A/N: Thanks again for reading this and for the positive feedback.

Jolinar13 – up all night reading it? I'm honored.

Now back to the story.


Chapter 34 – Is Anyone Out There?

Jack left Sam to patiently explain to Rover that he shouldn't panic if he ever saw them, um, 'wrestling' together again, no matter how much it looked like the sleeping bag was trying to kill them. Meanwhile he walked off his frustration and worked the soreness from his knee. After a quick breakfast, they packed up their little camp, including a hastily duct-taped sleeping bag, and went up to the top of the mountain to take a look around in the daylight. It was a beautiful, clear day – perfect for examining the surrounding countryside. They both scanned everything they could see with their binoculars for any signs of, well, anything.

"I got nothing." Jack was getting frustrated, the sun was starting to climb and the day was going to be hot. They had climbed all the way up here to see something, but there was nothing to be seen.

"What about out there." Sam pointed towards the western sky. There was a very faint smudge in the sky, barely even noticeable, but it could be a wisp of smoke.

Jack turned to Rover. "Rover, can you see anything?"

The dragon looked at Jack. He had spent the morning gazing only westward, not scanning all directions they way they had. He looked towards the west again and then looked at Jack and shook his head.

"Have you ever seen a town or anything while flying around?"

Rover just shook his head again.

"Do you know what a town looks like?"

Rover just shook his head again.

"But... wha... you said... You're the one who suggested we come up here!"

Rover just looked at Jack blankly for a moment and started to look westward again.

"Rover," Sam decided to give it a shot. "What made you think we might see something from up here?"

He looked at her and instantly an image of a dragon appeared in her head. It wasn't him, but one that looked older. Its scales were more defined and its spikes longer. There was age-old wisdom in its eyes and a nasty looking scar on one of its ears. There was also a feeling of warmth that accompanied the image. Sam contemplated the message for a moment. "Did another dragon tell you there were people out there?"

He quickly nodded his head.

"Can you fly straight up a few hundred feet and see if you see anything further up? And send us a picture of what you're seeing, in case you're not sure what you're looking for?"

At this, he perked up a bit – always wanting to help his adopted family in any way he could. He leaped into the air and started circling higher and higher. Jack and Sam started seeing images in their mind of the surrounding area. Trees... trees... lake... oh, more trees... And, wait, what was that...

"Jack, that almost looks like a cultivated field. What do you think?"

It was on the very edge of what they could see and the distance made it slightly blurry. Jack considered the image for a moment, looked up at Rover to see in which direction he was looking and turned to Sam. "It's possible. He's looking in roughly the same direction as that smudge in the sky. There maybe something worth seeing out there."

After Rover had been flying for a while and not sending any other images of interest, he came back down and landed near Jack and Sam.

Jack set his compass for the direction they wanted to travel. They picked up their packs and started walking towards the western slope of the mountain. At this, Rover immediately started getting agitated. He snorted at them to get their attention and shook his head when they looked at him. He took a couple of steps backwards in the opposite direction, hoping they would follow.

"Come on Rover, we're going this way." Jack was pointing over his shoulder. He turned and started walking again.

With Jack's back turned towards him, Rover bounded over to him, grabbed a hold of one of his boots with his mouth, and caused him to trip and fall flat on his face.

"Jack! Are you ok?" Sam was instantly kneeling next to him to try to help.

After spitting out some dirt and leaves, Jack glared at his little friend. "Very funny. Playtime's over now. Let's get going."

He got up, dusted himself off and started walking again.

At this, Rover grunted, and grabbed Jack's pack. He then planted his feet on the ground, effectively stopping Jack from walking any further. "Rover!" When he let go of the pack to let Jack turned towards him, he started to shake his head again.

Sam looked at the display and asked, "Rover, did your mom tell you not to go near the people over there?"

"?"

Sam thought about the dragon image he had sent her, "Your mom."

He then understood and nodded his head.

"Did she say there would be danger there?"

"?"

"Uh, that you would get hurt if you went there?"

His ears turned backwards and lay flat against his head in a show of fear. He slowly nodded his head again.

"Jack, it could be the people in the town don't like dragons, or are afraid of them. Or it could just be she didn't want him wondering off before he could fully protect himself."

Jack walked over and patted the still distressed dragon on the head. "Hey, you know we'd never let anyone hurt you, right?"

He slowly nodded his head again.

Jack slowly knelt down and stared into scared eyes. "We have to go see these people. As much as I like the company and solitude out here, if Sam had gotten hurt any worse than she was, she might not have made it without a doctor. We'd all be better off with people around. We'll protect you."

Rover continued to stare at Jack.

Sam knelt down next to Jack. "Rover, can you sense people you don't know, before you even see them?"

"?"

"I mean, when those bad people came and tried to hurt me, you were nowhere around, but showed up to help shortly after they got here. Did you know they were there before you saw them?"

Rover nodded his head.

Jack thought about that for a moment. "Ok, here's what we can do. You travel by foot with us. If you're not in the air, they won't see you from a distance. The minute you sense anyone or anything that's not Sam or me, you let us know. We'll have the warning to hide you and see what their intentions towards a dragon might be. And if anything should happen to us, I want you to fly as quickly as possible, just above the tree line, back to our cave. We'll know to look for you there."

After both Sam and Jack spent a bit more time reassuring Rover that they would all be ok, he hesitantly agreed to follow them. They set off westward, hoping to find some friendly people.