Uncert
On soundless wings he arrived, and with little more than the soft tap of
oversized claws on stone he traveled once his feet were again on solid
ground. If it hadn't been for the splash of red he wore willingly he would be
little more than a crimson-eyed shadow in the fading glow of twilight. As
quietly as he could, Joker picked his way through the mouth of a cave and
down into the depths, slipping between tight passages where he had to
contort to fit, brushing past and over stones like teeth as he allowed the cave
to devour him. You see, he knew what lay beyond this passage. Months ago,
curiosity had gotten the best of him, and in spite of knowing he was, in fact,
not the strongest thing in the realm, he had pressed on then as well, driven by
sheer curiosity.
Just when the passage seemed too tight for even Joker to slip through he
emerged into a small space, his current hideout. It wasn't much, but it was
home. A den of wild origins where he was safe from anything larger than
he himself was. Bedding up off the cold stone made of furs, bits and scraps of
hide, feathers he himself had molted along with bird feathers he had collected.
Maybe his distant relatives were magpies? He wouldn't deny it. Even the
thought made a smile creep over his lips as he dropped his new treasures into
a space made just for them. Interesting rocks, a few bones, things he could
use later or simply decorate this barren space with.
It wasn't like he didn't leave the entrance to his home unmarked. The tell-tale
signs of inhabitation from a dragon were obvious for anything that knew what
to look for. Ragged claw marks in the stone from the talons he sported proved
they weren't simply for show. They were sharp, deadly if they had to be, and
the battle scars the stone outside the entrance of the cave bore proved that
very fact.
This wasn't meant to be a prolonged stay, and so just as quickly as he had
come he once more slipped back out through the narrow passage from the
safety of his home and out into the ever-cooling night air once more. It wasn't
like it was cold, not yet, in fact, it seemed to be warming up. This too is
something he was glad for since it meant hunting would be much simpler than
it was currently. That meant he would be able to do more than just fish and
subsist off of already slim pickings. Hunting was shockingly hard in winter,
even if he could see beasts with much more startling clarity against the
backdrop of pristine snow.
Now it had all melted and patches of grass had started to spring up. Even the
muck that had given him so much trouble before had mostly dried.
This night found him picking his way through the woods, avoiding what little
mud remained as he made his way to a fairly small pond. He wouldn't even
call it a lake, but it was running water, and that was good enough for the
vagabond. As far as he was from civilization, he had let his guard down for the
most part since most animals would avoid an adult dragon, and the ones that
wouldn't were often too large to be stealthy.
Another dragon being this far out this late at night had not once crossed his
mind. No. The only thing on his mind this night was how plump the fish in such
a small pond could be, and he was not disappointed. Thankfully, the river
flowed through from the mountain down quite a ways, then finally through the
plains, and to this forest where a fair number of smaller rivers fed into it, and it
in turn passed through this pond, giving it time to collect life on its way to the
sea.
All in all, this was quite a decent place to start out this new life on his own. At
least, that was how it seemed thus far.
