Steel stepped through the spot where a wall had previously been, blinking in the sunlight. Alora kept a hand on her neck, walking through and gently guiding her.
"It's alright, just keep moving forward...." Alora murmured softly, as people began staring at the silvery dragon and blue-haired girl stepping through.
"Where are we?" Steel responded, keeping her head low and avoiding the eyes.
"Pick up your head. Look people in the eyes, and stay expressionless. Don't appear broken. Show you're in control," Alora said, holding her own head high and shoulders back. She appeared relaxed and confident as whispers floated around them.
Steel took a deep breath and lifted her deep blue-purple eyes, gazing at the people around her. Her head rose as well, and she fixed an unconcerned expression on her face.
Alora stopped, and Steel followed her lead, looking up and around her. She was in an arena. They were in an area that looked like it was used for fighting.
Growls.
Anger.
A small dragon, staring at her in an arena like this one.
Whispers of a rebellion.
Steel shook her head, and her mind snapped out of cloudy memories. She swayed on her talons, and Alora looked at her, concerned.
"Steel...?" She muttered, a worried edge to her voice.
Steel closed her eyes tightly and focused on breathing. "I remember being somewhere like this and fighting.... I think."
"Ah. So you're that one..." Alora responded quietly. "Yeah, I watched you on the TV in my dad's lab... you put up an insane fight."
Steel looked at her out of the corner of her eyes but stayed silent. She would ask her more about that later.
"Now, we're in the arena. Time for us to practice flying. Fly then!" Alora commanded.
Steel glared at her. "Uh- do not tell me what to do."
Alora laughed. "I know, but I wanted to see what you'd do. You're the first Lunarwing I've interacted with in my 18 years... Gotta see how you'll act, right?"
Steel rolled her eyes but allowed herself a chuckle before spreading her wings and winking at the small girl. "You might not make it past these 18 years if you're not careful." She took off, leaving a small plume of dust in her wake and smirking inwardly as she heard the blue-haired human cough and respond with a loud "Really?!"
Aaaand maybe the last Nemo post??
Steel flew around the arena, ignoring the girl standing in the middle, watching her every move.
Questions swirled around in her head.
Trust her? Don't trust her?
She hissed at herself, and flapped her wings harder. She turned her body, so her stomach was brushing the rounded walls, and began flying hard. She was sideways, almost like a tornado.
This was not like normal flying, but strangely, she loved it. It allowed for her wings to go on autopilot while she thought. Out of the corner of her eyes, she focused through the blur and saw Alora pull out a book and sit down, pencil tucked behind her ear. The girl began sketching something.
Steel slowed down. She reached out her talons, and pushed off of the side of the walls, drifting to the ground behind the small figure and landing lightly.
She quietly approached, and peered over Alora's shoulder.
Her mouth opened in surprise.
It was her.
But- it wasn't.
It was grander.
Larger.
Thinner.
....Prettier?
Alora looked up from her drawing, and when she didn't see Steel, turned her head.
"Gah!" She yelped, jumping and dropping her book.
"Sorry- Sorry!" Steel said hurriedly, her warping quickly appearing and forming a disc that scooped up the precious book before it hit the ground. "I was just curious what was going on- what you were drawing."
Alora avoided the curious eyes as she accepted the book back from the offering disc.
"Don't worry about it." She muttered, her good mood gone.
"Alora- I'm sorry I- I wasn't trying to snoop..." Steel began, then stopped.
What was she doing?? Apologizing when she hadn't done anything wrong?
"Actually I'm not sorry. What were those sketches? They were really good, and I liked them. Why are you keeping them secret?"
Alora's head snapped up, and she stared at Steel. "Wait- you liked them?? My dad always said it was silly!" She blurted, and Steel blinked.
"Well he's dumb." She said bluntly. "They're awesome."
The human smiled slightly. "They're just illustrations for something bigger." She admitted, and as a tiny smile crept onto her face, Steel had the feeling the girl had wanted to say this for a while.
"What is it?" The dragon asked, sitting down in the middle of the arena and shifting so she was comfortable. Alora scooched closer, and leaned close to open her book.
Steel almost fell over. She saw pages and pages of hurried writing, and though it was messy and chaotic, it was filled with a sense of organization.
"See these crazy little spirals and stars in the corners? Yeah, I start to get distracted sometimes-"
"Shut up." Steel breathed. "Turn the pages."
Alora closed her mouth and silently flipped through.
There were incredible sketches of each of the different dragon tribes, and each one had almost more detail than even Steel knew of. Each scale was shaded delicately.
"I guess... maybe I'm writing a story. No, not maybe. I really am. This is just my thought-book." Alora said softly, leaning against Steel's side and staring at the open book in her hands.
Wordlessly, Steel shook her head.
"How is it that you replicated every shade of every color I've ever seen. How did you make them so vibrant, so- so- striking?" She asked quietly.
Alora shrugged.
"Humans are stupid. We ruin lands, we take over, we rampage, we destroy. But like every other creature, we create."
Steel moved her tail, wrapping it gently around the human and pulling her a little bit closer. She laid down a bit, and rested her chin on the arena floor. Her eyes closed slightly, as she listened to Alora speak in her delightfully smooth Dragon tongue.
"We create. We love. We inspire. Humans write to create worlds that can't be imagined, so that someone
can imagine. I mean, think about the word 'imagine'."
Steel opened her eyes, and turned her head to look at the blue haired girl leaning against her silver scales.
"Imagine if a child read my story someday and was inspired." Alora said softly, looking into the distance.
Steel smiled almost imperceptibly.
She could think of an 'imagine' too.
Imagine a dragon and human understanding each other's hearts.
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