Chapter Text
"That's another win for me!" Nora dropped her cards down on the table triumphantly, flashing a toothy grin to the man across from her. He looked less pleased about her win, leathery skin twitching around his eyes as his mouth curled into a sneer.
"You're cheating," He accused, "You're a cheating fucking witch."
Nora held her hand to her heart in mock hurt, "Good sir," She gaped, trying to reel in her façade, "I can assure you I am doing no such thing, nor am I a witch. I am just a simple farmers daughter."
She wasn't a farmer's daughter.
She was a witch.
And yes, she was cheating.
But this old merchant didn't need to know that, and he didn't need to know she'd been following him for weeks now, waiting for him to collect an explicit array of items that she planned to gamble straight back off him.
Which she had just succeeded in doing.
"One more game," The old man demanded, slamming his palms against the wooden table, sending their empty tankards bouncing, "One more game..."
"I've got everything I want from you," Nora concluded, wrapping up her newly acquired crystals and sliding them along with a few other notable items into her satchel. She also grabbed the sparkling, white silver dagger and pointed, blue hairpin off the table and secured them in their respecting places.
Very successful indeed...
"Oh, you'll want this..." He growled, standing up from the table and swaying on his feet slightly, "It's on my cart outback still, I'll go get it..." He stumbled away, leaving Nora to her musings.
She got up also, straightening her back and rolling her shoulders. It had been a long few weeks on the road, not something she particularly enjoyed. She was certainly a girl of home comforts, and the great outdoors in mid-autumn was although lovely to look through a window at, it was not nice to sleep and travel in.
She very much enjoyed a warm fire and a cosy bed, and her treehouse cottage was calling her name, although she was still at least several weeks ride away. And, even despite the journey home, she had to return back to King Todoroki's Kingdom, to aid in healing his sick wife.
Which is one of the reasons she's so far from home in the first place. Although running personal errands and being a private healer is not her main vocation or any sort of vocation to her, actually, being called to the Kingdom's capital on the odd occasion was worth the trouble as it meant all the other days of the year she was left completely alone and to her own devices.
The merchant had been gone a little while by this point, and Nora glanced out the tavern window sceptically. The sun was setting, and she didn't want to be caught short and travel through the night in an area she didn't know too well. The crossroads she needed to reach to return to the capital was still over an hour away, and although this diversion was essential, it took her off onto a path she was not familiar, so it was crucial she return to her route before the sun went down.
She also did not want to stay in this tavern. The customers were...
Her eyes trailed off to a few scabby looking men sitting around the bar, all eyeing her up and the odd one scratching at their balls and then sniffing their fingers.
Nora screwed her face up... They were less than desirable, to say the least.
Just then, the old merchant came stumbling through the backdoor, carrying a large box covered in a dark brown, muddied cloak.
"What's that?" Nora asked, her interest suddenly peaking at the mysterious object.
"This, my dear," The merchant began, adding in a burp and a hiccup, "Is a dragon!"
Nora didn't look convinced, but as the old man dropped the box on the table heavily, a small squeak sounded from within. Nora froze for a moment, but then slowly sunk back into her seat, fingers already reaching for the brown fabric to lift the edge of it. However, before her fingers made it, a small spout of flames shot out from within, singeing the fabric and licking the tips of her fingers. She quickly retreated her hand.
The old merchant laughed from the gut, wet and spitty. A large hand thudded against the box, which Nora could now tell was a crate, and he grinned toothlessly at her.
"No peeking..." He growled, leaning down to her level, "But how about we make a deal?"
Nora sat back in her chair, her gaze finally leaving the covered crate and trailing up to the ugly man, "What is it?"
"If you win this round, you get the dragon," He was practically drooling as he spoke, leaning further and further over the table.
"And if you win?" Nora queried suspiciously.
"If I win, I get all me stuff back... And a night with you..." Drool did fall from his mouth this time, hitting the table in a trail of spittle.
Nora pondered hard for a moment. Her eyes once again finding the wooden crate. A few small noises could be heard from within that sounded a lot like cries and yelps.
