~Chapter Two~
Prince Citron. What a title for me. I guess that explains a lot. Why my mother was hugging the king so casually. And why my father was so excited to see him. But not why my older sister was barking at him, or why that brown wolf tried to take me. And why wasn’t my other brother trying to stop her. Where was he?
A toucan puffed out it’s chest at Citron, as he ed it on a well-built stone walkway.
“Do that again and I’ll rip your feathers out.” Acacia said. Citron snapped, in confusion. Until he saw the same toucan now cowering in his large nest. Shivering as if he didn’t still have his warm feathers, to protect him.
“Don’t worry about those birds. They act like they own this jungle. But don’t know how easy it is to get captured by one of us. Their meat makes quite a good stew, actually. You’d love it! It tastes just like chicken.”
Smelter gave Fennec a wary glance. The king wanted them to him and Citron, on their search for Sparrow. He was supposed to be in another healer’s hut, just down this twisting path.
Dragonflies swarmed around Nightgazer. She didn’t seem to mind though, she happily let them fly near her bushy tail. A lemur had set its self on her head, and had been sitting there for a while. She reached into her satchel, that Sparrow had brought her for a thank you gift after she healed his bloody injury.
Nightgazer pulled out a small mango from her bag, handing it to the furry animal. It happily took it and chopped a big bite, ripping through the peel. Making the orange juice spill on the MoonPaw’s head. Which, attracted more insects, to bustle over her. The lemur swatted them away with his tail, and continued chewing.
She’s too amazing to be my friend. But we are friends, and I don’t really see why she wants to be mine. I guess I’m just that hopeless, in seeing the good in myself. But Nightgazer . . .she can see the good in the worst of others.
A leafy structure came into view. Vines wrapped around it lifting it high in the air.
Flowers were growing in multiple places, leaving the air in a magnificent assortment of kind smells. Bees buzzed near them, collecting the precious pollen. Then carrying it away, to be made into sweet, tasty honey later.
Giggling could be heard from beyond the curtains, that were made from big leaves, and a blue shrub. King Acacia, swept it open. Inside Sparrow lay on a risen bed, with feathers and grass.
One ochre wolf, held out his black and grey wing. Examining it with great curiosity. Another sat beside him, a pink rose sticking out of her curled tail.
She was laughing at something Sparrow had said, because he had a bright smile on his face. Canary softly growled at her, and him.
Jealousy was never something she was known for. And it didn’t look pleasant on her face. Sparrow turned to the wolflings, keeping his smile on. He leaped off his bed, and ran towards Canary.
“Canary!” he screamed excited. Sparrow wrapped his wings around her, squeezing her with all the warmth, and care in the world.
Her jealous snarl melted away, into a kind, gentle smile. The one that said, “I missed you. Even if it were for a brief moment”. The rose, and ochre wolf glared at her. As if they though he’d fallen in love with them, with in only half an hour.
“I was worried about you. Which I shouldn’t have been. You’re the fiercest wolfling in the world. What could I be worried about? You stubbing a claw?” Canary playfully shoved him a bit. Making the two wolves look even angrier.
“King Acacia.” said a yellow dragon from the back. He was applying some white ointment, to a pink baby dragon with a burn mark on his talon. His mother was close rubbing his head affectionately. After putting a small bandage on the dragon, and giving him a honey lollipop, he turned to the king, with a tired expression.
“It’s nice to see you. Rose and, Moss were searching for you.” He gestured towards the same two wolves, who glared at Canary.
“When you brought this wolf in for his healing, they seemed to get distracted.” He shifted his gaze to them for a slight second, then he whirled back to the king.
“Well, what did you need me for?” said Acacia looking down at his ring infested paws. Rose, pushed Moss forward.
“She found another snake, in the jungle! This one was a big anaconda!” Moss straightened herself.
“No, Rose! It was a soul serpent! The deadliest snake in the jungle!” Moss said. Rose stared down, nodding.
“That’s no good! We better capture it and bring it to the others. I’ll need one of you to come with me. Rose will do. So, Moss go find Panda, and Lilypad.” Rose jumped eagerly, while Moss marched through the door.
Moss gave Sparrow one more, longing glance, before sprinting down the pathway.
“This is so exciting!” Nightgazer said.
“A soul serpent! I’ve heard it killed the evil King Draco! How cool. I mean sad, but he was the worst anyways.”
Citron fixed the earrings his uncle gave him. Small rubies shined from the gold ring.
