Chapter nine: A deal
When Joey had left the village behind and walked of into the forest, there were some things he hadn't added to the equation. Like the fact that this was the friggin' largest forest in the world! Or that it would be pitch black in it at night! Honestly, he could barely see his hand as he held it out in front of him; the only light coming from the moon, which was barely visible above the thick crowns of trees.
Joey had to suppress a shiver. He wasn't scared of the dark- never had been- but there was something really spooky about this place. For thousands of years, this forest had had the time to grow thicker, darker and larger than any other. Who knew what kind of terrible, mysterious things had happened in here without anyone ever finding out. One could hide a body in here, and no one would be the wiser. And Joey had heard stories of this wood. Haunted… full of old spirits longing for the eternal rest… and even if Joey wasn't afraid of the dark, he just couldn't handle ghosts! His hand kept twitching in the direction of his sword.
Thank god he had his sword!
Suddenly a root came in the way of his foot, and the next thing Joey knew, he fell to the damp ground with a starlet 'oof!' and hit his knee on a sharp stone. Blinking back tears of pain, and cursing loudly at the same time, he shook his hair out of his eyes and slowly rose again. His knee hurt badly!
He fucking hated this forest!
"Think of Serenity," he hissed between gritted teeth. "Think of mom and grandpa and the guys. They'll be happy to see me. It'll be worth it when I see them again."
He kept on muttering things like that as he continued to walk. Thankfully, the position of the moon led him in the right direction, so at least he didn't have to worry about getting lost.
An hour and a half went by without any out-of-the-ordinary events. Joey tripped a few more times, but fortunately managed to stay on his feet. His knee stung, but he kept on walking, the thoughts of his family stubbornly stuck in his head. The only sounds in the whole forest were his own footsteps and a twig breaking as he stepped in it now and again. The silence was unnerving; as if the place wasn't creepy enough without it! A forest wasn't supposed to be quiet. It was supposed to be buzzing with life.
Once again, Joey's thoughts led him back to the subject of spirits and ghosts, but he quickly aimed them in another direction. He was already skittish as it was- he didn't need any more reasons to freak out.
Some higher power, which held a strong dislike for Joey, must have heard that thought and decided to get back at him for something he'd done in another life, because suddenly something moved in a bush a few metres away and hissed threateningly. Joey jumped back and would've shrieked like a little girl if it wasn't for the fact that he had been paralyzed by fear; body unmoving, and eyes large as saucers staring at the moving, hissing bush.
Something black- so black it actually contrasted the dark shadows in the forest rather strongly- moved among the leaves, and a pair of glowing red eyes opened and met Joey's own.
To encounter a pair of glowing red eyes in a deep forest at midnight… Is. Not. good!
Joey swallowed the fear bubbling in his throat, reminding himself that he had to breathe in order to survive. He couldn't move; aside from the violent shaking, his legs refused to obey him. Despite his panicked orders to run like hell, they stood frozen. His heart beat like a sledgehammer, and his eyes were glued to the red ones.
"Y… Yami?" Joey called weakly; the hope that it really was the hawk was as thin as his voice. "I-i- is that y-you?"
An angry hiss told him that no, it was not Yami, and then the creature stepped out of the shrubs, giving Joey a chance to see what it really was.
Oh god, why couldn't it have been a ghost?
A huge, black monster was standing in front of Joey, hissing maliciously and crouching down, ready to attack at any moment. It looked like… well; it looked like a unicorn, despite the obvious differences. Joey had only seen a real unicorn once in his life, when he was five. It had been a gift for his parents; to celebrate their tenth wedding anniversary. He remembered that they had released it a few days afterwards, telling Joey that true beauty only could be found in free creatures.
There was nothing beautiful with this… this abnormality! Sure, it looked like a unicorn; like a slender horse with a long, twirled horn at its forehead, and a lion's tail instead of a horse's, but that was where the similarities ended. The unicorn Joey had seen in his youth had been a pearly white, so beautiful one wanted to cry. This one was black like… Joey had never seen anything so black. It even seemed to have an aura of pulsating, dark malice around it, which only made it all the more terrifying.
Looking into those red eyes felt like looking into hell's most scorching fires, not at all like the pure, heavenly blue orbs the white unicorn had had. The hissing this one emitted sounded like a snakes, and when it opened its mouth, a long, forked tongue darted out too lick around the flaring nostrils. Instead of unicorn-hooves, it had paws, with long, crooked claws, completely designed to slit a victim open.
