File type: Word Document(.docx) [Download]
-----------------------------------------
Could not generate preview text for this file type.
-----------------------------------------
Could not generate preview text for this file type.
|First (you are here!)|Next|>
Foreword:
A little over a year ago, I posted the first chapter to a story series that I never thought would go on this far. A story that includes, or at least will include pain, love, immortality, equality, nature vs. technology, sacrifice, and that even beings as powerful as gods can have their own disorders. And of course, vore, but no longer is that the focus. Now, I found my key is to balance joy and suffering, for they are two sides of the same coin. One cannot exist without the other. What is safety without something to be safe from? Fair warning, later on, past the point I’ve told you about in the first writing of this series, you will find that things are different than before. I think about the world I’ve made every day and night to keep expanding it with. To hear people asking me to continue the series tells me just how much they like it. There are so many, SO MANY things about Uprora I have not shared yet. And that needs to be corrected. But first, the original must be perfected.
Let me show you my world.
“I’m scared…” A tiny voice squeaked.
The mother looked down at her hatchling, a little pink dragon hiding behind her hind leg, along with her wolf pup brother. Her eyes, soft as a drop of blue paint, soaked in their expressions of pure fear. The mother too was quite terrified of the sight; the uncertainty of the devastation that would soon follow. Returning to looking forward, she watched the vessel meant to go heavenward, plummet down to the earth.
***
‘For once, why can’t everything turn out good? Why can’t I be somewhere I’m happy?’
Fear forced Jake’s hands to grip the hand bars, as if they were welded to the metal. He couldn’t release, though he did not want to. The escape pod was his only hope for survival as the ship he was in, named the Trojan Horse, caught aflame for reasons he did not know.
The 15-year-old boy, an orphan for 5 years, prayed that he would black out from the fall and not have to experience the impact, even as a parachute deployed to slow the descent.
It proved to be pure anguish to have to wait for the pod to land, even with a tiny viewport in front of his face.
*Click!*
An even larger sinkhole of fear swelled immediately once the pod plummeted faster. As with his hands, his lungs acted on their own; breathing air as fast as they could.
“AHHHHHH!” He screamed and shook, not realizing that everything was still. Twitching his head everywhere, still under the idea that the pod remained falling. Upon realizing he had already crashed, he gave an enormous sigh of relief that he suffered no injuries and took a moment to calm himself. Jake hit the door release, yet braced himself for whatever experience this new world brought. Air hissed and mechanisms whirred until suddenly stopping, having been jammed from the impact. Cursing under his breath, he did his best to kick the door in such a cramped space.
After a couple of good kicks, the door dropped, and humid air flooded into the pod. Jake froze at the sight.
He had landed in a jungle. A bright green, dense, beautiful maze of asymmetrical, tangled looking trees and vines. Sunlight peppered everywhere in little dots through the quantities of trees and vines. The rays could be seen casting down through the foliage in beams.
Jake stepped outside of the pod, the scenery still distracting him and making whatever thoughts he did have surreal. A truly beautiful sight.
Then thoughts of lurking danger creeped into his head. The shadows grew larger, and larger. The trees creaked and groaned, prowling towards him.
He froze in fear; some unconscious part of him taking over.
‘It’s all in your head. Snap out of it!’ He screamed to himself in his mind. His common motivating tactic, and he kept doing it until he couldn’t stand himself anymore.
He fully regained his focus, grabbing a duffel bag out of the pod, and needed to decide what his next move would be.
First, he took a moment to inspect the pod. One of the four parachute strings had snapped, something that by standards shouldn’t have happened, but the ship he came in was in such bad condition there was no question why it caught aflame, marooning him in the jungle.
Looking back the jungle, his mind saw it as a path leading to a gaping maw that would swallow him in darkness forever.
He didn’t want to want to leave, and maybe he didn’t have to. The crash may have scared away predators, or the opposite. Different planet meant different life and the fundamentals of it. There was almost, in a literal sense, no way of telling how things would be.
While not feeling safe anywhere, he felt much less safe walking into the denser areas of the jungle, Jake decided to stay with the pod and wait for help, mainly because he couldn’t bring himself into leaving it.
He opened the bag, inspecting its contents, only to be in a strange mix of shock and confusion.
There was virtually nothing useful in it. It seemed that nearly every federal law requiring certain items in survival bags were neglected and broken. In it was only a few cans of food, a blanket, a cheap looking radio, a flashlight, and two stick flares. A real survival kit would have at least had a heating tent along with a few other things.
‘The radio!’ Jake exclaimed to himself in his head, picking it up. It was an old style, but most things considered ‘low tech’ had an early 21st century look to them. Jake switched it on.
Nothing happened.
He tried the dials and buttons.
Still nothing.
He opened the back of the case…
Two slots where batteries went were empty.
Jake screamed in absolute anger, throwing the radio at a tree and shattering it into a million pieces. All he could is wait for someone to find him. And finding him could be difficult.
After a short while of waiting with a paranoid mind, some foliage in the large trees rustled, catching the young man’s attention. Three reptilian creatures dropped down, landing with ease and grace. They were lizards but did not act nor look like any from Earth. They resembled tigers by the way they moved and their body build. Their necks were not unlike those belonging to horses, only half as long. Four eyes on their lizard heads, they were indeed frightening predators to behold, especially with a snake mouth present at the ends of their tails. Not only that, they were HUGE! He remained below the base of the neck of every one of them.
Each had a different color of scales. The one to Jake’s left had wooden brown scales for what must’ve hiding in trees. To the right, a brighter turquoise covered the creature, catching the eye more than its compatriots. Lastly, the center one, appearing to be the leader of the group and the largest, had a traditional light green coating.
“Oh shit!” Jake cursed, grabbing his bag and sprinting away into the jungle.
The creatures cocked their heads and looked at each other in confusion.
Jake’s own panting became the loudest thing Jake could hear. The duffel bag swayed and shook over his back.
After making some distance, Jake had to stop to catch his breath. He wasn’t used to running, and quite frankly, when did he ever need to be? He went behind a large tree, pressing the bag as he leaned against it. Scanning the way he came from, Jake could see nothing following. Once he had finished sighing in relief, he began taking in his surroundings, only to eradicating his calmness.
It was darkness. Jake never imagined a place in broad daylight could be so dark. It wasn’t a black darkness, but rather the layers of foliage in the trees only allowed a couple of gaps here and there for the sun’s rays to come through. As if one closed the window blinds during the day, but the sunlight still entered the room. He could see fine, but the whole thing was unnerving, with a strange beauty to it.
He was waist deep in plants and leaves. Occasionally there were spots of nothing but dirt, however it was strange that such abundant flora would spawn in places where there was little sunlight.
Jake closed his eyes and took deep inhales, following with long exhales. Telling himself he had to keep moving and find somewhere open where rescue could see him, the lost human began walking with caution.
His footsteps, the rustling, the distant chirping were the loudest noises ever. The paranoia heightening his sense, but Jake could feel it eating away his reasoning. Something was off.
He was being watched.
Jake reached a point where he had to stop and sit against a tree to keep himself together or else run off without thinking.
“What is wrong with me?” A whisper sounded from his mouth. The very instincts trying to keep him alive were cruel in neglecting any rational thought he had.
Jake wanted to break down and cry. Trying to stop himself was the most tormenting action he had ever had to partake in.
Deep within his warring mind, Jake didn’t feel the green vine slither slowly to his foot, coiling around his ankle. A strong squeeze and a sudden pull, and Jake was dragged across the jungle floor against his will, his bag slipping off.
Turns out his instincts were right after all.
After a moment of struggling, he came to a stop, and almost immediately afterward had his other limbs entangled by more vines. He screamed and struggled and did whatever he could to escape as he felt more smooth, cold appendages glide across his body. Around him strange plants approached him. Most were different, but they all had some characteristics in common. Each was a bulb connected to a long stalk. Some had a leafy mane between the stalk and head. The bulb’s color was commonly an eggplant purple, sometimes a jungle green, and rarely some others. The bulbs themselves could be considered entirely the mouth of the plant, as it was the only feature on each of them, excluding any visible sensory features such as eyes. The mouth could be categorized as either a simple maw, or a multi-mandible sort of flower like mouth.
The heads approached him, rumbling in some high-pitched sounding language their prey couldn’t understand. The jawed ones (which the ones with the regular maws will be called despite how inaccurate the name is) seemed to smile; licking their lips in anticipation with giant, slobbery tongues, while the flower ones flexed their jaws; a thin, retractable, vine like tongue slithering in and out.
One approached closer to him, but another stopped it. The two seemed to bicker, and the scenario was happening everywhere with all the other plants. Their way of debating who would get the human morsel as their snack. One gave a light screech, roar, or whatever one may call it.
The others stopped, submitting reluctantly. The vines restraining him eased and slithered away, while being replaced with other ones. All of the original appendages had left, except for the first one on the human’s ankle.
It appeared it’s reasoning was first come would have the first serve.
Jake struggled, flailing his arms everywhere as he was lifted off the grounded. The plant’s head seemed to prowl towards him in midair, eagerly licking its chops. It was a jawed one, having a purple head and the leafy mane at the back.
Jake begged it to let him go, but his pleas went unanswered as the head came terrifyingly close to him.
The plant smirked before opening its jaws, close to a 180-degree angle that the jaws were nearly lined up straight. The squishy, purple flesh nearly covered Jake’s entire line of sight, while the tongue, that seemed to be a retractable kind, eagerly prepared to bring him into the throat.
