. : D R A G O N B O R N : . (a MCSM fanfic)

Chapter 3: Secrets

"Quark?"

Petra's eyes snapped open.  For a moment, she wasn't sure where she was, or what was happening, but as her eyes cleared she came to realize that she was laying in her bed in her room.  The dim light inside the room signaled that the moon was still high in the sky-- the night couldn't be more than half over.  So what had woken her?

"Quark?"

Oh no.

She threw off her blankets, grabbing for her robe and hurriedly throwing it on over her nightgown, and quickly stumbled to the window, peering out into the night.  The clearing around the temple appeared to be empty-- no sign of the dragon.  Maybe she'd imagined it, and the dragon really had stayed in the nearby woods--

"Quark!"

Petra stifled a yelp and fell backwards as the black form popped up in the window outside.  She panted a little, and then shook her head, quickly getting up and going to the window.  She shoved it open, sticking her head outside.  "You're supposed to stay in the woods!" she hissed.

The dragon gave a little whimper and then suddenly launched itself at the window, wriggling through before she could stop it.  Petra stifled a disgruntled yelp.  "What?  No!  No, you cannot stay inside!"

It blinked up at her, tilting its head, and she reached for it-- only to have the tiny beast scramble up and dart away, disappearing under her bed.  Petra muttered under her breath, immensely grateful for the fact that she had her own room, and approached the bed, peering under it.  "Okay, game's over.  Come on out."

The dragon wagged its head and gave a tiny growl, wedged into the corner.  It clearly wasn't about to move.

She raised an eyebrow.  "I told you already-- you can't stay here!  If the others find you, they will kill you!  You need to go back and wait in the woods, where it's safe."

It made a small sound of objection, wagging its head again.  Petra rolled her eyes.  "I want you gone before I wake up tomorrow, alright?  You can't stay here, and that's final..."

She rolled back into bed with a huff, too exhausted to deal with the dragon so late at night.  The dragon snuffled around for a moment underneath and then went quiet, evidently having settled in.  Petra sighed, pulled the covers up, and forced herself to try and sleep.

***

Something warm and moist touched her nose and she groaned, stirring, wincing as she grew conscious of bright sunlight streaming in.  The sun must have just risen.

The strange sensation came again, and she moved her arm to rub at her face-- only to whack into something solid.  Her eyes snapped open and focused on the dragon's face... hovering inches from her own.

"Queep?"

She gave a startled yell and bolted up, entangling herself in the blankets in her alarm and flopping to the floor, dragging the dragon down with her.  It gave a shriek , struggling to get out from underneath her as she herself fought to rise.

"What in the name of sanity are you doing?" she hissed, "I told you to be out of here by morning!"

The dragon gave an indignant "Quirp!" and glared at her, shaking out its wings-- but both of them froze as footsteps sounded outside.  Petra quickly snapped out of her surprise and threw one of the pillows under the dragon, shoving it under the bed and ignoring the muffled angry quarks coming from under the bed-- moments before Lukas flung open the door.

"Petra???"  He quickly glanced around the room, eyebrows shooting up as he saw her sprawled on the floor.  "Petra, what happened??"

She shoved herself halfway into a sitting position with a muffled grunt, trying to untangle the blankets from around her legs.  "I fell," she muttered, with a quick glance at the bed to make sure the dragon had not found its way out.

"You fell?"  He looked concerned.  "What?  Why?"

"Must have been a dream," she sighed, successfully getting the blankets off and rising quickly, ruefully wishing it really had been a dream.

Lukas looked dubious.  "Oh... sure... that makes sense..."  He watched her for a long moment, and she tried not to seem suspicious.

"Yeah, a dream," she repeated, huffing.  "Don't suppose there's any use trying to get back to sleep now, though... might as well just get up and get breakfast..."

"Right..."  He still seemed unconvinced, but made no further remark, simply eyeing her.

"...So... I'd better get ready..." She gave him a slightly pointed glance, and he quickly nodded.

"Oh, sure.  I'll go get started on breakfast..."  He stepped back, closing the door again, and she heaved a sigh of relief.

The dragon shoved its head out from under the bed and growled sharply glaring up at her.  She turned crossly to face it.  "Now don't you even start-- if it weren't for me, you would have been caught!  Now come on-- you've got to get out of here!"  She scooped the little creature up and tossed it out the window.  It landed upright, much like a cat, and cast one last glance back.  Petra made a shooing motion at it and closed the window, quickly hurrying into her day clothes and heading out the door.