"Poor Kendra…"

I stared at the little creature in front of me.

I stared at the meat on the ground.

I stared at the other humans, with the hope of getting a gist of what was happening.

Not a single explanation came to my mind. All I could see was the stubborn moves of the young human, pushing its prey closer and closer to me. It was almost close enough to my front claws to touch them. Unintentionally, I pulled them back.

The little one let out a loud breath. “Ahh, you don’t understand! You’re supposed to take it.”

Then…

“THOMAS!” Suddenly, a scream resounded through the air.

"Kendra?"

“M-mom? Why-why are you here?”

“What the hell are you doing, Thomas? Get away from there, right now!”

“But mom…”

Another human was running down the rocky path that trailed down from the village to the shore. Thankfully, this newcomer had interrupted the confusing actions of the little one… But it seemed like this was not as welcomed by it as it was for me, for the young one backed away from the new—and remarkably loud—human. I had to slide to the side a bit to avoid it touching me. There was no knowing what offended these creatures, after all.

“What are you-is that meat from our pantry? You took it?!”

“Ye-yes mom, but, listen… I have an idea. We can give some to the dragon and—”

“GIVE TO THE DRAGON? Are you wasting our winter stock on that monster?”

“No, mom, it’s for the village!”

“Oh, help me God for this fool I have for a son. You are feeding the dragon? You think that thing is a lost puppy?”

“No, he’s not, I don’t think... No, I’m-I’m negotiating, mom!”

“I swear to God, Thomas, if you don’t get your ass back here right this second, I will…”

I noticed that the newcomer was a little different from other humans right away. It had a shorter body, its voice was much higher, and the fur on its head was gathered in a complicated manner—but these were not the things that made me so wary of it.

No, it was this air—this impression it gave around—that was warning me to be careful. I had never wanted to leave the ground and fly away from humans so intensely till that moment, not even during my encounters with the others—the ones with their shiny weapons in their hands that they liked so much to wave around. And I would have flown away, if there wasn’t such a small human so close to my body.

This new one was dangerous.

This one felt familiar.

This one reminded me of the female elders back in the Hive—or Mothers, as we called them.

They were the ones who laid the eggs and grew the hives to their respectable number, and they had a word with what went on within the hive at all times. Not to mention the stifling presence they emanated when they were angry with us—us being the foolish younglings we always were in their eyes, no matter what age.

It was the same presence, the one I was feeling now. And it looked like the little one was feeling it as well, because it kept backing away with great fear in its eyes. My earlier relief with the end of the confusing manners of the young human swiftly disappeared. And honestly, I wasn’t even sure if I had the courage to stand up to the female human, had she decided to come for the little human.

“Mom, please, just listen…”

“Keep your voice down, Kendra, that thing can attack at any moment!”

“Shut up, Grant. I will not sit and watch my son get himself killed. And I’m not letting our food go to waste.”

I flinched with the feeling of something touching me. I bent my head down to see the prey—the one I had been shown many times today—beside my front claws, pushed close by the young human. The chilling voice of the female continued, along with the sounds of other humans, but my focus was on my scaled hand, and the meat laid nearly on top of it. It seemed like the young one clearly wanted me to take a closer look… Which I had already done, just now?

How closer could I get to it? How more could I stare at it? What was the meaning here?

Suddenly, I had a crazy idea. Maybe...

Maybe it was giving the prey away. To me. But-no.

That was not possible. Because if that was the case… Not likely. Even the thought of it was ludicrous.

But if I was interpreting this right—if the prey was truly offered to me—this could only mean one of two things: either this human youngling thought I was a helpless, petty, or a sickly dragon who couldn't muster the strength to even feed himself, or… it was courting me, just like a male dragon who courted a female dragon.

I didn't know which one to choose. None of the two felt like the correct answer, both being quite unheard of, as the youngling was a human, and I was a dragon. We were worlds apart from one another in a lot of aspects: be it species, living styles, or the blatant strength as a creature. Thinking of a human youngling pitying me, seeing me as incompetent, and catching a prey to feed me was absurd...

But then, imagining any human being offering me its successfully hunted prey as a bonding proposal was… even more absurd.

What am I thinking?

I wanted to roll my eyes just thinking about such things. How ridiculous… Surely, this human didn't mean to do any of those things. This had to be something else entirely, a weird custom of these small creatures, just another eccentricity of their minds. Something I could never gather my head around.

Because, it couldn't have thought me weak and helpless like a newly-hatched dragon, or in poor health with my apparent vigor and vitality.

Likewise, I was obviously not a female dragon to be courted and bonded with… First of all, my size wasn't even large enough to resemble a female, and my scales were a dark shade of violet, which was a very unlikely color for a female dragon to have-wait, that isn't the most pressing issue here; I wasn't even a human to begin with!

That much should have been obvious. At least, I hoped it was obvious for the young human in front of me.

