Garden of Fallen Angels {seongjoong} [COMPLETED]

-47-

Location: Earth

Hongjoong

Jongho's Story

"Jongho was the first one I found. He was abandoned by his family because, if you hadn't noticed, he doesn't have wings. They considered him a defective child and left him alone in the forest when he was a few months old, unable to fend for himself."

*a few years back*

The forest used to be such a peaceful place. That is, until that family moved in. A family of dragons.

I still don't understand why they moved to a place where it is so dangerous for them to live. Seriously! Wood can catch fire! *smh* It was a few days later that I decided to venture into the woods to see for myself what in heavens name were they doing.

It was a pretty long trek, but I realised upon sight the reason for their rather weird home choice. They had made a nest using leaves and branches, and inside that nest were exactly 4 humongous eggs. Baby dragons were on their way.

A couple of months passed before those eggs hatched. And even from my home a few kilometers away, I knew they had hatched due to the loud wails of the newborns. It was so loud that it scared the entire flock of pigeons away, which I was kind of elated about because they were starting to build homes on top of the house. (subsequently, when I adopted Jongie, they never came back)

Since the babies had just hatched, they weren't able to leave just yet, so they stayed there for a few more weeks until their children were ready to fly.

I actually saw the family of dragons fly off the day they left.  It was quite the surprise because I thought they wouldn't leave their home here until the babies were much older. But, I was also kinda happy about it because they burned some of the trees in the forest, especially the babies because they couldn't control their firepower. What I hadn't noticed then was that there were only three smaller dragons and not four, like the number of eggs I had seen.

Subsequently, after the dragons left, a storm occurred. That went on for a couple of days before dying down.

After a few days, I went into the woods to inspect the damage that could have occurred while the family was staying. Leaves carpeted the ground in every direction, and the slight crunch and squelch occurred with each step I took. The surroundings contained a couple slightly burnt trees and a few burnt to death ones, and others had some broken branches due to the storm, but otherwise, the forest seemed to have survived pretty well.

The inspection of the surroundings was fast, as I had other commitments as well.

When I was leaving that particular clearing, however, I heard a rather faint whimper coming from behind me. It didn't click then that it would be a baby dragon, but I couldn't leave a poor soul alone, especially not when it was already calling for help.

Instead of heading back home, I went to search for the source of the noise, and it didn't take too long.

Hidden under a pile of leaves was a baby dragon. And from what I could tell, it looked rather small and weak. Moreover, it appeared to be a little injured. Possibly from the storm. It had been rather wild, with some of the branches breaking and such. Might have been normal to someone who had experienced life, but to a baby that had just been brought into the world, that must have been hell.

But why hadn't he flown off with his parents?

I walked closer to that pile of leaves, only to notice the baby squirm and shift even more into the stack, hiding itself from further harm. It's whimpers echoing through the empty forest. It's scared.

"Don't worry, little dragon. I'm not here to hurt you. Are you okay?" (A/N: clearly he's not, joong) I spoke in the softest whisper I could muster while lowering myself slowly into a cross-legged position on the forest floor.

It took around a half hour, but eventually, I managed to coax the poor baby dragon out from its hiding spot. A single glance at it's exterior told me everything I needed to know. The dragon didn't have wings. It was disabled.

How could those parents abandon their child?! Nobody should abandon their child, disabled or not.

The baby stood on its rather soft limbs and crawled over to my lap, sniffing me for a second before deciding that it was safe and lay down between my legs. It fell asleep instantly. Adorable. At that moment, I made a decision.

Well, if those dragon parents didn't want to carry out their role, then I shall carry out that role for them.

"It's okay, child. I will take care of you from now onwards. You won't ever be alone again." I whispered to the sleeping baby dragon. And I think he must have heard me, because he gave an audible sigh of relief.

*in the present time*

"So yeah, that's how I adopted our little baby Jongie here."