And in this case, the victim was, apparently, Joey.
Still completely frozen in fear, Joey's hand moved on its own accord to grab his swords-handle. Even in a situation like this, his instincts were strong, and right now, they told him to armour himself, because this creature was not a friend.
Even as he slowly started to retreat, being careful as to where he put his feet so he wouldn't trip again, and keeping his eyes fixed on those blood red ones, Joey cursed his bad luck. Of course he'd be the one to run into something like this! Someone up there definitely didn't like him! Or didn't want him to leave Seto and the others. Same thing, really!
The black unicorn hissed again and bent its legs even more; lowering itself in a position Joey had seen tomcats do many times on the castle backyard, right before a facedown. The resemblance was the only warning he got: he barely managed to dodge as the vicious monster attacked, almost slicing his arm of with its claws.
Suddenly the stiffness he had been experiencing mere moments before was gone, and Joey found instinct taking over completely. Dodging to the side he lashed out and tried to strike the unicorn's side, but it was a lot faster than him, and instead of meeting with the soft flesh he had expected, his eyes met red.
Digging his heels into the ground to stop his own attack, Joey tried to steer to the side. This time, however, he wasn't fast enough. The unicorn lashed out.
And Joey could do nothing but scream in pain as its long, sharp horn penetrated his skin and went straight through his right arm.
Once again acting on instinct, Joey quickly switched his sword over to his other hand, and with as much strength as he could muster, drove the blade into the unicorn's forehead, right beside the horn. It hissed in pain and pulled back, violently wrenching the sword out of its head, and its horn out of Joey's arm at the same time. Moaning, Joey stumbled back and landed on the ground, gripping his throbbing arm and desperately trying to keep the fog caused by pain from overwhelming his mind.
Warm blood gushed out between his fingers despite his tries to stop it, and a strange shiver travelled from the deep wound up his arm and through his spine.
Trying to stop his spinning mind, Joey looked up and tried to focus on the wild monster that was his attacker. The unicorn stood a few metres away with blood sliding down its face, the eyes fixed on Joey with burning hatred. It panted heavily, and was swaying a little, but showed no other signs of being hurt. Joey felt cold dread spread in his body; the wound he had inflicted had been deep. The unicorn should be dying!
But instead, he could see how the injury glowed a little and with the help pf magic quickly started to heal. Within the span of thirty seconds the creature stood up straight again, the hurt completely healed.
Shit.
He couldn't win this.
Trying very hard to ignore his spinning head and useless arm, Joey scrambled to his feet, turned and ran. There was nothing else he could do if he wanted to survive this. He tore through the forest without a single thought of where he was going; not knowing what he should do now. He could hear the unicorn's hissing, and the sound of its paws against the ground behind him. He knew it was only a matter of time before it caught up with him.
Desperate for a chance to gain some distance between them, Joey made a sharp turn to the left, dodged under a fallen tree and jumped over a small creek. He didn't dare throw a look over his shoulder to see if it had helped; if he tripped now, he was dead. All he could do was hope that the manoeuvre had worked.
But something strange was happening inside Joey as he ran. His heart had beat like mad, both in fear and because of the effort, but now it stated to slow down. Not as if he was calming down, but as if his blood became thicker; harder to pump. Joey himself didn't notice it; all he noticed was that his breaths were coming even shorter than they should, that his legs suddenly felt a lot heavier, and that he couldn't feel his wounded arm anymore.
A hoarse scream cut through the air, and next thing Joey knew, something heavy landed on his back and pushed him to the ground. Long, sharp nails ripped his shirt and dug deep into the skin on his back, and Joey screamed. He tried to call for help, but he couldn't get any air into his lungs; the weight on his back made it a lot harder to breathe.
Warm blood trickled down his back and sides, and his mind was floating in pure agony. All of his martial arts knowledge abandoned him now, and as he felt panic and desperation seep into his mind and body, Joey shot out with the sword in his hand in a vain attempt to get his attacker off. To his great surprise, the long claws disappeared and he could feel the paws leave his body. For two glorious seconds, Joey could breathe again!
But then strong jaws, with sharp teeth in them, closed around his left shoulder, and Joey was literally heaved of the ground and hurled through the air. For a few second it felt as if he was flying, but then he hit a tree and slipped to the ground, just as loose-jointed as a rag doll. He had dropped the sword when the unicorn lifted him.
