(LK)Dragon Hatchling

[Prof Octavious Everritt]

Leigh had fled to the sanctuary of the lake to read a letter he had recent acquired through the services of a muggle he knew. His hand shaking as he opened the envelop, Leigh sucked in a deep breath as he pulled the letter out. He closed his eyes while opening the letter, written in formal handwriting.

So like mum to be like that. He thought. He began to read it, and felt his heart and chest begin to ache. He continued to read it until he felt tears forming in his eyes, soon streaking down his face. He felt saddened by the fate his mother had, sentenced to life in prison for killing an innocent child, which she claimed to be was innocent. He felt no remorse for his mothers actions, but he felt a twinge of sadness for her. He crumpled the letter before looking out onto the water, seeing the divine waves roll upon the few beaches and rocks.

He thought about helping his mother, her heart felt pleas for his help couldn't be ignored. He chose to ignore them, but soon turned and felt a sudden urge to scream out and explode. He turned towards the water, and felt his anger rise to the surface. He pulled out his wand and gripped it tightly in his hand and aimed it into the sky.

Red sparks of immense size fired from the sky, reddening the light around him. He kept firing them until he felt the pain end. He dropped to his knees, all his emotions epmtying away from him like a fish in a stream. He hung his head in defeat, not sure of what to do. That was, until he felt a violent shaking in his robes pocket.

Suddenly aware of it, Leigh reached into his robes and felt the last dragon egg inside of his robes.

"I thought I put you away..." Leigh said, his eyes falling upon the pale grey of the shell. He ran his hand over the egg, feeling it shake even more when the egg suddenly stopped. Then a hairline crack appeared, light seeping out of it almost immediately afterwards. The line cracked into several more before the light disappeared and the shell fell to the ground. Leigh stared at the small dragon before him, his eyes never leaving the multi-coloured eyes of the baby Antipodean Opaleye. He felt the presence of another being in his mind, but to be sure what it was, Leigh couldn't make it out.

The baby dragon yawned and streched its wings out, expanding more than twice it's own length. Leigh wondered what he would call the dragon, for he had prepared himself not the receive any of them, but to have one now he felt an overwhelming sensation of joy.

The opal coloured eyes looked up at Leigh, with a unique oddity. Leigh looked back into them, and saw a fierce protectiveness in them, that if anyone harmed him, the dragon would defend him. He smiled as he felt a calmness wash over him.

"Now what to name you... little dragon girl?" Leigh said, knowing the gender of the dragon somehow. "I think I'll call you... Shiela." He smiled as he stood and turned to face the school, but also to see someone standing and watching him.

[Thom Moen]

Thom was watchful, unmoving and expressionless as Addis turned to look at him. The furious red sparks that had been thundering into the air a moment ago had been luminous against his skin, and the ruby glare seemed to remain in his eyes as Addis peered at him with alarm. His arms remained limp at his sides, and tilting his head with a disposition of apathy, he considered the dragon. "Shiela?" he asked in a monotone. "Make her into galleons, I say."

He drew his wand, pointing it lazily at the dragon hatchingly. He smiled darkly.

[Prof Octavious Everritt]

"Don't be a fool, Thom." Leigh said, recognising the voice. He still had his own wand in his hand and putting Shiela into his other, Leigh readied himself in case the student attacked. "Don't be stupid, you don't know what you're doing, leave now before you get hurt." Leigh said, feeling a wave of reassurance wash over him. "You have no idea of what powers you are dealing with..." Leigh continued, feeling something not right with the student.

[Thom Moen]

Thom regarded Addis's wand without looking at it. The teacher had a calming expression on his face, but Thom knew he was probably thinking other thoughts. "What? Are you going to attack me, professor? That's not very professional." he said mockingly, frowning and smiling at the same time. He began to walk forward steadily, eyes upon the dragon. He had a feeling Addis would not choose to attack him.

"Give her to me." he demanded. Pointing his wand more sternly, he opened his mouth to utter a curse...

