A difficult way to practice dragon healing. (Scorn, Brand)

[Brand Curador]

Time and Date:: January 29th - Early morning

Weather:: Foggy, snow everywhere

Previous Threads?:: The Terror of Terrors



CURRENT IC SEASON - DEVASTATING WINTER

The previous evening would have been incredibly messy and exhausting. Despite their efforts, no one has been able to stop this living storm that took the shape of a small dragon. Destructive, hyperactive, everything was concentrated into this creature.
But no one was mad. No one did yell at him but once, only because everyone was very tired and annoyed. 
Scratches, bites, there were lots of these on many furnitures. Food has been spread everywhere, and the whole night has been spent to clean everything. Scorn really was the devil within a small being.



Brand was sleeping in his bed, holding a notebook between his hands, a lang hanging to the side, snorring like hell. Wishing to be successful in his current project, as known as "helping this insane dragon to recover from yesterday's wounds", the human read everything he had noted so far, again and again, untill he fell asleep, the candle next to his bed extinguishing itself over time.



The Sun rose again, in this foggy day. Once again, snow was there, and maybe there was even more than yesterday. This early, there was not a lot of people being awake, but how about dragons ? Some might be awake already...

[Scorn]

"Human... Human... HUMAN!" Cried the little Monsterous nightmare, perched precariously on the edge of the bed. The dragon took a moment to gnaw at the boys boot. "Are you dead, human?" The nightmare, while gnawing the boys boot, noticed the blanket had an opening on the end. Nudging his snout under it, he found that there was an entirely new world beneath this thing called a blanket. Shuffling forward, he was surprised when he bumped into something. It appeared to be a human hand. Sniffing it, he nudged it gently, before a panic took over him, "Human, don't be dead. Wake, human, wake up. Please don't be dead."

In his haste at trying to reassure himself the boy was alive, he gnawed on the boys hand a bit, quite by accident, before pulling back sharply. Thats when he saw it; a light at the end of the tunnel; or rather blanket. He followed it and found that he was now at the boys shoulder. He looked at the boy, blinking a few times before nudging up against his face in hopes the boy would magically wake up from his supposed death. "Human?" Whimpered the young dragon, before cuddling up against the boys shoulder, letting out sad, pitiful croons.

[Brand Curador]

What a strange dream. A very, very weird one. Brand was lost in the middle of the Rainbow Meadow, where grass was multicolor and shiny with little sparkles.
A dream ? No, it was most about a nightmare. Who would like this kind of scene in his mind ? Brand ran away as fast as he could, only to feel in a dark, deep hole.

Reaching the depths of this place, there was no noise at all firstly. The human sat down, looking around him, before hearing strange whimpers, spooky ones. Later on, his feet tickled a bit, unpleasantly. Brand jumped and kicked into a wall, staying immobile in the real world. Then it was his hand, that got slightly painful. The apprentice moved his head to the side, while he was calling for help in his nightmare.

Things calmed down, hopefully, before the noises became louder. A sort of hand pressed against his shoulder, pinning him to the ground, strongly. And Brand's imagination did the rest.

'Your being will disappear and be vanished for any world..!'

Awaken by that creepy, cavernous voice, Brand opened his eyes and breathed heavily, looking around with panic. He rose his hands, noticing small marks of fangs, then the dragon snuggling on his shoulder.

"... Thor..!"

The viking grumbled and rubbed his face with his hand, slowly waking up.

"Shouldn't you be sleeping too ?.. Yeah, you're a young one, I forgot."

Brand blinked many times before fully getting out of his nightmare. What a funny situation. Getting freed from a nightmare by a Monstrous Nightmare.

"So, yeah... What do you want..? Hungry ? Do you want food..?"

The human had no idea if the dragon could get a single word. Maybe he should try to train it, after all, at least for the very basics.

[Scorn]

The young dragon watched the boy as he seemed to be in some sort of dead state; yet just then, the boys eyes shot wide open and he was looking around quickly. The dragon perked up, "Human!? You're alive!" He began to try and cover every inch of the boys face with dragon kisses, before the boy turned and spoke to him. Tilting his head, the dragon did not understand what he said but listened all the same.