Joey's head spun like a carousel, and his body was so heavy he could barely move it anymore, but he still managed to raise his throbbing head somewhat and look at the creature as it slowly walked closer, stopping right if front of him.
For a second, dazed brown eyes met evil red ones, and everything was still. Then the unicorn raised one of its forelegs and pressed it to Joey's shoulder, keeping him in place on the ground. The sharp nails bit into his flesh again, but this time Joey couldn't even feel how his blood slipped down his arm and hand. His captor lowered its head a little, so they were eye to eye, and opened its mouth in a low hiss. A foul breath hit Joey in the face, but he couldn't feel it. His consciousness was slipping away fast.
But then his vision cleared somewhat in shock as the unicorn was lifted of the ground and thrown away from him. And he almost snapped out of it completely as something took a deep, deep breath beside him, and the next moment hurled a wave of blue fire, hotter than hell, straight at the creature.
Thanks to this unexpected turn of evens, Joey's mind managed to sort itself out a little, and he could see and hear the black unicorn burn to death, barely twenty metres away. The screams were horrible. A few trees caught fire, and the flames spread quickly, but a dark voice from beside him murmured something Joey couldn't catch, and they died instantly. The unicorn was lying still on the ground; nothing but a scorched corpse left.
Even as Joey kept staring at the smoking remains, a large agile body with wings and white scales stepped into his line of vision. Seto didn't even look at him; just walked over to the body, and stopped, staring intently at it for a long moment.
Joey had just opened his mouth to make his presence known to the seemingly oblivious dragon, when he saw something that nearly made him black out in shock.
The fucking corpse was fucking moving!!!
And not small twitches either! It was fucking trying to stand up, and the burnt skin was quickly healing over!
"Holy sh-" Joey rasped out, but never managed to finish that curse, since Seto, as soon as he saw the movements, grabbed the dark unicorn's head with one paw, and the body with the other, and then, quickly, ripped them from one another.
Carelessly, he threw the head in one direction and the body in another, completely ignoring the blood and the twitching, and then, finally, turned around to face Joey.
Who was standing on all fours, puking his guts out.
Seto sighed softly and moved closer.
"Are you alright?"
Joey lifted his head and looked at him with blood-shot eyes.
"What kind of fucking question is that?!" He gasped. Seto lowered his head a little to glare him in the eye.
Yeah, glare.
"You should be nicer to someone who just saved your life," he growled. "Especially after your little escape attempt."
Joey looked away, partly because Seto's gaze was so piercing, and partly because he felt a little ashamed, knowing Seto was right.
"Can… can we take this discussion at a time when I'm not half dead?" He asked mainly to change the subject, and tried to stand up. Seto raised his head again, and looked down on him with cold eyes.
"Let's just go back."
Relieved that the dragon had let it go so fast, Joey got to his knees and tried to stand back up.
Only to fall right back down to his knees, squeezing his eyes shut and holding his injured arm, which was hurting worse than ever. He couldn't stop the pained moan that slipped from his lips.
"What's wrong?" Seto was back immediately, actually looking worried, but Joey was in too much pain to be surprised or even care. His head was spinning again, and his whole body felt as if it was burning. And his heart was beating hard, but slow.
"M-my arm…" he managed to gasp, and then curled up in a small ball. The agony was spreading throughout his whole body, and he just wanted it to go away.
He heard Seto curse softly above him, and felt a gentle pair of claws grip his arm and hold it out so Seto could get a better look. The sharp digits didn't mar his skin, but he still screamed and tried to tear his arm away. He didn't want anyone to touch him. But Seto held him still.
"Did you get that from the horn?" He asked, referring to the hole in the blonde's arm. "Joey?"
His head was swimming; he couldn't decide which was up and which was down anymore, but somehow, he still managed to catch Seto's question and nod weakly in reply.
"Shit!" Seto sounded really worried now, and finally let go of Joey's arm. The blond quickly curled up in a little ball of agony. "We have to get you to water, fast!"
Joey was so lost in his pain he almost didn't notice as Seto suddenly lifted him of the ground, with paws as gentle as a mother's hands. He almost didn't recognize the blast of air which caressed his face as the dragon took flight and headed of in an unknown direction.
"What…" he managed to pant out, "what was that… that… thing?"
Surprisingly, Seto answered him right away.
