Light streamed into the dank cave, aggressively pushing it's way through her eyelids. She groaned and rolled over, only to find her stomach resting on something cold and pointy. She gasped and sat up, taking in her gleaming surroundings. The cave walls alone were shining, gemstones peeking out at the corners. The floors were covered in gold and silver, plunder that the dragon had gathered over the years. There were dresses strewn across the piles, along with crowns, swords, and armor. Atalanta shuddered, imagining the poor people the items had belonged to. A warm draft of air snaked over her neck, smelling strongly of smoke and mutton. She slowly turned around to stare at the entrance of the cave. The dragon's head filled the small space. It wasn't as large as it had seemed in the gloom the night before, but it was still large, probably a juvenile in its last stages of development.
Atalanta quickly backed up, pressing herself into the rock wall, trying to escape into the nooks and crannies of the rock face. She made an uncomfortable squeaking noise and her eyes quickly became the size of doubloons. The dragon made a scoffing noise, laughing at her, and shook its head. "Your dress is ruined. Use the clothes upon the treasure." Atalanta darted a glance at the piles, clenching her teeth, and slowly nodded. The dragon looked satisfied, withdrawing its head and turning around on the ledge.
Atalanta ran for the security of the great piles, grabbing a pair of breeches and a loose tunic. "All the better to flee with," she muttered under her breath. She clambered over the pile and slid down the side into a stack of bones. She shrieked, and the dragon just chuckled. "Cows?" she yelled, catching her breath. "Why don't you get rid of these goddamn bones!"
"Can't, my dear, for that would require effort. I'm not capable of effort, unless forced."
Atalanta groaned in retribution, wading through the bones. At least they were clean, she mused. She stopped once on her feet steadily once again, and pulled off of her dress. She looked at the rips and tears in her dress, the burn marks, dirt, and moss. It was disgusting, and beyond saving. "So much for a fairy godmother," she muttered venomously, pulling on the tunic and breeches. She started to wander about the cave, noting hiding places and dry spots to sleep. When she came upon a spring, she gasped. She pulled a handkerchief out of one of the piles and dropped it into the water. It floated along, and then slipped under a wall. "A current! A place it lets out!" she whispered to herself. She looked around, and then slipped into the water. It was lukewarm, though she knew she would be freezing once she got out. She had learned how to swim as a child, so she paddled silently through the water, eventually submerging her head, holding her breath and dunking herself. She pushed through the water, searching out where the water escaped. She quickly found it, grinned, and came up for one last breath of air. The current was weak enough to where she could easily swim against it, so she started underwater. She followed the current to its strongest point, reaching a small cavern. She looked about, frowned, and then dunked again. It hadn't looked like there was anywhere to go. She searched the cave both above and below the waterline, finding no exits and only serving to drench herself even further. A drowned water rat couldn't be any wetter. She came up finally, coughing, and disappointed. The point of exit was the size of her wrist, and went through the floor. She would drown even if she were able to get through the hole.
She swam back out and back into the cave, emerging from the pool to find the dragon staring into the cave. "Wanted to take a bath?" he asked, raising a scaly ridge above his eye that could only be called an eyebrow. She nodded, and the dragon rolled its massive orbs of eyes. It laid its head upon its paws and closed its eyes, taking a catnap where she was easily within sight, no matter where she went.