Path of the Sun: The First Grassland (A Dragon Adventures Story)

Chapter 2: Chirping Away

     The young Rocirus layed on her shoulder, soaking up the sun as she moved to the village in the center.

     The main part of the town was filled with people, most e in the area were there, crowding a small area that was blocked off from the public. The town center had small, yet undeniably cozy houses, where the people managing that area would sleep, which also sometimes worked as guest houses for the people visiting. There was a sign that said "SHOP", which obviously led to the Shop. Most people only really used the Shop for selling things the people found in the wild. However, it seemed that the teleporter was closed.

     "Back, people, back!" shouted one of the guards, holding their hands up to hold curious people back.

     Nevaeh walked up to somebody not standing near the teleporter.

     "Excuse me, what's going on?" she asked.

     "Something happened so they closed the Grasslands. Nobody can get there." they said, still keeping their eyes on the situation at hand.

     Nevaeh was surprised, it just opened, yet they still closed it off.

     "Do you know why?" she asked.

     "Nope, nobody does. All they've been saying is 'It's closed due to technical difficulties'."

     Nevaeh walked away from the person, wondering what could've possibly happened to warrant a full shut down. It was strange, no doubt, but she could also understand.

     All the commotion, first interactions with the public, a lot can go wrong. What she really didn't understand were the need for guards keeping people away. Surely, worst case scenario, somebody's dragon ends up hurting somebody. Which was still bad, but she could think of worse.

     Like, somebody could get lost in the Grassland, that's pretty bad. Maybe what they're doing to make these guys malfunction and they make big mutants that kill everyone, that's so much worse than what's probably just some extra construction.

     It probably was nothing, but it still kept on her mind. Nevaeh knew that bad things could happen if they moved forward with this project, like what happened with the Sonaria mutant thing, where they made creatures out of other ones.

     The Sonaria incident happened a few decades ago, and was the test drive for making new creatures. They made a giant island out in the middle of the ocean, and made creatures. It started small - like the dragons, but escalated quickly. As they made more and more different species, the more the island grew out of balance. It was a floating death machine, and had research permanently stopped after several groups of field trips went missing. It was a tragedy.

     Not only was it a tragedy, but it also permanently stunted the lead researcher's career. Nevaeh didn't know his name, due to him having his name removed from all databases containing it, even birth records.

     She couldn't bear to imagine what it's like to have no evidence you had a name, made something huge - even though it was a failure, depending on what you call one - and just leaving it all.

     By the time she had zoned back in, she was at her doorstep. She shook off the terrible thoughts and headed inside, her Rocirus still on her shoulder. He got startled when she turned on the light to her home. She always turned the light on instinctively, so she flipped the switch again, the lighting returning to it's calmly lit state.

     It was a fairly small home, with the kitchen, living room, dining room, and front room all combined into one. The front door was a straight shot to the backyard, with a large glass sliding door. The backyard was halfway fenced in, due to the fact she hasn't had a lot of time to work on it - code for 'I'll do it later' then forgetting. On the right there was a couch, no tv, a coffee table, and a hallway. The hallway leads to a door on the left, leading to Nevaeh's bedroom. The door on the right leading to a guest room, now her dragon room.

     The hallway to the left of the main room leads to a door on the right, the bathroom. The door right after, still on the right, leads to Nevaeh's office, which she's rarely in. The house was slightly chilly, despite it being noon.

     Nevaeh walked over to the dining table and sat the Rocirus down studying their smooth yet scaly features.

     "What should I name you?" Nevaeh asked the small dragon.

     The dragon chirped as if answering. Nevaeh thought hard, it was like naming a child, because that's exactly what it is.

    "Chirp?" she asked the baby dragon.

     The dragon chirped again in response.

     Nevaeh smiled.

     "That's a yes to me."