Legend of the OmeletWings - Chapter 22: Kitchens
#22 of Legend of the OmeletWings
As Ravine made her way through the Castle toward the kitchens, discretely trailing the other dragons heading that way, keeping to herself, questions kept filling her mind of how she would do what she came here to do once she got there. How was she to stop the feast? How was she to evade capture when the OmeletWings figured out what she was doing? How in the three moons was she to escape with all those thousands of eggs and get away unnoticed?
The whole thing seemed like a wild fever dream, something she could only dream up when she was delusive with pain, like the pain you'd have while laying an egg (yes, it hurt that bad, but that was better left unsaid, Ravine thought). Dragons eating their own eggs? She still could not believe such barbaric practices could exist in the real world. And a whole tribe of dragons formed around it? Unbelievable. But here she was.
What if she was too late? What if they'd already started preparing the eggs? What I her baby...
Ravine swallowed hard. She wouldn't let herself think like that, she had to get to them in time. She would. There was no other way.
But just because there is no other way doesn't mean the worst can't happen, egg laying was proof of that, something too painful to imagine being real, but something that happened regardless. Ravine shook her head, that was irrelevant. What was important is that she would save her child, and nothing would stop her from doing so.
Ravine continued toward the kitchens. Somewhere, a feminine voice was screaming. Probably a servent laying an egg "for their society". That's not the least bit surprising. Was there anything in this place that didn't revolve around eggs?
Ravine had never made much of a deal about the pain of egg laying, she always felt it was something best left forgotten, the outcome was beautiful with an egg and a child, and that was it, the rest wasn't even worth thinking about. But even she couldn't help herself at marveling at what these dragons were willing to put themselves through day after day just to have breakfast every morning.
She looked at the egg Summit had passed to her before heading off to find Embryo. Summit hadn't told her much about it, but she could tell just by looking at the way his gaze had rested on it, that it was from Embryo. There was such care and gentleness in him when he held it, but the look on his face when he looked at it showed how much it bothered him. The laying must have been really hard to witness, and the egg for Summit must have served as a painful reminder of everything they'd had together. Ravine thought of Em, sweet and gentle, raised to believe this was what her life was about. That poor girl, there was no way she could have been ready for that egg she had laid. Summit cared so much for her, but it was best for his sake that he didn't truly understand what she'd been through. He was broken enough just trying to comprehend his sweetheart going through that, if Ravine could share with him all that she knew about egg laying, she didn't think he could handle it. Perhaps this was one time it was fortunate that words were never enough. It was something you had to live through in the moment and just let go, but Ravine understood that empathy didn't always work like that.
Yeah, being a girl was fun. When it wasn't your egg laying day.
Ravine shook her head. Geez, for being a dragon who didn't contemplate the consequences of egg laying much, she sure was thinking about egg laying a lot today. This place could mess you up.
Finally, Ravine reached the kitchens, another guard stood, well, guard, but once she saw the egg, she smiled warmly, "Oh yay! Other dragons from other tribes have come to support our Omelets! Welcome right in!" And so Ravine got in without any major difficulties.
When Ravine stepped inside, she gasped. She stood on a balcony overlooking the rest of the kitchens. The kitchens were a wide-open space with cooking supplies and stoves everywhere, much grander than her kitchens at the Tavern (though she'd argue hers was more cozy). The place was white, yellow, and clean and one could tell the castle cared very deeply for the qualities of their meals. Some dragon who Ravine could only guess was the chef was standing on an observational place on the balcony, pride obviously filling his eyes at the preparations going on before him.
Ravine followed the other dragons down the flight of stairs to the main level. Dragons were scurrying about bringing supplies from here to there, sauces, flour mixes, and other small tasks were being performed, dishes, the general kitchen duties. But as of yet, she didn't see any discarded egg shells or eggs being cracked open.
Please don't have killed my baby, please don't have killed my baby, she thought again and again to herself.
Finally, they reached a large vault door where the dragons were bringing their eggs, and instantly, Ravine's heart sunk. Inside the gaping room were rows and rows, stacks and stacks, of hundreds and hundreds of eggs, all different colors from every different tribes they had stolen from. Ravine felt her knees growing weak. Out of all these eggs, how was she to find which one was her own baby?
She walked into the vault and looked around. Even if her own egg wasn't buried under everything else, would her mother instincts be enough to pick out which one was hers from all the others?
She paused again as another rush of anxiety passed through her. Even if it was possible to sort back through the eggs, there was no way for one dragon, or even just her and Summit to carry so many eggs back across Pyrrhia to where they belong without getting caught. The feast was too soon.
