Is There A Bird On Your Head?
"She isn't my actual mother." I chortled, some of the accumulated irritation since the initial saddle incident seeming to slip away at last. "I found her after I'd hatched, and she was sitting on a nest of babies. It's just the name I started calling her."
Leon looked up at the small creature curiously. "Are you certain this is the same bird? Don't they all look the same?"
I snorted. "I can't imagine that just any typical bird would be so comfortable being this close to me." It was true that, wherever a dragon went, most other creatures fled or hid. Having a small animal like this approach would be odd at the very least.
"Oh. Yes, I suppose that is quite odd." he seemed to think for a second. "Do you think that means your mother's nest is near then?"
I fought the urge to shrug, which may have dislodged Leon now that he wasn't in a saddle. Not to mention a dragon shrugging probably wasn't a sight most would typically see. "Not sure. I don't know the migratory habits of tiny little birds. This lake does look familiar though."
"Alright, lets meet up with the others so we can look around here better."
"Good idea." I stated, but shot Momma a hesitant glance. What if we didn't find one another again? Perhaps it was strange to feel so attached to this bird, but I did feel some comfort having her near...
As if sensing my hesitancy, Momma hopped in place one more time, lifted her wings, and launched herself off the branch. Leon and I stood there for a second, watching her tiny white form circle just above our heads, before she then swooped down.
"What-?" Leon started, flabbergasted at the turn of events.
Momma, without even the slightest sign of fear or hesitancy, had alighted directly atop my head.
Without even sparing the prince seated on my back a glance, she settled herself in the pale pink hair of my newly growing mane.
Nestled on my crown, as if she were now the piolet of this grand and elegant dragon, she let out a rather demanding chirp; as if she were saying 'alright, lets be off now. '.
Normally anyone other than Leon touching me without first getting my consent would have me fighting the urge to bite them.
But with Momma, I just wanted to laugh. She really never had all that much fear of me now that I thought about it.
But I was a lot larger than the last time she'd seen me, yet that didn't seem to faze the little white bird at all.
"Will you be coming with us Momma?" I asked, pleased.
She didn't respond, and simply stared off over the lake.
Apparently she has designated me her chariot.
Her brazenness made me smile. Maybe half 'raising' a dragon hatchling caused her to be desensitized to the natural fear a dragon should bring about?
Then again, she did live in a forest famous for its savage monsters, so maybe this was just a typical weekday for her.
"I guess she is..." observed Leon, still looking highly confused and, perhaps, a little amused. "Should we join back up with the others? Between the familiar lake and- er- Momma... I think we've probably found near abouts the location we've been searching for."
I nodded, managing to not dislodge the small bird who appeared to have made herself very comfortable atop my head.
I supposed she should feel quite good about herself, given she was being allowed to turn the head of a majestic dragon such as myself into a temporary nest. I was sure that she must have been the only avian given such allowances.
But, she had kept the lonely me company for several weeks in this strange new world filled with magic and monsters; I could let the little creature get away with a few discourtesies here and there.
Besides, It amused me to think of the faces of the others when they saw me show back up with a white pigeon perched on my scaley head. I imagined that there will be a lot of confusion.
"Yes, I think we're in the right area. It shouldn't be too hard to find a dried out riverbed around here, I'm sure.
" I said, unfurling my wings once again.
I would've liked to have taken off from the lake itself.
From experience, launching up from the bottom would have been fun, and a great way to gain speed for take off.
Unfortunately, I had passengers now, and though I was about twenty percent sure that Leon may have not complained too much if I suggested it.
.. I rather doubted Momma could hold her breath.
This meant that I was stuck battering my wings inelegantly to gain altitude, while doing my best to avoid the branches of the trees that hung over the water. At least I managed it with some dignity. Afterall, take offs were never my weak point... it had always been my landings.
Surprisingly, Momma seemed oddly comfortable and sturdy upon my head as we took to the skies once again. She didn't squirm at all, nor did she seem all that affected by the air currents. Mainly she just sat there, looking almost as majestic as myself.
Almost.
Once we returned to our camping location, I saw that Leon and I were the last to arrive. I wasn't all that shocked given that the sun had just about set, causing me to nervously contemplate how I was going to land without crashing into a tree...
Sucking in a cautionary breath, I could sense Leon tense up on my back.
As outwardly supportive and encouraging as he was, even he knew that the chances of this being a less than comfortable landing were pretty high.
I was going to ask him to take hold of Momma, just incase the worst happened, but then thought better of it.
She was a wild animal after all, and might attack Leon if he were to suddenly take hold of her.
Besides, she had wings of her own; she'd be the safest of us all at this point.
As I angled myself in for the most open spot, I saw Benson and Trent hurriedly jump to their feet and dash to the tree line.
It annoyed me a little that they were so confident that I'd hit them, but I was also relived that there was two less obstacles in my way.
The pair had taken refuge at the feet of their dragon partners, both of whom had been coiled up near the trees, as if they had been about to take a nap.
Wind whipped through both Leon and I's hair as we dove downward. I couldn't make our angle as gentle as I would've preferred, due to the size of the clearing and the wide scope of the tree-branches, but we were not going obnoxiously fast either.
I heard Leon grunt on my back "Hold tight Momma.
..", no doubt thinking I couldn't hear. I found it funny rather than offensive, so I decided to let the prince's lack of confidence in me slide.
Besides, if I were being honest with myself, he had every reason to be nervous, no matter how much I'd been improving as of late.
We were nearly there, and I was starting to slow, thinking about the exact right moment to extend my clawed paws to grip the loamy earth, when one of my wings painfully clipped a branch and caused my direction to change slightly.
"I-In coming!" Benson squeaked, and I saw him press his small form as close to Grysbok as he could, squeezing his eyes shut and scrunching up his face.
Neither of the dragon males, nor Trent, seemed all that concerned. And, sure enough, I managed to grip the soil before any sort of collision could happen; coming to a complete stop about four meters from any sort of disaster.
I glared at the young dragoon as he cautiously opened one eye, allowing the tension to leave his body very slowly.
When he saw that I was still a good distance from him, he let out a large sigh and basically fell back into his dragon.
I narrowed my emerald eyes on the boy and he had the decency to look at least a little abashed at his insulting behavior.
"Are you alright?" Leon asked, ever concerned over my well being.
He had partially stood up on my back and was reaching for the wingtip that had clipped a branch.
It looked fine to me, but the hit had stung.
A dragon's wings were probably their only weakness, being far more delicate than the rest of their bodies, just by their own nature of smaller bones and thin membranes.
Even the scales of the wing joints were smaller, lighter, and more flexible than the rest of a dragon's body.
"I think so." I said, twitching my half spread wings closer to my body before Leon fell off into the dirt in his attempt to reach them.
Not taking my word for it, my ever-overprotective-prince set to work examining every tiny scale and crevice to be sure not a single thing was out of place or bruised.
Who knew how desperate he would get, should I sustain any sort of serious wound.
Though, I rather hopped that I'd never have to find out that particular reaction.
"Is that a bird on your head?" rumbled the deep and amused voice of Kalon.
My eyes jumped to the dark scaled male and I saw that he had his vibrant blue eyes narrowed on Momma, who had not even wiggled from her position upon my crown.
At least someone here had had confidence in my landing!
Then again, maybe Momma simply had confidence that- crash or no crash- she'd have gotten out just fine on her own.
I decided to simply believe that she was just that sure of my innate flight skills.