Revenge of the Myth

Something about the way Erbrow worked so hard to think about the question and respond in a way she'd understand pleased Chinza. She had a bubbly smile on her face that looked rather dumb, yet something about it was known to melt the hearts of the town's young men when she lived there. When she lived... at home.

Slowly, the smile faded, eyes glazed over slightly. She clenched her eyes shut and shook her head rapidly, telling herself to focus on cleaning. With the broom in her hand, she tried to shoo the dragon with a giggle. "Shoo, let me work. When I'm done here, you won't even recognize it!"
 
Erbrow snorted softly. That wouldn't be hard considering he hadn't stepped inside that room in many years. Many, many years. Much longer than he'd realized, now that he thought about it. Oh well. It was about time somebody lived in it. He turned away, the tip of his tail flicking an inch away from Chinza.

The sun was a little less bright for the dragon as he made himself comfortable outside once more. The animals came to play, but he did not encourage them this time. He didn't discourage them, either, as they would not understand, He lay quietly while the sheep made themselves comfortable up against his belly and the goats made a game of jumping over his tail.
 
Chinza giggled somehow when she saw the tail flick so close to her. Was he angry, or being playful? The flick reminded her of a dog's tail wagging when it was shy. "Well, time to clean!"

It took her a number of hours before the room was completely spotless. All the dust was in a tin she'd found that was probably used for garbage once before. Wanting to change clothes for a bit, she found an old men's shirt and belt, and put the shirt on like a dress, the belt helping to keep some form of a feminine shape. She realized too late that she probably should have asked about the clothing first, as well as washed it- but it was too late.

"I wonder where Erbrow went, anyway?" She walked towards the exit of the cavern and saw the dragon laying comfortably in the sun that was fainter than before. The sheep seemed to notice her, and baaed as they ran up to her while she was walking towards the group. "The animals really love you a lot," Chinza chimed. "The room is now livable. I hope it's alright that I borrowed some clothes."
 
Maybe he could get a dog. He liked dogs. Kind of. The bold ones, anyway, that weren't stupid in their challenges but still determined to keep whatever they were guarding safe. A dog might keep down the occasional prairie rat that popped up, as well. But... then he'd have to figure out how to train a dog. He wasn't sure how a dragon could train a dog. He wasn't sure how a human would train a dog, either.

Erbrow came out of his thoughts when the sheep bleated and alerted him to Chinza's presence. He rolled over, dislodging the goats, and took a look at her. He was not exactly up to date with human fashion standards, but he had a vague idea that you were supposed to wear more than a shirt, but what did he know? Fashions changed. Maybe this was a new style. Or maybe she just needed to cover up and used what she had. He didn't really care, although he did feel a tiny pange when he recognized the shirt. He covered it up by blowing a perfect smoke ring that circled most of her body, the top of the ring passing just over her head as the bottom broke against her knees.

The Billy baaed and gave her a gentle headbutt, his way of trying to get attention.
 
It certainly wasn't a fashion she wanted to wear, but it was the only way she could manage to have something other than her clothes from being left to die- and let's face it, memories of being left to die weren't ones you wanted to wear on you constantly. She wanted to get a verbal reaction from Erbrow, but let it go when he puffed a smoke ring at her. "I can't tell what that means, but it tickled."

Giggling slightly, she felt the Billy give her a headbutt against her side, which lead to her rubbing its head with a smile. "At least you guys don't want me dead, huh?" She chimed the words without thinking, kneeling down and hugging the animal in a gentle embrace. "You're sweet."
 
The billy goat tried to eat her hair as she hugged him. Num num num! This had to be food! The other goats got board and wandered back to Erbrow, looking for anything else to eat. The sheep went to graze on the grass.

Erbrow slowly forced his vocal cords to behave enough to speak. His voice came out a low, slow, gravelly growl. It did not sound anything like a human voice. "They eat grass, not meat. I might eat you."
 
