Dragyn Saga part 3
Transformation: Part Three of the Dragyn Saga.
Batty watched curiously as Winged-Teddy stomped around the clearing, his curiosity rising as she paused every so often raised her paws to the sky and muttered under her breath, then when nothing, as far as Batty could tell happened, started stomping around the clearing some more.
He tossed up whether to go find out, as it was very obvious that she was in a bad mood, Batty thought back over the past few months, he couldn't think of anything that had happened, other than the arrival of Phiresong and the amazing events surrounding the birth of the baby Dragyns, oh, and Winged-Teddys' fifth birthday last week.
Finally after several more minutes of this Battys' curiosity got the better of him, he flew from his perch on the tree and glided down to land on a branch near where she was standing, as he landed she turned to look at him, he was suprised to see that she was crying,'What's the matter, why are you crying?' he asked.
'I can't do it, I've tried and tried and IT DOESN'T WORK!!' she wailed.
'What doesn't work?' Batty was getting more confused by the minute.
'They didn't want me because of the way I look, I didn't fit in and they were right, I'm useless, no good to anyone' she continued, not hearing Batty, too sunk in misery to answer him.
'That's not true' Batty spluttered, 'Phiresong couldn't manage the babies without you, you know that, we don't care what you look like. or what your old family thought about you, we,' and he gestured to take in the whole Kine, 'Me, Phiresong, Blackfire, the babes and even Blacklock are your new family now, and we think you're just fine as you are'.
Batty nearly fell of his perch in the tree as he tried to make Winged-Teddy see the truth of what he was saying, but she just looked at him sadly, 'I wouldn't mind so much, and it wouldn't hurt so much if I'd gotten at least some small shred of talent, but I've tried and tried and tried, I know all the words, and I really want to do this, but nothing happens'.
Batty looked confused, 'What do you mean?.' he said
Winged-Teddy sat on the ground and started explaining,'In my family, turning five is a big thing, thats when you're old enough to use your talents, from the day that we're first old enough to understand, we are taught the words of power to use, and when we turn five thats when it all happens, except for me, you have to want it, well I know the words, and I really want it, but nothing is happening. NOTHING!!'
Batty looked at her as she started crying again, this was beyond his abilities, he was the Storyteller, not the Sorcerer, this needed Blacklock, but Blacklock had been absent for almost a month now, Batty sighed, what could he do, then he realised that he didn't even know what sort of Talent Winged-Teddy was talking about, he coughed gently, 'I don't mean to pry, well yes I do, but if you don't want to tell me you don't have to, what sort of Talent are we talking about here?'
She looked at him and for a moment he thought she wasn't going to answer, then she sighed and said softly, 'Shapeshifting, it's what my family is good at, that's why I look like I do, my Mother is a Fairy and my Father is an Ursa, the rest of my brothers and sisters either look like Fairys' or Ursas' but for some strange reason I got stuck looking like a cross between the two, a teddybear with wings, one of the more stupid combinations around, and I was so hoping that when I turned five I'd get my powers and I could get rid of this stupid shape, anything would be better than this, BUT IT WON'T WORK'. With that she got up and half running and half flying pelted headlong into the forest, crying.
Batty sighed, he had no idea what he could do, what anyone could do, Blacklock wasn't around, and Phiresong and Blackfire had taken the babes on a training flight, he had the lore of thousands of stories in his memory but nothing that he could bring to mind was of any use, he looked around the clearing, it would be dark soon, Batty wondered if he should go after Winged-Teddy, after all the Kine could still be a dangerous place, despite what Blacklock said.
He decided that he would go after her, as he set himself preparing to launch into the air, his attention was caught by a strange looking object lodged in the fork of the tree opposite him, he couldn't remember seeing it before, and being the curious sort he was he flew over to have a look, it appeared to be a fruit of some kind, he smelt it, it smelled a bit strange, but not rotten or anything, curiosity getting the best of him he quickly peeled a piece of the skin back so he could see the flesh of the fruit underneath, he took a small piece of the flesh and sampled it, it tasted strange, not really very nice at all, he spat the rest out, gagging slightly at the overripe sweet/sour taste it left in his mouth.
