So it looks like this story concept has won the little competition. I'm a little glad honestly, I've been growing attached to this little idea. I have also just heard that Tui Sutherland has recently written a book called Dragonslayer which gives a lot of information on how Scavengers work in Pyrrhia. I have yet to read this book so I apologize if I go against anything that book sets up.
3 years later
Thrael was on the hunt. The sleek, peach scaled, leopard sized skywing was prowling over the rock ledges that made up the sides of the cavern walls. He leapt upwards, flapping his disproportionately large wings for a bit of lift and he grabbed hold of his favorite perch. A huge, moss covered tree root which crept its way in and out of the cave ceiling.
From this perch Thrael could see the entirety of the main cavern where most of his tribe went about their work. He could see his mother, Amira working on the mushroom farm with a few of the other young women. He could make out the ruby hair of Tyren and the glint of Mav's sapphire necklace to identify at least two of them. Though the women were not who Thrael was looking for.
He wrapped his tail around the root so as not to fall and scanned the rest of the cave. He could see Kiro and his wife, Hafen. Sitting on one of the upper layers of stone, they seemed to be laughing and reminiscing about something. No, not who he was looking for. Thrael looked towards the meticulously covered cave entrance and saw Wits, training a few young men with sharpened sticks and stalagmites. Thrael narrowed his eyes to try and see better around them.
He could tell that the blonde haired Polan seemed to be doing the best in the training while the bearded before his age, Rog, seemed to be having it the worst. Thrael puffed a bit of smoke out of his nose. No, they weren't there either. They were getting better at hiding, or they'd figured out about his perch and had picked spots to hide where he couldn't see them from the perch.
Just ten minutes ago the children of the tribe had gotten together, headed by Thrael's brother and sister Bino and Branc, and they'd decided to play Dragon Chase. It was a game where all the children would hide and Thrael would have to go find them and catch them. Thrael liked the game but he didn't know why he ALWAYS had to be the dragon. He had so many good hiding spots in mind that he wanted to try out, but of course he couldn't tell the other children that.
Because as much as Thrael could understand his tribe he had no way to communicate back. That wasn't important now though. Right now, Thrael had kids to find. The dragon spread his wings out and glided downwards landing at the edge of the farms. The women looked up Mav and Tyren seemed shocked but Amira looked up and waved to Thrael.
Thrael stopped and sat on his back feet to wave back to his mother before scurrying off. He stopped by the swift flowing river that ran throughout the cave, his amber eyes scanned the water as he searched for any bubbles that may indicate Bino's presence. His sister loved to hide in the water, Amira said that her daughter must be part fish.
Sure enough with a big splash Bino threw herself out of the water, practically gasping for air. Thrael gave a little whine as he felt the ice cold water splash onto his scales and he jumped back as Bino giggled. "If I didn't have to breath you'd never catch me, cause you're scared of water" Bino boasted reaching up to boop her brother on the nose. Thrael gave a loud sneeze before resting a single talon gently on the girl's midsection. With that Bino leapt to her feet and held out her hands in front of her like claws. "Okay, I'm a dragon now, let's go catch everybody else".
A rule of dragon chase was that whenever you got caught by the dragon you became a dragon and had to help the dragon that caught you find all the other hiders. Bino rushed through the cavern chamber, with Thrael running after her, careful to go slow so he didn't leave her behind.
The next stop would be to the cave entrance, Whitehair, the little girl named for the color of her hair always tried to hide around Wits. It was because she knew Thrael was terrified of the man and would probably look there last. Thrael and Bino stopped on the outskirts of the training and looked around. Rog noticed them before anyone else. He gave a giggle. "Are you two looking for a little snowhead"? He asked.
"Yeah, did you see Whitehair around here, we've got to catch her" Bino said holding her hands out and striking a very dragonish tone. Thrael nodded quickly and enthusiastically making it known he agreed with his sister.
Rog poked his bearded chin in thought. "Well I might have seen a patch of snow but I can't tell a pair of ferocious dragons where she may or may not have gone, that wouldn't be fair at all" Rog told them.
