Update 14/06/19 (6/14/2019): Fixed an issue and added a scene that helps to set up the next chapter, after I unfortunately spaced on it. My apologies, but it is necessary! The scene added is towards the end, and showcases a bit more about Falan and how he his as an individual. Again, my apologies! And no, it will not be a common occurrence to do this lol.
Welcome to chapter four!
Things will be changing in story here soon, so consider this a heads up. I hope you all enjoy! Thank you to everyone for reading and reviewing, I greatly appreciate it. This chapter and one more on Saturday, but then remember, I'm taking a week off to catch up on my buffer. So don't panic! Story isn't going anywhere lol.
Enjoy the chapter! I'll see you at the closing AN.
Chapter 4
The blue hatchling broke out of its shell, squawking loudly. Having tasted freedom, it lunged forward with a chirp of happiness, breaking the rest of the egg and sending the hatchling tumbling over the edge of the nest. Leitand quickly brought his tail underneath it, purring as it landed safely with an indignant squeal. Velin and Eska rumbled their approval at his actions, and Eska bobbed her head.
"Clean her," she ordered him. When he hesitated, she sighed in annoyance. "Leitand-son, you know how to clean. Three of us, three hatchlings. Each need cleaning."
The hatchling had looked up at the one who had caught her and had started to stumble over his tail towards his head, chirping questioningly. Leitand purred and used his forepaws to bring her into his chest where he began to clear her scales of bits of broken egg and whatever fluid was in it. He was only grateful that it didn't have any discernable taste, as even with his acceptance of dragon mannerisms, he still found the idea disturbing.
The hatchling chirped and cooed under his ministrations, to all their amusement. He felt his heart began to melt when she began to rub her head furiously into his chest, still chirping. He chuffed in amusement. "She little singer," he warbled, laughing.
Eska and Velin chirped their approval at his comment. "She Sonvari then," Eska responded. Leitand's ears perked in surprise, and he looked up from the newly named Sonvari.
"Not too soon for name?" he asked, tilting his head. Velin shook his head, laughing.
"No age for name to be given, only wait for actions to determine name," he explained, looking at his daughter with a deep love in his eyes. It made Leitand both happy and sad to see. "You point out good quality in her. Sonvari is good name," Velin finished. Leitand's purr grew louder, delighting Sonvari. He lowered his head until he was nose-to-nose with her.
"Greetings, Sonvari-sister-hatchling," he purred. She squawked back at him in response. Eska chuffed in approval.
More sounds of an egg breaking put a halt to any further conversation, and all eyes turned towards the nest, including his new sister's. She chirped curiously and moved to escape Leitand's hold on her. Reminded of his task by that, he blocked her from moving further away and pulled her back into his chest, where he proceeded to gently clean her while ignoring her indignant cries. He made sure to keep an eye on the nest though, as did Sonvari, who poked her head over his paws to look.
Soon a dark green head broke through the top of the egg, and they were joined by another hatchling. This one he knew was a male, and Eska made sure to scoop it out of the nest before it could fall. There she did as Leitand was doing, though he noticed she was far more efficient at it. He continued his now constant purr, and Velin rumbled happily as well.
Their latest addition didn't seem to like the attention as much as Sonvari had. He pressed himself firmly against Eska, looking out at them with nervous eyes. Velin noticed this and laughed. "He nervous," he noted. Eska and Leitand both hummed in agreement.
The third egg was a slightly different experience for all of them. It didn't seem able to escape from the egg, and they could all hear irritated squawks coming from it. When it finally broke the top of the shell, Velin used the horn on his nose to help open the egg for it. Then he let out a squawk of surprise, and quickly jerked his head up. The newly hatched blue dragon was hanging from it by its teeth.
Eska and Leitand both laughed loudly at the image, with Velin crossing his eyes to look at the hatchling closer, another male Leitand observed. "This one is biter," Velin said, shaking his head gently.
Eska smiled at that. "Then he is Falan," she warbled. Velin nodded his head sagely, finally dislodging the hatchling. He quickly wrapped the now named Falan in his wings and began to clean him, much to his enjoyment.
After he had cleaned her to his satisfaction, Leitand finally let his little sister escape his grasp. She immediately sprinted over to Eska to poke her nose at the unnamed hatchling. Chirping questioningly at him, she flapped her wings. The hatchling squawked a reply back at her, and Leitand was reminded of the few memories of his own brother, which made him croon sadly.
Eska noticed his change in mood and tilted her head. "Leitand-son," she began. He turned his attention towards her. "You had sibling-hatchlings?"
