23. Flightless

Time...

Such unforgiving concept.

Given to all equally...

Yet non not die without regret.

All choices made in joy or anger...

Some wrong, some Right...

At end, All forgotten.

Joy forgotten,

Sorrow forgotten,

Memories forgotten,

Time forgotten,

Hope forgotten,

Dreams forgotten,

All that was left was self, even that was forgotten.

Yet I roam this void with no destination, swimming in the serenity of the comfortable silence. For this was not about the never ending journey...

But the fucking insanity of it all!

WHERE IN THE FLOPPING HELL AM I?!!!

WHY THE FUCK AM I EVEN HERE?!!!

ARRHHHHHHGGGGGGG!!!

I can't remember why I am here or what kind of place this is! I am just walking around in this darkness! I am more baffled as to how I am not scared of this never ending darkness.

This is shit!

This is insane!

I have been walking around for hours!

AHHHHHHHHH, I could only shout and collapse to the floor. I don't even remember my name. I have no recollection of who I was before. I just know I am not dead, that's all. All my instinct tells me is I am alive.

Maybe I am in coma,

Probably,

AHHHHHHHH, Its so annoying.

I wave my hands around in tantrum, hitting the soft ground. This all black background is driving me insane. I need to get the here out of here before I go completely bonkers. Who knows, I might already have.

Fuck this!

I am going to sleep, I will deal with this later. I am too tired to deal with this now.

I decided to sleep and closed my eyes. I laid their for moments before I realized sleep was not possible. My mind was too wake to.

I just laid looking into the darkness with nothing on my mind. Normally, my mind would race thousand thought a minute but this peace kept my mind still.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

This is so annoying!

Why am I here? I don't wanna be here! I wanna go watch some cat video's, see some anime, read some manga. Why the fuck am I stuck here?

I am going to cry about it!

This is too much for my simple mind.

[ You are awake ]

aaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

I screamed like a pinched chimpanzee at the sudden appeared of the golden words. I wasn't expecting light in the darkness. Don't tell me its God!

[ You are back to normal ]

I heard a voice speak in my head in a different language I didn't recognize but I understood it. What the heck is going on? I have finally gone insane.

[ Not yet, at least fully ]

Huh?

[ Time to get up ]

What?

[ Lijen, it's time to wake up ]

Who is this speaking?

I asked, lowering my crossed arms, looking at the golden light that was writing in the void.

[ Memory Laps ]

Do I know you?

[ Yes ]

Hmmm.... Do you know how I can get out of this place?

[ Yes ]

How?

[ Like this ]

[o(￣▽￣)o ⇑]

I looked up to the direction the arrow was pointing only to see lightning branch down as it descended in its raging fury. I didn't even the have the time to react before the whole world turned white.

~Swish~

The sound of breeze first, second was the sense of gravity. I flickered my eyes open. The light was too intense, taking me a minute to adjust. I could smell the burnt wood with each breath. My eyes adjusted, revealing sky blue.

Then a face of a chicken.

~Aaahh~

I freaked and scrambled to get up, falling face first without balance. My face digging into the soft ground which helped me clam a bit. I just laid like that for a moment as my awareness caught up and I remembered.

I remember, I am a Dragon now.

A shiver ran down my body as I finally woke up. I felt like something that was moved, fitting back into place. I shook my face to removed the dirt and pushed myself up, all four limbs strong. I shook my body and turned around.

I saw the chicken that scared me to death look at me worriedly. She cocked her head from side to side, looking at me, her red comb waving.

I walked to her and pet her head.

I am fine

I am but why? I looked around, surveying my surrounding. I was standing on a land covered in black ash. All the trees I could see were black and lifeless. To my back was a pond of clear water. There were also clear signs of fight.

This place was evident of destruction.

Fight happened but who's? Hmm? Urg... I remember. I was fighting the Alligator.

Alarms rung in my head as I jumped away from the pond and surveyed my surrounding for threat. I was guarded, and was not going to let it down. I don't know where the alligator went but I need to leave now!

I picked Fluffy and jumped, flapping my wings to ascend. However, my body twisted due to the imbalance between my wings and I crashed through the burnt trees. I fell with a thud clearing ashes around.

Shit!

I couldn't help but curse. I got up and looked around for Fluffy, who I had thrown. I saw her frantically flap her wings as she fell. I saw her as she landed carefully before I turned to check myself.

I opened my wings, my left one was okay. However, I froze when I turn to the other. My heart froze and lump formed on my throat. A phantom pain coursed through my body. A voice telling me to not turn. I felt horror, yet I turned.