When the dragon reminded her of his taste compared to the goats, Chinza couldn't help laughing- partially because the billy was tickling her with the way it munched on the hair near her neck. Smiling with her back turned to Erbrow, she mused, "It's not like I have much to live for besides getting my revenge on the guy who caused all this. I still can't think of how, though. Maybe I could become a witch? If I had magic, I'd be making it seem like they were right all along, but at least I could burn down his business with a flick of the wrist.... That is what witches do, right?"
 
Erbrow snorted, curls of smoke drifting up from his nose. "Humans don't command magic," he rasped disdainfully. "Revenge death of you and target, but you can have it. If you plan." She really wasn't any good at this revenge thing, and he was not very clear on the best way to get revenge on a human, but the way seemed clear to him. Poison people against this man just as he had poisoned them against her. Perhaps sabotage his other businesses. They had to transport supplies into the village to this man's businesses, so why not start there? But he wasn't going to make it easy for her and plan it all out for her. Besides, she was rather amusing to watch. The longer it took for her to get her revenge, the longer she would stay alive, and the longer she would stay with him. It was - and he would never ever admit this to a living soul - lonely up here on the mountain with only goats to talk to.
 
Chinza pouted ever so slightly when she was informed humans couldn't use magic, which meant all people killed for being witches were like here- people that were just in the way of a jerk's ambitions. She'd seen a few of these killings as a little girl, and had always been scolded after saying she wanted to be able to use magic as well. There was one she remembered particularly well- she'd been heard saying it, and the woman on the stake smiled towards her.

Shaking her head out of the memory, she smiled up at Erbrow. "May I stay here until I come up with a feasible plan? I like it here. I get good company and you even had a room that I can use."
 
Dragons couldn't shrug, but they did have their own form of the gesture. He flicked his tail in a semicircle then turned to pad heavily toward the edge of the plateau. He was getting hungry for lunch. Maybe it was time to go hunting for food, and maybe she would come. He wouldn't mind. As long as she didn't talk quite so much. Nah, she would likely rather stay here and explore her new room.

"Room," he grunted as a way of parting. It was hers to do with as she pleased for as long as she wanted. Or until he grew bored of her, whichever came first.
 
Chinza took a moment to understand why Erbrow was saying 'room' out of the blue, but as she looked at the position of the sun in the sky, she smiled towards him. "Alright. I look forward to seeing what you bring home for lunch." As she started walking towards the cave, the billy goat chased after her, nuzzling against her back when he caught up with her. "Worried about me being alone? You really haven't a reason... But you can come if you wish. We'll wait for him together."
 
Erbrow wondered if the bards would be lining up to write songs and ballads about the girl and the goat? It seemed to make as much sense to him as any other random romantic ballad. He went to the edge of the plateau and balanced there for a long moment. Then the plunged down, falling like a rock for several feet before his wings snapped open with a thunderous CLAP. Hot air gathered under his leathery wings and carried him up and into the wooded mountain sides. Time to find food.
 
Turning around as she heard the loud clap of wind under Ebrow's wings, she watched in awe as he flew off into the mountainside covered in forestry. The goat shrugged it off, continuing to nudge her closer to the cave, which made her laugh. "Okay, billy, let's go ahead inside."

In the human sized room, Chinza opted to sit on the bed. It was a good ol' spring mattress. To her surprise, no springs were sticking out- it was well kept, even with all that dust on it. She looked over at the table and chair, mind lost in thought. If only she had her diary, which had naturally been left at her home when she was staked. "I wonder if I can make myself a notebook... And maybe I could tailor the clothes here to fit me better, if I had a sewing kit..."

She began shaking her head rapidly, which lead the goat that followed her to lean its head to its side. "Yeah... I can't ask for more. He doesn't need to keep me here... Eventually this room won't be mine. It's kind of scary to imagine the day he might eat me, but... I shouldn't be selfish as he keeps me alive. That's more than I deserve..."
 
