Dragon Land: Two Dragon Brothers # 1: The Beginning

by Elizabeth Westphal

  “The nearest meadow is this way,” Indigowings said excitedly. “Follow me!” He bounded off through the trees, with Waveripple following close behind.

  Indigowings led the way to a large, open meadow in the forest. The grass was tall, coming up to Waveripple's belly, and there were several wildflowers dotted around. Waveripple was too busy thinking about flying to pay much notice to them.

  It would be awesome to be able to fly. He would be able to see a lot more from up in the air than he could on the ground, and in flight there was more freedom of direction. He could go forward, like he could on the ground, but he could also go up or down. He could do that in water as well, but it was more limited; in the sky he would be able to go all the way up to the clouds, instead of just a few yards to the surface of the water.

  Waveripple began flapping his wings rapidly. He rose a foot into the air and then fell back to the ground.

  “You have to be running, or at least walking, while flapping your wings,” Indigowings said. “And you should also jump into the air to get higher.”

  “How do you know?” Waveripple asked. “You can't fly.”

  “I was watching when Emeraldeyes's parents taught her how to fly,” Indigowings replied. “And I was practicing flying already. It really does help.”

  As if to prove what he had said, Indigowings ran out towards the center of the meadow and jumped into the air, flapping his wings. He rose up halfway to the height of a full-grown tree, and for a second Waveripple thought he would actually be able to fly. Then he crashed back into the ground.

  Indigowings had gotten higher than Waveripple did, so Waveripple decided to try what Indigowings said. He ran across the meadow, flapping his wings as he went. Because he was running, he could not flap them as quickly as before, but he was able to flap them harder now that he was flapping them more slowly.

  When Waveripple got near the middle of the meadow, he jumped into the air as Indigowings had done, continuing to flap his wings. He slowly rose up into the air. Soon he was almost as high as Indigowings had gotten.

  Waveripple flapped his wings harder, trying to get higher. He had hardly ever moved his wings much before, and had not tried to fly even once, so his wings were already becoming tired. Waveripple began to lose altitude. Knowing that he would not be able to get any higher, he just spread out his wings to slow his descent. As he came closer to landing, Waveripple stretched out his legs towards the ground and landed without falling over or making too much noise.

  “I'm going to try that again!” Waveripple said excitedly.

  “Me too!” Indigowings said. “I was almost able to really fly last time; I might be able to if I try again.”

  Both dragons ran out towards the center of the meadow again, flapping their wings. Indigowings leaped into the air first, and so did Waveripple a second later.

  Waveripple managed to get the same high as he had last time before falling back to the ground.

  Indigowings had not landed yet. Waveripple looked up and saw him flying above the trees. He was flapping his wings hard and slowly rising even higher. Then he began to sink back towards the ground. He was still flapping his wings, but more slowly than before. He looked tired from the effort of flying so high.

  Indigowings spread out his wings and landed back in the meadow with a thud. “I did it! I was actually flying! That was awesome,” Indigowings exclaimed.

  “Yeah, that was great!” Waveripple said. “I'm going to try flying again now.”

  Waveripple ran, jumped into the air, and flapped his wings. He was soon as high as he had gotten the other two times. He flapped his wings even harder, and rose up farther. He was almost as high as the tree-tops!

  Hearing light wingflaps, Waveripple turned his head to see that Emeraldeyes was back. Two other Dwarf dragons were flying with her, and all three were descending to land in the meadow.

  “Waveripple! I didn't know you could fly yet!” Emeraldeyes exclaimed in surprise.

  Distracted by the arrival of the Dwarves, Waveripple fell down a few feet. His wings were too tired to fly any more, so he landed on the ground.

  “I couldn't,” Waveripple replied. “I only learned how to fly today.”

  “Well, that's great!” Emeraldeyes said.

  “I can fly, too,” Indigowings said proudly.

  Waveripple stared curiously at the two other Dwarves that had come with Emeraldeyes. They were both adults, one a male and the other a female. Waveripple guessed that they were Emeraldeyes's parents.

