She wakes up, noticing he’s gone as normal. She feels her intuition telling her it will storm. The sky is cloudy.
She hears the sound of stones hitting into water in the distance, getting up and stretching before going towards it.
She sees him skipping large flat rocks on the water surface. He lifts up a large round stone, throwing it.
It makes a loud gloop sound as it hits the water, which turns into a louder splash; he wasn’t able to throw it far enough as water splashes onto him.
She chuckles quietly, which quickly fades, remembering why they’re both there. She sheds a tear, but tries to hold her crying in, going over and walking towards him.
She approaches him. He continues skipping rocks, not bothering to look at her. “Losian, it’s going to storm tonight; we need to find shelter.”
“Shut up.” He mutters.
“What?” She becomes upset.
"Shut up!" He yells, chucking a large skipping stone before shoving her side away from him. He glares at her, breathing heavily.
She's on the verge of crying. “Why... are you acting like this..? Please, stop it.”
“It’s your fault. Dad would’ve just left you if he hadn’t found you with me. Your mother killed all of my real family. Now you killed him; you just finished what she started. You’ll kill me too!”
“We always played that game where I find you. But you ran off and found those travelers; it’s not my fault - it’s not yours either.” Her tone is soft, trying to reason with him.
“I told you to stop, but you didn’t! It’s your fault!” He charges her, picking up a large stone in both hands. ”It’s your fault!!"
She stands there, thinking he might be bluffing. He swings the rock at her; She tries to dodge, but the rock gashes her muzzle, her blood dripping rapidly onto the rocks below.
“W-what!?” She starts trembling slightly, running off.
He chases after her a short distance, stopping at the treeline.
She hears him repeatedly bash the rock into a tree, slowing down then stopping as he gets fatigued. He squats down, breathing heavily.
She watches him from a distance through the trees, her body still shaking nervously, her entire tail thrashing around in spurts.
She tries to walk back over to him. His arms must be tired by now.
She stops near him, sitting, still keeping some distance. “Losian, stop. He saved us both. You aren’t really trying to kill me, are you..?”
“Before you kill me.”
"I miss him too! Stop blaming me!" She roars, running at him and swinging her talons, knocking him onto his back, leaving a gash across his stomach and chest. His blood stains her claws.
She freezes, her eyes widening. “I-I’m sorry.”
“It’s your fault. You’re born from your mother. You’ll kill me too.”
"Stop!" She shrieks, falling down and placing her talons over her head, breathing heavily.
He lays there, his wound bleeding as she hyperventilates. She blames herself, never wanting to play again, so nothing like this happens again.
She hears him making pained noises, wanting to go over to him and lick his wounds like she normally does.
She waits to calm down slightly before standing up, her mind still throbbing with confusion and angst, as she goes over to him, lying down beside him, licking his wounds.
He winces but doesn’t protest. Licking him instinctively calms her down.
She eventually cleans his wound, lying beside him, his blood clotting over the gashes.
He remains lying there on his back. “I feel dizzy.”
She sighs in response, shifting closer towards him.
“I’m so hungry, too.”
She waits a moment, still regaining herself, before responding. “Maybe we could try to hunt?” She suggests. “You can run for a lot longer than me, but I can run faster than you.”
He tries to sit up, groaning in pain as he does. She quickly lifts her head up in concern.
“Maybe you can’t run; I’m sorry.”
“Yeah.” He sounds upset and annoyed.
She sits up aswell, looking down at him. “Please, stay here; I’ll try to kill a deer - something like that.”
He stares at her, not saying anything, still upset.
She stares back at him for a while before getting up, walking off in search of prey.
Eventually, she hears the sound of deer walking on fallen leaves. She lowers her stance, stalking towards the sound.
She stalks close enough to see them, not seeing any bucks among them; she feels relieved.
She stalks towards them as close as she can get; one turns it’s head towards her, spotting her; she lunges forward, chasing after it. She’s able to accelerate faster than the deer, grabbing onto it's rear with her talons, her claws digging deep into it’s hide.
The deer lets out a loud, painful grunt, her claws dragging deep along the deer’s body, hitting an artery as the deer tries to struggle away, causing it to eventually bleed out. Her forelegs and chest are covered in blood.
