Pyrrhanikos, or "Pyrrha" to her friends, was the most feared dragon in all the kingdoms. Her name was synonymous with fire, destruction, plunder, burnination, and all manner of draconic terror. Particularly when it came to princesses.
No kingdom was safe from her depredations. She tore through knights and mages, castles and fortresses and plundered what she would. Even the mighty Kingdom of Atlas had proven to be unable to do anything as she abducted their princess and spirited the girl back to her lair. Their finest champions had failed, and now, she had heard, the King of Atlas had made a desperate plea that whosoever should rescue his daughter would receive her hand in marriage.
Typically, when a king was at that point, she only had to deal with a couple bold adventurers and then they'd start forking over tribute, so Pyrrha figured she only had to wait a few more days before they'd come crawling to her, willing to offer anything for the princess's safe return.
Honestly, it couldn't come soon enough. Princess Weiss was really starting to get on Pyrrha's nerves, and she'd much prefer it once she'd been exchanged for glittery, non-whiny gold.
Ooh, maybe she'd get a scepter this time! Pyrrha loved scepters, but they were pretty rare to come across in treasure piles. Would it be crass to request one? Dragons were supposed to be high and mighty and above such things, but anyone who actually knew a dragon knew that they were so into shiny things and trinkets that-
Pyrrha heard a clank.
Far off, at the very entrance to her lair, she heard the sound of armor. A knight, trying to be stealthy. Poorly trying to be stealthy, which told her that this was not going to be much of a battle.
Still, appearances must be maintained, and it wouldn't do for her to get lazy in the process. Pyrrha glanced at herself in the mirror, adjusting her hair to make sure her crimson ponytail trailed down her back in an inviting manner, her circlet wasn't smudged, her horns nicely sharpened. She fluttered her wings and flexed her tail, making sure that her scales were radiant (she really needed to stop putting off her scale polishing, she'd been overdue for one for a while now) and made a quick check of her claws and talons—yep, she looked like a proper Dragon, and all should tremble to see her.
From the racket, Pyrrha could tell the knight was trying to cross the bridge over the pit of lava that led into her lair, and as much as she'd love to have a dramatic showdown before the eyes of the princess, standing resplendent over the treasure-hoard, this knight was taking his sweet time and, also, was liable to get lost in her lair.
So she flapped her wings and took to the air. In no time at all, she spotted the knight, wearing antiquated, likely inherited, armor and landed before him in a dramatic fashion, smoke and flames rising off her scales, her talons digging into the stone. She looked into the knight's face (no helmet, probably didn't own one—but… that did give her a good view of his cute face and gorgeously cerulean eyes) and gave him a wicked, predatory smile.
And then… he knelt before her.
"My fair lady!" he cried, eyes immediately cast downwards respectfully, "I am pleased to see you were able to free yourself from captivity without requiring my assistance, but quickly! We must flee before the fell dragon catches us!"
Pyrrha stared at the strange man for a moment, trying to figure out exactly what to do. She was used to incinerating knights with her fiery breath or tearing through their armor like it was paper with her claws, not… having to talk with them.
Talking was not something Pyrrha was good at. She was getting nervous already, and she really didn't like it. In negotiations, she usually held all the cards and could just be silent and aloof, not… having to explain to a knight that she was the dragon, but... at the same time, it felt kind of... nice? To have a knight speak to her so admiringly? To have someone who assumed she needed to be protected?
So… she took his hand and let him lead her out of her lair, away from her hoard, and into the wider world.
Racing from her lair, Pyrrha and the strange, somewhat dense, knight ran into the forest, crashing through thickets, leaping over fallen trees, and running as fast as they could. Though Pyrrha was no stranger to physical exertion (annihilating a kingdom's army was quite the workout!) something about this just got her heart racing as she followed behind her "savior."
Suddenly, they reached a clearing, where the knight finally stopped running. Pyrrha was surprised, she easily could have spotted them from the air if she actually was pursuing, but more so, in stopping, he let go of her hand. And Pyrrha realized she really didn't want him to.
"I think..." he panted, "I think we're safe now."
She looked at him skeptically as the knight leaned against a tree, breathing heavily. He… didn't seem to be the most impressive of knights. Certainly valorous enough to enter the lair of a dragon, and while he was evidently dumb enough not to realize that Pyrrha was the dragon… part of her wanted to believe it was because he was sweet enough not to judge her by her scales or wings or claws, but merely saw a woman who could be a princess.
Princesses… Pyrrha didn't like to admit it, but she was always a little envious of her victims. They were not fearsome or powerful, and yet, they lived lives that Pyrrha envied. And all the realm mourned when they were taken, armies and heroes were marshaled to rescue them. Nobody would ever rescue her if she was in danger.
Well, except… this knight just did?
Finding some rare well of courage deep within her, Pyrrha realized she had already begun speaking to her rescuer.
"Th-thank you for rescuing me, Sir Knight," she stammered, "Your… kind valor has touched my heart… may I… may I ask your... name?"
He flashed her a dazzling smile and Pyrrha's knees suddenly seemed to lose their strength. "Not a 'Sir,' my fair Lady," oh yeah, weak in the knees, "I'm not a knight yet, just Jaune Arc. And..." he blushed, adorably, 'I must admit, I only heard rumors of a princess being held by a fearsome dragon, so… I must admit, I do not know your name, M'lady."
