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Python tapped her claws against the table, breaking the silence that enwrapped the chamber, “Can I ask you something, Spruce?”
Spruce lifted his head from where he was laying across the room, he still curled up into a ball while he slept as if he were still the scrawny dragon she had first met, “Of course, Your Majesty.”
Python smiled to herself and bit back the ' I told you to just call me Python' that rested on her forked tongue, “Why do you call Slate ‘Bucky’? Seems to be an odd nickname for a Seawing.”
Spruce’s demeanor shifted as soon as Python said his friends name; his face fell ever so slightly, his ears pressing back into his head.
“I’m sorry if that was too personal, I didn’t mean-”
“No, no,” Spruce shook his head and uncoiled his body from himself, “It’s fine, just caught me off guard is all.”
Python sat in silence and watched as Spruce took a seat across from the table from her, his eyes looking at nothing in particular. His mind was far from this moment. Python hadn’t known him for a long time, just barely a year now, but she could see that he was still adjusting to his new size even now. His steps were awkward, wings pressed closely to his side as if he were afraid to knock everything over.
She was the Queen of the Sandwings, she made sure to keep a poise of authority around her at all times, but now she softened her gaze and relaxed her posture, just for this moment.
“How much do you know about me?” Spruce finally asked after a few heartbeats.
Python hesitated before she gave her answer, “Only what I’ve seen.”
“I mean before all this,” Spruce gestured to himself, spreading his wings as far as they could reach (which was a lot, rivaling the size of an average Skywing), “Before Eider saw something in me worth bringing out.”
“You were a huge investment and a risk. I was overlooking the animus experiment myself, I needed to know who we were putting all our faith into,” Python cleared her throat, noticing she was shifting into her Queen voice. She looked back at Spruce; his expression hadn’t changed, still gentle and benign, “But, why don’t you tell me yourself.”
Spruce blinked, like he hadn’t expected that answer. But, he rested his claws on the table and began to talk, “I don’t know how much you know about Mudwing families, but they’re not like the other tribes. Your siblings were your family, you didn’t know your parents.” He paused, running his talons over each other, “My mother raised me by herself near the Diamond Spray Delta. She told me that she knew there was something wrong with my egg and decided to hide me before something else got to me.”
“What was your mother’s name?” Python inquired, in spite of herself.
“Sepia. She was the kindest dragon you’d ever meet, but stubborn as a mule and wouldn’t back down from anything.”
“Sounds a bit like a dragon I know.”
Spruce smiled faintly before continuing, “I was born without any spikes, no fire in my lungs, my scales were soft. She was very protective of, not wanting me to wander off by myself. For the most part I listened to her. But, I got too curious one day and snuck out when she was out hunting in the morning. I was only a year old. I wandered down to the beach to watch the sunrise. I didn’t notice the crocodile stalking me from the river. A small dragonette alone on the beach made for a pretty easy target. I thought I was going to die.”
His voice wavered as he got to the last bit, hesitating before he continued, “I didn’t know how long it was until Bucky came to save me. In the early light and with my horrible eyesight, I thought he was a deer.”
Python couldn’t help but bark a roar of laughter, but covered her mouth as quickly as she could. Spruce was chuckling softly with her, “It’s okay, it was really stupid.”
“Deer are tiny, I don’t know how you could mistake a dragon to be a deer.”
Spruce shrugged, “I’d never seen a Seawing or a deer before. My mother told me stories of the deer spirits that roamed the forest, bringing life and protection to everything that lived there. I guess my imagination made everything bigger. With his glowing blue scales, I thought he was a deer spirit sent to protect me.”
“Sounds like he means an awful lot to you.”
Spruce smiled again, but big and genuine this time, “We’ve inseparable ever since that day. Always patching me up when I’d throw myself into fights without thinking, teaching me to speak aquatic, showing me weird creatures he found at the bottom of the ocean. My mother always said that he was my Bigwings, maybe that’s why I attached myself to him so quickly.”
He locked eyes with Python and she felt something flutter in her chest, “Thank you for helping me yesterday, I don’t think I would have been able to get them all out without you and Hoatzin.”
“It’s a war, Spruce. We all have to do what we can.”
He nodded solemnly and stared back down at his claws, “I just don’t know what I would do with myself if I couldn’t save him.”
Python felt the flutter stir in her chest once again. The heaviness in his voice, the glint in his eyes, the way his mouth curled upward into an involuntary smile while he talked. It was rare to see someone care so much, to have love radiate off of their scales like the sun in the summer. Python didn’t know how it made her feel, but it was a good feeling.
She jerked her head back towards the entrance to the cave, “You want to go see him, I can tell.”
“I, but- Don’t you need help here?”
“I think I can manage organizing a few scrolls without you tripping over your tail.”
Spruce bowed his head and muttered a ‘thank you’ before turning to leave. Python watched him go and called out, “You’ve got a lot of love in that big heart of yours, Sprue. Don’t be afraid to share it, we don’t know when our time runs out.”
Spruce looked over his shoulder, “I’ll keep that in mind, Your Majesty.”
Python shook her head, “Go. Give him a hug for me, moons know you both need it.”
Spruce said nothing as he ran out of the cave, leaving Python to sit in the quiet again. She scanned her eyes over the pile of scrolls that sat on her table and pulled one out, reading it intently in hopes to quiet the thumping in her chest.