Chapter Text
Tommy had a grand plan for life. He was going to grow up, get all the women, and become a millionaire by the age of twelve. It was a perfectly perfect plan that no one could ruin. Of course, he still had roughly about six years before he needed to be a millionaire, but it never hurts to start working now.
Of course for his plan to work, he needed a house. He needed somewhere to keep all of his money. Tommy hadn’t quite figured out where he was going to get a house from, but he could probably steal one from someone. Tommy’s eyes lit up as an even better idea hit him. He could build the coolest treehouse the world had ever seen and all of the kids would stand in awe of his awesomeness!
Tommy looked around at the forest surrounding him, smiling. Trees towered overhead, the light filtering through the branches, warming the forest floor. There were plenty of good treehouse trees nearby, and so many sticks just lying around that would be perfect to build his treehouse with. Tommy let out a squeak of glee. He was going to be so rich , and his new house was going to be so epic.
Tommy started darting around, collecting all of the sticks he could find. Tommy even found several huge sticks that he needed to make special trips back for because they were even bigger than him, and Tommy was so big!
By the time Tommy’s stomach started making weird noises, he had already collected a massive pile of sticks. There were definitely enough to create a whole mansion treehouse.
Tommy glared down at his stomach as it made another grumbling noise. Someone once told him that when it made noises like this then the little monster that lived inside of his stomach was mad and the only way to calm it down and make it not eat him was to give it food. The monster inside Tommy’s stomach was always mad at him. It hadn’t eaten him yet, but Tommy decided he didn’t want to risk it again. He had seen some berries nearby, so hopefully the monster liked those.
Retracing his steps, Tommy wandered back to where the berries were growing. He picked the biggest and reddest ones he could find and popped them in his mouth. Tommy’s eyes shot open and instantly shoved the rest of his handful into his mouth. They were so good!
The adults would probably yell at him for chewing with his mouth open again, but Tommy didn’t care. These were the best things on the entire planet, and he was going to have a million of them growing in his treemansion. He was going to have a million million growing in his treemansion! There would be so many that all of the women in the world would come to beg him for his wonderful berries.
Tommy grinned with a mouth stained red and berry juice dripping down his chin as he ran to grab another handful. Just as he was about to shove that handful in his mouth, too, a yipping, hissing noise sounded from near his foot. Tommy froze, before bending down to peer underneath the bush.
He gasped as he saw the cutest little lizard he had ever seen in his life curled up underneath some low hanging berries.
“Hello little guy,” Tommy said softly, reaching out a hand to poke the lizard. “Aren’t you cute? I want to keep yo- Ah!” Tommy tumbled back as the lizard that was very much not a lizard sent a tiny puff of fire in his direction.
“You’re a dragon,” Tommy squealed, whole face lighting up in wonder as his eyes grew wide. “I’ve never seen a dragon before.” No one saw dragons now. Everyone said that they didn’t exist anymore, that they were all hunted to death by some of the old kings, but they were all obviously liars.
Tommy had always wanted to see a dragon! All of the stories said that dragons were the coolest animals on the planet, and that they had so many cool magic abilities. They could even breathe out fire . They were obviously amazing, and anyone who thought that hurting dragons were pog was obviously an idiot and Tommy was glad that they were dead.
The stories always said that the dragons were bigger than horses, and horses were huge , so this must be a little baby dragon.
Tommy tried to scoot a little closer, but the little baby dragon hissed at him, curling up further into the little crevice and sent another puff of fire his way. Tommy frowned a little. The poor little guy must be scared.
“I won’t hurt you,” Tommy whispered, trying to think of ways to show that he would never ever hurt a baby dragon. He had seen others around the town holding out their hand to dogs before they pet them, so maybe he should try that. “I don’t want to hurt you, little guy,” he swore, holding out his palm. “I promise. I think dragons are cool, and anyone who would try to harm you is a meanie who you should bite.” Tommy paused, before adding quickly, “I’ll bite them for you if you want! I pinky promise.” The dragon wasn’t hissing anymore, but it was still curled up tightly.
