Hunter Or Huntress

"Five copper on the captain," Tom said, leaning on the table in front of him in anticipation of some quality entertainment. He had even brought a bowl of some sort of nut they had in the pantry.

"I ain't taking that," Nik retorted, having laid down already, head resting on said table like an oversized dog.

"Oi! What the fuck, Nik! Have a little faith," Elsara protested, looking up from securing the blade guard to her axes. It wouldn't do to have them fall off mid-spar after all.

"I have like, all the faith... In him," the dragon said, pointing a claw at Rachuck, who was preparing in his half of the sparring ring, magic blade polished and ready for a spar. Unlike Elsara the captain was not planning on fighting with the scabbard on, in part due to just how nice said scabbard was.

It had of course led to no shortage of bitching from Elsara, who was scared he would take her head off or slice her wrists. Now it sounded to Tom like she had something new to complain about.

"After all we've been through?"

"You once lost to a squirrel," the dragon retorted with a dumb grin, clearly enjoying riling her up.

"How do you fight a squirrel? The fucker got inside my armor. If he does that I'm calling it foul play and frankly I want you to slap him for me," she protested, pointing at a slightly befuddled looking Rachuck who didn't seem to have been following along till just now.

"Oh, okay," the dopey sounding dragon replied, before looking to Rachuck and giving him a wink, which certainly didn't help the poor captain's confusion.

"I don't think that's gonna be a problem, that guy is gonna die single," Tom added with a grin.

The captain turned his attention to Tom with a look of 'what the hell dude?'

"Unlike some I do not have the pleasure of simply taking whoever would have me," the captain finally replied after gathering his thoughts. He tightened the straps on his shield and picked up his blade to hold it at a low ready. "There are downsides to being a noble too, especially on the frontier. There are expectations made of me."

"Isn't it like much worse with all that stuff in the big cities? I once saw this crummy old man leaning on a nice lookin girl, fucker couldn't even stand up by himself," Elsara said with evident disgust. "Just cause the fucker is the third duke of go fuck yourself."

"It could have been her father, perhaps?" the captain tried in a more measured tone as he advanced towards the middle of the ring.

"Your father ain't grabbing your ass. At least I fucking hope so," Elsara declared with finality, stepping into the sparing ring as well, holding her axe by the head in one hand and her long sturdy knife in the other. "No blood, right?"

"No of course not, and please, do try not to break any bones with that axe you got."

"Wouldn't wanna make some poor girl carry you around."

"You mean like the dragon you have on a leash?"

'Hoooo he actually got a comeback in, good stuff Rachuck,' Tom chuckled to himself, Nik making an amused sound as well.

"That shit goes both ways and you know it," Elsara sneered, stepping forward, raising the axe and bringing it down on the captain's shield.

"Let the games begin," Tom declared enthusiastically, having a nut as he and Nik enjoyed the show.

Elsara was aggressive, overly so, relying on speed and ferocity of her attacks to overwhelm the captain. For a moment, it almost seemed like it was working, Rachuck working hard to keep her at arm's reach. The smaller and nimbler man backpedaled, parried and countered with blinding speed, but more important were the smooth and much more minimal movements he used to do it.

Elsara soon started to trust more and more in his ability to block her swings and put more and more force behind each strike until Tom was flinching nearly every time the captain's shield caught her axe. However, such tactics had to work quickly or they wouldn't pan out well for you. Soon, she began to slow, evidently growing tired from the exertion.

Much like Tom had seen before, the moment she slowed, Rachuck went onto the offensive and turned the mock battle into a lesson instead, proceeding to give pointers and advice, soon even making mistakes and pointing them out for her benefit.

Tom could see the spark drain from Elsara's eyes as it dawned on her just how superior her opponent was today. To Tom it looked like she was much more capable than himself, but she could not keep up with the captain who was hardly exerting himself. As he started to apply pressure to her she started to give ground, rapidly.

With one misplaced step, she trod on her tail, tumbling backwards. The captain brought up his blade, leveled at her chest like a massive spike ready to pierce, before he retracted it, extending his shield arm hand open in invitation instead.

"A fine bout, take a moment to recover; there is much to do," he said cheerfully. He had evidently had some fun showing up the very young woman.

Elsara stared at him for a moment with a less-than-impressed expression on her face before taking the hand without saying anything.

"You'll get him next time!" Nik shouted in encouragement as Rachuck pulled her back to her feet before heading back to his corner for a drink of water himself.

