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Soft leather boots are soundless against the cobbled street…and even if they’d not been, her footsteps would still be drowned in the hustle and bustle of the busy little village.
Well…‘little’ is a relative term. Rin has certainly been to places smaller, but it’s still not quite the same as the large cities closer to the center of the continent. But this one suits her well enough. A place with a sizeable port of comings and goings. Perfect to receive shipments of her goods without being breathed down upon by large city inspectors and tax collectors.
For Rin, you see, is a witch. One most typically working with plants, herbs, and the concoctions one can make with them. And while she grows a great many things herself, every so often she’ll come across a spell or potion requiring something a bit…out of the ordinary. And that means finding it elsewhere. And while she’s gone galavanting across the countryside before, she’s not eager to leave her little hideaway too often.
Magic, after all, can be a bit of a dirty word, depending on the tongue it sits upon.
Rin’s own is used primarily for good! Poultices for wounds, brews for illnesses, charms that help ward against pain or evil. But…every so often, she won’t deny having crafted something a bit…devious. A poison for a deserving throat, or an acid to melt through hard-crafted locks over treasuries. Not her favorite things to do, but…one must eat. And to eat, one must have coin.
While the forests she calls home are plentiful, and her house built herself in a place few can find it (let alone scaredy cat statesmen who won’t dare venture so far to collect her dues), Rin still has expenses. She can hardly do everything for charity, though her large heart indulges when it feels it must. Hers is oft a cruel world, after all. She does what she can to lighten it.
Hood of her cloak drawn over her head, she weaves her way through the rumbling masses. The markets are in full swing, people yelling and bartering for this, that, and the other thing. The sounds of animals brought to be sold join the cacophony, and all in all, it’s a block of chaos.
Exactly what she wants.
Guards, after all, have to keep close eyes on the daily gathering to ensure nothing is stolen, illegal, or being traded without proper taxes atop them. Which means they aren’t as watchful elsewhere.
Slipping into an alley, Rin keeps her face hidden as she meets with another shady figure. Ruddy eyes and flyaway black hair peek out from beneath the hem of another hood.
“You have it?” Rin ask quietly, trying to look nonchalant.
“So long as you have my coin.”
“Of course.” From a belt at her waist she draws the pouch, which jingles pleasantly with gold.
The other woman’s eyes alight, accepting before handing over a parcel. “Do be careful with it. Getting you another won’t be so easy…and I’d have to charge you double.”
“Double?”
“I’ll bore you with the tale later, but you’ll not get me to run such an errand again on so light a payment. There’s a concealment charm you’ll have to break: thought it wise in case you’re checked. Until then, it’ll just look like some spare fabric.”
“I’ve been meaning to make myself a new blouse,” Rin replies blasely.
Giving a subtle nod, the other witch exits the way Rin came, and Rin in turn takes the other mouth out. Package tucked under her arm, she winds her way back around to the eastern gate of the village.
Home again, home again.
The cobble gives way to dirt, thankfully dry after a week of no rain. That doesn’t rid it of the deep wells from uncounted wagons, but Rin keeps to the center, shifting her path only when encountering another traveler. A few miles pass, and then she takes a trail off to the north. This she follows a ways before cutting west again to a path barely discernible to the naked eye.
Just as she likes it.
Here the trees of the forest seem to grow ever thicker, dense foliage blotting out all but the most determined light. Ivy hangs in thick sheets from sturdy branches, and after a long, silent trek, Rin waves a hand.
Heeding her call, the flora shifts to reveal a small, yet cozy cabin. Plants of all shapes, shades, and sizes grow in what looks to be chaos around it, but Rin knows every stalk and stem. A ways behind her dwelling, the chuckling of a brook can be heard.
And what a curious dwelling it is.
Formed from wood, rather than cut…it’s been grown. Several trunks meld together to form walls, the roof a conglomerate of branches and leaves thick enough to waylay any rain. The floor is flattened roots, walk to a shining after so many years of her pacing and passing. Even a hearth crackles warmly, the wood of its belly and chimney simply made so dense with magic, it can’t begin to burn.
And even inside there’s a plethora of plants. Every shelf and surface is home to bottles, planters, crystals, vials. Several of the stones glow brightly to illuminate her space, colored by the gemstone that houses the werelights.
It’s a strange, almost alien place. But for Rin, it suits her perfectly.
