'Escaping the Alpha dragon's call is impossible unless you're destined to yourself be the alpha.' Doomeye, Night Terror
-Escape-
"Commence Operation: Run!" I spoke softly to Shiver as we left his den.
While it wasn't something I expected to take much effort to execute, I always love a touch of the dramatic. And, just to lighten the mood, such a sentence did the trick, as Shiverwing let out a small chuckle behind me. All we needed to do was get to the leaf opening outside of the main living quarters and just run in some direction. The most difficult part is being soundless enough to get to it.
We crept as quietly as we could to avoid being caught. We knew that if we told anyone else we wouldn't hear the end of it and then we would be on twenty-four seven watch. Even the softest noises still made us freeze up and still for a second before we felt safe enough to continue. The few minutes we took to get to the opening seemed almost endless, but we finally reached it and our breathing calmed.
"You ready, Shiverwing?" I whispered to Shiver.
"Yeah. I'm super ready," he replied with a quiet sigh of relief.
"On the count of three, we run to the right," I turned around and stared into Shiverwing's yellow eyes. The full moon was bright enough, even though the canopy of the trees was thick, that I could make out all his features, and he could see mine. He nodded and crouched down, readying himself to begin running.
"One…" The final deep breaths were being taken, as they would be the last for a while.
"Two…" Our heartrate rose with anticipation.
"Three!" Our adrenaline kicked in as we sprung straight into a full sprint to the right of the living quarters, the feeling of air rushing over our bodies.
Without looking back, we bounced one foot after the other across the terrain. I ran hoping Shiverwing could see me but when we reached the tree line of the forest I peered back and could see he was still following behind. As my fears subsided, I kept my eyes on the metaphorical prize. We had no idea where specifically we would be going; that I hadn't planned yet. All either of us knew was that we were running away.
In due course, I slowed down and stopped; my breath was gone and limbs tired. Shiver slowed down a short while after I did, we were breathing as if we were running from death itself. As we calmed down however, we burst into laughter. The easiest plan that I would ever be a part of had been executed.
Shiver and I were free.
We continued to chortle for the next minute and a half as the realization slowly settled in that we'd finally managed to escape the bad memories. I didn't associate Shiverwing with Logan and neither did he associate me in return and there it was that we found our solace. It took a while before one of us spoke as we had not planned for what was going to happen next.
"Um… Toothless?" Shiverwing spoke first. "What now?"
"That's uh… the one thing I didn't plan out," I chuckled, nervously. "I don't actually know what to do. I may have planned the direction we'd go from the den but not where we'd go afterwards."
I surveyed the fields and hills we were surrounded by. The viridescent image I was surrounded by even in the night, had created quite a scene. Even many winters later, I can see that snapshot and still be mesmerized by it. Off in the distance from where we were, the ocean was clearly visible. We could see the forest we once resided in. It seemed to be silhouetted by the moon even though it had crested mere moments ago.
"Well, I guess we head the way we were originally heading." I said, still scanning the terrain around. "Where else is there to go anyway?"
"Sounds like a good enough plan to me." Shiver replied. "Best we go… whatever direction that is."
I closed my eyes, trying to work out which direction we would be heading. I'd been told by Rachel that heading right from the entrance to our old living space, we would be heading south. If we were still heading that direction, south is where we would go.
Without a single word, we began walking south. I heard Shiverwing's footsteps behind me at a quicker pace as he worked to keep up. I could see him appear in the corner of my eye and then he slowed down until we walked along side each other in silence while we just went wherever our hearts and minds took us. It was hours before one of us even spoke and by that point, we'd reached a small dragon salf.
We'd tried to avoid eye contact, as we were a pair of dragons that were a mere five winters in age. We both felt out of place but tried not to show it. Even as mature as we had become, we were still practically hatchlings.
On the odd occasion, one or other of us would look up to someone and they would be staring directly back at us. At such a sight, we'd look away and keep our eyes forward. Neither of us spoke a single word and not a single word was spoken to us. We just kept our minds on the matter at hand; where we would end up.
By this point, the sun had risen. Or, risen enough that we could see where we were going before we got there. The glowing yellow orb we came to know, and love hadn't risen fully, meaning that combined with the clouds, everything around us had a grey tint to it. This was how everything continued to be for the next couple of hours. The clouds never let up and eventually the rain came. The tiny drops of water had a cooling feeling; one in which we both welcomed. However, Shiverwing appeared to be in extreme discomfort, and I could see that.
"Toothless," Shiverwing finally broke the silence startling me. "What are we doing?"
"What do you mean?" I replied in a low voice.
"I mean, we're two very young dragons who are all on their own without a sire or dam beside us, we've been getting looks all day. I thought we were leaving to be comfortable," Shiver explained.
"We were leaving to escape the memories that we both would prefer to forget," I clarified. "I never said this would be comfortable. The discomfort that we're getting here is because of prejudice. We're far more mature than these dragons think we are."