Bino poked out her chin as she gave a harrumph. Thrael thumped his tail on the ground to show his annoyance. "ROG! STOP TALKING TO THE SALAMANDER AND THE CHILD AND GET BACK TO TRAINING" Wits's voice suddenly rang out. It made Thrael practically jump out of his skin as he felt the man's hateful gaze burn into his hide.
Bino didn't pay Wits any attention as she looked around until she poked Thrael. Bino pointed towards a log that covered the cave entrance, sticking out like a sore thumb above that log was a patch of white hair. The two of them shared a knowing grin before they prowled around the training men and made their way towards the log. They stopped just in front of it, Bino held up three fingers. She dropped one, then two and finally all of them. Without warning the two of them leapt forward. Bino gave her most terrifying "roar" while Thrael chipped in a playful growl.
Whitehair gave out a "eeeek" as the dragon and girl tackled her. "Okay, okay. You got me" Whitehair said sounding a little annoyed she'd lost but she got up and brushed the dust off of her brown tunic.
"Now we've just gotta go get Branc. Do you know where he is"? Bino turned to Thrael who raised his talons and shoulders in a shrug.
"Hmmmm. Where could he be" Whitehair said rubbing her chin and looking around. The three of them scanned the cave, Thrael hopped onto a high piece of wood to see better. There was a commotion going on around the farm. "Let's go see" Whitehair said again.
The three of them charged down the cave to the farm. The training had stopped as the men tried to figure out what was going on.
They found Branc, that much was for sure. Bino's twin seemed to be chasing after a small rat looking animal with a white face. Amira seemed to not know what to do about the whole situation as she watched her son. With an expression somewhere between amused and concerned. Mav and Tyren screamed at how 'nasty' the animal was, while the other women simply watched a little befuddled. "We found you, prepare to be got" Bino shouted tackling her twin and allowing the animal to scurry further away.
"NO! He'll get away" Branc complained. Thrael sprang into action, he sped after the little animal which was now much more terrified to have a dragon chasing it rather then a ten-year-old. Thrael pounced and flapped his wings to get a little more distance. Thrael landed on the little creature which immediately went limp in Thrael's talons.
Whitehair gasped loudly. "Thrael, you killed it"! She said covering her mouth in horror. Thrael looked up, his amber eyes wide in confusion. He shook his head, no he couldn't have killed it. He'd barely landed on it. The dragon hopped back and looked beseechingly down at the little thing.
Amira chuckled, "no, Whitehair. Thrael didn't kill it. It's called an opossum they play dead when you catch them. Thrael let it go and you'll see. It must have snuck into the cavern". Thrael backed up a little more, he wagged his tail back and forth anxiously. Branc, Bino and Whitehair gathered around the dragon looking down at the possum in wonder.
Suddenly the rat thing twitched, it opened a single eye as if checking whether or not they were there. When it saw them, it squeaked and flipped over very quickly, before scurrying away. "Well... Now he got away" Branc complained.
"And the dragons win" Bino said.
"Well now what do we do"? Whitehair asked quickly forgetting about the big rodent.
"We could go swimming" Bino said excitedly. Branc, Whitehair and Thrael looked at her as if she was strange.
"But the water is so cold" said Whitehair.
"And Thrael doesn't know how to swim" Branc pointed out. Thrael nodded to punctuate his brother's point.
"We could go make Hafen tell us a story" Whitehair suggested. That sounded much more attractive to Thrael and Branc seemed to agree. Even though Bino was a little upset that her idea hadn't been picked up by her three friends but even she liked stories from the kind Hafen.
"Let's go"! Bino commanded and the stampede of children ran up to the higher caverns to go see the two elders who made their home up there. Amira watched them go warmth in her gaze. Bino and Branc were growing every day. It was too bad neither of them seemed to take after her though she could see their father's wild twinkle in their eyes, especially Bino's.
It'd been three years ago today when she'd come across the egg that had become her youngest son and things couldn't have gone better. Though the rest of the tribe had been apprehensive they hadn't been against Kiro's plan, and best of all Wits had been wrong. Thrael had proved to be quite a docile creature, a verifiable sweetheart if you asked Amira.
