Rise of Dragon (Ready Only)

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Astral's thoughts wandered as she sat in her office. She by no means was bored. In fact she was on a conference call and scrolling and replying at emails at the same time. Neither took very much attention. The conference call was about a mistake someone made that she had warned them against previously and now were figuring out how to fix it. She wasn't like most authoritative figures. Ever word that came out of her mouth wasn't a command. Rather when she could, she simply provided suggestions of what they should do. It was the only way they could learn. The emails were mostly simple responding to questions employees and clients alike had. Multi-tasking was the blond woman's specialty and today was actually a rather easy day. There wasn't anywhere in particular her thoughts went. There was always plenty of things she still had to mull over. However, as her eyes roamed across some of the dragon figures that decorated her desk, she got a quick reprieve from the emails. She couldn't help but think about the dragon rp site she ran. Or sorta ran these days. Forum based rp way dying and the site was nothing like it used to be. There was a major divide in the community after a troublesome user decided to take up the path of revolution. It made her sad every time she thought about it. People she once thought of as friends now hated her guts and the site was just barely still considered alive.

As she went back to scrolling over emails while reflecting, she stumbled upon a particular letter that yelled to have all of her attention. She stuck her conference call on hold. They could resolve it just fine without her. As a rather successful business owner she had many connections. And every wealthy person had some crazy imaginations. With technology where it's at these days such crazy imagining didn't seem as crazy anymore. Humanity could print hearts and just about any organ or tissue they wanted. 3D printers could print cars and more 3D printers to print more. Cloning mammoths and nanobots that could change things on a cellar level, even DNA and chromosomes. Though the company that announced that they could do so haven't. The morality and laws behind it may not allow such a thing for centuries. However nothing could have prepared her for this email. Normally she would write if off as a crazy and ineffective scam. However it came from a credible source. Still wondering if such a source had been hacked or something she picked up her phone to call him.

"Astral, haven't heard from you in forever. It seems an email like that really is the only way I can grab your attention." Came the voice from the other end.

"I knew something was up. You shouldn't be using my little weakness like that. Made me stick a call on hold." Astral responded with an annoyed tone.

"Oh no, nothing is up. It's for real." He replied back seriously.

"There's no way anyone's creating dragons. If any thing they'd create a Jurassic park first and we're still a long way from that."

"I'm telling you it's the real deal. I even managed to pull some strings and get you a private invitation."

"Oh I get it now. You're trying to sucker me into a date. You know I don't mix my personal life with business."

"With everything I know about you it's too late for that." He laughed before his tone turned stone serious. "I'm not going to say it again though. This is the real deal. Unfortunately the date it's available is very short notice. You have to arrive in 4 days and it's in Ohio. They are rather particular and secretive as you might expect. Speaking of which I'm sure you're already aware but don't share any of this with anyone. I'll send you the email with all the details shortly. I got to go now. Take care."

Before she had a chance to say anything more he hung up. She still couldn't believe this was a thing. Still if it was and she missed out on it she was going to kill herself. Calling up her secretary she told him to clear her schedule for the next 3 days and that she was leaving the office as well. Freaking Ohio was near the other end of the continent. Astral hated flying, well rather hated the process to get flying. In most scenarios she'd drive herself, sometimes even taking one of her motorcycles. It's a good thing she ran her business the way she did or doing this would be impossible without damaging her reputation in some way.
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A couple days later after a painful flight she was now being driven in the back of a limo that was specifically designed so the occupant couldn't see out but those on the outside could see in. Almost felt like a kidnapping. She eventually reached the destination. What and where she still didn't know. Upon exiting the vehicle she found herself to be in an underground parking lot of sorts. There to greet her were two armed guards and another fellow in the usual professional get up.

"Welcome to the facility. My name's Thomas and I'll be your guide." The man in the business getup introduced and extended a hand.

"Astral." She responded plainly returning the boring gesture of a hand shake. She didn't half *** it though. Handshakes were important to get right, because reasons.

"I hope you don't mind the security detail? As you might imagine the stuff we are researching here is top secret." Thomas said.

"It's all good, I understand." Astral replied.

"Excellent. I'll take you to the lounge where we can meet up with out other guest and we can get some formality paper work out of the way."

Astral didn't realize there would be another guest. It didn't bother her any and she still felt special getting a sneak peak at this. Upon entering the lounge she was greeted by the other guest. Again beginning with the handshake.

"They didn't tell me the other person to be on the tour would be a beautiful lady. My name is Fred, a pleasure to meet you Miss...?"

"Astral" She replied.

"Ah a unique and beautiful name. Fitting if I do say so myself."

Astral didn't feel like bothering with the small talk and moved on to get the paper signing out of the way. She was getting rather giddy with excitement and eager to see what they had. Once finished Thomas began the tour. Seemed they were just touring labs as Thomas spoke. "...Our goal is to create a dragon park--" Astral was quick to interrupt with a question.

"Why dragons rather than dinosaurs? They are far more popular and practical." Astral asked.

"True, however we are ambitious and when we are finished everyone will forget all about dinosaurs." Thomas replied.

The tour continued. They were using nanobot serums to change existing creatures into dragons. They were actually using dinosaur fossils as a starting point for the structure and even claimed to have figured out how to grant the creatures flight. They were still testing how large they could make the dragons with them still able fly.

"Wait, you guys have dragons already? Why the heck aren't we touring those?" Astral complained.

"Unfortunately I can't show you the dragons themselves." Thomas replied.

"Why the heck not? You've already told us you have them and all about how and why. What harm or secret are you revealing by showing us?" Astral adamantly continued.

"Miss please. We still aren't ready to reveal them even to our honored guests. As you are probably already aware the legalities of what we are doing are rather grey. We'll actually be ready to construct and begin the park the moment we can either find a way through or change some of these obstacles."

Astral grumbled and mumbled complaints but otherwise dropped it. She knew how these things worked but couldn't believe she was being denied after being so close to seeing an actual dragon. It was freaking fantasy come to life and if she wasn't currently caught up in the hype and excitement she still wouldn't be able to believe it. Heck until she saw them she wouldn't fully believe it.

Fred approached her again after her little outburst. Throughout their trip Fred the other guest had been pestering her with personal questions and trying to hit on her. She managed to get him to back off after answering some simple if some slightly unorthodox questions. Unorthodox wasn't unusual in this crowd though. Her answers were, no she didn't really have much in the way of family pretty much just being on her own; no she wasn't married or dating and wasn't interested; no she wasn't here for business only a personal fascination with dragons. But now here he was coming to bother her again.

"I've actually seen them. They're also beautiful, just as you are. I might be able to pull some strings if you're interested." Fred proposed.

Astral didn't even have to consider it. She knew she was going to have to owe him a date or something. Actually he probably wanted sex too. She wasn't going to go that far but it was worth it to lead him on. "Yes please." She answered. He seemed unusually satisfied at that answer, even beaming. Why the heck was he this interested? People of their class didn't get desperate as most things they wanted came straight to them.

Fred walked up to one of the security guards that were escorting them and whispered some stuff in his ear. The guard nodded and Fred headed back, grabbing her hand, pulling her into a separate path ditching their guide with the guard casually following them. Had he bribed the guard or was it a reputation and connection kind of thing? Suppose it didn't matter so long as she got to see her dragon. The guard now led the way and opened doors with his pass.

All seemed fine until they reached what could be a air lock or something like that. Wasn't the room that was off but the two with her. They seemed...different. Suddenly the guard grabbed her wrists and pulled both her arms behind her back keeping her restrained. "What the hell!" Astral cried out. Fred approached her with a grin that made her very uneasy...well more so than she already was.

"Don't worry beautiful. This'll only take a moment and then you'll be so much better." Fred said while procuring a syringe from his person. Astral struggled uselessly trying to bring her legs up to kick regardless of the guard pressing her arms in hurting her to try and keep her under control.

