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Aviosa woke with a ragged gasp, quickly followed by a heaving cough of water as her body forced the unwelcome liquid out of her. Her throat felt as though it had been torn to shreds by talons, and every breath felt as though she were inhaling litres of coarse sand. Dull aches and tingles flooded her body, and her hearing glands rang with a shrill drone. The world around her was swimming with white, green, and blue, and her snout stung with the scent of salt and leaves.

A groan escaped her maw as she hacked up another mouthful of saltwater that tasted of blood, causing another pulse of pain to run through her body. Suddenly, relief engulfed her, the feeling of a cool bath in the heat of summer. It washed away her pains, her aches, and unnatural tingles. It quenched her dry throat and muffled the ringing of her hearing glands. The groan was replaced by a rumbled purr of appreciation as she felt her entire body relaxing. Slowly, the world fell into darkness.

When Aviosa woke the second time, it was much more peaceful. Her body still hurt, but it was more a dull ache. Her vision was clear again, and the ringing was gone. She slowly raised her head, blinking a couple of times as she looked at her surroundings. It seemed she was in some sort of cave, though maybe that was a bit of a generous term. It was barely big enough to fit three dragons laying down, and if she stood up she would likely bash her head against the roof. It was made of limestone, with lots of jagged edges that she knew could be quite uncomfortable.

The opening lead out to a forest of rich green trees and shrubs growing on loose dirt and sand. A salty ocean tang was on the air, accompanied by rich undergrowth. A slope descended from the cave and down through the forest until it reached a pearly white beach, before continuing into a vast blue ocean, stretching as far as the eye could see. On the horizon, she could see the sun setting, billowing out its beautiful oranges and purples along the sky.

An uneasy rumble escaped her. The last thing she recalled was... a battle. She had been fighting over the ocean with a small group. They had tried to retreat... but then there was a flash of power and now... now she was here? The dragoness went to pull in her outstretched wing when a flash of pain from it startled her, causing her to let out a yelp.

Her eyes went over to her wounded wing, eyes wide. Her opallic scales glimmered in the soft light, with her long tail curled slightly behind her. Her left wing was folded tightly to her side, while her right lay outstretched. The problem was at the elbow of her wing, where a cleanly broken bone pierced through. Aviosa stared at it with horror, wanting to tear her eyes away from it but unable to.

It was a clean break, with the hollow insides of the bone fully visible. The leathery flesh around it seemed to have reattached itself to the bone but in completely the wrong place. A dull ache originated around it, and as she went to move it again she could feel the grating within her wing, causing her to wince again. It wasn't so much painful, but the feeling caused her stomach to heave a little and her entire body to shrivel with unease.

The sound of rustling talons caught her attention, and she quickly leaped to her feet with practiced ease, ignoring the spike of pain it caused in her wing. Her tail lashed, liquid crystal seeping from her scales and hardening into spikes as she prepared for whoever was about to find her.

A green snout poked around the side of the cave and froze as a warning rumble escaped her. She narrowed her eyes at the life dragon that had just appeared before her. A young drake it seemed, with a mouthful of fish and wide eyes. His light green scales meshed with forest in the background, and he himself seemed suddenly terribly frightened.

"Who are you?" she growled.

The life drake didn't answer and continued staring.

"Hello? Are you deaf or something? I asked you a question," the crystal dragoness growled again, lashing her tail to show off the razor spikes running down its length.

The drake dropped the fish onto the ground, scampering back. His wings were held tightly to his flanks and his tail flicked back and forth nervously.

Aviosa narrowed her eyes, seeing the obvious fear he had, before sighing and relaxing somewhat. She was still wary, but this fearful young drake didn't seem at all threatening. If anything, it seemed he had saved her life, even if he had healed her wing completely wrong. He might just be inexperienced.

"Sorry..." she hesitated, "Were you the one that healed me?"

The drake blinked, before slowly nodding his head.

Aviosa dipped her own head in a small bow of gratitude, "What is your name?"

"My... name?" the first words of the drake were full of confusion, fear, and what seemed like wonder.

"Yes, your name," the dragoness repeated.

The drake seemed to ponder, as if he had never been asked such a question before, "Green?"

