Chapter Text
I pounced on the elk, large fangs sinking into its leathery flesh. I waited, feeling it struggle weekly in between my jaws before falling limp. I shifted painfully back into my human form, struggling from starvation and dehydration. The taste of blood was still in my mouth, my forked tongue flickering over my sharp incisors. I groaned. I hadn't seen any animals or wildlife in weeks. All of the streams and sources of water that I had passed had been all dried up. Something had happened there. Even the trees seemed lifeless, some of them burnt and charred. Others leafless with thin branches reaching into the air high above. Me coming to these woods was dangerous. They were ruled by a powerful Dragonborn named Lotor. I had been sent here as a spy.
I ripped into the elf with my teeth, glad about my ability to eat raw and uncured meat in large amounts without becoming sick for once. I had finished off the elk within an hour. When I was done scouting the area, I went in search of water further into a large clearing that I had found moments before. On the far edge of the meadow-like place was a small pond with fresh, clear water. My fangs ached at the sight of it. I walked over to it quickly, making sure to keep an eye over my shoulder. Once I had gotten to the small pond and deemed it safe I hissed as my jaw went wide and I devoured the water, sucking it in through my throat and fangs. I was just about to lift my head out of the water when I noticed a pair of eyes watching me on the opposite side of the pond. I could see nothing other than a head of brown hair and bright blue eyes. My eyes flashed, flaring the colors of fire before dying down. I stood up, water dripping down my chin, and walked over to the creature watching me. My eyes turned serpentine and I smiled menacingly before crouching down before the creature.
"It's not nice to stare..." I trailed off teasingly, flicking my tongue between the sharp fangs that were on display. The creature had the good sense to back up a step, still not raising its head above the water. I hissed.
"Better show me that pretty little face of yours before I make you." I said, leaning closer to it and dipping my finger into the water, placing it under the creatures chin and tilting its head up. He really was pretty in his human form. He bared his sharp teeth at me, the only permanent reminder of his natural form. I just smiled at him and studied his face. They were a pretty blue, the color of sapphires. His skin was a dark tan color, with freckles thrown across it. He had dark brown hair and a sharp chin. If he weren't possibly an ally of one of my most difficult enemies, I may have even attempted to befriend him.
"Better get that hand away from me before I bite it off." The creature retorted, narrowing its eyes. I just let out a sharp laugh and flicked his chin before taking my hand out of the water. I was going to have fun with this one.
"Oh, don't be so mean. I just wanted to see you." I teased. The creature snarled, baring his teeth at me again. I flicked a drop of water from my still wet hand onto his face, smiling. He scowled.
"I know what you are, half-breed."
"Do you now? How smart you are... but I've been wondering, what are you?" I asked, tilting my head to the side and flicking a corner of my mouth up.
"I am one of the Nokken. Why is this of concern to you, Serpent?" The creature- Nokken all but growled at me. I continued to give it a slight smile.
"I believe in being polite to my victims before I torture information out of them." I answered simply. The Nokken rose higher out of the water, showing broad shoulders and a sculpted chest. I smirked.
"What is your name, Nokken."
"Why?"
"Because I wish to know."
"It is Lance. What is yours, Serpent?"
"You may call me Keith." I said, noticing the small movement his arm made as he reached behind his back for a dagger hidden in a bundle of plants. I flashed the Nokken a smile before moving as fast as an asp. My face was now brushing against the side of his head.
"You know that little dagger of yours will do nothing against me, Shapeshifter." I whispered into Nokken's pointed and elongated ear. "Give it to me, Lance." I said, hissing the Nokken's name as he threw it into the damp dirt surrounding the pond. I smiled.
"Good boy." I purred, picking up the dagger. It was covered in salt and cursed sand, the fiery red hue of it not easily mistaken. I sent a lick of fire up the dagger, getting rid of the grains that lingered on the blade before whirling around and dipping it into the lake.
"Clever little thing." I growled, dragging the sharp dagger in a thin line across the Nokken's collar bones. I grinned when the Nokken flinched as I twisted the knife and broke skin. "You were going to wound me and keep me unconscious long enough to return me to your master weren't you? Oh, Lotor would have been so pleased when I was delivered to his throne."
"I do not work for Lotor, Serpent." The Nokken hissed. "I am his prisoner."
"And why should I believe this, Lance?" I questioned, eyes widening briefly as the Nokken turned around and bared its torn up and scarred back to me. It seemed he was whipped regularly, some of the wounds still fresh. My hands lit up with flames the color of the sunset as I imagined the other things Lotor had done to the once perfect body of the Nokken. My gut twisted with rage that quickly dissipated when I realized that the Nokken was now staring at me in fear as I took on more snake like features and fire spilled from my hands
"I'm- I'm so sorry, Lance." I tried to apologize, tone becoming softer and my features becoming more human. "How did you become a prisoner here?"
