{"sf1_id":2238848,"sf2_id":"q1xGgM9n","title":"Chapter 3: The One from the Outside","author":"CaptainMemes","words":13364,"posted_at":"2025-03-29T13:58:34.000Z","tags":["Adventure","Character Development","Dark","Death","Dragon","Dragoness","Human","Mystery","Non-Anthro","Realistic","Sad","Story","Story Series","Violence"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/2238848-chapter-3-the-one-from-the-outside","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/s/q1xGgM9n","image_url":"https://cdn.sofurryfiles.com/submissions/thumbnails/ad/7a/ad7adfc6-26a6-41f6-b1d3-590af7330824","description":"Imported from SF2 with no description provided.","content":"Brian stood in that all-too-familiar room.\n\nThe one with both calmness, yet with uneasiness.\n\nThat was because it was the Commander's Office.\n\nIt had the familiar brown design in the shape of a giant cube he knew, with shelves and cabinets with sacred and vital documents in the name of the Union's war efforts, with some not meant for soldiers' eyes likely hidden around here somewhere. Three golden windows lined the walls, with one for each side except the entrance, letting the orange light of a coming sunrise of the early morning.\n\nAnd that desk in the middle to complete it all. It had that mahogany and wood design that was very well kept up to date and clean, as if it was just polished.\n\nBehind it was the Commander himself.\n\n_Timbermuth._\n\nThe old, ram-horned earth drake was marred with the battle scars of battles if times gone past. With his hazel eyes, he looked at Brian, glad that he got here on time.\n\nThe elder drake knew the human would be here on time. He always was.\n\n“_You're here._\", the commander said very bluntly in his deep and monotone voice akin to gravel sliding. Brian simply looked at him while standing in the room across from him on the other side of the desk.\n\nInto those bright blue eyes of an endless ocean of emotions and determination.\n\nHe only saw a tiredness in them laced with a need to get to work to take his mind off the struggles of the day.\n\nBrian was somewhat glad that the four days he had off were rather uneventful.\n\nTimbermuth could say something to get any sort of emotion out of him, but decided not to. It was his duty to lead the people and warriors of the H.D.U., not gaze into the inner thoughts of others. No, only a psychologist would do that, not him.\n\nThe old drake had to come clean and begin to get dirty.\n\nThere was a reason Brian was there. He was here to start a new mission to give an advantage to the Union over the warring factions of the Terron's, Inferno's and Angelica Courtney's forces.\n\n“Right. I have a relatively simple mission today for you Brian.\"\n\nA simple mission?\n\nEven the drake should know that no mission is simple here.\n\nThere were so many inner workings and moving parts that one had to be aware of. Brian had conditioned himself in the art of war to not fret over figuring out possibilities, but to actually calculate them in the highly intelligent brain of his and act on them instead of trying to change them right away. He was one to change them in his favor whenever he could though.\n\nAfterall, not doing so could leave him and others dead for all he knew.\n\nStill, the battered drake saying that this was an easy task likely meant that it would either be very simplistic to the point that\u0026nbsp;anyone\u0026nbsp;could do it, or that it was so safe, so much so, that Brian would be thinking that it would be so boring with nothing happening to the point of headaches and insanity.\n\nRegardless, Brian had a mask that showed no emotion at all whatsoever.\n\nOnly contemplation and cold calculating.\n\nTimbermuth, with his earth-based powers mastered only by one with such experience such as himself, pulled out a drawer on the right side of his side of the desk, creating a light and barely noticeable sliding sound.\n\nUsing his abilities once more, he took out an object out of the hollowed-out cube and floated it on the desk.\n\nIt was a white envelope closed with a blue seal with the Union symbol on it.\n\n“I need you to deliver an important message to a town due south from here. They are supporting our cause, and as such this needs to get to them as soon as possible.\"\n\nTimbermuth floated another paper out of the drawer. It was rolled up.\n\nThis one had a darker and more weathered color to it. Either somebody got it wet and got a verbal licking from doing such a thing or it had seen great battles of yesterday.\n\nWith a sound of paper hitting wood, Timbermuth looked at Brian in the eyes.\n\n“I want you to take this map in case you have trouble.\"\n\nBrian, after a great period of silence, assumed that was it.\n\n“However, there is something else you should be aware of.\"\n\nOh?\n\nIs there?\n\nHe hoped it would be something to catch his attention while he mindlessly walked to this place.\n\n“There are _two_ routes you can choose to take.\"\n\nWith his powers once again, he lifted the envelope while he unfurled the map, revealing a great portion of the land they stood on. It had the details. The rivers, mountains, villages, towns, cities, and enemy territory and all.\n\nOr, at least, some of the\u0026nbsp;_grey_\u0026nbsp;area. Not even the dragons could claim something like a random plain when it held almost no strategic advantage at all whatsoever.\n\nBrian came closer, looking silently at the map with his bright blue eyes that studies it.\n\nTimbermuth pointed his right claw on his right paw at the general area Brian was to go, including various shapes that indicated the town his mission dictated he go to.\n\n“You could go through the plains over _here_.\"\n\nHe pointed to a mostly blank part of the map that was off to the side quite far away from the destination.\n\n“They are very safe. Given that there is no viable cover for you or possible enemy dragons or humans, it is likely to be _bare_. However, it will take at least two or so days more this way given the route itself is around..._here_.\"\n\nHe then shifted the claw to a green area with brown sticks under it.\n\n“You could also go within this _forest_. It is a straight shot from the city to the town in question. However, given that any forest is possible earth dragon territory, caution would have to be taken. Although, the speed in which you can get there and back is faster and the trees provide great cover from humans or dragons.\"\n\nBrian slowly looked up from the paper to Timbermuth.\n\nHe studied where he was to go and decided to make the decision along the way.\n\nA safe but even longer and more wasteful trip or a shorter but riskier one.\n\nDecisions,\u0026nbsp;_decisions_.\n\n“You have as much time as you need. However, time is of the essence, and it is better to get it done and over with. If you require a stay at the town itself, they will know who you are when you bear the _symbol_.\"\n\nThe drake rolled up the map and held out lifted them out to Brian, which he graciously took with his right hand, stuffing it into the neck of his tunic. Brain stood a little back. He had everything he had to get going while it was still morning.\n\n“Gather what supplies and rations you need before the trip.\"\n\nWell, except\u0026nbsp;that.\n\nStill, Timbermuth knew he was eager to get started on his short journey.\n\n“Be careful out there Brian. _Dismissed_.\"\n\nWith that, Brian turned around with a slide of his boots and sought to leave this place for at least a few days.\n\nHe was silent as he touched the door, feeling the handle as he twisted it and pushed it outwards. He slipped himself out into the hallway where he and Blaze encountered and had a heated conversation, no pun intended. However, Brian paid no attention to it as he made sounds with his footwear on the marble floors. He just wanted to forget about Blaze. He was the past now. He did this to himself, not Brian. He let the emotions dwindle into nothing as he casually strolled down the long corridor with its shining windows, intentionally not thinking of anything of the fire drake and wanting to put his mind on preparing for this mission.\n\nAs the door tried to shut itself, the earth drake\u0026nbsp;kept it open as he peered through the crack at the human leaving his office. He gave a saddened sigh.\n\n“_Poor lad._\", he whispered to himself.\n\nTimbermuth knew everything of their troubled bout of talking a few days ago. It was true that he couldn't help but feel bad for Brian. He simply wanted a new friend, but always faced rejection over no fault of his own.\n\nThe hardened earth dragon knew of Brian's powers as well. While he was initially shocked by them, his mind inevitably started to think of what this could mean for the greater good of the Union and possibly the whole world. His thoughts surprisingly went there first instead of fear and supported the human.\n\nHowever, this meant having to see his mood swings after people, both human and dragon, left him after seeing his ability to use lightning. When Brian showed such a thing to him, he had a part in his mind telling him to act the same as them.\n\nStill, he was a drake that has seen hell on earth more than many others of the ruined warriors of the Union and tucked those thoughts away to find an eccentric human who didn't know anything about these powers. Even when asked about it, Brian couldn't provide a concrete answer.\n\nPerhaps some questions are best left unanswered.\n\nHe could berate Blaze, but he was one not to interfere with the personal lives of his soldiers. That, and he felt that they should settle it on their own terms. It seemed like Brian already got over it, but he knew that the human was still hurt from it.\n\nHe is always hurt from things like this.\n\nRegardless, he knew that Brian was a mature if young man. He had wisdom beyond his years that would surprise even the most educated of humans and drakes.\n\nTimbermuth knew he would handle this on his own.