Words and Swords (ON HOLD)

Real Joy

A tense atmosphere surrounded the two beings. Everything around them seemed to slow until time itself had almost seemed to stop. The wind warped through the trees and right around them, whipping past Lashone's ear to create a quick whistle. Her fluffy pigtails flew upwards, riding the wind for a brief moment before crashing back down, onto her back. The trees and grass remained still, as though they were trying not to disturb these two in their moment. All was still and all was calm.

All was calm until Lashone lifted her hand to touch the creature that is.

Smoke billowed from the being's nostrils and small dying embers with them. Lashone stepped back in shock and in an attempt not to inhale the smoke. The creature's eyes narrowed looking through Lashone, inspecting her. Lashone threw her hands up in the air in front of her as if she were confronting patrol bot.

"Whoa! Easy there!" she exclaimed. "I...come in peace?"

She nervously smiled at the creature, which was no longer docile. Burning embers blazed fiercely in its nostrils. It arched its back as it emitted a low growl.

Great, Lashone thought. Just great

She began slowly backing away from the creature. As she did, it gradually calmed itself, relaxing its muscles and ceasing to snort smoke. It's arched back slowly sank down and it's angry, menacing growls gradually faded until nothing could be heard but the whistling wind.

Lashone sighed in relief, slowly lowering her hands back down to her sides. And a small smile crept up onto her face.

Something about this situation just seemed too good to be true. A species she'd never seen or heard of? A new discovery? A near death experience? It was everything she had been hoping for the past few months, years even. Well, minus the almost dying part.

Lashone felt herself growing giddy and warm inside. She was reverting from a somewhat proper young lady into a five year old child. Every part of her tingled with anticipation, yet also anxiety. Warmth rushed to her cheeks as she fiddled with her fingers and bounced up and down slightly on the balls of her feet. Looking at the creature fondly, Lashone couldn't help but smile. And she couldn't really stop. Her grin stretched from ear to ear, rounding out her face and making her look even more childlike.

The creature snorted, satisfied the curious child was giving them space, but rather wary of their prescence still.

They began to back away slowly, wincing slightly, catching Lashone's attention.

Lashone's stare intensified but became driven by more concern than curiosity. She remained at a distance, but oh how she longed to get close and comfort the pained being.

And her staring profited her pursuit of knowledge about this creature.

A wing

A torn wing

She'd barely seen it. Anyone else could've decided it was just their imagination running wild.

But Lashone trusted she knew what she saw.

Which sent her thoughts spiraling.

Wings?

Scales?

Snorting embers?

Lashone's eyes widened. She was willing to believe a lot of things but the loudest thought in her mind was just beyond the line of outrageousness she was used to condoning. Had a dragon really made their way here?

Her astonished acceptance of this realization gave way to hundreds of questions. It was as though someone found the floodgates of her mind let the billions of questions ideas and thoughts stored in the back ravage everything else in it. Her thoughts were so strong and captivatingly powerful she instantly forgot where she was, and, for a moment, what caused said forgetfulness.

She blinked a few times and with each blink her mind became a little clearer and she was pulled a little closer to reality. And when her mind was clear enough for her to actually use her vision, she noticed the small black scaled dragon limping away.

Lashone took a moment to process this, still not fully out of her own head, then scrambled to her feet, nearly tripping a she hurried over to the tired injured reptile. Dragons were reptiles right? She shook her head and refused to let the question sidetrack her.

"Hey wait-"

She was interrupted by a low growl from the small dragon, who tried to continue walking away but stopped and whimpered in pain

She crouched down slightly, trying to be eye level with the poor thing. "Don't worry! I just want to help!"

The creature eyed her warily. Luckily it was no longer growling...just glaring like it was wondering which chunk of her was best to tear to shreds.

She smiled, hands outstreched as a sign of peace. "Mind if I take a look at that wing, huh?"

The black scaled beast didn't utter a word. Just simply continued with its glare.

Lashone took the silence as a yes, and she rested one had on the dragon's head and went to examine the wing. Her smile fell flat as she entered a state deep concentration. She observed the slashes across the thin material the wing was composed of, before moving her eyes to examine other, more circular tears. Bullet holes.

Lashone grimaced, feeling her face twist with utter disgust. The poor thing was just a child. Why would someone treat them so harshly?

Lashone felt her right hand shift and looked to see the poor young victim staring up at her with their large dark eyes, with a slight tilt to her head. Lashone's free hand instinctively flew to her chest, desiring to grab her heart and stop it from beating so rapidly. Simply looking into their eyes made her feel as though she would self destruct in the next ten seconds.

She moved her hand that wasn't busy trying to keep her heart at bay, dragging it across the dragon's head, feeling their oddly warm, smooth black scales glide seamlessly under fingers along with a slight vibration. She tilted her own head at the feeling, whilst bringing her hand further across the dragon's head, down their neck slowly, soaking in the oddly satisfying feeling of the smooth scales paired with the consistent, mild vibrations she could feel. A small smile managed to return to her lips, fighting off the disgusted expression she had donned moments ago.

The reptilian fellow, had closed their eyes and lost nearly all tensity, looking as though they were about to become as limp as a piece of string. There was no more growling, no more panic in their eyes, no more fearful attempts at escaping. They were shrouded in calm, as they slowly laid down, resting their head on the ground between what Lashone could best describe as their paws.

She didn't stop, instead continued to pat the tired being, moving her hand along their neck and back, feeling the rising and falling of their chest slow. When she became certain they were too deep in slumber to resist her, she carefully attempted picking them up, before blinking with comically wide eyes at how difficult simply picking them up was. She had crouched down, wrapping her fore arms slowly and methodically around the torso, attempting to stand but her body barely moved. Of course the dragon themself didn't move at all.

She let out a long quiet breath, already knowing that this was going to be a painful struggle. Regardless of how challenging it would be, she had already commited, so down she went for round two, gritting her teeth, tensing up and gathering energy before springing up, dragon body in hand.

She had surprised herself, having not expected to be able to do it on the second try, if at all. She stumbled in her state of surprise, trying to figure out how to carry the sleeping child's weight without tipping over and ending up back at square one.  She carefully shifted the small heavy baby in her arms until she managed to get them to rest on her back. She heaved a much heavier sigh of relief. With her hunched back, and new passenger, she began taking slow small steps out of the woods, hoping she'd at least make it halfway home before she fainted from exhaustion.