The Perils of Photography (Polaris and I)

[Travis_Hackett]

It is a beautiful winter day in mid-southern Appalachia; the sun shining though the thin cloud cover over a frosted woodland mountain scape, blanketed by barley an inch of snow from the light storm several night's past; about the average for this early in the season. Even by air only one landmark stands out in this heavily forested landscape; the town of Fiddler's Vally, population 157 bona fide mountain folk and the main focal point for Northern born photographer Eric Hale, sent by an upscale magazine to shine light on how the lower class spends the holiday season in hopes of gaining more readers.

But not even the keenest nosed coon dog could sniff out Eric in this tiny community, for he is some 50 miles away, on the trail of a mysterious deer-eating creature spotted by a group of local hunters several days before. Fuled by a story that could be called 'whiskey educed' at best, and the possibility of at least getting some decent nature pictures, Eric presses on though the snowy forest...
"Ittwas HUUUGEE! Biggar than mu truck un twice as ugly! It wus covered heead ta tail wit big black scales like sum kind uh lizzurd but had the babiest blue eyes ya evar did see. When we sawe it it had tuh buck we'd ben chasin in its mouth like itt wus gunna curry it off or sumthin. But it, and I SWEAR ta Gawd dat sum bitch up un swallered dat buck like it wudn't nuthin an turn'd tail an went off north!" The claims of one of the hunters fresh in Eric's memory as he hikes onwards in the direction they said they last saw what the hunting party had seen.

As the wind starts to kick up, Eric zips his Carheart Parka up to his chin and pulls his stocking cap over his exposed ears, contemplating weather or not to call it a goose chase and turn back, or press on a little further.
"NG might pay quite the bounty for the picture of a new species..." Eric mumbles under his breath, deciding to press on just a little further...

Eric comes to the top of a small hill and removes his mirrored sunglasses, looking for the marker one of the hunters said they left near the spot where they saw the mysterious creature. Eric spots it; a florescent orange hunter's vest hanging from an oak tree, bare of leaves from the season leaving it seemingly naked. He approaches, examines the vest, finding 'Norman' sewn into the front pocket. Carefully he takes down the vest and stuffs it into his large hiker's pack, just as he'd promised Norman he'd do when he found the hunter's vest. While fitting the blood stained garment into his pack, Eric accidentally disloges one of his camera's magnifying lenses, sending it tumbling to the ground and rolling down the slight incline past the oak tree, coming to rest in a small indent in the snow. Quickly he retrieves the expensive lense and as he brushes the snow off the lense, he takes another look at where it had landed...

To his astonishment Eric has accidentally discovered the first physical proof that the hunters' story had not been a hoax, for the indent he plucked his lense from was not an indent, but a large footprint! Upon examining, Eric believes it resembles a track he saw on a photo shoot for National Geographic when they sent him to take pictures of Comodo Dragons, the only difference being this print is maybe 3 times larger if not 4, and with a bit more distance between the tip of the toe and the heel. A cold chill runs down Eric's spine as he follows the prints with his eyes as they lead further into the forest.

"Whoever, whatever you are, here I come..." Eric says aloud, gulping the saliva at the back of his throat as he remounts his sunglasses upon his face. With a mixed sense of fear and excitement, Eric pushes onward, following the aged tracks of what his mind has dubbed 'a monster'...

[Polaris]

Deeper in the wilderness, quite a bit further north of where the photographer found the footprint, was a large creature, looking just like the hunter had descrbed it. It was, indeed covered from snout to tailtip in black scales, with bright blue eyes, that shined with intellegence. The large creature, who called himself Midnight, stretched like a cat, and yawned, revealing a mawfull of pointy white teeth. They didn't look like they got much use, though, seeing as how he tended to swallow his prey whole, as did others of his kind.

He blinked a few times, trying to get the sleep out of his eyes. He had just woken up from a long nap, tired after the meal he had earlier. He was getting wrestless, however, as not too long ago, he began to smell humans up in his territory.

