When Night and Day first met
When Night and Day first met
There was a terrible weather recently, but you weren't awake so see the worst of it. I remember so clearly how you shook with fear, looking into my eyes, begging me to protect you. A veil had been lifted from our eyes, and yet I fear we wont last long in this particular storm. It is not a common storm. But it has brought back memories.
He thought for the longest time about the short time they'd known each other. Almost no time at all. And yet they both knew that at the same time, it wasn't the case. In many ways, they had known each other for so many millennia, although they'd never met. Manifested as what they were, stolen from their formless form; their chance meeting was a turmoil unheard of in a world about to die.
She was so small in the arms of the white dragon; this black, slender dragon. She was shaking with cold, and the beads of chill water on her scales thrashed relentlessly about. They seemed to be begging for the dragon to perform her last flight, one that would shake them all away; every single tear from the skies. And they would then fall towards the earth, instead of reflecting the fearfully trembling white dragon, who held his newfound partner desperately. His partner, who might not fly again.
-
The strange break into life was a phenomenon that had put everything out of place, and yet at the same time it had rewarded a lot of time for reflection.
Prior to this state of existence, the white dragon remembered a vibrant sensation of luminance: being a spreader of warmth and light, always on the lookout into the horizon, chasing the evasive darkness ahead of him. He remembered it so well, the joy of flight across the planet they were circling round and round. He hoped to one day catch that elusive darkness that bewildered him so. He was Day, chasing Night. Could it even be caught?
Below, on the ground, over the courses of eons of time, different folks of different creed would celebrate his arrival. The sun god. The light. They would erect poles, they would cheer and dance - and he would love it. The more they danced, the brighter he shone. For them. His followers.
But something always stung in his eye; noone seemed to praise the dark ahead of him. That strange, formless void that seemed to engulf details and colors, rather than enhance them. He had always wondered what it was; who it was that controlled it. But why didn't that beautiful phenomena have any followers praising it? Was it a force of evil? He just could not believe that.
He had seen cultures rise and fall, technology unravel before his formless eyes, strange wars breaking out between different people, and nature crumbling more and more as recklessness ensued by the people who had once praised his name.
Eventually, there was noone left to praise him. The waters beneath; sour and foul. Trees dying, chemical wastes dissolving into the air, poisoning everything around it.
After a few more millennia, there would be almost no life left. The very air tensioned with an unearthly pressure, and the fabric of time and space had begun to tear up ethereal ripples over all that could be seen. Around this time, the planet began to split apart, and shards separated themselves from one another. It was the beginning of the end.
One day, he had simply found himself unable to fly. He didn't shine anymore. An unreal light of cascading hues had replaced the spectra he once spread to the earth below. Now he found himself, awakening on a cliffside, overlooking a vast ocean. Around the framework of his conscious being were... sensations? He felt the rocks, not as he used to; the recipients of his rays, but rather as a foundation upon which he lay. The stones kneading against his... scales? He had a physical body. It was in the form of a white dragon. In stunned disbelief he inspected himself, unable to comprehend why he wasn't up there in the sky anymore, spreading light to the world. He used to be a god, but as the world descended into oblivion, he had now been made flesh.
Young flesh?
Although he was new to the whole idea of being corporeal, he had observed the living creatures of the planet for an amazing span of time, and he had learned a lot about them. He figured that he was very young, maybe around adolescence, but not older than that. In his mind, he felt a bit like a child, and he was sprawling with energy. He wanted to play, but he had noone to play with. With a morose heart, he laid upon the rock, opting to rest rather than circle the world. He had done that for so long, and strangely enough; he felt fearful of trying his new wings. He fell asleep, and dreamed of his past.
Chasing Night.
-
Morning came abruptly, as he woke to a strange shriek. In the horizon, he saw another dragon flying across chaotic clouds, with a body blacker than the darkest coal. The only sign of life in a dying world that he had seen. He wasn't sure he would brave the skies, but he wanted to at least make an effort. He got up on all fours and slowly approached the careening edge of the cliff, trying to shift his focus to his target; the black dragon, who performed tricks in the air, seemingly playing with the winds. It was a female, and around his own age; almost entering adulthood, but still more or less a child. He had no clue as to how he knew all this. He just knew. Perhaps it was a biological thing. That in itself was something he had never had to be concerned with before. Prior to this body, he sure had thoughts and feelings, yet they had never been this intense, fleeting or hard to control. He was literally dying to be in the air and play with the other dragon!
With a frantic leap, he let go of all reason, and simply plunged into the air. Instinctively, he used his body and wings in a way that seemed natural, and suddenly he was flying. His body felt ticklish from the excitement, and his sheer, blind desire to play around in the sky overpowered any other thought he could possibly have had.
As he climbed higher and higher in altitude, he noticed the black dragon flinching a bit as he started to approach her. She froze in mid-air, apprehensive about his presence, and looked adamantly in all directions to clearly indicate that she wasn't sure about this. All templates of courtesy were blown away from the white dragon, though, but he did his best to sport a mighty, and indeed toothy grin, to show that his intentions were friendly. She did not seem immediately impressed.
