a potted plant.
"This plant is drooping," he said, poking it. "It's dehydrated. And the lack of water has taken a toll on this plant. It's been eaten away by caterpillars, too, look-"
He suddenly jerked away, releasing the leaf he was tugging on, as the whole pot moved aside.
Gears creaked. As the pot moved away, a large hole opened in the floor, just big enough for a dragonet to fit through. Inside, dirt formed a rough slide, spinning away down a bottomless pit.
"One word," Lumina whispered as the three dragonets peered down the hole. "One word: wow."
Category:Content (AlphaOfOtakus)
Category:Fanfictions (Incomplete)
Category:Fanfictions