View from Valhalla

[This is the second part of a (hopefully) continuing saga. The first part (though not necessarily necessary) can be found here at “Dada, tell me a story!” You can also find an original alternate universe piece at the wonderful Emily of New Moon‘s Blog. Hope you enjoy!]

Good morning

“Cuckoo”

“Mwah!” replied Lady Bear as she pulled the covers over her head and turned away from the irritating noise.

“Cuckoo”

“Please, no more! Stop! I’ll get up!” she declared as she snuggled deeper under her down duvet.

“Cuckoo”

At this point Lady Bear sat up and blearily rubbed her eyes. She lowered her small fists and glowered at Sebastian, who’s long serpentine neck was casually stretched across the bed until his snout was almost directly in front of Lady Bear’s nose.

“Cuckoo,” he snorted again, with a little belch of sulfery smoke.

“You know, Sebastian, it was Lavender that explained the annoying contraption referred to as a cuckoo clock to you. Why don’t you wake HER daily with a good morning “Cuckoo”?

Sebastian was now a dragon of almost a year old. He was now almost the size of a riding pony and weighed nearly as much.

Stories of dragons having hollow bones in order to help them remain airborne had turned out to be rubbish. Dragons, being a creature of magic, flew in spite of, not according to, the laws of physics.

His baritone “cuckoos” were daily getting a little deeper, and Lady Bear was sure it wouldn’t be long before he would be chortling in the lower bass clef register.

“I would, little mother, but she slaps my nose and shouts “snooze!” I find it more enjoyable to watch you wake.”

Lady Bear had to remind herself that although the dragon was not quite so little anymore, he was still a child. He was a good boy and she did indeed love him with all of her wee bear heart.

After breakfast, Lady Bear and Sebastian decided to go for a nice dip at the swimming hole that was just around the bend of the river from their snug home. Lavender didn’t feel like getting wet that morning, so she decided she would go up the river and see if there were any faeries in the faerie meadow instead.

Of flight and faeries

The faerie meadow had obviously gotten it’s name due to the fact that there were usually faeries of one sort or another playing in the meadow. Lavender and Lady always loved going and watching the faeries, but Sebastian tended to scare the little ones badly so he found it pertinent to stay away.

As Lavender walked in the cool mud beside the river, she hummed a happy little bear song and was contemplating asking any faeries she met if they could teach her how to fly. Lavender was greatly looking forward to the time when Sebastian would have gained enough control over his own abilities that he would be able to sore among the treetops and possibly even reach the clouds! That would be so nice! (and of course, he would NEVER turn her down if she were to ask to ride on his back.

Lavender had always dreamed of flying, and upon waking from each dream, she felt more and more like she was missing out and she desperately wanted to change this fact.

As she walked and thought and daydreamed, she enjoyed the feeling of the cool mud squishing up between the pads on her paws. The sent of lavender, honeysuckle and lilac was in the air and the morning just promised excitement. She was having a beautiful morning. She was so lost in her thoughts in fact, that she almost didn’t notice the little blue faerie sitting in the middle of the river as she approached the meadow.

The blue faerie

The little blue faerie looked sad and a mite distraught. Lavender approached the little creature and politely stated, “Excuse me, but it seems like you are maybe a bit discompoopulated. Is there anything I can do to help?”

Well, the beautiful little blue face looked up at Lavender, with a bit of condescension if truth be told. “By discompoopulated, I assume you mean discombobulated. And no, I am not discombobulated, I am suffering. I am suffering due to the fact that I have a large fish scale stuck at the joint where my wing touches my back, and it is hampering my flight.”

Lavender was a good hearted little creature, and rather than take offense at being corrected, endeavored she would remember the new word for future occasions. “Although, the seem like the same word to me,” she thought.

Lavender asked the blue faerie to turn around and examined the joint in question. There, wedged into the joint, was indeed a large fish scale. The scale was luminescent and contained the colors of the rainbow. Lavender carefully removed the offending scale.

“Do you mind if I keep it? It is very beautiful,” asked the little bear.

“Do with it what you will,” replied the little pixie.

“In return, I would like to do something for you. However, I will NOT turn you into a “real boy” so please refrain from asking,” stated the faerie.

