Work Text:
The farmer was on their farm tending to the crops when Juniper arrived. This confused them at first, as it wasn’t like her to go into their land.
“Juniper!” They smiled.
She waved back. “Hello there.”
The farmer watered the last of their radishes and placed the can to the side, wiping their hands on their pants.
“Anything I can do for you?” They asked, curious.
Juniper only hummed and continued to walk around the farm, finding herself in front of the fence keeping the animals in their place. She was eyeing one particular rabbit when she spoke up again.
“What do you know about dragons, dear?”
The farmer sputtered, trying to find a response. “Well… they existed at some point in time. Now they don’t? There are loads of statues of them, so they definitely had some sort of cultural significance here in Mistria.”
Juniper nodded, satisfied. “They don’t exist anymore?”
The farmer felt sweat run down the back of their neck.
“Is that what you’re telling me, or is that what you think?”
“Listen, Juniper,” they started, “why are you interrogating me about dragons?”
“No reason.” She shrugged. “How much of the Deep Woods have you ventured into?”
The farmer furrowed their brows. “I’ve seen quite a bit of it, why?”
“Uh huh.” She begins. “So you’ve seen the dragon temple?”
They hesitated. Denying this would just scream ‘I know about the dragon living in the woods!’ However, they didn’t know what would be brought up from confirming her suspicions.
“I have.”
“Brilliant!” Juniper clapped suddenly, causing the farmer to jump slightly out of their stupor.
She walked up to them and went to place a hand on their shoulder, before taking a quick look at their outfit and changing her mind. She placed her hands on her hips.
She grinned. “We’re going there. Now.”
The farmer stuttered. “Wh- now? I can’t go now.”
Juniper held an unamused expression. “And why is that?”
“Well…” They paused and looked up at the orange sky. “It’s sunset now. It’ll be dark by the time we arrive.”
Juniper nodded, though her face was schooled – excited, even. “I saw that horse of yours. It’s no ordinary creature. I want to see what it’s like riding it.”
The farmer sighed and placed a hand on their face. Instead of dragging out the argument, they mentally summoned Mistmare. They looked behind them, where the horse had appeared, and patted his side softly.
Juniper marvelled at the sight. “How beautiful…”
They smiled and nodded, “he truly is a beauty.”
She looked at them expectantly, waiting for them to help her up onto the horse’s back. They muttered to him and motioned Juniper towards them as he lowered himself to a more respectable level for climbing on.
The farmer helped her get up onto the horse, then got on him themself, with Juniper behind them. They patted Mistmare's neck and tilted their head back slightly.
“He's going to go a bit fast for us to get there,” they informed her, “it's best you hold onto me.”
Juniper hesitated, but ultimately did as she was told as Mistmare began to trot out of the farm. As they rode up to the town, the horse began to pick up speed. Although at first he was going slowly to easily ride up the steps, he knew there would be none from the fountain onwards. Juniper clung on tighter to the farmer, who only bit their cheek from the witch's strength.
As they rode past the carpenters’ shop, the farmer waved at Ryis, who appeared to be working on cutting up a small plank of some kind. He waved back as he stared at Mistmare — baffled that a horse could even be that colour, most likely. The farmer paid him no mind and only looked ahead as the horse started climbing up to the bottom of the steps of the Deep Woods.
Once he reached them, he stopped and lowered himself to let Juniper and the farmer down.
“Why is he stopping?” she asked them.
The farmer pointed to the old staircase behind them. “He can't get up the steps with two people on his back.”
Juniper furrowed her brows. “You know this… how?”
They paled slightly and raised their hands in defense. “I've gone walking up and down these steps while on his back and he already struggles. I don't want to see what happens with two people.”
Juniper nodded, eyes shut. ‘Of course they wouldn’t reveal anything…’
The farmer turned to look at the entrance to the Deep Woods.
“Well?” They crossed their arms. “Shall we go in?”
Juniper hummed. “We shall.”
The two walked up the steps. Juniper, usually walking with confidence, kept her eyes on the old stone steps to avoid harm. Though the farmer noticed, they didn't comment on it. Instead, they clenched their fists as they walked up, trying to think of a way to hide the very obvious reason for being there.
Caldarus enjoyed walking around and staying outside his temple, especially after the scare from his fever a week or so ago. The farmer, normally excited to greet the dragon, attempted to figure out a way to keep his existence hidden. They knew that Juniper was knowledgeable about different magical creatures, dragons included, so she would likely keep him a secret as well. They couldn’t help but worry, though.
