Misfits of Vernada ~Wattys2016~

VIII

By creepakilla

Zappy

"Zappy? Zappy, up you get now."

Zappy's eyes snapped open and he sat up blearily, "What's going on, Moon?" he yawned, forgetting where he was for a moment.

A golden snout entered his vision. "It's morning, Zappy," said his mother, "time to get up, you'll be late for your combat sessions."

She paused.

"Who's Moon?"

"She was my nest-mate," Zappy told her, wincing and making quickly for the door to avoid too many questions, "she... didn't't make it."

He dashed into the small corridor, laboriously ran along the wall, dove down the hole in the end, and landed in a tangled heap in the living room.

He quickly straightened himself-flinching as his tired body ached in protest-embarrassed, and surveyed the room thoughtfully, pretending nothing had happened and glad that no-one was around to witness his unceremonious tumble.

The room was mostly bare, only a few odds and ends decorated the wooden walls: a spike here, a tooth there, an interesting leaf over there. Other than those items, the room was virtually empty.

Zappy's mother swooped down the hole and landed gracefully behind him.

After showing her son where the food was kept, Glitter instructed him on where the training grounds were while he hastily ate.

Zappy thanked his Mum and hurried out the door, before taking flight and soaring above the trees a short way until he spotted an unnatural clearing ahead.

Diving down, Zappy whizzed among the trees, practising his flight technique and soon entered the clearing he'd seen. It was slowly filling with numerous hatchlings, all gathering around Cobalt.

He quickly landed, wincing as his flight-muscles ached in protest.

"Are we all here?" Cobalt called after a few minutes. He ran his eyes over them, doing a quick head-count. "Perfect. You will now begin your combat training, training that will take three years to complete. Though you will be fit for minor combat before then.

"Anyway, let's begin."

He started by showing them a few basic moves, involving slashing with both tail and claws.

"Now," he said as he finished, "you try it. But at a sensible distance from each other."

The hatchlings promptly obeyed, executing the moves with only a little difficulty.

Cobalt surveyed them with a pleased expression, "Good, good. Keep going, you're doing well!" He glanced at Zappy as he said this, and, though his expression was unfriendly, it wasn't overly hateful.

Zappy worked hard, wanting to earn his teacher's tolerance and respect if not liking.

They continued practising those few moves for about half an hour while Cobalt paced among them, striving to perfect them. He seemed to be in his element.

"Well done!" He exclaimed. "We will now-"

A tree-house in the village nearby suddenly burst into flames, and horrendous screams rang out, followed by the ring of harsh laughter.