Murphy and Nalani

Chapter Five: Time

Murphy:
It's going on almost seven months now, almost seven months since I left home, and I can't believe it's been that long. It was getting late in the evening, the sunset was beautiful from what Nalani was telling me. All I could make out were colors of pink, purple, and orange, I know that my eyesight is nothing but a big blurry picture, but sometimes I can imagine things from my memory. Before I left Starlight Meadows, I knew how to talk to dragons directly to their face, because I remembered the image of them.  I guess I was blessed to haven't been born blind, or things may have been completely different.
  Anyway, with the sun going down and our wings and bodies were getting worn out; we decided to make camp on a nearby island. Nalani collected firewood in the forest, while I caught us some fish out of the creek that was next to our campsite; we cooked ourselves a seafood dinner as Nalani babbled on about the Hidden World. "I have my aunt who lives in the Hidden World; my Aunt Moonset is my mother's twin sister," Nalani exclaimed with a soft smile, it didn't take much to make her happy; I couldn't help but laugh at her. She may have been annoying for majority of our trip, but at least she's been chipper enough for the both of us.
"You don't say? Well at least you have family to go to, does she know about her sister dying?" I asked with concern.
"Well no, I haven't seen my aunt since our last visit— I don't know how she'll react to this." Nalani sighed with disappointment, I felt bad for even asking a question like that; what was I thinking?
"I'm sorry that I brought it up, I should've kept quiet," I remark with slight guilt. "Look why don't you get some rest, and I'll keep first watch, okay?"
Nalani seemed quieter than usual, and she just simply nodded her head; then she made herself comfortable for slumber. Hopefully, that when we do get to the Hidden World, that perhaps seeing this "Moonset" will cheer her up; I'll admit seeing her so downhearted is hard to witness. Nalani is supposed to be this upbeat, and happy dragon who doesn't let negativity take her down, but I suppose the happiest ones are perhaps the ones who've endured the most pain.
When Nalani told me what happened to her clan, I never realized that humans could be so cruel, but my mother told me that Grimmel succeeded in murdering all of the Night Fury population—my clan is all that's left. I suppose living up to those expectations after Queen Rane, it would be hard to simply migrate to another island; Starlight Meadows has always kept us safe. Even with the hunger that has struck the clan, I know Mother will stop at nothing to find them food; however that will be hard to do without leaving the comforts of our home. Maybe if the Hidden World is this safe haven that I've heard stories about; then maybe we could live there until Starlight Meadows replenished itself. I could help lead the migration, I know all of the safest islands to rest on; perhaps we could make it happen.
The sun is almost down, and the moon slowly rises into the open sky; I feel the coolness of the autumn breeze. The temperatures are getting colder, and the days are shorter; we could easily fly at night for it would be camouflage for me—but Nalani isn't a night person. I sit next to our fire pit as the flames of red, orange, and yellow sway and dance; the warmth blasts in my face that my cheeks fluster from the heat. I think back to the day of my banishment, my mother and father took me away from Stryker just for that; in the few minutes, we stood in complete silence. My mother took a deep breath as she was the first to speak, "Murphy, your father and I have been talking in these last couple of weeks, and we believe it's time for you to leave."
"What do you mean?" I asked with confusion.
"Murphy, what your mother means is that we've decided that you don't belong here anymore," My father replied with a hint of hesitation, I could tell he didn't want this— most likely just stuck up for my mother like he always did.
"I can't believe this, you're banishing me?!" I scoffed with slight amusement, "On what grounds do you have to do that, I'm your daughter, and not to mention that I'm the next heir."
Moondust stomped her paw onto the ground, it was enough to shut me up, for I knew my mother wasn't to be messed with; she may have been crippled, but she knew how to show her strength to those beneath her. "Show respect for your Alphas! You don't get to speak to us that way," Mother barked aggressively.
"Respect? That's kind of hard to do since you don't treat me with any," I remarked crossly. "There's no way you're going through with this, please tell me you're both pulling some practical joke."
"I'm afraid not my Daughter, we both thought long and hard about our decision;" Dad replied.
"Was it really your decision Dad, or did Mother pressure you to agree with her?" I asked curiously, I never believed my father would go forward with such a thing; "The spawn of Queen Rane is at it again."
