The Tale of Tara and Emiko

XXVIII. Emiko

Zia wedged our flag in between two low-hanging branches of a beautiful cherry blossom tree. The dappled magenta and pink fabric blended right in. "What color is their flag?" she asked, gesturing to Selene and Tara's side of the field.

"Purple. Probably neon, based on Tara's reaction to losing the coin toss. Shouldn't be too hard to find," I muttered. "And as a last resort, Vine could pretend to be our flag to draw their attention away."

Both Vine and Zia stared at me in disgust.

"Sorry! Okay, okay, maybe not." I blew the whistle that signified that we were ready, hearing the echo of the sound reverberate around us. Tara blew her whistle in response, quite a while away.

The hunt was on.

I darted through the underbrush, energy coursing through my body from that celebratory green milk tea I'd drank a few minutes prior to the game. Zia had opted to stay behind and defend our flag, her excuse being "Yelah scalebits," which left me and Lenora to go capture the flag.

Luckily, the timid Dlofnep I'd chosen was slowly gaining more confidence the more time she spent with me, despite it only being a few hours after the Initiation. I knew some basic Dragon, just enough to speak somewhat normally with her, but still needed to rely on instinct and vague directional words to communicate.

Suddenly, Lenora's ears perked up, intrigued. Follow, she whispered.

Pushing my way through the low-hanging vines - seriously, did Tara have an entire forest in her backyard?? - we reached a hill overlooking a small clearing. There was a pond in the middle (no, I'm not kidding,) with a purple flag resting on a rock in the water. Selene and Squall stood guard at opposite sides of the pond, scanning their surroundings all around them but somehow forgetting to look up. What, did they forget dragons have wings? Either way, we were at the perfect vantage point.

And then Selene spotted me.

Dang it!

Lenora dove down, straight into the lake, dousing Selene and Squall with water and throwing Selene off balance. It would be a lot harder for Squall to fly with the extra weight holding them down. I jumped up, taking advantage of the distraction, and ran across the treetops, stopping to perch on a sturdy branch, observing.

Lenora and Squall were facing off, batting at each others' tails with sheathed claws and trading snippy, playful insults in Dragon. With a powerful swish of Squall's wings, he created a wave that could rival an Ecila's creation, weighing Lenora down so she couldn't get any sneak attacks on him from above. The flag, caught in the gust of wind, flew in the air, coming to rest in the same exact tree I was sitting in, just an arm's reach away.

"Emiko! Where are you? If Lenora's here, you must be too, no?" Selene tauntingly called.

Trying my best to not rustle the leaves around me, I stretched out my hand to grab the flag. Just a little closer...

My fingertips brushed the edge of the violet fabric.

Yes!

The branch below me cracked. I fell out of the tree.

No!

The fall was only a few feet, but the breath was still knocked out of my chest. I could hear Squall's short, mocking guffaws as Selene leaned over me, framed by the sunlight. She held out her hand.

"Here, let me help you up," Selene offered kindly. I gratefully accepted, grasping her hand, smiling.

Then she grabbed my forearm with her other hand, flipping me over her shoulder and tossing me into the lake, gasping and sputtering, also sopping wet.

"Where did you learn how to do that?!?" I cried, just as Tara burst through the underbrush, my team's pink flag held high in her hands.

"Selene!! We won!!" she cried triumphantly. Selene whooped and ran over to hug her, and even though I knew my team had lost, I still felt ecstatic. I got up from my sandy seat, squeezing out my shirt and hair as I walked over to Squall.

Impressive technique, I said in Dragon.

Thank you, Squall rumbled. Selene's an incredible teacher, and your dragon's an incredible guinea pig.

Oh, wow. Thanks, I muttered sarcastically.

Selene turned back to me. "Oh, and Emiko? My brother taught me the little flip I did to you. He's one of the people working to rehabilitate feral dragons. It's a move he commonly uses on Ecilas and Anels. The one I used on you is a toned-down version. I can teach you later?"

"I'd love that!" I said. "Lemme go find Zia." When I found her, she looked terrified.

"EMIKO!" she shouted, hysterical. She grabbed my shoulders, fear making her eyes look feral. "That Tara-her dragon, her dragon's not normal. She's not normal, that's not even a dragon, just some corrupted shell of a beast, and the shadows-oh, the shadows, oh, Emiko..." Her grip loosened just enough for me to take a step back, giving her space. Or maybe it was to distance myself from her. "Promise me you'll never see her again, it's not safe," Zia pleaded.

"What??" I cried, worried. "Zia...What are you saying? Tara's nice. You have to believe me."

"Funny how you trust a girl you've known for only a few hours more than you trust one of your closest friends," Zia shot back, the venom in her voice more potent than that of the strongest dance of Ubonihs.

"Zia, really? What could Tara and Scoria possibly have done to scare you this badly? Vine looks fine," I said.

Because she protected me, Vine muttered. She shouldn't have. I would've been able to take the hit. She couldn't. Clearly.

"Her Anaile isn't a normal dragon," Zia said. "It looked like-no, it was a Yrneh."