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Chapter Text

You were 7 years old the first time you saw a dragon…

At that time the adults had already been responsible for filling your head with fears and lies: dragons were evil, creatures without feelings, dragons KILLED people. Never and under no circumstances should you approach a dragon or follow it, no matter what the situation was or where you were.

And, despite all their attempts to make you afraid of them, you were still... curious. While children your age spent all their free time playing with old rag dolls or pretending to be brave hunters, you were in the library looking for information or exploring the forest, in the area near the cliffs and caves. You even had your own explorer's notebook! (Actually it was just a small leather notebook, in which you occasionally drew and wrote about your failed searches, but you LOVED it)

Well... it will be better if we go back to the important part of our story. It all started on a warm summer afternoon; your parents had gone to visit some nearby neighbors, and you, as always, had sneaked into the forest to explore.

You walked through the undergrowth, following the path that you had marked with stones over the years. However, when you arrived at your destination you did not find a empty forest glade, but something much more amazing...

A dragon.

A huge gray-winged beast rested in the middle of the silent glade. Its body was dark gray with small fuchsia spots all over its spine; it appeared to be a female, of a powerful breed judging by its size. It had a tail with fins and tall spines, which continued all over her back, so you assumed that it was obviously a sea dweller… THAT WAS INCREDIBLE!! According to your books (which obviously were yours, and you had NOT taken from the old library and then hidden under your bed), dragons of that breed were almost impossible to find, and were never seen in places so close to humans!

Tempted by your childlike curiosity you slowly walked towards the huge beast, which hissed and growled, but did not try to run towards you to attack you, much to your surprise... But you soon discovered why it was doing this; One of its front legs (the only legs that did not end in fins) had a large wound from which fuchsia blood oozed out. It was also curled up, resting close to her chest, instead of being straight like the other one. You thought it must be very painful if it did not even try to get up and attack you. Slowly you approached its injured limb carefully, causing it to growl aggressively this time and try to hit you using its fish tail, but luckily you also could get away just in time to dodge it.

After avoiding what would have been your certain death, you ran as fast as you could towards the body of the creature, which, thanks to your low height at that time, served you as the perfect shield. The dragon continued growling and hissing but, seeing that it could not attack you anymore because of your position, it slowly lowered its tail... although still looking at you with menacing and VERY angry eyes.

You, from your crouched position on the floor, took the opportunity to raise your head to look at it better; It (She?) was extremely tall, and had long, wavy black hair and two huge yellow horns that came straight out of its head. You could also see some kind of golden headband located in the part where its horns started, maybe it was a... queen?  Like, a dragon queen?  (Were those even real?)

The huge beast hissed when you tried to approach its wounded leg once more. With your stubborn attitude of 7 years old, you sighed and got up, in what was probably a pretty ridiculous attempt to look taller (... and perhaps also a rather suicidal tactic on your part). You looked directly into the dragon's dark yellow eyes, and you set out to try to communicate.

"I'm NOT going to hurt you, please: I JUST WANT TO HELP YOU, but I can not do it if you KILL ME". Of course, you had to speak very loud to be heard, which would have been very funny if you did not find yourself in this life or death situation.

The dragon looked directly at your little face, frowned and then exhaled small white clouds through its nose, but slowly (and seeing that you did not yield) it finally moved its tail. Very cautiously you approached its left leg, from which a small trail of fuchsia blood was still coming out.

Now that you were able to examine it more closely you saw what the problem was; It looked like a large bleeding wound, possibly caused by a hunter's trap. It extended from the claw until shortly before what you assumed was the knee of the beast, and it seemed fresh, so it seemed logical enough to you that it had not chosen a place farther from humans to stop to rest.

Carefully you turned to open the bag that you always wore when you went out of the village, dumping the objects inside into the nearest piece of land. Several things fell to the ground with a thud, including your notebook, pencils, a (your favorite sandwich), just in case you were hungry on your way, and finally some medical supplies. You have already hurt yourself several times in your many searches, and it had become almost normal for you to carry practically a whole first aid kit to your 'quests'.

You opened a homemade disinfectant and sprayed it carefully over the wound. The female dragon hissed, instinctively wagging its tail dangerously close to you, but did not try to attack: instead it stood still and waited uncomfortably while you continued doing your job.

With all the skill that a little girl can possess, you slowly began to wrap its leg in clean bandages. You noticed how the cold-blooded creature got more and more nervous throughout this procedure, so, and after thinking it during a brief second, you had the 'wonderful' idea of offering it your sandwich to help reassure it. The dragon first hesitated, suspiciously looking at your food as if it were poisoned, and then smelling it carefully. But it seemed to decide quickly, and began to eat the sandwich. It did not take it long to finish it, since it was a rather small piece (you were a child after all), but by then you had finally finished your work.

Its gaze went to the bandage. Your small but nimble hands had made the bandages take a moderately satisfying look: they were rolled up its leg, and stopped the flow of blood pretty well.

With a proud smile on your face you watched as slowly the dragon got up off the ground. At first it trembled a little, and you saw how its leg tensed when it had to bear the weight of its huge body, but soon it managed to balance itself again.

