Friends?

Ruka dove down and landed in front of her and exhaled, knocking her over the strength of his dragon breath.

"You wouldn't want these, would you?" the girl asked nervously.

Ruka quietly growled.

"Please, I need these. You don't know what will happen, please. I'll give them back after I promise," she said as she held onto the bag.

Ruka took a step towards her, took the bag from her using his teeth, and then flew away.

"NO! NO! PLEASE!"

Ruka looked at the ground and saw the girl on her knees. He Landed on a mountain and watched the girl; she got up and hesitated to go where she was heading. Ruka followed the sacred girl to a small village. He morphed back into his human form and hid behind and house to watch.

"You had one job, ONE!" her father yelled.

"I'm sorry, a dragon came and took them," she told them.

"Dragons don't exist, you dumbass," one of her three brothers said.

"All the other kids just had to hunt an animal and bring back its head, and you had me steal the King and Queen's crown. That's a suicide mission!"

"You wanted me to fail, didn't you?" She realized.

"Just leave, Mora."

Her Brothers led her out of their village and closed her gates.

Ruka flew around looking for Mora, but he didn't know why he was drawn to her. Then, as he was flying over the clouds, he saw a glow on the side of a mountain. He used his dragon's sight and saw Mora in a small cave warming herself up by a fire, failing to a singular small fish she caught in a stream; Ruka flew off back to the palace, leaving her to her tiny burnt fish.

Mora was lying on the ground trying to fall asleep when she started bouncing off the ground due to footsteps approaching her. Mora got up and walked outside and saw the same dragon that had taken her crowns. Ruka looked down at the girl and lowered his head to her. He turned his head and took a basket off his back, and placed it in front of Mora. She picked it up and saw bread, muffins, and a freshly cooked steak.

"Ok, now I'm confused," she said.

The dragon rolled his eyes then flew away.

"Thank you!" she shouted up to him.

Ruka returned to the castle; he morphed back and went to his room. He was changing into his sleepwear as a voice said, "why are you helping that girl? She stole from you." Ruka sat on his bed, and a gem appeared between his shoulder blades. The gem was the spirit of the dragon who saved him.

"If I didn't, my mother would've never let it go," Ruka answered.

"You know the lake saved that girl just like you," the spirit told him.

"She's a dragon too?!"

"No, there is only one dragon of the lake, and it now resides in you. I was there to protect the lake, but when you and your parents came to the lake, and I chose, I would save you, and the lake would wait for my person's mate or lover, is how humans say."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Ruka asked.

"After the dragon has chosen someone to possess sick or not, the lake looks into that person's future then lures the mate that person will end up with to the water, and that person absorbs the magical properties of the waters to make them healthy enough to bare or give children. That girl is the one the lake saw, the one you will marry and have children with."

"That's all bullshit. There's no way that's true," Ruka said.

"Just like how it's not true a dragon possessed a prince?"

"I'll go back tomorrow."

"You're a good boy Ruka. I was right to save you."

The following day, Ruka morphed into his dragon and flew to where Mora was last. Ruka stuck his head in the cave she was in but didn't see her and thought she had left until he heard a scream along with a tree branch breaking. He looked over to where he heard it and saw Mora getting up after falling out of a tree; he marched over to her and watched her struggle.

"Oh, hello again," Mora said as she stood up.

"I saw apples in this tree and wanted to get some but ended up falling out," she said with a smile and a little giggle.

Ruka looked at the tree the used his teeth to pull the whole thing out of the ground; he shook the tree making the apples fall onto Mora, then tossed it when it was empty.

"Thank you, Blue."

Ruka looked at her with a confused, tilted head.

"Oh, I named you Blue because you're blue," she explained.

"It would make sense she doesn't know who I am," Ruka said in his head.

Mora started walking back to the cave but struggled to climb the rock with the apples she was holding in the skirt of her dress. Ruka grabbed Mora by the back of her dress's collar and tossed her onto his back.

"What are you doing?" she asked with a nervous, shaky voice.

Ruka got into a passion signaling Mora he was getting ready to take off into the sky.

"Please don't! Please don't! please don't!"

Ruka flapped his wings and flew into the clouds; Mora hid her face in Ruka's back, afraid to lift her head, but when she felt less crazy movement, she peeked out with one eye and saw the dragon's wing straight out the clouds underneath. Mora sat up and looked all around her and the gliding dragon.

"Are you taking me to other dragons that are going to eat me?" she asked. Ruka hit the girl on her head with his tail.

"I'll take that as a no."

Ruka slowly went down closer to the ground and landed on the side of the tallest mountain in the kingdom; from it, Mora could see everything, but the wind was a little too strong, though, and it knocked her onto her back which made the dragon laugh.

Ruka walked into a cave he could fit in, and Mora followed. When Mora entered the cave, she saw that the walls were shined because of the metal and diamond-like rocks. There was an area of the cave with leaves on top of dirt and flowers; she wondered what it was for until the dragon laid down on it.

"You made a bed for yourself," she said with a smile. Mora walked around the cave and saw a mattress with pillows and blankets.

"This is for a person," she said, confused. Ruka walked over to her and nudged her onto the bed.

"Did you make this for me?" she asked. Ruka went and laid back down on his leaf bed and watched Mora.

"You're not like the dragons in the stories, Blue. You're caring for humans or at least me, but are you the only one? The only dragon?" she wondered. Ruka just looked at her since he couldn't speak as his dragon.

"You rest. I'll get some food, how? I don't know, but I'll figure it out," Mora said, petting the dragon's nose. Then, she left the cave, and Ruka stayed on his bed.

"You do like her," the spirit said.

"What makes you say that?" Ruka asked.

"You don't bring anyone here, you never even brought your parents here, but you brought her."

"She needed somewhere safe to be, plus I couldn't fit in that cave with her."

"So you did want to be with her," he said.

"Shut up," Ruka told the spirit.

"When are you going to let her meet you, Ruka?" he asked.

"I'm not; if I do, that'll mean the lake was right about us being together, but if she never meets me, we won't," Ruka told him.

"If you do that, you'll hurt her."

"What are you talking about?"