Tribulations of a Dragon

Apparently, I fell asleep, which seems obvious because I just woke up. That’s usually how that works.

I can’t seem to remember where I am, but I feel kinda scrunched up for some reason.

It doesn’t feel uncomfortable right now, but I think it might become very uncomfortable if I don’t stretch.

Speaking of stretching, it would seem that I can’t. I’m not sure what’s going on, but I’m apparently in some sort of container.

I try to move some more, but I’m not having much luck. Who just locks someone in a small container? That’s so rude!

Feeling around my little prison, I try to find a latch or something, just anything to make sense of it. But I can’t find anything; it’s all just a smooth curved surface.

At least I’m becoming increasingly convinced that I’m in some sort of spherical container.

And if I know my geometry, which I don’t, I should have an advantage if I try to force my way out, so I start banging on the walls.

That didn’t do much, so I guess I need a plan. Wait, does this domey sphere even have air holes? I’m gonna need air holes at some point. That’s potentially bad.

Obviously, I decide to hit the walls some more. Of course, I do so in a totally controlled and not slightly panicked way. I don’t feel like I make any progress, though, which is frustrating.

I just wanna get out, dang it! Just let me the hell out of this darn thing! I may have lost my cool. I thrashed around wildly. It worked! The container suddenly cracked. FREEEEEDOM!

I find myself surprisingly angry at the ordeal. Who the hell just locks someone in a container!

I turn around and take a look at the… egg… what… why was I in an egg…? Okay, Kira, remember what happened last night.

You woke up, you talked to mom and dad, then headed out to meet with the gang, and you left.

What happened after I left, though? Why can’t I remember that part?

I pace back and forth as I try to remember what had happened. I can’t seem to reach the memories no matter how hard I try.

My attempts only serve to make me sad and make me miss mom and dad. I try to gather myself, but it’s just a lot right now.

I need to stand up and get a clear picture of where I am. Right, stand up, easy peasy, anyone can do it, so why am I still so close to the ground?

I don’t feel particularly odd, so I inspect myself aaand I’m a lizard. What the heck happened? What kinda weirdo just wakes up as a lizard? This kinda weirdo, apparently.

Well, I’m just gonna go ahead and assume that this is a weird dream. A very realistic-feeling weird dream, but okay, let’s just roll with it.

To summarize, I seem to be a lizard on four legs with very cool and pretty claws, if I do say so myself.

Or is it two arms and two legs? I'm not sure, but I do have very pretty wings and a long tail ending in a sort of spade tip; the blade things look kinda sharp.

I’m also covered in black scales. I’m quite beautiful and I’m kinda okay with that. I could really use a mirror to get a proper look at me, but mirrors don’t work in dreams for most people, so whatever.

With a basic inspection of myself done. And an appropriate amount of appreciation of my beauty, I give my surroundings a look.

From the looks of it, I’m in a cave. A very large and rocky cave, mostly deeper than it is wide. If how I feel is anything to go by, the cave is neither too hot nor too cold.

Being in a cave sounds like it's a pretty good start, but who knows, I’m not a very outdoorsy person.

But I do know that caves usually have inhabitants. So now I'm wondering what sort of monster might live here.

I’m inclined to just leave the cave, but I feel like it would be a bad idea to just leave, so instead, I’m gonna scout out this cave!

The first thing I note is that there is a decent amount of those pointy rock teeth, they’re called…

Uh… Right! Stalagmites and stalactites! And stalagmites are the ground ones because they might grow up.

While the cave is quite large, it doesn’t actually take me long to check out the area. And to my luck, I didn’t find any me-eating monsters.

Speaking of me-eating monsters, I should definitely make sure no monster wanders in. So I sneak on over to the entrance of the cave, or is it an exit since I’m coming from inside it?

I don’t know, it’s definitely one of them, maybe both.

The outside is just snow and down, and the down part is just rocks ending in green. Mountains.

What the heck, dream?! Why’d you make me black in an almost entirely white biome? I’ll be spotted from miles away! I’ll have to get sneaky with it.

