Archive of Our Own

Once upon a time, there once was a young boy. This boy was a prince of a fairly small kingdom, but was quite well-known. The boy's mother and father loved their precious child, admiring his golden locks, his fair skin, and his green eyes, that were almost like emeralds to them. The family were happy, and were very much loved by their people. So on the day the young boy was to turn ten on his birthday, all was happy and everyone cheered, but the cheering soon died and went silent when the kingdom realized that a witch had appeared.

The old hag, voice shrilled, hair gray like cobwebs, and long bony fingers. The witch was dressed in all black, with a hood covering her face. She was holding a wooden staff that had a red jewel on the end. The witch's eyes were a black as coal as she stared down at the child, who hid behind his parents in fear.

The king stepped forward, his voice filled with anger when he noticed the witch, "why are you here, you old hag? Your evil magic is not welcome here!" The king roared, his voice echoed the entire room as the people backed away in fear.

The witch simply smiled, she let out a chuckle then that chuckle became a full laugh, shrilled and getting louder and louder, putting fear to everyone in the room. The witch then looked at the king then at his child, before raising a finger at the young boy, "my...what a precious little one you be. Such fair skin, such lovely locks, and beautiful eyes. You are quite beautiful young one, so beautiful," the witch smirked, causing the young prince to shake in fear as he held tightly to his mother's dress. "No wonder everyone loves you so....such a beautiful child, of course everyone would love you....but I wonder...if they'll still love you...if you were a hideous beast," the witch banged her staff onto the floor, and a gust of wind suddenly blew inside the room, causing the people to scream in panic, wondering what was happening.

"Witch! What are you doing!?" The king demanded, glaring at the witch as he drew out his sword, ready to strike.

"Such a beautiful child you have, your majesty...but even I can see that looks is all you care about, you and every damn person in this entire room. Ha ha ha ha...well let's see how you all feel now," the witch cackled as the winds grew harsher and harsher, causing the furniture in the room to fly around before hitting the walls and almost hitting the people. The people screamed as they all began running, trying to find an exit. The crowd has become so wild that the king was knocked over before he could strike the witch. "We'll see how you feel, we'll see how you feel! Curse your son be, your son is cursed for all eternity! By night, he's a charming young lad, but by day, he's a beast, causing all others to run away. Ha ha ha ha ha! Only one person can cure your son's curse, but such person shall never exist, they will never exist, your son will die of loneliness! Ha ha ha ha ha ha!" The witch kept laughing and laughing hysterically.

The king quickly got up, picked up his sword, and lunged at the witch, but before he could strike, the witch banged her staff, and dark smoke surrounded her. By the time the king reached her, the witch was gone.

The winds have stopped and all the flying furniture crashed back down. The people have stopped panicking and looked around, wondering if the witch was really gone and if it was safe again.

The king frowned, cursing that he wasn't able to kill the old hag, but his attention then went back to his son, remembering the witch's words. "My dear son, do you feel alright?" The king asked.

"I'm fine, father," the prince said, hugging his mother's leg, "what did that old woman mean, father? Am I cursed?"

"I...don't see it. You don't seemed to be cursed, my dear boy," the king gently petted his son's head, "you're fine, that woman was crazy. Curse! Ha! What curse? What did she mean she'll turn my beloved son into a beast? Crazy old hag!"

"My love, maybe you shouldn't speak so loudly and ill of the witch, she could still be around," the queen spoke.

"Nonsense, our son is fine and well, there is nothing wrong with him, ha ha ha ha!"

As the king laughed in a joyous tone, believing the witch was nothing but a liar, the prince let go of his mother, feeling dizzy and unwell, he stumbled a bit as he walked backwards, feeling his head pounding and his ears ringing. The side of his body began to feel painful as he let out a sharp hiss, falling to the ground as he clutched his stomach in pain.

"Sweetheart!"

"Son?"

"Nnnggg...a-ah....ah....ah!" The prince's eyes widened as flames suddenly came out of his mouth, scaring the king and queen as they backed away in fear of the flames. The prince then got on all fours, bumps began forming on his back before they grew and grew until two pair of wings suddenly came out of his back. The prince's mouth began twitching until his nose and jaw extended out, looking like a snout. The nails on the prince's hand began turning black and grew, looking more like claws. Scales began forming all over the prince's face, even the prince's emerald green eyes started to change.

"My god!" The queen shriek as she stared at her beloved son in horror.

"Mommy! What is...happening," the prince's voice began changing, no longer sounding human but of that of a beast.

The crowd backed away as they watched in horror, a few even tried banging on the doors to open like they did when the witch was there. The people screamed as the prince began to grow in size, a tail suddenly appeared, and the prince's teeth were now sharp and jagged.

The prince let out a painful roar, causing the ground to shake as he stumbled, destroying everything in his way. While the prince screamed, fire shot out of his mouth, setting fire to the tables and curtains, which spread everywhere in the room.

The people screamed as they finally managed to open the doors. They all ran, screaming monster over and over. The guards ran inside, pointing their weapons at the monster they just heard the people screaming, but the king demanded they do no hurt the beast.

"He's not a monster, he's my son!" The king shouted, staring at his son in horror.

Standing thirty feet tall, wings spread out, and tail extended, the prince had become a dragon.

The king and queen were unsure what to do, their beloved son could barely fit inside the throne room. The prince could no longer show his face to his people anymore, for fear of them running away in terror. The king and queen tried everything, they tried to find every spell, every magic user, and any artifact that could turn their beloved son back to a human boy, but no matter who they get, they would say the same thing.

"This curse that has been cast on your son, there is no way to break it."

The king grew angry when each wizard, witch, and even fairy would reply with the same answer. They couldn't break the spell, nothing could break it, they tried everything. Outraged, the king ordered his men to seek the witch and bring her back to the castle, demanding that she take this curse off his son. Whether he pay her or threatened to kill the old hag, he wanted the witch to take this curse away.

Weeks it took for the men to find the witch, and weeks it took again when they came back empty handed. The first knight bowed his head in shame, telling his king that the witch was no more. A hero from another kingdom has already vanquished the witch.

"What? Then why hasn't the curse been broken? Shouldn't killing the witch break the curse or something!?" The king barked.

"We're not sure, my king....but we found a note that was left in the witch's hutch. It seemed to be addressed to you," the knight handed the king the note, and the king began to read it.

I see you trying to fine me, your majesty. Desperate? Want me to break your son's curse? As if that will be easy. Even if I were willing to lift it, that curse is much stronger than you think. Killing me won't lift it, and I can't lift it. Only a person of pure heart can. A person who can outlook the prince's appearance can break it. A person who understands the prince's pain can lift it. A person who falls in love with the prince, can take the curse away, but as I said, no such person exist. We live in a world where vanity is far more important than a person's being and heart. Face it, your majesty, your beloved son will stay cursed for all eternity.

The king read the note over and over, rage building up. He ripped the dreaded note, throwing it the ground. "Men! Search far and wide for any brave souls who can look at my son and not be scared. Whoever breaks my son's curse shall get the reward of their choice! They'll even marry my son if they fall in love with him!" The king demanded.

"Yes, my king!" The knights exclaimed as they all left, in search for a being that can lift the prince's curse.

From far and wide, many brave souls came to the caste to seek the prince, but no matter how long they stood by the prince, no matter how friendly they are with the prince, none of them were able to break the curse. The king didn't understand why, until he realized that all these people that came, they didn't care for the prince. Brave, yes they were, especially in front of a terrifying beast, but they weren't doing it for the prince's heart, they did it for the money and reward behind it.

Days went by, and no one, not a single soul, could break the prince's curse. The king and queen were saddened by this, thinking that their beloved son will never be normal again. They were always happy to see their son back to being human during the night, but every morning as the son rises, they scream in fear when they see a monster sitting in their son's bed.

The king and queen had no choice.

With their people fearing of the monster, with their son accidentally destroying their home with his fiery breath and large feet, the king and queen had no choice to place their son somewhere far far away from their kingdom.

So the prince was taken to a cave, there he'll stay until a cure was found. The king and queen would visit their son, ensuring him that everything will be okay. Then, the king and queen would send someone to sit with the prince, teaching him to read and write, as well as giving him new pair of clothes, toys, and food to eat. Eventually, the king and queens visits to the prince became shorter and shorter, until they finally stopped coming.

Years of trying to find a cure, the king and queen decided that there really was none, that there was no hope for their son, and with them too busy with their royal duties, they couldn't bother with their cursed son no longer. So they've moved on, forgotten their son, and instead, had a new child. A beautiful baby girl, a princess. The king and queen loved their new child, already forgetting the prince.

Sadden from being abandoned by his parents, the dragon prince stayed in the cave, weeping all day till night, surviving on his own everyday. Even when a servant does come to give the prince new clothes and food, the prince would just hide himself away from the world, only coming out from his cave when he becomes angry and decided to put his anger on nearby towns and villages.

Still, as the prince grew up in that cave all alone, no friend or family to be there to comfort him, everyone in the world have forgotten about the once beautiful prince, and have moved on with their lives, including the king and queen.

However, on certain nights, you could hear weeping within the caves, and though no one dared to enter the cave for fear of the beast inside, there was one young boy, who would change the dragon prince's life forever.

In a far away kingdom, there was a young boy, a prince to be exact. He had a younger sister, a princess, a mother and father, the king and queen of the kingdom, and small little guinea pig named Stripe, the royal pet, a creature that was pampered like a king each and everyday, as requested by the young prince.

The prince was...different from many other princess from neighboring kingdoms, for one, the prince didn't mind getting himself dirty, always getting messy when he played outside, his clothes would be torn whenever he came back from playing in the forest, his hair would be a mess, and he had so much dirt on his clothes and skin that the young boy had to take three baths a day, especially when the king and queen are expected to have guests. The prince was also quite adventurous, always wanting to scale the walls and explore the outside world, always escaping his studies and trying to sneak out of the kingdom with by hiding in merchants' carts, and always practicing his fighting with the knights or a fighting dummy, much to his mother's dismay.

"Craig Tucker!" The queen ran outside when she noticed her son holding a very real and very sharp sword, "I thought I told you that if you were to play fight, you are to use your wooden sword, we've discussed this!"

"I'm not a baby, mother, I can handle a real sword," Craig said, holding up the sword to prove it, but staggered a bit when the weight of the sword almost caused the boy to fall. "Bad example, but I managed to catch myself, so I'm quite responsible to hold a real sword."

The queen grumbled, frowning at her son, she looked around until she saw a small group of knights standing nearby, watching the young prince carefully. "Why did you give my son a real sword?" The queen asked the knights.

"He asked for it, my queen, we even asked the king for his permission, and he told us it was fine, that the young lad needed to learn to use a sword," one of the knights replied.

"Oh that man!" The queen huffed, getting quite annoyed with her husband, "Craig, you are not to use a real sword, you're not ready! What if you hurt that delicate face of yours?"

"I am not delicate," the prince frowned at being called delicate.

"Yes you are," the queen said.

"I am not," the prince crossed his arms.

"Yes, you are," the queen sighed, "a young prince like yourself shouldn't be getting dirty and bloody, you should be focusing on your studies, being a proper gentleman, and getting ready for you arrange marriage with the princess from the South," the queen said.

The thought of being married caused the young boy to make a face, "I don't want to be married to a frilly dressed princess. I want to travel the world, fight monsters, be a hero!"

"Nonsense. When you meet the sweet girl, you'll fall in love and you'll thank me and your father for arranging this marriage," the queen said, "now come on, let's head inside, you're filthy, young man," the queen took her son's arm and took him inside, all while the young prince pouted the entire way.

Prince Craig really hated how his mother is shielding him from almost everything in the world, and Craig simply wished his mother would just trust him and let him be free. Craig wanted to explore, he wanted to see the world, he wanted to go on adventures, he wanted to be a hero to his kingdom, but with his mother being overly protective, his father not really helping and simply sides with his mother, and his sister not really understanding her older brother's views, the prince was alone and couldn't do much to change his family's mind on letting him go.

"Sometimes, you're the only one that understands me, Stripe," the prince sighed as he pet his beloved pet.

