NOV. 2021 REWARD (+Story) (Patreon)

"The Last Dragon's Coils"

(A/N: Sorry for the insane lateness of this post! I thought up a pretty good short story to go with this one, but had to take the time to actually write it because I hadn't planned for writing it from the start. It's pretty rushed and very short as writing pieces from me go, but hopefully you'll enjoy it all the same! The poll for this month will be posted this coming Saturday.)

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Based on characters from Disney's Raya and the Last Dragon

It had been some time since the reunification of the five tribes of Kumandra. Now that things had largely been settled between them, it was hoped that normalcy would return for all involved, hopefully with much less conflict between the various peoples. For some, though, the change was not as easy to adjust to as had been expected.

Raya was not focused on anything in particular as she gazed out into the forest beyond. She’d left the Heart Tribe palace for a bit to get some fresh air, finding herself in the nearby forest where she’d liked to visit prior to having to leave six years earlier. It looked just as she had remembered it, but she herself had changed a lot since she’d escaped the Drunn back then. It was as though her heart had hardened somewhat from the experiences since. Sure, it had all turned out alright in the end, but would she ever be the same after what she had to go through to set things right?

Perhaps a bit of shut-eye might help her clear her head a l—

“Heyyyy, Raya!”

…oh.

Raya looked around to see the long-bodied blue dragon that had joined her, iridescent light purple mane fluttering slightly in the breeze. Her large purple eyes had an expression just barely concealing concern, but the wide smile on her face still made her mood clear.

“Fancy seeing you out here, hmm? What’s gotten into you? Haven’t really been in the mood to chat it up with the others back at the palace lately?”

Raya shrugged, before looking away, idly nudging her footwear she’d set aside for the moment with the big toe of her naked left foot. “I know, but… Something just doesn’t seem right. Even when I’m with friends, I still feel a bit… strange. As though something isn’t right.”

Sisu’s face fell. “Whaddya mean?”

Raya said nothing, but didn’t look Sisu in the eye, either, instead paying close attention to her bag of belongings which also lay next to her.

“Go on, you can tell me anything,” Sisu insisted. “You trust me, right?”

Trust. That word had been repeated so much throughout her quest to reunite the tribes that she’d almost gotten sick of it. If Namaari hadn’t chosen to forgive her, though, they might have all fallen to the Drunn. But even though they’d made up, there was still an uncomfortable feeling whenever they interacted, though neither was exactly certain as to why.

“Well… I can’t really place it,” Raya said finally. “But by all accounts, everything should be okay. And yet, I just don’t feel like it is. It’s just not the same as it was six years ago. And though I should feel safe, I just… don’t.”

Sisu looked a little crestfallen. The reunion of the tribes should be a cause for celebration, and she didn’t want to see anyone unhappy, especially given that arguments could attract the Drunn again. “Look, Raya—” She reached out to tap her friend on the shoulder in a bid to console her, but accidentally brushed a claw against her side instead.

“AAAH!” Raya flinched and curled up into a tight ball, giggling in spite of herself.

Sisu blinked. That was… odd. Dragons didn’t usually react that way when touched on the side. Why Raya reacted in this way, she’d never figured out. But she had to know. And besides… Raya did deserve to have a smile put on her face…

“Heyyyy, Raya~” Sisu singsonged. “How about we play a game, hmm?”

“I’m not in the mood for games, Sisu,” Raya replied, a little more cross than usual. “I’d rather just air my head out a little.”

“You can do that while we play our game now, can’t you?” Sisu gave her a pleading look with wide, watering eyes. “Pleeease?”

Raya tried to force herself not to give it a glance, but she couldn’t stop herself, and decided to humor her. “Well, whatever makes you happy,” she said with a dry chuckle. “But just don’t do anything that’d make Father mad. Especially not anything that could hurt me.”

“Oh, I wasn’t gonna. But you know… There’s a game the little kid dragons play called ‘Dueling Pythons’. You coil around each other and wrestle until one submits. Care to give it a try?”

Raya looked understandably suspicious. “You sure you’re not making that up?”

“Oh, I’m not! My siblings and I used to do it all the time. It’s fun! I figured, you know, if you and I wanted to try bonding a little—”

“Fiiiine,” Raya said finally. “Though I don’t know how I’d be able to do it without being able to coil around you…”

“Oh, that won’t be necessary,” Sisu replied, her tail lifting and arching like a cobra about to strike. “Just try to fight back, that’s all. But don’t expect to win!”

Before Raya could respond, Sisu’s tail had shot forward and wrapped around her lower legs, gripping them gently. “W-what the—?!”

Sisu giggled. “Got you beat already and I haven’t even started~”

“Oh, come on! At least let this be a fair f— EEK!”