“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!” Jake poured every ounce of air in his lungs out into a single, feral sounding scream that the whole jungle could’ve heard.
Distressed, the plant’s smiling expression turned sour. It hurriedly but gently placed its catch back to the jungle floor.
Jake scurried onto his back, still absolutely terrified, he wasted no time running off, grabbing his bag on the way.
Fear had him once again, telling him couldn’t stop running for anything. However, once his adrenaline rush ended, he found it all the harder to move. All his strength had been exhausted by his earlier struggles. His pace became a limping walk, feeling as if dumbbells were tied to them. Everything went hazy as it was suddenly more difficult to think.
He kept moving nevertheless towards a shining light. First thinking he was hallucinating, he realized there really was a light at the end of the trees. Newfound strength filled him, and so he made his way to the source of the rays.
When he finally reached it, he froze in pure awe at the sight.
In front of him was a forest.
Not a jungle, a forest.
The close trees were spread out and sparse, but further away they were much more crowded.
A thin layer of frost covered the ground, reflecting some of the sun’s rays. It was baffling to look at while in the extremely humid jungle air.
He stuck his hand out, and nearly jumped at the feeling of cold air at his fingertips.
It could be a dangerous environment, especially at night, but he already knew what lied waiting in the jungle and did not want to go back there.
Then an idea sprang to mind: what if he stayed at the border? Logically, the creatures in either biome wouldn’t want to cross over to the next. If that is the case, then what would bother getting close to the edge.
Looking back into the jungle, a gleam of confidence growing, only to be in wide eyed horror as movement buzzed everywhere.
Vines slithering in the air. The plants did not abandon their catch after all.
Jake made a brake for it, entering the forest, shivering violently from the sudden temperature change, getting as far away as quickly as he could.
Sure, he was exhausted and possibly in shock, but the terrain was far easier to move in and the plants didn’t seem to like the cold, slowing their speed.
Jake felt the last brush against him right before it jerked; unable to reach any further. However, the runner was unaware until he took the risk to check behind him. Finally, he was able to stop and take a sigh of relief. Getting out a simple jacket, with nothing else to protect him from the freezing air, Jake settled on never returning to the jungle, no matter how cold it got.
The sunlight turning orange signified night was approaching, and he needed shelter if he was to have the slightest chance to protect himself from the approaching cold.
***
“Faith, where are you going?”
The green dragoness turned to face her mother. “I need to go for a walk, to clear my mind.”
“You know that isn’t wise, not now. With all that’s happened you should be here with your family. Your little siblings are terrified.”
“I know but…” she placed her head against her mother’s white scaled chest. “A ship crashed, there could still be lost people out there. I need to check mother. I need to at least check.”
The mother stretched out an arm around her daughter’s neck. “Then check, and bring anyone you find here.” A sense of proudness was present in her voice. The pearl white dragoness left a light kiss on her daughter’s forehead before releasing.
She watched her daughter walk into the woods.
‘They grow up so fast… too fast.’
***
Jake put another empty can into his bag, while his hunger remained unsatisfied. Four cans empty and he was no less hungry than before he began eating. It was imperative he finds shelter, but it had to be an unoccupied one. Already he had found several signs of fauna, but aggressive or passive he did not know.
The sun had completely disappeared behind the horizon, leaving only an orange glow to light the land before the moon took over.
For hours he walked in the darkness. The clouds concealed the stars and moon’s generously glow. Jake could only make heads or tails of what was 5 feet in front of him. The jacket he wore on his upper body helped to slightly shield him from the chilling winds, but his legs shook in the shorts he wore.
More than anything he wanted escape. To be in a cozy next to a burning fireplace. It was pure agony to think about what good things were so far out of his reach, but it gave him a reminder why he kept moving.
By sometime around ten o’clock, Jake’s search seemed to finally come to fruition. A cave, a very large, perhaps too large to simply be unoccupied one. What choice did he have? He walked in, arms folded around him.
Without the moon, every step sparked an unknown danger in Jake. Having a hand on the cave’s left wall helped to balance and guide him. Still, his heart beat loudly in his chest, and it was as if he was blindfolded and put in a minefield.
*Squish…*
Jake stepped in something… goopy and sticky? His shoe was stuck as if the substance was glue. He couldn’t see what it was, or anything for that matter, and so when he moved his other foot, he had stepped into yet another puddle of goo.
He freaked out, trying to get his shoes out as he couldn’t possibly afford to lose them. When he leaned forward to get more balance on the cave wall. When he tried pulling his arm back, the sleeve stayed where it was.
The stuff was on the walls too!
The whole cave must’ve have been covered in the unknown goop. A deep rage in Jake ignited towards himself for being so careless and stupid. But when he heard the sound of something shifting in the cave, his heart sank lower than he ever thought possible.
What Jake began calling slime were in fact traps to catch prey for whatever creature dwelled in the cave.
Tears welled in his eyes. He desperately tugged at his sleeve, trying to tear it off even, but the substance would not give in. As the shifting noises of whatever was in the cave continued, Jake made a hasty act. He slipped off his jacket and jumped out of his shoes; abandoning them. He ran out of the cave, forced to leave his bag as he couldn’t keep it on while parting with his jacket. It seemed like he left before whatever was in there noticed him, as he didn’t hear anything pursuing him. Though it would undoubtedly know something was in there since he left his things. Hopefully it didn’t have a good sense of smell, but that was unlikely.
Jake knew he had to keep running. So he did. Running and running; tormenting his body to escape danger.
His socks eventually came off in the running, to have his sensitive bare feet be chilled by the frosted grass and scraped by the cold rocks.
The darkness remained as obscuring as ever, no thanks to the thick clouds.
Every step pounded against the ground until… one didn’t.
Jake screamed. He went into free fall.
A few seconds later, he collided harshly with the ground. While most of his body hit the grass and coarse dirt, his right shin struck a rock. The human screamed in pain. He had suffered a broken bone before and he could tell his leg didn’t fracture. However, red flowed from his leg.
Reluctantly, Jake took off his shirt and tied it around the wound. Unfortunately, he had nothing to disinfect it. He could only hope.
‘Hope?’ He thought to himself. Now he contemplated on just how bleak things were. Being the realist he was, Jake summoned enough strength to stand up, walk, and power through the pain of his leg.
He didn’t go far; only to a spot that seemed peaceful enough.
He screamed out into the darkness. Screamed with all his anger.
“WHY! Why have me suffer all those years, in a place where I’m constantly reminded of my grief, to just die here!?” He cried out to whatever divine being existed. “I’m sick of it! Either I die tonight, or something happens! So answer me!!”
When he finished, the clouds parted, and the blue moon casted its rays down upon him.
Jake collapsed, sitting against a tree.
He waited for an answer.
***
Faith wandered around, not really having a certain place to be looking. She could smell things miles away, but so far nothing.
To find survivors was the reason Faith went out, but she also needed time to herself. Time to contemplate on how everything had changed since the arrival of humans. She grew up in a time when everything thought they were alone in the universe. Ultimately, it was nice to be part of their nation, but she didn’t have to worry about metal ships falling from the sky.
The dragon sighed, thinking why she was really feeling so down.
It came to her: she was scared.
Scared that the ship could’ve landed on her home, on her family.
But such things were beyond her control. However, she could still do something.
Faith closed her eyes and concentrated. She took a few heavy sniffs of the air. That’s when she detected something at the edge of her radius.
A human.
Humans rarely come out this deep into the wilds, and almost never alone. It could only be a survivor from the ship.
Time was of the essence, and so Faith quickly made it to a more open area. She spread her wings and took off into the night sky.
***
The tears flowed in rivers from Jake’s eyes. All he had ever wanted was a home; someplace to always look forward to returning. Yet it seemed that would never happen, and been refused an answer.
His life would be a complete waste.
In the trees, the soft, golden reptilian eyes of the dragoness looked with sadness and compassion upon the source of the scent. He was a boy, in his teens but rendered helpless, sitting against a tree. The temperature was almost at the point of snowing, and she saw the torn pair of shorts did nothing to keep him warm against the blowing winds. It was in all her family’s nature to help those in need, but she would be cautious. From her head, she disappeared in a wave of refracted light moving down to her tail, like her body was turning to glass. No longer could she be easily seen to the normal eye. Even from a distance she moved quietly, flattening the frosted grass with every step. The human still hadn’t noticed her presence when she reached him. She knew that to help him she would have to reveal herself. And so, she did.
As he was waiting for some answer, Jake felt a puff of warm air on his front, startling him. Slowly lifting his head up, he gave a terrified whimper. He got a full view of the creature looming over him: a vast dragon, with green scales, and eyes of yellow moons, bigger than dinner plates. Yellow stretched over her underbelly, standing out from her darker colors. He would be in awe if fear hadn’t been crawling throughout his body.
“Please don’t be scared.” The dragon cooed in a soft, female voice. “I just want to help you.”
Jake gasped in disbelief. The dragon in front of him was speaking in English! He was still scared, but somehow that had eased a bit of his fear.
A scaly grasp gripped his center, lifting him off the ground. He didn’t resist and let her carry him, then made contact with a warm, soft, and yellow surface. It took a long moment in his fatigued state to realize it was the dragoness’s chest. He gradually began to enjoy the warmth radiating from the scaly body.
Looking down at the human who now had a slight smile on his face, the dragoness laid down on the frosted grass, letting her foundling regain at least some of his strength. She proceeded to cover him more with her other paw to warm him further. “Is that better?” She asked with a cooing sound at the end.