  The female adult Dwarf said, “Hi Indigowings. It's nice to see you again.”

  “Hi Leafflight,” Indigowings replied.

  “This is Waveripple,” Emeraldeyes told her parents. Turning back to Waveripple, she said, “These are my parents, Leafflight and Stonescales.” She gestured to them as she introduced them.

  “Hi,” Waveripple said.

  “Hello, Waveripple,” Stonescales said. He was the same shade of brown as the other two Dwarves, but his scales looked harder than the scales of most dragons.

  “Hi Waveripple,” Leafflight said, smiling at him.

  After a minute, Emeraldeyes said to her parents, “I'm going to go...explore the forest, or something else, with Indigowings and Waveripple now. We'll come back before nightfall.”

  “Okay,” Stonescales said.

  “Bye,” Waveripple said to Stonescales and Leafflight.

  “See you later,” Indigowings said.

  The three hatchlings walked away, deeper into the forest. When they were too far away for the adult dragons to hear, Indigowings asked, “Are you also not allowed to go back into the caves, Emeraldeyes? Waveripple said he's not.”

  Emeraldeyes nodded. “I wouldn't want to go back into the caves for a while anyway,” she said. “After a while, I would probably want to keep exploring them, but not so soon after the earthquake.”

  “I don't really want to go back either,” Waveripple said.

  “It wouldn't bother me to go back into the caves now,” Indigowings said. “Probably because I actually live in one. Anyway, what do you want to do now?”

  “I don't want to have any more hunting contests right now,” Waveripple said before either of them could suggest it. “I already ate some fish back at the lake, so I wouldn't feel like eating what we caught.”

  “I also ate recently,” Emeraldeyes said. “We could just walk around in the forest, and explore it more.”

  “Yeah,” Indigowings said. “But we usually do that, so we already explored a lot of the forest. We would have to walk a lot to get to a place we haven't explored.”

  “Then what do you think we should do?” Emeraldeyes asked him.

  Indigowings considered for a minute. While he was thinking, Emeraldeyes asked, “Do you have any ideas, Waveripple?”

  Waveripple shrugged. “It doesn't matter too much for me,” he said.

  “We could play hide and seek,” Indigowings suggested. Seeing the look on Emeraldeyes's face–that was a game mostly for younger hatchlings, after all–he said, “I don't mean to do it just to be playing a hiding game. We would be finding new places in the forest, and they would be useful if we really needed to hide for some reason. After all, a few dragons did go missing not too long ago.”

  “That does seem like a good idea, when you put it that way,” Emeraldeyes said.

  Waveripple wondered if Indigowings had just said that to make her play it. A dragon could easily track another over the ground to almost any hiding spot, but in the air, it would be impossible to be tracked. And anyone could go into streams, ponds, or lakes to throw a dragon off their scent trail, even if they could not fly.

  “Yeah, it is a good idea,” Waveripple agreed, saying that more because he wanted to play hide and seek than because he thought what Indigowings said made sense.

  “Okay, then, let's do it,” Indigowings said. “Do either of you want to be the one looking for the others first, or not?”

  “I don't want to be looking first,” Wav
eripple said.

  “I do!” Emeraldeyes said excitedly.

  “Let's go hide,” Indigowings said to Waveripple.

  “Wait a minute,” Emeraldeyes said. “First we have to agree on the rules. I think that one should be that we can't be flying around somewhere, because it would be almost impossible for the dragon looking to find anyone.”

  Indigowings nodded. “We also won't hide in caves, because you two aren't allowed to go into them.”

  “Since there is a whole forest to hide in, it would be hard to find someone,” Waveripple said. “So another rule could be that we have to either stay a certain distance from this spot, or walk on the ground, so that we can follow each other's scents.”

  Emeraldeyes nodded. “Okay, how about if we stay within ten acres of this point, unless we leave a scent trail on the ground, and then we have to hide within fifty yards of the end of our scent trail.”

  “Agreed,” Indigowings said.

  “Yeah,” Waveripple said.