Midnight was debating weither or not to move to a new territory. He didn't want to be discovered, seeing as how there were not many dragons left and there where billions of those horrible humans around. He knew from experiance, what would happen if he was descovered. Like his mate had been a few hundred years ago. They killed her, out of fear, and tried to get him too, but he flew away and hid. He had been hiding for a very long time, watching the humans grow more numerous, and, in his opinion, stupid, as they waiged pointless wars, killing eachother for one petty reason or another.

He raised his head and sniffed the air a bit, trying to pick up the scent of a potental meal. What he smelled alarmed him quite a bit. There was a human nearby, one who smelled not of the local village, but of something...further away, more modern.

He growled, wondering if the humans he smelled the other day had seen him and had sent someone to deal with him. Well, this wasn't going to end well, no matter how this turned out. He decided to deal with the human here, and then, destroy the village before moving on to a different location...unless he could strike a deal with the locals, perhaps arrange some kind of protection.

Either way he decided to do things, the 'new' human would have to be dealt with, to make sure no one outside the village knows of his existance, just in case he decided not to kill them all.

He stretched one more time, unfurlling his wings and stretching them as well. "Hunting time..." he said, sniffing the air again, and heading towards the smell of the lone human, staying on the ground to avoid detection.

[Travis_Hackett]

Eric follows the large footprints in the snow, hoping that he is getting close to whatever left them but fearful that he might actually find it. The hunters never specified as to why the creature 'turned tail and went off north", which puts him at unease with meeting whatever he finds...

"Drunk bastards probably shot at it, made it hate people..." Eric thinks, reenacting in his mind what a creature that eats deer out of hunger would do to a human out of anger; all scenarios ending with a gruesome mutilation and being left for dead for the wolves and other manner of woodland scavenger picking over his remains. He imagines that in 10 to 15 years his sun bleached bones would be found with his gear. He'd be identified, tagged, bagged, and shipped back home to be buried. He shudders at the possibilities, trying to push it to the back of his mind as he presses onward, following the large prints up the mountain...

Eric comes to the peek of a mountain that is oddly bare of trees all the way down the mountain, giving him a clear view down into the valley below and back into the trees. he also finds it odd that at the beginning of the slope down, the tracks of the strange creature abruptly stop...

"What the hell? Did Mister Scott beam you up or something?" Eric jokes with himself, pondering how this is so when he notices that where the tracks stop, the dirt is showing through the snow, like something had either melted it or moved it somehow. As he observes the anomaly he notices that his patch of showing dirt goes all the way down the mountain slope.

"You clever devil! You slid down on your belly!" Eric exclaims as he realizes the probably unintentional trick, trying to imagine the creature sliding down the mountain like a scaly tobaggon. For the first time since he found the tracks Eric smiles as he starts hiking down the steep decline. But his smile wouldn't last long for he loses his footing and tumbles, sending him somersaulting down the snowy slope. With nothing he can do he rolls through the snow until he finds himself in the valley; cold and wet and very dizzy...

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT ALL ABOUT!!!!" Eric shouts to the heaves and tries to stand, only to fall face first into the snow...

[Polaris]

While Eric was following the dragon's old footprints, which had been made earlier this morning. No snow had fallen, so the tracks were still easily viable. Midnight stops for a moment, sniffing the air, and changing direction, heading back towards where he had been before, heading south. He wondered vaguely why this human was alone.

In all his other experiences involving humans, when they went to take something down, they moved in large groups. It struck him as odd that he only smelled one, and thought perhaps it was a trap. He did a mental shrug and kept going, knowing that just about the only trap they could set was to perhaps poison the human who was wondering around, but even if they did, he could handle any poison on Earth.

He purked up his ears as someone yelled in the distance, over in the direction where he had slipped at the top of a valley and slid down on his stomach. That particular fall was not fun, he had laid at the bottom of that valley for about 20 minutes or so, trying to get his wind back.

As he neared the area where he had heard the shout, the black dragon made sure to move slowly, making very little noise for a creature so big. He frowned a bit as he saw the lone human face down in the snow. It appears that this human was ill prepared for the environment, having fallen down the exact same spot that Midnight had earlier. He gave a bit of a snort, thinking that perhaps this human was an idiot who was just lost, seeing as how he appeared to carry no weaponry, or any means of defending himself. He quickly hid his body behind a small group of trees which had grown close enough together to hide most of him, as he spotted the human moving slightly, perhaps to pick himself up, or just to move from his face down position.
As he watched the human from behind the trees, his stomach lets out a low growl, having long digested his last meal. He smiled a bit and licked his lips. It seems that the human would prove to be of some use after all.

