The Dragon Princess Will Stay Alive!

//Back to present day, and normal chapter length. As always, please powerstone vote/comment/subscribe if you liked the chapter. I think this is around the time this story should be getting some ratings, too. Enjoy the story.

The sun still wasn't visible, but the sky had begun to change to a lighter shade of blue. Soon, the first splotches of orange would paint the rising sky, but for now the world below was a mirage of shadows, barely unbroken by spottings where the early light shone through.

"Sis?" Sophia whispered, looming over her older sister, Sonata's long pale green hair cascading over her shoulders and the floor of the cave like a puddle, curled up and unconscious. "Sis..?" The little one whispered, not entirely certain she should wake her sister up. The translucent sales on her cheeks and the corner of her twists and the place where her thumb met her palm twinkled like the insides of mussel shells in the foggy blue early-morning light. Her hands were curled up against her upper c.h.e.s.t, clutching at the cloth of her dress, and she could sort of make out the crease just under her older sister's eyes from being squeezed shut. She looked tired. Sophia decided to let her rest. She could manage on her own for a bit, anyways. She was a big girl, after all.

Sophia rubbed her eye, squinting around herself in the early dawn. Everything was a little blurry in the darkness. She'd have to be careful not to trip over the bigger rocks jutting out from the floor of the cave or the sometimes pointy places where steps of rock suddenly dropped.

It would be nice if she could light her way with some fire, but she couldn't make any. Surely it was just a temporary setback, though. She'd be on par with her sister once she just grew a little. Her dragon form was doll sized, as Sonata had mentioned, after all. For now, she was sure she just had to wait. Yes, she was convinced of that, because she was still a very young dragon.

Sophia pressed her hands flat upon the ground and used that to push herself up to her feet. She treaded carefully, the quiet crunch of sand beneath her tiny feet the loudest sound in her ears. She stifled a yawn, her small mouth opening wide as she clasped her hands over it, trying to muffle the noise. Beyond, a squirrel was clucking and some birds were chirping, but it was all far away.

The little girl rummaged through their things, heaving heavy containers and utensils to the side with her small hands. Finally, she came upon a shiny piece of jewelry forgotten about between the trinkets and the wall, round and thin and just large enough to fit around her head. She picked up the thin golden band, softly scrubbing her thumb against the polished and etched areas with designs of pears and vines interlocked with stems of firn trees and pinecones. It was something she could sort of touch, but she really needed the light to see. Pinecones and firn trees were symbols of her kingdom, but pears and vines were just things she thought looked pretty.

She set the perfectly-fitted circlet on her head. A small smirk rose on her lips, and then quickly fell as the plainness of her clothes became increasingly apparent. No, if she was going to play dress up she was going to go all the way.

Sophia rummaged and peered around the pile of their stuff again, until she remembered they'd layered their clothes under the cloak so the rock wouldn't be so hard.

She turned towards the direction of her sleeping sister, her green eyes calculating and weighing her options in the silence of the cave.

...She just had to be super careful not to wake Sonata, right?

Sophia traversed the journey back from where she'd come in the darkness as quietly as she could, crouching down where her sister was sleeping and slipping her hands under, between the rock and the cloak.

Her tiny fingers found something that felt like a sleeve, and she eagerly pulled it out, heaving to tug it from the parts of it that were stuck under her sleeping sister. She pulled the sheets up so she could see what she was tugging at, but it wasn't her dress.

"Mmh..."

Sophia froze, holding her breath as her sister began to stir, dropping the cloak and leaving the piece of clothing she'd been tugging at with all her strength to fall back onto the rock.

"...Sophia?" She murmured sleepily, pulling the blanked up to her shoulders as she twisted and turned and sleepily sat up. "Is that you?"

Sophia let her breath out. So much of an actual effort to be courteous had just gone to waste.

"Hi, sis." She pushed at Sonata's shoulder. If she was awake, she may as well move over. "I need... you have my dress..." She explained, pushing at the taller figure that seemed to resist increasingly stronger, just to spite her. Sophia stopped pushing, falling back down to her knees with a huff. Why was Sonata being so hard? "Sis!" She scolded in indignation.

Sonata tiredly laughed, finally getting up off their makeshift bed so Sophia could have her way. "What are you doing so early?" She asked, rubbing her eyes.

"Playing dress up." Sophia answered.

"You're going to ruin it more than it already is."

Sophia pouted, fishing the still-partially bloodstained peach dress out from under the cloak. "....Can I wear your dress?"

"I don't think It'd fit."

Sophia rubbed her eye again, looking down at her ruined gown.

"Why do you want it anyways?" Sonata asked, getting up from the floor.

"Dress up."

"That isn't practical."

Sophia sighed, dramatically letting the dress drop.

"....What?" She asked, noticing her sister staring.

She shook her head. "You're a mess."

"What?"

Sonata took her jaw in one hand, rubbing at mark on Sophia's cheek. Sophia squirmed and squeaked, mildly pushing her away.

"Hold on." Sonata shushed.

"You're a mess too!" Sophia argued, glaring childishly up at her as Sonata roughly scrubbed at the mark on her cheek.

Sonata paused, realizing she wasn't making much progress. "You need to wash your face."

Sophia wiggled free and bolted towards the container where they kept the water, dropping her circlet in the process. Sonata sighed, picking it up and brushing it off.

"There's no more water." Sophia called from the other end of the cave.

"Then we need to get some." Sonata wrapped the circlet in the cloak where it was hidden, and dusted off their things as she placed them in a pile where they weren't half-buried in dirt.

Sophia hurried back to her sister, the container in hand. Sophia resisted the urge to untangle her messy blond hair on the spot.

"Let's go?" She asked, noticing a few berry stains and other marks on the dress her sister was currently wearing. She looked down, and noticed the sleeves of her dress and the skirt she'd used so often to wipe her hands off on were starting to suffer, too.

She shifted through their things to find something else for them to wear. "Let's..." she pulled out something that looked like it'd probably fit Sophia "take a bath while we're at it too."

Sophia's face soured.

"Don't give me that. Don't you feel yucky with dirt all over your arms and legs?"

Sophia looked down at her arms, scratching her shoulder. "I can just..." Her arms fell as she seemed to lose her own internal argument. "I don't want a bath."

Sonata chortled, and ruffled her hair. It's lime-yellow curly ringlets bounced spring-like to her ministrations in the faint light. "Let's go, baby."

Sophia sourly followed her into the pale blue morning light.