Chapter 1

"Just had to go and open my big mouth didn't I?" Cutting another plant out of his way Jaune Arc grumbled to himself. Stumbling through the Forest of Grimm was not exactly Jaune's idea of a good time, especially when he was supposed to be searching for a dragon to slay.

Back at his small farming village, rumor of a dragon lurking in the Forest of Grimm had sprouted up leaving his village to go into panic from fear. Even though there were only vague sightings of the beast, and a few missing cattle, there wasn't any real proof of an actual dragon.

Seeing as the Arc family were decedents of great warriors, Jaune's grandfather having served as a Knight before his passing, the village turned to them to find the beast and slay it. Jaune's father however was too old to be gallivanting around the forest in search of a dragon that may or may not exist and his mother was certainly not a warrior, so Jaune, as their only son, volunteered to find the creature and kill it. Jaune just hoped the rumors of the beast would prove false since he knew next to nothing about fighting.

With an old sword in hand Jaune cut away another plant blocking his path. The sun hung low in the sky, by now he had been wandering around the woods for the better part of the day. Finding a clearing with a small pond Jaune set his backpack full of supplies down and scooped some water from the pond to drink.

Looking around, the forest appeared calm, owls and other nocturnal animals had begun calling out as night began to fall upon the forest. Jaune found it hard to believe a dragon could be lurking somewhere within those trees.

Opening his backpack Jaune pulled out a small loaf of bread. His father had been sure to pack everything he would need. From food to flint to start a fire, Jaune's father made sure his son was prepared, though the last item he gave his son made the blond haired man worry about his chances of survival.

His father as a last resort gave him a vial of seemingly harmless clear liquid.

"Listen carefully, you must only use this as a last resort Jaune. This is poison, drink it if you know without doubt that you are going to die. It will poison your corpse so when the dragon eats it, the damn beast will be poisoned along with you. If the dragon doesn't kill you this will so only use it if you are certain you are going to die." Jaune's father's words echoed in his mind, as he took a bite out of his bread.

Jaune knew if he actually found a dragon his chances against it were slim. Dragons were the things of legend; the last known dragon was killed during the time his grandfather was a young man, by a knight of the Schnee family. The stories depicted a battle that lasted for days and how the knight lost an arm before finally felling the mighty beast.

"A vote of confidence would've been nice though." Jaune sighed, by giving him the poison it was like his father expected him to die. Sighing again Jaune finished off his bread and went to find tinder to start a fire with. It would be dark soon and Jaune didn't relish getting mauled by wolves.

Going around the forest Jaune picked up any dry branches or leaves he came across shoving them in his pack while looking for more. Then out of nowhere a great roar echoed throughout the forest. Clumsily Jaune jumped and pulled his rusty old sword from its scabbard.

There's no way that was a wolf the blond thought trying to locate the source of the roar. Despite his brain yelling at him to get the hell out of there Jaune crept towards the noise.

Another roar, Jaune was getting closer; the roar was becoming less echoed and more defined. He heard a large thumping as if something very big was thrashing around. Creeping through a bush to hide his approach Jaune froze at the sight before him.

It was the largest living creature Jaune had ever seen. The beast could easily smash one of his small village houses with a swipe of its tail. Brilliant red scales sparkled in the setting sunlight peeking through the trees. Large leather wings spread out, flapping around as if the beast didn't want to actually take flight. Looking at its huge paws Jaune gulped, they could easily crush him; even still Jaune saw why the beast was thrashing about roaring. A few hunters from his village had made large bear traps ten times bigger than normal hoping to catch the dragon.

It looked like one had worked, the creature's foot was firmly and painfully clamped in the bear trap's metal teeth. Jaune frowned the beast whimpered giving up its thrashing to break free instead collapsing on the ground in a heap.

The dragon must have been stuck there awhile it looked thin, ribs and hip bones sticking out. Jaune bit his lip, he couldn't help but feel bad for the creature, it hadn't done anything wrong other than maybe kill a few livestock, but here it was stuck in a trap being hunted just for what it was.

