Characters and story are owned by Mana Araxis.
Commissioned by: Awesomebot
Written by: Mana Araxis
2/3/14

Hydris the Sneezing Dragon




It was a cold and wintry day outside the snow covered mountain range. Snowflakes fell relentlessly from the gray clouded skies. Heavy fog covered the mountain valley, only the highest elevations were unaffected.  In the small, gray stone cave, there lived a solitary young dragon named Hydris.  He had dark purple scales, his underside was lavender in color which ran under his tail as well.  Hydris had large, circular blue eyes, a stubby muzzle and a pair of gray short horns.  Hydris didn't have much for wings either as they were small and the webbing was lavender in color.

Hydris was settled in the far corner of the cave, away from the cave's entrance where the cold draft was at its worst. The young whelp was curled up like a ball, his tail wrapped around his back legs and diminutive fore claws. A strong wind blew into the cave, whistling loudly like a banshee scream.

"Ahhh!" yelped Hydris in a high pitched voice. The wind startled the sleeping drake, his eyes suddenly opened wide eyed. A look of shock crossed his face, his snaggle toothed maw held agape. He scampered along the back wall in fear and looked around the perimeter of his small den. It was circular in shape and made of smooth gray stone, but there was no one to be found. The young drake breathed heavily, quickly catching his breath, his chest expanding and compressing.

"It..was was just the wind." said Hydris to himself, although in a congested tone. The young drake closed his eyes and tilted his head up as he felt a tingling sensation inside his nostrils. "Ah! AH! Ah-choo!" sneezed Hydris as he felt a quick rush of pressure escape from his nose.  He slowly walked back to his corner, feeling the sudden onset of his passages feeling slightly stuffed, but always having the slight urge to sneeze. 

"Ughh.." moaned Hydris softly, followed by him sniffing back the newly formed nasal liquids. "Achoo!" sneezed Hydris in surprise. His body reacted quicker then he expected. He thought to himself what could be causing him to feel so stuffed up.  "Achoo!, Achoo!" he quickly sneezed twice in succession. The force of his sneezing fit sent him barrelling backwards as his nose became more runny. The back wall of the cave stopped him, he landed with his back against the wall in a sitting position, his legs spread out.  His nose became more runny, as the clear liquid dripped onto his chest. Hydris felt another urge coming on, but quickly covered his snout with his small fore claws.

"Please...sniff...why me" Hydris whined, his voice becoming more nasally. The little dragon wiped his snout with his right claw, clearing the front of his nose of excess liquid. Still sitting against the wall, his eyes half closed and slightly wearied from his ordeal, Hydris felt another strong urge come one. "A-AH-Achoo, achoo achoo!" sneezed Hydris once more, letting out a small flickered flame as he tilted his head down from the force.  Clear, watery liquid shot out from his nose and pooled onto his abdomen. Hydris felt helpless and too discomforted to care about cleaning himself up. He laid there against the wall, periodically sniffing back the buildup in his nasal passages.

"Not...again." squeaked Hydris as he forcefully tried to hold back his body from sneezing. His chest expanded as he breathed in the cool air of the cave, his fore claws laid by his sides.  "AHCHOO! ACHOO! ACHOO!" Hydris sneezed stronger than before, his nose began to leak profusely, more of the clear liquid dripped and pooled onto his chest. He was unable to shake this unusual congestion he had.  He felt a strong tingling sensation along with his stuffiness. His nose began to horribly itch.  Hydris looked down at his underside, staring at how much he expelled from his sneezing fits. Still too exhausted from his disturbed sleep and forceful sneezes, Hydris conked out and slept the day away.

Evening came, the storm outside began to subside as the snowfall lessened to nothing more than flurries.  The moon outside showed itself from an opening in the dissipating storm clouds.  Hydris slowly blinked his eyes open and quickly realized how much of the day he slept. He was still in the same position against the wall from earlier in the day, but just when he thought things were fine. "Ah-ah-ah-ACHOO!" his head jerked back, then downwards once more as a large amount of greenish liquid expelled from his nose onto his underside followed by a small puff of smoke. His nose began to run once more, clear liquid streamed down in heavy drips onto his chest. The young drake stared down once more, his nasal fluids reflecting from the peering moonlight. He lifted his right fore claw and toyed with the watery buildup on his chest.

"Why won't it stop? This congestion...I feel so hopeless." Hydris thought to himself. He wiped his muzzle with his right claw once more, the watery substance coating his claws. 	"Ah..ah..ahhh..." Hydris began, but fortunately the poor drake was able to hold back another violent sneeze despite the wafting smoke from his his nostrils. Whatever was causing Hydris's unusual fits were unbeknownst to him. He sat, snivelling, his whole body covered in his watery fluids. He soon began to tear up, desperate to fight this congestion.

"Ah! Ah! AHCHOO!" sneezed Hydris once more, this time more tears streamed from his eyes. He cried in desperation to stop, as a small ball of fire emitted from his mouth. More of his watery fluids flowed out from his nostrils, splattering onto the stone floor.  The purple drake scratched at the ground with his right claw and felt an odd texture, like some kind of dust perhaps.  He raised his claw to his muzzle and smelled what he could from it. "ACHOO!" Hydris suddenly sneezed with great force, his nasal fluid shot out in a stream, landing onto his lower underside.  

"I never came this far back in the cave before." thought Hydris to himself. "This dust...must be causing my torture." whimpered Hydris in a whining tone. Caked in his dry nasal fluids, and still stuffed up, he decided to go outside under the moonlight and cleanse himself.
Outside his cave, the starry sky filled the night, the full moon's light shone down illuminating the snow on the ground.  The air was cool, but invigorating as Hydris closed his eyes and gave a few small coughs. He spat out the the trapped phlegm, landing into the snow by his feet.  Hydris crouched down, picking up the wet snow and rubbed it along his underside, cleaning off the caked fluids. The chilling cold shot through his body, but there was no choice at this time of night.

Before returning to his den for the night, Hydris found some fallen tree branches lain by his cave. These must of fallen from a tree above his den's outcropping.  He carried a couple in and set them down by his spot he usually slept at. Hydris took a deep breath, with help from the outside air to clear his passages and breathed a small ball of fire. It expelled from his mouth and with a crackle, the branches ignited into a red-yellow flame.  Hydris crouched down, a contented smile crossing his face as the fire became more stable and radiated enough heat for the small drake. Hydris curled into a ball on the ground, wrapping his around himself and drifted off into a deep sleep.