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It was a rather chilly night on the dock of the boat, swaying gently against the calm waves under the night sky. The moon was almost full.
Pearl, a rather small, pale girl for the age of sixteen, had just been sent out with her village's hunting crew—an extremely experienced bunch of individuals who knew way too many things about most known dragon breeds.
Pearl was a young apprentice of the Hunter's guild. Their job was to trap, kill, and sell off the various valuable bits and bobs off of their catches, most who attend are excited for such a job.
Not her, though.
She was forced to attend by her selfish and terrible father, a retired old man who wanted her late daughter to follow in his footsteps with no say in the matter. Any amount of battling she'd tried to do to prevent this very thing from happening was all for naught, he would make her whether she liked it or not, and so, now she's here. Miserable, looking up at the stars while the nightwatch stays up to make sure she doesn't jump off the boat just to get out of all this.
"Might wanna get some sleep, y'know? We arrive in around four hours."
Pearl simply gave him the cold shoulder, completely ignoring him in favor of wallowing in the pit of her mind, begging Thor, or any God that may hear her thoughts to take her away from this. Any way possible would do.
Despite technically being a dragon hunter, she's never actually killed a dragon before. She's seen plenty of illustrations, the odd Gronkle or Terrible Terror out in the woods near her home as well, but she's never encountered anything beyond that. She knows way too much about how to shed the scales off of a dragon hide, how to rip the horns out in the way where they don't chip and get damaged, the proper skinning techniques—everything. She wanted to puke, knowing that in four hours she would be on an island filled to the brim with trapped dragons, and expected to take their lives right then and there without mercy—how could she do that? How could anyone do that?
And for the past year of her life, this has been all it was, a build up to her first outing in which she is considered knowledgeable enough to get the job done despite never wanting it in the first place, and now she really is considering just jumping off of this boat and into the cold ocean.
There she sat for those four hours, all the way until the orange glow of the sun began to peek over the horizon, casting a warm hue of color over the otherwise blue ocean. The spinned neck of a Scaldron could be seen distantly surfacing for a moment, before diving back under against the light. The sight fascinated her now sleep-deprived mind, even if it was only there for a few seconds.
And, that was just it, really. She found dragons majestic, she found them pretty, and just as important to nature as every other life form. The existence of giant elemental lizards, all with their own evolutionary tactics to survive in this world felt magical. Dare she say, she wanted one.
It wasn't helping things either that a rumor had begun to spread around—a tale from beyond her side of the archipelago, that a young boy close to her age had managed to tame and ride one of these beasts. A Night Fury, of all creatures. She didn't even know those actually existed.
Well, she still doesn't. There's no proof or evidence for the tale of the boy and his Night Fury, but she's heard so much—so much information on how it was done, how it would be done if someone else were to, it just had to be real. That's what she chooses to believe, anyway.
But, it's not like she'd be able to find out at any point in her stupid, miserable life. As long as her dad is around to pull the strings on her limbs, this is what she's destined to do, nothing more.
"Houzuki! Are you coming, or what?!" yelled the rather annoyed captain from the shoreline they had docked onto, very clearly upset that he had been ordered to take a borderline child onto his ship, and he isn't the only one.
As much as she wanted her reply to be no, she'd rather not make a scene and be written up to her dad and the chief. So, she sighed, moved away from the railing of the ship, and sluggishly stepped down the wooden ramp onto the soft sand with her worn, brown boots.
"Alright, apprentice. You may be a beginner, but I won't give you any special treatment. You're a part of the crew like the rest of us, so my orders are as follows,"
The captain took a step back, clearing his throat as he prepared to give his crew instructions.
"Everyone will be splitting up. One person per direction, just as we always do. Grab any full small traps, and bring them back here. Bigger dragons will be dealt with as a team, so if you find one, report back here. Go." he ordered, and the entire crew had immediately dispersed. Pearl hesitated for a moment before she began to walk off as well, but the captain grabbed hold of her woolen vest, pulling her back.
With a little fear in her eyes, she looked up to him. He had a small dagger in his hand, and was stretching it out towards her.
"You'll want a weapon, you know. Unless you plan on strangling them."
That mental image wasn't very pretty, but neither was any method of taking another creature's life. She took the knife shakily, and the captain let her go as she continued on her way.
Surely it's been hours—this island is huge. According to the hunters, this island had been completely filled with traps and they had been going off all season. Proof of this had come with an iron bear trap Pearl had passed earlier that held the rotted, decaying corpse of a Terrible Terror inside. Completely non-harvest-able, a waste as they'd call it. She swallowed as she tried to forget about it.
