It was a sunny summer day and Bob, the Prince of Xin'an Pond, was enjoying himself basking atop scorpion rock. Earlier, he had already performed his daily counting of his denizens and then checked to make sure they have enough sun or shade or shelter or food to eat. With that task long done (and exactly thirty turtles and two hundred carp of various colors) Bob had enjoyed a well-earned rest. Growing bored of all the rest he was enjoying the Long finally got up, and while doing so gazed upon his domain with pride.
It had been nearly a year since the trip to La Poudre and things had changed a lot since his little venture with the dam, the Underwater Panthers, and the road trip with Pooence of Yuta and Alan the coyote that led to the creation of Ana the dragon. Xin'an Pond had now been improved, courtesy of those human volunteers and also with some advice and backbone from Pooence: Bob's 4.5 acre pond was now a 2 acre pond, with a 2.5 acre sandy wetland of cattails and reeds formed from the previous eight sandy inlets and two islands. The four surviving pine trees had been moved to the edge of the pond, now joined by willow and mesquite and shrubs like the qualibush and cactus, the thirty-two rounded rocks now scattered between them. The pond was purposefully capped at exactly thirty turtles and two hundred carp of various colors. That was the carrying capacity of Xin’an Pond, and if the numbers exceeded that Bob would allow the human volunteers to ship them to new ponds in Arida Zona. The humans weren’t too bad, Bob decided, helping him maintain and protect his princedom, and he’d now only rarely eat fools that would try to fish or dump trash in his beloved pond.
Ana was now with Alan, hanging out in the coyote's survivalist home of human garbage and the two were keeping up their saccharine displays of affection that made Bob a little queasy. Still, it was their choice, and he was glad that Ana had grown attached to someone so quickly. There still weren’t any other Longs around, and the Underwater Panthers were still few and skittish despite Bob throwing out the welcoming mat to Xin’an Pond-as he had agreed to do- so mates were hard to plan for. Things were definitely looking better though; with the encouragement of Elder Kwahwat more Underwater Panthers were coming to visit. So long as they left his carp alone, Bob offered food, water, shelter and hospitality to the native dragons, and gradually more came and stayed longer. It was almost time for another trip to the Dragon’s Gate (which Alan now eagerly agreed to), and Bob was interested getting in his future dragons to socialize more with the Underwater Panthers.
Pooence of Yuta had been hanging around Xin’an Pond a lot recently, both helping to remodel the pond, as well as to acquaint Bob with other Underwater Panthers and map out where future Longs would be staying. She also really seemed to enjoy floating in the pond with Bob’s carp.
*Ah. I envy you.* Pooence commented as she floated over to Bob while he was musing atop scorpion rock. *Hanging around a lush garden, with plenty of food to eat and water to drink and even play in.*
The Long looked down at the Underwater Panther in surprise. *I mean, I can help make a pond for you as well, Pooence.*
Pooence grinned but shook her head.
*You get to enjoy this because you came here against your will and are adapting to the land. As guardians of Arida Zona, we underwater panthers have to be good stewards and make sure we’re not unduly straining the ecosystem. Besides.* Pooence leaped out of the water and splashed back into the pool. *Xin’an Pond is nice and it is enough for me to just take a break every so often here.*
Bob plopped back down on his back, letting the sun warm his belly some.
*Well I’m always glad to have you around Pooence, and all your Underwater Panther brethren.*
*Thank you, Bob. You are at least true to your word, unlike many creatures we have encountered.*
*How are Ana and Alan doing by the way? They haven’t visited in a while.*
*I heard that there’s some developers encroaching on Alan’s farm, and he and Ana are not taking too kindly to them.*
Bob looked up with slight curiosity. *Hm. Should we go help them?*
Pooence shrugged.
*A coyote with the brain of a human and a dragon? I think they’ll do fine.* She bristled slightly at the thought of more humans, then changed the subject.
*So, this is what you do all day? Sit around, count your carp and turtles and feed them and maintain your garden pond?*
*Yep!* Bob beamed. *I am a prince, and a prince’s duty is to his subjects.*
*That’s… that’s kinda sweet of you, Bob. Maybe your big redeeming feature.* The Underwater Panther sighed with some humor.
*Oh it’s not too bad, Poonence, I have plenty of free time myself.*
*And what do you do for this free time?*
*Oh, browse the Webzone, keep up my Inglesia, maybe read up on some hydrodynamics.*
Bob would have been interested in spending more time browsing social media and watching naughty pictures of female dragons on the Webzone, but Pooence had already persuaded him that spending too much time messing about in the Webzone would rot his brain and make him self-righteous and angry like so many humans she’s seen in Arida Zona, so he decided against it. Instead he had continued to learn Inglesia and update his knowledge on the ways of the humans in Arida Zona. His big book of hydraulics was also still below scorpion rock and occasionally Bob would continue his education in hydrodynamics. It did amaze Bob sometimes how much the humans knew but couldn’t remember and had to scribble on papers.
