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The blackberry bushes smell sweet as the hot breeze blows through the forest. Scuttling through the briar, the hatchling is careful to avoid scratching his scales on the sharp thorns. Though adult dragons have near impenetrable scales, Tommy is a fresh hatch. Less than 10 years old, his scales are still incredibly fragile, barely held together by his own flesh. A thorn snags his shoulder, ripping a short cut into his skin.
He doesn’t stop, used to the pain. Behind him, a rustle of leaves is the only sign that the beast still chases him. As much as he would like to, Tommy does not have time to eat any of the juicy berries around him. He must run run run run before the beast scary notsafe predator catches him.
A blackberry squishes between his talons, almost tripping him. Tommy staggers a second, but shakes it off quickly. As he slithers through the underbrush, he can hear the beast slow down. It can’t find him, too big to follow into the bushes. It can’t smell him, either, as the pungent berries fill the air with a sickly sweet scent.
Tommy too slows down. The forest is silent in the way it only is when there’s a predator lurking in the dark. Tommy stills in the silence, waiting. Listening. His ears flick, straining. The beast can’t smell him, but Tommy is also left blind. They’re at a standstill.
If Tommy moved, the beast would surely hear him. However, Tommy knows the beast will not leave without him. It has chased him from his camp near town all the way out here. Tommy has been fleeing for miles, and the beast hasn’t gotten bored chasing yet. It wants him, for some reason.
The branches above his head creak before pushing down on him. Another thorn sits heavy on his back, threatening to leave another scratch. The bushes close around Tommy like currents deep in the ocean. Tommy doesn’t dare to breathe. quiet still don’tmove
The movement stops, leaving Tommy pressed in. The entire forest quiets, like everything is holding its breath. Even the breeze through the trees stops, coating everything in the humid summer air. The world stills.
After several moments, Tommy breathes a sigh of relief. It can’t see him.
The bushes around him close in, as a claw rips him out of the briar. Thorns stick to his skin as some of the brush gets dragged up with Tommy hidden in them. Tommy can’t even wiggle his tail with how tight the grip is.
Not even a second later, Tommy feels the beast take off. Massive wing beats return the breeze to the forest. Tommy’s stomach drops as he’s dragged into the sky, with no chance of freeing himself now.
Tommy, through the brush surrounding him, sees another claw in his peripheral. It riffles through the leafage, before gently pulling him out by his scruff. His entire body goes limp as it grabs him, instinct forcing him still. The beast, the massive dragon predator scary big shakes the foliage off his other claws. Once it is free of debris, the dragon cups him with it, keeping its other claw tight on Tommy’s scruff.
Unable to do anything but hang, Tommy watches the landscape underneath them turn from forested to mountainous. He has to force down a few whimpers and whines that try to claw out of his throat. He’s a big scary dragon, he can be brave. He’ll face his death head on, like a man.
It’s not too long before the older dragon makes it to a cave in one of the mountains. With a soft woosh, they land gently on the stone outcrop leading into the cavernous maw.
Tommy doesn’t get the chance to take in much of the cave, as the red dragon that has him rushes through each room. The twists and turns through the cave system is enough to make Tommy dizzy. The dragon stops finally, in a giant cavern covered in gold. There’s a huge crater in the center of the room, big enough for several dragons to lay in. It’s deeper than Tommy’s entire height, but it looks like it’d only go halfway up the beast’s body.
In sharp contrast to the dullness of the crater, the rest of the room is covered in trinkets. Gold coins, jewelry, pearls, jewels of every kind, expensive looking paintings, even shiny weapons litter the room. Tommy can almost feel his pupils expand at the sight of it all. He wants to swim through the treasure shiny glittery mineminemine
It’s only Tommy’s immense control over his instincts that keep him from diving headfirst into the closest pile. Well, that and the claws still gripping his scruff.
With a deep rumble, the dragon walks over to the crater, dropping Tommy unceremoniously into it. The walls are covered in deep scores, like something scratched it into the ground piece by piece. It would be impressive, if Tommy wasn’t about to die.
Tommy is quick to curl into a ball, wrapping his wings around himself. They won’t do much when the dragon decides to kill him, but it offers him some comfort. Tommy squeezes his eyes shut, barely breathing. He waits still still quiet for the inevitable.
It does not come. A puff of warm air washes over him as the dragon above Tommy snuffles. Then, Tommy hears the clinking of claws on stone moving away from him. Sure that this is a trap, Tommy does not move.
When nothing happens, Tommy peeks his eyes out from under his wings. Though he cannot see the immediate area around the crater, Tommy can still see the dragon. The giant red beast has wandered away, seemingly digging through the treasure throughout the room. It pulls out valuables, giving them a once over. They must not be good enough, because most of the trinkets are tossed aside, clattering to the ground. Tommy watches it dig through pile after pile, gathering only a small handful of items from each.
With a jolt, Tommy realizes that this is his opportunity. He scrambles to stand up, keeping his eyes on the dragon while he does. Once he’s sure the dragon is not paying attention, Tommy is on the move. He steps softly, trying to avoid clinking his claws on the stone floor. Every sound he makes causes Tommy to look up, eyeing the dragon. It moves to another pile, dragging treasures with it as it goes.
