Chapter Text
The Dragon is ashamed to admit that he panicked when the other villagers showed up. But in fairness to him, he had expected it to be a quick raid. The gentle scent of the cattle had risen up from the small village and incised his interest. All he had wanted to do was go into the barn, steal a cow or two, and leave without being spotted. But the fifty foot long dragon underestimated his own size and stealth. As well as how loud cows could be. Trapped in the entry to the barn the cows created such a ruckus that the farmer soon arrived, armed with a sharp looking pitchfork. The Dragon panicked, knocked the barn in, and sent the cows running. The other villagers arrived not long after and he panicked. He knew they would be looking for a dragon, so he decided not to be one. He shrunk down into a human shape, stole the clothes off the unconscious or dead farmer, and raced after the cows into the forest.
Not he best move, but not bad overall.
Even in his new body, the cows knew what he was. They mooed anxiously as he approached them, shying away from his new and uncertain hands. The Dragon backed off and watched them as they made their way through the forest, following just far enough behind to keep them from panicking. But no matter how far from them he stood, none seemed willing to tolerate his presence. None, that is, but one. A chocolate brown cow with white patches seemed perfectly fine with his presence, moving close to her and letting him pet her soft muzzle. Even as the other cows wandered away, back to the farm or into neighboring herds, this one stayed by his side and he went deeper into the forest, just trying to escape.
After a few days of travel his new body started to feel fatigued, threatening to undo itself and force him into his old shape. By the fourth day he was shaking and thought he was going to be ill. Stripping down and folding the clothes off to the side, he allowed himself to change back for a moment. Just to rest in the sun besides his new cow, who stayed by him even as his form became more sinister. Her soft moos and warm scent were calming and slowly he allowed sleep to claim him for a moment.
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The cow’s mooing woke him a few hours later. Unlike her usual soothing hum these sounds were panicked. The Dragon awoke with a start and looked around for what could have upset her. Off in the distance he heard what it was. People. Panicking once again he shrunk back down into his human body and threw on the clothes he had stolen, a button up shirt and an odd sort of plaid skirt. He had barely managed to get dressed when two men on horses appeared before him. One was a large man with an equally large beard. He was covered in dyed leather armor and had a diamond sword at his side, the glow of which indicated an enchantment. To his right was another man dressed in green armor, maybe emerald or maybe some foreign metal, with a black cape around his shoulders and a gold crown upon his head. The Dragon’s breath caught in his throat and he took a step back. He knew what a crown meant, and he knew kings rarely tolerated his kind.
"Got a name, Stranger?" The King asked, his eyes hard. The Dragon swallowed and wet his lips, unsure how to speak in this new and unfamiliar form.
"The king asked you a question," the bearded man said, hand going to his sword. The Dragon’s eyes darted around, trying to think of something before noticing the chewing of the horses and the forest that surrounded them.
"Haywood," he said finally, his voice hoarse. "My name is Haywood." The king raised an eyebrow at this, looking over.
"Got a first name?" He asked, reaching into his saddlebag and pulling out a carrot for his horse. "Or is Haywood it?" The Dragon wet his lips, trying to think of what sort of names humans had. He had heard a few in passing while flying over villages, but they had never really stuck.
"James?" He offered, hoping it was actually a name. "Ryan?" He added, trying another.
"Well which is it?" The bearded man asked, taking his hand away from his sword and leaning a bit on his horse. "Is your name James or Ryan?" The bearded man’s horse whinnied nervously and pawed at the ground, earning an "Easy Patches" from the rider.
"Both," the Dragon answered. "James Ryan Haywood." He paused, going over the name in his head. "But I prefer just Ryan."
"Well just Ryan," the King said. "I take it you aren’t from around here. Since…y’know…" he motioned towards his crown. "You aren’t bowing or nothing."
"I’m not," the Dragon, Ryan, confessed. "I’ve been traveling with my cow for a few days now. I…admittedly do not know where I am." His cow mooed softly and nosed at the bearded man’s saddlebag, evidently smelling something good in there. The man patted her on the snout and pulled out a carrot, giving it to her.
