Another idea! This is the second out of four ideas that have been bouncing around in my head so here you go!
So how about a Kaveh!MC who isn't TECHNICALLY human. He looks human, acts human, but he isn't human. He hides his inhumane features out of fear of people hating him.
Let's give a little backstory to this MC.
MC grew up in an orphanage before being taken in by supposedly nice people.
That kindness lasted three hours.
MC quickly figured out that the parents who had taken them in were drunks, horrible and abusive drunks. They often made MC clean up their messes, get them alcohol, and if things didn't go their way… well they tended to hurt MC.
They've even thrown whine glasses or whine bottles, it didn't matter if it had whine in it or not, thrown at them or broken over their head.
Somehow though, they didn't die. The house caught fire one night, and the alcohol just made the flames go up higher. MC saw their so called parents trapped, looking and screaming at MC to help but… they didn't. They turned and ran, out of the house, out into the streets. Police and firefighters were called and MC was sent to an orphanage, again. They never stayed too long in any house before they were given back.
Everyone said MC was a nice kid, that they deserved to have an incredible life, but that sadly they couldn't give that life to MC.
MC knew they were just pretty words saying that even if they liked MC, they didn't want to deal with their trauma.
So MC aged out of the system, moving out into a small and shabby apartment, but it was THEIRS.
Eventually they found a job that makes them feel happy.
They were an amazing jeweler, and even sold their things in the shop. Eventually they moved.
Though the place they moved to was odd.
There were blacksmiths everywhere, and not just ones who made regular tools and such, but also ones who made weapons.
MC learned a lot under them.
They learned the arts of forging and they LOVED it.
But another thing they loved was taking in children, amassing their own sort of orphanage, but much better than the one they grew up in.
MC also made and drew children books, their books were all well loved and had even been printed and such in different languages, distributed throughout the world. They didn't know how or why their books gains such traction but they weren't complaining.
Despite how the village would seem, it DID have working wifi and internet so when they had free time, they played Genshin with the kids of the orphanage watching. They played up until all the recent updates.
Then one day, after a long night (yes night because they worked well into the night and morning) of forging, they went home and played some Genshin, the kids watching with delight. Then they took the kids to school but something happened.
While going back to their forge they saw a new student, a trainee. Apparently they had advanced through the training so quickly and easily that they were now taking their final test. MC frowned but paid no mind. The blacksmith was taking the student to the forge where MC worked, because MC was the one who examined the piece after it was done.
They were after all the best blacksmith and jeweler in the village. They were also 41 at this point and their birthday was tomorrow. Their frown deepened as they saw the trainee handle the tools with clumsiness. To any other it might look like skill, but to MC, who has been doing this job for over two decades, it was clumsy, unrefined.
They mulled over it as they forged. There was a reasons all the tests were meant to take months to finally get right. Blacksmiths needed experience, lots of it. MC didn't like this.
They were right to be weary because soon after starting to make the complicated piece, the trainee started panicking. It was going wrong.
MC paid no mind to it until the trainee made a half choke half scream sound. So they looked up and their eye widened. Somehow that trainee managed to mess up so badly, not using the proper techniques or using short cuts, and the entire piece was cracking, about to explode. MC grabbed the trainee and shielded them as the blacksmith who took the trainee to MC's forge wasn't there, not allowed to over see the process. The test was to test the trainees skill without anyone hovering over them and telling them what to do.
Right as MC pulled the trainee behind them, the piece exploded the fire surged, and pieces of the metal flew off and struck MC. Some weren't bad wounds but a few embedded themselves in MC's skin.
MC was sent to the hospital in the city but on the transit there they died.
They knew they were dying and cried quietly. Not for themself, but for the children they looked after, for all the friends they made, for the animals that always seemed to gravitate to them when MC was out and about.
Then they closed their eyes.
Only to waken them once more.
They were little more than what seemed to be a toddler, laying on the ground. They stood up, ready to look around, but an odd appendage was- wait a minute, they have a TAIL!
They turned quickly, trying to grab their tail and once they did, MC heard a deep rumbling, almost like laughter. The toddler dropped down into a crouch, their claws (when did they have claws), digging into the ground, and they hissed like a feral cat.
There was more crooning laughter and then MC froze in fear. That was a DRAGON stepping out of the shadows of the forest. And a familiar dragon at that.
Apep crooned softly when MC took a step back. She took another step forward, and then another and another, until she lowered her head right in front of them.
She let out a breath of amused air as MC's breath hitched. She nuzzled into the toddler's stomach, seemingly smelling him?
