Trepidation

I sat there at the edge of the camp in trepidation, dread filling my veins as my eyes jumped between shadows flickering on the ground. Despite knowing that the camp had long been abandoned, days or maybe even weeks considering the amount of snow caking the fire pit, I still found my eyes drawn to the shadows, jumping at any movement in fear of who might come out of them.

"It's just a camp, nothing to be worried about," I told myself as I gingerly took a step towards the camp before freezing as snow fell from a nearby tree.

I felt my heart stop as my eyes darted to the branches only to find a bird, a lone raven, landing on the branches. "Caw!" It shrieked, fluttering its wings and puffing up as it settled on its perch.

Steadying my breath, I let out a nervous laugh as I told myself, "It's just a bird, there's no one around." Despite my reassurance, I still couldn't convince myself, "Right?"

Still, I soon mustered the courage to step closer, skirting around the perimeter until, finally, I came face to face with the tent's entrance; or what was left of it anyway. Torn pelts and rope lay strewn about, scattered about more from the wind than anything else. Its once proud frame bent over while the rope attached to it laid covered in hoarfrost. From the look of it, whoever camped there left in a hurry…

Reaching out and lifting up the tent, I could see why. The felt was old and ratty, covered with holes and patches from a dozen repairs. Lifting it closer for a cursory smell, I felt my head fins perk up at a wonderful scent. Despite being out in the elements for who knew how long, it still smelled of beer, smoked meat, and sweat. Dwarves, my blood sang, it smelt of dwarves.

Licking my lips, I swore I could already tast-!

"What the hell?" I paused, shaking my head at the thought. I knew I was a dragon and all but why the hell did I just think of eating a dwarf, eating people? I found myself frowning as I stared at the cured hide. It was concerning how easily my body associated the scent with food. "I need to fix this," I muttered as I dusted off the pelt and lifted it up.

Far wider than I was, and longer too, the fabric was more than enough to cover from the elements if I set it up… or make myself a lovely cloak. I did need to desensitize myself from the scent of dwarves, so why not wear it on my person? Grinning, I threw it over my shoulders and strutted around. I was now the proud owner of a new set of cloak, one lined with some fur as well!

"I don't know why they abandoned this, but I'm keeping it!" I told myself, though I didn't really need the cloak as I was fine being naked all this time. The harsh cold did not bother me, but I did have to admit, having a cloak was a welcome relief. "Cozy," I mumbled out as I wrapped it around myself and yawned.

Shaking myself, I pulled myself out of the warm burrito of fabric before folding it. As good as it was, it was bigger than I was. I would be tripping all over it if I had to take it as it was, so I laid it down for now. Flexing my claws, I grimaced, "I really wished I didn't have to do this but I need to cut you down."

Thus, I spent an hour deciding on how I was going to cut it and what to do with the rest, having long forgotten that I was in the middle of a camp. Who knew all it took to get myself over a fear was having something new and shiny or, in this case, furry.

In the end, I decided to cut a few strips here and there to make it a bit smaller. Yes, I knew I was going to grow bigger but I felt like my growth spurts were going to calm down soon enough. I was getting big, but I was not getting bigger prey. That would definitely slow it down eventually if it hadn't already.

I still have a cape and I could make a tent if I wanted too. Along with that, I have a sling to carry some stuff as well as a nifty scarf. As a cape, it felt silly and it was definitely cumbersome trying to fly with it but it's not like I couldn't just pull it off and just fly away. Besides, flying was tiring. Walking was better for me until I grew enough to get more food.

Aside from my new cape, I also found a few other curiosities. Some empty bottles that smelt of herbs, good smelling herbs. I was a bit leery picking them up but they did look good for storing water. A good length of rope and a lone coin.

Lifting it up against the sun, I felt great pride at the silvery sheen. Someone lost a silver coin, one emblazoned with that of a dwarves head; blocky and geometric. "Welp, every hoard needs to start from somewhere!" I said out loud as I placed it inside my pack.

There were some extra bits like a broken knife and even some arrows, but they looked low quality, made from random branches rather than by a fletcher. Into the pile of garbage they went, along with whatever else was there. Whoever camped here really needed to clean their stuff.

All in all, I'd looted quite a bit from the camp and found a few hints of who might have come here. From the looks of things, it was a big camp, fitting more than a few tents. Using the walls of a ruined house for protection against the elements and potential attackers, they'd jammed themselves in tight and built a large fire pit.

There were premade holes, lots of them, but the lone camp I found was the only one with pegs. A bit weird for someone to just leave them behind but they could be in a hurry?

Unfortunately, I could not parse more information from the site from what I'd already gathered. I really wasn't well equipped for the task. Still, I was satisfied with what I had. Someone had camped there, probably just passing by, before moving on. They left in a hurry, leaving only trash behind. I smelt neither blood getting spilled nor were there any signs of battle.

A bit underwhelming but the alternative wasn't pretty. "Hey, you could have hunters on top of having a troll after your ass," I told myself, reminding myself that meeting people now as a dragon might not be the best idea. How else would someone react to what would be an apex predator, a baby at that, in the wild.

They were not the modern times, or so I thought. With the castles I'd seen while falling and the ruins strewn about, I pegged that I was somewhere medieval, probably a fantastical setting. In a time of swords and spells, I had a feeling that any normal being would not react too kindly about my presence.

"I do hope I meet someone that needs a familiar instead of someone that would kill me on sight," I muttered as I packed what I needed before moving on. "Considering my luck, I'll probably meet a hunter or something," I chuckled before humming, "I wonder if people use dragon bones for things here. Hopefully I'm too young to be harvested!"

A/N:

It's been a while huh? Yeah, this got somewhat lost in the back log, but that's mostly my fault. Anyways, our little dragon finally found some sign of civilization and it's dwarven. He's slowly piecing the world together, though he's still a bit too enthusiastic. Doesn't he know that the best kind of velum comes from the skin of young lamb?... Well, it's actually still born lamb, but you get the point

Now with that out of the way, I'd like to thank vyor. Truly the best beta an author could ask for. To many more chapters and screaming

If you want to support me or want to read some fic chapters in advance, consider dropping by either Pa treon or Ko-Fi. I couldn't have done this without the support. Link in my bio