Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Dragon Rising ❯ Chapter Five ( Chapter 5 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
In which Yugi has an unusual dream and learns more on the subject of his physiology
The smell of the nearby marshlands and swamp swirled with the breeze; a sharp, acidic undertone to the smell of decaying plants and water, the smell of the sweet sap from a tree that a nearby ant colony harvested. He blinked as his eyes adjusted quite well to the darkness of the cave and his ears picked up the drip of water from stalactites and the rustle of scales over stone.
“Ah-ha! So, finally I find you! I ought to bite that Council. Stupid old meddlers, always sticking their long noses where it doesn't belong. Well, let's look at you. Hmm…rather scrawny. Not at all as tall as I thought you'd be. Gods, what has living in that dreadful realm done to you?”
Yugi blinked and looked around, “Uh…where are you? I can't exactly see you…”
A sigh. “Of course not. I'm over here. No, here—look, turn to your left.”
He did and gawked at what he saw. A small dragon, about a foot and a half long, sat on a flattish boulder, looking at him intently with golden-green eyes with thin slits of pupils. His scales were a glossy black and dull onyx pattern, with dark, dark grey scattered here and there and running along his belly and under his serpentine neck and tail. Two forward curving, sharp horns sprouted from, the color of old bone at the base where it met the skull and darkening to ebony at the tips. A large, elegant fin lifted at the back of its head and went about a fourth of the way down the neck. Spikes nestled along the jaw line and eye ridges, running back and down the neck to end a little after the fin. A few sharp, ivory teeth protruded over its lips, but altogether, the little dragon was quite beautiful in a sinister sort of way.
“I know. Intimidating, isn't it?” the dragon said, puffing its small chest out. “Feel free to look as long as you'd like.”
It occurred to Yugi that the dragon was a vain little thing.
“What's your name?” Yugi asked.
The chest deflated and the little golden eyes looked at him, blinking rapidly in puzzlement. “Well, what a rather stupid thing to ask, as seeing that I've known you since you were a baby,” the dragon said.
“You…have?”
“Oh, piffle.” There was a snort of agitation, “I might've known that you'd have trouble remembering me. Stupid Council. I really shall bite them.”
“Your name, please? And how do you know me?”
“Oh, very well. To refresh your memory, I'm Miyagi. I met you the day you were born and I was with you up until those wretched interlopers swept you off to the human world, much to many protests.”
“Oh.”
Miyagi turned his head so only one eye was leering at Yugi critically, “You really don't recall much of anything, do you?” Yugi shook his head with an apologetic grin. Miyagi snorted. “Typical,” he said. “Well, no matter. I've managed to track you down, so I suppose I ought to do something to keep tabs on where you are, until we can be properly bonded again. Come here.” Yugi obeyed, even as he wondered what on earth the little thing was talking about.
“Hold still, and try not to move. This will most likely hurt a bit.”
“What!” Yugi squawked in protest, but the dragon had already licked its little paw and was sketching something on Yugi's upper arm with a claw that dripped with acid.
The boy gasped and bit his lip so hard it bled as the acid from the dragon's jaw burned into the flesh of his arm, the smell making him nauseas. The claw moved away and the other one lightly patted his arm, oddly gentle. “Sorry about that,” the dragon said, sounding truly apologetic, “But now I can know where you are if you ever need me. A cooling poultice of burn ointment will help numb the pain and heal it quickly, if you'd like. Or one of those two elves you have hanging around. Or your grandfather could possibly help.” Miyagi blinked up at him as Yugi examined his arm, which now had what looked like a sumi art dragon's head burned into the flesh.
“On with you, then. You need your rest. And remember, if you need something from me, just summon me and I will come.”
“Summon? Wait, how do I summon you? Like the siren— ”
Too late. He was falling, falling, down, down, down, until he hit something soft and sat straight up in bed.
Alianna frowned as she examined the acid-burned mark on Yugi's arm and muttered under her breath. “Luckily for you,” Drizzt explained, “You have some immunity to a black dragon's acid. Normally it eats merrily away through bone and flesh until the entire limb is consumed.”
“Great,” Yugi remarked dryly, then hissed as Alianna applied a cold salve to the red, angry area. She stared at him. Drizzt stared at him.
“Sorry,” he mumbled.
“Nothing to apologize for. I just haven't been hissed at in a long time,” Alianna replied.
“And I haven't heard another humanoid hiss like that in a long time,” Drizzt said.
“Goodie,” came another dry remark.
The fey woman finished applying the salve and lightly bandaged his arm. “It'll be sore for a few days,” she informed him, “Now look up and let me look at that lip.”
