moving on (pan)

[( calypso )]

behind my eyes
on the back of my mind

The maned wolf trekked through the forest toward her destination. Her back ached, and she was about to take a break. Even though the egg that she had fashioned little saddle-bags for was surprisingly light for its size, the thin frame of a maned wolf was not built for a mule's work. She sat down, wiggling her tall, furry body out of the egg's bag, and settled beside it. It was a beautiful egg, she noted as she inspected it for the umpteenth time since she'd received it. It was a complete wonder to her, really, how such a mighty beast as dragons were could come out of such small packages as eggs. Granted, it was the largest egg Calypso had ever seen, but it was still so small compared to a dragon. Or at least, the dragons that she had seen in the sky. She'd never seen one up close, and that's what she was most excited about. The maned wolf leaned down and nudged the egg with her nose, causing it to topple over. It was so smooth and cool to the touch. She wondered what kind of dragon would come out of it.

Calypso's destination was Naja's End, the largest of the elven cities, and the city where the monarchs were housed. It was a grand city, as her mother and father had taken her there once or twice on excursions. The memory of that pained her a little, as she thought about why she was here in the first place. When she had come home with a dragon's egg in her bag, the sight hadn't been pretty. Her mother was the first to know; her entire complexion had gone as white as a ghost and she clamped her hand over her mouth. The poor woman didn't have it in her to take the thought of her daughter's rebellion, and she nearly passed out. That was when her father had come in the room, wondering what all the commotion was about. The egg had been laying on the table of the main room, and when Calypso's father saw it, he angrily rushed toward it. He might have been intending to smash it or just take it away, but the maned wolf shifter didn't give him the chance; she got to the egg first and snatched it up before him.

In his fury, her father demanded that she leave the house and never come back if she was going to keep the egg. And so, Calypso went, for she was not going to give up something that she had worked so hard for and aspired to become. Which is why she made her way to Naja's End, where she knew she could find a new place to live, at least until her egg hatched. She knew that once it did, she would be off for the life of a nomad, travelling from place to place with her companion. This was her dream. But for now, she stood in front of the main gates of Naja's End, intimidated by its sheer size. Perhaps she could wait a little bit before she went in... She saw crowds of people moving about inside, and it scared her a little. She didn't like large groups of people. And so, the seemingly elven girl sat under a tree next to the city gates, taking out her egg and setting it in front of her. She would sketch it for the thousandth time for now. Maybe later she would have the courage to actually go in.

[-Pan-]

Pan trudged along the road, wishing for all the world that the dragon egg nestled safely in her shoulderbag had already hatched so that the beast it held could have carried her to her destination. The night had stretched on in to what the girl was guessing by now were the early hours of morning, because she hadnt even gotten to the bottom of dragons peak with her precious new object until a few hours after nightfall. And the distance between the mountain and her home city wasnt exactly short; it had taken her a day to travel it the first time. And she had been well rested, due to stops along the way. But the girl hadnt stopped going since she started down the hugest length of stairs she had ever seen. It had also been more arduous because she had lost her way a few times, not having the natural sense of direction she did as a rodent. But a tiny mouse couldnt carry the huge egg, so her elf legs were aching worse than they ever had. It had really been quite a workout.

To take her mind off the burning sensation eating up her lower half, she thought back to when she received the glorious item weighing down on her shoulder. It had just rolled out in front of her, rather unceremoiously and a tad disappointing. But it was a beautiful egg; bright red with little yellow speckles all over. And she imagined the majestic dragon that would hatch from it soon enough. She hoped it would be a sweet little thing, and grow up to be big and strong. But it was a dragon, after all, she had never heard of one that hadn't. Dreaming about all this had distracted her from her fatigue, but in her reverie she had managed to wander off the path once again and in to a clump of bushes. The thorn poking in to her leg drew her attention back to reality, and she jumped away with a great deal of energy for one so exhausted. After rubbing her leg and pouting for a few minutes, she managed to spot the path and make her way back over.

Once she was back on her way, Pan noticed that the path wasn't just cobblestone and dirt anymore, there were little wooden posts sprouting up with increasing intensity, an indication that she was getting close to the city. And sure enough, about twenty minutes later, she could faintly see the twinkling lights of the various houses and buildings, and above them, the palace. She grinned widely, eager to be back in her own house and fall asleep in her warm, soft, of so appealing at the moment bed. And after that, she thought about what her mother would think. Would she be proud? Of course she would. She was a supporting mother, and after Zanita was bombarded with frets and questions about how she was feeling and how it went, her sweet mother would make a cake and a huge lovely meal that she would be made to eat before resting. Speaking of food, she hadnt eaten since that morning either, and was only now aware of the gnawing in her insides.