As I prepare for my sneaky exploration of the immediate area, I hear a grumbling sound.

Now, as mentioned, I’m not a very outdoorsy person, but even I can tell that a growly grumble of death is not good. I should probably skedaddle, so that’s what I do, like, right now. Sneaky can wait.

As luck would have it, the immediate area is quite flat and the snow is packed enough that I don’t fall through.

I don’t even know how deep this snow is. But it is making running very easy for me, which is good because that growly grumble was too close for comfort.

Looking back, I’m immediately overcome by a sense of ‘Oh shit!' The giant bear is still following me and its shuffling turns into a lot of stomping; I’m definitely being chased. This thing is huge!

It’s a giant ice-blue bear. As a rule, I don’t mind giant bears, but that usually changes WHEN THEY’RE FREAKIN’ CHASING ME!

I run as fast as I can, but I’m not fast enough, and these darn wings are slowing me down. I hate you, wings!

Stupid physics with its drag and whatnot. I may be panicking a little. In large part because this dang bear is gaining on me really fast.

I’m just doing my best trying to get away when I’m suddenly knocked off my feet. Paws? Talons? Not now, Kira, we’ve got surviving to do! I say that as if I can stop this tumble at all.

The bear appears to have swiped me right off the mountain, and I’m definitely falling.

Unable to think of a plan, I just try to relax when I suddenly feel a strong and painful pull backward.

That’s odd, I’m still in the air, but no longer in a plummeting-to-my-death kinda way. I look around and, yep, seems kinda obvious now that I’m less panicky.

Wings. For flying. I love you, wings, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise!

Deciding that I’m safe to just soar around here, I look up at the peak I just fell from.

It sure is high up, which is lucky because that means I have had time to unpanic before hitting something harder than me. Such as the ground or the side of the mountain. I have no idea how far I fell before I managed to unfold my wings.

But for now, I’m still soaring, so that gives me time to really look around. The view is, honestly, gorgeous.

Below me is a vast forest populated by firs and oak-like trees, it probably has animals too, but I can’t see any right now.

To my right, I can see an expansive flat area, which I assume is like grassland or something.

Just at the edge of the forest, there’s even a walled town. I’m just gonna go ahead and leave that alone for now.

Looking ahead, I can see a fairly large lake, so that seems like a good opportunity for fishing!

And now I find myself surprisingly tempted by the idea of food. Which shouldn’t be that surprising since I just hatched, I guess, but what do flying lizards eat?

The obvious test would be checking my teeth, so I do just that by opening my mouth and prodding at my teeth with my tongue.

That answers that. Back-facing, somewhat long, and very sharp teeth. Definitely a carnivore of the rip-and-tear variety.

There’s also the part where I’m salivating at the thought of eating meat and fish.

Focus up, Kira! Scouting the landscape comes first, since I have no idea where I am. Time to take notes! I fell from a snowy mountain, dodged the rocky outcroppings.

And now I'm gliding peacefully through the sky above some foresty bits going on further down. That forest is probably the green area I spotted from the mountaintop.

So that’ll probably have some food options, which will probably be gross.

And then there’s the town, the plains, a lake, and beyond the lake, a very intimidating mountain range.

That’s a lot of natural features to look out for, well, I guess the town isn’t a natural feature.

But for now, I should do something more than just flying around, I think.

I’ve been getting closer and closer to the tree tops, and I find that I can see remarkably well, and the smells! So many smells.

A bunch of them are gross, but that’s nature when you apparently have super smell powers, I guess.

Feels like all my senses are heightened, which is sorta weird to deal with, but I’m sure I’ll learn to manage.

I’ve decided to face my second greatest challenge yet: landing. I sorta feel like I shouldn’t waste this opportunity to swoop down on a critter or something.

I’ve definitely heard and seen some stuff shuffling around, so it should be easy peasy lemon squeezy.

