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Things of Myth and Legend

Dwayna DragonFire

2014 Little Cup Champion
Been wanting to start a new story for a while, so here's the idea I had floating around in my head.

Prologue

Humans were always such a peculiar species. They fought constantly for more power, always greedy to have more. In some way, all of them wanted to be better than someone else. Wars were constant, sometimes over quite trivial things, and it was never fun to watch these people die.

The planet was dying with them, and as the years and wars wore on, this became more and more apparent.The climate was changing at a rapid rate, becoming less bearable to go outside. Sometimes it would be hot enough now that if anyone stepped outside, they would literally melt. Winter became the only safe season to tread outside everyday, and there wasn't ever snow anymore. Snow was almost an unknown concept now, a thing of myth and legend.

The outside became an ugly place, the green of trees fading to yellow, then to a more dead state as water became more and more scarce on the planet. Humans drank any liquid they could to survive, soon not caring about their struggle for power, but more for their continued survival. They were always the most persistent with this factor.

At first we were reluctant to appear and help them. They had always thought of us as things of their imagination, and some of them would no doubt want to do experiments to us. As the planet kept dying, science soon became the least of our concerns as everyone turned against each other. But it wasn't trivial this time. They needed to kill to survive.

We had always watched them, from the beginning of their lives to what almost looked to be the end. We had already had the technology to travel between different planets and solar systems before they had even discovered fire. Some of our people showed themselves to the humans over the years, being remembered for several millenia afterwards.

Some of us frightened them, but others thought the ones that they saw were awesome beasts of strength and power. As technology grew in their culture as it had with ours, they became more interested in capturing us for study, and we invented devices to help us hide from the malicious, greedy humans. They soon started portraying many of us as threats, so we decided it was best just to watch from the stars, with only a few of our kind still in place.

We took pity on them as we watched the cycle of Earth almost go in complete reverse in a matter of a few centuries. Soon some of them were scared to go outside, but at the same time, they knew they needed to. We decided to seek out the ones who just wanted a way out. The ones who wouldn't care who or what it was as long as they were saved from the wasteland that Planet Earth had become.

On that fateful day, we decided to change the climate in our own way, with our own technology. Clouds started gathering together all over the planet - the temperature outside dropping - causing several people to relish in the cold that had become so rare. It was an appropriate introduction for what was to come, as we were thought to be things of myth and legend ourselves.

We made it snow.
 
Already told you, but figured I might as well post here as well. :3

Incredibly awesome base world building you have going on here. I love the concept of mythological creatures being the advanced species that sorta 'watches' over us. Great prologue and just enough to hook someone to find out just what might happen in this world of yours.

Can't wait to read more, and find out what the meat of this story is going to be like. ^^
 
.....Woah.

That was like, incredibly awesome. It was the greatest-prologue I've ever read, I think. Yeah, I'm pretty sure it is. The last line "We made it snow" was just like..... a real hit. In short, I totally love it. It was short, but it like, blew my mind. And, if anyone makes a dirty remark about what I just said, they will suffer nothing. But they really shouldn't do it. It'd be mean :p

Can't wait to see more!
 

Dwayna DragonFire

2014 Little Cup Champion
Chapter One: Descent

As the sun set behind the horizon and night came into full swing, dark hair shone in the moonlight in a way that made it look like part of the sky. Peering out from beneath the black locks of hair were blue eyes, so light they would probably be described as ice-blue, if anyone knew what ice was anymore.

The feminine figure had pale peach skin and tattered clothes from all the hunting that she had to do over the years. She had always tried to settle for killing the smaller animals, but as those became more and more scarce, she had to hunt bigger prey. She had to hunt other humans.

Her name was Nerezza Dellanotte. At one time that name had apparently meant something regarding the darkness of the night, and it was appropriate in a way, with how her hair seemed to blend in with the night sky. She flitted between shadows as she slowly crept up to another human who was stupidly wandering around by himself. She would have snuck up and killed him, if it weren't for her noticing the changing sky.

Suddenly, things like the stuffing from pillows started to fill the sky, covering up the moon. She gaped at the sight, and shivered slightly when she realized the temperature was... dropping?! Impossible... she thought to herself as she wrapped her arms close to her body. This was not something she was used to at all.

What was even more astonishing is that some of the white of the fluff seemed to break off into flakes and started floating to the ground. One of the particles fell onto her face, melting from the warmth of her body heat. It felt pleasant against her skin, as she experienced the feeling of cold for the first time.

"... Snow?" she questioned aloud in her velvety rich voice. She had heard of this phenomenon in the legends of the old days, when everything was living and green. She desperately tried to catch some of the flakes on her tongue, and realized more humans were flocking to do the same. Killing each other was forgotten for the beautiful sight in front of their eyes.

