Athena's Past (Character Development)

A dark shape glided through the clouds, strong wings beating gently as the breeze passed underneath.

"Look, mama."

The female dragon looked over her shoulder. A white hatchling with blue feathers sprouting from her neckline held up a flat piece of wood. A drawing was imprinted on it with her claw. It was a picture of stick dragons on a mountain. "Its lovely, darling," the female dragon smiled gently. "The NightWings look mean and scary though." "Yeah, not as scary as your mother though." The female dragon chuckled as her mate appeared above them. He smiled and flapped ahead, keeping guard.
"Well, they only LOOK scary," The hatchling giggled. "Maybe they are just lonely. Nobody likes them." The hatchling tilted her head as she examined her drawing. "I wouldn't like to be lonely." Her mother glanced in front of her and corrected her flight path, before craning her neck and nuzzling her daughter. "You will NEVER have to be lonely, Athena, If you dont want to be."
She kissed Athena's forehead, before looking in front of her. Athena grinned and turned the wood onto the other side and raised her claw, ready to draw again, but then a loud shriek caused her to look up. "Go!" Her father shouted, diving down and behind them and pushing her mother forward.
They flew through the clouds, and what happened next caused Athen's mother to guve a horrified gasp. A clan of dragons was fighting off another. Nightwings..
Her mother dove, narrowly dodging a dragon that swiped for her. "LAERIN!" Her mither exclaimed as they were seperated from Athena's father. Her mother dove again and Athena whimpered, clinging to her mothers back as three Nightwings dove after them. Her mother looked over her shoulder. "Close your eyes, Athena," she said, tears in her eyes. Athena shook her head. "I dont want to close my eyes."
And that was the last thing she said before something grabbed her and she was knocked out cold.

Athena groaned and opened her eyes. She was lying on soft grass. Opening her eyes, she realised that her mother was lying beside her, wings shielding her so she couldnt see what was outside. "Mama?" She called softly, poking her with a claw. Her mother shifted and then a head was in front of her. "Athena?" She whispered. "Mama, where are we?" Athena asked innocently. There was a strange smell in the air. Her mother sighed sadly, before lifting her wing. Athena gasped. They were under s fallen tree, hidden from view, but the land around them was scorched waste, and there were bodies of dead dragons all around. A warzone. Destruction. Desolation.
"Mama? Wheres Papa?" Athena whimpered. This was her first taste of pain and war.. She hated it. She looked over her shoulder and realised just how badly scarred her mother was. Both emotionally.. And physically. She was bruised all over, and she was keeping her left side turned so Athena couldn't see.
Her mother had an empty look in her eyes, and you could see she had not slept at all for the past few hours. Thenher mother started crying. She lowered her head, her shoulders shaking with sobs. "Mama?!" Athena whimpered, hobbling over and nuzzling her paw. "Mama, whats wrong?" She asked. Her mother looked at her with her right eye. "Your father.. He protected us from the nightwings.. But.. But then a much bigger dragon came and.. And.. I'm sorry, love, I dont know how to tell you but.." She steeled herself. "Your fathers not coming back."
The coldness shot through Athena. There was a faint voice in her head, like in a Fog, screaming "no, no, no!"
Athena whimpered and snuggled into her mother, who draped a wing over her. "Now Athena.. We're both going to have to be brave.. You're going to have to be a big female now, okay? I know you're sad, but daddy would have wanted us to be brave." Athena nodded, whimpering. "Why did they hurt us, Mama? We.. We did nothing wrong!" She exclaimed. "Its not fair!" She whimpered, tears falling down her face. "I know, I know.. Its not fair," her mother sighed, cradling her gently. "But war is cruel, love. You will realise this as you grow into a beautiful young female.. Vengeance and ignorance causes meaningless deaths." Athena looked at her mother, who had turned her head towards her without realising it.
And Athena screamed. Her mother flinched and tried to cover her empty eye socket, but it was too late. "Who did this to you!" Athena screeched, breaking down crying. "Its not fair! Its NOT. FAIR!" She was going hysterical.


-I will continue later -

// Oh, gosh, this is so sad... //

well, I spent a LOOOTTA time on Athena's character XD

I bet! Well, keep up the good work.

