Changjo- sleeping beauty

You and Changjo were inseparable; you ran and played all day long as children. That was, until your mother died and you were forced to move away with your father. Your father is a high ranking officer in the kings’ army.

Changjo is the son of the king.

You were forbidden to see each other again, by the king’s decree. The elderly man, dubbing your family bad luck to the royal family, sent you and your father far away into the mountains.

You became depressed, you were alone in the wilderness, forced to make home with the wildest of beasts that made even the bravest of knights shudder in fear. It was not long after that your father killed himself from embarrassment.

Why would he leave his only daughter to fend for herself in the darkness of the forest that shadowed the mountains?

Pushing through, you make your camp at the foot of a mountain, praying no large predators would come your way in the frozen nights of the winter. Shivering, you crawl into a nearby cave, huddling next to a small fire for warmth.

Shivering, you look around slowly, nibbling your lips. The sounds of the cave echo, making them sound alarmingly close, the shadows up the walls seemed taller than humanly possible. Whimpering, you push yourself deep between the rocks, hoping nothing will find you here.

There is a soft growl from the inside of the cave.

Whimpering lowly, you hug your knees to your chest tightly trying to hide better.

You can hear the soft pad of the animal walking closer to you. You close your eyes tightly, trembling in fear. The animal stops. There is silence for what seems like hours. The silence slowly starts to ring in your ears, muffling the sounds of the animal as it starts to move again.

Seconds later, something huffs above your head, sniffing, a low growl rumbling from its chest. Biting your lip to hide your squeak, you slowly open your eyes to see what it is above you.

You jump, holding back a yelp of surprise, trying to push away from the animal hovering above you. Above you is the largest dragon anyone in your kingdom has ever seen, and is currently terrorizing the kingdom.

You stare up at it in shocked silence. The dragon is huge, weighing at least 2 tons. He is black with silverfish belly scales that look more like armored plates. His eyes are a deep icy blue. He stares at you as you look up at him. He stands proud, his wings spread wide as if he is ready to fly.

He huffs again before turning and lifting from the cave ledge. Gasping in surprise, you hurry father into the cave, hoping to find a place to hide before he comes back and decides to eat you.

 

An hour later, the dragon lands back on the ledge. You watch him from the back of the cave from behind a large bolder. You watch as his large wings fold gracefully against his back, a large bloody farm animal hanging limply in his jaws. He tosses it up in the air a bit before catching it again.

You are caught up in how graceful he is that you don’t notice that he is staring right at you.

You squeak when you come back to reality, hiding more behind the bolder.

He huffs, going to eat his meal, leaving you alone.

He doesn’t see you as a threat.

You cuddle behind the rock for what seems like hours, but you know it has only been a few minutes. The rocks are cold against your back. Jagged fragments push into your back and legs but you refuse to move to get more comfortable, you want as little attention on you by the dragon as possible.

That means no moving.

You wince when your stomach growls painfully loud.

 

Minutes later, there is a huff above you. You freeze, gulping. Slowly, you look up to face the dragon. He just stares at you before bending behind the bolder. You whimper in fear. When his head comes back into view you realize he has something in his jaw. It’s a leg of the farm animal he had brought back. He drops it at your feet before slowly walking back deeper into the cave, lying down, and his tail coiling around him.

You wait until you are sure he is asleep before slowly crawling out of your space, slowly picking up the animal leg he left you. When he doesn’t stir from your movement, you kneel away from him, closer to the entrance of the cave just in case you have to run, slowly starting a fire to cook the meat.

 

When you start eating, you pay no attention to the large figure lying in the corner. He lays unmoving, watching you.

You look up, half way through eating, noticing his large blue eyes open, and focused on you. You swallow, slowly offering him the rest of the cooked meat; he huffs and turns his head away from you and your fire.

You breathe out slowly, your fear slowly subsiding.

Over the next several years, you stay with the dragon. Your bond grows as time passes; he takes you out, letting you ride his back, he shows you the forest and you learn to live by it. Soon you begin to forage clothing from cloth he steals from the kingdom and blankets from the animals he kills.

Each night he brings back a meal, whether it is from the kingdom or the forest, you don’t know.

Each night you sit there and cook your meal while he munches on his portion in his back corner. 

After the light fades from the sky, you huddle by your fire.

And after the light fades from your fire, you huddle up to him for warmth. He lets you lay on his legs as his tail coils around you protectively.