‘What if she immediately attempts something she shouldn’t?’ The farmer thought to themself.
As much as the farmer preferred to keep devising a plan, the steps weren’t as long as they looked. The two reached the arch at the entrance of the Deep Woods and looked at each other with uncertainty. The farmer noticed the look on Juniper’s face.
“Are you alright?” They asked her.
Juniper, clever as ever with her words, responded. “Of course, why wouldn’t I be? I have been to the woods before, especially this one.”
The farmer sighed, remembering a conversation they had with Juniper previously. “There are no ghosts here, Juniper, I was messing with you before.”
“You can’t be so certain!” If not for the makeup, Juniper’s face would’ve probably been paper white.
The farmer took Juniper’s wrist and dragged her into the woods. “Even if there are, I’m here to steer them away, come on. Weren’t you the one who wanted to come here in the first place?”
As they turned towards the woods with Juniper in hand, their eye caught on something in front of them. Or rather, someone. They stopped. Caldarus was standing there. Right there. Confusion turned to realisation as he looked over to Juniper, who appeared to be going through the same mental gymnastics as him.
“Ah.” He let out quietly. “You brought guests.”
The farmer turned to Juniper, her arm still held by them.
“You were curious about dragons, weren’t you?” The farmer told her sheepishly.
Juniper slowly nodded, wide-eyed. She took in Caldarus’ appearance. She looked at his horns, his clawed feet, his spiked tail.
“Huh.”
She twisted her arm out of the farmer’s light grip and walked up to Caldarus slowly. Although he didn’t openly show his distress, he raised his arms to himself slightly, as if to hide his head. Juniper stopped herself, luckily.
“You were the one from before, right?” She asked him. “You were the one who helped me.”
Caldarus nodded.
“See?” The farmer butted in. “There’s nothing scary in the woods, only Caldarus.”
As if hurt from their comment, Caldarus looked at them with a small pout. “I am a dragon, mortal, I am meant to be threatening.”
They nodded and folded their arms together, “Yes, of course, my apologies. You are incredibly menacing.”
Caldarus frowned slightly, as if about to react to the farmer’s sarcasm, but stopped himself. Instead he only looked back at Juniper, who had watched the small exchange with amusement in her eyes.
“Well.” She spoke up. “Will I know how you two met or will I just have to guess?”
“The farm. The farmer coughed, and motioned behind them. “He has a statue on my farm, I fixed it up when I first arrived and he’s sort of been hanging around in my head since then.”
Caldarus scoffed. “Your head… I was tethered to the statue due to being too weak for anything else. When they began to traverse the mines, I slowly started to feel my power returning to me.”
Juniper looked at the farmer. “That was when you came to me to translate the words in the mines, right?”
“Yeah, that was it. The most recent requirements had a sealing scroll, as you remember.” They motioned to Juniper, who nodded briefly. “That was not what was required. The scroll had sealed me on the spot and almost killed me…”
The farmer winced, as if still feeling the pain. Caldarus looked over at them and continued explaining. “I had noticed and used what little power I had to save them.”
Juniper only looked at Caldarus silently before slowly turning her face to the farmer, a bewildered expression washing over her features. She tried to speak up, but felt her voice get stuck in her throat. She swallowed down the guilt and spoke up.
“You almost died…?” Juniper furrowed her brows. “I’m sure I read it properly, though…”
The farmer waved dismissively, “It’s alright, Juni, I know you did. I’m alright now, so all's well that ends well. Plus, Caldarus is with me in person now, too, so maybe it was good that it went wrong.”
They walked back up to Juniper and placed a hand on her shoulder, “How about this, we go back to Caldarus’ home and explain more there?”
“That’s alright with you, right?” They turned to Caldarus himself, who nodded with a warm smile.
“I understand you know the language of the dragons, perhaps you can read along with us.” Caldarus tilted his head with a grin, all sharp teeth and no bite.
Juniper looked at the farmer. “Us?”
They laughed awkwardly, “I’m still learning… I can almost read the script, but have yet to understand it.”
Juniper shuffled out of the farmer’s grip, which wasn’t strong at all, frankly. She brushed off the skirt of her dress and got her confident air back.
With a sly tone, she teased the farmer. “I don’t suppose you’d be learning it any faster without my help. Come on.”