Dave was taking a walk though his land in the woods while on vacation at his cabin. He liked to get far away from the city and all its chaos and noise for a few months, once in a while. Shortly after starting down the path that went around his land, he heard an odd sound. He stopped and listened, thinking it was probably a deer. He waited, listened and looked around, to see if it would move again.

    He heard nothing, so he started walking again. But only a few seconds passed and he heard it again, coming from the same direction. He stopped, waiting to see if he would hear it again. The sound came again. It was kind of a groaning sound. Dave had never heard a sound quite like it. He became very curious and walked toward the sound.

    A small distance from the trail he saw something on the ground near a tree, it moved a little and made the sound again, then it laid still. As he moved closer, he started to make out what the creature was. It was the size of a very large dog, but it was covered with copper colored scales, and on it's back, there was a pair of wings. Dave just stared at it for a while, having never seen anything like it. Getting closer he noticed that the ground was disturbed behind the creature, like it had fallen from the sky. Looking at the trees above and behind the creature, he saw a few broken branches.

    He looked back at the beast, which seemed to be unconscious. Noticing that it was covered with scratches and deep cuts, he realized that some of them looked like they were caused by claws, like the ones on the creature. Dave looked at it a bit longer and finally decided to walk up right next to it. He slowly reached out his hand to touch it. As his hand made contact, he relaxed a bit that it didn't wake up and bite his head off. He was also surprised that it was warm to the touch. He expected it to be cool for some reason, maybe because it looked reptilian.

    Dave, trying to think of what to do with it. He decided he couldn't just leave it like that, wounded and lying there. This thing was different, it was something no one had ever seen before. "A dragon." he said out loud, amused that he only now realized what it looked like. He was also having some trouble believing what he was seeing, wondering if he might be dreaming.

    Dave decided to try and bring it back to the house and see if he could nurse it back to health. Though the creature was rather large, it didn't weigh very much. Dave figured it would have to be pretty light to be able to fly.

    He found it awkward to carry the odd creature, but Dave managed to get it into the house without incident. He brought it into the living room, because there was a large patio door going there, as well as a wood stove inside. It was late fall and the temperatures were dropping. It was not comfortable to go outside without a coat on. Dave thought it would be a good idea to keep the dragon warm.

    Dave laid the dragon in the middle of the room and left the door open. He looked at the dragon and at its injuries, then got his medical supplies and cleaned all the wounds. He then bandaged the larger ones that had started bleeding again. After he did all he knew how to do, he waited. He put more wood in the wood stove and opened the damper to heat the room more, as it was getting a little chilly with the door part way open. Dave wanted the dragon to have an easy way out if it woke up and panicked. Keeping that in mind, he sat in a chair with the dragon between him and the door.

    He watched the dragon. It was breathing easily and seemed to be simply asleep. Dave got up to get something for himself to eat, but in doing so his chair made some noise and the dragon stirred. He froze, not knowing what to do. He didn't know how the creature would react, so he brought his hand to the pistol in his holster, just in case it turned on him. Dave had started carrying a gun at all times after a certain incident that he didn't really want to think about. The dragon opened his eyes, it was facing the other direction so it didn't see Dave right away

    Once the dragon was fully awake he tried to jump to his feet, but was stopped by his injuries. He growled a bit, then looked around the room, he spotted the container of water Dave had left near him and drank some of it. Dave was starting to relax somewhat, and breathed a sigh of relief. The dragon heard this and looked right at him, and growled. Dave held as still as possible, quite scared. He thought the dragon was going to jump on him, but nothing happened, it just turned back to the water and drank more.

    Dave took a step away from the wall, his fear gone. The dragon instantly noticed his movement and growled at him again. Dave was instantly very scared again. "I-I-I'm n-not going to hurt you." he tried, the dragon looked at him, interestedly. Dave started to relax again, if the creature was going to hurt him it probably would have done so already.


    The dragon looked at the human, confused, but he didn't really care about anything but how everything hurt so damned much. All he could remember was getting attacked mid flight by another dragon, fighting, getting hit hard in the head, then crashing to the ground. Everything hurt, and he could not even stand up, then nothing. Now he was in this human's house, and he had no idea how he got there. The only thing ho could think of was that the human had found him and brought him there, but he could not think of why. He noticed that his cuts were in a great deal less pain, though his bones and muscles still ached horribly.