The boy, whose shivering had significantly decreased, nodded his head enough to be noticed.
It came to him that the dragon was speaking his own tongue and helping him. If he had the mental strength, he’d have asked twenty questions already, but now he just went along with it, happy to regain some hope.
The dragon grew happy at the answer she received. “Are you from the ship that crashed?” She found the moment to ask.
The smile on Jake’s face turned into a slight frown. “Yeah.” He sobbed a little, speaking in a weak voice.
Wishing she had never asked the question, the dragoness sought of way to elevate the boy’s mood. She moved her left paw and touched her chest next to the boy. “My name’s Faith little one, what’s yours?” She asked, thinking introductions would make things better.
Jake noticed his newly befriended dragon, Faith, was doing everything she could to make his feelings better, and he very much appreciated it. “I’m Jacob, but call me Jake.” He introduced himself, his smile returning a little.
Knowing his name caused Faith to grow a little fonder of her foundling, and she now focused her mind on his leg injury. She carried him from her chest, cradling him in the air and using her other claw to move the makeshift bandage on his leg. The bleeding had slowed, but had not stopped entirely. Her muzzle moved closer and Faith licked the wound softly with her long tongue.
“What are you doing?” Jake asked hurriedly, exhausting his sore lungs in the process.
“Just relax.” She reassured him. When she stopped, she covered the wound again with the shirt. “That’ll help it heal.” Faith explained.
With that done, she focused on getting him to safety. Getting up, reserving her right paw to her human’s warmth and protection, she began a 3-legged walk to her home, while having no doubts that her parents would allow the human to stay with them for the night. “I’ll take you to my home tonight, then we’ll look for your family in the morning, okay?” Cooing softly, looking down at Jake. Expecting a gleam of happiness and hope, her reassurance was returned with a look of sorrow.
Eyes closed and head facing downward, Jake began to tear up and sob. He reached outward hugged her chest tighter, even though his arms became more exposed to the chilling air, with all those thoughts of hopelessness return to his head.
Faith felt so bad that she laid back down on the forest ground to comfort her crying foundling with both arms. “Jake?” Was all she said; not knowing what to say without hurting him anymore.
It took a long time for Jake’s crying to be reduced enough for him to speak. Eventually it fell to the point he could muster some of his voice. “I-I don’t… I don’t have a family. I-I d-don’t have anywhere to g-go.” He spoke so quietly he was surprised Faith heard him.
Heart sunk and tears building, Faith couldn’t believe what she was hearing: her foundling was an orphan. “Jake… I’m so sorry…” She sobbed, hugging him even tighter with her chin lightly pressing against his back.
“Please don’t cry for me.” Jake reached a hand to stroke her neck.
Faith gave soft nuzzles to his head, purring a little. For a long time as she was comforting him, she contemplated on something: could he live with her family? Unquestionably her mother would allow any homeless being to be part of their household. But could they even take care of a human safely? Finally, would he want, or even be okay, to live with a family of dragons and other Uprorian ferals? She had just met this boy and barely knew him, but where would he go after this? Begging on the streets? A foster home? Her protective nature belonging to most dragons took over, and so Faith decided that she had to at least try to bring him into her family, or she would never forgive herself.
“Jake?” The boy responded by looking up at her. “I was wondering… how would you like to live with my family?”
First, Jake thought she was joking, feeling so surreal about what she had said, but her expression held no falsehoods. “You serious?” He questioned in a rising voice.
“Yes.”
His eyes light up, and he began crying even harder than ever before. Arms pressing against Faith in the best form of a hug he could manage. He had forgotten how this much joy felt like. “Thank youuu...” He muttered weakly, but a gleam of happiness hinted in his voice.
“You’re very welcome little guy.” Faith cooed, nuzzling his head.
With all said and done, she begun once more walking home with the human in her arm. “It’s going to be a while before we’re home okay?” Unable to fly back without the risk of her foundling freezing to death.
‘Maybe- no, he’s not ready.’
After a bit of traveling, the snow began to fall harder, and while Faith wasn’t affected in the least, Jake shivered more even with her body’s warmth. “Just hang on.” She told him. Eventually, hanging on wouldn’t be enough, and once more the temperature was becoming more and more fatal to the human.
Jake didn’t want to look at his fingers anymore since they had started turning blue. He feared for his life again and so did Faith. The dragon picked up the pace, running towards her new plan to keep him alive.
After making a sharp left turn, Faith spotted a fallen tree trunk. She quickly grabbed it in her jaws and made her way to a nearby cave. Entering, she dropped the log at the center and gnawed a bit of it into pieces with some difficulty without one of her claws, then craning her neck forward to spew a breath of flame.
Laying against the wall at the end of the cave, Faith covered Jake to the best of her ability, trying to comfort him. Thanks to the cave’s shelter, and the warmth of the fire, he was no longer in danger of freezing to death.
Outside the snow’s intensity had grown even stronger, and Faith knew it would only keep increasing. A blizzard happening today should not have been possible, but it didn’t matter right now. Soon, they would both be trapped. “Everything’s going to be alright.”
She had a terrible poker face. Seeing her fake expression and the view of the outside world, Jake could easily make heads or tails of the situation. A single tear streamed down his cheek.
“Liar…”
Faith flinched at his words.
“It’s going to get worse, and you know it. Soon, even you won’t be able to go back outside… and we’ll both be trapped here. I’m sure you’ll make it, I’ll starve to death if I don’t freeze.”
Faith didn’t know what to reply to that.
“Leave. Go and you can at least get home in time. Just leave me here.”
“NO! I’m not leaving you here to freeze!”
“THEN END IT!”
The sentence had more clarity than anything Jake had spoken to her. More tears and sobs followed.
“The way I see it, there’s three things you can do: stay here, we’ll be trapped, and you’ll have to watch as I slowly die. Leave, go home before it gets worse, and I’ll die here but you’ll be safe home at least. Or kill me. I’ll die swiftly and won’t be in anymore pain, and you can go home.”
Tears streamed down Faith’s eyes at what she was hearing. She wanted to stop him from talking but her voice had clogged. When he finished, she could now answer.
“No…”
Her voice spoke in a low volume but filled with enough strength to throw a mountain.
“No. No. No! No, no, no, no, NO!!”
Her arms squeezed him tighter than ever against her underbelly.
“You’re not going to die! You’re going to live! SO SHUT IT!”
“Faith, there’s-”
“ROOOAAR!!”
An intense wave of heat blasted over Jake’s head. When he looked up again Faith’s mouth breathed flames through her snarling teeth. For a moment, he had forgotten the kind nature she had when he met her, and thought he was seeing a savage monster.
The flames extinguished, and her expression calmed. She closed her eyes and sighed.
Jake grew fearful when she began leaning her head down to him. Out of instinct, he braced himself and shut his eyes, preparing for the worst, savage death he didn’t wish for. Rather than his head getting ripped off, he felt warm lips touch his head, washing away his fear.
She had turned from her rage back to her caring demeanor in a matter of seconds.
“I’m not going to leave you. And you’re not going to die.” Faith spoke in a soft, motherly voice as if he were her own child. A voice Jake had long forgotten sounded like.
First thinking she was only being extremely optimistic, Jake could tell there burned a metaphorical (and literal if you will) fire in her. It was clear she was going to do whatever it took to save him, but there was one question:
“How?”
Her eyes opened, looking down at his small form in her grasp.
“Tell me Jake, did you meet anything scary before I met you?”
“What does that-?” He was interrupted by Faith’s tail wrapping smoothly around his waist.
“Were there any…” She struggled finding the words. “Creatures that seemed like they were trying to hurt you?
Jake was trying to understand what she meant by ‘seemed like’, but he answered her question nonetheless. “In the jungle, there were these plants that attacked me.”
“Okay, so described what happened.”
He was about to question her how it was related to their situation, but stopped himself, knowing she must have some reason for it.
“At first, a vine grabbed my leg, then more came and grabbed me. I tried fighting back while all the heads of these plants were appearing everywhere. One was about to eat me, but then I screamed and for some reason they let me go.”
“Did they hurt you?”
“They-.” It hit Jake like a brick. In the scenario he had not suffered a single scratch. In fact, all his injuries today had been, more or less, his doing through accidents. “No… no, they didn’t.”
“What if I told you that you were never in any danger in the first place?”
Jake had to process what she said. He could only come up with one reply: “I was never in any danger?”
The dragoness nodded her head. “I’ve heard many things about your home world, and it’s a lot different from here. Let’s say if your kind wasn’t the only intelligent beings in your world, and that let’s say… the lions, wolves, and even sharks were as intelligent as you, and you all lived in harmony. That’s what Uprora is.” Faith paused after her last sentence, allowing Jake to take in what she was saying.
“So, they were… like me?”
“I guess you could say it in that way, yes.”
“But I still don’t get it Faith! What were they doing?” He was getting impatient. All the new information was starting to overwhelm him, and the dragoness didn’t blame him, so she calmly continued.
“The plants here are… mischievous in their nature, but in a playful way. All they were really doing was playing with you. In fact, I’m certain they were going to help you when they were done.”
Jake took it in. “So they were only pretending they were going to eat me?”
“Well… no”
Jake flinched, now more confused than ever. What Faith answered completely went against what she was saying earlier.
“I know what you’re thinking but hear me out.” The dragoness said quickly, trying not to lose him. “What if I told you that even if they had eaten you, you would’ve been alright?”