"I have money too. I'll pay double what he is paying and this is massively illegal." Astral offered more than begged. She had too much of an ego to let her voice lose it's confidence. Fred moved to her side where Astral couldn't effectively kick him and injected her with the syringe. She refused to cry out from the pain of it. Astral stopped struggling of her own choice once the needle was removed.

"All right so now what? What's your grand plan?" Astral asked.  

"I'd tell you but you probably wouldn't be able to listen to me. So I'll tell you later." Fred responded.

"What?" Astral was so confused. Was it some sort of anesthetic to knock her out? She could feel a numbness flowing through her, but she could still flex her muscles just fine. Then suddenly the most agonizing pain she'd ever felt rippled all throughout her body. She cried out at the top of her lungs and all her muscles tensed up. Fred instructed the guard to let her go and Astral fell straight to the ground in agonizing pain.

"Believe me I don't want to hurt you. I actually want you as undamaged as possible. But there is no way for the transformation to work without rearranging the nerves. You'll be perfectly healthy but nerves kinda hurt." Fred explained though Astral paid attention to none of it. It felt as if the entirety of her body was trying to rip it's self apart. The first thing to begin happening was she was losing weight and slowly shrinking in size. All her hair and even her finger nails fell off leaving her with just smooth skin. Her bones began rearranging her hips snapping into a different position dooming her to walking on all fours. Her legs began taking a shape more suited to a quadruped and her arms shifting into fore legs. Black scales began replacing skin all along her. Some being thicker and less mobile than others. Notably the ones along her legs being the thinnest. A pair of bones began growing from her and slowly became black leathery wings. Next her spine began growing in both direction pushing her neck out and bulking with muscle to support the head. Mean while the other side snaked out to form a tail the same length as her body. Her head bulked up both widening but mostly lengthening to form a muzzle. Her teeth fell out of her mouth only for long sharp ones with a gentle curve inwards to take their place. Her toes and fingers reformed with her toes merging into three long and thick toes tipped with wicked claws. Her now front legs formed four toes also tipped with claws with her thumb becoming less mobile and no longer in a position to grasp things. No horns pushed out of her head the only change beyond the muzzle being her eyes changing from a light blue to a bright green and her pupils vertical slits. Her breasts had receded long ago and she now shrunk to the size of a small house cat. Astral was now a fully formed dragon her cries of pain and agony having long since turned into little roars of pain and agony. The moment the transformation and pain was finished she passed out from exhaustion.

The moment Astral woke she knew she was in a car however her senses were absolutely overwhelmed. Smell and hearing all getting too much information she didn't know how to process. Despite her body screaming against opening her eyes she did so anyways knowing she was still in danger. However even her eyes were sharper and it proved too much, her brain shutting itself back down.

When she awoke again she was no longer in a car and her senses weren't as overwhelmed. Well her nose still was maybe even more so now for some reason. But her ears were at peace. Well hearing, she didn't have ears anymore. Still her body did not want to open it's eyes but again she forced it. This time thankfully not enough stimulation to knock her out again. She stayed still for who knows how long trying to adjust. Her muzzle wasn't that intrusive to her sight thankfully just being slightly more in the way than a regular nose. Despite everything Astral stayed very still. It didn't help she wasn't totally aware of how to move everything. Her body felt so strange and unfamiliar. It was all so surreal and unbelievable. She was slowly convincing herself this was a dream.

Fred walked in grabbing something off a bed. Maybe this was a bedroom? Oh and she was in a cage. Fred didn't seem to pay her any attention as he gathered some sheets from it. On his way out he spared her a glance and then he stopped in his tracks.

"You're awake." He stated surprised. "I would have thought you the noisy type."

He then approached her cage and crouched down to be closer at eye level. He was so much bigger than her now. She hardly even flinched though, still in a daze. Fred slowly brought a finger forwards towards her snout. As dazed as she was she did not want him touching her. A growl came from her muzzle as it near and Fred pulled back. "That's more like it." She stopped abruptly startling herself that she had growled. She was begining to come out of her daze and on very unsteady feet got up again. It just felt right to resume again growling as anger from her predicament boiled within her. She examine her surrounding confinement only to trip on her own wing and fall on it in the cramped space. She let out a pained squeak.

"Aren't you just adorable." Fred commented. "You know I thought it was going to be years before I found the perfect candidate and then you just magically fall in my lap. No family or loved ones to miss you and go looking. Not an investor to help my project along but instead a fan. And oh so beautiful. To top it all off you're of high society. Maybe not totally like most but I can see the confidence and self worth oozing from you. It's going to be such a joy to see you change. You know you were suppose to have white scales but somehow the idiots gave me the wrong syringe. I'm glad they did, I can't even believe how perfect you are. I don't even need to rename you. It's good you showed up so soon. This little dragon project is failing. There isn't much funds for it to go on much longer. The animals we convert to dragons can't survive. We know more about the universe than we do our own oceans and we know more about the oceans than we do our own brains. It'll be decades maybe even a century before we have the understanding and technology we need in order to rewrite the proper survival instincts into them. A human on the other hand can adapt. Not easily by any means but it can be done. For obvious reasons we can't go around kidnapping humans for our park. Only I will have a pet dragon."

Astral squeaked as the sudden high pitched ding dong of a door bell assaulted her hearing. It also interrupted Fred's monologue slash appreciated if infuriating exposition.

"Ah, the vet is here. The timing is perfect for your physical." Fred said approaching her cage and lifting it up before carrying it off. The cage swayed back and forth as he walked to greet the vet and Astral felt like she was going to be nauseous. She wanted to stand up and try to balance herself but was still trapped with her wing under her and not enough room to figure out how to get off it. After their greeting the vet went to prepare a spot in the kitchen. Made her very nervous. While waiting though it gave her a chance to look around. She was in a mansion a well decorated one at that but found nothing notable beyond that. Her main concern was how to escape, but being so small and unable to open doors made it seem impossible. This was basically a prison where only her escorts could lead her around. Or as he'd prolly prefer being called master. Astral visibly gagged at that thought. She probably couldn't talk. But just in case the little dragon attempted to but only succeeded in some really funky sounding grunts, growls, and other inhuman noises. Even nearly bit down on her tongue which stopped that nonsense. She wasn't interested in a tongue piercing.

Eventually it was time and her cage placed on a large kitchen island prepared to kinda look like a vets office. The moment they moved her off her own wing she was going to bolt. The cage door opened and Fred's hand reached in. Oh how tempting it was to bite it. He grabbed her by the neck and muscles she didn't even realize she had tensed went limp. In her mind she was freaking out. This may not be the body she was comfortable with but at the moment it was her body and she was not at all happy about not being able to move it.

"You like?" Asked Fred probably rhetorically. "The reflex isn't present in any known reptiles but we made sure to add it. It's very handy for taking care of feral dragons and in this case you."

"You're really taking to your new pet dragon aren't you." The vet commented.

"Yea, she's very special. And I want to make sure she's healthy. And you." Fred said pointing right at her to which Astral growled. "Are going to behave, or else." He then placed her down still growling confident she was going to listen. She could bolt right now. His threat scared her though. He'd already turned her to the helpless size of a small house cat. What could she possibly do. Couldn't communicate, couldn't run, and probably couldn't fight. Maybe if she could fit her jaws around his neck maybe. But if she failed that could be the end of her life. Didn't matter how "special" she was. Astral knew he wouldn't tolerate her life if she went after his own.

"Well go on make sure nothings wrong." Fred said to the vet who was a little hesitant to begin on the still growling dragon. He feared his boss more than the little dragon though and approached. It wasn't long before her growling actually stopped and she became very interested in what he was doing. He may have been checking to make sure nothing was wrong but in doing so he was showing her how her body moved and to what limits. Near the end of it she'd gotten a pretty good grasp on her body. Seemed there was more he was doing behind her tail though. She struggled to see what exactly when suddenly something probed her private nether region. Astral gave out a loud yelp and pulled away before quickly turning and biting at the hand. The vet just barely pulled away in time. Meanwhile Fred just chuckled. Astral really hated him.

