A/N

There probably won't be any A/Ns in the future, please take a few seconds to read this one. English is not my first language, but I am very good at it. I proof-read my chapters through and through. Still, you might come across mistakes, if you do, feel free to tell me.

This is also my first fanfiction, I've written stories before though.

With that in mind, please criticize me, it is much appreciated and it will ultimately help me make this a better reading experience for everyone.

Art on the cover and potential illustrations all belong to me.

There will be cursing and moderate violence. (presumably)

This story is available on Wattpad and Fanfiction .net

Please enjoy!

--

What a dream.

To become a singer? How ridiculous. Miku had to have solid ground to stand on before anything as far-fetched as that could even be considered a possible source of income.

Miku had been living all alone in an apartment for half a year now. High School had not been kind to her, she barely had time to work, let alone enjoy her hobbies whilst keeping her grades up. The money she made wasn't nearly enough to pay for the apartment on her own, but her father always lent her money when she needed it. Miku came to the lively city she lived in now to be able to attend Crypton High, though this all ended up costing a lot more than she had expected. Miku was determined to start getting enough income to keep herself going even without the help of her father or a roommate to cut expenses with though. She deemed it was worth it just so she could live alone as she highly despised hanging around people. It was summer break now, which meant no school, which in return meant she could finally get a well-paying job. She just had to believe in herself and stay positive and everything would work out fine. Right?

Miku sighed and leaned back on her chair, her long teal twintails falling back and an empty document glaring at her from the screen of her laptop. She had gotten lost in thought again. Miku always struggled to focus on things, but it was especially bad when it came to such irritating things like paying rent or writing a CV.

I'm just wasting time.

Frustrated, Miku slowly stood up, closed her laptop and grabbed her coat as well as her phone and keys. It was already dark and cold out, but she needed fresh air and the full moon seemed so welcoming to her. Having put on her long brown boots, she exited the apartment and locked her door. She began walking down the stairs from the second floor and fetched a small pack of cat treats from the back pocket of her black jeans. Now on the ground floor, she creaked open the heavy door of the building and immediately felt a breeze graze her skin. It sent a shudder down her spine, but she didn't let it bother her. She looked over one of the parking lots and couldn't help but grin. There, stood a dark chopper with teal and red highlights.

"It reminded me of you," her dad had said, having bought the motorcycle on impulse like he usually did. Miku was not happy with how much money her father spent on unnecessary things, but she could never deny how happy she'd been in that moment. Up until then, she had been driving a crappy motorbike that insulted the definition of "top speed". She just didn't have time to get a driver's license for a car, but she wasn't complaining. She didn't need to drive around often enough for that anyway. The first time Miku drove with her new comrade had been magical and the two shared many other beautiful memories. Since it was summer now too, she'd finally be able to drive around the countryside again, something she missed a lot. Realizing that she was getting lost in thought yet again, Miku walked towards some bushes and called out.

"Noir!"

Not a second passed when Miku could already hear something moving in the leaves. A black cat appeared before her shortly afterwards. Miku had quickly formed a bond with this stray cat when she moved in, but to her dismay, pets were not allowed in her apartment, though she'd be lying if she said she hadn't snuck him in a couple of times.

Not allowing herself to linger around for much longer, Miku pet Noir, gave him a treat and continued on her walk as she shoved the pack of treats back in her pocket.

Miku was extremely happy to have been able to rent a flat in a building like that. Not only was it close to Crypton High, it was also a mere five minute walk away from a forest - a place she started to visit whenever she had time for it. Nothing helped her relax more than a wooded area with a thin soothing river, filled to the brim with all kinds of gorgeous greenery, and of course - being all alone amongst it all. Miku had seen only one or two people in this forest before, except for bugs and occasional wildlife, she got to enjoy upmost solitude.

--

The forest seemed to glow as it was illuminated by the full moon, though the particles in the air remained unnoticed by Miku despite being shone onto. She walked the path surrounded by trees, just barely out of the city bounds. She enjoyed the fresh night air touching her bare skin and the water of the river running along a bit further away from the path shimmering. No matter how many times she would come here, it would still feel breathtaking, Miku was sure of it. The atmosphere here swept her head completely clear of all her worries and thoughts, leaving her mind blank, which felt a hell of a lot nicer than she would've thought before she started coming here. Not thinking of anything at all was a much preferred state of mind for her, she was tired of the inconviniences life kept throwing at her. She was still surprised that she didn't think of coming to this part of the area earlier than she did, even though she had been coming here for so long that she'd notice if even just a single tree would've shifted in its position.

