Edited 6/21/07: Basically, the main thing I did was edit the A/N below.

Chapter 4 is up. Yay! I'd really appreciate reviews, as always.

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I stood completely still for about two seconds, then burst out laughing. It was unbelievable that this timid, scraggly little creature was actually a fearsome dragon. It had run away from a stupid falcon, for crying out loud.

The dragon started shaking hard, from head to tail. It let out a squeal and ran back a few steps, tripping over its own legs. It looked up at me again, this time with fear showing in its eyes.

My heart twanged with pity then, seeing this timid, cat-sized creature look at me like that. I slowly got down on my knees, reclining back on my calves. I picked up the meat it had dropped in front of me. A rabbit, I could see now. Slowly moving my dagger, I skinned the rabbit and cut strips of meat off of it. Grasping one between two fingers, I held it out to the dragon.

It recoiled slightly. I sighed; this was going to take a while. In a warm, coaxing voice, I soothed it, "It's okay, little one. I'm not going to hurt you. See? I have food for you." I paused, feeling silly, but then deciding it didn't matter, I added, "Thank you for bringing this to me; that was very kind."

The dragon tilted its head, curious. The look on its face seemed like it was wondering why I was thanking it. But I brushed the thought from my mind. Animals didn't have thoughts like that.

The dragon seemed to summon its courage. Taking slow steps, and eyeing me warily, it crept closer, coming to a stop as far away as it could to still reach the meat. It stretched its neck out, and quickly tore the piece of flesh from my hand, devouring it ravenously.

I smiled. Taking another piece, I repeated the offering, only this time I held the meat closer to my body. But the dragon didn't hesitate. It danced up to me, swinging its tail, and took the meat. It didn't even back up to eat it, but sat there at my feet, no more than six inches from me.

Slowly reaching my hand out, I trembled with anticipation, and a little worry. Did dragons like to be touched? The dragon started, but then looked up at me, almost apologetically, and sheepishly returned to my side. It stretched its head up slightly, which I took as an invitation.

I moved my hand a little faster, and it didn't shy away. It looked like it wanted to, though. I was only a hairsbreadth away from its snout when it sneezed, sending a puff of smoke out of its nostrils.

I pulled back. The dragon moved back, too, but then immediately came closer, again stretching towards me. I was heartened that it seemed like the little creature wanted me to like it. I smiled. "Hi, little fella. I'm Penelope. And you are very cute."

Its eyes widened slightly, and it started to make a weird humming sound, almost like a purr. It sniffed my hand, and the humming got louder. It stretched a little closer. Without hesitation I closed the gap between my hand and its nose.

The second I touched it, a wild, fiery, burning sensation screamed through my arm and up into my body. I felt an icy chill, too, and then I felt myself falling backwards. I wanted to scream, to cry, but I couldn't do anything besides writhe there in agony. I waited for what seemed like days to me, but was probably only a few minutes.

Gradually I uncurled from the fetal position. Tears did come then, as the pain subsided. I cried for uncounted seconds, maybe minutes. My sense of time was distorted. As the tears stopped, I slowly sat up. My head ached, my hand throbbed, my arm tingled, and my whole body shook.

I brought my hand up to my face. In the center of my palm was a weird silvery white oval. It itched ferociously, but my hands and fingers were numb. Feeling slowly came back, and I tentatively flexed my fingers. They didn't hurt, but the mark on my palm tingled.

I did a series of stretches, checking to make sure nothing else was wrong. Everything seemed fine, but then I saw blood on my shirt. Cautiously lifting it up, I saw a gash in my side. It didn't seem that deep, it had almost stopped bleeding. Frowning, I touched it lightly, making it throb. Cursing, I saw the tear in my shirt and the blood on my dagger. I must have accidentally cut myself while convulsing.

Then, quite strangely, I felt some odd…presence in my mind. It felt very alien, but at the same time strangely comforting, like it belonged there. This presence, which was beginning to feel like another consciousness, brushed my thoughts lightly. It recoiled, startled, but then came back, stronger than before, with confusion and worry shining through.

It felt weird to have something else inside my head like that. I withdrew from it, but then my curiosity kicked in. I tentatively reached out for it. It seemed pleased and touched my mind again, and I felt an odd calm at that touch. Coming through the link this time I felt regret and a concerned thought.