"So?" Fred asked.

"A perfectly healthy young baby." The vet replied. 'Hatchling' Astral silently corrected. Wait hatchling? Well good to know she wasn't going to be this small forever.

Astral was placed back in her cage and her cage brought back to Fred's room. His daughter who seemed to be about 10 years old followed him. Utterly fascinated with Astral.

"Can I play with it! Can I play with it!" She begged her high pitched voice and instance causing Astral's hearing some pain.

"Not for awhile. She still needs to be trained." Fred replied. Astral growled at him but he pretended not to notice.

The kid then had a tantrum and Fred had to pick her up and take her out and he didn't come back. Astral was left with nothing to do but think. She came to the realization she was probably doomed. Even if she managed to escape there was nobody with the technology to changer her back. Plus it wasn't like she swapped bodies. This was her original body just completely changed. How would they know what to put her back as. There wasn't even a way she could talk to anyone. It wouldn't be bad being a dragon though. She'd often dreamt and mused about it. Everything about her life was in that damn mans hands now though. Freaking everything. She still had a responsibility to those that worked under her too. They'd probably be able to manage without her but she knew how people were. They were prolly spending just as much as they make and the moment they start making a fair bit less they are going to be in huge trouble. Astral had no interest in letting all those families that rely on her struggle, even if it was their own stupid fault. There was no hope of that though. Perhaps she should just starve herself. As new and now exciting as this new body was her confinement was very boring.

Only a single day had past of her not eating and she was already ravenously hungry. She could have gone 3 days as a human before being this bad. Maybe it had something to do with her being a growing hatchling. It was madding though. Fred came back into his room and Astral was actually glad for the distraction. His daughter Penelopy or Penny as they nicknamed her following closely behind. He grabbed the key to her cage from one of his drawers at the nightstand of his bed and then came to her with another chicken leg in hand. Another that she would refuse to eat.

"Look." Fred opened his lecture. "We both know how this is going to go. I know you enough to know you aren't going to let yourself die. You have too much pride for that even with everything being stripped from you. You should just accept that I'll take care of you. Feed you, give you attention, and take care of all your needs. You know eventually you will anyways. Your brain forced to rationalize the situation in order to cope. That it wouldn't be so bad. So rather than causing your own suffering just accept it now. I truly want to make sure you stay well." He then opened the cage and tossed the leg in. "She hated to admit it but he was right. She wasn't interested in dying. She'd been suicidal before and decided long ago she could always find a reason for living. As for her supposed inevitable changed of heart. She didn't want to believe it. But she knew full well what the brain could and would do during times of prolonged stress. As confident in her will power as she was, what he said wouldn't even be all that hard for her brain. Astral reluctantly began dipping into the chicken leg and surprising her self began ravenously trying to consume it. It wasn't at all easy either. Her jaw couldn't grind and her teeth wouldn't be able to do that anyways. She ended up having to hold the leg down with a fore paw biting down and tearing a peace off before throwing her head up and swallowing what she tore whole. Once she got a hang of it, it actually became rather easy. She used to dislike the taste of chicken, but this was pretty good.

"That's a good girl." Fred said reaching his arm forward to pat her. Astral quickly snapped her neck over to it and tried to bite at it but yet again another hand barely escaped. "Suit yourself. So long as you're eating now I'm happy." With that he left after putting the key to her cage back away. His daughter seemed to pay extra attention to that. She exited with him though leaving her alone to strip the bone bare. Astral may have decided to eat, but she was going to refuse to be his pet for as long as she could.

The next day while Astral was pretty sure Fred was working his daughter came in alone. Penny went toward the drawer with her cage key and took it out before heading to Astral's cage. The small hatchling had a bad feeling about this. Penny opened up the cage and started reaching for the dragon. Astral darted out evading capture from the kid but quickly stumbled over herself. Penny came running after her with a hearing grating laugh. Astral got herself up and took off again out the door that was left open. 'Don't think like a biped, you're a quadruped now. It's more of a jumping action to run on all fours. Leap with left and right back legs while catching the ground with the left and right front legs while maneuvering the body to prepare for the next leap forward. All the while using this helpful tail for counter balance. The ground felt like it was flying by Astral as she sprinted across the carpet. Somehow that freaking kid was hot on her tail. Seriously almost within grabbing distance of her actual tail. Spreading her wings Astral attempted to use them to speed her up but the action seemed to really excite Penny as the kid let out a sequel. The sound was so awful Astral couldn't even focus on running and tumbled over herself. Penny caught up going straight for her limbs. It was like she was a **** toddler. "Leave the dragon alone!" Astral said in the form of a roar. It was no use though and Penny's biggest fascination was Astral wing. Why was it always the **** wings. Penny pulled on the limbs painfully Astral squeaking and roaring in protest to no avail. Only one thing left to do. Astral bit down on Penny's left arm the girl quickly let go screaming in pain with tears not far behind. Even as small as she was Astral's sharp and long teeth had actually caused quite a bit of damage to the girls arm with more blood coming out then Astral was typically use to seeing. 'Ohhhhh **** I'm in for it now.' She had to escape right away. Running around Astral looked for anywhere she could go. Amazingly enough her salvation was in the form of an open bathroom window. It took many tries just to figure out how to jump to it and she gave pause before jumping out into the open. This window was apparently two stories up which to her seemed like a skyscraper drop down. It was either for sure stay and die though or probably die jumping down. Astral decided to go with the probably and leapt out. Extending her wings she figure now would be the best time to find out she instinctively knew how to fly. No luck and she quickly spiraled out of control. It was still a slower fall than if she just plummeted though and crashed very painfully and damnit. She could clearly see and especially feel she had broken a wing. She should have pulled them in before crashing.

There was no time to lick her wounds so to speak. Actually that's probably what she would have to do if she actually had any open wounds. But no time for that now. Astral just ran and ran. She didn't even know for how long as she crossed open plains then a forest and then she lost track.

She didn't even know when she passed out. Just that it was night and she could still see where she was running just fine till she went out. When she awoke the sun was in the middle of the sky and her eyes struggled to open as a painful barking sounded seemingly right on top of her. Finnaly getting them open she found a Chihuahua a few feet in front of her barking away. Astral was terrified of dogs and while Chihuahuas didn't really bother her that much there was now nowhere near as much of a size difference. Astral ran the other way as if she was running for her life which she felt like she was despite how easy killing the dog would actually be for her. Her left broken wing was agonizingly being dragged behind her but again no time to worry about it.

'Soo... you want me to call you by your real name or Baldi?' The words were louder than they should have been. His head throbbed more. Wait. Did she say "Baldi"? He looked at her. No, he was already looking at her. Why was she so small? Nevermind that, she had asked him something. So they could finally talk to each other now. Okay, so that was one good thing about being turned into a dragon. But at the moment, he couldn't really think of much else. He was surprised he could think at all. He still hadn't answered her question. He looked at--no. He was still looking at her. If could see himself, he imagined he might have a blank expression on his face. Or in his eyes, rather. His eyes... wasn't one of them swollen shut? No, he could see just fine. His injuries must not be visible anymore or even exist. Funny, because he could still feel them. Or was this just him getting used to his new body? Baldi fell back into a sitting position. He really needed to go back to sleep. Or eat something. No. He needed to answer Astral.

"...You can... call me Baldi, if that's easier. It is the name you associate me with, after all." It was too bad Baldi couldn't smile anymore. Although, the fact Astral had decided to reveal herself took away from the joy of his own revelation. "I'm sorry. I failed to keep you from ending up back with... Tim." He finally looked around--long enough to see he was in a living room with way too many couches. "But I will find a way to change you back and get you home."