"Your name is... Green?" Aviosa said with doubt.

The life drake flinched at her words, "Aah... Dragon?"

She tilted her head, "Do you not know your name?"

He hesitated a moment, "What is a... name?"

Aviosa stared for several moments in open shock at the question, "Well... aah... a name is... what others call you. Your personal... umm... title? Like... my name is Aviosa."

"Aviosa..." the drake repeated softly, "So... my name is Aviosa?"

"No. That's my name. You would be called something else."

"Dragon?"

"No... that is what you are. We are both dragons. Your name is something unique to you."

"...Green?"

"No... not... Aargh... that is your colour!" the stupidity of the drake was giving her a headache, "You know what. Never mind. Your name can be Green."

The drake smiled, "Okay... my name is Green!"

"Sure... whatever," Aviosa stepped out of the loose nest of green leaves and out of the cave, looking out over the ocean again, a sudden thought running through her, "Were there any dragons around?"

Green stared at her a moment, "There was one... high in the sky. It was purple though, and a long time ago."

Aviosa nodded her head solemnly. It was quite possible that she was the only survivor, and if that was the case she needed to find some way back to the war front and warn her superiors. A growl escaped her. How had they known about the attack? They had kept it so secretive.

She glanced at the drake, who was still staring at her with wide eyes, "So... where am I?"

Again, Green responded with a confused look, "At... a cave?"

"No, I mean which nation? Is this the light nation, water nation? Where?"

For a moment the life drake was silent, "What's a 'light nation'?"

"Ah..." Aviosa was confused, just how little did this dragon know, "It's where all the light dragons live."

"Oh... are you a light dragon?"

"What? No! I'm a crystal dragon! Have you never seen a crystal dragon before?"

He shook his head, seeming a little frightened by her sudden rise of voice.

"Oh..." she hesitated, "Have you seen a light dragon before?"

"Aah... what do they look like?"

"I'll take that as a no," she frowned, and hesitantly asked her next question, "Green, besides me and that purple one you saw a while ago, have you seen any dragon before?"

Again, the drake shook his head.

"Not even parents. Siblings?"

His eyes lit up, "Oh! There is mother!"

"Mother?"

He nodded excitedly, "I'll show you."

He hopped away with an exuberating bounce and a flap of his wings. Aviosa hesitated a moment, glancing at her own wing, before sighing and careful walking after him. She kept the wounded limb as stable as possible as she adopted a quick trot, now more confused than wary. Nothing the life drake was saying made sense. He didn't know his name, didn't know about the nations, and hadn't even really seen another dragon before.

They came to the beach. A long stretch of white sand with shells, cawing seagulls, and waves lapping at the shore. It curled around, before disappearing around a corner. Aviosa came to a stop, looking back up behind her to see a small mountain where the cave was with stone dominating the mountain peak. A rumbling growl left her. This wasn't part of the continent. It was an island.

"Avi...Aviosa!" Green yelled, "This is mother!"

She turned toward the excited life drake and found herself frozen to the spot, her eyes wide. Green was sitting near a draconic skeleton, half-buried in the sand. Its bones were bleached white. The skull showed several missing teeth, and its long tail and wings took up nearly half the beach. A dead elder dragon then.

"Your... mother?" asked Aviosa, horrified.

Green nodded his head, a smile on his snout, "She is a bit different from you and me. But she used to look like me! And she used to be bigger. She doesn't really move though, so I can't take her up to the cave. She keeps breaking if I try."

Aviosa carefully approached the skeleton, forcing deep breaths to help with the rising panic, "Green... how long have you been here?"

The question seemed to confuse the drake, "Aah... forever?"

"You've lived on this island your entire life?"

He hesitated again, "Umm... yes?"

Aviosa frowned, studying the skeleton more closely. It had clearly been dead a long time, though how long she didn't know. It wasn't obvious how the dragoness had died either, though there were several bones with breaks in them.

"You never tried to fly somewhere else?"

Green frowned, "No... I like it here. Mother is here, and flying is scary."

She didn't find herself surprised at his answer, only concerned, and quite worried. She was stranded on an island in the middle of nowhere, flightless and directionless, unable to reach her friends and family. She didn't even know how long she had been gone. She could have been in a coma for weeks. They probably thought she was dead.