"Hello! Want to play?", he shouted into the air. What a strange notion, to be playing. Even to be overjoyed was a completely new feeling. Was this life better than the vast oceans of time he had experienced before this? It was impossible to tell. This was certainly a new experience, and a far more intense one. He knew it would also be considerably shorter, but that just meant that it was time to make the best of it, before the world would disappear entirely. Now was his time to play and have fun!
The black dragon cringed at the sound of his enthusiastic voice, but once she realized what he had said, she shone up with an eager smile and seemed to perk her whole body in waves of anticipation.
"I would love to!", she screamed giddily in reply. "Race you through the forest!"
With a mighty leap, she dove towards the ground, the white dragon right on her tail, slowly closing in. An energetic stretch made her level in the air, projecting like an arrow through the leafy walls of the forest entrance. Like currents undersea they flew, tangling their path amongst falling trees in dangerous speed. All that they could hear was each other's laughter. Not even the booming shockwaves of the dying world would disturb them.
They were in their own paradise, playing like lost children in a world that never thanked them for their services while it lived. Now they were alive, and together. These strangers who had found life in a place of death.
They twirled and spun, rising to the skies, chasing and hunting each other. The white dragon felt as though he knew it all from before, as if it was familiar. But the only one he had been chasing before was.... -
- A crackling fire broke from black blotches in the multicolored heaven. Lightning struck, and the pair was separated. In the maelstrom of stormy winds that followed the deafening boom, the white dragon was flung away. He quickly regained composure, and landed with a fell swoop against a rocky plateau, overlooking the forest. She was still in the sky, but she seemed hurt. The lightning had struck her.
He suddenly realized who she was. How could he not? She was the darkness he had chased for all those eons of time. She had turned into a dragon, like him. And now, sprawling her wings erratically, like a crow in a wind tunnel, the black passenger on turbulent winds was losing direction, losing control. The white dragon, realizing his own name, also understood the name of his fleeing partner. Into the crumbling skies he roared, with a hopeful heart; "Night! Come here! I am over here!"
He waved his forelegs and wings, bustling with motions in order to signal a landing path for the frightened dragon, now pursued not by light of day as she had been for ages past, but instead by ravaging storms and bolts of lightning in a world about to shut down.
Flailing wildly about, trying her best to steer herself somewhere safe; Night caught sight of Day. Her wide open eyes finding a beacon of safety at last; she maneuvered herself erratically in that direction. Like an arrow, she burst towards her goal, and with tremendous force she crash landed violently against the hard, stony surface. The white dragon did all he could to lessen the impact, attempting in vain to catch the stressed dragon as she arrived. With minor success, he did manage to at least soften the touchdown, leaving him breathless as one of the hind legs of the black dragon was shoved into his chest with devastating power.
Even in her pain, the black dragon was beside herself with fear, and she thrashed spastically about with all her limbs; the whites of her eyes were like lanterns of terror amongst the blinding darkness of her ebon scales. She seemed impossible to calm.
"What is happening? What is all this? I am so scared...", she said with a terrified voice. The white dragon did his best to catch the nimble creature, but it turned out to be rather hard.
"Please, stand still and calm down", he said soothingly as he stood up on his haunches, trying and eventually succeeding in locking the torso of the black dragon in place with his forelegs. With his wings, he did his best to wrap around the frightened form of his old playmate.
"Who are you?", the black dragon sobbed. The wet eyes portrayed disillusionment and loss, and it was painful to see that she didn't recognize whom she was speaking with.
"Don't you remember me? What do you recall? I mean, from before today?", he asked. Mostly because he wanted her to focus on something else other than the pain. The scorchmark on her back looked serious, but perhaps the adrenaline made the pain ebb out. It was hard to tell if she could fly again.
The black dragon calmed down a bit, her body ceasing to convulse in attempts to escape the hold. After a while, it was as if she moved only out of reflex, putting no effort behind her subconscious struggle. Her eyes indicated no signs of calmness though. Instead, she looked confused. She longed for answers, happily oblivious as to how peculiar they were.
"I... I remember cloaking the world with a blanket of darkness, keeping it safe and making the people below me rest from their stressful lives in the heat, and the piercing light of Day. I remember soothing their minds and bringing them nighttime dreams, in which they were free to yearn and live out what they might not have had when they were awake. They loved me, but I couldn't be with them always, as I was chased by a burning presence. I am not sure if anyone liked that presence, whatever it was. I do remember I was intrigued by it though, sort of hoping it would one day catch up with me, so I could meet whoever it was... that mysterious ghost of light and warmth."
The white dragon was stunned. He had never thought of it the other way around. He had recklessly believed that only he could be worshipped, that people could only long for the sun, when in fact nighttime might even have had more to long for. He should know; after all - he had been chasing Night for what seemed an eternity. Now here she was, in his arms. The white dragon smiled, and he had to bite his own tongue in order to not let tears swell up in his eyes.
"I was that presence. It is I who have been chasing you all this time. Now, as the world is coming to an end, I have finally found you. I was Day, and it is you who were Night. Finally, we have found each other."
There was no more shaking. The black dragon blinked her eyes and looked deep into the eyes of her hunter.