This sensation grew worse as she drew even nearer, and she was close to running inside the huge gates to join the familiar bustle of people and find her way home, but she spotted another elven girl sitting just next to the door. She had a large, brightly colored object sitting in front of her. She looked forlorn, and Pan guessed that she didnt have a place here yet. So instead of rushing in home, she shuffled over to the the girl. Once she got close, she saw that the person sitting in front of her also had a dragon egg. So, a fellow aspiring rider. Well, there couldnt really be any harm in helping someone out. She could at the very least help the other find a place to stay for the night, so Zanita walked over next to her. "Um, hey. Do you need help in the city?" She greeted the other rider quietly, extending a hand to help her up, even though she probably didnt need it.

[( calypso )]

behind my eyes
on the back of my mind

Calypso sat in front of her egg, her sketchpad out, and sketching the round shape of the egg that her hand had already memorized from the previous hundred times she'd drawn it. One could wonder how someone could draw such a simple object so many times without getting burnt out, but the maned wolf shifter was just absolutely in love with the large blue egg. She couldn't wait to see what would come out of it, and so sometimes she drew what she think a dragon hatchling would look like. But she had never seen a full grown dragon, let alone a dragon right when it comes out of the egg.

The shifter was occupied on her drawing to distract her slight anxiety toward the big city, when she sensed someone approaching. Her hair fell to the sides of her face as she jerked her head up, her wolf instincts kicking in. She swore, if it was someone there that intended on taking a look at her precious egg, they could forget about it. Calypso was about ready to snarl when she saw a harmless-looking elven girl standing in front of her. Well she didn't look like she was going to steal anyone's egg any time soon. Um, hey. Do you need help in the city? Calypso smiled. This was just what she was hoping for! She took the hand that she was offered heartily and packed up her things, gathering her egg and placing it back in its sling that was designed for her wolf form. "Thanks!" she smiled nervously as they headed toward the gates of the city. "I've only been here once or twice, and never alone..."

They entered, and although Claypso was still wary of all the crowds around her, she felt better now that she was with someone. Earlier, she recalled she had noticed something that looked like a large round object in this stranger's bag that was slung across her shoulder. "Hey, what's that you're carrying..? It looks like an egg." she mused. "Like mine!" she added happily. "I'm Calypso, by the way. What's your name?" They went through the city, and the maned wolf shifter realized that she had no idea where they were going. "Are we going to your place, or what?"

[-Pan-]

Pan was relieved when the other rider eagerly accepted her implied offer of help. She wasnt sure what she would have done if the other girl had snapped at her or something. The shifter wasn't good at situations where the recieving end of her offers or greetings didnt want them. Even if she just walked away, she would still be all embarrassed and stuff. But as the other rider gathered her stuff up and began to accompany the shifter, she just smiled politely. Who knew? Maybe this person could end up being her first rider friend, because it was well known that you never tended to stay where you grew up once you got a dragon. So logically, most of the friends dragon riders made had dragons of their own, and they just ran in to each other every so often.

The person introduced herself as Calypso, as well as explaining that she had never been to Naja's End before by herself, and inquiring about Zanita's egg. "Oh, yeah. I just got it earlier today." She gently took the egg from its nesting place in her fur lined bag, and showed it to the other girl. It was vastly different. Pan knew that the egg was the same color as the dragon that would hatch from it, but she expected dragon eggs to all look a little more similar than this. Maybe that they wouldnt be quite so bright and contrasted. But her own almost glowed with a brilliant candy red colour, while calypso's looked much more light and the colors were pastels. Not to mention the large purple spots compared with her yellow speckles. They were probably different types of dragon entirely.

The shifter replaced the egg after a minute, and turned back to focus on the person beside her. "I'm Zanita, but I really prefer to be called Pan or Panya. My last name." She explained absentmindedly, stopping before she rambled on and scared the new person off. But what also cut her short was calypso's last question, about where they were going. She honestly hadn't thought about it. The girl probably didnt have very much money at all, and any place you could stay for free wasn't someplace you wanted to go near. Especially not while carrying such a precious item as the egg she was cradling. The girl had mentioned going to Pan's, and she thought that wouldn't be such a terrible idea. They had room for another person, and her mother was such a nice woman. She loved anyone Zanita brought home. "Yeah, you can stay with me. It shouldn't be a problem.

