Chapter 10: Snow Pup
Early Morning - Mid Winter : Year 3 : Home | The Nest
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"Haah…" Mother let out a heavy sigh, watching me playfully nudge Krystallo after, just like yesterday, dunking her in the snow at the end of our snowball fight. "You should be nicer to your sister, Vasilias..."
"Oh, come on! She was asking for it!"
Suddenly having flashbacks to Krystallo yelling at me for suggesting I would handicap myself, her gaze turned exhausted before she whispered to me through, I assumed, magic. "I know, but couldn't you at least let her land one hit? Like yesterday?"
Pausing, I looked down to see Krystallo glaring at me. -Yeah, I.. guess I got a bit too into it…-
But her fire wasn't settled so easily. *WOOSH* Springing up and throwing out her wings, the mound of snow burying her instantly shot up into my face before suddenly, a snowball exploded into powder on the tip of my snout. *Thump*
"Puff…" Quickly clearing my nose with a quick breath, I found Krystallo squaring me up with a confident smile while rushing to prepare another snowball.
"You only actually hit me twice! And now that's one for me-"
But before she could even finish her taunt, I wrapped my tail around another extra-large snowball and sent it at her face.
*POMPF* Her body instantly vanished again in a white puff of powder.
"Haaah… What am I going to do with you two?" Mother murmured before raising her voice. "Well, I suppose that makes Vasilias the winner once again. Krystallo, you really should have at least prepared three snowballs before you did that…"
"Mmmmhhh…"
Seeing her grumbling from within her cloud while trying to shake the snow off her face, I couldn't help but smile. -She really thrives off competition…-
Eventually getting up to grab us some snacks after our exercise, Mother quickly returned with a slab of icy bison meat before splitting it between me and Krystallo.
As always, it was absolutely delicious, but after gnawing on it before throwing it down the hatch, I had a question pop into my head—a question I had held onto for over a year at that point. -Oh!-
Looking over at Mom, I quickly started questioning if now was a good time before speaking up with some rather sudden enthusiasm. "Hey, Mom! Can I go hunting with you next time you go out-"
"Absolutely not." Her response was instant, not even taking a moment to think about it.
"Awwww, but whyyy? I should be big enough!" Unknowingly hitting her with puppy eyes, my tail swayed from side to side over the snow.
But her gaze didn't waver at all. "Vasilias, you're three."
"So? Am I not big enough?" Standing around nine meters tall, I was far from small. -On Earth, I'd be able to wring the neck of an elephant like a chicken…- And even though Mother stood about twenty-four meters tall, large enough to tower over me despite laying down, I couldn't imagine many other creatures were able to grow anywhere close to her size.
However, she never budged. "Size isn't the problem. You can't use magic until your next dragon sleep. Remember our lessons? You're still in the 'Child Stage'."
-Ah, right…- It was the stage above Hatchlings and the stage below Adolescent, where dragons awaken their attribute nodes and, in-turn, learn how to use magic.
The issue for me was that most dragons didn't have that dragon sleep until they were fourteen or fifteen. "Krystallo still probably has ten years until her next sleep, but you're an oddball, so.. who knows… Most dragons at your age are even smaller than your sister." She gave me a slightly baffled look as she sized me up with thinly veiled confusion.
"So I take it that means I can hunt after my next dragon sleep?" I quickly perked up with a hopeful wag in my tail.
But rather than folding under my childishly innocent gaze, a subtle smirk found its way onto her face. "Only after you learn a spell that can kill something large."
My eyes gleamed in an instant. "How large?!"
Her smirk quickly turned into a smile. "Something as large as you."
The wag in my tail instantly accelerated as so much excitement flooded my brain that I acted like an overjoyed puppy. "That's a promise!" Flaring my wings, a childish joy filled my soul.
But it wasn't long before my joy had to be quelled.
"Brother…" Calling out softly, Krystallo looked up at me despite her snout pointing at the ground. "Next time, don't take so long to wake up…"
"He doesn't have control over that, sweetie…" Speaking tenderly as she gently nudged Krystallo with her snout, she turned to me with a stiffer look. "However, we can't just ignore how likely that is. Since we really don't know when it will come, we should be proactive in finding you a place to have it outside the nest."
Somehow feeling Mother's anxiety despite it never peeking through her stoney expression, my excitement was replaced with my chest burning.
