Reminisce & Return [WIP - Latest: A Need for Training]

30 Years Ago
https://youtu.be/TL9vcwq7w4o?t=40s


The feeling of eyes on the Amethyst's form were not lost on her, as much as she may have misunderstood it. In her mind, she was being assessed and evaluated. It caused her posture to straighten and her clawed hands to clasp in front of herself like the proper and well-behaved dragoness her mother had raised and conditioned. Her chin inclined - negotiations felt to her like they were crawling. She felt uncomfortable and rigid, silently cursing the Sapphire male with the wandering eye. To say she was relieved when negotiations completed would have been an understatement.

Still, throughout it all, she showed nothing of this discomfort. It was an art that her mother had driven into her, perfecting it to a science. Instilled in her was the same silver tongue and typically cool exterior the rest of her clan possessed, but something kept her from embracing it entirely.

As soon as the summit was adjourned, Sililuuth turned to make an abrupt exit so she could return home... and her steps were abruptly paused by the sound of her name reaching her ears.

"Itheik (Wait), Sililuuth." The Sapphire. Her eyes narrowed and her shoulders stiffened. She gently cursed under her breath, shook her tension, and turned on her heel to face the approaching dragon.

"Svant! Ava'yorn..." Her voice trailed off and she paused to look at him like he was insane. He'd stepped unexpectedly close; one eyebrow lifted in his direction as he did. "It is... good to see you. Is there something I can help you with? Do we need to make further arrangements?"

"Is that all you think of?" The question caused her to mentally recoil. What on earth was he talking about? "Anytime I speak to you, all you can think to speak of are diplomatic matters. Not once have you spoken to me on a personal level, though I have offered plenty of myself."

Sililuuth's eyes went wide as she thought on this. Funny: all that time, she had taken him for a self-absorbed meathead who only cared for himself. Was Svant trying to invite her to get to open up all along? Eesh. She'd always been told females were the more complicated of the two genders. What was this madness?

"I have tried discretion; perhaps another approach is necessary." Svant's moving closer did nothing to ease her nerves. Her eyes remained owl-like as she stared up at him and stiffened, unsure of what to do. She'd focused so much on her mother's lessons that she'd left no room for matters of the heart; the Sapphire before her seemed to have embraced the opposite. It was courage and control that kept her from recoiling as a sparkling, blue-hued hand moved to her cheek and teasingly grazed her jawline. "I know nothing of you, Sililuuth, but I know you well enough to know I want to discover more. I merely request that you grant me that chance."

Svant was at least respectful enough to push things too far. There was a faint bumping of horns as he bent down to rest his forehead to hers. Something in those actions caused her guard to weaken. Maybe she felt guilty for not reciprocating, or maybe she simply longed for attention that didn't involve trade sanctions or diplomacy or pleasantries that seemed to go on forever. "... Call me Sili, please." It was the tiniest of pieces of information - her preference - but it was a step toward opening up. It was something she had not requested before of anyone. Her head turned, a violet cheek brushed against glimmering blue...

"Sililuuth!"

And just like that, she was snapped out of it, her mother Vorel's voice enough of a surprise to be jarring. She scrambled back away from Svant and looked frantically toward her mother, who sharply grasped her arm and snatched her farther away from her would-be suitor.

"Had I known you were going to fraternize so freely with the males at this summit, I would have come in your place." Vorel had never appeared so displeased in front of Sili, but she seemed to be making a point. As she dragged her daughter through the caverns and toward the exit, the younger female looked over her shoulder toward Svant.

And for the first time since she was a mere juvenile, a flicker of remorse peeked across her features.

287 years ago

Young Sili twirled a small collection of gems in her clawed hands. She was still getting used to the idea of a hybrid form, but she much enjoyed it: the mix of scales and a humanoid figure made it easy to preserve her pride while easily traversing the caverns. She hummed as she began to juggle a few gems, blindly shambling about the room as a result of her uncoordinated juggling. Occasionally, though she lacked grace yet in this form, she tried to catch a single gem in her mouth, causing her steps to also move backward. She beamed as her antics went unnoticed.

... Or so she thought.

"This child..." Vorel trailed off as she looked toward her mate, Bekiw. "She is... strange. Should we really leave the clan in her hands when we are no more? There is not a single dragon within our clan who I can recall behaving like this one..." Her words were murmured so that only the male could hear them; all Sili heard were jumbled, muttered syllables that didn't quite sound off coherently in her ears.

"Have patience," Bekiw murmured back to his mate, "a little uniqueness amongst our clan could be good. She could help to broaden our horizons. A more expressive leader could-"

Crash!

Sili groaned, having tripped over one of the unlit braziers that normally illuminated the dim room. Lucky for her, it was unlit - but the young Amethyst still lie in a pile on the ground, her legs haphazardly draped over the metallic object at the most bizarre of angles. Her left was flung off wildly to the side, her right seemingly bent in and to the right. Her wings were splayed out along the ground, wrapping inward as if to hug and comfort herself after her tumble. "When did that get there?..."

Her exasperated mother turned toward the mess of arms, legs, tail and wings that was then sprawled out on the ground, utterly lacking in grace.  "Rise, child; you do not want me doing so for you."

What transpired after that would cause Sili to facepalm at herself in later years. Uneasy on her feet, she started by lifting her back end into the air, her pelvis seemingly presented to the room as her mother stood back and silently counted back from ten. The young Amethyst wiggled her toes as she tried to get her lower half off of the brazier, inching her feet sideways, her body angling to follow it. "Almost... There..."

Sigh...

Sili continued to struggle until she finally toppled over onto her side with an 'oof.' From there, she rolled onto her stomach and sighed. She could do this! With a quiet 'heeeeave!' for dramatic effect (and because it at least entertained her), she pushed herself up onto her knees, then jumped nimbly to her feet, even as she stumbled a couple of steps. Triumphant, she then smiled at her mother, who was... less than amused.

"Vorel, do not lose your patience with her," her mate muttered over her shoulder, looking toward his daughter warily.

"I will not." Her tone was cold, stern. She'd had enough of the clumsy Amethyst's antics and lack of focus. "But this child needs to be conditioned and trained."

And it was at that moment that Sililuuth's youthful and playful nature met the beginning of its subjugation.