Legend of the OmeletWings - Chapter 23: Negotiation
#23 of Legend of the OmeletWings
Queen Omelet was screaming; it was too much! She was never going to lay another egg again! She just wanted to die.
Unfortunately, her screams couldn't be heard past her muzzle, and the only voice that could be heard from the Royal Bedroom were the cheers of her impressionist. Though Queen Omelet wanted to throw her out the window, her chains preventing it. And perhaps she couldn't appreciate it now, but the cheers were actually serving as pretty great propaganda for the crowds that had gathered around the castle overnight.
"GIVE US OUR EGGS BACK!" "LET OUR EGGS GO!" Dragons of all tribes were screaming. "DON'T EAT MY BABY!" One wailed miserably.
EGGS! I HATE EGGS NOW! Queen Omelet's Soul wailed blasphemously, WHY MUST THEY CAUSE ME SO MUCH AGONY! She was in so much pain that she now realized the ridiculousness that they always went through to get to the Omelet. If the other tribes didn't want the Omelet, why must they make them? Queen Omelet so hated her life so much right now.
But then the egg was laid. Queen Omelet gasped as the pain faded from her body; she looked at her freshly laid egg. HOW BEAUTIFUL! The perfect shape, the shininess of its shell... Oh how she had cursed her life while laying it; how young and naïve she had been. She saw now that Omelets truly were the beauty of the world. How could she have been so foolish? Maybe she hadn't really thought those things. Of course she hadn't. No dragon in their right mind would ever think any such things when it came to a craft as beautiful as Egg Laying.
Queen Omelet picked up her egg and went over, still sweaty from her Egg Laying ordeal, to the balcony of her castle to look down at the protesting crowd. Dragons were desperately trying to storm the castle through any door and window that could be found, and the guards were desperately working to fortify the castle, barely managing to hold them back. It was a miracle they hadn't burst through this opening yet, but it was only a matter of time.
"I don't understand," Queen Omelet observed, "They should be happy about the gift we're trying to give them, why are they so mad?"
The impressionist just looked at her and said in her most Queen Omelety voice, "They just don't understand the beauty of the Omelet, but they will."
"They will," Queen Omelet agreed, "Until the feast, we'll just have to fortify the castle and make sure no one else gets in, all the scouts have returned by now, have they not?"
"How would I know," said the impressionist, "I'm just the impressionist."
Queen Omelet nodded, taking note of that. She looked at the egg in her talons. Oh, it really was beautiful... You know what? She'd save this one. For the feast tomorrow. She went to her special cabinet and opened it. Inside was another Egg, the most beautiful one Queen Omelet had ever laid. It had been about a year ago and ever since, Queen Omelet had been waiting for a special occasion to serve it. Tomorrow was that day.
So, she placed the egg she had just laid next to it in the cabinet. It wasn't quite the same level as the one from a year ago, but it was a close second. Tomorrow would be the day that the world would be treated with both of them, her gift to the world as Steward of the Omelet, the great role bestowed upon her by the Giant Egg-Sun in the Sky itself.
"Now, let's see about our guests," Queen Omelet said, closing the cabinet and turning around. It might complicate things with today's breakfast, all them dragons crowding around the Breakfast Pavilion like they were. She dearly hoped not, but she worried of what she would do if she couldn't work it out.
The Queen stood with the King Chef addressing the situation.
"If we don't find a way to settle these crowds, we won't be able to have our Community Breakfast this morning," Queen Omelet said, "I mean, I know there is the feast tomorrow, but I can't bear the thought of having to cancel our daily tradition."
Ravine, who had been standing by as the couple discussed this, realized the perfect opportunity for her plan beginning to fall into place. She stepped forward. "Sorry to interrupt," she said, "But if I may your..." she cringed inwardly, "Eggmajesty, I know some of the dragons out there, I may be able to speak reason to them."
Queen Omelet looked at Ravine, then at the King Chef, "Who is this strange dragon?"
The King Chef looked at his wife, "She is one of the dragons from the other tribes that came for our feast, she has been helping in our kitchens and has shown great support for our cause." He looked thoughtful for a moment, "It may prove helpful to have the support from one of their own on our side speaking to them, perhaps she can help them see sense."
"Perhaps you're right," Queen Omelet replied, waving her talons aside, "Very well, send her out to speak with them."
