<span style="font-weight: bold"><span style="text-decoration: underline">Cassandra</span></span><br/><br/>Cassie gasped in shock as the animal poked it's head out from the bushes. She had expected it to be furry, with little ears and a sweet pink nose but the creature that emerged was not a cat by any means. She took a step backwards, eyes widening as she studied the creature. His skin was scaled and glossy black, shimmering beautifully from in the light from the street lamp behind her. She watched it come into full view and saunter about for her, it's chest puffing out like it was showing off how beautiful it was.<br/><br/>She nearly dropped her bag in utter shock as it made to come towards her and her eyes widened in alarm. What the hell was it! Certainly no cat. Not one even dressed up. Those scales were real and were they<span style="font-style: italic">wings?!</span>A lizard, her mind tried to reason. An overgrown lizard with wings. Even as she tried to make sense of it, she<span style="font-style: italic">knew</span>that the sweet little thing in front of her was a dragon.<br/><br/>"Maybe I'm hallucinating. I should have gotten more sleep," Cassie whispered to herself, lifting a hand to her forehead as she watched the little black dragon prance back to the bushes to retrieve her pretzels. "Or maybe I'm finally losing my mind." She was talking to herself, after all. Wasn't that the first sign of madness?<br/><br/>She couldn't take her eyes of the magnificent creature in front of her, even if it did kind of terrify her. Where had it come from and how was it even<span style="font-style: italic">real?</span>She glanced about self consciously, paranoid that someone was playing a trick on her and it was all motorized or something. The streets appeared to be empty, however, and when she looked back at the dragon it was just in time to see it stretch it's long, leathery wings.<br/><br/>"Wait!" she called, reaching out as it took off into the night and she quickly lost sight of it in the dark sky. It was probably for the best, really. She didn't know how well she would be able to handle dealing with the fact that she'd just seen a real dragon. Slowly, she turned back around and shifted he grocery bag to one hip, ready to continue on her way until the bag of pretzels landed suddenly in the bag in front of her and she yelped.<br/><br/>The dragon was back and nestled himself into the bag in front of her, stomping about as it attempted to get comfortable. She watched it with wide, disbelieving eyes, her breath caught in her throat. It was even more remarkable to look at up close. It's dark scales looked like they would be soft beneath her fingertips and she wanted to touch him but was too nervous to try.<br/><br/>Suddenly, it sat up and it's blue tongue darted out to touch her nose and she blinked at it in surprise before melting. "Oh, you sweet little thing," she cooed, her fear and confusion leaving her for the moment while she fussed over him. That chirping noise he made was so adorable and although she knew she was doing something very stupid, she began to continue the walk back to her apartment. "Are you lost out here? It's alright, you can come home with me."<br/><br/>It only seemed like a baby considering it's size but then, she didn't really know much about dragons. They weren't supposed to exist. They were the stuff of stories. Mythical. She realized that if it<span style="font-style: italic">was</span>just a baby, it's mother was likely looking for it and it was a terrible idea to bring it anywhere with her but she couldn't bear to leave it here on it's own.<br/><br/>Her apartment building was only around the corner now and it didn't take long for her to reach it and let herself inside. "Where did you come from?" she wondered aloud, though her voice was little more than a whisper as she climbed the stairs. She didn't want one of her neighbours hearing her voice and sticking their heads out to investigate. She had half expected the creature to take flight and leave her but it sat seemingly comfortable in the bag still and once she was inside her apartment, she set the bag down on the floor while she locked the door behind her.<br/><br/>"Are you hungry?" she asked, still marvelling at how exotic and beautiful it was. She didn't dare touch it or remove anything from the bag, unsure of how aggressive it might be. Instead she continued further inside and patted her leg to encourage it to follow. She was sure she'd have some meat in the fridge to feed it.