~. thorns and roses .~

1

((Small warning, most of the important stuff that the characters do alone, or when they go separate ways in general, will probably be from Cody's view, or at least following his POV, for now. I have only watched Cody's video's, so y e a h . I'll try to watch the others as soon as possible though 😓))

>. Ezra's POV .<

I awoke to a sharp pain shooting through my head, harsh tapping coming from the door. With a pained, and annoyed, groan, I stumbled out of bed. As I moved I managed to tear off the few things I had atop my bed, which in itself had been made of hay with a poor excuse of a sheet thrown atop it.

My feet dragged against the soggy wooden boards that made up the bottom of my house, the continued tapping from the door drowning out the 'drip drop' of rain from the previous night. My pale hand gently grasped the door handle, as I almost tore the door off it's hinges trying to open it. And to make matters worse, I ALSO almost got hit in the face by the hand that had been tapping the door.

I heard a squeak and a female voice apologizing, as they had been clearly taken aback by the door suddenly opening. Prying open my eyes one by one, I came face to face with my sister. "Oh.. Nymph.. hi..-" I murmured, not bothering to accept her apology, lifting a hand to wipe away the blurry sleep from my eyes.

Any sincerity draining away, my sister's face became stern as she glowered down at me, standing a good three inches taller then my own height at 5"1. "Did you forget?" She snapped, putting her hands atop her hips in a 'I have power over you' type of way.

A confused look spread across my face, my eyebrows furrowing. "Forget.. what..?-" I slowly drawled, hoping I didn't forget someone's birthday or something.

Nymph let out an exasperated sigh, lifting up one hand to brush away fiery red hair from her face. "Do I need remind you? Today is the day I'm going to be leaving for good." She snapped.

Recognition flooded my features as I looked at the red head, eyes widening. "W-await- That's today? As in- today, today?" The question spewed past my lips, as I desperately fought tears from building up in my eyes. How could I have forgotten? The day she and Crimson, her dragon, would set off on the journey that would change her life. Nymph had already been approaching the age of her mid-twenties, and was tired of taking care of her helpless sister, also known as me.

Nymph sighed once more, however this one had been more genuine, and full of pity. She reached a hand up to brush my bangs out of my eyes, "Hey.. It'll be okay.." She murmured soothingly, her arms wrapping around my smaller form, to pull me into a tight hug.

My gaze drifted up to her, my gaze full of sorrow. "Do you really have to leave? What if you get hurt and-" The words had been cut off, as she placed a soft finger on my lips, making me fall silent.

"I'll be okay, I promise, Ezra. And so will you. Your dragon will be hatching soon enough, and you'll have someone to protect you other than me." She stated. A dreadful sigh escaped me as I returned my gaze to the ground. I had almost forgotten.

You see, I come from an interesting family, to say the least. Long, long ago, our ancestors had angered the God's greatly, and they put a curse upon them, and the family of theirs to come. This curse was put upon my ancestors for their actions. Their actions had harmed many, and helped many. So, in return they gained a curse, one that could be used to help, or one that could kill us all. Every member of the Rydell family was to be born, attached to a dragon egg.

This egg, could be found in many different ways. For some, it was the egg of previous family dragons. For others, it was an egg that came out of the blue, ranging from being dropped from the mother dragon herself, to being found in the riverbanks. You may be wondering, how would they know which dragon was theirs? Well, they are connected, their life source. If a baby does not find their egg before their 3rd birthday, the baby will pass, as will the dragon. When a baby finds the dragon egg, a blue lights will emit from the baby's chest, and the dragon's chest. And from then on, they will keep each other alive.

Now that may sound like an amazing thing, to be destined to be a dragon rider. However, that's where the curse part comes in. Since the dragon and rider are connected, if one dies.. so does the other. There have been very few cases where someone has lived over a hundred years, because both they and their dragon have stayed alive. However, there have been many, many cases where the dragon has died, and the rider soon after, as well as vice versa. Years and years ago, Nymph and I's Mother and Father has gone out for a patrol. They had gone too close to the Empire's borders, and a ballista was shot through our Mother's dragon's heart. The dragon died within minutes, and days later, Mother passed as well.

Both Father and his dragon had fallen into a great state of depression and grief, which had stricken Father ill. And weeks after, he, too, passed away. His dragon ran, and hasn't been seen since. No one knows where it went, or whether it is dead or not. Nymph had been 15 at the time, and I had been 13.
O
Now with that out of the way, usually a rider's dragon will hatch soon after they find it. However, it is the exact opposite for me. You see, I have had my egg since I was the age of 2 years old, and it has yet to hatch. Hence why Nymph has stayed to take care of me for so long. You see.. I tend to lack in the strength department. It'd like Odin had took one look at me and thought, 'Hey, I feel like making a stupid noodle.' Then BAM! There I am.

"I know Nymph.. I just.. I'm going to miss you, you know?" I spoke up after what seemed like a long silence. Lifting my head up a little bit, I cast a glance to the corner of my hut, seeing the faint peach colored glow shining through a blanket that had been tossed over it. The peach color that emit from the egg matched that of my own hair. However the outer shell of the egg was pure black, with a few silver colored scales dotted here and there. And surprise surprise, the silver color that graced the egg matched that of my eyes.

"I know, Ezra. But I promise I'll still be there for you, whether you can see me or not." Nymph stated, her voice full of utter determination. A small smile graced my lips as I held out my hand, and stuck out my pinky.

     "Pinky promise?"

     "Pinky promise."