When the Anglewing egg hatched, Ryuunosuke wasn’t even supposed to be there. In fact, he was under strict orders from his captain to “Stay the hell away, you nosy little brat!” (which First Lieutenant Takeda had helpfully translated to, “Perhaps you should spend the evening catching up on your schoolwork, Ryuunosuke.”)
Well. Ryuunosuke hadn’t done sums voluntarily when he was an ensign, and he certainly wasn’t about to start now that he was a midwingman. So of course after Karasuno’s flight crew had been dismissed for the evening, he’d snuck through the covert to where the egg had been brought the evening before, carried from Loch Laggan by one of the fastest Winchesters in the Aerial Corps when it had begun to harden.
There was a lot of chatter surrounding this egg, and Ryuunosuke wanted to see it for himself before it hatched. It was a true-bred Anglewing, of the same line as Obversaria herself, but the egg had been unusually dark and stunted throughout its amelioration and hadn’t grown or lightened up much in the past few days, either, by all reports. Not exactly a top-level prospect, really, though Ryuunosuke knew that one of Karasuno’s older midwingmen was up for potential captaincy. He hoped the man got it, despite Karasuno’s grumblings about losing crewmembers.
What Ryuunosuke wouldn’t give to be captain of his own dragon, himself. Even a Greyling -- and he was, after all, the right age for a promotion to courier. As long as he behaved.
So he had to make extra-sure that he wasn’t caught, then, that was all.
When he’d managed to sneak near to the little clearing, reckless through the treetops, he saw the prospective captains lounging around, chatting in tight, anxious voices peppered with too-loud laughter, and a few scattered admiralty and ground staff. There were a few other captains from the covert there, too, including Ryuunosuke’s, and he made a careful point of noting Ukai’s position and keeping well out of sight. It still took Ryuunosuke a moment of craning his neck and squinting to finally spot the egg, gleaming with a kind of radiant energy from within a straw-packed crate. It was a little bit too far to see in any kind of detail, but even from a distance Ryuunosuke could see that it was, true to rumour, much smaller than an Anglewing egg should be.
As he watched, the egg gave a very firm wiggle, and emitted a cracking sound loud enough for Ryuunosuke to hear even up in his tree. There was a collective gasp and scramble for harnesses, and Ryuunosuke leaned as far forward as he dared, whispering, “Oh, fizzing,” in an awed undertone.
A few more crackles from the egg, and several bouts of jostling amongst the prospective captains, and the dragonet burst somewhat suddenly from the shell, flapping its wings in alarm as it propelled itself out of the crate and into the dirt. It bounced back up immediately, though, shaking its head and shuffling a little on its feet before it settled and began to look up at the assembled aviators with bright eyes.
Even out of the egg, it seemed smaller than a newly-hatched Anglewing should be, although Ryuunosuke supposed he hadn’t much to compare that to. And its colouring was still dark, tending towards dark orange-brown more than the typical bright gold. Though Ryuunosuke did notice, when the dragonet turned to look at an aviator standing almost under Ryuunosuke’s tree, that it had an uneven diamond of bright yellow on its forehead, right between its eyes.
All in all, it was a handsome little thing, in Ryuunosuke’s opinion, if unconventional.
The dragonet made one, then two circles of the prospective captains, peering closely at each one before shaking out its wings or snorting and moving on to the next. Ryuunosuke hadn’t seen a hatching before, but he had read about them, and this seemed to be taking a while longer than it should have. He wondered if the dragonet was going to go feral. He’d heard of such a thing happening, but he’d never seen a feral dragon, and he had to admit he was rather curious. He leaned forward again, and one of his feet slipped -- he hadn’t been in the Aerial Corps since he was a child for nothing, and found his footing again easily enough, but the faint scrabbling sound was enough to draw the dragonet’s attention as it passed underneath.
The dragonet cocked its head, looked right up at Ryuunosuke through the branches, and said, in a surprisingly piercing voice, “What are you doing up there?”
Ryuunosuke fell out of the tree.
He vaguely registered the all-too-familiar sound of Ukai growling in displeasure, but when he sat back on his heels and dusted off his pants, he wasn’t paying attention to anything but the dragonet.
“I was sneaking,” he admitted, half-petulant. “I wanted to see the weird egg before it hatched.”
The dragon’s neck went stiff in affront. “I am not weird!”
Ryuunosuke grinned and shrugged. “Well, yeah, you kind of are, Anglewings are supposed to be golden, you know. I still think you look super cool, though.”
