Vali And The Dragon

Chapter 8

A/n: the picture has nothing to do with the story other than the fact that Vali has similar length hair. It's a character from Danganronpa V2 if you're curious.

Vali wakes up to Reaan's coils around him, the mottled brown scales glinting in the light of the sunrise. Vali hums softly to himself as he observes the world around him. He hears a quiet squelching sound and twists to see a tiny slime trying to hide in the corner of the wagon.

He wriggles out of Reaan's coils and crouches down to examine it. It's a pale green, the semi-translucent body cloudy and its opaque core isn't visible. It quivers as Vali reaches out to pick it up, trying to press itself against the wagon wall.

He gently picks it up, cupping it in his hand. He breaks off a chunk of bread, setting it in front of the tiny slime. It moves forward, tendrils reaching out to hook onto the bread, drawing it into itself.

It chirrs quietly, snuggling into Vali's hand. It's young, not having learnt to be wary of others. Vali holds it to his chest, keeping it warm and safe. He becomes attached to the tiny, helpless slime, deciding to keep it as a sort of pet.

He pulls a small, ceramic bowl out of his bag, pouring a small amount of water into it and setting the slime into it, keeping an eye on it as he starts to play his flute, waiting for the rest of the group to come out.

The slime trills along to the song, slipping out of the bowl and climbing onto Vali's leg. It sits, listening to the song happily. The song comes to an end as Reaan wakes up, muttering a quiet, "hello... good morning..." to Vali before he sits up, looking at the slime.

"Where did that come from?" He says quietly, suddenly alert. He moves to get a dagger, moving to attack the tiny slime. It sees the dagger and slips towards Vali, trying to hide in one of his pockets.

Vali explains as much as he can, calming the slime down. Reaan nods slightly, twisting to look as Rush, Ril and Miril come out of the inn, rush and Miril going to get the horses, Ril coming over to sit in the back of the wagon.

Ril asks questions, chattering exitedly. Reaan and Vali answer his questions as well as possible. Rush and Miril climb into the front of the wagon, and the group head on their way.

It's slow going as always, but Ril seems prepared to combat the boredom. He pulls a pack of cards out of his pack, asking if you and Reaan want to play War.

Reaan explains it to Vali and they start to play. It's a common game in both Wiathane and Lyfescourge, so they know it better than Vali or Rush do.

Vali is quickly defeated by the young Isxel, who goes on to challenge Reaan. Reaan beats Ril, grinning like a Cheshire cat. "Ah well..." Ril says quietly, still smiling from his victory over Vali, "anyone else know a few other card games?"

Vali grins. "Ever heard of Mao?" He says quietly, green and yellow flecks visible in his pale grey eyes. He sets up the game, and it starts. "W-wait... We aren't explaining the r-rules?" Ril asks, confused.

Miril and Rush chuckle from the front bench of the wagon. They are, it seems, aware of the rules.

"Penalty, mentioning the rules" Vali says, grinning, handing Ril a card. The game continues on, Reaan quickly catching on, Ril taking a slightly longer amount of time to catch on to the rules.

Vali wins the first round, removing a rule. He doesn't say what rule is removed, but the game continues. Reaan wins the next round, not removing a rule. Ril is having a good time, winning a round as the wagon stops to set up camp.

Miril, Reaan and Rush set the camp up almost militaristic in the speed they set it up. Reaan sleeps in the nearest tree, Vali climbing up to sleep in it's branches as well, falling through a few of the branches, Reaan catching him before he can fall to the ground.

Reaan pulls Vali onto his coiled tail, keeping Vali from falling again by curling an arm around him. The tiny slime snuggles down against the warmth of Vali's chest, cooing softly and slipping partially into his tunic.

Ril sleeps out in the open, looking at the endless sky before drifting off to sleep. Miril and Rush stay up longer, keeping watch and just talking. The fall asleep after hours of talking, putting out the fire before so.

Once the sun starts to rise, Vali climbs down, starting to take the camp apart. He puts everything into the wagon on his own, hooking up the horses and feeding the slime, putting it into a large, shallow, empty potion bottle, adding water for the slime to absorb and splash about in.

He hangs the potion bottle from his belt so that the slime is safe when Vali is moving. He climbs back into the tree, waking Reaan gently. "Hey. Reaan. Wake up. We need to get ready to travel." He says quietly, poking at Reaan's face to wake him up.

Reaan wakes up and slips down from the tree, waking Ril and Rush. Rush picks Miril up gently, setting her in the back of the wagon, climbing up and sitting next to her. Ril sits near the open back, watching the scenery pass by.

Reaan and Vali sit on the front bench, and they're off, traveling to the nearest town. The laugh and joke quietly, just the two of them. They take turns napping and guiding the horses, leaning against each other for support. Miril and Rush chat as well, Miril telling the group an old folk-story.

They stop for lunch, a massive city looming on the horizon, another day's journey away. They talk with other travelers, watching the city, an odd hush over the scenery. It's almost as though the entire countryside is holding it's breath.

They set off again, moving towards the city, the odd feeling washing over them all.

A/n: hello again! Thank you for reading!