Chapter Text
As you both rode on the back of the unicorn, Sir Daniel kept singing. His words were aimless, and words seemed to flow out of him easily. Melodies and harmonies ebbed from him, and he would hum discordant strings of notes. None of them connected, but when he sang, they all did. The world always seemed to be connected around him. Grass paths were clear, the roads smooth, trees parted. Amalthea was able to find grass exactly as she needed, find water as she needed. The stars still twinkled, whispering the dreams cast into them over the many moons the earth had been alive.
You did not realize how long you had been with Sir Daniel until the sunrise came up. He stopped his steed, and she whinnied softly. “I know, Thea. We will go back soon. I would like to spend some time with Lady (y/n).”
The steed almost seemed to shake her head and huff. As if Sir Daniel was able to communicate and understand, and she was able, too.
The rise of the sun shooed away the deep azure of the night, and the stars quieted their whispers as they faded into the pale pinks and oranges. The moon, the mother of the earth, still watched with pale, fading, careful eyes. She was always there. The light danced over yours and Sir Daniel’s skin, caused Amalthea’s coat to sparkle. You watched.
He looked at you for a moment, and you saw his eyes change as he began to sing again. Music was never far from him. The very feeling of it seemed to swallow him whole every time he opened his mouth. He let the music course through his veins like blood, flutter out of his mouth, spreading into the light morning air.
Sir Daniel sang of how he wanted to be yours. How he wanted you to take his hand. How you were so beautiful that it astonished him- went beyond his very comprehension. How he wanted to have a good time with you. Sir Daniel’s voice trailed into talking about the here and now, about plans to meet the stars you’d always loved. If his love was rejected and forgotten, the stars would fade into nothingness and never return.
This felt like a threat, at first, but you shook your head. He did not mean it that way. But could that not be true, if he was so synchronized with nature and the world? If he was rejected, would the bright twinkling night fade into blankness? Would the mother moon lose her children’s whispers and dreams? No, he would not do that. He was far too kind.
Sir Daniel continued singing about the journey, moving faster than light. You had not known light had a speed, but you’d imagined it was quite fast. Then you understood his song. You understood why he had sang it all along.
He sang of a glorious dawn, bright and beautiful, and how it would wait for the morning, wait for you both after you shared the night. And it seemed that was so. The night shared between you two was not cut short; it went on as long as it needed, and the dawn came to complete it, make it whole, and cap it off.
As Sir Daniel’s words faded into nothing, he watched you, looking at you. You looked at him, curious.
“My lady...”
“Sir Daniel...”
“I must admit, my lady, I have grown quite fond of you.”
“I have grown fond of you too, sir.”
“I would like to ask you something, my lady.”
“Anything, Sir Daniel. Anything.”
What could he want to ask you now?
“Might I kiss you?”
You’d thought he would never ask. You nodded, earnest, innocent, sweet. And he leaned forward, delivering a kiss that was equally as innocent and sweet. He was so polite- did not take advantage of your naivete or your innocence. He treated you fairly, kindly.
When he pulled away, a smile danced on his lips. “Thank you, my lady.”
“No, Sir Daniel, thank you.”
“You are very beautiful, Lady (y/n). Do you-” he stopped. Cut himself short. His head turned, curls bouncing as he listened. You heard noises in the distance.
“What is it, sir?”
“Dragons. I hear them. We must go.”
“Sir, I--”
“It will be alright, my lady. Have no fear. I will protect you. But we must go quickly, and act quickly. Listen to me and do not go against my orders. Do you understand?” Amalthea seemed to understand the urgency and the danger, and she began galloping towards town. You clutched his waist tightly, frightened, and your voice quivered as you spoke.
“Y-yes, sir. I will.”
He leaned closer to the steed, probably to maintain better balance, and you leaned closer.
~*~*~
It seemed that you and Sir Daniel had arrived just in the nick of time. A dragon, vast, huge, and a deep red, was ravaging the town. Its breath, fiery and mean, had caught a few of the buildings aflame. You watched Sir Daniel all but leap from his steed, leaving you on her back. She backed away, putting space between you and the Dragon Slayer as he pulled a sword from the sheath on his hip. The masked man who had given you his horse earlier hurried over, and the two looked at each other for a moment before Sir Daniel spoke.
“Yes, I know, Brian. Reds are exceptionally intelligent. We’ll have a harder time outwitting this one.”
You decided not to ask how he was able to understand the silent man’s words. Perhaps they spent enough time together that it was practically mind reading. You watched as the two men walked forwards towards the beast, and Sir Daniel’s voice rang out.
“See here, beast! I am Sir Daniel, and you are about to meet your demise!”
The beast roared, deafening and loud, and people were cheering with Sir Daniel’s words, which only increased the uproar and din. Your head hurt, and goodness, had you eaten anything at all since yesterday? You were dizzy.
So dizzy...
~*~*~
Sir Daniel woke in a dark room. He ached all over but that mattered little in the scheme of things. He turned, looking for someone, anyone. Where was she? Where was anyone he knew?
Looking at himself, he saw burns, bites, and bruises. None of this surprised him. That regularly came from fighting dragons. He knew he’d lost some bits of his hair- he’d felt it catch fire, felt himself pat it out or someone pour water over him as he caught flame. But he still had some on his head. He could feel it tickling his neck, his cheeks, his ears.
He sought out a familiar face, trying to find someone that he knew to explain what had happened while he was out. He came across Brian, who took him by the arm and led him somewhere else. There, he found a few townsfolk and his dear friends, Suzy and Arin.
Suzy caught his eyes and looked away. Arin had no choice but to be the one to give the news.
“Dan...I...”
“Where is she? Where’s (y/n)?” His voice was pleading. Angry. If anyone took you, he’d fight to the ends of the earth for you. Anything for you. Women fell to their knees before him, asking him to father their children, kiss their babies, ravage them. None of that mattered. Because the only thing he wanted now was you.
Arin sighed, putting a hand on Sir Daniel’s shoulder. “She’s gone.”
“What?”
“She’s gone. She was on a horse and she fell unconscious. The dragon trampled her and she....perished.”
In an instant, his world shattered. How could he move on? A lady had never inspired so many songs as she had, and now it felt like the melodies had left his lips. It felt like the world was spinning, and all he could hear was the sound of your sweet voice, saying, “I have grown fond of you.” Hearing you asking him for songs. He saw you face, nodding earnestly when he had asked to kiss you. What would he do now? In a further earth-shattering realization, Sir Daniel realized he had not even been able to say goodbye- not been able to kiss you once more.
The night came and darkness fell. Lightning bugs flew around in the sky. The words that you had said to him in the time you knew him would be forever in his mind, repeating like a musician who only knew a single song.
He sighed, softly, where you lay. Arin had shown him your resting place. A single white flower was planted in the middle, your name scraped into a stone at the top. He wished he could pretend you weren’t in the earth below him.
He breathed out, “I suppose this is the last goodbye, Lady (y/n).”
For a moment, the winds blew and he thought he could hear your voice, saying some sort of goodbye in return. But it would not make sense if that were so. The winds could not speak any more than your cold, dead lips could.
But even through his life, however changing and wild it was, he would never forget you- never forget everything.
And he knew that you and he would be reunited once again in the stars. The stars that the lightning bugs seemed to echo, seemed to reflect. The lightning bugs were like attainable stars, dreams and wishes able to be caught, briefly held, and then let go.
Sir Daniel caught one of the bugs in his fingers, and he let it go with a single wish. He wished, more than anything, that you could be back in his arms once again.