\n\nHe just hoped that Brian would come back in one piece.\n\nHe would rather not lose what could be the most vital member of the history of their faction and likely the planet.\n\nThe hardened dragon silently prayed to Bahamut for his safety for the mission and left the door to close itself with a click, leaving him alone with his desk and documents.\n\n* * *\n\nAs expected, the walk was incredibly\u0026nbsp;_boring_.\n\nBrian was one who didn't mind decent exercise, especially running.\n\nHowever, the problem arose when he remembered that he was a part of the Union, as a warrior nevertheless. \u0026nbsp;\n\nWhile\u0026nbsp;_yes_, he could get his brain working while he was sweating with at least a jog, he could be caught by surprise, and the noises from panting wouldn't help at all.\n\nMost importantly, however, Brian also needed to keep his energy up to be prepared for anything and\u0026nbsp;_everything_.\n\nThe bright and dull green grass grew like a bunch of tiny soft spikes on the soil that Brian's boots pounded as he casually walked to his destination.\n\nThe Sun was on its way up in the atmosphere, indicating that it was late morning.\n\nBrian sighed.\n\nThis was as boring as\u0026nbsp;sin.\n\nJust…_walking_.\n\n_Uggghhhhhhh..._\n\n_Horrible._\n\nBrian felt like _tearing his hair out_.\n\nHe could think about everything in his life that transpired to this point in time, but what would be the point?\n\nEven he knew that he was taking _table scraps_ in terms of things to\u0026nbsp;_actually_\u0026nbsp;do.\n\nStill, if there was good _pay_, he was willing to suffer the lack of his brain having any engaging activity.\n\nBrian, with his right, took something clasped onto his waist belt behind him on his right side. It was round shape and a dirty brown color, with a smaller circular cap on the very top on its neck.\n\nWhen Brian took it, he mindlessly shifted his left hand to hold it while his right one twisted the lid off, holding the tiny thing in his right hand. With that done, he took the object, a canteen, and poured its contents into his throat.\n\nAh, nice _water_.\n\nIt was wasn't the best thing to do since he needed to conserve resources, but he needed to do just…_something_, and his windpipe was rather parched.\n\nAfter a couple sips, he realized he needed to halt himself and twisted the cap back on before clasping it onto his belt once again.\n\nAh, back to the old\u0026nbsp;_grind_.\n\nBrian\u0026nbsp;_hated\u0026nbsp;_mindlessness. He\u0026nbsp;really\u0026nbsp;didn't want a headache or to be irritable to the point of power napping.\n\nHowever, he had to stride onwards. It was too late to come back now.\n\nSo, for about an hour and a half of just, well,\u0026nbsp;_nothing_, he finally reached it.\n\nThe\u0026nbsp;_crossroads_.\n\nBrian saw the massive and unassuming forest along with the overly large and flat plains around it.\n\nHowever, walking into either with caution could lead to quick and painful death at the claws and teeth of earth dragons.\n\nBrian reached into the neck of his tunic and brought out the rolled-up piece of paper.\n\nThe\u0026nbsp;_map_.\n\nHe unfurled it and gazed at its contents.\n\nThe human saw what Timbermuth showed him before. He kept looking at his surroundings to confirm that all the pieces of the map and what the environment displayed to make sure everything was one-to-one.\n\nHe then realized that was the place where he had to walk on one side of the nonexistent fork in the road.\n\nEither one safer path that was longer and even more grueling in terms of his mental constitution from the excessive boredom, or one that was faster where some hidden dragons could steal his skin and skull from the shadows, his body never seen again.\n\nBrian looked at the forest.\n\nHis mind was set.\n\n“_What the hell._\", Brian said to himself.\n\nYes, he would rather be on a possible path of death and destruction than his mind imploding from doing a whole lot of nothing.\n\nBesides, it would be good exercise if some drakes or dragonesses showed up.\n\nHe rolled up the map and stuffed it into the neck of his clothes once more and walked to the forest.\n\nHe silently prayed to God that this wouldn't be a mistake that could cost him his life, and, in turn, possibly lead a part of the Union collapse with the hope for a better world with it.\n\n* * *\n\n_Damn._\n\nHow _long_ had it been?\n\nTwenty minutes? A _half hour_?\n\nDear God.\n\nBrian just strolled straight through the forest, the squirrels, salamanders, and birds fleeing from him for invading a nonexistent personal space, although some didn't mind him, the critters scurrying up and down the tree, playing, or the birds giving a song of the coming day in some nest above him, unaware or not caring of his presence. Lots of litter plagued the ground, making it into a giant world for insects doing their daily activities, however mindless they are.\n\nBrian walked over a dead tree, with some branches and whitish mold with green moss still on it yet to be deteriorated by the creatures of this very forest. The light cling of his sword bouncing off empty space as he touched the ground with his boots.\n\nWell, at least he could walk in a faster route that was at least beautiful.\n\nBrian made his way around some tall plants, the light noise of bending coming out nearly silently.\n\nSome more time of walking passed with his boots crushing leaves, tiny plants, insects, and God knows what.\n\nAt least it\u0026nbsp;_felt_\u0026nbsp;nice.\n\nJust the simple act of moving inside a natural domain was calming.\n\nThe _sights_.\n\nThe _sounds_.\n\nThe _feelings_.\n\nThe _sme_…\n\n_Wait._\n\nA whiff of something got caught in his nostrils.\n\nIt was of something _rancid_ and of something he would occasionally feel with his sense of smell in…\n\nWait a minute.\n\nBrian, with a deep breath, sought to pull in tons of air with his nose to try and identify it.\n\nWith an increasingly high-pitched sound on the front of his face and the feeling of air enter his lungs, Brian scrunched his nose and face up right when he noticed what it was.\n\nDear God.\n\nHe smelt it.\n\nHe knew that stench from _anywhere_.\n\n_Dragon urine._\n\nDragonkind, much like humans, had to rid themselves of bodily waste.\n\nAt the Union, dedicated _latrines_ were set up for both races to do such a thing.\n\nAfterall, they weren't senseless _animals_.\n\nHowever, instincts and biological needs came first sometimes, and, especially for those dragons outside of the H.D.U., they simply relieved themselves in places not meant to be touched by others.\n\nStill, they at least had a way to...um..._remove_\u0026nbsp;the more..._solid_\u0026nbsp;waste of theirs.\n\n_Fire dragons_ could obviously burn it to ashes, _electric_ ones did the same thing with a light burst of their element, and _earth dragons_ could simply dig it underneath the soil to improve it for better plant life.\n\nPoor _ice dragons_. They had to let nature take its course.\n\nHowever, their\u0026nbsp;_liquid_\u0026nbsp;waste was another story.\n\nWhile dragons could easily deal with their other excrement, urine was something that was nearly impossible to get rid of given the state it was in. As such, they did the natural and more instinctual route and simply let it leave their body onto some object, like in this case…\n\n_Trees._\n\nIt was like a sort of marking, much like how wolves and coyotes urinate onto a tree or other miscellaneous objects to make their claim to territory known.\n\nAs such, the horrible,\u0026nbsp;_horrible_\u0026nbsp;smell.\n\nIt was likely a way to deter others from what the markers made their home from. Dragonkind in some ways were no exception despite the more civilized manners in the Union.\n\nRegardless, the scent meant one thing and one thing _only_.\n\n_Dragons._\n\nFirstly, given that this was a forest, it was likely that earth drakes occupied these woods. A fire drake wouldn't want to burn down a piece of natural land or possible dragon of greenery\u0026nbsp;by accident, an electric dragon would live on higher elevation, and ice drakes were, well, beings that tended to dislike nature as a whole to begin with.\n\nSecondly, according to his _astonishingly_ strong nostrils, some of these markings were rather fresh. Many of them were stale, but many had the smell of being poured onto the brown bark of the trees recently. This meant that either there is a singular dragon who has lived here for _God knows_ how long or a massive group of them.\n\nEither way, this likely meant that a threat was on the horizon.\n\nBrian had to be careful.\n\nBrian took slower steps to not create too much noise for a potential sneak attack from the foliage. He also looked at the ground a few times with his steps while maintaining awareness of the world around him.\n\nAfterall, he wouldn't want to accidently step in literal dragon\u0026nbsp;_shit_.\n\nWith his left hand on the hilt of his great and powerful sword, he ventured further into the forest.\n\n* * *\n\nA large inhale through the nose.\n\nThen, an exhale of satisfaction.\n\nThe creature loved the forest, their sanctuary.\n\nThey were simply holding a carefully weaved and durable basket of twigs and short bendy branches, with the contents inside consisting of various specimens of plant life here in these woods that were their very home.\n\nThey would use these plants for various things when they made it back to their shelter.\n\nAfterall, survival required using your environment for your advantage or your enjoyment.\n\nThey felt the Sun flash onto them, warming their body up.\n\nThey heard the noises and chatter amongst the creatures that occupied their home as well.\n\nChipmunks, squirrels, crickets, sweet birdies, the whole lot.\n\nThen they took a plant, a white petaled flower to be exact, having a yellowish center with little bulbs in the middle, the creature being extremely delicate with it as they gently placed it into their basket.