Of Shoes and Ships and Sealing Wax [Crystal]

[Spitnose]

Of Shoes and Ships and Sealing Wax, in which Spitnose finds herself in a situation unlike any before.

Time and Date:: Winter, late morning.
Weather:: Overcast with a gentle ocean breeze
Previous Threads?:: N/A

The cool ocean breeze danced along the waters surface, pushing and pulling waves along it. Every so often an eager fish would leap from the crashing waves, only to flop back down to the fridged depths below. Not even the sun was out today to provide a warming glow upon a sailors back, just harsh grey clouds looming heavy in the sky.

One sailor ventured out, partially to explore and partially to bring back some fish. But mostly to escape the realities of the shore. The gentle rocking of the boat beneath their feet was enough to soothe the soul, and the crisp air added a nice jolt of alertness. The stink of fish however, was sort of ruining the moment. But it was the only way the young viking would ever be allowed near the boat, let alone sail it on their own.

After the last incident, Spitnose hadn't been allowed on the boat on her own. Every time she wandered even near the port she would hear her dads voice echoing in her head. 'Don't you touch that boat Spitnose, or I'll have your head on a spike outside our house!' She shuddered just thinking about it. But after a lot of begging, and pleading she managed to snag at least one day out on the boat by herself. Only requirement, come home with lots of fish. And she intended to, when the suns glow hung low in the sky, and night began to fall.

But until then, the ocean was her domain. The rolling waves her people, and the salty breeze her strength. It was enough to make her forget about Berk, and just lay back against the mast and grin. "What a day, naught but the water for company." Back on the island, life had been getting a bit much for her, but out here it couldn't reach. Nothing could. Heck, not even dragons came out this far. Unless they were tidal class dragons, those would be more likely to find. But she was confident they wouldn't bug her. With the amount of vikings that have lived in Berk for generations, they must be use to the commotion by now.

"Hmm, where's home?" Squinting her eyes, Spit searched the horizon for the telltale rocks of Berks shore. "There you are! No worries, I'm not too far out." A quick adjust of the sails, and another glance at the horizon found the twelve year old tying a rope around her ankle. "What's an awesome day, with out an awesome swim." And before the wind could howl once more, she was diving from the edge of the boat. Rocking gently as it's sailor abandoned it, the boat was gently nudged along by a new breeze. Rope pulling taught, Spit popped up quite a distance from the boat. As long as the rope was tied, she could just let herself float. And that's exactly what she planned on doing.

A quiet melody escaped her lips, arms folding under her neck, grasping each other tight. Completely relaxed, the sound whistled from her, clear as she could muster. "Wake me up when the sun gets low." Her eyes slid shut, and a small yawn escaped.

Never let your gaurd down wasn't a lesson that stuck with her especially well.

[Crystal the Scauldron]

In the depths of the ocean, lay a somewhat dormant water dragon. Being a scauldron, she usually slept with her pod, but she'd left them long ago. Instead of sleeping in a tight-knit circle with her kin, Crystal was forced to find shelter elsewhere. Usually this meant abandoned caves and crevices.

She never stayed in the same place for more than a few weeks. If she were to find a mate, she couldn't expect one to come to her, so she traveled far and wide in her search. Sometimes if she was lucky, she made friends along the way. Usually they were thunder drums, but occasionally, she found other species she didn't recognize. One even had two heads.

At the present time however, Crystal was alone. There wasn't another dragon in the area, that she knew of, at least, which lead her to make a temporary nest underneath a 'u'-shaped sea stack. It may not have been that deep, but it provided enough for her to sleep comfortably.

Slowly, but surely, her tired eyes fluttered open. A small school of fish just so happened to swim by while she did so, and the sudden movement made them scatter. She groaned groggily, and stretched her fins before starting a slow paddle-like swim through the water. This was her way of waking up. Not only did she have to move her limbs, she had to make sure she didn't hit any of the sea stacks.

Once she was in the open ocean, she went to the surface to get a good look at the weather she'd be dealing with. The grey clouds would make most think of it as a bleak and boring day, but to Crystal, that meant she'd be able to fish with less interference from any land dragons. Humans too. She added gratefully.

Ever since her encounter with the old man she'd trusted, she usually steered clear of the two-legged creatures. She didn't fear them... she was just wary. They couldn't harm her because of her sheer size, but damaging her emotionally was a different story. It was a lesson she'd never forget, and she'd learnt the hard way.

The scauldron gave a single trust of her wings to get airborne, and shook her body from head to tail before plunging back into the saltwater below.

