Chapter Text
The air in the taming arena is thick, damp enough that he feels like he’s drowning the second he steps in. This particular arena is big, the door sitting on a balcony several feet above the main floor.
Kai looks over the railing, staring down at the dragon sitting on the ground. It’s aqua blue in color, leaning against of the wall opposite, staring up at him with wary eyes. There’s a frill traveling along its neck, stopping once it reaches its wings, which are also blue, although a shade lighter than the rest of it's body, and are tucked neatly into its side.
Kai looks away, heading to the stairs and traveling down them carefully. He glances at the dragon every few steps to ensure he’s not about to be sideswiped, but it's frozen in place, it’s eyes not leaving him.
Once Kai reaches the bottom, the dragon stands, moving along the wall to the opposite side once more. It's wings acts as its two front legs, and it reminds him of depictions of wyverns that he’s seen in fairy tales, except this one is much more real. And blue.
Kai moves forward slowly, taking a step at a time. The dragon tenses every foot Kai gets closer, and he stops once he’s only a few feet ahead. He reaches into his pocket slowly, anticipating that the dragon will pounce any second.
And it does.
The dragon uses its hind legs to push itself forward, one of its wings pulling back to take a swipe at him. Kai jumps to the side, falling into a roll. He reaches into his pocket once more, but the dragon is faster.
Its tail swings towards him, connecting with his stomach, the force of it sending him into the wall, and all he sees is black. It takes him a few seconds to recover, and he knows that he’s gonna need stitches from the scratches on his stomach from the frills on the dragons tail, and maybe even the scratches on his back from his collision with the wall.
As the dragon takes a breath in Kai rushes to move, standing quickly (despite how dizzy he is) and diving (more like falling, but it works anyways) to the side. And a second later a stream of water hits the wall where Kai was a second earlier. He breathes out a sigh, reaching into his pocket quick enough this time to pull something out.
The dragon seems to narrow its eyes at him and Kai braces himself, throwing what he holds so it lands directly in front of the dragon before falling back quickly, feeling like the scratches on his stomach are about to rip open. A cloud of yellow expands and the dragon roars, wings expanding to its side and flapping once before it freezes and falls like a dead weight to the floor.
Kai’s shoulders relax as he stands up straight, stretching his arms out above his head and wincing once he does. The dragon isn’t moving, yet its eyes are open and fixed on him. He walks towards it slowly, not wanting to make it think he’s gonna hurt it. He kneels next to it, and the dragon narrows its eyes at him.
He reaches out his hand, laying it flat on the top of its head. It glares at him for a few seconds more, than closes its eyes and relaxes. Kai stays kneeling there for a few seconds more, than turns around to head up the stairs. He only makes it up one step before he freezes. Standing on the balcony overlooking the arena is Kris, arms resting on the railing.
Kai continues up the stairs slowly, Kris’s eyes staying on the dragon sleeping peacefully below. It’s only once Kai reaches the top of the stairs that Kris’s eyes travel to his, and Kai straightens unconsciously. Kris smirks at him and Kai frowns, dodging around him and making his way to the door, which slides opens as he reaches it.
The sunlight outside is blinding compared to the darkness of the arena, and the change of air from the dampness inside to the clean air outside makes him take a few deep breaths before his breathing adjusts.
The clearing that the arenas are located in is huge, surrounded by arena after arena. He’ll have to tell someone to bring the dragon back to its cage, and frowns when he realizes who is still trailing behind him. He turns to face Kris, and walks backwards in the general direction of the headquarters.
“Can I help you?” Kai asks, meaning for it to sound sarcastic and greatly failing.
“I wanted to go somewhere quiet, and I just so happened to walk into the arena you were in.” Kris shrugs as he says this, and Kai makes a general noise of apprehension before turning back around.
“Well since you were spying on me, you can go tell an agent to move the dragon back to it’s cage.”
Kris ignores him, opting instead to say, “It was impressive. Water Serpents are known for being feisty, and for seriously hurting those who try to tame one. There hasn’t been an agent in the headquarters with one since I started working here.”
Kai raises an eyebrow at Kris’s complement, but then the words ‘seriously hurting’ ring in his ears and the pain finally registers. He stumbles a few steps before he catches himself, and takes a few deep breaths. He hears grass crunching underfoot before he recognizes Kris’ presence by his side, asking him, “Are you alright?’
Kai nods faintly, feeling dizzy, and looks down at the red blossoming, the color a stark contrast against the white of his shirt. He tries to stand fully only to stumble once more, and the only reason he doesn’t fall is because Kris catches him, putting a supporting arm across his shoulders, taking half his weight.
They limp slowly together across the clearing, up a small stone path to the side door of the headquarters. It’s a smooth stone wall, or it looks like one at first until you see the red light blinking slowly above them. The light turns green a second later and a part of the wall slides back, and they enter.