\n\n...\n\n...\n\n...\n\nWait.\n\nThen, she heard some of the birds fly away.\n\nThey turned to the sounds of heavy flapping, facing in their direction.\n\nThey then felt a presence on their soil.\n\nThey looked a little bit before they turned and shook their head.\n\nIt was probably just a bear or deer having a _scuffle_.\n\nBesides, their senses could be acting up as well. Who knows? Maybe it was nothing to get worried out of their mind for.\n\nAs such, they turned around, finding they had sufficient content in their basket, pushing off a threat of a possible invader.\n\nIt wasn't like that would actually happen after so many years here...\n\n..._Right_?\n\n* * *\n\nIt felt like about ten or so minutes before he saw a structure in the distance.\n\nIt looked…..\n\n_Greyish_?\n\nBrian had to get a closer look and investigate.\n\nGrey in a normally emerald-green forest didn't mean anything good.\n\nThe human, hand still on the handle of his weapon, made soft, quiet, and methodical steps toward this…_thing_.\n\nIt was about another five minutes until he finally reached it, Brian hiding behind a tree in extreme caution.\n\nHe saw it.\n\nIt was a building.\n\nA\u0026nbsp;_cottage_.\n\nIt looked rather rugged, but very well kept and in surprisingly clean shape, minus a few clumps of moss growing on the bottom trying to get to the top, only to be killed or removed by whoever lived here. It looked like it was created from polished white marble stones packed with now blackened dirt with a black thatch roof likely reinforced to prevent rain from getting in and trap heat inside. There was also a grey extrusion from the left side, probably a chimney for creating a nice and comforting fire or a way to cook food. A hollowed out square window also existed on the right wall. Brian also saw, wait, was that…\n\nA\u0026nbsp;_gutter_?\n\nHe saw it on the right side attached right below the roof, being made of a brown wood tube funneling down to what seemed like a rain bucket.\n\nUsing the _environment_ to their advantage.\n\nIt seemed like there was nothing threatening about it, but Brian knew _true_ deception. He couldn't play all of his cards blindly in one fell swoop, he needed to be strategic.\n\nBrian looked around himself and, from his view, the cottage. He wanted no rock left unturned.\n\nSeeing nothing out of the ordinary while remaining cautious, he slowly made his way around the tree he was hiding behind and walked straight to the cottage for curiosity's sake and for viable cover, wanting to see if any possible opponents were hiding inside.\n\nStraight at its door.\n\nIt was simple dark brown and very simple, expected given the nature of the rest of this building.\n\nYes, there was no doubt that an _earth dragon_ did this.\n\nThe look, location, and choice of structure materials ruled out the other dragon races, and there was no way that a human could do this without outside help. How could they make the walls and any other piece the way an earth dragon could do with a simple thought?\n\nHe tried to make as silent of steps as he could manage with his boots on the leaf and twig-littered ground. Without much effort and no unforeseen intrusions, he made his way the straight wall, placing his back and open palms on it, feeling the smooth stones on the side of the doorway.\n\nWith hand on the hilt of his weapon, he felt the door with his right hand, his backside to the right of the entrance. With a simple push, the door went inside and to the right. A hinged door? Granted it may have been a\u0026nbsp;_simple_\u0026nbsp;hinged door. Barely a sound went out besides a bounce of the wood against the inner wall to the right.\n\nBrian looked right to peer inside the forest building.\n\nIt was surprisingly well done.\n\nGrey planks lined the floor, with what seemed like...a thatch _lounge_? It was on the right wall and had what appeared to have purple cotton on it. Likely dyed. In the middle was a short table, likely for meals. On the left wall was a chimney made of a darker rendition of the grey stone from the outside, with an ash pile underneath a grate. There were also a few shelves filled with several containers and glass jars. Possibly foodstuffs or something of the like. There appeared to be what looked like a countertop with some cupboards touching the ceiling above it. At the end of the place. More food and ingredients? Brian didn't want to ask. There was also a door to the right of the back wall, likely a bedroom of the sort, and….\n\n_Another_ entrance on the end of the left wall?\n\nIt was between the shelves and chimney and what Brian perceived as a kitchen area.\n\nWhat surprised him the most about the place was the sheer\u0026nbsp;space\u0026nbsp;of it.\n\nThe outside looked deceiving in terms of size, and the inside looked like it could hold a few people.\n\nStill, it was rather sparce. Only the essentials existed here.\n\nRegardless, there was nobody here. Brian didn't even think that they could be hiding somewhere, there simply wasn't\u0026nbsp;anywhere\u0026nbsp;to hide unless they wished to ruin what\u0026nbsp;little\u0026nbsp;there was in this humble cottage.\n\nBrian faced away. His breathing returned to normal, leaving a sigh. How silly of him to believe that someone was going to jump at him like for a surprise party to claw his throat out and gouge his eyeballs.\u0026nbsp;\n\nDid he..._overprepare_?\n\nHmmmmm…\n\n_Maybe._\n\nHe let himself go from the wall.\n\nHe then remembered that he needed to get going. The message wasn't going to walk itself to the town.\n\nDid he waste his time here?\n\nWell…even Brian couldn't answer that.\n\nHe along with the other fighters of the Union needed to make sure of certain possibilities in a possible battlefield. The behavior was trained into their skulls as\u0026nbsp;_mandatory_.\n\nBrian, now with a new calmness, walked to the side of the building to the chimney side, the left wall.\n\nHe walked around the corner.\n\nThen, his eyes instantly shrunk.\n\nAs he walked around it and showed his frame, he saw another also passing around the corner with him.\n\nIt was a green _earth dragon_ with light brown chest plates with similarly hazel-colored horns that went straight until it rolled up at the end as a small solid piece, like someone glued a coin on the end. They were carrying a carefully and skillfully weaved basket of natural wood from this place in their maw.\n\nTheir dark blue eyes shrunk with his as they saw him.\n\nIn a split second, they both fell to their sides of the corner.\n\nBrian fell onto his back in shock, eventually shuffling himself quickly to get his flat back against his wall as cover. It was instinctual.\n\nThe dragon gave out a high-pitched _yelp_ as the basket fell to the ground as they felt the side of their body hit the soft litter and soil. With quickened, fear driven, and seemingly random movements, that struggled to get themselves up, making a few movements off the ground, only to realize that they weren't making any progress, eventually scurrying onto their legs and running away in the opposite direction.\n\nBrian mentally slapped himself. How could he let his guard down? He should have known a dragon lived here. He couldn't get all the details of their physique, but it was an earth dragon alright. Brian, with his left hand slid his thumb up to slightly unsheathe his sword in preparation for engagement, his heart beating faster in anticipation.\n\nThe dragon ran and _ran_. They didn't know how long. They needed to _hide_.\n\nA-A\u0026nbsp;h-human.\u0026nbsp;\n\nA-A\u0026nbsp;_human_!\u0026nbsp;\n\n_That_ was what they felt in the forest. H-How could they be so _stupid_?\n\nH-How...\n\nHow did they find them after all these years?\n\nNo.\n\nB-Bahamut n-no.\n\nThey couldn't go back.\n\nBack to their worst _nightmare_.\n\nThey felt their heart go to their throat pounding faster than in the entirety of their life. They struggled to maintain a clear mind besides a fight or flight response and not hyperventilate.\n\nThey drifted and slipped a little as they found it. A _brush_? They could hide here. With their powers, maybe they could fool the human and escape to live another day. So, crouching down, they covered themselves with branches from behind, used her wings on her middle, and let the front of the plant cover their face. It wasn't perfect, but what else could they intelligently conjure up in such a small span of time in a situation like this?\n\nThey _didn't_ have _time_.\n\nBrian, after hearing them run away, leaving pounds against the ground, realized that they were going away.\n\nWait…\n\nWere they…\n\nWere they..._afraid_ of him?\n\nUsually dragons fight on the _spot_, but….\n\nThey...they just..._ran_ away.\n\nBrian realized that he couldn't allow that. They could be trying to call others in for support.\n\nBut...nothing added up.\n\nA singular dragon running away next to a cottage? He had no answers.\n\nIt simply made no sense.\n\nStill, he had a mission in addition to the one he was assigned today.\n\nHis sight\u0026nbsp;went from his side to the dragon's and sought to track them down. He saw paw prints from a frenzied dash to someplace. He needed to be silent as to not alert them to his exact position.\n\nAfter a soft jog along the tracks, his boots lightly sounding off into the forest space, he heard noises from somewhere and hid himself behind a tree, hand still on the handle of his great weapon.\n\nHe heard…\n\nHe _heard_…\n\n...\n\n...\n\n...\n\n...\n\n...\n\n…_Whimpering_?\n\nHe also heard very labored and fast-paced breathing.\n\nBrian, curious, looked around his natural barrier and saw them from a distance.\n\nThey were shaking so badly to the point that they could be mistaken for being in the frozen wastes in the far North or South.\n\nThis was a creature that was terrified for their life.\n\nThey then heard them.\n\nA _voice_. A soft, whispered, and _horrified_ one.