Little Thief

Chapter 2

Lucy was quite sick of this.

Really, she had been eating nothing but that disgustingly dull bread for days, only the honey she had found within the crate that E.N.D had given her stopped her from going completley insane. She hadn't had a good night's rest since she had been captured, the cold stone floor not making for a good bed at all. She was beginning to think she was going to be stuck in this musty old mountain forever. As each day passed she missed the outside world more and more, she missed the wind through her hair and the azure sky. But no matter how much subtle hinting she gave, E.N.D seemed content to stay within the cave for the rest of his life.

Lucy didn't think she would be so stir crazy if she wasn't stuck in this infernal cage. Where did E.N.D think she was going to go with all of the exits destroyed and a dragon literally breathing down her neck? It was some what ridiculous, if you asked her.

To add to her rather bad mood, being terrified that a giant monster was going to burn her to a crisp was getting quite annoying and very tiring. The dragon wasn't even trying to scare her anymore, he just demanded story after story. She couldn't say he was a particular good audience, he never really showed any sign he was enjoying the tales she twisted for him, he never encouraged her besides demanded for another one. But, he was an alarmingly attentive listener, which was scary enough.

Sure, Lucy told him that he was tremendous and strong and charismatic, but there was no mistaking the sarcastic undertone she had adopted. She still told him stories, but she changed all the characters to lizards and made constant reference to their ugliness and lack of hygiene. He would narrow his eyes at her and make his threats about eating her, but he also started sleeping with both eyes closed. He didn't think of her as a thief, or soon to be lunch. No, it was much worse than that.

She had been added to the dragon's hoard.

Lucy hated it. Even with her odds of survival skyrocketing with this discovery, her chance of being able to escape had never been lower. The red dragon had constantly said that he would never part with a single item of his hoard, and now Lucy was part of that. She knew the dragon would sooner kill her than let her leave.

So, she began to form a plan. The least she could do if her stay here was indefinite, was get out of this accursed cage. So she waited in till E.N.D had just woken up for a nap before she spoke. She grasped two spears in her hands as she leaned against the bars, resting her face in between them as the dragon in front of her stretched like a cat.

"You know...the stories I've heard about dragons got something very wrong." Lucy started, picking her words very carefully. E.N.D arched his back and stretched out his wings before cocking his head at her in a way that Lucy had learned was inquisitive.

"I mean sure, they get your size pretty spot on." She said, waving her hand vaguely in his direction. "And the claws, and teeth, and the fire, certainly your love for gold." The drake made his way closer, curious to where she was going with this. "But...all of the stories I've heard say that a dragon takes great care of their hoard and well..." she drew out the word, scratching the back of her neck as if embarrassed she was having to tell him this. "I just don't see it."

E.N.D, for his part, looked mortally offended. "I don't?" He asked, to shocked to even put any bite to his words. He sounded almost like an innocent child, sans the deep rumbling that always came when he spoke. He turned his great head to look over the mountains of gold around him, he looked as concerned as someone would look if their best friend was bleeding out.

"The stories say -- at least the ones that I've heard -- that a dragon takes exquisite care of every jem, coin, and trinket of their hoard." Lucy said, "No matter how small."