FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The evening sun hang low in the sky painting the horizon in a fiery red color. Sun rays covered the vast forests and meadows with its red glow. The clear lake water glistened and reflected the sunlight, making it look like it was on fire. The entire world seemed ablaze because of that one ball of fire that slowly dropped out of the sky; shades of purple taking its place. Nighttime was approaching and it made the world look beautiful.

Dovaryn sat in front of the caves entrance on the ledge that formed in front of his cave on the cliff side of his home. He surveyed his domain, admiring its beauty. Dovaryn lived in a huge valley in the shape of a horseshoe. Huge mountains encircled the meadows and forests to the north, east and south while the east was completely open to the meadows. The entire area below his home was covered in a vast meadow crisscrossed with small streams that flowed into a lake big enough to accommodate a dozen of bathing dragons at the same time. The lake water was clear and almost translucent. An old dragon legend said that the lake water was so clear because the streams that flowed into it came from the glaciers that topped the surrounding mountain caps. That also meant that the water was very cold which made for a nice refreshing swim during the summer, but during winter the water would freeze into crystal clear ice. The lake had a small island in the center of it covered with large slabs of smooth stone that were perfect for a lazy dragon to sunbathe in the afternoon.

The north and east side of the lake was surrounded by small trees and bushes that slowly turned into a huge, thick pine forest. The forest was full of life. Creatures of all sizes lived there, making their homes and feeding. It also served as a source of food for Dovaryn and his family. Hunting in the forests was difficult for dragons due to their size but thankfully small herds of deers would often roam into the meadows to graze and feed on the berries and short grass that grew there.

The meadow itself was huge, green as an emerald, covering the entire area west of the lake. Bushes with all sorts of berries grew in certain places, several small trees provided natural shading from the sun with its canopies. Small ponds of water left over from the heavy rains formed in a couple of places providing a source of water for herds of animals that grazed there. Further west a river formed from the melting glaciers ran through the meadow, twisting and turning through the terrain like a snake. In the distance, a small human village sat next to the river. Dovaryn was always wary towards the humans in the village. While most of the residents were nice to him and his family and even offered them gifts sometimes, he wasn't always sure if their intentions were friendly. The humans didn't seem to mind dragons as long as they didn't burn down anything or steal their sheep. Then again, Dovaryn's family were the only dragons in the area and they never caused them any harm, so it's possible that the village just accepted the dragon family as their neighbors and gave them little thought. However, dragon slayers always lurked around in the shadows searching for dragons to stab their swords into. A shiver ran through his spine. A little paranoia always made him cautious when it came to humans, which was good, he thought. The less the village knew about him and his family the less info they could possibly give to dragon slayers looking for work.

He shook his head to clear his thoughts and looked towards the horizon where the sun almost disappeared behind the mountain peaks. Everything was covered in a shade of deep purple that was slowly turning to black. Dovaryn loved watching sunsets so he'd often sit in front of his cave and admire the beautiful colors that the sun cast upon the landscape.

A sudden gust of wind shook his wings. He folded them back against his body and glanced at them over his right shoulder and then down his body. He always considered himself to be a handsome dragon.He bore beautiful blue scales on his body. The scales on his head, back and chest were indigo blue which faded to a lighter sky blue towards his belly and haunches. The small leathery spines that ran from his head across his back towards his tail tip were edged in green.His legs were covered in a mix of blue and green scales that eventually turned to emerald green on his paws. His wings and wing membranes were also green. He always found it interesting how his wings were the only truly green part of his body while the rest of it was blue with a few green splotches here and there. The dominant blue coloration came from his father while the green came from his mother. The green color is what made him different compared to other dragons.On top of his head grew two horns the color of marble. They were ridged on the base and curved inwards, the tips almost touching each other. His face was covered in small pebbly blue scales and a small green splotch adorned his nose.

He always considered himself to be handsome and unique because of his unicolored wings. He never met or saw another dragon who's wings were completely green. Then again, he hadn't seen many dragons lately. At least he had his beautiful mate and two adorable hatchlings in his life.

He stood up and smiled. They meant the world to him and he'd risk his own life for them. He turned around and walked towards the cave entrance glancing at it. It was an old cave supposedly carved into the mountain side by dragons long time ago. That's what the old tales said, at least. He snorted. Old dragon tales were always full of hatchling stories.

A cave carved by dragon claws?

He lifted his paw and unsheathed white sharp talons and looked at them. He looked them over and then cut a small line in the stone beneath him. "Hmph. They would have broken all of their claws doing that." He winced at that thought and retracted his claws into his paws. "Those old tales were nothing more but stories made up to entertain the hatchlings." He glanced to the right of the cave entrance.

A small passage lead down the mountain side, carved into the stone and overgrown with moss. It wasn't large enough for dragons to walk on it, but it was certainly large enough for humans.That thought unnerved him. He didn't want any humans paying him visit. At least the passage was covered with slippery moss that he assumed would make walking difficult for humans. If they slipped, it'd be a long way down to their death. Dovaryn never understood why that passage was there. Did the dragons carve it? If so, why? No dragon could walk down that passage without falling off the mountain. Besides, they had their wings. Why would they walk down the mountain if they could just fly? Some things made no sense to him.

He walked inside the cave and through the tunnel leading to the main chamber where he lived with his mate and children. The tunnel leading to the main chamber was made of smooth stone. If it was carved by dragon claws then the claw marks would have gotten smoothed out by now.Glowing blue crystals were placed in holes in the walls for illumination. The entire tunnel had a faint blue glow because of them.As he was nearing the main chamber, he heard aroar that sounded like it came from a little hatchling. Dovaryn chuckled and spoke.

"Who had the nerve to anger my brave little hatchling?" Another, louder roar reverberated through the cave. It sounded like a female's roar.It was Zara, his crimson colored daughter. Dovaryn started sprinting towards the source of the sound. "Don't worry my darling, father is coming to save you!" He kept giggling until he reached the main chamber.

The main chamber was the part of the cave in which the dragon family spent most of their time. It had a huge pile of animal furs and other soft thingson one side that was used for lounging, or, in the case of the younglings - for wrestling. Crude shelves lined one side of the chamber filled with the hatchlings toys and other trinkets. The shelves themselves were made by Dovaryn and his mate, they weren't the sturdiest pieces of furniture due to their lack of tools and big paws, especially not with two hatchlings running around. That's why they had to move some of the books and family belongings into their private chambers so that they wouldn't get damaged during their playtime.