It was late at night, and after a long day of his mother lecturing him, his father teaching him what it takes to be a king, and trying to escape his sister and her deadly dress up games, the prince was now in the safety of his room with his beloved pet, all alone, just how he liked it.

"One day, when I'm an adult, I'll reject the marriage proposal, I'll leave the kingdom, and I'll go on many adventures! ...Of course, I'll take you with me, Stripe, if you haven't died from old age that is," the prince said.

The little guinea pig squeaked as it looked at its owner before continued to nibble on the small piece of lettuce that the prince took from dinner.

The prince smiled placing a gentle kiss on his beloved pet's head, "you're so cute, I bet you'll live forever and ever. I bet you're a magic guinea pig and will stay young forever, but if you aren't, then I can always find a witch or wizard to make you stay alive forever, would you like that?"

The guinea pig didn't react, simply enjoyed the lettuce in his little hands.

"Maybe we should also have you talk, it would be a lot nicer to hear you speak instead of me being the only one talking all the time," the prince sighed as he leaned back in his bed, petting his pet, while staring at his ceiling. "I wonder what adventure is out there....so many things to see, so many monsters to fight, and no marriages. Yuck...who even wants to marry a princess, who even wants to marry anyone? It seems pointless to me," the prince sighed.

The prince let out a small yawn, getting ready to go to sleep. The prince got up from his bed to put Stripe away, but before he could return to his bed to sleep, he suddenly hear a sound from outside. Curious, the prince stuck his head outside and listened closely, the sound was quite hard to tell, but the prince believed it sounded like...crying. The prince pouted, wondering if someone was crying somewhere, but as he was in a high tower and couldn't really see much out his window, he couldn't tell if the crying was within the kingdom or....outside.

"......Hmph...crybaby," the prince pouted, stepping away from his window before shutting the window, not wanting the sound to disturb him as he slept. Once the young prince got on his bed, he laid down, getting ready to sleep, but he couldn't help but wonder who was crying outside. The prince wondered if the person was sad about something or was just crying for attention, the prince wasn't sure. Craig simply shrugged, let out another yawn and began to close his eyes, dreaming of all the adventures he would have when he's older, fighting all the evil in the world such as witches, wizards, warlords, and maybe even a dragon.

The prince dreamed happily that night.

As the prince grew older and older, his long dream of being an adventurer seemed to get farther and farther from his grasps, especially with his arranged marriage with the princess from the South getting closer and closer.

The prince has met with the princess a few times, as requested by his mother. The princess to the prince was a nice enough girl, she was quite cute and did look very pretty, but the prince didn't really care much for her. The prince did play with the girl when they were young, and the prince did spend an entire day with her, only because he knew his mother would be very angry with him if he didn't, but the prince could not fall for the princess, no matter how much he spent his days with the girl. Whether it was because the princess was four years younger than the prince, or whether it was because the princess was a bit too clingy, or whether it was because the princess didn't spark the prince's interest. Whatever it was, the prince didn't feel anything for the young girl, and desperately wanted to call off the wedding.

Craig tried to tell his parents about calling off the wedding, that maybe there was another way to unite the kingdom, but every time he saw the happy looks on his parents' faces as they talk about how wonderful the wedding will be, especially with the princess' parents and other guests, Craig couldn't say a word.

So by the time that the young prince turned eighteen and the young princess turned fourteen, a wedding was being held in their honor. It was agreed that the prince and princess would be married at the princess' kingdom since the weather was much nicer there and the flowers that bloomed in the kingdom were perfect for the wedding. Craig wore his best suit, had his hair done, and looked quite stunning to many, but of course, the prince complained at how tight his clothes were and how ridiculous he looked, but his mother would lecture him and tell him to suck it up.

"Honestly, you're almost going to be a king, Craig, you must stop being childish and give up on your delusional dream of being an adventurer, and be happy with your beloved wife, maybe start planning to have children," the queen said.

"It's not childish, mother," the prince sighed, "and is this wedding a good idea? She is quite young, you know," Craig said.

"Your ages maybe different, and there is a bit of difference in maturity, but you'll come to love her as your wife, and future queen," the queen said, "just give her a chance, Craig, and I'm sure she'll make you happy."

".....You say that, but you don't even try to consider my feelings, mother," Craig sighed as he walked out of the room and away from his mother, wanting to clear his mind and try to see if he can find a way to get out of this wedding. As the prince walked around, he was startled when he found the princess standing in the hallway. "My lady," the prince bowed politely, as he was taught to do when in front of the princess.

"Oh, my prince," the princess bowed, before smiling at him, "you look quite handsome," the princess said.

"Thank you, and you look...lovely," Criag said, staring at the princess' dress.

The princess blushed, looking quite happy, "it's going to be a dream to marry you, I can't wait," the princess said.

The prince was a bit taken back, he didn't know that the princess was looking forward to the wedding that much. "You...want to marry me?"

"Well...of course!" The princess smiled, "all my friends are going to be jealous that I get to marry such a handsome prince such as yourself," the princess smiled.

The prince looked down, now feeling guilty, "do you...even want to marry me? I'm not very mature you know, I am far from being romantic, and honestly...we barely know each other, even when we spend a lot of time together, we rarely talked to one another," the prince said.

The princess looked surprised before smiling, "it's fine, we can get to know each other once we're happily together! I can't wait to know everything about you, my love. Don't you feel the same?"

The prince looked down, feeling guilty for unintentionally leading this girl on somehow, "I....I don't want to hurt your feelings, but....I'm not sure if I'm ready to be married," the prince said.

"Oh....oh! You're just getting cold feet, is that all?" The princess smiled.

"No, that's not-"

"Do not worry, my prince, the ceremony won't be too long, and once we're happily married, we can spend the rest of our lives, running our kingdoms, having children, and growing old together. It'll be wonderful," the princess sighed dreamily, like a young girl who fantasized the perfect wedding for herself and her future husband.

Seeing her like this, the prince knew he couldn't say a word, he simply sighed, forced a smile on his lips, and nodded, "of course. It'll be wonderful...to spend...every...waking moment...with you," the prince said, feeling his heart sinking.

"Me too," the princess smiled, "I better get going and have the servants touch up on my make up, see you soon, my love."

"Yes...you too," Craig said. The moment the princess left, Craig leaned against the wall, breathing heavily at what just happened. "God as my witness, please....get me out of this wedding," Craig said, feeling ready to run out of the castle and become an outcast forever.

Finally, the wedding began, and as much as Craig wanted to run, he knew he couldn't dishonor his family like this. So with a sigh of defeat and knowing there was no way out of it, the prince obliged and accepted his fate. He was to marry the princess. That meant no more dreams of adventures, no more plans of trying to escape the castle, and he has to focus more on his studies and preparations to being king.

Craig desperately wanted to run at that moment.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to celebrate the union between two kingdoms."

Craig was sweating nervously, not paying much attention to the words that were being said. Craig didn't want to marry the princess, but he couldn't dishonor his family nor the princess' family, especially since he knew a war might happen between the two kingdoms if he were to reject the princess at that moment.

"Nervous?" The princess whispered.

"Yeah, you could say that," Craig said, looking at her, then at the priest, then at the crowd.

"Don't worry, we'll be happy together, I promise," the princess smiled.

"Princess, do you take the prince's hand and be his queen? To live happily ever after?"

The princess smiled, "I do!"

Craig paled, seeing the excitement on the princess' face, knowing full well that she really wanted to marry him, meaning there was no way out of this. There was literally no other way for Craig to get out of this wedding, not with everyone watching.

"My prince, do you take the young princess' hand and be her king? To live happily ever after?"

".....I.....I...." Craig stared at the princess, seeing her excited look on her face. Craig looked at his parents, seeing them waiting patiently to say yes. Craig looked at the princess' parents, seeing them looking sternly at him, making sure he would say yes. Craig looked at everyone, all of them wondering whether he was going to say yes or not. "....I...d-"

Suddenly, the ground began shaking, causing everyone to look up, wondering what was happening. The princess stepped back, looking around in confusion. The priest himself closed his book, confused as well as everyone else.

"What in God's name is happening?" The priest exclaimed.

"Father?" The princess turned towards her father, feeling scared.

"It's alright dear, I'm sure it's not-" Suddenly, a giant claw ripped the ceiling of the castle open, everyone screamed in panicked as up above, a fierce looking creature towered over them, black smoke coming out of its mouth as it stared down at everyone.

"Dragon!" Someone screamed as everyone began running.

"Dragon..." Craig looked up at the creature, amazed that he finally gets to see a real life dragon in person. Craig's eyes began to sparkle at the thought of killing such a beast.

"Craig! Get back here!" Craig's mother shouted as she grabbed her son's arm and pulled him away as the dragon continued to destroy the ceiling until it finally stepped inside the room, tail destroying the wedding decor and everything.

"My wedding!" The princess cried, looking more distressed that her wedding was ruined than the thirty feet dragon standing before them.

"Honey, do something!" Craig's mother exclaimed as she clung to her two children.

"Yes! Uh....um...the guards?" Craig's father turned to the other king, wondering where the guards are.

"Oh, right! Guards!" The king shouted.

"For pity sake," Craig got out of his mother's grasp, grabbing one of the decorative swords that hung on the walls before charging at the dragon.

"Craig! No!" Craig's mother exclaimed as she ran after her son.

"Don't worry mother, I got th-" Before the prince could step any further, the princess suddenly came in front of the dragon, looking quite angry.

"You...you ruined my wedding you dirty creature!" The princess took the sword from Craig's hand, surprising the boy and allowing his mother to grab him and pull him back. "I'm going to kill you!" The princess shrieked, her makeup running as she swung the sword around, hitting the dragon by it's foot.

The dragon let out a roar, looking angrily at the princess before it stomped around, causing debris to fall. Everyone in the room panicked as they avoided the debris, but for the princess, she couldn't get away in time. A large chunk of the ceiling fell on top of the princess, trapping her.

"Princess!" Craig shouted.

"My beloved daughter!" The king exclaimed.

The dragon let out another horrific roar before it flapped its large wings and escape, just as the knights managed to finally barge into the room.

"It's leaving! After it!" Craig shouted.

"No! Save my daughter!" The king shouted.

The knights quickly ran towards the princess and lifted up the debris from her body. The princess was barely breathing, but was still conscious as she looked up at her father.

"Father....does this mean the wedding has been cancelled?" The princess asked tiredly.

"No no no, dear girl, the wedding will continue, you just got to hang in there and we'll get a wizard to heal your wounds. For bloody sake, get a damn wizard already!" The king shouted at one of his knights.

"Yes sir!" The knight left, running to find a wizard.

"I can't...feel my legs, father....I can't feel anything..." the princess said, her skin become pale. The princess lifted her head to look at the prince before smiling, "it would have been nice to marry you, prince Craig. We would have been happy together. We would rule our kingdoms...we would have had many children running around, and we would have grown old together...living in peace....inside our homes...forever and ever," the princess said.

"....Please princess, don't use up all your breath on me. You must stay strong," Craig said, feeling even more guilty now than ever.

"The perfect wedding...ruined....because of that damn....drag....drag...on....." the princess closed her eyes as her body went limp.

"Dear? Daughter? Daughter!?"

The priest walked over. He grabbed the girl's hand, "....she's dead, your majesty."

The king began to cry. "I....I want that dragon's head!" The king shouted.

"Y-your majesty?"

"I don't care who, but I want that dragon's head, now!" The king exclaimed, tears falling from his eyes. "Whoever brings me the head of that dragon, I shall reward them with anything they want! I just want that dragon dead!" The king exclaimed.

"....." The prince looked at the princess' body, feeling sad that she was gone, and though he did not actually want to marry her, he felt it was his duty to avenge her death. After all, it was her happy moment, and the dragon took away a sweet girl's dream wedding. "....I'll do it! I'll go after this dragon and kill it!" Craig exclaimed.

"Craig!"

"You will, my boy? You will?" The king asked, tears streaming from his eyes.

"Yes sir, but if I do come back victorious, I do want our kingdoms to unite, without a wedding, if that is fine with you," Craig said.

"Boy, if you come back with that dragon's head, I'll make sure every kingdom of the land is at peace. You will never have to fear of any future wars again," the king said.

