Dragon in the Dishwater, Ch 4
Dragon in the Dishwater
Chapter 4
Copyright 2007 comidacomida
"The last time I was unhatched was a long while ago," noted Hiraeth, "and, you understand, I hatched in Europe... in the British Isles."
"But not in England." Eric ventured.
"Correct... in Wales." confirmed the hatchling.
"Right." Eric responded, rolling his eyes.
"Shall I continue?" the dragon inquired, cocking its head to the side as it blinked its membranes.
"Sure... um... sorry." Eric offered, "go ahead."
"I hatched in Wales." Hiraeth repeated, "One thing about dragons, is that we hatch when we are supposed to... and there is always a reason... but we don't always know what it is." the hatchling slipped down into a laying position, head rotated so he could keep eye contact with the young man, "Part of our progression in life is understanding why we hatched... something, I understand, that humans also share a desire to do in their own lives, though, unfortunately for your kind, your purpose is not always as distinct."
Eric nodded, feeling almost for a half second like he should be taking notes. He rolled his eyes at himself, and spoke up, "So... every time a dragon hatches, it has a reason for hatching?"
"Yes." confirmed Hiraeth, "and, I came to find, that my reason for hatching then was because of a little girl named Dwy.
"Dewey?" Eric asked incredulously, repeating the name, "That's a boy's name."
"No... not in Welsh." responded Hiraeth, "If you saw how what I was called is spelled, it does not look like Hear-aith... nor was her name spelled like what you know to be Dewey."
"Try me." Eric retorted.
"D-W-Y." Hiraeth looked at him straight in the eye, "Dewey."
"That spells dwy." the young man responded.
"And H-I-R-A-E-T-H spells hiraeth... but it is pronounced Hear-aith." the dragon noted patiently.
"Welsh has weird spellings then." Eric folded his arms.
"W-A-Y spells 'way' and W-E-I-G-H spells 'weigh' and W-H-E-Y spells 'whey'.... that is English. Do you wish to discuss strange languages?" the dragon retorted matter-of-factly.
"Whatever... her name was Dewey... got it." Eric rolled his eyes. Eric sat in the chair, one foot on the floor, the other resting on the edge of the bed, barely 2 feet from the small hatchling dragon. It seemed strange to him that it would be so easy to grow comfortable being around a fantasy creature that, by all rights, shouldn't exist, but Hiraeth had a presence that lent him a comforting tone... even if the little critter was argumentative.
"Her name was Dwy. She was the second child born to a minor noble in the lands that would be called Wales. To the native people of the land, it is called Cymru... do you need me to spell that too?" the hatchling offered casually.
"No... got it; sim-ru."
"Correct." noted Hiraeth, "Dwy was the second child born to a minor noble who treasured his first born above all else. His first born child was a son, whom he lavished with every ounce of his being. When Dwy, his second child was born, he told his wife, Dwy's mother, that he had no use for a daughter, and that the little girl would be forever in her care. In fact, he cared so little for Dwy, that he gave her the name 'Two'... which is what Dwy means in Welsh."
"Sounds like a prick." Eric offered neutrally.
"Perhaps... or perhaps his value system is not the same as yours." Hiraeth offered.
"Anyone who ignores their kids and treats them like shiiii--" the young man paused, "treats them like dirt... well... that's one big bastard in my book."
"Even so, he did have good qualities," the hatchling proposed, "even if caring for Dwy was not one of them. The lord of the lands was kind to his people, and gentle to his animals. He gave of his own stores in times of famine, and invited families from his lands to join him in feast during times of plenty. He hunted when it suited him, but always used what he had slain. He made spiritual offerings to the Genii loci, and embraced both learning and enlightenment among his people. He was a good man, but he was so busy that he chose to focus what energy he had on one and only one child... and that was his son."
"So he was a nice guy to everyone but her... got it. Doesn't make it okay." Eric challenged.
"I did not say that it was." noted Hiraeth responded, "but that is how he was... but we are lingering on him, and he is but a minor player in my tale."
"That's an interesting way to put it." the young man noted.
"A term used by the Great Bard himself." the hatchling replied.
"Great Bard... you mean Shakespeare, right? Did you know him?" Eric inquired, finally recognizing an iconic figure from history.