Just like the hallway leading into the chamber, it too was illuminated by blue crystals. Some of them were placed in holes in the walls while others hanged from the ceiling in metal baskets suspended by chains. If needed, they could throw furs on the crystals to darken the chamber. The chamber had three tunnels. One lead to Dovaryn's and his mates private sleeping chamber, second tunnel branched into two separate tunnels that lead to Doryn's and Zara's sleeping chambers and the third tunnel lead to their bathing place and their latrine. Their bathing place was a huge pool filled with natural spring water that came from the mountain itself. Dovaryn never understood what kept the water warm. The old dragon books would probably say it was magic that heated up the water, which made even less sense to Dovaryn.

Once he entered, he saw the usual sight - Zara was wrestling with her brother Doryn on the pile of furs. Doryn seemed to be getting the short end of the stick, he was pinned under Zara and was getting his head pushed into a purple pillow. He kept trying to wriggle free but the smaller female was too fast. She pinned his legs to the furs and used her body weight to stop him from squirming.

"Get off Zara, leave me alone!" Doryn kept shouting at her but she just kept giggling, adding to his frustration.

He approached the wrestling siblings with a smile on his face and raised his voice in a mock gasp. "Zara what are you doing to your brother?!" When Zara saw her father she quickly jumped off of Doryn and ran to her father's paws. Dovaryn gasped and backed away as quickly as he could but the hatchling was too fast. With a roar she jumped on his left foreleg and clung to it and started gnawing at his scales, her tail wrapped around his leg. "Oh no, I've been attacked by a ferocious hatchling!" He giggled and tried to shake off the hatchling but she didn't budge. "Somebody help! She's gonna eat me!" He started faking panic and going in a circle, the small female still on his leg and determined to take down her father. He looked at Doryn who was still recovering from his sisters mercilus attacks. "Doryn! Help your father!" Doryn just snorted and started licking his paws, ignoring his goofy father and his annoying sister.

Seeing how his son wouldn't help him and his daughter was just too powerful, Dovaryn made a short squeal and flopped on his side, pretending to be dead. Zara let go off his foreleg and clambered up his shoulders and made a victorious roar and started giggling. "I beated father and brother! I win I win I win" She kept jumping up and down on Dovaryn and roaring her victory. If she was powerful enough to beat her father then there was no one in the world who could best her!

Doryn stopped grooming himself and looked up in frustration at his exuberant younger sister and growled. "The only reason you beat me is because you pounced me while I was napping!" He smacked his tail against the ground in annoyance. "And father let you win!" He snarled when he left a cramp in his left wing, probably caused by her sister squishing it against his side. He spread his left wing and started nuzzling at it. "Father is just messing with you."

"Nuh-uh" Zara shook her head and stuck her tongue out at her brother. "I beated father and I won!" She looked down. "Is that right father? Father...?" Dovaryn lay splayed on his side with his tongue lolling out and his eyes bugged out. "Father? Are you alright?" The little hatchling jumped off of him and walked over to his head. He still wasn't moving. Zara poked her father's tongue with her finger. She made a horrifying gasp when she realized what she did. "I hurt father! I hurt father!" Doryn rolled his eyes. His sister was so young and so naive.

In that moment, Dovaryn quickly moved his paws and grabbed the little hatchling around her waist and lifted her up. She squeaked and started flapping her wings and legs. Dovaryn grinned at her. "I've got you now!" He pressed her stomach to his face and started nuzzling and tickling her making her squirm and giggle. "My adorable little mischievoushatchling."

"Father stop! It tickles!" She kept giggling and smacking her father's muzzle with her paw. "Let go!" Dovaryn stopped his relentless tickling assault and hugged her to his chest. She immediately started purring. He looked down at his lovely hatchling and nuzzled her head.

Zara had beautiful ruby scales from her face all the way down her back to her tail tip which was tipped in green. The spines on her back were edged in red while the membranes were green.Her belly and chest were blue like her fathers, while the dominant red coloring came from her mother. Her legs were red too while her paws had blue coloring, as if she stepped into blue paint. Her wings were ruby red just like her mothers with a few splotches of blue and green from his father. She had the coloring of her mother, whereas her brother Doryn was more like his father. Zara's red, blue and green coloring made her look beautiful.

He started licking the tiny little nubs on her head that would grow into horns over time. "Mmm, you sure did beated father, my love." He stressed the word "beated" making fun of her occasional mispronunciation of words. Even though Doryn was right and she didn't beat him, he still liked to pretend like she did just because of how happy it made her."But don't worry my love, you're not strong enough to hurt me." He stroked the tiny spines on her back making them twitch.

Zara completely ignored the last part and turned her head around to face Doryn. "See? I told you I beated father!" She stuck her tongue out at him again, giggling. Doryn smiled at that and approached his father. He couldn't really be mad at his sister. He probably acted the same way as she did when he was younger.

"Let's just assume you did, Zara." Doryn nuzzled his father's cheek. Dovaryn nuzzled back his son averting his attention from Zara. Unlike his sister, Doryn was almost completely blue like his father. In fact, it seemed like Doryn had more blue on him than Dovaryn. There were only a couple of places where he had red scales from his mother, like on his tail and his wings. He was slightly bigger and more developed than Zara because he was older. Zara hatched several summers later which meant that Doryn was the older brother that had to put up with her energetic and playful behavior. "Father likes to play with you like that. Makes you think that you won when you didn't." He grinned at his sister who squirmed out of her father's grasp and pounced at her brother. This time he was faster and managed to dodge her, evoking a playful growl from her.

"Grr, I'll show you who won." She put her chest against the ground and wiggled her haunches, ready to pounce at her brother again. Dovaryn saw that and grabbed her tail with his fingers just to mess around with her. She yelped, turned back around and smacked her father's paw. "No grabbing!" She growled at him in an attempt to sound scary, but ended up giggling. Whenever Zara tried to scare someone, she would just make herself look even cuter.

Dovaryn laughed and nuzzled her check, letting go of her tail. He decided to tease his son about how he lost the fight with his sister."You did beat your brother though, that's something isn't it?" Doryn's jaw dropped in shock when he heard that and he stared at his father, his eyes wide open.

