Disclaimer:

I don't own anything to do with the Harry Potter universe, J. K Rowling has that honor. I also don't own anything to do with Temeraire, that wonderful Naomi Novik does. I'm just borrowing the verses for a bit.

Chapter 2: Headaches ahoy!

Five days had gone by since their completely mad escape from the English attack. Most of this time was a blur of hunger with some moments of fear sprinkled about, and a few hours of ridiculous panic over little things that had no impact whatsoever on Harry the wizard. The dragon part, however, was pretty sure everything had an impact no matter how small and required just the right kind of attention paid to it when it occurred.

His first day had been quite an amusing affair after night finally fell, with Gregory having a goat they had in the hold brought up and slaughtered just for Harry, and then declared proudly as he cleaned up the bloody mess from his dragon's face and chest, that they had two oxen, six goats and many chickens...even a ship cat to spare on their journey for the dragonet. This was ridiculous as Harry remembered Gregory and the other crew members telling him that the reason the crew was in such a bad way was because they lacked food and water. And yet here there were tons of animals to eat!

When Harry mentioned this Gregory became fondly exasperated and explained that the Amitie had been dipping into the stores of the Fish near the end, but that they had been keeping the animals mostly for Harry and his sibling, because dragons were very important to the war effort you see and of course they wouldn't be able to live with themselves if they had to watch two baby dragons starve to death when it could be easily avoided.

Harry had pointed out between amused snorts that they needn't have bothered with being so worried about feeding them, they should eat the animals they had on hand as Harry - and the sibling no doubt - would gladly eat what was plentiful out here.

Which was lots and lots of fish.

The dragonet was almost laughing at the dumbstruck look his Captain gave him when he told him quite plainly "This is a ship, we are on the sea, the sea has fish, fish are meat, and obviously dragons eat meat"

Nothing more was said on the matter of feeding the growing beast except how many fish to catch and when to catch them. And if the crew raised a glass or six in the dragon's direction while enjoying some cooked chicken...well...

Day two and three were harder to remember aside from the time he spent with Gregory, because Harry spent most of the non-Gregory times sleeping off his meals in some kind of intense food coma, but the times with Gregory were filled with equal amounts of fun and fear; fun from hearing all the tales of the man's life and learning he had a young daughter that Harry would pass to when Gregory himself was too old, and fear from realizing he had a selfless soldier as a Captain. Basically it was Moody and young martyr like Harry all roll into one where duty trumped any sense of self if your sacrifice would further the cause well enough. This seemed to also be something the French ships' crews suffered from as well. Mayhaps it was a thing of the time or mayhaps it was just the French, or just these crews.

Either way Harry was going to beat that out of Gregory at least, somehow he would, just as his friends in his home verse had done for Harry himself.

Harry also learned that Gregory, when not practically on death's door, was a man of many words...mostly swearing. It seems that although he could shout, (and oh boy could he, very bear roar that) he chose instead to use a soft voice that was just this side of a whisper yet was somehow loud enough to silence a room and you could always tell if he was feeling well or not just from the amount of cursing he did; the better he felt, the more swearing he did.

Day four started off with a panic filled two hours where dragon brain freaked out over getting thrown overboard by some wind and dropped in the cold sea. That was almost three hours of treading water while his equally panicked Captain shouted at the crew to help him get Julien back onboard even though everyone was already doing everything possible to accomplish this.

Harry brain was pushed into the back seat by the strong instinctive part of him (the dragon) and thus had ample time to analyze the fact that his body was very good at swimming, actually really really good at swimming for something with wings, so didn't join the dragon brain in the panic and had a good mental guffaw when the dragonet's head dipped underwater and reflexively inhaled in terror..

Only to find they could still breath just fine. 'Guess we know what that weird shaped nose is for now huh? Also, those webbed feet make perfect sense now.'

Dragon brain promptly returned to the background with a air of embarrassment while Harry brain took over and shouted up at his fear filled Captain, who looked as if he knew Julien was surely done for now with at least one lung full of water.

"Oh, it appears I can breath underwater! How splendid!"

And because he wasn't panicking anymore and they could now get the ropes on him proper to haul him up, the rescue went much quicker. And the excited charge in the whole crew at the fact Harry could breath underwater, especially the fear draining rapidly from Gregory now that Harry was back on deck, made the rest of the day much more enjoyable.

They still had no idea what breed he was but the fact that he was able to breath underwater meant he was an oriental breed or at least had some blood of the same in his lineage according to Gregory's memory.

"Though there could be breeds out there we have yet to encounter. Those not of the orient that can do the same as you can, my dear. Though I personally do not know of any"

However, day five started with a loud worried shout floating down from the crow's nest and the last time Harry heard that particular call he was terrified, now the dragonet found he was filled with a totally different emotion, eagerness.

"Ships on the horizon...the damned English again, two ships, they are following us!"

