Dragons are no longer feared, as long as they're captured and used for army purposes. As long as you're on the side of the army with the dragons, there is nothing to be afraid of. In the Kingdom of Taria, wild dragons haven't roamed for fifty years. War had broken out, and the only way the kingdom were to survive, was to capture and use the beasts for military purposes. Even dragons bonded with humans were forced into captivity.
A dragon can bond with a human in two different ways. The first is when a dragon hatches from its egg and the human is the first thing they see. It is somewhat similar to how an animal can imprint on whatever creature it sees first, however, a dragon will not recognize the human as its mother. The dragon will see a companion. The second way is much more rare than the first, and is unexplainable. There have been times where a human and dragon lock eye contact, something in the dragon causes it to bond with the human. Regardless of both methods, the dragon will protect its human for the rest of their time in history, there are limited bonded pairs of dragons and humans outside the army. Many newborn dragons are bonded with soldiers and raised to fight. In everyday villages, any bonded pairs are usually with smaller dragons, incapable of fighting.
In the town of Venza, there was a young man whose smile apparently would make the sun shine brighter. Every week, he'd stop by each trader to purchase food for his family, and every day, he'd hand out any leftover food scraps to the many birds, cats, dogs, and even dragons that would wander. That was the only complaint people had about Feliciano. His generosity would attract "pests." But not many had the heart to be frustrated with him. Anyone who had a bone to pick with him would stop when he'd look at them with his soft amber eyes, which complimented his short auburn hair. They would see the innocence in him, and couldn't have the heart to scold him. They'd suggest he not hand much out, and they'd leave. Feliciano never seemed to listen, however. The man always had a soft spot for animals.
It was a day where Feliciano would stop at the meat traders, ran by a couple of brothers that grew up in another town. He noticed the older brother, Gilbert, was distressed and shouting what seemed like nonsense to his brother, Ludwig. He flailed about and Feliciano couldn't tell if he was scared, or excited. Gilbert was smiling, however.
"No, but I swear I saw it!" Gilbert shouted before he turned to see Feliciano listening in. His smile widened. "Feliciano! You're not going to believe what I saw hunting this morning!" He slammed his hands on the stand.
"What is it?" Feliciano asked as he leaned closer towards Gilbert.
"A dragon! Not one of those pipsqueak pests you keep feeding, but a big one!"
"No way!" Feliciano leaned closer. "How big was it?"
"Bigger than you, Lud, and me combined and multiplied!" he said. "Damn thing was terrifying though. Scared away my hunt. But when I got far away from it, I started to realize how cool it was to see a dragon not occupied by the kingdom! I want to know where it came from!"
Feliciano was excited to listen to Gilbert's story, but there was a thought haunting in his head. He wondered if the dragon was that big, and if it was a threat to the town. He remembered when he was little, his older sister would always tell him stories of dragons that could breathe fire and burn down buildings and destroy civilizations. He had only seen small and tame army dragons. None could breathe fire. But the dragon Gilbert saw was wild, so did that mean it was different from the rest? Feliciano made a note not to go near the wilderness until he knew the dragon was gone.
Gilbert saw Feliciano's concerned face and stopped talking. However, he didn't take it as worry. He took it as disbelief. "Well, if you don't believe me, I'll show you!" He jumped over the stand and grabbed Feliciano by the arm. "I know exactly where I saw it!"
Feliciano bit his lip. "Wait!" he exclaimed. "It's dangerous to go back out there if it's wild! It could kill us!"
Gilbert laughed and shook Feliciano with his free hand. "It's not like we're going to stand right where it can see us! I'm not that dumb." He looked over to Ludwig. "You can man the stand while I'm gone, right?" Ludwig only grumbled. "I'll bring Feliciano back in one piece you know." Ludwig grumbled again. "You can trust me!" His brother didn't make a sound. "Okay, good! Come on, Feli, boy!" With Feliciano stuck in Gilbert's locked grip, the two made their way back into the forest where Gilbert supposedly saw the dragon.