But that wasn't all that seemed to be coming down from the sky. Large, dark shadows started moving in their direction behind the clouds, and one descended in her general direction. What came out of the clouds was the most beautiful creature she had ever seen.

The emerald-green scales of the colossal beast glimmered in the moonlight, making the silvery edges pop and dazzle against the white and black of the night sky. Four legs with menacing claws were pulled next to the body of the creature, its tail waving like a directional rudder as it flew down towards the earth.

The horned head of the majestic beast rose up with its body as it suddenly swerved up away from the ground, causing a few gasps in awe from the dramatic flair of it all. Rows of sharp teeth peeked out of the mouth of the beast, and it finally opened its eyes, revealing them to also be a sparkling silver.

On the chest of the large beast there appeared to be a mechanism of some sort that held a large red gem. It glittered and shone along with the rest of the dragon, and it suddenly seemed to glow a little bit. That's when Nerezza felt a sort of a pushing sensation in her mind, before a deep voice resounded.

, said the voice, and Nerezza assumed that the creature was not only speaking to her this way, but to the entire crowd.

Some of the group backed off right away, frightened by the dangerous looks of this legendary creature. Braver ones stepped forward, and Nerezza found herself contemplating the different scenarios. On one hand, the dragon looked like he could devour her without a second thought. On the other hand, there was a possibility of finally leaving this place; surviving without having to hunt and kill her own kind.

She stepped forward. Her hope for survival won out over her fear of the beast that towered over them all. She tilted her head upwards to find herself staring into the sparkling, silver eyes of the male dragon. A shiver went down her spine then, but it wasn't fear this time. This time, it was more of admiration for the beautiful creature that had descended from the sky to save her. She felt the tingling in her mind again, again in awe of the sheer power of this creature.

The dragon was very stern and blunt about this, and more people stepped away from the beast, leaving only a small portion.

Nerezza stayed as well, because her mind was already set on leaving this place. Her eyes never left the dragons face, and it seemed that way for the dragon too. Then again, with the size that it was, it would look like he was staring everyone in the eyes.

Her mind didn't dwell on this subject for too long, because the creature stepped closer to the small group flocking in front of him, making him tower over them even more. Nerezza wondered about the power of this creature. Supposedly, he could control the way he talked, and to how many people he talked to at one time. Not to mention he was positively glistening with raw power.

With that statement, the dragon unfurled his tail and laid it on the ground next to his body.

The people beneath the dragon started climbing upwards onto the dragons back via the tail. When it was Nerezza's turn, she noticed that she didn't seem to be slipping at all, and neither did anyone else. Either everyone including herself had good balance, or the dragon's magic was somehow keeping them steady as they climbed upwards. When everyone was loaded onto the tail, the dragon lifted it upwards, startling Nerezza considerably, but even still she was kept in place by this invisible force.

As they all started to clamber off of the tail and onto the dragons back, Nerezza grasped her hands tightly around one of the scales at the dragon's neck. Even with the magic holding them in place, she felt safer holding onto the dragon, just in case. After everyone was settled, the dragon lifted his powerful wings, and lifted off after a few moments. Then the dragon flew back up into snow filled sky, the wind blowing through the hair of his passengers.

This was the most surreal experience of Nerezza's life. Hell, anyone in her position would be having the time of their lives right now. One last time, she looked behind her, at the earth fading away as the dragon ascended back into the sky, taking them to the gate to his world, towards their test of character. Nerezza hoped that for everything she had just done, that she would not regret it.

She hoped that she would pass.
 
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Silly me for not throwing a comment up sooner. ><

I like the simple introduction here. The simple amazement at first the snow and then the dragon was neat. ^^ Can't wait to see what kinda stuff Nerezza has to go through. ^^
 

Dwayna DragonFire

2014 Little Cup Champion
See if you notice any references. Also, I'm thinking of making some 'Charms members appear in some way for some of the group segments later on.

Chapter Two: Teams

Dragons of all sorts of colors were zooming in the sky all around Nerezza's group as their dragon flew towards their destination. Red, blue, black, and white dragons, all sparkling with the raw magic that was inside all of them. The more metallic colored dragons — silver, gold, bronze, and others — all sparkled of their own right.

Soon, in the distance, Nerezza could see more shadows heading in their direction. More dragons heading the opposite way meant that they were close to their destination. Suddenly, their dragon swooped to the right to follow another dragon, causing a surprised reaction to come out of Nerezza, along with a few of her fellow passengers.

