Posted March 8, 2011 (edited) I sat inside my small cage, watching from the glass pane as people came and left. My owner reared dragons, and I was unfortunate enough to be mishandled as a egg("Oh, sparks! Can I rub this egg on the wall?" quoted from the idiotic customer who dropped me at age egg.). As a result, my spine had never grown together so I couldn't move my back legs at all. My owner wanted no more than to get me off his hands, so he gave me a solitary cage and hoped that someone would adopt me for free. I had food and drink within distance but had to drag myself to the necessities all the time. It was an annoyance, yes, but at least no-one would tease me and hurt me while living alone. As I pawed the ball in my cage, I noticed the bell jingle and another man come in. He wore a cap and had a bushy mustache. Yet, he seemed different from the others that came in to ogle at the rares or to get their first pet. The banter he exchanged with my owner was hilarious- everything seemed too expensive for him. At the end of his rope, my owner carried me out of the safety of my cage and sat me down onto the cold table. I clutched my ball tightly, looking at the towering human with fearful eyes. He'll be just like everyone else. I reassured myself. Sparks began to fly off my body and at him, but he seemed unfazed. He'll get pissed that I'm not normal and leave. Then I'll be back inside my cage and playing with my ball. There's nothing to be afraid of. Absolutely nothing. I breathed out, watching as I left the comforts of the table. He lifted me up, scrutinising me with penetrating hazel eyes. Then, I saw his lips move. "How much is he?" He asked the sacred question. I gulped, holding the ball in my mouth and begging with my eyes for my owner not to sell me. My owner took me from his upfaced palm and showed him the gap in between my back. "If you want a disabled dragon, he's yours for free. Besides the carrier and chow, which is $150..." His voice was sharply cut off by the man, who spoke in a deep, gruff voice. "I'll take him. He'll make the best pet for Boris- he's just like him." Who was this Boris? And how was he like me? He could make lightbulbs explode? My owner carefully handled me into a small blue carrier and I clawed my way to the wire mesh, trying to have a glimpse of my new owner. As we walked, he swung my carrier to and fro. I wanted to throw up but stopped myself, observing what was outside the store. There were large buildings that touched the sky, and strange humans that switched effortlessly from animal to human. I watched, almost in awe. Most of them had robotic implants to make up for lost parts, and some sat in chairs with large wheels to aid their movement. I badly craved for such things, something to make me walk. They seemed so much at ease, as if the part was something that came naturally with them. I envied them so much. After what seemed like a dizzy trip to infinity, we finally arrived at my new owner's new house. It was not as impressive as the buildings I had seen before, but it was now my new home. As he put me down onto my new cage- a small kennel, I distinctly heard a squeak of wheels. My new owner scooped me up in one single motion and put me down somewhere else. I met face-to-face to my other owner- the elusive Boris. He sat in a chair with large wheels, and wore glasses. Visibly shocked, he reached out a trembling hand to pet me. I liked being petted. "So he's the magic formula you talked about, Colin?" he asked. My gaze fell on the other man named Colin, who was adjusting something on his right arm. "We all need to learn something from Turtle." he replied lightly. Boris raised an eyebrow, skeptical at my new name. All the while I had been called 'Electric'. "Here, Electric," called my owner when he wanted me to react towards him. Now I had a new name, but how did it come about? ----------------------------------------------------------------------- It was a spur-of-the-moment thing, I promise! He doesn't have a shell! Turtle? Seriously? I think it's just you. Well, reject him for all I care. He's yours. You bought him! I had no say in this! You have to learn something, Boris. Now get off my back. ______________________________________________________ Life was going to get interesting. Edited April 1, 2011 by dracoon Share this post Link to post
