(Warning: This is a LONG Post which explains from Zarla's Point of View much of her history and how she came to be.)

Since Ruth made me able to sleep again I mostly have had restless nights filled with Nightmares about my failures and dying. I have fidgeted and tossed throughout the night in the Sslik House Shinkuu built for us and had not a single peaceful night. I had honestly begun to believe getting the ability to sleep again was a mistake. Until last night when I had a very detailed dream that was no nightmare.

I dreamed that I was hunting out in the wild with my Father. It was a scene that I have seen in my mind and memory for many years. We were stalking a deer silently in the great jungle near Sslanis... I crept slowly up and I knew that I suddenly should have jumped up and shrieked running after it and getting berated for my lack of patience... That... Did not happen... Instead in defiance of my memory I waited patiently as Father gently stroked down my back with a hand to calm me until just the right moment when I leaped out of the bush and nailed the Deer perfectly. The dream ended with my Father looking down at me with a grin on his reptilian snout and for a moment his face shifted to that of a Red Dragon surrounded by fire and then I awoke.

I had never seen the Dragon before but somehow I felt connected to him... I cannot help but wonder if that is what Drulkar should look like... It is hard to say. Obviously my Father was NOT Drulkar but... In a way Drulkar is father to all Dragons and I wonder if somehow he was showing me some encouragement...

Maybe it is the funny symbols Shinkuu has put all over the house that have changed my dreams, maybe it is snuggling close to my Sister Tsume that does it... I am not sure why they changed but it got me thinking about my Parents and the time we spent with them. I realized I have never written about them and that they may slowly fade from memory of all in time. So... I now will try to put to paper some of the things I recall from my youth.


When I first hatched my mind was not fully formed and I do not remember everything clearly but I do recall seeing my Father's Face. He was a Sslik and technically while I call him Father he was both Male and Female like all Sslik. I instinctively desired to think of him as a Male and his mate as a Female and my Mother. His name was Ssarnas and he was a deep forest green with even darker stripes along his backside but no feathers to speak of. Mother was named Charris and she was a mix of Red and Black hide that seemed to twist and dance between the colors with a reddish set of Feathers like a Mohawk. Both had the longer sleeker snouts that some Sslik can have.

The pair of them had mated and had a pair of eggs all their own and were happily awaiting hatch day when tragedy struck. The Jungle Crawlers managed to find their home while Mother was sleeping and Father was out hunting and in this time they found those Eggs and ran off with them. When Father tracked them down he found they had been mostly eaten and kill the Crawlers as he did it would not bring back their children. It broke Mother's heart to lose her precious hatchies to be and Father took it very hard though more quietly.

However, they would soon be blessed as Father found a Pair of very large Black Eggs near the Vulcano in Kion. These were abandoned and search as he did with all he could ask around all of Lesser Aradoth no one had EVER seen the Dragon who supposedly could call herself our mother. No one had EVER seen a Dragoness heavy with eggs there or seen one laying or incubating them. No sign of a Dragoness whatsoever in that time. So he brought them home and Mother ever since believed that we were her Hatchlings reborn as Dragonlings as a gift from the Gods to make up for her misfortune.

My memory of the earliest times is blurry but I remember soon I saw Mother's face and then as they cleaned and pet me the other black egg broke open and everyone came to see as Tsume finally managed to break free. She was a little weaker than me at the time and needed some help getting out of her egg which my new adopted parents provided. I knew she was my Sister by her Scent and soon me and her cuddled together to sleep near the nice warm fire my Mother had kept going for days to incubate us.

Father was a proud hunter and provided the food for the little Sslik house near Kion that we lived in while Mother was fond of Druidic Magics and Alchemy healing Father's occasional deeper wounds, growing spices so Father could cook delicious meals, and making potions to help out. I was instantly drawn towards Father's cool, stern, and confident demeanor and started slowly picking up the ways of the hunt. At the same time Tsume was drawn towards Mother's wild magics and mystique and began learning the ways of a spell caster and all around smart girl.

Me and Tsume used to play games together all the time. We would chase each other around in tag which I usually won. We would wrestle which I also often won. We would play Hide and Seek and she would often trick me good and win. We would also play a game with little Saris figures on a board with squares on it that was rather complicated in rules and we often had VERY good competitions at this game. She was brilliant but I was intuitive and strategic making the contest one our Parents LOVED to watch.

While we competed all the time with each other and for our Parent's favor we were always inseparable. Whatever I did, Tsume did, and whatever she did, I had to do. We went everywhere together and did everything together. We were the truest of Sisters and Friends down to the last and there was nothing we would not do for each other. We also learned together very well and slowly grew to know many things.

Saris would be brought to the house to teach us to Speak and Write. Mother felt it VERY important that we speak and Write Common very fluently so that we would never be unable to communicate with others and that us being Dragons would not have to frighten Bipeds because we would have this thing in common with them.

I have to admit I did not always like the Nosy Saris who seemed to want to know EVERYTHING about us and how we came to be. Nor did I like their hard lessons but in the end I thank them for teaching me so many important things about the world so thoroughly. My Parents always taught me one valuable Lesson... Sslik and Saris are your friend but put your trust lightly in all others. That lesson seems to have been a very good one so far.