Jake thought he couldn’t get any more confused, yet he was completely wrong. Getting eaten and ending up alright afterwards was something that defied logic. Before he could reply, Faith continued.
“You see Jake, all Uprorians, and I mean all Uprorians, at least the intelligent ones, can swallow things safely without hurting them. If those plants had eaten you, then you would’ve just had to wait in a stomach until they decided to let you out.”
It finally began piecing together in Jake’s head why Faith brought up the subject. “Does that mean you-?”
“Can do it too?” She interrupted him. “Yes, but differently. Most Uprorians just halt their digestion, but dragons have a different way. We have a second stomach for storage that we mostly use to protect our young. I didn’t share this with you because I knew you weren’t from around here and I didn’t want to scare you.”
Jake’s head felt like he was lost in another world (and yet he actually was physically). The very thought was so surreal he now started thinking he may have been dreaming even after everything he went through. But no dream could have been so full of pain and joy.
“It would be comfy. And safe. And warm. Very warm. Now Jake, do you trust me?”
Trust? Before today, he had forgotten what trust was. Same with forgetting what it felt like to be loved. He trusted Faith, but now she was asking him to trust her with his life. Fear filled his head with thoughts of her merely tricking him into becoming a meal for her, forging fake trust and compassion to make the hit harder.
But the fear could not win over Jake. Not this time. Jake knew fear’s tricks. It wasn’t the uncertainty that was making him afraid. His mind was predicting that the worst thing was going to happen. Imagination, was fear’s true weapon.
What was there to be uncertain about Faith? She had done nothing but protect him all the time since she had found him. If she truly intended him harm, she would’ve done it already while he was utterly weak and defenseless.
Jake reached for Faith’s muzzle. She lowered her snout to him and he held onto it with both his hands. Closing his eyes and leaning his forehead against the tip of her nose, he spoke the sentence that took the most will to say in his entire life:
“Faith…”
The dragoness’s eyes were filled with attention.
“I trust you.”
A surge of relief washed over the two. Faith rubbed her nose softly against his cheek.
“Thank you, Jake. I promise you’ll be safe.”
When she finished her sentence, her tail gripped him tighter. Jake felt himself being raised out of her arm’s grasp. He was exposed to the cave’s cold air despite the fire.
Faith slowly tilted her head upwards and had his legs pointed towards her.
Jake looked down to see her slowly open her maw. White teeth glistening, strands of saliva everywhere, breathes of warm air coming from within, and an abyss where the fire’s light was being blocked by the dragon’s lower jaw. Heart beating faster at the sight, he gently gripped the scaly appendage.
Very slowly, the tail lowered him downward. She stopped when she felt hands on her snout, and to see Jake, being careful with her teeth, looking down into her eyes. Sadness filled her, but a sense of proudness too, seeing all the courage in his eyes fighting his fear.
Looking into her eyes so deeply, Jake hadn’t realized just how beautiful they truly were. A type of eye he had never seen yet could observe every emotion with such detail that he could see her soul. He could see her gentleness, her compassion, and most of all: her love. Two words appeared in them:
‘Trust me.’
At last, every ounce of fear was gone. Closing his eyes, Jake leaned down and pressed his lips lightly against her snout, giving a simple kiss.
“I love you.” He whispered, before letting go of her snout.
A tear of joy escaped the dragoness’s eye, but Jake did not see it.
He entered her maw as wet, pulsating sounds and motions rang from everywhere, and the tail slowly uncoiling. Feet touching the throat, sinking in a little, he grasped the tongue and hugged it, not out of instinct for safety but to show his thanks to her. To him it was a means of holding her hand. A murring sound rang from beneath him in return.
The dragoness leveled her head, and now Jake could see the fire and cave entrance through the teeth hanging like stalagmites in front of him. Faith’s tongue curled back, stroking Jake’s face and lapping up the streaks from his tears in the process. A faint chuckle hinted in his breath and he returned the gesture by squeezing the slimy appendage a little tighter. Her tongue lifted him to the mouth’s roof as a means to signal him she would begin swallowing.
Taking a deep breath and exhaling, Jake stroked the tongue to tell her he was ready.
A massive ripple of motion and his feet were pulled downward, dragging him back towards the throat. Though difficult to see in the shadow, Jake could make out his legs being encased by pillows of hot, wet flesh.
How right Faith was about it being warm. It was the most soothingly warm place he had ever been in. His previous endeavors in the freezing air made him all the more conscious of it. Moans emanated from him out of pure bliss. A peculiar liking to everything about the situation grew on Jake, but he had no objections.
*Gulp!*
Another swallow commenced, squeezing Jake’s legs, engulfing everything up to his waist. Now Jake could no longer wrap his arms around the dragoness’s tongue, and only grip to its sides with his hands. The slippery saliva did make it difficult to grasp it.
*Glrk!*
The human’s grip was forced off and his shoulders now sticking out of the entrance to her esophagus. At first, it felt as if his grasp had been yanked from her, yet in a few moments it sensed as being brought into a full-fledged hug. Jake figured Faith could’ve brought him down in a single swallow from the beginning, and that these soft contractions were only little compassionate gulps to ease his fear and ensure gentleness.
Another swallow, only this time a fraction the strength the previous ones carried. Shoulders and neck sucked down, leaving his head and arms the last bits denied her ever surrounding grasp. The dragon’s flexible tongue bent backwards; the tip stroking his cheek. Even now Faith has not, for the slightest moment, stopped caring for him and making sure he was comfortable with what she was doing. That, and maybe his taste had something to do with it.
But really, it was the dragoness telling him it was time to finish. His surroundings expanded and the tube beneath him squeezed, pulling him down. Jakes head entered.
And at last, the light was gone. Just as Jake wanted.
Hands sucked down with him, receiving his last feeling of the cave air through the maw, and now everything was the esophagus’s warmth. Peristalsis guided his descend, having the tube contract and retract again and again.
Outside, Faith watched her neck with caring eyes, wet with tears, as a bulge traveled down her neck, disappearing into her ribcage. It meant so much to her that Jake trusted her enough to allow her to do this. Sure, it was a common thing for her, but Jake had never even heard of it until before this. If she had asked him to do it first thing, he would’ve thought she was asking him to die.
As he went deeper, the tube began leveling out. A beating noise grew closer and closer; her heartbeat. It grew louder then began quieting after he passed it.
At one point in his journey, Jake noticed a slight downward shift in his direction. Not long after that, his feet touched something before being squeezed through what felt like a tight ring. His body slid down against the walls upon entering the squishy sack.
Though it was far too dark to see anything, Jake could feel no stomach acids or anything harmful. He was indeed inside a storage stomach
Faith’s maw was the blizzard when compared to heat her belly gave off. Jake struggled to stay awake in the comforting warmth and surroundings. One of the walls pushed in a little as Faith nuzzled her side. “Are you okay in there Jakey?” The dragoness’s caring voice sounded from everywhere at once.
“It’s… it’s so nice.”
“Glad to hear. When you wake up, you’ll be home and with my family. With your family.” She felt his motionless body and began humming a lullaby to lull him to sleep.
The humming, the heart, the warmth and the soft walls all overwhelmed Jake’s resistance and put him to sleep. But before he was pulled into dreamland he managed to say one final sentence:
“Thank you…”
Faith felt his movements stop and listened very, very closely. Closing her eyes and moving her ear as close to her belly as she could, she heard his steady heartbeat and slow breathing, signaling he had fallen asleep.
She looked outside and stopped smiling, knowing she had a job to finish. Her window was almost closed and if she didn’t leave right now she might not make it home before getting overwhelmed.
Faith stood up and stomped on the fire, extinguishing it. She proceeded walking outside, disappearing from view, entering a veil of white rain.
Thank you all for the support.
Sincerely,
Jacob,
a.k.a.
SpartanBlast
|First (you are here!)|Next|>
7791 words! Can you believe it? I geared to have this done by Christmas Eve but I just kept going, and going, and going!
This is the first chapter of the remake of the series, and there will be more to come.
If anyone sees any errors in this, please tell me! I want to get these right!
Story, characters, and setting © SpartanBlast
Thumbnail art © https://www.deviantart.com/macduykhanh121094
Foreword:
A little over a year ago, I posted the first chapter to a story series that I never thought would go on this far. A story that includes, or at least will include pain, love, immortality, equality, nature vs. technology, sacrifice, and that even beings as powerful as gods can have their own disorders. And of course, vore, but no longer is that the focus. Now, I found my key is to balance joy and suffering, for they are two sides of the same coin. One cannot exist without the other. What is safety without something to be safe from? Fair warning, later on, past the point I’ve told you about in the first writing of this series, you will find that things are different than before. I think about the world I’ve made every day and night to keep expanding it with. To hear people asking me to continue the series tells me just how much they like it. There are so many, SO MANY things about Uprora I have not shared yet. And that needs to be corrected. But first, the original must be perfected.
Let me show you my world.
Chapter 1: Arrival
“I’m scared…” A tiny voice squeaked.
The mother looked down at her hatchling, a little pink dragon hiding behind her hind leg, along with her wolf pup brother. Her eyes, soft as a drop of blue paint, soaked in their expressions of pure fear. The mother too was quite terrified of the sight; the uncertainty of the devastation that would soon follow. Returning to looking forward, she watched the vessel meant to go heavenward, plummet down to the earth.