Leitand forced a purr. "Have one sister-hatchling and two brother-hatchlings," he responded, pointing his nose towards the hatchlings as he labeled them. Eska rolled her head and hummed her amusement.
"Not what meant, but will not question," she told him, blinking sympathetically at him. He purred happily.
"Need food?" he asked after some time had passed. Eska and Velin looked at each other, and then towards him, amusement evident in their gazes. Eska looked at her mate.
"Seems we need not worry about who watches new-hatchlings," she said, rolling her head. "Attention Seeker seeks to replace us as hunters."
Velin laughed loudly as Leitand lowered his head slightly. "Yes," he said, also rolling his head. "We need never leave nest now." They laughed together.
Leitand sat up to his full height, stretching his wings and flashing his chest. "I best hunter in nest," he bragged. "No need others to hunt when I here." He crouched down and pounced on an invisible animal to demonstrate. Eska and Velin both chuffed their amusement, while Falan and the unnamed hatchling were staring at him with wide eyes. Both tried to mimic his grandiose gesture, bringing more laughter. Sonvari tried to replicate his pounce, though it did not work as well, as she only had two legs.
Velin rolled his head again. "Seems Leitand-son has admirers," he observed, waving a wing at the hatchlings. Leitand huffed haughtily and flicked his head to the side.
"What not to admire?" he asked, flicking his tail and raising a paw to pose. More laughter.
"Yes, you hunt," Eska finally said, glancing down at her children. "Be back soon." Leitand nodded, and quickly exited the den.
He decided he would fish this time, as he found them to be the easiest to swallow when he was younger. As he approached the river, he made a mental note to catch little fish over bigger ones. Can't have my new siblings choking, now can I? he mused, moving to sit alongside the water. It's unfortunate that I didn't practice this as much.
Poising with his paw over the water, he waited. He saw plenty of fish to be sure, but he was being more selective in his catching. Spying an appropriately sized fish, he quickly darted his paw into the water. Feeling his claws catch in the flesh and pin the fish to a submerged rock, he resisted the urge to crow his achievements. He quickly dipped his head towards it to catch it in his teeth, before flinging it over his shoulder.
He wasn't sure how long he had spent fishing, but as soon as he felt he had a decent pile he decided to head back towards the den. Looking down at the sizeable pile, he realized that he had no idea as to how to bring it all back to them. Groaning, he slammed his head into the dirt, grinding the grass into a pulp at his idiocy. Well, I suppose I can carry them in my mouth, he realized. Not like they would complain. Having decided, he made sure that his teeth were sheathed and brought as much of the pile into his maw as he could, pleased that he had managed so much.
As quick as he could without dropping any of his catch, he made his way back towards the den, humming his arrival once he stood in the entrance. Hearing a relieved squawk, he made his way in, dropping the pile from his mouth next to the nest itself.
"Attention Seeker," Eska spoke, humming her approval at his choice of food, though she looked slightly irritated. "Said be back soon, not be slow. Thought you best hunter in nest?" She cocked her head to the side as she spoke.
Leitand dipped his head, chastised. "Catch fish not like catch deer," he complained. "Not same, not hunting. But I did catch quick, just did not know how to bring back." Velin chuffed in amusement, seeing to it that the hatchlings, who were currently gnawing on the bone and antlers, ate their first meal. Eska rolled her head, squawking in amusement.
"Swallow then bring up, is not hard," she responded, narrowing her eyes. Leitand's eyes widened as he realized that he could have indeed done that, but then he frowned in confusion.
"Not know how," he apologized, dipping his head.
She huffed once more and decided to just drop the subject. "No matter, Leitand-son. I will teach you." She pointed her nose towards the three gorging hatchlings. "Is good way to bond with hatchling-siblings." Leitand perked up at that and began to purr happily. Hearing the sound, Sonvari looked at him and squawked, catching his attention. He lowered his nose until he was level with her, humming curiously.
She squawked again, and rubbed her nose against his, making a strange sound as she did so. At first, he was confused, but then he realized that she was trying to purr, which made him purr all the harder as he returned her nuzzle. Velin chuffed his approval. Losing interest, Sonvari returned to the now greatly diminished pile of fish.
"Need more fish, eat more than I do," he observed, gaining a snort from Eska.
(-)
Life over the next month proved to be exhausting for Leitand. What little time he didn't spend hunting or fishing, he dedicated towards playing with his new siblings. Sonvari seemed to be the most attached to him and would repeatedly get jealous if he spent too much time playfighting with Falan or grooming the recently named Falith. Their dam and sire found this to be very amusing, and teased Leitand immensely.