Elsara gestured for the dragon to shove it and returned to her stuff to grab a drink of water.

"Awww, don't be like that," the dragon goaded with a big grin on. "You nearly had him."

"Dude, he's like… I don't know, he's good. He's good, okay."

"I shall take that as a compliment," a far more content sounding Rachuck added from his corner where he had taken off the shield and sat down to wait for his opponent to recover. Tom was quite certain this is what constituted gloating in the captain's handbook. It was right next to the chapter on 'how to attract girls,' and they both advised the same tactic: simply sit and stare at them.

"Why don't you have a go, Tom? Show us what you can do."

"No, I am terribly sorry. There are rules, and you lost. That means you have to fight him."

"Gods dammit," she sulked, looking at the ground for a bit as Rachuck smirked in triumph. Then she looked up at Nikolas with a furrowed brow. "Wait a gods damn moment… We were on the same team."

"Nu uh, I was just watching your cards."

"Which means you were on my team. Also you totally gave away my hand, you can't lie for shit. You lost too."

"No noo, you lost," the dragon repeated as Elsara got up again.

"Shut it yah big dumb lizzer. Get in here; it's your turn."

At this more recent development Rachuck was suddenly looking rather less confident, his and Nik's gazes meeting for a moment before the dragon sighed and got up slowly. "Alriiiight alriiiight. I'll give it a go. But how do you want me to do that huh?" he questioned, looking back to Elsara, who was already leaving the sparring ring.

"I don't know, try not to get stabbed then try to slap him?" It did not sound like she considered that to be her problem.

"Now I am afraid I must object. There is no way Nik could land a strike without it being quite uhm… crippling," Rachuck said, standing up and leaving behind the sword and shield for now.

"Oh don't worry, he's not that big, only what… five times your size?" Elsara replied with a chuckle, sitting down next to Tom and stealing some of his nuts. Tom pulled the bowl a bit further to his side.

"I should say closer to six at the very least," the captain objected as Nik stepped into the ring to take her place, giving the captain pause as he looked his new opponent up and down.

"Oh maybe I just have to keep you from getting close? I think I could do that. Oh or what if I have to capture you alive? I've heard they try to train that in the guard," Nik offered, starting to grow excited as he noticed just how worried the captain was looking.

"Must take a brave volunteer," Tom added with a chuckle. He sure was glad he wasn't in the captain's shoes right now.

"Oh for the love of Tula," Rachuck lamented as the dragon squared off against him.

"Oh oh, I got it. I have used my breath already, and you are an important uhm… General, yeah general who I have to capture and bring home. Can't have a banged up general, definitely gonna get chewed out for any broken bones."

"Are we quite sure that this is wise?"

"Nah, but where is the fun in that? Go on little fella, you've humiliated everyone else here. It's Nik's turn to try," Elsara encouraged as she went for another handful of snacks, prompting Tom to take his bowl and hold it to his side.

"I would… No I do not think that is wise. I will not put myself at his mercy, what if it is a ploy?"

Tom stared at the captain for a bit as his defence sunk in.

"Really dude? Really?"

"It has been but a few days Tom," Rachuck protested, if a touch half-heartedly.

I just think he doesn't like losing," Elsara added with a chuckle. "Tough shit guard bro. That's life," she shouted out, cupping her hands to her mouth quite unnecessarily.

"It hardly seems a fair bout either," the captain complained, still refusing to go back and pick up his sword and shield.

"Oh and you beating up the likes of me and poor Tom wasn't? We ain't got shit on you man. Actually maybe after this we should both try to have a go, maybe we can beat you then."

"You were the one who so obstinately claimed to be a match for me. And I did not beat you up; I barely scratched either of you. And I feel both of you have improved already. Tom especially. No offence intended, but I have known children who did better for their first sparring lessons."

"They would at least have watched someone use a sword before. Well, use it right," Tom objected, hoping to defend his honor at least a little bit. Elsara hadn't watched him use a sword yet after all. With some luck she never would.

"Yes, that much is clear," Rachuck agreed with a nod before looking back to the dragon with apprehension.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

"Great, so they were not fair. This won't be fair. That's more fair than life ever is. Good luck, Chuck."

"But-"

"Oh quit it would you. Not like I would play fair either if they try something funny, now would I? Give it your best shot. Maybe you'll improve at hand to dragon combat," Tom chuckled, leaning back to stretch a little. "And try not to look like a child who has never seen it before."