Jaune didn't know why but he stood to his full height out of the bush walking towards the dragon, the beast's head spun in his direction. Bright green eyes almost human like starred at him. Then the beast caught sight of his sword, and its mouth took the form of a snarl, sharp teeth lining its mouth.

Taking a few steps back to make sure the dragon couldn't take a swipe at him. Jaune raised his hands in a sign of peace and put his sword on the ground.

"Whoa there, I'm not going to hurt you there big guy, promise." The dragon stopped growling head cocked to the side the beast looked confused.

"Can you understand me?" It was a long shot, but Jaune felt like this beast was more than just a mindless animal. Its eyes seemed to shine with intelligence.

Jaune was proven right as the beast lowered its head in a nodding gesture.

"Wow, I'm talking to a dragon that's a first, can't say I do that every day. All right if I help you out of that will you not kill me please that would be nice." The dragon's eye's widened standing back up Jaune had to step back as the dragon's full height towered over him. The beast nodded its head furiously trying to tear its foot from the trap.

"Okay we have a deal then, all right I'm coming over now, please don't step on me." Cautiously Jaune moved towards the dragon's front foot that was caught in the trap. The blond grimaced at the sight, blood was caked everywhere the trap had torn into the poor creature's foot. The wound was raw and it was clear the dragon had been spending days trying to tear its foot free as the wound was huge, and it stank of infection.

Luckily Jaune knew enough about traps to open up the jaws, even with the trap's increased size it still worked just as any other bear trap would. As soon as the metal jaws were open the dragon tore its foot from the trap with a roar of triumph. Jaune let the trap's jaws snap close now that the dragon's foot was free.

"Thank you." The voice was soft as it entered Jaune's ears, it shocked him enough that he nearly fell backwards as he starred at the dragon.

"You! You can talk!" The beast turned so that its great head was facing Jaune. The blond gulped again being so close it was clear if it wanted to, the dragon could sallow Jaune whole in its mighty jaws.

"Yes, sorry if I've frightened you, but thank you. I was afraid I would have died had you not come along." Jaune rubbed the back of his head as the dragon lowered its head, Jaune could feel its hot breath almost like a small breeze blowing on him.

"It's all right; it's the least I could do. My village did lay the trap that you got caught in." The dragon's eye's clouded with what Jaune thought was sadness.

"I see, so your village fears me then?" Jaune didn't know it was possible for a dragon to look this sad. The beast down right looked like a kicked puppy right now, Jaune could see just under pale white horns were small ears that were pressed down flat against the beast's head.

"Well, yes I mean… you are sort of a big scary dragon. They're afraid you're going to eat them or something." The beast made a look of disgust.

"I do not eat humans." The dragon stated now that his fear was starting to die down, Jaune could tell the dragon's voice seemed distinctly feminine. He wondered if it would be rude to ask if the dragon was indeed female. He also wondered how exactly the creature was speaking as its mouth didn't move when it spoke, but Jaune could hear the dragon's voice in his head.

"What is your name?" The dragon asked as it laid down resting its injured paw on top the other and began licking the mangled paw.

"Jaune, Jaune Arc. I'm sorry I don't know too much about dragons, do you have a name?" The large beast paused in its licking of its foot, and placed its green gaze on Jaune.

"Pyrrha, it is nice to meet you Jaune." Pyrrha bowed her head before continuing the self-cleaning of her wound. Jaune had to admit for a dragon that was supposed to be the most fearsome destructive beast in the world, she sure was friendly.

"Sooo Pyrrha, how is it I can understand you? I mean last time I checked I don't speak dragon." Jaune could have sworn he saw the dragon's mouth turn up into a smile, but he might have been imagining things.

"I'm not really talking to you like humans do; dragons can project our thoughts to others be it humans, animals, other dragons. You aren't really hearing me speak; it is more like you are hearing my thoughts." Well, as he was talking to a giant dragon Jaune was willing to accept that answer.

"I'm sorry my village set out those traps. That looks infected do you need some help?" Jaune went to get closer to Pyrrha's injured foot, but she curled the paw protectively closer to her.

"It's okay I'll be fine, thank you though. You've certainly done enough for me I will never be able to repay your kindness. Most humans would have mounted my head on their wall."

