Chapter Text
Copper and Rose began their walk in silence, silence that ate at Copper. He tried to start up a conversation by asking Rose about her siblings before she told him she had none. The atmosphere between them became even more awkward after that.
"How do you know about Harmony?" Rose questioned him, finally breaking the silence that hung between them.
"What?" Copper asked, confused. Harmony? Didn't everyone know what harmony meant, even if they didn't follow its guidelines?
"That's the name of the village," Rose stated.
"Oh." Copper was starting to feel rather dumb around the RainWing. Actually, he felt that way ever since she first appeared, laughing at him hysterically. "I heard rumors of it, whenever we passed by or conjoined with another patrol. Sometimes I would catch them talking about something they saw during an expedition inside the rainforest between the LeafWing and BeetleWing border. I thought it was too good to be true, but I had no other choice."
Rose nodded along with his story to show she was listening. Copper appreciated her attentiveness that he seemed to have rarely received these past few days.
Rose stopped walking causing Copper to halt beside her. She pointed up. "I'm going to make sure we're going the right way. Stay put."
Before Copper could ask what she was doing, Rose grabbed the nearest tree trunk and started climbing, swinging from the branches and occasionally spreading her wings out for balance. It was clear this was a practiced motion for her, scaling the trees with such ease you would think she could talk to them. Her fluid movements reminded Copper of a snake slinking their way along the mud, scales eventually disappearing into the environment's chaos, wondering where they'll next strike.
Copper waited at the base of the tree, squinting his eyes as he looked up at the canopy. Rose had long since disappeared from view, and he was beginning to contemplate scaling the trees himself. Not that he knew how to climb trees.
"Alright, let's go," said a voice from behind him.
Copper, startled, jumped up into the air before his claws hit the ground again. The slick mud caused him to lose his balance, and he slammed into the ground with a thud.
Rose snickered quietly. "Sorry, didn't mean to spook you." She came around and stood in front of where he laid so he could she her. She held out a hand, an offer to help him back up.
Copper took it, regaining his bearings as he stood. He glared at Rose, mad that she had slipped past his defenses again. He knew it wasn't really her fault, but he was still salty about it.
Rose took notice of this, rubbing her arm. "Sorry, I really didn't mean for that. Are you hurt?"
Copper took a deep breath, calming his nerves. "No, it's alright. I'm fine," physically anyway.
Rose smiled sweetly at him. "Are we ready to continue?"
"Yeah, let's keep going. The sooner we get there, the better."
They started on their journey to Harmony once again, and this time the silence was short lived.
"If you don't mind me asking," Rose started, "what happened to your siblings?"
Copper's heart fell. He had tried his best to avoid thinking about his siblings, to avoid the hurt that came with the thought of them. He knew he couldn't avoid it forever, so he gave in to the request. "I don't mind; besides it would be fair if you knew why I was here in the first place." He let out a sigh. "I was on border patrol with them, near the spot where sand starts to turn into cliffs. We were getting ready for the night when a big storm came in out of nowhere." He shivered at the memory. "I was on hunting duty at the time. Normally we go in pairs for hunting, but my normal hunting buddy, Dew, my sister," he clarified once he saw Rose's look of confusion, "had gotten injured earlier in the day." He sniffled. This next part wouldn't be easy to tell.
"I started flying back to camp as fast as I could the second I realized how bad the storm would be. I had just gotten in sight of it when a huge wave came and swept the beach," Copper said with his voice cracking. "I had to watch them be pulled under the waves, and I was too far away to even do anything." He stomped his foot in frustration. He hated how hopeless he felt, watching those he loved dragged away. He sniffled again, tears beginning to run down his cheeks. He had tried to hold it together for so long that he couldn't help it anymore. The cracks in his figure shattered completely, leaving nothing but a broken and grieving mind behind.
Rose grabbed his shoulder, stopping them from walking. She looked at Copper dead in the eyes for a brief moment before wrapping her wings around him in a tight hug. She didn't say anything, like she knew words wouldn't help him. All she did was show that she was there for him, and Copper thought that meant more than any number of words could. Copper let himself melt in her embrace, crying like a kid who had lost their parents.
After a few moments, Rose loosened the hug so she could look Copper in the eye. Her frills had turned from brown to blue. "Let's keep going, maybe it'll help to keep your mind off of things."
Copper nodded in agreement. He wanted this trip to be over with already.
They continued they're trip through the trees, Rose keeping her tail intertwined with Copper's as a point of focus for him. Red and green mixing with copper brown.
"Hey," Rose said, interrupting Copper from his thoughts, "I need to make sure we're still going the right way." Her tail slipped away from his. ""I'll be right back." She grabbed a nearby tree with a talon before glancing at him for a second, apparently deciding if it was okay for her to leave him alone for a few moments. She shook her head before scaling the tree. Copper kept his gaze on the spot she just stood, waiting for her to come back.
It was like there was a sort of disconnection between him and the world. It felt as if Copper had just realized what had happened to his siblings, and now that he had realized what happened, that was all he could think about. He let out a quiet sob as he remembered. No tears accompanied it; he was out of any to give. His throat had run dry as well, hoarse from his mumbling cries as they walked. He sniffled, feeling horrible and guilty about what had happened. He didn't know why he felt guilty since he didn't have a direct hand in their deaths; maybe it was because of the voice in the back of his head that screamed he could have saved his siblings if he was a bit faster, stronger, better. But he wasn't. He wasn't good enough.
Copper let out more sobs, trying to get in more air that didn't seem to be coming into his lugs.
He could hear footsteps and a voice that accompanied it; he didn't care enough to move or look, too immersed in his own thoughts. He felt a pressure on his back and realized it was Rose hugging him again.
As Copper blinked himself back into reality he could hear Rose's voice again. "Sorry, I'm back now. I'm here; I'll get you home." She kept repeating that over and over again, using it to help Copper calm down. He could feel her chest pressed up against his body, and he tried to match her breathing. A few minutes later his breathing was back to normal, and they were on their way once again. Rose was sticking right next to him, tail entangled with his, pulling him along.
"They also thought I killed someone," she said quietly, breaking Copper out of his trance.
"Hmm?" Copper asked, his voice still sore and cracked.
"That's why I live in Harmony, because the RainWings thought I killed someone." Rose looked at him in the eye. "It was self-defense, but no one believed that. They all thought I had done it on purpose. I didn't want to kill him though. I just... reacted. He tried to hurt me." Copper could see the fear and pain in her eyes.
He squeezed her tail with his own. "I'm sorry that happened, but I'm glad you found a safe place." He tried to smile encouragingly, but it came out as more of a grimace.
Luckily his point seemed to get across because she smiled back at him.
"I'm glad you trust me enough to tell me this."
Rose nodded. "Me too."
After that, their journey became silent once again. This time however, Copper felt comfortable in the quiet. The presence of Rose had become much more calming and serene then earlier that day. He felt that, out of all other living dragons on Pyrriah, Rose was the one he could trust if no one else. He hoped she felt the same about him.