It was Moon's first time flying out of their nest without anyone accompanying her.
After their successful hunting few months ago, she finally decided to explore her new world out of the nest since she's now marginally confident she can handle whatever monster she may came across. Or if not, she's fast as hell and she could always ran away.
In those months, she threw herself back into her training with a new passion. Her control over her body improved even better as time passes, and she could performed increasingly complex and difficult aerobatics now. She also asked Four-Tails to trained with her, which he happily agreed to. They took turns blasting fires against each other in different terrains to adapt quickly and dodge accordingly.
Biggy has also been roped into it as she asked him endless questions about magick while making him wrestle against her with just their tails. She always lost, of course, and Biggy said she's already abnormally strong at her age, but she still wasn't satisfied.
She asked him. Where does magick come from? How do we used magick? Do all dragons have magick? Can monsters also used magick like we do?
Biggy answered it all with amusement. Magick is an ancient, powerful force that has been on their world for as long as it's standing. Magick is the foundation of everything that is life, the very basis of existence that sustains it.
Magick is us, and we are magick.
Magick can be use in different ways, however, the Elder dragons are the only ones who could used it to heal. Healing, apparently, is a skill that can only be mastered by a selected few (Moon resolved to learning healing as soon as possible) and was noted to be extremely hard that for example, if a five hundred dragons were to learned how to heal, only two could possibly succeed, but even that was uncertain.
Magick can also be mould and designed in different ways, the most common is how we (dragons) do it: breathing fire. Or sometimes ice, lightning, poisonous smoke, magma, acid—and amazingly enough—webs, it differs to what kind/type of dragon they are.
The Nine-Tailed dragon's black fire is a different version of what could be considered normal compared to other dragons. Our fire couldn't be doused if our intended target isn't completely charred to ashes. It can spread throughout the whole world, if that is our intention, and no one will be able to stop it.
But of course no Nine-Tailed dragon actually think of that. Except for Moon, that is.
Another reason she was finally confident of her abilities; she actually know how to camouflaged herself now, and its a hella convenient and amazing skill.
She grasped her magick into her metaphorical fists and imagined draping it to her whole being like an oversized cloak, making her whole body tingle with pleasant vibrations from her magick, and lo and behold, her whole body changed and blended to her surroundings like a chameleon after a hundred trial and error.
She flew over the misty clouds, feeling the temperature dropping as she went higher and higher. But she wasn't really cold. It's like her whole body is a furnace itself; she's always hot. Literally.
The feeling of wandering around with no particular destination was freeing. She feels amazing so high up here. Like she could do anything.
She shot three consecutive blasts ahead of her, watching the controlled ball of black fire explode into a beautiful twirling smoke and slowly dissipate when it touched nothing but air, the impact from the force propelling her higher. She learned to make her fire into different shapes, effects and sizes. Each attack she made have different effects. For a single blast—a ball of fire in different sizes with compressed force—it was tightly packed with magick that explodes upon contact. For a plain old fire, she purposely made the influence and power wider and stronger—this is when she wanted it to be more devastating and widespread. Then the arrow-shaped one that could target something with deadly precision miles of meters away with just her accuracy.
She spent alot of time figuring out how to control magick outside of her body, as she have heard of no dragon that think about it or even did it. So far, she could only summoned her magick—the color of violet—about the size of her foreleg's, more than that and her magick strains and disappears, but she's set on making at least some kind of impenetrable shield or cool brass knuckles. She could only imagined the cool things she could do with her tails if it was wrapped with magick brass knuckles. She'd be fucking unstoppable.
She let her tongue rolled out of her mouth curiously, tasting the air. It tasted...well, nothing. Just literally air. She popped in and out of thick puffs of strangely shaped clouds, making her wings curled and uncurled at random times. She tried to fly upside down, but she almost fell each time she tried.
Finally, probably five hours later when she got bored enough and her throat was parched, she flew down low enough to feel waves of water splashing slightly on her face, noise of the sea reluctantly making her feel peaceful. She even catched a few flying fishes.
She decided to land on a mountain with refreshing magick that sent her tickling sensations. She perched on a large rock formation near a beautiful clear spring, lowering her head to drink the royal-blue water. It tasted strange, but not bad. Kinda good, actually.
She was almost finished when she suddenly felt a potent presence of magick near her and something vividly red flashes in her peripheral vision, making her immediately jumped back as her tails rose unconsciously in defense.
