Chapter 3: Dragon's Tale

Balqis was enjoying herself. Learning about the children at the kindergarten and coming up with games for them despite their different species. During her youth, Balqis and the others of her age were taught about different kinds of beasts from graceful herbivores to ferocious carnivores. She decided to give each of them a ride on her back in the playroom.

It was also a way to test out her back strength if she was going to survive this world.

"Faster! Faster!" the rabbit-panda squealed with delight when she began to arch her back to give a little bump on the ride. Once they were done with the game, the young woman decided to tell them a story since that was what Gosha does.

Smiling at the thought of the Komodo dragon, Balqis shook it off to focus on the kids. They were so cute and eager for anything new. She had the sudden urge to pet and tickle them but refrained from doing so.

Since Balqis had a feeling he would be reading to them, she gathered all of them around on the floor and told them the stories she learnt when she was their age. Mostly tales of dragons and stories of how her people viewed animals. Engrossed with telling the tales, she had not noticed a certain green-scaled reptile was peeking from the door along with the teacher.

Covering her mouth to prevent a giggle at their direction, she gave them a brief nod to assure them. While the teacher excused herself, Gosha remained at the door. His eyes on her made Balqis feel something light from her chest but she decided to focus on the children. Seeing them happy and curious made her wished she could have a few of her own in the future.

Like that is going to happen!

Some of the kids sat close to her, while the camel-wolf boy climbed on her back to play with her hair. He began to sniff it curiously. "Are you sure you're not part lion? You have a black mane!"

"Don't think I have the claws or excellent eyes like one," Balqis giggled, flexing her fingers after removing her gloves.

"Not much fur too!" another pointed out and held Balqis' hand. "You don't have cat ears but I know cats that don't have fur!"

"Or a tail!" another quipped, causing a few to chatter amongst themselves. It doesn't feel threatening since they were just curious. Curiosity was something she was familiar with besides fear. Those two go hand-in-hand in most situations. Despite the fear of getting devoured and her thirst to learn more about the animals, Balqis never regretted her decision of leaving the underground and diminishing what was left of her origins.

However, that doesn't mean that she could still cling onto the knowledge and stories. Stories should be passed down so that the memories lived on. There was one story in particular that she loved and carried with her after leaving the undergrounds.

Tapping the ground with her gloved hand, she gestured the children to come close so that she could tell her tale. It was a story about how the humans saw dragons for the first time.

"...although he was stronger, faster and the cleverest of them all," Balqis narrated, drawing her little audience into a sleepy trance, "he was scared. He was the only one with wings on his back and horns that looked like a crown on his head. He was feared by everyone else and was called a monster. That made the winged dragon sad because he wants to have friends and not be alone."

The remaining few who were struggling to stay awake prompted her to go on with their constant tugging on her sleeve. She wasn't sure how it was possible, but Gosha entered the room silently despite his sheer size. He was sitting cross-legged near the door.

"But the dragon was determined to show everyone he was just as kind and brave just like everyone else. And did you know what he did?"

"W-what?" asked the little panda-rabbit hybrid with a yawn. Balqis began to ungloved both of her hands and began to pat her on the back. Similar to how her mother would have done when she was about to fall asleep.

"He never stops helping others from those as small as a mouse to those as big as a house. From that day on, everyone saw him as: a protector, a teacher, a fighter, and most of all..."

She looked up from the sleepy kindergarteners to look at Gosha with a tender smile that made her heart leaped. He returned her a similar one but with something that felt like she could let her guard down. Was this an effect from dragons she had heard about in stories growing up?

"...a wonderful friend."

By the time she ended her story, most of the children were already asleep, which puts the kindergarten teacher at ease. Since an hour nap would suffice before their parents would come to fetch them. Before she leaves with Gosha, the kindergarten teacher pulled her aside.

She was strong despite her small size. "What you did back there for the children, that was interesting. Maybe you can come again with Gosha the next time you visit."

Feeling touched, Balqis bowed as low as she could to thank her. She could finally do something useful for once! Before meeting Gosha, she survived with a few tricks but now, she could contribute something if she wants to remain above ground.

"I will surely come back. The children are sweet and I'd love to entertain them again."

Satisfied, the teacher smiled and returned the bow.

...

He never met such a creature.

When he first rescued Toki with Yafya 36 years ago, there was a spark between them the moment she commented on his scales with awed instead of disgust. A year after that, they hit it off and decided to start a life after finding out on her miracle pregnancy.

Despite the hardships and pain he endured, he never regretted loving her or their beloved daughter, Leano. With his grandson Legosi forging his life ahead with his certain choice, he was at peace.

But can this be called peace whenever he feels something around this human? From the glances they gave each other at the kindergarten, to how she applied sanitiser on her hand before wearing those gloves.

How could a creature exist when she doesn't have any traits that could be recognised by others? For example, a lion has a mane, Komodo dragons like him have venom while wolves looked beautiful under the moonlight.

"Balqis..." he began. "Was that story an ode to something?"

The young woman stopped in her tracks to look up at him. "Ode?"

"The story you told back there sounds like a poem," he chuckled. "It'll be interesting to hear more, if you are fine with that. Those kids seem to like you and I don't mind having a friend over to the library."

It was her turn to let out a laugh. He liked how it sounds: soft yet full of joy as if nothing in the world could hold her back. "I'd like that," she echoed his words when they first met. Beaming, he held out his clawed hand to her. "It's a deal, Balqis."

Balqis gingerly too his clawed hand and shook it up and down. Thinking that was it, she caught him off guard when she stopped the movement and brought his scaley hand to her moist lips she applied lip disinfectant on, and kissed it. Releasing it, she began, "That's how we greet someone where I'm from," she murmured while Gosha felt his venom about to gush out from the intense feeling he was bottling up inside.

She kissed his hand.

Her cheeks became redder at the action as she stood there staring at him. Earlier he had noticed her eyes roam to his maw and quickly look away. If he knew any better he would have thought she wanted to kiss him. Decorum wouldn't allow such a thing with him being venomous and could potentially kill her if a similar incident were to happen.

Instead, they parted ways with her walking away quickly while he tried to find a spot to spill out all of his venom without harming anyone. Finding a nearby drain, he opened his mouth and gush out the oozing purple liquid that washed away with the sewer water.

A part of him wanted to see her again, but another part felt as if he was being disloyal to the family he built and held oh so dearly.

Well, I hope you enjoy this chapter and wait for me to write sweet scenes of Gosha

Is it bad that whenever I read this chapter's title, it reminded me of that kid's show called Dragon Tales?