A cool breeze cantered across the waves of the Rorrimae Sea. The salty spray danced, turning in intricate ballets on the winds. The smell of the waters found their way up a small cliff on the westward side of an island. This island wasn't particularly large, something in-between one and two square miles. However, what was lacked in size was made up in beauty. Atypical palms and white sands littered the beaches, but the closer to the center of the isle the more colorful it became. Fruit trees speckled here and there along a freshwater creek, and flowers of dark shades of red and bright white climbed the tall shade trees. Vines hung from crooked branches, connecting everything like so many veins and allowing the various fauna to move effortlessly through the canopy.
The island had no name, save for "home", Given to it by the the dragon who had taken up residence there some time ago. The serpent, who called herself Ashiah, was riding the currents in the clouds months ago when she was taken off course by an unexpected squall. The storm was angry, and only by the thin skin of her wings did she find shelter in time before the grey swirls in the sky turned black and hurled lightning. When morning came and the sun shown it's face again, Ashiah was able to see that the cave she had sheltered in belonged to a lovely Isle that, for the most part, had everything she would need to make it a permanent home.
The freshwater that filtered through the land was enough to sustain her, and the white sands would be perfect for sunning her pale green, scaly hide. Ashiah wasn't a very large creature, her wings making up most of her size. Her wingspan measured some 4 meters wide, and nose to tail she was only but 2 meters long. A fat rabbit, claw full of pears and nuts, or small island pig was all she would need to eat her fill every day. This spot of dirt in the sea had plenty of that and more!
All that was missing, was a bit of landscaping. Ashiah spent the first weeks there zooming around the isle, burning this tree and that bush. She flew back and forth from the mainland, bringing fruits and seeds to plant to supplement her diet. She had planted the fruit trees along the creek, cleared areas inland so that she would have grass to sleep on. She then gathered the grasses, leaves, and other fibers to bring back to the cave. Once there, she arranged them into a snug and sturdy nest. The cave had two entrances, one facing the sea and one facing out over the island. The sea faring side was a sheer 20 meter drop off, with nary a ledge to cling to; should one misstep. This wasn't an issue for Ashiah, being that she had wings.
The side facing the island was steep, but easily climbable. Rocky ledges and jutting stones created a veritable staircase of sorts leading almost all the way to it's entrance. The last stone "step" stopped short of about 2 meters the entrance. Just enough to stop any unwelcome critters from crawling their way in during the night. Ashiah spent a short while hiding the entrance to the isle-side mouth of the cave with some vines, hooking them into cracks and crevices in the rock.
'With luck they will take root here and won't need to be fixed often.' the dragon thought to herself.
Having made her cave into a comfy chamber fit for a queen, Ashiah curled up in her nest and fell asleep looking out the seaside cave mouth as the sun set over the horizon. The colors painted vivid dreams in her minds eye while she rested.
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Meanwhile, back on the mainland shores, a man not long in his years gazed out across the Rorrimae Sea at the same sunset. Over the last several days, this young man had seen the strangest thing.
A dragon.
A dragon had been flying over his home on the beach, over and again carrying things in it's claws. Dumbstruck, he went to the nearby village tavern to ask if anyone else had seen what he had. Most took what he said as a joke, clasping his shoulder in belts of laughter and "what an imagination there, Jakob!" or brushing him off with annoyed glances. Some said he needed to get out more, that his boredom was causing him insanity. It was true he didn't leave his small cottage much, and since the deaths of his parents in his 20th summer, nearly 5 years ago, he lived alone. Toiling his days away chopping wood, gathering roots and fruits, hunting, or crafting trinkets to sell in the village when he went to the tavern to be a part of society every now and again.
Overall, save for a few curious children that were shooed away by their mothers, his claim was ignored and taken for folly. Angry and annoyed himself, he had stormed out of the tavern and raced back to his cottage on the beach.
Now he stared on in the direction he had last seen the dragon fly, and decided to prove what he had seen was true.
At first, he wanted to simply bring two or three people to his cottage and have them watch the skies with him for the beast. But, as there was no set time the dragon would show -and it would often be days at a time or even weeks- it didn't seem a reliable tactic.