As the boy questioned him, the dragon tilted his head... Not understanding what he meant, the little nightmare crooned, before jumping off the bed. Obviously this human wanted him to do something, but what? As the nightmare landed on the floor, he stretched his wings and claws before clambering over to the stairway. Rather then walking down the stairs, he more or less just stood there frozen, whimpering as he paced, trying to figure out how to get past this nightmare that was the stairwell.

From the kitchen the dragon could detect the scent of breakfast cooking. Particularly, the smell of meat.... The thought alone made a drip of drool drop from the corner of his jaw, and he paced more eagerly, crying out at the injustice that was these stairs. "Human, what is that glorious smell? I must have some! Give me! Give me!" He cried, turning and dancing around the boy, trying to figure out a way to get to the food. First, he must get past this monstrous beast... known as a stairway. But how?

[Brand Curador]

It did not take long for Brand to get his face soaked with dragon drool. Hopefully, Scorn's happiness prevented the viking to get mad since these dragon kisses has not been made to annoy the human. Rubbing his arm onto his face to get rid of the drool, Brand yawned and stood up, leaving bed, while the Monstrous Nightmare went out of this room. Soon enough, it would come back, jumping around Brand like mad. Did he want to play ? Or was it replying 'yes' to his question about a meal ?

In any case, the whole goal was to go downstairs. Brand was hungry and getting his morning soup was the priority for now. Maybe he could feed Scorn too.

"Come with me." he said, walking toward the stairs.

But Brand had no idea that Scorn was able to climb up stairs without knowing how to climb them down. The human just went downstairs, as usual, stopping halfway to make sure the dragon was following. But it seemed to scare it.

"... Aaaaalright."

The viking noticed he would have to be very patient from now on, as he should know already when it comes to train a dragon. But he was used to grown ones... How to train a baby dragon was not something he knew very well, after all. Coming back to him, Brand would offer Scorn to let him grab the dragon between his arms, as he did when climbing down the mountain, smiling.

"Come here. I want to eat too, you know ?"

[Scorn]

As the human seemed to wipe his face clean of the drool, the little dragon was busy trying to get down the stairs. Meanwhile the human rose from his wooden thing and walked towards the stairs while speaking to the dragon. Even little Scorn could understand he wanted him to follow, and he did, until he reached the stairway. Stopping, he watched as the boy walked down the stairs as if it were no big deal; meanwhile, it was a big deal to the little nightmare, who, now feeling abandoned, started pacing and whimpering. With every step the boy took the dragon whimpered louder, pacing a little faster in a bit of a tighter circle.

Just as the dragon turned once more from pacing, he saw the boy had stopped. Scorn stopped as well, dead in his tracks, staring at the boy. As the boy came back up the stairs, the young dragons entire backside wiggled from excitement as he eagerly climbed into his arms, perching himself against his shoulder. While on his shoulder, Scorn took a moment to look around his surroundings. And he made the mistake of looking down. My, did the stairs look scary from way up here! It made Scorn dig his claws into the boys shoulder, screeching as he buried his nose into the boys shirt. "Please... Tell me its over! Is it over yet? Is it? Is it safe to look yet, human?"

[Brand Curador]

Seeing the small Nightmare jumping into his arms made Brand slightly smile. This eagerness to be with the human made he realize something : the dragon was either enjoying Brand's presence or either it trusted him enough, after taking care of its wounds, to let this particular viking carry it.
Or maybe Scorn was too young to be scared of people. This could be a good thing, after all.
Feeling the dragon's stress, Brand gently rubbed its back, attempting to stay silent. These claws, digged into his shoulders, were not the painless thing. Even at this age, Monstrous Nightmares already had kind of sharp fangs and claws and the human just noticed how sharp they could be.

"Schhh... It's alright." whispered the viking before heading downstairs.

