Lonely Ryuu

>Lonely-Ryuu's birthday
>The shrine is overgrown with weeds and creepers
>The Shirohebi priestesses have all left her, telling her she's a worthless lizard who can't even help the Humans in the nearby valley harvest crops or bring rain
>That she should just lose all of the Faith and disappear like the good-for-nothing Goddess she is
>She's sitting alone in her room, a small homemade cupcake with a single candle lit on it
>Her shoddy, hand-sewn dolls seated around the table with her
>The cupcake is chocolate
>She always hated chocolate, it's bitter and it's far too rich for her
>As she's choking and sobbing on it, crying herself a "Happy Birthday", there's a small shuffling sound outside
>She moves towards the wooden walkway outside of her room
>There's a small box tied with a pretty pink bow on top of it, with a small placard attached to it
>"I want to believe", it reads
>Inside the box is a small jade magatama on a make-shift necklace of leather cord
>She sees the young boy trying to be stealthy as he runs back towards the village path
>Her heart skips a beat as she clasps the magatama in both of her claws, holding it to her heart, her tears drying up
>It was the first time somebody had given her a present
>She would cherish it forever

>Some time later, the boy re-appears at the shrine
>His face is bruised, one eye swollen shut
>The local band of Oni children and others had beaten him up for defending the "False Goddess" of the mountain and sticking to the old faiths
>She doesn't approach him, watching from the shadows as he cries to himself, almost mocking himself and his father for their rigidness in their beliefs
>A Ryuu who has no Faith, able to accomplish anything? Surely it was a cruel jest, it'd be better if the world just disappeared
>She calls out to him, the soft voice garnering his attention
>She's shrunk in size considerably due to the lack of faith or spirit energy from humans, looking more like an adolescent than a five hundred year old dragon
>He perks up and pretends to act tough for her, smiling a toothy smile
>She giggles back when he nearly falls over after seeing the gift on her neck, the rosy red blush on his face
>He runs off, coming back the next day and the day after that
>Tending for the shrine by re-painting it, re-shingling it, picking weeds and tending to the yards
>She's utterly confused as to why he's putting himself through such backbreaking work in order to please her
>Early mornings he tends to his father's fields, then spends the rest of the days at her shrine
>The days are peaceful and quiet now
>As he lays his head in her lap, she smiles, tracing her claws in his hair
>For one person to go through such lengths, it was either a fool's errand or.... No, it couldn't possibly be
>It shouldn't be

>Spring becomes Autumn, and with it a daytime shower
>She swallows hard, contemplating what she's about to do as she sees the boy coming up the path, carrying water on his shoulders on a wooden pole
>There's a brief pause when she asks him if he knows how a Goddess such as her obtains Faith from the humans
>He responds matter-of-factly the duality of her existence and that of a Curse Goddess
>The Curse Goddess would eat the hardships of the people and make the land easy to till and their aches to disappear
>Allowing her to reap the Faith, which would be like poison to her counterpart
>She nods to him, stammering there's also a more... direct way
>It's the moment of truth
>Grabbing his hands in her claws, she leads him towards the back of the shrine and tells him to wait outside as she makes preparations
>In a few minutes, she calls out to him
>He enters, afraid at first to enter what'd be considered the Holy of Holies
>His fear doubling as he sees her reclining there, naked, the folds of her labia a rosy pink color
>She tells him it's the most efficient way
>That she'd only ask him to do this if he loved her as much as she believed he did
>He gulps heavily, asking her what to do
>At her request, he undresses, feeling the stirring in his groin
>There's a fire lit in both of them as she moves forward, tenderly hugging him, wrapping around his lower legs with her serpentine half
>His youthful body is hard, lean with muscle from the fields
>She almost resents herself for having regressed into this form
>There's a hardness pressing against her stomach, his arousal apparent
>He moans softly, humping, rubbing her abdomen with his cock
>She giggles and draws him closer with her tail
>Her lips are soft as she kisses him, cooing she loves him, and that she hopes he won't hate her for this
>He whispers he could never do that to his Goddess

>He starts to dry hump her again in between kisses
>Her stomach is so smooth, and it feels so nice
>There's something welling up inside of his shaft
>He's scared, but she reassures him it's his body responding to the pleasure
>His cock pulses as it jettisons the muddy white fluid onto her mostly flat chest, he's apologizing profusely to her now
>She giggles and tells him it's perfectly natural for one's first time to be so fast, and that it didn't even take the edge off of him
>He's watching with some fear as her claw reaches down to his still-erect member and guides the head towards her lower lips
>She tightens her hold on him and presses their bodies together as she guides him into her grasping sheath
>It's painful at first for her, muscles that hadn't been used for centuries re-awakening and pulling on his girth
>It feels good, almost too good
>He grunts, shooting another load inside of her
>Both of them topple over as she grinds herself on him, telling him how much she loves him, has always loved him
>They both get lost in each other's bodies, their combined heat feeling like they're melting together
>Several days pass as they stay conjoined, she's fully reverted to her buxom, adult form
>Her lover is suckling on her breast like a babe as she works him to a final, cataclysmic orgasm
>Giving him the feeling of flight, his warmth seeping into her stomach
>She kisses him on the forehead after they seperate, the boy nuzzling his face into the pillow
>The room is thick with the miasma of sweat and coitus
>But she has other work to do
>She falls backwards, into the Earth itself
>Becoming one with it
>Thunder cracks above the valley, a downpour starting, making the land soft to till and fertile
>The villagers below are confused beyond their wildest dreams
>But the boy's father falls in religious reverence to his knees, supplicating himself
>Above, in the clouds, a large silhouette can be seen
>A Dragon, the antlered lion's head swimming with its body

>Years pass
>The shrine is bustling with activity now
>A Shirohebi miko tends to the shrine now, smiling in her adolescent innocence how the Goddess of the Mountain was kind enough to allow her to serve her given the sordid past her kind had with the Ryuu
>A young man wearing a blue kimono patterned with koi and lily pads walks past her, his wooden sandals clacking on the stone path
>She's confused at first, wanting to stop him
>An elderly woman from the valley smiles and gives her an 'ara ara', asking her if she knew who he was
>She responds with having no idea
"If your Mistress is the Heavens, then that boy is the Earth. Without those two, this shrine... this valley would be nothing."
>The Shirohebi remains confused until she notices her Mistress practically flying into the stranger's arms
>Nuzzling her face into his neck as he pats her on the head
>Such a childish Mistress, wanting to be spoiled
>By... By...
>She can feel the nosebleed as she turns around, noticing the wedding band on both the young man's right hand and her Mistress' claw
>They both look back at her and smile warmly, heading into her living quarters in the back