Wildfire (Leo Valdez x OC) (1)

The not so happy encounter with 'Happy' the dragon

We walked into the forest, Leo seemed deep in thought, and he kept checking behind him. It was getting too annoying to hide every time he looked around, so instead I decided I would climb a tree and jump between branches. I knew most dryads in this forest, so they probably wouldn't get mad at me. Probably.

Leo started muttering to himself. I couldn't make out what he was saying, but he was frowning so I guess it wasn't good.

Then he lit up his hand. My eyes widened. That was new.

Then Leo stopped, he looked at the floor in front of him. I couldn't see so I edged a bit closer on the branch I was crouched on. As I peered round a clump of leaves, I saw a dragon trap.

He began searching the trap. He spent ages just looking around, I still had no idea why he was here and my legs were getting tired.

Then I heard it. A deep rumbling sound. Leo turned slowly. I stood to get a better look. I slapped a hand to my face. Of course, the dragon would go to the trap as soon as the new camper decides to look at it.

"You don't have wings." Leo said, dumbly. I sighed. This boy was insane, even though he was a fire-user, the dragon could still kill him, quite easily, in many ways. The dragon tilted it's head, it looked like it was saying, 'why aren't you running puny human?'

"Hey, no offence," Leo said. "You're amazing! Good god, who made you? Are you hydraulic or nuclear-powered or what? But if it was me, I would've put wings on you. What kind of dragon doesn't have wings? I guess maybe your too heavy to fly? Dang, I should have thought of that." The dragon snorted, clearly more confused that the tiny human wasn't screaming in terror. It took a step forward, and Leo shouted "No!" The dragon snarled again. "It's a trap bronze brain," Leo said. "They're trying to catch you."

The dragon opened its mouth and blew fire, a column of white-hot fire washed over Leo. When the flames died Leo stood unscathed. The dragon stared at Leo like 'why no crispy critter?' A spark flew from its neck.

"You can't burn me," Leo said, then looked back down at the trap. "Stay, boy. Don't come any closer. I don't want you to get caught. See, they think you're broken and have to be scrapped. But I don't believe that. I can fix you if you'll let me – "

The dragon creaked, roared, and charged. The trap sprang. The floor of the crater erupted, earth and leaves flew, metal net flashing. I saw Leo get thrown off his feet and land stuck between the dragon and the trap.

The dragon blew fire in every direction, it was panicking. "Will you stop that!" Leo yelled.

The dragon kept squirming; Leo was going to be turned into a pancake if he didn't move soon. For a while the boy struggled, but eventually he managed to get his way out of one of the holes in the net. "Listen man," Leo said. "You're just going to show them where you are. Then they'll come with their metal cutters and acid, is that what you want?" The dragon creaked as if trying to talk but stopped moving around.

My legs were really hurting and I was getting pretty bored up on my branch, it couldn't hurt to prank the new camper. So, I climbed down, still remaining out of sight. Then walked up to Leo and whispered, "Boo."

He jumped and turned his neck to face me so fast I thought he'd snap it. I snorted and walked up to the dragon. "Hey buddy!" I said. The dragon creaked and tilted it's head. "Do you remember me? I was friends with your old owner, you remember Beckendorf, right?" The dragon stared before making more creaking sounds. I took that as a yes.

"Wait," Leo said, recovering from his shock. "You know the dragon?"

"Well, I was friends with his previous owner, so I came to see him a lot." I said, patting the dragon. The dragon made a rumbling noise, it sounded like a cat purring.