White the Cursed

05 - The night is young, part 2

They didn't walk for long before they reached Horrendous' tent, which was the long one Jack had spotted before. When they entered, the young boy was surprised to see the state of the tent. It was devided in two parts, but the first one was kind of empty. There was very few furniture. A pile of blankets and furs on the ground seemed to serve as bed, a lanthern poised next to it, lighting up the whole room. Some plates and wooden cutlery were placed on one of the two barrils by the corner, next to some wooden boxes, and on the other side was a large flagstone covered with dark stains in the shape of a circle.

Horrendous entered and aimed for the curtain separating the two rooms.

''I'll bring them one by one, take a seat. Huh... Jack, is it ?''

He gave him a questioning look, still the boy saw in his slight smile that he actually remembered perfectly his name. He didn't know why, but that made him smile. He nodded as confirmation, Horrendous smiled back and crossed the curtains, still it didn't stop him from talking through it.

''Your parents aren't hunters or poachers, right ?''

''No, why ?''

''Not a lot of people actually want to see dragons, even less from that close.''

He stopped for a moment and spoke in a lower, softer voice.

''Hey, bud.''

Jack smiled, suspecting the tamer to talk to one of his dragons. It warmed his heart to hear him talk to them like friends instead of pets.

''You must be brave.'' Horrendous said louder, continuing their previous conversation. ''Or unconscious. Usually people are scared of dragons.''

''Huh... Should I be ?'' The boy asked as he looked around the room.

There was no chair but the woodne boxes seemes comfortable enough. He decided to sit on one of them.

''No, no you shouldn't, really.'' Horendous assured. ''Actually, it's nice to meet someone interested in them instead of thinking there's just some blood-thirsty beats.''

Jack smiled for himself but that quickly faded as he noticed something on the box next to him. There was a tunic laying on it, beside a bucket of water and a stained piece of towel. The fabrics were covered in uncleaned dried blood. The boy stared at it, a knot forming in his guts as he tried to guess what had happened. He ended up gathering his courage to just ask.

''Huh... Horrendous ? Your tunic is blooded...''

He heard a faint noise coming from the other room, then the auburnet's head popped up between the curtains, casting a glance at the stained clothe.

''Huh... Did one of your dragons did this ?... By accident ?'' Jack added.

The young man smiled softly and Jack wondered if it was because of the way he had asked the question, or if it was because he had assumed it was an accident instead of an attack.

''No,'' the tamer explained. ''It's not my blood, actually. It's a 'gift' from proachers in the woods.''

''T-The woods ?''

Jack couldn't help but stutter. Granted there was a lot of trees and forests in this island, all around Burgess, but the largest one was the one surrounding his village. The idea of Horrendous coming across hunters from his village gave him unpleasant chills, not only because he knew how violent they could be, but also because he was afraid the dragon tamer could have heard things about him, about the pond curse.

''W-What happened ?''

''Dragons don't like staying indoor, they rather go by and wander in the woods. One of them got hurt by a trap. I intervened and tried to stop them. It's her blood on the tunic.''