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Description
The rover pulled up in the snowdrifts next to our house, marking our path with deep tracks in the snow. The ride back had been quick but uncomfortable, due to the numerous bumps and holes in the road leading home.

Pushing myself up from the floor, I maneuvered around the black dragon and opened the door. The sunlight stung my eyes in sharp contrast to the dark interior of the military rover as I stuck my head outside. My father had already gotten out of the front seat and looked at me.

I gestured at the house. "Clear out the sofa – we'll need to get him indoors in a safe position. "

He nodded, and pointed at the rover. "You don't need any help getting him out and inside?" he asked.

"Sure, but I need a place to put him first."

"Fair enough."

I turned back into the car, assessing the situation. If he had sustained damage, there was no knowing what additional injury we might cause by moving him around too much, but leaving him in the rover wasn't really an option either. He didn't have any visible wounds, but internals were a possibility.

Grandpa came around the back of the car and rolled his shoulders. He pointed at the other dragon and said "I think we'll have to be two on that one – looks heavy."

I nodded. "Yes. Can you give me a hand? Dad should be done by now."

Crawling back into the space, I put an arm under the dragon's neck and his left arm around my shoulder. Grandpa pulled on his legs, maneuvering him out of the car. Making sure the tail was outside and not stuck, he beckoned for me to go on. With a grunt, I pushed the body forwards into his waiting arms. He caught his other arm and the right wing and lifted the limp body with a grimace. After a muttered confirmation when I asked if he was alright, we limped off towards the door.

I kicked shoes and general items aside as we pushed through the cluttered hallway – never thought I'd be sorry for not taking the initiative on cleaning. Joke's on me, I suppose.

Dad was waiting in the living room where he had cleared out a sofa for our guest. He looked nervous.

Can't really blame him. He and his dragon son did just run over another dragon, that is now unconscious and in our house. Yeah, I'd be a bit spooked too.

"Whoa, whoa! Watch his tail and wings, don't bend them too much." I waved with my free had at dad, who was trying to get the black dragon into resting position in the sofa – during his attempts he had accidentally got the limbs into an uncomfortable position that could lead to some pain if not corrected.

"Fold the wings at the joints and push the tail down into the crack between the mattresses. You can stick one wing through the back rest and out the other side. That should work – well, for now at least." I gestured at the different points. He gave me a look and adjusted the limbs. We slowly lowered him into the sofa while I carefully watched so nothing got in the way. My arms were starting to hurt from holding his weight up, but I bit down and finished the job.

With a slight stagger, I straightened out. Having gotten rid of the weight, I felt like I would float up to the ceiling any second.

Without having to focus on carrying the other dragon, my own pains came back hard. I let out an involuntary whine as the gash on my head stung. I limped over to the other of the two sofas and dropped down heavily.

Grandpa frowned at us. "I think we're out of the woods now. Let's have everyone looked at." I just wanted to sit down, but didn't really have the energy to complain. He bent down at grabbed one of my horns, turning my head to the side so he could see the gash in my forehead better.

"Still bleeding a bit, but I'm surprised it isn't worse. It actually looks like it's healing already. What about you, Dan? Any injuries I should know about?"

My father shook his head. "I'm alright. Been better, but I'm alright."

Grandpa sighed. "You two were damn lucky. I've seen milder crashes gone worse, and to be perfectly honest, you should be thanking someone up above for this."

When he was finished with my head, he gave my tail a long look.

"Bend over."

"Excuse me?" I blurted out.

He drummed his fingers against his leg impatiently. "Or flip, if you want to do it that way. Your tail, we need to push it back into place. Figure it'd be like a dislocated finger, only shitloads more painful."

"Yeah, thanks for the moral support." I grumpily said. "At least I'm not lisping anymore." Dreading what was to come, I flipped onto my belly on the sofa. Grandpa dragged over a side table, and I placed my tail on it. I could feel the painful throbbing like pulsating, burning embers in my tip.

I stuck out an arm and motioned for the fireplace, where a few logs lay. "Give me one of those. I suspect I'm going to need it, unless you plan on losing an arm."