Posted March 16, 2011 My owners are nice. They feed me well, and Colin made me a similar chair that bent around my waist. Now I could scamper around just like any ordinary hatchling. Made from an old trolley, it had wheels on the side so it wouldn't interfere with my feet when I scratched my way forward with my front legs. The house seems small inside but there's a nice garden where I could breathe in some fresh air and frolick with the butterflies. As I tried out my newly-grown wings, I spied Boris watching me. He seemed thinner in his wheelchair than before, and I wondered what was wrong. My endeavour with a sneaky lizard was interrupted by the shrill ring of the doorbell. Boris's face lit up and he wheeled himself to the door. I hurried after him, trying to get an undraft with my wings by flapping them wildly. As I looked up at the two feet, I felt myself get lifted. A shy, glasses-toting face stared back at me. "He looks like Rocky," he commented, smiling timidly. I snapped, feeling the chair weigh my body down. It scraped against my hips and that hurt. Whining, I clawed at the restraints and he finally put me down on Boris's lap. Boris petted me while chatting with the stranger, guiding him to the sofa. As he sat down, I saw one of his pant leg flip upwards. Wow- was that a fake leg? It looked so futuristic. As I looked down at red leather, Boris continued his conversation. I caught a whiff of blind-dating in the air, but did not know who it was for. As they chatted, I wriggled from Boris's grasp and went to the yard for some fresh air. I saw a larger dragon, a young Pebble who also seemed to have found her way here. "What's wrong?" I asked, seeing as she looked crestfallen. She smiled, but did not reply. Her glance turned to the stranger that was with Boris, and I understood. She was Rocky. Share this post Link to post
Posted March 21, 2011 It wasn't long before I became an Adult. Days passed, and I felt the food home-wise was less appetising than it used to be before. As I sat in front of the porch tracing the motion of the setting sun, a new dragon came by. She crashed into me, veering drunkenly to the side before slamming into the wall surrounding the porch. I watched in amusement as she tried to rub her aching head, but focused on her eyes. Oh! Why did she come? Was she another from the pet store, a reject? As I worried, I noticed a strange woman entering the house. A thief! I growled, charging at her and snapping my teeth, my wheels clanking and whirling wildly while I flung myself at the human. She let herself be knocked over but kicked me in the stomach. Feeling all the air get kicked out of me I staggered back, glaring and hissing in embarrassment and pain. The woman stood up, patting the dust off her body. She wore black sunglasses, yet it was winter and not summer. I wondered briefly what was wrong with her when Collin came too. "Anything...wrong?" he asked, glancing over the strewn funiture and tracks on the floor where I had come in from. I meekly swept the soil I could see with my tail, feeling silly. It was bad enough that I was too big for the ceiling- I forgot to clean my wheels before I came in! The woman pointed to me with a slender finger. "So he's the pet Boris told me about?" she snapped plainly, "My brother is strange enough already, he owns a robot?" Collin cleared his throat, helping the woman to a chair. "Dragon," he replied, making eyes at me to go out first. "You won't believe this, but Turtle's a dragon." The woman scoffed loudly as I scuttled out. "Stuff and nonsense! There is no such thing as dragons! What has all your educators taught you?" ranted the woman, while I peeked from a hole in the curtain. To my surprise, Collin didn't respond but I saw a secret smile curl up on his face. Share this post Link to post
Posted March 23, 2011 Interesting story so far. Wonder how its going to turn out. Share this post Link to post
Posted March 23, 2011 After what seemed like an eternity, the noise died down. I heaved a sigh of relief and laid my head down onto the grass. The hatchling from earlier nosed me, making small whimpering sounds. I opened an eye, moaning in exasperation- why didn't the lady believe that dragons existed? Were we really the 'rare creatures' advertised by my old owner? My mind spiralled into a series of questions before finally drawing a blank on all these. As I exhaled, a whizz of electricity was emitted from my mouth and sank into the next wall. The hatchling was knocked back by the bolt, falling back. She began to cry, small tears rolling down her face and turning into small puddles of icicles as they touched the grass. I stretched out a paw to comfort her, stroking her back. A chill went down my arm when I did so, and I found condensed water on my paw while I let go. She stared back at me, eyes brimming with tears. This was when I finally noticed the large cloud of water that bounced off her body. She nuzzled against my harness. "You aren't angry, are you?" she asked timidly, wiping her tears with small paws. I didn't know what to say, but I tried to reply nonetheless. "Just a little peeved about the woman," She sat on her haunchs, watching with a blank but quizzical gaze. "What woman?" The hatchling blinked, as if she had not noticed my valiant barrage into the house from earlier. Then, it struck me. I had forgetten that she was blind, after that entrance she gave from before. I pawed the ground, showing that it wasn't important. "She's nothing. I took her apart!" I exaggerated my side of the story and she widened her milkish eyes. The awe I saw made me feel big. Share this post Link to post