"No, no, no!" She fell back on her haunches, breathing in and out at a rapid rate, "This can't be happening. I can't be stranded here. I need to get back. I have to get back."

Green had settled down and was watching her as she heaved out breath. Her thoughts continued to flit back and forth. To the war front, to her dead comrades, to her parents. Now she was stuck here with some crazy dragon who talked to skeletons and didn't even know his name. Her entire body was shivering now, her tail whipping back and forth as her eyes glued to the ground.

Suddenly the same soothing energy from before poured through her, forcing her to relax. Her shaking body calmed, and her breathing quickly returned to normal. A sigh escaped her, her wings falling to her side. She glanced at Green, who had walked up to her and allowed green energy to flood from his mouth and into her body. It was peaceful.

When he saw her looking, he snapped his muzzle shut and stepped back with a smile, "Is the hurt gone now?"

"Is the hurt gone?" she asked with a slight laugh.

"You were doing that before... when you were sleeping. I breathed the energy onto you, and you stopped and smiled. The healing energy heals... so you must have been hurting."

"I..." she let out a laugh again, shaking her head, "Yes, Green, yes I was hurting. That made me better though. Thank you."

He smiled at her, reminding her slightly of a hatchling who had been given praise from an elder, even if he seemed to be about her age. She looked at the setting sun, shivering a little as a cool wind brushed over the beach. She was tired. Her wing ached. She couldn't be dealing with panicked thoughts at the moment. Perhaps a rest would make her see things a little clearer.

"Is there a place I can sleep?" she asked, "I'm feeling a bit tired."

"Oh, yeah. My cave! I have some fishes to eat as well!" exclaimed the life drake.

"That sounds nice," she rumbled, and she followed the bubbly drake back through the small forest and to the mountain.

* * *

The following several days went by slowly for the crystal dragoness. She spent much of it resting, recuperating from the horrible battle she had taken part in and worrying over her friends and family. Whenever she went back into a panic the life energy from Green always served to calm her down, and she found herself rather grateful for his presence.

He was a strange dragon, probably the strangest she had ever met. From what she understood, he had spent his entire life living on his own on the island. If he had ever been somewhere else, he didn't remember. He was also entirely ignorant of the world around him. The war, the politics, other dragons, they didn't exist for him, and he simply lived peacefully in his own existence.

It did annoy her though. No matter how hard she pressed him, he refused to fly, and seemed to have no want to do so. He seemed to be rather proficient with his powers, even able to drain the life from his prey, and knew a lot about the movements of the fish, and even how to swim nearly as well as a water dragon. He also asked countless questions, about other dragons, herself, the continent, and his eyes grew wide at the stories she told him.

"So... if the continent is so big it takes weeks to get from one side to the other when flying at high speeds, how do you get your fish?" he asked one day while he gnawed on the bones of said prey.

"Oh, we don't often eat fish," Aviosa replied, nibbling on one as she wished for it to be anything else, "My favourite is deer."

"Deer?"

"It's a four-legged creature, with hooves and horns and fur. Very stringy, but very tasty."

"What is fur?"

"Aah... it's like... that moss that grows on the trees! But usually brown, black, or white, and not quite as soft."

"Yuck! I tried the moss once. Made me feel very weird," he snorted.

"Well it doesn't taste like the moss, and it doesn't make you feel weird," she responded, "Maybe one day I can show you."

She glanced at her wing longingly. The bone was still sticking out from the end. She tried not to think of the consequences, though she had heard stories of how incorrectly healed wings became useless. If only she could fly, then maybe she could make her way back to the mainland, and then hunt proper food again. At the moment she was entirely reliant on Green, as even swimming with her injured wing was painful.

"There's also cows, and wildebeest, and seals, and kangaroos, and all sorts of other things," she said, "All over the continent. Though some are only in certain areas. I heard some dragons even in the wind nation hunt these really big birds. I haven't eaten any of those before though."

Green chewed on his meal thoughtfully, "Do any dragons eat fish?"

"Yeah, there are a few. I think water dragons mostly."

"Oh... what about my kind? Life dragons you said."