[Travis_Hackett]

Eric raises his face from the snow; his vision still distorted from his tumble into the valley. Getting into a push-up position he shakily makes his way to his feet. As he shambles to retrieve his pack witch had flown off in his fall. Eric's ears perk to something that both makes the hairs on the back of his head stand, and absolutly turns his stomach; A loud and queasy sounding roar. Instantly Eric is put into a state of panic, mistaking the noise for the roar of a bear, or worse, whatever he was chasing.

"holy fuck..." Eric whispers to himself, realizing the gravity of the situation that whatever he was looking for may have found him and was in no mood to entertain guests. Frantically he rummages trough his pack, searching for that illusive black holster holding the handgun he bough before leaving NY City. He finds it, his $500 Glock 9mm; probably not the right tool for the job for he bought it with the intent of fending off banjo playing gay hillbilly rapists...

"If t-there's anyone out there, come out now! I-I'm armed, and I'm not afraid to shoot!" Eric says with the gun pointed in front of him and an obvious quiver in his voice, for he has never in his life held a gun, little alone had to use one in self defense...

(((O.O.C... sorry about not posting yesterday...)))

[Polaris]

Midnight sighed quietly, knowing his cover was blown and it was only a matter of time before the human discovered where he was hiding. He watched the human fumble for something inside the pack he had. The dragon tilted his head to the side slightly, wondering what the strange object was that the human had pulled out. He didn't know what it was, never having seen a gun before, but he assumed it was a weapon of some kind. He heard the human shout, hearing the fear in his voice. He sighed again and though to himself: what's the harm in showing myself...he'll never report it to anyone anyway.

He slowly padded out from behind the trees. He watched the human closely as he made his way down into the valley, taking his time. He stopped a good ten or fifteen feet away, and sat back on his haunches, examining the human from a distance, wondering what his reaction would be. Not many humans of this modern age had seen a dragon before, and almost all of them no longer exist in this world. "Why don't you put that little thing down, human. I have no intentions of hurting you and it's not like it's actually going to do anything to me." he said, pulling a bit of a bluff, not knowing if the thing could actually hurt him or not. He also lied about not having any intentions of hurting the human, in fact, he was working out a plan in his head to apprehend him quickly, and then, make a meal of him. Despite his plans however, no indication of his lies were on his face. He just sat there expressionless, having had many years to perfect the art of lying.

[Travis_Hackett]

Eric freezes when he sees the mass of shiny black scales emerge from the tree line. Without a doubt this is the creature described to him by the hunters, and without a doubt Eric is terrified and enthralled by it's presence...

"It can't be... This isn't happening... Dragons aren't real... This isn't happening but damn I'm gonna be so rich from this picture!" Eric tells himself aloud, panicking and celebrating as the creature his mind has dubbed 'dragon' takes a seat barley 5 yards in front of him. The creature stares with a strange glare, undoubtedly studying the diminutive biped in it's presence...

Eric is taken off guard when the creature speaks to him; not the fact that it actually spoke to him, but the way it spoke; perfect English and without an ounce of hostility or dishonesty in it's tone.
"He doesn't seem dangerous..." Eric thinks, looking into those blue eyes sunk deep into it's scales; to him a metaphor for islands of peace and warmth in adrift in a cold sea of fear. At the creature's request, Eric slips the weak handgun into his belt, and instinctively raises his hands above his head... "Now what do I say to a dragon?"

"M-me either... I don't even think that'd be strong enough to harm some-" Eric pauses, stumbling on what to call a creature that stands nearly 3 times taller than him, "-I mean, a 'creature', if you will, of your, um, size....."
Eric swallows hard, trying to think of something else to say before the dragon can react.

"So... I-I take it you where the one the Deer hunters saw a couple days ago? Y-you fit their description rather nicely..." Eric asks with an awkward grin, trying to make small talk with the dragon...

