The Pirates of Captain Bud caught Dragon Father. 

They did it with perfection. First, they separated him from Dragon Little. 

Once she fell into the Sinking Sands, they attacked him and forced him to flee. 

He fell into their traps time after time, each time losing a gun, a sword, and getting out only by the skin of his teeth. 

Finally, they surrounded him, exhausted and weaponless. 

He raised his hands. They tied them with rope behind his back. 

He had almost no strength left as they pushed him towards their flying pirate ship. 

The ship rose into the air as the pirates celebrated. 

Now, a kilometer above the sea, they forced Dragon Father onto the plank. 

He walked slowly but without fear. 

“Turn around,” Captain Bud said. 

Dragon Father, standing at the edge of the plank, turned to face Captain Bud. 

“Any last words?” Captain Bud asked. 

“Yes,” Dragon Father smiled. “Look up!” 

The Pirates of Captain Bud looked up. Dragon Little, five years old, was sitting in the crow’s nest atop the mast, pointing her laser pistol at Captain Bud’s head. 

Dragon Father smiled and ran forward. He leapt off the plank and somersaulted in the air. 

As he was in the air, Dragon Little fired at the rope that bound his hands. By the time he had landed, his hands were freed. Dragon Little dropped the sword he had lost in the first trap, and he caught it automatically. 

Fighting ensued, and the Pirates of Captain Bud were quickly defeated. 

“You forgot, Captain Bud,” Dragon Father whispered in his ear after he had tied the captain’s hands behind his back. “She’s almost as dangerous as I am!” 

—Told by The Red Dragon