Tristan Hale and the Dragon's Keeper

A Wheelbarrow of Lamb and a Thunderstorm

A/N: The pic above is a little character aesthetic board I've put together for Tristan. You guys have no idea how long I spent changing the hair color on that pic...my photoshop skills were definitely not up to the task. The top right corner is how I imagine Asta and the bottom left corner is the bond mark that's on Tristan's lower back. Let me know what you guys think! I was inspired by some authors I saw doing these boards and I found it actually really helped solidify some of his character traits in my mind. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a picture that I felt like depicted his cosplay-esque outfit. If and when I do, you will all surely be notified.

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At Alwin's words, Asta's chest rumbled with approval. The little green hatchling raised its head from the ground and finally looked to me and the old man. Alwin opened his arms with a big smile plastered on his face.

"Welcome to the world little one!" he exclaimed. Instead of running into Alwin's open loving arms, however, the hatchling just licked his hand before running headfirst into me and tackling me to the ground. All the air in my lungs forcefully exhaled as the dragon lept on top of my chest and began licking my face like a small excited dog– except it was almost bigger than Alwin or I and much heavier, too. 

I desperately sucked oxygen back into my body between laughs and licks. As I unsuccessfully tried to push the baby dragon off of me, I saw Astarot lower his head toward the new dragon and nudge it off of me with his nose. Once I was free of the beast, I sat up still laughing and looked at Asta with a slightly grateful but amused look at the jealousy clear in my dragon's eyes. Alwin's arms were crossed across his chest and his lips were pursed, obviously also jealous that the new dragon liked me so much more than him. The hatchling seemed unfazed by all of this and began running around the barn, exploring its new surroundings. Another laugh escaped my mouth before I remembered Alwin's earlier words.

I sobered up very quickly.

"What's the Dragon's Keeper?" I asked Alwin. This caused the old man's eyes to brighten up again and he spun himself to face me. 

"Great question! Essentially, Astarot here is like dragon royalty. He's basically a King. In fact..." Alwin began, "the title of High Keeper was created to reference the legend of the Dragon's Keeper. Asta is the highest authority figure in Rider culture." This astonishingly threw Alwin into a fit of laughter. I couldn't understand what was so funny. He had just told me that I was bonded to basically the King of Dragons. "Don't tell that to the High Keeper, though, he'd be pretty butthurt," Alwin continued. This seemed to just amuse him more. This time, I was the one crossing my arms.

"Where does that leave me?" 

This sobered Alwin up. He cleared his throat and shifted his eyes away from mine. "Well, boyo, you're the Fated of the Dragon's Keeper. I've been trying to avoid discussing this information for a while because I don't know what it means besides that. We haven't seen a Dragon's Keeper in centuries. The last one died almost 700 years ago. Until Astarot hatched, many had begun to think they were simply a legend. That's why Asta has been hiding away from the Citadel with me. When the eggs started to go missing all those years ago, we knew that someone might try to come for Asta while he was still young."

This time, the rumble coming from Asta was more menacing. I instinctively reached out a hand to stroke the scales along his snout. The dragon instantly quieted and leaned into the caress. 

Suddenly, the giant lizard baby skittered to a halt in front of Asta's wheelbarrow of meat. It tried to sneak a chunk of lamb leg, but Asta snarled at it.