Some Other World

Well This Is Interesting

Two days later when I woke up, the rock had been smashed in the middle of my tent.

As soon as I saw it, I was on my feet. The only way it could have broken was if someone had been in my tent, which meant it was likely that someone was in the caves somewhere.

A quick inspection of the shards revealed that the rock had been hollow the whole time. The pieces were a little thicker than my finger, and cracked into large chunks. I could probably piece it together like a jigsaw if I wanted, but there were more pressing matters to attend to.

I grabbed Riptide, though I wasn't sure how the inhabitants of this world would react to it. Would it pierce them or go right through? I guess I'd find out.

Sneaking out of my tent, I stood and listened, trying to pick up something other than the waterfall trickling into my personal little pool.

At first, I heard nothing, but then a small scrabbling noise came from the tunnels.

Riptide at the ready, I stalked towards the opening. I hoped the torches wouldn't light up like they usually did, they would absolutely demolish any chance I had at sneaking up on whatever was in there.

As usual, I was out of luck. As the first torch flared, I bit back a loud grunt of annoyance. Each time I walked past a torch, I would stop and listen for more scrabbling.

I wasn't disappointing. The scrabbling moved steadily away from me, reacting to the torchlight. Instead of trying to work around the torches, I used them to my advantage, driving the creature (whatever it was, it didn't sound human) towards the farthest back cave.

Once the creature was inside the final cave, the torches seemed to not pick it up for some reason, I paused, taking a deep breath. This thing could be extremely dangerous. Sure, it sounded small, but sounds could be decieving, especially in a cave system like one I had dubbed my home.

"Three, two, one." I counted out loud before leaping into the room to confront whatever this thing was.

I had to squint for a moment as the torches flared up. When I finally had my full vision back, which only took a second, I finally laid eyes on the thing I'd been stalking.

The tiny dragon blinked in surprise at the torches, then saw me and let out a cheerful chirp. It bounded forward and I took a step back on reflex, Riptide pointing at it's small body.

It stopped, looking confused, and made a strange huffing noise, plopping it's hindquarters on the stone floor of the cave.

Slowly, I lowered my sword. The dragon didn't move as I turned Riptide back into a pen and stuffed it into my pocket.

"Hi." I said quietly. 

It churred at me.

"Where did you come from?"

It lifted a foot-or was it a paw-in the air. Between it's tiny claws was a small brown chip of the rock I had found.

"Oh." It wasn't a rock, I realized. It was an egg.

I studied the dragon carefully. It was brilliantly white, with ice blue eyes that sparkled in the torchlight. It's whip-like tail had tiny spikes running along the top, spikes which stretched all the way up to the base of it's head. A small crest ran along it's snout and up between it's eyes until reaching the spikes. I could see tiny wings tucked against it's sides.

"So... have you got a name?" 

Those piercingly blue eyes focused on me as it tilted it's head sideways.

"Can you talk?"

Another head tilt. It looked kind of like a small dog when each time it tipped it's head the other way.

"Right." I muttered, stepping forward. The dragon didn't move as I leaned down to touch it, only blinked at me.

"You're probably cold. Let's-OW!"

As soon as I touched the dragon's side, I felt like I'd been hit with one of Thalia's stronger lightning bolts. A shock traveled up my arm and into my head. I tried to pull away, but found I'd frozen in my spot, crouched in front of this tiny creature.

A sudden presence invaded my mind. I tried to push it out, but then it made a chirping noise in my head and I realized it was, in fact, the dragon. After a moment of debate, I let it search around.

I must have passed out at some point, because 20 minutes later (I think, like I said, I was out of it), I woke up. I was lying on my back in the middle of the cave.

Something burrowed itself a little farther under my arm and I jumped to my feet with a yelp.

It was the dragon. I sat down in front of it and it churred at me in an excited manner.

Hesitantly, I reached for it again, but something on the palm of my hand caught my eye.

My palm was a strange silvery color, in the shape of a star. It was centered where I had touched the dragon.

"Really?" I asked it. "Was that entirely necessary?"

It blinked at me.

"Right. Thanks for that. Can I pick you up now?"

The dragon hopped into my lap. I tensed, expecting another shock, but nothing came. It was surprisingly warm against my stomach.

I smiled a little as it curled into a ball in my lap.

"Alright then."

[A/N yes, I know the shell's supposed to match the dragon. I'll explain it later on]