A Perfect... Hatchday?

Story by Serathin on SoFurry

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A commission for Bucksbhoy

When strange things start happening to a young man a mysterious stranger tells him an answer, but can he really believe it?

This is one of my rare clean ones, but considering what the commissioner wanted I really didn't feel the need to put sex in there, it would have been clunky so I decided to go for something else.


Sean waded through the crowds of the street as he had every other day, heading home after a long day of work. As he continued to walk though something felt... off, something that he had started to feel the second that he had woke up and continued to grow throughout his day at work. Even though he was able to ignore it for the most part it had begun to agitate him and those feelings seemed to increase tenfold when he started his walk home. He only hoped that it didn't show on his face as he boarded the train that would take him to his home on the outskirts of the city.

As the train rumbled across the tracks he stood in the full car and tried not to look at the people around him. Though no one seemed to sense his inner anxiety it felt like he was growing disconnected from the crowd around him, as though everyone else was part of something that he was not. The feeling only fed into his already nervous state and he found himself counting down the seconds until he arrived at home. He tried to distract himself with the pictures of the advertisements on the train, unfortunately they were the same that he had seen every day since he had to travel into the city and provided little relief to his psyche. Finally he decided to give up and just stare straight ahead, trying to keep his mind blank.

The train continued to rumble past several buildings as Sean concentrated on staring ahead, and as the view of the outside was blocked by brick and mortar something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. At first when he glimpsed to his side all he saw was his own reflection, a skinny, 6' 3" male dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, but the more he watched the more the image began to change. The lightly tanned skin of his reflect began to grow tinted, as though the background of the buildings had begun to change the image except that his clothes remained the same color. Also instead of the red and white of the brick the flesh of reflection seemed to turn a light green, though the more he watched the darker the shade became.

Despite the strangeness of the vision Sean couldn't help but be drawn by it, his body slowly inching closer to the side of the train to get a better look at himself. By the time he was a few inches away from the window the skin of his reflection had turned a deep, rich green that had begun to grow a textured pattern that looked similar to scales. His skin color and texture wasn't the only thing that had changed either, as he continued to watch he could see claws began to grow out of his fingers where he gripped the handle that hung from the train ceiling as well as something begin to push out from underneath the back of his shirt. More than once he had to look down at himself to make sure the changes weren't really happening, seeing his normal human arms and hands when he looked at them before he turned his gaze back to the surreal reflection transforming before his eyes.

Except when Sean looked back at the window again he only saw his normal human self, his reflection completely unchanged from the original that stood there gawking at it. As he looked closer to see if he could find any remains of the metamorphosis that he had witness he heard someone clear their throat and looked down to see a very angry Asian woman that he had crowded in order to get closer to the window. After muttering a half-hearted apology he quickly went back to the spot that he had originally stood at and tried not to look around as he could feel the eyes of several others on him as well as the person he had inconvenienced. His already slow journey home became even more laborious as he waited for the embarrassment to fade.

Finally the train came to a stop at his station a few minutes later, a small crowd of people emptying out into the semi-large station that included Sean. As he passed by several shops he felt his stomach rumble and decided to pick something up for the way home and stopped by the first station eatery that offered burgers. In his hunger he found himself ordering more than he had originally intended, but the smell of cooking meat wrestled his better judgement from him and he soon left with a large bag filled with burgers.

"Looks like you got quite the appetite there." A young man, maybe a few years older than him, said as he walked down the stairs to the exit of the station with him. "Or are those for your friends as well?"

Sean said nothing, wondering what possibly sparked the man's interest in him as he continued to leave. "Well I suppose that you might be saving a few for later, maybe even tomorrow." The man continued on despite Sean ignoring him. "Of course an increased appetite is nothing compared to the changes you have ahead of you."

The words caused Sean to stop dead in his tracks, though the man continued to walk on towards the exit. There was a sudden feeling in his chest that he couldn't explain, not quite fear but something similar in nature, which seemed to be caused by them. When he finally regained his composure enough to run up and catch the stranger he had already left the building and disappeared into the crowd outside. He looked for a few minutes to see if he could find the other male again, but when he found nothing he sighed and started to walk back to his apartment.

