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Dragons of the Wild

Siegfried smiled crookedly as he felt Ash purr, catching a fleeting glimpse of the images running through her head.


"I may not have been responsible, but I can still be sorry that you never got to know your siblings." He muttered, and squeezed her neck tighter before drawing a shuddering breath. "You're right Ash; the ones we love never truly leave, so long as we can remember them." He sighed a bit, stroking her neck. "I'm still sorry I dragged up such painful memories."
 
"You were only curious about me. It is not your fault that my life had been filled with bad luck, until I met you little one" Ash responded softly, disliking the sad feelings of her rider and, trying to cheer him up, licked the side of his face, spiking up one side of his hair. Looking at him, she gave a rumbling noise of pure amusement at his new hairstyle.
 
Siegfried felt as if the last of the sadness was torn out of his mind by way of his face, as a rough, hot, slobbery tongue dragged across it. Wiping off the worst of it with his sleeve, he gave his dragon a put-upon, affronted look.


"Oi, who are you calling little one?" He demanded, snootily tilting his nose into the air, but he couldn't keep the fondness out of his voice. "Silly, overgrown lizard."
 
"You. You are my little one. My little scaleless two-legged soulmate" Ash responded, laughing at him, the sound a deep rumble in her chest, exciting her, "And I'm not overgrown, I'm actually small." She pointed out to him, flicking her tail about like a happy puppy. Her rider was so adorable, like a little kitten (at least to her) who was trying to show off to its friends
 
"Harrumph." Said Siegfried in reply, crossing his arms and turning his nose up in mock arrogance. "You, small? Obviously you've been listening too much to those damn fool stable-hands; you are perfectly you-sized." He shock his head sadly as he picked up the rags again and walked back to her stretched-out wing. "Small? Preposterous."
 
"Well, I'm big to you" Ash laughed, the rumble spreading through her throat, even as she watched him return to her stretched out wing, to clean it, "But I'm a runt compared to all the other dragons. Though I suppose it means I technically have more room in my stable for things other than me" She purred in amusement, licking her riders cheek again with a rumbling laugh. She was always happy around her partner, and couldn't wait until they could fly again. She'd give anything (Except her rider) to fly out there again with him.
 
"That you are," Siegfried replied as he maneuvered the heavy cauldron of clean water onto a brazier to re-heat it. "And that you do. Any wishes in particular?" He asked, while he resumed cleaning the tattered membranes. "Perhaps the thigh-bone of an oliphaunt for you to chew on? Maybe some Gubraithian Fire to keep you warm at night? Or perhaps a collar saying property of Prince Siegfried?" He gently taunted, relieved that Ash was happy again.
 
Following through with his joke, "Hm…bone would be nice… sharpen my teeth. See?" She asked, opening her mouth so he could clearly see her teeth, sharp. Closing her mouth, she continued, "But I have enough heat, I'm a fire dragon, and if you even try to put a collar on me, I shall put one on you" She responded with a playful noise, though not elaborating as to how she'd put a collar on him, "Besides, I'm not your property. I'm your soulmate"
 
Siegfried couldn't keep the amusement out of his voice - not that he tried very hard.


"I'll see what I can do about the chewing bone, not sure it'll be Oliphaunt though," he promised. "And I suppose I shall simply have to remind the other nobles at every available opportunity that you are my dragon, and that I am your rider. We shall simply have to see how long it takes for the message to sink in." Even as he spoke, he rinsed off the bundle of rags for the last time. Moving over to the oil, he carefully tested the temperature.


"The oil is warm, but not hot yet. Do you want me to rub your wing now, or would you rather I started with the other wing and waited until it's properly boiling?" He asked.
 
Ash purred as he mentioned getting her a bone. She had been joking, yet he was willing to actually get her a bone, and her rumbles showed her appreciation for him, how he took her seriously. She watched as he finished, and her eyes followed him as he went to check the oil temperature. She whined when he stated it wasn't warm enough, and seemed to contemplate her options


"Waiting till it's boiling sounds nice" she purred to her rider, "If that's ok with you?"
 
