The Black & White Saga

Chapter 19 - Journey

“……… and when the giant dragon was about to burn the castle to the ground with his flames, the little princess in her leather armor stood in front of him, and said, ‘Sir Dragon, it is time to put a stop to your tantrum.  Good dragons do not destroy other people’s homes because their favorite blanket was stolen from them!’

‘Arrrrgh!  How dare you puny humans steal my pure gold blanket?!’ the purple Dragon roared.  ‘You even made a big mess in my cave while I was not at home!’

‘We will find the thief for you,’ the little princess promised. ‘We will not let them get away with this.  In return, please stop destroying our kingdom.’

The Dragon look around him and realized that the town behind him was filled with broken things and burning things.  The forest behind the town also had a lot of smoke coming out of it.    The castle in front of him was covered in burn marks, and the plants in front of the castle were still burning.  He rubbed his head in embarrassment, and said, ‘sorry, I didn’t mean to.’ 

He flew into the air and flapped his wings.  With a big gush of wind, he extinguished all the flames nearby.

The little princess put aside her shield and sword, and went to give the Dragon a hug.  ‘It’s okay.  I would be mad too if someone stole my favorite blanket,’ she comforted him.  ‘I’m glad no one got hurt.’

When the king and the queen came back to the castle with the knights after putting out all the fires in the town, they saw the little princess having a picnic with the purple Dragon on the castle lawn.

‘King Father, Queen Mother, the Dragon will not destroy our town anymore,’ the little princess told her parents. ‘He was just mad that someone stole his gold blanket.  I told him we will help him find the thief.’

The King and Queen praised the princess for helping out her new friend.  She was as brave, righteous, and kind as a true knight.  Then they gathered all the knights and went to find the thief who stole the Dragon’s gold blanket.  They searched house by house in the entire town.  Finally, they found the golden blanket in a little red house on top of the hill.

Inside the little red house lived a little boy and his grandmother.  The grandmother was sick in bed with a cold, and the golden blanket was covering her.  The little boy was playing by himself in the house.

‘Did you take the purple Dragon’s golden blanket from his cave?’ the King asked the boy.

Ashamed, the little boy answered, ‘yes, but I was going to return it your majesty.’

‘Why did you take the Dragon’s golden blanket?’ the little princess asked the boy.

‘Because my grandmother is sick.  Someone said that the dragon’s gold blanket was magical, and could save people, so I borrowed the blanket to help my grandmother.  I will return it after my grandmother gets better,’ the little boy said.

‘Did you ask the Dragon before you took his blanket?’ asked the princess.

‘No,’ the little boy said with his head lowered.

‘If you take someone’s things without asking, that is stealing,’ the princess said righteously.  ‘If you steal, you are a thief.  And thieves have to go to jail.  If you go to jail, you will never see your grandmother again.’

‘No!’ wailed the little boy.  ‘I’m sorry!’

‘You have to apologize to the Dragon,’ the princess told him kindly.

The little boy followed the princess to find the dragon.

‘I am sorry Mister Dragon,’ he apologized with a bow.

The Dragon saw that the little boy sincerely felt bad for what he did and knew that he was wrong.  ‘I forgive you,’ the Dragon told the boy.  ‘Since your grandmother is sick, I will let you borrow the blanket until she gets better.  But don’t take things from someone else’s house without asking ever again!’

The little boy promised to never steal again and to return the blanket after his grandmother got better.

The King and Queen also talked to the little boy to make sure he understood that stealing was wrong.  Although he had good intentions to take care of his grandmother, he also did a bad deed.  They punished him with a week of community service.  They also sent a healer to see the boy’s grandmother, so she could be treated for her cold.

The King, the Queen, the Dragon, the princess, the little boy, the knights, and all the townspeople worked together to rebuild their town.  When everything was fixed, they threw a big feast with fireworks to celebrate their new friendship, and they all lived happily ever after.

The end.”

Lunette closed the picture book, and looked over at the two baby pandas.  Gaia and Skye were fast asleep in their cradle.  She gently tucked them in, and whispered, “Goodnight little ones.”

******

As the sun peaked over the horizon, a medium-sized horse drawn carriage rambled down the road at a leisurely pace.  A pair of grey majestic prairie horses led the carriage on the road through the large grassland.  At the front of the carriage, an adult male panda wearing a bamboo hat could be seen holding on to the reins.  Besides him was a sleepy elf leaning on the frame of the carriage with a straw in his mouth.  As the carriage curtains flutter in the breeze, several more figures could be seen inside the carriage.

Sommer yawns and pushes aside the curtain blocking the entrance of the carriage.

“Babe, can you pass me the water bottle?” Sommer asked Freya with a wink.

Freya reached under her seat, and took out a flask from a canvas bag.  She tossed it over to Sommer with a flick of her wrist.  Sommer lifted his hand and caught the flask.  They were taking Lunette, Savanna, and Trey to the Double Towers City where they would leave for their mission after meeting with Steve.  Sommer, Freya, and Sam were going to Double Towers City to restock on some supplies for their household, so they conveniently brought them along.  Lunette leaned back against the carriage wall with a lackadaisical look.  Sitting next to her, Freya took out some snacks from the sliding cabinet besides her seat and put it on the foldable table in the center of the carriage.  Savana laid down across the seats on the opposite side of the table, with Nimbus curled up on her stomach.  Trey sat in the smaller seat at the back of the carriage.  

“Hubby, here are some pastries for you and Sam,” Freya said after she lifted the carriage curtain.  She passed Sommer a tray filled with both sweet and savory scones.

“Yum!” Sommer said as he popped a petite scone in his mouth, after accepting the tray.

“Thanks, Freya,” Sam said kindly.

Inside the carriage, Lunette grabbed napkins for everyone, while Freya grabbed cups, and Trey made tea.  They left Savana alone, since she was still sleeping.  Knowing her, she probably stayed up all night in a last minute attempt to finish one of her experiments.  Trey made a strong black tea, and filled everyone’s cup.  As Lunette was adding milk and sugar to her cup of tea, Trey put her favorite chocolate chip scone in front of her before grabbing a cheddar scone for himself.

“Sssss….. what’s that delicious smell,” Nimbus asked drowsily, while wiping his eyes with his tail.  He had just woken up to the delectable scent of scones and tea.  He jumped onto the table and shook his tail in excitement.

Freya poured him some tea and grabbed a scone for him.

“Oh yes, blueberry scone here I come!  Thanks, Freya!” Nimbus said gleefully.  He took a big bite from the corner of the blueberry scone.  His fangs crunched on the sugar crystals on top of the pastry as the fluffy buttery treat melted into his mouth.  The crust of the scone was a bit crispy, while the inside was extremely soft.  When he bit into the dried blueberries, the sweet and tangy fruit burst on to his tongue, and the fragrant taste of blueberries blended together with the soft buttery pastry.  Nimbus sighed in satisfaction, while he used his tail to add milk and sugar to his cup of tea.  When he put down the spoon he used to stir his cup, he saw a pale, slim hand reach out and take it from him.

“Needs more sugar,” Savana commented after taking a sip.

Nimbus looks at her with big teary eyes in shock.  “How dare you take this lord’s tea!” he then said angrily as his eyes narrowed into long slits.

“Thanks for the tea,” she said with a smirk as she put a new cup in front of him.  

Nimbus gave her a light slap on her hand with his tail before turning his back on her, and diving into his blueberry scone again.

When the horse carriage got to Double Towers City, Lunette, Trey, and Savana got off in front of Steve’s Magic Device shop.  They greeted Tina, Steve’s shopkeeper, and headed toward the workshop in the back courtyard.