Dragon Tails and Girlish Pales
One early spring evening in the plains of the Mushroom Kingdom, beneath the waning beams of sunlight that crawled away towards the horizon, was a sleepy woman, setting up her old telescope. Caune approached the middle of the clearing and tossed down her sloppily-folded lawn chair, and held the instrument under her arm, her fingers twisting at the telescope’s stand, unwinding it and settling it in the familiar grooves in the newborn ground. Once the position was perfect, she took the telescope and placed it in the stirrup, the two objects clicking in place beautifully. The woman rubbed her eye under her round glasses with her left hand, the other adjusting the position once more, aiming the instrument at the dusty pink-and-orange sky.
For as long as she could remember, she would come out on clear days and look through, fascinated by what’s past the grass her feet were planted on. She would catch glances of clouds that she could swore looked like buildings, with a big, white, fluffy castle overseeing it all. She would look even further, naming her own constellations, trying to map what could be, if there are other worlds out there. The woman would sit for hours, twisting the lens until she threatened to snap it off, trying to look farther than the glass could possibly reach.
Lately, however, a new body appeared in the lens of the telescope. It was larger than a person, but smaller than some of the other strange creatures that resided in the various kingdoms. It would hop quickly between the thick Meringue Clouds, making it difficult to see clearly. All that could be interpreted in the silhouette was some kind of pear-shaped kangaroo with a long neck and tail, with bent antennae coming from one end, the other sporting heavy haunches as the figure would leap from sight. Caune would try her best to draw the creature from her memory every time it passed, her sketchbook littered with strange interpretations on what she was seeing. However, every new scribble only left the girl more confused as to what the mysterious figure really was. The worst part of it was, the figure never appeared in the winter-time.
Now that it was finally springtime, Caune was determined to discover what the Creature of the Clouds was. Once she finally found the most optimal spot for sky-gazing, she bent down and picked up her lawn chair, briefly dusting it off before unfolding it, the fabric stretching and sighing from stiffness. She set the chair right behind the telescope, and smoothed down her black dress before settling down in her familiar spot, the old metal groaning under her weight. Caune looked up at the sky once more with her naked eye, night steadily creeping and pushing against the twilight, trying to make room for the darker blues that harbored the stars. The girl sat, adjusting the knob on the telescope stand to lower it down to her level, and she grabbed her sketchbook, flipping the pages upward until she found an empty space. She dug in her purple apron pocket, and pulled out a pencil, holding it at the ready.
Hours passed, the sky was stained black and blue, only highlighted by the full moon and the stars millions of light years away in the sky. Caune’s eyes began to grow heavy, straining from glaring and squinting through her telescope. There was no sign of the Creature of the Clouds. The woman sighed tiredly, and decided to call it a night. She stood up and flipped her book closed, placing it and the pencil back in her large front pocket. She smushed the lawn chair back in its folded position, but just as she was about to pull the telescope from its stand, there was a loud, unmistakable boom that shot through the clearing like a firework, startling and tearing a sharp scream from Caune.
Her feet froze suddenly to the patch of grass below her, and she couldn’t dare move. Her heart was pounding so harshly she could hear it in her ears. Her hands shook violently as she tried to hold her breath, listening for more. It was then she heard a whirring sound and the faint beat of intense drums that grew louder and louder the closer it seemed to come. A second large boom was heard, and this time, the sound was accompanied by a Bomber Bill launching over the clearing and into the clouds.
A fleet of large airships roared into view in the sky, propellers slicing through the clouds as they bulldozed forward, smoke billowing from their exhausts. Cannonballs and bullet bills flew outwards into the once peaceful pillows of dense water, and Caune could see a pointed white claw stretch out towards what she thought was open sky, and another boom was heard as a Bomber Bill fired, following the commanding point. The girl’s legs finally decided to work, and Caune booked it into the safe foliage. She quickly put the end of the telescope to her eye, disregarding the press of her glasses lens against the view. The telescope lens was twisted until the pads of her fingers turned white, and she desperately looked to try and see what all the cannonfire was for.
There, standing at the helm of the largest airship, was famed mercenary and daughter of the fierce Koopa King, Wendy O. Koopa, her black and pink flag whipping back and forth in the wind atop the mast. Accompanying Wendy in her cruel crusade was a fleet of koopas and shy guys, all standing at their cannons, ready for even a hint of the word “fire”. Caune could see that Wendy was talking, perhaps declaring something, but of course, couldn’t make out anything over the loud, rumbling engines and whooshing spins of the propellers. Caune adjusted her view to try and see who Wendy was supposedly threatening with a full on airstrike, and saw two familiar bent antennas. Her eyes widened and before she could open her mouth to shout for a ceasefire- a shrill, demanding shriek sent out a third Bomber Bill, and it crashed into the clouds, destroying them, and sending the intended target tumbling towards the earth. Caune gasped as she saw the mysterious large creature fall from the clouds, wisps of water following after as the shadow grew smaller and smaller, before landing in the trees. The airships pressed forward, flying over the trees, seemingly following what they had struck, puffing and chugging out of sight.
Once the sound of loud, choppy propellers had left her ears, Caune quickly ran towards the back of her cottage, and burst through the side door of a separate garage. She smacked the light switch on and beelined for a hanging purple scarf and helmet next to a dark blue, star-speckled City Tripper. The engine roared to life as Caune practically crammed the key into the ignition and turned, and she pushed a button to open the garage. She fastened her helmet under her chin, loosely threw her scarf around her neck, and pulled her gloves on tight while the door creaked open. Once it was finally safe to go, Caune revved the handle, kicking the front tire of the scooter up and shooting towards the forest. The center light didn’t do much to brighten the forest floor as she weaved through various trees and bushes, but the path was most familiar to her as she looked for the smoky aftermath. The farther she went, the more her heart pounded against her ribcage, terrified that she would lose the one thing that made her life interesting.
