Brand New Day

Vi nodded slowly, "Well, perhaps he doesn't dislike Pernas as much as he dislikes the effects. You've died recently. Isn't it a terrible thing? No, I guess it might not be to you."

Her fingers found a small flat rock and tossed it across the water so it skipped and sent ripples across it. The fish beneath shuddered away from the sudden contact.

"He has a lot of cows behind him," Vi stated looking at Lura for a moment. Then finding another rock and sending it skipping across nearly to the other side. It had been a a thing for her. They had had a lake by her house and she had always gone out to skip rocks to think.

It made her think of some of the good parts in her life and she smiled softly across the water. Wondering what her life would be like now.

"It's not that bad. Sometimes it's a little uncomfortable, but if you're very still, it doesn't hurt at all." Lura said quietly. She seemed very curious about skipping rocks. A new concept. She looked at Vi's hand, then at her own hoof.

"I suppose he does. Maybe some people are more uncomfortable with it. I like to think of it as starting anew. I get to start over young again. I have known some, though. They like the bodies they have, and don't want to lose it. We here, we don't mind. Only lasts so long, anyway." She said.

"I guess," Vi told the calf quietly before picking up another stone and skipping it across. She looked at the calf and smiled, "I'm sorry I don't think you would be able to skip rocks. I've had a lot of practise with it and fingers."

Suddenly a question occurred to her, "Have there been any cows that were humans in the beginning?"

Perhaps The Captain had once been a human? That would explain a few things about him in reality. Though maybe he didn't really remember him being human because of dieing each time.

"I've never died. What happens in between when you have died and when you are waiting to be born again?" Vi asked curiously.

"umm..." Lura asked. "Humans? Is that what you are?" she asked. "I don't think we were."

This human girl was odd. She asked alot of questions, some of which didn't make alot of sense.

"While waiting?" She asked. "We dream. Though there's a slight difference - we're able to talk to each other. Though it's often hard to remember, like with the dreams we have when we sleep. That's where most of the talks between the herds happen, if they're a far way away."

"Yes I am a human," Vi told the little calf. Grabbing another stone she rubbed it's smooth side with her thumb.

"Do you remember your past lives?" Vi asked the calf before tossing the stone once again. Then her violet gaze turned to Lura. Taking in what she looked like and wondered if she would ever see this little calf ever again.

"Yes, we remember. Some of it isn't worth remembering, though, so it all tends to mesh. Sometimes it gets boring, but interesting things do sometimes happen."

"Vi?" Pernas asked. He was back in human for. "I've got breakfast prepared."

((And now, moving away from all that...))

***

Xon, now a tiny little calf, was wandering, seemingly aimlessly throughout the herd.

"You lost?" asked another calf, you was sucking on its mother's milk.

"No..." Xon said. "I just heard about the new herd... thought I'd see it."

The herd stood about all varied from every single one of the herds. Even from the herd that praised Pernas. The tiny slightly scrawny calf stood as an equal among the herd.

Even so the few that were near him seemed to be holding him in the highest respects. Looking at him with wonder. He had his usual array of strange colors that smudged out the black and white colors of his usual pelt.

He munched grass and seemed as if he didn't even recognize that they held him that way. Instead he seemed completely at ease among the cows that held his vision of the new herd.

There were even a few more, perhaps curious cows or perhaps ones that had just been born. It seemed peaceful and a air of ease held the entire herd in it's soft hands.

At the same time a click of a hoof or the rustle of a body moving against a body seemed filled with anticipation. They were all waiting even if most of them didn't know what it was.

"So..." Xon asked. "I heard that there was a new herd out. One that was in opposition to the dragon."

"Yep. I got born into it today." The calf said. "Funny. Aren't alot of the cows here from the Flock? Slightly odd."

"Maybe they're curious." Xon suggested. "Or doubting. I used to be part of them, but, well... I left some time ago."

Captain Carbonbuckle moved closer to the chatting calfs. He was only a few days older then them but he was tall and gangly. Not much of a meal of a calf, "Some of them were born in the Flock but now they want to know something else. They give sacrifice and for what? Protection? There is nothing else that can harm us here on the island other then The Dragon."

He seemed very self assured and the one of the flock that was near by nodded her large head in agreement. A few others murmured there agreement to each other.

"Yes." Xon said. "We never got anything out of it. That's why I left in the first place."

"I hate to ruin everyone's defiance," said the other calf, "but there's a problem. You see, you hate him, I hate him, we all hate him. But even if every single cow on this island hated him, there's still a problem: he's infinitely more powerful than all of us put together. If he wanted he could simply set the whole island on fire. Even though we've established ourselves against us, he's just going to come over and eat us, same as he does for anyone else. So the question is: what are we to do? We've decided that the dragon is a tyrant who is exploiting us for himself, and not giving any of us anything in return. So, what to do?"

"The girl is the key," The Captain told them, "She is human but she seems to like me. I met her when she first came here. The island has been falling apart. Many numbers of cows were taken out by the storm. Some even taken out by the monster that was unleashed. Perhaps it isn't us that will need to take him out."