Father constantly tried to teach me patience in hunting and fishing. He taught me all he could with his own patient and very learned method of hunting. He taught me about nature and how to revere its beauty and bounty. He taught me about Life and why it is precious. He taught me that ALL are born Free and that one thing I shall never suffer from anyone is Slavery. He said "Not even the Aegiss are to be Sslavess!" and considering how much he hated the Aegis that seared the lesson deep in my heart. If not even the dreaded and vile Aegis who often enslaved others with their vile power were not to be MADE slaves then there must be NO ONE who deserved such.

He taught me to stand on my hind legs often and tried to get me to fight and move more like a Biped. It was very hard for me but I did my best to imitate and wanted badly to be like him in every way. He told me some day I would be very large and powerful and that I would crush the Crawlers who killed Sslik and smash the Aegis and be known to all the world as his Daughter, the great Dragon Savior who was Sslik of Heart.

All the while my Sister trained with mother to become a stronger more adept mage. Mother scoured all of Lesser Aradoth for Primal magics and their natures and was able to find just enough to keep my Sister learning. I will have to prompt her to really write more on this in her own journal.

As I grew older and larger I learned to breathe fire and this was a bad time. I was excited by this new ability and began to burn anything I could. I burned some of the stuff in our house and promptly got the Scolding of my life from Father. It hurt worse than any wound I have ever received physically. He just scolded me with words but each word cut deeper than any blade and found its target with perfect accuracy. I was a HUNTER in training and as such I was not to be so careless and juvenile with my Gifts that I should RESPECT and HONOR by using responsibly.

I also learned to Glide and while I cursed my barely functional wings FOREVER I LOVED to glide... I wanted to fly so badly... It got me so frustrated that sometimes I would pace and curse and then cry myself to sleep over just that subject. It really saddened Father to see me go through this but he could do nothing to help. He could not fly and did not know why my wings would not allow me to take to the sky. To this day I have not figured out what was wrong with them...

We went out of our way to Glide and while I loved these trips Tsume hated them from the very first time she Glided... We went down the paths to the hills above the Lake of Crystal Tears and while I glided beautifully down past the lake my Sister got out over it and panicked. This caused her to lose her lift and crash right into the dead CENTER of the Lake. She could not swim well in her panicking state and to make matters worse a powerful Water Elemental known as Tsunami was in the Lake and began to move towards the Struggling Hatchie. My Father braved the horrid Ice beast and managed to attack it in just the right places to break some shards of its body off causing it to flee. Me and him had to work together to pull Tsume out of the now chilled water before she drowned or died of hypothermia. It was a struggle but Father had taught me to swim and we managed to rescue her. Ever since then Gliding had been a bit of a nightmare for her.

Father continued to bring me up and I became full of ambition and enamored with the idea of being the mighty Queen of the Sslik some day when I got to be a big powerful Dragoness. I learned to fight with the best of my ability and even attack as I glided down upon enemies. I did battle with some of the Pygmies and Ogres and even a few stray skeletons. I was turning out to be a real fighter and my Sister was right there to blast things with her spells. I knew Father was very pleased with how we worked together and always encouraged us to be a team. He always praised group hunting and being with others as far more important than individual power...

Father also taught me to be careful of those who sought only personal power and to be wary of those who thought to dominate others with it. He said "It iss the mark of Evil when one Dessiress to make less of thosse around them. For thiss iss but one sstep away from ssubjection and Ssalvery!" He told me to be very careful of the older larger Dragons. He told me they were not much like myself and that while some Sslik loved them that he felt many of them were terrible monsters not unlike the Aegis. He taught me to view them as large frightening beasts that would try to kill and eat me given the chance and that this was just the beginning of what they may do. I never wanted to believe his words but I generally acted upon them anyway... It is one thing that hurts me to this day to find that he was, as he always was, very wise and largely correct. Most of the older Dragons I have ever met are Monsters of one sort or another and no friend to anything that Lives, especially not Hatchies.

Father always told me never to be like them. He taught me to love the Bipeds as fellow people and to not think in terms of "Dragonss and Bipedss" but instead to think in terms of "People of Isstaria". We were all together the people of this world and we all faced the same dire threat. There was no place for bigotry in this world. He wanted me to be a pure spirit and an open heart that he said "Even Drulkar would be proud to call Hiss daughter!".

All was good in my life of Sslik and Saris until the day my Father did not return from a fairly normal hunt near the Vulcano... The Aegis had grown more bold and sent one of their Lieutenants by the name of Vehk down that way... Father died trying to stop this wicked raiding party from getting to Kion and killing the unaware Saris. A Saris Soldier brought us his Spear and told us what had happened and that was the very moment that everything of me and my dear Sister ended...

