"Sonata, my child. You are in danger, surrounded by a world of enemies."
488Please respect copyright.PENANAU46130aj0A
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.
488Please respect copyright.PENANAljg9olOz3v
"I will search out your father, but to do that, I must leave you here."
488Please respect copyright.PENANAZTt13s6RID
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.
488Please respect copyright.PENANAFGlSAUeO4R
"Do you understand, Sonata? I cannot take you along, because on this journey I cannot guarantee your safety."
488Please respect copyright.PENANAd97Gf9wv0F
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.
488Please respect copyright.PENANAyVcJeTvZOh
Don't leave.
488Please respect copyright.PENANAHvZSFLWYeL
"I need you to take care of your sister until I return."
488Please respect copyright.PENANAdXSu84gclo
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.
488Please respect copyright.PENANA3Y9dw6q4rc
"Do not stray far from the cave"
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There it was.
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"Do not let anyone see you, let along in your dragon form"
488Please respect copyright.PENANA9kXN6EE03Z
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.
488Please respect copyright.PENANAd8M9aVa3GW
"Do not, under any circumstances, give out your true name."
488Please respect copyright.PENANAOpOroO7hTR
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.
488Please respect copyright.PENANA2gadJBkPx4
"Can I entrust you with this task, Sonata?"
488Please respect copyright.PENANAV2HmdSeeJL
Mamá, don't go. Please don't go.
488Please respect copyright.PENANA7fj65m94oa
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.
488Please respect copyright.PENANAst5EsTxA4G
"B-but" Her voice failed her. She cringed.
488Please respect copyright.PENANAwPPrjuKkiN
"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."
488Please respect copyright.PENANAFEfwByTIzm
Sonata looked up. Don't go. Mama, don't go. Please don't leave me all alone.
488Please respect copyright.PENANAacNye8B2kZ
"Wether you answer one or the other, I depart either way."
488Please respect copyright.PENANAy8dJUwO0NM
Again, no sound came out. She was usually an outspoken ball of fire when it came to her parents.
488Please respect copyright.PENANALD5Nzi0xXA
"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.
488Please respect copyright.PENANA2PdVGMp9zy
"...merely rules..."
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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.
488Please respect copyright.PENANAdNpMbWtwVY
"...the ease with which I do it."
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I'm sorry, so don't leave me. Please don't leave me.
488Please respect copyright.PENANA1gwdGBbd9l
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?
488Please respect copyright.PENANARs5Dk49Zhv
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.
488Please respect copyright.PENANAjg3Gn1Klc7
"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.
488Please respect copyright.PENANA4GFgySj8yq
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.
488Please respect copyright.PENANAzp76HE3WcH
She felt a small nudge against her chin. The little dragon's eyes were squeezed shut.
488Please respect copyright.PENANA6BzDQxehaZ
"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?"
488Please respect copyright.PENANASRMpRNBdg9
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.
488Please respect copyright.PENANAxjH90tnq1g
"How long will you be gone?" The girl's detached voice nearly whispered.
488Please respect copyright.PENANAiPybt13mWG
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.
488Please respect copyright.PENANABEz1k3YSSp
"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."
488Please respect copyright.PENANAoONMDXacDa
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?
488Please respect copyright.PENANAcKc0f7b38c
Sonata held out her arm, her light brown cloak fluttering in the aftermath of the the sudden, abrupt movement.
488Please respect copyright.PENANAzJJlGdzeS2
"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.
488Please respect copyright.PENANAOF4wetLmAe
The looming dragoness cocked her head. "...Strange child. You fear not for your own, but your parent's safety?"
488Please respect copyright.PENANAkqcinaCWa8
"If you break the promise you have to swallow a hun...fifty swords"
488Please respect copyright.PENANAEUOIXJsKyx
The dragon blinked.
"And how do you expect to make me do that if you aren't present to see?"
488Please respect copyright.PENANA5A8Op1gL5k
"You'll give your word so you have to."
488Please respect copyright.PENANAedd2oBCzbS
"...Very well, I will accept those terms."
488Please respect copyright.PENANAIp446ssIK4
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.
488Please respect copyright.PENANAl8A5Z56Aqa
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.
488Please respect copyright.PENANA8uR2Dr8NVE
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?"
488Please respect copyright.PENANA5WRbE845xQ
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.
488Please respect copyright.PENANATqQvDHeZDj
"Um, smaller please." Sonata craned her neck in an attempt to make eye contact and avoid her mother's wrath.
488Please respect copyright.PENANA8vu2qMuZkb
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.
488Please respect copyright.PENANA3e0SHSBpL3
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!"
488Please respect copyright.PENANAAwV3mKf7O1
"Do a me sized?" Hestia's voice darkened do disappointment. "That is not how you speak to royalty, Sonata."
488Please respect copyright.PENANAhs8jmJ9oWu
Sonata curled her hands around fabric of her woolen overdress, beneath the cloak. "Could you shrink down to my size, please?" She corrected herself.
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"Yes, I shall."
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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.
488Please respect copyright.PENANAB6fZLYCzNC
"I promise to safely return for my children once I find Romano and the coast is clear."
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"I promise to stay here and take care of my sister until Mamá comes back."
488Please respect copyright.PENANAq9gggSHQZj
Their fingers intertwined, then rocked up and down three times, and were separated.
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Before she knew it, a warm, heavy cloak was wrapped around her body.
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"Keep this. It will keep you safe."
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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?
488Please respect copyright.PENANAwQS3gJ9Tkz
Don't go. Please don't go.
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"....You smell like pine."
488Please respect copyright.PENANAkd3H4oCWgm
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?
488Please respect copyright.PENANAv0WXI0FNUS
"..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."
488Please respect copyright.PENANA8dZBnRPsTd
"Heh."
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The hands she hadn't even noticed wrapping around her were gone, and Hestia was standing up. Her small fingers weakly weaves into the fabric of her dress, and felt it slip away like sand.
488Please respect copyright.PENANA7GKlz3aeAx
The woman stared down at her one final time, and slightly truck out her flattened tongue in a gesture of endearment.
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Staring longingly as Hestia resumed her prior form, Sonata did it back.
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And then she was alone.
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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.
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SLIIP
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The cloak slipped and dropped. Sonata tore her eyes away, wiping her face as she walked towards the fire, dragging the cloak behind her as she went.
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"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.
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Sonata sighed.
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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..."
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