Out with the Old

He sniffed the air in concern.

Now, it wasn't often Grim felt concerned.

Yet, here he was. Concerned. 

He furrowed his eyes, slowly glancing around the clearing. The forest-green trees followed one another for miles. The silence was his friend, and this forest was known for its tranquility. Yet, he could smell the slight difference in air today.

He swished his scaled tail back and forth. His normally peaceful loneliness was being interrupted by the smell of a human.

Now, he didn't come into contact with such beasts often, but, when he did, it was brutal. They used their weapons to enslave his kind, turning one another against each other.

He snarled and lifted his wings, preparing for take-off.

This time, he would get them first.

He made quick index of the ground, his eyes blazing with revenge for the many times he was shot at with ash-tipped spears.

His nose didn't fail him, and just two miles south of where he caught wind, there it sat. 

It was small.

Ridiculously so.

His anger was pierced for a moment. He bolted to where it lay and landed in front of the tiny thing.

It was a baby human. The thing stared at him awestruck through baby-blue eyes. Atop its head lay a small blonde tuft. He narrowed his eyes at the tiny thing. One day it would grow up, and it would learn to hunt his kind; it would be much better to put an end to such a monster now.

He is hungry, after all.

Yet, he gazed at the small thing and wondered where its parents may have gone. 

He sniffed.

Where was its fear? He was a ferocious dragon, after all, and yet it gazed at him with big, clear eyes. He was gigantic and obsidian, and this thing should not be looking at him with such innocence.

It wasn't his problem. He could just leave it here for something else to come along and eat. There, he'll have done his part in saving his kind. 

He paused.

Its parents could be near by.

There was no inkling, though, of where they might be; he sensed nothing. The clearing was silent save for the small babbling noises emmitting fromt the small mass.

It began to crawl toward him, and he cringed immediately lifting a paw to push the thing back.

It burst into small peals of laughter. Had this thing no sense of survival? Perhaps it would be best left to its own devices. He was a strong believer in survival of the fittest, after all.

He turned around to leave when he felt the thing latch onto his tail. He snarled and whipped it up; the thing held on laughing with even greater bravado.

He scowled at the audacity and lifted his tail to his head, using his teeth to grab at the blue cloth this creature was donned in, setting the ferocious tiny being to the ground.

He turned again carefully keeping his tail out of reach and stalked away faster than the little guy could crawl.

He got a few feet away when he sighed and spared a tiny glance back. His eyes widened when he saw the little thing crawling vivaciously toward a cliffs ledge. 

He flew quickly darting to grab him by the shirt setting him in a much safer patch of grass. 

He puffed out a little flame in irritation, and the baby threw its whole body into giggles.

He smirked a little and did it again, bigger this time. The little guy shook with laughter.

Well, he didn't really have anywhere to be.

He kept performing fire tricks, from flaming circles to intricate designs. He'd picked up a few tricks along the years, and, when you get to his age, you learn to live a little.

The baby was losing his wits about him, every time, without fail.

It was nice having someone around who knew nothing of the carnage of the world. 

They played until nightfall, and grew sleepy. The dragon laid his big body down in the grass using his tail to pull the baby close.

He awoke when he heard a sound. There were angry voices that began to filter into the forest. He could see firelight wafting off of torches, filtering through the cracks of the trees.

He made to fly, but they were too quick. There were too many of them spilling into the clearing. He didn't see the humans in the trees that cast a small net over the entire area. He only witnessed the aftermath.

He felt something curl in his gut. These humans meant to capture him. The babe was crying loudly now, and a woman swept in to scoop him into her arms. She shot tearful, scathing eyes in his direction.

His end was near, now. Everything that happened after this would be a result of him not listening to his instincts and leaving well-enough alone.

He was old. He knew that. There was no use in fighting these humans. He wouldn't be able to perform in battle, and they would realize that. They would slaughter him when they knew and it would be no use.

Then, something unheard of happened.

The baby pushed and pushed at his mother, crying loudly enough to scrape even at his ears.

The mother let the baby to the ground in astonishment. She shook her head at a man who came and wrapped his arms around her.

The humans surrounded him with pitchforks and spears, some of them holding nets. The baby crawled past all of them, and started to crawl towards Grim.

The mother made to run toward them, but the man held her back and held up a hand.

The small child crawled closer until he came to touch his belly where he was pressing himself to a tree in fear. 

He looked down at the tiny thing. It wouldn't hurt to say goodbye to his new small companion before the humans swarmed in with their prejudices.

He came down from his defensive position and put his chin atop the babys' head. So long, baby.

The human came to a hush. The clearing was extremely quiet. It reminded him of the quiet that led him here in the first place. That peaceful quiet seemed far away in the face of this violence. The small child continued to hold onto him, one hand coming to rest on the dragons muzzle. Small whispers were shared amongst the group before they all began to nod. He stared out at them all, his eyes accepting.

He was going to kill this child. It was his first instinct, so how can he, now, judge these humans for following that?

Humans began to climb the trees. He stared at them in confusion, eyes becoming wary, still fearful of what they may do.

They pulled down the nets. 

He couldn't believe his eyes. He took a few small steps away from the child, and the woman burst into sobs. She wrapped the baby into her arms once more, his fussing a thing of the past. She looked at him again, differently this time. Her eyes were clearer, assessing.

The baby waved at the dragon. The humans glanced at him in awe and confusion. He gazed back with uncertainty taking one last glance at his friend that had changed his ideals so much. 

He fled, taking only his memory of the event with him.

No dragon he came across would believe the encounter. Thousands of years will do that, but he will always know.

He'll hope that, one day, humans and dragons may co-exist in lieu of this war.