Of All Things

Skylar & Sini by  xSini

Cyrus by  ouendanCyrus



Frankly, the wolf was scared as hell and turning his head in every direction and breathing heavily at the thought of being pounced on at any moment. There were times where he’d roamed the night nonchalantly but when there was dead silence and not even the wind was moving was when he became the most afraid. Being alone was a worry to him. He froze in his tracks and listened carefully and leapt up in his own fright. A finch had stirred the grass behind him. His heart-beat eventually slid back into its normal rhythm but his alertness remained. Skylar exhaled in relief but his face grew hot. At this rate, he’d never make it back to his home. As quiet as it all was but the grass beneath his feet, he kept moving.

It’s weird; how everything is so quiet, tonight, at full moon, he thought.

This isn’t normal.

Cyrus had his eyes on the wolf for the past several minutes; he had been especially aware of the lupine's cautiousness and fear and it made him chuckle a little. Deciding to finally show himself, the dragon made his way to the area ahead of the wolf, still completely hidden under his veil of magic. He lifted the spell and slowly headed towards the small creature, taking no actions to hide himself; he wanted the wolf to see him clearly and perhaps figure out that he meant no harm, although he doubt his appearance was one the wolf would want to come face to face with in the middle of the forest at night.

Like a mirage from some sort of cruel sleep disorder, a dragon came advancing toward him. In front of his eyes. He rubbed them and looked and a draconic silhouette continued to grow up ahead and he began to back away, frightened. There was that fright and disbelief mixed in one. Seeing an actual dragon here in this forest. It wasn’t natural nor could it be true. But it couldn’t be any good. He shrunk in stance as the beast came closer to him and shivered all over.

“What do you want from me?” he managed to speak.

The large black and red dragon stopped and smiled, glad to have finally encountered one of his main prey species to have not bolted at the first sight of him.

"Now, why would you assume that I want anything from you, young wolf?" he asked in a relaxed tone.

“We’re the only ones here-- and you’re coming for-- you’re coming at me... and dragons eat wolves... Please. I don’t want to get hurt or anything,” Skylar whimpered.

Cyrus couldn't help but chuckle at the wolf's remark.

"Haha, okay, you got me. I'm not going to hurt you, though. I promise," he said in a low voice as he began to approach the wolf, although he wasn't all that hungry at all.

He was feeling playful; a relaxed chase through the forest ought to liven things up for a bit... at least for the dragon. For added effect, the dragon licked his muzzle and made sure that the wolf would see that.

“No- you are going to eat me! Get away!”

Skylar hid behind the nearest tree. Then, he flew into the shrubbery and through the tall grass and ran through it for as long as he could. The night grew darker. His breathing and the rustling of the grass became the two only sounds. And his heart’s thumping. He was panting but he couldn’t stop. If he did, the dragon would catch him and he would die.

The dragon was about to retort but the wolf had already turned tail and fled.

"Hey, come on, my muzzle was dry- oh, he's gone."

He laughed and began to follow the small wolf. For a dragon with his skills, it would take no time at all to catch the lupine, but he didn't want it to end so easily. For a few minutes, he pretended to search for the wolf, until finally, he closed his eyes and blinked out of existence, teleporting himself across the forest and appearing right in front of Skylar in the blink of an eye, causing the wolf to run right into his stomach.

"Hello." said Cyrus, smiling down at his prey.

“Augh!” Skylar cried.

“Wh- where did you come from? You were-- you were back there! I lost you! I..”

"Hey, calm down." said the dragon, lowering his head down to the wolf. "I said I wasn't going to hurt you; now, mind if I borrow you for a while?"

And without waiting for an answer, he took the wolf into his claws and took off into the sky, keeping a tight clutch on him, not tight enough to be uncomfortable, but enough to prevent the wolf from falling. The dragon glided across the night sky, towards a large mountain nearby.

The whole forest was below them and they were probably thousands of feet in the air. Skylar couldn’t believe how this was normal to the dragon. He wanted to be scared of falling but he thought that he’d have a better chance of living if he fell into the forest than if he was carried to the dragon’s lair. The mountain came into view, its cavern unnoticed from the woodland floor appearing. Skylar thought about the dragon playing with him and then swallowing him. Boiling alive in the powerful stomach acids and screaming his head off as the dragon laughed maniacally. He shook his head.

You’re not dead yet, Skylar.

Maybe there’s a way out of this.

“Great dragon... is there any way you would let me go? I- I don’t want to be eaten...”

The dragon chuckled again.

"You sure you want to be let go? It's a long way down."

“I don’t know... it sure would be a lot safer for me if I fell...”

"Heh, it's okay. We're here."

