The next day, much to Jinki’s confusion, they went back to Sooman’s house, despite the fact that they weren’t supposed to go back for training for at least two more days. Taemin put Jinki on the ground (which was also unusual) and walked up to Sooman.

“So what are we doing?” Taemin asked.

“We go out. Look for some good creatures, and hope you take a liking to one or two.” Sooman answered.

“Okay, but I’ve already done that. It didn’t work.”

Sooman had gathered what he was picking up, and stood up straight, handing some of the materials to Taemin. “That’s why we’re going somewhere else.”

Jinki was starting to understand what they were doing, but he didn’t know why they would go around taming animals when Sooman said Taemin already mastered that skill.

“Okay, so where are we going?” Taemin asked. Jinki went up to him and propped his feet up on Taemin’s leg, wanting to know what was going on. Taemin patted Jinki’s head and walked away, following Sooman. Jinki was annoyed at that, and chased after his companion.

“You’re going to show me where you live.”

“What? Why would I do that?”

“Because you will have a better connection to whatever creatures live around your home. You’re more familiar with them, and more than likely they’ve seen you walking around, and are therefore more comfortable with you.” Jinki tried getting Taemin’s attention again, but Taemin only walked away, leaving him more frustrated than before.

“Ugh, fine. But you could have told me that beforehand, I could have stayed home.”

“Yes, but I don’t know where you live. Besides, you’re not afraid of some walking, are you?” Sooman had finished doing whatever he was doing, and set off down the road. “Lead the way, Lee Taemin!”

Taemin sighed and began walking back towards his house. Jinki ran in front of him, Taemin finally noticing he was there, and picking him up. Jinki squealed, and tried his best to ask what was going on. Taemin usually understood him pretty well, but he must have been distracted because he didn’t respond, he only pet Jinki’s head. Jinki gave up trying to figure out what was going on, and instead settled into Taemin’s arms, content with at least finally being held.

It was almost a two hour’s walk to Taemin’s house, and by the time they got there, Jinki had fallen asleep in his arms. Sooman looked at the house with a skeptical eye.

“This is where you live?”

“Yes, have a problem with it?”

Sooman turned to the woods surrounding the mountain, surveying the area. “It doesn’t suit you. It looks like some fruitcake house a young couple would buy.”

Taemin let out a short laugh. “Probably because it belonged to my parents.”

“Oh? And here I thought the stork dropped you off on some battlefield. Seems like you were born fighting,” Sooman teased. He started walking towards the mountain, Taemin following close behind.

Taemin laughed again. “Yeah, yeah, whatever. I suppose you’re not too far from the truth.”

The two walked towards the mountain, Sooman asking about what kind of animals and other creatures lived in the area. Taemin responded, and they kept on like that until reaching a good area to start looking for animals to tame.

Days passed, and the two had found nothing. On the fifth day since they had set out to look for a new companion, Sooman met Taemin at his house, sporting a new pelt in place of his old cloak. Taemin recognized the fur immediately.

“Is that Jeonsa’s pelt?” Taemin asked, reaching up to feel the soft, clean fur.

Sooman sadly smiled. “Yes. You did such a good job, I decided to use the pelt as armor instead.”

“You could do that? I thought magical properties like that disappeared once the creature dies.”

“Usually, yes. But I know a spell to bring things like that back. The ritual is complicated, and usually takes over a month to complete, which is why I haven’t had this until now.”

Taemin smiled. “I think he would have appreciated this.”

Sooman smiled back. “I know he would have.” Taking a deep breath, he turned towards the mountain, getting ready to head out. “Are you ready to go again?”

“Yeah, I guess.” The two set off. Taemin was starting to lose confidence. Sooman said finding a companion could take months, but he was nervous going this long without even a decent connection between any of the animals they came across. He had better luck with the bear from his first time trying the spell.

Over the past few days they had slowly made their way around the mountain. Starting at the (rather sparse) forest in the front, making their way around to the marshes in the back. Today they were finally at the lake, a small, marshy-like area covered in overgrown weeds and surrounded by small caves and animal dens.