That state of mind was unfortunately interrupted as Miku heard something heavy hit water, making a large splash. She stood still as if frozen in time. She wanted to move, but it was only hearing someone struggle in the water that sent her into action. Miku instantly turned towards the noise and upon seeing a person in the water struggling to stay afloat, she bolted over there to help.

"I'm coming! Help!!"

she yelled, hoping to get the attention of any other possible people nearby, though she was sure nobody else was here since nobody really came here at daytime much less in the dead of night, she should know. Stopping at the edge of the river, Miku realized that the person wasn't too far from the shore and reached out her hand with one foot in the water.

"Grab my hand!"

Miku wasn't even sure if the person was aware of her being there. She shifted herself forward, both feet in water now, though she had to be careful for she knew how steep this river was, having slipped into the debts of it several times before for one reason or another. Miku stretched her arm as far as she could, but the person seemed to be in too much of a panic to notice her efforts at all.

Miku decided to jump right in after quickly removing her coat, as she knew it could drag her down. With the sound of another big splash, Miku was in the water, quickly grasping that her feet couldn't touch the ground, but that's what she had expected. She grabbed the person by the arm, realizing now that she had no idea how to get this person to the shore fast enough, grabbing one of her arms made the girl panic more too and Miku took note of just how heavy this person actually was as she was dragged underwater several times. The shore wasn't far however and Miku managed to move both of them to it. She immediately brought the hand of the person to the grassy area, which she hastily grabbed onto with both her arms, raising her head, her long pink hair completely soaked and covering her face as she desperately gasped for air.

As the girl, or rather the woman judging by her weight and body, took her time to recover, Miku had already climbed out and despite being out of breath too, took both of the person's hands and dragged her almost completely onto the shore.

"You okay?"

Miku asked with what little breath she had, but the rescued woman was quiet, so she decided to let her rest a bit.

Miku's vision cleared and because of no longer being in danger, she started noticing how odd this woman looked right now. The woman seemed to be naked, but covered in strange pink and shale feathers. What grasped her attention however was the blood streaming down one of her sides.

"You're hurt!"

Miku reached her hand out to brush away the feathers from the woman's back to see where exactly the wound was, but she was mortified to find that she couldn't. Her hand froze and she shook her head, thinking it was just her imagination. She tried again, but the feathers did not move, they were attached to this woman.

"W-what the hell?"

She looked over the woman once more, noting that a line of feathers ran down her spine and around her waist, almost like a skirt. She also had feathers on her chest, arms and legs, as far as Miku could tell.

The woman started to get up, interrupting Miku's train of thought. The person Miku just saved gave her a quick glance and then her body started to morph. It grew bigger and more feathered by the second. Miku, confused and terrified, stood up lightning fast and half-run backwards as not to be crushed by the mass in front of her. What the heck is she? She thought to herself, wanting nothing more than to ensure her own safety, but she stumbled and fell with a pained yell. She was about to get up, however-

Everything seemed to stop. The night was as quiet as ever, Miku could only hear the faltering breaths escaping her own lips. The moon illuminated the two beings near the shore, one human, the other not so much. A pair of piercing lightning blue eyes stared into Miku's, keeping her captive and she was afraid to move even an inch. The being before her stood completely still, it's body just barely moving as a result of breathing and it's feathers gently swaying in the breeze. It showed no sign of wanting to let Miku go and continued glaring at her, though if this creature was hostile, why hadn't it attacked already? Miku continued to question the situation, trying her best to calm down. Perhaps the creature would loosen up if Miku was less tense, this thing would be able to sense something like that, right? Like a predatory animal?

With that thought, Miku started to put together what this thing even was. Absolutely nothing about it looked human anymore, except for maybe its eyes, but Miku couldn't focus on them for too long without being distracted by immense fear. The creature was almost tall enough to reach the trees, Miku was merely the size of its leg. It was like a four-legged bird, maybe like a griffon? Miku was scared to find that it seemed to have very sharp claws. It's neck was quite long, bent downwards so the creature's eyes were able to meet Miku's. It's mouth seemed to resemble somewhat of a beak and it had horns on the sides of it's head, along with long darker pink feathers near one of her shoulders. The shale feathers on its back covered at least half of its body. The tail reached into water so Miku wasn't sure how long it was. Finally, still trying not to move or anger the creature, Miku eyed it's large feathered wings - four of them in fact. The tealette now had a basic idea of this beast, but that didn't help her situation one bit.