Then the female beast take a few steps through the forest glade, slowly starting to stretch its huge wings. It beat them lightly, causing a strong gust of wind on the spot. It flew a few meters, before descending slightly.

It gave you a yellow-eyed look, and then you heard it.

"Thank you"

It flapped its wings and lift off toward the clear summer sky. It disappeared among the white clouds, leaving you alone in that empty forest glade, with nothing but your memory, an empty disinfectant bottle and the remains of some broken bandages as a reminder of what you had seen.

You were 7 years old the first time you spoke with a dragon.

Chapter Text

A hand grabbed the stone wall of the cliff. The rope, tied just a little higher, tensed slightly. Little by little the hands began to climb the rope, revealing the body of the climber, a young woman, just over 16 years old.

She carefully finished climbing the cliff, before starting to pick up her equipment carefully, so as not to damage the old stone wall.

That young girl was you.

Since your first (and only) encounter with a dragon when you were 7 years old, you had changed a lot. You were no longer an energetic little girl: you had become a beautiful young girl with (h/l) (h/c) hair and bright (e/c) eyes.

Of course, since then your interest in dragons had only increased. And little by little, although at first they had believed that they were just simple children's games, the people of your town began to worry about your 'strange interests'. Over the years you earned the title of 'the crazy girl': it seemed that people did not like that a woman who admired winged killer beasts, was not that weird?

Well, better let's go back to the 'present'; at this time you were on one of your expeditions, in search of a strange plant that only grew in the area of the cliffs of the forest. The place was inaccessible by foot, and needed to be climbed a couple of meters, before reaching the remotest parts: That's where you were going.

Nature had always fascinated you and, since your first encounter with a real dragon, you had educated yourself to know each and every part of the surroundings of your village, should the situation recur.

You sighed and carefully picked up your equipment; a simple but sturdy rope hooked at one end to your harness and on the other to a climbing clamp. Simple but effective, the entire artifact had been made by yourself and you were very proud of it.

You passed your hand across your forehead, wiping away the small drops of sweat that began to form for being under the hot summer sun. You sighed again and a small smile began to form on your face when your eyes finally met a small group of flowers that grew on the outside of the hillside. You opened your bag and took out a large old book, carefully lined, and opened the last part marked. You watched the drawings on the page thoughtfully, at the same time that you compared them with the founded flowers.

'Raven souls' : small black flowers with healing and analgesic properties. They could be distinguished from other flowers of similar appearances thanks to the small trail of white spots (almost like small tiny freckles) that extended along the interior of the petals.

You smiled softly as you picked up the small flowers and buds and kept them carefully in a tiny cloth bag, before putting them back in your bag; Not only you had dedicated yourself to investigate dragons, during these last years, and led by your curiosity (or perhaps due to the lack of many social relationships), you had increased your knowledge in many different sciences: astronomy, medicine, zoology, botany... little by little the old library of the town was becoming too small for you.

Unfortunately this did not help your situation either; although many men could stand women with strange hobbies, very few could agree to marry one who was as intelligent or strong as them. According to your parents, you should set aside your 'interests' if you wanted to meet a good man to live with and start a family... But, frankly, you were not in any hurry. You knew the men of the village like the back of your hand, and you were not looking forward to a romantic relationship with anyone.

You climbed down the mountain, and now there were only mingled thoughts in your head.

... marry? Was that the only thing they really wanted from you? ...you knew you were different, you knew you were not like the others, you noticed; You saw it in the way they looked at you, like... as if you were disgusting them, or as if you were something dangerous that is better not to touch: a freak...

...

Well, fuck off. You were different: yes, and nobody was going to change that! You were going to escape this horrible place and th-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!

Fuck! What the hell was that?!

Suddenly you saw yourself interrupted by a sharp and intense sound, and it sounded suspiciously similar to the horns alarms that the town had every time there was an urgent or an emergency meeting... but this was... different.

You frowned as you covered your ears, trying to block the high-pitched sound... What on earth was that?!

And then suddenly you remembered...

The alarm of dragons.

Chapter Text

There were 5 rules for dragons with respect to the humans, and Feferi Peixes just had broken 4 of them.

-Never go to human territory with less than 10 sweps of age, or without an order of a higher dragon.

-Never get too close to human villages.

-Under no concept be seen by a human.

-And, in case this happened, leave the territory as quickly as possible, without being seen by anyone else.

She had ignored each and every one of those rules entering the territories of a human village being barely 8 sweeps old. She had deliberately ignored them when she was seen by the humans of the village and she did not flee the place, and as a result they had captured her.

The young heiress could feel the pain concentrating on her ankles, where the humans had tied her with ropes. One of the young men had also cut her with his weapon near her back legs, and now every time she walked the wounds stung her. She ducked her head as she was forced to follow the humans to an unknown place...

(y/n)'s pov

My lungs hit my chest as I ran towards the town. The alarm had just touched for several seconds, but I could still hear the echo of the sharp call bouncing in my ears.

I quickly reached the center of town, the square, where there was a large accumulation of people gathered around something.

Making my way through the crowd at last I was able to see what was attracting so much attention...