"Father! You're supposed to be on my side, not on hers!" He stomped his foot in protest. "Besides, I had a perfectly good reason for why she beat me. I was napping!" Doryn whined, everyone all of a sudden seemed to be against him.

Dovaryn stared at his son for a few seconds, thinking. He made a mock gasp when he came to the realization. "Oh, right. I'm sorry son." He looked back at Zara who had the goofiest expression on her face. "Zara, you didn't have to beat your brother that much!" He started laughing as Doryn's eyes bugged out even more. Oh, how he loved teasing his children like this.

Zara started jumping up and down in glee while Doryn growled.

"That's not fair!" Doryn complained. "It's not fun when it's two against one!" His ears drooped down and he looked at the stone floor. Dovaryn patted his sons head, chuckling. It was time for him to tease Zara.

Dovaryn got on to his feet and nudged his son's head."Don't worry, next time it'll be Zara who is going to be outnumbered!" That lifted Doryn's spirits and they both looked at Zara who had a horrified expression on her face. "After all, I'm pretty sure you've beaten her more times than she's beaten you!" Zara looked like she was about to have a heart attack. She couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"That's not fair!" She said in protest. "It's also not nice!" She whimpered, a sad look formed on her face.

"But both you and father just did that to me, how is _that_fair?" Doryn growled at his sister. "It's only fair to you if you're not on the receiving end of the joke. You're not fair at all, sister." Doryn was just as much as naive as his sister.

"Nuh-uh!" Zara shook her head. "You're unfair, not me" When she realized she struck a nerve in her brother, she started singing and jumping up and down. "Dowyns unfair! Dowyns unfair!" What made Doryn angry the most is when she mispronounced his name, and oh how she loved making her brother mad.

"It's Doryn, not Dowyn!" He narrowed his eyes at her and growled. "It's like you always forget how to say my name!"

"Dowyn! Dowyn" She started giggling. Her persistence was tiring her brother out.

"Doryn! Dor-yn! Dorrrrrryn" He put emphasize on the "rrr" sound. "Get it right!" He could feel his blood boiling.

Zara just giggled at him and decided that she teased her brother enough. "Brother, you're silly" She approached him and nuzzled under his jaw and started purring. "Silly brother is best brother!" She sat on her haunches and hugged him, melting his anger away. "I looove you!"

Doryn decided that it would do him no good if he continued being angry at his sister's teasing. "I love you too sister." He hugged her backwith his forepaws and they both started purring. She was still young after all and he had to put up with the constant teasing, but he still loved her.

Dovaryn kept looking at them and a grin formed on his face that was so big it was threatening to split his skull. He loved his children more than his wings and he'd do anything for them. He was happy that Zara and Doryn got along with each other despite their constant teasing and childish arguments, unlike some other siblings. He dropped down to his chest in front of them andput a foreleg behind them.He hugged them to his chest and started purring along with them. "Aren't you two just the cutest little hatchlings ever?" He licked each of their heads. "Father is so proud to have you."

"Mother is too."

A soft female voice came from behind them. Dovaryn recognized it and turned his head around and saw his mate Azarana approaching. "Hello my love." He said in a calm, loving voice. "You've been napping too, yes?"

Azarana was unlike any dragoness he ever saw. She was beautiful, ruby red scales covered her entire body. She had only one scale color on her body and that was rare for dragons, and that made her even more beautiful and special to Dovaryn. Short horns black as the night protruded from her head.She had a strong but slim body shape, her body moving gracefully, almost like a cat. Unlike male dragons, females had smaller bodies and were much more agile whereas males were stronger but lacked the fine movements the females had.

"Hello Dova-" Before she could greet her mate, the hatchlings squirmed away from their father and ran towards their mother.

"MOTHER! MOTHER!" Zara and Doryn both shouted in unison as they sprinter towards her. Azarana laid on her belly and splayed her legs, inviting them into a hug. They ran into her chest and hugged her, purring and snuggling against her chest plates.

Azarana chuckled and hugged them back, nuzzling each of their heads. "Hello my darlings, what have you been up to? Mischief again? Hmm?" She nuzzled them lovingly. "You're acting as if you haven't seen your mother in a long time."

Before Doryn could say anything, Zara spoke first. "I beated brother bit father! I'm so strong!" She looked at her mother with a huge toothy grin on her face. "Oh, I also bit father!" Her toothy grin changed into a proud expression.

Azarana's eyes went wide with shock. "You beat up your brother and bit your father? That's horrible Zara" Despite her initial shock she couldn't help but laugh at her daughter. "Don't do that my love, you wouldn't like it if someone bit you, correct?" She playfully nipped at her small ears causing Zara to giggle.

"No one can bite me, I'm too adorable!" She snuggled against her mother's chest plates.

"Little miss perfect" Her brother murmured, rolling his eyes. "Always the innocent one, hrmph."

Azarana licked her daughters face. "Yes, you are adorable, but you're also a very naughty hatchling." She then turned her head towards Doryn and licked his face as well. "As for you, young one. Don't forget that you used to act like her when you were younger. You're older than her so I will take it you understand that." Doryn whimpered but nodded in agreement while Zara was still grinning like crazy despite being called naughty. She raised her head to look at her mate. "And how's the bite victim, hmm?"

Dovaryn drooped his ears and lifted his left foreleg to show her the bite mark. He made a show of acting like a real victim. "It hurt so much I don't think I'll be able to walk properly for the next few days". He put his paw down and pressed on it and made a fake yowl sound. "I think I'll need some stitching."

"Oh, let me see that." Azarana knew he was joking but she decided to play along. She held the hatchlings to her chest with one foreleg and grabbed Dovaryn's bitten foreleg with the other one. She looked at the bite mark and saw only slightly indented scales. She grinned and smacked his paw making him yelp.

"Ow! Why did you do that for?" Dovaryn sat on his haunches and started rubbing his paw. "That hurt!" He looked down at his paw as if expecting to see a huge bruise on it. "I've had enough injuries for today, thank you very much." He looked at Azarana with a pained expression that was so fake even a hatchling could notice.

Azarana cocked her head. "Injuries? What kind of injuries have you suffered today my dear?" She rolled her eyes and looked at him in a half serious way. "Where you fighting?"

"Well... injury..." He twisted his head to avoid her gaze and adjusted his wings against his body. Then he immediately lifted the paw she hit and showed it to her. "But this constitutes as a second injury, so it is indeed injuries". A big toothy grin formed on his face. He always found a way to bring a smile to her face.