Posted March 27, 2011 We were fed hastily after Collin managed to pacify the strange lady. "She's Boris's sister," he whispered, shoving the large paw-sized steak in front of me. I lolled, showing him my tongue in an act of disgust. That lady was poles apart in personality from mild-mannered Boris. I shook my head but Collin rubbed my chin. That move again- he was trying hard. I made a breathy sound and seized the steak. He nodded, petting me before turning his attention to my new sibling. "Come, Hydra," he called, and the hatchling skittered to his feet at the command. Hydra? That sounded familiar. Boris had talked about the small organism which had the ability to regenerate. Was she named after that? I didn't really know. After I was done, I hid the bones so that I could chew them at night. It was some sort of hobby I had after losing my orange ball. Hydra finished her steak but discarded the bones haphazardly. She slipped the chain of the side door open, revealing an opening in the porch. "I found that I could do it after bumping around," she rumbled with a toothy grin, "C'mon!" I opened my mouth and was about to utter a protest when she dragged me out of the door. Hydra tried to close the door with her tail but kept missing, so I closed it for her. As I stretched my head across the low wall, I could still see Collin and the lady, albeit now with Boris joining the fray. They all seemed to be in a heated quarrel so I felt none of them would notice us missing. Hydra opened her undeveloped wings, fanning the crumpled heap out to its full wingspan. "Think you can fly? I can't fly without someone guiding me," she confided at last, and I chewed my lower lip. The harness would definitely weigh me down, but I had to try. Gritting my teeth, I pushed my front limbs forward and broke out in a run. I opened my wings as wide as I could and flapped them wildly, hoping to get a lift. The running made my harness go askew and I was about to fall...when I began to hover upwards. I could hardly see in the dim light of evening but I was flying. My useless lowere limbs dipped up and down but I tried to straighten them with whatever little control I had of my tail. Hydra had taken off when I did and held onto my shoulder with a firm and freezing paw. "You did it!" she chirped excitedly, and I finally realised I was no longer grounded. The house looked like a small dot from above, and I felt a rush of pride. I was progressing beyond my disability to being a full dragon- at last. Share this post Link to post
Posted March 29, 2011 As the night descended, I could see dimly a long sprawling field. Recalling how some dragons had landed in front of our yard before, I tried to land as gracefully as they. Apparently it was harder than I thought, and I crashed-landed into the grass headfirst. My face was caked with mud and I moaned in despair, while Hydra found her feet and helped me up. "You okay? I thought I heard someone tumble," she asked, concerned. I stood up shakily with her helping paw, spitting out some of the sand that had gotten into my nose and mouth. "I'm fine," I replied, feeling my face heat up with embarassment. We began to walk aimlessly, since the field led to almost nowhere. Just when I was about to throw in the towel and fly home, I saw a dim light in the distance. Hydra seemed to notice as well, and turned her blank gaze to the light. "Is it me, or do I smell someone else with us?" I did not affirm or deny her question, only pushing myself to probe where the light came from. As we neared the wooden fence protecting an array of fruit trees, I could see an old man stooped over a stool and the flicking oil lamp hanging above him. He seemed to be adjusting the straps on his shoe, proceeding to squeeze a strange liquid on it before holding it still. Curiosity took over me and I stopped to see what would happen next. This was when Hydra shoved me from behind to get a better scent, and I crashed through the fence. She fell on me, still sniffing. I quickly tried to stand up and salvage the remains of the old fence, before I saw the old man's gaze fall on me. My face dropped, anticipating a big scolding and then being shooed back home. He then turned to Hydra, who was already up and all ready to flee the crime scene. Suddenly, I saw his gaze soften. I could hardly see his reaction but he tugged at the patch of inverted scales ringing my neck. "Come," said the old man, and I could catch some happiness in his voice. What was he trying to do? Hydra seemed all for accepting his offer, but I stepped on her tail to prevent her flying headfirst and barreling into the old man. What was he up to? I followed him cautiously, unsure of what to do next. Share this post Link to post
