Chapter Text
A small light in the darkness, drawing her out. She could hear her siblings chirping; they had already hatched. She worked to crack the shell surrounding her. More light flooded in, and she tried pushing herself out. Almost…
At once, the world became white. She wriggled the rest of her body out of the egg, and into the world. The hatchling slowly blinked her amber eyes open, getting used to the brightness.
She looked up to see two larger dragons above her. 'My parents.'
But they looked at her differently than they looked at her siblings. She chirped happily at them, but they slunk back slightly. Her face fell, and she tilted her small, grey-white head. 'Why won’t they play?'
She turned to look at her siblings-3 others-but only got a glance before she was grabbed roughly by a pair of jaws. She called out in surprise and pain, but it only lasted a few moments.
The next thing the hatchling knew, she was falling. Fast. After a few split-seconds of tumbling less than gracefully through the air, she managed to flip right-side up. The ground was approaching fast, and she instinctively flared her wings.
They caught air, and she nearly got whiplash from the sudden change in speed. She was still falling-she wasn’t strong enough to fly yet-but at a much slower rate. She glided down to the surface of the earth, and landed safely. Mostly.
A small geyser blew near her, startling the small hatchling. She tried jerking to the side, folding her wings in the process, and fell the rest of the way, scraping her ankle on the hardened lava that made up the landscape, but was otherwise unharmed. She took one last look up at where she had been hatched, before moving on. As young as she was, she knew she had to find food.
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The pale Coatl blinked the sleep out of her eyes and breathed deeply, laying her head flat out in front of her. Slowly, she stood up and crawled out from under the bush she was sleeping under. As she stood, she looked out over the cliffs. At the bottom was a vast, blue lake, stretching as far as she could see. She took a breath before plunging towards the waves.
She opened her painted wings at the last moment, skimming the surface. She flew up a bit, and plunged under the water. She opened her eyes, and after spotting a particularly nice sized fish, she swam after it. Breakfast.
She landed next to her bush with a slight thud. She dropped the fish and other sea creatures she had found in front of her. She picked a few to eat, and shoved the rest under the bush. As she snacked, she gazed out over the Windswept Plateau, which she called her home. After she had been thrown out of her nest as a hatchling, she had slowly picked her way west across the Ashfall Wastes. She mostly stuck to the shoreline because of her diet of fish, but she had ventured inland once or twice.
A twig snapped, and she jumped, flaring her feathers. She grabbed her remaining breakfast and dove head-first into the bushes. She didn’t have a clan here, and so she knew she wouldn’t be welcome. She curled her tail around herself, hoping that her faint stripes would help to hide her. She flattened herself against the ground and waited.
From her hiding spot, she could see the dragon that had landed near her. He was huge, with large fins running down his underbelly and a beard under his chin. His scales were a very light brown with much darker markings, and she noticed faint gold runes along his side, the same colour as his feet.
He made a few noises. She knew from past experience that he was speaking, but she didn’t understand. He was looking in her direction now, still talking.
The Coatl stayed completely still, despite him directing his conversation at her. He then sighed, and stood on his hind legs. The massive dragon turned to reach behind him, and opened a bag she hadn’t noticed before. He shuffled around in it for a few moments before pulling something out.
The light caught it, and her eyes widened. 'Shiny?'
He gently set the piece of silver on the ground in front of the bush. She eyed him, then the metal, then him. She slowly crawled out from under the bush and towards the shiny object. She picked it up in her talons, looked at the larger dragon again, and clutched it to her chest.
It sunk into her plumage, and she felt its weight against her chest. She had never had a piece of treasure before. She chirped at him, accepting his peace offering, and turned to stash it away under her bush.
After she had hidden it well enough, she turned back to see the other dragon still sitting there. She rustled around a bit more, and grabbed the rest of her fish. She plopped them all on the ground in front of him, and took a few for herself. He tilted his head, but ate a few of the offered snacks.
Once they had finished, he laid down next to her bush. He then lifted a claw and pointed to himself. “Tarkus.”
She tilted her head, not understanding at first, but understood once he pointed at her. 'His name. Tar-kus.' She thought for a moment before shaking her head. 'Don’t have one.'
Tarkus looked confused, and repeated the gesture, emphasizing his name. This time, she pointed at herself and shook her head at the same time. He seemed to understand this time, and looked sad.
He seemed lost in thought, gazing out at the horizon. It was midday, but the moon was still barely visible. He then turned back to her, and idea present in his bright yellow eyes. He pointed at her, and spoke again. “Moon.”
She stood for a second. She repeated the word a few times, seeing how it felt on her tongue. It wasn’t an overly difficult word to say, considering she was a Coatl. A smile came to her face as she pointed to herself yet again, this time repeating Tarkus’ suggested name. 'Moon. My name is Moon.'