There, in the center of the square and tied to one of the main columns, was a young dragon of fuchsia blood.

My eyes opened in horror. Oh god, even from my position I could appreciate the numerous cuts on her legs. She seemed totally terrified, and the ropes hooked on her ankles tensed with each of her useless attempts to escape.

3rd person's pov

Then, before you could say a single word, one of the guards next to the dragon hit the ground with his cane. The murmurs and whispers ceased, only to give way to the man's words.

"This dragon was found half an hour ago on the outskirts of the village." His voice was imposing, and it rose clear and threatening in the silence of the environment.

He took a couple of steps, his cane firmly marking the rhythm against the ground, until he stood in front of the beast. He grimaced at her, as if it were something extremely unpleasant, and he turned to look back at the assembled crowd.

"It will be executed at dawn, as the rules of the community dictate."

His gaze took on a scintillating glow.

"And we will continue like this until each and every one of those monstrous and filthy creatures will be dead!

His scream pierced the air, followed quickly by several cheers and howls of the villagers.

But you were silent.

You could not look at anything other than the young creature. Her gaze was not one of anger, or fury... it was fear. A desperate plea for help that broke your heart.

She had not done anything.

Little by little people started leaving the square, leaving you alone with the dragon. Some return to their tasks, as if this were just a miserable interruption to their daily lives, others (mostly older men, although among them can tell a couple of kids of your age) went to celebrate to the tavern, singing a song that included names of alcoholic beverages.

You feel the piercing look of your parents on your back, like a silent reproach for just looking at that animal, that filthy beast.

A chill runs down your back and you resignedly walk towards your home.

The dinner is silent, as always. The taste of the food mixes with your thoughts.

Sometimes you wonder if you really are from here, if those people you call "parents" are more than two strangers with whom you share house. As if all the love of your childhood had disappeared as quickly, as evaporated.

"Why do we kill dragons?"

The room is silent, the discomfort is breathed in the air.

Your mother and father look at each other, you can read a mixture of fury and worry in the way they do. Your father looks at his food, ignoring the question.

"Why? "the small phrase, leaving your just seven years olf mouth, seems so sharp that it can cut at any time the security of the situation.

"We don´t talk about that, baby..." your mother's voice is different, all sweetness and love of her tone seem to have disappeared from one second to another.

"But why...?"

"Stop!" is the cry of your father and his hit to the table, which makes you freeze in the chair, and your little body start bristling with fear "Do not talk about it."

Resignedly you lower your head, but, before your young mind has time to think about it, a small murmur escapes from your lips.

"That is so unfair..."

After that everything is blurred, the slap of your father, the glass vessels breaking against the floor, the cries of your mother. The tears that fall down your cheeks when you run up the stairs and lock yourself in your room.

Unfair justice, that was this society! A pantomime for fools. A torture for an innocent species.

That night you have trouble sleeping. Your memories mix with the emotions of the day and make a feeling of dizziness and discomfort settle in your stomach.

Trying to clear your mind, you decide to walk around your room a bit, but then another memory comes to your head...

"Thank you".

What made us different? What differentiates us from those we call murderous beasts? A different body? A pair of wings? Language?

And suddenly you know what you have to do...

Chapter Text

A shadow slid into the darkness of the square. The weak light of the torches was extinguished slightly by the unexpected source of wind, which called the attention of the captive dragon a few meters away.

She raised her head and scanned the area, without noticing the young lady who, at that moment, was hiding behind one of the columns.

In case you have not noticed until now, that young human was you.

It really had not been very difficult to sneak out of your house; your parents had a heavy sleep, and you had already done it many times. The most complicated part had been to enter the central part of town; the night watch had never been very complete, but that did not mean they were stupid. In addition, it was always harder to flee with a heavy bag on your back.

And why would you do that? Well, you were quite stealthy, but never before you have been with a dragon, or at least not so close to town. It was always better to take precautions, so you packed all the necessary material for basic survival, in case you had to spend some time far away from home.

Carefully you started to emerge from behind the column, causing the young dragon to turn sharply and watch you with her big yellow eyes, an expression between fear and fury.

She opened her mouth, showing a row of large, sharp white teeth as a warning sign. A chill ran down your back, but somehow you managed to resist the natural urge to run back to the safety of your home.

Slowly you raised your hands to the young beast as a sign of peace, and pulled your jacket aside so she could see that you had no hidden weapons.

She seemed to relax, though her eyes were still focused on you. But you did not blame her, if you had also been captured by strangers, wounded and tied to a pole for hours, you would also distrust anyone who came to you.

"I do not want to hurt you," you said slowly, but not loud enough to get the attention of any of the  guards a few meters away "I want to help."

She slowly blinked at your words, and you begin to wonder if she has understood what you meant when her head bowed slightly, pointing at you with the tip of her nose from above. Her eyes were watching you again and it was strange, but this time she seemed... quieter... As if she could see inside you and see your honesty.

You did not know if she really could get to see something, but then she calmed down and she ducked her head to your height, like a kind of sign of peace. You slowly caressed her snout, the clouds of hot steam of her nose tickled you in the (tanned / soft / freckled,...) skin of your hands.