Tommy kept his hand out and stayed as still as a tree. “My name is Tommy, what’s yours?”
The dragon hissed at him again, and Tommy pouted. He was trying his best, but the little dragon wouldn’t trust him. But Tommy wasn’t going to back down now. Regardless of what everyone told him, he could be patient. Tommy would wait the dragon out.
The dragon was really little. Tommy had never heard of a dragon this small. It was the size of a kitten or maybe a small cat. It had dark purple scales with small flakes of gold speckled throughout it. It had big black eyes and two little fangs that hung out of its mouth. It was the cutest thing that Tommy had ever seen.
Tommy was definitely keeping it.
When after two whole minutes the dragon was still curled up, hissing every time Tommy tried to move, Tommy decided that it was time for a different approach. Maybe the little monster inside the dragon’s tummy was angry too and that is why he was grumpy. Slowly, Tommy held out his other hand that held the rest of his berries in it. “Do you want these, little guy,” he asked, making sure to keep his voice soft.
The dragon sent out another puff of flame, but this one was more smoke than flame, so Tommy counted it as a win. After a moment, the dragon began to uncurl its neck and sniff twice at the berries. Tommy froze, not daring to ruin the moment. Slowly, the dragon snaked its head out a little further, not taking its eyes off of Tommy. Then suddenly it lunged towards the berries before whipping back into a little ball, wing flaring up around it to shield itself. Tommy could hear the munching of the berries, and felt a smug look cross his face.
“Do you want some more?” Tommy asked, picking the nearest few and holding them out. Slowly, the tiny head peeped out from behind the wings and snatched the berries from his hand. This time, the wings weren’t as rigid, so Tommy could see the dragon trying to nibble the berries with little nubs of teeth. Internally Tommy’s heart was dying. This was the cutest thing he had ever seen in his entire life!
Carefully, Tommy reached out a hand and pet the dragon’s back. The wings tensed up and the dragon stared at Tommy, but after a moment it must have deemed him safe enough and went back to munching on his berries.
Victory!
Obviously it was hungry so that was why it was so grumpy before. Tommy smiled as he continued to pet the scales on its back. They were softer than Tommy imagined. He had always thought that dragon scales would be as hard as diamonds, but these were kinda soft. Maybe they were just baby scales, and adult scales would be harder.
The little dragon tilted his head up towards Tommy with some berry juice covering his muzzle. Tommy froze for a moment, not wanting to scare him off. That was apparently the wrong decision because the dragon let out an unhappy growl and pressed his back into Tommy’s hand.
Tommy laughed in delight, immediately resuming his petting. “Aww, do you like that, little guy? Don’t worry I won’t stop again.” With his other hand, Tommy picked a few more berries and placed them in his lap. The dragon let out a tiny puff of smoke, glaring at Tommy, obviously annoyed that he was no longer being hand fed the berries. After a moment of switching his grumpy glare between Tommy and the berries, he unfurrowed a bit and started to inch towards Tommy’s lap. Tommy couldn’t keep a grin off his face as he waited with the most patients he had ever had in his entire life for the little dragon to crawl up onto his lap and start gnawing at the berries again.
Tommy reached down and continued to pet the tiny dragon in his lap. “You are my new best friend,” he declared. “I’m going to name you Shroud.”
Shroud glanced up at him and yipped, obviously pleased with his new name.
They sat there for what felt like hours, before Shroud let out a big yawn, red stained tongue curling a bit.
“Aww are you tired, Shroud,” Tommy asked, scratching one of his ears.
Just then a thought struck Tommy causing him to jerk his head up to search for any hint of another dragon nearby. He frantically searched the skies for any sign of movement, and he even sniffed the air for the trace of smoke.
