The Hatchering

The dragoness groaned as she lifted her head, looking about blearily through grayed-out rainbow eyes. That last landing had been a bit harder than she'd anticipated, though portals were always iffy on the best of days. Cecatl was certainly a great place to be, but the black dragoness could only sigh. Exploration had always lured her off planets and she ended up in danger time and time again. If it wasn't flipping hunters, it was every day hazards of the planets themselves. Lava hurt, even if she morphed into the saurians that lived in it. Dari shook her furry body, letting the leaves and twigs and other things drop, four wings flaring carefully. It was unlikely she'd broken any joints on impact, thankfully, but the pinions were tender enough as it was. She winced at a tug and carefully pulled in the feathered wing, sitting on the ground to balance her long body, long tail curling around her as the fanned one fluffed out. Gently, the dragoness combed through the rumpled blue feathers with a sigh. Only a few bent ones this time. Her ears flicked absently as Dari focused on fixing the bent feathers, but a soft thump from nearby caused her to look up, long neck curled back against her as her wings tightened in a semi-shell around her. The tip of her tail flicked, preparing to snap forwards with the wicked dual scythes she had, but she paused at the second thump.

The creature that peered out through the brush at her was small, relatively furry, but its scales had a sheen to them that defied the low light, its short, stubby tail was bulbeous like a gecko and its large eyes made it seem innocently curious. The dragoness tilted her head, slowly relaxing with a curious trill. The creature's eyes widened, then cautiously moved closer. It sniffed the ground where her body had scuffed it, then reached out and picked up one of the discarded feathers and sniffed at it. "Aww, aren't you cute?" she whispered, lowering herself to the ground further to seem less aggressive to the small reptilian. It tilted its saurian head up at her and trilled, almost mimicking her from earlier, making the dragoness giggle. "What are you, I wonder?" And where am I? she thought to herself with another snort.

The dragon-like creature didn't seem afraid of her after the initial reaction, so the dragoness stood, stretching like a cat and shaking herself with a sigh. Her charcoal fur was short, but silky enough not much stuck to it and her thick belly plating had protected her from the worst of the sharp branches she'd fallen through on her way down. Carefully, Dari reached out and lightly tucked claws through the shiny fur of the creature, making it start, but then it trilled again and shuffled closer. "Are you a baby?" the dragoness wondered aloud, petting it when it seemed to enjoy that, smiling at the reaction she received.

Her ears flicked as the varied sounds quieted by her entrance slowly recovered and began trickling back into the forest again. The feathering in her ears rippled and the dragoness turned her head in surprise when the brush wiggled again. Clearly, a larger something was coming through, hopefully not the baby's momma. The brush exploded with a screech, and sure enough, a much larger version of the dragon in Dari's hands rammed into her side, sending the dragoness rolling with a startled 'oof!' She flipped into the air, but landed expertly, wings flaring and inhaled to fluff out her fur, making the dragoness much bigger than she had been, the four wings nearly doubling her size. The dragon - barely the same size Dari was normally - halted suddenly, eyes wide and paused. The meep of the baby distracted the mother as it latched onto her leg and the dragon huffed, backed up and cooed at her baby, satisfied the dragoness wasn't planning on eating her offspring.

"Well, just my luck," the dragoness sighed, letting her wings relax again across her back, though the one leather refused to fold correctly. It didn't hurt so much as just sprained, twinging every so often. "I always start my adventures in trouble. Why should that change here?" she muttered with a huff.