Once they reached the main floor, the meat's scent was way stronger and more apetizing. But there also was another scent, like a mix of some vegetables. To the other side of this room was the kitchen, part of the living room, where Brand's mom was cooking some meat with the chimney but also boiling some food to prepare Brand's food.

"Hi mom."

The woman turned around with a smile. Brown long hair, blue eyes, slim, she seemed to took care of her weight while other vikings don't this much. Esthetic, she'd say.

"Howdy. Slept well ?"

"Yeah, just got my face washed."

Frida let out a soft giggle while grabbing the skewer from the chimney, putting the meat into a wooden plate. It was a large slice, maybe too much for Scorn, noticed Brand.

"That means it likes you. Do you remember of SoftSting, Brand ?"

The viking sat down with the dragon, letting it go before it got too excited about eating this meat.

"Yes... I miss her." he replied slowly, with slight sadness in his voice's tone while Frida got done with his soup, putting a bowl onto the table.

"I mean... She did dragon kisses too. Don't you think you might give this dragon a chance ?"

The boy stood up and sat down instead on a chair, shrugging. He would thank her warmly and waited for her mother to prepare her own bowl before eating.

"I don't want to get her replaced."

"Taking care of another dragon is not replacing an old friend."

"It will feel like it's replacing SoftSting."

Frida looked at him for several seconds before looking away, quite concerned about her son's mood.

"You know... You really should find a friend, or a partner. I know that SoftSting is no longer there, and that your girlfrie--"

"She's not my girlfriend."

"That your friend left to go exploring, but I rarely saw you make a large smile when everyone left."

Brand sighed and stood silent, not very willing to talk about this. This specific subject was not at all raising his mood...

[Scorn]

The young dragon had his nose buried in the boys shirt, that is until their descent down the stairs brought the lovely smell of meat to his nostrils. His head bolted up and he looked around, squirming as he sniffed the air, halfway closing his eyes in delight. As the human female brought a steak, he suddenly squirmed to be free of the boy and when the boy released he raced down to the plate, quickly sinking his teeth into the meat.

The first bite of meat made drool fall from his fangs, as he took a large bite and hardly chewed before swallowing. He gave a small cough as it went down, before diving back into the meat like it was his last meal. It was only when the sudden shift of atmosphere happened that he paused, slowing his chewing so he could listen to what the humans were saying.

Although he couldn't understand, he knew it was about him. Pretending not to notice, he kept chewing, looking at his plate of meat. Just then a tinge of the boys emotions reached him, rather as a scent that he could detect more then anything... The whole experiencing a humans emotion was new to him, and it was so strong it alarmed the young dragon for a moment. So much so that he looked up, crooning softly.

Staring at the human, he crooned once more, tilting his head. Although he couldn't understand what this was all about, he understood that this human was sad; no, not just a human. His human. This was his human now. With that thought in mind, Scorn scuttled over, curling himself around the boys leg as he looked up at him with big, sad eyes. The dragon gently clawed at the boys pant leg and let out a soft, ever so sad croon, hoping somehow the boy understood that he was there. He was there for him. Whatever caused this sadness, Scorn felt it too, and he was determined to let the young boy know he wasn't alone.

[Brand Curador]

After these words, silence came back into the house. As if it was night, with low noises of spoon bumping against the wood of bowls, but also swallow ones. Soon enough, the dragon would break that heavy silence, coming to Brand's legs, apparently begging him to keep Scorn close to him. Quite surprised, the human was not sure about what to do right now, so instead of thinking about it, he would just act naturally.

His arms lowered toward Scorn, gently lifting the dragon to keep it close to him, like when they went downstairs. Frida smiled softly while watching this, hoping to see something reassuring. But there was no smile from Brand, so far, even if his eyes showed less sadness, as if bad thoughts already vanished.

"Look at you, you have meat stuck between your fangs."

The viking would pull out the bits of meat with the tip of his fingers with little difficulty, gathering the food that could have been forgotten and that could give troubles to Scorn's teeth. Once it was done, he would put them onto the palm of his hand, offering them to the Monstrous Nightmare.

