Disclaimer: I can wish all I want, but I don't own them. If I did, we would have more episodes.

Chapter 13: Such As It Ends

He was…gone.

Jane sat down on her bed, pressing her head into her hands as she tried to come up with one other possible place in which the reptile could be, although it was very difficult to think with that odd snoring from overhead.

Hold on a minute…odd snoring?

Within a few seconds, Jane was nothing more than a blur of red traveling up the tower stairs at almost unheard of speed. It seemed to take an agonizing amount of time for her to push open the trapdoor-like coverings that kept things like rain and snow out of the tower. And, as soon as she made it up to the flagstones, Jane was immediately met with a wonderfully familiar sight; Dragon, fast asleep on the flagstones that made up the roof of her tower.

Stumbling a little in pure relief, Jane walked over to her friend's side, faintly aware of the fact that the jar Atwood had given her was still clasped in her hand. Resting on her knees, she knelt beside his head.

"Dragon?" She asked quietly, wondering for a moment whether or not he'd open his eyes at all.

Contrary to her worries, the reptile let out a sleep-garbled murmur before his eyes opened, sleepily lazing around before they focused on her.

"'Lo Coppertop." Then they zeroed in on the jar in her hands. "Not again."

"Last one, I promise."

With a convulsive shudder, the medicine slid down his throat, a bit too slowly for his liking.

"That had better be it…"

Ignoring the grumble, Jane pressed on to the more prominent thought in her mind.

"How did you even get up here?"

There was a brief pause while Dragon dozily contemplated his answer.

"Not entirely certain." He replied with a yawn, head lying back on the stone. In a minute, he was snoring. Jane looked on for a moment, before sitting down next to the lightly snoring green head.

If there was one thing she could say for certain about Dragon, it was that he was full of surprises.

A Week Later:

Dragon's eyes drifted sleepily open as the sunlight shone into his cave. Yawning and stretching, he sauntered leisurely toward his cave entrance. Wings stretched, catching the wind as the grass green reptile lifted off into the air. Flipping and soaring carelessly through the early morning air, he drifted under a flock of geese. Grinning mischievously, the fire-breather beat his wings with renewed vigor, shooting up into the group with a mock-roar.

Laughing at their frightened squawks, Dragon rolled in midair with child-like merriment. Ah, the joys in the simple things in life.

Before he knew it, the familiar stone walls of the castle became apparent on the ground below. Swooping down, he began to holler with all the volume of an announcer at a football game.

"Jane, Jane!!"

His grin increased in size when he saw the familiar flair of red in the practice field; his grin also faded a bit once he realized that his intended landing was hurtling out of control, quite literally. Giving a yelp as he crashed into the wall, he was vaguely aware of barrels rolling on either side before rolling over from the sprawled position on his back.

"Must remember, tail up, claws down." He said to himself, flicking his tail thoughtfully. "Must allow for my tailwind."

Jane, meanwhile, was discussing the damages with a slightly peeved Smithy. His irk was understandable, since the knights had been exiled for their crimes, he was handling a substantial part of the labor services of the castle. However, it wasn't where the bulk of Dragon's attention was at the time; he was currently using a small part of the wood that was to be used for the knight's test as a toothpick.

"Sorry, Smithy, I shall, we shall, tidy this mess up." Jane compensated, turning to the preoccupied reptile with a stern stance, but there was an almost impish glint in the green eyes that was missed.

"What mess?" Dragon asked innocently.

Jane's fingers flitting over sensitive scales was the response. The reptile instantaneously wound up on the ground, laughing and shrieking 'I will, I will' over and over with hysterical vigor in hopes it would get his friend to cease the ticklish torture. Smithy, in the meantime, had already begun picking up the wayward barrels.

"I can take care of this, Jane. You have patrol to do."

Which effectively reminded Dragon of the reason he was here.

"Come on, let's go!" He crowed as he flipped back over, sending a barrel spinning in the process. Jane hurriedly mounted, and was just about to give the fire-breather the green light when a small purple short-life darted out with a happy sounding cry.

"Jane! Jane! Let's play! You can be the damsel in distress, and I'll be the knight come to save you!" Princess Lavinia motioned a sword jab with her hands, excited by the child's fun of make-believe.

"Sorry, I would love to play, princess, but-." Jane started, but the persistent child cut her off.

"You can wear my pretty jewelry and everything."

"Oh, wonderful, but duty calls!" The redheaded squire excused, just as Dragon's eagerness to be back in the air reached a peak. Surging forward, the reptile launched himself from the wall to the sky, whooping with his 'Coppertop' as they flew into the bright morning-blue yonder.

So, finally done. My first chapter story done...feels exhilarating...^^.

You know the drill, people. Hope you enjoyed. And if not, you can make your own version. I wouldn't mind.

Though I'll be giving any flames to Dragon for firewood; caves are cold in the wintertime.