Alone in The Caverns

Have another story. I'd suggest reading the other one first, but whatever floats your boat.

A Quick Intro

Before we get into this story, I believe an introduction is in order. Unlike the previous story, which had been given background prior to its telling, this story and even parts of its setting are almost entirely new to its readers. That is why I would like to set the proper scene so that you may get more out of the story than if I did not give this introduction. Without further ado, a brief introduction to this new environment:

Picture yourself alone, in a wide, echoing cavern. The cavern is quite dark, though large red, blue, and purple crystals are scattered in clusters around the area, each of them giving off an eerie glow which, when combined with the light of all the other crystals, gives you just enough light to see by. There is a pond in the middle, just barely lit by the crystals and which looked endlessly deep due to that fact. The stars shine in from a hole in the cave roof, making everything look even more stunning in appearance. This is where are story will begin, where everything began for young Icarus.

Prologue

*I'm sorry, young one.*

Not so long ago, or perhaps many years ago, the dragonet within the dark blue-black egg that sat within the huge, dark cavern had heard these words spoken by a feminine voice somewhere in the outside world. He hadn't understood their meaning then, nor did he now. He only understood that he had wanted to go to whoever was speaking them. He wished to be freed from his egg and see her, see who this dragon was who seemed so familiar even though he had never met her, as he had never met anyone.

However, at that time, he was unable to leave. He felt ready, felt as though he could break free any time. Sadly, something was forcing him to stay in the egg, to helplessly listen as soft footfalls grew ever softer as whoever the dragon was who had been outside his egg slowly drew further and further away from him.

Those were the last sounds made by another dragon that the dragonet heard for quite some time, as this secret sanctuary where his egg was placed was rarely explored by anybody other than the rare adventurous soul that only came around once in a while.

Chapter 1

*Chk... Crrrk*

A crack began to form along the side of the shell of the egg that had contained the dragonet for so long. Something had changed in the way the egg felt. The shell no longer seemed to want to contain him like a prison, they seemed finally ready to release its captive into the world.

The egg tilted slightly, falling onto the cave floor and spilling its contents onto the cold stone with a *thud!*

The young dragonet glanced around, his big, icy blue eyes scanning his surroundings.

After a thorough examination, or after he had looked around for as long as his newborn attention span had let him, he finally tried to stand, immediately resulting in him face-planting on the ground.

Tears welled up in the young dragonet's eyes as warm, sticky blood began to ooze onto his face and drip onto the cave floor. This was basically his first experience in the world and it *hurt.*He slowly picked himself up, shaking his head in an attempt to dislodge the grit from the cave floor which was now sticking to the blood on his face and tottering forward, which immediately sent him tumbling into the pond in the center of the cave.

He yelped, a squeaky, helpless sound, as he splashed frantically in the water.

He'd imagined the world outside his egg as a kind place. A place where he might finally meet the kind voice who had spoken to him however long ago. A place where he would be warm and safe. A place where he would finally be free.

Sadly for him, he had it all wrong.

The world outside his egg was a dark, cold place. A place full of danger. A place which, if he didn't escape this situation, he might already be leaving.

He paddled awkwardly, not quite swimming, but making it so he wouldn't go under. It seemed as though the water was endless, like no matter how far he swam, he'd never reach the shore.

Finally, just when it seemed like his energy would expire and the end would come, he reached the shore. He collapsed gratefully onto the ground, his eyes closing as he gave into the exhaustion tugged on his eyelids and weighed down his limbs, allowing himself to fall asleep right on the edge of the pond.

Chapter 2

A bright, white light shined down from the hole in the top of the cave and onto the young, dark blue-gray dragonet on the pond's shore, dragging him groggily out of his slumber.

He blinked a few times, shaking his head. What was this? Why was the world around him suddenly so bright?

Only moments ago, or so it seemed, the cave had been shrouded in darkness. The shadows had seemed to surround him like a cold, black blanket.

Now, he was surrounded by warmth and light. It was a much more comfortable experience altogether, especially now that his eyes had adjusted and he could finally see the areas of his home that had been hidden to him the night before.

