A Big Shiny Blue Marble Ch. 34

They looked at each other and cried out in appreciation of the large male's hunting ability and his considerate thoughtfulness. From the viewpoint of a Wotroth, it showed them that, besides being a fine-looking beast, he wasn't an inconsiderate one -- to another dragon that is. It was however, a gesture which assorted other sorts of creatures such as mountain goats wouldn't have appreciated very much.

She led them down into her little valley, and they met in the snowy meadow and their difficulties in making themselves understood began then. Yuan didn't know what they were saying, and she hoped that she was looking at them in an encouraging manner. She needed to hear more of their speech.

Finally, she reared up a little and folding her wings to indicate that she intended to remain for the moment at least, she changed herself and stood before them as the dragon girl, since remaining as the large beast wasn't getting them anywhere. They stared at her briefly and a moment later, she was meeting her new friends as they ran over and chattered to her. It gave her the linguistic clues that she needed and she bowed to them both.

"I am Yuan," she said as she shrugged out of her pack.

"Drene," the smaller of the two said, indicating herself and she pointed to the other suddenly rather shy-looking one, "He is Sheth."

Sheth looked as though he didn't know whether he liked having his gender revealed at this point or not, though he supposed that it would have to come out sooner or later. He did try not to stare at Yuan, though and his effort failed him almost utterly. Aside from her breasts and her hips, everything else about her was rather evocative of both genders, and either way, he thought that Yuan was beautiful.

The female looked around, "Where are we going?"

"To my home," Yuan smiled, and she pointed away up the slope. She turned and saw Sheth struggling a little to drag the ram and she smiled then, placing her hand onto his wrist.

"You will work too hard this way, Sheth," she smiled in a way which still said to him that she appreciated the idea. "There is a lot of weight here that we do not need or want. Hold these two legs and pull him onto his back for me."

He watched her make the incisions to pull back a little of the hide -- enough for what she had in mind, anyway, and then he watched even more carefully as she deftly gutted the animal and rubbed the inside with snow.

Drene was impressed, as was Sheth. They both saw the way that, despite what she'd said, it was clear that Yuan had no trouble with the weight of the large ram. As she worked, Yuan caught glimpses of them and saw their hopeful glances to each other. She tried not to smile to herself. She knew that one was a male now, and she told herself to be very careful not to trample on his feelings for the way that he was small. To her, they were both so lovely. She got the sense of how he was, and it was only the politeness of what they were which prevented her from gushing to them that she wanted to mate with them both so very much.

If she'd seen one, for the chance to bed these two, she'd have brought them an ox.

After a bit of a careful look at the two of them, she remembered what her mother had taught her and she removed the heart and liver, offering the tender parts to the two in her outstretched palms.

Drene looked at the heart and Sheth stared at the liver a little, until he caught Drene's glance. Then he stepped up quickly and Yuan was pleasantly surprised to see them both eat from her hands. Making the offering had been a bit of a hopeful gesture on Yuan's part and she paid close attention to their individual responses.

In essence, Yuan's offering told them that it was her sincere and very polite wish that they might like each other enough to share their bodies soon and mate -- at least in the social way of dragons who have just met and like each other enough for it -- even after five minutes.

Dragons were rare, and chance meetings were even more so. An opportunity for a little love and the possibility of breeding was difficult to resist in this time of their decline. One never knew if there would ever be another chance at all.

Drene ate what she'd been offered gently and carefully, holding Yuan's hand and then licking it as her way of saying that she understood and wished the same thing.

Sheth brought his face to the offering slowly and looked at Yuan's face in a slightly worried way for a moment, but once he held her hand, he ate hungrily and licked mostly between her fingers. But after a moment where hs looked into Yuan's eyes, he made his statement when he took one of her fingers into his mouth and sucked for a brief moment.

