Danger in Winter

The cold wind was howling outside the warmth of the cave when Moon awoke. Feeling the empty space behind him, he realized Mother was already up. She was lying next to the entrance of the cave staring out into the snowstorm that had crept in overnight. He stretched his wings and stood up, shivering from the cold. Yawning, he stumbled over his own tail and nearly fell back down. Mother jerked her head around and gave him a small smile. Good morning sweet one.

He shuffled over to her and gasped when he looked outside. The snow was swirling between the rocks and trees; overnight it had laid a heavy blanket over the entire wilderness. The trees were full of snow and the ground seemed to have disappeared under the brilliant whiteness. Wow! Mother, look at all that snow! Can I go out and play in it? Please?

She looked down at him, her stern gaze already starting to form.

Oh, er. I mean, go out with you, of course. Moon stammered, embarrassed at how soon he had forgotten his promise to of not going outside without her.

She hesitated before reluctantly agreeing. Very well, but stay close by. A little thing like you could easily get lost in those drifts.

Sure thing Mother! He started forward to jump through the entrance, but Mother suddenly slammed a wing out in front of him. WAIT, I heard something. She slowly crept closer to the entrance and sniffed the air. Ow... Moon rubbed his nose. Hitting her wing didn't hurt too much, but it definitely surprised him. Mother, I- She cut him off. Stay right here, do NOT leave this cave until I come back.

Moon looked down at the ground, disappointed. Yes, Mother...

Adurna nodded firmly and swiftly leaped out of the cave into the snowy wilderness.

Pricking his ears up, Moon grasped the edges of a stone and stood to watch as close as he dared on the edge of the cave's entrance. He saw her black shape sweep across the clearing in front of him, her head rotating left and right searching for any intruders. Moon's heart was racing. What if a human is out there? Could Mother fight a human? He thought so but was doubtful when he remembered Father's more dreadful stories about humans.

Minutes passed. Just when Moon thought it was nothing, Adurna froze in her tracks. Moon gasped and leaned his head out of the cave, trying to see catch a glimpse at what she saw. He couldn't see anything except the white of the snow and her blurry shape standing in the clearing. She slowly started to move in a semi-circle around a grove of trees. Moon peered farther out and almost slipped off the ledge he was clutching. He still couldn't see anything!

Mother made an almost full half-circle around the trees and stopped. The wind was billowing snow in her face as she slowly started creeping forward, keeping her head just barely above the snow with the rest of her body hidden as well as a black dragon can in the snow. She slowly came to a stop.

Moon held his breath. Nothing seemed to be happening. Suddenly two rabbits burst out from under the trees in front of her, and, with reflexes Moon could scarcely believe, she pounced on the first one and quickly used her wings to propel her in the path of the last one attempting to make an escape into the forest; catching and killing both of them in a manner of seconds.

Moon's jaw dropped in awe as she picked up the prey and made her way back to the cave, skipping over a larger snow drift. Moon scrambled out of the way and Adurna gracefully jumped back inside, dropping the rabbits.

The dragonet was breathless from watching all the action. That was amazing Mother! How did you even know they were there? Was that the sound you heard? Dragons, that was so cool! You just sneaked around crouching and stuff, then you were all grr- Moon acted out all that he had seen, running and jumping around the cave, his wings and tail flailing about after him.

She chuckled softly, watching him fool around. I'm glad you enjoyed watching, and now we have our breakfast! Hungry? Adurna dragged the closest rabbit in front of her. Moon sniffed at his rabbit. Can I? It looks so good... though it's awfully small. Remembering his manners he quickly said, but that's okay, you were so awesome! Did Father teach you those moves?

I... Yes, he did Moon. Whatever happiness she was feeling seemed to sink away when she heard Moon bring up his Father. It opened the terrible wound she had briefly stopped dwelling on during her hunt. Her appetite was gone. Moon, I, I need. Her head was spinning, she needed to keep it together in front of Moon. I'm going to check outside for some more prey. You go ahead and eat these rabbits. I'll be right back, then we can go out and play in the snow, okay?