While I was occupied with these insane concepts, life was still going on outside my head, in a loud and lively way.

The mother was speaking. “How on earth did you come up with such a ridiculous idea?”

“Do you remember what Roger and the others said? You know, on that day, when they were att-when they saw the dragon at the sea. They said they managed to return by feeding the fish to the dragon.”

“I remember it well, Tom. I also remember all the fishermen being drunk off their asses by the time they even had the courage to mutter a word!”

“Hey, we were telling the truth!”

“So, you are the one who gave my son this idea?”

“...”

“Mom, please. Look, did the dragon do anything to harm me yet? I’m still standing here, alive and safe! And-and I’m sorry I took from our winter stock, but can’t we just see if giving food to him would work?”

I had a feeling that the young human was opposing the mother in some way, and that didn't give me hope for its future at all. But it genuinely made me want to understand what they were saying among themselves, the argument kept me guessing what could have made this youngling stand against not just its elder, but also its mother.

Not long after, I had a pretty good idea of what it was when the little one fell on top of my hand.

It wasn't looking back when it walked away from the mother, when its foot caught on the meat near my claws. And now, it was more or less lying on top of my hand. Eyes grown to a size unnaturally large, its breathing hitched for a moment.

This doesn't count as harming, right? I didn't do anything, after all.

I was expecting another long period of collective silence, but this time it was cut short when the mother ripped through the crowd and stood right behind my tail, glaring at me with a wild flame in her eyes. And suddenly—

Schlink.

A shiny stick met the dark scales on my tail. I flinched.

The stick bounced back harmlessly—it didn't even hurt—but the swiftness of the move and the look on the mother's face startled me. She held the stick in front of her, getting ready for another blow, when I decided it was enough. Standing between a mother and her youngling was not worth the trouble.

And, well… don't Mothers know the best?

I lifted my tail above her head just as she was bringing the stick down, letting her pass and reach the young one—which still hadn't made a move to get off my hand. Sure, its weight was barely there, but it felt warm and so very small on the back of my claws that it made me anxious to dare move my hand. Like it would keel over and die if I moved wrong or something.

"No, Kendra!"

"Be careful!"

"It's going to kill you!"

This was how I came to realize the cause of the commotion. Apparently, the reason for the mother and the young one's argument was… me. Because when she reached where the young human was—lying on me—she all but ripped it off my scales and glared at me with eyes full of fury. I immediately understood that I had done something wrong. And I couldn't think of what it was, except…

The offered prey. Everything strange—well, stranger—about this day had started with that piece of meat.

Stress built up in me as I realized that I had made a grave mistake by not accepting the offer of food—this peculiar human tradition of gifting for no particular reason—surely it was a great offense for their kind… It all seemed clear now, how the mother seemed very upset with her offspring when it failed to deliver their gift—when it failed its duty. And it was all because of my mistake.

How foolish of me.

It wasn't like there was a reason for me to refuse to take the prey—other than the humiliation and affront that came with the insinuation that I was weak and in need of help—since there wasn't anyone of my kind near to witness it, and even then it wouldn't be a bother because the offer hadn't come from a dragon, it had come from a human.

From their point of view, this gift probably had an entirely different meaning. It would be unreasonable for me to be resentful, or offended.

That's why I bent my head down, reached for the meat on the sand, and promptly bit down on it. It wasn't a large piece, and it wouldn't be enough to satiate my hunger if I were hungry, so it wasn't hard for me to throw my head back to devour it with a quick move, which I did while some shouts and hurried sounds came from the humans all around me, except the young one.

"Finally…" it spoke quietly.

The taste of the prey was… very good. I hadn't eaten anything like it before, it was tender and juicy, and the lingering taste in my mouth made me want more of it. I started to smell around, following where my nose took me without thinking, and—of course—I ended up in front of the young one. The tight circle of humans around me started to loosen up.

"Watch out!"

"Brace yourselves! It's attacking!"

"Get away from there, Kendra!"

I had forgotten to check if the mother was satisfied with me after accepting their gift—I was too occupied with sniffing around the little one.

Unfortunately, there weren't any more pieces left.

I let out a disappointed groan, but didn't linger around more for the young one's sake, for its heart was beating too fast even for a human and its mouth was moving without making any noise. The mother was still holding onto its arm with a shiny stick on her other hand, and she looked ready to stab me in the eye if I were to get any closer.

While I could relate to her fear for her offspring's well-being, I couldn't understand if I did something wrong again. Did I succeed? Was I not supposed to eat the gift? Maybe it was expected to be kept in my lair for a while…

"I told you, I-I think he can understand us. Look, he even accepted the deal."

"That doesn't mean anything, Tom."

"Then-then, why did he eat the meat instead of us? There is much more to eat around, why eat the cow?"

"You shoved it in its face, that's why."

