Hana no Ame: Rain of Blossoms
Mar. 25th, 2005 02:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
senashentaI am very, very fond of the general world I created for Exit Normal and Canadian Dragon... thusly, a random drabble! Which I actually really like. So, given how I am, I can pretty much guarantee it'll end up as an entire story eventually. ^_^;
Pastel blues and greens ran together along her flank; the mottled, pale leaflike pattern that decorated her back, shoulders and hips rippled along with her scales as she curled her tail around herself and sat gracefully, in the shadows of the buildings around her. Cobalt eyes skimmed the darkness, searching for movement of any kind.
Above her and to the left, the latticework along the edge of the roof was covered with a thick growth of vines, which blocked much of the day's already-sparse sunlight from the alleyway below. Sitting perched on the highest point of the lattice, a raven peered down toward her curiously, head cocked slightly.
There was silence, save for the soft, vague whisper of the breeze that whisked along the concrete beneath her. Her wings rustled quietly as she stretched them out, then folded them back over her haunches again.
In the shadows, something shifted. A bare flicker of movement, the skitter of tiny nails against stone, and then a faint but recognizable pause... followed by a quiet sniffing noise, and the unmistakable sound of paws running through short, soft fur.
Her ears flicked forward, and her eyes lit on the small creature as it sat, grooming itself peacefully. The tip of her tongue protruded from her mouth ever-so-slightly as she leaned forward, muscles tensing, and--
"Just eat her, Amy. She'd be a lot less trouble that way."
"..."
A weary sigh, and she cast an annoyed glance upward, even as her muscles were converting her almost-pounce into a laying down motion, and she settled against the ground once more.
"I should eat you Tempest..."
"Some days I really wish you would," a third voice added, sounding vaguely amused, as the mouse she had been eyeing scurried out into the slightly-more-illuminated part of the alley. "But then I think about it, and really..." her nose twitched, and black eyes skimmed up to the lattice; "you can't kill him, you'll just make him stronger!"
"Oh, bugger off Kassidy."
"Aw, I love you, too~!"
At the peak of the wall, the raven, Tempest, shifted from one foot to the other and glared downward. "Stupid mouse..."
"Can you two please just get along for once?" One claw tapped against the concrete absently, and Amy rolled her eyes, a gesture born of frustration, and many conversations like the one that was taking place around her.
Kassidy shrugged slightly. Her tail flicked behind her and she yawned a bit. "Tempest started it."
"I did not, you bloody vermin!"
She couldn't help the tired groan that rumbled in her throat. A foot away, Kassidy giggled quietly, choosing to ignore Tempest's use of the sometimes-dreaded "v" word, and tipped her head slightly to regard her. "You look tired."
Talk about the understatement of the century.
"I'm exhausted..."
"You know Amy, sleep is your friend."
"Well duh, Kass..."
Tiredly, she rolled a bit onto her side, shuffling her wings around in the process, then maneuvered her way onto her back, all four feet sticking into the air almost comically, closing her eyes.
"Just kill me now, please..."
A snort from Tempest, who fluttered his feathers absently and cast a dry look over his shoulder. Kassidy gave her a sympathetic look as she wandered closer to sit a short distance away from her nose. One paw reached out to pat against her chin solemnly.
"Poor little Dragon."
"Yeah, yeah..."
Had anyone happened upon the scene at that particular moment, they would have been very surprised; by all accounts, the little brown-and-grey mouse should have been squealing and fleeing in terror. Dragons ate mice... of course, they also ate ravens, so Tempest should have been attempting to distance himself as well.
But they weren't, and she was showing no interest whatsoever in consuming them... which just attested to Amy's general uniqueness.
Her given name--that is, the one she was born to--was Hana no Ame, which, roughly translated, meant "Rain of Blossoms". Her parents had called her "Ame", though, and over the years she had eventually become "Amy" to those who knew her best.
She was a Water Dragon, like her father, though she also held a close kinship with plants--something that she got from her mother and grandmother, no doubt. Hence her coloring; soft blues like the ocean tide, and pale greens, like freshly-growing grass and leaves.
And in theory, as a Dragon, she was supposed to be pretty much at the top of her particular food-chain. That is, the one that existed among the smaller animals in the rural areas near and around Southampton, the place that she called home. In fact, humans aside, there were very few things that she had to worry about avoiding for her own personal safety.
Amy, however, had, over the course of her lifetime so far, managed to befriend a handful of creatures that normally would have been considered dinner. It was a risky thing to do, in that she wasn't the only Dragon residing in that section of England; she knew that at any time, one of her friends could be snapped up by another member of her race.
Still, they were her friends. Therefore, she did the best she could to protect them, mostly by keeping an ear to the ground and notifying them if another Dragon happened to be in the area. There really wasn't much else she could do, aside from watching out for them and hoping they were as careful as she told them they should be...