Azarana made a playful snarl. "Quit being a baby Dovaryn, you're acting worse than your children!" She glanced down at Zara and Doryn who were head butting each other. "Mind you, he's a grown up baby and you two are just adorable little babies."

Zara immediately started singing. "Father's a baby! Father's a baby!"

Dovaryn ignored the little hatchlings song and approached his mate and nuzzled her cheek. "Hello to you too my love." He smiled lovingly at her and licked her nose. "I was expecting you to be harsh towards me, seems like harshness runs in your family."

She returned the nuzzle and looked him in the eyes. "And I was expecting you to be silly like always." She placed a kiss on his nose. "Would never change that about you." She cupped his cheek with her free paw and placed another kiss on his nose. "You silly beast."

He murmured and returned the kiss. "I'll always be your silly beast, my dearest." He rubbed the paw that was on his cheek with his own paw. They both purred to each other.

Noticing how Zara wasn't in the center of attention anymore, she decided to interrupt her parents intimate and tender moment the best way she could.

"FOOD! I'M HUNGRY!" She shouted as loud as she could making her parents cringe and pin their ears back while Doryn jerked his head away from her. "I'M HUUUUNGRY!" She repeated in an even higher pitched voice and thumped her paws against her mother's chest.

So much for intimacy.

Azarana hissed and looked down at her troublesome hatchling. "Don't shout Zara, we can all hear you just fine"

"I'm out of here!" Doryn squirmed out of his mother's grasp and walked away from her, grunting. "You're always so loud sister."

"But I'm hungry" Zara repeated herself and whimpered. As if just on time, her belly rumbled. "See? Even my tummy agrees!" That made all three of them laugh. Zara didn't understand what was so funny but she started laughing with them anyway. Dovaryn patted her head and smiled at her. Azarana flipped her on her back and cradled her with one leg and ticked her belly with her other paw. Zara had enough tickling for one day so she squirmed away and walked over to Doryn, head butting his haunches.

"Now that you mention it, I am hungry too." He looked at Azarana. "I don't suppose we have any leftovers from breakfast, do we?" He sat on his haunches and licked his nose. "That deer was quite tasty".

Azarana shook her head. "I ate the leftovers some time after we were done with breakfast, we're gonna need to hunt some food." She got up andwalked over to the furs and sprawled on top of them, laying her head on top of her paws. "I'm feeling quite tired myself dear and you seem to still be full of energy, so maybe you should go hunt?" She smirked at him, trying to wiggle her way out of family duties by politeness. Zara approached her and snuggled next to her chest. Her mother happily hugged her and started purring.

Even though Dovaryn wanted to go hunt anyway, he wouldn't let her get away with teasing him. He glared at her. "You are going to get fat if you continue eating our leftovers, Azarana." He grinned and slowly backed away from her, as if expecting a pillow to come flying at his face.

Azarana's smirk was gone in a moment and her eyes went wide open. She almost threw a pillow at him, but decided not to in front of the children. She lifted her head and growled at him. "And you are going to have a huge paw mark on your cheek if you say that again." She tossed her head and stared back at him. "Seeing how I'm fat it's probably best if you go hunt us some food." Her facial expression slowly turned into a smug grin. "Besides, I doubt you'd like to get bested by me when I bring in larger prey."

Dovaryn chuckled at her. "That's a competition for another time, my dear."

Zara started giggling. Both her and Doryn were used to their parents playfully teasing each other. She picked up a nearby pillow and threw it at her father. However, the pillow barely reached halfway to Dovaryn due to her weak throw. Doryn saw that and laughed at her. "Nice throw Zara, that totally hit the target." He picked the pillow up and sat on his haunches facing Zara. He moved his paws back as if ready to throw the pillow at her. Both Zara and Azarana covered their faces to protect themselves, but in the last moment Doryn span around and threw the pillow at his father, hitting him right on the nose.

Not expecting that, Dovaryn yelped and recoiled back, dropping to his haunches and rubbing his nose. It didn't hurt but it surprised him. The rest of his family started laughing at him. Dovaryn whimpered and looked at his son. "Why did you do that Doryn?"

Doryn almost fell on his side from laughter, his wings shaking. "That's for ganging up on me with Zara earlier!" He walked over to his mother and sister and playfully nudged Zara with his snout. "Besides, it was Zara who threw the pillow first, not me. She started it!" He smirked at Zara, trying to put the blame on her.

Zara gasped in shock. "I didn't hit him! You did!" She playfully snarled at him and made him back off. "It's not my fault that you decided to follow up and throw the pillow at him!"

Arazana finally stopped laughing and glared at her mate. "What's this about ganging up against poor Doryn? Hmm?" She grinned mischievously and grabbed a pillow, completely ignoring the fact that Zara too was involved in the "attack" on Doryn. "You're gonna get it now, Dovaryn!" She stood up and threw the pillow at him as hard as she could. "Take that!" Dovaryn yelped and ducked his head but the pillow still hit his horns. Both Zara and Doryn joined in on the fun and grabbed pillows, blankets, pelts and anything soft that they could get their paws on and threw at their father.

It was an all out war now, and Dovaryn was their number one enemy.

Dovaryn got bombarded by soft things. He kept ducking, dodging to the left and right but they still managed to hit him. He kept laughing through all of the hits until he grabbed a couple of pillows. "Now it's payback time!" He threw the pillows rapidly at his children to knock them off their balance and then concentrated on Azarana. He grinned, showing all of his teeth and then pounced on his mate. He collided with her and knocked her on her back. She laughed and kept playfully smacking him with her paws, trying to push him off of her. He grabbed a big pillow and pushed it into her face.

"Gnnnnfgghhmfff!" She tried to yell at him but couldn't because of the pillow pressing into her face. She managed to kick his hindlegs, throwing him off balance and push him off of her. He fell on his back in the pile of soft things but before he could get back on his feet Azarana pinned his chest down and started hitting his face with the same pillow he used before. "Oh, you little..." She kept hitting and hitting Dovaryn while he laughed and kept trying to shield his face with his paws. Soon enough, Zara and Doryn joined in on the fun and mercilessly beat their father with pillows until he finally admitted defeat.

