Anon and His Dragon Knight

>Adventuring is a dangerous job, that's why it's so profitable, but this is almost too much.
>You were hired out by an adventuring party to fill a "new vacancy" in the group. 
>That should've been your first warning.
>Here you were, crawling through muck and gore, attempting to ignore the stench, trying to sneak in behind a camp of gnolls.
>You were only chosen for this task because you were smaller than the rest of them.
>You even mentioned you had no skills in stealth what-so-ever, they sent you anyway.
>So now you hope your magic was good enough to make up for your lack of subtlety
>You pull yourself to your knees and look around.
>The moon lights up enough of the camp to show it looks about as bad as it smelled. 
>Several hyena like people are hunched over a dead caravaneer, tearing into the flesh and eating the viscera.
>At least their distracted, but you think that if you're caught that is most likely your fate. 
>You try to push you worries to the side, you were supposed to find the people they haven't killed and eaten yet.
>Crawling past the tents made of poorly tanned hide you look and listen for any people tied up or trapped in some other ways.
>You pause and think you hear some whimpering.
>Moving closer to the sound, you pass several tents before coming to a slightly larger tent.
>Being careful to be silent, you pull aside the flap and peer inside.
>You see two people chained together one male and one female.
>The male can't be older than 16 and the girl, who you assume is his sister can't be older than 9.
>Upon seeing you they start to say something before you shush them.
>They quiet down as you look at the chains and lock.
>Never being one for skulduggery and thievery, picking he lock was out of the question
>putting your finger to your lips  to calm them, you place your hand on the lock and whisper an incantation.
>It glows bright red and shatters, making a sound far too loud to your liking.
>the two prisoners shake off the chains as you begin to lead them out the back of the tent.
>It's at this moment that you notice the ever present sound of the gnolls eating is now silent. 
>You see your shadow growing as a lantern light comes closer.
>You feel the hair on the back of your neck stand up before you tell the two to run and duck the swing of an ax.
>Turning you see the scarred ,hyena like face of a gnoll snarling at you.
>Out of reflex you put you hand to his chest and blast him with a thunder-wave pushing him 10 ft back.
>This gives you time to draw your blade and get better prepared.
>chancing a look behind your shoulders you see the two escapees run into the treeline.
>You look back just in time to see the creature bite into your shoulder.

>The pain is incredible but you're coherent enough to drive you blade into his chest
>It goes limp as you pull the blade out and see your friends have finally decided to join the fray.
>The elf is no where to be seen, but arrows come from somewhere in the trees to strike at the gnolls
>While he was more suited for your task, he felt crawling through mud was beneath him.
>you glance over to see two gnolls harassing the muscle of your group, a dragonborn named Arina.
>Two gnolls would be no problem for her but the other one sneaking up behind her would.
>You use your magic to quickly speed up next to her and stab the one about to strike from behind.
>A look of surprise crosses her face, before a slight smile at the sight of the one impaled on your sword.
>The moment doesn't last long as she swings at another coming at you, lopping it's head off.
>That appears to be the last of the ones willing to fight as the rest begin to retreat into the woods.

>Now that the fighting is over , your adrenaline subsides and you wince as the pain in your shoulder comes back in full force.
>Arina sees you wince and rushes over nearly bowling you over.
>She grabs your shoulder far more gently than you'd expect from a 6 and half foot tall dragon person.
>Tearing away at your shirt you both just now see the damage in full
>It actually looks worse than you thought.
>It appears that an entire chunk was torn out of your arm leaving a gaping wound.
>Arina clicks her tongue and looks at your face with worry.
>"anon, what were you thinking, he could have killed you?"
>You've never heard her speak like this before.
>Even when the others got injured she would at least make joke or poke fun at their expense.
>She leans in close and begins inspecting your wound.
>It's is just now you realize this is the closest you've been to her.
>She has Dark scales, a brownish red coloring that goes to a softer shade near her neck and her... chest
>You work to pull you eyes up to see her face which is still concentrated on your wound.
>Her eyes in sharp contrast to the rest of her body are very bright and full of color.
>colored Green with gold flecks, you see her eyes close for a moment as she sighs and looks at your face.

