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In a certain area of a certain forest, a screaming elf swerved dangerously through trees on a large green dragon, who had a mind of its own. “BAKKIIII, STOP, DAMMITTTT!” She tried to scream sense to the dragon she couldn’t gain control over. She pulled at its scales and tried to redirect its body, but unfortunately for her, her dragon was loose on the run.
Their figure was hidden by the greenish fog residing in the forest, though the noise they caused was more than enough to make up for lack of sight. The scaled green dragon dipped a little, now crashing through the canopy of the trees rather than avoiding them. The elf onboard was desperately trying to control her dragon, though quickly switched to trying to duck and avoid the onslaught of leaves and twigs instead. “FUUCCKKKKKKKKKKK!”
~
In another certain area of a certain forest, a young maiden was rushing through the trees, clutching her long ball gown in her hands. She was no ordinary maiden, though. She was the runaway princess of a kingdom beside this forest, escaping away from an arranged marriage she was supposed to go through a couple of days from today. She was quite the clever girl, being able to escape the kingdom’s watchful eyes, though her flair for the dramatics had slowed her down. She’d chosen to run away to the forest in a ballgown to dramatize the moment, though she quickly came to regret her decision as her dress kept ripping on the bushes she crashed through.
She stopped suddenly, panting. She was never one for the athletics, so she was not very much in shape, I may add. Her slim physique came from natural grace, if it could be called that. She decided then and there that if her dress were to rip everywhere and leave clues to her whereabouts throughout the forest, she may as well rip off her entire dress now. She grabbed a stick and began the ripping.
~
The princess had now resumed her running through the forest, red soil under her boots, maneuvering her way around the moss and eyes scanning the tall thick trees protruding out from around her. Only a small portion of her previously long skirt remained. Her problematic crinoline had also been left behind, so her ragged and soiled white skirt fluttered everywhere while she ran. She had no idea where she was going, though she considered anything better than marrying some foul aged man she had no interest in.
She paused once more, straining her ears for a noise she thought she had heard. She soon had no need to continue straining her ears, for the sound she was seeking filled her eardrums completely. Crashing and yelling, accompanied by the sound of large amounts of air being shoved out of its place. Not a moment later, the source of her bewilderment appeared before her very eyes. A large, green, scaly dragon. Its shade of green was deeper than the forests’s mist, which resembled somewhat a half-spoiled lemon. Its magnificent wings were spread wide around it, and its eyes locked onto hers.
All of a sudden, the beast dived towards her. The disheleved princess stood paralyzed. You see, the princess had never had any interest in the world of the living. She’d always been fascinated with the concept of death, reading books about it and whatnot. It was the one thing she could say she truly desired, though she had always wanted to die in a beautiful way. Go out with a spark.
She had never desired to die by the hands of a beast such as the one that was aiming for her, but she found no complaints. She made eye contact with the dragon, when she heard a sudden “Oh fuck no!” followed by movement on the dragon’s back. She concentrated her eyes around the area, when she saw - wait, what?
A figure sprang out from behind the dragon’s head, a petite elf. It threw itself partly on top of the dragon’s head, covering most of it — the princess noticed the dragon wasn’t as big as she originally thought — and used her hands to aggressively grab the two sides of the dragon’s head, shoving it to the princess’s right. The dragon screeched, body following its head. It shook its head free from the figure’s grip, but it was already too late. They were already too close to the ground to do any real harm upon the figure in case it fell. The screeching beast and the screaming figure crash-landed right beside Dazai, missing her feet by mere inches. The force of their flying knocked her backwards, though she paid no heed. Her eyes stayed glued to the dragon whose head was now continuing to fly through the soil, pausing only when it had created a considerably lengthy, and honestly rather deep trail behind its lying body, its wings having been tucked to its side. The figure – an elf – slumped off of the dragon before pulling out the sword by her waist and hitting her dragon with the blunt side squat in the center of its head. “Arahabaki, you fucking pice of shit!”
She seemed to remember the person whom her dragon had just almost killed and rushed over to Dazai’s side, grabbing her arms and pulling her up quickly, patting her on the back.
“Dude, I’m so sorr-”
She paused, eyes widening as she looked at Dazai, having just recognized whom she was speaking to.
She pointed an accusatory finger at the princess. “You- you’re-”
The princess interrupted her to begin dusting herself off. “Dazai Osamu, in the flesh. Try to keep that pet of yours on a leash, eh?” She threw the elf a smile and curtsied with what was left of her dirty skirt.
“Holy…” Now it was the petite elf’s turn to stand speechless. Perhaps her imagination was running rampant and she was imagining all the trouble she would go through for having nearly just killed the princess of the Dazai Kingdom. Perhaps she was wondering why said princess was alone and battered in the middle of the Forest of Cintra. Perhaps she was embarrassed at the noticeable height difference between the two.
“Holy crap,” The elf began, “Are you lost or some shi- or something?” She corrected her language mid-sentence, keeping in mind whom she was speaking to.
Dazai raised her chin up, trying to look as official as she could. She was a master of all faces. No matter what she was feeling, no matter the circumstances, she could wear any mask she wanted, and play whichever role she chose, whether it be flustered, grateful, happy, or inviting. It was a tool one learned when one was the child of a kingdom. However, as a woman, she had almost no real power in her kingdom, even with her status. She refused to marry away the little bit left of power she had.
She now plugged in that power when she asked the other elf, “What is your name?”
The elf looked at her cautiously for a moment before straightening up her spine. Pride shone in her eyes when she responded,
“Nakahara Chuuya.”
And neither of them had known it at the time, nor the little elf’s dragon that had risen and stood loyally behind her owner, nor the tiny bugs and animals that had scurried around to watch the pair, nor the elves in Chuuya’s tribe, nor anybody in Dazai’s kingdom, that the two women would grow to be a pair unlike anything that the Forest of Cintra had ever seen.
Only the tiny buds blooming out of the trail of destruction Arahabaki had left knew.