Legend of the OmeletWings - Chapter 17: Breakfast
#17 of Legend of the OmeletWings
It was a memory, barely a passing moment faded in time, but something had reawaken in her, something bringing it back full force.
Embryo had awoken one morning on her journey, her stomach rumbling in anticipation for Breakfast. She smelled it on the wind and her memories of Breakfast in the OmeletWing village, tables loaded with Eggs and all kinds of Egg-inclusive plates had flooded over her.
She'd stepped over to the entrance of the cave, and sure enough, there it was, in a nest just in a cave across from them rested a SkyWing, curled around her Egg.
Embryo took a step forward, wondering if maybe the SkyWing would be friendly enough to share some of the egg with them - it couldn't hurt to ask - when a talon appeared before her, stopping her in her path.
Summit was there, gently blocking her way. Motioning her to be quiet, he gestured to the SkyWing, prompting her to watch.
The SkyWing stirred. Opening her eyes, she looked up at the sky, before turning her attention to the egg, a loving expression lighting her face. Nuzzling her egg, she started to hum gently to it, a soft, calm song, not a song of feasting, but a lullaby, a song of love, straight from her heart. This was not her breakfast, it was her baby.
Even though Embryo hadn't yet known personally the pain it took to lay an egg, she couldn't help but feel moved by the love the mother dragon felt for her egg. What love it must be that it was so strong it was worth the sacrifice of bringing it into the world? Maybe no price would be enough to justify the pain, but so maybe no price was enough to replace the love.
Regardless of what Embryo believed growing up in her village, the SkyWing truly did believe there was life growing inside her egg. And if that was true, her love was way sweeter than the taste any Omelet could provide.
Embryo opened her eyes finding herself in her own room back in the OmeletWing Village. The morning light shined in through the windows indicating it was almost time to head out to the Square for Breakfast. Everything that had happened the night before came rushing back to her. The emotions she had felt at returning to her village were less fresh than the night before, but she still felt a numbness of emptiness where all that she had left behind her still left a gaping hole in her Soul.
She looked at the peregrine carving.
Summit.
Grabbing it off her desk, she held it tight. Maybe it didn't matter now, but she decided she would keep it close to her for the day's proceedings.
Looking at the empty plate that had held her mother's now eaten Omelet, Embryo remembered her confrontation with her mother the previous night. The memory from her dream came back to mind. She didn't quite know what she believed about dragon eggs and whether they contained growing dragonets, but she had a feeling that whether she believed it or not, she was never going to be able to eat eggs the same way again. The thought of the Breakfast she was about to attend caused her to feel anxiety. What would she tell them if they noticed her hesitation to eat their eggs?
Embryo shook her head, she'd just have to be discreet, she could do that, right?
As Embryo passed by her mirror on her way to the door, she looked at her reflection and a heavy sadness came over her. She was so small and fragile looking. How had the egg managed to pass through her? Embryo felt her heart quake inside her. That must have hurt. Poor Embryo, poor her past self.
She heard her parents calling. It was time to go.
She took one last look in the mirror. That Embryo who had laid the egg, she was in the past, she could hardly remember it now anyway. Maybe it was time to let that Embryo go.
Wiping a tear from her eye, she turned away from the mirror.Goodbye Em.
And with that, Peregrine carving in talon, she headed out the door, letting it swing shut behind her.
Summit arrived at the Tavern the morning after his arrival home, carrying a fresh catch.
Summit looked around the tavern, his mind going back to the night he met Embryo, his heart aching.
The Tavern Keeper, Ravine, stepped out of the kitchen, and noticing him there, was delighted to see him.
"Summit! It's been a few weeks. How have you been? Have you been well?"
Summit nodded. "I've just been... traveling." He didn't want to mention Embryo, as he knew how Ravine had watched them as they'd talked that first night, and he didn't want to break the news of how it ended. He held out his catch instead, "I brought you some fresh meat."
Hunting birds had reminded him of his birdwatching with Embryo, but at least it had also been a kind of return to normal, which he figured he needed right now.
Ravine looked at the birds hanging from his talons gratefully. "Come back to the kitchen, and I can show you where to put them."
She led the way into the kitchen and showed Summit a counter to lay the birds down on. As he passed through, he noticed a large egg sitting in a corner, wrapped softly in some blankets. Not a bird egg, but a dragon egg.
Ravine caught his gaze and looked at him, "Oh, that's just mine and my husband's egg. I laid it a few days ago. I've been keeping it in here to keep it warm, where I can keep an eye on it while I work." She went up to it and nuzzled it, "Haven't I baby?"
Summit remembered Embryo's laying, and imagined the same thing happening to Ravine. How awful an image. Not as awful as when it actually happened to Embryo, but it still didn't feel great imagine the Ravine he'd known much of his life in the same.