"William Shakespeare? I did not. He was from England, and I was in Wales... several hundred years before him."
"Um... okay... but then how did you know about--"
"You have 'The Complete Works of William Shakespeare' on your dresser." the little dragon blinked his clear set of eyelids.
"I... guess I do-- but you read the whole thing already?!?" Eric asked, mouth dropping open.
"A few plays... as you said, you were unconscious for several hours."
The young man put his hand to his head, "And then you figured that you'd try out the videogames?"
"We're off topic again..." Hiraeth noted, picking at one of his teeth with a claw at the end of a talon, "Shall we discuss F-16: Gulf Attack?"
"No... no..." Eric relented, "I want to hear about this whole time-travel thing."
"Then I may continue?" the dragon inquired
"Yes..." Eric cleared his throat, scratching the back of his head as he leaned back in his chair, "...please."
"Dwy was not displeased with her father; she loved him dearly and often looked to him for approval, guidance, and love, but she found none. He was so busy giving to his people and providing for his son, he did not have room for his daughter. What her father did not provide to her, Dwy's mother attempted to give her, and then some. All of this was before I came to know Dwy. I never met her mother and know only what Dwy spoke of her... but she spoke of her often."
"What does that have to do with your name?" Eric questioned.
"Eric..." the little dragon locked gazes with him, "This story is from a time of rich verbal storytelling... to understand the tale you need to know it in its entirety..." the hatchling cocked his head to the side, quirking his ear sails, "Does that make sense?"
"I guess." the young man replied, crossing his arms across his chest, "Go ahead."
The little dragon nodded its head, and did so. "Dwy's mother's name was Rhia, and I was told that she was very loved by the people, but cared first and foremost for her daughter, for whom she hurt; Rhia knew of Dwy's pain, and knew that her daughter was only person in the entire kingdom who was not beloved by her husband. No matter what her mother did, Dwy's father never did come to embrace his daughter, and so it went for over thirteen years. It was then, after quite some time of being the younger of two children, that Dwy heard from her mother that she would soon have a little brother or sister."
"It did not happen, however." Hiraeth said quietly, "Late in the pregnancy something bad happened... Rhia fell from a horse and not even the Druids could do anything to save the baby. Dwy's mother gave birth to an incomplete child... a baby that would have been Dwy's little brother.
"Two weeks later, Rhia followed into the life beyond this one and Dwy was alone completely and wholly." Hiraeth lowered his head, wings quivering faintly as he sighed, "I remember the story as Dwy told it time and time again shortly after I came to her... the worst day of her life, followed by a month in which she felt as though she had died with her beloved mother."
The little dragon looked up at Eric, "Rhia passed into the life beyond on the night of a full moon, a day of great significance to Celtic folklore... a time when the world of man and the world of spirits overlapped and the rituals of magic and nature were especially powerful. It was during the very next full moon that Dwy stood upon the top of the highest tower of her father's keep and spoke to the wind. It was her words that brought me to her."
"Brought you to her? What do you mean?" Eric asked.
"Humans, as with all beings in this world, both mundane and fantastic, are made from a common element... an essence of being that connects each and every one of us. Long ago, humans distanced themselves from everything that was not human, or of human, and they slowly lost the ability to feel that
connection. Sometimes planned, or sometimes by coincidence, that small trace of element within a human speaks out and resonates to the rest of the world, and that is when a greater connection is made."
"Now you sound like you're talking religion." the young man stated flatly.
"Perhaps... in a sense... but this is a deep truth much older than you or I... or religion, or even the druids that knew only a portion of the truth behind it."
"Oooooookay.." was all Eric thought to reply, willing enough to listen through it, being less disinclined to roll his eyes than at the long, heavy-toned sermons he'd heard back when his mother brought him kicking and screaming to church.
"That night, on the night of the full moon, Dwy made that connection. She spoke to the wind, and the earnestness with which she spoke, and the powerful emotions within her meant that the plea she spoke resonated to a sense of hearing that does not require ears... that kind of call is always
enough to awaken a dragon within the shell, and so it was with me. When I awakened within the egg, I knew only what I needed to: there was a girl that held great loss in her life, and that she would find me, and I could work to help make things right."
"But... how did you know she would find you? I mean... it wasn't like you could just drop yourself down in her path, right?"
