<Redline>

It felt like something was following me. Every section, every turn had me on edge ready to defend against whatever it was trailing me. 

But nothing ever happened. Not when I called Foxy to ask for a favor...I shuddered to think of all the things she was going to be doing with me because of this. Not when I lost my temper and threw the Sound-Shard away, losing my only means of communication. It was something that I did on purpose...sorta, in hopes of drawing them out: though, I may have overdone it a little as the wall it had impacted had a large crater in it when I walked past. They didn't even take advantage of the time I 'tied my shoes!' I was wearing reinforced magic boots for Moon's sake!!

I was contemplating using stealth the moment I left the cave and seeing what followed after me, but as I thought about how to do so an animalistic yelp sounded out from behind me. I immediately grabbed my bow and an arrow, looking around for whatever danger had been spotted before me but there was none...what was that then? 

"Who's there?" I called out readying my bow, "I know you've been following me this entire time, and since you haven't attacked me yet I'm willing to give you a chance. Come out now and I won't turn this entire cave into rubble and leave you here to die." I didn't really have a means of doing so other than maybe overloading my (Light Arrows) and hoping but I didn't say that aloud. I hoped that they weren't able to tell if I was lying or not. 

I wasn't very good at it after all...not like Foxy was. 

I certainly wasn't expecting a cross-eyed black dragon's head to materialize before me. 

Thankfully they seemed as shocked as I was at the situation and that allowed me to get the fuck out of there. If there was a dragon this close to a main city they must've been planning something big. Something that could potentially be disastrous for everyone in the kingdom, and since our guild was in charge of keeping such things from happening I needed to report this to them immediately. 

I activated (Streak) and rushed towards the mouth of the cave, a pitiful wail sounding behind me. There was a (Young) Dragon this deep into human territory, and I sure as hells wasn't about to kill it and bring the wrath of whoever's parents it was down upon me and the nearest city. A second cry sounded just as I reached the entrance to the cave and it caused me pause. 

...Don't do this Red. It's a stupid decision Red. Just keep going and get out of here before whoever parents this thing has comes by; You sure as fuck don't want to be caught 'stealing' their young...

The cry sounded again, weaker and sadder. It stabbed into my heart and I gripped my ears in frustration. 

"This is so stupid..." I turned back and cautiously approached the creature. It seemed to be effecting me somehow, a skill that slows movement maybe...There was a strange feeling in my muscles that made them feel heavier and move slightly slower than normal. 

Was that a debuff skill? At such a young age!?

The fact I couldn't detect it's presence at all should've been a dead Giveaway though now that I thought about it...the only reason I could tell I was being followed was because of my (Enhanced Senses) I had passively thanks to being a Feline-kin. 

"I'm not going to hurt you little one." I cautiously approached...was it me or did they just roll their eyes at me? "What are you doing so far from the Dragon Kingdom?" That got the creature to tilt their head at me. 

I knew dragons were meant to be incredibly intelligent from birth...a given thanks to their heritage, but wasn't this a bit much at such a young age. It looked barely into this second evolution and...oh, I should probably get it's name and see who their related to. I dug out the Identification Crystal from my pack, another item that had fallen to the bottom annoyingly enough, and pointed it towards them. 

They immediately shied away and partially went invisible again, seeing just a floating head and claws was definitely strange to say in the least. "Don't worry, this is something called an Identification Crystal. It'll help me see who your parents are as well as your race and gender, so I don't get something wrong when guessing..." I directed some mana into the crystal and looked at the dragon, who was now visible again and froze in shock. 

Name: Sc'the???? ???????? ??????? 
Species: (Young) ?????? Dragon
Gender: Male
(Class A Monster)
Level: --/--

Three names...

A young dragon with three names...ooooh no, I was sooo dead when I got back. 

If I didn't handle this carefully things could become catastrophic for the Human Empire, maybe even this entire world...I needed to see Pops. He would know what to do. 

What was a (Young) Dragon of a royal line doing so deep in the Human Empire anyways? It didn't make sense...Not to mention that I couldn't see their full first name or level, which was a higher concern in-of itself. 

"I don't think Foxy's going to be able to help with his one..." I was going to be put in paper-work jail for a month or more thanks to just seeing a dragon not to mention having to bring him to Pops and explain how I found him. "Nyooooo." I sank to the ground defeated and just lay there for a moment. My cat side didn't come out much in my speech but when I was stressed it showed...

The damn dragon was tilting his head at me too, stop being adorable you damn walking disaster! 

I took a few moments just sitting there trying to come up with a plan, and I half expected the dragon to push me over or lay on my lap...maybe even play with my tail a bit, but he just sat there, sulking for some reason. I payed it no mind and got up again. 

"There's no use in delaying the inevitable...Pops'll know I took this job without his consent anyway." I cringed thinking about the poor receptionist he'd probably flayed alive for letting me take it even though I forced them too, "I want my Box..." 

I started walking to the entrance of the cave again--with the dragon following behind me, visibly this time--and soon enough we were out and under the sunlight. I looked back to see the young dragon at the entrance of the cave just at the edge of the light, looking as if they were going to burn alive if they stepped out into it. Though in hindsight having black fur and being in the sun made it extremely hot at times, so I doubt having black scales would be much better. He was probably going to feel like he was in an oven if they had to go somewhere extremely hot later on...

Why am I thinking about traveling together with it in the long term? It's not like he'll be with me for too long...just until I'm able to find someone able to bring him back to the Dragon Kingdom, safely, and through back-channels with a lot of bargaining. 

"Come on out. It may feel like it but you aren't going to burn alive under the Suns." Something about the sentence caught its attention and it apprehension about the light turned into curiosity, enough to step out fully into the light. 

No wonder I was only able to see glimpses of him every so often. The dragon's scales were darker than a moonsless night and the only way I was able to see that the dragon had scales and not fur was the streaks of purple snaking around his scales every now and there. Seemingly traveling down the entirety of his body in a wave of deep purple before fading for a while, and it even seemed like his body was phasing in and out of existence every now and then too. 

A soft hum of pleasure vibrated the air...

"You might like feeling the sun on you now, but in a few hours I'm doubting you will enjoy the constant heat beating down on you." I said and his attention snapped to me surprised. Then he looked back and fiddled with his tail, sitting there waiting. 

I noted how sharp his claws seemed there and then, as well as the fact his tail had a large blade on the end with a faint purple tint on every edge: his claws, his spines, horns, tail, and even probably the fangs had it...I haven't seen the inside of his mouth yet--nor did I particularly want to--so I wouldn't know about that one just yet. 

His eyes were the most noticeable thing of him though; They were a striking Royal Purple with a glinting silver sheen to them, disappearing every so often as the rays of light came and went under the canopy of branches and leaves above us. They were entrancing in a way, and I wanted...something knocked against my head and snapped me out of my daze. An acorn falling to the ground before me. 

What was that? Some sort of entrancing effect? I glanced at the young dragon cautiously, I was going to have to be more careful with how things went in the future...especially when trying to get him through the city. I looked back to see the snaking tail of the young dragon disappearing behind a tree and rushed to where they were going, hoping to not lose the one source of salvation I may have from this failure of a mission. 

Only to see the young dragon playing with a Temper Twine with a large grin on it's face...I can now confirm that it's teeth also have that purple edge on the fangs...

Dragons

If you want to read further ahead in the story I have up to Chapter 9 available to read on Wattpad (as of Friday) and up to Chapter 23 available free on my Patreon. The other story I was writing on this site will probably be taken down and rewritten, or scrapped, but I don't plan to abandon it or this one at any time...no matter how hard life can get.