Ravine looked around, getting herself back together. The task would be hopeless, but she might as well begin gathering as much information about this situation as possible. That was the best place to start.
She looked at Em's egg, then back at the stacks of eggs before her. The dragon standing guard at the vault would expect her to do something with it. She didn't want to loose Em's egg in here like she had her own, she'd have to pick an easy to find place to put it. She decided on a nice place right next to the door, where it could be seen right when coming in, but also not too in the way where somebody would likely move it.
I just hope nobody cooks it before I can get back.
Summit stood, just holding Em for a very long time. Finally, when it was time to let her go, he stepped back and looked at her. She looked at him.
"Thank you Summit," she said, "Thank you for being here for me."
"I know, I just couldn't leave you like..."
Though Em felt more calm than she had in a long time, her eyes beginning to dry, she noticed that Summit still had some tears in his eyes.
"Summit are you..."
Summit nodded, but by looking at him, she realized that Summit still had his own share of feelings stuffed up inside him.
Finally, "I failed you Em. You were so special, and I made you feel like you weren't special enough, I didn't let you know how I saw you, I didn't show you that I loved you, that you deserved to be loved-" And this time it was Summit who broke down crying. Hard and heavy, like Em had before him. He grabbed Em again and held her tight, no apology would ever be enough for the guilt he felt inside.
And now it was Em's turn to hold him, to wrap her wings around him, and just let him know that she was there for him.
"I still hear you screaming, even now," he said, "I see you in pain and I wish it could stop, I wish that it had never started..." Summit's voice cracked and he couldn't finish, he just stood there crying, letting go all the feelings he had experienced since he had seen her suffer so horribly. Though Em knew it was she who'd suffered physically, she knew Summit having to watch her like that must have been just as awful. To see a loved one scream like she knew she had, with nothing to do to stop it. He too had pain built up inside, and Em just held him back as he let it all out.
You came here for me, now I want to be here for you.
"I'm alright, I'm okay, I'm not in pain any longer," she said eventually. "The pain's over, I'm okay."
"I know," Summit said, "I just didn't want you to suffer such pain, I didn't want you to..." Summit didn't finish, he didn't_ want_ to finish... He didn't want it to be true. He gave Em another hug as much for her as for himself "I'm sorry Em..." and finally, he pulled away and wiped his eye.
Em took a deep breath, letting the air settle before she continued. It was time to accept the truth as it was, she couldn't pretend it was any other way now. "That pain... I know now that that it is part of my life, It's a past I can't undo..." despite the darkness she felt over the situation, she felt a new warmth somewhere inside her, "but I'm glad that through all of that, you've chosen to be with me."
Summit looked down, "I'm sorry you had to be born a girl. If you hadn't none of this would have..."
Embryo was silent a moment, thinking. Finally, "I actually think I like being a girl, all those awkward moments I got to share with you, I actually kind of enjoyed them. I want to be a girl. I just wish... why should being a girl mean... why does it have to hurt so much," Embryo sighed, "But it does. Whenever my body decides to have an egg it will, whether I want it to or not."
They fell again into a somber silence for a while.
Then, "Eggs." Em chuckled, looking down at her talons, "Girls really are weird, aren't we?"
Summit went red, he'd been able to totally forget feeling crushy for awhile, but now he could begin to feel it resurging, apparently that was only temporary. "Em, I know you are... but... it doesn't mean that..." He trailed off.
"You once said... that time when you told me that you found me attractive... You said you only wanted to focus on this part of me, right?" Embryo gestured to her upper half of her body. "But ever since my... egg... you've... you've known all about that other half of me, haven't you?"
Summit went still, feeling the guilt wash through him again. Finally, he nodded.
Embryo went red slightly thinking about all that embarrassing stuff he must now be unable to avoid thinking about her every time he saw her. Summit himself now knew that he could see her for more than that, but he knew that'd it'd always be there, an aspect of her that he would always associate with the whole. Summit opened his mouth to say something, but fell silent. There were no excuses.
Finally, Em spoke up, "I know you find me attractive - I am attractive, I know that - and it's weird to think of myself in that- that you see me in that way. At this point though, I think I've stopped caring how self-conscious your crush on me makes me feel. Summit, I know you care for me, I think you're just still trying to find a balance between your crush for me and your love for me."
