(ROUGH DRAFT) Endless Sky ~Elemental Chaos~

Chapter Three

After an hour, Zeru dismissed Avaro and Lucerne. Letting them head back as he vanished inside his den.
Glancing at the position of the sun, Avaro could tell its already quarter past noon. Three PM.
They have been chatting for hours, discussing fun as well as serious topics. At one point Avaro was convinced Zeru was going to cry, he'd never seen him cry before. But then again, Avaro does not spend as much time with Zeru as he did with Mystic or the others. It was strange though. The thought of some leader breaking down into tears.
Avaro pictured Queen Celia simply tearing up. Despite being far away and out of her control, it still gave him an odd sense of dread. That despite being a leader, they can't always keep everyone safe. That one day, you might be the one they cannot protect or save.
Avaro glanced at his friend.
Lucerne was slightly ahead, admiring a strange black bird with large head feathers.
Avaro thought about what would happen if his friend was suddenly on the brink of death, moment before chaos. He would do anything to keep him safe, or any of his friends for that matter. Even if it cost him his life.
"But what if I'm not there..?"
Avaro decided not to stress himself over with a pit of "what ifs."
OCTown was secure and safe. The worst that has ever happened were a few outbreaks and maybe a murder. Things that aren't that easily avoidable in populated areas. Theres always bound to be someone angry, someone wanting to take a swing at someone else. No giant beast is suddenly going to come crashing down on OCTown.
Avaro couldn't even think who or why someone would do that. Or even where a creature would come from.
"Besides," Avaro told himself. "OCTown is full of people from all over the multiverse. Some of them are bound to have some powerful magic to defend such a great town..." This thought seemed to have made him feel a bit better as Blaze came bounding over.
"Everything fo alright?" she mewed, eyes wide and fur ruffled. The kittens sure did a number on her.
"Yeah it's all fine, just wanted to catch up and chat. How about you?" Avaro responded, smoothing some of the fur sticking out on top of her head.
The orange cat nodded feverishly. "Yeah! The kittens had loads of energy, I have no idea how Stripe and Fuchsia manage," she said. Avaro snorted.
"Well, where are they now?" Lucerne piped up, looking around for any pink bundles scampering around. Double checking behind him for any sudden ambushes.
"Well they ran out of energy not that long ago, they're asleep," Blaze explained, tossing her head back at the den. "Fuchsia is there, Stripe left to hunt."
"Hunt?" Avaro's eyes lit up. He loved to hunt, it's one of the few things he did to clear his mind back at his old home. While Roxxan's food was good, the nostalgia from fresh kill would always be there.
"I'm not stopping you from hunting yourself you know," Lucerne said, nudging his friend with his elbow.
Avaro blinked at Lucerne. "Really?" He then looked at Blaze, who shrugged.
"Awesome!" With that being said, Avaro turned tail and left. Heading back out into the woods and away from the camp. Shifting his forms, Avaro nearly double in size. His hind legs twisting as a tail tore through his pants, his ears growing along with a snout. But before Avaro could start really growing, before his hair vanished or his clothes started to sink in. He stopped.
Avaro always used this form when he needed strength or speed, but not size. His half dragon form, even though he's not even close to being half transformed. Their kind all start taking dragon features when transforming before actually growing, the trick is to know when to stop at the right time. The right time that you still can function easily, but not too big that its impossible to get through a doorway or that your clothes fall off. Avaro chuckled to himself, remembering the times he practiced with Lucerne and more than once, lost his clothes. After the second time his friend learned to close his eyes when Avaro transformed. But mistaken "done" as finished and clothed when in reality, Avaro had finished transforming, but lost his clothes again. After that he'd always asked if Avaro was covered up before he dared to open his eyes.
He had long since mastered the change, but the memories always bubbled up from time to time, giving him a good chuckle.
Sniffing the air, Avaro trekked though the forest, his sense of sight, smell, and hearing enhanced. Not as good as if here full dragon, but far better than a human. He scented the strange squirrels in the trees, having already forgotten their name, some cats he did not recognize beside Stripe's, and a, "Deer," Avaro thought, picking up its scent and following it. Luckily no fresh cat scents or other beast seemed to be nearby, this was going to be his kill.
After a short walk, the green brown fur of the deer became visable.
Avaro peered at it, knowing it looks different than the usual brown ones in other forests, but he knew it was safe to eat. While the deer retained most common features, hooves, short bobbed tails, short fur and large ears. These has a few noticable differences. Both male and females get antlers for one, but females are usually smaller, thicker and sharper. Their fur was a green brown shade with flecks of darker brown and a light brown face, two pairs of ears, and slightly larger tail.
In addition to all that, Avaro has been told countless times that the deers here, are a lot more hostile and would fight instead of flee frequently.