"It's fine. I'll just get started on the other wing in the meantime." Immediately putting words to action, Siegfried began unwrapping the other wing. Luckily, it was not so badly infected, for whatever reason, but the sight and smell was still unpleasant. Siegfried once more resolved to have words with the caretakers.


"I don't know what they were thinking," he grumbled as he ran the hot wet rags over the inflamed wounds. "They can't have cleaned you properly before wrapping you up. What were they thinking? If you had been left like this the wounds might scar over, and then you would never have regained your full flying ability."
 
Ash cooed sadly as he mentioned this, clearly frightened that she wouldn't be able to fly again. Besides, what was the point of a flightless dragon? He's still want her surely, he'd proved that so far. But she was worried that the people who worried about her rider would make him replace her. Perhaps then she'd be declared useless, a broken dragon, and would be sent to the same stables as the broken and punished dragons, left to rot.
 
Too late Siegfried realised how Ash might take his rant - rather like he would if the healers were to rant about him loosing his legs, and much for the same reason; what use is a dragon-rider who cannot ride? He spoke again, half through the link, to reassure his distraught partner.


"Ash, it's all right; you will fly again! I promise! I was just upset at how poorly they were taking care of you. And besides, even if you couldn't fly or spark your breath, you'd still be my dragon - you're not getting rid of me that easily!"
 
Ash relaxed at his words, understanding that he would never give her up, though it didn't calm her thoughts as to what other people like his family would do. She watched him with sad eyes, "What if someone makes you?" She asked after a moment, tail flicking back and forth slowly. She seemed so insecure, always worried that her rider would have to leave her for someone or something else, and it scared her badly.
 
"They can try," Siegfried promised, his voice firm but with a cold and dark undercurrent. "I am Brasa; we do not simply surrender what is ours." His tone mellowed, and he lowered the bundle of rags in favour of running his hand along Ash's back. "And you are mine, never doubt that, just as you should never doubt that I am yours."
 
"My rider." Ash purred, closing her eyes as he ran a hand over her scales, "My little rider. I'll never leave you" She promised, reaching forward carefully with her head to nuzzle him gently on the leg. She then quickly turned her head, coughing up thick, dark smoke, laying her head down
 
Siegfried frowned at Ash's sudden coughing - in particular the smoke. Such heavy, black smoke definitely wasn't a good sign; it should either be light and pale grey, or flames.


"That doesn't sound good. Ash, have you had any trouble breathing? Any pains or aches in your lungs?" He asked, dropping the rest of the washing rags to feel his way across her chest, tracing out the ribs and the major muscles.
 
"Sometimes it hurts..." Ash admitted, "but it's fine" she tried to assure him, not wanting him to worry about her, "I'm sure I just hit the ground a little too hard" She attempted to make it sound casual, another small cloud of the smoke escaping her. She watched him as he traced her ribs with his fingers. Surely she'd know if one was broken? They weren't exactly hard to see. But then, she hadn't really looked, and attempted to as her rider did the same
 
"You should have told me," Siegfried admonished, while carefully examining his partner's chest and torso. "Hidden injuries are not always easy to notice - but they can still be just as deadly as any open wound." He continued to gently berate her, the bond filling with worry and care, as he moved back over to her other side. "I can't feel anything immediately wrong - you don't seem to have any broken ribs. Still - breathe deep for me?" He asked, carefully leaning over and placing his ear against her hot, smooth scales.
 