[Polaris]

Midnight is silent for a moment, just glaring at the human, hearing him say something about him not being real, a picture, and something about being rich. He watches the human put away the handgun, and raise his hands above his head. Midnight decided to lead the human on for a while, play with him a bit before ending his pitiful existence. He tilted his head to the side a bit, listening to the human stutter out some more words.

"Well, I would prefer not to be referred to as a 'creature.' I'm not some dumb animal for you humans to document and study." he said, staring down at the human, moving a bit closer and placing his head level with Eric's. "Deer hunters? Do you mean those other humans who come up here and steal my food?" he asks, knowing full well what hunters are, but playing dumb for the moment. Those hunters got a good description of me, eh? I might have to deal with the village in a violent manner after all.... he thought, a hint of a frown appearing on his face.
"Well, human, why are you here, and who sent you?" he asked, trying to asses how much of a threat this one would be, and who else, if anyone knows of him. Most likely, he could torture the information out of this one, but, he was going to try and do it without undue violence. He so hated the sounds of human screaming.

[Travis_Hackett]

Eric is put a little at ease when the dragon lowers himself (his sex assumed from the pitch of his voice) to eye level, despite his obvious dislike of being referred to as 'creature'. But Eric assumes that if he were planning something bad, that he would probably had kept his advantage of height.

"Y-Yea, those are the ones... Dressed in orange with rifles?" Eric says with a light chuckle before seeing the hint of a frown in the dragon's previously mono-emotional face, which Eric assumes is the product of something he said. Instantly the same nervous fear overruns him again as he fumbles for something to say, only to have his train of thought derail when the dragon speaks again, asking, nay, interrogating for Eric's motives, sending his panic further along...

"N-n-nobody sent m-me, I c-came out here on my own free will!" Eric studiers out, trying to hold himself together...
"I-I-I came out here 'cause I heard one of the townies rambling about some deer-eating..." Eric pauses, considering weather or not to use the same words Norman had used.. "Well, He called you something worse than 'creature'... But anyway he told me where he saw you and if I were looking for something interesting to go check it out..." Eric finishes, wondering how the dragon would react to such a story. He purposely left out that he was essentially a photojournalist out here for the soul purpose of getting a snapshot of something particularly interesting...

[Polaris]

No one sent him, eh? The dragon thought, the human's reason for being out here seemed.....half-baked, almost as if he really did come out here without someone ordering him to do it. There was something that bugged the dragon, however. It seemed that the human wasn't telling him everything, and that made him a little suspicious. "So, then, the reason you came out here, with nothing to protect yourself against a threat, just because you were 'looking for something interesting?' I don't think that's true at all." he said, growling a bit. He was tired of playing stupid to this human and was going to get serious now.

He did NOT like being lied to, especially by a lower life form. "Your going to tell me the real reason your out here, or....you won't like what happens next." he said, bearing his teeth at the little human, wanting to hear the truth from the man's lips, rather then continuing to make guesses. He just needed a bit more information out of this one, then he would have his meal, he just hoped his stomach would elect to stay quiet during this time.

[Travis_Hackett]

Eric's entire body tenses at being growled at by the dragon, and nearly runs for the woods sight of the rows of pearly white teeth, all of them appearing sharp enough to use as shaving razors. Eric hadn't the slightest clue why the dragon flipped out. Still Eric really doesn't want to see what he would do if he pisses him off any more, but hasn't a clue what to tell the dragon...

"I sswear I'm telling you the truth!" Eric starts, hoping that what he has to say will calm the dragon, "I came out here because Norman at the town bar told me his story about seeing you... I listened because it's kinda my job! I'm a freelance magazine reporter and photographer, and if you want proof of that I have business cards... I was hired to come to Fiddler's Valley to learn more about it; it's customs, rituals, traditions, and stories... And your story seemed so interesting I thought I'd check it out for myself. Y'know, to investigate local legend? Witch by the way, if it means anything your story is quite the popular bar topic, even if it's considered a fabrication of inebriation..."

Eric finishes with the pistol and the tree line in thought. He figures if things get any uglier he could fire off a couple rounds at those baby blues and make a break for the trees, try to lose him in the thicker of the trees. Eric knows such a backup plan was foolish at best, suicidal at worst; but what else could he do now?