"No... when dragons are awakened within our eggs we have no use of locomotion, or powers, or magiks... but, as I said, the common element is within all things... and, as that connection was made from within Dwy, every part of existence meant for her to find me... some call it fate... others call it divine will
but, in its simplest form: what the world wants, the world makes happen." Hiraeth watched Eric as he mulled over the words for a moment, amber eyes observing him passively as the young man considered the significance.
"So... you mean that reality itself decided that Dwy should find you?"
"Yes."
"That's... a lot to take on faith."
The dragon raised its ear sails as it watched Eric, "Faith?" Hiraeth inquired, "No... there is no need for faith in the plans of the world... what will happen will happen. There is no plea or prayer or demand that will change what the world dictates."
"But what about Dwy? You said she spoke, and the world made things happen." Eric countered.
"She spoke, but it was not her words that made the difference... that little piece of the greater whole that resided within her is what felt what she felt, and it was true enough an emotion that something had to happen... and, thus, something was done.. That is why she was made to find me."
Eric lowered his head towards his lap, and rubbed either side of his head, "Okay... so-- urgh... this is just crazy--" he looked up, crossing his arms once again, "So... what is it she said?"
"Dwy said, 'I was never meant to have my father's love; I was never meant to have a baby brother; but I was meant to have a mother, and I know I was meant to love and to be loved. Please, don't let me live my life without that.'... that is what she said."
"That..." Eric sat back in his chair, slowly unfolding his arms and placing his hands on his knees, palm down, "That's pretty deep for a thirteen year old to say."
"Fourteen," Hiraeth noted simply, "That day marked the anniversary of her birth."
"That sucks."
"Yes... very much." replied the dragon hatchling, eyes gaining a far off gaze, "And so, it was decided that I would be found by Dwy... she was my purpose for awakening."
"How much later was it that she found your egg?" Eric asked.
"Two days... she had run away from home after her brother beat her." noted the dragon matter-of-factly.
"Beat her? As in... beat her up?" the youth asked, taken aback.
"Indeed." noted Hiraeth, "For, unfortunately, her brother was neither as benevolent with his subjects, nor as indifferent to his sister as his father was."
"Fucktard." Eric said flatly, "makes me glad I don't have any brothers or sisters."
"Perhaps..." the dragon offered indifferently, "but Dwy did have a brother, and her father gave him run of the house, apparently equating leniency with love... a mistake that would be costly later on for him, but have a much more immediate negative outcome with Dwy..."
"Yea... and good old dad didn't give a rat's ass."
"If he did, it was never mentioned to me." Hiraeth admitted, "but, whether the lord gave any notice or not, Dwy made an escape from the castle by horseback."
"Well, at least she had the balls to run away." noted Eric.
"Balls?" Hiraeth asked, "You mean testicles? Female humans do not--"
"It's an expression." Eric interrupted, "Right... we'll work on your slang."
"Well... then... yes; Dwy did have the balls to run away... have you ever run away?" the dragon inquired, interrupting the story to ask the question,
cocking his head to the side as he raised his ear sails in attention.
"Me?" Eric asked, pausing at the personal question, "I-- no... no... why should I?" he countered, almost flustered by the sudden inquiry.
"You have made reference to being unhappy many times. Dwy was unhappy, and so she decided to escape the things that made her unhappy... is that
not what you agreed with by confirming that her choice was the right one?" Hiraeth questioned, ear sails still up.
"Well... if girls are being abused they should run away... that's the right thing to do." Eric responded, pausing for a moment as he realized he almost noted verbatim the lines from all of the public service announcements played in school assemblies. He rolled his eyes at his own comment, "What I mean is, Dwy was in a situation that wasn't healthy for her."
"Your situation is healthy, but you are still unhappy?" the dragon asked.
"I--- ugh... never mind." Eric slumps in his chair, "I'm not in danger here and I don't have a brother slapping me around, okay? So... how did you two meet?"
"Dwy took a fairly young foal that the stable keep had been teaching her to ride. She was a smart girl, having learned all about how to saddle the horse herself. She stole away late at night and made good progress into the woods. Dwy was quite a good distance from the keep by the time she stopped to look back. For such a young girl to be out on her own when she had never been more than a few feet from others was quite an accomplishment, but she was scared. The first sound I remember hearing of her was her heart... beating so quickly... she was scared."