Everyone in the town told stories of how protective mommy dragons were. They always called the blacksmith’s wife a mama dragon because she always protected her son and growled at anyone who would dare hurt him. She hated Tommy because one time he said that her son was a dirty lying cheat, which he was. The real mama dragon would probably hate Tommy too, and Tommy really didn’t want to get eaten because a mommy dragon thought that he was going to hurt her baby.
Tommy would never hurt a little baby, but no one believed that. All the other mommies in the town would glare at him and pull their little babies closer if Tommy came too near. The mommy dragon would probably just eat him or maybe toast him instead. Tommy really , really didn’t want to get eaten.
Dragons had teeth the size of Tommy’s whole body! They were probably sharper than swords too! The mommy dragon could probably swallow Tommy down in one whole bite!
Tommy couldn’t help heaving a huge sigh of relief at the empty skies. Today was much too good of a day to get eaten. That would ruin his whole plan.
Tommy turned back to the baby dragon who was curled up on his lap. “Where is your mommy? Is she coming back soon? Do you think she will eat me when she does?” Shroud just blinked at him and then nestled his head underneath Tommy’s shirt.
“Shroud,” Tommy whined. “I don’t want to get eaten!”
Shroud poked his head out from under the shirt and glared at Tommy. “Do you even know where she is?”
Shroud let out a little sad yip before hiding his head again.
“You don’t?” Tommy frowned a little. That solved the problem of not getting eaten, but Tommy didn’t really want Shroud to be left alone. “Do you have a mommy?”
The dragon yipped again. “Oh,” Tommy said. He glanced back up at the stars. “I don’t either. Daddy said that she went to visit the stars, but then he went to visit the stars too.” Tommy reached down to scratch Shroud’s back. “I bet your mommy flew up in the sky to visit them, too, but she has wings, so maybe she can fly down to visit you soon? I bet you would like that. But don’t worry. In the meantime, I can be your new mommy!”
The dragon had poked its head back out of Tommy’s shirt and looked at him for a moment before he darted up to lick Tommy on the nose.
“Shroud,” Tommy yelped, almost falling backward. “Bad dragon,” he laughed. “Don’t lick people.” Shroud just stared at him, completely unrepentant with his mouth twisted up in what was probably a dragon smile. He licked Tommy again.
“Is that a yes?” Shroud yipped again before trying to lick Tommy for the third time. Tommy batted him away before scooping him up into his arms and standing up.
“If you are going to stay with me, I want to show you where our new home is going to be!” Tommy said grinning, starting to walk towards where he left his sticks. “It is going to be the coolest treemansion in the entire world, but I haven’t built it yet, so we will have to sleep outside.” Shroud let out a hiss, but quieted down when Tommy held him a little closer. “Don’t worry, Shroud. I will protect you from all of the other animals in the forest. I won’t let them hurt you.”
Once they reached where all of his sticks were piled up, Tommy was yawning too. He dragged out his blanket from where he had stashed it and lay it down on a moss patch. He curled up around Shroud and drifted off to sleep with the biggest smile on his face.
The next day, Tommy woke up with something nipping at his nose. Furrowing his brow, he tried to bat away whatever it was. His fingers hit something warm and a strange yip woke him up more. Dragging his eyes open, Tommy was met with the sight of a tiny dragon looming over his face. He blinked a few times, but the image didn’t go away.
“Shroud,” he exclaimed, shooting up and accidently tossing Shroud off him. “You’re real! I thought I just dreamed you up!” Shroud rolled over and yipped at him again, tail wagging.
The sun seemed to have been up for several hours already, so Tommy knew that Shroud’s stomach monster must be getting grumpy again.
“Do you want to go get more berries, Shroud?” Tommy asked, pushing himself to his feet. Shroud yipped again, tongue hanging out of his mouth. Tommy laughed, scooping Shroud up into his arms. Shroud wiggled and squirmed until he scrambled to climb on top of his head, claws digging into his hair.
“Shroud stop,” Tommy yelped, wincing a little as he tried to swat Shroud off his head. “Get off my head! Your claws are sharp!”