“Isn’t he the wolf that started the Lunar Eclipse? I’m not a big fan of it, but it is very lovely sometimes. Once it was held on my birthday! So, I spent the night on the highest platform in the kingdom. Surrounded by my wife, and pups. It was truly beautiful.” King Acacia said, scratching the dying bark off a tree. Jinx nodded, appreciating the knowledge that the king had.
“Here we are.” said Panda leading. She had a baby koala wrapped around her long neck, drinking a tiny bottle of cow’s milk. It was nesting in a big enough pouch to hold it.
“What is that.” the yellow dragon said. Lilypad patted the koala gently on the head
“Fuzzypaws. He’s a koala I found when I went on my first snake search. He was crying for his mother near a river. So, I took him back to my hut and kept him safe from the snakes. Later I found out his mother was eaten by one of the rampage serpents. Now he lives with me and my mate. Which may I remind you, Sandstone, is in fact you. I told you this about ten times, darling.” Lilypad said. Sandstone laughed.
“I know Lily, I’m just bothering you.” He reached out and ruffled the grey koala softly. Fuzzypaws touched his talon in response, recognizing him immediately.
Two different types of dragons falling in love? Now I’ve seen everything. How can they be fine with having so much differences? Their eggs will be hybrids. Weird. I wonder if the wolves of Talon Mark ever had hybrids. If we did, or do they’d probably been banished from their kingdom. Torn from being a normal citizen to a disgrace to their Clan. Well that would be a gruesome punishment, death would have been better.
“I wish I had an animal like Fuzzypaws or Spectrum. That trusts me like that, I mean” Nightgazer said. As if on command, the owl swooped down and landed on Canary’s shoulder. Holding a mouse in her beak, she threw it up and swallowed it within seconds. She’d disappeared from the group for while looking for a decent meal for herself. Canary scratched Spectrum on the chin.
“If we’re all ready, we can get down to the lower floors and search for the snake.” Acacia insisted.
The dragons agreed on gliding down with the wolflings on their backs. Except Sparrow, and Canary flew down by themselves. They chattered together, while dodging tree branches and large cranes flying by. Rose stared intently, at Sparrow and Canary. Not in a loving way, that Citron gazed at them. In a way that she wanted to rip them apart, and make them forget each other completely.
She’d barely even known them, why was she so hateful towards them? Did she feel the same way he did sometimes? Like not a single wolf or creature would ever love her? If she did, this was no way to cope with it. He would know.
The dragons touched down on the grassy floor. All the wolves jumped off, landing with a splash on the muddy ground. Mud! Citron sunk his paws deep in the brown thick puddle, under him. He took a deep breath, for the first time ever. Filling his lungs with fresh air, smelling of pine needles, and flower scents. It really was his home, the place he was born. Where he was made to be.
“Alright, let’s fan out. Panda, Rose, and Nightgazer will go east. Smelter, Fennec, and Lilypad go west. Canary, Sparrow, and Sandstone, south. Me, Citron, and Beetle will go north.” Citron scratched his ear. “Who’s Beetle?” Leaves fell from the treetops and a looming dragon dropped down.
“That would be me.” Sharp disks were attached to a sling on his side, beside throwing stars, and about fifty-pointed shuriken in a big pouch around his neck. A black scarf was wrapped around his snout, muffling his voice a little. A tattoo of a viper was on his forearm. His pure white scales shined in the high sun.
“Not to be rude, Uncle. But his scales are very flashy. If I were a snake, I’d run far from him, before he even got close.” Acacia laughed loudly. Then nudged Beetle a few times. The white dragon lifted up one of his talons to fix his scarf. Then slowly faded away into thin air.
“Where did he go?” Jinx said, putting out a paw to touch him. “Right here.” Beetle chuckled. Appearing beside Panda, who was a bit flushed when he showed up so close to her.
“How does that work?” Panda asked, looking him up and down. “My mother never hatched me correctly. She left me in the sun, and sand too long. So, my scales turned pale white. Instead of yellow like, Sandstone’s.” Canary gazed at his scales. “You’re supposed to be a Dune Dragon?” Beetle puffed out his chest.
“I am a Dune Dragon. Young wolf.” Panda looked at him for a moment, like finally seeing him for the first time ever. Then turned to rip the grass from the root, beneath her.
“So,” Beetle continued. “As a result, I have the ability to turn invisible. No matter how odd it sounds.” Acacia smiled. “And he’s perfect for catching a snake! They’ll never see him coming. Now that we know each other. Let’s split up. The quicker we find the serpent the sooner I can introduce my lost nephew to his parents.”
The groups dispersed. Going in all different directions. Beetle jingled with ever step he took. His disks clanked together with his shuriken pouch. He went silent when he put a black coat over them.
