If Only We Had a Map.
"As a matter of fact, there is a bird on my head." I stated somewhat haughtily, as if it were perfectly reasonable for a dragon to go around with a random avian resting upon their crown.
"I don't suppose there is a particular reason?" Kalon stretched his neck and sniffed in my general direction.
He was probably trying to get a better read on Momma, but I decided to take offense. I lifted my upper lip and growled lightly, causing Momma to shuffle her wings and let out a small, irritated chirrup.
"This is, ah, Momma." Leon hastened to explain, slipping around my body to set a placating hand on my snout. "An old friend of Allura's."
"A dragon with a pet?" piped up Benson, looking on with a growing curiosity.
I sneered at the young man. "Grysbok has you, doesn't he?" I pointed out with narrowed eyes. "And Momma isn't a pet. She is just an animal I met after my hatching."
Momma was a wild creature after all, so I didn't really feel comfortable calling her a 'pet.
' And she wasn't intelligent enough to call her a friend either.
As emotive and supportive as I found the small mother bird, I didn't think she was on the same level as a person.
It was true, however, that I was fond of her.
"Er, is she going to be traveling with us then?" Benson asked, taking my little jab in stride.
"No idea. But between finding her and the fact that the lake over here looks familiar, I think it's safe to say that we should be close to my mother's nest."
"Well, that's something at least," Trent said, looking thoughtful.
His eyes panned over the lake that was growing darker by the minute as the sun sank below the horizon.
"Best to call it a night and do another push tomorrow morning.
Wandering in this forest at night—even with a group of dragons—isn't the wisest of things to try. "
True. Even though I had grown significantly, I was still much smaller than the bears and snakes I had seen as a hatchling.
I could fight them... but I had Leon to protect now, and I'd rather he not get caught in between.
Sure, he was a trained fighter, one who had also just received a massive skill upgrade thanks to a certain pink dragon queen.
.. But why take the chance? Humans were too soft and squishable, after all.
As we settled into a small, hastily made camp for the night, I noted that Momma did indeed seem to be wishing to stay.
The small bird had eventually left my head but never strayed far, often sitting on a branch and squawking at every perceived slight.
She was most unappreciative when Kalon bumped the tree she had been sitting in, screaming out her protest while the massive black drake looked on in faint amusement.
Momma had protested again when Grysbok snaked his brown scaly head to the center of our small clearing and set the small pile of wood Benson and Leon had gathered alight.
The jet of flame the older dragon had used was small and precise, but the smoke drifted right at the agitated bird, who proceeded to swoop down and literally bat at the dragon with her miniature wings.
Grysbok looked at a loss for what to do, giant blue eyes darting between the agitated bird and myself, who was curled around Leon at the time, ready for a nap.
I found myself laughing as the fearless Momma tried to peck at the dragon's eyes, while he did his best to resist the urge to eat her in a single bite, if only so that he wouldn't cause me to be angry.
Once Momma was satisfied that she had properly educated the brown dragon on good and proper manners, she glided over to me.
I barely lifted my head off my paws to watch her settle in the dip between my shoulder blades, her black eyes still locked on the highly confused Grysbok, as if she were threatening him with more beatings in the future.
"I think Momma might have some dragon in her after all." "Smirked Trent," poking the fire with a stick while Benson nervously examined around his dragon's eyes. As if he really did fear that Momma could somehow actually do a dragon any sort of damage.
As for Grysbok, he didn't seem to take offense.
Which was impressive, because I think I would have if it had been some other strange bird coming at my face.
Still, I was glad for the older drake's more laid-back nature in this instance.
I would have been beyond angry if Momma had gotten hurt, but at the same time I couldn't really blame Grysbok if he had decided to remove the menace.
"You need to value your life more." Leon told the bird, looking genuinely concerned for her chances in life if she continued on with this habit of fearlessly attacking dragons as if she stood a chance.
"Even when I first hatched, she was quite fierce about defending her nest." I smiled, finally feeling a little of the tension that had been building up over the days seep out of me.
Perhaps I really was just happy to see a familiar being.
My 'childhood' hadn't been all that long ago, but it still somehow felt nostalgic to come back here and to see Momma once again.
Somehow, curling up for a night's rest with Leon snoring lightly against my scaled arm (and Momma with her head tucked under a wing on my head), I felt very at ease.
I hadn't even realized just how tense I had been the last couple days.
I guess the boys probably saw it better than I did.
.. anyway, it was somehow quite comforting to be here, surrounded by the first smells I had of this world.
The forest was far quieter than it had been back then, and I had a lot more company, but it still had a nostalgic feel to it.
The next morning I felt groggy, and my scales were stiff and achy. Needless to say, the momentary peace of mind I had experienced last night, nestled up with Leon and Momma, had faded, and grouchy Allura had read her exceptionally lovely head once again.
I glared at the faintly smoking remains of our once cozy fire and resisted the urge to curl my lip.
Leon chuckled and patted my side affectionately. "Once we get moving, it will feel warm again."
"These cold mornings do make one miss the deserts.
" Groaned Grysbok as he stretched out his brown neck and warily blinked those large blue eyes, his breath making larger puffs in the air than the pitiful remnants of our former source of warmth.
"What I would give to be riding on the thermals over those sands right now. .."
"Is the desert really that nice?" I asked, momentarily distracted.
Even in my previous life, I'd never been to a desert before.
Mind you, back then I'd rather be at the North Pole than in the sweltering heat of a desert!
I would turn into an AC hermit the second the weather got too hot back then.
But that didn't mean I never wanted to actually see the desert at least once.
"Back when dragons had greater numbers, it was common for the more northern fliers to travel to the desert for several weeks to wait out the worst of the cold.
