The dragon had attacked in the night- the guards had not seen it coming. Just when she had thought her life had hit rock bottom, yet another creature had come along to treat her as a prize- and this one was more fierce than any uncouth suitor.

Most of all, she was determined to surprise this beast with her cunning and refusal to be a treasure, a token of wealth. She would refuse to be treated like that. And that was only what would become of her if the beast didn't simply decide to eat her altogether, cutting her life short in an entirely more macabre way.

Her name was Elizabeta Hedervary, only heir apparent to her father's kingdom, and she had been essentially sold off to some foreign Prince that she had encountered once at a banquet. Her life had been all but over in a few days time, on her way to her wedding in a place she had never even visited once.

But, that life wasn't going to happen if the dragon took her captive- no, then she'd be a dragon's toy, prize, or worse- meal. In Elizabeta's minds eye, that was an invariably worse choice than being married for the rest of her life. She would much rather be captive by a boring husband than potentially a dragon's food whenever the beast bored of her.

However, this dragon gave her a new option she hadn't had before: A chance to escape. If she disappeared now, those around this part would be acting under the assumption that the dragon had taken her captive, and therefore she would have a long time before they found her out and would come searching for the princess- if they didn't assume her dead along with the dragon that they would slay in her name.

But, her clever plan would only work if she outsmarted the dragon first- which was why Elizabeta was running, trying to find maid's clothes to wear, cutting her long brown hair in an attempt to disguise herself somewhat, putting the hair back into a rag, before she started to strip herself of her night clothes and dress in the maids outfit, furiously packing anything she desired- jewelry, coins, some of her dresses and underclothes.

However, a long, gleaming talon broke through her window, followed by the scaled foot of the dragon that had attacked her father's castle, making Elizabeta scream in shock up at it, frightened by the massive, scaly head that followed through her broken window, looking down at her, seeming to size her up. The Princess was almost certain she was the beast's dinner then and there, but that is not what came next.

"You prepared for me?" The booming voice asked in surprise, and Elizabeta felt her breathing grow fast and hard as a glowing red eye stared down at her, examining her in her near state of undress. "Then...finish clothing yourself- and we will be off from this place."

Elizabeta stared at the beast in shock, and when it breathed out blue flames, licking its massive snout with heat and fire, the Princess jerked back into motion, cursing herself for wanting to pack so much- the only reason she had even still been here was because she had been vain.

And so, she put the rest of her belongings into her bag, and Elizabeta shakily finished, and told the dragon so in a quiet, scared voice, not looking up to meet its gaze, her eyes focused on the long, sharp teeth that poked out of the monster's maw. The beast seemed to…smile? Before it nodded, and lowered a long neck to the floor, offering it to Elizabeta. Her green eyes stared at its scales, which were pure white, and Elizabeta felt helpless to move, uncertain of what this beast was ordering of her.

"You will ride me." The beast said firmly, and Elizabeta gasped, shaking lightly. The beast only nudged her lightly, and the woman lifted her leg over its neck. "Grip my scales- I will not take offense if you hurt me." The beast then grabbed her bags, and looked out to the sky. The moonless sky seemed so empty, much like Elizabeta's future.

However, Elizabeta only gripped a few scales after she had wrapped her arms around the dragon's long and nimble neck. The feeling was so strange- she had expected the scales to be cold, and dead, but they were warm and lively, seeming to pulse with light. Elizabeta didn't have much time to think on the subject before the magnificent beast took flight, Elizabeta screaming in surprise at the speed and force they were suddenly flying at, gripping the monster's scales tighter in a desperate attempt to hold on to her.

Admittedly, if she hadn't been essentially kidnapped, the experience would have been wondrously freeing, her father's castle becoming a tiny dot in the dark night and the realization that no matter what happened, she wouldn't be returning there to be married.

And the sensation of flight, though terrifying, was exhilarating all the same- Much like her future, it was going to be horribly frightening, but there was something wonderful about the idea of an adventure ahead of her that Elizabeta couldn't quite come to terms with.

XXXXX

Julchen had been pleasantly surprised when she had found the Princess already packing, and already changed into clothing that was less likely to be suspicious. How had Elizabeta known that she was coming for her? Perhaps the girl could scry as well, and had been watching Julia for all these years.

Though that was a rather unlikely thing to have happened, the dragon enjoyed how romantic the thought was on the flight home, the feeling of small human hands gripping her neck foreign and intriguing to the dragon.

She lowered her long neck at the mouth of her cave, instructing the girl to get off in her deep and booming voice. It seemed to take the human a few more seconds to comprehend, but after a few more moments of gripping her, Elizabeta did just that, looking back to where Julchen had plucked her from a cruel fate- and even the dragon's enhanced eyes couldn't see the castle in the distance.