The prince nodded, "then I'll do it," the prince stood up tall and looked ahead with determination in his heart, "I will kill this dragon!"

"Absolutely not," the queen frowned, crossing her arms.

"But mother, I promised the king!" Craig exclaimed.

"I don't care if you promised the king of the South with this..this...dangerous and ridiculous proposition, I am not letting you go out there, find a bloody dragon, and get yourself killed! Besides, I've already spoken with the king, and he'll just send his strongest men to kill the dragon, so you don't have to worry yourself with anything and should focus on your studies, while your father and I work on preparing you to marry another princess. I'm thinking...we can have you marry the princess of the North."

"Mother, the princess is eight years old, ten years younger than me," Craig said, "and don't you think having me marry a new princess this soon is a bit...disrespectful?"

"Which is why we're going to wait until the princess is of age, which will be plenty of time for old wounds to heal," the queen said, "for now, you shall focus on being a proper gentleman."

"Mother!" Craig groaned.

"Now Craig, I understand you loved the princess," no he didn't, "and you want to avenge her," yes he did, but he also wants to prove to his mother that he was capable of handling danger, and he knew fighting a dragon was his one and only opportunity to show her, "but this....hunting down a dragon? That's ludicrous."

"Mother, if you continue to baby me, how am I to prepare for the real world one day when I do take over the kingdom? What am I suppose to do when war breaks out? What am I suppose to do when I'm older? You can't keep me behind these walls forever," Craig said.

The queen looked ready to say something back, but the king stood up from his chair after hearing everything, "dear, he's right. You can't protect him forever. You can't protect our children from the world, they need to grow up with all the faults and dangers out there, only then will they become fine adults," Craig's father said.

"But....but it's a dragon, Thomas....what if....what if-" The queen began to cry, not wanting to let her child go.

"I know dear, but Craig is all grown up now, it's his choice on what he wants to do, and if he wants to find a dragon and kill it for the king of the South....we must let him. We won't be around forever, Laura, it's time to let our children grow up on their own," the king said.

".....Oh....fine!" The queen turned to her son before hugging him tightly, "okay...okay...you can go...but please....stay safe."

"I will, mother. I'll come back with the dragon's head, and be a hero to our kingdom as well as the South kingdom." Craig hugged her mother in return, reassuring her that everything will be fine.

"Well son, I guess we best prepare you for your journey," Craig's father said.

Craig nodded, excited to finally leave his home and go on a real life adventure full of danger, new sights, and more. Craig will come back and be a hero, just like he dreamed of being.

So the very next morning, Craig was ready to head off, but before he left, he needed some new armor and supplies for his long journey.

"Isn't this armor a bit too...heavy...and much?" Craig asked, the chest plate was so large that it cover the majority of his body. He could barely move in it.

"I had it specifically designed to keep you safe. No arrows, swords, or even fire can penetrate this armor, you'll be one hundred percent safe," the queen smiled, "and besides, it's quite soft on the inside, isn't it?"

"Yeah, but it's kinda not giving me much room in here...and it's really hard to move in," Craig said as he could barely move his arms or legs.

"Well it's to help keep you safe, dear," the queen said.

"Mother, you promised," Craig frowned.

"Oh...fine! What armor would you suggest?" The queen sighed.

After changing out of the armor his mother had given to him, Craig wore the armor he bought himself the day before. Craig showed his family his new suit of armor, and the helmet that came with it.

"Oh no! That armor barely covers anything!"

"I'm wearing chain mail underneath here," Craig said.

"Doesn't mean it'll stop a dragon from breathing fire on you!" The queen exclaimed.

"Mother. You promised," Craig said once more.

"You did promise you'd let him be, dear," Craig's father said.

"Oh...fine!" The queen sighed, she grabbed the sword that laid next to her and handed it to her son, "here's your sword."

"....What's this over the blade?"

"A sheath of course," the queen smiled.

"It's....very soft...and bulky, and doesn't look like the sheath I normally put it in," Craig said.

"Well I thought the old sheath wouldn't keep your sword safe for much long, so I decided to make you a new one. This one is very soft and your sword would poke you while you carry it around."

"Why are there flowers on it?" Craig asked.

"Your sister wanted to help make it," the queen smiled.

Craig glared at his younger sister, who smirked and began giggling. "Right...thank you...mother," Craig said, "thank you, Tricia."

"Don't die, okay? I still want you around to play dress up with me," Tricia said.

Craig sighed before patting his sister's head. "Please don't mess with Stripe while I'm gone. He is not one of your dolls to play with, and I'll have a knight keeping Stripe safe, so don't you dare try anything."

"Hmph," Tricia crossed her arms before sticking her tongue out at her brother, Craig doing the same thing to her.

"Alright alright, you two. Enough fighting," the king sighed, he turned towards his son before placing his large hand on his son's shoulder, "I hope you know what you're doing and what is expected out there."

"I do, father. Don't worry. I'll come back with the dragon's head, and I'll make you and mother proud," the prince said.

"I expect no less," the king smiled.

"Oh...come here," the queen ran up to her son and hugged him tightly, along with her husband. Tricia was a bit reluctant, but did eventually come over to hug her brother as well. Once they all pulled away, the queen looked at her son's head before kissing him gently on the head. "Stay safe, my son."

"I will, mother," Craig said. He put down the visor of his helmet, hiding his face entirely. Craig then headed outside towards the gate that led in and out of the kingdom. After getting on his horse that was waiting patiently for him, Craig looked back, seeing his mother, father, sister, and his people, watching him closely. "Do not worry, everyone. I, your prince, will come back with the dragon's head! I'll make sure the dragon is dead!" The prince proclaimed.

The people cheered for the prince, clapping and whistling. The prince smiled underneath his helmet before turning back around, looking straight at the unknown lands before him. With a deep sigh, Craig clicked his tongue so his horse would move forward.

The prince's journey began.

The prince traveled up North, hearing stories from a few citizens as well as travelers speaking of a hideous dragon that would rampage multiple kingdoms, destroying many homes and the like. If Craig was to find the dragon he was looking for, he had to head North.

If only Craig was good at reading maps.

"Ugh...whoever made these damn maps, why the fuck would they make them so hard to read?" Craig frowned as he looked at the map over and over, but can't seem to determine where they were. "Is the blue the road...or is that river? ...What do you think?" Craig turned to his horse, showing it the map.

The horse simply neighed in response.

"Ugh....I really don't want to ask someone for directions again..." Craig sighed, "mother was right, I should have paid more attention in map reading class, this is so hard," Craig sighed as he looked at the map again and trying to figure out where to go.

Suddenly, the prince's stomach began growling, and Craig realized it has been awhile since he hate anything that morning. Sighing, Craig put his map away, took his horse off the road so it could take a break and enjoy some grass to eat, all while Craig takes out his rations and have his fill of food.

Craig sighed as he took a bite of his bread, "I guess when I wanted to go on an adventure, I should have considered all the important details that are required, such as reading a damn map," Craig sighed as he stared at the map once more. Craig took another bite of his bread, looking at the pictures on the map. "It says here that the North kingdom should be close by....maybe they can give me some directions on where to find this damn dragon...as well as helping me restock on rations," Craig said as he noticed that he was getting short on food, and it was almost getting dark soon, so he needed to find shelter somewhere.

"Oh! Oh god!" A suddenly yell startled the young prince as he looked up from his map, his bread in his mouth, and he noticed a woman on the ground, just a few feet away from him. The woman was crying very loudly as she clutched her leg, as if she was in pain. The prince, feeling that this was quite suspicious, walked over to the woman to see what was going on.

"Ma'am? Are you alright?" The prince asked.

"Oh...I'm fine, dear boy. I just twisted my ankle," the woman said, pulling up her skirt to reveal her ankle, but Craig did noticed her pulling the skirt up a bit too much.

"Um...your ankle seems...fine, ma'am," Craig said, ignoring the way the woman kept pulling up her skirt.

"....Oh uh...um...well it's really hurt, I can't walk. Can't you help a poor lady up?" The woman asked, looking up at the prince while batting her eyelashes.

"....Is something in your ma'am?" Craig asked.

"....No?" The woman seemed confused, but straighten up, "now will you help me up?"

The prince looked around, not sure how the woman could have twisted her leg when the ground was even and there was nothing that could have tripped the woman, but seeing that he didn't want to be rude, thanks to his mother always lecturing him to be a proper gentleman, Craig obliged and helped the woman up.

"Oh, you're quite strong, young man," the woman hugged the prince's arm, pushing her chest against the boy's arm.

"Um....I guess. I'm just glad you're okay, miss," Craig pulled his arm away awkwardly, feeling quite uncomfortable, "I best be on my way now, so...farewell," Craig was about to turn, but before he could, the woman grabbed his hand.

"W-wait! I must show my gratitude for what you've done for me, young man," the woman said sweetly, playing with Craig's fingers.

"Um...you really don't have to, miss. I'm fine. I'm just glad you're okay and everything, so...I best be on my way," Craig was about to pull his hand away again, but the woman kept a strong grip on him.

"Oh please, I can do anything for you. Maybe even be...a companion on your little trip?" The woman said, stepping quite close to the prince.

Craig paled, feeling his stomach churning as the woman stepped closer and closer, all while Craig tried to move away from her. "Miss, this is really unnecessary, and I really need to get going, so could you please let me go, so I can-" Suddenly he heard his horse neighing in distressed, and Craig quickly turned around, seeing his horse being taken by an unknown man. "Hey! What are you-" Suddenly, the woman hit the prince on the head with her wooden bucket that she was carrying, knocking the boy down.

"Damn it, Jane! You were suppose to distract him!"

"Well sorry, but this little shit stain must be broken or something, didn't even want to look at my girls," the woman sighed, sounding annoyed.

"Well shit, just grab what's in his pockets, and I'll get the damn horse. Hurry up!"

"W-wait...that's...that's my horse!" Craig tried to get up, but his head was spinning after being hit. The woman kicked him in the sides, causing Craig to fall back down to the ground as he groaned in pain. The woman then grabbed his sack of rations and gold from his belt, before getting on his horse with the unknown man. "W-wait....that's my..."

"Hurry up, John, he's about to stand up!"

"Don't rush me, woman!" The man hit the horse on its side, causing the horse to stand on it's back legs for a second before running off with the two robbers on its back.

"Wait! No! Come back!" Craig finally snapped out of it and quickly stood up, he tried to chase after them, but they were already too far off. "....God damn it!" Craig kicked the ground in annoyance, angry that he let himself get robbed. He knew something suspicious was happening, he just wished he knew what the woman was planning. "Damn it! Twisted ankle...I should have known she was lying! Fuck!" Craig kicked a nearby pebble, seeing it go off somewhere.

After calming down, the prince stood in the middle of the road, not sure what to do. His map was gone, his horse was gone, even his rations and gold was gone. The only thing he had with him was his sword, and the armor on his back.

"Well....I guess things can't get worse," the prince said. The prince flinched when he hears thunder, and before he knew it, it began to rain. ".....Of course..." the prince sighed, getting more and more annoyed.

All the prince could do was keep going, and hope to find shelter from the rain until he can keep moving on his journey.

The prince kept walking, trying to shield himself from the rain by using the bark from a tree he passed by earlier. Craig looked around, but couldn't find a town or village anywhere. Craig sighed, thinking that maybe setting camp underneath a tree would be the best, but as luck would have it, Craig noticed a large cave nearby. Sighing happily, the prince ran over to the cave and hid inside as a storm was forming outside.

"Thank goodness," Craig sighed, trying his best to wipe the water off his armor. As Craig was wiping himself off, he looked around inside the cave, noticing how huge it was, as well as dark. Craig figured that he'll need to start a fire soon, he only hoped the bark he had with him be enough to start a fire. As Craig looked around, he froze when he noticed two pair of eyes staring at him in the shadows. Shaking in fear, Craig drew out his sword, but remembered the handmade sheath that his mother gave to him. "U-uh...who goes there? You best come out! I have a sword...you can't see it because of the decorative sheath here, but...there's a sword inside this flowery sheath, so don't you dare try anything!" The prince said, trying to take the sheath off.

