Dragon Pride (Korax & Chiroptera)

Alone. That's all she was and ever could hope to be. Even here, in the dank, pitch-black depths of the keep, not even the occasional rat dared to set foot on the hard-packing dirt floor on which she currently occupied. Isolated from all other sentience, the dragoness lay prone, blissfully free from the oppressive solitude in her absent dreams, if only temporarily. If there was any light by which to see, her iridescent blue, green, and black scales would have appeared flat and dull, far lacking from their usual appearance of sapphire, emerald, and obsidian. Instead they were dusted by the grime in which she presently lay prone and had been every day over the last several weeks.

As miserable as her entire two decades of existence had been, her current life was infinitely far from ideal. Even though she had never met any of her kin, even though she had always been alone, forced to fend for herself, she was never prepared to live as a fugitive. As an adolescent she had spent her years seeking out any remnants of her society, and had indeed found artifacts, albeit not other dragons. No living dragons, anyway. Consequently she had taught herself to be wary, if not hateful of the humans she found mentioned in one relic after another, despite her lack of personal experience with such. That is, until just a couple months prior.

With her heart now thorough hardened against the extinguishers of not just her race, but entire species, she found herself both enraged and terrified by her situation. As an individual, young dragoness, she did not yet possess the means to defend herself from any great assault by the humans, and she didn't dare seek refuge with any other race, having no reason to trust them either. Now all she could do was cower in seclusion, and although she wasn't any stranger to the latter, she was humiliated by the former, but had not yet seen any other option given her predicament as the last remaining dragon.

In the meantime, her refuge in sleep was interrupted. Something could be heard faintly echoing through the stone ruins above- something far bigger than a mere rat. Violet eyes now wide open, she promptly stood, shaking what little loose dust and dirt she could from her wings in violent gusts, unintentionally sending reciprocal echoes back up through the castle, before pausing in order to listen to and identify the intruder.

These last few weeks had not been particularly kind to a young bard named Allen Ruccus, the last city he visited he made quite a bit of coin in the local tavern but somehow wound up on the wrong side of the local lord. Allen had no idea how he was supposed to know that his daughter had been pretending to be a common maiden, nor that she would be utterly entranced by his music. Shaking his head the man muttered to himself as he continued through the hallow chambers of what looked like an old castle. Allen was hoping to find some treasure that past plunderers had missed, anything that might let him barter for a ride to another city, far away from the one he was currently set up in. Allen hated to skulk around these old places, even if this castle was in fairly good shape, he still didn't like how hallow and empty it seemed.

Allen himself was a striking young man, in his mid twenties he had a lean and trained build with a sort of grace that followed him as he moved. He wore a simple leather traveler's outfit, a soft cotton shirt under a thick vest filled with pockets and of course pants to protect his legs from the various sharp rocks he had to climb. He was not overly handsome, in fact Allen was a little on the plain side, with short brown hair and a lightly sunburned face, if not for the lute and small sword he carried he could easily be mistaken for a farmer. However the man had a golden voice and a silver tongue, when paired he could make the most snooty noble see him as a prince...if he hadn't seduced their daughters that is.

The bard spent his life bouncing from town to town, city to city, never setting down roots long enough to keep him anyplace. Truth be told he was getting a bit tired of it, Allen was looking for just the right place where he could settle down, perhaps run into a lonely baroness and charm her into marrying him, then he would be set for life. Of course first he had to live that long and with a low sigh the man continued his way through the old castle, his eyes scanning for hint of valuables.

As the dragoness stood completely still in the dark with only her deep inhalations and exhalations providing disruption, the echoes from above grew more and more clear as the seconds passed. Distinctly some sort of shuffling footsteps, horrid realization washed over her. The absence of clacking suggested no claws or hoofs and the beat was clearly not that of a quadruped. The final deciding factor was the faint whiff of human sweat, with which she had only recently become acquainted, reaching her nostrils. There only seemed to be a single human. But even just an individual, should it catch wind of her presence if it wasn't already aware of such, would be perfectly capable of sending an army after her if it escaping alive. Of course she could simply take the chance that it didn't yet know she was here, but the risk of such was exorbitant compared to the option of simply preemptively killing it.