[Helia Ollivander]

"Silencio," said Helia, her wand poitned at the back of Thoms head. She had been... not spying, but observing Professor Addis since their encounter in the forest. She wanted to know who the last dragon owner would be, and now she did. She had been watching from up in a willow tree when Thom had begun to threaten the professor and dragon, that's when she had climbed out and uttered the silencing spell. She stared long and hard at Thom, "What is wrong with you?" she asked, her voice full of anger. "Could you really be so cruel to a linekd dragon?" her voice rose slightly, but she took a deep breath and regained her composure, waiting to see what would happen next.

[Thom Moen]

Thom whirled round, his expression no longer sadistic and sickly, but full of rage and indignance. He began to move around on the spot, stomping his feet and punching the air with his fists, his cheeks growing redder and redder as he silently mouth every insult, threat and obscenity listed in his head. After a long few moments he finally gave up and placed his wand in his mouth, biting down hard. It was the only thing he could do to release his burning fury.

He threw the contraption on the ground and let his gaze burrow as hard into Halo as possible. Her face was full of disgust.

For a moment a recent memory flashed in his head, that of a white saviour, her patronus, her female form dragging bodies from the firing line. His eyes glazed over.

[Helia Ollivander]

She shook her head and lowered her wand, her mind also drifting back to the battle that had taken place...right here, but for other reasons. "You saved me, Thom... and you would hurt something so innocent." her voice betrayed pain and sadness. He had rescued her when she was invisible and about to die, but here he was about to steal something so precious to someone else. She looked at Addis, "You can lift the charm whenever you feel it's safe." she said, gave one last disheartened glance at Thom, then walked slowly back to the castle. How could someone so good, that had helped her so much, turn so easily...

[Thom Moen]

As Halo walked away, Thom watched her lividly. He turned back to Addis now, and folding his arms high across his chest, he waited patiently for the charm to be lifted, his wand still on the grass at his feet.

[Apronia Silvanus]

Apronia ran fleetly after her precocious little Romanian Longhorn as he stretched his wings. He had been practicing all afternoon and now that he was airborne, he refused to come down. She didn't mind, it was a lovely afternoon and a brisk run felt like freedom after so long bent over, weeding the magical plant beds around the lake. She stopped short when she saw Thom Moen facing off with Professor Addis.

The dragon landed in front of Thom, reared up to his full third of a meter of height, and began flapping his wings, hissing dreadfully.

"What is going on here, Professor Addis?" the Longhorn cast one last glare at Thom and went to curl himself around Shiela. "Is something wrong with your dragon?"

[Prof Octavious Everritt]

Leigh never removed his eyes from Thom. He knew something was wrong with him, knew very well. He then heard Helia appear and he was thankful for her, as he did not wish to harm a student of any house if need be.

"Finite Incantetem." Leigh muttered, lifting Silencio from Thom. Then before he could leave, Leigh yelled at Thom. "Anymore of that business and I will strip you of every magical power you have! It can be done." Then seeing a new arrival and seeing a Romanian Longhorn appear near his own Antipodean Opaleye, Leigh knew Apronia had appeared.

"Thom has been a minor nuisance on this day." Leigh said to Apronia, closing his eyes. He felt a wave of calmness wash over him as he stared down into the vivid eyes of his dragon. "Shiela is an Antipodean Opaleye... usually found near my home when I was little. Never did I dream that I would ever see one, let alone hold one."

[Thom Moen]

Thom sighed deeply, a husky moaning coming out with it. His insides no longer velt like an airless, dead void, but once more vibrating with breath and human cry.

He looked at the wand on the ground, and with a dismissive smirk he ignored it.

Tilting his head back, Thom stared at the sky. His eyes then wandered to Addis. "Take my magic?" he huffed a nasty laugh. "I don't need magic anymore." he whispered, knowing full well that Addis and even Apronia could hear. "Do you understand me?"

