Kudderweep flew around the forest for food, checking the ground for worms, searching trees for any caterpillars or ants. Any sign of food to please the poor bird’s  tiny stomach. He finds himself on a warm hill and begins pick at his feathers. Behind him he sees two holes that were each the exact same sized and were right next to each other. To Kudderweep, these holes looked like holes to an old fallen tree or maybe an anthill. The holes would produce a hot air that came with a foul stench every few seconds. The curious little bird hopped into one of the holes in the side of the hill and followed path it made.

 

The path led him to a pitch black area. It was even warmer and was damp. The bird pecked at some soft material inside the cave like environment. He repeatedly rammed his sharp beak into the moist material. After dozens of pecks a large deep noise was heard all around Kudderweep and even some movement. In fear, the little bird attempted to escape the small moist cave but couldn't see anything. Even more movement and even more terrifying noises flooded Kudderweep’s  senses.The noises stopped, and the movement stopped. A slight noise was heard again and before Kudderweep knew it, something was forcing the little bird out of the cave at a lightning speed. One second he was in a tunnel of thrills and  the next he was shot out of the cave and the forest was back. Kudderweep stabilized himself and observed the scene.

 

The misshapen hill was moving very slowly and looked like it was coming apart. Dirt and grass were thrown off of the hill and birds watched in horror as their nests were being pulverized as the hill raised upwards and took a different form. Limbs extended out of the hill and in some spots, soon, some parts of the hill looked scaly. The hill was no longer a hill. A giant dragon covered in moss, and dirt now stood in the forest. It's gem like eyes observed the world around it. At first they burned in the sunlight but then they quickly adapted and the beast was fully aware of its surroundings. It could smell food, it could hear the sound of the forest, it could see the beauty that it held and it felt the breeze of it as well. It let out a long and tremendously deep moan. It walked very slowly, there was still dirt and other things attached dragon and its body had not felt motion for a century. One step at a time, the dragon sluggishly walked forward for no visible reason as Kudderweep took immediate interest in the dragon and had completely forgotten about his hunger. Kudderweep flew to the dragon. He landed on the dragon’s snout and let out a series of chirps. The dragon’s eyes crossed as they focused on him for a second. The dragon then shook his head and Kudderweep flew away.

 

Hours of walking had left the dragon hungry. He was to slow to hunt, and he was to weak to breath fire. Kudderweep flew to the dragon and chirped at him in an attempt to get his attention. After the dragon completely ignored the bird, Kudderweep proceeded to  poke at the eye of the dragon. He shook his head to get the annoying little bird out of his eye. The disturbed dragon thrashed his giant head around to get the evil little thing out. Kudderweep flew out of the dragon’s eye and he flapped in place.

Once the dragon was done shaking his head he immediately began to charge at the bird in anger. The enraged beast stopped once he noticed some wolves eating a dead moose. His dry mouth filled with saliva as he then approached the pack of wolves. Once the dragon’s snout came close to the wolves’s pray they started barking and growling at  the giant monster trying to steal their food.

Unintimidated by the wolves, the dragon simply stomped his huge foot on top of closest wolf to him. The wolf let out a blood curdling cry as the dragon's foot slowly crushed the poor mammal’s body.The  other wolves had backed up but they continued to bark. After the wolf beneath the dragon’s foot had stopped squirming the dragon proceeded to lift up it’s corps with his mouth and began devouring it. The dragon licked his teeth after he swallowed. He turned his attention back to the wolves. Annoyed by the wolves, the dragon let out a massive roar that could be heard by animals miles away from the scene. The wolves fled at the sound of the roar. Once they were all out of site the dragon proceeded to casually finnish the moose.

 

Rain had begun to pour down large droplets. The dragon was annoyed at the strange phenomenon as most things were new to him. Kudderweep fluttered to the dragon and chirped at him. The dragon looked up at him and noticed a cave. The dragon speed up at the sight of shelter and Kudderweep flew in before him. The little Kudderweep couldn't see through the dark emptiness of the cave. The dragon entered and enjoyed the warmth immediately. The dragon could see in the dark but Kudderweep couldn't. The bird gave unsettling sounding chirps that made the dragon pity the bird slightly. The dragon’s stomach warmed up, his fire chamber in his belly became active for the first time in centuries and a puff of heat worked its way up the dragon at a fast rate. When the dragon opened its mouth the result was puff of flames that scorched the rocky ground and made some light.

At the sight of the fire, Kudderweep hopped twice and made a thankful and happy series of chirps at the dragon and he returned it with a long deep moan. This began the odd relationship between the two winged creatures. They slept next to each other and the dragon had accepted the blue jay as his friend. After the storm had left the forest, the two had continued to increase their bond. Kudderweep would find sources of food for the dragon, and the dragon would knock down trees with his pure strength and size to reveal insects that lived in the trees. Kudderweep would thank the dragon with the same series of chirps that all had the same rhythm and the dragon would return the thank you with a deep moan. These moans were the dragon's way of showing emotions. From joy to anger, to grief to guilt, these moans contained these emotions that could only be understood by other animals.

 

Kudderweep had led the dragon to a large river that was filled with dozens of fish that flew out of the water and fell back into the current with a large splash. While the dragon’s attention was focused on the food in the water. The plants covering his wings had been washed off further, it was now clear that there were wings under there all along.The dragon barely noticed. There were more important things on his mind. Like the giant fish they would fly into his mouth.

Their friendship continued and brought them to many locations and eventually led them to an empty field.

