As Olly and Ed came to the base of the mountains they looked up to the high peaks that had several large birds flying around in a circle. Olly knew there was no way the Ranger would scale the mountains... no if she were trying to investigate, she would look for an opening in the mountain. All sorts of beasts liked dark places to hide, and mountains were usually coveted by big monsters and beasts alike. She just hoped that Ranger Gunner hadn't gotten himself too far deep into trouble.

"So where exactly are you from?" Ed said as the moved past large boulders the crisscrossed into a opening that seemed to stretch ahead instead of dipping down into some unknown darkness.

"Well, I was born in the Vassa region, but I guess I'm from Silverymoon" Olly said "We never really settled down anywhere till we got there. Now that's the place I consider home."

"It's called Arrowmoor Keep right?" Ed followed Olly steadily, their footsteps syncing together as the navigated the rocky path.

"Right, the High Mage gave the place to my parents" Olly said only hearing the dripping of some water coming off of the rocks.

"Silverymoon have a lot of mountains like this?" Ed asked ducking under a large hanging boulder.

"No, Silverymoon is all green" Olly turned to him, taking a few deep breaths since the air had grown tight "Green and white. All the buildings look like they were painted instead of built with real stone. It's really nice, it's called the Gem of the North for a reason. I think it's one of the reasons my parents decided to settle there. Hardly anything happens there, most people just travel to the city to learn something."

"It sounds nice" Ed nodded "I remember going there only once when I was real young. My teacher was taking us on a small pilgrimage to the woods of Mielikki."

Olly smiled and nodded her head "Arrowmoor Keep overlooks the Moonbridge that leads into that forest."

"Oh I remember the Moonbridge" Ed smiled "You can't forget something like that. When you go up that arch-"

"You don't think that there's an end to it" Olly finished excitedly, happy somebody could describe it just like in her head.

"But then when you get to the top of the arch, it's like being up above the word, like on the moon" Ed said looking down, remembering how small he had been, trying to look over the railing of the bridge, the sparkling lake below him.

"Sometimes when it's real foggy" Olly said breaking his thoughts and taking him back to her "It almost looks like you are up on the clouds, like in the sky. My brother used to take me up there and let me play on the railing, like I was actually flying..."

Ed watched her face turn from such a joyful glow to a flat stone as she finished her sentence. It wasn't her little brother she was talking about was it?

"We should keep going" Olly said a little stiffly "I can sense something a little further on, but we should keep quiet because it feels...big."

"I'll follow your lead" Ed nodded, ready to go as he cracked his shoulders, his body needing a bit of a warm up in the dark cold of the mountain.

Olly drew her bow and knocked an arrow, just for good measure as they continued further into the mountain, the path twisting and going down, and then up, until the cavern widened significantly, almost as big as a...

"Oh no" Olly thought as her heart began pounding "This better not be what I think it is. Gods, why did I let myself get dragged into this?" She began berating herself as she closely examined the walls, how it was dug out a certain way, the way the dirt was serrated in such a pattern it was unmistakable.

"Damn" Olly cursed as the path led up, her hand reaching out for Ed as she pulled him in so close he could feel her breath tickle his neck.

"Dragon" was the only word she needed to say to get Ed to draw his longsword and his shield. He would save the Dawnstar for later, not knowing exactly what kind of dragon they were going up against. Ed had faced off a time or two against some young wyverns that thought they could bully their way into territories, but he knew that if this was an older dragon, Olly and him might need a little bit of backup.

Olly crept up the pathway, hearing a now huge shuffling, and voices. The rumbling made the walls themselves shudder as tiny rocks hit the top of Ed and Olly's head. Her whole body was now on full alert. She hadn't faced a dragon in a while, and never without a full party at her side. She only hoped that this wasn't a Mono. Monochrome dragons were mean, cruel, and only lived to cause chaos and trouble. But if they were lucky, and this dragon was a Meta, they might have a chance of negotiating their escape without any fighting...

"Oh come on!" a deep voice called out "That one had to have hit something?"

"Piss off" another gruff voice spat out.

"Well aren't you a grumpy one!" the deep voice huffed, a huge boom through the ground rattled out making Ed and Olly grab to balance their footing.

Olly looked over at Ed and motioned for him to stay and that she was going to look ahead. Ed shook his head in protest but she was already off, her figure shadowed against the cavern wall as her head peaked around the corner of the pathway. She darted her head quickly, scanning the area and quickly backing herself away. Around the corner was a huge den carved from stalagmites, the walls hollowed out where a big dragon was sitting, a human male in his grasp as his tail was wrapped around the whole room.