    He looked around the room more, always keeping an eye on the human. The dragon liked the heat from the wood stove, but was more interested in knowing why the human would bring him here. The human just stood there watching him, and froze stiff as a board anytime he growled at it, like it was a terrified mouse or something. The dragon figured that human wasn't going to hurt him, and then the human even said so. This made the dragon curious, so he stopped growling at the human. The human started talking. "My name's Dave... I found you lying on the ground unconscious so I brought you here are tried to help you heal."


    Dave didn't know why he was talking to it, it just seemed like a good idea. He didn't know the dragon could understand him, so he was very surprised when the dragon said in a raspy voice, "Thankss... But do you have any food?"


    The dragon was mildly amused by the human's reaction to having been spoken to. What, did he think that dragons were merely dumb beasts? No matter, it looked like he was going to get some food, and the dragon was very hungry. The dragon moved himself into a more comfortable position, carefully standing up and slowly walking closer to the warm stove. Everything still hurt, he felt like some of his ribs were broken. He also tried moving both of his wings, this caused pain in his chest and flight muscles, but to his relief the wings themselves were not broken anywhere.

    Dave came back to find the the dragon had moved closer to the stove. He had taken one of the steaks he had been planning to cook for himself and put it on a plate for the dragon. He carefully set it near the dragon's head, and backed away. The dragon ate the whole thing in only a few bites. "So.. what happened to you?" Dave asked, still freaked out from hearing the dragon speak.

    The dragon looked up at him, then said in a clearer voice, "I lost a fight."

    "I thought it was something like that, those marks could only be made by claws." Dave said as he pointed to the marks on the dragon's side.

    "I must have done some damage to the other dragon though, as he didn't come back and finish me off." The dragon said.

    "I see." Dave said "Why were you fighting?"

    "I'm not sure why he attacked me." the dragon said. "Thank you, I'd probably have died without your help, I don't think I can fly anytime soon."

    "Well, you're welcome." Dave said, still in awe of the dragon, he never thought they were real. But now he knew, he was still surprised they were intelligent. "Is there anything else I can do for you?"

    "More food. I'm starving."

    Dave thought it was in his best interest to keep a creature that could easily kill him well fed. "Ok, but I don't have a lot of meat."

    Dave soon returned from the kitchen with several large cuts of beef and the dragon made short work of all of them. "Thank you. But why did you help me?"

    "I don't know. Probably because I've never seen something like you before."

    "It's no surprise that you've never seen one of us, I've only seen two others. So if most dragons are like me, they stay away from humans." the dragon said, sadly. "I'm glad you found me though, I've been alone so long, it's nice to have someone to talk to again. And I would almost certainly die in this condition. I heal fast, but not if I can't catch any food. It hurts even to breath or move, and there's no way I could fly or hunt like this."

    "Maybe some of your ribs are broken?" Dave asked, pointing to the dragon's chest.

    "Possibly."

    "May I check?" Dave asked, coming closer to the dragon.

   The dragon permitted, and Dave prodded at the dragon's beat up chest. There were several places that caused intense pain when prodded.

    "I'm no expert, but I'd guess you broke several ribs with that fall." Dave said "They should heal fine, it just takes a while. It's a wonder you didn't break anything else."

    "Well, looks like there is nothing to do but wait" said the dragon, with a yawn, which was terminated early by a small yelp. Then the dragon made himself comfortable near the stove and went to sleep. He reminded Dave of a very large cat. Dave got up and closed the door and put more wood in the stove, then closed the damper almost all the way, it was only 40F outside, so he didn't need too much heat to keep the whole house warm.

    He made himself some supper, as it was late afternoon, but he saved the beef for the dragon, not knowing how much it would need when it woke. After he ate he went back into the living room and sat on the couch. He looked at the dragon, and possible new friend. The dragon was actually quite interesting to look at, with its hundreds of scales and some small spikes along its back, going down its tail.

    Dave soon fell asleep there on the couch. He was rudely awakened in the morning by a dragon licking him in the face.

