What is your name?

As if on cue, Mr. Dragon charged forward, right towards Shari and Mairi, his eyes focused on the tentacles surrounding them.

As soon as he reached them, his mouth snapped towards the tentacles, and his front legs grabbed Mairi and Shari.

The snapping of his mouth caught three tentacles before they could go back underground, he then began to pull at them, forcing them forward as he placed Shari and Mairi to his left side. As he did this, several tentacles erupted, and fired towards him with the intent to impale, yet when they made contact with him, they either bounced off, or due to their high speed, splattered on his scales, in a mess of blood and muscle.

Mr. Dragon continued to pull on the tentacles, grabbing any additional ones he could get his claws on.

Don’t even try to get away!

After he tore out all of the tentacles, Mr. Dragon turned towards the creature now in flames, and motioned towards Shari.

“Y-yes!”

As soon as she saw the motion, she began speaking to the mana around her, and dissipated the Guardians Blade. The now released creature within was barely classifiable as living, yet a tremble could be seen, perhaps showing fear or excitement, not to say they were mutually exclusive.

Before reaching the creature however, Mr. Dragon noticed Miyo, still battling the tentacles, and after a moment's deliberation, went to free her as well.

That’s a… dragon!?

Mr. Dragon then ripped out all of the tentacles, before motioning her towards Mairi and Shari.

“Ok Mr. Dragon!”

Why is that the term everyone settles on?

In truth, she simply heard what Shari had yelled out after he roared, but Mr. Dragon was obviously not in the mood, nor in the right place, to reflect and consider such things. As he ran, and as the tentacles attempted to pierce, Shari watched in awe at Mr. Dragon.

His flesh aspect must be of endurance… Does the green color indicate his elemental aspect to be that of earth or forest? No… There is a species of dragon with impenetrable skin of the color green, and their element is…

This thought was interrupted with yet another roar, as Mr. Dragon thought through this bizarre statement as he tore through the tentacles above ground.

Now on to you, you yucky yeasty yokel!

For whatever reason, those who I have written for have always felt the absurd unconscious need to make their statements a true pain to translate into other languages, regardless of however nonsensical the statements themselves are, it has gotten to the point where I suspect some curse on my part. Our (divine beings) natural defences against curses don’t technically work as well when the curse isn’t directly harmful after all. But I digress, Mr. Dragon began to charge the creature, its body frothing like the yeast Mr. Dragon compared it to. Its trembling only increased as Mr. Dragon got closer and closer, and its body even appeared to squirm and unshape, as though it were now beginning to truly become a squid.

For whatever reason however, it made no attempt to move, and more tentacles began to sprout from the ground towards Mr. Dragon, each meeting the same fate, yet towards that fate they marched nonetheless. As Mr. Dragon got closer, a tentacle or two even began to sprout from the body of the creature itself, though it was so badly hurt they were not particularly effective, and it seemed the creature was actually holding itself back from sending out more.

For whatever reason, this creature's top half began to shrink and shrink, while its bottom half grew in size at a similar rate, but as Mr. Dragon got truly close, even its bottom half began to shrink, leaving a smaller, almost withered out husk. I had a theory as to why, but I feel no obligation to write it down.

Once Mr. Dragon reached the creature, it seemingly revealed its true plan, as he suddenly began to sink into the ground, which was hollowed out by the tentacles. As he sank, various tentacles began to tie at his arms and legs, forcibly holding him down, as they dud this more tentacles attempted to pierce his scales.

Hmph, this the best you got weirdo?!

Mr. Dragon surged forward, as he was on the ground still, he was not able to fully gain momentum, but that did not matter, as he opened his mouth, not to roar, but for another, perhaps classical reason.

Yes… the Ignits, the last of the old species… And they all have the element of-

And a orange flame burst from Mr. Dragon’s maw, and it hit the ground in front of him, it then began to double back all over the pit, burning all the tentacles holding Mr. Dragon to ash. The creature itself was not much better, as it once more recoiled at the sight of the flame.

This placed the creature in a rather horrible situation, as Mr. Dragon jumped out and bit it.

Huh, so that’s where all the tentacles came from…

As Mr. Dragon began lifting the creature into the air, he found a surprising amount of resistance. This resistance came from a tentacle under each of the creature's feet, as Mr. Dragon began to pull the creature even further upward, these tentacles began to divide into two or three, almost like roots.

