Chapter Text
In a faraway kingdom, on a wooded mountain… a young dragon sat by a clear stream.
She looked the same as any other dragon of her kind: a stout nose; long, almost serpentine body (if not for the fur and four legs); forelegs covered in leathery scales; and two small, pronged horns. Overall, she was a typical juvenile Eastern dragon.
The only things that particularly stood out were her soft lavender coat, with a diamond of white fur cutting across her stomach; the violet, diamond-shaped gem set in her forehead; and perhaps a slightly nervous disposition.
The young dragon, Homura — was on one of her first outings without her parents, and was attempting to fish.
She peered closely at the water, brow knitted in concentration and a small frown on her face.
Finally, she saw a flash of motion and a shimmer of scales beneath the surface of the water.
Attempting a battle cry — it came out more of a peep — Homura lunges forward with her whole body.
The fish hears her and startles, darting away and out of her reach. Both forepaws come down heavily where the fish used to be. With a small wail, Homura loses her balance, tipping and falling in the stream with a splash.
This had been the fifth or sixth attempt; she'd been out there for two hours, already. Homura groans and picks herself up out of the water, shaking the water from her fur as she settled back on the bank.
<…I'm no good at this.> Homura mumbles to herself; to anyone but a dragon's ears, it would sound like a small grumble. <Maybe I should ask Mom to show me how, again…>
Then again, she didn't want to pester her parents. Even if she was only six, that was the age dragons were expected to start to be independent, and begin to hunt on their own. She wanted to show them she could do it by herself, but… it wasn't working out.
Homura's stomach groans, reminding her of the reason she had gone out to begin with. "I'll catch my own lunch today!", she had proudly said. The look her parents shared at the time was probably because they knew she couldn't do it, Homura thought…
As much as she hated to return home feeling like a disappointment, the thought of warmth out of the brisk air and something to eat was too appealing.
So, Homura headed for the cave where her family lived.
The walk home was oddly quiet — usually the trees were full of singing birds, and deer and boar (smaller than Homura, mostly) picking through the brush. Today, there was nothing.
Homura didn't think much of it until she got closer to home.
Once a few yards from the entrance, the unexpected sound of her parents snarling and growling made Homura freeze. Listening closer, she flinched when the sounds didn't stop but just got worse, instead.
She thought she heard her dad yelling— she couldn't quite make out the words, but he sounded… angry, and afraid. Her mom's voice was quieter, but it almost sounded like she was crying…
<M-Mom?… Dad?…> Homura called out timidly. They didn't respond, the noises of a vague struggle the only sound to carry outside the cave.
Homura squirmed, feeling worry and fear creep into her system as she entered the cave.
What she saw was her parents, as well as a group of adult people — humans.
Homura had seen people before; traveling through the mountainside, they usually kept their distance, but… These were not the same as those people.
They raised weapons against her parents, yelling in loud voices.
Her parents were fighting back — but despite being larger, their size was a disadvantage in the closed space. They were outnumbered, too. They yelled desperately back and forth; tones of stress and rage and fear she had never heard from them before.
Homura's dad turned, bellowing at her mom, who sat crumpled on the ground nearby.
<You have to get up!> He said fiercely, snarling out of stress and anger. <They're going to kill you, too, if you don't—>
Her mother shook, her head hanging despondently. She looked like she was covering something small with her body; her back was riddled with arrows for that sake. <I…>
Homura stares, trying to comprehend what was happening. She stood there, unable to move out of fear.
<Dad?… Mom?> Homura whimpers.
No one had noticed her since she walked in, but in that moment both of her parents looked up. They looked shocked and terrified all at once; a far cry from their usual reaction.
<Homura?> Her mother said, in a tiny voice; she looked stunned to even see her. <You're still—>
Barely a moment after she said that, her expression changed from blank shock to a fierce snarl; hackles raising, her head snapping towards their attackers. She rose despite her injury, and threw herself towards them.
<Hey!—> Homura's dad started to yell, panicked by her sudden, reckless action. His mate didn't look back from her fight of taking on half the people there by herself.
<Make her leave, now!> She yelled; her fierce command quickly crumbled into anguish. <I can't… lose Homura, too…>
Homura was overrun with an urge to be with her parents — despite the situation, they would always be symbols of safety and protection to her as a child.
