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existentialgaybirdnerd · 2 months

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Half Dragon pt. 1

Dragons were real.

Dragons were real and one was coming at them at high speeds over a mountain area and towards where their forest peters off into clear grasslands.

Johnny was having a hard time getting his head on straight after that particular revelation as Ghost shoves him and the other two in their group further away from the forests at a sprint.

His head is reeling, but not too much that he doesn’t question the sanity of his LT as they book it away from what could be the only cover in a 20-klick radius as the hulking red western dragon gets closer to them.

The group of four notice they’re approaching a large hole in the ground rapidly, skidding to a stop one by one before they can fall into the cavern below.

Ghost puts a heavy hand on Johnny’s shoulder and leans past the rest of them to inspect the hole, catching his breath and humming in consideration then looking back at the still rapidly approaching dragon.

“What are we doing now? Waiting to be charred? Let’s shoot the damn thing!” The words have barely left Price’s mouth as he brought his gun up to aim at the dragon before he lets out a squeak of panic as his lieutenant grabs him and Gaz in either arm, barreling them into Soap and dropping them 30 meters below and into an underground lake.

Out of instinct they all point their toes towards the water and find themselves slightly dazed and submerged. As Gaz and Price struggle away from Ghost and try to resurface, he drags them back down and shakes his head. He reaches into a pocket on his tac vest and hands Price a rebreather, then reaches into a pocket on Johnny’s tac vest and points it between the man and Gaz, handing it off to Gaz when he hesitantly reaches out.

Ghost looks up to the top of the cavern they dropped into, noting the bright red dragon staring down almost in consideration, most likely in anger. His mask moves around his face due to the currents of the lake and he takes it off so he can keep an eye on the dragon above them, hair floating freely around his head.

Johnny prods him and offers the rebreather when he looks back at him. With a shake of his head, Simon looks towards Price and Gaz, holding a thumbs up and tilting his head in question. At Price’s angry nod and Gaz’s more subdued one, he nods to himself and starts looking around the water, looking for obvious ways out they can take should the dragon stay there for long.

With another prod from Johnny, who holds out the rebreather in his hand with a concerned look that intensifies the more Simon goes without air as the dragon takes its time examining the area, Simon grabs it and puts it over Johnny’s face and shakes his head.

Seeing no way out that isn’t up, Simon looks back at the top of the cavern, estimating them to have been underwater for a good 10 minutes at that point.

When he sees nothing above them but the hole they jumped from, Simon grabs Johnny’s hand and points Price and Gaz up to the surface, taking Johnny with him as he rises in the water.

Price and Gaz get there before him, having been in a higher position from trying to resurface earlier, so only he and Johnny hear the underwater whooshing that sounds from deep within the lake.

Simon pushes Johnny to the surface ahead of him and tries to see beyond the darkness of the water to try and see what’s making the sound.

A shrill whistle pierces the water, a note louder than humans can make. Simon covers his ears in pain, almost gasping with it before reregistering the water surrounding him. He kicks to surface while still looking for the sound, seeing something large with blue scales circling the edges of the lake.

With a gasp, he surfaces, coughing in surprise as his ears throb in pain and Johnny’s voice booms next to him asking him if he’s alright at the same time that Price calls him a numpty and threatens bodily harm if he ever tosses them down a hole again.

“He’s bleeding” is uttered by Gaz, looking less dazed and a little more murderous but altogether concerned. It stops Price in his tracks as he notes the blood leaking from Simon’s ears while Johnny manhandles his head to see closer.

“I’m fine, we have to get out of the water now” is spluttered in indignance as Simon grabs Johnny around his waist and starts dragging them through the water towards a surprisingly green shoreline.

“The hell do you mean we gotta leave? You dropped us in the drink!” Price practically yells, swimming alongside Simon as Johnny wriggles out and starts swimming on his own.

“There’s another, an amphithere I think.”

“A fucking what?”

“Another dragon. Mostly docile, but we could have pissed it off getting into it’s territory, move faster.”

A splash sounds behind them as they pick up the pace, swimming as quickly to shore as they can with their gear weighing them down.

Another, closer splash patters them with water as they reach the shore, another shrill whistle sounding with less noise as a massive, scaled head with golden eyes surfaces 10 meters from them and stares.

Gaz and Johnny don’t take this well and collapse into each other, Price staring in disbelief as Simon stands between the three and the giant reptile.