What the fuck was that.
She searched madly for the magick and flash of red, and she saw the clear surface of the spring suddenly ripples as a verdant fin—no, a tail(?) of fish briefly emerged. It was too big and elaborate to belong in some of the common fishes she knows, so what could it be?
Then a red hair. A pair of ethereal grey eyes staring intently at her from the water.
What the fuck, she screams in her mind. Its not a human, she knows this at first glance, even if its appearance resembles one.
Its a fucking mermaid.
Or siren.
Whatever the fuck it is, it's dangerous and certainly something Moon can't handle, judging by it's overflowing magick itself.
She quickly spread her wings, intending to take flight and get the hell away as soon as possible when the being suddenly reveal her whole head instead of emerging her eyes only.
"Wait, don't!"
Moon could care less of whatever the mermaid/siren wanted to say, but she have heard countless stories of fools offending beings like them that guards and lives in the ocean ending with less-than-great consequences.
So. She very reluctantly lowered her wings again, but she didn't let herself relaxed, openly eyeing the being up and down warily.
The being in the spring was outrageously stunning, now that she could see her whole face clearly.
Heart-shaped face, pink pouty lips, cute blush, and large grey doe-eyes that would've look ridiculous on anyone else. It's skin was porcelain smooth and milky white, long red hair draped over it's slender shoulder. The being was only wearing this complicated kind of white mesh top with sparkling gems and pearls in it, and it's verdant tail was mesmerizingly long.
There's a hazy fog trying to cloud her mind, to make her trusting of her surroundings, to let her guard down, but Moon easily dispels it with a harsh spike of her magick. Is it the being's doing? Most likely.
She vows to stay away from places that has unnatural refreshing magick from now on.
"You are of the Nine-Tailed dragons." The being stated it like a fact, but Moon answered it like a question anyway.
"I am," she said.
"Then you must aid me, dragon." The mermaid/siren suddenly swam forward towards the tense Nine-Tailed dragon smoothly, red hair glistening against the sunlight, and Moon tried not to move away with all her might, instead stares at the being impassively.
"Your dark blaze of power is the only one who could help me." It said, and Moon was instantly suspicious. This powerful being needed Moon's help? When she's only a few years old? Surely there must've been more dragons powerful than her that could help the mermaid/siren. Or better yet, the being do it itself. It's obviously ancient and not to be mess with.
Moon said that to the being, but it only sighed tiredly.
"Your kind has not step foot in my territory for a long, long time. They are wary. You are the first I have seen for eons now. Times have changed. We are once closely bonded as magickal creatures, yet a rift has been placed between us by pointless bloodshed."
Moon could conclude that there must've been history of wars between them and other 'magickal creatures', judging by the way the bitter and mournful expression twisted the being's beautiful face.
The being smiled wryly "I am not powerful as I am from my prime. Most of my powers are gone, and there are only few of us now, scattered across different archipelagos,"
Why is it purposely making itself vulnerable? Moon's guard was still up, but she was considering what the being said. So the mermaids/sirens are extinct now. By war from the magickal creatures?
"One of the reasons my power continued to wane is because of those abominable humans!" The being suddenly screamed, lashing out around it with fisted hands as the water rose, it's grey eyes turning to slits with murderous intent and the nails from it's webbed hands turning to sharp claws.
Moon subtly move inches away from the enraged being.
The being bared it's teeth that turned into dangerously thin ones, it's ethereal human features morphing into something more monstrous "they pillaged my home! They hunt my brethren! They pollute the sacred magick! I will kill all of them if I can! Their whole species are parasites that ruined anything they touched!"
Then the being's slitted eyes turned towards her, burning with malice "I want you to burned their ships, their homes and anything they hold dear until they turned to ashes. Find my sister and bring her to me, do that and I shall give you my blessing as a Guardian,"
Moon closed her eyes, exhaling tiredly. What shit luck to encounter this being. She didn't even know what the hell is a Guardian blessing.
She's very, very tempted to reject it. But she couldn't deny the curiousity about this blessing, plus she have a strong feeling it won't end well for her if she actually rejected the being, no matter how much it makes itself open and friendly.
"I can't promise you that I will find your sister," Moon said "but I can promise that whoever desecrated your home and kin will have no fate other than death,"
The being only answered her with a bloodthirsty smile.