Mayday! (Whitebrand and Fiona)

[GenericBunny]

Fiona tried to grab hold of anything to keep herself from descending, but her body and everything around were simply too slippery. It didn't take much effort to push her slender body down past the throat and into the waiting gullet, while a vaguely vixen-shaped bulge appeared in the dragon's neck. "No... please, no..." She whimpered softly as she kept struggling, even though she knew she wouldn't be able to fight the esophagus. Unless the dragon wanted her out, there was no way to work her way back up the way she came.

[Whitebrand]

The dragon again quickly tipped his head back and swallowed hard. There was a thunderous gulping sound as the dragon’s rippling neck muscles dragged her down into the deep pit. The ribbed passage massaged the vixens exposed flesh as she was forced deeper and deeper into the belly of the beast. Her body was squeezed tightly so she could barely breathe, and the darkness was so complete that she could only hear her gasps for air and the thudding sound of the dragon’s heartbeat.

[GenericBunny]

Fiona continued to squirm weakly, but she couldn't manage to move more than a few inches at a time within the almost crushingly tight tunnel. At this point, the vixen could do little but cry as she tried to make sense of everything. How she was forced to crash. What these strange and hostile creatures were. Why the dragon seemed to heal her, only to consume her minutes later. As she struggled to get any air into her lungs, she wondered if the lack of oxygen would make her pass out. She wanted to continue fighting, but knowing the grizzly fate that awaited her in the stomach, it was very tempting to just give up the fight to stay alive now...

[Whitebrand]

The dragon’s body lurched hard to the side. Only the soft flesh surrounding her saved her. There was more intense movement, suggesting a terrible struggle. She heard the muffled sound of a roar above her and felt her body vibrate as she was squeezed ibto a close space. More violent motion, but here she was even more protected than before.

She could breathe again. No acid splashed over her. She was just trapped in the dark in the belly of the beast.

[GenericBunny]

Fiona didn't consider that she was safe from the other beasts inside of the dragon. To her, she had just traded one mode of death for a different, possibly more drawn out one. The slimy vixen curled up and shivered as she was pushed into the stomach whimpering as she felt the slick flesh moving around below. "N-no, please no..." She stammered to herself, feeling that this was truly it. She'd perish in the beast's belly, and nobody would even know what happened to her. She began to think about the people she'd leave behind, what she'd give to see them one last time.

"No... No, I won't die!" She began to uncurl, and feel around the stomach. She felt around for the sphincter she entered through, intent on shoving herself back through. If she was going to be claimed by the digestive system, she was at least going to give it a fight.

[Whitebrand]

Her fleshy prison rattled several more times, shoving her around and breaking her grip several times. Finally, however, she managed a grip and tried to force her way back up the esophagus. SHe was able to force her hand through, but lacked the leverage to force the sphincter open. The seal seemed fairly tight, and her grip kept getting dislodged every time the beast that held her moved significantly.

Without warning her stomach seemed to drop out from under her. The creature had taken flight. She slid around helplessly in its belly for several long, terrifying minutes. Finally the beast stopped swaying about. Instead she was rocking back and forth for a bit...until the creature that had her seemed to drop and impacted on something.

A few moments later the naked fox was laying on the floor of a great cave. Nearby the dragon lay looking very tired...and bloody. The wound on its head was still bleeding, and it had several other wounds along its arms and sides.

"You did me...a great service," the dragon rumbled tiredly. "Therefore I have decided to...keep you as a pet."

[GenericBunny]

Fiona wouldn't give up the fight, continuing to try to force her way out of the beast's belly. Even as she was knocked away over and over, she kept trying to work her way out of the stomach, until the dragon took flight. Even as she was bounced around she struggled, although she very quickly lost track of exactly where she was in the stomach. By the time he landed again, she was too dizzy to move much. She wondered if her movements had actually been successful when she felt herself moving up again, before being expelled from the dragon's body. Still dazed and weak, she didn't even bother to look back until she heard that voice. She whimpered and turned around, to be greeted by the dragon's head next to her...

She jumped up and stepped back, ready to bolt away... But he didn't immediately seem to follow her. She started to glance around his injuries, noting how massive many of them were. It looked like his scales had managed to blunt many of the impacts, but if a single one of many of those blows had been dealt to her instead, they would've certainly killed her.

The fox stood silent for a few moments, thinking about what to do. Trying once again to work out just what the dragon's intentions were for her. Finally, she stepped forward.

"You were trying to protect me in there, weren't you?" She didn't seem to have paid much mind to what he said, perhaps still too overwhelmed to think about it. Instead she looked to the large wound on his head.

"That bleeding... You can stop it, right?" She asked, thinking back to the mysterious force that had miraculously healed her own injuries before.

[Whitebrand]

“I...can,” the dragon said, taking a breath between each word. “In...time. It...uses much more...stamina...to repair myself...than...you.”

The dragon’s eyes closed and the bleeding from the head wound slowed to a crawl. A few moments later and he opened his eyes again and looked squarely at the vixen.

“It’s why...I rarely...confront so...many monsters...at once.” He added. “Just need to...rest a bit.”

The dragon’s breathing slowed and his eyes drooped.

[GenericBunny]

Fiona stepped closer to the dragon, kneeling down to look at his head closely. The wound wasn't something she could really help with, at least not without any supplies to speak of. As he closed his eyes, she began to realize just how exhausted she was from those harrowing and back to back experiences. She would sit, and then curl up beside him. She could figure out how to get home later. For now, she simply needed rest.

