Meanwhile, back at the castle... {"My GoOd RaM, I HaVe PuNiShEd ThE SaBoTeUr..."}
"Now that that's settled." The ram king smiled.
{"DiD YoU GeT RePlAcEmEnT PaRtS?..."}
"I did, putting it in right now."
{"GoOd...AcTiVaTe It..."}
The machine fires up. The circular doorway flickers to life as a yellow light ripples from it once more. "Yes it's working!"
A figure appears in the doorway, and soon comes to the threshold of the portal. "I think it's her!" The king beams.
{"On ThE CoNtRaRy, KiNg RaMmOs..."} A dark figure steps through the portal, "It IsN't..." The figure grins, red pupils glowing brightly.
"W-who are you?"
"CaLl Me...Tempest Vernum..." She lifts her claw, and pins him to a wall with her mind powers, "Thank you for freeing me from my inter dimensional prison..."
"Y-your welcome." "Now..." Tempest grins wildly, "For your reward...You said you wanted to see your wife's smile again?"
"Yes."
"Then I will send you straight to her..." The king finds a tightening in his chest. "Enjoy your reward..."
The ram gasp for air. "What...are you ..doing?" Tempest comes close, "Killing you...You will see your wife smiling soon."
"B-but that's...not...what I ~wheez~ wanted." "Don't be silly...I heard you say that...Next time, be more thorough with what you want...Oh wait...You won't have a next time."
She slowly squeezes harder, grinning with amusement as she watches him squirm. Gasping for air. "Goodbye..."
Meanwhile, Rose is in great pain. The soldiers noticed that she hasn't worked for her keep, and go to fetch her. They drag her out of the castle, and throw her to the ground a little ways outside the draw bridge, "And don't come back, you lazy anthro!" They go back, and the draw bridge closes up.
Rose slowly gets to her feet, her strength returning and her wounds healing, a lot more quickly since Aaron treated her. Aaron? Where are you? I have just been kicked out of the castle...
Nothing...
Aaron? Aaron?! Rose starts to get worried. He should of answered by now. "I must get to Camelot..."
But how? And she was worried... Rose begins to run toward's Camelot. It takes her two days, but she finally reaches Camelot's entrance. She collapses at the draw bridge.
As she falls unconscious, she sees figures running towards her.
...
"Guardian Rose, Miss Rose can you hear us?" W-Who...is there?
"We are knights of the table. We found you passed out."
K-King Rammos' castle...darkness...Lost assistant Aaron...Couldn't find him... "Just rest and tell us more when you have your strength back."
Find Aaron...find my assistant...find my friend...
"We will send a party out to look, rest."
Rose succumbs to unconsciousness once more. And then wakes up some time later. She opens her eyes, "M-Merlina?"
The human girl smiles. "Missed you, hold still just looking you over." "How have you been, young one?"
"I've been great really but it looks like you had better days."
"Yes..."
"Tell me about it."
Rose, while Merlina checks her over, tells her what had happened.
"I'm worried about him, Merlina. I brought him into this, a humble farm lad in soldier's armor. If anything happens to Aaron, I could never forgive myself for making him my assistant."
"I might be able to locate him if you like me too." *Please..."
Merlina nods and holds her staff up while muttering a few words. Rose's ears go down, but she waits.
"I...I don't understand." Merlina stopped. "It shouldn't be possible. I sensed him but for some reason I couldn't see anything else. Like he was there but was not at the same time." "D-Do you know where he is?" Rose is getting a little frightened.
"A few miles from King Rammos' castle." Rose gets up, "I shall go look for him. You and the king must stop King Rammos' plan. But don't start a war."
"You just can not go alone. At let me or a knight come with you." "You must stay with the king. And you will need all of your knights of the round table..."
Merlina sighs. "Very well but please be careful." "I was caught by surprise...But I will make sure that doesn't happen again."
-
Two days later...
In the dragon's home...The dragon yawns after waking up from a long nap. It is a beautiful day, but a chance of rain looms in some dark clouds nearby. He made his way out of the cave and stretched out his large wings. The breeze was right, and the sky beckoned him. And it was hunting time. In a split second the dragon was mile or two up in the sky.
