I stumbled out of the portal as it imploded quietly, no longer fed the prerequisite Power it required to remain stable. I collapsed like a marionette with its strings cut, breathing in the safe air gratefully. I was in a daze, it had been only a few hours since I began my travels but world after world had been all kinds of inhospitable. I learned my lesson quickly when I was propelled almost into rumbling torrent of flowing lava and I quickly etched several variants of the transversal pattern on my scales making sure to create a bubble pocket of air and a thermal buffer that could last me long enough to escape from the multitude of barren, hostile landscapes I traversed. Lava couldn’t kill a dragon immediately, in a few moments the heat would make its way through the scales to the vulnerable flesh underneath. If the heat didn’t kill a dragon, being sealing in impermeable stone would.

This was the first world I had seen green, let alone filled with sweet, sweet breathable air. I luxuriated in the warmth of a gentle sun, feeling alive. This short moment felt like it was lost in the furrows of time but I cared not, letting my thoughts drift incoherently in the palatable waves of relief flowing through my slender frame. A quick shiver among my quicksilver scales carried the phantom pain of being the last of my Line.

I am Shen Lung…

I gave my head a savage shake to clear my thoughts. Brief as my respite had been, I had no idea what awaited in the dense thickets and shrubbery that surrounded the clearing I had arrived in. I glanced at the blades of grass trampled beneath my claws. I recognised it as grass and I was pleasantly surprised. The… other places didn’t have grass. I felt my lips curl up into a giddy smile. Finally, life!

No doubt my pursuers were already reconstructing my circle, in all probability pouring all their effort into feeding Power to my pattern. I felt the edges of my draconian lips curl into a predatory smile. A nice surprise would await them, may they burn in that molten rock world slowly.

I snapped out of my fanciful daze. It wouldn’t do to sit here daydreaming, what would Father say? I studied my surroundings more intently. I wasn’t an expert on plants and animals but none of these were native to my world, allaying a sudden spike of fear that I had somehow fallen back to the home world. I growled softly to myself, none of that, you have to remain level-headed.

I scanned my surroundings once again. Trees that were dense but not too dense to navigate around, shrubbery that was thin, and–

I cocked my head one of my ears picking up a faint sound.

Running water.

With an excited pounce, I leaped towards the source of water in a laughing fit of purrs.

Instead of hitting water, I crashed into something solid instead.

“Oww!” it cried, my brain dimly registering that it sounded vaguely male, if a bit young.

Woozy from the unexpected impact, I swayed to my claws, my armoured skull weaving from side to side as I tried to train my eyes on the creature or thing I had crashed into.

My eyes widened as my vision cleared.

He was a purple scaled dragon with green tipped spines. He placed a clawed hand on his head as he registered me as well. Curiously he stood up on his hind legs, like a bipedal human, using his tail to balance. He looked rather young for a dragon, barely a hatchling. It sounded like he was capable of speech though, perhaps he was stunted?

When he finally was able to focus on me, he back pedalled wildly, letting loose a yelp as he comically fell head over heels in an attempt to escape from me. I watched in bemusement as he settled for diving into the bushes, as if that could stop me from harming him.

Perhaps he hadn’t had the best experience of dragons?

Doesn’t he know I have excellent eyesight?

Or that I could smell his fear from a mile away?

I chortled, although I realised after a moment that it would come out sounding like more of a choking growl than laughter. I stopped and looked at the bushes pointedly.

I admit I was intrigued. He didn’t seem outwardly hostile, unlike those vicious leeches from the swamp-like planet. I shuddered.

I continued to stare at the bushes giving an annoyed flick of my tail to let him know that I was getting impatient with his antics.

Come on out, I thought, exasperated. If I wanted to hurt you I would have done it already.

The other dragon seemed to sense my outward impatience or perhaps he thought I wasn’t going to eat him or something because he cautiously raised his head from the bushes.

“You’re not going to hurt me, are you?” he called out to me, nervously. I almost laughed at the crack in his speech. Then again it was kind of sad how a dragon could be so spineless. Get some backbone! My brother and I hunted for my first prey when we were barely old enough to talk. Predators will respect other predators, be more confident!

I slowly shook my head in amusement. What was I doing? Just because he looked like a dragon didn’t mean he was like me.

The little dragon let go a sigh of relief. I cocked my head in confusion.

Oh he must have taken my head shake as an answer.

“Hello there," he continued in a warmer tone. I rolled my eyes.

And what? Just like that? Isn’t he at least a little paranoid? Maybe he really is a kid.

“My name is Spike, what’s yours?” he asked innocently.

I merely growled in response as I resisted the urge to make a human expression. You know, the one when they put their hand on their faces.

Spike. What a stupid name.

I turned my back and started trudging towards the river.

“Hey wait!” I heard Spike cry from behind me.

I groaned inwardly.

I preferred being alone.

Author's Notes:

Well that was a bit crazy but I'm not sure if I want to continue this. I'm experimenting with a slightly modified approach with the way I write things.

Next Chapter: These next chapter messages are actually future chapter messages sent to the past. Please, if you're reading this, you mu- befor- to- late- --END TRANSMISSION--

As always, my perky readers, thanks for reading!