"S'okay, Keith. I had lived in these woods before Lotor arrived. I had tried to defend the forest, and ended up becoming a slave instead. He takes pleasure in making me watch as he slaughters the wildlife that had once roamed these great woods." The Nokken said, still cautious.
"I am- I am sorry, Lance. I had no idea." I said regretfully, glancing down at the small cut that I made that would surely cause another scar to form on the Nokken's tan skin. He noticed.
"Don't worry about it, Keith." The Nokken said softly. "I've had worse."
I continued to stare at the fast healing wound.
"If you do not stop staring at it I will not heal it, Serpent. Do not feel guilty. You did not know."
I was about to reply when I heard a rustle coming from the woods. My eyes widened in panic, having nowhere to go. I had spent too much time with the Nokken. Stupid.
"In the water!" The Nokken whispered. "I will make sure you do not drown."
I hesitated.
"Trust me." Lance said softly, before pulling me under. He made a space for my head in the water where I could breathe. Shortly after I saw a man- no, not a man. It was Lotor.
He walked up to Lance, kneeling down and stroking Lance's face with a purple hand. He said something to Lance, smiling when Lance shook his head. He walked away. I wondered what he had- no. He walked up to Lance, whip in hand, and forcefully turned him around. Lance made eye contact with me, smiling sadly before his face contorted into a scream of agony as Lotor struck his still open wounds. I tried to stand up, to distract Lotor and get him away from Lance, but Lance pushed me back down with a hand and did not let go. He just smiled down at me through the pain and shook his head subtly. Even as blood began streaming down from his back into the water as his voice was hoarse from too many screams. Finally, after what had felt like hours, Lotor had finally returned to his festering Empire, leaving us alone.
I sprung from the water, catching Lance as he fell forwards. He was barely conscious, mumbling things that I couldn't quite hear. But before he lost consciousness he said clearly,
"Don't leave me alone here, Keith."
"I will not." I said softly. "I promise.
...
It had been only a day before the Nokken regained consciousness, blinking slowly and hissing as the dirt on the edge of the pond scraped his wounds. I ran over to him hurriedly, having found a secure spot in the dead woods where I was able to hide. I gently lifted him up and placed him into the pond.
"How are you feeling?" I asked, helping to steady the Nokken as he tilted forwards in the water.
"Not too bad." The Nokken managed to rasp out the weak attempt at a lie. He whimpered as he brushed a hand against the wounds on his back.
"Will it take you long to heal enough so that you can walk?"
"I should be able to in about in hour. I will heal faster now that I am awake. You must leave, Serpent. Before you get caught. It would not please me to be the cause of your capture." The Nokken said, wincing and resting against the edge of the pond.
"I will not leave you, Lance. I made you a promise."
"And I am asking you to break it."
"No."
"Keith, if you do not break it, and they find us before we escape, they will kill both of us." The Nokken hissed.
"And what happens to you, if I break the promise?" I said, pacing in front of the pond.
"I stay. I live. I die. I am of no importance. You are."
I stopped in front of the Nokken, narrowing my eyes.
"I do not break my promises, Nokken. You will leave with me." I said, having already forgotten what I came here for. Getting information would have to wait.
"I will not let you die because of me. I will not leave." The Nokken said defiantly, setting a burning blue gaze upon me. I challenged him with my own red one. When he did not back down my eyes turned into those of a snake in my rage.
"Then I will make you." I said, walking back to my haphazardly organized camp and gathering a set of extra clothes. I walked back to the edge of the pond and threw them onto a small patch of grass.
"Put those on, Nokken. I will not ask twice."
The Nokken stayed in the water, burning gaze still set upon me. I growled and bared my teeth at him, lifting him out of the water as gently as I could and setting him down on the damp dirt. He scowled at me. I picked up the shirt.
"Lift your arms above your head or I will make you."
The Nokken glared at me, submitting. He lifted his arms above his head, allowing me to slip the shirt onto his lithe body. I would have to gather water from the pond for our trip back to my shack so that the Nokken did not die. I softened my eyes as they came into contact with the Nokken's.
"Thank you..." The Nokken said, trailing off and allowing me to help him gently put on the pants. "For not leaving me."
"I could not let you live out the rest of your days being treated like that. You will be safe with me."
"But you will not be safe with me. There is something I have not told you yet, Keith."
"What is it?"
"I am a spy as well. That is why you must leave. Lotor treats me as a slave and whips me, but I do work for him. I have since he threatened to destroy the rest of the forest. I told him you were here. That is why he came to see me. When I refused to tell him where you were, he whipped me again. I am the only spy he has that is able to change form, so he will want me back. He... He rapes me too. Thinks of me as a possession. I am the only one he does it too. He will want me back."
