Mountain Journeys (by Dravaena)

This is my first blog post, so let me come right out and say that no, I don't always speak/write in verse.  I am the lyrical Dragon-Muse on this team, but I'm not Dr. Seuss.  He was a genius and all, but geniuses often slip into annoying madmen, and Dr. Seuss slipped this way a little too often for my taste.  Now that we've gotten that out of the way, I can continue.

(Jerry will post his own version of this trip later.  I think it will include pictures.  This is my version, and I prefer to paint pictures with my words.)

Ruth (I refuse to call her "the human," or "Mom"...Ruth is her name) took a ten hour drive back to the land of her origin this past weekend.  For some reason, she wanted some of us Dragons to accompany her.  Apparently, this is what she does.  She's taken Pneuman on an airplane, which led to the breaking of one of his horns.  He had it reattached through a major surgical procedure.  I'm not sure why he was so whiny about it.  When my horn broke off in the midst of glorious battle, it stayed off. 

She also took Bion on a car trip.  When I first heard of this, I thought it must have been frightfully boring for poor Bion, but then, he's pretty dull most of the time anyway.  He doesn't like too much excitement.  I figured he probably slept most of the trip. 

As Dragons, we can fly.  I could travel from here to the other side of the world overnight.  There's no reason for all of this human travel, or so I thought.

But then Ruth suggested I come on this latest car trip.

At first, I was tempted to decline.  I didn't like the idea of traveling like a human.  Also, Ruth wanted to bring Jerry, and while I like him quite a bit, I wasn't sure I wanted to spend 10 hours in the car with him...and then another 10 hours back.  But Ruth and I were still in that awkward getting to know each other stage.  Neither of us really knew what to do with the other one.  She was able to see the beauty in me beyond all my battle scars and often brash personality, and I was able to see beyond her obvious lack of poetic talent, but other than that, we really didn't have any kind of connection--at least not like the one she had with the other Dragons.  I thought it was because we're both females.  And we're both the type of females that either really get along with another female, or we just don't.

So I agreed to go on this journey to see if Ruth and I could really make any kind of friendship connection, or if we were just destined only for a professional Dragon-Muse/Writer relationship. 

The first four hours of our trip were quiet.  Too quiet.  For one thing, I had drugged Jerry.  Even though Tai had agreed to go along with us to help keep the peace, it was obvious that Jerry was far too excited to be trusted to behave himself.  So I took some of the expired Dramamine that Ruth had lying in the bottom of her dresser drawer, and I gave about five pills to Jerry.  I figured that would knock him out for a while, and it did.  So for the first four hours of our trip, it was quiet...but uncomfortable.  Even though Tai kept making jokes and stealing sips of Ruth's vanilla chai tea, it was awkward.  I was bored.  Turns out, driving four hours through NC is just not all that much fun.

...that is, until you get to the mountains. 

I've seen mountains before.  I've seen the harsh, rocky, jagged mountains that look like they're guarding something.  Of course, they are guarding something, and I don't care to try to find out what it is.  I don't mind fighting, but I'm not a male--I don't go picking fights for the sake of picking fights.  So I'm just fine letting those rocky, jagged mountains guard whatever it is they want to guard.  I guess I've never really paid attention to the mountains in NC, though.  They're softer, gentler--more like secret keepers than guards.  And I think I might actually want to know their secrets.  I have a feeling that if I listen closely, they're going to tell me...but only in gentle whispers and still, small voices.

And the sun broke through the clouds just as we reached these wondrous mountains.  The silence that came during that part of the drive wasn't awkward--it was reverent.  I was shoved down in Ruth's purse, and up to that point, I didn't mind it.  But now I wanted to see.  I uttered the only words I dared, asking Ruth to hold me up so I could experience the view she could see from her driver's seat. 

While Jerry slept and Tai sipped on chai, Ruth and I watched the sun melt into the mountain mist.  We basked in pure beauty.  We sang along with the music of the mountains.  It was then that Ruth and I really came to understand one another.  Though neither of us were born in those hills, we both understood that we belonged there.  We were daughters of the mountains. 

Of course, we were past those mountains much quicker than either of us wanted to be.  I eventually fluttered back down into Ruth's purse.  I huddled down beneath Jerry's blanket-like wing and went to sleep for the rest of the trip.  But before I drifted off, I told Ruth that one day, I'd really like to live nearer to those mountains.  And she agreed.

The time in KY was restful.  Ruth had a lot to do, spending time with her family, so I basically spent my time chatting with Jerry and Tai.  Tai, being an Asian-style Dragon, told me that some of the mountains in Asia are very similar to the mountains in NC.  I might fly over there some day to see for myself. 

The one major cause for excitement in KY came when Ruth's nephew discovered that we were there.  He's four, so he gets excited about as easily as Jerry does.  I heard his little voice exclaim, "DRAGONS!" and I knew we were in for it.  Suddenly, I found myself being manhandled by children--a terrifying experience.  But then I noticed that Ruth's nephew is a redhead.  I kind of like redheads, so I let him swoop me around pretending to eat and/or stomp on things until Ruth rescued me.  However, I didn't go back in my bag before giving that cute little redheaded boy a little kiss on the cheek.  Ruth told me to back off.  I growled at her.  It was all in good fun.

