CHARON
The very mountains whisper your name...

”IT'S GREAT!”, he roared above the wind, growing more and more confident the longer he flew, ”LIKE I CAN DO ANYTHING!”

Charon roared into the air and slammed his wings down, going higher and higher before he let them close and shot towards the island like a diving falcon, the air burning his eyes as he fell faster and faster. A laugh left his mouth and it was snatched away by the wind, his quills rattling together.

His wings snapped out and he shot across the water, propelled by his momentum. He angled around the island, going faster than he ever had before, his teeth bared in a draconic grin. He was nowhere near any sort of graceful flyer, using brute force to gain speed and keep himself aloft, but it was effective enough and it got him here, so...

He flew back towards the beach, alternating between slicing his wings through the air and coasting, his wings spread out and each finger reaching far, letting him rest briefly as the wings pushed him forward.

@Blight

He'd picked up on flying remarkably fast, and it seemed (to blight's pleased surprise) that Charon's instincts to fly were strong: his wings kept him easily aloft.

"AWESOME!" he yelled, as loud as he could to carry over the wind and distance. He followed along with easy strokes, himself, making no effort to speed up or to pass the other dragon. He'd let him have his moment of glory, of exultation in his new freedom, his new power.

"Take your time!" he added, sailing along behind; "I can do this all day, if you want to!"

@Charon
want to find a way to wrap this up soon?

CHARON
The very mountains whisper your name...

Charon was born to fly. Perhaps his wings hadn't quite gotten the memo, but there was no doubt about it. His draconic heritage passed along the innate need to fly and soar and his new muscles knew what to do even if he himself didn't. His wings were strong. They were reliable.

”I don't want to stop,” he admitted, his voice rough from yelling over the wind, ”But my shoulders are aching and I might have to anyway.”

Caves, he didn't want to. He wanted to fly forever and he wanted to stay up here and never come down. But his body protested the thought by a cramp in his arm, making him wince in pain and realize that perhaps it was dangerous to keep going if he was tired. He still had to get back to Ursa, too, to find Bone and tell her about this.

”I need to go to Ursa,” he said, turning to blight, ”Can we fly to the tunnel? I need to go see Bone, she won't know I woke up yet.”

And boy was he excited to tell her. His excitement was obvious as he pushed past the cramp to glide towards the beach of Leo, wanting to make it over land before he headed to Ursa. It wouldn't be long, flying halved travel time (it was so much more useful than Charon had even considered).

@Blight

yeah! do you mind if we offscreen the Bone and Charon reunion?

Blight curved, light glinting over the edges of his wings as he came back around behind Charon. "Yeah," he agreed, "you don't wanna push yourself too hard yet! Your muscles will get stronger as you use them." He remembered when he'd been a mere hatchling, and he'd barely been able to handle short glides from a high point; now he could fly and fly, though not as well as Dread with his larger, billowing wings. (Much better than hefty Bone, though!)

"It'll take some getting used to, too, navigating by air! You gotta learn whole new landmarks. You don't always see the stuff on the ground from up high, if it's under trees and shit! Come on--this way. And congratulations again!" he called.

It had been good, all in all, meeting this new family. "DAD-DAD! CHARON'S GOING TO SEE BONE!" he yelled, off to one side.

Dread glanced up from his lazy circling, blinking. He'd been drawing closer to the small herd beneath the canopy, and when he heard that Charon was leaving, he made his move. A dive, an inhale, a blast of flame that illuminated the trees in brilliant orange--and then he exploded upward from the forest again, a dead cave deer clutched in his hind talons.

He flapped over to intercept the other two.

"YOU CAN COME BACK AND LIVE HERE OR WHATEVER BUT DON'T START FIGHTS," he warned--he didn't want more repeats of Haven. "HERE." The deer was torn, a haunch lobbed Charon's way midair without really thinking--a snack for the road, whether Charon caught it or swept down to grab it. "DON'T FLY TOO HIGH YET," he warned him yet again, and then looked to Blight. Another haunch was thrown the fish-eating dragon's way; Blight did eat meat, sometimes, when offered--and then Dread turned, pumping his wings back toward his roost. He'd land there, and eat. "TELL BONE I SAID HELLO," he called back over his shoulder, flying back toward home.

@Charon (exit dread/blight)

CHARON
The very mountains whisper your name...

”Okay,” Charon said to Blight, nodding his head as he tried to absorb as much advice as possible. Hopefully he remembered it all... he wasn't the best when it came to recalling information.

He brightened as Dread flew towards him, his arms aching from the exertion of flying so far. He'd probably walk home like he'd walked here originally.

”I won't!”, he said, and then elaborated, ”I won't start fights, I mean, but I'm going to stay in Ursa where it's cold.”

With all this exercise he found he was uncomfortably hot. All that time living there had built up fat reserves that allowed him to stay warm in the cold environment but made him overheat in the hot temperatures of Leo all too quickly if he wasn't careful. His panting wasn't just because of flying so hard.

”Thank you!”, he cried out to both of them, swooping down to try and grab the haunch with his hind legs to fly off with it, wanting to make it to the tunnel at least, ”BYE!!”

And with that last shout he was gone, off to go find Bone and apologize profusely for being gone so long.

Exit Charon @Blight for vis