Could these walls come crumbling down?
I want to feel my feet on the ground
And leave behind this prison we share
Step into the open air
(Into The Open Air - Julie Fowlis)
Drogon knew he needed to find his brothers, but his mother was tired so he let her sleep for a time. It was during that time that he was finally able to think about what had possibly happened to lead them to this place. He didn't remember much from the flight before, but he did remember a storm, heavy in rain and wind. At one point he was worried his mother would fall off his back and he would have to attempt to snatch her in his claws when he himself could barely see, but she held fast and stayed on. His chest swelled with pride for her, his strong mother.
But something was wrong, he couldn't remember how they came to be in that storm, couldn't remember flying into it or anything that came before. That wasn't normal, he usually had a very good memory, or at least that's what he felt he knew.
What was more worrying was that he didn't remember seeing his brothers. He heard them though. Remembering hearing the roars they let out that spoke of confusion and fear sent a bolt of protectiveness through Drogon's scaled chest even though he was the youngest among them, making him a bit more antsy by the moment. He kept swiveling his head around, looking for invisible threats, as well as any sign of his brothers, even though he knew it was hopeless for now. He had tried to reach out for them when he had first woken up but there was no trace of them there either, they were too far apart to communicate like that. This was endlessly frustrating to him, especially since that was still the case, even with a full day's flight under his belt.
Still, he kept guard over his mother while she slept. He would need to hunt soon but she apparently needed more rest. He didn't truly understand why she needed to sleep so much, she had been sleeping for a full day before she woke up when they were in the forest. The realization that Drogon didn't understand a lot of things made him so frustrated that smoke started curling from his snout and his chest started to warm with the telltale sign of fire.
As if sensing his roiling feelings, his mother shifted in her slumber. He took notice immediately and started to slowly curl around the rock that cradled her, feeling more at ease now that he was closer to her and could therefore better protect her if something were to happen. It seemed to put her at ease as well as she settled in and turned her head to face him. He could feel through their bond that she was easing from the dark turn that her dream must have taken. He wondered if she was dreaming about where they had come from.
Drogon knew he would do almost anything for her, his mother, the one who raised him and his brothers, who kept them safe, and protected them until they could protect themselves as well as her. She didn't have any wings, but it didn't matter because he would let her borrow his, they could be free together.
~~~~~~~~~~~
When Daenerys opened her eyes, the sun was setting beyond the horizon and turning the sky a myriad of brilliant oranges, pinks, and purples. She felt the huff of Drogon's breath behind her and smiled softly to herself. How lucky she was to have him with her, she didn't even want to imagine what she would have to face if he wasn't there. She was lucky, yes, but she would be complete with Viserion and Rhaegal by her side as well.
So, with great effort, she heaved herself up, dressed herself in her sun-dried clothes, and was going about cupping water in her hands to drink when she felt a suddenly strong wind beat at her back. She spun around just in time to see Drogon take off. She felt her hair blow back and had to shield her face as a cloud of dirt, leaves and grass blew around her.
Great, now I have to bathe again, she thought. This was typical of him, loyal to a fault, until he was hungry. He would come back of course, she somehow knew he always did, but she didn't know when that would be. It could be a few hours or it could be days. In the meantime, so much for the luck of having him with her.
Daenerys sighed and looked down at herself to inspect her now soiled clothes. It wasn't too bad since most of what she was wearing was leather and she could brush the majority off, but it was still annoying.
Well, there wasn't much she could do other than wait for him to come back she supposed. She took a few more minutes at the river to get some water to wash her face and neck of the dirt that had flown at her with Drogon's take off, before walking to the nearby cluster of trees to pick one to lay down at. Luckily, none of them seemed to be fostering some kind of animal save for the occasional squirrel or bird, so she picked one nearest to the river with the most cover provided by its branches and laid herself down in the soft grass surrounding it.
As the sun peeked over the horizon, Daenerys' eyes cracked open to see a black and red dragon splashing about in the river's current in a series of actions that seemed to resemble...taking a bath? Yes, that's what he was doing, splashing in the shallow river she herself had bathed in just yesterday as much as he was able with his size. She had no idea how he had flown in without waking her up, but he seemed to be enjoying himself, lumbering through the waters, sending up a spray that created rainbows all around him. The sight of it was almost ridiculous, but it loosened something in her chest and for the first time since she woke up in that forest, Daenerys smiled a true, wide smile, one that showed her teeth and squinted her eyes, and a laugh bubbled up from her belly.
With a loud whoop, she stripped her clothes once again and ran into the water, careful of Drogon's talons slicing through the waves he was making. His giant head came down to her level and he began to gently splash her, swishing his tail through the water to make waves that she let carry her to shore. They made a game out of it, how far out can she go and make it back with that one wave? With the soft chuffing and chirping sounds of Drogon, Daenerys felt put at ease, like she was in her element.