"Here we go. Be careful next time, I might not always be there to clean your teeth."

"How long would you keep him ?" suddenly asked Brand's mother. The viking really had no idea about what to reply and seemed to guess how long it would take for the dragon to recover.

"I'd say... A month." Obviously longer than it would take. "Maybe more. I'll see how things are going."

"And if he wishes to stay with you ?"

"Why would he want this ?"

"Why did SoftSting became more of your dragon than mine, in the end ?"

Brand looked away, having no answer. He did not know. Gentleness and attention, maybe. They also wanted to make each other happy. Maybe this was the answer.

"He's a baby. I'm not suited to be like a dad."

"Well, he'd grow up. I wonder how he would see you over years. A friend, a member of his family ?"

The viking sighed again, trapped once more. He hated when he was unable to reply properly.

"Whatever. I'm fine with any way he would see me."

[Scorn]

Scorn looked up to his human with the most pitiful of stares, before the boy gave in and scooped him up into his lap. The young nightmares backside started wriggling in excitement, his tongue lolling out from his jaw. As the boy took a piece of meat from his teeth, he ran his tongue over the spot the boy had just touched, opening and shutting his jaws as he readjusted to the feeling of the meat being released. At the boys words the dragon tilted his head, giving a soft croon as the boy seemed to sadly talk to him.

Then he talked to the other human, and the young nightmare sensed it was about him. He shifted his glance from one to the other, trying to figure out what they were saying, before he gave up. Yet moments later he sensed the uneasiness yet again, and the more and more he sensed this, the more he got the feeling he was the one causing it.

Bowing his head, the young nightmare made soft noises of his own sadness, before looking up at the boy. What had he done to make the boy sad? Was he really that much of a burden to the boy? Surely there had to be something else, right? Right...?

[Brand Curador]

Both of the humans looked at Scorn, together, when the dragon started to express its sadness. Feeling like it was all because of their discussion, Frida glanced at her son before he wrapped his arms more around the small Nightmare before hilding it close. This gesture was more commonly known as a hug.

"Sorry, little one..." Brand softly said to Scorn. "That's not very polite to talk about you that way, even more while you're there... Sorry."

The human closed his eyes, staying silent for seconds. This small creature was already quite warm, like any Monstrous Nightmare. It was so young yet it seemed like a fully grown miniature dragon. With this cold, it really was a gift for any human there. Brand felt better already this way. His mother seemed reassured about this while she recovered the empty bowls, putting them next to the others. Frida thought she could put more efforts at cleaning these, somedays.

Brand slowly freed the dragon from this short hug, no longer sad. The atmosphere was less heavy right now, thanks to the dragon who unwillingly helped everyone.

"I should give you clean bandages. These ones are way too much red."

Standing up with Scorn between his arms, the human started walking to another room, right behind a door. It was a kind of storage room where stuff was put there and there. Brand would just get a roll of bandages from a shelf before getting sure it was clean. Since he got it two days ago, it should be, right ?

"There we go."

Getting out of there to come back to the living room, Brand lowered himself to let Scorn jump to the ground. He then sat down, unwrapping the bandage.

"You'd have to stand still, little one."

[Scorn]

As the humans stared at him, the dragon looked at them, crooning sadly as he tried to figure out what was happening. The little dragon felt the boys arms wrap around him, and he looked around quickly as the boy did; was this some sort of strangling technique?! Was he trying to kill him?! Oh dear Thor!

But much to his surprise, the boy didn't attempt to harm him; rather he seemed to draw him close against his chest, where the nightmare could hear his heartbeat. Rather then panicking further, the young nightmare instinctively burrowed his snout into the boys chest, listening to his heart beat as the young boy spoke softly. They stayed that way for several moments, the young dragon nestling as close as he could to the boy, before the moment slowly ended.