The word that he mentioned, "pet", was still in the back of her mind. She wasn't quite sure what he meant by that - But at least for now, she felt safe beside him. Safe enough to drift off to sleep, at least for a little while.

[Whitebrand]

When she awoke she found herself covered with a blanket. The dragon was sitting up and it’s wounds looked better...or at least not bleeding. The creature was staring at her, looking mildly surprised.

“You stayed,” he said. “Your name?”

[GenericBunny]

Fiona awoke refreshed, with yesterday's trauma a bit further in the back of her mind. She felt a shiver as she looked over the giant dragon again. It was strange sitting next to a creature so overwhelmingly powerful compared to her, but also oddly comforting as she remembered he seemed intent on protecting her.

"Fiona." She said simply. For her the choice to stay was obvious. Seeing the horrors of the forest, she wouldn't dare venture out on her own again.

"I don't think I ever thanked you. If you hadn't come along..." She shuddered to think what would've certainly happened to her out there.

[Whitebrand]

The dragon shrugged and actually looked a little embarrassed.

“I’m not all that much better,” the dragon said. “In a strange way I suppose I should thank you. You and your flying machine drew out a load of the worst predators in the forest. I was able to thin their numbers quite a bit. The place will be quite a bit safer for awhile.”

He tilted his head.

“Fiona,” he said as he looked her over. “I like it.”

[GenericBunny]

Her 'flying machine'. She wondered if anybody besides those monsters had found the wreckage yet. She got enough of a call out that she was sure somebody would be looking for her, but they'd have little idea where. She wondered if they even realized she was in the forest at all.

Her body still felt a bit sore, but otherwise she seemed to be in near-perfect physical condition, just as she'd been when the dragon first healed her. Part of her was very curious to ask about its nature and to study the phenomena more, but there was a bigger question nagging at her for the moment.

"Yesterday you called me a 'pet'... What did you mean by that?"

[Whitebrand]

“You’re a quality specimen,” the dragon said. “Brave, energetic...I’d be a fool to give you up.”

As she watched the dragon turned himself until he was practically on his back, claws in the air. Like a giant cat stretching itself. He stopped as a twinge of pain from his injuries struck him. A few moments later he was back in his previous pose, curled slightly around her.

“So...pet.” He said. “It’s not as if you’re going to be walking out of here right now, anyway. I didn’t eliminate every single monster out there.”

Clearly the dragon had an ego to match his size.

[GenericBunny]

Fiona gulped at the mention of him not wanting to "give her up". Even before she was reminded of the monsters, she knew that she would need his help to find her way out of the forest. For that matter she didn't even know where the crash site was after being carried around in his stomach.

Part of her felt that she owed the dragon for rescuing her, but the idea of being a 'pet' made her very uneasy. Nevermind the question of what she'd *do* here, but she knew she had to get home.

"I can't just stay here." She spoke very softly, trying her best to not sound argumentative. "I have a home I need to get back to... And there are probably people searching for me by now. If they don't find me, I'm sure they'll assume the worst!"

[Whitebrand]

The dragon reached out and gave Fiona a casual stroke along her bare back with his claw. The touch was surprisingly gentle and it seemed to relax the beast.

"Of course you can," the dragon said. "Why would you want to live in one of those mortal hovels with you can live in a dragon's lair? Under the protection of the most powerful being in the region? Safe from unwanted suitors, stalkers, and beasts...honored by the favor of her master?

"Besides...if they can find you here, maybe they'd deserve to take you back."

He actually rubbed his head against her entire side...nearly knocking the naked vixen over. Fortunately for her it had been done with good intentions.

"Besides...wait until you see me in my humanoid form," the dragon said. "You'll never want to leave."

[GenericBunny]

Fiona shivered as she felt the claw rub through her fur. Her gratitude was quickly fading back to fear, realizing that he indeed did not intend to let her loose.

"M-my family, my friends, my job... I can't just leave them behind." She continued to try speaking calmly, remain non-confrontational, but her voice was beginning to break up. Yet again she had doubts of the dragon's intentions, even beyond just keeping her here.

[Whitebrand]

"Happens all the time," Brand said obliviously. "You'll have no need of a job, and I'll be your family. You will come to love me, you'll see. They always do."

It was only then that she saw the slight lack of focus in his eyes. Perhaps an effect of his head wound. This talk of his might be some sort of stream of consciousness side effect of his injury. He even sounded slightly drunk.

If he were a human she might consider taking him to a hospital.

[GenericBunny]

Fiona wasn't sure what the normal behavior of Brand or any other dragon was supposed to be like exactly. But even as his words reinforced her fears she could tell that something seemed just a bit off. She looked again to his head wound.

"When that blow landed on your head... Did you by chance black out? Even for just a moment?" She wanted to confirm a hunch, but also attempt to change the subject away from her own captivity.

[Whitebrand]

“Don’t be silly, Viconia,” the dragon said. “Er...Fiona...my head is fine. Just a little too much to drink. Just a bit of dizziness for a second. I scared that ogre off real good...or was it a Minotaur?

“Doesn’t matter,” he said. “You’ll love your new home. You’ve loved it for years, Viconia...Fiona...just like you love me. You’ll see.”

The dragon turned his head and nuzzled at one of his larger wounds. The bleeding stopped and the injury sealed itself in a matter of seconds.

“See I’m fine,” he insisted. “Just a little tired is all. My pet. My beloved.”