The next option was to craft a small boat, and row out as far as he could with a few provisions to see if he could find where the dragon had come from.
Each day, Jakob went into the woods and chopped trees down to collect wood. Using the larger sections to build a small boat, and the smaller ones to make arrows, a new bow, and a spear.
The next few animals he caught were smoked and dried to lengthen how long they would last, and their hides were made into packs and bags for the fruits and dried meat. He made two large water skins, filled them, and tied them to the mast of his near finished masterpiece.
Two weeks had gone by, during which he had only seen the dragon once. But it always came and went from the same direction, the East.
Jakob nearly had everything ready. Having made a short list, he check off each item as he dressed himself.
Water? Check. Food? Check. Bow? Check. Arrows? Check. Extra leather for patches? Check.
After pulling on his thick leather boots and strapping his things down in the boat, he turned back and looked at his cottage one more time. He had enough provisions to last a week or so, and had never been away from home that long.
Nerves took him over, giving him the shakes and making his legs weak. He sat down and he wasted the day sitting in his boat staring off over the waves. Before he knew it, the sun was on its way down and it was too late to leave. He needed to wait for morning and make the most of the daylight hours. This made him secretly relieved, glad for another day in the comfort of his own place.
Early morning came with the early rays of light, and with it a new sense of determination. Jakob was already dressed and had a solid meal, and was walking towards his small boat. He pulled the anchoring stake from the wet sand and threw it into the floor, stepping in behind it and settling himself on the small bench he put in for himself. Stretching his arms and rotating them in their sockets, he grabbed the oars and pushed off.
Each paddle drew him farther away from shore and he felt his nerves start to tingle again when he couldn't see his little cottage anymore. Fighting the urge to turn back, Jakob turned his head and focused on making sure he kept the bow of the little skipper headed East.
Only three or four hours had passed, judging by how high the sun was in the sky. Jakob could no longer see the shoreline of the mainland, and had already gotten a slight sunburn. Grabbing a drink from one of his water skins, Jakob stood up on his bench and covered his eyes as he peered out over the water in hopes that maybe he would see something. Anything to let him know he was on the right track. His sign came not then, but an hour later when he heard the *Whoosh* of beating wings overhead. Looking up towards the sound, the sight of pale green wings filled his vision. Flying back in the direction of the mainland, the green serpent seemingly paid no mind to the man in the boat below it.
Jakobs' humble skipper rocked back and forth slightly in the small gusts made by the dragons wings. Nothing close to causing him to capsize, but enough to worry Jakob none the less. Watching closely as the green dot faded completely from view, Jakob once again stood up and looked out over the water to the East.
This time, in the distance, he could see a tall rock face and what was presumably an island attached to it breaking up the horizon. Excitement overtook him, and he hurriedly placed his butt on the bench and began rowing as quickly as he could. Another 45 minutes went by before the bow of the boat made contact with the white sands. After a few minutes of rest, Jakob dragged the boat to the treeline to hide it under the ferns and underbrush. He didn't want the dragon to see it and destroy it or anything of the sort, and he wanted to make sure nothing could happen to the rest of his food and water.
Thinking of food, he decided a small celebratory lunch was in order. Not only had he finally left his home on the beach to explore, but he had done so in pursuit of a dragon, and traveled to a whole other island! If only his parents could see him now, they would be proud.
Before settling down in the sleepy seaside village of less that 500, his parents travelled around the continent and even went across an ocean once. When his mother learned she was expecting him, they decided instead of looking for more adventures, they would instead look for a quiet place to raise their baby. The very next small port they landed in was the village he grew up in, and the quaint little town of Rosevale became all he knew. But now? Now he was an explorer, a traveler, an adventurer, a knight even, a-
The rumble of his stomach telling him to hurry up and eat interrupted his thoughts. Turning his thoughts from grand adventures to simple meals, he got a few strips of smoked meat and an apple from his bags and sat in the shade eating and waiting. Waiting to see the dragon return, and see where on this island it lived.
He didn't have to wait long.