Batty looked around the clearing, marking the spot where Winged-Teddy had run into the forest and set off after her, he hadn't been flying for very long when a massive wave of nausea swept over him, Batty could feel his stomach heaving, his wings faltered as it became impossible to fly, with a despairing cry Batty fell out of the sky and landed with a thud on the forest floor, as he looked around the gathering darkness of the night became the gathering darkness in his mind, and he passed out.
Winged-Teddy wandered around the forest, not really looking where she was going, until the approaching night made her realise that it was time to return to the clearing, Phiresong and the babes would be back shortly and the baby Dragyns' were always a handful after they had been on a flying lesson, swooping and diving and driving both Phiresong and Blackfire to distraction, it was funny, the baby Dragyns' often ignored their parents, but when she told them to behave they most often did, they called her Fuzzball, she wouldn't tolerate that from anyone except the babes, and to be honest she loved being called Aunty Fuzzball.
Maybe being a Winged-Teddy did have some compensations, after all Batty was right, her family, her NEW family loved and cared for her just the way she was, even if she was one of a kind, and as she thought about it, especially because she was one of a kind, yes, being a Winged-Teddy wasn't so bad after all, as she flew back towards the clearing she realised that she owed Batty a very big thank you and an apology, he was her best friend and she had been rather rude to him, but the good thing about friends, good friends, is that they forgive you.
When she reached the clearing there was no sign of either Batty or Phiresong and the babes, as darkness fell she realised that Phiresong had probably stopped somewhere for the night, perhaps the babes had tired themselves out too much to fly back, she hoped that Phiresong and Blackfire had found somewhere safe to spend the night, as big as they were, even the Dragyns' had enemies.
Sometime later as the moon rose and Batty still hadn't returned, Winged-Teddy started to get really anxious, this wasn't like Batty at all, perhaps he'd followed her into the forest and something had happened to him, all sorts of disasterous happenings flashed through her mind, finally she could stand it no more, following her own trail into the forest she started calling out for Batty, if he was around he would answer her, she called and called, her voice getting more frantic as the calls went unanswered.
It was purely by luck that she happened to find Batty at all, just about to give up and go back to the clearing, her paw kicked something soft laying on the ground, one horrified glance told her that it was Batty, he was laying there so still and silent.
Her first terrified thought was that Batty was dead, fearfully she knelt down, scared at what she might find, her trembling paw carefully touching his damp limp wings, then moving up, she had to will herself to stop shaking, she couldn't find a heartbeat because of her own tremors, slowly carefully she pressed, there it was, faint and faltering, but Batty was still alive, unconcious and perhaps already dying, but for the moment, alive.
Somehow, she didn't know how she managed it but she hooked her paws under Battys' limp wings and dragged him back into the clearing, the moon was up and it was bright, there was still no sign of Phiresong and now more than ever when she needed him, Blacklock was also absent.
Winged-Teddy gathered up the still form of Batty in her arms and sat there rocking him, tears of anguish streaming down her face, she needed to get help, and the fastest way out of the forest into the outlands was to fly, and her puny little wings could barely lift her, let alone lift her high enough to fly over the tree tops.
Batty stirred and moved, he sighed and for a moment she couldn't feel his heart at all, he seemed to be sinking deeper and deeper in to a sleep from which she might never be able to wake him up from, this wasn't allowed to happen, from deep inside she felt a scream building, all the anger and hurt she had kept locked away built up into this roiling maelstrom in her mind, she would not let him die, she couldn't fail him in this way.
Unbidden the words of power formed in her head, she yelled them to the uncaring sky, her last desperate hope, there was an enormous thunderclap, and afterwards she was never sure if the noise was in her mind or some reaction from the power she unleashed.