But Ravine didn't seem to mind though, like nothing was out of the normal, she just looked at the egg sweetly, and turned to lead Summit out of the kitchen. Why wasn't she bothered by what must have surely happened. Remembering how Embryo had reacted when she'd had her egg, he refused to believe Embryo had just been too sensitive, it had been true pain he'd seen her in, and he refused to demean her experience as no more than an overreaction. The pain had overtaken everything she was (poor Embryo), It hurt to just think about, and Summit couldn't see why it'd be different for any other dragon. So it must have been something else. Why was Ravine so passive about her experiences, when Embryo had been bothered by them so deeply?
As they entered the dining room, Ravine turned to look at Summit suddenly. "That cute girl you had with you, where did she go? You two looked so cute together."
Summit felt his gaze drop at the question. "It didn't work out," he answered finally after a moment's silence.
"Oh, but you seemed you had the biggest crush on her," Ravine replied with disappointment.
"Of course I had a crush on her," Summit grumbled, "If only I hadn't had a crush on her I could have been her friend!"
Ravine looked at Summit gently. "Who says having a crush on someone means you can't be their friend? Who told you that?"
Summit went silent, not answering. Ravine looked at him harder.
"She told you that?" Ravine looked hurt, "I'm sorry, she seemed so gentle mannered."
"It's not like that," Summit informed, "She was hurting, and she needed a friend, and because I had a crush on her... I couldn't show her what she was worth."
Ravine looked at Summit sympathetically. "Here, allow me to make you something to eat," she said.
Summit nodded. He found the table him and Em had sat at their first night, and sat down.
"What would you like?" Ravine asked.
Summit hesitated, glancing at the spot Embryo had once sat. Finally, looking at Ravine, he replied "Eggs, I'll have some Eggs."
"Right, everything else is out, but we have some peregrine eggs left in stock. So peregrine eggs coming right up."
And with that, she headed back into the kitchen.
Peregrine eggs. A double sting. Summit thought back to the Peregrine carving he'd given Embryo.
As Ravine made his meal, Summit just sat there. His memories filled with the conversations the shared, the excitement he felt getting to know her for the first time as she had sat in the now empty place across from him.
He missed Em so much.
When Ravine came back with his meal, she placed it in front of him, and took the spot across from him.
"Traveling you said you were? Where to?"
Summit shrugged, "Just through the MudWing Kingdom, toward the Bay of a Thousand Scales."
Summit went silent, and they both sat there, not sure of what to say.
Finally, Summit opened up. "She was so convinced that being a girl made her weird and unnatural or something," he felt his blush rising, feeling guilty that he still found all that girly weirdness stuff kind of cute. "She felt embarrassed by her body because only girls can lay eggs, produce milk and make fruit and stuff like that - girly weirdness as she called it - and I was just the guy standing there to show how much less awkward my boyey body was." Summit looked at Ravine, "Sorry. I know you're also..." his face was going red again, "I'm sorry. I don't mean to point out how you're also..." So weird to think of Ravine subject to girly weirdness. Even with his perpetual crush on girls in general, he'd never really sought to think of Ravine in that sort of way. And it was like this with every girl? Great. Apparently Summit wasn't meant to have any level of normalcy when in conversation with any girl ever again.
Ravine shrugged. "Oh I know there are awkward things about being a girl, I bet you have your own share of 'boyey' weirdness to feel awkward about too."
Yep, Summit was definitely feeling awkward, "Yeah, well at least my awkwardness isn't put on display on my breakfast table every morning." He stabbed his fork into his egg suddenly wondering what in the Three Moons he was thinking when he'd decided to order this.
Ravine shrugged, "I've decided not to let myself be bothered by it much. For me, it just is what it is." She looked at Summit slyly and lowered her voice knowingly, "In fact, it can be sort of amusing at times." She paused. "But can I see your friend is struggling with it more than I ever personally thought to. I can't say what she must be feeling, but I think she needs somebody who cares for her both for and without the things she feels self-conscious about, and whatever you may think, I think you truly are that for her."
Summit felt a little better, confirmation that even despite his feeling, maybe he really did care for Embryo.
Summit sighed. "It doesn't matter, I've lost her. I don't know where she is, and I might never see her again. Even if I am the one she needs to help her through this, I can't be. I love her, and I failed her."
Ravine looked at him calmly, "You didn't fail her, there's only so much you can do. As much as you may want to, you can't figure her life out for her."
"Maybe not," Summit said, "But I should at least be there for her as she figures it out. And I can't."
Not knowing what else to say, the two fell into silence. Summit just looked at the plate, at the egg. Such a normal thing, but the cause of so much pain and sadness.
"You know," said Albumen as they headed out down the streets, "the village will be very excited to hear about your return. They've missed you since you've left."
"Yeah," Embryo answered half-heartedly, going silent again.
As they walked to the square in silence, one talon in front of the other, the smells that used to catch her attention she barely paused to notice, she tried to ignore the occasional scream of a dragon still at home laying, but it was almost too much.
In the silence, Albumen and Yoke looked at Embryo, obviously something really wrong had happened on her journey, but as to what, they didn't know. But neither one of them wanted to press her, so they just continued walking in their silence.
