[Abandoned] The Dragon That Is Most Certainly Not a Prince

In Which He Makes More Friends

The morning sees Bellwyn and I off on her horse before the sun is up. She feeds me a piece of jerky from her bag, and I nibble on it while I sit between her and the saddle-horn, curled up around the meat while she sets the horse off at a canter. As we go, she points at small towns she passes, telling me stories as she does, and telling me of adventures she's had; a lost dog here, a stolen heirloom there, and fighting off bandits with a party of other adventurers in that copse in the distance.

It takes far less time to get to the city than she'd told me, once the horse got warmed up. I bounce along in the safety between Bellwyn's legs, despite the awkward position and the even more awkward way I have to sit, with my hind legs in the air and my tail curled up over my belly, but I don't complain. She seems to appreciate how quiet I'm being, and she even gives me a few pats when we pass a small caravan of traders and I didn't make a single threatening movement or a peep.

This city is much larger than I thought it would be, but it could also just be because I'm much smaller than I've ever been, now. The buildings stretch far above me, and I catch Bellwyn's neck craning as she looks up at a few of them. We ride deeper into the city, where more people and horses and carriages clatter around. Sinking deeper into the small hole of safety Bellwyn made, I curl up around the remaining jerky as if it's going to protect me from the horses suddenly getting skittish when we pass, or the few looks some observant drivers give me when they catch sight of me.

Bellwyn finally dismounts, and I unroll, sliding off the side of the saddle, but she catches me before I try to right myself, and she holds me close to her body while she passes the reins off to a stable-hand, who gives me a wide-eyed look. I go back to nibbling furiously on my jerky as she carries me into the building. Inside, it's loud and raucous, and I have a feeling adventurers have a guild, and this is one of the bases. She waves to someone at one of the tables, and makes her way through the crowd to them, dumping me unceremoniously on the table when she makes it. Holding the remnants of my jerky firmly between my teeth, I sit up and shake myself, my wings making a little shffshff sound when I do. Nobody seems to be too alarmed to find a dragon dumped on the table.

"Everyone, this is Verdant. I found him in a cave on the way back."

I wave a claw at the large man across from me, and eye the sharp-looking woman on my left, while the shorter girl on the right looks more interested in Bellwyn than me.

"He's tiny," the woman says, rather uninterested, then turns to ask Bellwyn about the trip.

I get dragged closer to the edge of the table, and the large man takes a corner of my jerky, tugging on it slightly. By the way he pulls on it, I know what he's doing; he's trying to play tug-of-war, like I would play with the hunting dogs back home. Each time he tugs, I loosen my grip enough that it doesn't tear the jerky, and pull back. It's actually far more entertaining being on the smaller end of this game, and I find myself chirping indignantly when he takes the jerky from me.

"Verdant, eh? I like 'im," the man rumbles, and, so close to his chest, I can practically feel the vibration in the table. "A scrappy lil guy."

Bellwyn's laughter takes away a bit of the joy I derive from snapping the jerky back from the man's fingers and swallowing it up. "You wouldn't know it if you'd found him with me. He's loosened up a lot over the trip. Show Gavin how loosened up you are, Verdant."

Sticking my little tongue out at her is apparently the right answer. I've never stuck my tongue out at someone, and it feels... liberating, strangely. Gavin, the large man, picks me up and dangles a new piece of jerky in front of me. This piece is almost as long as I am. Snapping at it, he moves it out of my reach, and I paw at his face in protest, chittering angrily. Properly chastised, he gives me the jerky and watches with fascination as I gnaw at the tough meat. The girl is watching us, now, and I watch her back.