"Yeah, but we're still barely past hatchling status. I mean, the first growth spurt I ever got was a week ago. I'm only a few winters shy of receiving what I hear is called an Alpha Transition, whatever that is. I bet most, if not all of the dragons here have already gone through their Alpha Transition."
"Yes, but there are hatchlings here. The weirdest thing that people will think of us is that we're hatchlings on our own without a sire or dam. Nobody will think anything more than that."*
"I hope you're right,' Shiver murmured casting a short glance towards another group of dragons.
We descended into silence again and continued to walk through the rather small dragon settlement. It was then that I noticed my sudden hunger and as I assumed, so did Shiverwing. I looked around for a place for us to eat. I noticed that we were heading towards the settlement boundaries. If we left the salf, we could eat in peace when we found somewhere to eat.
"Hey, you hungry?" I asked Shiver.
"Starving," he replied tiredly.
"Well, we're leaving this place soon, so let's find somewhere to eat outside of it."
"Okay. Wait, I think we're getting close to that reservoir. You know, the one…" I cut him off.
"I know but we left to escape Logan's memories, so let's not go there."
We went back to silence and remained as such as we searched for a place to eat outside of the village. Hours had passed before we finally found somewhere that had enough fish to eat. Let me just say that we feasted like starved kin-poison-tail.
*It had always seemed to me that there was an unspoken rule among all dragons that, even if the dragon is orphaned, don't speak to a hatchling dragon in public if it isn't your own. That's why no one came up to us while we were walking through the small town. ~Toothless
When Logan took us to the reservoir, he taught us how to catch fish in bodies of water. The way that we managed to catch a grand total of seven fish was entirely down to Logan's teaching. One of the many things he was involved in that I won't ever forget. When I fail to catch fish, it's because I don't want to. I get reminded of Logan. However, when I become hungry enough, the instincts kick in and I have no choice lest I starve to death. The trick is to pounce on the fish when it's stationary, but you need to also consider the movement of the water, as well as the refraction of light.
For example; let's say you want to catch a rainbow trout and it's in a river flowing just fast enough to be difficult to stand still in. The sun is right above you, about to crest. You'll pounce on it just a little to the left of where it seems to be. This technique varies to the conditions of the water and the sunlight but it's also highly effective.
This time, a little way beyond the dragon settlement, Shiver and I caught seven fish for us to eat splitting the last one in half to share. My claws weren't strong enough to cut through, so it was down to Shiver to cut. All it took for him was one swift swipe of a claw to slice through the fish.
We stayed in silence as we ate the last of our catch before I laid down in the grass and closed my eyes. I listened to Shiver as he swallowed the fish that he was so happy to have caught. When he was done, he took the grass stretching out his claws and wings before settling by me. However, when I opened my eyes I saw he was looking out towards the nearby forest. He must have heard something and become cautious of it.
I followed his gaze, and noticed a few bushes moving subtly, but unnaturally in the distance. Cautiously, I began to walk towards the disturbed shrubbery. My heart was pounding out of my chest and my breath was hitched. As I slowly got closer to the bush, Shiver finally became alert calling for me in a hushed tone.
"Toothless, what are you doing?" He breathed.
I turned and gave him a reassuring smirk before continuing towards my target. At one point, I heard a voice coming from the bush to which I was confused and so it scratched at my curiosity. I walked a little less cautiously as I finally got to the bush.
"I know there's something there. Who is it?" I asked, only to receive no response except for an immediate halt of the rustling leaves. "Come on, I know you're there. Don't hide, I won't hurt you."
Finally, I saw something slowly creep its head out of the bush. I watched this creature before me, carefully as it seemed scared of us. I didn't know quite what it was, but I did know it didn't seem like a predator.
Quickly, I recognized this character as a dragon. I'd seen a similar dragon over the several winters I'd been with Rachel, though I suppose most dragons of that age look remarkably similar, as controversial as it is to say. This I recognized to be a kin-sharp-spine as the head gave it away; its sharp beaklike snout and timid nature got this realization in my head. Not only was it a kin-sharp-spine but an adolescent, one who had only experienced one winter, at most.
"Hi there, what's your name," I asked quietly.
The kin-sharp-spine slowly crept out of the bush before it responded. "I'm not supposed to give my name to strangers," the voice was a clearly feminine voice.
"Well, where's your sire or dam?"
"My dam is in the salf."
"Ah well, when we see them, we'll be sure to say hello," I replied.
"I wouldn't bother, we're already here," said another voice off to the side.
It was a male voice, who I assume belonged to the kin-sharp-spine's sire. "Kate, I thought I told you not to go off on your own."
"I know, sire. I… um… just wanted to come here," she ducked her head.
"Well, be careful. You don't know if these two are safe or not. Especially him," he gestured at me, "I wouldn't trust him if I were you." He said to Shiverwing behind me.
I looked back at Shiver after he spoke, and he returned my gaze as the pair of kin-sharp-spine vacated the area. I didn't say much for the rest of the afternoon. I was just in shock at what the sire kin-sharp-spine had said. It wouldn't be the last time I would experience something like that, however.