With the latter scheme in mind, she slunk through the dirt and up the wide stairwell, unable to prevent announcing herself via the sharp clattering of her claws and rustle of wings against stone. She cared little about whether or not the intruder was armed, as most singular humans would have stood no chance against her despite her still far from maximum size. Even if they were properly armored and equipped with adequately fatal weaponry, roasting one man would pose little challenge. However, she wasn't at a complete advantage. Her size was not exactly suitable for an unfortunate amount of side corridors, tunnels, and rooms, so even if it would be easy to eviscerate the trespasser, merely getting in reach was not guaranteed.

So far the trip seemed like a bust, the castle didn't have any sort of markings that might indicate it was holding wealth of any sort. So far the man had also seen no evidence of monsters lurking about, which was a good thing as Allen worried what he might step on in the darkness of the castle. The bard paused for a moment as he realized that it would only get darker from here on out, Allen did have pretty good night-vision, he was forced to train his eyes this way as he didn't trust using a torch which would alert every monster in the entire complex. With a sigh Allen was about to move onwards when he heard something odd, the flatter of something on stone and the distinct sound of something else sliding over the stone walls. "Shit..." Allen cursed under his breath, chances were good it was just a couple of bats of an over-sized lizard making their home in the old castle, but Allen was not about to gamble his own life. he turned and began to run as fast as he could manage, rushing through the halls of the castle as he tried to remember what twists and turns he made in his way in.

Unfortunately, the human started to run well before she had gotten near enough to bother letting loose gouts of flame. Chasing after the pest's pounding feet and heaving chest, it wasn't hard to keep track of. The trick would be catching up to the human before it escaped, given that the use of fire outdoors wouldn't likely go unnoticed for long due to the presence of the very much flammable woodland, of which would have been too thick to easily maneuver anyway. So, all she could hope for was for the human to be sufficiently slow or clumsy, or witless enough to trap itself in an easily accessible dead-end.

After rounding a particular corner, the dragoness managed to catch a momentary glimpse of the intruder. Of what little exposure she'd had to humans, both physically and culturally, she still managed to make an assumption about 'his' gender from his clothing, hair, and scent, not that she was certain by any means. As focused as she should have been on the task at hand, her mind started to wander, not so unlike the minds of females of other particular species. She had been thinking of this intruder as a mere pest, another filthy creature she'd prefer to see dead, but given it's, or quite possibly 'his' supposed sentience, another solution to the situation came to mind. Why not simply use him for information about humans and the extinction of her species. That posed a new challenge, however: how to go about capturing him alive. Considering that it was unlikely to worsen the situation and that she saw no other alternatives, she scrabbled against the stone floor and walls, seeking purchase in order to stop herself in her tracks before releasing a near deafening roar. "Halt!"

One word, it was only one word yet it was about to change Allen's entire life, in ways he would never be able to predict. When he heard the booming call the bard tripped, crashing down to the stone floor and landing with enough force to take the air from his lungs. Gasping for breath the young man sat up, rubbing his chest as he managed to slowly recover from the hit he took. There was no way he would be able to outrun the monster now, though if he wasn't hallucinating it did speak and if it could understand him perhaps the bard stood a chance of talking his way out of this situation. Breathing hard Allen peered into the darkness as he sat there "I am sorry for intruding. I was looking for treasure. I am just a poor bard with no home or place to live. I can only offer you song as I have but a few coins to my name." first he had too seem humble and the truth would aid him in that regard.

