"Fly"

As inspired by 'Fly' from Fox Amoore

"Hold on tight!" whispered the dragon to the fox who was trying to strap himself to the back of the hunched dragon, whose wings were spread wide open.

The sun hung low in the sky, the temperature enjoyable, as the heat of the day had not arrived yet. The first rays of the sun flaring in their eyes, they had a beautiful view of the huge lake that lay beneath the cliff they stood on. The water-surface rippled only slightly, the reflection of the rising sun barely distorted, the landscape surrounding the lake, and the trees that bathed in the warm sunlight.

In the distance you could see the mountains, whose tips rose up high into the sky, but not high enough to have the permanent layer of white coated on them. The distance, and the slightly humid air blueshifted the distant forests that proudly grew on top of them.

The dragon patiently waited, his dark scales basked in the pleasantly warm rays of the morning sun. "Ok, I'm ready,"replied the fox, leaning forward and placing his muzzle on the shoulder of the dragon.

The dragon did not wait a second longer after he heard that. He flapped his wings, as the dust he blew up made the sunrays visible. As he jumped in the air and took off, his wings took on a rythmical beating, steadily raising them above the lake, the first majestically huge looking mountains quickly grew smaller.

The dragon had his arms wrapped around the legs of the fox, to make sure he wouldn't fall. As he picked a thermal, his wing-beating slowed down. With a smile on his muzzle he looked sidewards, right into the fox's deep blue eyes, "Beautiful, isn't it?" He nuzzled the muzzle that lay on his shoulder. "Yeah it is beautiful!" was the fox's reply, as he smiled back with a youthful grin filled with enthusiasm.

"Ok! Hold on tight Fox!" and the dragon suddenly dove down out of the thermal, the wind rushing past their ears, the gusts caused the fox's ears and tail to flutter. The long tail of the dragon slithered through the air, ruddering them in the right angle down to the ground, their speed exponantially increasing.

The tiny mountains quickly grew back into their former majestic state as they dived down at the lake. "WOOOOOHOOOOOO!" Screamed Fox from the top of his lungs, loving every second they rushed to the water. As his fur and skin grew cold, the heat vented out of it by the wind, deep inside his stomach there was a pit of warm excitement that not only kept him warm but also grew with each passing second.

The fox clinged tightly to the dragon, squeezing him from behind. The surface of the water closed in on them, but the dragon didn't move at all, he just kept on going. Fox's enthusiasm died slightly, as he held his breath, unsure on whether to shout in excitement, or be scared of the water they where flying towards with high speed.

Only when the dragon finally opened his wings, as his tail dragged through the water, and they finally went horizontal instead of vertical did the fox breath out with a long sigh, his scaredness fading away, replaced by the excitement once again.

As they didn't slow down, they flew with high speed towards the trees that stood left and right from the great lake. Pulling his tail from the cold water below him, the dragon used it to rudder them over those trees, only his tail touching the upper branch, knocking loose some leaves and scaring a couple of birds. "Sorry!" shouted the fox, a grin on his muzzle as he saw the birds each scattering into a different direction.

Now past the treeline that surrounded the lake, they were on the plane itself, the grass stretching out for miles in that direction. On their right side was the cliff of which they started this flight, and on the far left, where the majestic mountainranges.

They flew fairly low over the ground, the grass but an arms reach away from the fox and the dragon. Fox pulled his muzzle from the shoulder of his mount, and looked back over his shoulder, in awe by the trail of bent grass they left behind.

The dragon felt how the fox was looking backwards, and he decided to play a little joke with him. He chuckled softly, as he tightened his hold on the fox, who trusted him enough to not change the direction he was looking in.

Having tightened his grip, the dragon was ready for what he was about to do. He flapped his large wings to gain a little bit of speed, and suddenly tilted to the left, the combined weight of the two pulling him into a barrel roll.

The fox yelped, tightening his grip as well as the world suddenly turned upside down. His tail twitched, and his ears stood upright, and he gave the dragon a friendly slap on the back, "You startled me! You oversized flying reptile!" He laughed, knowing that the dragon would never let him fall.

"There!" said the fox, pointing his paw past the dragon's muzzle so he saw what he was pointing at, "There! Under that tree! We could have our picnic over there." Fox pointed at a majestic oak, whose branches and leaves provided a nice shadow from the sun.

With two flaps of his wings, the dragon lowered his speed, circling once around the tree before touching down at the spot that Fox had pointed at.

They both sat down in the colder grass, resting their backs against the beautiful oak. Fox made sure he was snuggled up closely to the dragon, as a warm and content smile filled both their muzzles.

They both lay there, underneath the oak, looking at the beautiful landscape. They had a beautiful view from underneath the tree. They could see the lake, and the small water that fed it. The mountains where quite beautiful to see as well, as they majestically rose into the sky, their tips permanently painted white.

Fox felt all warm and fluffy inside, as he was awed by the beauty of the scene. Slowly, the pleasant warmth, the rustling of the wind through the leaves, and the pleasant rythm of the dragon's heartbeat caused the eyes of the fox to become heavy. His eyelids slowly drooped down, until his eyes were closed.

The dragon looked at the fox who lay in his arm, feeling warm inside as well, finding it very beautiful to see the fox sleep so peacefully in his arms, the chest heaving up and down in a slow, strong and steady rythm.

Hours passed, as the dragon finally fell asleep as well, the two friends curled up to eachother underneath the oak, as the sun rose high into the sky, and came down again. The sky was a purplish blue, when the fox woke up first.

Fox yawned, having not slept so comfortable in ages. He looked to his side, and discovered that his draconic friend was still deeply asleep. Deciding not to wake him, he lay his head back on the chest of the dragon again, and began to look up at the beautiful stars.

It was a clear night, the starscape very visible. You could even see the shrouds of the Milky Way, the galaxy from which they came.