#Sylicea

[novocaine-instinct]

🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔

[novocaine-instinct]

The Traveling Ram and the Lonely Dragon

(Just a little short story I wrote up about my two characters, Ari and Lydia! Kora’s mentioned a few times, and Emperor Fallow and Emperor Thorton are referenced as well, but the only interactions that take place are between Ari and Lydia lol

I wish I could put a keep reading thing but I’m on mobile, so sorry for the block of text :/)

Ari pushed his way through the howling snow. He wasn’t exactly sure what he was expecting, he felt he should have known this would happen while he was climbing a mountain. He continued on never-the-less. The fierce wind stung his eyes, and his hooves cried out for relief.

He needed to stop and rest, but he couldn’t exactly set up camp in the middle of the storm. Instead, he squinted through the swirling snow, searching desperately for some sort of shelter. A cave, or even just a hole, would be preferable, but at this point Ari would take anything, just so long as it blocked the wind.

Ahead, in the blizzard, Ari could make out what looked to be a... Temple.

Though it was strange to see such an extravagant temple so far into the mountains, but for Ari it was a welcome sight. He made his way to the temple as quickly as possible, letting out a sigh of relief as he set his heavy bags down and collapsed on the floor of the structure. Around him were rows upon rows of jade pillars, each pillar covered floor to ceiling in intricate carvings. He stood back up, looking around in awe, taking a moment to take in every little detail.

The paper lanterns lining the hall, their lights having long burned out. The hanging incense burners, their ashes still emanating a faint and pleasant scent. The polished jade floors, and the deeply red rug that ran along them to the end of the corridor.

Last of all, the massive jade statue at the end of the corridor. It depicted the well-known Lydia, goddess of peace and love, carrying the symbol of the yin and yang. Before it lay a long platform of polished marble, presumably meant to hold offerings, for on it lay dusty piles of gold, painted lanterns, and two incense burners at either end.

Just as Ari went back to admiring the temple, the statue before him suddenly came to life with a loud crash. He fell back, as the statue changed color and grew in size, until the violet smoke around it cleared, to reveal the goddess herself. Looking up at her made Ari feel incredibly tiny.

She let out a melodious hum, the sound helping the startled ram to calm down a bit. She lowered her head to examine her visitor, then pulled back with almost a squeal of delight.

“Ohhh a visitor! How exciting, I haven’t had visitors in so long!” She gushed, lowering once more to examine Ari.

Ari’s jaw was agape, and he struggled for words. “I-I... You... Y-you’re... Lydia...”

Lydia let out another hum of delight. “Indeed I am! I’m so glad the people remember me, I was beginning to worry that I had been forgotten!”

“B-But you’re... You’re a goddess! The people worship you, do they not? How could they have forgotten you?”

She sighed. “Oh, yes. Well, technically a goddess.”

“Technically...? What do you mean ‘technically’...?” He questioned, trying his hardest to gather himself, so he would look presentable in front of the breath-taking being.

“Well, it is true that I carry great power. I can cast blessings and curses upon others, and other magical deeds. But, in all truthfulness...” She hummed again. “I’m just a very lonely dragon... Ah, please, do stop quivering. I know I am a strange sight for someone your size, but I promise I mean you no harm.”

He gulped down a wheeze of fear. “I’m... aware, you are the goddess of peace after all.” Finally, he managed to stand upright. “I just... find it rather terrifying to be conversing with someone who could very easily crush me, even if on accident.”

“Technical goddess.” She corrected. “And yes, I suppose it might be scary.”

With a great heave of her head, she looked outside of the temple, at the raging storm outside. “Hmm... It would be terrible for you to leave in this weather. Would you like to stay a while? I have several blankets offered to me by past visitors.”

“... Thank you...” Ari nodded. He appreciated the offer, but truth-be-told he probably would have stayed there even if she hadn’t offered.

A few minutes later and Ari was wrapped up in a warm blanket, the paper lanterns along the wall now lit by Lydia’s careful flame, and a few dried branches blown into the temple over the years now feeding a crackling fire.

He took bites out of the provisions he had in his pack, glancing over at the dragon every now and then. Eventually, he decided that the howling wind wasn’t doing enough to break the silence. He spoke.