A silencer, how clever.
Rain began to fall a short hour after. Citron was drenched in seconds, from paw to tail tip. King Acacia draped his cape over his head, while lightly laughing at his nephew.
Maybe if I . . . Citron concentrated on the rain, and only the rain. How it pitter pattered on the trees, and slipped off of the leaves. How it made everything in the jungle go silent. And how it would float off of his fur when it landed on him. Beetle and Acacia were up a head so they wouldn’t see anything. A raindrop fell on his nose, then began floating upward back to the sky.
Yes!
Citron shook himself off, watching all the droplets gracefully return to the clouds. Beetle twitched and whizzed his head around. Citron had stopped before he had done this. The dragon sneezed, and turned, back to the path in front of him. Citron let the rain downpour on himself for another hour, thinking deeply about random things.
Pineapple. Who’s Pineapple? Or what’s Pineapple? Is it one of my favourite fruits, when I was young? Did I have a pet, monkey named Pineapple? No, that wouldn’t make much sense. GrassPaws only like fluffy, and cute animals. And a monkey doesn’t exactly, fit that description for me.
A lizard scampered over his claws, making him jump a bit. When he twitched his ears in surprise, he could hear the distant sound of slithering on the ground. Whipping his head around he saw, a scaly tail slipping through the mud, and under a bush.
“Uncle.” he said, in a whisper-shout. Acacia and Beetle faced him, “yes?”, the king said.
“The serpent. I believe it’s under these shrubs.” Citron explained. Beetle took out one of his pointed, shuriken silently shifting into the tree filled background. King Acacia gestured for Citron to come beside him. They huddled near, a bulking tree trunk, intensely watching the air for Beetle. Moments pasted, and nothing had happened. So, Citron began daydreaming, as he often did when bored. Softly closing his eyes gently. His head was swirling into a fragment of his dizzy mind.
“It’s quite nice to meet you, Prince Citron.” said a booming voice. “Who’s that?” Citron sai.
In the darkness of his head, a gigantic dragon came from the shadows. A big grin on his face. His wings flapped in, and out, up and down. Citron glared up at him.
“My name is Slayer. Soon to be King Slayer, once more. I’ve been watching you and your friends for quite some time now. You’re a bustling group of wolves! I’m surprised you had time to come to the jungle, searching for the Emerald of Earth and Grass. It’s a very beautiful jewel really. Such a powerful thing to have. Yet you can’t find it, when it’s right in front of you. Well beside you for the time being.”
Citron flexed his claws, thinking about what Slayer had proposed. “Beside me?” he echoed. Slayer nodded.
“ all that jewellery your gracious uncle is wearing. Within those treasures is a pair of earrings. More precise the one with green gemstones. Emeralds. Those are the Emeralds of Grass and Earth. And all you have to do is swap them out with the earrings you are currently wearing. But I wonder, will you do it? Will you take what is rightfully yours? Can you really be that courageous and smart?” Citron blinked fast, as Slayer stepped quickly up to him.
His body, now looming over the green wolf. Citron could feel his power erupting from Slayer, in heavy waves of air. Even if only in his head, the dragon was scary and devious looking.
“Most important though,” Slayer continued, taking another wide step. “Would you do that to the first wolf that ever showed you love and comion? To your own family? I’ll be watching, little prince. Waiting to see what you do next.”
Citron curled his tail inward. “Why should I believe you?”
Slayer grinned slowly slinking back into the darkness, of his mind.
Citron opened his eyes, to the sound of heavy breathing. It was his uncle. He was staring at the rain very intently.
Citron could see the soul serpent’s tail, shaking up and down. The snake was wrapped around a tree smelling the bark with its tongue. A purple and black pattern, rippled on its scales all the way down it’s body to the tail. What an odd tail it had. A venomous barb stuck from the tip, entwined with three more points on each side.
Like a scorpion it arched the tail in a menacing way, before it jabbed the barb through a bug. The insect fell to the floor, breaking out, with red streaks all over its thorax, and head. “Frightening isn’t it?” whispered Acacia. Citron slowly nodded, keeping his gaze on the snake. It felt as if he was in a trance.
Being hypnotized by the giant serpent. The reptile slithered over to the dead bug, swallowing it whole.
A glint, shined in Citron’s eyes. But nothing was near him, to be reflected off. Other than the raindrops that settled on the flowers, growing out of trunks, and long, mossy logs.
Beetle! he realized. He camouflaged himself, and his weapon? Using his abnormalities to his own advantage. Why don’t I ever do that? I can make things float! But I don’t even use it often. Not to mention my friends don’t know I can do it, no one does.