"Good idea." Dad picked out one that wasn't too full of splinters and handed me it. I nervously took it between my jaws and bit down. Sharp as my teeth were, they sank easily into the wood, giving me a dry taste in my mouth.

"Alright, I'll treat this as any dislocated finger – pull and push. I'll yank hard outwards, and then it should settle back into place. If not, we'll just have to get brutal."

Brutal? Uh-oh.

With an almost inaudible whine, I nodded and bit down on the trunk. I tried to keep my fear down – I'm not a fan of pain – and I felt a tiny shudder run along my body as he placed his hands around the tail end. I closed my eyes and breathed out through my nose. My claws closed around the sofa edges.

"Ready? Three… Two…"

I roared through the trunk as he yanked my tail against the dislocation. The pain shot up through my tail as electrified lava, and a loud crack almost made me sick to my stomach. My muscles quaked and I had to make a conscious effort not to whip around and slash at him. I buried my claws deep into the soft fabric of the mattress, hearing the springs creak from my tension.

And then, just as it begun, it was over. A dull, fading pain lingered, but everything felt somewhat normal again.

With a groan, I opened my eyes and shook the trunk as the neck of a dead animal. Hissing, I spat out the crushed splinters in the firewood basket and pushed myself up onto my side.

"Thanks – you weren't lying about it being painful." I huffed out.

"No worries. That crack never cracks anyone up, if you catch my drift. We have to splint it now, just to make sure you don't move it around too much. Always best to keep movement to a minimum, especially since you've been walking around with it for a while. I should have some support bandages somewhere around here." He said, as he walked off towards the bathroom.

I closed my eyes and leaned back. This day had been far too eventful so far, and it was beginning to try my energy reserves. I rubbed a claw against my forehead, and let my thoughts drift for a few moments. Without realizing it at first, my thoughts went to the other dragon. Who was he? How had he gotten here? Had he also been a human, like me? And, though I dreaded to ask myself it, was he going to survive? He looked stable enough, but nobody had any experience with draconic anatomy. Hell, I didn't even know if we had the same organs as humans did – similarities in body shape didn't necessarily mean similarities in organ composition. Maybe I was just overreacting – he did seem fine.

Putting it off my mind for now, I flexed my claws and tried to relax. I'd get my answers when he woke up.

* * *

Benjamin slowly drifted back into the waking world. His entire body was hurting from whatever had happened. He tried shifting his body slightly, and cringed from the stabbing pain.

Ouch.

What had happened, anyway? He was on a road, running… and then there had been some bright lights. After that, he could only remember darkness.

He could hear strange noises nearby, and sense strange smells he'd never encountered before. Something… almost familiar.

He snapped his eyes open. A flat, grayish surface covered what he had expected to be the sky, and there was a wall next to him. Objects were mounted on it that he recognized, but couldn't put words to.

A strange device hung from the flat surface. It had an odd, three-pronged base that three metal rods extended from. A bright light was mounted on the tip of each rod. Below him was some type of soft, red material that seemed to spring back when he moved.

Struck with a strange sense of panic, Benjamin moved to run.

The world spun as he tried to sit up and stabbing pain forced him back down. An involuntary growl escaped his throat as he dropped back down onto the springy surface. Landing with his face outwards, he could see a dying fire burning on a stone brick platform.

I'm… in a house?

Without having time to process this revelation, a figure moved into his field of vision.

Benjamin froze. It was as if he was looking into a murky lake. In front of him sat an almost frighteningly eerie creature, almost identical to himself. The creature had a scaled snout, just like him, with two piercing green eyes that seemed to stare right into him. Unlike him, though, this one had red scales with shifting hues. The apparition opened its mouth and spoke with a clear, male voice, but the words were... jumbled, incoherent. He recognized one or two, but years and years of loneliness had struck the rest from his mind.

The red one reached out with a clawed hand and Benjamin hissed out of pure reflex. The creature snapped its hand back with a surprised expression. It spoke again, this time with a softer voice. It held up its hands in a calming gesture and backed off a step. Breathing heavily, Benjamin was utterly confused and on the verge of panic.

What the hell is going on? I need to get out of here.

