Cursed Shadows

Cursed Shadows is a fanfiction written by Beatles Neko. Only edit if there are spelling or grammar errors.
== Prologue ==
The sun was dipping below the horizon, its last rays desperately trickling over the crisp line. But no late sun trickled through the dark clouds circling over the sky above the volcano. The NightWing Kingdom held a silent vigil. Few dragons circled around, usually performing the latest chores left to do.
In a cave, though, were two ecstatic dragons.
"We're going to be parents!" Moonraiser whispered excitedly to her mate, Lavaboiler. The male smiled, and leaned against her.
"We are," he replied. "But for now, we should probably get some sleep."
The two NightWings bedded down for the night. The eggs were due to hatch soon, so Moonraiser had trouble falling asleep. Yet, after about twenty minutes, she finally did.
An hour elapsed after that. The time ticked by, and the eggs remained silent. Another half hour passed. But that time, the result was different. A rigid crack ran down one of the eggs. A small, feminine head poked out. A different egg had a small male poke out. Another bore yet another male.
But the fourth egg to hatch was different. A rigid, two-dimensional slit punched out, before a small female broke out of the shell. Even in the black darkness, her shadow was visible. The shadow distorted briefly, before going into a rigid form, where no curves were present.
When the last egg hatched, the shadow suddenly went into action. A scream tore through the air.
Moonraiser's eyes flew open, and she leaped to the broken eggs, where the dragonets had gathered, Lavaboiler not far behind.
Moonraiser screamed. The last hatched dragonet was dead. He was murdered. The shadow was dancing near it, blood on its feet. The female NightWing seized the small female dragonet and pulled her away from the others, the shadow clinging on and being brought along.
Moonraiser glared, while Lavaboiler examined the dragonet. "Her shadow has a mind of its own," he confirmed.
Moonraiser dropped the dragonet as its shadow started stabbing at her drawing blood. She walked over and picked up the dead dragonet. "His name will be Memory."
Lavaboiler picked up the other female dragonet. "She will be Skyflier." Turning to the first born, he said, "And he will be Startoucher."
Moonraiser walked over to the other male dragonet. "He will be Darksky."
Whipping around, her eyes shooting daggers, she looked to the outcast dragonet. "And since she is a curse to our family, her name will be Curse."
== Chapter 1 ==
Curse stumbled up the volcanic mountain, a bucket clamped firmly in her jaws. She stumbled over rocks, loosing her footing here and there.
"Hurry up!" a voice yelled from down below. Peeking over her shoulder, Curse saw it was her older brother, Startoucher. He was the most pushy out of all of the dragonets, and she frankly didn't like him.
Curse was the dragonet who had to do all the tasks, she hardly got a break. And with almost everything she did, Vacuum, her living shadow, would lay all over her, uncommonly helping in the work.
Curse knew she was a danger to the other dragonets. Vacuum was rather sadistic, and could lash out and slash someone, "just for fun". And, she knew Vacuum was plotting ways to make her more cruel, or take her over altogether.
Curse finally reached her destination. She dipped the bucket into a steady stream of lava, wincing at the heat. She retracted, feeling the heat from the lava in the lava-resistant bucket. She set in down. "Can't you carry it?" she asked Vacuum, trying to figure out how to get down the steep slope while carrying something that could kill you.
"Why me?" Vacuum replied with a snort. "Because if it spills on her I won't die?"
"Exactly," Curse mumbled, watching as Startoucher stuck his tongue out at her.
"Fine," Vacuum grumbled, and snatched the bucket of lava.
Slowly, Curse started down the volcano's side. She found her footing each time she set a foot down, so the process was, as stated, painfully slow. When she reached the bottom, Startoucher snatched the bucket, and walked away without so much as a "thank you".
Curse trudged back to the cave, and flopped down. The other dragonets were out and about. Vacuum prodded her. "Come on, you need to train."
"I just climbed part out a mountain," Curse whined. "Why are we training now?"
"Your survival instinct will kick in," Vacuum replied, stabbing her violently. She winced as he drew blood.
"Fine," she grumbled, getting up.
Vacuum began vividly describing how to preform certain moves, but Curse didn't hear him. She was zoning out, mainly wondering how the living shadow knew all this information. Maybe he reads it out of scrolls at night, she contemplated.
A sudden stinging, painful bolt burst from Curse's snout. She yelped, nearly doubling over in pain. She winced, going cross-eyed, and looking at her snout. A deep wound was carved into the scales. It's going to scar, she thought weakly,
"That's the punishment for not paying attention," Vacuum hissed tartly. It crossed its front limbs, before motioning for her to rise.
With a pained, deep sigh, Curse straightened, ready to start.
Category:Content (Rainpool123)
Category:Fanfictions (Incomplete)
Category:Fanfictions
Category:Fanfictions (Fanon)