Clearing a space on her table, she sets her package, unraveling the string around it and finding - as Kurenai warned - a simple folded stack of velvety fabric.
To most, the charm would be completely undetectable. But Rin is both aware…and talented in magics herself. Taking a moment to feel out the particular incantation, she breaks it with a few murmured words.
The fabric is no more. In its place is a pelt.
A rather particular pelt.
Grinning widely, Rin runs fingers over the scaly hide. As she does, the pigments change to match her skin, blending perfectly.
Exactly what she’s been looking for: a chameleocan skin. A rather peculiar beast with a marvelous adaptation: it can blend into any environment and become practically invisible. While not perfect, it’s far more stable than a cloaking spell, and has no mana cost.
All she has to do with it now is tan and shape it into a cloak, and she’ll finally be able to prowl about unseen. At least, to most eyes.
Giddy with excitement, she takes it outside, giving it one last wash in the river before stretching it on a tanning rack to dry and finish curing. Admiring her handiwork, her smile vanishes as a sound reaches her ears.
A voice.
Spinning around, she tries to place it. Still a ways off, it’s nonetheless far closer than Rin would like anyone to be. She’s not expecting any guests…which means this person isn’t welcome.
Subtly, she begins tightening the ivy around her little homestead, doing her best to further hide it. Creeping quietly, she listens.
Another cry. Still too far too make out words, but…she can hear the tone. It sounds desperate, like…a call for help.
Though there’s a reflexive want to go investigate - someone might be in trouble! - her worry is tempered by experience. Often times, such a plea is a charade. A lie to draw in unaware travelers before your throat and coin purse are slit.
Weighing her options, Rin pulls her lip between her teeth before parting the ivy. Either way…she needs to make sure her home isn’t discovered. Easier to do the further away she keeps this person. A woman, judging by the pitch of the cries. For a ways she steps carefully, pausing every so often to listen for the voice. Once she’s close enough, she peers around trunks before finally catching sight of them.
Whoever they are, they’ve donned a silvery-white cloak. That immediately draws Rin’s brow. Something of that make looks costly…what would someone able to afford finery like that be doing this far out in the woods? Their gate shuffles, occasionally stumbling as they call out for help. Spinning in a slow circle, taking in the endless swaths of the same trees and undergrowth, they eventually turn to face Rin in her hiding place.
They certainly appear feminine, from what she can see. The cloak covers a gown of downy grey that sweeps the forest floor. It, too, seems fine in make. Along their front spill waves of white hair…curious. And the expression on their pale face - seemingly even paler with fright - looks far too deeply etched to be rehearsed.
Something more is going on here.
Magic humming at the ready along her fingertips, Rin cautiously steps out of hiding. “…lost?”
Sharpening their focus on her, the stranger stumbles back a few steps, gait still quite warped. Staring a long moment, they dare to ask, “…you…you’re the woman who was in the village this morning, are you not? You’re a witch!”
The words, by reflex, earn a small flinch. Typically they’re thrown with disdain…but this one utters them with a desperate hope. How did they spot her, let alone figure what she was? “…I’m learned in magic, yes.”
“Please…you have to help me. I…” Looking stricken for words, they ask, “…may we speak somewhere…private?”
“Why?”
“I…I’ve need of help regarding a curse. I…” They turn to glance around. Surely the woods are empty, but they seem fearful to risk being seen. “…I can’t let anyone know.”
Still wary, Rin considers the request a moment before murmuring, “…follow me.”
They trudge back toward the cabin, and Rin - taking the lead - continues to listen. Her companion’s gait is still…off. Not quite a limp, but not even steps, either. Almost like…
Parting the ivy, she lets them in, seeing the wonder on their face. “…try not to touch anything. Some of these are toxic,” she warns, gesturing to the plants.
Once inside, she sets a kettle to boil water, glancing up to see her guest lingering uncertainly in the doorway. “…you can come in.”
“…thank you.” Taking a few cautious steps, they offer, “…my name is Ryū.”
“…Rin.”
“I…I know this may be rather forward, given that it’s me asking for your help, but…may I ask for your silence? If anyone else were to know what I’m to tell you…”
“I don’t vomit up secrets,” Rin assures her. “So long as you’re not going to harm anyone else -”
“Oh, no no! Never that! You see, I…” A weary sigh. “…I’m of a royal line. Of a land north of here. I’m…their princess.”
