FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The warmth of the setting sun welcomed the forest below it with open arms like that of a mother, holding dear the life below herself with open wings as she pulled herself beneath the snowy cover of the mountains on the far horizon. The scent of tree bark and wet leaves filled their nostrils as they walked across the land, the rain from earlier that day now sinking deep into the roots of the world to once more be fed into the sky on another day. Similarly, many of the small critters finished up their daily routines, squirrels returning to their alcoves in the trees while others made their homes in the dirt below them. Yet, despite the coaxing of dreary eyes, one dragon remained rambunctious through it all, darting from one plant to another with wide eyes while her father eyed her with a playful gaze.

The hatchling was only seven years old, and so her curiosity knew no bounds. The tip of her black diamond tail swayed back and forth as she walked alongside her dad, her cyan eyes darting around at every movement as she fidgeted with each step. Her wings fluttered at her sides, her head tilting to gaze at a bush as they passed, seemingly containing herself as per her father's orders. He glanced down at her with a soft grin, each movement she made radiated her excitement as she ventured alongside him. A yellow leaf fell onto the bridge of her striped snout a few moments after, the little one giving a quick shake of her head as it fell to her side, causing the dark hair on her mane swaying with her movement. She then blinked, closing her eyes for a few seconds before a high-pitched sneeze caused her to stop in her tracks, recovering herself as she scrunched up her muzzle with a grumble.

The sun crested around the creamy-beige coloring of the drake's scales as he turned his head to chuckle at his daughter, watching as she fixed herself once more. His striped horns stood proudly above him as he leaned his head down to eye her, his own black mane swaying softly in the breeze of the afternoon. "You alright, Calypso? Did you get attacked by a leaf?"

She then piped up at his attention, giving a large nod before wiggling, "It fell on my nose! It was so pretty! It made me sneeze though..." She then rushed up to his side again, prompting him to continue as he let her partially lead the way a few steps before him, monitoring his strides as he knew he had to slow down so she could keep up with her smaller form. She let out a gasp as a bird flew from one branch to another above them, raising her head with her maw wide open, "Wow, it's so high up! I wish I could climb up there!"

He raised his head to the canopy above, the light filtering down with a honey-toned shine as the night drew near, his cyan eyes searching the trees for more wildlife as his paws trod along the grass and dirt. He spoke up a moment after, taking another deep breath of the wet wood around them in the process, "But you're not a bird, are you?"

She tilted her head as she glanced back at him, "I have wings like a bird! I bet I could do it like they do! Besides, you and mom are too big to fit on the branches, that just means I have to!"

He raised an eye-ridge at her, the two walking beside one another once again as he continued, "Are you calling your mother and I 'fat'?"

"N-no! I just want to explore everything!" She then ran forward a few paces, a squirrel nearby crawling up the side of a tree to escape her clutches, her muzzle glancing at her as her tail wagged, "That was a squirrel! I almost caught one the other day!" She then realized she'd walked past him a bit, dipping her head down with another rumble, "Sorry, I didn't mean to wander."

He only blinked at her unfamiliar response, "What do you mean? You can go wherever as long as I'm here. The whole point of going out like this is so you can see the world!"

She then raised her snout to get his attention, pausing for a moment as she explained, "Well, mom said, 'Stay close to Tarkir while I'm out hunting.' I don't wanna make her mad, so..."

He then rolled his eyes, leaning his head down to nudge her snout with his own, his deep rumble calming the young one as he finished, "She just cares about you is all. Besides, this is our time to hang out, just you and me!" He then felt Calypso hum at the thought, glancing up into his eyes as they pushed the top of their heads against one another, "It's okay, I promise. If she gets mad she can deal with me."

She let out a conflicted murmur before nodding against him, staring up into his eyes with a sigh, "Okay, if you're sure!"

He then pulled back his head, motioning with a black-webbed wing for her to lead the way, "I'm sure. Now, let's keep going before it gets too dark. I believe there's an opening ahead we could relax in before heading back."

She then bounded forward a moment after with a wiggling tail, glancing back at him with a smile before leaping over a fallen tree on the side of the path. She lowered her head to watch her balance, using the wood like a tightrope as she moved across it. Once she reached the end she jumped back onto the grass, asking him behind her, "Did you see that?"