Even when he was back in the comfort of his own home Sean continued to be haunted by what the man had said to him. Had it just been a normal day he would have thought that the stranger was just a loon or possibly talking to someone else, but after the day he had it seemed to resonate with him differently. Instead of thinking about it he tried to focus on something else like the food he had brought or whatever was on the television, but even several hours later all he had was a bag of empty wrappers and the sixth pass through of the channels he had.

As Sean began his seventh run through the channels he suddenly heard something clatter to the ground in his bedroom. For a few seconds he sat completely still and listened, when he heard the noise happen again even louder he put down the remote control and slowly stood up. While his apartment wasn't big it was large enough that he had to go down a small hallway to reach his bedroom and as he walked down it he could feel his heart pound in his chest. When he was a few feet away from the door he heard another loud bang of something hitting the floor and it caused him to pause, but when he heard nothing else his hand slowly reached out towards the handle of the door to open it.

Suddenly the door was smashed outwards, Sean cried out as he stumbled backwards while the splintered door crashed into opposite wall of the hallway. His breath caught in his throat as he crawled backwards as fast as he could from the destroyed threshold, only to stop when something big and green reached out from his bedroom. It appeared to be some sort of scaly paw that was soon joined by a second forepaw before the unmistakable head of a dragon poked out into the hallway, it's long, muscular neck stretched as it peered around before its vibrant green eyes looked down at him. As Sean sat there paralyzed the rest of the dragon's body came out into the hallway, which was hardly wide enough to accommodate it as it slunk its way towards the human on all fours like a curious cat.

Sean suddenly felt the strength re-enter his limbs as the dragon came towards him and he backed all the way up into the living room before he managed to stand up. His eyes were fixated on the very large, feral-looking dragon as it continued to approach him, part of him wanted to run screaming out the door but in the back of his mind he somehow knew that if he tried to run the dragon would catch him. The only thing Sean could do was continue to slowly back up as his brain ran circles to try and figure out what to do. As he took another step backwards he suddenly felt his body bump into something solid and he quickly figured out he had run straight into the living room wall. He tried to shift left but the dragon was far too quick for him, its forepaws slammed so hard on either side of him he could hear the drywall crunch beneath them as the dragon's snout leaned forward.

The human could feel his entire body shake as he was trapped by the huge creature in front of him, unable to move or do anything but stare as the dragon sniff up and down his body. Sean tried to look away but he found his gaze fixated on the dragon's eyes, the reptilian slits of its pupils stared back at him as it seemed to regard him with animalistic curiosity. After what felt like an eternity the dragon's muzzle moved up until it was only a few inches from Sean's face; he could feel the hot breath of the creature against him as drool dripped from the sharp fangs that lined its mouth. When nothing happened for a few seconds Sean wondered what to do next with suddenly the dragon reared back and opened its jaws wide, the human only able to gasp before it lunged forward and clamped down with its jaws.

Sean shouted as he awoke suddenly, nearly tossing the remote he had been holding across the room as he looked around in a dazed panic. When he realized that he was on his couch and not accompanied by a huge, fearsome dragon he breathed heavily and waited for his pounding heart to settle down. As he shifted himself up he heard the crunch of the empty wrappers strewn about and looked up to see that the television channel he had fallen asleep too was playing some sort of dragon slayer movie that had likely caused the dream along with the fast food he had eaten. When he looked at his clock he saw that it was already eight in the morning, but thankfully it was Saturday which meant that he didn't have to go into work. His mind suggested that he go back to sleep but with the image of the dragon still fresh in his mind he decided to get an early start to the day and hopped into the shower to hopefully wash the dream away and get himself focused for the day.

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As the day continued to progress Sean continued to find a growing sense of restlessness in him as he walked through the mall. His apartment felt stifling and small to him which drove him out into the streets, but even as he walked past shops and kiosks he continued to feel the same strange anxiety and disconnect that he had the previous day. Eventually it caused him to abandon the shops all together and head down a completely different street where even he was unsure of what he wanted his destination to be. It took him nearly half an hour of walking before he finally stopped somewhere that interested him, though what it was confused him as he walked through the doors.