    "Ahhhh! Oh. it's you." Dave said, quite startled. "Man... do something about that morning breath."

    "Sorry. I've been alone so long, it feels good to be near someone again." The dragon said. Once Dave sat up and wiped his eyes, he seen that the dragon's condition was much improved from the previous night. Most of the cuts were closed and obviously healing fast, even the larger ones.

    "Wow, you heal fast. I've never seen anything like it."

    "I do feel much better. Though I doubt I could have healed that far without the extra food and heat from you." The dragon said. "Though I don't think I can fly yet, my bones and muscles still ache."

    "That makes sense, bone and muscle take longer to heal than skin." Dave said. "You can stay here as long as you need."

    "Thanks."

    While Dave went though his morning routine while the dragon went on a short walk outside. The dragon returned to the smell of frying bacon, it smelled familiar to him, but he could barely remember where he'd smelled it before. He then walked into the kitchen.

    "I can barely remember the last time I had properly cooked food..." He said "Can I have
some?"

    Dave was surprised at this. When would a wild creature like a dragon get cooked food? Now that he thought about it, the dragon's behavior was not very wild at all. There was more to this then he could see. The dragon also seemed to know basic human manners, and speech for that matter. Dave didn't have any idea how a dragon could learn all that. Hell, he could not figure out how a dragon could exist at all.

    "Yes, of course you can have some." Dave said. "When did you even have it before? And how did you learn English?"

    The dragon stopped and thought for a moment. "I wasn't always a dragon." The dragon said. "I can barely remember. It seems so very long ago. I was a young boy, I think ten or twelve years old at the time, I was at a park with my family I think. I walked away from them, I liked to explore a bit." The dragon looked a little sad about his memories. "Anyway, I found something. I think it was a stone of some kind, I remember it breaking when I picked up, then all I can remember is pain. Pain far worse then I was in yesterday, worse then anything I can think of before or since.

    "Next thing I knew I was like this. A dragon. I tried to get back to my family, but I could not find them right away, they had moved to a different part of the park, probably looking for me. I did find them, but there were lots of people around, one of them saw me and screamed. I panicked, I was scared. I'd never had that happen to me before." The dragon looked very depressed about this. "I lost control of myself and flew away as fast as I could. I tried to turn back, but I had no control of my body. I was so scared. It was like something in my mind took over. When I finally gained control of myself I had no idea where I was. I didn't recognize the area at all.

    "I wanted to go find some people and ask them where I was, or to find my home. But after what happened at the park I was afraid too. From then on I let my dragon instincts guide me. When I got hungry, I hunted, when I got tired, I found a safe place and slept. Everything just happened, like a machine, like an animal. It was a long time before I started thinking about things again, I was just too depressed to think at first."

    Dave turned the stove off and put most of the bacon on a plate for the dragon, saving himself a few pieces. "It must have been horrible to be ripped away from your family like that." Dave said, and held the plate of bacon where the dragon could reach it. Like everything he saw the dragon eat, it was gone very quickly. Though the dragon did chew a little slower, as if to better taste it.

    "Oh... That tastes so good." The dragon looked even more unhappy. Dave thought maybe it was going to cry. Dave took his breakfast and walked to the living room, which was directly connected to the kitchen, and sat on the couch. The dragon followed and then laid his head on Dave's lap. Dave stroked the dragon's head like one might a dog. He noticed some tears in the dragon's eyes. "You'll be okay." Dave said. "You never did tell me your name."

    "It's Alex. Though it's been forever since I've heard anyone say it." Alex said. He seemed to have gotten over his sadness somewhat. "Anyway, I just lived alone, I didn't have too much trouble eating either, there are lots of deer around."

    "I read they've been overpopulated in this area for a long time." Dave said.

    "I've been living mostly like an animal, and while there are some good things about it, I miss other people. There's not really much to tell about my life in the wild, other then that winters suck, and it's hard to find good shelter. Food is also harder to find, but I sleep more in winter and don't need to eat quite as much. The only really interesting thing that's happened was about a week ago.

      "I saw another dragon flying over, something I'd never seen before. Of course I was very excited, and flew to meet it. We both landed and he told me about this organization of dragons, it seemed good, they have extra food, they have good shelter. Most importantly, they have people to talk to. But I could not join them."

