Chapter Text
Copper trudged through the rainforest, mud squelching between his toes. He had been walking for what seemed like ages, but he couldn't be sure since the dense canopy above him blocked out the sun. Based on the heat, he could guess it was around midday, and he hadn't eaten since he had been banished last morning.
As he continued walking, he began to scan the ground for prey. A snake, mouse, anything would do. Heck, he would be over the moons if he could find a big cat.
There! A frog. He locked his eyes on his target and stalked closer. He took note of its bright blue skin that did anything but camouflage it. He could question its coloring later, but right now he was starving.
"I wouldn't eat that if I were you," said a voice above him.
Copper looked up so quickly his neck cracked. No use keeping eyes on his food if he was about to become prey as well. He looked around frantically, trying to find the source of the voice.
"Over here," the voice said, this time coming from a tree right in front of him.
Copper looked at the tree with such intensity that it could bore a whole through the trunk.
"Now here," the voice said, coming from the direction of the frog.
Copper squinted at the frog, taking a few steps closer to it. "Are you talking to me?" he asked it, head tilting.
The frog only croaked in response.
He heard laughter coming from his left and turned to see a yellow dragon materializing right in front of him, catching him off guard. The mysterious dragon was rolling back and forth on the ground, clutching their chest.
"Can't breathe," the yellow dragon mumbled through their hysterical laughter. "Three moons."
In that moment, Copper realized that this was the voice he was talking to, not the frog.
He scowled. "Quit it, it's not funny."
The dragon's laughter started to subside slightly. "I don't know, it seems pretty funny to me," they said as they stood back up. "What's your name, funny little MudWing."
"Little? I'm bigger than you!" Copper was actually the second of his sibs to hatch. Thinking about them made his heart sting, and he quickly pushed the feelings away.
"Little fragile ego," the smaller dragon said with a snort, laughing at their own joke.
Copper scowled at them. "Why should I tell you my name? I don't know who you are, and you're not exactly making it so I want to tell you."
The dragon in front of him stared at him, hard in thought. "Okay fine," they finally said, "fair enough."
Copper was taken slightly aback by this. He didn't realize this dragon had any self-awareness from the way they had been acting so far.
The anonymous dragon smiled at him, but unlike before it wasn't out of humor. This time it was kind and sweet. "I'm Rose."
Copper smiled back at her. "I'm Copper." Maybe he shouldn't have told her, but her smile seemed to be genuinely empathetic. It was hard to think that she meant any harm.
Rose's scales began to shift colors, turning from yellow to a dark red. Her underbelly and wings were an emerald green. Her frills became a muddy brown similar to her eyes. She continued to smile sweetly at him. "Sorry for making fun of you."
"It's okay. I guess if positions were swapped, I would do the same thing."
Copper glanced back towards where the frog was. Seeing that it was no longer there, he let out a sigh.
"Well, now neither of us will get to eat it."
Rose laughed. "I didn't tell you to leave it alone so I could eat it. I told you to leave it alone because it's poisonous."
Copper stood up straighter at hearing that. "You mean it could have killed me?" He figured anything dangerous inside the rainforest would be scary and intimidating, not pretty and colorful.
Rose shrugged. "Maybe in the long run, but all it really does is give crazy hallucinations. Once I saw a SkyWing inside the healer's hut for eating three. They were having a wild time, let me tell you."
That confused Copper. "A SkyWing? In the RainWing village? What were they doing? I figure a messenger would have some knowledge of the rainforest."
"They weren't a messenger; they were a convicted criminal. They were looking for refuge because the SkyWings were convinced of their crimes. From the story they gave us though, it hardly sounds plausible to think they hurt anyone. We even investigated the situation ourselves, and the evidence is flimsy at best."
Copper perked up at that. "Does that mean the refuge is nearby? Do you know how to get there? Please, I've been looking for it, can you take me there?"
"Hold on there, big guy," Rose said, putting their arms in front of them like trying to calm a wild animal. "Why do you want to know?" her voice leaked with suspicion.
Copper's heart filled with guilt. "I was banished from the Mud Kingdom. They thought I killed my siblings, but I didn't. I didn't even know what was going to happen, but they didn't believe me. I swear I didn't hurt them." He grabbed Rose's hands and looked at her right in the eye, hoping she could see his sincerity.
She kept eye contact with him for a moment before pulling her arms away. "I believe you, for now."
Copper let out a sigh. "Thank you."
His stomach growled loudly, ruining the moment between the both of them.
Rose snickered. "Oh wow, maybe I should have let you eat that frog." She reached for a leather satchel that wrapped around her body that Copper had only just noticed before pulling out a fruit and tossing it to him. "It's ripe. I came here just to harvest it"
Copper was already halfway done with the fruit. "Are we far from the village?"
Rose made a so-so motion with her hand. "We could be farther. Maybe a half-day journey with no stops."
Copper was licking his lips, having finished the fruit. "Great! Let's go!"
Rose snorted. "Straight to the point then. But your right, the sooner we get going, the sooner we'll get there. Maybe we can even make it before dark." A bit of a questionable statement considering that it was already dark on the rainforest floor.
"Oh uh, do you think I could have another fruit?"
Rose tossed him another. "Last one," she warned him. "I don't want you getting any stomach cramps."
Copper made a sound of conformation as he devoured the second fruit faster than a SeaWing in water. "Lead the way," he said as he finished it.
"Alright!" Rose cleared her throat. "Welcome to the Rainforest Express, where we take you to your destination as quickly as possible. Estimated time to your final stop: two shakes of a monkey's tail! Please enjoy the journey, and don't forget to thank your tour guide at the end of your adventure!"
Yeah, things would be alright.