Little Archer Fox, Part 2
#2 of Little Archer Fox
I'm so sorry that it took so long for part 2 to come out. You'd think by this point I'd written some 50 pages or so, but unfortunately, I haven't. Classes started back up for me in mid-August, so I've been rather busy with that. But now that I've gotten myself together, I should be able to spend a bit more time on my stories. Besides, I've gotten to the point where I only pay attention when I need to in my classes, leaving my mind free to roam about in its furry ways as my body remains trapped in the classroom. That's how my first story was created. *winks*
Little Archer Fox, Part 2
By: WolfwithaDS
I stood there, frozen. The dragon turned his head to look at me. For an eternity, nothing moved, not even the blades of grass or the leaves in the trees. I had never seen a dragon up close before, and had no idea what to expect. I finally found my feet and started backing away, ready to run the moment he attacked.
"No, please, don't go."
I jumped. I thought I had expected him to do just about anything, but speaking to me? And his voice...it sounded...sad. I took a step forward and tried to regain myself. Of course, then the dragon spoke again.
"I'm...I'm stuck. Can you help me?"
It was then that I noticed the dragon's tail. It was clamped tightly in a trap obviously designed for a large animal, but nothing like the size of this beast. Although it did appear rather sharp, the teeth of the device were not piercing the dragon's scales. But...
"If you try to pull out, it'll catch your scales and rip them right off," I said without realizing I was speaking out loud. I looked back up and the dragon nodded his head. "That would be rather painful, wouldn't it?"
The dragon nodded again. "Yes, can you disable the trap?"
"Yeah, of course. That's easy." I set my bag down and rummaged through it until I found the necessary equipment. Tools in hand, I turned my attention back towards the dragon. However, my feet were still planted and refused to move.
"Well?"
"It's just that...I've never seen a dragon this close before..."
He smiled at me. "Take your time then. It doesn't hurt if I don't move it." The dragon carefully laid himself down on the ground in a more relaxing position, careful not to pull on the trap at all. Slightly more comfortable, I sat down on a nearby rock, still not able to approach the large creature, but at least a bit more at peace with myself in his presence. The dragon tilted his head a bit. "You're a rather odd color of a fox, if you don't mind me saying so."
"Oh, yeah. I get that a lot. Foxes don't usually come in green." I ran a paw down the fur on my chest. "But, you know, it has always made me feel quite special." I laughed. "By the way, my name's Seth."
"I'm Kazan, or just Kaz." The dragon lowered his head in a greeting.
"It's...nice to meet you." I somewhat paused, still not completely at ease with the fact that I was talking to a dragon, but feeling considerably better about it. I felt my stomach rumble a bit. "Hey, are you hungry?" I nearly smacked myself out of stupidity of the question. I highly doubted that I could feed such a large creature, but I had asked out of the habit of being polite. I think the dragon realized the same thing because he laughed.
"Actually, I ate not too long ago. Right before I got caught in this infernal thing," he indicated at the trap still latched on to his tail. "But I can tell that you're starving. I can hear your stomach all the way over here."
I smiled and pulled out my trusty bow from my bag. With an arrow in one hand, I scanned the trees a bit. I then picked a small rock up off the ground and tossed it into a tree, causing a few birds to scatter and fly off. Readying my arrow, I took aim and shot the one flying towards me, so it landed not to far off. Returning the bow to my bag, I walked over to claim my bounty, and started to set up a small fire so I could cook my meal a bit.
"That's one heck of an eye you got there, Seth." I looked up from the fire and realized Kaz had just witnessed my archery skills for the first time and was rather in awe. "You hit that thing dead center as if it were inches away and not even moving."
"Oh, it's...it's nothing, really." I blushed.
Kaz shook his head. "No, I can tell that you are incredibly skilled with that bow. Never have I seen such a fine display of marksmanship."
"Thanks. There isn't much else to do in the village that I'm from, so I have lots of time to practice. It's rather boring, actually. So what about you? Where are you from?" I started to eat and looked at the dragon, hoping to hear his story.
