Nina swore she could hear the sound of a flute playing a soft, easy melody. She felt drowsy as hell, so she chalked it up to the possibility that she might still be dreaming. It was a nice contrast to the snapping jaws of the nightmares that she had, on occasion, gone through since her timely rescue. But even they were dwindling away to almost never.
Still, the melody persisted.
She opened her eyes as much as she could, which wasn't much as of yet. It was quite bright outside now, though.
Collecting herself, she shook off the rest of her sleepiness and rose up.
The backpack was, as usual, packed up and ready for immediate departure. Quinn sat a bit farther towards Meribia, perched upon a rock, eyes closed.
And playing a flute.
Nina was a bit taken aback by this little revelation. He was playing an instrument? She learned quite a bit about him each day, it would seem. And today she learned that he was adept at playing as well. She sat down and listened to the music for a little while.
It was a soothing melody. Perhaps not as much a melody as just small pieces of fleeting music, probably meant to fill one's soul and calm it down. Through her life, she hadn't heard much music being played, and it was one of the reasons she wanted to take her chances on the eastern lands, no matter what dangers she might encounter.
She flew over, landing on his knee.
"That was beautiful."
Quinn promptly stopped playing and opened his eyes, looking directly at her with surprise in his eyes. "Uh... thank you."
"You've never told me you could play."
"You never asked," he answered, grinning.
She rolled her eyes. "Well, perhaps I should start."
"Perhaps." He added, "I'm not that good. Music has never been a strong field of mine. I'm pretty sure you could play just as well, given the time you need to handle the flute itself."
Nina looked doubtfully at that, but said nothing. Sensing that, Quinn continued.
"Besides, if you thought that was good, you ought to hear Julia play sometime. Now, that is something to behold. More so when Roine is accompanying her."
"Roine and Julia... you mean Roine and Julia from the carnival?" Nina asked, flabbergasted beyond measure.
"Uh. Yes..." Quinn looked a bit unsure. "You've never heard them play?"
"That was partly why I... uh, tried going there," she replied meekly, turning her gaze down to the ground.
Quinn looked at the diminutive creature, not sure how to handle this. He had avoided talking too much about her unsupervised endeavors until now, but...
"Well, I'll just go get the sack, and then we can talk a little along the way."
"Tell me a little about yourself," Quinn inquired, earning himself yet another confused look from the dragon.
"What? Uh... I mean, what do you want to hear?"
"Well, like where you live, what you eat, what you like to do, what your favorite color is... I mean, I don't know much about you at all, apart from your name and you being a red dragon. I promised I wouldn't lecture you anymore, and I intend to keep that promise. I just want some small tales, at least, about you."
Nina lightened up a bit at that. "Well... okay, but it's gonna be a two way deal, meaning that I want to hear something about you too. Apart from your name and martial arts abilities... oh, and your music abilities, I don't know much about you either. What do you say? Sounds fair?"
"I suppose," Quinn answered, looking at her with anticipation. Apparently, she was expected to start.
So she told him about herself, about her life as a baby red dragon, stressing the word 'baby'. She told him about her mother Ruby, the red dragon, and more about the place they both lived most of Nina's life. She told him about her father Nall, the white dragon, and of his frequent visits to Ruby's cave to see them both.
"Don't you ever stay with your dad sometimes?"
"I'd like to, but his cave is even colder than the city we just passed. I mean, I love my dad and all, but the first... and last... time I stayed with him, I almost froze to death. Uh... figuratively speaking, I mean. But he drops by mom's cave many times, so I get to see him a lot. We usually go up and out, though, as my dad can't "take the heat" down there, so to speak," she said, smugness coloring the last sentence.
"I see. So... basically, you've been spending your time at the area by Minea sea."
"Well, we -- me and my mom or dad, I mean -- would occasionally take trips to see Aurora, the blue dragon, or to visit Horam. You've lived there, right? I mean, since you were that 'white haired boy' the old martial artist took as a student." She stopped, her face taking on a curious look. "You know, white hair is pretty rare in a human. A young human, at least." Nina sent Quinn an amused glance.