But, she needed a break, and decided to rest her poor worn feet by sitting where she stood—on a grass patch that met with the sand of the beach, right on the edge of the forest. Her skin was beginning to pinken with sunburn, she forgot her cloak on the ship.
She sighed heavily, raising her knees up to her chest in a huddle to try and self regulate. She didn't want to do this, she didn't want to be out here, she wanted to just close her eyes and wake up in her bed at home.
Were they really expecting her to come back with a dragon? Who was she kidding, of course they were! What would they do to her if she came back empty handed? Kick her out? Good riddance, but then there's her dad—how would he react to her expulsion?
Sitting here and rotting would be better than anything happening in her life at the moment. That's just how it felt, she wanted to scream into the sky, or punch something. But before she opened her mouth to do the former, she heard a weakened, beastly sound from closeby.
Pearl jumps to her feet as she rips the knife out of her boot—previously stored here when she was tired of carrying it around—and held it in front of her whilst swiftly turning around, expecting some sort of ambush from a creature.
After a moment of holding her breath, and scanning for threats, she heard the cry once more. It seemed like whatever was making it was in pain...
Pearl's heart twisted. Whatever was out there sounded hurt, but go figure, they were on an island full of traps. It was no doubt a dragon crying to be freed, and her curiosity and big heart got the best of her as she followed the cries deep into the woods.
There were plenty of traps yet to be set off, so she had to be very careful where she stepped, using the limited light source that filtered through the trees to guide her way. It wasn't too long before she turned into a small clearing and saw it, the weapon still clutched in her grasp just in case.
A pure white dragon was hanging from a large tree in a thick net, squirming and writhing to try and free itself. Pearl was able to see a small, red liquid drip periodically from the creature's flank as it let out another distressing call.
Upon further inspection, from a distance of course, the dragon appeared to be...a Thunderdrum. These kinds of dragons aren't very common around here, or so she's been told, but what strikes her odd about this Thunderdrum is that it's all white, with periodically speckled light pink spots along its back where its white markings would be.
She's seen many professionally drawn images of what colors Thunderdrums come in, and this brilliant white definitely wasn't one of them. She couldn't help but begin to approach wearily, quieting her step as best as she could with the grip on her dagger tight, just in case she needed to defend herself.
Thunderdrums didn't have great hearing, she knew that for sure. It was either because they had a method of protecting their hearing due to their own loud calls, or because they've deafened themselves with said loud calls, but she couldn't remember which one it was right now. Once she got within reaching distance of the net, it was like the beast had sensed her presence as it leaped inside of the trap, turning and twisting its body painfully to reposition itself, until finally opening its mouth as wide as it could with the limited space to emit what felt like a harsh shockwave of noise.
Pearl threw her hands around her ears with a yelp, heart now racing from the feral creatures behavior. It was contained, it couldn't reach her, but the fear rising in her chest had made itself very known regardless. Her eyes had landed on the Thunderdrum's menacing red ones, and it was right then that it clicked with Pearl.
Just as the soundwave had died out, Pearl realized that this Thunderdrum had albinism, an extremely rare genetic mutation in the animal kingdom, and she found one. The first dragon who she's ever had a proper encounter with, and she was being expected to kill it.
The hunter's apprentice side of her had said that every part of this thing would go for a fortune. She'd be rich, if she decided to skin it and sell the scales, the hide, maybe even the teeth for jewelry. But, she immediately felt disgusted by those thoughts, she was forced on this trip knowing she damn well would never be able to kill a dragon, and sure enough here she was, staring one down through the fine barrier of some of the thickest rope a trapper could find.
She couldn't harm it, but should she tell the others? They did say to alert them about large dragons in order to take advantage of teamwork, but...she can't do that, can she? What did this Thunderdrum do? All it probably wanted was a place to bask, or something to snack on that wasn't fish for once, and it had been punished merely for existing.
And suddenly, Pearl had begun to relate with that. Pearl also had a rare appearance, at least that's what she one day concluded after seeing no one else in her known world who looked like her. Her hair was unnaturally blonde, the lightest shade blonde could get—and while everyone else's lashes and brows were brown or black, or maybe even orange, hers were white. At some point, it didn't feel very normal. Not to mention how her skin is so pale, people often mistake her for being sickly.
She can just imagine how other species, or hell, even how others of its own kind treat it. Thunderdrums are pod dragons unless courted to a mate, it being alone was abnormal. She wonders if this poor dragon was shunned, or pushed out of its home by its peers for being so brilliantly bright, and possibly attracting trouble.
"Apprentice! What was that sound, are you okay?" one of the other hunters jumped out of the shrubbery, causing Pearl to shriek in fear, the sudden voice almost knocking her clean to the ground.