But somehow, rather than being startled, I felt guilty, and rushed to try and lighten the air. "What about up the mountain?"
But my suggestion only made it worse as uncertainty crept into the anxious blend. "You need to be closer to the nest…" Turning to look over her shoulder, she too sent her gaze up the steep, rocky mountainside. "What about the terrace above the gate?"
Following her gaze to a barely noticeable lip in the mountainside a few hundred meters above the entrance to the nest, a spark of excitement returned. -That's pretty high up…- It was above the trees.
Up until that, I only had my imagination to satisfy my curiosity about the world above the trees—beyond the dark, encapsulating veil of forest around the field we were isolated.
But now I had a chance. "Can we go up and check it out?"
Taking a moment to think, Mother's gaze thinned. "I suppose, but let me go clean it up first." Standing up, she quickly stretched, casting a vast shadow over us with her wings before looking back at the forest's edge. "Since I'm not leaving sight, I'll let you two stay outside, but you remember the rules, correct?"
Rushing a nod, my tail started wagging once more. "If we see anything in the trees, we run inside!"
"Good. Do you understand as well, Krystallo?"
Finally laying her head down, she gave a gentle nod with shaken confidence.
"Alright then," Satisfied, Mother stretched her wings with a quiet shift before whispering into my ear with magic. "Just keep Krystallo safe."
Looking up, I quickly found her shooting me a glance of soft concern, waiting for me to acknowledge her words before her raised wings seemed to almost teleport downward. *WOOSH*
Flinching as the blast of snow ripped over us, I felt as if I only blinked before I found myself looking over an exposed patch of grass with Mother already over a hundred meters in the air.
"Haah…" -She's always so worried…- Watching her disappear into a cloud of snow as she landed on the small ledge, I turned to Krystallo. "Your safety is now my responsibility." Lowering myself beside her, I gently draped my wing over her like a blanket.
"Hmph, I don't need your protection…" Her cheeks puffed slightly as she turned away with a pout.
But besides her verbal protest, she didn't budge—going to let out a long, heavy breath before her eyes gently closed.
However, it wasn't long before that relaxation was disturbed.
-Huh?- Catching something out of the corner of my eye, my sharp, slitted pupils thinned and snapped to the treeline, darting around to try and find the thing I thought I saw move.
But there was nothing, at least then. -Was I just.. imagining things..?-
"Mmmm…" Feeling me twitching, Krystallo let out an annoyed grumble before tapping the underside of my wing, wanting me to lay it back over her.
-Alright, alright…- Thinking I was just imagining things, I relaxed once more.
But that was when it happened again. *Puf*
Hearing the gentle collapse of snow and catching movement once more, I looked out into the field to see a small patch of snow that had caved in. -What was that from..?-
*Puf* But then there was another… And another… And another…
Something was creeping up on us from beneath the snow. "Krystallo," whispering gently, I tapped Krystallo to make sure she was awake before standing up. "Back up a little bit…"
Unsure what it was, and assuming caution despite the creature appearing to be small, I quickly stepped out in front of her. -It almost looks like.. a field mouse burrowing…-
But I wasn't sure if something like that even existed in this world, after all, over the last couple years, not a single creature, even rodents or birds, ever approached the nest.
-Whatever it is though.. if it's dangerous, I'll just kill it…- Feeling an almost instinctual urge to kill the approaching creature knowing Krystallo was behind me, my pupils sharpened, and body tensed.
But the moment I did that, the trail of collapsing snow that was approaching stopped, before suddenly, something burst through the surface. *Puff* -It's.. a puppy..?-
It was tiny—far smaller than I even thought—with pristine white fur, and golden irises that almost appeared to glow in the morning light.
A truly enchanting little creature.
But after glancing up the mountain, its gaze, carrying with it an eerie familiarity, fixated on me and the little thing continued toward me, jumping across the snowy ocean—sinking below the surface with every little leap.
But its eyes, welling an intangible blend of unrecognizable emotions in my chest, never left mine.
As Krystallo finally got up and noticed it, all lethargy was instantly purged from her body. *FWUMP* Darting backward, she flared her wings out, locking her wide, predatory gaze on the little creature in a panic. "BROTHER, WHY AREN'T YOU DOING ANYTHING?!"