Getting back to your initial goal, you gently stopped the action and leaned forward looking for a couple of things inside your purse.

"I'm going to cut the ropes off your legs, so you can get out of here, but you'll have to let me do it without killing me in the attempt."

A second blink and a turn towards her back legs is all you need to understand the affirmative answer. You took out your tools and the dragon turned her head curiously to observe the action.

The light of the moon was reflected in the blade of your knife, making it look bright silver. The creature tensed, and you prayed to God because she will not forget her part of the deal and kill you with a claw while you were cutting the ropes.

Luckily she did not, and slowly you continued to cut the knots of the thick ropes, leaving the beast free. You just cutted the last knot when you heard something that made your back tensed.

"Emergency! Emergency! SOMEONE IS RELEASING THE DRAGON" the scream crossed the air and quickly you turned your head to see one of the guards not far from you screaming and looking directly at you and the great dragon.

The screams quickly alerted the others, who start running towards your direction, their weapons directly pointing at you two.

Panic flowed through your veins and you turn to the winged beast.

"Come on! You're free! Run! Go! GO!"

She quickly standed up, her hind legs adapting in an amazing way to the effort after being tied for several hours. She quickly got up and spreaded its wings, in what you had learned was the take-off position.

However, something happened. Suddenly you feeled something pulling on your jacket, and quickly you saw yourself hanging in the air. You turned your head and with astonishment observed the dragon, who was holding your clothes by the teeth, rising above the air.

The guards who were now barely a few feet away from you started to shout pointing you with their weapons, but the dragon was faster, and takes off with you away from the place at an amazing speed.

The air was cold at that height, and your breath was hooked in your throat. The village gradually moved away, until it becomes a point in the distance.

The dragon did not look at you, she simply spreaded her wings in the wind and continued flying until the distance traveled was at least half an hour walking to the village. Then, and only then, she lifted her tail covered with scales and picked you up. Carefully she placed you on her back, as if she were a horse. Without stopping to fly at any time, she rised a few meters in the air, so that it almost seemed as you could touch the starry sky because of its proximity.

You did not know if it had something to do with the dragon, or if you were just too tired from what happened that day, but slowly Morpheus comed for you, and you ended up falling asleep on the back of the great gray dragon.

And maybe it was not such a good idea, because when you opened your eyes you were not there anymore.

...

Shit

Chapter Text

Shit.

Lazily you get up from the hard stone floor, your body stiff from sleeping with your clothes on. You stretch and observe the surroundings; It looked like a cave surrounded by nature and big trees, although you could also hear the waters of a river in the distance.

You walk a few meters from your place and then you see something that makes you open your eyes with amazement. Your bag! Quickly pick up the old bag from the floor and check that everything is fine, everything seems to be in place, but the black leather on the outside seems slightly scratched, as if they had tried to open it forcibly, which seems strange, since it is only a small button that closes it.

You shrug your shoulders and put your bag back. You decide to walk a little to better observe the area and, perhaps, to find the dragon. But suddenly you stop, being alerted; You can hear a noise in the distance, close to the stone wall of some caves. Carefully you approach, the more the proximity is, the more clearly you can distinguish the words.

"S)(e is not dangerous! S)(e saved me!"

"she's a human Fef!"

"You do not understand, I... I saw it..."

"wwait wwhat do you mean...?"

However, you can not understand anything else, because the tone descends quickly. Your curiosity wins you and you decide to try to get closer, with the bad luck of being interrupted by a branch in the middle of the rocky ground. Undoubtedly you stumble and you fall to the ground between a creak of leaves and branches on which you landed.
You hear a noise of something huge moving resounds from the other side of the wall, they have heard you. Shit, now you've really screwed up.
Your eyes open wide when you hear the strong footsteps approaching your side of the wall. Tentatively you raise your head, just so that your eyes open with the incredible vision that is in front of you.

The dragon of before is hiding behind another dragon, which is almost as big as her. He seems to be a sea dweller too, although judging from the color of his thorns it must be a violet blood. Wow, on any other occasion you probably would have been extremely happy to find dragons with the two strangest blood colors on the entire planet, but this is definitely not the best time to being happy.

The new dragon is now closer to you, and his gaze has that mixture of distrust and anger, which makes you think that you are definitely not in the best possible situation.

His brow furrows deeper when he looks at you, and he begins to exhale small clouds of steam through his nose, but before he can take another step towards you the other dragon comes forward. She stands between you and the other dragon, whom she looks at with a frown.

"-Eridan, I said no"

Wait a minute, she... does she speak? Like..., a dragon talking? And you understood it?

Wait, that feels... familiar. In some way it is as if this has happened to you before.

And then everything comes.

Suddenly the memories come back to your mind, and then it's again 10 years ago. In the forest, with that amazing dragon raised above the sky, almost touching the clouds.

"Thank you"

The words that changed you, the words that marked your childhood and made you the person you are now. The words that started your love for dragons...

Now everything made more sense.