***
‘For once, why can’t everything turn out good? Why can’t I be somewhere I’m happy?’
Fear forced Jake’s hands to grip the hand bars, as if they were welded to the metal. He couldn’t release, though he did not want to. The escape pod was his only hope for survival as the ship he was in, named the Trojan Horse, caught aflame for reasons he did not know.
The 15-year-old boy, an orphan for 5 years, prayed that he would black out from the fall and not have to experience the impact, even as a parachute deployed to slow the descent.
It proved to be pure anguish to have to wait for the pod to land, even with a tiny viewport in front of his face.
*Click!*
An even larger sinkhole of fear swelled immediately once the pod plummeted faster. As with his hands, his lungs acted on their own; breathing air as fast as they could.
“AHHHHHH!” He screamed and shook, not realizing that everything was still. Twitching his head everywhere, still under the idea that the pod remained falling. Upon realizing he had already crashed, he gave an enormous sigh of relief that he suffered no injuries and took a moment to calm himself. Jake hit the door release, yet braced himself for whatever experience this new world brought. Air hissed and mechanisms whirred until suddenly stopping, having been jammed from the impact. Cursing under his breath, he did his best to kick the door in such a cramped space.
After a couple of good kicks, the door dropped, and humid air flooded into the pod. Jake froze at the sight.
He had landed in a jungle. A bright green, dense, beautiful maze of asymmetrical, tangled looking trees and vines. Sunlight peppered everywhere in little dots through the quantities of trees and vines. The rays could be seen casting down through the foliage in beams.
Jake stepped outside of the pod, the scenery still distracting him and making whatever thoughts he did have surreal. A truly beautiful sight.
Then thoughts of lurking danger creeped into his head. The shadows grew larger, and larger. The trees creaked and groaned, prowling towards him.
He froze in fear; some unconscious part of him taking over.
‘It’s all in your head. Snap out of it!’ He screamed to himself in his mind. His common motivating tactic, and he kept doing it until he couldn’t stand himself anymore.
He fully regained his focus, grabbing a duffel bag out of the pod, and needed to decide what his next move would be.
First, he took a moment to inspect the pod. One of the four parachute strings had snapped, something that by standards shouldn’t have happened, but the ship he came in was in such bad condition there was no question why it caught aflame, marooning him in the jungle.
Looking back the jungle, his mind saw it as a path leading to a gaping maw that would swallow him in darkness forever.
He didn’t want to want to leave, and maybe he didn’t have to. The crash may have scared away predators, or the opposite. Different planet meant different life and the fundamentals of it. There was almost, in a literal sense, no way of telling how things would be.
While not feeling safe anywhere, he felt much less safe walking into the denser areas of the jungle, Jake decided to stay with the pod and wait for help, mainly because he couldn’t bring himself into leaving it.
He opened the bag, inspecting its contents, only to be in a strange mix of shock and confusion.
There was virtually nothing useful in it. It seemed that nearly every federal law requiring certain items in survival bags were neglected and broken. In it was only a few cans of food, a blanket, a cheap looking radio, a flashlight, and two stick flares. A real survival kit would have at least had a heating tent along with a few other things.
‘The radio!’ Jake exclaimed to himself in his head, picking it up. It was an old style, but most things considered ‘low tech’ had an early 21st century look to them. Jake switched it on.
Nothing happened.
He tried the dials and buttons.
Still nothing.
He opened the back of the case…
Two slots where batteries went were empty.
Jake screamed in absolute anger, throwing the radio at a tree and shattering it into a million pieces. All he could is wait for someone to find him. And finding him could be difficult.
After a short while of waiting with a paranoid mind, some foliage in the large trees rustled, catching the young man’s attention. Three reptilian creatures dropped down, landing with ease and grace. They were lizards but did not act nor look like any from Earth. They resembled tigers by the way they moved and their body build. Their necks were not unlike those belonging to horses, only half as long. Four eyes on their lizard heads, they were indeed frightening predators to behold, especially with a snake mouth present at the ends of their tails. Not only that, they were HUGE! He remained below the base of the neck of every one of them.
Each had a different color of scales. The one to Jake’s left had wooden brown scales for what must’ve hiding in trees. To the right, a brighter turquoise covered the creature, catching the eye more than its compatriots. Lastly, the center one, appearing to be the leader of the group and the largest, had a traditional light green coating.
“Oh shit!” Jake cursed, grabbing his bag and sprinting away into the jungle.
The creatures cocked their heads and looked at each other in confusion.
Jake’s own panting became the loudest thing Jake could hear. The duffel bag swayed and shook over his back.
After making some distance, Jake had to stop to catch his breath. He wasn’t used to running, and quite frankly, when did he ever need to be? He went behind a large tree, pressing the bag as he leaned against it. Scanning the way he came from, Jake could see nothing following. Once he had finished sighing in relief, he began taking in his surroundings, only to eradicating his calmness.
It was darkness. Jake never imagined a place in broad daylight could be so dark. It wasn’t a black darkness, but rather the layers of foliage in the trees only allowed a couple of gaps here and there for the sun’s rays to come through. As if one closed the window blinds during the day, but the sunlight still entered the room. He could see fine, but the whole thing was unnerving, with a strange beauty to it.
He was waist deep in plants and leaves. Occasionally there were spots of nothing but dirt, however it was strange that such abundant flora would spawn in places where there was little sunlight.
Jake closed his eyes and took deep inhales, following with long exhales. Telling himself he had to keep moving and find somewhere open where rescue could see him, the lost human began walking with caution.
His footsteps, the rustling, the distant chirping were the loudest noises ever. The paranoia heightening his sense, but Jake could feel it eating away his reasoning. Something was off.
He was being watched.
Jake reached a point where he had to stop and sit against a tree to keep himself together or else run off without thinking.
“What is wrong with me?” A whisper sounded from his mouth. The very instincts trying to keep him alive were cruel in neglecting any rational thought he had.
Jake wanted to break down and cry. Trying to stop himself was the most tormenting action he had ever had to partake in.
Deep within his warring mind, Jake didn’t feel the green vine slither slowly to his foot, coiling around his ankle. A strong squeeze and a sudden pull, and Jake was dragged across the jungle floor against his will, his bag slipping off.
Turns out his instincts were right after all.
After a moment of struggling, he came to a stop, and almost immediately afterward had his other limbs entangled by more vines. He screamed and struggled and did whatever he could to escape as he felt more smooth, cold appendages glide across his body. Around him strange plants approached him. Most were different, but they all had some characteristics in common. Each was a bulb connected to a long stalk. Some had a leafy mane between the stalk and head. The bulb’s color was commonly an eggplant purple, sometimes a jungle green, and rarely some others. The bulbs themselves could be considered entirely the mouth of the plant, as it was the only feature on each of them, excluding any visible sensory features such as eyes. The mouth could be categorized as either a simple maw, or a multi-mandible sort of flower like mouth.
The heads approached him, rumbling in some high-pitched sounding language their prey couldn’t understand. The jawed ones (which the ones with the regular maws will be called despite how inaccurate the name is) seemed to smile; licking their lips in anticipation with giant, slobbery tongues, while the flower ones flexed their jaws; a thin, retractable, vine like tongue slithering in and out.
One approached closer to him, but another stopped it. The two seemed to bicker, and the scenario was happening everywhere with all the other plants. Their way of debating who would get the human morsel as their snack. One gave a light screech, roar, or whatever one may call it.
The others stopped, submitting reluctantly. The vines restraining him eased and slithered away, while being replaced with other ones. All of the original appendages had left, except for the first one on the human’s ankle.
It appeared it’s reasoning was first come would have the first serve.
Jake struggled, flailing his arms everywhere as he was lifted off the grounded. The plant’s head seemed to prowl towards him in midair, eagerly licking its chops. It was a jawed one, having a purple head and the leafy mane at the back.
Jake begged it to let him go, but his pleas went unanswered as the head came terrifyingly close to him.
The plant smirked before opening its jaws, close to a 180-degree angle that the jaws were nearly lined up straight. The squishy, purple flesh nearly covered Jake’s entire line of sight, while the tongue, that seemed to be a retractable kind, eagerly prepared to bring him into the throat.
“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!” Jake poured every ounce of air in his lungs out into a single, feral sounding scream that the whole jungle could’ve heard.
Distressed, the plant’s smiling expression turned sour. It hurriedly but gently placed its catch back to the jungle floor.
Jake scurried onto his back, still absolutely terrified, he wasted no time running off, grabbing his bag on the way.
Fear had him once again, telling him couldn’t stop running for anything. However, once his adrenaline rush ended, he found it all the harder to move. All his strength had been exhausted by his earlier struggles. His pace became a limping walk, feeling as if dumbbells were tied to them. Everything went hazy as it was suddenly more difficult to think.
He kept moving nevertheless towards a shining light. First thinking he was hallucinating, he realized there really was a light at the end of the trees. Newfound strength filled him, and so he made his way to the source of the rays.
When he finally reached it, he froze in pure awe at the sight.
In front of him was a forest.
Not a jungle, a forest.
The close trees were spread out and sparse, but further away they were much more crowded.
A thin layer of frost covered the ground, reflecting some of the sun’s rays. It was baffling to look at while in the extremely humid jungle air.
He stuck his hand out, and nearly jumped at the feeling of cold air at his fingertips.
It could be a dangerous environment, especially at night, but he already knew what lied waiting in the jungle and did not want to go back there.