She started to go towards them — but her dad swings his tail, knocking her back slightly. She whimpers as it catches her, stumbling backwards. She was still on her feet; the gesture hurt more than the act itself. Homura barely had time to wonder why, or what she had done wrong…
<Leave, now!> Homura's dad barks at her. She just stares back, eyes wide.
"Hey!" One of the men yells sharply. Homura jumps at the voice, and sees he's pointing right at her. "There's the other one!"
"Shit— how did we miss it?"
"Who cares? As long as we skin it, it doesn't matter!"
Homura, perhaps unfortunately, understood — right down to the last part. Fear choked her, and she couldn't move, even as three men approached with a clear intent to kill her.
Until her dad moved between the men and his daughter, shooting small bursts of flame from his mouth to ward them off — he was already too exhausted to attempt more, and is quickly on the end of a losing battle.
With a glance in her direction, Homura sees her mom is faring no better. She looks between her parents, whining in distress.
<Homura—> The anger and volume in her dad's voice, raising to a roar, shakes her. <I said to get out!>
Homura hesitates for only a moment longer.
She runs.
The adrenaline surging in her veins carries her further than her slightly-frail body usually would. It's some time before she stops; all but crashing in the underbrush, wheezing and panting.
Even if Homura was far from the danger at this point, she can't get the sights and sounds of the experience out of her mind. Everything is violence and anger and noise. Her heart pounds mercilessly in her ears.
My brother and sister, and… Mom and Dad are probably, already…
With the thought of her family, an anguished wail bubbles out of her throat; one she had been holding back for some time.
The young dragon crumples to the ground, and cries herself into an exhausted slumber.
In a faraway kingdom in the mountains, inside it's castle's library… a young girl sits by herself.
The ornate, overstuffed chair she's sitting in is too big for her; her legs dangle off the floor, moving the fabric of her long dress with every errant kick.
She uses a finger to push her hair — pink, spilling down her back, and uncharacteristically out of its trademark pigtails — out of her face. (Maybe she should put it back up, since it keeps getting in the way.)
The only daughter of the royalty, Madoka — was reading a storybook.
She peers at the heavy book sitting in her lap, pink eyes blinking slowly as they took in the words and corresponding illustrations.
Being just six years old, she was only just starting to get the hang of reading; pulling her finger along the page as a guide, sounding words out loud.
"The dragon… attacked the… village." Madoka reads, slowly. When she actually registers what it said, her voice cracks in a whimper, reeling back slightly from the page. "A-attacked? That's scary…"
Below was an illustration of the passage; a dragon breathing fire, razing houses to the ground. She grimaces, trying to flip through the next few pages to avoid any scary parts — only to run into a somewhat graphic illustration of the same dragon being slain by the protagonist.
Madoka promptly shrieks, slamming the book shut.
After escaping the 'danger' of having to see something she deemed too scary, she remembers the danger of upsetting the other people in the library — mostly, adults that were working doing research for her parents. They were giving her some looks.
Madoka squeaked an embarrassed apology under her breath and slipped down from the chair.
"Princess?"
Madoka jumps at the formal address. She turns to sheepishly face what she assumed to be a scolding.
The librarian smiled back fondly. "I think Her Majesty will be out of her meeting by now."
Madoka gave him a blank look, realizing she wasn't being scolded. "O-oh. Right!" She burst into a smile, adding: "Thank you!"
He smiles back, but his face falls as he realizes Madoka is off at a run. (Did she really need to run everywhere? She already tripped quite a lot…)
A few minutes later, Madoka had run over to the council hall where her parents held their meetings. She didn't know much about them, other than that they were important (said her parents), and frequent.
Madoka spotted her mother outside the hall; she promptly ran over and tackled her around the waist in a hug.
"Hi, Mama!" Madoka greets cheerfully, staring up.
"Oh, if it isn't Madoka!" Junko says jestingly.
Junko reaches down, picking up her daughter so she could see her better. Madoka giggles, bobbing her legs softly from where she was being held.
"What have you been up to today?" Junko asks.
"Reading in the library!" is Madoka's enthusiastic reply.
"Oh, that's good, isn't it!" Junko's smile turns sly at the opportunity to lightly tease her daughter. "Are you practicing hard at your reading?"
Madoka looks down, fumbling bashfully. "I-I'm still having some trouble…"
Junko chuckles and tousles her hair a little; Madoka stifles a squeak. "As long as you're working to improve, you'll be fine."
