Claw growled loudly and turned onto his other side. The early rays of sunlight showered his face and he closed his eyes tighter, he wanted to stay asleep a little longer.
"You're not awake yet?" A blue-eyed boy prodded Claw with his foot. "You are inveterate, you know that? I'll be leaving on my own then, Lazy." He grinned and picked up his sachet from the rocky ground below. "In case you ever wake and wonder where I went, I'll be in the city."
...
Sira cursed silently to herself whilst she freed her dress from the thorny plant she sat crouched behind. Rarely leaving the city, the girl had neither any knowledge nor any intention of travelling properly through the woods. Looking upon the scratches on her arms she began to doubt her brilliant plan of following the unknown stranger and she was starting to long for home. She put a finger in her mouth, one of the few she had torn open on a rock earlier. She tasted blood. If she were to turn back now, all this trouble for going undiscovered would be in vain.
...
Claw's large, amber coloured eyes snapped open when he heard the grumbling of his own stomach. He arose, groaning from his stiff muscles. The unavoidable time of waking had finally arrived; he would have to eat eventually.
...
Her eyes fixed themselves on the boy she came here for. No one knew who he was or where he came from, but it is rumoured he lives all alone in the woods she hates so. She had seen him in the city only a few times, more often than never he merely came to sell the game he had hunted, it appeared that the was quite capable of living on his own. When he disappeared from sight between the trees, Sira carefully and silently stood up and ran over to a tree. She pressed herself against its stem whilst praying the boy could not hear the clinking of her jewellery. As time passed and they went further into the shelter of trees, Sira became more and more proud of herself. She had always been known as one of those girls who'd trip over her own feet a million times a day, but her own agility astounded her. Just when she thought no one was ever to discover her, a dead branch broke under her foot with incredible noise. She gasped, hit the ground stayed perfectly still as the boy curiously turned around and scanned his surroundings. She held her breath, pressed herself deeper into the dirt and closed her eyes, as if hoping he wouldn't see her if she wouldn't see him. The nameless boy eventually shrugged and continued onward.
The coverage of trees start to thin down and the earth became rockier as they reached the foot of a black mountain. Sira gulped as she watched her subject of observation start his climb up the steep and treacherous slope. She pulled back her blonde hair and felt a slight feeling of self-loathing build up inside; this was a really bad idea.
By the time the boy had reached his destination, Sira was only halfway up. Her already hurting hands became more and more bloodied as she went along gripping every edge she could get a hold of, disregarding how sharp some of them were. She clearly did not posses any skill or experience to climbing. She tried to silence her panting when she heard the boy's voice for the first time. She tilted her head further up, and saw him standing on a ledge a few above, facing a cavern inside of the mountain side.
"You're still here, I see." He laughed. "I hadn't expected anything else."
Sira persisted to climb the rocky mountain face.
"I'm quite hungry already. What say you, Claw? Is it time for breakfast yet?"
A shadow fell over the area and a sudden and inexplicable gust of wind caught Sira off-guard. Her hands slipped and she screamed as she felt herself falling.
…
Claw searched the woods beneath him for a prey. He saw the swift movements of deer through the cloak of leaves. He dived and readied his claws. This one wasn't getting away.
…
With a shock, Sira suddenly held still and stopped falling. The air was no longer whipping around or trying to push her over and she felt a tight grip around her wrist. Carefully peeking up, the unknown boy sat above her, gripping her with one hand while the other held him steady, the one she was spying on had just saved her life.
"You really aren't good at remaining unnoticed. I'd seen you the minute I left the city." He grinned and pulled her onto the ledge.
"So I've been crawling through the dirt, cutting open my hands and ruining my dress for no reason this whole time?!"
The boy pouted, his eyes glistering with malicious delight. "Yes." He eventually said.
"My name's Sira. I'm sorry I've been following you all this time-"
"But I'm just so bloody interesting." He cut her off, grinning broadly.
Sira stood up and wiped some dust off her dress. "Care to introduce yourself?"
"Right, I'm Nero, I live here in the mountains with my friends Claw."
"Claw?" Sira questioned.
Suddenly, a deer fell down from the sky with a loud thud, landing right in front of their feet. Sira screamed with surprise, noticing the bloody gashes on the dead animal's stomach. Nero smirked and looked up to the sky.
"Claw." He said pointing at the thing overhead. It was a massive creature with strong bat-like wings and a reptilian body. Shiny black scales covered every inch of the creatures' skin, two twisted horns stood atop his head like a demon, and a long line of stings ran along his back all the way to the tip of his tail.
"A dragon?" Sira wondered, never having seen such an unusual being.
"A very lazy one. Claw, come meet our new friend, Sira."
Sira held her breath when the dragon landed next to his killed prey and started walking closer to her. He produced loud thuds whenever his claws hit the ground, and Sira could feel the earth shaking. When the girl and the dragon were face to face, Claw tilted his head curiously, and blew some smoke from his nostrils. The girl closed her eyes and tried not to move as the dragon's hot breath nearly scorched her skin.
"I don't think I like him that much." She whispered.
"Well that's a shame. I take it you'll want to go home now, wouldn't you?"
Sira sighed as she looked down across the forest, not even capable of seeing the city in the far distance. "I suppose so, but that means I'll have to walk all the way back."
"But of course, Claw could give you a lift." In the time they had been talking, the dragon had curled up like a snake and was just about to fall into a slumber again.
"You mean you're expecting me to get on that thing's back and allow him to fly away with me?!"
"First of all; it's Claw, not 'that thing', and second of all; yes." Nero poked Claw to keep him from sleeping.
"Not in a million years!"
"In that case, I'm afraid I'll have to take away your right of choice." He laughed as his hand clasped around her wrist again. He pulled her closer to Claw and entwined his other hand around his claw.
"Claw, help me take this lovely lady back to the city, please." He laughed loudly and the dragon spread his wings and took flight. Sira felt her feet being lifted from the ground and she screamed.
"Nero! Let me go!"
"Too late for that now! You'll just have to- "His sentence was interrupted when Claw roared and spat a massive flame into the sky.
"Hmph, show off!" Nero laughed. "Don't worry, Sira. Just hold on tight!"