Unexpectedly rewarded by her efforts, as evident by the absence of pounding feet, the dragoness smirked as she strode over to the human. Still partially cloaked in shadow, she stepped into view, only her sleek silhouette clear in the dim lighting. She growled under her breath in response, glaring. "There's no treasure here. And I could care less for what little you possess or your silly songs." Pacing her way up to the man, still seated on the ground, she craned her neck downward so that they were eye to eye. "Unless, perhaps, some of those songs of yours contain pertinent information. Tell me, why should I not kill you here and now?" She in no way appreciated his obsequious tone, but at least his apparent will to live would hopefully better ensure his cooperation.

"What I do want, however, is information. About both my dead ancestors and you, the humans that killed them. Speaking of which," her minded wandered back to her earlier observation, "Are you a male? I never had the means to learn the physiology of-" In a singular glorious, horrid moment, she had an idea, prompted by her own interest in her detainee's gender, an idea so overwhelming she interrupted her own statement. This new vague notion was both completely and utterly disgusting, but it was inspiring, it gave her hope. But that did not mean that she was at all yet ready or willing to pursue it. Given that she never had the chance to learn about nor experiment with anything related to the process, her understanding of reproduction was extraordinarily limited- little beyond mere instinct. And as unnatural and immoral as the concept of dragon-human hybrids seemed, the dragoness was fully aware that it was very much possible. At least according to the ancient mythologies of her kin she had once long ago gotten the chance to read.

"How about we make a deal. I will allow you live on the conditions that you never leave and that your musical talents and any other areas of expertise are completely at my disposal." She lacked any desire to keep the human alive in the long-term, but was very much willing at least consider taking advantage of him to the greatest extent possible before disposing of him.

Allen could not believe what he was seeing right now. He was standing, or rather sitting, before a creature said to no longer exist, a dragon who were said to be nothing more than the fodder found in stories told by old knights and mages. The bard could not believe his luck, not only had he been caught by a monster, but it was one that was said to be extinct. It would make a hell of a story if the man had lived any longer, in fact Allen was more than slightly annoyed that he would not get to tell this tale, certainly it would have wooed more than a few bard maids. Then he realized that the beast was speaking, to him, it's voice had a very odd sing-song quality to it, the bard wondered if the beats was indeed female but that was impossible to be sure of. After all, for all he knew male dragons had such a voice and the females blared their words out like knight captains. The bard focused on the dragon's words and realized that she wanted to keep him as a pet, thinking about it he realized that she was no doubt rather lonely and perhaps if he played caged-canary long enough she might let him go or at least decide not to eat him.

"My name is Allen Ruccus." He said slowly as he sat up a bit more "I don't seem to have much choice in the matter but I will be your servant." he paused for a moment and added "I can sing songs of dragons history, of human history and a few things I picked up of other races and monsters. Bards are supposed to keep track of said history even when books and texts fail. But our job is also to weave lovely tones that are pleasing to the ears." he flashed her a smile and said with a gamble "But my you are a pretty creature. The stories never quite caught the glory and splendor of dragons." he then slowly reached down to his side and took the hilted blade off his hip before placing it on the ground in a bid ti gain trust. Taking in a breath the man then stated "I am a man or male by the way. I'm not sure what it matters but I do know the male and female form rather well and can explain the details to you if you are curious about our forms." at that moment Allen was in his element, working with the odd deal she had given him and looking to see if he could sweeten it a bit with that silver tongue.

As affronted as she might of been by his fawning obedience, it was hard to not be amused at the binary between the barely evident shock in the human's face and his calm words. Despite the inherent discrepancy in facial expression identification between the two drastically different species, she struggled to maintain her glare as a mocking chuckle attempted to escape from her throat. "If I had a name by which to introduce myself, I would reciprocate. But when one hatches from an egg following the extinction of their family, there neither is anyone to give one a name nor a reason to name oneself in order to interact with others... And that would indeed seem to be the case, assuming you aren't suicidal anyway. And for your sake I hope you are an excellent so-called 'bard'. Beyond the entertainment and education you can supposedly provide, you'd be nothing but a nuisance." She emphasized her point by igniting methane internally, letting the wisps of smoke exit via her nostrils and open maw whilst she continued to speak.