A few more minutes of flying, I spot another deer. It looks a lot like the deer I’m familiar with, brown fur, black spots and some very pointy antlers. Gotta watch out for those.

It’s decided! That will be my target, so now I just need to aim. I’ve got this, I can do this, it’ll be scary, but I can do it.

I start my descent and aim slightly ahead of the deer, it spots me, so now the game is on.

I navigate through the trees with surprising ease, it practically feels natural to me. Folding and unfolding my wings in rapid succession to not strike trees as I speed through the woods.

I’m closing in on the deer and I’ve almost got it! Just a bit moooore and… It turned last minute.

I missed the deer, but what I didn’t miss was that tree stump.

I crash into the stump hard, it feels like I’ve been flung into a literal wall, which I guess might as well be the case.

As it turns out, hunting deer isn’t easy peasy lemon squeezy, it’s difficult difficult lemon difficult.

Geez, I need a rest. That really hurt. I give myself a quick inspection and I don’t think I broke anything, so that’s good, very good in fact. But still, ouch.

Oh right, the deer got away. Dang it. I look around to see if I can decipher where it went. If I can find its tracks, I should be able to find it.

But the forest bed here appears to be springy moss, old leaves, and needles from the firs. Whenever I push it down, it just springs back up after a bit.

I turn around to where I came from and find that I can quite easily smell where the deer ran.

So I start retracing our steps when it occurs to me that I can quite easily smell the deer. I should follow it instead. That seems like a better plan.

One thing I did learn in school was that humans used to hunt by stalking prey, and I used to be human, so that fits perfectly. Don’t think too much about it.

As I sneak through the forest, I find the deer, it’s just grazing like the delicious, jumpy snack that it is.

I get closer and closer, it seems alert. I can still smell it quite clearly, which is surprisingly exhilarating.

It’s right around the corner, I think I’m gonna chase it down, and off I go!

I spring into action and charge at the deer. It bolts. I chase after it, making small jumps and using my wings to glide small distances when the trees allow it.

I'm gaining ground slowly. I’m getting close, so now I just have to be ready for the pivot. Almost there and THERE!

As the deer turns, I leap and my claws rip into flesh and my jaws clamp down on its neck. I’ve got it. I actually managed to catch it!

I check to make sure I’ve killed it, and just to be sure, I rip out its throat.

Before I realize what I’m doing, I’ve ripped into the meat. I bury my head in the chest cavity and eat its heart.

It tastes heavenly! I’m chomping down on organs left and right until I’ve eaten the biggest bits. I pull my head out of it and get to work on eating the meat.

The bones snap easily under the pressure of my jaws, giving me a rather enjoyable tingle. As I rip off a hind leg, I just start swallowing it whole. Apparently, that’s a thing I can do now, just swallow legs.

I make short work of the rest of the deer, feeling delightfully full.

This was a great idea, my goodness, that was delicious. I think I need a teeny nap…

————————

I wake up some time later, feeling as if something is wrong. When the heck did I become fine with eating raw meat, or ripping animals apart, not just fine, but enjoying it?

That makes me very uncomfortable. I should NOT be fine with that.

And then it occurs to me, when the HELL did I stop thinking about this as a dream?!

Okay, calm down Kira, you’re clearly not entirely fine with this, so you’re still human. But that’s not helpful, some humans are also fine with these things.

Am I human or some sort of lizard?! Both? Neither? I don’t know!

Come on, Kira, you can figure this out. It has to be a dream, nobody just turns into lizard things. Did the scalefolk used to be human?

Okay, for real this time, calm down, Kira. You can do this, just calm down. Okay, I’m calm. Think positive thoughts. Flying was awesome, deer is delicious. Okay, I’m calm.

So what now? Maybe I should find someone who can help me, but where and how? Who’d help some deer-munching lizard?

Maybe I can munch on other things, dangerous things, and the locals might be like, “Oh hey, that lizard is our friend! Let’s help her!”

That might be a bit in the wishful thinking department, but it’s the best plan I have so far.

