mystery of the red dragon

"Dad! Dad!" a child Cookie exclaimed as he rushed into a cave His vibrant hot pink and green clothing stood out against the drab walls. "Something amazing happened today!"

"Oh?" a second Cookie turned around. He had flaming hair and red eyes. It was undoubtedly Fire Spirit. "Care to tell me, Dragonfruit?"

"Well, you see, I was watching some other kids play chase!" Dragonfruit explained. "And- and-"

He stopped to catch his breath.

"Go on..."

"And it was scary, since I was sitting in a tree and I was about to fall!" Dragonfruit imitated a falling motion and waved his small arms around.

"Oh dear, what happened? Did you get hurt?"

"No, not at all! Right when I slipped off the branch, I felt two things on my back and they were wings! They saved me from falling and none of the kids noticed me!"

"Hm. That is quite an interesting story. Can you show me your wings?"

"Of course, Papa!"

Dragonfruit turned around to show Fire Spirit his new pair of wings. Sure enough, there were two small wings sticking out from his back that looked extremely close to dragon wings.

Enthusiastically, the child turned back around and jumped up and down, "Now you don't have to carry me when we go on flights! I can fly next to you!"

Fire Spirit patted Dragonfruit on the head.

"That must have been quite an experience, kid," he smiled. "But try not to let anyone notice you."

Dragonfruit's smile faded into a small frown.

"Why do I have to keep myself hidden?" he asked. "Why can't you and I live with the other Cookies? I want to play with the other kids too!"

The older Cookie sighed and lifted the kid up, sitting him down on a rock.

"You see, kid, I'm a fire spirit," Fire Spirit. "If I'm not too careful, I can burn things easily. It's even a bit hard for me to control my hair from burning the things above me."

He made a motion towards the exit of the cave.

"Besides, if you ever went out, you might get in danger," the spirit continued. "The same Cookie who killed your mother might hurt you as well."

Pouting a little, Dragonfruit asked no further questions about the topic. But still, he turned to face Fire Spirit and asked, "Since I told you a story, can you tell me a story, too?"

Smiling, he carried Dragonfruit up and started, "A long time ago, I was assigned to guard your mother from any sort of hunters or warriors. She lived in this hot, volcanic area."

Eyes filled with interest, Dragonfruit listened closely to the story.

"I did a very good job at driving the others away," the Cookie continued. "Nobody ever dared to step foot in the Dragon's Valley."

Looking up at the ceiling, as if to recall the past events, he said, "But one day, when I was called to meeting, a knight from the Cookie Kingdom cake over and killed your mother. Your other siblings, who were too weak to fight back, got taken back to the Kingdom. You were the only one left because he didn't see you."

Dragonfruit shivered at the thought of his mom being killed and his siblings being taken away. He felt lucky that he had been so small.

"And when I came back, I realized what happened. So I promised myself to raise you because that's what your mother would have wanted. And you grew into what you were today."

The ending, despite the sad ending for his family, felt warm to Dragonfruit. He was glad that he got taken in by someone willing to take care of him.

"Today has been a long day for us both, so why don't we get some rest?" Fire Spirit suggested, placing Dragonfruit on his "bed" made of soft leather and grass.

"Yeah, I think I should sleep," Dragonfruit agreed, yawning. "I need energy for more adventures tomorrow!"

"Goodnight, Dragonfruit."

"Goodnight, Dad!"

And the child closed his eyes and began to sleep. However, the other couldn't.

So it's already started, he thought glumly. He stared at a small, sharp tooth poking out from Dragonfruit's mouth. Hopefully, Knight won't realize and come back to finish the job...

With that, he tried his best and fell asleep as well.