Moon shifted and looked up. Oh, alright. I'll save one for you, just in case you can't find more. But Adurna was already on her way out, trying not to choke up in front of her young dragonet. She left the cave entrance and immediately took to the air, heading to the north side of the island.

Catching sight of the resting spot of her mate, she landed in front of the willow tree and collapsed underneath it. I can't... do it, I can't. I have to tell him but I can't... Argetir, what should I do? She sniffed and buried her head in the snow, trying to get rid of the horrible feeling inside her. She gave a heavy sigh and stared the crashing waves in the distance. What was she doing? Argetir wouldn't do this, he would be strong. He would take care of Moon, he would... She knew what he would do. He would tell Moon the truth.


Moon ate his meal quickly, too quickly. It was a meager meal, but then again, they didn't usually have breakfast at all, especially when Father was gone. Mother usually spent most of the afternoon hunting and almost always brought back a nice dinner. Even so, he didn't think it was right to take the second rabbit. There are two dragons, two rabbits; it made sense. His stomach growled and he looked longingly at the remaining rabbit. Mother did say I could have it, but if she can't find more food... No. I am saving it for her.

He heard a rustle outside. More prey? Moon peeked his head out of the cave and widened his eyes when he saw it. There was a rabbit right in the middle of the clearing, rooting around the snow for who knows what. He couldn't believe his luck. I could catch that. It's bigger than the one's Mother found, she would be so proud of me. He tried to remember how his Mother had hunted the rabbits. She was, like, super low to the ground, then she ran up to them and POUNCED!

Moon tried to think it through in his head, though he oversimplified and missed a few key pieces of what had led to Adurna's successful hunt. As quietly as possible, the young dragon leaped from the entrance and promptly disappeared into a snow-drift. Oof. His wings were stuck above the drift, while the rest of his body was in the snow. He poked his head out and awkwardly tried to wiggle his way out of the drift. The rabbit turned it's head and froze at the sight of the dragon. Moon tried moving carefully towards the rabbit just like Mother had, but suddenly the rabbit turned and bolted towards the woods.

Pushing his way out of the drift, he raced after his prey as fast as his short legs could carry him. He could see the rabbit's bushy tail bobbing in the distance. Branches slowed him down as he ducked under or ran through them; all the while trying to follow the rabbit's zig-zag pattern it was taking through the trees. Just a little more, come on, come on... But even as he tore through the forest and bounded over the drifts, he began to lose sight of the rabbit.

He slowed down and stopped, breathing hard from the exertion his run had taken out on him. Moon felt sudden shame for leaving the nest. Embarrassed, he turned and headed back towards home. He was supposed to be a Night Fury, not some foolish fox that chased after whatever it happened to see. The snow was falling harder now, with gray skies appearing overhead. As he leaped over another drift, he landed with an odd sound.

He cautiously stepped again and this time a noticeable high pitched creak come out from under him. Stopping in his tracks, he looked down at his claws. Scraping the snow away, he saw his reflection on the icy ground. Moving water was visible under the ice. He came to the terrifying realization that he was standing over one of the rivers that flowed through these woods.

Father had told him of the dangers water posed when hidden beneath a layer of ice. The deep coldness of ice water could seep under a dragon's scales and slow their movement until they were completely immobilized. Worse, he said if a dragon fell beneath the ice, they could lose track of where they that had fallen in and get trapped underneath the ice.

There were already noticeable cracks all over the surface of the ice. Moon knew he had to be careful about what he did next. Ever so slowly he began to move and instantly more cracks ran across the ice. He paused again and the cracks ceased. He wondered if jumping from here would be better than walking. He had no idea how wide the river was. He could be standing right in the middle or only over the edge of it. If he fell in the middle, he could be swept away, gone, forever.