"Right now I'm staying in one cave that's not too far from here. However, the cave that I call my home is far north. I came down here because I heard this cave was full of raw diamonds and such. It's true that all dragons love treasure by nature, but the stereotype is wrong that we go around stealing it. Most dragons prefer to seek out mineral deposits and craft them into gems and such like myself. But there is nothing in this cave and now I am merely using it for shelter. I want to go home, but I can't..."
"Why can't you get home, Kaz?" I asked between bites.
"The path from here to my home goes directly through the territory of a much larger and very protective dragon. I didn't know about him until I flew down here. I was lucky to escape unscathed this time, but now that he's aware of my presence, I can't go back. Oh, my poor Ryan..." He started to sob a bit.
"Who's Ryan?"
"He's my pet. I feel so bad leaving him alone, but I didn't think I'd get stuck here. I hope he's okay."
Now finished eating, I cleaned up what I could and returned to the tools I'd pulled out of my bag to free the dragon with. "You know, I left a good friend back home. But he's got his family there." I walked over and put my paw on Kaz's head. "Now let's get you out of this thing, shall we?"
Kaz smiled at me and I felt a lot better about being close to him. My fear of getting within reach of the dragon's claws and teeth gone, I knew I'd gotten over the difficult part of setting him free. Within a few minutes, I had expertly pried the trap open and tossed it aside. Kaz shook his tail back and forth, enjoying his regained freedom. He then licked my face in thanks.
"Now look what you've done! You've gotten my fur wet! I knew I shouldn't have set you free!" We both laughed at that for a few minutes. Then I gave my new friend a hug around his neck.
"So, Kaz, where is the cave you're staying at now? Can I come with you?"
He grinned at me. "It's not that far, really. Maybe about a ten minute flight in that direction." He pointed off in the distance with one of his claws. "Probably a bit longer if we walk, but I'm in no hurry. Right now, I'm just glad to be alive. Who knows who set that trap back there?"
I nodded and grabbed my things and started walking with the dragon. It was a bit easier for me to travel through the woods on the ground, but I didn't exactly have wings. But that did get me to thinking about what it would be like to fly. The only mode of travel I'd ever used besides walking was riding some of the horses back in the village. It was a pretty cool feeling to be moving without being on the ground, but the constant bouncing from the horse's galloping threw off my concentration and made it difficult to use my bow. As good of an archer as I was, it was kinda a dream of mine to be able to effectively hit my targets from atop a mount. However, the horses in the village weren't properly trained for that, and I hadn't gotten much practice on them. Besides, what did it matter? I wasn't exactly a fighter needed for battle. To me, it was simply sport when I wasn't hunting for food.
You know, I really should watch where I'm going. Too absorbed in my thoughts to notice, I managed to trip over a root from a large tree and fall flat on my face. Kaz turned around and looked at me.
"Hey, are you okay there, Seth?"
"Y-yeah," I replied. "Just thinking to myself, that's all. Don't worry, I'm not hurt."
"Well, we're here, anyway. It's not much, but it does provide shelter and all."
We walked inside the cave. He was right, there really wasn't all that much to it. It didn't matter. I was quite tired from my previous days spent travelling anyway.
As if reading my mind, Kaz suggested that we rest a bit. Besides, the sun had just disappeared over the horizon. There wasn't any sort of bed here, as it was the dragon's cave and he didn't need one. I watched him curl up and put his head on his tail comfortably. Without a word, I came over and laid down next to him. I closed my eyes and was startled as I felt Kaz grab me and carefully pull me closer. He wrapped the tip of his tail around me and I laid my head next to his warm body. Feeling much better than the past couple of nights I'd spent alone in the woods, I feel asleep almost instantly, uncertain of what may lay in the days ahead.
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Yeah, I know, I need to write this stuff faster. But you know how it goes. Something comes up and you put it off for a bit, and the next thing you know, you're just not in the mood for writing. I make no guarantee as to when part 3 will come about, but I do promise that I will write it...eventually. I might start tomorrow if the inspiration hits me, or it might take a week, or even a month. Hopefully it will happen sooner rather than later though. Plus, I kinda feel bad about leaving you guys with a partially written story and all, and I don't want to start with something else because then I could really lose track of my characters in this one. Well, I hope you've enjoyed what you've gotten so far. Don't give up on me!