Chapter Text
𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝
"Once upon a time, there was a great and far land, full of dragons of various kinds. These dragons came from different minorities, which gave them different powers. The Enders, purple and black dragons, carried the most power amongst them. Able to destroy 100s with a single burst of fire, they were rare, and feared by all.
And so, war broke out between the Dragons and the humans. They wanted all of dragon kind to be eliminated, for they believed that the power they held had been far too strong, and if used by the wrong person, could cause a calamity. Some humans had wanted peace with the dragons, this created another force, known as hybrids. They were mixes of humans and other entities such as blazes, slimes, and other powerful creatures, though most went into hiding after the tides had turned on their kind. None are known to exist anymore.
After the war, only very few of the Enders had lived,
all other dragons being captured or killed. The remaining Enders had all gone into hiding, never to be seen, or heard of again. Though, some say that echoes of the past still carry on the winds, and that the dragons will make a return."
The sound of a book folding shut echoed in the cottage, before the sounds of a child giggling followed it.
Wemmbu, a young dragon prince, began running around with a stick in hand pretending to slash at pillows and bed frames.
"And then the dragons came back and killed everyone! Taking all of their money, and using it to rule the world!!"
The tiny fanged beast added, before jumping on top of his mother's back.
"You silly child, us dragons are peaceful now. We took an oath, remember?" The mother said calmly, grabbing the child from the scruff and placing him back onto the bed.
Wemmbu let out a scoff, crossing his arms in defense.
"Yes, yes, I remember. "Enders made a promise to never use their powers for evil, but to protect one another, so that we can grow stronger and live in harmony", blah blah blah. Where's the fun in that?!" The young prince then stood up, pointing his stick at a stone wall, imitating that of a battle commander. "I think that we should rebel against the rules, and take back what's ours!"
"Wemmbu, as a young prince you must remember and abide by that oath. If not, something terrible could happen to you and your subjects when it is your time to rule." The mother added,
The little dragon sighed before sitting back down on the bed and bowing towards his mother "yes mama, I understand. I just wish things were different." A small frown formed on the child's face as he continued “we shouldn't have to go into hiding just because the humans think we are dangerous..” the mother let out a heavy breath, before pulling the little one closer and into a hug. “It will be okay Wemmbu. We'll figure it out. Even if it takes years, our people will find peace one day.” Wemmbu nudged a bit closer to his mom, pressing his head into her chest “and that starts with you Wemmbu.
A strong, and good leader that will bring our people back into power.” Wemmbu lifted his head up, looking at his mom with anticipation. His tail flicked slightly, now realizing the weight of his role. “What if.. I can't do it..? What if I'm not as strong as you say I am, and I mess things up..” the mother frowned slightly, before dipping down and pressing her forehead onto the child beneath her.
“You do not have to be perfect, dear. No one is. What matters is that through it all, thick and thin, you don't give up. Life will be hard, and so will ruling. But you must remember to stay kind, compassionate, and determined. Do that, and you will make a fine leader.” Wemmbu backed away from his mother, giving a smile as his ears flicked back. “I won't let you down mama.”
The mother smiled sweetly, giving the little dragon a kiss on the forehead before moving off the bed. "Now, get yourself to bed. We have a big day tomorrow." She moved to tuck Wemmbu into bed, brushing her hand through his purple hair before walking towards the door. "Good night little one."
"Good night mama." The mother smiled sweetly, before blowing out the lantern seated on the wardrobe and leaving.
⊹₊˚‧︵‿₊୨ᰔ୧₊‿︵‧˚₊⊹⊹₊˚‧︵‿₊୨ᰔ୧₊‿︵‧˚₊⊹⊹₊˚‧︵‿₊୨ᰔ୧₊‿︵‧˚₊⊹⊹₊°
Wemmbu awoke suddenly, his ears pinned back in defense. The air in the room felt too still. Too stale.