"Oh wow, that's a big one, huh? Nice find." he says, beginning to approach. "If we attack it through the net we can immobilize it and—" he had suddenly paused in his explanation, looking at the specimen more closely.
"Oh my Gods..." he had whispered to himself, walking around the trapped dragon who was now whining, clearly beginning to get scared of the two humans. "Is that an Albino Thunderdrum?"
He marvels at the creature for a moment, before motioning Pearl over to him. "Give me a boost so I can take the net down, we gotta show the boss! I can't believe you found this, Pearl! You just made us rich!"
Pearl was frozen for a moment, unsure what to do or say—but the end goal was clear, to make sure that this dragon isn't harmed. It wouldn't feel right to let them take its life for their own selfishness and greed. This was a one of a kind dragon, she didn't want the poor things life to go to waste.
Pearl took a quick, deep breath, and stepped over to help her teammate up to untie the net from the thick branch, being sure that the net was still clipped shut to prevent escape. The creature fell down to the ground with a loud thud, followed by a small whimper.
"What's that look for? You look troubled, is something wrong?" he had asked her, and she finally shook herself out of her stupor. "I'm fine." she mumbled.
"Good, then let's take this back. I want the boss to see this thing alive."
The hunter grabbed a handful of the net and began to drag it across the ground, Pearl rushing over to help him. It was very clear to Pearl now that this Thunderdrum was very weak, and possibly dying. It was bleeding, evidenced by the small blood trail being left on the shallow grass as they moved it along, and it probably hasn't eaten in hours, or worse—days. Not to mention that the Thunderdrum is a Tidal class, it needs water to survive, and Thor knows how long its gone without that.
"Let's hurry it up." Pearl ordered darkly, pulling it along with all her might. To the hunter, it just seemed like she was also excited about the find. But the truth was that she needed to be sure this thing was alive by the time they got back.
Several hours had passed while Pearl and her companion had dragged the mutated Thunderdrum across the soil, and finally onto the soft sand of the beach in front of the ship. The rest of the crew were present there with their finds as well, as the sun was now beginning to set, marking the end of the day.
"There you two are! What on Earth took you so long?!" spat the captain, and Pearl's partner had smiled gleefully, dropping the net and stepping to the side. "See for yourself."
The captain raised his brow, and Pearl shuffled over as he traveled heel to toe toward the duo and their catch. Pearl glanced down to the captive Thunderdrum that was now alarmingly still, but she can see it breathing shallowly.
"Is that...albino?" he spoke with awe in his voice, and the hunter beside the Thunderdrum eyes practically sparkled.
"Yep. New girl found it." he said, nudging their apprentice. Pearl wasn't ready to be put on the spot, and she practically stiffened up. The captain turned his head to her, before nodding in approval.
"Well done you two. This is an incredible catch..." Said the captain. "It looks weak, so we'll let it die naturally before harvesting. Wouldn't want to mark up such a rare specimen’s hide."
Pearl almost sighed in relief at that, the fact that they didn't have to kill it right now. Not like she was going to, but she didn't want to know what would happen if she refused or hesitated.
Her and the other hunter had heaved the giant dragon up and onto the boat, although with a lot of struggle, they got it on there. Pearl had claimed exhaustion to avoid doing anything else with the thing, she'd been feeling sick to her stomach for a little while now at the fate she knew that poor dragon might face...it'll be her fault, too. If she didn't attract attention to it by approaching it, they may have never found it.
Pearl sat huddled on the deck of the boat just as she was on the way here for the rest of the trip home, and when they finally docked, it was deep in the middle of the night.
When Pearl entered her home, her father wasn't there to greet her due to how late it was, and she was extremely thankful for that. She didn't have the brain power to deal with him right now.
Most if not all of the townsfolk were sound asleep, meaning the hunter's gloating will have to wait until tomorrow, which also means that the Thunderdrum is still in the cage under the deck of the boat, and this very fact is why Pearl tosses and turns in her bed for an hour, unable to sleep. She can't stop thinking about it—or her, if she saw correctly.
It gets to the point where she grunts and sits up, flinging the covers off of her. She's so tired, but she can't sleep, and it's because she can't bear to think that such a rare and beautiful dragon is about to die all for the sake of some gold. She didn't do anything to deserve that.
I can save her, are the words that suddenly echo through the expanse of her mind of racing thoughts, and it's true. She was on the boat, she knows where the key to the cage is. But there's a few other issues with this, one of them being that she's literally a gigantic feral beast who would have no problem tearing her limb from limb, and yeah, that part is definitely not very exciting. But on the other hand, she seemed extremely weak when they were hauling her up, she might not even have the strength to maul her.
But, if the Thunderdrum was too weak, how was she going to fly off on her own? Maybe...she could lure her out with fish, or something.