She didn't have to hunt long to find a school of fish. Normally, scauldrons like herself would ambush their prey, but since Crystal was alone, she just plain out chased them. She was actually about to catch her fourth when a shadow from above caught her attention.

As she neared the surface to investigate, her curiosity increased. It was a boat, clearly. The sight of it had originally made Crystal freeze and consider turning back the other way, but it wasn't the man-made object that made her want to get closer. It was the much smaller object floating some nadder-lengths away from it. 

Careful not to bring any part of her body out of the water, she craned her neck out and tried to see if the object was edible, or an enemy. Definitely not edible. She snorted out of annoyance. The scent wasn't unpleasant, just unusual. It was mostly a mix a of dead fish and land mammals. Sheep, I think? The scauldron decided to get a better view at the object, and slowly peaked her head above the surface. The human vessel was far enough away that she didn't deem it as a threat. However, she did keep an eye on it in case it started getting closer.

With her head out of the water, Crystal's view of the object was clear. Though small, the scauldron could still see it had a face, along with two legs, and nearly hairless body.

Human!? She dipped her head back under the water, just deep enough so everything but her nose horn would be submerged. It was also close enough so that she could see the human's movements. Crystal had only ever seen one other human before, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to learn more about them. 

Crystal only hoped this human wouldn't be like the last.

[Spitnose]

Sometimes they say, if you listen closely to the ocean you can hear the docile song of a beautiful sea maiden. Today, you would likely hear the sea shanty of a rough voiced child. The only thing louder was the squawking of the diving birds as she disrupted their feeding grounds. Grinning a bit, a rather loud laugh echoed from her. The birds answered in kind, their own voracious calls much like her laughter.

"Weird..." She yawned a bit. "Could have sworn this water was colder." She blinked her eyes open. The waves had changed slightly, enough for her to test her line. It still held strong, thankfully. While her head was up a bit from checking, she blinked noticing something sticking out of the water. "What? Where did you come ... f-from.." Her eyes traced the shape, ancient fears boiling her blood. Her floating quickly changed into a panicked treading of water. "D-dragon?!" By the size of what she figured to be a horn it must have been pretty big. Big enough to eat a stray twelve year old.

It didn't seem to be attacking, but she still hurried back to the boat none-the-less. A rather awkward scrabble of limbs and a lot of panicked muttering later, she hoisted herself into the boat. Her bangs were plastered to her face, obscuring her vision completely. "A-ah! There's never tidal class dragons this close to Berk..." Shaking her head, very much like a wet yak, she scattered water all over the boat. Pulling the sopping hair aside, she scrambled back to the edge, staring at the water. "Okay there, big fellow. I'm gunna get out of here, and you are not going to kill me!" Shooting up from her crouched position, she unfurled the sails like her very life depended on it. Which for all she knew, it could. The wind caught the sail, snapping it to life.

It wasn't a quick getaway, but she figured if she looked like she was leaving it wouldn't feel threatened. Catching her breath once more, she dared to stare back at the water. Never before had one of the mighty water dragons approached her. It was almost... unsettling. And yet it sparked her curiosity like a fire. Burning deeper still she pulled some lines, releasing the sail once more. The fabric flapped a bit as it released it's tension, and the steady progress of the ship slowed to a halt. "Why are you up here?" She leaned over the edge, trying to spot the beast in the water. She dug through her mind, trying to remember what dragons had horns like that. "Thunderdrum..." The thought of one of those sent a shiver down her spine. "Scauldron..." Boiling hot water, another bone chilling thought. "Would have seen more fins if it was a Shockjaw..." Her mind was racing. So far, the options were terrifying. "Underwater Monstrous Nightmare?!" She dug her nails into the side of her head and let out a shrill of annoyance. Her brain officially turned to mush.

Shaking out her head once more she pushed up over the edge. "What are you huh? Give me something to look at!" She found her nails grinding into the wood grain beneath, and her hips swaying a bit. She was far to excited now that the initial fear had worn off. Her teeth teeth grinding at her lips, almost to the point of bleeding. But soon even that waned away to nothing. "Why would a wild dragon show it's face to me, unless it was going to eat me..." She huffed, slumping down the side of the boat. She was just some fisherman's apprentice, barely even a full part of the village. What was she to a dragon?


Her chin resting on the edge, a few upturned splinters scratching her from where her eager nails and made small trenches. "Stupid dragons." She muttered, punching the side. That was probably a dumb idea, because now her good arm had a sore knuckles. But all semblance to caring was gone. The fire in the young vikings heart had gone, and she shuffled about her motions. Set up the sails, turn the rudder, get them heading back for the shore.