Shroud did not get off, but he did retract his claws, and started to lick Tommy’s head. “Ew gross,” Tommy shrieked, throwing up his arms to block the onslaught of dragon spit. “Shroud,” he whined, trying to glare at the dragon from behind his arms, but it must not have been very effective. Eventually Shroud stopped, and Tommy was able to reach up and pluck Shroud off of his head. He bundled the dragon up in his arms, but tried his best to avoid both claws and tongue.
“You are a very naughty dragon,” Tommy scowled, using his shoulder to wipe as much slobber off of his face as possible. Shroud pouted at him, and Tommy couldn’t help but melt. He felt a small stab of guilt as Shroud nudged his hand, clearly wanting to make Tommy feel better. “Well maybe not that naughty,” he relented, trying to avoid Shroud’s big puppy-dog eyes.
“I’m sure little baby dragons like you can’t help it. Mama used to say that we should not be mad at babies when they do things we don’t like because they are really little and can’t help it. I think she was talking about when the neighbor’s baby would start screaming in the middle of the night and wake me up, but I think this counts too right? You are really little, aren’t you Shroud?”
Shroud yipped and nuzzled his head into Tommy’s chest, clearly interpreting Tommy’s response as forgiveness.
“Don’t worry Shroud,” Tommy smiled, patting Shroud on the head. “I am a big man, and I can take care of you.” Shroud yipped again and bounced his wings up and down happily, tail wagging slightly. “Now let us see if we can find some more berries. I am sure your belly monster is starting to get grumpy.”
Tommy glanced around with a slightly furrowed brow as he tried to remember where the berries were. He was pretty sure that they came from the left, but it had been dark, and he was tired. He gave a slight shrug before closing his eyes and spinning around in circles until the world started swaying beneath him. Finally coming to a stop, Tommy started walking straight ahead. It was as good a guess as any. There were bound to be some sort of berries in this direction.
After a few minutes of walking, Tommy cheered as he saw some berries. He was right! Pumping his fist in the air, he ran over with Shroud still in his arms. “Look Shroud,” Tommy yelled, a wide grin spreading over his face. “I found the berries for you! See I am the best mama in the whole wide world!” Shroud yipped and leaned up to lick Tommy’s face again.
“Shroud,” Tommy pouted, trying to look as disappointed as possible. “I thought we went over this. Licking is gross. Stop doing it.” Shroud just grinned up at him and Tommy went over to pluck a berry to shove in the rude little dragon’s mouth.
Shroud was quickly distracted from giving Tommy’s face another bath by shoving as many berries into his mouth as possible.
Tommy preened as he watched Shroud prance around the clearing, stuffing his face into all sorts of bushes to find more berries. Shroud was the absolute bestest, and Tommy would do the bestest job at taking care of him.
Suddenly Shroud ran back to Tommy with a scared look, whining.
“What is it, Shroud?” Tommy bent down, scooping the dragon up into his arms. He glanced all around the clearing with a furrowed brow, searching for what scared his little dragon. “What is wrong? Is something out there?” Tommy couldn’t see anything around them. There were no rustling leaves or snapping twigs. The birds were chirping like normal, so there was probably not a large predator trying to eat them.
Tommy glanced down at Shroud, who was still whining and pawing at his chest. All of a sudden Shroud turned a weird shade of purple and all of the berries that he had eaten came spewing back out all over Tommy’s shirt.
“Shroud,” Tommy shouted, jerking Shroud away from his chest. “Shroud, stop it! What is wrong? Shroud stop!”
Tommy dropped down to the ground and lay Shroud on the grass. Did he not get food to Shroud’s belly monster in time? Was the monster mad? Was Shroud dying?! Tommy could feel his breath start to quicken at Shroud just kept throwing up all of the berries. Tears slipped down Tommy’s face as he tried to figure out what to do. He was supposed to take care of Shroud, and now Shroud was dying.
“Come on Shroud. You need to stop it,” he begged, rubbing Shroud’s back. “The food is supposed to stay inside your belly.”