"Yeah, well... life dragons are kinda everywhere, so they kinda eat everything I guess. But I know a lot of your kind have farms and grow and look after a lot of the animals we eat, as your breath makes them healthy and tasty, and makes them grow bigger as well."

"Okay..." he went silent.

She glanced over at him to see his gaze looking at the ocean.

"Green?" she said.

He looked back at her.

"Something wrong?"

"Umm..." he shuffled a little awkwardly, "It just seems... scary."

She smiled at that, "It can be. There are lots of new things there. But... I think being here is scarier."

"Why?"

"Well... because I want to see my friends and family again, and there are important things I need to do. If I stay here I won't be able to do that."

"Oh..." he lowered his head a little.

She tilted her head, "Do you want me to stay?"

His tail flicked, "I like having you here."

She nodded slightly, understanding. After over a decade of living on his own, to have someone else to talk to would be incredibly relieving. She couldn't even imagine spending that long without talking to anyone. She was quite sure she would go insane.

"You could come with me you know," she said softly, "See the world yourself."

"I don't know," he shuffled his wings.

"It would be fun!"

"I can't even fly."

Aviosa thought for a moment, "Well, there is a way to fix that."

He looked at her with a frown.

"I'll teach you!" she exclaimed, getting to her feet with an excited grin, "And you'll see just how much fun it is."

"I don't know..."

"Come on! Your wings are very well developed. It won't take too long. Besides, flying is like the best thing ever! Better than eating, sleeping... even mating!"

"Mating?"

"Ah..." she hesitated a moment as her face flushed with heat, the word having come out without a thought, "I'll... tell you about that later. But for now, flying!"

He looked to the ground, "But its..."

"Don't say it's scary. It's not scary once you do it. Come on Green. Trust me."

Green sighed, "Fine..."

"Yes! Follow me. We'll do it on the beach, so you can land in the water."

The two of them went down to the beach once again, Green seeming rather nervous for the first time since their meeting. He walked onto the beach and sat down on his haunches. The sun was beating overhead, basking them in a rather comfortable heat as Aviosa sat as well, her wings outstretched with slight eagerness.

"Alright... now... open your wings," Aviosa demanded.

After a slight hesitation, Green did as she asked. He spread his wings wide, looking at them with a curious expression. The green membranes were slightly translucent, and his wingspan was nearly as long as he was.

"Okay, good, now stand up. That's right. Now jump!"

Green jumped, his wings still open, before landing on the ground again, and tilted his head, looking at her, "This feels weird."

"No, no that was good. Now, jump again, and flap your wings as you do."

"Okay."

This time he flapped his wings, though not very hard. It was more a movement up and down than anything. It made his jump a little higher, but nothing more than that. He landed again, seeming a little panicked at the slightly higher distance.

"Well done!" she said with a smile.

He smiled nervously back.

"Now, raise your wings as high as you can. No... higher... higher... there we go."

Green stood rather awkwardly, his wings pointed to the sky, "This feels even weirder."

"Now, flap them as hard as you can!"

With a growl, the life drake flung them down. A yelp escaped him as he was lifted into the air. He quickly folded his wings, dropping back down onto the sand with a panicked look, breathing heavily. He looked back at Aviosa as she congratulated him.

"Nice job! Now, add the jump into that."

"I don't know if...."

"No, Green, you're not getting out of this. Flying is an essential part of being a dragon," she said, "And you're so close. Come on."

He rumbled, annoyed, "Alright. Fine."

Green flicked his tail, raising his wings again, eyes narrowed with determination. With a growl he jumped, flapping his wings as hard as he could. The lift he got startled even Aviosa as she watched him shoot several dragon lengths into the sky. He let out a cry, flapping his wings in panic once again causing him to go higher, but also lose balance. Another flap, another rise in height, but he had found himself upside down.

"AAH!" he cried as he began to fall, clawing at the air as he twisted around to face the ground.

"SPREAD YOUR WINGS!" roared Aviosa.

Her roar startled him into action, and he did as he was told, throwing his wings open in a panic. He caught the wind, pulling into a glide, and gently fell back to the earth. His breathing was coming in his own ragged gasps as Aviosa trotted over to him, chuckling a little at his look.