>"Anon you'll need to wrap this up quickly, or it'll get infected."
>Still with that strange tone of voice.
>You smile as much as you can while wincing,"Arina don't worry, my magic can help fix this well and good."
>She lets go of your shoulder but doesn't budge,"Yes but using magic also tires you out, and it can't do everything. Besides those things were filthy, you need to learn how to clean a wound , come on."
>She begins to Pull/lead you back towards camp, before you hear a voice.
>"Aren't we forgetting the entire reason we came to this disgusting place."
>Oloven, resident prude, stands there with an displeased look on his face.
>"Not only did you injure yourself , but you also managed to lose the people we were looking for, aren't you just a hero."
>If your arm wasn't killing you ,you'd probably do something, but before you have the chance to retort Arina steps in.
>"Oloven, If you hadn't been to busy brushing you hair maybe you could've done the job we had planned for you to do, instead of sending anon in to get hurt."
>He looks down at his feet before looking up to say something snide.
>But before he can start ,you all hear a noise from the treeline ,and both Arina and Oloven draw their weapons and turn to look.

>From the woods you see the two people you saved come climbing out between some bushes.
>Both of your allies Put their weapons away and approach them.
>After Arina and Oloven give the two a once over they begin walking back towards you with them in tow.
>Arina walks back to you saying,"Let's go, You still need tending too and Prissy-pants over there needs a nap."
>Oloven gives an angry look at both you and Arina and the two children laughing along with you before huffing and walking ahead to the camp.
>Gathering up your weapons and some items left by the gnolls you make your way back towards the camp following Oloven.
>You had made camp only a couple hundred yards away from the gnolls.
>Coming into the clearing you see Oloven has already started a fire and gone to his tent.
>You sit down as Arina tends to the children.
>Looking across the fire you see her set a tent up for them , and explain they'll be taken back to Beoford tomorrow.
>You take a moment to think back on when you first met her.

>2 Weeks Earlier

>God this sucks
>This is not how you saw your adventuring career starting.
>Sitting in a tavern feeling sorry for yourself.
>Apparently no one wants someone kind of good at magic and kind of good at swordsmanship.
>So now you were stuck with clearing out rats and the like.
>Listening to the mediocre bard play some local tune,and nursing your 8th ale that you almost wish you hadn't spent your entire weeks pay on, you don't hear the doors to the building open.
>You feel a hand grab your chair and spin it around. 
>"Move, Your in my spot."
>Your senses are assaulted by a combination of bad breath and the poor looks of the man above you.
>You manage to slur out a "Whhatt?" before he tips you out of your chair.
>"I said you were in my spot, so move."
>He looks about as sober as you feel... so not very.
>A combination of your lack of inhibition and your self pity makes you say something, in hindsight, very stupid.
>"Mmmakke mme"
>He chuckles as you pull yourself up with the table, and raise your fists.
>You've barely gotten your balance when his fist collides with your nose making a horrible noise, obviously breaking it.
>Your eyes tear up and you grab your nose , your ears ringing you only a hear a muffled struggle.
>You feel a substantial amount of worry when you feel strong arms grab your shoulders and pull you up.

>You wipe your eyes and prepare yourself for a fist that never comes.
>After a few moments you open your eyes and see an odd sight.
>There's large female dragonborn holding two semi conscious men, one in each hand.
>And she's chiding them like some teacher.
>"So here's whats going to happen, you're going to apologize to this man, you're going to clean up this mess and you're going to leave, am I clear?"
>That seems to sober them up a bit,and they look upon her with a mix of fear and confusion.
>She clears her throat, a bit of smoke coming out of the corners of her mouth.
>"Do I need to repeat myself?"
>They both shake their heads no and begin fixing the mess they made.
>She coughs and both of them look at her, then you.
>Near simultaneously they say,"We're sorry," almost racing to say it first as to not be the source of this dragonborn's ire.
>Seemingly satisfied she turns to you with a click of her tongue and says," Now what'll we do with you."