He jumped out of his bed, moving slowly towards the door of his room and into the hall. The entire home was silent, which was strange for a place that was usually bustling with movement, even in the late night, cicadas or the hum of the fireplace generated a much more full feeling in the home. However at this very moment, not one sound was present. Wemmbu began padding towards the windows, standing on his forefront paws to see over the ledge.
Outside of the house there was a faint yellow light that was riding above a hill. At first thought, it seemed to just be the sun. But that wouldn't be possible given that it was at the earliest 12 am. Wemmbu squinted further, and he began to see outlines of people.
Human people.
There was a large colony of men, some on horses and others marching on foot. He could just barely make out swords and banners laminated onto shields that were held by all of the people in the group. All of them had begun chanting something the little prince could barely make out, given the distance away from the house that they had, but he could just make out the general words of “ KILL THE BEAST—- ONCE AND FOR ALL — REIGN OF TERROR —”
The group began picking up their pace, and it soon became very apparent that the group was headed straight for them.
His eyes shot wide open as he ran from the window and straight towards his mother's room, his whole body shaking as he breathed heavily. Wemmbu opened the door suddenly, before jumping onto his mother's bed and shaking her violently from her rest
"MAMA! MAMA! There's people outside!" The little prince yelled, climbing up onto his mother, who groaned, rubbing away the sleep from her eyes. “Wemmbu..go back to bed..” the queen said groggily, still blinking away the restlessness. “But mama, there's men outside! Humans!! And they are coming this way!”
The mother's eyes then shot open, as she sat up immediately.
“What did you say..?” Wemmbu’s mother held him by the shoulders, looking into his eyes as if to check if she heard correctly.
“I couldn't sleep, so I looked outside and I saw a big group of men with swords on horses and they were chanting something about killing!”
The queen's eyes grew dark. She picked up her son, holding him close to her chest as she got out of the bed and began descending the hallways towards a small basement that the cottage contained. It was a narrow, small and hidden passage that had only ever been used as an emergency hideout. The queen opened up the latch and placed the child inside of the small compartment in the floor.
“Wemmbu. I need you to listen to your mother, alright?”
The queen said sternly, taking a few glances behind her every now and then to see if the people had been getting closer.
“I'm scared..” Wemmbu said shakely. “Don't be, little prince. It will be okay. Remember what I told you about being strong?” The prince nodded quickly, his arms hugged around himself as he crouched in the small space. “Now listen up Wemmbu. You have to stay here no matter what. If someone tells you to come out, that isn't me, do not listen to them.”
The mother glanced towards the window again, her expression now changing to a much more serious one than before.
“Wemmbu. If I do not ever return or tell you to come out, only come out when it is silent. Do you hear me? SILENT. If you hear any noise it is not safe. I have left a box in the closet of my room to the far right of the door. Inside is all you will need if I cannot care for you any longer. Once it is safe, take it and run.” The mother held onto the child's shoulders, never breaking eye contact with him. “Mama..are we gonna be okay?” Wemmbu asked, tears beginning to form in the corners of his eyes.
The queen paused, expression softening for a moment, before holding the child tighter. “You will be okay.” She pulled Wemmbu into a hug, wrapping her wings around him. Wemmbu hugged her back, even tighter than before, nuzzling his head into her neck. “I love you mama.”
“..I love you too, Wemmbu.” The little prince let go of his mother, receding back into the small compartment on the floor of the cottage, which was then quickly shut, making the space completely dark.
Wemmbu stayed in the compartment for what felt like hours.
It was not quick.
It was not quiet.
It sounded scary.
It sounded loud, and violent.
He felt weak when he cried,
Fearing for his and his mother's
Life, yet not being able to do anything.
He felt weak when he saw her on the floor,
Warmth depleted from her body
and her wings and horns torn
And sawed away like some
sort of twisted trophy.
He heard the army of men cheer and rejoice
when she fell to the ground hard, unable
To move because of the multitude
of wounds she had accumulated.
Wemmbu didn't see it, but he heard.