Inside he was immediately hit with a wave of loud sounds and flashing lights of the slot machines contained within the casino. Despite it being early there was a large crowd of people that were playing the various games that were scattered about, some of them silently gambling their money away while others were with others and were rather loud and boisterous with every win. Despite the sensory overload Sean felt strangely comfortable in the space, every once in a while he idly played one or two of the machines as he basked in the welcome respite from the anxiety he had felt in the last two days. As he passed by one bank of machines in particular though he saw a familiar man sitting at a machine, the one that had given him the cryptic comment the day before. He took out a twenty from his wallet and moved to the slot that was next to him, the stranger didn't even seem to regard him as Sean put the money into the machine.

"Thought I would see you here." The stranger said, a small grin on his face. "Our kind seem unable to resist the allure of this place."

"Who the hell are you?" Sean asked, his voice slightly angrier than he had intended as he lowered his voice. "How did you know I would be here and what do you mean by 'our kind'?"

"So many questions, though curiosity is another trademark of our species." The stranger replied with a chuckle. "To try and answer your questions in the same order you gave them my name is Koi and I believe I already told you how I knew you would be here, though I suppose I can explain further as well as answer your last question. When I say 'our kind' I mean dragons, which is what we are; well, I suppose I should clarify that I'm a dragon, you on the other hand are a were-dragon. I know that doesn't sound like much of a difference but technically we are completely different species, though I wouldn't let that come between us. Whether were or not dragons have always been associated with luck because we have the ability to manipulate it, whether for good or ill, and what better place to find luck in constant flux then in a casino where people are betting tangible money on mere chance?"

Sean's mind reeled as the man who called himself Koi seemed to wait in order for him to process the information he was just given. While the context sounded insane the man delivered it in such a way that it sounded like he was giving Sean directions to the local market. Even so his mind seemed to rebel at the thought; what Koi had just told him was not only utter nonsense but something that you would hear out of a fantasy story. "You have to think I'm crazy to believe such nonsense." Sean finally said.

"Fair enough." Koi replied, continuing to gamble as he talked. "To anyone else I'm sure I sound like quite the nutter, but I'm suspecting that some of my words are resonating with you or else you wouldn't continue to sit there and wait for me to tell you more. Unless of course you simply enjoy losing money on a machine."

Sean looked at his balance and cursed when he saw that he was eighteen dollars down already, then looked over and saw with some dismay that Koi's balance was up the same amount since he had first seen it when he sat down. "Alright, say I believe you." Sean finally said. "So what, I'm going to turn into a dragon like in those cheesy werewolf movies?"

"Oh yes, tonight in fact." Koi stated matter-of-factly. "Unfortunately you won't have control over yourself, most were-creatures never truly master such an art and especially not on their first time. This is why I'm here, to inform you that before the moon reaches its zenith tonight you need to get yourself out of the city. You can choose to ignore my warnings of course, but if you do and change inside your apartment or somewhere in the city you're going to have a lot of death on your hands that I guarantee you don't want hanging over your head. I've seen what happens to were-creatures who choose not to heed the call, eventually it drives them mad even in human form."

Sean was speechless, unable to anything but shake his head as Koi cashed out of his machine. "When the time comes get yourself to Euclid Park, it's just outside the city and considered a sanctuary with plenty of room for you. Good luck, and happy hatchday."

"Happy... what?" Sean asked, but the other male just smiled at him and walked out towards the exit, which left him there to process the conversation he just had. Any desire he had to continue gambling was gone and he cashed out himself, then immediately went back to his apartment, stopping only to grab another large amount of food for his dinner that night. By the time he reached his place the sun had begun to set and his anxiety had reached so high that he found himself pacing around his apartment as he ate.

"There's no way, I can't be a were-dragon, that guy just has to be insane... there has to be another explanation for everything." Sean muttered to himself as he set down the now empty container of food. Without the distraction of eating he started to feel extremely claustrophobic as well as uncomfortable doing anything other than walking around his apartment. As he passed by the window he looked outside to see the full moon high in the night sky and as it shined down on him he immediately started to feel uncomfortable even in his own body. "There has to be..."

