{"sf1_id":583520,"sf2_id":null,"title":"The Dragon's Treasure","author":"Ahmar_Wolf","words":3647,"posted_at":"2013-08-30T18:49:00.000Z","tags":["Dragon","Human"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/583520-the-dragon-s-treasure","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/583520","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=583520\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"A man seeks riches but discovers that dragons can be the best thing that ever happens to them","content":"\nLet me take you back to a time before\nChina itself was an empire to workshop behind a little pottery shop,\nin a nameless village. This is where items for the store are made,\nthe work is shared between Fong and Po. But when Po's mind wanders\nwhich usually means he is created a statue of a woman in a a lovely\ndress out of clay that meant for the everyday objects they make. This\nwhen it's Fong's job to get the attention of Wu, (He owns the shop)\nwho eventually says, \"Po why out of the all craftsmen we have\ncreating our wares why do I always seem to talk to you\". Po\nreplies, \"Just lucky I guess\". But the stern look on Wu's\nface told him he did not appreciate his little joke, \"Okay I\nknow I should be doing what I should be doing but I can't help it...I\nam in love\", Po said. \"Po you have the potential to be a\ngreat artist. For no one I know can bring what is essentially a\nlifeless mass and give it a soul. Look before you met her, you were\nbeginning to make a name for yourself. But look at you now, instead\nof creating works of great art for the kings and members of the royal\ncourt, you create wares for everyone. All because of a woman, A\nhandmaiden for the Princess Yasmine, no less. Whom say your in love\nwith, face the fact Po she can never be yours. All that potential\nwasted and your back right were you started long ago\", Wu said.\n\"But Master Wu, I know Lotus Flower loves me\", Po insisted.\n\"It was just a chance meeting, when the king and his family\ntoured our village, and they just happened to drop by my humble shop.\nIf I recall right you 2 never spoke, only exchanging glaces when the\nking asked who makes your wares\". \"But I know she loves\nme\", Po insists again. \"Po, she is not in her class, for\nshe is far above you or anyone you know. Lotus Flower is destined to\nmarry, a member of the royal court\", Wu said. \"Have you\nheard anything?\", Po wonders. As Wu pats Po in his back,\"Po,\nwhy don't you settle on a girl from the village, I know more than\none lovely young woman asked me about you\".\n\nThe only thing Po does is sigh, and go\nback to work.\n\nWu really cared about Po, he was like\nthe son he never had. They went from an employee/employer\nrelationship to one where they really care for one another, he even\ngot Po to start creating little figurines, for he knew Po had the\ntalent. But he also knew Po often let his emotions get the better of\nhim for he feared if Lotus Flower did marry, poor Po might do\nsomething quite foolish.\n\n\nBut as Po worked as started to think,\nhe figured he the only chance of marrying Lotus Flower if he became\nrich and famous, for if he was he would be in the same social class\nas any royal and therefore free to marry Lotus Flower. That was when\nhe decided to quit his job, despite Wu's advised him against it, that\nis what he did.\n\nPo did everything to earn money\neverything from digging ditches, planting, he even built walls. In\nfact he in fact did everything that was asked of him. But even\nafter just a week where everyone knew his name...but sadly that was\njust about it. In fact he had earned less money that if he stayed\nworking for Wu.\n\nUntil this one day when he got the\nstrangest job offer he ever had in his entire life, and that from a\nweasel of a man, \"My name is Shang and I heard you seek riches\nto marry a fair maiden who is far\nabove you in the station of life\".\n\"Yeah, so what\". \"I want you to work for me, you see I\nrun the\nwrestling matches here in town that\neveryone is crazy about. I put big guys like you against one\nanother. You must have seen the\nmatches...everyone has...even the King is a HUGE fan\". That got\nPo's attention, \"The King you\nsay?!!\". \"He even invites the Grand Champion of all the\nmatches to his palace. He often welcomes them to his family if you\nget my meaning\". \"But I don't know\". \"In case you\nforgot, it's just skill vs. skill nothing brutal. I don't allow\npunching, kicking or biting, it seems all you had to do knock his\nopponent off of their feet and pin there shoulder to the ground. The\nwinner would then receive a prize, once make a name for yourself you\nget a percentage of the money wagered on the match\".\n\n\nTo Po it sounded like easy money, and a\nquick way to gain fame. So he told Shang, \"I'll do it\".\n\nExpect when he stood there in the\nmiddle of that crowd wearing nothing but a lion cloth, he quickly\ndiscovered the real trick to this wrestling. How do you get someone\noff of their feet who did not want that to happen.