PoTA: Through Dragon Eyes

Surma's heavy eyes opened to be greeted by the cold air and soft moonlight playing off the stones.  They slowly traveled about the stony cavern as her mind began to whirr and wake from her deep slumber.  This place... where was it?  How did she get here? When did she get here?  Her mind droned over the questions as she took in the sleek sides of the moist stony walls and the mossy floor that laid out comfortably under her body.  

She lifted her head slowly and paused as her muzzle looked... odd.  It was longer, narrower with a wider end and side set nostrils.  This wasn't her face.  Surma blinked and looked down at her chest.  Her thick curly fur was gone.  In its place scales and short feathers sat glimmering in the soft night light. Beneath them long narrow finger-like front limbs peeked out and clacked against the stone with the hooked claws.  Her heart started to beat heavily within her warm chest as confusion made her dizzy.  She tried to pull herself up, stumbling a bit as her short limbs and long body was odd to maneuver.  Surma regained her balance and blinked at the feeling of two extra limbs… wings.  She tried to lift them, slowly flexing different parts of her scaly body until one pulled up and flopped back onto the cold stony floors.  She had wings… 

The tokota stood in the cavern for quite some time trying to learn how to control the giant floppy mounds of flesh that hung loosely at her sides.  After a bit of flopping and smacking they finally lifted above her and settled awkwardly against her sides; held as if disgusted with the floor.  Her tail was next.  It was long and whip-like with a tapering end that flicked with even the slightest thought or movement.  It thrashed and cracked against the stones when she got frustrated and swept from side to side all the while.  Bit by bit the tokota slowly took in each part of this new body.  She flexed her limbs and moved them about until their feelings and movement instilled within her mind as a part of the whole.   

Surma’s mind had settled but the questions were still there.  What had happened during her sleep? What was this beast?  Was it real, or a dream?  It had to be.  But what were all these feelings?  Why didn’t she wake?  She shook her head, listening to the hissing of her feathers rise and fall against the scales and looked out towards the cavern mouth.  The night was open and young with dark blues and glittering stars that hung like sequence on an expensive gown.  The cold winds swirled and whistled as they sung against the stones and slipped by in a carefree mood.  And yet Surma didn’t feel cold.  She wasn’t sore or aching with the chill.  Her body felt unusually warm with a crackling heat that started in her gut and radiated out.  Every now and then the warmth slipped to her throat and small flickering embers danced out of her lips to join the winds and be carried off into the darkness.  She watched them and flicked her tail.  Her thoughts and questions died off until one remained.  Where was she?

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