Blue-Scale's hearts hammered in his chest while he struggled with the hurt and betrayal he felt. His Little-One! He'd been nothing but kind and gentle to the human, and couldn't understand why it had said the cutting, thoughtless things it did about him.

Jumping to his feet, he splayed out his arms and tilted his head back, roaring wordlessly at the sky until his throat gave out on him. The tears that he attempted to suppress flowed sluggishly down his craggy face. Hunkering down again, he whimpered hoarsely to the uncaring winds while the moonlight tried in vain to break through the scudding clouds.

It wasn't long before another thick cloud-bank moved in over the bay, bringing more rain with it. While the rain coursed down over him, and the wind buffeted him, Blue-Scale whispered into the darkness.

"Am I really a freak? A monster?"

The sky answered him with a blinding flash, and an almost physical barrage of sound when the thunder «cracked» and rolled around the nearby hillsides with a deep rumble. This was not the first time he had opened his feelings to another. That time, instead of fear, he was greeted with ridicule - he wasn't sure which hurt more.

Still partially deafened by the thunder, Blue-Scale didn't hear anyone approaching until he saw movement from the corner of his eyes. Whipping his head around he watched a lone human approaching his position. It was Little-One. An involuntary moan escaped his throat; he fully expected more abuse to be heaped on him. All he wanted was to be left alone to wallow in his self-pity.

Trudging through the wet bush, Rangi had had time to cool down a little. The taniwha - Blue-Scale - was a frightening looking creature. But for all of that it hadn't really done anything to harm him. When he first recovered consciousness while clasped in its arms, the sensation he felt when it was humming was actually quite pleasurable, he realized belatedly. 'Maybe I have been a bit of a prick,' he thought to himself with a growing feeling of shame.

Rangi followed the trail of destruction through the bush and out onto a bluff. Before leaving the cover of the bush, he watched the taniwha stand up and roar defiantly at the sky. From his hidden vantage point, he found himself marveling at the sight. Although he was still quite scared of it, he couldn't help but also be impressed by its strength, and lithe way it carried itself.

Only a short while ago, life had been mostly predictable and straight forward. He'd been nothing more than a Hori mechanic from a small West Coast town, albeit living a secret life on the side when his desires got the better of him.

All that had suddenly come crashing down around him when he found himself thrust into the middle of... of what? Waking up from an accident that almost killed him, in the arms of an honest-to-god taniwha. Alien. Whatever! Rangi brushed aside the wet hair clinging to his face. Like it or not, his life had changed. The world was suddenly a much bigger, and more complicated place than it used to be.

He flinched when lightning exploded almost directly overhead and waited until the thunder had died away before he approached the solitary young Vanguard warrior. Walking over he then sat down beside the creature and stared out at the horizon without saying a word. More lightning and thunder rattled the bluff, rumbling away into the distance over the next few minutes, but they still sat in silence.

Finally when the rain slackened and the moonlight threatened to break through the thinning clouds, Rangi spoke. "Your name is Blue-Scale, right?" The only response he got to the question was a reproachful glare. "Y'know, in this sort of weather I love walking along the beach. I like feeling the sea vent its anger against the land in a war it will never really win."

"Why do you hate this one?"

Rangi turned to look at the creature who avoided looking back at him, instead staring out at the horizon. It was strange hearing the rumbling and hissing that the creature made before the little black disk hanging from its ear translated it into English.

"Okay, I suck at small-talk. I don't hate you. And I'm sorry for those things I said, alright?"

"Hrrr... Then why did you say them?"

Hesitating, Rangi considered his response. "You gotta understand something, bro. Before tonight, I had no idea you guys even existed. You're like something out of, I dunno... A dream. A nightmare, even."

Blue-Scale continued to stare out at the night while he listened to Little-One talk. The wind continued its ceaseless assault on them while they sat there on the edge of the cold, wet bluff.

"I was scared, okay? Shit, I'm still scared if you want the truth. You'd be scared too, if you woke up and found a big monster holding you and realized it wasn't a dream." When Blue-Scale flinched slightly, Rangi realized his mistake. "Shit, sorry bro. My bad. Wont use that word again."
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The lovely  stigmata did great justice to this scene from Taniwha. He's a very underrated artist and you should go show him some love. Stigmata, thank you so much for this, your care and attention really hit home on this emotional piece. Much