1 Goodbye to a Little Dragon

"Sonata, my child. You are in danger, surrounded by a world of enemies."

The dragon's stormy voice hissed like the soft yet encasing wind that blew into the cold, dark cavern as it fell upon the ears of the smaller figure dressed in green, her head pressed against her mother's scales.

"I will search out your father, but to do that, I must leave you here."

A small shiver ran up the girl's back. She tried to hide it, but she felt her core going weak. She didn't move her head from being pressed on the edge of the dragon's snout. Her face would give away her fear, and she would let her weakness slip, and if this was like any other conversation they'd had, anything she tried to say after would be promptly ignored as a tantrum.

"Do you understand, Sonata? I cannot take you along, because on this journey I cannot guarantee your safety."

There it was. Sonata lifted her face, her wide, glossy eyes staring towards the dragon's blue ones as it moved away. She tried to hold on to her mother, but she moved too far away, and her feet wouldn't move when she asked them to. Her hands remained where they'd been, as though mummified around an object that was no longer there. Her cheeks were reddened by the cold.

Don't leave.

"I need you to take care of your sister until I return."

No sounds came out, just wide green eyes staring upwards in a frown. An argument it wasn't her place to have, the fear seeping into her skin with the cold.

"Do not stray far from the cave"

There it was.

"Do not let anyone see you, let alone in your dragon form"

There it was. Did she even care wether she was okay with this? Did she even that she wasn't confident at all she could survive a week in this foreign place? Fear bubbled up from sonata's stomach, but also anger. Petty anger of the moment stubborned her hands into little fists by her sides.

"Do not, under any circumstances, give out your true name."

Sonata turned her frowning face downwards. She didn't deserve her gaze if she wasn't going to acknowledge her. She could talk to the back of her head for all she cared.

"Can I entrust you with this task, Sonata?"

Mamá, don't go. Please don't go.

A shiver rattled her elbows as a droplet threatened something in her frozen chest. Sonata kept her eyes averted, her fists pressed into tight balls. But she lifted her head.

"B-but" Her voice failed her. She cringed.

"There are no 'but's' in this situation, child." The dragon's rumbling but feminine voice calmly reverberated. "It is a yes or no answer."

Sonata looked up. Don't go. Mama, don't go. Please don't leave me all alone.

"Wether you answer one or the other, I depart either way."

Again, no sound came out. She was usually an outspoken ball of fire when it came to her parents.

"Your answer.."

Maybe it was because of all that had happened. Maybe it was because she was scared to wake her sister, just a few yards away.

"...merely rules..."

Was it self loathing? Maybe she deserved to be left here, really. She was a terrible dragon, and in all that time all she really did was fight with her parents.

"...the ease with which I do it."

I'm sorry, so don't leave me. Please don't leave me.

She felt tears begin to weight upon her bottom lids and cloud her vision. She could feel the cold stare of those large blue slitted eyes. If she reached up to wipe them away, would she take notice of them?

Her feet moved until her hands reached midnight black scales, her straight white hair falling over her face like the vines of a willow tree.

"Má..."She felt herself being cut off before anything even happened. But if she could only speak, she might prevent what was to come. If she was only stronger, her words might be heard before it was too late. If she was only loved, she might have been noticed for how paralyzed and trembling her body was.

Please, please don't leave me here. I'm scared. I don't want to be alone. I'll go with you, I can be strong if you're there with me.

She felt a small nudge against her chin. The little dragon's eyes were squeezed shut.

"Do you remember that time when you were small? You told me you would defend your baby sister from the entirety of royal court, if you had to. Where has all that courage gone now?"

Sonata stared blankly as the dragon once again pulled away, towering over her with an expectant gaze. Her open hand receded into a weakened clasp in the chilly summer air. Her head slowly fell with her arm into a weakened nod.

"How long will you be gone?" The girl's detached voice nearly whispered.

The dragon sighed. Sonata felt warm smoke tickle her cheeks and pinched her nose shut as the wave of black clouds engulfed and left her.

"I do not know, Sonata. It took a long time to come here, and it will take a long time to go back. When I find your father and all is safe, I will come for you."

Sonata's head darker up with an alarmed frown. That was hardly a time range. How could she know if that meant weeks or months, if she didn't find father at all and just didn't come back. If her mother got hurt and never returned? What if she died?

Sonata held out her arm, her light brown cloak fluttering in the aftermath of the the sudden, abrupt movement.

