Chapter 2.

Robyn tried opening his eyes but the sunlight seeping through the open windows was too overpowering . He quickly closed his eyes again and groaned, rolling onto his side. Penelope and Hobie must have carried him to his bedroom and tucked him into his bed after he collapsed onto the rug unconscious.

"Hey, hey Hobie I think he's awake!" Robyn's ears and headache protested at the sound of Penelope's raucous voice which held a noticeable amount of excitement and relief. His head throbbed with severe pain. As much as he loved the dragon cub, at times he couldn't help but feel irritated.

"Oh will you quiet down? Robyn probably doesn't want to talk right now!" Hobie whispered furiously.

The blond heard light thumps against the wooden floor which were most likely Hobie hopping. He felt something land on the side of his bed's mattress which caused one side of the bed to slightly tip to the left.

"Robyn, sorry to bother you, but I need you to open your eyes for a few seconds," Robyn felt a soft, furry paw rest against his head and he felt it brush stray golden hairs covering his face. He managed to force his eyes open again, wincing at the harsh sun's rays.

"Oh dear, oh dear," Hobie tsked as well as a rabbit could and shook his head. The rabbit shifted his weight on the bed to look at Penelope.

"Penelope, could you please get Robyn a cup of water?"

"Of course! Oh-whoops," the cub clapped her hands over her mouth, remembering to keep her voice down. Robyn laughed lightly but he stopped himself because his body hurt too much. The dragon bolted out of the room with surprising agility, but managed to knock over an armoire over with her tail which crashed onto the ground with a deafening thump. Robyn's eyes widened and he felt his pulse quicken. What if Gothel had heard- Robyn paused in the middle of his thought and composed himself. He reminded himself he didn't need to worry because Gothel was always out during the morning.

"I'll fix it, sorry Robyn," Robyn gave Penelope a soft smile and nodded at the dragon who was hastily heaving the armoire back in place. In just a few moments, the feisty cub was out of sight.

"Oh Penelope," Robyn was shocked by how hoarse his voice sounded.

"Don't speak Robyn, after you drink water you can talk as much as you want," Hobie scolded.

"Mm," Robyn looked out one of his bedroom's windows with a dreamy expression.

"Today's a very fine day isn't it?" Hobie patted Robyn's shoulder. The sun which was originally unmerciful to Robyn's eyes was now mellow. Its rays gently tickled his face, it felt like an invisible light blanket. Robyn could hear the sparrows tittering and watch the breeze playfully rustle the tree's dark green leaves through his window.

"Would you like me to fetch you some books?" the rabbit asked with a slight smile.

Robyn nodded again, but then he gasped and grasped the his bedsheets.

"My chores! Gothel will kill me!" Robyn croaked, forgetting to stay quiet. That certainly wasn't an understatement.

"Robyn, Robyn calm down! Penelope and I have taken care of all of the housework," the rabbit waved his paws up and down and hushed the anxious adolescent. Robyn tried to calm himself by taking long deep breaths. Robyn reminded himself not to talk and thanked Hobie with his eyes. He couldn't wish for better friends.

"Well now, I'll go get those books from the-er basement. I trust you will stay put and rest well," Hobie patted Robyn's leg and then hopped off to the pantry where the secret room was. Robyn remembered the day he found the secret room in the pantry, it was the week before his tenth birthday.

There were numerous musty chests that were sitting in the cobweb filled room, but the chests weren't the most fascinating things in the room. The papers with strange characters and drawings on each piece sewed to two covers (which Penelope and Hobie told him was called a book) absolutely captivated Robyn's attention.

There wasn't just one book, there were hundreds resting on the dusty bookshelves waiting for someone-anybody to read them. Since Penelope's father had already taught her how to read human literature and Hobie was originally a healer who was very well educated (until Gothel kidnapped him from his little village to keep him as her own healer and then turned him into a rabbit for her own amusement), both the dragon and the rabbit decided that they would teach their human friend to read while Gothel was out doing who-knows-what during the mornings and the evenings.

Robyn didn't mind sitting on the old wooden floor because he was with his friends, and most of all he could read about the great heroes and their perilous adventures. He also read about the magical creatures- dragons, unicorns, griffins, etcetera. Penelope told him that most were extinct, or at least close to extinct because humans had always found joy in hunting those "prized creatures". Robyn ended up sobbing and clinging to the dragon. He swore he would never kill her and would protect her from any bloodthirsty hunters.

Other than the stories of magnificent heroes and creatures, Robyn and Penelope would listen to Hobie's stories of his childhood and life as a human. Gothel had always told Robyn that the people outside of the manor were evil and cruel selfish beings, but Hobie taught Robyn that there were also kind and good-natured folks.

"Earth to Robyn, he-eloo," the dragon cub waved her scaly hand in front of the bleary eyed human. Robyn blinked and then focused his attention on Penelope.

"I got you the water," she grinned proudly. Robyn took the cup from Penelope's hands and quietly thanked her. After the first few sips he realized how thirsty he was. Robyn gulped down half of the cup to quench his parched throat, but ended up choking.

"Whoa there, slow down Robyn," Penelope rubbed his back.

"Thanks Penelope," Robyn rasped and finished the rest of the cup, this time with slow and controlled sips. He handed the cup to Penelope who set it on the table near Robyn's bed.

"Aw, it was nothing," the dragon giggled and waved her hands.

Suddenly a loud sigh caused Penelope and Robyn to turn their heads.

"Phew, I've got all three. These books better be good because I pushed them all the way up the stairs and down the hallway," Hobie slapped the cover of the book on top of the pile. The rabbit wiped his head although he didn't have any sweat; it was yet another habit he inherited from originally being human.

"Here, let me help you," Penelope thumped over to Hobie and picked up the three books. She set them on the table with the cup.

"Oi, I'm not that old, mind you," Hobie retorted jokingly, but ironically the rabbit rubbed his aching back and stifled a groan. He wiggled his tail and then leapt onto the table with an impressive amount of power for an elderly rabbit. The rabbit took apart the pile and then flipped through the pages, scanning each book.

"Let's see what we have here, we have a book on weaponry, oh- the next one's Greek Mythology! I know how much you love those. Hm, the last one's about the royal family. So Robyn, which one will it be?" Hobie closed the last book and looked at Robyn with a grandfatherly twinkle in his eyes.

"You know me too well Hobie. Would you mind reading the book on Greek Mythology?"

"Why of course Robyn," Hobie chuckled, "Penelope, why don't you sit next to Robyn so that we can all take turns reading?" the rabbit suggested.

"Yup, gotcha," the dragon plopped herself onto the right side of Robyn's bed, causing Robyn to almost roll on his side because of her weight. Robyn giggled and wrapped one of his arms around the dragon's neck and the other arm around Hobie.

"I'll begin... One fateful day, Artemis the goddess of the moon, the hunt..."

Robyn lost himself in Hobie's calming voice and in a matter of seconds he was in the world of adventure. Gothel and her vicious ferret Otto were just tiny specks of dust. The blond wished that his life could always be like this.

I really hope this wasn't too boring of a chapter for you guys, there wasn't much action nor crazy stuff out of the blue haha. Um, I just wanted to clarify that Stephan's still going to be a prince. I really hope that this doesn't stop any of you from continuing to reading, and I'm really sorry if you're disappointed by this...

All the best,

-Haelan