Poonence smiled again at Bob’s comment, but in a somewhat different way.
*Well Bob,* she swam over towards Bob atop the rock. *there’s some other things you can do as well you know, especially when I come to visit.*
*Oh?*
*You could teach me about all the ways ‘Longs’ can be created Bob.*
Bob stared blankly for a minute, before making a very awkward chuckle. There was no need right then to muse about the nature of the wider world.
***
Alan was gutting out his new car wreckage, setting up yet another battery for water pumps and electricity. With a dragon beside him helping to carry and dismantle objects there had been great progress in setting up Alan’s ranch home, which now had air conditioning and running water, as well as a full chimney. Ana was nearby, cheerfully tending to a lush garden-with the water dragon’s inexplicable ability to summon water, Alan’s farm was now fertile enough that even with the colorful Long with him they rarely needed to trap for food.
Wealth of any kind though, always attracted undue envy. A car drove by, stopped at the edge of the mountain, and some humans stepped out, several in good suits who argued among themselves over maps and other documents while others fanned out, setting up surveying posts and sticking soil testing devices all around.
Developers.
There was already new construction going on on the other side of the mountain, and new human settlements were coming closer.
Rich soil meant water, and water meant humans wanting luxury homes.
Alan frowned at the sight of the developers in the distance, beckoning to Ana besides him. *Get my ‘infernal machine’ dear.*
*Sure thing my dear!*
As the dragon went over to the garage, the coyote grabbed an old 1930s aviator’s cap nearby and put it on his head. He then strapped it under his chin, and lowered its goggles over his eyes. As Ana returned with a monstrous metal construction that looked like a series of shotguns and rockets and knives melted together, Alan gave a mischievous grin.
*Let us have a ‘chat’ with these humans.*
***
Meanwhile back at the 1962 Streamline trailer, the two alien creatures watched Alan and Ana work on their farm in the large pink crystal, before the dragon left and returned with gigantic metal device that looked like a spider made of knives and shotguns. Alan strapped the device around himself, and then leaped atop Ana, and the two took off. The second alien yawned and touched the pink crystal, which closed the image. The first alien was just about to pop another popcorn into his mouth when the image closed and seemed slightly annoyed at its end, but finally ate his last bites and got up.
“That was quite interesting.” The first alien said to the second. “Top tier entertainment.”
“How the heck do dragons evolve from carp?” The second alien asked the first.
“We should look further into this.”
“Maybe tomorrow.”
The End.
Previous
AJJ- Survival
Courtesy of theroguez!
And that concludes Bob's Adventures and Arida Zona for now!
I may do a spinoff with Alan and Ana and their fight against developers.
It had been nearly a year since the trip to La Poudre and things had changed a lot since his little venture with the dam, the Underwater Panthers, and the road trip with Pooence of Yuta and Alan the coyote that led to the creation of Ana the dragon. Xin'an Pond had now been improved, courtesy of those human volunteers and also with some advice and backbone from Pooence: Bob's 4.5 acre pond was now a 2 acre pond, with a 2.5 acre sandy wetland of cattails and reeds formed from the previous eight sandy inlets and two islands. The four surviving pine trees had been moved to the edge of the pond, now joined by willow and mesquite and shrubs like the qualibush and cactus, the thirty-two rounded rocks now scattered between them. The pond was purposefully capped at exactly thirty turtles and two hundred carp of various colors. That was the carrying capacity of Xin’an Pond, and if the numbers exceeded that Bob would allow the human volunteers to ship them to new ponds in Arida Zona. The humans weren’t too bad, Bob decided, helping him maintain and protect his princedom, and he’d now only rarely eat fools that would try to fish or dump trash in his beloved pond.
Ana was now with Alan, hanging out in the coyote's survivalist home of human garbage and the two were keeping up their saccharine displays of affection that made Bob a little queasy. Still, it was their choice, and he was glad that Ana had grown attached to someone so quickly. There still weren’t any other Longs around, and the Underwater Panthers were still few and skittish despite Bob throwing out the welcoming mat to Xin’an Pond-as he had agreed to do- so mates were hard to plan for. Things were definitely looking better though; with the encouragement of Elder Kwahwat more Underwater Panthers were coming to visit. So long as they left his carp alone, Bob offered food, water, shelter and hospitality to the native dragons, and gradually more came and stayed longer. It was almost time for another trip to the Dragon’s Gate (which Alan now eagerly agreed to), and Bob was interested getting in his future dragons to socialize more with the Underwater Panthers.
Pooence of Yuta had been hanging around Xin’an Pond a lot recently, both helping to remodel the pond, as well as to acquaint Bob with other Underwater Panthers and map out where future Longs would be staying. She also really seemed to enjoy floating in the pond with Bob’s carp.
*Ah. I envy you.* Pooence commented as she floated over to Bob while he was musing atop scorpion rock. *Hanging around a lush garden, with plenty of food to eat and water to drink and even play in.*
The Long looked down at the Underwater Panther in surprise. *I mean, I can help make a pond for you as well, Pooence.*
Pooence grinned but shook her head.