Or I could try talking to them. Hold on, can I talk? Do lizards talk? I give my speech craft a proper try aaand I’m just growling at the wind. I suspect growling might not be the best approach to diplomacy and friend making.

Hopefully I’ll think of something by the time it becomes relevant. I’m a clever cookie, so let’s hope for the best instead of worrying first.

I set out on my journey towards… somewhere… I really have no idea where I am, so I just pick a direction and go.

Whatever direction this is, it’s gonna be east now, so I’m heading east!

After some expert walking on four legs with minimal tripping over branches and the like, I notice the smell of something sweaty. And sweaty usually means people. Flawless logic, Kira; good job.

I go into my stealth mode again and sneak closer. I end up on a small ledge overlooking the source of the smell.

I lie down on my belly and crawl closer to get a better look, and I spot it, but it isn’t human, that’s for probably.

It’s kinda short, well, very short, with a nice dark green skin color and very pretty black hair. I watch the small creature for a bit to see if there's a chance it wants to be friends.

But then it occurs to me that maybe I should act and do something. Specifically about the two large dogs, or are they wolves, dogwolves? currently growling and cornering the little one.

They’re as big as me! Which, as it turns out, is like twice as tall as the little one.

Wait, do I compare to my shoulder height or my head? It feels like measuring to my head is cheating because of my long neck. But isn't that how measuring usually works?

Either way, I could stand shoulder to shoulder with these large dogwolves! They’ve got some pretty large teeth that I should look out for.

Add the claws to that list too, because they also look quite dangerous.

I’m not sure this is a good idea, but I also can’t just leave this tiny green person to die.

So I jump into action and go for a quick attack. I manage to land almost on top of the closest dogwolf, so I try grappling it with my claws.

As it tries to disentangle itself from my claws, I bite down hard on its neck. I feel bones snap, and it feels amazing. I tear into it and rip out a big chunk of meat and swallow it with glee.

I need to do this more often.

The second dog turns its attention to me and readies itself for an attack, but I’ve already seen that. I swipe my tail toward it.

The hit lands. The dogwolf is sent flying into a tree with a loud crash. It immediately stops moving when it falls to the ground. I’m just gonna call ‘em wolves from now on. Calling them dogwolf is annoying.

I grab a few extra quick bites and then look around, spotting the small green buddy. Yep, they’re crying; must be overcome with happiness because I saved them. You’re welcome, random citizen.

I walk over and give them a few sniffs, this little one smells quite good, even with the sweat. I don’t like that I sorta feel like eating them.

Pretty sure eatin’ folks is bad diplomacy. For now, I’m gonna finish eating these wolves, I’m sure the little green one will wait for me.

There’s something in their pocket I really like the smell of. So I move closer to sniff it out and see if I can identify it, which makes the little green one more uneasy it seems.

Cautious around their savior, eh? Don’t worry, Little One, I’m not gonna hurt you. Of course I can’t tell them that…

But still, I’m not doing much of anything, so there’s not a thing to be afraid of. Except the big ol’ lizard covered in blood from earlier and blood from now…

I guess that would be a little scary. I might have to find a creek or something to clean myself off.

Okay, focus Kira, that pocket stuff, what is it and why does it smell so good. I poke at the pocket with my nose and the smell is almost overwhelming.

Suddenly the Little One moves their hand to their pocket and pulls out the nice smelling stuff. It’s coins! I wants them!

Before I realize what I’m doing, I’ve closed my mouth over the Little One’s hand. I probably shouldn’t bite down right now, so I use my tongue to yoink the coins. Haha, mine now.

After yoinking- I mean, being compensated for a rescue operation, I feel a surge of power. Not much, but there’s definitely something.

And I’m still licking their hand like a weirdo. Enough licking! I let go of their tasty hand and step back, swallowing the coins. That seems like a peculiar thing to do, but it felt natural.

On the plus side, it seems Little One forgot about fear and is now more focused on being grossed out. Which I kinda get; that is a lot of saliva. Sorry.