The human's (the dragoness was loath to refer to him by his formal name, even if only mentally) ensuing attempts at flattery were far from subtle, but that didn't mean that they failed to serve their intended effect. Having minimal contact with other sentient creatures does tend to leave a dragon at least subconsciously vulnerable to such manipulation, even when obvious. After a momentary inspection of the blade, she gently nudged the weapon back towards the owner with an outstretched talon. Even if she believed it was sufficiently strong but not to brittle to pierce her hide, she couldn't imagine a situation in which the man could sneak up on her in order to attack what would have been most relatable to Achille's Heel: her eyes. The human's answer to her earlier question demonstrated just how eager he was to appease her, as he had apparently extrapolated her intentions at the time. However, not wanting to be equally compliant, she responding with a simple "Perhaps," before adding on in a matter-of-fact tone, after a moment of consideration, "I myself am a female. I would consider offering to provide the same details in the context of dragons, but my understandings on the topic, regardless of the species, are severely limited."

Seeing an opening the bard slowly stood up, leaving his sword on the ground Allen met the dragon's glare with a fierce determination as he reached around to grab the lute slung across his back. "My lady fair and lithe, I believe your bard may aid you in this instance." The man shot her a smile before strumming out a few notes, letting them echo across the halls of the castle to create a haunting melody. "You my dear lack a name, but many dragons have had deeds both great and terrible committed to tale and song. I can recite them at length and from those we can choose one that best suits you." Feeling like he caught on to something that would quickly gain him favor in her eyes, or at least give a little thought before trying to roast him over an open fire. "History speaks of many of your kind, from the cunning to the powerful. Beyond history, myths color a verbal painting of your ancestors who's memories have been warped by time. Like a dragon known as Tiamat, considered a goddess by some she is said to have made the universe. Mother to all that lives, not only dragon kind but all life. Then there is the warrior dragoness Saphira who was said to be the first dragon to ally with a human mage and the pair managed to soothe human/dragon relations for many years, until their deaths that is. Even the demon-dragon Orochi who is said to have rained down fear through it's great power. These are but a few which I can recite at your mere wish, oh beauty of scale and talon." He rattled off names and blurbs of myth with ease, Allen was certainly putting in a flare as he peppered his words with high praise of the dragoness and her beauty. The bard didn't worry about overdoing it, at the worst she could just assume he was trying to stay alive, but underselling it could put his life in harms way as she could simply grow bored with him.

Somewhat taken aback by the bard's sudden initiative, she just stood there, dumbfounded. Her confusion and surprise quickly dissolved into disguised mirth. As clear as it was that the human's actions and words were merely a show, the entertainment value and appeal were not at all diminished. Not only showing off his geniality and tact, the man's expansive knowledge of lore was impressive to say the least. But even then, she refused to give him the satisfaction of complete manipulation. As his chronicle came to a close, she cocked her head, giving the bard the closest thing to a sly smirk that could possibly grace a dragon's lips. "As inspiring as all those tales may be, I think I'd much prefer an original name, something of your own design. I am, after all, the only remnant of my species, so why bother mirroring a legend of old when I could be one now?

Realizing he had read the situation a bit wrong, Allen glanced down at his lute and began to strum it, closing his eyes as the swift sounds began to flow. Playing helped him relax and focus, his mind whirling as his fingers danced about the strings and soon the stone hallways seemed to swell, filling the soft music that hung on the air like the baited breath of a child. He then began to open his eyes, looking up at the dragoness, for once there was no smile on his lips as the man sunk into deep thought. "So many words and titles would be fitting for you, my queen." He said slowly "I can only offer you what my feeble mind my think up. I know very little of your culture of your tongue so please excuse my efforts at dredging up a name for you. Some of those that come to me are Therand, Seppinis, Tyrandia, Vailin, Hollisin and Ophelia." keeping his eyes locked on the dragon, Allen's busy fingers came to a halt as he waited for the dragoness to think over the names offered ad either demand better or choose one.

