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

Chapter 6: Division

As days passed and turned to weeks, Petra found herself venturing further and further into the woods with the dragon in tow.  He had grown rapidly since his hatching, taller than a wolf at the shoulder and many times as long.  His proportions had shifted-- no longer was he the wobbly, round little beast that had emerged from the egg, but was now long and lithe, the sleek form of a hunter.  And a competent hunter he had quickly become, fending for himself in the woods.  Often he would vanish, sometimes for as long as a quarter of an hour as he sought food to sustain himself.  He no longer came home at night-- too large to stay hidden should someone walk in.  But though both of them knew he had grown into a formidable foe, he remained gentle toward her, never snapping or lashing out.

She could see the growing intelligence in his eyes-- he was not the monster she had been raised to fear, not the legendary beast lurking in the shadows to wait for its next victim, but a thoughtful, rational creature, much like herself, hunting what he needed and sparing the rest, making no enemy without reason.  Day by day she could see him learning, could feel him strengthening, and though she would have hesitated to admit it, she knew in her heart that she trusted him.  He would not hurt her, she knew-- and she could see he placed the same faith in her.

As they walked, she realized she hadn't wandered the woods in ages-- not since Jesse's coming, before the storm.  In a way, she'd always missed it-- the solitude, the sharp thrill of adventure.  There was something about this untamed land that she could never fully let go-- the wild kept hold of her heart.  She knew she could not settle in one place forever...

"I remember when I used to live out here," she murmured, and the dragon, striding by her side, lifted his head to look up at her.  She turned to him as well, her mind distant.  "It was... nice.  Lonely, but..."  She shook her head.  "You can do what you want out here... go where you want, without having to ask.  You don't have anyone telling you what to do.  You're free."  She shook her head with a soft sigh.  "Back there... people expect things of me.  They all have their ideas of who I should be..."

The dragon pinned his ears.  "Kaj." he rumbled, lowering his head.  His speech had shifted since his arrival-- becoming less of a chirping, squeaking cry to something near human speech.  Petra knew he understood her words, and he often tried to answer, but his vocabulary was yet imperfect.

"It is like being in a cage," she sighed, furrowing her brow.  "A cage that no one sees-- except me.  Sometimes... it's nice just to get away."

"Wud sef," he said, looking up at her.  "Wud hom."

"I don't know where my home is," she admitted quietly.  "The woods... the town... I don't know..."

The dragon slowed a little, pausing in his gait, and she stopped, turning quizzically to face him.  He hesitated, and then rose up on his hind legs, tentatively reaching out to lay one claw over her heart.  "Hom."

She frowned.  "I... I don't know..."

"Hom," he repeated, more urgently this time, and then pinned his ears, withdrawing, when she failed to understand.

Petra laid her hand over the spot he had touched, lowering her gaze to the ground.  "I don't know... I'm sorry."

He seemed hesitant, eyes darting, and then approached again, reaching out and gently taking her hand in his claws.  He moved it, laying it on the smooth scales over his chest.  "Xanhom."

She tilted her head.  "I... I'm sorry?  I don't understand..."

He kept his hold on her hand.  "Xan-Xanhom," he repeated, and then reached back to her.  "Peh-hom."