Brow furrowing, Rin tries to think. She mostly keeps her dealings to this land - she knows little of any others. She barely knows her own royal family, given how low she tries to keep her profile. “…you said you’ve a question about a curse?”
“I…yes. A few weeks ago, a curse was laid upon me. I’ve been searching for help ever since. While magic is not viewed so…poorly in my homeland as it is here to the south, I couldn’t let anyone see me like…like this.”
A brown brow perks. “…like…?”
Hesitating, Ryū wilts with a sigh. “…I…I hope it doesn’t cause you alarm.”
“I’ve seen a great many things. I assure you, little can shock me.”
One last pause, and then Ryū begins to remove her traveling gear. Gloved hands lift the hood from her head, laying the cloak atop a chair. Rin’s eyes slowly widen the more she removes, until she’s left in little more than her skivvies.
From her temples grow short horns of a moonstone color. In patches along her limbs are silver and white scales. In fact, her entire left leg is distorted, looking more like a beast’s in its proportions than a human’s.
…that explains her gait.
And from her spine as she turns, posture clearly ashamed, is the beginnings of a scaly tail topped with white hair. Strange lumps stretch the skin over her shoulder blades, as though something lurks beneath the surface, ready to burst.
“…by the gods…”
“It…i-it’s been slowly taking me over. At first it was just a few scales…t-then my back started aching, and my leg shifted in shape…! I…I’m turning into a -!”
“A dragon.” Moving, Rin walks in slow circles around her, expression both horrified…and yet fathomlessly curious. “…do you know who cursed you?”
“I…I do - he’s a member of my mother’s court. I’ve always had my suspicions about him, but his influence is too great to simply be ousted. He…” Her face turns aside, expression pained. “…he’s nearly thrice my age, but has been…attempting to court me. I know he only wants to sneak his roots into my kingdom. I rejected him again and again, as softly as I could. It seems…he realized I’d never have him, and has decided to remove me instead.”
“Did you speak to your mother?”
“I couldn’t…! Before I could find her, I’d already started changing. I was scared, and unsure what to do, so…I-I fled.”
“…you should pen her a letter. Tell her what has happened, and why you left. She needs to know, and your absence may be having drastic consequences, m’lady.”
Ryū gives a sorrowful nod. “Can…can you help me…?”
The witch heaves a heavy sigh. “…transformations aren’t my forte,” she admits. “Nor are curses. Magic has many branches…and mine lie mostly in flora. It’s rare they can attain such results…or counteract them.”
“Do…do you know of anyone else who might be able to aid me…?”
A pause to think. Kurenai is skilled in illusionary magics…Anko in poisons and beast taming. But this isn’t one that needs to be calmed. “Not personally, no…and I fear by the time I find one, it may be too late. How long has it been?”
“Um…” She thinks. “…three weeks, perhaps? I…I’ve not tracked the time since I fled.”
“Why come here where magic is harder to find?”
“I didn’t want to be recognized. If my people knew their next queen might become a beast, surely they would panic…!”
“And they’ll not panic with you simply up and disappearing?”
“…I…”
Rin sighs. “…fear can rob anyone of their sense. I understand. But we really should alert your mother. This man that cursed you may very well have other schemes waiting in his sleeves…if he’s not implemented them already.”
“Yes…you’re right.”
“Here…let’s get you redressed, and then we’ll find some parchment and ink.”
Once a warning letter is written, Rin calls upon a feathered friend to bear it. “They’ll be swift.”
Seated at Rin’s table (which grows right up out of the floor), Ryū braces her brow in a hand, eyes weary. “I don’t know where else to go, what else to do…”
“Does your mother not employ a court mage?”
“Several…and he’s one of them. I feared they may reject my claims and protect him as one of their own. I could never have asked…”
“Mm…a fair point.” Sitting opposite the princess, Rin rubs at her chin, racking her brain. While she’s heard of curses like these before…she’s never seen them for herself. Nor does she know anything about them. Their casting, their effects…or their cures. Nor do any of her own types of magic immediately come to mind when it comes to a possible remedy. Transformation magics are their own branch, one she’s never really breached.
Standing, she goes to her bookshelf, looking over her collection of tomes. A finger trails over their spines, trying to find a title that might at least hint at a possible solution. She looks among her collections of flora, stretching her imagination to possible uses among theirs that might help.