For his part, Leitand just found it to be extremely adorable and would always ignore their jabs or respond in kind. Usually it was the latter, but sometimes he chose discretion to be the better part of valor. Eska might have been very caring, but she could still pin him down and groom him rather forcibly. While she was normally gentle or just the right amount of tough, these particular sessions had Leitand squirming to escape.
He found that he was growing quite the soft spot for his sister, something she seemed to appreciate. Despite that, he loved all of his siblings almost equally. Falan proved to be very adventurous, and he loved to playfight. Falith on the other paw, was what Leitand would describe as a recluse. However, of all the hatchlings, it was Falith that would emulate Leitand the most.
Velin noticed this rather quickly, and as such asked that Leitand be the one to teach him how to hunt. Those lessons started much faster than he had anticipated, though he would never tell his sire no. When it came to learning how to speak, Leitand was distraught to see that they were progressing much faster in their speech than he had. While he might have been older, they rapidly approached his level of understanding. It surprised him, thoughts of how a human takes years in order to learn to speak properly running through his mind. It was more than a little disconcerting, though he couldn't complain much.
With Falith, it seemed that all he wanted to be was like Leitand. He took to his lessons fiercely, though Leitand had to adapt it to match a dragon that walked on two legs as opposed to four. The hardest part, he had found, was convincing his sibling to disguise his scent.
"Get dirty? On purpose?!" Falith would ask, looking as though Leitand had lost his mind. He would only huff in irritation and promise that he would clean him himself after they were done. After much more bribing, Falith would grudgingly accept and do as he'd been shown.
His tone changed substantially after Leitand and himself snuck up on their sire and Falan. They had crept quietly, with Leitand leading until they were only a few wingspans away. Glancing over his shoulder at Falith mischievously, he poked a paw at him and then towards Falan. His brother's eyes gleamed, and he bobbed his head to show he agreed. Turning back to face the duo, Leitand narrowed his eyes at his sire. With a flick of his tail, the ambush was sprung, mighty shouts arising from the attackers.
Falan was bowled over immediately, quickly getting pinned by Falith. Velin squawked in surprise as his eldest tackled him, knocking him to the ground as well. The victorious duo roared their victory to the skies, before quickly getting off their victims, Leitand purring happily at a successful mission. While he had a sneaking suspicion that Velin had let himself be defeated, he knew that they both had had no idea that they were being hunted. Such was evident in the pride in their sire's eyes as he gazed at them.
After that successful session, Falith was much more open to his brother's teachings. He was rapidly showing to be a promising hunter, something that made both Velin and Eska inordinately proud, not to mention Leitand himself.
Shortly after, life changed for the family greatly. The winter snows had finally arrived, and with them the promise of months of hunger and cold. Leitand, now almost nine months of age, was surprised to find that the cold didn't bother him as much as he'd have thought, though it made sense when he realized that he scarcely noticed the temperature changing in either way. He was surprised that it hadn't snowed sooner, though Velin explained to him that it had been a rather mild winter last year.
It seemed that the cold wasn't as great a threat to a family of dragons as starvation, and Leitand swore that he would not let that happen. Now confident in the knowledge that he wasn't in danger of freezing, at least during the daytime, he spent the majority of his days hunting. At first, prey was still relatively easy to find. After a month into winter however, it became much harder. Leitand and Velin both went further and further away from the den, though Leitand was always the one to go the furthest. Velin couldn't bring himself to stray too far away from his children and mate, though he knew they must in order to survive.
Despite its hardships, Leitand found that he rather enjoyed the winter. While he was certain that he would mostly likely freeze to death if he remained out in the elements for too long, he was happy to know that he'd always have a nice warm den to return to after the challenges of the day. His siblings, now at the age of two months, kept their dam busy and prevented her from worrying about Velin and Leitand as they braved the storms to bring them food. They were all happy when the older males returned though.
Leitand had continued to grow, though he'd noticed that the rate at which he did so had slowed immensely. Growing also meant shedding, and many a night he witnessed Sonvari and Falan playing with his shed scales. At ten months old, he found himself to be as tall as Eska, though he was now as long as Velin. Along with his body, his wings grew to a large size as well, to where he could easily drape them over his siblings with plenty of room left over. It made keeping everyone warm much easier, though it helped a lot that Velin had taken it upon himself to block the entrance to the den during the night. Their sleeping arrangements turned into the lot of them sleeping as one large pile, with the younger dragons in the center of it, surrounded by Leitand who in turn was surrounded by Eska and Velin. He may have grown, but they still viewed him as their hatchling.