Eventually, all of the berries were expelled and Shroud nuzzled up against Tommy with a sad little mew. “It’s okay, Shroud,” Tommy whispered, tears still trickling down his face. “You are going to be okay. I’m gonna take care of you.”
Tommy pulled Shroud into his chest and hugged him close. He needed to be the bestest for Shroud, but he had no idea how. No one knew that dragons were even alive; how was Tommy supposed to know how to take care of a baby one?
Maybe dragons were like puppies. There were several puppies in town. Tommy could probably ask someone how to take care of a puppy, and use that for Shroud, right? They both were playful, cute, and had tails. They couldn’t be that different.
“Come on, Shroud, we are going to take a field trip,” Tommy said, standing up. He sped walked back to his sleeping spot, where he stashed his backpack. Shroud let out an unhappy grunt when he saw the backpack, clearly already figuring out Tommy’s plans.
“Don’t worry, Shroud. It won’t be that bad. It is only for a short time, I promise. I can even give you a blanket to make it more comfortable. Won’t that be nice. It is my best blanket,” Tommy negotiated, holding up his only blanket. It had a few holes in it, but overall it was great. It even had a little bit of fuzz that hadn’t been worn away yet.
Shroud didn’t look impressed though. He let out a little huff of smoke and grunted again. “Please don’t burn this blanket, Shroud. It is the only one I have left, and I don’t think I will be able to find another one.”
Shroud continued to glare at him, but overall seemed to be resigned to his fate.
“It really won’t be that bad, Shroud,” Tommy swore as he wrapped the blanket around the little dragon. He was pretty sure he was doing it right. He had never seen a dog wrapped in a blanket, but he had seen a few babies in town wrapped in one. Tommy stuck his tongue out in concentration as he tried to figure out how all of the other mothers made it look so neat. Maybe it was because all of the other mothers were good at their jobs. Tommy bet that they would never make their child throw up. They probably had the fuzziest blankets for their babies that would automatically wrap them up like a tight hug.
Shroud deserved so much better. He deserved the fluffiest blankets and food that kings would eat and a really awesome bed and more food and desserts. Shroud deserved all the desserts.
Tommy couldn’t give him desserts. Or good food. Or fluffy blankets. Or a good bed. But the adults in the town probably wouldn’t either. They were all mean, and didn’t deserve the best dragon son in existence. They would probably just kick him out like they did with Tommy.
But someone there probably knew how to take care of a baby dragon or even just a baby, and Tommy could learn from them. Tommy will be the best dragon mom in existence. His bestest son ever, Shroud, deserved it.
“In you go,” he said, carefully slipping Shroud into the backpack. Shroud let out another unhappy grunt, but Tommy pet Shroud’s head. “It’s okay. We’re just going on a little adventure. Dragons like adventures, right, and for this adventure, you need to be extra sneaky. We are headed into enemy territory. They cannot know you exist because then they will try to take you away because adult peoples aren’t nice. One of them said that she wanted to ship me off to a zoo because I was a more feral animal than human, so she would probably most definitely send you to a zoo. I don’t want you to go to a zoo. You won’t like it.”
Shroud seemed to sense Tommy’s sullen mood and bumped Tommy’s hand with his head. He didn’t seem any happier, but he did quiet down. “It’ll be okay,” Tommy promised. “I will keep you safe.”
After a few minutes more of just sitting together, Tommy finally stood up and clutched the backpack to his chest. He could feel Shroud burrowing down into the blankets to make himself more comfortable.
Eventually Tommy headed off in the direction of the town. It wasn’t a long walk, but no one besides Tommy took it, so it wasn’t that worn. He had to fight through the bushes and vines that were trying to trip him and trap him so that he could not complete his mission. It was a good thing that Tommy was the biggest man alive and he would not be stopped by some mere bushes that stood in his way.
Soon the town was in sight with several little blobs of people doing work because they were not as cool as Tommy.
