The Dragon Who Was Left Alone

3. A Gift

Taiga had packed everything in her backpack and was ready to leave the camp spot. She stood there, staring the rocky path, telling herself to continue the travel towards the mountain tops. But she couldn't move. She was waiting and hoping to hear a rustle from behind her, in case the dragonling would be there.
Taiga had been worried at morning of where the boy had vanished. He had left her cape and taken an apple (which she noticed when taking a piece of bread as a breakfast) and had disappeared completely. The forest was big and she knew it was no use to go look for him, she'd only get herself lost. And if the dragonling didn't want to get found, the possibly of seeing him again was pretty nonexistent. So Taiga had gotten ready to leave, but she hadn't hurried with anything, giving him time to appear. The sun had climbed higher in the sky and now she was ready to go.
Taiga knew she was lucky to have met the dragonling, but departing without a word hurt her. She would have wanted to ask him to come with her away from the forest, even though meeting other humans would probably be scary to him. But she would have helped him and they could have traveled together to search more dragons.
With a deep sigh she took first slow steps out of the forest. The path would be uphill from here on. Taiga reminded herself why she had come here in the first place, to see with her own eyes if the highest mountain peak really was one of the ancient magical places.
"Taiga?" A little whisper said. She turner around, hoping she had heard right. Right behind her stood the dragonling with little arms full of something that looked like... eggshell?
"There you are, I thought you left", Taiga said and smiled at the boy.
"I did. For a moment. I wanted to thank you for your caring", dragonling answered while offering the little pile towards Taiga. She put her staff and backpack to the ground and then took the pile from him. Gently she put it to the ground too and sat down to take a closer look at one of the six little pieces. Dragonling smiled at her.
"What are these?" Taiga asked while inspecting the piece which golden color shone through the dirt.
"They are pieces of my egg. I think they are so pretty and shiny and they are my only treasure." Taiga nodded. A dragonling had already taken a liking on shiny things, at the age of few weeks. She thought she needs to write it down at some point, it showed dragons' attraction towards treasures wasn't learned behavior.
"And since you gave me apples, I thought I'd give you something too." She looked at him in confusion.
"Come here", Taiga laughed and the dragonling took a step towards her. She hugged him tightly but gently, slightly catching him off guard.
"Thank you. They are beautiful indeed. Did you go to get them at morning all by yourself?" She asked after letting go of him. He nodded, confused of the hug. She laughed a bit.
"That was a hug, a way to show affection for someone. Or a way to thank someone for a beautiful gift." The dragonling nodded slightly again.
"So you mean you like them?"
"I do. After giving them a little washing, they'll shine even more beautifully." The dragonling seemed happy with himself and jumped around Taiga and her stuff. Every time his leg hit the rocks there was a sharp clicking sound. It took taiga a moment to realize what caused it.
"Hey.. hey! Calm down!" She laughed and asked him to sit down for a moment.
"You know, I've never met a dragon before. Or a dragonling. I'd really much like to see your claws, if you want to let me see."
"Sure, but there isn't anything special in them", dragonling answered and lifted his too long pant legs up.

Taiga was speechless. His whole ankles were covered in little golden scales that continued higher his skin and the structure of the legs was definitely different from human's. It seemed elegant yet at the same time she could clearly see muscles under the scales, proving that his legs had power in them. His instep was slightly shorter from human scale, but he had 4 long toes that made it longer than it would have normally been. At the end of each toe, there was a black sharp claw, maybe 2 centimeters long. She immediately thought of eagles, since the claw curled downwards slightly.
The dragonling had taken his so called cape off and was leaning backwards on his hands. The inner side of his wrists had few gold scales too. His tail was next to him, about a meter long and very thin. Taiga looked at it in amazement, followed its form till the end, where the golden scales ended and gave space for tiny black spike.
"Show me your toes!" The dragonling suddenly insisted. Taiga laughed.
"You really want to see my toes? They aren't special in any way.." she said, but decided to give up when dragonling nodded furiously. She undid her boots' shoelaces and took off her socks to show her feet. He looked at it in confusion.
"See, humans don't have scales and we have five toes. In general our legs aren't as powerful as a dragon's", she tried her best to explain.
"You don't have any scales?"
"No."
"You don't have sharp climbing claws?"
"Sadly, no."
The dragonling was silent a moment.
"Do you have a tail?"
"No, humans don't have tails."
After another silent moment he spoke again:
"I like my legs more." Taiga was taken by a surprise, but after then started to laugh so much her stomach hurt.
"You know what? Me too. It'd be amazing to have claws like yours", she said tears in her eyes. She wiped them off and started to put back on her socks and shoes.
A sudden wind blew through the area, making the dragonling shake a bit. Taiga asked if he was feeling cold.
"Yes, the wind blows more here than there in the woods", he said while pointing back at the forest.
"There was a little opening close to where I hatched, with a little pond of water. I liked to lay down there on the grass and warm in the sunlight. Cloudy days are the worst, I feel chilly all day", he continued, closing his eyes and letting the morning sun warm him slightly.
"But it was a bit lonely there. I like being with you. I wish you wouldn't leave." Taiga reached her hand towards the boy and touched his shoulder. She felt the need to reassure the dragonling somehow, but she wasn't sure of what to say.
"What if... what if you left with me? We could travel together", she said quietly after a moment. Taiga bit her lip. She wasn't sure if the dragonling would like to leave the forest, it had been all he knew so far. She looked towards the boy and saw his eyes shining.
"Would you show me more magic?"
"Of course, I could even teach you some of the things I know."
"That'd be awesome! Would you really teach me? Like how to summon a star or make a stone to glow like that?" he laughed and got up. After a moment of hesitation, he turned towards Taiga, who was just getting up too, and hugged her tightly. She almost lost balance out of surprise, but hugged him back.
"Yes, I'd gladly take you as my apprentice and travel company. I'll teach you all kinds of things."
"But where are we going to travel?" Dragonling asked when letting go of Taiga. She thought for a moment and sighed.
"I was going to travel to the highest peak of these mountains, but it is going to be very cold up there." The boy shivered slightly of the thought.
"So I suggest that we go find our adventure from somewhere else. There is a village on the other side of the forest, let's stop there to get you some things you'll need."
"Like what? What do I need?" He asked curiously.
"Let's see... I think we should get you clothes that are more of your size and would be more warm. A cape could be useful too. And a little backpack so you can carry treasures with you." The dragonling nodded.
Taiga packed the eggshell pieces carefully to her backpack and made sure they were on top of everything else. She took her backpack and staff and got ready to leave. The sun had climbed high and the mist from earlier had almost completely disappeared. The dragonling had tied the fabric working as his cape around his tiny form. He was looking at Taiga, all ready to go. Curiosity sparkled in his bright blue eyes like stars on night sky.

Taiga glanced once more towards the mountain peaks and thought of why she had come here. Silently giving up her task, she turned around and followed the boy back to the forest path. She knew the choice to take him with her changed their destinies, or maybe it was their destiny to have met here like that. The trees hid the mountains behind them as Taiga and her new apprentice walked toward their first challenge, a human village.