    "Why not?" Dave asked.

    "Because they believe humans are nothing more then prey. I don't know where all the other dragons came from, but I was once a human. Though I've been a dragon for longer then I was a human, I could not commit myself to to a group that wants to rule over all humans, and even my limited knowledge of humans says that there are not enough dragons to succeed. I've lived a long time only by not taking risks with low chances of success. And I can't go to war against humans, I still miss my family greatly, though I can barely remember them now. I'd not even thought of them for months until then."

    "Do you think that dragon who attacked you was part of that group?" Dave asked, worried and amazed by this knowledge of a hostile group of dragons.

    "I don't know. I suppose it's possible, but it seems pointless to attack me." Alex said.

    "Well, there is the whole 'if you're not with us, you're against us' deal." Dave said.

    "I suppose. I hope this does not mean they will attack me again. Maybe they will assume I died after that fall."

    "What, the 'No one could survive that' trope?" Said Dave.

    "I hope so."

      "Me too, but I'll keep myself armed just in case anything comes back to attack you again. Or me for that matter..." Dave said, pointing at his handgun in its holster. He decided to always carry a weapon after a certain incident a few years ago.  

    "So, you want more to eat? Though I'm gonna have to drive into town and buy more meat, I only have enough left to feed you once more." Dave said.

    "Sure." Alex said.

    Dave started the grill and cooked the last of the beef in his fridge. Alex liked it cooked better then raw, "I'd forgotten what it was like to have seasoned, grilled meat. Cold meat like you gave me yesterday is not very good. Freshly killed is much better, but this beats both." Alex said after eating a T-bone steak in three bites.

    "You're welcome" Dave said. "Will you be okay here while I go out to buy more food? I'll be gone a few hours since we are a rather long ways away from anything." Dave lived just far enough away that the power company wanted an obscene amount of money to run power lines, forcing Dave to power the house solely with solar power.

    "Yeah, I'll probably just sleep the whole time anyway."

    "Ok, that's fine. You should heal faster if you can rest." Dave said.

    After Dave left, the dragon found a comfortable spot near the wood burning stove, and curled up to sleep, he was very tired anytime he was injured. He'd never been injured this badly of course, so that would explain why he was still tired.

    Hours later, Dave got back and found the dragon waiting for him at the door. "So, how are you doing?" Dave asked, while he was putting the food into the refrigerator. "Fine, was sleeping until I heard you coming."

    "I see. Are you hungry yet? We've got plenty of meat now." Dave asked.

    "A little. But it's no big deal, I can wait." Alex said.

    "I'll get you something to eat as I'm hungry myself. It's well past lunch time!" Dave said. Dave then got the grill going and cooked meat for both of them. After eating Dave said "I got something for you, come look." and started walking around the front of the house. The dragon followed, curios to see what Dave was talking about

      When he came around the corner, he saw Dave's truck. It was loaded with lumber and building materials. "You mentioned that you have problems with shelter in the winter, so I thought I could solve that problem for you. I can build you a nice warm insulated shelter to with this, you just need to show me where you want it." Dave said.

    Alex was surprised, and answered "Thanks, but really, I've been doing fine."

    "Nonsense, even dogs need someplace warm to sleep, and they have fur! No, you must have a warm place to stay when I'm not around, which is most of the winter." Dave said. Dave didn't know where the dragon stayed during the winter, but he was sure it could not be very warm. So he picked up enough supplies to make a small insulated building.

    "So now what?" Alex asked. Alex didn't know why Dave cared so much, but he was truely grateful as winter was not a good time of year for him. It was hard to find a warm and dry place to stay.

    "Well, we need to build this thing. I just need to know where. You can show me once you're feeling good enough."

    "I'm well enough to walk now, I just won't be able to fly for a few more days yet. So we can go now if you want. I think it would be best to put it near my current den. It's not very far from here."

    Dave followed Alex a long way into the woods, though still on his land. They came to a small hill, on one side there was a kind of small cliff on it, and into that is where there dragon had dug a kind of borrow in the side of the hill. It was just good enough to keep him out of the weather, but just barely. Dave wondered that it was good enough to survive the winter in. When he asked the dragon about this he said "Oh, this is not my only place, I have several, but this is the closest to your house."