Once the playfulness came to an end, and the heavy weight of finding the rest of her sons resting on her shoulders again, she trudged back to shore and pulled on her clothes. They were still a bit dirty from yesterday's improtue dirt tornado but still considerably clean. She would have to wash them at the next opportunity then.
In no time they were up in the air again, scouring the skies and ground for their lost family. They headed mostly north, zig zagging through high mountains and ducking through the clouds. This went on for hours trying to cover each and every peak, and when Daenerys could feel her stomach begin to growl and her eyelids droop, she heard it. A faint roar, a familiar one, coming from far up north!
Her heart nearly lept from her chest as Drogon let out a roar to answer and flew with renewed energy. Daenerys' clothes whipped behind her, and some strands of her hair escaped from her whipping braid as her son flew faster than ever before! She felt a surge of protectiveness and fury light up her chest, if something had happened to any one of her children she'd burn this whole world and all of its inhabitants to the ground! She'd eat every last threat, growing bigger and bigger until no one could stop her! Every being in the world would tremble before her like the promise of death she was!
Daenerys felt overwhelmed, she couldn't stop, she was so hungry. Hungry for food, for revenge, for her family that had been ripped apart. Why couldn't they just live in peace, with sheep and cattle to snack on?
Wait, sheep? No, no that wasn't her. These weren't her thoughts, why were these not her thoughts? There should only be Daenerys' thoughts in Daenerys' head. She sat up in surprise at a realization and nearly toppled from Drogon's back because of it. They were connected, bonded, so of course they could communicate each other's feelings. She briefly wondered at the marvel of it and, in turn, questioned if it could work the other way around before another roar sounded off.
It was far, too far, she realized, to reach her lost one by night, but maybe if they went through the night. The good thing was that it didn't sound distressed, just another beacon to try to find each other. Drogon showed no signs of slowing his pace when the sun started to dip below the horizon, and Daenerys silently thanked the heavens because her skin was burning, the next time she landed she needed to fashion a scarf or wrap to secure around her head somehow. With the disappearance of the sun, so too did the burning of its rays, and soon she felt the cold wind bite at her face, stinging the sunburn that had come before.
It was curious though. She didn't feel cold, or the heat of the sun, but she had still received a sunburn and cracked lips. She decided to test this more when the opportunity arose but for now it would have to wait until she was reunited with the rest of her kin.
Speaking of, she was finally feeling the effects of flying all day and even more into the night as her eyelids were beginning to droop. She directed Drogon to the ground but he seemed to be resisting, going slow and taking odd banks to the left or right in agitation. Finally, he landed rather roughly on an acceptably flat bit of mountain that had a little stream flowing down, and she climbed down. Once she turned around to face him she found him making what looked to be a glaring face down at her!
Deanerys glared back up at him, "I understand you want to keep looking, but if I fall asleep on your back I will fall off!"
Drogon huffed, as if annoyed. Daenerys copied him, with the added effect of crossing her arms, "Look, if I had the materials to make a harness, I would. Do you see any rope? I don't, so don't get snooty with me, you know I would rather keep looking too!"
In response to this brilliant piece of logic Drogon pointedly turned his head northward and looked off into the distance. She couldn't believe it, he was pouting! A dragon, pouting. Ridiculous.
In her own response, Daenerys walked towards the stream and found it to be clean and ice cold as she plunged her hands into the soft current to cup some water and brought it to her cracked lips.
When she had quenched her thirst and washed her smarting face, she remembered her thoughts about having a head wrap to keep her hair and skin safe from the wind and sun respectively. She took stock of what she already had on her. It was relatively fitted and everything was leather, a long sleeved, slitted dress over leggings and boots. None of these were viable options to tear up as they provided cover for the rest of her skin. However, there were oversleeves that came down to her mid-calves and appeared to have no function other than to be ornamental.
They were well made, so it took some effort to tear them from the shoulders where they were attached but once she had them free, she experimented wrapping them around her head until she found a way to sufficiently secure it. One was long enough to secure everything nice and tight so she decided she would switch them out periodically for washing.
When she was finished with her little experiment she finally turned back to Drogon, who was still staring out to the north, but had lowered his head to rest upon the ground and his expression was less pouty and more forlorn.
Daenerys walked up and sat next to him, leaning into the warmth radiating from him and feeling her eyes droop in response, "I miss them too, more than anything," she whispered, knowing he could hear her. "We'll find them, no matter what, and when we're together, nothing will separate us again, I promise." With that said, she finally allowed her eyes to shut and fell into the darkness once more.