The smallest cave was home to a young male dragon, Sundial. He paced around the cave restlessly, stretching his wings and shooting the occasional look at the new arrivals.
Daniel wasn't exactly brushed up on dragon genders and if there was a physical difference at this point, especially considering these were going to be the very first dragons he was meeting. Ever. Daniel thought he could just prepare himself to meet a new species. It wasn't like he'd never encountered a new race ever, so he thought he was reasonably prepared. The fact was that he wasn't, not really. The dragon was bigger than he had expected, and far more impressive looking. All those tapestries and drawings of them back home didn't come close to doing one justice. Daniel tried his hardest not to stare in fascination.
Suddenly he felt so small compared to one. Not just physically, but just in terms of overall existence. Humans liked to think of themselves as intelligent, top of the food chain. Even though he got a chance to see more of the universe than most people, he'd never felt so insignificant and fleeting before.
"Hi. I'm Doctor Daniel Jackson. Would you grant me an audience?"
You know, that was a good question. Why would a dragon, a Time Dragon, want to talk to a human? Daniel thought back to how this dragon had been behaving just seconds earlier. He almost seemed restless, and unlike the other dragons, actually seemed (mildly?) interested in the newcomers. He hoped he was on the right track.
If he wasn't, he just hoped to God that he didn't offend him by assuming.
"Because you look bored and we're small, new, and strange. We're a good distraction."
Said the spider to the fly, and oh, Daniel wished he hadn't thought of that just then, because apparently his eyes had drifted toward the dragon's mouth and he found himself wondering if he could swallow him in one go, without having to bite him. All signs pointed to yeah, probably. It didn't help that they weren't anywhere near even ground on this negotiation at the moment. Not that he expected it, this was a Time Dragon and he was human, but there was usually more interest in process other than being entertained. Usually some goals or something both might benefit from. This felt a lot like begging
( ... )
There was a derisive snort. "You come before me and ask me what I want? I know you linears were extremely limited in your thinking, but I didn't think you were this stupid or lazy.
"You shouldn't come before me unless you already know what I want!" Not even the slightest amount of effort. It's like they thought they could just show up and not have done any work before hand.
Daniel had to resist the urge to smack his forehead. For supposedly being a an extremely powerful, time crossing being, the dragon missed the fact that the archaeologist did, in fact, specifically present him something in exchange, multiple somethings for good measure, and that all he asked was to pick between them. Maybe Time Dragons didn't come with basic listening skills
( ... )
"Exactly!" Don't you get it, Daniel. "You bring me choices! Who offers choices of things? A linear, that's who.
"I am a mighty time dragon, I can do all things at once! Options are meaningless. I'm having eighteen other conversations, playing fifteen new games, going on four different adventures, and wooing several mates at what your limited brain perceives to be this very moment!"
He let out an irritated snort.
"Choices. Only beings who can limited to one path need choices." Its either all or nothing with him.
So basically the Time Dragons were the ultimate multi-taskers in the universe. Daniel was almost envious, except for what it seemed to entail. As much as he'd love to be all places at once, not have to sleep and be able to get even more work done, he wouldn't trade it for the drawbacks that came with it. He'll stick with being a 'linear', thanks
( ... )
"And that's where you're wrong. What has happened and what will happen is far different than what is happening. And because we can affect what is happening we can change what has happened and what will happen. Therefore its new to us even if we've seen it countless times before.
"If that makes no sense, its just means you're too stupid to understand. Don't hurt yourself trying to think about it.
"That is the gift of being a Time Dragon, to have the power to alter time as we see fit. But only a fool would be reckless with that kind of power. That's why we don't screw around with time for any batch of finites who screwed up and wants us to fix their mistakes.
"Well, at least not for free. Time is money, so they say."
"It makes some sense." Mostly. Not fully, but mostly in that you-had-to-have-lived-it-to-know-it-but-here's-some-scraps-to-figure-out way. Well, there was that, but more like the rise and fall of civilizations over and over blurred into each other and became meaningless. You saw one person die and then another all across space and time. All outcomes lead to death and rebirth. And if the dragons could change it at will, it left them against each other at best, toying against themselves at worst, didn't it? How was it new if they knew each other and themselves
( ... )
"Possibly. Every so often some linears 'evolve' out of that, but they're still the same stupid creatures, only not as anchored to a single course. All that means is more opportunities to mess up everything! Just going around changing things and taking things that don't belong to them; you don't just steal objects from out of time!" But, maybe if they were presented to someone as a gift to keep...
"But time catches up to everyone, and those that screw with it will feel my wrath!"
Oh boy. Daniel didn't doubt that a Time Dragon could royally screw someone over if he got it in mind. Or even on a whim. He hoped they didn't act much on whim, although you couldn't be sure. What was almost as bad was that he could screw someone over and they wouldn't even realize it because he'd altered time.