Posted April 1, 2011 As we entered the not-so-small shack, I noticed a warm fire burning in a furnace. The kettle above it let out a whistle and puffs of smoke. We sat down in front of a low table and he began to offer us some fruit. Hydra nudged the fruit. "Bumpy. Is it an orange?" she asked. I didn't know myself, since it was yellow and more of an oval shape than an orange's usually-round shape. I pawed the apple he put in front of me apprehensively. There had been stories of how evil humans drugged dragons like us before killing us for our hide. I wasn't taking any chances. He began to speak. Apparently he had seen dragons before, one even healed his bad back. I began to let my guard down, since Hydra did so too. Insisting that we call him Grandpappy Hammie, he told us a slew of stories about his dragon, who had fought in WWII and later came as a gift to his father. As I got drawn to his stories, a part of me still nagged inconsistently about him luring us into a trap. My mind drifted away and I began to look at the photo-frames on the mantlepiece. There were many images, some of him posing with the dragons that had come. Finally, my eyes rested on a strange frame which had been cloaked by the other frames that formed a ring around it. It was him, much younger and smiling, with another man. The man I had seen before, but he looked less dishevelled and lustful for blood in the frozen image. He was smiling. Grandpappy Hammie saw me reel, and heaved a deep sigh. "That wretched son of mine," he replied to all the inner questions in my head, "He always wanted to be the best. Drove himself crazy with all that mugging. This was his last photo with me. After he threw a fit, he ran away and I never saw him again." Did he know that his son was now a notorious criminal in the town? I could not understand. Share this post Link to post
Posted April 21, 2011 ((RISE!! *commands work to revive self from dead*)) As we bade farewell to Grandpappy Hammie with a basket of well-picked fruit, Hydra picked up some strange rustling noises in the orchard. In the dense foilage of the trees, we could see...jets of flames? Two figures burst out, one larger chasing the other. We could see a fire-bird, flames illuminating the night with a larger red dragon hot on his heels. I noticed the dragon made a 'clunk' sound at every 4th step so I was curious about what had happened. As the dragon gave up, panting and sending puffs of smoke behind the fire-bird, we finally had a closer look. There was a crudely-made metal trap clamped on its leg, painfully crushing through bone. Hydra blew some icicles onto the trap and I crushed it with a powerful blow. "Thanks," The dragon, thankful to us and still injured, followed us home. As we flew(me still dipping up and down from that horrid harness), he told us stories about how he used to live with things named 'books' and earned a lot of knowledge by looking at the symbols inside. Those were 'words', like how we communicated by telepathy. I listened, intrigued as I flapped my wings wildly to keep myself airborne. It sounded all too interesting to let up and I could hardly wait to get my paws on these 'books'. Share this post Link to post
Posted April 21, 2011 ooh... i wonder if the owner's gonna accept the new dragon... and how's he gonna read a book? Share this post Link to post
Posted April 22, 2011 Red, as he was named, lived in a bookstore until he grew too big for it. After that, he moved to the mountains. As he described the scenery he saw when he looked outside his cave, I began to dream of it. There was a beautiful forest within walking distance, with small animals darting around and birdsong filling every corner. Up in the mountain, you could get a bird eye's view of everything within a few miles. Red said that he could see our house from his mountain. I could almost imagine it, and wondered if we could signal to Boris and Collin that we would be away for a few days. It shouldn't take up too much time- just a sightseeing roadtrip. Boris and Collin had been off to peddle drinks to the masses. Apparently there was a big warm-up concert for the others in the town so they quickly seized the opportunity to start their business. I suppose business was brisk, since they didn't bother to say goodnight and flopped dead tired onto their beds. Even Tiger(the lady, mind you) was in no mood to tick us off for bringing Red home. So I guess that was settled. Hydra and I packed a few things, putting the fruit basket onto te table. Red said we just had to carry light since he had everything in his cave. Share this post Link to post
