Hello there reader. I'm very excited to tell you that this is a collab story that Yamiyo. Darknight and I have been working on together. The title of this story "Scálaí Dragón" is Gaelic for Dragon Scales (which is really fitting to our story). n_n

Yamiyo. Darknight is Alfred and all of the future Dragon characters that will appear later on in the story while I am Arthur and all of the future Knights that will appear later in the story.

Neither of us owns Hetalia.

Arthur Kirkland was known to be the most chivalrous man in the Kingdom of Hetalia. He held nobility to a high standard; always being the first Knight to uphold one's convictions. Many citizens saw Arthur as old fashioned. But he never paid mind to what these people thought if him.

Arthur had come from a long line of virtuous knights and was taught, what his father called, the True Code of Chivalry at a young age. His father and his father's father were well known for their courageous escapades and narrow escape from death against deadly dragons. Arthur wished to be just as knightly as them. The only problem was that Arthur was never good at combat. Thankfully, what Arthur lacked in combat he made up for in magical spells and potions.

Over the years humans have tried to perfect the art of casting spells and potion brewing. Only the most skilled potion masters had become Healers while spell casters were permitted to serve as the King's Guards. To master both skills earned a person knighthood. This was because knights needed to be able to use spells to aid them in combat and knowledge of potion making to brew healing elixirs in dire situations.

Arthur's skills in spell casting and potion making excelled high and beyond any others who practiced in these fields. He invented many new spells that helped the kings army expand and become more experienced with magic. Not to mention his healing elixir was the most powerful one ever created. Arthur had been offered the role as the King's highest ranking Magician but he kindly declined. He wished to follow his family's linage and earn a name for himself in the battlefield. He hoped to gain honor and glory by slaying one of the many dragons that threatened their town and way of living.

The other Knights, especially his dear "friend" Francis, loved to tease Arthur about his features. He was too slender and no matter how hard he trained, he never seemed to gain any muscles. His messy blond hair earned him the title as mop head and his bushy eyebrows... oh don't even get him started on the eyebrow comments… These jokes aggravated the young knight to no end. They annoyed Arthur to the point where he felt like he just had to get away from everyone.

So here he was with his skittish horse, Rhubarb, in a secluded area deep within the forest. It was a peaceful place for Arthur and he used this time to gather herbs for his potions.

Rhubarb whined for the fifth time that afternoon and bobbed his head trying to get Arthur's attention.

"Would you just wait another moment?! I swear, you are the most impatient animal I have ever known." Arthur said exasperatedly. He was trying to determine which herbs he needed to make a Sleeping Draught.

Rhubarb continued to neigh loudly and nudged Arthur's shoulder. "Bloody hell. Why are acting so bothersome toda…" just then a loud crack of thunder caused Arthur to jump. He looked up to find dark storm clouds above him. Damn! How could he have missed that? The sky was blue only moments ago. Not wanting to get stuck in the storm, Arthur mounted his horse and snapped the reigns. Rhubarb bolted forward. The clouds rumbled loudly over head. Rhubarb tossed his head back and forth in fear at every clap of thunder. A bolt of lightning shot a tree branch down in front of their path and caught fire. The skittish horse raised itself on its hind legs before lunging itself in a different direction. This caused Arthur to lose his grip of the reigns and fall off.

Arthur felt a sharp pain on the back of his head when hitting the ground. He stood up shakily. The fall made him feel disoriented and everything blurred together. He smelled smoke and it was beginning to get difficult to breathe. "Rhubarb… you cowardly animal… get back here!" Arthur called out weakly. His head throbbed and he could feel himself losing consciousness. Arthur stumbled to the ground not knowing how to get out of this mess. Before everything went black, Arthur saw a large dark figure coming towards him.

Alfred was a curious young dragon that liked to investigate anything that puzzled him. A new species of creature in his territory, he had to find out what it was. New plant or food? He had to taste it. He had to learn about everything.

Now there was a specific creature he wanted to know everything about. They were curious things and were never the same. They were lively and creative and they knew magic and potions. Humans. Humans were amazing. And deadly. And magical.

Now he'd stumbled across one. Unconscious and probably hurt, but still alive. His blue eyes widened with wonder and shined brightly. He had to help him.
He paused and wondered how to take this human to his home. He carefully scooped the being into his jaws and spread his wings and took off into the air, flying back to his cavern.