Someone calls out to Junko from the door of the meeting hall.
"Your Highness, His Majesty was just asking for you…"
Junko looks over, sighing. "…I'll be there in a minute." Madoka peeks over shyly before looking up at her mother again.
"You have to work?…" Madoka asks.
"Mm… that's right." Junko gives her a wan smile, sighing a little. "I left your Papa in the meeting for a bit, but it seems they need both of us, since it's a delicate issue…"
Looking back at Madoka, she saw the details were going over her head a bit. Junko gives her an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry both your Mama and Papa have to work so much, dear."
"I-it's okay," Madoka said. Despite that, she still clings to the fabric of Junko's dress for a moment, disheartened. Junko gives Madoka peck on the crown of her head before setting her back on the floor.
"Oh…" Junko feigns having remembered something, adding teasingly: "Somebody was looking to play with you out in the courtyard."
Madoka stares at her for a moment, not immediately grasping who she was implying.
"Somebody…" The lightbulb went off. "Sayaka-chan?"
"Mhmm." Junko smiles, taking a second to smooth Madoka's long hair into place. "Why don't you go find her?"
Madoka smiles brightly, her attention turned towards the prospect of playing with her friend. "Okay!"
She runs down the hall a little ways before turning, waving to Junko. "Mama, I'll see you later!"
Junko waves back. "See you later, Madoka."
Watching Madoka disappear down the hallway, Junko's genuine smile fell to a tired one. It wasn't much of a break, and now back to work again…
Madoka runs outside of the castle, to a courtyard where she and Sayaka usually met. It was bustling with activity, a hub of various people going about their jobs around the castle.
It wasn't far from where Sayaka's parents worked, so she could usually be found there, and her mom had said she would be there… but she wasn't. Madoka frowns, nervously trying to keep out of the adults' way.
"Maybe she's not coming…" Madoka mumbled.
Of course Sayaka chose that particular moment to jump out and scream. Madoka made an embarrassingly loud scream to match. The other people in the courtyard stopped for barely a moment; before realizing it was just the Princess and her best friend messing around, again.
"S-Sayaka-chan!" Madoka squeaks out. "You scared me…"
Sayaka — a girl Madoka's age, with a taller, more athletic build — grins back at the accusation, laughing cheekily.
"Sorry, sorry." Sayaka said. "Oh, but hey! Check it out!"
Madoka peers at her curiously as Sayaka pulls a long, thin twig out of the belt loop of her shorts. It was clearly meant to be treated as a scabbard, and the stick (which was liberated from the ground) as a sword.
Sayaka verbally provides her own dramatic fanfare, posing with the twig proudly. "So? What do you think?"
"Umm… it's a very nice… stick?" Madoka offers. Sayaka all but explodes with a frustrated shout.
"It's not a stick!" Sayaka argues — seeing Madoka's eyes move down to nervously verify that it was still a stick, she clarifies: "It's a sword! You know, like the knights have!"
"Oh!" Madoka said. She nods, seeing it now. "Right."
"And I'm gonna be a knight too," Sayaka said, smiling confidently. She puts her hands on her hips and nods to herself. "I'll beat bad guys, and be a hero of justice!"
"That sounds dangerous, Sayaka-chan…" Madoka chides.
That is, rushing in to fight things with a stick was dangerous.
Sayaka stops in the middle of waving the twig-sword around, accompanied with swooshing sound effects, and turns back towards Madoka. (She almost accidentally whacks her with the stick while doing so.)
"Don't worry! It's a knight's job to protect the princess. So I'll protect you, Madoka!" Sayaka said, beaming proudly.
Madoka was a little embarrassed by that statement, and she didn't really know of anything that she would need to be protected from. But she smiles faintly anyway, reassured. "O-okay."
"Now, Princess—" Sayaka said; grinning when Madoka whined over the use of the title to tease her with. "Where would you like to go?"
Homura ran.
…But at this point, she had almost been running for days; stumbling around from one place to the next, searching for food and shelter and an escape from danger.
She had managed to feed herself a little, but restless sleep out of the protection of her family's cave was beginning to take its toll. She was stressed, exhausted, and miserable.