Pearl sighs as she stands up, already feeling a small headache coming on. If she wanted to get a good night's rest, she needed to make sure that dragon was safe first. She couldn't let it die, not by them. She thinks about why the dragon would be so weak in the first place...
She remembers back to when she saw the Thunderdrum hanging in the net, and noticed a small pool of blood underneath. It was dripping for a while, so she's likely wounded. Nothing a little first aid can't fix. She's also probably starving.
The small girl takes a deep breath, throwing her cloak on and its hood over her head to hide her in the night if anyone were still awake. She opened the door to her home carefully, before trotting down the small hill her home was on, and beelined it straight down towards the docks. Before she made it there, she was sure to grab some sort of fish from the market stand for the poor thing.
Pearl had successfully made it down without being detected, looking behind her before climbing aboard to be sure she wasn't followed. The wood of the deck creaked under her soft woollen boots as she treaded towards the captains quarters—luckily unoccupied. Nobody was on here actually, which was nice for her, because it makes this a lot easier.
Entering the captain's quarters, she looks around for the keys before spotting them near instantly, snatching the delicate keyholder off the hook, and opening the trap door that leads under the deck, right where all of the hunters' catches reside. She grabbed a first aid kit near the door before heading inside.
A grim sight and repulsing stench follows her entrance, they had already killed all of their catches. She feels extremely nauseous at the unexpected sight of harvested small dragons, from Terrible Terrors to Night Terrors, to even adolescents of other species like Gronkles. The Thunderdrum was the only dragon in here that was big.
Pearl tried her best to ignore all of the carnage and move onto her main task, and she wasn't very hard to spot in the dark due to her bright white scales. She could hear the dragon's soft breathing as she approached, and Pearl swallowed hard as she tried to find the key to the cage.
The clanging of small metal in search of the correct fit roused the Thunderdrum awake, resulting in a harsh, deep growl from the pit of her throat. Pearl jolted a bit at the noise, now looking to see one of her bright red eyes piercing her intensely. At least she's alive, Pearl thought, as she froze for a moment, admittedly very afraid before turning back down to the keyring and searching diligently.
Found it.
The creature continued her piercing gaze, as a low droning followed her breaths, making the floor below rumble gently. Pearl forced the key inside of the lock, and turned...
The Thunderdrum watched intently as Pearl slowly raised her hand towards the cage, and pulled the metal door open—
A loud noise had erupted from the dragon's throat, sending the entire boat shaking, and Pearl's hands flying up to her ears, the keyring flung somewhere on the ground and was instantly forgotten. The force of the sound waves flung the door open, and as Pearl's ears rang she watched as the dragon lunged, and tackled her to the ground.
Her blood ran ice cold, and she was sure that this was it. She was about to die to the claws and teeth of this brightly colored beast, and perhaps be the meal that she's been craving for who knows how long, and Pearl squeezes her eyes shut as the weight of the dragon crushes her shoulders. Another roar emits loud and dangerous from the Thunderdrum, and Pearl feels it more than she hears it.
...But beyond the bruising in her shoulders, she doesn't feel any pain beyond that. It wasn't long before the weight had completely disappeared, and it shocked her into opening her eyes in time to see the large dragon attempting to flee up the stairs. She manages to squeeze through, but not without damaging the wood.
Pearl scrambles up to her feet with the first aid kit that was previously at her side, shaking with adrenaline and terrified, yet somehow finding herself calling for her while her hearing slowly returns. "W-wait! You're hurt!" she says, despite the dragon probably not understanding at all, and as she reaches the top of the steps she watches her burst out through the door, damaging the sides, attempting to fly away.
Pearl sprints after her, her flying is wobbly due to her weakness and lack of energy, and as a true Tidal class dragon, she immediately dives for the sea once she gets the chance to.
"No, wait!" Pearl calls after her, but she's already submerged herself before Pearl can do anything to try and help her. She practically leaps off of the deck and onto the sand of the beach, running down it quite far, before needing to stop and catch her breath. She's far from the village now.
But before she can fully pull herself together, she hears the distressed cries of a dragon in pain, and upon looking up she sees the albino Thunderdrum leaping out of the water with a splash, and it seems that that little burst of energy was all she had left in her, because she near instantly came crashing back down into the sand with a small bark.
The poor thing was whining—not loud, but soft. Crying as she shook the sand off of her hide, and from the distance Pearl was standing, that's when she finally got to see the wound.
A large, deep gash tore across her flank very clearly done by the work of the hunters' various traps. The blood was mostly dry now, but the salt water getting inside of that must have not been very pleasant at all, hence the whines and cries that followed. Despite Pearl's still very raging and obvious fear, she still found herself stepping towards the dragon, slowly and still out of breath. She needed to treat its wound, at least.
