Name: Annie Age: 16 Appearance: Name: Oswell Age: 40+ Appearance: Name: Persephone Age: Unknown Appearance: (Apologies for taking so long. Character creation is harder than it looks. Also, I was quite busy over the last few days.)
It was a simple day in Cap Town as Neil was off with his childhood friend, Annie, in a canyon located outside of town. He breathed in the air and sighed, “It’s always nice to have days like this.”
Annie sighs as well, but it was more exasperated than Neil's. "I'll admit, it is nice. But are you really sure we should be out here Neil? Our parents keep telling us the canyon is dangerous."
Neil sighed, “Come on. We’re old enough for danger,” only to trip on something big and hard. He stared and saw that the object was a huge egg.
"N-Neil!" Annie practically jumped out of her stockings with clenched teeth, but then her shocked expression quickly devolved into an angry scowl. "Gosh, don't scare me like that! If you hurt yourself here, we'll be grounded for life. Geez... Are you even listening?" It was then she noticed the large round object the boy was staring at. Her eyes popped in realization. "...Is that what I think it is?"
Neil blinked and said, “Wonder what kind of bird laid this,” looking around and adding, “I don’t even see a nest.”
"It looks too big to be a bird's egg, Neil," Annie retorts. She kneels down to inspect it and its placement further. "But you're right. There doesn't appear to be a nest. Unless something just decided to leave it here to the elements."
Neil blinked and looked a bit more, saying, "Well, looks like it's been abandoned. We'd probably better take it somewhere safe."
"Well, I suppose..." Suddenly, Annie stands up. "W-wait a sec! You can't seriously be thinking of taking this thing back to the village, are you!? What if it hatches and turns out to be a monster, bird... thing? Or- or what if the monster bird thing's parent comes looking for it? We'll get in trouble for sure!"
Neil blinked and replied, "Yeah, that's a good point. Maybe if we look around some more, we'll find a nest somewhere. Maybe it got picked up by another creature and was dropped."
"Exactly!" Annie places her hands on her hips proudly. Then she looks downward solemnly. "But... yeah, it wouldn't be right to just leave it here." She glances back at the egg. "It doesn't appear to have any cracks on it, at least. So, maybe the nest isn't too far from here." Annie pauses for a moment, raising one hand up to her chin thoughtfully. "...Okay. One of us should go look for the nest, while the other stays here and watches the egg. If anything happens, yell. Got it?"
Neil blinked and uttered, "Why don't we just bring the egg with us? That way, if we find the nest, we can put the egg back," only to notice it start to vibrate.
"Oh, no, we are not touching that thing," Annie reiterates. "We don't know where it's been, or even if it's safe to pick up with our bare hands! What if... what if the parent doesn't take it back because, I don't know, we got our scent all over it? Either way, we never touch an abandoned egg, period. That's what my mother told me anyway." The girl eventually notices Neil looking away, distracted. "Are you even listening?"
Neil pointed at the egg as sure enough, it started to hop around, leaping toward a tree and bouncing off toward a nearby chasm. Neil's eyes widened as he spat, "OH NO!" leapng toward the egg and grabbing it only to wind up leaping too far as he started to fall.
"NEIL!" Annie immediately reaches out to grab him, just narrowly catching him by the elbow. Now the boy, clutching the egg in one arm and Annie's hand in the other, was dangling precariously from the side of the cliff. His friend, lying down on the ground near the cliff's edge, tried desperately pull him up, but her strength just wasn't enough. "Neil!" she shouted, her voice cracking from the pressure. "Drop it!"
Neil spat, "What!? I can't do that! That would be murder!" only for the egg to twitch some more. However, this time it shifted upward, pulling Neil up into the air. As such, Annie was pulled up as well, both teens slammed into the ground when the egg descended and started bouncing in place.
Annie was now on the ground, flat on her back, stunned. The fact that an egg, something that was barely alive for even a second, simultaneously put them in danger and saved their lives was too much for her mind to handle. "Did..." Her voice was still cracking, though it was now barely audible. "Did that just happen?"
Neil uttered, "I don't know," only for the egg to hatch. And sure enough, a small dragon that resembled a head emerged and yawned before staring at Annie. He then leapt over to her and nuzzled up against her, cooing as Neil blinked and said, "It thinks your its mother," before staring and uttering, "Wait, is that an actual, real-live dragon? I was told they were extinct."
All Annie could do was sit up and stare as the tiny creature happily nestled up against her. After a moment of stunned silence, she buried her face in her palms, groaning. "...We are going to be in so much trouble..."