At the same time, he couldn't shake off the feeling that he wanted to know more. This one was like him. There was no doubt about it that by some cruel twist of fate, they were the same. Recalling the pain from ages long past, he wondered what this one could have gone through.

Benjamin breathed out and clenched his left paw into a fist, trying to calm himself. The other one peered at him with curious eyes and an almost child-like expression. A realizing expression moved across its face, and it rose up to walk away. Halfway through the first step, it hesitated and turned back. It held up a single claw and said something.

"One."

One? I know that word… One, one of what? One of you? One of me? A threat?

Benjamin blinked as he understood.

Oh. One minute. He'll be back.

Benjamin nodded slowly with an inquisitive expression, but the other one had already turned and left the room. He could hear him speaking to someone else just outside inside what looked like a square tunnel.

A… corridor. That's the word for it. Corridor.

Annoyed at his inability to recall words, Benjamin ground his teeth. Looking at the doorway where the other one had went, he waited impatiently. When some movement finally occurred, what emerged was not what he expected – instead of the one that woke him, a male human with a thin beard peeked out and looked at him. Benjamin tensed. He'd had enough of humans for a lifetime. The other red one finally appeared again, and placed himself in the doorway. He leaned against the doorpost on his wings and crossed his arms over his chest and made small gestures from time to time to emphasize something he said. The human kept looking at him for a minute or so, every now and then saying something to the red one.

Eventually, he seemed satisfied and left with one last look. The red one rubbed his forehead, clearly somewhat bothered. He approached Benjamin again and sat down on his haunches, giving him a studying eye.

Frowning, he muttered something to himself and stared directly into Benjamin's eyes. He tapped a claw against his chest and said "Earl."

Hesitating for a second, Benjamin moved his arm and placed a claw on his own chest. Thinking hard, his mental gears ground back into action and he slowly pressed out a single word.

"Benjamin."

Earl (for Benjamin assumed that was his name) grinned and breathed out. He smiled, and said a few words. Benjamin wasn't sure, but he thought he recognized them.

Possibly…

"Now we're getting somewhere."

Description
The rover pulled up in the snowdrifts next to our house, marking our path with deep tracks in the snow. The ride back had been quick but uncomfortable, due to the numerous bumps and holes in the road leading home.

Pushing myself up from the floor, I maneuvered around the black dragon and opened the door. The sunlight stung my eyes in sharp contrast to the dark interior of the military rover as I stuck my head outside. My father had already gotten out of the front seat and looked at me.

I gestured at the house. "Clear out the sofa – we'll need to get him indoors in a safe position. "

He nodded, and pointed at the rover. "You don't need any help getting him out and inside?" he asked.

"Sure, but I need a place to put him first."

"Fair enough."

I turned back into the car, assessing the situation. If he had sustained damage, there was no knowing what additional injury we might cause by moving him around too much, but leaving him in the rover wasn't really an option either. He didn't have any visible wounds, but internals were a possibility.

Grandpa came around the back of the car and rolled his shoulders. He pointed at the other dragon and said "I think we'll have to be two on that one – looks heavy."

I nodded. "Yes. Can you give me a hand? Dad should be done by now."

Crawling back into the space, I put an arm under the dragon's neck and his left arm around my shoulder. Grandpa pulled on his legs, maneuvering him out of the car. Making sure the tail was outside and not stuck, he beckoned for me to go on. With a grunt, I pushed the body forwards into his waiting arms. He caught his other arm and the right wing and lifted the limp body with a grimace. After a muttered confirmation when I asked if he was alright, we limped off towards the door.

I kicked shoes and general items aside as we pushed through the cluttered hallway – never thought I'd be sorry for not taking the initiative on cleaning. Joke's on me, I suppose.

Dad was waiting in the living room where he had cleared out a sofa for our guest. He looked nervous.

Can't really blame him. He and his dragon son did just run over another dragon, that is now unconscious and in our house. Yeah, I'd be a bit spooked too.

"Whoa, whoa! Watch his tail and wings, don't bend them too much." I waved with my free had at dad, who was trying to get the black dragon into resting position in the sofa – during his attempts he had accidentally got the limbs into an uncomfortable position that could lead to some pain if not corrected.

