The Dragon's Son

[pearledpriincess-blog]

@dragonson

Why the man had been any different, Rosalinde would never know. The rejection shouldn’t have come as a surprise if the choice was being left up to her. Or her brother, as the case often was. She mustn’t think about her brother, unless she wished her heart to break. A girl in her situation must only think about where to go from here; before her a dragon’s lair, behind a life of limited affection.

[dragonson]

Within the cave lived a female dragon, known as The Mountain Queen in both her own tongue and that of the humans.

The dragon emerged slowly, her scales a rich crimson, using her wings to help her walk along. When she spotted the human before her she coiled her tail around the woman’s waist to bring her into the lair. She dropped her down in the nest, where two young yet already large dragons were. And, oddly enough, a young man as well.

[dragonson]

Protector

[dragonson]

::It’s still useful,:: Torch reminded him. ::You can glide with it if you fall off our backs, and you can fight with it.::

::I can fight with it,:: Adam agreed. though he wasn’t sure gliding compared with genuine flight. Nothing compared with flying.

::Show it to her,:: Torch urged, but Adam shook his head.

::I need to save it for when we reach River,:: he said. ::I don’t want to waste it if there’s going to be a fight.:: And if there was going to be a fight, then Valka would see it soon enough. As it was they were fast approaching the spot where River had been taken.

[hallowedbetheirname]

She opened her mouth to agree with Adam’s statement, but something else interrupted her. They were getting close to the location, Valka could sense the trapper’s energy. She suspected the energy belonged to the Raknos tribe. She took her staff, twirled it and held it in a defense stance. She turned to the dragon and hybrid. It was their call now.

[dragonson]

Torch smelled the air before a snarl erupted from her throat, followed by smoke and fire. There were some humans, and while River did not seem to be with them they were unmistakably of the same tribe as the trappers. She opened her jaws and sent a burst of lava out near the humans as a warning shot.

Adam, meanwhile, had jumped from his sister’s back and transformed, growing wings, a tail, horns, and draconic limbs. He landed down hard, his new talons digging into the ground, and rounded on the trappers.

::Where is she?!:: He snarled, forgetting what tongue he was speaking in.

[hallowedbetheirname]

As quickly as the hybrid snarled, a large net fell on both of them, covering them in thick rope and knots. An army of what looked to be sixty men surrounded them, aiming a variety of weapons at them. Such as axes, bow n’ arrows, and groups of them aimed their catapults at them in case they tried to escape.

“We’ve got the other two!” one of them shouted. “And watch out for the Masked Dragon Thief! He’s with them too!”

[dragonson]

Torch snarled, trying to escape the net.

Torch stop, Adam told her in his mind. We need to be smart about this. Can you use your lava to melt the ground around us. We can sink down into the lava if you do, that could buy us some time.

Torch grunted and inhaled before blasting out a continuous stream of lava at the ground surrounding her and Adam. Unlike a Gronckle, her lava came from her magic, not melted rocks, and so there was no stop to the lava. Nor was she or Adam burned at all by the touch of the Lava, both being immune to the heat and the fumes coming off it. Soon enough, the ground had melted under the heat, and they had sunk in deep into the molten rock.

[hallowedbetheirname]

The men made the mistake of freezing in utter shock at their captures’ abilities. How were they not burning?? It was always fun for Valka to catch her enemies off guard. She snuck up behind two of them, took their skulls and bashed their heads together, knocking them out cold.

“The Dragon Thief! Get him!”

[dragonson]

When the hunters froze and turned their attention to Valka Adam and Torch made their move, diving fully beneath the molten rock and under the net, erupting from the lava like some sort of demonic pair. Adam lashed out with his tail and claws, the scales covering parts of his body acting as armor, and Torch spat out lava at the nearest hunters.

[last-daughter-of-llyr]

dragonson:

“Can you catch something to eat?” Adam asked. “If you can, you can help River hunt for food while Torch and I make the nest.” There was a cracking sound as Torch snapped a small branch from a tree with her tail and placed it down, repeating this a few more times until she had a loose structure piled up, large enough for the four of them.

“I can hunt yes.” she confirmed before looking over at River and smiling, then nodding back to Adam, “Defiantly. That sounds like a plan.” she agreed, eyes flicking to Torch to watch her work on the nest some.

[dragonson]

“Great,” Adam said. “You head off with River while I help Torch here.” He started to gather up leaves and branches to make the bulk of the nest while River gently touched the girl’s hip, motioning her to follow the dragon into the woods.