Astral was glad to see he was for the most part ok. He told her she could call him Baldi and since he more resembled his dragon avatar it only seemed more fitting. Next thing she knew Baldi was apologizing. "No, don't apologize. If ever there was a time in which it was nobodies fault this would be it. Well except Tim. He doesn't count and it's all his fault. Everything just kinda happened. And I don't know how I feel about you finding me when I was injured. If you hadn't picked up the random dragon in the wilderness you wouldn't be in this mess, but on the other hand I'd also for sure be dead. Right now we're both alive, so I guess that's something. We're also both dragons. It's kinda neat. It'd be more neat if we weren't this psycho guy's pets and if we didn't have to worry about getting shot when we do escape from some very scared random human. Plus all the responsibility we can't take care of." It had been so long since Astral had been able to talk to anyone, this was great. "And I'm afraid changing back is far from simple. We didn't exactly swap bodies, our bodies were physically transformed. If we somehow got back it would just be a whole new body again. Nobody would recognize us as us, our voices likely wouldn't even sound similar. Then there's the bit about the only people having the technology to do so being Tim and his company. And he is down right obsessed with me as a dragon, as you've probably noticed. My company has probably already found someone else to take my place and I don't have any family except my sister. I'm fine being a dragon at this point. I'm just worried about how I'll get by as one, if I ever even get out of this place. We can try and figure out how to make you human though, but first you're going to need food. You're bigger than me and probably haven't eaten anything since your transformation. Follow me."

Astral would hop off the couch and walk Baldi over how to move around. She'd lead him over to the kitchen counter that still had all the meat. He was bigger but likely wouldn't be able to get up without hurting himself so she jumped up herself with a couple flaps of her wings. She'd knock down whatever meat he wanted. "I ate all the fish but the salmon, so all that's left is cow, pig, chicken, lamb, and some other stuff I'm not familiar with. So what all do you want?"

As she helped out Baldi, a dark thought was taking root in her mind. They had all the food they could eat. They didn't have to worry about anyone shooting at them. Heck she'd bitten Tim's daughter pretty bad and he forgave Astral with no consequences. Now Astral had someone to talk to as well. If she did just accept this like she had promised, it wouldn't be that bad. She'd just have to swallow her pride, humanity, and human rights, but Tim was accommodating and she could always bite anyone who went too far. Or flame them. She needed to figure out how she did that.

Baldi could tell Astral hadn't spoken to anyone in a while. She spoke for a really long time before he had a chance to get a word in. But he didn't mind. It gave him  a chance to adjust to everything. And he was more comfortable listening or writing than talking--talking to people, at least. That wasn't really true anymore, though. He'd been talking to Astral. Granted, he hadn't known that she was actually a human, but it still counted.

It saddened Baldi to hear Astral was okay with being a dragon. Yeah, it was awesome--aside from having to be someone's pet--but what about her old life? She had her business and sister. Surely she had some friends who would miss her. He thought of his own life for a moment. He had only his dogs. He wasn't terribly close to anyone in his family, not even his sister. He was a disappointment to his family. No job or friends; no interest in college; an artistic gift he didn't take advantage of. The only way he'd really be missed beyond the occasional thought you spare for loved ones throughout the day, was if he ended up in a box underground.

All he had now was Astral. He looked up and found a kitchen counter in front of him. He raised his head up a bit more to see Astral on the counter beside a pile of assorted meats. She was talking again. "The salmon and some chicken." After a moment, "Maybe some lamb, too."

Baldi was glad dragons didn't taste the same way as humans. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to stomach this raw meat. After his stomach stopped demanding food, Baldi reflected on what Astral had said earlier. "I figured it wouldn't be simple. I bet it would probably hurt even more." Baldi reared up on his hind legs for a couple seconds, sniffing the air. Then he looked at where Astral was. He could get up there, too, right? He opened his wings a bit and flapped them. 'Shouldn't be too hard,' he thought, 'Just do what she did.' So Baldi did... and came up short because his rear paws slipped. The flapping of his wings might have been off, too. His snout collided with the edge of the counter and he let out a pained roar as he fell back onto the floor. 'Thanks for nothing, past three years of dragon RPing.' "I don't want to be human again," Baldi finally said after the pain ebbed. "Not unless you change back, too. If you're okay with being a dragon now, so am I. It is basically my childhood dream come true. I mean, aside from being a prisoner and failing to get up on that counter. But... what about StarDust? Won't you miss her?"

Baldi was no longer hungry, but now he discovered he was thirsty. "I don't suppose Tim left a bowl around anywhere?"

Astral pushed the salmon and chicken onto the tiled kitchen floor for Baldi to gobble up. He asked for the lamb as well so Astral obliged knocking that down as well. Baldi said something about it being more painful. She hadn't thought about that. If they ever found a way they'd be who knows how large and had extra limbs to get rid off. The thought was horrifying. "Yea on second though I'm quite comfortable with what I am now. I'm not going through that again."

Astral watched as Baldi stood on his hind legs unsteadily. That was no easy task even dogs had a hard time with that and they were more exotically designed and rooted to all fours. Especially Baldi who didn't seem like he had as great a range of motion as herself. Luckily or unluckily he didn't have to discover how incredibly difficult it is as he attempted to leap up to the counter only to hurt himself and roar in pain on his trip back down. He then talked about how he was already rather accepting of his new body. "Well you'll learn everything with time, just take it slow. The saying the bigger they are the harder they fall is very true. Oh and her name is Melinda. She isn't a dragon so we might as well use her human name and yea I will miss her. Too bad I can't use a computer to let her know I'm fine, well alive at least. Actually I'm probably big enough that the weight of my claws can press a key now and not too large that it'll press multiple. Any laptops around here are bound to be password protected though. And if he's anything like me we won't know his password even if he types it in front of us. Too complicated we'd forget it right away. You should see my passwords. Impossible to guess or crack with anything but a brute force hack and unique. Best part of it is if I forget it I just got to run through all the encryptions. Brilliant if I do say so my self. But yea if I do come across my sister I'll just do so as is. Much like you she wouldn't freak out at the sight of an actual dragon. But yea only my sister I'll miss. My company was just a time consuming burden. Every time I'd try to let someone else take my responsibilities things would go down hill right away. I created my own business because I wanted to have control over my time. Which I do have control of it problem is most of it is used, there isn't much to spare. Friends are impossible. Either they are fake, concerned about impressing you, and just in general not being themselves or they're gold diggers. Even those of my own 'class' are impossible. Either they have the same time issues usually worse, are selfish, too arrogant, or have some really strange quirks. Case and point, Tim."

"Oh water." Astral glided down and after reaching the ground looked back and forth. "You know what that's a good question, I'm thirsty too." Astral looked around the kitchen but didn't find anything. She decided to yell for Tim and attempt asking him where the water was. Astral let out a roar but once more breathed fire by accident. She cut herself short before breathing too much. "Oh crap flip fuzz no! Astral stamped on the small fire she had made on the carpet just outside the kitchen. She found it wasn't hurting her any so it seemed they had somehow made them at least flame resistant as well. Tim was crazy to try and keep such capable creatures as pets. Astral tried beating it with her wings and tail and found the wings made it worse." Wait I have an idea. Astral covered her wing over the fire attempting to keep it in a dome-ish shape while holding it to the ground. It was enough to starve the fire of the oxygen it demanded and went out. She kinda knew what happened that time. There seemed to be a gland at either end of her jaw that sprayed some sort of mixture with when combined turned into that torrent of fire. She assumed the air in her lungs was the force that sprayed the mixture forth. She'd have to experiment later in a safe spot. Back to the search for water.