\n\n_“P-please B-Bahamut…d-don't let t-them t-take m-me…\"_\n\nThey were…_praying_?\n\nAnd the voice…\n\nBrian got a glimpse of their figure, wings, wrapped tail, and all, and had his question answered.\n\nIt was a\u0026nbsp;_dragoness_.\n\nAnd her vocal cords seemed so _young_ too.\n\nThis didn't make any logical sense.\n\nA _dragon_, an earth one outside of the Union nevertheless, was..._terrified_ of him?\n\nWhy would they be this way? And why did they pray to Bahamut for him not to take her away? What could…\n\nOh.\n\nBrian had a thought fester in his mind.\n\nDear God.\n\nShe…\n\nShe was probably a victim of capture from somebody…but _who_? _Humans_? _Dragons_? Brian leaned towards his own race given that the plea for help was referring to\u0026nbsp;_him_.\n\nBrian gained a sympathetic look. Even though the back of his mind told him to not fall for deceit, he needed to confirm his suspicions.\n\nHe walked so quietly that the sounds of the forest were louder and made his way around to where he heard her making the sounds, finding a tree for additional cover.\n\nThey didn't seem to notice him.\n\nHe got a clearer look of her.\n\n“_B-Bahamut…d-don't let them k-kill m-me…_\", he heard her say.\n\nDear God.\n\nHer _body_ was…\n\nOh God.\n\nHe saw them.\n\nThe\u0026nbsp;_scars_.\n\nThey riddled the sides of her body, with some on her back and others going onto her chest plates. They were so numerous and large, it made him think about what actually caused them.\n\nAnd her _forepaws_…\n\nDear Lord.\n\nThey were folded together on her face in an attempt to hide herself. They were covered in layers of worn _bandages_ darkened from the color white in between her toes\u0026nbsp;and over the soft parts of her feet and over the scaled parts, extending partway up her legs.\n\n_Fuck me…_\n\nThese weren't caused by dragons.\n\nThey appeared so calculated, so _choreographed_…\n\nA _dragon_ couldn't do this. It was…\n\nBrian had the courage to awaken them from this nightmare of their own thoughts and feelings. It was all so…_real_.\n\nShe wasn't faking it or trying to deceive him. He knew it.\n\nHe sought to comfort her.\n\n_“H-Hey…\"_\n\nThe dragoness heard the soft voice to her left.\n\nShe knew it.\n\nIt was all _over_.\n\nStill, the way the voice came out made her rethink of responding or not.\n\nIt sounded like a _male_ and it was filled with...\n\n_...Care_ and _concern_?\n\nWhat?\n\nWhy would a _human_ care for her?\n\nThis made no sense.\n\nShe had courage, but almost none at all. With this said courage, she shakily got up slightly and looked to where the voice came from.\n\nWith the Sun shining down on him, she saw the human, left hand behind the tree and right one on the side. He was clad in the yellows of buttercups and flowers with the fur-like\u0026nbsp;hair of liquid _gold_.\n\nHe had the face of worry and concern, with a trace of _confusion_.\n\nBrian saw her turn to him, still shaking a great bunch in her scales. He saw her eyes of blue, like the sky, with tears running down her face and snout, caking her scales with dried up salty water from her eye ducts.\n\nThose eyes held the greatest fear of all.\n\nThe fear of\u0026nbsp;_death\u0026nbsp;itself_.\n\nThis was genuine, with only the wish to live longer.\n\nShe thought she was going to\u0026nbsp;_die_.\n\nHe removed himself from the tree. The human slowly walked to her, the one who started breathing harder with more rapid thumps in her windpipe.\n\n“_I-It's okay…_\", Brian sounded it in an attempt to calm her.\n\nStill, she was afraid to the point of nearing _lightheadedness_.\n\nW-What was even happening anymore?\n\nWas he…\n\nWas he…_not_\u0026nbsp;trying to kill her?\n\nWhy wouldn't he?\n\nWasn't _that_ why he was here?\n\nShe just awaited him to strike her down.\n\nLike the others.\n\nLike…\n\nL-_Like_…\n\nHowever, she saw something which she didn't expect.\n\nWas that…\n\nWas that his..._hand_?\n\nIt was his right one covered in brown except for his fingers, palm facing upwards and close to her.\n\nWas he….\n\nWas he trying to help her up?\n\nWhat?\n\nN-_No_!\n\nShe couldn't do it. She couldn't!\n\nShe just…\n\nShe didn't want to die.\n\nShe peered at his face.\n\nThen, she saw them.\n\nHis\u0026nbsp;_eyes_.\n\nThey were of the brightest blues like bright and color-filled sapphires. It led her into a void that went into an ocean. One filled with pain, hardship, sadness, confusion, power, intelligence,\u0026nbsp;_everything_.\n\nShe was so enraptured by them.\n\nM-Maybe…\n\nMaybe this wasn't a ploy to end her life or to lead her into a trap.\n\nJust...those\u0026nbsp;_eyes_…\n\nShe may pass away today into Bahamut's paradise in the sky, but what was she to do with her life?\n\nHer life was filled with fear, but those eyes gave her courage.\n\n_Bahamut...h-have mercy on me…_\n\nShe slowly stopped shivering and slowly, yet shakingly moved her right and heavily bandaged paw.\n\nShe hesitated for a second, giving a gulp before placing it on the smaller human hand, feeling herself being _pulled up_.\n\n* * *\n\nThe dragoness was the first to enter the cottage, the human slowly walking behind her.\n\nAfter opening the door they first saw each other at, her wrapped paws made sounds on the well-kept floorboards as she made her way to the fire place, floating the basket she had onto the table with her abilities.\n\nBrian looked around. The walls were very solid, and as he looked at the shelves, he saw that the clear containers and jars were filled with plant matter.\u0026nbsp;\n\nWhat were _these_ for?\n\nThe dragoness looked at the ashes before moving her gaze to the side of fireplace. She saw a grey rock with nothing special about it and a shiny black stone. With her earth powers, she floated the two over some kindling and wood from the side. With a few quick slides against one another, she created sparks. From that, a tiny and smoky flame came from the tip of the twigs for the kindling. She blew a bit on them to make the fire spread. As predicted, it did, the orange plasma growing, creating great warmth, leaving crackles and embers in its wake.\n\nFascinating.\n\nShe used _flint_ and a _rock_ to make _fire_.\n\nAnd she had firewood\u0026nbsp;_already_.\n\nWith that done, she let go of the rocks onto the side and walked to the kitchen area, the human looking at her silently and curiously.\n\nShe opened a cupboard above the counter and carried out what appeared to be a wooden handled kettle.\n\nShe then opened the top with her mouth and spat it onto the counter, pushing what appeared to be a pump.\n\nW-What?\n\nShe has a\u0026nbsp;_pump_?\n\nTalk about _ingenuity_. How did she get that? Granted, it looked\u0026nbsp;_very_\u0026nbsp;old.\n\nWith an annoyingly loud creaking sound, water poured into the container, excess falling into the bowl in the table underneath and into a drain where it would be reused later.\n\nLeaving the kettle behind on the wood under the cupboards, she made her way to the shelf. She briefly caught the human wandering around.\n\nWell, at least he was quiet like her.\n\nShe also didn't want her mind on him at all.\n\nShe moved to the shelf and instantly took her mouth around the bottled neck of a glass jar which had green leaves in it and took another that had more yellow stuff inside in her teeth, walking over to the kettle.\n\nBrian saw what was in those bottles and jars.\n\nWas she…\n\nWas she making..._tea_?\n\nHe hadn't had tea in a coon's age, but he had to remain vigilant.\n\nAfterall, she could just _poison_ him.\n\nShe then brought the two to the counter with the filled kettle. With a simply flick of her powers, the corks slipped off the two without a sound. She took a precalculated amount of the leaves and petals out and placed it in the worn and light-brown container.\n\nAfter preparing the tea, she floated the kettle and placed it on the grate above the fire to generate heat within the liquid to make the beverage. She then walked around and into the door on the right side of the counter, slipping away into a room unseen by the human.\n\nBrian looked with caution. What was in that room?\n\nShe then came out and brought out a small wooden chair in the air. It looked very rickety and worn, but it will do.\n\nAfterall, she didn't expect a human to come here and\u0026nbsp;not\u0026nbsp;kill her.\n\nShe floated it to Brian's side of the table, its backside facing the entrance.\n\nBrian, seeing the initiative, walked up to it and sat his rump on the flat bottom of it.\n\n_Shit_. It was\u0026nbsp;_rough_.\n\nWhatever. Beggars can't be choosers.\n\nThe dragoness made her way to the other side of the table, sitting her bottom on the floor and looking away downwards at to nothing in particular.\n\nJust…what was happening?\n\nShe let a human in, a creature that made her suffer so much before. Why did she do it?\n\nEven she didn't know. She just didn't want to make eye contact with him for fear of…_something_, probably dejection. Red flags were just going off in he her mind, although they were minor in the grand scheme of things.\n\nBrian saw her look away sheepishly. He couldn't help but feel the same. He still needed to wrap his head around all of what just transpired. He fidgeted with his fingers after brushing his hair over his neck to behind it to pass the time.\n\nThis was incredibly awkward. They both were. Who could blame them? They didn't have an interaction like this before. She probably hasn't seen anyone for _years_. There was also a lack of trust between the two.\n\nHe was a _human_, and she was a _dragoness_. It was the facts.\n\nIt felt like five minutes passed of the two quietly making sense of their situation, calming themselves.\n\nThe dragoness then opened her mouth, likely to start a small conversation when the two were interrupted by the loud high-pitched hiss of the teapot. She moved from her seat and onto her legs, floating the kettle away from the grate and moved to the counter. After placing it down, she opened the cupboard and brought out a wooden plate for the container, and two tiny wooden saucers with tea cups. She brought out the only one with a handle for the human.