A Tail of Two Wobbledogs

Chapter Three

Burnt grinned as he bounced around the tiny green vine that now occupied a corner of his room. It had since grown a couple centimetres, sprouting a leaf or two along the way. He paused and bent his snout down into it, relishing in the fresh scent that flooded his nose. For so long he had been subject to nothing but the acrid smell of the biscuits, so this too was an amazing new distraction.

Pausing, Burnt wondered if plants felt hunger like dogs?. Now worried that his new friend was suffering as he once did, he began pacing the room for something he could pour onto it. Unknowingly, as he passed by the wall he had since dislodged further, he managed to accidentally kick a burnt biscuit down the tube.

Suddenly, the same itch from a couple days ago began spreading in his belly- but he ignored it in pursuit of food for his ivy friend. His eyes rested on the remains of the cocoon which had been sent over, a small puddle of drippings accumulated within the small cup shape. He rushed over to it, and precariously picked it up, careful to not spill any of the precious juice. Dumping it over the plant's base, he recoiled as a little splashed up into his open mouth.

Burnt dropped the cocoon out of instinct as The Hand appeared, in a vain attempt to hide the plant from the malicious being. Luckily, it only pressed the same mysterious yet invisible button over his head before flitting away. Eager to be encompassed into the bliss he recalled from his last pupation, Burnt sat down and let the slimy surface spread over his body.

But this was not the same as his last pupation. Sure, it was comfortingly dark and lacked vomit-inducing walls, but the small changes he had felt last time were much larger. And painful.

This must be what the floor felt as the ivy grew out of it. He grimaced to himself as searing pain shot through his back. He could feel strange new appendages filling in the space between himself and the cocoon. Just as the pain stopped, he faintly heard a button being pressed outside of the cocoon, and he braced for impact with the floor.

However, the appendages- what he now realized were wings- quickly shot open and began slowing his fall.

~

Jelly waited patiently as the urge to pupate coursed through them, growing stronger and stronger by the minute. They were unsure of how exactly to quell the overwhelming sensation without The Hand, so they opted to stay put just in case doing anything would make it worse. Finally, The Hand shot through the tunnel, and rapidly pressed the invisible button floating over their head.

Sighing as the urge faded, Jelly settled into the cocoon. They enjoyed their room, but it had its own flaws that the cocoon was able to remedy. Constant music from the gramophone and the strong smell of the jelly molds were the main issues it solved.

Falling gracefully to the floor as The Hand popped the cocoon open, their eyes were immediately drawn to a small black dot that lay haphazardly in front of the tube. It must have been sucked in while they were pupating. Glancing up at The Hand, Jelly waited for it to exit their room before cautiously making their way over to what they realized was a burnt dog biscuit. Something about it made them think that The Hand may react poorly to the object being where it was clearly not supposed to.

They hesitated before going in for a light sniff, only to recoil at the strong, acrid smell radiating off of it. No trace of the biscuit that once was remained. Despite the stomach-turning stench of the biscuit, Jelly's curiosity had been piqued- so after building up the courage to do so, they took a tiny bite.

And immediately gagged it back up.

Maybe that dog is as evil as I thought. Jelly took a step back from the biscuit. It's clearly trying to poison me.

Regarding it with cautious disgust, they decided the best thing to do would be to hide the thing. Sending it back over may cause unnecessary conflict with the mystery devil-dog and they still weren't sure as to how The Hand would react. So, carefully as possible so as to avoid it crumbling, they picked it up and stashed it behind a nearby armchair.

However, the stark taste of the biscuit still lingered in Jelly's mouth, so they resigned to nibbling on their cocoon- the only thing strong enough to properly wash it away.

~

Burnt was standing next to his ivy friend, his head twisted around in an attempt to get a good look at his back. Extending one of his newfound wings out, he carefully studied its leathery folds. Veins cascaded down from a single primary point at the top, each ending in its own rounded point. He now had dragon wings.

Extending the other one fully, he gave them a flap, his heart racing as he hovered off the ground for a moment. Trying again, he managed to get further up into the sky- but right then, The Hand flew into his room. He tucked in the wings out of some deep instinct that it would take them away, causing him to fall unceremoniously to the ground. The Hand lingered over him for a moment before dispensing a couple of biscuits, tossing them into his face, and disappearing.

Rubbing his head, Burnt looked up at the looming incubator. A small ledge lay at the front, indicating a good hiding spot for himself and other valuables. Checking over his shoulder to ensure that The Hand really was gone, he put all of his energy into one flap of the wings, then a second, then a third. . . and then one final push to haul himself onto the incubator.

Staring around his room, a sudden dizziness Burnt hadn't felt since he had first hatched overtook him. Seeing three of the shifting walls at once made him want to vomit. He quickly buried his head in his paws to avoid losing what little lunch he had, allowing himself to fully relax. His wings splayed out on either side of him, acting as a blanket of sorts. Eventually, he drifted off to sleep, enveloped by its warm arms.