Although she had eagerly anticipated at least a few moment of silent discomfort on his part, the dragoness was surprised not only by the unexpected solemnity but also her reaction to such. She formerly had no reason to view the man as anything more than an entertainer with rather remarkable memory and charisma, but now for the first time the bard seemed to reveal himself from behind his performer's facade. Watching the human with nearly the intent he seemed to pay his instrument and internal concentration, she suddenly found her gaze met as his chain of quickly summoned names came to an end. Her wide, slit-pupiled eyes blinking in her mild bewilderment at the abrupt end to the entrancement, she was left to mutter to herself for a few mere moments before refocusing her attention on the bard. "Vailin. I am Vailin. Thank you."

Now slightly flustered, she didn't resume the previous eye-contact. Carefully maneuvering her wings and whip-like tail in order to turn to face the other side of the corridor without either buffeting her limbs against the walls nor Allen, she stated, or rather, demanded that "We had better find you a place to stay. After all we can't have you simply running about on the loose. At least during the night, that is." Gesturing with a flick of her neck, she urged him forward, waiting to make sure he obeyed before she, Vailin, herself began pacing forward. Forward to where, she did not yet know. She was unaware of any possibly lockable rooms. Furthermore, as particularly cold as the cellar may be, the entire castle grew chilly quite quickly as the evening progressed. In the future a simply solution would be to imply ignite a nice fire, but given the distinct lack of wood presently within the keep, that was not yet an option. An alternative did, however unpleasant come to mind. As her metabolism more accurately reflected the ancient ancestors of birds as opposed to modern reptiles, she produced more than ample body heat. That coupled with the darkness better guaranteeing that any escape attempt would be far from efficient in respect to time and noise made the 'cave' beneath the castle the only logical option.

He half expected her to just burn him to a crisp on the spot but to Allen's delight the dragoness picked a name from those he suggested and the newly titled Vailin made her stance known to him. The bard's spirit swelled as he followed Vailin, not once in all of history had a simple man named a dragon and yet here Allen was, if his life didn't lead to a true epic of a song then it was a crime against the universe itself! Allen was all too wrapped up in his own wonder to notice where they were heading, though as the darkness began to once more close over him the man placed a hand on the stone wall, using it as a guide as he continued to follow the dragoness, at least to the best of his limited abilities.

Vailin would have been concerned about the bard's apparent lack of concern if only she wasn't content to simply enjoy the silence. Curiously enough, as painful as her lifetime-long primarily solitary existence had been, she found it soothing to return to the solace of quiet. Perhaps the extra two feet plodding down the staircase with her provided some unexpected modicum of comfort, as now the only emotion to describe her sense of being was simply content. As distracted as she was within her mind, she did, however, manage to notice Allen's footsteps falling behind her own at the blanket of shadow had completely overcome the steep passageway. Sighing, both for emotive effect and to provide momentary illumination with a single small spurt of flame, she paused, allowing him to catch up. "Would resting a hand against my shoulder help?"

As uneasy she felt about the prospect of such, she chastised herself. He was only a mere human. He posed no threat and was to at least some extent obedient to her. After all, she had fully intended, initially, anyway, on even sleeping side by side for his sake, well, actually more so for the sake of retaining her new 'pet' rather than out of concern for his well being nor even the least bit of fondness for him. As they were still a few minutes away from the hollowed out cavern (as a human's walking pace in the dark proved to be quite slow compared to that of an unimpeded dragon), Vailin made the far from tactful mistake of bringing up earlier conversation in hopes of distracting herself from her wandering thoughts and concerns. "Earlier you offered to discuss the implications of being either male or female as a human. Would you care to elaborate?"

