***

Many changes had come to the Earth, and its people were adjusting as best that they could. One such method was by attempting to acquire as many skills or skill ranks as possible, and in a certain town the best place to hunt was on the outskirts of town near a large forest. A dragon had moved in, and the monsters in the area had been pushed out to places where they were easy pickings for the well-armed humans.

Shots rang out as over a dozen rifles were fired in unison. A dire bear roared one last time then fell over dead. Only a level twelve beast, it was still several times deadlier than a normal bear. However, before the might of modern firearms fired repeated from multiple positions it was quickly subdued.

Two hunters moved to begin collection of the animal parts and to search for stones, while the other men in the hunting party stood watch. Normally, the situation would be reversed. The majority would take apart the kill. However, with the sheer number of monsters in the area they had to remain vigilant and ready. This meant that they had to be able to fire at a moment’s notice. A hard thing to do when one is busy cutting apart their prey.

From a distance, enshrouded by the foliage, a little black dragon watched the men work. Rather, he watched the meat take meat from another meat.

These meats were different than the ones that he had seen before. They all had the same fake skins, and an acrid stench hung in the air. Other meat used the bang sticks, but these meats seemed to be stronger.

Even so, once he began to feast on their warmth, they meat fell limply to the ground. Flaccid. Spent. They lacked the will to move, though they did briefly make quite the fuss about it before they inevitably lost consciousness.

Curious, the little dragon waddled into the recent battle ground and sniffed at one of the bang sticks. He quickly drew back and sneezed, only to immediately frown in a way that only a dragon might frown. How could the meat use such things? They were disgusting.

He bit down on the barrel of the rifle, then spat it back out. *Blech!* he cried. These things could kill big meat, but so could he. They were useless to him.

The dragon waddled over to the nearest meat and sniffed at it. Recently, he had begun to be attracted to shiny things. Carefully, he searched the fake skins for shiny things. Many of his old shiny things were taken by the meat before he realized that he might like them. So, it only seemed fair that he should take the shiny things that the meat possessed.

He found a few rings, a necklace, a gold belt buckle, and a half-eaten cell phone. The last item was, of course, fine before he found it. Sadly, it too was not of use and tasted terrible.

Eventually, he ate the bear and left the other meat to do whatever meat did with itself when he was not around. He could not return to his cave, as meat had discovered it. Now they bothered him day and night if he went there.

Slightly bigger by the day, his dragon form continued to grow. This was all due to the warmth taken from the meat. Yes, the meat warmth was the best food he could find. Though, he did still need to eat actual food.

The dragon wandered the forest. Fighting, or watching other’s fight, he learned many things. More and more meat with bang sticks were coming into the forest. If possible, he wished not to eat them. Yet, if they continued to kill his prey there was little that he could do about the matter.

It was this wandering that led him to dusk on the outskirts of the forest. The creeping weakness was upon him. It was time to become one with the darkness and rest. Yet, there was no place safe to do so.

He looked around; his eyes wide. The night was not particular dark for him, but it was still a little scary. He could probably beat any meat in the woods. He’d beaten ever so much meat in this forest already. Yet, there was no guarantee that there was not something stronger in the woods. In fact, as he began to understand words once more, he picked up on a strange tidbit. The bang stick meat spoke of a powerful monster in the woods. It was something called, ‘a dragon.’ He should like to eat such a meat, but it sounded like it might be trouble.

Slightly unsettled by the approaching darkness, and the weakness that it brought with it, the little dragon scurried through the underbrush. As the world darkened, he became frantic. He did not want to fall asleep without a proper cave!

It was this frantic searching that led him from the woods entirely, and into the back yard of a small house. The dragon stopped short and tilted his head to the side. What manner of meat was this?

He sniffed at the white picket fence that separated the woods from the home then acquired a look of curiosity. Dead wood and something else? He took an experimental bite that ripped a sizeable hole in part of the fence. He chewed briefly then spat it out. *Blech!*

Disappointment evident on his face, he sighed in annoyance. Why did all the interesting things taste terrible?

He finished breaking through the fence then waddled into the yard beyond. The scent of mutilated grass filled his nostrils. It was a pleasant aroma, the smell of the freshly injured grass. He could not know it at the time, but the lawn had been mowed that morning.

The little dragon looked with envy and the nearby house. He could sense meat inside, but they did not attack other meat. Eventually a word came to mind. Home.

‘This is a cave for meat to sleep in,’ was his thought. He needed a cave as well but did not feel right about taking the meat cave. Nearby, however, he discovered a small cave. A normal person might call it a tool shed. A big one more akin to a workshop, really.

Able to rest at last, he crawled into a window that was left open and then inspected his surroundings. There were many sights to see and smells to smell. At this point, though, he could barely keep his eyes open. For now, he would sleep in a meat cave. Perhaps tomorrow he could see and smell more things.