A Dragon Tale; The Child bearing Gifts

Once upon a land, in a realm filled with many different creatures, a human child frolicked through a forest. Above, a twirl of branches slinked downward, connected to the arm of a young dryad. The dryad questioned the human of its intentions. The human responded saying he was looking for friends to join his journey. The dryad was delighted and agreed to friendship, offering the boy a seed as a gift of gratitude. In return the child gave the dryad a smile. A smile he poured all his heart into.

Together they trekked to the shoreline border of coral kingdom, there the two met a water-sylph from the sea. She too questioned the pair, asking why they were there. The child told her and again he gained another friend. She gave the child a seashell. The child gave her a smile, one he poured all his mind into.

The group of three travel to a floral field. There, they met a fairy sprouting from a flower bud. To cut it short, the fairy befriends them and gifts the human a rose petal. The child gives the fairy a smile he poured all his soul into. Then the group comes across a cave...

The dryad, water-sylph, and fairy were all wary of the cave and warned the human about what lurked within, but the human persisted and ventured into the lair of a dragon. The friends tried to protect the boy, offering the beast their cultural artefacts, until finally the child offers his smile and the the reluctant, grumpy dragon becomes their friend...

And they all live happily ever-bla bla blahh.

This is the children’s version; a simple talk to creatures A, B, through C with little conflict until they're all united, but the original tale was not so auspicious.

The former story spoke of a young warrior travelling across the land looking for peace among an alphabet's worth of species. Friendliness helped, yes, but many trials and battles did occur. Eventually, each race's representative gave the warrior their cultural artefact and he used them all to appeal to the dark heart of their final foe. All the other races were greatly opposed to befriending the dragon, but the warrior wanted the dragon to know peace the way they all did.

The dragon explains to the warrior why it is foolish to make peace when war always sparks amidst a collection of hearts, then it shoos them away and the creatures began to fight amongst one another. The warrior spent the rest of his years trying to make amends, but then dies.

Years later, following his will, all the creatures return to the cave, trying relentlessly to befriend the dragon, bearing their gifts and their smiles, and doing whatever else it took. The dragon reluctantly acknowledges their efforts and slowly realizes the worth in friendship. He asks for the human, to says his thanks, but finds a grave instead.

The dragon's gift was a sorrowful, tearful, yet eternally grateful, fleeting smile.