Chapter 4:

The Night Fury was at a loss. Usually, if a human found an injured dragon in the woods, it meant that the dragon would be dead within the hour. That was what he'd expected when he'd opened his eyes to find the human woman staring back at him. He'd growled, of course, trying to scare her away. He didn't want to die, not after coming so far.

Then he looked again. The woman, dressed all in white, hadn't been wielding any weapons. She looked scared, but not so much for herself. She looked…worried about him. Did this human not know what a Night Fury was? He'd never met a human who acted like this before; he didn't know what to think.

He was especially taken by surprise when she made snow appear out of thin air. Before he could react, though, the wind had picked up her snow and sent it directly into his wound. The act and the cold surprised him, but then he felt the pain in his leg ease. The sheer relief that followed was such that he instantly relaxed. He'd eyed the human again. Maybe this one wasn't dangerous. He'd even warbled in thanks.

She'd been gone for some time, telling someone named Gale to watch him (though he hadn't seen anyone). He'd taken that time to try and get some more sleep…until he was disturbed by a small squeaking noise. Irritated, he opened his eyes and saw…something.

It looked a little like a dragon, but it was smaller than even the smallest Terrible Terrors he'd seen. It didn't have wings, spikes, or anything that suggested any sort of draconic heritage. He warbled at it out of curiosity, but it clearly didn't understand him. It merely cocked its head, staring at him. He wondered if he looked as strange to him as he looked to it.

He was still wondering what exactly this small creature was when it burst into flames. His eyes widened in surprise. It clearly didn't mind being on fire, and merely took a step closer to the Night Fury. The dragon sniffed the small animal in curiosity. He wasn't truly cold; being a dragon, the heat inside him protected him from all but the strongest blizzards. Still, he wasn't going to say no if this little flaming thing was offering him some warmth. Said flaming thing smiled at him, and squeaked a few times before putting out its fire. The Night Fury wondered if it was related at all to Monstrous Nightmares…

"He likes you." He looked up. The woman was back, holding a basket. She still seemed nervous around him, but less than before. He looked at the basket and growled uneasily. The fact that he was still alive proved that she likely didn't want him dead, but humans had given him very few reasons to trust them.

The woman tipped the basket a bit, seemingly realizing what he was worried about. Inside, he saw no weapons, only white cloth, several herbs, and…fish. His stomach growled, loudly. How long had it been since he'd eaten?

"Hungry?" The woman giggled. She took the three fish out of the basket and walked forward slowly. When she was close enough to him, she held them out. He didn't hesitate. The human didn't have any weapons and was willing to feed him; she clearly wasn't a threat. So he pulled all three fish out of her hand and practically swallowed them whole.

It was while he swallowed that he felt a gust of wind circling around him. He looked around, and saw that three leaves were blowing around him. He remembered how the wind seemed to do what the woman asked, and how she'd spoken to someone named Gale…was this gust of wind alive?

"Meet Gale." The woman said, clearly seeing his confusion. "They're the Wind Spirit. This is Bruni." She gestured to the flaming thing. "He's the Fire Spirit." She then put down the basket and pointed to herself. "I'm Elsa, the Ice Spirit."

The dragon blinked. A human that could create ice? He eyed Bruni, who eyed him right back. At least he knew now why the Spirit didn't resemble any dragons he knew. He was startled again by the Wind Spirit blowing more snow into his wound. He saw that the woman…Elsa had picked up her basket again.

"I want to help you." She continued. "I can treat your leg. I need you to hold still."

The Night Fury tensed. Let a human near his wound? His fear must have been obvious, because she spoke again.

"I won't hurt you. I promise." The dragon still wasn't sure. But he knew that his leg was hurt worse than any injury he'd had before. If she could help…He finally lay his head down on his front feet, and relaxed a bit. Elsa gave a small smile, and went to his back leg.

He felt cold upon his injury, numbing it. Relief from the pain relaxed him further, to the point that he barely felt the herbs being tied to his leg via bandages. He closed his eyes, finding himself surprisingly at ease with this human. He might have fallen asleep again if he hadn't felt a very small, very hot object crawl onto his head.

He opened his eyes to see the Fire Spirit standing on the space directly between his eyes, looking at him while setting himself on fire again. He wasn't burned, of course; dragon hide was fireproof. Elsa evidently didn't know that, as she gasped when she saw what the Fire Spirit was doing.

"Bruni, get off!" The Fire Spirit jumped off, looking confused. She looked at the dragon and began apologizing. "I'm sorry, I asked him to come so he could help you warm up. You've been sleeping in the cold, I thought he could help. I hope you're not burned…"

The dragon laughed a little. She clearly didn't know much about dragons. He looked around, noticing a small pile of twigs nearby. He let out a small plasma blast, setting the sticks ablaze.

She jumped back, startled. Bruni simply stared, first in surprise, then in joy. The little Spirit jumped in and out of the fire, apparently believing that he'd found a kindred spirit. Gale blew some snow on top of the fire, apparently thinking that a fire not caused by Bruni was a bad idea.

After a moment, Elsa spoke again. "You're a dragon."