Homura hadn't doubled back around to go back and see if her family was there at the cave, after all. She worried what she might find. Or not find, even; somehow the thought of her home being entirely empty was almost worse than… the alternative.
She whimpers a little to herself with the thought.
Without noticing where she was really going, Homura wandered towards a place that smelled of fragrant flowers…
Madoka and Sayaka went to play in the gardens — specifically, a little clearing of grass, lined by hedges. It was out by where the garden turned to overgrown woods, and didn't see the constant maintenance the rest of the gardens did. It meant they could run around unsupervised, most of the time; which their parents allowed under the pretense that the kingdom was safe, anyway.
They were almost winding down from their game when they heard a rustling, off in the bushes.
They girls stared at it, and the motion stopped.
Sayaka looked at Madoka curiously. "What was that?"
"I don't know…" Madoka said; or started to, before a small, high-pitched noise came from those same bushes, in response to their voices. Madoka echoed a similar fearful squeak, hopping to her feet to hide behind Sayaka.
"S-Sayaka-chan, don't try to scare me again…" Madoka said, whining slightly.
"Huh?" Sayaka said, peering at Madoka over her shoulder with a small, baffled laugh. "How would I be doing that when I'm over here?"
"I don't know! It just seems like something you would do!"
At their continued voices, another noise — a small, trembling whine — punctuated the rustling bushes. Even with them standing, they were too tall to see over; but they'd be able to walk through them easily.
Sayaka frowns. "Let's see what it is!"
Madoka makes a dismayed noise — she would have been happy leaving it alone. But she follows Sayaka closely as she moves towards the bushes, since being left alone was slightly more scary. She hangs on to Sayaka's back, standing almost on tip-toe to see over her shoulder.
"M-maybe it's a dog," Madoka suggests; at the height the bushes were moving around, it was possible. "Or a deer, and it's sick, or hurt or something…"
"One way to find out, huh?" Sayaka said. She shoots Madoka a confident grin before peeling the bushes aside.
Well, it wasn't a dog. What flinched at the sudden light and noise and stared up at them was something Madoka had only seen in books heard stories about.
"…a dragon?" Madoka said quietly.
The dragon, none other than Homura — whined in fear.
In terms of appearance, the dragon was similar to what Madoka had read, and seen illustrated — but in demeanor, she couldn't be further from that.
Homura recoiled as soon as they appeared, pressing her back against a nearby tree and cowering there. The small whine she had been making fell to a small, trembling whimper.
Madoka frowns, feeling her fear and anxiety shift towards concern; the dragon seemed much more scared of her than she was of it, to the point that she started to feel sorry for it…
"A dragon?!" Sayaka shouts. Madoka jumps a bit at her delayed reaction; Sayaka was not expecting to see that at all, she guessed.
Sayaka's raised voice makes Homura recoil even further, pressing her body to the tree trunk and attempting to make herself as small as possible.
Not that the girls had any way of knowing, but it was a little too similar to what she had just experienced.
"S-Sayaka-chan, wait—" Madoka tries to say. Sayaka shakes out of her loose grip, pushing through the bushes.
"Don't worry, Madoka! I'll protect you!" Sayaka said, echoing her earlier comment.
Either quashing down her own fears, or being valiant for the sake of being knightly, Sayaka pulls out her sword and slays the dragon.
That is: she hit her on the head with a twig.
Truthfully, even if Sayaka had been an especially strong six-year old, she wouldn't have been able to do any serious damage with her 'weapon' of choice.
Despite that, it still startled Homura, and still stung to be caught across the face with a stick. She yelped on impact, moving her slightly stubby forepaws to cover her face, rubbing the injury and blinking back tears with a faint whine.
The sudden violence has Madoka grabbing at Sayaka's sleeve in a feeble attempt to hold her back. "Sayaka-chan!"
Sayaka frowns, ignoring Madoka as she tries to bring the stick down in another strike. Madoka tugging on her arm, paired with a child's coordination causes Sayaka to miss, clipping the ground right next to the dragon. Homura yelps in surprise, moving tensely to her feet and watching Sayaka nervously.
"Hey— hold still!" Sayaka said crossly, trying to hit her again — and once more missing as Homura moved clumsily to the side.
Sayaka chased her in a series of attempts and dodges. It culminated in Homura fleeing the bushes and running into the clearing, whining faintly the whole time. Sayaka followed, chopping wildly at the ground in an attempt to hit her while hollering in a rowdy but un-intimidating battle cry.