Soon, the pale green, like that of a granny Smith apple, broke through the yellow rays of afternoon sun and flew towards the west side of the island where the tall cliff face was. Keeping watch, Jakob saw as the dragon flew with precision into the mouth of a cave near the top.
Having gotten a good look at it on his way in, Jakob was already certain that he could never climb the cliff. He needed to find a way to prove the dragon was real, a discarded claw or tooth, scale, something from it's nest. But not at the cost of his life.
He deliberated for a moment, then decided he would climb the island mountain to the top, then try to make a rope long enough to lower himself to the cave on the cliff side. From what he could tell, the cave mouth was only about 10 feet down from the tip top of the cliff.
Now that he had a plan, or at least the semblance of one, he got to work gathering vines and such for his rope while he carefully worked his way up towards the cliff.
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Ashiah was on her way back from another trip to the mainland. She looked around the sea on her way back for any sign of the boat and the man that she had seen while on her way to the mainland. She didn't see him, or any sign of his boat. No wreckage or red in the water to indicate that he was attacked or had capsized. 'Perhaps he was out on a fishing trip, or just out to be out?' she thought. She was curious, she had seen people plenty of times before. They were curious to her, but she had been taught to avoid them. She had been taught that despite them being physically weak, they were dangerous because they were cunning. That they would send out ones who called themselves knights to kill things that made them feel threatened. So she kept her distance. When she would make her occasional trip to the mainland, she had avoided flying over any clusters of them and stuck to the outer edges. She would accidentally fly over the stand alone home, but didn't think much of it.
Ashiah was unaware she had caught the interest of one of the soft predators. She was unaware that he had made his way to her home on the lovely island, and that he was watching now as she landed on the edge of her cave home and walked inside to get out of the sun awhile. Laying down her new haul of apples, some stolen pelts, and a shiny thing she had seen them messing with when they seemed to be practicing fighting. She had watched from a nearby tree, and when they were done and had put down their things, she stole away with the biggest piece.
It came in handy because she was able to grip it's edges with both front hands as she flew, making it ideal to carry her other things. It was like a platter, or large flat bowl or sorts. After putting her things down, she stretched and walked to the island side mouth of her cave. The day was bright, and she could see all the way to her grass clearing, and see the light shine off the ripples in her creek. She looked to the white sand on her beach, and then her eyes settled on an odd shallow trench that ran through it. It looked as though something large had been drug through it, and she wanted to see what lay at the end of the trail. It reminded her of the smaller trails that clams leave when they move about, and the thought of a giant clam on her beach excited her.
Leaping into the air and gliding down to the beach, she landed at the beginning on the trail in the waves. Sniffing at it the whole way, Ashiah followed it all the way to her tree line where she noticed several plants out of place and laid in a large haphazard pile. Confused, Ashiah used her claws to brush and pluck away at the leaves and branches until a familiar object came into view. A boat, the boat she saw earlier. The boat with the man in it. Making the connection, she took a defensive stance and looked around with prying eyes. Looking for anything else out of place, or for an unfriendly pair of eyes to be looking back.
Unable to detect anything obvious, she started looking for prints instead.
Why was he here?
What did he want?
Did she threaten him?
She needed to find him first. If anything she had been told about them was true, she needed to be ahead of him.
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Jakob had a few handfuls of strong vines that he was weaving together into a rope. He had gotten into a groove, and was even humming to himself when the unexpected sight of the dragon taking flight stopped him. He had been hiding about halfway down the mountain in a little covert of tree roots. When he was startled, it was because he didn't know that there was a way in to the dragon den that faced this way. Jakob had thought the only way in was at the sea face. However, the dragon didn't come flying from OVER the mountain, it had only just taken flight. Which meant there was a hidden way into the cave from this side!
Jakob was giddy. This meant no daring scaling for him! Just a quick stealth mission. That would be much easier. He may actually be able to be home this time tomorrow.
Watching the dragon, he threw down his now unnecessary rope and started the climb to the top.
He stopped almost immediately when he realized what the dragon was doing. It was sniffing at the sand he had dragged his boat through, and now it was looking around and sniffing in his direction. The dragon folded it's wings in and kept its nose to the ground as it disappeared into the woods to continue his trail.