::Red meat or fish?:: River asked, punctuating her speech with a mental feel of both. ::Adam does not like to eat birds, since we can understand them.:: She added a picture of birds flying free to this, singing all the way.

[dragonson]

“Yeah,” Adam said. “Like a bed.” He followed the woman’s gaze before laughing. “River just said that these trees look like good material to make a nest..er..bed out of.”

[last-daughter-of-llyr]

Ellie looked to where the creature had suggestion and nodded, “I’ll leave that piece of judgment to your expertise.” she smiled. “Is there anything I can help with?”

[dragonson]

“Can you catch something to eat?” Adam asked. “If you can, you can help River hunt for food while Torch and I make the nest.” There was a cracking sound as Torch snapped a small branch from a tree with her tail and placed it down, repeating this a few more times until she had a loose structure piled up, large enough for the four of them.

[dragonson]

‘Farming’

[zxniya-archived-deactivated2016]

She narrowed her eyes when he first showed himself to her–was he really that stupid, seeking conflict from a stranger when his first priority should have just been to stay hidden, get his job done and get out? Yet here she was, letting herself get distracted by them, letting herself get spotted–she really had no right to judge.

What a strange kid, too, she thought as he spoke–he sounded like he was talking dragon. Spoke it pretty well, too, if his human speech was so affected by it. If he had said anything else she would have thrown a voltorb at him and been done with it, but since he appeared so close to his dragons, she supposed she could dignify him with a response.

“I’m one of the Draconid people,” she replied. “Of course I’m here to help.”

[dragonson]

The three of them relaxed at that. None of them knew much of the Draconid people, but they had heard enough about them to know that they worshiped the great Sky Dragon Rayquaza, and that they were friends to dragonkind. And she was here to free the Magikarp.

“You can help us then,” River said. “We need to get these out to the ocean, where they can be free to grow and thrive. Dragons should not be chained like this, made to be prey to other creatures.”

[dragonson]

Protector

[dragonson]

::It’s still useful,:: Torch reminded him. ::You can glide with it if you fall off our backs, and you can fight with it.::

::I can fight with it,:: Adam agreed. though he wasn’t sure gliding compared with genuine flight. Nothing compared with flying.

::Show it to her,:: Torch urged, but Adam shook his head.

::I need to save it for when we reach River,:: he said. ::I don’t want to waste it if there’s going to be a fight.:: And if there was going to be a fight, then Valka would see it soon enough. As it was they were fast approaching the spot where River had been taken.

[hallowedbetheirname]

She opened her mouth to agree with Adam’s statement, but something else interrupted her. They were getting close to the location, Valka could sense the trapper’s energy. She suspected the energy belonged to the Raknos tribe. She took her staff, twirled it and held it in a defense stance. She turned to the dragon and hybrid. It was their call now.

[dragonson]

Torch smelled the air before a snarl erupted from her throat, followed by smoke and fire. There were some humans, and while River did not seem to be with them they were unmistakably of the same tribe as the trappers. She opened her jaws and sent a burst of lava out near the humans as a warning shot.

Adam, meanwhile, had jumped from his sister’s back and transformed, growing wings, a tail, horns, and draconic limbs. He landed down hard, his new talons digging into the ground, and rounded on the trappers.

::Where is she?!:: He snarled, forgetting what tongue he was speaking in.

[hallowedbetheirname]

As quickly as the hybrid snarled, a large net fell on both of them, covering them in thick rope and knots. An army of what looked to be sixty men surrounded them, aiming a variety of weapons at them. Such as axes, bow n’ arrows, and groups of them aimed their catapults at them in case they tried to escape.

“We’ve got the other two!” one of them shouted. “And watch out for the Masked Dragon Thief! He’s with them too!”

[dragonson]

Torch snarled, trying to escape the net.

Torch stop, Adam told her in his mind. We need to be smart about this. Can you use your lava to melt the ground around us. We can sink down into the lava if you do, that could buy us some time.

Torch grunted and inhaled before blasting out a continuous stream of lava at the ground surrounding her and Adam. Unlike a Gronckle, her lava came from her magic, not melted rocks, and so there was no stop to the lava. Nor was she or Adam burned at all by the touch of the Lava, both being immune to the heat and the fumes coming off it. Soon enough, the ground had melted under the heat, and they had sunk in deep into the molten rock.