On the plus side, as far as diplomacy and friendship-making goes, grossed out is probably better than scared and terrified. Point to Kira! Yush!

Now what. I can’t exactly talk to them and they aren’t talking to me, so what do I do now…

The tiny one has begun talking! This is great! Except that I have no idea what they’re saying, but aside from that, progress.

Oh! We can draw! I draw a quick house and point to them, then to the house, which immediately makes me feel worse about my drawing.

I thought it was pretty good, but they’re literally scared of it… Oh, of course. Silly me, the big blood-caked lizard just asked where you live.

Of course, being scared is the natural reaction. I scratch out the house drawing and shake my head, which seems to calm them down a bit.

So I try again. This time, I clear some dirt to create a canvas and use some sticks to represent trees, then dig a small hole.

Maybe they can point me toward a lake. A bath would be really nice right about now. Mostly they just seem confused.

Oh, I know! I’ll add some saliva to make it look like a lake! I’m so clever. Little One seems to give it some thought while looking between the expert display and me. Then they perk up and motion for me to follow.

We’re going on an adventure! Woo!

I march dutifully behind Little One as we make our way somewhere. I really should’ve focused more on learning landmarks while flying.

And maybe not getting lost following deer, but eh, I’ll use the excuse of this being my first day.

The Little One sure spends a lot of time looking around for stuff. Sometimes, they even pluck flowers and leaves, adding them to their basket.

Maybe I could use my excellent sense of smell to help with that. I move a bit closer and stick my nose into the basket, giving it a good whiff.

These herbs smell really nice, and I can probably find some more.

Time to learn herbalism! I can already smell several different herbs of the kinds Little One has already gathered. I quickly dash away to gather some; the one I happened to find is a beautiful pink flower.

But then disaster strikes! I have no hands for herb-picking! I don’t feel like it’s smart to just dig the plant up, so I guess I’ll see if I can cut it using my claws like scissors.

While I’m in deep concentration, I hear adorable snickering behind me. Apparently, Little One followed me.

They have been watching my questionable attempts at herbalism. When I turn my head to them, it causes them to immediately freeze, and I can smell fear again.

That’s not what I want, so to make it clear that I really am friendly, I walk on over to Little One and give ‘em a lick to the face. That usually works for dogs, so let’s hope it works for me too.

Huh, now they look shocked. To be fair, that is a decent amount of saliva.

I return to my herbalism, and they walk closer to me, so I assume my plan worked. And after a few clumsy attempts, I have successfully cut the stem of this plant!

Well, crushed it multiple times until it gave up, but still, successful herbalism!

I pick up the plant with my mouth and put it in their basket, quite pleased with myself. Huh, now they’re taking plants out of their basket, not only the one I picked but others too.

They’re separating the plants on the ground and poking small holes underneath. Maybe ranking the plants, I assume the holes indicate value.

I just give the one with six holes a whiff, and it isn’t a flower; it’s some small green leaves. Shouldn’t be too hard to find in a green and brown forest. Right?

As luck would have it, I don’t have to rely on sight for finding herbs, I can smell them out! As I sniff the air, I can immediately tell there are some nearby.

So I, no, we set out to find the plants! Friendship acquired! Well, acquaintance, I guess, I shouldn’t rush to assumptions.

We quickly make our way towards several of these pretty plants, but I think I’ll just let Little One do the herbing.

Wouldn’t want them to feel like they’re mooching, so really, I’m being kind and not at all just embarrassed about how much I crushed the previous one. That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.

We end up spending quite some time gathering herbs. I look around; night is falling, and the little basket is overflowing with possibly valuable plants.

Little One lets out a yawn. I guess we have been running around for quite some time. I give them a few pushes with my nose and get behind them to indicate that they can lead now.

Little One leads us for a fair distance, but as far as nature hikes go, this is one. We do pass a few more herbs, but Little One doesn’t seem interested in gathering more.