Ash lowered her head slightly, feeling like a told off puppy. She hadn't known that it could be that serious, that it wouldn't just go away. Doing as she was told in her usual obedient manner, she breathed in deeply, watching her rider listen. She couldn't do it again however, as the first sent her into a coughing fit, more black smoke filling the room with each cough
 
Siegfried winced as Ash began coughing, feeling a surge of fear and protectiveness. It was bad - not "she's about to die" bad, but it was definitely good that he caught it when he did. He continued to run his hands along her back, soothing her with gentle touches and his care through the bond, while thoughtfully turning his gaze towards the braziers. He hadn't even thought about it, distracted by both of their injuries and everything that had happened, but the room had been... Unusually cold. Which shouldn't have happened; a fire dragon was like a living stove, their very presence heating the room around them to what they considered comfortable.


Ash was sick, maybe even seriously so.


"You are sick," he pointed out, somewhat redundantly, even as he started grabbing the firehooks and dragging the braziers closer to Ash's body. "I'm not sure with what - hopefully just a little cold-sniffles - but it's probably because of your infected injuries. They make your body weak, and that allows the sickness to take hold." He paused in his efforts to refill the braziers with wood and coal, instead hugging Ash's head tightly. "Heat and food and rest, that will heal you up." He promised, tightly clamping down on his worry - which he knew was probably exaggerated, but he couldn't help it.
 
Ash could feel his worry, his care and his soothing presence through the bond, even as his fingers gently danced across her scales in a calming manner. Soon her coughs subsided, and she reopened her eyes to look at him, giving soft purrs. She knew it was bad as he spoke. She had known she was ill by the way she coughed, but it was only when he moved the fires closer that she realised she was cold, a sensation she had only really felt as a hatchling after her mother died
 
After refilling the braziers, Siegfried realised that not only was the room finally getting hotter - more like what it should be, at least - but it was also getting heavier to breathe. He walked over to the shutters, and after only a brief moment of hesitation, began opening them. More air would breathe more life into the fires, and that would do more to heat the room than what little could escape through the open hatches.


Besides, if the fires suffocated, the so would he and Ash - and that was beyond unacceptable.


Shutters open, Siegfried started towards the door, intending on telling one of the guards stationed outside to fetch a healer, when he suddenly stopped mid-stride, turning towards Ash with a worried expression. Instead of opening the door, he walked over to her, and laboriously sat, pulling her head into his lap.


"Ash..." He began, hesitantly. "I think it would be better if I called for a healer, but..." He grimaced, but did not stop petting her. "They'll probably make me go back to my room. Staying with you while we are both injured and recovering is one thing; if they find out you're sick, they'll worry that I'll catch it too. I think it would do more harm then good, but... They are healers." He paused in his stroking of her head, and looked her in her eyes. "What do you think?"
 
Ash watched him move, watched his small body work to fill the fire-holders that warmer her body. She watched him reach for the shutters, allowing air in, and her thick smoke out. It reminded her that he was badly injured too, so when he asked her about a healer, she didn't seen surprised.


On one paw, she didn't want a healer, didn't want anyone to see the state she had gotten into. She didn't want her rider to leave, to an area that she couldn't hear him, nor protect his small, fragile form. Someone had shot at them, almost killing the both of them, and that someone could still do after her human.


Yet, on the other paw, she knew healers would be better for both of them. Her rider couldn't rest whilst taking care of her, and he was hurting too. She was just a burden to his healing time, and she knew it would be better for him to go and sleep, and heal, than to be at her side. Besides, he'd have the guards, the royal family, and who knows who else to protect him. He didn't need her to heal.


So, eventually she nodded, dipping her head slowly, "You need to rest as much as I, my rider.... And whilst I hate to not be able to protect you....perhaps it's for the best"
 
Siegfried felt Ash's concern for him, her protectiveness warring with her logic, and knew exactly what she felt - because they were the same feelings which had prompted him to ask her in the first place. But if she could bear with it, then he would trust her - though he would still make a point to visit, no matter what the royal physician said.


"Okay Ash, I'll do it. But I promise I'll stop by every day, to make sure they treat you right this time." He vowed, while stroking her flank, noticing that she was already breathing easier between the heat and the fresh air. "You just make sure to heal up, alright?"
 

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