My mother grew furious with me, her demeanor went from civil to anger real quick; before Dad could stop her she shoved me which caused me to fall to the ground. I heard her lowly growl at me, and I thought she was going to attack me; she refrained from doing so. "Don't you dare compare me to that tyrant, we let you stick around longer than we should have; you asked us to give you time to heal." Mother stated firmly, "What say, you Daughter? Tell us your eyes are healed."
I didn't respond right away, I couldn't give her the answer she wanted; I stayed on the ground as I turned away from her glance. "That's what I thought, get up young dragon, your legs aren't broken— just your eyes," My mother walked back to where she was sitting, I brought myself to stand again; it didn't hurt when she pushed me. I just didn't remember my mother being so cold, she was always a dragon I had respected, but for her to act so distant towards me—why couldn't she see this wasn't my fault?
"Moondust, there's no reason to be cruel!" My dad remarked firmly, "Murphy is still our daughter."
"What does it matter Starling?" Mother roared, "We can't be artless to what's just plainly seen."
"And what is that, Mother?" I asked in disbelief.
"That you are unfit to be Alpha." Mother spoke those words with such confidence, I rolled my eyes at her.
"That's not true, I am a leader regardless of my injury, just like you and just like Storm." I mentioned resolutely, "You both were injured while fighting, you were protecting our clan for the best outcome. I can lead our clan to a better future."
"Our pack can't survive with a blind Queen, we can't afford to jeopardize our pack, and the sooner you're gone the safer everyone would be."
"Mother, how can you say something like that to me?!" I tried to remain calm, but I had enough of her speaking to me like that. "It's not like I asked for this, you're my parents and you're supposed to love me no matter what!"
"We have to think about what's best for everyone, and this is how we do that; I'm sorry Murphy." Mother stated firmly, "But this is no longer your home, this how our pack laws work."
"Mother, please don't do this!" I felt tears of anger and hurt stream down my face. Moondust looked away from me, but I swore I heard the hurt in her voice; maybe she secretly hated the moment like I did.
"I'm sorry young Fury, but you best be on your way; my daughter is dead and I must mourn her death." She spoke softly, I thought I saw a tear fall onto the ground; and without much thought— I took off flying in the air.
The sound of Nalani whimpering in her sleep bounces me back to the present, I turn my head to see her crying as streams of tears roll off her face; she is having a bad dream. I quickly run to her, I attempt to wake her up by shaking her with my paws.
"Nalani, wake up!"
Nalani:
"Nalani! Wake up!" Murphy screams in my ear, I immediately jolt awake from the sound of her alert voice; I wake up in a slight panic. I breathe heavily as I try to realize what was going on, and I wipe the tears from my face; Murphy looks at me with concern. "Nalani, it's okay you were just having a nightmare. Just breathe." She remarks with encouragement, I don't even hesitate to hug Murphy; I just needed a friend to comfort me.
"I'm sorry Murphy, I didn't mean to do that," I explain with a hint of embarrassment.
"It's okay, you have nothing to apologize for," Murphy replies as she awkwardly hugs me back; I think I surprised her with the sudden embrace. "Are you okay, I've never seen you so scared before."
I break away from the hug, I am hesitant to share the contents of my nightmare; especially since Murphy already has problems of her own. I'm sure the last thing she wants is to worry about mine, "It's nothing, just a bad dream; there's no need to make a fuss over it," I remark as I turn away from Murphy's gaze, I see how tired she looks. I decide to take my shift as our night watch, I never liked the night it was always scary, dark, and cold.
"You seem exhausted Murphy, you should get some sleep, I'll keep watch for a little while," I say with a simple nod of my head, I'm already awake so I might as well; Murphy keeps looking at me— I can feel the concern from her.
"Please Murphy, stop staring at me," I mumble under my breath, I never have been one to get annoyed, but she had nothing to worry about.
"I'm not going to sleep until you tell me what's wrong," Murphy speaks firmly. "It isn't nothing, I know it wasn't trust me I've been there."
Murphy is one stubborn dragon, she sits next to me as she waits for me to say something; "I don't like the nighttime, nothing comes of it, just bad things." I reply with disgust.
"Well, that doesn't sound like the bouncy, annoyingly happy Nalani," Murphy remarks with a small chuckle. "You're usually raving about all the beautiful things of the world, I figured the night would be no different."