The sword lay forgotten behind, Allen was far too caught up in the moment as he marched on with his new 'master' deeper and deeper into the depths of the castle. The bard was starting to wonder if they were going to the demonic plane itself with how dark it was getting, however to his surprise the dragon offered to be a seeing-eye-dog of sorts to him...not that Allen would ever make the comparison out loud. Slowly he reached out towards the dark shape just in front of him and managed to touch her tail, somewhere near the middle if Allen was any guess. Slowly he moved up along her body until he got to her thigh where he kept his hand, he sped up his pace just a little so he didn't end up falling behind or letting his hand drift to places that might annoy the great monsters. As to her question, this caught the bard off guard, he had expected her to focus on human culture or their strengths and weaknesses, gender however was certainly not the first thing he would ask about a strange being. "Well..." He began "Scholars have studied the differences between men and women for hundred of years, some say we are no different at all while others say we are as different as...well you and me. That our brains are wired as differently as our bodies. I myself have a few ideas on the subject and of course if you are curious about our bodies I am sure I can draw a decent diagram. The forms of humans and dragons are of course quite alien when compared to each other, perhaps seeing our biology and understanding it's function would help you better understand us." he paused for a moment, wondering if he should say any more before clearing his throat "I have no small experience with the female sex. Both in passing and carnally, I believe I can tell you what you need to know about human gender."

Tensing at the moment of contact, the dragoness promptly forced herself to relax and summarily ignore the human hand sliding up her tail before resting against her thigh.

She snorted at the comment about human men and women being as vastly different as herself and Allen, finding it hard to believe that beings of the same species could be as vastly different as herself and mere humans. But not the neurological aspect- she had read more than enough literary works by her own kind to establish just how drastically mentalities may vary. On the other hand, however, Vailin was completely lacking a personal basis for understanding the physical differentiations, as it would seem that the dragon's recording little to nothing on the subjects of anatomy and sexuality as they instead reserved their efforts for more scholarly and abstract observations. And so, in the absence of any other dragons by which to learn directly, her knowledge of such was limited to the basics of her own physique and what little she could assume from rare sightings of deer or some other animals going at it in the woods. Consequently, she was thrilled by his reply.

"I would most certainly appreciate that. After all, the apparent habit you humans' have of covering your bodies with cloth is hardly educational, so any artistic efforts on your part would be greatly appreciated." Her interest was particularly piqued by his mention of "no small experience with the female sex", "carnally". Was this perhaps in reference to the mysterious process by which most species produced offspring? She could only assume.

As they finally reached the cellar, stepping out into the wholly unseeable dirt-floored, stone-roofed, and colder than comfortable for the unacclimated, she pronounced a simple "We're here." Before jumping back into the topic at hand. "I would indeed very much like to know the details and implications of human gender, especially given what little I know about my own kin on the subject."