Gregory stood facing the sight of the ships coming into view in the distance with a grim look on his face for a moment before shaking his head and looking down toward the hold of the Fish. "Do you think you can still fit, Julien? I do not wish them to see you. Mayhaps they are only following to trade for more supplies, but if the worst is to come instead, I would have you out of harm's way. Go guard your sibling if you can fit"

"I want to fight them too! I will not leave you." came the automatic response. Harry had grown quite a bit in those four days since he hatched, now being almost the size of a medium horse - though a rather stretched medium sized horse - if you didn't count his wings, neck and tail.

Though, yes he was sure he could still fit down the hatch, it would be a long and very painful process of wiggling. And both Harry and his dragon self, now more closely merged than before, agreed that their Captain would not be left here without them especially since Harry wouldn't be able to get back fast enough if things went pear shaped as they were bound to do.

He could not be parted from him, Gregory was his only real friend here, if he ignored the dragon instincts that said the Captain was the most important person ever in his life, and only focused on the human instinct to keep a man who was fast becoming a true friend, at his side and alive. Many of the crew were friends as well, but Harry couldn't get attached to them as easily for some odd reason, aside from the younger members who seemed fascinated with the idea of being part of a dragon crew. Those hung about longer to play games with the dragonet whenever they weren't working, which wasn't that often to be honest.

The Rest of crew gave Harry his space. They respected him and were glad he was here, true, but they didn't have any need to bond with the beast so didn't spend more time than was absolutely necessary with him.

More shouting went up and Gregory gave Harry a look at his outburst that caused the dragon self to shrink and immediately obey with a sulky slink as he moved toward the hatch. The dragonet kept shooting looks over his shoulder every few seconds at his Captain, who was still watching Harry with narrowed eyes and squared shoulders, daring the little terror of a beast to defy him in this hour of possible battle. But Harry had no intention of disobeying, if only because past instances of his boldness during his youth had led to friends becoming hurt or killed. The dragon self didn't want to disobey because the Captain would be sorely disappointed in him.

With a sharp exhale to clear the lungs and make his body a little smaller, Harry stuck his head down the hatch and started wiggling his large frame down through the hole. It was very uncomfortable, not just on his body itself due to his growing mass, but on the wing limbs and the membranes. Even tucking them close to the body and more onto his back didn't keep them from being caught on the edges, rubbing and pulling and pinching as he slid down. It didn't help either that he also had a couple of horse blankets tied to his back which kept getting in the way.

Finally Harry landed with a hard thump on the floor of the lower deck, chin first as his chest caught on the frame. A little more wiggling and his chest popped free, his wings scraping badly but getting though all the same. A bit more got his belly through and then finally the hips with a grunt of effort. The tail seemed to followed rather quickly and anticlimactically after all that, slithering down like a large and lazy serpent as Harry moved away from the opening.

This whole thing only worked because of dragon physics, Harry was sure this had to be the case, because he couldn't figure out otherwise how this was possible. He was positive that if a horse or something non-dragon of equal mass was being pushed down they would never have gotten the beast down here, not even dead.

It was mind boggling to fathom it so he just blamed it on this world's dragon physics. Could also be his own magic finally rearing up again, but he doubted it...seemed more dragon as a whole rather than wizard turned dragon specific. His dragon side, however, continued to puzzle this strange phenomena in mild confusion.

Moving through the halls was just as hard as squeezing down the hatch but at least there was more room so he could breath without fear of injury. The Fish also had a knocked in room and it was here where Harry came to a stop to regard his still egged sibling. He preformed this task often in the days they've both been on this ship. Not always at the same time of day nor did he always spend a lot of time here, but he did make sure to interact with the egg each time, hoping the dragon within would learn something, even non-important things, from his visits.

The egg was in its usual spot - when Harry wasn't walking around with it in his hands - atop a mound of sailcloth, hay and dirt, a small bit of flaking was happening at the top part of the egg and Harry knew, without being told, that meant the dragon was going to hatch very soon.

'We only have Gregory on board to represent the Aviators, seems one of the Navy crew is about to get drafted' Harry thought with wry amusement.

He coughed softly to clear his throat and then rested a forepaw, fingers spread out wide, on the shell and tapped it gently, remembering his own time in the egg with little fondness and knowing that the little one inside would soon be experiencing the shear terror of being born.

"Hello again, little one, it is alright. I know not if you are a sister or a brother at the moment, but I will love you just the same either one. Pray be calm in those future moments of hatching, for all is well and I will help you if things go wrong. Do not doubt this even when things are truly frightening" he murmured softly, feeling the slight shifting of the dragonet inside the egg as if it were listening to his words, which Harry knew was true. This shifting had started on day two of their journey on the Fish so Harry wasn't surprised by the gesture.

The elder leaned in then and placed his head on the egg, chin making contact with the flaking top, causing his voice to reverberate through the egg as he continued. "I promise to protect you little one, always you can count on your big brother, this I swear. And if we are ever parted for any reason, know that I will think of you and fight to be back at your side with every breath I take, duty and loyalty be damned. The gods themselves could not keep me away."

