FSE

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"How long do I need to carry this stupid thing?" The green dragon grumbled at Henry as he looked at the saddle that had been strapped to his back. "This isn´t really making me feel comfortable you know."

Henry rolled his eyes, not even bothering to look back at the dragon who was walking behind him. They had been traveling for almost a day and he was already complaining about how heavy and uncomfortable the saddle felt. There was still one more day left before they would reach Moudeir Castle. How was he going to survive so much angry dragon rambling?

"Why can´t you just carry all these things on your own?" The dragon went on with his complaining. "Or just leave it somewhere. You already carry your armor, so why not also your helmet, or that enormous sword..."

The dragon went on and on, but he did not even listen anymore. His eyes and ears just focused on the scenery around him instead. They were not wandering on the road, as that would have been way too dangerous. Instead they were walking on a narrow and old path that led trough a forest. He clearly remembered that forest and knew that when they reached the end of the forest it was not long before they would reach their destination.

Falling leaves in red and orange colors covered the path ahead. Some of them were still clinging to the trees they belonged to, but most had already fallen. Autumn was here, which meant that winter was not far away.

Warm noon sunlight shun trough the bald treetops, warming up the usually cold autumn air. As far as his eyes could see there was nothing but trees and fallen leaves to all sides, except the back where the entrance of the forest was still clearly visible. The ground lowered and raised in some parts, but overall the forest was rather even when compared to the rest of the northern part of Albia.

"Hey, human!" The dragon´s loud voice shortened his moment of peace. He walked up to him and glared down at him. "Are you even listening?"

"Of course I´m not." Henry chuckled, looking up at the dragon with a stern look. "I do not have to listen to your whinging."

"I´m not- wait! What´s whinging?"

Henry lifted his arm and pointed his finger at the dragon´s face. "Your mouth is moving and you´re complaining about something. That´s called whinging."

The dragon curled his neck into an S shape, his frills flared out. "I´m not... whinging. I´m telling you that all these things I carry are quite heavy. Besides, I´m not used to walking long distances like you are." The dragon glared at him with his brow frowned as he did not answer at first.

"I understand your complains, well, most of them." He finally said, accompanied by an annoyed sigh. "Well I´m feeling a little hungry so I guess a break isn´t the worst idea."

"Great!" The dragon immediately flopped down onto his belly, letting out a long sigh. He watched as the dragon stretched himself, wincing, as he accidently tried to stretch his wings. "Ancestors curse this wound!" He growled trough grit teeth.

"Don´t curse the wound, curse those who inflicted it." Henry commented as he sat down on the ground, leaning back against a tree. before though he took of his backpack in which he carried some of the food and the water. He opened the backpack, pulling out a piece of bread. It was tasteless and dry, but enough to survive.

"Those who inflicted it? You mean those you let go?" The dragon growled at him as he desperately tried to remove the saddle from his back.

"Hey! I only let one of them go! And I did so for a reason." He leaned his head back against the tree. "I want them to fear me. They shouldn´t not know my name, nor my face, but they shall fear me. They will fear me, they should..." He stared at the sky, watching the clouds with an angry gaze. "I´ll show them pain." He balled his hands into fists as one of his hands grasped the medallion around his neck.

As he looked at the dragon he was looking back at him with a confused look on his face. He must have lost control for a brief second there and it seemed that it surprised the dragon. "Could you..." The dragon cleared his throat as he gestured at the saddle with his good wing, clearly still embarrassed by the fact that he asking a human for help. "Could you take this off me."

Henry got up from the ground with a groan and wandered towards the resting dragon. Quickly he loosened all the leather straps that secured the saddle on his back. He carefully set it down on the ground next to him. The dragon gave a sigh of relieve and looked at Henry who was still standing there, with his arms crossed. The dragon tilted his head. "What are you waiting for? A kiss?"

Henry shook his head, laughing. "No, I´m trying to teach you how to properly say thank you, you overgrown lizard." He sat down at the same tree he was sitting at before and picked up the bread he was planning to eat.

"I´m not a lizard! Dragons have-"

"Yes I know." Henry took a bite off of the tasteless bread. "I also know how annoying it can be for you dragons to be called that." He smirked at the green dragon, taking another bite.

The dragon angrily glared at him. "Oh, you are enjoying to humiliate me? A human should know his place and have show some respect towards dragons." He held a paw to his chest. "Someone like me, who is obviously superior than you."

Henry closed his eyes, eating his bread as he drifted off into his thoughts. He thought about the treasure he found just earlier in the morning. All he took with him was one golden coin. There was still so much more in there. And how did it even get there? There must have been some kind of secret entrance, because the way he got in was far too small for most of the things he saw in that cave.

