I wanted to thank my friend Miaele Rydar for the inspiration to write this. A disclaimer, this is sort of a sequel, or as I call it, an inquel, which is during a story, but not mentioned directly. It relates to her story, Blood-red Tear, which is WIP for now, but I want to say that I don't claim ownership of the characters Periculus or Kesulitan, those are hers, but Kelti is my own creation. Go check out her story, and I hope she sees this.

Kelti Nerima was an idiot. No one would argue this point. Kelti Nerima, the village fool, the town jester, the mute, mad moron, the idiot, Kelti Nerima. She grinned madly, she turned somersaults, she danced around, she never understood. Kelti Nerima, the fool. But when Kelti Nerima came home to her tiny cave outside the town, she emptied her baggy clothes of small treasures. Coin bags, small chains, pretty handkerchiefs, silken scarves, and smiled to herself. Kelti Nerima, thief.

Elsewhere in the bold kingdom, two friends roamed the countryside. A tall, strongly built girl with blackish-brown hair, and a lean, lanky black-red dragon with electric blue eyes. They talked and laughed with each other, enjoying a short romp, which turned into a long stroll. Periculus, the dragon, smiled in a draconic way, and smoked a nearby deer, lifting it in one claw and offering it to the girl with the passing remark,
"Lunch, My Lady?"
Kesulitan, the girl, grinned back at him, and they sat on the grass and dined on smoked venison, fresh from the flame. After a delightful meal, and an equally delightful conversation, the began their stroll anew. They soon came upon a small cave, at which Periculus perked up his ears, barely visible surrounded by spikes, and turned his head. Kesulitan noticed.
"What is it? What do you hear?"
"Someone is nearby, and they are moving something metalic. It sounds to me like gold."
"How can you tell?"
"Oh, by now you should know that a dragon can always tell when there is gold nearby."
"We'll stick with that. I'll go take a look. Where to?"
"The cave there. Shallow breathing, and clinking coins and chains. I'd saw it is a very slight person, perhaps a girl, or a child."
Kesulitan approached with practiced caution, claws slowly growing from her hands, and her pupils slitting dangerously. She came to the mouth of the cave and peeped around cautiously. The back of a girl was visible, short red hair dangling down the back of her neck. She was emptying a bag of gold coins into a natural rock basin in the wall, already half-full of other gold coins and trinkets. Kesulitan crept up behind her, ready to pounce, but the girl swung around, knife at the ready, and glared at the intruder murderously. They stood still, staring at each other, neither moving a muscle, neither blinking, both tense and ready. Then Kesulitan stood back, lowering her hands. The other girl also stood back on her heels and stared at Kesulitan. They stared for a few more seconds, then Kesulitan held out her hand. The redhead clapped it, then they ended in a clasp and a shake, an understanding smile passing between them, and Kesulitan walked back outside. The girl grabbed a bag and stuffed several handfuls of coins into it, then followed. Periculous raised a scaly eyebrow as he saw the two girls emerging from the cave.
"Who is this girl?"
"Kesulitan turned and gestured to the red-haired girl walking up behind her.
"Periculus, this is Kelti Nerima, my old friend. She and I go way back."
Kesulitan turned to her friend.
"What've you been up to lately? Still playing the dumb fool?"
"You know it," Kelti said with a grin, high-fiving the other.
"I brought a bag of my spoils with me. What are you up to these days? I see you found a nice big boyo to hang with. Periculus was it? Nice to meet you."
"You as well. As for Kesulitan and I, our tale is a lengthy one, which I would prefer to not relate at this point in time."
"Understandable. May I join you, to whence ever you roam?"
"Absolutely! We need a good long talk. How long has it been, two, three years?"
"Two, but it feels like a hundred. You don't look a day over fifteen. Life's been treating you well."
"You know how it is for our kind. Misunderstood, but fun."
"As always."
They laughed, then all three walked off together. Kesulitan and Periculus talked together about deep, complicated things, and Kelti would cop in with the odd humorous remark, causing all three to chuckle, then continue conversing.