Jinki wandered around while Taemin and Sooman looked for some animals. It was strangely quiet. Normally a place like this would be bustling with insects and other animals that lived near or on the lake. But there wasn’t so much as a firefly out.

Jinki went to the edge of the lake to drink some water, but was startled by the sound of growling nearby. Jinki looked up anxiously, twitching his eyes from side to side to find the source. Jinki tried to slowly back out, to find Taemin, but a spout of fire came at him from his side, and he broke into a run.

“Jinki?” Taemin called out. He looked around, realizing he hadn’t seen his companion in a while. Suddenly some bushes near the lake caught on fire, and Taemin looked up in time to see Jinki running at him. Sooman picked up his spear. Taemin kneeled down and scooped up Jinki in a tight embrace, calming him down.

“What happened, are you okay?” Jinki, of course, didn’t answer, but was shaking uncontrollably. Taemin straightened up and backed up a bit, getting closer to Sooman.

“What’s going on?” Taemin whispered. Sooman grinned wildly, excited.

“I’ve heard of dragons living on marshes like this-”

“Dragons?!”

“- but I never thought I’d get to meet one,” Sooman continued, ignoring Taemin. “I’ll let you tackle this, Taemin.”

“Excuse me? I am not having a dragon-”

Taemin was interrupted by a red dragon coming out of the weeds, spewing fire as it charged at him. Taemin dodged to the side, putting Jinki down next to Sooman before getting back up and facing the dragon. Luckily it was small, but dragons were not only volatile, but endangered, so Taemin didn’t want to kill it.

The dragon lunged forward, and Taemin pulled his sword, performing a quick spell to block the attack. The two danced around each other for awhile, the dragon attacking and Taemin dodging. He’d only dealt with a dragon once before (since they were so rare), and he had help then, so he didn’t really know what to do.

Taemin started to figure out how the dragon attacked- it’s patterns, techniques, etc -and started gaining a bit of an upper hand. But right when he thought he knew what he was doing, the dragon lunged at him, biting his side and throwing him to the ground. Sooman and Jinki were both alarmed by this, trying to rush to Taemin’s aid. The dragon was wrapped around Taemin like a snake would wrap around it’s prey; both his hold and jaw tightening, making it harder to breathe. Sooman threw a rock at it, and performed a couple spells to distract it enough to let Taemin go. When the dragon finally let go and switched his attention to Sooman, Taemin got up on his knees, Jinki rushing to his side in a panic. Taemin was bleeding profusely from the bite, but stood up regardless, picking his sword up and facing the dragon again. The dragon noticed this, and once again set his eyes on Taemin.

Right as the dragon lunged, another creature collided with it in midair, preventing it from reaching Taemin. All looked on in surprise as another dragon wrestled with the first, biting, strangling, and blowing fire. The other dragon won, making threatening noises and gestures as the first dragon sulked off.

Taemin stared at the beast in wonder before it suddenly flew off towards the water. After a moment’s hesitation, Taemin ran after it, barreling through weeds until he reached the edge of the water. In the middle of the lake was the dragon, staring directly at him. Taemin grinned.

“Now that,” Taemin whispered to himself, “is an amazing creature.” Jinki and Sooman had caught up by now, and were watching nervously. Taemin moved, trying to get closer, but the dragon flew off, spinning around Taemin before going out of view. Taemin smiled again, cautiously looking around for the creature.

Taemin straightened up and began walking away from the lake, still smiling. Sooman and Jinki followed in confusion. “Uh, Taemin?” Sooman asked. “What are you doing?”

Taemin simply put his finger to his lips, telling Sooman to stay quiet. Taemin stopped and looked over at a big tree near the water. Taemin cautiously walked up to it, and there, wrapped around one of the branches, was the dragon, watching Taemin carefully.

