Rustling leaves resound above as a breeze brushes the green canopy, and the few sunbeams piercing through dance in tandem with the trees' swaying motions. On the forest floor below the foliage lies still, untouched by the wind. Every now and then birds flutter among the branches overhead, but they are strangely reluctant to sing their songs. Perhaps they sense something amiss.
Suddenly, a lone horned rabbit hops out from underneath a bush, and rummages through the grass in search of fallen nuts or berries. Evidently, the little brown creature failed to clue in on what the birds know.
A short distance away a pair of sapphire blue eyes peek through the undergrowth, gleaming as a fleeting ray of sunlight passes over. Slowly and cautiously the creature emerges from the foliage, unveiling a draconic body of white fur and feathers. Ever aware of her conspicuous nature, the hatchling crouches as low to the ground as possible. Paying close attention to every step she takes the young dragon stalks closer to the oblivious forager.
She freezes as the rabbit lifts its head. Silence falls upon them, and the rabbit's nose twitches as it sniffs. The leaves rustle once again, and the unsuspecting critter carries on foraging; the dragon continues her approach. Her mouth waters as she draws near, longing to bite into the sinewy flesh hidden beneath the brown pelt. For a moment the rest of the forest drifts away, leaving just the dragon and her prey.
It's silent again when she feels a twig crack underneath her front paw.
Snap!
The rabbit bolts, and the young dragon gives chase. She tears through the underbrush, hot on the hare's heels as they weave through the trees. In the distance she can hear other animals skittering away, disturbed by the commotion of the pursuit. It will be hours at best before she can find another meal like this. Her stomach grumbles, nagging for food even as she runs. This hunt cannot fail.
Forcing her legs to move faster, she closes in on the rabbit. She lurches forward just as the rabbit veers right, and her jaws snap at open air. Growling in frustration she pushes herself even more, sprinting faster. Faster! The rabbit vanishes momentarily through the brush, and she pounces blindly through with everything she has.
Her front feet land on top of warm fur, and she buries her talons into hot flesh. The rabbit shrieks in agony beneath her, and the dragon sinks her teeth into its neck. She shakes her head, bones crack, and her prey goes limp.
Finally able to relax she lies down, and digs in.
It isn't until after she devoured half of the creature that the hatchling registers how oddly flat the ground felt. Shifting her gaze from the rabbit for the first time in a while she finds herself looking down at dry gravelly dirt. Raising her head to glance left and right she realizes she is lying in the middle of some kind of dirt river cutting through the woods. She sniffs at the dirt, and picks up on a hodgepodge of scents. Some she knows are from large hoofed mammals, but most escape her comprehension altogether.
Curious, but unperturbed, the young dragon carries on with her meal blissfully unaware of the true nature behind this "dirt river" she discovered.