"They're called negative unicorns," he told Joey. "They're created when a real unicorn is killed for unjustly purposes. I guess you could call it the unicorn's ghost. They are extremely dangerous; lives solely to destroy and kill, and their regenerative powers make them almost immortal. But they can't re-create torn of limps, so the best way of finally killing them is tearing them apart."
"Just my luck to run into one of those," Joey murmured. He was so tired… his heart was beating faintly now, and his eyelids were heavy. It'd be so easy to just fall asleep. Seto wouldn't mind, would he?
"Undeniably, you do seem to be able to attract quite a lot of attention, human," Seto answered him matter-of-factly. "I don't know whether you're unlucky to get into so many dangerous situations, or if you're lucky to have survived them all."
No answer.
"Human? Joey, are you awake?"
"…"
"Joey!" And to really emphasise Seto shook him a few times. Hard!
"I'm up!" Joey called groggily, his head spinning.
"Stay awake! Keep talking to me!" Seto ordered him sharply. "Keep asking me questions or whatever. Just for a few more moments."
Joey frowned in irritation. Figures; Seto hated talking to him, but once he shut up, he was ordered to keep it going. Stupid jerkish dragon and his stupid leader-obsession and unreliable mood-swings.
"Why did you come after me?" Joey muttered.
"Because I knew you'd get yourself killed, and even if I wouldn't mind, Mokuba and the others like you… for some reason."
"Asshole," Joey choked out. He couldn't feel his legs anymore. "Seto, I'm tired… I'm just gonna take a short nap…"
"Oh, not you don't!" Seto snapped at him, and suddenly, they had landed, without Joey even noticing. Carefully, he was lowered to the ground, and Seto positioned him so that he was leaning back against a tree. Then he turned and walked away.
With a huge effort Joey raised his head and watched what the dragon was doing. He was too tired to care, but Seto had told him to stay awake. And the only way for him to stay awake was by concentrating on something.
Seto hadn't gone far; he was standing a few metres away, by the edge of a small creek. He made some kind of gesture with his hand, and a goblet appeared in it. Joey then watched how he lowered the goblet, dipped it in the stream and filled half of it. And then he did something that would have made Joey gasp in surprise, had he been in his right state of mind.
He placed one claw to his neck and made a cut. Not big enough to actually hurt or cause any damage, but just the right size to make it bleed a little. He caught five or six drops of blood on one claw, and then dipped them in the water, mixing the two together.
"Agua vitae" Seto whispered softly, and even in his hazy condition, Joey could feel the small surge of magic. The goblet glowed blue for a moment, and then behaved like a normal goblet again. Seto, apparently satisfied with his little experiment, returned to Joey with it still in hand.
The dragon hooked one claw behind Joey's neck carefully, and tilted his head back, so that he was looking up at him.
"Drink this," Seto ordered.
But Joey didn't want to drink it. He was too tired; just wanted to sleep. Besides, whatever it was Seto had made, it couldn't be good! So as Seto held the cup to his lips, Joey pressed them together and tried to squirm out of his hold.
Impatiently, Seto frowned and fixed him with a cold glare.
"Listen, moron!" he snapped. "That horn that impaled your arm is poisonous to anyone who touches it. You'll be dead within an hour if you don't get a cure, and the cure is either this, or an amputated arm. It's your choice. Although I must say I've had enough of truncations for the night, I will help you if you think that that is the better alternative."
Upon hearing these words, Joey woke up a little, realizing it was the poison which was making him so tired. Reluctantly he admitted to himself that Seto was right, and finally opened his mouth, letting Seto pour the strange mix into it carefully, and swallowing obediently. Once he had drunk all of it, Seto put the goblet aside and gently let him fall back against the tree-trunk.
Five seconds later he was, for the second time that night, standing on all fours, coughing and hacking wildly, almost ready to lick the ground.
He had never, in his whole life, tasted anything so foul!
"What the fuck was that?!" He managed to choke out. Seto smirked.
"Blood and water," he answered smugly. "Those are the two liquids of life. Mixed together in the right way, they can cure almost anything."
"It was disgusting! You could have warned me!"
"And missed the pleasure of seeing you choke on your own tongue? I don't think so." Seto looked down on him again, still with the same smirk on his face. "Feeling better?"
Joey sat up in his knees and pulled in a few deep breaths. The disgusting taste still lingered on his tongue, but he was already feeling better. His strength was coming back fast, and even if his arm still hurt, the agony he had been in before had vanished. Now, with his mind clearing up, Joey realized just how close he had been to dying.
