A cottage witch and her dragon 21
(You can read the rest of this original story on AO3 here)
It was a lovely, cool spring day in Rodgate, and Serenity had left the snoozing Dragon at home while she went to market.
More specifically, she had said "Dragon, get up. It's time to go!"
And was greeted by a very sleepy Dragon waving at her in a shooing motion. So she had left him to his own devices for the day. It wasn't the first time she had done this. When he was very young, he had stayed at home or with Granny whenever she went to market because he found the crowded marketplace too loud and overwhelming. But nowadays, sometimes he just didn't feel like getting out of bed, so Serenity left him to his own devices for the day.
On this particular day, though, Dragon was very bored. In fact, he was painfully bored. The market was infinitely more interesting than their tiny cottage. It really wasn't fair that the market started so early. Getting out of bed when it was cold was hard! People who wanted to get up early on cold days made no sense. Even Granny partook of this nonsense. Dragon couldn't understand it.
Dragon finally got out of bed when the loud clock in the living room shrieked ten times. That clock was offensive. It was loud and shrill, with a little bird that came out of it to interrupt Dragon's morning snoozes. Serenity refused to get rid of it, which Dragon also found offensive.
Pacing in front of the fireplace, Dragon started pondering what he could do with himself today. Suddenly, he had an excellent idea. Serenity hadn't brought the almost invisibility cloak Granny made them with her to market today because it was cold. But if Dragon wore his little mohair sweater, it wouldn't be too cold, and he could explore the neighborhood without Serenity or Granny finding out!
Pleased with himself for thinking of such a clever idea, Dragon ran to get his little sweater. After an intense struggle with an unruly sleeve, he managed to put it on (all by himself!) and turned his attention to the drawer where Serenity kept the almost invisibility cloak. It was in the top drawer of a very tall dresser. Luckily, Dragon had been practicing his flying, and getting on top of the dresser was no challenge. He was an excellent flyer, after all.
Pulling the drawer out was a little more difficult. It was a solid wood dresser, and the drawer was heavy for such a little dragon. But after a few good tugs, he had gotten it open enough that he could reach a paw in and grab the cloak. Now he was in business! Giggling to himself in his little hiss-hiccup way, Dragon put the cloak on, and contemplated what to do next.
Granny wouldn't like it if Dragon wandered around the neighborhood alone. But he had the invisibility cloak. And he had heard Granny leave her cottage earlier in the morning. Perhaps she was still gone. He could go and have some of her honey while she wasn't home. Granny didn't mind sharing. And if she wasn't there, he could have as much of the special orange blossom honey that she kept for special occasions as he wanted.
He should definitely go have some honey. This was an obvious plan of action. It just made sense. It was "the sensible thing to do," as Granny sometimes said.
Hopping down from the dresser, Dragon scurried to the front door and opened it, peeking both ways down the street.
All was clear!
Dragon giggled to himself again. He was going to eat all the honey he wanted! Dragging the long cloak behind him, he quickly shut the door and went to Granny's front door.
The lights were off in Granny's cottage. She definitely wasn't home. Careful to keep his paws under the cloak, Dragon reached out to open the door, but the doorknob wouldn't turn! Drat!
Dragon sat on Granny's doorstep to think for a moment. Why wouldn't the door open?
He wracked his brain for a moment, but then suddenly he remembered! Serenity always locked the door when they left the house. So all he had to do was unlock it. Easy!
Dragon gathered a bit of magical energy and pointed it at the doorknob and let it go. There was an audible click. He tried the doorknob again, and this time it opened! Victory! But he had to be quiet, so no excited yelling today.
Entering the dark cottage, Dragon went straight to the counter and jumped up on it, making a beeline for the cupboard where Granny stored the good honey. Dragons can see in the dark, because they are much better and smarter than humans, so Dragon found what he was looking for right away.
Giggling a little more, Dragon opened the honey jar and stuck a paw in it. Serenity didn't like when he used his paws to eat honey. She said he got the floor sticky when he walked around afterwards. But Serenity wasn't here, and dipping a paw in honey and licking it off was the best way to eat honey.
The honey was good! Orange blossom honey had a special bit of zest to it that made it the best kind of honey. Eating to his heart's content, Dragon was blissed out.
Suddenly, he sensed Granny's presence nearby. Oh no! Granny made the cloak! She would definitely be able to sense him.
Dragon didn't have time to put the honey back. He dropped it with a clatter and jumped off the counter, running to the back door as quickly as his little legs could carry him. With a rush of magic that was probably too big for the task, he unlocked the door and made his escape.
