Do enjoy the story, i warn though, this is long and time consuming to read even, so enjoy if you're bored. XD
Chapter 1
~Niala~
It’s quiet, the land’s surroundings as silent as death, but is livelier than one could ever imagine. It’s the fall, the leaves gracefully changing colour and dancing in the air on their way to the ground. It’s not the end of their journey, most things are just cycled. There is birth, life, death, and after death, there is always more life; we all know this and everyone has their own story no matter how simple or complex it may be. Even something so simple as a leaf could have a curious past, present and future. Perhaps a tigress, just like the leaf she kept in her fur, tucked in behind her ear, a curious past? She was different, that’s a thing to be certain of upon sight. Not white and black, but lavender tinted stripes, slim and agile figure, and a pure snow-white coat. Her tail is longer than usual, her paws all padded purple; oh yes she’s a curious sight indeed. Her past? She’s been hunted before, kidnapped, driven out of her family pack, gone to find a human home, tortured and experimented on. The list could go on, but the story is the same. She’s an outcast. Those close to her have been lost; the tigress that roams these silent yet gaudy lands has yet to find them. Some she hasn’t met yet, some she may never see again, some to catch up with and to find love with one.
Thick foliage splashed across the ground and the tigress’s paws relaxed, her tail scooping up star shaped leaves off of the floor of the forest. She loved the fall season, before her pack deemed her unworthy, she and her mother would play amongst the falling leaves. Her mother would shake small Halfling trees and the orange and yellow glory would pile on top of her resting body. Her mother was the only one who loved her and all through her life she had her mother as her one friend. Her mother gave the leaf that hid amongst her purple and black tufts of fur, behind her ear to her. Lavender. That was her mother’s name and the tiger thought it ironic the one name she held close would be her curse. Though she didn’t think it, she loved being able to stand out and be proud, that’s who she is. Niala. That’s who she is.
Niala leaned her body against a maple tree, looking up and watching the leaves as they gracefully headed towards the ground, admiring how they danced and twirled in the breeze. One began floating to her and she reached out a paw, her claws extending from their hiding place to reach it. The wind blew favourably against the leaf and it brushed against Niala’s paw and up her outstretched arm. She smiled, her two top fangs bearing over her bottom lip as the leaf brushed against her cheek fur. The warmest touch she’d been given in years… and it was by a leaf, but she didn’t mind.
Her ears began to twitch; in amongst the soft fluttering sounds of dry leaves falling to earth, a distant movement caught her attention.
One…Two…Three…Four? … Four…
Four animals lurked around her, all sensed to be coming from the same direction. They’re hunting…
Niala got up onto her paws; she stretched a little before beginning to casually stroll towards the lake. A smart grin formed on the feline’s face as she reached the large liquid basin at the bottom of a mountain range. The water so clear like crystal and so smooth and calm. She was sure to change that; her paw tapped against the surface of the calm water. A sheen of lavender swept across the water almost instantly and her ears pressed to the back of her skull, her tail flicked slowly, her eyes glistened a bright, crisp ice blue and she whispered softly.
“Bring it.”
Niala also had a gift; an elemental control, she’d been born with the ability to control water. The moment any part of her body touched but the surface of water, it was her playground. She could manipulate from as large as the earth’s ocean, to as small as a single droplet of liquid crystal. She hated using it for pain and violence, but when she had no other choice it was she, or them.
Niala closed her eyes and crouched close to the ground. She could feel them moving behind her, around her, getting closer. They’re hungry… but what are they? They’re bigger than her, their shadows swimming around her mind, the growls of the hungry beasts filling her ears. But still, this was going to be easy.
One of the canid beasts was only a few feet behind her now. A warm tingling sensation stretched through her body as she heard it breathing. The husky growl it gave made her jolt, her eyes squinting now.
“What do we have here boys… A little kitten?” The leader of the pack growled threateningly. She felt his fur brush against hers and she winced, the smell was like a savage death, or just a dog that hadn’t washed for years. He sat beside Niala and his paw reached out to her chin and she felt his claws press hard into her skin. It was large, muddy and rough; she looked up at him and cringed. A jet-black werewolf met her bright blue eyes; patches of fur were missing, a scar from his muzzle all the way down his left side. The sight was poorly.
“Methinks she’s a little bony though…” He smirked and let go of her and turned to his pack and looked back at Niala. She muttered to herself, her tongue rolling over her teeth as she sat there as still as she could, just staring at their watery grave to be.
“How should we feast tonight, Lord.” Niala snickered at his name quietly and the werewolf’s ears flicked and the head wolf snapped his head back to the tigress.
“We’ll decide that later, first, how to kill her,” He leant his rugged head down to Niala’s face and his wet, putrid tongue licked up her cheek “She’s an innocent one and deserves no pain... What do you say to that precious?” Niala grimaced and grunted at this, he just smiled and padded almost gracefully into the water. The others joined him and they all turned to the tigress, smiling evilly at her. Their backs all hunched over and they crouched lower into the water, Niala smiled and whispered softly and sweetly to them.
“Bye-bye”
Her finger flicked up and large bubbles of water rose up into the air, the werewolves half under them and struggling. They couldn’t breathe, and the bubbles started to freeze as an icy mist surrounded them. The weakest wolf, a nice shade of copper, stopped struggling, his body falling limp and the other two began to slow down. Lord still kept his pace and Niala looked into his dark bottle-green eyes. She glanced at the other three werewolves, all of them dead now, drowned in the air. The tigress smiled, looking back at her victim, Lord. His lifeless eyes stared back into hers and her smile disappeared. She blew air onto the wolves and all four of them merged with the bubbles, all four of them transforming into water in a lavender flash.
“Choose a better life, to take this one’s place.” She whispered. A tear dripped down the surface of her fur as the bubbles faded to mist and graced back into the water basin.
She turned her back on the scene and sat, fixing up her fur and making sure her leaf was still safe. After a moment or two she rose up, her eyes shut lightly and her head moving side to side as she tried to catch the wind in her fur. She sighed and opened her eyes slowly, beginning to continue her journey, taking the first steps now, into her new life.
Chapter 2
~Kindran~
In a clearing of the forest, there was a creature. He, too, was a sight. Dark grey scales shimmering in the sunlight and all over his body, deep electric purple veins branched. He was a chimera like mix of cat and snake and his forked tongue slithered out as he licked his feline lips. His teeth were all mostly fangs and he growled, following his stomach, which growled back. Kindran was his name and he was also an outcast.
He felt the warmth of mother-earth rise up into his paws and his eyes scanned his surroundings. His veins began glowing a deep violet and he crouched low to the ground, his ears were flicking and his tail was parallel to the forest floor. Whispers grew loud in his ears and he felt the air bending around his body. The PSI energy flowing throughout his body and he felt his muscles pulsing with adrenaline.
Crack.
He was off at the sound of a breaking twig his ears were like radars and were flicking vigorously at the sounds. He was incredibly fast, more so than the speed of a cheetah, dodging the forestry in his path. His drive was food. He hadn’t fed in days and even though he felt weak, his need was driving him faster and harder nonetheless. He could smell it; it was intoxicating, his fangs extending longer from his jaws and bearing over his bottom lips and his mouth was watering. He ran faster now, determined to catch his prey he took in deep breaths and ran into a shrubbery forest. Bottlebrushes and tree ferns and all the shrubs he ran past flicked into his face. He didn’t care, as he wasn’t concentrating. His red eye darkened into a crimson shade and his golden eye became brighter and he felt his prey ever closer to him.
He was out of the shrubbery patch now, he was chasing after deer. It was a Buck by his senses; large, masculine yet slow and young and he was alone. Perfect.
There was an abrupt halt and Kindran let the world catch up to him as his last few steps became padded and soft. His body lowered to the forest floor and he slunk into some bushes nestled into the foot of a giant weeping willow.
Kindran began to glow and he felt heat rushing to his claws and they became red hot.
Kindran was also an elemental controller as his PSI energy gave him a deep connection to the balance of life. He could borrow the energy from anything living and turn it into a weapon of violence or assistance. Unlike Niala, he had only a short burst for each element at a time. Yet he could manipulate them all. Niala only has the power over one, and with that one, she controls it completely and for however long her heart desires.
Quietly, Kindran crept around the trunk of the willow, the sweet sanguine liquid flowing through the deer’s body reached deep into Kindran’s lungs with each breath. He was set on catching his meal… He crouched not two feet away from the buck now and Kindran rubbed two claws together creating a spark.
With a focused and fiery burst of air, Kindran blew the sparks and the deer’s legs, and legs only, caught alight. Burning, the cries of the Buck tore Kindran inside. But he couldn’t let this one go away.
He leapt onto the Buck’s back and his fangs extended out as far as they could. His paws, small, yet strong and powerful, clamped onto the deer’s neck.
Snap!
It was over. No more pain, no more life and no more threats left for the deer to be cautious of in its everlasting peace. The flames stopped in a flash of blue and while the blood was still fresh, Kindran bit down into the deer’s neck. The hunger made him drink fast, though he savoured every drop. His claws retracted and he laid on top of the deer, finishing up his meal and quenching his, what seemed, ever lasting thirst.
He finished, his stomach filled with his new energy and not his hunger pains. He was satisfied and sighed in relief and he slid down and rested his body against the, still warm, carcass of the buck.
“Ever lasting peace my friend, thankyou for the life you give.”
Kindran also hated to kill as so many have tried to kill him, but he had to, to live, to survive and defend.
He had no family to feed and no loved ones to protect, so far no friends to fight for. But he knew he would some time soon, friends, loved ones and one to love in love itself. He longed for company even though he did enjoy the solace of himself. But he wasn’t made of stone, his heart did beat and his body in its prime for another to love. It was the matter of when and who…
He got up gracefully and his feline tail drew a spiral through the Buck’s soft fur. Kindran’s veins began to glow a brighter purple and he knelt to the ground, summoning the earth’s energy and a wave of earth and rock moved the deer’s body into the centre of the forest clearing, there a hole where the deer was lowered into the earth so he could be one with life again. Kindran’s control ceased over the earth element and he looked down into the river the Buck was drinking from and dived in.
“Take me where the current passes oh wonderful middle earth.”
And with this he drifted with the water, passing by wherever the currents took him…
Chapter 3
~Niala~
Niala roamed through a tall pine tree sector of the forest. Her paws gently padding against pine cones and dry bristled leaves. She was looking up at the partly clouded sky, which looked as if it’d been torn into pieces as all the branches and leaves stretched and collided with one another.
“A puzzle by nature.” She whispered softly to herself as she watched the branches parting the sky.
There was a clearing up ahead and in the middle of it was a lonely figure, it was drenched in darkness, an odd little cloud hanging above it, appearing as if to shelter it. Niala’s ears twitch as she picked up its lowly soft whimpering. What was it? Niala’s good natured and curious heart drove her closer to the animal. It wasn’t small, it was only curled up, its wings folded and draping over its body. It was scaly, with a mane that seemed to trail from its head to the tip of its tail; which was tucked in a tight curl at its feet.
