Dragon Healer

I heard someone calling my name, and sat up groggily, what time was it? I remembered the pig and walked out to the tree, there, jess and bane were having a somewhat heated argument, and they hadn't seemed to notice me yet, "I told you, dragon! I’m here to have dinner!" oh boy. This is going to be fuuun.

Jess was scowling, standing with his hands on his waist, and bane was waving a bouquet of flowers at him furiously. "Well then why did you bring her poison? These plants are poisonous!" it was true, the delicate, brightly colored petals were very poisonous, but... "She’s not going to eat them, and what else was I going to bring her? Rotting corpses?" bane crossed his arms over his chest, "of course not! You should know enough to go and catch her something fresh to eat." I snickered at the thought of jess bringing me mice and chickens. They spotted me, Bane pointed a finger accusingly at Jess, but before he could say anything, I walked up and took the flowers from him. " Oh Bane! These flowers are beautiful! Thank you!" and I gave him a biiig hug, just to see Jess’s expression. He had his jaw clenched, but he was still smiling. "Oh jess, you know I’m just pulling your chain. Thanks for the flowers." poor Bane was very confused, "but why do you like them? They’re no good to eat..." he said. " Well, they are beautiful, and they brighten up a room with pretty colors. But otherwise, you're right! They’re useless." jess scuffed his foot paw in the dirt, "but I still love them, thank you jess." and I walked over and gave him a hug. "Well, now that that's settled, let's eat shall we? Bane are you feeling up to eating meat?" he looked away from jess, who had been scowling at him,” sure, I’ve gained more of my strength back" I turned to face jess, "and Jess? Is pork okay?" he squinted his eyes at bane, then smiled widely at me, "it sounds delicious!" I gestured to the pig, "alright, if you will both help me carry it the fire pit." they both scrambled for the spears, and I couldn't help but suppress a snicker. Jess turned and looked at me, "are you okay?" I grinned, "I’m fine."