[dragonson]

‘Farming’

[zxniya-archived-deactivated2016]

Zíniya tensed, Voltorb bombs clipped to her belt, as she approached the facility stationed in Slateport harbor. She had to admit, dragon cruelty wasn’t her regular beat. But she’d seen the photos, and the conditions here were horrific. Given the things she’d already gotten away with, she figured this would be, well, a stroll on the beach.

Apparently, someone had already thought the same.

She gritted her teeth when she saw the broken window–whoever had come through here clearly lacked finesse, and would soon draw the attention of the authorities if they continued like this; if Mosiné had not already disabled the security cameras, their operation would be history. No matter. She would move even more quickly, and maybe even teach whoever else had come through here a lesson about stealth.

She knew her way around to the Magikarp pools–the company was stupid enough to boast of its cutting edge, efficient factory farm design on its website. If she put the bombs in the right place, she could blow a hole in the steel cages–and not even leave behind any fingerprints. Treading water by the steel pathway between different holding cells, she clipped one of the Voltorb holders underneath it and attached the glowing Pokémon to it underwater. Several Magikarp would have to be caught in the blast, but it meant nothing if the rest of them could be freed.

She was about to leave and detonate from afar when she heard that clumsy someone moving toward her from behind.

[dragonson]

When Adam saw the other person he cursed himself. He should have known the humans would be crafty enough to place guards. She would need to be dealt with before the dragons could be freed.

Adam crouched down and growled at the human, hoping to intimidate her, Torch mimicking his pose. But he stopped when he noticed this human smelled of dragons, and he straightened up.

“Are you like me?” He asked, his language skills atrocious, and sounding as though he was trying to growl half the time. He glanced at the unusual balls she was holding and cocked his head to the side. “Are you here to free the dragons as well?”

River slithered up beside him and Torch, and looked at the human. “If you are, then you are a friend of ours,” she said.

“If not?” Torch snarled, “you will burn. Why are you here? Are you human or dragon? Friend or foe?”

[dragonson]

“A place to sleep for the night?” Adam said, confused. “Humans call it something different, don’t they?”

::A pile of leaves and branches can be nice to sleep on,:: River said. ::These trees look good to me.::

[last-daughter-of-llyr]

“Like a bed?” she questioned gently, trying to understand where he was coming from.

She looked at River for a moment when she vocalized before looking back at Adam.

[dragonson]

“Yeah,” Adam said. “Like a bed.” He followed the woman’s gaze before laughing. “River just said that these trees look like good material to make a nest..er..bed out of.”

[last-daughter-of-llyr]

Eilonwy couldn’t help but chuckle a little at the sight of the bickering siblings before the idea of something cooked and hot came to mind, though she didn’t voice about it.

“What do you mean, A nest?”

[dragonson]

“A place to sleep for the night?” Adam said, confused. “Humans call it something different, don’t they?”

::A pile of leaves and branches can be nice to sleep on,:: River said. ::These trees look good to me.::

[last-daughter-of-llyr]

“Rest would probably be good for the night since I dont think an inn or town will be coming into sigh any time soon, much less one that will accept the presence of dragons.” she smiled softly, “Besides, its getting late.” she added thoughtfully, “And there’s no use traveling in the dark.”

By the look of Torch, Ellie chuckled lightly, “I’ve a feeling she didn’t…” 

[dragonson]

“It’s fine,” Adam said, slapping his sister’s leg. “She likes setting fires anyway, whether she wants to be helpful or not.”

::You don’t know me,:: Torch said, slapping Adam back with her tail. None the less, she did start to gather wood for the fire she would be making.

::I can hunt if you want,:: River said, sending everyone the thought of cooked food.

“I’ll make a nest, if you think we need one,” Adam offered.

[last-daughter-of-llyr]

Eilonwy gave a respectful bow of her head to the trio, a tiny smile twitching on her lips when a gentle wave of satisfaction came over her, as though content with the meeting.

“I suppose that would be alright…” she agreed, placing the sword back in its sheath, where it rested at her hip.

[dragonson]

::Should we rest for the night, or do you want to keep moving?:: River asked.

“River wants to know if you would like to keep traveling, or if you want to rest for the night,” Adam translated. “If you want to rest, Torch can light a fire.”

::I didn’t agree to that,:: Torch said, smoke coming from her nostrils.

“She said it would be an honor to do so,” Adam lied.

[last-daughter-of-llyr]

“I suppose we are just that.” she agreed, deciding the take a chance and lower her own weapon, “I am very much armed. I suppose a disclosure of that ought to be in order.” Ellie was not only armed with her sword a dagger hidden in her boot, but also her own magic should she be surprised, “I am Lady Rhun.” she told him, a lie, but her name would be earned when she trusted them.