\n\nWhy did she make that?\n\nShe wouldn't ever understand why.\n\nBrian witnessed her floating the plate with the kettle on top of it. She likely didn't want the bottom to ruin the table. She floated the teacup with the handle on his side and the unhandled one on hers with a saucer each.\n\nInstinctually, she took the handle of the tea pot and tilted it, pouring out a murky substance into both his and her cup before placing it down.\n\nHe didn't do anything. He had to make sure there wasn't anything bad in it.\n\nThe dragoness took her and tipped it into her maw, feeling the familiar beverage go down her gullet before returning the cup to its place.\n\nBrian, indirectly getting the information he needed, took the cup and pushed his right pointer and middle fingers into the handle and left hand on the tiny wooden platter.\n\nHe hoped to God this wasn't going to kill him.\n\nHe tipped it into his mouth and let the dark-colored liquid go down his throat.\n\n_Ahhhhhhh..._\n\nUnexpectedly, it was\u0026nbsp;_good_.\u0026nbsp;\n\n_Really_\u0026nbsp;good.\u0026nbsp;\n\n_Too_\u0026nbsp;good.\n\nIt shifted his tongue a bit to get the taste of it. It had a calming effect on him along with the being second best thing to water to as of now.\n\nBrian returned his cup to the saucer, facing the dragoness who looked away nervously. She probably thought he would dislike it to the point of thinking she\u0026nbsp;pissed\u0026nbsp;into it.\n\nBrian sought to get her out of this shell of hers, at least an outermost one.\n\n“T-This is actually really good. Thanks.\"\n\nShe looked at him, a face of renewed vigor on her maw.\n\nShe took her left bandaged paw and rubbed the side of her face and onto her neck.\n\nWas that…\n\nWas that a...\n\n...A _blush_?\n\nIt was barely noticeable, but…\n\nShe likely hasn't seen anyone, let alone a person who would give her a compliment, in what seemed like a decade or two.\n\n“U-Um, w-well, I...\", she stammered.\n\nHe _liked_ it?\n\nHe could be luring her into a false sense of security, but the hum and face of satisfaction on him told her otherwise. It was genuine.\n\n“…Y-Your welcome.\", she finished.\n\nThen, silence.\n\nThey both didn't know what to say to each other. They were just so uncomfortable in the art of conversation, at least in some ways.\n\n“S-So…\", Brian started. The dragoness's eyes perked up at his voice.\n\nBrian thought a little bit before continuing.\n\n“You've been living here for…?\"\n\nAh, he was asking about this tiny place in the woods.\n\nThe dragoness heard him and contemplated an answer.\n\n“Oh, uh, w-well, I made this place after coming here, the pieces and parts weren't hard to come by.\"\n\nWell, that was abundantly\u0026nbsp;_obvious_.\n\n“As for how _long_, well...\"\n\nShe darted her eyes to the human's\u0026nbsp;for a second. He just took a sip of the tea she made, waiting for answers.\n\n“I-I think I've, um, been here for about...\"\n\nA click came from her mouth.\n\n“...A-About _eighteen years_, I-I think.\"\n\nDear God.\n\n_Eighteen years?_\n\nA person could have had a _childhood_ in those years.\n\nBrian suspected that she lost said time as a hatchling due to circumstances he wasn't aware of.\n\nWhy? He was both intrigued and never wanted to find out why. It was likely something relating to the unspeakable.\n\n“S-So, um...\"\n\nBrian caught himself thinking in that highly calculative brain of his when she spoke.\n\n“W-Why are you here? I-I mean, in this forest? I mean,\u0026nbsp;_here_?\"\n\nShe was genuinely curious and horrified of an answer. If he was here by mistake, then _okay_, but if he was here to do something to her, she felt like she would _faint_ promptly after her mind imploded on itself from hearing that.\n\nShe got her answer.\n\n“Well, I\u0026nbsp;chose\u0026nbsp;to walk through here instead of the plains to deliver a message to a town on the other side of this place.\"\n\nWhat?\n\nA _message_?\n\nW-What...\n\nWhy?\n\nThis didn't make sense, unless…\n\nNo.\n\nShe had to know. She already suffered enough in her life.\n\n“U-Um, m-may I ask why?\"\n\nHer voice was a little shaky given the nature of the question. She took a sip of the tea to calm herself down.\n\n“Um, well...\"\n\nBrian didn't finish. It may have been a want for knowledge in terms of interest, but she could be taking in information for the enemy.\n\nNeither of them trusted each other, at least not fully.\n\n“Well, I'm doing it because I'm part of the _Union_.\"\n\n_Union_?\n\nWhat was that?\n\nThe dragoness's right brow was raised in confusion with the tilt of her head.\n\nBrian, seeing her lack of understanding, assumed she probably didn't know about such a thing. She was here for nearly two decades after all.\n\nHe gave a light explanation.\n\n“T-The _Union_? The _Human-Dragon Union_?\"\n\nHer eyes sparkled with this new information. Name gave an idea she never thought existed before. A group of people composed of dragons and humans? Living together?\n\nNo. It was impossible. The two races were never meant to be together. Her life was a testament to that.\n\nShe heard a more detailed answer from him after he saw her lack of foreknowledge of the H.D.U.\n\n“I-It's a society of humans and dragons working together.\"\n\nWhat?\n\nWhile the prospect of such a thing existing would be something from a dream, the dragoness knew it couldn't actually\u0026nbsp;_exist_.\n\nShe started fiddling with her claws on her front feet.\n\n“I-It s-seems like a _fantasy_.\", the dragoness responded.\n\nShe didn't believe him.\n\n“It just doesn't seem like it's…\", she stopped. She didn't know if she was unintentionally insulting him with her answer.\n\n“N-No, it's real.\", Brian said, reassuring her of its existence. He wouldn't reveal the actual location of the place, but some bits and pieces would do.\n\n“W-We're working as a faction to end the _War_.\"\n\nShe had a deep breath, likely as a recoil of the information.\n\nT-The...\n\nT-The _War?_\n\nThe _War_ is still happening? Ruining the planet?\n\nBahamut.\n\n“T-The War? I-It's still going?\"\n\nBrian lightly nodded his head before seeking a bit of tea, only to be disappointed that it was gone from his cup. 'Tis a shame. It was\u0026nbsp;damn\u0026nbsp;good too.\n\nAnd…_faction_?\n\nDid that mean….\n\nW-Was he…?\n\n“_B-Bahamut._\"\n\nBrian heard her say that, more so to herself than him.\n\n“A-A-Are...y-_you_…?\"\n\nBrian looked away in nervousness with a shred of shame.\n\nYes, he _was_.\n\nHe gave a pained sigh of the impression he might have made a mistake with his words and\u0026nbsp;fucked\u0026nbsp;up.\n\n“_Y-Yes_, I fight and kill people, b-but with the best intentions.\"\n\nThe earth dragon's eyes widened at that answer, confirming her initial thoughts. Still, the way he looked gave off the notion that he took the lives of others but didn't\u0026nbsp;enjoy\u0026nbsp;it.\n\nNot at all.\n\n“A-And..._yes_, the War is still going on.\"\n\nBahamut.\n\nAfter all this time, dragons and humans are still senselessly killing each other?\n\nWhen will this bloodshed _cease_?\n\nShe shut her trap for some time, also looking away to the left in deep thought, the gears in her mind twisting and turning.\n\nThen, she realized something.\n\nThe most basic fact was forgotten ever since she saw him.\n\nShe lit up with renewed energy, taking a deep breath.\n\nHow could she forget that?\n\n“Oh! U-Um, what's the matter with me?\"\n\nBrian had brightened eyes at her new attitude despite the morbidity of what they just talked about.\n\nShe placed her left paw on her plated chest.\n\nThen, she spoke in her beautiful, yet shy voice.\n\n“M-My name is _Elara_.\"\n\n_Elara…_\n\n_That_ was the name of the dragoness.\n\nIt was a nice name. It rolled off the tongue quite well.\n\nAfter finally introducing herself, Brian sought to do the same.\n\nHe put his left hand on his chest, palm open.\n\n“Well, _Ms.\u0026nbsp;Elara_, my name is _Brian_.\"\n\nBrian….\n\nIt appeared to be a simple name, yet one filled with a certain semblance of power. Elara couldn't quite put her claw on it.\n\nShe gained a tiny blush hidden underneath the green scales on her face.\n\n“U-Um, it's okay. P-Please don't call me a _Miss_.\"\n\nBrian lightly nodded in understanding.\n\nWait a minute.\n\nHow…\n\nHow long has he been here?\n\nHe gazed at the square cut-out window to his right and saw the brightness outside. He may not have had a clock on him, but he knew that it was the\u0026nbsp;_afternoon_.\n\nHe needed to get going. He didn't want to appear at the town after the Sun went down.\n\n“_Shit_. I have to go.\", Brian almost regrettably said, placing the wooden cup and saucer on the table.\n\nElara immediately got up with a worried look.\n\nDid she say something wrong?\n\n“Y-You're _leaving_? Is everything alright? Did I...\"\n\n“N-No, I just have to get going to deliver the message before it gets too late.\" Brian answered.\n\nElara, despite understanding his words, saw that he had to leave for his task. He was here for a reason after all.\n\nBrian pushed in the chair and made his way around to the door behind him. Elara followed him.\n\nHe pushed the door inwards to the right and looked around his neck to gaze at the dragoness.\n\nShe had a rather saddened look on her face. Brian felt almost hurt from leaving her. Her presence was simply something new and interesting.\n\n“W-Will I ever see you again?\"\n\nWhat?\n\nDid she…_want_\u0026nbsp;to see him again?\n\nWhat was she thinking?\n\nWas she…\n\nWas she so lonely to the point of wanting him here longer?\n\nMaybe.\u0026nbsp;_Maybe__._\n\nBrian took a second to think before coming up with an answer.\n\n“Maybe. I hope our roads meet again Elara. Thanks for the tea.\"\n\n“Goodbye.