The First meeting Tyler and Ivy
Tyler flew out to one of his favorite spots, a small swamp nestled between the deep green of a dense forest. He'd found the place with pure luck one day. He would have never seen it if the sun light hadn't been just right as to bounce noticeably off of the water below. By now, Tyler had been there many times and knew the way by heart.
The young, red-striped black dragon landed carefully through the thick canopy and walked a few yards toward his favorite spot in the swamp, an incredibly large Cyprus tree. It was in the swamp, but pretty close to the edge. Tyler flew up to a branch that he knew would support him and fell swiftly asleep in his tree, alone and peaceful.
Little did the young dragon know, he wasn't actually alone. Another dragon, dragoness rather, was watching him. She had seen him come and go many times, but had never gained the confidence to talk to him. It wasn't that she was antisocial; she had just grown up without parents and had, as a result, never really been able to interact very well. She lived in a self-made lair on a hill near the swamp and this "land" was indeed hers. She didn't have a problem with the red and black dragon being there though. In fact, she really hoped he'd keep coming back. She thought he was rather handsome and even though she knew it was weird, she couldn't help watching him from her hiding spot. 'He's even cuter when he's asleep' she thought to herself as she watched him snooze.
The red and black dragon was indeed fast asleep, and that relieved the mostly dark gray female. 'If I came out of this green brush I would be very obvious' she thought as she looked back over her slender, yet muscular body. Her scales were mostly dark gray with bright green vine-like markings. She wasn't very vain and never really put any thought into how she looked but she was definitely striking and indeed a beautiful dragoness.
Tyler slept peacefully in his sleep, even purring at some pleasing dream, which his sister Luna always teased him about. "Dreaming about a mate?" she would always say. His answer would, of course, always be "No," even though it wasn't always true. He was dreaming of food at the moment though.
All of a sudden, a loud SNAP was heard echoing through the swamp. The branch Tyler had been sleeping on had been weakened in a recent storm and now gave way under the dragon's weight. Tyler let out a loud growl as he found himself careening toward the muddy water below, and colliding with it with a large splash. As he finally found the surface, and took a breath, the branch above cracked again. Before Tyler could get out of the way, however, the large branch had fallen, trapping his wing and making it impossible for him to get to the surface. The quicksand -like swamp mud trapped him at the bottom. It wasn't deep but it was just deep enough to not allow the young male access to air.
From behind a bush, the strikingly colored dragoness couldn't stifle a giggle. However, when she saw the branch fall, and the red dragon disappear below the muddy water, a concerned expression quickly took up residence on her muzzle. When the red dragon that had been her amusement and even her crush didn't come up, she rushed from her hiding place and ran as fast as she could toward the struggling dragon. She dove into the water and swam fluidly and powerfully over to the red and black dragon.
However, as she got to him, she realized he had stopped thrashing, not a good sign. The young female grabbed the branch with her jaws and pulled it with all her strength, making it actually fly up onto the bank. She grabbed the male's forepaw in her own and started pulling him toward the bank. Getting him out of the mud was the hardest part, and once she had freed him from the entrapping muck, she pulled his motionless body back up onto the shore, where she rolled him onto his back. She stood over him and put her forepaws on his chest and quickly pushed down. Nothing happened.
She continued to force the water out, but again and again, nothing happened, no water came out, and the red and black dragon beneath her was still not breathing. She frantically pushed on his chest again and again, but on one push she slipped on his muddy scales and fell on top of him. Water spewed from his muzzle, and because of her position, it ended up all over the dragoness's face.
Tyler coughed, forcing more of the water out, and finally opened his eyes. The first thing he noticed was the beautiful dragon lying on top of him. "Am I dead?" he asked, the question was serious. He knew he had been far from any help when he had fell in and he remembered not being able to breath and blacking out. In his mind he HAD to be dead. He thought of how his family would feel and started to cry himself.
"No, you aren't dead. You need to rest though," The female said.
"Wait...where did you...."
"I'll explain later," she replied.
Tyler nodded and said, "I do have one question...Why are you still on top of me like that? It's kinda...uncomfortable..."
The gray and green dragoness giggled and got up. As she did, Tyler finally got to see his rescuer's full body. The red dragon's eyes scanned the dark scales and beautifully contrasting green markings. She was beautiful. He had to roll onto his belly to avoid her knowing just HOW beautiful she was, hoping she hadn't noticed already. He fell asleep again, feeling exhausted from almost dying.
When he woke up there was warmth on his side. He looked up to see a fire, and beyond that, the female dragon. "I...I just noticed...I never told you my name. I'm Tyler."
"I'm Ivy," she responded. "Nice to meet you Tyler."
"So, How'd you find me?"
"Er it's kinda embarrassing. Promise you won't freak out."
"I have had enough freaking out for one day. I promise," Tyler said smiling and wondering what could be so embarrassing.
"I have been here the whole time. I have been watching you for a while," Ivy admitted.
