After he finished screaming, Jiyong had to laugh. The whole situation was absolutely ridiculous. He should have just killed the damn thing when he first saw him and none of this would be an issue. “Fine. You’re hungry,” he nodded once. “Well so am I. What do you expect me to do about it?” he asked, leaning fully on his lance.

                Minnie shrugged his wings. “I don’t know.”

                “So?” he gestured with his left hand, waving towards the general location of the forest. “Go find something then.”

                “But… where are you going to be?” the dragon asked, kneading the ground in front of him like some large cat.

                “Walking. That way,” he pointed the direction he’d been heading originally.

                “How am supposed to find you again, Scrawny?” he grumbled, stretching his wings carefully.

                “I’m sure you’ll think of something,” Jiyong shook his head, waving at the dragon in a dismissive gesture before he started walking, peering through the woods in an attempt to see into the plains before the mountain.

                “Fine then!” he grumbled, giving his wings an experimental flap, sending dust and debris pelting the hunter. “Don’t blame me if you go hungry!” Flapping hard, Minnie launched himself into the air, jumping to get over the tops of the trees which bowed away from his departure spot, bouncing in an ungainly manner overhead.

                Disturbed by the amount of wind and the awkward sound of the dragon flying, Jiyong actually paused, shielding his eyes from the worst of the debris, and watched skeptically as Runt passed by overhead. “You’re really bad at that, you know?” he called, watching the creature dip left and right at seemingly random intervals, apparently having a difficult time remaining airborne.

                “Shut up, Scrawny!” the dragon retorted in a huffy gasp. “I’m… fine!” he snorted, sluggishly gaining altitude before he leveled out and let himself glide down the mountainside, considerably more graceful when he wasn’t actually flapping.

                “Stupid dragon. I pointed away from the direction I was going,” he groaned, resolutely continuing his path. Unconcerned with his finally nonexistent companion, Jiyong relished the silence that followed and took a deep breath, keeping his eyes peeled for any wild plants or mushrooms he could eat since he had nothing of any use for hunting. His bigger concern was actually a decided lack of water. His supply of pretty much everything had been on Spot who was… never mind. “Forget about Spot. You can just get a new Spot later. Forward!” he instructed himself, marching on.

                A small patch of edible mushrooms, two handfuls of sour berries, and a bit of tasteless lichen next to a puddle of standing, tepid, and unpleasant water later, Jiyong made the tree line and let his shoulders slump. He’d gone over the seemingly endless plains on horseback. It would take him ages to make it on foot. There was no sign of his pursuit either, or the dumb dragon. Maybe he was actually free of the damn creature. Good and good riddance.

                He’d only known him for a day and his life was already infinitely more complicated when the irritating Runt was around. With a grimace, he shielded his eyes from the sun, already making its way to late afternoon with the greatest light of day fading, and hunched his shoulders. It was going to be a long time until nightfall and he was seriously going to have to find something more substantial than… plants for food.

                Jiyong was just about to start walking again when a surprised cluster of birds erupted from the other side of the plains, scattering in every direction before they reformed in the air and banked to his left. “What the hell?” he asked pulling his sword out just in case as he started moving in the direction the swarm had come from. It didn’t take him long to see something suspiciously familiar bobbing over the horizon. “Aish,” he sighed, sheathing his sword when he realized it was the dragon… running on foot in a very uncoordinated manner… carrying something in his mouth.

                Getting closer, Minnie tried to call out, “’Aahee!”

                The sound of what was probably supposed to be his name was horribly distorted because of whatever mangled piece of something was in his maw but he perked up even more when he realized why the dragon was moving at such a funny pace. He was walking on three of his limbs with the fourth carefully pinching the reins of a horse between his fingers. “Spot!” he yelled with his jaw dropping open in surprise.

                Whooping in hardly contained joy, Jiyong hurried to bridge the distance between them, noticing the way his mount was practically beside himself at being in such close proximity to a dragon that was, now that he could see better, currently carrying what looked a lot like a horse’s haunch in his jaws. Spot was covered in sweat with the whites of his eyes clearly visible. It was a miracle he hadn’t died of fright yet.