…and then an idea starts to bloom.
A risky, terrible idea.
Biting her lip, Rin goes back to her shelf and pulls out a glossary of plants and herbs. Flipping through the weathered pages, she finds the proper entry, finger tracing along the text. As she thought she remembered, there’s no mention of human ingestion…just uses on blades to aid in battles…
“…have you thought of something…?”
“I…” A pause. “…I don’t know…in all honesty, it’s not a thought I’ve ever entertained before…” Sitting once more, she lays the tome atop the table, turning it round so Ryū can read. “…this is dragonsbane. Typically used to concoct an oil you coat a blade with to better your chances at slaying a dragon. In short, it reacts very…negatively to a dragon’s biology.”
She then flips a great chunk through the book to another page near the end. “And this…is wolfsbane. It has similar effects, but on werewolves. However…” A digit points to a small paragraph near the bottom. “It’s also used, in a far more diluted form, to help control werewolf transformations. Werewolves, of course, only take that form during full moons…and yours is instead happening slowly, until - I’m willing to assume - you take a fully dragonic form…or perhaps one like the old draconids, but they’re long extinct…”
At Ryū’s curious look, she expounds, “A specie of dragon that walked upright, and could speak. They were hunted after a war broke out, and it’s assumed there’s no more of them left. That might be more like what you’re facing, given that your anatomy has only changed slightly, like your leg.”
Back up she gets, on a whirlwind of thought now. “I’ve made wolfsbane potions for a very long time, for a dear friend of mine afflicted with the bite of a werewolf. I’m intimately familiar with it. But…I have no idea if the same principle could be applied to dragonsbane. I’ve never heard of it done. Then again…I’ve never heard of someone being cursed exactly as you have: to become a dragon, I mean. Werewolves aren’t cursed, per se…”
Hands trace up to the wolfsbane plant, and then over to dragonsbane. “…I’ll have to do some tests. Because if I’m wrong…that potion might kill you. If I make it too strong, and it affects you too potently…”
Ryū pales, looking quite frightened for a moment. Head bowing, eyes flicker over the table before closing with a soft sigh, resolute. “…well…I’ve nowhere else to turn. No other leads to follow. Whatever you need me to do in order to see this through, I’ll do. It’s either we take this chance…or I certainly turn into a monster.”
“Well, it depends on your view of dragons…or possibly draconids, if that’s more what you’re headed toward.” Rin then fetches her kettle, finally boiling, and begins to make tea. “In some cultures - mostly those more…remote and perhaps a bit…outdated - dragons are seen as sacred beings. Almost akin to gods. Then in other places, they’re simply nuisances. Monster, then, is a relative term. If it does fail, maybe you could go find a land where you’d be welcome. Possibly even worshipped.”
At that, the princess blanches. “I’d…rather we simply find the cure.”
“Well, of course. But that’s a better alternative than death, isn’t it?”
“…to never again see my home, or my mother? Being held aloft by strangers? I don’t know…”
Well, Rin can hardly change this young lady’s priorities. “…I’ll write to my friend. Ask him to come. Maybe he’ll have some insight into how you can best handle this. I don’t know if your…conditions have similar enough roots, but it can’t hurt.”
Another bird is sent with the invitation, and the pair get to work. Rin begins asking all sorts of questions: her routine, her diet, her birth sigils. Anything and everything that might have an impact on how her body handles the curse, and its progression.
“Curses do tend to act most slowly in those who are larger,” Rin notes, taking measurements. Ryū is returned to her undergarments, a bit pink as the witch gets all manner of personal with her person. “You’re rather tall, so that might be helping slow the transformation some. It obviously can’t stop it entirely, but it helps.”
Looking to some of the princess’ scales under a magnifying glass, Rin compares them to a few dragon scales she has on hand for potions and charms. Ryū’s are considerably smoother, and quite a bit smaller, but appear to be made of the same material. “Hm…well, given all your measurements, compared to the apparent progression of the curse…I do think it’s safe to say you’re not going to change into a full-fledged dragon. If you were, your anatomy would be changing far faster, given the rest of your symptoms.”
“Is…is that a good thing?”
“…I’m not sure.” Rin taps her glass against her chin, thinking. “…it does make you more similar to a werewolf. They too are anthropomorphic creatures, just…another breed. And also directly correlating to a celestial body. You, however, seem to be taking a permanent form.”