That was the dire moment that, clouded by hatred burning inside me, I made the fateful decision that would haunt me for the rest of my life. Against my Mother's pleading I vowed to take revenge upon the Aegis for my Father's death and restore his Honor... It was the fiery soul of a Dragon that burned in me that day. It was this powerful Soul I yet struggle to contain that had the passion to ignore all reason and go out to face a foe I was far too weak to fight. My Sister did not wish to leave Mother at this time but we did EVERYTHING together and she knew that I needed her by my side to stand a chance.

I have since spoken to Tsume as I always felt I did her a great wrong that day and she assures me that some part of her desperately wished to go that day as well. She too felt the pain of loss and anger at the Aegis and while I dragged her with my Passionate Conviction she did come of her own will as well.

We went into the forests and found Vehk... I hated him with all my heart and still do... We fought hard and long tearing apart his minions with an unbridled fury but it was not enough... He was too powerful and while I broke his shield with one final blow of my claws he cut me down and slammed Tsume with spells that left her a dead wreck... Our bodies that day disappeared not to be seen again for a year.

At first Mother was hopeful we were Gifted somehow which is why our bodies were never found... Why it took us SO long to work our way back is impossible for me to know. However, eventually she lost her hope and came to believe that we had been taken by the Aegis made into their vile puppet Spirit Hatchies. This belief and the loss of her mate broke her heart and soul. By the time we returned to our home a Saris Healer told us that she had died... She died because her soul refused to keep her alive. She lost all will to live and took illness and passed away.

Father died in battle bravely defending all he cared about... Mother died a lonely pointless death more empty than the blackest hole. I have felt a gut-wrenching pain of responsibility for her death ever since. If I had never gone she would never have died like that. I always felt I robbed Tsume of Mother and the way she died has haunted me BADLY for YEARS since. I still cry when I remember seeing her dead lifeless body being buried with a look still on her face that seemed to convey a horrible loneliness.

After that I was an emotional wreck and me and Tsume trudged on in our studies under harsh Dragon Trainers getting killed frequently to earn their Training. I had only one Goal in mind... Become a mighty Adult and fulfill my Father's dream that I would liberate Sslanis of the Crawlers and become a True Hunter.

I endured so much damage and pain that I have lost my ability to even FEEL pain anymore. I fought on like a Gnomian machine with no heart or will. I began to believe I deserved every bit of pain I received as punishment for being a failure of the worst kind. I came to feel all I should EVER have it pain and misery in my life to make up for what happened to Mother.

When the Rite of Passage finally came for us it was as if the Gods agreed with me and had decided to ensure I got a life time of torment in a couple of days. The quests were long, confusing, and at every step I felt the need for functional wings more than I had ever felt it in my life. It was like one long endurance test coupled with someone teasing you the whole time "Awwee it would be really easy to do this if you could FLY over there... HA HA! LOSER! No flying for you! You SUCK!". It only got worse with every fight we had to do against the big monsters of name... While we did most everything else for ourselves these fights were horrible. I could barely scratch the foe and any one of them could wipe me out quickly if it landed a series of good assaults. All I could do against these things was to cower behind mighty dragons who agreed to help me with the Rite.

It was so demeaning that even the fact that I DID do EVERYTHING else including all the crafting and other fighting I needed to do with my Sister meant nothing. Anything I accomplished felt meaningless in the face of the fact that I could not fight these things at all. It was supposed to be a test of my ability but it was insane to believe that any hatchie could face these things alone. Even realizing that what was being asked of me was impossible made it no less demeaning and I felt like it was a Test of who you could bribe into helping you do the bidding of the Ancient NOT a Rite of Passage of ANY SORT.

When we were done me and my Sister did NOT celebrate. We just changed alone with each other. After we changed into adults we hardly wanted to do anything. I wanted to curl up and die so badly it was not even remotely humorous. I felt like utter crap at this point. My spirit had been broken and as far as I was concerned I had done what was asked of me... I had become an Adult so now I could die. Despite the fact that I LOVE flying and I had made sure to change my statue to give me larger and stronger wings, and longer legs for a more Bipedal stance I still did not feel like doing anything but dying.

However, I knew there was still one thing I had not done and eventually I went to Sslanis and took the Rite of Passage for a Hunter... That... was a REAL Rite of Passage. Go into the jungle, by yourself, and hunt the vile enemy of the Sslik. Prove your worth by destroying the Jungle Crawler's relentless forces and then reflect heavily upon your victory. I felt like I had actually accomplished something. Like I had actually grown up and proven myself then. I was even taught how to use the venom of those Spiders against my foes. It was an amazing full feeling not the soul breaking feeling of the Dragon's Rite.

So I did wipe out a huge number of Crawlers with Tsume and made Sslanis a place safe from their vicious attacks and relentless hunger. We continued to cleanse Lesser Aradoth of its Aegis including that Lt. Vehk who we got our REVENGE on.

The rest is really history and while I have had some serious ups and downs and learned much about myself and others these events really shaped me into who I am in many ways and I shall forever miss my Father Ssarnas and my Mother Charris who gave a pair of Dragon Hatchlings the love and care of parents even though they probably knew all along we could never have been their children. Woe be to any who try to tell ME that Bipeds are inferior or evil and my Sister would agree.