"It's no problem; my village sort of overreacted to you anyway. You're actually a lot nicer than most of the people in my village." Pyrrha's ears once again flattened against her head looking abashed.

It was then that Jaune saw how long he had been talking to Pyrrha the sun had long since set, and the forest was bathed in darkness. He jumped when he felt Pyrrha's tail wrap around his waist. The scales were rough making Jaune realize how lucky he was Pyrrha was friendly as he doubted his rusty old sword would even make a dent in the strong scales.

"Wha…!" Pyrrha's tail lifted Jaune off the ground bringing him closer to the dragon. She placed him gently next to her body under one of her large wings.

"The forest is dangerous at night. I'm sorry, but you should stay with me for the night. The wolves however will not bother you while I am around." Pyrrha's eyes seemed to glow in the dim light. Thinking about it Jaune liked the sound of a giant dragon being around while he slept. Pyrrha certainly would be a better deterrent than a fire in keeping other creatures of the forest away.

"Sounds like a plan to me. You sure you don't want to go and hunt or something though, you look like you could use a good meal." Pyrrha shifted curling her body around Jaune, wing spreading out to shield Jaune from any weather or predator's eyes.

Pyrrha yawned. "I'll be fine; I'll hunt after a good rest. Good night Jaune."

Despite the strangeness of the situation Jaune smiled. "Good night Pyrrha,"

When Jaune woke the sun was shining through the leaves above. Pyrrha's wing had moved while she was asleep, and was now folded lightly against her back. The dragon was taking deep even breaths signaling that the beast was still asleep. Standing and brushing off the grass sticking to him Jaune was able to take a good look at the dragon he had saved.

Her mangled paw looked a lot better; the wound still looked fresh, but unlike before it no longer looked infected. If Jaune were to guess, there must be something about dragon saliva that allowed it to clean the wound so well. Moving over to Pyrrha's head standing so close Jaune could see how truly large she was. Her head alone was taller than Jaune, currently turned on its side as she slept.

Like before Jaune could see the small ears located under her horns that curved out and forward similar to that of a bull. Light red scales covered most of her face though clearly weaker than the hard plate scales covering most of her body. One could tell it would take a lot before any normal weapon could cause any damage.

At the top of her head in-between her horns, there was what appeared to be feathers swept back covering the back of her long neck in deep red and orange feathers. They stopped at the base of her back where her wings were.

Pyrrha's mouth was slightly open as she breathed just enough that Jaune could see her fangs. His blood went cold at the sight of them each fang was evenly spaced in her mouth, razor sharp each only slightly shorter than Jaune standing at full height. It would have been so easy for Pyrrha to tear Jaune apart.

Not wanting to look at the menacing teeth anymore Jaune turned his gaze to the rest of the dragon. Strong legs were stretched out, each the size of tree trunks. Sharp claws protruded from her paws; unlike her horns they were black in color. A long tail swished lazily as Pyrrha slept, bright feathers covered the tip, spikes however stuck out dangerously along the tail.

Carefully reaching out Jaune touched the softer underbelly that was covered in much weaker yellow scales. In his head Jaune could hear his father yelling at him to use his sword to slay the beast as she slept. It would be so easy with Pyrrha sleeping on her side. Jaune could take his sword and jam it right through her heart.

Jaune frowned at the thoughts; Pyrrha had been nothing but kind and grateful to him so far. She had protected him from the dangers of the forest last night when she could have just left him to the wolves or worse, she could have killed him herself.

No, Jaune wasn't going to hurt Pyrrha, he would instead find out if she was a threat to the village. Then he would come up with some way to convince the village that either there was no dragon, or the dragon meant no harm.

"Your hand is cold." Jaune jumped at the sound of Pyrrha's voice. The dragon shifted so that she lay up right, yawning and stretching much like a cat Pyrrha turned her head towards the small human before her.

"Heh sorry," Pyrrha shook her entire neck and head feathers fluffing up before settling again.

"It's all right, I'm surprised you didn't run away in the night."