The creature blinked slowly and it's feathers, which were all perked up to make itself look bigger, retracted closer to the body. It's eyes were no longer narrow or hostile. Miku felt relieved, but suddenly the creature opened it's wings and went up in the air in a mere moment, sending countless leaves and feathers to fall on top of Miku, as well as something else - bits of blood.

Though terrified by what just happened, Miku stood up and ran after the creature, trying to make out it's silhouette in the sky, but something was off. With a pained roar, the creature plummeted right back onto the ground further from Miku, causing the ground beneath her feet to shake upon impact.

Miku thought about running, but how could she? She was the only one here and she'd never forgive herself if she didn't try to find out about what the hell was happening. This could all be a dream for all she knew. She put her coat back on and started to run towards the struggling being.

Miku had to be careful as she drew closer. The creature was moving around franctically and slamming its tail onto the ground violently whilst getting back up, but falling again because of having stood on one of its own wings. As it wriggled around desperately, more blood continued to stream down from somewhere around her back. All rationality was suddenly gone, Miku could only think of wanting to help the poor creature. She ran over, grabbed the head of the large being and held it as close to her body as she could, as she had no idea what else she could've done in the situation she managed to get herself into.

What am I doing? What am I doing!?

To her surprise, Miku managed to hold onto the desperate creature. Opening her eyes which were squeezed shut until now, she eyed the being, who was remarkably calmer.

In the dead of night, sitting in a forest and not daring to let go of the beast, she couldn't even hear her own heavy breathing as the creature beside her gasped for air, so much so that those breaths Miku felt on her body seemed comparable to wind. The feathers of the beast moved along with the creature's deep breaths, all ruffled up and swaying in a satisfying manner as a breeze continued to graze them. Miku couldn't believe that this thing had been a human just a few minutes ago. Thinking about this, Miku had to try something.

"You okay?"

No answer. Then again, how was it going to talk with half a beak for a mouth?

"Do you understand me? At all?"

Still no response. Miku came to the conclusion that this thing didn't understand anything despite what she had hoped. Miku came to another conclusion as well - this was a dragon. It still reminded her of a Griffon, but the general body, tail and wings had a very dragon-esc vibe to them. This thought alone made another shiver go down her spine.

Regaining focus however, the tealette realized the 'dragon' had closed its eyes, its breaths much slower and quieter now.

Sighing deeply, the reality of the situation came crashing back in. It was past midnight, Miku had just managed to save a woman from drowning and now there was a dragon resting its head in her lap.

She had just saved a woman from drowning and now there was a dragon.

A dragon.

It kept repeating over and over again in her head. A dragon!? Miku was certain at this point, that this was not a dream, but how could it not be? There was a dragon in her lap!

She carefully set the creature's head on the soft grass below, as it seemed to be sound asleep now. Having done that, the tealette quietly walked over to where the wound was. Thankfully the beast wasn't resting on its bad side. Examining the wound which fortunately wasn't bleeding as much anymore, Miku tried her best to figure out what the best course of action would be. The dragon must've been exhausted to have managed to fall asleep with that big of a gash in its body, but it'd probably wake up if Miku poked at it even slightly. The feathers covered everything, but judging by the blood Miku knew the wound was big, way too big for her to be able to patch up, not with what she had right now anyway. If only this thing was still human...

Eventually Miku gave up on trying to think of another solution as she really didn't have a choice. She took off her coat, shivering immediately in the cold night air, and put it up against the gash as gently as humanly possible so as to not wake the sleeping dragon. Seeing or hearing no change in the creature's breathing, she pressed the coat against the injured area bit by bit until deciding that it was enough. This was barely going to help the dragon, but it somewhat helped to stop the bleeding and at the very least Miku felt like she had done all she could do.

What now? Would she just go home now? Would she really give up her coat, even if it seemed so unimportant considering the situation she was in? Coming up with an idea, she picked up her phone which she had set on the ground when taking off her coat once more.

She went ahead and dialed "911" but didn't press the call button. Suddenly, it seemed like a very bad idea. It's not like she'd get into trouble, but what would they do with this thing? There was no way the situation would end well for the dragon. At the same time... Miku wouldn't really be able to give this thing the help it needed, unless it transformed back into a human, but still she didn't trust anyone else to do it either.

With a sorrowful expression, she closed her phone and set it back onto the ground. She herself laying down relatively close to the dragon since that was the only way she could keep herself warm for the night.

Why was she staying the night? With a dragon no less?

She didn't know.