Listening to her, it sounded like Vailin had next to no idea about sex or genders in general, other than she was female of course. Allen was starting to wonder if he had been captured to play school-teacher, still it beat being killed and eaten by a monster but it was certainly not the most glamorous life. His eyes had adjusted to the low light by now, though the man could still see very little, he could at least make out rough shapes by this point and began to glance about when he was brought into this new room. He could sense the cool air around him and began to rub his arms a bit, if this was going to be his cage then Allen would make sure to ask for blankets or something else warm to keep him from freezing to death. "Um...sure." The man looked just a little nervous as he made his way over to one of the far walls, once there he took out a small charcoal stick from his pack and then began to draw on the wall, it took a bit of time but he managed to create a semi-decent picture of a man and a woman in the nude. "Without our clothes we look like this." He said as he pointed to the pictures "If I had a bit of light they would be much better, but then again I'm no artist." He then pointed to the picture of the man "The basics are that the man carries the seed, known as sperm in here." he used the charcoal stick to point to the little sack he had drawn under the artfully crafted, erect phallus which was modeled after his own so it was a little large, or at least so the bard mentally saw it as. "When at rest the phallus is limp, it can get excited through various means and become erect as shown in my drawing." He then pointed to the picture of the woman "These are breasts." he said as he moved the stick down to her chest, true to form Allen had drawn a very curvy woman standing in a suggestive pose with quite the large rack. "These serve to tell a man how well a woman may feed her child. When small babies are breastfed as human females create milk in their breasts. However they are also very sensitive and rubbing can be used to arouse the female." All and all the bard was feeling extremely silly, he had no idea if the dragon was even getting anything out of this, but he grit his teeth and continued. Drawing the stick down he pointed to a rather overly detailed vagina "Like a key designed to fit in a lock, so to is the phallus designed to fit in the vagina. Men and women will often engage in what is termed as 'foreplay' to arouse each other and nice ready the male inserts himself inside of the female and all sort of bumping and thrusting occur until he pours his seed into the female and in a couple months the woman may find herself with child." once he finished Allen cleared his throat "There's a bit more to it than that but these are the basic mechanics of gender. Mentally I find that men and women are far more similar than either thinks but culturally we are trained to believe we think differently. I have no idea if dragon culture was similar so I don't know how much the psychology of it all will be worth to you." shrugging the man sighed "Is there anything I can clear up for you?"

Perhaps somewhat oblivious to the man's disdain for explaining such, but more so simply objectively focusing on the content, the dragoness considered the presented information as she would any other piece of factual information. Consequently, she failed to grasp the accompanying subtle stigma of that matter at hand. As each unique element of female human anatomy was demonstrated, she contemplated her own form. Being the species that she was, she lacked breasts, even nipples of which were otherwise at least found on many non-humanoid animals, specifically, mammals, which she clearly was not. Furthermore, with the purpose of what had once seemed to be an extraneous orifice revealed, she craned her neck in order to- whilst not making any attempt to be inconspicuous- visually, as best possible in the lighting, compare her own to that of the illustration. Utterly naive and uninhibited as ever, she was still eying herself when she asked, "In that case, do you have many offspring? Given your familiarity with the process of producing them, you must be terribly fond of them." She barely hesitated at adding a final point, and even then, only due to her distaste at the idea of corrupting her bloodline with that of a human, as desperation and the failure to see any other negatives outweighed such a concern. "Would you be willing to help me produce a child of my own?"

These questions took the man once more by surprise, however by this point Allen was getting used to being constantly off balance when it came to the dragon. "Most likely. Sadly I do not know them." He said slowly before sighing "I'm a wandering bard, I have no rank or profession or money to my name. Even if a woman would acknowledge being with me she would never say her child is mine. Better a baker's son or a cobbler's daughter than the spawn of a bard." Thinking it over for a moment the man sighed "I would like to have children of my own, to raise them and be known as their father." he watched the dragon carefully as he spoke, though eh wasn't sure he understood her full meaning. "I would be honored to help you produce a child." Figuring she was just looking to him to walk her through the process with whatever she considered a worthy mate "So, who will be the lucky male?" he asked with a chuckle, half expecting her to have a cage somewhere with her target ready to go.

Pleased that her implicit demand was accepted with seemingly no complications. But even as clueless as Vailin might have been, the bard's fatuous sarcasm tipped her off that something was amiss. She was, however, still sufficiently so to press her case without pausing to confirm that there were no misunderstandings. But even now she refused to let tact play any role in her blunt curiosity. "Why 'lucky'?" Lacking any precedent experience, the dragoness had no reason to anticipate that the reproduction process could be accompanied by any stronger emotion or sensation beyond perhaps mild discomfort. Neither was she able to interpret the additional implication of rape by dragoness as the concept of such was even less comprehendible to her than sarcasm in and of itself. Sill very much unaware of Allen's confusion, she added, "Shouldn't you be removing your clothes? At least that's what you seemed to imply in your initial explanation of gender implications."