Julchen nodded firmly, pleased with herself. "That is a fair distance, I would not think that anyone would be able to walk that far- it would be months if one were on horseback."

With that, the dragon swept her wings into her sides, and wandered inside her cave, leaving Elizabeta out at the mouth of the cave as the night slowly grew brighter- day was approaching.

While she was still completely in her dragon form, the girl checked on her mother's egg, and once she was satisfied with how it looked and felt, she allowed herself to be surrounded by the starlight she was made from, shrinking and becoming humanlike once more, her hair long and white, though at the moment it was matted and a little bloody. She frowned at it in distaste, but could only sigh.

Julchen examined her new cuts and bruises, bandaging them dutifully with her magically enhanced cloth. Infections were never fun- especially since those which wracked her body required her to be in dragon form the whole time. Her human form, frail as it was, would succumb easily to fevers that consumed her body when she grew ill. The dragon girl dipped her body into her pond, wiping off excess blood and sweat, and trying to wash her hair as well, running some of that human product to make it slightly softer and easier to brush through it.

After some time of soaking in the water, the dragon child grew concerned that her Princess, Elizabeta, hadn't wandered into her cave, and so she got dressed, her hair still soaked wet, bandages tight on her skin. Her skin was barely covered in white cloth, but it didn't bother her that much. She had never been one to be modest.

"Hello?" She called, her form glowing in the faint darkness of the sunrise, peering out of the mouth of the cave for the human girl. When Julchne saw she was still there, the dragon sighed in a deep breath of relief, before she called out once again. "Hello!" The Princess turned around to face her in shock, gasping suddenly in a way that Julchen thought was a bit silly- it wasn't as though she was in danger!

"Goodness! You as well!" The human gasped, her eyes wide in horror. "Are you alright?" Elizabeta raced to the dragon girl, her hands going to the bandages and looking upon her form, mumbling on about how skinny the girl looked, how beaten up she looked. "How terrible!" She exclaimed, before Elizabeta pulled Julchen tight against her chest, making Julchen's form pulse with light in time with her racing heart, unable to think properly with how wonderful it felt to be with her, in her embrace.

"I'm fine!" Julia squeaked, before looking upon Elizabeta in the same fashion, gasping at her hair, her lithe hands going to touch it. She hadn't noticed that when she had been at the castle! "You cut your hair!" The dragon girl exclaimed, ushering her into the cave, gripping her hand tightly as she tried to drag her into it.

"Wait-the dragon is in there!" Elizabeta exclaimed loudly, stubbornly refusing even as the dragon stood there before her, confused. "We should escape!"

"What?" Julia blinked in her befuddlement. Why tell the dragon that you planned to escape from her by clearly emphasizing it was the dragon (who was with her, for goodness sake) that they needed to escape from, even though she wanted to escape the dragon with the dragon. "That doesn't make any sense!"

"You know! We need to get away from the dragon! We should escape, when he doesn't expect it!" Elizabeta took this time to use the grip Julchen had on her hand, and drag her away from her cave.

Smiling, the girl dragon didn't even know what Elizabeta was going on about, and clearly, that dragon was a girl, and she snorted in amusement- after all, the dragon was right in front of her! Surely Elizabeta knew that this dragon was a girl!

"What's so funny?" Elizabeta snapped at her, and Julia quieted, before explaining.

"'This dragon's a girl." Julia explained with a small giggle. "Sorry, it's just funny…This Dragon's a girl!" She repeated herself, almost gesturing to her breasts and long hair and otherwise feminine appearance, but refraining for propriety.

Elizabeta stared blankly at Julchen, who still had no earthly idea what Elizabeta was so scared about! After all, Elizabeta had been packed for her, right? She had known that Julchen- the dragon- was there to rescue her, like in all those human myths, correct?

Something lit up in her gaze- "Wait- I know you, don't I?"

And all was right in the world- Elizabeta recognized her! Julchen nodded emphatically, her smile bright as the sun before her, the two of them glowing in the early morning light. "Yes, we do!"

"You're the fairy girl who I played with when I was a girl!" Elizabeta's eyes sparkled, even as the smile was fading from Julchen's face. "Wow, that's amazing! But…what would a dragon want to do with a fairy?"

Nothing, a dragon would want nothing to do with a fairy. However, rather suddenly, Julchen realized, that no- Elizabeta had no concept of who or what Julchen was. Her image of the two of them together, as friends and lovers, fell apart, as Elizabeta's continued scathing insults towards the dragon that had kidnapped her ripped the girl apart from the inside out.

Her dream of them together was shattered into pieces, for her sun had scorned the moon back into the darkness of the night.