No sooner had Embryo arrived at the square than Vitellus had rushed up to meet her. "Embryo, you're back! Oh I've waited so long for your return, it seems like forever, will you marry me and we can have delicious eggs together for all eternity?"
Embryo turned her gaze to him, only half taking him in. That was right, she was expected to marry him, wasn't she? Though there were no official rules, everybody would be looking to her now to fulfill her duties as an OmeletWing, and they all saw Vitellus as the match for her.
She thought of Summit, how he cared for her, how she could share anything with him, and her heart twisted inside her. Vitellus wasn't a bad guy, she thought, but was this what she'd given up on Summit for? She felt tears welling in her eyes, and she struggled to hold them back.
"I'm sorry Vitellus, please, not right now."
She turned away to go inspect the table, she had to get her mind off things.
"Okay sweetyoke," Vitellus called after her, "We'll talk about it later."
Embryo walked along the tables, trying to ignore the greetings of dragons congratulating her on her return, looking at all the eggs filling their surfaces, each one a result of so much pain and suffering. Were dragons really willing to go through that much just for this?
Her heart twisted. Were these really dragonets whose lives were ended prematurely just so the OmeletWings could have Breakfast. She didn't know, but she couldn't eat thinking that. As awful as it was to think of the pain that went into laying these eggs, nothing stopped her appetite in its tracks like the idea of having unborn dragonets served to her on a platter.
"Welcome all!" Shouted Queen Omelet suddenly, opening up the ceremony, "I'd like to welcome you all to another perfect Breakfast. I see we've had the return of our very own Embryo. Let's all give her a great big round of applause to congratulate her on her journey."
Embryo tried to avoid eye contact as she heard the sound of talons clapping on her behalf. Was she really that important to all these dragons?
"Now with our anthem," Queen Omelet announced.
From inside us, our very Soul,
You are formed, for us all,
The food of life for which we find our lives,
From our stomachs, to our stomachs you return.
Our purpose, our meaning, is found in you,
The Eggs of the OmeletWings.
As everyone sang, Embryo just looked up at the flag silently, not sure how to sing anymore. She just didn't feel it anymore.
After the anthem, everyone returned to their rustling and bustling, thankfully too overcome with eggs to pay her much mind. Embryo spotted Caviar standing nearby.
"Hey, Embryo," Caviar said, catching sight of her, "I heard you were away. Glad to have you back. You know, last night, I just had another Egg, why don't you try some?"
Embryo looked at the egg in the serving dish next to Caviar. Embryo remembered how she'd once felt when she had discovered Caviar had laid her first egg, how weird it felt to realize somebody she'd known had experienced something so different and beyond what she could possibly imagine. But Embryo had laid her own egg now, she knew what it was like, her and Caviar were now in the same "club". Somehow, Embryo didn't feel that special to be part of that "club".
As far as she knew, Caviar did not yet have a partner, so Embryo figured at least this way she could eat without having to worry about eating any dragonets. Embryo considered filling her plate.
"Two eggs already and you haven't even paired up with a partner yet?" Embryo asked, "Doesn't it hurt?"
Caviar just smiled, "That's the beauty of it, nobody thinks of how painful it is until it actually happens, and by then it's too late. Might as well make the most of your Omelet and forget it ever happened so you'll be just as ready for the next."
Or just as oblivious...
Embryo looked at the plate, imagining Caviar's screams as she laid the egg, as Embryo remembered she had once screamed herself. Embryo could feel her appetite decrease inside her, the eggs around her just didn't hold any appeal, dragonets or not, not right now.
"Sorry, I'm not that hungry," she said, turning to walk away.
Queen Omelet, who had been standing nearby, glanced up at her as she passed.
Embryo joined her father at his seat where he was already digging in. He looked up as she sat down, frowning at her empty plate, but he said nothing. Embryo looked around for her mother, noticing her in conversation with the Queen. They both looked over at Embryo and the Queen gave her a cheery wave. A moment later, the conversation ended, and Albumen brought her loaded plate up with her as she came to join her family. She also glanced at Embryo's empty plate.
"Done already? That was fast."
Embryo didn't answer, didn't know what to say.
Yoke replied for her. "Perhaps she's still full on your egg from last night. You do make the most satisfying eggs you know."
Albumen seemed encouraged by that. "I know, don't I?"
Finally, Embryo spoke. "The Queen, what did she want?"
Albumen looked at her daughter, her eyes lighting up. "She said she was impressed by your journey, she wants to hear all about it. So after Breakfast, she wants us all to go over to her castle for a debriefing."
Embryo frowned. A debriefing? She didn't know what to make of that. She supposed it couldn't hurt to tell them about the outside world, but Embryo still didn't feel like talking about her time with Summit and all that, it still hurt too much. But the Queen would want to know, if not about Summit, about the journey in general.
Embryo sighed. Just get this over and be done with it. Then she could return home and cry.