"Yeah," he answered softly.
"Good."
The next thing Joey knew, he was once again lifted into the air. The grip was far from gentle this time, and it hurt his sore back a little as Seto raised him so their eyes were at the same level, staring at him with burning anger.
"What the hell were you thinking?!" He asked sharply. "Were you thinking?! I knew you weren't the fastest horse in the race, but I certainly didn't think you were this stupid! Don't you realize that running of into an unknown forest in the middle of the night is dangerous?! Did you honestly think I wouldn't find you?! What were you thinking, you stupid moron?!"
"Hey," Joey snapped at him, a little worried that the dragon would drop him; he had been shaking him in time with each sentence, to get his point across even clearer. "Stop it, would you?! You're not my mother, and don't try for a second to make me think that you care! As for what I was thinking… what did you think I was gonna do?! I'm not some pet, I told you I'd try to escape, and I'll take any chance I can get!"
"Is it worth getting yourself killed?!"
"The fuck do you care! And yeah, it is! If someone was keeping you from Mokuba and the others, wouldn't you try to get back to them?!"
Seto faltered for only a second, and Joey knew he had hit a nerve.
"That's not the point!"
"Then what the hell is the point?! They're my family! You don't think they mean as much to me as Mokuba does to you?! And we wouldn't even have gotten into this situation if you had just gotten over your stubborn paranoia and let me go!"
"We wouldn't be in this situation if you weren't such an incorrigible airhead!" Seto snapped with a glare. Joey glared right back.
After at least ten minutes of angry staring, Seto sighed and dropped Joey to the ground, ignoring the squeak of surprise the human emitted as he hit it.
"This is pointless," he snapped and turned around, walking back over to the stream to wash his paws; they were covered in the negative unicorn's blood.
"Stupid, asshole lizard-boy," Joey muttered and got to his feet again. Even if his strength had returned, his wounds hadn't healed, and he really needed to clean them. Therefore, he slowly and unwillingly walked over to Seto's side, and sat down at the edge of the creek. He pulled the right sleeve of his green shirt up to his shoulder and dipped his whole arm in the cool aqua, letting the stream of water wash away the blood. He hissed a little as his heated skin made contact with the cold fluid.
A long silence ensued, and the longer it stretched, the greater their awkwardness grew. They pointedly didn't look at each other; Seto glared up at the clear dark sky, and Joey washed his wounds and face carefully. Once again, the forest had returned to the serenity and silence from before the terrible encounter with the black unicorn. If Seto hadn't been here, Joey would have doubted it had even happened. But then again; if Seto hadn't been here, Joey wouldn't have been alive right now.
The dragon had saved his life…. Twice in one night, really.
As this thought crossed his mind, Joey almost felt guilty, having acted so ungrateful before. When it came down to it, it really didn't matter whose fault all of this was. What mattered was that Seto had helped him, despite his obvious dislike for Joey.
"Thanks," Joey murmured softly, still not looking at the other. "For saving my life twice… thrice, really. I… I guess I owe you."
He took a deep breath. He saved my life, he thought over again. He saved my life. He saved my life. He saved my life.
"And… I'm sorry for trying to escape." There, I said it!
Seto didn't say anything and Joey, who was starting to get nervous for some reason, continued hastily:
"It's just that… I miss my family. I really, really miss them, and I wanna get home. But you won't let me go, so I'm starting to get frustrated here. I don't know what else to do. I mean, what would you do in my situation?" He paused for a moment. "And why am I even talking to you about this. It's not like you care, right?"
He looked down on his hands with a bitter smile on his face. Now Seto was going to mock him for this too. The asshole was probably gonna find some way to remind him of his family every day for the rest of his captivity, just to make him even more miserable!
But whatever scorching comment Joey had been expecting never came. What came was a wary, almost insecure voice from the dragon beside him.
"Joey… what are you expecting from me? To just let you go back, and put my whole family at stake because of some kind of sympathy I might hold for you?"
A bit surprised, Joey raised his head to look at Seto. The dragon was looking down at him with wrinkled eyebrows, actually looking… troubled. And as if that wasn't enough, he was actually (Joey barely dared believe it!) trying to explain himself.
Realizing this might be his chance to actually talk the dragon into letting him go, Joey met his gaze head on.