The rain began to come to a halt. Suddenly, Beetle was visible and throwing his shuriken at the snake. The venomous animal dodged it, swiftly, making it’s was down the trunk.
The silver-white dragon grabbed ten disks and flung them at the snake. It slipped past them, but not before a slash was made on its neck.
The soul serpent hissed at Beetle, who walked cautiously backwards deep into the jungle. The serpent sprung off the tree, fangs bared. Beetle opened his talon, and caught the creature abruptly. Taking a small knife from his pouch, when Acacia and Citron came closer.
“Beetle! You’re amazing! Isn’t he amazing, Citron?” Citron nodded eagerly.
“Impressive!” he agreed. Beetle smiled, cutting off the barb of the snake. Then putting it in his pouch, while grabbing a small vial.
He pressed down, on the soul serpent’s head. Spraying a green liquid, out of its fangs, into the vial, until it was filled. When it was full, he threw the snake on the floor.
The reptile was motionless, and is wasn’t hissing or even breathing. Beetle stomped on its stomach, making the snake shrivel up. It quickly turned to dust, and was swept up by the rain and wind. “I’ll go find the others. You can both return to the jungle central.” Beetle said putting a cork on the vial. Acacia nodded and Citron followed back to the others.
They all were back in the GrassPaw Village, by nightfall. The rain had stopped, leaving the area wet and glistening with droplets. Dragons returned to their homes.
Beetle stayed with Panda to examine the snake venom, and barb. So, they went to the lab to inspect it together.
Rose stepped up to Sparrow, with her flower still wrapped in her tail. Why does she have the rose? Why’s a sniveling shrub, so important? Ugh, it’s withering. I hate when flowers wither. They lose all their beauty, and grace. Like a dying gazelle.
“Hey Sparrow, can I ask you something? In private, please?” she said, glaring quickly at Canary.
“Of course, Rose. Meet me at the healers’ hut. I need to finish something here first.” Sparrow said. Rose excitedly nodded and skipped down to the hut. Canary growled after her. Sparrow chuckled at the blue wolf.
“What are you so worried about?” Canary gazed down at her paws. “Well, I . . .” she started, then trailed off. “Ah ha!” Sparrow said. “You do love me! I knew it. You can’t just ignore your feelings Canary. In fact, you should embrace them. Because I feel the same way. And don’t bother worrying about, Rose. I have no intention in falling in love with some desperate, turquoise wolf. After all I have the most stunning wolf in all of Talon Mark.” The sides of his mouth curved into a charming smile.
Canary pulled the fur in her eyes over her face. Shielding her blushing red cheeks. Sparrow nuzzled his nose against hers before he flew down to the hut. Citron cleared his through, feeling a bit awkward just standing there. But not so much as he thought he would. Nightgazer, Jinx, Smelter and Fennec were all beside him. King Acacia came strutting down a pathway, with Queen Tropic in tow. She wasn’t wearing all of her jewellery anymore, just a small diamond beside her nose.
“Citron, it’s almost night time, you should be in your hut! Sleeping like a baby koala, as your mother always says. Queen Tropics will show where your dear friends can stay for tonight. It’s a lovely hut in the trees, near a glorious waterfall. Tigers keep their cubs there sometimes. If you’re lucky you’ll see one tonight. And the view of the stars! How gorgeous it is at night.”
The wolflings smiled, kindly to the giddy king.
“It is lovely. Now let me show you all to it.” Queen Tropic said.
His friends followed her to the hut, while Citron tried keeping up with his uncle. They came up to a big trunk of a tree. Stairs swirled upward from the platform, they stood on. Citron couldn’t see anything from above, not even when he squinted his eyes. He had to walk up them, as his uncle was already half way ahead.
Butterflies fluttered their delicate wings, slowly, drifting to their own sweet dreams. Probably about delicious flowers, or becoming the most gorgeous out of all of the others. Coming out of their cocoons once again, spreading beautiful wings with ripples colors and patterns. Then going out and exploring the jugle with them, not a care in the world.
Lucky insects, Citron thought.
Heart-shaped leaves drifted softly to the stairs, as he stepped on them. The steps seemed to be made from a thick bark, like from the trees deeper in the jungle. They were painted a dark indigo and violet color. Quite elegant for a tree.
“Aha!” declared King Acacia.
Citron picked up his pace, skipping over a few steps. Acacia was on the top platform looking, proudly, at poorly drawn pictures. A roof made from the tree’s leaves sheltered the small roof perfectly. Moonlight, squeezed in through the tiny openings, cut out like lurking pandas, jaguars, and tigers. A few, shaped like pineapples, and jambu fruit.