Rachuck gave the human quite the glare after having his words parroted back to him before his expression shifted to determination as he stood up a little straighter, looking to Nik.

"Very well. If I cannot stand following all this, dragon, you shall be out in the cold before you can say please."

"Duuuude, what's with the threats? Come on, it'll be fun. Tom said you like this stuff," Nik tried, seeming a little hurt by the threat, thin as it was.

"I do… But I cannot risk my charges for my own enjoyment."

"You can have both, come on. Try me. It's gonna be fun," the dragon tried again, bowing down like a dog that wanted to play. A half-ton dog, but still. Tom was confident this would be worth the snacks and so he moved the bowl a little closer to Elsara. A handful immediately vanished.

"You got it Chuck, show em who's boss," Tom shouted, Elsara hollering in support of Nik.

"My name is not Chuck," Rachuck grumbled before turning around and walking back to pick up his things, strapping the shield down tight.

Nik waited patiently in his rather playful stance, anticipation growing as the captain turned around looking ready for a fight.

"Very well then, this shall be a first," the Captain said, as much to himself as the rest of them and he lunged at the dragon. In a few short steps he had closed the gap and Nik raised a front paw like a playful cat looking to bat at a toy.

Rachuck steered left then threw himself right, wings driving him along the ground like a missile as Nik swiped and missed.

The captain landed in a roll and skidded for a moment as his tail kept his balance till the talons caught purchase in the wooden floor. He hurled himself forward at the dragon's side who was still trying to wheel about to face the captain after the quick deception.

Nik twisted his neck around and opened his jaw, though not fully, likely not wanting to overdo it as Rachuck placed a foot against the dragon's shoulder and propelled himself up the dragon's side. He deftly evaded the white dragon's halfhearted snap, slipping past the head and onto Nik's back.

"Hooo he's got him now," Tom chuckled, having another nut as Rachuck steadied himself by holding onto the saddle with his shield arm, leveling the tip of the blade against the base of Nik's neck.

"I have you," he declared, the dragon already mid-swing. The head came round, crashing into the captain's braced shield, knocking him to the ground. It was a fair way down still, even if Nik was a tiny dragon. It definitely looked like it hurt; that was for sure.

Tom and Elsara both winced as the captain hit, though Rachuck was quickly getting back to his feet again. Nik lunged, trying to pin the captain to the ground with his forpaws, but a quick flap of the wings pulled the captain back and clear as the dragon descended.

"Hoooo so close!" Elsara called out as Nik lunged again, one paw raised to try and swipe at the captain. Rachuck tried to duck back again but flung himself into a table which made up the edge of the sparring ring, Nik catching him and pinning him against said table with relative ease. A big smile grew on the dragon's face.

"I got you!"

"No you did not. I already had you," the captain objected.

"Nuh uh, you didn't have time to drive your sword in."

"Oh for the gods' sake of course I did. It takes but a moment."

Tom just snickered at the two bickering, Elsara erupting into full-on laughter.

"Sounds like a rematch to me!" Tom called out as the pair of them kept bickering on just who had actually won.

"Yeah draw. Both are screwed, go again!" Elsara joined, finding that to be a brilliant idea.

"Oh you're going down bro," Nik declared as he released the pressure keeping Rachuck pinned to the table, the captain once more standing on his own two feet, rubbing his chest a little by sticking a hand in under the chestplate.

"Unlikely. Your head is high up. "

"Awww, just cause you are short. I think it makes you cute. Cute little captain," the dragon teased as Rachuck readied his blade once more. The captain was, in fact, smiling, something that had Tom sighing in relief.

'Finally he's having some fun, too.'

"Say that one more time, you frost-covered iguana."

'Eeeeh, not bad I suppose. He'll get there eventually.'

---

Sparring day had been a great success. Of course, it wasn't supposed to have been sparring day, but they had rather gotten carried away in the end. Especially the captain, and it wasn't like Tom was going to say no now that it wasn't his ass that had to do all the work.

In the end he hadn't managed to get away completely unscathed, but the few rounds he had taken part in where alongside Elsara or Nik as they all took turns trying to humble the captain.

It did work a few times, but with regular breaks the limiting factor had been driving poor Rachuck to exhaustion rather than really besting him in any feat of skill. The guy was good, and short of blasting him with a breath weapon or just flat out shooting him there hadn't been a terrible lot they could do to win other than overwhelm him with numbers and work together with Nik. By the end of said sparring they had all been too worn out to do much of anything. Well all save for Nik the dragon, who seemed perfectly fine even after hours of pretend fighting.