You quickly left your thoughts when the great dragon turned her head to look at you, and slowly crouched down exactly as she had done the last night. Doubtfully you approached slowly, feeling the other dragon's stare on your back. Carefully you climbed up on the back of the animal, it was strange as the fact of riding on top of a beast four times bigger than you (which could kill you with a minimum movement of its claws) was becoming so natural for you.

Once she saw you were ready the great dragon raised her head and took a few steps towards the other dragon.

"S)(e is coming wit)( us," she said in an authoritative tone.

The male growled, and when she turned around you shuddered at the look he gave you. Which, you can assure, was not of joy.

The two dragons fly up in the air, while you watch in amazement as the ground moves away. No matter how many times you do this, you could never get tired.

As you soar higher in the air you can see the landscape shading, large forests of green leaves extend before your eyes, along with deep cave areas and the river that you heard before. You even get to distinguish a zone of cliffs in the distance! Wait, is this an island? Does that mean you have flown over the sea while you were asleep?

And you thought you would never leave your town.

After several minutes of flight (time in which you do not deign to turn your head, for fear of the look that the male dragon can give you this time) you begin to descend. It takes about a couple of minutes for you to touch land, on an island totally different from the previous one.

Once the two dragons are down, the one you suppose is called "Fef" stretches her neck towards you and gently takes you from the shirt, as you remember she had done before fleeing the village, and carefully takes you down. When your feet touch the ground you immediately run to hide behind one of their legs, afraid of the way in which the male dragon observes you.

"wwhy do wwe keep her?" he talks to the other dragon, but still looking at you "come on Fef, evveryone knows that humans are miserable creatures that kill for fun". His look at you becomes more incriminating and you can feel the rage growing inside you as you begin to clench your fists.

"-Eridan is enoug)(-" the other interrupts him, she show in her tone that she really dislikes the way in which the other is talking. However, she is also interrupted by you, that you take one step closer to the other dragon, the rage now definitely going all over your body.

"Okay, now YOU´RE GOING TO LISTEN TO ME," you say pointing directly at the male dragon "I have no idea what kind of humans you've known before, but I've never killed anyone for fun. I've never harmed any dragon and I've never done anything for YOU to talk to me like that ",okay, maybe that was a bit too loud, but you really could not accept being talked to like that.

The dragon's expression changes rapidly in a few seconds; First he is angry, then he becomes furious and now his eyes open wide looking at you directly.

Then you realize what you just did.

Oh god, now you've really screwed it up

Chapter Text

Saliva slips through your suddenly extremely dry throat. Is not hot here?

Your eyes are closed, tightly clenched while blocking what is probably the last image before your painful death. Because you, (y/n) (l/n), you just provoked a dragon, which basically means a quick and horrible death.

At this moment your mind is a frenzy of thoughts and disturbed images, all your life passes through your eyes, mingling with the accelerated memories of all the dragons´attack tactics which you have read throughout your entire life. Oh god, did you have to end like this? Was it serious?

You only dare to open your eyes after a few seconds without apparent attacks, and what your vision meets is definitely more impressive than anything you could have imagined.

The dragon has retreated.

Repeat that, the dragon four times your size that you could have sworn a moment ago was threatening your life now it is backing away from you. And not only that; he is frightened, his clear violet eyes reflect that fear that you have only seen in children who see danger for the first time, who fear the unknown by their small heads.

The other dragon, on the contrary of the first, seems to be having an attack of emotion. Her eyes shine and the next thing you know is that at the next second you have a gray and fuchsia dragon head right in front of you.

"Can you understand us?!" Agg, her voice is higher than you thought, making you have to cover your ears while nodding slowly, still shocked by the whole situation.

She seems to understand that she is too close, and takes a small step back, ut she still looking at you all the time, her emotion and joy more than evident. Her tail curls slowly around your waist, and you feel how you are elevated a couple of meters from the ground.

"I told you s)(e was different! Do not you see? I was rig)(t!" her tone drops a few tenths when she speaks again (you suspect that the possibility of a permanent damage to your ears may have something to do with it), this time turning to her companion, who continues to watch you with a mixture of terror and confusion. His brow furrows at the phrase of the fuchsia blood female, before emitting a grunt in response.

She rolls her eyes and her attention returns to focus quickly on you, rising several meters more while holding your body with her long tail.

"T)(is is so great! A )(uman w)(o can understand us!" her eyes are watching you with amazement, almost as if it were possible that you had some kind of use instructions written on your body. A smile is embedded in her dragon face, and you feel that it is better that way. Honestly, you do not have many ideas about what to do either. You suspect that you may be the first person to whom this happens and, even if you were not, the shock of the situation is enough to keep any thoughts about it out of your mind for the time being.

You are brought back to reality by a noise, almost like a crack of branches, a few meters away from you. You frowns in concern, and the dragon seems also to have heard it because you are quickly put on her back again, and before you had time to grab yourself, you are back in the air.

This flight is significantly shorter than the others, since you only raise a few meters for about half a minute, but the distance traveled and the surprise of the situation is enough for a small nausea to climb your throat.

You thank God for being on the ground again, and almost instinctively raise your head to look at the dragon, who surprisingly now has a worried look on her face. Only then do you realize that the other dragon has not followed you.

