Rippling Waters

They have been visiting Bran more often. 

Fidelia had offered to help Bran with a new pet project so they were spending more and more time together. They were splitting their time between Malakai and Bran, with Fidelia excitedly chatting about the idea of Malakai coming to help too. He had to smile at how she unknowingly gushed about Mal, though she framed it as only focusing on his skills and how helpful they would be. Her racing heart though, well Akeem could feel that clear as day. 

Akeem was surprised that Vita had not yet started to complain. She usually preferred their little village, but maybe the visits with Grimsby had calmed her down. Or maybe she had finally gotten comfortable enough with Bran’s dragons.

Bran had a lot more dragons than Malakai did and some of them made Monti look like good company. Akeem was careful on where he went in the lake to not risk entering either Sobek or Shell’s territory and getting into a possible dispute. Luckily, they stayed near the deeper ends and were the only ones who had caused such an issue. Well… one of Bran’s dragons seemed to have an issue with him and Vita specifically. Lyra, if his memory was right.

Not that it mattered much. He barely saw the Light dragon - another oddity with Bran’s dragons. While both Mal and Bran seemed to attract strays to them, Mal’s dragons always stayed put. Bran’s dragons had more free range - granted, Akeem knew that Monti and Leshen relied on Mal for safety. Bran’s dragons didn’t need to worry about angry villagers, apparently.

With all of the dragons Bran had, Quilla and Aila seemed to be enjoying themselves. They found playmates with Bunting and Toni, happily chasing each other. Akeem was currently watching them as he sunbathed on the shore, half of his body in the lake and half out. The feathers of his tail drifted under the lake’s surface. The sand was nicely warmed underneath his scales and little creatures had gathered underneath his wings for shelter. 

Near him, also watching the little dragons play, was Hecate, who was sitting in the shallows of the lake. Akeem smiled at seeing that Vita had perched herself on Hecate’s crown of horns, also sunbathing. It seemed Vita had made a new friend since their last visits. A surprise she allowed herself so close to the water but he couldn’t sense any agitation from Vita, just content.

His attention was taken away from the two Ocean dragons when he felt little claws suddenly run up one of his front legs. As he looked down to see who had come up him, the little thing had already run up to his back and made their way to his head. He grinned when he felt a tongue lace itself around one of his tentacles, pulling it to her chest.

“Hello, Toni,” Akeem rumbled, ear giving a twitch as she cooed. Quilla quickly raced towards them, Aila and Bunting following behind her. Aila gave a little leap and her own claws grabbed at Akeem’s arm, but she didn’t pull herself up to climb onto him like Toni did. “Hello, you three.”

Bunting squeaked out a soft hello, her staying a shy distance away from them. Quilla lacked her hesitation and had run up right beside him. She was starting to chomp at the water, either her odd attempt of drinking or trying to catch the fish that hid below the surface.

“Do a water show!” Aila squealed, her own feathery tail wagging. 

“A water show?” Akeem asked, tilting his head.

Toni squealed her answer, “Water show!”

“Ok ok, I guess I can do that,” Akeem hummed, turning his head to look towards the lake. 

Soon, a chorus from Aila and Toni started.

“Water show! Water show!”

“Big water show!”

Quilla had stopped her chomping and started barking, tongue lolling out and tail wagging. Her own encouragement of the water show. Akeem gave a glance to Bunting, who had crept closer to them. She was smiling and gave a nod, an excited glint in her eyes.

Akeem preferred manipulating water when he was facing it, but this could still do. He closed his eyes, focusing on the lake, it lapping around him, the small ripples, the calmness beneath the surface. It was harder when he wasn’t full underwater to do what he wanted but he could imagine it in his mind. The shifting of water, turning and twisting into a cyclone beneath the lake. The only sign of what was to happen was the growing waves, starting to lap at his sides more. Quilla let out a surprised bark when the waves smacked at her paws.

It was becoming greater as he started to push upwards. He had to do it fast if he wanted to impress the little dragons and have the momentum to make it go far up. The water was spinning faster and faster before suddenly, it rammed upwards. It sent a large wave throughout the lake as it broke through the surface and into the air.

Immediately, there were ooohs and aahhs from the little dragons watching it. He could feel the change in water as it spun rapidly around. Careful to not break the water cyclone, he went back deep into the water. More gentle this time, he let three lines of jets to burst out from the water, framing the cyclone behind it. It was like a water rainbow.

He held it for as long as he could, letting them admire the display. Slowly, he let the water fall back into the lake, melting away so it did not cause a great disturbance in the lake. Once the water had finally settled back into the lake, he opened his eyes. All of their eyes were wide open with admiration.

“More! More!” Toni soon squealed, breaking the quite shock. Akeem laughed, giving a light shake of his head. He was careful to not accidentally send Toni tumbling.

“One second.”

“Give Akeem a break, little ones,” Hecate’s rumbling voice interrupted. 

She was watching them with amusement. The moment she had spoken, Quilla was running towards her. Toni followed soon after her, jumping off of Akeem and darting towards Hecate. Vita’s eyes slitted open to look down at the colorful little dragon before she closed them tight again. Aila and Bunting dashed after them, pausing before the shoreline, a little away from where Hecate was resting.

“Show!” Toni squealed, not caring about the shoreline and leaping right onto Hecate’s back.

“A show?” Hecate hummed, brushing her tentacles over Toni’s snout. She excitedly noded and Hecate closed her eyes in thought. “Water or fire?”

Akeem tensed up at the mention of fire, before making himself relaxed. Hecate was, at her core, a gentle soul and he had a feeling she was going to do something light to amuse the little dragons. She must have noticed his tension though because she gave a slight nod towards him.

The little dragons were deep in thought when Hecate finally answered for them. “How about more water? Let’s see who does the better show?”

That pleased the little dragons enough, with Toni squealing and all of them nodding in agreement. Akeem shot Hecate a thankful smile before giving a glance up at Vita. She hadn’t shifted at all from the mention of water, only opening her eyes to glance down at Hecate. She had a small smile on her face and her eyes flicked towards the open lake.

Hecate also closed her eyes to focus on her magic. Akeem could feel the rippling in the water, sense the magic that was brewing. It did not take long for her to show off her own water display. Like jets, two lines of water shot out before dancing around each other. They looked like ribbons as they danced before more water broke off from the two lines. They filled the empty area with their own dances, before breaking off to jump back into the main lake. 

It was a beautiful sight as the water danced around each other, jets flying off from the lines. The show eventually had to end though and the water fell back into the lake. Hecate looked pleased with herself when she opened her eyes and took in the admired sighs from the other dragons. 

“That was amazing, Hecate,” Akeem said, giving a small nod towards her. 

She only shrugged, smiling down at the small dragons.