By all accounts, the creature should have been dead, but for reasons perhaps indecipherable, it still persisted, and many tentacles once more pierced through the ground, this time not aimed at Mr. Dragon, but at Miyo, Mairi, and Shari.

Hostages?! You bastard!

Mr. Dragon released his jaws a bit, keeping a close eye on his three companions.

I know you can’t understand me, but surely you can understand this right?

Mr. Dragon began lowering the creature to the ground, as he did so, the creature began bringing the tentacles back into the ground one by one, but even so, each of the three still had a tentacle pointed at them.

Can I even trust it? I don’t know what it is… some sort of octo-

Somehow, as though it read his thoughts, a few of the squid like creature’s tentacles fired at Mr. Dragon. Of course the ones pointed at the three companions were still there, not moving for a moment.

What the…? Do you want me to go quicker?

In a moment which could be considered lackadaisical, Mr. Dragon continued to lower the creature.

In a similarly lackadaisical but not similarly idealistic view, Miyo had her own thoughts on the matter.

Good thinking Mr. Dragon! Once he lowers enough of the tentacles, all we have to do is attack it once we’re all out of harm's way!

This point of view was rather idealistic for various reasons, for one, Miyo was somehow under the impression that she could somehow assist in killing the creature despite her injury, and for another, will be explained in a moment, after all, Mairi did not share this set of lackadaisical views.

Open your eyes Mr. Dragon! This thing still has tentacles underground! It can kill us as soon as you give it a chance to escape!

Mr. Dragon did not consider these concerns, perhaps it was for the best however, as it would only cause for the chance of greater failure via nervousness. It was not for the best that Miyo did not consider them, as her mounting impatience only put them all at more risk, as she did not realize the obvious.

Shari had her own set of concerns, but she was not silent with them.

“Open your eye’s Mr. Dragon! This creature will cause even more havoc if let free, it must be killed no matter what!”

It should be fairly obvious why Mairi was stunned in horror, while Miyo was stunned in awe.

Leading to Miyo shouting.

“Yeah! She’s right Mr. Dragon, crush that thing! Do it now!”

And Mairi saying nothing, but merely thinking.

Oh, I’m about to die.

Her hair stood on end, and in a way that was in some sense admirable, she stayed silent despite these thoughts. But, in a moment that defied all expectations, Mr. Dragon continue to lower the creature, not for a moment considering causing his new companions harm. For what it is worth, the creature did not react in the slightest, still shivering in an odd way.

If I let them die… what could I possibly do to look my own reflection in the eye?

Of course this line of thought was mayhaps a bit foolish. Given Mairi’s own excellent point, lowering the creature would have literally no effect on the danger of his three companions, but given a point none but I was aware of, crushing the creature then and there would have little in the way of effectiveness as well.

Think… think… hold on, when it saw the blancket of flame, it flinched quite a bit and when it saw my own flame, it convulsed… So maybe…?

Unknown to Mairi and Shari, Mr. Dragon had been watching the battle the entire time at the little one’s request, being told to only interfere if absolutely necessary. I considered mentioning this earlier, but I despise unnecessary explanations, and was unsure if this would become relevent.

It must be scared of fire!

Not considering any other option, Mr. Dragon instantly lit the creature inside his mouth ablaze, and I do truly mean, in an instant, as it seemed in one moment the creature was being lowered to the ground, and in the next it was burning within Mr. Dragon’s maw.

This seemed to have the intended effect, as the tentacles squirmed for a few seconds after the flames had hit it. These few seconds were crucial, as Shari used her guardians blade to crush the tentacles surrounding her, Mairi and Miyo, due to the the three being somewhat close together, and due to the flame itself coming from her now smoking staff, her control was much more precise than it was when attacking the creature, who was purposely placed at the end of the spells range to not agitate the mana.

Now take this!

Seeing this, Mr. Dragon crushed the creature in-between his mouth fully, as blood splattered everywhere.

Taste’s disgusting, just like the rest of you.

The remaining tentacles fell, turning slowly but surely to ash for no explainable reason.

“All right! Good going Mr. Dragon!”

Miyo was floored by the entire sequence of events, given her past, it was not shocking that the simplest of excitement had such an effect on her. And seeing as the source of her newfound excitement was only a short distance away, she went over to Mr. Dragon and hoped to thank him for his assistance. As this was occurring, Shari fully dispersed the Guardians sword spell, while Mairi ran over to check on the little one.