I looked at the Nokken, eyes wide. I was... a bit angry, admittedly, that I had been stupid enough to fall into Lotor's trap, but...
"Why did you not tell Lotor where I was? Why did you help me?"
"I could not bear to see something killed once again because of me."
"Thank you, Lance." I said softly, helping the Nokken to his feet as he winced and clamped his hands around my forearm in a tight grip. I wrapped my other arm around his shoulders, steadying him. Once we had gotten to my campsite and everything was ready to go, I turned to the Nokken, features already taking on a serpent-like quality.
"Think you can store enough water for a three week trip, Nokken?"
...
"Okay... what about this? Can you breathe fire like a Dragonborn?" The Nokken asked curiously while sitting on my back while I slithered through the dead forest, close to the border where things started to grow again.
"Unfortunately, no. I am much more skilled at using it than most Dragonborns, though." I answered. The Nokken frowned disappointedly, making me hiss out a laugh in my serpent form. I had become fond of the water creature in the past week, the first few days filled with awkward and clipped conversation. We had soon become more accustomed to each other.
"Could you make fire twirl around me without it harming me, even though I am a Nokken?" Lance questioned, trailing the lines of my large scales with his fingertips. It felt nice, surprisingly.
"Yes. I could do show you, if you like."
"Hmm.. I'll have to think about it, but I'm definitely taking you up on that offer that you made about showing me how you can make a crown out of fire. I wonder if I can do that with water. Also, do you live near water?"
"Yes, I live close to a large lake. You'll probably like it much better than that little pond you were confined too. I have a pool as well. My father had the shack built for me after my mom had given birth to me and was called back to her duties by her empire. They do not know she has a son."
"And if they ever did find out?"
"Then I would have to join my empire either by force or free will. My mother still lives, my father... I do not know where he is, or if he's okay."
"I hope he is." Lance said quietly, now running his nails along my neck.
"Me too." I answered, the gentle scraping of Lance's nails against my neck making me want to curl up. It felt really nice.
I wasn't going to let this boy be hurt any longer.
...
"Lance I'm trying to- augh!" I shouted as Lance charged a wolf made of water at me, effectively soaking me and the sandwiches I had been preparing.
"Whoops, looks like we can't have those disgusting sandwiches anymore, Serpent!" Lance said with a wide grin on his stupid, pretty... pretty annoying! Lance? Pretty? No, his stupid, pretty annoying face!
"Whoops, looks like your fending for yourself tonight, Nokken?" I said back, starting the search for chicken broth. It appeared dinner tonight would not be those 'disgusting sandwiches.'
Lance made an offended noise. I had learned he had a knack for theatrics and drama over the weeks, so it was no surprise when he suddenly fell to his knees, hand clutching his shirt where his heart was. He gasped.
"You wound me, Prince! I will die of starvation! Would you really let one of your innocent subjects suffer?"
"You are not innocent, Nokken." I said, rolling my eyes. "How did you know I was a prince anyways?"
"Only if you were a son of one of the rulers would they make you join the empire, so I assumed, since you had told me they would demand it of you." The Nokken answered.
"Clever little thing." I teased, making Lance smile as well at the memory.
"First of all, Serpent, I am not little. Clearly you are the little one! I have at least... 3 inches on you!" Lance shouted, making me chuckle I began to transform, my body growing longer and taller. My eyes becoming more snake-like, and my fangs more prominent as my elongated and forked tongue flickered out between them, but stopped before I turned more serpentine than that. I loomed over him, snickering.
"And-!" Lance stopped finally looking up at me and noticing the features I had taken on. He just scowled. I smirked, my tongue flickering out again. He looked down at it.
"Who's the taller one now, Nokken?" I said, my smirk becoming a smile. The Nokken narrowed his eyes at me, frowning.
"Well, jokes on you, Serpent. Your... your tongue is cute!" The Nokken said, making me hiss out a laugh that only made him frown more. I licked a stripe up the side of his face.
"Ew! Keith!" Lance yelled, now laughing and pushing me away. I grinned happily at him. He grinned back. We stayed like that for a few moments, before Lance noticed the scales thrown around different parts of my body. He gasped.
"Keith! How could you not tell me about these little scales that you get! They're awesome! And cool! And- and adorable!"
I blushed, watching him stroke a patch of them whilst grinning like a child.
"Never came up?" I said, still watching him observe the scales.
"These are so cool, Keith. They just make your idiotic features even more adorable."
"What?! My features are not idiotic! They are mysterious! And intimidating! And- and- and-"
"Stupid? I think that's the word you're looking for."
"It is not!" I said, making an offended noise. The Nokken smiled.
"Whatever you say, Mr. Mysterious." Lance laughed, leaving me stuttering as I tried to think of a comeback. I could not, and soon I was laughing with him, dinner and soaked clothes forgotten.
I did not want to tell him, but I thought his tongue was cute too.