Draped in pitch dark veils, the lips of the dragoness twitched as she lay limp atop an abandoned beach. Her tail slid left to right, and left angels of sand in their way. After a twitch of her eyelid, an eye peeked open; twilight purple, glistening as if it were a ruby dipped in midnight ink. Her stomach convulsed—and her eyes widened. She rushed to her feet and coughed grains of sand, the sound deadly—choking. Her pupils expanded throughout her iris, and she rushed to look around—the area, filled with sand wet over by the glistening tides of the water—cloudless skies—beautiful tropical trees glowing and colorful flowers blooming beneath the pleasant rays of the sun. As she took a step back, she shook her head in disbelief. She ended up… at a beach? The veils that adorned her pitch dark scales flowed barely beneath the soft breeze, and yet, the dragoness could not help but sigh. Her eyelids were lowered with pure exhaustion as she then walked throughout the beach. The dragoness did not quite know what destination she wanted to arrive at, but she wanted to find shelter. So then, her journey continued as large, four-toed footprints indented the mushy sand beneath her. Her dragging tail left created a long trail in its wake, the uplifted indenture of the sand washing away by the gentle waves of the beach water.

As she ventured through the rough bushes of the forest–her foot caught a prick, and a small grunt escaped her. Her gaze darted around before settling on her front right foot–then, her scaly lips lifted to reveal her dagger-sharp fangs and hint of a gum. With a tap of her fang, she attempted to remove the prick–but then a shadow flashed past her peripherals. Her lower eyelid twitched–her lips pressed into a straight line, and she swiftly looked back up. There the dragoness was–surrounded by tall trees with highly extruded branches that blocked sunlight. The shadows of the leaves curved around the trees and moved like dancing midnight ribbons as she walked past them. A muscle in her shoulder tensed–her breaths labored. Pupils constricted–jaw clenched itself–wings lifted themselves in defense of what may come. The mesmerizing sound of a water wave pleasured the ears of the dragoness. She then opened her twilight eyes–and they lowered with the dullness that they didn’t have before. There she was, alone, on the beach. Again or still, she did not know. She swallowed her own spit–and as it trailed down her gullet, she sat hunched over–breaths uneven and far too large to be relaxed. The rate of her blinking was rapid as she viewed her same surroundings. Her gaze then set on the water–now flat, lifeless, and utterly gray. She glanced left, then left again–completely unsure of what had happened.