[dragonson]

Adam smiled as she lowered her weapon and said her name. “A pleasure to meet you, Lady Rhun,” he said, offering a small bow. Beside him, River bowed as well, and even Torch nodded her head politely to the human.

::A pleasure,:: River agreed, and sent the human a series of pleased emotions.

“Now,” Adam continued, “I don’t suppose you would feel safer traveling with us. We have no set destination, but I feel as though you do.”

[last-daughter-of-llyr]

“Of course not. I’ve known many creatures that hold honor dearly.” she assured, “However, despite how well known dragons are, little is known of them. I only know as much as is written.” the red haired woman explained.

Her eyes lifted to the creature, but the male ignored whatever it was that had been said.

“I think any creature or being can be persuaded into serving another if the proper incentive is given. Human, dragon, dog, anything.”

[dragonson]

“I promise you, we are not here to harm you,” Adam said. “We are all just travelers whose paths have crossed. I’m not even armed.” This last part was not strictly true, since his weapons were his sisters and his own body, but he hoped that pointing out that he had no man-made arms would help ease the woman’s nerves. “And I still do not know your name.”

[last-daughter-of-llyr]

She eyes shifted amongst the trio, trying to decide if she could trust that they had no allegiances. She wanted to believe them, but she was nervous to trust them.

“I wasn’t aware that dragons had honor…” she mused, her eyes falling back to the male.

[dragonson]

Adam smiled a bit, still trying to appear friendly. “Of course we do,” he said. “What, did you think humans had a monopoly on it?”

::I would argue that humans have very little honor,:: River said. ::I’ve seen they way they fight among themselves. And usually for silly reasons.:: Adam ignored her, and continued talking.

“If you don’t believe we have honor,” he said. “Will you believe we are too proud to serve another?”

[last-daughter-of-llyr]

When he stepped towards her, her grip tightened on the sword and she matched his steps forward with steps back, “I’m afraid my destination is a private matter…” she said, trying to be polite, but she was in a situation that had her a bit on edge.

[dragonson]

Adam frowned, turning back to look at his sisters.

Little help? He asked them in their heads.

Don’t look at me, Torch said. She can’t talk to us, apparently.

Maybe she’s being hunted, River suggested. Tell her we’re neutral, and mean her no harm. Adam nodded and turned back to her.

“River has suggested that someone may be hunting for you,” he said. “If that is the case, then know that my sisters and I have no allegiances to anyone here but ourselves. We mean you no harm, I promise that. Dragon’s honor.”

[last-daughter-of-llyr]

When the others stepped out from the shadows, Eilonwy found herself taking a couple nervous steps back, already trying to mentally create a plan in case they all attacked her at once, unsure if she’d be able to handle the lot of them.

Then the male in the center spoke and her attention became mostly focused on him, “I’m traveling. And I don’t suppose wither I were man or woman would change how safe I was.” she pointed out. Eilonwy had fought along side men in wars and worked with them in field, so she took pride in being able to do anything a man could.

[dragonson]

Adam smiled. “I suppose that’s fair,” he said, stepping forward and holding out a hand. “I’m Adam,” he said, waiting to see if she would take the hand before continuing. “These are River and Torch, my sisters. We’re travelers too, though we don’t really have a set destination. We’re just traveling for the sake of traveling. What about you?”

[last-daughter-of-llyr]

As she realized what the creature was, Eilonwy found herself shifting into a more defensive stance, gripping her sword tighter. However, she wouldn’t attack unless she had to, unless she was attacked first in put in a place of having to survive. The creature seemed to be trying to appear benevolent, and looked such compared to other dragons she’d studied in the past.

The creature made a sudden vocalization of growls that startled her for a moment, mainly because she hadn’t been prepared for the creature to make a sound. A strange and sudden sensation came over her out of the blue. One felt as thought she was weightless and could move through the air effortlessly, the next felt as though all her weight was being carried off by calm waves. The young enchantress didn’t know what to make of either sensations and was unsure where they’d come from.

[dragonson]

When it occurred to Adam the the human seemed more defensive than hostile, he stepped out as well, standing beside River and motioning for Torch to follow him out. She huffed, smoke coming from her nose, but she followed him out and sat down on his other side.

“Hello,” Adam said, thankful that the draconic gift for tongues had allowed him to learn these languages. “My sisters and I mean you no harm. But we are curious, why are you here? This isn’t a safe place for a woman.”