The Plot Thickens - Blog Posts

Wow this reminded me that I have part of a Severní vítr translation in my notes that I made a few years ago imma go find it

I found the mediocre old snippet, time to transform it

hele co jsem našla při brouzdání na netu

(an English translation/cover of a classic Czech campfire song. if I can give any opinion as a translations student, the English lyrics are pretty damn good)

I've written the continuation of the story, a picture to accompany it will be at the bottom of the post. Also I don't have a reference for Cowbird yet, i'll post it later

It’s been two days since Leopard found the body, he’s unable to fathom the information he’d seen right in front of him. Queen Treefrog was dead, that was confirmed…but who in the three moons was the rainwing in charge?!? She clearly was similar enough to mimic the Queen in bodyshape, that’s for certain. Yet Leopard had no clue who she was, any rainwing can change their colors. He’s seen them use the ability for theatre productions a million times.

The worst part of nobody else knew, Leopard had seen the body. He’d recognized his Queens face lying in that clearing. None of the other dragons had found it and he had a sinking feeling that something had somehow gotten worse. Nothing seemed to change, the Queen hadn’t made any major changes since before he had investigated.

The rainwings were still their same old pacifist selves, the nightwings were hunting food for both villages as normal. Yet Leopard couldn’t shake the feeling of eyes on him. The impersonator surely couldn’t have seen him, He was in the bushes up until she was out of earshot.

Leopard was so lost in thought he didn’t notice someone had approached until an older rainwing gently tapped his shoulder, startling him so much he made a little squeak as he turned. “Sorry! Didn’t mean to startle!” The rainwing stated, she had a warm smile on her face. “I’m just here to say the Queen wanted to see you, Isn’t that exciting!”

No, oh no. no no no! She must know, why else would she want to see him…wait he needed to calm down. There a hundreds of different reasons to be called upon by the Queen, Leopard’s still in school she might just be changing up his classes. Wouldn’t hurt to ask, he assumed. “Do you know what the meeting’s gonna be about?” He tried his best to fake a smile, it didn’t appear to be working.

“There’s no need to panic, I know meeting a Queen for the first time can be scary.” Good at least she didn’t know why he was nervous. “Anyway Queen Treefrog said she wanted it to be a surprise, but I promise you it's a good thing!” The rainwing seemed excited, whatever this meeting would be about must be innocent enough. Leopard knew typical rainwing citizens to prefer good news anyway.

“Alright, I guess I’ll head to the throne room…” He said, forcing a more convincing smile this time.

“See ya! Oh! Almost forgot my name’s Cowbird!” The cheerful rainwing waved before flying off in the other direction, Leopard kinda admired the carefree nature of her life. He’d seen Cowbird occasionally, always dressed up in fancy cloaks and bathing in the sun. He wished life was that easy for him. 

Once Leopard reached the entrance to the throne room he took a deep breath…he was safe, everything was fine. He was just waltzing right into the sight of a murderer, what could go wrong? He quickly shut down that train of thought, she may have killed the Queen. Nobody would dare harm a dragonet, Leopard was only 6 years old. He entered the room, immediately bowing down like he’d seen others do before.

“Hello Leopard, take a seat. There’s much to discuss!” She says with an aura of excitement. She was a lot taller compared to him, he felt like an ant in comparison. Leopard stopped bowing and sat up, avoiding eye contact as if his life depended on it.

“Hello, your majesty” He struggled to come up with something to say, so simple formalities might lessen the eerie silence.

“I’ve heard your feeling rather paranoid lately, my guards say you’ve been significantly less social” She begins, her smile creeped him out a bit. It was warm and welcoming, but her eyes showed an entirely different mood. They were halfway to a glare for a moment, or perhaps Leopard had imagined it in his panic. “It’s not good for a dragonet’s development to stray from their peers, I worry for your health”

“I’m sorry, I just get startled easily and-” The Queen cut him off surprisingly fast, going onto her next point it seemed.

“I understand, it’s hard to talk to others. Especially since I’ve heard the medics discuss your paranoia.” Oh, Leopard had been telling everyone about his suspicions before he found the body. The medics obviously would’ve told their Queen about it! “I know a new Queen is a big change in your life, before I was crowned my mother was Queen your whole life”

“Yeah, it’s a big change” Play dumb, just keep pretending. There was an awkward silence, Queen Treefrog staring at him for a good few moments.

“Leopard?” She asked, a hint of hostility mixed into her voice.

“....yes?” Leopard replied, failing to hide the nervousness in his voice.

“I’ve arranged for you to take extra battle lessons, I want you to know there’s nothing to be afraid of” She smiled, this time more genuine.

“Ok, that’s-” He was cut off again, the Queen's voice radiating malice.

“Meet me at the river at sunset, we’ll begin our first lesson. You are dismissed” As Leopard left the throne room, something in the back of his mind told him that shouldn't attend that lesson.