Snow Shoes and Dragons

Teras returned a little later carrying the wood and thick bark I needed to craft the shoes. He landed a little awkwardly on three legs and carefully sat the materials down in front of me, then settled back on his haunches to watch curiously.
I looked over the wood and bark he had gathered up. “This will do fine, Teras. Thank you.”
He bobbed his head and watched as I set to cutting strips of bark and weaving them into a lattice, then bending and binding the wood around them with some of the rope that I purchased in Frostford.
It took me well into the afternoon to finish and rig up some straps to hold the shoes to my boots, the dragon watching me the entire time, cocking his head this way and that, sometimes peering closer and even sniffing a little.
“Those help?” he asked, sounding puzzled.
“They should.”
He shook his head “How?”
“They spread out my weight on the snow so I don’t sink down,” I told him as I carefully stood up and took a few experimental steps. The shoes were not the nicest I had ever made but I figured they would hold together long enough to get me to the next town where I could either purchase some or get materials to improve the ones I had cobbled together.
The shoes held decently well but it was going to be slow going no matter. After a few more steps and adjustments I made my way over to the tent and packed it up. Then looked up at Teras. “I suppose we should set out.”
He cocked his head head, then nodded. “Yes. You know the way?”
“More or less. The road is marked with large stones that should stick up above the snow,” I said as I started back towards the road we had abandoned the day before, the dragon mincing his way through the snow, not seeming to have much trouble with it.

It was slow going but we made our way down the road, keeping the stones in line with each other to insure we weren’t getting off the path. Teras would occasionally take flight to insure I was on track as well as keeping a lookout for the men who stole his son or other travelers he would need to avoid.
I didn’t want to think about what would happen if he were discovered close to human settlements or, even worse, walking along with one of the white sisterhood. They would likely think he had kidnapped me and would try to kill him to free me from his clutches.
The closer we came to human settlements the greater the risk of discovery. I shook my head; there was no need to hash it over in my mind again. I could only pray the Maker was watching over this foolish sister and what she was doing.
Dusk was setting on rapidly and I looked up, trying to catch sight of the dragon but to no avail. I shrugged, hoping he would return soon and set out looking for a place to camp, hoping to find a place where the winds had cleared enough of the snow away that I wouldn’t be forced to camp on top of it.
I heard the sound of dragon wings approaching and turned to see Teras backwinging in for a landing. I found myself pausing to watch him as he dropped easily from the sky and admiring the grace with which he flew and landed. I gave myself a shake. I wasn’t supposed to be thinking like this…
But then I wasn’t supposed to be doing what I was doing either: helping a dragon. I shook my head again and walked towards him to distract myself. A little voice inside said that I’d have to deal with these thoughts and feelings and my actions sooner or later.
I quickly silenced that voice.
Teras lowered his head and looked me over as he had done each time he left, as if making sure I wasn’t bleeding or freezing to death. I started to snap at him but stopped. He was only worried for me, I told myself, and that was hardly a bad thing. There was no need to scold him for it.
“I need to find a place to camp for the night, Teras.”
He bobbed his head. “I thought you would so I stayed out to find a place. There is hut not too far. I think you can walk there,” he said, ears coming up.
“That sounds fine, Teras; lead on.”
His ears perked further and he held his head up proudly as he walked though the snow, pushing his way though the trees and occasionally stopping to hold some back for me so I could walk though more easily. I patted him on his flank as I walked past in thanks.
The hut was a woodcutters shack that had been closed up for the winter. I hesitated, not wanting to break in to someones hut, but at the same time camping in the snow was not an appealing thought. I shrugged and undid the latch to the door. I reasoned if I left the place in good shape and didn’t take too many supplies it would be fine. Surely whoever owned it wouldn’t begrudge a Sister hospitality as it was tradition to grant it to us.
The inside was tidy, consisting of two small rooms, one with a bed, the other with the fireplace and other supplies that were stacked along the walls and hung from the ceiling with very little wasted space. I quickly went to the fire and pulled some wood off the stack then turned poke my head out the door where the dragon was standing.
“Teras, could you look at the top of that chimney and remove the cover if there is one?”
He looked up at the chimney, considering. “The pile of rocks?”
“Yes, it carries the smoke away from the fireplace.”
He bobbed his head and padded over, looking up at the top, then reared up on his hind legs to peer at the top of the chimney. I quickly turned away and went back to the fireplace.
“Is there anything there?” I called into it.
“Rock. Move it?”
“Yes, please.”
I head the sound of a rock shifting and could see a little more light coming down. “Thank you, Teras. Step back, I’m going to light the fire.” I heard him drop down to all fours and held out my staff to light the logs.
The sprang to life and started burning merrily, providing light to push back the fading light of day. I smiled at the feeling of warmth coming from the fire place. This night would surely be better and warmer than the previous!
My mind flicked back to waking up in the arms of the dragon. I shuddered and quickly started to go over the foodstuffs left behind to see what was available. I found corn meal, dried roots, and several other things that would make for a very satisfying meal.
I set out to prepare the food, humming softly to myself, when I heard Teras outside the door. I went over to open it to find him standing there with a paw half suspended in the air as if he were about to scratch at the door but was uncertain if he should do so. He quickly lowered it and looked away.
“Yes, Teras?”
He looked up at me ears down. “The door was shut. I was not sure what I should do.”
“What did you need?”
His head drooped further. “Nothing,” he mumbled. “Just wanted to see.”
“Oh,” I said, feeling a little confused. “Well, there’s not much to see in here. I’m just fixing food. I’ll make some tea and you can have some with me if you like.”
The dragon instantly lifted his head, his ears perking up. “That would be nice.”
“Ok, Teras, give me a moment to get it ready,” I said and turned to shut the door then stopped at the quiet sound of the dragon whimpering. I almost told him to stop but hesitated a moment. “Would you like it if I left the door open so you can lay your head inside?”
“Yes,” he said, brightening, and carefully put his head through the door and lay it down to watch as I prepared the food.
I put the water on to boil for the tea and prepared a meal using the food I had found, again softly humming to myself. Once everything was cooking I glanced over at Teras who was watching the whole thing in rapt fascination. “The tea will be ready soon,” I told him.
He lifted his head and nodded then set it back down to simply watch me. The observation made me nervous. Why did he have to watch every move that I made? I supposed it was just curiosity but did he have to stare so? I nearly asked him to stop but hesitated, thinking back to how he’d reacted each time I had told him to stay away or yelled at him for getting close.
Just having the door shut between us upset the dragon for reasons I didn’t understand. It seemed as if the moment I was out of sight he became worried and started to fret. Each time he returned from flying he looked me over as if afraid that I’d been hurt.
Or was scared that I’d abandon him.
A part of me grew angry at the thought. After all this how dare he think such a thing! I left my comfortable home and agreed to chase after men who were likely dangerous, how dare he think that I would just up and leave! Why in the world was he so…attached to me?
But then he had lost his mate and child. I was starting to suspect that he has also lost whatever family he had as well, something that I would never have considered mere days ago.
Perhaps I was really the only person he had in the world to rely on or have some sort of companionship with.
Oh, Maker, why did you place me in this situation?