Steady Recovery (solo)

[Aeos]

Aeos shook his head. It had been about five days since he washed up on the shores of the Western Isles. He was fortunate to have washed up on the very shore where his friend Gar was stationed. Gar was a captain now.. or rather a commander of an old fort. A fort that once belonged to a slaver named Bull Ring. According to Gar, he was a horrible man that needed to be removed from this world.

A steady diet of food and fresh water helped to aid the dragon’s physical recovery. His sunburnt skin was at the stage where peeling occurred. He'd spend a few moments in the day bored, amused, and annoyed at his skin. Amused because he would pick at it with his fingers and try to peel it off in one solid opaque flake. Bored, because once he picked off a particular piece of skin he’d have nothing else to do. Annoyed because fabric touching his skin made it itchy or uncomfortable. This made his clothes uncomfortable to wear. He was forced to tear off the sleeves of his shirt just to minimize the effect the itch had on his arms and shoulders. His hair was another issue. The sunburn was particularly bad on his back and shoulders. He was forced to hold his hair up either in a turban like his father, or in a braided, high, ponytail. The high ponytail allowed for his hair to fall a few inches short of his neck and shoulders. The high ponytail would give him a headache after a while. And the turban was uncomfortably itchy. He just couldn’t catch a break.

Any wounds he had from the incident were healed as well. He was fortunate that Gar’s crew had some skilled medics on board. It would still be some time before he regained the muscle he had prior to the wreckage. He mourned the loss of his stuff. His journals. His maps. Oscar. Oh.. poor Oscar. The little metal man sacrificed his body to save Aeos. He entrusted Gar to melt it down and have him reborn into something new. Aeos was hoping for something peaceful. Like a charm, or bell, or piece of jewelry. But, the sailor had managed to have Oscar melted down and the iron used to make an axe. Another axe. Because.. Why not?

While the physical body was healing, his mind was not. He was still wracked by guilt, of it all. Nightmares were common. And now they had taken a nastier toll. The faces of those victims now included friends that were still living. He shuddered. His other half, his dragon half, was sympathetic to it all. But, now it felt as if its patience had run out. It was tired of seeing its body huddled under the blankets like a cold child.

He viewed himself as a monster for their deaths. Both the real and the imagined ones. And this.. interpretation of himself.. put a strain on mind. A strain that seemed to manifest itself as a block of his own dragonic powers. Arguments and long periods of silence with his other half were common. Headaches were frequent. But the other form, it had enough of this misery.

GET UP! The voice screeched in his head. He held his head again. He slowly pulled himself upright.

“Ugh..”

[Aeos]

Aeos slowly moved his legs to the edge of the bed. He gently slid them down and had his bare feet touch the cold floor. His sandals had been lost at sea. He stared long and hard at the floor beneath him. As if, contemplating whether or not he should even bother with his efforts. He knew what was going to happen as he had done this before. He was going to get up, wobble, and fall onto his knees. But his other half kept nagging at him... Demanding it… and he couldn't ignore it. Against his better judgement he forced himself to get out of bed. And just as he predicted, he buckled under his own weight, and fell onto his knees. He slammed his fist against the floor. Damn it. He hated being this helpless. And now the thoughts started to come back. He could hear his own voice talking to him. Telling him the what if’s. The what if he was stronger, smarter, then maybe he could have done a better job at defending the boat. Maybe he could have seen the pirate ship sooner. That maybe he could have better defended the children that were lost.

Banish these thoughts! His other half spoke. But, he wouldn’t listen. The voices of his guilt kept talking to him. Putting him down. He held his head. He didn’t want these voices talking to him any more! And they continued talking.

“Please.. Stop..” He muttered as he covered his ears.

Ignore those voices. We need to rise.

But Aeos wasn’t listening. He had curled up into a little ball on the dusty floor. His hands over his ears and his eyes closed. The dragon man appeared to be in pain even though there was no real physical malady that should be hurting him.

No. Not again. GET UP! The voice of his stone cried out again. But, the body did not listen. It remained still as stone.

