Castle and the Human

A grown dragon finds a lost- or abandoned- toddler in the forest.

This isn’t the first time this has happened, or so legend has it. But, this is the first time Castle was there to see it.

Castle was a long and beautiful dragon with smooth, iridescent, blue scales, who was beloved by many.

Castle also had a way of getting himself into trouble… or trouble had a way of finding him.

Either way, he knew what would happen should the toddler be found by anybody else, so he took it home.

Castle didn’t know much about humans, but he knew enough to be weary of the dangers of them.

How did this human even end up here…?

Why did they leave it in our realm? Is there something wrong with it?

Castle knew of the humans and their ways. He knew they were cruel and unflinching with their violence and bigotry. They had enslaved dragons for a long time, painting them as the violent and dangerous creatures they themselves were actually.

But, what did this mean for the tiny human?

Castle believed that racism, prejudice, bigotry and the like were learned behaviors, not something you’re born with. Perhaps this toddler was left by the humans early enough that their awful, dangerous ideologies hadn’t rubbed off on it yet.

The toddler was asleep when Castle found it and it has remained asleep since. But, it will awaken soon enough, and when it does, it will be hungry.

What do humans eat…?

Castle recalled hearing that humans, unlike dragons, didn’t just eat plants and fruit; they actually ate living, breathing things. They would kill, then eat them. Castle couldn’t do that. He could, however, feed it foods little dragons liked, such as berries (cut in half, so they won’t choke), leaves and grass, spinach…

After Castle prepared its meal, he started to panic.

This creature, this soul with a body, has no one. I am the only thing standing in between its’ life or inevitable demise.

I’m not some hermit who lives on his own in a forest with no neighbors or friends. I have both who visit me frequently. I have family.

I am not good at hiding things, how will I hide this?

Do I have to hide this?

Why should I hide this?

If this were a dragon without a family, or even a stray egg not kept warm or sat upon, he knows what he would do, what anyone he associates with would do. They would take it and save it. They would keep it warm and once it hatched they would assume responsibility over it. They would nurture it and watch it grow.

That’s the mentality dragons have, thanks to their mistreatment by humans, actually.

Before dragons had the means to create their own realms, before their brains adapted to such capabilities, dragons were taken as slaves by humans. They were overworked, under-slept, malnourished; scapegoats who were abused, traded like playing cards, treated horribly, unimaginably.

This resulted in dragons adopting the exact opposite nature. They refused to be like their oppressors. Since they were passed around and split up from their birth families, dragons all became each other’s’ family. The mentality of ‘you help where you can’, ‘you raise who you can’, ‘you do everything you can to aid one another,’ whether it be their health, their wealth, or anything else, was their way.

Dragons didn’t have the same currency system as humans. They actually didn’t one at all. They didn’t even have a bartering system; it was an everyone-pitching-in-where-they-can sort of thing. So, wealth, to dragons, meant something different. It meant a spiritual bounty, a hefty supply of laughter, colossal servings of appreciation, a large amount of richness and beauty. Beauty, of course, meant something different to dragons than it did to humans, as well. To humans, beauty was “skin-deep,” or so they say. To dragons, beauty meant diversity, inclusivity, tranquility. All of the things that, [stereo]typically, humans were not. All of the things that dragons not only strived to be, but thrived at being.

They’ll be alright with me harboring a human, won’t they? They won’t shut it out or ban it… they won’t shut ME out or ban ME… right? They’ll cherish it with me…?

Dragons were not fans of excommunication. Castle had never seen it happen nor wished it upon anybody, even those he experienced conflict with. Neither had his parents, or the other elder dragons, but they had heard of it. They had shared legends-of-old in which it had been deemed necessary.

But deemed necessary it wouldn’t be. Or so he hoped.

It’s so funny because years ago in the library, Dragon found an old picture book in which a similar circumstance happened, only it was a human who found a dragon egg. It ended up being a kind human, a gentle one, who cared for the egg, kept it warm, and raised the sweet dragon once he was born as if he had laid the egg himself. He, too, didn’t know how his community would react. He, too, was afraid. But, in the end, the community met the dragon boy with open arms. They played with him, they loved him, they accepted him. This book was old and tattered and ripped. It wasn’t even supposed to be there. Arthur and the Dragon written by Pauline Cartwright, Illustrated by David Elliot. He loved that it had their names written on it. Giving credit where credit was due- that was something Castle liked. That was something he admired, that always stuck with him.

One thing dragon culture adopted from humans was the concept of a home for books, and by extension, imagination and dreams and people. In their adoption of such a thing, somehow along the way, this book made its way into the dragon library’s children’s section, probably from the humans’.

That book left a curiosity in Castle. A curiosity about humans.

Dragons believed in this thing called destiny. There is no word quite like it and no concrete way to explain it, but, it is believed that, if one looks closely enough, they can see it in things that happen in life. Castle saw it in this.

Castle had a knack for believing in what one can’t see, but can feel intuitively.

It was at this moment Castle realized he should probably stop referring to the toddler as “it” … “They” it is.

Upon the toddler’s waking up, Castle could feel that this babe was full of goodness, purity, soul.

The tiny human woke up, smiled at Castle and held their arms out, like they wanted to be held.

Castle decided then and there that this baby would be his priority, that this baby would be his. Well, he didn’t really decide… it sort of felt like their souls connected, deciding for him.

Castle thought to himself, now, I can do one of two things. I can raise this human on my own, without the help of anyone. I can keep them a secret, no one will know, and I can make them live their life in the shadows, thereby implying that they should be ashamed of themselves, of who they are.

They could live their life in hiding. I could make them do so. Raise them to believe it’s what’s best for them. I could raise myself to believe it’s what’s right.

It could be safest for them… but not best.

In an ideal world this baby would roam free, go out and play all over, like the other youngin’s do. They could be taken care of and nurtured by a whole sea of dragons instead of just this one. They could grow up living life seeing different perspectives, being shared with them by many. They could grow up with many influences, contrasting views… They could live life in color.

So that is what Castle decided to do.

Rather than force the child to live a lesser life out of fear of what could-be, Castle decided to teach them to be brave and decide for themselves what would-be.

That’s another part of destiny— creating your own.

And that’s just what Castle did.

He introduced Mikah to the world, to their world. He introduced them to many a different people, going far and wide just to allow Mikah to live the sort of life they deserved to, full of passion and contrast and color.

Mikah was accepted, embraced with open arms, just as he’d hoped they would be. Mikah was living a beautiful life full of love and laughter, just that sort of spiritual bounty.

“Mikah is still growing up, as we all are…” Castle wrote in the book he himself had been working on. His own contribution to the library. “And I hope that when they do, as they do, they gain further appreciation for the differences in the world, the complexities of the world, the ability every being has to lead life the way they want to, to live in such a way that they see fit, to explore dreams beyond their wildest, to truly live in harmony with destiny, whilst simultaneously creating it, as I did mine. Raising Mikah was my destiny. I decided it that day all those years ago upon finding him in the forest. I hope for you that you all find your love in the forest, wherever & whatever that ‘forest’ may be. And that when you do, that destiny will set you free.”