\n\n\nHis first match ever where he faced\nanother big guy like himself, but one with more experience than him,\nand as it turns out it wasn't quick, nor was it easy, but his\nexperience in wrestling his co worker for fun really helped...he won\nanyway to his own surprise. He just loved the roar of the crowd, and\nin that one match he made more than he ever made from Wu in an entire\nmonth.\n\n\nAfter a few months...\n\nThen came that fateful day, Shang\ncalled it 'The Regional Championship'. Which meant other wrestlers\nfrom outside the village would battle\nuntil there was only 1 winner, and that one would be welcomes in the\npalace of the King. Po had visions of him and Lotus Flower walking\ndown the aisle. But that match\n\ndid not take place there in town but\ndown in a nearly valley.\n\nPo's mind was on other things like what\nkind of outfit he wear for the wedding. Instead of listening\nto what another wrestler was now\ntelling him, \"Look Po your a really nice guy, but you got to get\nany idea of wedding, and that girl out\nof your head. I been to these regional's before, and there are\nsome real brutes there, miners mainly,\nbut I swear some dig at the rocks with their bare hands. Look Po\nthey are HUGE, one had me in a hold I\nhad to quit wrestling for 2 years before my back healed. Po\nwon't you listen to me...PO!!!\"\nBut Po wouldn't listen he was just daydreaming of his life with Lotus\nFlower.\n\nThen the first day of the Regional's\ncame, the crowd who gathered there nearly filled the entire valley,\nPo was to be in the very 1st match. As even Shang tired to warn him,\n\"This usually means you go against last years champion, Po you\nreally got to watch yourself out there\". But Po still won't\nlisten, \"I'll beat him like every other man I faced\".\nUnlike Po, Shang knew who Po would be facing and even he was scared\nfor Po.\n\nHis name was Muu, and he had this rep\nfor breaking anyone who made fun of his name. He was huge to say the\nleast, 6 '8 320 lbs and all muscle. He towered over 5' 7 Po and\nbarely 220. But all poor Po had was Lotus Flower on his mind when he\ncame face to face with this beast of a man.\n\n\nWho as the match started had Po at his\nmercy. Muu treated him like a rag doll to do with as he pleased.\nThere was nothing Po could do to stop him. After Muu slammed him to\nthe ground for the 3rd time. Po lost conscientious. But thankfully\nthe referees stopped the match.\n\n\nLater at the other matches continued Po\nwas back in his street clothes sitting alone battered and bruised\nfrom head to toe...crying he had lost everything including all the\nmoney he earned when he bet on himself to win.\n\nBut as Po wondered if life was worth\nliving without love of Lotus Flower. Another man came looking for\nhim, looking more like another wrestler himself, Po shouted \"I\ngiven up on wrestling!!! Go AWAY!!!\".\n\n\nBut the man stood his ground, as Po\nshouted again, \"Didn't you hear me go away!!\" But as the\nman continued to approached him, \"That is a funny thing to say,\nwhen you seek fame and fortune\". \"Fame and fortune,\nbleck!!! I tried it, I failed. Didn't you hear I lost the match and\nall my money. I am flat broke and without a job\". As Po began to\nsulk, the man said, \"What if I told you all isn't lost, that I\ncould say you gain back way more than you ever lost and much, much\nmore\". \"How much?!\" \"How about richer than\nany king, free to marry anyone you want\". \"Sounds like your\npromising a lot\". As he reached out with his hand, \"The\nname is Zewell I am looking for a partner and I think your the right\nman. I seen you in the matches you have great moves\". Po was a\nbit confused, \"I don't quite get what you mean\". \"Let\nme explain, I am an explorer and I made the biggest discovery of a\nlifetime months ago...I found the Dragon's Treasure\".\n\nPo was skeptical to say the least,\n\"Isn't that suppose to be a myth\". \"But I found it!\",\nZewell insisted. \"But I can't get it myself it a 2 man\noperation. Why even getting to the peak where it can be found is\nrisky enough, but the reward is...\". \"What?!!\" \"Why\nanything you can think of, you know the old legends. The ones that\nsaid back long ago, that told of a dragon who lusted for riches,\nstealing only the biggest and the best. The largest nugget of gold,\nthe biggest and brightest gems. Then after gathering all that it\ncould it hid away in the mountains so no one could ever steal from\nit\". \"But isn't that just a tale mother's tell there kids,\nmine told me that same story back when I was just a kid!!\", Po\nexclaimed. \"Look if I didn't see it for myself I would not of\nbelieve it. Huge caves filled from floor to ceiling with gems. I\nnearly died when I saw an emerald as big as your head fall in to a\nbottomless cassavas\". \"Cassavas?!!