Here's my attempt at a fairytale sort of story. Read and enjoy, feedback always welcome 
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The Witch Trainee, the Prince, and the Blue Dragon
Once upon a time there lived a noble family on the outskirts of a great city. As all wealthy families of those times, the Lord and Lady Crustchen desired a male heir. However, Fate refused to grant them this wish for years on end, and by the time they finally conceived a boy, he had four elder sisters.
Their parents, of course, were ecstatic when their son was born. Little Fred meant an end to their worries, to their constant squabbling and blaming of one another for the lack of a son. Unfortunately for the girls, this also meant that they were to be neglected, shunned to the outskirts of their family life. The most they could hope to do for the Crustchen clan was to marry well.
Yvonne, the eldest, had different plans though. She had dreamed of magic ever since she was a child, and now that she had a brother and there was no fear she might have to take on the family responsibilities sometime in the future, she could pursue her interests. Her parents were only too happy to send her away to a distant aunt, a witch, who was to direct their daughter in the art of magic. Of course, when visitors asked about Yvonne’s whereabouts, they simply replied she had made a relatively good marriage in another country, hence her absence from the Crustchen castle.
Such important people as the Crustchens must preserve their image, of course, and advertising the fact that their daughter was a sorceress in training was no source of pride.
Yvonne was sent away to her aunt the witch, otherwise known simply as “the Hag”. Nobody called her that to her face, because who wanted to be turned into a toad? But everyone in the nearby village knew her by that name. The constantly black-clad, grey-haired figure was only ever addressed as Mistress Irnstine when spoken to directly, and this is the way in which Yvonne was forced to call her aunt, too.
And so the girl’s magical education began. She’d listen to the Hag’s theory talk in the mornings, while completing the many chores around the small hut in which they both lived. She watched her brew Potions, and learned all about the properties of various plants, both those life-saving and deadly. However, Yvonne’s favourite part of the training was when she heard about the various animals inhabiting the lands. Creatures, magical and ordinary alike, were always a source of fascination.
Owing to such a great interest in the topic, the day Yvonne glimpsed a flash of silver through the densely growing trees while out gathering berries, she knew exactly what it was her eyes were seeing.
Breath held, she walked over to the great, silvery blue lump half obscured by the forest vegetation. Scales glittering in the few rays of sunlight that filtered through the leaves, two silver horns protruding from a large head equipped with a long, pointed snout, and large, scaly wings of colossal proportions stretching uncomfortably out over roots and around bushes, the dragon rested. As soon as Yvonne stepped into the small clearing it had chosen as its hiding place, the purple, lidless eyes flicked towards her. She could barely make out the navy pupil she knew was in the centre of those blackberry orbs, and curiosity winning over her fear, she moved closer.
The dragon’s gaze followed her.
“There you go, slowly, no need to be scared,” she found herself muttering, and wasn’t sure whether it was to reassure her thumping heart or the beast. Probably both, she decided.
As she made her way towards the creature’s head, she wondered why it was motionless. Well, apart from its eyes. Dragons were not known for their patience, or for their ability to lie in one place without moving for any longer period of time. In fact, a characteristic streak in most dragons was their intense curiosity and everlasting energy, not to mention enthusiasm, for games.
Oh, they rarely caused a danger for people, despite the many tales of evil beasts stealing away maids in white dresses, feeding on human flesh and spreading terror throughout. In fact, carnivore dragons were seriously overrated – most feed on grass. And trees. Oh, yes, they adored trees. Whether coniferous or not, trees were certainly popular with dragons. Though they wouldn’t decline the occasional offering of human nutrition either.
All those killings dragons supposedly committed only ever happened by accident – they wouldn’t hurt a fly with premeditation, in reality.
So, thin arches of eyebrows furrowed, Yvonne started to step around on of the splayed out wings – and that’s when she understood. The scales on the wing, near the body, had been cruelly shorn off, and a spear grew out of the tender skin, encircled by red. The dragon was wounded – no wonder it couldn’t move.
“Oh, you poor thing,” the girl rested her hand on the scaly limb next to her and stroked it as she walked towards the wound, eyes fixed upon the blood. Having paid close attention to all of the Hag’s lectures concerning healing plants, and supplying her knowledge with the numerous books she’d consumed on the topic of healing animals, Yvonne decided to help the creature. A determined expression overcame her face as she reached the point where the spear vanished into flesh.
“This will probably hurt,” she said, and the dragon looked back at her steadily. It hadn’t once let her out of his sight since she’d entered the little clearing, and wasn’t about to do so now. However, her intentions must have been made clear by her actions and her voice, because the creature didn’t look at all alarmed or aggressive.