Then an idea sprang to mind: what if he stayed at the border? Logically, the creatures in either biome wouldn’t want to cross over to the next. If that is the case, then what would bother getting close to the edge.
Looking back into the jungle, a gleam of confidence growing, only to be in wide eyed horror as movement buzzed everywhere.
Vines slithering in the air. The plants did not abandon their catch after all.
Jake made a brake for it, entering the forest, shivering violently from the sudden temperature change, getting as far away as quickly as he could.
Sure, he was exhausted and possibly in shock, but the terrain was far easier to move in and the plants didn’t seem to like the cold, slowing their speed.
Jake felt the last brush against him right before it jerked; unable to reach any further. However, the runner was unaware until he took the risk to check behind him. Finally, he was able to stop and take a sigh of relief. Getting out a simple jacket, with nothing else to protect him from the freezing air, Jake settled on never returning to the jungle, no matter how cold it got.
The sunlight turning orange signified night was approaching, and he needed shelter if he was to have the slightest chance to protect himself from the approaching cold.
***
“Faith, where are you going?”
The green dragoness turned to face her mother. “I need to go for a walk, to clear my mind.”
“You know that isn’t wise, not now. With all that’s happened you should be here with your family. Your little siblings are terrified.”
“I know but…” she placed her head against her mother’s white scaled chest. “A ship crashed, there could still be lost people out there. I need to check mother. I need to at least check.”
The mother stretched out an arm around her daughter’s neck. “Then check, and bring anyone you find here.” A sense of proudness was present in her voice. The pearl white dragoness left a light kiss on her daughter’s forehead before releasing.
She watched her daughter walk into the woods.
‘They grow up so fast… too fast.’
***
Jake put another empty can into his bag, while his hunger remained unsatisfied. Four cans empty and he was no less hungry than before he began eating. It was imperative he finds shelter, but it had to be an unoccupied one. Already he had found several signs of fauna, but aggressive or passive he did not know.
The sun had completely disappeared behind the horizon, leaving only an orange glow to light the land before the moon took over.
For hours he walked in the darkness. The clouds concealed the stars and moon’s generously glow. Jake could only make heads or tails of what was 5 feet in front of him. The jacket he wore on his upper body helped to slightly shield him from the chilling winds, but his legs shook in the shorts he wore.
More than anything he wanted escape. To be in a cozy next to a burning fireplace. It was pure agony to think about what good things were so far out of his reach, but it gave him a reminder why he kept moving.
By sometime around ten o’clock, Jake’s search seemed to finally come to fruition. A cave, a very large, perhaps too large to simply be unoccupied one. What choice did he have? He walked in, arms folded around him.
Without the moon, every step sparked an unknown danger in Jake. Having a hand on the cave’s left wall helped to balance and guide him. Still, his heart beat loudly in his chest, and it was as if he was blindfolded and put in a minefield.
*Squish…*
Jake stepped in something… goopy and sticky? His shoe was stuck as if the substance was glue. He couldn’t see what it was, or anything for that matter, and so when he moved his other foot, he had stepped into yet another puddle of goo.
He freaked out, trying to get his shoes out as he couldn’t possibly afford to lose them. When he leaned forward to get more balance on the cave wall. When he tried pulling his arm back, the sleeve stayed where it was.
The stuff was on the walls too!
The whole cave must’ve have been covered in the unknown goop. A deep rage in Jake ignited towards himself for being so careless and stupid. But when he heard the sound of something shifting in the cave, his heart sank lower than he ever thought possible.
What Jake began calling slime were in fact traps to catch prey for whatever creature dwelled in the cave.
Tears welled in his eyes. He desperately tugged at his sleeve, trying to tear it off even, but the substance would not give in. As the shifting noises of whatever was in the cave continued, Jake made a hasty act. He slipped off his jacket and jumped out of his shoes; abandoning them. He ran out of the cave, forced to leave his bag as he couldn’t keep it on while parting with his jacket. It seemed like he left before whatever was in there noticed him, as he didn’t hear anything pursuing him. Though it would undoubtedly know something was in there since he left his things. Hopefully it didn’t have a good sense of smell, but that was unlikely.
Jake knew he had to keep running. So he did. Running and running; tormenting his body to escape danger.
His socks eventually came off in the running, to have his sensitive bare feet be chilled by the frosted grass and scraped by the cold rocks.
The darkness remained as obscuring as ever, no thanks to the thick clouds.
Every step pounded against the ground until… one didn’t.
Jake screamed. He went into free fall.
A few seconds later, he collided harshly with the ground. While most of his body hit the grass and coarse dirt, his right shin struck a rock. The human screamed in pain. He had suffered a broken bone before and he could tell his leg didn’t fracture. However, red flowed from his leg.
Reluctantly, Jake took off his shirt and tied it around the wound. Unfortunately, he had nothing to disinfect it. He could only hope.
‘Hope?’ He thought to himself. Now he contemplated on just how bleak things were. Being the realist he was, Jake summoned enough strength to stand up, walk, and power through the pain of his leg.
He didn’t go far; only to a spot that seemed peaceful enough.
He screamed out into the darkness. Screamed with all his anger.
“WHY! Why have me suffer all those years, in a place where I’m constantly reminded of my grief, to just die here!?” He cried out to whatever divine being existed. “I’m sick of it! Either I die tonight, or something happens! So answer me!!”
When he finished, the clouds parted, and the blue moon casted its rays down upon him.
Jake collapsed, sitting against a tree.
He waited for an answer.
***
Faith wandered around, not really having a certain place to be looking. She could smell things miles away, but so far nothing.
To find survivors was the reason Faith went out, but she also needed time to herself. Time to contemplate on how everything had changed since the arrival of humans. She grew up in a time when everything thought they were alone in the universe. Ultimately, it was nice to be part of their nation, but she didn’t have to worry about metal ships falling from the sky.
The dragon sighed, thinking why she was really feeling so down.
It came to her: she was scared.
Scared that the ship could’ve landed on her home, on her family.
But such things were beyond her control. However, she could still do something.
Faith closed her eyes and concentrated. She took a few heavy sniffs of the air. That’s when she detected something at the edge of her radius.
A human.
Humans rarely come out this deep into the wilds, and almost never alone. It could only be a survivor from the ship.
Time was of the essence, and so Faith quickly made it to a more open area. She spread her wings and took off into the night sky.
***
The tears flowed in rivers from Jake’s eyes. All he had ever wanted was a home; someplace to always look forward to returning. Yet it seemed that would never happen, and been refused an answer.
His life would be a complete waste.
In the trees, the soft, golden reptilian eyes of the dragoness looked with sadness and compassion upon the source of the scent. He was a boy, in his teens but rendered helpless, sitting against a tree. The temperature was almost at the point of snowing, and she saw the torn pair of shorts did nothing to keep him warm against the blowing winds. It was in all her family’s nature to help those in need, but she would be cautious. From her head, she disappeared in a wave of refracted light moving down to her tail, like her body was turning to glass. No longer could she be easily seen to the normal eye. Even from a distance she moved quietly, flattening the frosted grass with every step. The human still hadn’t noticed her presence when she reached him. She knew that to help him she would have to reveal herself. And so, she did.
As he was waiting for some answer, Jake felt a puff of warm air on his front, startling him. Slowly lifting his head up, he gave a terrified whimper. He got a full view of the creature looming over him: a vast dragon, with green scales, and eyes of yellow moons, bigger than dinner plates. Yellow stretched over her underbelly, standing out from her darker colors. He would be in awe if fear hadn’t been crawling throughout his body.
“Please don’t be scared.” The dragon cooed in a soft, female voice. “I just want to help you.”
Jake gasped in disbelief. The dragon in front of him was speaking in English! He was still scared, but somehow that had eased a bit of his fear.
A scaly grasp gripped his center, lifting him off the ground. He didn’t resist and let her carry him, then made contact with a warm, soft, and yellow surface. It took a long moment in his fatigued state to realize it was the dragoness’s chest. He gradually began to enjoy the warmth radiating from the scaly body.
Looking down at the human who now had a slight smile on his face, the dragoness laid down on the frosted grass, letting her foundling regain at least some of his strength. She proceeded to cover him more with her other paw to warm him further. “Is that better?” She asked with a cooing sound at the end.
The boy, whose shivering had significantly decreased, nodded his head enough to be noticed.
It came to him that the dragon was speaking his own tongue and helping him. If he had the mental strength, he’d have asked twenty questions already, but now he just went along with it, happy to regain some hope.
The dragon grew happy at the answer she received. “Are you from the ship that crashed?” She found the moment to ask.
The smile on Jake’s face turned into a slight frown. “Yeah.” He sobbed a little, speaking in a weak voice.
Wishing she had never asked the question, the dragoness sought of way to elevate the boy’s mood. She moved her left paw and touched her chest next to the boy. “My name’s Faith little one, what’s yours?” She asked, thinking introductions would make things better.
Jake noticed his newly befriended dragon, Faith, was doing everything she could to make his feelings better, and he very much appreciated it. “I’m Jacob, but call me Jake.” He introduced himself, his smile returning a little.
Knowing his name caused Faith to grow a little fonder of her foundling, and she now focused her mind on his leg injury. She carried him from her chest, cradling him in the air and using her other claw to move the makeshift bandage on his leg. The bleeding had slowed, but had not stopped entirely. Her muzzle moved closer and Faith licked the wound softly with her long tongue.
“What are you doing?” Jake asked hurriedly, exhausting his sore lungs in the process.