For Leitand, these nights proved to be a highlight of his. He loved waking up in a warm den surrounded by those that loved and cared for him. While he was normally the first to wake up, he was always the most reluctant to move, beyond Sonvari that is. She took to cuddling her larger brother with a drive that surprised him, though Eska and Velin didn't bat an eye.
"You big-brother-sibling," she told him, as though that answered all of his questions concerning her behavior to him. Then again, maybe it did.
The coldest night of the year proved to be an interesting one for Leitand. To start, he spent the entire day hunting again, going very far into the mainland, though he was careful to avoid any sign of humans or other dragons, not that he saw any. For all intents and purposes, their peninsula seemed to be deserted barring them and the prey animals that remained.
He came back far later than usual, though not empty pawed. He had chanced upon a decent sized doe and had brought it down quickly. The real issue had been in him bringing it back to the den, as it was small enough to carry in flight but only in short bursts. What time he didn't spend flying, he spent dragging the deer.
When he finally did return, it was well past midnight and the temperature was in dangerous levels, even for him as a dragon. Sonvari and Velin were waiting for him, Eska having finally convinced the brothers to sleep. Upon seeing him, steadfastly tugging a deer towards them, they had both rushed out to meet him, Sonvari squawking in relief. Velin was quieter, but the look in his eye told Leitand that he had been worried as well. His sire had taken the doe from him, easily carrying it into the den as Sonvari ran around her older brother, chirping and humming in concern. Despite his exhaustion and the cold that had penetrated deep under his scales, Leitand found a warmth blossoming even deeper. He purred and nosed his sister to tell her that he was fine.
Before he had reached the den entrance, Falan and Falith had rushed out to him as well. Then Eska appeared, ushering them all inside with her wings. Velin blocked the entrance, and then directed the younglings towards the recently heated up deer carcass. Dragon fire was a useful thing, it would seem.
As they had torn into it, Eska had settled Leitand down and had begun to groom him. He had sighed blissfully and filled the air of the den with a loud purr, finding himself almost falling asleep. He became more alert when he felt another begin to groom him as well, a smaller one. Sonvari had decided that she wanted to help her dam in caring for him. He fell asleep, warm and happy thoughts filling his head.
The rest of the winter was mostly uneventful. All four of the young dragons continued to grow, though the younger three grew the fastest. Thanks to Leitand and Velin's efforts, they were never lacking for food. It wasn't as much as it was during the summer and fall to be sure, but it was more than adequate to allow them to grow. That fact alone made him feel very lucky that he had ended up where he did. The peninsula seemed to be a near perfect haven, few threats for a dragon of his size and prey that ran all year long.
When Leitand was a year old, now considered to be in the early stages of adulthood or perhaps his later teens, his growth rate seemingly stopped. Eska had told him that he was nearing his adult size, and that after this next year he would be at his adult size. That thought made him purr, happy knowing that he would most likely be as tall as his sire. For the time being, he was just barely shorter than Velin, though his bulk was on par. Now Velin didn't have to let him win during play fights; he won often enough without it. Velin was still the more competent fighter, but Leitand was fast approaching his level.
The weather began to warm, and Leitand and Velin no longer had to search quite as long or far for prey. As the snows melted, Eska had banned the youngest three from going anywhere near the river without either herself, Velin or Leitand around to observe them. The water had risen drastically, and what he remembered to once be a large creek was now a fast moving, dangerous and large river.
By the time the hatchlings had reached six months of age, all of the snow had melted and Leitand found himself once again in the months of spring and summer.
(-)
Leitand crept closer to the fattening deer, Falith only a few steps behind him. His younger brother had grown a lot during these past six months, now almost as large as he himself had been at that age, but he had not had the time to practice hunting any large game until now. Pride coursed through his body at how quiet his sibling was being, made all the better that he had been the one to teach him. Pausing, he quietly shifted to the side to allow Falith to become level with him. Locking eyes with his smaller brother, he gestured towards the deer. Falith's eyes narrowed as he turned towards their prey, and he shifted on his haunches subtly. Leitand observed with approval. I've taught him well, he prided himself.
Moving faster than he had expected him to, Leitand watched as Falith sprung at the deer, his large mouth clamping around its throat before it could make a noise. A crack filled the air, and the deer went limp. Leitand stood up with a loud purr. Yes!
"Well done, Falith-brother-sibling," he purred, moving forward to nose him affectionately. Falith squawked his appreciation and returned the nuzzle, pride in his eyes. "Worth being dirty?"