Taemin stopped in front of the dragon, and this time, he didn’t move. Taemin reached his hand out. “You’re pretty fast, huh?” Taemin inched closer, keeping his voice down. “You saved me back there… you’re pretty amazing.” Taemin’s hand was only about an inch away from the dragon now. Neither moved. “I wonder if you would mind if I tried something...”

Taemin performed the spell, pressing his hand against the creature’s head and closing his eyes. Something like a bolt of electricity shot through his body, broken images flashing through his mind. Taemin could feel his heart racing from the adrenaline, and he knew his new friend could feel it too. After a moment the dragon unwrapped itself from the branch and circled Taemin, stopping right as he reached his eyes. The two stared at each other in awe for a moment, and Taemin smiled.

“It worked!” Taemin said in victory to Sooman. Sooman ran up and hugged Taemin, lifting him off the ground for a moment.

“Congratulations,” Sooman said, “You just got yourself a dragon for a companion. Come on, let’s go make a collar.” Sooman headed back towards the main road, and Taemin followed, giggling and staring at his new companion. The dragon wrapped himself around Taemin’s shoulders, resting there contently.

“Hmm… I think Minho is a good name for you.” Taemin said. The dragon raised his head, interested. “What do you think, Sooman?”

“I think it’s a good name. Very strong, just like the thing itself.”

Taemin smiled. “It’s settled then. Your name is Minho!” Minho seemed to like the name, nuzzling against Taemin’s cheek before resting again. Taemin continued to speak to Minho and Sooman, making light conversation all the way back to Sooman’s house.

Jinki lagged behind, finally realizing what was going on.

Minho was a black dragon, about six feet long, with gold eyes and red highlights throughout his body. Sooman told them he was small for a dragon, but rather big for the specific species of dragon he was. Taemin thought it was fascinating. Minho didn’t really seem to care.

Taemin made a fire-red collar for Minho, fitting it with two stones just like Jinki had. Minho flew around lazily, checking out his new surroundings. Taemin sat on the ground with Sooman, talking. Jinki hopped up, propping his feet up on Taemin’s leg. Taemin smiled at his companion and picked him up, setting him in his lap. Jinki layed there, but didn’t cuddle up to Taemin like he usually would. Taemin understood why and scooped him into his arms, hugging Jinki tightly.

“I’m sorry.” Taemin said, burying his face in Jinki’s soft fur. “I know I should have told you what we were doing, I just didn’t want you to be upset. I’m not replacing you Jinki, I love you. I just don’t want you to get hurt like that again. Do you forgive me?”

Jinki didn’t move for a moment, but then nuzzled back against Taemin, letting him know he was forgiven. Taemin let out a small, relieved laugh, hugging Jinki even tighter. Jinki could tell Taemin was close to tears.

Minho went up to the two, wanting to know why Taemin seemed upset. Sooman held Minho back, telling him to leave them alone for awhile. Minho growled and flew off annoyed, going back to playing with Sooman’s companion.

Life with two companions instead of just one was definitely more interesting. Taemin loved Minho, and found having a dragon around was cool and fascinating. He was both calm and aggressive at the same time, usually not caring about what was going on around him, but getting violent when either Taemin was threatened, or Jinki did something he didn’t like. Jinki had become more territorial too, not liking when Minho got too cozy with Taemin or when Minho would behave badly. He tried putting Minho in his place, but it was difficult considering Jinki was just a rabbit and Minho was a dragon.

Taemin, however, was oblivious to all of this. He gave both of his companions equal attention, and never saw either of them misbehaving or acting poorly. Sooman noticed it and tried warning Taemin, but Taemin merely shrugged it off.

After spending some time with his new companion, Taemin decided to start taking up quests again. Minho was more difficult to train than Jinki, but after working with Sooman for a while Taemin felt confident that the three were able to go into battle together. Taemin went into town and picked up a quest of medium difficulty. He would probably be able to handle it himself, but unexpected things could happen, and besides it was the first time the three would go out in an attempt to fight as a cohesive unit.