                “’ook wha I oww,” Minnie stopped proudly, his belly slightly distended while he waited for the hunter to get his riding beast.

                “Don’t talk with your mouth full,” Jiyong chastised immediately as he pointed his finger at the dragon, briefly wondering if he’d been even more bewitched by the sorceress than he originally thought. He dropped the lance before he tried to approach Spot, holding his hands up in a soothing gesture as the horse tugged wearily against his harness, most of the fight gone from him. “Easy boy,” he urged, moving close enough to grab the reins from the dragon and lead the horse away, patting the drenched neck lightly.

                Minnie dropped the haunch from his jaws and worked his bottom mandible, wagging it from side to side before yawning once with an audible pop. He sighed in relief and shook himself, “I said, look what I found. Your… riding creature. Horse thing,” he pointed, watching the two walking around nearby.

                “You’ve scared him half to death,” Jiyong frowned, walking Spot out in circles as he waited for the obvious terror to fade little by little.

                “Well he shouldn’t have run so much,” Minnie responded quickly.

                “Don’t listen to him, Spot,” Jiyong spoke in a quiet tone, combing out the shock of bangs lying damply on his forehead. “You did just fine.” Taking a breath, he frowned thoughtfully. “Is that what took you so long?” he grumbled, checking over his supplies to see what he had on hand. Fortunately, the water skin was still attached and most of his gear, though he’d lost his secondary sword and it looked like Spot had rolled on his travel pack a couple times.

                “No. I took a nap,” the dragon responded simply.

                “A nap?!” his companion asked incredulously.

                “A… horse is a lot of food,” Minnie defended himself, picking up the remaining haunch and showing it to him. “I couldn’t finish it either. See?”

                “Ugh,” Jiyong grimaced at the dirty leftovers.

                “You should probably eat something, Scrawny. Here,” he urged, tossing the haunch towards the hunter and laughing when he jumped away, disgusted. “It’s just horse.”

                “I don’t eat horse,” Jiyong told him simply, leading Spot away from the shredded leg.

                “Hm. Pity,” Minnie shrugged.

                Pushing away his disgust, Jiyong finally asked, “Where’d you find him?” He took out the horse brush and started to work over the slick hide, trying to ease some of the tension still lingering in his body as he trembled occasionally.

                “Over there,” the dragon pointed the way he’d come running from. “Looks like most of the horses sort of clustered together after we took care of their riders.”

                Jiyong opened his mouth and nodded in silent understanding. Quietly, he paused what he was doing to open his travel sack and remove a couple strips of dried beef. The chewy meat gave him something to occupy his time and help ease the worst pangs of his still relatively empty stomach while he tried to figure out their next step. Any remaining horses from those vagrants would probably have more clues on them, but he didn’t want to push Spot anymore and things were quite confusing already.

                Obviously, with the dragon following him, things were going to remain complicated too. He wasn’t part of the dragonriders and couldn’t pass off as one even if he tried, so would automatically be suspect. It wasn’t exactly like he could say he caught one either and play that off. He was a dragon slayer after all. Provided he could ditch the annoying creature for any length of time, he could probably seek help from the King or maybe the High Priest in the temple to see if they could break the curse. Or if nothing else, they might know of someone who could.

                Then again, he was really curious why that group of men had been after him bearing the emblem of the King. A souvenir by chance? What were the chances of that being the case though? He still didn’t have enough to go on so his only recourse remained to speak with his father or his uncle and go from there. Or maybe check the horses first and then see what his family had to say.

                “It’s going to be getting dark soon,” Minnie interrupted his thoughts.

                Jiyong rolled his eyes and looked over his shoulder at the creature as he followed him on foot. “Your point being?”

                “Well, nightfall is when…” he trailed off, looking down at his palm meaningfully.

                “When…” Jiyong gestured with his hand for the dragon to continue.

                “It’s when the magic changes,” he rushed, skipping once to catch up the distance he’d lost, spooking Spot who whickered in slight panic and shied away.

