One of A Kind

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(Date is January 3rd, afternoon. Closed to Maleficent and Patch. Say anything about the thread name and Maleficent will unleash the powers of hell on you.)

After two days of being stuck inside the Nostalgia Residence, Maleficent felt cramped and in desperate need of fresh air. Which was why the first chance she got, she snuck into the snow-covered Woodlands. She breathed a small sigh of relief once she was outside and away from everyone. The fairy had always been fond of the forest. It was quiet and calm here, a place where she could gather her thoughts and relax. The only thing that would make this better was if Diablo were here.

Maleficent frowned when the raven entered her thoughts. Though she wouldn’t say as much out loud, she missed Diablo. He was the only friend she had, and without him, the fairy felt rather… empty.

[Patch]

"Why doesn't Critic just let us go outside? It's not that cold" Patch replied as he looked around the woods. He then got excited as more snow fell and played at the falling snowflakes and wrestled alone on the ground. Then he saw a tall figure and sniffed to figure out it was maleficent. Curious he went to her and pawed at her cloak.

"Are you ok?" He asked naively

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Maleficent’s attention was pulled from her thoughts yet again when she felt a small tug at the bottom of her cloak. Frowning, she looked down and saw that it was Patch. Her features softened slightly.

“Hello, Patch.” She pulled her cloak away from his snowy paws. “Yes, I’m all right, I suppose. I was just… thinking about Diablo.”

It didn’t occur to her that the Dalmatian puppy probably didn’t know who Diablo was. She cleared some snow off of a nearby log and sat down.

“What are you doing out here alone?” she inquired. Forests weren’t safe places for small dogs. There were a number of predators that could pick him off easily. Patch could be hurt.

Why do I care in the first place?

That was the real question.

[Patch]

Diablo? Who was that? Well it didn't matter right now. Patch just sat down on the ground looking up at Maleficent. He still didn't get it. Why were they so fearful of her? She seemed nice and she was on there. It was two days for goodness sakes! He shrugged and replied "Critic doesn't allow me to go out as much. I was bored and the critic says I'm too small to go out by myself"

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“Does that mean that no one knows where you are right now?” Maleficent raised an eyebrow, though she wasn’t really angry with Patch – more amused, really. “Because the Critic does have a point, even if it is a bit of a skewed one. I don’t know if you’re familiar with forests, but they can be quite dangerous. If you aren’t careful, a hawk can snatch you right off the ground and have your liver for its lunch.” Then, so as not to (completely) terrify the puppy, she added, “But you don’t need to worry about that now.” A mysterious smile crossed her face. “You see, I have a very… effective way of repelling predators.”

Maleficent was, of course, referring to her dragon form. A part of her was eager for Patch to ask what she meant – she wanted to show off the full extent of her powers. This was mostly to give herself an ego boost, both because of her defeat at Phillip’s hands and the fact that she was now siding with the heroes – she still hadn’t quite gotten over that.

[Patch]

Patch's ears drooped. No. His family was probably still in london "My family's back in my world. The Critic hasn't seen my mum or dad so I don't know where they are either" Then Maleficent's reasoning made Patch swallow a bit. He would be lying if the cruel picture didn't frighten him. However her mood whiplash made him not so fearful

Her way of getting rid of predators made him ask "Really? What do you mean by that? Do you have like some superhero powers?" His curiousity from what he understood wouldn't bring anything too harmful right?

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“Oh.” Maleficent blinked. She had wanted to know if this meant that the other members of the Critic’s Army didn’t know that Patch was out in the Woodlands, but the puppy’s answer was much worse. “I’m sorry to hear about that, Patch.” Oddly enough, she was, though she couldn’t imagine why. “But if they’re back in your world, that means they’re safe, doesn’t it?” she offered, trying to cheer Patch up a little. She wasn’t sure if it would work; she was new to this whole comforting thing, after all.

Patch’s curiosity about her secret caused Maleficent’s smile to return. Oh, this was going to be fun.