“Just relax.” She reassured him. When she stopped, she covered the wound again with the shirt. “That’ll help it heal.” Faith explained.
With that done, she focused on getting him to safety. Getting up, reserving her right paw to her human’s warmth and protection, she began a 3-legged walk to her home, while having no doubts that her parents would allow the human to stay with them for the night. “I’ll take you to my home tonight, then we’ll look for your family in the morning, okay?” Cooing softly, looking down at Jake. Expecting a gleam of happiness and hope, her reassurance was returned with a look of sorrow.
Eyes closed and head facing downward, Jake began to tear up and sob. He reached outward hugged her chest tighter, even though his arms became more exposed to the chilling air, with all those thoughts of hopelessness return to his head.
Faith felt so bad that she laid back down on the forest ground to comfort her crying foundling with both arms. “Jake?” Was all she said; not knowing what to say without hurting him anymore.
It took a long time for Jake’s crying to be reduced enough for him to speak. Eventually it fell to the point he could muster some of his voice. “I-I don’t… I don’t have a family. I-I d-don’t have anywhere to g-go.” He spoke so quietly he was surprised Faith heard him.
Heart sunk and tears building, Faith couldn’t believe what she was hearing: her foundling was an orphan. “Jake… I’m so sorry…” She sobbed, hugging him even tighter with her chin lightly pressing against his back.
“Please don’t cry for me.” Jake reached a hand to stroke her neck.
Faith gave soft nuzzles to his head, purring a little. For a long time as she was comforting him, she contemplated on something: could he live with her family? Unquestionably her mother would allow any homeless being to be part of their household. But could they even take care of a human safely? Finally, would he want, or even be okay, to live with a family of dragons and other Uprorian ferals? She had just met this boy and barely knew him, but where would he go after this? Begging on the streets? A foster home? Her protective nature belonging to most dragons took over, and so Faith decided that she had to at least try to bring him into her family, or she would never forgive herself.
“Jake?” The boy responded by looking up at her. “I was wondering… how would you like to live with my family?”
First, Jake thought she was joking, feeling so surreal about what she had said, but her expression held no falsehoods. “You serious?” He questioned in a rising voice.
“Yes.”
His eyes light up, and he began crying even harder than ever before. Arms pressing against Faith in the best form of a hug he could manage. He had forgotten how this much joy felt like. “Thank youuu...” He muttered weakly, but a gleam of happiness hinted in his voice.
“You’re very welcome little guy.” Faith cooed, nuzzling his head.
With all said and done, she begun once more walking home with the human in her arm. “It’s going to be a while before we’re home okay?” Unable to fly back without the risk of her foundling freezing to death.
‘Maybe- no, he’s not ready.’
After a bit of traveling, the snow began to fall harder, and while Faith wasn’t affected in the least, Jake shivered more even with her body’s warmth. “Just hang on.” She told him. Eventually, hanging on wouldn’t be enough, and once more the temperature was becoming more and more fatal to the human.
Jake didn’t want to look at his fingers anymore since they had started turning blue. He feared for his life again and so did Faith. The dragon picked up the pace, running towards her new plan to keep him alive.
After making a sharp left turn, Faith spotted a fallen tree trunk. She quickly grabbed it in her jaws and made her way to a nearby cave. Entering, she dropped the log at the center and gnawed a bit of it into pieces with some difficulty without one of her claws, then craning her neck forward to spew a breath of flame.
Laying against the wall at the end of the cave, Faith covered Jake to the best of her ability, trying to comfort him. Thanks to the cave’s shelter, and the warmth of the fire, he was no longer in danger of freezing to death.
Outside the snow’s intensity had grown even stronger, and Faith knew it would only keep increasing. A blizzard happening today should not have been possible, but it didn’t matter right now. Soon, they would both be trapped. “Everything’s going to be alright.”
She had a terrible poker face. Seeing her fake expression and the view of the outside world, Jake could easily make heads or tails of the situation. A single tear streamed down his cheek.
“Liar…”
Faith flinched at his words.
“It’s going to get worse, and you know it. Soon, even you won’t be able to go back outside… and we’ll both be trapped here. I’m sure you’ll make it, I’ll starve to death if I don’t freeze.”
Faith didn’t know what to reply to that.
“Leave. Go and you can at least get home in time. Just leave me here.”
“NO! I’m not leaving you here to freeze!”
“THEN END IT!”
The sentence had more clarity than anything Jake had spoken to her. More tears and sobs followed.
“The way I see it, there’s three things you can do: stay here, we’ll be trapped, and you’ll have to watch as I slowly die. Leave, go home before it gets worse, and I’ll die here but you’ll be safe home at least. Or kill me. I’ll die swiftly and won’t be in anymore pain, and you can go home.”
Tears streamed down Faith’s eyes at what she was hearing. She wanted to stop him from talking but her voice had clogged. When he finished, she could now answer.
“No…”
Her voice spoke in a low volume but filled with enough strength to throw a mountain.
“No. No. No! No, no, no, no, NO!!”
Her arms squeezed him tighter than ever against her underbelly.
“You’re not going to die! You’re going to live! SO SHUT IT!”
“Faith, there’s-”
“ROOOAAR!!”
An intense wave of heat blasted over Jake’s head. When he looked up again Faith’s mouth breathed flames through her snarling teeth. For a moment, he had forgotten the kind nature she had when he met her, and thought he was seeing a savage monster.
The flames extinguished, and her expression calmed. She closed her eyes and sighed.
Jake grew fearful when she began leaning her head down to him. Out of instinct, he braced himself and shut his eyes, preparing for the worst, savage death he didn’t wish for. Rather than his head getting ripped off, he felt warm lips touch his head, washing away his fear.
She had turned from her rage back to her caring demeanor in a matter of seconds.
“I’m not going to leave you. And you’re not going to die.” Faith spoke in a soft, motherly voice as if he were her own child. A voice Jake had long forgotten sounded like.
First thinking she was only being extremely optimistic, Jake could tell there burned a metaphorical (and literal if you will) fire in her. It was clear she was going to do whatever it took to save him, but there was one question:
“How?”
Her eyes opened, looking down at his small form in her grasp.
“Tell me Jake, did you meet anything scary before I met you?”
“What does that-?” He was interrupted by Faith’s tail wrapping smoothly around his waist.
“Were there any…” She struggled finding the words. “Creatures that seemed like they were trying to hurt you?
Jake was trying to understand what she meant by ‘seemed like’, but he answered her question nonetheless. “In the jungle, there were these plants that attacked me.”
“Okay, so described what happened.”
He was about to question her how it was related to their situation, but stopped himself, knowing she must have some reason for it.
“At first, a vine grabbed my leg, then more came and grabbed me. I tried fighting back while all the heads of these plants were appearing everywhere. One was about to eat me, but then I screamed and for some reason they let me go.”
“Did they hurt you?”
“They-.” It hit Jake like a brick. In the scenario he had not suffered a single scratch. In fact, all his injuries today had been, more or less, his doing through accidents. “No… no, they didn’t.”
“What if I told you that you were never in any danger in the first place?”
Jake had to process what she said. He could only come up with one reply: “I was never in any danger?”
The dragoness nodded her head. “I’ve heard many things about your home world, and it’s a lot different from here. Let’s say if your kind wasn’t the only intelligent beings in your world, and that let’s say… the lions, wolves, and even sharks were as intelligent as you, and you all lived in harmony. That’s what Uprora is.” Faith paused after her last sentence, allowing Jake to take in what she was saying.
“So, they were… like me?”
“I guess you could say it in that way, yes.”
“But I still don’t get it Faith! What were they doing?” He was getting impatient. All the new information was starting to overwhelm him, and the dragoness didn’t blame him, so she calmly continued.
“The plants here are… mischievous in their nature, but in a playful way. All they were really doing was playing with you. In fact, I’m certain they were going to help you when they were done.”
Jake took it in. “So they were only pretending they were going to eat me?”
“Well… no”
Jake flinched, now more confused than ever. What Faith answered completely went against what she was saying earlier.
“I know what you’re thinking but hear me out.” The dragoness said quickly, trying not to lose him. “What if I told you that even if they had eaten you, you would’ve been alright?”
Jake thought he couldn’t get any more confused, yet he was completely wrong. Getting eaten and ending up alright afterwards was something that defied logic. Before he could reply, Faith continued.
“You see Jake, all Uprorians, and I mean all Uprorians, at least the intelligent ones, can swallow things safely without hurting them. If those plants had eaten you, then you would’ve just had to wait in a stomach until they decided to let you out.”
It finally began piecing together in Jake’s head why Faith brought up the subject. “Does that mean you-?”
“Can do it too?” She interrupted him. “Yes, but differently. Most Uprorians just halt their digestion, but dragons have a different way. We have a second stomach for storage that we mostly use to protect our young. I didn’t share this with you because I knew you weren’t from around here and I didn’t want to scare you.”
Jake’s head felt like he was lost in another world (and yet he actually was physically). The very thought was so surreal he now started thinking he may have been dreaming even after everything he went through. But no dream could have been so full of pain and joy.
“It would be comfy. And safe. And warm. Very warm. Now Jake, do you trust me?”
Trust? Before today, he had forgotten what trust was. Same with forgetting what it felt like to be loved. He trusted Faith, but now she was asking him to trust her with his life. Fear filled his head with thoughts of her merely tricking him into becoming a meal for her, forging fake trust and compassion to make the hit harder.