Yvonne’s hands reached out and gripped the spear shaft tightly. Stealing herself, and mentally asking the dragon to do the same, she put all her strength into that single pull, withdrawing the weapon from its victim with a grunt of satisfaction. This was echoed with a louder grunt of pain from her patient – but nothing more. Intelligent creatures, dragons, Yvonne thought with a smile. It must know I’m trying to help it.
Looking around for some dock leaves, she pressed these against the bloodied wound, tore up part of her apron and bound the leaves with that. Examining her handiwork critically, she knew it was far from perfect, but it would have to do for the moment.
“You must be hungry, eh?” she asked, patting the dragon’s side. She was about to walk over to its head, when she heard the unmistakable thumping sound of the woodcutters axe.
Brown eyes alight with a sudden idea, she rushed off into the trees, leaving a baffled dragon behind her, the scaly muzzle looking almost as if it were frowning. However, he wasn’t gone for long – minutes later, Yvonne skipped back nimbly across the field, up to the beasts’ head, and produced something from behind her back.
A huge wedge of bright, yellow cheese.
“I know it’s not what you usually eat, but the woodcutter can’t give you any of the trees he’s chopping down, he only cuts down what he strictly needs,” she explained, holding the cheese close to her foundling’s mouth. “And you’re not in any state to fly around, ripping out any vegetation yourself, so you must make do with this.”
Cocking its sapphire head to one side, the dragon eyed her for a moment, before gently lifting up the offering and gobbling it up hastily. Yvonne caught a flash of pearly teeth, before the silvery lips hid the creature’s mouth once more.
“Hey! What do you think you’re doing? Get away from there!” A man’s voice resounded in the clearing.
Swirling around, Yvonne noticed the newcomer standing at the edge of the woods, beckoning to her to move away from the dragon. He held a bow in one hand, and the other was already reaching to the quiver of arrows across his back. A low growling noise revealed the fact that his was the man who wounded the dragon in the first place – and now, instead of a spear, he planned to use an arrow to finish the job.
“What do you think you’re doing?” she asked, shocked by such a show of violence. “Don’t you dare harm him any more than you already have!”
The bow was lowered, as were the hunter’s eyes, as he stared at her boots. “Snake skin!” he looked up at her, aghast. “You’re a witch! Only witches wear those boots!”
“Indeed I am, so if you know what’s good for you, you’ll put that think away,” she replied smugly. No need to tell him I’m merely a sorceress in training, Yvonne thought, with a smile to herself.
“But he attacked our palace!” the young man, for he was indeed only in his early twenties, protested. “I was sent out to hunt him down, before he uprooted any more of our nature parks or harmed someone.”
“Uprooted your nature parks?” Yvonne frowned. “He was probably just hungry, that’s all.”
“Hungry?” the man stared at her as if she had just grown wings.
“Well… yes,” she answered, some of her annoyance leaking into her voice. Didn’t this man know anything? “Dragons do feed on trees, after all. And vegetation. Why did you think he destroyed the parks?”
“I don’t know,” the man replied, looking distinctly uncomfortable. “My father thought it would attack the palace next, destroy that, and then, uh…”
“Feed on the people?” Yvonne supplied for him, disdain tinting her tone. All this time, the dragon remained silent beside her, as if listening to the exchange.
“Well… yes,” he echoed her words. “I…”
But he never managed to voice what he wanted to say, because a tremendous crashing noise filled the air as splinters flew right and left from the falling tree the woodcutter had finally managed to cut down. It responded to gravity just where the young hunter was standing.
Before anyone knew what was happening, a blue neck whizzed out across the field and strong jaws gripped the human tightly, only to bring him to safety on the field.
The dragon had just saved his (attempted) killer.
It withdrew its head behind Yvonne again, and settled into the same position it had been in moments before. The hunter merely stared at it, dumbstruck, while a satisfied grin spread over Yvonne’s features. She found this man amusing in his ignorance of dragons – he had obviously never had any previous experience with them.
This entire episode was a huge misunderstanding; dragons were more like pets than anything else, and the sooner people left behind those ridiculous myths they all believed in, the world would become a better place.
“I… it just… out of nowhere…” he stuttered, staring at the dragon in wonder, as if seeing it for the first time. Who knew, Yvonne thought, maybe he was seeing it for the first time. He certainly didn’t look at the creature as if it were prey anymore.
Yvonne opened her mouth, I told you so at the tip of her tongue, when she heard a familiar step echoing through the forest and approaching them swiftly. Knowing her aunt would be less than happy to find her talking to a man, a prince at that, she changed her words at the last second.