Posted April 22, 2011 are they just going to run away, then? i wonder... Share this post Link to post
Posted April 23, 2011 We moved in the night, leaving a crudely-carved pear as some sort of signal that we were safe. By the time we reached, it was already dawn. I felt angry at myself for lagging behind, since Hydra and Red had to constantly stop to wait for me. This caused them to lag behind time, since we could've reached much faster had I not been struggling to keep airborne. As we settled down to this strange new enviroment, we noticed the large papers with symbols scrawled on them strewn all around. Red gathered them up hastily, telling us lightly that it was a 'novel' he was writing. I couldn't understand how the worm-shaped symbols constituted to a full-fledged story so I clamped my jaw and commented about the scenery. Hydra was out like a bullet, exploring the forest and scaring some of the animals. This was when I noticed that another dragon was with us. She sauntered forward, green scales glittering in the sunlight. Rocky. I blushed deeply, pawing the ground and refusing to make any eye contact. Our first encounter was clearly out of the blue and I wondered why we met again under such awkward circumstances. She grinned, showing fangs. "You came," she started, red eyes searching me like the way she did before. I looked up to acknowledge her words, meeting with her piercing gaze. Immediately I drew back, feeling a lump in my throat. She was now so sleek and beautiful, with much more grace than in our first meeting. An inferiority complex opened up inside me and I said nothing in reply. Red nudged me but still I pondered. I was just a disabled dragon, worlds apart from her, such a powerful predator. I was dependant, and felt that I was to be a burden. Rocky seemed to realise what was going on. Red, blissfully unaware, kept telling me that Rocky had the hots for me. I hesitated, finally breaking down and running off the side of the mountain. When I tried to open my wings and fly off to somewhere I could be alone, I suddenly lost balance and crashed down the steep slope. My harness had caught onto a rock, making me roll down like a huge boulder discharging frantic charges at every bump. When I finally reached the bottom, I was disorientated and seeing stars. The most unfortunate thing was that my harness was crushed beyond repair. This is great, just great. Now how was I going to function without a harness? Drag my feet? Screw this. Share this post Link to post
Posted April 23, 2011 beautiful so far. how's he gonna get out of the gorge/cliff thing? write moar. Share this post Link to post
Posted April 27, 2011 I began giving up after shouting for help awhile. I was too far down for them to hear me anyway, and my wings were too tired to propel me upwards. As I slumped down by the side of the mountain, I saw something emerge from the woods. It looked like another dragon, only orange in colour and wearing a strangely detached look on his face. I flailed, before feeling myself being dragged rather unkindly by the tail. I tried to send out a discharge but the new dragon seemed to not notice or care. Resigned to fate, I gave up on a valiant struggle and let whatever awaited me decide what was my demise or fortune was. He carefully set me down on an open field before leaving as strangely as he had come. I stood up on my hind paws, wondering why I was here. I felt a strange new power inside me, and felt my wings and scales flake away to make way for something else. As I began to shift for the first time, I felt my bones crunch painfully and shrink. When the transformation was complete, I dragged my new body to the lake conveniently beside the field. I looked strange, to say the least I was human. At least I wore something- my scales had somehow changed into a navy T-shirt and yellow jeans. Okay. Still, my legs were immobile despite my new 'step' forward in the change. Daddy Collin will be impressed. Now, to go back to the cave. I dragged myself through the dense grass, feeling that this human body was a bigger hassle that my dragon one. As I mused inside over this being a hindrance than a blessing, I found myself with wings once more. I stood up on my front paws, back to being a dragon. Opening my wings, I flapped them wildly to start their engines before dragging myself in a half-running leap to gain speed. Jumping up, I was airbrone once more. This was less tiring than with a harness so I was back in the cave within seconds. Everyone stared at me as if I was possessed. I looked down to see that my T-shirt had never really shrunk back to being scales, hanging loosely on my torso like a human's. I didn't care though- I just had to tell them my discovery. Share this post Link to post
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