"Fold the wings at the joints and push the tail down into the crack between the mattresses. You can stick one wing through the back rest and out the other side. That should work – well, for now at least." I gestured at the different points. He gave me a look and adjusted the limbs. We slowly lowered him into the sofa while I carefully watched so nothing got in the way. My arms were starting to hurt from holding his weight up, but I bit down and finished the job.

With a slight stagger, I straightened out. Having gotten rid of the weight, I felt like I would float up to the ceiling any second.

Without having to focus on carrying the other dragon, my own pains came back hard. I let out an involuntary whine as the gash on my head stung. I limped over to the other of the two sofas and dropped down heavily.

Grandpa frowned at us. "I think we're out of the woods now. Let's have everyone looked at." I just wanted to sit down, but didn't really have the energy to complain. He bent down at grabbed one of my horns, turning my head to the side so he could see the gash in my forehead better.

"Still bleeding a bit, but I'm surprised it isn't worse. It actually looks like it's healing already. What about you, Dan? Any injuries I should know about?"

My father shook his head. "I'm alright. Been better, but I'm alright."

Grandpa sighed. "You two were damn lucky. I've seen milder crashes gone worse, and to be perfectly honest, you should be thanking someone up above for this."

When he was finished with my head, he gave my tail a long look.

"Bend over."

"Excuse me?" I blurted out.

He drummed his fingers against his leg impatiently. "Or flip, if you want to do it that way. Your tail, we need to push it back into place. Figure it'd be like a dislocated finger, only shitloads more painful."

"Yeah, thanks for the moral support." I grumpily said. "At least I'm not lisping anymore." Dreading what was to come, I flipped onto my belly on the sofa. Grandpa dragged over a side table, and I placed my tail on it. I could feel the painful throbbing like pulsating, burning embers in my tip.

I stuck out an arm and motioned for the fireplace, where a few logs lay. "Give me one of those. I suspect I'm going to need it, unless you plan on losing an arm."

"Good idea." Dad picked out one that wasn't too full of splinters and handed me it. I nervously took it between my jaws and bit down. Sharp as my teeth were, they sank easily into the wood, giving me a dry taste in my mouth.

"Alright, I'll treat this as any dislocated finger – pull and push. I'll yank hard outwards, and then it should settle back into place. If not, we'll just have to get brutal."

Brutal? Uh-oh.

With an almost inaudible whine, I nodded and bit down on the trunk. I tried to keep my fear down – I'm not a fan of pain – and I felt a tiny shudder run along my body as he placed his hands around the tail end. I closed my eyes and breathed out through my nose. My claws closed around the sofa edges.

"Ready? Three… Two…"

I roared through the trunk as he yanked my tail against the dislocation. The pain shot up through my tail as electrified lava, and a loud crack almost made me sick to my stomach. My muscles quaked and I had to make a conscious effort not to whip around and slash at him. I buried my claws deep into the soft fabric of the mattress, hearing the springs creak from my tension.

And then, just as it begun, it was over. A dull, fading pain lingered, but everything felt somewhat normal again.

With a groan, I opened my eyes and shook the trunk as the neck of a dead animal. Hissing, I spat out the crushed splinters in the firewood basket and pushed myself up onto my side.

"Thanks – you weren't lying about it being painful." I huffed out.

"No worries. That crack never cracks anyone up, if you catch my drift. We have to splint it now, just to make sure you don't move it around too much. Always best to keep movement to a minimum, especially since you've been walking around with it for a while. I should have some support bandages somewhere around here." He said, as he walked off towards the bathroom.

I closed my eyes and leaned back. This day had been far too eventful so far, and it was beginning to try my energy reserves. I rubbed a claw against my forehead, and let my thoughts drift for a few moments. Without realizing it at first, my thoughts went to the other dragon. Who was he? How had he gotten here? Had he also been a human, like me? And, though I dreaded to ask myself it, was he going to survive? He looked stable enough, but nobody had any experience with draconic anatomy. Hell, I didn't even know if we had the same organs as humans did – similarities in body shape didn't necessarily mean similarities in organ composition. Maybe I was just overreacting – he did seem fine.

