Dragon Dreams

Matthew is suddenly aware of a red dragon, flying counterpoint to him, always staying back. He chuckles with gentle amusement, for the bond between them was such that she could never hide – not for long, though it had been two thousand years since they had last met, and their offspring were now scattered across the continent. The bond between them was such that they would always find each other…Matthew sits up suddenly in bed as his grandfather bursts in the door, looking through the room as if for intruders.

"Why did you scream?" Grandfather says, sitting down on the bed. Noon light shines through the slats of the bedroom’s Venetian blinds. Grandfather adds, "I believe I have made progress in tracking down what is happening to you, though I did not believe it was possible. However, when Maria mentioned the red dragon, I began to recall an old story."

Matthew shakes off the last vestiges of sleep as his eyes struggle to focus on the form of his grandfather. The dream slips away as he becomes more awake, leaving behind only dim impressions.

That dream.... there was someone he knew... but who?

Then, the young man realizes what Grandfather has said to him. "You have found something?" he asks, swinging his legs over the side of the bed and sitting on the edge of the mattress. A quick look at the clock confirms his suspicions. Overslept? he thinks. That's odd. 

Matthew begins a stretching routine, bringing his sleep-laden body more alert. He looks expectantly at Grandfather.

"Why did you scream?" his grandfather repeats, a bit more pointedly this time, not continuing until his grandson answers.

"I screamed?" Matthew is puzzled. It was a... pleasant dream, wasn't it? Why would I scream? "I was dreaming." He shrugs. "But it didn't seem anything to be screaming about... I guess. I don't remember much of it."

"I have thought for decades that you..that we…were alone," Grandfather continues. "There had been…well, there was no reason to expect otherwise, but of course you know that there were dragons in China millennia ago. I had been taught that I was the last, that there would never be anymore."

"But?" Matthew prompts as the old man sits, mouth slightly open, seeming to search for words (not a typical difficulty for his grandfather!)

"But this morning, as I spoke with your sifu," he says, "I saw her." He looks at Matthew, gauging his reaction.

"Her?"

Matthew blinks a few times as he absorbs the implications of this. "I'm not going to wind up tricked into another date, am I?" he says to cover his chaotic thoughts. Another Dragon? A female Dragon? Whoa! This is getting a bit weird.

"She was in her human form," Grandfather offers, "Standing across the street, merely watching the house. She…vanished when she noticed us watching her, however."

Matthew eyes his grandfather. "Her human form?" he repeats. "Then she isn't exactly like me? She's a full Dragon? How can you tell?"

Grandfather looks uncomfortable, and glances out the window. "That is a long story," he responds, quietly. "This was not…this was not the first time I had seen her."

Matthew stands and bends over to plant his hands on the floor. Hmmm... hamstrings are getting a bit tight. I'd better stretch them a bit extra today.

"What do you mean by 'she vanished'?"

"She vanished," Grandfather says, this time deliberately overenunciating. "She was standing there one second, then was not the next."

Matthew stands and peers out the window. Yes, he definitely overslept.

"Well, I'm not going to get much done today anyway. I need to take a shower. Then, I will eat breakfast..." he looks out the window again, "...no, I will eat lunch while you tell me about this lady Dragon whom you have seen before." He eyes Grandfather closely. "It sounds like there's a lot of family history that I missed."

Matthew grabs a clean pair of sweats, and trudges off to the bathroom. I'm still tired, he thinks as a yawn splits his face. I feel like I was up all night. Hmm.... maybe I was.

"Better put tea on," he calls back over his shoulder.

A few minutes later, when Matthew emerges from the bathroom, tea is waiting on the table, and Grandfather is sitting in a chair nearby.

Without prelude, Grandfather begins, "It was after I’d first changed," he said. "I wasn’t like you; the ability to change did not come to me until my father died, and I was seventeen. I had just moved from the country, and was experiencing the city for the first time.." His eyes become distant.

"When I saw Shuk-Wah for the first time, I do not think I knew what hit me. She was so very beautiful, and," he stops for a second. "Very worldly. We became…close. It was not for over a year before I knew her true nature, for I had been busy concealing mine from the British and Americans. The dragon was himself amused by our relationship, and it was from him that I learned – after a year! – that Shuk-Wah was a dragon, and that she and, ah, our dragon had been mates from millennia ago. And that they came together every few centuries to breed." 

