Captive- closed

[Artemidorus]

The events of the previous night filtered over and over in Eden's head as she sat on a penthouse bed at the top of a glass skyscraper. She looked over the skyline and gripped the sheets in her fists as she replayed the mistake that landed her here. In the dragon's den.

She had left the settlement she lived at, late at night, even though it was against the rules. There just wasn't enough food in the settlement, and most women turned to the guards, sleeping their way into clothes without holes and food that wasn't expired. But Eden wouldn't. She had never been with a man before the end of the world, and she wasn't going to give away her first time to a greasey stranger with a gun. Not for scraps.

So she snuck out. Something she had done a dozen times before, but something that still made her blood run cold. There hadn't been a dragon sighting in close to three days so she thought this was the best time. She was so wrong. He was on her before she even got to the edge of town. He must have been silently watching her for awhile, because the moment she let her guard down he grabbed her.

Instead of eating her, he took her to his lair, dropped her off, and left again. Perhaps he went to find food for himself, since he settled on kidnapping her instead of hunting. She didn't care. She immeditely tried to escape, which proved fruitless. The only way out was off the roof or out a window. The doors werw securely locked, and she saw through the keyhole that the stairs were gone.

But, on the bright side, this penthouse magically still had running water. She cleaned herself up and relished drinking the clean, clear water. It was a welcome change from filtered lake water at the settlement. Then she laid on the silk bed and attempted to rest until the dragon came back to do god knows what. But she couldnt sleep. Her heart raced. Every sound made her shoot straight up, in fear that the beast was back.

 

[Asobininryochan]

He thought of what these humans ate, presumably like the deer he hunted, fruit? The pen he placed the girl in had fruits trees. Perhaps they also ate meat, too? Flying over the ruins of the once great human city he now claimed as his territory, he spotted movement at the edge of the forest that man referred to as a park. Swooping down, his talons sunk into the back of a hog and rose into the night air.

Satisfied that the pig had enough weight to feed her many times over – he travelled back to the tower that housed his captive. Tossing the carcass onto the balcony, the winged beast circled, then perched on the peak of another building the human tongue called skyscrapers. Hiding himself within a garden he used as one of his many lairs, he waited to see if the girl will accept his offering. The wind from the sea picked up, and he knew that only a few hours remained until the coming of dawn. Until that time arrived, the perfect time to stalk his favorite prey, he will watch and see what his pet decides to with the present.

 

[Artemidorus]

Eden backed up onto the bed as she heard the beast approach. The sound of his wing beats was unmistakable. She waited, fighting the temptation to hide under the blanket. With her watching, he dropped a dead pig on her balcony and then left to perch on a nearby window. He was watching her, and she couldn't stop shaking.

She took a deep breath and tried to still her heart, which felt like it could beat right out of her chest. What was he even doing? Trying to... feed her? She was too scared to even get off the bed, let alone skin a pig and figure out if the kitchen worked. And what if it didn't? She had no way to starve a fire.

If the beast didn't eat her, she was going to starve to death. But at least she could take showers. And the bed was huge, and the furniture was comfortable. It was better than dying or whoring in the settlement.

 

[Asobininryochan]

Puzzled by the human’s lack of interest in the boar, the Dragon pondered for an hour, debating whether to help the frightened creature. She seemed unable to move from her bed, and the fading stars told him to act, or miss his chance to eat venison. Leaping from his perch, he spread his wings and landed on the balcony where his pet cowered under her bed sheets.

Quickly, lest he frighten the thing to death, he blew on the carcass. The fire from his searing breath burned the coarse hair from the boar’s dead body as he sliced the underbelly with a claw from one of his forelimbs. Eating the viscera, he next took the bloody pig and placed the gutted hog on a fire pit. Burying the boar under a pile of stones, the dragon finally unleashed a stream of sizzling flame that made the rock glow red.

He continued heating the rubble until the sun rose over the horizon. Hunger caused his ministrations to stop and he plunged from the lip of the balcony to soar toward the park and the deer that grazed at the edge of the forest. He chose a wounded buck, gored by a rival’s antlers and carried off his breakfast to a nest warmed by the rays of the morning sun. As he ate his meal, he wondered if the human will eat if he left her to consume her food in peace.

 

[Artemidorus]

Eden watched, curiously, as the dragon sliced and roasted the boar for her. So he was trying to feed him. She huffed in surprise, but she didn't leave her perch on the bed. Not until after he left. There was rumors that the dragons were sentient, rumors that they could take a more humanoid form, but she had always thought they were just that, rumors. It was hard enough to believe in dragons, let alone shape shifters.

Finally he seemed bored with her, and glancing out at the early dawn light, he took off. Presumably to find food for himself. She heard a rumble in her own stomach, and based on the smell of the pigs flesh, it was cooked well enough for her to eat. She slowly climbed down, and made her way over to the balcony, glancing up at the sky. No dragon.

She glanced back to the pig, and to the slice he had cut off. She grabbed it, practically burning her hands. The fresh meat was so good, something she never got back at the settlement. Soon she was licking her fingers clean as the sun lit up the horizon.