Disclaimer: Same as it has been for the last thirteen chapters.
Oh, lordy did this take far too long. It only takes the end of a long vacation to make me realize that I had planned to do this, why?
No idea, but putting this here to help tie off that little cliffhanger in the last chapter. There will be more shenanigans, though it may be a while in coming as school just reared its ugly head.
Evading:
For a moment, the reptile was caught firmly in the mental state between 'freeze' and 'run', eyes wide as he looked around, and actually recognizing the signs of two-legged inhabitance. Off to the side were strange, circular wooden trees[?], not unlike the strange tree-cave he had been kept in on the 'ship'. Not too far away, a wall of rocks and dirt sat, though there was something odd about it. For one, a hole was implanted right in the higher parts of it, just high enough that the small dragon couldn't see inside. Though, that wasn't what made him stop and stare at it. There was some sort of flickering light coming from inside, it looked oddly familiar, almost like-.
A human star, a flame, or whatever they called that thing here [far too many names, these crazy two-leggeds!]! And where there was one of those, there would also be two-leggeds to manage it. The loud bang that followed a moment after that line of thought nearly had the reptile jumping out of his scales, and the rise of noise that followed [distinct noise with the pitch rapidly rising and falling not one long drawn-out sound like with any other animal] had the youngling darting behind the short circular trees for cover. Crouched, and trying not to be too tense, he waited until the sounds passed on before venturing out, poking his head out first before edging out the rest of the way. He'd have to get back to the green place, with all of the food. Or any place at this point, he was not willing to be picky. Sniffing at the air, he was rewarded when a familiar, if not highly pleasant smell hit his nose. The plants he had taken a liking to were around somewhere, quite close too from the strength of the scent. Sniffing inquisitively at the air, the child meandered his way carefully through the maze-like passages, hiding when a hint of foreign noise entered his ears. He might not have been as small as he used to be, but he was still small enough to take adequate refuge in the passages and crannies the place had to offer. His nose finally led him to a particularly large little tree trunk, and the little reptile nosed and nudged at the wood, giving an irritable grunt when it did not yield to his more passive efforts. Well, if that would not make it give up the food inside…
Thinking for a moment, the reptile gave his tail a thoughtful look, and promptly turned around to give the older, softer wood a good wallop with his tail. After a few good smacks it gave way with a hearty crack, at which a small pile of slimy, green plants came tumbling out, which the dragon consumed with greedy abandon. However, he had unfortunately forgotten just how close these quarters were, not to mention how loud the noise of the wood breaking was.
It was only when he heard the steady thumping of footsteps did he realize his error, pausing in dragging out more of the wonderful plant to look up with nothing short of surprised shock. Thankfully, it only lasted for a moment, and the not-quite-so-small reptile dove for the shadows, trying to fit himself in behind some tiny trees next to the one he had broken open. And not a minute too soon, for within seconds of him ducking out of sight a large, monstrous two-legged came thundering down the way, stopping at the sight of the little broken tree.
The reptile would later be somewhat curious as to what all of those funny-sounding grunts, growls, and whoops coming out of the larger creature's mouth were.
However, he had some idea of what was happening when a trio of two-leggeds followed the noise, and the glow from their fire-on-sticks was making it rather difficult to remain in the shadows. In nervousness, he nibbled at the few leaves he had managed to snag before scooting away, cringing as the volume of the two-leggeds' noises grew louder and more incensed. Despite his steadily growing feeling that he should not have broken the little tree, a few more of the leaves he had grabbed disappeared into his maw. He couldn't hold onto them if he had to run, right?
Though his stomach felt….bubbly, almost like he had inhaled wind, and the reptile placed his front paws over his muzzle in an attempt to block in the air that desperately forced itself against his jaws. If he could just hold out for a few more seconds…
While the vocal tone had not diminished any, some agreement seemed to have been reached, the two-leggeds starting to move back down to the other end of the path, taking the broken tree with them. However, the feeling brewing in his gut seemed to only grow more and more tumultuous, until a loud belch forced its way past clamped jaws. Freezing as he suddenly realized how quiet it was in the wake of his little misstep, the reptile instinctively forced himself back further into the shadows, seeing with a cold snap that the two-leggeds had turned back around, staring in his direction. He would be discovered soon if he stayed here.
Giving in to the instinct that he had been suppressing the moment he had smelled food, the reptile outright bolted, bowling straight into a two-legged's long, gangly limbs and knocking him over in his attempts to escape. The younger one let out a loud howl, which the others all echoed as he used his precious time to run in the direction of where the forest-smell was coming from as though there were wolves nipping at his heels. However, the shock of seeing a reptile the size of a large dog come through and run down one of your family members certainly did not keep the group preoccupied for long, and soon the air was filled with the sound of chase nary a few moments later. The noise drew more and more people into the fray, with even more wilder stories emerging to explain exactly what was being pursued so feverishly. One mentioned some sort of ten-foot-high monster, and at least one person was certain that the beast on the loose was in fact some sort of flying snake.
But the monster, for all his frantic childishness, had managed to slip out of the humans' clutches in the mayhem, running deep into the safety of the forest and huddling himself down in the roots of an old oak tree.
It had undoubtedly been an interesting evening.