"I did. Good job." Her expression brightened greatly at his words, the sudden brush of the wind cresting against her cheek as she turned her head a moment after to the open field of abundant life in the clearing. She ran onward and into the center of the lush zone, finding a soft patch of flowers before leaning down to examine them with her snoot. Tarkir chuckled and followed after her, the warmth of the sun welcoming his broad form as he strode from the protection of the tree's wings. He then noticed how many leaves were scattered about the opening in the forest, a blanket of gold and red spread amongst the grass peeking out from the edges. Only in the center of the clearing was the grass more exposed, and with it, some the flora hiding amongst the ember leaves were revealed.

The plants caught Calypso's attention a moment after, her eyes widening and maw gaping as she jolted into action once more and sped toward them, sending a trail of autumn leaves behind her. Only as she approached the strange white flowers did she slow down, pausing to examine them as she spoke up, "Wowww, what are these? I've never seen these before! They look... fluffy!" The 'petals' of the specimen stood out proudly like the chest of a mother, creating a soft, round ball over the center of the plant. She raised a paw and carefully reached down to prod a talon at it, letting out an "Eeep!" as it bounced back from her touch before eventually stilling soon after.

She blinked curiously, Tarkir, watching her as he stood nearby, adding on, "It's not gonna bite you."

She glanced at him from the corner of her eye, adding on in an equally curious tone as she continued focusing on her research, "But what is it? Is it a flower?" She then leaned down, taking a few soft sniffs to try and catch any sort of scent from the plant. But in reaction, as her muzzle got close to the budding top of it, a few 'petals' broke from the stem of the plant and pressed against her nostrils. She quickly jumped back and snorted, shaking her head with a sniffle, her wings flaring and tail raising before glaring at the plant.

Tarkir took a step forward, "Are you okay? Got some in your nose?"

"It attacked me! Rrrr..." She gave a soft growl in annoyance, fluttering her wings to rid herself of her worry before resting them at her sides once more and approaching the plant. This time she made sure not to inhale the 'petals', instead taking a more careful approach before asking again, "Have you seen these before?"

"Hehe, yeah I've seen them, your mom and I both have." He then sat beside where she stood, leaning his head down to eye up the same plant she was, "It's a dandelion."

She breathed out his words, eyeing up the bulbous orbs on each of the stems, "Dandelions..." She blinked and her tail swayed softly behind her, tilting her head back and forth, "But why do they look so different?"

Tarkir smiled at her enthusiasm, patting with a paw for her to sit beside him. She gave a disgruntled groan before containing herself and flopping on her rump, muzzle still leaned forward to eye up the plant. Once she was settled he reached forward with his forepaw and gripped the base of the dandelion before plucking it from the ground and raising it up before them both. "These are a special kind of flower. You're supposed to make a wish."

Her eyes widened at his words, body wiggling in excitement as she was laser-focused on the flower, "A wish... What can I wish for? How does it work? Should I hold it?"

He tilted his head toward the cluster of dandelions, motioning her to grab her own as she pulled one from the ground. It took a bit more effort for her, standing up for a moment to use her muzzle to bite the stem from the bottom, but she eventually got it loose, licking over her muzzle at the earthly taste before settling back onto her bum with the plant in paw. She held it before herself eagerly, glancing over at his own as she followed his motions. "What now?

He took in a deep breath, closing his eyes as he did so as he waited for her to follow suit. He could hear her inhale shortly after, peeking an eye open to make sure she was doing as he said. But she was peeking open an eye as well, letting out an flustered noise as she was caught before Tarkir let out a laugh, smiling widely, "Hey, no peeking! Haha, do you wanna make a wish?~"

She chuckled back at him, cyan eyes staring at him innocent before closing. "Yeeeeeah, okay."

He shut his eyes once more, speaking aloud in a soft and slow pace, "Think of something you want. It could be something like a crystal, food, magic powers, anything. But make sure what you wish for is something you really want." He then took a few moments to relax, allowing her the time to think of something. He relished in these seconds the brush of a leaf falling onto his back from one of the trees, embracing the radiating rays of the setting sun above them, noticing the bump of Calypso's tail against his as she found it hard to contain herself.