MC's own senses were overwhelmed. Everything was so BRIGHT, and so many smells, all pleasant but too many, invaded their nostrils. Their ears hurt too and they could hear so much! Birds chirping, grass being pressed down by feet, grazing animals, the skittering of ants, everything and it HURT! MC's tail was tense, wrapped tightly around one of the toddler's legs.
Apep seemed to understand this but she was too busy looking for a scent on the hatchling.
She had been exploring her territory when she saw something odd. An abandoned egg, embedded in the river bed, and it was HATCHING. Curious she waited, even when her instincts screamed to get the egg and bring it to her nest. She waited to see if one of the egg's Flight (aka a dragon's version of a pack/pride/skulk/group of animals) would arrive. But… no dragon ever came and she watched as the egg hatched.
The hatchling didn't look normal, instead of scales it had soft and fleshy armor. It had a tuft of hair on it's head that looked like spun sunlight, slightly hiding the green, with gold designs, nubs on the hatchling's forehead. The hatchling's tail, a light green color with golden fluff at the tip, was limp and the hatchling had no control of it, but that makes sense, it was still a hatchling. Then the hatchling's eyes opened and Apep was blown away, ruby crystal-like eyes peered around, curiosity on the hatchling's face.
The hatchling stood on shaky feet, and how curious, it stood on it's hind legs, though it's hind legs and front legs DID seemed to be uneven in length.
Perhaps this hatchling was a runt, a defect, and somehow the hatchling's Flight figured this out and abandoned it? No, no Flight abandons a hatchling, even if it was a defect/runt, so what happened and why was this hatchling all alone.
Then the hatchling seemed to realize it's own tail and turned in circles, trying to grab it. Apep couldn't help but let out a laugh when the hatchling finally caught their tail. That caught the little one's attention and it froze, dropping it's tail, and crouching down, ready to flee.
Apep crooned softly, hoping to calm the agitated hatchling as she moved closer but it only made the hatchling even more fearful and it took a step back. She lowered her head and sniffed, trying to find a scent that marked the hatchling.
Except there was no scent, it was as if the egg had been abandoned, but again, that shouldn't be possible. Apep decided right then and there that this would be HER hatchling. If the original Flight didn't want the poor hatchling then she would take it and introduce it to her own flight, the other Sovereigns.
She quickly went to her full height and spread her wings, grabbing the hatchling as she took flight, ignoring the hatchling's squeaks of fear. The hatchling had no wings, no hatchling did until at least three hundred years go by, but even then, the wings are tiny and would have yet to unfurl. When a hatchling turns 500, it's wings would finally unfurl but they're still too small for even gliding or catching the air. Only when a hatchling turned around 1,000-ish would the wings be considered grown large enough to fly or glide with, but it's advised to wait another hundred years.
She would be the best mother there was and no one could stop her. The hatchling's soft and fleshy armor was like the underside of her belly, except even softer.
She could feel the hatchling's warmth, but it was not burning hot like Xiuhcoatl (apparently this is the pyro sovereign's name??? I'm probably wrong though) or cold like Helkëo(I'll be referring to the cryo sovereign as that for the meantime because we STILL don't know their name).
They did not have tough scales like Adegoke(Geo sovereign's name that I gave for them) or have feathers like Zephyr (what I'll be calling the Anemo Sovereign for now).
Energy did not seem to dance on and in the hatchling like it did Styrmir(what I'll call the electro Sovereign for now).
The hatchling did not seem fluid, as if made of Hydro, like Leviathan (Neuvillette's name as Hydro sovereign) seemed to be.
Instead Apep felt an all too familiar energy within the hatchling.
The hatchling was practically bursting with life just like Apep. Already she could see the way nature leaned towards them BOTH as she flew to her nest. She flew deeper above the forest until she landed in a forest clearing and carefully walked through the forest. The trees leaned towards them both, the trunks large and thick, golden marks spread over them like veins, their branches touching the sky. The hatchling, still clutched carefully in her claws, looked around in awe, it's ruby crystal eyes darting around, taking in everything.
Eventually she reached the roots of the tree of knowledge (I personally headcanon that she used to live under it until humans came along and she left so as to not be disturbed) and used her powers of Dendro to move the roots. Past the roots was a cavern, filled with crystals and glowing plants, and a small (to Apep at least) stream was there too. Light was filtered in from in-between the roots. Her nest (made of roots, moss, gems, thin and ribbon like branches, and leaves) was in the corner of the large space, in the space furthest from the entrance.