But the fear could not win over Jake. Not this time. Jake knew fear’s tricks. It wasn’t the uncertainty that was making him afraid. His mind was predicting that the worst thing was going to happen. Imagination, was fear’s true weapon.
What was there to be uncertain about Faith? She had done nothing but protect him all the time since she had found him. If she truly intended him harm, she would’ve done it already while he was utterly weak and defenseless.
Jake reached for Faith’s muzzle. She lowered her snout to him and he held onto it with both his hands. Closing his eyes and leaning his forehead against the tip of her nose, he spoke the sentence that took the most will to say in his entire life:
“Faith…”
The dragoness’s eyes were filled with attention.
“I trust you.”
A surge of relief washed over the two. Faith rubbed her nose softly against his cheek.
“Thank you, Jake. I promise you’ll be safe.”
When she finished her sentence, her tail gripped him tighter. Jake felt himself being raised out of her arm’s grasp. He was exposed to the cave’s cold air despite the fire.
Faith slowly tilted her head upwards and had his legs pointed towards her.
Jake looked down to see her slowly open her maw. White teeth glistening, strands of saliva everywhere, breathes of warm air coming from within, and an abyss where the fire’s light was being blocked by the dragon’s lower jaw. Heart beating faster at the sight, he gently gripped the scaly appendage.
Very slowly, the tail lowered him downward. She stopped when she felt hands on her snout, and to see Jake, being careful with her teeth, looking down into her eyes. Sadness filled her, but a sense of proudness too, seeing all the courage in his eyes fighting his fear.
Looking into her eyes so deeply, Jake hadn’t realized just how beautiful they truly were. A type of eye he had never seen yet could observe every emotion with such detail that he could see her soul. He could see her gentleness, her compassion, and most of all: her love. Two words appeared in them:
‘Trust me.’
At last, every ounce of fear was gone. Closing his eyes, Jake leaned down and pressed his lips lightly against her snout, giving a simple kiss.
“I love you.” He whispered, before letting go of her snout.
A tear of joy escaped the dragoness’s eye, but Jake did not see it.
He entered her maw as wet, pulsating sounds and motions rang from everywhere, and the tail slowly uncoiling. Feet touching the throat, sinking in a little, he grasped the tongue and hugged it, not out of instinct for safety but to show his thanks to her. To him it was a means of holding her hand. A murring sound rang from beneath him in return.
The dragoness leveled her head, and now Jake could see the fire and cave entrance through the teeth hanging like stalagmites in front of him. Faith’s tongue curled back, stroking Jake’s face and lapping up the streaks from his tears in the process. A faint chuckle hinted in his breath and he returned the gesture by squeezing the slimy appendage a little tighter. Her tongue lifted him to the mouth’s roof as a means to signal him she would begin swallowing.
Taking a deep breath and exhaling, Jake stroked the tongue to tell her he was ready.
A massive ripple of motion and his feet were pulled downward, dragging him back towards the throat. Though difficult to see in the shadow, Jake could make out his legs being encased by pillows of hot, wet flesh.
How right Faith was about it being warm. It was the most soothingly warm place he had ever been in. His previous endeavors in the freezing air made him all the more conscious of it. Moans emanated from him out of pure bliss. A peculiar liking to everything about the situation grew on Jake, but he had no objections.
*Gulp!*
Another swallow commenced, squeezing Jake’s legs, engulfing everything up to his waist. Now Jake could no longer wrap his arms around the dragoness’s tongue, and only grip to its sides with his hands. The slippery saliva did make it difficult to grasp it.
*Glrk!*
The human’s grip was forced off and his shoulders now sticking out of the entrance to her esophagus. At first, it felt as if his grasp had been yanked from her, yet in a few moments it sensed as being brought into a full-fledged hug. Jake figured Faith could’ve brought him down in a single swallow from the beginning, and that these soft contractions were only little compassionate gulps to ease his fear and ensure gentleness.
Another swallow, only this time a fraction the strength the previous ones carried. Shoulders and neck sucked down, leaving his head and arms the last bits denied her ever surrounding grasp. The dragon’s flexible tongue bent backwards; the tip stroking his cheek. Even now Faith has not, for the slightest moment, stopped caring for him and making sure he was comfortable with what she was doing. That, and maybe his taste had something to do with it.
But really, it was the dragoness telling him it was time to finish. His surroundings expanded and the tube beneath him squeezed, pulling him down. Jakes head entered.
And at last, the light was gone. Just as Jake wanted.
Hands sucked down with him, receiving his last feeling of the cave air through the maw, and now everything was the esophagus’s warmth. Peristalsis guided his descend, having the tube contract and retract again and again.
Outside, Faith watched her neck with caring eyes, wet with tears, as a bulge traveled down her neck, disappearing into her ribcage. It meant so much to her that Jake trusted her enough to allow her to do this. Sure, it was a common thing for her, but Jake had never even heard of it until before this. If she had asked him to do it first thing, he would’ve thought she was asking him to die.
As he went deeper, the tube began leveling out. A beating noise grew closer and closer; her heartbeat. It grew louder then began quieting after he passed it.
At one point in his journey, Jake noticed a slight downward shift in his direction. Not long after that, his feet touched something before being squeezed through what felt like a tight ring. His body slid down against the walls upon entering the squishy sack.
Though it was far too dark to see anything, Jake could feel no stomach acids or anything harmful. He was indeed inside a storage stomach
Faith’s maw was the blizzard when compared to heat her belly gave off. Jake struggled to stay awake in the comforting warmth and surroundings. One of the walls pushed in a little as Faith nuzzled her side. “Are you okay in there Jakey?” The dragoness’s caring voice sounded from everywhere at once.
“It’s… it’s so nice.”
“Glad to hear. When you wake up, you’ll be home and with my family. With your family.” She felt his motionless body and began humming a lullaby to lull him to sleep.
The humming, the heart, the warmth and the soft walls all overwhelmed Jake’s resistance and put him to sleep. But before he was pulled into dreamland he managed to say one final sentence:
“Thank you…”
Faith felt his movements stop and listened very, very closely. Closing her eyes and moving her ear as close to her belly as she could, she heard his steady heartbeat and slow breathing, signaling he had fallen asleep.
She looked outside and stopped smiling, knowing she had a job to finish. Her window was almost closed and if she didn’t leave right now she might not make it home before getting overwhelmed.
Faith stood up and stomped on the fire, extinguishing it. She proceeded walking outside, disappearing from view, entering a veil of white rain.
Thank you all for the support.
Sincerely,
Jacob,
a.k.a.
SpartanBlast
|First (you are here!)|Next|>
7791 words! Can you believe it? I geared to have this done by Christmas Eve but I just kept going, and going, and going!
This is the first chapter of the remake of the series, and there will be more to come.
If anyone sees any errors in this, please tell me! I want to get these right!
Story, characters, and setting © SpartanBlast
Thumbnail art © https://www.deviantart.com/macduykhanh121094
Category Story / Vore
Species Unspecified / Any
Gender Multiple characters
Size 50 x 50px
Stopped it for now. Might continue it but as for right now, I'm just working on stories. Might make something else that's simpler in the meantime.
Once. It’s on my Deviant Art. I actually plan to do many more very soon.
Just finished my read. Definitely a solid introduction to the world and characters. Thanks for sharing!
This is a fantastic story. A true inspiration for future writers such as myself. I just can't wait to continue reading this amazing storyline. This will be interesting ^^
Also don't want to be annoying or anything but i noticed a slight error in the story. Stalagmites don't hang they are the ones that grow from the ground up heheh once again I don't want to be annoying it just caught my eye
Also don't want to be annoying or anything but i noticed a slight error in the story. Stalagmites don't hang they are the ones that grow from the ground up heheh once again I don't want to be annoying it just caught my eye
Nonono thank you for the critique! I aim for complete accuracy in my stories!
And I so love that you love it!
And I so love that you love it!
Your writing is really good! Definitely giving you a watch!
I kinda like this new appraoch. Dont get me wrong i liked the original i just felt it was a little... sappy at times
Is this a reboot of the Uprora story? Where do you hope to change and improve the plot of the original version but retain the essence of the version before this one?
Well this one actually has a plot. The original was actually my first attempts at writing
A LOOOONG TIME. Yes, Jake is the persona of myself
Will the story have the same number of chapters as the previous version or will there be more?
All the art that is in your gallery (not telling the stories) is never done by you, right?
Also, do you think you can do a NSFW story? Of course if you aren’t comfortable with that don’t do it
Absolutely not. I do not like NSFW whatsoever. I will never do it.
Well, it was worth the try.
Note: Just to clarify something with all the respect in the world, please don't take me as a filthy pig pervert for asking things like that, everyone has their tastes, some weirder than others, like me who has liked vore a lot since 12 years, especially the soft vore or the safe vore with romance included and some somewhat "naughty" things (besides that I have seen things MUCH worses than the NSFW and I'm not kidding), I say all this to avoid problems and misunderstandings, so keep it up and the successes continue.
Note: Just to clarify something with all the respect in the world, please don't take me as a filthy pig pervert for asking things like that, everyone has their tastes, some weirder than others, like me who has liked vore a lot since 12 years, especially the soft vore or the safe vore with romance included and some somewhat "naughty" things (besides that I have seen things MUCH worses than the NSFW and I'm not kidding), I say all this to avoid problems and misunderstandings, so keep it up and the successes continue.
That was so well written! You completely got me hooked on the story and now i'm excited to see where it goes from here!
Comments