au drabble i spent too much time on actually dont look at me
After months of searching, the huntress would finally track down the fire-breathing beast. The guilt didn’t leave her mind since the war, since her conversation with the last Croak. Foolishly, she wanted to fix her failure to fulfill the promise she made somehow. There had to be some way to make up for the damage done.
Rexrana was curled up in the very back of an almost pitch black cave. The once-great light that glowed from the scales of his underbelly was much dimmer, barely illuminating the area around him. Irene could make out the deep slash marks that glowed a little more than the rest of the scales on the surface of his body. From his side was a large arrow the size of a pillar that reflected the orange hue that he emanated, immediately recognizing its material as the greatly coveted Skysteel. She was surprised to see that he was even breathing, wondering if he had been laying here since the battle.
Irene stared at him for a moment before trying to make some kind of greeting but the words would die in her throat. The only thing that came out was a small sound. He'd lift his head up at her, making a low rumble. The beast was nearly impossible to read - lizards don’t exactly emote, and as far as she could tell he didn’t have pupils. She didn’t know if she was meant to leave but he didn't seem to want her dead - yet, anyway - so she stayed despite her better judgement. There was so much she wished she could say, but she couldn’t put the words together.
He did not speak. She swallowed and approached him, shaking fearfully despite his weakened state. His gaze followed her, waiting - observing, as he seemed to often do from what she remembered. Irene stopped close enough for her voice to reach him but far enough away to be sure she was able to run in case anything happened.
"I'm sorry. I'm so—I'm so sorry—" she blurted out, trembling as she spoke - she was hardly able to speak or think properly and yet she continued, "They shouldn't have done this. I, I didn't think they'd--I don't even know how to begin--"
"Enough.” The word shut her up - he sounded exasperated.
"I had hoped that I would not be bothered in my rest, that I would heal quietly. I had not expected to be found so quickly,” he grumbled and tilted his head to the side. “You sought me out for what reason? To wallow in your pity and drown me in it?"
She pressed her lips together and took in a deep, steadying breath. “Is there…Is there anything we could do to help?”
Irene didn’t like how he stared at her, wordless once again. She tensed with anticipation, swearing she could feel the cave get hotter.
Finally, he’d say something.
“How exactly do you expect to do that? To help?” He questioned, huffing smoke out his nostrils. She expected to be met with a furious roar but he simply grumbled once again.
“My home is lost. My children, my people have been victim to your kind’s exploitation—” The dragon spoke softer than she expected, too tired to truly express his rage. “I have given you not one, but two chances to amend your first few mistakes and instead I am met with sorrow. My subjects have been ruthlessly slaughtered. My progeny have been at constant risk to your kind’s selfish nature. I have been gravely injured, reduced to nothing once again to your penchants for violence and greed. The damage has been done.”
The damage has been done. Words that burdened her in the months she spent searching for him.
Irene’s mouth opened and closed like a fish, unsure on what to say or how to react. The woman glanced at the arrow stuck in his side, wanting to ask about it but she held her tongue.
“I do not want your pity.” Rexrana laid his head back down. “You will leave and say nothing about my whereabouts to anybody. I wish only to rest. Do not return.”
She looked at the ground, not knowing if she would’ve preferred to be met with fire and death than to suffer another twenty years carrying the weight of what she could have done differently. She muttered a quick, useless apology that was too quiet for him to hear and turned to leave the cave.
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