You learn his ways, his strengths and weaknesses, the meanings behind his sounds and what each huff, grunt, whine and growl means. You learn about him.

He becomes your protector, keeping you from harm of other predatory animals surrounding the cave, as well as the hunting humans who so often pass by without a glance at the cave.

 

Years pass, things change. You grow up, but you only grow closer to the dragon.

You hear news that the king had died years before, and that Changjo has taken over the throne.

You hear that he is a grand king and is serving the people well. This makes you happy. It reminds you of the times you spent together as children.

 

On the day of your 18^th birthday, you beg the dragon to let you go into town, just once. He stares at you for many minutes before huffing at you. Beaming you run to him, wrapping your dainty arms around his massive neck.

You have grown, developed over the years.

You look almost nothing like you did as a child. Instead you are the spitting image of your mother. You have long raven black hair that hangs past your hips. It sways slowly as you walk. It stays perfectly strait and silky smooth.

One item you kept from your human life was your mothers brush. You wash and brush your hair daily in a nearby stream.

You have grown tall for your age, your arms and legs long and graceful. Your waist has stayed thin, given your hard work and little food, though you are not malnourished.

Your eyes are all that differ from your mother; they are all you received from your father in looks.

Your eyes are the color of the sky on a cloudless day. They shine like the waters of the ocean surrounding the kingdom.

 

 

Sighing, you look through your clothing that you have made, looking for something you may wear to town.

Finally, you come across a dress, it is old and dirty. Smiling, you wash it in the creek, letting it dry before going to the dragon. He lets you climb onto his back. He takes you close to town, making you walk the rest of the way.

He cannot be seen!

You slide into town, mixing in with the other people of the village as the go about their everyday lives. You had forgotten what it was like to see so many people. It makes you feel crowded. Freaking out, you try to get away from them all.

The more you push and shove, the closer you get to the castle. Finally, you push from the crowd. Looking around, you realize everyone is standing back. Frowning, you look up. Standing before you is a tall, well-built man with the emblem of the kingdom etched into his clothing. You recognize his eyes immediately.

Changjo.

There are many murmurs around as you and the king stare at each other.

“how disrespectful!” one elderly woman murmurs, “who is she?” whispers another.

Falling to the ground immediately, you bow at his feet, hoping that he doesn’t recognize you. He shifts to face you more, as if to accept your apology.

Those eyes… he stares at the girl at his feet. Where have I seen those eyes? He wonders.

“Please forgive me, sire” you whisper, your voice small and scratchy from disuse. He opens his mouth, looking at you still.

“_____?” he asks slowly, unsure. You freeze.

“No, sire” your voice trembles. “You must have me confused with someone else.” You state before standing slowly. He stares at you, his eyes light with hope.

“It’s her!” he whispers. Turning, you run as fast as you can, pushing hurriedly through the crowds, people slowly making a path for her to move.

“No!” Changjo yells out starting after her. “Stop her!” he cries desperately, reaching for you. You were just out of his reach.

“Stop her?” a knight asks, confused. She has done nothing. “is she under arrest sire?” he shakes his head wildly.

“No! It’s her ____, it’s her!” He says desperately, looking at the man beside him, his eyes showing his desperation and his hope.

He had been searching restlessly for you from the moment his father died. “it’s her.” He whispers, watching after you helplessly as his men chase after you, forgetting their swords.

Why would they need them?

The knight stares at his king, recognizing his need. He has been his mentor, and his friend since his father had passed. He had stood with him as he sent various teams out to search the forests, but never knew the reason why.

What hold do you have on the king maiden? He wonders.

“BRING HER BACK SAFELY” he yells to his men, their shouts fading into the back ground as you move further away from them.

You run into the forest, flinging yourself at the dragon desperately.

“Fly!” you cry to him. Not waiting for you to jump onto his back, he grabs you into his powerful claws and flies away.

 

The knights on the ground only see him flying away with you, and you, struggling to get comfortable.

“MISS-“they yell after you, running into the forest.

Only one runs back to the kingdom to tell your Changjo the news.

As he flies, the dragon forgets to pay closer attention in his desperation to get you away. He flies through a tree, your head knocking hard against the trunk of the tree, falling limp in his claws, blood dripping down the side of your face and to the ground.