The snow continued to fall heavily around him. Moon looked at his surroundings and tried to imagine where the river was underneath all this snow. There was a large empty space behind him; he wondered if that was the river. Then again, it may just be open space in the woods. A fallen pine tree lay in front of him, some paces away. He saw another, much larger crack begin to splinter across the ice right underneath him. That made his decision.

He bounded forward as far as he could and the ice splintered and broke behind him. He flapped his wings awkwardly, stretching out his forelegs to try and grab hold of the pine tree. Moon barely snagged a branch with a foreleg while the rest of his body landed heavily on the frozen surface of the river; which gave way beneath his hindquarters and plunged his lower half into the freezing water. He gasped in shock as he felt the sudden coldness stab at his hide like icy daggers.

Moon gasped and tried to lift himself up onto the pine tree with his foreleg. Too cold. He tried to pull himself out of the frigid waters, the branch bending into an increasingly concerning angle. The cold seeped through his limbs and threatened to make him lose his already precarious grip on the branch. Too cold, so cold, can't move. Moon tried to lift his other foreleg up, but the frozen water seemed to clutch at it, weighing it down. Panic and shock started to flood his thoughts. Grimacing, he used as much energy as he could muster to force his other foreleg out of the water. He swung his it over the branch and dug his wet claws into the pine's rough bark. Now with both of his forelegs, he hauled himself out of the icy water's clutches and up onto the tree.

The little dragon shuddered and lay there for a bit, shivering all the while. He shifted his head and thought about getting up, but his muscles didn't respond. I can't, I just... need to rest, so cold. He wrapped his aching wings around his frigid body and closed his eyes, all the while thinking about how much he regretted going after the stupid rabbit.


Adurna decided not to hunt on her way back, she needed to tell Moon the truth, the sooner the better. When she got back to the cave, she called his name, but no answer. You have got to be kidding me. She waited a few minutes, tapping her claws impatiently against the stone floor. Looking out towards the growing storm, she started pacing around the cave. After a few dozen paces she snorted in annoyance and left the cave to go look for him.

Moooon! Where are you, Moon? This was her fault. She should never have left him alone, not in this storm. She looked for tracks but found nothing thanks to the ongoing snowstorm. What did I think he would do? Sit patiently in the cave like an obedient dragonet? No. Of course not. He's his Father's child. She scoured the surroundings near the nest, pushing past the snow and trees for any sign of her Moon.

Finding nothing, she flew all the way to the southern shore and then back to the cave. Still, no sign of him. She was getting worried. The storm was at its peak now, the gray skies and wind were making it so she could barely see anything. Using her nose, Adurna slowly tried to trace Moon's steps from the cave out into the clearing but ended up losing his scent when she approached the edge of the woods.

Taking a guess at where he was starting to head, she began running through the woods, calling his name and trying to catch his scent again. It was getting darker out and the snow always seemed to be constantly hitting her right in her face, forcing her eyes into narrow slits. She refused to believe Moon was gone. If she had to, she would stay out all night until he was found.

She made wide circular sweeps throughout the woods, checking the thick groves of trees for any sign of her lost dragonet. She barrelled through snow drifts and frantically dug through the larger ones, searching for any sign that might lead her to Moon. This continued until she caught his scent near the brook that ran through the woods down to the ocean below.

Adurna finally found him lying limp on a spruce log near the brook. His eyes were tightly shut and there was already a mound of snow gathering over him. Adurna crept over to him, fearing the worst. Moon's wings were quivering around him, trying to bring warmth back to him and his chest was slowly rising and falling. She was overjoyed to find her little dragonet alive, but he looked so cold, too cold.

Moon... Moon dear, wake up sweetheart. Adurna nosed at his cold scales, but Moon didn't so much as flinch at the touch. Moon? Adurna tried not to think about how cold he was and focused on the fact that he was alive. Carefully scooping her little dragonet up, she gently lifted his small form up onto her back. She shivered in response to the frozen scales on her back and began to head back to the warm nest. Hang on little Moon. You're going to be okay. I've got you now.