From inside he could hear Granny exclaim, "What in the world? Oh! That rascal!"
Dragon didn't stick around to hear anything more. He scurried away from Granny's cottage as fast as he could. Flying would have been faster, but he still used too much magical energy when he flew and Granny would definitely be able to sense it if she came after him.
With the cloak dragging behind him, he reached the corner past Catnip's cottage and stopped for a moment to contemplate his next move. He had sometimes played outside or went between neighbor's houses by himself, but he had never left their block on his own before. The idea was a little scary.
He heard the back door to Granny's cottage open and took off running. The market was more interesting, anyway. And Granny wouldn't chase him all the way there. As long as he stayed far enough from Serenity's stall, she wouldn't be able to sense him. He could have all the fun he wanted.
Dragon knew the way from their street to the market. He made his way as quickly as he could.
He did not have the foresight to realize that a small creature at ground level that's hard to see might get stepped on. Several people nearly stepped on him as he made his way to the market. Dragon hissed at each of them, completely offended. Didn't they know stepping on people was rude? He was walking here!
Finally, Dragon made it to the market. Standing on a street corner, he paused, considering what to do next. As he was thinking, he noticed the bookstore cat lazing in the sun in the bookstore window. Aha!
The bookstore cat was Dragon's nemesis. The first time they met, he had swiped at Dragon with claws when all Dragon was trying to do was say hello! They had been mortal enemies ever since, hissing at each other on sight.
But the bookstore cat couldn't see him right now. This was promising.
Dragon sneaked down the street, careful to keep his presence hidden. This would have been a hard process to explain, but dragons could cloak their presence so they were impossible to sense. It was sort of like holding your breath, only with energy.
Holding his energy in, he slowly opened the bookstore door and slipped inside. The cloak got caught in the door and he had to carefully free it before continuing with his mischief.
The cat was a creature of pure white fluff. Dragon didn't know why people liked fluffy animals so much. Scales were much better.
Struggling to hold back giggles, Dragon crept closer and closer, until he was right next to the cat. Then he stopped cloaking his energy. The cat looked up, sensing him but unable to see him.
Without a moment's hesitation, Dragon dropped the hood of the cloak and crowed as loud as he could.
The results were instantaneous. The cat jumped two feet in the hair, every bit of fur on end, and ran away as fast as it could.
Dragon couldn't hold in his presence or his laughter anymore. The cat looked like a cotton ball! It was just too funny. Serves him right for using claws on innocent dragons.
Charles, the bookstore owner, called from behind the counter, "Dragon, is that you? What did you do to my cat?"
Dragon quickly threw the cloak hood over his head and swept out the door. Much to his alarm, when he got outside he sensed Granny nearby. Remembering to hide his presence, he looked around for her.
There she was! She was standing at the corner at the edge of the square, looking around intently. She was looking in his direction, but he didn't think she could see him. Time to go! In a surprising moment of foresight, Dragon gathered up the extra folds of cloth of the cloak so no one would step on it and trip him, and off he went!
Granny made a beeline for the bookstore while Dragon made a beeline for anywhere that Granny wasn't. Dragons are powerful and smart. If she wanted to catch him, she was going to have to try harder than that.
Careful to not get too near the stalls in the center of the square, Dragon ran across the square and then stopped once again to plan out his next move.
The scent of chocolate interrupted his thoughts. Oh! He could go visit Marcus, Maury the chocolate man's familiar!
Luckily for Dragon, he had stopped on the corner where the chocolate man resided. At least, Dragon was pretty sure he lived there. It was his store, after all.
Sneaking in behind a customer, Dragon extended his senses to find Marcus. There he was! In the kitchen!
Dragon snuck behind the counter, still careful to hide his presence so Granny wouldn't find him. He wasn't about to end his fun now, when he could talk to the cool older scaled familiar.
Making his way through the kitchen, Dragon found Marcus lounging under a warm light. It looked very comfortable. Serenity should get one of those for the cottage. He would have to have a talk with her about it.
As Dragon got closer to Marcus, the other familiar sensed the magic of the cloak and looked directly at him.
What are you doing here, little one?
Dragon sent back some mental images, explaining his adventures up until that point. He couldn't help but giggle when he explained about the bookstore cat.
You are full of trouble, aren't you? Well, we all are when we are young. You should go back to your caretakers. They will be worried about you.
Dragon shook his head emphatically and told Marcus he wanted to stay here.
Very well, it is better that you stay here with me than be out there where there is danger. But you must go home when your caretakers come for you.
Dragon reluctantly agreed to this.
