FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

WARNING:

Keep in mind that this is the next installment of the new versions of the first two chapters. If you've read those chapters earlier than the release date of this chapter, I suggest you read them again as this chapter will not make sense

I woke up much more easily this time around. The sun was just peeking over the mountain, painting some of the forest below with a beautiful orange and red. The lavender sky started to brighten into a whitish blue, the stars slowly disappearing, hidden by the curtain of color that overwhelmed the sky. I didn't want to move for worry of waking Serafine up. She still slept soundly, curled up under my wing, enjoying the warmth that I was providing. After a few minutes, she too started to stir, opening her eyes slowly, squinting while they adjusted to the light. She looked up to see me wrapped around her.

“Oh, good morning," she said quietly. “I didn't realize that we got so close during the night."

“Yes, well I woke up during the night and you just rolled right in to me. I couldn't just leave you shivering in front of me, so I covered you with my wings." I said.

She smiled at the kind gesture and then started to roll out of my grasp until she was back on the cold stone. I immediately noticed the difference with her not there, the air that took her place was cold and uncomfortable. I wondered if maybe it was her that was keeping me warm this whole time. I watched her as she stretched, her wings unfurling to their full span as she arched her back. Sighing in relief, her wings folded back up onto her back and she walked over to me. “Thanks for keeping me warm last night." She said.

I smiled. “It was no bother."

“Do you want to get something to eat?" She asked.

“Yeah, sure, I would like that." I replied, feeling my stomach rumble.

She walked out of the cave, her paws stopping right before the edge of the cliff. Taking a breath of the fresh morning air, she jumped off the edge and spread her wings, fluttering towards the forest. I jumped after her, still not quite used to flying yet. I opened my wings as quickly as I could, trying to follow in her part but I swayed around clumsily. Serafine looked back to see how I was doing and giggled at my erratic flying. She looked back forward and started to descend into the trees. I followed suit as best as I could, trying to dodge the oncoming branches. I managed to keep my flying relatively straight and landed. The landing was quite harsh but I counted myself lucky to not have run into Serafine again. She looked back and motioned for me to follow her. Walking into the forest, I followed her steps exactly, crouching down with her while she stalked something nearby. I could smell the delicious morsel as well and I noticed my mouth watering from the anticipation of tasting whatever it was that we were hunting.

Serafine stopped. “Hey, do you think you can get this one?" She asked.

I was sure that this time would be the time I would get it. She let me try every time we went hunting and I continued to get closer every time. “Yeah, I think I can do it."

“I know you've got it this time," she encouraged.

I crouched low, looking for my target. Like the first day, my target was a boar. This one was much larger than the one that I had tried the day me and Serafine met but I finally felt ready. I jumped into the air as silently as I possibly could, spreading my wings to aim myself towards my prey. Before I even knew it, I was on top of it, biting it's neck to claim it. I looked up at Serafine, who had walked over. She sat down and gestured for me to take the first bite. I bit off half, and nudged the other half to her. She took it and swallowed her share.

“Good job Nathan, you finally caught something without my help. You've really improved. I'm surprised at how fast you're getting used to your new body. It took me far longer to master hunting."

“Thanks Sera, I'm glad that I can finally start repaying you for letting me stay so long."

“Oh, don't worry about that Nathan, I'm just happy to have some company around; us dragons don't get to see many of our own kind very often." She said, walking further into the forest.

I followed her. “Wait, where are you off to now?"

“Come on, I'll show you," She answered, gesturing ahead. I followed behind her, looking around. This wasn't a part of the forest that I was familiar with yet. She continued to walk, swaying her tail excitedly. We walked through the trees into a clearing that I had never visited with some large black stones in the center.

“Where are we?" I asked.

“My favorite sunning spot." She answered, lying down on the warm rock that she took as her own. I walked over beside her, looking at the black stone. The sun's rays shimmered off little sparkling pieces of crystal lodged in the rock after so many years. It reminded me of the night sky with how many twinkling shards capturing my vision. The stone was incredibly smooth, like years of weather and worn it down. Although, with a closer inspection, it seemed that a dragon had worn it down as claw mark could be seen tracing around where I lay.

“It looks like this rock has been used before." I noted to her.

She smiled thoughtfully for a few seconds, as though she was remembering something and then looked away, her smile turning into a face of grief. “I… Yeah… I don't really want to talk about it right now." She said, her voice getting quite distant.

The sunning rocks turned all too quiet for a while, the absence of sound taking hold of the surroundings, sticking to everything it touched. I tried to change the subject. “So how did you come across this territory?"

“Well a few days after I hatched, my mother left me with a supply of food and wood for a fire that would last me a short while, as is the custom of dragons around these parts. I've never been as scared as I was those first couple days."

I interrupted. “You remember being a hatchling?"