The Thunderdrum sensed her presence, turning around on the sand before shrilling in her direction harshly. It wasn't nearly as loud or destructive as before, and behind it Pearl was able to hear the pain coursing through her body, and was breathing rather heavily.
The dragon was scared. She wasn't being hostile, she was just afraid that Pearl might hurt her, and the fact that she isn't able to escape is making her fear for her life.
"I-it's okay..." Pearl says shakily. She wants her to understand, but the Thunderdrum begins to back up, shrilling fearfully as Pearl continues to approach.
"I want to help you...I'm not going to hurt you." she tries to explain, but it falls on deaf ears as the dragon continues to move backwards, bumping into some shrubbery.
Pearl then pulls the fish out from her cloak, stopping to present it to her from about ten feet away. The Thunderdrum sniffs in the direction of the food, and the pained whining seems to stop, but her body language clearly still displays fear.
Pearl begins to walk slowly again, approaching the dragon with the meal now. Am I fucking insane? She thinks to herself, as she is once again standing face to face with the creature, presenting the fish to her for her to take.
"You can have it. It's okay." Pearl voices gently, wiggling it around a little. The Thunderdrum emits a small growling sound, but it doesn't sound particularly unfriendly. Perhaps it was something more akin to confusion, as the dragon hesitantly opens her mouth, and practically snatches the fish from her hands, tossing it on the ground next to her before turning to eat it, almost like she was afraid Pearl was going to steal it. She swallows it whole.
"See? I'm nice...I wanna help." Pearl says delicately, and the dragon raises her head a little at her words. Then, Pearl does something that she had only heard rumors of working. This could go horribly wrong, but if it was true, she may be able to fully gain this dragon's trust and finally begin helping her.
Pearl slowly raises her empty hand up, her palm facing the creature's snout, and the gesture surprises the Thunderdrum, causing her to blow hot air from her nose, attempting to cower and back up even further. Pearl simply stands there, hand shaking as she waits.
Pearl swallows hard when the dragon lowers her head to sniff at Pearl's open, quivering palm. She always wondered if it was possible to tame and befriend a dragon, and if it was possible, she would love to do it one day.
Luckily for her, today was the day that she would find out that it was possible.
Because after a long time trying to decide if Pearl was friend or foe to the Thunderdrum, the creature seemed to trill as she hesitantly inched her nose closer to her palm, many long seconds passing before the dragon closed her eyes, and pushed into Pearl's hand gently.
Pearl couldn't help the giant smile that formed across her face. The gesture had pulled at her heart, giving her some much needed relief, as well as newfound fascination with what she had believed for years to actually be true. Something she had always known deep down, but was never presented the opportunity to find out for herself—they weren't monsters. They just need the right person to show them that they can be trusted.
Pearl slowly lifted the bag of bandages at her side to show the dragon her intentions once her eyes had opened again, hand still resting on the front of her snout.
"Can I wrap it up for you?" she offered, nodding towards the Thunderdrum's flank, wondering if she would know what she was asking. The creature looked backward in the direction she had gestured towards, and seemed to ponder for a moment...
Suddenly, she had turned so her injured side was facing Pearl with a loud huff, her bright red eyes staring what felt like daggers into her, almost as if this was some sort of test. Pearl was able to pick up on her intentions immediately; it was a trust exercise, in which if she failed, only Thor knows what would happen. Pearl took a deep breath, and carefully approached before sitting with her knees digging into the soft sand below.
Carefully and slowly, she reached into the first aid bundle and pulled out specially handmade bandages crafted by the town elder himself. There was a metal bottle of some nurturing solution she was meant to dip it in, to prevent infection. She hesitated slightly.
"This might sting, okay? But, that's a good thing, I promise..." she whispered to the creature. She let out a puff of air, still watching her carefully.
Pearl took a deep breath, and began to apply the damp bandages after soaking them briefly. The solution acted as a slight adhesive as well, allowing the bandages to stick to the dragon's hide efficiently without worry of them falling off. The gash was about around her thigh, so she had used her leg as a way to wrap the bandages securely.
As soon as the cold gel-like substance touched the Thunderdrum, she jumped with a hiss, what Pearl could only describe as an angry scowl being shot into her soul from the beast. Pearl sprung into action to calm her, like she'd been doing this for years.
"Hey, it's okay. I know it hurts..." she mumbles, reaching over to rub her on her snout. The Thunderdrum grumbles and thrashes, still somewhat untrusting and unsure, but Pearl's gentle voice and touch is able to calm her down.