The dragon landed on a ledge of the mountain, a large opening was on the ledge and still clutching the wolf within his claws, he headed inside, following the tunnel until he reached the main cavern that automatically lit itself with a pleasant, dim, orange light as the dragon walked in. He placed the wolf down on the ground and looked down at him with a small smile.

"Are you feeling okay? You look pale."

“I’m okay.. except for the fact that.. I’m about to become a dragon’s meal..”

"Hey, don't worry about that. I said I wasn't going to hurt you. I just want some company." said Cyrus.

"Hmm... so, what were you doing out alone in the forest at night? You live there?"

“Uh... yeah... I lived here in the forest. And I was going... home,” Skylar said, nearly choking on the last word.

"Ah, I apologise then in that case, we've been neighbours and we've never been acquainted..."

“It’s okay.. I think- if we met earlier, it wouldn’t have been any better for me..” Skylar frowned.

“So, hey-- dragon? What’s it like living up here?.. In the mountain?”

"It's Cyrus." He introduced himself.

"And it's pretty relaxed and quiet. It's a good living and the view from up here is pleasant as well. Hey, look, let me ease your fears: I'm not going to eat you, little wolf."

“Cyrus.. I don’t think you can.. I’m scared of you. I’ve seen what dragons do to all other wolves and they’re usually really mean and terrible-- and teeth-- and.. oh..” Skylar’s words faded out and he almost fainted.

"Hey, calm down, pup," said Cyrus, concerned. "I give you my word here and now: I'm not going to hurt you, if I was going to, I would have done so long ago."

“Do you mean it? I- I...” Skylar choked.

“I’m sorry. My name is Skylar. And yes, I live in the forest.. in a small cave by myself. The others are.. gone.” His eyes darted away from the dragon’s after speaking.

I don’t want it to happen again, he thought.

I can’t stand the thought of it... what if...

"I... I am sorry to hear that," said the dragon quietly, wondering if "the others" had been caught by his brother.

"You must understand that no one species is entirely evil, and also we all must do what we must to survive, if-" Cyrus was cut off as heard something outside the cave; another dragon had landed on the ledge outside...

Wasting no time and grinning to himself, the dragon gently laid down next to the wolf and laid the wolf down on his back, he then put his arms on top of each other in front of Skylar to hide him from view and at the same time allow him to see his face.

"Stay quiet." was all he said in a low voice.

“Hi!”

Sini came into the center of the cave and watched as Cyrus sat there in the middle with some odd gesture. The wolf saw him come into view, whining. It was another one of them.

“Cyrus, who is that?” he whispered.

“He’s-- he’s not going to hurt me, is he? Don’t let him..”

Deciding to answer the wolf indirectly and greet Sini at the same time, Cyrus gave his usual, pleasant smile and said, "Hey there, brother. Did you manage to catch anything tonight?"

“Nope. Not one wolf. Which is weird, because it’s full moon tonight. I wonder where they all went.”

"Really? That's a shame, isn't it?"

Skylar shivered everywhere. He dug himself into Cyrus’ arms and held on for dear life as the new dragon came closer. He stuck his head into Cyrus and rubbed it against him and tears began to fall from his face as he whimpered. Sini raised an eyebrow.

“What’cha got there, Cy?”

Cyrus had no poker face. He merely smiled back at Sini, unsure how long he'd be able to hide Skylar from him. Instead, he decided to stall for time and asked a question that most probably was on the wolf's mind:

"Say, how hungry are you right now, Sini?"

Sini stared back at him blankly as his stomach growled.

“Well, on a scale of 1 to 10.. I’m super hungry!”

Skylar nearly jumped out of his body but instead he dug his claws into Cyrus to hold himself down, gritting his teeth to keep his cries from being heard.

“Why?..” he whimpered under his breath.

Even without the feeling of the little claws, Cyrus could tell that the wolf was scared out of his mind right now.

"Hm, and what would you say if... I said I have a wolf for you right now at this very moment?" he asked with a grin.

“Don’t joke like that, big brother. I haven’t eaten all day.” Sini frowned.

"You wound me, you know I wouldn't torture you like that," said the black and red dragon as he pulled both of his arms back, revealing Skylar to the other dragon.

"Hey, little wolf, introduce yourself to my brother, he won't b-... uh..." he said, there was an awkward silence at the end.

The little wolf hid his head deeper into Cyrus, trying to make it all go away.

Sini spoke.

“Oh! You weren’t joking, were you? Hey- uh.. oh, don’t be afraid, little one. My name’s Sini! Do you have a name?”

Skylar lifted his head up a little and opened one of his eyes to peek at the new dragon, staring at him curiously.

“My name is Skylar..” He dug his head back into Cyrus.

"Hey now, no need to be shy. Go over to him." Cyrus chuckled. He held the wolf from behind ever so gently with his claws and pulled Skylar away from him.