[Polaris]

((sorry about the lack of postage...been busy.))
Midnight growled again at the mention of the human being a photographer. He knew what that was, and he didn't like it. "So, you are one of those humans who reports back to others about findings, with pictures to prove your stories." he says, reaching out with a claw and knocking over the human.

"I cannot allow you to return to the others with your pictures and stories." he said, pressing a claw against the human while he was still on the ground, pinning him down. "It does not matte how much truth is attached to the 'local legend' as you call it, but I must deal with the village when I am done with you too. I cannot allow my existence to become known, even if it is by the town drunks." he said, looking down at Eric as if he were a bug to be squashed.

He knew from experience what happened when humans discovered where a dragon was. Whatever government was closest to the sighting went out to destroy the dragon, and any evidence that it ever existed. After that, they use scape goats to cover up everything and make it sound like a bad rumor that needed to be forgotten. It was not pretty for either the humans or the dragons, because any human who claimed to know about the government's operations, the dragon's existence, or spoke out against the strangeness of the cover ups vanished. It was to this end that Midnight decided to copy the government's example, and exterminate anyone who saw him. His backup plan about striking an agreement with the village would never work. Not if someone sent a journalist to 'investigate.' That's how it happened when his brother was discovered and killed.

Midnight licked his lips a bit, looking over the tiny human. It would not be good meal, but at least it would be something until he could find better. He would have his fill when he took care of the village anyway.

[Travis_Hackett]

With the audible confirmation that he had failed to convince the dragon of no wrongdoing, Eric reaches for the 9mm Glock in his belt, pulling it free as a big scaly claw knocks him over onto his back, and sending the handgun flying out of reach. With desperation and short panicked breaths, Eric attempts to back away towards the handgun. A ray of hope strikes when he feels the cold steel of his weapon brush against his fingertips, only to be extinguished by the nearly crushing force of the dragon's talon as he applies pressure; enough to make it difficult for Eric to breathe, but nowhere near enough to do much else.

Looking up between the dragon's toes Eric sees him running his tongue over his lips, a clear indicator to the sunken hearted Eric of what is to come, and what the dragon had meant by 'done with him'...

"W-w-w-wait a minute! Think this through first!" Eric shouts up to the dragon, thrashing a bit under the weight of his claw, "Yu- you do, what I think you're about to do... And people are gonna come lookin' for me! Th-they'll send hunters that'll tear you to pieces and make boots out of your scaly ass!... Just let me go home, I'll leave my notes and my camera, there's no pictures of you on there anyway! And who in Manhattan is gonna believe a two-bit camera jockey when he tells them he saw something as incredible as you?! And the townsfolk? Why bother? They're almost completely isolated! Nobody outside of town's gonna hear about you!" Eric pleads with him, all the while trying to break his arm free to grab the Glock just inches from his head...

"Just let me go... Think of my children... You really want three little girls growing up without their daddy on your conscious?" Eric says as a last ditch effort to try to win the heart of the dragon, even going as far as to force a fake tear to add to the lie that he even has kids...

[Polaris]

Midnight reveled in the terrified look of the human he had pinned under his left forclaw. He let out another low growl as the human tried to talk his way out. "I have thought it through. Besides that, you humans cannot be trusted, you distort the truth for your own needs." he said, watching the 'two-bit camera jocky' as he called himself trying to reach that little weapon he had from earlier. The black dragon snorted and flicked it away, using his free claw, not wanting that little thing to cause any trouble. It flew away, being propeled for quite a distance before landing out of sight with a small 'plop.' "Besides, I cannot take any chances, especially after seeing what happened to another dragon I knew when he went to strike a deal with an 'isolated' village. No, I will deal with this in my own fashion..." he said, slowly lowering his head.

"I care nothing for your families, as you care nothing for mine!" he snapped at the mention of the three imaginary daughters, the tip of his muzzle about a foot away from Eric's head. His own family had been eradicated by humans just like this one, and he thought it might be fair to return the favor. No, this one cannot be trusted.... he thought, able to smell the fear on the human, he would say anything at this point, and even if it were true, he wouldn't care anyway. He then opened his mouth, letting his rather large tongue slide over the human's face, covering it in drool as Midnight took a taste.

