#mage rey

[thelittlescrimshaw]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Did a thing, whoops.

[thelittlescrimshaw]

The Girl and Her Dragon: Snippet

who doesn’t like a bit of backstory

It is rare that Kylo remembers, rarer still that he remembers with any clarity. But this evening is different – this evening everything is as sharp in his mind, the life he lived centuries ago. He’d been a prince and a scholar and a son, heir to the Alderaanian throne, with magical Skywalker blood in his veins…

Lineage. It always came back to lineage. And his family’s had been a strange one, had it not?

He makes the trip once every decade, flying across the sea to the archipelago. The islands were cluttered around the sea, most of them forgotten by the reigning empire, deemed not useful.

Mortals shy away from these islands, for there is old magic at work there. Kylo knows this – he also knows he can’t bring his apprentice there, not yet.

So he excuses himself, tells the mageling that he’s going hunting for several days, and leaves.

The flight is easy, in early spring. He moves quickly across the skies, and lands on the island. It is rocky, green; the gnarled roots of olive trees and the tufts of hardy grass are the only things growing in abundance.

The civilization that had once been there is in ruins. The stone houses built into the cliff sides are gone, the archways are merely stone slabs atop pillars.  Everything is overgrown, run amok with lizards.

Kylo feels a pang deep inside him; this is where his family had perished.

Everything is in ruins – that is, except the temple. The temple is pristine, untouched by the ages. It looks the same way it had when Kylo had been a human child, centuries ago.

Skywalker.

His grandparents.

Kylo steps inside the temple and feels a shiver as the old magic goes through him. He hates this part, how his body aches and twists and comes out all wrong and weak and wilted. He shakes his head as he takes on a new form – his true form, if he’s honest with himself – but that sort of raw honesty is something he’d done away with long ago.

So instead he ignores the limitations of this form – this stupid mortal form that the Temple imposes on him – and he walks up to the tombs. There are two of them; the bodies of his grandparents encased in crystal and perfectly preserved. A gift from the dragons, his mother had called it. A gift from his great-grandfather.

His great-grandmother – well. Nobody knew where she was, but Kylo has a feel that she’s still alive.

He kneels in front of his grandfather’s tomb and rests his forehead against the crystal. “Is this is?” he asks, not expecting an answer. Is this the end of his kingdom? Is this – two tombs inside a temple that nobody can even see – the end to his family’s legacy?

He gets none.

Oftentimes, Kylo comes here waiting the return of his uncle. He knows that Luke is still alive, knows that the cowardly sorcerer fled when the kingdom was at its most vulnerable. Kylo had done everything he could to protect it, to no avail.

He returns to the tombs in hope for a clue, to find a new manuscript that he’d missed, to find a hide or hair of Luke, but there is none.

And for the first time in a decade, Kylo Ren’s memories hit him full-force, and his mortal heart is crushed with loneliness.

[thelittlescrimshaw]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

wait whaaaat 

i did a thing

oops

[thelittlescrimshaw]

at the request of @poor-queequeg and @omnomnomelette, a fic where our dragon kylo boops the boot (and is mischievous about it)

Kylo soared above the valley, Rey clinging to him tightly as she was buffeted by the wind. Her knees would be bruised, she was sure, but she was not about to risk falling however hundreds of feet to her death, Kylo’s assurances that he wouldn’t let her fall be damned.

What are we even doing out here? Rey asked. It was several degrees below freezing and windy to boot. With the way the clouds hung in the sky, she wouldn’t be surprised if they’d have another snowfall by that night.

You’ll see, he answered. Rey huffed. Kylo wasn’t in a chatty mood today, hadn’t been yesterday either, and was becoming increasingly cagey with his answers.

He landed in front of a large, stone structure that had been built into the mountain. Rey dismounted, careful not to slip on any ice. An arched doorway loomed above her, icicles hanging like teeth. What is this?

A tomb. He rustled his wings and stepped inside, ducking his head. Careful of the icicles; one could impale you.

Impale. What a lovely word.

Rey walked by his side, keeping a hand on his flank for balance as they descended a large pathway. The further into the tomb they went, the darker and dryer it got. The ceilings were high, the walls wide. There was an chamber in front of them, the entryway flanked by two columns. Rey cast a witchlight as they entered a main chamber, and gasped.

Bones – human bones - were inlaid into the walls. There was a smaller archway, one that was human sized, that had a skull as the keystone. On stone slabs entire skeletons were laid out – some of which, Rey noted in horror, were small enough to be children. There were shelves built into the walls where more skeletons lay, engravings underneath saying who they were.

The letters were mostly faded.

Relax, said Kylo. This is an ancient tomb. These people buried their dead in catacombs, like this one.

