Thar Shaddin

If Piǎo Bái were to describe his favorite things, they would be (in no particular order) comfortable cushions, warm oil massages, warm water, wind chimes on the pagoda, curry, and a special blend of Sanhua jiu made by his family.

To say he was as near to bliss as possible would be an understatement. The Imperial Bitch had left him in the care of an Inn. Why she had chosen some place he might actually like was a mystery, but he was going to take advantage of it. Not only was there a hot spring, the sea sparkled in the morning sun. Cute maidens with large breasts sat in scanty bathing outfits beneath a large umbrella. They stroked him with soft hands, lavished him with curried meatbuns, and rubbed scented oil on his scales. They thought he was so cute, they pressed him to their chests and snuggled him. Simply put, he was being treated LIKE ROYALTY. Piǎo Bái approved.

Pushing away from the cuddles, the moderately sized (small) white dragon slid down a pair of hands and sprawled on a generous lap and pair of deliciously thick thighs. His tummy was so full, it was round, but that didn't stop him from tilting his head and extending his lips for another piece of watermelon. If he were a cat, he would purr. Piǎo Bái chewed reflexively and smacked his lips. Winding a whisker around a foreclaw, he pondered what he should do first: nap or... nap.

A glimmer of sunlight blinded him for a moment. Piǎo Bái blinked against the glare and gave in to the urge to nap. Yes. Nap first. Then, perhaps a swim. Then, a rinse and a float in the hot spring. Life... was grand.

She'd been pulled upon and tugged at, following the current of the waters for miles upon miles just off the coast of white sanded beaches. Obviously she was lost, but then, she had no idea where she had begun at and assumed that this was a rather nice place to stop her swimming. A quick rest was all she needed, and unlike the last few settlements she had poked her slippery head up at, this one did not seem to be filled with screaming people.

They always screamed. At first, Daeira had assumed it to be their way of communication... A rather loud form of it, granted, but she'd happily obliged and repeated the coarse noises with heavy consonants at a frequency just as exuberant as their own. That's when blades were drawn by the pale-fleshed beings, and it dawned upon her that she was not welcomed.
"Perhaps it was something I said." She would later ponder, imagining that her peaceful intentions had become lost in translation. "Perhaps I should be louder."

Daeira stopped not half a mile off shore, treading waters that, though unfamiliar to her, seemed more comforting than the land... And especially more comforting than the great expanse of blue hovering above her head. She'd not known how long the sky had been there, but she did know that it was following her everywhere she went. Whenever she stopped to surface and practice breathing with her lungs, there it was, with moving white growths occasionally dropping down upon her an unsalted sea of its own.

The settlement was not as large as the last she had seen, and there were less of the pale-fleshed beings strutting about. This was as good a place as any.

She pushed her way against both waters and her better judgement, cutting a straight path through the salt and brine 'til it was too shallow for her to swim. The water was at her neck... Her shoulders... Her stomach...
The chains that hung around her neck seemed to weigh a thousand times more leaving the chilled sea.
The water was at her thighs, and then her knees-- before the force of a wave coming in to shore pushed against the backs of her legs and she lost balance, falling forward.

Gritting sand between her fangs, she pushed upwards with her arms and crown tendrils, leaving deep imprints in the sand. As the black orbs sunken in her skull glanced skywards, she could see the first of the pale-fleshed people, and the could very much see her in return. For what seemed to carry into moments long passed "awkward", Daeira and this stranger stared deeply at each other.
"HYYYAAAAAAAOOOWWW" Like the yowling of a cat, she cried out, mimicking the language she'd heard in the last port she'd visited, flashing a smile at the busty woman who seemed to gleam with the coatings of oil. Daeira's excitement got the better of her, and her fins flashed forward, expanding at the sides of her face.

Almost immediately, the woman turned and ran, repeating Daeira as she sprinted away, sand flying with every kick of her tanned legs.
"Ah!" Daeira thought, still beaming, rather proud of her imitation-scream. "She must be going to tell everyone of my arrival!"

The warmth of the sun and the warmth of skin lulled Piǎo Bái into a pleasant doze. He snored. The maidens thought that was cute, too. The one on whose lap he rested, stroked him from head to base of his tail. Another strummed softly on a lute.