The trip back was just as amazing.  The sun didn't break through the clouds like before, but the mist hung around us like a veil.  And one day I know that veil will disappear, that those mountains like great sleeping Dragons are going to rise up.  Their voices will shake the ground.  Their smoke will fill the air.  Their tears will fall like rain.  And all will be made new.

In the meantime, I'm here with Ruth, who I finally understand.  We are daughters of the mountain, and we will write and sing and live and love. 

Dragon Hibernation? (by the Human)

Okay, so this is the human writing. I'm writing because the Dragons have been extremely quiet lately. I've tried to carry on a conversation or two with Dravaena, just to see how she's adjusting. She just shushed me and told me I was a horrible poet.

I can't even get Jerry to talk to me. At first, I thought it was because he was still angry about me getting a new Dragon. He's still afraid of Dravaena. But even if he were angry, he'd probably be able to muster up a good hilarious insult.

Bion and Tai are quiet. Pneuman is quiet. He hasn't even updated his facebook status or twitter in weeks. I've come to realize that Dragons must hibernate or something.

As a writer who has written three books about Dragons, I like to consider myself a Dragon expert. I mean, if you write a book about something, that automatically makes you a top authority on the subject, right? So I figure that I know as much about Dragons as anyone. The thing is, Dragons are still pretty mysterious creatures. Even though they live in the same "cave" with me, there's still so much I don't know about them.

For the past couple of months, my writing has hit a little bit of a dry spell. I'm still writing...a little, but things just aren't coming as quickly as they should be. I've come to the conclusion that my Dragon-Muses have gradually entered a state of Dragon Hibernation. It started back in December and has gradually gotten worse over the past few months. Before they were doing very little, but now they're doing almost nothing at all. They're still Musing, of course. I'm still writing. It's just at a much slower rate, because they're in some kind of suspended animation.

I'm hoping that the arrival of spring starts to wake them up. I'm really in need of their inspiration. Dravaena was right--I'm a horrible poet.

The Dragon Lady (by Jerry)

The worst thing has happened. The worst thing that could possibly ever have happened has, in fact, happened. Whilst my "brothers" are off celebrating, I have snuck away for a few moments to write what may possibly be the last blog I will ever write.

I once thought that getting a girl-type Dragoness would be like the best thing ever, okay? So, I was wrong. When "Mom" got home today, she found this box in her room, and inside it was...a Dragon. A Dragoness. An evil red Dragoness. ...and Mom was actually happy about it.

Meet Dravaena. She's lovely, yes, but sinister. Just look at those cruel claws. *Shudder*

Well, of course Mom went to work trying to figure out this new Dragon's name. I suggested a few names for her. Jezebel. Delilah. Cruella. Spawn of Satan. Scarlet (because it rhymes with harlot--Mom told me she was going to wash my mouth out). Evil Incarnate. Mom hated all my name choices, and the evil red Dragoness hissed at me every time I suggested anything. Even after she started hissing and growling and snapping, Mom thought I was just being silly. She said, "It looks like this Dragon has been through a lot. She's feisty, but I'm sure we can all learn to get along with her."

Humans aren't that bright sometimes. And neither are my brothers. They all like her, all right. Bion is practically in love with her--but not like in a gross, mushy way. He just likes her because she scares the willies out of me. Jerk.


Anyway, so after MUCH deliberation, Mom discovered that this malicious creature is named Dravaena (Drah-VAY-nah) Taryn Thrush. According to Dravaena, her name is a combination of mostly Gaelic/Celtic names, and it has the following meanings: hunter, dark one, poet, bard, song. Taryn, her middle name, means "rocky hill" and can also mean "pure" and "torture." I think "pure torture" fits her rather well. Thrush, her last name, is a kind of bird--a song bird. I'm not sure how THAT name fits her, but whatever. I mean, she IS supposedly the Dragon-Muse that inspires Mom's poetry and song lyrics, but I think she's more of a vulture than a thrush.


And what's so necessary about a Poetry and Lyrical Dragon-Muse? My human writes horrible poetry. Apparently she just wants someone to blame it on. Why does it have to be this malicious Dravaena beastie? She could have been claimed by some cute pink Dragon-Muse that likes Italian food (and by that, I mean actual Italians), long rampages down the beach, and Dragon Nip Coladas. But no, no. Dravaena found and claimed her first. So now...we're doomed.

Anyway, Bion and Tai think she's great. Pneuman was skeptical until he heard her name. He knows a Dragon's name is very important. Apparently, he thought her name was acceptable. He approached her and officially welcomed her into the family with open wings. What is WITH my family? Can't they see that this Dravaena is going to kill us all in our sleep? I've read the Bible (at least the fun parts) and I've read Revelation. It had this Dragon that represented Satan--do you know what color it was? I'll tell you what color it was. Red. That's what color it was.

We're doomed, I tell you. Doomed.

Tai: Ooh! Who does your nails?

Bion: Scare Jerry some more! Scare Jerry some more!

Pneuman: I see you broke your horn. Our human broke my horn TWICE and had to perform emergency horn replacement surgery. So, how did you break your horn?

Dravaena: I'd tell you, but then I'd have to kill you.

Wow. I thought I was the crazy one!