“If it’s human catacombs,” Rey said, speaking aloud because the silence was disconcerting, “Why is it big enough for you?”

These people left enough room for their gods to visit and take the souls of their dead to the afterlife. They were a bit literal. But that’s not why we’re here.

Kylo maneuvered through the tomb with a grace that a creature his size shouldn’t possess, leaving the remains undisturbed. He stopped in front of one and dipped his head in front of it. What can you tell me about this person?

Rey looked down at the skeleton, swallowing against her initial revulsion. So this was a learning opportunity, then. She frowned. The skeleton seemed about the size of an adult, but that was all she could see. “It’s not a child,” she said, knowing that he was about to correct her.

You can tell the age and sex of a skeleton by looking at the teeth, chin, and pelvis. With magic, you can tell more. But first…

Kylo lifted his head and touched her forehead with his snout. Females have less of a brow ridge, and a smaller chin. He dipped his head further and nudged her behind. They also have a wider pelvis, with a curved sub-pelvic angle.

“Are you saying that women have birthing hips?” Rey asked with a laugh. Kylo nudged her rear again.  Yes. Males have narrower pelvises and typically have larger skeletons. Take a walk around; find me a female and a male.

Rey did as instructed. It was more difficult than she thought it would be, but soon enough she was able to make a sure distinction. “What about children?” she asked. “The smaller skeletons are all identical.

Kylo dipped his snout and touched one of the skulls. Some things are only visible in adults. Other times, magic helps. Human remains tell a long story; tell me what this one has to stay. Reach out, little bird. It will come to you.

Rey did as instructed, all the while wondering why Kylo wanted her to know such things about human remains. And how did he know so much about human remains?

She voiced as much to him as they exited. If you are to learn healing spells, a basic knowledge of the human skeleton cannot hurt.

“But why would you need to know so much about human skeletons? You’re a dragon.”

Kylo flicked his tail at her hip. I like knowledge for knowledge’s sake, little bird. And I presume you would want to know the basics of childbirth sooner rather than later.

Rey stopped in her tracks. “I don’t want children, Kylo.”

He blinked at her, then shifted his wings in his equivalent of a shrug. It is a useful skill, nonetheless. Midwives are highly regarded. Such was not always the case. “Right,” Rey said, and decided to change the subject. “Hey, you wouldn’t happen to know why that tomb was so bare, would you?”

Her dragon nudged her bottom with such force that she stumbled face-first into the snow. “Hey!” 

I don’t know what you’re talking about, he said, amusement evident on his face. 

Rey chucked a snowball at him. 

[thelittlescrimshaw]

The Girl and Her Dragon

Apparently I have a thing for giving Rey animal companions who bring her shiny gifts. 

It was the hoarse cry that alerted Rey to the bird’s presence.

It came from the back of the cavern, past the main atrium. Rey cast a witchlight and ducked underneath the low ceiling, following the passage. Several yards down, she found it – a small black and white bird, with a bluish tint to its wings. She knelt down and it began crying out, preparing to fly away – but it’s foot was trapped underneath a fallen rock.  

Rey frowned. She wondered why it hadn’t migrated south to escape the bitter cold. She cast a simple sleeping spell on it – which was easy enough, the creature was so small – and, after removing it from the rock – picked it up in cupped hands.

She brought it to the main body of the cave and set it down on a small cloth, next to one of the stones Kylo had breathed on before he left. The bird probably needed to get warm, and now.

Nothing appeared outwardly wrong with it; Rey set some dried nuts and berries down next to it, and waited.

When it awoke, the first thing it did was peck at the food. It was large – not quite as big as a hooded crow – and there seemed to be an inquisitive look in its eye.

Rey had decided to name it Jinx.

The next day, Rey woke to find a small collection of shiny glass fathered at her head.

Jinx was there, setting another glass piece down. Rey recognized it from the back of Kylo’s horde, where some older pieces had broken over the years.

Kylo was outside; Rey had no idea why he decided to sunbath in the middle of winter, but there he was. It was a rare sunny day, but it was still frigid outside.

The bird nudged the glass piece closer to her and flapped its wings, gave a cry.

Rey smiled. “I guess this is how you repay me?”

The bird cawed again. Rey got up, wrapped in a wool blanket, and went to retrieve more nuts for the bird.

…

By the third day, the bird – a magpie, Kylo told her – was eating out of her hand and brining her more and more pieces from Kylo’s horde.

That thing, Kylo said with a flick of his tail, is rearranging my things.

“You don’t do anything with your things anyway. Besides, it’s just small things. She’s grateful.”

Kylo huffed. Jinx landed on one of the spikes on his back; Kylo swatted at her with his tail and she took off…only to land on the crest of his head.

