#cn;drabble

[rgxcain-blog]

“It could be worse.”

prompt: “It could be worse.” 

the young male’s statement bothered him some, but he said nothing of it. the general’s favourite horse was stuck in a ditch they had so painstakingly dug (neither of them were earth benders, after all) and had conveniently forgotten about. to cain’s defense, he thought that it was a little farther away — imagine his surprise when aeron’s horse suddenly bucked and fell! shallow as it was, it was enough to give the animal a scare, and cain had to hurry to help the little prince off the damn thing before it caused any damage to actual humans.

“yeah…” cain mumbled, feet firmly on the ground, one hand around the reins and the other buried so casually in his pockets. his gaze was as cold as the northern winter, and just about as ruinous. after a moment of what might be assumed as worried silence — except it was anything but, for cain was never really worried about the wellbeing of many things — an excited smile finally graced his boyish features.

“hey, wanna see something amazing?”

his hands found themselves free, and in the air before the younger prince could respond. it was a little hard, detecting the flow of chi in something that wasn’t quite human, especially since cain was so young. it was youth that limited him; it was youth that inspired him to break through these constraints.

the flow of blood was challenging, too, and it might have seemed that nothing would happen —

except it did.

the horse neighed in its physical distress, and twisted its limbs in the air as sweat rolled down cain’s temple. aero watched the show with glee: the way its feet contorted, folded in on its fat stomach; the way its head twisted into itself until no sound could come out of the animal at all. and when cain was done, his hands dropped, breath heaving as if he’d run an especially wonderful marathon. blood streamed out of its open, dumb mouth, full of stained teeth once the useless thing landed upon the ground.

both boys edged towards the corpse.

both grinned, amused.

[rgxcain-blog]

(Regular Verse) “I can’t believe you talked me into this.”

prompt: “I can’tbelieve you talked me into this.” 

[ 1481 ]

“i can talk a lot ofpeople into a lot of things,” cain points out, before grabbing her arm andpulling her into a corner. although his vision was steadily becoming worse – a facthe did not want to admit to anyone until it became a real problem – his hearinghad improved; so had his capacity to (unconsciously) sense chi.

the guards passed themby, and while the emperor’s study was very closely guarded, cain had observedduring his visit that they didn’t quite take notice of children. to be soheavily guarded, the emperor’s study musthold secrets, and cain just lovedthose.

hikari was only with himbecause he knew he could always threaten to lock her in a closet again. the lasttime that happened, cain had a lot of fun, but he could not speak for the youngprincess. she was a kid compared tohim; surely she could recover. if he hadn’t been so fixated on the idea ofuncovering another nation’s secrets, he would’ve liked to play with hikari again.

“well?” cain askedimpatiently as he dragged her out again, palm outstretched expectantly.

the key was hesitantlyand shakily held between them. “prince cain, i don’t --,”

“yeah, you don’t,” he interjected, grabbing the keyand inserting it in the key hole – ah!so she could do something good after all. “listen, hikari.” cain places a handupon her shoulder, giving an innocent smile. “this is just like that time, isn’t it? it’ll be our littlese --,”

his statement was cutshort as hikari suddenly held onto his wrist, running back to the corner whichthey hid. cain was too surprised by the fact that she touched him that he could not tear his wrist from her tinylittle grip.

“what the hell do you --?!”

“that’s odd.” the voice struckcain into a sudden silence. he didn’t have to peek around the corner to knowwho it was; the emperor had always sent chills of animosity down his spine. maybeit was that they were under two different elements, but cain was sure – “i remember putting this in my drawer...”

his heartbeat echoed inhis ears, and the heavy door was shut so audibly that his little pre-adolescentheart skipped a beat or two before he remembered how to breathe.

[rgxcain-blog]

(AU Verse) "Hey, I’m with you, okay? Always.”

prompt: “Hey,I’m with you, okay? Always.”

[ AU ]

“i know.”

the smile he gives heris almost too dazzling, but his gaze does not linger. rather, it’s affixed ontothe knot his hands are delicately but firmly creating around her wrists. hisfeatures remain almost serene, despite the thunderstorm raging on around them. theship tilts with each rise and fall of the tide, but cain’s stance remains firm,and staggers lightly only when they get hit by another cannonball.

“tell them i took yourvirtue by force,” cain tells her, mouth beside her ear as he pushes her towardsthe boat that remains so precariously suspended by rope.

“my lord –!”

“they’ll give me a goodfight if you do,” cain continues to reason, before pushing her onto it, and pullingout a sword, sharp and polished and rarely been used in battle. he prefersbending, but there is a long battle ahead, and besides, his assistant isalready shouting at him to lead their men to yet another victory.

cain cannot do sowith a princess’ life in peril along with his own. at least, here, a few clicks north would have her back home again. cain relied on hikari’s amazing skill to listen to and follow through with everything he told her to do, if only to ensure her safety.

“cain!” the way hikarisays his name has desperate urgency to it – different from the way it’s usuallytinged with pleasure. oh, how he had missed that tone of fear.

“safe travels, my love.”

the bindings are cut,and the boat fell onto the waters. cain can’t look back to see if she issafe, blade already in his hand and stance anticipating the inevitable boardingof their ship. pirates don’t know their place, and the prince was more thaneager to teach them. to attack them this close to the suryan shores might aswell identify them as part of a bigger enemy, and frankly, he finds it insulting that they would think thatthey could beat him in his own element.

some fires, he thinks, could not be extinguished, andnone of them hold the flames of a dragonborn.