>Coming back to your senses looking at the fire, it seems Arina has finished helping the two people you saved get settled and is now walking towards you.
>"Now let's get a better look at that shoulder." 
>She sits down next to you , looking at you expectantly.
>She waits a few moments before sighing and saying,"We can't clean the wound whit your shirt in the way."
>You blush and let out a ,"yeah ,right , makes sense," and slowly try and remove the shirt.
>It becomes rather difficult with your left shoulder as it is.
>She looks at with with a mix of pity and slight mirth, before she takes a claw and rips up the entire sleeve and pulls of your shirt.
>She inspects your body too closely for your liking 
>"Did you get hurt anywhere else."
>You take a moment to check and say,"No other injuries, thanks to you of course."
>You just realized what you said and contemplate suicide when you hear a soft, "Thanks," from Arina.
>You even think you see her blush as the scales around her eyes change shades.
>You didn't even know they could do that.
>You feel the wind move on your back but, even with the cool night breeze your embarrassment keeps you sufficiently hot.
>The moment ends when she quickly moves in close to your shoulder.
>She begins to inspect your wound as you find yourself trying not to embarrass yourself further.
>You've never had much luck with women so this is the closest you've been to a woman in this state of undress, and your mind is racing.
>You've never really thought about Arina this way before.
>Sure you knew she was a woman and you enjoyed her company but you've never really had a quiet moment like this.
>And now you see her back-lit by the fire, small scars from battles on her face and arms, her claws that could probably kill you at any moment holding your shoulder delicately, and her eyes looking at yours.
>As these thoughts roll through your head is appears she may have just asked you a question.
>She's looking at you expectantly and all you can muster up is a ,"huh, could you repeat that."
>She gives off a little laugh as she asks if you had any alcohol on you.
>Well of course you do and you tell her as much but don't see how alcohol plays into this.
>She asks where, and you say front pocket, in your flask.
>Even before you finish that statement her hand is digging in your pocket for your flask.
>If you weren't red before you sure are now.

>She pulls out your flask and opens it.
>"Drink," She gestures the open flask to you
>You grab it with your free hand and take a swig before handing it back.
>"Now how is that supposed to help me," You don't get to finish your statement is the rest is poured over your wound and you let out a rather unmanly yell.
>You give Arina an angry look, and she looks back apologetically.
>"I thought it might help the pain if it was surprise, you want me to tell you next time."
>You say,"Yes, of course I want to know, it didn't help if it was a surprise, I couldn't prepare."
>"Ok,I'll tell you" she takes a breath and grabs my other shoulder, and looks into my eyes, " This next part will hurt a lot, so prepare yourself."
>You nod your head, a bead of sweat coming down the side of your face.
>The moment of tension is broken as her free hand, on your right shoulder, moves to your cheek.
>You look into her eyes as she looks into yours, she then closes them and breathes fire over the wound.

>You wake up and see the sun has risen.
>Sitting up, a tinge of fear runs through you as you remember the events of last night.
>You must've fainted from the pain.
>You take a sparing glance at your left shoulder, fearing what you might see
>It's bandaged, quite expertly in fact, and you notice you can't even feel the pain.
>You stand and begin to move your left arm when you hear a gasp.
>Turning to look you see Arina drop her things she was obviously packing for today's journey.
>She runs over too you her mouth running faster than she was.
>"OhmygodsIdidn'tknowifyou'wakeupiwassoworriedI'msosorryIshould'veletyouuseyourmagicandIwasbeingstupid..."
>You put your hand on her shoulder, calming her down before she starts hyperventilating. 
>"It's fine, it's fine, I'm ok... thanks for bandaging me by the way."
>That seems to calm her down a bit, she pauses for a moment, and looks away, avoiding your eyes,"you're welcome."
>It's almost too quiet to hear her but you can tell she meant it.
>She blushes and as she is still looking away she tells you to start packing up.
>She then walks away leaving alone for the moment.

>You take a moment to check your inventory
>You have all your items , but your flask is missing.
>Arina must have it, so you make a mental note to ask her for it later.
>You stand and look around for your shirt, only to see the shredded remains of it at your feet.
>Well you know what your spending your reward money on.
>Getting packed up you see the two people you saved yesterday.
>The young girl is clinging to the teenage boy. And he has a rather grim look on his face. 
>Understandable for someone who was nearly eaten by gnolls
>You look over and see Oloven packing his bags, you always think he brings too much on theses trips but he claims he needs all of it.
>He sees your awake and says,"So sleeping beauty decide to grace us with his presence."
>You roll your eyes and he goes back to packing.

>It doesn't take long to pull down the tents and get up and moving.
>Typically Oloven leads you through the woods with his ranger skills, but having been on this path before you find yourself near the front, following just behind Arina
>You can't help but find yourself staring, the events of last night playing through your head.
>How careful she was even when the treatment hurt or how good her hand on your cheek felt.
>You feel a heat rise in your cheeks as you are back in the present still staring at Arina
>She's moving at a brisk pace her tail swaying side to side.
>You don't actually know much about dragonborn, only that they're  a rare sight and tails aren't a trait that is common among them even.
>You could say she's one of a kind
>You've been watching her tail and only just notice she is watching your face with a smile and a light blush tracing her eyes.
>You quickly look away trying to be nonchalant about it.
>Her head turns to the front , and no other incidents on the trip back to town.

