NOVEL NEXT Chapter 3: Chapter 3: New World/Lives
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-this is the one- I thought as I scrolled to the bottom of the page and tapped the {SELECT PERSON FOR PACK} button and the screen began to load. The options for night fury and light fury again appeared after the loading screen and I happily tapped the light fury. I eagerly looked at Noah who was being helped by Jay with his explanation of the situation and customization of his dragon. I smiled and floated over to them and said with a big grin "my friend, Noah, I have brought your sister here". In response Noah's eyes widened and he said "really?, you did, where is she??" As he looked around the room. Jay then said "you sure you picked the right person??" And I nodded my head in response.
Jay then patted Noah's back as Nora began to materialize in front of us. She was also wearing the clothes she wore in the picture. When I looked at her, I was a bit shocked and said "why is she still old??" Before looking at Jay. Jay shrugged as Nora completed her materialization, she looked exactly like what she looked like in the picture, down to her gray hair strands.
When Nora opened her eyes she looked straight at us and immediately recognized Noah. "Noah? Is that you? How are you so young??" Said Nora as she moved toward us, reaching her hands out to touch Noah's face. Noah chuckled with tears in his eyes as he looked at Nora and said "ya it's me, I'm not quite sure why I look this way but it is me". Me and Jay just watched this touching moment with a smile. The two then began to talk about life and how bizarre this whole thing was. After they talked Nora floated over to me and Jay and said with confidence "I exempt your invitation for reincarnating". I smiled then a light pink screen appeared in front of Nora as she jumped back in surprise.
The text then appeared in a deeper shade of the same pink and said {WOULD YOU LIKE TO STAY WITH YOUR FIXED GENDER OR WOULD YOU LIKE TO CHANGE IT?} and under that was {MALE OR FEMALE}.
Nora without hesitation picked {FEMALE} and a white dragon less bulky then Noah's and with a heart shaped tail along with heart shaped tail fins appeared. Nora's eyes flashed with joy as she said "omg, she's beautiful". I smiled in response and let her customize her dragon freely with her brother.
I then looked at Jay and said "so, how are we going to fine the other people??" And Jay in response looked at my screen that showed my locked grayed out dragon and said "maybe if you type in characteristics of people, the people with said characteristics will appear". I looked a Jay and said "you're a genius, why didn't I think of that?" As I tapped the pack button and went to the search bar. Before I typed anything I looked at Jay and said "who would you want in this pack?" And after some thinking Jay said "we need someone kind and sociable".
I smiled and then began to type {KIND AND SOCIABLE} then tapped {ENTER}. The screen loaded longer than usual but when it was done it showed {464,367,889,764,207 people found}. I voiced my thoughts and said " holy fudge, that's a lot of people" With a chuckle. I then began looking through them with Jay and we picked out quite a few people. Liam Everett Sandler, Oliver Scott Brown, Theodore Frederick Miller, and Henry Alan Adam were the guys we picked and Etheldreda Rose King, Sophia Adeline Miller, Evelyn Harper Moore, and Maria Jane Wilson for the girls.
They all were said to be nice people that lived good lives. I tapped on all of them and chose their dragons, I made sure family members or people that were married were the same species. When they materialized I left them to Jay as he was better at explaining and calming the crowed down. After the whole fiasco of explaining the situation, everyone calmed down and began to pick their genders and customize their dragons. While they were customizing their dragons, I went around and asked for names of people or children that they would like me to bring and got a few responses.
In no time the slots were filled up and all we had to do was wait for everyone to finish customizing their dragons and we could finally move onto our new lives. Though there were some that refused to be reincarnated, and to my shock at the time, they gradually disappeared just as they had gradually appeared. Putting that thought behind me I became excited and so were the few children that were running around. most of the children had left the customization up to their parents and were happily playing with one another. I smiled at this as I watched the people with my brother.
After everyone was done, we all huddled together as the children kept playing around, running through the crowd playing tag. I didn't mind them and finally pressed the {DONE} button in anticipation, in response the screen began to load again. Soon after text in place of the loading circle appeared and said.
