Fox

Chapter 2

The days pass. Weeks fly by. Except for the occasional "mission" from the princess all was quiet.

Funny how before Queen Aurora came here I was content with a life of solitude. It was all I wanted.

Now the days dragged on and there was never really anything interesting to do.

I couldn't leave the Water Tribe.

They were the only ones to let animal dragons on their territory, and even then it was only the land parts they seldom used. Going into the ocean or the river that feeds into it were strictly forbidden.

More rules.

For the most part I never even saw any water dragons. They all lived underwater, and it was rare for one to surface. From what I understood, going to the surface was for training reasons only, and they were never allowed to do it solo.

Always rules.

I gnawed on an old bone once belonging to an animal no longer recognizable. I don't even remember what it was, most likely a rabbit. Even here there were rules for eating.

Admittedly it was still much better than the animal kingdom, I could hunt whenever I wanted and wherever I wanted. The only thing was I had to keep an eye on the populations of what I hunt, and not overkill any specific species.

Understandable. Doable. Still annoying.

Right now I unfortunately have to leave the hawks alone. They were the most fun to hunt but it takes awhile for their numbers to get back up. Stupid birds.

My diet usually consists of mice and rabbits. Fish are forbidden, as that would be considered taking prey from the water dragons. I sometimes take one anyways. Just for fun.

Today my feet take me near the edge of the WaterTribes territory on the Animal Kingdoms side. I haven't been this far since I first came here, I'm not sure what brings me here today.

It wouldn't be hard to sneak in. The only thing marking me as a outcast was the brand on my front left paw. If I kept it hidden I'd be fine, and it'd be the biggest adventure I've had in months.

I trotted alone the border towards the mountains. The territory was enormous, even if I kept up this pace all night I wouldn't get to the other side of the territory for two days.

Shows just how long I've been wandering mindlessly. I usually stay close to the mountains, as it's as far away from the Animal Kindgom I can get.

I wonder if I could visit Queen Aurora.

My legs start to fail me and I start to look for shelter for the night. Another boring day with nothing to do.

The nest I manage to make myself is passable. There was a small patch of grass midst a bunch of tree roots, moderately comfortable but not as comfortable as one of the dens I have around my usual territory. But it would suffice for the night.

It was a colder night, windy. Thankfully the roots managed to block out most of the wind, and my natural body heat mixed with my furry pelt kept me mostly warm.

It made me miss home.

The animal kingdom was slightly different than the rest of the kingdoms, it had to be since so many different types of animals lived there. It was nestled in between three large mountains, one of which belonged to the air dragons.

I had only ever met one despite sharing such a close border. He seemed carefree and wisp like. I had envied him then, and I still envy him now.

The woodland area I was from was near the air dragons mountain. As a rite of passage for the woodland predators, we had to climb to the top of the mountain and bring back an air dragon scale.

Unless you had a cat as your second form, it was nearly impossible to do on your first try. The rocks were jagged and there were no straight paths to the top. Flying of any kind is not allowed, even for a bird of prey.

The challenge had seemed so easy at first, and that had been my downfall. I had been cocky and prideful, quickly jumping rock to rock like a mountain goat. Until I got higher. The air had become colder and thinner and I had used so much energy so fast that I had passed out long before I made it to the top.

The second time I had been more cautious. I kept my breathing even and paced myself. I made it about halfway before the winds had started to pick up dramatically. The bitter cold surrounded me as I trudged through the snow and rock.

It had been a challenge for sure. There were many times I had thought about giving up and going back. But I had something to prove to all the other woodland predators. They all saw me as weak and stupid.

I made it in record time on the second try. Faster than any of the other dragonlings in my generation. What I lacked in size and strength, I excelled in agility and intelligence.

I hated the animal kingdom, but I won't deny that there were many treasured moments such as that.