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My apprentice... -story- — Description
"Happy birthday April.
You will never be forgotten..."

EDIT: Added a scar on Mya's right wing, more blood and shading.

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*****

I walked to the back of the cave, April following me. I was very aware of her excitement – she had no idea what I wanted to show her. I turned into the small indent and rested my horns against the wall. I pushed hard and the boulder came loose. I padded inside, April following me with wide eyes. I closed the entrance just in case.
I looked at April. Her grey feathers glowed in the bright moonlight. Her sparkling blue eyes shone in wonder and awe. I realised with a shock I had reacted the same way when Jasmine had first brought me here.
April looked at me, her eyes still shining. I swore the moon was reflected in them, even though she was turned away from it.
“What is this place?”
“This… Is Oroci froan.” (Translated, that means Magic Hollow by the way)
“I smell…. Magic, is it? Besides that and water… there’s something else I don’t recognise… what is it?”
“Hmm? Oh, that,” I said, grappling for my mind, which had tried to wonder off into memories, “is the smell of spirits.”
“Spirits have a smell?”
“And a very distinct one at that. Though individual sprits will have a similar scent to when they were alive. Take my mentor, Jasmine, for example. She smells distinctly like jasmine flowers, which is why her parents called her that. But I can still smell her scent when she’s near me. It just has a tang of…,” I stopped, searching for the right word, “moonlight.”
April nodded. “What happens here?”
I smirked. “That’s what I wanted to show you.” I could feel the moon becoming impatient with all this banter, and was glad April had brought the subject up.
“You know how all Healers and their apprentices have magic, right?”
April nodded, guessing what was coming next.
“Well, this is where my line of Healers get it.”
“Really? No wonder it smells of magic! How?”
“As I said, that’s what I wanted to show you.” Without waiting for an excited answer I padded up to the ponds’ edge and sat down. Taking a deep breath in I slid my tail into the familiar warm water. I closed my eyes and breathed out. The moon was nearly at its height……….
Now.
The warmth of magic charged up my tail and into my stiff limbs. It circulated my body for several moments before rushing up to my head. I opened my eyes. Everything had a green tint, and I knew my eyes were glowing pale green. Then the green magic started to fade and I was left staring at a wall.
I lowered my head and caught April staring. No words were needed.
…April was to be my apprentice.

*****

I caught him in the corner of my eye. Just a black flash. Then something with serrated teeth at my neck. I pummelled his belly until he let go. I was right – it was Skagong. And no guessing why he was here.
He couldn’t afford to have another Healer train, or there would have more of a chance of our side winning. We needed April. He needed April dead.
I growled deep in my throat. “She’s not here, and even if she was, do you think I’d just hand her over?!”
“No, but I do think she is here. Your fear scent is far too strong for her not to be.”
I realised with a jolt he was right. But I had sent April out to get jacaranda zap – she wasn’t here!
It was then I heard a soft growling from behind me. Oh no!
“Leave us alone!” April shouted bravely.
“April, RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!”
“I’m not leaving you!”
“He doesn’t want me – he wants to kill YOU!” Without waiting for another protest I shoved her out of the cave. She knew how to preform cliff jumps and so went flying away. I blocked the entrance, but Skagong was too large and powerful. He shoved me aside and then took off himself.
April was a Healer.
She didn’t train to be fast or strong.
She trained to Heal and help others.
She was seven years old.
Skagong caught up to her in the same instant I did. I knocked him aside.
“FLY APRIL! FLY!”
She did as she was told and flew, but Skagong kicked me out of the sky, and blackness started to crowd my vision…

*****

I was on the ground. The grass was silver and grey. Or rather, the grass was covered in my silver blood and somebody else’s’ grey blood. Who did I know that was grey…?
Oh no.
Please no!
The memories flooded back. Skagong had knocked me out of the sky.

I stiffly got up onto my paws. My shoulders were shaking, and my back leg was limp. It looked broken. Cautiously I peered around.
There was April, her mouth wide open, lips curled back, eyes wide with fear.
Her throat was ripped out.

*****

Note: If you were paying attention to the story, you would have noticed that Mya's blood is silver and April's is grey. However in the picture above both of their blood is red. Why? Because no one understands when I do silver or grey or whatever blood for one thing, and for another, it's far easier to do red. I can see what I'm doing better. It's hard to see silver on white, and grey on grey.

It's April's birthday today!

April's background:

April was a young dragon who had awesome flying skills. Her parents always pushed her to become the best flyer Zulabar had ever seen. However, April's heart was not in the flying tournaments that she always won (with absolutely no exceptions).
Once she met Mya, she knew EXACTLY what she wanted to do with her life.

Mya and April took a shine to each other, and after convincing her parents that April could become the best Healer Zulabar had ever seen instead, she became Mya's apprentice.

After about two years of thorough training, Skagong decided that April was becoming a major threat. She was proving to be a fantastic Healer, who was almost as good with magic as she was with flying. So he paid the two Healer's a visit...

I used some "Sky and Water brushes" for the blood. They worked really well. You can find them here: [link]

*****

The Legend of Moon Dragons, As Darkness Falls, Mist Over Moon, including all of its characters and art are (c) Hunt.
Sky and Water brushes (c) El-Chupacabras