[Travis_Hackett]

Eric had almost broken an arm free of the pinning force of the dragon's claw. He actually had felt the steel of his pistol, only to see the dragon's free claw from the corner of his vision, easily flick away his only salvation. With the last of his hopes gone, Eric closes his eyes to the lowering face of the dragon, not wanting to see it's razor looking white teeth tear into his flesh. But to his surprise the dragon doesn't bite him in half, instead drags a long tongue over the exposed flesh of his head, smearing it's warm saliva across his face and scraping off his sunglasses as it breathes it's hot rancid breath upon him. The ever present sarcasm generator in his brain screaming 'Tic-Tac' as he lies in shock at being licked, wondering if this was a good sign or a bad one.

"A bit uncalled for..." Eric mutters, figuring that a layer of now cooling dragon spit is the least of his problems. A light bulb explodes with light in his head; an idea for a last ditch effort to save his skin...
"B-but it does give me an idea that I think you should consider... Y-you want secrecy, a-and I want to remain among the living... So why don't I just stay with you, under your watchful eyes? If I'm with you, I wouldn't be able to tell any human about you... And it must be boring being out here alone, wouldn't you want someone to talk to? Your own personal, portable, semi-intellectual pet?" Eric bargains, hating the way he's sucking up to the dragon and the way he referred to himself as 'pet'. Still he smiles at the end of his speech; the dragon's saliva seeps into the corner of his mouth. Instantly his smile fades as he spits up the dragon's cold drivel

[Polaris]

The black dragon purred a bit as his tongue withdrew into his mouth. The human tasted quite good, causing Midnight to lick his scaled lips a bit. He chuckled as the human said that his lick was 'a bit uncalled for,' as that could be taken in several ways by the dragon. He then tilted his head to the side a bit, thinking for a moment and seeing Eric spitting up some of the saliva that had been left by the lick. Finally, after a minute or two, the black dragon responded "It sounds nice on the surface, but there are several flaws with that thinking. I would have to find a way to keep you fed, you would always be trying to escape, and I'm hungry right now." he said, not caring much about keeping anything a secret anymore, because soon, this human would be in his stomach and that would be the end of it.

Midnight slowly lowered his head again, opening his mouth and repositioning his claw further down the human's body, but still keeping him pinned for the moment. The dragon's tongue came out again, but this time it wrapped around Eric's shoulders and pulled the human's upper body into the dragon's hot maw. At this point he closed his mouth lightly around the human's body, though he made sure that his teeth didn't puncture Eric's skin. Then, he lifted his claw off of the human's body and lifted his head up, sliding his tongue around his prey's chest and abdomen area to keep his arms pinned. The black dragon started to purr happily, wondering vaguely how much this one was going to struggle.

[Travis_Hackett]

Eric finishes choking in time to hear the last part of the dragon's retort. His intentions finally known to him; not brutal injuries or a literal case of putting one's foot down, but consumption, destruction of all evidence by way of digestion, with absolutly no escape...

"Please! Reconsider!" Eric pleads as the dragon lowers his gaping maw. A shine of hope comes over him when the dragon loosens his grip on him, slightly but enough to free his upper half to allow for more forceful writhes in attempt for freedom, only to have such struggles halted by the same long tongue from before, this time wrapping him by his shoulders, and pulling him into the hungry beast's razor jaws. Eric tries shaking to and fro in the fading light of the closing mouth, the product of which giving him a horrifying view; the back of the dragon's throat and it's wet pulsating muscles eagerly awaiting to accept it's meal. Now encased in darkness and out of options, Eric thrashes about under the restricting caresses of the dragon's tongue as he explores his upper half, obvious by the vibrations of his voice, enjoying the taste of Eric's flesh. In the struggle the dragon's tongue catches the collar of Eric's coat, easily ripping it off his body, leaving him more exposed to the prodding wet muscle...