From that, Yuan felt wonderful. Not only were these gestures common between them, she felt that, for the first time since she'd been on her own, she was among others of her kind and could act accordingly -- as a dragon among dragons, not having to fear a misstep or a misinterpreted mannerism. She only had to be careful for Sheth's feelings, she thought. He had to be feeling uncertain and as vulnerable as the shyest dragon maiden. She knew the feeling. Yuan had been there.

She washed her hands with snow, scrubbing carefully, and then she stood up, amazing Sheth by hefting her pack in one hand and the ram's carcass by taking two hocks in her grip and carrying it with the other.

They talked continually as they prepared the meal with Yuan arranging the fire so that the meat could be cooked best. All of them learned much, especially Yuan as she heard about the way that they'd been brought here. Not even dragons were safe, it seemed.

Though they lounged together as they ate in a seemingly careless way, they had all positioned themselves so that the others could get a look at their bodies, and she noted the way that these two kept trying -- with an almost comical lack of success -- to keep their eyes from running over her body and locking onto the white pattern which she wore between her legs and displayed to them a little casually as she rested on her side with one knee up. She'd made it worse as she laid herself down by tossing her long hair over her shoulder before she began to eat, and they had a fine view of her finely scaled dark breasts and skin.

She was having a little trouble herself -- and there were two of them for her to gaze at.

They were both thin, and Yuan really liked that as she tried not to think about those sweet-looking nipples on Drene, and her gaze slid down to that soft little cleft that she could just make out in the soft fur that she had. She was sure that if she looked there long enough, she'd be able to clearly see what she thought was a little wetness already glistening for her there, but it would have been rude to look for that long. It was a nice thought to her as she thought of herself as either female or male and kissing that throat as she held that fine little body against hers.

Yuan looked from her to Sheth, but there was no respite for her from her slowly rising lust there. For a dragon boy, he didn't have all that much out of the ordinary, and she knew that because he was already more than a little erect from looking at her, so she knew that he liked what he saw.

But there was something here that Sheth was missing because well, he was trapped into feeling rather inadequate. He liked the male that he'd seen, but he'd had only Drene's comments to judge himself by and he doubted that this changeable one would be much interested in him as a male.

But that was where he was a little mistaken and Yuan knew it. He wasn't huge, it was true. But then with all of her complicated plumbing, Yuan wasn't large as a female either. There wasn't the room for it.

More importantly, Yuan liked what he had very much. She already knew that she just had to get him to see that she thought that he was what she needed - in both ways.

And she did like what he had, as she thought that compared to the humans that she'd lain with, he had nothing to feel ashamed about from that view. She'd been thinking as a female, but then her male side cast its vote as well and she thought of how it would feel to have him in her mouth, filling her there and then using her slick tongue on him in a place that she was a little thankful that she couldn't see from where she was. In only another moment, she could see herself in her larger shape, working her hard shaft in and out of the delicious-looking openings that she'd seen on either of these two when they were flying together.

Even as they were now, the thought of sliding in between those firm haunches and holding on to those slim hips almost brought her clitoris out of its hood, and she knew what it would turn into if she kept this up for much longer. She looked down in an attempt to concentrate on her meal.

She looked up from her meal into Sheth's eyes a little later seeing that he wanted her attention and since he seemed to be quite shy in some ways, and she wanted to encourage him.

"Forgive me, "he said politely, "but I can see that you are more than one spirit -- and more than only one inside of you. Drene and I are both of two spirits ourselves, but you are different even from us."

Yuan nodded, "I am two creatures inside of me, and I can be either one. I have this shape as a third way to be and live." She smiled with a shrug, "I guess that I am a bit of everything." She mentioned the way that she'd been brought up and what had happened to her since she'd left her home.

Sheth smiled, "I thought that your wondrous eyes looked a little familiar. So there are Tarkroth here?"

"Yes," Yuan nodded, "the last two anywhere; maybe a little under an hour west. Now that I remember, there is one of their dead witches here as well, the mother of the female. I can show you if you'd like, but I will not go there again -- at least for a while."

Drene sensed the pain that came from Yuan and tried to shift the topic a little, but Sheth said that he'd like to see at least one Tarkroth once more.

