The Gilded Dragon

All he remembered was the cold seeping through his body, as if he had been dropped into a tub full of ice. When he began to relax, that is when everything changed. He never remembered making his decisions, but as the darkness faded, it was interrupted by the chirping of birds and the tingling sensation of the sun's rays.

'Where am I?'

Wasn't it late evening? He thought to himself, he was calm and collected, until he noticed his draconic snout from a sneeze. His eyes opened and the world looked so much bigger than himself. It was as if he had shrunk, he was the size of a ferret. He rested on a rail of some sort, no it wasn't a rail, it was made of granite and it was a bit too short.

His Arctic Blue eyes stared at the granite material his body rested upon, bathing in the sun. When he moved, he could feel the friction against his body. Curving his body, his eyes narrowed on his gilded midnight scales. He had two stripes of gold going along his back.

This was unreal, he was a dragon and not only that, he could feel the untapped power flowing through him. He didn't understand what this was... He closed his eyes and straightened out his serpentine vessel, then opened his eyes. It wasn't a dream.

As he opened his mouth, he could hear the low growl emanating from his throat. As he took a breath, he flicked out his tongue. The world changed colors, pheromones and heat.

There was an intoxicating scent coming his way. It wasn't familiar, he didn't know who it was, it wasn't something he recognized. Yet this was something he was pulled towards. Who was it? What was it?

The crunching of grass, the small shape and precise size of the form clear in his mind, he could hear it all. Using the eye on his right, he gazed at the female form which was making itself apparent. He almost froze, his form altering itself to appear as a golden ornament. Was he afraid? Was he nervous? No, he was surprised.

Not as surprised as her however as she jumped at the sight of, a what she thought to be a snake, Caden on her brother's gravestone. "Woah..." She had never seen something like this before, her eyes were wide and her soft brown hair followed a breeze.

Yet the shock melted away as she stepped closer and ran her fingers along the scales. She could feel the warmth it reflected from the sun. To her it was metal, gold. As her eyes rested on the head, she pursed her lips. The craftsmanship was astounding...

This snake had antlers, a defintable face, it looked to be an eastern dragon of some sort. "Hey Ollie, hey Dad. It seems someone must have really liked you big brother, to have left this here[In our backyard]..." She let out a soft shudder of a breath.

Its eyes immediately snapped to her and she jolted back, retracting her hand from the scales.

"Huh...?" She squinted her eyelids, narrowing her sight on the serpent before running a hand through her hair, feeling the side of her head. She wasn't high, she could tell that much. Was it electronic? Automated somehow? This was a bad prank.

She had come here to talk to her 'brother' about her day, how her mother was growing closer to a man known as Walter. She was clearly unhappy, she felt alone, abandoned by her two favorite people.

"Come closer..." Caden surprised himself as he projected his voice with just his thoughts. His mouth didn't move except for when his scales returned to their original form. Gold with midnight black tips. "... No need to fear." His voice sounded confident dipped in a poison known as concern.

Thea's jaw almost dropped as she heard this voice being projected into her mind by what looked to be a tiny dragon. She could recall Mushu from the movie of Mulan, a talking dragon. She just stood there bewildered, she didn't know whether or not to just walk away or to collect him in her hands.

"You.. You can talk?" Her head ticked like a broke geiger counter at this as she tried to make an awkward lopsided smile. "I'm not high, right?"

Seeing her reaction, hearing her question, an idea came to mind. He could act flamboyant, get close to her, appeal to her. However he was also greatly surprised by this scenario. How was he here? When did he get here? This scene, he recognized it from the show he was so taken by.

He wanted to get closer to her, but he didn't want to intimidate her by moving too quickly. He felt that he could fly, he could change shape, that he could be human just like her in appearance. Yet he chose not, now wasn't the time.

She curled her lips inward as she thought about what she was about to do. She took a step forward, as she did so the serpent lifted its head slightly. As it did so, its head turned to the side, its head tilted upward.

Thea smiled a bit as if it was inviting her to feel the scales beneath its jaw. She reached out her index finger, caressing it with the back of her knuckle. She didn't bother to follow it's eyes.

Caden was looking directly at the Oliver Queen who was hidden a short distance away behind bushes with an accomplice. He had long hair, he wore a hoodie and a cap. He seemed visually disturbed that she was interact with a snake, but wasn't acting against it.

The snake humed pleasantly at her touch, like a cat purring in bliss.

Yet it seemed Oliver could also feel its gaze on him, and he could see the intelligence in the unnatural creatures arctic blue eyes.

Caden turned his body towards Thea and donned toothy a smile, as it coiled up her arm, like a fancy piece of jewelry. He moved along her skin, causing her to giggle, until he finally sat still. His head rested on her wrist near her palm where people would usually feel for a pulse.

It was natural for a snake to do so, but why was this intelligent creature clinging to her hand.

Thea held a half-smile across her lips as she stared at it inquisitively, "What are you doing?" She asked as she pet the top of his head with her other hand.

"Queenie?" A fair skinned man with a strong hooked nose, slicked back blonde hair and black leather's was soon upon them. He had a brow raised and clearly confused as to who or what she was talking to.

When she turned to meet him, he glanced down at the oriental dragon wrapped forearm to wrist on one of her arms, sticking out of her sleeve.

His head turned to the side a bit, was she talking to some sort of jewelry? Was she high before he even gave her the pills?