A dragon…
It was a dark dragon. Niala was guessing a shadow master. She had an urge to run, or fight but something tugged at her, something hinting to her that she was safe. The dragon flinched a little and its scales rustled gently, shimmering in the glow of sunlight around it.
It was now dusk, Niala had been watching over the animal for hours. The dragon began to lift its head slowly and its paws unfolded from underneath it. Niala watched its body uncurl gracefully and she smiled up at the dragon admiring its powerful and virtuous figure. The dragon turned to Niala and her ice blue eyes met the dragon’s ice blue eyes and Niala could only smile.
“Good evening to you dragoness,” As she noticed the slender muscles and feminine snout. “Did you have a decent sleep?”
The dragon leered at the tigress and whispered in a deep gentle voice.
“I wasn’t sleeping…”
“Oh, well it seemed like you were,” Niala replied with a bubbly and happy tone and the dragon just stared at her. “Getting a good look? Here…” she slid into the moonlight clearing and stretched, her colouring more visible.
“Are you purple??” The dragoness looked almost amazed.
“Yep, only one of my kind too.”
“I know how that feels…” The dragon blew the cloud up and it disappeared in mist and then she looked back down at Niala.
“Niala,” She held up her paw. “Niala’s my name.”
“You’re trusting a shadow dragon?”
“No, I’m trusting you.” The dragoness knelt to the tigress’s height and looked deep into her eyes. “I know you’re not one of them.”
“No… I’m not…” The dragoness held out her finger like claw to Niala’s paw and Niala shook it, the dragoness smiled. “Nyyrikkia.”
Nyyrikkia was a misfortunate, yet kindhearted dragon. She came from a line of bloodthirsty and vicious shadow dragons. She had a kind streak that, in her clan, was not particularly taken kind too. Not even her own family would spare her life, the clan’s leader, the only one sparing her life, had chosen her to be his mate. Nyyrikkia was powerful, more so than any other shadow dragon. But she was on the run from her brother, whom she used to hold dear. He despised her kindness and wanted to smear her out of the shadows and out of their reputation. She wasn’t running, but she didn’t want to fight him, she didn’t like killing. That’s why she laid here alone and weeping, that’s why she was sorrowful. So she met Niala in her journey and they became close friends.
“Hop on.” The dragon knelt and smiled, her wing outstretched on the ground for Niala. She padded as gently as she could up Nyyrikkia’s wing. Nyyrikkia’s scales felt dry and grimy against Niala’s paw pads.
“Your scales, they feel funny…” Nyyrikkia’s head and elegant neck turned to the tigress, which sat on her back.
“How so Nia?”
“I… ok in short, how long has it been since you’ve washed your scales?”
“Countless years…” Nyyrikkia watched Niala curiously and smiled when Niala beamed at her.
“Bath time” Niala grinned.
“But it’s winter, the water is freezing at night!”
“It won’t be, just fly us to the nearest river, I promise you, your scales won’t freeze off.”
The dragon nodded at Niala and as Nyyrikkia crouched for lift off Niala held her paw over her leaf and then they took off.
Niala curled up on Nyyrikkia’s back and leaned over neck, looking around at the mist clouds, down at the landscape.
“OH! There’s one!” Niala gleamed down at the river they soared above. It was long and stretched for miles and it was wide, perfect for the giant dragon she sat upon.
Nyyrikkia smiled back at Niala.
“Hold onto that leaf…” and gracefully the dragoness dived down to earth.
Chapter 4
~Kindran~
He had a den; it was small, quaint, cozy and surrounded by beauty. Though it wasn’t much to meet the eye, Kindran’s past dwelled upon it.
He was bred here a long time ago, a military camp was set up, and he was the result of a genetically mutated breeding program. He was a designed killer, but was abandoned when he refused to harm anyone. Though, despite all of the loneliness he’d felt since the age of two, Kindran felt the comfort of his parents’ love even though in life he had never gotten it. He felt what he should have had, so he stuck himself there like a cats claw weed to a cottage wall.
Kindran’s veins began fading in colour, dulling to the shade of his scales almost, as he climbed out of the river and shook off almost every drop on him. He smiled at the familiar comfort and sat in front of his den. His tail flicked slowly and he breathed in, inhaling all he could in one breath and upon his exhale he looked at the scenery around him. He sat in a clearing, but was surrounded by a baby pine tree and fern thicket. Wild gooseberries grew beside his den and covered the mound on top. Kindran slowly got up and paced around, his ears flicking at the faint sounds of animals, living, laughing, loving and being loved in return. He smiled faintly to himself, a dry, crusted trickle of the Buck’s blood flowing from the crease in his lips. He licked it off and his smile faded.
“Monsters don’t get love,” he muttered to himself, his father’s words ringing over and over in his mind.
No love… no happiness…no, nothing.
The gentle creature headed for the mouth of his den, his gold and red eyes both watering. Oh how he longed the safety and solitude of being in another’s arms.
He looked at the veins flowing down his arm and the scales on his paws as he lay down at the rim of the den, looking out at the clearing. It seemed as soon as he left all the animals came out. A family of pheasants waddled around the mouth of his den and one of the babies came up and sat on his muzzle. He looked at the baby pheasant and smiled, his tail flicking slowly and happily. His paw came up and he began to pat it against the baby’s soft feathers. It let off a tweet and fluffed up it’s feathers, jumping off of his nose and waddling back to its family.
“I can be gentle dad… you just had to be around to see it…” he whispered and curled up on his bed of dry, green moss. His paw hung over his head and he drifted, listening to all around him as the song that sang him to sleep.
He dreamt.
Lights were going off, welding and chains surrounded him, and he was restrained. Kindran couldn’t move now, his heart was beating faster than ever as sweat dripped down his scales. They were coming to him with machines.
What are those machines? What do they do? Help me… HELP ME!
His arms pulled against his restraints and someone came and flipped him onto his stomach. A brutal muscular hand pinched down onto his nerves held down his neck and he let off a foul hiss. Another hand began pushing down on his back and he felt something cold and flat being placed down his back and legs. He felt there was a crack somewhere on it; a harsh icy wind was funneling through it and pinching at his back.
Click.
Kindran’s ears flicked and he began breathing faster, his defense started to show as his teeth began to show and elongate. His veins all started glowing a black purple and his golden eye began glowing almost white gold, and his red eye the darkest shade of red. He began to growl and hiss. His muscles began to tense up and he struggled against the metallic restraints.
Click.
The tension was getting to him and he let off a disturbing growl, it was deep and husky but it didn’t do anything. The man holding a little device came closer and he held the device to Kindran’s neck. His eyes began to water and he let out a sorrowful moan and growl. He relaxed knowing it was useless to struggle yet his anger still writhed within him.
He felt the sharp, ice like touch of the device on the back of his neck, just under the hand that pinned him down. His breathing became shallow and rugged and it clamped onto the largest vein on him, which ran down his spine.
CLICK!
Kindran’s growls and yells were of agony and pain as he felt his vein being pulled apart from him. His body tensed up completely and he wound himself as tight as he could, trying to stop the pain. It only got worse.
His veins were being separated from his body, and a deep crimson red began to trickle from where his veins were. He was loosing blood, and fast. His torturers didn’t care; they thought he was immune to pain, being a monster.
“No love.”
“No happiness.”
“No… nothing”
The two men laughed and Kindran lay barely conscious in a deep pool of his own blood. He only opened his eye to see his torturers carrying off his veins, his only power, in a glass case.
“NO!” He was huffing loudly at the thought and his body lifted in the blink of an eye, sweat dripping from his scales. He looked down at his paws and arms and began to purr in relief. He was safe; he was alive.
He slid out of his den and moaned. The ground was freezing but he needed to wash himself. He padded slowly to the river and held his breath, expecting the water to be freezing and he jumped in.
“What the!” He let go of his breath and his paw dipped in and out of the water repeatedly. It was warm?
It’s winter… and night surrounds us… and the water is as if it were mid summer?
He stretched and his hind paws felt colder than his front paws. The warmth wasn’t natural…
Kindran started to push against the current and towards the warmth.
Chapter 5
~Niala~
Niala swam in circles around Nyyrikkia and giggled underwater. Her fur gracefully danced in the currents made by the dragoness’s tail and the bubbled from her nose formed a little necklace.
“Thank you” Niala’s head surfaced and her ears twitched at the gentle dragon’s voice. She turned her head and nodded and smiled, bubbles of water acting like scrubs and cleaning the dragoness’s scales. They began to glisten more and more and Nyyrikkia sighed in relief and relaxed. Her head rested on the bank of the river and Niala beamed at her.
“Feel better?”
“So much more relieved and relaxed… thank you, I needed this.”
“It’s my pleasure” Niala blew on the water around them and it became warmer, the winter chills outside it’s liquid barrier. “You’re my only friend Nyy…”
The dragon lifted her head slowly and looked into Niala’s eyes deeply. She could only feel happy in Niala’s returning stare.
“You’re mine Nia… you’re mine.” Niala smiled and lifted Nyyrikkia into the air on a large flat bubble and laughed quietly. Nyyrikkia blew velvet soft shadows from her scaly lips and they danced around Niala, who lifted herself into the air on a bubble with her friend. The shadows were of animals…
Snake…Fox…Winged wolf…Phoenix…Lion…Griffin…
All the animals twisted and twirled with grace in the gentle breeze that fluttered past. Niala shivered a little.
“Time for me to dry off.” Niala closed her eyes and steam rolled off of her fur, it was evaporating and she smiled, feeling fluffy again. The shadows rubbed through Niala’s fur and then returned to Nyyrikkia and they melded into her scales.
“I’ve never seen them take such a liking to someone.”
“Them?”
“Shadow minion’s of mine… they’re apart of me.”
Niala looked in awe and then her eyes glanced at the moon. The moonlight caught her gaze and her eyes twinkled in its luminescent glow. She closed her eyes and the moonlight still shimmered against her soft fur. Nyyrikkia stared blankly at the tigress’s abnormality of purple stripes and abilities.
“So…how did you get your…uniqueness Nia?”
Niala’s breath seemed to slow down and her head slowly tilted to the warm water beneath them.
“Since birth all I can remember is being taunted because I was born like this, to a tigress called Lavender… I thought it swimming with irony as I grew up having my mother’s name as what some called a ‘curse’. My clan mostly, they shunned that I was different and when I came of age to fend for myself they discarded me deep within the forest. I don’t know what they did to my mother but they took her away from me and all I can remember from that day is the pain of seeing my mother fight the clan off to help me. It was one against somewhere around the number of twenty-five and my mother was hidden beneath a pile of what I should have called kin. I heard the leader shout ‘there is no point in saving something that aught to be dead!’ and then they disappeared. So I’ve been on my own all along, using my power for survival only, trying to befriend animals like myself who share loneliness. It’s always good to have friends who understand how you feel.”
