The other dragon suddenly looked even more surprised than Waveripple felt. “There are hardly any dragons living around here,” he replied. “So there's enough territory for everyone. No need to fight over it. And I wouldn't want you to leave so soon anyway. I've only met one other hatchling, and she's a Dwarf dragon.”
Waveripple relaxed a bit. This dragon seemed friendly enough, but what he said could not be completely true. Waveripple's parents would not have told him that the forest was dangerous if all the dragons living in it were friendly.
“What kind of dragon are you?” he asked. “I'm an Amphibian,” he added in case the other hatchling did not know.
“I'm a Dusk,” the hatchling replied, “and my name is Indigowings. What's your name?”
“Waveripple,” he replied.
“Do you want to explore the forest with me?” Indigowings asked excitedly. “There are no hostile dragons around here,” he promised.
“Are you sure about that?” Waveripple asked, still a bit uncertain.
“Absolutely,” Indigowings assured him. “Maybe, way on the other side of the lake, there are one or two aggressive dragons, but I haven't met any around here.”
“I live by the lake,” Waveripple said. “If the hostile dragons are on the other side, that would explain what I've heard about forest dragons...okay, we can explore the forest,” he agreed.
If the forest really was safe, it would be fun to explore. Waveripple decided that he had been wrong when he thought that there was more to do in the water than on land. There was a lot to do in both areas. After spending just a few minutes on land, he had found a new animal to chase and met another hatchling.
“Great!” Indigowings said. “Let's go.”
The two hatchlings walked off into the forest.
~~~
Tiger dragons were warriors, among the most highly skilled in battle of all dragons. Whiteswirl knew that even a Vampire hatchling like himself would have no chance against an adult Tiger dragon, so he flew away as quickly as he could.
Whiteswirl knew that the Tiger was too large to fly below the tree level, so he flew under it. But he could not fly as fast down there, because it was a lot harder to avoid crashing into the trees.
The Tiger gained on him and was just a few yards behind Whiteswirl when he flew back above the tree line.
Whiteswirl knew of only one place that would be safe from the Tiger–the cave. He turned and flew in a wide circle to get back to it. The cave was not far, so he soon reached it.
Whiteswirl flew below the tree level and landed on the ground near the cave. He quickly dove into its entrance. It would take a few seconds for the Tiger to figure out where he was. There were a few tunnels in the cave that were too narrow for an adult dragon to fit into, and Whiteswirl ran into one of them.
Redclaws was awakened by the noise. “What's wrong?” she asked him. A loud roar and a heavy thud as the Tiger landed answered her.
Redclaws stalked towards the cave's entrance. She snarled, and although the sound was low and not loud like the Tiger's roar had been, she sounded much more dangerous.
Redclaws jumped out of the cave towards the Tiger, and Whiteswirl crept forward to watch, ready to help her if it became necessary.
The Tiger was biting and scratching at Redclaws, but she was a better fighter. Her claws and horns were sharper and her tail had a stinger at the end. She also had a row of spines along her back, so the Tiger would not even be able to attack her from behind without getting injured. She did not bite the Tiger because she did not want to accidentally turn him into a Vampire; but even without using her mouth as a weapon she was winning.
The battle lasted for a few minutes before the Tiger turned and flew away, roaring. Redclaws walked back into the cave angrily.
“You shouldn't have led him here!” she snapped to Whiteswirl. “Now he'll bring other dragons, too many to fight off, and they will kill us if they find us here.”
“He was chasing after me too fast; I couldn't loose him even by ducking under the tree level,” Whiteswirl replied.
“You shouldn't have been out at daylight in the first place,” Redclaws retorted. “Now come; we're leaving this forest.”
Whiteswirl did not say anything else, knowing that it would just make her angrier. He followed her out of the cave, and they flew off quickly, before the Tiger could return with help.
CHAPTER THREE: A NEW HOME
Waveripple and Indigowings walked through the forest, neither one of them noticing that it was rapidly becoming darker.
