Reposted DoA literature: a living storm - 903 words - Aug 6th, 2020

A massive school of fish has gathered for spawning season. The beautiful sight in setting sun has young Ulrin intrigued. Will he listen to warnings of his elders? For Dragons of Aquella Monthly Challenge, August 2020.

 

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                Rays of warm light from the setting sun pierced the water as they travelled. They bounced off from the silvery sides of hundreds, if not thousands of small fish, making the living storm shimmer as it danced away from predators. A hole was created when a dolphin dove into it, leaving only with one unlucky victim. The tear was sealed shut immediately after and another one ripped open right next to it.

 

                Ulrin's small, red eyes sparkled like a sky full of stars. He clapped his front fins together softly, almost forgetting to breathe. It was the first time he was allowed outside this time of year because of the chaos such amounts of prey fish provoked. He watched excitedly as the setting sun painted the silver scales of the fish bright orange. It reflected onto the sand and stones on the seafloor. The young male glanced at his own hide. To his pleasant surprise, the orange light played on his dark skin as it endlessly bounced between surfaces. He sighed in delight as he lifted his eyes back to the hurricane of predators, light, and prey.

                "Kalea!" Ulrin yelled as he suddenly turned around and lunged forward. A sudden sound woke the light female from her thoughts. She shook her head softly and looked at the pup that was now clinging on her shoulder.

                "Can I go see the fishes?" He begged. Kalea let out a short smile.
                "No, dear" the Giant female interrupted the dark youngling.

                "But-"

                "You will only hit your head when someone bumps into you. And we don't want that, now do we?" She lifted her brow reassuringly. Ulrin slid down her back onto the cave's seaweed padded floor and started pouting. The young male was quite notorious of his clumsiness and lack of judgement. He didn't really watch where he was going, nor was he aware of his surrounding nine times out of ten. While because of his size he was still more of a danger to himself than others, Kalea did not want him to hurt himself accidentally, or even worse.

                "I guess", he said, snorted and crossed his fins. Kalea smiled widely.

                "Also it is late. We will go together tomorrow, okay?" Ulrin turned his eyes to the light hided Giant. He snorted and slumped some more. Kalea shook her head softly as she turned around and headed to a softly padded corner of the underwater cave.

                "Don't stay up for too long", she said to the youngling before sharp evening shadows engulfed her being. Ulrin sighed silently and turned his eyes back to the cave's entrance. Slowly and smoothly he straightened himself from his slumped bundle and quietly floated forward. He watched the living fish storm swim and dance in the light as predators of many shapes and sizes twirled around it without rhythm. The royal finned pup lowered his eyes for a moment, before glancing behind him. He tried to find Kalea's silhouette in the darkness, but couldn't. Determination filled the flames in his eyes. He nodded to himself and lunged forward as quietly as he could, while still keeping his speed. The reddish orange light hit his eyes strong and sharp as he emerged from the cave's shade. He pinched his eyes shut and tried to stop himself, but his leftover momentum was not agreeing with him. Ulrin flailed around to slow himself down and covered his eyes with his fins. As he felt like he had almost completely stopped moving, he slowly moved his fins from his eyes and opened them.

                In awe the Giant male watched the enormous school of fish twirl and swim around him. They passed his fins and skin only centimeters away once, twice, multiple times. Ulrin didn't count. A wide grin rose to his face as he spun around to see as much as he could. Orange reflections flickered on the fishes' scales brightly, obstructing his vision. As he turned his eyes again, a gaping hole opened up to the fishes' tight packed tornado. Without having time to react, Ulrin felt a force hitting his whole body. It pushed all air from his lungs and dimmed his eyesight to the verge of complete darkness. He spun around like a spinning top, not knowing where was up and where down. Kalea's warnings started to ring in his thoughts, as the light hided female's blue eyes drew themselves into his mind. Then there was pain. A sharp, splitting pain in the back of his skull shook up all of the thought he had, jumbled them up and dispersed them before they disappeared into the dark. Ulrin smelled strong, piercing scent iron for a short moment before passing out completely.

                The cut on the back of his head took a while to heal. It was sore for weeks before it really started to show proper signs of healing. As one could have guessed, Kalea was not happy, nor did she take Ulrin to see the fishes as she promised to. It was a suitable punishment, and Ulrin understood it. As time went by, the pup started to talk to himself. When asked, he told about a friend that usually played with him in his dreams; and only recently it had started to keep him company when he was awake. It wasn't unusual for pups to have imaginary friends. It would pass, as most things do.

 

                Except this one didn't.