The dragonet preened a little at the praise, then it stepped on Ryuunosuke’s folded legs to stare into his face from a handful of centimeters away, first from one eye, then the other.
“I like the colour of your face. I think you’re weird and cool too,” it declared. “Will you give me a name?”
There was a general sound of surprise from the assembled men -- and not the least measure of disapproval, but at that moment, Ryuunosuke couldn’t have cared less. “You --” he spluttered, mind blanking out as he tried to come up with a suitable name, and god was this really happening --
“Yuu,” the dragonet chirped happily. “I like it!”
Yuu rubbed up against Ryuunosuke’s chin and twined under his arms. “You’re going to be the best captain,” he declared, sounding immensely pleased with himself.
Ryuunosuke could understand the feeling. He started smiling, and grinned so wide that his cheeks hurt, with no small degree of smugness. Him, Tanaka Ryuunosuke, captain of an Anglewing just barely after being promoted out of ensign. His sister was going to be so jealous, she was five years older and her Longwing’s egg hadn’t even started to harden yet. And Captain Ukai was going to be --
Ryuunosuke gulped and looked up at his captain. Ukai was staring down at him with a raised eyebrow and crossed arms.
“This is what you call staying out of trouble, huh?” he asked. Ryuunosuke tightened his arm around Yuu and shrugged. Ukai let out a gusty breath, then turned to the other aviators and barked, “Well? Someone give the boy a harness! And get the little monster something to eat!”
Ryuunosuke grinned again, and Yuu wriggled with excitement over the prospect of something to eat (“I am so hungry, I want some meat! Will you bring me meat? Meaty meat!”), barely able to stay still long enough for Ryuunosuke to buckle the simple harness around him.
“Huzzah for Captain Tanaka,” Ukai said, smirking at Ryuunosuke with an expression of mingled exasperation and affection.
Ryuunosuke basked in the loud cheer, and Yuu looked up excitedly from his sheep to say, “Oh, are you cheering for my captain? That’s good, he’s the coolest.”
“No, you’re the coolest,” Ryuunosuke countered, scratching at the base of Yuu’s wing.
(“We’re both the coolest!” Yuu declared, both boy and dragon puffing their chests out importantly, and Ukai covered his face with one hand and grumbled, “As if one of them wasn’t bad enough.”)
This is a v small return of a favour
Well. Ryuunosuke hadn’t done sums voluntarily when he was an ensign, and he certainly wasn’t about to start now that he was a midwingman. So of course after Karasuno’s flight crew had been dismissed for the evening, he’d snuck through the covert to where the egg had been brought the evening before, carried from Loch Laggan by one of the fastest Winchesters in the Aerial Corps when it had begun to harden.
There was a lot of chatter surrounding this egg, and Ryuunosuke wanted to see it for himself before it hatched. It was a true-bred Anglewing, of the same line as Obversaria herself, but the egg had been unusually dark and stunted throughout its amelioration and hadn’t grown or lightened up much in the past few days, either, by all reports. Not exactly a top-level prospect, really, though Ryuunosuke knew that one of Karasuno’s older midwingmen was up for potential captaincy. He hoped the man got it, despite Karasuno’s grumblings about losing crewmembers.
What Ryuunosuke wouldn’t give to be captain of his own dragon, himself. Even a Greyling -- and he was, after all, the right age for a promotion to courier. As long as he behaved.
So he had to make extra-sure that he wasn’t caught, then, that was all.
When he’d managed to sneak near to the little clearing, reckless through the treetops, he saw the prospective captains lounging around, chatting in tight, anxious voices peppered with too-loud laughter, and a few scattered admiralty and ground staff. There were a few other captains from the covert there, too, including Ryuunosuke’s, and he made a careful point of noting Ukai’s position and keeping well out of sight. It still took Ryuunosuke a moment of craning his neck and squinting to finally spot the egg, gleaming with a kind of radiant energy from within a straw-packed crate. It was a little bit too far to see in any kind of detail, but even from a distance Ryuunosuke could see that it was, true to rumour, much smaller than an Anglewing egg should be.
As he watched, the egg gave a very firm wiggle, and emitted a cracking sound loud enough for Ryuunosuke to hear even up in his tree. There was a collective gasp and scramble for harnesses, and Ryuunosuke leaned as far forward as he dared, whispering, “Oh, fizzing,” in an awed undertone.