Madoka tumbled out of the bushes after them, attempting to get a word in edgewise from the sidelines of the attempted fight that was mostly chasing.
"S-Sayaka-chan, please stop it!" Madoka said feebly. Sayaka either doesn't hear her, or ignores it.
Madoka frowns — if Sayaka wasn't going to listen to her, then…
When Homura darted past, Madoka stepped in between her and where Sayaka would soon be. Her expression was a small, determined pout, her arms held out what, at best, would be a symbolic gesture of getting Sayaka to stop.
Well, it worked — but mostly because Sayaka wasn't able to suddenly stop running, and just ran into Madoka. They toppled over, both yelping.
Homura stops nearby when it noticed they had fallen, and that she wasn't being chased. She had been running around aimlessly, too panicked to find a real escape route; but now she breathed heavily and trembled on her feet, too tired to keep running.
"Oww… Madoka, what are you doing?" Sayaka groans, trying to rub her head and get to her feet at the same time.
"Sayaka-chan…" Madoka said, grabbing Sayaka's arm as she unsteadily pulled herself up. "Don't hit it! It's not doing anything…"
"Wh— Madoka, it's a dragon!" Sayaka argues, baffled. "That's what I'm supposed to do!"
"I feel bad for it! It—" Madoka said, hesitating as she peers over at the Homura, who was still quivering in fear. "—s-she looks really afraid, so… Don't be so mean…"
"'She'—" Sayaka said. "You don't know if it's a girl, Madoka!"
"Y-you don't know either, Sayaka-chan!" Madoka argues back, frowning. "S-she could be a girl… I mean, her fur is purple…"
"That's a dumb reason, Madoka, but it is not a girl—"
As they continued bickering about whether the dragon was a girl or not — she was, of course, but Madoka had only gotten lucky — Homura herself looked around for any sense of safety in the clearing, grimacing in anxiety when it felt like everything spelled danger. Even leaving could mean running into more people, like Sayaka, or…
Short of running away, which she was too exhausted to manage, Homura goes with the safest option she could muster. Which meant lightly bumping her head into the skirt of Madoka's dress in a vague attempt to hide there.
Feeling the dragon tap her, Madoka peeks back curiously. Sayaka follows her gaze and shouts once she notices Homura there.
"Aah! See, it's trying to sneak up on you, Madoka!"
<I w-wasn't…> Homura peeps, shrinking at the accusation. She was talking really more to herself, than anyone, since neither Madoka or Sayaka could understand her.
"She is not, Sayaka-chan!" Madoka said heatedly — seeing Sayaka reach for her twig to start swatting at Homura again, Madoka crosses her arms with a fierce pout. The effect was more cute than menacing, especially with the way her voice trembled when she spoke again.
"I-if you try to hit her again, you'll have to hit me, t-too!" Madoka said, attempting a firm tone.
That much makes Sayaka pause, grimacing — it was directly in conflict with her knightly role! That, and Madoka was her friend; Sayaka didn't want to hit her at all.
…Also, if she hit the Princess, she would definitely get in trouble. From her own mother. Sayaka didn't relish the thought of getting grounded for a month.
Unfortunately, Madoka could be stubborn at times like this — she continued pouting, only letting up once Sayaka reluctantly replaced the twig at her belt loop, groaning the whole time to show she really, really didn't want to.
"Thank you, Sayaka-chan." Madoka said, smiling. Sayaka rolls her eyes.
Madoka turns, squatting on the ground to be closer to eye-level with Homura — who still jumped fearfully at every sudden movement, but looks up at her timidly. Madoka tips her head, smiling.
"It's okay now," Madoka said, cheery and soothing. "Sayaka-chan's not going to hit you anymore. Okay?"
Sayaka grumbles from several feet away, her arms crossed in irritation over being painted as some kind of bully. Homura just blinks up at Madoka, whining anxiously.
"I'm Kaname Madoka… But you can call me Madoka, okay?"
Sayaka just about scoffs nearby, not voicing that she thought it was ridiculous for Madoka to introduce herself, and offer Homura to use her given name, when she knew Homura couldn't speak.
Well, not in a way Madoka could understand, anyway.
<Mado…ka?> Homura repeats slowly. Madoka would hear it was a few nervous, trembling peeps.