His nest-mate rolled his head in thought, before bobbing it happily. "Yes, Leitand-brother-teacher," he chirped, looking at the deer. "Was easier than thought." For a moment, he almost looked disappointed. Leitand nudged him again.
"Easy good. Means no threat, and filled bellies," he responded sagely. Falith bobbed his head, still looking disappointed. Leitand continued. "Do not think it easy, it not. Think instead you becoming great hunter." His brother perked up, meeting his gaze.
"Good as you?" he asked, cocking his head. Leitand purred harder, closing his eyes.
"Do not be as good as me, be better. You be great hunter, are great hunter," he responded, nosing him again. Wisdom flies from my mouth, he thought with some amusement. He found it to be rather ironic that he, the aptly named 'Danger Seeker', was saying anything remotely resembling wisdom. Falith hummed his pleasure. Cracking an eye in mischief, Leitand nudged him slightly harder, causing him to stumble. "Good as me when you carry it on own."
Falith squawked in mock rage and leapt at him, Leitand laughing hard as he let himself be driven to the ground. Darting his head around, he nipped at his younger brother's shoulder, gaining a small chirp of surprise. While he was distracted, Leitand easily dislodged him, swatting his fallen brother affectionately with his tail. "Later," he told him, walking towards the deer. "Now we bring back prey and tell Sire and Dam about their mighty Falith-son-hatchling's victory."
Falith chirped in agreement, and quickly sank his teeth into the deer's leg, before beginning to drag it back towards their den. Leitand watched in amusement as the younger male struggled to tug the carcass, before he deftly picked it up by its neck, lifting it high above his sibling. Then he bolted away, ignoring the indignant cries of his younger brother.
"You had a good hunt then?" Velin asked as he appeared in their clearing. Leitand made eye contact and shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly, not setting down the deer yet. His sire chuffed in amusement, shaking his head. "Where is your brother-sibling?"
He set the deer down to answer, but a panting Falith erupting from the trees answered for him. "There," Leitand said, poking a paw in his direction. Velin chuffed again, which turned into laughter when the younger male tackled Leitand, drawing a yelp of surprise from him. The two scuffled in the grass for a time, Leitand greatly exaggerating his opponent's abilities. When they finally stopped, Leitand was laying on his side with a victorious Falith squawking his triumph atop him.
Velin shook his head, love and pride in his eyes, as Falith hopped off of Leitand. The younger male strutted towards the deer, flaring his wings in a grandiose manner. Leitand rolled his eyes. Hey, you stole that from me! "Thief," he muttered, referring to the gesture. Falith laughed. Laying down, he turned his attention towards their amused sire, beginning to groom his left foreleg. "Truly though, the hunt for me was slow. Falith-brother-sibling caught only prey." He had added that last almost as if an afterthought, nipping at some grass caught in his claws. His sire's eyes widened, and he turned his gaze towards the proud Falith.
"Truly?" he asked. Falith bobbed his head excitedly and Leitand nonchalantly waived a paw. His true emotions were betrayed, however, by his flicking tail. Velin hummed in pride and went to nuzzle his younger son in excitement. "Well done," he complimented. Falith preened and rubbed his head against his sire's nose. Velin squawked once and took a step back to look at them.
"Much to do this sun-cycle," he started, gaining Leitand's attention. He tilted his head and perked his ears, curious. "You learn to fly, as do Sonvari and Falan." Velin nudged his younger son for effect, and he let out an excited chirp. Then he turned to Leitand. "And you, Leitand-son, learn to flame."
Leitand's eyes widened as he leapt to his paws, suddenly very animated. "Truly?" he asked, tail and wings quivering. At his sire's nod and hum of confirmation, he took off, sprinting around his sire and brother with an excited warble. Falith found his enthusiasm contagious, and soon both of them were sprinting around the large green dragon, who just watched with amusement.
"Calm," Velin spoke, chuffing in amusement. He extended a wing to block Leitand's path, causing the young male to slide to a halt. Unable to stop in time, Falith collided with him. Velin rolled his head and snapped his gaze on his younger son. "Wait for your dam and siblings to return. Leitand-son, she will teach you." Leitand sat on his haunches and nodded furiously, his tail waving behind him to knock against his brother repeatedly. Falith watched it with irritation, and when it had hit him for the sixth time, he leapt at it, biting down hard.
Leitand yelped in surprise and pain, whipping around to bat this latest pest from his tail. Velin huffed tiredly as his sons began to scuffle once more, resigning himself to observe them. This seems to be awfully familiar, Leitand thought as he bit his brother's tail. A common occurrence I suppose.