The young Knight awoke feeling slightly dazed. What had happened? Where was he? And… oh bollocks, what was his name again?

Arthur struggled to remember what happened. Slowly things began to fall into sequence. He was gathering herbs, a storm came, his sorry excuse for a horse freaked out and left him behind… then what happened?

"Rhubarb?" Arthur called hoping the horse was nearby. He slowly opened his eyes and lifted his head to take in his surroundings.

"What's a Rhubarb? That sounds like a nasty berry. Oh yea! Are you okay? I saw you fall and hit your head when I was flying nearby and so I took you here so I could try and heal you but I don't know how to make potions but I took one of yours and had you drink it and it seems like it worked and...oh yea my name is Alfred. My pops said we're not supposed to say our names but you seem cool so I think it'll be fine." A voice rambled before a looming figure stepped into view.

The large blue and white dragon settled himself in front of Arthur with a loud thump and grinned what could be called a grin for a dragon, fangs showing. "What's your name?"

"Bloody hell!" Arthur jumped up making a grab for his sword only to find that it wasn't there. Oh, that's right. It was attached to Rhubarb's saddle. That useless animal. Arthur then grabbed a nearby rock and held it threateningly over his head.

"Why did you bring me here dragon?!" Alfred said the last word venomously. "Trying to keep me healthy so you can have fresh meat, hmm?! Well you were horribly mistaken. I'm one of the most talented knights of my time and I've been waiting my whole life to face a deadly dragon like you!"

Alfred was confused. This guy wanted to fight? Why? He didn't want to. Fighting was no fun, and he especially hated killing. Food was one thing, murder was another. "I don't eat people. And my name is Alfred, not dragon. So don't call me that please. I just wanted to be friends or something. Can't you assume something nicer than 'hey this guy is gonna kill me cuz he's bigger and can breathe fire' and stuff?" He huffed, smoke lazily lifting from his nostrils. "By the way, that rock isn't going to do anything. I have no intentions of fighting you. If I wanted you dead, don't you think I would've roasted you and eaten you while you were out? Not cool dude. Not. Cool."

"Wha-… H-how dare you!" Arthur yelled, his face turning red. He wasn't really angry. He just wanted to hide his embarrassment of the situation. This dragon was scolding him. Him! A valiant Knight. "Don't question a knight's form of combat. A knight needs some sort of weapon to channel his spells through to make attacks stronger." Arthur dropped the stone. "And pardon me for not wanting to trust a dragon." Arthur said sarcastically. "You creatures are always stealing our treasure and burning our land. I didn't realize there was such a thing as a friendly dragon."

"Well, excuse me for being different from everyone else." Alfred retorted bitterly. "Just cuz I don't like to kill humans. And how would you know if there's any good ones or not if you never gave one a chance to prove otherwise, huh? I like humans. I've always thought they were interesting. You guys can do magic and stuff. I've always wanted to be able to do that. Dragons can use magic but nothing like what humans do. You guys can heal things and make things better. The ones we were taught only bring destruction. I never liked that." He lowered his head so that his eyes were at level with Arthur's. "You have something that I may not ever be able to have."

Arthur stared into the dragons blue eyes. He suddenly felt very guilty about the way he was behaving. Knights where supposed to show nobility, generosity, and mercy to all people. This dragon had all of these traits and talked to Arthur sincerely.

"I apologize for speaking so harshly with you." Arthur apologized awkwardly. "You have shown me nothing but kindness while I've been the one acting beastly."

The dragon snorted with laughter and pulled away, expression seeming cheerful again. "See? Not so hard to get along, now is it?" His tail started to wag back and forth playfully, and he nudged Arthur gently with a paw. "But I still don't know your name."

Arthur wondered if it was a good idea to give a Dragon his name, but saw no harm in it.

"My name is Arthur." The Knight finally answered.

"Arthur, it's nice to meet ya." Alfred replied with a toothy grin. "Hey! In return for me helping ya, can you teach me some good magic and potions? I wanna be more helpful to other people and stuff, and I figure that if you know it (which you obviously do) then maybe you can teach me?"