They soon reached a large cave in a small clearing. “This is where I live,” Indigowings told Waveripple.
“You live in a cave? Cool. But also a bit creepy,” Waveripple said, peering into the deep, dark cave.
Indigowings shrugged. “It's not scary,” he said. “There are only two entrances to the cave, and there aren't a lot of tunnels to get lost in.”
Noting that the cave was empty, Waveripple asked, “Where are your parents? Are they out hunting?”
Indigowings's expression turned sad and wistful. “No,” he answered. “They died.”
“Oh. I'm sorry,” Waveripple said. “How did they die?” He asked it hesitantly, because he did not know if Indigowings would be too sad to talk about it.
After a moment, Indigowings replied. “I didn't always live here. My parents and I used to live in a forest that had too many dragons in it. The dragons there fought over territory a lot. A group of dragons invaded our territory once, and my father was accidentally killed in the battle.
“My mother and I left that forest to try to find somewhere more peaceful, with fewer dragons. We found an area like that, but there was not enough food there, so we kept going. My mother was only being able to catch prey once every few days, and I was too young to help her hunt. She gave me everything she caught, saying that she ate while hunting. She became thinner every day, however, so I think that she was not telling the truth.
“We eventually arrived here, where the prey was more plentiful. But by then my mother was too weak to hunt. She died soon after we arrived. I had tried to hunt ever since we found our new home, but I didn't know how to and I couldn't catch anything.
“I probably would have died soon after my mother did if it weren't for Stormcloud. He's the Storm dragon who found me and caught prey for me. When I was a bit older, he taught me how to hunt.”
“That's terrible–how your parents died, I mean,” Waveripple said. “It's good that Stormcloud helped you. I can't imagine being without my parents.”
“I barely even remember my parents,” Indigowings said, sounding as if he were trying to dismiss it. “They died so soon after I hatched.”
Neither dragon said anything for a while. It was so quiet that they both jumped when they heard a shout.
“Waveripple!” Flowerwater called from the distance.
“Oh, I didn't realize it had gotten so late!” Waveripple exclaimed, surprised at the darkness. “That's my mother, Flowerwater. Both of my parents are probably looking for me now. I have to go. Bye!” Waveripple spoke quickly, and then started running back to the place his mother's voice had come from.
“Bye!” Indigowings called after him. Then he added, “Come back tomorrow!”
“I will!” Waveripple answered, glancing back at Indigowings. He was harder to see in the darkness than the plants around him. Waveripple would have thought he would be easier to see because he was blue. Dismissing the thought, Waveripple hurried back to his mother.
Flowerwater was standing at the edge of the forest, about to go in farther when she saw Waveripple. She looked behind her and called, “Splashsail, I found him!” Waveripple could hear Splashsail's footfalls as he ran towards them.
Then Flowerwater turned back to Waveripple. “You're not supposed to be in the forest! You could have been attacked!”
Splashsail reached them then. “We've been looking everywhere for you, Waveripple,” he said sternly, before Waveripple could res
pond to Flowerwater. “Why did you go into the forest?”
“I was just chasing a rodent around in the meadow,” Waveripple explained quickly, “and it ran into the forest. I would have just left then, but I saw a dragon–”
Flowerwater gasped. “What happened?” she asked. “Did you get hurt?” She looked Waveripple over quickly, checking for injuries.
“No, he didn't attack,” Waveripple replied. “He was a hatchling like me. He said that there were no hostile dragons in this area of the forest, and I explored some of it with him. He even showed me the cave he lives in. And the whole time we didn't see any other dragons.”
“There is a Forest dragon, just on the other side of the lake, who attacked us when we were passing through his territory,” Splashsail said seriously. “If you had wandered into that part of the forest, you could have been hurt.”
Splashsail had told him this before. Forest dragons were large green dragons who could cause small earthquakes just by roaring.