Down on the ground a few yards away, Rose slowly wakes up from her nights sleep under an old pine. She sits up and stretches. Finally she was near where Merlina said she sensed Aaron.
Aaron?
Nothing...Again..She gets up and begins walking.
Calling his name with her voice and her mind as she goes. Rose sighs after a while and stops at a small lake to rest, too distraught with worry to notice that this lake, and a small cave nearby, belonged to a dragon.
There was the tell tales signs all over. Burned rocks and plants, tree missing bark like they were pulled off by claws. The faint smell of sulfur. She looks down at her reflection in the lake, and sighs, "How could I have been so weak? I am supposed to be a guardian, I was supposed to protect him..."
"GRRRRRRR!"
Rose nearly jumps out of her skin from the sudden sound, and quickly turns around to see a great reptilian beast glaring at her with gold, piercing cat-like eyes.
Fear comes to her own eyes, as she sets a white furred claw to her chest to try and calm her heart.
In it's mouth was a dead buck, baring it's bloody fangs at her clearing conveying the message: Your trespassing. Rose stays perfectly still, not wishing to fight this creature.
It puts down it's meal quickly and opens it's wings. And hisses like mad. (Like a cat puffs it's fur to look big and scary.) Rose takes a step back, her foot getting slightly wet from the lake water.
"GRRRRRRR!"
She freezes once more, and her ears go down. I-I don't wish to fight you...
The dragon stops short, seeming to be surprised at that. Rose remains very still, Breathe deep, seek peace...
Slowly the dragon clams down, but still looks at her confused. Now...I shall leave... She slowly and carefully walks around the dragon, and begins to walk away.
It's eyes keep following her the whole time. She senses this, and looks back. Both stare. Dragon?...Have you forgotten your prey?
It turns and glances at the buck. Rose turns to walk away.
"...Flower...stay...share...hunt?"
Rose looks back at him, You wish me to stay? "Share...hunt..." She looks at the buck, No...I could not take your food. It is yours, Dragon.
"Stay still...?"
She watches the dragon, I...I guess I could stay...for a little while. The dragon purrs, he seemed to be happy at that. Rose slowly comes over, and sits beside him.
"Why in...my ..land?"
Rose looks down, I am looking for someone...a friend that I lost about a week ago...I'm very worried, for if...if... she shakes her head, I should have been protecting him...I am a guardian...but...I-I failed...if anything happens to him, I could never forgive myself...
"What happened?" She tells him what she knows.
"Haven't seen wolf here...been here week too.." Only a week?
"Yes"
Why? Why did you move here?
"Just was here."The dragon shrugs.
You...You mean you don't remember?
The dragon nods. "Yes." You poor thing... Hesitantly, Rose sets a white paw to the dragon's arm, slowly petting it. It leans closer enjoying it.
She begins petting his head, and scratching behind his ears. "Rrrrriiight thrrerre." Rose smiles, as she continues scratching. And she did for a few minutest then Rose soon stops, and looks at the lake water, May I swim? It is getting a bit hot...
"Yes"
Rose smiles, Thank you, Dragon. She takes off her cloak, and all her clothes so they don't get wet (her fur pretty much covers everything), and jumps into the water. She sighs in relief when she resurfaces.
The water was just prefect. She swims for a little while. A little later, she begins cleaning her fur. The dragon somehow notices that she feels a little sad, even though she isn't showing it.
"Still...seem sad." It glanced up from it's meal. Rose sighs, her damp quills framing her face as she slowly combs through them with her fingers, I'm worried about Aaron...
"Why he mean so much?" He...He is my friend...one of the few friends I really have. She falls silent.
"Am I a friend?"
Rose looks like she's about to cry, If you wish to be... The dragon motion for her to come over. Slowly, she gets out of the water, and walks over to him.
"Got a wing you can cry on" He lets her lean against him. It had been a long time since the last she had really cried. She leans against his chest, feeling a gentle claw on her back as she cries her eyes out into his warm scales.
"There there..." His warm scales feel soothing to her as she continues to cry, her ears going down, and her long tail laying at her feet. "Cry all you need"
Rose cries until no more tears can be shed. She slowly falls asleep in his claw, resting her head against his chest.