"You brought my deliver–?" She winced slightly as she was caught off guard by the tightening of the serpent. She looked down at it, its blue eyes looking back up at her.

Seeing her wince, the man dismissed it, thinking that her jewelry probably pinched her skin or something along those lines. "You brought some of that inheritance of yours?"

Just as she was about to swap the money for drugs, the serpent coiled even tighter around her wrist, causing her to wince again and drop the cash. Caden could sense another person approaching, the pheromones and scent suggested it was a familial presence, Tommy.

"What the hell is this!?" Tommy's voice rang out and it seemed both the man known as Jordon and the girl Thea were surprised to see him.

"What are you doing here, Tommy?" Thea asked rather annoyed that he was getting involved.

Jordon who was tempted to bend over to get the cash, paused as Tommy brought up his name.

"Funny... I was about to ask Jordon here the same thing." Tommy wasn't taking anything from Thea at this point. He was angry, he wanted to protect his half-sister even though they didn't know of their blood relations.

Taking a step back with his hands in his pockets, Jordon took in Tommy's visage. "Just paying my respects to the family," He sounded snarky, sarcastic, hardly truthful.

"Yeah, and so you did!" Tommy was in his face, clearly holding an intimidating stance, making himself appear buffer and larger than the other man. "Now you're going to stay away from her, permanently..."

"Whatever..." Jordon said as he took a step back, turned on his heel with a lazy lull to the side, and began to walk away.

Mhmm..." Tommy nodded seeing the man leaving and then turned his head towards Thea with his body taking a stance to the side. He pointed at her, "You should be bringing flowers here, not looking to score drugs!"

Thea took a step back when he had turned on her. He had tried to be her shining knight, then turned right around on her. "What are you even doing here Tommy?" She asked as she went to put her hands in her pockets, stepping around him as she did so.

"I came here to thank you for my birthday card! And to tell you that my party tonight is twenty one and older..." He stated with a frown across his lips, glaring at her, telling her how it was.

She was leaning back with her hands in her jacket pockets, staring at him defiantly. "Well, I think we both know that's not true." She responded with a crisp mocking tone, giving a snide smiling.

Tommy just looked at her when she showed him attitude, "Oh it is, as far as you're concerned." He let out an irritable exhale, "You shouldn't grow up too fast." He was sounding like an outgoing protective older brother.

"Yeah, well, you're not my..." She grimaced slightly as she felt the serpentine dragon coiling around her wrist again. Yanking her hand out and pulling back her sleeve, so she could glare at the Dragon, but her face went blank from what she saw that took its place.

There was a teenage King Cobra with black scales and a golden underbelly.

Tommy who was going to say something before seeing this, just stood there, trying to appear as calm as he possibly could. "Why.. Do you have that around your wrist...?"

"It... It was on top of Ollie's grave, so I picked it up." Thea shared the half truth before looking back down at it. Its demeanor was unusual for a snake, anyone watching could tell. Yet this snake just seemed to relax on her arm.

"Stay calm," Tommy was taking a step back, "I'll call for help."

Thea gave him a glance before looking back at the Snake as it began to lift its body up a bit and point its face up to hers. Furrowing a brow, she brought it closer to her face as it flicked its tongue. She knew that it wouldn't bite her, she knew this wasn't a real cobra. It was a dragon, but it looked like she was doing something delusional.

"Thea!" Tommy yelped in a hushed tone, he was ready to come back and swat it away.

As she ignored him as she brought the snake mere centimeters from her face, it would inflate its hood, brushing the side of its face against her cheek.

"Are you high or something?" Tommy appeared to plea with her, wanting her to get the snake away from her face. He didn't want it to bite her, but he was also weirded out by the fact that it wasn't biting her either. It was acting more like a house cat. He could hear the faint sound akin to a rain stick combined with a steady humm and an odd snore.

As he went to reach for his phone, Thea held out her free hand in a gesture to stop him. "Don't," Thea said as she whispered quietly, which instantly stopped Tommy in his tracks. "He's not going to hurt me."

He could see how sure she was, but he couldn't help but feel uneasy, so he stayed where he was. "How are you so sure?" He asked trying to take the snake in from different angles, it definitely looked like a King Cobra.

King Cobra's were socially avoidant and shy, often avoiding contact with other beings. This one seemed attached to a human and was far from shy at this point. However their neurotoxic poison could kill over twenty people or at least one elephant. If it bit her, she'd be in mortal danger.

"Is it... Defanged?" Tommy's heart was pounding away, he was afraid for her life.

Thea curled her index and middle finger around its slender form. "I think so..." She took it away from her face and gazed over it. The mood, the atmosphere, had changed. Tommy was still worried about her, but the heat from the conversation was gone.

Tommy just stood there for a few moments before relaxing. He had seen snakes before, most of them became curious of their handler, or defensive, yet this one seemed familiar with her.

"You should get going," Thea said abruptly, smiling blankly at him. The last thing she needed was another argument breaking out. "I'm going to stay here a bit longer..." She turned away from Tommy and turned her attention to the tombstone.

Slowly nodding, Tommy took a few steps away as he balled his hands into fists, then walked away in the direction of his car. His mind had gone back to how she was acting just like her brother. He still disapproved of it, but he wasn't letting her in, wasn't letting him help her. All he could do was be pushed away...