Pearl is shocked at herself how brave she's become all of a sudden. Touching and rubbing a dragons snout, just because it didn't maul her the chance it was able. She had to be insane, surely.
But, she honestly didn't care. This was beautiful and magical, being able to be close to a creature she'd admired all her life, rather than despise like everyone else around her.
She tucked the damp bandage into itself to keep it extra fastened, now stepping away to admire her work. But the admiration was short lived, because as soon as the Thunderdrum was able to, she took to the skies, kicking sand up and into Pearl's face in the process.
"Hey, wait!" she shouted after her, knowing she wouldn't be able to get very far. One lousy fish wasn't a meal, she had barely any strength. Sure enough, the creature came tumbling back down into the sand not too far from her original position, grumbling angrily in frustration. Pearl ran to catch up with her.
"You aren't all good yet, y'know." she said, coming to settle near the creature's side once more. "You need to take it easy. I know you want to get out of here, but..." she trailed off, now lost in thought about how she would help remedy this situation. She can't just leave her here.
Then, she remembered that one place. A small cave, cozy and nicely fit for a dragon her size, a place where she always snuck off to when she wanted to be by herself, take a nap, and not be found for a while. Only few know of its existence, it's quite out of the way on this island. A perfect hiding place.
"I know somewhere you'll be safe so you can heal, okay?" she said, gesturing for the dragon to follow. She hesitated, as Pearl had suspected, but continued to walk down the sandy shoreline with her back turned to the creature. A signal of trust.
And, one of the craziest things she's ever done.
Her heart thumped in her chest as she walked, knowing that if she wanted to, she could pounce and kill her where she stood. Now would be the perfect chance.
But, she heard the creature shuffle from behind her as she treaded the beach, gentle steps and a drag of a thick, strong tail making its way through the sand. She angled her gaze behind her slightly.
The Thunderdrum was following her, a quiet grunt with every few steps, and a small limp in her step from her wound. She caught Pearl's gaze, and froze in alert once she realized she was looking at her. But it wasn't the alerted gaze of a creature who's trying to survive, it was much more aloof and dare Pearl say, embarrassed. Embarrassed that she was putting her trust in a human. A hunter.
Pearl couldn't help the giant smile that climbed across her face, a warm and playful expression that found success in easing the creature, prompting her to continue to follow.
It wasn't long before they found the cave, she did run quite a ways from the village after all.
Pearl swatted the bushes and held them open for the Thunderdrum to be sure her bandages didn't get caught in them.
"This way, girl. This is the place." she encouraged, and the dragon carefully stepped through the shrubbery without much hesitation. Their journey here was filled with a bunch of mini trust exercises and positive body language, so the two have now calmed themselves and have gotten used to each other, even if their time spent together has been rather small.
Pearl followed her into the small hideaway, although small for a cave, it was huge for a hiding spot. It was a perfect little place where she could be safe, especially when she had bright and gleaming scales. She could be spotted from miles away if not concealed properly.
The Thunderdrum sniffed around the dark area—the floor, the walls, and even dug and scratched at the dirt, almost checking to see if it was up to her standard. She finally looked at Pearl, and let out a hard puff of air before plopping her large body onto the ground. Pearl let out a small giggle at the display.
"Is this place good enough for you, princess?" she teased, that giant smile from earlier refusing to leave her face. She was amazed at herself, and the creature before her all at once. Everything that's happened tonight has felt like a dream, but it was a dream she never wanted to wake from.
She sat down near the Thunderdrum and experimented by resting her body against the beast gently. She didn't move nor show any sort of rejection at the action.
"Princess..." Pearl whispered to herself, looking up to meet her red gaze, the dragon's head tilting slightly, almost like a dog.
"You like that name? I gotta call you somethin' don't I?" she voiced up to the dragon, and her response was a sneeze.
"You'll like it eventually." Pearl responded, and the Thunderdrum—Princess—put her head down on the floor, now seeming to truly relax since Pearl freed her.
They sat here for a while, soaking in the moon's rays that filtered in through the entrance, continuing to get used to one another's presence. It felt so magical to Pearl, to be able to tame a large beast like this, to help her, name her, heal her...
They aren't what everyone thinks they are. They're too smart to be hunted, skinned, ripped apart, and sold for riches. Remembering all of that made her stomach churn.
She's been onto something her whole life, she knew she had. Her waiting and sticking to her guns is finally paying off.
They can't find her.
As deep into the night it was, one particular nod told her that she had to turn in for the night. She unfortunately had to go home. They would freak out, and probably have her as number one suspect for letting Princess escape if she wasn't home by morning. The creature in question was snoring softly beside her.
She stood up quietly with a stretch, and reached down to pet Princess' head gently.