“Okay Shroud,” Tommy whispered. “We are about to enter enemy territory, so you need to be really, really quiet.” Shroud let out a yip and then was quiet once more.
Tommy looked back at the town and straightened his shoulders. If he looked like he didn’t have anything to hide, no one would ever question him. He just had to pretend like he was rich. Everyone listened to rich people. Great plan! He lifted his chin and started marching forward. As he got closer, several of the people turned to glare at him. But Tommy was being rich, so they are probably just jealous of all of the mounds of gold that Tommy has back in the forest. They were just being mean, and bullies didn’t get to make Tommy feel bad. Tommy had a mission and he wouldn’t let bushes or bullies get in his way.
Once he reached the town, Tommy decided to march around searching for someone with a dog. Someone was bound to have a dog somewhere, Tommy just needed to find it.
There were usually several dogs hanging around the market area, waiting for scraps of food to fall, so Tommy headed in that direction. It wasn’t that busy today, which was nice. People were more willing to not yell at Tommy as long as he wasn’t getting in the way of all of their business. However that also meant that there weren’t as many dogs around.
Maybe he should just ask people what they would feed a dragon if they found one. He glanced around to search for someone who wouldn’t yell at him if he asked them a question. Definitely not the blacksmith’s wife. Maybe the baker knew something. They knew all about food, right?
Tommy walked over to her booth. A breeze blew over and carried the scent of the delicious bread right to Tommy. His belly monster let out a growl at the reminder that it hadn’t eaten at all that day. Tommy didn’t want his belly monster more upset, but Tommy didn’t think that the baker would be willing to give him any food, and if he asked her for some, Tommy doubted that the baker would give him any information.
Shroud grumbled quietly, and Tommy quietly shushed him before approaching the baker. She had just finished helping a customer, so hopefully she was in a good mood. He’s got this. It shouldn’t be that hard. Just go up to her and ask how she would feed a dragon. No big deal. Tommy took a deep breath and walked over.
“Excuse me,” Tommy said, clutching his backpack close to his chest, comforted by Shroud’s warmth.
The baker turned toward him, eyes hardening when she saw who it was. “What do you want, Thomas?”
“If you found a dragon, what would you feed it?”
“Thomas, I don’t have time for your games,” she rolled her eyes. “Everyone knows that dragons have all died. Now go away. I am trying to get work done, and you are being a pest.” She turned back to Tommy and started fiddling with anything to make her seem busy.
“Wait please,” Tommy called out, waving his hand to get her attention again.
“What is it, Thomas,” she hissed.
“What would you normally feed a dog?”
“Just give it some bread or meat. Or better yet, don’t get a dog because there is no way you would be able to keep it alive,” she sneered and turned back around, and this time Tommy knew that she wouldn’t turn back.
Tommy spun on his heel, and stormed away. How dare she! Tommy would never let Shroud die. He would be the best mother Shroud could ever ask for, and he was going to get Shroud so much bread and meat that Shroud was going to be the happiest dragon in existence.
Tommy had already kept Shroud for an entire day , and Shroud was perfectly fine. Mostly. Tommy would do the best job ever. He just needed to find someone else who would give him better advice.
Tommy glanced around for someone else he could ask, but there weren't very many people around. He started to wander, hoping to see someone that looked like they were smart. A smart person had to know how to feed a dragon. Smart people knew everything.
What did smart people look like? They were probably rich, so maybe they had nice clothes and jewelry. They probably also had a horse! A huge giant horse that they rode all over the world and had so many cool adventures. They also would have a huge mansion, but it wouldn’t be nearly as cool as Tommy’s treemansion because Tommy’s treemansion would be the coolest thing in the entire world because he was going to be the richest man to ever walk the ground, and Shroud would be his loyal dragon who would eat anyone that was mean.
Tommy grinned as he thought of people coming to see his treemansion and being in awe of his awesomeness. Tommy was going to be so rich, but no one else around here was rich. No one here has any fancy clothes or jewels. The baker has a pretty stone that she likes to say she got from a nobleman that was just passing through and gave it to her instead of the copper piece for a loaf of bread, but Tommy knew that she probably just found it in the river. Noblemen never passed through their little town.