The pond wasn't nearly as large as it had seemed and the cave was actually not that bad now that he could really tell what it looked like.

The ground was a lot more smooth than it had seemed the night before. That was a good thing, it meant that maybe today he wouldn't have to worry so much about falling over.

He also saw that the pond was not as wide as it had seemed in the darkness. In fact, it was probably only about five feet wide, five and a half at most.

The crystals that had given off light the night before had lost their glow due to the sun's light taking over and now cast dazzling, multi-colored reflections onto the cave floor.

The cave wasn't the cold, dark, foreboding place it had seemed to be in the darkness. It was actually a warm, welcoming place, now that he could see what it really looked like.

He stood up, stretching his short legs and shaking himself awake. Today was a new day, hopefully a better day. He began to wander around the cave, knowing instinctively that the light would allow him a better, safer look around.

He spotted the nest that had held his egg for so long, the shattered, discarded shell lying next to it.

Now that he'd actually seen the nest, he decided that it would probably make a decent place to sleep, at least until he outgrew it. It was a fairly good size, made up of a few fairly large blankets, probably made for a dragon much bigger than himself, so he would be able to use it for quite a long time.

Above the nest hung a dreamcatcher of sorts. Something about the dreamcatcher seemed a bit strange, but as the dragonet didn't even know what a dreamcatcher was, he just figured that was how that was how they always seemed. The decoration had a ring made of some sort of hard plant matter with its webbing made of some sort of colorful thread. Where feathers or charms might normally be hanging hung two earrings with a necklace in between them. Those seemed to be where the odd feeling came from, though they looked completely normal.

The jewelery all matched, red coral pendants with Tahitian pearls in the center, giving them an appearance similar, but not quite identical to a red eye.

That was probably the reason for the unease. Who wouldn't feel uneasy if they felt like they were constantly being watched?

Chapter 3

Things were a bit more uneventful for the remainder of that day as well as most of the following day.

However, as the sky began to grow dark on what would be the third night of his life, strange things began to happen.

First off, the sky was darker than usual and louder. Plus, bright lights kept coming and going, flashing through the hole in the cave roof.

Second, his stomach felt funny. It also kept grumbling.

The young dragonet waddled over to the pond, taking a few sips of water, but it didn't help. It also didn't help that now that he was directly under the hole, cold, fat drops of water kept falling on him, causing him to shiver.

He let out a squeaky sigh, frowning. Why was all of this happening? This wasn't normal.

*Eat,*something told him, *You need to try to find something to eat!*

Now he was hearing things. That probably wasn't a good sign.

But, the voice sounded familar, friendly...

It soon hit him. That was the voice he'd heard so long ago. The voice of the dragon who'd been there, and then left.

He looked around. Where was it coming from? Would he finally get to meet the source of the voice, get to be with another dragon?

He searched desperately, but to no avail. He was still alone. He frowned, going back and sitting by the pond. He didn't care about the water falling on him or the empty feeling in his stomach anymore.

He felt so alone. Why didn't anybody want him? Why did he have to be alone? It was so frustrating!

He sighed, staring down at some fish darting around in the pond, resenting how they all swam together.

He growled, swatting at the water and inadvertently scooped up a fish in his claws.

He jumped backwards as it flopped around on the shore, unsure what to do.

*Well, go on. Kill it! Don't let it get back in the water! You need to eat if you don't want to die!*

There it was, the voice again. It sounded more assertive this time, more urgent.

He tenatively stalked forwards, sniffing at the fish, which in turn jumped up and hit his face, causing him to hop back again.

He growled, stalking forwards again and slamming his talon aggressively down onto the fish, killing it with a quick, simple break to the spine.

*Now eat it!* the voice commanded.

He sniffed it again before doing as he was told.

*Very good, Icarus,*the voice purred.

Icarus? Who or what was Icarus? This wasn't clear then, but he assumed it would be soon. Maybe sooner than he thought, as soon he wouldn't be quite as alone.

At least, that's the memo the footsteps coming from somewhere nearby gave...