Finally panic at the possibilities overrode his common sense and Sean packed a backpack with some clothes and foodstuffs before he ran out the door. He could feel his entire body begin to sweat as he ran down the stairs and out into the street, hailing a cab as soon as one passed by. "Euclid Park, fast as you can." He huffed as he slammed the door shut behind him.

"You sure?" The cabbie said as he turned back to look at him. "It's closed at night and you don't look so good."

"Drive!" Sean shouted, surprising himself and the cabbie who quickly turned around and began to head towards the park.

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It took forty five minutes to reach the entrance to the park and Sean felt a mixture of fear and panic as his entire body began to feel hot, his jeans and shirt drenched in sweat as he shakily gave the cab driver his credit card to pay for the trip. By the time it was processed Sean was already outside of the car and when the driver gave him the receipt to sign his hands shook so badly his signature was nothing more than a scribble. He didn't have time to do anything about it though since even in the pale light of the moon he could see his fingernails begin to darken. Luckily it appeared the driver didn't see anything, just thanked him for the business before he drove off.

"Please... please don't be happening." He pleaded to no one as he ran further into the park, his chest growing heavy with each fearful breath. "It's just a dream... just a dream..."

A loud crack rang through the air as Sean fell to the ground a few feet away from a pond, doubled over as he felt his spine lengthen. He grimaced and clutched his sides as he fell further forward as the first crack was proceeded by a second, then a third as the shirt he wore began to tighten. He tried to pull off the offending garment but his fingers had begun to noticeably thicken, the flesh tinted green and tipped with black pointed fingernails. Finally he grabbed the collar of the shirt and ripped it right down the middle, exposing his chest to the cool air before falling to all fours again.

His breathing turned to heavy pants as the skin on his scalp and spine began to burn, at first he thought he was losing his brown hair but as he ran his hands through it he found that it had actually begun to thicken and grow down his neck. He was so focused on his hair he didn't realize his muscles had begun to grow until he felt the rest of his clothing grow tight on his body as well. Sean sucked in a lungful of air before he threw himself onto his back, then tried to kick his shoes off before the growth in his feet grew too painful. When he finally did his eyes widened as he saw his feet lengthen, shredding his socks as the green-scaled skin of his transformed toes merged with several audible pops and grew thick, black talons.

"I'm not a were-dragon!" Sean screamed out, though his voice was several notes deeper as he tried to bring his hands up to his head. As soon as he reached out though his elbows snapped backwards, more of the dark green scales flowing up towards his shoulders as his hands grew extra knuckles. He whimpered as his body continued to betray him, strange thoughts beginning to enter his head as the seams on his jeans began to buckle. The pressure grew too intense and he tried to stand to unzip them, only to fall back down on his side when his knees buckled backwards.

As Sean looked outwards he saw his own face in the reflection of the nearby water, the face of a panicked human as he tried to get back on his feet. His jeans ripped at the seams and fell away from his thick, green-scaled thighs as thick plates of silver began to cover his chest. The only article of clothing he had left on was his boxers, and even they were stretched to the limit as a lewd bulge formed in front from a rapidly transforming male organ. Unlike the rest of his clothes the thin material was actually pushed off his newly formed hindlimbs as a tail began to snake out from the base of his spine, leaving him completely naked in his draconic form.

"No... no no no no no..." Sean repeated as he felt pressure build in the base of his skull before two horns slid out from underneath his new mane, causing him to gasp loudly and stumble. "Noooooarrrgh!"

Sean fell to his chest again as he felt every muscle in his body seem to contract and then expand underneath his scaly body, his frame unable to handle a two-legged stance anymore as his tail continued to snake and whip out behind him. He could feel an anger begin to build in his mind as the muscles in his back began to shift massively, at first it was at his current predicament but as it became stronger he began to lose focus on what it was he was so angry at in the first place. He tried desperately to rationalize that this wasn't him, that the feelings he felt weren't his, but the more he tried to hold on to his humanity the more he felt it slip away into something far more... primal.

