The Village

"Woah..."
We had stopped as I took in the view. Having left the forest, great plains sprawled out in front of me.
"This is so awesome..."
'Adventuring is the best!'

I nod at myself and start walking forward, only to stop after noticing Eris standing still behind me, looking into the distance.
"What are you doing? Let's go."
She slowly holds her hand up and I look towards where she's pointing, only to see a small village in the distance.
"Ohh, a little settlement. I guess there was one around here."
I look back at her.
"Is that where you're from?"
I see her shake her head, before saying still with her hand up.
"Not that."
"Hm?"
I look back, trying to see what she was pointing at.
"...?"
Finally I notice a small blob in the distance getting bigger.
"What is that... A slime?"
It doesn't take long as it keeps getting bigger before I realize it was a human running straight at us.
"Wait wha-"

Before I can finish he trips and falls right onto Eris, knocking her to the ground.
With him now on the ground I could better see how he looked like. He was a small boy just a tiny bit taller than Eris, with spiky brown hair and wearing adventurer clothes.
"That hurt... Huh?! An elf?"
"Get off of me!"
"Right! Sorry."
They both start getting up which is when he finally notices me.
"...! D... Dragon...!"
I grin.
"Yes, I am part of that majestic species. How dare you bump int-"
"Don't eat him!"
We both look at Eris and she continues.
"I... I'm still good... I'm not expired! So... Don't harm him!"
I look at her with bored eyes.
"What are you-"
Suddenly he hides himself behind her, before saying.
"She's going to eat me?! Please don't!"
'Not him too...'
"I'm not going to eat any of you! Damn it! Stop believing that!"
The boy sighs with relief and walks out from behind her, before saying.
"Oh, thank you."
"Don't trust her! She's trying to catch you off guard!"
Eris suddenly got close to him before stating it with conviction, yet the boy smiled before putting his hand on her shoulder.
"Don't worry, I have a feeling I don't think she's actually going to eat u-"
"SHE IS!"
Eris yelled back without even waiting for him to finish, leaving him confused.
"Don't waste your breath. She does that all the time..."
He looks at me when I say that and soon a realization hits him.
"Ohhh, I get it now! It's a joke."
"MY LIFE IS NOT A JOKE!!!"

He lets out an awkward laugh which is when I ask.
"So why were you running at us?"
He shakes his head and says.
"I wasn't running at you. I was just running in general, away from the village. I didn't even realize you were here."
"Hmmm? Why would you do that?"
"Yeah, why would you? You could get eaten by a huge scary dragon you know?"
"HEY!"
He looks back and forth between Eris and I before turning to Eris and saying.
"She's just a little taller than you though?"
I quickly grab him and say with frustration.
"I'm still the tallest one here. Now answer me."
"Okay, okay! ...I was just tired is all..."
"Huh?"
I let him go.
"Whatever, just go on home now."
Immediately he shakes his head.
"No way! In fact, let me join you!"
Eris and I quickly say at the same time.
"What?!"
"Please! I'm looking for adventure! That's all I want! Then I'll be grown and brave!"
My eyes widen, and after a while I finally answer with a smile.
"An adventure... VERY WELL THEN! Welcome to the party!"
His eyes widen and seem to glisten like stars, in awe of me.
"THANK YOU!"
"No problem kid! What's your name?"
"Makito! My name is Makito!"
I nod at him.
"Well Makito, let's continue forth!"
"YES!"

We walk for a while when Makito finally stops looking all around and says.
"Finally... An adventure."
His smile fades however and he stops.
"Wait... What is our adventure about? What are you trying to get to lady?"
"My name is Rako. As for my objective, it's a home."
He scratches his head.
"A home... You could probably find one easily in the village."
I look at him incredulous that he said that.
"Are you insane? That's a human village, besides great powerful dragons like me don't live in such housing. I'm looking for a magnificent cave to set up base in."
Suddenly a realization hits me and I ask.
"Actually, you've lived here a while I assume. You heard of any cave around here?"
He thinks deeply for a while.
"A cave... Oh! I think there was one near the village, yes. And another in the village, but well technically that-"
I approach him, excited.
"REALLY?!"
'A cave with subjects included... That could be fun!'
"Y-Yes, really. But that one is-"
"To the village then!"

I steadily march towards it as the other two follow behind me.
"Rako! You're not listeni-"
I cut him off.
"It doesn't matter if you don't think the villagers will accept me, I must check every cave."
"That's not-"
I stop and turn towards him.
"It's like your adventure, you simply must have it right? Like I simply must check."
His eyes widen and he nods.
"Of course... My mistake! To the village!"
"YEAH!"

...

