#shantien

The Heavenly Flying Dragon, Shantien; the embodiment of storms, a true force to be reckoned with, floated through a sea of clouds. His flight path faltered as the upset roiling of his stomach made itself known, further souring his mood. He was an Elder Dragon of impeccable power, he would not be downed by some measly stomachache.

Even so, a feeling of doubt lingered in the back of his mind, before it was pushed away when he noticed a shape in the distance. Shantien narrowed his eyes, making out a large airship, suspended by wide balloons, and bearing a massive wooden deck. Mounted along its edges were multiple ballistae and harpoons.

Those wretched hunters...

Now opting to ignore the pangs in his abdomen, Shantien neared the ship, twirling around in the sky, flaunting his glistening jade horns and other protrusions. His elegant mane fluttered, shimmering in the sunlight, while each strand emit its own faint glow. Four figures stood upon the deck of the exploration ship, each bearing their own set of bulky armor and a weapon to match. It seemed the dragon would need to teach these pests a lesson. The sky was his, and his alone. A storm brewed, surrounding him and soon closing in, but... Not quite. The dark clouds quickly dissipated, as if retreating back into the deep blue, afraid of completely blotting out the sun. Shantien growled to himself in frustration, but still chose not to acknowledge his growing weakness.

In one fell movement, he swooped down, landing hard against the wooden deck, the wind pressure pushing the hunters back multiple feet. It was only then he noticed how hard he was breathing, and how tired he felt. The dragon's vision grew blurry, he tried blinking it away, raising his head, pushing his front talons against the ground to appear intimidating. It was that slight movement that triggered something deep within. His stomach shifted, and the sickening gurgles could be felt along his whole body. He clamped his jaws shut, feeling bile crawl up his throat, followed by what he could only assume were the contents of his stomach. Shantien's muscles tensed, clenching as a strangled "hrk" sounded from him. He distantly heard the shifting of armor and clattering of steel as the hunters appeared to ready themselves. Little did they know that their foe was in no shape to fight.

There was an uncomfortable moment of pained stillness before the great dragon lurched forward. His mouth flew open, releasing a torrent of stomach contents and bile that splattered against the wood he stood on. Consisting primarily of half-digested meats, the smell was rancid. The pile of hot mush sizzled in the cold atmosphere, and was swiftly added to as another revolting mass of slop shot up and out of Shantien's maw with a painful groan.

The dragon retched for a few moments, alternating between heaving and puking, and leaving the eager hunters dumbfounded and disgusted. But soon, Shantien got a chance to recover enough to move. With immense effort, he dragged himself to the side, easily tearing down the light fencing on the ship's rim until he could slide off the edge. They were high high in the sky, and the fall helped force more air into the dragon's windsacs until he had enough strength to float on his own. Steadily crawling back to a more comfortable altitude, Shantien caught sight of the exploration ship again through his weary gaze. He didn't have the strength to ward them off. He just didn't. Nor did he want to continue making a fool of himself.