Suddenly, the ground began to shake, causing the prince to fall to the ground, sword out of his hand. Craig panicked as he looked up and saw the creature stepping out of the shadows to reveal a thirty feet tall dragon.

"Dear God," the prince said as he looked up and saw a green dragon standing before him. Craig began shaking in fear, but suddenly, he thought back to the dragon that destroyed the kingdom of the South. He came to a realization that this was the dragon that killed the princess. Gaining some courage, the prince stood up, he grabbed his sword, pulled the damn sheath off of it, and pointed his sword at the dragon. "Dragon! I am here to avenge the princess you have killed! In honor of my kingdom and the kingdom of the South, I shall have your head!" Craig stood up straight, ready to attack the beast.

The dragon looked down at the boy before letting out a loud roar, almost throwing the prince off, but the prince stood his ground, glaring at the beast. Without much hesitation, the prince ran towards the dragon, raised up his sword, and was ready to strike.

"Have at thee, dragon!" Craig shouted as he jumped up and slashed the dragon's leg in the air.

The dragon roared in pain before it swung its tail at the boy, sending the prince flying as he hit the walls. The prince fell to the ground, his head aching in pain as he stood up, grabbing his sword and ready to fight again.

"Nice attack, but I'll have your head," Craig started running again, ready to strike again, but the dragon was ready as it banged its front left foot, causing the walls and ceiling to shake and debris falling to the ground. "Shit!" Craig tried his best to avoid the falling rocks, all while trying to reach the dragon, but before he could strike, a rock was about to hit him. Craig tried to dodge it, but the giant boulder pinned his foot to the ground, crushing it. "Ah!" Craig let out a painful yelp, seeing his foot stuck. He tried to pull his foot out from the rock, but it wouldn't budge and only caused more pain in his leg. "Damn you, dragon!" Craig yelled, glaring daggers at the beast.

The dragon looked at the prince, as if smirking and taunting the boy. This only caused Craig to get more and more angry as he continued to pull his leg out. Suddenly, remembering his sword, Craig grabbed his sword and looked between it and the leg.

"You think you're clever, dragon? Well I bet you didn't expect this!" Craig raised his sword near his foot, getting ready to cut his foot off. It was going to be painful, but it was a sacrifice the prince was willing to make, all for his kingdom and the princess.

The dragon's eyes widened when he realized what the boy was about to do. The dragon flapped his wings and stomped around in panic, as if trying to stop the boy from doing such a horrendous act. With all the movement from the dragon, the ceiling began shaking again, and more rocks began falling. Before the the prince could even get the sword near his foot, a large rock suddenly hit Craig in the head, and though he was wearing his helmet that covered his face, the rock was large enough to hit Craig in the head, causing the boy to be unconscious.

Before the prince's vision fainted, he looked up at the dragon, who has stopped moving and was now staring down at the boy. "Damn you....." the prince sighed. Though this was not what the prince wanted, at least he'll die doing what he dreamed of doing, so that was something, right?

When the prince came to, he noticed a wet rag on his head. He noticed a small fire next to him, and realized that a blanket was over his body. His armor has been removed as well as his helmet. Confused, Craig tried to remember what happened.

"You're awake," a voice said.

Craig was startled as he turned his head and noticed a young man, probably around his age, looking at him. Craig felt his cheeks getting warm when he realized how beautiful the young man was, from his golden locks, his fair skin, and his emerald eyes. He was quite handsome, Craig thought.

Suddenly, Craig remembered what happened earlier, and Craig jumped out from the blanket, grabbing the young man behind him, all while grabbing his sword that was next to him. "Stay back! There's a monster here!"

"M-monster?"

"Yes! A terrifying dragon! It's....it's..." With the light from the small fire, he noticed that the entire cave was empty. The young prince didn't see the dragon nor its whereabouts. "But...it was here...where'd it go?"

"Are you sure you saw a dragon?"

"Yes! There was a huge green dragon here! A dragon that killed the princess of the South. I saw it! It was the one that attacked me, it caused rocks to fall and break my foot, as well as-" the prince stopped, remembering what happened to his leg. When the prince looked down, seeing how his leg was heavily bandaged, he realized that he was so focus on the dragon not being in the cave that he ignored the fact that he was in immense pain because of his broken leg. "Shit!" Craig fell to the ground, trembling as he held his foot.

"Be careful!" the blonde man said as he crouched down and checked his foot, "when I found you here, I saw your leg broken and your head bleeding. I was worried that you were hurt really badly, but it's a good thing I showed up just in time to save you," the young man said.

"How...how did you managed to get the giant boulder that pinned my foot down?" Craig asked.

"I didn't see a boulder, but I did noticed a bunch of rocks covering your foot when I found you," the man said.

"....So...you really didn't see a dragon?"

"No, I didn't. I guess the dragon must have left," the man said.

Craig was confused, why didn't the dragon kill him or the very least, eat him. Craig wasn't sure what was going on, but the pain on his leg and head was making it harder for the boy to think clearly.

"You should rest, you're really banged up. Here, I made you some stew," the young man put down the large pot full of meaty stew down, pouring some into a bowl, and handing it to the prince. "Careful, it's hot."

"Thank you," the prince bowed his head and took a sip. The boy's eyes lit up at the amazing taste of the stew. "It's quite good, best stew I've ever had," the prince said, taking a few more gulps.

The young blonde man smiled, happy to see someone enjoying his cooking, "thank you. I never get to offer food to people much, so it's nice to know what other's think of my cooking."

"Well it's quite good, thank you," the prince said, finishing the bowl.

The young blonde giggled before taking the bowl and pouring more stew in it before handing it back to the prince, "now....what's this I hear about a princess dying and a dragon you claim you saw?"

"There really was a dragon here, I wasn't delusional," Craig frowned, "and I know it was the same dragon who killed the princess of the South!"

"Oh my, well I live on these lands and I've never seen a dragon nor heard of a dragon that killed a princess. Are you sure that the dragon you saw is the right dragon?" The young blonde asked.

"I'm certain it's the same dragon. It was the right size, it was green, and quite horrendous. It had to be the same dragon that killed the princess, and when I find this dragon, I'm going to..ow!" While the prince was talking, the young blonde accidentally poured some of the hot stew over the prince's foot.

"Oh my! I'm so sorry. My hand slipped," the young man said as he began wiping the prince's leg.

"It's fine," the prince sighed, "....I'm still confused though...why didn't the dragon eat me. I thought dragons eat people," the prince said.

"Well...you could always be wrong about all dragons. Maybe this dragon isn't the dragon you're looking for and maybe...this dragon is actually nice, and doesn't actually eat humans. ever thought of that?"

"Ha, as if a dragon can be nice, don't be...." When the prince looked at the young man, who was currently facing away from him so he could pour some stew for himself, the prince noticed the young man's eyes. They looked very familiar.

Suddenly, the prince remembered the dragon's eyes. The same color as the man before him. Even the way they look, didn't look human at all. Feeling his heart racing, the prince dropped the bowl of stew, his hands trembling.

"Are you okay!? Are you hurting that badly?" the man asked, staring at the prince.

"....W-where did you say you were from, sir?" The prince asked, his voice was shaking.

"Oh uh...um...from the North kingdom, just a few miles away from here. I was traveling when I found you in the cave!"

"Uh huh..." While the young man was busy cleaning the stew from the ground, as well as gathering the bowl, the prince slowly grabbed his sword that was next to him. "But tell me....why would you come to this cave?" The prince asked.

"Oh uh...because...because of the rain of course!" The young man said.

"The rain....right...." The prince looked outside, noticing that it was still raining. However, something was still off. For one thing, his armor and clothes underneath were still quite wet from the rain, but when he looked at the young man, he noticed that he was completely dry. "Your clothes are dry though, it's been raining for quite some time," the prince said.

The young man froze before looking up, staring at the boy, "what are you getting at, sir?"

The man's eyes pierced through the prince's very soul, causing the boy to shake in fear. "Who are you?"

The young man looked at the boy before smiling, "I'm just a traveler, I've told y-"

"Don't lie to me!" The prince drew up his sword, pointing it at the man, "you're lying. You didn't find me by coincidence! You knew I was here! So who are you!? Do you work with the dragon or....are you...the dragon?" The prince held the sword tightly in his hands as he pointed it at the man.

The man seemed stunned for a few seconds before trying to put on a kind smile, "dear boy, you're simply delusional from the head injury. I am far from being a hideous dragon now, so why don't you put the sword down, and we can-"

"Step any closer and I'll cut you," the prince said.

The man looked shocked, he tried to regain his composure and continued to be nice, "oh come, do I look like I can be a monster? I mean...look at how cute my face is."

"Who fucking cares," the prince sighed.

"Eh? Y-you're...you're not affected by my looks?" The young man said.

"Honestly, I never really cared about my own looks, so why the fuck should I care about other people's looks? Now tell me the truth before that pretty face of yours get a large scar all over," the prince glared at the man.

"...." The man sighed in defeat, knowing there's no way out of this aside from telling the truth. The man stood up, stepped away from the prince before turning to look at him. "It's true....I'm the dragon." The light from the fire caused the shadow of the man to make it look like a dragon from behind the man. The prince stared in fear, but held his sword tightly as he gritted his teeth, "but please, let me just-"

"Aaaaahhhh!" The prince stood up, ignoring the pain and just focus on swinging his sword around so he could hit the man.

"Oh Jesus!" The man shrieked as he fell to the ground and nearly had a heart attack. "Wait a moment!"

"I'll have your head, dragon!" The prince shouted as he swung his sword down, ready to chop the man's head.

"Gah!" The man rolled out of the way, just as the sword nearly hit him. The man quickly stood up and tried to shield himself by grabbing a stick from the fire and holding it up high. "Please! I can explain!"

"Explain what? How you murdered an innocent girl, and for what?" The prince growled as he was ready to swing again.

"I didn't kill anyone!" The man exclaimed.

The prince stopped. "D-don't lie to me, dragon. I know it was you!"

"It wasn't! I've been here for two weeks, never leaving the cave during the day, and only getting supplies at night! I swear!"

"Liar liar liar!" The prince shouted as he swung his sword.

"I am telling you the truth, please! You got to believe me! I never went to the South kingdom or harmed anyone! I've been here this entire time! I promise!" The man exclaimed.

"If you don't stop lying to me, I'll have your head, whether you're in dragon form or not!" The prince drew up his sword.

"Okay okay okay! What do I need to do to prove to you that I'm not the dragon you seek?"

"....." The prince thought about it, but suddenly remembered the day the princess cut the dragon's leg. The prince remembered a scar on the leg. "Show me your leg."

"What?"

"If I see a scar on your leg, then I know you're the dragon, so show me your leg, now!"

".....Nnnngg...." The man sighed before pulling his left pant leg showing a scar. The prince was about to yell in triumph, but remembered that this wasn't the right leg, and this scar on the man's leg was from when the prince attacked the dragon earlier.

"No no no, the other scar on the other leg!"

"What other scar? This is the only scar I got because you attacked me earlier," the man frowned.

"Just shut up and show me your damn-" The prince grabbed the man's other leg and began pulling the pant leg. However, the moment the prince saw nothing on the leg, he realized that the man was telling the truth. "Nothing..."

"I tried to tell you, so do you mind putting my leg down, sir," the man frowned.

The prince let the man go and backed away. "....Just...what are you? You cannot be human," the prince said.

"....I am human. A prince...actually....but I was cursed on my tenth birthday by a witch...and this curse...by day...I turn into a hideous monster, but by night, I turn back to being human," the man sighed. "I use to live in the North kingdom, I was the prince there, but ever since this curse, my parents cast me away to this cave, where I remain my on my own. They once visited me often, but they started showing up less, they then had servants to come and give me food and clothes....and eventually...they moved on. My parents had a new child, and the kingdom practically forgot about my existence. I've been alone ever since."

"....That's...awful," the prince said, feeling bad.