She bites down on it’s neck, blood running down it and off it’s hoof. She starts dragging it back to the pond where Losian is. She feels tempted to eat it, being very hungry herself, but decides because she gashed him with her claws, she should eat after him.
She arrives back at the pond, finding Losian ugly crying while sitting up with his legs tucked to his chest, his forehead against his knees.
She drags the body faster, wanting to go over and comfort him.
“Losian, please be alright. I brought you food; just finish crying first...” She feels herself start to waver, knowing he’s crying over their father. He’s crying too hard to respond to her.
She ends up breaking down and crying with him, lying down, curling up beside him.
Time passes. They eventually stop crying so hard.
He had ended up lying his arms and head on top of her side, underneath her wing.
“Go eat; I need you to eat before me; I feel bad.”
“Okay...” He gets off of her, crawling over to the carcass, tearing apart the shoulder with his teeth, getting into the flesh of the deer.
His hands and mouth become stained with blood; he looks savage as blood drips from his chin; She realizes she probably looks the same.
It’s risky to eat raw food like this, but she knows his immune system should be able to handle it, as the animal is still freshly killed.
She stares longingly at the food, realizing her throat is dry, going over to the pond to drink.
Suddenly, it gets colder; she hears Losian make an uncomfortable sound. She realizes that when it storms, it might snowstorm instead.
“It’s that sage’s fault!” He slams his fist into the carcass.
She walks back over to him, “I’m worried; let’s go find somewhere safe.” She steps over towards the carcass, biting down on it’s neck, lifting it up; Losian grabs the lower half of the deer, lifting it up aswell. They start searching for shelter, with her leading them.
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Snow starts to fall; Losian seems to be doing fine for now, but she knows he’ll keep losing warmth faster than he can create it if they can’t find shelter soon enough.
Time passes, at late evening they find an alcove near a small rocky creek, big enough to fit both of them and their kill comfortably. It is wide in length but doesn’t go very far back in comparison. They lay down together inside of it, Losian pressing against her for warmth.
She feels her stomach growl, suddenly flinching as a large gust of wind brushes by.
Losian begins eating again as she stares longingly at her kill.
After a moment, he offers her the heart of the deer while eating it, outstretching his hand behind him - she liked this organ’s taste.
Her chest feels tight and fuzzy at this, taking the heart from his hand and into her maw.
It tasted better than normal, for some reason. She rubs her head against the back of his affectionately as he continues eating.
Time passes; he finishes eating his portion, looking like he feels full. “Thanks, sister...”
“Mhm.” She embeds her claws into the carcass, pulling it to herself, then tearing into it, letting out a low, satisfied rumble as she begins eating.
He presses himself harder against her side for warmth, lying down on his side, his back facing the alcove wall, lightly tugging her wing down to signal her to relax it and place it over him. She feels him hug onto her, his body relaxing.
She finishes eating, sighing, then curling around him, drifting asleep.
She jolts awake. It is the middle of the night, there is a large female dragon with scales white as snow; she is staring her down. She feels cold, shivering, though the snow had stopped and the weather had calmed.
“You, furred dragon and boy, have you seen a cold sage?”
She feels intimidated by her presence. “H-how do you know Losian is with me..? You can’t even see him from behind me.”
“Forleosan?” He murmurs, pulling gently at her neck fur, wanting her to curl back around him for warmth.
“I feel what every flake he makes touches; so does he.”
Her eyes widen in fear. “Why did he stop? He was after us.”
Her expression becomes confused. “Mh? Why was he after you?”
“He killed our father, but our father killed his companions. He got really powerful when our father killed this one lady.”
“Oh,” She looks amused, almost satisfied.
She feels Losian hold onto her tighter. “Why are you talking about him?”
“Look up, Losian.”
He sits up, still pressing close to her for warmth. He becomes speechless, his eyes widening.
She looks amused at them. “You two children remind me of something I want. I want to repay your father; if I find Sabio, I will send out snow to find you and then give you shelter in my clan. I’ll train you in cold even if your soul’s might be lesser, especially yours, furred dragon - you’re just a smart animal.”