Ravine followed the Queen and King Chef to the doors of the castle, guards struggling to keep it barricaded.
"Let her out," Queen Omelet told the guards, gesturing to Ravine.
So the guards opened the doors. As soon as they did, dragons of all tribes tried to bombard their way in. The guards desperately tried to push them out of the way, it was brutal fighting, but they managed to keep them out. "Sorry, you can't come inside yet," the guards said, "the feast isn't until tomorrow. Come back then and your eggs will be ready. Okay? Thank you."
In all the chaos, Ravine managed to slip out. As the doors slammed shut behind her, silence fell around the castle, and all eyes turned toward her.
Then finally: "Traitor!" It was just one dragon, but it stung for Ravine to think that anyone would think she didn't love her egg as much as any of them.
The rest of the crowd remained silent, trying to figure out what to make of a SkyWing emerging from the OmeletWing Castle that had stolen their eggs.
Before any more protests could be risen, Ravine raised her talons. "Wait, I need to speak to you all."
The dragons just continued watching, unsure what to say, when a dragon finally recognized her.
"Ravine?"
A SkyWing with scales of orange stepped out of the crowd. Ravine gave a sigh of relief, it was Warbler, she came into the Tavern every once in a while to share a meal, and it was comforting to see a friendly face.
"What are you doing here?" Warbler asked.
"Same as everyone else," Ravine said quietly, taking a step forward, hoping none of the dragons in the castle could overhear, or perhaps hoping that they would just misinterpret her words, "They have our eggs."
It would have been comforting if her husband was here, but he was still away on business apparently, and perhaps he had missed the news on these OmeletWings, though by the scale of the diversity of this crowd, she didn't think any area of Pyrrhia was completely unawares of the situation at talon.
As Ravine followed Warbler the rest of the crowd grew silent to try to listen. Fortunately, she was far enough away, and there were enough shifting talons and breathing dragons to muffle her voice from the inside of the castle at least somewhat. Still, she didn't dare speak much louder than a whisper, "I got a plan to get all the eggs out of there, okay, but you have to listen carefully."
Warbler nodded to show she understood.
"In the castle, there's a chute that leads out here, it's how the castle gets the eggs to the Breakfast Pavilion every morning." Ravine scanned the area, checking to see where the chute was located on this side of the castle walls. There. An intricate system of what looked like aqueducts ran high over their heads and toward the Breakfast Pavilion in the village. If Ravine hadn't been so unimpressed by these OmeletWings, she would have been petty impressed by their architectural skills. "Tonight," Ravine continued, "I'm going to send out every single egg from that chute, but right now, I need to convince them I'm on their side, and to do that, they have to believe I tried to talk 'reason' to you. So I need you to put on a convincing show that I did just that, okay?"
Warbler nodded.
"Okay, then tonight, go to the Breakfast Pavilion, gather up every one you can, and be ready to get out of here with those eggs. It doesn't matter who has who's, just get as far from this evil place as you can, and we can sort them out later."
Again, Warbler nodded.
"Now, I'm going to go back in. You can cover for me, right?"
"Yes." Warbler looked at Ravine seriously, trying to muster as much hope as she could, "We can do this."
Ravine headed back toward the castle doors. The other dragons watched her go in silence.
Then, as soon as the doors closed behind her, the uproar began once again. "Give us back our children!" "MURDERERS!" "DON'T KILL OUR EGGS!"
Ravine sighed. Crowds. Could never get them to do what you need. Hopefully Warbler at least could be counted on to do what needed to be done.
Queen Omelet and the King Chef looked at Ravine. Ravine just shook her head. "I couldn't get through to them."
Queen Omelet sighed, "It's okay, we will tomorrow at the feast; tomorrow they'll truly understand." But Queen Omelet still looked disappointed, "Still, looks like we'll have to cancel our community breakfast. The villagers will just have to have their Omelets in the safety of their own homes today. We won't be together physically, but will be together in spirit through the love of the Omelet."
Gee, was there any sentence that these dragons didn't have to cram omelets or eggs or some other form of the word into at some point? It was beginning to wear real thin real quick.
Queen Omelet waved her talons, "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get to my duties, Sunny Sides Up y'all."
And with that, Queen Omelet departed. The King Chef looked at Ravine, "It's time we prepare our glorious breakfast. You coming?"