Jakob felt his blood run cold. It knows now.
He turned and half scrambled, half ran the rest the way to the top of the mountain. There was a ledge that was difficult to scale up, as it was about 2 meters tall. But, there were vines that were growing all over it and he was able to use these to hoist himself over. In the process of pulling himself up, he tried to lean on the rock ahead of him but...there was no rock behind the thick vines. The vines moved aside and there was the cave entrance. He made it! Quickly scurrying inside, he looked around the dragons den and he was- well, he was disappointed. He had expected a huge horde of gold, bones of animals and the armored skeletons of knights long past.
Instead, there was what looked like a giant eagles nest padded with furs and grass. Instead of a golden horde of coins and treasure, there were a few odd trinkets and a single practice shield that he recognized from the boys defense trainers armory.
The only bones in the whole area were that of a rabbit, and they were in a neat pile in a corner. This dragon was hardly worth the name and fear mongering given to it by so many old stories!
After the initial disappointed feeling wore off, Jakob dug through the nest and was able to find a couple of discarded green scales and a singular tooth. He debated leaving the tooth behind, as it wasn't much bigger than a large wolf canine and would likely be called as such by the locals. But, he took it anyways.
"Even if they don't believe me, I'LL know. It'll be enough proof for me," Jakob thought aloud.
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Ashiah had followed the young man's trail all the way up the side of the mountain, and was now hiding just outside her own cave while she watched him rummage through her den.
Her privacy felt invaded, especially when he clearly looked disappointed at what she had.
'You go through my things and then have the nerve to act like you're the one who should be upset?!' she growled to herself.
She continued watching as he stole a few scales, and one of her teeth she had lost a week back. Ashiah was absolutely baffled. Did he follow her here to kill her, or just rob her? Looking on as he continued to pocket several of her things, she noticed he carried a long sharp stick on his back. His weapon on choice no doubt. Lucky for her, it was wooden. Her fiery breath could char it to nothing long before it reached her, of this she was certain.
As for being a knight, where was his armor? He wore nothing but light leather. That barely protects against the sun, much less fire or claws.
She could definitely defeat him. With that, Ashiah stepped into her cave to confront the intruder.
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Jakob was almost done, and was securing his ill-gotten loot to his belt in a small pouch when he heard the scraping sound. Turning quick, he saw the cat like eyes and the claws dragging on the floor. Though much smaller than he thought a dragon would be, it was still bigger than him and instilled a primal fear. He backed away, each step bringing him closer to the edge of the cliff facing the sea, and the rocks below.
Terrified, he dropped to his knees and looked up at the dragon. He was unable to move anymore, and if he were to die, he would rather face it with some amount of dignity. Bracing himself for the pain, whatever it may be, he closed his eyes and waited.
And waited.
And waited. Nothing was happening. He peeked with one eye partially open, and saw the dragon was still there. Still looking at him, but the once thin angry slits it had for pupils were now wide. Wide, like that of cat that just found a secret stash of cat nip.
The dragon brought its snout close to his own nose, and sniffed. Then sniffed his hair. Then his clothes. The gently bit and tugged at the pouch holding the things he had taken from it's nest.
He opened the pouch and dumped it out on the cave floor, the contents scattering themselves over several inches. The scales, the tooth, and even a gnawed on rabbit bone were all in plain view for the dragon to see.
The scales beast looked at the items, a visible confusion twisting it's face. It looked from the items, to Jakob, and back again for several seconds before snorting. Snorting and coughing? Almost like an odd laughing?
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Ashiah walked calmly towards the man, cornering him against the side of the cave that would lead to his certain death if he fell. She felt like he wasn't a knight since he lacked basically everything for it, so he was simply an annoyance to be dealt with. However, when she saw him crumple to the floor and close his eyes in fear, she couldn't help but feel...bad. She decided, maybe, it would be best not to kill him. After all, he didn't come to kill her, right? And she had always been curious about them. This could be her chance to learn a little about them.
