Luna

"Kyuu!"

Qadira's thought was immediately cut off when she heard a familiar noise. She opened her eyes and scanned her surroundings trying to assess where the sound came from. Since the area was pitch black, she couldn't really see anything properly.

She was about to get up to prepare herself in case she had to run away, but a familiar figure flew and landed in front of her before she could even get up.

It was the young dragon.

Looking at its body and its eyes that illuminated in the darkness, although she can't see perfectly, she's sure that it grew bigger than the last time she saw it.

It was the size of an infant when it first hatched but now it's almost the size of an adult goat. How much it must have eaten for it to grow rapidly when it hasn't even been a day since it hatched.

Qadira looked at it and assumed it must have followed her. At this point, she's almost starting to get used to its presence and was less nervous and threatened.

"Why are you here?" she asked. It moved closer to her and dropped a dead rabbit. Qadira looked at the dead rabbit and then to the young dragon. She felt a deja-vu, perhaps with what happened earlier with the dead snake.

"Do you want me to eat it?" she asked.

"Kyuu!" the young dragon enthusiastically replied and wagged its tail in anticipation. Although she doesn't want to disappoint the young dragon, she wasn't sure if she could eat just like that.

"Can you cook it even just a bit?" she asked. Even though she ate a rabbit when she was with the guards, at least it was cooked and its guts and skin were removed perfectly. If the young dragon could cook it with its fire, maybe it would be more tolerable and would less likely give her a stomach ache than eating it raw.

"Kyuu?" it asked. It was obvious the dragon didn't understand her.

"Cook it," she said. She pointed at the rabbit and created motion and gestures to ask it to blow fire and cook it. But, it just looked at her and was looking very confused with her actions.

Determined, Qadira moves closer to the rabbit and asks the young dragon to watch her. She breathed heavily as if showing the dragon that she was accumulating an invisible energy, and then she opened her mouth and aimed at the rabbit as if she was firing at it with something. She then grabbed the rabbit and created a motion as if something hot got her.

After her silly demonstration, she put the rabbit down and faced the young dragon.

"You got it? Breath, fire, and cook it" she commanded.

"Kyuu!" the young dragon uttered excitedly and followed Qadira's demonstration. Slowly, a ball of fire started to accumulate in its mouth. After a few seconds, the young dragon aimed the fire at the rabbit and it was enveloped in fire for a few minutes before the fire died down.

Both the young dragon and Qadira were anticipating the result, but what they saw was not a cooked rabbit but a charcoaled rabbit. Qadira and the young dragon both stared at it and then to each other.

Qadira grabbed a trunk of a tree she gathered earlier and poked at the charcoaled rabbit hoping it was just burnt outside and the inside might still be eaten. However, the charcoaled rabbit broke into pieces and revealed that it had completely turned into a charcoal.

"I can't eat it," Qadira stated. She looked at the young dragon and it walked away into the corner of the room and curled up itself, sulking.

"Hey, it's okay. We can try again next time" Qadira stated, trying to comfort the young dragon. She doesn't know why she did that but she felt like she just had to at that moment.

Qadira went to her packed cloth and got one fruit before she went into the young dragon whose back was facing her. She rubbed its back and was trying to soothe it.

"I have a purple apple, we can share and eat it instead," she said. The dragon slowly turned around and faced her. It looked at the purple apple and then to her.

Qadira smiled and broke the purple apple into half. "Here, you can have this," she said and offered half of the fruit. It smelled the fruit and eventually ate it in her hand.

There was saliva dripping in Qadira's hand after the young dragon ate the fruit and licked her hand a couple of times. It was gross to look at but she just flicked her hand to get it off and rubbed the rest on her cloth to completely dry her hands.

After that, Qadira went to the pile of leaves she gathered earlier, sat there, and ate half of the fruit which she was holding in her other hand.

While she was eating, the young dragon got up and went to her. It moved close to her and comfortably curled and rested beside her. Qadira, looking at it, couldn't help but pet it. The young dragon didn't react much and just rubbed its head to Qadira's hand while still closing its eyes.

After she was done eating the fruit and rested for a few minutes. She looked at the young dragon who was peacefully sleeping and decided to just sleep beside it. Afterall, its body heat could give her a little bit of warmth for the rest of night.

______

Morning came and she woke up without the young dragon beside her. She scanned her surroundings but there was no sign of the dragon at all. It must have gone somewhere. She just hoped it wouldn't bring another dead animal to her again.

She got up and stretched herself. She felt sore and her back was hurting lying on the hard stone overnight.

After that, she went to the packed cloth to get something to eat and saw that there were only two purple apples left.

"Hopefully, I'll find food along the way" she said and ate the last of the fruit.