\", Brian finished with the wave of his right hand, with the thumb, pointer, and middle finger spread from his rolled up ring and pinky fingers.\n\nElara sheepishly held up her right paw and waved as well, a shy face painted on her maw.\n\n“B-Bye Brian…\", she said shakily.\n\nBrian simply nodded before making his way outside, pulling the door shut, the dragoness still inside.\n\nBrian, after a deep breath with calculations going on in his head, started the walk through the forest towards his destination.\n\nDespite having a bad case of horrible boredom before the mission, now his mind was struggling to think of anything but\u0026nbsp;_her_.\n\nElara…\n\nShe seemed bubbly and incredibly shy, but he didn't think, he\u0026nbsp;knew\u0026nbsp;that she was in a _dark shell_.\n\nHonestly, Brian, despite initially having reservations about the earth dragoness given their bad reputation outside the Union, couldn't help but feel like she had every right to being stuck in a terrible,\u0026nbsp;terrible\u0026nbsp;place.\n\nHer shaky voice and their first eye contact when she was begging for her life was the first thing that got Brian's mind working on what happened to her to make the dragon this way.\n\nAnd the _scars_…\n\nAnd the _bandages_ on her paws and forelegs...\n\nDear God.\n\nShe looked\u0026nbsp;_awful_.\n\nEven though Brian didn't have the full story, he had great suspicions of a possibility of what happened in her life before coming into the forest those many years ago.\n\nIt was _humans_. It had to be.\n\nHe completely understood why she wouldn't want to talk to him about it. She was probably so untrusting and reclusive after what happened to her.\n\nStill, he had nothing to go off of. Only her appearance and anything she said. And what she said didn't give him a whole lot, so he had to take it with a grain of salt.\n\nRegardless, he couldn't fully trust her due to what Earth Dragonkind had done, but his thoughts constantly pestered him the think differently.\n\nMaybe, just\u0026nbsp;_maybe\u0026nbsp;_she is a truly kind soul.\n\nShe trusted him enough to let him into her living space.\n\nHowever, Brian needed to know her backstory to find out what happened to her and…\n\nWait!\n\nWhy was he thinking this?\n\nHe just barged into this dragoness's home. She wouldn't want him back here, right? Why would she?\n\nWell, who knows?\n\nMaybe he could come back after the delivery and night on the way back around to home?\n\nElara put her back with her light brown spines on the door, placing her right paw on her chest, feeling her calming heartbeat.\n\nBrian…\n\nBrian was unlike any human she had met in her entire life. They all tried to kill her, ruin her, use her, and…a-and…\n\nNo! She couldn't go back to that dark place in her mind. She just couldn't.\n\nShe may have been kind and trusting enough to let him into her cottage b-but...\n\nShe…\n\nShe couldn't trust him.\n\nShe was just physically incapable of it.\n\nThey had ruined her, destroyed her, b-but…\n\nHis kind demeaner, his awkwardness that she also had, his voice, and his eyes, Bahamut, his\u0026nbsp;eyes.\n\nHowever, she felt like he was withholding something from her.\n\nAs a dragon whose life was defined only by fear, this was a truly terrible thing.\n\nAnd his name. Why didn't he say his last name? Didn't humans have last names?\n\nAnd Brian…\n\nW-Was he…?\n\nWas he actually here?\n\nShe shook her head in denial.\n\nWas he an apparition? A _specter_?\n\nShe didn't even know if all these years alone had ruined her mind and didn't know if she actually\u0026nbsp;saw\u0026nbsp;the human. Company coming out of the blue was too good to be true.\n\nShe then looked at the cottage space.\n\nShe looked…saddened? _Disappointed_?\n\nElara realized.\n\nThe whole place felt so quiet and empty.\n\nDid…\n\nDid she…_enjoy_ his presence here?\n\n* * *\n\nThe town's bustling sounds perceivable within a mile was dying down.\n\nDragons of various colors roamed the streets, cobblestone lining the walkways between the earth dragon-made buildings.\n\nThis was a town with dragons who cared not for their differences.\n\nThe Sun was setting. It was becoming the evening.\n\nAt one of the two gates into the town, two dragons stood guard. Two red-scaled fire dragons to be exact. Both males.\n\nOutside the brown stone and wood barrier that served as the wall, the drakes sat down, waiting to be cycled with another pair so they could sleep after a day's worth of long work.\n\nAs usual, nothing happened.\n\nHowever, it never killed anybody to be attentive at all times.\n\nOne of them was older, a more seasoned warrior, while the other was very much new, a rather younger one with brighter scales.\n\nThey both weren't paying extreme attention until…\n\nThey saw it.\n\nA silhouette walking from the green from an incredibly far forest miles away in the heat and light of the dying Sun.\n\nWalking towards them.\n\nThey perked up and got ready for engagement.\n\nThey knew what humans could do, regardless of their small size. They were cunning and smart creatures, able to slip in between them and deliver blows with weapons of warfare they couldn't ever hope to use.\n\nTheir eyes narrowed, they awaited their arrival, which felt like it went on for ages.\n\nAs they neared their town, the dragons bared their teeth proudly as they walked excruciatingly slow towards the gate.\n\nInto a possible scene of _blood_ being spilled.\n\nThey got a gaze at them.\n\nThey were wearing the color of bright yellow that complimented the orange on the landscape of the plains and grasses, whites on their arms and legs, brown on their hands and feet, and the hair that remined them of fluid\u0026nbsp;gold.\n\nThen, they were too close for the town's safety, along with theirs. They started a low growl as he walked with their pale and lit up face revealed as a man's and with eyes that pierced into their very souls.\n\nThe older one spoke up first.\n\n_“ **HALT!**\"_\n\nHe kept walking until he was only a few yards from them.\n\n_“_ **_I said_ HALT_! Why are you here? Don't come any closer or-_** _\"_\n\nThe human, now up to them, fearless, took his right hand and held his cloth on his neck and went down his back.\n\nHe showed them the symbol on his scarf of the Union.\n\nTheir growls instantly ceased and they had looks of shock, staring at him with that symbol hanging on him.\n\nThey just let him walk past them into town. They then stared at one another.\n\nBahamut.\n\nWas he the one from the Union that they were told to wait for?\n\nOnly warriors of the H.D.U. ever possessed those scarves with that symbol.\n\nThey then realized that they needed to catch up to him. It was their orders that they were currently failing.\n\nThey shuffled their paws and dashed into town to surround him on both sides.\n\nHonestly, they didn't know whether it was to brief him on where he was to go, or to protect him.\n\nThey just trotted with their four legs on the sides of him as he walked with his hands folded on his back, as if expecting this.\n\nThis looked like a seasoned warrior despite his appearance denoting a young age, with a sword on his left hip.\n\nAnd those _eyes_…\n\nIt was simply _impossible_ to describe.\n\nBrian darted his eyes around while still facing forward.\n\nHe saw stares, and a whole lot of them.\n\nThere were many fire dragons and electric dragons, with ones of earth sprinkled in with even one or two ice ones. The earth dragons likely made these structures, and it seemed to beat random caves out in the open. It was also surprising that ice dragons lived here as well given that the blue and cold drakes usually hated\u0026nbsp;_everybody_.\n\nThey had eyes filled with _confusion_, _fear_, and _anger_.\n\nWhat was a _human_, a creature infamous for _slaughtering_ their species and locking and torturing them for _eternity_, doing here, with _guards_ nevertheless?\n\nSome pushed their playing hatchlings into their shelters, telling them to go inside.\n\nIf something got hairy, they didn't want them to see the carnage.\n\nOthers paid attention and saw his _scarf_.\n\nBahamut with a human in a white robe in the shape of a figure eight.\n\nVery few knew it was from the Union and therefore had neutral expressions, while those that didn't failed to comprehend the symbol, having never seen it before.\n\nBrian continued walking, ignoring the very quiet talk about him both in his front and behind his back.\n\nHe assumed the message was written for here given the different dragon races living here like there wasn't an all-out War going on outside these walls.\n\nThe younger drake walking on his left taking him to his destination opened their maw quietly to have a talk with the mysterious human from the Union, facing him by turning his head left.\n\n“So,\u0026nbsp;_you're\u0026nbsp;_the Union messenger?\"\n\nBrian didn't turn his head nor respond at first.\n\nWhat a\u0026nbsp;_dumbass_\u0026nbsp;question.\n\nThey let him into their town and\u0026nbsp;_now\u0026nbsp;_he was asking that?\n\nTo be fair, he appeared younger than the other drake, likely being left in the dark as to what the Union even\u0026nbsp;was\u0026nbsp;until today or a few days ago, and they likely expected a\u0026nbsp;_dragon_, not a _human_, to deliver the vital message over.\n\nStill, he couldn't get over the rather dimwitted question.\n\nAs such, he decided to be a\u0026nbsp;_smartass\u0026nbsp;_about it in return.\n\n“Was the scarf and symbol not obvious?\"\n\nThe drake got the hint instantly upon hearing his cold and emotionless voice instead of getting irritated. He now knew in retrospect that he asked a rather stupid question. The older drake looked to his right at the younger one's face, scowling at him in a silent scolding. The younger one recoiled and looked down as a result.\n\nHe didn't have foreknowledge. It was an error, at least partially, on his part. The only excuse was that he was rather new here.