The Dragon Princess Will Stay Alive!

Sonata's closed eyes were moist when she came to. They felt a little sticky, like they'd been sealed shut by tears. It was only the realization she was outdoors and exposed to any stray predator and pest that may come her way and that her sister, even more vulnerable, was either defenselessly asleep or off doing whatever senseless thing her cloud filled brain came up with that she could tear herself away from the comfort of having her back against a fur-covered rock and her feet half-buried in sand.

She sat up, and could feel the uneven weight and pull of her tangled up hair. It wasn't very early, but Sophia was still fast asleep not too far away from her, having partially slipped out of the blankets and her head dangling off the stone at an awkward angle. Sonata rubbed her eyes. At least she had a little time to be alone. To think.

Sonata ran her hands through her hair, trying to roughly even it out, and make her way out of the sheets and a few paces away, where she could breathe in peace without worrying about waking her Sister again.

She was cute when she slept like this. Less viscous...and a lot more manageable, she internally laughed, a small grin forming in her face as she watched the sleeping figure from afar. She fire had died again, sometime while they were asleep, and the air was a little humid. She brushed flecks of sand off her legs.

A small draft blew through the cave, a pleasant sensation against her slightly heated cheeks. The fire had died in their sleep, and was now a small mountain of dimly fading embers. They were beautiful, like embers. And also horrible, like the ashes that clacked and burned in the distance everywhere she looked, that day. Sonata's expression dwindled in concentration as she stared of into the fire, the fidgeting of her fingers upon the knots in her hair a bit more sporadic and nervous.

"Sis...?"

The waking murmurs of a doll like being. They shared a room back home, even though the castle was big enough for them to go about their days never encountering one another, if they wanted to. That was how her father and uncle lived in the scarce days her uncle was there, anyways. Here mother, father, and uncle were the only dragon a.d.u.l.ts she'd truly known, apart from the occasional noble she'd glanced coming and going from a window or talking with her parents during festivities. Their grandfather was swept into the slumber of old age before Sonata hatched, was what she'd heard. When dragons got too old or too injured, sometimes they would curl up and fall into a sleep so deep and so long their their limbs would stiffen and they would stop breathing, as in death. Kept only barely alive by the magical energy of their dragon cores, slowly dwindling away until something just that big finally woke them up, or they continued to wither until their bodies hardened to stone and their scales were only shards of mithril.

It goes without saying, she'd never met him. If he was anything like the stories she'd heard of him, he wouldn't approve of her sister, and that was reason enough for her to hope his slumber was of the permanent kind.

Sophia found her way over to her sister, rubbing her eye and carrying the bunched up mass that was the cloak alongside her with both full arms.

"Good morning." Sonata smirked as Sophia collapsed, wordlessly claiming her l.a.p as her own. Her greeting was met with incoherent, babyish murmuring.

Sophia w.h.i.n.ed, "my head hurts," not even lifting her head to pose it as a statement, just complaining into Sonata's l.a.p.

She was revisited by the memory of a animalistic Sophia clawing at her and banging her head against her own, the night before.

"Has your frisking from last night finally caught up to you, you wild creature?" Sonata teased, playing with her curly hair that bounced in layers when she moved. The six-year-old w.h.i.n.ed incoherently, throwing a lethargic morning tantrum into her legs. At least she was still too spent to go back to playing rough.

"Are you going to apologize, now?"

"No" the blonde surely responded.

"You're not going to apologize for fighting me, but you expect me to let you use my l.a.p as your pillow?"

There was a moment of consideration on Sophia's part. "But mphmhmwh..." she murmured out, the rest of her sentence incomprehensible. She probably didn't know what she meant to say, herself.

"Mhm..." Sonata raised a brow. "Even though you scratched my arm, see?" She motioned so Sophia could see the faint pink markings and few small red spots where her scales had been scratched out or the edge of a nail had managed to get in between them just enough to scratch the skin beneath it. Sophia barely looked up, and then her face was covered again by Sonata's l.a.p and her messy curls.

"But Imhmwhmbwhmhm...." she w.h.i.n.ed. Sonata momentarily considered moving her off her legs, but decided to let it slide. The scratches were nothing more than a few hair-thin scans and a pink streak of color here and there. The harder thing was the annoyance of holding back her own strength while subduing that frisky ball of energy. Sophia was more fragile than even a hatchling Sonata had ever been. If Sonata held her down too hard, she could bruise or break something, while if she hardened her scales too suddenly she could hurt herself more than the mere annoyance of feeling tiny fingers scratch at her was worth...well deserved as it might have been. Even on the off chance she did get hurt, Sonata healed faster than her sister did. Yes, it was too much the trouble it wasn't worth to actually take Sophia's outbursts seriously. It definitely wasn't that she couldn't take the guilt of possibly hurting her.

Sophia looked up, her face was contorted into a sour frown, presumably from the throbbing of her forehead. "I want to sleep on your shoulders."

Sonata tried to decrypt what she could mean, then frowned. "I thought I told you not to transform so recklessly again."

"I'm sorry." Sophia added.

Sonata tilted her head. "Apologizing doesn't mean you can still do it."

Sophia sighed, slouching in defeat. A slight headache rocked her forehead again, and she w.h.i.n.ed, curling her legs up against her body.

It was hard to stay sour with her. "If you apologize properly for attacking me, I'll give you a hug."

Sophia looked up wordlessly, her wide peridot eyes asking if it was a joke. Sonata held out one arm, the other still supporting her.

Sophia gave in to the hug. Her priorities must have put affection before her ego right now, because she quickly added an "I'm sorry" to secure her place in that embrace.

"I forgive you." Sonata rubbed her back. "Do you want me to see your head?"

Sophia indulged in the warmth of her hug for a little more, then looked upwards in reply. Sonata brushed her bangs from her face. Sure enough, there was a purplish bruise on the edge of her hairline. "Sssk" Sonata shushed inwards, brushing her hair back in consolation. "You should have been more careful. Does it hurt?" She placed her hand on the side of Sophia's head. Sophia nodded. Sonata rubbed her back, comforting her until the last remnants of the fire died down completely.

Sonata yawned.

"I was thinking of looking for berries today, but if your head hurts too much you can stay in the cave."

Sophia scrunched her brows. "I wanna go." They'd been going berry picking a lot on the long journey here. It was something fun to do while walking and walking and walking. To Sophia, is was only a game.

"Will you be okay, though? Your head."

Sophia nodded, a little less upset than she'd been before. Her head was feeling a little better.

"When the suns all the way up, okay? That way we can see in the bushes."

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