"How old is it?" She demanded suddenly.
"Two days, only hatched the night before last. Must admit, I thought it was dead and wasn't going to hatch at all," The old man leant back, grinning evilly, "I was about to crack him and scramble him for my dinner, but he popped out."
Nora growled a little. It was just a baby. A tiny, tiny baby. How this old bastard had even gotten hold of a dragon egg was beyond her, but now this poor baby was living its first, precious few days in a tiny, dark cage?
"You have a deal," Nora said sternly, suddenly fixated on rescuing this poor creature.
She made a move to grab the playing cards scattered across the table, but a large, tough hand slapped hers away. She looked up to meet the eyes of the merchant, the baby blue hues glittering between heavy, sagging eyelids.
"I'll deal," He grinned menacingly, slowly retracting his hand across the table, slowly scraping the cards along with it.
Not long later, Nora flattened her cards against the worn wooden table, a triumphant smirk playing across her lips.
"I believe I win," She purred, straightening herself up.
The merchant gave her a sinister look, "You cheating, fucking witch."
"I already told you, I'm no witch nor and I a cheater," Nora stood, brushing down her travelling pants and flattening her thick cloak. "I do believe you are just a sore loser."
The merchant jumped up, letting his stool fall backwards and slamming his hands against the wooden table.
"Witch." He taunted again, he would be baring his teeth, but alas he had none.
Nora just gave him an uninterested stare, "Say that again, and I'll make you wish I was just a witch." Her eyes flashed.
The merchant froze, and Nora took her chance to scoop the crate up from the table, positioning it on her hip and looping her arm over the top of it. She felt the small creature roll around inside the box, and she inwardly scolded herself for not being gentler.
She then smiled sweetly, "I bid you," She bowed elaborately, spinning her free arm dramatically, "A good evening."
And with that, she exited the tavern, barely sparing a glance over at the punters still gawking from their barstools.
The outside air was a lot crisper than when Nora entered the tavern, and it made her shiver and draw her cloak further around herself. She hopped down the wooden steps, heading towards the open stable that held her noble steed.
Unfortunately said noble steed was an old, speckled pony named Pebbles.
"Hey, girl..." Nora cooed, stepping closer to the pony. Gently she raised a hand so the old girl could sniff her, but the pony was almost instantly distracted by the large box under Nora's arm. After a moment of inspection – a good eyeballing and a hearty sniff – Pebbles reared back and bucked away from the crate.
The creature in the crate became startled and started yelping and running around in circles.
Nora struggled to hold the box, using both hands to steady it before the creature torpedoed itself away from her grasp.
"Easy now, both of you!" She hushed, tossing a wary glance over to the tavern, "We need to leave."
Nora quickly deposited the crate on the floor, resting it against her foot as she unloaded her belongings and quickly tied them to her pony. She wanted to get on the road as soon as possible and away from that damned tavern. Movement sounded from within, angry movement, and she'd barely straightened herself up and untied Pebbles before the tavern door went swinging open.
She thought she had more time before her illusion casting wore off, but obviously, she was tired and had done a sloppy job of the spell. She grabbed the crate once more, swinging it under her arm and ignoring it as best she could when the creature wailed and rolled around. She took Pebbles' reigns and quickly scarpered towards the back doorway of the stables, trying her best to stay ducked out of sight of the angry men that were now spilling out of the eatery and onto her tail.
However, darkness and their drunkenness was on her side, and she was able to slip onto the dirt track and out of the sight of the tavern. Nora spared a glanced over her shoulder and sighed when no one was behind her.
The yelling had died down, and she summarised they had quickly given up and retreated back inside.
Nora slowed her jog to a more leisurely stroll, hoisting the crate up her hip further when it slipped a little.
"You're a little heffer, you know?" She told the crate softly. There was a pause, and then a sad little mew escaped through the scorched covering.
"I suppose I should get you out of there, huh?" Nora dropped Pebbles reigns, knowing that the pony wouldn't escape her. She headed towards a series of jagged rocks protruding from the roadside, just big enough for her to rest the crate on. She squatted on her knees once the crate was seated securely, meeting the centre of the box at eye level.