"Amy?"
"Yeah?"
Kassidy was quiet for a moment, and she opened her eyes to focus on the mouse, who was seated about two inches from the tip of her nose. Up on his perch, Tempest was peering down, a combination of annoyance (Kassidy wasn't one of his favorite people in the world) and curiosity in his bearing.
"There was 'Wolves around."
A slow blink, and Amy sat up quickly, turning over and looking down at Kassidy in surprise. "What?"
"At least two." Kassidy's dark eyes were troubled, and on the latticework, Tempest shuffled nervously. "They passed by today... went into the shop. And where there's one or two 'Wolves, there's normally more, right?"
Having friends among the animal population had proved to be handy on more than one occasion. In the case of mice, they had a fairly reliable information network throughout the city; and knowing when there were Werewolves or Vampires nearby was imperitive to Amy's survival.
There were a few of each of those two species--natural hunters and enemies of Dragons--living in nearby neighborhoods. It was hard to find a place without at least one Werewolf or Vampire nowawdays; they were everywhere. But normally, Kassidy was able to keep track of their movements... she let Amy know, and Amy, in turn, was able to avoid them.
Rarely did they come so close to her home and territory--that was why she lived there, because Werewolves and Vampires were sparse in number. And to have been inside the bakery itself... well, that was almost unheard of.
Her voice came out as a whisper, tinged with aprehension that bordered on fear. "Hunters?"
Kassidy shook her head slightly, concern in her expression. "I don't think so..."
"But how can she be sure?" Tempest added, and no jab was aimed toward the mouse along with his now-serious words. "They could have been Scouts... bugger. What if it's a whole pack?"
Amy shifted nervously, casting a glance down the alleyway absently. "Can you find out for sure, Kass?"
"I asked Clara and Jun to ask around..."
Tempest fluttered his wings slightly, shifting his grip on the lattice a bit. "And I can get Zephyr to spread the word... maybe the crows or the magpies have heard something."
Kassidy was looking at her worriedly. "It's probably nothing, right?" She was forcing herself to sound less concerned than she actually was. "They were probably just passing through. But I thought you should know anyway."
"Kass is right." Words that Tempest rarely--if ever--spoke. "Don't worry about it..."
"Yeah..." her tail curled around her feet absently, and she tried to calm the panic that was trying to rise in her throat. "I'm sure you're right..."
Cobalt eyes turned toward the sky.
"It's probably nothing..."
Maaaa... I know very little about England in the way of landscape and stuff. Luckily, this scene only required an alleyway, a couple of walls, and a lattice! >^-^;;
Tempest amuses me...
Pastel blues and greens ran together along her flank; the mottled, pale leaflike pattern that decorated her back, shoulders and hips rippled along with her scales as she curled her tail around herself and sat gracefully, in the shadows of the buildings around her. Cobalt eyes skimmed the darkness, searching for movement of any kind.
Above her and to the left, the latticework along the edge of the roof was covered with a thick growth of vines, which blocked much of the day's already-sparse sunlight from the alleyway below. Sitting perched on the highest point of the lattice, a raven peered down toward her curiously, head cocked slightly.
There was silence, save for the soft, vague whisper of the breeze that whisked along the concrete beneath her. Her wings rustled quietly as she stretched them out, then folded them back over her haunches again.
In the shadows, something shifted. A bare flicker of movement, the skitter of tiny nails against stone, and then a faint but recognizable pause... followed by a quiet sniffing noise, and the unmistakable sound of paws running through short, soft fur.
Her ears flicked forward, and her eyes lit on the small creature as it sat, grooming itself peacefully. The tip of her tongue protruded from her mouth ever-so-slightly as she leaned forward, muscles tensing, and--
"Just eat her, Amy. She'd be a lot less trouble that way."
"..."
A weary sigh, and she cast an annoyed glance upward, even as her muscles were converting her almost-pounce into a laying down motion, and she settled against the ground once more.
"I should eat you Tempest..."
"Some days I really wish you would," a third voice added, sounding vaguely amused, as the mouse she had been eyeing scurried out into the slightly-more-illuminated part of the alley. "But then I think about it, and really..." her nose twitched, and black eyes skimmed up to the lattice; "you can't kill him, you'll just make him stronger!"
"Oh, bugger off Kassidy."
"Aw, I love you, too~!"
At the peak of the wall, the raven, Tempest, shifted from one foot to the other and glared downward. "Stupid mouse..."
"Can you two please just get along for once?" One claw tapped against the concrete absently, and Amy rolled her eyes, a gesture born of frustration, and many conversations like the one that was taking place around her.
Kassidy shrugged slightly. Her tail flicked behind her and she yawned a bit. "Tempest started it."
"I did not, you bloody vermin!"
She couldn't help the tired groan that rumbled in her throat. A foot away, Kassidy giggled quietly, choosing to ignore Tempest's use of the sometimes-dreaded "v" word, and tipped her head slightly to regard her. "You look tired."
