A soft chirp rose into the damp air above the ravine. Shafts of sunlight pierced the morning mist, illuminating the rocky hollow in which a single egg rested. A slit had opened in the egg's leathery surface, and a little snout poked its way into the new and wondrous world, egg tooth gleaming. Tiny lungs expanded for the first time, and wide, curious eyes blinked at the gentle light.
To the hatchling, it was as though she had woken up from a long, peaceful slumber. Still drowsy, she chirped again. The world was new to her, but she knew, instinctively, that she should not be alone. The hatchling squirmed, attacking her prison with the egg tooth, flexing muscles for the very first time. The shell split further, and a pair of black forelimbs armed with sharp little claws emerged, followed by a pair of small, crinkled wings. All the while the hatchling called out, piercing the silent mist with her squeaks.
At last, the neonate pulled herself from the egg, tumbling forward as her hindlimbs and tail slipped free. Soaked in her own fluids, the chill of the cold dawn penetrated her soft scales easily, and she shivered. Once again, she called out into the fog, her cries growing more and more frequent. Her short, stubby legs, new as they were, could not support her, and she fell to the ground. Dead leaves, tiny stones, and dust clung to her wet scales. Her head felt heavy, weighed down by the stubs that would one day be majestic horns.
She should not be alone at the moment of her awakening, she knew. A tender tongue should have cleaned her off, great black wings should have shielded her from the cold, and a powerful heart should have soothed her back to sleep.
Where was Mother?
The little hatchling tucked her tail closer to herself and folded her wings. Desperate squeaks and chirps were swallowed up by the mist. The small one cried out for Mother all through the morning, as the mist was burned away and the bright sun stung at her young eyes. Even as the distant roars of other, greater beasts echoed through the ravine, Small One kept calling. Her scales dried out and soaked up the sunlight, warming her body, and still Small One called. When the sun began to rest for the day, and the starry sky came out, Small One called.
But Mother never came.
A/N: An attempt by me at writing a daily fic, to get myself used to the idea of just writing even when I'd rather daydream about the things I'd like to write. My goal is to release one chapter a day (or as close as I can get to that) until the story is over. This means that some chapters may be extremely short (like this one) and others might be longer.
This story is largely unplanned (I have a beginning and an ending in mind, and maybe three important milestones to hit in between), so to give myself a little bit of extra inspiration, parts of this story are going to be determined by a roll of the dice. If a situation comes up where Small One would need a certain quality to succeed, I'll roll a dice on it to see what happens. Should make things interesting, hopefully. I'll put the dice rolls and make note of any stat changes in the notes after each chapter (this one didn't have any).
If you've got anything to say about the story, good or bad, drop it in the comments. I'm always willing to listen to feedback!