"E-even then!"

"Don't be afraid! Ready your weapons!"

"We will get rid of the dragon today!"

"HURAAH!"

Suddenly, the human circle around me started moving, the sticks in their hands gleamed and clattered, their stance ready for an attack. They shouted unintelligible things, and soon the shore was filled with noise and chaos, once again.

Their eyes were full of fear and anger.

I watched them, thinking I had seen this scene many times before. This situation was just a repeat of what had been happening since I moved into my lair.

They had kept me from my sleep with their petty assaults, continued to pester me until I gave up altogether, and now my daily visits to my treasure were going to be intruded as well? And my naps?

Furthermore, this time they had offered me a piece of prey first… Which I had interpreted as a gift, but now I was getting mixed signals, and it made my head hurt while trying to comprehend their intentions, and… All of it was a mess.

Sigh.

I'm tired of this.

Suddenly, I couldn't find the energy to keep my head up. I was bored to my bones with these humans, too tired to see what they would come up with next.

Lowering my head on the ground, I laid on the sandy surface with a whine. There was enough space to put my head down, thankfully, but not enough to push the ground and fly away, so I was still stuck between dozens of tiny creatures. The best thing I could do was to ignore them till they left. I closed my eyes.

Do whatever you want. I don't care anymore.

"Wait!" I heard the sound of the little one. "Don't you see? He's not going to hurt anyone."

"..."

"Mom? Uncle Lark? Please..."

"This is our best chance, Lark. We have gathered everyone here for this, and finally we have that thing in our hands! We won't get lucky like this again."

"Yeah! If we strike together at once-"

"It's now or never!"

"No turning back!"

"Just give it a chance, please!"

…

The rowdy crowd was hard to ignore, but I tried my best to find that quiet place in my mind reserved for napping. Everything would be better after a nice and long nap. When I opened my eyes, there would be only me and my treasure.

"... Alright."

"What?"

"Sigh… I say we try Tom's idea."

"You lost your mind too?!"

"So you say we let this thing roam free to kill us whenever it feels like it?"

"We have families to protect, Lark!"

"I'm not saying the dragon is safe or anything… but it's not like we have a choice. We can't beat it."

"We haven't tried it yet!"

"We have tried it many times till now, Grant. For weeks we have been in and out of the mountains, keeping watch and planning attacks… We couldn't even land a scratch on it. Honestly, we're lucky it didn't kill any of us yet."

"I-I don't think we can keep living in the forest. The old can't take more of the cold…"

"There will be snow soon, too…"

“Keeping watch on the cave is exhausting.”

"I didn't want to be here in the first place…"

"You're just a bunch of cowards! How will we keep the village safe with milksops like you?"

"Look, if there is a way to solve this without any bloodshed, I will take it. I say we leave it alone as long as it doesn't bother us."

"Uncle… Thank you."

"You be quiet, Tom. I said we'll try your idea, but I didn't agree to feed the thing. We barely have enough to eat on our own. I don't want to go near that thing, either."

"I-I can do it. I volunteer!"

"Hang on a minute, did I say you can take anything from our stock?"

"Mother, I-I won't take from ours… I will go and hunt in the woods!"

"You think it's easy to hunt in winter, Tom? Look at its size! Do you know how much that thing eats in one day? Stop being foolish."

Breathe in, breathe out. I focused on the cool air and the sound of the waves lapping on the shore. The wind was whistling as it blew on my closed wings. A dim light from the setting sun behind the clouds reached my eyelids . It was almost peaceful… if it weren't for the frantic sounds of humans in the back.

At least they weren't throwing anything at me yet.

"Am I the only one with a sane mind here? Why aren't you saying anything? Huh?"

"It's true that it hasn't killed anyone…"

"Yet! It didn't kill anyone yet. Are you all gonna listen to a halfwit kid's words?"

"Hey! What did you call my son?"

"Y-you heard him, Kendra! He's speaking nonsen-"

"You don't get to speak about my son like that! Don't come to my door when you trip and fall on your axe, Grant. Again."

"You-"

"... Okay, let's take a step back, everyone. We are all very tired and very cold. Let's leave this matter for today."

"I agree."

"I have many things left to do…"

"I've been freezing for hours."

...

"Get back here! What are you doing? Hey!"

...

"Don't leave me here!"

Sounds of footsteps going away… The shore was becoming more and more quiet with every breath. I peeked through one of my eyes when I couldn't believe my ears. But the peace was real.

They had left. Finally.

I waited until it was dark and silent, then I stretched tentatively just to see if there was a reaction around me.

Nothing. Not a breath. Or a scent.

It was just me and the sea, once again.

I was so happy for the rest of the night that I couldn't stop my tail from swaying back and forth on the sand. It was late into the night until I was ready to return to my lair, with a receding headache and a pleasant lingering taste in my mouth.