Dragon Drifter

The quiet spring air blew over the grasses, ancient oak trees’ sturdy branches and leaves swayed, and small critters calmly darted around the forest. Critters shuffled in the grasses, getting closer to a human body that laid down on the ground unconscious but not died. A sixteen years old boy, silver short hair, and tan skin. He wore clothing which were all dark themed color, a pair of leather shoes, pants, and a long-sleeved coat that have a column of five buttons.

Suddenly, rustling noises were heard from the distance. Fallen leaves and branches snapped as a mysterious young twelve years old girl ran away from a large green scale dragon with teal poisonous talons, two red enraged eyes, and a pair of light-weight wings. The dragon was chasing after the girl. It stomped over the land which knocked down trees in its path and maybe a few bugs along the way. Heavy footprints were created during that process as it kept on hunting the young girl.

“AHHHHHH! Someone help me, please! I don’t care who! PLEASE! ANY-” The girl yelled as she tripped over the unconscious boy on the ground then fell onto the grass with the progress of accidentally sprang her left ankle. The girl had separate color eyes, one imperial red and one azure blue, along with peach-colored skin, and long black hair with a crimson red ribbon attached to it. She wore a fabric dark gray dress with a moderate-sized skirt. Along with that is a pair of dark brown leather boots.

The dragon roared as it closed in on her. The unconscious boy woked up and calmly glanced around. He observed the situation and stood up quickly in front of the girl. Afterward, he then summoned a silver katana with an extremely dark handle that blazed darkness inside. As soon as the dragon made its attempt to attack him, he quick darted passed the enraged dragon and vaporized his summoned weapon. The dragon was put to rest while the head slowly fell off. No blood spewed out but instead, in between the head and body was burnt with black flame.

The boy took a deep breath while he ambled to the young. With an angry face, he then yelled, “What the hell did you bring a dragon to me for!?” He crossed his arms, waiting for a response.

“Sorry, mister. It wasn’t my fault though. By the way, my name is Yue-.” She replied but then the boy cut her off.

“I didn’t want your name. I want you to tell how did you get a dragon here?” He interrogated as he pointed at the dead toasted green dragon.

“But can I ask for your name first please?”

“No!”

“But why? Please.”

“The next time you say please and I will-”

“Please!”

“FINE! My name Zero, god damn it!” He answered while he went up to the dragon’s head and kicked it into the air at a fast long-distance. Yue slowly shifted backward while she was still on the ground. “Now, let me repeat. Why did you bring a dragon here? If you don’t want to answer, I can leave you here.”

“Please don’t me. Okay, I tell you.” Yue panicked while Zero faced away from her. She calmed down and frowned as she glanced at the illuminating yellow flowers. “I was with my friends and they brought me to a random cave in this forest. They told me to go inside by myself but I encountered the dragon in there. When I went out running, they weren’t outside waiting for me.”

“This is great. I just saved an idiot. Well goodbye! You got your issues. I have some of my own to deal with.” Zero waved his hand goodbye, strolling away from Yue with no sense of care. The girl picked up a small rock and threw it at Zero’s right leg.

“Mister! I can’t walk! Help me!” Yue was irritation with Zero’s personality. Zero ignored her and kept on walking. “I sprang my angle! Don’t leave me here!”

“What? Can you say that again?” Zero stood still with his left hand near his ear. “Sorry, I have bad hearing, you might wanna get closer.”

“I can’t move! Oww.”

“You’re moving your mouth though. Just kidding, I help you but you gotta give something back in return.” Zero jested as he darter to Yue into a squat position. “So, how is your day? You need some help?”

“For a hero, your pretty greedy.”

“So is that a no, I don’t mind leaving you here,” Zero said. Yue quickly held onto his right leg with both of her hands.

“I accept! Please don’t leave me.” Yue cried. Zero nodded in agreement and picked Yue up with two of his hands. She smiled and then suggested, “There’s a nearby village not too far from here.” She pointed north-east and then relax on the strong arms of Zero.

Zero carried Yue while traveling to the nearby village. During the journey, he thought to himself “Where am I here? What am I?” or rather the important detail, “Is there something about this girl that I don’t know and how did I know my name?” He wondered until he made it to a small village with around fifty people in total. A village surrounded by sturdy wooden walls with no gate and a cracked sign held on by iron nail, saying “Yorunite Village.” In which it’s the name of the small village. He walked in, cautiously.

VIllagers spotted him while they did there own duties around there. They stared at Yue and Zero with a disappointed face. By looking at the people in the village, they were poor. Houses made from woods and straws. Tools that were mostly copper and barely any iron. Most of the people were a bit scrawny and slender. People took buckets of unfiltered water. Few kids ran around with a handmade leather ball, kicking it around the area.

An old man went up to them with his right hand held onto a wooden cane with a copper rust handle. The man was very old because of his grayish-white hair that covered his mouth and a high amount of wrinkles.

“I wasn’t expecting you to came early.” The old man spoke. Yue slowly went out from Zero’s arm but held onto his left’s shoulder with her sprung leg slightly lifted from the ground. Yue and Zero looked at them confused.

“What?” Yue replied.

“I think you have a wrong set of people, old guy.” Zero responded while he pushed Yue to one of the female villagers who were next to the old man.

“Oww! My legs hurt, you know.”

“Do I care? Also, you.” He pointed at the female villager. “Take care of her for me. She hurt herself and tried to blame me. I don’t want to see her again.”

“Hey, that’s not true. You are a meany.” She pouted while the woman sent her into a house. The old man silently stared at Zero for a while. Unsure if Zero were one of the noble people from the kingdom of Vekotora which ruled over this land.