                “Hey!” he scowled at the dragon, holding tight to Spot’s reins while he pulled back and tried to sooth him as quickly as possible. “It’s alright. It’s alright.” Having succeeded, he started forward once more and spoke loud enough for the dragon to hear him. “So the magic changes. Big deal. What are you so afraid of?” he asked, though even he couldn’t ignore the fact that not knowing what was supposed to happen was actually rather frightening.

                Minnie didn’t answer. Magic was one of those tricky things that one didn’t know exactly how it was going to be until it happened. The only certain thing was that the closer the sun sank to the horizon, the more nervous the dragon became. Gradually, he edged closer to the hunter and the horse, obviously making the creature nervous but it seemed he didn’t particularly care.

                “Would you stop following so close, Runt,” Jiyong groaned, glaring at the dragon as he pointed towards a cluster of rocks that would be able to provide a measure of cover for them. “We can bunk down there for the night.”

                “Are you sure?” Minnie asked, pacing back and forth behind the hunter as he watched the human inspect the area, tethering Spot to a rock nearby while he took off the majority of his gear, including the saddle and packs.

                “Positive, Runt,” he grumbled, kicking stones out of the way while he cleared a space for himself to sleep in. When he was satisfied with it, he meandered over to Spot again and retrieved his sleeping fur, throwing it out on the ground and dusting it off. “Stop pacing, dragon,” he sighed with a shake of his head when he heard the creature still shifting around, wings rustling in nervous anticipation while the sun continued to set.

                “I can’t…” he whined, sounding rather pitiful.

                “Yes you can,” Jiyong told him firmly, coming out from his little alcove to glare at the creature whose gaze was riveted on the setting sun, the bottom part of the bright orb just disappearing behind the horizon as the sky around it turned orange, pink, purple, and various shades of blue.

                Minnie finally managed to sit still, hind haunches planted firmly on the ground with his wings tucked as close to his body as possible and his tail wrapped tightly in front of his front feet. His head sank to mirror the disappearing sun as a whimper escaped from him, drawing the hunter’s attention.

                “Calm down, Runt. It’s going to be fine,” Jiyong promised with a false sense of bravery. His heart started to race and he felt a little bit different as he watched the sun sink completely beyond their sight. He waited one breath… then two… “See? Just ffff-,” he started to say before his entire world shifted.

                All of a sudden, he could see things much sharper as his vision pulled away from the ground with a sound of ripping cloth and something else pushed its way into his view. His shoulder blades itched profusely and they also felt profoundly heavy at the same time as his alignment shifted forward so that he fell onto all four claws. What…? He found himself suddenly counterbalanced when a long thin tail sprouted behind him and he turned to stare at the dark blue appendage as it swayed from side to side, partially blocked by the unfurled wings that flared pitifully on either side of him.

                “Yah!” he roared, clacking his jaws shut immediately with both clawed hands coming to smack himself in the muzzle as he pitched forward precariously, off balance at the sudden shift. He was distracted from his own situation by a terrified scream nearby and his vision swung to the left where Runt had been a moment before, only to stare in blatant wonder at what looked like a little human boy.

                “Ah!” Minnie screamed some more, staring in horror at his stubby, harmless fingers. He felt his face, mushing the soft skin and pinching it between his fingers before he stopped and turned around in a circle, looking for something behind him that wasn’t there anymore. “My wings! My tail! My horns!” he panicked as he patted his head, feeling the soft shock of black hair that fluffed out insultingly. Flailing in place, he stared down at the rest of his new form. “I’m so squishy!” he wailed in complaint, staring at the thing extending from between his legs in horror. “Ah! What is this!?” he shrieked, pointing at it with both hands, standing completely in the growing dark before he simply sat down and sobbed.

                “You’re just a kid,” Jiyong blinked, recovering from his shock slightly quicker when faced with a bawling child who couldn’t have been more than six or maybe seven years of age.

                “Mother!” Minnie wailed, curling up into as small a figure as he could manage while he pulled his knees close in a desperate attempt to not feel so exposed.

