Frozen Desert | A WoF Fanfiction

(Chapter 1) Mama's Boy

A/N: You all know the frill that Sandwings have down their spines? Well, I like to imagine them as hair of sorts that can be styled in all sorts of ways, so that's what it's going to be referred to. Enjoy the new chapter :)

Tundra's POV

Hatching days are quiet, special moments between the mother, father, and the dragonet. Hushed whispers of anticipation are shared between the parents as the egg slowly cracks, and tiny claws break through to the outside world. Their first view is two faces, looking at them with nothing but love and joy in their eyes. The dragonet's first interaction is with their mother holding them, smiling widely, as it is her child. She holds them with the utmost affection as the father looks over the two, feeling a strong sense of pride in his family. It's a family moment to only be shared with those closest to them.

At least, that's how it's supposed to be.

For me, that wasn't the case. I still have vague memories of that day. Instead of a quiet occasion, my eccentric father turned it into a social event. "My glorious dragonet is hatching today," Snowmelt had crowed, "It's an occasion worth celebrating." Being the ambitious dragon he was, he promised the community a child that would inevitably change the world, animus or not. Believing in their leader, they attended, chattering with anticipation as my father preached about the glory I would bring.

To contrast my outgoing, extroverted father, my mother was a quiet dragon. She never did speak much and stuck loyally to my father's side for the most part. I couldn't remember if she talked to me while I was still in the egg, but I did know that she would hold me in her arms, the warmth radiating off her scales seeping its way through my shell. For hours she'd hold me. Perhaps she was also doing something else, such as reading, but I never did know. Being held by her was nice; it was much warmer than Father's touch, who often held me just to admire the markings of the shell. His talons radiated a cold feeling that I could sunk deep into my bones.

On the day I hatched, I was placed in front of a large crowd of dragons on a soft, warm surface. Unfamiliar voices surrounded me, and their chatter was overwhelming as I shrunk back as much as I physically could. The shell around me was thin, and I could faintly make the change of lighting as the day passed. From the brightness of noon until the orange skies of sunset, I sat there on display while dragons drank and laughed around me, just having an overall good time. In the midst of it all, the only bit of comfort I had was Mother, whose warm scales remained with me throughout the day.

It took a while for me to finally decide I wanted to hatch. Listening to the noises from inside the egg grew exhausting after a while. Stepping on to the stage, my father's voice made small talk with my mother. He stayed for a while, until I decided I wanted to see them. When he heard the tiny tapping of claws against the shell, he began to address his followers with words I didn't understand at the time.

"Welcome, welcome, everyone," he said, and the chattering around me slowly died down. He paused until there was silence, and then continued. "Both me and my dear wife here thank each and every one of you for attending. We're thrilled you all have found the time to witness this momentous occasion. On this day, we would like to welcome our dear dragonet into the world. As many of you may know, Fennec and I have tried countless times to bring offspring into this world. But up until now, it has been a fruitless effort, as each egg has suffered the terrible fate of going still months before their expected hatching days. Even the one we celebrate today originally came in a clutch of two, who also met the fate of its previously lost siblings."

Father paused again as a murmur of sympathy rumbled through the crowd, and then continued.

"This egg is healthy," he said, "Its condition has been carefully watched throughout the year, and we are thrilled say it has shown sides of hatching today."

As if on cue, I happened to push my first claw through to the outside world. One claw, then another. My hand, and then my whole arm. The crowed oooh-ed and aww-ed as I pushed my way through into the light. The shell cracked and I tumbled forward, catching me by surprise. I avoided the nearby table and luckily, there was plenty of soft surface for me to roll over without hurting myself.

My first sights were the faces of people I never knew, watching me the way one watches a scavenger perform tricks in a traveling circus. Fascination filled their eyes as they watched me scramble backwards, and they laughed at my antics. I didn't know the feeling at the time, but I later realized that it was fear. A fear of the unknown, because even to this day, I still don't know who those dragons were.

Shaking me from my sudden shock, a pair of talons scooped me up. I looked over to the dragon holding me, and all of my problems seemed to evaporate as I looked into a set of warm brown eyes brimming with emotion. Immediately I knew that it was my mother holding me ever so gently. Light brown freckles were scattered across her pale snout, and she smiled as I almost instinctively reached out to grab the swoop of brown hair parted on her head.

"You're absolutely gorgeous," Mother said quietly as she leaned in to press her forehead against me. I burbled happily, grabbing at her face. She laughed and gently pulled her way out of the reach of my chubby fingers.

A second head appeared next to her, this one much shinier, his scales reflecting the setting sun making his gray look orange. Jagged, sharp horns protruded into a spiky mane that almost seemed to frame his long face, which was grinning a wide, sharp grin. There was pride behind his eyes but also an almost... power hungry look. He looked at me as if I was a ticket into a royal family, the key to a simpler life. I stared up at them both, fascinated by how different they both seemed. They really were polar opposites.

"Well, look at you," he cooed, putting a cold talon on my head. To my surprise, his touch wasn't all that cold on my scales, and was rather a cool, refreshing feeling as he ruffled the hair on my head. He took me out of my mother's arms and held me up to the light and the crowd. My father looked over me from head to toe, examining every part of me. His overjoyed expression flickered for a moment, his face going from happy to upset to happy in less than a second. Quickly, he lowered his arms and passed me off to my mother, whose eyes seemed slightly disturbed but nonetheless happy. He pressed his snout against her ear, murmuring something I couldn't catch, and she nodded, and he turned back to the crowd. 

"And here you have him," he announced, his voice booming over the excited chatter. "Our beautiful son, Tundra. Our flawless child is now a member of our community, and tonight, we celebrate him!" He swiped a glass of wine that had been sitting on a nearby table and grinned widely, holding it up to the sky. "For the dragonet that will grow to be great, a toast, to Tundra!"

"To Tundra!" The dragons roared, holding up their own glasses. They then smiled and danced, and the party continued. My father put his gray wings around both me and my mother, then sent her along to take me away from the rowdy dragons. In all fairness, I was exhausted, having my first few minutes out of the egg be some of the most overwhelming of my lifetime.

I remember my mother putting me down into a soft bed of cloths, wrapping me snugly in the fabrics. She sat down close enough for me to know she was still there and watched me with careful eyes. There was almost sadness in them as she watched me roll around for a bit. Then, she set a hand on me, her rough, heated claws stroking my scales and picking at my neck spikes as if to make sure I wasn't missing any.

"Tundra, your father, may be a little insane," she whispered to me, clutching one of my tiny talons. "You may not be an animus like he hopes. There might not be anything special about you. You could grow up to be a perfectly average dragon. And you know what? That's fine. That is perfectly fine. Because you'll always –always- be my special boy."

I just sleepily tilted my head at her and yawned, not understanding a word she said. She laughed and pressed her snout against me in an act of affection. Then, she left the room, leaving me in my own world. 

A/N: This is really just like the Angry Birds movie and idk how I should feel about that.