Harry swore he could feel a light brushing of a feeling that didn't belong to him, it was faint but hummed in contentment, seemingly pleased at Harry's words, a sense of love tickling at the elder's mind. It was vaguely like when Voldemort was connected to him and felt a strong emotion, but this connection didn't feel malicious or toxic like the one with Riddle had, instead it felt like how Fred and George described having a twin...Could this be Harry's twin? Oh how exciting! Not only would he have a blood sibling, but a twin to share his world with!

Mere seconds later a loud round of shouting started up on the deck above and both egg and dragonet were cast in shadow as one of the windows suddenly went dark. Pulling away from his slumbering sibling Harry rushed over to the darkened window on scrabbling feet see what was going on. Carefully the dragonet peeked out only to quickly fall away from the window at the sight of the Reliant's battered hull.

'Not good. If the Reliant isn't here for supplies then they are here for the goods, which means me and the egg. Someone must have squealed...if they are indeed here for us.'

A lot of thumping and shuffling later and the telltale sounds of someone coming aboard started making themselves known. Too many voices started speaking all at once which made it near impossible to tell who was actually speaking. That is until Gregory's voice sounded in broken English over the hubbub and Harry strained hard to hear over the many other voices and the sounds of the ocean and the ships themselves, even if the people had lessened the volume a bit once Gregory spoke.

"-for sale, we have many supply, you want supply, yes? Drink, food, cloth, yes?"

Near silence fell now, probably from a gesture or two from the Captains of the two ships, and a very English voice replied to Harry's Captain hesitantly and with a little bit of amusement coloring the overall tone of tired pride.

"What? Oh yes we could do with a little more food and perhaps some sail cloth, I think, but what we really need is water, you have water for sale then?"

Sounded like a nice bloke belonged to this voice. Maybe even someone Harry would have been able to get along with had he been an English dragon instead of a French one.

A bit of shuffling went on above and Harry knew someone was going to come down the hatch to check on if they had enough water to spare the English if only to get them on their way. Of course a bit of money made off the enemy was never something to turn away if you could pull it off. The dragonet rushed over to the doorway and pulled the makeshift door to the 'dragonhold' closed so that if any brave English came down after the French sailor they would see only a closed door and not a guilty looking black dragon and a marbled egg.

Sure enough Gregory's voice barked out an order in French for a sailor to go get as much water as can be given and to make sure everything is in good shape. In other words, make sure the dragons are hidden.

"Yes, yes! We have much water, good cloth, you have payment?" Gregory affected the excited merchant voice again, the one that says to people they aren't familiar with 'please be kind, we are friendly, we only want to make money'.

And Harry was sure Gregory could speak better English than he was letting on, seeing as the man did a fairly good impression of a posh Englishman three days ago to Harry during one of their meals, it left the dragonet howling with laughter. It was obvious Gregory didn't want the enemy to know he could understand them pretty well. The fact that the French weren't saying anything relating to dragons even when speaking in their native tongue meant they were suspicious of the English having a French speaking translator of a sort on board their own vessel.

"We have currency, yes." said a different English voice, this one a bit more cautious and less inviting. He gave off an air of dislike that Harry didn't need to see his body language to read. Indeed he knew Gregory and half the crew would have noticed it even if they hadn't been looking at him.

Harry liked this voice as much as the first speaker. Both seemed strong and although the first was politer, he was as obvious in his caution as the second was with his rudeness. Both would have been excellent additions to the DA had they been students during Harry's run of Hogwarts in his fifth year. But then again they may have a different side to them that Harry might not like at all; he should wait and see. Maybe the war would end soon and perhaps he could tempt them away in a few years, on some wild adventure for riches and the like. Surely that was a thing in this world, especially in this time.

With a soft puff of air Harry laid flat on the damp floor and let the rocking of the ship calm him as the transaction for sail cloth, food and water went as smoothly as it can between two peoples who are at war, even if it was thought to be a civilian ship. Little arguments kept popping up and the kinder English voice kept trying to keep the peace, softly chastising the other voices when they made a comment that was considered quite rude, especially since the French were being so very polite; it made the crew of the Reliant seem unnecessarily beastly.

Only fifteen minutes passed from the time of striking the deal to the point where all the requested items were being loaded onto the Reliant, a French sailor had quietly snuck in the 'Dragonhold' to gather the supplies earlier, patting Harry on the head on his way in and again on his way out.

It had seemed much longer to the worried dragonet, who kept shooting concerned glances at the sibling egg, horrifying scenarios where it started hatching while the transfer was occurring and being taken as an English dragon flashed through Harry's stressed mind.

'Leave already, just take the stuff and go.'

Finally the sounds of people saying their farewells starting trickling down to the slowly relaxing former wizard and just when Harry was sure the English were about to truly piss off and allow the Fish to get on her way, a soft voice that Harry couldn't make out the words of triggered another round of questions from the polite voice of earlier.

"Ah, yes, I did have a request, if you do not mind our nosiness. It is a matter of clearing up something we found in the hold of the Amitie you see. As we are quite sure a few of your men would have been helping the crew of the other vessel, you surely would have noticed it."