Niala leapt down onto the bank of the river and stared at the thick forestry on the other side of the river. She began growling, remembering back to her life treatment, the cold nights alone and scared, when she was younger and didn’t know how to use her powers. Creatures wanting to hunt her, to kill her, some had even tried to use her for their pleasures.
Her thoughts ceased when the dragon’s smooth voice cut through Niala’s soft growls.
“I’m sorry about all of it Niala. I do know exactly how you feel… though I wish I had the love of your mother from my parents… as soon as my clan found me out I was an instant traitor with only myself as my only friend and protector.”
The two friends shed tears over their past and Niala hugged the dragon. She felt Nyyrikkia’s wings cloak around them and for once in both their lives they felt loved.
Niala’s ears twitched and she turned her head sharply.
“Do you hear that?”
Nyyrikkia paused and whispered, almost a hiss.
“I do, go into the forest… it doesn’t seem a threat… But just to be sure...”
Nyyrikkia disappeared in a haze of shadow and black mist, which hung over the top of the warm water.
Niala fled into the pine tree thicket, not too deep in, she climbed up one of the trees and rested on its branch till Nyyrikkia signaled her to come back. Niala’s breath became soft and her eyes began to close; but just as she was starting to drift a distant hiss and chatter began to bloom in the background.
Chapter 6
~Kindran~
Kindran’s ears flattened and he sighed in a pleasurable comfort. The warm water soothed his muscles and the current was mild, stirring the water around his body. His veins began glowing a brilliant purple, his eyes shining in the moonlight, and he sunk lower into the water as he continued to walk forward, pushing against the current. His paws flexed, the water reaching in between his fingers. He began to purr softly to himself, but his comfort and relaxation stopped when he came across the black mist.
It was eerie, dark shades of grey and jet-black meshing together gracefully. His senses were up almost immediately, alert. Kindran’s red eye faded into a gentle red but his golden eye was glowing brightly. He was standing still, his tail the only thing moving as it danced like seaweed on an ocean bed. Kindran’s breathing slowed down and it was heavy, something about this mist struck fear into him.
His head snapped sharply, as through the corner of his eyes he saw a pair of glowing crimson eyes, watching him. But it was only a stir of the mist as his eyes gazed into that of the spot, where he thought the pair of eyes were glaring back at him. He moved forward, his paw reaching into the mist of shadow. It was cold.
What is it?
He heard a low-pitched husky growl and a shadow reached out and grabbed him, pulling him into the mist.
Inside the shadows, animal figures began to form; a fox, a king cobra, a lion, a griffin, a phoenix and a winged wolf all snarling viciously; their eyes were deep red and their bodies were all jet-black. They began to chant around him, snarls turned into screams and Kindran felt fear and anguish surrounding him. Never had he heard so much agony in all his life, and he was hearing it all in the few seconds he’d been in the mist.
Suddenly, Kindran’s breathing became shallow and raspy, as a dragon’s eyes and face faded into his sights. Her teeth were baring and she had a smooth deep growl that cut through all other noises. And as she spoke, the screaming stopped and the animals faded into the dragon, forming the rest of her body.
“You don’t look like much danger, kitten.”
Kindran looked up at the shadow dragon almost pleadingly and innocently.
“I set out, not to hurt a soul this night…”
The mist lifted Kindran out of the water and he began shivering, the shadow’s touch was as cold as ice and the weather was already winter cold. The dragoness looked into Kindran’s eyes, seeing nothing but truth and fear. She scoffed and the mist lowered him back into the warm water. The dragoness leaned her head down and he saw she had a mane, which flowed gracefully, meshing into the fog of black.
“That’s all I get… fear… pain… torture…”
Kindran looked surprised and stuttered.
“W-what do you m-mean?”
“My species is a natural fear… I should be no exception the first sighting of an unknown eye.”
The mist disappeared and Kindran could see the dragon clearly now. Her scales glistening brilliantly in the moonlight and her eyes were an ice blue now.
“So… you weren’t going to slay me?” He asked uncertainly. His ears still pressed to the back of his skull.
“Only if you turned out a threat…” She replied calmly.
The dragoness’s wings flared out, flapping in their stretch; she was also much larger now, Kindran was looking up seven feet above him to meet her gaze.
“I’m glad I pose as one, not.” He forced a smile, and she returned one.
“What is your name…?” The dragoness’s voice was gentle and deep and almost soothing in his ears.
“Kindran… and yours gentle dragon?”
She smiled at this and leant down, crouching to the snake-cat’s height.
“Nyyrikkia, it’s nice to meet you, Kindran… Tell me something, what would one like you be doing out this late at night, a winter’s night?”
Kindran’s muscles relaxed once more, but the warmth of the water began to wean.
“I was seeking the source of the abnormal water temperatures.”
Nyyrikkia jolted a little and smiled.
“Ah, well, she’s around about here somewhere.”
The snake-cat’s veins lit up a little and he looked at the dragon in confusion.
“She?”
Chapter 7
~Niala~
Niala’s eyelids fluttered open and the distant chatter filled her ears, her mind building her curiosity. Her tail curled around the tree branch and she peered over the bark. She was elevated high off of the ground… She hated heights; and she desired the ground.
Land… precious land!
Her sharp lavender claws dug into the tree branch, her fur stood on end and she stood up slowly. Her eyes darted side to side, up and down faster than a lightning strike in her fear of falling.
A way down!
Her gaze was locked on a thick branch in front of her, on a pine tree that had branches spiraling all the way down. The jump wasn’t too far; she just had to land in the right spot. Niala’s breathing became shallow as she slowly clenched her paws, stumbling to the edge of the branch. She heard Nyyrikkia’s laugh in the background her gentle voice was like a blizzard in summer as it cut through all the noises around Niala.
Crouched at the edge of the branch, Niala was scanning her surroundings and her eyes hooked themselves on the ground.
Crap…Hyenas.
The second round of canid beasts almost made her sick. She remembered the werewolves and tears swelled up in her eyes. There was something odd about these hyenas though. They were all black with sharp red eyes, shadow like trails behind them. Their snickers were filled with desired death for pleasure, the hunting games. Was Nyyrikkia in trouble too?
Distant hisses and growls became all Niala focused on, she forgot about the heights and had no problem with jumping as she felt chills from the noises run up her spine.
More beasts. Hyenas and another dragon that was almost identical to Nyyrikkia. This wasn’t a kindly one. She watched as his Onyx black and crimson scales appear from the darkness in the pine tree growth into the gentle moonlight. Niala was almost choking, as in her mind admittedly he was rather beautiful. But his vicious growls were filled with anger and hate. Niala understood he was a genuine shadow dragon She understood she had to run, far and fast and not look back.
But what about Nyyrikkia…
The dragon beneath her began to flap his wings and smell the air. His Hyena minions formed a circle around him and growled and bit at the air. He looked like he was transforming… but into what? She heard screams and groans of agony and pain as his hyenas began laughing and faded into the same black mist Nyyrikkia transformed into, surrounding the enormous reptile, which vanished in the same mist.
Niala heard Nyyrikkia shout at something and then another set of snarls and growls matched the one’s that had recently faded into the dark gas pool. With that she curled up and began backing off slowly to the tree trunk that her support branched from.
She felt cold… She felt anger… Pain, loneliness, darkness… And she turned around only to see one of Nyyrikkia’s shadow forms behind her.
“Nyy?” Niala gave off a low soft whisper and shivered.
“No, I’m Flaminia, but that’s not important,” She sounded angry yet calm in her reply, her voice was harsh yet in a way comforting. “This is no place for you to be Nia… Valdemier is set on bloodthirsty revenge on his sister…”
“So she is in trouble!” Niala’s tears began swelling up into her eyes and running rivers down her cheek fur. Her voice was cracking and breaking in sadness.
“The story is long lived and we simply have no time… Run Niala, run away and do not get mixed into this… we’ll handle it.” The shadow phoenix had a shadow aura, glowing… almost white? Her eyes were a deep blood red and saturated, the moonlight was sparkling in them.
Niala nodded but looked down to see the onyx mist meeting with a jet-black mist, with a large white figure in the middle of it. Was that Nyyrikkia? But without an answer to her thought, she found herself on the ground, running, running from that clearing and the snarls of the dragons and their shadow minions. Running from her friend, her only friend who she may never see again. Running from bloodthirsty war of beliefs. She looked up to the moon to see the phoenix flying towards where she was running from. A screech filled the air and then Niala stopped.
“Where on Earth…” She was deep into the pine forest, in the middle of a cold winter’s night, alone. “Am I…”
Her ears flicked and things didn’t seem to stay dark for long. Niala never realized that plants and flowers could glow…
Chapter 8
~Kindran and Niala~
Kindran was still baffled to the sudden disappearance of his new friend, Nyyrikkia. Her harsh and terror filled words still ringing in his ears as he began climbing a large oak tree.
Kindran, GO, it is too dangerous for you to be here now, leave, run fast, RUN!
Nyyrikkia left him sitting alone in the rapidly cooling water and his heart felt sore with loneliness. His only friend was telling him to leave? He watched as she erased her solid dragon form into the jet-black mist he first encountered. Only this time Nyyrikkia wasn’t black, she was white and glowing as a black mist surrounded her and six pairs of luminescent red eyes of her shadow monsters followed as the mist dived into the forest. Kindran heard growls and anger inside the forest clearing and then a mutter of words. Although he didn’t want too, it sounded like Nyyrikkia really meant it when she told him to run. So he did.
Up along the river he ran, his paw pads gentle on the soft soil of the riverbank. He began to slow down as the river’s neck narrowed into a creek and he leapt over the now icy water; wandering into his forest.
He was high up in the Oak tree and his veins began glowing brightly, plants and flowers around him beginning to glow as well. He loved having the ability to make nature his candlelight, but he wasn’t so happy about this. He felt sorry and lonely, wanting to be able to help Nyyrikkia with her distress and anger. He felt it was his fault. Why was it is fault?
It’s always my goddamn FAULT!
He lashed out his anger on the sturdy tree branch, his claws digging deep into it and biting the dry timber-like bark. His veins were glowing a violent purple and he leapt out of the tree and onto the ground again, pacing up and down through a shrubbery thicket.
He softly whispered curses at himself, swearing and growling under his breath; but was silenced by movement in the corner of his golden eye. He was watching the surroundings around him glow brightly as he felt the warmth and kindness of the presence and slowly he climbed another tree, moving high into the canopy and watching down as the creature walked, watching her surrounding home glow vibrantly.
Her ears were flicking like radars and her tail curled up to her back. It was dark, but the glowing luminescence of the plants held her form in Kindran’s sights. She was a tigress, kindly and caring from what Kindran could feel. He smiled faintly and silently moved closer to the feline.
