she awoke to his voice in her head. she stretched like a cat than looked at her food. "Good morning Johan." she thought than started eating the meat. She was siting as she ate thinking over last nights dreams. They had a lot in common though there stories were quite different. seeing all the food was gone she laid down to let the hunter on. she was nervous about boarding a ship cause it had been years but tried to hide it.

Johan climbed unto the dragon's back,as they headed towards the forest clearing outside the town where the ship was docked.

The freighter was large enough to house at least 2 dragons and the captain stood outside watching his crew members load the ship full of cargo,he waves towards the hunter and dragon when he spots them with his one eye.As the pair nears him he smiles with yellowed teeth.

"Ahoy Laddy,I 'ear that I'd be transporting a dragon on our voyage,at first I thought you be drunk" he said with a crooked old smile. "Well glad to see you make it laddy we will be shipping off within the 'our."

Johan thought back to Vinsue "Well this is it,are you truly ready to travel the galaxy with me? Who knows when we might return or what we will face?"

"your sure he can pilot this thing? he looks." she threw her fillings of this man thew the thought. he at least looked like he would make the ride, Fun? "I have longed to leave this place for years of corse i'm ready to leave. and your my ridder now were you go i go. Despite the danger ill be there ready to fight and help." she walked to the ship and looked at it as she did. she stopped before stepping on to the ship.

She quickly got on and found a conferrable place to lay and laid down. "The memory swap is what makes the final bond between the rider and the dragon. it is the final thing before one could be called an actual Dragon rider."

"Until I have a ship of my own we have no choice but to trust our pilot" Johan thought,he helped guide the dragon into the steel interior of the ship which creaked with each lumbering step.The ship was filled with crates and barrels filled with goods for trade....

They made themselves comfortable in one of the open corners of the large cargo bay,Johan unfurled a bedroll he bought from a merchant earlier,there no vacant rooms so Johan had to sleep in the cargo bay alongside Vinsue,the cargo bay itself was dimly lit by yellow-white lights and the tiny labyrinth of crates tied down to the floor made certain spots in the bay pitch black.

"I never figured I'd become a dragon rider." Johan said as he laid his pack down alongside his rifle,he then sat down on the bedroll wrapping himself with the blanket.

"It might get a little bit cold as we exit orbit,if this ship doesn't have thermoregulators." He said again with a slight smile.The cargo door began to close and the captain came along to check if his passengers are ready.

"All set?" he would ask with a toothy grin and Johan would show a thumbs up to the aged captain.

He disappeared towards the upper deck of the ship,where the bridge and crew quarters supposedly lie.And within a few minutes the ship started to rumble and shake.Then..... quiet....

The intercom confirmed Johan's suspicion..... "We have exited orbit we shall warp towards the next system in 4 hours"

The bay was a bit more chilly and every now and again an crewmember would come to peek at the dragon they carried.Only to be shooed by the glares of both the Dragon and the Hunter.Johan began to dismantle parts of his rifle to clean and oil it with what little he brought earlier.Underdeveloped worlds did not have much tools for him to use so he had to improvise using certain oils from herbs.

As he was busy he thought to Vinsue....

"So I'll up my price range,and make a deal with you,I promise to give you your cut in food,jewels or whatever dragons desire with the jobs we tackle in the galaxy.I promise to remain by your side and never to abandon you....Hopefully I can expect the same."

He would finish cleaning his rifle and then snuggle himself into the bedroll to sleep.

"Goodnight Vin" he thought.

She laid watching him clean his gun. than propose the deal. "Deal. side by side tell death do we part." she thought back to him. She now had a rider. someone to protect and a reason to live besides eating. She smiled as she laid her head down on top of her crossed front legs. "Good night Johan the Dragon Rider" she thought as she started remembering the fun that having a rider can be. as he started to snooze Vinsue listened to the hum of the engines than fell asleep soon afterwords.

End