"I'm very sorry, but it's not safe to bring )(umans to t)(e village" her voice in a soft, almost whispering tone, draws you to reality "I can not keep you safe if I )(ide you, I'm sorry but you'll )(ave to pass t)(e test." .

So a test? Well, you've had enough chances to die so far, one more can not hurt you, right? And besides, in the worst case, you have enough material in your bag to keep you alive in the open field for at least two weeks.

You tilt your head with curiosity. "What kind of test?" you ask.

"All t)(e )(umans t)(at enter t)(e village are to be judged )(er Imperious Condescension, to decide if t)(ey are dangerous for t)(e dragons... and if t)(ey deserve to die..." she says, reciting the rule almost automatically. You suspect that she have heard that too many times...

Ok, the "judged" part does not make you especially confident, but what can you do? You would not be alive if it were not for this dragon, you can not just run away now. You only hope that this "Her Imperious Condescension" could be something more pious than her name appears.

The great dragon flips a moment forward, and only then do you notice the huge and dark cave that rises up before you. It's big, just enough so an adult dragon can fit, and its ancient stone walls have that strange smell of moss, water and ash that you unknowingly find relaxing in some way.

Your head is moving up, and for the first time in all the time you've been with her, you see concern in the face of the great fuchsia blood dragon. You feel like your heart shrinks, this has been the dragon that has rescued you; This has been the dragon that has flown with you and has defended you, and has taken you to her home to trying to protect you.

Tentatively your hand slides towards one of the front legs of the majestic creature, which turner h head to look at you.

"Eh... I... I wanted to thank you" your hands are hooked around her leg (from which you can still report the scars and marks of the rope and the weapons with which she was wounded), in a kind of uncomfortable hug "Even if I do not survive... thank you very much" you add gently.

She blinks, slowly her head comes down to you and her muzzle rubs affectionately against your back. Then she slowly open hr eyes and carefully hold you by the back of your jacket and she turns you back on her back.

And then she starts walking towards the cave.

Chapter Text

The interior of the cave seems to become darker and colder with each step that Feferi takes. Your heart begins to throb in your chest as darkness floods your vision more and more, your hands unconsciously squeeze around Feferi's back, maybe something stronger than you should.

You have been a little more than a minute moving through the dark cave, the road is mostly straight, but from time to time Feferi decides to stop for a few seconds (which almost makes you have an heart attack the first two times) before taking a deviation or keep walking in a straight line, you're not really sure, it's too dark to distinguish it.
You're still wondering how exactly how she can tell where you're going, when something bright in the background catches your attention. Not many seconds pass before your eyes and the distance (closer and closer) allow you to clearly observe the new vision, and you receive it with your eyes open.

A fire shines on the floor in the middle of the cave. The orange flames lick the air as they slowly consume a small pile of branches and dry leaves that are piled under, their light illuminates all around the small bonfire. However, it is not the fire that leaves you with your mouth open...

Mountains of gold and silver accumulate both sides of the cave, along with heaps of gems whose colors shine like the sun, lit by the light of the fire. There are more gold and jewels than all you have ever seen in your life, and probably much more than ten towns like yours could ever accumulate.

And there, lying in the middle of the cave and dimly lit by the light of the fire, is the largest dragon you've ever seen. Larger even than Feferi, and the other dragon ("Eridan"). However, now that you notice it, there is quite a bit of similarity between the dragon lying down and the young female on which you still ride; both are sea dwellers and, judging by your faint vision of her scales from the distance, their blood is also clear fuchsia. Gold and jewels decorate the body and legs of the largest dragon, whose gaze remains neutral while Feferi walks closer and closer to her. These shine in an almost magical way in the dim light of the cave, causing you to squint when at last Feferi stands in front of the fire, in what (you calculate) must be less than two meters away from her and the biggest.

Feferi tilts his head slightly before looking directly into his yellow eyes. The great dragon still has an almost aggressive neutrality in her face while observing Feferi with what could well be contempt or disinterest. She turns her head to look at you, and then Feferi decides it's a good time to start talking.
")(i mom".

Wait, what? So... is she Feferi's mother? Does that make her a princess or something? If something was very clear to you, was that the fuchsia blood dragons were extremely strange, and the most powerful race of dragons according to your books...

Absentmindedly your gaze turns to Feferi's head, not too far from you. Nothing... no crowns or jewels or gold are tied around their horns or their great dragon body. Those horns...

You shake off the strange thoughts outside your head as your gaze slides to the head of the larger dragon, only to jump in surprise when you realize that she is no longer lying in the that place before, if not that her head stays next to you, her big yellow eyes have the most threatening look you've seen in a dragon (and that counting Eridan's).
You breathe with relief when Feferi turns her head to look at the dragon, putting a prudent distance between she and you. Her young dragon eyes are focused on her mother, who seems to understand the situation after seeing you, because her voice rises in that moment.

"leave her here".

Feferi frowns slightly, and you suspect that these are not very good news for you.

"Mom, she saved me from-" her soft voice and all the good intentions she can carry are interrupted by her mother's sharp gesture to her own daughter.

