Of Monsters and Men

[Melia]

A soft breeze gently blew across the meadow, sending gentle rippling waves through the tall grasses, making the land look liquid. In the nearby patch of trees, birds chirped cheerfully. The sun beamed it's warm rays down toward the earth, a rare, nearly cloudless summer day. A creek could be heard nearby, it's water trickling musically over cobbles and stones. A peaceful, picture perfect scene.

Suddenly there was a loud snapping sound, as if the wind had caught the cloth of a sail unexpectedly. The birds stopped their chirping in alarm. A small figure with unnaturally bright red hair appeared in midair, hovering for a moment before falling ungracefully to the ground.

The figure groaned and lay there for a moment. "Goddamn… zeta… what'd you do?" he asked, sitting up and squinting toward the sky.

The reply came in his head, a voice only he could hear. "I put you somewhere else. Do you like it, Matty…?"

It wasn't that she couldn't make her voice heard to anyone else, it was just that he was the only one she cared to speak with. It didn't help his reputation that he was already off the wall. But what could he do? No one believed that he knew an alien. Much less that she talked to him on a regular basis. Or that she had some kind of obsession with him. Or that she took great pleasure in ruining his life.

"Where am I?"

The zeta giggled, "1534. Medieval England."

Matt scrambled to his feet. "You sent me back in time?"

She hummed. "Welllll, I thought about sending you to planet Girgimesh but you're a stupid weak human and you would have died. Something about not being able to breathe gaseous Chlorine. Why can't you breathe Chlorine? It's still a gas."

"Why can't you breathe underwater?" Matt snapped. "Take me back. You know how I feel about time travel."

"That again? It's harmless, really! You'll be fine, Matty! I always time travel, it's never ruined my life…!"

Matt stamped a foot, "Of course it hasn't. That's because you're the one doing all the life ruining!" Matt had an aversion to time travel. He had never touched it, yet his life had been more affected by it than anyone who had actually been doing the time traveling.

"Oooh I know it's so fun!"

Matt rolled his eyes. "Stop messing about. Take me back! I don't want to be here. I've got important things to do back home… deadlines to meet and such. "

The alien hummed again playfully. "Mmm, no I don't think so. This is much more entertaining…! You were getting so boring being all happy and such. It's just no fun."

"I'm not a toy!" Matt cried, walking in a tight frustrated circle, flapping his arms about wildly.

"Oh but you are!" The zeta giggled. "My little toy…! It's especially funny if I touch you. Shall I come down and touch you?"

Matt shrank down into the tall grass, "No please don't…"

The alien sighed, "Fine. I'll let you be for now. Oh! Look at the time! I must toddle off and water my plants...! There's a village just over that hill there."

Matt flapped his arms again and stamped his foot. "No! You are not leaving me here! Get- back- here- no!"

"Bye now, Matty! I'll be checking in on you in a few days to see how things are going…! Don't worry…!"

"Agghh-haha-ha-haha-ha nooooo!" Matt shouted jumping up and down and throwing a fit. He knew she was gone though. He thrust his middle fingers toward the sky- his final act of revenge, as useless as it was. And probably a completely meaningless gesture in this era too.

Well I'm not about to go be around people. No. The last thing I need to do is screw something up for someone's future. Or my own future.

And with that Matt headed toward the woods, having no idea how to survive out there. This was going to suck.

 

[Drew]

A restless night gave way to an early morning and Arianna had little sleep. Hungry and grumpy was a bad combination for the young dragon. Padding along in the thick underbrush she felt the heavy eyes of the woods watching her. Locked into the stares of other creatures she kept to her own path and ran ahead and out of the dark patches.

Finding a clearing she made her way towards her home. A look out that was once home to her clan. A well lived in cave that held as many as six dragons at its peak and now stood young female. Apart from her clan, her family and the life she once knew or in trust just barely remembered.

In the distance she heard something snap and thought it might a tree breaking. Not thinking anything of it she ignored it but another noise came after that and a new scent filled the air. Something strange and she had to find out what it was.

Jumping down she started towards the noise and odd scent. It grew stronger and stronger. Something was thrashing about. Her flexing her wings and then tucking them back as close as she could to her body she watched a two legged up right creature move about in the woods.

She had seen these things before but most had died or ran away from her. Wolves got them or a bear, even wild boars but this one was alone and that was different. Sniffing the air her heavy breathing could be heard in the air. A thud followed as she got closer to him. The twigs snapped under her claws as she watched him. Her eyes were the only thing that tracked him from behind a thick layer of bushes. Her tail swung out and back almost giving her away.