He was ripped out of his thoughts as he felt something hitting the tree he was leaning against. As he opened his eyes he looked right into the golden gaze of the green dragon. He looked very annoyed and also angry. "I´m tired of you just ignoring me! How dare you disrespect me in such a way!" The dragon growled at him, this time showing off all his sharp teeth in an attempt to scare Henry.

But he was not. After years of living with dragons he was no longer scared of them. "I will show you respect as soon as you show me the same respect I deserve." He said with a very soft and calm voice.

"Respect you? Why should I show respect to a human who I could kill in the matter of seconds and-"

"And why should you respect a human who saved your life?" Henry shouted out, finishing the dragon´s question. The dragon blinked in surprise as he was yelled at. "I may not be as strong or as big as you, but I´m still a warrior! I also have my pride, just like you do."

They looked at each other for a brief moment before the dragon retreated without saying a word. He laid down at the same spot as before, glaring at Henry for a while before he sat his head down on his forepaws. Henry kept looking at the dragon for a while longer. He could not help but feel a bit sorry for the arrogant bastard.

When he looked him deeply into his eyes he saw something deep inside him, something he saw a number of times in his eyes already. There was a deep pain hidden inside him, a very deep pain. It could have something to do with the order, since he was so sad to hear about it being destroyed. Maybe he had relatives there, or maybe he was just sad because so many of his kin died.

"I´m sorry, alright?" Henry sighed, looking at the dragon as his ears perked up right as he said that. The dragon slowly rose his head from the ground and turned it towards him. "I don´t want you as an enemy, dragon, the exact opposite in fact." He gestured with his hands, thinking what he could say next. "What can I do to appease you?"

The dragon licked his nose, glaring at him. He looked like he was thinking of something. Probably he was busy thinking about the best way Henry could humiliate himself to make up for the "disrespect" he showed the dragon. "Mmm... you said you are a warrior. Show me your scars so I can judge what good of a warrior you truly are."

Henry chuckled. "I would, but I´d have to take my armor off for that."

"Then do." The said it like it was nothing.

"Well that´s easier said than done." Henry slowly got up from the ground. "I could take it off on my own, but only if you promise to help me get it back on afterwards, alright?"

The dragon rolled his eyes. "Fine, I will. Now take off all that metal. I want to see if you still look like a warrior without it."

"Alright then. I´ll hold you for your word." Henry said as he started taking off his armor, starting with the shoulders and the arms. Although it could be annoying to take off the armor all on his own, especially the cuirass, it was possibly. After he had taken off his arm plates he proceeded with his legs.

Meanwhile the dragon was tapping the ground with unsheathed claws, as his impatience got the better of him. "Will you hurry up?" He said as Henry was just done taking off his the metal that covered his feet.

"I would if I could." He murmured as he was focusing on loosening the leather strap at his side to open the cuirass. When he was done fiddling with the straps he took off the cuirass, leaving one side of the cuirass held together by the leather straps so that it would not just fall apart. Then he also took off his mail shirt, sighing in relive as he got rid of the heaviest piece of his armor.

Knowing that the dragon would want to see his scars, he also took off his gambeson. Underneath the armor one could easily tell that he trained often and regularly. His arms were fairly muscular, just like his chest and his stomach. The dragon tilted his head at that sight.

He pointed towards a scar that ran from his left shoulder down to his right thigh. "This happened a few years ago when we were ambushed by an enemy force. That was before Ulric, when Albia was still at war with the kingdom of Eylok. Because I didn´t have time to get in my armor this happened." He followed the line of the scar with a finger. "A man with a spear swung at me. The spear didn´t cut deep enough to kill, but deep enough to leave this scar."

Then he turned around, showing the dragon two small blotch like scars. "This was the same day. The same fight. I got two arrows in my back, luckily missing any organs. It hurt, a lot, but I kept going anyway, fighting to the bitter end. And we won the battle in the end."

He bent over, pulling up the padded chausses. He pointed towards a small cut wound at the inside of his knee. "This happened recently, while I was in armor, at the battle of Dimbarrow. We lost that day, with high casualties. But I survived."

Henry straightened up again, flicking a grin at the dragon as he looked somewhat impressed. "So those were all my-"

"Wait!" The dragon held up a paw and pointed at his chest with a scaly finger. "What is that?"

"Mhm?" He looked down and saw the three very small blotches that have almost faded away. That was his oldest scar, and also the one with the most embarrassing back story. But since the dragon wanted him to embarrass himself in one way or another anyway, why not just tell him? "Well this was before I joined the order. I... I was with a girl. Her name was Elenor who I tried to gain the favor of again and again, but nothing would work, or so it seemed. When the day came and I got married to the woman I would come to love instead of her, suddenly, she began to have eyes for me."