"Pinky promise. You have to pinky promise you'll come back safely." Sonata urged. Her voice was a little broken, but her eyes were fixed into a determined glare.

The looming dragoness cocked her head. "...Strange child. You fear not for your own, but your parent's safety?"

"If you break the promise you have to swallow a hun...fifty swords"

The dragon blinked.

"And how do you expect to make me do that if you aren't present to see?"

"You'll give your word so you have to."

"...Very well, I will accept those terms."

The dragon sat up, it's towering head nearly hitting the top of the cave. But then it shoot its' head, black scales unfurling into curls undoing into the form of a giant woman in a silky blue dress the same color as her dark, icy eyes, a night colored coat lined with white fur clasped across her shoulders. The queen's cold expression remained, her face pinched into a chilling smirk, as though she was above it all.

That wasn't what phased Sonata, though. She looked from her mother's much larger hand to her little pinky, imagining how easy it would be to snap the tiny digit, and almost pulled it away.

Hestia tilted her head, her long, composed curls trickling onto her shoulder. "Is this good enough for your 'pinky promise,' or do you require a smaller form?"

The larger figure's voice was a little scarier now, almost as though it were toying with her. She was terrifying at this size, she always was. How could there be such a lack of sympathy from someone who'd been as small as Sonata was some time ago? Well, that was a couple hundred years ago, so perhaps she truly didn't know.

"Um, smaller please." Sonata craned her neck in an attempt to make eye contact and avoid her mother's wrath.

The dragoness shrunk a little more, rested her head on her palm as she leaned over the smaller figure. "Hm. How about this, then?" She toyed, holding out her pinkie, her hand still almost the size of Sonata's entire body.

Sonata blinked, looked down at her hand, and then looked up again. "You're only supposed to lose a pinky if you break your promise. I don't want to risk losing an entire arm for nothing." She cringed, thought about it, then looked up. "Mamá, do a me-sized—please!"

"Do a me sized?" Hestia's voice darkened do disappointment. "That is not how you speak to royalty, Sonata."

Sonata curled her hands around fabric of her woolen overdress, beneath the cloak. "Could you shrink down to my size, please?" She corrected herself.

"Yes, I shall."

She was suddenly closer, the afterimage of her larger form still blinking in and out of Sonata's vision. Hestia held out her little finger, and sonata followed.

"I promise to safely return for my children once I find Antonius and the coast is clear."

"I promise to stay here and take care of my sister until Mamá comes back."

Their fingers intertwined, then rocked up and down three times, and were separated.

Before she knew it, a warm, heavy cloak was wrapped around her body.

"Keep this. It will keep you safe."

Hestia's forehead was pressed against Sonata's. She couldn't decide if it was affection or playfulness. If she loved her, why was she leaving her behind?

Don't go. Please don't go.

"....You smell like pine."

Sonata stared blankly at the figure before her. Would it be okay to scream and cry right now that she didn't want to be left alone? Would she be taken seriously if she said she was scared to be left alone in a strange place?

"..You smell like a lot of perfume." Sonata huffed out from her nose, trying to clear her palette of that harsh intrusion. "Perfume and stress."

"Heh."

The hands she hadn't even noticed wrapping around her were gone, and Hestia was standing up. Her small fingers weakly wove themselves into the fabric of her mother's dress, and felt it slip away like sand.

The woman stared down at her one final time, and slightly truck out her flattened tongue in a gesture of endearment.

Staring longingly as Hestia resumed her prior form, Sonata did it back.

And then she was alone.

The crackling of fire in the distance was the loudest thing in the eerie cavern. Sonata's eyes were glued to the spot where her mother had disappeared to, for some time, her hands clutching the heavy cloak, the soft draft wind tickling her wispy hair.

SLIIP

The heavy cloak slipped from her shoulders and dropped in a puddle on the ground. Sonata tore her eyes away, wiping her face as she walked towards the fire, dragging the cloak behind her as she went.

"Hah" The smallest of gasps caught her ears. Sonata barely caught the blond haired child tuck her face back into the sheets, the crackling fire illuminating her curly hair.

Sonata sighed.

She dragged the cloak the rest of the way, rubbing her eyes, and dropped it over both of them as she curled up besides the smaller figure. She felt a shift in the sheets as the smaller one looked up again, those same green eyes teeming with questions. Sonata pushed it back from where it'd come, barely mumbling "G...sleep...m..ning..."