There may be no dragon now, but she didn't want to risk it coming back and tearing her nets. "And I thought I was gunna see something cool." She shook her head, a few beads of water flying from her hair. Inhaling deeply, she threw back her head. "~Who can sail without the wind?" She threw her net back in to the water, preparing for another haul. "~Who can row without oars?" She stepped back from the edge once more, voice ringing through the air.

"~Who can say farewell to a friend without shedding tears?" A heavy sigh escaped her. She couldn't help but wonder, was the dragon as curious about her as she was about it?

[Crystal the Scauldron]

At the first sign of movement, Crystal dove deeper in fear of what the human would do. Will they dive down to look for me? Are they going to hurt me? She watched the creature's shadow from below.

Of anything that could've happened, she didn't expect to give the small human a heart attack and make them scramble for safety. The scauldron had to admit though, the flailing of arms and legs was a bit entertaining. By the looks of it, humans didn't have any fins for a means of treading water. How do they swim? She contemplated.

When the shape vanished into the shadow of the human vessel, Crystal cautiously got closer. She couldn't hear much from beneath the surface, but the muffled sounds of the human sounded frightened. The scauldron stayed out of sight from the human, of course, that is, until the boat started moving.

Barely lifting her head out of the water, she watched as the ship sailed away, although, it was slower than she'd have expected. Why was the human out here in the first place? Alone in the middle of nowhere? And without catching fish? Isn't that what the humans come out here?

Again, Crystal glided closer, careful not to bump into the vessel. She didn't want to alert them that she was within attacking range. The water dragon hadn't expected the boat to come to a stop not long after it'd just started sailing.

And then the muffled voice was back. This time, it was a bit more irritated and annoyed. Crystal couldn't be sure because of where she was, so she made sure she was hidden by the bow of the ship when her head broke the surface. For all she knew though, her nose horn might still give her away. From here, the dragon could easily hear what the human was saying, as well as notice how the voice was higher pitched; feminine. A female human?

"Why would a wild dragon show it's face to me, unless it was going to eat me..."

Eat her? Why on earth would I do that? Fish are so much better. Crystal rolled her eyes at the human's naiveness. She heard a long exhale of breath, right before the boat rocked just enough to bop the dragon's head lightly. "Stupid dragons."

At the insult, the scauldron let out an instinctive low hiss, but she was cut off when a loud "knock" resonated from the deck above her. Crystal didn't waste any time in diving back under the water. Had she known I was there and warned me not to get closer?

Just when Crystal was considering swimming off and leaving the human to do whatever she was doing before, the voice, albeit muffled, reached her ears. It wasn't like anything she'd heard before. It wasn't quite speech, it was something else. But what is it?

The scauldron's common sense was telling her to flee in fear it was a trap to lure her in, but her want to know why was winning the mental tug-of-war. Without looking back, Crystal made up her mind. She was going to risk it in order to learn more about the humans. She promised herself she wouldn't get attached to the human without knowing if she could be trusted. The betrayal still haunted her, even now. She'd be on the lookout for mistrust the moment she saw the human's face.

Crystal had to dodge a fishing net on the way back up, but it wasn't that difficult, considering it cast a looming shadow overhead. So she is fishing. I knew it.

Instead of the stealthy approach she'd imagined, her hulking size gave her away, and she knew it. She gave up the ninja act, and just plain out popped her head out of the water high enough so she could oversee the boat, and its only occupant. As she previously thought, it was a female, and not only that, it was a girl, not yet matured. A youngling? Out here?

The dragon didn't see any weapons on her, or on the whole ship for that matter, so she decided it was safe to approach. Crystal leaned closer despite knowing it would probably frighten the small girl.

[Spitnose]

"~I can sail without the wind," The boat's slow and gentle movements were calming, the nets likely filling up. Apparently today wasn't going to be the day she had planned at all. "~I can row without oars," She stopped as she felt the boat shift as new waves hit it, from a direction that they really shouldn't be. Turning slowly, her eyes grew wide under her dripping bangs, mouth hanging open slightly. "~but I can´t say... farewell to a friend... without shedding... tears." She shuffled back against the mast, staring at the beast before her. Okay, so the dragon had come back to her after all. This... wasn't what she expected.