"You okay in there?" She cooed softly, hands gently resting on the brown fabric. There was no response, so she continued, "I'm going to get you out of there, okay? But you must promise to be good, okay?"
There was another soft cry and it broke Nora's heart a little. She couldn't wait any longer, and in one swift movement, she pulled the brown fabric from the crate.
She still couldn't see much. The crate was completely sealed, bar a few slits running along the top sides. She peered as best she could into the box but was only met with darkness.
"Awh, baby," She cooed, standing up to inspect around the box, looking for a way to pry open the wood, "Have you been in the dark this whole time?"
She didn't really know if this creature could understand her, probably no more than any other animal could. But that didn't stop her chatting away to it as she dug her nails into every nook and cranny of the wooden crate.
Where the hell is the seal? How did that merchant get this baby in there?
Nora stood back, hands on her hips and lips pursed in thought.
"Ah-ha!" She exclaimed brightly, a thought coming to her. She retreated to Pebbles and pulled out her newly acquired white silver dagger. The weapon was of elven make, and therefore its properties were ideal for preparing ingredients for potion-making. Not only did it restore and maintain magical assets, but it was also incredibly sharp.
Within a moment, Nora returned to the box.
"Okay, baby, I'm going to need you to move away from the top, okay?"
There was no response, so Nora oh-so-carefully began to dig the point of the dagger into the roof of the crate. With a little effort, she submerged enough of the dagger into the wood that it broke through to the other side.
From within the crate, there was a loud squeak.
"Stay away from the sharp object, baby," She cooed, "You'll be out in no time."
With that, she began to slowly move the dagger, cautiously sawing away at the crate and creating a circle in the wood. Once she'd finished, she used the weapon to pry the circle away.
She tossed it to the floor and carefully lowered the dagger onto the stone next to her.
Warily she peered into the crate.
By this time in the day there was very little natural light, and within the crate was even less, but she could very clearly see a pair of glowing red eyes staring up at her.
She grinned brightly, "Hello!" She cheered, excitement getting the better of her and she stuck her hands into the crate to fish out the small, scaled dragon.
"Ohhh~" She cooed excitedly, pulling the small creature up to her chest. It was so dirty, but its red scales were clearly visible under the muck, with larger, spikey horns around its head.
Nora stared lovingly down at the creature, no bigger than a large potato as it stared right back up at her with huge, round eyes the colour of bright red rubies. Its large, onyx like pupils were blown, and Nora could see her own reflection amongst the littering of white stars from the sky up behind her head.
"You're safe now baby," murmured, gently raising a finger to scratch under its chin, "I've got you and I won't let anything bad happen to you."
Slowly she returned to Pebbles once more, making light work of hoisting herself on the old pony's back, being careful not to squish the baby dragon as she went.
She then wrapped her cloak around her, letting the dragon snuggle into her for warmth.
"You're such a chubby little baby, aren't you?" She smiled down at the creature as it snuffled its way into the opening of her blouse, looking for warmth.
"A little stinker, too." She shrivelled her nose up, tapping Pebbles to get her moving. "Tomorrow we will give you a bath, and – oh! A name! What shall your name be...?" Nora trailed off, glancing down at her bust to find just a dragon butt and tail hanging out the gap in her top. Its tail was wagging softly, obviously very quickly settling in as it shuffled between her breasts.
"Make yourself at home," She muttered playfully, concluding that it must be warm there, "You cheer up quick, huh?"
Her response was another tail wag.
"Ah well, what's mine is yours... Eijiro," She grinned, "Yeah! Eijiro. That works. I like that name, do you?" She glanced down again, but the baby dragon had stilled, its butt still hanging out her top. She noticed its heavy, slow breathing.
"I mean," She continued, ignoring the fact the babe was clearly asleep, "I'm assuming you're a boy. That old merchant said you were a boy, but we'll check tomorrow just to be sure."
She grinned brightly as the three of them headed further down the dirt track.
This was nice, now there was three of them. A girl can only talk to her horse so much before she begins to think she's crazy, after all.