That being said, him fighting Rachuck had mostly consisted of standing there and trying to swipe at the captain when he could so it wasn't the most strenuous work in the world. It had still led to them all agreeing that perhaps sparring was best saved for the end of the day, after they had all gotten in a shift of slightly more productive work as part of Tom's little Santa workshop.

Once more Nik wasn't placed under a whole lot of strain there, but he was very good at napping all day long.

The dragon got his chance to shine on the wing instead. They had done one or two more hunting trips when the weather allowed, and Nik had even taken the time out of his very busy day to go check on the various buildings and clear off the roofs. He had also made a hole down to the chicken coop, which was reportedly wholly submerged under the snow, chickens happily keeping warm and clucking away inside their newly snow-insulated wooden box.

Elsara had even managed to collect a few eggs, though she came back scratched up and cursing about that damn rooster. Tom just nodded in understanding as he made plans for those delicious fresh eggs. But the best day in Tom's mind, or at least the one he looked forward to the most, was when they had finally decided to go looking for that damn tree. They hadn't been lucky on any of their hunting trips, but they hadn't gone particularly far to look for them anyway. And so Nik had been saddled up once more and the trio headed out, leaving poor Rachuck behind to do his rounds and patrolling.

The captain had cheered up a fair bit though, and seemed to finally have properly given into the realization that their guests were in fact no threat to them at all. A pair of good kids out on the frontier.

"Yes! There are some down there!" Nik finally called out, starting a rapid descent towards what Tom really hoped would be some sufficiently Chistmasy trees. Most of the island's forests were all leafy, rather than needle trees. The few needle trees they had been able to find looked more like fir to Tom, which just didn't have the right vibe.

Nik had been really rather annoyed when Tom had turned down the last batch. He could understand why, since getting back into the air through snow that thick had proven quite the challenge. The depth of powder varied considerably, but a foot or two wasn't out of the ordinary from what they had seen thus far. Elsara was at least able to get off the ground without the dragon's help by means of a convenient tree.

If it ever came to it, Tom supposed Nik could use the same trick, assuming there was a sufficiently big tree around, like a heaven oak or something. Tom sure would love to see that though, even more so if Jarix dared to copy one day and came tumbling down along with half a tree.

As they got closer, Tom started to make out what the dragon had spotted: a small grove inside the larger forest of small cone shaped dark green trees.

"Are those right? I ain't landing if they aren't," Nik questioned as he glided toward the ground. Tom sat up in the saddle for a better look, thighs squeezing the dragon's sides for balance. Behind them Elsara had noticed them diving and had turned to follow suit.

"I think so, yeah. Looks about right, snowcaps and all."

"Perfect, right let's get it done up quick. I wanna get back to see you two lose again." The dragon snickered, looking over his shoulder to check if she was keeping pace with them.

"Oh you best believe she has a long career of that ahead of her," Tom replied with a chuckle. "I am far more reasonable; I accepted defeat long ago."

"But she will never give up."

"Then she'll never stop losing. Dude is a fucking… uhm… Autist with a sword."

"I got no clue what that sound was man. You okay? You dying?"

"No noo, I just sound like that. Let's get this done so we can get back, have a nap and watch."

"Right on dude," Nik declared as he started to flare for the final approach, ground approaching swiftly. Clean, unbroken snow rose slowly and steadily towards them before the dragon finally sat down.

The world went white as snow filled Tom's vision and he felt himself leave the saddle as Nik disappeared under him. He bounced off the dragon's head with a thunk and went sailing through the air still wondering what had just happened when he landed in the soft layer of powder, coming to a gentle yet quick stop.

He took a moment to process what just happened, looking around a thick fog of powdery snow that was hiding the world from view. Slowly bit by bit the forest was revealed once again as the fog of snow settled back to earth.

He was sitting in the soft snow, facing the dragon whose head shot up out of the snow, shaking off the white stuff.

"What the fuck man!" Tom exclaimed, feeling like he'd just flown Somalia air to Oslo or some shit.

"Whoops."

"The fuck you mean whoops!? You just crashed!" he exclaimed even louder, a laugh sneaking its way in at the end. "I thought you were color-coded to be good at this stuff."

"Bit deeper than I thought…" Nik replied, starting to laugh too, looking around. With a shake of his head the dragon started trying to wrest free, to no avail.