There was a rise in strange creatures recently. Average, predictable creatures had been acting outside the norm, suddenly forming armies and alliances, using strange magic, and banding with previous enemies in order to fight for some unknown goal. Attacks on human settlements have risen exponentially, consequently making the number of quests rise. Many Travellers and Fighters like Taemin have been killed and seriously injured trying to fulfill these quests, which have been getting increasingly more difficult. Even Sooman and Gyeongshik have begun taking up quests again, despite both of them having established jobs.

Taemin was happy to be returning to questing, wanting to help ease the situation, despite feeling just as anxious as the rest, wanting to know what was going on and what was happening. The quest Taemin was currently taking involved disbanding a group of rogue elves who were nesting outside the city limits, several attacking citizens when they dared to walk close to their camp. Elves were normally peaceful (with the exception of a few castaway tribes), but it was unheard of for many different types of elves to come together in the manner that these ones were. Taemin pondered what they may be plotting, but dismissed those thoughts as the three drew close to the camp, their presence not yet detected. Taemin used the hand signals Sooman had taught him to tell Minho and Jinki what he wanted them to do. The two understood and the three advanced.

Soon all the elves in the camp knew that they were under attack, but it didn’t matter. Taemin was prepared. Jinki ran circles around the entire camp, completely surrounding it with his confusion magic. Taemin and Minho were unaffected however, and the two surged forward, attacking the nearest elves. Taemin could tell immediately that some of the elves were magic while others were not, so he directed Jinki to take care of the non-magic ones while he and Minho disarmed and killed the group in front of them. Minho circled Taemin, burning arrows and protecting him from anyone who wasn’t directly in front of him. Jinki had already successfully dispatched the four who were not magic, and tried to help Taemin, but there was nothing he could do.

Taemin blocked and dodged, with the aid of magic, ing forward and cutting down all the elves who came close to him. Minho did the same, brilliantly moving in sync with Taemin as the two fought, almost as if they were dancing. When they were done and the last rogue elf was killed, Taemin sheathed his sword and looked around in wonder. He didn’t have a single scratch on him, thanks to Minho.

Taemin giggled and cheered, hugging Minho and Jinki. “That was incredible!” Minho let out a celebratory puff of fire and flew around Taemin excitedly. Taemin did a cute little dance, taking Jinki in his arms and dancing with him, still laughing. “I think that was one of the best fights I’ve ever had. No one is a match for the three of us!”

Taemin continued to celebrate, but over his shoulder Jinki locked eyes with Minho, the two sharing mutual contempt for each other. Minho thought he was better than Jinki, and Jinki wanted to prove him wrong. He knew he was better for Taemin. Taemin didn’t need some arrogant dragon like Minho.

Weeks passed and the group kept taking up more quests. Despite Jinki’s best effort, Taemin loved having Minho in battle, finding it useful to have someone who can physically protect and attack, not just with magic. But despite Minho’s best efforts, Taemin still used Jinki as frequently as he could, loving and fawning over the pathetic little rabbit. Whenever Taemin wasn’t looking the two would fight, trying to establish who was better.

After one battle in particular, when Minho potentially saved Taemin’s life from a stray orc who was about to club him, the two couldn’t hide their fighting any more. While Taemin was celebrating the victory, the second they got home, Jinki Minho and stood in front of Taemin defensively. Taemin was his companion, and he wouldn’t let some stupid dragon take that away from him. Minho growled and prepared to kill the dumb bunny, feeling the same way.

Taemin came out of his room to see the two confronting each other and for a moment didn’t know what to do. Through Minho’s collar he could feel the dragon’s intention to kill Jinki, and panicked, frozen to the spot.

Minho lunged at Jinki, Taemin doing the same. A burst of magic sent the two flying in opposite directions. Taemin stood up.

Taemin’s shoulder was bleeding from a bite meant for Jinki, who was shaking in Taemin’s arms. Minho and Taemin were still, staring at each other. Minho immediately regretted what he did, seeing Taemin’s cold glare and feeling what Taemin was thinking.