Stealthily, Tommy approaches the edge of the crater. It’s much taller than him. He stands for a minute, calculating. Then, he jumps, trying to grab the edge. Even jumping as high as he can, Tommy cannot catch the edge to climb out. He whines quietly, too quick for him to catch himself.
Wheeling around, Tommy looks for the big dragon. He spots it at the far side of the room, still digging through treasures. It must not be able to hear him through all the noise. Turning back to the wall, Tommy sighs.
He wishes, not for the first time, that he could just be… bigger. Jumping again, Tommy huffs. He glances down at his claws angrily, wishing they were flesh. Something that could grip the stone easier. Something longer. Tommy glares at his own arms.
POOF
Tommy’s vision blanks for a second, before coming back. Still looking at his claws… His claws. Where are his claws? What stares back at Tommy is not the orange scales he was used to, but instead… fleshy stumps. Tommy looks at the rest of his body.
He sits on the floor, no longer a dragon. Instead he’s a wingless, clawless, scaless… thing. Tommy looks up, feeling weird confused confused curious wispy fur moving on the top of his head. The wall that was once insurmountable is considerably shorter. Or, Tommy supposes, he’s much taller. It doesn’t matter, not when it’s short enough that Tommy can reach the edge now. He doesn’t even have to jump!
Standing up makes Tommy feel a little dizzy, but he pushes it off. Surprisingly, Tommy doesn’t feel weird. He stumbles for a second, but walking is not as hard as he thought it would be. In fact, Tommy doesn’t even realize he’s standing on two feet instead of four until he uses his front legs (they must not be legs, if he doesn’t walk on them) to grab the edge. It feels natural to use these new limbs.
Tommy is so amazed by his new form that he doesn’t notice that the sounds of clanking metal has stopped. Instead, Tommy is busy pulling himself up the ledge. He almost makes it before a growl erupts from nearby.
Looking up, Tommy watches as smoke pours out of the dragon’s nose. It starts stomping over to Tommy, dragging a pile of blankets and gold behind it. Tommy tries to scramble faster, but his new form doesn’t scramble the same. It’s natural for him to stand on two legs, but in his panic, he reverts to dragon movements. Movements that don’t work so well when you don’t have a tail to balance you out.
The dragon reaches him quickly. It snorts again, before trying to grab him. Tommy wiggles away. He’s unsuccessful.
The dragon grabs his midsection. Even with this new, bigger form, Tommy is still so small compared to the beast that has him now. He struggles in its grip, but it doesn’t even seem to notice.
It drags Tommy back to the middle of the crater, before dropping him. It presses its claws on his back, pushing him gently into the stone. It snorts, clearly telling him to stay.
Tommy stays. He’s trembling again, new body shaking in fear. He feels naked without his scales, unprotected and exposed. The dragon climbs out of the crater for a moment, coming back with the pile it had been dragging around. It lays out the blankets and rugs, making a soft cushion on the ground. The beast grabs Tommy around the middle again, unyielding claws making Tommy flinch. It’s over before Tommy can struggle, as the dragon drops him on the newly made mound of rugs and blankets. It’s soft. Warm. Wrong?
It goes to reach for the gold it grabbed, before glancing back at Tommy, who has turned his face to look at the beast. It seems to contemplate something for a moment, turning back around to face him. It lifts its giant claws over Tommy. He tenses, reaching out in front of him to try and crawl away. He’s too slow, and the claws press on his back. He stops, staying still still. It doesn’t crush like Tommy thought it would. It just… rests there.
Tommy tries to move, and the dragon snorts out a warning, pressing down gently. Tommy stills. It croons, and Tommy feels weird scared scared confused? It moves its claws up gently to his neck, curling around the base. Tommy starts shaking again, sure those claws are about to pierce through the soft flesh.
Instead, it just presses again. Tommy starts to feel weirder. Dizzy. Something in his brain goes fuzzy, and he hums confused confused curious? It responds calm-calm-safe.
Safe? Tommy snuffles, feeling dizzy. Safe-safe-mine the dragon croons back. Something shifts in Tommy’s mind, clicking into place. Something he hasn’t had in a long time, if he ever had it.
POOF
Tommy is small again, in his scales once more. The dragon rumbles, pleased. It curls its claws around his neck once more, squeezing gently. Tommy feels himself succumb to whatever haze had been creeping into his mind. Everything feels foggy, like he's moving through a slow going river.
The dragon releases his neck, turning back to the treasure pile. Tommy watches him from the ground curious question confused curious. The dragon rumbles wait-patient-gift.
Tommy sighs contently, watching the dragon turn back around with a clawful of jewelry. He flicks his tail lazily, laying on the soft pile he’s been placed on. The dragon drapes the gold over him, metal cool against his scales. It feels nice. This is nice.
The dragons spends ages covering him in gold, shiny against his orange scales. It stops only when Tommy feels heavy with it, barely any slivers of orange peeking out from behind the shiny shiny shiny mine.
The dragons huffs a laugh. yours-yourgift. Tommy squeals, claws gripping the chains around them. Happy happy thankyou.
Mine-mine-bemine? the dragon hums, settling around Tommy. Curling around his body, quickly warming the new gold wrapped around Tommy, it pulls him close. It nudges Tommy, and he realizes it was asking him. Be his? The haze floating around in Tommy’s brain lightens for a moment, and he can feel the worry take over.
Then, the dragon wraps its tail around Tommy’s, and the haze settles back in.
Yes yes beyours.