The sun shining up in the sky made the forest not even close to having an ominous feeling. Gilbert still had his lock on Feliciano's arm while they walked through. Gilbert wasn't worried about being stealthy, as he stomped on every twig and leaf, and he wouldn't stop talking to Feliciano about whatever was on his mind.
"He hardly talks anymore!" Gilbert whined. "I swear, Lud hasn't been the same since his wife left him. That was the reason why we moved to Venza in the first place! He could forget about her!"
Feliciano frowned. "Well, maybe he just hasn't had time to move on?" he asked.
"We've lived here for two years!" Gilbert exclaimed. "I don't get it! He's always been the tough guy who can brush almost anything off, but when his love life, which surprised the hell out of me that he actually had one, is gone, he turned into a mess!" Gilbert shook his head. "Maybe if he caught sight of another woman, he'd be fine again."
Feliciano hesitated to speak. "I don't think that always helps though."
"We won't know unless we try!" Gilbert started to laugh. "Speaking of women, how's that sister of yours doing?"
"She's been really happy lately! Her crops have been doing well in the market."
"Is that so? Has she been talking about me?"
Feliciano shook his head. "Only when she's irritated."
"That woman has spice in her," Gilbert muttered. "One day she'll come around. I'm positive of that!"
Feliciano was about to speak in defense of his sister, only to freeze in place at the sound of a roar he had never heard before. It was loud and possibly earth-shattering.
"We're getting close!" Gilbert said happily as he started to run closer to the roar.
"Gilbert, wait!" Feliciano called out. "Why can't we stay here where it's safe? You promised!"
"We will still be safe if we move a bit!" GIlbert replied. Feliciano continued to protest GIlbert's actions, but with him in Gilbert's tight hold, he fell under deaf ears up until Gilbert stopped in front of a cave, and ducked under a fallen tree.
"Is this-?" Feliciano gulped as he trembled at the sight of the cave. "Where the dragon lives?"
"I'm sure of it," Gilbert said. "It's around here where I saw it. I'm sure it'll come out in time."
"How do you even know it's in there?"
"Call it a hunch."
Feliciano shook rapidly as he and Gilbert waited for the dragon. He felt as if his life would be over that day, and he wasn't ready for that. Gilbert wasn't holding onto him any more, so he could run away, but fear kept him locked in place. The ground shook as another roar flew through the sky. Feliciano shouted in fear, and finally, his feet were able to move far away from the cave. Gilbert freaked out and tried to run after Feliciano.
Feliciano's vision was blurred as he tried to navigate through the forest to get back to the town, where he would be safe. He knew it was a bad idea to let Gilbert bring him to death's door. Unfortunately, the roaring grew louder, and before he knew it, he was thrown back by a sudden gust of wind onto a tree. Feliciano screamed for help, and hoped Gilbert, or someone else, could hear him.
In a blink of an eye, Feliciano saw a large reptilian creature land in front of him. He knew it had to have been the dragon, even when he couldn't get a good look at it. He was too busy cowering in fear, and counting the last minutes of his life. The dragon was in front of him, its head above his. It let out another roar, and Feliciano started to cry.
"Please!" he screamed in hopes it would understand him. "Please I'm too young to be eaten! I didn't even want to disturb you! I'm so sorry! Please don't eat me!"
Feliciano looked up at the dragon as he faced his final moments. Much to his surprise, the dragon had not tried to attack. It only looked down at him and snarled. It wasn't even close to being as big as Gilbert described. Perhaps it was bigger than him, Gilbert, and Ludwig combined, but not multiplied. Its dark green scales glimmered in the sunlight. It's horns, fangs and claws, despite terrifying, looked pearl-white, as if nothing ever touched them before. Then Feliciano looked at the dragon's eyes. He had never seen a dragon with blue eyes before. But that wasn't the only thing about the dragon's eyes that shocked him. The dragon was looking right into his as if it were hypnotized.
The dragon stopped snarling and backed away a little to lower its head so it was at length with Feliciano's. Feliciano thought this was how dragons would taunt its prey.
"Just please let me live!"
The dragon stood motionless for a moment, before its eyes closed and rubbed its head against Feliciano's in a loving manner.