My bones to break and my hand do shake
As I lie in the wake of time's cruel slaughter
But if I die before I wake
I'm gonna see my Caroline
(Caroline - Colter Wall)
An ear splitting roar had Daenerys' eyes shooting open and the dragon dozing next to her starting at the sound. They both leapt into action and as soon as Daenerys was on Drogon's back they were skyrocketing through the air towards the call. It was much closer than it had been the last time they had heard it except now it had an air of pain to it, which sent both the dragon and his rider into a frenzy to find their missing family before something terrible happened. After all, neither of them knew what dangers this world could bring them and it scared them both endlessly.
It wasn't until later, when the night was fixing to give way to daylight, that they found one another, and it seemed that one was indeed in need of rescue.
There, on a barren cliffside close to crumbling beneath him, was Rhaegal, a vibrant green with bronze accents that shimmered in the moonlight that still shone above them. Those scales were marred, though, by the black blood of the creatures around him. He was doing everything he could do to get rid of them, swatting at them like flies, snapping his jaws and occasionally letting out a burst of flame, but they were too many and he was slowly starting to be overpowered.
The crawling creatures themselves were not much to look at individually, in fact they were quite hideous with their hunched, stunted forms and skin that looked to be diseased. They likely wouldn't be much of a threat on their own, but they swarmed Rhaegal weighing him down, nearly covering all of him so only a sliver of scales could be seen and trying to find any chink in his scales they can with their crude weapons. They were going after every soft surface they could reach, which wasn't much but enough, including the wings, eyes, nostrils, and mouth so the green dragon had to keep his wings clenched tight to his body, and his mouth shut tight except for the occasional spurt of fire when he could manage it. All of this meant that he was essentially a sitting duck, a really big, fire-breathing duck.
Having seen the situation, Drogon sounded his fury at the condition his brother was in and promptly set the surrounding creatures on fire, making a flaming barrier around his brother so hot the rocks glowed red with heat. The creatures on Rhaegal stopped their assault to take stock of the new threat and the damage that he had already wrought. When they saw their comrades in flames around them, and another, bigger dragon looming over them in the sky, the creatures screamed and tried to run, scattering like the vermin they were. Daenerys smiled as they too met their fate in burning fire, relishing in their screams and the following silence that came when they were well and dead.
She had meant what she had said the night before, evidently Drogon agreed fervently.
Drogon landed, having done his part in helping his brother and as soon as his mother was off his back he lumbered over to Rhaegal, nipping at each other playfully. Once they were done, the green and bronze dragon turned his great head towards the rock where his mother sat, waiting for her boys to finish getting reacquainted with each other. Her violet eyes sparkled with relief and happiness at seeing him safe and in her presence again.
Rhaegal moved slowly towards her as she got up carefully from the rock. She knew that Rhaegal was always the most temperamental and aggressive of her children, but she loved him just the same as the others. She walked calmly to him even though her heart was beating out of her chest, and when she reached him, she did the same thing she did with Drogon when they first woke up. She lifted her hand, and gently placed it on the snout of Rhaegal, and even though he didn't have the bond she and Drogon had, his eyes softened just a bit. He had missed her, the same as she had missed him, her warrior, her son.
Daenerys smiled softly at Rhaegal's response to her, "Let's see if you're hurt anywhere, and then we find the last of us, yes?"
At this, Rhaegal bellowed his agreement for all to hear, Drogon joined in with vigor, and Daenerys laughed as her sons rejoiced in their reunion.
Upon further inspection, Rhaegal had taken minimal damage to his wings and some to his eyes and the edges of his mouth, but most of the blood on him was from the creatures, so once it was determined that he could still fly comfortably, they flew leisurely for a time out west and out of the mountains, she had seen enough of them for now and wanted to get back to the green she had experienced in that forest.
Her dragon ducked and weaved throughout the clouds, making dives and swoops in the air, almost like they were dancing around each other. This was what she loved most about flying, the thrill of climbing ever higher into the sky, just to fall back down to earth at breakneck speeds. The way her stomach would lurch when Drogon would make a particularly ambitious turn, sometimes very nearly going upside down. It was magic, a beautiful dance, it was everything, and there was no possible way she would ever go without it.
By the time they reached a plain that stretched beyond the mountain range, the sun was finally peaking over the horizon, giving Rhaegal a shimmering, glittering look to his bronze accents. They flew for another couple hours into the morning when they found another river that they landed next to, stirring all manner of dirt and loose grass. Daenerys climbed down and as soon as she had cleared their wing spans, they took off again. She wasn't worried, she knew they were hungry because so was she, her stomach was making a racket that would be concerning to anyone. She just hoped that if they brought anything back, and that was a big if, there would be enough that she could scavenge for herself, but she doubted it.
So, unfortunately, it fell to her to find food. The problem was that she had no idea what was edible here, so all she could do was walk along the river and hope for the best. She peeled off her makeshift head wrap and tied it around her waist and turned south to walk up its course.