“Not exactly,” she said in reference to his question about superhero powers. She gestured for Patch to come sit next to her, then lowered her voice so as to keep the mystique. “I can turn myself into a dragon.”

[Patch]

Patch wagged his tail at the remark of his family. Yeah! She had a point. At least they were all safe and sound "You're probably right. It's better that way. Ask Thatguy probably hasn't harmed anyone of my family yet" Ask Thatguy having his siblings would be horrible in Patch's book. Hopefully it wouldn't be the case

Then the idea of Maleficent being a dragon made him perk up and pant in eager curiousity "Really? A dragon? I've never seen one of those before!"

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“That’s right. As long as they’re still in your world, Ask ThatGuy can’t hurt your family,” Maleficent said in what she hoped was a reassuring tone, pleased that her words seemed to have cheered Patch up a bit. The ever-present question of Why? was pushed to the back of her head (for now, at least).

“Really?” Maleficent raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised that Patch had never seen a dragon before. There wouldn’t be any real ones in his world, but what about in movies and TV? “Would you like to?”

[Patch]

His tail wagged a bit more. He really didn't mind the fact this woman was feared, he really was more curious than afraid. He bent down curiously and nodded "Yeah! I've always wanted to see one of those!" Patch meant that. He never saw one so it was indeed interesting to actually know someone who could turn into a dragon

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Maleficent smirked at Patch’s enthusiasm.

“Very well, then. I suppose a little demonstration wouldn’t hurt anyone.” She rose from the log and took several paces away from it. “It would be in your best interest to stand back,” she advised the puppy just as the transformation began. Warmth filled her – it was the magical equivalent of sinking into a nice, hot bath after a long day. It was a sensation that Maleficent had sorely missed during her years in the darkness, and she closed her eyes now, allowing herself to be lost in it.

Green flames and plumes of black smoke exploded from the spot where Maleficent stood. She could feel her wings beginning to sprout, her teeth and nails elongating, her horns growing.

When the smoke cleared away, there was a dragon where there had once been a fairy. Maleficent’s gold eyes locked onto Patch – now merely a speckled dot – and she intently waited for his reaction.

[Patch]

Patch felt the ground rumble and instantly he went off the log. He also did as requested and kept his distance. As he looked up, she looked WAY bigger than normal. It definitely shocked the pup but not enough surprisingly to scare him. Sure, it was a freaking huge creature that maleficent turned into but he knew it was still maleficent.

All he could do though was just keep his mouth open and only utter "Whoa!"

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Maleficent opened her jaws and inhaled deeply, relishing how the clean air tasted with her heightened senses. This form was very comfortable to her – a literal second skin – and she found herself feeling almost nostalgic.

The dragon’s freshly-formed face stretched in what was meant to be a smirk when Patch fell off of the log, and a guttural chuckle issued from her throat. With a gentleness that did not suit her new form or her personality, Maleficent bent down and scooped the puppy up off the snowy ground before placing him back on the log.

“I would ask you what you think of my appearance, but your fall seems to speak for you.” Maleficent blinked. Her voice – a few octaves deeper than that of her normal form – had taken on a tone that was unfamiliar to her. It was almost teasing. And not the gloating sort either – she sounded playful. It was a worrying notion.

What’s the matter with me?

[Patch]

Patch felt the cold scales put him back on the log. It was most definitely off for him but he dare not say a word. However his thinking changed when he felt Maleficent's tone, it was playful and gentle and he couldn't help but shrug in return. She made him speechless so maybe that fall he had would talk for him. "Uh yeah heh. Your powers are really awesome!"

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Patch’s compliment prompted another confused blink from dragon-Maleficent, and it soon became her turn to look on in awe.

Awesome. The word floated around inside her head. It wasn’t something people usually said of her dragon form… not that those who saw it often lived long enough to comment on it. Scary, she had been anticipating. Frightening, perhaps. But awesome? Never in a million years had she thought she would hear that.

“Really?” Her voice was tinged with disbelief. “You really think it’s… awesome?” The somewhat-modern word felt so foreign and unfamiliar on her now-forked tongue.