>Getting back to town, you help the two kids find family, and report your findings to the merchant looking for his missing caravan.
>He's disappointed by it's destruction and the loss of his workers life, but he pays as per the contract to find out what happened.
>Your given a meager sum of 8 gold coins, not a lot in the grand scheme of things but enough for a couple days in the town.
>Both Oloven and Arina head separate ways to run some errands. The elf is going to set up your rooms in the nearest inn and Arina leaves without speaking to you, almost as if she's avoiding you.
>You don't dwell for too long, it's rather embarrassing to be standing around in only an undershirt, so you go looking to spend some money on new clothes.
>Luckily this town is not without it's competing tailors so you come out with a new fell set of clothes for only 2 gold pieces.
>You come out of the store, cleanly dressed and make your way to the agreed upon meeting place, The Hairy Halfling Tavern
>Named for it's owner, a very hairy halfling.
>You step inside and can instantly smell the ale and food that they sell here
>You take a seat at the bar and take in the atmosphere.
>There's a half-Elf tuning an instrument in the corner,and Two human workers that look to be relaxing at the end of a work day.
>You believe more people will be coming as the night comes around,as it's only about 5 hours past noon currently.
>You hear giggling from the corner behind you and you look to see and find Oloven regaling two barmaids whit his tale of heroics of how he defeated an entire clan of gnolls single-handedly.
>You ask for a drink and think about correcting him, but you decide to let him have his fun, gods know someone should be able to in this group.
>You grab the mug placed in front of you and look back to the room.
>It crosses your mind that you still haven't seen Arina since you got into town.
>You hear the minstrel begin to play as a few more people come in and join the two humans at their table
>You start to drink a bit more, thinking back to your missing flask. You really hope you get it back, it's the only piece of your family history you own, with your crest emblazoned upon it.

>After another hour and three drinks later ,you hear the door open and turn to see Arina finally return , holding a rather large chest.
>The wind coming in through the door happened to blow out a few candles and out of reflex you flick your wrist and they all come back on.
>And even in your buzzed state you realize the mistake you just made.
>Magic while not uncommon is usually not trusted, do to no small part the number of evil wizards and sorcerers that have threatened the land.
>So an action like this can range from social ostracization to even imprisonment in some communities.
>You look around and see most of the eye s in the building looking at you before a voice says,"Do another."
>You look back at Arina confused and she smiles and shrugs

>Several minutes later
>"ok, see this ring, someone hold it, now it's very real ,correct?"
>You have the entire bar enthralled as you preform mere cantrips for their entertainment.
>You also make a mental note to thank whoever said to pay you in ale.
>"Now watch this," everyone in the room gasps as the ring turns invisible before their eyes. 
>You have them pass the ring around to see that it is still there and they are looking in awe.
>You decide to get a bit more bold and say," who here can throw a knife."

>Good decision making skills is not one of the hallmarks of being an adventurer.
>This might be the worst decision you've ever made though
>But, you're too drunk to care.
>Putting your back against the wall you see several yards ahead of you one of the humans, equally inebriated, holding a handful of mismatched knives
>You've only actually puled this off once before and neither you or your friends were drunk at the time, and he was only maybe 5 feet away.
>Arina is next to you saying," Anon are you sure this is a good idea, what if you get hurt?"
>"Pshhh, I've done this a million times, you worry about me too much, besides you were having as much fun as the rest of us before."
>She looks at the ground then back to you,"Yes but you weren't in any danger then, I don't like seeing you get hurt."
>She almost seems desperate to get you to stop, but you're too drunk and wanting to impress her far outweighs the consequences.
>"You'll see it'll be fine," and with that you shoot her a wink and hold your hands in front of your chest.

>You nod at the man holding the knives and he readies his first throw.
>Arina gasps as it goes wide, landing a couple of inches next to your ear.
>You look at her and miss the second throw, landing just a hair underneath your elbow.
>You give Arina a reassuring nod, and see that even Oloven has stopped being too cool to watch and is staring from across the bar.
>Turning back to the human you say," Please try not to miss this time, I'm beginning to lose faith in your knife throwing skills."
>He takes a moment ,closes one eye, leans back and throws the knife straight at your heart. 

