-The Influence of One-

Sheriff Glenn Stilinski

There was another story that was very popular back in Hungary about the erdőben sárkány. It was always a favorite. Mothers used to tell their children this story at bedtime. When the parents first told this story the children never went to sleep; they wanted to hear what happened in the story, to see what happened next. And I can see why. It was the story of Atalik and his clan. I remember exactly how this story went:

It begun with by telling us that there was once this large group of dragons in Hungary that destroyed crops and lives, killed livestock, caused chaos and panic in the lands. Fear was the only emotion throughout the land.

Atalik was a dragon of fire and ash and was very powerful and strong. For years he and the rest of the dragon clan created this chaos, panic and fear. All went without a single hitch, the same thing continuing on for generations.

But then it happened… Atalik fell in love.

To make a point, dragons are in fact shape shifters much like werewolves except they aren't manipulated by the moon. Most dragons just choose to stay in their supernatural being form only because it was far superior to their human halves as well as the species itself. Atalik before this time was one of those dragons that never shifted back into a human. He was born a dragon, lived as a dragon, and had thought that he would die a dragon without even once shifting to a human. But Atalik fell in love with a human servant. The servant girl worked at the edge of the woods on a farm, being horrible mistreated by her owners, her only animals being the livestock Atalik and the rest of the clan had been killing for years.

Atalik stayed in the woods by the edge, hiding in the shadows and watching over the woman he fell in love, slowly learning how to shift to a human to introduce himself to her; the learning process taking a while since he had never shifted before and neither did his parents and their parents before them.

Word soon spread that Atalik had fallen in love with a mortal—a human—and when word reached the ears of the dragon clan leader, Zoran, darkness fell over the small town in which the humans resided in. For the betrayal and apparent weakness of Atalik, Zoran retaliated, taking the clan along with him as they burned down the whole village and every living soul in it, leaving the farm for last. Atalik tried in vain to save the woman he loved, but he had just shifted into a human before the attack and he was having a hard time shifting back to be of any use.

Everyone died, including the servant girl.

Atalik was mortified and then burned by Zoran, that being the final blow for Atalik's innocent matter of the heart. Badly burned and exiled from the clan, Atalik stumbled back into the woods, his heart broken and his will to live no more. He collapsed in the woods, waiting for death to slowly claim him, thinking that he deserved that fate.

Instead he was rescued by tündérek (pronunciation: tune-u-rek), or fairies, that had begun to nurse him back to good health. The fairies naturally helped humans but they didn't know that Atalik was in fact a dragon since he was still in human form. When it became apparent to the fairies that he was a dragon the fairies backed off, scared of the monstrous creature. But Atalik was of no danger to them. He swore off violence the moment the town was attacked, maybe even when he fell in love, there're just so many different versions, and wanted simply to die. But the fairies did not like to think of death, so instead they enlisted his help to protect the woods and its inhabitants, both animal and supernatural. Atalik agreed, seeing this as a chance to perhaps redeem himself.

In the following years dragons continued to terrorize surrounding areas and when humans eventually came back into the area a decade after the attack, dragons once again returned, both curious and nervous since they heard rumors of a dragon living in the woods with black, burnt scales and pale eyes.

Another decade passed and another town was erected on top of the old. In this year something wonderful happened. Atalik was blessed by the supernatural beings in the woods, especially by his woods family the fairies which granted him the gift of magic and beauty. Everyone else used their health, powers, and whatever they could offer to change Atalik into something that better suited him, thus so, he became the first ever erdőben sárkány.

Zoran, who was still clan leader, knew that the dragon that lived in the woods could be no other than Atalik, the betrayer, and sought to remind him about his past evils. He began to lead another attack into the new town but this time a small handful of dragons did not want to attack and kill innocence. These dragons had only killed what they needed to survive and shifted back into humans ever once in a while. The attack continued on but this time Atalik was prepared. He challenged Zoran before he reached the town and Atalik's new obtained beauty quickly won his "battle" over Zoran, forcing the dragons to all shift into humans and live alongside humans in peace.