"Truce! Truce! I give up, you win!" He said while laughing. They stopped beating him with the pillows and he managed to catch his breath. He looked at his son who quickly put down a pillow."Look what you started Doryn, you managed to get us all into a fight!" He tried to get up but Azarana pushed him down and hugged his chest. She licked his face and laughed. He hugged her back and started purring from the loving embrace. "First you beat me and then you hug me? You're a wicked female, you know that?" He returned the licks, nuzzling into her cheek. Zara and Doryn followed her mothers actions and started cuddling and licking him.

"That's for calling me fat you beautiful blue bastard." She licked his nose. "I could have used my paws, you know, and not the pillows."

"Use your paws? On me?" He shot her a naughty grin. "I would enjoy that immensely Azarana" He giggled and licked her cheek. "You would too, I bet." He purred at her.

Azarana laughed and threw her head back. "You dirty lizard. Not in front of the children. And tonight... maybe.." She licked his jawline making him tense. "If you're lucky that is."

"Oh, I know I'm lucky Azarana" He smirked at her, again shooting her a naughty look. "The fact that I'm with you is enough evidence that I'm lucky."

Zara and Doryn giggled. "Ooooo, mother is gonna punch father!" Zara said and started jumping around. "Punch! Punch! Punch!" Doryn just laughed at her.

Azarana chuckled and got off of Dovaryn giving him space to stand up. "No, I'm not gonna punch father. I would never do that." They were too young to understand that type of conversation, so she wasn't going to explain it to them.

Zara's belly rumbled again, reminding all of them that father was supposed to go out and hunt. Before she could "inform" them again about her hunger Azarana put a paw on her snout. "Yes, my love, I know you're hungry, we just got a little bit too carried away"

"Now I'm hungry too" Doryn said. "Fighting always makes me hungry!"

Dovaryn stood up and shook himself. "Well I guess we're all hungry now." He smirked at his mate. "Except for her, she ate all of the leftovers." He put a paw on his face to protect himself in case she decided to throw another pillow at him, but she didn't.

"Don't start it, Dovaryn" She giggled. "We're gonna starve to death if we continue hitting each other with pillows over silly insults." She started picking up pillows and animal pelts that they threw and putting them on the fur pile. "What a mess we made."

"Well, I'm gonna go hunt and you clean up the mess, is that fair?" He flexed his wings, preparing himself for the flight. "I'll see if I can catch something big enough to feed all of us."

"That is fair, Dovaryn." She smiled at him and then looked at her children. "Zara, Doryn, you're going to help me clean up this mess."

"But mother-" Doryn got interrupted by his father licking his head. He squirmed away from him.

"Now now son, you need to learn to be responsible." He tried to lick him again but he ran away towards mother. So he decided to lick Zara who didn't complain and instead started purring. "If you make a mess, you need to clean up that mess. Who's going to clean up your mess when you're grown up? Hmm?" Zara said nothing, instead she just enjoyed the attention she was getting from her father. He pulled his head back and started walking towards the cave exit.

"Alright, I'm going to hunt us some dinner." He glanced at his children. "You two be nice and help out your mother."

Zara jumped quickly to her paws and started happily pushing furs and pillows towards the main pile while Doryn sighed heavily and grabbed a pillow with his teeth. "Fiiiiiine." He dragged the pillow lazily to the fur pile and dropped it.

Azarana smiled and licked her hatchlings head. An idea came to her. "Doryn, how come your younger sister is more diligent than you are?" She glanced at Zara who was busy placing pillows on one side and furs on the other side. "Zara seems to be a lot better at this than you."

Doryn's jaw dropped and he looked at his sister in disbelief. "No she's not!" He quickly ran over and grabbed a piece of fur with his teeth while dragging another pillow with his paws. Azarana chuckled. Turning a simple task of tidying up the place into a competition always seemed to work wonders for their children's productivity.

Dovaryn smiled and left them to their duties. He walked out of the main chamber and into the hallway. Blue light from the crystals lit the hallway up in a dim blue glow. The crystals weren't as luminous as a fire perhaps but they provided enough light for the dragons to move without bumping into the walls. Dovaryn could see the night sky as he approached the cave exit. He cursed as he remembered that it was nighttime. He should've went hunting earlier while there was still some daylight left. He'll just have to rely on his sharp vision to pick out prey in the darkness.

Dovaryn sighed and made his way outside. The cool evening air made him shiver. It was spring and while the weather wasn't too harsh the temperatures at this attitude weren't exactly pleasant. He walked to the edge of the stone ledge and looked up at the sky. It was clear and the moon cast its light upon the entire area. In the distance, ominous looking clouds rolled from the mountain peaks. He grunted. Seems like it would rain again soon. Dovaryn didn't share the fascination about the rain like his children did. He'd prefer to stay inside the cave where it was dry and warm and not outside in the rain. Unfortunately for him, Zara and Doryn loved playing in the rain and they wouldn't stop bugging their parents until they'd take them both out to play in the wet and muddy meadow. Something about jumping into puddles seemed especially fun for them. Bathing them was a whole different story for their parents though.

He glanced down at the meadow. The moonlight covered the grassy expanse in a faint blue tint. He narrowed his eyes and scanned the area, trying to catch any sort of movement, but everything was still and peaceful. No herds roamed the meadow tonight, it seemed. He moved his head and looked at the lake. He noticed a figure standing at the far edge of the lake. He was too far away from it to figure out what it was so he decided to have a closer look.

Dovaryn unfolded his huge green wings and pumped them a few times against the air. No wind tonight. Perfect. He made a few steps and jumped off the cliff straight towards the ground. He tucked his paws against his body as he dove fast. His powerful hearth pumped blood through his veins as the adrenaline kicked in. For dragons, diving was such an exhilarating thing but also a very dangerous one. If they misjudged how far away from ground they were, they might not open their wings in time to slow their descent. At the same time if they opened them too quickly the sheer force of the wind pressing against their wing membranes could rip their muscles apart rendering them useless. Both would end in painful, yet quick death. Loss of life is a risk dragons always accepted when they dove. No matter how experienced they were, a small mistake could end their life in a second.

Dovaryn was very much aware of the risk. Halfway from the ground he slowly spread his wings to slow down his descent. The gushing wind pressed against his membranes until he spread them enough to make flight controllable. He angled his wings backwards to propel himself into a glide. He glanced back at the lake noticing that the figure was still there. He decided to land a dozen wingspans away from the figure to avoid scaring it. His blue scales blended him nicely in the darkness and the gliding made him almost impossible to hear but he didn't want to risk scaring away potential prey.