A couple weeks passed and true to her word Astral complied with the things Tim wanted. It was pretty simple stuff anyways like sitting on his lap and letting herself be pet. She didn't growl, but she certainly didn't purr either. Thankfully Baldi wasn't asked to do anything. Tim true to his word let him have all the freedom in the house he wanted and provided for him as he provided for Astral. There was one large area of the mansion neither of them were allowed to go to. It was under construction and those working there made a lot of noise. Any time they got really busy making a racket Astral would hide under the nearest blankets she could find to try and block out the assaulting noise. Thankfully at the end of the two weeks it was finished and Tim made a big deal out of revealing it to Astral and by extension Baldi. He introduced the new 'room' as her room, if it could be called that. It was more like an indoor park complete with a big pond large enough to bath an elephant. She didn't realize just how much room they had been blocked off from her 'room' it took up half the mansion. She supposed the size was needed though. In those two weeks she and Baldi had continued to grow. Astral was now four feet in height and ate entire an entire barrel of fish a day. She didn't fit on Tim's lap anymore and he complained from time to time that they hadn't made a different serum that kept her small. She was beginning to worry about how much bigger she was going to grow and how much of an impact it would have on the environment.  Would she be the cause of some fish going extinct? Maybe she should switch to regular terrestrial meat. Baldi was slightly bigger and ate more. Thankfully he wasn't as much of a fish maniac and only ate the fish Astral didn't like. There weren't many left though as Tim didn't get more of the ones she didn't like. He did get the ones Baldi like though.

Tim left their room for the two dragons to acclimate. Astral loved it. There was enough room here she could teach Baldi how to fly and practice herself as well. It was just barely enough though and would be a bit difficult, but it was enough. Astral ran across the place and explored. The whole room was heated and cooled to remain 80 degrees. Had she been human that would be too hot for Astral but as a dragon it was great. Some of the rocks were heated and even the pool was as well. He'd really gone all out. After exploring Astral would turn to Baldi and lick him on his snout. "This isn't soo bad is it?" Astral nuzzled him. "Think we could actually call this home?"

While Baldi was nursing his bruised snout and ego, Astral--perhaps a little late--told him to take his time with getting used to his new body. She also confirmed that she would miss her sister. He committed the name Astral used to memory. Then Astral mentioned being able to probably press keys now and without pressing multiple. He mentally chuckled at that. He wouldn't believe she could type better as a Dragon until he saw it. Then she went on about passwords and how they would likely be unable to crack Tim's, let alone remember it if they could. Baldi figured she was right about the first bit. However, Baldi probably could remember the password, even if he didn't write it down to cement it in his mind. Sure, he might forget if it wasn't used within a certain amount of time after learning it, but it was a good idea not to tell him unless you trusted him.

Baldi didn't say anything after Astral finished talking. He was starting to feel exhausted. He'd only had a few hours sleep since being brought here. He was going to abandon his thirst for now and find a place to sleep when Astral became frantic. He turned to see she had breathed fire again and was attempting to put it out. Baldi just sat there and watched, amused. When she finally put it out, he went back to the couch while Astral went searching for water.

A couple weeks passed. Baldi's phantom pains had since gone. Now he had a new one: two human-shaped thorns in his paw pads named Tim and Benjamin. Tim left Baldi alone for the most part and Baldi, in turn, stayed as far away as he could get. Tim didn't seem to care but expected Astral to be the pet he wanted--Baldi guessed this was the condition for his life having been spared. While Astral refrained from being aggressive toward Tim, Baldi took on the role of guard dragon. Only, instead of growling at intruders, he growled at Tim. If Astral wanted him to stop or if he simply got tired of it, Baldi would go lay on one of the other couches and glare at Tim instead. As for Benjamin, the vet had the nerve to pay a visit to see how Jared was adjusting to his new body. The only way the vet could do his job without being ripped to pieces was for Baldi to be sedated.

Astral and Baldi were shown their new room. There was room to fly, a pool to cool off in. 80 degrees seemed to be perfect for a dragon so Baldi didn't grumble too much. While Astral ran around like a kid in a candy store, Baldi took his time exploring the place. He looked at everything like a masterpiece in a museum. He was in his own little world then, jarred from it only when Astral licked his snout. He blinked and looked at her then back at their surroundings. "No, it's not so bad. I'm still going to maul at least one of them the first chance I get, but this isn't so bad at all." Baldi returned Astral's lick and nuzzling. "As for calling it home... Maybe. Just don't tell Tim we'd consider doing so." Baldi curled his tail around Astral, pulling her closer against him in a sort of dragon version of a hug. "What do you say we practice flying now?" Baldi had gotten pretty good at gliding over the past two weeks. He was ready to do some flying. Though he noticed the room wasn't quite big enough for them both to safely fly around at the same time. After a moment of thought, "Hm. You've had a bit more practice with gliding than I have. If anyone should get the honor of first flight, it should be you. Besides, I learn better by watching. At least, I do now."

From Astral's interactions with Baldi online she expected the guy to be a timid fellow. Turns out she was very wrong. Was more accurate to say he was just a reserved fellow. Well and kind but that part had already been abundantly clear. Not to Tim or the vet Benjamin as she learned his name to be. Didn't seem to matter to him Tim could always change his mind in dispose of Baldi. He was vigilant in his protection of Astral as best he could be. Baldi made her imprisonment here more than bearable. It was hilarious to watch him fight the vet whenever he dropped by and Tim also appeared amused enough not to intervene. In the end Baldi would get sedated though. Tim was more concerned with Astral's own health though. The first time the vet tried to give her a look they were forced to both participate in trying to sedate both Baldi and Astral. Naturally Tim was the one to try and get Astral under control but this one thing she wasn't going to stand for. She roared bit and clawed all she could at Tim. Benjamin had invaded her most intimate privacy when she had first arrived her she wasn't going to let him get anywhere near again. Astral was lucky it didn't piss off Tim and he thankfully relented.

Astral felt warm and comfortable as Baldi had returned her lick and lovingly nuzzled. She wasn't even thinking about it too much, just enjoying the moment. Astral giggled at his comment, at least as well as a dragon can. Baldi pulled her in with his tail in a sort of hug and Astral found herself purring for the first time since returning to this mansion. "Mmm, maybe in a bit." Astral said not too interested in pulling away already. Eventually though she would and the two would go flying in turns.

After another couple of weeks Astral could fly pretty decently now. Her still growing size made it impossible to master it as her balance kept shifting. She'd grown another foot in height and was at 5 feet now, but she wouldn't say her growth was slowing. Every inch meant increasingly more and more weight gained with it. Currently she weighed about half a ton big enough a single swipe of her claw would kill any human out right. She didn't dare do so to anyone though fearing what contingencies were probably put in place should Tim be discovered shredded. She also was afraid of a future without him. She still hadn't had much practice hunting and she ate a lot of food. If she were to manage to get free how was she suppose to feed herself? Then there was still the issue of other humans. It had been cemented that she was Tim's pet now. She could not imagine a life without him. It still stung her pride he'd succeeded in breaking her.

Astral was curled up with Baldi atop a heated rock. The two were just relaxing enjoying each others company when Tim decided to come in ruining their snuggle session. Astral assumed he was here for a snuggle session of his own. Now that Astral was this big it was about the only thing he could do with her. "I got something special to show you Astral. Any you too Tellus if you want to come." Tellus was the name he'd given to Baldi. She realized he thought her name was already perfect was just because he sucked at giving names. Well except when he named Luna. Where had that dragon gone anyways? "We have to travel to get to it so I have a pickup with a tinted canopy so you guys won't be seen. Well what are you waiting for ya lazy dragons. I know that's one of the heated rocks so you guys have plenty of energy, so let's go!"

Astral got up out of Baldi's embrace and stretched out her limbs. She even flapped her wings a couple times for good measure. She then snorted out her nose expressing her dissatisfaction with not being allowed to be lazy before leisurely heading over to Tim. "Oh don't be like that. You'll love it, trust me." The two would be escorted outside for the first time. Astral paused for a moment to look up. How easy it would be now to just fly away, but of course where would she go? Instead Astral climbed into the pickup truck ducking her head low to avoid hitting the top of the canopy. Once Baldi followed suit it'd be closed up and they were on their way. It wasn't so bad being in a moving vehicle now. She could feel her own momentum changed with each turn and speed change of the truck but it just didn't worry her. Worse case she'd slide a few feet up against the side of the truck and it'd hardly bother her unless it pinched a wing. Standing up was still a no go though.