In his sleep, Piǎo Bái dreamed of being coddled and stroked. Life was good. Then, the alarm went off, trying to rouse him from his sleep. Piǎo Bái made a face, squinching his eyes together tightly. NO. Not this time. He was going to enjoy his fantasy. But NOOOO, the alarm kept sounding and it got LOUDER, as if many alarms were going off at the same time.

"HYYYAAAAAAAOOOWWW!!"

Piǎo Bái was woken by being unceremoniously flipped over a few times and dumped on the ground. If a dragon could pull a grumpy face, this one did.

When he opened his eyes, glaring in the direction of his now not-so-favorite of the girls, he found his view unobstructed by lush, female flesh. Instead, he was folded nearly in two, looking at the sky and his tail.

"Pffffffffffffffft!" Piǎo Bái rolled and unfolded his body until he was on all fours once more. He shook his body, starting with his head and ending with his tail, to regain his sense of composure. Then, he looked around to get stock of the situation.

His gaze paused as he spied upon the shoreline. He tilted his head, first right, then left. Had another creature from the astral arrived? Piǎo Bái quirked his head left again.

No. It had magic in it, to be sure, but it wasn't an astral being. Did it live around here? Worse... was it going to try to eat him? That seemed to be a common experience ever since he paired with Cai. Things wanted to either cuddle on him or eat him. The former was fine, but the latter? ... Not so much.

To make sure the creature realized he was more than a mouth full, Piǎo Bái turned to the side and arched his back so he would look bigger. Yeah. See? I am not a yummy morsel!

Daeira waited. And waited. She stared, and waited. With her legs flat upon the beach and arms extended, holding her body in the yoga pose known commonly as the "modified cobra", she strained her neck and squinted her eyes to get a better view of the people. For some reason, the forms she could make out were growing smaller and smaller, disappearing slowly til there was no one left.


"...They're getting their sharp sticks out again, aren't they?" She puzzled, mulling the thought over in her mind. "Well, I'll just have to go talk them out of it and explain that I do not like those things. They hurt."
Her skin still stung from where the flat of a blade made contact with her back, the reaction of an angry local from the last settlement. A white welt of retaliation to the pain had raised where she'd been struck.


She recalled the jaunty motions of the rounded woman whose body seemed to swing this way and that as she had moved (hastily at that), particularly in the chest region. The woman's engorged breasts must be hollow, allowing for flotation upon the dry land. What else would explain why this creature could balance so easily when Daeira could do nothing but tumble and fall? It would also explained the difference in size between her and the woman. She lived underwater, she did not need such large chest sacks to keep her standing, but the pale-flesh woman would fall over without them.


The struggle to keep half her body aloft was beginning to dig most painfully into the muscles of her arms, making her shake at the elbows. Moreover, she felt the sky staring angrily down at her. The heat of its single eye was relentless upon her back. It was time to move.
Like the creeping of moss, Daeira slowly pulled her knees to her chest, scooting forward through the sand, carving out two shallow moats where her legs slid along. She leaned forward again, her palms in the earth and knees with a waist's distance between them.


"I can do this!" The silent encouragement from herself kept her moving forward, picking her hands up and sliding her knees forward. On all fours, she found it much easier to balance against gravity's relentless hindrance. Foot by foot, she was making her way to the buildings... And a strange little creature who seemed to be on all fours as well.


The yellow eye's brilliance flashed against the little beast's skin, giving it an unearthly shine. Daeira squinted against the glare... And then her eyes widened. How... Shiny. What a strange little thing it was. It needed examination. Her lips parted and jaw hung open with utter bewilderment, a soft and quick clicking sound emerging from her throat. (The equivalent to a sound made when one suffered terribly from curiosity, or in place of the sound "uhm" when in conversation.)


She had to turn her path so very slightly, but now that her attention was drawn, she was making a painfully slow bee-line for the dragon.

His posturing wasn't working.

In fact, his posturing appeared to make him much more edible looking! The female creature was scooting toward him on its knees, across the sand, mouth open and making hungry, clicking noises.

Clicking. Noises.