"I didn't want to see you that way, I didn't want to seem creepy, but you were just... and I couldn't just let you be there alone, and I... but... I can't go back... now... to seeing you how I did before all this. And now my crush, and what I know, and... It doesn't seem fair-"
"It's only natural that you see me that way, it doesn't matter to me that you do - I actually like that you do - I know that that's not all I am to you," Em took a breath, "When you followed me halfway across Pyrrhia, it wasn't because you thought I was pretty, it was because you wanted to be there for me. Yes, you find me attractive, but I know you love me more. If there was anybody I'd want to share all this with, all this weirdness, it'd be you." She paused, "If you were to ask me to marry you right now, I wouldn't hesitate to say 'yes'. This side of myself... all of me, I'd be willing to share it with you forever."
Summit looked away, shocked "Marriage? But... Isn't it too soon? I mean, I want to be with you, but..."
Embryo shrugged, "I know. I'm just saying... We've been through a lot together, we've traveled the world, you've seen me lay an egg, everything we've told eachother, never leaving each other's side... if there's a better match for either of us than eachother, I don't know it, nor do I care to know it, because I love you, and I know that even beyond all your crushy feelings, you love me just as much. Because even more so than me being your crush, you always chose first to love me as a friend. I just had a hard time accepting that I was worth having you as a friend until now. Your friendship has been enough to show me that you'll love me no matter where our relationship's at. And that's the kind of dragon I'd want to start a family with."
Family... Summit felt the sting, knowing now what that would mean for Em. "About what I said about starting a family together earlier, listen, I thought of it, and... I know how hard eggs are- well, at least I've seen... I don't really know personally, but anyway... I really don't want to do it unless you want to."
Em looked back at herself, and felt her stomach, "I can't not lay eggs even if I wanted to, but if I must lay eggs, there's no one I'd rather have them with then you."
Summit bowed his head, "But we don't have to rush it. You can do it in your own time."
Em nodded, she rested her head on him, and he rested his back. And they just sat there for awhile, tails twined together, relaxing in the other's presence.
"We need to get out of here, you know," Em said finally, getting to her talons, "This whole egg thing... I started..." She sighed, "I don't know what to believe about eggs and the dragonets inside, anymore, but I know how other tribes feel, and we can't take their eggs." She was beginning to panic, "They aren't our eggs to..."
Summit reached for her with a talon. "Will figure this out."
Em felt her eyes watering again, emotions coming back, "But I started this. It's my fault."
Summit held her another moment, "We'll figure this out," he said again, "Ravine is here."
Em pulled away and looked at him, "Who?"
"Ravine. The tavern keeper? Her egg was taken too. She's here to help us."
"Oh," said Em. She didn't know the tavern keeper well, but she seemed nice enough, perhaps she could help them. "Where is she?"
Summit shrugged, "She has to do some stuff first. Hopefully she'll be here to free us at any point soon." Summit actually didn't know what the plan was. Would Ravine come back to free them? Perhaps she didn't know they were locked away. Summit and Embryo looked around. Hopefully she came. But until then, they could do nothing but wait.
Back in the kitchen, Ravine was still working on figuring out an escape plan. If she could talk to the chef, maybe so could get more information. Looking up at the balcony, she made her way toward the stairs and started climbing. Once up there, she had discreetly edged herself as close to the chef as she could without making it obvious.
And finally: "Hey sir."
He looked at her surprised. "Oh, hello missy," he replied kindly, "you can call me 'your Eggmajesty' actually."
Ravine looked at him, "Oh, sorry sir- I mean, your majesty-"
"Eggmajesty," the Chef corrected, "Yes, I am Shell, King Chef of the OmeletWings!" He looked at her, "You must be that dragon from the other tribes I've heard mention about. What brings you here to me at this moment?"
"Well your..." Ravine cleared her throat, "Eggmajesty," oof, did that word actually come out of her mouth? "I don't mean to question your divine culinary skills or anything, but I have some experience as a chef myself. What I'd like to suggest, is that - and I know you have a lot of preparations to do, and your wisdom is surely beyond my own, but, my suggestion is... you hold off on preparing any of the eggs until right before the feast."
"No no!" The King Chef replied in horror," Prepare the eggs this far in advance? I can't believe you'd think I'd do that. They'd go stale before we even got to them. No no, you can rest assured that I, as any good chef before my knows, that in order to keep an Omelet at it's freshest, you have to wait to prepare it until right before the feast. Will it be a lot of last minute work? Sure it will. But with the power of the Egg Sun raining down on us, there is nothing we OmeletWings cannot do."
Ravine couldn't help but feel a deep relief inside her. They still had one more night to work out a plan. It seemed good kitchen etiquette might have given them just the time they needed to save their young.
