Brand New Day

"Kill me?" Pernas asked. "I'm a dragon. I eat them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. And in-between."

"Well, I cam close..." Ralph said.

"Well, I'll just pick a safer spot." Pernas said.

Vi shifted nervously, "Okay, Pernas, what ever you say."

They made their way out to the field.

"Ah." Ned said, swallowing some flowers. "Lord Dragon."

"That from my garden?" Pernas asked.

"Yes, yes, I know the rules." Ned said. "But Captain Carbonbuckle is here, and... ahh." he spotted Violet.

"Thank you." Pernas said, heading to the hill to get a better look.

CC's herd was assembled and coming closer as they spoke. It wasn't large and milling bure more organized then one would think a briefly gathered herd would have.

Vi waved her wing at Ned in hello as she was now more set on being look out then anything. She wasn't sure Pernas knew what he was getting in to.

Pernas transformed into a dragon and flew onto a large rock, transforming back into a human again.

"Well, hello!" Pernas called down at all the cattle. "Since that concert a few months ago was cut short..."

He began to play.

Vi had to fly off his head as he transformed and landed on to his head once he had settled on the rock. She looked a bit confused but didn't want to leave his side.

CC's herd came to a stop and stared at the man playing the violin. A few snickered about him being an idiot and others said that he was completely mad.

Ned looked at him. Then he looked at Ralph. "I gotta admit, he doesn't know what he's doing."

"I guess not." said Ralph.

"Well, hopefully he'll think of something."

Pernas opened an eye and saw the herd, laughing at him. He stopped playing. "What do you want?" he asked.

"For you to figure out what you are doing," Said Captain Carbonbuckle and many of the herd laughed.

"I've figured it out quite well." Pernas said. "You know what else I've figured out? That you put Ralph up to trying to kill me, promising him that you'd turn him back into a human. But you never did. Also, that you faked his death so that you could get Vi on your side, who you then proceeded to murder."

There were some uncomfortable murmurs from the herd as they shuffled.

"One thing I didn't figure out, though..." Pernas asked, scratching his chin with the bow, "is why you asked Ralph to deliberately fail to kill me."

"What?!" Red said, alarmed.

"I have not broken my promise to Ralph. He will be changed back," Captain Carbonbuckle said absolutly, "Vi died out of accident and yes I did. It is a gesture of power. That I have the opportunity to take you down if I wish it."

Some even more shifted nervously but some seem reassured by this and stood confident.

((have red fight with CC. Like "how could you go behind my back?" kinda stuffs :3))

"Then change me back!" Ralph shouted. "I held up my end of the bargain, and it's been months!"

"And change Violet back!" Father roared, furiously. "You expect me to believe that you accidentally took her into the caverns to a part that accidentally had poison on the walls, and that she accidentally got scratched?!"

"This is outrageous!" Red said. "Failure might not have been a problem, but it most certainly shouldn't have been the intention! You mean that you set it up just so you could get that girl on your side?"

"Hey, lay off." Xon said. "He knows what he's doing."

"Shut up. You were so very close to just feeding yourself to the dragon the other day!" Red shouted him down.

CC couldn't take all of this. He clobbed Red right in the face with the full force of both his back legs, "SHUT THE HELL UP!"

The rest of the herd recoiled away from him and whispers started. CC glared at them, "ALL OF YOU SHUT UP!"

"You mad?" Pernas asked. In the distance, a chorus could be heard.

"The streams all run in gladness,
The fields are soft and warm
To not rejoice is madness,
Rejoice, we're safe from harm..."

Red reeled back. "Just who the hell do you think you are?" he asked angrily. "We're not in this so you can play games with us! You just said you could take him down? Well do it!" he said. "Maybe the others are content to watch you smugly prance about with your crown, but I'm not!"

"I want to be human again!" Ralph shouted again.

Vi called out, "Oh no!" As a huge beast of a creature leaped up the rocks. It wasn't black like the last one but much more of a redish tint. It's body was much more moveable as if it was mixed with a snake. It's teeth were long and pointed as were it's claws just as the last monster had been.

"Sure," CC said as the beast rounded on Vi and Pernas.

Pernas threw the violin aside, shifting into a dragon, hissing at the monster.

"Apologies..." Said Red to Cee, backing off, highly embarrassed.

The herd backed off, extraordinarily alarmed.

Pernas crawled along the rocks to get a better vantage point from with to attack the monster or defend himself.

At first the monster lurched toward Pernas but it got distracted. Vi had been forced to take off from Pernas's head and was now hovering in the air. The thing raised a claw and batted at her as she was forced to retreat.

Pernas saw the monster attack her, and then he leaped at the monster, seizing its throat in his claws, knocking it off of the rock, as they both landed with a loud THUD on the grass, Pernas on top, as he tried to strangle the monster to death.

"Don't you DARE!" he roared.

The monster seemed startled but it's body wrapped around Pernas and started to strangle him back. Vi was surprised at the sheer anger that ran through Pernas. He was now strangeling the monster as it's own body wrapped around Pernas.

Vi landed on the only person she thought could do anything, "Daddy! Do something! Please!"

Looking around frantically, the Father found a fairly large rock nearby. He grabbed it, rushing towards Pernas and the monster. Pernas squirmed, trying to kill the monster before it killed him. The Father ran up behind the monster and started beating it's head and the back of its neck with the rock.

The creature only tightened it's hold on Pernas at first but after being hit for about the fith time he began to loosen. For a moment he seemed dead. Lying limp in Pernas' claws.

Vi flitted over to hover a few inches from Pernas. Worry branded all of her movements as she darted around his head.

Pernas threw the monster to the ground. He turned to Vi's father. "Thank you." he said. "You... you probably just saved my life." he then turned to the Captain's herd, a much sterner expression on his face. He walked towards them slowly. Father, meanwhile, backed far away from the monster.

"Well?" he asked.

The creature slithered to life and disappeared in to the rocks.

CC now stood in a circle of nothing. Most of the cows had moved away and some had even ran away, "So, you are still going to die." He glared at him as even more cows tripped over each other in there attempt to get away from this mad man.

"I am going to die, eh?" Pernas asked. Soon, the only cows left around Captain Carbonbuckle were Red, Xon, and three others.

Pernas sat down. "What, you're going to send yet another monster after me?" he asked. He looked at Xon. "You too, Xon?" he asked, a bit surprised.

Xon seemed a bit surprised that Pernas was addressing him. He bucked up a bit, though. "Yeah. Why?"

"Nothing, just a bit surprised." Pernas said. "You never struck me as, well, that bold." He looked over at Red, then.

"So, you were in on the plot, too, I take it?" he asked him.

"Yeah." Red said. "I knew about it. Mostly."

Pernas looked at the other three. "You staying, too?" he asked one of them. "You always were stubborn..."

"You can kill us again and again," one of them said. "We'll just come back, the same as ever. I doubt you have that advantage."

He then turned to the Captain. "You have anything you'd like to say to Violet?" he asked.

Captain Carbonbuckle broke down in to tears right then and there. The others looked at him strangely but staid by his side even as the insane cow cried and blubbered, "I loooooooooomdoooooo yoooooooooooo." Half of his words were turning in to moos.

Pernas stood there, blinking. This was awkward.

"You're a loony." he said at length.