    "I see. Well this is a fine spot, now we just need to get the supplies and tools here. This is a nice area, I've walked though here before. I can't believe I never saw your home. How long have you used this here?"

    "Years. And of course you didn't see it, that's the point. I think I remember seeing you out here before, now that you mention it.

    "Good thing I got camouflaged siding, I thought you might be concerned about it being seen. It's amazing that you were so close for so long and I never knew it. Almost scary."

    "Sounds good I guess." Alex said.

    "Yeah, this thing should be pretty nice."

    Dave and Alex walked back to the house and worked the plans. The dragon gave a few ideas for the project but mostly just watched as Dave checked the materials to be sure he had everything he needed.  

         After spending most of the day finalizing the design, Dave loaded the supplies and tools onto the small trailer for his ATV and carefully drove to the building site. They decided to build it right next to the old place, then Dave got to work right away, leveling the ground and digging holes for the vertical posts. The dragon watched nearby and asked "Why do you do all this for me? It seems like a lot of hard work for not much reward."

    "I'm not sure. I guess because I feel sorry for you, living out here alone. That, and I like to have something to work on, some project to keep busy with. It gets boring otherwise." Dave said. "It's kinda funny, I come out here for the summer to get away from work, but I always find some project to work on. I've never met a new friend out here before though, and I take care of friends. I'd probably worry all winter about you out here if I didn't know you had a warm place to stay. Probably will anyway..."

    "I've been okay out here for years." Alex said. "Though this will be a vast improvement I'm sure. Thanks again, I'm glad to know I have a friend who cares about me. I don't think I've ever had a good friend before."

    "You're welcome. I'm glad to help a friend in need, you ever need anything, just ask." Dave said. By now it was getting late, and they went back to the house, Dave driving the ATV again, and the dragon riding in the trailer. The dragon wondered about Dave, he wondered why he was being so generous, why he'd bother doing so much. He didn't mind, of course, but it seemed somewhat odd to him. He was glad that he felt almost completely recovered, his wings now barely ached when he stretched them, he planned to try flying again in the morning.

    Dave and his new winged friend had some supper once they got back to Dave's house and went to bed. The dragon slept by the wood stove in the living room once again, though Dave used his bedroom this time. The morning was rather uneventful, Dave and the dragon had a bit of food, then went outside. "Well, I feel like I can finally fly again." Alex announced.

    "That's great! I've never seen a creature your size fly before. Of course, that's probably true of any human." Dave replied. They were still standing in the open area around his house, and Dave stepped away. Alex unfolded his wings, revealing their full length. Dave was surprised at just how large they were, then Alex used his powerful hind legs to leap into the air as he brought his wings down in a strong first stroke. He was off the ground, and in a few more strokes, he was above the trees.

    Dave watched, amazed. It didn't seem possible that something so large could fly so easily, he remembered watching large birds taking off, and how they had to take a running start to get in the air. Yet this dragon, who was larger then any bird had no trouble taking off at all. Dave watched as Alex turned and flew back towards him, started diving a little and then pulled up as he came over Dave's head, blowing his hair back. Alex then turned again and landed carefully next to Dave again.

    "That's always fun, flying is probably the best thing about being a dragon." Alex said.

    "It does look like fun. Too bad there's no way for me to try it. I suppose if you were huge like the dragons in some books I could take a ride..." Dave said, laughing

    "No, that won't work." Alex said. "I suppose you could find a rock and change like I did, but that's not a fun experience. And besides, I've never seen another one like it, and I've been living outside for years, and looking at most everything. There's not much else to do when I'm not hunting, and even when I am, I'm looking at everything, you have to be looking out for anything. That includes things looking to catch me, I was spotted by some hunters once. I was not paying attention and didn't notice them until they shot at me. Luckily there was thick brush nearby that I could jump into and out of sight. I heard a few more shots, then some shouting. I don't know if they tried to follow me or not, but I ran away as fast as I could.