*You get to enjoy this because you came here against your will and are adapting to the land. As guardians of Arida Zona, we underwater panthers have to be good stewards and make sure we’re not unduly straining the ecosystem. Besides.* Pooence leaped out of the water and splashed back into the pool. *Xin’an Pond is nice and it is enough for me to just take a break every so often here.*
Bob plopped back down on his back, letting the sun warm his belly some.
*Well I’m always glad to have you around Pooence, and all your Underwater Panther brethren.*
*Thank you, Bob. You are at least true to your word, unlike many creatures we have encountered.*
*How are Ana and Alan doing by the way? They haven’t visited in a while.*
*I heard that there’s some developers encroaching on Alan’s farm, and he and Ana are not taking too kindly to them.*
Bob looked up with slight curiosity. *Hm. Should we go help them?*
Pooence shrugged.
*A coyote with the brain of a human and a dragon? I think they’ll do fine.* She bristled slightly at the thought of more humans, then changed the subject.
*So, this is what you do all day? Sit around, count your carp and turtles and feed them and maintain your garden pond?*
*Yep!* Bob beamed. *I am a prince, and a prince’s duty is to his subjects.*
*That’s… that’s kinda sweet of you, Bob. Maybe your big redeeming feature.* The Underwater Panther sighed with some humor.
*Oh it’s not too bad, Poonence, I have plenty of free time myself.*
*And what do you do for this free time?*
*Oh, browse the Webzone, keep up my Inglesia, maybe read up on some hydrodynamics.*
Bob would have been interested in spending more time browsing social media and watching naughty pictures of female dragons on the Webzone, but Pooence had already persuaded him that spending too much time messing about in the Webzone would rot his brain and make him self-righteous and angry like so many humans she’s seen in Arida Zona, so he decided against it. Instead he had continued to learn Inglesia and update his knowledge on the ways of the humans in Arida Zona. His big book of hydraulics was also still below scorpion rock and occasionally Bob would continue his education in hydrodynamics. It did amaze Bob sometimes how much the humans knew but couldn’t remember and had to scribble on papers.
Poonence smiled again at Bob’s comment, but in a somewhat different way.
*Well Bob,* she swam over towards Bob atop the rock. *there’s some other things you can do as well you know, especially when I come to visit.*
*Oh?*
*You could teach me about all the ways ‘Longs’ can be created Bob.*
Bob stared blankly for a minute, before making a very awkward chuckle. There was no need right then to muse about the nature of the wider world.
***
Alan was gutting out his new car wreckage, setting up yet another battery for water pumps and electricity. With a dragon beside him helping to carry and dismantle objects there had been great progress in setting up Alan’s ranch home, which now had air conditioning and running water, as well as a full chimney. Ana was nearby, cheerfully tending to a lush garden-with the water dragon’s inexplicable ability to summon water, Alan’s farm was now fertile enough that even with the colorful Long with him they rarely needed to trap for food.
Wealth of any kind though, always attracted undue envy. A car drove by, stopped at the edge of the mountain, and some humans stepped out, several in good suits who argued among themselves over maps and other documents while others fanned out, setting up surveying posts and sticking soil testing devices all around.
Developers.
There was already new construction going on on the other side of the mountain, and new human settlements were coming closer.
Rich soil meant water, and water meant humans wanting luxury homes.
Alan frowned at the sight of the developers in the distance, beckoning to Ana besides him. *Get my ‘infernal machine’ dear.*
*Sure thing my dear!*
As the dragon went over to the garage, the coyote grabbed an old 1930s aviator’s cap nearby and put it on his head. He then strapped it under his chin, and lowered its goggles over his eyes. As Ana returned with a monstrous metal construction that looked like a series of shotguns and rockets and knives melted together, Alan gave a mischievous grin.
*Let us have a ‘chat’ with these humans.*
***
Meanwhile back at the 1962 Streamline trailer, the two alien creatures watched Alan and Ana work on their farm in the large pink crystal, before the dragon left and returned with gigantic metal device that looked like a spider made of knives and shotguns. Alan strapped the device around himself, and then leaped atop Ana, and the two took off. The second alien yawned and touched the pink crystal, which closed the image. The first alien was just about to pop another popcorn into his mouth when the image closed and seemed slightly annoyed at its end, but finally ate his last bites and got up.
“That was quite interesting.” The first alien said to the second. “Top tier entertainment.”
“How the heck do dragons evolve from carp?” The second alien asked the first.
“We should look further into this.”
“Maybe tomorrow.”
The End.
Previous
AJJ- Survival
Courtesy of theroguez!
And that concludes Bob's Adventures and Arida Zona for now!
I may do a spinoff with Alan and Ana and their fight against developers.
Category Artwork (Digital) / Fantasy
Species Eastern Dragon
Gender Multiple characters
Size 1280 x 911px
That was fun. Would the ship of Ana and Alan be called Koiyote?
If Longs exist in this world, then do Fenghuang also exist in this world?
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