The wolf stood up, trembling. Each and every step, careful not to offend one of the dragons, he tip-toed up to Sini and then hesitated. His finger was about to touch the dragon’s belly. But he wasn’t sure if touching him would be safe. Sini smiled and hugged the wolf, pulling him closer and licking his face.

“Aww. Don’t be scared. I don’t bite. I only lick. You’re safe with me, Skylar.”

Skylar cried out in pain as the tongue touched his nose. As if paralyzed. He froze in place and Sini laughed.

"Don't tease the poor guy too much, bro, he's been through a lot," warned the older dragon.

“Sini, please... don’t eat me! You both- are licking your lips at me and it’s scary... I just want to go home,” the wolf pleaded.

“Calm down, now, buddy. You’re shivering! I’m not a scary dragon. I’m not gonna hurt’cha.”

“But you have really sharp claws and horns and fangs-- and tell me what you use those for? Huh?”

“What? These?” Sini pointed at his two elongated fangs, chuckling.

“My fangs point inwards; the sharp ends are on the opposite sides, see? And they aren’t all that useful or harmful when it comes to finding prey, and honestly--”

“You’re lying!”

Sini paused with a sigh.

“C’mere. Gimme a hug.” He snatched the wolf up off the ground and embraced him in his arms.

Skylar was stunned momentarily, mouth agape and blushing without knowing why. Even as his face was pressed right against the predator’s belly, it seemed a little less threatening. And it was warm.

“Cyrus, you come over here and give Skylar a great, big hug too!”

Cyrus shook his head and chuckled, "Er, no... I'm quite alright here by myself, thank you. You two go enjoy yourselves. Heh."

“Suit yourself. Hey, Skylar. Gimme a hug, you ol’ fluffy wolf you..”

Skylar gasped from the dragon’s tight embrace.

“Sini? Um.. nevermind. Okay.” He stretched his arms out around the purple belly and hugged him back.

Is this how dragons greet their prey? Skylar wondered.

Is this how I’m going to be eaten?

He was scared but warm and snug against Sini’s body, stroking it softly and feeling its definition. His belly was comfortable. The dragon’s. He was confused by the way he was being treated and why the two dragons were being so nice to him. To think, it wouldn’t be long before they opened up their mouths and showed their teeth-- or at least one of them did-- and they chewed him up and swallowed him-- or maybe they would fight over him and play tug o’ war with him with their teeth and--

“Skylar. You alright, bud? You look a little light-headed.”

Skylar, startled, replied, “Oh. Yes. I’m fine.. thank you, Sini.”

He wasn’t sure how to ask the question or if Sini would know the answer to the question and how he would know, so he kept quiet until Sini spoke.

“Tell me what’s on your mind, Sky,” he said as he stroked the wolf’s back.

“Did you eat my family?” Skylar blurted out.

Sini stared back, bewildered.

“What?”

“Did you eat my family? Did you eat my papa and my mama and my brother? Well?”

“I don’t reckon so. You’re the first wolf I’ve seen all week,” Sini replied.

“No. They were eaten years ago. But you guys are dragons. A few years is nothing to you, right? You must remember!”

Sini paused and gazed at the wolf long and hard before shutting his eyes and pressing his muzzle up against the wolf’s.

“I wouldn’t have taken a little one’s parents. And if I ever did, I would have made sure they were safe... and that they returned.”

Skylar had heard that word “safe” too much. Nothing seemed safe. He balled his fists up and threw them at the dragon then threw his head against the dragon’s belly and cried his eyes out.

“I just want so badly to have family... to have someone here for me... because I’m so lonely... and I’m tired of waking up every morning and looking over my shoulder and expecting someone to be there but it’s just me. I can’t believe I’m hugging you. But... you’re not eating me or tearing me to pieces with your claws and teeth, even though I’m a wolf. Why is that?”

“Because I don’t want to. I don’t want to tear you apart with my claws or my teeth or hurt you or anything like that! I’m not going to do it. I’m not going to eat you either, if you don’t trust me.”

“W-what do you mean, trust?”

“You’re not gonna die, because my stomach acids won’t hurt you. I don’t eat to kill, okay? I eat for fun. And sometimes because I’m hungry. But I’m not a killer!”

“I don’t think I understand..” Skylar was confused and afraid.

Sini lifted the wolf up to his face then opened up his maw.

“Do you trust me?”

Skylar hesitated, looking into the dark maw and then looking behind his shoulder at Cyrus for an an answer.

"It's alright. My brother would never harm another. If you won’t believe him, at least believe me." said Cyrus quietly with a small nod.

Hesitating, the wolf put his paws up on the sides of the dragon’s mouth and poked his head into the mouth, peering inside. Down into throat. Dark. His breath was hot and Skylar’s adrenaline rushed, being so close to danger while feeling safe and secure.