Arthur hesitated. Although there was no law against it, he knew he could still get punished for being seen with a dragon. And imagine what the knights would do if they found out he is teaching one magic! But looking at Alfred, Arthur saw only good intentions in this dragons eyes. Plus this dragon showed him kindness no one else had shown him before. Sure he had the townspeople's respect but that was different from Alfred's genuine kindness. Arthur was starting to feel a bit drawn to it. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to spend time with this youthful dragon and teach him a few tricks.

"Well, I guess it's only fair." Arthur answered. "After all, you did rescue me and as a knight that makes me indebt… oh bloody hell." Arthur's eye grew wide in horror. "A knight was rescued by a dragon?! If anyone ever found out I would be the laughingstock of the whole kingdom!" The irony of this situation was just too much for Arthur to handle. Arthur was beginning to feel less and less of good knight.

"What's so bad about being rescued by a dragon? Beats being told that you died by falling of your horse and hitting your head on a rock." Alfred commented in return. "We're not exactly wimpy ya know. We are strong and amazingly cool! What's bad about someone else being the hero for once? You can't live your whole life being perfect." He grinned again and nudged against Arthur's chest gently, careful not to knock him over. "Can't I be your hero at least once?"

Arthur blushed. He was always striving for perfection. After all, he had a family legacy to live up to. He was taught that only knights can be heroes and that they must be strict and keep to a code to achieve heroism. But this dragon confused him. He was carefree and kind. Heroism and chivalry came easily to him while Arthur had to work hard at it.

Arthur sighed and gently patted Alfred's head. "Well… I guess it wouldn't hurt for you to be my hero… just this once mind you!"

Alfred grinned and laughed, the sound coming from deep down in his chest. "That's great! I hope we can get to be good friends. It's nice to finally meet someone who hasn't run away screaming in terror from me. But hey, when can we start with the magic and potions and stuff?"

Arthur stilled at the question. "I wouldn't mind starting our lessons right away but, to be quite honest, I'm not sure how to go about our lessons." Arthur started to pace back and forth. A habit he did when he was trying to solve a problem. "I don't know about you, but if my people saw us together I could get into serious trouble."

Alfred was silent for a few moments and nothing could be heard except for his breathing. "Well," he finally spoke, "if it's my appearance, that's not really a problem." He stood up and shook his body, resulting in the sound of loud jingling from his scales hitting each other. "I can look human too!"

Within moments, his form changed and shifted until he was standing as a human man with blonde hair (a strand stuck out oddly towards the front) and peach-colored skin. His eyes remained the same bright blue color and they twinkled mischievously. "See?"

Arthur gaped at the sight before him. "You can change your appearance?!" He quickly started walking around Alfred analyzing him. "I never knew such magic was possible. I've heard rumors of transfiguration but no one has ever succeeded in finding the right formula. Can all dragons do this?" Arthur was now poking and prodding Alfred. He was just so transfixed and amazed by the possibilities this new information could bring. "What's this? do all dragons have these." Arthur asked curiously then proceeded to yank the odd stand of hair sticking up.

Alfred squirmed away from he poking and prodding uneasily, grimacing. "All dragons can do this much, even as hatchlings. It's a means of survival. Humans hunt us, so we disguise ourselves as one so we don't get caught. He let out a low whine and smacked Arthur's hands away from his strand of hair. "Are you normally this touchy?! Geeze. Not all of us have one, but it's common. I think it's just a hereditary thing. Just-just don't touch it, okay?!"

Alfred's reaction surprised Arthur and caused him to blush. "Sorry. I'm usually not the type to invade people's personal space. It's just, humans have been trying to master transfiguration for ages and we've never come close to perfecting it. Your talent is truly remarkable." Arthur looked at Alfred in awe. Alfred was a very beautiful dragon with his blue and white scales but his human form was simply amazing. Who would have ever guessed that this handsome and dashing young man was actually a dragon?
Arthur quickly shook the last thought out of his head.

"Anyways. We can begin our lessons tomorrow at noon. There is an old training facility a few miles south of my town. No one goes there anymore and it has all the things we will need to properly teach you magic."

"Alright! Great! I'm looking forward to it!" Alfred chirped with a bright grin. "Hey, do you need a ride back? I can always fetch your horse for ya. I know you won't let me take you, since I'm a dragon and all, but I can at least get that horse so you don't have to look for it for ages yourself. Easier to find from the sky. I've got good eyes."