The word ‘permanent’ clearly doesn’t sit well, and Ryū can’t help a small whine of worry.
“But, if the dragonsbane potion does work in a similar way, then…it would simply be a matter of ingesting it more regularly. Rather than just on the worst nights of the moon cycle, you’d likely have to take it once a day, depending on how safe the maximum dosage is, and how potent it can be without harming you. All things we’ll need to test. Very carefully, of course.”
The princess gives a slow nod, brow knitted.
“Don’t worry, m’lady. I’ll do all I can.”
“…I know.”
That evening, there’s a call from beyond the ivy. “Oi!”
“Oh, that’s Kakashi.” Abandoning her work, Rin moves to let him in. “Thanks for coming.”
“Sure. Though I’m not sure what use I’ll be.”
“Neither do I, but I thought it wouldn’t hurt.” Taking him inside, Rin gestures. “Ryū, this is Kakashi. Kakashi, Ryū. She’s a princess.”
Grey brows lift in surprise. One dark eye looks her over, the other clouded with blindness, an angry scar cutting through the lid. “Wasn’t aware I’d be meeting royalty.”
“I’m hardly a proper princess at the moment,” Ryū offers somberly. At Rin’s request, she shows the scales on an arm, and then blushingly lifts her skirt to show her leg.
Squatted to a lower level, Kakashi rubs his chin thoughtfully as he observes the limb. “It’s definitely the same structure as what I change to. Just, uh…scaly rather than furry.”
“As I thought…have you ever come across this while traveling?” At Ryū’s curious look, Rin expounds, “Kakashi is a monster hunter. Rather ironic, eh Kakashi?”
He just grunts in response, still thinking. “…can’t say I have. I’ve only ever had to face one dragon…and thankfully not for very long. Never seen one shaped like this.”
“Nor have I. I’ve read about the draconids, but…that’s ancient history by now.”
“Interesting that someone would choose it as a curse, isn’t it?”
“There are dragons in my homeland,” Ryū offers, “but…none like you say. We are…neutral towards them. They can be quite wise, and have aided us in the past. But we mostly try to stay out of one another’s way.”
“Out of a dragon’s way is the best way to be,” Kakashi agrees dryly.
“Well…it’s getting late now,” Rin offers. “You should get some rest. You can take my bunk.” A hand points up to a small loft.
“Oh no, I couldn’t -”
“I insist. I’ve slept in worse places for worse reasons,” Rin offers with a wry smile.
Looking sheepish, Ryū accepts, climbing the ladder up and disappearing.
The pair below watch her go before looking to each other. With a nod of her head, Rin gestures them both outside. Out they walk to stand on the riverbank.
“…so?”
“…I don’t know,” Rin muses softly. “I’ve never heard of using the plant this way, but…it has the same basic properties as wolfsbane. There has to be a way to mirror its effects, but…”
“Testing will be dangerous.”
“…yes. And if she has to consume it every day, she’ll need a steady supply. I wish there was a way to just…rid her of it completely. But I don’t know how. Or if it’s even possible without the proper countercurse. And I have no way of knowing how to do that, given I don’t know the curse that started it.”
“…I could always go nab the guy.”
Rin gives him a pointed look. “I’d like to keep this from turning into an international incident, if you just go up there and kidnap a court mage.”
“I could explain.”
“We’ve sent a letter to her mother…perhaps we’ll hear word back. For now, though…time is my biggest enemy. If she finishes changing, there might be no going back. There’s so much unknown…”
“You’ll figure it out,” Kakashi assures her. “You always do.”
Rin doesn’t reply, not so sure.
The pair sleep downstairs, Rin waking with the dawn. Letting the princess sleep, she goes about prep work to begin making the first attempts at the potion. Thankfully she has a decent supply of dragonsbane, but…she might want to start propagating more. Out in her garden, she starts encouraging new seedlings to sprout.
By the time she returns, Ryū is back on the ground floor. “Sleep well?”
The small grimace she gives in return speaks well enough.
“Well…we’d best get started.”
Using her data of Ryū’s physiology against the wolfsbane potion, Rin starts calculating conversions. Even then, she begins with a fraction of potency. The brew takes nearly three weeks to properly simmer, so in the meantime…there’s little else to do but talk. They exchange stories of their pasts, their families, their friends. Strolls are taken within the woods and along the riverbanks, gaps slowly filled in their knowledge of each other. Little by little, Rin gets to know more about the mysterious princess and the lands she comes from. In turn, she reveals things long-buried about herself…things she hasn’t dared to think of in years.