As they drove for awhile Astral began to worry. Why were they being taken away? She knew Tim wasn't as pleased with her size ever since she couldn't fit in his lap anymore. Maybe he found a way to make her and keep her small again. Or maybe he was just tired of her, grew bored and is moving to his next fantasy, and that meant first disposing of his current one. Were they being driven to their execution. When they arrived Astral was hesitant to leave the truck. Though she supposed it wasn't a good idea to upset Tim. Of course there was Tim and two guards armed with assault style weapons waiting to escort them. As they were escorted Astral followed basically right under Baldi's tail. He was bigger and stronger which meant if things went south he was the best equipped to smash some faces in. Well then again her fire was rather effective. It perplexed her they didn't wear any defense against that. It would be so easy to just roast all three of them at once.

They were led down enclosed hallways but before long they stopped upon a glass corridor that was suspended in the air above what looked like a zoo enclosure. Below them scattered about were dragons of various colors. "We had a major breakthrough and have managed to create true functioning dragons well besides yourselves of course. But they are young and have to be parented much like humans. We estimate it'll be about 5 years before they would be mature enough to be truly self sufficient. Plenty of time to build a proper zoo which is already underway. They've been modified so they don't grow up anywhere near as quick. Your guy's fast growth was something that carried over from some of the dinosaur DNA we mixed in but it makes it very hard to raise baby dragons." "Hatchling." Astral vocally corrected though only Baldi heard her, or so she thought. Their low frequency speech could travel through the glass better than normal speech and it grabbed the attention of the dragons below. Some of them spoke some single words very basic human toddler like stuff. "Oh my god!" Astral said turning to Baldi. "Is Tim kidnapping children! This is way over the line. I mean it was all over the line to begin with but this is like wayyy over it. Nobody'll will ever figure out what's really happening here. That all those missing children are turned into animals to be awed at for profit. We have to stop this." Astral's focus went very serious and she turned to Tim and his guards with a glare that could kill. It actually made Tim choke on his words. He had never been afraid of her before but that look triggered some sort of instinctual fear response. "Oh d-don't worry Astral they'll be cared for just as well as you with all the food and amenities they could need and more." The only thing coming out of his mouth and the mouth of his two guards after that were screams as Astral roared fire at them. The roar wasn't necessary to produce fire as she'd discovered prior, but it was necessary to let out her rage. After they were crisps Astral looked down upon what was left of them with trepidation. Just like that she was free. Just like that it was over. It had been so easy, but with that simple easy action she'd just thrown her own and Baldi's own life into complete uncertainty. Uncertainty about what they would do now, where they would go, and if they could survive. Astral thrashed her head about tossing these worries from her mind. She did have something to do in this current moment and she'd worry about those things once this was done. "Baldi we got to free these hatchlings."

"Mmm, maybe in a bit." Astral suddenly seemed in no hurry to do anything. In fact, she leaned into him more and purred. Baldi laid down and when Astral did too he extended his wing to drape over her. He licked her again, on the top of her head this time, and paused after a few  licks to nuzzle her. It relaxed her and in turn made Baldi happy. He began purring himself at some point, though he wasn't aware of it at first.

Eventually, Astral finally got up and started flying practice. Baldi watched her attentively. He realized, of course, that flying might differ for him a bit because he was bigger, but he could still get the general idea by studying her flight. It took some time and several crash landings, but soon Astral was able to actually fly. Granted, she could only go a short distance and still couldn't land well, but it was a start. While she took a break, Baldi tried. He spent a little time gliding first, just to warm up. Baldi's first attempt at flying saw him crashing into the pool; his second ended in a glide that just barely prevented him from crashing into Astral; the third resulted in actual flight. It wasn't perfect and barely on par with Astral, but it was a start. Baldi had a knack for quickly picking up new skills or figuring out how to improve ones he already had. While it took Astral two weeks to get the hang of flying to where she was decent, it took Baldi only one. He helped as best he could. Baldi was terrible at trying to explain things--perhaps because a part of him loathed having to explain things--so for the most part the help consisted of little more than Baldi just being there for moral support.

Astral had learned how to breathe fire, but Baldi had never bothered to find out if he could as well. The answer to this question came when the vet visited.

"Why didn't you have me examine it the same day?"

"Because I wanted to hurry up and get him here so Astral would quit moping." Tim replied as he watched a sedated Luna being loaded into a crate. "What's the problem?"

"The problem is that thing has the tail of a Stegosaurus!" Benjamin yelled at his phone.

"Yeah?" Tim asked in a tone that said he didn't see what the big deal was. "Knocks over everything, but..." He gave a shrug that wouldn't be seen by the vet. "He won't try anything, anyway. Avoids me like I have the plague or something, not that I care. Besides, I bet he probably doesn't even remember what you did. That is why you're scared, isn't it?" Tim grinned.

"It's an animal. Of course it wouldn't remember. I just don't want to be anywhere near a thing that size with that tail." When the vet heard the heavy sigh on the there end of the line, he begrudgingly corrected himself, "He. Fine, I'll examine it--him. I want double my usual pay."

"Fine. Come tomorrow at noon."

Benjamin jumped back with a hiss and held his left hand. It had a puncture mark from Baldi's tail. His shoulder burned not from flame, but ice. "You stupid--" the vet jumped back again just in time to not have his face bitten off. "You said it wouldn't try anything!" Benjamin yelled at Tim.

Tim stopped laughing long enough to answer, "Oops?" He pulled a dart gun from the small of his back and took his sweet time loading it. "I guess he did remember after all. But I told you this might go over more smoothly if you examined Astral first." Tim aimed for a soft spot and fired.

"I want triple now," the vet said through gritted teeth as a paramedic examined him.

Tim waved his hand dismissively. "Whatever. Just get patched up and finish. I want to make sure Astral is healthy." Tim had turned to pat her and didn't see Benjamin rolling his eyes.

"If you only care about that one, why not let me kill this one?" he asked with a nod toward the now unconscious Baldi.

"Because then she'll be mad and do nothing but mope."

The heated rocks in their room meant Astral and Baldi no longer had to huddle like penguins to keep warm at night or whenever they required heat. But Baldi had grown used to feeling Astral curled up beside him when he slept. It also put his mind at ease to know that if something happened, he would be right there. Astral seemed to prefer that arrangement as well, so they kept with it. In fact, when they weren't working on their flying, eating, or spending some quality time with Tim, the two enjoyed just laying on one of the rocks. Even if they ended up on one of the heated ones, they curled up together. Astral usually liked to talk and Baldi listened. If it was something Baldi knew anything about or the subject interested him, he might turn it into a conversation. Sometimes they were just quiet. Like right now. As usual, Baldi was curled protectively around Astral and licking the top of her head as she purred. At some point he'd lower his head a little more and she'd give his snout a lick before nuzzling, at which point Baldi began purring.

Baldi yawned before licking Astral's snout and laying his head down to take a nap. As he began drifting off, he felt Astral's chin on top of his head. He thought about how close he was to her now compared to a couple years ago. Now that he was thinking about it, he wasn't sure if he could have gone so far as to consider them friends back then. More like acquaintances. What brought them to that point was the unfortunate events that nearly destroyed their site. Baldi opened one eye briefly and looked at Astral. Since then, they had gotten closer. So much so that he now shared a mental bond--albeit a one-sided one--with her that previously he only had with his sister.

Baldi had had his eyes closed for maybe a minute when he heard Tim coming. He sighed heavily. He wanted to show Astral something and Baldi as well. Tim had decided to call him Tellus some time ago and Baldi refused to respond to the name. For about five minutes, Tim would try to coax the huge dragon into moving by using the new name. For about five minutes, Baldi ignored him until he finally relented and used his real name.