Madoka smiles sympathetically at Homura's continued nervous gestures, and moves to pet her. "It's okay."
Homura flinches bodily once again, shutting her eyes tight like she expected to be hurt. But after a moment of not feeling Madoka's hand come down, she opens her eyes again to see it still hanging in the air, Madoka waiting for Homura to allow her, first.
Granted, it was something Madoka had learned petting dogs and cats, after walking away with one too many scratches from being over-eager; but it worked surprisingly well there. Homura blinked at her, and very slowly pushed her nose into Madoka's hand, experimentally; after she touched her hand the first time, Homura pulled her head back to regain her personal space a bit. Madoka giggled softly.
Madoka moved her hand slowly from there, petting at the soft, leathery texture of the dragon's nose before moving to the rest of her face. Homura just blinked at her, looking a little anxious at the touch as Madoka rubbed her the soft fur of her cheek.
"Wah…" Madoka said softly, her eyes going wide. "She's really soft…"
It was true; the dragon's downy coat was softer than any other fur or material Madoka had touched before. Unable to resist, Madoka adds her other hand to Homura's other cheek, moving her hands around the dragon's jaw, and up to the small ears, almost hidden beneath her two pronged horns. Homura was still tense, but she shook slightly less as Madoka continued petting her.
"Hmm…" Madoka smiled, turning to Sayaka as she continued petting Homura. "You pet her too, Sayaka-chan!"
Sayaka frowned, her arms crossed; her playdate with Madoka had turned into Madoka getting angry with her, and then spending all her attention on some stupid dragon. There was not a chance in the world she was going to go along with that.
"Nooo way!" Sayaka said, punctuating her refusal by sticking her tongue out.
"Aww…"
Madoka looks disheartened, looking back at Homura sadly. Homura had been giving a wary sideways glance toward Sayaka, but looked over when Madoka did, eying her nervously.
"Why not… when she's so sweet." Madoka whines quietly, before adding: "See, look."
To demonstrate her point, Madoka tosses her arms around the dragon's neck in a hug. Homura blinks wildly at the sudden and novel contact, tensing even more than before with a tiny, uncomfortable whine. Madoka didn't notice — more out of a self-centered desire than maliciousness, but lets go after a moment.
Madoka giggles, looking again at her best friend for approval. "See! Isn't she cute?"
"I don't know about 'cute'…" Sayaka said, eying Homura with suspicion and biting down a comment about her being dangerous, instead.
"She is cute!" Madoka said, arguing back, but playfully this time. She turns to Homura, smiling. "Right?"
The dragon blinks quickly at the word — she certainly understood them well enough to be embarrassed by being called 'cute', much less having it debated… Madoka smiling and humming happily to herself as she kept petting her was not helping with her being flustered, either. She frowns, whining a little anxiously as her fur puffs out, standing on end thanks to her slightly agitated state.
Madoka notices right away, and seems delighted by it, ruffling the puffed-out fur on the dragon's shoulders.
"Eheh— you're getting all puffed up! See, Sayaka-chan, she's cute like I said!"
Of course, that only makes the flustered part worse, which made her fur more puffed out, and thus cuter. They proceeded in such a fashion to an infinite feedback loop.
Sayaka can only groan.
"Your Highness, may I have a moment?…"
Junko looks up from her work, giving the messenger asking her this question a withering look. She was clearly already busy — the papers weighing down the table before her could almost crack it in two — and she had a fairly strict "don't interrupt me" policy. (The same one that had already been broken right in the middle of her time with her daughter.)
The messenger seems to realize this, even if it's belatedly, and adds: "…I believe it's urgent, Your Highness."
Junko sighs; catches the eyes of the nearby council members still hovering around and waves them off. "Go ahead."
"We just got word from some of our scouts that a group of dragons were killed. Since a bounty hadn't been put on the dragons, and their remains were… scavenged of valuable parts, they were almost certainly killed by poachers. Since all known poaching groups in the kingdom have been penalized… it's likely they're from another kingdom."
Junko remains silent for a moment, taking the information in.
"…When?"
"We only have a rough estimate, but… probably two days ago, Your Highness."
Junko sighs in aggravation. "Then they've definitely had time to get across the border."
The messenger stays silent; she was right. Junko taps her finger on the surface of the table for a moment, before standing from her chair and moving to exit the room.