“I won't go there, then,” Waveripple promised. “But I can go back to visit Indigowings, the other hatchling, right? I told him I would.”
“Well...okay, you can go back,” Splashsail said.
“But we're going with you the first time you go back, to make sure it's safe,” Flowerwater added.
“Great! Thanks,” Waveripple said. He had not expected them to allow him to return so easily, and he did want them to meet Indigowings. And if they came with him, they would find out that the forest was not dangerous, and would stop worrying.
“The sun has almost completely set,” Flowerwater said. “Let's go back to the lake.”
The three dragons walked back to the lake and lay down beside it to go to sleep. Waveripple was excited–tomorrow he would be able to go back to the forest and visit his new friend Indigowings!
~~~
Redclaws and Whiteswirl had traveled at night and found a safe place to sleep during the day. When they had gone far enough away from their old home, they started looking for a new cave to live in.
Whiteswirl spotted a cave while flying over the forest. It was in a small clearing, so it was easy to spot. “I found a cave,” Whiteswirl told Redclaws. “I'm going to go check it out.” He landed quietly outside the cave and looked inside.
To most dragons, the cave would be too dark to see far into, but Vampire dragons had excellent night vision. Whiteswirl could clearly see that the cave was large, and had two tunnels leading deeper into it. But it was not empty. A Dusk hatchling slept peacefully in its center. Whiteswirl knew that he could easily kill the hatchling and take the cave, but other dragons would notice. The hatchling's parents could be back at any time.
Whiteswirl flew back up above the trees. “The cave is occupied,” he said disappointedly to Redclaws, who just nodded.
They flew on until they found another cave, over ten miles away. It was at the bottom of a small cliff, and it was empty. There was not even the scent of another dragon. The cave had a small entrance, but it was more spacious inside. There were four tunnels, one of which was short and led to a small cavern. The other three went deeper, and the Vampires could not see what was at their ends.
“This will be our new cave,” Redclaws decided.
CHAPTER FOUR: FIRST HUNT
The next morning, Waveripple did not play in the lake like he usually did. He was too busy thinking about visiting Indigowings.
Waveripple quickly ate the fish his parents had caught for him. When he finished, he asked, “Can we go visit Indigowings now?”
“Sure,” Splashsail said. He paused and then asked, “What kind of dragon is he?”
“He's a Dusk dragon,” Waveripple replied.
“Then we can't visit him now. He'll be sleeping,” Splashsail said. “Dusks are only awake from the second half of the day until midnight.”
“Oh,” Waveripple said, trying to hide his disappointment.
“We can visit him in the evening,” Flowerwater reassured him.
“In the meantime, do you want to learn how to hunt fish, Waveripple?” Splashsail asked.
Waveripple brightened at that. “Definitely,” he said. “That would be fun.” He had wanted to know how to catch fish for a long time. It was fun to just chase the fish, but it would be cool to actually be able to catch one.
As the dragons waded out into the lake, Flowerwater asked Waveripple, “Where do you think we should look for the fish?”
“Not in the shallow water,” he replied, “because the fish there would be too small.”
“Right,” Flowerwater said. “The biggest fish are in the deepest part of the lake, but there aren't many plants there. So the best place to get fish is in between the deep and shallow water, where there are the most plants. Big and small fish go there to eat.”
Waveripple nodded.
The Amphibians swam out halfway to the middle of the lake.
“You have to hold completely still; otherwise you will scare the fish,” Splashsail told Waveripple. “Then, when they come close enough, quickly grab one in your mouth.”
“And don't try to catch anything that would be too heavy for you to carry,” Flowerwater put in. “A large fish could easily struggle out of your grip.”
“Okay, I'll try a small fish for my first catch,” Waveripple said.
As they waited, fish started swimming around them. A small, pale red fish swam in front of Waveripple. He tried to grab it quickly in his mouth, but just came up with a mouthful of water instead, which he spat out.
“It escaped,” he said, slightly irritated.