"I HOPE YOU CHOKE YOU BASTARD!" Eric shouts into the darkness and lands a hard right hand fist on the roof of the dragon's mouth. The flesh gives slightly, but to him there was no negative effect dealt. But that doesn't stop him from trying it again, and again; rabbit punching the same patch of oral flesh, not knowing if his attacks would do much to better his situation, but he doesn't care as long as he was causing some discomfort to the creature that was going to end him. He keeps it up, uninterrupted until his old nemesis dragon tongue laps over his face again. Instantly he redirects fire to the dragon's tongue, landing as many direct hits as he can before one of his punches is deflected, and strikes the broadside of a tooth. A shock wave of pain shoots up the would-be boxer's arm as he clutches his possibly broken fist, ceasing his last stand against the hungry dragon...

[Polaris]

Midnight was indeed enjoying the taste of his meal, as his tongue slides over, around, and under Eric's upper body. He chuckles a bit at the human's thrashing, spitting the coat out of the side of his mouth once it comes off. He purrs even louder, having a larger area to taste, now that the 'artificial skin' was gone. He covers Eric's upper body in dragon saliva, shivering a bit as the taste floods his tongue. He would have to find more humans after this, they were so tasty. He continues to taste the human's flesh for a while, closing his eyes a bit and laying down, Eric's lower body swaying a bit from the movement. He decides to be a bit sadistic, and makes a loud, dry swallow, the sound echoing in an almost deafening way due to the closeness to the throat and the shape of the inside of his maw.

The black dragon growls as he hears the human's muffled shouting, shaking his head a bit from his meal's punching on the roof of his maw, not really hurting, but getting very annoying. He runs his tongue across the human's face, trying to get to his hands to stop the small annoyance. He is unpleasantly surprised, however, when Eric starts to punch at his tongue. Midnight moves his tongue around, eventually making the human's fist slip from his tongue and into the side of one of his very, very hard teeth. the impact made the dragon growl loudly, again, the sound echoing painfully loud in the human's ears. As the black dragon noticed the ceasing of Eric's assault, he moves his tongue under the human, moving outside and between Eric's legs. He then pulls gently, forcing eric's rear and upper legs to join him in the humid hotness of the dragon's maw. Midnight manipulates his tongue quickly, working to undo the human's pants, and eventually succeeding, moving one claw to grasp the end of a pant leg that still happened to be outside. He wraps his tongue around the human's belly, just above the pants and pulls with his claw. The pants come off easily, and he tosses them lightly to the side.

The black dragon starts tilting his head back a bit at this point, slowly, leisurely licking over the human's lower legs, as they start to slip between the black dragon's scaly lips. At last, he opens his jaws, just a bit, and takes his first swallow, his throat opening as Eric hits it, quickly closing again around the human's chest. The black purrs, feeling the beginning of his meal entering his throat. He closes his jaws again, sealing the rest of Eric's body in darkness, not that he could see now, anyway.

[Travis_Hackett]

Eric tries to covers his ears at the dragon's deafening growl, the only result of his desperate and self-defeating escape attempt. If not for being covered in the dragon's saliva a tear would have gone down the side of Eric's face as he feels the dragon's tongue slither across his back and between his legs, effortlessly pulling him deeper into the hungry maw, deep enough that he can now feel the cool air rushing in from the dragon's nasal cavity. He gives little resistance as he hears his leather belt snap and the waistline of his blue jeans shred under the strength of the prodding tongue. Eric feels the cold mountain air on his lower legs and feet as the Dragon removes the pants, taking his loosely tied boots with them, leaving him with only a black Metallica teeshirt and a pair of red boxer shorts covering him.

"Make this nightmare end..." Eric sobs to himself as he feels his world begin to tip back as the dragon moves his head. He knows from the Comodo Dragon photo shoot what will soon happen next as he slides closer and closer to the back of the mouth. Soon he can't feel the chilly bite of the outside wind against his legs and feet as they get slurped up, and it is know that Eric realizes that his fate was sealed as soon as he'd seen those tracks in the snow...

"I was suppose to find the monster..." are the last words Eric mutters before the muscles of the dragon's throat grabs his shoulders and pulls him into the darkness. Eric feels the muscles begin their job as he is slowly pulled into the throat, seemingly contouring to his body in an oddly comforting way. Encasing him in a cushion of hot flesh; a sensation unlike which he has ever felt as it makes him forget that he is being eaten alive by a creature that wasn't even suppose to exist...