We approach the village, before slowly walking undetected around it, finally stopping as I ask him.
"So, where is this cave you saw?"
"It's in my friends house."
Eris and I look at him, waiting for him to continue.
"Oh! It's not just a crack on the wall if that's what you think!"
I sigh with relief.
"Ok good-"
"Well I guess technically it is. But it's the basement wall!"
'...The entrance is in someone's basement?'
"Oh... I... Uh... Didn't reali-"
Makito turns towards me with a wide smile and a great shine in his eyes.
"But like you said! Every cave must be checked!"
"Right..."
'...This cave better be good.'

We continue stalking the shadows around the village, getting to the area that has his friends house just as the sun starts to set.
"Which house is it?"
"We're already near it, it's just on the other side of this street in front of us. I'll guide you."
I nod at him as we stand in place, waiting for it to become a little darker before going in.

Some time later it was time.
"Alright, this is good. You two better stay quiet when we go in, got it?"
They both nod, and we go in.
There weren't many people in the street this late, and it was too dark to see too far ahead, so we get to the house without much of an issue.
Standing in front of its entrance I turn to him and whisper to him a question.
"So what now? How do we get to the basement?"
"Well I always used to get there from a hatch in the kitchen."
"Inside?!"
I suddenly shout from surprise causing Eris to point at the door as a sound started coming from it.
"Damn it."
I quickly grab Eris and dive into the nearby bush, with Makito diving into a different one.

The door quickly opens and a large bearded man steps outside, looking around.
"Anyone here?
...Must have been those loud neighbours again."
With that he walks inside, and after a few minutes we finally step out of the bushes, all breathing sighs of relief.
"Careful boss!"
Makito had a finger on his mouth, motioning me to be more silent.
"Right, sorry. So do we actually have to go inside?"
"No, there's an outside access on the back of the house, come on."

I follow Makito around the house until getting to the basement entrance.
He then turns to me with a smile, pointing at it.
"Here it is! The hole is in the wall in there."
I nod at him when Eris finally speaks up.
"Could you put me down now? It seems safe so..."
"Oh right! Sorry."
'So light I always forget I'm carrying her...'
I put her down and walk over to the entrance, slowly opening one of the doors before sneaking inside with everyone.
Finally inside I look around as I ask him.
"So how did you discover this cave anyway?"
"Me and my friend played here a ton! After we found a small crack on the wall, we kept playing with it until it get bigger and we could pass through. It was our favourite spot!"
I turn towards him.
"Was?"

He looks down, but before he can answer, we hear something outside and quickly hide, only hearing a man say.
"Damn wind... Last time I forget."
We hear the door close along with another sound and after a while we come out of hiding.
"That was close..."
I turn back towards Makito again, and finally he says.
"He's too busy now... With a girl."
"Huh?! No way..."
He looks up at me with determination.
"Yes way! I liked her too..."
I take a step back, inexperienced and uncomfortable with the conversation.
"Y- You did?"
'Please don't tell me he'll ask for help with that...'
"Yeah... That's why I'm on this adventure!"
'Huh?'
"I was too much of a coward to confess to her before! Not even my friend knew... So I'm doing this to get courage!"
'To get courage...'
I smile at him before saying.
"Then you picked the right thing! At the end of this you will be swimming in courage!"
We nod at each other, determined, before Eris calls out to us from near one of the walls.
"Hey, you two. Is this the crack?"
We approach her and Makito quickly gets excited.
"That's the one! I loved playing in it."

I walk forward and Eris quickly steps out of the way.
"Let's check this cave then."
Slowly I get through the hole in the wall, as my thoughts take over.
'A home in someone's basement, how crazy would that be? It would be interesting though... Getting to scare the owners the first time would be funny too! Alright, it's starting to win me over.'
Finally I stand up and look around.
"Ah. It's too dark."
I try feeling around the walls and soon disappointment takes over as I let my arms drop.
"...Makito."
"Yes boss?"
"This is just some closet."
"Right?"
I quickly turn towards the crack, annoyed.
"These are just four very flat walls! It's clearly a very small room that was patched over for some reason!"

I get through the hole again and we all sit down on the floor, sighing.
"Well, a home in someone's basement would be stupid anyway. I was just curious, that's all!"
"I guess it has been a year or two since we played in it... I never realized it was so small."
Eris smiles at him before saying.
"You have quite the imagination!"
"Thanks!"
He turns towards me and continues.
"But I did try telling you before that it wasn't a cave..."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever."

Finally I stand up again and head towards the exit, with the other two being slow to follow.
I quickly reach the door and try pushing it open.
"Hm?"
I try pushing a couple more times with no luck.
"Boss? What's the matter?"
I look behind me at a curious Makito and Eris and tell them.
"...It won't open. It's locked."
They look at me in silence before suddenly Eris says apprehensively.
"Ehhhh?!"

In the end we had to wait inside the closet cave until the door was unlocked in the morning, before quickly sneaking out.