She was sobbing and upset and Kindran wanted to help her.
Someone as beautiful as her should not have tears of sadness to intrude…
Kindran slid slyly out of the treetops and into a mini forest of tree ferns and crouched in amongst them.
The tigress stumbled a little and Kindran gasped softly as she fell to the ground, she was still awake though, breathing shallowly and slowly, watching all around her in awe.
She had collapsed herself under a tree fern; close to the one Kindran was crouched under. He smiled and his tongue licked his lips, moistening his dry scales.
She really is beautiful…what is it about her…something is different…
Without realizing it, his scales were glowing a bright purple, the fern the tigress was lying under began illuminating a faded lime green, though bright. The tigress was purple; he could see her difference now and his heart leapt in happiness, as he understood why this creature had such a kind aura.
He crept forward to get a better glance, slowly creeping up behind her. He could smell her fur and its floral scent made him smile. He’d never smelt something so sweet.
“It nerves me when strangers sneak and snoop behind my back…” The next thing Kindran knew he was pinned to the floor by the tigress and her warm breath enveloped his muzzle. Her paw was at his throat and her claws extended and he lay there, seemingly rather helpless as the tigress examined him.
“I wasn’t intending to do anything… honest,” He breathed in deeply and felt the claws on his throat press down harder. “Please miss, I didn…” The tigress let go of his throat and just sat on top of his stomach.
“I know” She smiled down at him and her paws traced his veins softly and the moonlight caught his scales, the reflection of the light off of his body shimmering into her bright blue eyes. “What are you?” She looked at him in amazement.
“An outcast…” Kindran’s voice was saddened and regretful.
“Really? You look more scaly to me” She replied with a bubbly happy tone. Her tail curled around his leg before she slid off of his stomach, but her paws still held him down. “But if it’s any consolation I’m an outcast too… you don’t see many of me around.”
“Cat-snake mutated in a military experiment.” He stated before she continued. The tigress’s head slowly turned and she crawled back onto his stomach, her head leaning over his and her eyes staring thoughtfully into his eyes. He couldn’t help it as his veins began glowing again and the tigress looked down, an amused look on her face.
“I thought you looked a feline.” There was something about her smile that made Kindran smile too. She hadn’t done anything to make him happy or smile. But he did and as he smiled, Niala licked his cheek. Kindran’s eyes widened and he didn’t understand why she did that…
“What’s your name?” Kindran enquired. He tilted his head, getting a better look at his ‘captor’s’ eyes.
“Niala. And don’t bother asking what you’re going to ask next,” She smiled and got comfortable onto his body, resting on top of him as he lay on his back. Kindran seemed rather confused as to why she was so intimate and confident upon him, he was an utter stranger and so was she.
“I was born like this, and with a special ability or two, shunned by my family and my mother was lost, I had no friends. Not till about a few days ago, a dear dragon-“
“Nyyrikkia? Was that her name?” Kindran interrupted.
“Yes, Nyyrikkia, but I had to leave her not a few hours ago. I don’t know why.”
Kindran saw that the once bubbly excited tigress was sad and his veins began fading into a deeper purple glow. Next thing he knew, Niala was nuzzling her head against his neck scales. Her fur was so soft and her ears flicked, a leaf falling out from behind them and onto the ground beside his paw.
“Niala? You dropped something.” His smile came back and he nodded his head to the leaf beside his paw. It was a rather unique looking leaf too, purple as she was and perm and healthy. Niala turned her head to the leaf and relaxed her head onto Kindran’s shoulder. He rather enjoyed the feeling he was getting, this affection he was getting from Niala made him feel happier than he had ever been. She thanked Kindran and scooped the leaf into her paw, purring as she did. Kindran leant his head up to Niala’s and tried what she had done to him, rubbing his smooth scales on the top of his head through the soft fur on her neck. He smiled like a kitten, purring and feeling uplifted, her warmth was like the comfort he never had and she smiled at him.
She placed the leaf back behind her ear and felt a sudden lapse in energy, falling off of Kindran’s side and onto the ground.
“Nia? Are you alright?” He panicked when she didn’t respond and he nuzzled into her neck. “Niala??” his concern for her grew when there was no sign of life in her and he placed a paw on hers.
The leaf Niala dropped onto the ground, beside Kindran’s magnificently scaled paw, was like a source of life, replacing love. It seemed, all those years ago, Niala’s mother knew they would part suddenly, Niala having no love to cherish in her goodbye. The leaf was like a profound reminder that Niala would never be alone, even if in all physical possibilities, there were no living things around her pure enough for love, that leaf would be there to give her reassurance and the love of her mother. But this leaf came swiftly with a double meaning… if never touching Niala in any way, she would slip away from reality, that is, she’d go unconscious… If left without it for too long, she’d perish.
Once in this state, Niala had to wait for a love to come grip her and take her from this second world. To replace what false feeling the lavender-shaded, ever-sprouting leaf gave her.
Kindran knelt and lay down beside his new, short-lived friend. He thought she was dead and he’d never felt so much sadness, his tears dripping over the velvet fur on Niala’s neck. His sobs were distorted with confusion and another feeling that couldn’t be pinned.
Kindran looked down at the beautiful creature, dead before him and, hoping she’d come back, he lifted her head and rested her head against his stomach. He curled up and watched her, endlessly. His eyed were locked onto her body for hours and he waited for a sign of life. He got one and ever so faintly, he saw her chest rise and fall, but weakly. He was overjoyed! His breath accelerated into panting, from happiness and he tilted Niala’s head towards his body, hoping her sharp blue eyes would open to his mismatched eyes. They never did.
In hopes to make new, the life of his new friend, Kindran slid his body under Niala’s and draped her over his smooth scaled back.
If Niala had been conscious, she’d have felt how smooth his scales are, like the marble stone floor in a grand museum, but as soft as velvet. His veins were glowing a brilliant purple and he began to purr, feeling so warm inside with her so close to him.
This was new.
Kindran’s paws slid through the earth, soft, loose soil catching in between his scaly paw pads. He looked around, feeling proud of what he was doing, caring, showing everyone he cared and wasn’t a cold, bloodthirsty killer.
His body knelt down and Niala’s unconscious mass of fur wrapped around his neck, and he turned his head, nuzzling his muzzle into her arm’s fur. He loved how she smelt of lavender, her shades of purple were so beautiful to him… they made him feel as if he fits in with the world around him.
The winter song buzzed through the air, crisp wind speeding through the nooks and crannies in between leaves of the pine trees. Early dawn dew sprinkling into the fallen leaves from autumn. It was early in the morning, not long after midnight, and all the birds of the forest must have been singing in their sleep and Kindran smiled, his ears flicking with each different pitch. It was like walking through a cathedral with all the different bells ringing soundly at once.
Kindran smiled, hoping in her unconsciousness, Niala could hear it all.
Chapter 9
~Kindran and Niala~
Kindran stopped at the forest clearing, his forest clearing…home. He smiled, thinking Niala, when she woke up, would adore the place. The beautiful gooseberry bushes over hanging his large hollow mound. His scales ruffled a little as he felt Niala’s fur seeping in and out from underneath them.
She’s so soft…
He felt a tingle all through his veins and he delicately placed the tigress on a soft, moonlit patch of grass, still dry, and sat beside her, imagining what she would like to wake up to.
Purple flowers and palm leaves? Cherry blossom coloured flowers and Pine leaves? Or…
He pondered thoughtfully, finally deciding a bit of everything that he didn’t have. He leapt to his feet and looked around the clearing, finding some cherry blossom Hibiscus flowers and some pine leaves tucked away behind his den. He leapt up onto the den’s little summit and pounced over to the bush of hibiscus flowers, picking several and then leaping back to the un-heaped ground, placing them beside Niala’s body. Elsewhere, finding a large palm leaf hidden in amongst shrubs. Kindran’s claws extended from his paws, like magic, and with a strike of his paw, he butchered the end of the palm tree branch, its dry thorny stem flying into the shrubs.
He looked over at Niala afterwards and smiled again, his tooth clumsily bearing over his bottom lip and the tip of his light red forked tongue peeping from his lips. He gripped the branch in his powerful jaws and bolted into the den. He slipped past the entrance and moved to the back of his humble home.
In the corner, where his bed was, he placed the palm branch up and it became a support beam, standing in the corner of his house and he smiled.
He then scurried out from the den and smiled down at Niala, leaping to her side and taking up the flowers in his arm and with his free paw, he stroked her back, her soft delicate fur knotting through his fingers.
“Everything is going to be okay my friend… My Niala…” As he spoke Niala’s breathing became less weak and livelier. Kindran hadn’t noticed though, after he spoke he’d ran into his den again, decorating what was his bed, with the hibiscus flowers.
He ran back out to Niala, lifting her onto his back again and carrying her inside to his neat little corner. Once she looked comfortable Kindran made one last dash for the outside before he was to rest.
He found a lavender bush abloom with the sweetest smell and the brightest purple. He smiled, it reminded him of Niala, and he picked the ripest most beautiful blossoms, and then some buds, tucking them in his cradled arm.
Lastly for the cat-snake was the pine leaves. He gave off a cheesy grin, they were close to the den; and once he’d placed the lavender blossoms around Niala’s bed, he grabbed those pine leaves, placing the branches up like he did the pine branch.
“Done!” Kindran smiled, rewarding himself with happiness.
He was eager to treat Niala well, to prove to himself he wasn’t a monster, to prove to everyone he wasn’t a monster.
He felt warm inside ever since he met Niala. It was like she gave him hope and happiness… And a new feeling as well…
The scaly feline weaved through the leaves of the palm tree branch and sat beside Niala, admiring the tigresses soft, delicate appearance. He leant down, his head resting against her neck and he purred soothingly and lowly. He felt something… like something was right and he felt words overflowing to his lips.
“I love you…” Kindran hadn’t realized what he said, but he meant it. He licked her cheek, just like she had once done to him and then nuzzled against her fur, afterwards, getting up slowly to walk over to the small mouth of the den.
Kindran looked back once more at the sleeping tigress and curled up into a ball, as she was, closing his eyes slowly and slipping away into an abyss of slumber.
The sunlight peeked through the canopy, high above the den and caught straight onto Kindran’s face. The midday sun covered his face in golden light and Kindran curled into a tighter ball and faced away from the light. As he turned away he felt a warm air circling his face and a sweet smell seeping through his nose.
“I love you too Kindran…”
Niala was there, her bright blue eyes staring straight into Kindran’s as she said it. He felt himself melt and Niala inched closer to him as he lay there, still curled up and staring lovingly into Niala’s eyes, his chest rising and falling fast and Niala curled up closely to him, her velvety touch all up and down Kindran’s stomach.