Quinn winced at that. "I know. I've been regularly reminded of it. Even more so when Yu-Shan took me as a student. I guess jealousy was alive and well in Horam at that time, and differences make for good harassing-material."
"Sorry," she replied sheepishly. "Anyway, back to the story. Uh... where was I?"
"Travelling to Horam and to the blue dragon."
"Oh, yeah... Well, I also got to go to Meribia sometimes. I even made some friends there, so in the latest years, my mom has been letting me travel alone on the boat. She goes with me to the port town of Gram, and I take the ship from there to Meribia, to visit my friends." She looked to the ground. "Well, I guess it's the end for that now. I'm gonna spend the next year staring at the cave walls and lava falls."
"Well, I can always try to talk the warden into letting you off once in a while. I'll even take you to the carnival. I'm sure both Roine and Julia would like to meet you."
"Really? You'd do that?"
"Sure."
They were both silent for a while. Then, Nina spoke up.
"Your turn."
"What?"
"I've told you about myself already. Now, it's your turn."
"Oh! Right. Well, it's really not much to tell..."
"Don't you give me that!" she said, looking slightly offended. "You've had the old man, Yu-Shan, as a martial arts teacher, you've crossed Lunar, been in Nota very often, and from what I understand, you are a regular at the carnival with the biggest music stars in Lunar. And you want me to believe there's nothing to tell?"
"Yes, well... say, how do you know my old master anyway?"
"My dad knows him."
"Okay... well, I guess I should start at the beginning then."
Doing that, he spun a tale of growing up in Horam. He told her a little about his parents, whom he had no memories of whatsoever. And he told her about his grandparents, who had taken care of him since the day he was born, adding a few words about the life he led with them.
After that, he stopped for a while, apparently contemplating his next words.
Then, he started on the tale of his martial arts training. She noticed he had started to generalize a lot, not going into any details, but rather telling a little bit about everything he had experienced. This, in itself, accounted for quite a lot, Nina noticed. She shouldn't have been surprised. After all, he had shown great skills in it when he had fought black hair... Shin in Tomari, and from what she heard now, he had been in training almost all his life.
But behind the tale, she could hear a story about a boy that had no friends beyond his teacher and his grandparents, and that faced not only rigorous training on a daily basis, but hostility and jealousy from all the people he met. And still he had grown up to be a good person. Nina's respect for her companion reached new heights.
Then, there was the tournament.
"You know, there's something I have kinda wondered about since we spent that night in Frost City..." Nina said, when Quinn took another break from the storytelling.
"Hmmm?"
"I never figured out why you left the arena. I mean... you would have won the tournament, right?"
"Yes, that's true."
"Then why?"
"Because winning was not worth it. I would have won a prize. A big, shiny prize to put on my wall, perhaps." He sighed. "I have no use for things like that. I would have won a constant reminder of my failure to understand what the art is all about. And I would have won the lifelong hatred of one who is now one of my friends."
"I suppose," Nina answered.
"I got more than I could imagine that day. I made him understand where his hatred took him, and what it did to him. And I took those lessons upon myself. But more than that, I showed him the path he should have taken all along. And just those few days ago, I got to see how it had made him grow. Do you have any idea how good that felt? To have watched the hate he carried completely gone, mostly just because I gave him the ability to see it with his own eyes? I wouldn't have exchanged it for all the prizes in the world."
"I guess not," Nina answered, embarrassed beyond the meaning of the word.
"Well, I guess you'd like to hear the rest of the tale, yes?" Quinn said, after a while.
"Yep."
"It's not much left, anyway. After a few weeks, my grandpa decided to move east, to the great plains. And, of course, that meant a whole, new life for me. We live farther up the mountains now, and I have spent most of my days helping grandpa with his studies. It's been... interesting. I've also spent a lot of time on top of the mountains, looking out on the plains spreading out in all their vastness. It's been a good time for me. And, of course, I've met Roine and Julia and spent a lot of time at the carnival as well."
