The dragons spoke of a day when they would be free.
Free of the chains that bound them to obey the will of the greedy human race and its cruel King.
There was a legend of old, it spoke of a human who bore the heart of a dragon.
The one that would...
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(Chapter 2) How to raise a Dragon King 101 - hidden identity edition
"Normal" - human tongue "Dragonese" Dragon tongue
~*~
Author POV
Jimin seemed to all the world a bright and happy child. Always laughing, smiling, full of cheer and joy. He felt all those things of course, like a child would. Running around without a care in the world, playing games, making up crazy mythical stories, about knights, princess, Kings and their rising and downfall.
But there was one way Jimin was different. Everyone accepted it, but Jimin did not, at least not in his heart.
Dragons.
Beautiful, majestic creatures, bound as slaves to humans. That was something Jimin did not like. Being born to a butcher and tailor he did not personally see many dragons. But sometimes he saw nobles dragging around their pet dragons, like a dog on a leash.
But the thing about dragons is that they have 2 forms. A full shift, and a half shifted form. So sometimes he saw adults, admittedly with with horns and scales and tails being dragged around like they were lesser than the 'mighty' humans. Something about that made his blood boil, but a 6 year old child didn't understand that much.
He knew of no destiny or fate, or what had been planned for his future.
"Jimin could you come inside please, dinner is almost ready, I want you cleaned up before then" his mother called to him from inside their thatch-work house.
The temperature was hot inside the house from the open fire his mother cooked upon, the heat always made his mother's skin go red with flush cheeks. But Jimin had never been bothered by the heat, it was comforting to him in fact. He had once made tea for his mother when she was ill, being as young as he was he didn't understand the kettle was hot, yet when he placed the pot on the table, he discovered no burns upon his hand.
He had later discovered that open fires didn't burn him either, no fire could. He had debated telling his parents but he had seen what happened at the witch hunts, he didn't want to be like them. Apparently they could conjure fire from their hands using spells, but to talk about them could result in severe punishment, so Jimin kept his fascination with all things mythical to himself.
But he couldn't one night.
~*~
Since there is no education for anyone who isn't nobility, Jimin just ran around and played with children all day. He would visit his mother at the tailors for lunch and that would be his day. The village was small, so people kept eyes upon the children playing around. Mostly people at the markets, since the children were drawn to the bright colours, and especially to the toy stalls.
Jimin had just fetched his lunch from his mother, she was working a lot that day, apparently there was a noble in town and they wanted a wardrobe made by a 'rural' town, for the cultural aspect. To make themselves look caring to the local population, boosting their prestigious reputations. His mother was just wishing for a higher pay check, nobles tended to be charged more, that's just how business worked.
Jimin was walking past an inn, it was a quiet street, a short cut back to the town central tree that he had agreed to meet his friends at. There was a large willow tree planted in the centre of the village, it was a monument for them, the markets were hosted around there. It was like a hub for children to play, climbing in the branches till their parents called to them at the end of the day.
There was someone else on the street, an adult, though he was slumped over and curled up. Jimin being his caring self rushed over to check the person wasn't hurt.
"Are you ok mister?" Jimin asked as he reached the person's side.
The person looked up at him, clearly not expecting to see the child looking intently at them.
"Hello" the person spoke.
"Hi, you ok? Did you fall over?" Jimin asked generally concerned.
The person finally straightened up, shock clear in their eyes. It was only then when Jimin saw the dragon features. He had completely missed them in his concern for the person, the dragon. Horns that were a yellowish orange that sat on top of his head, slitted dragon eyes focused on his being. Hands with sharp talons on them, easily able to cut its prey with ease, and finally a long tail, it grew bigger when shifter, so it was quite thin, about the width of the dragon's thigh.
"You understand me?" The dragon seemed confused.
"Yes?" the child was completely unaware he was speaking in the guttural language of the dragons.
"How?" the dragon looked him up and down.
"Because I'm listening?" Jimin drew out his answer, not sure what else to add.
"I'm Jimin by the way" This might be his only chance to talk to a real dragon so Jimin was making the most of it.
"Ondem" the dragon replied.
"Hungry?" Jimin asked. The dragon's stomach must have heard their conversation, because it rumbled accordingly.
So when the dragon nodded, Jimin sat down beside the dragon and opened his packed lunch.
"My Dad is a butcher, so I usually have a lot of meat in my packed lunch, he can take home the left overs for the day since he owns the place" Jimin confessed.
What the unknowing child did not realise was that he was feeding a dragon that had been starved for days. So any food offered was welcomed with eager hands and pleading eyes.
When the food was passed, admittedly it was the piece of meat Jimin liked least, the dragon accepted it. However when their hands brushed the dragon stiffened, Jimin remained unaware to this, instead reaching for something in the lunch box for himself.
But that moment of clarity was enough for Ondem, the dragon suddenly knew why the child had rushed to his side, no pity, only compassion.
For the brief moment their skin had brushed Ondem had seen the truth of the boy, his future King.