He slowly descended towards a small hill and opened his wings to their fullest extent to slow himself down. He pumped his wings once to avoid hitting the ground too hard. Dovaryn touched the ground with a thud with his hindlegs first and then with his forelegs. A bumpy landing that made his legs hurt a little but nothing that his powerful body couldn't handle. He'd usually touch the ground with his hind paws while he was still in air and backpedal his wings a few times to trot to a stop.However, he wanted to make as little noise as possible.

Dovaryn folded his wings against his body and lowered himself to the ground. He slowly walked over to the top of the hill until he could see the figure at the lake. With his sharp vision he noticed that the figure was a deer laying next to the water. A stag specifically, judging by the huge white antlers on his head. But something else caught Dovaryn's attention. The creature was bleating. And it didn't sound like a mating call or anything. It sounded like the creature was in pain. Dovaryn hummed to himself. If the stag was injured then that made him easy prey. He wouldn't even have to venture into the forest to look for animals.

Careful not to startle the stag, Dovaryn slowly made his way towards the creature that wasn't even paying attention to his surroundings. Instead, it stared at the sky and kept making the same painful sound as before, as if expecting some divine force to relieve him of the pain. And as Dovaryn got closer to the creature he finally realized what was causing him pain. The stag had huge stab wounds on his haunches and belly and his right hind leg was twisted in a gruesome, unnatural way. Poor creature probably got injured in a fight with another stag while trying to prove his strength and gain the right to mate with a doe. It was the breeding season for deer and this one seemed to have lost the fight. And now he was going to lose his life.

Dovaryn felt bad for having to kill the wounded animal, but after all, deer were on the bottom of the food chain for him and he had to feed his family. If he didn't end the bucks life, the wolves would. And killing him would just spare him of his misery, seeing how there was no way he'd recover from such serious injuries. Seeing how the animal wouldn't have a chance of escaping Dovaryn picked up the pace and trotted over to the wounded creature. As soon as the buck noticed the approaching the dragon, it made a terrified bleat and tried to stand up and run away. Unfortunately his wounded body refused to obey and he fell back to the ground with a loud thud causing him to bleat even louder in agony.

Dovaryn pinned his ears against his head, trying to dampen the irritating sound. The sooner he was finished the better. He approached the deer and carefully grabbed his antlers with his right paw and his haunches with his left paw and pressed his body into the ground to stop him from squirming. He opened his jaws and grabbed the animal around its neck and slowly pressed his teeth into the soft fur. The buck tried to squirm away but the dragons weight kept him pinned against the ground. He made one final cry before Dovaryn removed his paw from his antlers and jerked his head to the side, breaking the animals neck in a single, smooth motion.

He opened his jaws and the stags lifeless head fell to the ground. The wounded creature was finally silenced. Dovaryn removed his paw from the animals haunches when he noticed something wet and warm under it. He looked at his paw pads and saw crimson blood coating them. He grimaced when he realized that he caused more pain for the creature when he pressed his paw into the wounds before killing it. He looked the creature over. Brown fur covered its entire body and a set of beautiful white antlers crowned its head. Those would make a nice trophy, he thought.

Alongside the creatures flanks were huge stab wounds that bled heavily. In fact, the ground beneath the buck was covered in layers of blood. Poor thing must have been bleeding here for a while. The hind leg that looked bad to Dovaryn when he was farther away from the deer now looked even worse when he saw it up close. Broken bone stuck through the bloody skin and the entire leg was twisted backwards. It seemed like every tendon in his leg was ripped apart. His leg probably got caught in the opposing male's antlers which completely immobilized him.

The buck was strong and muscular with lots of meat on its body. It would be more than enough for Dovaryn and his family to feed on and they'd have enough for breakfast too. Dovaryn smiled. That was an easy hunt, he thought to himself. Well, if he could even call it a hunt. He merely found the creature in a wounded state and finished it off. He'd find a way to brag about killing a fat deer in some way.

He dipped his left paw into the lake water to wash the blood off and then grabbed the bucks neck with its mouth. He lifted the limp creature off the ground and turned around, walking towards the side of the mountain where his cave was. He sprinted across the meadow and when he had enough speed he unfolded his wings and used his powerful hind legs to jump off the ground and into the air. At the same he pumped his powerful green wings to lift himself higher and higher into the air. The animal corpse dangled beneath him so he grabbed it with his front paws to keep it stable during flight. He ascended towards the cave. By now, he flew to and from his cave so many times that he could probably find and land on the ledge in front of it with his eyes closed. He'd never dare to try that though.

He flew towards the cave and landed on the ledge. He folded the wings to his sides and trotted inside the cave. From the hallway, he could hear giggling and laughter in the distance. Zara and Doryn were probably wrestling again. Or maybe they were trying to climb their mother. It was never a boring day with those two around.

He walked into the main chamber and saw what he expected to see. Azarana was on her back on the fur pile while Zara and Doryn kept jumping on her chest and laughing while their mother tried to push them off of her. Despite her "immense"efforts, the two hatchlings were simply too strong for her to fight them. Dovaryn was always happy to see his hatchlings having fun, even if Azarana and him had to let them "win" fights sometimes to keep them happy. At least they cleaned up the mess they made previously. Not a single pillow or animal pelt was outside the pile.

Dovaryn walked to the center of the chamber and dropped the deer on the floor. He looked over at his mate with a smile on his face. "Oh my, it seems my beautiful little hatchlings managed to come out victorious yet again. You managed to beat your mother!"

Azarana looked over at her mate and returned the smile. "Let's just say they did." She noticed the deer on the floor. "Oh, you've brought back quite a big-"

"FOOD!" Both Zara and Doryn said in unison and jumped off of their mother and ran towards the deer. Before they could jump at their "prey" Dovaryn quickly grabbed the deer with its paw and lifted it in the air away from the hatchlings reach. They skidded to a stop, Doryn tripping over his paws in the process. Zara whined and started jumping to grab the deer but every time she jumped Dovaryn lifted it a little bit higher in the air and out of her reach. She sat on her haunches and growled at her father. "No fair father! Give food! I'm hungry!" She thumped her tail against the ground and slashed her tiny claws in the air. "Or I hurt you!"