It was in fact a Scauldron, and her heart was racing itself at the sight. She had been right in one of her guesses, though that wasn't hard considering she guessed everything it could have been. 
The dragon however seemed to be ... observing her. What was it looking for? Clutching a rope tight to her chest she tried to make herself appear smaller. It wasn't really working, you can't just shrink. But she at least felt a little better about the situation. She was gripping the rope so tight her knuckles were pale.

Then the dragon got closer, and instantly all good feelings dropped like a rock into the ocean. Wild dragons were nothing good, and should never be messed with. Even she knew that. "T-take the fish." She made a very vague and slow hand gesture towards her cast net. "I'm sorry." She slid down the mast, flexing the rope through her hands. "I don't know what I did but I'm sorry." On a good day, Spit might have been excited by this. But today she wasn't feeling very fearless, and had a shred of common sense left. She dropped the rope and shuffled her hands along the floor. She wanted to learn about the dragon, but not like this. Maybe if some one else tamed one, she could learn about it with out risk of boiling alive.

But no, there was no time for that. It was here, now, wether she was ready for it or not. A wild dragon, unknown motives, okay, unknown everything. Just really big and extremely intimidating. She tried to slow her breathing, but it didn't seem to be working. She was far to wound up to simply just calm down in this sort of situation.

[Crystal the Scauldron]

As predicted, the girl skittered back and tried to get away, but what interested Crystal, was what happened after the human realized she had no means of escape. Instead of looking around for a weapon to stand her ground with, the girl's breathing began to speed up, and her hands started trembling around the rope she held tightly onto.

"T-Take the fish. I'm sorry."

Crystal didn't take her eyes off the human. She couldn't understand this reaction. Sure, she'd understood the fear in her eyes, but not the pure and utter hopelessness the girl emitted in her body language.

"I don't know what I did, but I'm sorry."

By now, her breathing was erratic, as if she had no control over it. The scauldron didn't know what to do. Do I leave her be? What if she can't find her way back? What if she's ill? These questions filled Crystal's head to the point where one leaked out of her mouth.

"Are you alright, youngling?" She craned her neck to have her head hover a few feet from the girl, taking in her scent. The dragon couldn't detect any means of sickness, but the panic that engulfed Crystal's nostrils was overwhelming. The poor thing... She couldn't help but let out a soothing coo from deep in her throat when the girl shivered in her ball-like state.

This human reminded her so much of her younger siblings from her pod. Keeping them from danger was always a priority for her. So when they got scared, Crystal was the one to cheer them up. Maybe I can try with her?

Not knowing what the girl would do, the scauldron took caution in edging closer. From Crystal's last encounter with humans, she figured none could understand dragonese, so without a word, she purred and rested her chin on the deck of the boat, looking up at the human with big eyes.

"Don't fret, youngling. I won't harm you." She crooned for extra assurance.

One could only hope the girl would react positively to this.

[Spitnose]

The young viking hadn't been planning on having any dragon encounters today, or any encounters of any kind really. And as she stared up at the massive jaws of a dragon she could feel ever limb seize up. Movement was no longer an option, she was too worried it would boil her if she even tried to move. She stared, for the most part unblinking, back at the large eyes that held her in their sight.

As she sat there, she could have sworn she heard a murmur of speech leave the dragons mouth. But she passed that off as folly. Why would a wild dragon get chatty with her? She blamed it on her frazzled brain trying to sooth her nerves. Needless to say, it wasn't working. It certainly didn't help with the dragons head drew slightly closer and it's monsterous nostrils flared, sucking up her scent. Oh great, it was probably checking her for weapons or something, before it took it's final strike.

But she wasn't prepared for what came next. A sound escaped the dragon, so calm and soothing. And yet still deep enough to resonate through her very core. She blinked slowly, going slightly slack-jawed. What was the dragon thinking? Why was it so interested in a lone viking, in the middle of nowhere? The questions rattled around in her head, but no words would leave her mouth. She couldn't say anything, fear still clung tight to her bones.

«Don't fret, youngling. I won't harm you.» A small gasp escaped her open mouth. She most certainly wasn't making things up, the dragon was talking to her. Sure her Dragonese was rusty, but the creature was most certainly communicating. She swallowed, closing her mouth in the process, and looked down at her feet for a moment. "I..." She looked back up at the large green eyes of the dragon, that now seemed to be slightly closer than before. "I b-believe you..." The tension seemed to release, melting away like wax in the sun. "Y-you're a dragon... not a monster." She wouldn't make the mistake of thinking those two things were one and the same, that's what got vikings killed. 