She’s too intimidated to retaliate - still offended.
“Tell me, where is he?”
She replies, “He’s in a ruined tribal village; it’s been like that all our lives.” She lifts up a talon, pointing towards the direction they came from. "It's that way, I remember."
The dragon turns around, taking off in that direction. The cold wind from her heavy flapping causes Losian to groan in discomfort, lying back down and pressing himself against her. She curls back around him, his grip relaxing after a moment.
They fall asleep once more.
----------------------------------------
She feels herself waking up, surprised to feel him still clinging to her for warmth and still asleep. There is a thin layer of snow melting on the ground.
She gazes at him under her wing as he lies there sleeping, realizing his scent has been different lately.
She continues gazing at him, noticing a clear fluid coming out of his mouth - unlike spit.
She feels concerned, pushing him gently with her talon. “Losian, wake up.”
“H-humh..?!” He groans in pain as he feels his gash wounds flare up from moving, opening his mouth, causing clear fluid to pour out onto the ground and her talon.
She flinches back, holding her fluid-soaked talon partially up. “Are you alright?”
“Y-yeah?” He places his hand over his stomach, still in clear pain. “I don’t know; my mouth keeps doing that. I think dad said that’s how Fiarum breathe fire when it’s mixed with the fruit and air.”
Both of their expressions become somber at the mention of their father.
“I miss him,” She says.
They both sit there for a moment, reflecting.
Losian goes over to the mostly eaten deer carcass, picking it up by it’s back legs. “I’m gonna get rid of this.”
Her head snaps up, her deep-thinking trance broken. She steps over to the head of the carcass, biting it’s neck and lifting it up.
They carry it far away from their alcove, fearful a predator might find it near them.
Once they place the carcass down, she speaks, “Why don’t we try to look for the plant that lets you breathe fire on the way back?”
“He said that they have dark red and look like a large berry with leathery skin. But wild ones are smaller than what the Fiarum had.”
“I remember, Losian.”
They start walking back, looking around.
He speaks, “Should we hunt again?”
“I don’t know. The dragon from last night might come back.” She pauses, still searching for the berry. “I got lucky yesterday when hunting. Oh, what if you spit fire to hunt?”
“I still hurt when I walk, because of you. It would burn it alive anyway.” He sounds slightly angry.
“Sorry, I was upset and scared.” She stops. “Is that it?” She asks, lifting her talon towards a bush.
He walks over to it, squatting down, plucking a large, dark red berry from the bush. “It feels like it is.” He grabs a few more, ending up with five in his arms. “Where should we try it?”
“Over a pond? Or you can spit a small amount into a firepit?”
“Let’s go back and make a firepit.” He says, standing up, walking again. She follows after him.
They arrive back; it’s midday, the sky had become cloudy.
“Let’s do it here.” He points to the ground, shuffling aside the leaves with his foot to reveal stone ground.
“Alright.” She starts grabbing sticks from around the area with her jaw, piling them together, as Losian continues brushing away the leaves.
Eventually, they finish. She feels the temperature getting colder.
Losian grabs one of the fruits, chewing it thoroughly. She backs away, watching him.
He spits the full amount in a powerful stream, the liquid igniting right as it leaves his mouth. It hits the large firepit, some of it splashing off of larger sticks. The fire struggles to burn from the snow dampening the wood, instead causing smoke to be made.
It begins to snow again.
“She’s coming back, Losian.”
He picks up a fruit, but doesn’t chew it. She looks worriedly at him, sensing his intentions.
“Losian, don’t-” She is cut off by a loud roar in the distance.
She sees him beginning to chew the fruit.
She waits for the roar to fade away so she can speak clearly again.
She hears the white-scaled dragon land behind her.
Losian picks up two berries in each hand, running at them, spitting fire, aiming at Sabio, immediately chewing another fruit.
The dragon roars, dodging the fire. Sabio clings onto her neck.
“You’re making a mistake, boy.”
The cold becomes intense. Losian falls, letting out a pitiful cry, curling into himself desperately for warmth.
“I’m repaying your father by not killing you.”
Forleosan rushes over to him, laying on top of him in an attempt to keep him warm.