    "Wow. That was a close call, lucky you didn't get hurt. I'm a hunter myself you know, but I don't go shooting everything I see. Now that I think about it, I think I might have heard some stories about some hunters seeing something strange. It was a while ago, but in the newspaper there was a story about why you shouldn't do drugs while hunting. It was about these two guys who went hunting, and the one guy said he saw some kind of strange creature and started shooting at it. His friend of course thought he was hallucinating and took the gun from him. The person who did the shooting claimed he didn't do any drugs that day, but no one would believe him."

    "Of course, it didn't help his case any when the police found some LSD in his truck." Dave said, laughing a little.

    "So even when someone sees me, no one believes it?" Alex asked.

    "Seems that way. And I don't think most people would even tell anyone if they saw you, they'd be afraid of being called crazy, like that hunter. I would not go flying over a town though, if a a lot of people see you at the same time, bad things might happen. I have no idea how people would react to an intelligent non-human creature like yourself. And I doubt those threatening looking teeth and claws would make them feel any better." Dave said.

    "I see." Alex said, slightly disappointed.

    "If you want to get back to society, then I think your best chance would be finding your family. I'm sure they would not care what you look like, they probably just want you back. Though they probably think you're dead by now, depending on how long you've been gone, and how much hope they have."

    "It's been a long time. More then ten years. Not sure exactly, I've not tried to keep track. I also don't remember many details at all." Alex said, sadly.

    "Oh don't worry about that now, we have a house to finish building, and as far as I can tell, things have been getting better for you, well other then you getting attacked. But we'd have never met otherwise, and you'd still be sleeping in that hole." Dave said. "You could have been hurt far worse, and I don't know what I'd have done then, I don't think any of the local doctors or veterinarians treat dragons."   

    "Well, that's true." Alex said. "Things have gotten better. I've even got a friend now, that's better then anything that's happened to me in years."

    Dave loaded his ATV trailer with the rest of the materials and drove back into the woods. He worked for the rest of the day, and though Alex tried to help, he could not really do much, other then hand Dave tools and parts. Though he walked on four legs, his front paws were built almost exactly like hands, and could grab things in the same way, though Alex was not practiced in using any tools besides the ones on his body.

    "Well, what do you think?" Dave asked, when he was finished. It was built much like a house, with steel siding and roof that was painted with flat paint in a camouflage pattern. The walls, ceiling and floor were insulated. The building was about six feet high at the peak and about seven feet by seven feet wide inside, with a small door in the corner, about two feet wide and and three feet tall with clear vinyl flaps hanging in it. The whole structure resembled a small garden shed.

    "It's nice." Alex said, as he went inside. "Oh, I like this." He said as he  looked out of the windows Dave put around the upper edge of the walls, so Alex could see outside in any direction. Dave followed him inside, it was plenty large for both of them.

    "And if it gets hot in the summer, these windows slide open easily." Dave said, demonstrating.   

    "Nice, thank you for doing this." Alex said. "I don't know why you care so much, but I'm grateful."
    
    "Oh, it's nothing really." Dave said. "I was hoping to make this a bit smaller, it would be warmer with less open space in winter. But that's nothing a little soft bedding can't fix, and it's always nice to have extra space, though I don't know what uses you have for it."

    "I don't know about you, but I'm getting hungry!" Dave said. "And it's getting dark. I brought some food out here, though not a lot."

      "Oh, that's fine, I'm not really hungry. I've eaten more in the last two days with you then I do in some weeks." Alex said, laying down and yawning. Dave went to his ATV to get the food he had packed, which was just some sandwiches. By the time he was done eating, it was fully dark. The lights on his ATV were not working, and Dave didn't want to drive it back home in the dark with no lights.

    "Mind if I stay here for the night?" Dave asked the dragon, who awakened as he came back into the building.

    "Sure, I don't mind." Alex said. "You're not afraid of the dark are you?"

    "No! Well actually... I am kinda scared of the dark." Dave said, feeling rather embarrassed. Dave thought he heard the dragon trying to hold back a laugh, making him feel even more embarrassed. He was a grown man, he should not be scared of the dark, but he was. Just the thought of being alone, in the woods, in the dark, made him very uneasy. He knew that logically there was no reason to be scared, that nothing would happen, but it didn't change the way he felt.