UP! It demanded.

GET UP! It screeched. Aeos shook his head no. He didn’t want to leave the safety of the fetal position. The safety of this fort. He wanted to stay hidden away forever until the consequences of his actions faded away forever. They always do in time. In time no one will remember that he destroyed two boats in a frenzy. Sure, it might take a century or two before that accident becomes a tall tale to the sailors around here. He had the time. He knew he needed to move eventually. People usually became suspicious of his whole.. Not aging a day.. Sort of deal after five years or so. He just needed to keep being a ball of misery until then. Right? Yes. That was a good plan. But, the other half of him knew his thoughts. The other half of him wouldn’t tolerate this sniveling behavior of his childish self.

A dragon shouldn’t be acting like this.. If the stone could, it would promptly kick itself until the body got up. We are a proud and powerful race! Yes! We did a bad thing! But moping around isn’t going to fix the bad thing. Now come on move! MOVE!

[Aeos]

He groaned and slowly did what his inner voice told him to do. His hand found the bedframe and he used his strength to pull himself upwards. He stood up on his legs and kept himself upright for a bit. He was afraid to move his hand off the bed. He needed it to stabilize himself. To keep himself from falling down again. Left foot forward. His inner voice guided him. Aeos pushed through the agony of his mental anguish and moved his legs. Right foot! He made his way over towards the wall.

He did what his inner voice wanted. He moved off of the bed. Only to hit a wall. Both a figurative wall and a literal one. His face and his body hit the wall. And for a moment he kept himself there. The wall was cool and comforting to his rather hot body. He hadn't realized his elevated temperature until he hit the wall. He held his head again. He was panting for some unknown reason. His body felt incredibly stressed just by moving a few feet away. He turned his body around so his back was facing the wall, and kept himself there. There was a strange chill up his spine probably due to a combination of his emotional state, the cold sweat, the cold wall, and his warm body. Good. This.. is a good first step.

"What's the point?" He spoke to himself.

The point is that we are moving. We need to move to recover. Look at us! The voice spoke in his mind. Aeos turned to look at a bronze full body mirror that had been in the corner of his room.

"How long has that been there?"

It's been there since we got thrown into this recovery tomb. The voice nagged. Aeos looked at himself in the mirror. He took note of his thin body and his attire. His skin's strange colors. And his hair that had been tied into a ponytail but left unbrushed. Unkempt. Unfit. Pathetic. He looked truly pathetic. He not only looked it, he felt it. His eyes fell down towards his body. Towards the clothes, he had in on his body. Sweat soaked, dirty, and partially tattered.

Our parents would be ashamed of us.

"I'm ashamed of us." He spoke to himself.

We cannot keep.. being here.. Gar is our friend.. and we owe him a great kindness.. but we have to keep moving. We cannot risk drawing unneeded attention towards him and his people. I need us to regain the body we have lost. We.. will sort through the emotional damages as we recover our body. His inner voice spoke. And it made a whole lot of sense. Aeos knew that deep down in his heart he would have to leave Gar and his kindness. Aeos was forever grateful for him saving his life. But he could not return that favor if his presence brought danger. Especially since Gar had other people to look after now. His crew! He poor innocent crew who knew nothing of the danger they had tended to.

"..I.. understand."

Good.. Now see if we can move back towards that chair in the corner. The inner voice asked. Aeos slowly pulled himself off the wall and promptly tripped. He landed face first onto the dusty ground. This.. is going to take a while.

[Aeos]

Three days later

Okay this is better. The voice of his stone spoke. Aeos had been recovering from his weakness in stages. He spent the first day out of bed, tossing himself about around the room. His legs kept buckling under their own weight which was common for those who had been unable to use them for months. Well, he technically could use them on his little lifeboat. But, he ran the risk of rocking the boat, knocking himself overboard, or just outright sinking.