Their tails knotted together and Niala kissed Kindran’s chin and muzzle and he wrapped his arms around her, to stay like that for as long as he could savour…
By Niala Ornitier
Chapter 1
~Niala~
It’s quiet, the land’s surroundings as silent as death, but is livelier than one could ever imagine. It’s the fall, the leaves gracefully changing colour and dancing in the air on their way to the ground. It’s not the end of their journey, most things are just cycled. There is birth, life, death, and after death, there is always more life; we all know this and everyone has their own story no matter how simple or complex it may be. Even something so simple as a leaf could have a curious past, present and future. Perhaps a tigress, just like the leaf she kept in her fur, tucked in behind her ear, a curious past? She was different, that’s a thing to be certain of upon sight. Not white and black, but lavender tinted stripes, slim and agile figure, and a pure snow-white coat. Her tail is longer than usual, her paws all padded purple; oh yes she’s a curious sight indeed. Her past? She’s been hunted before, kidnapped, driven out of her family pack, gone to find a human home, tortured and experimented on. The list could go on, but the story is the same. She’s an outcast. Those close to her have been lost; the tigress that roams these silent yet gaudy lands has yet to find them. Some she hasn’t met yet, some she may never see again, some to catch up with and to find love with one.
Thick foliage splashed across the ground and the tigress’s paws relaxed, her tail scooping up star shaped leaves off of the floor of the forest. She loved the fall season, before her pack deemed her unworthy, she and her mother would play amongst the falling leaves. Her mother would shake small Halfling trees and the orange and yellow glory would pile on top of her resting body. Her mother was the only one who loved her and all through her life she had her mother as her one friend. Her mother gave the leaf that hid amongst her purple and black tufts of fur, behind her ear to her. Lavender. That was her mother’s name and the tiger thought it ironic the one name she held close would be her curse. Though she didn’t think it, she loved being able to stand out and be proud, that’s who she is. Niala. That’s who she is.
Niala leaned her body against a maple tree, looking up and watching the leaves as they gracefully headed towards the ground, admiring how they danced and twirled in the breeze. One began floating to her and she reached out a paw, her claws extending from their hiding place to reach it. The wind blew favourably against the leaf and it brushed against Niala’s paw and up her outstretched arm. She smiled, her two top fangs bearing over her bottom lip as the leaf brushed against her cheek fur. The warmest touch she’d been given in years… and it was by a leaf, but she didn’t mind.
Her ears began to twitch; in amongst the soft fluttering sounds of dry leaves falling to earth, a distant movement caught her attention.
One…Two…Three…Four? … Four…
Four animals lurked around her, all sensed to be coming from the same direction. They’re hunting…
Niala got up onto her paws; she stretched a little before beginning to casually stroll towards the lake. A smart grin formed on the feline’s face as she reached the large liquid basin at the bottom of a mountain range. The water so clear like crystal and so smooth and calm. She was sure to change that; her paw tapped against the surface of the calm water. A sheen of lavender swept across the water almost instantly and her ears pressed to the back of her skull, her tail flicked slowly, her eyes glistened a bright, crisp ice blue and she whispered softly.
“Bring it.”
Niala also had a gift; an elemental control, she’d been born with the ability to control water. The moment any part of her body touched but the surface of water, it was her playground. She could manipulate from as large as the earth’s ocean, to as small as a single droplet of liquid crystal. She hated using it for pain and violence, but when she had no other choice it was she, or them.
Niala closed her eyes and crouched close to the ground. She could feel them moving behind her, around her, getting closer. They’re hungry… but what are they? They’re bigger than her, their shadows swimming around her mind, the growls of the hungry beasts filling her ears. But still, this was going to be easy.
One of the canid beasts was only a few feet behind her now. A warm tingling sensation stretched through her body as she heard it breathing. The husky growl it gave made her jolt, her eyes squinting now.
“What do we have here boys… A little kitten?” The leader of the pack growled threateningly. She felt his fur brush against hers and she winced, the smell was like a savage death, or just a dog that hadn’t washed for years. He sat beside Niala and his paw reached out to her chin and she felt his claws press hard into her skin. It was large, muddy and rough; she looked up at him and cringed. A jet-black werewolf met her bright blue eyes; patches of fur were missing, a scar from his muzzle all the way down his left side. The sight was poorly.
“Methinks she’s a little bony though…” He smirked and let go of her and turned to his pack and looked back at Niala. She muttered to herself, her tongue rolling over her teeth as she sat there as still as she could, just staring at their watery grave to be.
“How should we feast tonight, Lord.” Niala snickered at his name quietly and the werewolf’s ears flicked and the head wolf snapped his head back to the tigress.
“We’ll decide that later, first, how to kill her,” He leant his rugged head down to Niala’s face and his wet, putrid tongue licked up her cheek “She’s an innocent one and deserves no pain... What do you say to that precious?” Niala grimaced and grunted at this, he just smiled and padded almost gracefully into the water. The others joined him and they all turned to the tigress, smiling evilly at her. Their backs all hunched over and they crouched lower into the water, Niala smiled and whispered softly and sweetly to them.
“Bye-bye”
Her finger flicked up and large bubbles of water rose up into the air, the werewolves half under them and struggling. They couldn’t breathe, and the bubbles started to freeze as an icy mist surrounded them. The weakest wolf, a nice shade of copper, stopped struggling, his body falling limp and the other two began to slow down. Lord still kept his pace and Niala looked into his dark bottle-green eyes. She glanced at the other three werewolves, all of them dead now, drowned in the air. The tigress smiled, looking back at her victim, Lord. His lifeless eyes stared back into hers and her smile disappeared. She blew air onto the wolves and all four of them merged with the bubbles, all four of them transforming into water in a lavender flash.
“Choose a better life, to take this one’s place.” She whispered. A tear dripped down the surface of her fur as the bubbles faded to mist and graced back into the water basin.
She turned her back on the scene and sat, fixing up her fur and making sure her leaf was still safe. After a moment or two she rose up, her eyes shut lightly and her head moving side to side as she tried to catch the wind in her fur. She sighed and opened her eyes slowly, beginning to continue her journey, taking the first steps now, into her new life.
Chapter 2
~Kindran~
In a clearing of the forest, there was a creature. He, too, was a sight. Dark grey scales shimmering in the sunlight and all over his body, deep electric purple veins branched. He was a chimera like mix of cat and snake and his forked tongue slithered out as he licked his feline lips. His teeth were all mostly fangs and he growled, following his stomach, which growled back. Kindran was his name and he was also an outcast.
He felt the warmth of mother-earth rise up into his paws and his eyes scanned his surroundings. His veins began glowing a deep violet and he crouched low to the ground, his ears were flicking and his tail was parallel to the forest floor. Whispers grew loud in his ears and he felt the air bending around his body. The PSI energy flowing throughout his body and he felt his muscles pulsing with adrenaline.
Crack.
He was off at the sound of a breaking twig his ears were like radars and were flicking vigorously at the sounds. He was incredibly fast, more so than the speed of a cheetah, dodging the forestry in his path. His drive was food. He hadn’t fed in days and even though he felt weak, his need was driving him faster and harder nonetheless. He could smell it; it was intoxicating, his fangs extending longer from his jaws and bearing over his bottom lips and his mouth was watering. He ran faster now, determined to catch his prey he took in deep breaths and ran into a shrubbery forest. Bottlebrushes and tree ferns and all the shrubs he ran past flicked into his face. He didn’t care, as he wasn’t concentrating. His red eye darkened into a crimson shade and his golden eye became brighter and he felt his prey ever closer to him.
He was out of the shrubbery patch now, he was chasing after deer. It was a Buck by his senses; large, masculine yet slow and young and he was alone. Perfect.
There was an abrupt halt and Kindran let the world catch up to him as his last few steps became padded and soft. His body lowered to the forest floor and he slunk into some bushes nestled into the foot of a giant weeping willow.
Kindran began to glow and he felt heat rushing to his claws and they became red hot.
Kindran was also an elemental controller as his PSI energy gave him a deep connection to the balance of life. He could borrow the energy from anything living and turn it into a weapon of violence or assistance. Unlike Niala, he had only a short burst for each element at a time. Yet he could manipulate them all. Niala only has the power over one, and with that one, she controls it completely and for however long her heart desires.
Quietly, Kindran crept around the trunk of the willow, the sweet sanguine liquid flowing through the deer’s body reached deep into Kindran’s lungs with each breath. He was set on catching his meal… He crouched not two feet away from the buck now and Kindran rubbed two claws together creating a spark.
With a focused and fiery burst of air, Kindran blew the sparks and the deer’s legs, and legs only, caught alight. Burning, the cries of the Buck tore Kindran inside. But he couldn’t let this one go away.
He leapt onto the Buck’s back and his fangs extended out as far as they could. His paws, small, yet strong and powerful, clamped onto the deer’s neck.
Snap!
It was over. No more pain, no more life and no more threats left for the deer to be cautious of in its everlasting peace. The flames stopped in a flash of blue and while the blood was still fresh, Kindran bit down into the deer’s neck. The hunger made him drink fast, though he savoured every drop. His claws retracted and he laid on top of the deer, finishing up his meal and quenching his, what seemed, ever lasting thirst.
He finished, his stomach filled with his new energy and not his hunger pains. He was satisfied and sighed in relief and he slid down and rested his body against the, still warm, carcass of the buck.
“Ever lasting peace my friend, thankyou for the life you give.”
Kindran also hated to kill as so many have tried to kill him, but he had to, to live, to survive and defend.
He had no family to feed and no loved ones to protect, so far no friends to fight for. But he knew he would some time soon, friends, loved ones and one to love in love itself. He longed for company even though he did enjoy the solace of himself. But he wasn’t made of stone, his heart did beat and his body in its prime for another to love. It was the matter of when and who…
He got up gracefully and his feline tail drew a spiral through the Buck’s soft fur. Kindran’s veins began to glow a brighter purple and he knelt to the ground, summoning the earth’s energy and a wave of earth and rock moved the deer’s body into the centre of the forest clearing, there a hole where the deer was lowered into the earth so he could be one with life again. Kindran’s control ceased over the earth element and he looked down into the river the Buck was drinking from and dived in.
“Take me where the current passes oh wonderful middle earth.”
And with this he drifted with the water, passing by wherever the currents took him…
Chapter 3
~Niala~
Niala roamed through a tall pine tree sector of the forest. Her paws gently padding against pine cones and dry bristled leaves. She was looking up at the partly clouded sky, which looked as if it’d been torn into pieces as all the branches and leaves stretched and collided with one another.
“A puzzle by nature.” She whispered softly to herself as she watched the branches parting the sky.
There was a clearing up ahead and in the middle of it was a lonely figure, it was drenched in darkness, an odd little cloud hanging above it, appearing as if to shelter it. Niala’s ears twitch as she picked up its lowly soft whimpering. What was it? Niala’s good natured and curious heart drove her closer to the animal. It wasn’t small, it was only curled up, its wings folded and draping over its body. It was scaly, with a mane that seemed to trail from its head to the tip of its tail; which was tucked in a tight curl at its feet.