    "Oh, I don't know what you're afraid of, I'm pretty sure I'm the most dangerous thing for miles around." Alex said, now laughing a little. "Don't worry. I used to be afraid of the dark too, when I was human. I don't remember much from then though. It's odd, I remember lots of little things like that, but not the important things, like my last name."

    "Well I'm tired." Alex said. "You can stay here if you like, it's the least I can do, after all you've done for me. But I'm going to sleep."

      "Night then." Dave said, and tried to get into a comfortable position. He was warm enough, as he was wearing his coat, though the body heat from both him and the dragon heated the room quite a bit. He could not get comfortable, and finally ended up laying his head on the dragon's side. Alex stirred a little and put a wing over him. Dave felt much safer, if there was anything out there, he was pretty sure his friend could protect him though he still felt silly for even being afraid.

    The next morning, Dave was awoken by the dragon moving out from under him and creeping outside. Dave, who was slightly annoyed, yawned and looked outside. He soon spotted the dragon a good distance away, slowly creeping forward like a cat stalking a mouse. In front of Alex was a deer, so far unaware of the danger. Alex got very close before the animal became aware of his presence.

    As soon as the deer jumped, so did the dragon. Alex ran full speed and leaped into the air, and flapped his wings several times to propel himself faster to his target. Luckily, the trees were fairly far apart, so he could avoid hitting them with his wings. He landed on the deer's back, knocking the animal to the ground, and without waiting a moment the dragon bit the animal's throat and suffocated it quickly.

    Dave watched in a kind of horrified fascination, he could hardly believe that was the person he had been talking to before. The dragon acted much like animals Dave had seen on nature documentaries, only no one had ever seen a dragon hunting before. The dragon quickly and ruthlessly attacked and killed the deer, Dave of course knew Alex had hunted his own meals for a long time, but actually seeing it was different. Dave himself hunted occasionally, but obviously had never done it with only his body, up close and personal. It made Alex seem somehow more... inhuman.

    Dave continued watching as Alex tore into the deer and began ripping and tearing at the meat, eating large amounts of it getting and blood all over himself. After a while, Dave moved a bit closer for a better view, though not getting very close. After about an hour, there was hardly any of the deer left. It hadn't been a large specimen, but it wasn't tiny either. Dave was amazed that Alex could eat that much all at one time, and was not very surprised to see that Alex was slightly larger around middle as he came walking towards him.

    "I thought you said you weren't hungry." Dave said.

    "I wasn't extremely hungry," Alex said. "But you don't let a meal like that just get away when it walks right past your door." The dragon seem to note Dave's earlier thoughts and said "No, it's not pretty, it's not clean, and it's not optional." Alex said, starting to lick the blood from his face and claws. "I don't know why you were looking at me like that, don't you hunt and eat meat too?"

    "Yes. It's just. I don't know..." Dave said, not sure how to put his feelings into words. "I suppose it's just that even when I hunt, I never get that up close and personal. I just shoot it and take it to someone else to get it processed, then I just pick up the packaged meat. You just seemed inhuman and like an animal or beast to me when you were killing like that."

    "Well, it's not only my body that changed. My thinking changed too, I do whatever is necessary to survive, I suppose that makes me seem more like an animal. And I'm NOT human, not anymore." Alex said. Dave noticed that Alex seemed sad any time he mentioned that he used to be human, though he didn't know weather it was from missing his family or missing his human body.

    "I guess I was thinking of you as a human in a dragon suit." Dave said. "When you've been changed from human to something else entirely. Of course you act like something wild, because for all intents and purposes, you are. Or maybe feral is a better word, as you were not born wild. I suppose you could be correctly called an animal, one of the many definitions of the word is 'any living being other than a human being' but yet another is 'any living being capable of voluntary movement.' It's a very broad category, even humans can be called animals. The definition you do not fit in is 'a cruel or coarse person' though I can think of some humans who would."

    "I guess I just realized that you're more of a wild creature, and not simply a human stuck in the wrong body." Dave continued, "And that scared me, because it was different and I didn't and don't understand it. Maybe it's true that humans fear what that don't understand. I know I have a far greater respect for your power."