After she was done, she rested for a few minutes and also waited if ever the young dragon would return to the cave, but it didn't.

When she was sure the young dragon wouldn't come back anymore. She got up and decided to move along. It was a pity since she might have already formed a small attachment to the young dragon. But then again, she guesses it was probably for the best.

Qadira continued her journey and was also able to find food along the way. Surprisingly, unlike the previous path she walked though, there were a considerable amount of fruit bearing trees and small animals along the way this time.

Most of the fruit she saw, just like the purple apple, were all unfamiliar to her. With that, she decided to just get the fruit from the trees that the animals were eating. It was the only way for her to be sure whether the food was safe to eat or not.

When Qadira felt tired, she took shelter from one of the trees she got her food from. The forest was quiet and peaceful. Looking at it, it looks enchanted and magical. But, it also looks like a kind of forest you wouldn't like going to for the fear of getting lost. Probably because of all the tall trees and that there were no clear paths since ground was covered with moss and grass.

"Mama!"

Huh? Qadira felt confused when she heard someone calling her. It was a gentle and soft voice. It was subtle and as if it came from her head.

She looked around just to be sure but there was nothing around. She must have just imagined it.

"Mama!"

Qadira immediately got up when she heard the sound again. She wasn't exactly the type of person who is afraid of ghosts, but not like she also wants to see one either.

"Mama!"

The voice muttered again. This time, Qadira was sure that the voice really came from her head, and she couldn't help but tense up and felt goosebumps.

"I haven't gotten pregnant and had a child yet. I don't even have a boyfriend" she replied. She wasn't sure if it was the right response, but for the record, she wasn't really lying.

"Mama! Idiot!"

What? The audacity. Qadira thought to herself. She tried to relax herself and was trying to think of what to respond when she saw a bird flying towards her. It was bigger than a normal bird, and almost looked like a Philippines Eagle.

The bird, however, reminded her of the young dragon, especially the blue stripe on its chest. To her surprise, before the bird went closer to her, it transformed into the young dragon and landed in front of her.

"Mama!"

The voice said once again. She looked at the young dragon as if trying to ask if it came from it. "Yes", it replied.

Qadira carefully examined the young dragon and she wasn't sure if she could still even call it a young dragon anymore since it grew again. Looking at it, they're almost on the same height now.

"You grew again," Qadira said.

"Hunt. Eat. Grow" it replied.

"I see." she said. She looked at the young dragon and observed it. So, it grew just by eating, huh. How convenient, she thought.

"But, why are you calling me "mama"? I'm not your mother" she asked.

"You. Mama" it replied.

Qadira couldn't help but frown and felt confused. Is it because she was the first person it saw when it hatched? Like a hatchling recognizing the first person they see as their mother? What about its mother? Was it an abandoned egg when she saw it in the cave?

Qadira looked at the young dragon and saw that its eyes were fixated on her as well. Mother, huh. The thought gave Qadira shivers. Not because she hates being a mother, it was just because she knew she doesn't have an aptitude for it, and probably never will.

"I didn't give birth to you" she stated. She doesn't really know why she said that, it was probably just because she has lost words of what to say.

"Mama. Me. Blood. Same" it said.

Qadira was confused about what the young dragon meant. Did it mean that they had the same blood? But how though? Qadira stared at the young dragon trying to process the information she was given.

"Mama. Give. Blood. Me. Us. Same." it added.

Qadira rubbed the temple of her nose as her head started to hurt trying to understand the young dragon's words. Did it mean that she gave it blood and now they have the same blood? But when did she ever give it –

Qadira wasn't able to finish her thought when she remembered the night the young dragon's egg hatched. She remembered she tried to touch its egg and something pricked her finger and it bled. She remembered that some of the blood fell on the egg just seconds before it started to crack.

Was it because of that? She thought. She looked at the young dragon and couldn't help but facepalm because of her stupidity. How many times will she ever involve herself in unnecessary trouble before she finally learns her lesson?

"Alright. Then, what should I call you?" she asked. She thought it would be more convenient to call it by its name rather than keep calling it the young dragon.

"Mama. Give" it said.

"Do you mean you want me to give you a name?" she asked.

"Yes. Give." it replied

Qadira stared at the young dragon and thought of names to call it. She didn't realize she would feel so much pressure naming a dragon.

"How about Blackie?" she suggested. The young dragon stared at her. "No", it replied. She could almost feel its annoyance and disgust in the name she suggested with how firm its voice sounded.

"Draco? Like you know Dragon? Draco?" she asked.

"No," it replied.

"Hmmm… What about Dracaen?" she suggested.

"No," it said.

"Desmoduin?"

"No"

"Boris?" she asked.