As the boy spoke once more, the dragon quickly perked up and scrambled to the floor, running to a corner beneath a chair and curling up in a ball, shivering every now and then. It was obvious he did not like these things called bandages, as he remembered last time they had been put on they had hurt. Little did he know that had been the medicine; either way, he wasn't looking forward to this. Rather then fight, he hid his snout beneath his wing, whimpering as he tucked his long tail between his legs. "No human, no bandage, no bandage."

[Brand Curador]

Things would not be as easy as Brand expected. Yesterday, applying bandages has been an easy task since the dragon was still sleeping. What a mess it did when it woke up to notice this thing wrapped around his wounds ! Brand still remembered what happened that day... But he had to do it if he wanted to help the dragon to recover efficiently. There should have been a way to convince Scorn to be nice about it, right..? The human wrapped back the bandage while thinking about what to do now. Brand never had to tell a dragon that this thing was fine, safe, and harmless.

"brand ?"

He rose his head toward Frida who was raising a hand, showing the blood dripping from a recent wound on her wrist. On the table next to her was put a knife. The viking stood up immediatly and comes to the newly wounded one.

"Mom, by Thor, why did you do this ?"

Not even replying, she would simply look into his eyes, as if she was asking for something. A swift glance toward the bandage would help Brand to get what she wanted.

"Heh."

Frida's son would apply the cloth roll over the bleeding wound, carefully and slowly. It would not take long for it to be done, making Frida smile widely, as if she was feeling nice and happy again with this.

"Thanks, Brand ! You helped a lot. I will change it later if needed."

"... Yeah. You are strange sometimes, mom."

[Scorn]

The dragon sat, curled in a ball, whimpering pitifully. It wasn't until a gruesome scent entered his nostrils that he looked up, to see the larger human walking forward, apparently wounded. Attention momentarily caught by this scenario, the dragon watched as the boy grabbed the bandages. In quick response, the dragon covered his eyes with his wing, but a happy voice made him look up, and when he did... he saw the human female with the wrappings around her arm, seemingly happy.

Looking back and forth, the little dragon wondered what had happened; hadn't it hurt? It didn't sound like she was in any pain, nor did she look like she was pained or miserable. No, she looked happy, or more or less... relieved... Maybe these things the humans called bandages weren't such a bad thing... Maybe.. Maybe they wouldn't hurt... And maybe, just maybe, he would feel better if one was put on him, like this human.

So, slowly, the little dragon crawled out from under the chair, cowering at the boys feet as he approached, hoping that the bandages wouldn't hurt. Still, he held still, holding out his broken wing for the boy to bandage. As he did so he looked up at the boy; his eyes seemed to translate the message... that being, "I trust you not to hurt me." And as his eyes locked with his, somehow, he was reassured that the boy would never break that trust.

[Brand Curador]

Still wondering why her mother acted that way, Brand turned back toward the small dragon, looking down at it. Scorn came closer in the meanwhile, acting less fearfully. It would take seconds for the human to get what happened, suddenly realizing that his father was right when telling that Frida was a smart woman, between nice words to glorify her.

Brand felt way better and sat down next to the Monstrous Nightmare, preparing the rest of the cloth roll. Would he have been able, all by himself, to ensure the dragon that this thing was alright ? He didn't think so. The viking didn't like this fact but he knew he could not, sometimes, solve problems without help.

"Stay calm, and it will be fine." softly replied the human to the dragon's trusting look. He did not want to betray this trust unwillingly. It would, firstly, make things more difficult for both of them. Secondly, Brand knew he would regret it, even slightly.

The human unwrapped the bandage, getting it prepared, before softly putting it aside. He would start by removing the current bandage, taking all of his time to make sure it would be the painless possible. The solidified blood might hurt when sticked to the cloth... But whatever happened, Brand hardly looked like he willingly hurted the dragon.

"That's all messy."

The used cloth was put away for now, Brand standing up to grab a clean towel before coming back to Scorn. The apprentice cleaned as much as he could the dragon's wounds, wanting to prevent as much as possible any infection, before finally applying the new bandage.

When everything was done, the human would just pat the dragon's head with a small smile.

"Here we go. Don't you feel better now ?"