I began poking my rice around the bowl. I wasn't terribly fond of rice unless it was smothered in yellow sauce but we were out. I plucked a bit up with my chopsticks and popped it in my mouth before I could have second thoughts. A shudder went down my spine and I tried to swallow three times before managing to get it down. Like eating glue.

"Bleh," I stuck my tounge out and pushed my food away. I decided to go for a walk. Nights after rain were the best to go for walks because you didn't have to worry about being attacked by animals or weirdos because they were either dead or hiding from the rain.

It was arguable whether or not it was safer since if you disturbed your surroundings too much, you ran the risk of accidentally having a tree full of acid dumped on you. Either that or you could breath in too many fumes and suffocate. Or perhaps faint and fall into a puddle of the stuff and have your lungs enflame and close up while the acid eats away at skin and bone. I thought I had enough common sense not to do any of the above though, and besides, most of the people you saw on the news who had died that way were either crazy hobos or intoxicated college students.

I put on my yellow rainboots and jacket fearing that I might stumble across a puddle in the dark though. I grabbed a dust mask from the coat hanger at the front door and put it on before going on my merry way. Scratch the merry, I was still feeling extremely depressed.

The bleach smell mixed with the smell of the woods reminded me of pine car fresheners. The sudden humidity of the pines always caught me by surprise. Their purple needles almost blended with the darkness. I sloshed through the muddy areas in disgust to avoid the puddles knowing that too much exposure would disintegrate the plastic soles of my shoes.

The trees stood high above my head. Most were rotten and fallen over, making way for new life. The chemicals in the rain and the air sped up the process of nature. While this was good for agriculture it also cause the forest to spread into the city, although it was not visible to the naked eye.

Every five years I would hear my father moan about having to get someone in about digging up the roots that were causing damage to the walls of the basement. A network of mutated roots lay beneath the ground you walked on. You didn't think about it much until you went back to school after summer break to find a mini forest had grown in your gymnassium through the cracks the pressure of the growth had created in the floor.

That had happened when I was in fourth grade. Considering that was the year we started doing track, gym really blew. We now had to do it outside with all the heat waves that kept getting worse year after year. The city had finally had to make deals with local gyms and rec centers after two kids fainted from heat exhaustion.

As I wove deeper the heat became denser and denser and the smell grew stronger and stronger. I felt at home here in nature, despite how mutated it had become. I thought that it was neat that no matter what humans threw at the enviroment, the enviroment would always adapt. With barely any water for the plants to live on the plants had learned to break down the acid rain to survive. Now instead of their leaves being green and their trunks being brown the forest was filled with different hues of purples.

When I came to a clearing I stopped and examined the night sky. I counted constellations and recalled ones that were no longer visible. I hadn't seen the big dipper in years and only the handle was left of the little one. Scientists estimated that as the world got closer to being completely covered by cities and greenhouses, light pollution would block out the stars to the naked eye completly. While my attention was drawn to the sky the tree above me rustled causing a droplet to fall on my cheek.

I flinched and ripped my mask off to brush it away with my sleeve. Another rustle brought my attention back up again. My eyes widened as they held a the yellow eyes of a Blue Viper hovering on the branch above, in their vision. It was a cross species of a Serval, a large African feline with a long neck and legs and the rare Japanese Wildcat, which many clones and mutations were made on as it edged closer to extinction. This cross breeds fur had become a bluish silver over the centuries from exposure to the elements. It had long claws, was extremely fast and very dangerous.

I ducked out of the way as it jumped down at me. My mask went flying from my hand and landed in a puddle and sizzled a bit before dissapearing. I landed in a clump of mud an leaves and rolled onto my back just to see it lunge at me again right before a large serpant crashed into it head first. As the viper crashed into a tree and cried out as the acid that shook down burned it's skin, the serpent glided over circling it's body around mine, it's eyes, glowing alabaster in anger, never breaking from the felines.

I whimpered as it drew close to me. From this close I could see that how fair and almost like pearls in their design it's scales were. A long jade mane graced it's back from head to tail and ended in a tuft. Four long skinny legs protruded from it's body and ended in long, sharp talons. A pair of long horns and whiskers, ten times the length of the previous, thrust out from the fur on it's head, which was almost wolf like in feature. It's jowls pulled back in a snare revealing all the long sharp teeth hidden underneith. I gasped as I realized this was no serpant, it was a dragon.

The Viper rebounded quickly from the ground and hissed at it's enemy.

I watched in awe as the dragon returned the favour and lunged forward once again.

It's crazy that it's been over a year since I've updated this. I never meant to put it on hiatus, it just sort of happened. Blame writers block I guess. I have the mojority of the plot worked through in my head. It's just all the little connecting things that get me. Random stuff usually inspires me, places, images, music, etc. So if you're interested in seeing this story continue and you see something that reminds you of it, don't hesitated to PM. I'll appretiate it. I also appreciate constructive critism if anyone is willing to take the time to write their thoughts on this peice down.