"....Yes...but it isn't too bad. The servant still comes by with supplies for me every now and then, but he usually comes at night since he can't bare to see my monstrous face, so whenever it's day time, I usually sneak out, slaughtering cows, pigs, and sheep for meat. By night, I do however leave the cave and head to town in disguise, going to the night market to purchase myself some clothes or to find night work to earn money. I've learned a lot as I got older, I learned to be quite independent since I've been alone out here....but it does get lonely," the man sighed, "so it was surprising when I saw you coming to my cave. I didn't know who you were, you weren't my parents nor were you the servant that came every now and then, so I got scared when I saw you."

"....But wait...what about the stories of a dragon that stuck terror in the North as well as other kingdoms?"

"Well....I do get angry every now and then...and I usually let out my anger by destroying a few villages as well as taking some of their animals...b-but I've never killed anyone! I swear! I've never traveled as far as the south! You have to believe me!" The man said.

"And why should I? Dragon?" The prince held up his sword.

"Well....you have to admit...there are other dragons out there in the world, not just me, and most of those dragons do want to kill and hurt people, but not I, for I'm still human by heart," the man said.

".......Fine," the prince sighed before putting his sword away, "I believe you, you do seem like the type to not hurt people, and you did let me live...as well as help me when I was hurt...and did make that wonderful stew," the prince said.

"See? I'm not bad, I would never hurt anyone, scare, yes, but hurt? Never!"

"I get it! I get it....you're not the dragon I'm looking for," the prince sighed, getting quite annoyed that he wasted his time and energy on the wrong dragon. The prince looked outside, seeing that it was still raining. He knew that he needed to do. "Then I must continue on with my quest, and find the real dragon that killed the princess. Thank you for your hospitality, my prince, but I must head off. So good luck with your curse and everything," the prince began to gather his armor and was ready to leave.

"W-wait! It's still raining outside, and when I checked, you don't even have a horse or supplies...or anything on you!" The dragon prince exclaimed.

"Yeah...I kinda got robbed earlier," the prince admitted.

"You were robbed!?" The dragon prince exclaimed.

"It's no big deal, I just need to head to the North kingdom, tell them who I am, and maybe they can lend me some money or something, I'll even work for it if I have to," the prince said, he put his helmet on and was ready to leave.

"Hold...on!" The dragon prince used his strength to pull the prince back inside, causing the prince to fall back and twist his foot.

"Ow!" The prince exclaimed in pain.

"I'm sorry!" The dragon prince knelt down, examining the prince's foot, "you can't leave, not in your condition. You need to rest and let your body heal, or at the very least until morning when the rain will stop. You'll damage your armor if you step out in the rain without anything to protect you," the dragon prince.

"Ugh, you sound just like my mother," the prince made a face.

"Well she might be right here," the dragon prince sighed, "look...I feel bad for indirectly hurting your leg, and I want to make it up to you, so why don't you just rest for the night and then you can continue on with your journey in the morning," the dragon prince said.

"....Alright, fine," the prince sighed, knowing it would be for the best, he could barely walk, and he didn't want the rain to damage his armor.

The dragon prince smiled before walking over to the fire and grabbing a few more sticks to feed it, "now sit here and warm yourself by the fire," the dragon prince said before he suddenly blew fire into the fire, making it grow.

"....."

"Oh uh....yeah...I tend to do that, even when I'm back to being human," the dragon prince said.

"....You really are cursed," the prince said.

"....Yeah," the dragon prince sighed.

The prince stayed silent before sitting down by the fire and warming himself up. The prince looked up at the dragon prince, seeing the sad look on his face. "....I'm Craig Tucker by the way, I'm from a kingdom that's south east from here," the prince said.

The dragon prince looked at him before smiling, "when I took your helmet off, I knew you were a prince the moment I saw your face," the dragon prince said.

The prince shrugged, "your name is?"

"...." The dragon prince looked at the fire, "....It's Tweek. Prince Tweek," the prince said.

"...Well it's an honor to meet you, prince Tweek, and I do apologize for cutting you earlier. That was a bad start to our introduction," the prince said.

Tweek smiled, chuckling a bit, "no worries, I understand. Even I would act very rash if I were to avenge the death of a lover. You must really love this princess of-" Before Tweek could finish, he noticed the sour look on Craig's face, seeing how it was distorted and it appeared the prince was disgusted by what the dragon prince was saying. "W-what?"

"I do not love her," the prince frowned.

"Eh? Then why are you trying to avenge her death with such determination?"

Craig sighed, "look....the thing is....I was suppose to marry the princess and help unite our kingdoms, the only problem with that is that....I never wanted to marry her," the dragon's prince's eyes widened. "So when she died, I felt guilty that her dream wedding was ruined while I secretly didn't want the wedding, so I thought I might as well avenge her death by killing the dragon, along with finally fulfilling my dream."

"Dream?" Tweek asked.

"I want to travel the world and be an adventurer," the prince said.

"You? An adventurer?" Tweek giggled.

Craig looked at the prince, frowning, "what's wrong with that?"

"I apologize, dear sir, it's just....ha ha....the way you look and how proper you clothes are....trying to imagine you as an adventurer is quite difficult, especially when you were easily robbed," the dragon prince said.

Craig fumed, "I wasn't easily robbed! I knew something was suspicious, they just...took me by surprise!" The prince blushed in embarrassment.

The dragon prince laughed, "Even so, this part of the land rarely gets travelers, so you getting robbed by possibly obvious robbers, it's quite laughable actually."

The prince glared at the man before standing up, and leaving, forgetting his sword and armor. "Goodbye, dragon."

"W-wait! It's still raining outside! You'll catch your death out there! Stop!" Tweek exclaimed as he tried to pull the prince back inside and prevent him from leaving the cave.

That night, it was the first time in a long time that the dragon prince didn't feel so lonely, and was quite happy to have someone to talk to in a long time, as for Craig, his determination to find the real dragon that killed the princess continued on, and Craig will not let any distractions stop him from his quest.

The next morning, the prince woke up groggily. He stretched his arms and winced a bit when he felt his back aching, as a result from sleeping on the cold hard ground. When the young prince looked around, he noticed that Tweek was nowhere to be found.

"Tweek? Prince Tweek? Where'd you-" As the young prince turned his head to look around the slightly dark cave, he froze when he saw the familiar giant beast sitting a few feet away from him. How the prince never saw him, he'll never know, maybe it was because the olive green color of the dragon's scales almost blends well with the insides of the cave, especially when there is barely any light in the cave. "Almost forgot..." the prince let out a sigh of relief as he looked up at the dragon prince.

The dragon prince looked at him, watching him sleep for a bit, probably to make sure the young prince was sleeping well and to keep guard of his guest just in case any bandits decided to come into the cave while it was raining during the night.

"Did you sleep well?" Craig asked as he sat back down and began gathering his armor.

The dragon prince nodded, but doesn't say anything. At that moment, the young prince wondered if the dragon prince can talk when he's in his dragon form.

"Can you not speak when you're in that form?" Craig asked.

"....." In a low voice, Tweek spoke, but it was so hard to hear, that Craig had to lean in a bit more to hear him. It was a good thing the cave was able to help with the volume somewhat. "I can....but if I use my full voice, I fear I might accidentally burn you."

"Do you not have control over your fire?" Craig asked.

"I know how to control some of it, especially when I need it to create a warm fire for myself, but when I speak loudly or scream, or even cry, I can't control it whatsoever. I nearly burned down the entire castle when I was still living with my parents, mother and father were very displeased with me that day," Tweek sighed, resting his head on the ground. "I miss them very much..."

"....Did you hear about the princess they have? Your sister?"

"....I've heard of her, yes. I want to meet her, and I've asked mother and father to let me meet her...but they said my horrible face would terrify the girl, and that it would be a bad idea to show myself to her while I'm still cursed," the prince said.

"That's...awful. A brother shouldn't be deprived of meeting their family member, especially your sister," the prince said.

"Yes, but what can I do? In some ways, I do agree with my parents. I'm too horrible to look at, I cause fear into my people, I destroy everything because of my size, and I have a terrible temper that causes me to lose control of myself at times. I don't want to risk hurting anyone, like that dragon that killed your princess."

Craig frowned, "one, she's not my princess, and two....if your family love you, if your people love you, they shouldn't care what you look like now. They should care more about your well-being and the like. Who cares if you're a giant dragon who breathes fire? From how I see it, you're actually quite kind, even when you've succumbed to such a terrible curse," the prince said.

The dragon prince looked at him before smiling, "you're quite nice, prince Craig. Much nicer than anyone I've met before, even before this curse. If we had met earlier, I feel we would have made splendid friends," the prince said.

Craig smiled before bravely walking over and patting the side of the dragon's prince's leg. "Cheer up, prince. One day, this curse of your will be lifted, but until then, you shouldn't worry on how you look. If anything...you still look quite majestic as a dragon."

"Do I?" The dragon prince asked, looking at the boy.

Craig nodded, "uh huh, in fact...I may prefer you as a dragon than a nice looking prince...er....no offense of course."

The dragon prince chuckled, some flames coming out, but luckily not enough to burn down the cave with the young prince inside. "You're quite strange, Craig Tucker, but I guess that's what makes you more unique than anyone else."

The prince smiled before heading back to grab his armor. "I won't take much more of your hospitality, dear prince. I best continue on with my journey," the prince said.

"W-wait...at least take this," Tweek used his tail to push what appeared to be a large hunk of meat that's already been cooked, as well as a treasure chest full of gold.

"Where on earth did you get this?"

"The meat is from when I was hunting early morning, I'm not proud of stealing or killing an animal, but I must do when the food I'm given by the servant isn't enough. As for the gold, I got it from my night work or whenever the servant comes with my allowance, not that it really matters that much to me since I rarely spend the gold on much. You can take as much as you want, but please be safe out there, wouldn't want you getting robbed again," the prince chuckled.

"Hmph," Craig crossed his arms, pouting a bit, "well thank you. I'll be sure to pay you back one day," the prince cuts off a good amount of the cooked meat before placing it in a spare sack he had. The prince then took one handful of gold and putting it in a small pouch that was inside the treasure chest. "I guess this is goodbye," the prince said.

"I guess so," the dragon prince sighed, looking quite sad. "Please be careful out there, especially when your leg is still injured. Be sure to seek a doctor if you happen to go to the North kingdom."

"I will, thank you," the prince smiled, "will you be okay out here all on your own?"

"Of course....I'm already use to it, right?" the dragon prince smiled before going silent. "Still...it was nice to finally talk to someone....even the servant rarely spoke with me....and don't see much of my parents anymore. I hope I'll meet someone like you again."

"......Goodbye, Tweek," Craig bowed his head, Tweek doing the same. Craig waved goodbye to the dragon prince before gathering his stuff and finally leaving the cave.

Once Craig left the cave, he looked back, feeling guilty for leaving Tweek like that, but what was he suppose to do? He couldn't ask Tweek to come with him, not with that curse, people might get scared and panic would spread, something Craig wanted to avoid, though, having a dragon companion by his side would help make sure no robber would dare try to steal from him, unless they want to be face to face with a fire breathing, razor sharp teeth dragon. The thought made Craig slightly excited and almost made him turn back around ask the dragon prince to join him. For now, Craig continued on with his journey.

Walking on foot was quite tiring for the prince, especially when his foot was still injured from the day before, but Craig trudged on, fighting through the pain and exhaustion, and simply hoped he'll reach the North kingdom and see if he can buy himself a new horse with the gold he had. Of course, Craig made sure to keep his guard up while walking, he didn't want another robber stealing from him again.

Finally, after a long and painful walk, Craig finally reached the North kingdom, and Craig nearly burst into tears of joy at the sight of civilization. Craig carefully headed inside, telling the guards that stood outside the gate who he was and what business he had, of course, after knowing that Craig was a prince, another guard came to escort Craig to see the king and welcome him to the kingdom of the North.

The moment Craig set foot inside the castle, he saw a lovely woman with a nice smile and short brown hair. On top of her head was a crown, so Craig could only assume that it was the queen, which meant the man sitting next to the woman was the king. Though the man was quite thin compared to all the kings that Craig have met before, the man too seemed nice with his happy smile and somewhat positive attitude.

"Welcome, young prince. What brings you to my kingdom?" The king asked.