"I'll be back tomorrow. I promise." she said, and whether or not she could hear or understand her, it didn't particularly matter.
And as she suspected, the next morning was filled with panic as the hunters guild found a gaping hole, suspiciously Thunderdrum shaped in their ships deck, and the missing Thunderdrum in question.
Pearl had returned to Princess every single day. She only did what was expected of her for the day, and then took off to hang out with her new dragon. It was perfect, because she ran off like this all the time anyways, so no one had suspected a thing. The only risky parts were having to sneak medical equipment and food down to the cave, but miraculously, she's never been caught.
Probably because she was a nobody in her village. Just a novice hunter's apprentice who couldn't seem to get the hang of anything, and nothing more.
On day one, she fulfilled her promise and returned with food and water for the dragon. She was happy to see Pearl again, to her surprise, as she jumped up like a dog to tackle her to the floor playfully. She fed her and changed her bandages everyday.
On day three, she noticed how dry her scales were becoming. She was a tidal class, it had suddenly occurred to her then, and she found herself rushing back home to retrieve a wooden bucket so she could douse her friend with sea water safely. She spent an hour of every day lugging the thing to and from the sea, to keep her damp and happy.
On day five, Pearl was feeling adventurous. After feeding, medicating, and watering Princess, she experimented in a moment of boldness as she tried to climb atop her back. Was riding a dragon possible?
She was flung off of her back with a surprised screech, followed by a strained hiss. Not yet.
On day seven, it had marked a week since they'd met, and there seemed to be absolutely no fear or hesitation from either party anymore. Pearl found out that Princess loves to be scratched on her chin.
On day eight, Pearl approached Princess with permission this time; and to her surprise, she finally let her on her back. It was a new, and slightly scary experience, sitting atop a dragon's back. She decided their new schedule would consist of trying to get the hang of this, as she didn't really move anywhere...
By day ten, Princess's wound was nearly healed. She was able to move around a lot more, dive into the ocean, and a lot of their day now consisted of playing, training, and Pearl was very happy that Princess didn't run from her when she was able to swim again.
And on day fourteen, Pearl was officially riding a dragon.
She dipped her head low on the wind to keep her aerodynamic enough for the speed they were going, and held on tight to Princess's back as they flew across the orange and purple hues of the sky, not doing anything crazy since this was the first time they've been up this high. Her heart thumped hard in her chest as they zipped through the clouds, the water below looking so far away, but she trusted Princess now. She was sure that if she fell, she'd catch her.
It was amazing. It was all she'd ever wanted since she was a kid, to have a pet dragon, to befriend one, to ride one. Thanks to all of her hard work, her sneaking off, both before and after she met Princess, to either learn about dragons on a deeper level, or to come out here and take care of her own, she finally got what she'd dreamed about having.
She might even be the first person to ever ride a dragon that is as dangerous as a Thunderdrum. She was an incredible ally, a wonderful weapon if she ever needed her to be, and of course—her best friend.
Tears stung at her eyes as they flew through the air, and her vision began to blur as she cried out into the sky, voice filled with fulfillment and excitement, adrenaline pumping through her veins, as tears fell from her face.
“BOOYAAAHHH!!"
She almost screamed her throat raw.
After coming down from the clouds with a ferocious velocity, the two had slowed into a comfortable glide, watching the sea and its stacks underneath them peacefully as Pearl tried to catch her breath, her cloak breezing behind her.
"Gettin' tired, girl?" she had asked, and while they weren't in the sky for very long, this was still a new experience for Princess. She noticed that they were enroute back to her home island's beach, and even though Pearl was the one on her back, she felt that it was important to let Princess make her own decisions as well. Their friendship had blossomed between the mutual understanding of trust, after all.
"You did a great job, Princess." Pearl praised rubbing her head affectionately. Princess trilled happily in return.
"...I'm really happy I met you, y'know?" Pearl said gently, their flight now coming to an extremely cozy, and slow coast. "I didn't have anybody before you."
She wasn't expecting Princess to really understand, but interestingly, she managed to turn her gaze upward, Pearl leaning forward in order for the two to make eye contact. It was clear that Princess realized she was trying to be heartfelt, whether she understood her words or not.
"Thank you for trusting me. For letting me help you, and heal you, and..." she stopped, realizing how wobbly her voice had gotten. So many emotions, so much happiness flowing through her entire body, she could leave this island with nothing but Princess and be happy and content forever. Princess grumbled affectionately a moment after Pearl's pause.
"I'll always be there for you, Princess. I hope you can say the same for me." Pearl had said, tears growing at the corners of her eyes once again.