 

[Melia]

Not realizing he was being watched, Matt sat down on a rock after a few hours of wandering and huffed. Maybe it would have been wise to first go into the village and steal some food, and maybe some sort of weapon to protect himself against... whatever kind of creatures might be out here. He wondered what existed in this area now? Likely farmland. That was sad. All these trees torn down. Or maybe it was some suburb of London now. He wished he could have some sort of familiar landmark. Even if it was the rocks out in the sea at Teignmouth. He wondered if anything existed there now at all, or if it was just shoreline. Maybe one or two little cottages. What a strange thought.

He tried to think back to the history lessons he hadn't paid attention to. No, he thought it might still be there now. There'd been something... about it being a significant port... even then... or... something...

Who cares about Teignmouth. It's worthless. Why am I thinking about it?

He realized he was thirsty and again wished he'd first at least gone into the village for supplies. He didn't think most of the time. Especially about his needs. Dom had always been around to remind him he needed to eat, or shower, or sleep. He was probably a prime candidate for dying out in the wilderness, purely from his inability to be observational about things, and being too consumed by his mind. His priorities were fucked too, because inwardly he was whining about not having a guitar or a piano to play.

I'll probably die, he thought dramatically.

 

[Drew]

She had been following him for a while and was getting hungry. Her tummy growled and the sound traveled up and out her throat in a type of hiccup. Shaking off the sudden noise she padded on and watched him. Her tummy growled again and she knew that it was time to eat. This two legged creature would have to be left alone for now.

Alone and way from his kind he wouldn't make it through the night. This much she did know. It was getting close to when she would have to start heading home too. Being out late for her was dangerous as well. Stepping on a few more loose twigs and dead leaves she made a good deal of noise.

Looking up to see if he had taken note of her she ducked down. Arianna quickly took cover.
Curling up behind a large boulder to hide her bulky form. Her tail wrapped around her as she waited and listened. Again her stomach growled forcing another strange hiccup.

"Stop it" she told herself. "Just wait. He didn't see me, no he didn't. He didn't hear me. No. Did he?"

All this she thought to herself.

"Did you see me?" she asked herself and in part to him never realizing that she could speak to him just as the alien had before. She had a gift. A talent to speak to the ones meant to be dragons.

 

[Melia]

Matt heard a noise and lifted his head. Whatever it was it sounded very big and he felt his limbs freeze with panic. He had been very stupid to come out here with nothing to protect himself.

Then another noise. Shuffling and a sort of hiccup. It was starting to get dark and he couldn't see what was making the noise. Maybe... Maybe if he didn't move it wouldn't notice him. Ha. Yeah right. He slowly got to his feet, squinting in the direction of the noises. More shuffling and then... A voice?

Another human? It didn't seem human though. Had he heard her? Somehow he could tell the voice belonged to a female.

He cleared his throat and answered hoarsely. "uh. Yes. I can hear you..."

 

[Drew]

Arianna didn't know what to do next. Never before had someone or something else ever heard her before. Shaking her head she couldn't believe it.

"You did?" Stopping and thinking for a moment in private she had to choose what to let him in on. Should she go to him or make him come to her? Yes a test. Good idea. Now she had a plan. A small one but a plan nonetheless and it would prove… something. In her young mind that would be good enough.

"If you promise not to hurt me you can come closer, um…please" She told him softly and waited. Then changed the wording thinking it might help matters.

"I won't eat you. I'm not hungry." She hiccupped again and sighed. Not being hungry was a bit of a lie but even if she hadn't eaten in a week he smelled funny and she would eat berries and dig up bugs first before eating him.

 

[Melia]

You won't eat me?

"What's that supposed to mean?" Matt asked, trying to get a better look at who or what was speaking to him. "I'm not sure I want to go closer to something that just promised me it won't eat me..." he backed up, finding himself colliding into a tree.

 

[Drew]

She hiccupped again and giggled then stuck her head out of the bushes at him. "Hello, and yes I won't eat you." She giggled again and padded around him sniffing at him. "You best not do that again. There buzzers up there that get very mad at you if you do that again. You don't have scales like I do and you might die if they get at you. They are small but mean."

Looking up above his head she spotted the massive wasp nest and backed up. "I'm going this way to my cave you want to come?" Her tail swished behind her as she turned and hit a small bush. "Opps" she giggled and turned to see if he was coming.

"My name is Arianna. I'm a dragon would you like to come to my cave? It's nice and warm. Its late you know and I don't like being out in the dark. Big things can get you and even I get scared." Looking around as the shadows grew taller she turned to leave.

"I live this way" She started away whomping quickly towards her home.

 

[Melia]

Matt nearly wet himself in panic when the dragon popped her head over the boulder. a dragon??? Those existed??? His immediate instinct was to climb the tree and he was already trying to scramble up it when the dragon mentioned something about buzzers. He barely heard her through his blind fear but he glanced up an saw a large wasp nest. Great. Get eaten by a dragon or stung to death by wasps.

Never mind that the dragon had said she wouldn't eat him. His panic was far too irrational to process that she was in no way making movements to attack him. The only thing he could process was that there was a dragon here and it was right and front of him and it was a dragon and it was right in front of him and it was a dragon!

He wasn't breathing properly and his head spun in his panic and the next thing he knew everything went black and he'd fallen in a dead faint.

 

[Drew]

Whomping ahead of the strange two legged creature Arianna failed to see that he had fallen. She was a good ways off before she turned to see that he was no longer there. Crest fallen she stopped and thought of going back or not. It was getting late and all but curiosity was getting the best of her and she ran back.

The earth rumbled under her feet as she got to his side. He was on the ground. A gasp escaped her maw. "You're dead? They got you. I knew they would. You have no scales and you're too small." Heavy hearted she licked him then sniffed at him. Checking for any signs of life just to be sure.

He was breathing. Air came from his mouth. A little but enough to make her nudge at his side as tenderly as she could, this actually made him roll over. "You must get up. It's late." She told him.

"Please, I'm scared. I want to go home now. If I go you'll die. My mum said if I ever… I ever came upon one like you… even if you smell funny that you must… you must come with me… please…." She was begging him now hoping he would wake before the suns last shadow faded.

 

[Melia]

Matt was woken to a strange wetness on his face. There was a snuffing sound next to his ear and he was being jostled. When he opened his eyes he released a scream that was high pitched enough to be a girl's. The dragon was literally nearly on top of him. She was still not making any moves to hurt him though and he scrambled to his feet, backing away from her and staring. Once he'd gotten his distance he gathered himself enough to listen to what she was saying.

"You're not trying to trick me, are you? So I can come to your lair and you'll eat me?" He took a few deep breaths and tried to calm his shaking nerves. He'd already lost his head once, and that was no good, that could have gotten him killed. He was lucky this creature seemed to... be nice, though he wasn't sure. It seemed very young. But it could have been a lot worse. What if he'd freaked out like that and it was a bear or a mean dragon or something? He'd have fainted and that would have been the end of him.

Matt cursed himself and vowed never to panic like that again, to make sure he kept his wits about him.

He watched her carefully, his body tensed to run if anything seemed amiss.

 

[Drew]

"I...I promise… I... I'm going home now." The sky started to lose all of its color as the nights shadows crept in over them. Whimpering she bolted from his side in a blind run towards her cave. Branches of tress snagged on her sides but she didn't stop. Some snapped off while others bent and swung all over the place sending leaves and twigs cascading all around.

A whomping sound filled the forest as she ran. There was not stopping her. "Run, run." Was all she told herself and him. It seemed as though with every step the darkness sucked at her back. Eyes were upon them. Her home was insight. Scrambling up a small knoll she clawed her way over some logs and large rocks.

Grunting she made her way over the jumbled mess of stones and wood and up into her home. Panting she paused and flexed her small wings shaking off the twigs that might be there. A few leaves dropped off. Catching her breath she looked around. Night had gripped the land and its sounds of danger filled the air. Distant shrieking and unusual calling made her back up from the ledge.

 

[Melia]

Matt stared after her as she ran and he wondered what could scare a fearless creature such as a dragon. But night fell quickly here and soon enough the sounds of the woods at night began to scare him too. He could see eyes shining in the dark, watching him. And if dragons were out here who knew what else could exist out here? What if there were manticores? He started to run after her. He would rather press his luck with this one dragon that seemed kind than with some other unkind creature out here.

She moved fast though and in the dark he couldn't find the path shed taken. Soon enough he couldn't here her either and he knew he'd lost her.

He bit his lip. Maybe that was for the better. She was a dragon after all. Something howled nearby and he whimpered, grabbing the branch of a nearby tree and nearly vaulting himself up it. He shivered in the V between two branches desperately trying to see in the dark. He wished he had his night vision goggles.

 

[Drew]

The creepy sounds of the night grew louder still and she coward back into the cave. Her lair was her only protection. Padding into the nook where the burned out fire pit rest in tiny embers she blew some flames upon it and brought it back to life. Making her way around the other side of the pit she clawed at some logs she had dragged in before she pushed them into the pit.

An orange blaze caught and she jumped back. The warm safety of the fire helped her feel better but not one hundred percent since that strange little male didn't follow her after all. Arianna had fun to fast. Hanging her head she padded towards the mouth of the cave and looked out. Scanning the valley she didn't see anything but a sea of darkness. In the distance more strange shrieks and calls that scared her and made her mad they had killed that little creature she found, she knew it. The fire blazed behind her and was easy to see from the valley below if anyone dared to go into a dragon's lair.

Angry at the night she made her only sound she could. Her little call, a warking sound unique to her kind. Opening her maw the sound filled the night sky. Over the valley this call rolled over the tree tops in a rippled effect. All the other creatures went silent for a moment. Like a held breath had passed over. Sad she did it again and then she turned into her cave. The sound carried for miles. Not knowing the power behind her kind Arianna took no notice of the fear in the silence of the other creatures. For they heard a dragons call into the night. One that told them she was in the area.

 

[Melia]

A new sound filled the air, carrying over all other nightly sounds of the forest. It was a frightening sound, dangerous sounding, and Matt wasn't sure, but he thought it was the dragon. At least, he found himself hoping it was the dragon. Upon hearing the call again, he was almost certain the sound was a call and not a warning. Was she calling other dragons? Was she calling him?

He turned his head in the direction of the call and tried to scan his eyes across the trees. Looking up, he thought he could see a faint glow. He squinted and saw the dragon's silhouette
against the light. He hesitated, then slid himself down out of the tree, making his way toward the light and the sound.

In his mind, he could hear his friend Dom freaking out. 'You're crazy, Matt. This is insane. You're about to go into a dragon's lair. You can't do that. Don't you dare. You'll get killed!'

But something in Matt's gut told him this would be okay.

Nah, you know you're insane, Matt.

He continued toward the light. Aching by the time he'd climbed the knoll and found a bush to hide behind. He hadn't quite gotten brave enough to get closer just yet, so he settled behind the bush, peering toward the cave entrance, hidden but for his hair and eyes. He curled up behind the bush and decided he'd try to sleep there, with what he was presuming was safety nearby, but still conflicted with common sense that told him to keep his distance.

 

[Drew]

A strange scent hit her snout and she knew he was close. Turning her attention towards the entrance Arianna looked up. "Come inside" she told him. "I know you're near. Your scent gave you away."
She waited to see if he would come inside or not. Tired and sleepy she rest curled up on her side near the fire. It was warm inside the cave and felt very safe. It was actually quite clean for a cave. With thick walls since the cave was tucked into the side of a strong mountain. Worn into center pathway the earth was packed down with unique markings of drag lines permanently dug in from tails and claws. This was home of dragons for many generations. Along the walls scuff marks of possible fights with scrapings dug out from claws or wings.

Deep inside the cave the ceiling went up into an atrium were one could take flight if they chose too. Room enough for a grown dragon to flex its wings comfortably. Arianna claimed an area that seemed to be a little nook. Tucked into it with a mound of furs from creatures she had killed. A fresh kill of a small fox lay dead next to a pile of bones.

Another small pile of trinkets lay just beyond the fire near her bed which was no more than a collection of dry grasses and some furs. It was her treasure as one might call it. A pile of junk others might say. Wagon wheels with chewed on metal knobs. A wooden bucket, a pitch fork, more than a few items of human clothing she thought were fun to take. She even had some mineral rocks from the stream because they were shinny.

 

[Melia]

Matt blinked his eyes open as the dragon addressed him. Slowly he brought his wrist to his nose and sniffed at himself. He had a scent?

Of course you have a scent, idiot.

He uncurled from his spot behind the bush and peered over it again into the warmly lit cave. It was chilly out here and she was inviting him in.

You're going to let yourself be invited into a dragon's lair. Smart?