It dawned on Allen what she had meant when Vailin asked about his clothes, Allen wanted to say something but his mouth was dry, he realized now that she didn't just want a teacher or a pet, but a sex slave. His mind buzzed with ideas, of escape of trying to talk his way out of it but he didn't see either of those ending well. For the first time in the bard's life he didn't have a snarky retort or a clever twist of his tongue. Slowly he found his hands moving down to his vest, it slid off easily enough, next came his shirt and after that were his pants. Clad in his his undergarments Allen took in several deep breaths as he focused on not panicking, what he needed now was a plan of how to survive all of this. He then slipped off the last article of clothing to be nude before the dragoness, in the chilly room that certainly did the man no favors. "O-of course, so very lucky to be chosen by you. I-I am honored." He wasn't sure if it was the fear, the cold or some mix of the two, but the bard felt a bit nervous as he stood in front of Vailin, feeling like he was not going to be very impressive to the dragoness. Taking in another breath he jumped on his first plan "Vailin. If you please t-turn and lift your tail a bit, I can show you foreplay. I kn-now you aren't attracted to a human but I can help get you in the mood to breed." with any luck he figured he knew how to please a woman well enough to get Vailin to pass out or simply fill her desire so she wouldn't ask for sex, what he would do the next time she asked Allen had no clue.

Even as Allen visibly deflated and lost is otherwise ubiquitous charism at the sudden understanding of his captor's demand, the dragoness felt no guilt or pity. She knew what she wanted and saw no reason to accommodate for what little abhorrence she could discern was felt by the bard. After all, he seemed particularly fond of children and to her knowledge had no qualms with the breeding process itself. Peering down at between Allen's legs, she scarcely noticed how far from 'excited' his phallus (the only name she presently knew for the appendage) appeared before willingly presenting her hindquarters to him, as he was supposedly quite experienced at the task of inducing pregnancy. With hardly a clue about what he meant by getting her "in the mood to breed", as she had never felt any desire to breed for any reason beyond the present functional purposes, she fully expected a genuine effort on his part, not doubting him for a second as she no longer faced him.

There was something odd about seeing the dragon present to him, this powerful monster that could kill him in a heartbeat, was exposing herself to him. Now the bard felt a stir down deep in himself and he began to wonder if perhaps he was more of a freak than he ever considered before today. Slowly he stepped forwards and knelt down to his knees, just high enough that his head was level with Vailin's hips, he then reached up and began to run his hand up and down along the underside of the reptile's tail. She wasn't all that different from a mare, many stable-hands had imposed on him the importance of running a warm cloth over a mare's nether-region as it kept her clean and was a good way to tell if she was in heat or not. Slowly his fingers began to rub against Vailin's smooth scales, feeling her warmth as he made his way down around her slit. Then the man leaned forwards and extended his tongue, lightly licking her scales as he flicked the tip of that sensitive organ at her folds, slathering her scales in his saliva as he teased Vailin to see if this humble bard to get the legendary dragon to beg for him.

The pressure against her underside was an entirely unique sensation. It was subtle, it was odd, but most of all, it was surprisingly pleasant. The warm, slick addition of his tongue to the equation amplified the effect as she started to grow more aware of her presently unoccupied entrance and interior. The dragoness shuddered, the folds of her leathery wings rasping together as the instantaneous spark of pleasure resulting from the momentary flick of a tongue against never-before directly contacted clitoris caught her completely unawares. This was not by any means what she had expected, but she most certainly didn't mind, for the most part at least. She savored each and every gentle stroke, but not nearly to the point of satisfaction with such as that one particularly sensitive structure was mostly ignored by Allen's fingers and tongue, as was her increasingly moist cavity. Via muted growls that were more akin to moans than anything else, Vailin sought an explanation. "What're you doing to me? Why does it..." She nearly lost her train of thought as she struggled to maintain her focus while assaulted by a slew of novel sensations before finishing. "Why does it feel this way?"