"What do you mean?" I ask curiously, Murphy points her paw to the midnight blue sky, I see the bright, full moon shine its beam throughout the night; I am reminded of the horrible screams of the dragons of Moonburn.
"Look at the moon Nalani, it won't hurt you, and with each new night; the more peaceful things become," Murphy begins with encouragement.
I recollect myself and I look at the moon one more time, and something about it seems beautiful. The way the beam gracefully touches the ocean and the trees; maybe my friend is onto something.
"And if you look closely, you'll see the white dots glitter across the sky, some twinkle and some are still," Murphy remarks casually.
"Stars, they are so pretty the way they glimmer in the night sky," I reply with a pleasant smile, for a dragon who is blind she knows how to see the beauty beyond her sight.
"And if you listen carefully, you can hear the sounds of creatures who live during the night," Murphy exclaims. "Owls, crickets, and even wolves roam the nighttime."
I suddenly feel better from Murphy's little therapy session, she handled the situation far better than I ever could; her demeanor reminded me of my mother. Queen Gala was a gracious and noble leader, and many dragons loved her; it is too bad Murphy was exiled from her home— she would've been an amazing Queen. "Thank you, Murphy, I feel better now."
"You're welcome Nalani," Murphy replies with a simple smile.
I listen to some wolves howling in the distance, the night is still young and it sounds so stupid to do; which is why I want to do it. "Let's howl like we're wolves!" I exclaim with excitement, "It sounds like fun!"
"Oh Gods no, I'm going to sleep now," Murphy begins to walk away, and I begin to howl at the moon, or whatever it is wolves do. "Nalani, stop it!"
"Oh lighten up Murphy, try it you'll be surprised how fun this is," I remark with a chuckle, "Ahh Wooo!"
Murphy looks hesitant about it at first, but slowly she gives in to the temptation; she looks to the moon and lets out a howl. I notice the almost child-like wonder fill her eyes, she is finally letting herself have some fun; she's always been so serious since the day I met her. But she finally is enjoying herself, and she deserves to after all she's been through; who knows how long she's needed this. She releases another howl and I join her with a great big, "Ahh Woo!" I giggle uncontrollably, we were both having so much fun.
Vesta:
It was late at night, my friend Haru and I were sent to scout this island, well actually I don't know the reason for it. "Haru, what are we doing out here?" I ask with a hint of confusion, Haru is a female Nightlight or so that's what the humans call it; to me, she just looks like a Light Fury only she has green eyes instead of blue. Her mother is a Light Fury and her father is a Night Fury, so I get Nightlight fits; anyway back to what we were doing. "Why did your parents want us to be out here again?"
"Oh my parents didn't order us to be here, I just wanted to get away from Rane," Haru chuckles with a soft grin. "Seren already has to deal with the blasphemy about Ezra from Rane, I don't want her chasing my only friend away."
"Yeah, she is quite the nuisance to be around; I can't believe she hates me," I remark with disappointment, well I know why she does, but it's something Haru knows nothing about it. She just knows that I'm Storm Fury, but what she doesn't know is that I'm a descendent of Blackbear. He was my grandfather, and I'm more than aware of what he had done; I honestly was glad when I heard that he died. He deserved it for murdering Night Furies, and he's the reason our alliance broke with them.
The Storm Fury packs have been divided for many seasons now, some approved of Blackbear's resolve for eradicating our allies; while others disapproved of the whole thing. It was one of the reasons my family separated, my mother Elara hated our grandfather for it. My father Haze supported his father in his efforts, one night he forced me and my younger brother Kason to leave with him. We traveled with a group led by a Storm Fury named Novak, he was a close childhood friend of Blackbear, and he was one of the first to join his band to help Grimmel.
My mother tried to fight our father to take us back, but Novak attacked her and killing her right in front of Kason and me. Kason broke out of my father's embrace and ran to our mother's dead body; Novak grabbed him by his neck. He pressed his teeth into him, and snapped his neck within seconds; I remember being enraged by this. "No! Little brother!" I screamed with angry tears and I attempted to attack a grown dragon; even though I was only ten years old— I was determined to avenge my brother and my mother.
