Short Story: What if Denize Became A Pillager? Part 1 - Don't Panic

snakegore999

One night, as bedtime approached for us pillagers, I set off to put my child to sleep, only to be told, "Earlier today, I saw something long and shiny hung along a wall. It looked like what many of you would usually wear, but stretched out very loooong. What is it?"

I then replied, "That is a long story. A story that few would ever believe...about a time when a big dragon joined our clan for a while."

"A dragon?"

"Yes, you heard that right. You may think of them as scary, but what we experienced says otherwise. And so, I will begin my story."

***

On one particular day, a young pillager going by the name Hilda came to our village at Fudge Fjords, several hundred strong. She had a guest in tow, and it was a dragon. Or, more precisely, a dragoness. She stood very tall, and looked very menacing at first, with spikes running down her long, snaky spine, claws on every finger save her thumbs, and much of her head comprising two long jagged jaws.

Naturally, even as Hilda introduced her new "friend", Denize, we were frightened. Many of us screamed and cowered at her sight. Others were petrified. And some of us shot threatening looks at her. For the first time in a long time for almost all of us, we've come face to face with an actual dragon. We've crafted our boats to resemble them and their ferocity. And yet one appears before us with the strength to destroy us.

Amidst all the panic that ensued among many pillagers, Denize tried her very best to calm them down, with little success. "Now, now, everyone, please, don't panic! I don't eat people for lunch, all right?" she said desperately as she gesticulated with her tiny arms. She then quietly said to Hilda, "Um, I think they're gonna have a hard time tolerating me. Any ideas?" Hilda could not have an answer at the moment as she struggled to process the situation.

Moments later, what both of them hoped for earlier came unexpectedly: Tiffi, the heroine of the Candy Kingdom showed up just outside the village. "Hello there!" Hilda then quietly told her with excitement, "It's so nice that we finally got to see you. But as you can see, we have a situation here. Denize?" The big dragon then filled her in: "Hilda and I decided to be friends, but her folks predictably aren't taking me too kindly. Do you have any ideas on how we can keep this all under control?"

Tiffi, being the problem solver that she always has been on her never-ending journey, came up with this idea after a while: "Maybe Izzy here won't look as frightening if you dress her up as a pillager, like Hilda." Denize had some skepticism about the idea, but she said, "Okay, let's give that a try." Hilda then went to her fellow pillagers and then personally suggested to them that they should try making special armor for Denize and see if she looked less scary in it, and was able to convince them after a few minutes of discussion. Denize then went prone on all fours, with every ventral scale of hers touching the ground, and quietly crawled into the village, stretching her long body and her limbs straight out. She then quietly rested and relaxed as Tiffi and Hilda directed pillagers to take measurements of her long, massive torso, her hands and her feet. Blacksmiths and seamstresses then spent hours crafting every part of pillager garb for Denize to wear. Given her short arms, Denize needed others to help put on every part of her gear, save her helmet and gloves. Tiffi then also built a new lollipop hammer like that of Hilda in her first visit to the Fjords for Denize to wield as a member of the clan.

When all was said and done, roughly half of the pillagers became more receptive of Denize and half of them were still afraid of her. Hilda then asked Tiffi, "Any more ideas?" She then replied, "Maybe have Izzy show the pillagers how she can be of their service. Ask them to recall a difficult or failed raid or treasure hunt and let her figure out a way to succeed where they failed." When Hilda did precisely that, one of the elders gave her this answer: "Several weeks ago, we sent a small team of scouts to investigate a cold island way out yonder. It had a huge cave, and inside they found a huge wall of cold, solid chocolate that visually stood out from the rest of the cavern. At first, they thought nothing of it, but as inquisitive as they were instructed to be, they decided to try and break it. Unfortunately, it was so hard, that it would take dozens of hard swings of our hammers to make even a significant dent in that wall, and so they came back empty-handed."

After this explanation, Denize agreed to go over to the island and try to see if she could break the wall. But as the pillagers were still uneasy with her presence, the elders allowed only Hilda and Tiffi to join her. Tiffi then donned warrior gear of her own as the three prepared for a treasure hunt like no other...

To be continued in Part 2.