  “If that's all the rules,” Indigowings said, glancing at Emeraldeyes, “then we can go hide now.”

  “Yeah, I think that can be all,” Emeraldeyes said. “If one of us thinks of something else, we can say it later, when the dragon looking for the others changes.”

  “Stay here and count to one hundred,” Indigowings told her.

  Emeraldeyes nodded. She closed her eyes and started counting. Waveripple and Indigowings rushed off in opposite directions to find a hiding spot.

  Waveripple sniffed the air while running, trying to find water. After a few minutes he could smell pond scents, like willows, which grew near water, and he felt more humidity in the air. He hurried towards the direction of the willows' scent. When he got there, he first saw a cluster of willows blocking his view of the water. Stepping around them, he saw a large pond, which was surrounded on nearly all sides by willow trees. He remembered this pond–it was one of the ones he had found while following the stream. He saw the little stream trickling through the pond.

  Waveripple stood as far away from the pond as he could while still being close enough to jump into it. He crouched down and leaped into the water, sending up a huge splash.

  Waveripple waded out to the center of the pond, where the water came up to his chest. He bent down until his head was completely submerged under the water. He was perfectly camouflaged, and he wondered how long it would take Emeraldeyes to find him, or if she even would.

  Just then, he thought of another rule that they should have made. There should be a time limit to how long the dragon looking for the others could search. Otherwise, Emeraldeyes might never give up, and he could spend the rest of the day hidden in this pond. He hoped that she would either find him before too long, or at least give up if she was not able to find him. He wanted to try out other hiding places, and have a chance to look for the others, not to be stuck in this pond the whole time.

  A few minutes later, Waveripple heard muted footsteps from somewhere on land. He held completely still so that he would not be seen. The footsteps stopped, replaced by the sound of wings flapping. Emeraldeyes had probably reached the end of his scent trail and was flying up to see if she could spot him from above. After a few more minutes, the flapping faded into the distance.

  Waveripple relaxed. Emeraldeyes had not found him, and probably would not come back to this spot for a while.

  After about half an hour, Waveripple heard wingflaps again, this time coming much closer. He could not see Emeraldeyes because she was not flying over the part of the pond he was in, but he could tell that she was flying only a few feet over the water. She would find him soon. He heard footsteps from the land by the pond. Emeraldeyes must have already found Indigowings.

  Emeraldeyes's wingflaps grew slightly louder as she flew closer. Waveripple saw her flying towards him from a few feet away. He knew that she had already seen him, or would in just a few seconds, so he leaped out of the water in her direction. As he landed back in the pond, a huge splash went up and soaked Emeraldeyes.

  Emeraldeyes folded her wings together and let herself drop into the water, sending up a splash the same size as the one Waveripple had made. A lot of the water landed on him, but he was already completely soaked anyway.

  “I found you,” Emeraldeyes said, smiling triumphantly, and looking like she was about to start laughing.

  Indigowings ran up and jumped into the pond, splashing both of them as he did.

  “Where were you hiding, Indigowings?” Waveripple asked.

  “Normally, I wouldn't tell you, because then I wouldn't be able to hide there when you search for me,” Indigowings replied, “but it wasn't a very good hiding place anyway. I was hiding in the middle of a circle of huge oak trees, but Emeraldeyes was able to find me easily because of my bright coloring. You were much better hidden; I didn't see you until you jumped out at Emeraldeyes.”

  “Which one of you wants to look for the others now?” Emeraldeyes asked.

  “I can,” Waveripple said.

  “Good,” Indigowings said. “I thought of a really good hiding spot, so I don't want to be the one looking right now.”

  “Okay, close your eyes and count to a hundred, and then come and find us–if you can,” Emeraldeyes said to Waveripple.

  Waveripple nodded and closed his eyes. “One, two, three, four...” He heard wingflaps as Emeraldeyes flew away and footsteps as Indigowings ran. He kept counting until he finally got to one hundred.

  Waveripple walked in the general direction that he had heard Indigowings walking in.

