Chapter Text
“What the hell?”
Trees rustled heavily nearby.
“Where-?”
The heat of what was presumably the sun radiated over his body. He rolled over, eyes still closed, and was met with a face-full of grass. Disoriented, he sprung up and opened his eyes.
“WHERE IN GOD’S NAME AM I!?!”
He was in a clearing. That was true. The first things he noticed in this clearing were the familiar bodies of his three fellow bandmates, speckled about looking probably how he had looked before he woke up. The second thing he noticed was the fact that the very blades of grass at his feet were up to his knees. The third thing he noticed was how DAMN LARGE THOSE TREES WERE. They looked to be relatively normal Aspen trees, just WAY LARGER THAN ANY ASPEN HE HAD EVER SEEN. Come to think of it, this clearing was abnormally large. It appeared to be well over four hundred meters across, and seemed around to scale with the gargantuan grass and trees. He knew now for a fact that this was not his home in Brighton, nor was this strange place anywhere near England. He didn’t know where he was, but he wanted OUT.
Across the clearing he saw his bandmate, Ash, get up. He began to make his way toward Ash, his footsteps heavy as he stamped down the grass. Somewhere off in the distance a large thud echoed, though he didn’t put much thought into it due to its lack of substantiality among the other large things he had seen so far. He was around a hundred meters or so from Ash when he realized that Ash was not looking in his direction. His eyes seemed fixated on something at the edge of the clearing, but from where he was he could not see it.
“Ash!” he called out, attempting to get his bandmate’s attention. Ash spun around and locked eyes with him. The expression on his face made zero sense, but that was not atypical for Ash.
Ash gestured for him to come closer, and he obliged. As he closed the final distance between them, he noticed the thing that captivated Ash. It was a creature of some sort, though from this distance it was difficult to tell what it was. It appeared to be lying down, presumably sleeping, in a shaft of light at the edge of the clearing. It was an acidic green and larger than any living thing he had seen before.
“What is it?” he asked Ash, whom he had just now reached. Ash shrugged his shoulders, crouched low in the grass, and began to move in its direction. He followed Ash, ducking behind him and keeping to the path he trampled through the grass. They were close enough now to hear the creature's labored breaths, slow enough to know that his initial assumption that it was sleeping was correct. He didn't dare look up to get a better look at the thing, though he didn't know why. Maybe some part of him thought that if he acknowledged that it was there, it would wake up, and then slaughter them all before they even knew what this place was. He glanced backward at the rest of the clearing.
His bandmates Mark and Joe had both risen across the clearing and appeared to be in conversation. They did not seem to have noticed him and Ash, and that made sense to him considering their current attempt at stealth. He felt Ash tap him on the shoulder, and he whirled around. Right in front of him was the sleeping creature. So much for not looking at it.
He let out a “Woah” reflexively at the sheer size of the being. Now being this close, he could make out its features much easier. It appeared to be reptilian in nature, as the acidic green was very scaly. It had a head like a lizard, with two large horns and two antennae like appendages, four legs with claws at the end, a large tail, and 4 wondrous wings, akin to those of a butterfly. This being, whatever it was, was positively beautiful. It almost reminded him of a dragon–a creature his mom had told him great stories of as a child; of heroic knights who would take on the great challenge of slaying one in order to save a beloved–but he had lived long enough to know that those weren't real.
Ash seemed frozen in wonder as well, though he still didn’t utter a word. He didn’t expect him to. Ash’s muteness was not something that would ever be broken.
“Wilburrrrrr!” distantly called a voice with a dirty northern accent. The creature stirred.
“Dammit Mark”, he whispered under his breath. Ash seemed to have heard it too, as he rose hurriedly and aggressively mimed a “Shh” off into the clearing.
“What?” Mark called again. He evidently had not understood Ash's mime. The creature did not move this time, but that was no guarantee it wouldn't still wake up. Will rose and turned, spotting Joe and Mark a few hundred meters away. He hurried towards them.
“Th’ hell is that thing?” Mark asked when Will finally reached them.
“A reptile of some sort,” Will replied. “I reckon it’s asleep, but with all your yelling it probably won't be that way for long.” As if to accent his point, he heard the creature move again behind them. There was a muffled “Eep” as this movement presumably startled Ash. Will turned and saw that the creature had rolled over; evidently his assumption was correct as Ash was hurrying toward them.
“I’ll do you one better Mark,” Joe added in a passing tone. “Will, where are we?”
“No idea,” Will responded shortly. Ash had reached them by now, and shrugged as well.
“Pretty fuckin mental we’d all wake up here though,” Mark lamented. “You all sure this ain't some dream?” Ash pinched himself, and a moment later shook his head. Joe facepalmed.
“This can’t be a dream guys,” Joe scoffed. “If we’re all sentient–which I'm assuming we are unless any of you aren’t thinking right now–then we can't all be dreaming.” A chorus of nods echoed around the band, all of them seeing Joe's point. Will would’ve said the same, but Joe’d beat him to it.
“If it aint a dream then ‘hell is it?” Mark shot back. “And hell is that thing!?” He gestured toward the gigantic reptile. It had rolled over again and was now facing the original direction.
“I reckon it looks like a dragon,” Joe offered.
“It can't be a dragon you wanker,” Will deadpanned. “The day dragons are real will be the day the sun rises in the west.”
“Do you have a better idea of what it is?” Joe countered. Ash pulled a compass out of his pocket, looked startled, and gestured frantically toward the tail end of the sunrise. Everyone crowded around his compass (Why the hell did he have a compass in his pocket?) and noted with shock that the sun was in fact rising in the west. Will sighed.
“Dragon it is,” he surrendered.
“Well,” Joe began sassily. “That dragon is probably our best clue as to where the hell this place is, so I reckon we’d oughta investiga-” A large rumble echoed around the clearing, cutting Joe off mid sentence. Will whirled around to see that the dragon was stirring.
“Shit,” Mark murmured.
“Shit indeed,” Joe agreed, frozen in place.
The dragon was even larger upright, easily standing around as tall as a house. Will couldn't help but find it was rather beautiful, though he thought that was rather foolish of himself considering that it would probably kill all four of them the second it came to. He wasn't ready to die, but he figured if the universe had chosen here and now at that time, he would be a fool to argue.
“Well, it was an honor to play with you all,” Will punctuated. Ash was stuck in place staring at the beast, Joe had collapsed into a ball and began weeping, and Mark had broken out laughing.
“If I coulda chosen how to go out, I reckon dragon woulda been at th’ top of my list,” His booming laugh echoed through Will's ears. “The only thing I'da changed woulda been the lack of a beer in my hand!”
Will found it rather twisted that Mark could laugh at a time like this, but chose not to dwell on that considering how it would get him out of his fate. The dragon let out a mighty roar, and in that moment he figured he had one, extremely slim chance of getting out of this. He had to fight.