SirFuzzyboots

Clan Patriarch
Mate: Titania

~***~

"I don't remember much from the beginning," SirFuzzyboots began once he and Titania had settled into their newly-dug lair for the night. "My parents must have abandoned their nest when one of the eggs went bad, as I could smell the rot from where I slept in their old, abandoned lair."

"That must have been just awful," Titania whispered, cuddling into his soft mane of blue and pink fur. It was so very soft.

SirFuzzyboots shrugged, jostling her slightly but not dislodging her.

"That lair was all I knew. I'd never had another home, and there were enough plants nearby that I didn't need to venture any farther than a few little hops would take me. It was peaceful, and I saw no reason to leave."

"What changed?" Titania asked.

"I was discovered," he replied. "At the time I was little, and had never seen another dragon, so when two Mirror hatchlings found me I had no reason to fear them."

"So you decided to go out and play," Titania guessed, wincing as she realized how this story must be about to go.

"They were siblings, I think," SirFuzzyboots continued, "of the plague flight. I don't know what they were doing in the Starfall Isles. Their region borders this one, does it not?"

"It does," Titania assured him, giving his neck and encouraging nuzzle.

"Then they must have wandered in from there," he concluded, seeming rather pleased with himself. Titania couldn't help but purr at his obvious happiness, though her monotone voice made it sound rather strange.

"When I came outside I asked them if they wanted to play," he went on. "I didn't know how rough mirrors were then, so when one of them knocked me over and the other grabbed me by the collar with his fangs, I was too shocked and scared to fight back at all."

"Little brutes," Titania muttered darkly. She'd never liked Mirror dragons much: the few that had come to Oberon's clan had been wounded and weak, accepted care and healing and then left without a word of thanks to rejoin their clans once they were well again. They were rough with hatchlings and even rougher with those not of their own clutches, and more than once Titania had had to rescue one of her Fae children from a mirror they'd gotten too curious with.

"Eventually they gave up on attacking me, since I wasn't challenging them," SirFuzzyboots continued. "They starting talking to each other then, laughing at me.

"'Look at the little hatchling!' they said. 'Barely even out of his nest and he thinks he can fight!'

"'I don't want to fight,' I told them, 'I just want to play.'

"You have to fight!' they said. 'It's the only way to get strong and live up to your name!'

"'What's that?' I asked, since at the time I had no name, and had never heard of one.

"They didn't seem to realize I was asking about names though. They assumed I had asked for theirs.

"'I am SirGreyhide!' said one.

"'I am SirLongclaw!' said the other. 'What's your name then?'

"I didn't know what to say. I had no name to tell them, so I had to make one up on the spot. Their names both began with 'Sir,' and described things about how they looked. I already had my head bowed, so I looked down at my feet.

"'I am SirFuzzyboots!' I said."

"I take it that from there it did not go well?" Titania guessed.

SirFuzzyboots buried his face beneath his large front paws. "No," he whined.

Titania snuggled into his mane, chirruping happily. "It's a fine name," she told him, "a good strong name for a good strong dragon."

"You really think I'm strong?" he asked, somewhat shyly.

"You dug us this den, didn't you?" Titania pointed out. "You clearly got away from those two mirrors without permanent damage, and you've survived a good long while on your own."

"Yes," SirFuzzyboots said, lifting up his head again, "I suppose you're right, aren't you?"

"Indeed I am," Titania preened. "I am hardly ever wrong, you know."

"You make a good leader," SirFuzzyboots observed, and if he'd had a crest Titania thought it would have been perking up in happiness. Hers certainly was doing so.

"I'm not clever," SirFuzzyboots admitted, "but you said I was strong, and pretty. You're clever, and pretty, and strong, and you have a good name. I like you a lot, Titania."

"I like you too, SirFuzzyboots," Titania replied, rubbing her face against his neck. She was starting to smell like his fur, but then again, his fur was starting to smell like her too.

"Even though I'm not clever?" SirFuzzyboots asked timidly.

"That's quite alright," Titania assured him. "I'll be clever enough for both of us."