I lunged at Novak as I pounced onto his back, I bit off his ear with such force that blood splashed in my face; he screamed in pain as he managed to roll onto the ground. He used his weight to get me off him, I lost my breath when his heavy body pushed it out of my lungs; he stood up with his paws holding me down. I coughed as I tried to recollect my breath, my father feared for my life for a moment, but he wasn't going to stop Novak from hurting me.
"Novak, please she's young, don't hurt her!" My father exclaimed with worry in his voice, my mother and brother were already dead, so what made him care about me?
"No Haze, this little brat will learn not to cross me!" Novak barked with a sneer, he could see that I was struggling to break free, he looked at me without remorse; he didn't care that I was the granddaughter of Blackbear. "You will respect me, if you try that again you end up just like your mother and brother!"
He struck his claws against my chest, and I couldn't help but cry out in discomfort; blood streamed down my body. I coughed from the trauma, Novak had no sympathy for me; "Get up! You'll learn to be a dragon killer in no time," Novak spoke sternly.
"I don't want to be a lowlife like you are, only cowards kill innocent dragons!" I cried with so much anger in me, I honestly didn't care that I almost bled out. "I hope you burn in hell like Blackbear!"
"You little ingrate, it's because of Blackbear you're alive right now!" Novak roared with his teeth bearing at me. "I guess I need to make an example of you!"
My father stood between me and Novak, which caught us both by surprise; "That won't be necessary Novak, she is my child and you will not lay another claw on her!" He remarked firmly, this was the first and last time my father would ever stand up for me. Novak and my father exchanged a couple of distasteful looks at each other, and Novak refrained from moving forward.
"You better put your child in check, before I kill the little harlot!" Novak lowly growled at my father, "You won't always be able to protect her!"
"As long as I'm still alive, I will!" Father remarked crossly, "You may have been Blackbear's friend, but I am his son and you will not talk to us in any way, are we understood Novak?"
"Vesta!" I heard Haru's voice which catches me off guard, I just zoned out for a moment; I tend to do that. "Vesta, are you okay? Why are you crying?"
"I'm sorry Har, I was just thinking about something." I signed with slight embarrassment, I didn't realize that I was crying.
"You were thinking about them weren't you?" Haru asks, but I believe she already knows the answer to that question. I look away from her, but she wraps her arms around me with a warm hug. I break down with tears, I don't even know why I am so emotional right now.
"It's okay Vesta, you're safe now, Novak and Haze are gone and they can't hurt you anymore," Haru encourages with her soft voice.
"I know that, and you're right," I reply as I wipe the tears from my face, "I'm sorry for being this emotional wreck."
"It's okay Vesta, you have nothing to apologize for; I know it still bothers you," Haru remarks with understanding. "That's why you're my best friend Vesta, so I can be there for you; just like you're always there for me!"
"Thanks, Haru, you always know how to make me feel better," I reply with a smile.
"What are friends for? See even grumpy dragons like you can have emotions," Haru chuckles.
"Yeah I know I can have emotions, I just don't like them." We both find ourselves almost dying of laughter, then the sound of dragons howling interrupt us. Haru immediately jumps up, I listen as a Light Fury and a Night Fury roar in the distance.
"What are your parents doing here? We're they following us?" I asked curiously.
"I wonder what's going on, do you think Seren has had her eggs laid yet?" Haru asked with a touch of concern, Haru's older sister Seren has been expecting to lay eggs any day now.
Before I knew it Haru begins to run in the direction of the howling dragons, maybe her parents wanted to find us because of Seren and Ezra; Haru was fast for a little dragon. I was only taller than her by a little bit, but Haru was always a short dragon, and I honestly don't think she'll grow any bigger than what she is now. I try to keep up with her when I here Haru gasp and I thought she was in trouble. Before I can stop to think, I pounce onto a Light Fury with purple eyes; and the dragon behind her pushed me off the Light Fury.
I was shoved a couple of feet, just before I could collect myself, I thought I was going crazy when I first saw her. But I look to see a Night Fury in front of me, another Night Fury with white eyes readied herself to defend her Light Fury friend. I growled at both of them as I stood between them and Haru, Haru looked in awe at what she saw because aside from her father and sister; she has never seen another Night Fury. Come to think of it, I had never seen one either until I met King Toothless and now this stranger before us.
"You're a Night Fury!" Haru remarks with excitement.