If she had not been sitting on the ground the resultant rush of hot raw power would have knocked her to her knees, her fur stood on end and she glowed with a startling blue nimbus, lighting up the clearing and showing her plainly how sick Batty really was, she needed to fly, and fly fast, abruptly an image formed in her mind, YES, this one would do, slowly, carefully, she melded herself into the image, the cessation of the feeling of power was almost as startling as the arrival, but as she sat panting in the clearing her first thought was one of triumph, she had talent.
Laying Batty carefully on the ground and offering up a silent prayer that he would survive until she found help, she leapt of the ground, her wings lifting her effortlessly above the tree tops, many other things had changed along with her shape and species, she had other talents, she rapidly flew in the direction of where Blacklock customarily disapeared to and she began broadcasting her SOS message to Blacklock.
Just about when she thought that she would have to turn back she felt a faint featherlike touch on her mind, it was Blacklock, and he was coming, she turned back towards to the forest knowing that in his most powerful form that he would catch up and overtake her very shortly, she was not wrong, above her she felt the disturbance and the brief overshadowing of the moon as a huge shape flew by.
By the time she got back to the clearing Blacklock had resumed his customary Dragyn form and was waiting for her by Battys' still body, her heart in her mouth she crouched down by him, she breathed a sigh of relief, he was still alive, just.
Blacklock looked at her, 'Interesting shape, we shall talk more about this later, but for the moment, Batty is in danger, what happened?' She told him all that she knew, which wasn't much, Blacklock knowing Battys' almost insatiable curiosity came to the conclusion that it was almost certainly something Batty had ate, he'd been poisoned, now all they had to do was find what it was.
She began searching the clearing and in and around the edges, when that proved fruitless she took to the sky once more and searched at Batty height, it didn't take her long to find the strange fruit caught in the crook of the tree, she hooked her claws into it and dropped it on the ground in front of Blacklock, close examination revealed the small missing piece, she smelt Battys' breath and then the fruit, it was the same smell.
Blacklock looked at the fruit, he seemed suprised, he said 'This fruit does not usually grow in this area, let alone this country, how did it get to be in the tree, that is a mystery that must be solved, however now I know what it is, I can help Batty'. With that he changed forms and strode off into the forest, as many times as she had seen THAT particular transformation it still made her blood run cold, ingrained instincts and thousands of years of lore and superstition made it impossible to accept lightly.
About ten minutes later he came back bearing a small flask and a pungent smelling cloth, he pressed the cloth over Battys' nose and when Batty gasped for air he deftly tipped the contents of the flask down Battys' throat, almost unknowingly Winged-Teddy had resumed her original form, she held Batty closely and willed the antidote to work quickly, within seconds it seemed that Battys' heart was beating more strongly and soon, very soon he stirred and moved, his eyes opened and the first thing he saw was Winged-Teddy holding him with tears streaming down her furry face.
All sorts of questions sprang to mind, but for the moment he was too weak to care, he remembered confused images of flying and feeling ill and hitting the ground, and then nothing until this moment, from the corner of his eye he could see Blacklock, still in his other form holding a small flask, Winged-Teddy supported him as he sat up, Blacklock smiled at him, a rather fearful sight, 'Well it is good to see you with us again Master Batty, perhaps next time you will not be in such a hurry to eat strange fruit without first checking what it is, one more mouthful and we would be saying goodbye to you, instead of welcoming you back to the Kine, I'll leave it all to Winged-Teddy to explain, I must return to whence I was.'
Batty listened in stunned silence as Winged-Teddy told him all that happened, he found it rather hard to beleive until she gave him a demonstration of her new found power, her form shimmered and wavered in the moonlight, Batty gasped as he looked at an almost identical twin of himself, she laughed, 'I think i'm more fond of this shape now', and before his eyes she turned into small blue and white Dragon, about two foot tall, with a pair of powerful wings, 'I've always wanted to be a Dragon, and I think I need a new name, I think I'll call myself....Boodie.'
(c) Teddy 2003