The dragons that already shifted back into humans sought to follow Atalik instead of Zoran. Atalik gladly took in these dragons and upon becoming his clan; these dragons were changed into sárkány, thus making it the only time in which more than one erdőben sárkány lived in the world at a time. The magic flowing through the sárkány clan created a flourish of nature around the globe and humans praised the sárkány, especially Atalik, as royalty. But to keep the sárkány from being too powerful, the supernatural beings in the woods put a restraint on these creatures, creating the rare bloodline that states that after the death of the clan, it must be that every half a millennia is when another sárkány arise, just one; two decades, symbolizing the time it took Atalik to become the erdőben sárkány, as the waiting period for the Fated heir to become the next sárkány at the age of seventeen, Old World Hungary's age of adulthood.

The story ends with the clan slowly starting to die from old age and natural disasters, Atalik being the last one to die, never once knowing what love was again and never having a direct heir to the first sárkány.

-The Influence of One-

Stiles Stilinski

I came home the next morning just as the sun was starting to rise. I spent the night in the woods, the sárkány saying that the more I could spend the nights in the woods the better it would be for the whole animals-not-trusting-me-yet thing. It actually wasn't that bad. I spent the night in my nest (that's still weird for me to say, much less thing) and it was actually very homey. But cold. Next time I'm just gonna bring some blankets and whatnot to keep me warm. My mind was already rushing with things to bring tonight and my body wanting to do a u-turn and head back to the woods when I heard a throat being cleared in the kitchen as I passed it. I froze and walk backwards to the doorway where I saw my dad sitting at the table, a cup of coffee in his hands, steam rising from the cup.

Hm… coffee. Coffee House coffee. Yum. Smells good. Came from… California? Really? I'm gonna have to get some new coff—oh man! I forgot about that ugly plastic light fixture. God damn it to hell.

"Earth to Stiles." Dad started, his voice sounding really annoyed.

"Uh…" I sounded, my eyes blinking quickly. I knew I was in trouble, for what I don't know. I know you're thinking—'But Stiles, you're the erdőben sárkány or however the hell you pronounce it, you don't need to listen to your daddy! You've got superiority, strength, beauty! You're kick ass! Tell him off!' First and foremost, I will never tell my dad off. Sure maybe when I'm really pissed and I'm not thinking on all cylinders sure, but intentionally? No. Scratch that out right now. Second, as the sárkány I probably respect my father more than I've ever had before. I may be of "higher rank" than he is but whatever daddy-o says goes. No exceptions… well maybe with exceptions… several exceptions. "Yes?" I finally say.

"Come here." Dad said, curling a finger in the air, a visual of his command, beckoning me to step inside the kitchen and come to his side. I do. When I reach him I don't say a word, just rub my lips together in nervousness. "I talked to your Coach last night. We were in the store and… I mentioned you—you know, just asking about you—and he seemed to act… differently once your name was mentioned."

"Oh shit." I cured with a heavy sigh.

"No-no." He said quickly, his face obviously covering his anger. "No. It gets worse."

"Oh no, please."

"Oh yes, completely. I decide, after finishing up with the groceries, to stop by Mr. Harris' house."

"Oh shit."

"Now you know I don't usually do this…" Dad continued, ignoring the second curse. "But I rang the doorbell, and all seemed kind of normal and then I mentioned your name… and he was—do you want to guess Stiles?"

"He was completely normal!" I half yelled out, my voice with partial hope.

"No." He shook his head, his eyes like death daggers of death. "He was completely different. And you know what?"

"Oh please don't say it gets worse."

"It gets worse."

"Oh fuc—"

Dad effectively cut off my curse with his voice. "I decided to call a few parents and inquire about their kids and you know what? They all said pretty much the same thing. 'My kids are acting a bit strange.' Now Stiles…"

"Can I-I answer this impending question later? I just got home and I need a shower and—"

"Do you have any idea what might have caused all these people to suddenly change?"

"Hmm-hm." I sounded, shaking my head quickly and my lips going chapped from rubbing them back and forward.

"Really? 'Cause I think you do."

