Like a Hawk
I woke up because of the weight pressing down on my chest.
At first I thought the blanket had bunched up.
I must have grabbed it in my sleep and pulled it tight.
But the weight had warmth.
And it was breathing too.
Phew.
Kek.
Puf.
I frowned without opening my eyes.
That sound carried a memory.
The awkward, hot breath I’d heard last night from inside the box beside my bed.
The way the wingless lizard held its breath when eating or when dust got in its throat.
“…Alduin?”
“Kruk.”
The answer came right above me.
I slowly opened my eyes.
Golden pupils hovered right in front of my face.
Black scales.
Small white horns.
A longer snout.
And the head looked much bigger than yesterday.
Alduin had his front paws tucked under his chin and was resting his face on my chest like he’d found the world’s best pillow.
“….”
“Kruk.”
He let out a satisfied sound.
A low rumble rose from inside his throat and traveled through my chest.
I was left speechless for a moment.
I’d grown used to the fact that this body belonged to a woman.
The chest was the problem.
It had grown unnecessarily full.
My waist was slim, my limbs pale, and my face was impossible to ignore even in the mirror.
And the chest had grown too.
It felt heavy when I moved, uncomfortable when I slept wrong, and annoying when I ran.
Yet this morning Alduin was treating the very spot that had always bothered me like the softest nest.
He’d buried his small head deep, grabbed my shirt with both front paws, and let his tail hang down under the blanket.
“…Hey.”
“Kruk?”
“Is it comfortable?”
Alduin didn’t lift his head.
Instead he pressed his chin a little harder.
Puff.
“….”
I stared at the ceiling.
There were so many things I wanted to say.
But if I said them all out loud I’d only feel more pathetic.
“Don’t treat my body like a bed.”
“Kruk.”
“Why does the answer always sound so satisfied?”
Alduin narrowed his eyes.
The tip of his tail slowly wagged under the blanket.
Swish.
Swish.
It was a clear “happy” signal.
I pushed his body away with both hands.
Yesterday the whole thing would have fit inside my two palms.
Now my arms felt the strain.
Beneath the scales I could feel hardened muscle, and his body had grown to about the size of a well-fed middle-sized puppy.
“Not a small puppy. Close to a decent-sized one.”
“Heavy.”
“Kr?”
“Get down.”
“Kruk.”
“Don’t make that face.”
Alduin looked at me with an aggrieved expression.
Yet he showed no sign of wanting to leave my chest.
His front paws clutched my collar even tighter.
The claws were small, but they caught on the fabric enough to pull.
“My clothes are going to tear.”
“Kruk…”
“Don’t give me that look like I stole your good spot.”
In the end I lifted Alduin with both arms.
He was hot.
Warmer than last night.
If I held my palm against him I could feel him heating up fast.
He drooped his body in my hands like he was showing just how sorry he was.
“I only held you in my palm yesterday.”
“Kruk.”
“Why did you grow so much in just one night?”
“Kr?”
“I must be an idiot for asking you.”
I set Alduin down on the floor with a thump.
The floorboards creaked faintly.
Alduin landed on all four feet.
Yesterday he’d been stuck in the pit and couldn’t even flip himself over properly.
Now he stood steadily.
His legs, which I’d thought were short, had grown a little longer.
His claws looked sharper.
His wings, which had been drooping, were folded tightly on his back.
The membrane that used to hide one wing was now as wide as my forearm.
A faint red line shimmered between the black membranes.
“….”
I glanced at the bed.
The wooden box I’d made yesterday had burst open.
The lid gaped on both sides and the old cloth I’d used as bedding lay crumpled on the floor.
The stones I’d placed to prevent the fire from spreading lay scattered.
Overnight he’d grown so much that he’d pushed the box away.
Alduin had crawled out, climbed onto the bed, and fallen asleep on my chest like it was the best pillow in the world.
“Pay for the box.”
“Kr?”
“What do you know?”
I rubbed my face.
A strand of silver hair caught on my fingertips.
It had loosened during the night and spread across the blanket.