 

Once home in the cave, he sets you down before landing himself behind you. When you lay limp against then ground he starts whining, nudging your back gently. You just slump to your stomach. He whines gingerly picking you up with his teeth by your dress, ripping your dress, taking you back to his spot in the back of the cave.

He lays you across his chest gently, his tail coiling around your body protectively.

 

Upon the time Changjo hears the news of the girls situation, he orders a full search and rescue, and serves an order for the dragons head.

“Get her back, any means necessary!” he yells, ordering for his own armor to go out with his troops. His troops yell after him excitedly.

The dragons head and the girl mean promotion and money.

Changjo means to head the endeavor.

 

Weeks fly by.

Nothing.

The cave proves too hard for Changjo’s men to find, the brush and trees growing too tall for others to notice easily a large hole in the rock.

Meanwhile, the dragon stays curled around you, hearing the men outside of the cave. He looks up, growling lowly at their approach, only relaxing when they move away from the entrance. Your eyes still haven’t fluttered, nor has your body moved, but you are breathing. He whines softly, nudging you softly from time to time.

He refuses to move, refuses to eat.

As the days pass, he slowly gets weaker, helplessly watching as you turn paler.

Days turn to weeks, weeks to a month.

One day, a month later, there is a rustle at the front of the cave.

“A cave, Here mi ’lord!” a man cries, cutting through the brush that disguises the hole.

Minutes later, ten men gather at the entrance, slowly making their way in, Changjo in front.

He wants to save you himself.

He soon comes to face the large dragon, who just stares at him, his icy eyes boring into his soul. He raises his sword as to kill him right there, but the dragon simply looks away from him unconcerned with him and his petty sword. He looks down into his body, nuzzling lovingly. The dragon’s tail slips some, allowing Changjo see a small slim figure laying across the dragon’s body.

Changjo steps forward, the dragon growls menacingly, his tail tightening around the small figure. He can see the possessiveness and worry in the dragon’s eyes.

“Drop your swords.” He tells his men. They all stare at him like he is crazy.

“I said, DROP YOUR SWORDS” He growls, the dragon snarls at him for his sudden outburst, but stops when he hears movement, his eyes wandering down again. This time he lets Changjo come closer, slowly.

“_____?” he whispers slowly, watching the dragon closely as he tries to get close enough to see the face of the small figure. He pauses a foot away, the dragons tail sliding away to reveal you to him and the others.

There are soft gasps.

An angel… they murmur to themselves. Your hair lays across your face, high lighting how pale you have become. Your head lay to the side; your chest rising and falling shallowly, your lips parted slightly, eyes closed peacefully.

Changjo falls to his knees, his face falling at how limp you are your skins paleness past that of the sick. “_____” he whispers weakly, touching your face gently. You don’t move. He stifles a cry.

Why does life have to be so unfair? He cries to himself. I’ve only just found you!

The dragon looks at him weakly, him weak himself, dying of starvation. Changjo peers at the dragon, nodding in thanks. He leans forward, brushing her hair from her face, her skin clammy to the touch. He smiles sadly.

“I never thought this is how we would meet again…” he whispers softly to her, so only she would be able to hear.

Softly searching her face, all hope drains from his eyes as you lie unmoving. His eyes cloud with tears, touching your cheek softly.

“I’ve always loved you…” he whispers, leaning down, gently pressing his lips to yours. As he pulls away, a tear drops against your skin, sliding down your cheek.

He stands to move away, his head bowed.

His men stay silent, watching their leader break.

“C-Changjo…”

He freezes, afraid to turn around. Is it his mind playing tricks on him?

Slowly, he turns his eyes wide and hopeful. You lie there, hand weakly out stretched to him, a weak, desperate look clouding your normally cheerful features. He falls to his knees, taking your hand in his.

“_____,”He breaths out thankfully. You smile weakly at him.

“Neh~” you whisper to him. He smiles, taking you gingerly into his arms, the dragon letting him do so.

“Hold on, were going home~” he whispers, you fall limp in his arms, breathing out in relief.

“What of my dragon?” you whisper. He pauses, looking back at the dragon.

“He is yours, my angel~” he says softly. “He will live.” He states, looking pointedly at his men before walking out.

A year later, you stand in the back of the castle, petting your beloved dragon as you gingerly the swell of your stomach.

Slowly, you smile, closing your eyes as you feel two strong arms gently wrap around you from behind.

“How do you feel, angel?” Changjo asks, whispering in your ear. You grin widely laughing softly.

“pregnant.”