Like a vine-covered window slowly pried open, light starts to shine through into her solitude. The air starts to clear form the years of idle dust. And things start to seem…different.
Rin starts to realize how…alone she’s felt all this time. And how much company her guest has proven to be.
…she’ll be sad to see her go.
“My name actually means dragon in the old tongue,” Ryū muses one afternoon as Rin puts the finishing touches on the first batch. “I wonder if that’s where he got his inspiration from…”
“It’s possible,” the witch muses, carefully tending to her cauldron. While wolfsbane is always a deep green, this concoction is a noxious purple. “…all right, I think we’re ready. Now, I can test it on your skin, first. See if you have any reaction before we go pouring it down your gullet.”
Ryū nods, baring an arm as Rin carefully takes a small spoonful, letting it cool before a drop is spared to a patch of scales.
It hisses, smoking and bubbling for a fraction of a second. Then, after a pause…a scale pops off onto the floor with a clatter.
Both women stare at it before looking up. “…um…”
“…it might be a bit strong,” Rin offers nervously. “I’ll…try diluting it a bit.”
“Maybe…maybe it’s something we should apply topically…? Rather than, um…internally?”
Rin nibbles her lip in thought. “…let me try one more thing.”
Baring Ryūs back, Rin takes another drop and lets it dribble onto one of the protrusions on her shoulder blade: something she can only assume will later tear and reveal wings, as the base of her spine has done for her new tail.
Immediately, the skin begins to burn.
“Ah…ah!” Curling up in pain, Ryū’s hands scramble back to try and reach the sensation. “I-it’s like…acid! R-Rin!”
Panicking, Rin summons water from a nearby bucket and tries to wash the residue away. It steams upon contact, and she can’t help but blanch at the hole left behind. Ryū’s muscles twitch and flutter in lingering pain, and Rin just…stares at the infant fifth limb now uncovered, like a lanced boil.
“That…t-that didn’t work,” she notes, tone a bit weak in residual shock.
Shaking and biting back tears, Ryū looks over. “…is…is it bad?”
“…I’ll tend to it.”
Mixing up a poultice for burns, Rin carefully applies it to the melted flesh, covering it with clean cloth. “…I’m so sorry…”
“You didn’t know.”
“But the scale, I -!”
“It’s okay, Rin.” Ryū gives her a shaking smile that doesn’t reach her eyes. “You…you tried. Maybe floral magic just…isn’t the way to go.”
“But…!” The witch deflates, frustrated tears in her eyes. “…I don’t know any other methods…! And I don’t know any witches who specialize in curses, we’re - we’re running out of time!”
“It’s okay. I think…I think I knew this wouldn’t work.” Ryū’s expression shifts to a somber acceptance. “Surely there’s no stronger curse than one born out of scorned love…even if he never really loved me. All he wanted was what he could take from me… and now he’s taken everything. My mother has no other daughters. She’s too old to bear another. The crown will have to find another path, and…maybe he’ll find a way to take it with me removed. Maybe this was his plan all along…”
Her own face defeated, Rin mulls all that over. Part of her is so angry, she has half a mind to drag Kakashi back here, march up to the north, and duel that bastard herself with him as her second. He couldn’t have her…so he’s turned her into a beast no one could love. He ended her line, and…he…
…wait.
Perking up, Rin scarcely dares to breathe. No…that can’t…but could it…? Looking to Ryū, whose face is turned aside with shame, she looks over the princess’ form. There’s been more changes since her arrival. Her horns are longer, ears taking a more bestial shape: long and hollow (and currently drooped in sorrow). Scales coat more than half her arms and abdomen, both legs now inhumanly distorted. Even her tail is longer, thicker. To anyone in their right mind, she’s a horror to look at. Something to be feared.
…but…?
It’s a rather cliche solution to curses. One often used simply because it’s so glaringly specific. It has to be pure, unmatched, and without any pretense or force. And given all of the lined up circumstances - she’s ugly, now removed from a royal line with no other branches, given up on by the man who sought to use her - it only makes sense.
“Ryū.”