She gently put the hatchling in the soft nest, the moss covering it all like a blanket. The nest was giant compared to the hatchling, the hatchling was dwarfed by the sheer size of it and Apep crooned in delight.
The hatchling was so smart, not fighting Apep, as hatchlings often fought when they had to be in the nest, as she curled around the tiny hatchling in her giant form.
She purred while nuzzling the hatchling (MC is just letting this giant dragon do so because her largest fang was about the size of their TORSO!! She was GIANT!! [Personally I head-canon that the dragons, or really just the Sovereigns, can change their size]) and making sure her scent was covering it.
There, now the hatchling was claimed as HERS.
The rest of her Flight could meet the hatchling later.
The next morning and MC had one of the best sleeps in their live(s). When they woke Apep was already awake, gazing at Kaveh!MC with wonder. She crooned, whispering that she would be MC's mom (or the dragon equivalent). She even gave him a new name… Kaveh!MC…
Kaveh!MC managed to somehow wriggle out of the nest and go to the giant river and peer at his reflection. Yup, that confirmed his suspicions.
He was baby faced Kaveh who was now apparently a dragon and one Apep adopted. Another thing they noticed, horns, at their hairline on their forehead. They were also… naked. That made them squeak and Apep was confused on why her hatchling wanted something to cover himself with. But then she once again noticed how instead of scales her hatchling had fleshy, soft armor and nodded. Yes, her hatchling must want to cover himself to try and bring some form of armor, and besides, she had felt her hatchling shivering the night before. So she hunted, found a beast that had been invading her territory, and killed it. It was a good hunt, and it's skin would surve as useful armor for her hatchling, the skin WAS tough after all.
So she took the body back and cut off the skin, before watching in awe as her little hatchling used threads from vines, with the threads being woven together to make the string thicker/stronger of course, and wove the skin into something that hung loosely over her hatchling's form. She rubbed her scent on the new armor, making sure Kaveh!MC was once again drowning in her scent.
The lucky thing is that it calmed Kaveh!MC's senses so he was now no longer being overwhelmed by everything much to his delight. Kaveh!MC had a lot of experience in sewing because of his first life and stitching clothes back together when they were ripped, either for himself or later on, the children he looked after.
It only took two years before Kaveh!MC started calling Apep mama, because he had never had a mama before, had always been the one taking care of others. The only one who could technically count as a mother was the woman who adopted him with her husband, except they were the ones who also hurt him, threw wine bottles at him, nearly KILLED him! So Apepe was definitely his mama now and when he first called her that she had been purring up a storm for the rest of the day, her noodle form wrapping around the giant nest that although was small for her, absolutely dwarfed Kaveh!MC in size.
Three years after Apep adopted him and Apep finally deemed it time to bring Kaveh!MC with her to her next meeting with her Flight. Her Flight KNEW she had a hatchling now, KNEW she adopted them after finding out that the hatchling's egg was abandoned, KNEW the hatchling she had taken in as her own was odd looking and probably a runt, but they were ecstatic to meet the little one. There were so few Flights, so few hatchlings, so the thought of a mother dragon abandoning her egg… well it made them clench their fangs in anger.
Kaveh!MC had grown, not much but they did. The scales on their tail were a little thicker and harder, their horns longer slightly, their fangs just a tad sharper, and their claws more defined. They still very much looked like a toddler though. They were clutched gently in Apep's claws, her snake-like form swimming through the air.
The meeting went as expected, confusion of how Kaveh!MC looked different from other hatchlings, but that was quickly pushed to the side. The Sovereigns all proceeded to coo at Kaveh!MC, and quietly ask Apep about the little one's armor/second skin which she responded was to protect her hatchling because of how his armor was soft and fleshy instead of scales. Many gave him gifts and scent marked him too, as part of their Flight.
Decades go by and before Kaveh!MC knew it, they were 200. They still looked like a kid though, 5 years old to be exact, and their childish instincts were still very much there. Kaveh!MC met the rest of the flight at least three times a year and to him, that was very often, but at the same time, not often at all.
He knows what will happen in the future, made sure to burn it into his mind whenever he was with his Flight. Looking at 5 sovereigns who would die, one who would be corrupted and fall into a mindless rage, and another who die but be reborn as a human…
He burned it into his memories every night when sleeping with his mama in their nest.
He committed it to memories because maybe, just maybe he could help them.