Smiling to himself, he thought back to the night before, to the Dark Figure in the forest and his offer of a dark wish. Thom had taken it, bitter and dwelling of his being made to suffer for the safety of others - for mere accquiantances. He remembered the sheer pleasure of it over flowing in him, the pipes of his being bursting with pressure.

He remembered accepting.

Thom looked at both the dragons, and then at the adults. "No one can kill me anymore. There's no point in trying." he said as if those surrounding him knew exactly what he was talking about.

In his pockets, where they could not see, Thom began scrapping with his fingernails at the scabs in a neat line across his palm, crescent shaped like the scar on his arm. He felt the newly released blood splutter over his fingers. He felt them heal again.

[Apronia Silvanus]

Apronia felt pushed aside in her own body, felt her eyes glow with the green power of the Forest and her dragon-friend hovering just above her head, blowing smoke out of his young lungs.

"There are worse things than death, boy." her voice rang with the eldritch tones of the Forest's age and experience. It knew the tainted one that lurked within its depths, knew what gift this stripling had accepted in ignorance. "You may have already chosen it." Apronia, dimly connected with the force sweeping through and manipulating her body, relaxed to it. The forest was, in some ways, her guardian, just as she was its. She watched with curiousity as flowers sprouted around her feet, grew and bloomed. Vines wound round her legs, her torso, around her arms and waved into the air as if trying to grasp Thom. "There are magicks in this world you know nothing of." the Forest whispered with her lips.

The vines tightened around her body and then the Forest ebbed within her, resuming its normal dormant state. The vines fell away, leaving a strange tingle beneath her skin that seemed to permeate to her bones. Another mark of the Forest, she supposed.

[Thom Moen]

Thom watched the green life entwine her as she spoke, watched it coil and grasp and protect. It seemed intelligent, in control, although he could sense that Apronia was the one with the power. He felt a surge of jealously, he felt cheated, misguided - insulted. The Darko Figure's gift was not all that Thom had hoped for. He had not wanted something as simple as plants and a beautiful woman to outdo him.

She let the foliage returned to the soil from whence it came. Thom did the only thing his half-grown darkness could do. He made the grass at her feet turn black and crisp. "I know plenty!" he shouted, although he wasn't entirely sure.

[Prof Octavious Everritt]

"If you know plenty, then show us." Leigh said, eyes ablaze with anger. Hs demeanour, however, was calm and cool. On his face was a slight smile, revealing that Thom's mysterious new powers were new and weak. "I doubt you could very much control the powers Apronia can feel, as can I." Leigh laughed as his Opaleye dragon flew over his head and attached herself to his head.

He smiled as he began to share thoughts with the dragon, each one a liberty unto itself. He then felt a rush of power surge through his being as he realised that not only was he linked with the dragon, but also had obtained a strange new power. Leigh opened his palm and a small light radiated off of it, growing larger by the second. A ball of light appeared, soon swelling to the size of the basketball.

He held the newly formed ord of light in his hands and stared into it, as did the Shiela, his dragon. A smile crossed his lips as he looked at Thom.

"The power to heal with light." Leigh said, his eyes beginning to glow brightly as he spoke.

[Thom Moen]

Thom threw Addis the dirtiest, most irate look he could muster at his requests, but was soon unable to maintain it as the tiny light filled his vision, like a small sun right before him.

Healing? Thom thought, perplexed. Why does it hurt me so much?!

He placed his scabbed and blood stained hands over his face, squinting his eyes shut. He began to rub them, then scratched at them - and at last he started shouting. "Stop it! Stop it, IT HURTS!" he screamed desperately, the pain worse than burning, worse than lashes. He began to sway on the spot. His foot kicked his wand. He snatched it up. "STOP IT OR I'LL KILL YOU!" he aimed it in Addis's direction with his eyes still closed, one hand still raking his skin. He began to cry.

Darkness, use it, USE IT... he heard a voice saying in his head.