“Do you these?” Acacia said reaching out to touch a drawing of a disfigured reptile.
“You used to love drawing; they were always so strange though.” He pointed to the same drawing.
“Apparently that’s a dragon. Which was very odd, since we’d never seen dragons before three years ago. And you would have been in that cave then.”
The king ripped the picture from its hanging on the wall. Taking his claw, he drew a circle around the drawn dragon. Paint blots of white and silver were splattered all over the paper. Glitter shined in the moonlight. A purple and black, scribble ran down the talons of the big figure. Black lines were attached to the white dragon. Two green shapes were beside it, with what looked like tails pouring out from the backs of them. Citron studied the paper for a full minute.
“I don’t recall it. But of course, I was really young when I drew it.”
Acacia nodded; a bit saddened.
“Well I have a weird, really strange, theory about why you drew those drawings.” Citron leaned in, wondering what his uncle thought. Would this finally answer all the questions he had bottled up inside? Would this answer why he was so different and awkward? And why I can make things float?
“You see. Every ten years royal heirs are born with extraordinary powers, like reading minds, creating fires, shapeshifting and turning invisible. There are other gifts the wolf could have, but those are the only ones we’ve found so far. And this happens because King Draco is our ancestor.” Citron raised an eyebrow.
“Heh! Let me explain. Draco was once in love with a Grass Paw. Decades ago, really. He was only king for thirty years by the time he first visited the jungle. A wolf named Waterfall was a helper for him on his visit. She was sweet, kind, and generous to the king. He ired her presence and irations for him. So, he fell in love with her, and so did she.”
Was that even allowed back then? King Draco was an evil guy, how could anyone love him? He created this stupid Lunar Eclipse! The whole reason we’re looking for some gemstones. But then again, Waterfall loved him, and he loved her more than anyone else. So, I guess it could work out.
“They had pups together and raised them separately. King Draco took a daughter, Princess Comet. She looked most like a MoonPaw so no one would be too suspicious of her. Waterfall took another daughter, Princess Amazon. Their Clans didn’t question them at all. At that time wolves we’re as judgemental as they are now. If there was a new pup, that was good for the next generations, to have more options. Later on, Amazon fell in love with the GrassPaw prince. Prince Spruce, my great-great grandfather. And so, the powers of King Draco were ed on to generations and generations for the GrassPaw royal family. While King Draco, when he came in search of Waterfall, was bitten by a soul serpent and turned ill immediately. It was saddening for the Clan; he was our ancestor. But a cruel one. And he met his maker a bit too early.”
“Hm, makes sense of my sharp claws and big ears.” Citron said.
“Ha, ha!” laughed Acacia.
“Oh, Citron my sensible nephew. Your claws and ears just run in the family, your sister and father have the same thing. I don’t have any of those things, but that’s because my father didn’t like disfigured wolves. That they weren’t part of the family. So, every strange thing he found on his children he would fix it, straight away. I used to have a lopsided ear you know, until Father but a stick to keep it upright. I had it for over a year, I looked like a idiotic howler monkey. I tell you he surely was Draco’s descendant.”
The king laughed to himself once again.
Citron picked up a stuffed animal. It was a tiger with dark black thread for whiskers and stripes, and bright orange for the fur. Its tail hung on a thin thread.
“Your mother made that. You used to love chewing on it when you were born. She’d been sewing it together for the full two months you were in her stomach. That’s why we made this play room for you. Because your mother loves you so much, and the whole family misses you. So tomorrow we’ll have a feast to celebrate your arrival. And of course, the arrivals of the wolflings of promise! It will be so grand!”
Citron tossed the stuffed tiger from one paw to the other. iring the great shape, it was in for being here for thirteen years. He sniffed the fabric, inhaling a fait scent of lavender.
Mother’s scent. I think she smells like this. I mean her garden did have many lavender plants. If I can correctly.
“You can sleep here tonight, if you please.” Acacia stood at the edge of the staircase, smiling.
“Really? Are you sure?” Citron said.
The king nodded then made his way back to the below platform.
The green wolf rested his body on a large rose gold pillow. He curled his tail in front of him, starring through the leafy roof. The stars twinkled in the illuminating night sky.
Looks kinda like Nightgazer, and her purple fur. With the swirls of black and white that appeared when she gets anxious. And the specks of silver and blue on her ears and face.
An image of his MoonPaw friend was the last thing he thought of, before sleep over came him.
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