He had gotten the hang of walking on his own again. He never knew walking could be so exhausting. His routine consisted of walking around the room at least ten times before breakfast. After breakfast he'd work on his arms. These were usually done with forced push ups or air punches. Then he'd take a break. Stretching would be next followed by lunch. Then another ten walks around the room. He didn't push himself too hard. But, he noticed that the little movements he took for granted wore him out. He noticed this when he tried combing his hair. The act of keeping his arms up and repeating the combing motion left him out of breath within a few minutes. His arms would feel like jelly afterwards.

Hell even stretching took a toll on his body in the state it was in. But, he was grateful to Gar and his group. Gar and June would check in every day. He'd sit and talk and help him move around. The talking was good. It helped him cope with his actions. Aeos was happy to notice that his skin was no longer flaking off. And he looked less red than before. His tanned skin was making a comeback.

Today he would try jumping. He had a rope lined up on the floor. He'd practice his jumps by jumping from one side of the rope to the other. He did one jump and nearly fell to the ground. There was a disappointed sigh, as he was forced to try again. He did another jump. His landing was better than the last one. Still a bit shakey. He could feel that his balance and perception were off. He had to keep his arms up, in a t pose, so as to not lose balance. Aeos did three jumps back to back before he felt the need to sit down and breathe.

He was going to have to figure out a way to add jumping into his routine. Maybe he could sneak it in between his walks around the room. The young dragon longed for the days when he could stop feeling so useless. He knew there were things around the fort that needed doing. An extra hand for chores like washing or inventory. Things he knew that were simple and numerous. Things that would take his mind off his past transgressions. Something to get him out of this room for a little while. He'd be content with a book to read. But the previous owner of the fort was not very scholarly. But, his own books perished at sea. Nonetheless he had his imagination to keep him occupied, until they turned into horrible reminders of to tragedy at sea. Then he'd stop imagining and redouble his efforts on movements.

[Aeos]

Day ?

Well, he had officially forgotten how long he had been holed up in Gar's fortress. Aeos examined himself in the mirror. His physical recovery had gone rather smoothly. He sorta looked a little bit more like himself. A less muscular but at least didn't look so emaciated anymore. He leaned into the mirror more to examine his own face. His hands pushed in on his cheeks which bounced back with some vigor. Not so hollow anymore. He was happy to be at a point where he knew his mother would not be worried at for him. She would probably try to force feed him until he was fully back to his old self. Only for his father to remind her that the boy needed to regain his muscles on his own. He sighed softly. He was glad that they didn't see him in the sorry state that he was. The color in his face had returned and he no longer had long dark bags in under his eyes. He leaned his head back a bit to further examine his neck. Not a single whisker.

Facial hair absence aside he was pleased with the progress of his skin. There was no more sunburn to bother him and his choice of clothes. No more patches of dead skin. He mused to himself and then stood up straight. The young dragon was busy examining himself in only pants. He turned around and examined his back. No more flakey patches or awful skin blisters. He knew his back took most of the brunt end of the sunlight when he was stranded at sea.

The door to his room was open so he couldn't do much in terms of shifting and checking his scales. Or checking the nubs where wings were supposed to be. He sighed softly. Right. Now.. that I'm... mobile... I've got to start doing my part. We should just leave. The other half of him spoke. Aeos looked up at his reflection in the mirror. He saw himself but not in his human form. It was his fully half shifted from looking back at him. Talking to him in a voice only he can hear. He jumped back a bit and sat down on his butt.

"No. Can't leave just yet. We.. have to repay the debt." He spoke back to it. We are a danger to the others here. You need to keep moving. You know what happens when we stay put. He shook his head again. But the reflection of himself did not.

"It's not right." It's not a matter of right or wrong. We are a danger to the people here. His head was starting to hurt. The other half of him had a point. It had been long enough now that any survivors of the attack could theoretically track him down. Those dark pirates as he called him were probably working for some sort of larger organization. Now.. would be the best time to leave. Gar is out scouting for his missing crew. What if they had been attacked by those fiends?

"Or.. they could simply be lost. We cannot always assume.. that they are after us. There are literally thousands of other possibilities for a scouting party to end up."