Ah, not good, not good at all. What could they have found in the hold? The crates were tossed over and any straw left behind would have been assumed for the food animals that would have been stored there...unless..

'No, please don't say it. Please let it be something unimportant.'

"You see, we found something quite peculiar while we were taking an inventory, some sort of large flaking and brittle substance."

'Oh no, it is, the crew somehow missed it and didn't toss it all!'

Harry cast his eyes around the 'dragon hold' for a place to hide, spotting a few water barrels that had been set aside for the purpose of being used in the case of the ship going down. Each one was about the size of a large dog, compared to the ones big enough to stuff a full grown human in that littered the rest of the hold. The smaller ones wouldn't do for what he had in mind, so slowly and quietly, so as to not notify the people up above that something big was moving around below them, he tiptoed as best a dragon with large claws can over to the biggest barrels, popping the top off of one and noticing it was full of fish instead of water.

'This could work' he thought, throwing another look over at his sibling's egg, a smirk sliding into being on his face.

"Why I would almost say it was a piece of eggshell if the very notion of it was not so preposterous!."

Silence met the man's words for only a moment before Gregory laughed loudly "Oh, eggshells? Chickens, yes? What is request then?" his tone, which had started light and amused, started to sound confrontational as it went along.

Harry huffed a bit in irritation as he pulled out a bit of the fish from the barrel and set the egg inside it. Packing more fish around and on top of it just in case it was opened and inspected. Wondering what to do with the fish left out, the young dragon shrugged and consumed the ones he couldn't fit back in, then picked the barrel up and carried it over to the other side of the room, setting it down gently as more conversation filtered down from the deck.

"Well, I would like to do a quick inspection your hold if you have no objections. It would ease our worries you see. Chickens do not have marbled eggs and the shells are quite small. My crew thinks you may have a feral dragonet onboard and I would like to prove these ideas ridiculous." and now the polite man wasn't making a request. It was a demand. They didn't for one moment believe this ship was just a merchant ship and that the eggshells were chicken eggs. They wanted to see if their was a dragon smuggled here. Even a feral would be good for the English breeding grounds, especially if it is a rare French breed.

'Though what happens if there is no dragon? What if they can't find a dragon anywhere? Will they think it was tossed over? Or flew away? Will they let us leave?.'

Harry found a spot in the darkened corner of the ship where the lighting was very poor behind the larger barrels of food and water and quickly but quietly hid behind them just as the door to the hold opened. Harry peeked around a barrel and noticed it was Captain Andre of the Fish who was darting around as quietly as he could, jumping onto piles of straw and sailcloth in an effort to not only displace the obvious egg-bedding into a more 'tired man sleeps here shape' but to also locate the dragon and egg they had stashed here. Harry chirped lowly at him and the man snapped his eyes over to the mostly invisible dragon behind the barrels.

"I will hide here, I have put the egg in the fish, it is safe there. I can blend here so long as he does not have a lantern." he whispered to the Captain, drawing a look of relief from said man as he hurried out with a smile on his face, throwing looks around the room one more time as if to make sure there was no evidence of dragons before he closed the door with a soft snap.

Gregory's tired voice mumbled something in French and then became louder in his broken English. "We have nothing to hide, you can look"

He sounded almost sulky and the English made a few noises of amusement as the polite voice thanked Gregory for his cooperation.

The sounds of boots thudded loudly down the ladder from the hatch, then thunked just as loud down the hall to the hold. The door opened with a soft creak of salt covered hinges (something Harry and the crew avoided by knowing the angle needed) and a dim-ish orange glow swept into the room as the man and his companion walked into the hold, lanterns held high.

Harry peeked slightly around the barrels he was hiding behind to see who exactly and how many had entered the room, his eyes landing on two, no, three men. Only one was really easy to see, his face turned toward Harry while the other two were making off in different directions, their backs to the crouching dragonet.

The man slowly picking his way toward Harry through the hay, barrels and sacks of the hold was a tall man with pale hair and broad shoulders. He seemed important due to the way he carried himself, and even had the uniform of ship's Captain to back up that feeling. Harry wasn't sure which one of the voices this man was but no matter the identity, this man wasn't to be trifled with.

"Anything?" he called out over his shoulder, his voice revealing that he was the polite one, now only three feet from Harry's group of barrels, taking the lid off the barrel that held the egg and rifling through it.

'Good thing I put the egg nearer the middle or this charade would be over' Harry thought, watching as the man put the lid back on with an amused look on his tired face.

"Nothing yet, only livestock behind the dividers." one man called from the other side of the room. "The same here, with some water and nice silks. There is a bed of straw and sailcloth here, could a dragon nest...no, no, a man's shoes and some dirty underclothes are near it" came the other man's voice, this one the rude voice from above that the polite one seemed amused and exasperated with.

"Well, I have fish, water and a bit of questionable paraphernalia from God only knows where...But no dragon." the polite man said as he raised his lantern higher to look over the barrels Harry was hiding behind, and got a face full of terrified huddled dragon...and didn't notice? The man's eyes slid right over Harry's form without pause as if he didn't see him, which was impossible as Harry knew he couldn't pull a chameleon and change to match his surroundings.

