Journey log -Entry 36 : Little Dragon | Teen Ink

Journey log -Entry 36 : Little Dragon

June 3, 2019
By anson825, Oakland, California
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anson825, Oakland, California
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I am just an observer who passes through different worlds. I just want to simply enjoy and observe my surrounding of each world and give me ideas for my research. This time, set my foot on the land of Tessera and I experienced an amazing interaction.

Tessera, a land full of mythical and powerful beings and had so much life on it.  One particular that all creatures either admire or fear were the dragons. They were strong, fierce, and intelligent when it comes to their survival. However, while there is the strong, there will always be the weak.

It was during a season quite similar to that of spring in our world, but instead it is referred as Exploding Season. Not only do vibrant-colored plants bloom and creatures give birth or migrate to different part of the land, but it was also the hatching season for the notorious fire breathing dragons, hence the “ Exploding” part.

Upon the mountains surround Tessera’s only gigantic volcano, Kalserv swoops around the summits of the mountains, calling and signalling his herd of dragons to begin the hatching event. Kalserv is the alpha leader of the herd. Dragons have their own leadership system , similar system to how a pack of wolves work, where everyone would have to obey and follow the strongest member.

Kalserv soared through the skies quickly and powerfully, with every beat of his wings he created a strong gust pushing downwards making  the trees shake violently, and the speed creates this ghoulish sound within the winds. The blue scales in his body reflects brightly from the shine of the sun as he flies, making it look like a lighting strike in day time. He truly was one of the strongest dragons there is. Kalserv then landed on a mountain top, stomping his feet onto the ground so hard that it creates dust flying and sensation of earthquakes. He then roared into the sky,  creating an echo within the mountains, and once again creating shock waves that shook the trees nearby. Words coming from him can be clearly heard from even where I was observing, which was pretty far from where he was: “ Come, fellow brethrens! It is time for us to see the next generation come!” After hearing that, male dragons with colors of either blue or red gathered and lined up on the edge of the volcano’s mouth. The females, whose colors were orange or white and about the same size as the males, instead flew into the mouth and used magic to create this cooled-lava platform hovering in the center of the mouth. They then proceed to place their eggs and joined their mates.

Fire dragon’s hatching event was a beautiful scenery. The sun was shining brightly upon differently colored eggs, making them shine in a particular and undescribable way. As time went on, the eggs began to emit smoke. This was the first signal that the eggs were about to hatch. Suddenly, like firecrackers, the eggs cracked and exploded violently. Egg shells pieces began to fly everywhere like a fireworks show as the explosions were getting stronger. These eggshells were like giant bullets, capable to break through boulders about five feet thick. The shells , however, don’t seem to bother the dragon’s hard, thick skins. I got more closer to get a better view and obtain some samples of the shells.

Once the explosion stopped and the smoke faded away, all the adult fire dragons flew to the platform to see their newborn children. Some had one child while other many, the highest amount being five. I noticed when I got closer that parents with only one child were somewhat more happy than the ones that had multiple .Turns out that it is believed that having an only child is prefered especially in the dragon community, since all the powers form the parents can all go into that one child rather than divided among the siblings. It was also safer since there were instances where siblings will murder and eat one  another to attaining more power.

One baby that caught my attention in particular was the child of Kalserv and his mate Hitu. Emerged from the egg, it was a blue dragon with white stripes, had little wings and mysterious star-like eyes. None of the other baby dragons had such unique pattern and details on them. Kalserv and Hitu decided to name the little dragon Apu. Not only was little Apu the only child of the chief of a dragon herd, thus he was highly respected, but there was something odd or different comparing him from the other baby dragons aside from his looks. The situation just got a little more interesting and it resulted in me staying more than I intended to.

A few months have passed ever since the Exploding season, now it is the Wither season. Wither season is like autumn, where life such as plants now begin to die, and some creatures prep for hibernation in the winter, but that was not the only thing of course, at least not for the fire dragons. During this season, the fire dragons must migrate to warmer areas, not only for tradition but also for survival. Fire dragons cannot produce strong fire power as they could in warmer times, thus making them vulnerable for attacks from other powerful mythical creatures, like frost giants or other dragons. In addition, there is a requirement for a sacrifice : the weakest dragon of the next generation must stay behind and die.

