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It was by chance that in the height of spring, Pomu Rainpuff happened to be fluttering by a certain clearing in the woods where the sun shone down in soft, warm rays. And, by chance again, that a certain dragon with feathers and scales dyed the blue of the clear sky decided to touch down in that very clearing to rest her wings and bathe in the comfort of the sun from which her race received its namesake.
By coincidence and happenstance, those two came to be in such proximity that Pomu’s curiosity was directed towards the massive dragon as it gracefully landed. That curiosity kept her hiding behind the thick, aged trunk of a tree as the dragon shimmered with light and with a flash, took on the shape of Elira Pendora.
Perhaps it was not chance, however, but fate that drew her piercing cyan gaze to lock eyes with the fairy, hiding in the shade of the trees.
~
Pomu was brimming with energy as her wings carried her through the spacious, hollowed out tree she called her home. The rooms were cleaned, the shelves were dusted, the snacks-
“Pomusuke, no! Get, shoo!”
-currently being pilfered by a mischievous cat (or perhaps gremlin would be more appropriate) who scampered away at the sudden warning, leaping off the coffee table and ducking under the couch while purring in discontent. Pomu only offered him a stuck-out tongue and a stink eye in response.
“Stinky old man…”
Upon inspection, the snacks appeared to have survived the goblin attack unscathed, much to Pomu’s relief. Perfect. Everything was perfect. With everything having been triple-checked and the food moved to a higher counter, Pomu glided out the door and through the woods, the canopy of leaves above already beginning to take on a reddish color as summer faded away. The fairy’s wings sent loose twigs and leaves scattering as they flitted back and forth, droning loudly as they approached full speed. The beating of Pomu’s heart, however, more than drowned them out.
The days which Elira could visit were few and far between. Sky dragons were migratory creatures, often spending little time in one place. Though, much to the alleviation of the fairy’s worries, their perception of “little time” was relative to their own long, long, long lifespan, even in comparison to that of fairies.
Pomu felt that the time since their meeting was anything but little. Elira more than deserved the title of “solar”, with her sunny and boundless energy, plus laugh to match, and a smile that had been permanently burned into Pomu’s dreams. More than once she had to stop herself from staring at those fangs…
A shadow passed by overhead, prompting Pomu to attempt to track the moving shape as it approached the usual clearing in the woods. Touching her face to make sure a goofy smile wasn’t stuck to it, she raced the final stretch to greet the dragon, who had begun to gracefully land as usual.
“Eli-!”
Pomu’s flight was cut short, however, as a second shape touched (crashed) down with a resounding boom that shook the forest floor. In pure surprise, the fairy’s wings seized up and brought her to a hard stop on the edge of the clearing, just out of sight. Catching her breath after the sudden shock, Pomu could only watch in confusion as the scene unfolded in front of her.
The dust of the impact began to settle down and reveal the second visitor to be a dragon as well, though its coloration was the deep purple of twilight rather than Elira’s own soft sky blue. Shadows slithered around its tumbled form and condensed until taking on the appearance of a young woman, covered in dirt as she practically crawled out of the crater she had caused. Injury seemed to have eluded her since she seemed to be cackling with a devilish grin on her face, her mismatched eyes sparkling with adrenaline.
What concern Pomu had for the purple-haired girl turned into…something else, as she watched Elira go over to her, half laughing and half scolding, as she helped the other dragon girl to her feet. Pomu watched Elira brush the dirt off her arms. Her shoulders. Her hair. Her face.
The forest was a solitary, quiet place, and thus Pomu had lived a relatively isolated lifestyle thus far. So it had never quite occurred to her that Elira had other friends. Sky dragon friends, who perhaps knew her better. Who were perhaps closer to her.
Elira had never touched her like that. The thought passed through Pomu’s mind and left as fast as lightning, but the echo left behind made her mouth run dry. Her heart continued to beat loudly in her ears, though not for as happy a reason as before.
In her head, Pomu knows she should go out and greet her friend, and ask who she had brought along. Her body, however, refused to move as her legs stood firm and her wings flicked about anxiously. Did she really want to know the answer to that?
Who was this girl, that Elira touched so casually?
~
Her sister. It was her sister.
