Welcome to Gaia! ::

The door had opened that morning.

He hadn't known it was morning. He wasn't sure how much time had passed, how long he had been entombed in his own home. Time hadn't mattered. Time didn't matter if you were dead. But the passage of time was maddening.

That mattered not anymore. For the door had opened, and sunlight had greeted him for the first time in three days. Sunlight was blinding after years of darkness, but he had faced it, stepping from the cave of his doorway like some demon king striding from the gates of hell itself, accompanied by a veritable army of insects. A sight straight from nightmares, including his own.

He had left the door open, allowing the bugs a route of escape, and without a second thought had ventured into the sunlight, armed with crutch and flattened hat, to seek out the cause of his torture. His present madness. Who else, but the dragon?

The dragon would pay.

The entire day he had searched, moving quickly despite his stub leg. Hungered gnawed at his stomach, and he paused briefly to catch a lizard, puncturing its neck with one claw-like nail and devouring the pitiful creature in three short bites. Why not? He was living a hallucination, living a hell--or dead and merely fooling himself, to wake up in the bug encrusted tomb once more. What was one lizard?

He searched the course of the day, finally recalling the announcement that a 'Zach' was no longer allowed in the village. Zach the dragon, he decided. His prey had a title. His task was made more difficult, but not impossibly so. Caves would be the dragon's choice home. Alec the shark lived in a river, but the dragon-thing would choose a case. Emelyn lived in the caves near the mountain, if he recalled correctly. The dragon would live elsewhere.

There were caves to the south, cliffs full of them. He could remember the sight from his runs on the beach. Running. He couldn't run anymore. But he could move quickly. He reached the cliffs as the sun was sinking beneath the horizon, but did not let that hinder his search. For days, for months, for years he had lived in darkness--what was one night?

One cave was searched. The next, the next. The stench of blood lay heavy over the area, swept towards him by the sea breeze. Thom followed the smell, but, unfortunately, it was not Zach's mangled body that greeted him. It was a headless deer carcass, left just outside of a cave. This was the one.

He stormed to the mouth of the cave, half-hood flaring to its full extent as he glared into the darkness, finally bellowing, "ZACH!" His voice echoed around the cave, slightly startling even him--and was sure to attract the attention of anyone within it.

The was a long silence while Thom listened for a reaction. Over the dying echos of his voice, there was briefly the sound of moving leaves, then silence, stillness. It could have been anything. But the deer, that headless deer, it should have kept the animals away. The dragon was home. He had to be.

Lips curving in a mad sneer, Thom took a step into the cave. A step, then a second, the clink of his crutch echoing faintly with his single footstep. "ZACH!" he repeated, as loud as the first time. It was not a question. "I know your name now, dragon man," he drawled, an almost sing-song lilt to his voice. He laughed, taking a third step. Thud, clink. "You killed me, Zachary Bloodstone. Come out an' I'll return the favor."

Leaves again among the fading echos. It was hard to pinpoint the sound, but it reinforced his conclusion that someone was in the cave. He waited. He could be patient. He had spent an eternity in darkness over the past few days. This cave was open, did not have bug crawling all over him. He could wait.

It paid off. The reply came, along with the familiar dragging S's of the dragon's dialect. The voice came towards him, towards the mouth of the cave, and though there was a faint echo, the direction was still clear. Step, clink. Step, clink. His movements were slow. There was no hurry. Indeed, he was quite came, though the mad smile remained. His task would be easier if he could pinpoint the dragon.

"You don't know my name, Zachary Bloodstone," he assured the dragon man, a chuckle in his voice. Even if Zach did, which Thom doubted, it wouldn't matter. Why should he grace his prey with a name when it had taken his own cleverness to deduce Zach's? Zach would have to work to learn his. "You would recognize me, I think, but not in this dark cave. Come out an' meet me, Zach."

"You don't," he pleasantly assured the dragon man, taking another step in the direction of the voice. Keep him talking. The more he talked, the easier it would be to find him. However, when the voice addressed him, it had moved--Zach was off to his side, far too close for comfort. Hissing angrily, nonexistant fangs bared, the cobra whirled towards the voice, eyes seeking its source through the darkness and shadows of the cave at night.

But just as quickly, the anger was gone once more, bitter laughter rising in its stead. "Well done, Zachary, well done. But that is not my name, now is it? The snake. Tch." Keep talking. Provoke a reply. Thom weaved his way towards the voice, careful to circle around from the mouth of the cave. It wouldn't do to have the dragon trying to run off.

What was the harm? He could strike up a conversation. It would keep Zach talking, it would keep himself calm. He needed to stay calm. If he grew angry again, he may slip up, and the dragon might escape. Zachary Bloodstone would not be leaving this cave again. "An announcement," he offered, after a pause. Step, click. Step, click. "You've been banned from th' village, did y' know?" Banned from the village to live in a cave, to die in a cave. Thom chuckled.

Step, click. He paused at the question that followed, eyes narrowing. "You? You went whinin' to th' labs, I don't doubt. Complainin' of a crushed top hat. An' I relived the wreck that sent me here. I watched my funeral from th' tomb they built for me, time and again, over and over, eaten alive by bugs--I lived in darkness for a thousand years!" He was shouting by the end of the 'explanation', having completely failed at his goal of staying calm. Lifting a hand, he pointed it threateningly in the general direction of Zach's voice, shouts echoed by the cave. "I will see you to the gates of your own hell b'fore I ever return to my own!"

((Note* Permission to tackle has been granted xD))

The dragon began to reply and, regaining some composure, Thom moved into action, following the sound. Step, clink--there. The dragon man came into sight, not much more than a shadow in the darkness, but a moving, living shadow nonetheless. Slowly, carefully, Thom continued forward while the dragon man spoke, pleased that Zach was serving as a distraction for himself. Closer, closer...

He paused, tail gliding to serve in place of his short leg, allowing him to stand without the aid of the crutch, which he silent set aside, leaning it against a stalagmite. Walking was slower now, but still possible. Step, glide, step, glide. Zach's final word pronounced his own sentance, and, tail coiling beneath him like a spring, Thom lunged.

The snake struck, though it's intent was not to bite. Instead, the cobra's attack carried him onto the giggling shadow, tackling the dragon man to the cold floor of the cave. The snake reacted instantly, long, sinuous tail lashing around to loop around the dragon's neck once, twice, squeezing just tightly enough to let Zach know it would not be moving. Thom, meanwhile, used his weight to pin the dragon man beneath him, clawed hands holding Zach's arms just beneath his elbows.

Breathless, giddy, he laughed, even as his tail began to tighten around the dragon man's throat. "A hat. I hated th' hat, not you. Sabin? Won't he? He's not here, is he? I'm still awake. An' you're still dyin'. Trouble breathin'?"

It was too easy. There was nothing to stop him, here in the cave. There were no cameras, no islanders, no staff. Just the predator and prey. Zach was dying. The struggling was growing weaker, the tail was tightening its grip. It wouldn't take much longer. Seconds to minutes, minutes to seconds. Who cared? Thom was thrilled by his revenge, the cobra was thrilled by its first real kill. Any second now it would be over.

In reality, the time was surprisingly short. It was over in a matter of seconds. Though there were no cameras, there was GPS, and warnings had jumped to screens in the labs when Zach's vitals began to slow. Once the confrontation was pinpointed, it was simple work to buzz the culprit. Thom tensed briefly as a familiar tingling ran down his neck and spine, then fell limp, sliding to the ground beside the dragon man even as his tail released it's hold on Zach's neck. He was out cold.