The Dragon Prince: Between Tales

From the Depths

Everything felt strained; his muscles, his arms, his back, his relationship with Claudia. Terry was dragging Viren and Sir Sparklepuff on the sled across uneven ground, he grew more upset the farther he walked. Finally, anger had built up inside him, he turned around to address Claudia, but she was still standing where she nearly killed the second Frost Wyrm, the baby.

Terry squinted his eyes, trying to figure out what Claudia was doing, "Claudia!" he shouted.

Claudia's gaze was glossed over, she was only present in her mind, her thoughts paralyzed her. The voice in her head went on, "Who are you anymore? What have you become? You're a killer. For what? Power? Acceptance? Obedience? For Dad?"

"Claudia?" Terry said in a more gentle tone as her approached her. He looked at her face, then at her body language, he could tell that she was in shock. He wrapped his arms around her, their chests touching, his mouth next to her ear. He whispered, "You're safe," and rubbed the back of her head for comfort.

"I-" Claudia tried to speak, "I-" she started to say.

"It's okay," Terry said, "Can you walk?"

It took a couple of seconds, but Claudia nodded yes, her eyes were still vacant from emotion.

Terry grabbed her hand and led her over to the sled, he let go of her hand and picked up the sled, "Follow me," he said.

The closer they walked towards the oceans edge, the colder and more icy the wind became, it made their nose and fingers turn red. Terry's head dropped lower and lower the longer they walked, his head became a shield from the wind, protecting his nose from feeling bitten by the cold.

A few more steps into their trek and Terry's foot landed in shallow water. His boot soaked up the water immediately and with his eyes already looking down, he realized they had made it to the ocean. He stopped in his tracks, his head shot up, he wiped his nose with his wrist and looked at the beautifully vast waves in front of him.

"Claudia!" Terry exclaimed, "We made it!" He turned around and looked at Claudia with excitement on his face.

She was still numb of emotions, her stare hadn't changed the entire time. Her eyes lifted from the few feet in front of her to the white, crashing waves a hundred feet from the shore. The waves were beautiful, but violent. She took a deep breath in, closed her eyes, and breathed all the air out of her lungs. She opened her eyes and walked towards the water.

Terry watched as she rolled up her sleeves and stepped into the edge of the water, her demeanor had changed from absent to determined. But something was different.

Without warning, Claudia dived into the water.

"Claudia!?" Terry shouted as she disappeared under the water. He was panicked, waiting for her to break through the surface.

After a few minutes, she still hadn't come up for air, Terry began to pace back and forth. He was freezing and scared, he started to shiver. "Please," he begged to himself.

Claudia shot up through the waters' surface, she was gasping for air. After she took a couple deep breaths she began to walk towards the shore. Her clothes were heavy and slowed her down, her boots were full of water as she stepped through the smaller tides.

Terry watched as Claudia emerged from the ocean, he was almost in disbelief from the way she was acting. She had been emotionally numb and now she was certainly going to be physically numb. He took the blanket from on top of Viren and ran to Claudia.

She had Curlcorals in each hand, she dropped them in the sand and started to undo her jacket. Claudia dropped her jacket behind her then started to untie her dress from the back, it became loose enough to pull down. She stepped out of her heavy, soaked dress. It fell to the ground and she walked out of it towards Terry.