 

       The trees had been cleared and the grass was a greyish color. The air was dry. Dozens of knocked over trees littered the planes as far as the eye could see. Kudderweep sat on the dragon’s head as they both observed the strange area. Some of the trees had faded scorch marks. The giant field was covered in these features and appeared to go on for miles.

After navigating over a hill and the dragon was blindly confused at the sight. Bones scattered everywhere, some were partially buried, and some were not. But one thing that all had in common was what they beglonged to. Decomposed dragon bones were laid out on the dirt. A blur of emotions flooded the confused dragon’s mind. The tragedy had the dragon on edge as he explored more. However something hooked his mind to it. A scent. He smelled a couple of the piles and they reminded him of his own scent. After sniffing a specific pile, a vision quickly popped into his head.

 

A long long time ago. More dragons, not just him, more! Families. He match the scent to a loved one. A female, his mate was with him in his vision. They were happy and rubbed their heads together in affection. But after these graceful visions, the scene quickly changed.

A orange sky, smoke filled the air, dragons breathing fire at odd looking animals with clothes. They had weapons that produced a loud bang that resulted in a blast that pierced the dragon's thick scales. The dragons were outmatched. The strange animals were to many in numbers and had lethal strategies to take down the dragons. Both sides were fighting for their lives. Bloody corpses of both dragons and the other animals covered the battlefield. Roars and screams accompanied all of the action. The fear overwhelmed the dragon as he soon realized that this vision was a memory. The vision changed once again. He was alone. No female. No other dragons. He was away from the battle. He had a huge wound. Blood gushed out and collected itself on the ground below. The vision then changed one last time to reveal himself curled up on the ground.

 

He was back in the normal world. The vision left as quick as it came. A sound in the back of his head led to the dragon turning to see a strange place in the distance. It had man made structures and a trail of smoke coming out of it. A mix of emotions churned inside the dragon’s mind, and the result was a burning anger hotter than lava.

His muscles tightened. His pupils dilated, the eyes in which held the pupils saw red. His claws extended. And his belly was filling with fire. The dragon snapped into a sprint and  attempted to fly but his wings were too weak to make the action. The beast hit the ground hard, but quickly got up in blind frustration and then bursted into another  sprint. Knocking down trees and stomping about. His tail whipped around, scraping trees and leaving gashes in them. Kudderweep caught of to his friend  let out loud tweets of desperation in a last attempt to put some sense into his friend. After speeding through the forest he had reached his destination. A village of people going about their lives until the dragon emerged from the forest letting out a terrifying roar. Immediately the shocked people screamed the beast. The dragon spread  fire at the nearest building. The flames were so big that they covered the entire building. Soon after some people wielding swords, axes, and bows attacked the dragon. The arrows could not breach the beast’s scales and the warriors with melee weapons were incinerated before they could even reach the him. Their skin melted off their bones as the flames covered their bodies. The chaos was unmatchable. It lasted for minutes, but for the people it was never ending.

 

The village was completely reduced to ash, as were the citizens too. As the dragon’s rage settled, so did the smoke. However, soon the dragon’s anger was replaced with confusion. He stumbled around the burnt village realizing his actions. He let out another one of his deep moans when he saw a burnt corpse of a mother protecting her burnt son. Soon the dragon looked for his friend. The dragon called out for Kudderweep as he flipped over crumbled buildings. He heard a tiny squeak and rushed to investigate. He found his feathered friend near a river. Upon closer examination the dragon discovered that Kudderweep’s wing had been burnt completely off near a small pile of feathers and dried blood. The bird tried to communicate but his chirps only came out as muffled squeaks. The dragon moaned in disbelief. The dragon laid there for many hours, not even realizing the his friend’s fate.

Eventually the dragon got up and his friend had stopped moving. He responded with a roar of misery that could be heard by animals miles away. He picked up Kudderweep’s body very carefully and place it on a lily pad in a nearby pond.

 

Their bond had been broken.

 

The dragon roamed the forest with no meaning for days. He ate little, and drank little. His path led him to a mountain top. He gazed at the sunset that lit up the horizon.  He was approached by a man dressed in blue.

“May I sit with you?” he asked. The dragon moaned. The man sat next to the dragon. They sat for a few seconds and the man started a conversation.

“What makes you sad my friend?”

“I killed my best friend” The dragon replied. There was a pause.

“Why did you do this?”

“I was angry because I found out that everything I loved had been killed, and I wasn't there to help” The dragon sighed.

“I see” The man begun.

“Relationships are a funny thing you see, When someone or something you love is removed from your life, it is reborn or replaced in the form of new love. And even in some cases, love is so strong that it doesn't actually exactly die, just separated for some time”

“Nothing can bring my family, or my friend back” The dragon said. There was a pause again.

“What was your friend's name?” The man asked.

“Kudderweep” The dragon replied.

“I know little about you, but I sense wisdom in your soul. The dragon didn't respond.

“You feel regret for what you did?” The dragon nodded then answered.

“I have no other regret that could live up to this foolish mistake”

“Foolish?” the man questioned.

“A mistake is only foolish if you don't learn from it. Did you learn from your mistake?”

“Yes.” There was a minute of silence.

“Let me tell you something else.”. The dragon turned to the man and his eyes widened.

The man introduced himself as his lost friend, Kudderweep. He explained that the forest had brought him back to life. The forest was well aware of their story and in turn. Reunited them once again. To prove it, the man transformed into the dragon’s bird friend. The blue jay flapped about and let out the same series of chirps that always made the dragon happy. Kudderweep transformed back into a man. The two danced about in excitement. The forest loved their story too much to let it end with the tragic death of Kudderweep. And it didn't. They continued their adventures, and the tale of the dragon and the blue jay became one of the many, many, tales of the forest.