Username: minifun990
Lion name: Kuon
Lion gender: Male
Pride link: Mystic IslesPride Status: Dragon
Prompt:Kuon had always had very strong protective instincts. He had saved countless animals, small, large, injured, young from others. Often before he even knew what he was doing. There was something in his nature that whenever he saw something that couldn't defend itself he wanted to protect it.
Sometimes this even applies to inanimate objects.
His mother often said that he should have been born a magpie instead of a lion. His den was filled with trinkets, many battered or bruised because it had been the last one to be sold, the one no one wanted. It made Kuon want them all the more. They had stories to be told, even if it was sad ones.
Kuon wondered what it said about him that he took in all these things. Was it just that he couldn't help but be kind, or was it that he saw himself reflected in these broken and beaten things. He saw how they longed for love, he saw how they were ignored.
Then again though, his den was getting ridiculously cluttered. Even fixing up some of his belongings and reselling them wasn't making enough room for all the things he had collected.
But he had to go find more. He had heard that the old fortune teller was trying to get rid of some ‘junk’ making him far too curious for his own good. His paws thudding the towns pavement he sped up, hoping the old lion wouldn't try to throw anything down the street before he got there.
He was too late. A grimy ball of some sort was already bouncing down the hill. His heart lurched into his throat as one particularly hard bounce sent a crack through it and he dove towards it, front paws outstretched.
Relief bloomed as he felt it safe within his paws, and he was just about to place it in his shoulder bag when a foriegn presence invaded his mind. He yelped loudly, and just like that dropped the orb.
He watched as it cracked,the beautiful glass sharp and jagged. He reached out again, even though he knew he should be cautious. But he felt bad, this artifact was probably valuable and Kuon had just broken it.
Warmth flooded him as he trotted back to his den, whispers and voices following him as he sped up, faster and faster. The warmth heating him was becoming too much, power and the voices were definitely not out loud.
They were crying out, scared and worried, what would become of them now the orb had broken? There were so many and Kuons paws shook as he moved items back and forth until he found was he was looking for. A fire stone. He rest his paws onto it, whispering words of magic, it would take a few minutes but hopefully he could hold on that long-
It was already white hot, whatever spirits inside him making magic far far easier than it ever had been before. It was good though, Kuon could feel his mind fracturing from the onslaught of tens of other personalities, he didn't have long.
He held the broken halves over the blazing fire, crystal heating and then melting and with that Kuon and all the other souls melded the two pieces. It was a little messy, but now the orb was whole once more, souls and magic flowing out of Kuon and returning to their previous home.
A few remained, warming Kuon and whispering softly to him. Thanking him, asking him what he would like in return for his mercy and kindness.
Kuon wasnt sure if he mumbled something in return or if it was just another voice before unconscious loomed even closer. It had been a long day.
When he awoke he could already tell things were different, his tail felt far more flexible and long as it swept across the ground where he lay. It wasn't his den, there wouldn't have been enough room for him to lay without some part of his body being pressed up against a tower of trinkets. Not to mention the light that shone through his eyelids. He lifted his head to peer around and instantly started to place it back onto the grass ridge he appeared to be on.
He head was positively pounding, distracting him from his panic about his whereabouts. There wer voices, others wondering if he was truly awake, how he was feeling, if he needed something to eat, or more sleep or-
“Shut up!” He snapped. The voices stopped but Kuon could feel their presence on the edge of his awareness. He stretched, flinching at the soreness in his muscles, the strangeness of it all. He opened his eyes and gasped. Dark red scales, a long sweeping tail and a dark mane that progressed down his whole body.
For one of the first times in his life he truly felt powerful.
“We take it you like your reward.” A voice said, rich and powerful, standing out upon the buzzing of the other voices. Kuon nodded, feeling more than a little shocked, this wasn't at all what he had expected when he had attempted to save the orb.
“I do.” Kuon paused, head tilted to the side. “But, who are you?”
“We are the last, the last of a race with too many enemies.” Kuoan nodded, bringing the orb closer to hear better, to understand. But he couldn't pretend that it wasnt to make sure no one else could harm the orb. It was His! No one was allowed to break it again.
He hardly realised he had begun hissing to himself, or completely missed what the first voice was saying.
“- we didn't go down without a fight. We removed the powers of countless lions, cementing the idea of our danger into the minds of many. Some of our kind even fled to other realms, too afraid to stay.
But a few had a different idea. A way to revive our species.
We used the last of our power to banish as many enemies as we could, but when it wasnt enough we gave in, becoming energy and storing our souls away, so that one day, when our enemies had forgotten our names we could return.”
Another voice interrupted, older sounding and harsh. “It didnt work obviously, now we are all trapped in this stupid orb.”
“Hardly fitting for a great race of dragons.”
“All because our last protector couldn't be bothered.”
“That little-”
“Language!”
Kuon hummed as the souls continued to fight. Dragons… If they hadn't changed him he would never have believed it for himself. He wasnt quite sure what to do now though, leave them and return to his den? Filled with junk and always struggling to make enough coin to keep the place, or go on a grand adventure as a dragon, with an orb filled with other dragons. There was no choice.
After all, they were a captive audience, voices to keep him company as they travelled.
“Ill protect you.” He said quietly, the main voices hardly pausing. He picked the orb up, lifting into the air, flight coming as strangely natural as anything else in this new body. Perhaps he had always been a dragon inside.
“Ill find you guys new bodies and then,” He smiled, sharp and with far too many fangs. “We can all be friends.”
He pretended not to hear the dragons concern that he had fallen into insanity.
(1244/1250 (5 x 250 words))
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