The young Dragon stalked his prey, quietly weaving through the trees and underbrush as he waited for the most opportune moment to strike. It didn't take long, and he leaped forwards, wings tucked in to ensure they didn't get caught on the surrounding trees. He only made that mistake once, back when he was a young hatchling. Landing on his prey's neck and shoulders, the young Dragon tries to dig his way into the flesh to hold on, only to find minimal grip. His lack of strength making him unable to penetrate even the outermost layer of fully developed Dragonscale. After only a few seconds he gives up and leaps off, right as the prey sweeps her tail into his path, knocking him to the ground and giving time for the prey to turn her full attention onto the young attacker. The ensuing fight, which was more akin to a desperate escape than the young Dragon would ever willingly admit to, ends in the decisive victory of the elder Dragon. Though just as the young one would never admit to trying to trying to escape rather than fighting, the elder Dragon would never willingly admit that her child had nearly escaped her grasp.
"Good. That was the final time." the elder Dragoness stated, once her young progeny had recovered. The young Dragon took a moment to process what the words meant, before stomping his feet in excitement. He'd just gotten permission to leave the nesting island and actually see the world. Sure, he was a bit young for a Dragon to leave the island, at a mere 95 years old instead of the traditional 110 to 120, but it wasn't overly uncommon for promising Dragons to be let loose earlier in order to grow more than they could while protected. And he was quite the promising Dragon if he did say so himself, which he did. Quite often, it was only proper to brag about one's own greatness after all. Smarter than all his siblings, and every other young Dragon on the island, the young Dragon learned far quicker than his peers did.
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The only downside to leaving early, is of course the fact he was now expected to leave the island by the end of the day. Which didn't leave too much time for hunting, but being annoyed at such things wouldn't give him more time to hunt, he was no Time Elemental. So, after only a minute of showing his excitement, and thanking his mother, much to her bemusement, he rushed off into the forest to hunt some smaller game. Perhaps he'd get lucky and run into a herd of deer, but he knew better than to count on that, and ate whatever small game he was able to track down. Regardless of the poor taste, lack of seasoning, and general insult to fine meals that the underprepared morsels ended up being they did the job of filling his stomach. Which is all that truly mattered, for he had a long flight ahead of him. One that would almost certainly take all night, but he would have a whole new world to explore, and eat things in, by the morning.
He couldn't wait.