[CC] The dragon and his quetzal

It was hunger that woke her, not quite the bone devouring feeling from her years of captivity, but the niggling sensation that if she didn’t eat soon, she would weaken…. And weakness was not something she ever wished to feel again. Zyanya could feel a slight weight against her body, the heat comforting almost… or it would be if it didn’t belong to a hatchling that had dragged her this way. Hissing, she rose, ignoring the startled squeak of the dragon, his wings flaring as he tried to right himself; the green quetzal spreading her own wings, the gentle winds catching and helping her lift into the open skies… leaving the youngster on the ground… she’d helped him hatch, now he was on his own.

The hatchling didn’t whine or cry as his rider soared away from him, instead, he chased after her through the forest, barely hatched he may be, but he knew that the one thing he couldn’t be was dependent. He needed to prove himself. The forest twined around him as he watched the lazy sweeps far above him, his wings, not yet strong enough to carry him up to her, he grinned almost as he became surer in his steps amidst the mighty roots of the trees that towered far above him. His senses flared out a warning before the ground gave way, hissing and spitting in outrage he glared at the earthier walls around him…. And the ring of sharpened stakes that halted him from immediately clambering out. Two heads appeared moments later, and he snarled at them. One of them spoke, the words drifting over him, he didn’t understand them, barely hatched as he was… but he did send an impression down the nascent bond he had with his rider… and glared at them, waiting….

Zyanya scanned the canopy below, the lake southwards of her current flight path, she’d caught glimpses of red as the hatchling chased her, but she ignored it. The sun warming her more and more as she used the thermals to glide, conserving as much energy as she could. Her flight faltered for a moment as something pressed against, a sense of startlement, then anger…. Before a blurred image crashed through where the egg had once tugged her. Her eyes narrowed as she shifted course, to where the hissing and splitting could be heard… and the broken words of two people, hunters. Anticipation spread through her. She was hungry…. And they were literally sitting ducks.

He didn’t need to hiss if he was honest, he knew he could get out… but while they were distracted he knew she was coming…. And he crooned at those above him, letting his glee sound. The sounds that came back, he sensed were meant to intimidate him, but really, they were pathetic compared to his rider, at the fire that lurked beneath her green feathers. He stared as one of them lifted something, light glinting off the metal that tipped the shaft… and he bared his teeth tail lashing….

One minute the hunters were about to shoot the hatchling… the next, one was screaming in pain as her venom (a rather mild one compared to some she could use) struck him, whilst the one that held the crossbow stumbled into the pit as her wings sent him flying. She sensed rather than saw the hatchling pounce on him, the snarls gleeful as he struck. Her own prey writhed. “Your pain will end soon, don’t worry.” She crooned, and it would, her hunger too great for her to draw the most out of this one.

The hatchling was smaller than the hunter, but off-balance, it was easy for him to disable the hunter, he could feel his rider's hunger, less now but still there, so rather than kill him (as tempting as it was) he bit and clawed at the hunter. He was bonded to a quetzal, and hunters…well… he knew she didn’t care for them.

Ignoring the whimpers, Zyanya peered over the edge, eyes staring at the wounded, but alive hunter, the dragon smug next to him, and it made a sound that sounded very much like a laugh…even if it was still trapped in a pit.