The King Chef looked at Ravine, "It seems like you have some pretty good instincts yourself when it comes to the culinary arts. We'll see if we can make an OmeletWing of you yet." He chuckled to himself, "No, we will start preparing for our regular breakfast in the morning, but for now, we will hold off on the ant major feast preparations until the time is right."
So that said, the King Chef returned to watching the proceedings of the kitchen with awe.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" He said finally.
Ravine hesitated, not sure where he was going with this.
Fortunately, he went on before she had to ask, "My wife, Queen Omelet, she had a pet scavenger once. Eventually though, she discovered that scavengers don't lay eggs. Pretty disappointing actually. It was on that day she truly realized how blessed she was to be a dragon." The King Chef sighed dreamily, "Female dragons are so lucky. Oh how wonderful, that a dragon such as her could be so blessed to be one."
"Nn-hmm," Ravine replied.
Ravine returned back to the kitchen level and continued to scout around. Glancing back up at the King Chef, she shook her head. What a dingbat.
As she inspected the place, her panic began to return. They had the extra day, but what if it wasn't enough to save their young?
But finally, Ravine noticed something. A chute on one of the walls. Was that where they sent out the trash? Something?
She went over to it , opening and closing it, wondering where it could go.
"Oh that," said a dragon coming up behind her, "that is how we deliver our food to the Breakfast Pavilion. We send it down the chute, and it arrives outside, ready to be taken to the villagers."
Ravine looked at the chute pondering, an idea beginning to form.
"Attention everyone," announced the King Chef suddenly, "I know we are all excited about the Royal Feast in two days, but let us not forget our Breakfast for the morrow. Now, we shall begin separating the Eggs for which we will eat tomorrow from the ones we shall eat for the Feast. Leave for tomorrow the Eggs that we can eat any day, and - though their value will not be forgotten - as for the Eggs which came from far beyond, let us save them for the Feast to be enjoyed by all, because those Eggs which we have given so much to achieve, they are truly something special."
There was a cheer from the crowd.
Ravine watched the OmeletWings with sudden disgust. All these dragon so excited to eat their own children, along with the children of all the dragons of Pyrrhia, it was sick. It was evil.
A dragon went to the vault to start sorting out the eggs, and Ravine realized her mistake as his eyes instantly turned to Em's egg, right in the front for everyone to see, looking like any other OmeletWing egg without a care in the world.
Ravine instantly made her way to the front of the crowd, stalling them just in time.
"Wait, not this one." She paused, making sure she had their attention. "You see, this egg may look like any other OmeletWing egg, but this egg is in fact special, having traveled halfway across Phyrrhia to be here today," (That was true), "I say this one we save, for the Feast. It is very important to me."
The other dragons looked at eachother. The King Chef from his balcony nodded.
"Well then," said the dragon in charge of the vault, "In that case, we will save it. Just so we don't forget..." He took out a piece of charcoal handed to him from one of the stoves, and on Em's egg, he drew a smiley face :)
The King Chef watched Ravine with pride. With what he'd heard about the other tribes, he'd feared there would be some form of resistance to their plan (why they would, he would never understand, but that's apparently what they did), but now here was a foreign dragon all in support of their cause, and it warmed his heart to know there were dragons out there who understood the beauty of what they were trying to do. The Queen would be so proud.
Ravine looked at the egg, she didn't know why she cared so much about sparing it, she didn't even know if Em really cared. If what Summit had told her was true, it was completely infertile, but she still felt a motherly instinct to protect the eggs, and this was the least she could do for Em. It angered her so much that she couldn't save all the eggs, but she couldn't risk alerting the OmeletWings to her plan before the game was up. As much as it pained her, she knew she needed that extra night to arrange the escape plan, and the least she could do as save the eggs of the tribes who actually cared for their young. Besides, she knew she couldn't save them all, even if she emptied the Castle completely of eggs to use, there would be other villagers who'd bring their own eggs in, and those ones would be lost all the same.
She would do what she could, but that's all she could do.
In the darkness of the night, Ravine snuck back into the kitchen. All was silent, nobody in sight.
She went to the egg vault, and looked at the door, there wasn't even a lock.
Ravine opened it. This was all too easy.
But off course it was, the OmeletWings were so caught up on their obsession with eggs, it was beyond them that any dragon would come along and ty to sabotage their breakfast.
Ravine looked at the eggs, she knew she couldn't free them all by herself, but there was one she knew she could.
One with a smiley face on it.
So that night, one egg slipped unnoticed from the egg vault, and Ravine began to hope that maybe all this could work in the end.
Outside, wingbeats sounded over the castle. The first of the "guests" were beginning to arrive for the feast.
And they were_ furious_.