But why take that chance?

"We cannot keep running away our whole lives!" He shouted. Yes we can. We run. We fight. We run again. And we wait for these humans to reach the end of their lifespans and then return to normal. That is our pattern.

"I do not want us to run anymore. We know those people who attacked us, they have to be stopped. They.. will continue to harm others."

They will expose us!

"And?" He looked at his other self in the mirror and slowly pulled himself up off the floor.

"If we are found out... then so be it. We will work towards making this world better with people accepting what we are. And that.. has to come from knowledge. We cannot accomplish our goal by running away." His other goals that involved his folks. His idea to move to Vinland. His goal of creating a better world where humans, dragons, and taguel can live in peace and harmony.

"I will not let fear control us anymore."

[Aeos]

Let's test that theory. The other half of him in the mirror spoke. Aeos didn't like the tone of voice the reflection spoke in. And his head started to hurt. No, not just hurt. It felt like it was burning. Like someone or something was driving hot iron rods right into temples. The tips of his fingers and ears started to hurt as well. It wasn't as intense of a pain like his forehead but more like an uncomfortable sensation. Like he had sand ground up in between them out of instinct he tried to rub it out of his fingertips. Except he didn't find sand on his hands, instead he found scales, the precursors to his transformation as a dragon.

“You wouldn't.” The Aeos of the real world spoke to his other half. The image of himself in the mirror said nothing.

The dragon in human guise felt bits of him changing his hands and feet were steadily becoming more scaley. His nails slowly extended outwards till they looked like little claws.

“Stop!” He told the dragon in the mirror. Then held his head and tried to do everything in his willpower to prevent himself from fully changing. He knew what would happen if he did. This room while it had enough space for a human, it would not hold the whole weight and length of Aeos dragon form. His gargantuan dragon form would rip this room to shreds in an instant. The big dragon would have also damaged the rooms that lay near this one and would probably cause other structural damages. Not to mention he’d be putting the lives of Gar’s crew in serious danger. They could be working or resting in those other rooms!

“You.. would recreate the incident on the ship... Here?” He spoke to the reflection. His voice had changed to match that of the partial shifting.

If it means moving us away from here then yes. The reflection spoke. Before the mirror shattered into several hundred pieces. The dragon felt himself trembling as he fought the urge to give into his power and change. He didn’t want these people to suffer the same fate as those that were crushed under him on the boat. But he could feel the magic crawling under his skin trying to push itself outwards into the surface. The dragon grabbed a leather cloak, put it on, and bolted out of the room.

He was about a twenty-five percent change when he started to run. More than enough for the average man to notice that there was something “off” with this fellow. Aeos kept his hands on the edge of the hood so that it could be kept upright even as he ran. He had NO idea where he was going. He shoved and pushed past people as he ran. He made sure to say sorry as he kept running. Crap. We're at the sharp pointy teeth stage. He twisted and turned the way down the hall until he came across an exit. A balcony of sorts that served as a lookout. The balcony was a floor up from the ground below. He took a moment to judge the scenery ahead of him and noticed a wooded area and a mountain in the distance. He had no time to find a rational way down so he took a few steps back and ran forward. He used the momentum to jump off the balcony and land safely on the ground below. A normal man would have broken a leg with that sort of jump, but it was nothing to Aeos in his partially shifted form. He didn’t have time to hear the shouts of the people behind him, he just kept on running.

He stopped once he was inside the woodlands. His heightened senses ensured that there was no one around him presently. He didn’t know how long it would be before Gar’s group sent out a search party to find him.

Aeos collapsed onto his knees, out of breath, and his head throbbing.

So much for not letting fear rule you.

“That.. was not.. Fear. That was practicality. You.. would.. Have us.. Destroy..” He didn't have a clear head for words. His chest felt like it was on fire. In the rush of it all, he had completely forgotten his human body was still recovering from the effects of being stranded at sea.