“Oh yes, dragons are quite cognitively proficient from birth. I even remember what my mother looked like. I think I was about the size you were when we met when I last saw her. Anyways, I had slowly run out of food and fire to keep me warm and so I took to the skies, or rather, attempted to. It took some time before I could keep myself off the ground for a long enough period to make it worthwhile to fly. I started searching for a place to call my own. The journey was quite a lot longer than I had expected. Dragons had territories set up around me for as far as I could see in every direction. Luckily for me, the reclusive nature of the dragons around this part of the world caused little confrontation as I walked between territories. Of course there were some encounters that I would count as being closer than was comfortable but they ended up letting me go as I was only just a child. They knew how hard it was when they had to find a home when they were young so they were pretty sympathetic to my situation. I even got to stay with some of them for a night when they offered. After days of traveling, I ended up finding this mountain and settling down. I picked this spot because it had the potential to provide for other dragons if they decided to stay for a while. I guess over the years that became sort of a lost wish. Over time I learned that dragons rarely stayed with other dragons, they're very solitary creatures, only visiting each other on rare occasions throughout the year. I guess that I was just born different, I enjoy the company of others more than the average dragon."

We continued talking during the midday, watching the sun move across the sky. After a while, the sun started to set, its golden rays accentuating her shimmering white scales. It reminded me of one of the bejeweled ring that the goldsmiths in town would make sometimes. She looked at me and then down at the obsidian colored stone beneath me. “His name was Denderoh, He used to sit where you are right now. He only stayed for a short while, a few days. I guess that's what dragons are like. They like their space." She started.

“Why did he leave?"

“I found out that he only wanted to mate me." She said, tears forming in her eyes. “After we mated, I woke up to find that he had left." She spoke softly, almost to herself. “You know, I've heard that dragons across the ocean are different. They're more loyal to each other. I never thought it was right to just leave your young to fend for themselves, it just doesn't seem right." She said looking at me.

I bowed my head, saddened. “I'm sorry Sera, I wouldn't know. I was brought up with my parents until I was almost eighteen years old.

“I envy your humans, you know? I envy how you live in a pack, maybe that's why I've kept away from your settlement for so long, I can't stand to see humans together when I can't be."

“I always thought you just kept us around for food, farming us like we farmed our animals," I interjected, confused.

“Well, it ended up like that but I never planned to. It was just too hard on my heart to enter your village so I kept my distance."

She rested her head on her arms, watching the sun fall below the trees slowly, the shadows of the pines growing with every passing minute. We sat in silence for quite awhile until she felt ready to go on.

“Was it wrong of me to hope that he would stay for longer? I know it's not the custom here but…" She stopped and wiped her eyes with a claw. “What's the point? I know it's no use. I wish I was born into a different family, one across the ocean. They don't abandon their young like they do here. They don't mate and run!" She burst into tears, hiding her face. “I- I'm sorry, I know I should not be bothering you with my problems. It's just so hard to keep it all to myself for so long." She cried into her arms.

I slid myself onto her rock and hugged her close. “Hey, don't worry about me, it's really no bother at all."

“Look at me, dragon's shouldn't be crying. We're supposed to be the strongest of all creatures. I'm just a mess."

“My mother always told me that everyone deserves a shoulder to cry on, even the ones who don't think they need it."

She looked up at me and smiled through her tears. “Thank you Nathaniel, you're really kind."

“And you're the strongest creature I know, stronger than any animal in the wild; It doesn't mean that you can't be sad once in a while."

She shuffled in closer to me, wiping her tears away with a paw. “I'm very thankful that you ended up staying with me for these past few days. They have been some of the most enjoyable that I remember."

“Well I'm thankful that you didn't eat me when we first met because I've enjoyed staying with you."

“You know that was less of a kind gesture and more of a reaction to the burning pain in my throat as you got hot. I couldn't have swallowed you even if I had wanted to, and trust me, I did."

I laughed as sincerely as I could, trying to hide my inner nervousness.

She seemed to pick up on my nerves in the laughter. “Well you know I can't very well eat you now, can I? You're far too big for me to try to shove down my throat," she continued to laugh.

Her joking words didn't soothe my worries that I would wake up a human again and be given the same treatment as the first time we met. I decided to let the subject go, laughing off the nagging worry. We headed back to the cave, ready to go to sleep once again. We entered the cave and Serafine sat on her haunches, watching me, waiting for me to find my spot on the cave floor. I looked up, watching her watch me, curiously. Normally she would have just curled up in the middle and closed her eyes. I sat down against the wall, still watching her with a generally content expression. She smiled and padded over to me, cuddling up next to me.

'Come on Nathan, pull yourself together. You aren't going to turn into a human for at least 3 more weeks. You'll surely leave by then,' I thought to myself. I looked down, watching her get comfortable. I put my wing over her carefully, it seemed like she was hoping I would and purred her approvals when I did so. I looked down at my orange scales and thought about the prospect of leaving. I was starting to get comfortable here and Serafine didn't seem to mind the company. Maybe scales were a good substitute for skin 'No, no! Stop, you're getting too attached. You have to leave before you turn into a human.' I argued with myself. I felt Serafine shift around slightly. She really was beautiful, despite still being quite frightening to me. It was hard to forget the first time we met, the fear that I felt when I got sucked into her maw. But I couldn't stop the feeling of attraction towards her. I pushed the thought out of my mind in favor of the persistent call for sleep. It was doubtful that Serafine would even be interested.

TO BE CONTINUED