Taemin took a step forward, Minho cowering away. Taemin walked to Minho, saying in a low and threatening voice, “I will not have you hurt my companion.” Taemin reached up and ripped Minho’s collar off, Minho immediately feeling the loss of his companion. “Leave. Now.”

Minho hesitated, not wanting to leave, unsure of how he could make things right. Taemin glared and took another threatening step towards Minho, yelling, “Get out!” In a fit of rage Minho flew towards the door, breaking it open and flying out of sight.

Taemin sighed, clutching Minho’s now broken collar in one hand, and holding Jinki tightly in his arms. He took a deep breath and walked to his room, comforting Jinki and doing his best to hide his own emotions from his companion.

Sooman sat across from Taemin, watching Jinki run around with Chen happily. Taemin sighed, still holding Minho’s broken collar.

“Sometimes these things happen.” Sooman said, trying to comfort Taemin as much as he could. “Jinki seems to be very possessive of you. You’ll just have to find someone-”

“No,” Taemin said, cutting Sooman off. “No more companions. It obviously won’t work. I won’t do that to Jinki again. I’ll be fine.”

“Are you sure? The type of things you do are very dangerous, and you know how I feel about that.”

Taemin smiled, although Sooman wasn’t at all convinced by it. “Yeah, I’m sure. Jinki and I will be fine. I think we’ve both gotten a lot better. I can handle it, don’t worry.”

Taemin was forced to take easier quests, things that the two could handle alone. He worked with Gyeongshik and Sooman on more difficult ones. Taemin took a lot more hits since Jinki wasn’t able to physically protect him.

Taemin was clearly upset about Minho leaving, although he did his best to hide it from Jinki. When he thought Jinki was asleep he would take out Minho’s collar and hold it for a long time. Jinki felt guilty about not giving Minho more of a chance, but he didn’t know what to do to fix it. Taemin wasn’t planning on getting more companions, but Jinki wanted him to, knowing Taemin would be more happy if he did.

About a week after Minho left, the two were in the town gathering some supplies when a man approached Taemin about a quest. Jinki recognized the man, and knew Taemin went to him often for quests. The man sounded desperate, saying things like “no one else is qualified to do this,” “it has to be you,” and other strange things. Taemin accepted the quest and left with a bow, following the directions on the paper he was given to where this quest was. Jinki hopped up on Taemin’s shoulder, trying to read what the paper said. Jinki squealed his concern, seeing how dangerous a task this would be. Taemin put the paper down and smiled, patting Jinki’s head.

“Usually I’d ask Sooman or Gyeongshik hyung to help me, but they’re both busy today. Don’t worry though, I’ve done things like this before, I know what I’m doing.” Taemin kept walking, and Jinki knew he wouldn’t back out of this no matter what happened.

Deep in the mountains was a group of orcs, trolls, goblins, elves, sprites and other misfits. The townspeople were worried that they were amassing an army, so a scout was sent to document their behavior and convince the castle that something needed to be done. The king, however, refused to help, so it fell to quest-goers to take care of the issue. So far, everyone who’s got involved (including the scout) has been killed. The scout did note before dying that the camp was mostly empty at noon, which would be an optimal time to attack. If the encampment could be destroyed, Taemin explained, then they would be forced to leave and find camp elsewhere. The army could be picked off while they scrambled for a new location. Taemin’s plan was to burn any supplies they might have and destroy any buildings or walls erected.

The two approached the camp and Jinki immediately felt scared. The camp wasn’t as empty as he would have hoped, and as far as he could tell everyone there was a high magic user. Jinki was useless.

Taemin lifted Jinki up and carefully set him down on the ground. Jinki looked up at him in confusion, but Taemin merely smiled and kissed Jinki’s head before standing up. “You won’t be able to help me here. I’ll take care of this as quickly as I can. You head back home. I don’t want you getting hurt.”

