Love for the Moon Chapter 16

The sun was brightly out past the horizon, the rays were happily dancing over the lands. Drago twisted a bit due to the sun's rays decided to dance on his eyes. After a moment, he finally awakened with a low yawn then a small stretch. He looked around to the fire pit to see it was burned out. Drago assumed that it must have gone out in the middle of the night and quickly put that thought to the back of his head. His eyes continued to scan the area in search of Lunaris. He then finds him on the edge of the lake, looking outward. Drago quietly got up and slowly trotted over to him, sitting beside his friend.

"Morning." Drago stated tiredly. "Morning." Lunaris replied without even looking at him. His eyes stayed focused on the shimmering lake before them as the sun's reflection danced along the surface, almost as if in a trance of some sorts. Drago only turned his head towards the lake to take in this small bit of peace before anything else happens.  "It's time for you to get moving, Drago." Lunaris said calmly. Drago nodded and jumped into the water, skidding through it to the other side and darting through the forest on the other side. Lunaris only watched as he left his spot before turning back to the ruined cabin to search.

"Jeez….I know we have to save the ladies and all but couldn't we have gotten something to eat first? It's going to take me a while to get through the kingdom and up to the castle again." Drago groaned a bit as he heard his stomach lightly growl. He shook it off and moved faster in hopes to cancel the thought of food going through his mind. He weaved through the trees and grass swiftly and quietly for a few minutes before catching glimpse of some structures. "Ok, nearly there." He said as his stomach growled a bit louder. He couldn't wait much longer. He had to find something that would quell his hunger for a short time until he is certain he can get a better meal. Drago stopped and quickly looked around for some sort of editable substance. His eyes fell upon some berries a few feet away. He lunged at them and begins to eat them calmly. "Lunaris told me about these…..Hadoka berries. Great energy boosters but they will cause a crash after 12 hours." He thought as he continued to eat them. He continued on his way after he finished them.

"So I have a nice 12 hours before I have a horrible crash. Better move then." He picked up his speed and zipped further through the forest til the structures got bigger. After about two hours running through the forest, he finally reached the kingdom's borders. He stops at the edge of the forest and quickly made himself scarce in a tree nearby. He carefully watched as people entered the kingdom. "Hmm….they are dressed rather nicely. I wonder what for.." he said as he saw a carriage coming towards the gates. Drago smirked a bit before jumping off the branch. His scales begin to glow slightly before becoming completely transparent. He lands with a small thump on the roof of the carriage, startling the driver slightly and bringing the carriage to a halt.

"What was that?" A short male brown cat thought to himself. A large white lady feline steps halfway out of the carriage and yells. "Why did you stop!?!" she grips the doorknob tightly in anger, making the driver shiver terribly. "I-I-I t-thought s-something landed on the r-r-roof of the carriage, M-madame." He stuttered while twiddling with his fingers. The Madame quickly took a look of the ceiling, only to find nothing. She slowly lowered herself off the carriage and gave a sweet smile towards the male. "Misre, would you come to me please?" she asked sweetly. The male came up to her and bowed his head. "What is it, Madam-" his head soon met with the ground rather harshly, making Drago and the guards standing nearby cringe slightly. "Do not stop this carriage again until we reach the castle. Do you understand!?!" she yelled. The Male cat shook his head violently even though his face is in burning pain from the recent hit. She climbed back into the carriage before slamming the door. The male cat quickly got himself up and back into the driver's seat and pulling off.  Drago laid himself down on the roof, giving out a small sigh. "That was close….if it wasn't for my power, I would have been dead a long time ago." He said as he looked forward to see his destination getting closer.  He looked at the sky to see the sun at its highest point. "Great ….its noon already.  I have to keep going." He thought before a strong scent hits his nose. "That smell…..what is that glorious smell…" he looked around to see a young female tiger carrying a tray over to the window sil and sets it ontop of it. Drago tried to look forward but the smell began to be too much. He jumped off the carriage and quickly made his way over to the tray where the female just placed on the window sil, staying against the wall carefully. "I know I have to find out whats going on…..but I must know what that smell is…" he thought as he climbed up the window sil to peek at the tray. His eyes grew wide as he saw 6 golden buns right infront of him. He was practically drooling at this point but quickly shook himself back to reality. "They look so good….but I have to keep going." He looked at the sky for a moment then back to the buns. "Hmmm….well I guess a small snack shouldn't hurt.." he quickly stabs one with his tail and slips into an alley corner to avoid being spotted. His scales reverts back to normal as he takes a small bite out of the bun. Immediately, his eyes grew wider than previously before falling onto his back with his tail with the bun attached over him. "This……is….delicious!" he exclaimed as he brought the bun down and eats it happily with all four of his paws on it.