The little dragon sat up, looking Eric in the eyes, "I tell you she was scared because it is not something that happened to her often. Little girls in that day were never away from home and, if for some reason they were, then there were always others around. Many stories of that day told of horrible creatures
in the woodlands and, insofar as I can recall, there were."
"Got it... so she was scared... and?" Eric dismissed.
Hiraeth, "Fear has much to do with my story, Eric." the dragon spoke quietly, "There are many kinds of fear and, while Dwy was a very brave human, ultimately, fear is both the good in my story and the bad."
"Foreshadowing... right." the young man nodded.
"Something of the sort." the dragon replied, blinking its transparent membranes before continuing, "She dismounted and moved to the cover of a large tree... an oak. Oaks, you see, were considered by the common folk to signify courage, and she had sought to be heartened by its presence. The druids,
however, always considered oaks to be portal trees... meaning that they had strong spiritual links to more than one location... more than one world. It was there that she found my egg."
"So... your egg... like the one I found?" asked Eric.
"Exactly." noted Hiraeth, "And, like you, curiosity brought her to keeping the egg... as she was meant to. Dwy fell asleep at the roots of the oak, hugging my egg to her. It was the way the servants found her in the morning, and they brought her back to the castle."
"They didn't say anything about her coming back with a huge hunk of crystal?" Eric asked incredulously.
"Servants rarely ask when the daughter of a favored noble makes her will known." Hiraeth grins, revealing rows of needle-like teeth, and Eric, despite the expression concerning him the first time he saw it, couldn't help but grin too.
"So how long before you hatched?" asked Eric, "And where did she put your egg before you did?"
"Dwy kept me in her room." noted Hiraeth, "To avoid the greedy eyes of her brother, she placed my egg within her female things... chests containing her where her brother would not go.
"Her underwear drawer." Eric snickered.
"Yes... to that effect." confirmed the little dragon, "When she was alone with me, she would keep my egg in her lap, speaking to it as if she were speaking to a friend. She spoke about her mother, and about her father, and brother... about the land and about her hopes and dreams. She called my egg her Oak Shield, thinking it was a gift from the tree in honor of her courage at both being able to leave everything she knew, and return to it without a
fight when the servants came to collect her."
"Oak Shield... cute." Eric replied sardonically.
"Her people were one of animism, symbolism, and spirituality... please do not mock that." Hiraeth countered flatly, ear sails lowering slightly, an edge of a hiss to his voice.
Eric moved his feet off the bed at the sound and display, "Um... sure... sorry." he offered quickly before he even realized he was apologizing.
"Accepted." responded the little dragon, the expression passing quickly as he returned to a calm demeanor.
"So how long before you hatched?" Eric re-asked the first part of his earlier question.
"Five days." the dragon replied, "My egg was in her hands when I first broke free."
"I bet she freaked." Eric grinned.
"She did not faint, if that is what you mean." the dragon cocked its head to the side, eying him, and Eric could not help but feel that Hiraeth was eluding to his earlier response.
"Dragons were expected to show up out of nowhere back then, huh?" the young man inquired, uncomfortable at the suggestion of his own action in response to seeing the hatchling for the first time.
"Sometimes... but, some people know that they may sometimes find the unexpected in the most mundane of places." Hiraeth responded, blinking his clear membranes again.
"Well... finding a dragon sitting on my bed playing my videogames better than I do certainly is unexpected." admitted Eric.
"Granted." acknowledged Hiraeth, "and Dwy was surprised to see me, but we had a special bond, and the surprise did not last long." the hatchling chirled softly, eyes gazing past Eric, as if seeing visions from times long past.
"What was it like?" asked Eric, leaning forward elbows on his knees, chin in his palms.
"Dwy was a special human... she had empathy and understanding beyond almost any other I had ever met. The loss of her mother had hurt her greatly, and I could feel it in the way she reacted to those around her, and to me... especially to me. I was her secret friend... she never told anyone else in the castle about me... not for a long time. We spent much time together; it was easy enough since very few people bothered to check on her unless she missed anything for which she was scheduled... mostly meals and court functions... and she was always very prompt.