"I... uh, are you hungry? You really can have some of my fish..." She gave a shaken grin, still a little on edge. But overall she was begining to realize the dragon never really showed hostility. She never had a reason to be afraid. Just natural instincts kicking in, old habits die hard and all that. But it still didn't explain why the dragon had shown such interest in her. She wasn't anything special, not to a dragon anyways.

[Crystal the Scauldron]

"I... I b-believe you..."

Crystal couldn't help herself from giving a surprised gurgle. As far as the scauldron was concerned, humans couldn't communicate with dragons, much less wanted to. And even when afraid, this one could understand her. Are there others like her?

"Y-you're a dragon... not a monster."

Is that really the first thing humans think of us as? Crystal thought to herself. Monsters? If anything, it should've been the other way around, or at least to Crystal it was. Either way, this girl wasn't a threat. There were no weapons, no other humans, or other obvious signs of danger. To add onto this peaceful atmosphere, the smell of fish on the vessel was starting to lull the scauldron into a daze.

"I... uh, are you hungry? You really can have some of my fish..."

She let her head go limp as softly as she could, making her jaw pouch flatten out onto the deck. Though Crystal had to admit keeping afloat like this was beginning to tire out her small arms, she had to admit this girl was starting to outweigh the negatives and risks on the situation.

The scent of fear was dissapating from the human, and yet, she still wanted her to have some of her fish? There was nothing that indicated that she was trying to get away, save for her still huddled form, so why offer fish? Is she trying to show further proof that she means no harm?

Crystal didn't care though. Fish were fish. Despite eating a few earlier, she hungered for more already, and with free pickings, she'd jump at the chance.

"Only if you can manage to spare a few." She didn't want to sound like she was groveling at her feet, or begging for them, but she couldn't help it. Besides, the more fish she managed to eat, the better chances at surviving, right? "You have to hunt food for your own family, no?" She reminded the girl. She didn't want to be taking half of her catch, especially if she was bringing it back for other younglings like herself.

Crystal had to know this girl's name. She was generous of and gave out free food, as well as spoke in dragon tongue. She was special, as far as the scauldron could tell. "What do others call you, young one?"

[Spitnose]

Everything about this situation seemed to be going... surprisingly well. The dragon seemed to relax as well, head resting on the deck before her. Spit let her legs slide slightly, careful not to kick the scauldron in the nose. That... would end horribly. And the thought was something she quickly discarded. Only good thoughts now, or else she would start to dwell on the negative. And when meeting new, ah well people, you didn't want to think about the bad when they had so much new good to offer.

And right now, the dragon was happy, and that was good. A happy dragon was the best kind of dragon. Blinking a bit though she listened to the dragon, and true enough she understood Dragonese, but a few words did escape her. Leaving her mind to fill in the gaps, but she was for the most part close enough. "Well... I don't know how many I have. Probably so many my net is overflowing!" She shuffled to her knees, awkwardly going to the other side where her net hung. Hoisting it up on one side, she frowned a bit. She looked back at the dragon. "Nah ... we're totally good!" Obviously the arrival of a dragon had scared off any new fish, so there were only a few fish stuck in the netting. Enough for perhaps a few families, or one family and a hungry dragon. But how could she not? This was the chance of a life time. And like hell she was going to let it pass by because she was actually really terribly at fishing.

Even so, the dragons final comment hit her. She had made a promise, to her dad. And when she promised him, she was making a promise to any one who used their fish. She stared at the lonely cod, and grumbled. "I-it's fine. Really. T-theres lots here." Her voice was shaken, not out of fear, but because she was lying through her teeth. She wasn't good at lying, and she was hoping that dragons weren't good at picking that up.

But the next question caught her a little off gaurd. She turned back to the scauldron upon her boat. "Call me?" She screwed her face into a rather awkward face. She didn't want to mention it, but perhaps a dragon wouldn't understand why she disliked her own name. "Spitnose." She sat down, legs folded behind her. "That's what I was born anyways." She grinned a bit. It wasn't a great name, but it was hers. "Do you have a name?" Most people named their dragons, but she had always wondered did they already have names? And their riders just gave them new ones?

It was an interesting thought, and she was eager to find out.

[[ OOC: all I could think of at the end was this,
STOP CALLING ME DRAGON! I have a name.
Well what is it?
It's impossible to pronounce it in your tongue. ]]

[Crystal the Scauldron]

"I-It's fine. Really. T-there's lots here."

Crystal had only known this girl for a few minutes, but something was off about her. Did humans normally have shaky voices? Or was it something I said? Instead of dwelling on it, the scauldron waited patiently for the fish the girl was getting.