Yugi obeyed and tilted his head up so she could look at the damage his teeth had done. The puncture wounds from his two incisors were deeper than the rest. “Well, well, well,” she said commented thoughtfully, “Looks like your teeth are coming in. Balm, please, Drizzt.”
“But I already have all my teeth,” Yugi said as the dark elf handed over a small ceramic pot that Alianna dipped a brush into.
“Open your mouth,” she instructed. He did and she tilted his chin up so the light shone in on his teeth. “Uh-huh. Thought so. Your canine teeth are growing. They'll probably get a bit longer, don't think any wider, they're about the right width already, and definitely sharper, so be careful. You'll probably be biting your tongue and cheek until you get used to speaking around them.” She let his mouth close with a small click of teeth and brushed the ointment on the brush over his lower lip as he stared at her.
“You mean…my teeth are going to be like a vampire's or something?”
“Close enough,” replied Drizzt as he closed the containers of salve and balm Alianna had been using, “But not quite. To an uneducated eye, they'll look like a vampire's, or at least, that will be the assumption. Or maybe they'll assume a case of lycanthropy, but someone with experience on the subject will be able to I.D. them as…” Yugi's mouth opened reflexively as the drow's slender but strong fingers pressed on the joint of jaw and skull and purple eyes inspected the growing incisors. “Hmm. Well, yours will be a matter of opinion. They have some demonic qualities but also run along the lines of a half-dragon or one of dragon bloodline. I, personally, classify them as dragon related, because I can just make out the tiniest bit of serration on the edges.”
He let the boy's mouth close and Yugi ran his tongue over one of his incisors, “Sewlation? Ow!” Both elves laughed. “Be careful,” Alianna said, “They're not very dominant yet, but they still have a little growing in to do. And the serration is for better ripping and tearing. It won't get any worse, so once you're used to speaking with them and your mouth toughens up a little, it won't bother you at all. And if I don't miss my guess…” she gently probed her fingertips under the boy's chin, at the soft, vulnerable spots just on the inside of the mandible, “Thought so. Be warned that you'll probably wake up sometime with an acrid taste in your mouth that will linger for awhile. I believe the acid glands are starting to develop and mature. On the bright side, this means the enamel on your teeth will triple in strength at the least, so you'll probably never get a cavity.”
“Acid glands?”
“Not everyone of your father's kind have them, but once again, it comes down to how much more draconic they are then demonic. You tend to the dragon, so you're developing some right here. While they're maturing, they'll be active, so watch the saliva, because once they start producing, you'll be able to melt things like the actual dragon.”
“It won't be as tremendous as a black dragon, but it'll still be potent enough for a humanoid,” Drizzt added.
“Will they always be active?”
Alianna shook her head as she put her supplies away, “I doubt it. Once they've come in, they'll probably only act up when your agitated or angry. A dragon's breath weapon is its last resort, so yours will follow that line.” Drizzt grinned as Yugi rubbed his hand under his jaw curiously. “Just be careful. If you get hit pretty hard there or accidentally put too much pressure on it, you'll milk the glands. That might be a good thing in a fight or getting out of somewhere, but it's annoying if it just happens.” The wrinkled nose told the elf Yugi's feelings about annoyances.
“Alright, now that your patched up, shall we continue your lessons?” the green eyed female of the trio asked.
Yugi grinned enthusiastically and hopped down from the cabinet to set up the kitchen table.
“Has a dragon's passion for learning, doesn't he?” she inquired of her dark friend.
“Aye. I'm just waiting for the hoarding behavior to kick in.”
“Yugi,” Solomon called from the living room, “Why is your bean bag chair filled with river stones?”
The two fey looked at each other. “Hoarding behavior. River stones are smooth and pretty, like gems,” Alianna said. “Surface substitute of gold. I've found him asleep there the last four mornings,” Drizzt replied.
“Well, how about that. Two at the same time.”
“I'd best look into redoing his room.”
“Most likely.”
“Hey! Are we starting or not!” Yugi said impatiently from his place at the table, which was now occupied with several notebooks, a pen, and many of Alianna's volumes and tomes.
She grinned and nudged Drizzt with her elbow, “You go help Soloman with the bean bag and start figuring out how to upgrade his room. I'll get to teaching him.”
“Yes, ma'am,” came the reply and he hurried into the living room as Alianna joined the student at the table.
********
Just one little note, I swear!
I know dragons like gold to sleep on because it's a soft metal and it's pretty and shiny. I just thought that, in a situation like Yugi's where there's an obvious absence of large amounts of gold, a smooth but harder surface that still conformed to body shape would work as an instinctual substitute, hence the river stones. They're smooth and relatively flat and easily shift against weight when bunched together and they're pretty and many of them get a sheen to them. Sorry to bother you again! Thanks!