Alduin’s golden eyes followed the strand.
He kept mistaking it for food.
I sat up from the bed and tied my hair up higher than yesterday.
High enough that Alduin’s snout couldn’t reach.
“No more hair access from today.”
“Kruk.”
“Just answer properly.”
Alduin sat obediently and stared at me.
A puppy-sized dragon looking up at me felt strangely weird.
A black-scaled puppy.
A fire-breathing puppy.
A horned puppy.
And maybe someday the puppy that could burn a city.
“So tomorrow he’ll turn into a wolf, huh?”
“Kruk.”
“I wish you’d deny it.”
Alduin wagged his tail.
Thud.
Thud.
Thud.
The floorboards shook.
“The house will break!”
His tail stopped.
I froze.
“Did you just understand that?”
“Kruk.”
“Why do you sound so calm?”
He tilted his head.
His golden eyes widened.
I gave up and stopped asking.
I didn’t know whether the existence of dragons in this world normally had this level of intelligence or if Alduin was just special.
Originally I’d been transported into the Biography of Lord Eyaje.
Dragons didn’t even appear in the setting book, the main story, or any side story I remembered.
Yet the creature that had been missing from the world had turned into a puppy overnight inside my cabin.
And he was happily using my newly female chest as a pillow.
This world was clearly just toying with me.
Gurgle.
My stomach growled.
This time it wasn’t Alduin.
It was my own belly.
Alduin immediately looked at my stomach.
“Don’t stare.”
“Kr?”
“Even people can get hungry.”
He looked at my face again.
He wore a strangely worried expression.
It seemed he’d translated the growl in my belly into his own language.
When he’d cried because he was hungry last night and I’d fed him, he must have taken the same situation to heart.
“I’ll eat by myself.”
“Kruk.”
“Don’t give me that look.”
I went to the kitchen.
I checked the food supply.
The dried meat had visibly decreased.
Almost a whole loaf of hard bread had vanished.
Two boiled potatoes remained.
Dried berries amounted to about the size of my palm.
There was plenty of water, but I couldn’t live on water alone.
Thinking about how much Alduin had eaten yesterday, the supplies would run out even faster today.
His body had grown, so his appetite would have grown too.
I lifted the bag of dried meat.
It was light.
“I’m doomed.”
“Kr?”
“It’s your problem.”
Alduin sat at the entrance to the kitchen.
Thankfully he hadn’t climbed onto the table.
Because his body had grown, he must have sensed intuitively that the table was too small for him to sit on.
I sliced a little of the dried meat.
I couldn’t give him all of it.
I had to eat some too.
“Breakfast is only a little.”
“Kruk.”
“Don’t cry just because.”
Alduin stared at the meat chunks.
His eyes sparkled.
I demonstrated the breath-holding trick I’d shown him yesterday.
“Hold it.”
Alduin copied me immediately.
His small chest puffed up.
His cheeks puffed slightly and the inner glow in his throat quivered.
Much faster than yesterday.
“Good.”
I put a meat chunk in his mouth.
Gulp.
Gulp.
He swallowed.
No flames came out.
“Oh.”
“Kruk!”
“Close your mouth.”
Alduin hurriedly shut his mouth.
A wisp of smoke leaked from his nostrils.
Puff.
At least he hadn’t burned the plate like yesterday.
“He’s improving.”
His tail wagged.
Thud.
Thud.
“Careful.”
His tail stopped moving cautiously.
I gave him another meat chunk.
This time he held his breath too.
After swallowing he looked at me with his mouth closed.
A face that wanted praise.
“Well done.”
“Kruk.”
“Even if you’re amazing, only three pieces.”
“Kr?”
I fed him the third chunk and dusted my hands.
“Done.”
Alduin looked at his empty hands.
Then he looked at the meat bag.
I placed the bag on the high shelf.
Alduin’s eyes followed the shelf upward.
“Don’t look. Today I’m going to hunt.”
“Kr?”
“Hunt.”
I glanced at the bow I’d leaned against the wall.
It was something I’d brought from the cabin.