He looked intently pleased with him self, "If we have the girl on our side he will listen more but that isn't all of it. We need to find the rip in the island. Exploit it. Make more chaos. Some of us may die but if Pernas dies he can only come back as one of us or the birds. He will have no powers and we will be safe against his tyranny."

((Yes he does sound a bit insane XD))

The other cows seemed a bit nervous at this suggestion. Create chaos? That could have unintended consequences.

The red calf smiled. "That is an idea. However, I don't think we need so rash an action just yet. I have another idea we should try beforehand."

"What's that?" Xon asked.

"Well, it might be possible to kill Pernas when he's in human form." The red calf said. "But it would be very tricky. But it's an option to explore before we try breaking the island in two."

"Also, what do you mean... 'get the girl on our side?..'" Xon asked. "You're going to kill her, aren't you?"

"How would we kill him then? He can change in to a dragon at any point in time. It would have to be kept very secret," Suddenly his mind seem to take off with the idea, "It would have to be a cow he wouldn't expect. One of the Flock perhaps as he hasn't seen all of our members."

"I can do the distraction," He would take Vi then he didn't want them to know that he was going to kill her. It might not look well, "Perhaps act rabid. He might believe it is another experiment of mine or that I have finally lost it completely."

"It'd have to be someone that didn't lead back to us, on the off-chance of failure." The red calf said. "I think we should get an Auroch to do the work, but have him claim to be from the Flock, if he fails and isn't killed outright. In any case, we have to do it when he's in human form. Now, when is he most likely to be in human form?" he asked.

The others were quiet. "Music," Xon said at length. "Sometime when he's playing music."

"I have an idea. We just need to get someone into the Flock. Have him or her suggest that Pernas give a little concert. If he's playing a loud piece, someone could charge him without being heard."

"Yeah, but what if it doesn't work?" another asked.

They went quiet.

"Well," Xon said. "We don't have much to lose. He'd be on his guard afterward, though."

"Then we can get the island to kill him," Captain Carbonbuckle concurred. He moved away from the two to start asking around about who would attack and who would suggest it to Pernas.

Pip landed on The Captain's head, "Whacha doin?"

The Captain smiled, "I have a job for you Pip. With all the bad stuff that has been happening I want you to tell me where Vi is at all times okay? She needs to be protected. After all she was Master Dragon's very first guest."

Pip puffed up his chest, "I'm on it!" With that he flitted away unknowingly sentencing poor Vi to a life as a cow or bird on the island.

Xon looked at Pip as he flew off.

"You don't think he'll get suspicious of anything, do you?" Xon asked.

"Eh, who knows?" The red calf responded. "If the Dragon is suspicious of Captain Carbonbuckle, that will be nothing new. So, anyway-"

"I don't know if I like your plan. It's too unlikely." Xon said.

"We have all the time in the world to do anything. Something, no matter how unlikely, is bound to work eventually."

Captain Carbonbuckle paused, "What about the cow that was one of the humans?" He turned to them his eyes igniting, "If we get him to do it there is no possible way it can be traced back to us. Plus he may have more skill then any of the other cows at killing."

He paused as he mulled it over in his mind, "He would expect the cow to be there in the first place."

His hooves clipped on the ground as he waited for there response.

"Hmm..." The red calf said, mulling it over. "That seems like a good idea."

"Well," Xon said. "We have our bull. We'll just have to convince him to join our side."

"Just convince him that we can change him back in to a human with out making the girl pregnant," The Captain told them with a half smirk.

((I always wonder...



why do we have that? It's like random laundry...))

"Hmm..." Xon muttered. He didn't like that. What happened if Ralph found out that they lied?

"Seems as good a plan as any." the red calf said. "Where is he?"

"He's with the main herd." Xon said. "Trying to get settled in."

"Shouldn't be to hard to convince, I don't think." The red calf mused.

"Xon you should go try to convince him as I know my appearance will not be inviting," He waggled one ear that was covered in yellow and erupted in to a little cloud as he wiggled it, "He would think I was spewing nonsense though it may be we must truly convince him."

"Can't you just wash it off or something?" Xon asked. "Besides, you got all them to listen. Why not one human?"

"You're also better educated than most of us and have a better way with words." The red calf said.

Besides, if Captain Carbonbuckle stays behind, which one of the other person's characters is supposed to talk to Ralph?

Captain Carbonbuckle snorted his contempt. Clearly angered that they wanted him to wash off. Though he moved away from them. He walked through the crowd but not many cows noticed him. Now he was a just a normal black and white calf who had taken a dip to cool off.

He kept his head low and left the herd to reach the main herd. The first cow he came to he asked, "Where is that new calf Ralph was his name?"

"Eh?" the cow said. "Oh, the new one? He's over there" he said, indicating a rather nervous-looking calf who was drinking at a pond.

Xon looked at the red calf. "Doesn't really look like a dragon slayer to me."

"We'll see."

Captain Carbonbuckle looked at them for a moment as if they were stupid. Did they want to get caught? What did they get with telling there intentions. This was the main herd. Any cow could easily mention something to Pernas about what the cow said.

Shaking his head he moved forward to the cow. He seemed scared but he wasn't as weak looking up close.

"Hello Ralph," The Captain said nonchalantly as he bent to drink from the pond as well.