Azarana laughed and grabbed a huge bear pelt from the fur pile and dragged it towards Dovaryn. "Don't worry my love, you'll get your food." She spread the bear pelt in front of Dovaryn's legs and he dropped the corpse on top of it. "But we don't wanna make another mess, do we?"

Zara completely ignored her mother's question and jumped on the deer and started gnawing at the animals flank, ripping pieces of fur and skin off the carcass. Doryn stood up and shook himself off. He looked at his sister and grimaced at her messy eating habit. "I think I'll start at the legs." He walked over to the bucks front legs and bit into the muscles of its right leg. Unlike his sister, Doryn knew how to eat without making too big of a mess.

Dovaryn chuckled and walked around the carcass to his mate his gaze locked on to his daughter. "Zara, you're going to give yourself a belly ache if you continue eating that voraciously." Zara looked up at her father with a big toothy grin, her little fangs covered in blood. She belched, surprising both her parents and went back to eating. Dovaryn narrowed his eyes at his hatchling and spoke in a harsher than usual voice. "That's not nice, Zara." She ignored her father and continued feasting on the deer.

Azarana chuckled and licked her mates cheek. "She's young, she'll learn soon enough." She nuzzled his neck causing him to purr."Besides, with how hungry she is? I don't blame her."

Dovaryn pulled his head back and licked Azarana's nose, returning the affection. "I know my love, I know." He sat on his haunches and put his paw atop of hers. "I'm just trying to be a good father, that's all. Teach her how to behave and all that other stuff fathers do." He drooped his ears when he realized that he sounded goofy. He was a good father. He loved his children with his whole heart and he wouldn't let anything bad happen to them.

Azarana laughed and sat on her haunches. She grabbed Dovaryn with her paws and hugged him to her chest. "Don't be silly my dear, we both know how much you care about them." She kissed his nose and looked him in the eyes. "There's no other male in the world with who I'd rather want to raise my children with." Gods, her mate could be silly at times, but that's one of the reasons she loved him so much. He had a big heart and behind his wall of silliness was the most caring dragon she ever met in her life.

Dovaryn purred and hugged her back. He pressed his paw against the back of her head and licked her cheek. He whispered into her ear. "I love you so much Azarana." He meant every word he said. He loved his ruby dragoness more than anything. He would spend the rest of his life with her. He'd hold her when she cried, carry every burden for her, spill his own blood to defend her. He would be her guiding light in the darkness. For her and his children, he'd do anything in the world.

"Mmm, I love you too my dearest." She closed her eyes and pushed her snout under his chin. They both sat there purring and embracing each other for a while. Azarana glanced at her children who were still busy eating. Zara was busy ripping flesh off of the bucks haunches while Doryn was suckling bone marrow out of the foreleg he broke. Azarana hummed. "You came back from hunting very fast."

Dovaryn pulled back his head and grinned at her. "Well you know how magnificently strong and agile I am. No animal can escape when I start diving down at them. In fact, they freeze in place when they hear my powerful roars." He licked her nose, almost chuckling to himself. "They know that it's better to just give up and submit to me when I'm flying overhead instead of running away."

Azarana snorted and tossed her head, rolling her eyes at her mates exaggerated hunting story. "Magnificently strong?" She traced a finger across his scaled chest and down his belly, feeling the powerful muscles rippling under his scales. "Very much so. But agile?" She traced her finger again in the opposite direction over his neck and jawline and tapped the sensitive scales on his nose making him yelp and recoil back. "Not really. You still hit your paws against the tree tops while flying." She grinned at him. "Not to mention when you trip over your tail and fall over."

Dovaryn grunted. "Fine, fine. I found the deer next to the lake. Poor thing was laying on its side bleating in agony. Probably got injured while buck fighting. Barely put up any resistance." He rubbed his nose with his paw. "Didn't even run because its leg was broken."

Azarana decided to tease him about the last part. "Ah, so you were right!" She spoke as if she discovered the solution to a very complicated problem. "Animals really don't run away from you when they see you flying!" The sarcasm was literally oozing out of her voice. She hugged him again and purred. "Mmm, I'm so proud of my magnificently strong and agile blue dragon!" She couldn't stop herself from laughing.

Dovaryn sighed heavily. "Yes yes female, laugh it all up." He pushed her snout away with his paw. "The point is that I got us dinner." He slowly pulled away from her as an idea came to him, a mischievous grin forming on his face. "And you can get fat eating the leftovers."

Azarana gasped and then growled at him, her eyes narrowed into slits. "That's the second time you teased me today Dovaryn, if you make one more remark about my body weight I'm gonna put nails under your bedding tonight." She slowly stood up in one graceful movement and started approaching him.

Dovaryn walked backwards and laughed. "Hey, my bedding is your bedding too! You'd lay on the nails as well!"

"Oh, I'll make sure you lay on the _proper _side of the bedding." She punctuated every word with a low growl in her throat. She kept approaching him until he stopped and stood in place.

"Oh, it's not that my love." A loving smile formed on his face. "I just wouldn't want you to get hurt by laying on the wrong side of the bedding, that's all." He craned his neck to give her a quick kiss on her nose. "I couldn't care less if they hurt me." His smile turned into a huge toothy grin. The way he was acting innocence, the only thing missing was a halo on top of his head.

Azarana was completely taken aback by that and she couldn't help but smile at him. "You smooth bastard." She tried to playfully nip at his nose but he quickly jumped back and laughed. He walked over to his children who were done eating.

"That I am Azarana." He winked at her before focusing on his children. "I hope that deer was enough to feed my little babies." He glanced at the carcass. The front legs were almost stripped completely off its flesh and muscles and the bones were broken in several pieces from which they sucked out the bone marrow. The bucks chest, flanks and haunches were a bloody mess. The ribcage was visible, what was left of the creature's organs were spilled on the bear pelt underneath it and most of the meat on the back was gnawed off. Still, there was enough for Dovaryn and Azarana to eat and maybe even some for tomorrow.

Zara licked her lips and her paws. "Yup! It was delicious!" As per usual, Zara managed to get blood all over herself because of her messy eating habits. Her head, paws, belly and even her tiny frilled red ears were covered in blood. It wasn't all that noticeable on her body because of the red scales.

