Lost and Found (Hildrehilt, Destella, Snowscale)

It was the middle of the day with nice cool weather, the sun beaming down on the mountainous region of the Skywings where it had yet to break through morning in the Imperius lands. The oceans were calm as no storms nor clouds threatened the skies, perhaps small waves and larger the further out one goes. Near the beach, on a small piece of driftwood no bigger that two feet was a small red hatchling, no bigger than a foot excluding it's tail that was longer than it's body. The hatchling struggled to climb into the board which turned to paddles, so it had simply latched on with it's upper half, it's lower submerged in cold water.

The hatchlings little paddles made little difference as the small waves pushed it toward the mainland of the mountains. He chirped out of hunger and thirst, the water too nasty for him to drink. How the hatchling made it's way across the ocean was unknown, a freak occurance that could never be solved. As the tide carried him, the waves became larger and eventually dragged the critter underneath, washing him up to shore. He shook his little hind of water, looking around for his mother. As there was no sign, the hatchling simply crawled towards the woods that lay before massive mounds of the Earth. The sand got between his scales and he began to scratch every so often, sometimes doing it for minutes.

The hatchling cried out loud and hard, not finding any fruit or any water, with tired eyes and sand between his scales he continued his travel as the day turned to afternoon, the sun starting to set atop the trees. He made it to the base of a plateau, where he coiled up in a bush that barely covered his form and cried out for his mother. But still nothing, and the cries would only get louder echoing in the area, possibly attracting the wrong kind of attention.

Hildrhilt was searching frantically, her rumbling calls echoing out across her small territory that she had claimed. 'This hatchling...' She thought to herself as she flew around quickly, searching high and low for her wee one. She even checked the hawk's nest where he had been taken after just two days of being hatched. Much to her dismay, and with a protesting Shadow Hawk that circled above her head, she did not find the hatchling.

Flying back to her cave, she began searching there once more, rumbling softly to coax him out. After about an hour of that, she sat outside of the cave and sighed, her hazel orbs pained by the thought of losing her hatchling. With that, she turned her eyes down and stared absently at the ground, thinking of anywhere the little one could be.

That is when she saw it, his tiny tracks leading away from the cave. With a tilt of her head, she stood and followed them. She quickened her pace and stared frantically at the ground for another hour before her paws hit the sand, a sinking feeling within her gullet at the realization that her little one was no where near her, but adrift on the ocean.

She quickly took flight and searched the water's surface for any form of disturbance. It was nearing afternoon and she hadn't seen him, worry building further as she called out to him, scanning the water below her. No answer. She released a soft panicked sound before her eyes lifted to fall upon the Skywing's territory, blinking slightly before flying forward. If he had been adrift then the currents would have taken him there, or at least she hoped it did.

The blue drake had been flying for at least an hour, looking for something to eat. His adopted daughter, Crescylla, rode on his back as he headed towards the beach. He wasn't fond of seafood but it didn't seem like there weren't any other choices.

For the next thirty minutes, leaving his daughter on the beach, he had been wading through the water and clumsily trying to catch fish. He had no clue where his mate had gone, she had earlier said she was going flying and hadn't come back. Perhaps she was luckier than he was, and had something.

"Father I'm hungry, " the young one complained.

"I know, I know. Father is trying," he called back, trying to pounce on some sort of ray/shark hybrid. "These fish are a bit quicker than the cave fish back home."

Bored and hungry, the hatchling began wandering across the beach. The seashells were pretty, the sand itchy. It didn't help that every time she fluttered her crystal-tipped wings it would temporarily blind her. With a small huff, she lay down and watched her father.

After about ten minutes, a sound came to her ears. Flicking them, she stood. It sounded almost like... a hatchling! "Dad, do you hear that?"

"Hear what?" the drake answered, pausing. The wind shifted, blowing the sound his way. "Stars above, that's not a good sign...." He immediately dashed to shore and picked up Crescylla, who clambered onto his back as he took flight. He hit his top speed in seconds, only to brake quickly not even a minute later as he spotted the small hatchling below. He was alone, but if the Vilidin taught him one thing it was caution. He set Crescylla down and walked forward towards it hesitantly, sniffing the air for monsters. When he reached the hatchling he sniffed it as well, the strong scents of wood and ocean greeting him. "You seem to have had a long trip... no injuries, thank stars." He nudged him gently, trying to reassure the little one. He recognized the hungry calls from his daughter's infancy, looking around to see if he could find anything edible but staying put for the moment.

Destella flew over the trees as she went towards the coast. She had been collecting various herbs to use in healing, but had decided to head for the coast to get some fish to eat. She slowly landed before hearing the familiar voices of her mate and daughter. There was another voice too, one she didn't know. Des quickly slid up before seeing Snowscale and Crescylla around a tiny hatchling. Probably a newly hatched one. Des rubbed against her mate before looking at the little hatchling.

"Are you ok?"

The hatchling heard noises, and then it felt a nudge. It looked at the much larger dragon, this dragon wasn't it's mother so it hisses albeit weakly. The hatchling tensed it's body before hissing again keeping it's jaw agape, ready to bite if the dragon decides to attack. Granted it's body was much smaller and frail compared to the larger beasts all it could do was sit there, frozen in terror. The poor thing wouldn't even put up much of a fight and it was certainly too slow to actually flee, though the hatchling was only recently hatched it only acted out of instinct.

The dark dragoness flew silently through the sky, banking to her right to observe the shoreline once she reached the skywing territory, her hazel orbs desperately searching for her tiny hatchlings. How could she have slept through his stirrings? And what a wonderful mother she had turned out.

Pushing the thought of his possible drowning from her mind when her searching held no result thus far, she rumbled softly in desperation as her eyes scanned the sands. After fifteen minutes of searching, her eyes finally fell upon three dragons: two adults and a hatchling. With a twist of her body, she arched herself to stare down at them, using her vortex to keep herself afloat with minimal wing beats as she observed the three below her. They were staring at something.

What if he hadn't wandered off? What if someone lured him from the cave? At this realization, a sharp snarl escaped her muzzle before she folded her wings and began her quick descent, lips curling over her long teeth.

Two seconds later, she was right on them, pushing her wings out to quickly slow herself as a roar burst from her throat, a simple and instinctual warning to the others to move away as the hissing of her hatchling met her ears. The dragoness was infuriated, her size much larger in comparison to the smaller skywings, nostrils wide as she prepared for a possible attack before landing, her stance defensive as her tail lashed angrily behind her. She didn't want to harm them, she just wanted her hatchling back.

Snowscale immediately glanced up, already cagey from the possibility of this being a trap. Thinking he was right he scrambled back, his feathery scales clattering in his haste to scramble back. Cres yelped, quickly hiding behind her mother as the blue drake backed off.

He guessed that this was the mother of the hatchling, or a dragon perhaps using it as bait.... he had heard tales of Nightwings doing such things. Then again, she seemed a bit big to be a Nightwing...

So perhaps a bit of nervous diplomacy was in order, as he crouched down somewhat submissively, more to indicate he wasn't a threat to her or her hatchling.