“I’ve never seen a dragon before! Can you fly?”

Both due to the fact that Mr. Dragon himself did not know, and the unexpected straightforwardness of Miyo, our dragon friend merely shrugged, at least as much as dragons could shrug.

“What’s that supposed to-”

“Because Mr. Dragon is young, I doubt he can yet.”

Shari had walked over after disengaging the spell, much to Miyo’s panic.

“Ack! I didn’t see you there, sorry!”

“It’s quite alright, but please do be a little more respectful towards Mr. Dragon-”

That name is respectful?

“He is a dragon, worthy of all respect.”

I am?

“Oh… that’s gotta be incredible, huh Mr. Dragon?”

Mr. Dragon nodded, a little sheepishly.

He didn’t know, yet he can understand us fully, implying he is knowledgeable of our ways? Truly you are incredible Mr. Dragon!

Tired from the excitement, Mairi walked over with questions on her mind.

“All of that being said Miyo… I must ask where you came from, you do not appear to be from here.”

“I wish I was…”

“Alright… but where are you from?”

“Another world I think.”

This caused a pause to form from Mairi, and a look of interest in Shari, who stared for a few moments before noticing Mr. Dragon’ expression.

“Mr. Dragon… you appear quite shocked, does her strange-”

“Hey!”

“Statement mean anything to you?”

Mr. Dragon hesitated for a moment, and pointed to himself, nodding.

“You are from another world as well?! What is it called!”

Jeez… this will be tough.

Responding to Miyo’s question, Mr. Dragon began to write, he was slow and clumsy however.

“Ah? I see, I see…”

“You can read that Ms… oh my I didn’t catch your name… what was it?”

“Shari… and yes I can read it, I cannot recognize some parts however, perhaps they are the result of a dialect which appeared in the past centuries since I last awoke.”

Or maybe they’re just too illegible… sorry. Hold on, how could she be reading my writing? It’s from my home?

“What did he write? If he’s from another world like me, there’s a chance he’s from the same world right?”

“Let me see… he wrote…”

“Oh, now I can read it… ah I do know that place! Is it not a slum?”

Hey!

Mr. Dragon glared at Miyo for a few moments before looking away angrily.

My home sucks… don’t remind me…

“My… father was always speaking of the area, he always said it was filled to the brim with… nothing but common yokels.”

HEY!

This one sided exchange was met by Shari merely staring in awe and horror, though our two world traveling heroes did not know that.

“Hold on a moment… I never heard of a dragon showing up in real life… ever, much less in that county, so were you just hidden there or something?”

Well…

Mr. Dragon once more attempted to write down his answer, but due to it being a much more complex and ambiguous statement, he would have had an even harder time. So he gave up on writing the message down entirely, and drew a picture instead.

“Is that a person?”

Mairi said, as she had finally collected the little one, and had come over to see the comotion. In response Mr. Dragon nodded, and pointed from the picture to himself.

“You know a person there!”

The little one responded excitedly. Mr. Dragon shrugged, thought for a moment, and ultimately shook his head for no.

I could be pedantic, but that gags been done to death, for all intents and purposes, I am not trying to bring across the information that I simply know people.

“That is your fitform! Which you take when you are with mortals!”

Shari was now that Once more Mr. Dragon responded with no, though this one was much more clear and without much thought.

Oh right, he cannot use one, I suppose that answer is impossible.

Shari blushed a bit realizing the obvious flaw in her logic.

“Well, you do know people at this ‘homeworld’ of yours, right? But that isn’t what you're trying to show?”

Mairi had noted Mr. Dragon’ reluctance during the little one’s answer, and chose to capitalize. To this statement Mr. Dragon nodded sharpley.

“So if you knew people… you must have been interacting enough for it to matter towards that first question… and you couldn't use a fitform back then or now…”

Evidently this question and answer session had gotten rather exciting, as Miyo was happily walking in circles considering the various angles of this game. Perhaps she was a bit more experienced than the others at it, as I should not need to explain how popular a similar game is in our heroes homeworld.

“Were you extremely close with an exceptionally powerful mortal?”

Before Mr. Dragon could even answer Mairi’s followup question with no, Miyo intervened.

“That cannot be, if such a person existed my father would have known him… and spoken of them in my presence.”

