"I found 'em, idiot!"
"Ja, I know ye found 'em, bu' where?"
A small, pale blue dragon gnawed at the soft leather of Berwald's shoes. He picked the creature up and bopped its nose lightly with a reprimanding finger, a finger which was promptly taken into the dragon's toothless mouth and gummed profusely.
"Well this one-" Matthias held up his left arm, the arm which another reptilian form had wrapped itself around- "was prowlin' about th'woods an' hunting, an' that one ya got there was followin' 'im."
"How d'ye know it's a male?"
"Dunno," he admitted casually, allowing the green dragon on his arm to slip onto his palm, "just seems like a male, ya know?"
The dragon Berwald held had calmed down considerably, now curled around his hand, nuzzling its snout into the space between his thumb and forefinger. He sighed heavily "I don' know if we can keep 'em..."
"Jus' for a lil' while, Ber! C'mon, it'll be fun!"
Berwald gave a defeated sigh after a moment, easily giving in to his brother's childish whims, too exhausted from the day of scavenging about the market to argue about the situation. "...We keep 'em f'r two months, an' then see where it goes from there." He was sure Matthias would get bored with them in a couple of days anyway
"Ya got dragons with ya," whispered a flat, unfamiliar voice off to Matthias's right. His eyes flicked open rapidly and he looked towards the source. A pale, blond boy, probably around twelve, Matthias guessed by the looks of him, sat crouched on the forest floor, tending to a small fire pit. His face was placid, and did not seem to hold any immediate threat of danger, so he allowed himself a sigh of relief.
The night was deep and noisy with the soft wind rustling through the fallen leaves that had begun to pile up as summer came to an end and slowly progressed into autumn. The pitch black sky was littered with stars, exploding haphazardly and without pattern from the waxing moon centerpiece of the display. He didn't know how long it had been since he had set out to hunt that evening, but he guessed at least six hours, if not more.
"Ya didn' hurt 'em or anythin', righ'?" The question was choppy and slurred, his head still partially in a dreamy state. He felt certain he wouldn't be able to remain awake much longer, dark threads of sleep already pulling at the corners of his consciousness. The other boy shook his head, jerking his chin at Matthias's torso. "Watched 'em crawl into your satchel. Jus'... Be careful getting up. Don' want t' crush 'em."
Matthias nodded, choosing to slip the satchel from his shoulder and set it to the side instead of risking it. He squirmed into a more comfortable position, although not much comfort was to be found on the dry, leaf-coated forest floor, and began to calm himself, allowing the sleep to take him over. Before the fuzzy darkness overcame his mind, he was vaguely aware of the scene before him: The stranger slipping on a leather glove, shoving the covered hand into the fire, and pulling out a small reptilian creature from the flames.
Matthias woke up later than usual the next morning, head throbbing with a slowly fading ache that he didn't remember having when he'd set out the previous night. His entire body was sore as he stood up. He stretched his arms out above his head, whimpering quietly as the muscles tensed and then loosened. He stared down at the small boy he'd seen last night, now asleep, curled up a few feet from where he had himself slept through the night. I don't know his name, he realized then. He took a quick glance around the woods, memorizing the appearance of the small clearing. Once satisfied that he could find his way back to the area, he set off on his way, back towards the cabin.
Berwald stood at the door to the small dwelling, a basket of various root vegetables held aloft in one arm, his free hand searching his belt for the key. "It was on this side some'ere," he insisted to himself. He tried the doorknob once more, finding it to be firmly locked, odd considering he didn't remember locking it before taking his leave to the market, but nor did he remember much of that particularly drowsy morning. Finally, he managed to locate it, yanking it off of his belt and shoving it into the lock with a heavy sigh. He was nearly tackled to the ground upon opening the door.
"Ber! Ber ya never gonna guess what I foun' last night!" Matthias's voice rang out in shrill excitement, and the two young dragons scurried to his feet, clawing and nipping at his boots.
Berwald pulled his brother into a tight hug, eyes wide with disbelief. "Where were ye last night? I thought ye'd gotten yerself killed ou' there." He pushed the smaller boy away, holding him at arm's length, looking him up and down for any sign of damage before his attention settled on Matthias's forehead. "Ye got cut up." He reached out to touch the shallow cut above his eyebrow, but Matthias quickly smacked his hand away.
"It's nothin' Ber, don't be so worried 'bout me all the time." But he knew no words could stop his brother's motherly coddling behavior. He'd always been like this, ever since they had lost their mother when they were younger. He came out of the incident a different person, more responsible and caring. They both did, really. They'd matured, taken on their own responsibilities in order to keep each other alive. Looking back on it, Matthias realized that they were different people now than they had been before the loss. Whether the changes were good or bad, he had never considered.
"So what was it ye wanted t'show me?" Berwald mumbled after a few moments, moving past Matthias to go set his market spoils on the small, battered wooden plank on wobbly legs that served as their dinner table. Matthias followed him, the dragons at his heels. "I foun' this boy, an' 'e's got a dragon o' some sort!"
"Ja? 'N what 'bout 'im?"
"I think we could talk 'im into helpin' us train our's!"
Berwald turned to look at him, eyes calculating. "I... I guess we coul' try it..." he offered, unable to hide the hesitation in his tone. He had a weakness for his brother, and he couldn't help but suspect that the other boy knew how to use that against him. If it were completely up to him, he'd have set the monsters free without a second though. But when Matthias grinned at him, he couldn't help to grin feebly back. Maybe this wouldn't be too bad. Maybe they could actually get the creatures trained. Maybe there was hope on the horizon for them all.