Starcrossed.

Chapter 12: What the heart wants.

Narissa went up ahead and was amazed by what she saw. A field of flowers, or every color you could think of. She had always flown straight to the cave, but this time she could take the time to see everything nature had to offer. She went through and took the chance to enjoy the smell. When she moved in closer to get a better wiff, a butter-fly fluttered out of one and landed on her nose. It tickled and she giggled a bit, then it flew away.

She hadn't noticed Dragonbane pass her, so he rushed her a bit. "Come on, we gotta keep moving. I'm sure that yor little friend of yours isn't the only one trying to stake a claim."

Narissa rolled her eyes. "Don't worry so much. Take a moment, smell the flowers, enjoy the little bit of sunshine we got left before sundown."

He paused for a moment and let out a sigh. "Well, I suppose it couldn't hurt." He bent over and sniffed a daisy. His eyes began to water and then he sneezed. The force of it knocked him on his back on to a large group of big yellow flowers, which erupted in pollen when he landed. Dragonbane was now yellow on his front side, from head to toe.

Narissa laughed. "Hmhmhmhmhehehe. Oh that's such a good color on you. Match that with your eyes and you got all your primary colors."

Dragonbane didn't say a word. He got up, walked over to Narissa, who looked up at him with a bit of worry as to what he would do. He simply took his index finger and drew a little smiley face on her forehead in pollen, then smeared more of it on her lips and drew little circles around her eyes. She, at this point, was a bit miffed. He smiled. "What's wrong? Laugh clown, laugh. hahahaha!"

She responded to this by tackling him. They wrestled a bit. Not like before in the mud, when they were trying to put the hurt on each-other for dominance. Now, they were just batting each-other around, no intention of pain, just...playing. After a while they stopped, in the process Dragonbane had Narissa on her back and he rested on top of her.

Narissa looked at him with a warm look in her eyes. "So, you having fun?"

He was quiet for a moment, then he nodded his head and smiled. "You know what, I am. To tell you the truth, it's not a familiar feeling. My entire life it's been a simple pattern. Fight dragons, sulk in tower, fight dragons, sulk in tower, back and forth for years at a time."

She looked a bit sad. "You mean you never once stopped to just goof around and have a good time?"

Dragonbane smiled at her. "I never had anyone to show me how. Narissa...There's something I've been wanting to tell you, but the odd thing is...I'm just not sure what it is."

Narissa reached up and nuzzled him a little. "I'm sure you'll figure it out eventually. You're smart like that."

He shook his head and smiled,trying to hide his blushing. "Thanks, but battle plans and inner turmoil aren't exactly on the same level."

She rolled her eyes, while he got off her. "Oh, learn to take a compliment. Say, why don't we just camp out here, it's starting to get dark anyway."

Dragonbane rubbed the back of his head. "I don't know. It's an awful lot of open ground, good place to get ambushed."

Narissa got up and walked up close to him. She gave him that adorable little look that she had made her trademark. "Awwww, come on D.B. It's so nice here. The ground is nice and warm, the flowers smell nice and...quite frankly they tickle in just the right way. Plus I smell lots of rabbits over that little incline that I can snack on."

He gave her an accusing look. "First the raccoon and now the rabbits. Do you have some kind of secret war going on with the little woodland creatures? Cause I had my suspicions when that gopherdisappeared."

She gave a smile and took a defensive tone. "Have you ever had rabbit? It's like fuzzy sardines, you can not eat just one."

Dragonbane shook his head and laughed. "You are a certifiable nut-case."

Narissa brushed his chin with the tip of her tail. "Takes one to know one." The two shared a laugh and decided to set up camp.

Night soon came and the two were once more settled in for a peaceful sleep. Dragonbane just stared up at the stars. Narissa was a bit curious. "What are you looking at?"

He shrugged. "Just some old legends. We vikings have always been told that the greatest legends of our people are told through the images that the gods themselves paint in the sky." He pointed to a cluster on the right. "Like there, that Thundercall the strong. He once challenged a massive groncle to a tug-of war in order to save his village. And over there, is one-eyed O'Hagen the swift, one day while hiking he saw a massive flock of nadders erupt from a cave and he raced down hill to warn the village before their arrival."

She was intrigued. "Did he make it?"

Dragonbane nodded. "Yeah, but by the time he got their, everyone had already fled. It's hard to miss a flock that size"

The two shared a laugh. Then Narissa pointed out an interesting one. "What about that one?"

He was hesitent, but answered. "That's...My parents."

Narissa felt a bit of guilt wash over her. "Oh my...I'm sorry. I didn't..."

Dragonbane held up a hand to silence her. "Don't worry about it. I'm glad people still notice them. Before I came around, they were the best at what they did. Now...All we have is memories."

She leaned in and nuzzled his cheek. "I wish I could have met them."

He gave her a rather incredulous look. "Are you kidding? They would have skinned you on sight."

Narissa just smiled at him. "Yeah, but at least I got to meet you."

Dragonbane smiled at her, then gave her a gentle scratching beneath the chin. She purred, then gave a little retort. "You are such a tease."

He smiled "I know, but it's just so adorable when you're like this."

There was then an abrupt gurgling sound. Narissa picked her head up. "That wasn't me."

Dragonbane was a bit bashful. "Heh. I guess I'm a little peckish."

She gave him an accusing look. "Dragonbane, I could compare that to a starving wolf. When was the last time you ate?"

He shrugged. "I'm guessing this morning. I packed some dinner-rolls, but I ran out after I chucked that log at Daken."

Narissa couldn't believe it. "Jeez! First your sleep-deprived, then your mal-norished. For the perfect warrior, you sure do have a lot of health problems."

Dragonbane rolled his eyes. "Fine, I'll get something descent in the morning."

She seemed sceptical. "No way." She got up, which knocked Dragonbane onto the ground. "Wait here, I'm gonna get you something."With that she ran off into the darkness.

He rolled his eyes again and mumbled to himself. "Tells me I need to eat. Do this this dragonbane, that's not healthy, I'll eat anything you put in front of me, but that won't stop me from talking down to people. Smart-mouthed, over-grown gecko."

He was then whacked in the back and knocked about ten feet away. He shot up to see what attacked him, but was then hit in the face with a large salmon. After he pulled it off his face, he looked up to see Narissa with a rather satisfied smile and a raised eyebrow. Dragonbane was a little embarrassed. "Uh...How much of that did you hear?"

She curled back around him. "Not enough to hold a grudge. Now eat your fish."

Dragonbane did as told. He didn't need to roast it. He had been out alone in the woods before, he was used to taking what he got. Quite frankly he was glad he did. One thing he noticed about Narissa is the fact that beneath the sarcasm and the fact that she could take your head off at any moment, she was really nice. The kind of person who takes care of who she cares about. If she wasn't a giant fire-breathing reptile, maybe these feeling wouldn't be so weird. He also noticed that she purrs when she sleeps, which is adorable in any sense of the word.

Our hero finished his fish, closed his eyes and passed out for the night. His mind now filled with questions about where this relationship was going.