Jinki tried to protest, but Taemin obviously wasn’t going to change his mind. He didn’t budge until Jinki started walking away, back in the direction of home. Once he was out of sight, he turned and watched as Taemin snuck around the outside of the camp’s walls, until he disappeared from Jinki’s sight. Jinki turned and ran in the direction of their home. He knew what he had to do.

The marsh in the back of the mountain looked the same as before, but this time more insects and creatures were out, buzzing around like they usually did. Jinki sniffed the ground until he picked up a familiar scent, following it to a small part of a lake where a dragon buzzed above the water.

Minho felt the presence of another animal and snapped his head up, ready for a fight. Seeing Jinki however, Minho just blew smoke and flew away in a huff. Jinki followed.

Jinki cut Minho off and stared him down, not afraid of or threatened by this creature any longer. Minho was hurt by Taemin casting him off, and didn’t want to return. Jinki walked up to Minho, bowing his head. Taemin was in danger, and Minho was the only one who could help. Jinki was ready to let Minho back, he didn’t care about competing with him any more.

Minho was about to leave, but Jinki seemed serious about Taemin being in trouble. It must have been bad for Jinki to come to him like this, and apologize so readily. Minho flew up to Jinki, accepting his apology and following Jinki as he ran back to the mountain where Taemin was fulfilling his quest.

When the two arrived at the camp, half of it was on fire, and for a moment Jinki thought Taemin had actually been successful. But that thought was short-lived when they approached the entrance, Jinki realizing that more creatures must have returned while Taemin was fighting, some of them not magic users. Taemin was cornered against a wall, surrounded by dozens of enemies. Taemin was in bad shape, and looked like he was about to give in.

Without a second thought Minho swooped in, blocking Taemin from an onslaught of weapons. Minho spouted fire at them and Jinki ran around the group, creating a huge funnel of dust and smoke that would blind and temporarily disable all within, regardless of whether or not they used magic.

Taemin used the opportunity to get away so that he was no longer cornered. He looked up and stared in wonder at Minho. It took him a moment, but he soon realized that Jinki was the one who brought him. Taemin fell to his knees and hugged Jinki, laughing, but also close to crying. He stood up again and patted Minho’s head, smiling at him and asking, “will you forgive me? I really want you back.”

In response Minho flew around Taemin, stopping to nuzzle into his cheek. Taemin laughed happily and hugged Minho. The smoke began to dissipate and Taemin drew his sword, grinning.

“Let’s do this, shall we?” Minho and Jinki stood listening attentively, waiting for their orders. “I don’t care if this whole mountain burns down. We destroy everything and everyone here. Jinki, separate the non-magic users from the rest. I’ll deal with the magic users, Minho you help Jink until they’re all gone. Then go back to me. Let’s take care of this as quickly as possible, okay?”

The two agreed and the three went off, charging at the creatures trying to attack them.

That night Taemin laid down in bed, cuddling with Jinki. Minho was already asleep, taking up almost the entire bed. But it wasn’t uncomfortable, seeing as how he wrapped himself around Taemin. Taemin kissed Jinki and held him tight, thanking him for bringing Minho back before falling asleep.

__________________________________________________________________________________

Hi all! Em again ^.^

I know it's been a while, I'm so sorry about that. But the semster just ended, and I'm already working on chapter 5. I'm gonna update as much as I can before next semester.

The working title for this was "Don't you know I hate dragons?" I thought it would be funny since this chapter is mostly in Jinki's perspective. And he really does hate dragons. But don't worry, he loves Minho <3

Jonghyun and Key will be introduced soon, it won't be very exciting, but we're almost to the action I promise.

So tell me what you thought of the chapter! Did you love it, hate it, thought it was meh, I want to know everything! And if you have any questions, send them my way and I'll answer them.

Thank you so much for reading my , I love you all sooooo much ^.^ Let's have some fun with this, alright? I promise it's gonna get good soon.

Have a wonderful, SHINee filled day, I love you all

~Em