'So that means accidental magic! A notice-me-not!' Harry was filled with glee.

"Well these French fellows do not appear to have a dragon or even an egg of one. No place they are using to keep a dragonet that I can see." the blond Captain said with a sigh, turning around a bit to face his companions as he spoke.

Harry's smug feeling lasted for all of ten seconds when something changed in the air and suddenly the man's gaze snapped back to the dragonet and blinked his widening eyes rapidly. He gaped for a second or two, awe shining on his face before he finally spoke in a breathless whisper.

"Good Lord, how ever did you do that?" yup there was definitely awe mixed with something like need in his tone. Harry shook his head and gave him his best begging look, dipping his head and making his eyes slightly wider as he had witnessed Padfoot pull on Remus a few times before, to much success. Here, however, the effect was lost in translation somewhere as the man only turned away and shouted "I have it! The dragonet is here!"

Harry pulled back and reared up out of his crouch with a menacing hiss as the man shouted to his fellows, drawing the attention of the two other men with him and a scuffle started up above them, this one different from the previous mild fuss of bored men and loud shouts and cries of alarm rang out across deck.

Gregory's bellow of "To arms!" in French brought Harry to his feet, itching to run up and stop the fight before it got too out of hand. Gun shots rung out suddenly followed by a howl of pain. Another yell, this one of anger came from another of the Fish's crew and then an order in French to Gregory from Captain Andre.

"Take Julien and the babe! Go overboard! Julien can swim faster than the ships can move now at his age!"

Well if anyone of the English spoke French, they already knew of the dragon thanks to these fine fellows down here, but they were probably all confused as who this babe was. And why did they have a babe on the ship in the first place? Ah well, Potter luck strikes again, no way to avoid it so he'll have to go with the flow. Harry pushed the barrels into the blond haired man near him and tipped the fish barrel that had the egg in it over so that the fish came tumbling out onto the floor, making a slick and smelly mess that the men were not at all prepared to battle.

All three slipped and fell onto their backs, heads bumping the floor and dazing them long enough for Harry to snatch up his sibling and tuck it up against his chest, using his small for his frame but quite large compared to the egg arms to hide the bright shell from view; so long as Harry kept his forelimbs tucked tight, no one would notice he even had them, assuming because of how he was built that he was a quadruped and walked on his wing limbs. It would not even occur to anyone that he could be an odd freak of nature and have forelimbs too.

As far as Gregory knew all dragons with forelimbs didn't have paws on their wing limbs, they couldn't walk on those limbs at all without damaging themselves, as those wings were not made for taking the dragon's weight in that fashion. Harry was a rare treat and this helped his current situation perfectly as none of the English knew there was an egg on board as well.

'And they won't if I have anything to say about it.' he thought, jumping over the spilled barrels with a snarl. The Captain was recovering well at this point, weary eyes fixed on the young dragon that now pinned him to the floor with one of his wing-paws planted firmly on the man's chest. Razor sharp claws brushed his throat and as the lips pulled back with a deep, rumbling growl, knife like teeth came within inches of the terrified face. A thump from nearby had Harry changing tactics and jumping away from the Captain, who watched as the dragon soared over him and most of the mess with ease. The man wheezed out a command to the other two in the room that Harry didn't catch as the dragonet landed with a wet crunch, skidding about the floor on the spilled fish that he couldn't miss.

The dragon tried to decide what to do next but without a clear direction he could put both himself and his sibling in danger against these three. Gregory roared out a battle cry somewhere nearby on the deck, probably at the hatch, and Harry suddenly remembered the order from before.

He vibrated in place as restless energy built up in him at the thought, Yes, they could go overboard, get far away from all this and Harry could feed both himself and Gregory with fish until they could either find a French ship, find land or Harry was big enough to get aloft with a rider. 'Which won't be much longer now, at this rate of growth I'll be big enough in a few more days, perhaps only two more. But we'll have to take fresh water, as only I can drink the salt water.'

Harry quickly rushed over to a spot where some of the small barrels of water had been set, eyes half set on the men, and snatched a barrel up with one of his wing-paws and held it firmly in place on the floor as if in challenge while watching the approaching men; it looked to them like he was about to start chucking things in their direction.

"Come now, we will not harm you, you must be calm." said the blond, his eyes taking notice of the harness at last and looking downcast at the sight of it. "He is Captained already though mayhaps he is not yet attached and we can get him to take another."

"No, I will not" the words were spoken firmly and in English to the apparent surprise of the present humans.

The men all looked startled for a moment before the Captain shook his shock away and smiled at Harry in a way the man obviously thought was comforting...and it probably would have worked if Harry was actually a baby dragon and not an old wizard stuck in a baby dragon body. As it was the dragonet was not comforted at all and only went on higher alert as the other two men spread out on either side of him in an effort to box Harry in against the wall, though what they planned to do after that he wasn't sure.

