Where you belong; Elliot's Story (Pete's Dragon)

Chapter 14: The Boy

Years Later

A loud howl sounded and Melborne rose up harshly. He snorted deeply as he twitched his ears around his head. He gave his head a small shake as he continued to hear the howling through the entire forest. He yawned as he stretched his jaws wide and rose to his paws, arching his back and stretching longingly.

The howling continued and Melborne knew that he could ignore it no longer. He rolled his eyes as he forced himself forward, licking his lips as he looked around to where everything was. He twitched his ears until he located exactly where the howling was coming from.

He watched as another wolf darted forward and right past him. He let out a deep and billowing snort as he watched him go. He gave his head a shake as he decided to follow this wolf. He knew Blackstorm and he knew that he had a small pack of wolves, but never this one. This wolf looked feral and he was a little afraid to mess with him.

He bounded forward and pelted forward and after the wolf. He spread his wings as he took into the air slightly, just hovering. He then landed as he plastered his wings against his side and continued forward, seeing that the wolves were definitely after something.

He shuddered when he realized that it was a child, a human child. He was half tempted to turn around and leave them to it before he smelled the tang of death in the air. He shook his head slightly as he realized that he couldn't just live the human kid there. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to do with him, but that was a thought for another day. For right now he just needed to do what he thought was right.

He bounded forward and bellowed once more. He heard the wolves whimper and he couldn't help but keep forward. He strode forward before he saw a tiny boy standing in front of him. He titled his head as he breathed heavily. He arched his neck and smelled the boy.

"Are you going to eat me," the boy asked.

Melborne tipped his head to the side. Sure, he liked to eat meat, but he would never eat a human. Especially a boy that was so young that smelled of death so early.

He looked down before he pressed his one claw against a his book bag and passed it toward him. He pressed it toward him and the boy kneeled down to pick it up. He swung it over his back as he wiped his nose on the sleeve.

Melborne tried not to cringe as he looked at him. So innocent and so alone. He couldn't just leave him there, he knew that much. He wasn't sure how to take care of a child, let alone a human one, but he would certainly figure it out. He couldn't just leave him there to be attacked by something other than a wolf.

He stretched out his paw and offered it to the boy to touch. The boy looked a little fearful as he stretched out his hand, but his fingers moved through Melborne's fur. Melborne actually liked the feeling of someone stroking him like this. Perhaps this could work out.

Once the boy had stopped touching him, he turned his paw over and offered him to jump onto his paw. The boy looked behind him before Melborne let out a soft whimper. The boy climbed onto Melborne's outstretched paw and Melborne couldn't help but rumble in amusement.

The boy shifted slightly in Melborne's tight grip before the boy sat down. He brought the boy to his chest and spread his wings, starting to fly and out of the forest. The trees seemed to engulf around them before Melborne started to fly through the air and over to the den. He lowered down slowly and limped forward so that he would keep the boy from hitting the ground.

He made his way into the den and set down the boy gingerly. The boy followed Melborne into the den and Melborne opened his mouth, breathing softly as fire came from his mouth and engulfed the ground ablaze. It was just a small fire and it would be just enough to keep the boy warm.

"What's your name," asked the boy. "I'm Pete."

Melborne opened his mouth and growled softly. "Melborne," he replied.

He suddenly realized that Pete couldn't understand him, but he could understand Pete. There would be no way for him to speak to him at all. They would have to create a way to speak to each other.

Pete sat down by the fire as he looked up to Melborne. "I'm going to call you Elliot!"

"Elliot," echoed Melborne in surprise at the name. He had never heard a name like that before. It certainly wasn't a dragon name. It was clearly a human name like Pete.

Melborne shook his head. "My name is Melborne, not Elliot."

The boy then yawned as he stretched before he settled again Melborne. He patted Melborne and smiled. "Goodnight, Elliot."

Melborne rolled his eyes. "I guess Elliot isn't a bad name," he decided as he lowered the rest of the way down, resting his head on his paws and yawning. He then closed his eyes and breathed to himself. "Elliot. I like that name. Elliot."