Rule Number Two to his Time Dragon negotiation notes: do not piss one off. Ever.
"I don't doubt they would. Unless they got to a point where they could hide themselves from you," Daniel just threw that out there. Who knew, the Melting Clock was probably just the beginning in a long list of experiments. "Then they could evade you all. Do what they wanted. Steal whatever they wanted."
The way he mentioned taking objects out of time had a particular emphasis on it. Don't tell me he's a collector, Daniel thought. If it ended up coming out that this Dragon had an obsession that was the equivalent of collecting stamps or coins, Daniel didn't know what that would do for his world view.
Well, historically, most legendary dragons did have a reputation for hoarding shiny things...
"There are no beings who could get to that point!" Except maybe the Q, but its not as if they could hide any changes, or that their mischief couldn't be repaired. "I'd find them, destroy them, and take anything of theirs that suits my fancy as a trophy."
Yes but awesomely powered Time Dragons actually being a lot like Smaug and a number of other mythological and fantasy figures takes some of the mystery out of the Time Dragons. Although still. He met a dragon. An actual dragon. As if he had any ground to start judging them on whether they were mysterious enough.
Daniel held up his hands in surrender. "I'm just saying. Could you really say it's absolutely impossible for this to come to pass? Someone made that Clock for a reason and with a certain amount of skill for manipulating time. They could eventually rival you, if not eclipse you: it's not unreasonable to guess that they could manipulate your perception of their existence," He added for good measure. "That's if they're not taking things out from under your nose already and erasing the evidence
( ... )
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Daniel wasn't exactly brushed up on dragon genders and if there was a physical difference at this point, especially considering these were going to be the very first dragons he was meeting. Ever. Daniel thought he could just prepare himself to meet a new species. It wasn't like he'd never encountered a new race ever, so he thought he was reasonably prepared. The fact was that he wasn't, not really. The dragon was bigger than he had expected, and far more impressive looking. All those tapestries and drawings of them back home didn't come close to doing one justice. Daniel tried his hardest not to stare in fascination.
Suddenly he felt so small compared to one. Not just physically, but just in terms of overall existence. Humans liked to think of themselves as intelligent, top of the food chain. Even though he got a chance to see more of the universe than most people, he'd never felt so insignificant and fleeting before.
"Hi. I'm Doctor Daniel Jackson. Would you grant me an audience?"
Reply
"Why would I want to talk to you?"
Reply
If he wasn't, he just hoped to God that he didn't offend him by assuming.
"Because you look bored and we're small, new, and strange. We're a good distraction."
Reply
"Then distract me."
Reply
Reply
"You shouldn't come before me unless you already know what I want!" Not even the slightest amount of effort. It's like they thought they could just show up and not have done any work before hand.
Reply
Reply
"I am a mighty time dragon, I can do all things at once! Options are meaningless. I'm having eighteen other conversations, playing fifteen new games, going on four different adventures, and wooing several mates at what your limited brain perceives to be this very moment!"
He let out an irritated snort.
"Choices. Only beings who can limited to one path need choices." Its either all or nothing with him.
Reply
Reply
"If that makes no sense, its just means you're too stupid to understand. Don't hurt yourself trying to think about it.
"That is the gift of being a Time Dragon, to have the power to alter time as we see fit. But only a fool would be reckless with that kind of power. That's why we don't screw around with time for any batch of finites who screwed up and wants us to fix their mistakes.
"Well, at least not for free. Time is money, so they say."
Reply
Reply
"But time catches up to everyone, and those that screw with it will feel my wrath!"
Reply
Rule Number Two to his Time Dragon negotiation notes: do not piss one off. Ever.
"I don't doubt they would. Unless they got to a point where they could hide themselves from you," Daniel just threw that out there. Who knew, the Melting Clock was probably just the beginning in a long list of experiments. "Then they could evade you all. Do what they wanted. Steal whatever they wanted."
The way he mentioned taking objects out of time had a particular emphasis on it. Don't tell me he's a collector, Daniel thought. If it ended up coming out that this Dragon had an obsession that was the equivalent of collecting stamps or coins, Daniel didn't know what that would do for his world view.
Reply
"There are no beings who could get to that point!" Except maybe the Q, but its not as if they could hide any changes, or that their mischief couldn't be repaired. "I'd find them, destroy them, and take anything of theirs that suits my fancy as a trophy."
Reply
Daniel held up his hands in surrender. "I'm just saying. Could you really say it's absolutely impossible for this to come to pass? Someone made that Clock for a reason and with a certain amount of skill for manipulating time. They could eventually rival you, if not eclipse you: it's not unreasonable to guess that they could manipulate your perception of their existence," He added for good measure. "That's if they're not taking things out from under your nose already and erasing the evidence ( ... )
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