{WOULD YOU LIKE TO LIVE IN THE CREATURES CURRENT WORLD OR RANDOM SELECTION OF LIVABLE WORLDS}
{CURRENT WORLD} or {RANDOM SELECTION}
As I was about to tap {CURRENT WORLD} someone's child that was not paying attention, ran into me and bumped my arm into the {RANDOM SELECTION} option. I gasped and looked back at the crowd of people with their children that watched me tap the button with shock. Before anyone could do anything, my screen finished loading and new text took its place.
{SEARCHING FOR WORLD: COMPLETE}
{SEARCHING FOR BODIES: FAIL}
{CREATING BODIES: COMPLETE}
{LOADING DRAGON BEHAVIOR: COMPLETE}
{SEARCHING FOR SUITABLE ENVIRONMENT: COMPLETE}
{LOADING ALPHA COMMANDS: COMPLETE}
{I HOPE YOU ARE HAPPY WITH YOUR CHOICE AND DON'T REGRET YOUR DECISION. ENJOY YOUR NEW LIFE}
I was shocked but before I could do anything everything went white and I blacked out. After a while, I began to feel the sensation in my body again. The body was strange, more robust, and flexible than the one I had before. The first thing that I heard was the sound of running water as if a river was nearby and the rustling of tree leaves being blown by the wind. As I slowly opened my eyes, I was met with a blinding light that soon took the shape of a forest. Along with the shock of the abrupt light and my new surroundings, I started to look around.
"Jay?" I called but what came out was not words, but a strange dragon call. I was taken aback as I could still understand what I was saying, it just wasn't English. As I looked around, I saw many dragons laying on the floor, shaking their heads, adjusting themselves to the light before trying to find one another. There were dragons of all shapes and sizes and different colorations, some being pitch black and others being blinding white. As I continue to look around, I saw a dragon that looked similar to the one I had customized with the constellations on the wings and tail fins.
"Jay" I called louder as I struggle to get up and move to the dragon with constellations on their wings. The dragon looked over at me and said "Amy?" With a hint of questioning in their tone. I was shocked for a second as his voice became child like but quickly nodded my head as I hobble over to him and plopped myself in front of him. I then smiled to the best of my ability before we both started laughing at my predicament and awkward movement. The other dragons weren't faring much better some tumbling and rolling and others straight up tripping over their feet and other appendages.
We all took a few hours to get used to the bodies we were in as we practiced stretching our wings and running around. Everyone was equally excited with their new lives and what might lie ahead of them. After some time, I gathered everyone into a group as me and Jay started a meeting on how we would survive in this new place. The sun was in the sky with clouds flouting around, the wind was blowing gently with the smell of flowers and water.
As the meeting took place some dragons had another responsibility and that was to look after the young. There weren't that many but it would still be an incredibly important job for the two but just because they were babysitting doesn't mean they couldn't voice their opinions on different matters that were being discussed in the meeting. In the meeting I informed everyone of the dragons food choice and habits that I read about when I chose them. As the meeting drew longer and the sun began to set, everyone was finally satisfied with their progress.
The first thing on the agenda would be finding food and water then making or finding shelter. When the sun fully disappeared we began to move, I had informed them of our nocturnal nature and we voted on whether to adjust or to change it and adjusting won. Many knew and accepted the fact that they were no longer human and would need to adjust to a completely different body. As we set off toward the sound of running water in the distance everyone was on high alert, the children safely tucked away in the center of the group.
With the tension high some of the children began to get sensitive and also began to feel uneasy. Me and Jay were also in the middle along with his Noah and Nora. Noah had surprisingly picked the same age as Jay and Nora, fallowing her brother chose to be a year younger than him. I sighed at this but couldn't blame for wanting to be young. As we walked, it became the adults that were in child body's job to confront and calm the real children down. We played guessing games and spot that dragon games while we walked.