"Well?" Ed barely hissed, too afraid to actually speak out.

"Hold On" Olly mouthed and signaled with her finger for one minute. She needed another look at the dragon, needed to know it's color. If it was a red dragon, they were dead meat, but if it was a Meta...

She dared herself again and looked, her eyes quickly finding the dragon and giving herself three seconds to determine it's color. With a sigh and smile, Olly relaxed her bow and looked over at Ed. She motioned her hand for him to ease up but he stood still, confused on what she could possibly mean. A dragon was around the corner for Pelor's sake!? Were they just going to walk up to it casually?!

Olly slung her bow back around her and put her arrow away, dusting off her pantlegs so she looked presentable. Quickly she fixed her long braid of hair, the thick waves pulled into a pretty pattern. Ed watched her confused as hell, wondering why his partner had just decided to spruce herself up right before a battle?

The Ranger looked over at her friend and giggled a little bit "Relax" she whispered "We have no reason to fear. Just follow my lead."

"What?" Ed couldn't understand, coming up beside her and hissing in her ear "That's a dragon Angel! What do you think we are going to do? Have a tea party with the thing? Dragon's eat people, or did you forget that?"

Olly just patted him on the shoulder and shook her head "Not all scaly beasts are up to no good" she said going around the corner "Sometimes they just want a little company."

Ed couldn't believe his eyes and felt his lungs tighten as he followed the Ranger around the corner to face the dragon.

There sitting in the den the dragon sat, it's golden eyes focused on it's prey in it's grasp, it's long tail with giant shimmering copper scales wrapped around them as they came closer to it's feet, Olly walking so confidentially that Ed thought maybe they weren't totally going to die. The dragon heard their footsteps and drew it's head around, it's long neck making it easy to spot the two intruders that had barged into it's den.

"And who might you two be? Brave of you to just walk up behind a dragon don't you think?" It's voice boomed as Olly stood with her hands on her hips, a pretty smile looking up at the dragon as her eyes glowed just a little bit brighter.

"How's it going oh great and mighty one?" Olly asked giving a slight bow.

"Oh, I like this one!" the dragon purred, it's body suddenly rotating around the whole den to where it now faced the two adventurers, the walls shuddering again as tiny bits of the cavern ceiling fell down around them. Olly looked over at Ed and nodded for him to do the same.

"We uh- mean you no harm by coming here" Ed said unsure as he dipped down also, following Olly.

"Well I doubt you two could do much harm" the dragon said shaking it's head "Regardless, why have you come here?"

Olly looked at the male human in the dragon's front claws, his body encased as he stared most annoyingly at everyone in the group, his older face scrunched up into his mustache and he huffed and puffed.

"Well we were looking for the local Ranger for the village down the mountainside, and I uh- think that might be him" Olly said pointing at the grumpy old man. The man was a bit older than her father, his red face quite embarrassed to be caught like this. Rangers were supposed to be able to handle situations like this, but it seems the gruff personality of this one didn't stick well to the dragon.

"Oh yes" the dragon said " I guess that does make sense. He does keep going on and on about needing to get back somewhere. But see, I've been needing to have someone listen to my jokes, or at least tell me a new story. It does get awfully boring hiding out here for a century or two. I told a bad joke to a few elder dragons and have been hiding out until the embarrassment dies down."

"Well how about a couple of jokes from us?" Olly bargained with a grin "We could tell you some, being two travelers ourselves. I've heard quite a few that will knock your tail off."

"Hmmmmm" the dragon thought over, it's copper claw tapping on it's scaled nose "That will do I guess. But if they don't stick then you stay here instead of him. Deal?"

Ed looked over at Olly who turned to him "Do you trust me?" she asked him.

He did, and his nod reflected it, letting his partner go up to the dragon and take a seat next to it, comfortably close for a creature that could literally swallow her if it felt inclined to. Ed stool still as a statue though, his own guard up for his own reasons. Clerics were taught that dragon's were not to be left to their own devices, that they should be put down if one were to encounter the beast. Holding back on his internal instincts was a feat by itself.

"So here's an easy one" Olly started off "Why did the Bugbear cross the street?"

The copper dragon turned it's head "Why?" it mused at the girl.

"Because he couldn't bare the bugs on that side!" Olly said with a slap on her knee.

A small chuckle arose out of the dragon as it snaked it's head closer to Olly's figure "Another" it demanded, eyes narrowed in on the girl with delight.

"How many elves does it require to take out the garbage?" Olly asked getting even closer to the dragon.

"Oooh" the dragon laughed "How many?"