"Forgive me for coming to your home unannounced. I've been sent from both my home and the kingdom of the South for an important mission," Craig said.

"Dear boy, what has happened to your head and foot?"

"Oh...well uh..." Craig knew he couldn't tell them about what really happened, he thought that revealing that their son doing this might set them off, so he decided to tell a half lie. "Well...while I was traveling, two bandits, a man and woman, suddenly attacked me, took my horse, my map, and a few of my supplies. I was injured when they sneaked up on me, and after they left, I bandaged myself and continued on. That's why I look like this," the prince said. Though it wasn't the full truth, the bandits weren't a complete lie, and if you think about it, one of the bandits did hit him on the head, which the prince knew he would need to bandage sooner or later.

"Oh my, Richard, I keep telling you to do something about those awful bandits that roam outside our walls. What if someone got hurt really bad?" The queen said, looking quite sad. Craig smiled, thinking the woman was quite kind, almost like her mother, but showed it a bit more.

"Of course, I shall have something be done with it now. Dear prince, would you like us to find these two bandits and get your belongings back?"

"That would be nice, but I don't think I have much time for anymore distractions. You see, I'm in search of a dragon," the prince said.

The king and queen's eyes widened, as if realization has come to them. The king looked at his wife before looking back at the prince, he shifted a bit in his sit, looking a bit uncomfortable.

"Dragon you say? W-what did such dragon look like?" The king asked, looking quite uncomfortable.

The prince could see just how uncomfortable they looked, a bit confused, the prince soon realized that maybe Tweek's parents were probably thinking that the prince was talking about their son.

"Oh, do not worry, I am not talking about your son, dear sir," the prince said.

"You...know of our son?" The king seemed surprised.

"Yes, I've met him earlier actually. He actually helped bandaged my wounds the day before. He is quite a nice fellow," the prince said, smiling.

"....I see..." the queen said, looking down, looking quite sad now.

"...Prince Craig...why is that you seek a dragon?" The king asked.

The prince looked down, remembering the face of the late princess of the South. "You see, a dragon came and destroyed a...my wedding ceremony with the princess of the South."

"Ah yes...I heard news of what happened there. Poor girl..." the king sighed.

"Yes, and...well...I decided to take it upon myself to avenge her death, find the dragon that killed her and bring back its head," the prince said.

"I see....what a noble cause you are doing, dear boy," the queen said.

"Thank you, your highness," the prince bowed his head. "So please...I ask you a favor, I need a horse and a new map, as well as where this dragon maybe. I have heard that this dragon is from the North, and I was hoping you two might tell me where it is?"

"Well dear boy...I thought you already found it," the king said.

"W-what?" Craig looked at them, confused. "No...I haven't....I mean...I met the dragon prince, your son, but he's not the dragon I seek."

"Are you sure?" The king asked.

"Yes, I have heard of the beast's little tantrum, and heard of him destroying towns and villages far and wide," the queen said.

Craig frowned, wondering why the queen called her own son a beast, or why the two seemed like the dragon that Craig was trying to find was their son. "You are mistaken. I checked, and your son isn't the dragon I'm seeking, it's a different dragon," the prince said.

"Nonsense, there is only one dragon in the North, and that would be that hideous monster that lives in that cave," the king said sharply, dropping his smile all together.

Craig was taken aback, he couldn't believe that the king and queen would say such a thing about their own son. "Sir....are you....accusing your son being the one who killed the princess?"

The king sighed, "like I said...there is only one dragon in the North, and that would be him. We heard of his destruction of people's homes and killing their livestock, which is why we never admit that he was our...cursed son..."

"We've told far away kingdoms that we never had a son, only a daughter, and those that do know we had a son, we would lie and say that our son died a long time ago because of the curse that the witch placed on him," the queen admitted.

The prince's eyes widened, "so....you're just...going to pretend your son doesn't exist, when he's literally out there...wondering when you'll visit him?" Craig was getting angry.

"We haven't forgotten him completely, we still send a servant every now and then to give him gold, food, and clothes. We even sent a teacher to help with his studies, not that he will need them since...well...it's obvious that he'll never be next on the throne," the king said.

"How can say that? He's your son! The child you raised! How could you treat him like an outcast?" Craig exclaimed.

"Dear boy...ever since that witch's curse, we tried everything to cure him, but no matter what we did, there was no cure. The only way to break the curse is to find some bloody person that doesn't exist. A being that can fall in love with the prince, regardless of his appearance," the king said.

"Yes, and such being does not exist. We even gave a reward to anyone that was brave enough to face our son, but no matter who was willing to face him, he didn't turn back to normal," the queen said.

"We spent countless days and time trying to find the cure, when finally...we just decided that there was no cure, that finding a person that doesn't exist was pointless," the king said.

"Which is why we have a daughter now, someone who will one day take over the throne, and someone who doesn't look like a monster during the day."

"My god..." Craig was left speechless, "do you people not have hearts!? He's your son, and you...you're throwing him away, just like that? All because of how he looks now? That's...that's outrageous and cold of you! Even if your son didn't have that curse, would you still throw him away if he had a scar on his cheek!?"

"Boy, watch your tone. I don't care if you are a prince of a neighboring kingdom, I'm still the king of this land," the king frowned.

"I don't care who you are! You...you people have no souls if you can just leave your son all alone without a second thought! No wonder the witch's curse required a person that can love the prince regardless of his appearance, you and probably everyone here are probably heartless beings who care nothing but your own looks!" The prince frowned.

"That's it!" The king stood up, now angry, "you will not insult me in my own home. I don't care about your quest or who you seek. You are no longer welcome in my home, and if you want to find the dragon that killed the princess, go ahead and kill that monster that lives in the cave, for he is not my son, not anymore, so go ahead and kill the only dragon that lives in the North, take my son's head to your parents as a trophy if you want."

Craig was disgusted. He stood up tall, glared at the two, before turning, not before he said, "I may have not known much about your kingdom, only that my parents said that you had a lovely kingdom, but now...I know that though your kingdom is lovely...the people that live within it are nothing but heartless creatures." Craig then proceeded to leave, not looking back.

The moment Craig set foot out of the castle, he wanted nothing more but to take his sword and thrash it around, not caring what or who hit hit. He was furious at what he just witnessed. He knew that there were very terrible people in the world, but he never thought the king and queen of the North were this horrible, especially after hearing all the nice things his mother would say whenever they received gifts from the North kingdom.

Craig was outraged.

Craig started to walk, ready to leave and continue his quest with or without the king and queen's help, however, Craig couldn't help but think back on the dragon prince, the loneliness the dragon prince felt, and how practically the entirety of his kingdom have forgotten about him. The prince knew that Tweek needed to know about the truth of his parents, but he wasn't sure what to say or how to do it. Besides, with Craig's injured foot and still no horse, Craig cannot waste another minute just to seek the prince.

Sighing in defeat, Craig continued walking. As Craig was walking, he noticed a pub nearby, and he noticed a familiar looking horse standing outside the pub. Craig froze, remembering the familiar patches that covered the horse's face and body, remembering the familiar white coloring of its pelt, and the familiar satchel that had his family's crest on it.

It was Craig's horse.

"What the...." Craig quickly ran over, petting his horse, seeing that it really was his horse, he also realized that his map and supplies were here, all except for the pouch of gold. Craig looked around, wondering why it was here, when suddenly, he looked inside the pub through the window, and saw the man and woman, drinking happily and spending the gold they stole from the prince the day before. Both the man and woman were so drunk, they were unaware of the prince or what he was planning to do. "......" As Craig looked at his horse, and remembering the dragon prince, he knew that this was a sign and he knew what he needed to do, but first, "excuse me, sir," the prince walked over to a nearby knight that was patrolling the town.

"What is it, dear boy?"

"Those two, the woman and man, singing happily and drunk off their asses? Those two stole my horse here, and stole my belongings. They are bandits," Craig informed him.

"Really?" The knight asked.

"Yes sir, if you checked the little pouch that is on the man's belt, you would realized that the pouch has a royal crest on it," the prince said.

"Hm....I'll investigate," the knight headed inside the pub, walking towards the two. Though Craig couldn't hear what they were saying, he could see them clearly through the window. Craig watched as the knight grabbed the man, taking the pouch off his belt, and after examining the pouch, the knight looked at the two before pinning the man down, causing the woman to scream in shock.

Craig smiled when he saw the man turning his head and finally noticed the prince at the window, the man's eyes widened as Craig waved his hand before getting on his horse and leaving the kingdom, heading back to the dragon prince.

The moment Craig returned to the cave, he looked around, his heart was racing as he called out the dragon prince's name. "Tweek? Tweek!" Craig called out, running inside, not caring that he was hurting his foot.

"Prince Craig? What are you-"

Craig hurriedly ran towards the dragon before suddenly hugging him, or more specifically, the dragon prince's hind leg. ".....I visited the kingdom of the North," Craig admitted.

"Oh.....did you meet my parents?" Tweek asked.

".....Yes," Craig sighed, stepping back and looking up, "....I have some bad news," Craig said.

"....Is it that my parents forgot about me intentionally? That they'd practically disowned me? That...they pretended that they never had a son?" Tweek smiled sadly.

"You knew?" Craig asked, his eyes widening.

Tweek sighed, "...for awhile...yes. I didn't want to believe it, but...I heard travelers nearby talking about how my parents told them they didn't have a son, that....they only have a daughter. I was confused at first, but realized that...they stopped visiting not because they were busy or forgot...it was because...they didn't want anything to do with me anymore," Tweek sighed, resting his head. "I tried not to let it get to me, tell myself it's a lie and that maybe one day...my parents will love me again....but every time I think about it....I get....I get...." Tweek's eyes began watering as tears fell, smoke came out of the dragon prince's nostrils, almost filling up the cave.

Craig began coughing from the smoke, but held his nose as he gently place his hand on the prince. "It's alright....it's okay..." Craig whispered as he rubbed the dragon prince's leg.

"Why was I cursed? If I wasn't curse than mother and father would love me again, they would still love me! They wouldn't have replaced me, and I wouldn't be so lonely," Tweek cried, he lifted up his head, sniffling. Giant tears fell from his eyes, splashing everywhere, even hitting Craig along the way.

Craig was now soaking wet from Tweek's tears, but didn't mind, he continued to rest rub circles on Tweek's leg, trying his best to comfort the dragon prince, "it's okay...it's okay," Craig said in a soothing voice.

Tweek looked down at the young boy before lowering his head until it was close to the prince, "you might as well take that sword of yours and chop of my head, proclaim to the king of the South that I'm the dragon that killed your princess and end my misery once and for all," the prince sniffled.

"....I shall do no such thing," Craig walked over, placing his hand on top of Tweek's scaly nose. Tweek looked at him in surprise as Craig gave him a small smile, "such a majestic creature like yourself doesn't deserve death, especially when you did no wrong," Craig stepped forward, hugging Tweek's face, "now dry your tears, I promise you...you'll never be alone again," Craig said.

Tweek sniffled, looking at the prince hugging his nose, Tweek felt his heart beating fast as he let out a small smile, leaning a bit more towards the prince, enjoying the embrace. "Thank you....you are very kind," Tweek said.

"Hmph...you can thank my mother for always lecturing me on being nice and acting like a proper gentleman," Craig said, patting the prince's nose.

"Your mother taught you well then," Tweek said.

"....Yeah...she did," Craig sighed.

For the remainder of the day, the prince stayed with the dragon prince, comforting him and keeping him company, but by night, while the dragon prince turned back to human, the two would leave the cave together, and Craig will continue his quest to finding the real murderous dragon, with Tweek by his side.

The night was quite tiring and very hard to see, at least for Craig, he wasn't use to traveling at such a late hour, but knowing that traveling with Tweek by day would cause problems, he was just going to have to get use to it and not risk getting Tweek or both of them killed.

"Can you light up the map for me, it's really hard to see," Craig said.

"Hold on," Tweek said as he took a deep breath before blowing out flames from his mouth, low enough for Craig to see, but not enough to burn him or the horse they were riding on.

"Thank you," Craig said as he looked at the map. Though Craig can see the map, he still couldn't read it for dear life. "Uh...."