Golden eyes widened for a moment and he lifted his wings as well, to make himself appear as big as he could. The more he looked at the female creature, the more he realized she reminded him of one of the Water Fae they hosted during the Full Moon Festival. THEY didn't eat dragons. But then, at the time he had been at least one hundred times larger than he was now. Where, oh where, was the Imperial Bitch when he actually NEEDED her? Probably off getting more tattoos or shaving her head while chanting some ridiculous mantra that made him sneeze.

Piǎo Bái concentrated and hoped the creature understood when he sent the thought along to it.

"Are you going to eat me? I wouldn't. I assure you... I am stringy and not very tasty."

NOT that that had worked in the past. Usually, that enraged whatever was trying to eat him into trying harder to gnash him between its sharp, pointy teeth.

The slow progress of the female sea fae thing gave him pause. He could actually LEAVE at any time and NOT BE EATEN...

"...Eat me? ...-ldn't. I assure you... I am... not very tasty."
Words swelled inside of Daeira's mind, words with a voice that was not her own. She could only pick up small bits of sentences, and sometimes, only a sound or two, but assuredly, it was communication. For a brief moment, the clicking in her throat ceased.

Stopping mid-scoot, Daeira picked her head up, her tentacles working madly about themselves, twisting and curling and turning, as she looked left, then right. They were alone, her and the creature. Most animals underwater, all of them referred to as "fish" by her people, did not have the mind to speak. The black pools of her eyes sought the sky... Was it trying to speak to her? Why was it speaking to her of food?

She stayed this way, staring to the sky in confusion, 'til the light of the sun dried and burned her eyes to the point where her only option was to shut them and rub most furiously with the backs of her hands. In doing so, her balance tilted from her center, forward, earning her another face full of sand.

She was mooning the sun when it dawned on her that she had again fallen. Her eyes had not been open for her to see her body move forwards, and in the water, if you shut your eyes a moment, you did not tilt either way. The dry land was peculiar in those regards.
Hips in the air, she turned her sand-caked face to the little beast, looking much like a cat about to pounce. The life in her eyes had hollowed and her tentacles drooped in what looked to be defeat.

"Shiny land-fish." She cried, her language a series of high pitched sing-song slurs that would creak and break like a pubescent boy's voice. "Do you speak? Tell me why the yellow eye is angry with me."

At first, Piǎo Bái sprung sideways-backwards on his four paws, away from the creature. He even achieved a little air, by virtue of his wings flapping, and bounced as he landed. For a moment, he thought she was going to pounce on him, but then, she didn't move. Instead, she stared up at the sky... for a really, really, really long time. Piǎo Bái extended his neck and craned his head to peer at the sky. Was some sort of death from above bearing down on them?

The creature's bare backside waggled in the air. Piǎo Bái's eyes twitched. His mouth twitched, causing his whiskers to wriggle. His wings, drooped. His jaw dropped open. Was it trying to... MATE with him? Her tenatcles HAD been wiggling at him after all.

I mean, not that he was opposed, but they just met and the size difference. He would probably have to try to shift. Again. And probably fail. Sigh.

Was it ill? Piǎo Bái had heard once of a disease that affected animals of the physical realm making them "rabid." Is this was being "rabid" looked like? For some reason, Piǎo Bái had always though being rabid meant turning into a hare.

Finally, it spoke in what had to be the most annoying sound known to dragon or man: pre-pubescent voice changing boy voice. It was a... a male? With those features? Piǎo Bái frowned and glanced around guiltily. He supposed it could have breasts and male body parts. He thought he remembered something about that from the Full Moon Festival, but what happens at the Full Moon Festival STAYS at the Full Moon Festival.

Piǎo Bái tucked his chin down, raised a brow, and looked at the creature. It had some attractive parts, but apparently it was dumb as a brick.

"Pffft!" Piǎo Bái snorted.

"Yellow eye, indeed. The only golden eyes worth looking at around here are mine. That is not an eye. It is a star that radiates heat and dries things out. You are silly. Come into the shade."

With that Piǎo Bái fluffed his wings out, tucked them back onto his back, and sinuously strolled to the shade offered by the large umbrella. Once there, he turned to look at the creature.