Forcing myself to break eye contact with the pup, I looked up at the tree line once more, scanning it once more to make sure the wolf's momma wasn't coming for us before easing slightly. "I don't think.. it's dangerous…"
Relaxing with the calmness in my voice, her panic started turning into curiosity. However, she still cautiously stepped back.
Finally reaching me, the little creature vanished beneath the snow one final time before popping up again with a joyful bound. Its white coat shimmered like morning frost, almost blending in entirely with the surrounding snow—save for those bright, golden eyes that pierced straight through me.
-What do you want, little guy...?- Lowering my head to its level, I stayed perfectly still.
Creeping closer, it didn't even bother sniffing me, lowering its gaze to my chest without the slightest hint of fear before abruptly, the glow in its eyes compounded, its demeanor shifted, and with an abrupt burst of purity, it started gleefully sniffing my snout with a wagging tail.
Simultaneously, the unintelligible blend of emotions in my chest vanished, and I felt like I was snapped out of a trance. -W..What the…-
Looking down at the tiny creature, happily smelling my paw, I couldn't shake a deep, unsettling discomfort at the forefront of my mind.
But at the same time, every bit of my conscious wanted to ignore it. -He's really cute…- "Do you want food?"
Watching it innocently tilt its head with perked ears, I slowly stood up, careful not to startle it, before stepping back and grabbing a small piece of bison meat with my tail.
"Hey! That's mine!" Krystallo shouted in protest, still keeping her distance with a mix of caution and curiosity contaminating her eyes.
"Shush, lemme think of a name for him…" I replied bluntly, passing the small piece of meat to my mouth before coiling my neck back around and laying it before the tiny pup.
*Puft* But while I didn't expect much, the moment I placed it down, the pup stood with a wagging tail, looking up at me as if to ask for permission before I nudged it toward him.
Almost immediately, he clumsily stepped forward, as if having lost the control he showed crossing the field, and started chomping into the meat like he was starving.
"Hehe…" My mind was instantly overloaded with cuteness. "Tastey, isn't it?" Scanning the treeline one more time, I gently laid down, using the snow as a pillow to watch the little guy chow down, even if the meat was a little tough for him.
-What a cute little fellow…- Tilting my head, my eyes drifted over him, splitting the strands of his pure white fur before finding my gaze locked on his golden irises.
With the eyes of a dragon, the little child's irises looked like masses of woven silk, flowing as if liquid, blending and morphing like the colliding flames before suddenly, he paused and turned to me.
In that instant, it felt like a string in the deepest reaches of my being was struck like the chord of a harp, yet when I looked for the sound, I couldn't find it…
Almost like the music was being played in a different room.. muffled and out of reach…
Until finally, the intertwining, blending and morphing flames in the pups eyes formed a star.
A sun. "How about Ilios?"
The focus in his eyes shifted in an instant, as if locking onto something deep inside of me before shifting back to my face with an unbearably adorable innocence. "Huff!"
It was so pure it made my mind melt, drowning the questions in an instant. "Hehe~, you like it, huh?" My tail quickly started mirroring the pup's, albeit a bit slower.
"Huff!" As if to answer, he gave a mighty, underdeveloped woof before waddling over and climbing up onto my head, only to promptly plop down like it was his rightful throne.
-Ahh.. he's perfect…- A warm, childish happiness instantly flooded my body.
One I was going to savor like a chunk of fatty bison meat.
Finally accumulating the courage to get a closer look, Krystallo crept toward me with slow, wary steps, inspecting Ilios like he was some dangerous beast before speaking softly. "Brother.. how can you let that thing touch you..?"
Not moving a muscle, I peeked back at her. "He's just a puppy—so as long as his parents aren't around, what harm could this little guy cause?"
But it was also true that it was odd. -He can't be more than a few weeks old… Did something happen to his family..?-
But Krystallo wasn't just worried about the pup's momma.
*CRACK-Crrrumble* Feeling the ground suddenly rumble as a patter of stones rolled down the cliff, my instincts flared.
Spinning around in a jolt as a heavy blast of air kicked snow up in my face, throwing Ilios off my head, I tried to look toward the sound of tumbling debris only to find Mother's gaze piercing the snowy wall…
Aimed at me.. and Ilios…
-Uh oh…-
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