“Sorry if I mistook you for a different group. I am Daren, an elder of this village. Are you a guard of that young girl?” The old man asked nervously. Zero nodded in disagreement. He smiled at Daren with his right index finger swaying side to side. “No? Then you must be adventurers.”

Before Zero responds to the elder, multiple rushing footsteps of horses and the sound of when metal collided with another piece of metal. Bunch of militaries men with hoisted steel swords and semi-heavy steel armor with iron chainmail inside. They followed behind the leader with a more fancier and durable armor with gold metal edges. Also, the leader wore a red cape which only covered his right shoulder and back with an emblem that represented a sun with a waxing cresent beside it. Around the sun and moon, a circle surrounded it with eight spikes, an equal distance around the emblem. They went on the dirt trail to the Yorunite village with around twenty men, traveling into the village well prepared to collect their taxes.

“Look, I’m not even an adventurer. I’m not even from here. Which makes me poorer than poor. And for the girl, who knows.” Zero shrugged as he turned around to see the militaries. He pointed at them. “Armored people. Who are you?” The elder walked closer to Zero.

“They from the kingdom. You should respect them.” Daren warned him. He then went down on two legs and bowed with his head onto the grassy ground. “Sorry for his-”

Zero suddenly ignored Daren and slowly stepped in front of the militaries. He crossed his arms and carelessly smiled with an intimidating face. He slightly lifted his head to make eye contact with the leader then spoke, “I don’t give a crap. I’ll take on these bucket heads until they either run or bow down to me. Which means I don’t negotiate, especially if it’s an army from the damn noble.” But by saying that, the leader took out his golden steel spear, pointing at him. The villagers crowded behind Zero from a distance, observing the current situation.

“The only person you that will be bowing shall be you. We’re here to collect taxes, but since you disrespect us, you shall be punished by death.” The leader threatened. He attempted to thrust his sharp spear at Zero but out of nowhere, a magical crimson flame bursted in between Zero and the leader, surprising them including the horses who lifted their frontal legs in panic. The flame then vanished afterward along with Yue who slowly walked up to the others, partially dragging her left foot.

“In the name of Yue Drecorei, I command you to stop,” Yue commanded. Zero quickly glanced at Yue and the army. The horses went back on all four and the men withdrew their swords. The leader still held his spear in his right hand. He gritted his teeth and stared directly at Yue while he had his horse move backward a little.

“A Drecorei family member? What are you doing here in a place like this?” The leader questioned.

“That’s my familiar in front of you. If you do not want to cause a faction war, go away.” Yue suggested while she cast a crimson foxfire on her right index fingertip. A dark heat emitted from her magic.

“What in the world did I became your familiar!?” Zero shouted while he stomped on the ground angrily.

“Wait, you don’t to be my familiar?” Yue replied. Zero calm down. He sensed a physical projectile flying toward Yue’s head. He darted in front of her and quickly swipe his hand to catch a gray tungsten arrow with a strong redwood frame and white and yellow feathers. Zero summoned his katana which he then threw it at the hidden archer near the large tree on a cliff not too far away. The Katana didn’t directly hit the target but instead hit the tree with a millimeter distance from the face. The archer stumbled backward in fear and ran away. The militaries slowly back up, sweating internally.

“W-we’ll back off for now. All men, head back!” The leader shouted as he and his group went back on the dirt trail to return to the kingdom. Zero turned around to face Yue.

“I save your life, now I want you to tell me about these... Faction.” Zero asked with a serious glare.

“The kingdom of Vekotora had no kings nor queen but instead is ruled by four different family or rather factions. I am Yue Drecorei, apart of the Drecorei family which is the Crimson Core faction and also the daughter of the ruler of that faction. This faction is made up with a lot of magical mages, hybrid, and demi-god or demi-human. A friendly faction. Then there are three others, like the one we just met. They are apart of the Ecliptic Frontier which is known for their military strengths and economics but is a big dislike in normal society, making it an aggressive faction. But, that only apply to commoners, they hate them. Two factions we haven’t seen were the Temper Hunter and the Sky Catalyst. Temper Hunter is a faction that has adventurer guild around the kingdom and accepts dangerous urgent quest which is given to high experience hunter, adventurer, or trustworthy personnel. A well-known faction throughout the kingdom. Finally, we have the Sky Catalyst. They do a lot of trading and plenty of engineering. They create floating islands with magic and a bit of tech in it. Also, they research everything from living to non-living things. And that’s pretty much all. This is so much.” Yue explained non-stop then inhale and exhale rapidly, feeling exhausted from all that talking. She rested her head onto Zero’s chest, closing her eyes in progress. Zero lifted his hands up but after several seconds later, he put them down and sighed.

“Well, I’m going to the kingdom and check it out. And if those bastard wants to pick a fight, I gladly accept. Now you can tag along, I guess.” Zero told Yue while he looked behind Yue, viewing a few visible floating islands in the sky. Unique but seems to be under construction there.

“I’ll tag along. It feels like the one other faction wanted me died.”

“If you say so. But just to be clear. I’m not your familiar, ok? I’m just a stranger who managed to save your life. I’m not your friend either nor a guard. Just a stranger you want to tag along. Is that clear?” Zero went ahead a few steps to his destination backward, pointing his right finger at Yue.

“Yeah, whatever.” Yue slightly stuck her tongue out while smiling. Zero turned around and continued to his pinpointed location with Yue. He started his new ongoing journey like his old times. Drift away to one place to another, had no friends and was an orphan but his sense of exploring alone slowly caused a shatter in his memories. But not anymore since things are different.

For Yue Drecorei? She’s a noble for sure, daughter of the ruler who ruled over the Crimson Core faction. Half demi-god fox and half demi-devil wolf but took in more traits of a fox than a wolf. Now it just a wild dragon in an adventure with a demi-hybrid fox.