Nero awoke cloaked in the soft, familiar covers of his bed in the cabin near the edge of the village of Raywyn, groaning as the first bright rays of dawn pierced his shut eyelids. Blinking his dark blue-gray eyes and squinting awake, he groggily rolled out of bed and quickly got dressed into black leather hunting pants and a black t-shirt, and pulled his soft gray hoodie over his head. Strapping his wicked curved battle axe and his quiver to his back and grabbing his sleek black bow, he hurried downstairs where he quickly ate his breakfast of bacon, eggs, and milk, all obtained from local farmers. Today, he would need his strength, for today Nero was going on a hunting trip. Maybe he would also find some treasures along the way, or something of value. You never knew what you would find as far out in the woods as he was planning on going today, nearly to the mountains in search of game and riches if he happened upon them. He was eager, yet anxious to get on the road. When he finished, before the sun even began to peek over the horizon and streak the sky with the blood-red and fire-orange of dawn over the great expanse of forest and mountain range beyond, Nero left the cabin and headed East - Northeast, off into the deep expanse of forest that bordered the village on three sides, the third side opening to the open plains that, if traveled through, led to the other villages closer to the Royal City of Valhollow, which bordered the ocean port village of Merrimead. The soft warm breeze of summer blew Nero's slightly messy pitch black hair into his eyes and made it stick out in a few odd directions due mostly to his bed-head. He hadn't bothered to brush it, and was content to just run his fingers through it to tame it temporarily. He was one of the main providers of game for the village, and only kept what was necessary for himself. Raywyn was a medium to small village, at least in comparison to the grand villages and cities closer to the capitol, but Nero was still often gone on long hunting trips for days on end, four or five days at the most, to provide for his home-village, for he traveled where most hunters of their village did not. Nero would be heading out on one of these long hunting trips today; it would take one and half to two days at the least if he was even somewhat successful.
When the sun was halfway to the highest point in the sky, Nero caught up with a couple of does he had tracked through the denser part of the forest. Cautiously lowering himself into a crouch, and careful no to snap any twigs as he inched closer, he quickly and silently strung his bow and notched an arrow. Breathing evenly and holding the bow steady, he pulled the notched arrow back until it was even with his chin, aimed at the doe's heart so it would be a clean and instant kill, and let loose the arrow. It whistled through the air and hit its mark, felling the deer in an instant. As the other doe fled, Nero walked over to the dead deer and bent down to retrieve the arrow out of the doe's still chest. As he did so, a ruby-red glint pierced his peripheral vision and nearly blinded him. He blinked and followed the glint of the object, but instead of a ruby or gem as he would expect from such a luminous object, he found a large, oblong stone only a few feet from where his outstretched hand was. Narrowing his eyes in thoughtful curiosity, he bent down and picked the object up, and almost dropped it as he shockingly discovered the radiant warmth it seemed to give off from within. What the hell kind of a stone is this? he thought, cradling the heavy object in both his hands, as it was too big to hold one-handed. It seemed to hum beneath his fingertips, as if it was a great source of energy and power. Something within him, maybe it was instinct, told him that it wasn't just a regular stone, or maybe not a stone at all. He was just about to stuff the object into his hoodie pocket so he could take it back to the village and try to see if someone there knew what it was, it hummed with a new intensity in his hands. He gazed down at it, mesmerized, yet fearful of what strange magic might have enchanted it, when something within it seemed to move and shift, and in the next second there was a sharp cracking noise and a small hole appeared on the surface of the stone, and a small snout appeared. His stormy blue-gray eyes widening, he carefully and gently set the stone down, which he now realized was an egg, but of what he was not sure. He stepped back as the egg cracked again, his felled deer almost completely forgotten. As a third ear-splitting crack echoed off the tall, thick trees around him and Nero stood there dumbfounded, trying to make reason of all this in his mind, the exotic stone exploded into a thousand pieces of flaming-red ruby shell and a creature even more vibrant and flaming-red than its abandoned encasing emerged and blinked its intelligent and mischievous emerald eyes up at him.
Dragon. Something seemed to whisper to him in the back of his mind. But thats impossible. The last of those creatures died out ages ago, if those stories are even true. But what sat blinking up at him was unlike anything he'd ever seen, and even as his brain actively tried to deny it, he could not deny the identity of the majestic being that was standing before him. A million questions followed this revelation, swirling through his head like the sounds of a battlefield, but they were cut off as quickly as they came as a presence entered his mind.
Hello. it said, its voice young, soothing, and distinctly female. I am Khothara. Her vibrant, sparking green eyes gazed up at him as she tilted her head in friendly greeting.
Nero was stunned to silence, and after a moment of shock he regained his composure and met her gaze. He felt a pull in his heart towards this dragon that he'd never felt for any other creature, and it was strange, and new, and yet he never wanted this linked feeling to end. He crouched down and held out a hand, purely out of instinct and curiosity, and Khothara gently stretched out her elegant neck and nuzzled her ruby-red muzzle against the palm of his outstretched hand.
....Nero. I'm Nero. he murmured.
