After we ate they had us head over to the lake, which had an artificial beach. "Okay, so play around here for a while so I can get this set up," he said to us. The others seemed pretty playful but Xavier seemed pretty concerned about me as he was just laying in the sand under the Sun.
"Something wrong Xavier?" I asked him.
"You haven't had much time to relax haven't you?" He asked me.
"Yeah, it has, I've only just now been able to enjoy myself without worry" I replied. "Come, let's play with the others."
We played with the others for an hour before he started flying a drone. "I think I know what he's trying to get us to do," I said to Xavier.
"This shouldn't be hard for you guys, take the drones out," he said to us. As they went after the ones that the girls were flying, I and Xavier went after the fast one, something that shouldn't be hard for a quick flyer. But Xavier had a plan, he grabbed a broken branch and knocked it out of the sky. I then swooped down and caught it. As I head back he looked at Xavier like he just noticed something. "You're part Xenomorph, aren't you Xavier?" He asked. Xavier nodded yes and dropped the branch.
"It took him that long to notice?" I heard one of them say.
"probably just ignorance, but I'm more focused on our new shifter friend over here," someone else said looking in my direction. She walked over to me then said: "So how does it feel? someone who used to try to prevent others from being turned themselves."
"I don't mind it's something I've grown to like rather quickly," I replied.
"So who's your captor?" She asked me.
"You know that dragon that took me into the woods about once a week, that's my captor," I replied.
"Then I guess that means you've wanted to be a shifter then. She comforted you into her grasp then you didn't put up a fight," she replied.
"It's not that it's that I figured that since I only live once I'd straight up yolo it," I replied.
"Come on Nathan we all know no one's going to do that with a specific dragon. You don't have to be scared to tell us. You step into our shoes and then you see how good it is for people," She replied.
I knew it was unhealthy to be holding back something that would likely burden me if I didn't let it get out so I told them. "Not at first, when I was 12 I realized I was incomplete without her so for 4 years I waited for her to take me. I soon acted though, I held onto her and didn't let go she shook me off though, but when she came back the next day I acted as if everything was normal. After that, I felt complete because now the one I saw as my mother would never leave my side."
When lunch came I wanted to try something different, so I went for the seaweed. "Nathan isn't picky about his food," one of the counselors said. After that, I went to an opening in the forest and soaked up some sun. That's when the black dragon that took me landed next to me.
"Is this your captor?" One of them asked. I nodded yes to them as I laid to her left, her heartbeat feeling like home for me. "Her heartbeat calmed me throughout my life, even to today," I said to them. Two of the counselors unaware of what I said.
"You mean that how exactly?" Xavier asked.
"She used to just take me into the nearby wooded areas from time to time, about 4 times a month until she marked my arm just like I told them. The first time she did I was trying to save another kid from, weirdly enough, her. I pulled her under part of the playground before she grabbed her. But after that she landed, the others ran while we were under it, she was reaching under to trying to grab one of us. I saw she had her eyes closed, probably testing her luck. As her hand got closer to the girl I went in front of her. I thought I'd never go that far. She grabbed me and flew into the woods, holding me up against her chest, which at the time didn't calm me as much. But when she landed I realized I was safe, I wasn't gone, this time. I felt more relaxed after that to where I was starting to fall asleep in her clutches, her heartbeat being something I got accustomed to as being soothing after a month, and then I wanted to be her's after 6 years" I replied.
She later started licking my back, I never expected her tongue to feel so soft. "Why does this feel so..." I stopped there as she covered me with her wing.
"Glad to see you enjoying yourself, not having to worry. Just keep this in your mind. you need to know when to stop running, when to stop fighting, and when you can't keep going." She said to me. I wasn't sure what she meant by that. After that, she flew off into the distance.
"OK, let's try some flying shall we," he said to us. I started flying over the lake as he directed us. That's when the others started flying around me even Xavier. "You do pretty good Nathan," one of them said to me.
After a few hours, he had us land on the beach. "Alright, just soak up some sun, for now, your probably going to need it for the night," he said to us. As the sun was beginning to set I started to get a bit cold.
"Xavier, do you feel a chill," I said to him. But he just fell asleep along with the others, probably hibernating because it was a bit chilly. I got up her him, laid my wing over him and fell asleep.
As I was beginning to wake up I felt something on my back. It was one of the counselors and he seemed to be doing something with the others. "Glad to see your up, normally that powder I used can easily put dragon shifters to sleep, but you seem immune," He said to me. As he got off my back, he came over to my head, petting it as if I was a dog. That's when his eyes started glowing and my mood was slightly changing. I felt more comforting to him as he went up against my side. I shaded him with my other wing, but what I didn't realize is that he had a Symbiote on him. It jumped off of him and went in front of me, the black being looking as if it was ready to latch on to me.
These Symbiotes weren't a major concern for me. a typically peaceful species in its own right, they aren't much of a threat if you stay calm. They also had a love of chocolate, probably due to caffeine's chemical makeup being similar to a plant they ate on their homeworld.
Someone once tried to scare me with one he had in a jar, but I usually get spooked from behind and not from the Symbiote. When he let it out and chucked it at me I caught it. It went into me, its voice beginning to echo in my mind. It tickled a little bit while it did that.
This one seemed to be assessing what I was as it just looked around my front half, but after a few minutes, it latched onto me. As it worked its way to my face I heard its voice echo a warm greeting. It then covered my entire body in itself before rubbing my back, which easily made me want to sleep.
"Does that feel good? Your definitely one I'd stick with" it said to me as I started to feel sleepy.
When they later woke up they were shocked to find out that I had a Symbiote attached to me.
"Glad to see your guys are up. Some sort of powder was used to make you fall asleep" I said to them. Xavier didn't look too surprised but the others didn't look too happy.
"What kind of powder," he said to me before sneezing. "probably the kind that's on your nose" I replied, the Symbiote slightly distorting my voice.
"Let's just worry about that later and get something to eat," he said to us. When we went to where the food was, the menu must have changed a little bit. Because now the veggies were replaced with fruit.
The Symbiote hid in me I now looked normal but it was still latched onto me. "Gah! What's that smell?" I heard the Symbiote say along with the other campers. I looked at the fruit and saw some yellowish spiked fruit mixed in it.
"It's just some durian's, they're pretty sweet," I said to them. I started to munch on one of them. it wasn't hard to get through the skin with my claws, and once I dug into it the taste put me even more at ease.
After we ate our meal we went to take a walk through the woods, the sounds and smells of the forest easily making me zone out from the world around me.
"Xavier, this feels so much better then what I expected. I'd wish I held onto her sooner," I told him. Once we got to the end of the trail he had us lay in a clearing.
"Ok let's rest here," he said to us. His 2 friends looking worn out.
"That sun feels good, Xavier, you thinking what I'm thinking" I stopped there to see Xavier a little muddy. I looked at the others before taking a nap. But as I did I felt something cool on my back and neck. I looked at one of the counselors and she was covering my tail with mud.
"Don't worry Nathan, this will keep you cool just like the elephants," She told me.
I finally caught the break I needed from what happened before. But something just felt off about the camp. they seemed to be trying to keep all of us calm, but the reason was unknown to me.