“...That's not necessarily true.”

“Why not?”

“Well, the veil for one thing, and for another, if this individual was powerful enough, then surely he could hide from your father? Also, if this individual were so separately important to Mr. Dragon, then surely Mr. Dragon would think to draw important features of theirs? It can’t be your father either, or else I’m certain Mr. Dragon would know or be aware of you, at least tangentially.”

Mr. Dragon nodded at Mairi, as she put the pieces together.

“The fact that this drawing has no especially defining features implies the individual in question is not important for what they can do or who they are, but what they are… they cannot be his fitform… yet they cannot be a separate individual either… the fact that this individual and Mr. Dragon are connected matters greatly… are they from your past? Or are in some way mortals important to your past?”

Mr. Dragon shrugged a bit, unsure of how to respond. Hearing this, and seeing Mr. Dragon’ reaction, Miyo perked up, and had a realization.

“When I woke up in this world, my body was all different, I didn’t use to look like this, you know? Mr. Dragon… is it possible that your new body is that of a… dragon?”

Mr. Dragon nodded yes, happy to finally be understood.

“Hold on a moment Mr. Dragon, does she mean you were TURNED into a dragon?! From a mortal?”

Mr. Dragon nodded once more, not quite sure how to respond to Shairi’s sudden serious tone.

“That is… impossible.”

This flat statement was perhaps a little cliche, but it did spark Mairi’s perhaps reasonable follow up.

“Mayhaps you were in your fitform your entire life and did not realize your true self? I have heard a tale or two of similar bearings1.”

I would be pretty horrified if that were the case.

“If his situations anything like mine… maybe you fell asleep sick and woke up different?”

No. I died.

To show this, Mr. Dragon shook his head, and then smashed his hand to the ground where his drawing was.

“... You killed yourself?”

Mr. Dragon shook his head. Shari sighed a bit in relief.

A venerable dragon attempting suicide is to tragic.

“You died?”

Mr. Dragon pointed at the little one and nodded, she immediately began celebrating.

“You died and… awoke as a dragon? Before dying, were you attacked by some strange monster? Or perhaps a djinn? They have been making strange movements recently.”

I thought they were fictional.

Now sick of the game, Mr. Dragon drew a crude picture of a cart, and pointed at it, after doing so, he moved his pointing hand towards the now somewhat obscured picture of a mortal he had drawn earlier.

“You were crushed by a cart?”

Mr. Dragon nodded, satisfied.

“Was it ridden by someone of renown? Or perhaps someone strange?”

It was my brother, but I suppose I would consider him strange?

“Well?”

Was there anything that came off as… well, off? No… I saw nothing of note before my death.

“So you are… a mortal, who allegedly transformed into a dragon?”

Uhhh, yes, that seems to be the case.

Mr. Dragon could not help but feel an edge in her voice, which belied an emotion of deep anger in the face of this revelation.

“Well, that’s definitely shocking to hear… maybe we can figure it out eventually?”

It was Mairi who broke the sudden spike in tension, and took charge of the situation.

“Miyo was it? I apologize, but I must ask that you come with us, your experience in and before this battle will require some questioning.”

“Ok! Just be sure to take me alive!”

“... Of course.”

Miyo shivered a bit, at the implication that taking her dead was an option. Unaware that Mairi had simply given up trying to understand things. Such as ‘How would we question you if you were dead???’ and ‘Is dying via cart now considered venerable and sacred???’

So she’s from my world? Unlike me… it looks like her body is at least human shaped, but she apparently still changed? I’m obviously a dragon, but I wonder what she became?

Miyo was rather tall, taller than Mairi and Shari, with long, straight black hair, clearly well combed and cared for. Though it was seemingly disheveled a bit by the horns on the sides of her head, leading one to question why she grew her hair like that, if it were so clearly at odds with her horns. Her skin itself was paler than Mairi, but not quite as pale as the little ones, it also had a clear amount of care placed in it, though this was difficult to see with all of the dirt and blood caked all over her, as the battle with the creature had been quite fierce.

Hmmm? How did her hair avoid getting dirty?

Mairi found herself confusedly staring. It was true, despite all the battle, her hair was remarkably clean. Even the golden ornaments she wore on her hair, which were clearly the sort of expensive which made an object seemingly destined to shatter in a humorous way, were entirely fine.

