Idea Snippet 1
Author's Note: This is a little snippet I thought up on the drive into my university today. Thought I'd write it down, get some feedback, and see if people wanted me to work with it to try to make it a bigger story.
So, if you like what's here, let me know in the comments, as well as any questions or ideas. Depending on the kind of feedback I get, and how much, I may turn this into a bigger story.
Just a warning, this is just a quick idea, so it probably doesn't make 100% sense. I'm also sick, so please excuse spelling/grammar mistakes. I'll clean it up later.
James stormed down the hall towards the flight deck. The fact that he was a military officer, a captain no less, made this unusual. He also had a reputation for being extremely collected, which made his anger even more confusing for some. Everyone who saw him coming got out of his way. He was not the kind of person you messed around with. He was powerfully built, standing just shy of six and a half feet, and had the kind of face that said, "Do NOT mess with me."
He walked onto the flight deck, which was a bustling area of activity, as it was all hours of the day. In the center of the flight deck was a large open area for captains to land and take off from. The far back wall was open to the sky, the drone of the carrier's engines coming in as they kept the massive airship in the sky. The lowest level, to either side, were open areas for various purposes from maintanence to ordinance transfers.
The upper levels of the flight deck's walls were closed doors that led to hangers. In the center of the ceiling was a glass dome. From there, the flight controllers directed pilots to and from their hangers, the maintanence areas, and during take off and landing.
James walked into the elevator leading up the right hand wall. He punched the button for the seventh level and waited as the gears and pulleys ground to life, lifting the metal cage up. When it stopped, he got off and headed down the catwalk. He mentally counted the hangers until he reached number 46. He stopped at the captain entrance, took a deep breath, and pressed the button to open the door.
There was a hiss of steam as the door rose, gears grinding again as they worked. James stepped in and looked to the back of the hanger. "You lied to me." He said, voice carefully controlled.
Sapphire's head shot up from where she was lying, a guilty expression on her muzzle. "James, please..."
"No. You lied to me. Why?"
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Enough!" He shouted. He never shouted at her. One generally did not shout at a fourty foot long dragon, at least, not without a dozen strong men to back him up. "You said you'd never had another captain. You lied."
"James, please, I did it for your own good."
"What is that supposed to mean? You know as well as I do that the entire relationship between a captain and his dragon is about trust and honesty. How can I trust you when I know that you've been lying to me from the day we met!"
"James, please, stop shouting. I'm telling you, I did it for you."
"What happened to him? I heard one of the crew talking about you. He said that he was glad you didn't lose another one. What does that mean? What happened to your last captain? Who was he? Why did you lie to me!"
Sapphire winced at each question as his voice rose. With the last one, she broke, giving a sob as her eyes welled with tears. "I didn't tell you because my last captain was your father, and he's dead because of me, and I saw you as my chance to make right by him, but none of that matters now because how could you trust the dragon that got your father killed and one that lied to you and now I'll never taste the open air again."
James just stood there, the looking dumbfounded. He leaned against the wall and then slid down it until he was sitting. "My father..." He said. Sapphire sniffed and then swallowed. "I'm sorry, James... I couldn't tell you... I just couldn't. He was a good man, and it's because of me he died."
"How? How did he die?"
"We were on a long mission in the Hazard Zone. I made a mistake. We both got injured. He gave me the vaccine. I tried to get him to help but... I couldn't make it."
"How did he die?"
"I... I dropped him."
James looked down at his feet for several minutes. The awkward silence dragged on, but neither seemed willing to break it. Finally, James got up and walked to the door. He looked over his shoulder at the blue-scaled dragon lying in the back of the hanger. His expression was unreadable. Then he left. As the door slid closed, Sapphire felt the tears well up again. The only time she'd felt this alone was during that final leg of her flight home, after she'd dropped Jame's father to his death.