I Guess I'm a Dragon Now (Part 1)

First Hunt

Sitting at the cave entrance while looking out at the blizzard currently sweeping over the forest, Ergen breathed deeply as he knew that he had to go out in it. Behind him, his mother breathed deeply, unable to move from her injuries that she'd sustained. In order to save her, Ergen had frozen her wounds that had been bleeding the most as that was the only way that he could stop it. Though in looking at her now, she didn't seem like she had much longer left to live, and that was especially the case if she didn't eat something... which meant that he had to go outside and hunt for himself.

Gathering his courage, Ergen slowly walked forward, leaving the cave and entering the forest as the wind howled through the trees around him. The freshly fallen snow was already up to his knees, and Ergen was suddenly thankful that he was an ice dragon, knowing just how cold the area would have been if he could feel it's temperature. Despite the snow gathering on his back, he felt perfectly warm, and it was this fact that encouraged him as he ran though the spacious trees and into the thicker part of the forest. He knew that it would be best to stay out of open areas as there was no telling what manner of creatures lurked inside of these woods, or of which of them would find a dragon hatchling to be a nice meal to hold them over until they found something larger to eat. He needed to stay hidden and ambush something weaker than him like a cat would...

Stopping in his tracks as he felt the ground vibrate underneath him, Ergen placed himself up against a tree as a crashing sound grew louder and louder. And he was thankful that he'd stopped as a large tree was completely decimated in front of him while a creature nearly three times the size of his mother walked through the forest. Seeing that it had overly large fangs and a large swaying tail, Ergen looked upwards with his mouth a hanging open as he spotted the largest cat he'd ever seen before. The thing was half of the size of a castle, and it growled lowly as it continued walking along it's path, hopefully not looking for young dragons to eat.

Waiting for some time after the creature had passed, Ergen started heading into the thicker part of the forest again, hoping that the tightly packed trees would mean that the animals were smaller. However, Ergen started wondering just what kind of world he was in as he spotted several giant snakes weaving in between the tree tops. And after having only thought that there was smaller creatures in the forest before, Ergen was absolutely shocked when he realized that there was hardly anything his size close to his den. Though on second thought, he realized that there probably wouldn't be as few creatures would ever go near such a place. Though... were dragons even a large threat in this world?

Forgetting such thoughts for now, Ergen continued to roam around the forest in search of creatures to hunt, though mostly he only found giant birds that were large enough to swallow him whole, what looked like a herd of stegosaurus dinosaurs and even a nest of giant spiders that appeared to like to wrap up anything his size in their webs. Just what the heck was this place anyway? There was absolutely nothing small around, and Ergen had almost given up and headed back home before he finally spotted something that interested him.

In front of Ergen was a large hole in the ground that marked a den, and he was glad to see that there was actually something that he could hunt inside of it. He watched as several fox-like monsters repeatedly entered and exited. They were each only slightly smaller than Ergen was, though they were numerous, and Ergen thought it best to wait until he could get one of the creatures by itself. He had no idea how they would react if he managed that, but he didn't get the chance to find out as one of the foxes saw him and let out some sort of cry. Instantly, all of the creatures started moving quickly back to their den, though Ergen didn't let some of them as he moved forward to block their progress.

Breathing a stream of ice breath over the den's entrance, Ergen created a barrier of ice that all of the foxes hit as they attempted to dive into the hole. They all barked in hit pitch while attempting to claw the ice away from their shelter, though they scattered when Ergen ran up to them and focused on one of the larger foxes gathered. The creature tried to run away, though it couldn't as Ergen bit down on the back of it's neck, causing it to let out a pained snarl as Ergen shook it in an attempt to snap it's neck. Though his teeth seemed to be designed more for dealing damage than actually holding prey as the fox managed to free itself from his grasp while completely shredding it's skin and fur in the process. Though Ergen wasn't about to let it escape now as he released more of his frost breath and froze the fox's front legs before it could turn around to flee.

Letting out a dreadful shrieking sound, the fox attempted to bite away at the ice that covered it's legs, failing to realize that it's legs themselves were frozen before Ergen moved in and and bit it's neck once more. This time, his teeth managed to catch an artery instead of just muscle and fur, and the fox's shrieking noise soon faded as it breathed it's last breaths. Though Ergen made sure to bite at it a few more time just to make sure before he started dragging the fox's corpse back towards his den. The other foxes were all gathered together, hiding behind the trees nearest to the den as Ergen walked off. Though while he thought that just a single fox wouldn't fill his mother's stomach, he wouldn't be able to carry any more food back with him as he was already struggling in carrying the massive fox. The creature had been only slightly smaller than he was, which ment that it stood almost two meters tall while just on it's four legs. And judging from the nearby bone piles, it seemed that humans were on their menu as well. But what were humans doing all the way out here in this land of titans anyway?

With these thoughts, Ergen continued through the forest at a quick pace, hoping that to reach his den as quickly as he could as he didn't know which predators would be attracted by the smell of the foxes blood. He needed to hurry and reach the cave before either the cat monster or the giant birds smelled him, thought the ever increasing amount of snow was making the journey somewhat difficult.

Something roared off in the distance when Ergen finally reached his den, and thankfully his mother was still breathing heavily when he arrived. She didn't seem in any worse of condition than she was before, and Ergen hoped that she would be able to survive as he placed the fox carcass in front of her. He quickly took the animals leg like he normally did before calling out to her in short barks, making her open her eyes slightly as she sniffed in front of her.

It was slow, but eventually she moved her head enough to eat the rest of the fox, grumbling deeply as she did. And after seeing her eat, Ergen sighed quietly in relief as she seemed to be doing slightly better than before as she stayed awake for several moments while looking around. Eventually, she laid back down to sleep, and Ergen laid in between her claws again, ready to sleep as well after the exhausting day he'd had. Thankfully, he'd managed to find the den of foxes, which would hold them over for now. But he couldn't help but to ask himself what tomorrow would bring now that he was having to care for his mother. Though those thoughts were soon lost as he fell asleep, spending yet another thankful night with his surviving parent.