"That wouldn't be a problem," he thought, creeping around behind the deer, which by its short antlers, was clearly female. He listened for awhile, double checking for any other deers, but there was none. Not even a foal.
Avaro wouldn't dare kill a mother or child, but this one seemed alone, not even a milk scent. This is prey.
He slowly started moving forward, being careful where he placed his talons, daring each step forward that brought him closer.
The deer stiffened and looked up, it was now or never. Avaro broke out into a quick run, charging at the deer. She noticed him quickly and scrambled, as if trying to decide whenever to run or try and fend off the attacker. Too late. Avaro had reached out and clamped his jaws around her neck, jerking his head down to snap it before she could kick a well aimed blow to his neck or chest.
The deer went limp, dead.
Avaro let go, letting her slump to the ground as he folded his legs under himself to eat. Unlike normal humans, Avaro could still eat raw meat, regardless of form. He liked raw meat, but Roxxan would rather sell her leg before she placed a raw steak on his plate at the dinner table. But she has let him snack on raw meat before, as in not punish him for stealing the meat early in the morning or late at night.
Avaro was so distracted by his food that he hardly even noticed a new scent wafting over him. Even when he did notice it, he hardly paid any attention He never really used his scent to locate people, it was mostly used for hunting. There were no wild dangers at his old home, dragons were the top of the food chain. It wasn't until movent out of the corner of his eye made him realize the situation. Avaro's head shot up as he instinctively growled, extremely protective over his kill. After the amount of times dragonets took his food before Lucerne came, he was taking no chances.
Peering through the leaves and trees, he caught a glimpse of dark red fur that seemed to melt into purple as it moved. Avaro growled louder. Everything went silent. He listened, waiting. The scent was still there, whoever it was, was still here.
"They can't hurt me. Even by that glimpse I can tell there are not even half my size," Avaro told himself, pulling his half eaten deer closer to his chest, daring anyone to try and take it. He doesn't mind dessert after his meal.
Movement. He caught a head poke out from behind a bush and quickly turned to glare at it. Whoever it was, seemed startled, bringing loud rustling and crunching as they turned and fled.
Avaro got up quickly to catch a better look. It was a cat, fire elemental most likily. But he's never seen purple on a fire elemental. This cat was majority dark red, their tail shifting to pink and then purple, just like their ears. In addition to that, he could barely see a white or maybe extremely pale yellow circle on their chest surrounded by orange. But the odd part was the bags slung on their back. They hung from either side of the elemental, clearly filled with something glass as they made a gentle clinking sound as they fled.
Avaro frowned as they watched, laying back down on his belly to continue eating. He could've taken up the chase, but he wasn't going to leave his prey. He will just remind himself to tell Zeru who he saw later.
Finishing up his food, Avaro carved a hole into the ground and deposited the corpse, burying it. Only about half an hour has passed since the left.
"I'm sure they wont mind if I flew around,"
Avaro looked up, spreading his wings. There was a gap just big enough for him if he gave enough momentum. He crouched down, then jumped, flapping down roughly as he broke through the leaves and into the sky. Once open to freedom, he let himself grow into a fully fledged dragon. Still not as big as some of the hundred year old dragons, but big enough to not be a dragonet.
He's never flown far in this world, mostly flew in tight circles around the camp. Sometimes carrying someone who quickly screeched to be put down. Not his fault he liked to dive, spin, and flip in the air.
While hunting was one way to clear his mind, this was far better. Avaro couldn't nor wanted to think of a life without flying. He couldn't even think of how others managed without flying. The cool or warm wind flying past your ears, the updrafts that sent you high up into the sky, perfect for a good dive. The rush of falling and exhilaration of opening your wings at the last second. Watching the ground rise and fall, shoot past or look tiny down below. It was amazing. He usually flew around daily after waking up, but hasn't had the chance today until now.
Avaro lifted himself up high, watching the trees grow tinier and tinier with each flap. Then, making sure his back is to the camp, dove.
He felt the rush as his breath gets caught in his throat. The ground getting closer and closer. Any other dragon would pull up by now, but he wanted to get closer. He waited, waited till the last second to spread his wings. For a moment Avaro thought he was too slow, but his talons merely grazed the leaves of the tallest trees as he tilted back up. He couldn't help himself but cheer and twist in the sky, heart beating fast. Avaro had no idea how far he was from the others, not worried. He knows how to follow the sun. Make sure which position to put it in as he makes his way back. But he wasn't going back. Not yet.
Avaro kept flying up, doing yet another close dive where he felt a branch snap from smacking his talon. One of the benefits of having scales.
He laughed, glancing back at the swaying trees and fluttering birds, disturbed by his sudden descent and wing beats. It was short lived though. Without any warning, Avaro felt himself crash into something hard, head on. Making the world quickly snap off.