Raya yelped as she felt something brush against the bottom of her foot. She looked down just in time to see Sisu’s tail fin give a teasing wiggle, before repeating the gesture.

The feeling of the fin grazing her sole made her instantly start giggling. She realized in shock what the dragon was doing, and panic began making her struggle. “Sisu, this isn’t funny! L-let go of me!!”

“Whaddya mean? I thought you deserved a smile after all we’ve been through! Though just to be safe…”

Looking around, she spotted a length of rope among the things in Raya’s bag. Before Raya could protest, she’d snatched it up and started tying her wrists over her head.

“What are you doing?! Sisu, stop it!”

“Safety first, Raya, you don’t wanna smack a friend in the face while playing, do you?” Within a few moments, Sisu had tied Raya’s arms above her head. “There, now you look even more like a snake!”

Raya wriggled around, only now realizing just how exposed her body was. She was positively, absolutely sure that true to Sisu’s word, she wasn’t going to win.

“Well? Any last words, Raya?” Sisu asked with a teasing grin.

“I hate you,” the tied-up girl whispered, though her tone made it quite clear to both of them that she didn’t mean it. Luckily, Sisu didn’t take that remark at face value.

Unluckily, though, she started by leaning in and nuzzling Raya’s stomach with her snout.
“AAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! WAIT, NOT THAHAHAHAHAT!” Raya squirmed and squealed, uselessly trying to escape.

Perhaps sensing Raya’s vulnerability, Sisu’s eyes narrowed and she grinned in mischievous glee. She gave her captive only a second to watch as she wiggled her claws, letting it sink in what she was about to do.

Flashing back to when her father used to play a few certain games with her as part of her training, Raya knew at that point that she was done for. She was a battle-hardened warrior now, but she was still too ticklish for her own good. She could only shake her head in terror as Sisu swooped in like a bird of prey on her helplessly caught form.

“WAIT NONONONOOOOOHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA SIHIHISUUUUHUHUHU!” she howled as she felt the dragon’s claws scritching lightly against her clothing, careful enough not to damage it. “STOHOHOHOHAHAHAP! NOT THE RIBS! GET AWAHAHAHAHAY!”

“Not the ribs? If you say so!” Sisu smiled again, before starting to wiggle one claw under her and then lift her upper body a little off the ground. Raya had only a moment to realize that said claw was moving towards her exposed armpit before she felt the claw tips wiggling into the soft skin of that spot.

She gritted her teeth, desperately trying to hold back a scream that would surely have sent people coming for the two of them from a mile away. Opening her watering eyes for just a moment, she realized that Sisu’s tail fin was moving again just a second too late. It swished along both soles at once, feeling surprisingly soft at the edge as it stroked against the soft skin.

“NHGGGH… Stohohop… G-get offff!” Raya hissed through clenched teeth, trying not to break. At least Sisu hadn’t returned to the ribs, but she could tell that was going to change very shortly.

“Get off?” Sisu teased. “You mean you want to admit defeat, or are you gonna keep going and prove you can beat a dragon at her own game?”

That got Raya to turn herself around at the last moment. She had been desperately wanting to throw the fight and get out of there, but now Sisu was testing her and she was not about to let her down.

“HHH… I w-won’t… I won’t lohohose!” she squeaked, squirming around more fervently as Sisu continued working her armpit with one claw and her side with the other, while now tickling her toes with her tail fin as well.

“You won’t lose, huh?” Sisu teased. “Then I might as well give it my all, too! Here I cooooome~!”

Raya could only watch as Sisu moved her tail about so her feet were facing her. A few moments passed as the tension in the air began to rise, and then she started wiggling her claws into the balls of her feet, while swishing her tail tip across the arches and heels.

“GYAAAAAAHHHH!”

“There we go! Try to coil your way out of this, buddy!”

The tail was bad enough, but the claw tickling added on top of that made it even worse, and it didn’t help that her feet had been clad in boots regularly enough for them to remain soft and smooth throughout her travels (though riding on Tuk Tuk certainly helped with that, too). Raya shrieked and squirmed, laughing helplessly as Sisu continued tickling her toes and arches with gleeful abandon.

“EEEEHEHEHEHEHEEHEHEHE SISUUUUU! I’LL GEHEHEHET YOU FOR THISSSS! WAHAHAHAHAHAHA ENOHOHOHOUGH! AHAHAHA I’LL NEVER LOHOHOHOSE!”

“Hmm? Well, it seems like you’re losing to me,” Sisu replied, now wiggling her captive’s toes one by one. “Just give up, or else I’ll have to go for the kill~”

“N-nehehehever!” Raya spat through her helpless giggling.

Sisu gave her a sly, teasing grin. “Well, you asked for it!” she replied, which was all the warning Raya got before she repositioned herself so she was at her side. She took a deep breath, giving Raya only a second to shake her head in terror. And then, without warning, she blew a massive raspberry into Raya’s stomach!