"I take it this is your cow," he said, letting her eat the carrot from his hand. "Does she have a name?"
"Edgar," Ryan said, picking the first name that came into his head. The king looked at him.
"You named your cow Edgar?" He asked, looking from Ryan to the cow and back again. "Alright…It’s your cow."
"Yeah," Ryan said, patting the cow’s nose as she came back over to him. "She is." He looked around, still trying to adjust to the bizarre, near colorless world humans lived in. "So…where exactly is here? And who are you?"
"Achievement Kingdom," the King said. "I’m King Geoffrey Ramsey. Most people just call me King Geoff. This is Jack, my Hand." Something told Ryan that was something he should know about, so he decided not to ask.
"Alright," he said. He added a bow, deciding that the King may be someone he should keep happy. "Apologies, my Liege. I am rather lost and stunned at the moment."
"Do you have a place to live?" The bearded man, Jack, asked. Ryan weighed his options before shaking his head. "Do you need one?" Ryan raised an eyebrow.
"Pardon?" He asked.
"He asked if you needed a place to live," Geoff said. "If you’re in my kingdom that means you’re one of my citizens. And I’m not letting one of my citizens go without a home."
Ryan thought about it for a moment. He wasn’t really sure where he wanted to go with this. He could turn them down, say he was only a traveler, but that may raise suspicions. Or he could see what they were willing to offer but find himself trapped or worse when they learned what he was. He pet Edgar’s snout once more, enjoying the feel of the soft velvet. He needed to find something to do with her, since eating her felt almost wrong after spending this much time with her.
"What do you have to offer?" He asked. Jack and Geoff exchanged a look, as though they weren’t entirely sure themselves.
"Well…" Geoff started before stopping. He looked around before settling on the cow. "You’re good with animals?" Ryan shrugged.
"I’m decent," he said. Edgar let out a low moo, nosing his hand. "Though Edgar seems to think I’m better than decent."
"Kerry could use some help in the stables," Jack said. Geoff scoffed.
"We could use someone in the stables who’s actually an adult," he said. "Kerry is younger than The Lads." He turned back to Ryan. "How does this sound. We give you a place to live within the walls of the castle, and in exchange you take care of the castle livestock. The cows, sheep, horses, and such. Think you can do that?" Ryan was about to agree when he froze, thinking about what he was for a moment. He couldn’t keep this body up forever, and at the moment it was rather hard to stay in it at all. He flexed his hand, looking at it. Even in this body he was far stronger than the average human, and he couldn’t trust himself not to let that show. He looked back at the king.
"That sounds wonderful, My liege," he said. "But…I have two requests." Geoff looked him over.
"What are they?" He asked.
"The first is that I be granted every New Moon off. I need it for personal reasons that I would rather not go into." He noticed the king raise an eyebrow and took a deep breath, hoping he wasn’t damning himself already. "The second is that every night I be allowed to have three potions of strength. They will help with my duties to you, sire, and I have a personal belief surrounding them. I know the resources for potions are difficult to come by, and dangerous as well, but if you grant me this request I swear that I will gather them myself, on my own time. I will not be a burden to you, My King." He bowed low, trying to add a touch of humbleness to the request. Geoff was quiet for a moment before speaking.
"I suppose those are reasonable enough," he said. "And if you’re gathering the materials yourself you’re already pulling more weight than Jeremy is….I don’t know, what do you think, Jack." Ryan looked up at the Hand, holding his breath as the man looked him over. There was something friendly about his eyes, that was certain, but there was something clever too, and that put Ryan on edge. Finally the man shrugged.
"I think we could make it work," he said. "We can at least try." Geoff grinned, reaching down and shaking Ryan’s hand.
"Great!" He said. "Welcome to Achievement Kingdom, Buddy." Ryan returned the smile, relaxing as Geoff and Jack motioned for him to follow them to his new home.