Loud As Thunder (Open)

[Atticus Tuck]

Pink, purple, and red bled into the sky as twilight approached slowly. The clouds enhanced the beauty of the colors that were painting streaks abovehead. The tips of the massive pines swayed gently, back and forth in a lulling rythm of serenity. The calls of birds began to quiet as the insects began their own chorus of chirps to fill in the silence. The beaten path before the lone teen was becoming darker as the burning star in the sky began to lower and disappear behind the mountains and the moon rose opposite of it to take its place. Flickers of light danced around her in the dense forest, and the young Dragon paused briefly to observe the fireflies before starting along again, wanting to get to her destination before it was too dark. Not that it really mattered, her eyesight was just as well at night as it was during the day. Shoving her hands into her jacket pockets she let her mind wander aimlessly not settling on a single topic of interest. So much had happened since she moved to the countryside, it was difficult to decide on one train of thought to humor. Werewolves, highschool, watermelon, shiny watches, Rogwink, the next date to shed. . . It was all just stirring about her head. Her giddy excitement had fianlly boiled down to content and exhaustion. It was more than likely that once tomorrow rolled around bringing with it new experiences and meetings her childlike enthusiasm would make a come-back, but at the moment she was just enjoying the time to herself.

She had informed her parents that she was going to stretch her limbs out in the forest and probably wouldn't be home until late into the night, and with a slight reluctance they allowed her to go as long as she didn't stray too far from the territory and avoided any other beings. Atticus smiled to herself, how was she supposed to make aqquantances if she did that though? She understood their concern, but only slightly. She was a dragon, what could she have to fear? Even being only centuries old she was still powerful, agile, dangerous, a creature not to be trifled with. Dragons weren't at the top of the food chain for nothing! So what if a few humans were scrambling about calling themselves "Hunters" and "Protettores"? They were humans, and that was that. Tougher than average humans, but humans nonetheless. Vampires? Based off of her mother and dad's descriptions they were just walking corpses that chomped on humans, but considering Atticus had yet to meet one she wasn't saying much about them. Werewolves? What couldn't she say about them? Werewolves were just below Dragons, and rightfully so. They were impressive beasts, possessing abilities somewhat like herself (though not quite as great). Even if she had only met two, she treasured the meetings fondly. Perhaps if her newest were friend, Gwendolyn, became close enough she might reveal her werewolf self. What a sight! A dream come true, to see a werewolf in real life. And mabye-just maybe-Atticus would show Gwen her true form in return. That was a fair enough trade, yeah?

Oh, I'm here.

The beaten path had long since vanished, becoming overrun with brush and vines so that any human with common sense would turn back, and the trees thinned considerably as she neared the edge of the wood. A pile of boulders were stacked precariously beside a pond dotted with cattails. The surface reflected the twilight sky above like a mirror. Atticus stood quietly, breathing in deeply through her nostrils. Only faint traces of woodland creatures remained. A were or two, but the scent was rather stale. Giving her surroundings a once-over, she confirmed she was safe to transform.

It was quick, like a burst, and the energy that surged through her veins as her body began to change felt amazing. The feeling of freedom that a dragon feels when transforming cannot simply be put into words, shedding the annoyingly smaller human-like prison. To any onlookers, it would be a simple series of lights obscuring the change from view. In mere moments, however, where a messy-blond-haired teen once stood a large creature took place. Scales a stormy gray, the underbelly tinted a dark pink like the first colors of twilight, a long snake-like neck and narrow head, small sharpened scales jutting up from the top of her skull and leading down the spine all the way to the tip of her thick tail, and a pair of wings folded delicately upon her back. Atticus let out a rumbling growl from deep within her throat, almost like a cat purring with delight from being scratched under the chin. She could finally stretch.

She gave her body a shake, as if dispelling water from her scales, and her wings stretched out upwards towards the sky. Ice blue eyes flickered around, scanning the wood. Sure, in her human form her senses were quite amazing, but it was much different being in her true form. After stumbling about as a human, she couldn't wait to take off again and be freer than anyone else. No boundaries, well, except for her parents warning of not going too far off. Not like she would, she had just got here. She still had plenty of exploring to do before she became restless and would more than likely want to head off for more of the great unknown. The great dragon let out a snort, lowering her head and gazing at the pond. The moon was creeping along the water, and the familiar pinpricks of stars began to show. She settled into a comfortable position, deciding she would wait. She would relax for a while, enjoy being back in her much more comfortable form while it lasted before she had to go back to being a clumsy teen human once more. The ground was chilly despite the warm Summer night air. She sighed, the warmth emenating from her own body would warm the ground up soon enough. Curling up and resting her snout beside the pond, she yawned. I wonder what Gwen is doing? Leonardo? Are they running about like wolves? Do they feel as comfortable as this when they're in that form? Questions surrounding the mysterious species that was werewolves began forming, she would surely have to ask Gwen the next time she saw the girl.