"You were him? You were the light of Day?", she said with a look of astonishment in her eyes. Slowly, she formed a smile that seemed almost mischievous in the surreal colors of the unworldly light. The white dragon smiled and nodded silently, wondering what she could be thinking. Unexpectedly, she gained a look of contentedness in her eyes, taking the edge of her weariness. "Then it seems your chase is over. You've finally caught me.." she whispered and pressed her snout against his, making him gasp as his eyes widened. She curled up against his warm body and started to make a low, rumbling sound that made her body tremble slightly. The scent from her was sublime, and it made him relax too.
They were lying in each other's embrace, and suddenly the white dragon noticed that he began to rumble too, a rhythmic melody from deep within resounding in his chest. Drowsily, she looked up at him briefly, into his eyes, seemingly begging for protection. He returned a smile that calmed her senses, making her fall asleep as the world around them began to break apart. Against all odds, she was asleep in his arms, and he pondered what it was he began to feel from deep within. It was something he had never felt before. He wanted her safe, and he wanted to be with her always. It felt like something warm was bubbling up inside him. A different kind of warmth from what he used to spread with his rays. Could it be love?
"You sure weren't easy to catch..", he whispered into her ear, but she was already asleep, even though the lands around them began to split into fragments and debris, dancing in all directions, as gravity appeared to cease working. A giant, swirling vortex of whiteness began to form far away into the sky. It was impossible to tell what lay beyond. The white dragon looked at it and cried. It wasn't fair. He had finally found the only one he ever wanted to find, the only one he wanted to be with, and soon; the world would be no more. He gulped down deeply and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. "I wish we could stay a bit longer.."
The black dragon's eyelids fluttered open, and finally she was awake again. The worst of the storm had indeed passed her by. In it's place, the vortex; growing larger by the second. She looked up at the white dragon. At first, there was a lot of joy in her eyes, but in a heartbeat, it changed. A look of doubt and disbelief shadowed her face. "Why are we in this form now? I remember flying as a formless being, and that is also how I remember you.."
"I think all old gods and spirits are releasing the clutch we used to have of this world, as it's fading. Perhaps a new world shall follow, and we need to die in order for that to happen? I truly don't know. Perhaps a greater god then we are doing all this? Maybe not even on purpose? Maybe this is his dream?", the white dragon said.
"Then we're made in the dreamer's brain, and it's his whims that spell the doom of this world. What would be the point of it all? What purpose did it serve? What did we accomplish?" the black dragon replied. Her voice was raspy from an impending outbreak of sorrow, and it was hard to find comfort in any thought, as existence was on the brink of its own ruin.
"You and I ... we can both leave this world with proud hearts. I have brought warmth and light to the world, and you have brought shelter and dreams. As we have been occupied chasing one another, all those below us have in turn been occupied with their own chases. In the daytime, they have pursued the dreams you have bestowed them with at night. What more could we have done for them?"
"But what about our dreams? Don't we have a right to have them fulfilled?", the black dragon asked. Her voice now demanding, almost rebellious.
"What is it you have dreamt about?", the white dragon inquired curiously.
"You.. I dreamed that you would one day catch me.." was the reply. The black dragon let her head sink a bit, not knowing what the other one felt for her. There was a hint of hesitation in her voice, and the pitch black snout hung in defeat as her eyes tried to focus in on the white dragon, but it was so hard for her to keep looking without darting her eyes away in embarrassment.
"And now I have..", replied the white dragon with a smile. "I have always dreamt about catching you", the white dragon said reassuringly with a nod, and the black dragon broke out in a vivid smile; her jaws opening as her eyes were brightly shining.
"Really? You have?", she let out and began to quiver in excitement. The white dragon found it impossible to quench his own joy, and he snickered softly before he could reply.
"You've had me spellbound since the dawn of time."
With a slowly fading smile, she looked intensely in his eyes, as they both teared up. "Then it's not fair that we shouldn't get more time together. Don't we deserve more?"
"We will get more. This is not the end."
As the burning white light of undoing crept closer, devouring the color of the skies, an eerie sound began to resonate, signaling the impending funeral of existence. Waves of an unsettling prickling sensation began to radiate around the two dragons, who were tangled around each other in a long, loving kiss. It was the best moment in their lives, and for some reason, neither of them felt sorrowful. They felt only the blissful joy of love, even as they would soon die.
In unison, they looked at the merciless vortex, gaining scope in the now finite sky. Their old hunting ground. Their old home. They locked talons, and twirled the ends of their tails together, readying themselves for the final flight towards their fate. There was no fear.
"Will you catch me again?", she whispered as the winds of chaos tugged at her pained wings.
"Even if it takes me forever."
With a powerful leap, they were in the air, flying towards the muted shade of white. They kept their bodies together as they lunged forward, awaiting whatever destiny lay before them. Wrapped in the light of oblivion, they began to vanish. The last souls of life.
And so ended the world, with the loving embrace of two young, proud dragons. There would be many worlds to follow, and even to this day; you can see their chase continue. All you need to do is look towards the skies...
(in)Fin(ity)