Oneshots and Crazy Little Stories

All Must End

They sat just outside of the cave where a white dragon slept soundly, breathing slow and steady. They were both old now, both experienced in the universe. The many years had taken their toll on not just their bodies, but their minds too.

The red dragon, her wings now ragged and thin, sat close to the edge of a rocky cliff. Just like when she was young, she stayed away from the very edge, her cautious side warning her against going near. Tam Tinker, her human companion throughout the millions of years of life, sat right on the edge of the cliff with her legs dangling over the drop below. How she was not dead yet Leyunna did not know.

The human sighed and looked back at her friend. Her hair, once a rich brown, was now grey and thinning and speckled with dandruff. 'It's so beautiful,' she said, referring to the darkening sky. It was a dark blue above them, stars beginning to twinkle through the atmosphere, and a lighter shade towards the West where the sun had not long ago set.

'It is,' Leyunna agreed. Her voice was cracked and deeper than it used to be, so more used and old sounding.

It was cold on the clifftop, but neither felt it. They had been out into the vacuum of space so many times that temperature was nothing to them. They practically lived out there for much of their time.

'Well...' Tam said, standing up and still standing right by the edge. Her joints cracked in protest of the movement. 'It's time to go.' She stiffly bent and lifted a set of mechanical wings, shrugging them on to her back with a huff. They shivered as they tethered to her fast fading energy, coming to life like a butterfly in the sunshine.

The dragon gazed at the now dark sky. She had lived for so long, both of them had, and seen so much. The universe was a terrible, brilliant place and they had protected it as best they could. She didn't want to leave it in its last moments. 'I'm not going,' she said, curling her tail around her legs.

The human shut her eyes for a moment. 'Somehow I knew you would do this,' she said. 'Its always been me being the defiant, rebellious one. I knew it would rub off on you at some point.'

The dragon stared out into the night, her eyes wide and body stiff.

'We have to go,' Tam told her gently, taking a step towards the red scaled beast. Her balance was nothing like it used to be and she teetered a little. 'Talique cannot wake 'til we die.'

'I know...' Came the soft reply. 'But I don't want to die yet, I want to see more of this world, more of its wonder. We've hardly scratched the surface even over these billions of years. Yes, I am tired, I am old. But I want to see more.'

The old girl was silent, staring at Layunna in a sombre way. 'Me too,' she finally said. 'I want to see more, I want another venture. But if we stayed, we would disrupt the whole multiverse, you know that better than most, Unna. And besides, death is another venture. Who knows where we will go or what will happen.'

'Death is death, though,' Leyunna whispered. Still, she hadn't moved, but her wings had dropped to brush the ground. 'We won't know what happens. We will just be dust.'

Tam smiled a sad smile, spreading her wings. 'Our bodies, yes. Our minds, maybe not. Our souls could fly free, darting through particles and discovering more than we could ever know as we are now.'

'Could,' Leyunna emphasised. Slowly, she relaxed from her tense position. Tam was right, she couldn't stay; she had lived far too long as it was. But still... 'I don't want to go,' she said as her friend took flight, her voice breaking. With no choice she followed, gliding into the thin, oxygenless heights. Small gateways let them travel quicker out into the nebulous surroundings of space. Only once did she look back at the cave, where her daughter and successor slept obliviously.

The stars watched, distant planets observed, as the two friends flew out into the uninhabitable vacuum. Neither had need for air or warmth, some quirk of the multiverse enabling them to survive without.

Their wingbeats were quiet and gentle, hardly flapping. Gravity held them no longer in its grasp out here. Sadly, reluctantly, they faced each other. 'Ready?' Tam asked.

The dragon shook her head, unable to utter words. How could life just end? Go suddenly dark and gone completely. All those memories, gone forever, uselessly claimed.

The human knew her so well. She reached out and hugged Leyunna's neck, feeling the rough scales on her toughened skin. 'Memories do not die. They live on, through multiverse after multiverse. Talique will carry them on, pass them on, just like you and your ancestors have for so many generations. Every life makes a difference.'

As the matter and antimatter eliminated itself around them, they hugged each other close. They couldn't tell if tears were falling, they no longer could feel their skin, their limbs, their bodies. The universe was ending and they were going with it, ready to create the next incarnation.

Just before they were gone for good, bodies nothing but particles and souls freed energy, a whisper could be heard.

I don't want to go.

And an answering whisper, so faint only the receiver heard it.

We won't, Leyunna. We will be here and everywhere forever.