Then another hundred years ago by and for the past 50 their had been a pain on his back, itchy and annoying. It got worse when he hit the three hundred year mark. Apep often soothed him, running her tongue on his back, trying to soothe the pain (I personally think that while baby dragon wings are growing the parent dragon will soothe the itches with their tongue, and it's another form of grooming). Three years go by and the pain spikes. They wake weeks later, new appendages on their back, little wings. The scales were a light green color, and the skin/fabric (whatever that material is that catches the wind for dragons) was a deep red with golden designs.
Another 200 years go by and Kaveh!MC asks about his next evolutions/stages (that's what he calls them). Apep tells him, not thinking much of it, because her hatchling will forget anyway so what's the point of not telling. Kaveh!MC though WILL remember, he will commit it to memory because he KNOWS that someday, everyone in his Flight will either die or go insane/corrupted.
That feather canon Kaveh had? Yea that one, Kaveh!MC got it from the Anemo Sovereign giving him one of their feathers.
Then another hundred years go by and the humans come into being. Kaveh!MC knew that this Flight saw the similarities between him and the humans, but they still called him hatchling, said he was a dragon. One night when he was supposed to be asleep, he asked his mama why they still called him a dragon because it was so clear he was HUMAN.
Apep merely opened her eyes and huffed softly, nuzzling her hatchling's stomach, saying that Kaveh!MC had hatched hundreds of years before the humans even came into being, meaning Kaveh!MC was no human, but a dragon. And besides he had hatched from an egg and he was HERS, part of HER Flight, HER hatchling.
He was no human, he was a dragon.
Apep and Kaveh!MC left the nest/den under the tree of knowledge, and Apep made a new one far, FAR away from the tree as the humans had been pestering the two.
A hundred more years go by and then it happens. The Heavenly Principles appear. There is a war and the Sovereigns are killed one by one. But Kaveh!MC witness each of their deaths because when they first appeared he had been visiting Leviathan who sent him to Xiuhcoatl (Pryo) after Leviathan was being killed and Kaveh!MC could only watch in horror as his family was being killed.
Then Xiuhcoatl was attacked and he sent the hatchling to Helkëo as Xiuhcoatl was being killed.
Helkëo, as they were being attacked/killed, sent Kaveh!Mc to Adegoke.
Then Adegoke was being attacked and killed before sending Kaveh!MC to Zephyr.
But then Zephyr was dying, sending him to Styrmir.
As Styrmir was dying they sent him to Apep.
But Apep was already gathering power from the tree of knowledge. Then it turned against her, turning her insane. The only remaining goal in her mind was destroying, and protecting her hatchling.
He cannot bear to see his mama fall, her authority stolen, her mind gone.
Hundreds of years go by and then his wings are big enough to catch the air but it's still really dangerous to do so.
His horns were much longer (like the light dragon's from TOTK), his tail was longer too and the floof at the end of it much bigger and fluffier as well. He doesn't really cut their hair unless they need it but somehow it always stays healthy and soft as silk. Currently his hair reached his waist and was pulled into a braid, Zephyr's feather in their hair.
They wore a sweater and baggy pants, they stole the clothing but no one saw them.
A few more hundred years go by and then Kaveh!MC is 1,000 years old. They can finally use their wings and are able to fly quite well. They also managed out how to hide their wings, tail, and horns with magic.
Another thing that's happened over the hundreds of years him been alone, light green scales were now on the back of his arms (not the underside but the other side and stuff where the top of their wrist is and their elbow too. What is this even called???), along the length of his spine, a few dotting his legs and cheeks, a few on his sides as well.
He managed to hide those too.
Eventually a few more thousand years go by and the Archon War happens. He doesn't get involved besides doing anything but helping people escape the destruction.
Kaveh!MC thinks he might've met an injure Morax and healed the future Geo Archon before leaving to help other people, but truth be told he was on autopilot that day.
Even if he would be considered an adult dragon now he still misses his mama a lot and all this destruction his reminding him of his Flight's deaths!
Thousands of years go by and Kaveh!MC has matured incredibly. Even if he was an adult, by both dragon and human minds, he still sometimes couldn't help but wonder what would have happened had he kept the childhood he had always wanted.
He can't help but miss his mama and Flight. Can't help but sometimes wish it was HIM who died instead of them. He is tired, and oh so very lonely.
Then three years before the destruction of Khaenri'ah, Kaveh!MC goes and visits the nation. He meets Pierro and Thrain, becoming their friend. Then he meets the other sinners and becomes their friends as well! They introduce him to Dainsleif who introduces him to Rerir and Tholindis! Overall they are all his friends and he gives them all a very special bracelet.
It's made of Jade beads but the center piece bead is a light green and seemed to be glowing a solder, barely noticeable golden color on the inside. The center price bead is also a slightly different texture but they pay no kind to the oddities.