“What did you say this thing was again?”

With a snort and a wring of his mask, breaking his staring contest with the thing, Simon responds “amphithere, Two-winged dragon variation with no legs. Giant snake with wings basically. They’re the water variant of dragons.

Johnny throws the rebreather still in his hand at him, knocking him on the head with it and gets up. “Why the fuck do you know this? Better question: why did you thrown us down a Cavern? Even better question: Why aren’t you freaking out about the bloody dragons?” He’s heaving for breath by the time he’s done, obviously holding back plenty of words and questions.

Looking back to the scaled head resting on the surface of the water, Simon apparently deems it safe as he turns his back to it and picks up the rebreather, grabbing the other from Price’s limb hand as the man watches Gaz try to get the water off of himself as much as possible from his position on the ground, looking calm if not a slight bit confused.

“What? You don’t believe in dragons?” is apparently the wrong answer as genuine confusion floods Simon’s eyes while Johnny gets into his space in anger.

“That answers nothing, and I’m a grown man, dragons haven’t been real since I was 13 until today. So please, for the long of God, explain.”

With a glance between the dragon on the lake and Johnny, Simon turns to the dragon and beckons it over. “Come on, you might as well help me explain since I don’t know everything anyway.”

Before anyone can get angry at the nonresponse and for the fact that he seemed to be talking to an ancient and (until today) fake animal, a chuckle sound booms through the cavern, shaking them where they stood and causing ripples from the head of the dragon to the shore.

The dragon starts moving towards them, scales turning iridescent as they emerge from the water, and body shrinking as they get closer.

With a hum of surprise, Simon watches as the dragon turns into a human as it gets to shore, covered in shiny blue toga with white and gold beads hanging from the edges.

The chuckle is repeated from the now human-shaped dragon, a now smooth tenor rather than the ear rattling bass it was as a dragon. “I apologize for scaring you, I thought you might have gotten injured in the fall. The spiky one does make a point; how do you know about us?”

Shifting in discomfort as all eyes turn to him, Simon wrings the mask in his hands once more. “Went to Scottland a lot as a kid, got left alone for long enough to stumble upon a wyvern nest and made friends with the pups for a few weeks while the Sires taught dragon life.”

With an exclamation and obvious worry, the dragon approaches him and starts examining him, lifting his arms and inspecting what it could. “You approached wyverns as a pup? You’re lucky it wasn’t a Drago nest. It is lucky you are alive as is. Although, being one of us, I guess they must have thought you were abandoned.”

Before Simon can respond, Gaz approaches and looks at the dragon in confusion and frustration. “How about we talk this through in chronological order, yeah? I think we all have more than a few questions we’re dying to ask and you two are losing us.”

The dragon blinks at him and smiles, displaying a row of sharp teeth and blue gums. “I don’t have much time, so I’ll condense it.”

Johnny waves a hand to get their attention. “Not much time?”

Simon snorts as the dragon smiles again. “I’m the guard of the water in this area, there are tunnels deep under the lake that lead to something bigger, I should only be here to make sure nothing is going to harm the lake or what surrounds it.”

The other three nod as Simon and the dragon exchange a glance. The dragon gestures to Simon to go first in their discussion.

Clearing his throat, Simon takes a seat on the soil of the shore, gesturing for the others to do the same as he sorts his thoughts. “A drago is what we were just chased by. They’re commonly known as western dragons with four legs and two wings, they’re the fire variation of dragons.”

Johnny opens his mouth only to stop his question when Simon raises a palm to him. “Ask later, if this one needs to get back soon, we should make this fast.”

“Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it” Simon clears his throat again, then nods to himself. “Dragos frequent volcanoes or fire-prone areas such as forests, but they don’t set fire to anything unless it’s burn season and the forest needs it to grow. They’re violent and quick to aggression, as you saw, but they’re also very passionate. Amphitheres are the water dragons, like I told you, They frequent underground lakes and water spaces underneath or within the ocean. They can be rough and mean, icy in a way, and they would surely drown you if you cross them, but they’re more of a ‘go with the flow’ species than anything, really laid back.”