A cry attracted Tommy’s attention as he spun around and saw a woman with a grumpy baby a little bit away. Tommy darted over, clutching his backpack, trying not to rattle Shroud too much.
“Hello, ma’am,” Tommy said, pulling at her sleeve when he reached her. She turned around to glare at him, but he was immune by now. “What do you feed your baby?”
The shocked look on her face almost made Tommy laugh, but laughing would be rude and Tommy wasn’t rude.
“That is not an appropriate question to ask someone, child,” she gasped, holding her baby closer as if to protect it from Tommy’s impudence.
“Why is it rude?” Tommy scrunched up his nose trying to figure out why the lady was so taken aback by his question. “Do you feed him meat or vegetables? My mom always told me to eat my vegetables, so you probably tell him that too.”
“I most certainly do not feed my baby vegetables. I hope your mother teaches you better manners,” she said as she whisked away.
“My mama is dead, stupidhead,” Tommy muttered after her, knowing that there was no way she could hear him.
What is with all of these adults being so useless. Tommy was asking a simple question, but they were all clueless. No wonder why Tommy was going to be the best ever for Shroud; everyone else didn’t know what they were doing.
“Maybe you can feed dragons vegetables, too,” Tommy muttered. Vegetables were good. Tommy wanted to grow big and strong, and that meant eating a lot of vegetables right?
“Do you want to feed vegetables to a dragon, mate? I thought they usually ate meat.”
Shroud started to squirm and let out a small squeak that was covered by Tommy’s shout as he spun around. A blonde guy stood behind him, dressed in a green cloak and hat. “Don’t do that,” Tommy yelled, furrowing his brows in anger. “It is rude. It is rude and mean, and old people like you shouldn’t be mean to kids. It is not nice.”
The man held up his hands, but he was clearly trying to hide a smile, which was just so rude. “I’m sorry, mate. I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“I was not scared,” Tommy shouted. “I’m not a chicken. I am a big man, and a creep like you would never scare me. I will stab you. I would pull out all of you old man hair, and I would take away all of your food so you will starve. I’m not scared. ”
“I am sure you’re not, mate,” the man smiled. He then reached over and ruffled his hair. “You seem very brave. One of the bravest children that I have ever seen.”
Tommy puffed up a little at that. Of course he was the bravest child this man had ever seen. He was the bravest child to ever exist in the whole entire world.
“You seem like a really smart boy, too. Is that why you are trying to figure out what to feed a dragon?” The man bent down so that he was eye level with Tommy and glanced around to see if anyone else was listening in. He then lowered his voice as if he was sharing a huge secret with Tommy. “I know that many people say that dragons are extinct, but I think that they are still around, just hiding from everyone.”
“Yeah,” Tommy whispered back with a conspiratorial smile on his face. “Some people are really dumb, but I know better.”
“I am sure you do,” the man nodded back, eyes sparkling. “Are you trying to figure out what to feed a dragon, so you can give it food if you ever find one?”
Tommy glanced at the man. He seemed to know a lot about dragons, more than anyone else in the village did. He would probably know what kinds of food a dragon should eat. Maybe he knew what their favorite type of dessert was too.
Tommy gave him a once over and then bit his lip. The man seemed nice, but he probably would try to take Shroud away from Tommy if he knew that Tommy had already found a dragon. Adults like him could never be trusted. Tommy would just have to get the information without the old man ever figuring out that Tommy has actually seen a real live dragon before. Easy peasy.
“I am going to find the best food in the entire world to give to the dragons, so they will all be my friends and we can all live together in my treemansion,” Tommy exclaimed, grinning proudly.
“The entire world,” the man’s eyebrows shot up as his mouth dropped open comically. “That must be some really good food then. I bet all the dragons you find would like that very much.”