I wish I could have been a bit quicker, maybe I could have kept them all from being more hurt? Ms. Miyo’s clothes are so dirty… and… familiar…

Mr. Dragon on the other hand was staring at her means of dress, which held some sort of personal significance to him. Her clothes themselves clearly appeared like a sort of kimono, with blue and green patterns like flowers adorning it. The sleeves were both ripped off, though whether it was purposeful or accidental was not something Mairi nor Mr. Dragon could figure out, though this did not stop the former from questioning it quite a bit internally.

Was it too much trouble to avoid getting her clothes dirty? Or did she simply care more for sparing one over the other? And that clothing is so clearly of high quality, to the point where I would be shocked if it’s kind were extremely popular… yet I have never seen its like in my entire life. They said they’re from another world… so I suppose that would be the reason, but I must wonder what sort of world produces such clothing… yet speaks our language.

Now noticing the stares of these two, Miyo stared back confused, her eyes a sharp shape with a dark brown coloring. In a sense her eyes seemed to be at odds with her personality, voice and mannerisms, which were clearly joyful and happy, as they appeared extremely serious and well mannered.

“Is there something on my face?”

Now feeling self conscious, Miyo looked between Mairi and Mr. Dragon. The latter shook his head for no, while the former merely stated…

“I was just curious how you managed to keep your hair so clean, it is rather marvelous.”

Miyo said nothing for a moment, and stared forward as she considered her next statement.

Ah, I did keep it clean didn’t I? And after all that fuss I made about freedom…

“Do not worry too much about it Honorable elder sister! I am certain it is not a reason especially grave!”

“I suppose not, but either way, I am curious how you managed it.”

I… guess I got lucky.”

Is that all she is willing to say? Well, I suppose Shari is right that it isn’t too serious, so I won’t pry.

Left alone with their thoughts, the four began to leave. Mr. Dragon allowed his four companions onto his back, running forward in roughly the same direction he had started from. Just as this began however, clouds covered the moon, and as if he had no choice in the matter, he turned a bit to the left due to some rocks in his path.

After a small while, the five had finally reached the cave. It was almost missed, but Mairi was still watching the land around them, for both the sake of watching any potential dangers and finding their actual objective, though she didn’t say that to not worry the little one. It was rather large and deep, so much so that Mr. Dragon could not hope to see however deep it truly was.

Never saw one of these at home before…

One rather nice perk of the cave was that Mr. Dragon could fit inside it easily, which he seemed quite happy with.

As they began preparing camp, still somewhat silent with their thoughts, it was Miyo who broke the ice.

“I know we’ve called you ‘Mr. Dragon’ this whole time, but what are you called? Could you write it out for me?”

Shari looked up guiltily.

“Ah, now that you mention it, we forgot about that…? With the fire we had no time, and while riding on your back we had no reason to slow down and ask. I am truly sorry Mr. Dragon.”

I hope I write it right.

He began to write his name, just as he did the name of his home, though in this case he was less shaky than before.

“I suppose you're still not really used to that body?”

Yeah… it’s a new body, and in a sense a new me as well. In that case…

Perhaps wanting a sort of clean break, Mr. Dragon wrote down a new name in the most straightforward way possible.

“So… Ithicos, are you going anywhere in particular?”

Shari looked at him with an upturned expression, a clear hope present after absorbing her new companion’s name.

Never thought anyone would ever ask me that.

“No? Then… is there anything in particular you are looking for? Not a place, but an idea.”

Oh jeez, she totally saw through me by accident.

“You do? In that case… would you like to stay with us for a time?”

It would be my pleasure.

And thus, Ithicos began the deal to live with them for a while, however long that would be.

1: I have heard various tales of this sort, the most famous from Mairi's perspective would most likely be the tale of the divine child. This recounts a God who was unaware of their divinity until their murder. I know the tale rather well due to my brother mentioning it every chance he got to show how humble and close to mortals he truly was. It was admittedly a good play politically as it allowed many a mortal to relate to him, but it unfortunately led to him getting too close with mortals. This culminated in him using the God’s True Blessing when his wife died of old age. I was frankly confused why he didn’t pass his divinity on to his son before doing so, but apparently he didn’t wish to burden anyone else with immoralities curse. I suppose he did not consider how his reincarnation would be ‘cursed’ with immortality as well, as if he had he may have ended up reconsidering, especially after the reincarnation massacred many mortals.