Astral was nervous as they drove to their destination. Baldi comforted her as best he could. Once they arrived, Tim showed them an enclouser housing several Hatchlings. Baldi chuckled when Astral corrected Tim in the middle of his presentation. But then Astral said something that hadn't dawned on Baldi because he hadn't really been listening to Tim. These Hatchlings were actually human children?! The anger Baldi felt was physically expressed by Astral as she let forth a roar and torret of fire that killed Tim and the two guards with him. Then Astral told him what he already knew: they needed to free the Hatchlings.

Baldi swung his tail at the glass. Two strikes were all it took to break it. Baldi flew through the weakened section, pushing away the remnants with his wings. He flew down into the enclosure. There was no time for anything but grabbing as many as he could and getting back to the walkway. With four in his paws and one in his maw, he did just that. Once he had gathered all eight ((feel free to change that number)), Baldi and Astral went back the way they had come as fast as they could. Once they were back outside, they flew off with the Hatchlings. Baldi went in the direction of the nature reserve not far from where Tim had lived. It was big enough that they wouldn't be discovered for the time they were there.

"I'll get us some food," Baldi said after they had found a place to rest and plan their next move. Fish wasn't an option because there were some people in the park fishing, so Baldi hunted deer instead. He returned to Astral and the Hatchlings with enough deer to feed them. He wasn't interested in eating right now and just sat watching them while thinking about their current situation.

After Astral had roasted their escorts and caretaker Baldi broke open the glass and swooped down to gather the hatchlings. Their paws weren't dexterous especially the rear ones which were only good for supporting what was in the front paws. Baldi had tried to gather 5 in total but only managed to succeed in 2 at a time. Astral jumped out and flew down to help out. The alarms blaring from the shattered glass were very disorienting though. They only managed to grab six before the first responders arrived. Thankfully they only had hand guns and despite Astral not being full grown yet the bullets bounced off her scales. She guessed they were 9 milometers. Baldi wanted to grab the last two and deal with the humans that had arrived but Astral knew they didn't have long before people with more firepower came charging in. And they couldn't risk a lucky shot to their wings. Astral wouldn't let Baldi take flight again, if he tried sh'd down on his tail if she had to. Once out of the building the two larger dragons took flight expecting the hatchlings to follow.  Turns out they didn't know how to fly. It wasn't helping they were very confused and not really following any direction. You'd think they'd know they were being rescued. There was no choice they would have to grab what they could and leave another two behind. Astral and Baldi took off with what they could and flew as far as they could. The extra weight made flying much harder though throwing them off balance and it wasn't long before they were exhausted from it. They did their best to land in a thick spot of vegetation to hide themselves. Exhausted they took a few moment to recuperate as the hatchlings skittered about. Apparently full of energy they were a little frantic at the sudden kidnapping, but not afraid of Baldi and Astral thankfully. Astral attempted to converse with them to find out who they were and where there parents were not that she had a plan for reuniting them. What was strange was although they were able to communicate at a very basic level none of them were even faintly aware of their parents or where they lived previously. Astral found it a little perplexing.

Once rested Baldi announced he was going to head off and hunt. Astral nodded choosing to keep watch on the hatchlings. Here came the moment of truth. Would they be capable of providing for themselves. They had no idea how to hunt in these form or how to hunt to begin with. Astral had hunted with firearms before but that was very different and it was her companion that did all the tracking. Once you found your target though you just aimed and shot. Wasn't going to be so easy without a gun. If Baldi managed to even find anything he'd find it much harder to catch then he might have first thought. Approach from the air was too obvious and even by land he would be too large and loud, his foot steps alone letting everything know he was there. Astral was disappointed, but not surprised when Baldi returned empty. Astral nuzzled him to try and ease any unrest the unsuccessful hunt had on him.

It was unfortunately day and wasn't long before a couple choppers arrived. Astral hadn't thought much of it as she heard helicopters fly around all the time. By the time her tired mind registered them as a threat they had already spotted them and they were equipped to deal with them. Their priority was damage control and their first targets were the hatchlings. Even as they tried to rush the hatchlings away into some sort of safety by the time they got really moving deeper into the brush the automated weapons they fired took two of the hatchlings lives. There was no time to mourn as they escaped their pursuers. They would run for a long time after that until they could hardly stand. Thankfully they managed to find a cave to take shelter in and before long Astral wad drifting into sleep. When she woke back up and if Baldi was up it was time for some decision making. "What do we do now? We need to stay on the move and get far from the companies influence and choppers but where do we go? We also need to eat though but don't have the time to really settle down and develop some hunting skills. Heck even if we could, could we develop them quick enough before we die of starvation?

Baldi wanted to rescue all eight Hatchlings. He and Astral only managed to get six before the guards came. Baldi wanted destroy the one that had shot at Astral--even though he knew she wasn't hurt by it--but Astral wouldn't even let him fly. Six rescued Hatchlings became four when the time came to leave before more heavily armed personnel showed up. The string of disappointment once they arrived at the nature reserve. Baldi had failed to catch anything, though it didn't really surprise him. Normally, he could have moved without making much noise. His only problem would have been actually killing whatever it was he had come across. It was against his nature. But as a dragon, his main problem was being unable to move quietly due to his size. He might have managed by flying, but he couldn't risk it with the company out looking for him. He did try using his ice breath but couldn't quite get it to reach far enough.

Baldi returned to Astral and the Hatchlings. It seemed Astral had expected him to return empty-pawed because she nuzzled him comfortingly. Or at least she had planned to; Baldi didn't really give her a chance to. He walked by her without stopping and found a spot to lay down. One of the Hatchlings came over and he ignored her. He didn't say a word but it was clear he wanted to be left alone. It wasn't the fruitless hunt that upset him, but the entire chain of recent events.

His sulking didn't last long, however. Two choppers showed up with more than enough to handle Astral and Baldi. Baldi got up and went back to Astral, helping her gather up the four Hatchlings and ushering them to safety. Keeping with the current theme of the day, two of the Hatchlings were cut down in the process. Baldi couldn't take it anymore. He didn't care if Astral bit his tail or yelled at him later. He went back and grabbed one of the fallen Hatchlings. He felt a bullet hit the base of his tail as he ran to catch up with Astral and the remaining two Hatchlings.

How long and how far they had run, Baldi wasn't sure. All he knew was they had gone far and long enough that the choppers were forced to abort. The small group found a cave to hide in; almost instantly Astral dropped and fell asleep along with the Hatchlings. Baldi was tired but couldn't sleep. He buried the Hatchling he'd been carrying in his maw. After he slammed the end of his tail into a tree outside the cave in frustration... and spent the better part of five minutes trying to free himself. He and Astral had rescued six Hatchlings and now had only two. What's worse is the two remaining--as had the others--appeared to have no recollection of their old life. What had Tim done to these children? A couple hours later, Astral woke up. Baldi was laying beside her by then and still hadn't really slept himself.  She rattled off a bunch of questions he really didn't care to think about. Of course, he had been thinking about those very things.

"I'm sure we could," he said of her last question. "We have to." For a long time, Baldi didn't say anything else. He stared out of the cave and listened for choppers. "We might have better luck hunting at night, especially you. Less chance of being spotted, at least by some random person who isn't looking for us. We could try hunting like a pack would. One of us drive the deer or whatever toward the other. As for where to go... We need to get out of Ohio. We need to go somewhere with a lot of wilderness where we won't be likely to run into people. This cave is an obvious hiding spot, but the choppers left before we discovered it. And it's getting dark. We can stay or continue moving once nighttime gets here and develop some hunting skills on the way." Baldi looked at the two Hatchlings. "It'll be difficult with these two until they can fend for themselves. For tonight, it might be better to go with the first option. I doubt we could go very far with all the running we've done already, anyway. Besides, I could use some sleep." As if to prove the point, Baldi yawned. "But I'll sleep when you come back from hunting."