So the shifter led her hopefully newfound friend to the house where she had found solace her whole life. When they drew up to the front step, she stopped, drawing in a breath before continuing. But before she could open the door, it was flung open and in its place stood her tall, elegant mother, flushed with excitement. Apparently, she had been waiting by the window all day for her little girl to return, and wanted to know all about her journey. She literally pulled her daughter in by the arm, and gave a quick, excited "Come in, come in!" to the stranger on her doorstep. Pan laughed lightly, keeping her egg secure and giving calypso a nice smile. "Well, here we are." She said to the girl, while her mother buzzed around in the background.

[( calypso )]

behind my eyes
on the back of my mind

Calypso listened to her new friend as she explained that she had received her egg earlier today. "That's awesome!" she laughed, "Congratulations." She herself had actually gotten hers a few days ago, and with the journey back to her home and then the journey here, that had taken up all of the time since she had received it. Calypso oggled at the bright red and yellow egg that the other elven girl got out of her bag, holding her own light blue and lavender one up to compare. Although there was not much to compare, only to contrast. "Wow.. Yours is so bright." The maned wolf shifter bounced her egg up and down to show how light it was. "Is yours heavy at all? Mine's really not." She threw the pastel egg up in the air and caught it when it came back down. She wondered what it meant that it was so light. Would her dragon be small?

The maned wolf was thrilled to hear that she actually had a place to stay in the huge city. "Well thanks!" she said, not even looking at Pan. She was looking around at all the large trees and wooden buildings, so many shops and houses and guilds. In the distance, she could see the very tops of the palace that the elven royals lived in. It was downright amazing. Calypso was suddenly glad that she had made the choice to get a dragon egg and leave her parents. Her father, that was too closed-minded to be at any level of intelligence, and her mother, who was too afraid to tell her father to back off. It was really a relief to know that she was rid of them. And she swore to herself that she would go back to them when she and her dragon were fully grown, showing off that they had actually made it in the world! The look on her parents' faces would be priceless, and well worth the wait.

Soon, they had made it to Pan's house, and her mother thrust open the door excitedly. Well, it was good to see a face that was actually happy for someone who had gotten an egg. Perhaps Calypso would get some praise that she deserved as well when she showed off her egg. After Pan, of course. It was her house, after all. Well, here we are. "This is a wonderful home!" Calypso complimented. It was very homey and earthy. Just how every elf dreamed of having. Even if shifters weren't real elves. "Thank you for letting me in so graciously. I really appreciate it." she said to her newfound friend, and of course, her friend's mother. Who was a refreshing relief from people's angry ways.

[-Pan-]

Pan was glad that her mother didn’t even blink an eye at the stranger her daughter had brought home. She ignored her mother’s frantic rushing around trying to find nothing, turning her attention on the other soon to be rider before she was swamped with questions and affection. ”Oh, it’s really no problem. We have plenty of room.” Her mother in the background had started shouting at them how exciting this was and hold on just one second she would be right out. ”As you can she, she really doesn’t mind.” Pan laughed, getting her egg from her bag and setting it gingerly on the table in a little clump of grass, leaves, and dirt that she guessed her mother had made a point of setting up for the egg she had been so excited about her daughter getting. She was such a sweet lady. She had never even skipped a beat when she found out that the girl was a shifter like her father, and had nothing but excitement when Pan had expressed an interest in being a rider. She didn’t care what the other elf mothers said, and had never let Zanita hear their criticism so that she could grow up being confident in herself.

With a happy smile, she widened the clump of nesting materials so that Calypso could set her egg down as well if she wished. A second later, Pan’s mother came bustling out with rather large cake that looked homemade, and said ‘Congratulations!” In script letter. She set it down without even bothering to cut a piece for any of them, and turned to her daughter to pull her in to a quick, tight hug. Pan didn’t even have time to pat her mother’s back before the woman was shuffling over to embrace the other girl like they were both her children and she hadn’t never seen this person before. ”So, darling, is that your egg? Oh, it’s just gorgeous! Im sure the dragon will be quite a handsome thing when it hatches.” Even with this exclamation, she gave the egg hardly a glance before returning to cut the cake. ”Oh, and hello to you too! What’s your name, dear? Did you get an egg, too? Oh, let’s see it!” She jabbered on to calypso in that way that she did, and served each them of a generous portion of cake. Pan didn’t really think about saving her new friend the awkwardness and answering her mother’s questions for the poor girl, and instead just sat down and started munching on her cake happily.