\" \"That's why I\nneed help, and especially with someone so skillful as you. Don't deny\nit, I know the story of how you save that blind kid when he climbed\nup high on that temple in town. One false move she could of fell to\nher death. But there you climbed up there like it was nothing and\nsaved that child. I need that skill\". Po was hesitant, until\nZewell adds, \"Even if you only bring back what you could carry,\nI am sure Lotus Flower would be yours forever\".\n\nEven though Po knew he was grasping at\nstraws he accepted, Zewell lead him to some equipment that they\nneeded, mainly ropes, supplies for their meals. Once they loaded up\nthey were off.\nThe journey was a long and difficult\none, taking a couple of weeks. Traveling beyond the valley, Po knew\nall so well, to the foothills of gigantic peaks he up to now only saw\nin the distance. It was the biggest of these where they were headed.\n\n\nBut the journey wasn't easy, especially\nall the ropes he needed to carry and quickly saw why. A series of\nsheer drops, any one of them could killed either one of them. But\nthankfully ropes were already in place, presumably placed there by\nZewell.\n\nWhich eventually lead to a very high\npeak. Which slowly they climbed until they finally reached an\nopening. This is where they both rested until the next day when Po\nasked, \"Don't we have to light a torch to see inside this cave\".\n\"Just step inside and see for yourself\". Once they got past\nany sunlight. The cave lit up on it's own like it was mid day. Po was\namazed, but as Zewell reminded him, \"You really got to watch\nyour step, there are lots of sheer drops ahead\".\n\n\nOne of which Po almost stepped in to if\nit wasn't for Zewell. Once they got past that one there was 11 more\nahead of them. Po knew that because he counted every single one of\nthem. Nothing that difficult in fact save for the very last one. As\nPo looked as what lies ahead, \"Oh yes, I see what you mean it\ndoes look like piles of gems\". \"Now how do we make it\nacross\", Zewell wonders. Po simply looked at everything, \"Now\nif you could get a hunk of that rope around that stalagmite over to\nyour left\". \"That one?!\", \"No, the one right next\nto that one\". \"Oh that should be easy\", \"Now for\nthe tricky part once you do I have to make my way across, and from\nthere I take another rope over to that big one right in front of that\ncave\". \"You know I would of never thought about that\"\nThat is why you have me\", Po proudly boasts.\n\n\nIt wasn't that easy Zewell missed that\nstalagmite a few times before getting it, and finding something to\nwrap the other end around of the rope...just in case. Also wasn't\nthat easy. But Po did it, and so it seemed Zewell.\n\nUntil Po entered the cave and saw that\nthe gems really weren't gems but was the skin of a....DRAGON!!!\n\nWhen he tried to run he found that the\nrope was completely gone and he was stuck.\n\n\nPo simply assessed his situation, he\ncalmly sat down on the cave floor and tightly closed his eyes. Hoping\nit wasn't going to hurt when the dragon ate him...gulp!!!\n\nBut what he heard next, frankly\nsurprised him when the voice presumably of the dragon says, \"It\nhas to be the great artist Po\". Hesitantly opening one eye Po\nsays, \"You heard of me?\". \"Up until you disappeared\noff the face of the Earth. Po great artists are rare and few, the\nworld doesn't need another wrestler\". Po was sure of this, \"I\nknow this is some sort of trick, you simply want to prolong my\ntorment\". \"I could do nothing more than what your doing to\nyourself right now\". \"Huh?!\" \"Po everyone knows\nyour work even though your only just started, my guess it wouldn't\nhave been that much longer before you received a royal commission\".\n\"They do those things?!!\". This cause the dragon to shake\nhis head in disbelief, \"I have come across...but this is a\nfirst. Yes, of course they do. I even heard that your local royal\nwanted sculptures of not only himself, but of his entire family\"\n\n\"OH GREAT?!!! I have to be the\ndumbest man on this entire world\". Then Po looks up at this 30\nfoot tall dragon, \"You might as well eat me\". This time the\ndragon said a single word, \"Why?\". Having nothing he felt\nhe could loose Po told the dragon everything, especially of Lotus\nFlower. \"There she was a woman I only knodded to, whom I was\ntotally in love with. She is all I can think of lately. No matter\nwhat I do, it always turns in to her\". \"Then why not create\na sculpture of her\". \"Are you crazy, no way Wu could ever\nsell a statue of a mear woman who is just a handmaiden, everyone\nwants soldiers of members of the royal court\". \"Then why\nnot create something for yourself\", \"Frankly I guess in all\nthe rush to become rich and famous...\". Then it hit him, \"Zewell\nworks for you\". \"That is the first smart thing you said.