"Call me?"

She gave the dragon a sour look. What is it with humans they're weird emotions? Can't you be simple and feel happy you're alive? Crystal tilted her head sideways slightly so when she parted her jaws the girl could easily slid the fish between them.

"Spitnose. That's what I was born with anyways."

The scauldron let out a low coo from her open mouth. "I've heard far worse than that." And she wasn't lying. Crystal had managed to bump into a few dragons here and there with outrageous names. Dragons might not make it a priority to have names, but sometimes it's better not to have one rather than have one that'll follow you for the rest of your life.

"Do you have a name?"

That, is an excellent question. Do I have a name? One that a human can refer me as? The more she thought, the more she came to think that maybe she should let the girl give her a name. So far, this Spit was proving herself to be a good ally, if not friend. She at least deserves to call her what she wants to. Besides, the scauldron had been called different things by those she'd met in the past years.

"Not one that has any meaning to your kind." She told her. "You can call me whatever you think fits."

[Spitnose]

She had slipped a few fish from the net, some of the larger ones and made her way back to the dragon. It was... a weird experience letting the fish go into it's awaiting mouth. Not something she was use to by any means.

Once the fish were gone, and she had taken her seat beside the dragons head she grinned. "It could be a lot worse I guess." She felt laughing came more naturally now, feeling more at ease. Her desire to learn more was growing stronger than her fear, she was very lucky that the dragon she had encountered had no intentions of harming her.

She studied the appearance of the dragons head, it had no horns besides the one curving up from it's nose, and rather small nubby spines along it's neck. Not exactly the feircest looking thing, but then again what made a scauldron scary certainly wasn't it's looks. She blinked a bit as the dragon spoke again, tilting her head slightly to the side to pick it up better. "You mean like..." She paused a bit, chewing on her tongue as she thought it over. "Wow... uh, okay." She didn't want to pick a dumb name, like ... Fishface, or something. A dragon didn't need a hideious name to scare away gnomes or trolls! They were dragons, and that was reason enough to be scared!

Her eyes followed trails of water dripping from the dragon, reflecting light like tiny jewels caught in the sun. She had heard a term that seemed to capture the moment, of those tiny drops of water perfectly. "Crystals..." She blabbed, before realizing she had just said a word with no context. "That's what I'll call you! Crystal!" She laughed and jumped up, clearly pleased with her effort. "What do you say? Think you can live with it?" She realized what she had said, and held her tongue. She didn't even know if she would see this dragon again, she sure hoped so, but wild dragons had a habit of wandering off, doing their own thing. "Will I see you again?" She reached out a hand slowly, retracting a bit and closing her fingers. "I would like that..." She spread them apart again, face torn at the thought of their separation.

"Same time tomorrow?" She grinned wider than should be possible, face framed by unruly hair. The idea of a new friend, and a new dragon one at that, thrilled her beyond any words.

[[OOC: You're next one can be a brief one to end it up! :D]]

[Crystal the Scauldron]

Crystal had to admit, even with the short amount of time being here, this conversation was the longest she's had in awhile. The last one she remembered was with a thunderdrum off the coast of Dragon Island, and that was years ago.

"Crystals..."

She raised her eyes at the blurted word. What about crystals?

"That's what I'll call you! Crystal!"

The scauldron couldn't help letting out a gruff chortle at seeing the girl's sudden enthusiasm. At least she was no longer afraid. This side of her was much more fun to see.

"What do you say? Think you can live with it?"

When Spit's keen attitude faded, the dragon lifted her head off the boat's deck, rocking it back to forth by the change of weight. The newly dubbed Crystal hummed in approval at the choice of name. "It's a lovely name."

"Will I see you again? I would like that..."

Crystal thought back to her last encounter with a human. He might've just been using her for his own gain, but she had trusted him regardless, coming back every few days to see him. The scauldron worried Spit would end up the same way. No. She's already shown without a doubt that she wouldn't... right? She'd given her what little fish she had caught, probably knowing she'd have to go out and get more. And she hadn't even asked Crystal to help her, which honestly surprised the scauldron.

"Same time tomorrow?"

Spit's face contorted in a way that pulled her lips away to reveal her teeth. Crystal remembered seeing it a few times from the fisherman. Knowing it wasn't a warning, but a way to express friendliness, the dragon swam even closer to the side of the boat, hovering her head beside Spit's.

Crystal, against her better judgement, shoved her head into the girl's, careful not to knock her over. "Wouldn't miss it for the world."