"... stretch it out, flex it, then start moving it up and down," Four-Tails extended his wings high above his head, a span of almost six meter long obsidian wings with wicked sharp curved tips. She could vaguely see miniscule veins running along the side of his torso, though she doubt she could see it through a normal human's eye. Torso must be a fragile spot for them, since they're scarcely covered with scales.
The older Nine-Tailed dragon gave a few experimental flaps of his wings as he hovered above the ground, and despite it being gentle, it still sent a few strong breezes enough to sway the nearby trees' branches.
She stretches out her own small ones, trying to move it up and down rhythmically. For a precious minute, she was sure she got it. She float above ground, weightless and free, then she came stumbling back down when she lost control—or became exhausted. Which feels ridiculous. It was only a few seconds, and she already feel so exhausted, physically. Cons of still being a hatchling.
Yet she cannot deny the feeling of accomplishment. Finally, she was getting somewhere. Even if there were still a lot to explore and discover in the paradise of dragons, she fears she'll go mad for just sitting around in their dark cave without doing anything besides getting used to her own body. She wanted to fly. She always love flying.
Four-Tails made a wow'ed sound "I don't think I managed to fly until I was passed two years or so, and you managed it in eight months at your first try." She could detect a hint of envy and genuine awe at his tone.
She blink at him "I still can't fly though. It was just for a second, and I'm already so tired," she was not whining. Maybe a little. Must be the baby hormones.
Four-Tails snorted, smoke coming out of his nose briefly as he smiled encouragingly "I'm sure you'll get it soon."
(✿^‿^)
Hovering and flying are completely two different things. Hovering is easy, flying, however, is not.
She couldn't count how many times she face-planted, stumbled, and banged her head or wing in some other way as she failed to navigate her wings properly against the cold, merciless winds in the steep cliff, where she'll plummet down to the sea below if she loses control of her wings. She ignored Four-Tails weak protests at her choice of new terrain and her adamant need to master flying as soon as possible. Mother doesn't seem oppose to it, no matter how Four-Tails expressed his worry. But then again, while Mother is a smart hunter and dragon, she wasn't quite adept at emotional intelligence the same as Four-Tails is.
Which would made Mother an irresponsible mother in a human's standard, but they're not exactly human now. Besides, that's exactly what she needs. She doesn't need or like anyone interfering with whatever she was doing.
The reason she insisted on training on the steep cliffs instead of the lower slopes is because of the lack of challenge. She needed to toughen up, in other words. This particular dragon nest of theirs might be peaceful, but she learned that the other nests of dragons' are not so civil. Some dragons cannibalize dragons themselves. There are also unknown monsters that can prove to be dangerous. Not to mention the humans who make a living to hunt them, though she actually haven't seen one in this world yet and only heard through whispers. Humans, while weak and fragile and easily killed like ants, were strong in numbers and technology.
Overall, it's just better to be prepared.
She shook off the snow accumulated on her head, lashing her tails side to side to rid them of it too. She stretches her wings, readying for another go as Four-Tails fidget worriedly behind her. How a dragon can fidget when they don't have anything remotely close to fingers, she doesn't know.
With one, two, and three thrusts of her wings, she propelled upwards in a clean leap, harsh winds whistling sharply in her ears.
She ascended a few feet away from the ground, not too far away that she'll have serious injuries when she falls down, but also not too close that she can't perform a few challenging acrobatics without a problem.
It'll take some practice and exercise, this she knows. But she's confident she'll be able to master it in due time (even if she was impatient).
(*´ω｀*)
"Moon child," she heard Mother called her from below, and she—Moon, apparently is her name—leaped down smoothly from the tall tree she was lounging on. She flick her tails lazily, striding towards the group of Nine-Tailed dragons.
A year has passed peacefully in their nest. A few of the little hatchlings had developed enough that she can actually hold a decent conversation with them, so there's that. But most of all, she's actually experienced in flying now. She taken to scouring the entirety of their nest everyday since Four-Tails taught her, and though she can't finish it due to exhaustion and the nest's largeness, she's been improving leaps and bounds that their Nine-Tailed leader—Alpha, they called him—actually took notice of her and approved of her tenacity.
Also, she learned how to breathe the black fire and make her skeletal marks glow! That made her entire week. She hadn't quite managed the chameleon stuff yet, but she's getting there.
She made some poor trees die by breathing fire on them in practice, and she also destroyed quite a dozen of them when she also tried improving her control on her tails individually by whipping, slicing, slashing, stabbing them with it or just simply uprooting them through strength—kinda like lifting weights. She climbed on jagged, dangerous stone formations via parkour without the use of her tails or wings—just her four legs to further develop her endurance and stamina, and you'll never know if she has to run fast as hell if something tries to eat her and her wings are compromised. It's better to be prepared.
The first time she breathe fire, it was pure instinct. On a completely random day, she gathered some kind of strange energy on her body, directed it unknowingly into her mouth, and just unconsciously exhales like normal. Instead of her usual breath, dark flames came out of her mouth.
Mother is pleased. She explained it to her that every dragon has some kind of capability to control this 'energy' in their body—and outside of it—and use it to either make an attack or heal themselves. Apparently, a selected few Elder dragons know how to heal.
She further expand on it by saying everything and everyone has this energy—in nature, in humans, in monsters, in other obscure species. This energy has dozens of uses, it's only problem is that if you abuse it out of your body completely, not even leaving some small amount, you could potentially die—wait, no, you're definitely going to die.