                “Eh…” he rumbled, trying to wrap his head around everything. As warned, nightfall brought about some kind of change. He was a dragon and the dragon was a human. Part of him knew that it was the witch’s doing and likely had something to do with the marks on their hands and that bit of turning into light and essentially tying them together. Really, he just wanted to freak out and panic himself, but that wasn’t going to do either of them any good. Besides, the runt was doing that enough for both of them.

                Okay then. So he himself was a big dragon. Much bigger than the runt, but… if Runt was only a child, that would explain it. Blinking at the surprisingly increased vision, Jiyong noticed that Spot had fled again, not that it was particularly surprising. He’d been more than frightened by Runt who was at least half his size in his normal form. “Easy, Runt,” he urged, taking a careful, unbalanced step towards the little boy, trying to get used to actually moving. It wasn’t half as easy as it looked…

                “That’s not my name!” Minnie continued to bawl, the sounds falling into more hiccupping sobs and gasping breaths.

                “Calm down, dragon,” Jiyong soothed, lowering his head to be a little bit closer to the boy.

                “I don’t want to be a human!” he gasped, having a hard time getting enough air to breathe.

                “You’re going to make yourself sick if you don’t stop crying,” Jiyong told him in what he hoped was a whisper. His wings felt awkward any which way he tried to fold them up so he just let them hang loose on either side of his body as he scrunched down low onto his belly and carefully moved one hand behind the boy, blocking off the rest of the world beyond him.

                “I want to be a dragon,” he whined pitifully, finally wiping at his crying eyes with both hands roughly. “Why am I leaking so much?!”

                “I know you do,” Jiyong murmured, very gently scooping the boy into his hand to pick him up at his eye level as he ignored the second question. “And I would much rather be a human right now. I assure you,” he promised with every evidence of sincerity. Still sniffing softly, Minnie managed a wobbly crawl to the curled thumb and clung to it for all he was worth, holding onto the smooth talon. “So,” he forced a laugh that sounded all wrong to his ears. “I guess we know what the moon means,” he shrugged, jostling Runt in his palm so that he shrieked. “Sorry!” he apologized, sinking back to the ground so he could rest his hand on the flat surface, using it to keep himself steady. Why was he so bad with kids? He’d always been bad with them though… awkward little things.

                “H-how long do you think this is going to last?” Minnie asked quietly, staring up at the huge eyes in front of him.

                “You’re the magic expert. You tell me, dragon,” Jiyong nodded once, feeling very disoriented at the motion. Oh that was going to take some getting used to.

                Minnie relaxed enough to look at the mark on his hand, the tattoo immensely easy to see now that he was pale and squishy. “All night…” he pouted, looking about ready to cry again.

                “Hey, hey, hey,” he murmured to catch the boy’s attention. “It’s not all bad.”

                “I’m a human! How much worse can it be?” he asked angrily.

                “Hey. I’m a human too, thank you,” Jiyong grumbled, snorting in irritation.

                “Are you all this blind?” he asked, rubbing at his eyes with both hands. “And I can’t smell anything,” he complained, sniffing wetly one time and then coughing when he got more than intended, hacking a slimy glob of snot onto the dragon’s palm.

                “Ew…” they both grimaced at the same time.

                “I don’t know, Runt,” Jiyong admitted quietly, shifting over to where the travel bags were so he could set the boy down.

                “Stop calling me that!” Minnie shrieked, sending himself into a coughing fit as his voice broke.

                “Okay! Okay!” the dragon responded, gesturing with his other hand for the boy to calm down. “Besides Minnie, what do you want to be called?” he asked, tilting his hand so the child could slide off.

                Crying quietly, Minnie rubbed his eyes and murmured through trembling lips, “I don’t know. No one ever asked before…”

                “Well I’m asking you now,” he murmured, pointing a clawed finger towards the bags. “Go to that pack over there. You’ll find some spare clothes you can wear in the meantime, though they might be a bit big.” He never thought that would be something he’d have to worry about. While he’d never admit to being scrawny, at ten and seven years of age, he was a bit on the small side considering he’d never filled out like most of his peers.