"Are you stuck?" Tom questioned sarcastically, feeling comfy enough to just watch the dragon attempt to extract himself from the mess he had just gotten himself in.

"I don't know yet, let me try… yeah I'm stuck," Nik called back after giving it a few more attempts. His head was sticking up above the snow along with the tip of his tail further back, his wings folded up somewhere beneath the snow. "Uhm shit… dude can you dig me out you think?"

"Some explorer you are. What would you do if we weren't here?"

"Hey, I always got Elsa, and now I gots you as well. Come on man, dig me out. Before she comes down here and starts laughing."

"Right shit. Hang on." Tom strained trying to stand up, but as he did his boots just went through the snow without taking much weight. "Fucking hell, right nothing for it, gotta compact this stuff."

Then the cackling started as Elsara glided past them from above, smart enough to not land in the massive snowdrift they had managed to find. The dragonette went into a sweeping turn and with a few flaps she held her altitude and started to circle the pair of them, seemingly wanting to watch them unfuck themselves from the sidelines.

"I guess that's what we get for laughing earlier… Right. Give me a bit I'm coming," Tom declared as he started to forge a path ahead in the snow.

Little by little he pulled down more snow and stamped it until it became firm enough to stand on and little by little he made his way towards the dragon, wishing he'd brought some damn snow shoes on this trip and wondering if they came in dragon size.

"Do they make dragon snowshoes?"

"What is a shoe?" Nik asked innocently, tilting his head as he waited patiently.

"Dude, I'm supposed to be the one that's bad at Draconic."

"Whatever, I don't know why they would make snow pants for dragons, we don't even wear pants."

"No SHOE!" Tom reiterated, trying to sound as correct as his throat would allow.

"Oh why didn't you say that before. You sound like you are sick."

"Hey, I'm trying."

"Are you there yet?"

"Fuck you."

"Dude, dinner first. I like apple cider."

"I will inform the… oh god dammit media. Fucking lorte sprog!" Tom cursed, giving up and just switching to Danish instead.

"Bless you," the dragon replied with a chuckle at the funny noise Tom just made. He was clearly enjoying this far, far too much.

"Not my fault you're so damn primitive, do you even have newspapers?"

"You mean books about stuff that happened?"

"No, that's history," Tom corrected with a grumble, having gotten stuck again. This was god damn annoying.

"What's the difference?"

"News is new. History is dusty."

"Any news on when you get here?"

"I swear I will turn you into a fucking handbag," Tom grumbled as he kept up his slow and methodical advance. The dragon just laughed at him, content to stay in place for now.

"You are like a petulant child, you know that, right? How did you even manage this? You are a white dragon explorer. How!"

"I don't know; We've gone south most of the time, or down. North is always so dead and empty."

"For the love of whoever is up there. Right stand by, rescue team arriving," Tom grumbled as he made it close enough that he could almost reach the dragon, holding out an arm towards Nik's head. "Come on man, a little help here."

"Oh fine then, since you are so nice," the dragon replied sarcastically, stretching his neck out towards Tom so he could grab a horn. Tom did so and was pulled in closer to the dragon. As he clambered up onto Nik's mostly snow covered back he tried to gauge how the dragon was laying so he could make a plan. In the distance, laughing was heard, and both turned to see Elsara, who had set down on a tree branch overlooking the clearing of smaller pine trees. She was having a grand time at the moment.

"She is never gonna shut up about this is she?" Tom questioned as his plan became clear. He had to get the wings free so Nik could pull himself free using those. Then he just somehow had to get out of the snowdrift and over to the larger trees where the snow seemed thinner. That was at least a few hundred meters, though, so that would be a challenge.

"Nope, never. Got any ideas? I'm still stuck."

"You don't say. I'll dig your wings out then you can use those to get out of this hole. Can you use those to, I don't know… paddle through the snow?"

"Why would I do that?"

"Maybe cause if you don't, you'll just get stuck again immediately," Tom replied, exasperated at this point. Surely the dragon must be joking or at least playing dumb a little.

"Oh I'll just make an icepatch to walk on."

"A what now?"

"I really should have done that before landing, I breathe on the snow and you get ice. Neat, right?"

"And you're working that out now?!"

"Oh no I have done it before… I just didn't think it looked that deep."

"Fucking hell, right. Do you at least have a shovel?"

"Sure. It's back at the keep, though."

"Oh for fuck's sake."