A dragon…
It was a dark dragon. Niala was guessing a shadow master. She had an urge to run, or fight but something tugged at her, something hinting to her that she was safe. The dragon flinched a little and its scales rustled gently, shimmering in the glow of sunlight around it.
It was now dusk, Niala had been watching over the animal for hours. The dragon began to lift its head slowly and its paws unfolded from underneath it. Niala watched its body uncurl gracefully and she smiled up at the dragon admiring its powerful and virtuous figure. The dragon turned to Niala and her ice blue eyes met the dragon’s ice blue eyes and Niala could only smile.
“Good evening to you dragoness,” As she noticed the slender muscles and feminine snout. “Did you have a decent sleep?”
The dragon leered at the tigress and whispered in a deep gentle voice.
“I wasn’t sleeping…”
“Oh, well it seemed like you were,” Niala replied with a bubbly and happy tone and the dragon just stared at her. “Getting a good look? Here…” she slid into the moonlight clearing and stretched, her colouring more visible.
“Are you purple??” The dragoness looked almost amazed.
“Yep, only one of my kind too.”
“I know how that feels…” The dragon blew the cloud up and it disappeared in mist and then she looked back down at Niala.
“Niala,” She held up her paw. “Niala’s my name.”
“You’re trusting a shadow dragon?”
“No, I’m trusting you.” The dragoness knelt to the tigress’s height and looked deep into her eyes. “I know you’re not one of them.”
“No… I’m not…” The dragoness held out her finger like claw to Niala’s paw and Niala shook it, the dragoness smiled. “Nyyrikkia.”
Nyyrikkia was a misfortunate, yet kindhearted dragon. She came from a line of bloodthirsty and vicious shadow dragons. She had a kind streak that, in her clan, was not particularly taken kind too. Not even her own family would spare her life, the clan’s leader, the only one sparing her life, had chosen her to be his mate. Nyyrikkia was powerful, more so than any other shadow dragon. But she was on the run from her brother, whom she used to hold dear. He despised her kindness and wanted to smear her out of the shadows and out of their reputation. She wasn’t running, but she didn’t want to fight him, she didn’t like killing. That’s why she laid here alone and weeping, that’s why she was sorrowful. So she met Niala in her journey and they became close friends.
“Hop on.” The dragon knelt and smiled, her wing outstretched on the ground for Niala. She padded as gently as she could up Nyyrikkia’s wing. Nyyrikkia’s scales felt dry and grimy against Niala’s paw pads.
“Your scales, they feel funny…” Nyyrikkia’s head and elegant neck turned to the tigress, which sat on her back.
“How so Nia?”
“I… ok in short, how long has it been since you’ve washed your scales?”
“Countless years…” Nyyrikkia watched Niala curiously and smiled when Niala beamed at her.
“Bath time” Niala grinned.
“But it’s winter, the water is freezing at night!”
“It won’t be, just fly us to the nearest river, I promise you, your scales won’t freeze off.”
The dragon nodded at Niala and as Nyyrikkia crouched for lift off Niala held her paw over her leaf and then they took off.
Niala curled up on Nyyrikkia’s back and leaned over neck, looking around at the mist clouds, down at the landscape.
“OH! There’s one!” Niala gleamed down at the river they soared above. It was long and stretched for miles and it was wide, perfect for the giant dragon she sat upon.
Nyyrikkia smiled back at Niala.
“Hold onto that leaf…” and gracefully the dragoness dived down to earth.
Chapter 4
~Kindran~
He had a den; it was small, quaint, cozy and surrounded by beauty. Though it wasn’t much to meet the eye, Kindran’s past dwelled upon it.
He was bred here a long time ago, a military camp was set up, and he was the result of a genetically mutated breeding program. He was a designed killer, but was abandoned when he refused to harm anyone. Though, despite all of the loneliness he’d felt since the age of two, Kindran felt the comfort of his parents’ love even though in life he had never gotten it. He felt what he should have had, so he stuck himself there like a cats claw weed to a cottage wall.
Kindran’s veins began fading in colour, dulling to the shade of his scales almost, as he climbed out of the river and shook off almost every drop on him. He smiled at the familiar comfort and sat in front of his den. His tail flicked slowly and he breathed in, inhaling all he could in one breath and upon his exhale he looked at the scenery around him. He sat in a clearing, but was surrounded by a baby pine tree and fern thicket. Wild gooseberries grew beside his den and covered the mound on top. Kindran slowly got up and paced around, his ears flicking at the faint sounds of animals, living, laughing, loving and being loved in return. He smiled faintly to himself, a dry, crusted trickle of the Buck’s blood flowing from the crease in his lips. He licked it off and his smile faded.
“Monsters don’t get love,” he muttered to himself, his father’s words ringing over and over in his mind.
No love… no happiness…no, nothing.
The gentle creature headed for the mouth of his den, his gold and red eyes both watering. Oh how he longed the safety and solitude of being in another’s arms.
He looked at the veins flowing down his arm and the scales on his paws as he lay down at the rim of the den, looking out at the clearing. It seemed as soon as he left all the animals came out. A family of pheasants waddled around the mouth of his den and one of the babies came up and sat on his muzzle. He looked at the baby pheasant and smiled, his tail flicking slowly and happily. His paw came up and he began to pat it against the baby’s soft feathers. It let off a tweet and fluffed up it’s feathers, jumping off of his nose and waddling back to its family.
“I can be gentle dad… you just had to be around to see it…” he whispered and curled up on his bed of dry, green moss. His paw hung over his head and he drifted, listening to all around him as the song that sang him to sleep.
He dreamt.
Lights were going off, welding and chains surrounded him, and he was restrained. Kindran couldn’t move now, his heart was beating faster than ever as sweat dripped down his scales. They were coming to him with machines.
What are those machines? What do they do? Help me… HELP ME!
His arms pulled against his restraints and someone came and flipped him onto his stomach. A brutal muscular hand pinched down onto his nerves held down his neck and he let off a foul hiss. Another hand began pushing down on his back and he felt something cold and flat being placed down his back and legs. He felt there was a crack somewhere on it; a harsh icy wind was funneling through it and pinching at his back.
Click.
Kindran’s ears flicked and he began breathing faster, his defense started to show as his teeth began to show and elongate. His veins all started glowing a black purple and his golden eye began glowing almost white gold, and his red eye the darkest shade of red. He began to growl and hiss. His muscles began to tense up and he struggled against the metallic restraints.
Click.
The tension was getting to him and he let off a disturbing growl, it was deep and husky but it didn’t do anything. The man holding a little device came closer and he held the device to Kindran’s neck. His eyes began to water and he let out a sorrowful moan and growl. He relaxed knowing it was useless to struggle yet his anger still writhed within him.
He felt the sharp, ice like touch of the device on the back of his neck, just under the hand that pinned him down. His breathing became shallow and rugged and it clamped onto the largest vein on him, which ran down his spine.
CLICK!
Kindran’s growls and yells were of agony and pain as he felt his vein being pulled apart from him. His body tensed up completely and he wound himself as tight as he could, trying to stop the pain. It only got worse.
His veins were being separated from his body, and a deep crimson red began to trickle from where his veins were. He was loosing blood, and fast. His torturers didn’t care; they thought he was immune to pain, being a monster.
“No love.”
“No happiness.”
“No… nothing”
The two men laughed and Kindran lay barely conscious in a deep pool of his own blood. He only opened his eye to see his torturers carrying off his veins, his only power, in a glass case.
“NO!” He was huffing loudly at the thought and his body lifted in the blink of an eye, sweat dripping from his scales. He looked down at his paws and arms and began to purr in relief. He was safe; he was alive.
He slid out of his den and moaned. The ground was freezing but he needed to wash himself. He padded slowly to the river and held his breath, expecting the water to be freezing and he jumped in.
“What the!” He let go of his breath and his paw dipped in and out of the water repeatedly. It was warm?
It’s winter… and night surrounds us… and the water is as if it were mid summer?
He stretched and his hind paws felt colder than his front paws. The warmth wasn’t natural…
Kindran started to push against the current and towards the warmth.
Chapter 5
~Niala~
Niala swam in circles around Nyyrikkia and giggled underwater. Her fur gracefully danced in the currents made by the dragoness’s tail and the bubbled from her nose formed a little necklace.
“Thank you” Niala’s head surfaced and her ears twitched at the gentle dragon’s voice. She turned her head and nodded and smiled, bubbles of water acting like scrubs and cleaning the dragoness’s scales. They began to glisten more and more and Nyyrikkia sighed in relief and relaxed. Her head rested on the bank of the river and Niala beamed at her.
“Feel better?”
“So much more relieved and relaxed… thank you, I needed this.”
“It’s my pleasure” Niala blew on the water around them and it became warmer, the winter chills outside it’s liquid barrier. “You’re my only friend Nyy…”
The dragon lifted her head slowly and looked into Niala’s eyes deeply. She could only feel happy in Niala’s returning stare.
“You’re mine Nia… you’re mine.” Niala smiled and lifted Nyyrikkia into the air on a large flat bubble and laughed quietly. Nyyrikkia blew velvet soft shadows from her scaly lips and they danced around Niala, who lifted herself into the air on a bubble with her friend. The shadows were of animals…
Snake…Fox…Winged wolf…Phoenix…Lion…Griffin…
All the animals twisted and twirled with grace in the gentle breeze that fluttered past. Niala shivered a little.
“Time for me to dry off.” Niala closed her eyes and steam rolled off of her fur, it was evaporating and she smiled, feeling fluffy again. The shadows rubbed through Niala’s fur and then returned to Nyyrikkia and they melded into her scales.
“I’ve never seen them take such a liking to someone.”
“Them?”
“Shadow minion’s of mine… they’re apart of me.”
Niala looked in awe and then her eyes glanced at the moon. The moonlight caught her gaze and her eyes twinkled in its luminescent glow. She closed her eyes and the moonlight still shimmered against her soft fur. Nyyrikkia stared blankly at the tigress’s abnormality of purple stripes and abilities.
“So…how did you get your…uniqueness Nia?”
Niala’s breath seemed to slow down and her head slowly tilted to the warm water beneath them.
“Since birth all I can remember is being taunted because I was born like this, to a tigress called Lavender… I thought it swimming with irony as I grew up having my mother’s name as what some called a ‘curse’. My clan mostly, they shunned that I was different and when I came of age to fend for myself they discarded me deep within the forest. I don’t know what they did to my mother but they took her away from me and all I can remember from that day is the pain of seeing my mother fight the clan off to help me. It was one against somewhere around the number of twenty-five and my mother was hidden beneath a pile of what I should have called kin. I heard the leader shout ‘there is no point in saving something that aught to be dead!’ and then they disappeared. So I’ve been on my own all along, using my power for survival only, trying to befriend animals like myself who share loneliness. It’s always good to have friends who understand how you feel.”