"Your Highness?…"
Junko looks over cooly and begins giving orders. "Have Tomohisa start with tightening security around the castle… have someone out to arrest the poachers on the hope they're just stupid… and if it hasn't been done already, someone to pick the dragon corpse up out of the damn woods."
"O-of course, Your Highness." The messenger looks upward as they commit this all to memory; at least the King was slightly less brusque. "W-where are you going?"
Junko just gives them a sharp smile.
"I'm going on my break now."
Junko decided to spend her break — the impromptu one the council one would surely try to give her hell for when she returned — around her daughter, to make up for before.
Imagine her surprise when she found Madoka cuddling a dragon the size of a German shepherd.
Seeing the clearing from a distance, it honestly seemed like a large dog (light purple fur aside) — which had vaguely prepped Junko for another exasperated "no, you can not bring this stray animal home" talk.
"Ah!" Sayaka yelled — noticing her first and pointing at her directly. "It's Madoka's mom!"
Homura jolts at the noise, but flinches hard once she sees Junko approaching. Whining, she moves out of Madoka's grip (where she was still being petted) and just about cowers behind her.
The action is strange enough that Junko is very, very unsure of how to react.
"Girls?" Junko points at Homura, hoping vaguely that long work hours are affecting her eyesight. "…What do you have there?"
"U—um…" Madoka stammered. Being taught not to lie, if she got stuck in a situation where telling the truth was too difficult, she tried stalling. It was amazingly transparent. "Um, y-you see—"
Sayaka ran over to Junko's side, tugging on her sleeve and pointing back at Madoka accusingly.
"Madoka's mom, Madoka was playing with a dragon." She huffs, adding grumpily: "She wouldn't let me hit it."
"Ah." Junko said, a weak smile on her face. The situation was suddenly made clear.
Madoka wails in dismay at being tattled on. "S-Sayaka-chan! Why'd you tell?!"
Junko's gaze moves down to the dragon, wondering if Madoka would feel quite so betrayed if she knew it had never been a secret whatsoever. At the raised voices, Homura starts trembling and whining in a panic.
"Ah— i-it's okay!" Madoka said, starting to try and comfort Homura. It seemed like the excessive petting was actually making her more upset, but Madoka didn't realize, since it had (sort of) worked before. Homura's whine turned to a low, pitiful wail.
"It's just my mom! She's nice! D-don't cry, it's okay…"
Junko left the still-pouting Sayaka and walked to Madoka's side, sitting beside her with a skeptical look.
It seemed that Madoka was trying to calm Homura down through squeezing her in tight hugs and aggressively petting her.
Homura looked over, nervously catching Junko's eye. Junko had seen that look on the faces of various animals being harassed by Madoka. Honestly, Junko was starting to pity the poor thing, even if she wanted her away from Madoka for her own safety.
"Um, Madoka…" Junko starts.
"Mama… I feel bad for her, and— look, see how nice she is!" To prove her point, Madoka hugs Homura around the stomach, either ignoring or not noticing the terrified whine that came out of her throat. "S-see? She's not bad!"
"…That's nice, Madoka." Junko gives her a small, exasperated smile. "…Could you put her down, please."
Madoka hadn't quite managed to pick Homura up yet despite her efforts, but she did as her mother asked. Homura breathed a shaky sigh of relief.
"Can we keep her?" Madoka asked, her eyes pleading and sympathetic.
Junko knew that one was coming from a mile away. The answer was obvious, too.
"No." Junko said firmly.
"Whyyy?" Madoka practically wails, looking dismayed. Homura flinches at the loud cry.
"Madoka… I know she's very nice to you, but she is a dragon. She is never going to be completely tame. She's going to get much, much bigger, too. Even if it's not on purpose, you could end up hurt."
Madoka takes this calm and steady explanation in with a sad pout; she clearly didn't want to hear it. "But…"
Junko sighs softly.
"There's also thinking about it from her point of view, sweetheart. There are things she wouldn't be able to learn if you kept her. How to take care of herself, and live in the wild… if you took her in now, she would never learn those skills. You would be hurting her, more than helping."
Madoka hangs her head, seeming to consider that.
Junko paused, considering the young dragon's approximate age. "Besides, she's still young… she should be with her family. Being separated from your Mama and Papa would be too hard, wouldn't it?"