We set up the pig to roast in the fire pit, I turned the spit for a while before they both offered to take over simultaneously, in the end I had to turn it until it finished cooking to keep them from biting each others heads off. Eventually I got tired of their bickering, "would you two please settle down? I swear! You’re acting like children." jess gave me the sad puppy-dog eyes, "but I just want to help you out, and he won't stop one-upping me, this was supposed to be our dinner, not his dinner." bane glowered, "well if we could agree that I help her cook, then you…" I shot them the look. They both quieted down and sat next to each other. "Here, jess, help me cut the meat, bane, hold the plate so I don't drop it." they obediently did as I said, and after it was cut, I served them each an equal portion of the tasty pork, then served myself. I relaxed more as they loosed up and stopped their hateful glaring behind my back, so I decided that now we could try and talk to each other like civil creatures and maybe I wouldn't have to report either of them. "So Jess'" I started, "tell Bane a little about yourself." he almost choked on a mouthful of meat, but recovered to frown lightly and speak to me as Bane snickered, "but he can't stay here long, it's not a good thing to get to know everyone just to move on," I ran my hands through my hair, "Bane? Why don't you tell us a little about yourself, and then Jess can talk." he nodded his head and put down a chunk of muscle. "I, am a dragon half, from the black tooth mountain range." and he paused to eat some more, "my mother was a princess, and my father was a warrior-rank black dragon." "Sorry to interrupt," I said, "but the day you came here a lady vampire wanted to see you...I had completely forgotten about it." Jess turned pale, I knew he didn't like vampires, he once had a vampire lover, a sweet lass, but once he found out that they could never have children, he had told her that he had to leave her. Long story short, she did not take it well. Bane looked puzzled, "a female? Are you sure?" now that I though of it, I wasn't sure, she never gave me her name, and her clothing was...obscure. "No, I’m not, do you think the vampire was a male?" Jess was staying out of this intentionally, as Bane continued. "if it was, then I know who it must have been. His name is Core, did he wear very feminine clothing? with long black hair?" I looked at jess with some concern, "yes, yes he did, and he wore a kimono, I think." Bane looked upset. "Well then there is a good chance, it was Core, he is an assassin, I think he was last hired to keep track of me for my mother, but normally he specializes in eliminating people under high security, he uses his feminine features to an advantage, luring his enemy into false judgments, I’ll bet when he heard that I was with a healer, he expected a man, so he came dressed to fool you. I’m surprised he left me in your care to me honest." and he started chewing on a rib, "Jess, are you okay?" I said, his face had lost a little color, but he seemed fine. "Yes, I’m okay," I looked at him sternly "The vampire didn't tell you you had a cute butt of something did he?" Bane snorted his rib, and jess couldn't help crack a smile before he replied. "No no no! That’s your job." I shook my head, "touché' " now having cheered him up a little, I’d see if he would talk. " well, okay, I’ll give you the deal, I am a purebred red kitsune,” he looked at Bane for a reaction, “and my parents are the alphas of our territory," he puffed out his chest, and Bane rolled his eyes. "I have know this Lily of the valley..."I stared at him "don't call me that." he ignored my stare and continued "for two years now." a though crossed his mind, and he wrinkled his brow, "did bane catch this pig for you?" I rolled my eyes. "No, I caught it for all of us," he seemed to take time to absorb this. "Right, its absolutely divine." Bane looked up from a leg and nodded his head. we finished eating in relative silence. The sun slowly sank beneath the clouds, and Jess took note of this. Wishing not to see the cross-dressing vampire, he thanked me for the dinner, and took most of the leftovers with him, so I ' would not be bothered with scavengers.' namely he was going to go home and feed his foxes with my food. how sweet. I helped Bane up, much to the annoyance of Jess, and I walked him inside before watching Jess disappear into the tree line. " He has got to teach me how to do that." After Bane went to sleep I wondered how long it would take for Core to show up. I had gotten a good rest that afternoon so I could stay up later. I waited about an hour at the cave's mouth, and then decided to go to bed anyway. If the vampire showed up, I’m sure he will make his presence known. I walked to my door, and hesitated, remembering my invitation. Damn! How could I have forgotten something so important? He could very well be standing over bane with a knife by now! I ran to Bane's room, and peeked in, he was sleeping softly, in rough transition with small curled horns on his head. I looked, but no one seemed to be there. So there was only one other place I could think of him to go. I didn't want to wake Bane, it would be comforting to know he was there if I needed him, but he was still far from recovery, so I had to let him get all the rest he could. I walked back to my room calmly, and opened the door, fully expecting the vampire to be sitting on my bed. And he was. Sometimes I would like to be wrong about these things, it was obvious that he was indeed, a he now, since he was wearing a loose-fitting low-cut shirt tied at the waste, it had a cloud pattern, and seemed to be silk....not... that I was paying attention to it...he gestured for me to sit down, and I sat down across the bed from him. I wasn't going to let my guard down again. "You are Lily, correct?" i nodded, "Yes. I am. Would you so kindly tell me why you didn't give me any information on Bane, and why you are letting him stay here?" I tried to be polite, but the lack of information was getting on my nerves. And you could hear an edge of impatience in my voice, not smart. I didn't even know how old Core was, so I couldn't summarize if I stood a chance or not. Core fidgeted, and started explaining, he sang the same song, that he was told to watch the queen's half-dragon son, and that his name was Core. "I decided to leave him with you, because most of the creatures in the valley trust you, you probably didn't know it, but not only the foxes, but all the greens, a handful of silvers, and two reds support you, not to mention a grab bag of other creatures. So I decided to take a load off my shoulders and trust you." the reds were a surprise, but what other creatures? I had lived here for a little over two years now, and I thought I had only treated foxes and dragons, I think, I know I had helped a few other creatures. But I don’t remember treating any of them. Core saw the look on my face, and decided to explain. “Even though you may not have healed other races or species, just allowing them food and a place to stay made a big impression on most of them. Most were used to being attacked by humans just for being what they are.” That’s right! I was always so used to seeing all kinds of creatures that I extended my hospitality to them when they needed something, not because of fear, but because I saw them as equals, and treated them, as I would have liked to be treated. Cool. “Alright, that explains that, but why did you want to wait for me on my bed? You could have just walked up to me at the cave’s entrance.” He gave me a small smile that lit up his face, and replied softly “because I haven’t trusted anyone in a long time.” I stopped dead; I looked at him, “oh! No!... No! it’s not that. It’s been a while since I’ve had much to do with humans that doesn’t involve an assassination, you’ll have to pardon the misunderstanding.” I relaxed a bit, “that’s alright, it’s perfectly understandable, but next time, tell me before you drop by please.” He stood up and walked to the door. “ You’ll know.” He said, “now I must leave you, I haven’t fed tonight, and I don’t think you’ll want me around when I’m hungry.” I nodded my head briskly. “Goodbye, and happy hunting.” And with that, he walked out the door and disappeared.