“Next time,” Splashsail said, “try aiming for the fish's head. The fish will be moving forward, so by the time you grab it, it will have moved enough that you will grab it by its neck or body.”
Waveripple listened closely and nodded. “I'll try that,” he said.
After a few minutes, the fish started swimming around them again. A small silver-white fish swam close enough to Waveripple for him to grab it. He aimed for its head and lunged at it. The fish was moving slowly, so he was able to grab it by the neck. It was slippery, but Waveripple had already known it would be, so he bit into it, getting a good grip on the fish and killing it at the same time.
“I caught it!” Waveripple mumbled around the fish.
“Good job,” Flowerwater said that the same time that Splashsail said, “Great catch!”
“Thanks,” Waveripple said, almost dropping the fish. Swimming quickly back to land, he put the fish down far enough away from the water's edge that it would not be washed back into the lake.
Splashsail and Flowerwater had followed him to the shore. They stood in ankle-deep water rather than stepping onto land.
“Are we going to hunt more?” Waveripple asked, walking into the water to join his parents.
“Yes,” Flowerwater replied, smiling. “But this time we'll all be helping each other catch fish. We'll chase the fish towards each other to catch more.”
“Good. That will be more exciting than just holding still and waiting for the fish to come close,” Waveripple said.
Splashsail chuckled. “Yeah, it is,” he said.
As they went out into the lake again, Splashsail explained group-hunting to Waveripple. “When we hunt in a group,” he said, “one, or, in this case, two dragons chase the fish towards the other dragon. The fish are usually so worried about escaping the dragon behind them that they don't notice the dragon in front of them until it's too late. Your mother and I will chase the fish towards you first so that you can see how it's done. Then you can have a turn chasing them.”
When they reached water that was deep enough, Flowerwater said, “Wait here, Waveripple. We'll chase some fish to you. Catch the one that looks like it will be easiest to catch.”
“Okay,” Waveripple said. He held still and watched his parents as they moved gracefully away from him across the lake.
Splashsail and Flowerwater turned almost simultaneously and dashed back through the water to Waveripple. Th
ey darted irrationally around, coming closer to each other and then moving away again. Sometimes one of them dove under the water and then resurfaced a few yards from where he or she had dived.
When his parents came closer to him, Waveripple could see what they were doing. They were chasing three fish to him, and the fish were trying to scatter in different directions. Waveripple's parents moved away from each other, diving down and coming back up, to go after the fleeing fish, and then came closer again as they chased the fish back to the group.
Waveripple studied the fish, deciding which one he would grab when they came close enough. The three fish were all medium-sized. A silver fish was in front, darting a bit faster than the two behind it. One of the other fish was light gray, and the last one was a deep brown. The brown fish was swimming fractionally slower than the other fish.
Waveripple just barely had time to notice that when the silver fish swam directly in front of him. He ducked his head down to grab it, but the fish darted out of reach. The other two fish both turned around to swim away, but their escape was blocked off by Splashsail and Flowerwater.
Waveripple dove down, catching the brown fish. When he raised his head above the water with the fish in his mouth, he saw that Flowerwater had caught the gray fish.
“Good job, Waveripple,” Splashsail praised.
“Thanks,” Waveripple tried to say without dropping the fish, but it fell into the water. He scooped it back up before it could sink very far.
After the dragons had set their fish down on land, Splashsail said, “Now you can have a turn chasing the fish, Waveripple. You and your mother will chase the fish to me this time. Then we'll stop hunting if we have caught enough fish.”
Waveripple was excited as they swam into the lake again. Chasing the fish would be much more fun than waiting for them to be chased to him.
Splashsail floated motionlessly, waiting for the fish to be herded to him, while Flowerwater and Waveripple looked for fish.
“Don't chase more fish than you can handle,” Flowerwater instructed. “And if two fish start swimming away in opposite directions, only go after one of them. If you try to get them both back, they will probably both escape.”