A Monster Like Me

The Greed of Dragons

Dazai yawned and stretched, wondering why his body felt so sore. He was warm and comfortable, and for a moment he thought that he was wrapped up in blankets in his own bed. When he opened his eyes, however, he realized he wasn't in his bedroom, or even under a roof. He looked up in confusion at the cave ceiling, then down at the heavy coils surrounding his body, and it all came back to him. The dragon, the battle, getting hit with this very tail... but then, why was he alive? Why had the dragon taken him to his cave and let him sleep in his grasp?

"Good, you're awake," Chuuya said gruffly, raising his head to look at Dazai. "Feel better?"

"...yeah," Dazai replied cautiously, still feeling a shiver of fear as Chuuya's massive form towered above him. "Why... why didn't you kill me?"

"I didn't feel like it."

He didn't feel like it? What is that supposed to mean? I thought that all dragons loved death and destruction! Dazai thought. 

"Well, you should have. You won, I lost. Go ahead and just get it over with."

"You're still on about that heroic death bullshit?" Chuuya said, rolling his eyes. "Well too bad, I'm not going to kill you."

Dazai stared back up at Chuuya with an unimpressed expression. "What possible benefit could you get from keeping me alive?" 

Chuuya smiled, his fangs gleaming in the light. "You're the most worthy adversary I've ever faced! I want to get you healed up so that you can come back and fight me again!" 

"You stupid lizard..." Dazai groaned, his head swaying dangerously, but he didn't pass out again. "I can't go back until I fulfil my mission. I can't kill you, so please kill me! That's what I've wanted from the start. I have no family, no friends, no-"

"So that's the real reason you came on this suicide mission, huh? Not for honor and glory, but because you are too weak to keep on living? Pathetic," Chuuya growled, his tail tightening around Dazai. The man let out a cry of pain as the coils tightened, but Chuuya didn't release the pressure. 

"Chuuya- please stop-" Dazai choked out, blood leaking from the corner of his mouth as Chuuya aggravated his wounds. Chuuya's growl deepened, but when he saw the blood, he slowly let go. 

"And here I thought I'd finally found a brave warrior to face me. I guess I was mistaken," Chuuya scoffed, looking away. Humans have such short life spans; why does this one; the only one I'm interested in, want to throw his away so badly? It's stupid and weak, and I don't want him to do that! He thought to himself, struggling to understand why Dazai was so suicidal. The fact that this talented, intelligent human thought so little of himself made him angry for some reason. 

"I'm sorry to disappoint you," Dazai replied, shifting against Chuuya's coiled tail. It was still too tight for him to escape, and even that small movement made him wince in pain. 

"I could tell that you were holding back yesterday; that you lost on purpose." Chuuya said at length. "I'm not letting you die until you give me a real fight. That means nursing you back to health, so tell me, what hurts?"

Dazai blinked in surprise, not expecting Chuuya to ask or care about the injuries he'd sustained. 

"My back hurts a lot, and so does my head," Dazai said. He had a faint memory of being hit by Chuuya's tail and crashing into the rocks. He could feel the bruises and barely closed scabs pressed against Chuuya's scales. He raised his hand to the back of his head and wasn't surprised to find that his hair was matted with dry blood. 

"Alright, how- how can I help?" Chuuya asked, seeming a bit unsure of himself. For some reason the thought of helping Dazai made his heart speed up. He told himself that he was just worried about his lack of medical knowledge, and humans in general. Dazai was surprised that Chuuya sounded sincere in his desire to help him, even if it was just so that they could fight again later. After a pause, he replied: