The Tale as it Occurred

When he awoke, he was hit by a wave of sheer and absolute confusion.

Where-where am I?!

He thought, looking around himself. Each turn of his head was slow and weighty. It was perhaps understandable that he felt so shocked, as his surroundings were, for lack of a better term, ablaze.

Did something happen? Jeez, I’d better get away before I get burned. Though I don’t feel any of the heat yet… oh no?! What if that’s because I’m so burned up I’m numb?!

Feeling a new source of dread, he began to examine himself, though it was hard at first, given the scales.

Actually… where’s my? What are these clothes? I’ve never owned any like these?

He began to claw and scrape at his skin, looking in vain for something now lost. He did not give up till the pain grew unbearable, though his skin itself was never pierced.

Ouch?! What is going on here?

He began to move his hand, towards his brow, in the universally understood symbol of rational thought, and noticed finally, a certain feature of his hand.

Ack?! What is that clawed thing?!

Shock went through his mind and body, as he clumsily crashed backwards. Not noticing the weight behind said crash, he began to stare at the hand, in a similar form to those whom admire their nails. And soon began to feel the eerie sensation of realization.

Is this… mine?

As he began to accept this horrid revelation, and poked at his flesh once more, he began to think more deeply on his current affairs

Everytime I touch this I feel pain. And this… claw moves as I wish, it doesn’t feel unnatural either, like a glove would... In that case… is this my… skin?

He now stood up, clumsily however, as his hind legs were no longer his only legs.

I am… so large.

It was perhaps a final nail in the coffin, he finally noticed certain features, such as how tall he was compared to the trees.

What-what happened to me?!

And finally gave the reaction many likely expected of him.

I-I’m just an ordinary guy?! I’m not… whatever this is?!

Panic seized at a greater rate than ever before, as though the earlier calm acceptance was a mere illusion.

Somebody help me?!

“Grooooorrrr!”

No! I said, HELP ME?!

“ROOOOOOOAAAAAAAAARRRRRR!!!”

It was impossible however, for him to speak as he so wished. After all, dragons do not possess the ability of speech. Perhaps he had truly begun to accept these circumstances, as he did not question the source of the roar, and knew it came from him.

Calm Down Calm Down Calm Down Calm Down.

He thought as he shivered and fidgeted.

What do I remember last?

“Grrrrr.”

As he began to reflect on his circumstances, the roars he let out at regular intervals before were replaced with growls. Perhaps showing a greater calmness at the situation, or perhaps showing a slow but steady mastery of his once foreign vocal cords.

I was… at the farm, planting those new-fangled fruits and… one of the wagons we were using for storage got loose… I… got run over by a wagon.

All sounds ceased, as he stared into space. A face so clearly marking confusion it could be understood by all forms of life.

Did I die?!

This calm was immediately ruined as he tossed and turned on the ground around him, shaking the earth as he did so.

But then… When I died, did I become this thing?

As suddenly as he started tossing, he froze, and stared at the sky.

I don’t recognize the sky, so is this…

He immediately stood up, or more accurately, fumbled to his hind legs.

Reincarnation?!

He seemed uncharacteristically excited after all the panic, and began fidgeting in a more excited fashion, as opposed to the terrified fashion he had used earlier.

I mean let's see…

I’m a normal uninteresting person who died.

I woke up in an unfamiliar place.

My body changed completely.

Yes yes yeeeeesssss! I think I really have reincarnated! I was convinced it was just fiction, but I guess not! Take that! Hold on a second… while reincarnating aren't you supposed to see a goddess? Where’s my goddess?! I don’t remember meeting anyone telling me anything! As far as I can tell, I closed my eyes, dying, and opened my eyes once more to find… am I a dragon?! Awsome! Now all I gotta do is practice my flying and I’m living the dream! Woooooohooooooo!!!

“RRRRRREDEOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRR!!!”

“I heard it too, let’s check it out.”

What was that?

Perhaps due to his rather shocking circumstances and surroundings, the dragon had made quite a bit of noise, and hadn’t considered the possibility of other people coming to him.

Should I hide? Can I hide?

“Be careful Shari, we don’t want to be caught unawares.”

“Of course, I shall follow your lead, honorable elder sister.”

“You don’t need to… whatever. Let us continue closer.”

The voices were that of two women, both rather young sounding. The first had a gruff elegance to it, while the second voice had an ironically greater amount of culture to it, despite its clear deference towards the first.

Why on all the God’s form’s beards does she say that? I have absolutely no idea what to say to it…

The first thought, as she moved in the front, towards the freshly draconic figure.

Oh… I do hope this is not some sort of violent powerful creature, I did not think those lived in these lands. But then again these lands weren’t even supposed to exist.

The second, evidently named Shari, thought. As she moved in the very back of their three person formation.

“Grooaar?”

A curious roar escaped from the dragon’s mouth, it seemed as though any thoughts of speaking escaped as roars and growls. This rather vexed him.

I mean, I’m a dragon, so maybe I have…

He began to feel around his back, until pausing and grinning (or at the very least, the most draconic facsimile of a grin).

Yes! I have wings! I can just-

After crouching onto all fours, he jumped into the air, roughly up to twice his own height

“Grerrrrkkkk!”

And immediately fell back down.

*Booooom*

The weight of his fall caused the ground to shake, and the fire (which was still spreading) to violently contort.

“SHOOT! Whatever it is, it's big!”

Did it hear us and try to intimidate us? Should we retreat!?

The first immediately stated the situation and considered a plan. She seemed to be of the cautious sort.

Oooooowwwwwww! Why can’t I fly?!

“Grrrrrraaaaaahhhhhh!”

While she was considering her options, the dragon was feeling a rather sharp sense of pain and discomfort due to his fall. Apparently he had assumed flight would come naturally, despite how clumsy he had been merely moving around.

“Hold on, honorable older sister! That sounded like a cry of pain! Perhaps it is in need of help?”

“I don’t think it would mind killing us even if it were in pain!”

“It may feel thankful and end up helping us, no?”

“Or! It might think we’re a convenient snack to ease its pain.”

“Well we won’t know until we see it!”

“Shari? Shari, wait!”

Shari, evidently not caring what her honorable older sister wished for, ran forward, towards the currently writhing dragon.

“Ah!”

“!”

And as she came face to face with the creature, both stood silent, staring at the other with immense senses of confusion.

Is that an… elf?!

Is that a… dragon?

It was perhaps for the best that both of them took on an appearance so classical to their respective species, else they may not have been able to recognize the other in the light of the flame. To perhaps address any curiosity regarding appearance, the dragon was roughly the height of a medium sized tree, had the width of a small tree, and the depth of a smaller tree, plus a medium tree if you count his tail, which was extremely long and thin with a spike at the end. His body itself was green in its entirety with the exception of his claws and eyes. The scales of his body were hexagonal in shape, and were each roughly half the size of an adult human's hand. His head was similar in form to a horse’s, albeit with a jawline that stretched back, to around the area directly under his eyes. His eyes themselves were serpentine in nature, with the main color being red and orange, but his pupils were black. His claws were gray, and oddly shaped, appearing like a bird's claws rather than like a reptiles. His wings, the Hallmark of his race, were wide and droopy on his back, almost appearing like a cape rather than actual body parts, with long bone-like lines making their way down them, it almost resembled the wings of a bat.

It seems to be a standard dragon of a medium size…

The elf herself also appeared rather classical. Her skin was somewhat pale, but not colorless, denoted by the slight tint of red on her face, most likely brought about by the fire. Her hair was long, blonde and straight, her eyes were green, and her ears were long. Her arms were by themselves long and fragile in appearance, with her fingers themselves being the definition of elegance, but this image of elegance was enhanced, as she also wore long green gloves which ended at the place where the forearm meets the arm. To add to her elegant appearance, she wore a brown and green skirt of a leaflike pattern, which made its way down to her knees. Her shoes were themselves rather simple sandals made from ferns and wood, oddly basic compared to the elegance and almost ornate nature of her other clothes. Her dress itself had small sleeves, and a hood with the texture and appearance of a giant orange leaf during the fall. If not for the staff in her hands, which was long and brown with a blue crystalline orb at the end, one would assume she were a noble rather than a wizard.

She’s so much shorter compared to me. I wonder if those clothes of her’s are made of cloth or plants? Is she an actual elf or just dressing up as one? If I am in another world, who’s to say she’s even called an elf? How are her clothes not burned?

While Shari thought through the situation with a fitting amount of analysis, albeit with an unfitting lack of caution, the dragon appeared to have absolutely zero interest in rational thought at that point in time.

Should I try and… talk to it? I have no idea if it can streamline itself or even understand my speech, but given that it has yet to strike me down, it is likely to not be terribly violent.

“Ummmm, hello there? My name is Shari, can you understand me?”

The dragon nodded its head for yes.

“Oh! That’s great! Could you possibly streamline yourself to a mortal coil so we could talk?”

The dragon shook its head for no.

“My mistake! I did not mean to insult you by asking you to take mortal form!”

The dragon once more shook its head, though this time more vigorously than the last. And attempted to point at its head, while doing so.

“Ah, you do not yet know how!”

The dragon nodded once and stared into the sky, seemingly mesmerized by it.

I guess I was too busy panicking to notice but, my oh my, this sky is beautiful.

“Is there something interesting about the sky?”

The dragon nodded a little, after a few more moments of staring, it looked back down at Shari. Before they could continue their conversation however, the first elf, called an honorable elder sister by Shari, ran into the clearing with a little, black haired girl in tow.

“This is all veeeery fascinating, but may we PLEASE get away from the fire before it grows too large?”

“Hi Mr. Dragon!”

More elves? No wait, that girl doesn’t have long ears… Oh yeah, I guess cause I can’t feel the heat I kinda forgot about it, but the fire is really growing big huh?

It was no exaggeration to say that a large-scale forest fire was now taking place. So the elf Shari chose to ask the all important question.

“If it wasn’t too much trouble, could you fly us out of here Mr. Dragon?”

Is that just what they’re calling me now?

the dragon shook his head for no.

“Why not!?”

The elf called sister by Shari said in a very gruff manner, likely due to the increasing danger of the situation. To try and explain his situation, the dragon pointed at his wings and shook his head.

“Oh, my mistake, may you please forgive me Mr. Dragon?”

In a sudden switch from her gruffness, she switched to a very deferential voice, it clearly confused the ‘Mr. Dragon’ in question. Though he was likely even more thrown by something else entirely.

Why does everyone call me Mr. Dragon? Did the little girl just single handedly ensure my image will forever be associated with the name? It is kinda cute to have girls calling me that, but it’s also sort of worrisome, and reminds me too much of when I was younger, when that asshole single handedly ensured everyone called me fatty the rest of the year.

“Well… could you perhaps allow us to hitch a ride? We have very little defense against the flames, while you appear almost entirely unaffected.”

Shari asked, both her arms clasped together as though in prayer.

Th-they want to ride on top of me?!

While in the midst of this inappropriate line of thought, Mr. Dragon nodded, and made his way down clumsily. Before finally making his back easily reachable via an impromptu staircase using his left arm.

“Thanks!”

Shari immediately climbed up, apparently undeterred by any sort of doubts brought up by her so-called elder sister, and took a comfortable seat in-between two of his back spikes. She was able to remain in comfort thanks to the backs of the spikes not being sharp, and the sudden use of her staff, which glowed, and then froze the front of the spike she was sitting on, dulling it. She then used the staff to freeze her own back onto the ice, it seemingly caused no disomfort, as she had done it before.

There's so much magic here… mayhaps it is to do with our friend Mr. Dragon? Well that will have to be discovered later.

Her thoughts themselves were more focused on the dragon than on any of the present danger.

“Me next! Me next!”

The little blonde haired girl followed through on her statement by quite literally skipping her way towards Mr. Dragon’s leg, before finally scurrying up it like a mouse. In a better light, one could see that she was a strange girl, with blue eyes that popped and almost glowed, long wavy black hair that appeared to only enhance her youth, and a white dress similar to night wear. The dress itself was embroidered with lush detail, albeit none with color, with a repeating pattern all throughout. On her hair was something that appeared like a silver tiara, it was far simpler than the dress, yet carried with it a great regality not often seen in lifetimes. Her shoes were odd however, as they appeared to be leather shoes of the boring variety. Barring that, she truly appeared to be the essence of youth, a fact only enhanced further by skin as white as chalk, this alongside her mannerisms gave off the impression of a child just born, rather than the toddler she appeared to be the size of. To ensure safety, she sat on Shari’s lap.

“I suppose I can… get on as well.”

If I don’t get on, Shari will get mad… if I do there is a chance the dragon will eat me. If I voice these concerns I will be committing heresy.

Despite her thoughts being a maelstrom of pessimism and fear.

And the crack in her voice was completely clear.

The elder sister still came near.

She was perhaps the most mature looking of the three, she was an elf like Shari but her skin was noticeably more tan, indicating a large amount of time in the sun. Her hair also appeared more befitting of one who spent much time outside. Being shorter and purposely slicked backwards, away from any chance of getting in her eyes, which made a great amount of sense, given her bow and arrows. The bow itself was so basic it was perhaps laughable, with no identifiable marks or eccentricities. It was merely a rod of flat, dark brown wood with a piece of string keeping its ends more bound than ever they would usually be. The arrows shared this uniform blandness, but this was perhaps made up for by the quiver, which was long, and carried with it a great multicolored pattern of geometric shapes, each a different color yet strangely cohesive. Her clothes themselves were made of a similar cloth as Shari, but without the skirt but instead a pair of shorts, under a slightly longer than average shirt. Her shoes were the most basic of the three, being fashioned as makeshift hard socks made of leaves. While she may have been timid at first, she made a decisive point in climbing Mr. Dragon with her head held high, as though doubts were not a concept she even conceived of.

“Oh yes, before we go, I should tell you my name. It is Mairi.”

Mr. Dragon nodded happily in response, and growled a bit.

“ROAR!”

Oh right, I can’t talk anymore… this will get really confusing huh? Hope I didn’t scare her.

He thought as he absentmindedly scanned the area around him, now an orchestra of flame and smoke.

I thought I was going to die…

She thought as she focusmindedly stared at his mouth, with jaws just large enough to decapitate her with a single slice.

“Come on, honorable elder sister! We must hurry!”

“You of all people can’t be mad at me about that!”

While a bit deterred by the growl, Mairi fastened herself to Mr. Dragons head using her bow, fastened herself to the side of a spike immediately below the neck, evidently the wood used on that bow, while exceedingly uninteresting, was sturdier then it had originally appeared, and did not get any sort of damage when the would was pushed directly into the spike. To make sure the string itself did not cut her, she took her quiver and put it in between her legs, and allowed the bowstring to go against it.

“Are you ready Mr. Dragon?”

Shari asked with a tone of playfulness.

YEAH!

“GROAR!”

To ensure the meaning was understood, Mr. Dragon also nodded his head once quickly.

“Then go that way!”

Mairi pointed as she said this, tone determined and strong.

I can’t see which way she’s pointing.

Unfortunately, she was too close to the back of his head, so Mr. Dragon was left without any idea what to do next, until he noticed Shari silently pointing as well, with her other finger in front of a small smile which seemed to say ‘I understand, just don’t tell Mairi ok?’.

“Groaaarrrr!”

So Mr. Dragon, following the direction on all fours (a form he found surprisingly comfortable, despite his lack of experience doing so) began to almost gallop towards the part of the forest least on fire.

“AAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!”

As this happened, Mairi screamed her head off.

“WHHHHHHHHHEEEEEEEEE!!!”

The little girl had the time of her life.

Hmmmm, I wonder why Mr. Dragon cannot fly? His wings seem fine from here… Could he not yet know how… but then, how on earth could he already be capable of communication, if I remember correctly, communication with us mortals is a skill that takes dragon's many years to learn, while flight is something they learn almost by instinct if they have wings… so what is this curious reversal?

Shari ignored the situation almost entirely, and questioned the oddity of Mr. Dragon’s existence.

I hope I don’t fall over again!

And Mr. Dragon tried to relearn how to walk.