"Attention Seeker!" Eska's voice broke through his thoughts and play. He and Falith immediately ceased moving, each biting the other's tail as they looked up at her. Shit, we've done it now, he thought, visions of being licked until his scales were gone and his skin raw filling his head. His dam looked at him with a mixture of amusement and exasperation.
"It not enough to dirty yourself constantly?" she asked, stalking towards them. Sonvari and Falan were only a short distance behind her, Sonvari looking at him with amusement and Falan with sympathy. "Now you dirty Falith-son-hatchling as well?" She rolled her head and huffed. "Up, both of you." They immediately released each other and leapt to their paws. Leitand noticed that by now he was taller than her by a fair amount, and if he really wanted to, she would be unable to punish him at all. But he was Leitand, the Danger Seeker, the Thrill Seeker! Seeker, not runner.
"Leitand-son," she spoke again as she turned towards the forest, flicking her tail for him to follow her. He started after her, following diligently and only stopping to briefly nose his little sister. Sonvari hummed her affection and took off towards where Velin had her other brothers gathered.
His previous excitement returned as he followed her, knowing that he was finally going to learn how to breathe fire. Seriously, how cool is that?! he asked himself, snapping his teeth at a curious squirrel that was chittering above them. It disappeared up the tree, and he purred his accomplishment. All fear Leitand, the mighty vanquisher of squirrels!
(-)
Eska was in a good mood, despite the irritation her Leitand-dark-son raised in her. She looked over her shoulder to see her now-large-son snapping at a small-quick-prey in the trees, and hummed her amusement as he began to purr. His purr was a sound that she had initially found strange, having never heard it before, but now she couldn't imagine a day without hearing it. His eyes met hers, those silver-grey eyes staring at her with love and mischief evident in them, and she felt a surge of love for her dark-son well up inside her being.
"Your hunt was good," she told him, smiling. His purr intensified, and she found herself humming to match it.
"Yes Dam, but I caught nothing," he told her in his smooth voice, so matching his eyes. She tilted her head quizzically, seeing nothing but honesty and pride in his eyes now. Her own widened.
"Falith-son-hatchling caught that prey?" she squawked. Her dark-son bobbed his head excitedly, and her hum increased in volume. She smiled brightly as she turned to check in front of her. Pride and happiness and love for her quiet-son filled her being. "This is good. He has good teacher." More love entered her at her eldest's louder purr.
She heard his paw-steps pick up in pace, before matching hers again. She tilted her head to stare at him, curious, and laughed as he began to strut regally, his wings slightly raised and his head tilted upwards, the look completed with his tail being curled slightly and his eyes closed. She bumped him with her head, causing him to stumble.
"Attention Seeker always," she laughed, rolling her head. He warbled his happiness and fell back to his place behind her.
Curious, she mused, rattling her spines as she dipped around a tree, humming. What will my Leitand-dark-son's flame look like?
(-)
"No! Two parts of flame, not one! Two breaths, breathed as one, not different. You not twin-scale-kin," Eska chuffed, exasperated. Leitand growled irritably.
Two parts for fire, not one, but then two breaths as one? What in the hell is she going on about? he wondered, narrowing his eyes at the still as of yet un-scorched rock. It felt like they'd been at this for hours, and he wasn't the only one feeling the strain. "You say this, but I still not understand," he moaned, closing his eyes and rubbing his head.
"Clearly," she huffed. She rolled her head and snapped her teeth together. "Leitand-son, you good hunter, you good flier, you good fighter. You be good flamer, but you must understand! Is not hard!"
He sighed and sat back on his haunches, glaring at the rock. "What twin-scale-kin?" he asked her, trying to take his mind off the issue for a break. He glanced at her out of the corner of his eyes.
She rolled her head again. "Twin-scale-kin is kin with two heads. Need both heads to flame," she explained. Leitand's eyes widened, and he faced her fully.
"Truly?" he asked. She warbled an affirmative and bobbed her head. "What kin are you and other family?"
She blinked at him. "Us bright-scale," she explained, as though it were obvious. He blinked back at her. Realization dawned in her eyes and her expression softened. "Sorry Leitand-son, I had forgotten."
Wait, she forgot I wasn't the same type of dragon as her? he wondered, shocked. He felt a touch of happiness fill his chest at the thought. I'm really one of her own. "What kin am I?" he asked, tilting his head.
This time she seemed uncertain. "Not sure," she responded after some time had passed. "Not seen your kin before you. Dark-scale maybe? Night-scale?"