"Let Yuan rest her wings, Sheth," she said, "Since we have been here, we haven't traveled very far at all, and our friend has gone far."

Dragons love to converse with their kind and Yuan was pleased to get out her mother's map. The distance astounded the pair so she told of the wind that she'd used, and that began discussions on how it could be done. The discussions continued after the meal was finished and by then, it was past dark and a trip to the opening showed them all that this night was one of the coldest that the pair of dragons had seen. One could hear the creak of everything in the stillness out there, from dry leaves rustling a little to trees groaning. They were separated from that world by the fog of the warm and wet air meeting the bitter cold air outside. They went back inside.

"I feel pity for everything which must be outside tonight," Drene said, "but we are warm and have full bellies because of you, Yuan. You are among friends this night."

"I am so happy to have been found by such a pair," Yuan bowed to show her thanks for the compliment.

"I thought that my ancient home was a little odd after I was grown," she said as she led them to the pool, "It was a temple and a village -- all built into a cliff on a low mountain by a river. I am the last, but the dragons lived on the upper floor, so it was at least a little like an eyrie. My mother told me that most dragons live far up so that nothing can reach them."

"Yuan," Drene said, "where we are from, we lived with others in an ice cave high in the mountains. Sheth's teacher and my own - they each lived in eyries on a mountain. Nothing saved any of them from the lowlanders. I was hurt when we came. Sheth found his place while I wander more than he does and we are happy here.

We hated each other for years because of the foolishness of our teachers -- we were just too young to know better. Here, we stopped being enemies. It is always a little pleasant in the valley -- except for tonight and we have water," she said as they all stood together in the pool to get a little used to the warmth of the water which reached to mid-thigh on Drene, and barely knee-high on Yuan and Sheth.

"There is always game to hunt in these valleys," Sheth added.

Yuan nodded, "And it is so beautiful here. I have never seen something like this," she said, noticing the way that their skins had begun to shimmer a little again.

"What is that?" Yuan asked, "I saw this on you both outside earlier."

Drene was surprised, "You have not seen something like this before?"

They were surprised when Yuan shook her head. "I cannot do this -- I don't think, anyway," she said with a shrug. The pair looked at each other and laughed a little.

"We wondered why you did not respond," Sheth chuckled, "Males usually light up the sky, well, from what I have seen of our kind. You are a little different from us and we like it. When we flew together, I could not remember ever seeing one so large as you."

Yuan tried not to stare, "Large? I have only ever seen one other living one of my kind, and she was my mother. She was much larger than I am. As I said, I began as a human, and I know that you have not seen one of them, but my mother put her smallest living egg in me. It was the only living one which would fit, and she said that it was better for me to be smaller in this age.

She said that quickness counted for more than size now -- a mistake that her kind had often made to their regret. I have seen the graveyard near to where I am from. From the single skull which was shown to me, I am truly small. The span of my wings would not cover one of my mother's wings. My shape when I am large is different from what hers was like. The way that I am now is much closer, though I am smaller."

The pair were astonished, "I am right for a female," Drene said, "To us, you are large and very nice to see. You would be as the equal to the largest that we knew, when they all lived, maybe a little larger. But if we were there now and all of them were still alive, we would have trouble finding mates for us, Sheth and I."

"We are shamans," Sheth explained, "It happens sometimes that some shamans among us are, ... like us," he said, looking down, not finding it in himself to go much further.

"It is the way that we fit with the world around us -- or the one which was around us, once," he said, his colors fading.

"Please, Sheth," Yuan said, not wanting him to feel badly -- as he seemed to appear to be beginning to, "I like to see this on you both. Do not stop. I have never seen such beauty. But what does it mean? I know that we are different, so I wish to understand.

"We are hopeful to mate with you," Drene smiled warmly, "This is the way that females show their desire to the one that they want where we came from. I am a female as you can see, though I am sometimes as a male inside me in my wants. Sheth will feel a little shamed now, but I like him, so I will speak for him. I am sure that you have seen anyway, but he is a male who does not think that he is much of one, and inside him, he is a female.