It took longer than I had expected before we reached the river. I sighed as one of the adult, a night fury walked over to test if it was safe before he looked back and nodded his had. -it's Jason- I thought as I looked at the night fury- he chose a blacker color then most people did, not having a tent of blue, just pure black with gray patterns on him. Everyone then slowly walked towards the river making sure the younger children were still in the middle. The adults began to relax as we reached the shore as some began to drink while others watched out for any possible signs of danger that may appear. As it was now the children's turn to drink I slowly approached the river before sticking one of my paws into the water.
As soon as I did this I just as quickly pulled my paw out -that's cold- I thought as I shook my paw dry. I then looked to Jay and said "it's cold", Jay in response passed by me and said "I would assume so as we are in a forest in the middle of the night". -did he just sass me??- I thought in bewilderment as I watched him pass me and put his head in the water. In response I moved my tail and smacked him in the face, this pushed him back from the water a bit. I then chuckled and went to take a sip of water when Jay jumped on my face. "GAH" I screeched as I tumbled onto my back at the surprise.
Everyone jumped at my shout as they were already on high alert and they quickly looked in my direction. Some breathed a sigh of relief while others were a bit frustrated once they saw me and Jay wrestling near the water. Jason, the night fury from earlier walked over to me and Jay before hitting us both on the head. The hit hurt as my head bob when it came into impact with his claws. "OW" I said as I rolled over, my paws on my head as Jay did the same thing. I slowly looked up at the towering figure of Jason as he looked at us disapprovingly. " do you know why I'm hitting you?" Said Jason as he continued to stare daggers at both of us.
"Not really" I responded with a lowered voice as I slowly moved up and sat on my hand leg with my front paws in front of me. My head was still lowered as I glance at Jason's expression. Jay followed me into a sitting position while also sneaking glances at Jason's face. Jason sighed as he looked out at the dark forest then back at us. "Don't you know the dangerous situation we find ourselves in?" Said Jason as he continue to stare at us, he continued " you just set off the entire pack with your playing, pick another time to play before you get us all killed" he finished with a stern voice. "Sorry" said both me and Jay as we continue to lower our heads.
Jason nodded before going back to his wife Scarlett and continue to talk. I sighed in relief, then look back at Jay before rolling my eyes and going back to the river to get a drink. Jay soon followed me and we spent the night near the river.
Everyone was on high alert throughout the night making sure nothing could get anywhere near us before the sun came up. Some of the children napped through the night while the adults kept watch and patrolled the area making sure we were safe. I wasn't able to get a wink of sleep as the chirping of grasshoppers and the wrestling leaves kept me up, and Jay wasn't faring much better. "Jay" I whispered, tapping him with my right paw. " You awake?" I said still with a whisper. "I guess not" I said as I slowly inched myself closer to him and covered him with my wings, I then grabbed him with my legs, pulling him closer and stretched my other wing under him. I made a cocoon of sorts, trying to keep him a bit more warm than what the night cold air would provide.
After I did this, I laid him flat on my wing membrane, making sure he was off the cold, hard ground and then I put my front right leg over his body. -this should help transfer some more body heat- I thought as I moved my head out of the cocoon and lay it on the cold hard surface of the ground. Some older dragons and adult dragon saw me do this and they copied/mimic my actions to keep their children warm. Many had been shivering that night, but after the implementation of the cocoon technique, most had a very warm and comfortable sleep.
What I didn't know was that Jay was wide awake and only dare to open his eyes when he felt my rhythmic breathing. He then stared at my leg before a small smile crept onto his face as he closed his eyes and fell asleep. The next morning, everyone again gathered, and a meeting again began, this time about staying up at night. Many were the opinion that staying up at night was more dangerous because we were used to staying up in the day. Most people agreed with this, and everyone decided once they found a suitable place to call home they would then adapt themselves to their nocturnal behavior.
I to nodded at this as we once again began to move. The forest was way less scary in the day then the night as lush greenery surrounded us. Again, I was in the middle of the circle along with any of the underage dragons as we were surrounded by adult dragons on all sides. As everyone moved, we followed the river, hoping to find a pond of some kind or a fish that was wandering in the river. We walked for most of the day before we came across a pond that house fish. Everyone was excited as we scamper towards the pond, getting ready to feed on delicious fish.
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