Meet Me on the Horizon
By Leela and Miranda
Azzinoth swam around in his sparkling lake, as he normally did in the afternoon. The banks of the lake were covered in pale, glistening, sand that was soft to the touch. Just beyond the sandy banks was grass. Azzinoth had never touched grass, but it looked so soft! He turned his attention back to the lake because wishing did not help him do anything but increase the longing to venture beyond the lake. The sky was empty, and as blue as the scales of a Lake Kutubu rainbowfish. “Swimmy swimmy!” he said, drifting and floating in circles. Flipping onto his back and gazing at the sky longingly, he spotted a dark shape, backlit by the sun. “I wish dat I could fwy. Like dat thing! I wanna go fwy fwy!”
He looked closer and realized that the shadow was getting bigger and bigger. It wasn’t flying, he realized, it was falling! It looked like a water droplet, falling weightlessly to the lake.
“Oh no…, what is happening?!” Azzinoth wondered, alarmed.
As it came closer, it also became clearer. The mysterious object looked like a smaller version of him, but with wings. Its wings were large and feathered, and its body was long and lanky.
SPLASH! The winged creature careened into the lake and started sinking to the bottom. “Oh no oh no oh no!” he cried, diving under the water. A ray of light cut through the water, illuminating the winged object. Azzinoth swam downwards as fast as he could, his fins straining against the upward current of the water. Wet feathers brushed his fins as he tried to tug the thing towards the shore of the lake. Azzinoth reached the shore and heaved the heavy creature onto the warm rocks. He could see it better now. It was a serpent-like him, but instead of fins, it had large, sprawling wings, and it was a light cream color instead of his gray-green coloring. Azzinoth could see a purple bruise near some blue feathers on its head. He stuck a fin near its nose and sighed in relief when he felt a soft puff of air. It was breathing, slowly, but definitely breathing.
“Maybe I could get some cold river rocks to put on its head. Would that help? I don’t know,” Azzinoth worried. As he was turning around, he heard a sharp intake of breath behind him and whirled around. The serpent blinked its eyes, small shards of blue reflecting the sky, and looked at Azzinoth. “Where… where am I?” it asked, looking dazed. “Who are you?”
“I’m Azzinoth. A sea serpent. Who are you?” Azzinoth replied.
“I’m Adra. A sky serpent,” Adra said with a bit of hesitation, “Where are we?” She could feel a throbbing pain in her head, and her wings felt heavy with water.
“This my lake. Near the Ee-dwe-su-wa Kingdom,” Azzinoth scrunched up his face. “Edwesuwa. Idresura. The Idresura Kingdom. Where did you come from? You just falled out of the sky!”
Adra sighed and plunked her head on the warm rock beneath her. “I was just fwying-” Before she could finish, Azzinoth blurted out, unable to contain himself.
“Fwying!” Azzinoth interrupted, “Oh sorry, sorry. Go on. I listening.” He sank a little bit below the water’s surface, submerging his mouth.
Adra started again, “I was fwying, and then I flew over a human town. I was trying to stay in the clouds, but they still saw me. One guy shot a big rock at me. It hit me in the head and then everything went dark. Then I woke up here. But how did I get onto the shore? I would have dieded if I had just fallen onto these rocks.”
“You fell into the lake,” Azzinoth said, “I saw you were sinking so I tried to pull you to the side of the lake so you wouldn’t drown.”
Adra stared at him with wide, reverent eyes. “You… you saved my life.”
Azzinoth looked at his reflection in the water, and a warm feeling spread through him, and a small smile appeared on his face. “It was no big deal.”
“It was,” Adra countered, and Azzinoth looked up. “Thank you so, so much.”
Azzinoth smiled wider and straightened up. “Can I get you anything? A fish?”
“I’m okay. But thank you. I should go. It’s getting late,” Adra said reluctantly. She could feel her heart tugging downwards as if it wanted her to stay with this kind and thoughtful new serpent, but she knew that the humans had probably seen her fall, and they would come looking for her eventually.
Azzinoth sank a little under the surface. He wished Adra could stay.
“I can come back tomorrow,” Adra said, noticing his sad face.
Azzinoth smiled. “Really?” he asked.
“Yeah. Really,” Adra said, finding herself smiling too. Maybe tomorrow wouldn’t be just another day alone. Maybe she would have someone she could spend time with forever. She reached out her wing and lightly tapped Azzinoth on the head. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” She stretched out her wings and flew away, thinking about all the things she could do with Azzinoth.
As she flew away, Azzinoth looked after her with a grin on his face. He couldn’t wait to see Adra again. Azzinoth dove under the surface of the lake and went to bed, dreaming of all the adventures he would have with Adra.
