Chapter 2
"Cody! I smell Troll!" Kizer shouted(in Cody's ear). Why had she chosen a Pooka as her familiar? Well, not just a Pooka, the one Pooka that preferred the form of a Quaker parrot over his natural form of a black horse with glowing gold colored eyes, actually knew enough to become a familiar, combined with many other obnoxious traits that all Pookas share.
"Hey, you know my ear is right here. And I know you smell troll, I was about to show you why." She said as she opened the door to Penelope's room.
Kizer slowly peaked his head in, and screamed, before Cody covered his head.
"Oh Calm down, she won't hurt anyone."
"Y-YOU BROUGHT A TROLL INTO TAXASIA!"
"Gee, say that louder, maybe you can get all three of us kicked out!" Cody whispered sarcastically.
"You know the rules, they only accepted you here because you were born with scales."
"You mean, because of the spell my father used to make my mother fertile, I was born part dragon."
"Swamp dragon, and yes."
"But I couldn't let her die!"
"Yes, and now we're going to get kicked out of the only place that would accept us!"
Cody rolled her eyes and walked to a cabinet. She quickly found some cheese and gave it to him.
"If you would calm down, I could explain. She's just a whelp, so she has to have a mother, who is probably very worried about her. So we'll keep her here until we find her mother, and then we'll give her back to her. Okay?"
"Fine, but we have to be careful, if the Queen finds out, we can say goodbye to home sweet home."
"What are you talking about?" the voice of Cody's roommate, Faith asked.
"Nothing!" Cody shouted and slammed the door.
"When you say it like that, it sends the opposite message." Faith said as she walked in.
She immediately walked to the door Cody had slammed and opened it.
"Holy Troll!" She screamed when she looked in.
"I can explain." Cody shouted.
"I didn't know you actually had the nerve to break the rules. And for a hybrid!"
She watched in horror as Faith walked to Penelope. And picked her up, she let out a small yawn. Faith held her closer to her chest, in a skittish way, as if Penelope was a rabid dog she was trying to move. Penelope let out another yawn and buried her face in Faith's shoulder. Slowly, she relaxed. Penelope let out a soft purr.
"Aw, I didn't know baby trolls were so cute."
Cody let out a sigh of relief. Then remembered that, for Faith, 'cute' didn't always mean much.
"Please don't tell anyone, I know, we can't bring creatures in without the Queen's permission. But I didn't have enough time to ask. I couldn't just abandon her!"
Faith studied Cody and smiled.
"You know, what I think" She finally said."I think you looked at her, and in a way, saw yourself. A creature, often seen as a beast, looking for acceptance, only to be violently rejected, due to fear, abandoned. And you wanted her life to turn out better."
"Yeah sure, whatever you say, just, please-"
"Don't worry, you're secret's safe with me."
Kizer and Cody both let out a sigh of relief.
"But I am definitely taking pictures." she said as she walked out of the room.
Cody quickly walked to her, turning to her natural, partially draconic form, and held out her arms. Faith took the hint and held out Penelope. Cody held her and looked out the window.
"The sun's setting." Kizer exclaimed.
"Sshh!" Cody hissed.
"Oh, seems someone's parental instincts are kicking in." Kizer whispered.
Cody rolled her eyes as he flew to the perch in front of the window. Cody looked down at Penelope. Faith was right, she was cute, especially when she was sound asleep. She smiled and stroked her face. The youngling didn't quite look fully trollish. Her nose seemed too human, her ears were long and pointed instead of cow-like. And her scent was strangely human, too human to be from human's touching her.
Cody let out a purr when Penelope snuggled closer to her. She barely noticed Faith coming back with a camera.
"Okay, this moment is way too cute not to capture! Okay, just hold still."
Cody let out a near silent snort as Faith took a picture. She just hoped no one was watching.