Wonderer's Wish World: An Empty Land

Same Name Game

Kipo and Wirt waited, but, once again, nothing happened. Kipo (who was almost disappointed at this point), started to move her backpack down, but Wirt stopped her with a quick look, shaking his head. Kipo froze, and then she heard it.

Rattle.... Rattle, rattle, rattle.

Kipo and Wirt gave each other an alarmed look, which quickly turned into one of panic as the rattling got louder.

Suddenly, something poked out of the door and Wirt and Kipo jumped out of the way in sheer terror. But the thing that gave them a dull once over was not a terrifying beast or a hurrying creature, it was... a skull?

Kipo blinked. The eyeless holes stared back. The skull was not one of a human, but rather one like a cat or a dog. It was at knee level, and it stared up at both Kipo and Wirt.

Apparently growing bored with Kipo and Wirt, the creature started out of the room, and Kipo's eyes widened.

"A dragon?" Kipo and Wirt cried at the same time. The dragon didn't even seem to notice.

"A dragon skeleton." Wirt shook his head, his eyes trained on the creature. "What in the... how is it seeing? How is it breathing? How is it doing anything?"

"This is so cool!" Kipo knelt down to the dragon, reaching for it.

"Kipo!" Wirt cried. "Careful! It might be dangerous!"

Kipo thought about that for a minute, but before she could pull away, the dragon leaned it's head out, resting it on Kipo's palm. Kipo sucked in a deep breath.

"I love them," she said, loudly. Wirt winced at how high her voice went. "Wirt, look at them! Aren't they cute?"

Wirt was eyeing the dragon dubiously. "Sure.... Kipo how do we know it won't attack us?"

"They haven't yet," Kipo pointed out.

"Well, yeah, but..." Wirt bit his lip, peering down at the creature. "Look at those teeth. That doesn't look like a peaceful animal. Thing."

"Regal is also a carnivore," Kipo told him, and Regal barked at the sound of his name. He'd left a while ago, leaving to the bedroom to do who-knows-what. Kipo wondered if she should go check on him, briefly, before remembering that there was no thread left for him to eat. "Besides, the Burrowing Tiger's teeth are worse."

Wirt's eyes widened. "O-Oh."

"Hm... I guess these teeth can do some damage, though," Kipo hummed thoughtfully, lifting the dragon's jaw to check out the teeth sticking out. Suddenly, Kipo nodded to herself, standing up. "I'll be right back. Wait here, Wirt."

"With this?!"

Kipo stood up, staring down at the dragon. It had started laying down, lazily looking up at Kipo.

"No, you're right," Kipo said. Wirt breathed a sigh of relief. "They do need a name. And a gender."

"Wha-?"

"Alright," Kipo clapped her hands. "Wirt, as you are the guest, you can name them. What do you suggest?"

"Uh..." Wirt gave Kipo a confused look. "I don't know..."

"You can name them anything!"

Wirt frowned. "Yeah, but I don't know what-."

"Anything in the world!"

"But-!"

"Nothing is off the table!"

Wirt was starting to look irritated. "Nothing?" he repeated. Kipo nodded.