a burning feeling
Chapter two
Ao3
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When Patton, a young-ish human, feels drawn to the mountains that house dragons, he doesn't know why he follows the feeling.
He definitely doesn't know why the dragons seem so... protective
--
Logan watched the little sprite as it curled up around the spikes protruding from his head. It seemed to be sound asleep. The action had rendered him immobile for how ever long it decided to sleep for (which could be anywhere between an hour or twelve hours)
He smiled, pushing away the thoughts. It was good that the sprite was seeking warmth, regardless of the inconvenience it caused him. Regardless, Virgil was sure to laugh at him.
Logan closed his eyes, deciding that perhaps he should nap with the sprite. Besides, Virgil was guarding exits, so it’s not like it could escape whilst he was sleeping. When he awoke, it was still near him, though it was trying to climb behind something, now.
Logan sighed, going to get it. It had done this kind of thing a multitude of times in the past two weeks or so it had been living here, Virgil hypothesised that it was some kind of game it was trying to play
Logan walked closer, quietly, noting the noises it was making sounded like happy noises, though distinctly muffled. He found his way behind the large pile of things and gently nudged it out
It made more of those happy noises, louder this time and started running towards Virgil’s side of the cave. Logan supressed a smile, and went to chase it.
It ended up in Virgil’s grasp before he caught it
Virgil looked at him with a strange expression, like he was trying to stop himself from laughing and make himself look serious
Logan’s scales shifted, and he hesitantly looked up
Virgil sighed, the little one’s clothing still dangling in his mouth. It was wriggling, like it was trying to get to the ground
“Since when am I the responsible one? It’s supposed to be watched at all times”
Logan huffed a little smoke, and gave his friend a small glare
“It was playing the hiding game it likes, and then ran away. I was trying to catch it” He shook his head
Virgil carried the little sprite back to its nest, placing it down, and nudging it back to the middle every time it tried to climb back out
“Sorry, little one. You’re too energetic for today, and it’s too risky to let you out for now” he said, though the little sprite couldn’t understand enough to know to stop climbing.
Virgil left to guard the entrance again
Logan curled around the nest and watched the little thing climb. If it kept climbing, and Logan kept putting it back, it was sure to tire itself out eventually
Logan thought about perhaps finding other games for it to play. Ones that didn’t involve running or hiding, possibly.
Soon would be a new moon, a night where all magic bloomed. Logan wasn’t sure what would happen to the little one (what had been happening to the little one) if its spark didn’t ignite.
Hopefully it would ignite within a few months. He didn’t want it to be ill, or sad, or hurt.
It stopped climbing after a while, leaning against the side of the nest. Logan gently nudged it, just enough to test its warmth. It was a lot warmer than it was when it first showed up, but not warm enough to ignite
He waited until it fell asleep and went to go find Virgil. Virgil was good at watching the little sprite, and Logan wasn’t as good. Logan and Virgil decided that Virgil would watch the sprite for a while and Logan would hunt and guard entrances
Logan emerged from the cave, looking down towards the human town. The humans were rarely ever out of their homes when he was, and tonight was no exception. He looked out at the little structures they made for themselves and let his thoughts wander.
He didn’t take too long to get food, and was back to the cave before the sprite even woke up.
He was careful not to wake it up before it awoke naturally; sleep was an incredibly important step in the healing process it was going through. It needed to gain all the energy it hadn’t been able to produce whilst it was living with humans
It was progressing slowly, but that was better than no progress at all. Logan knew what would have happened had it not sought them out, and he knew that it was still a risk.
He had to be aware of its progress and if it got worse at any point. He curled up next to the nest and his friend.
Virgil was watching every thing, every possible entrance, and Logan let him. It wasn’t often that being overly cautious was bad, especially not with a child to be watching out for. He absently watched the flickering shadows on the wall across from the fire pit. What colour would the little sprite’s flames be?
By the time the new moon came around, Logan was ready to forfeit any celebration in case the little one needed him. Which, as he found out, it did.
It became unwell, that evening, prompting Logan and Virgil to take care of it. It was cold again, and it was crying, an upsetting sound that Logan would rather never hear again. He gently nudged it, lifting it out of the nest, and closer to his own body warmth. Virgil lied next to him, also providing warmth for the sprite
It was still crying, though quieter, and less. Logan didn’t enjoy knowing that it had gone through this before, alone. Virgil was clicking out soothing noises. It mimicked the noises quietly, and leant against Logan’s chest
Logan draped his wing over it and looked at his friend
“I think it will fall asleep soon, what should we do?”
Virgil looked at him
“We let it rest, and we carry on helping”
--
Patton still didn’t understand most of the draconic language.
He still didn’t understand why he was there. They were nice to him, and he wasn’t really being held captive in most ways. Mostly, he found that they seemed almost concerned about him. He couldn’t figure out why.
He still played games with them, and they still kept him warm, and Patton was feeling better than he even knew people could feel. He felt stronger, less sickly. The dragons kept him in ways that made him stronger
He didn’t understand how. All the reports of dragons kidnapping other humans didn’t mention them getting stronger the more they stayed with dragons
Now, he was ill. He became ill every month, usually on the new moon. All the healers he had seen had hypothesised that it was some kind of curse. This was the weakest version of the curse, now that he was with the dragons. He was crying from the pain, still and he was shivering and he was freezing, but he had been a lot worse the month before.
The dragons kept him close, and they shared their warmth with a few clicks that he was sure was meant to be reassuring. He mimicked them quietly, his sobs fading out. He leant against one of the dragons, though he didn’t know which one. A wing covered him, protecting him, and he started to sleep while the dragons conversed above him.
When he woke up, the purple dragon was curled around him, the blue one doing something near the nest. Patton still felt ill, though not as much. He stood up, ignoring the pain settled in his chest. The purple dragon shifted slowly, turning their head to look at him. Patton smiled, looking at the eye that was half the size of him
He greeted them, and they greeted him back, gently picking him up. He wriggled, still not used to the feeling of being carried like that. He was set down closer to the nest, and both dragons started talking to each other. Patton sat down, deciding that he wasn’t in the right state to try play a game. He didn’t know how long he just sat there, but after a while he was lifted back into the nest, and he looked up
The nest was warmer now, and Patton laid down.
It was a few days later when anything really changed. He had woken up like normal, the dragons greeted him as normal, he played a game with them. And then, there was a noise from the front of the cave, by the entrance. Patton tilted his head, trying to think what it could be.
The dragons looked at each other, and said something quickly, before Patton was lifted into the nest. Patton tried to think what could possibly be happening, as the purple dragon rushed to the front of the cave
Patton looked up at the blue dragon, who seemed almost nervous. Patton hummed in thought. There were more noises coming from the mouth of the cave, including roaring. Okay, Patton was getting concerned now.
What could possibly have been happening out there? He attempted to climb out of the nest, but Blue pushed him back, more frantic than usual. And now he was really concerned. He tried again, before sitting on the floor of the nest and giving up.
He was tired.
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Tag list: @a-chilly-pepper