So we just continue onward until we hit the forest’s edge. And I see walls, which is not what I expected. I was kinda expecting a lake, but I guess Little One forgot about that and just headed home.

Maybe I shouldn’t have followed, but the forest at night is a little scary, so I’d rather not be alone there, so I take my chances.

The walls appear to be of the palisade variety, which I’d guess is doing a pretty good job of keeping things out.

The centerpiece from this angle is a robust-looking gate with a guard on either side of the opening.

As we get closer to the walls, Little One is leaning on me. They're practically falling asleep. I guess it has been an exciting day, first with angry, mean dogs, then a beautiful scaly savior, followed by a bunch of herb gathering. And finally a long walk home.

I hear shuffling, scrambling, and then shouting. I assume we’ve been spotted and two guards are coming out to greet us.

They’re wearing orange helmets that leave their faces uncovered and chain mail to protect them. I guess it’s safe to assume the larger guards are male, and so that would make Little One female.

With a yawn, Little One looks at the guards with a smile, which quickly turns to worry as she realizes what’s going on.

Little One steps in front of me, holding out her hands and shouting at the guards, but they keep charging with their spears ready…

Yush, the little one is definitely on the side of friendship! And the guards just knocked her aside, that is not okay! That is really not okay and they will die for this transgression!

I launch my much larger form at one of the two guards, my claws sinking into his shoulder; he screams in pain. I follow it up by whipping my tail around to strike at the other guard.

My tail is partially blocked, but partially isn’t enough to keep the guard standing; I think he'll survive that.

I ready myself to bite at the arm of the guard I’m on top of; this thing deserves death for attacking me and what belongs to me!

Little One grabs me and she’s crying; why is Little One stopping me? I’m protecting us!

Right, it’s their home. I release the guard and get off him.

More guards arrive at the scene, ready for battle. Well, so am I. Bring it! They stop a small distance before I’m inside their range of attack, and Little One is shouting and screaming at them.

But the guards aren’t listening, so she walks up to me and pries my mouth open; what is she even doing…

The guards are shouting at her; they do seem genuinely worried and fearful on her behalf, and then she sticks her entire head in my mouth.

At least I’m not the only weird one. Tasty as she is, I’m not up for this, so I pull my head back, and in doing so, get her head out of my mouth. Maybe I’ll have to take some licking time later.

The guards didn’t seem overly convinced by the display. I have no idea why they’re so hostile when I’m clearly friendly.

Well, aside from just putting two guards out of commission. They started it. Oh, I guess we never got to the lake, so I’m still very much covered in a bunch of old blood.

Surely it’s not that bad; some of it must’ve dried and flaked off.

Our standoff is going nowhere, and now some old person, female I think, is walking towards us. A paler green skin color than the rest of the people here and long white hair, but not looking overly hostile, so maybe that’s good.

Oldie starts talking to Little One, the conversation seems to be getting quite passionate. At least until Oldie raises one of her arms like she’s about to backhand Little One.

Before I know it, I’m stepping forward while growling quite aggressively. I’m almost startled by how angry I am at the idea that someone would hurt my Little One.

Oldie lowers her hand with a smile, things are apparently going the way she had planned.

I might have to be careful around this one.

I calm myself down and boop Little One’s shoulder with my cheek. She reaches a hand under my head and starts scratching me, and my GOODNESS that feels good!

When did she learn this magic, and how can I make her do it all the time?

The old one waves at the guards and they lower their weapons as she steps forward and reaches for me.

Little One stopped scratching, watching what I’ll do. Again I find myself growling, although softer this time. I should probably get a hold of these growly tendencies, but she deserves it for threatening Little One.

She’s holding her hand out as one might an unfamiliar dog. I’m not a dog, so I ignore the hand and bump Little One for more attention, which she understands quite well.

People like scritches too, that doesn’t mean I’m a dog, darn it!

Little One uses this moment to be more assertive and takes hold of Old One’s hand and moves it toward me. Obviously I can’t abandon the scritches, so I guess I’m out of options.