"Ahhh….that was soo good.." he said as he licked his muzzle in delight. He looked up to the sky and slightly gasped. "Damnit…its already sunset. I need to get going." He stated as he got up and scurried off towards the castle walls nearby. He hid in the shadows as guards walked around the walls. Drago's scales slowly started to become transparent once again as the sun was about nearly down.  Once he figured it would be ok for him to move, he silently made his way towards the wall and scaled it quickly to the other side. Drago look around to see a huge array of flowers and a small pond in the center. "Hmm…looks like the garden." He said quietly before the sound of music caught his attention. "A ball?" he moved silently towards the commotion, making sure that no one would be able to detect his presence.  He comes up to a large crowd of people having their backs towards him. Drago begins to look around for a place to get a clear view but soon gets annoyed. "Lets take the high road.." he said as he scaled the nearest pillar onto the ceiling. He then sees a familiar dragon walking with an even more familiar dragoness. "Alythia…and Gage..." he whispered . He watched as Gage led her to the dance floor and begins to dance. Alythia's face had the look of wanting to leave and never come back while Gage had the look of pure bliss; if that's how you want to call it. Drago's fangs were barred in anger from the sight. He continued watching them til the song ended and Gage pulling her into a forceful kiss. Drago used all the restraint he had to not blow his cover to maul him to death.  He quickly pulled away back to the garden so he could get a better grip of himself.  He hid himself in some bushes before letting his scales revert back to normal.

"Do not loose your cool Drago. You cant afford to give away your cover just yet…" his thoughts were soon interrupted by a female dragoness looming over him and blocking his way out. He bares his fangs. "Great….I've been spotted. Well, I'm not going down without a fight." He stood towards her in a defensive stance, ready to attack. The dragoness squeals in delight before snatching Drago in her arms, hugging him rather tightly. This caught Drago by surprise as he was now fighting to get out of the dragoness' death grip.

"Ooooh your soo cute!" the dragoness squealed. Drago frantically tried pulling away from her grip but it appeared her grip is quite stronger than she appears. "Gah….can't breathe….let me go…" he said as his head gets buried in her chest.  "Oh! I'm sorry." She said as she calmly placed him down before her. Drago looked at her in surprise. "Who are you?" he asked quietly. The dragoness smiled calmly. "I'm nectra, one of the maidens of the castle. Who are you cutie?" she giggled. This made Drago feel a bit shy. "I'm Drago. Listen, I'm here to keep watch of a friend for someone. But you can't tell anyone that I'm here otherwise it would blow my cover." He stated. Nectra nodded for a moment before asking. "So who's the friend your supposed to be looking after?" Seeing that he was not going to get away from this, he quietly muttered. "A dragoness, named Alythia." He said. Instantly, Nectra knew where it was going but she kept her mouth shut and nodded. "Ok. I need to get going to let my friend know what I have found." He said as he zipped through the garden and over the wall out of the castle and kingdom. Nectra only looked in amazement as she watched him leave. "Fast and cute."  She giggled. "Excuse me? What is cute now?" said a older female voice. Nectra shivered a bit and turned to see the source of the voice. She was met with a red dragoness giving an icy cold stare. "N-Nothing Mam." She said quietly before getting up. "We have work to do. Move your tail now!" Florence said strictly. Nectra quickly moved to her designated station, her thoughts are still on about Drago.

Drago quickly ran through the forest as fast as he could to get back to Lunaris to report of his findings, weaving through trees and random animals along the way with ease. He came to the lake clearing to a bright white figure standing on the other side. Drago assumes it's who he thinks it is and makes his way towards it.  He reaches the other side to be greeted by the one he assumed it was, Lunaris. Drago takes a moment to look at him. He was now wearing black arm bands that goes up to his forearms and a white sleeveless coat with black edges and an upward moon crescent on the back. Lunaris sat down next to his friend. "What did you manage to find?" Lunaris asked. Drago yawned tiredly as his eyes were now fighting to stay open as he began to explain everything. After an hour, Lunaris nodded and stood up. "We should get moving." Lunaris stated which made Drago's head tilt slightly. "The wedding is tomorrow is it not? We need to get a move on if we want to save our girls." He said as he walked towards the lake with his wings stretched. Drago nodded and climbed onto Lunaris' shoulders before the two took off into the night. Drago slowly drifted off into sleep as Lunaris flew. "Sleep well my friend, for tomorrow is going to be the big day." He said quietly.