When dealing with short-life beings outside the clan structure, it's often considered best for a forest dragon to keep distance. Fortunately, a dragon's size and visage is usually more than enough to keep any little being from getting too close, and those that do can be even further encouraged to flee with a flash of deadly tooth and claw, a tuft of flame and a predatory glare.

Every so often, though, a little beast comes along seemingly immune to such persuasion, intent on befriending even the most fearsome of dragons through sheer tenacity, selflessness, and bright-eyed optimism.

Jonathan, the young opossum, was one of these such beings. How he'd discovered Ollimar's forest home and navigated the verdant maze to stumble into the dragon's grove was anyone's guess. Still, he found himself here often, bringing baked goods and confections for the dragon to sample. Ollimar often made a point to threaten to devour the woodland beast alongside such treats, but the threat was always simply laughed off and answered by a hug to the front of that green muzzle, an act that always caused an amused smile to spread across those scaled lips.

Befriending short-lifes was a bittersweet endeavor for a dragon. Their approach to life was vibrant, passionate and hasty. Much like a flame, there was a singular beauty to the way they existed, even if it were for only a fleeting moment in time. Sorrow and grief was the only thing such a friendship could promise a dragon when it inevitably came to an end in much too short a time span. Unlike many of his kind, Ollimar had decided long ago that such a burden was very much worth the time spent in delightful company.


A little colored sketch I managed to snag from  Jesdena of my big green and an adorable opossum  Jc4502 who has been one the best buddies a big grumpy dragon could have.


I love the posing and the expressions on this one a ton. Ollimar often goes out of his way to put on a fearsome, malevolent guise, but Jonathan tends to see right through his friend's bluffs. Opossums are so damned adorable!