                “Why do I need clothes?” the child asked, doing as he was told anyway.

                “Because as a human, you can’t just go around like you are. Trust me. It’s really not that comfortable either,” he assured the boy. Runt mumbled a response and begrudgingly pulled out a shirt and pants, trying to clamber into them with mixed success. On the side, Jiyong tried to instruct him as best as possible. “No. Your head goes through that opening. Careful! Don’t fall. There are two legs for a reason. That goes in the pants.”

                By the time the boy was done dressing, he felt like smacking himself in the forehead but somehow managed to refrain from doing so. “Like this?” he asked, holding his arms out and plucking at the clothes that were rather… large on him.

                “Um… sure,” Jiyong nodded in agreement, glad he was at least clothed now. “So, did you think of a name?”

                “I can have any name, right?” he asked just to make sure.

                “Whatever name you want.”

                “Hum… Got it!” he grinned, the expression surprisingly cute with his already thick eyebrows and chubby cheeks. Jiyong waited for him to continue but he just looked at him. “Aren’t you going to ask me?” he inquired with an excited wave.

                Now Jiyong did roll his large eyes. “Okay. What name did you choose?”

                “Changmin the best son of Zi Chong!” he rattled off so quickly that the whole title took a moment to sink in.

                “Eh?”

                “Yeah! Changmin the best son of Zi Chong. That’s my name,” he grinned with a high pitched giggle, clearly delighted.

                “You might want to shorten it a bit,” Jiyong hedged, trying to find a nice way of saying no.

                “Why?”

                “Because it’s too long. People aren’t going to say that in normal conversation,” he added with a shake. When he seemed confused still, he gestured with his hand and tried to find a better way to explain. “Well, it’s like how my name is Jiyong. Well my full is name is technically Lord Kwon Jiyong but no one ever calls me by my full name and title. It’s not needed. So we pick just one part of the name to call ourselves. Get it?”

                “So I should be…”

                “Whichever part of the name you want to be,” Jiyong explained with a shrug. “And I will call you that so long as you call me by my name. Jiyong. Got it?”

                The boy nodded his head in mute agreement with big eyes as he was obviously debating really hard about which part he wanted to make his own. “I got it! I got it!” he jumped up and down, grinning brightly. “I wanna be Changmin!”

                “Changmin.”

                “Yeah!” he slapped his hands together, startling himself with the sound while he stared at his palms in wonder. “Whoa!” He tried it again with similar success and laughed giddily.

                “That’s called clapping, R… Changmin,” he explained wryly.

                “Clapping. Right,” and he proceeded to ‘clap’ several more times until Jiyong was about ready to say something. “Jiyong?” he surprised the dragon by asking, peering up at him with bright brown eyes, though it was clear by the way he was looking through the darkness that he was having a hard time seeing Jiyong in his entirety.

                “Yes?” he asked, lowering his head so that Changmin could see him better in the soft light of the crescent moon. How fitting…

                “Can I… sleep with you?” he asked softly, wriggling in place as if he was embarrassed to ask.

                Well, it wasn’t exactly as if he could tell the kid no after all. Sure he was annoying and he rather wished they hadn’t met to begin with but… they seemed to be pretty stuck with each other. “Come on,” he beckoned, making no effort to move any closer to the rocks that he had originally intended to sleep next to. One, he wouldn’t fit anymore and two, walking in this form was a wee bit of a challenge. Taking a moment, he hunkered down low to the ground and cupped his hand near his chest to provide a resting spot for Changmin.

                “Thank you. Ji,” Changmin murmured sleepily, nuzzling right up to his scaly hide as he squirmed around, trying to find the most comfortable position.

                “Sure kid,” Jiyong laughed to himself. And here he’d thought his name couldn’t get much shorter. He was wrong. Changmin was a cute little brat, if annoying. Of course, with the most recent development of theirs, he was definitely going to have to rethink his original plans of going to see his father. Or his uncle…

(a/n: So Changmin is having an interesting time of getting used to a human body. I wonder how Jiyong would be with his dragon's form if he didn't have to coddle the kid right now. ;) hehe)