He frowned again. Then he perked up, almost as quickly. "No name, we make name. Thinking… Royal-scale!" he spoke, flaring his wings in his signature grandiose manner. She laughed, shaking her head.
"Royal-scale? No," she told him, still laughing. "You Attention Seeker enough, not need more." Leitand wilted, causing her to laugh again.
"Dark-scale or night-scale then? Why not moon-scale?" he asked.
She tilted her head, thinking. "No, scales not color of moon," she finally responded. He huffed, growing disappointed.
"Well you bright-scale, me dull-scale then?" he asked, looking down at his black paws despondently. She squawked irritably and went over to nip his shoulder, hard. He yelped, and looked at her, hurt.
"Silly. Your scales not dull, you very handsome kin with scales that shine," she told him, licking the top of his head affectionately. His mood lightened, and he began to purr softly.
"Truly?" he warbled questioningly. She hummed her answer, beginning to groom him once more.
"Truly," she told him as she continued to groom him. "When time come for you to leave and find own mate, of your own kin, you have no trouble. None at all."
His purr intensified, though the comment about a mate raised a lot of questions for him. I… never really thought about having a family of my own, he mused. That means that I would have to mate with a… hmm. You know what, I'm not going to dwell on that. I'm a dragon after all, and dragons… well, they create little dragons with other dragons.
He turned his thoughts back to his more immediate dilemma, that of breathing fire. Two headed dragon needs two heads to breathe their fire, he thought, as Eska moved to by his wings. It took her a lot longer to groom him now that he was so much bigger, and it was often easier for him to just do it himself. However, she wanted to do it and he wouldn't complain. It really did feel quite nice. She said that there are two breaths. What does a fire need to come into existence? A heat source, a fuel source and oxygen.
Realization dawned on him. Oh! So, she means that there is a 'breath' for heat and a 'breath' for fuel! Oxygen we wouldn't need to worry about, but the other two…
He narrowed his eyes at the rock once more and took a deep breath. Slowly releasing it, he felt for anything inside of him that would signify heat or fuel. Feeling a slight tingle at the back of his throat, he excitedly opened his mouth and tried to project it outward. The tingle intensified and then…
A purple shower of sparks erupted from his maw, but nothing else. He frowned, as Eska perked up upon hearing the noise.
"You did it?!" she warbled, excited. He huffed, and shook his head, turning to face her. He showered the air in front of him with more purple sparks. She stared, and then started humming. "Pretty, very pretty," she told him, and sent a few sparks of her own white fire out to join his. "But not flame."
He shook his head, cutting off the flow of sparks with a sigh. "Is difficult," he complained. His dam hummed her agreement, nosing him gently.
"Most things are, if they not worthless," she told him. He nodded in agreement, purring once more. "Keep trying."
He rested his eyes on her for a moment, before turning back to the rock with determination in his gaze. Taking another deep breath, he let it out slowly. Once more, he tried finding anything different in his throat or mouth that could signify the 'fuel'. Feeling something new once again, something that felt like a weird bit of pressure in his throat. He concentrated on adding that to his sparks.
There was a soft sound that sounded similar to a blow-torch, and he saw small tongues of purple flame erupting from his maw. Eska squawked in pride at his accomplishment, and nosed him once more, before adding her own small tongue of flame to join his. Yes! Yes, yes, yes!
(-)
The first thunderstorm of spring and summer saw Leitand back in his element once more, though now he had a much larger audience. Sonvari was wowed by her brother's elegance and grace in the storm and found that she herself wanted to experience that joy and delight that he was experiencing now. Eska would not allow it, not wanting to risk any more of her children, despite Leitand's assurances that the lightning would not harm him.
While she might have been banned from flying during an actual storm, Sonvari still tried to practice her dark brother's sky dance. In her, Leitand found a star pupil. Falan was a graceful flier, but he couldn't hold a candle to Sonvari. In this, she followed in her older brother's paw-steps. While he definitely had the advantage due to experience, Leitand couldn't refute her skill and talent in the air.
As time passed, Leitand and his siblings continued to grow. Falith seemed to be following in his sire's, and Leitand's, paw-steps. He grew quickly, and by the time he was a year old he was nearing Velin's height and size. Sonvari and Falan grew quickly as well, but Falith remained the largest. Sonvari was only slightly larger than Falan, and all were larger than Eska. Their dam was still the unrefuted ruler of the nest, however. If dam wasn't happy, no one was happy.