"No," he answered softly. "But I expect you to judge me for who I am, not what I am. I know you've got some kind of beef with humanity, and that automatically makes me a bad guy in your eyes. You've already decided that I'm not worthy of your trust, and you don't even know me!" He paused for a moment, then frowned and continued; "come to think of it, that reminds me a lot of what the witches did to your kind. They judged dragons after race, and look where that got them. And you. Do you honestly want to make the same mistake?"
Seto looked surprised after his little speech, and actually broke eye contact first, obviously in deep thought. Joey too looked away, a little embarrassed by the outburst, but at the same time believing every single word of it.
Another long silence passed, and then, at last, Seto broke it again; his voice a lot more confident now.
"You want to get home, human? Okay then, let's make a deal."
Joey looked up at him, once again surprised.
"A deal?"
"Yes, a deal. The problem in this whole situation is the trust-issue, right?"
"Uh… yeah, I guess so." That, and your stupid stubbornness.
"So I'll make a deal with you; if you manage to earn my trust and prove that you're actually a friend, I will not only let you go… I'll fly you home myself."
Joey couldn't believe what he was hearing. This was all moving so fast.
"Wait, hold on…. So what you're saying is that you're gonna give me a chance? And an opportunity to get home?!"
Seto rolled his eyes.
"Yes, human, that's exactly what I'm saying. You're right, I might have been… a little hasty in my judgements. If you truly are as reliable as you claim, I should be able to see it after some time, right? Make me trust you, human, and I'll let you go."
Joey thought it over long and hard. When it came down to it, what other choice did he have? He obviously couldn't escape through the forest, and he couldn't fly over it by himself. And even if he, by some unknown miracle, managed to get through the forest, Seto would find him and bring him back.
On the other hand; if he accepted Seto's deal, he might get to spend more time in the village, and not only in the cave. He might get to know the others better. And… and he might get home easier and faster. Wasn't that all he wanted?
"How am I supposed to just make you trust me? And how will I know when you do?" Joey asked, even though he had already made up his mind.
"Naturally, I'll tell you," Seto said casually. As Joey kept staring at him suspiciously, he raised an eyebrow in a sceptical look. "Honestly human, do you really think I want you to stay here longer than absolutely necessary?"
He had a point. Joey couldn't deny that. Still, he pretended to think it over for a few moments, just to make sure he didn't come off as desperate (even tough he was) and then stood and held out his hand.
"Okay, we have a deal," he said gravely. "I'll stay for as long as it takes to make you trust me. And once you do, you'll take me home?"
"Correct," Seto answered shortly and closed his own giant paw around Joey's hand. It was a miracle he didn't squeeze it to bits, but it didn't hurt at all.
For a few minutes they just stood like that, looking each other deep in the eye, then at the same time, they let go and looked away; both a little embarrassed for some reason. Seto cleared his throat.
"Now I do believe it's time to go back. I left in a hurry to find you, and the others are probably starting to wonder."
"They didn't notice I left?" Joey asked and looked up at him. For some reason that stung a little. But why?! In the end he'd have to leave anyway! He should be happy they didn't get sad or missed him or anything.
"Yami, Bakura and Marik were the first to notice," Seto said. "I went to look for you, and they promised to keep the others busy. But there's only so much they can do before Yugi notices that a member of his little geek squad is missing and decides to try and help or whatever."
Joey shot him a glare, but didn't say anything as he nodded and turned around to walk back to the village. Suddenly he felt how tired and sore his whole body was, and he stretched a little before he started walking. Seto trotted on beside him and lead the way at the same time. After a brief silence Joey put his hands behind his head and sighed.
"Soooo…" he began carefully. "You never answered my first question; how do I earn your trust?"
"I'll give you a hint," Seto said a fixed him with a glare that clearly told Joey that the dragon was still mad at him. He shrunk back a little.
"Running away and almost getting yourself killed Is. Not. It."
The prince actually blushed, and quickly looked away. Okay, so maybe this would be a little harder than he had first thought, but he could still do it! After all; Joey was a man of many different qualities. Making the dragon trust him shouldn't be too hard… should it?
And thus, my dear little friends, the plotline have been established! And it only took me nine chapters, too!
I've gained so many new reviewers! 28 reviews for a crap-chap like that is not bad! NOT BAD INDEED! Thank you sooo much! As thanks for your awesome support, I'm actually gonna list you all here!
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Thank you so much, to all of you, and please note that I've written down all these names by hand, as a proof of my love!
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Until next time.
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