"And now you're here." Nina chirped in.
"Yes." His smile disappeared. "I am."
"Jeez! Me and my big mouth," Nina muttered low, so Quinn wouldn't hear it. "Look, I'm sorry. I feel so stupid."
"It's okay, I just have to deal with the fact that I am not well." He laughed a short, harsh laugh. "Hard to imagine, seeing as I feel alright now."
"Look, seeing as you are doing me the favor of not mentioning my little incident, I should avoid mentioning your condition. I'm sorry, I'll do my best not to do that anymore."
He chuckled at that, "Well, that's a fair deal, I suppose."
"Good," she said, "because I prefer it when you're happy."
"How is it?" Quinn suddenly asked.
She was taken aback a bit by the sudden question, but she was a bit relieved in that he didn't sound moody or depressed judging by the tone of his voice. A bit wistful, perhaps, but not sad. She flew a little nearer.
"He asked you a question." Her mind told her.
"How is what?"
"Flying! Seeing the world from a bird's eye view!"
"Uh... it's... okay, I guess. I suppose seeing it most of the time, it's not so much of a deal for me. I mean, I haven't been that high, but it's kinda neat. For me it's the reduction of travel times that counts most. In this form, I can travel about four times the walking speed, or more. But when I reach adulthood and receive my aura, I can go much faster and higher."
"I spend a lot of time up in the mountains, mostly because they give me such a great view over the plains. I've always felt comfortable in the highlands, I guess," Quinn added, his eyes taking on a faraway look. Nina grinned.
"I guess I take it for granted, huh? I mean, I'm born with the wings I have, so I practically learned to fly at the same time that I learned to keep myself on my feet." To punctuate it, she did a little fly-by, circling around Quinn, before landing on his shoulder.
"Hey, you know what?" she said, suddenly getting an idea by the look on her face. "When I get my aura, I can take you on a flight around Lunar. What do you think about that?"
"I... I'd like that," Quinn added. "Well, I guess we should set any plans for it aside to when that time comes. But I'm looking forward to it."
The day had passed on, with Quinn and Nina engaging in small talk as they traveled along the forests on the Eastern Katarina Zone. Sometimes Nina would fly high up in the air, to scout the grounds ahead. But mostly she would sit on Quinn's shoulder, marveling at the trees in their autumn splendor. Red, orange and yellow leaves crowned the trees and carpeted the forest grounds, making shuffling sounds as Quinn trod his way through. The breeze was felt as it made its way in-between the trees, occasionally prompting leaves to start their dance towards the ground as they did each year.
The forest was preparing for the winter.
It would take yet another day before they would reach Meribia, Quinn noticed. At least by foot, he surmised.
"Are you sure you don't want to head off to Meribia early?" Quinn asked, looking over at Nina. "You would reach it before nightfall, and you have friends to stay with. And you wouldn't have to sleep outside as well."
"Um... no, I'd rather not... I mean, if you don't mind." She blushed. At least it looked like she did, hard as it was to see. "Gotta enjoy the free time I have left, right? I can see them when we get there."
"Okay. Later it is, then," he replied, grinning widely.
And later it was, when they decided to camp for the night. The treetops gave quite good cover for the sky. So much, in fact, that it became quite necessary to build a campfire as well, even though there were no dangerous wildlife in the Eastern Katarina zone. Very little of the light reflected from the Blue Star reached down to the forest floor, so the fire was needed to provide them with the light they needed. Quinn started clearing some room on the ground, and built a ring of stones there. It was just going to be a small fire, but there was no point in taking any chances. He had no desire to start a forest fire, and with all the dry leaves, it was very easy to do so by accident.
And with that in mind, he went looking for firewood.
