Dragons of the Wild

[WolfOfProphecys]

Ash knew her rider was telling the truth, their bond buzzing with the protective feelings that each of the pair created. Slowly she nodded her head, and nuzzled him gently, softly nudging him toward the door, knowing the smoke she was coughing up wouldn't be good for him, even if most was going out of the window, "Go my rider. You need to heal as well" She pointed out, "Don't check on me, not if you are in pain or ill…." She realised that sounded harsh after a moment, and spoke again, "I do not want you risking your health just to see me"

 

[Lord Sia]

Siegfried hugged his dragon one last time, planting a quick kiss on her forehead.


"Then you must promise me that you will get better, so that I can come back without the healers fussing us both to death." He joked, even though his heart wasn't in it - and they both knew it. He remained there for almost a minute, soaking up her presence and bracing himself for the walk back to his room - and the upcoming discussions, several of which he'd prefer to be in full health while conducting.


If only so that he could express his displeasure in the tradition of his ancestors, by personally throwing the offenders down a cliff.


In the end, however, he had to get back up and leave - and he did, with a heavy heart.

 

[WolfOfProphecys]

Ash slowly nodded her head, a low purr rumbling softly through her chest as she responded to the kiss, licking him on the cheek with a sad noise. She would miss her rider, but he needed to get better, and she'd prefer for him to heal than for him to be in pain at her side. She watched him as he remained at her side for a while, realising just how reluctant he was to leave, and pushed gentle, calm feelings through their bond, trying to assure him, before she watched him leave, "See you soon my rider"

 

[Lord Sia]

Siegfried felt his partner's concern, and couldn't help but smile. There was something true and pure, something so very reassuring, in the way the bond connected them - the emotions shared so easily, without hesitation or doubt, without misunderstandings and lies.


"See you too, my dragon." He replied, before stepping out the door and turning to address the guardsmen.

 

[WolfOfProphecys]

Ash watched as he left, and cooed sadly. She didn't let this relay through their bond, instead pushing soft assurances and gentle warmth through their bond. She couldn't let him know how she really felt, for she had a feeling he'd only feel bad about it, or return to her side. He needed to heal, like she did. After a moment she coughed up lungfuls of deep smoke, watching as it spiralled out of the windows above.

 

[Lord Sia]

The healers were indeed upset about the prince's reckless behaviour, and there was little Siegfried could do but endure their admonishments. Their words about foolish pride and thoughtlessness stung, but not as much as his father's command that he stay in bed. It took a great deal of fast talking, pleading, and a promise on his personal honour that he would obey the healers' orders to the letter, before the King would grant him leave to visit the stables the next day.

Exhausted mentally and emotionally, Siegfried settled onto his bed and tried to rest. But despite his sore body, the worries and aches kept gnawing at him and he did not last long before he sent a page to fetch books and parchments. He might not be able to do much about the investigation his parents were no doubt focusing their attention on, but he could read up on dragon ailments, methods of treatments, and old rules. He still had to figure out what to do about the lightning dragon who had interrupted their bonding - was it only two days ago? Everything had been happening so fast, and yet it felt as though years had passed.

 

[WolfOfProphecys]

Ash's cough turned into a raspy, shuddering sound a few hours later. Their bond was faint now, the distance between them affecting the connection, so she didn't need to worry about him realising how terrible she felt. No healer had come to her yet, and she almost wasn't expecting one to. After all, the last time she'd been alone with one, and aware, she'd snapped and snarled and refused to allow them to touch her. Besides, she felt that she'd get better on her own. She was warm now, with the fires closer to her, and she sprawled out on the floor, a small bed of hay beneath her as she coughed up more and more smoke.

She hoped her rider was feeling better than she was.

 

[Lord Sia]

Unfortunately for Siegfried, studying proved not to be the distraction he had hoped for. Between his own wounds, and the worry he felt at the faint but constant ache echoing over the dragon-bond, he had a hard time focusing. The subjects he'd chosen did nothing to help either; reading about ailments and treatments only left him more and more worried, fear for his poor dragon's future blotting out every other concern as he read about infected membranes reducing wings to tatters, torn joints forever crippledd, scarred muscles never healing properly...

He forced himself to stop, lest he break his word and rush down to the stables. Instead, he got down on his knees in prayer before the small shrine in the corner of his room, something he hadn't done in months, and spent the next half-hour praying with all his heart. While he wasn't too hopeful about the chances of the Divine interceeding in any noticeable way on his behalf, it did help settle his nerves for a while, and he hoped that some of the ease and calm passed on to Ash through the bond.