\nYes Zewell works for me, it's pretty obvious I can't go looking\naround the countryside looking for people to help. They will think I\nwant to eat them\". \"Well why not\". The dragon then\nlooks straight at Po, \"I am a vegetarian\", and for the\nfirst time in a very long time, Po began to laugh, \"A\nVegetarian?!!! Oh Boy!!!\". The dragon frankly enjoyed the sound\nof Po's laughter and later explained. \"What Zewell told you was\nmore or less true, he heard the ancient legend and was looking for\ntreasure one he found me of course his plans changed...after he wet\nhis pants of course\". This naturally cause Po to snicker. \"After\nI agreed not to eat him, he told me of his sad tale. In short he was\nlooking for a purpose to his life and I gave him one. He looks for\nthose who needs my unique kind of help. But right now you could use a\ngood meal, some rest before completing your greatest work to date\".\nPo just looked at the dragon as if he was crazy, \"I have all the\nclay you could ever need, tools\nand a great artist...that's you. I want\nyou to make a statue of Lotus Flower for me\". \"Why?\"\n\"For the simple reason you won't be able to create anything else\nuntil your able to complete what burns with in you. Speaking of which\nwe don't need a kiln we have me\". The look on Po's face told the\ndragon the truth, \"I know it's a bit corny, lets just say I want\nto see the object of your desires\". The Po had a question, \"How\nbig do I need to make it?\" \"I leave that up to you\"\n\nThe workshop the dragon finally brought\nPo to was even finer than the one at Wu's store. The clay was the\nperfect for any size he saw fit. Taking a deep breath Po started his\nwork.\nThen 3 weeks later...\"It's\nfinished\". Po made it life size, \"All you need to do is make\nsure it doesn't crack as it drys out, then fire it\".\n\nThe dragon to say the least was greatly\nimpressed, \"She is simply the most lovely woman I ever seen, Po\nno wonder your in love with her\".\n\n\"Yes, but I doubt she would ever\nbe mine\"\n\n\"Po your tired, in fact your very\nsleepy\". \"Yawn, this has to be some dragon trick\" Po\nsaid as he yawned, it was all he could do was stay awake, \"Po\njust lay down and sleep, by the time you awake your problems will be\nover\".\n\nPo then laid down upon the ground and\nfell fast asleep.\n\nBut then Po awoke, in fact he sat up,\n\"Like I said...\". But then he looked around Po could not\nbelieve it he was less than a days journey from his village. With\nlittle more than he had when it started. Po then made a couple of\nhard decisions, the first was going back to see Wu and try and get\nhis job back. Maybe the dragon was right, after he created the statue\nof his lady love Po almost felt he could create anything. He almost\ndid not want to go, for he felt as if after all of this, he could be\nthe laughing stock of the entire village. But as his experiences\ntaught him, you should not let your fears hold you back from trying\nsomething new.\n\nBut when his village came in to sight\nPo could not believe his eyes, there was Lotus Flower and she was\nrunning towards him. Forgetting his troubles he ran full speed\ntowards her, when they met they kissed. Lotus Flower then insisting,\n\"Po I can't live without you, lets get married right now\".\n\"What?!!! Yes of course but what happened?!!\" Lotus Flower\nreplied with one word, \"The statue, after my Lord heard about\nthe statue and it's message he released me from my bonds, making me\nfree to marry the only man I will ever love\". \"What\nmessage\". \"You better see it for yourself my love\".\n\nNow surround by nearly the entire\nvillage Po was now standing in from of the very statue he created for\nthe dragon. Except it seems the dragon added his own message.\n\nLet it be know by all a man called Po\nfaced not only his fears, but a furious fire breathing dragon. Not\nfor riches, nor fame but for the love of a woman.\n\n\nBut as he tried to explain the dragon\ncouldn't be any nicer Lotus Flower was kissing him again, and that\nreally didn't seem important.\n\nBut that wasn't all, when a messenger\nfrom the King worked his way through the crowd with a message for the\npair. As soon as he asked, \"I assume your Po\". \"Yes\nSir\". the messenger pulled out a scroll and said the following,\n\"Let it be known by all Po now has a Royal Commission to create\nworks of art for not only those at the Royal Palace but to create in\nwhat any media he chooses representations of members of the royal\ncourt. For this he will be paid handsomely, I assume enough for a\nfine house, a wedding, and in time support his family\".\n\nPo had tears of joy running down his\ncheeks.\n\nBut that wasn't all Wu had something to\nsay as well. \"Po, my old friend or should I say partner. My shop\nis now just as much as yours as it is mine. I also would deem it a\ngreat honor to display whatever future works of art you create\"\neveryone cheered\n\nAs Po would say later, \"I did\ndiscover the Dragon's Treasure, it may not of been riches. But that\ntreasure by a crafty old dragon brought me more happiness than I\ncould ever imagine\".\n\n"}