"Can you not read a map?" Tweek asked, which sounded a bit muffled since he was talking while breathing fire at the same time.

"I.......cannot," Craig sighed, "can you read it?" Craig asked. Craig asked, handing the map to Tweek.

"....Where exactly are we heading?" Tweek asked.

"If I recall, I have heard stories from a few people saying of woods that were completely burnt, as if someone or something set fire to them. So I can only assume a dragon lives nearby those woods."

"Are you sure?" Tweek asked.

"It's the only lead we got, I tried asking your parents, but of course...they weren't of any help," Craig sighed.

"....." Tweek fell silent, his the fire getting dimmer since Tweek wasn't focusing. ".....Did...father and mother really say...that it was okay for you to kill me?"

"....Tweek..."

"It's fine...just tell me the truth," Tweek said.

"....." Craig sighed, "yes...it's true. I looked deep in their eyes, they have no remorse for what they said. They didn't care whether you were alive or dead. To them, they would rather wish you were dead so they wouldn't have to bother with you much longer."

"....I see," Tweek sighed, "well I am quite hideous during the day, and they are more beautiful...no wonder they don't want to associate with me much longer," Tweek said.

"Please, dear prince, don't say that. Yes, you have sharp rows of teeth, your much larger, you have scales, and you even have a spiky tail, but to me....you're still beautiful, even when you're in your dragon form," Craig said.

"You're just saying that to make me feel better," Tweek said.

"....." Craig pulled on the reins, causing the horse to stop. The moment they stop, Tweek closed his mouth in surprise, while Craig turned around to look at the dragon prince. "Yes, I say it to make you feel better, but I also say it because I mean it. You're beautiful, both outside and inside. I don't care much for what you look like now, sitting behind me, and I especially don't care what you look like during the day when you change your form. All I care about is who you are in here," Craig points to Tweek's chest, specifically his heart, "no matter what you look like outside, you'll always be beautiful in here," Craig pokes at Tweek's chest.

Tweek looked at the prince, feeling his heart beating fast as he stare at the prince. Though the prince can barely see the dragon prince's face, Tweek on the other hand, thanks to his dragon eyes, he can see Craig clearly.

The closer Tweek was to Craig, the more and more Tweek noticed just how nice looking Craig was. For someone that says that they didn't care about their own looks, Tweek will say that Craig was quite handsome, attractive even.

The closer their faces were, the more Tweek's hear race and his cheeks getting warm.

"Tweek...are you still listening?" Craig asked, having a hard time seeing in front of him.

"Y-yes, I am....thank you, Craig. I feel better now," Tweek said.

Craig smiled, before placing his hand on top of Tweek's head and gently patting him, "good. Now if you please, though I don't really need to see, my horse does," Craig said.

Tweek smiled, "right," Tweek said. He continued to make fire from his mouth, allowing both Craig and the horse to see in the night. As they continued to ride, Tweek decided to look closely at Craig, specifically the back of his head. His hair was quite nice, silky looking, yet soft. His skin was dark, which was not very common for royalty, but Tweek simply assumed that Craig spent most of his time outside, Tweek also noticed how beautiful Craig's eyes were whenever he looked at him, they were as dark as the night, but still a lovely blue.

The more Tweek noticed these little details about Craig, from his appearance to his kind heart, the more Tweek feels strange inside his heart, and he wasn't sure what this strange feeling was. It was almost terrifying.

"Hold on, the road up ahead is going to be quite bumpy," Craig said, pulling on the dragon prince's hands and making sure they were wrapped around Craig's waist.

Tweek blushed, but doesn't say anything, he simply leaned forward, resting his head against Craig's back as they continue to ride throughout the night.

By the time the two princes reached the burnt woods, the sun was rising and the two were quite exhausted from riding all night. However, now that they finally reached their destination, there was no holding back, if the dragon was here, then Craig must face the beast and avenge the princess.

"You stay here, boy. I can't have you getting hurt," Craig said to his horse, patting it on the side, he turned towards Tweek, but stopped when he noticed the pained expression on his face. "Tweek?"

"Nnngg....stand back..." Tweek stumbled a few feet away from Craig and his horse as he got on all fours and let out a painful grunt. Craig's eyes widened as he saw Tweek changing right before his eyes, from his face growing to his hands becoming giant claws. Scales formed all over the blonde boy's face, and a tail suddenly popping out. Tweek's teeth began rearranging, almost as if they were falling off, and soon Tweek's teeth became more sharp and jagged.

Craig's horse began panicking, backing away and neighing in fear, even Craig was a bit terrified himself, but he stood his ground and held tightly on the reins, preventing the horse from running away. "It's okay boy, it's okay," Craig said as he patted his horse.

Tweek grew in size, ripping his clothes along the way. After a few minutes of this, Tweek finally changed back into his dragon form, standing thirty feet tall, and looking down at the young prince.

Craig looked up at him before putting on a smile, he walked over and patted Tweek's front leg, "it's good thing we made it here before you started changing, otherwise, you would have crushed me and my horse," Craig said.

Tweek looked down before looking at the woods, "are you sure we should go in there? It could be dangerous," Tweek said.

Craig looked at the woods before drawing out his sword, "I'm counting on that," Craig said.

The two proceeded to head towards the burnt woods, getting ready to fight. As the two walked, the smell of ash and burnt wood was getting too much for Craig, he quickly took covered his nose.

"How are you not affected by this?" Craig asked, looking up at Tweek.

Tweek chuckled, "well...I should be use to the smell of something burning by now, right?"

"Oh....right," Craig said. Craig then thought back to earlier, when Tweek was changing, "does it hurt? When you...turn?"

"....It use to be painful when I first few times I began changing, but after awhile, I've grown to get use to it," Tweek sighed. Tweek began to look sad, realizing how much he was getting use to changing into a dragon.

".....You'll break the curse one day, Tweek, I know you will," Craig said.

"I can't....only someone that can love me for who I am can, and no such person exist....at least...not for someone like me when I turn into a hideous monster by day," Tweek sighed.

"....Hmph, I don't believe that one bit," Craig sighed.

"Eh?"

"The witch says that only a person that doesn't exist can break your curse, but if you think about it, why would she make a curse breakable if a person that doesn't exist is suppose to be able to break it. From how I hear it...it seems that she might have been lying on a few things there....and I think that there is a person out there that can break your curse, you just haven't met them yet," Craig said.

".....Huh...." Tweek went silent, thinking about it. What Craig said does sound logical, and even if the curse couldn't be broken, why would the witch waste time saying that there is a way to break the curse, even if what she said is that a person that doesn't exist can't break the curse. Tweek never really thought about it before, but then again, he never thought the witch would say something so complicated.

Looking back down at the young prince walking next to him, no fear shown on his face, Tweek couldn't help but wonder and hope. Tweek wondered, whether or not, this scrappy young prince walking next to him, is the person he-

"Do you hear something?" Craig whispered.

Tweek went silent as he looked up, using his ears, Tweek listened closely until he noticed something, "it sounds like...snoring?"

"Snoring?" Craig muttered, his eyes widened, "the dragon," Craig said. He began running towards the direction of the sound.

"Craig, wait!" Tweek quickly followed, while trying his best to not make too much sound.

The two finally found where the sound was coming from, sleeping in the opening of these woods, there laid a dragon. The dragon looked very similar to Tweek, and if Tweek wasn't standing besides him, Craig would have believed the two to be dragon brothers.

"Is that him? The dragon that killed the princess?" Tweek asked, lowering his head to whisper to Craig.

"....." Craig looked at the sleeping dragon until he noticed a faint scar on it's leg, a familiar scar. "It's him, the monster that killed the princess," Craig held up his sword and began slowly walking towards the dragon.

"You're just going to attack it, just like that?" Tweek asked, fear was in his voice.

"It's best to take him down while he's sleeping and unaware of our presence, now stay quiet, it won't be too long," Craig said as he quietly stalked closer and closer to the sleeping monster.

Tweek couldn't do anything but watch from afar, seeing his friend stepping closer and closer to the beast, as for Craig, his heart was racing, he was sweating nervously, but he was ready. He was ready to cut the beast's head, avenge the princess, and be seen as a hero to his family and people. Craig was going to kill this monster, here and now.

As Craig took one more step, sword held up high, he didn't realized a twig in front of him. The loud snap from the twig after Craig put his foot down echoed through the woods, causing both Craig and Tweek to freeze as the monster woke up.

One eye opened, at first hazy, but when it looked at Craig, the dragon was fully awake. It turned its head, staring at Craig before letting out a horrible roar, causing Craig to fly back, hitting a tree.

"Craig!" Tweek exclaimed, rushing towards his friend.

"What's this? A human dare to disturb my slumber? And....you..." The dragon sniffed the air, sniffing at Tweek, "you ain't a dragon, at least...not a real one...what you be, creature?" The dragon snarled.

"I-I'm the prince of the North, and I, along with Prince Craig here...are going to kill you for what you have done to the kingdom of the South!" Tweek exclaimed, his voice was shaking.

"Kingdom of the South? Oh...that little town I stumbled upon a few days ago. Ha! Barely a challenge! I came there to steal their cows and goats, and a few people along the way. Annoying humans that little town had, even the princess was quite annoying, cut my leg. Ha ha...good thing she is no more...at least that's what I heard," the dragon smirked.

"Damn you!" Craig got up, anger rising, "you dare speak ill of an innocent girl like that? I shall have your head for this, dragon!" Craig shouted as he ran towards it.

"Craig!" Tweek shouted.

The dragon huffed before flapping his wings, then blowing fire at the prince. Craig quickly dodged the flames, rolling to the side before quickly getting up and charging at the dragon once more.

"This smell....I remember you, you were that nervous smelling boy from that day. Oh? Heartbroken that your princess is gone?" The dragon taunted.

"Not heartbroken, for I did not love the princess, that I'll admit, but to her...she was innocent and didn't deserve such a cruel death! So even if I was not honest with her that day, I will avenge her death and put her to rest!" Craig jumped in the air, slashing at the dragon's chest.

The dragon roared in pain, glaring at the human, he blew more flames at the prince, but the prince was quick, using a nearby boulder as a shield from the flames.

"Insolent brat!" The dragon flew in the air, grabbing the boulder before throwing it to the side. Craig panicked, and tried to run, but the dragon's tail suddenly swept Craig's feet off the ground before it pinned the young prince down. "I'll be sure to kill you nice and slowly," the dragon snarled, getting ready to blow flames at the boy.

The prince looked up, eyes widened, he closed his eyes waiting for his fate, but before anything could happen, Tweek quickly charged at the dragon, knocking him off of Craig. Tweek then began wrestling with the dragon, clawing at his face and biting him.

"Don't you dare hurt him!" Tweek shouted, biting a chunk of the dragon's flesh off.

The dragon roared in pain before biting at Tweek in return. The two continued to fight, biting and clawing until both their bodies were filled with scars and scratches. By the time Craig got up, he wasn't able to differ the two.

"Damn it," Craig cursed, trying to see which of the two is Tweek and which was the dragon. "Tweek, say something!" Craig shouted.

Before Tweek could say a word, the dragon scratched Tweek's face hard enough to cause the prince to bleed. Tweek fell down, not before scratching at the dragon's face as well, causing the dragon to fall in pain.

"Tweek!" Craig ran over, but stopped, still not sure which one was Tweek. "Tweek! Please! Say something! Anything!" Craig called out.

Tweek looked at Craig, but was too weak to speak, the pain was unbearable for the dragon prince. As for the dragon, he smirked, thinking that the prince would not be able to determine who was who, and the only choice the human had was to either kill one of them or both.

"You'll never tell us apart, human," the dragon said, making sure Craig wasn't able to see both of their faces, making it harder for Craig to determine who was talking. "You humans are so wind up with appearances, that seeing us now, all you see are two hideous beasts. So you can either kill one of us, human, or kill both of us," the dragon taunted.