"Well done!" she said, "I nearly thought you wouldn't catch yourself there."

Green blinked a couple of times, before he looked back at her with a twinkle in his eye, "That was... awesome!"

"I told you it was," she grinned, "Flying is amazing!"

"I want to try again."

"Go ahead, but this time use your tail. You kinda have to point the tip in the opposite way you want to go if that makes sense. It'll help you balance."

"Okay," he grinned.

For the next couple of hours, he practiced with his wings. He never managed to obtain a true flight, but he opted for several long glides and managed to get himself to nearly the top of the mountain at one point. Aviosa watched from the beach, feeling happy to see his joy, but also rather jealous. She glanced at the bone protruding from her wing once again, feeling a little scared again. She had thought evidence of its healing would be happening by now. She had tried to push it back in, but it had been too painful, and it seemed her other wing bones had attached themselves to the wrong part of the bone.

She had to face the reality. The wing was useless now. There was no way she would be able to fly with it again. Maybe if she broke the bone off, but that wouldn't fix the oddly attached parts of the bones within her wing. If she ever wanted to fly again, there was only one thing left to do. She let out a breath, watching as Green glided back down to the sand with a whooping yelp. He ran back over to her with single wing assisted hops, his smile infectious.

"That was awesome!"

"I'm glad you liked it," she said, "Though you haven't achieved true flight yet. Most dragons can spend hours in the air without falling."

"How do you do that?"

"You have to flap while in the air."

"Oh, I tried that. It's difficult to control my balance with my tail when I do though."

Aviosa nodded, "I'd show you... but... my wing."

Green nodded, seeming a little sad, "Is there any way to fix it?"

"I don't know," she sighed, looking at the protruding bone, "Not unless..."

An idea suddenly hit her, one that scared her a little, but it seemed like the only way she would be able to get her wing back. She stood up from her haunches and took a deep breath. It would take her a while to heal... but in the end, it was better than not being able to fly ever again.

"I'm gonna need you to heal me after this Green, okay," she said.

"Okay..." he frowned.

She allowed crystal to form on the end of her tail, sharpening a blade to the most razor tip she could manage. She then spread her injured wing as much as she could, taking several deep breaths. She couldn't quite believe she was about to do this. But it seemed to her the only option left. Before she could second guess herself any further she swung her tail as hard as she could at the join in her right wing. A cry of pain escaped her as she staggered to the side, the limb lopped clean off.

"What are you doing!" Green cried, taking a step back in surprise.

Aviosa hissed as she glanced at the now bloody stump where her wing had been, "It's alright... it'll grow back. Healing, now... please."

The life dragon jumped to action, opening his mouth and breathing his life energy over her. She let out a breath of relief as the pain was quickly dissipated. She smiled in thanks, before looking down at the lopped-off wing.

"Why did you do that?" Green asked, seeming rather horrified.

"That wing wouldn't have healed. I cut it off so a new one can grow," she explained, "Though it'll take some time."

"Oh," he said, "How long?"

"A year or so. Long enough to teach you how to fly anyway," she said, taking a deep breath and smiling.

She was now well and truly trapped on the island for the next year, but for some reason, she found she didn't really mind the prospect.

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Hey guys! Chronicle number fifty for you all! Hope you enjoyed. Vote if you did and comment on what you thought. I personally felt that, despite the length of this one, it was a little rushed. It was perhaps a little too big for a single chronicle. Anyway, to celebrate a year of doing this, I want you to answer a couple of questions!

Which is your favourite Chronicle thus far?

Have you enjoyed this format? Why, why not?

What is your favourite aspect of the world that this is based in?

And below this, I have five new chronicles for you.

The Fire Queen and the Dragonslayer Pt2 (Morality): The Dragonslayer, human man - 4Yrs BTA

 Haunting Words: Eledior, Spirit dragoness - 5Yrs BTA

Of Desperate Faith: Ember, Fire dragoness - 9 Months BTA

A New Purpose: Aegis, Lightning drake - 43Yrs BTA

The No-one Hero: Nuella, Telekinetic dragoness - 10Yrs BTA

See Ya!

Pennator^^