At the same time I felt the dragon nudging my hand. I withdrew from the force, a little reluctantly, and found that my arm tingled pleasantly whenever the dragon touched it. It licked my hand, sending a thrill through my veins, and then looked up at me with its big black eyes that seemed to convey sympathy and worry.

I stared back at it incredulously. The dragon was inside my head?! I reached out with my thoughts, and felt the consciousness. Through the link I sent a picture of the dragon hatchling, as well as questioning. The dragon blinked and cocked its head at me and I felt a confirmation signal across the link. I withdrew from the link, and felt sadness coming through as I did so.

Smiling in spite of myself, I patted the dragon's head, hoping to make it happy. Nothing of the icy fire remained as I touched it. It hummed again, and arched its back, leaning into my hand. I smiled wider, and began to run my hand down its body. The white spines stood out against its grey back. There was a wide gap where its shoulders met its neck.

I felt muscles rippling under the skin, but they were somehow wirier than I had expected, not as full and strong as dragons were usually associated with. Its scales shined dully, like an old nickel. They were all hard and firm, and felt cool to the touch. But if I lingered in a spot I felt heat seep through, no doubt from inside its body.

My hands trailed over its wings, feeling the almost leathery quality the membranes had. They had many bones, almost like fingers, running through them and each one ended in a white talon. The feet, too, had talons, but they were bigger and more dangerous-looking. The back legs had four of them, and the front had five.

Its neck was arched gracefully like a swan's. The head was triangular, but with gentle angles instead of hard, sharp ones. I scratched it under the chin. It rolled over onto its back, unfurling its wings. They seemed disproportional to its body, being almost three times its length.

I scratched its belly, and it wiggled in delight. I laughed; it was like a puppy. I stretched to scratch harder, and a pain shot through my side.

Wincing, I pulled away. The dragon sent worry through the link, and a willingness to be helpful. I grunted, and then sent it a picture of my cut, while lifting up my shirt to show the real thing. It sent concern back to me, and pressed its nose to the wound.

I winced again and pulled away. The dragon backed away sheepishly and set guilt through the link. I sent reassurance back. I was amazed at how easily this came to me, sending my thoughts to another being. But maybe it was because I was always talking internally to myself.

I got up and went to the pack. I found a canteen of water among the supplies and poured it over the wound. The dragon was staring up at me, and sent thirst through the link. I poured a little water into my hand and let it drink. Its tongue tickled my hand. I rummaged through the pack again and found an odd-looking shirt. It was an unpleasant green color, and was way too big for me. I cleaned the dagger off as well, and then cut the shirt into strips to wrap around my torso. My brother's first aid training was really coming in handy, I noted.

With that done I picked up the strips of rabbit meat. I held it up to the dragon and sent a question across the link.

I got a strong affirmative across the link. I dished the meat out, a slice for me, a slice for it. I then started a fire, getting a feeling of amazement from the dragon. I found a stick and speared each piece of meat on it, and then held it over the fire, hoping it wouldn't start to burn. My arm got tired from hold it, so I went and found two sticks with forks in them. Planting them in the ground, I laid the skewer on top of them.

I stretched my legs out and leaned back, turning my face to the sun that had finally emerged from behind the clouds. I heard a rustling behind me and turned to see the dragon dragging, with difficulty, a large stick.

I laughed, and walked over to it. It dropped the stick at my feet and looked up at me, sending pride.

I bent down to pet it. "Aren't you adorable, and helpful? Thank you." I spoke as I would to a young child.

It hummed again, leaning into my hand. I picked up the stick, scratched the dragon once more, and moved back to the fire. The dragon pranced after me. I felt that I had to find a use for its stick; it had worked so hard to bring it. Having nothing else to use it for, I put it into the fire.

As I sat back down the sun moved behind the clouds. The dragon walked up to me and plopped itself down on my lap, curling into a ball. I smiled again, and began to stroke it once more.

As I did, a deep feeling of contentment came through the link. It began to hum again. I too began to feel its happiness, and pretty soon I was humming and singing under my breath.

The dragon's breathing became deeper and more even as it fell into sleep. I gazed down at it fondly. I was growing quite attached to the little dragon, my little dragon.