Bridges

Yay, dragons.

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The small dragon shivered under his rocky outcropping as the rain poured down in great big buckets. Never before had he hated being a red dragon as much as he did then. His affinity with the heat did nothing to help when it rained and was cold. Right then, all it did was make him feel even worse.

Kindle sat back against the rock. There was very little room to move around without touching the rain. It was freezing cold, and the last thing he wanted to do was get sick in the place like this. He had had to change into his human form to give him more room, even though he knew it was a considerably bad idea, leaving him more vulnerable in his weaker state.

Maybe coming out here wasn’t the best idea. He’d never been this far away from the clan before, so he didn’t even think about looking for better shelter until it had already started raining. But then again, there was a reason that he’d come all the way out here, miles and miles away from the clan.

No, he was never going back there ever again. He was going to put it all behind him, forget about it, move on, start a new life. All that.

But first, he just needed to figure out what to do.

The red dragon knew that he could survive on his own. He was just thankful that he’d actually listened to the elder dragons that taught him as a dragonling, about survival. No, he hadn’t listened to all of it, but hey, he knew how to hunt, and he knew how to look for shelter. What more did he need?

To be able to actually find that shelter when it started to rain and snow.

Being on a mountain didn’t help.

Kindle shivered again, his arms wrapped around him, hands moving slightly to get some of the warmth back in them.

Despite how much he wanted to lean over, curl into himself, he leaned back, resting against the rock, his eyes closed, and drew his knees up to his chest.

This might have been a really bad idea.

The dragon snorted at himself. What, was he going to give up, come crawling back to Eton? The very reason he’d left in the first place?

No, he’d rather die then do so, but he didn’t actually want to die.

And he probably wouldn’t. It was just a little rain, he’d been through worse.

Not really, considering he was basically shielded from everything growing up, but still, it was just a little bit of water, and he was being a baby, and he was trying to make an excuse to go back.

The wind blew hard towards him, and Kindle let out a whimper. This was so unfair! It was like the Mother was against him. First with Eton, and now this. What was he going to do?

The red dragon opened his eyes again, sighing when it seemed like the rain wasn’t about let up anytime soon.

He’d managed to make it halfway up the mountain. He wasn’t sure if he was going to cross over all of them, or just stay here. He wasn’t sure if he was even should have came this way, not that he was thinking at the time when he left, but there were stories about this place, that he’d been told for as long as he could remember, over and over again.

He’d never really paid attention, but apparently there was some horrible beast living out here, that flew close to the clan that ate little dragonlings that strayed too far, or brought them to his cave to do unspeakable things to them.

Of course, he’d realized after the while that most of the older dragons that told the stories to them were full of smoke- no pun intended.

He looked out to the trees that surrounded him. They were large, at least 50 feet, but slightly spread out, making it easier to move through them, which was why he hadn’t tried finding solace in a tree, instead finding this little outcropping, all alone.

Wait, trees were supposed to be brown, right? Farther on, one looked a little gray, maybe white, from the distance.

And it was moving. Trees didn’t do that.

Shit.

The thing moved closer, slowly, towards what had now become Kindle’s hiding place. Yes, he was still out in the open, and no, he wasn’t actually hiding but if he had to, he’d make a run for it, screw the rain, maybe even take flight.

The thing got closer, and for a split second, Kindle thought it might have been the Beast, but as it got closer, he could see what it was.

A dragon. A white dragon.

He hadn’t even seen one before. They were supposed to have died out over a hundred years ago.

Yet, here one was, walking towards him.

White scales shown dully with the grey sky, and his wings were tucked in tight. The lack of spikes on his back told Kindle that he was a Macu, or the dominate type of the dragon species.

He sat there as the dragon drew closer, moving slowly, but his body had yet to show any signs of hostility. Before long the dragon was in front of him, his head cocked slightly to the side.

The wind blew again, causing a harsh shiver to go through Kindle’s body. It seemed that it was raining even harder than before, if that was even possible.

He watched as the dragon looked at him, his body giving a slight shudder, before shrinking rapidly, until he had taken on his human form.

He didn’t say a word as he walked towards Kindle, who stood up, almost hitting his head on the rocky outcropping.

He twitched when the white dragon stepped into his personal space, sniffing at Kindle’s skin.

“Who are you?” The white dragon asked after a moment, seemingly satisfied with Kindle’s scent. His voice was deep, and there was a hint of born authority in it.

“Kindle.” The red dragon answered quickly. The last thing he wanted to do was pissed a Macu off, especially so close to mating season.

“Mm. You’re from the clan up near the wind rocks?” The white dragon seemed more curious than anything. Kindle nodded, knowing what the other meant by the rocks. They were one of the few clans that used the odd formations riddled with holes as dens, homes and places to breed and mate.

“What are you doing so far away?” The white dragon asked, his head cocking to the side again.

“Just had to get away.” Kindle replied quietly, his arms wrapping around himself again as he did his best to keep out of the rain.

“Know what you mean.” The dragon answered, noticing the other’s position. “You’ll get sick out here, you know.”

It was a statement that Kindle knew was true. He shrugged.

“And you care?” His attitude was going to get him killed someday, he just knew it.

“Not particularly, but I’m not fond of rotting corpses on my territory, especially of your size. Come on.”

Kindle wasn’t sure he heard right, but the white dragon had started walking the way he’d come, and the red dragon soon followed, moving quickly and wanting nothing more than to get an actual shelter.

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You all have no idea how hard it was to find names for these two characters. I mean, seriously, hours of looking and trying to figure out, only to have one change completely, and the one I looked hardest on, only change in spelling. Grr.

Oh, and then I had some odd trouble with the word ‘wrapped.’ I spelled it ‘rapped,’ after changing it from ’rabbed,’ and then ’raped,’ and I was thinking- “That doesn’t look right. Is that right? It doesn’t look it. Yeah, I think it is. No, wait, it’s not, idiot. Duh.” Just thought I’d share.

Anyway, review, please? They make my day.