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“May.”
May screamed out loud and threw the basket of laundry in the air when Peter popped up from behind the couch in her study, her stripes flashing across her skin, eyes snapping orange as her tiger tried to come forward.
“May– stop screaming and oh god stop growling, it’s just me. What do you know about dragon shifters?”
“Peter Benjamin Parker.” A hand pressed dramatically over her heart, May pointed her other finger at him, forcing her shift back so she could talk clearly. “First you apologize for scaring the bejeesus out of me–”
“Sorry, May.”
“– and second, why are you asking about dragon shifters? No one has seen one of those in centuries.”
“Since the Great War?” Peter held up the book so she could see it. “Right? The last official sighting of a dragon shifter was during the Battle for the Valley, right?”
“Yes, the last official sighting was during the Great War, here in the valley, but Peter that was three hundred years ago. Do you think you saw one when you were out hiking? I’ve heard rumours that there is a big shifter in the mountains, but no one’s actually seen anything, which means its probably a bear shifter playing tricks on everyone else.”
“Three hundred years.” Peter sort of collapsed onto the couch, all long legs and arms sprawled around. “Why would someone get stuck in a shift?”
“There are only two reasons why someone is stuck in a shift.” May started picking up the laundry, scowling in his direction. “If they were forced into the shift to save their human half, or if they did something terrible in their shift and gave in to their animal half too much.”
“So if they were in danger?”
“You see it more often with the wilder shifts.” May balled up a pair of socks and tossed them at him. “For example, if you ever scare me like that again, I’ll drop into my tiger shift and good luck getting me out of it. Or–” a severe glare when Peter started laughing at the thought of his Aunt permanently fuzzed out into her tiger. “–or if you were in danger, I’d probably shift as well and not be able to come out of it until I knew you were safe, and probably for a few days after that as well.”
“Alright.” Peter flipped through the book. “So, the bigger the shifter the harder it is to move between forms, right?”
“Right. You’ve seen Avians burst into feathers and fly away at a moments notice, but bears and wolves take longer. My tiger takes longer than your Uncle Ben’s lion did because my shift is bigger.”
“So something– say a dragon? It would take a long time to shift up or down into his form?”
“…sure.” May narrowed her eyes at him. “Why the questions, Peter?”
“No reason.” Peter cleared his throat. “And the other reason for being stuck in a shift? For letting their animal side influence them too much?”
“Yes. But it would have to be something awful.” May clucked her tongue when she saw the stains that hadn’t come out of Peter’s shirt. “Murder, for example. Mostly wolves, sometimes bears. They lose control of their shift and kill another shifter, and alot of times they are forced into a permanent shift.”
“But mentally.” Peter frowned. “Wouldn’t it wreak havoc on a shifters mental state to be stuck in animal form?”
“Of course it does.” May met his eyes steadily. “And when they lose their mind, they are put down. No shifter stuck in their animal half is stable for longer than a few years at most.”
“Right. Well, thank you.” Peter hopped up and over the couch, heading out the door. “I’m going to head out to the woods for a while and–”
“Peter, wait.” May snagged his sleeve. “This obsession with the woods, the mountains, all these questions about dragon shifters. What’s going on?”
“I’m not– I’m not really sure.” Peter admitted. “But I think I’ll have some answers pretty soon.”
Spideypool Dragon AU
Published
themusechronicles 