"Are you coming this way or not?"

"...You speak!" Came the cry, her voice splitting in two as if singing a chord, one note just a third above the other. "You... You were speaking to me, not that thing up there!"
Obediently she crawled forward, watching the little beast's movements. He'd put a front leg out like so, and at the same time move the opposite back leg... It took her a moment to copy, but Daeira managed a clumsy version of his small strides, teetering from side to side.

The shade was a welcome mercy that the Sceilla more than welcomed. In appreciation of the comfort, she turned upon her back and lay eagle spread next to the little scaly ferret. A sigh most contented and not unlike a soft humming escaped her lips.
"Tell me how you can speak, dry-fish." She inquired after a while. "And tell me why your 'star' has been following me."

As she turned, throwing her weight so that she rolled onto her side so that she may have a better view of the little creature, the chains about her neck crackled. Sand had invaded the chinks of her necklace, and it was a most uncomfortable state to be in. Her blue skin was almost lost for the new layer of beige stone.

Piǎo Bái twined and twisted around himself until he sat perched on his tail as if it were a coiled chair. His back feet rested on the ridge in front of him. Leaning over, Piǎo Bái snagged a small, flat bowl with one paw. This motion was followed by snagging a squat, round jug by its handle. The little white dragon poured a dollop of the bottle's contents into the bowl and took a sip, savoring the flavor. The effect of two notes at one was interesting, but also a tad loud. Piǎo Bái opened his wings and slowly flapped them, as a butterfly would or a miss would slowly wave a fan.

The creature flopped, in what Piǎo Bái could only call, a graceless way onto the blanket beside him. Chains chinked. Shells clinked. This was a very auditory creature...

"Well," drawled Piǎo Bái, "I suppose I can speak the way most creatures can. Vocal chords in the throat, wind vibrations... at least I think that is how it works. And, that is not MY star. It is the star that provides light and warmth for this realm. The star does not follow you. That is an optical illusion." Piǎo Bái snorted, "Assuming, of course, you know what that is."

The dragon took another sip, allowing the warmth of the liquor spread through him. Piǎo Bái exhaled in contentment and scratched his belly. "This is not my natural home. Just as I wager this beach is not yours. What brings you here?"

Daeira peered curiously at the liquid. It seemed like any other, but why would the dry-fish drink from such a vessel? There was an entire sea just paces from where they rested of which he could sip from. The aching curiosity gave her urges to take the drink from his talons and try it herself. Perhaps it had a flavor of sorts?

As casual as the dragon seemed, something about his tone made her fins flutter most disagreeably. It was beginning to dawn on the woman that her new companion was teasing her.

"I know what a glamour is when I see it, but this sun isn't wearing any magic about it. Not any that I've seen before." She retorted curtly, pulling her body up against the strange land coral that grew tall before it branched out into great fronds of green kelp (...Tree.). She curled her knees to her chest and tucked her chin just behind them, almost ashamed that something so small made her feel quite ridiculous. Behind her skull, her tentacles curled and un-curled quickly with agitation. She did not like being made a fool of, especially by something that she could have easily eaten (as far as she knows, that is) as she could have spoken to.

"I'm here because I've never been here before. I wasn't aware that I wasn't welcome on these sands. Your females seemed to have made that clear, the way they scurried away." At this paused, she rattled her tongue to her teeth, producing a soft clicking once more, only to end it when she found the words she wanted to say. "They acted like I was going to swallow them up. Why didn't you run, little fish? It'd be far easier for me to eat you than it would have been for me to eat them. I don't think I could make it past their huge... Ah, sacks."

To demonstrate, Daeira cupped her hands several inches from her chest, having to lower her knees to do so. Needless to say, she looked a bit silly. As far as she was concerned, one of the mammaries that doubled as a flotation device would have been more than enough of a meal for her; not that she'd ever want to eat one of those.

"I'm here because I've never been here before. I wasn't aware that I wasn't welcome on these sands. Your females seemed to have made that clear, the way they scurried away.” A gesture on her part caused him to glance at her from his nearest eye. “They acted like I was going to swallow them up. Why didn't you run, little fish? It'd be far easier for me to eat you than it would have been for me to eat them. I don't think I could make it past their huge... Ah, sacks.

