Metanoia

Chapter 1

Falling

"Get out of here! We don't need your airy fairy bullshit!" The wart-faced elder screamed and spat at the small boy, throwing the notebook right in his face, causing the boy to fall harshly to the ground.

"A simple no would have sufficed!" He argued back with as much vigour, hastily picking up his belongings from the cobble stone beneath him, shoving it back into his bag. The elder continued staring with disgust, anger tainting his wrinkled face as onlookers shared the same hostility. One woman in particular spat at the back of the boys head as he was standing up, showing how truly unwelcome Yoongi was here.

He quickly walked along the path, trying to escape the villagers detesting glares and make his way back into the safety of the forest, hopefully before nightfall.
"Fucking mortals," he cursed to himself as he stomped through the long dead grass.

Travelling through the dense woodlands had never been an issue for the boy, even when it was as dark as it was now, only a few speckled rays of the sunset glowed between the thick trees. Over the years Yoongi had picked up the skill of quickly familiarising himself with his own pathways. Going from village to village, trading and growing, perfecting his potions and strengthening his abilities with each day, Yoongi had a mission in life, and no amount of hateful old mortals would stop him. Even if that meant he slept in the forest rather than an actual bed.

The boys mind had wandering between thoughts when a deep, but familiar, growl echoed through the foliage around him. He paused, opening his eyes as they changed from their normal obsidian colour to a bright shining white, as was normal when he tuned in with his powers. Although, even with the added assistance of magic, Yoongi still was unable to isolate the sound.

The boy picked up his pace, his breath visible as it floated into the air. He dodged the fallen trees and large rocks that covered his path, soon the sound of a fast moving creature could be heard sweeping though the trees gone past. The boy tutted mentally, rolling his eyes as he pushed himself even further. Yet, as always, he wasn't fast enough, and soon the boy was knocked from behind and sent tumbling along the grass, eventually landing on a dry bed of moss.

The creature hid amongst the heavy trees, taunting the boy even more.

He chuckled defeatedly, taking out the small half loaf of bread he managed to snag from the old mortals shop.
"Alright, alright!" He threw his hands up in surrender before breaking the bread, offering the larger half out into the darkness of the trees.

He was greeted with silence. He could already tell the creature was feeling particularly fussy today.
"Come now Nephele, I know you're hungry," he tempted further, stretching his arm deeper to the darkness.

After another stark minute of silence he groaned.
"Fine!" He reached back in his bag and pulled out the last small dollop of honey in a lonely jar. He spread it across the bread and held it out again for the creature.
"There! You happy? Please Nephy, just come eat."

Finally a pair of gorgeous azure eyes glowed from between the thick tree trunks. Her face appeared first, followed by her long neck. She was small for her species, yet she was just a baby. Her gorgeous turquoise wings tucked neatly at her sides.

He could see a resemblance of a smile grow on the dragons face as she ate the honey bread directly from the boys hand.
"You're lucky I'm soft for you," he traced his finger along the scales of her cheek with a warm smile.

He first met Nephele when he was only a toddler, maybe 2 years old. Her long tail had been viciously injured and his family had tried their best to heal her. Since then a bond, stronger than the best shared amongst men, formed between this boy and the dragon. She didn't come with the name Nephele, he gave that to her. It meant cloudy, or one with clouds. Which suited the air dragon perfectly.