Currently, the dragons grew to their moderate size. When they were born, the were simply about six inches tall with giant heads, nothing special. They now mostly stand at  about eight feet tall on all four legs, possibly ten feet long with tail and four feet wide, with wing span estimate of twelve feet. All of them were about these measurements, well, all but for Apu. Unfortunately for Apu, he three feet tall, five feet long with tail and two feet wide, and with a wing span of six; basically the considered size of a dragon toddler. Unlike the other dragons, not only is he small, but he cannot use magic, fire power, nor flight capabilities. Kalserv and Hitu did not understand why their son was this puny, and neither did I. Apu was different indeed, but in terms of personality. He always liked to enjoy himself with the wild life, hanging out and playing with other creatures, while the rest of the other dragons simply rampage their ways and toying or abusing their surrounding ruthlessly.Aside from that, there wasn’t any difference between him and other dragons, like diet and activity. Kalserv and Hitu even tried to make Apu the strongest of the next generation so that he could lead them. They always give him extra food, extra training and lessons. They gave him so much up to the point where they didn’t want Apu to become a leader, but just to survive.  But all now we see is the biggest disappointment to the dragon herd.

Apu was immediately elected to be a candidate for a little tournament to see who will be the next dragon that gets left behind. Not even his father can save him. Now was the time for the fight. Apu must face another dragon who was thought to be perhaps the second weakest of the group . The battle commenced once the sun rose. Apu may be small, but he is fast and can get strong grips. However, the opponent not only has his size and toughness to give him the advantage, he got magic and flight; the two things that Apu lacked. There were so much action happening. Both dragons’ tails there slamming towards one another in lightning fast speeds like swords and spears clashing. Apu tried to slam his attacker against a wall but he was simply too small. The dragon knocked Apu back and pursue him from above. Whenever the opponent repeats to fly up high and attempted to dive and pick Apu like birds hunting fish, Apu simply hid under or close to rocks. So opponent threw blasts everywhere, destroying and heating up boulders around. This was a smart move since now Apu has nowhere else to hide if the opponent decides to fly. At last, the dragon came down flying and slammed Apu onto a nearby wall. Apu was overwhelmed by the force and defeated. The opponent the easily  lifted him up and tossed down the mountain, hitting boulders and cliffs and down into the forests. The opponent’s family was very happy, while Kalserv and Hitu said nothing. As soon as the fight was over, I saw the dragon herd flew away for migration. Kalserv did not even bat an eye to look down.

Apu got up from where he fell. He too saw his herd fly, leaving him behind. He tried very hard flapping his wings to catch up , but couldn’t. He began to limping through the forest with his injuries. His little horn was dented, bruises and damaged scale can be visible, and his arm was possible broken judging by the way he held onto the arm.  He was not experienced with these parts of the forests. There were numerous dangerous creature that lurk during Wither season, which is why he was never really allowed to wander in certain parts of the forests, and he happens to be in that part he was restricted from. The forests of Tessera have creatures like big wolves, snake leeches, drill birds, and much more that will easily kill something that is the size of Apu. In addition, Apu was very injured. It was soon night time, and Apu has not stopped walking since the disappearance of his herd. As he walked he stumbled across a creature that he had never seen or heard of before: a being that was able to stand perfectly on two legs, tall and odd looking . A human. Me. Of course, he was frightened. As soon as I tried to interact with him, he tried throwing rocks and sticks at me, which hurt. Apu made a snarling face and began growling at me. I could try to shoot him with a sleeping dart, but his throws are making me unable to get a good shot. But while I was dealing with Apu, I heard nearby a noise. It sounded like a hissing sound combined with some clicking. That is the sound of a snake leech; gigantic, elongated leeches with high mobility.They will attach on to a victim that have weak skin with their fangs and cannot be removed until they suck the last drop of blood from you. After that they swallow your remains. This wouldn’t be a threat to normal dragons, but Apu’s skin  and scales were underdeveloped, softer than usual. The leeches would easily pierce through his skin and mine. Every second attempting to calm Apu down adds more to the chances that we both get eaten.I had no choice but to pick up Apu and put him in a bag, and made a run for it. While running I can hear the hissing and clicking become louder, and to make things worse Apu was tearing through the bag with his claws and teeth. I had to hold him in a way that will slow me down, but will prevent Apu from moving his arms and opening his mouth so he wouldn’t destroy the bag. I crashed through branches, disturbed and attracted angry creatures along the way, and nearly fell into the river when crossing a log.