>You wince in reflex, awaiting a sharp pain , when you hear everyone including Arina gasp.
>Opening your eyes you look down and see a spectral hand, controlled by you has caught the knife by the blade between two fingers mere millimeters from your chest.
>The bar erupts with applause as you let out a ragged breath you didn't even know you were holding.
>You bow and several people offer to but you drinks, but you feel rather sloshed already and don't want to kill yourself through alcohol poisoning.
>After a couple minutes of congratulating you , people seem to move back to their seats , and you go to sit by Arina, who hasn't spoken to you since the knife throw.

>Arina makes a token glance to regard you ,but turns and continues to focus on her empty mug
>You scoot your stool a bit closer to her 
>"Hey, what's wrong, the beer's not that bad is it?"
>She smiles for a quick second before returning to her neutral expression.
>"I'm fine, it's just...," she glances around the room and sighs," I don't like seeing the people I care about get hurt."
>You blush a bit at that statement," But, I'm fine, see," you gesture to your chest, "I caught the knife."
>"I saw it in your face, you almost didn't," She's turned to face you at this point,"I...I, um , hmm."
>You've never seen her like this, even in these past few days she's never been at a loss for words.
>"It's ok Arina, I know it was stupid , and I shouldn't have, you're right, you're always right."
>She smiles a bit at your words and you swell a bit with pride, but that pride is soon replaced when you feel a clawed hand over yours.
>You look and see, thinking you may be imagining it, and there it is. Her hand set quite gently on top of yours, her thumb lightly scraping the bar top.

>You look back to her face still not quite believing it, and she has turned to look away from you a light blush tracing her draconic features.
>You don't know what to do next, and neither of you make a move to pull away your hands.
>You look back to her face thinking to yourself, what should you do?
>You've never really though about perusing her romantically, Your line of work is not very condusive to those types of relationships.
>On the other hand you've never ,not been attracted to her, and you do enjoy the time spent with her.
>You study her body, even through the tough armor and scales , shes a beautiful woman that you've come to admire.
>Would that even work though? Does she feel the same way or does this mean something else to her?
>Your pulled out of your musings as she seems to gather herself and move her hand to her lap.
>She is still facing away from you when she say's,"Anon, I think I should go to bed, and get some sleep, I'll have something to show  you tomorrow, goodnight."
>And before you can reply she's up and moving across the room, only stopping to speak to Oloven and get her room key.
>Your still left there, dumbfounded, watching the stairs, seeing if she'll come back down.
>You wait an hour,whittling away time with the music , until finally your day starts to catch up with you and you yawn.
>You decide you will deal with her tomorrow, and see what's going on, but for now sleep.

>Moving next to Oloven , who's still talking with the two women from before, you ask for your key.
>Without turning to regard you he says,"Arina took it, room 3, you're bunking with her."
>"Wait why," He was supposed to get rooms for all three of you.
>"Because there were only two, and I'm not sleeping in the same room as either of you so you're stuck with her."
>You look to the stairs and almost consider sleeping in the stables.
>You don't what would happen ,but you don't think whatever is going on between you and Arina will be improved by sleeping in the same room as her tonight.
>Though comfort of body beats out comfort of mind and you make your way to the stairs to the room.
>The hallway is well lit enough to see and you count the rooms till you reach three and see it is slightly ajar, with some light coming out of it.
>You move closer and hear a voice, Arina's you assume , and decide to move in close to listen.
>"Stupid, stupid stupid, why did I do that, now he'll think me a perverted dragon girl, oh and now the gift won't help what was I thinking?"
>You almost make a move for the door handle to stop her self deprecatory tirade, but your mind draws a blank on what you would say.
>But it seems she makes the decision for you when you see the light go out and hear the soft thump of her body hitting the bed.
>You wait a couple of moments before opening the door fully.
>the room is currently only lit by the lanterns in the hall, your shadow falls over her form on the single bed in the room.
>You whisper," Arina, you awake?"
>You get no reply from the shape on the bed, so you close the door behind you and set up a sleeping bag on the floor.
>You close your eyes and despite today's events and you own troubled thoughts sleep comes easily.

>The next morning comes with little trouble, you slept well ,and woke up comfortably.
>The first thing you notice is, this is not where you went to sleep ,you're in a bed, wrapped in thick blankets.
>Looking around, you think you may be in the same room you went to sleep in, your eyes pass over your sleeping bag and confirms your suspicions
>