Putting it off my mind for now, I flexed my claws and tried to relax. I'd get my answers when he woke up.

* * *

Benjamin slowly drifted back into the waking world. His entire body was hurting from whatever had happened. He tried shifting his body slightly, and cringed from the stabbing pain.

Ouch.

What had happened, anyway? He was on a road, running… and then there had been some bright lights. After that, he could only remember darkness.

He could hear strange noises nearby, and sense strange smells he'd never encountered before. Something… almost familiar.

He snapped his eyes open. A flat, grayish surface covered what he had expected to be the sky, and there was a wall next to him. Objects were mounted on it that he recognized, but couldn't put words to.

A strange device hung from the flat surface. It had an odd, three-pronged base that three metal rods extended from. A bright light was mounted on the tip of each rod. Below him was some type of soft, red material that seemed to spring back when he moved.

Struck with a strange sense of panic, Benjamin moved to run.

The world spun as he tried to sit up and stabbing pain forced him back down. An involuntary growl escaped his throat as he dropped back down onto the springy surface. Landing with his face outwards, he could see a dying fire burning on a stone brick platform.

I'm… in a house?

Without having time to process this revelation, a figure moved into his field of vision.

Benjamin froze. It was as if he was looking into a murky lake. In front of him sat an almost frighteningly eerie creature, almost identical to himself. The creature had a scaled snout, just like him, with two piercing green eyes that seemed to stare right into him. Unlike him, though, this one had red scales with shifting hues. The apparition opened its mouth and spoke with a clear, male voice, but the words were... jumbled, incoherent. He recognized one or two, but years and years of loneliness had struck the rest from his mind.

The red one reached out with a clawed hand and Benjamin hissed out of pure reflex. The creature snapped its hand back with a surprised expression. It spoke again, this time with a softer voice. It held up its hands in a calming gesture and backed off a step. Breathing heavily, Benjamin was utterly confused and on the verge of panic.

What the hell is going on? I need to get out of here.

At the same time, he couldn't shake off the feeling that he wanted to know more. This one was like him. There was no doubt about it that by some cruel twist of fate, they were the same. Recalling the pain from ages long past, he wondered what this one could have gone through.

Benjamin breathed out and clenched his left paw into a fist, trying to calm himself. The other one peered at him with curious eyes and an almost child-like expression. A realizing expression moved across its face, and it rose up to walk away. Halfway through the first step, it hesitated and turned back. It held up a single claw and said something.

"One."

One? I know that word… One, one of what? One of you? One of me? A threat?

Benjamin blinked as he understood.

Oh. One minute. He'll be back.

Benjamin nodded slowly with an inquisitive expression, but the other one had already turned and left the room. He could hear him speaking to someone else just outside inside what looked like a square tunnel.

A… corridor. That's the word for it. Corridor.

Annoyed at his inability to recall words, Benjamin ground his teeth. Looking at the doorway where the other one had went, he waited impatiently. When some movement finally occurred, what emerged was not what he expected – instead of the one that woke him, a male human with a thin beard peeked out and looked at him. Benjamin tensed. He'd had enough of humans for a lifetime. The other red one finally appeared again, and placed himself in the doorway. He leaned against the doorpost on his wings and crossed his arms over his chest and made small gestures from time to time to emphasize something he said. The human kept looking at him for a minute or so, every now and then saying something to the red one.

Eventually, he seemed satisfied and left with one last look. The red one rubbed his forehead, clearly somewhat bothered. He approached Benjamin again and sat down on his haunches, giving him a studying eye.

Frowning, he muttered something to himself and stared directly into Benjamin's eyes. He tapped a claw against his chest and said "Earl."

Hesitating for a second, Benjamin moved his arm and placed a claw on his own chest. Thinking hard, his mental gears ground back into action and he slowly pressed out a single word.

"Benjamin."

Earl (for Benjamin assumed that was his name) grinned and breathed out. He smiled, and said a few words. Benjamin wasn't sure, but he thought he recognized them.

Possibly…

"Now we're getting somewhere."