While walking was tiring and slowly turning her feet into instruments of torture, she did enjoy the scenery. The river gently wound through hills and meadows with wildflowers running along the sides in bright, vibrant colors, all manner of bees, butterflies, and dragonflies whizzing to and fro from blossom to blossom. Every so often she would run into a rabbit or fox who curiously watched her before deciding she wasn't a threat and darting back into the long grass where it came from. It was very quiet after the eventful few days of stress and worry and between the sound of the running water and the beauty of her surroundings she found that her mind had been in a lulling peace for a time.
It was midday when she decided to stop for a moment and sit on the bank of the river. Pulling off her boots and stockings and letting the water run over her feet, washing away the aches and numbing the blisters that had started to form. She sat for some time, admiring the quiet calm and occasionally cupping handfuls of the cool water to drink. Some fish and tadpoles came by to nibble at her toes, which made a mirthful smile appear, but it was soon time, heralded by her ever growling stomach, to start looking for food again, so Daenerys hauled herself up and after she painfully pulled her stockings and boots back on she set off to look for food.
She came across some bushes that looked to bear blueberries but the color was slightly off and she just wasn't hungry enough to risk them not being poisonous yet. It was late in the afternoon, a couple miles upstream from those berries, when she finally found some familiar options for food, and thank goodness because she was about ready to collapse from hunger. There was a nice stretch of rocks leading into the clear waters and a few trees providing shade over a bed of soft grass that looked very inviting. The trees she was looking at were tall and plentiful with beautiful, red apples, perfectly in season. She couldn't believe her luck!
Daenerys forgot her weakness as she ran for the small grove of trees, stumbling as she went, her mouth already watering, and grabbed the first apple she could reach. After performing a short inspection and deeming it safe, she took a large bite. The sweet juice of the apple burst onto her tongue, some of it running down her chin, and she sighed at the taste, she had never tasted anything as sweet, she was sure of it.
For the rest of the day, Daenerys feasted on apples and the clear waters of the river, barefoot and spitting the seeds into the water in the shade of the trees. It was almost perfect, except for the worries that had started to creep back into her mind now that she was no longer on the verge of starving.
She would need to find suitable shelter in the near future, one that had accessible food nearby for the apples could only keep her fed for so long before they either rot or she ate them all, the first of which seemed the most likely, especially if she left the area. She had yet to see even a hint of civilization, so until she actually saw people she would carry on acting as if they didn't exist in this world. She knew animals and other beings lived here, like the ones that were attacking Rhaegal, but she would hardly call them civilized, they were wearing loincloths for goodness sake!
What's more, she didn't know how to make a fire, which was almost as important as food, water, and shelter, and if she wanted to potentially cook any game she came across, if she was lucky enough to actually catch anything. She decided she had to keep moving, it felt too dangerous out here with no cover and no dragons to truly protect her if she needed it. So she bundled all the apples she could in the front of her skirt and secured it by wrapping the head wrap around her waist again.
By the time the day had surrendered to the night she was still walking and her dragons had not returned. She knew they were unharmed and safe and she felt her bond with Drogon pulling her ever northward, but that was as far as her knowledge of them went. With no sight of them in the sky and no idea if they would come back to her anytime soon, she had no choice but to keep up her trek upstream.
She came upon another small grove of trees, disappointingly none of them bearing any sort of fruit, but she had enough apples to last her a few days if she limited herself to two a day. Despite their inability to grow fruit, the tree branches made a dome of leaves over a small patch of soft grass, providing perfect cover for her to be able to get some mild rest at least. Someone must have been looking after her because she would surely be in trouble if she didn't keep getting lucky like this!
As Daenerys lay on her bed of grass, looking up to see the stars twinkle in the breaks of the foliage, she thought more about how she could have come here and why, if there even was a reason. She felt as though there was, deep inside herself, not in her head where nothing but blackness and the recent events of the last few days waited, no, she felt in her heart. It was right next to her bond to Drogon, like a tether, faintly pulling her in a certain direction.
What bothered her was that she could not remember her life before. She had to have had one, right? People do not just pop out of nowhere fully grown with skills already developed, and especially not dragons, certainly not people with dragons, which she was almost sure was unusual for any world! What life must she have led? Did she have a family that was left behind, a husband? A lover, perhaps? Was she happy there? Who was she? Who was Daenerys Targaryen? Why was she brought here? Why were her memories gone? Why? Why? Why?
Daenerys rolled over fitfully, breathing heavily while trying to push these thoughts back in place beside the darkness that seemed to always be at the edges of her mind. They weren't going to solve her multitude of current problems so they had to go away for now, not forever, but at this moment in time she couldn't afford to think about anything other than the survival of her and her children. Mainly her as her children could take care of themselves but still, it was nice to think she could provide some sort of protection over them as their mother.
Once they managed to survive, how would they go about carving out a life for themselves here? She knew nothing about building a shelter or hunting or anything beyond the basics of survival, how was she supposed to make something completely unfamiliar and alien home?
She caught sight of the stars through the foliage again and started to count how many she saw to try and distract from the swirling thoughts that plagued her mind. As she counted them she began to hear crickets, birds, and other wildlife rustling and making noise. As these sounds and the company of the stars began to lull her to sleep, Daenerys felt the corners of her mouth lift up ever so slightly, maybe she wasn't so alone.