Continuing~

Her mother wrapped her up on her wings and hugged her tight. "Its.. Its okay, Athena. I know its not fair. But I still have you, thats a fair trade for a silly eye, don't you think?" She asked, trying to cheer her up. Athena shrugged and kept sobbing. "Hey hey hey.." Her mother reached down and lifted her chin with a talon. "None of that now. You are Athena, daughter of Isida, and named after an anchient human goddess. That goddess," she smiled proudly. "Was the goddess of battle. You," she poked her chest gently. "Will be strong and smart, like her. So I want no tears, okay?" She asked. Athena nodded, and sniffled. "O-okay.." She said softly.
"Thats my girl. Now, we must leave. We've been trapped her for many hours." Her mother rose and flexed the blue feathers on her neck, before she pulled Athena close to her and hesitantly poked her head out.
"Now, you're going to have to be really quiet, Athena. Do not make a sound," she said, her voice lowering to a murmer, as she inched her way out. Athena scrambled out after her and stuck close to her. She struggled to keep up as her mother set off into the trees. "Why aren't we flying away?" Athena whispered. "They'll see us. We must get away on claw, before we fly," her mother replied wisely, before she picked Athena up and put her onto her neck as she quickened her pace. Athena clung to her feathered neck, glancing around nervously, waiting for something to lunge out at them.
Her heart was pounding and her sprouting feathers were standing on end. Then a shadow moved. Athena tightened her grip and her mother paused. She glanced around, and Athena seen how fast she was breathing. Small puffs of cold air left her nostrils, forming small clouds briefly in the air. There was a silence.

WOOSH!

Her mother rushed off and Athena cried out in shock. Her mother leaped into the air and suddenly Athena was struggling to hang on as her mother dodged trees and went vertically on her side and flipped over and all sorts. The dead trees blurred into a black mess as Athena clung to her mother. She could make out through her glimpses behind her a figure dashing behind them.
Suddenly, her mother beat her wings and ascended through a gap in the branches. Athena started sweating, which only happened to dragons when they were VERY, VERY scared, when she seepn six more black dragons rising up from the trees to join the chase.
"Athena! Hold on!" Her mother exclaimed as she shot through the air like a speeding bullet. Suddenly, she started going up. Vertically. The dragons followed and as the ground's details faded Athena realised just how high they were going. Slowly, the ascending slowed and Athena watched as the black dragons started stalling out of the air. She looked up, seen the orange sky above her, empty and clear, and for a moment her eyes were wide and curious and full of wonder, before they started dropping. Athena couldn't help but laugh as her mother tucked her wings into her sides. After a few seconds, she opened them and she soared away from the warzone and the trees became green again.

Days Pass..

Athena tilted her head as she walked through the cavern. She was looking for anything to eat. Like a rat or something. She was hungry, and she was also in the mood for exploring. The females had made camp beside an old temple, and Athena was scampering down one of it's numerous tunnels.
Suddenly, she walked right into a room with many complicated carvings on the walls. "Cool," she grinned, and her voice echoed. She hobbled over to one of the carvings, but as she did so she stepped on a pressure plate and the brazer in the middle of the room was set alight. Athena gasped as the engravings in the flooors and walls came to life. They became orange and ice, mixed with both magic and science, a true form of beauty had been revealed to Athena.
Athena looked up at the roof and seen dragons soaring across the roof, birds on branches that started on the floor. She walked over to a large cavern on the east wall. It showed two dragons, one blue, one orange, and three eggs between them. Two orange, one blue.
Athena reached out and pressed the blue one, and to her surprise the egg revealed itself as a pressure plate, going a few inches into the wall. Snapping her claw back, Athena whirled around and shut her eyes as a bright light blinded her. When she opened them, a statue was in front of the hatchling. A wyvern with it's wings pointed upwards towards the roof and it's head looking upwards, as if trying to reach the roof. Athena trotted over to it. She narrowed her eyes and climbed up it's tail and onto the large shoulder. "Awesome! Mama, come look!" Athena shouted over her shoulder. She 'ahh'd and 'oooh'd at the beautiful red eyes of the statue. Being the curious hatchling she was, she touched the eye, and she was flung off her feet as a loud gust of air entered the room. It swirled around the statue like a tornado, and Athena latched onto the ground as she was dragged backwards. Her claws left marks on the ground and she screamed as she was dragged slowly into the wind.
But then strong jaws grabbed her and she was flung out of the way. When she looked up, her mother was standing there, both anger, worry and fear on her face. "Athena, run!" She screamed. A whisper was echoing about the tunnel, and the words made Athena's feathers prick up. If she had been human, goosebumps would have littered her skin.

Turn the light to darkness. Turn the light to darkness.."

"ATHENA! RUN NOW!" Her mother shouted and she dug her wings into a carving to try and hold herself. "Mama!" Athena reached out to her, but it was too late, she disappeared into the heart of the gust. It suddenly stopped, faded like it was never there.
Athena stood up. The statue and her mother had gone. "Mother?" She called softly, stepping forward, before running forward and stopping where her mother had been.

"Mother!"

//Gosh! This story is getting a bit depressing! But I am hooked now! //

//I agree with you storm!