Dripping Rain

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By Starwatcher
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Two tears fall, one splashing to the ground. One lingers on her face, a thing of desperate beauty, before falling though the air and becoming part of the rainy landscape. Gone forever. Like the egg.
"It's not true."
Her voice cracks. The statement is almost as desperate as the fresh round of tears welling up in her eyes. She knows, I'm sure. My own eyes become watery, and I have to shake my head to make sure I don't fall. I need to be strong for her, because if I'm not, then nobody else will be.
"It can't be true. "
Her eyes are wild, frantically searching my gaze for some sign, any sign, that I'm lying. But she must not find anything there, because she crumples to the ground as the floodgates open, silent tears falling faster and faster and falling in rhythm with the pounding rain.
I take a step closer, my talons sinking into the wet leaves on the forest floor. Some bird up above in the dripping trees lets out a low, mournful sound, as if it too understands what has happened. Finally, the grief takes over, and a sob rips loose from my throat. In some ways it makes everything better, but in some ways everything feels like it's worse.
I squeeze my eyes shut, blocking the tears from escaping.
When my eyes open, a fresh, new resolve flows through me, and I step closer to her and throw my wings around her. Her whole body is shaking with each sob she lets out, and I can't help but shed a tear myself. Just the memory of the empty clearing, the moons shining down with no egg to brighten, is enough for me to collapse, finally letting the tears fall to the ground. And it feels good.
I can imagine how we must look, two black shapes huddled together, crying over an unborn dragonet. It seems so silly, to have bonded to someone not yet born. But somehow, the pain is as bad as losing any family member, and it doesn't stop us from feeling beaten down, crying on the forest floor and not bothering to shield ourselves from the rain.
"I would have named her Dreamdancer."
Her voice is sad, but the name is said with happiness. It's a beautiful name. It would have fit perfectly with her.
"I wish I had done something to save her." I say softly, hating the way my voice is so crackly and broken.
"It's not your fault."
She says it without looking up. I snort. She looks up at me.
"But it's not! It's not your fault."
She says it with such vehemence that I stand there, shocked, as she shakily gets on her feet. Her tear-stained face is hardened with resolve.
"It's the fault of whoever took her, and we're going to find them and take her back."
== Chapter 1 ==
Echosinger, get back here!"
Echo groaned and rolled her eyes, turning in midair and drifting to the ground.
"What?" she asked crossly as her talons touched the grass.
Glassbreaker looked down her nose at the dragonet in front of her.
"You simply can not walk away like that, especially during a lesson. This is your final warning, Echosinger. If this happens again, I am going to have to punish-"
"Uh huh." Echo shrugged, breezing past the caretaker and stepping into the orphanage.
"Echosinger, this behavior is completely unacceptable!"
Echo gritted her teeth and opened the door to the classroom.
"-where Blister's first attack took place. If you look closely, you can see-"
The door swung open as Echo walked in, sat down, and stared straight at Scrollwriter, the history teacher. The class went silent, the teacher squirming nervously.
“Echosinger, you’re late.”
A hint of a smile played across her lips. “I am aware.” she said pleasantly.
“Your classmates tell me you ditched the end of Combat. Is this correct?”
“Yup.”
“Would you like to explain yourself?”
“Not really.”
Classmates sniggered. Scrollwriter began fidgeting with his talons.
“That wasn’t a request, Echosinger.”
“Sure sounded like one to me.”
The History teacher squeezed his eyes shut.
“That will be quite enough. Please meet me in the hallway after class.”
Echo blinked innocently. “No problem!” she chirped.
“I would prefer it if you did not speak out of turn.”
Echo grinned.
“Okay.”
==Chapter 2==
Ugh
History was far from Echo's favorite class. Usually she could tune it out, but Scrollwriter had been watching her closely. So closely that, at some point, she had looked up and asked, before she could stop herself, "Do you want something?."
He had only shook his head, that tight little shake adults love so much, that little 'I can't believe this', or 'you're such a disappointment.'
Whatever.
Scales brushed up against the NightWing as dragonets hurried to catch up with their friends. Echo walked alone as usual, catching whispered segments of conversation as she headed toward the staircase.
"..and then she said.."
"...but I didn't, so I walked up to him..."
"...new dragonet supposed to arrive soon.."
"...sorry, I didn't mean to.."
"..or, you could just.."
Normally, Echo would sit stand in the hall for a while, soaking up the chatter and making up stories about the things she heard. She was in such a bad mood, though, that she skipped her usual routine and bounded up the steps to her dorm.
When Echo slammed the door open, Whitestreak was so startled that she nearly toppled out of her bed.
"Whoa there, stormcloud. Who got under your skin?" the other NightWing sputtered. Echo didn't answer, throwing herself into her moss-and-leaf nest and curling up with her wings over her head.
"Moons." Whitestreak muttered, turning back to the scroll she had been reading. Echo rolled over, grabbing her schedule and peering at it, forever unable to memorize it.
Language. That was okay. She could handle Language.
Then school was over, so there was that too.
==Chapter 3==
The first thing that happened when Echo walked out of the room was decidedly not very good.
As a rule, any time your principal walks up to you and asks you to “please come with me” is not really a good thing.
And sure enough, it was not.
“Echosinger, I would like to ask you why you think you are in trouble.” Glassbreaker spoke, emphasizing each individual syllable.
“Go ahead, then.” Echo said pleasantly.
“Excuse me?”
“You want to ask me why I think I’m in trouble. If you want to ask me so badly, then go ahead and get it over with.”
Glassbreaker gritted her teeth.
“Young lady, I was going to give you a chance to apologize for being so disrespectful, but I you do not seem to have matured. You will receive one detention, to be served tonight after school. Good day, Echosinger.”
The principal stalked down the hallway.
“Bye!” Echo called after her.
The second the principal had turned the corner, Echo’s shoulders slumped.
Detention again.
If Echo was right, which she usually was, this would be her 31st time sitting in a stuffy classroom with world’s most ignorant teacher.
So much for any after-school plans.
Echo trudged to class, sat down in her seat, and prepared herself for a long afternoon.
 
Category:Fanfictions
Category:Fanfictions (Incomplete)
Category:Content (Starwatcher the RainWing-NightWing)
Category:Genre (Adventure)