Madoka blanches; that much hit close to home. "It would…"
Homura had been peering at Junko for a while, blinking and watching slowly like she was listening. (But she couldn't understand Junko, right?) But at the statement referring her family, she withdraws, shrinking and whimpering into Madoka's back. Madoka turned to try and soothe her again.
Junko watched them for a few moments more — Madoka smoothing out the dragon's fur a little more gently, this time — before standing, stooping slightly and picking Madoka up in a smooth motion.
"Wah— Mama!" Madoka cries, surprised and then dismayed once she realized she was being picked up.
"Madoka, it's best for everyone if she goes back home." Junko looks down at Homura, trembling and whining anxiously, unsure of where to go. "Why don't you say goodbye, now."
Madoka looked on the verge of tears — the situation didn't seem fair to her at all.
"I d-don't wanna," she said, sniffling and rubbing her eyes with her fists as she started to cry.
Sayaka looked down from nearby, guilt etched onto her face; she had never wanted Madoka to get upset like that. Junko gave her a small sympathetic look — she was about to have three crying children on her hands. She sets Madoka down on her feet.
Junko crossed the clearing, pushing aside the brush to reveal a thin deer trail.
"If she leaves this way, she'll be able to get back to the forest without running into anyone." Junko said — addressing Madoka to comfort her, mostly, but she gives a sideways glance to see if Homura was listening.
She looked as scared as ever, but did perk up slightly at the directions, shifting slightly toward the exit that had been presented to her.
Madoka suddenly tackling Homura in a hug wasn't enough to knock her over, but she did almost tip. Junko nearly thought she would bolt, but she froze on the spot.
"I d-don't wanna say bye…" Madoka said, her voice still trembling from crying. "I'll just say 'see you later', okay?"
Homura just blinked in Madoka's arms, frowning and shifting her paws in a nervous gesture.
Junko smiles wanly; it was unlikely they would really meet again, but there was no harm in letting Madoka hope for it a little bit. Eventually she'd forget about it, move on to other friends. Human ones.
Sayaka walked over, pouting. Arms crossed, she pointed one finger at the dragon. "If it comes back here, I'm gonna kick it's butt."
Homura makes a faint, nervous whine at that statement. Madoka lets go to scold Sayaka.
"No you're not, Sayaka-chan."
"Am too!"
"Are not!"
"O-kay, girls…" Junko said, smiling in slight exasperation and clapping her hands lightly. Best to diffuse them before it turned into another small fight between them. "Time to go."
It didn't take prying Madoka off, this time; Junko pressed a hand on her shoulder, and after a moment she released the dragon entirely. Homura shrinks a little.
It took a bit of gentle shooing from Junko to encourage her to go, but even then Homura hesitated. But after staring at them for a moment — her gaze staying on Madoka the longest — she did leave, jumping back into the brush and disappearing from sight.
Madoka looked crestfallen, of course; she felt like she had made a friend and then been forced to lose it. She sniffled faintly from when she had been crying before.
Sayaka watched Madoka for a moment, before reaching to hold her hand.
"Don't cry, Madoka, okay?" Sayaka said.
"I w-wasn't crying," Madoka mumbles, but having it pointed out only makes her more emotional. Sniffling hard and starting to tear up again, she used her free hand to roughly wipe at her eyes and nose.
Madoka would cry for a bit the remainder of the day, but Sayaka would hold her hand to comfort her, and her parents would give her lots of hugs, so she was okay.
Not far from there, Homura picked through the woods, finding her way on the well-beaten path without too much trouble, even with her feet dragging.
For what would not be the first or last time, she paused, glancing over her shoulder to where the castle sat.
…It was true, what Madoka's mother had said; Homura didn't really belong there. She wasn't really trying to belong there, so much as to escape from danger.
And although she felt like her place was with her family, that… wasn't an option for her anymore, either. The thought of it makes emotion rise in her throat, threatening to overwhelm her again with fear and despair.
The only thing Homura could really do was become self-reliant, and survive. Otherwise, what her parents did… would have been for a waste.
A tiny part of her didn't want to waste Madoka's sincere sentiment, either.
Homura blinks faintly; tiredness and hunger are still at the forefront of her attention. That meant getting food, and shelter… Even if she wasn't very good at it, she had been taught by her parents.
Both of them would live, until the time they met again.