"Pray, be calm little one, I swear to you we mean no harm. If you come with us quietly, and take an English Captain, I give you my word you will be allowed to stay on the deck of my ship while we head to port"

Before Harry could respond to that blatant blackmail attempt, the door to the 'dragonhold' burst open with a flurry of movement behind it and Gregory came running in. Harry snarled and let out a deep rumble from within his chest, rearing up as best he could in the cramped space so that he could flair his wings out at the English, claws at the ready for a good mauling. This move, however, was risky as it put his chest in view of the enemy and might give away the fact that he had an egg. The room was very dark due to the lanterns being out, laying sadly on the floor with large patches of water puddling around them from the water barrels Harry had knocked over, so Harry felt it was a safe enough move so long as his arms stayed still and they kept away from the windows.

He hissed again quite loudly, trying hard to mimic Nagini's pure terror inducing one that he unfortunately had many times been on the receiving end of during the war, to his great displeasure. It worked here too, only it was a bit more terrifying with Harry being much bigger than the Maledictus had been.

Gregory slammed the door shut while this was going on with a bellowed oath and leaned against it long enough to move a heavy barrel of gunpowder in front of it, then one full of fish followed it if the scent was anything to go by. With the door semi-blocked for the moment, Gregory turned around and readied his weapons against the three men now trapped with a large dragonet and what could only be his extremely angry Captain.

The English Captain was now looking very worried, eyes darting around for a way to put some distance between his little group and the two enraged French combatants, but with it being so dark in there with the Reliant blocking light from the windows on one side and the heavy drapes of some sort covering the windows everywhere else, it was obvious to Harry the man was having difficulties in finding anything. He was also trying to carefully avoid slipping in the mess around them while they retreated.

Licking his lips a little, the blond backed away slowly, his friends mimicking his steps without command, though they had their weapons - a sword and single shot pistol apiece - trained on Gregory in warning as the Frenchman walked over to stand near Harry, his own weapons alternating their aim on each man in turn and back again.

"There is no need for bloodshed! I am Captain William Laurence of the good ship Reliant. I really do hope for a good outcome here, with as little death as possible. Pray, do cooperate with us." the blond Captain, now identified as Will Laurence, winced after speaking as the sound of very heavy fighting really picked up above them.

Gregory snorted a bit meanly and then barked a couple of very unpleasant insults in French at Captain Laurence that none could mistake as anything but an insult, and to which one of the two Englishmen with the Captain responded in English "How rude!".

Harry couldn't help himself and laughed at the ridiculousness of the whole situation, earning a few confused half smiles from all involved, surely they too could see just how this must look.

"Quickly Julien! We go through the wall. Deny them both a dragon and a ship!" Gregory finally said in French, suddenly charging from Harry's side and engaging the nearest foe, Captain Laurence, in a fierce battle of swords. The other two Englishmen rushed Harry to keep him from interfering and got a chest bruising wack from Harry's tail in reply, knocking the two off their feet and winding them for only but a moment. Keeping the small barrel of drinking water firmly gripped in one wing-paw, he gently placed his weight on it, more weight going on the other paw, as he walked over to the nearest barrel of gunpowder and popping the top off it.

Taking great scoops of it out with his free wing-paw he scattered it around the back of the hold where the other barrels rested, right near the wall and the largest window in the room. Then turned back to the still recovering men slowly getting up off the slimy floor and the two fighting Captains. Harry held his sibling even closer to his chest when he felt a slight movement from within the egg, the sense of fear and excitement rolling out of it was mixing with his own.

Dipping his head down to his forepaws, though to everyone else it looked like he was examining the water barrel he still had clutched in his paw "Be calm, all will be well soon" he whispered to the egg, pulling his head back up to face his victorious Captain, who was now fighting the other two men, all three were expertly dodging the slick parts of the floor in their combat without really looking for them. A disarmed Captain Laurence meanwhile was laying on the floor with a dazed expression and blood running down his face from visibly large gash on his forehead where Gregory had landed an excellent blow.

"Head down, my dear, it will be loud" called Gregory from where he was keeping the upper-hand momentarily in his current fight.

At this the crazy man wheeled around, ducking a swipe from one Englishman and kicking the sword of the other away from him as the dragon Captain turned and took aim with his pistol. The shot he fired on the scattered gunpowder cracked loudly even over the sounds of combat above them, the two Englishmen who had been engaging Gregory dropped down and covered their heads, Captain Laurence belatedly doing the same after the crack went off rather than just before as his fellows had.

Gregory rushed back to Harry's side and covered the dragon's head with his own body while Harry ducked down to protect his sibling. A fizzle and then a crack louder than the shot before it rang out clearly and then a thunderous boom just short of deafening caused the ship to shake, water from the outside started splashing in suddenly, and the ship tilted rear down rather ominously; the sinking had begun.