Matt stood up. This was either smart or pure idiocy. Either way though, he figured if the dragon really did want to be on friendly terms with him, he would actually have a chance of surviving out here. It could be very handy to have a dragon as a friend. She could probably hunt. And she was offering him shelter. Dragons didn't exist in the present so he didn't really have to worry about screwing anything up in regards to that-

He paused and let out a little gasp.

What if I'm the reason dragons don't exist in the future?

He stood forlornly in the entrance of the cave, staring in, unsure.

Maybe it would just be best if he went and hid in a tree and did nothing at all and let himself just die up there where he couldn't affect anything in the future. He shuddered though, remembering the butterfly effect after reading "The Sound of Thunder" by Ray Bradbury. In the story, the man had gone back in time to see dinosaurs and accidentally stepped off the path that he was supposed to have stayed on. He'd crushed a mere butterfly under his shoe and when he'd gone back to his own time, the world was completely different, a new language spoken and a completely different political system in place. All because he'd stepped on that one butterfly.

Matt shuddered. He'd probably stepped on zillions of insects just walking around out here. Though he argued with himself that surely the further back in time one went, the more little things like that affected the future, as the chain grew longer with time. He hadn't gone back as far as the man in the story had. But still, he was certainly far enough back in time to have major effects.

He of all people should know. His own self had used time travel to travel only five years into what was his own present. And his own life had been completely ripped apart from the incident. Not that his future self had an qualms or concerns about what he was doing or who he was interacting with. Matt wrinkled his nose. He hated his future self with a passion for his reckless abandon.

But that was neither here nor there, now, because now he was the time traveler. And he had a choice to make. Let himself die out here in fear of affecting the future? At least try to survive, doing as little as he could to affect the future? It wasn't like he was here to intentionally change something, as his future self had been doing. He had to protect his own interests at least a little didn't he? And he definitely did not like the idea of living the rest of his life out in fear.

Matt shook off his internal conflict right then and there, and bravely stepped into the cave, giving the dragon a hesitant smile. "Hi. I'm Matt."

 

[Drew]

Very sleepy by now she looked at him with only one eye and it was fighting to stay open. "Matt…?" a sigh soon followed by a yawn then she blinked at him with her big eyes. They were soft and sweet like her smile. At her young age everything about her was tender but her scales. Looking at him was hard by now as her eye lids were very heavy.

"My name is Arianna…" After another yawn both her eyes closed for a long moment and then she snorted and shook her head awake and looked up at him groggy as could be.

"I'm…I mean my name is Arianna…" she had already said that but she was so sleepy she smiled at him and giggled covering her snout with one claw. Her eye lids started to close once more as her head started to drop down. Giving in to the battle with sleep she curled up. Letting out a content sigh she smiled at him and flexed her wings then tucked them down along her back. In the process of doing this Arianna kicked up some dust. The fire sparkled with hints of ash and then settled down once the gust of wind pasted over.

Yawning one last time before her eyes closed she smiled at him and dozed off. Her large form rest comfy on her bed near the fire.

 

[Melia]

"Arianna," Matt tried the name on his tongue. The dragon was clearly becoming overcome with sleepiness as Matt slipped deeper into the cave, his blue eyes roaming over the worn features of the cave. The worn scratchings looked as thought they came from dragons much larger than Arianna. He wondered if they lived here too, or if it was just Arianna now. There was a small pile of things in the corner that looked like some sort of collection, as well as a clearly eaten fox. She was a carnivore, that much was clear, but he took comfort in the fact that she seemed to eat smaller things than him.

Matt felt a whoosh of air as Arianna flexed her wings and Matt jumped a bit. When he looked over at again, she looked to be asleep. Quietly, so as not to disturb her, he settled down by the warm fire, feeling it's warmth wash over him and relax him. The light bounced playfully off of his red hair and cast interesting shadows over his angular face. He wasn't ready to sleep just yet, nor was he quite comfortable letting himself give over to the dragon so completely just yet.

It was nice that they seemed to be able to communicate, though. And she seemed very young. A baby dragon, perhaps?

She was still very large to him. So if she was a baby, how big was an adult dragon?

He hoped he wouldn't have to find out.

 

[Drew]

The fire kept them both warm for a good while but Arianna's sleep wasn't steady. In fact it was off and on rustled with nightmares and she woke up with a start and looked around. Whimpering she felt a chill wash over her. Pulling her tail up under her and using her wings as a blanket she huddled up into a ball and looked at the fire almost forgetting he was there.

"I had a bad dream" she told him. Feeling ever so small and horribly scared and alone she looked like she was about to cry.