Act 1 | Scenes

Scene 4 | What Are You?

My quiet breaths echoed on the walls of the cavern, my footsteps soundless on the carpet of moss on the floor. I stepped over a stray rock, holding onto the wall for support. The rock was cool and moist, the air fresh. Long vines draped onto the sides of the cave, but I couldn't see where they started; the ceiling was shrouded in darkness. 

I had been walking for a while and it seemed to go on forever. But each time I turned a corner, a beautiful new scene would appear; soft dandelions swaying in the breeze from an unknown opening and pretty, colorful pebbles dotting the floor. It was like a whole new biome.

I kept moving forward and started to notice tiny puddles in the crevices of the rocky floor. The moss carpet was diminishing bit by bit and the distinct, earthy smell of wet soil filled the air.

Soon, the puddles got larger and larger until I couldn't step or even jump over them anymore and had to find a way around them. I heard the plop, plop of dripping water.  As I went on, the trickling of running water filled my ears. The further I got, the sound became louder and louder until it felt like I had turned on the shower.

I neared a rounded curve, and the water seemed to be just around the corner. I finally reached the source of the sound.

I stood in front of a huge lake, the emerald water glittering. Small waterfalls clustered around the far end, causing large ripples across it. Lights danced on the walls, reflecting off the clear surface of the water. It was so clear I could see the bottom. There were no fishes or any other creatures in it; only some algae. It was so serene, so... mesmerizing.

I sat at the edge, cool mud between my fingers. It was too peaceful not to close my eyes.

***

Windchimes.

A small, tinkling sound interrupted my reverie, and that was the first thought that came to mind. I stood up and looked around for where the sound was coming from. The water dripped, the lake rippled and I thought I was imagining things when it came again, but louder. 

This time, there was no mistaking it—something was clinking against something else, making the soothing sound.

A flash of purple quickly appeared in my line of sight and disappeared under one of the waterfalls. It was long and scaly. It appeared again, but with streaks of green and blue. The scales were touching each other and clinking and tinkling.

Two small, golden spheres illuminated the dark ceiling. They weren't exactly spherical and were somewhat dented at the top, almost like eyes with furrowed eyebrows. The spheres got bigger until a scaly snout came into view. Golden and red stripes decorated its blue face. Two curved horns protruded from above its eyes.

The creature floated forward until it was directly above the lake. The long length of its body was curved into a small space, somehow levitating above the ground. Its black eyes stared at me, the whites shining. Its scales showed a myriad variety of colors, illuminated by the reflected light from the water's surface.

It was as if it meant to ask, What are you?

Well, I did know what it was— or at least what it resembled—a dragon.

Fin.

———

[A/N]: I was inspired, funnily enough, by the intro of the show Xinghe Zhizun. I hadn't plugged in my earphones yet and when it began to play on mute (darn autoplay), the sounds I imagined for the beautiful animation of dragon scales was too good to be kept to myself.

Describing things so that they are relative to real-world experiences is a bit of a challenge for me since I myself haven't experienced much, but I hope to improve and become a better writer!

P.s. Ik this sucks okay let me be TT

Thank you for reading, and don't forget to vote if you managed to read through it... 🧡