“A real boy? Why in the world would I want to be a real boy? I am a bear, and a girl bear at that!” replied Lavender.

“Be that as it may, I hear that request much too often, and will not grant it, however, if you have no wish to be a real boy, then the matter is moot.”

“Cow noises aside, what I really would like to do, is learn how to fly!” exclaimed the little lavender bear.

“I am a dryad. I deal with water magic. However, I can grant you the gift of flight for a short measure of time, if you stay near the river. If this is acceptable, I will proceed.”

“Oh, that is most acceptable Dry!” squealed Lavender as she bounced from foot to foot.

“Dry? I am not dry, can’t you see the way the beads of water pearl in a beautiful manner on my wings and smock?” asked the faerie.

“Well you said your name was Dryad,” stated Lavender. “I think Dry is much prettier.”

“My name is NOT dryad. I AM a dryad. A water nymph. An elemental of moisture. The queen of the river!”

“Well you should DRY up!” thought the little bear with a hidden chuckle.

“My name is Cassandra de Netherlandeneraderactorialian, Daughter of Neshian and Lavethiar, First of all water nymphs and Princess of the Ki!” stated the dryad, while standing as tall as her diminutive stature would allow and striking a pose with hand placed on her hips, wings unfurled and eyes focused on the horizon.

“Hi Cassie, my name is Lavender,” said Lavender as she help out one slightly grubby little paw. “You know, you shouldn’t stand there with your mouth hanging open like that, people might think you are a bit, well um, simple,” concluded Lavender in a whisper.

After a moment, the dryad’s mouth snapped shut. She struck her pose once more and tried again. “My NAME is Cassandra de Netherlandener….”

“Yes, yes, Cassie, I got it, beautiful name really. So, um when do I learn how to fly?”

The little nymph decided to take a more direct approach. “I would prefer you not to call me “Cassie” if you please.”

“No problem! I’ll call you Cass, or maybe just “C”. Yes! That is an excellent name!” cried Lavender. “Now, em, eh, the flying?”

“Well then, I guess “Cassie” will do quite well after all. And yes, let’s get on to the flying.”

Cassie could tell that Lavender was a good hearted bear so decided not to take umbridge at the funny little creatures nature.

Of dance and flight

Cassie maneuvered herself to the center of the river and began to dance. Her dance was the dance of sun rippling in the water, of spring essence rolling over river stones, of children’s laughter and ancients tears. Lavender watched enthralled as a small water spout lifted Cassie in the air. Cassie danced with the pillar of water as if it were the most natural partner in the world. And for her it probably was. As Lavender sat enthralled, Cassie spun and twirled, dipped and soared.

And then she stopped.

Cassie looked over at Lavender and couldn’t help herself. “You know, you shouldn’t stand there with your mouth open like that. People might think you are simple.”

Lavender shook her head and felt like she had just come out of a dream. “Cassie, that was so beautiful! I enjoyed it ever so much! That dance was the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen! Please, forget about my flying request. You have given me much more than I gave you.”

Cassie chuckled a deep throated chuckle. “Look down, sweet bear.”

Lavender looked down and gave a little squeal for she was at least 20 feet above the river! She immediately started doing what looked like jumping jacks in the air.

Cassie lifted one eyebrow. “What on earth are you doing?”

“I’m trying to fly! I don’t want to just float!” she replied.

Cassie smiled. “I am a dryad. A water faerie. Don’t flap your arms like an albatross. You don’t have wings. SWIM through the air!

And Lavender swam. She tentatively started with an air doggie paddle. When that seemed to work, she switched first to a breaststroke, then the freestyle. Soon she was backstroking and sidestroking and having a grand old time!

She and Cassie spent the rest of the day playing above the river. Lavender was euphoric. Throughout the day, Cassie and Lavender became fast friends over the course of the day, and as evening came on, Lavender promised Cassie she would return soon and would bring Lady Bear and Sebastian with her.

As Lavender walked through the door, Lady and Sebastian turned to her. “So, did you have a nice day?”

“Oh Lady, I had the most bestest day ever!”

“Really? How nice! What did you do?”

“You’ll never believe it, but I went swimming after all!”

~ by odin1eye on 17 May, 2009.

Posted in Bedtime
Tags: dragon, dryad, teddy bear