Claire felt a tiny tongue being pressed repeatedly over the crack in her frill. When she sensed clawed paws shifting across her scales, she knew it was Owen. She opened her eyes and groaned.

"Don't lick it. It's going to get infected."

He paused and smiled down at her.

"Oh good! You're awake. Yeah, the whale said that it would help with the pain. I think it's, like, enzymes or something . . ."

Claire hummed.

"That's not how science works . . . Wait . . . WHALE?!"

Owen nodded.

"We're inside of him. He's taking us to Cambodia."

Claire realized that she was, in fact, inside a rather large mouth. She looked at Owen, who was smiling cheerfully, and put her front foot over her face.

"Owen, he's just saying that to calm you down. He's going to eat us."

Owen shook his head.

"No, he explained it very well. He's part blimp, so he can fly over to Cambodia and drop us off near that carving of yours."

Claire stared at him for a very long time.

"Owen . . . You can't be serious. Are you really that gullible?"

He smiled warmly.

"Claire, sometimes you have to trust people."

"Does that rule also apply to whales?" she scoffed.

Suddenly, a deep voice echoed through her head.

'I assure you, I mean you no harm. If I wanted you dead, I would have swallowed you by now. You can trust me.'

Owen crawled down to Claire's shoulder.

"He's telepathic, by the way."

Claire backed away slowly, but something moved under her foot. She saw a thick tongue and gasped.

'I'll thank you not to step on that. Whales don't usually have tongues, so I kind of value mine.'

"Sorry!" Claire squeaked.

'Oh, it's perfectly fine,' the voice boomed, 'I understand that you're nervous.'

Claire made an unstable whimpering sound.

'Here, why don't I show you something?' the whale offered.

Suddenly, Claire was blinded by a crescent of bright light. The whale had opened his mouth slightly. Claire shivered as fresh, cold air washed over her body. She was pushed forward by the whale's tongue.

'Go ahead. Take a look.'

Claire stepped up to his lips timidly. She peeked through the opening and gasped in awe.

"Wow . . ."

They were flying over the ocean, it seemed. The waves bounced and undulated below them, tiny and insignificant from such a height. White specks that must have been seagulls fluttered over the deep, blue water.

'Quite a sight, isn't it?' the whale said softly, 'I've been to many worlds, but your ocean is one of the best.'

Claire stared at the water with her mouth agape. It was gorgeous. She could feel the whale smiling at her amazement.

'Makes you want to take a swim, right? I'm afraid you'll have to wait until we reach our destination. Oh, hang on! We're about to pass by a couple of your friends.'

Claire frowned in confusion.

"Friends? . . ."

She looked up and saw a very unusual sight. A blue helicopter was flying erratically over the ocean in a loopy spiral pattern. Hanging from the aircraft by a long rope was a large, hybrid hadrosaur. On her back was-

"LOWERY?" Claire gasped.

"Hi, Claire! We just busted out of a high-security prison. We were-"

His voice cut out because of the helicopter's noise.

". . . with a hairpin," he finished, "How are you?"

Claire frowned.

"Lowery, I can't hear you! What's going on?"

He grinned.

"Well, I just rescued . . . and we ended up in the landing bay, where . . . turns out he was reincarnated as a helicopter! Isn't that crazy?"

"I'm sure it would be, if I could hear you!" Claire shouted.

"That's nice!" Lowery yelled, "I gotta go. We . . . Costa Rica to warn Barry about . . . her great-aunt is a starfish!"

Claire blinked.

"Okay? . . ."

"Bye, Claire! Good luck with your war!"

Claire nodded.

"Alright . . ."

She turned to Owen.

"Remind me to have him drug-tested when we get back."

The whale closed his mouth, and Claire sat back down.

"So, what do we do now?" she asked.

'Just wait patiently,' he replied, 'It will be a long time yet before we reach our destination.'

Claire nodded.

"Alright. I think I trust you."

'Good to hear.'

As she rolled onto her side, Claire felt her belly bouncing around with a deep sloshing sound. She winced and took a deep breath.

"When I get back to normal, I'm going on a diet."

Owen curled up near her chin.

"Another one? Does this mean you'll be eating salad all the time?"

Claire grunted.

"Of course not. I'm gonna eat a ton of meat when I get the chance. I don't want to be a herbivore for the rest of my days . . ."

Owen smiled and kissed her cheek. His whiskers tickled her scales, and she couldn't help but laugh.

"Owen, you're really sweet."

He raised an eyebrow.

"Are you just saying that because I'm an adorable rodent?"

Claire bumped him with her front horn.

"You're always adorable, regardless of what you are."

"Same for you."

Claire snorted.

"Probably not now. I'm a big, fat cow."

"You're not a cow."

His point was somewhat undercut by the fact that her upper arm fat flapped slowly as she stroked his ears.

"I can't wait to feel like a human again," Claire sighed, "I'm going to take a long bath-"

"Can I join you?"

She pushed him over with a mocking smile.

"I'm going to take a long bath and use that green apple soap my sister got me. I was holding off on using it because it's kind of tacky and not all that good, but I've always loved the smell of green apples, so I think I can afford to treat myself to something a little below my standards."