Long after the exceptionally boisterous evening that stretched long into the night, Pomu felt like a total, massive idiot. Of course it was her sister. Selen, as the fairy had learned her name was, looked quite obviously similar to Elira. Granted, she was magnitudes more…lively, but made fast friends with Pomu nonetheless.
But even with introductions out of the way, the feeling of watching the two in the clearing lingered. Pomu may have come into the realization she was an idiot, but she wasn’t ignorant. She knows that she stares at Elira for longer than she should. That she spends maybe a little too much time looking forward and worrying over things when the dragon visits. That she dreams too often of her friend, perhaps being something more…
As winter approached, however, those thoughts found themselves on the back burner. Pomu was the sole caretaker of the woods she resided in. So when a blight began to spread amongst the trees, she of course took the burden onto herself.
The sickness wracked her body day and night, leaving her hot and breathless even as winter chill settled in. Days spent in bed turned to weeks of dreary, monotonous rest. Worst of all, the incessant throb of her body as it worked to purge her illness left her awake into the darker hours of the night. Once, she found comfort in the peaceful noises of the forest. Now it just reminded her that she was alone, with not another soul for miles. Just her, and all her deepest thoughts and feelings that echoed inside her sickness-addled mind, amplified to a deafening buzz.
In the morning after a sleepless night, the fatigue finally broke her. Pomu, alone in her darkened room, cried her heart out. Not out of any particular sadness or grief, but simply because her feelings had nowhere else to go. She was lonely. She was frustrated. She was ashamed. She oh, oh so wanted, and was guilty for wanting.
The sun had begun to set when she finally dried up, curled up in bed while she counted her labored breaths. A knock, muffled in her ears, came from the front door and finally roused Pomu from her daze and her bed. Only one person came to mind when she considered who would know the location of her tree, hidden away in the thickets of the forest.
And indeed, there at her doorway stood Elira Pendora. Her teal eyes went wide with shock and concern, and Pomu cringed internally at how bad she must look, her body having been wracked by illness for weeks now. When her friend spoke, it sounded far away, like it was fading. The thought of it scared her, and she felt a sting behind her eyes.
“Oh my god, Pomu, are you alright?! What happened?” She pushed her way into the doorway, putting her hands onto Pomu’s shoulders to steady her. The fairy felt her face flush even further as she weakly attempted something of a laugh, even as her eyes began to water.
“It’s, ah…nothing. Just going through it, you know…” Somehow, she felt so small next to Elira, the few centimeters between the two feeling impossibly distant. Pomu strained her eyes, as if doing so would bring her closer.
“It's clearly not nothing, you-have you looked in a mirror at all?” Pomu opened her mouth to respond, but all the moisture felt as if it were sucked out of her mouth and welled up in her eyes.
Don’t cry. Don’t cry.
“Oh god, uh, Pomu, I don’t any fairy biology or-”
Don’t cry. Don’t cry.
“-wait, I think, um-oh! I know.”
Don’t cry. Don’t cry.
“A doctor, lemme just go and-!”
That word. Go. It finally brought Pomu to action, as her body operated unknowingly to her dazed mind. Firmly, tightly, she held her arms around Elira’s chest, her face buried into the taller girl’s shoulder.
“Don’t go…please…”
The dam broke for a second time today as everything that Pomu thought had been drained out of her swelled up again. She felt Elira quietly shift and a comforting pair of arms held her closer.
“Mmm. Okay.”
The soft voice of Elira came just centimeters from Pomu’s ear.
“I’ll stay.”
Pomu’s voice came out in between broken sobs.
“All night.”
“Mhm.”
“...forever.”
A pair of wings, long and spindly, wrapped around Pomu’s own set of fairy wings.
“Forever.”
That night, the sensation of wings wrapped around her in a tight embrace cradled Pomu into a restful, dreamless sleep.
~
Sky dragons, of both the lunar and solar variety, are migratory creatures, often spending little time in one place as they fly far above the clouds, rarely ever touching the ground.
However, some say that in a forest, hidden away from prying eyes, nests a solar sky dragon, the one exception to normal behavior. And, some say still that its feathers and scales are dyed the softest shade of blue, and sparkle with the shine of fairy dust.