He resumed his reading, switching track and focusing instead on finding a suitable punishment for the lightning drake who had so foolishly lashed out at Ash. Unfortunately, there seemed to be no good options; most of the book seemed to be humorous anecdotes about silly or stupid things dragons had done, and the shenanigans which ensued when their handlers tried to sort them out. A light-hearted and entertaining read, to be certain, but less than helpful. The other was more in the right vein, focusing on dragons which had committed serious crimes... But at the same time, the punishments boiled down to death or at best permanent crippling.

And while he felt little compunctions about taking a lash to the up-jumped lizard who dared hurt his dragon-! He took a deep breath and calmed himself; he might not mind hurting the lightning drake, but... He could almost see the Hall in his mind's eye, the blue-white drake cowering before his righteous fury, whip raised over his head ready to strike down... And then the feeling of her eyes on him, her heart pouring into his...

 

[WolfOfProphecys]

Ash felt quite miserable, sprawled across her stable floor as she wheezed and coughed. Frankly, her entire body ached and hurt, and she worried for her own future. After all, her wings were a mess. Would she ever fly again? Her rider couldn’t keep a stupid, downed lizard as his partner. He was the prince, he needed a dragon who was worthy to stand at his side. Someone who could protect him, and fly, and fight. Not someone like her, who let him get hurt, crippled herself, and cowered when told to harm another dragon.

The lightning dragon came to mind then, and guilt roared inside of her. She felt sorry for him. Because of her weakness, she hadn’t harmed him in return as her rider had told her would be the best way, and now who knew what was happening to him. What was going to happen to him? She knew her rider had to come up with some punishment, but what? What type of punishment would be seen as appropriate for a dragon who had attacked the Princes bonded partner? Ash didn’t think there needed to be a punishment, she didn’t want to see anyone hurt like she was.

She paused in her wallowing as she felt calm from her rider, and it calmed her a little to know he was okay. Their bond may be weak, but she could still sense him a little, and that was enough to reassure her. She hesitated, before attempting once again to shut off her own pain and aching from him. Whilst it must be weak on his own side, she didn’t wish to disturb his calm with her own issues.

 

[Lord Sia]

... And his rage faltered and guttered, like sand running between his fingers until at that was left was sadness and shame. That his/her weakness had turned it from bad to worse; that s/he hadn't been able to find an acceptable compromise; that the only options left were suffering and pain, the ache in his/her wings growing steadily worse before suddenly beginning to fade...

'... Wings?'

Siegfried realised that he had fallen deep into his bond with Ash, that the strange thoughts and feelings he had felt had been hers. It also meant that the ache, the pain, had been hers, though... Where had it gone?

He felt his heart skip a beat as he realised that the bond was quiet, even less than just the background murmur when he wasn't actively focusing on it; it was actually silent. Heart pounding, Siegfried turned in the direction towards the stables, fists clenching so hard he could feel his nails dig into the meat of his palms, as he focused all of his will to reach into the bond, panic driving him to unknown depths...

'ASH!'

 

[WolfOfProphecys]

Ash flinched and startled violently as he came crashing through the bond, sounding panicked and frightened. Her whole body twitched, and she moaned pitifully as her wind did the same, sparking agony through her. The moan turned into a painful coughing fit, wheezing out of her broken body, and she trembled as she paused to recover from the fit.

She realised, in just a moment, that closing off their bond had terrified her rider. Guilt flooded her, and she tentively opened the bond again, just enough so he knew she was alive. Which... likely meant he could feel some of her pain, but she needed to reassure him before he ran down here himself and got himself hurt.

“M-My Rider? Are you o-okay? What’s wrong?” She asked. She was sure it was because she’d closed the bond, but what if it was more? What if he was in trouble? Panic, maybe a little of his, began to bubble inside of her mind, worried.

 

[Lord Sia]

"Ash- thank the Sacred Mother that you're alright!" Siegfried exclaimed, all but shouting over the bond, fear quickly fading under a flood of relief. "Please, don't scare me like that! I thought- that you- please, don't shut me out? I don't want you to suffer alone; I may be a prince, but I can handle a little pain. Especially if it helps you."

Siegfried didn't know what had convinced her to close off, but it had scared him, more than he thought possible. The sudden silence, no, the absence... He'd known that riders were attached to their dragons, but it was only now that he actually understood what they meant when they said that rider and dragon were two halves of the same being.