“And you want me to.. climb in there? Is that the only way I can trust you?”

“That’s the only way. See-- if I didn’t care about you, I would’ve eaten you already. You wouldn’t have had a choice. Well, I’m giving you the choice now.”

“You mean.. I can refuse?”

“Yes.”

“You’re not gonna eat me if I say I don’t want to be eaten?”

“Yeah.”

The wolf shivered and continued to stare into Sini’s esophagus, his head right below the roof of Sini’s mouth. He touched the giant tongue and it was slippery but smooth and slightly bumpy and wet. His breaths were warm over Skylar and his teeth, although menacing, would not snap down on him or shred him to pieces. He glided his fingers over them, curious. He gazed into the dragon’s throat a little longer. The darkness was frightening but his uvula was mesmerizing. Just so still.

“What do I have to lose? I guess.. if I left, you could find me and eat me whenever you wanted, couldn’t you?”

Sini stared back curiously as Skylar spoke.

“But you haven’t eaten me yet and-- and you gave me the choice-- and I don’t think the other dragons would have done that.. So.. I will trust you, Sini. Just.. help me up and keep me safe, okay? I want to see the inside of a stomach for myself.”

The dragon nodded and lowered his head down to the wolf, allowing the wolf to put more of his weight on the dragon’s opened maw and climbing in shakily. He wriggled his body into the mouth and onto a wet and warm tongue and felt the hot dragon exhalation on his face. The salivation was intimidating. The teeth were sharp and horrible. But as the wolf lay there curled in Sini’s tongue he stared admired those same teeth and the surreality of being on the inside of a great creature without peril. His tail wagged, slightly outside the maw. When he had settled himself in, Sini asked him if he was ready and the wolf responded in the affirmative. The dragon tilted his head back and his tongue carefully did the same. Skylar got a little scared and held on to whatever grip of the tongue he could and quickly lost the grip and he fell but caught a hold of the giant uvula. A shock came to Sini’s nerves and his head jolted up a bit and the wolf whined, his predator almost heaving. He let go. His bulge made its way down the esophagus, sliding its way down the neck, restless and squirmy. Sini ran his paw down the trail of his meal’s bulge as it fell through his throat. Smiling.

Skylar fell into a small cavern where his head crashed into some sort of gastric fluid then he floated in it before lifting his head up and out of the fluid and gazed around at the stretchy walls of the stomach. The floor stretched out beneath him enough to give the dragon a little bulge which squirmed now and then. He wasn’t sure what happened to wolves when they were eaten but he searched for his mother and father and brother just to make sure. Rumors told of a liquid called stomach acid inside of predators which digested the prey of the predators. This substance he was bathed in seemed to be all the folklore spoke of but wasn’t harmful in the slightest. Skylar splashed in it, playing around. Swimming in the stuff. It tickled Sini. Sini giggled. The wolf sure was making a fuss but more like frolicking than struggling. Sini wagged his tail to the energetic mood his furry friend was in. It churned his stomach and he felt a grumble then some pressure came up so he belched out to relieve it. Skylar chuckled. Curious.

I thought all prey had to be digested before the predator could burp, he thought.

“How’re ya doing in there?”

“I’m doing fine. Better than I thought I would. Can you please-- uh, answer my questions? How do you survive if you don’t digest me? How d-do you only eat for fun? Don’t you starve?”

“I don’t starve. As energetic as you are now, it’d be hard to tell-- but you’re actually sharing some of your energy with me-- just being in my stomach. Not as much as if you were.. like.. digested, but--”

“Are these your digestive juices? I thought this stuff was bad and killed wolves!”

“I control them-- so that they aren’t so bad.”

“For me?”

“Yeah. For you.”

There was a silence between the two until the dragon felt the furry paws embrace his belly on the inside.

“You.. could get more energy from me but you choose not to. You've been good to me. T-thank you, Mr. Sini.”

Sini blushed and rubbed against his belly, feeling the wolf rub back. Unknowingly, they smiled to each other. It was easy to make Sini sleepy so as he purred, his legs loosened up and became unburdened; he stretched out over the cavern floor in a yawn outstretched both physically and in duration. Then he collapsed onto the floor.

“Say, Sky. If there’s anything I could do to make ya feel more comfortable, just holler.”

“I’m fine. Thank you.”

“No, thank you. For letting me eat’cha and all.”

His eyes flickered open to Cyrus farther off in the cave.

“And thank you too, brother. For bringing Skylar here, to us.”

The black and red dragon chuckled, "Heh, don't mention it. Goodnight, you two."

He too laid down, rested his head on his arms and slowly drifted off to sleep.

Skylar rested peacefully in Sini's belly that night.

Who would've guessed, he thought.

My first conversation in years. Of all things. With dragons.