"You got something in mind?" He opened a slitted eye to check on her, watching her nod happily with her eyes closed, shutting his own a moment after as he continued, "What you need to do is really think of what it is you want. Picture it, desire it, and wish for it in your mind. Don't tell me though, it's a secret, ok?"

He could hear her soft breath murmuring to herself in curiosity. "A secret..."

"And then, take in a deep breath, open your eyes, and blow over the seeds. The fluffy white things on the end of it." She piped up as she understood him, both of them opening their eyes as he watched her tenderly.

She stared over the plant for a moment, her chest rising and falling slowly before closing her eyes once more. Then, after a few seconds, she refocused on the flower, took in a cool breath... and blew over the flower. The fronds broke from the stems on the budding center of the plant, flying out into the air like little clouds, the rush of her breath carrying them afloat and into the sky before spreading out amongst the clearing. But she kept exhaling for longer than she should, watching as her blue muzzle grew red, reaching around the flower to try and get off every single seed. "You can stop now. You don't have to blow them all off."

She lowered the plant soon after, blinking and letting out a gasp before breathing deeply, "Ah, sorry! I wanted to make sure it would come true was all." She then set down the stem on the ground, spreading out her wings to give a big stretch before yawning her jowls open with a high-pitched groan. After yawning, she stood up once more, turning to face him with the two blue stripes of her mane, "I wished that I could one day explore the mountains over there!" She tilted her muzzle toward the molten horizon, the magma of the sky cool and tame, cresting around those strong and confident stones surrounding the valley.

Tarkir gave a squint at her, "You weren't supposed to tell me that! It's a secret, remember?"

"Ah, oh shoot. Sorry! You didn't hear that then!" She cringed, lowering her head apologetically before Tarkir gave her a soft rub of his muzzle against her own, raising it up.

He then glanced around, wagging his own tail playfully. His voice then lowered as he made sure the coast was clearing, speaking in a hushed tone, "Do you want to know what my wish is?"

She tilted her head, eyeing up his forepaw, "What do you mean? You didn't even blow it out yet!"

Only then did he realize he was still holding the flower in his paw, chuckling before giving a soft hum as he thought to himself. "Huh, I guess I didn't. Heh..." He tried rummaging through his thoughts to think of anything he could want, imagining a nice warm dinner or perhaps a nice snuggle with Kat and their children. But still, all that wasn't really that important to him. 'Hmmm...'

"Go on, blow yours out! I wanna know your wish when you're done!" He rolled his eyes at her, giving her a playful smirk as she stuck out her tongue in reaction. She then gave him the whole 'Innocent-Look', tilting her head down while her eyes glanced up at him, warming his heart at the sight of her. He then closed his eyes, taking a deep breath before blowing out the candles of the flower, watching them drift out among the sky to spread any potential dream amongst the soil to sprout forth even more dreams to come true in the years to pass. He caught Calypso watching him eagerly, her spaded tail brushing over the leaf-strewn ground beneath them, "What did you wish for?"

He rose his head to the sky, to the mountains beyond that she yearned to see, speaking aloud in content, "I wished for things to never change, to be able to watch you grow up, stretch out your wings and fly. To reach those mountains in the distance and far beyond." He then lowered his snout to admire his daughter, her soft gaze meeting his as he finished, "You, your siblings and your mom give me all the happiness I could wish for, and there's nothing else I could ever want more than that."

She waited patiently for him to finish, eventually questioning him with a tilt of her head, "That's a lot of wishes, I thought you could only make one!"

He gave her another soft nuzzle before standing tall once more, "Well, sometimes the rules are meant to be broken. I think you've had quite your fair share in breaking rules, haven't you, Little Misfit?~" He heard her grumble as they began walking back in the direction they had come from, his striped snout pointing their way home as he finished, "Let's go home before it gets dark, you've gotta get to bed."

She complained about her early bedtime for the next few minutes, but he cherished every moment, knowing how lucky he was to have such a family and a place to call home. He always was grateful, but it was moments like these where he got to focus on spending time with their hatchlings that he really cherished, every second with them being so important that he wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. And yet even with so many wonderful moments already spent together today, the draw of sleep called them home, walking alongside the tired little 'ness as they wandered home to sleep.