"That is sorta weird..."
"I know," The female said, blushing. "I just...I was too nervous to talk to you so I figured I would find something I could talk with you about if I watched you.
"It's okay," Tyler replied. "I don't mind. I owe you. Friends?"
"Really?" Ivy said, excited that he wanted to be friends. She secretly wanted more but this was a huge step in a good direction.
"Sure! You SAVED MY LIFE!"
"Okay!" she said "My first friend" she muttered.
"Hmm? What was that?" Tyler hadn't heard what she had said.
"I...I don't have parents...so I haven't really interacted with many other dragons. You're really my first friend..."
"Wow. That is really...sad, but I am glad I could help. So where do you live?"
"I built a little lair on a hill near here. It's not exactly the best place but it's something."
"Ivy, I know a dragon, A young adult named Gale... he lives not too far from me. He might take you in as he doesn't have a mate and thus no kids."
"Really? What if he doesn't like me?"
"He's a male...have you looked at yourself lately?"
"What do you mean?" Ivy said, utterly confused.
Tyler shook his head in mock disappointment. "You're freaking BEAUTIFUL. No one could turn you down!" Tyler blushed immediately after his comment, realizing what he had just said. "I mean he's too old for you of course but I know he will take you in. Plus it's a long flight way out here..."
"Okay," ivy replied, not sure how to respond.
"Follow me!" Tyler said excitedly.
Ivy was about to put the fire out but it just disappeared. "what tha?"
"Fire powers," Tyler said simply, catching his forepaw on fire and making it vanish again.
"Now THAT is cool, but no wonder you can't swim," she joked. "Fire and water don't mix well."
"Hahaha funny," Tyler said, pretending to be offended but obviously not. Tyler took off through the trees and Ivy followed. It took some time to reach Gale's lair but the flight was at least relaxing. Tyler and Ivy talked and learned about each other and some other dragons they knew.
They landed on a ledge just sticking out in front of a massive waterfall. Tyler began to walk through and Ivy followed closely, her nose brushing up against his tail as if not wanting to be separated by the gravity laden water. As soon as she was through Tyler stopped, making Ivy bump into is tail. They both laughed and Tyler said; "If I didn't know any better you just like touching me."
Ivy giggled and said "you're funny," but in reality she kinda did. It was weird to her but she had never really known any other dragon that she felt this way about. She didn't want to ruin her friendship by freaking him out though. They were already getting along like they had known each other for years.
Tyler called Gale out and he quickly came to the front of the cave. "Hey Tyler!"
Tyler smiled and replied "Hey Gale. How have you been? I haven't seen you these last couple days."
"Oh I have just been relaxing in here." It was then that gale noticed the strikingly colored dragoness behind Tyler. "Tyler? Who's that? Did you get a ma..." he didn't get to finish before Tyler spoke up.
"Just a new friend. I met her today!" Tyler said excited, but obviously blushing from what gale had said, or ALMOST said anyway. He thought she was beautiful, and funny, and given her absence from living with society, VERY smart, even for most dragons. She also saved his life, which he was extremely grateful for. 'But she couldn't have possibly developed feelings for me that quickly,' he thought to himself.
Gale smiled, as if he knew something they didn't but the smile didn't pass to the young dragons in that manner. It was that warm welcoming smile that you get from a greeter at a party. "Well come in," he said, turning and walking farther into the lair. The two dragons walked into a large cozy room designed to have multiple dragons lying around chatting or relaxing or both. On either side was a hallway. One led to the exit and one led to smaller rooms farther in.
Once they had gotten there Tyler nudged gale's leg with his head. "Hey Gale, can I talk to you alone for a sec?"
"Sure, what's up." He said Telling Ivy to wait just a minute.
"The female...her name is Ivy. She doesn't have parents and the place she has been staying really isn't suitable for such a beautiful dragoness..." Gale raised and eyeridge at the young dragon, and Tyler blushed, realizing what he had just said. However Gale let Tyler continue. "I was wondering...since you don't have any offspring...would you be willing to take Ivy?"
Gale was a bit shocked by the story and didn't believe it at first. But then he realized that Tyler wouldn't lie about something like this, and he seemed to really care about Ivy. "Okay, I will. This wouldn't be some attempt to get her to move closer to you would it?"
"Partially, but NOT for the reasons you are thinking!"
"Right," Gale said, not believing him. He could read the young male better than just about anyone. However, he left the subject alone after that. They walked back into the room Where Ivy was waiting and Gale smiled and said "Welcome home Ivy."
Ivy's eyes seemed to light up, accenting her dark facial scales. "Thank you!" She said excitedly.
The two dragons were inseparable friends after that. They did so much together that you hardly EVER saw them apart. They were so inseparable that everyone just knew that one day they would be together in a relationship far outweighing their current friendship. Tyler and Ivy both hoped it would happen too but were too afraid that the other didn't like them that way to ask each other. And thus a friendship was forged from a broken tree.