I laughed nervously and clapped my hands together. "W-well it's just so… uncontrollable, you see, and I-I can't control these devilishly good looks just yet. I mean," I chuckled smugly, "I know I was hot before but not I'm just—"

"Go upstairs, take a shower, finish as much homework as you can, then you're going to school in your Jeep, but if you don't fix it, Stiles, I will take away the Stiles Mobile."

"Not the Stiles Mobile!" I gasped, horrified. I remember the moment I got my new car as if it were yesterday (because it was! See what I did there?)

'Oh, no way!' I yelled with pure excitement. 'You got me a new car?' I gaped over the car. I had just gotten home from spending a whole day in the woods. I would have spent longer but hunger drew me out as well as the promise I made my dad to come back.

We looked at the new Sahara, I in complete awe and dad smiling faintly with his arms crossed in front of his chest. 'Yep. I thought that since you're the sárkány now that you should probably start acting the part and I know that the sárkány wouldn't be okay with the old Jeep after a while so…' I really didn't hear him but I did process the words as I inspected the lines, the paint job, the interior (black and brown leather seats with a saddle-color trim inside the car. Dad kept on talking while I kept sniffing at it, not too completely happy that it didn't smell like me but at the same time happy that it had that new car smell. 'Yeah, I told the dealer to keep one of these in stock just in case. I mean, I kinda knew that you would become the sárkány, the circumstances being right you know? It'll cost me a bit but with the trade in it somewhat lowered the price.'

'Thanks dad. I love it. I love the color. It's so… woods-y.'

'I thought you would have liked the color. I was also thinking red or something since it's the bloodline color but I didn't like the color on the car. Made it look like a girl's Jeep or something…'

'Yeah that's nice.' I muttered. Truly not paying attention now. 'I get to drive it to school tomorrow?'

'Yep.' Dad simply replied.

'Cool—I want to test drive it!' I said quickly, turning on my heels with my hand outstretched, reaching for the keys in my dad's hand.

'Now son, listen to me; if you do anything out of line, I'm going to take the car away. I might give you a warning, depending on the offence, but I'm not joking when I say I'll take the car back too.'

'Yes, I agree.' I said, not really hearing a word he said. Just the words "son," "line," "car," "joking" and "car" again.

He handed me the keys and I hopped into the driver's seat. Within minutes I started to drive off, heading towards a McDonald's for some food, eager to break in my fancy new ride. I think I'll call it… the Stiles Mobile, after the Batmobile!

"Yes the Stiles Mobile." Dad said, his voice threatening me. "To tell you the truth I should take the keys away from you—but I'm giving you a chance to fix things."

"How?"

Dad sighed, his facial expression reading off as 'I cannot believe I'm about to say this.' "Use your looks and convince them—all of them Stiles—to treat you like a normal person. And make sure the sárkány knows that this isn't the Old World—humans do not know that supernatural creatures are real. Maybe a handful but that's about it, do you understand me?"

"Yes sir." I sighed, totally defeated by my dad—but that wouldn't be the first time. Then my currently and especially spaz-tastic brain remembered something form earlier tonight that I never asked about. I directed this question to both my dad and my inner beast, and I made sure the sárkány knew it. "What does it mean that I'm unclaimed?"

My dad blinked and looked surprised, like he truly wasn't expecting that question so soon. "Just that you aren't someone's Destined yet. The sárkány should offer you more information on that."

As if on cue the sárkány began to speak to me. Your father's right Stiles. You are still very young, in your beginning stages if you will. When you become Destined with someone it's almost like… oh how should I put this? It's almost like you're—no that's not it. Um… mates, let's say that.

"What do you mean by mates?" I asked aloud, forgetting that my father was there but he didn't seem too responsive to the spoken question that was obviously not directed to him.

It's not like true mates with the werewolves or like 'The One' with humans. It simply means that you are to be paired—Destined—with a being due to their power.

Power? That's all? That's… really smug.

We are naturally smug creatures Stiles. The sárkány reminded me before continuing. It begins with being attracted to their power and then eventually, once we start to accept our Destined it evolves to sexual desires and love naturally. By the time we're Bonded both beings are completely in love with the other and it then could be considered similar to 'The One.'

But it isn't. It isn't with the person you're supposed to be with because of love—it's all power based.