They descended back to Earth, the dragons gracefully flying around each other. Nerezza thought it was a beautiful sight, but didn't have long to dwell on it as they landed. Their dragon lifted his tail again, allowing everyone to clamber back down onto the tail. Nerezza found her place on the tail, and held on tight as the group was lowered once again to the ground.

Once she and everyone else had clambered off, the gem at the dragons throat started to glow. Then the dragon seemed to be getting smaller before their eyes. Nerezza looked around and noticed similar things happening to the other dragons. Nerezza concluded that the gems had some sort of magical power over the dragons size.

The dragons all stepped forwards, creating a circle in the center of the field. Nerezza felt a bristle of energy rising as she noticed some of the dragons eyes seemed to flash. A bright light suddenly came from the center of the circle, shining up into the overcast sky and causing Nerezza to look away. When it finally dimmed down, Nerezza looked back and there was a large, circular metal thing standing in the center.

She felt the many whispers of the dragons in her head, and watched as the center of the metallic thing start to slide open. Nerezza gasped and heard others gasp as beautiful scenery met their eyes. The portal revealed lush, green vegetation, something that was completely unheard of.

Her dragon spoke into her mind again, along with the rest of the group, she felt. She and the group of passengers followed their dragon, as he was the first to enter the gate. Nerezza filed in beside the creature as it led them through the beautiful scenery.

Reds, purples, yellows and several other colors popped out at her as she walked on. Creatures that she had long thought extinct on Earth thrived around them, as if welcoming them to this place. It was so much more alive than Nerezza had ever known the Earth to be. It was no wonder that the dragons wanted to protect such beauty.

Soon the group came up to a large mountain that seemed to go for miles in every direction. A singular cave was in front of them, and the dragon continued on into it. The darkness that surrounded Nerezza and the group was held at bay by the torches lining the walls. It wasn't long before the dragon stopped, in front of a similar gate to the one that Nerezza had followed him through. He turned to face the group, and Nerezza felt the tingling of him entering her mind again.

The silvery eyes of the beast gazed around at the group one by one, landing on Nerezza last. Another shiver went down her spine as she felt something tug at her mind a little bit. What was the dragon doing...?

She didn't have long to wonder, as it started wandering off to her right. She followed after him with the rest of the group following suit. The dragon brought them into another cave. There were separate paths stringing off in the large room, and a wooden table in the center of the room. On the table was a hat, some strips of paper, and some pencils.

Decision of... the hat? It made no sense, but... Nonetheless, Nerezza stepped forward and wrote her full name on a slip of paper. She placed it in the hat and walked away to watch everyone else do the same.

Nerezza counted them all as they went up, and realized that the group was one short. Then the dragon walked up - gem brightening again - and this time his shape changed. His bone structure seemed to realign itself as he transformed, his back straightening so he could walk on two feet instead of four, making it seem like he was human. Nerezza watched as he picked up a pencil and wrote down whatever his name was, and placed it in the hat, to even it out to the sound of excited murmurs.

She then watched the hat in interest, wondering just exactly what it would do. The dragon stood at the ready, as if something was about to burst forth. Suddenly, a sparkling silver flame came up out of the hat, and with it, a piece of paper. The dragon caught it tentatively, and cleared his throat to speak through his mouth for the first time.

"Nerezza Dellanotte." She was astonished to be picked first, but she stepped forwards anyway. She felt all eyes on her, studying her as she stood at attention towards the hat. It sparked its silver flame again, and she held her breath as the next name was called.

"Sheila Salem." Another dark haired woman stepped forward. She looked very weak and timid, something that was generally scrutinized in society today. As such, Nerezza looked at her with pity, turning back towards the dragon as he caught the last name for their group. He smiled then, rows of his sharp teeth becoming apparent.

"Looks like you two are with me." A few disappointed noises came from the other people present as Nerezza felt a wonderful swelling sensation. She was going to be grouped with the dragon. "You can call me Orn." he said to the two of them, at which they smiled and nodded.

The rest of the groups were sorted, leaving them with ten groups of people. Light suddenly shone above the cave entrances, drawing numbers over top of them. Orn gave out some sheets of paper, keeping one for himself. Then he spoke up again.

"On these pieces of paper is your objective for the test. You will all be finding something of interest, and there are plenty of things keeping you from your goal. Whoever completes their objective and survives will pass the test, regardless of how many group members you have left over."

Then he turned towards Nerezza and Sheila again, and read what was written on their sheet.

"Cave #3. Go to temple. Retrieve amber medallion. Optional: Find weapons."
 
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Wow. This story looks like it will turn out to be very interesting.

I love how you set it in a future Earth where global warming has finally made the weather go haywire.

The dragon was just a surprise win. I would have never thought of that!

As a note, when I first read of the dragon, I thought of Rayquaza.
 
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