Excited to be in the presence of an older familiar, Dragon kept up an endless stream of mental image chatter, which Marcus responded to patiently. Among other things, they talked about magic. Marcus explained how to help Serenity during a spell, answering all Dragon's questions very patiently.
It is instinct, little one. You will know what to do when the time comes.
Their conversation was interrupted by one of the kitchen workers, who noticed Marcus looking alert, and said, "I think that rat got back in. The snake is looking excited about something."
The worker grabbed a large knife from the counter and started walking towards them, looking around at the ground.
When faced with a very large man with a knife, Dragon panicked and ran straight out open the back door, too frightened to hear Marcus calling for him to come back.
Dragon ran as fast as he could, taking a turn here and there, until he was sure the man hadn't followed him. Relieved, he stopped for a moment to catch his breath and look around.
The buildings here were unfamiliar. They had two stories, and strange people were coming in and out of them, unaware of his presence. He had never been here before. Much to his alarm, he realized he didn't know how to get back to the market, or how to get home.
A sudden crushing fear dropped onto his chest like an anvil. He was lost! And he couldn't talk, so no one would be able to help him get home!
Tears started to well up in his eyes. How was he going to get home? This was a terrible idea! He should have never left his bed that morning. What was he going to do now?
Dragon let out a mournful howl.
"There you are, you damn Dragon," came a familiar voice.
Dragon had never been so happy to see Granny in his entire life. He threw off the invisibility cloak and rushed to hug her leg, crying the entire time.
"You little idiot! What do you think you were doing, wandering around on your own!"
Dragon cried some more, telling her "lost."
"Yes, you got lost! This is why children aren't allowed to run around on their own. You would have been in real trouble if I hadn't found you!"
Dragon sobbed out a "Sorry."
Granny's demeanor softened and she pet his head. "I found you, so it's alright. Come one, let's pick up the cloak and go home."
At the word "home" Dragon perked up. He sent a sense of "don't tell."
"I am absolutely going to tell Serenity about this. If it wasn't for Maury coming and finding me, I wouldn't have known where you went! You're in big trouble, mister."
Dragon was too relieved to be upset about this. All he said was, "Home."
"Alright, let's go," Granny said, picking up the cloak where he had dropped it. "We'll stop by Serenity's stall and tell her what you've been up to. I'll carry you on my back. But you have to use a little magical energy to keep yourself up, because I'm an old lady and I have a bad back."
Dragon didn't need to be told twice. He jumped up and held on tight as Granny walked them back to the market.
"Granny, Dragon, what are you doing here?"
Dragon was too ashamed to say anything.
"This monster escaped today, and got himself lost."
"You what? Dragon! What happened?"
One tearful explanation later, Serenity was looking at Dragon very sternly.
"Did you learn your lesson? We don't go leaving the house when there's no grownups around."
Dragon nodded sadly, sending her his genuine regrets and apologies.
"Well, at least you know what you did was wrong," Serenity said before turning her attention to Granny. "Thank you for finding him. I don't know what I would have done if he had gone missing. And I'll have to make Marcus and Maury a pie as a thanks for telling you which direction he went."
Dragon jumped up onto Serenity's lap and held onto her tight. Serenity petted his head for a moment. It was very comforting when Serenity gave him head pets. It calmed him down immediately. He was safe now.
"Do you want to stay here with me or go home with Granny?"
Dragon wasn't ever going to let Serenity out of his sight again. He squeezed her tighter and communicated his intentions to stay by her side.
"Alright, you can stay here, then. Granny, can you hand me the cloak?"
"Here you are," said Granny, handing back the almost invisibility cloak. "Don't leave this where he can get to it."
"Yes, I will have to find somewhere to hide it."
"Well, then, I'm going to go home and take a nap," Granny informed them. "Running after this monster all morning has worn me out."
Dragon told her he was sorry again.
"Well, no harm done. You just behave yourself," She said sternly.
Dragon nodded.
Granny relented a little and gave him a head pat. "Be a good boy and I'll make you tea when you get back from the market today. And we'll have a little of that orange blossom honey you pilfered, you little rascal."
Dragon perked up at this. Granny didn't call him a rascal if she was mad. Only when she was exasperated or pretending to be mad. He nodded at her and sent her his intention to be on his best behavior.
"Good. Alright, I'm going home. Come see me when you get back."
"We'll do that," Serenity replied.
Dragon spent the rest of the day draped around Serenity's shoulders, glad to be somewhere safe. When the day was finally over, he climbed into bed with Serenity with a sense of relief. The scary day was over, and he would never cause trouble again. Probably.
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