\n\nThey simply walked to their target, a taller dome like a building of brown earth with a cut out entrance way in front.\n\nThey walked in silence the rest of the way, with only the murmurs about\u0026nbsp;the human going on behind them.\n\n* * *\n\nThey walked throughout the building, the drakes still at Brian's side in the dark brown earth hallway only lit up by the stray torch or randomly cut-out window. They were moving towards, well, whoever should receive this letter of great importance.\n\nAt least, that's what he has been told.\n\nThey saw them, the double doors.\n\nIt was a more blackened wood compared to the doors to the Union Commander's office. In fact, this whole place was different, you know, with the\u0026nbsp;_hallways_.\n\nThe older one was a little speedier than the other as they approached it, likely to knock it with his paw to get the attention of whoever was inside. Brian was simply soundless and professional about it. Despite only being twenty-one, he was still a very mature man when it comes to diplomacy, and perhaps even too cold to others in some ways they may deem uncomfortable.\n\nHe slipped the scarf part with the symbol over his shoulder. He didn't want the one behind the door to make the same mistake as these two did.\n\nThe drake knocked on the door with the back of his left paw about three times before returning to his position.\n\nThey waited a few seconds of pregnant silence until…\n\nA voice came from the other side.\n\n“_Come in!_\"\n\nAfter hearing the voice possibly familiar to the drakes, the older and younger one went to their respective doors and pulled it outward, making the human appear front and center.\n\nBrian saw them.\n\nThere was a cruder desk of brown stone with a couple of torches on the left and right walls to light the place up. Even more rugged shelves and cupboards existed in the roundish dome-like room.\n\nIt looked very basic and without detail, but simplicity is sometimes better and easier to handle than complexity.\n\nBehind the desk that looked like a molded blob of clay stuck to the ground and made to look like a desk akin to a rectangular prism with its bottom widened like the bottom of a mountain, was an earth drake currently looking at some pieces of paper and tablets. He was thinner and younger than Timbermuth and had green eyes of a brighter variety compared to his darker scales.\n\nUpon the doors opening, he moved his gaze to the center of the open doorway.\n\nHe reeled back in shock before responding in hostility.\n\n_“_ **_H-_Human_!_** _\u0026nbsp;_ **_W-What are you-_** _\"_\n\nThen he saw the scarf and immediately shut up. Brian just stared at them with an unimpressed look.\n\nWhelp, he also expected a dragon as well.\n\nWell, an attempt was made.\n\nThe dragon shuffled a bit and transitioned to a more organized and solidified stature while gaining an apologetic look.\n\nHe had a nervous laugh before inviting him.\n\n“_Ha-ha_...I...greatly _apologize_. Please come in.\"\n\nBrian did as he told and walked a little forward with his folded hand still behind his spine.\n\nOnce he stepped inside, the doors from the outside shut with a loud clang, leaving the two in the torch-lit room.\n\nBrian darted his eyes around a bit. The place appeared disordered, but even he couldn't escape such trappings himself sometimes. He was actually fine with this. To him, it appeared to be an organized mess, with some objects of a certain quality or classification with others like it or another. This drake was likely a being who handles these papers and tablets for a living as a leader.\n\nHowever, sounds from the drake came out, capturing his mind and view.\n\n“Ahem, _right_,\u0026nbsp;so _you're_ the Union messenger?\"\n\nBrian simply nodded in acknowledgement. He didn't get snippy with the caring leader compared to a couple of guard drakes that didn't respect him back.\n\n“Ah, well, I will be honest in that we expected a dragon to come deliver the message. I deeply apologize if there was the lack of a warm welcome. The dragons here have, let's say..._bad\u0026nbsp;_experiences with humans.\"\n\nBrian said nothing, breathing in and out with his nose.\n\nThe dragon was unnerved by the lack of reaction from the human. He was as still as a statue. The only thing that showed he was even alive was his breathing.\n\nAnd his eyes, Bahamut, had the faintest glow inside them and he could see him gaze into his very being, like he was the one to review his sins.\n\nThe drake collected himself.\n\n“Ah! Well, the _message_? Do you have it?\", he asked the human, seeking what the journey was taken for in the first place.\n\nBrian then reached with his right hand and slipped it into the neck of his tunic. After a little rummaging, he brought out the envelope, which the drake floated out of his hands. It was paper after all.\n\nHe saw the seal on it. The dragon also took a whiff of it. It smelled of green pines and a bit of moisture from being held in the human's clothes.\n\nBreaking the seal, he opened the contents of the envelope, revealing a piece of paper with writing on it.\n\nThe seal and the signature at the bottom showed it was authentic. It was from the Union and from Commander Timbermuth himself.\n\nHe read the message, the human looking at him doing so.\n\nHis eyes widened at what the message said.\n\nAfter a couple minutes of reading it over and over, the drake folded the paper on the packet and placed it on the desk.\n\n“Well! We thank you for giving us this message from Timbermuth himself _Mister_…?\"\n\n“_Brian_.\", he said clearly and with a very emotionally lacking voice.\n\nAh…so he _was_ alive after all.\n\n_Brian..._\n\nA simple human name, although the lack of a last name confused him. Still, he stayed quiet about it for the risk of offending him any further than they had done so already.\n\nHe regained his composure.\n\n“Well Mr. Brian, you must have traveled a long ways to get here. We offer you a night's stay with a meal at the Inn on the west side of town. It's the least we can do.\"\n\n“Tell Timbermuth I send my greatest regards to him. _Dismissed_.\"\n\nBrian bowed and, with the slide of his boots on the hard and stony ground, turned around to leave out the door. With a twist of a simple knob made not for looks and solely for function, he opened the door and closed it himself upon slipping himself through.\n\nThe drake was then alone with his thoughts, processing the Union warrior and his lack of feelings at all.\n\nHowever, all his mind went to a single one.\n\nThat human\u0026nbsp;_wasn't\u0026nbsp;_normal.\n\n* * *\n\nBrian, with the drakes on his side, went to the very tall and wide building that reminded him in some ways of towers from the height of it all.\n\nThank goodness that no dragons came up to them. If that happened, things would get complicated\u0026nbsp;_really\u0026nbsp;_fast.\n\nThankfully, the drakes and the scarf warded off dragons who may have seen him as a threat to their integrity, but he still saw the glances who felt more scared than anything. Why was there a being let into their town and allowed to walk into the buildings that had flesh and blood put into crafting? It made no sense to many of them.\n\nAs such, they approached the sandy double doors with nothing in the front, but with sift brown thatch handles to pull in from the inside.\n\nThe younger drake spoke up, getting Brian's flat gaze as he opened his maw.\n\n“I-I'm sorry about earlier, we bid you good night.\", the drake said, bowing to him in apology and with respect, the older one bending his neck down with him.\n\nHe gave the human a genuine farewell. He gave him the respect he deserved. He may be human, but as a warrior of the Union, they fight on the frontlines and risk their lives in the hope of a better world, while he was just a guard, at least for now.\n\nBrian simply nodded back in response, getting the fact that he was sorry. Being young was no excuse in a field such as this.\n\nThe two then turned around, likely to go to their homes, the human facing them as they did so with their paws making steps towards elsewhere.\n\n“See you tomorrow morning.\", the older one said.\n\nOh.\n\nThey were escorting him out too?\n\nAfter lingering on that thought for only a second, he turned around and walked a few small and low steps to the doors.\n\nWith a simple push, he pushed and opened the door.\n\nRight into a few dragons eating supper at rather low tables and cushions.\n\nIt was mostly fire dragons with a few earth drakes. On his right attached to the wall was a rather rugged, yet simple and elegant wooden barrier that was the “_desk_\" with an opening on the end of it away from Brian. An electric dragoness sat behind it. To his far left was a staircase going up, likely to height floors, torches lighting up this room and likely many others. And\u0026nbsp;_damn_\u0026nbsp;was this place _spacious_.\u0026nbsp;\n\nThe place just\u0026nbsp;looked homey.\n\nWell, except the _stares_ directed at him.\n\nThey immediately stopped eating their meat on wooden platters and filled the room with a deathly silence.\n\nBrian refused to pay attention to this. He was conditioned to feel these eyes staring at him with unseen thoughts and feelings about him with a closed off mind. He walked up to the yellow-scaled receptionist who also gave a shrunken pupil look like he was on his way to strangle her. She even failed to notice he was getting close to her. Several drakes, dragonesses, and young hatchlings continued to have their gazes glued onto the bright colored human with that scarf. Some even silently shuffled off their pillows and abandoned their meals to go up the stairs away from the creature they either suffered at the hands from or heard horror stories about.\n\nBrian, when he reached the desk, leaned his right elbow on it, the back of his hand holding his chin up.\n\nThe dragoness was incredibly quiet, like she didn't want to set off a _powder keg_.