Meanwhile the sounds of a furious battle raged above them, gun fire was cracking every few seconds, swords were clashing fiercely as their owners fought in a flurry of motion, the constant drumming thumps of feet as the combatants moved about the deck to avoid a death blow, and the final loud thuds of bodies falling to no doubt fatal wounds when they failed to dodge. The sounds changed only slightly to startled yelps when the ship continued to tilt but the fight was still on.

The dragonet wanted to be up there with them, tearing apart the invaders and protecting his crew. But it was not part of the plan. They had to leave, or Harry, his sibling and his Captain would be captured or worse.

'And Gregory will be either sent away to a prison or executed if they think I'm willing enough to their coaxing to a new Captain, this one an Englishman.' The very idea sent a flash of horror and fear laced with fury through the dragonet. No one was going to take or kill HIS Captain, he would kill any who dare try!

And just like that Harry and dragon were one whole instead of a couple of halves fighting for the right to call the body theirs. Now it was just Harry the dragon, or rather Julien the dragon.

'Have to get used to thinking that's my name eventually'

The door behind them gave a lurch as it started getting bashed in. Angry English voices floated in from behind the barred door and ordered their surrender, being joined by the now eager voices of the Englishmen on this side of the door. Harry pulled his head away from Gregory to look anxiously back at where the thumping and crunching was occurring, watching with dread as Captain Laurence and his underlings pulled the barrels away from the door and a hand and an arm could be seen sticking through the now opening door.

A thump on his back pulled the dragonet's gaze over his shoulder to see Gregory settling in, the man had thrown his oilskin coat off during Harry's distraction and donned his Aviator's coat and hat. He was holding a coiled rope in hand and looked quite at home on that one large bare spot at the base of Harry's neck where the quill like hairs were flattened and covered by the makeshift saddle made out of black horse blankets that had been added early this morning - like every other time - when plans to go for a morning swim were made. The sight caused Harry to smile lightly as he gently but quickly walked over to the new escape route. They may not be able to get aloft together yet but Harry knew he could carry Gregory over water just fine, they've done it a few times before to catch fish after Harry being thrown overboard that one time.

Mindful of the room now filling with enemies, Harry kicked off with a powerful push of the hind legs and the wing-paws from the side of the ship, his tail snagged on something but it wasn't painful so he ignored it. The dragon plummeted down to the water and just before hitting the surface he flared his wings quickly to keep the landing from being too rough. They hit in a sort of belly flop, causing worry for the water barrel that was still gripped in a now nearly numb paw to course through the dragon for a moment before dismissing it from his mind in favor of putting distance between the ship and themselves. They were a few yards out when the first Englishman made it to the hole and started shouting back to his fellows.

"Damn! They have a young dragon! Quick, get the ships turned around! A prize is floating away!"

"I already told you they had one" came the exasperated yell from one of Captain Laurence's companions.

"No prize for you, silly English! We go on an adventure!" Harry shouted back in heavily accented English, pulling a laugh from Gregory as they made good time in getting a great amount of distance from the three ships. Screams of delight rang out from the French on two of the three ships as they took notice of the fleeing dragon and Captain, the egg now transferred from Harry's forepaws to his Captain's gentle hands so it could be inspected for any damage and to keep water from getting into the cracks in the shell; it wouldn't do for the little dragon to drown a day before hatching due to carelessness.

During his first few swims, Harry found that his tail was a good rudder and his hind legs were good paddles with their much grown webbing scooping the sea around them and forcing it back in powerful bursts, propelling him at a speed Harry knew wasn't too quick really but was too fast for the ships of the current age to be of much use unless Harry got tired of fighting the waves.

'Which might just happen, I've not done very much heavy swimming in this body and it shows. Please let us get far enough out that in the fading light we can loose ourselves amongst the higher waves'

And to the dragonet's delight, it looked like a storm was brewing rapidly, one that seemed to have been chasing them for quite some time and was now catching up. Lightning lit up the sky but no thunder followed it yet, it wasn't close enough to hear with human ears even if Harry heard the report just barely himself a few seconds later.

"We need to lose them in the waves, move off in the other direction, pass them by while the storm gives us cover" Gregory said just loud enough for Harry to hear over the heavily churning waters around them. The dragonet only nodded as a reply, shifting his oddly heavier than usual tail to change direction and use the tall waves as a screen between himself and the nearest ship, which happened to be the Fish.

No one was on this side - 'what's the right hand side called again?' - so Harry slipped behind the Fish with ease. Now they just had to make sure they got far enough away before someone noticed they had turned around.

A quite a few minutes later and the storm was behind them now so they would be without the darkness of cloud cover until the storm got close again, which at the rate it was moving would not be long. Of course Harry couldn't outrun it, but he could pull away and that was where things got tricky. It was midday and yet the clouds were an ominous black, almost like coal smoke, thick and choking the light out of the world they hovered over. It was strange and not at all reassuring to the young dragon. An unnatural heavy feeling filled the air and Harry wanted nothing to do with it.

The storm seemed to linger at first over where the ships were bobbing on the mighty waves being spawned by the heavy winds surging out of the storm. But soon it appeared to move out, spreading a bit in every direction and then moved toward where Harry was escaping.