[Aeos]

We cannot live among the people like this. We cannot live among the people like that. That is why we move. That is what we have been trained to do. Our power is too dangerous for human society. They will find us out. They will kill us. That is what we have been told. That is how it has been! The dragon half of him spoke in his head.

Our strength is too destructive for mankind. We must put distance between them to protect ourselves. Like we have been doing since our birth. The stone continued to channel power to it’s body. The half shifting was now at a sixty percent shift. More than enough to change Aeos’ appearance to his “lizard man” form. The body struggled to keep itself together.

“There are other ways! You, we, are just being too stubborn to see them. Yes! We will face the hardships of people trying to kill us.”

Our power is nothing compared to their numbers! They are like a tide of ants against a large bug! They will cut us to ribbons! Butcher us! Distribute our parts like trophies to other regions!” The other half of him was trying to force the transformation. Trying to force the dragon to change fully so that it may take to the skies and put as much distance as it can from Gar’s fortress. The calmer part of himself struggled to keep its body at a human size.

Our unneeded attachment to these humans will be our undoing. Yes, I know how much we love our human companions. And we trust them! For now. But, humans are greedy fickle creatures. Their attitudes might change with age. The body flailed to the floor.

I commend your struggle in keeping us together. But, I must assume power over us. I want us to live.

“No, You, just, want, to run. You.. don’t want us.. to get stronger.. you don’t.. want to embrace.. the change of the world. Of.. time.. humans.. will eventually over run the planet. We.. are.. going to see it with out lifespan.. We.. HAVE.. to learn how to cope with them. All of them. Good. Bad. Indifferent. We.. cannot.. keep running!” The body held it’s head in its hands as it flailed about. As if it were in a tremendous amount of pain.

“What.. of our dream of peaceful coexistence with humanity and taguel?”

Just a dream. We must focus on reality. Look at what humans forced us to do. We nearly died three times so far. We have lost our communication to the wind spirits. We are left tormented by nightmares and sleeplessness. We have been damaged. I’ll see to it that we do not have it happen again. I will cut us off from the existence of humanity.

“Aaarugh!” The body tried to grab the chain around its neck. The stone around his neck glowed. And the limb that was used to grab was morphed into talon and dropped to the ground. The struggle inside his mind continued. Aeos could feel the gentler part of him getting swept away under the fury of his dragon side.

“The era of kindness is over.”

The body turned around and stood on the ground on all fours. The change into the dragon form was inevitable. The elements of wind responded and swirled around the dragon. The body morphed and twisted into its gargantuan dragon form. A gale of wind blew out on all sides of the dragon body. Clearing the area of all manner of dirt and dust. Before, the wings unfurled and took the first flap for flight. The creature was up in the air for a few moments before the dragon suddenly morphed back into its wingless human shape and collided with the ground.

“It’s not over yet.”

We truly are a stubborn creature.

“It.. is time for us.. to stop existing like this.” The body rose from the floor and sat down. A meditative pose. The lizard man closed his eyes and went into a deep meditation. It shut down all senses and focused solely on the link between its two selves. A great mental tug of war was waged between two halves of his personality. The winner would determine which personality ruled the projection of its human form. The battle was long and fierce. If one were to be looking at the lone man sitting in the middle of the wilderness for the entirety of the mental fight they would see nothing. Nothing, but the sitting man whose body was occasionally knocked around as if hit with some unseen force. Sometimes the body would shiver or cry as the mental battle continued.

The next day, the dragon in human guise stood up. The mind came back to the real world in little bits and pieces. First of the senses to reawaken was the ears. The dragon man could hear the chirping of birds as they greeted the dawn. Next to come back was his sense of touch. The air around him was chilly and he could feel it against the droplets of sweat that that formed upon his skin. Next sense to reawaken was his sense of smell. The cool misty air greeted his nose as well as the scent of his own body. His eyes shot open then as if appalled by the scent that assailed his nose. The light of the morning day blinded him and he covered his face. It shook his head. After a moment or two, the body gradually reopened its eyes and readjusted itself to the light of the world.

“I need a bath.”

[end thread]