He paused, rubbing his forehead as he remembered the rest of the story with every tiny detail. "I told her that I didn´t love her anymore and that I was getting married. She was getting so mad that she attempted to kill me with a fork. Luckily I managed to... hold... her..." He trailed off as he watched the dragon, laughing out loud. Henry rolled his eyes. "Yes, yes go on let it all out."

"HAHAHA!" He laughed, thumping his tail against the ground. "You... let her stab you with... a fork... like the one... you eat with... hahaha!" It was difficult for him to talk, or breath for that matter.

"Ok, I know it's funny, but not that funny!" Henry looked at the dragon who was still not able to stop laughing. "Alright, show me your scars then!" When he said that the dragon slowly stopped laughing.

"My scars?" The dragon asked, holding a paw to his chest with a smug smile on his face. "I fear I have no scars to show you, because I never got wounded in battle before." He bragged with the smile still on his muzzle. He looked at his wing, his smile vanishing. "Apart from... that one time. But they ambushed me, so it doesn´t count."

"Oh? That was really the only time you were wounded in a fight?" He folded his arms above his chest. "Well, I don´t believe that you even fought anyone at all in your past, if you don´t show me any scars. Maybe that was why those dragon slayers got you pinned down so easily" He put his gambeson back on as he spoke.

"I ensure you that I..." Henry glared at him, raising a single eyebrow. "Fine!" He pointed at a small scar at his neck. "This was a spear." He raised one of his forelegs and shifted to the side, exposing his chest and belly. He gestured towards claw markings on his chest. "And this was another male dragon I fought due to a... dispute." Then he laid down on his belly again, lowering his paw. "And the others you´ve already-"

"Wait!" Henry held up one hand, smirking at the dragon. "I saw something else there." He pointed at his belly. "role around. I saw some scar you for some reason forgot to mention."

The green dragon frowned, either in confusion or anger. He rolled onto his side, showing him his belly and his chest again. Henry then pointed at his lower belly, close to his rather tender parts. There were claw markings there, similar to the ones on his chest. The dragon sighed as he looked at that scar. "That was... a long time ago, when I was together with my very first mate. I loved her and she loved me, but after a while I began to have eyes for another. I no longer loved my mate. She... was not so happy about that."

"So?" Henry asked. "Where did the scar come from?"

"Well she..." He sighed. "In her blind rage she tried to... to cut off my balls."

Henry´s eyes went wide after he said that and he immediately started laughing, holding his belly as he did so. "She... she wanted to do what?" He managed to ask in between laughter. "Gods... oh gods my sides... hahahaha!"

"Yes, ha-ha, very funny!" The dragon snapped at him as he visible started to blush slightly, his frills taking a light shade of red. He lowered his ears against his head and looked away. "Stop laughing!" The way he said that sounded like his laughter was genuinely hurting him in a way.

"I´m sorry." Henry managed to stop himself from laughing after a while. "I just... thought that was a very amusing image." Henry sat down once more. "Anyway, I guess there is one thing we can both agree on."

The dragon´s ears perked up. "And that would be?"

"In our youth we both had a horrible taste when it came to females." Henry said before he started laughing. This time, the dragon joined in on his laughter. Their laughter echoed through the forest, so loud, that Henry feared that they would be found by Ulric´s forces because of it. What an interesting turn of events that would be.

Their laughter began to fade after a while, but wide smiles remained on their faces. "It has been a while since I had someone to laugh with." He sat down his head on his forepaws. "Thank you, Henry."

Henry´s eyes widened. "Did you just call me by my name? And thanked me?" He began to smile wider. The dragon must have lost his tough and smug disguise for a short moment. He knew that the dragon had remembered his name, he just refused to say it all the time.

"Oh, did I?" The dragon taped his chin. "I don´t think I have, no. You must be hearing things, human."

Henry snorted, folding his arms. "Oh, yes, how funny." He leaned a little forward, looking at the path and then at the sun. "We should probably get going now." He got up from the ground. "Now to your promise." He smirked at him, pointing at his armor. "I strap that saddle back on you and you help me get in my armor."

The dragon´s smile slowly faded. "Just when I was starting to like you..."

*Authors note*

If you liked this chapter I would appreciate it if you let me know either by a fave or even better, by commenting! This chapter was surely a lot of fun to write. This is also the part where my uploads will get less regular, because I ran out on the stuff I wrote so far. I will try to bring out two chapters per week, but I´m not sure how well that will work, since things have been a little stressful in the last couple of days.