"She came to value her privacy.. and I did too, because it meant we had more time together." Hiraeth laid back down on the bed, stretching out his forelegs, hind legs, and wings.
"So what about your name?" Eric inquired, drawing the story back to the point of its telling.
"Her mother was one of our first long talks." Hiraeth propped his muzzle up with a shoulder as he watched Eric from a laying position, "She spoke about how much she missed her, and how her life was so empty without anyone in it. I told her that is why I had been sent to her-- I was there in response to her wishes in the wind." the little dragon sighed, "she said that the only thing she had to replace her mother was hiraeth... the loneliness and the loss, and I told her that she was supposed to have me too."
Eric nodded, "I guess that makes sense... so then she named you Hiraeth?"
"Partially." noted the small dragon, "She said that nothing could ever replace her mother, and I offered to help ease the hiraeth... Dwy said she would always have the hiraeth and, when I told her that she would always have me, she decided that would be my name... it is funny... to most people, hiraeth is a sad thing, but... I suppose Dwy was always looking for a better way." the dragon smiled at that, and rolled over, "It is late, Eric... I know you do not go to school tomorrow, but you will not want to sleep until nightfall, will you?"
Eric shrugged, "It doesn't really matter, anyway, it can't be later than--" Eric's eyes fell on the clock for the first time since he and Hiraeth had began their dinner, "It's four o clock?!?"
The little dragon nodded, "and seventeen minutes."
"Damn... yea... that's a bit later than I'm usually up." acknowledged the young man.
"As you said earlier, you already had several hours of sleep."
Eric laughed, "True..." he looked around the room, then to his bed, "Um... so... about sleeping..."
The dragon looked up at him, amber eyes glinting slightly in the lamp light, "If you don't want me here on the bed I can return to the toy box... it's comfortable enough."
Eric pulled at his collar, eying the sharp talons on the dragon: small, but still pointy. He looked to the toy box, then back to the dragon, who was still eying him, "You can sleep on the bed, but only if you answer one more question."
"That is fair." notes Hiraeth
"Did the world choose for me to find you, or was it coincidence?"
The dragon lowered his head, but remained looking at the young man, "I thought you believed that was crazy."
"Well... maybe, but I never said I was completely sane... I just want to know." he pressed.
"Coincidence... fate... design... sometimes there is little difference." the dragon spoke cryptically.
"That didn't answer my question." Eric spoke indignantly.
"The question wasn't fair." Hiraeth responded.
"Fine..." Eric stated, "Why did I end up finding you?"
The dragon closed his eyes, burrowing his face under the bedspread at the foot of the bed, "Because you were supposed to."
Eric paused for a moment, "So... then the world chose for me to find you." he reasoned.
"If that is what you wish to believe." the little dragon conceded.
Eric put his hands on his hips, "That's not an answer."
"It is a perfectly valid answer... just not one that answered everything your question implied." noted the dragon, "Please turn off the light before you get into bed."
Eric grumbled his way over to the light switch, but did not argue further. Sliding under the blankets, Eric looked down at the dark, scaled shape at the foot of his bed, and saw the glinting of amber eyes gazing up at him, faintly glowing, as if luminescent on their own, "Eric?" Hiraeth spoke.
"What?"
"Your name... it has a meaning." the dragon's question sounded more like a statement.
"I don't know... I guess it does." he responded.
"It does." the dragon noted matter-of-factly.
"Oh?"
"Yes. It has two meanings." the dragon spoke.
"Which are?" the young man inquired, yawning.
Hiraeth blinked his translucent membrane, the action faintly muting the glow, "The first is 'honored ruler'."
Eric smirked at that, issuing a half-hearted chuckle, "Right... and the second?"
"It was a payment murderers were required to give to the relatives of someone they killed." the little dragon said quietly.
"Ugh..." noted the young man, "Not the best name to have then."
"Why would you say that?" the dragon asked, still looking up at him, head cocked to the side.
"A name involving murder and restitution for death? Not very pleasant." the young man said.
"Or 'honored ruler'..." the dragon replied, "It depends on how you look at it."
"Hmm." is all Eric offered, laying his head back down on the pillow, mind awash with too many thoughts to sleep... or so he thought. His dreams were many.