She began sniffing him and exploring his personal effects like he had so rudely done to her. Then she found the pouch containing her things, and pulled at it. He seemed to understand, and poured the things on the floor. When she saw what this man had essentially risked his life for, she couldn't help but laugh. My, how interesting people were! How odd! Why a tooth? Why a bone, and old scales? If that's all they wanted they could just ask! Ashiah continued amusing herself with these thoughts while a very concerned human sat in front of her wondering if the sounds she was making were normal or not.
When she had composed herself once more, she scooted the oddball things back towards the human. He quickly put them back in the pouch and back on his belt. Ashiah walked to the island side entrance, and pulled him along with her tail. Dragging him back down the mountain and towards the fruit trees by the creek. Then by the grass field, and then her favorite sunning spot by the beach. She showed him all the things she liked, hoping to teach him that she was not a threat but rather wanted to be a kind presence. He took to these things happily and sun bathed with her for awhile before heading to his boat. She followed him, and he in turn showed her things he had brought. Then he pointed to the mainland, where he had come from. She watched as he pushed his boat into the water, and began to paddle back to his home.
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Once the dragon had finally stopped what he assumed was laughing, it gave him back the things he had taken and watched as he put them back into place on his belt. Then it turned, and drug him gently out of the cave, down the mountain, and to different places around the island. The dragon showed him the fruit trees it had brought back from the mainland, and shared some with him. It took him to a grass clearing, where Jakob assumed it collected grass for it's nest. Then it showed him a spot on the beach, and laid down all stretched out and relaxed. Jakob gathered they were taking a rest, and he happily laid down and lazed in the sun for a while. He wanted to show the creature some of his stuff too, so that he could show he appreciated what was happening. He showed the dragon his boat, the bench he built, the oars and his pouches of food and water. He pointed to the mainland and pushed his boat into the water, signaling it was time for him to go home. The dragon looked on as he waved and paddled away, then leaped into the air and hovered a moment before flying back to it's cliff. There, it stood on its hind legs with it's wings fully spread, and watched until Jakob had paddled out of view.
Jakob reached his boring cottage on the beach just before nightfall. He had his pouch of scales and teeth, but he was exhausted and need to sleep before telling anyone about what he had just done.
He brought his boat ashore and pulled it up beside his little home. He went inside and brushed his hair, and dressed for bed. He put his pouch on his desk, and went to bed. He was asleep before his head had hit the pillow.
Jakob was awoken to the sounds of excited knocking. He heard not one, not two, but three men's voices coming from outside his door, all calling his name and yelling at him to wake up. He groggily pulled himself out of bed and got a shirt on, then opened his door.
"Yes? What is it?" Jakob spoke.
"The dragon, Jakob. We saw it too, just the other day! We came to tell you, but you were gone. We believe you! We need to find it and kill it before it comes after our village!" said Vlad, one of the tavern regulars who had laughed Jakob off the day before.
Jakob thought about this. The dragon wasn't going to hurt them. It wasn't going to hurt anyone! But would they believe that? Would they trust him? Probably not. They looked pretty set on a hunting expedition.
"I already went to find it. Turns out it's not a dragon, just a really unfortunate looking big bird. Harmless, really."
"What? YOU went and found it? You left the village? Hah!"
"I did. That's why I was gone when you came to look for me. I tracked the ugly thing back to it's nest, and it's just a big ugly bird! Guess I was crazy just like you said, huh Vlad?"
Vlad liked hearing that he was right about something. "Uh, yeah. Guess I was! Whaddya know? Well still, Jakob, that's great youve started going outside the village! Your Ma and Pop would love hearing that. You have a good day, see you at the tavern later?"
"Sure, Vlad. I'll be there."
Vlad and the others took their leave, and Jakob smiled and waved them on. He looked back to his desk where his pouch sat, being a his evidence that he found a dragon. He picked it up and locked it away in a small safe, deciding that it was beat for himself and the dragon that he keep this to himself.
He went back outside and looked to the East. He is going to have to figure out a way to keep that dragon from being so careless with who sees it roaming about. Guess he will have to go visit again, and figure out a way to make it so!
Jakob smiled to himself.
"Ah, well. Taverns not going anywhere." He said aloud as he grabbed his packs and began to drag his boat back to the waters.
He set his bow due East, looked at the horizon, and began paddling.
The End