Heard her take her last breathe,
Letting out one last cry before going silent.
He didn't know what to do.
Or where to go.
He was just a kid.
He was no man.
He was alone.
He was so. so alone.
And he was the reason she was dead.
Wemmbu cried. He cried hard and he cried for a long, long time.
He blamed himself for it all. He always told himself that it was his fault.
But how could he not?
He was nothing.
꒷꒦︶꒷꒦︶ ๋ ࣭ ⭑꒷꒦꒷꒦︶꒷꒦︶ ๋ ࣭ ⭑꒷꒦꒷꒦︶꒷꒦︶ ๋ ࣭ ⭑꒷꒦꒷꒦︶꒷꒦︶ ๋ ࣭ ⭑꒷꒦꒷꒦︶꒷꒦︶ ๋ ࣭ ⭑꒷꒦꒷꒦︶꒷꒦︶ ๋ ࣭
The adjustment was hard, to say the least.
Wemmbu was now completely alone, mentally scarred,
and he now had more than 3 issues to deal with.
To start, he needed to find food somehow. Once his supply from what was left in his old house ran out, he wouldn't have anything else to eat, and that could lead to problems down the road in a situation where he couldn't find food. So, the little prince started practicing a term his mother had only taught him once; Rationing food.
When Wemmbu was little, he heard stories from his mother and passerbys about how during the great war between dragons and humans, food became a very scarce source. So scarce, it was the main reason that so many had died during said war. Both parties of the conflict had begun stashing and storing food for later, while only eating exactly what they needed, as to not waste anything if possible.
Now, Wemmbu was a very smart child.
Smart enough, at least to know that rationing food was his best bet if he wanted to get through the coming winter. However, he never exactly knew how much food to use or how much to not use. Though, his paranoia usually made him take less than what he really needed.
Which was fine, Wemmbu never really enjoyed eating his own cooking anyways.
It was always too hot or too cold, too sweet or too dull. He never knew how to follow recipes to a T or how to create his own, so his meals always just ended up looking like bad 1st attempts.
But that was okay. Cooking was never really Wemmbu’s thing anyhow.
The little prince was much more skilled in other practices, like reading and playing the violin.
Music has always been the Wemmbu’s escape from the world. There was just something about the way the melodies mixed and weaved together with one another in ways that made his tail flick in anticipation.
His mother would usually play the piano with him, of course until she passed.
But he had been able to learn a few songs before then, despite the piano being a much harder instrument for him to learn. But he still liked the sound of it.
During the winter, the prince had learned many useful things.
Like how to make a fire, or how to teach himself what his mother wasn't able to.
He learnt more advanced math quickly on his own from workbooks and sheets around the house that he found.
However, one of the books he found while digging around for new resources was different from the others. Though the language on the cover was that of one he couldn't read, due to it most likely being antique or ancient, the cover showed a picture of a dragon with colors much like his own. Purple with black markings. As he opened the very heavy book’s dusted cover, he saw a table of context that also provided many translations of the book, including one in the languages he could understand. The book spoke about ender dragon magic, and how it can be used to create or destroy.
Intrigued by it, Wemmbu had decided to begin studying the book. His mother had often spoken about dragon magic, and showed him examples of it, like something as simple as making a flame from her hand and using it to light a lantern from a distance. This book however, taught more advanced spells that could only be done through practice, like wind magic.
She always preached about how it was always most important to stay peaceful, and treat others with kindness, though Wemmbu never understood why. Afterall, they had tried to be kind and peaceful and that ended him up here.
If it was up to him, Wemmbu would gather an army and overpower and imprison the enemy. After all, guns blazing had always worked before, why not work now?
So, the little prince began to practice magic, and flight over the spring.
And by the time he had reached 18, he was a master of combat.
Though.
Combat doesn't make you any better at hunting. Wemmbu had gotten a lot thinner due to rationing, and his source of fruit had died out during the last winter.
Which meant no more food.
That was the last thing he needed.