Turning to face her, the princess stiffens with widened eyes as Rin takes the front of her gown in her curled fingers. For a moment they search one another’s gazes before Rin closes the gap, and locks their lips.
As she does, she recalls all the hours of talking, laughing, secret sharing they’ve done since Ryū has arrived. How Rin’s inherent loneliness has been lifted. How much warmer and brighter her little cabin has felt with two people within it, bound by a common goal.
It’s then Rin admits to herself that she’s grown quite fond of this cursed princess.
It’s then she admits that she loves her.
…but it can’t be one-sided if this is going to work.
Still tense with surprise, Ryū stares as Rin kisses her with closed eyes. Heat blooms in her face. She…but…what…? Her heart flutters in her chest, a warmth spreading from her mouth to every end of her nerves. Then slowly she relaxes, lids sliding closed, returning the kiss softly.
With a clatter like a box of marbles spilled upon the floor, scales shed in a torrent. Magic flares and ruffles at their clothes and locks. Horns drop from her head, flesh rippling as time seems to reverse, anatomy shifting back into human until a flawless princess slowly opens her eyes.
Rin looks up, her own gaze softened with the fog of affection, before they both turn to look at the mess. Lifting her slip, Ryū stares at her legs. Pale, fleshy, human legs. She wiggles her toes, and then breaks into a torrent of giggles.
“You…you did it! You really did it!” Eyes starry with unabashed joy, she launches forward and embraces Rin, who squeaks and topples over. Laughing and crying, Ryū then spares a moment to kiss her again, butting their brows as she looks to the witch adoringly. “…you saved me,” she murmurs, tone soft with gratitude and affection.
Face flushed and eyes wide, Rin lingers in shock for a moment before giving a curt, nervous laugh. “I…I guess I did…didn’t I?”
Still beaming, Ryū giggles a bit more, sitting up and looking around at the mess of scales. “…well, I guess you won’t have to buy any more dragon scales for a while, will you?”
Rin then does the same, and snorts. “…I guess not.”
They sweep up the silver and white shards, Ryū carefully picking up the pair of horns. “Wow…these are actually really pretty.”
“I agree. I’ll have to make them into something.”
Setting them atop the table, Ryū looks to Rin thoughtfully. “…so…now what do we do…?”
“Well…I guess you get to go home now, m’lady. Hopefully your mother has taken care of the bastard who cursed you…though we may want to be cautious until we hear back.”
To the witch’s surprise, something falls in Ryū’s expression.
“…you…do want to go home, don’t you?”
“I…I do. And I must. But…” Somber, demure eyes glance up. “…I wonder if…you would come with me…”
“Me?”
“It was love, wasn’t it? That broke the curse?”
Rin suddenly turns sheepish. “I…well, yes - but -”
“I don’t want to leave that behind.”
At a loss for words, Rin…isn’t sure what to say.
“I know you love this place, and…if you want to stay, I cannot fault you. But…if you were to come with me, you wouldn’t have to hide…! You could practice your craft without fear!”
“But…you’re a princess! Surely you need to marry a prince, bear an heir -!”
At that, Ryū laughs. “I can bear an heir without marrying a prince. My line, as I’ve told you, is matriarchal. We don’t need a king. I could very well make a witch my queen if it’s what I want,” she adds coyly. “…and…if that is what the witch wants.”
Rin flounders. “…I…I-I don’t know…I’ve lived here so long, and -”
“I don’t expect an answer now,” Ryū assures her, holding up a placating hand. “…but I should go soon. My mother is surely eager to see me…as I am to see her.”
“…I’ll send Kakashi with you. He’ll keep you safe, especially if things are still…unsettled there. And…I’ll take time to think.”
Ryū smiles softly. “…very well.”
The next day, set with supplies and with the werewolf at her side, Ryū stands outside the ivy. Silvers lock with umbers, unnamed emotions flitting through both.
“…be careful,” Rin murmurs.
“I will be. I’ll write soon.”
“Okay…”
Drawing her hood, Ryū then leans in, giving the little witch a gentle kiss. “…I will see you again.”
Flushed pink (and ignoring Kakashi’s snickering), Rin manages a jerking nod. “…until then.” Watching them go, she feels something in her chest sink with every step. The impulsive part of her - a very large part, at present - almost goes running after her.
…but for now…she has thinking to do.
It’s not every day you fall in love with a princess, after all.