You can feel the young dragon's slow breathing, seconds before her body crouches, allowing you to take a small leap to the ground. It feels strange after so much time being taken down by her, but you do not say anything.

But if there is something that feels even stranger is the farewell, Feferi, still crouching on the ground, brings her face towards you and her soft nose rubs against your body delicately. It's... kind, but sad, and it makes strange sensations cross your stomach. Culpability? Sadness? Fear? You are not sure...

Slowly the young fuchsia dragon finds the strength to get up and start walking in the opposite direction, back to the outside, leaving an aura of sadness in its wake.
Now that you're alone with the great dragon, your plan to escape is did not seem so secure. With the growing fear inside your body you turn around to look at the creature whose eyes do not leave your little figure, and instantly your vision rests on something.

A crown.

While that fulfills your suspicions that the title of "her Imperious Condescension" is not exactly normal among dragons, but that's not what matters to you at that moment.
That crown... you've seen it before

The avalanche of memories that fly to your mind at that moment is enough for you to begin to feel dizzy, but it does not compare to the impression of knowing that the dragon that is now in front of you is the same dragon you helped more than 10 years ago.
And worse, she's probably that same dragon that will kill you.

Only now that you have finally come to that conclusion you notice how close the dragon is, and how dangerously similar is her position to that of a dragon before an attack.
"no unclean humans will come out alive from here" her deep and frightening voice, not as you remembered, makes a chill run down your back. And then you know that it is impossible for you to pass the "judgment" of this gigantic beast.

"your last words?".

And then there is only one thing you can think of saying.

"You're welcome".

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And for the next 5 seconds nothing happens. Fury is more present than before in the great dragon's face, and you suppose that this is what it must feel like to have a heart attack. Being in front of death and not being able to do anything...

However, something changes, and suddenly the frown of the fuchsia sea dweller relaxes, her eyes have a slight change in the way they look at you, something that reminds you of Feferi's eyes the first time you saw each other. Almost as if they could see inside your soul and guess your intentions.

At last, and after several consecutive seconds of strange looks, the dragon departs a little from you. The way she does it is not dishonored, nor does she express fear, it is more like a predator that lets his prey flee. You want to cry, you want to jump and shout, you're alive: you've do it. The euphoria that runs through all your body can not be compared to anything you've felt before, not even the first time you tried to climb the cliffs of the forest you felt this way, that gratitude and vivacity that flows through your veins and suddenly makes you want to live more of what you could have never wanted before.

Meanwhile the dragon stays there, still, watching as small transparent tears prick your eyes, tears of joy. There is neither happiness nor sadness reflected in her face, you can barely see a tiny curiosity trace, although it may also have been an impression of your vision blurred by tears.

Slowly you rinse your eyes and the dragon stops to look at you for a few seconds more before turning, walking slowly to the other side of the cave.

"you can understand me, rig)(t? come here" the way she talks is practically an order, but her tone no longer has the same aggressiveness as before, which makes you relax. In the same way that a little duckling follows her mother, you walk behind the great dragon, following her until you are both in front of one of the many piles of gold and jewels. You force yourself to squint. Shit, that shines like... well, like gold and jewels.

The female dragon keeps ignoring you as she approaches the great mountain of treasures, hers great fuchsia head slowly approaches the top of the heap, her eyes (which apparently are much more resistant to the brightness than yours) quickly scan the multiple riches that pile carelessly on top of each other, and at last she seems to find what she seeks.

Her big head is tilted beyond the part where your vision reaches, she grabs something, and bends down again to your level. Now her head is in front of you, and you can clearly see the necklace that is held between her teeth. The chains are of a metallic silver color, and its only decoration consists of a black stone surrounded by fine edges of the same material. It's nothing fancy, and you're surprised that something like that can be hidden among so much wealth.

The dragon shows signs of impatience, so you decide to leave the observation for another moment and pick up the necklace quickly, holding it in your hands as if it was the most delicate thing in the world. She frowns.

"w)(at are you waiting for? put it on once" she says, almost as if it were obvious.

You nod hastily, adjusting the small necklace around your neck, and at the same moment the cold black stone touches the soft skin of your chest a (f/c) glow begins to emerge from it. It is very bright, and yet you can see clearly (without needing to squint your eyes) as the light (f/c) seems to illuminate the whole place at the same time... This... this is not normal...

You must have the impression written all over your face or something, because for a moment a bit of fun takes the look (until now grumpy) of the great female dragon.

"never take it off or you will be killed" the way she talks makes you shiver, and you have to gather most of your courage to be able to raise your head again to look her in the eyes.

"W-What is it?" your right hand approaches the stone illuminated with light without fully deciding to touch it.

Her brow furrows, and for a moment you doubt if it was a good idea to ask, "you'll find out by yourself".

You nod slightly, looking at the dragon as she turns around in the same direction that Feferi left. The light of the necklace has begun to weaken, to the point where it is now just a shining stone in your chest. The heat however has not diminished, and you begin to feel like a strange sensation spreads throughout your body, a new force that makes you feel that you can do anything. Or maybe it's just your imagination playing with your emotions, you do not know well.