“I’m sorry, I tried to stop him!” She says frantically, shivering.
It stops snowing, the cold becoming less intense.
“You children are the reason I have something back, which I wanted very much. Get on my back; he’ll hold onto Sabio, and you’ll be carried in my mouth.”
"I don’t want to hold onto him!" He yells, struggling up, pushing her off of him.
She lowers her voice, stepping towards him, her head lowered to his. “I don’t care. You’re going to do what I say, or I’ll kill you.”
She feels her chest tighten in fear.
Reluctantly, he walks over to her, jumping up and climbing onto her back, inching over to Sabio, looking to the side as he has to wrap his arms around his torso for stability.
Forleosan walks infront of her, letting herself be picked up in her jaw.
The dragon lifts off, her wings scattering the leaves and blowing away the firepit they had made.
Once she’s high enough, she catches a wind current, gliding in the air.
Hours pass, midday turns into evening, the sky eventually clears again.
In the light, they can see her features clearly.
She’s a little less than two men tall. Her scales are mixing shades of mostly whites and some light greys. Her underbelly is light grey with plates on her chest. Her eyes are brown. Her horns are white and slanted back; they curve up slightly at the ends; each horn has a decorated gold ring around them right above the base. Her wing webbing is mixing shades of light grey.
Nearing nightfall they arrive at the village. Below them are several minka style houses and buildings. There are areas surrounded by stone walls, separating them by clans. Some of the clans are much further off from the main village - not having any walls.
The main village is built right infront of the cliffside of a tall hill. On top of the hill is a large area surrounded with finer looking stone walls. It is actively guarded unlike the rest of the village.
She lands inside the walls of the clan, infront of a large building. She sets Forleosan down, Losian jumping off her back, away from Sabio, rushing over to her for warmth, shivering heavily. Banners on the side of the stone wall that overlook the village are heard unfurling, they depict her infront of a pine tree with a light grey background, there several young dragons around her for each clan.
Two guards with spears in hand and swords at their sides stand infront of a large sliding door with square patterns on it; they suddenly straighten up at her arrival. "Muraji-Ceald, you've returned. Nothing of major importance happened while you were gone... Where should we take these guests?"
"They sleep in the unused rooms." She sounds incredibly tired. "These guests should be considered part of this clans top branch family, tell the other clans."
One of the guards walk off, the other opens the large sliding door.
Inside there is a large open space, the walls are white-ish yellow with a large painting of finely drawn tundra wilderness on the back wall; the rest of the walls have dark brown crossing wooden planks as supports, there are multiple windows that have drawings on white-ish yellow of the tundra on them aswell with no overlapping supports. The room is lit up by lanterns. A stone hearth-fire is embedded in the wall, which Losian walks quickly over to, she follows after him.
There is a stairway leading up, the floors get slightly smaller after each other, there are three levels to the building. The second floor has an open area in the front, the open area is a forth as big as downstairs, there are two large sliding doors in the back, and two sliding windows in the front. The windows both have a drawing of a pine forest; the doors both have a drawing of a river going through a pine forest.
The top floor is large bedroom with different areas to it, the sliding door is right infront of the end of the stairway which opens into it. The large bed is given privacy by a couple of shoji.
"You both sleep in either room, I don't care... Sabio get off my back, oh, you're too frail - you fuckin runaway..." Her speaking starts to slur.
She suddenly pushes herself up onto her hindlegs, causing Sabio to fall off.
"Ow..." He sounds soft and pitiful, sitting upright and curling his legs to his chest.
Her tail starts swishing arrhythmically. "Neither of you kids go to the top floor, ever... I'm gonna - I'm gonna do something to Sabio... hah..."
"Please, Ceald, is this how you honor your friendship with my mother..?"
She looks at Losian, confused, he looks back at her, just as confused.
"Is this how you... how you treat the only thing that doesn't manipulate you..? And loves you..? So, so, much..." She huffs a laugh, lowering her head close to his.
He remains silent.
"Three days awake I spent looking for you." She picks him up by his robe in her jaw, carrying him like a kitten, taking him to the top floor.
Losian seems to not care too much, laying down by the fire, falling asleep quickly. She lays behind him, falling asleep aswell.