Just Another Day

Shanku awoke some time later and stretched as she usually did while the little dragon flew down to a nearby rock.

"Is it morning? I can't tell time much anymore," Shanku yawned. "So, how's our snow angel?"

The dragon trilled and stayed on his rock.

Shanku had been fairly concerned for him last night and hadn't paid him much mind beyond what was required to assess injuries and problems. Now she decided to have a proper look at him.

The stranger was indeed small. Scarcely five foot tall. His skin was a creamy tan color and tattooed. Two long stripes across his cheeks, two short stripes down his chin, and a chevron at the corner of each jaw. His hair was a glossy black like her wings and part of the back of it was gathered near the top of his head. His ears and tail were short and covered in soft, white fur. His wings were short as well and his claws were long. His wings were broad and white with small, black spots at the end of his feather shafts, much like some of the owls she had seen here. His clothes were simple tanned leather with long fur on the inside, likely for warmth, and then another coat over the top of a short fur. What Shanku really took note of was the necklace he wore. Carved bone and wood about a bit of leather. She was reminded a bit of her old friend Eru.

The owl-winged kurach groaned and began to stir. The dragon slithered up onto his head and watched him intently a few inches from his nose.

The stranger opened his eyes and tried to blink his vision into focus. The first thing he saw clearly was what appeared to be the cold gaze of a curly-horned snake. The stranger yelped and jumped back, which scared the dragon, who also squeaked, and then slithered off quickly behind Shanku.

"It's okay!" Shanku gasped between laughs. "He's just a little dragon with no respect for personal space."

The little fairy dragon trilled at her angrily and stayed hid behind her thigh.