Though the dragon could not speak he seemed to understand every word spoken to him, or at least he had acted like that after his first year of age. He seemed quite small for a dragon but that made sense to Amira. He had been raised on nothing but Mushrooms after all.
He got along well with the other children and Amira's own twins had accepted him as their brother easily. The little Whitehair had come along during only the past year, when Wits had gone abroad and reported a torched village. He returned with the only survivor of the dragon attack, little Whitehair. She had been scared of Thrael at first but with Bino and Branc's insistence she'd gotten over it quickly. Now the four of them were often seen charging this way and that and playing games.
Amira calmly followed them to make sure the children didn't overwhelm poor Kiro and Hafen. She found the four of them sitting in front of Hafen who seemed to be clearing her throat. The three human children were huddling around Thrael. The dragon always seemed to give off a tiny bit of warmth which was always cozy but very much appreciated during cold nights.
Amira sat on the cave floor beside of Kiro. Suddenly Amira had a thought, "Kiro, you have a lot of experience. Do you know of any ways to speak without talking"? Amira asked. She'd noticed how recently Thrael had been seemingly getting annoyed at his inability to make complex things come across to other people. The dragon could answer yes or no questions and he often waved at people to get their attention, but beyond that her youngest son couldn't get much across.
"There once was a man who lost the ability to speak, he was older then me and is long past though when he was alive we made a language that uses the hands to speak. Everyone in the cavern learned it and he got on just fine. We named the language after the man Reean" Kiro told Amira.
"That sounds perfect, do you think that Thrael could learn it"? Amira asked. Pointing to the dragon which seemed enthralled by Hafen's words.
"A dragon... Perhaps. A time ago I would say it wouldn't be possible, but Thrael seems to be as smart as a man. We'd have to see" Kiro said.
"Would you be willing to teach it to me and Thrael, and Branc and Bino if they wanted"? Amira asked. Kiro gave a smile.
"Elders are supposed to teach are they not? I'll happily teach anyone who wishes to be taught" Kiro said. "You four get over here" Kiro commanded. Kiro wasn't a very commanding man, but he was very well liked for having a good sense of humor with a head on his shoulders.
"What is it Kiro? Hafen was just gettin to the best part of her story" Bino complained.
"Little missy, I'm gonna teach your brother here how to talk" Kiro said. Bino looked over at Branc and seemed to be confused until her eyes widened and she turned around to excitedly face Thrael who hopped back in surprise. The dragon's eyes widened at Kiro and he got a happy look on his face. "Now how should I start"?
Amira leaned over and whispered something into the old man's ear. He nodded, "do as I do everyone" Kiro commanded. Kiro made a show of creating a pair of circles with each of his hands using his thumb and index finger. Kiro brought the two circles together and seperated them, making a large circle in front of him. Kiro ended it off by bringing his hands into his chest. The five listeners did as he did, Thrael making extra sure to do as the elder did. "This sign means family, in Reean" Kiro told them.
The ones being taught nodded thoughtfully. Thrael pointed his tail towards first Amira, then Bino, then Branc. "That's right" Amira said. Thrael cooed very pleased at the new word. Whitehair looked down a little left out by the looks of it. Thrael chirped at Kiro and pointed to Whitehair.
"Alright here's another one" Kiro said getting the message. Kiro hooked both of his index fingers into a c shapes and held his left hand hooked upwards. He brought the other hand and intertwined the hooks together before quickly reversing the gesture. Again, the five listeners did as Kiro said. "That one means friend" Kiro told them.
"That's you" Bino said, hooking Whitehair into a hug.
"Yup" Branc agreed joining in. Thrael gave a happy chirp and wrapped his tail around them to try and join in with the hug. Whitehair smiled happily at the comradery.
"Listen up, there's plenty more to teach before the little dragon can speak like everybody else" Kiro said. Amira, Bino, Branc, Thrael and Whitehair all sat or stood in front of Kiro all excited to learn more Reean.