"One to carry the bucket, and four to sing the song of loss" Olly said mimicking a forlorn elf in a sarcastic way. Ed found himself chuckling at that one, his body easing up just a bit. The Ranger really was charming the dragon, a smile spreading across it's massive head.

The dragon hissed and snickered at the joke, his big head turning in delight as the old Ranger growled at the two to hurry it up and get on with getting him out of there.

"It is not enough that the creature has me in it's grasp?! Could you two maybe hurry it up!?" he grumbled.

"Apologies" Ed nodded at the old man as Olly continued, ignoring the blustering old man.

"Okay here's another just for good measure" Olly said " Why do Paladins wear chain mail?"

"Paladins?" the dragon chuckled "Why?"

"Because it's holey armor, get it?" Olly mused pointing her fingers up at the creature.

The dragon guffawed at that, delighted to hear such jokes of foes that the creature might have come across. Olly was killing it, Ed impressed that the girl could get the dragon so calm and happy.

"Delightful" the dragon growled "Simple and fun, a youthful novelty" the dragon critiqued.

"Thank you" Olly nodded "Would you like me to tell you my favorite joke though?"

"I would like nothing better" the dragon said now smitten with the girl as it let go of the old Ranger and came closer to Olly.

"Why is everyone scared of Beholders?" Olly said now close enough to touch the copper dragon, it's snout in front of her grinning.

"Why?" the dragon asked.

"Because they are always holding bees!" Olly joked, finishing her act.

The dragon chuckled but not as much as he had done previously. Olly turned her head curiously, knowing they were in clear but not knowing why that joke hadn't stuck like the others. Ed seemed to finally be calm as Olly stood up, dusting off her clothes once more as she came up to the adult dragon, her hand gently placed on it's snout.

"I hope those tie you over until you are able to leave this mountain" Olly said giving him a pat.

"My thanks" the dragon huffed "Although I doubt it will be very soon. There's something amiss in these parts, though I cannot put my claw on it. It's best for me to just lay low in here and wait until the world doesn't stink of darkness."

"You may be right then" Olly said nodding "That may take some time. But on our travels I'll be sure to tell my friends to stop by and check on you. You can trust the word of a Duer."

"Ahh I've heard that name, no doubt" the dragon grinned, it's teeth massive next to Olly's tiny frame "That must be where the sense of humor comes from."

"What do you mean?" Olly asked "You've met someone from my family before?"

"You both told the same joke" the dragon answered "It's hard to mistake a brother and sister who have shared a joke between them."

Ed felt his whole brain go off in alarms as he watched Olly stiffen.

"You've heard that joke before.." Olly murmured "Wait! When did you hear this joke? Was it from a young man?"

"Hmm about" the dragon looked up trying to think "It's hard to say, but a couple months ago a young man and a group of rouges passed by here. The boy told me the Beholder joke and I let them pass. Quite a fun group, and they left me a book or two as thanks."

"Did they happen to mention where they were headed?" Ed finally spoke up.

"Waterdeep" the dragon yawned "They said they were headed north to the city. Waterdeep is the closest city, that's where I traveled from till I found these hills."

"My thanks oh great and mighty one" Olly said giving a bow and another pat on the nose before grabbing the Ranger by the arm and dragging Ed out of the dragon's den, the dragon giving a fond farewell as they disappeared into the rocky path to the outside. They could hear the massive rumbling of the cavern as the copper dragon snuggled into the rocks for a week long nap after hearing some favorable jokes.

"Took you long enough" the Ranger huffed, but Ed shushed him as Olly was concentrating. She led them out into the fresh air of the Trollbark Forest and back to the Trade Way path.

"So you two will be off then?" the Ranger Gunner said.

"Oll?" Ed said waiting for his friend to finally speak as she looked at the two men.

"Yes, sir" Olly said shaking herself to the present "Will you do me a favor though?"

"I suppose so" Gunner said nodding at the young girl.

"Will you send word to Arrowmoor Keep that I have found Nole and that I am bringing him home?" Olly said giving the Ranger her arrow with her signature family colors so her family would know it was her.

"My lady" Gunner said bowing as he took the arrow, knowing that a favor to a Duer was sure to help him in the Ranger ranks. Hopefully this would call for better gossip than him getting captured by a dragon.

Olly let the man take off down his own path as she looked to the northern road. Ed came up beside her and put a hand on her armored shoulder, the weighted feeling finally bringing Olly back down to earth with all the information she had just received.

"So?" he said looking down at her with a smile "To Waterdeep?"

"To Waterdeep" Olly smiled back.