Niala leapt down onto the bank of the river and stared at the thick forestry on the other side of the river. She began growling, remembering back to her life treatment, the cold nights alone and scared, when she was younger and didn’t know how to use her powers. Creatures wanting to hunt her, to kill her, some had even tried to use her for their pleasures.
Her thoughts ceased when the dragon’s smooth voice cut through Niala’s soft growls.
“I’m sorry about all of it Niala. I do know exactly how you feel… though I wish I had the love of your mother from my parents… as soon as my clan found me out I was an instant traitor with only myself as my only friend and protector.”
The two friends shed tears over their past and Niala hugged the dragon. She felt Nyyrikkia’s wings cloak around them and for once in both their lives they felt loved.
Niala’s ears twitched and she turned her head sharply.
“Do you hear that?”
Nyyrikkia paused and whispered, almost a hiss.
“I do, go into the forest… it doesn’t seem a threat… But just to be sure...”
Nyyrikkia disappeared in a haze of shadow and black mist, which hung over the top of the warm water.
Niala fled into the pine tree thicket, not too deep in, she climbed up one of the trees and rested on its branch till Nyyrikkia signaled her to come back. Niala’s breath became soft and her eyes began to close; but just as she was starting to drift a distant hiss and chatter began to bloom in the background.
Chapter 6
~Kindran~
Kindran’s ears flattened and he sighed in a pleasurable comfort. The warm water soothed his muscles and the current was mild, stirring the water around his body. His veins began glowing a brilliant purple, his eyes shining in the moonlight, and he sunk lower into the water as he continued to walk forward, pushing against the current. His paws flexed, the water reaching in between his fingers. He began to purr softly to himself, but his comfort and relaxation stopped when he came across the black mist.
It was eerie, dark shades of grey and jet-black meshing together gracefully. His senses were up almost immediately, alert. Kindran’s red eye faded into a gentle red but his golden eye was glowing brightly. He was standing still, his tail the only thing moving as it danced like seaweed on an ocean bed. Kindran’s breathing slowed down and it was heavy, something about this mist struck fear into him.
His head snapped sharply, as through the corner of his eyes he saw a pair of glowing crimson eyes, watching him. But it was only a stir of the mist as his eyes gazed into that of the spot, where he thought the pair of eyes were glaring back at him. He moved forward, his paw reaching into the mist of shadow. It was cold.
What is it?
He heard a low-pitched husky growl and a shadow reached out and grabbed him, pulling him into the mist.
Inside the shadows, animal figures began to form; a fox, a king cobra, a lion, a griffin, a phoenix and a winged wolf all snarling viciously; their eyes were deep red and their bodies were all jet-black. They began to chant around him, snarls turned into screams and Kindran felt fear and anguish surrounding him. Never had he heard so much agony in all his life, and he was hearing it all in the few seconds he’d been in the mist.
Suddenly, Kindran’s breathing became shallow and raspy, as a dragon’s eyes and face faded into his sights. Her teeth were baring and she had a smooth deep growl that cut through all other noises. And as she spoke, the screaming stopped and the animals faded into the dragon, forming the rest of her body.
“You don’t look like much danger, kitten.”
Kindran looked up at the shadow dragon almost pleadingly and innocently.
“I set out, not to hurt a soul this night…”
The mist lifted Kindran out of the water and he began shivering, the shadow’s touch was as cold as ice and the weather was already winter cold. The dragoness looked into Kindran’s eyes, seeing nothing but truth and fear. She scoffed and the mist lowered him back into the warm water. The dragoness leaned her head down and he saw she had a mane, which flowed gracefully, meshing into the fog of black.
“That’s all I get… fear… pain… torture…”
Kindran looked surprised and stuttered.
“W-what do you m-mean?”
“My species is a natural fear… I should be no exception the first sighting of an unknown eye.”
The mist disappeared and Kindran could see the dragon clearly now. Her scales glistening brilliantly in the moonlight and her eyes were an ice blue now.
“So… you weren’t going to slay me?” He asked uncertainly. His ears still pressed to the back of his skull.
“Only if you turned out a threat…” She replied calmly.
The dragoness’s wings flared out, flapping in their stretch; she was also much larger now, Kindran was looking up seven feet above him to meet her gaze.
“I’m glad I pose as one, not.” He forced a smile, and she returned one.
“What is your name…?” The dragoness’s voice was gentle and deep and almost soothing in his ears.
“Kindran… and yours gentle dragon?”
She smiled at this and leant down, crouching to the snake-cat’s height.
“Nyyrikkia, it’s nice to meet you, Kindran… Tell me something, what would one like you be doing out this late at night, a winter’s night?”
Kindran’s muscles relaxed once more, but the warmth of the water began to wean.
“I was seeking the source of the abnormal water temperatures.”
Nyyrikkia jolted a little and smiled.
“Ah, well, she’s around about here somewhere.”
The snake-cat’s veins lit up a little and he looked at the dragon in confusion.
“She?”
Chapter 7
~Niala~
Niala’s eyelids fluttered open and the distant chatter filled her ears, her mind building her curiosity. Her tail curled around the tree branch and she peered over the bark. She was elevated high off of the ground… She hated heights; and she desired the ground.
Land… precious land!
Her sharp lavender claws dug into the tree branch, her fur stood on end and she stood up slowly. Her eyes darted side to side, up and down faster than a lightning strike in her fear of falling.
A way down!
Her gaze was locked on a thick branch in front of her, on a pine tree that had branches spiraling all the way down. The jump wasn’t too far; she just had to land in the right spot. Niala’s breathing became shallow as she slowly clenched her paws, stumbling to the edge of the branch. She heard Nyyrikkia’s laugh in the background her gentle voice was like a blizzard in summer as it cut through all the noises around Niala.
Crouched at the edge of the branch, Niala was scanning her surroundings and her eyes hooked themselves on the ground.
Crap…Hyenas.
The second round of canid beasts almost made her sick. She remembered the werewolves and tears swelled up in her eyes. There was something odd about these hyenas though. They were all black with sharp red eyes, shadow like trails behind them. Their snickers were filled with desired death for pleasure, the hunting games. Was Nyyrikkia in trouble too?
Distant hisses and growls became all Niala focused on, she forgot about the heights and had no problem with jumping as she felt chills from the noises run up her spine.
More beasts. Hyenas and another dragon that was almost identical to Nyyrikkia. This wasn’t a kindly one. She watched as his Onyx black and crimson scales appear from the darkness in the pine tree growth into the gentle moonlight. Niala was almost choking, as in her mind admittedly he was rather beautiful. But his vicious growls were filled with anger and hate. Niala understood he was a genuine shadow dragon She understood she had to run, far and fast and not look back.
But what about Nyyrikkia…
The dragon beneath her began to flap his wings and smell the air. His Hyena minions formed a circle around him and growled and bit at the air. He looked like he was transforming… but into what? She heard screams and groans of agony and pain as his hyenas began laughing and faded into the same black mist Nyyrikkia transformed into, surrounding the enormous reptile, which vanished in the same mist.
Niala heard Nyyrikkia shout at something and then another set of snarls and growls matched the one’s that had recently faded into the dark gas pool. With that she curled up and began backing off slowly to the tree trunk that her support branched from.
She felt cold… She felt anger… Pain, loneliness, darkness… And she turned around only to see one of Nyyrikkia’s shadow forms behind her.
“Nyy?” Niala gave off a low soft whisper and shivered.
“No, I’m Flaminia, but that’s not important,” She sounded angry yet calm in her reply, her voice was harsh yet in a way comforting. “This is no place for you to be Nia… Valdemier is set on bloodthirsty revenge on his sister…”
“So she is in trouble!” Niala’s tears began swelling up into her eyes and running rivers down her cheek fur. Her voice was cracking and breaking in sadness.
“The story is long lived and we simply have no time… Run Niala, run away and do not get mixed into this… we’ll handle it.” The shadow phoenix had a shadow aura, glowing… almost white? Her eyes were a deep blood red and saturated, the moonlight was sparkling in them.
Niala nodded but looked down to see the onyx mist meeting with a jet-black mist, with a large white figure in the middle of it. Was that Nyyrikkia? But without an answer to her thought, she found herself on the ground, running, running from that clearing and the snarls of the dragons and their shadow minions. Running from her friend, her only friend who she may never see again. Running from bloodthirsty war of beliefs. She looked up to the moon to see the phoenix flying towards where she was running from. A screech filled the air and then Niala stopped.
“Where on Earth…” She was deep into the pine forest, in the middle of a cold winter’s night, alone. “Am I…”
Her ears flicked and things didn’t seem to stay dark for long. Niala never realized that plants and flowers could glow…
Chapter 8
~Kindran and Niala~
Kindran was still baffled to the sudden disappearance of his new friend, Nyyrikkia. Her harsh and terror filled words still ringing in his ears as he began climbing a large oak tree.
Kindran, GO, it is too dangerous for you to be here now, leave, run fast, RUN!
Nyyrikkia left him sitting alone in the rapidly cooling water and his heart felt sore with loneliness. His only friend was telling him to leave? He watched as she erased her solid dragon form into the jet-black mist he first encountered. Only this time Nyyrikkia wasn’t black, she was white and glowing as a black mist surrounded her and six pairs of luminescent red eyes of her shadow monsters followed as the mist dived into the forest. Kindran heard growls and anger inside the forest clearing and then a mutter of words. Although he didn’t want too, it sounded like Nyyrikkia really meant it when she told him to run. So he did.
Up along the river he ran, his paw pads gentle on the soft soil of the riverbank. He began to slow down as the river’s neck narrowed into a creek and he leapt over the now icy water; wandering into his forest.
He was high up in the Oak tree and his veins began glowing brightly, plants and flowers around him beginning to glow as well. He loved having the ability to make nature his candlelight, but he wasn’t so happy about this. He felt sorry and lonely, wanting to be able to help Nyyrikkia with her distress and anger. He felt it was his fault. Why was it is fault?
It’s always my goddamn FAULT!
He lashed out his anger on the sturdy tree branch, his claws digging deep into it and biting the dry timber-like bark. His veins were glowing a violent purple and he leapt out of the tree and onto the ground again, pacing up and down through a shrubbery thicket.
He softly whispered curses at himself, swearing and growling under his breath; but was silenced by movement in the corner of his golden eye. He was watching the surroundings around him glow brightly as he felt the warmth and kindness of the presence and slowly he climbed another tree, moving high into the canopy and watching down as the creature walked, watching her surrounding home glow vibrantly.
Her ears were flicking like radars and her tail curled up to her back. It was dark, but the glowing luminescence of the plants held her form in Kindran’s sights. She was a tigress, kindly and caring from what Kindran could feel. He smiled faintly and silently moved closer to the feline.
