The eminently climbable

The water of the shallow river bank lapped around the dragon's massive form as it rested.

It didn't take long for the Jester to grow bored.

"What do you think you are doing, human?" the dragon asked. Its voice sounded like the pulling of heavy chains over flagstones. It opened a black eye to gaze down at the little woman. She was in the process of putting feet and hands in the dragon's rugged head-armor, heaving herself upwards.

"I just realized you are MADE of hand-holds!" the Jester declared as she swiftly climbed up on the long head and smiled directly into the dragon's black, and rather incredulous, glare. Moving to the side, she let herself hang by her arms off the side of the dragon's jaw so her feet just touched the water below. "You are so easy to climb I would think people would want to climb on you all the time."

The dragon didn't like the sound of that. "Such climbing creatures are usually called parasites and should be squashed".

"I think you are missing out on some new experiences here" she said and shifted her grip around so she hung with her back to those large, grim teeth. "Why not just just accept your lot in life. You are ... the eminently climbable."

"And you are eminently squashable, human" the dragon rumbled ominously. 

"That I am" the Jester agreed cheerfully, completely ignoring any perceived threat. She splashed water with her dangling feet, swinging from side to side. "Our lots in life eh - you are climbable and I am squashable." She pondered, "Hey - between the two of us I would say you have the better lot in life. So you should really try to be more cheerful!"



Technically, this image is the fourth one in my Dragon meeting Jester series, but it felt dull to keep naming them by numbers. This took quite a bit of time to do, mainly using MyPaint for all painting work and GIMP for texturing and some other adjustments. The initial sketch was done on the tablet.

[MyPaint + GIMP]

Comments and critique is welcome as usual!
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Griatch