"....." Craig looked at the two, still unsure who was who, even the scar that the princess made on the dragon was hidden among all the other scars. Craig didn't know what to do. "....You're wrong dragon. There maybe humans out there that care about vanity over what's inside other's hearts, but I'm not like them. For to me....even if you two look similar with your appearances, to me....Tweek will always be..." Craig looked to his left and noticed green emerald eyes that were looking at him, "majestic," Craig ran towards the dragon on his right, raising his sword and jumping in the air. Before the dragon could react or move away, Craig cut off the dragon's head.

Craig's quest has ended.

The night was quiet, or at least that's what the king of the North wish it was. While the king and his queen were sleeping, they were suddenly disturbed when a knight came to them, exclaiming of a young man standing on top of the head of a dragon.

The king's eyes widened at the mention of a dragon, and he, along with his queen, ran out of their room and headed towards the throne room where they saw the young prince.

"You! I thought I've told you that you were no longer welcome here! Do you want us to start a war with your family?" The king frowned.

"No, of course not sir, I just thought I come and tell you that...your son...he's gone," Craig said with a calm expression.

"W-what?" The queen said, her voice was filled with shock.

"Yes, ma'am....your son...he is no more. As you wanted...you no longer have a son," Craig said.

"Y-you....you didn't....you..." The king stared at the prince in horror.

"Father? What's happening?" A young girl suddenly stepped into the throne room, still tired, but seemed worried with all the commotion that was happening.

"Ah, you must be the princess, it's an honor to meet you, my lady," Craig bowed.

"Oh...uh, yes," the princess bowed, "father, who is he?"

"I'm no one, dear princess, just a traveler, here to give your father a message regarding his son...or should I say...your brother," Craig said.

"Brother? I have a brother?" The princess asked.

"Indeed you do, he was cursed a long time ago I'm afraid, force to turn into a dragon by day, which is why your parents had him sent away, for fear of him disturbing the people....and scaring you," the prince said.

"Father...is that true?" The young princess asked.

"Dear, just go back to your room, we'll handle this," the king said.

"Actually...young one...do you wish to meet your brother?" Craig asked.

The king's eyes widen, "how cruel of you to say, to have my daughter see the head of my...of my son!" The king exclaimed, his voice was shaking.

Craig looked at him with a blank expression before smiling, "I never said I had the head of your son, I simply said that you no longer have a son. If you're talking about the dragon head outside, that's not Tweek, that's the dragon that I was looking for," Craig turned around, waving his hand as if calling someone to enter.

Stepping out of his hiding place, a young blonde boy walked inside the throne room, looking unsure, but bravely walked ahead until he stood next to Craig. The king and queen's eyes widened to see their son, still alive, and standing right before them.

"This is your son...or should I say...your ex-son. I convinced him to come here to say his final goodbyes to you before he leaves," Craig said.

"L-leave?" The king asked.

"....." Tweek looked at his father, anger in his heart, "you abandoned me, father. That was very cruel of you to do...to your own child. As for you, mother...you didn't try to stop father, but instead helped him. You had another child to replace me, and you both chose to forget about me. You left me alone...and that had to be the cruelest thing to do to your own child," Tweek said, tears in his eyes.

"Tweek...."

"Are you here to get your revenge?" The queen asked.

".....No," Tweek sighed, "I hate you for what you have done...and I hate that you...did this to me...when I was like this...having to handle this curse all on my own. I hate you...but at the same time...I can't stay angry at you forever, for you're still my mother and father....and in the end...I still love you. Though I don't love who you have become now....I will always love my parents who raised me before the curse, who took care of me, who read me stories, who sung me to sleep, who loved me for me...or at least...that's what I thought," Tweek sighed. Tweek then turned towards his sister, "it's nice to finally meet you, little one. i'm your older brother, I'm sorry I couldn't have met you sooner, but as you know...I wasn't allowed to meet you. Don't be scared, I do not hold any malice towards you, in fact...I've been dreaming of meeting you, I've been dreaming of telling you that I was your brother. So even if you replaced me as mother and father's child....to me...you're my sister...that means we're family," Tweek said.

"....Brother..." the young princess said. Tweek smiled at her, placing his hand on top of her head, patting it gently.

"This may be the only time you'll see me, dear princess, for I'll be leaving these lands forever....but I hope...that one day our paths will cross again, and that I'll see you again. So princess....when you become older and have become a queen yourself...please....don't forget me, for I...I'll never forget about you," Tweek smiled.

The princess looked at her brother before placing her small hands on top of his, she smiled at him before walking over and giving him a hug. "I won't."

"...." Tweek smiled, tears falling from his eyes. He hugged his sister before stepping away and turning his attention back to his parents. "Well...this is goodbye, mother and father, I'll find the cure to my curse all on my own, so you don't have to worry about that, but when I do break my curse...just know....I won't come back. I won't be your son anymore, it's too late to fix our family, but just know...I don't hate you anymore...and I'll always love my parents who raised me. So this is goodbye...forever, my lady and lord," Tweek bowed his head.

Standing up straight, Tweek turned, ready to leave with Craig, but before he left, he heard his father exclaiming something that Tweek wanted to hear for years.

"Tweek....we're sorry...for hurting you. We're so sorry," The king said, tears falling from his eyes.

"...." Tweek turned around, smiling. He nodded in acknowledgement. "That's all I ever wanted to hear," Tweek whispered. He turned and continued to leave, not looking back this time.

By the time the two left the castle, Tweek began to cry harder, his tears wouldn't stop falling as he wailed at what just happened. Craig just stood there, hugging him tightly as he patted his back and tried his best to comfort the prince.

"Thank you...thank you Craig!" Tweek exclaimed, hugging the prince tightly.

"It's okay, it's okay," Craig said, holding the dragon prince tightly. Craig took out a handkerchief and began wiping Tweek's tears away. Craig then held the prince's head up high, forcing the dragon prince to look up at him. "You did wonderfully, my prince," Craig smiled.

"...." Tweek smiled, his cheeks turning pink as he hugged him, "shall we go home now?" Tweek asked.

Craig grinned, "of course...but first things first....how in the world are we going to drag this back home now that you're currently human," Craig asked as the two turned to look at the dismembered head of the dragon.

"....Shall we wait till morning then?" Tweek asked.

"Probably a good idea," Craig sighed.

Tweek smiled before grabbing Craig's hand, causing the boy to look up and stair at their hands. "I know a nice warm cave we can settle in," Tweek smiled, "it's a bit dark and slightly dirty, but you won't mind, right?"

Craig looked at their hands before blushing, feeling his heart thumping and a foreign feeling filled his chest. "Of course not...it sounds...pleasant," Craig smiled.

Tweek smiled. The two began rolling the dragon's head, feeling that leaving it as is wouldn't be the best idea.

The day the prince and the dragon prince arrived back home, Craig's mother nearly fainted at the sight of the dragon's head and the dragon carrying it. After Craig managed to tell everyone that Tweek was not going to harm them, and explaining everything to them, Craig's parents took Tweek in, and began to treat him as if he was part of the family, of course, after they eventually got use to the fact that he turned into a dragon during the day.

After Craig showed the king of the south the head of the monster that killed his daughter, the king hugged the boy, thanking him over and over, and saying that as long as Craig was alive and well, he and his future descendants would never have to worry about a war between their two kingdoms, and that they would live in peace forever. The two kingdoms united, and without the need of an arranged marriage.

As time continued on, Craig soon realized that his feelings for Tweek was none other than love, and though Craig wasn't sure what caused these feelings or when he had them, he knew he couldn't get the cursed dragon prince out of his mind.

His family and friends were slightly confused, then they began telling him he was crazy, but Craig didn't care. In his heart, Craig knew he wanted to marry the dragon prince.

"Please mother....I know you've given me a lot now that you're finally allowing me to leave the kingdom and start traveling, but...I love him, and as my mother...you should support me and my choices," Craig said.

"Craig...even if you were the one that can break his curse, how do you know it'll work? How do you know he'll turn back to normal after the curse is broken? He might still have horns or...sharp teeth...or a tail and wings...he might still breathe fire, how do you-"

"Dear...I think Craig is old enough to make his own choices, so if he chooses to marry Tweek, you must let him," the king said.

"....." Craig's mother sighed before looking at her son, "do you really love him that much, Craig?"

Craig stood up straight, feeling his cheeks getting warm before looking at his mother with a small smile, "I do. I love him very much, mother," Craig said.

"....." Craig's mother smiled before nodding, "very well...then you have my permission. You may choose whoever you want as your...er....husband," the queen said.

Craig smiled before walking over to hug his mother, "thank you," Craig said, he kissed his mother on the cheek before running outside to find Tweek. Craig looked around until he found Tweek in the garden, the one place Tweek found comfortable to be in, especially since it was big enough for him whenever he turned into his dragon form. "Tweek!" Craig called out once he saw his scaly companion, resting in the garden.

"Craig? What's going on? You seem to be in a rush," Tweek said.

Tweek ran up to him, feeling his heart pounding as he stood there, looking up at the dragon in front of him, staring into Tweek's beautiful emerald green eyes. "I came here to tell you something," Craig said, feeling his heart pounding.

"What is it?" Tweek lowered his head, so that Craig didn't have to look up the entire time.

"...Tweek....as you know...I'm not the type to fall in love with someone easily, I've never dreamed of marrying anyone, and I've especially never saw anyone as nothing more than a friend or acquaintance," Craig said, feeling his cheeks getting red.

"Yes..." Tweek was starting to get confused.

"But....you...you're different," Craig said, smiling at the prince.

Tweek's eyes widen, he lifted his head up a bit, staring down at Craig, "are....are you saying..." Tweek's heart was racing.

Craig took a step closer, placing his hand on Tweek's nose before hugging the dragon prince's snout, "I love you, my prince."

Tweek felt like he was going to cry, he began shaking before leaning closer, he can feel Craig's heart beating as the young prince hugged him, "are you sure? If the curse doesn't break...are you sure you can love me with a face like this?" Tweek asked.

"Tweek...no matter what you look like to me, you will always be beautiful," Craig said.

Tweek looked at him before smiling, "thank you," Tweek said, he closed his eyes, shedding a tear from his eyes.

"Prince Tweek...will you marry me?" Craig asked.

Tweek smiled as carefully lifted Craig up, who was still hugging Tweek's snout. Craig held on tightly as his feet were now off the ground. "Yes....yes...I would love to marry you, my prince," Tweek said.

Craig smiled before looking at him, he leaned forward, kissing the top of Tweek's nose. Suddenly, Tweek's body began shaking, and at first, Craig thought he was about to cry, "no need to cry, my prince, it's suppose to be a happy-" Craig froze when he realized that Tweek wasn't crying, but he did began to glow. "Tweek?" Craig leg go, jumping off of Tweek's face as the dragon prince began twitching, all while his skin continued to glow brightly. Craig took a step back, wondering what was happening, "what's going on?" Craig asked, feeling worried.

"I think.....I think the curse is breaking," Tweek said as the light from his body glowed more, almost blinding the young prince. Craig shield his eyes, unable to look much further, but once the light faded away, Craig turned back to see Tweek, now human. "I'm....I'm free....I'm free," Tweek began crying as he looked at Craig. "I'm back to normal..." Tweek said.

Craig smiled before walking towards him, hugging him, "you're still beautiful, no matter what you look like," Craig said.

Tweek laughed before hugging the prince, "I know, thank you," Tweek smiled. He leaned in to kiss the prince on the lips.

As the two parted their lips, they looked at each other, smiles formed on their lips. Craig rested his head on top of Tweek, Tweek leaning against him a bit. The two smiled, tears filled their eyes. They were the happiest beings in that garden.

"Not going to lie...I'll miss your wings and tail, as well as your ability to breathe fire. They were quite interesting to look at," Craig sighed as he examined his groom to be, making sure there weren't any dragon parts on him.

"Then shall my wedding suit have dragon wings and a tail attached to them, my dear groom to be?" Tweek smiled.

"Might make the wedding more interesting," Craig smirked.

Tweek laughed before looking at Craig and leaning in for a kiss. "I love you, my prince."

"I love you too, my dragon prince," Craig smiled.

With love in their hearts, the two princes were happy to love someone, not caring at all what the other looked like to them. For as long as there is beauty inside, what they look outside, whether they were a dragon or not, it didn't matter, at least not to these two.

They all lived happily ever after. The end.