But the tender moment was short lived when they began approaching the island, the other side that was not visible to the village so that they wouldn't get caught. Her heart dropped when she noticed boats floating near the shore. Not normal, and definitely a bad sign. She gripped the tender hide of the dragon afraid, but ready.
But not ready enough, unfortunately.
"Princess—"
A net flew over the duo's heads, and by the time Pearl had noticed it was too late. Princess had detected something was wrong beforehand, but of course, it was also too late. They had attacked from behind, and as the net closed overtop both of them, Princess began to panic. The Thunderdrum shrilled and shrieked, flying awkwardly now and quickly losing altitude from the net now covering her wings. Pearl fell off of her back from the ordeal, but Princess was able to catch her with her claws, now hugging her close as they very quickly approached the beach in a free fall.
It all happened so quickly, that Pearl was dazed once they hit the sand, a giant fountain of it spewing into the sky, as she tucked neatly against the Thunderdrum's chest, effectively shielding Pearl from the brunt of the impact.
"Cage the dragon." she heard a man's voice say, and that voice was all but familiar to Pearl. It made her head shoot up from the confines of her dragons arms. As soon as she saw him, her guildmaster, she was being ripped out of the net painfully, arms being forced behind her back despite her struggle.
"Princess, run!" Pearl shouted, as the rest of the guild had worked together to capture the stunned Thunderdrum. She thrashed and roared, the sound echoing through the skies and causing their ears to ring.
"Princess?! You named it?!"
"Let her go!"
"I knew it was you. I always did."
"Of course you did! You blame everything on me!"
"Enough!"
In a blink, Pearl was suddenly being threatened with a dagger to her throat. Princess was gaining her strength back, and didn't much appreciate what she was seeing.
"You should be executed for letting this mountain of gold free to roam! Not only that, but taming it? Naming it? Purposely harboring it from us?" he scoffed. "I'll be sure it's painful. In fact, I should just kill you right here!" he shouted, and she felt the point of the blade touch her throat.
Princess clawed and shook, and she managed to get the other four people attempting to restrain her away, shilling ferociously. She charged, not caring who she may take with her, and bashed her entire body into the two, knocking them over and winding the man threatening Pearl's life. Princess growled, a small whine accompanying it at the end as she leaned down, inviting Pearl onto her back. Pearl picked up the body language immediately, and climbed aboard sloppily, nearly falling off as Princess took off with haste.
"Shoot them!" She hears the guildmaster scream into the sky. Pearl looks behind her, hood down.
She then leans down low, to make up for the wind splitting through her body and slowing them down.
"I'll tell you when to move, girl. I won't let them hurt you." she tells the dragon, and with Pearl's keen eye, and Princess sharp turning, the two manage to weave through all arrows, harpoons, and darts that come flying their way. Together, as a team, operating as one to escape.
Pearl watches the island and the hunters get further and further away, eventually fading off into nothing behind the cloud cover in the sky. The sky was beginning to darken.
"You saved my damn life, girl. Holy shit..." Pearl huffed, now finally letting her shoulders relax and giving free flight control back to Princess.
Not much was heard or said between the two for a while, as they simply glided across the horizon. Pearl thinks about what just happened, how she almost died, and how Princess barreled into the guildmaster to save her.
How she was effectively just exiled, indirectly, from her home.
They caught her riding a dragon, they knew they kept her away, they knew they purposely released her. They know that she messed up their chances of having a rich village and now—
Now, Pearl was a criminal. This realization settles heavily, as heavily as an anvil weighing on her shoulders. She can't go home.
She can never go home.
Princess notices her distress, and grumbles lowly, Pearl feeling the vibrations under her skin as she sits atop her back. The only thing she can really describe feeling right now was shock.
Where was she supposed to go now?
She was so in her own head, that she didn't notice the tiny island they were approaching before Princess was beginning to glide down towards it.
She landed heavily, crouching to allow Pearl to slide off easily. It took her a second to do so, languidly dismounting the dragon. She couldn't make it two steps before her legs gave out, whether it was shock, trauma, or the realization that she now has nothing within the blink of an eye. Princess was quick on her little feet, catching Pearl with her large, flat head to prevent her from hitting the ground. She helped her walk until they were shielded from the sky, even though by now the sun was gone and the stars were twinkling.
They settled beneath a tree, Pearl now huddling up close to Princess's side. The Thunderdrum shielded her with her wing from the cold.
"W-who needs 'em all anyway, huh?" she muttered shakily, tears finally finding their way down her face. Princess responded with a huff of agreement.
"I only need you...you..." she mumbled, the last of her energy now peetering out. Princess nudged her face against her.
It wasn't much longer before Pearl had fallen asleep against her.
Pearl had saved and taken care of Princess. Now, it was time that she returned the favor.