Kaveh!MC had taken off 9-20 of his scales, making them into those center piece beads, marking his friends as precious. He would love to claim them as his Flight but… they don't know he's a dragon, they don't know the truth about the odd beads (his scales), don't know the truth about him, or even the feather he always wears in his hair.
Sometimes he feels guilty for not revealing anything but he so desperately wants them to like him. He is lonely and touch starved and he misses his mama! They soothe the ache in his chest, they genuinely like him, and he adores them! So he can't help but be selfish.
But then the cataclysm happens and everything goes wrong! Kaveh!MC is tired of everyone he cares about either dying or leaving him!
He was caught in the middle of the destruction, saving as many as he could, smuggling them to Sumeru. He tried saving his friends, he really did, but a building collapsed on him and the last thing he saw before waking up was their horrified faces.
He wakes up buried under rubble, the cataclysm still going on. He was only unconscious for ten minutes at max. He escapes and keeps smuggling out more and more Khaenrians, getting them to Sumeru.
The Khaenrians recognize his face, pass down stories of their savior, make festivals for him. Khaenri'ah culture is so deeply integrated into Sumeru that only someone who was from Khaenri'ah would even notice it.
Kaveh!MC oh so desperate wants to go to Neuvillette but he is scared. Scared that the dragon will not remember him. Scared that he will think Kaveh!MC is an imposter. He is scared of being rejected by a member of his Flight.
Fifty years before canon and Kaveh!MC finally visits his mama. Even in her corrupted state she still recognizes her hatchling, one of her two goals burning in her mind (I mentioned them earlier in the thing), protect her Hatchling.
Apep is not fully healed, the process is slow but it's happening. Kaveh!MC's aura/spirit/soul heals curses, soothes aches, etc. etc. etc. etc.
He's pretty sure that if he was near a Khaenrian cursed with immortality then he would be able to cure it and the rot but it might take some work… eh, he'll deal with that once his mama was healed (but he's already making plans).
Then he takes the place of canon Kaveh!MC and still becomes house mates/room mates (whatever it was), with Alhaitham. Despite it all Kaveh!MC grows closer to the other man even giving him a Jade bracelet like he did with his friends so long ago (and with the special bead too).
Alhaitham is curious but accepts it nonetheless, not knowing how rare and important that gift was.
He wears and looks and acts just like canon Kaveh!MC, his draconix features and instincts hidden. The Khaenrians he saved had descendants and none even treacle's the truth about him. No one of Sumeru knew the truth either, and Kaveh!MC always changed his looks with their magic to make sure no one notices him not aging, but he will always prefer his true form (especially without illusions hiding his draconic nature).
Canon comes and goes, Apep lives and isn't badly hurt.
Kaveh!MC gives Paimon and the Traveler a Jade bracelet, the same one he gave to his Flight and the Khaenrians he befriended 500 years ago and Alhaitham.
Then Kaveh!MC goes back to Apep and finally, she is fully healed and sane. She sees her hatchling, older, stronger, and ready to cry. She croons and curls around her hatchling because even if he is an adult now, he will always be her and her Flight's hatchling. She can get the entire story later, right now her hatchling needs cuddles! And she needs to re-scent him too!
Kaveh!MC lets down his illusion, revealing his long, sinuous tail, his long horns, his claws, his fangs, his slitted pupils, and his large wings that he kept furled to his back. His mama was back! She was safe!
Alhaitham frowns. It's been almost a week sense Kaveh!MC was last seen and he's getting… worried. He sighs and rubs his temples. Another few days go by and it's now been almost two weeks. No sign of Kaveh!MC, not a singular one. Alhaitham grit his teeth and marched out of Sumaru. He was going to find Kaveh!MC!
(Neuvillette's reaction when seeing the braclets!! Along with Capitano's and Dainsleif's reactions when they see the bracelets on the two!! You can bet Capitano is going to be sending a letter to Pierro!)
(I hope you liked this idea!! Also if some of it is wonky it's because I'm having to write this on mobile because my chrome decided to be a jerk)
(Also… Alhaitham x Kaveh!MC…)
- 🦔 Anon
🦔anon... you done it again. Holy shit, you done it again! 🤩
Kaveh!MC? Kaveh!MC who is a dragon? Kaveh!MC x Alhaitham? Plus Mama Apep and Khaenri'ahns??? Oh, this is another gem of au in the making!
Tagging: @platinumrosetail, @arn9tails, @bloodytea, @uniquecutie-puffs, @lovelyjane-stuff
