April 1, Year 1485 in the year of our lord Glabados,
I have finally seen the light of day again, after twelve years of being kept in a dark mine. The man who had showed no aggressive feelings towards me leads me from the entry. He didn't pull at my neck, no he did not, no. I follow him, willingly, knowing that he won't hurt me. I let him pat my head. He's gentle…he doesn't hurt me, not a bit. I let him ride on my back. The other humans around him just watch with large eyes. They speak, but I cannot understand their speech. Only this man that rides on me I can understand.
I feel the urge to protect him…to be around him all the time. To live with him. Why? I do not know myself. Perhaps it's because he's the only one to show that he's not an enemy…in twelve years, as he told me. He says that I must go past the snowfields. And I will do so. If he says so. To the ends of the world I will take him, if he says so. I lick his face. He chuckles and tells me that he appreciates my affection. Affection? What's that?
A snow creature stands in my way. The humans pull their swords and try to beat down the purple bear-like thing with them. The creature just bends and breaks their swords, and knocks a blue human to the ground. He crawls away in pain. The bear-like animal moves towards me. I don't like this. He hits the human that shows no aggression.
A rage that I've never felt before just flows through my flesh. I tear apart the bear-like creature's forelegs with a single blow from my tail, before I had its neck in between my teeth. I break it and throw the body to the ground, roasting it with a breath of fire. I help the humans to stand up, carefully placing my claw just above each so that they can pull themselves out of the deep snow. Sometimes I wonder…why can they be so weak at times?
The humans stopped next to a lake. They began to put up little structures shaped like domes, which they crawled into and slept in. Not my rider though. He climbed off my back, and said that I can rest for now. I lay down on the soft snow; it was nowhere as cold as the mine at the deepest floor. I noticed that my rider would not join the others; he wrapped himself in the cloth that he wears on his back and lay down next to me.
I woke up with a start in the middle of the night. My rider is shivering violently in the intense cold of the spring winds; I spread my wings and cover him with one. He strokes me on my head and I descend back into sleep.
Next morning, we traveled far from the snow-capped mountains where I was for years; I am glad to be able to leave the place. Now we were in a vast grassy plain, with a city in the distance; a vast city, with many humans leaving and coming. I don't like places with many humans. It makes me uneasy. I fear that they may try to kill me in numbers. Black mages are the worst; I remember quite distinctly, some time ago, in the caverns. One had charred my scales nearly black with an intense fire spell; I was in pain for weeks ahead. No, I am not going in there. But my rider says that I must; and if he says that I must, then I will go.
He quarrels with the town guard. He wants to pass through, but the guard won't let him through. He points at me. My rider says that I am 'harmless' to humans, and that I am 'tame'. The guard shakes his head and my rider tells me that we must go around it. His fellow humans shrugged their shoulder and followed him, muttering things that I can't understand.
The humans sit down halfway through the day, holding their stomachs in the way that they do when they are hungry. My rider tells me to find some chocobos. 'Chocobos'. What are they? He explains that they are fluffy yellow birds good to eat. Alright, I'll go find them.
I bring back two dead chocobos. My rider thanks me and takes off its feathers. He then makes a fire and puts them above the fire. Why bother doing this? It's easy enough to eat them straight. My rider explains that humans must 'cook' their food before eating it. Such unnecessary things to do…
We continue walking. The sun goes down further, and it is growing dark. The human in blue points to a piece of land far from the shore, far into the sea; he says something I can't understand. My rider tells me that we have to go there. But not now, it is too dark to see anything. We stay here for tonight.
I will write more when I get the chance,
Reis Dular.