Rey couldn’t contain her laughter. “She likes you!”

She’s a nuisance.

“Please – she’s just like you, collecting shiny things and giving gifts to repay a debt. You’re cut from the same cloth.”

I am a dragon. She is a common corvid.

“Well, she’s my common corvid, and she’s staying.”

Kylo flicked his tail across her calves. As you wish. But you are cleaning up after her.

Rey grinned. That was fair enough.

[thelittlescrimshaw]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

AND CHAPTER FIVE IS UP, FEATURING: 

-fanart shoutouts -Kylo’s snout -magic lessons -the lost Alderaanian kingdom -angry!kylo

And with that, I’m off to bed. 

[thelittlescrimshaw]

Just so everyone knows, this is where you can read the full dragon!kylo and Mage!Rey story. I'm getting asks, (and I'll get to them!) but mobile is a bitch so I figured I'd post this!

[thelittlescrimshaw]

Since I too have had a bit too much tonight (well, enough to inspire a prompt), why not have an in vino veritas moment for Rey with Dragon!Kylo. Maybe she found an old brandy bottle in the back of his horde and proceeds to get plastered and plays it a little less close to the chest than usual. Maaaaaybe her drunk unconscious mind remembers that dream of that oddly familiar yellow eyed man she dreamed about before and asks him? Hmmm (btw I love this story and the AU!!Hope you like the prompt! :D)

You have managed to combine my love of Latin phrases, obscure alcohol, drunk!scenarios, and dreams; it’s coalesced into my favorite prompt to date.

I think I love you. Let’s be friends.

(You’ve also inspired a whole arc of continued dreams, Rey half-remembering, and Kylo who’s so unsure of himself omg,)

In Vino Veritas

It was a rare moment when Kyloallowed Rey to look through his horde; he might have insisted she live withhim, but there were certain things he was touchy about. He would shower her inprecious stones, both raw and cut, but get sour if she handled the wrong swordor opened the wrong book.

But sometimes he would indulgeher scavenging ways, and Rey would go spelunking. Kylo was meticulouslyorganized in how he kept his horde, so it was usually easy to see what waswhere.

The bottle was sealed and clean;the liquid in it was clear.

Ah, Kylo said, Aquavit.He was stretched out in the cave, head on his paws.

Rey frowned, trying to decipherthe ancient language. Water of…life?

Something like that, he said, amusement apparent in his tone. You may try it, if you like.

Rey located a silver goblet withease, and poured herself a glass of the liquid. She wondered to herself if thewater granted immortality, or healed wounds; if it did, should she really wasteit on this?

She sniffed it. It smelt sharpand bitter, almost like…

“Wine?” she said, so surprisedshe spoke aloud.

Not wine, little bird. A spirit. It is fermented differently. This isfrom up north, and a touch stronger than wine.

Rey sniffed the liquid again, andtook a tentative sip. She forced herself not to spit it out – that had been unexpected. But after asecond sip, then a third, it began to grow on her.

Rey brought the bottle and thegoblet over to where Kylo was laying and sat atop a cushion. She leaned againsthim as she drank, basking in his warmth. She felt her cheeks grow hot, but shealso felt relaxed. Relaxed and at peace.

She held out the goblet to Kylo. “Wantsome?”

No thank you, little bird. He seemed amused. Why would he be amused?

“Why are you – are you laughing at me?” Rey was incredulous Shetried to stand, almost stumbled, but thankfully didn’t spill any of the aquavit on herself. Stupid lizard…

It appears you’re drunk, little bird, he said, steading her with histail, and something about the way hesaid that term of endearment sparked something inside of her – a memory,perhaps, or a dream, or a dream of a memory.

She stopped and looked at Kylo,really looked at him. She settled hergaze on his eyes, and suddenly it struck her.

What is it, little bird? There must’ve been something on her face,to prompt such concern from him. Rey set the goblet and bottle down, aquavitforgotten.

“You’re the man from my dream,”Rey murmured. She stepped forward and reached out, running her fingers over thescales on his snout. Her heart pounded harder in her chest. “You have the sameeyes as he did. Kylo…”

She reached out mentally, trying tocoax something – anything- from him,but his mind was like a steel trap. Littlebird…

I know it was you, Rey told him. Nobody has eyes like that. It isyou.

And what if it were? He asked, and there was a small bite to hiswords. Rey paused; what if it were?Her dragon – her mentor – Kylo- had kissed her…

She felt her heart pound in herears, flushing at the thought: all she wanted to do was kiss him again.

You kissed me, Rey said, and she felt ridiculous right as the wordscame out. She looked away, good humor forgotten. Never mind it.

He nudged her in the side. You’re drunk, little bird. Sleep now, andyou’ll feel better in the morning.