During their first full summer, Leitand continued to work at and improve on his flaming ability, though he didn't take to it quite as naturally as the physical aspects of being a dragon. He was an excellent hunter, a decent fighter and an outstanding flier, but when it came to flaming, he remained the least gifted. When his siblings began to learn how to harness their power after their first year, they made progress much quicker than he had. After only two months of practice, they were at his level, and a month after they all far exceeded him.
He knew that their success, in part, was the result of them being the same species of dragon as Eska and Velin, who could more accurately show and explain to them how their fire worked. That did nothing to lessen their accomplishments, however.
While it was admittedly slow, and tested both his and Eska's patience, Leitand did eventually master his fire, or at least became competent with its use. He found that breathing out while forming his flame resulted in a sort of mini-flamethrower, something he found useful for warming a place to sleep. It also helped to kill any pests that might have otherwise made a home in his scales.
However, if he were breathing in when he formed his flame resulted in something far more interesting. The 'fire', if it could be called that, pooled in the back of his throat, where he could stoke it with more 'fuel'. What he found interesting about his 'fuel' was that it liked to stay in shape when lit aflame. So, when he pooled a mass of purple 'fire' in his maw, he could then quickly release air from his lungs and 'spit' the fireball in any direction of his choosing.
The result was very destructive, very fast, and very accurate plasma bolt destroying whatever unlucky object happened to be his target.
Eska and Velin had been in awe at this, and Velin requested that he incorporate it somewhat during his next 'lightning dance'. Of course, Leitand agreed. It made for quite the spectacle, and he found that flying while forming his 'fire' allowed them to form much faster than when he was on the ground. He contributed this to the higher air flow and noticed that his bolts were particularly devastating when launched from a dive.
After an almost disastrous event in which he accidentally broke part of a cliff whilst showing off, Eska and Velin told him he could not flame anything on the ground unless he had a very good reason. No matter how much he begged and pleaded, they would not be swayed. They did allow him to fire it into the ocean, however, which resulted in him learning yet another interesting fact. When he fired upon the water, he found that the concussion from such an explosion stunned or killed many fish in a certain area. As such, fishing was made exponentially easier.
Falan in particular envied his brother his fire's destructive capabilities. Many a time he was caught practicing with his own flame, trying to cause as much destruction as Leitand did. He stopped only once Leitand pointed out that he had a weapon that Leitand himself did not have: his spikes, which could be fired very accurately. Once he learned of that, he devoted most of his energy towards making his shooting as accurate as Leitand's was.
For a while, it seemed hopeless to him. Then Eska had taken him under her wing, and taught him a few tricks in firing them. After much time and effort, his perseverance paid off, and he was able to strike as accurately as Leitand with his fire, if not more so.
Upon accomplishing that, he insisted on joining his dark brother in his hunts. He took every opportunity he could to show off to his idol, and was immensely happy whenever his brother complimented his abilities. He quickly proved to be the one to follow the closest in his paw steps, and was never very far from him. Velin approved of this immensely, while Eska was a little more hesitant.
"Not need two Danger Seekers," she would voice frequently, gaining a laugh from the pair.
At two years of age, Leitand had reached his adult size. A far cry from his days thinking he was a midget, he proved to be the largest of their family, though only just. When he flew back to his original clearing, a place he rarely visited, he measured himself against his previous marks. There he found that he was over three times as tall as his last mark, which he made when he was five months old and had shown Velin his clearing. His stones and scuff marks had long since disappeared, swallowed up by the earth, but he had no doubt that he was many times larger than he had been.
Whenever he thought about the loneliness of his first few months of existence, he found that it didn't sting as much. He still wondered what had happened to his real mother and brother, but he knew that he'd likely never see them again. As such, he focused on his current family, which was a much more enjoyable task.
He knew that eventually he would have to leave to start his own family, but Eska had informed him that a dragon normally remains with their parents for four years, at which point they were fully realized adults and able to produce their own offspring. During that time, sometimes a mated pair will have multiple clutches, but Eska and Velin had joking told him that they were enough trouble. They might have another during the last year of having their current children, but there was no rush.
Leitand was happy, the happiest he'd ever known or remembered. He had a loving family, brothers that looked up to him, a sister that adored him and parents that loved him as their own, despite not being of their blood. That didn't matter to them, and as such, it didn't matter to him. They were family.
Well now, isn't that all very interesting?
I hope you all enjoyed the chapter! This is the second to last chapter of the Prologue. Then we enter Act I and the story truly starts. Thanks to my begrudging Beta (who isn't excited at all about me writing.) for his assistance in these chapters.
See you all next chapter!
-Aelan