Owen frowned sardonically.

"Claire, if your idea of a good time is using dollar store soap, we really need to get you out more often."

She smiled deviously.

"I'll need you to show me the ropes . . ."

"Gladly. I plan to take you dancing."

Claire smiled.

"Where?"

"Anywhere with disco. If I remember correctly, you have a certain fondness for 'Shake Your Groove Thing'."

Claire rolled her eyes.

"Well, I suppose I could give it a shot . . ." she cooed.

Owen grinned widely.

"Stand up. We're going to practice."

Claire blinked in surprise.

"Right now?"

Owen nodded.

"Sure. Why not?"

Claire shrugged.

"Well, I'm flabby and scaly and-"

"Horny?" Owen asked coyly.

Claire groaned.

"That was awful . . ."

"Come on," Owen urged, "Dance with me."

Claire cocked her head.

"I don't know if I can . . ."

Owen grabbed her by the nostrils and pulled her towards his tiny body.

"You can. If you're anything like you were in your office, you'll be spectacular."

He started swinging his minuscule rodent hips. Claire burst into laughter, but he pulled her closer.

"Come on, Clairebear. Dance with me."

She remained dead still, at first, but after a second, she began to shake her tail. She tried to do a toe-heel toe-heel kind of thing, but realized that she didn't exactly have traditional toes or heels, so she lifted her feet one by one and did a cancan. After a minute or two, she was actually kind of dancing.

"There you go!" Owen cheered, "That's what I'm talking 'bout!"

Claire smiled.

"Wanna spin?"

"Spin?"

She whirled him around with her horn. Owen grinned and pecked her cheek.

"Now I definitely have to take you dancing!"

It was then that Claire had a flashforward. Oh, she was certain that every woman did it at least once, but that didn't make it any better. Against her will, she pictured their life together.

It began with a proposal. Somewhere fancy, hopefully, or maybe out in the countryside, all alone. There was an idea! She pictured a sparkling ring. God, it was gorgeous. Which one of them would propose first? Would he be weirded out if she asked him? Oh, it didn't matter. As long as the wedding went smoothly . . . And oh god, the wedding! She'd have a lovely dress and they'd get married somewhere beautiful, like the sea. She could almost taste the salt air as the waves crashed against the sand. And people would be laughing and smiling during the reception. They'd have the best story to tell. "You see, it all started when we got into a crate to fly to Cambodia. What an adventure we had! That's when we knew for sure . . ."

And then married life. Wouldn't it be wonderful to have a large house with a fireplace? Not one of those gasoline fireplaces, but a real one! . . . No, that would probably damage the house. Maybe they could have a firepit outside. Maybe they could have a swimming pool, too. That would be great if they ever decided to have kids. Speaking of which, how many would he want? One? Two? She probably couldn't manage three. And would they be boys or girls? Not that it mattered, of course, as long as they were well-behaved. She could see their little faces staring up at her with admiration and pride. She'd go to dance recitals, soccer games, graduations . . .

And then they'd grow old together. Maybe they could find a place in the countryside and retire there. As cliché as it was, she'd love to sit in a rocking chair on a porch and watch the sunset. They could hold hands and lean against each other and-

"Yoo-hoo? Claire, you home?"

She snapped to attention as Owen knocked on her skull with his paw. She shook her head, bringing herself back to the present.

"Sorry. I was just thinking."

"About what?"

She gulped.

"Nothing."

***TSJWFEW***

Owen had a nightmare.

He knew what kind of a dream it was before it even started. He had been here before, and not only when he was asleep. He was on a submarine. He was just above water, and a boat was sinking in front of him. He could see oil on the water, shimmering in a greasy rainbow. He looked across the gap between the boat and the sub, and he saw a group of sailors looking back at him. The last thing he saw was their eyes. Then, the world erupted into fire.

And then he was back in the jungle, looking at his raptor, who had those same intelligent eyes. There was a moment of recognition. She trusted him. She was waiting for him to save her. She didn't know that it was about to end. Owen braced himself for another disaster. He felt tears stinging at his eyes.

Just when he thought that the raptor was about to be blown to smithereens, she opened her mouth and spoke.

"Owen."

***TSJWFEW***

"Owen! Wake up, Owen! We're here."

Owen felt his nose twitching involuntarily as he opened his eyes. Claire was smiling down at him, and she was human.

"We made it!" she said brightly.

When Owen had shaken off the remnants of his nightmare, he stepped down from the whale's mouth. Claire thanked the creature for the ride, and also for not eating them. He gave a gentle smile and drifted off into the sky, becoming a tiny, gray speck in the wild blue yonder. When he was out of sight, Claire scooped up Owen and let him climb onto her shoulder. They trudged through the dense jungle, batting away the vines and hanging foliage. When they came out the other side of the trees, they found themselves standing on a tall cliff, overlooking a massive, misty valley. Below, a stone temple sat in the middle of an untamed land. They stared at the sight with awe.

"I guess this is it," Claire said quietly.

"I guess so," Owen whispered.

Slowly, Claire lifted her foot and took the first step of their adventure.