Dragon Snatch (4/?)

Dragon Snatch
(4/?)
~Appetite~
~~~

    Awakening from such a lucid state was much like waking up from a nightmare.  My whole body shuddered and jerked upward as a cry escaped my lips.  With heavy breath, I looked about, eyes darting quickly out of panic.  I spotted Notch sitting on the other side of the fire- which he must have kept going through the night.  He looked at me, slightly spooked by my outburst and concerned.  I looked to his sides in search of Natch, which he must have noticed.  Sighing, he relaxed and prodded at the burning timbers with a stick.  "Natch went off to find more food.  He's been gone for about an hour now, but he's been hunting all morning.  He had come back at one point to drop off breakfast."  Notch gestured to something over the fire, which turned out to be meat of some sort as I focused upon it.  Seeing it brought out my hunger that I had pushed down earlier before falling asleep.  As my breathing evened out, I sat cross-legged facing the fire.  The dracling begun lightly squirming as it clutched to my shirt.  I must have awoken it.  I uncurled its claws from the fabric it held onto and placed it on my lap, gently stroking its scales that already had begun to further develop.  
    "You seemed like you were having one hell of a dream."  Keeping my eyes trained on the dracling, I made a small nod.  The little draclings eyes slowly began to open.  For the first time I saw its bright yellow eyes for the first time, and they looked to me with wonder.  Even though I had seen them when speaking to Ardace, it does not compare to truly seeing them.  They weren't as golden as I thought they were, but they were bright with the slightest hints of brown mixed within.  A small smile formed on my face.  "If you don't mind me asking," Notch started.  I raised my head to look at him as he did.  "What were you dreaming about, exactly?"  A small sigh left my mouth as I thought of how to explain it.  
    "Well, I don't suppose you'd believe it, but..."
    "But what?  You know you can speak to me."  I bit my lip.
    "I met the dragon Queen," I spoke hesitantly.  "And, this may sound absurd, but she had called out to me.  It was truly her speaking to me."  Looking up hopefully, hoping he would believe, I saw that his face was one filled with bewilderment.  
    "The... Dragon Queen?"  His eyes focused on the earth before him, like they usually do when he's trying to piece information together.  "That sounds... fantastical!  Dragons have been said to be magical in one way or another, so that's fairly believable.  What was she like?" he asked quite excitedly, leaning forwards a bit with the curiosity only he could muster.  I chuckled at little and decided it was only fair to describe her.  I smiled as I begun.
    "Well, firstly she was huge.  Her head alone was as big as my body, if not bigger!  She also had beautiful golden scales, with emerald eyes.  She told me her name was Ardace, and she spoke with a voice like silk, and yet, there was a strength to it.  Ardace said this little one," I cupped the dracling in my hands.  "It's a boy, and the one in the crimson egg will be a girl when she hatches.  Ardace also said she wanted to teach me things, since we only have faint legends that have told us little about dragons."  He sat back a bit, his mouth agape slightly.
    "Fascinating," he breathed.  "Good thing you told me instead of Notch.  I don't think he would have believed you."  
    "No, he wouldn't have.  He's always been the realist of the three of us.  I suppose that isn't all bad, since we're out her by ourselves."  Notch prodded the fire a bit more, then removed the meat that had been cooking above it and passed some to me.  We ate in silence until I noticed the dracling eyeing my breakfast.
    "Notch, what do you suppose draclings eat?"  He paused his eating and looked to me.  
    "Well, dragons are carnivores I believe.  Probably some small animals, little things the mother might bring home."  I glanced him over with surprise.  That was very analytical, considering how little we know of dragons.  Sure, you can figure that they're carnivores given their physical qualities, but we had no reassurance to these beliefs.  But yet, I decided not to pursue him.
    "Hm, interesting.  Maybe we should try giving him some, see what he does."  Notch nodded as I ripped a piece of meat off of the stick that Notch had skewered it with to cook it.  I held it to the dracling's face.  He sniffed it and, before I had knew what happened, snatched it from my fingers and swallowed it with little chewing involved.  I retracted my hand and looked at him with wonder.  Slowly I brought it back to his head and lightly rubbed the top of it whilst smiling.  "Hungry little guy, huh?  I suppose so, since you haven't eaten at all since I found you."  I heard Notch chuckle across from me.  Snow was crunching and I noticed him walking over.  He sat beside me, still holding his food.  Plucking some off, he fed it to the dracling, who scarfed it up quickly once again.
    "He really is hungry." Notch said with a smirk.  We both took turns feeding him small bits of our breakfast as we continued to eat.  Once we had all finished, the little dracling's stomach was round for the first time.  He licked his lips out of content and curled up into a ball.  With eyes drooping, he let out a small yawn.  Both Notch and I smiled, Notch rubbing his small neck lightly with the back of one of his fingers, which the dracling responded to by thrumming and arching his neck as he pushed lightly against his finger out of content.  This caused Notch's smile to widen.  I placed the dracling onto my blankets and wiped off my face.  Notch stood and stretched his arms above his head, and then let them drop to his sides.  I looked up to him, he appeared to be in thought.  "Alesia?"
    "Hm?"
    "I don't believe we ever properly taught you to fight.  Sure, you can hunt small things, but I do believe you've been wanting to be taught how to wield a sword."  I looked him over suspiciously.  He thought a few seconds longer, his hand on his chin.  He glanced at me from the corner of his eye.  "Would you like me to teach you?" he asked with a raised brow.  I smiled brightly.
    "I would love that!"