Tales of The Mighty Dragonair

"That's not the rule, but this time is different," John said and Arthur got his meaning.

"So?" Arthur asked again, "what can we do?"

"We… sigh, we can't go all alone without getting caught."

"We can wait here then," Arthur said and when John gave him a stern glance he added, "or take them with us."

"No, we better try out our luck instead," John said before adding, "let's rest tomorrow and move the day after."

He put a small piece of red fruit with luster inside his mouth before stretching his body over the ground and closed his eyes.

And Arthur stood there helplessly looking at him. "You are stubborn," he couldn't help but say.

"I'm just trying to survive, that's all," John said without opening his eyes, "I took an oath to myself not to return to such a place ever again. If I get caught, I'm ready to die and not return there."

And Arthur gave him a weirder glance before shaking his head and returning to his spot of training.

"So you can speak to me?" he muttered while gazing at the horse as he passed beside him. And the horse simply returned the glance with another calm one. 

"Hopefully you decide to tell me your story or else I'll have to leave you all alone here." 

"Neigh!" and the horse seemed to be more stubborn than his friend.

Arthur didn't start his training before leaving enough fruit for the two horses beside them. "No need to thank me," he said before heading to his spot and the horse neighed in response.

"Damn you two," and he only muttered before closing up his eyes and starting his training.

For the next two days Arthur did nothing but train and eat fruits whenever he felt hungry. Other than this he didn't speak with John again, as the latter was secluding himself, trying to train.

Arthur once stopped to watch him training. He only stood silent for a few minutes while closing his eyes before starting to move his hands and legs like he was fighting with them.

"Pathetic," this way didn't appeal to Arthur who found his own way much better than this. 

The only thing that happened during these days was for the female horse to wake up. She seemed a bit weak, but at least her life wasn't in any danger.

And that made the male horse more grateful to Arthur as he kept nodding to him whenever he passed by the two lovers.

"You should abandon your silence and speak to me as gratitude," Arthur said every time the horse nodded to him, yet the horse only kept neighing and feigning ignorance.

If not for the firm words of John, Arthur would have bought this brilliant act from the horse.

As for the female, she kept her silence and evaded glancing or reacting to his words.

"We should move today."

Just as he was taking moments of rest and eating beside the silent horses, John suddenly spoke for the first time in days. "We need to go out while it's still dark."

"Still planning to leave them here?" Arthur couldn't help but ask.

"Too risk to take these bombs without knowing what we are going to face," John glanced at the horses, "if they just spoke and told us everything we need, then we might have decided to take them with us."

"Let me try one last time," Arthur didn't abandon the hope to get these two horses with them while running away. After all, the speed of those giant horses was something that couldn't be compared with any human speed.

Even after accumulating all this energy inside his body, Arthur knew he still had a little distance left for him to walk before finally being able to train again.

"C'mon pal," he stood in front of the two horses while addressing the male one, "I'm going out and my friend here refuses to take you with me. I need info, I need intel, I need to know what really happened and what caused that deep wound from before."

"Neigh!"

His horse kept his fake performance and that made Arthur glance in silence to him for a few minutes, hoping he would change his mind.

"Just forget it," John's loud voice came from behind, "these horses are famous for their stubbornness to any outsider."

"But I saved his girl's life," Arthur said, "I saved his kids' lives, and I deserve not to be treated like an outsider."

He kept standing for a few more minutes and just before he would drop everything and leave, the horse suddenly moved.

This time he moved like a human, on two legs while raising the other two high in the air. Standing before such a giant horse in such a position made Arthur quite restless.

Then the horse dropped something in his hand from his right raised hoof. It was a ring, and Arthur glanced strangely at it before glancing at the horse again.

Couple seconds ago that horse didn't have anything in his hooves.

"Look for its owner, and she will help," a deep voice suddenly came to startle Arthur before the horse returned to his normal state and walked on four again.

"You… spoke!" Arthur was speechless for a moment before nodding as he wore the ring and tried to delve deeply inside it.

Yet he was faced with strange resistance that told him the owner of that ring was still alive.

"It's not our fight," John grabbed his hand and started to leave the cave in wide steps, "and if I were you I would better throw that ring away… it's too eye-catching to carry around."

Arthur glanced at it and found that big middle pink ore in the ring very special. It had vague small writings and it was surrounded by a group of five golden smaller ores like they were guarding it.

"I'll store it away," he agreed with John's opinion about this ring… it was truly too eye-catching.