“Leave! Now! The Hag is coming, she’ll kill you if she finds us talking!” Yvonne implored. Although this was quite a large exaggeration, and it was rather unlikely the Hag would kill anyone, the prince did not know that. Besides, Yvonne wasn’t in the mood to have to explain to her aunt why she was talking top a young man her age – the Hag was bound to think they were lovers, and, not wanting to lose her apprentice, would lock Yvonne in the house for a couple of decades. No, that was a scenario Yvonne was desperate to avoid.
The prince disappeared in the undergrowth the minute the Hag’s snake-skin boots appeared in the clearing.
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Half a year had passed since Yvonne had helped the blue dragon in the clearing, and she had seen neither the creature nor the prince since. She had continued her education in the way of magic, but was growing to realize that this was not the path for her. The dragon was constantly on her mind, and she yearned to learn more about their species, to study them. She had tried, of course, to talk her aunt into allowing her do just that, but her suggestion had been met with a cruel refusal.
She was just pulling out the water from the deep well behind the Hag’s hut, when a muffled sound reached her ears. Swiveling around to face the noise, she spotted a dark head in between the trees. As the head emerged, she realized it belonged to the ex-dragon hunter.
“What are you doing here?” she hissed, wary and worried her aunt would emerge from the hut at any second. “I told you, she can’t see us talking!”
“I know,” he replied, looking furtively around, but still he did not budge. “But I felt bad about what happened, and I wanted to come and tell you that you were right. About the dragons, I mean,” he explained lamely. “I spent some time around them, studied them, and…”
“You studied them?” Yvonne choked, a range of possibilities swirling in her mind. “If only I could do that…”
“Come with me, then,” the prince suggested. “We’ll travel together, we can learn all about them.”
Both were so engrossed in their conversation that neither heard the door of the hut creak open, or noticed the Hag standing in front of it, staring at them. In fact, they were ignorant of her presence until she deigned to speak.
“And who is this?” her grating voice asked. “Someone to come and steal you away from me, is it?”
Before Yvonne could protest and come up with some valid excuse for the prince’s presence, the man spoke up himself, surprising both women with his words.
“As a matter of fact, yes, I intend to take Yvonne away with me to study dragons,” he declared boldly.
“Ah, dragons, is it?” the old woman drawled. “And what makes you think I’ll let her go?”
“You can’t force her to stay,” the prince frowned, realizing she could, but hoping the Hag would consider her niece’s happiness as a priority. “She’s unhappy with you, and you know it. She wants to learn more about dragons – here is still magic in that, and all your education would come to the best of use. Please, let her come with me,” he implored to her ego, accurately guessing this was the key to the Hag’s heart.
“Very well,” she finally pursed her lips, but her next words stopped Yvonne from rushing into the forest then and there. “But on one condition,” she said, a sly grin spitting her face. “You must play against me. Play, and win.”
“Play… what?” the prince frowned, and the Hag laughed at his ignorance as Yvonne explained.
“Chess. Oh, she never loses, I’m doomed to stay here forever…” the girl’s voice rose by an octave as her desperation mounted.
“Very well,” the man echoed his opponents words with a small smile of his own. “We play for Yvonne.”
And so the chessboard appeared, along with a table and two chairs. Yvonne was forced to stand to the side and watch as the Hag ordered the prince to wield the white pieces.
“Oh, and did I forget to mention,” her harsh voice reverberated once more, as the man’s hand stilled a mere inch above his first white pawn, “that were you to win, by some stroke of luck, in order to leave with my niece, you must be married?” her brown teeth were displayed in a grimace of a smile as she stared at her opponent.
The prince frowned, his eyes fixed steadily on the chessboard, and for one terrifying moment, Yvonne felt sure he would refuse and leave. But instead, he nodded once, and moved his snowy pawn.
The game began.
A tense silence surrounded the playing pair, and three pairs of eyes were fixed on the chessboard as the pawns killed knights, as towers defeated bishops, and queens protected their kings. Until the white queen found herself facing the black ruler, and a satisfied smile lounged across the prince’s face. “Check mate,” he murmured, his eyes never once leaving the board.
Grey brows furrowed in anger and confusion, the Hag glared at the winner. She had never lost a game to anyone – at least, not before this day. Her fury was almost tangible as she overturned the table and stormed into the hut, slamming the door behind her with a loud “Get out! I don’t want to see you ever again, you ungrateful child!” directed at Yvonne.
And so, the young couple left the Hag’s woods, to the nearest village, where they were married by a local vicar. From there, they traveled the entire continent in search of dragons, learning more about them each day.
Yvonne never abandoned her snake-skin boots, and they lived happily ever after.