    Alex thought for a moment and then said. "You have nothing to fear from me. I won't say that I'd never hurt a human, but I'd never do it without a really good reason, and not for food."

    "I know that. I'd be dead if you were a simple beast, thinking only of food." Dave said. "A beast, that's what you're not. You're not human, but you are a person, like all humans, and unlike all beasts."

    "Thank you." Alex said

    "For what?" Dave asked.

    "For telling me that. I've felt unsure of what I was, I wondered if maybe I really was reduced to just a beast. I wondered if that's all you thought I was, and were thinking of me as a pet or something. Not that I mind the free food."

    "I'll admit when I found you I never imagined you were an intelligent person, indeed, I thought that until you woke up and spoke to me. I assumed you were a simple beast. No one has ever heard of a non-human creature being intelligent on the same level as humans." Dave said. "But after you talked to me, I knew you were no beast. No, you're not my pet, you're my friend."

    "Thank you." Alex said again. "That makes me feel better then I have in a long time."

    Dave thought about what the dragon said, he felt somewhat hurt that Alex suspected that he might have considered him a pet. Dave thought of Alex more like an adopted son then a pet. Dave thought this was rather funny, as there was a good chance that the dragon was older then he was. Dave was in his early twenties, The dragon had said he was changed at ten or twelve years of age, and had been a dragon for at least ten more years.

   Dave and Alex spent the rest of the day talking about their lives. Dave envied the freedom of living wild, but not risks. As Dave had seen that day, living wild and free was not a walk in the park. Alex could have been injured taking down his prey, he could have failed to catch it, wasting his energy in the attempt. If that were to happen to many days in a row, he'd be to exhausted to catch anything unless it lied down in front of him. Much like he was when Dave found him.

    Alex liked the security and ease of civilization, but not the restriction that came with it. Sure, he'd always have enough food, but what good is that when you have to spend all of your time working? Not that he had loads of leisure time in the wild, but he didn't have to be accountable to anyone but himself. It was a moot point anyway, as there was no way for Alex to enter normal human society, at least Dave could think of nothing that could work.

    The dragon was also disappointed that Dave needed to leave for work in a week, but Dave assured him "I can get up here on weekends to check up on you, you'll be fine." It was true of course, Alex had survived for years on his own. But once you make a friend, it's harder to be without them then it was before you met them.

    
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    Alex and Dave's friendship strengthened over the next few years, and it seemed that nothing would change. Until that unforgettable day when a dragon went public. Alex was in Dave's house, and Dave was cooking him something. Dave had leaned how to cook, as Alex enjoyed trying new things. As it turned out, meat was not the only thing dragons like to eat, Alex liked cakes, fruit, vegetables, and even candy, though meat still made up most of his diet. Both of them were in shock when the happened to overhear the TV saying "Elaborate hoax or fantasy made real?" as it showed images of a red dragon walking around at what appeared to be a zoo, and even rescuing a kid from falling into an animal pen.

    Dave and Alex were speechless, and just staring at the screen though the whole thing. "We've not managed to get an interview with the creature, who is reported to be just as intelligent as any human. Some people have reported that it claims to have even been human at one time." the reporter said. "Again, we still don't know if this is real and not some elaborate hoax, but none of our sources can find anything to disprove it. The person who sent us this video claims to have spoken to the creature, and completely believes it's a real dragon.

    "Wow." Dave said. "Looks like you're not the only person to change."
    
    "I knew that." Alex said. "But he's the only one who chose to ignore it and go on with his life. This is amazing, if he can just walk around in public and not be captured then there is no reason I can't. From that video it even looked like he was still with his human family! I don't even know if I know how to live in human society."

    "No one says you have to try right away. I can teach you all you need to know to function in civilization. I think it's a good idea to wait at least a few months and see what will happen to this dragon first before we do anything we might regret.

    "I agree. I, for one, am not ready to join human society, I might just stay as I am. Though, it would be easier to look for my family."

      Alex had remembered more details about his family, but Dave had not found anything so far. But they still had hope. And now they had a lot more of it.

    "This is gonna be an interesting future. Who knows how many dragons are out there, waiting to be found." Dave commented.

    "Indeed."