The young dragon didn't respond and just stared at her with a blank expression.

"Boris?" she asked again.

"Mama. Woman. Me" it said.

Qadira was stunned and looked at the dragon. She didn't know it was a woman. Now that she thinks about it, she also never bothered to ask her gender. Qadira couldn't help but wanted to bump her head somewhere hoping it would cure her stupidity somehow.

"I see. I apologize. Let me think again" she said.

"Alex?" she suggested.

"No"

"Anna?"

"No"

"Elsa?"

"No"

"Margot? Clover? Sam? Bella? Rapunzel? Mariposa? Merida? Mulan? Barbie?" Qadira continued to suggest all the names she could think of, but none of them were approved by the dragon.

The young dragon just stared at her. Just as how tired she was coming up with names, so is the young dragon. She didn't know how challenging it was to come up with just one appropriate name.

Qadira stopped for a moment and thought very hard on what would be the appropriate name to call the young dragon. After a few minutes, she remembered how it would just literally utter one word the night it was hatched, so she decided to suggest it.

"What about Kyuu? You used to just say it all the time" she asked.

The young dragon looked at her and instead of answering, she threw a fireball at her. Thanks to Qadira's reflexes she was able to evade it on time or it might have burned her face.

Annoyed, she stared at the young dragon who is now looking away.

"Oi, you can't just throw a fire at me when you don't like something. Are you trying to kill me?" she stated.

"No. Me. Sorry" the young dragon replied and avoided looking into her eyes.

Qadira rubbed her temple and tried to calm herself. Is this what it feels like to have a child? Qadira thought to herself.

"Hey, look at me," she commanded.

The young dragon didn't budge, so Qadira moved closer to the young dragon and held her face so she could look at her. By then, they were both staring at each other.

Qadira looked at the young dragon's eyes and just like the first time she saw it illuminated in the darkness, it reminded her once again of the night sky.

"Luna," she whispered.

She leaned closer until her forehead was touching the young dragon's head.

"Luna, Goddess of the Moon. Since you were born on the night of the full moon and a creature of the sky. Your name shall be Luna" she said.

Qadira continued leaning her forehead to the young dragon's head while she said it to her. The young dragon stared at her and then closed her eyes letting her know that she had accepted the name given to her. Upon seeing it, Qadira closed her eyes as well.

As both Qadira and Luna were enveloped by each other's presence and warmth. A connection started to form between them.

A bright light started to illuminate from their hearts and it spread to the areas around them. The light almost blinded their surroundings. The birds flew away and the animals near the area ran away.

Both of them remained in that position for a long time. Although Qadira wasn't sure what was happening, she could feel what Luna was feeling and heard what Luna was thinking. It was as if they had become one.

Vivid images and videos were playing like a film in their heads. Some of it were from Qadira's past and some were from Luna's. It was playing for both of them to see and lay themselves bare.

When Qadira and Luna opened their eyes. They knew immediately that an unbreakable bond just formed between them.

Qadira looked at her palm when she felt a tingling sensation from it and saw that a pattern had been engraved on her palm. She looked at Luna and saw that a similar pattern was also engraved on her chest. By then, she immediately understood that it was proof of their connection.

"Thank you for giving me a name, Qadira," Luna said.

Qadira nodded and smiled at Luna. This time, Luna was able to speak in full sentences which was a good thing for Qadira so she can understand her more clearly.

"By the way, where were you?" Qadira asked.

"I was hunting and saw a human civilization not far from here." Luna replied.

"Human civilization? What were you doing there?" she asked.

"I was curious. So, I transformed into a different animal and observed the place and the humans that lived there." Luna explained.

"Can you guide me there? I have to go somewhere" Qadira stated.

" Did you mean to Primelae Street, 60XX, Amanthia Kingdom to see Exanesceria?" Luna asked.

"Yes. How did you know about that?" Qadira said.

"I saw it in your memory earlier," Luna replied.

"So, can you guide me there?" Qadira asked.

"Yes. You can also ride in my back so we can reach there sooner" Luna offered.

Qadira hesitated for a moment since she has never ridden a dragon before nor any animal for that matter. But then again, Luna's suggestion makes more sense. Rather than just walking, they could just fly to get there.

"Alright, but you have to be careful not to be seen by people. It might be dangerous." she requested.

"It's alright. I can transform and hide myself well" Luna replied.

Convinced, Qadira went to ride on Luna's back and held its horns so she wouldn't fall off. Luna's scales were thick and rough. It was a good thing her dress had multiple layers and was thick, or else she might have hurt and scraped her skin off with it.

After a few moments and preparation, they both departed to the place that Luna told Qadira earlier.

TO BE CONTINUED...