  He had forgotten to suggest the time limit rule. Oh well, he could tell them it after Indigowings had a turn searching for them. Otherwise Indigowings might think he had only thought of that rule to make it harder for him.

  Waveripple followed the scent trail of Indigowings, which led through the forest for a few hundred yards. Suddenly, the trail vanished. Waveripple walked in a small circle around the end of it. He kept walking in circles, making the perimeter of the circle stretch out more each time, until he was walking in a circle with about fifty yards around the end of the scent trail. He did not see Indigowings anywhere.

  Waveripple wondered if Indigowings had forgotten the fifty-yard rule, thought that yards were longer than they really were, or had just decided to be within ten acres of the starting point instead. He widened the circle farther, until there was a hundred-yard radius from any edge of the circle to the point in the center, where Indigowings's scent trail had disappeared. He still did not see Indigowings.

  Waveripple walked slowly back to the point where Indigowings's scent trail had disappeared, trying to see if it picked up again somewhere else. He still found no more trace of Indigowings. He did not think that Indigowings could fly so well that he could have flown back to the place they had started the game, but he was not certain.

  When he was back at the point where Indigowings's scent trail disappeared, Waveripple sat down, wondering where he could be, if he was even nearby. He remembered that Indigowings said that he had thought of a really good hiding spot, and wondered what it was.

  After a few more minutes, Waveripple decided to search for Emeraldeyes first, and then continue looking for Indigowings. He walked around in the forest, trying to find Emeraldeyes's scent trail, or hear any noises that she might be making from her hiding spot.

  After about an hour, Waveripple had thoroughly searched through most of the ten-acre area that they were allowed to hide in, and came across Emeraldeyes's scent. It led to a small clearing that was filled with tall grass.

  Waveripple knew that Emeraldeyes was probably ducking down in the grass and holding still. It would be very hard to find a dragon as small as she was if she were in the grass.

  Waveripple started slowly walking around in the grassy field, not wanting to walk over Emeraldeyes if she really was there. He walked around most of the field without finding her, but then he heard a small movement.

  Waveripple quickly turned around to see what it was, and
saw something small and brown ducking back under the tall grass. It was smaller than a deer but larger than a rabbit, and did not have fur. He ran to the spot where it had vanished and saw Emeraldeyes.

  “Found you!” he said.

  “I thought you were already gone,” Emeraldeyes said. “If I hadn't moved, I don't think you would have found me.”

  “Maybe not,” Waveripple said, “but you shouldn't have moved at all. Anyway, I still have to find Indigowings.”

  Waveripple walked back to the spot where Indigowings's scent trail had disappeared, with Emeraldeyes following him. She probably came just so she could also find out where Indigowings was hiding, because of course she would not tell Waveripple where Indigowings was if she did find him.

  Waveripple kept looking around for Indigowings, but there was still no sign of him.

  “Indigowings, you win!” Waveripple called loudly, hoping he could hear. “I can't find you!”

  Waveripple heard laughter coming from above him, and then Indigowings flew down from a tree.

  He landed heavily on the ground, nearly crashing.

  “I can't believe you didn't notice me!” Indigowings said, still laughing. “I was right up in those trees, holding on to the branches, and you kept walking around without even looking up.”

  “Oh,” Waveripple said, surprised. “I didn't think of looking up.”

  Emeraldeyes walked closer to them. “It's your turn to look for us, Indigowings,” she said.

  “Okay,” he said. “I'll start counting to one hundred.”

  Indigowings closed his eyes and started counting. Waveripple and Emeraldeyes dashed away in different directions. Waveripple noticed that Emeraldeyes started flying after a few feet, but then they were too far apart for him to see where she went.

  Waveripple decided to try to find a new hiding place, instead of hiding in another pond or lake, but if he could not find a place quickly, he would go back to the pond he had hidden in before. Indigowings would never think that he would use the same hiding spot twice in a row.

  After a little while, Waveripple found a fallen oak tree lying on the ground. It had a few large holes in it, and it was mostly hollow. Waveripple jumped onto the tree and crawled into the biggest of the holes. Then he moved as far from the entrance hole as he could.