It is a little confusing maybe, but I want a male and sometimes I want a female. Sheth is the same; he wants a female sometimes, and mostly, he would want another male."

From the other side of the pool, Sheth sat looking down a little. He'd been so taken with Yuan's beauty and up til now had thought that what he really wanted was to mate with her -- in any way that it might work, but he felt that leaving him now. Now wanted he to strangle Drene for the way that she just couldn't seem to shut up. He didn't care if she chattered in her inane way, as long as she didn't use him as something else to chatter about.

Drene chuckled down low in her throat and shrugged, "Because of what we are, Sheth and I have accepted each other. We do not live together, but meet occasionally. We know that where we are from, many would not want either of us. That makes it even harder to find a mate where we came from. I have often thought that if we had not been raised to be enemies, we might still have come to be together, since we would likely not find another for us.

But here, though he has often said that he wanted to pair with me, and I do like him, I am always feeling unsettled and hopeful to find one to settle down with."

Sheth sat pretending not to hear Drene. He noticed that she'd left out one key word in her last statement.

Better.

That was the word. She was always hopeful to find a better one to settle down with.

"What about the male demon that I have seen you with?" Sheth asked, trying not to sound petty.

"That one is fine to fuck with, Sheth, but he is not around very often," Drene said, "I am more hopeful about our new neighbor."

"The demon is fine," he nodded, "but I think that you are only now discovering the problem. He never says it, but he always seeks another pair of thighs -- much as you do. I was with him for a time, but then I realized that it wasn't what I wanted for myself, as much as he told me that I was the one for him. I came to sense that he has attachments, such as someone else somewhere, so I broke it off, though I was desperate to have him."

He carefully left out the part where he'd spent almost a week in tears over it, but he knew that he'd done the right thing as much as he was damning himself to do it.

"Well there is always my Sheth," Drene smiled, but she stopped there, noticing the look in his eyes which told her that there wasn't always Sheth. He'd decided right then that he was done with her just for making her assumption. He'd been hurt before by her, but now Sheth was angry, though in the way of dragons, he hid it well. She just knew him well enough to know that she'd just said something that he'd resent.

She shrugged mentally. It wasn't as though they were a pair or anything. She was even more glad that they weren't now. If she'd paired with him and this beautiful creature had appeared, she knew what she'd have done anyway.

Yuan reached to place her hand on Sheth's shoulder, "You seem to be a little stuck on size. Remember what I said, on this world, to be a large one is to lead a harder life. Everyone wants you dead, and a large body needs large food. I think, from what you told in your tale, that perhaps it was not a bad thing for you to have been raised as enemies, because in the end, it caused you both not to be there when the end came to your kind. If you were still there, sooner or later, the same killers would come for you. Here you have a chance."

Sheth nodded, "A chance at a lonely life, but at least it is still living. You are the only Wotroth that we have seen here, and from what you say, there are likely no others. We have been lucky to have made what we have together out of our hate, though we see each other seldom."

Yuan laughed softly, "And I am lucky to have been found by you, if you wish to mate with me."

Sheth couldn't help it, he stared at Yuan since she'd looked at them both as she'd said it, "You -- you want us both? Even, ... me?"

Yuan felt very hopeful, and yet she knew that she was standing very close to being on eggshells here. She could see that his feeling were so fragile.

She nodded with a warm smile, "Of course I would. Sheth, look at me. I am stuck with two natures. One might think that it was a blessing, but I have found that it is more of a curse, for beside the ability to be more than one thing -- or maybe more correctly to be one at a time, I am only one creature with two natures, and no more opportunities to sate them than if I had only one. I want to mate with you both."

She smiled a little shyly at Sheth, "I am sure that I can please Drene, and maybe, I can please sweet Sheth as well."

He looked down for a moment, and Yuan found herself falling for him and the way that he looked so lost and sweet to her. If he'd been human, she knew that right now, he'd be blushing like a maid.