'Please let us get far enough away...please, please don't let us get caught'

It became a mantra in his head, over and over he begged something to keep them from being captured and not get pulled into what Harry knew was not a natural storm, though who he was begging or what Harry didn't know. A blinding flash of lightning zipped overhead but the thunder was still lacking in volume. Harry had never heard of near silent lightning if it was close, always was it a loud boom or crack when the bolts were practically on top of you. The seas were being thrown into an early night, the clouds low and dangerous, whipping winds rushing up to pull at the little dragon and his now horrified Captain. 'At least I can see in low light, would be terrible to be blind in this'

Yet another bolt lashed out, this one struck something behind them and Gregory swore loudly and protested the treatment of the Fish by the storm. This time the thunder was very present. Harry was deafened for a minute at least by the almighty boom, and the smell of burnt wood and sailcloth reached him shortly after regaining some of his hearing back. He chanced only the quickest of glances back at the burning ship and realized there wasn't much left of it. The ship was near split in two somehow, front and back halves trying to go their separate ways as the wind picked up again and tossed the new wreck this way and that.

The Amitie and the Reliant both pulled away after offloading the Fish's crew to each in the hopes of saving lives. The smaller animals had already been moved over while Harry had been turning around to pass the ships earlier. Mostly the evacuation had been started when the hole in the back had been noticed. It didn't seem like it was that long ago but at least an hour had passed by Harry's senses. Harry only knew what was happening because of the all the orders being thrown about from the ships, the voices carrying over to the dragon's excellent hearing on the wind.

Now only the larger animals, like the ox and a few of the goats they couldn't save, were going down with the ship.

"Down goes the dinner." Harry quipped, earning a snort of amused agreement from Gregory as they sped away from the ships while the crews were preoccupied and wouldn't get a glimpse of them escaping in the opposite direction from where they were last spotted. It seemed only a few moments later that the storm was howling around them in all its fury and Harry's legs and tail were getting numb from overuse. The temperature was dropping quickly but it didn't effect Harry until he noticed his Captain was shivering terribly. They needed to get out of this mess now but there was no land in sight and the only ships nearby were in enemy hands.

Gregory's continuing silence was worrying as well, all the man was doing now was shivering and sliding back so he could lean further on his front on Harry's back until his face was almost planted between the dragon's shoulder blades. The egg was carefully tucked under him still, so that was a plus.

A shout behind them made Harry jerk his head to look back in the direction of where the ships had been. Nothing was in sight, no ships, no people, just wind, water and Harry's tail...wait...there was a person attached to a rope! They had tied it to his tail!

'No wonder it felt off.' he thought, squinting in the low light to make out the pale blond hair of Captain Laurence dipping under the waves for a moment before popping back up again. The man had to be tired by now what with being drug under and through the waves as he had to have been since he bailed out of the sinking ship.

'Can't believe he's been quiet this whole time, or maybe I just didn't hear him over all the other noise, he is a fair distance out.'

Enemy or no Harry wasn't going to let a man get drug under the water like that especially not when he could take him hostage. Harry stopped kicking and lifted his tail out of the water, spinning it slowly to wrap the rope up around it, reeling the Captain in like some unfortunate fish that was to be his dinner.

The man soon made it to the base of the tail and climbed, rather boneless, onto Harry's back, slowly crawling up to sit on the horse blanket behind Gregory, who was sat up straight again and had moved forward to his previous spot. A quick scan of Captain Laurence's frame showed he was unarmed, probably losing his weapons either in the fall, the swim, or foolishly leaving them behind on the ship with someone when he made his mad plan to go after the enemy by tying himself to a dragon's tail.

"That was very foolish to attach yourself to my tail so." Harry admonished the violently shivering Navy man. Gregory was awake and blinking stupidly at the other man in disbelief.

End Part one of Chapter Two.

AN: So my PC finally died on me!

YAY! Fantastic! Awesome!...

In all seriousness though, I'm trying to finish up the next chapter of Rise on my Tablet (which is an interesting experience, very much like writing on a phone) and its going….well…its going XD

Between auto correct and the constant onscreen keyboard hiccups which can delete or OVERWRITE entire sections for no reason when adding spaces or backspacing a word that was auto-corrected, I may or may not have a finished product in 3 months at this rate XD

I guess I can just do what I did here with Chapter Two and break it into a short chapters until I get my new PC (whenever that is). I normally want my chapters to be around 8 or 9 thousand words minimum and can reach close to 15 thousand on a roll, but right now that's impossible and I don't want the fic hanging for years.

So Question, you guys want me to do short chapters (like close to 3 thousand words max) or just want to wait for the massive chapters? Shorter chapters means more chapters focused on a certain scene or event while large chapters means most of it is covered in one. This one was kinda a mash with some time skipping so it doesn't really count XD Keep in mind no matter which you choose I still have to take time on it because of the whole 'writing on a tablet' bit. But it won't be a huge wait.

Might be some formatting issues but I can't tell on this tablet as it looks okay to me. Let me know if its funky though.