When I finally got safely into the lab, I open the bag. Apu came out fidgeting with fear and confusion was written all over his face. I shot him with a neutralizer immediately before he can react. I the placed him in a room by himself where he could see me and I could see him and he could see me through a glass wall. The moment he opened his eyes, he began to unleash this cry and started to dash around the room before he to his time and observe his surrounding. Once he calmed down, I proceed by tapping on that glass. He tried to ram through it, but this was a special type of glass I made from sands on the beach of Tessera that can even withstand  nuclear blasts. Knowing that he cannot do anything, he calmed down. I began to speak to him and he was surprised that we both have a common tongue. Apu asked many questions, such as where I am from, who am I, and what is my purpose. I told him who or what I am is not really important, and that he should be more concern with what he himself will do now.

I planned an estimate of him staying for about three weeks to fully recover. While he stayed, I learned many things as did he. I ask him about more information of life in Tessera and dragon’s way of acting and culture. He learned about some equipment and identifying objects from my world and some that were not known initially from his own world.  I then asked him what would he do after those three weeks. Apu said he did not know. He said he was the weakest of one of the most feared creatures in Tessera. Apu was haunted by his own weakness, the memory of that fall off the mountain still burned in his head. He stares out into the moon every night, making this sound almost as if he was crying for something. I knew I had to do something to help him, in addition I was planning to leave soon if all things go well, I could not stay here.

I proceeded to make him two things that would possible help him survive: robots. I made two robots for him. The first one is a bowl shape that can help him simply maneuver around the area better. It was a cockpit that had a bowl shape for the body, two legs, two arms that have clamps, and a final gigantic arm in the back that can help him reach things.  This machines was made from minerals and metal found in Tessera, since I thought it would be better to have some materials from Tessera itself to prevent any damage on the land, for instance, if I were to bring an element from my world not found here, the it will spread and could cause mutation or damage on Tessera. This robot has a seat for Apu on top allowing him to travel around and make him feel a little taller. It has some basic knowledge and database of all life forms on the land. It also has a long lasting battery life of eighteen hours. The second robot’s design is when I thought that Apu needs to look as fierce as a dragon; so I made it look like a seven foot tall and fifteen feet long metallic dragon. It again was made from the minerals and metal of Tessera. I  included two different generators: a solar generator and lunar generator, able to store and use energy from the moon and the sun at the same time It can shoot energy blasts from its mouth and soar in high roaring speeds , as fast as Kalserv. The dragon robot can be piloted when the first robot attaches properly into the hole on the dragon’s back, as well as charging the initial bowl shape robot. The metal for the skin was nearly as hard as the normal fire dragon’s skin, I even added an option to put the special nuclear-proof glass I made over Apu’s head if he wanted to in the cockpit. The moment I finished, I let Apu test drive it. He was very happy the moment he was able to fly high into the sky emit blue energy flames from his ride, and lifting and throwing boulders. He was finally able to live up to the same, if not surpassing, the strength of his father. I added a fail safe because of that. The moment I can detect that Apu would begin damage on Tessera like a maniac, the robots will self destruct once I allow it. It also can sense the life force of Apu, meaning once he dies both machine will also self destruct in order to prevent anyone else from getting the machines.After a few more tests it was time for me to leave and I left Apu with the machine and best of luck and a promise that I will return. Of Course, I made him promise to not mention me. I the warped back to my own world.

When I did return after some time, I saw a herd of fire dragon flying above me immediately once I stepped out of my warp entrance. I didn’t detect that my machine was used for a rampage, and I wanted to check on Apu. I then notice a glimmering dragon, and a color not usual compare to other dragons. When I looked carefully, it was my metallic dragon I built, and the other dragons were following it. It was Apu, and he became a strong dragon leader for his herd.  Apu told something about me to the dragons,but as something completely different. He told his dragons that a made up celestial creature granted him a wish, kind of like a fairy tale. Either way, I was glad to see him happy with his herd.



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