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neuvis · 6 years

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❝ nothing’s gonna hurt you. ❞ with anyone of your choice !

hhh

Eises’ ears perked at the sound of another falling branch. The storm from a few days ago left the forest looking like a mess. Even today, loose branches were giving in and falling here and there. Walking around and over the scattered forest floor was becoming tiring. Normally Eises would climb a tree and jump from branch from to branch, but even she wouldn’t risk that right now.

The sound of birds cawing caught her attention. She turned her head upwards and noticed a large circle in the sky. It was a group of large crows flying in circles. How they were able to fly so close together without getting their horns or wings tangled was beyond her. Her curiosity piqued, she decided to make her way towards the scavengers to see what had caught their attention. No doubt it was food for them.

Cursing under her breath as she had to walk over fallen bushes, she finally found herself almost below the scavengers. Now paying attention to the ground, she looked for where these crows were hoping to land. Off to her side, she noticed a few fallen trees, with a large figure in the middle of them all. A breeze carried the putrid smell, almost making her gag. That was their food alright.

This creature was huge, just what kind was it? Eises decided to take the risk and climb a nearby tree. She wouldn’t climb too high, just high enough for her to get a good look at the corpse. Instead of relying on the branches, the wolf summoned small ice daggers and used those to climb up the trunk, stabbing the blades deep into the bark as she ascended.

Finally up several feet, Eises turned her head down to get a good look at the body. If it weren’t for the smell emitting from it, she would have gasped. It’s dark scales shone under the sun. Some of its limbs were already bone, likely from the scavengers picking at it. It was almost hard to make out the groups of crows already on top of it. A rare sight, it was a dragon.

Judging by how new the body looked, this dragon must have died during the storm. What caught her attention were the antennae sprouting from its forehead. Her heart fell in dismay, the tips of the antennae were almost white in colour. It was clear that this was a female Northern dragon, but the colour of the antennae made Eises feel uneasy.

Female Northern dragons usually grew antennae at certain points of the year before they fell off naturally. It was a sign of mating season. When a female has a child, the tips of her antennae become white or some other bright colour depending on the colour of her scales. Eises flattened her ears at the realisation.

There was an orphaned baby in the area.

None of the crows seemed to be gathered at any other area, meaning there was no dead baby near this mother. It’s either dead somewhere else, or it’s waiting for its mother in their den. The wolf sighed heavily. She was supposed to be out just looking at the damage the storm made, but it looks like her plans were about to change.

She jumped down from the tree and landed swiftly on her feet. “Where to even begin…” The forest was huge, and she had no idea if the mother happened to die near her child or not. First thing’s first, she wanted to at least get out of the way of this breeze. The smell it was carrying was becoming unbearable. The wolf chose a direction at random and set off.

After gaining some distance between herself and the corpse, Eises finally felt that she could breathe comfortably. Her ears were kept stiff as she looked through every bush and scanned every tree. She placed her finger over her chin as she thought to herself. A den would be better the deeper it is in the forest… The trees and bushes were denser the deeper one went, so it would offer more protection. Not only that, but the trees were also more massive, which would may be big enough to hold a dragon’s den.

Staying alert, the wolf headed deeper into the forest. She picked up her pace; the mother had been dead for days, meaning this child likely hasn’t had anything to eat. She was beginning to stop her doubts of the baby being alive as the forest wasn’t as messy here. The thick massive trees were several feet long: they were obviously strong enough to withstand the storm, and they probably protected the bushes below. The infant was most likely still alive, that is, if another animal hadn’t picked it off first.

Walking around the bushes and low branches was even more tiring than before. She wouldn’t be surprised if parts of her pants were getting ripped, much to her annoyance. She recalled that there were sections of the forest with several wide clearings, this was probably where the dragons nested. It would be easier for them to fly into the air and back in these areas. It was becoming hard to believe that they existed, everywhere she looked was dense undergrowth. It was even darker here thanks to the trees being so close together.

Eises’ ears twitched and she came to an abrupt stop. As her eyes scanned the area, she stayed frozen for several moments, not even taking the time to breathe. Her ear twitched again, and she quickly turned her head towards her right. That sounds like...wailing? It was faint and distant, such that even the sound of her breathing would get in the way. She narrowed her eyes and changed her course to the direction of the crying, trying her best to jog.

The wailing was getting louder, and the wolf saw that the forest was becoming less dense. It became less troublesome to walk without the threat of tripping. More sunlight shone through the branches, making it easier to see as well.

The wolf soon found herself in massive clearing, and she had to squint a little because of how much light was coming down. The crying had gotten loud now, no doubt she was very close to its source now. She followed her ears and noticed one of the trees at the edge of the clearing was on top of an opening on the ground. The hole was huge, but it wasn’t big enough for the enormous tree to fall through, and the wailing was coming from the inside. It had to be a den.

A large bird had perched on one of the branches of the tree. The way it’s horns curved forward told Eises that this was a bird of prey. It leaped off and slowly descended towards the hole. Oh no you don’t. Eises ran towards the hole and stopped right before she reached the edge. Using a quick blade of ice, she quickly aimed for its neck, and caught its now-limp body in her hands. “Sorry, but I can’t have you do that.” Maybe she could use it for food. Jumping into the hole, she hoped the crying wasn’t coming from a completely different animal whose mother happened to be nearby.

Inside was surprisingly lit, and she was able to see clearly. There were piles of stone here and there, and the smell of reptile was overbearing. Eises slowed her pace as she neared the source, who was hiding behind one of the piles.

She peeked around, her sudden appearance startling the source. She froze as she gazed down, eyes as wide as they can be and almost dropping the bird. The source was a thin infant dragon with dark scales, and its wailing had stopped as it ran back into the corner of the pile in fear. Its scales were similar to the dead mother’s, and it’s thinness meant it hadn’t eaten in a while. This was definitely the orphaned child. But that wasn’t what caught Eises’ attention. What she focused on where its eyes.

The pupil was thin and dark, while the sclera gleamed a deep amber colour. It was the type of amber that was a deep orange on the outside with a bright yellow on the inside. Glints of the yellow appeared here and there within the orange. The eyes almost looked like crystal.

Eises breathed in deeply as she slowly got to her knees, blinking several times to stop her eyes from watering. The dragon trembled and made tiny growls that sounded more afraid than anything. “I-I’m not here to eat you.” She stretched her arm and placed the bird’s body onto the floor, pushing it slightly in the dragon’s direction. He hesitated, eyeing Eises in fear and suspicion. “Come on, you can have it.” Her voice became soft and gentle. He slowly approached the body, stretching his neck as he sniffed.

At last, he started to eat. His eyes were still on Eises, but his body relaxed a little as he ravaged through the bird’s meat. Now that she had a closer look, his scales were a dark purple that almost appeared black. The tip of the his upper mouth almost formed a tiny beak, despite the infant having teeth.

It was only a minute or two before he finished his meal. As he licked his lips, she kept her arm extended forward with palm open. He walked towards her arm, faster than before, and began sniffing her before he pushed his cheek into her hand. “See?” They both caught each other’s gaze, and he placed both of his tiny front feet onto her lap. With that she stopped fighting her emotions. She smiled through her tears as she pulled him into a hug.

“You’re coming with me, okay?” She sniffled. “I’ll feed you and give you a nice home, okay?” The dragon nuzzled her stomach as he accepted her embrace. He placed his chin on her chest as he looked up towards her. His trembling had gone down slightly, and she started to pat his head.

“It’s alright now...nothing’s going to hurt you.”

#ocs #<':#kyubey-kat

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