Talk about the understatement of the century.
"I'm exhausted..."
"You know Amy, sleep is your friend."
"Well duh, Kass..."
Tiredly, she rolled a bit onto her side, shuffling her wings around in the process, then maneuvered her way onto her back, all four feet sticking into the air almost comically, closing her eyes.
"Just kill me now, please..."
A snort from Tempest, who fluttered his feathers absently and cast a dry look over his shoulder. Kassidy gave her a sympathetic look as she wandered closer to sit a short distance away from her nose. One paw reached out to pat against her chin solemnly.
"Poor little Dragon."
"Yeah, yeah..."
Had anyone happened upon the scene at that particular moment, they would have been very surprised; by all accounts, the little brown-and-grey mouse should have been squealing and fleeing in terror. Dragons ate mice... of course, they also ate ravens, so Tempest should have been attempting to distance himself as well.
But they weren't, and she was showing no interest whatsoever in consuming them... which just attested to Amy's general uniqueness.
Her given name--that is, the one she was born to--was Hana no Ame, which, roughly translated, meant "Rain of Blossoms". Her parents had called her "Ame", though, and over the years she had eventually become "Amy" to those who knew her best.
She was a Water Dragon, like her father, though she also held a close kinship with plants--something that she got from her mother and grandmother, no doubt. Hence her coloring; soft blues like the ocean tide, and pale greens, like freshly-growing grass and leaves.
And in theory, as a Dragon, she was supposed to be pretty much at the top of her particular food-chain. That is, the one that existed among the smaller animals in the rural areas near and around Southampton, the place that she called home. In fact, humans aside, there were very few things that she had to worry about avoiding for her own personal safety.
Amy, however, had, over the course of her lifetime so far, managed to befriend a handful of creatures that normally would have been considered dinner. It was a risky thing to do, in that she wasn't the only Dragon residing in that section of England; she knew that at any time, one of her friends could be snapped up by another member of her race.
Still, they were her friends. Therefore, she did the best she could to protect them, mostly by keeping an ear to the ground and notifying them if another Dragon happened to be in the area. There really wasn't much else she could do, aside from watching out for them and hoping they were as careful as she told them they should be...
"Amy?"
"Yeah?"
Kassidy was quiet for a moment, and she opened her eyes to focus on the mouse, who was seated about two inches from the tip of her nose. Up on his perch, Tempest was peering down, a combination of annoyance (Kassidy wasn't one of his favorite people in the world) and curiosity in his bearing.
"There was 'Wolves around."
A slow blink, and Amy sat up quickly, turning over and looking down at Kassidy in surprise. "What?"
"At least two." Kassidy's dark eyes were troubled, and on the latticework, Tempest shuffled nervously. "They passed by today... went into the shop. And where there's one or two 'Wolves, there's normally more, right?"
Having friends among the animal population had proved to be handy on more than one occasion. In the case of mice, they had a fairly reliable information network throughout the city; and knowing when there were Werewolves or Vampires nearby was imperitive to Amy's survival.
There were a few of each of those two species--natural hunters and enemies of Dragons--living in nearby neighborhoods. It was hard to find a place without at least one Werewolf or Vampire nowawdays; they were everywhere. But normally, Kassidy was able to keep track of their movements... she let Amy know, and Amy, in turn, was able to avoid them.
Rarely did they come so close to her home and territory--that was why she lived there, because Werewolves and Vampires were sparse in number. And to have been inside the bakery itself... well, that was almost unheard of.
Her voice came out as a whisper, tinged with aprehension that bordered on fear. "Hunters?"
Kassidy shook her head slightly, concern in her expression. "I don't think so..."
"But how can she be sure?" Tempest added, and no jab was aimed toward the mouse along with his now-serious words. "They could have been Scouts... bugger. What if it's a whole pack?"
Amy shifted nervously, casting a glance down the alleyway absently. "Can you find out for sure, Kass?"
"I asked Clara and Jun to ask around..."
Tempest fluttered his wings slightly, shifting his grip on the lattice a bit. "And I can get Zephyr to spread the word... maybe the crows or the magpies have heard something."
Kassidy was looking at her worriedly. "It's probably nothing, right?" She was forcing herself to sound less concerned than she actually was. "They were probably just passing through. But I thought you should know anyway."
"Kass is right." Words that Tempest rarely--if ever--spoke. "Don't worry about it..."
"Yeah..." her tail curled around her feet absently, and she tried to calm the panic that was trying to rise in her throat. "I'm sure you're right..."
Cobalt eyes turned toward the sky.
"It's probably nothing..."
Maaaa... I know very little about England in the way of landscape and stuff. Luckily, this scene only required an alleyway, a couple of walls, and a lattice! >^-^;;
Tempest amuses me...