Ravine shook her head. No way was she going to help these dragons cook their own children for them. At this point she couldn't stop them, but at least she wasn't going to be a part of it. Instead she said, "Oh no, I need to use the restroom, all these eggs, got to empty your stomach at some point."
The King Chef just made a face. Okay... "Well, have a good time with that."
With that, he turned to leave, heading for the kitchens. Oh the feeling of having to go. Must feel a lot like having an egg he imagined. Sadly that was an experience he would never have himself, he'd just have to accept that having to go would be the closest he'd ever get.
Ravine watched him go, thinking of all the dragonets in those eggs they were about to make. She shook her head, she had to focus on her task, she couldn't be distracted by what happened to their eggs when hers was still in danger.
But right now, she was beginning to notice that Summit hadn't turned back up yet. There was a chance he was in some sort of trouble. Perhaps she should start looking for him...
But first, Ravine realized, feeling her tummy with discomfort, maybe she really did have to use that restroom after all. She couldn't recall when the last time she went was.
It wasn't until she started making her way to the pot that she began to suspect that, while she did most certainly had to go, that might not be the only thing building up inside her tummy.
The time wore on for Summit and Embryo, and though being in one another's company helped ease some of the tediousness of it all, being locked in the room for such a long time was causing them to feel restless. Summit had made his bed on the floor, and Em had given him a few of her blankets to keep comfortable, so it wasn't the worst situation ever, but it certainly wasn't the best. Summit had to do something to save these eggs, but there was nothing they could do, and Em wanted to help him, but had no idea how. Em's parents hadn't been in to visit her since Summit's arrival, and she began to wonder about them. Probably went to the house to pick something up, she thought, not too concerning, just curious. The sound of the angry dragons yelling outside the castle was unseizing (except for a few minutes during the morning when all had gone mysteriously quiet before beginning up again shortly afterward), but over time, it had faded into simple background noise. If her parents were out there, they probably wouldn't be able to make it back through the crowd anyway.
Breakfast was brought in as usual, but neither were in much mood for fetal dragon this morning, so they passed, settling on going hungry.
Summit found himself looking occasionally at a small painting on the bedside desk, a small yellow dragonet with bright eyes, the biggest grin on her face as she smiled up to the side, open-mouthed, at someone just out of frame. He picked it up to look at it.
"Is this you?" Summit asked curiously.
Em came up and looked at the painting.
"Oh, my parents had that done for me after I had just hatched," she said, "My parents must have brought it for me when the Queen first had me brought in here."
Summit couldn't help but look at the painting and want to smile back to the sweet baby girl inside, so full of life and wonder. "You were so cute."
Em looked at the painting, sadness filling her eyes. Gently, she laid a talon down on it as if to stroke the younger version of herself's cheek. "Poor little thing, if she only knew what she'd eventually go through to become me."
Summit looked at Embryo, and felt the cheeriness of the photo fading. This wasn't the life she'd wanted... This wasn't the life he had wanted to see for her when he'd first seen her joy in that valley of flowers what seemed so long ago. I'm sorry.
They sat in silence again for awhile.
"What does it feel like to be a male?" Embryo asked finally.
Summit looked up at her, taken off guard by the question. He hesitated, beginning to feel slightly awkward. "I, uh, I'm not sure how to answer that."
Embryo looked thoughtful. "And you'll never know what it feels like to be a female, will you? That's something only I can experience as myself?" Embryo asked. She looked up at him, "Isn't it weird that no matter how close we've come to know eachother, we still have no idea what it actually feels like to be the other?"
Summit hadn't thought of that, but it made him feel strange. It was a curious feeling to Embryo as well, one that strangely enough didn't exactly make her feel negatively like so many other feelings had lately. It was just curious trying to process that it must feel totally different to experience the world from Summit's body rather than hers.
But before either could think on it further, there was the sudden sound of talons in the hall, the door unlocking. Suddenly, the door opened, a guard standing ready.
"You have an audience with the Queen," he said.
Summit and Embryo exchanged glances, not sure if they wanted to know what the Queen had planned for them now.
But there was nothing to do, so silently, they followed the guard out of the room. In the hallway, they were joined by a couple other guards who nodded at them politely before leading them down the hall to an unknown fate. But by the goofy knowing grins on their faces as they looked at them, Summit had a bad feeling that that fate would be no less kooky than these OmeletWings were themselves.
Now that wasn't an encouraging thought.