" Kalon looked wholly unbothered by the cold where he sat, waiting for Trent to finish clearing the camp with the other humans.
"I suppose you might call it a migration of sorts, though it was more for comfort than a means of survival during the north's colder months. "
I snorted. "Did you partake way back then?" Teasing the large black dragon brought some comfort to my chilled bones.
He lifted a scaly brow in my direction but humored me all the same.
I didn't think he would, but it would've been nice if he'd gotten at least a little offended at me insinuating he was aged.
"Not even one as ancient and wise as myself was alive back when dragonkind was so numerous," he stated, sounding amused and sarcastic.
Leon—still at my side, making sure that there wasn't a scale out of place before we left—let out a small chuckle.
From the other side of the camp, Benson let out a long, suffering sigh.
"Done. "Now if we could only find what we are looking for today, then that would be great.
.." He had been packing up the last of the blankets and pots that the humans had been using, setting them aside for me to conveniently store away in my nifty dimensional storage, and hadn't been paying attention to us prattling on about deserts at all.
"Got some place you need to be?" Trent asked, slapping the younger male on the shoulder and making him stumble forward.
"N-no..." he stuttered, catching himself before he fell too far. "But if—if we get back home soon, then we won't miss the f-festiv-val! I heard they are making it especially grand this year."
"Why?" I asked, curious. The others exchanged amused glances.
"Oh..." Right, because I was there. Of course a festival dedicated to dragons would already be excessive in a kingdom directly associated with them, and that celebration would probably be upped to the nth degree if a rare and mysterious female dragon was pretty well guaranteed to be there.
Looks like I may have inadvertently caused a lot more work for the planners and guards this year. Oops.
"Anyway, if we want to get poor Benson here back to Helios before the festival ends, we had better get a move on." Trent smirked.
"If only we had a map..." The younger man sighed, looking dejected.
I guess he had even less faith in my locating abilities than ever.
Not surprising given the fact that the only thing I'd found so far was the bird nesting in my mane.
It still felt a little insulting to be doubted, though.
"I kn-know this place is enchanted and all.
.. B-but weren't there any m-maps at all that we could b-bring? "
Trent shrugged as he watched Benson clamber up onto Grysbok's back.
Despite being a 'proper' dragoon longer than Leon, he didn't look half as graceful in the attempt, with his legs clambering up the brown dragon's sides somewhat comically.
Then again... I was smaller than Grysbok and therefore much easier to get on.
"There are maps, albeit only for these outer borders and not the more hectic center of the forest. But it would have taken some time to get them, and even if we did have them, they still wouldn't tell us the exact location we need.
It isn't like 'Allura's nest' would be written on it in big letters or something.
" Trent stated as our gear vanished into the void of my storage.
"And as far as I know, Helios doesn't have any magical maps of Zolftar.
The place changes too frequently for people to put in the effort. "
"Indeed." Agreed, Kalon, readjusting his large wings as Trent approached. "This place is so magically charged that even the landmarks can change rather abruptly. Even we dragons avoid the place, as it isn't worth the effort most of the time."
I could see that. It wasn't that dragon-kind feared the forest; it was just that a monster meal could be easily found elsewhere, so why bother?
It wasn't like dragons were adventurous by nature.
They could get curious from time to time, sure.
But the second it became a bother, that curiosity simply vanished.
Maybe I was still clinging to a little of the more human-like curiosity that I had before reincarnating after all.
I, for one, would have loved to have a map!
Leon expertly swung himself up onto my spine, patting my neck affectionately as I let my mind wander into thoughts of lamenting the loss of modern earth's conveniences. What I wouldn't give for a magical GPS right now.
"No need to worry about it." Leon smiled down on me, giving my neck another affectionate pat. "It's not like we can materialize a map out of nowhere. Besides, you said that this looks like it's near the right spot, and we did find Momma, so we are probably close!"
What he said was true, but having location magic right now would be-
I froze mid-step as a wave of shock and embarrassment washed over me. If I weren't already pink, I'm sure that every scale would have changed to that color all the same had it been possible.
"Allura? What is it?" Leon asked, concerned, when my normally fluid movement halted mid-step.
Benson, Kalon, and Trent, who had yet to take his place on Kalon's back, came to a stop at the edge of the lake and looked back at us.
No doubt they heard the worry in Leon's voice.
I guess they were still on edge about whether or not I was going to go on a rampage and were listening out for any signs.
If only it was anger coursing through my veins right now and not outright embarrassment.
"Allura?" Leon leaned sideways, trying to get a clearer view of my face.
"Umm..." I said, really, really not wanting to admit to my own mistake.
An oversight, really... An honest-to-goodness forgetfulness that anyone could have made.
I mean, a lot had been happening since way back then.
Surely no one could blame a girl for putting this one tiny thing out of her mind?
Right? Right?! "Er... I, uh, might have a m-map.
.. that we can use..." my voice trailed off into what amounted to nothing more than a mortified whisper by the end, and poor Leon had to lean even farther over my scaly shoulder to hear me at all.
"What?" he asked, looking taken aback.
He and the others might not have been able to see it, but I was sure that I was flaming red in my embarrassment at the moment. "A map! I have one!" I snapped, resisting the urge to shuffle my paws in the loamy soil of the forest floor, my tail flicking back and forth in my irritation.
"You do?" I saw the surprise on Trent's face as the male looked over his shoulder at us.
Of course I did! Had I not sunk a bajillion skill points into the damn thing several months ago in this very forest?!?!?!
I had forgotten! How could I forget something like that?! Who forgets they have magic?
I wanted to bury my head in the dirt so badly, not giving one hoot that I'd get absolutely filthy in the process. If only I could shrink down to the size of a pea. Or even better, just vanish completely! Hey, maybe I could, and I'd just forgotten it!!!