By the time the night settled over them both, and the rest of the forest had gone dark, Quinn's campfire was crackling nicely, illuminating the surrounding area where they both sat on their respective spots. Having decided to spend the time telling more stories, Quinn was told more about Nina's travels to Horam, and some of the things they saw there. Quinn, on the other hand, told Nina more about the carnival, and about Roine and Julia and their music.
"They are actually working on something now. I'm looking forward to hearing it. I got a little preview of it when I passed the carnival on my way to Nota, and it was definitely the best I've ever heard them play," Quinn said, his voice colored with anticipation. Looking over at Nina, he added: "You ought to come hear it too. If necessary, I'll drag both you and your parents over there."
Nina giggled at that.
"You know, you could tell the blue and black dragon too. It would have been great to have them all visit the carnival. We even have two red ones." His face took on a curious look. "Can there really be two dragons of the same color?"
"I guess so. 'Our purpose on this world have changed', my dad always says. I guess Dragonmaster Alex will always be considered the last one. Without the goddess, we have a new life to live on this world. At least, that's what my dad says."
"And your mom agrees, I suppose?"
"No. She thinks he's just being lazy."
Quinn had to restrain himself from laughing out loud. He couldn't stop himself from snickering, though. Although he stopped when he caught the look in Nina's face.
"What's the matter?"
"It's just that... I'm afraid the blue and black dragon won't be at the carnival. Perhaps not ever."
"What? Why?"
"Well, I suppose I should tell you that the black dragon is dead." She hung her head low. Apparently, it had not been very long since it had happened.
Quinn was stunned beyond belief. "How?"
"We don't know. We just found him one day, in his cave. He... he was just lying there." She shuddered.
Quinn felt stupid. Obviously, he had brought up some bad memories to the surface.
"Look. I'm sorry." He put her hand on top of her head, not knowing what else to do, or what to say.
"'S okay," she said. "You didn't know. It's been a while since it happened too, so it don't hurt as much anymore. But he had always been so much fun when he came to visit me, when I was home with my mom. I miss him sometimes."
"But what about the blue dragon. Surely he -- or she -- is alive. I'm afraid to ask, but..." Quinn hoped for some happier news this time.
"Yes, she is," Nina said, looking a little better, "but she rarely goes out of her cave anymore. Mom says that it's because someone actually stole her first egg." She grimaced at that. "It happened before I was born or hatched, but she's still sad because of it. But now that she laid another egg, she refuses to leave the cave."
"Someone stole a dragon's egg. Who'd be stupid enough to do that?" Quinn looked completely shellshocked.
"I don't know. My dad hasn't told me much about that. I think they had put a sleep spell on her when she was unaware, and then they took her egg. It put my mom into shock, dad says, and that's why mom and dad took care of me just as well when I still was inside the egg. I guess that's why she refuses to let me travel alone, too. It must have been horrible to find your egg stolen."
"Yes, but a sleep spell on a dragon. That had to take a lot of power. I mean, a lot."
"I know. And Aurora has just laid another egg. It happened not long after Janus died, so mom and dad goes there a lot. Dad thinks someone's gunning for the dragon tribe. After all, they couldn't find out exactly how Janus died. I guess that's why Aurora is so protective of the egg, and why my mom's gonna be really mad when she finds out about my new... scar."
"I see. I guess you are at the doorway to a new purpose, after all. As you've said, with no goddess, you have to carve a new life on your own. I hope it goes well. Lunar isn't quite the same without you dragons, even though you are the first of them I've actually had the honor of meeting."
"Thank you," Nina said, sniffling. "I really wish there was more people like you around."
"Thanks... so, Aurora is the blue dragon, and Janus is... was the black?"
"Yes. Perhaps I can take you to see her later. She is always happy to see me, and she'd like you a lot. I can guarantee that. I guess I'll have to do my 'time' first, but after that..."
"Well, speaking of 'time'... perhaps it's 'time' we got some sleep," Quinn said, rolling out his sleeping bag. "For tomorrow, we conquer Meribia," he continued, putting a strange accent to his words.
Quinn got the reaction he hoped for, when he heard Nina giggle.