Tommy nodded emphatically, beaming at the man. Finally someone with a few brain cells! Of course the dragons would love it. Tommy would make the best parent ever!
He squeezed his bag to his chest, giving Shroud the best hug he could at the moment. Shroud let off an annoyed burst of smoke that leaked out of the seams of the bag.
Tommy froze.
The man seemed to freeze too, eyes locked onto the bag.
“Sorry,” Tommy said quickly, a bit too loud too. “My tummy isn’t feeling that good. I won’t fart again though. Everyone says it's rude.”
The man slowly moved his eyes away from the bag, and looked Tommy right in the eyes. Tommy’s lungs stopped working. After a long moment where Tommy thought he might die if it lasted any longer, the man offered him a tight smile and said, “I’m sorry to hear about your stomach. I won’t mind if you fart though. I am sure you can’t help it.”
Tommy nodded so fast that he thought his head might just nod off his body. After the man looked away again, Tommy let out a whoosh of air and glared at his bag. Stupid dragons almost getting them caught.
“Where do you live? Maybe I can walk you back and tell you everything I know about dragons on the way.”
“Oh I live in the woods. I found a great mossy area under a tree that is perfect for sleeping.”
“You sleep in the woods,” the man asked slowly, eyes growing a bit wider like Tommy’s sometimes did when he found out hunters were going to be in the woods.
“Yeah, where else would I sleep?” Tommy tilted his head and furrowed his eyebrows. Did the guy think that he already built his treemansion? Maybe Tommy overestimated how smart the guy was. It would take him at least a week in order to build all of that.
“Don’t you have a house with your parents?” Now the man sounded like he had eaten something bad. Tommy hoped not. He already had to deal with Shroud throwing up. He didn’t want to deal with that for a grown human.
“I don’t have any parents, silly,” Tommy said, taking a step back just in case.
“Oh.” Maybe he was choking on something? What should Tommy do if his only source of information was choking to death? Luckily the guy took a deep breath and seemed to recover himself. Tommy was safe. “You know what,” the guy plastered on a cheery grin. “I have a book filled with all of the information you could possibly want on how to take care of a dragon. It has a whole section on what the best foods are for them.”
Tommy lit up. That was perfect! A whole book about dragons was just what he needed. He would have to convince this man to bring him to the book, and then he would steal it! He would then hold the man hostage and force him to read the book to him! Tommy was so smart.
“I don’t believe you,” he said smugly. “A book like that can’t possibly exist.” Now the man had to show him the book because no one liked being called a liar.
“Of course I have the book! I will even show it to you.” The man stood up. Easy peasy. “I have it back at home, but I can take you on my horse,” he smiled kindly. “I think my horse would really like you.”
What an idiot. This was way easier than Tommy expected. He started to trot after the man, but after he glanced down at the bag in his arms, he hesitated a moment. Shroud probably would want to be let out of the bag before they went on a journey to make Tommy the best dragon mom ever.
“Wait,” he said, stopping in his tracks. “I will be right back. I forgot something.” With a quick grin, Tommy turned around and scampered off into the woods before the man could say anything.
Once he was out of sight of the man, he knelt down and set his bag on the grass, taking Shroud out. “Hey Shroud,” he whispered, scratching the scales on Shroud’s back. Shroud nuzzled up into his hand and let out a happy rumble. “Are you up for going on an adventure? Shroud licks his hand. “Do you want to run around first? Come on, let's go.” Tommy stood up and started chasing Shroud.
When Tommy started gasping for breath, and Shroud’s tongue was lolling out of his mouth, Tommy decided to call it quits. “Okay,” Tommy panted. “Let’s go back. I bet Smart Dude is waiting on us.”
Tommy placed Shroud back inside the satchel, and he immediately curled up and closed his eyes, exhausted from all that running around.
Tommy headed back to where he left the man, and saw him sitting on a stone, face flushed like he had just been running.
“Okay, I’m ready now.”
“Oh good.”
Together they made their way towards where the man’s horse probably was.