The day was perfect! Beautiful, virtually cloudless, and with a calm, even wind. Warm enough not to be cold, not so warm as to be hot. He could not ask for a nicer day! Erbrow spent some time circling and swooping aimlessly, feeling the breeze on his scales. After a while, he finally turned to hunting. A couple of rabbits came first, like appetizers. Rabbits, nature's popcorn! In no time at all, he spotted and snagged an impressive buck deer. It felt no pain as he snapped its neck instantly.

Finally, he turned back toward home. Time to feed the human. He rose up in the air and beat his wings hard to get up into the sky and gained altitude fast. He glided over to the plateau and landed heavily in the grass. The animals avoided the dead deer, bleating unhappily. They didn't like their master's dietary habits.
 
As she wondered how to make the room more suited to her needs, Chinza began to move the furniture around just a bit. She wished there were sunlight in the room, but on the inside of a mountain cave, it was natural there was none. She dug through the pile of clothes to find things she liked, and carefully folded them on the table and chair. To her surprise, there was a book hidden in the clothing. "What's this?" She opened it, but it was blank. "I wonder if I can find some graphite or lead around here? I should ask Erbrow first though about the notebook... I wish I could ask him about the other things, but... That would be too much."
 
The dragon gutted the deer effortlessly and tossed the ineatables over the side of the cliff to be eaten by the scavengers. Erbrow dragged the deer carcass inside and pulled it down to the firepit in the living quarters. He plopped it down and looked for the human. He growled to let her know he'd arrived and started getting the meat cooking while he waited for her to- wait, why was he hearing a goat down here?
 
Hearing the sound of Erbrow's growl, Chinza ran out of her room to see the giant carcass by the fire pit. "You got lunch ready fast! I shouldn't be surprised though, should I?" The billy goat trotted after her, hiding behind her when it saw the meat on the fire. "Calm down, billy. We're not making you eat it."

The goat rushed out of the room to play in the grass with the other goats, making her chuckle a wee bit. "Sorry, Billy's taken a liking to me, so he followed me inside. I've always been good with animals... I used to help the farms on the outside of town a lot. But, more importantly, welcome home!"
 
Erbrow stared. For someone not used to carrying on full conversations, this was a lot to process. Where to even start? The fact that the animals were never, ever to be allowed in the second level where they lived, only on the first level in his makeshift barn? The welcome home? Was he supposed to make some kind of comment about her being good with animals? (A phrase he had heard three times before, twice from overconfident knights as they approached him.)

He decided for a bland grunt of acknowledgement that should cover everything then left the deer roasting over the fire - fur and all - to close the gate that connected the tunnel between the second and third level. Satisfied no more animals would be coming down here for a while, he returned to the deer and prodded it with a talon to turn it over. This should still take some time. He looked at her suspiciously. What had she been doing this time while he was gone?
 
She didn't catch everything the grunt was meant to say, but she caught most of it. She caught he hadn't a clue what to say to being welcomed home, and he didn't seem to care that she was good with animals. What she missed was that the animals weren't allowed downstairs- a rule she should've probably been told before being given the room, seeing how the animals- especially the billy goat- loved to play with her.

"I did some reorganizing of my room while you were gone. I found some interesting clothing choices in there, but I also found a notebook that had never been used. I was waiting for you to come home to ask if I could use it. I'll find something to write with somehow."
 
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(Downstairs, actually. Each level goes down, not up.)

Erbrow's wings lifted slightly - a sort of dragon shrug - and he slowly ground out, "The room is yours. Whatever is there is yours. Check desk for writing tools." He didn't know exactly what all was in that room anymore as it had been years since he'd last gone in there, but he was pretty certain he'd removed anything he wanted to keep long ago. He did remember the last occupant had liked to write or sketch or something, and likely there was plenty of writing utensils in or on the desk or somewhere in there.

He turned and walked slowly toward the back "door" to the hot pool. His scales scraped lightly on the stone, raising a soft rasping noise as his tail swung behind him. His claws clicked like a dog walking on hardwood flooring. He needed a bath, and he'd trim his nails. They were getting too long. He didn't invite Chinza along, but he wouldn't mind if she followed of her own will. It was good she was making herself at home.
 
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