"I'm not really fond of getting eaten by wolves so sleeping curled up next to a dragon seemed like a good idea." Jaune could hear Pyrrha chuckling.

"You are an odd human."

"You wouldn't be the first to tell me that." The dragon laughed some more lifting herself off the ground.

"If you don't mind I am going to hunt now, but I'll find you again once I'm done. Do you plan on staying in the forest?" Pyrrha spread her wings out flapping them once.

"Yeah I'll be here a while, to be honest I'm supposed to be out here killing you, but seeing as you're not a monster like my village makes you out to be. I'm gonna come up with something to tell them to get them off your back." Jaune was surprised when Pyrrha nudged him with her snout affectionately.

"I thank you Jaune, I'll find you soon." With a great flap of her wings Pyrrha was off into the air, quickly breaking out above the trees disappearing out of view, leaving Jaune alone with nothing, but his thoughts.

Jaune was relaxing under a tree when a flapping could be heard overhead. The trees were shaking at the force Pyrrha's wings brought. Landing in front of him Jaune could see blood covering most of Pyrrha's snout. Folding her wings neatly on her back the dragon laid down near Jaune curling her body around the tree he sat under.

"Hey, lunch break over I see." Jaune tried to joke only to have Pyrrha cock her head not understanding.

"I checked on your village from afar." The blond didn't like the sound of that, Pyrrha sounded rather grim.

"There is a small gathering of armed men, I believe your village has called upon them to kill me." Anger flared up in Jaune, they didn't even wait two days before giving up on him. Sure he was just an ordinary farm boy who just happened to be descended from a Knight, but that didn't mean they should give up on him so easily. Wouldn't his village be surprised when they found out that he not only found the dragon, but befriended it?

"Jaune are you okay?" Pyrrha's nose was pressed up against him, the dragon nudged him gently it was surprising a beast her size could be so gentle. Jaune patted the nose, smiling how weird that this dragon that he barely knew seemed to care about him more than anyone in the village, even his own father.

"Don't worry Pyrrha I'm fine, how was your hunting trip?" Jaune didn't want to think about his village anymore as he sat next to a real dragon, he hoped Pyrrha would keep his mind far from his village.

"Good, there is a lot of game in this forest for me to eat, and I was able to check on my nest luckily no other dragons have claimed it."

"Nest?"

"Up in the mountains is where I usually stay, but the forest is a much better hunting ground. My nest is where I keep all my treasure."

"Wait, treasure like gold? Dragons really keep hoards of treasure?" Pyrrha blew smoke out of her nostrils before answering.

"Yes, all dragons are given a treasure to guard. The rest is just treasure I've accumulated from rich knights who gained their title through money, that come to kill me for my treasure." That got Jaune's attention, his father always told him that dragons were greedy beasts that hoarded gold to themselves that they stole from villages they burned.

"So someone gives you something to guard and that's it? Who gave you your treasure? What is it?" Not much was known about dragons so it was incredibly that Pyrrha would share this information.

"Most treasures are ancient artifacts that their owners do not want in the wrong hands. I've never met a dragon who knew who gave them their treasure. Treasures pass from dragon to dragon; our sole purpose in life is to guard these treasures. Dragons will often fight over the right to guard one, I only recently came across mine after the dragon previously guarding it died, and I'm sorry Jaune, you seem trust worthy, but I cannot risk my treasure falling into the wrong hands. But maybe one day I'll tell you what I'm guarding." Jaune easily accepted that Pyrrha wouldn't tell him what her treasure was. That didn't bother him in the least he was too enthralled by what he had just learned. The stories he heard as a child always made dragons out as the villains, horrid creatures that hoarded gold because of their own greed.

Pyrrha was nothing like the dragons of legend. She was gentle and kind, she could have easily burned his village to the ground, but instead she left the humans alone. Keeping to herself and guarding her treasure that was apparently of great importance.

It was then Jaune made his decision. Until now he had been alone. He didn't have any friends in his village and his parents merely tolerated him. Pyrrha was alone as well as being a feared and hated beast that the world wanted nothing more than to mount her head on a wall. By themselves neither had much of a chance in this cruel world, but together at least it would be the two of them against this world.