 

[WolfOfProphecys]

Ash crooned, before falling into a horrible coughing fit. Oh, she hated herself. How could she possibly make her Rider feel so scared and alone? Her intentions had been good, maybe, but she never should have thought about shutting down their bond, even for a second. Lava-hot tears trailed down her cheeks at the utter disgust for what she’d done to him.

“I... I’m so sorry! I... I just didn’t... didn’t.... I’m sorry!” She sobbed to him through her bond. She’d made him think she’d died. How much of a failure could she be? Swinging her head, she slammed it against the wall with a snarl at herself. She didn’t deserve him.

 

[Lord Sia]

"Ash-!" Siegfried felt panicked; he didn't know what to do. Should he rush down? He sat up and swung his legs off the bed, but got no further before a wheezing cough wracked his body with pain. It didn't matter though, because Ash was hurting worse, not just the wounds but because she thought she had hurt him. And she had, but not really; he'd been scared for her, and her current panic was only making it worse.

"Stop it Ash! You're not- you didn't mean- just... Just stop, okay?!" He shouted over the bond, even as he fought back his own pain, scrambling to put his feet in the slippers even as he slipped on a simple robe.

"I'm coming Ash, just, don't; I'm coming-" he muttered as he staggered towards the door, just as Willford, the royal guardsman opened it and peered into the prince's bedroom.

"Your highness, are you-" the guard began, only for the prince to cut him off.

"Ta-" He coughed and staggered, bracing himself against the bedpost even as the guard rushed forward to catch his fall. The prince fended him off with a bleary glare. "I'm fine. Take me to the stables."

"You are not well, your-" The guard tried to interject, only to fall silent as the glare intensified.

"Take me to the stables." Siegfried's voice took on a commanding tone, and Willford had to convince himself the fire he saw in the prince's eyes was merely reflecting off of his own lantern.

"Now."

"Yes your highness!"

"I am coming, Ash!"

 

[WolfOfProphecys]

Ash gasped for breath between her sobs and coughs, wheezing in her panic. She flapped her wings by instinct, stumbling around her stable on unsteady feet. Everything hurt, but she was too caught up in her panic and fear and self-hatred to care enough about stopping her movements to stop her own pain. She roared, a ragged, raspy sound of sheer upset, and she twisted her body, slamming her head violently into the wall again, very much believing she deserved all this pain for harming her partner so badly, or so she believed. After all, she already blamed herself for not protecting him properly, and now she was only making it worse with each of her mistakes.

Her pupils were pinpricks, her body a shaky mess. She’d hurt him! More than once she’d hurt him. She screeched, uncaring of who heard, and staggered determinedly toward the stable door, out into the corridor. She stumbled against the wall, crying out in pain as her wing was jammed between it and her body. She couldn’t stay here when all she did was harm her partner.

 

[Lord Sia]

Siegfried rushed through the corridor, using the Voice twice more as he encountered more guardsmen who - evidently aware of his parents' and doctor's commands - sought to put him back in his room. He had no time nor patience for such, however, completely focused on his partner's plight.

"Ash, listen to me," he half-commanded, half-pleaded, terrified what the growing distance in their bond meant. "Focus on my voice! Stay with me, don't- we've only had one flight! Don't you want to go flying again? I know it hurts, Ash, but pain is good, pain means you're still alive! Ash! Don't you dare leave me!"

His own pain forgotten, he no longer hobbled, striding down the corridors of the castle at a half-run.

 

[WolfOfProphecys]

Ash staggered down the hallway, screeching in agony as she fell over and landed on her wing. She breathed heavily, rasping, dark smoke escaping from between her lips. She trembled, hearing his voice and feeling horribly guilty but... this was for his own good, she thought. He’d be better off without her, with a dragon who could protect him, who wasn’t weak like her, who didn’t hurt him. She sobbed, a big heaving breath, as tears fell down her muzzle.

“Y-You’ll be better off w-without me. I-I’ve only h-hurt you....” she sobbed in response. However, the other dragons had heard her roars of agony as she stumbled, and from the stable beside her stepped out the Kings dragon, far bigger than her herself, blocking the way out. She seemed to realise what they were doing, as a soft muzzle nudged her backward, back toward her own stable. Ash sobbed, trying to get past, to get away so her rider would be happy, but the other dragon, with kind eyes, seemed to know she was acting in panic and was likely affected by her sickness, and kept nudging her back toward her stable.