Yes… but it 'politically' keeps the sárkány in power in the area that it resides in. It's a very old tradition that began in the clan. A beat passed before it spoke to me again. But sometimes the Destined one is 'The One.' It's happened a few times in the bloodline but it's very rare.

Well thanks… I sighed and looked at my father who simply jerked his head towards the stairs, his punishment still in effect. I nodded and climbed up the stairs, doing as I was ordered, all the while my thoughts on one thing… Who is my Destined?

-The Influence of One-

Sheriff Glenn Stilinski

It was noon and I was in my office, eating lunch, when my thoughts wandered onto my son… the erdőben sárkány.

To tell you the truth I'm horrified. Not because my son is the sárkány but because we, as a family, are so unprepared for it. In the Old World the families would always be there for their sárkány and the families were made to be huge with fifty people living in one area all of one family; and fifty was the minimum family size. Then there would be the townspeople or village people or whatever—including other supernaturals—that pitched it and helped the families to defend, serve—anything that the sárkány needed or wanted. The largest by far was—of course—with the clan. Nearly twelve hundred beings supported the clan and its members, Atalik having the most since he was the first and more important.

It was only Stiles and I and I certainty couldn't get any humans in on the mix. And I just found out about the werewolves here in Beacon Hills. Sure, I bet they would pitch in but I'm not so sure I want their help. Scott's help would be appreciated but that was about it—I didn't know and trust the others.

Another thing was the whole Destined thing that the sárkány always go through. I'm not sure I'm ready for that. Sárkány by nature were pansexual and truly don't mind who they end up with because they will always have a Destined that they will be with. This makes them extremely sexual, something I already witnessed in Stiles due to his first day back at school after becoming the sárkány. I just don't want Stiles throwing himself around until he finds out who his Destined is but I don't want to bring it up right now—I don't know how too.

What I need to do is sit him down and talk to him about everything. I tell him everything I know and he tells me everything he knows. It's obvious to me that he's already started talking to his inner sárkány which is both good and bad. Good in the sense that he'll be able to communicate about everything with someone (something?) and he always learns better that way; bad in the case that this means that the two haven't fully accepted the other quite yet, which is understandable—it usually takes a while.

That reminds me… when Stiles does fully accept the sárkány he'll be practicing his shifts into a full sárkány. The shifts hurt from what I understand at first. From accounts it's been written down to feel as if bones are being broken, twisted, and stretched; the skin burns as if you were lit on fire, no doubt as symbolism for Atalik being burned by Zoran; internal organs toss and turn inside the body and the human half gets extremely sick, they feeling that they're going to die at any moment—and in fact it's been recorded that some wish for death to come—but they never do.

I'm definitely not looking forward to that.

And more often than not the sárkány accepts the human sometime after the human accepts the sárkány. Sometimes immediately, sometimes it takes months, even years, but the moment the sárkány accepts its human half both halves are merged into one and the 'inner voice' disappears. Only then when the inner beast accepts the human is when the shifts stop hurting. It's really the first few times that they shift though that hurts the worse. After a few time the pain diminishes but it's still there, torturing the human almost to the point of begging for their inner beast to accept them but begging is deemed ugly to the sárkány and it will purposely wait to accept the human if they beg.

They don't feel anything—they're not even a real being—just a voice inside the human's head.

I groan and decide to move my thoughts away from all the painful stuff, literally. I instead think about wither or not Stiles has found his woods family… I'll ask him the next time I see him.


Chapter seven completed! So how did you guys enjoy the "fairytale" of Atalik? Kinda sad wasn't it? (NO! It was depressing! Whatchu talking about Willis?!) lol, sorry about that. I'm kinda crazy today… oh well.

Next chapter I'm doing a fast forward to Stiles stopping his obsession with looking at things and beings distracted easily and uh… I don't know, something else, hopefully. I want to see if I can finally describe the sárkány to you (*wink wink*) but I'm not sure. I'm hoping because I'm really excited to describe sárkány!Stiles to you with great enthusiasm but we'll see. What I do know that is if I do describe the sárkány there'll be some Sterek vs. Steter too because those two go hand in hand.

Please review!