She was sobbing and upset and Kindran wanted to help her.
Someone as beautiful as her should not have tears of sadness to intrude…
Kindran slid slyly out of the treetops and into a mini forest of tree ferns and crouched in amongst them.
The tigress stumbled a little and Kindran gasped softly as she fell to the ground, she was still awake though, breathing shallowly and slowly, watching all around her in awe.
She had collapsed herself under a tree fern; close to the one Kindran was crouched under. He smiled and his tongue licked his lips, moistening his dry scales.
She really is beautiful…what is it about her…something is different…
Without realizing it, his scales were glowing a bright purple, the fern the tigress was lying under began illuminating a faded lime green, though bright. The tigress was purple; he could see her difference now and his heart leapt in happiness, as he understood why this creature had such a kind aura.
He crept forward to get a better glance, slowly creeping up behind her. He could smell her fur and its floral scent made him smile. He’d never smelt something so sweet.
“It nerves me when strangers sneak and snoop behind my back…” The next thing Kindran knew he was pinned to the floor by the tigress and her warm breath enveloped his muzzle. Her paw was at his throat and her claws extended and he lay there, seemingly rather helpless as the tigress examined him.
“I wasn’t intending to do anything… honest,” He breathed in deeply and felt the claws on his throat press down harder. “Please miss, I didn…” The tigress let go of his throat and just sat on top of his stomach.
“I know” She smiled down at him and her paws traced his veins softly and the moonlight caught his scales, the reflection of the light off of his body shimmering into her bright blue eyes. “What are you?” She looked at him in amazement.
“An outcast…” Kindran’s voice was saddened and regretful.
“Really? You look more scaly to me” She replied with a bubbly happy tone. Her tail curled around his leg before she slid off of his stomach, but her paws still held him down. “But if it’s any consolation I’m an outcast too… you don’t see many of me around.”
“Cat-snake mutated in a military experiment.” He stated before she continued. The tigress’s head slowly turned and she crawled back onto his stomach, her head leaning over his and her eyes staring thoughtfully into his eyes. He couldn’t help it as his veins began glowing again and the tigress looked down, an amused look on her face.
“I thought you looked a feline.” There was something about her smile that made Kindran smile too. She hadn’t done anything to make him happy or smile. But he did and as he smiled, Niala licked his cheek. Kindran’s eyes widened and he didn’t understand why she did that…
“What’s your name?” Kindran enquired. He tilted his head, getting a better look at his ‘captor’s’ eyes.
“Niala. And don’t bother asking what you’re going to ask next,” She smiled and got comfortable onto his body, resting on top of him as he lay on his back. Kindran seemed rather confused as to why she was so intimate and confident upon him, he was an utter stranger and so was she.
“I was born like this, and with a special ability or two, shunned by my family and my mother was lost, I had no friends. Not till about a few days ago, a dear dragon-“
“Nyyrikkia? Was that her name?” Kindran interrupted.
“Yes, Nyyrikkia, but I had to leave her not a few hours ago. I don’t know why.”
Kindran saw that the once bubbly excited tigress was sad and his veins began fading into a deeper purple glow. Next thing he knew, Niala was nuzzling her head against his neck scales. Her fur was so soft and her ears flicked, a leaf falling out from behind them and onto the ground beside his paw.
“Niala? You dropped something.” His smile came back and he nodded his head to the leaf beside his paw. It was a rather unique looking leaf too, purple as she was and perm and healthy. Niala turned her head to the leaf and relaxed her head onto Kindran’s shoulder. He rather enjoyed the feeling he was getting, this affection he was getting from Niala made him feel happier than he had ever been. She thanked Kindran and scooped the leaf into her paw, purring as she did. Kindran leant his head up to Niala’s and tried what she had done to him, rubbing his smooth scales on the top of his head through the soft fur on her neck. He smiled like a kitten, purring and feeling uplifted, her warmth was like the comfort he never had and she smiled at him.
She placed the leaf back behind her ear and felt a sudden lapse in energy, falling off of Kindran’s side and onto the ground.
“Nia? Are you alright?” He panicked when she didn’t respond and he nuzzled into her neck. “Niala??” his concern for her grew when there was no sign of life in her and he placed a paw on hers.
The leaf Niala dropped onto the ground, beside Kindran’s magnificently scaled paw, was like a source of life, replacing love. It seemed, all those years ago, Niala’s mother knew they would part suddenly, Niala having no love to cherish in her goodbye. The leaf was like a profound reminder that Niala would never be alone, even if in all physical possibilities, there were no living things around her pure enough for love, that leaf would be there to give her reassurance and the love of her mother. But this leaf came swiftly with a double meaning… if never touching Niala in any way, she would slip away from reality, that is, she’d go unconscious… If left without it for too long, she’d perish.
Once in this state, Niala had to wait for a love to come grip her and take her from this second world. To replace what false feeling the lavender-shaded, ever-sprouting leaf gave her.
Kindran knelt and lay down beside his new, short-lived friend. He thought she was dead and he’d never felt so much sadness, his tears dripping over the velvet fur on Niala’s neck. His sobs were distorted with confusion and another feeling that couldn’t be pinned.
Kindran looked down at the beautiful creature, dead before him and, hoping she’d come back, he lifted her head and rested her head against his stomach. He curled up and watched her, endlessly. His eyed were locked onto her body for hours and he waited for a sign of life. He got one and ever so faintly, he saw her chest rise and fall, but weakly. He was overjoyed! His breath accelerated into panting, from happiness and he tilted Niala’s head towards his body, hoping her sharp blue eyes would open to his mismatched eyes. They never did.
In hopes to make new, the life of his new friend, Kindran slid his body under Niala’s and draped her over his smooth scaled back.
If Niala had been conscious, she’d have felt how smooth his scales are, like the marble stone floor in a grand museum, but as soft as velvet. His veins were glowing a brilliant purple and he began to purr, feeling so warm inside with her so close to him.
This was new.
Kindran’s paws slid through the earth, soft, loose soil catching in between his scaly paw pads. He looked around, feeling proud of what he was doing, caring, showing everyone he cared and wasn’t a cold, bloodthirsty killer.
His body knelt down and Niala’s unconscious mass of fur wrapped around his neck, and he turned his head, nuzzling his muzzle into her arm’s fur. He loved how she smelt of lavender, her shades of purple were so beautiful to him… they made him feel as if he fits in with the world around him.
The winter song buzzed through the air, crisp wind speeding through the nooks and crannies in between leaves of the pine trees. Early dawn dew sprinkling into the fallen leaves from autumn. It was early in the morning, not long after midnight, and all the birds of the forest must have been singing in their sleep and Kindran smiled, his ears flicking with each different pitch. It was like walking through a cathedral with all the different bells ringing soundly at once.
Kindran smiled, hoping in her unconsciousness, Niala could hear it all.
Chapter 9
~Kindran and Niala~
Kindran stopped at the forest clearing, his forest clearing…home. He smiled, thinking Niala, when she woke up, would adore the place. The beautiful gooseberry bushes over hanging his large hollow mound. His scales ruffled a little as he felt Niala’s fur seeping in and out from underneath them.
She’s so soft…
He felt a tingle all through his veins and he delicately placed the tigress on a soft, moonlit patch of grass, still dry, and sat beside her, imagining what she would like to wake up to.
Purple flowers and palm leaves? Cherry blossom coloured flowers and Pine leaves? Or…
He pondered thoughtfully, finally deciding a bit of everything that he didn’t have. He leapt to his feet and looked around the clearing, finding some cherry blossom Hibiscus flowers and some pine leaves tucked away behind his den. He leapt up onto the den’s little summit and pounced over to the bush of hibiscus flowers, picking several and then leaping back to the un-heaped ground, placing them beside Niala’s body. Elsewhere, finding a large palm leaf hidden in amongst shrubs. Kindran’s claws extended from his paws, like magic, and with a strike of his paw, he butchered the end of the palm tree branch, its dry thorny stem flying into the shrubs.
He looked over at Niala afterwards and smiled again, his tooth clumsily bearing over his bottom lip and the tip of his light red forked tongue peeping from his lips. He gripped the branch in his powerful jaws and bolted into the den. He slipped past the entrance and moved to the back of his humble home.
In the corner, where his bed was, he placed the palm branch up and it became a support beam, standing in the corner of his house and he smiled.
He then scurried out from the den and smiled down at Niala, leaping to her side and taking up the flowers in his arm and with his free paw, he stroked her back, her soft delicate fur knotting through his fingers.
“Everything is going to be okay my friend… My Niala…” As he spoke Niala’s breathing became less weak and livelier. Kindran hadn’t noticed though, after he spoke he’d ran into his den again, decorating what was his bed, with the hibiscus flowers.
He ran back out to Niala, lifting her onto his back again and carrying her inside to his neat little corner. Once she looked comfortable Kindran made one last dash for the outside before he was to rest.
He found a lavender bush abloom with the sweetest smell and the brightest purple. He smiled, it reminded him of Niala, and he picked the ripest most beautiful blossoms, and then some buds, tucking them in his cradled arm.
Lastly for the cat-snake was the pine leaves. He gave off a cheesy grin, they were close to the den; and once he’d placed the lavender blossoms around Niala’s bed, he grabbed those pine leaves, placing the branches up like he did the pine branch.
“Done!” Kindran smiled, rewarding himself with happiness.
He was eager to treat Niala well, to prove to himself he wasn’t a monster, to prove to everyone he wasn’t a monster.
He felt warm inside ever since he met Niala. It was like she gave him hope and happiness… And a new feeling as well…
The scaly feline weaved through the leaves of the palm tree branch and sat beside Niala, admiring the tigresses soft, delicate appearance. He leant down, his head resting against her neck and he purred soothingly and lowly. He felt something… like something was right and he felt words overflowing to his lips.
“I love you…” Kindran hadn’t realized what he said, but he meant it. He licked her cheek, just like she had once done to him and then nuzzled against her fur, afterwards, getting up slowly to walk over to the small mouth of the den.
Kindran looked back once more at the sleeping tigress and curled up into a ball, as she was, closing his eyes slowly and slipping away into an abyss of slumber.
The sunlight peeked through the canopy, high above the den and caught straight onto Kindran’s face. The midday sun covered his face in golden light and Kindran curled into a tighter ball and faced away from the light. As he turned away he felt a warm air circling his face and a sweet smell seeping through his nose.
“I love you too Kindran…”
Niala was there, her bright blue eyes staring straight into Kindran’s as she said it. He felt himself melt and Niala inched closer to him as he lay there, still curled up and staring lovingly into Niala’s eyes, his chest rising and falling fast and Niala curled up closely to him, her velvety touch all up and down Kindran’s stomach.
Their tails knotted together and Niala kissed Kindran’s chin and muzzle and he wrapped his arms around her, to stay like that for as long as he could savour…
By Niala Ornitier