Oh… that was so… valorous. Pyrrha felt her chest feel tight, her eyes got wide, at the thought that this unknighted squire, with courage alone in the place of weapons or armor, had gone to face a dragon to save a girl in need, without even knowledge of what reward he'd receive for his daring deeds.
He was also, probably, a moron, but that had no bearing on how courageous this young man was!
"Pyrrha," she said, her heart about the burst, "I'm Pyrrha, and… I am so grateful for your rescue. You have saved me from a terrible fate, and it would be my greatest honor to reward such a valiant knight!"
And, blushing furiously, she...
Nearly gave him a kiss on the cheek!
She lost her nerve, though, so she was just standing awkwardly in front of him. But the thought still counted! And Jaune didn't look upset with her at all, so Pyrrha just smiled at him. And Jaune smiled back. And so Pyrrha smiled wider. Until they were just standing in a clearing, smiling, as though they had no fears, no worries at all. Pyrrha laughed and Jaune laughed and everything was beautiful.
They made camp for the night, Jaune proving to be an able outdoorsman, even if his knightly ability was… limited. Pyrrha had no use for a sword, but she'd fought enough swordsmen to know he was carrying his blade wrong, but still, he made a comfortable camp and, such the gentleman, offered his tent to her, which Pyrrha refused, offering that the two of them would both be more comfortable sleeping under the stars.
Besides, she didn't really want to have a wall of canvas standing between herself and her handsome rescuer in case she worked up some late night courage to finally give him that kiss!
But that thought made Pyrrha nervous, and she suddenly became aware that sitting and watching her brave knight set up camp was just making her more nervous! She needed something to do, so Pyrrha quickly decided that she would gather some wood for a cooking fire, that thing humans needed to do to weakly simulate dragonfire.
"Oh! M'lady, you need not concern yourself with the chores of setting up the camp!"
He was so sweet. But Pyrrha gave him a warm, disarming smile. "I don't mind at all, I'm… not a very traditional princess."
Jaune just laughed as he began to dice vegetables. "I've noticed!" And Pyrrha froze, terrified that she'd been found out. "Most princesses wouldn't have been able to make their own escape from such a fearsome lair! Tell me, M'lady, where do you hail from?"
Her temporary relief was swiftly replaced by a new terror. What was her answer? Where was she to ask him to take her
But her rescuer just gave her a soft look. "It's… I can tell this is a… weighty subject to you, and I want you to know..." he swallowed nervously, "you don't have to tell me anything. If it's an uncomfortable subject, I can just let the matter drop."
He went back to preparing vegetables, and Pyrrha… who'd never met a human who'd treated her with anything other than fear, scorn, fury, hatred, or desperation… found that kindness was a wholly new experience.
Blushing furiously, she gathered wood for a fire. With her superior strength and razor-sharp claws, it was easy for her to quickly amass a small mess of logs, and, arranged in a proper pile, she quietly exhaled fire, igniting the logs and quickly setting it all ablaze!
Jaune stared in amazement and Pyrrha realized… princesses probably couldn't breathe fire.
"Um..." she desperately searched for an excuse, "It's a… secret princess trick."
"Oh, wow," Jaune whistled, "that's really impressive! I can't do anything like that!"
But that was a lie, because over the cooking fire, Jaune mixed ingredients together in a small pot and created the most heavenly scent Pyrrha had ever smelled!
"You like it?" he laughed, "It's a family recipe… but I had to make some substitutions, cause we're in Mistral, and I can't forage everything that I can normally find back in Vale."
Whatever it was, it was amazing, and Pyrrha had to sit on her hands and tail to keep herself from reaching out and helping herself to soup before it was ready. To go from a diet mostly of self-roasted sheep to this, it was quite a change!
Over dinner, they talked some more, Jaune talking about his homeland of Vale, his family, their legacy as heroic knights, and his great dream to prove himself to the world as valiant as any of his sisters. Pyrrha was quieter, not… having as much to discuss as her knight did. She talked, a little, about her interests, but it was difficult—how much was a princess supposed to talk about glittering golden treasure and the ruin of her enemies? But Jaune understood that there was much Pyrrha didn't want to talk about. So he led the conversation, sharing funny stories and talking about all the strange and wonderful places he'd seen on his journey. It sounded nice, so nice, and Pyrrha could just imagine traveling the world with this knight, sleeping under the stars with a bowl of soup and just talking for the rest of their lives together. However, she was full of soup, and thus, feeling sleepy, and hearing her rescuers lovely voice was luring her to a peaceful slumber.
"Starting to feel tired?"
His words jolted her back to wakefulness, and she nearly dropped her (very empty) bowl to the ground.
"I'm sorry!" he blushed, "I, uh, just thought you might be tired, after the day you had. But the bedrolls are ready, my Lady, if you would..."
And he helped her up. Pyrrha, who had the strength to rend a castle's iron portcullis with her bare hands, to smash stone walls and battlements, adored the feeling of her knight supporting her weight as he walked her to her bedroll.
But, though luxuriating in the softness of her bedroll once in it, Pyrrha could not fall asleep. Not quite yet. Her tail snaked out to wrap around her brave rescuer. Then her arm. Then she rested her head on his broad, warm chest.
"Umm… M'lady, you seem to have-"
"No."
She cut him off, pulling herself even more on top of him. Pyrrha was going to try out being a princess, his princess, but she was still a dragon.
And every dragon sleeps on her treasure.
Thanks to Renarde for the original story idea and for giving feedback on this chapter!
Next chapter: A Damsel Forgotten
