Webbed hands and feet propelled him through the murky depths; eyes first-lidded against the chill. Something flashed; a silver-scaled fish. Mouth lined with a double row of sharply pointed teeth opens; water rushes in, and out through the gills. The fish caught unawares flops helplessly in his powerful jaws.
The creature surfaces, keeping his eyes closed as the water ran off his coarse green skin. Short sharp claws made short work of the scales, sending them floating away on the gentle tide. Ceandin ate the fish, savoring the silken texture and the delicate crunch of the tiny bones.
Ceandin was, for all practical purposes, a swampmonster. As far as he knew, he was the only one in existence, and that he'd been all along. He knew not of his birth, nor of family. Whenever he ventured forth from the chain of lakes he considered home, Ceandin was treated like a monster. The men and women would all run away, leaving him there alone.
Ceandin sat on a rock, trailing his long webbed fingers in the water. His gills had long since stopped fluttering, and Ceandin's chest rose and fell as he breathed with his lungs. "I just don't get it." Ceandin sighed. A nearby toad croaked in response. "I find the girls incredibly appealing, yet they find me repulsive. It's the tail, isn't it?" The toad croaked and leapt from the lily pad into the water. Ceandin sighed.
When standing upright, he measured 7' even, his skin was green and coarse like a toad's, and he had a short tail, like a polliwog, of which he had no use. His head was relatively smooth and hairless, and his black eyes had two sets of lids - one for protection, the other to block light. He wore no clothes, and sported no weapons - he needed none. His fingers and toes ended in short sharp claws, of the non-retractable sort. He was fully equipped for life, yet life eluded him.
Ceandin slipped into the water and swam through the lakes and up the stream that emptied into them until he reached the river. Then he drifted with it to the delta, leaving his unloving home in search of something more.
As he neared the ocean, Ceandin began to see things unlike anything else he'd ever seen before. Brilliantly colored things with translucent wings and faceted eye. On the shore was the smallest one - darkly wet green with delicate fins and webbed paws. Ceandin swam to her side.
"Oh most beautiful creature, tell me your name so that I might call it from the waters; 'I am not alone, for you are with me!'"
The dragon gave a cry of alarm, and leapt from the water with a sweep of her glistening wings. Ceandin's heart broke then, and he remained alone. Night fell, and he slept.
Morning came, and with it, renewed sadness. Ceandin tried to fill his day by fishing in the turbulent river, but the more he thought about his rejection, the more bitter he became.
"Hey there!" a voice called. Ceandin looked to the shoreline and saw the dragon with someone astride her shoulders. Emotionally hurt, Ceandin didn't respond. The dragon swam out to him, keeping balance with her wings in order not to drop her rider. "Hey!" she called again.
"What?" Ceandin snapped. There was no avoiding them now.
"So it was you who startled Twengith?" the woman inquired.
"What of it?"
The woman shook her head. "Nothing. I guess she was wrong about you then." She said, and the dragon began to move towards the shore.
"Wait..." he began, swimming towards them. "What did she say?"
Maranni laughed. "She said you'd be a good choice for a dragon's bond, but I don't think so."
Ceandin would have died, had his heart not already been trampled. "Oh no..." he moaned. "Not again..."
Twengith stopped. "Not again what?" Maranni asked, honest concern lacing her voice.
"One more rejection, and I think I'll die." Ceandin said, closing the firstlids to stop the tears. Maranni's eyes widened.
We'd better take him - and soon. I want to get back to my eggs. Twengith murmured to her rider.
"In that case, you'd better decide this for yourself; because if a hatchling rejects you..."
Ceandin's eyes opened fully. "Hatchling?"
Maranni nodded. "Yeah. Dragons choose at birth, and if you're not there..."
"Where is the dragon going to be born?" Ceandin inquired. "Tell me and I'll start swimming now..."
Maranni laughed. "You can't swim to the Healing Den. It's not on this world."
Ceandin's hopes fell. "Then how do I get there?"
"Twengith and I will take you... once we're all dry. It's bad to teleport wet... you might freeze..." Maranni explained. Then she saw the gils... "Um... can you be out of the water?"
Now it was Ceandin's turn to laugh. "Of course I can."
The Healing Den was the strangest place Ceandin had ever seen. Everyone was asleep when they arrived, so Ceandin made himself at home in the lake - he rather enjoyed sleeping underwater.
At first light, he awoke, and looked up at a beautiful dark face. He sat up, his green head breaking the surface of the water. "Good morning." He said. He couldn't tell if she was bothered or not.
"Yes... Good morning." Baeris said "You must be the fellow Maranni and Twengith brought... What is your name?"
Ceandin nodded. "That I am. My name is Ceandin..." he said, realizing he'd never told it to anyone before.
"Welcome to the Healing Den, Ceandin." She said.
Ceandin frowned. "Aren't you scared?"
Baeris looked at him like an errant child. "Scared of what?"
"Of me."
Now she laughed. "Oh no. I've seen much stranger than you..."
Ceandin looked somewhat relieved. "I've got a tail..."
Baeris shrugged. "Yes, and so do most of the other candidates." Ceandin's eyes went wide. "Come, have breakfast, meet the others." She 'suggested', and led the way inside.
True to her word, many of the others weren't exactly human... and not a one seemed the least bit afraid of him.