I didn’t know whether it had belonged to original Lakia or the previous owner of this house.
I’d practiced for a few days.
The result had been terrible.
The arrows hadn’t even grazed the wood.
The rabbits had run away the moment they heard my footsteps.
The squirrels had been shaking their tails on the branches.
I’d set a few traps too, but whether I’d get meat today depended on pure luck.
Still, I couldn’t just sit and starve.
“I’ll go out and come back. Stay home and guard the place.”
“Kruk.”
“If you follow me, it’ll start a forest fire.”
“Kr?”
“Don’t give me that aggrieved face.”
I put on my outer robe.
I slung the bow and arrows over my shoulder and tucked my dagger at my waist.
Alduin leaped up at once.
Thump.
“You stay inside.”
“Kruk.”
“Inside.”
I pointed at the cabin floor with my finger.
“Here.”
Then I pointed at myself.
“I’m outside.”
Alduin looked back and forth between me and the floor.
He seemed to be thinking.
After a moment he came over to me.
Thump.
Thump.
“No, I didn’t mean go with you.”
“Kruk.”
He was already standing at the door.
Ahead of me.
Tail wagging.
“….”
I’d lost to that look yesterday.
I was going to lose today too.
I gripped the doorknob and held on for a long time.
Alduin looked up at me quietly.
The bigger his eyes had become, the fuller his expectations were.
He looked like he thought we could go out together if I opened the door.
“Only up to the door.”
“Kruk!”
“Quiet. You’ll scare the animals away.”
I opened the door.
The morning forest air rushed in.
The scent of damp earth.
The scent of dew on the grass.
The scent of wood that had cooled overnight.
Alduin raised his nose.
Sniff.
Sniff sniff.
At that moment his mood changed.
His golden pupils narrowed.
His voice lowered.
His tail wagged slowly.
The face of the young beast that had been staring at the meat bag vanished, replaced by the face of a hunter reading the forest.
“What did you smell?”
Alduin didn’t answer.
He took one step forward.
His claws pressed into the dirt.
Leaves rustled quietly.
He lowered his body, tilted his head, and moved the membrane that looked like an ear.
“Alduin?”
He looked into the forest and then ran.
“Hey!”
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
Faster than I expected.
I’d underestimated him because of his puppy-sized body.
His speed with four legs was too much for me to catch.
His black body flashed between the trees.
His folded wings fluttered behind him and his long tail swept the fallen leaves.
I followed him, bow in hand.
“Stop!”
“Kruk!”
“Stop!”
Alduin didn’t stop.
He leaped straight toward a bush.
Rustle.
Crack.
A small gray-furred animal darted out.
A rabbit.
The forest rabbit pricked its ears and bolted to the opposite side.
I raised my bow.
Before I could even nock the arrow Alduin kicked the ground.
His short legs shot out in front of me.
His body slid low.
His mouth opened.
My heart dropped.
“Don’t breathe fire!”
Whoosh.
A small flame brushed the rabbit’s side.
The rabbit twisted in surprise.
In that instant Alduin pounced.
Thud.
His front paws slammed the rabbit down.
The rabbit thrashed briefly.
Alduin lowered his snout.
It looked like he was biting the nape.
Soon the movement stopped.
I arrived late.
My breath was ragged.
“Hah… hah…”
Alduin held the rabbit in his mouth.
A drop of blood clung to his lip.
With his black scales and golden eyes the sight looked even more dragon-like than yesterday.
At the same time he looked like a puppy bringing its catch back to its master.
“…You.”
“Kruk.”
His pronunciation was muffled by the rabbit.
Alduin opened his mouth to bite the rabbit again.
I immediately raised my hand.
“Wait.”
He stopped.
“Did you catch it to eat?”
“Kr?”
Alduin looked at the rabbit.
Then at my belly.
Then back at the rabbit.
He walked slowly toward me.
Thump.
Thump.
He placed the rabbit right in front of my feet.
Thud.
“….”
Alduin lifted his head.
Then he wagged his tail in a lively manner.
“…This is a big deal.”
Why is he so cute.