\n\nThen, to her surprise, out of nowhere, he spoke.\n\n“I was told I could stay here for the night by the drake over _there_?\", Brian said, pointing his left finger through the wall where he delivered the message, his piercing blue eyes still looking at the dragoness.\n\nIt took a few seconds to process that he actually said something before realizing he asked her a question. After looking at him for what seemed to be a little too long, she lightly shook her head.\n\n“O-Oh, y-you're from the _Union_.\"\n\nShe looked a little down, nervousness ensnaring her heart. However, she needed to have confidence not just for her own sake, but also\u0026nbsp;_them_.\n\nShe started to face the way out of the rectangular space she was confined in, slowly walking with some steps of her paws.\n\n“Right, u-um, I'll take to a more…um,\u0026nbsp;_private\u0026nbsp;_room.\"\n\nAs he answered him, he followed her, into a hidden room behind the stairs.\n\n* * *\n\nThe room had the same sand-colored architecture.\n\nAlthough it was\u0026nbsp;_excruciatingly\u0026nbsp;_empty.\n\nIn the middle of the really big room was a singular table with cushions staked up in a fashion to allow the figure on them to sit.\n\nBrian was currently eating pork with his long and straight two-pronged stabbing fork and a cutting knife. As a warrior on a journey, it is a fool's decision not to bring these. On the side was a singular cup of water.\n\nThere were stairs on the wall the right of going upwards, likely to private bedrooms of important and respected guests and the receptionist herself and her family.\n\nBrian just silently ate. It wasn't amazing, as all meat that was only cooked nothing else was, but it was fine for what it was. It was even a little thick. Well, at least they had the curtesy to not get him raw meat to give him food poisoning.\n\nIt felt so..._vacant_, the room that is. In some ways, this could be mistaken for a _tomb_ to the human.\n\n“_Hello!_\"\n\nBrian heard the bright and energy filled high pitch voice from somewhere. Surprised, he turned his head to the right and saw nothing, prompting him to look to the left.\n\nHe saw a young electric dragoness hatchling on her rump staring at him in curiosity, oblivious smile on her maw with sparkling topaz-yellow eyes.\n\n“_Hello!_\", she said again.\n\nBrian then returned his gaze forwards, continuing his meal. This place was now given more life with the child in the room, but he was interrupted from his quiet dinner.\n\n“You're from the _Union_, right? What's your _name_?\", she asked in a bubbly and curiosity filled voice, still smiling despite not getting answers.\n\nIt wasn't that Brian hated kids. It was just that he felt like they didn't truly understand the _hell_ he had\u0026nbsp;to go through every single day. It wasn't her fault.\n\nWell, that and the fact that he never\u0026nbsp;_had\u0026nbsp;_a childhood to begin with.\n\nThe little one opened their maw as an involuntary movement. She let out a yawn before shutting her mouth with a click or two on her roof on the upper part of her opening.\n\nAh, she was tired.\n\n“I'm _tired_. I bet you are too.\"\n\nHonestly, he didn't know if he _was_.\n\n_Was_ he tired? It didn't really\u0026nbsp;_feel\u0026nbsp;_like it.\n\n“Hey! Can tell me a story of one of your adventures? I've heard _really_ cool things about you all!\", the hatchling asked, bouncing up and down and a little to the left and right of her position. Still, that grin was stuck on her enthusiastic face.\n\nBrian was encouraged to get a grin, but his nature forced him to refuse to do so. His life was\u0026nbsp;_dark_, and she wanted a story? Even he knew that it was a horrible idea if dragons didn't want her to be emotionally and mentally scarred for the rest of her existence.\n\nStill, Brian humored the idea. He could cut out the gorier details and tell an engaging, if rather somewhat morbid, story. Maybe he could fill her up with hope that he was trying to achieve?\n\nBrian opened his mouth to say something, only to be interrupted by steps downstairs, the sounds meaning they were going down into the room.\n\nIt was the _receptionist_, seeing the dragon child sitting close to the human like a _dog_.\n\nAfter she made her way down the end of the stairs and onto the floor, she gained a bit of a stern and rather annoyed look, Brian's eyes darting to see her the whole way.\n\n“_Nim_! What are you doing? Please come _here_.\"\n\nAh, it was her\u0026nbsp;daughter.\n\nThe little one, looking at her mother going down the stairs with the human, dashed to her mother.\n\n“Yes Mama?\"\n\nWith her wings around her child, she wanted to lecture her on disturbing their esteemed guest, but upon seeing her hatchling's innocent eyes and the human's gaze going straight forward like they weren't even there, she decided on the safe route as to not get his attention and to not verbally berate her daughter for possibly annoying him.\n\n“N-Nim, I think you should go to sleep.\", her mother said, her child looking into her darker yellow eyes.\n\n“_Awwwww_, but _Mama_, it isn't even that _late_…\", her daughter cried out loud, even though the human still appeared to look mechanical.\n\n“Don't you '_but Mama_' me, I think it is a little late for you to be up, and you need your sleep for tomorrow.\"\n\nThe little one suddenly looked saddened and pouted. She wanted to talk to the human after all.\n\nShe saw those hurt eyes and softened her gaze.\n\n“Hey, if you go to sleep _now_, maybe you can ask him to tell you stories in the _morning_.\"\n\nHer face lifted a little bit at that. It was a compromise, but kids\u0026nbsp;_hated\u0026nbsp;_compromises, nor did they fully understand them.\n\nStill, her wings drooped as\u0026nbsp;she obliged.\n\n“Okay Mama…\"\n\nShe moved from her wings and up the stairs to their room, before getting one last look at the human.\n\n“I'll be up there with you in a little bit Nim.\"\n\nThe tiny dragoness looked to her mother before returning her gaze up the stairs.\n\nWith a deep breath, she walked over to the human and sat at the side of the table to him, her rump and tail feeling the smoothed stone on the floor.\n\nIt was quiet except for the human's breathing in through his nose and his interactions with the meal she gave him, eating with these bizarre tools and occasionally drinking his cool water.\n\nShe had another sigh while shaking her head. She sought to start some small talk.\n\n“_Kids, y'know?_\", she said, looking to her left at the human.\n\nBrian, currently with food in his mouth chewed a bit before swallowing.\n\n“No, I _don't_.\"\n\nThe dragoness was surprised at that answer. She didn't expect him to say that.\n\nIt was a brutally honest answer from Brian.\u0026nbsp;\n\nAn almost..._too\u0026nbsp;_honest of an\u0026nbsp;answer.\n\nThe gears got to working in her head as she contemplated why he didn't understand children, especially interacting with her daughter even though it wasn't right for her child to pester him in the first place.\n\nThen, she got an answer, or some\u0026nbsp;_semblance\u0026nbsp;_of an answer.\n\n“Oh. You don't have a mate of your own?\"\n\nWhy wouldn't he? He appeared strong if rather quiet, and his eyes despite his apparent young age showed wisdom beyond his years. Granted, she didn't know what humans valued amongst each other.\n\nBrian started cutting into another part of the slab of meat while opening his jaws for a response.\n\n“Well, that and my parents are probably\u0026nbsp;_dead_.\"\n\nThe dragoness's eyes instantly widened to the size of ceramic plates, her jaw slightly open from the answer.\n\nHe was just so blunt and nonchalant with the way he said it, like it was something he accepted long ago. It dawned on her. He likely didn't have a mate\u0026nbsp;_or\u0026nbsp;_a childhood.\n\nShe suddenly became not only a bit unnerved with his demeaner and his voice, but very saddened as well. She wanted to say something, but knew that anything she would say wouldn't mean a single thing to the constant struggles of a person of death, who kills in the name of survival and justice without the privilege of love or companionship.\n\nShe looked down with her conflicted look at her twiddling claws, the conversation and art of talking taken from her.\n\nBrian still just continued eating like nothing had happened.\n\nFeeling ashamed of starting the conversation at all, she turned herself away and made her way to the stairs.\n\nShe peered at the human one last time and saw those eyes look at hers.\n\nThose eyes…\n\n“U-Um, _goodnight_.\"\n\nHe simply nodded before taking a sip out of his cup, now in a silent room to go over what happened today.\n\nShe shuffled up the stairs and she looked backwards as she went out of his view and onto the next floor.\n\nPoor thing.\n\nShe and every dragon here distrusted humans and believed them to be horrible creatures that can do the unspeakable and things thought to be impossible to cause eternal suffering. Many lost family members because of them, unable to hear their cries for help against the worst pains known in existence.\n\nShe, like others, was initially terrified of him as he walked into the Inn. She was scared to make a move that he may deem as offensive or threatening for the sake of her daughter's life.\n\nAnd now that she knows at least a reason why he lacked emotion at all, she felt guilty and regretful of not only her, but also everyone else here treating him like a _monster_.\n\nEven though he was as cold as a stone in the frozen wastes in the far North and South, the conversation, however small as it seemed, showed why he was in the Union in the first place.\n\nHe was broken like all of them.","series":{"name":"For All of Dragonkind: The Savior","previous":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/2231014-chapter-2-a-drink-called-loneliness.json","next":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/2253704-chapter-4-like-a-boomerang.json"}}