Doryn, on the other hand, was much cleaner. He only had blood on his paws and snout. Unlike his sister, he learned not to eat voraciously a while ago. However, due to his blue scales the blood on him stuck out like a sore thumb. "It was pretty good." He looked his paws over and decided that cleaning them with licks would take a while. "I'm gonna go wash myself in the pool." He trotted into the tunnel leading to the families private bathing pool. Doryn was old enough to take care of his hygiene without the assistance of his parents. Zara, on the other hand, was a different story.

Azarana approached her little hatchling. "You're quite a messy little eater, aren't you?" She started licking her head with broad swipes of her tongue. Zara tried to squirm away but Dovaryn grabbed her tail and started licking her paws.

"Stay still Zara, we need to clean you up." Dovaryn licked her tiny paw pads making her giggle. "You wouldn't want your scales to itch now, would you my dear?" He turned his attention to her chest, licking the blood off of her small chest plates.

"Nooooo!" Zara giggled and squirmed. "But it tickles!"

Azarana licked her sensitive frilled ears, making Zara wiggle and twist them in order to avoid her mother's persistent licks. "If you weren't so opposed to baths then we wouldn't have to do this, my love."

Zara's eyes went wide at the mention of baths. "No baths!" She shook her head, almost bumping into their parent's snouts. "Water is deep! Too scary!"

Dovaryn chuckled and flipped her on her back, making her yelp. He started licking the blood off of her belly scales making her giggle even more. "We wouldn't drop you into the pool Zara, we'd hold you in our paws while you splashed around."

"Nuh-uh!" She started swatting her father's snout with her tiny paws while her mother stopped the constant assault of licks. "Too much tickling!"

Dovaryn pulled his head back. "Done. All clean." Zara immediately jumped to her feet and shook herself. "Don't go around rolling on the floor, alright my dear?" He nuzzled the tiny nubs at the top of her head that will turn into horns when she grows up.

Azarana joined in and licked her daughters cheek. "See? That wasn't so bad. But please eat a little slower next time, alright?"

Zara started purring and leaning into their parent's touch. "Okay mother, okay father!" She looked at both of them with a grin on her face. Zara was adorably cute. It sometimes seemed like she used that to her advantage to get out of trouble. After all, who could be mad at an adorable little dragon hatchling?

Doryn came back from his bath, his blue scales glistening in the dim light cast by the crystals in the walls. "I'm clean!" He announced happily and walked over to his younger sister. "And you are too!" He chuckled and licked her ears causing her to squirm.

"Stop tickling me!" She playfully snapped her jaws at her brother in an attempt to scare him. Which did not work.

"Nicely done Doryn." Azarana praised her son for taking care of himself. "You've cleaned yourself very well."

Doryn beamed at the compliment and held his chest high, all proud of himself. Then a yawn escaped his maw. "I'm sleepy."

Zara yawned too, rubbing her eyes with her paw pads. "I'm sleepy too!"

Dovaryn hummed to himself. "The moon was quite high in the sky when I left to hunt, so I think we should all go get some sleep." He glanced at the deer carcass and then at Azarana. "I'm not really hungry, how about you Azarana?"

She shook her head. "I ate the leftovers, remember?" She grinned, almost expecting him to make another remark about her getting fat. Dovaryn did no such thing. He simply smirked at her and grabbed the bear pelt with his teeth and pulled the deer carcass into a corner.

"This'll serve as our breakfast tomorrow then." He walked over to his children and licked each of their heads. "Sleep well my lovelies." Azarana did the same. They both purred and nodded their heads before they walked towards the tunnel leading to their sleeping chambers.

Dovaryn approached Azarana and licked her cheek. "After you my dear." He gestured with his wing towards the tunnel leading to their sleeping chamber. A smile formed on his face as he tried to be as polite as possible.

"How nice of you." She started walking towards the tunnel when she turned her head around and looked him over her wing. "I hope you're not expecting something in exchange for your complimentary behavior, hmm?" She used her tail tip to smack his nose.

Dovaryn tried to grab her tail tip with his teeth but she pulled it away. "I suppose not, unless you've got something on your mind." He walked over to her right side and nipped at her right ear.

"Nothing at all, my dear." She rubbed cheeks with him. "Let's just go to sleep."

Both of them walked through the tunnel that lead into their sleeping chamber. Their sleeping chamber was much smaller than the main chamber but it was also a lot more comfier. Just like their main chamber and the hallway, glow stones were placed in holes in the walls to provide light. On one side of the chamber laid their pile of furs and soft things on which they slept together. Next to that were shelves lined with old books written in the draconic language, old toys from their childhood, shiny things like silver mugs and other things of value to them. One shelf, however, held some of their most prized possessions. It contained Azarana's and Dovaryn's scales. Dragons used to take scales from their partners after mating or scales from their children as a memory token. Some dragons had scales of several colors that were from the lovers they had during their life. It was an old dragon tradition to keep scales of lovers and children to remember them.

Next to the pile of scales were pieces of Zara's and Doryn's eggshells. Zara's eggshell pieces were colored in crimson red and had small streaks and spots of blue across them. Doryn's eggshell pieces had sky blue colors with red splotches on them. During a dragon's hatching, a large portion of the egg would get smashed in the process. Dovaryn and Azarana kept the largest eggshell pieces on the top of shelf, way beyond the reach of the hatchlings in case they decided to play with them. The eggshell pieces were their most treasured memories. Even when their children grow up, fly away, claim territory and find mates for themselves their parents would still have something to remember them.

Next to the shelves was a small stream of water that flowed from the wall into a small basin on the floor where it would accumulate. It was pure mineral water, straight from the mountain itself. Azarana drank from the basin to quench her thirst after which Dovaryn did the same. Azarana walked over to the fur pile and laid on top of it. She curled her tail against her body and rested her head against her paws.

Dovaryn walked over to her but she lifted her tail and pushed his chest with it. He cocked his head in confusion at her. "What?" She pointed at the glow crystals in the walls with the tip of her tail. "Oh, right." He grabbed a couple of animal pelts and threw them over the glow crystals in the holes. The entire room went dark. "Is that better?"

"Much better." Azarana adjusted herself against the furs. "Now lay next to me." Dovaryn walked over behind her and laid next to her back, pressing his body to hers. He unfolded his left wing and covered her with it. Azarana coiled her tail with his while Dovaryn placed his left foreleg across her chest and hugged her. "Sleep well, my love."

Dovaryn licked her cheek. "You too, my dearest." He craned his neck and laid his head next to hers.

And so the dragon family went to sleep.