After what seemed like miles, Caune finally spotted a line of gray smoke. She gripped the handles tightly and revved the scooter once more, following it all the way down to an area of dense green shrubbery. Every other bush that was once dotted with apples and oranges, was now destroyed. Several trees were still smoldering from the intense burn of the crash. The trunks black and orange, the leaves burnt to ash. In the middle, which seemed to be the epicenter of the destruction, lied a very injured-looking, unfamiliar shape.
Caune yanked on the brake, bringing the star-speckled scooter to a screeching halt. She clicked the buckle of her helmet open and pulled it off, her silver star barrette hanging loosely in her now messed curly dark brown hair, and her eyes searched for any signs of life. She carelessly tossed her helmet towards her scooter, and rushed over to the figure she spent the better part of 2 years searching for.
There, cushioned in the leaves, twigs, and blown-up fruit, was another woman. Dressed in a tattered pink dress and no shoes, her upper half hung behind the bushes. As Caune pressed forward, she got a closer look. The hurt girl had long, brown hair, strewn about in every direction as it tangled with the branches, and her square glasses laid askew on her flushed and dirtied face. Atop her head, was a torn pink bow, and two long, thick, pale-green angled horns. Suddenly, the scooterist paused as she saw the horns, and dared to glance a little lower. There, under her dress, nestled within the shrubs, was a thick, pale-pink scaly tail, with pale-green spikes.
The more Caune tried to make sense of what she was looking at, the more confused she became. Surely this couldn’t be the Creature of the Clouds, she thought, unless she really did have that bad of eyesight. Suddenly, after a beat of silence, the horned girl gasped awake, and shot up, wincing from her hair snagging on some of the twigs. Caune froze suddenly, watching dumbly from the middle of the forest floor. The long-haired girl, not noticing her, began to carefully detangle the sticks, leaving behind a few leaves and flowers in her hair, before turning and suddenly locking eyes with Caune.
The two girls stared at one another, almost as if they were both staring at something completely and totally alien to the other. It was at this moment that Caune noticed that this strange, dragon, dinosaur, lizard hybrid girl was very beautiful. Bashfully, she suddenly looked away, and the dragon girl looked up at the silent night sky, no airships in sight. She grunted and pulled herself up, and Caune, ever the polite girl, quickly jumped at the opportunity to offer her hand to pull her out of the shrubbery. The girl smiled at the gesture and took the other’s hand, and she was pulled from her grassy prison.
The silence between the two suddenly grew uncomfortable, but Caune wouldn’t dare to speak first, for fear of saying something stupid right away.
Caune quickly looked up, eyes meeting again with the other girl. “Oh, um.. It was no trouble. Are you alright?”
“I’ve seen better days, that’s for certain,” the girl muttered, her hand rubbing the back of her neck painfully. “I’m Lilac.”
“Caune,” The other girl said sheepishly, her hands fiddling with her apron.”So, you must be the creature I’ve been seeing move through the clouds,” Caune thought out loud. “What happened?”
“Oh, y’know, same thing that always happens. I find a nice cozy cloud to nap in, then I get chased away by airships that claim to have claimed the ‘land’ so to speak,” Lilac air-quoted. Caune looked up towards the fallen cloud. “Does this happen a lot?”
“Oh yea, but usually I get away a lot faster. They just caught me off guard this time,” Lilac started to pace around, despite taking quite the fall. ”Must be because I just came back from the winter, I can be a little unprepared for these sorts of things right out the gate.” Caune thought for a moment and offered her hand.
“You’re welcome to stay with me, if you’d like.” Lilac shook her head. “Oh, I couldn’t put you out like that. Tell you what though, we should keep in touch!” The dragon girl grinned and gave Caune a small piece of paper with a post office box number on it. “Write me here, I get around a lot but you can find me just about anywhere.”
Caune’s smile fell a little with disappointment, but perked up at the prospect of a new friend. “Of course, that sounds good to me. Just, take care of yourself, ok?” Lilac smiled and nodded, before taking a small step backwards and opening her arms wide, before a glowing yellow light enveloped her. The girl seemed to grow large and beautiful, as her neck extended upwards, spines lining along the length. Her head reshaped into something more reptilian, sporting a roundish snout and two long fangs on either side of her mouth. Her tail grew thicker and longer, swinging behind her as it accommodated the height. Finally, two large draconic wings spread from her back, big and proud. Where there was just a short woman with long, beautiful hair, a large pink and green dragon emerged from the light in her place.
Once the light faded, the dragon stretched out her slightly singed wings, and she shook her spines free. Caune fell backwards in surprise, and the dragon girl chuffed happily, before graciously pressing her snout to the girl’s cheek. She looked on in shock, and the dragon gave a small wink before taking off into the clouds, her tail waving happily.
Caune looked at the paper again, and stood up slowly, her face flushing with happiness. She stood there until she could no longer see the Creature of the Clouds, and finally made her way back towards her ride. She picked up her helmet off the ground and gently dusted it off of dirt, and straddled her scooter, looking back once more where she met her new dragon friend. The girl fixed her barrette and put her helmet back on, revving the bike and scooting her way back home, the moonlight shining her way back through the forest.