There was a sudden pressure in his back that caused Sean to let out a half-scream, half-roar as a pair of bony growths stretched his scaled skin out and split off until a pair of large, leathery wings unfurled behind him. As he tried to look back at the new growths he suddenly felt his neck crack, then crack again and again as it lengthened out into a proper dragon's neck as he let out a loud, angry hiss. His still human lips formed into a snarl as the fear of his new form fed into his newfound anger until it turned into full-blown draconic rage. Nothing mattered now, Sean didn't matter now, all the growing dragon could think about is the havoc and destruction it was about to unleash.

A sudden noise caused Sean's still partially human head to whip around and growl, only to stop when he saw Koi standing there in the treeline. The familiar face caused some small part of the human to shine through the draconic instinct that had saturated his mind and he looked at the other man in desperation. "Prrreeessseee hrrrpp." Sean tried to form the words as drool leaked through his lengthening fangs, his nostrils flared as green scales began to appear on it. "I dunnn... durrrrrr.... Rrrrrr...."

Koi watched passively as the last of the humanity seemed to drain out of the increasingly draconic face, the bones in Sean's jaw and nasal area cracking as they pushed out into a muzzle. "I already told you, there's nothing that can be done." Koi said with a shrug. "You are who you are."

Sean let out a loud roar as he thrashed his head around, his ears melting into the side of his head as scales covered the last remaining vestiges of flesh. The feral were-dragon stood in the tattered remains of a human's clothes before he began to rampage, roaring as the air was the filled with sounds of wood cracking as his tail, claws, and teeth ripped into the nearby trees. Thick trunks snapped like toothpicks under the dragon's strength and even huge boulders were no match for his rage as he clawed thick furrows into the hard stone. When it finally appeared that the were-dragon had calmed down enough he turned his head back to the only other creature in the area that had not been scared off, Koi smirked as he felt Sean's gaze settle on him.

"See what I meant about not wanting to be in the city?" Koi said with a sigh as he grabbed the forgotten backpack and stuffed the tattered clothing into it. "Not that you can even understand me... well, in any case, hopefully these clothes weren't something you were particularly fond of." The man looked up to see that the dragon had reared back into a pounce position, deathly silent as the dragon looked at its prey. Koi did nothing, merely watched as Sean prepared to attack.

The were-dragon was pure predatory instinct as he tensed every muscle in his body, then finally leapt forward and opened his jaws to strike down. Before he could completely close the distance Koi's body was suddenly enveloped in a large cloud of black smoke one second, and in the next second it dissipated and a huge, black-furred dragon stood in the human's place. The were-dragon tried to back-petal but the bigger dragon brought his forepaw down with lightning speed and pinned the smaller green and black-striped creature to the ground by its neck. To make its intentions clear the black dragon leaned down to within a few inches of the were-dragon's head and let out a loud and vicious roar that caused the were-dragon to wince and close his eyes.

After a few seconds the were-dragon looked up again to see the black dragon stare down at him, the dragon's amethyst eyes locked onto his green ones before he looked away in a sign of submission. The black dragon huffed slightly and let the were-dragon up, who quickly scrambled to his feet and backed away slightly. The two feral dragons sat in silence for a few seconds before the furry dragon padded over and hooked the now-small backpack in his claws before he hung it around the were-dragon's horns. The were-dragon tilted his head in confusion and tried to shake it off, only to get pawed in the face which caused him to snort. When the were-dragon stopped the black dragon reached up and scratched behind the were-dragons horns, which caused the former human to nearly collapse as a wave of pleasure radiated from his body.

When it appeared that the were-dragon was sufficiently subdued the black dragon looked up to the sky and unfurled his wings, but then looked down at the ground. The feral were-dragon looked down to see the other creature pick up a small hat and lick it before he put it on the were-dragon's head. Even though it hardly fit on his head it seemed to stick there from the black dragon's saliva even when he shook his head a little to try and get it off. A stern look back caused the were-dragon to quickly stop, and then together the two creatures flew off into the night lit by the full moon overhead.

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