aw, you guys give me the giggles x3

kinda short, but enjoy~ c:

Chapter Four:

When Rider says stay, you stay

"Ack! No! Get down from-Arghh!"

The little dragon was currently perched on top of her person's head, feeling awfully smug about the fact she had escaped his grasping fingers. Her talons gripped tightly to the short strands of his black hair as his body swung about lightly from the back of the ostrich-horse.

She chittered in excitement as a breeze rocked her body, and she spread her wings, imagining herself taking flight. She had tried that earlier, but the spoilsport she was sitting on had grabbed her before she had the chance.

"Why won't you listen to me, huh?" Her person grumbled, glaring up at her with a frown. "I'm trying to keep you from hurting yourself, but no. You just go right on ahead. See if I care when you fall off."

She didn't know how long they had been traveling, but when she had woken from her nap and her person started packing up, she'd been zipping all over the place. Well, as far as her curiosity and her short uncoordinated legs took her before she was picked up by her person's warm hands.

Ever since she had hatched, she'd been fascinated by the creature. 'Her person' as she fondly called him. He reminded her of the sun, filling her with warmth and providing for her with his food, but also scathing whenever she ventured too far away or bit him a little too hard. But that was only once...and it was only because the gnawing sensation in her stomach told her to. And she vowed never to do it again when she saw the pained look on his face.

The memory had ruined her arrogant mood and she whined softly, sliding off his head to land on his shoulder, her talons digging into his shirt to remain steady as she rubbed her cheek against the scarred flesh by his eye in remorse.

"It's okay," he sighed roughly, reaching up a hand to scratch at her chin affectionately, "just...try not to hurt yourself, all right?"

She chirped happily, leaning forward to slide down his chest before jumping onto the green saddle blanket in front of him.

A shudder traveled up through her talons as she landed, and she looked up curiously at the ostrich-horse, who nearly jumped out of its feathers and quickly looked back at the path when it caught her stare. She blinked, tilting her head to the side. What? Was there something on her face?

Suddenly, her person jerked back on the reins and they came to a stop in the middle of the path.

His eyes were hard as he slid out of the saddle and led the ostrich-horse over to the bushes, tying it to a shrub.

"Stay here," he muttered, fixing his eyes firmly on her before he turned and slunk into the trees.

Wait! Don't leave me!

She stumbled in her haste to follow him, falling off the saddle blanket and crashing into the ground. She rose to her feet painfully, shaking out her head as she waited for the ground to stop moving beneath her before she tried to chase after him again.

"Whoa there," a voice croaked above her as something snatched her off the ground, dangling her in the air before placing her on the ostrich-horse's back.

Her eyes widened in surprise as the animal stared back at her, intelligence flickering in the black depths.

"Didn't the Rider say to stay here?"

She blinked once, then twice as she processed the beast's words.

It can talk?! But how, its just an anim-

Wait…

...I'm an animal.

Why did this bother her so much then?

She shook her head to clear her thoughts, but the hybrid mistook it as her answer.

"When Rider says to stay, you stay. Understand?"

She hesitated, then nodded mutely, not turning her wide-eyed stare from those black orbs.

"Good." It warbled, then as if remembering something, its feathers ruffled uneasily before speaking again. "By the way...what are you exactly? I haven't seen anything like you before..."

She opened her mouth, then closed it as realization struck her.

What was she?

She remembered her person mumbling something about 'dragons'. Was that what she was? Then again, she could just as well be an Uncle...whatever that was.

A rustling in the bushes distracted her from the question as both the and the ostrich-horse looked over as her person hurried back to them.

He sent her a surprised look, as if he hadn't expected her to actually do as he said, but he didn't mention it as he quickly untied the hybrid before leading it back to the path and hopped up onto it, urging it on with a fierceness she hadn't seen on him before.

"The avatar..." He muttered, eyes narrowing as they raced down the path, trees dwindling the longer they rode until a dry, brown rocky area spread out before them.

She clutched tightly to the saddle blanket, heart pounding against her ribs as she wondered why her person was so intent on this 'avatar'.

What was an avatar? Could she eat it?

Wait, no. Her person looked like he wanted to eat it. But maybe he would share.

Curiosity and excitement bubbled through her as the ostrich-horse ran as fast as it could, sending up plumes of dust behind them as they headed for a cluster of broken-down structures in the distance.

incase there's confusion,

italics without quotations are thoughts

and

"Italics with quotations is animal-talk."

i might change it up later on if it's too hard to tell the difference

.

thanks for reading~! ^-^