Arthur tried to hide the smile he felt coming on his face. This dragon was just too sweet and kindhearted. It was rather endearing. "Yes. That would actually help me very much. Thank you, dra… Alfred."

Alfred noticed the change in how Arthur was talking to him now, referring to him by name rather than species, and was pleased. He nodded and grinned before turning back to a dragon and taking off faster than the green-eyed knight could see, wings flaring causing the air to billow. It didn't take him long to find the skittish horse, making sure to grab it gently so that he didn't crush the animal's ribs. It wasn't easy to keep hold of it since it kept squirming and thrashing, attempting to escape his grasp.
It also didn't take long to fly back to the cave, the thermals of the winds allowing a smooth and easy flight. Within minutes, he was back at the cave, settling on all fours and letting go of the horse who quickly ran to the opposite side of the cave and away from him. "Got your horse Artie! He was easy to find!"

"Really? That was fast." Arthur said impressed. He then turned his attention to the cowardly horse behind him. "Now you calm down or else no apples for a week!" Arthur told the horse sternly. Rhubarb immediately stopped his fidgeting, possibly feeling horrified by the idea of not having his favorite food for a whole week. This have Arthur a chance to mount his horse. As he and Rhubarb started to leave the cave, Arthur turned to Alfred. "Thank you Alfred for everything you have done for me today. Don't forget to be there at noon."

Alfred grinned and nodded his massive head. "Sure thing! I will be on time! Promise! Just make sure that you don't get in trouble or seen anywhere near me, k?" He shuffled into his cave, making sure not to knock Arthur or his cowardly horse over as he moved. He settled into a ball and watched the knight ride away, wondering what it was like to be a knight. What made it so glorious to the humans? Why were dragons made to be so bad? Sure there were some real jerks out there, but he wasn't.

As Arthur made his way home he kept thinking about what Alfred said to him. They muddled his thoughts and made him question his upbringing. Dragons tuned out to not be as bad as they were made out to be to the humans. Alfred was actually the kindness being he had ever encountered. Arthur absentmindedly pet his horse. "We'll Rhubarb, after today I don't think I'll ever want to slay a dragon."

Alfred smiled to himself as he wondered what would be in store for him the next morning. He was honestly feeling rather giddy about the fact that he'd just befriended a human when all the others had told him it was an impossible feat. He wanted to go out and brag to his friends and family, but who would believe him? And if they did, they would only tell him that it wasn't allowed and that the human was only plotting to kill him in the end. But he knew that was wrong anyways. Arthur didn't seem to be the type to pull that kind of stunt on him. He seemed too kind for such a cruel act. He hadn't killed him up til now had he?

"What are you smiling about, Al? You seem super happy."
Alfred's head shot up and he ran to his violet-scaled brother to greet him. "Hey Mattie! Haven't seen ya in awhile! How are you?"
The purple dragon snorted with laughter and nudged him back in greeting. "I've been well brother." He paused and sniffed the air around him and narrowed his eyes at the younger blue male. "Why does it smell like a human was here? You didn't go out and drag one here did you?"

"A-ah well, I found an injured one. I couldn't just leave him out there. He could've died." Alfred protested quickly, nervously, as he shuffled awkwardly on his paws. "Well...I mean, he didn't try to hurt me or anything anyways."

"Al! You know you can't just bring a human here like they do with animals as their pets! You know you can get in trouble for doing stupid things like that! They could send a knight after you!" Matthew snapped, wings flaring and tail snapping at the ground furiously.
Guess it wouldn't be a good thing to tell him that Arthur WAS a knight. "I'll be fine bro. You worry too much."

"Honestly, Al. You need to learn. They are cold-hearted beings that just like to hunt us for our scales, fangs and horns. Just leave them alone."

Ah...well...he couldn't do that now could he?

Thus ends the first chapter of our story. There was even a surprise appearance with Matthew (Yamiyo. Darknight) at the end.

I don't know why but every time I read the beginning of this story I hear Arthur's life being narrated by the same woman who narrates the opening of The Lord or the Rings. ^_^;

We hope you enjoyed our first chapter. Please review and let us know what you think.

Also, don't forget to check out Yamiyo. Darknight's other stories. The link to her FF is on my profile.