The Dragons

Thondril led the group into the caves. For a while it was dark and wet, like a cave should be. Then torches came into view. And so did two dragons. They were still young; Sky could tell neither of them could fly or breathe fire yet. They both looked up.

"Thondril!" One cried. He ran over. "Thondril! Did you-" Then he saw the others, probably because Han had made a move towards his gun, and his question sputtered out.

"Who are they?" the other dragon asked. She spotted Sky's metal foot. "And what is that!?"

"That's my foot." Sky said. She didn't have much emotion in her voice as she said it.

The dragon meanwhile, looked baffled. "It doesn't look like your other feet."

"Yes well, it wasn't my original foot."

That didn't mean much to the little dragon. She opened her mouth again, but the male, probably her brother, beat her to it. "Who are those?" he asked, flicking his tail at the humans and Chewbacca.

Thondril, who had been full of energy only a few moments ago, suddenly looked tired. "These are humans. We're taking them to the king."

The little dragons backed away so they could get through. Thondril nodded. "Thanks." They kept walking.

The little dragons weren't the last dragons they saw on the way either. There were lots of dragons, all of them looked different. There were ones that walked around on two legs and had hands. Another looked like Ember. And there were a few who swam around in forming pools that didn't look like they belonged on land.

Then they reached a huge cavern that was rounded on the top. It was so smooth Sky was certain it couldn't have been created naturally. This was also the place with the most dragons, most of them eating. At least they had been eating. There was a stony silence when they entered.

A big gold dragon lifted his head, and glared. "Thondril! What are you doing, bringing humans here?!"

"That doesn't sound good." Leia muttered.

Han shook his head. "We might want to consider making a break for it."

"No." Sky growled. "I can handle this."

"I'd rather not have my life in the hands of an over grown lizard who doesn't really have hands." Han shot back silently.

Sky's eyes glowed dangerously, but that was when her attention was drawn back to the dragon conversation. "Sky!" the gold dragon roared.

He must be the king. Sky thought. "Yes, your majesty?"

The dragon looked impressed she knew he was the king. "Thondril tells me these humans are your friends, care to explain how that came about?"

Sky sighed. "It's a long story."

The king flicked his tail. "We've got time. But there's no point being on opposite sides of the cavern. Come, we can go to my chamber."

"What's going on?" Leia asked.

"I have to go to the king's chamber, to tell him how I know you, and why you shouldn't be killed." Sky explained.

"Real comforting." Han said.

Sky was practically considering requesting the dragons kill Han. Luke broke her away from that train of thought. "You better go then."

Sky nodded and walked off.

The king's chamber was another side caver. It was big, but as big as the cavern they'd just been in, and not as bright. Still, it was definitely king material. It had a pool of water in it, and there was a little nook in the corner that had metal on it.

Yummy. Sky thought.

"So, tell me this long story of yours? How do you know these humans?" The king requested.

Sky forced herself not to think of the metal. She noticed instead, that the king was staring at her metal foot. She'd have to explain, at least in part, what happened there.

She tipped her head. "Alright." She started her story. She started it around the time she was there for the birth of Primrose. Apparently, the cooling mist she'd sprayed was a remnant of long ago, when dragons could heal. Who knew? She continued. Occasionally the king would have something to say like the healing comment. And sometimes she would have to back track and explain things she'd skipped over. But she did her best not to talk about Order 66 or the fact that Luke's father was Darth Vader. That wouldn't help her make her point.

Though I should remember to tell him. Sky thought. Talking about the Death Star certainly got the king's attention.

Finally, Sky reached the end of the story, when they'd reached the planet. She stopped and panted. She'd talked faster than she'd intended.

The king looked thoughtful. "Well your right. Your humans don't seem too bad. There's just one problem."

Sky managed not to groan, but she was pretty sure she'd made a soft growling noise. "What's that?" she asked, sounding more tired and irritated than she'd meant to.

The king noticed it too, and he narrowed his eyes. But he answered her question. "Humans have much shorter lives than us. The next generations could easily forget about this."

Sky opened her mouth, then shut it again. She didn't have an answer. The king seemed rather pleased about that. Sky dropped her head towards the ground and shook her head. "Maybe we should get the humans in here. I can't speak for them."

The king didn't look like he liked this idea, but he nodded. "Alright, we'll talk with them. But I might bring someone else who can translate."

"You don't trust me?" Sky asked. Her voice had an overly sweet tone to it. That was hard for a dragon.

"To be blunt, no."

"I don't lie." Sky told him.

"Maybe, maybe not. But dragons are naturally born good liars." The king replied. Then he walked out.

Sky blinked. Dragons are naturally born good liars? That was new to her. But she didn't have time to think about it, she had to follow him.