Grandfather sighs. "This was twenty years before I married your grandmother," he explains to Matthew. "When I told Shuk-Wah about what I had learned, she had herself been amused with me. ‘Of course I knew that,’ she told me. ‘Why else do you think I seek you out? I will not breed with you, little one, for you will be old and withered when my time comes.’"

Grandfather gives Matthew a pointed look. "I think you understand, now. I think this explains why the dragon has become so rebellious. It is their time. I did not think to see this day, for I saw Shuk-Wah die on the streets, the random victim of a riot. I had been heartbroken, to be sure, but I put my life in order, married, and had children. I never expected to see her again."

Matthew absorbs all of this as he sips his tea. Much of it is new and surprising for him. "You could change too...?" he says wonderingly. "Can you still change?"

Grandfather shakes his head. "No, the dragon only lives in one at a time," he says. "It stayed as long as I was young and strong, but moved on when I began to slow."

The young man shakes his head as if to clear it. "This makes things complicated." What is Maria going to think about all this, he wonders with fatalistic humor, the Other Woman is someone my Grandfather dated who also happens to be a Dragon.

"If this is their mating time," he asks Grandfather, "What effect will that have on me? What exactly is involved with this?" What if I'm supposed to have some sort of relationship with Shuk-Wah during "this time"? Dragons aside, I don't know if that would be right! And how does Grandfather feel about all this?

"I am not sure what effect it will have on you," Grandfather responds. "This has not happened in anyone’s memory." Grandfather exhales. "I think you had best seek Shuk-Wah out and ask her yourself. I will prepare you with tea, so that you will not change against your will, but it is possible that it will not help. You should be prepared for every possibility."

Matthew nods slowly, finishing his lunch as Grandfather spoke. "You are right," he says. "I must speak with Shuk-Wah, but how will I know who she is? Granted, she will be looking for me, but I would like to meet her halfway rather than wait for her to make the first move."

Grandfather shakes his head. "I do not know," he says. "You may not be given much of a choice, by either of them. Do you want the tea?"

"Yes, that would probably be best for now." Matthew grimaces at the remembered taste.

Matthew goes into his room as Grandfather brews the horrible concoction that could suppress the Dragon. The young man grabs a napsack and begins stuffing things into it. First to go in, and taking up a lot of the available space, is his Dragon Fist costume. Next, a small roll of cash finds its way into a side pocket. Finally, Matthew grabs a 35mm camera, checks the film, then tucks it in the front pocket.

He had yet do done his "disguise," and decides that it would only hamper things anyway. Matthew puts in his colored contacts, but leaves the fake ponytail in his closet. Instead, he grabs a baseball cap.

Now prepared, he returns to the kitchen and gingerly takes the evil smelling cup from Grandfather.

"Drink it all," the older man cautions.

"Gah!" Matthew chokes a bit as he swallows the stuff. His stomach roiled threateningly, but eventually settled down. Still grimacing at the taste, Matthew says goodbye to Grandfather. "I'll be back this evening."

"Good luck, Grandson," the old man replies as the door shuts behind Matthew.

Matthew takes the back stairs down to the kitchen area of the restaurant below. Waiting for just the right moment, he slips unseen to the back door, and out into the alley behind the building. Concealing himself momentarily behind a dumpster, Matthew removes his contacts and puts them carefully into a holder, then into his knapsack. The cap also comes off and gets tucked under the costume. No longer Matthew, he was now Dragon Fist in civilian attire.

A jump carries Dragon Fist to the fire escape on the adjoining building, and he quickly gains the roof. The hero skitters across this, carefully concealing himself from anyone below. He then takes the fire escape on the other side down to street level, and pads to the mouth of the alley.

Dragon Fist crouches down on the curb as if to tie his shoe. Using this as cover, he takes a quick look around, scanning the places where a watcher might station him... herself to see the apartment. No joy. Matthew stands as he completes his search without seeing anything unusual. So, he begins to walk.

Hmmm... I won't have much luck finding her if I only have a vague idea of her looks. What I need is a way to make her come to me... on my terms. I'm assuming she'd be interested in talking to me, of course.

Matthew pauses to buy a pastry from a streetside vendor, then continues onward munching. His thoughts turn over and over, first proposing, then rejecting many ideas on how he should contact Shuk-Wah. And, what he'll say when he does...

PBEM Turns