Simon glances at the dragon and receives a nod, choosing to continue. “Wyverns are earth dragons, most commonly know by the other variations as tunnelers due to making large tunnels and caverns such as this one. You can tell it was made by wyverns because of the hints of claw marks along the rocks in the walls. They have two hind legs and two wings which can be used as arms in a way. They’re the most common type depicted in movies and shows such as Smaug from Lord of the Rings. Wyverns stand their ground and are generally stubborn as a mule. If you suggest they do something that won’t help them, they point blank refuse to even try it.

“Then there’s the Celestials, eastern dragons with no wings and four legs, most other dragons call them airheads and it’s kind of for a good reason. They’re the air variation-“

Gaz leans over and whispers “only Ghost, master of all four dragon elements, can stop the fire nation” to Soap, who holds back his laughter at the unimpressed stare Simon pins Gaz with as he looks back to him.

With a roll of his eyes and a huff of humor, Simon keeps explaining. “The Celestials are the air variation, they’re personable and ready to choose whatever path will help the most, flowing more easily than the Amphitheres and agreeing far too easily in an argument. There are half-dragon shifters, but I don’t know much about them, apparently they’re abandoned by their parents pretty often because they live about 3/4ths the life of a dragon and aren’t the strongest at birth.”

Johnny raises his hand once Simon’s words peter off. At his nod, he locks his hands together in a show of nerves. “They said- I’m sorry, what’s your name? I’m Soap, they are Gaz, Price, and Ghost.” Johnny turns the attention to the dragon, waving at those he introduced.

Shifting in the soil and grabbing a bit of fabric to play with, the dragon nods at each introduction, then holds a hand to their chest. “I am Amphitrite, it is wonderful to meet you.”

Simon seems to startle at the name, turning to Amphitrite and tilting his head a bit. “Amphitrite? Like the Greek goddess?”

Perking up, Amphitrite nods “you know the legends too! My mother had high hopes for me.” They turn to the other three and look at Soap expectantly “you were about to ask a question?”

Looking at Simon and then back at Amphitrite, Soap decides to bite the bullet on what he’d been thinking about the whole time, “you said Ghost is one of you when he said he spent time with the earth dragons, but he’s human as far as I know, so what did you mean?”

A shocked look crosses Amphitrite’s face and they turn to Simon in confusion. “You did not tell them?”

Confusion reflecting Amphitrite’s, Simon shakes his head. “I don’t know what you think I am or what I should have told them, but I was wondering that same thing. You said ‘one of us’ when I’m just human.”

Confusion morphs to horror on Amphitrite’s face, they grab Simon’s hand in a way that seems to be trying for comfort. “You don’t know? I had assumed you knew.” A contemplative look crosses their face. “I guess it would make sense. You should not be about right now, and yet you are. I’m so sorry, your parents-“

Simon takes his hand back. “I’m human, trust me. My dad got us DNA checks when we were born because he was a paranoid bastard, I’m his, and he was human, so was my mother.”

Amphitrite looks sad now, bringing a hand to their face to rub at their eyes. “You father must have been- it makes no sense otherwise. Yes, you must be half-dragon, I can smell the ice in your veins.”

Looking between them in confusion at the exchange, Price leans forward and catches their attention. “You said he shouldn’t be out right now. Why?”

Amphitrite blanches, looking towards the lake and then locking eyes with Simon, whose emotions have morphed to anger over the course of the conversation with them, eyebrows stitched in a glare. “You’re 33 in human years, yes? Almost 34?”

Anger is joined by fear and confusion as Simon shoots into a standing position, towering over the rest of the group. He only opens his mouth before Price is interrupting him “How on Earth would you know that? You don’t know him or any of us for that matter.”

Amphitrite shakes their head and stands slowly, turning their body to face Simon, waiting for his body language to settle into something softer than the fight or flight he seemed in second ago. “All half-dragons and dragon shifters get their first shift at their 34th human birthday. Dragons age significantly slower than humans, shifters less so, but 34 years for a human is the equivalent as one year as a dragon, even if the physical body does not reflect it like a pure dragon’s would. You must have noticed that you really haven’t physically aged for a few years now?”

Simon stares at them in shock while the other three on the ground get up and stand behind him. Johnny puts a hand on his shoulder to support and steady him, he’s the first to question this. ”We don’t mean to keep questioning you, but you said on his 34th birthday. He shouldn’t be out in case he shifts? What did you mean?”

Amphitrite looks towards the lake again, bouncing from one foot to the other, then nods to themself and turns back to look at the team. “First shifts hurt, they change and evolve you. I was out of commission from doing anything until a month after my 34th birthday. There’s five basic steps to it, and it hurts but there’s no real way to get past it without the pain.”

Simon takes his now mostly dry skull mask and fiddles with it as if to put it on, the others shifting around him and giving each other concerned looks.

Price takes a step forward “His birthday is in two weeks, and we won’t be getting retrieved for a while after it unless there’s a major injury. Do you have any clue of a place we can safely have him ride it out?”

Simon looks at his captain in bafflement, leaning more into Johnny’s touch on his shoulder as Price asks the meaningful questions Simon would have never thought of himself.

Amphitrite’s response is hesitant, a pair of coordinates to a house within 100 klicks and easy to get to, something new shifters are taken to when they’re about to turn 34 and completely out of Drago territory.

Gaz puts a hand on Simon’s shoulder as well as Simon and Price exchange an unknown look, choosing instead to ask one last question before Amphitrite jumps out of their skin like they look like they’re going to “What are the five basic steps? Last one, I promise.”

This brings the two superior officers’ attention back to the conversation as Amphitrite smiles at the last part of what Gaz said. They grab a stick and start to draw numbers in the soil. “Ok, so number one is fangs. It’s always the first and no one can understand why, they others tend to shift depending on person, but I’m assuming you’ll go in order. So for fangs, you’ll lose your human canines to make room for sharper and stronger fangs, they’re good for ripping, but they won’t be much longer than what you’ve already got so you don’t have to worry about looking like a vampire.”

Johnny looks them in the eye and brings a hand up to Simon’s face, pulling his left top lip back to reveal what looks like a vampire fang, shocking them into losing grip on the stick as Simon pulls away to snap at him with his teeth, gaining a chuckle and a fake gasp of offense.

Amphitrite goes back to the list, griping the stick harder to keep it in their grasp. “Ok cool, so fangs aren’t really a thing you’re worried about. Step two is claws-” They flash their sharpened nails at the group, black tipped nails ominous and deadly looking. “- you won’t lose your nails or anything like that, but it will feel like your nails are being pulled because they will start to grow and harden quickly, there’s really nothing you can do for the pain other than wait about a day for them to be done.

“Third is wings. Since you’re an Amphithere, you’re going to get some, but not in human form as you can tell. What will happen is your back is going to be excruciating for a while-“ they turn to show their back, iridescent blue-green wings tattooed there “-and you will get these sort of tattoo-like markings. You’re going to be in more and more pain for every step, so this one isn’t the worst but it definitely is worse than actually getting a tattoo there. The wings are useless in human form other than being pretty, but they’re super useful in dragon form.

“Fourth is lungs”

Looks of concern and horror are passed around the men’s faces.

“Don’t worry, you won’t die from it, but it will probably feel like torture? I’m sorry about that. You’re a water dragon, we’re meant to breath water and we can hold our breathes a long time, that’s why you were able to stay submerged so much earlier. Your lungs will expand, and gills will appear on your neck. You’ll need to keep wet washcloths on these as they develop, but there’s never been a death during a transformation, so you’ll be fine, I promise. They’ll close and seemingly disappear when you’re not submerged in water or choosing to use them.

“Fifth will be the hardest part, it will start your first transformation. You need to be fully submerged for it, trust yourself to feel when you need to be submerged. It will feel like your skin is peeling off, and the water helps abate that. Again, there’s never been a death, even for those who don’t submerge, but I would highly suggest you do so. The house you’re going to have a very large pool. Large enough for my dragon body to fit in it, and I’m not a yearling like you will be. Any other questions?”

At the stunned headshaking from the soldiers before them, Amphitrite bids them farewell, points to a path in the wall 20 meters away that none of them noticed that will take them back to the forest area, and goes towards the lake, running and jumping into it, transforming as they hit the water.

Ghost puts his mask back on while the others sit stunned, swiping the list of five out of the soil and shaking his head as if to organize his thoughts with an earthquake.

Price takes stock of his boys and the things they have on them, checking his packs and guns for any residual water logging, and turns to Ghost. “We’re gonna talk about you throwing us down a cavern later. But it worked in our favor so not until you’re not on the verge of… all that.”

A snort escapes from Johnny and Gaz as Ghost nods. They head towards the path, planning how to do their mission quickly to get to the location they were given in good time.

Here's part 2!

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