I looked at my wing...

I gazed at my right wing, one that was torn by the teeth of a predator. An anger, a rage that I have never know boiled as memories of my encounter resurfaced. The pain and despair I felt through each moment, hoping to get out of that situation.

I relived every second of it.

I remembered the thousand pain as my wings were ripped.

My one new experience that kept me hopeful of this new life. One that helped me dream, unbound. How can one not dream to fly? Yet...yet, I have lost mine. Such pain, such anguish, Such rage!

Why? Why me?!!

I was just a normal guy?!!

Why do you show me the skies and drop me to earth?!!

~ROAR~

I cried to the heavens.

A roar of pain and anger, Cry of a little dragon that had lost its flight. Of sorrow that he will never fly again. This was unfair, for he had not even seen the sky's limit nor have he flown in a journey of thousand skied, yet he was now flightless. Lost that was precious without ever getting to experience it more.

Lijen cried for the first time since his arrival as he lost.

The wind nuzzled around Lijen, trying to sooth his cry. She hugged the hatchling as his heart broke. She wished she had protected him, but no. She was bound, she could not interfere in the fate of others. She was chained to this world, watching forever as her children killed themselves.

She could only watch...

Nature took presidence, Fate commanded all.

One bound by it cannot disobey it.

Fate was unfair.

Fate was cruel.

Fate was an arsehole,

Yet today, her own had lost something previous, a part of them while she failed to protect them. She could only sooth the soul of her crying child. She could only hug her child. How much she wished she could do more.

Lijen cried. Cried until his tears ran dry and his body tired.

Lijen slowly fell to the ground asleep.

The wind gently lowered him down as a raging tornado that tore tall trees ravaged the forest. She was angry, angry at herself. The wind only grew more rageful as clouds gathered. Lightning flashed like Dragon's roar, the whole demonic forest shaking in its thunder.

...

Thunder and lightning raged across the forest, scaring the many beast that resided it. The beasts ran and hid in their holes, away from the open land. The could sense it in their gut that the nature was angry. The cultivators that roamed the forest ran away, hiding from the lightning storm or using their tailsmen or formation to protect themselves. They didn't want to challenge lightning, Even though they have survived the tribulation to advance.

~crick crack shlip~

"Urg." A groan escaped Baiyun's red lips as the rock she was trying to hold broke of.

The broken shard fell into the darkness of the Abyssal maw. She was hanging close to the wall her bloody fingers holding tightly to the dear life of her. Thunder struck shaking the whole Abyssal maw. Her foothold threaten to slip but she held on to life.

She brushed her hand and griped the broken crack, tugging to make sure it will hold on before resting her weight. She then removed her other hand and reached for the small hold above. She pushed with her legs and jumped, reaching for the hold above.

She held the crave with her full grip as she search place her leg to where she was holding before. She then looked for the others holding when lightning struck down, illuminating the Abyssal maw and shaking the ball.

Baiyun gritted and held close to the wall. She could have used her dagger to create a hold in the crack but the lightning storm was extremely dangerous for her to use the metallic weapon. So, she used her hands to climb.

She found another hold, one that took a bit to reach. She gathered herself and jumped up to hold, but the hold was sharp, ripping her fingers. But Baiyun held on, even as her blood flowed. She would let go as she propped herself before she continued.

She had been climbing for the last three days without sleep, yet she was not even near the top. Moreover, there were only so many places she could hold onto and rest. She had to prop her dagger into a crack to even catch a break to get her Qi back.

Most of the wall was dull in many places due to the winds that blew, causing her to climbed down and try another path. Some holds were too sharp, tearing her fingers. But she not cared for the pain or blood, she wanted to survive and it was more important to her.

So, she climbed even with all the odds against her. Even when she her fingers tore, even when her body gave up. She kept climbing. She had two lifetime to life and she was not going to do that.

And today especially with all the lightning making her climb worse. She had to expend more strength to keep from slipping down. But she cared not, as she jumped to the next holding only for it to break, but Baiyun reacted and stabbed the dagger where the hold broke, lodging it into the crack.

However, she quickly found a holding near and moved to it as a lightning descended, sticking the dagger immediately. The wall shattered as more crack appeared in place. Baiyun extended her hand and quickly pulled the dagger into her pocket ring, allowing the shattered rock to fall into the abyss.

Baiyun was not dumb to hold the crack as they were still hot but she moved away and began to climb in another direction. She still had a long way to go and she was not going to die today.