Something was very wrong as Baldi returned from his hunting trip. He didn't even give her the change to affectionately comfort him as he brushed by. He even ignored one of the hatchlings that came up to him. Astral knew it wasn't just the hunting trip more it served as a reality check of just what they had gotten themselves into. He was afforded little time to sort himself before the choppers at arrived and when one of the hatchling were shot up he went back to grab it. No doubt disregarding the risk out of pure primal emotion. Astral wasn't able to even get to him in time to try and stop him and could only watch in fear as.

After they had found sanctuary in a cave and Astral got a chance to rest for a bit she woke up to find Baldi already awake. At first Baldi only answered one of the questions particularly the starvation bit. His response was as generic as any survival instinct response would be. There was no way to argue it though. Either they gave it their all or they died. Death wasn't a willing option for either of them so it came back to they had to survive. There was a silence before he continued on. "Well we could go to western Washington. I know the area well and particularly the northern parts aren't very developed. The location where I lived would be good even. Nobody around and lots of wildlife including dear, bear, cougar, and more. The populace also isn't as trigger happy as some of the other states especially the sparse ones." Astral would let him dwell on that. Again she'd try to nuzzle him and try and comfort him even if she was just as uneasy. Once it began to get dark though, she began her hunt.

Astral couldn't really think of anything to say when the time came. She wanted Baldi to talk to her about what he was going through but it was quite clear he wasn't interested right now. She left without a word running out of the cave and with a powerful leap and beat of her wings she was in the air. Unless they had a flashlight on them if anyone spotted her they wouldn't even know what they saw and at this time of night and unknown such as herself and as large as herself would probably literally cause any human to piss themselves. This also meant she'd probably have a much easier time hunting than Baldi. Herbivores typically had bad night vision while she could see near as clear as day, just without the color. She was too distracted by the thrill of the flight to remember she was hunting though. Only after she had startled an owl did she force herself to stay focused. Flying just above the tree line she scanned below for any big game. Her nose was also a great asset though she wasn't familiar with the scent she was looking for. Then all of a sudden there it was. A doe and it's young not asleep sadly but carefully walking through a small forest. In her excitement and desperation she just dove in. Her years of dragon writing and reading and just common sense should have told her to plan her approach, but she didn't. Diving right in she felt the wind rush passed her ever increasingly. There was a tree branch in her way but she hadn't the skill to avoid it and continue on her flight path. She brushed right passed it the sound startling the deer and they bolted. Astral landed hard with a very audible thud skitting to a halt digging up a mound of dirt. The moment her momentum stopped and she regain her balance she bolted after them on foot. She was able to keep up pushing her legs as hard as they would go but they zig zagged through the trees and her bulk kept knocking against them. A painful hit to the wing and she stopped her chase. She only barely had the presence of mind not to roar in defeat and frustration and alert everything including potential prey she was here. It boiled within her and she wanted to so bad though. The most she could do was an extremely menacing growl to no one in particular.

Then a scent caught her nose. She quickly identified it as freshly exposed blood and began making her way towards it. She hated the idea of having to scavenge, but such was her life now. It was a much longer walk then she thought and by the time she got there the wolves she figured that took it down where already going at it. Why the heck was it always dogs. Astral would be more than happy if all canines just disappeared off the earth. Probably unconcerned with a reptilian scent Astral got very closed both they noticed her. In true dog fashion they formed up and began barking and growling at her. This time Astral was unconcerned. She was far larger then them and they could do nothing against her armored hide. As she continued to approach they backed up but continued their charade. She had enough and this was a long time coming. Sucking in a deep breath she gave out a nice long and loud roar the bass of which even caused a bit of vibration. The wolf pack quickly scattered away at full speed. Arching her neck back into a prideful resting position she nodded her head. She felt so much better now.

However now it was time to address the food. It was a full grown doe carcass and the wolves hadn't had too much of a chance to dig into it. It had been only 1 days since her last meal and yet looking at it her stomach wanted to rumble and she wanted to scarf it all down herself. She needed to bring it back and feed it to the others though. The hatchlings though they were just extra mouths to feed. They couldn't contribute and what good would it be trying to save them if she and Baldi starved to death. They would just die right afterwords. Who knows when their next meal would be. It seemed before long she had consumed all the meat on the creature. Once she got started she hadn't though of saving some for Baldi. Jumping back into the sky she searched for more to hunt for anything to bring back to Baldi and found nothing. She even tried going after a raccoon she spotted but failed even worse than with the deer. Finding a water source Astral cleaned her muzzle up and began making her way back to the cave. She was getting cold and was already exhausted. Upon landing Astral didn't say anything. If inquired she simply respond that she hadn't found anything. With nothing to say or do she simply attempted snuggling up with Baldi in self defeat.

Astral suggested western Washington for their new home--his new home, rather. Baldirak didn't need much convincing. In fact, Astral could have stopped at, 'I know the area well'. Though he had made up his mind already, he left the suggestion unanswered as he expected she would leave him time to consider. His attention turned back to the mouth of the cave. Baldi figured she would go back to sleep for a bit in the meantime until nightfall. Instead, Astral began nuzzling him. This time, Baldi allowed it, though it wasn't returned. When darkness fell, Astral got up to go hunting. Baldi could tell from the look in her eyes that she wanted to say something. It was either his mood or a lack of an idea that made her leave without saying anything. Perhaps it was both. It was the former that made him regret letting her leave without a word.

Baldirak checked on the Hatchlings while Astral was away. He almost envied how they could sleep on empty stomachs. But he wasn't hungry at the moment; he tended to lose his appetite when he was in a bad mood. He had just finished moving them into a little nest he'd made when he heard Astral roar. His first impulse was to go find her. The fact he had to guard the Hatchlings prevented him from acting on it. Until she returned, Baldirak paced anxiously. Hearing her wingbeats outside brought him relief. He met her at the mouth of the cave and inspected her from snout to tail. Only when he finished did he notice she had no food with her. She continued on inside and laid down without saying anything. He supposed this is what he had looked like when his hunting trip ended in failure. Baldi followed and lowered his head to nudge her snout. It was then that he caught a faint trace of meat. He said nothing.

Baldi laid down beside her and she snuggled into him. He couldn't shut her out a third time. He curled himself around Astral and until she fell asleep he gently nuzzled and cuddled her. Baldi awoke before first light and found the Hatchlings stirring a bit but still asleep. He got up and went to the mouth of the cave. The air was cool and the birds were singing. He decided to try his paw at hunting again while it was still dark. He walked back to Astral and lightly licked the top of her head before leaving.

Because it was light enough for him anyone who saw him to be able to make out what they were seeing, Baldi walked. At least this way he could try hunting by land. Because they tended to start moving around at this time of morning, it didn't take long for Baldi to find a deer. Actually, he found two: a doe and her fawn. Hunkering down and making himself look smaller wasn't really an option for him; he didn't really intend to catch them, anyway. He just wanted to see how close he could get before they noticed. He made a conscious effort to avoid big sticks whose snapping wouldn't be muffled under his paw if he stepped on them; to keep his tail from knocking against trees; to allow a wide space between him and big rocks or too dry leaves. For all his efforts, Baldi managed to get close enough that the deer would have been just inside the max range of his ice breath. And then he stepped on a fallen branch. The deer ran off.

Baldi found another deer. This one was a buck, alone and caught in a snare. He was reluctant to kill it. Part of it was because the poor creature was trapped. He looked around and sniffed the air. There was a trace of human, but it was old. Whoever had set up the snare hadn't been back since then. It eased his nerves some. He tried not to think about it too much as he swung his tail at the deer, impaling it on the spikes and breaking the snare. Baldi carried it back to the cave and set it down. By now, the Hatchlings were awake. He'd wake Astral up if she wasn't already then sit back and wait until they finished eating before he had some. "We'll go to Washington," he said after eating as he licked the remnants of breakfast from his muzzle.