Slowly you begin to follow the great dragon queen through the cave, in the direction where you think the outside should be. You would have bothered to ask the dragon if it was not because you suspected that you probably would not get an answer, and that at the best situation.

Minutes pass, walking through the cave is clearly slower than riding on the back of a dragon, but both ways you try to keep the pace, not wanting to displease the great queen dragon. At last the two of you reach the end of the huge cave, the intense day light hits you almost as much as the darkness at the beginning of your trip into the cave on Feferi's back. However, soon is something more than light what hits you...

Chapter Text

Feferi. You feel your heart turn over with joy when, for the second time in the day, you open your eyes to find a fuchsia and gray dragon head in front of you. You smile and quickly wrap your arms around the dragon's neck, her muzzle rubs affectionately against you.

"You're fine! You're still alive!" Despite the dark real meaning of the phrase you can not help but smile and hug the young dragon harder.

"I know, and I'm glad to be back" your voice is slightly muffled when your mouth brushes the soft scales of her neck.

A growl is heard at your back and quickly you both turn around to meet face to face with the great queen dragon, whose gaze still has that strange atmosphere of superiority and aggressiveness. Feferi look at her mother, and immediately you recognize the look in her eyes; She is afraid, she is worrying about you.

The dragon, also noticing the look of concern in her daughter's eyes, shakes slightly her head. She looks down and her yellow dragon eyes are on you for a moment.

"s)(e )(as done it s)(e can stay )(ere"

The phrase descends like a stone on your head, and you feel that tingling in your chest (where the necklace is now placed) that reminds you that you could be dead right now if it were not that majestic beast.

The great dragon averts her gaze from you for a moment to look at her daughter.

"you will take care of )(er w)(ile s)(e is )(ere it will be your responsibility if somet)(ing )(appens to )(er" her tone, equally serious, this time brings a slightly more cheerful message, getting a small smile to take the face of the youngest dragon.

"T)(at's great! You can meet all my friends! I can not wait to introduce you..." her happy and excited tone suddenly descends, her brow furrows, causing an uncomfortable atmosphere to take over.

"I t)(ink... I t)(ink I do not know your name..." as soon as the second sentence comes out of her mouth everything hits you. Oh God! How could you forget it?! This dragon has practically saved your life and you have not even had the decency to introduce yourself. What kind of person are you?

"Is (y/n)" you say, an uncomfortable smile automatically on your face "(y/n) (l/n)". You turn your head to look again at the adult dragon, who at this moment looks at the conversation between her daughter and you, for once there is a trace of curiosity in her eyes. However, as soon as she notice your look she frowns, erasing any emotion other than the irritation on her face.

Feferi, who seems to ignore the uncomfortable situation between you and her mother, smiles again at you "Do you want to go wit)( me? I can s)(ow you t)(e village!"

You nod, immediately excited by the possibility of being able to observe more dragons up close, and you turn to look again at the mother dragon, who gives an affirmative gesture to her daughter. Feferi smiles and inclines her neck towards you, giving you the signal to get on. For the first time by yourself, you scale up to her neck, grabbing the initial part of her back, taking care not to damage her or the bright gray and pink scales that cover her entire body.

Once you are up, Feferi moves slightly, checking that you are secure before preparing to take off. She shakes her big wings and soon you both are back in the air. You hug her back as you turn, watching as the queen dragon slowly becomes a small point in the distance. Once she disappears new thoughts come to your head; Now you are going to go to a dragon village. A TRUE DRAGON VILLAGE. For the first time you do not know what to think; the information about the dragons is already scarce, you have hardly heard before of something like a dragon village in suppositions without more foundation than theorys. How will it be? How many dragons will live there? Will they all be of high blood like Feferi? But one thing you're sure of: if someone ever saw a dragon village he never said anything... or did not live to say it...

However, and before these thoughts get deep into your head, you begin to descend. You lower your eyes and they open wide before the new vision that extends before you, although the landscape until now had been frankly beautiful, this can only be described as "incredible". Huge forests extend beyond the view, alternated with areas of land, rivers and even their own cliffs in the part closest to the sea, in addition to the different beaches on the edges of the island.

"Wow" the word, in a tone of amazement, can no longer be contained by your lips as the landscape comes closer and closer as you descend. Feferi laughs softly and you can clearly imagine the smile that at this moment adorns her dragon face.

At last you touch earth, and slowly you get down from her back, your feet touch the soft ground covered by green grass, your nose marvels with that familiar smell of dew and pines (which, by the way, seem to be quite common in the island).

"This is beautiful Feferi" you say turning to look at the dragon for the first time since landing.

"I know! I can not wait to introduce you to everyone!" that childish glow returns to her eyes at the same moment that her gaze turns towards you. You are not especially clean... your shoes are stained with dirt and you have slept with your clothes on, but for her it must be a wonderful thing to see a human.

Crack

Suddenly your thoughts are interrupted and you instinctively put in a defensive position when a crunch comes out from between the huge mass of trees and nearby giant bushes. However you relax when you remember; this time you do not have to flee, this time you are going to face whatever it is that is there.

So you relax, your gaze is directed where the sound came from, and then something moves..., and from the mass of trees and raw nature comes out a dragon...