“... Why... why are you lonely?”

“Hm?” The dragon hummed. Her head was resting on the stand that once held her when she was a statue, her drooping eyes trained on Ari curiously.

“Earlier you described yourself as a ‘very lonely dragon’, why are you lonely?”

“Ah.” She clicked her tongue in thought. “Well, I suppose it’s because nobody visits my temple any more.” With a forlorn sigh, she adjusted her position. “Oh, how Kora and I loved it when the people would visit our temples, asking for advice. Of course, we do still get hundreds of offerings from the people at the shrines throughout the empire, and the lovely emperors do visit to give us offerings every year.”

“Do you... not like the offerings?”

“Oh no, believe me, I love getting shiny new things just as much as the next dragon.” She smiled, beginning to look through the offerings on the platform, carefully blowing the dust away from the coins and other golden objects. “But, nobody comes asking for advice anymore! In the olden days, when the people first began to worship Kora and I, animals would travel far and wide to visit our temples, just to ask a question, sometimes even just to hold a conversation with us!” She let out another wistful sigh, then her face fell and her voice turned blunt. “But then the people stopped caring so much.” She huffed.

Ari looked at her with a small look of confusion. “But... they still worship you!”

“Yes, yes, that’s all fine and well... but it gets very lonely, living in this temple by myself. I haven’t even been able to visit my love lately...” The fins at the back of her head lowered, as if to express her overwhelming loneliness and despair.

Ari looked down, feeling sorry for the dragon.

“How long has it been since you last saw Kora?” He asked. He knew Kora to be the goddess of strength and protection, and Lydia’s lover, but didn’t know much more about their relationship.

Lydia paused, as if hesitating to say, then spoke, her voice soft and echoing with heartbreak. “... It’s been several thousand years...”

Ari gasped. “That long? That’s horrible! Why can’t you go visit her now?”

“I’m... weakening.” She shuddered. “A majority of my magic and strength comes from the people.”

“Surely our offerings give you some power?”

“Though that is true, offerings only restore a small portion of my strength. But the stories...” She lifted her head, a faint shimmer in her gentle eyes. “Oh, how hearing your people speak filled me with joy... but then... when everyone stopped coming to me to share stories, ask for advice, and listen to me speak, my power began to drain. I began to rely on offerings, having to fly out to collect them from shrines and bring them here. And now... look at me.” She lifted her wing and wiggled it weakly, a mild look of disgust on her face. “I’m pathetic. I can’t even fly to the bottom of the mountain to visit the shrine down there!”

Ari fell silent, thinking for a moment. “Well... I’m here now. I could tell you stories, would that help?”

She lowered her head to meet his level, her eyes wide and her fins perked. “You would do that? For me?”

He smiled. “Of course! It’s the least I can do. What would you like to hear?”

She thought for a moment, then shifted her position to a more comfortable one. “Anything you’d like to talk about! I love stories.”

Ari thought for a moment, then thought up a perfect story from his life. He began to tell it, and Lydia listened intently.

And he continued to tell stories, even after the storm had ended. The sun shone through the entrance of the temple, and a once very lonely dragon was now very happy.

[novocaine-instinct]

What’s this?? Backstory??? FOR ARI???

Hell yeah it is!!

Song is Deliver Us from Prince of Egypt, u know, that one part with the Mom

For context:

Ari was born in a kingdom of strife, not too far from the empire he lives in now. The rulers of this kingdom were seeking out Ari’s mother, to imprison her for her “crimes”. His mother feared what they would do to him if they caught up with her, so in the hopes that the river would take him to a better place, she put him in a basket and watched her baby float away.

This is part one of two! I’ll post part two in a second >:3c

[novocaine-instinct]

Part two!!

Part one

In a stroke of luck, Ari’s basket was carried down the river to a faraway village of the neighboring empire, right as a mother and her daughter were washing their clothes in the river. And less luckily, Ari’s mother was found and captured, as she watched her son drift away, knowing that she potentially would never see her son again.

[novocaine-instinct]

The idea of Ari just having a baby Sylvia shoved upon him and having absolutely no clue what the fuk is going on popped into my head so here he is

[novocaine-instinct]

posts these here before I go to play the sims instead of working on an assignment for geometry