PFFFBBBBBFBFBFBT!

“AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH! WAHAHAHAHAHA ALRIGHT ALRIGHT YOU WIHIHIHIHIN!!!”

Sisu burst out laughing herself, but relented. The coils of her tail loosened just enough for Raya to squirm free and roll away from Sisu’s grasp.

There was a few moments of silence after Sisu’s laughter subsided into giggles and faded entirely. She looked around to see Raya pouting, legs crossed and using her teeth to untie her wrists, a cranky expression on her face.

“Raya?” she asked, her face now bearing an expression of concern.

Raya said nothing, pretending not to notice as the rope finally fell away.

“Raya? Rayaaaaa~! Hey now, it was all in good fun, right?”

“Not talking. Just go.”

Sisu looked a bit hurt, but mostly indignant. “Will you stop giving me the silent treatment already?! It’s not my fault you humans are so sensitive!”

“I'm still not speaking to you.”

Sisu’s face fell. She wasn’t sure what to say, but then a thought occurred to her. Raya may have been goaded into playing Wrestling Pythons with Sisu, but she hadn’t actually wanted to play up until that point. Plus, Sisu had gotten just a little too mischievous during the game. Was tickling considered cheating? She couldn’t tell by this point, but she wouldn’t be surprised.

“I’m sorry, Raya,” she said finally.

“Hmm?” Raya looked around.

“That was rude of me, what I did. I should’ve asked if you were actually willing to play the game with me, or if you just wanted to be left alone. I just thought, you know, since you didn’t look happy over the past few days, you deserved to smile, just this once…”

Raya blinked. Sisu may have been acting somewhat annoying — her stomach tingled. Okay, very annoying. But she had done what she did with only the best in mind for her, with no benefit to herself… well, maybe except a little self-satisfaction, but still.

“Alright, apology accepted.” Raya turned her head to smile at Sisu. “On one condition.”

“Name it and consider it done,” Sisu replied with a smile.

Raya stood up and wheeled around to face her, arms folded. “Rematch. But this time, we do it my way.”

“Whaddya mean, your way?”

“With both of us as humans, silly! What do you think I meant by that?”

“Oh.” With a poof and a cloud of mist, Sisu had transformed into her human form, with the same hair color as her mane and that distinct aqua-blue tunic. “Alright, then, ready to start?”

Raya grinned, her hands behind her back, as she moved towards her friend without saying a word.

“Raya? Uh, what’s with that look on your face—?!”

Before Sisu could respond, Raya had tackled her to the ground, the rope in her hands only now being revealed. Next moment, she’d tied her ankles together and put them in a headlock, giving the dragon-turned-human only a moment to realize what was happening.

“Raya, wait! What are you doing?!”

“Playing your unfair little game my way, that’s what,” Raya teased. “Brace yourself, Sisu — it’s payback time!”

“WAIT! WAIT, PLEASE DON’T! NO NO NOOOHOHOHOHAHAHAHAHAHAHA RAHAHAHYAHAHAHAHA!”

“What’s the matter?” Raya teased as she wiggled her nails over Sisu’s arches and heels. “Feeling a little ticklish, are you?”

Sisu flailed and tried to squirm away, but just her luck, Raya’s grip was too strong. “EEHEHEHEHE NOT THEHEHEHEHERE! LET GO OF MEHEHEHEHEHEEE! HEHEHE EEEK! I GIVE! I GIHIHIHIVE!!”

“Aww, at least let me keep playing just a little bit longer,” Raya replied, now lightly scritching the bases of Sisu’s toes and making her shriek loud enough to startle nearby birds into flight.

“AAIIIIEEEEEEHEHEHEE EEEHEHEHEEP! NOHOHOHO FAHAHAHAHAIR!!”

“You reap what you sow, Sisu. It’s not my fault us humans are so sensitive~!”

As Sisu was forced to endure the same ticklish torment she’d put Raya through, she had to admit it was pretty gutsy of Raya to turn the tables on her like that, not to mention throw her words back at her — especially now that one of the downsides to her human form had been made painfully clear. But if there was one good thing that had come out of this, it was that Raya was now acting much more like her usual self, if only at her friend’s expense. And she had to admit, getting tickled like this actually wasn’t that bad, either.

As Raya continued teasing Sisu’s thoroughly trapped soles and enjoying her reactions, the latter found herself unable to make any retorts or even call off the match, having lost all coherence the moment the tickling had started. It was unlikely that she’d be able to escape until Raya decided her victim had been punished enough. Until then, all the poor girl could do was laugh.

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The following is included in this reward:

• High-resolution artwork
• An additional version lacking the Patreon watermark and with a different signature
• A TIFF file version with all layers

-Skaea