A few more crackles from the egg, and several bouts of jostling amongst the prospective captains, and the dragonet burst somewhat suddenly from the shell, flapping its wings in alarm as it propelled itself out of the crate and into the dirt. It bounced back up immediately, though, shaking its head and shuffling a little on its feet before it settled and began to look up at the assembled aviators with bright eyes.
Even out of the egg, it seemed smaller than a newly-hatched Anglewing should be, although Ryuunosuke supposed he hadn’t much to compare that to. And its colouring was still dark, tending towards dark orange-brown more than the typical bright gold. Though Ryuunosuke did notice, when the dragonet turned to look at an aviator standing almost under Ryuunosuke’s tree, that it had an uneven diamond of bright yellow on its forehead, right between its eyes.
All in all, it was a handsome little thing, in Ryuunosuke’s opinion, if unconventional.
The dragonet made one, then two circles of the prospective captains, peering closely at each one before shaking out its wings or snorting and moving on to the next. Ryuunosuke hadn’t seen a hatching before, but he had read about them, and this seemed to be taking a while longer than it should have. He wondered if the dragonet was going to go feral. He’d heard of such a thing happening, but he’d never seen a feral dragon, and he had to admit he was rather curious. He leaned forward again, and one of his feet slipped -- he hadn’t been in the Aerial Corps since he was a child for nothing, and found his footing again easily enough, but the faint scrabbling sound was enough to draw the dragonet’s attention as it passed underneath.
The dragonet cocked its head, looked right up at Ryuunosuke through the branches, and said, in a surprisingly piercing voice, “What are you doing up there?”
Ryuunosuke fell out of the tree.
He vaguely registered the all-too-familiar sound of Ukai growling in displeasure, but when he sat back on his heels and dusted off his pants, he wasn’t paying attention to anything but the dragonet.
“I was sneaking,” he admitted, half-petulant. “I wanted to see the weird egg before it hatched.”
The dragon’s neck went stiff in affront. “I am not weird!”
Ryuunosuke grinned and shrugged. “Well, yeah, you kind of are, Anglewings are supposed to be golden, you know. I still think you look super cool, though.”
The dragonet preened a little at the praise, then it stepped on Ryuunosuke’s folded legs to stare into his face from a handful of centimeters away, first from one eye, then the other.
“I like the colour of your face. I think you’re weird and cool too,” it declared. “Will you give me a name?”
There was a general sound of surprise from the assembled men -- and not the least measure of disapproval, but at that moment, Ryuunosuke couldn’t have cared less. “You --” he spluttered, mind blanking out as he tried to come up with a suitable name, and god was this really happening --
“Yuu,” the dragonet chirped happily. “I like it!”
Yuu rubbed up against Ryuunosuke’s chin and twined under his arms. “You’re going to be the best captain,” he declared, sounding immensely pleased with himself.
Ryuunosuke could understand the feeling. He started smiling, and grinned so wide that his cheeks hurt, with no small degree of smugness. Him, Tanaka Ryuunosuke, captain of an Anglewing just barely after being promoted out of ensign. His sister was going to be so jealous, she was five years older and her Longwing’s egg hadn’t even started to harden yet. And Captain Ukai was going to be --
Ryuunosuke gulped and looked up at his captain. Ukai was staring down at him with a raised eyebrow and crossed arms.
“This is what you call staying out of trouble, huh?” he asked. Ryuunosuke tightened his arm around Yuu and shrugged. Ukai let out a gusty breath, then turned to the other aviators and barked, “Well? Someone give the boy a harness! And get the little monster something to eat!”
Ryuunosuke grinned again, and Yuu wriggled with excitement over the prospect of something to eat (“I am so hungry, I want some meat! Will you bring me meat? Meaty meat!”), barely able to stay still long enough for Ryuunosuke to buckle the simple harness around him.
“Huzzah for Captain Tanaka,” Ukai said, smirking at Ryuunosuke with an expression of mingled exasperation and affection.
Ryuunosuke basked in the loud cheer, and Yuu looked up excitedly from his sheep to say, “Oh, are you cheering for my captain? That’s good, he’s the coolest.”
“No, you’re the coolest,” Ryuunosuke countered, scratching at the base of Yuu’s wing.
(“We’re both the coolest!” Yuu declared, both boy and dragon puffing their chests out importantly, and Ukai covered his face with one hand and grumbled, “As if one of them wasn’t bad enough.”)