Piǎo Bái spewed drink from his mouth, gulped, and coughed away laughter.

“Oh, ha, yes. Sacks. Eat. Yes. Ha ha. Who knows? Curiosity, perhaps? You inched your way up the beach as if trying to swim. You waggled your rear parts in the air as if you might be seeking a mate. You stared for an unhealthily long time at the Sun... speaking of which, an optical illusion does not require a glamour. Certainly you have seen optical illusions underwater that do not come from magic? You know, like how some things look small because they are very far away, but turn out to be bigger the closer you get? Plus, knowing that you are a water creature, I wasn’t all that worried. I am a Dragon. I can make myself bigger AND breathe fire after all.” So, he lied. Who cared?

Piǎo Bái dabbed at his eyes again and reached for his cup. “Would you like to know why they run from you? I can help you with that.”

Both startled by his abrupt laughter and spewing of liquids, Daeira flinched hard enough to knock herself back into the sand at a sideways lean. She would conclude that this was a perfect position to continue their conversation. Not only was it comfortable to lie this way, but it was also easier to do so than to admit defeat at the hands of gravity.

She turned her unblinking eyes upon Piǎo Bái, her mind working furiously to imagine him larger. It simply was not happening.
"Show me how big you can get, fish... Dragon." She took a moment to correct herself, scooting another inch closer to him. "And then show teach me why your females run from me. If you don't, I'll swallow you whole as you are, and see if I don't. I'm getting hungrier every passing moment."

Her threats were as hollow as her head, but it seemed like the logical path to take. This little being was toying with her, laughing at her... And why shouldn't she eat him? Because he speaks? Daeira was sure she could find another creature who could speak somewhere on land. It wasn't as if she could swallow him whole as she promised, but besides his scales, Piǎo Bái didn't look too difficult to chop up.

For good measure, she flashed her sharpened teeth at her companion and pulled herself to her knees so that she loomed dangerously over his head.

Piǎo Bái nearly spewed his drink again, this time because she bared her teeth at him. If his skin weren't already white, he would have blanched. Thankfully, neither happened. Instead, Piǎo Bái took a longer, slower sip.

"Because I don't want to." He smiled his own toothy grin. Another lie, if he could resume his normal draconic size, Piǎo Bái would be thrilled. He could try the transition to a more humanoid form again, but he wasn't sure that it would work. Better to play it safe. Instead, he turned his head to the side, away from the fish woman, and belched. His flame was a little larger than it normally would be because of the alcohol he'd been drinking.

Putting his clawed paw against his mouth, Piǎo Bái murmured, "OH. ex-CUSE me!" and looked up at the fish woman coquettishly. She was really getting quite close to him... He put his paw out, splayed, and touched the chains on her chest.

"It's simple, really. You frightened them. Your appearance from the water is unexpected. Many land creatures that live by the sea have scary stories telling of special creatures such as you and your kind stealing away their children, females, or males." Piǎo Bái wriggled his fingers so that the tips of his claws made a rhythmic pattern and tinkling sound against the chains, before he pulled the paw away. The gesture was unintentional.

Piǎo Bái tilted his head to the side and took the last sip from his cup. The dragon rolled the liquid around his tongue before swallowing. "Granted, most of the stories involving the latter two always seem to involve mating. Hmm."

"You mentioned glamours. Think of these land creatures as a little school of fish who suddenly veer away and scream in fear as you swim by." Piǎo Bái glanced around, pretending to be much more nonchalant than he actually was, and reached for the little jug.

"If you want to keep from scaring them, try to blend in better. Perhaps look a little more like them using a glamour. Your tentacle hair wriggles. You are naked but for sea kelp, shells, and chains. You do not walk on land as they do. Your skin is blue. You have sharp teeth. "

The dragon upended the bottle only to find it was empty. His bottom lip pouted out for a moment, but then he put the bottle to his lips and stuck his tongue inside.

"Ang, ooh gake a got guh..." Piǎo Bái removed the bottle from his snout area and carefully wiped his whiskers between foreclaw and thumb, " ...noise when you move you move and speak. Many land females are much more subtle."