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Chapter Text

Somewhere far away from humanity, above the wide and dry desert flew a long, lone shadow. Wherever it would turn its head, all it could see was sand and more sand. The being sighed in defeat.

Yu Wenzhou wondered how long it had been since he’d left his nesting place. For how long had he been flying around aimlessly in desperation to see that little glimpse of blue. His salvation.

Yu Wenzhou felt a breeze of wind hitting his face, tingling his long whiskers. The cool air was a welcomed feeling, but taking into consideration his body’s condition, it was but a momentary relief. For days now he had felt how the scales of his skin dried up and were now starting to fall off. The claws on his feet were crumbling apart.

When was the last time he had seen any water?

The relief that came with the wind was soon gone and Yu Wenzhou was left with the burning sun as his only friend and companion. As his thoughts wandered around, Yu Wenzhou couldn’t help but to think how much of a mistake it had been to leave his previous nesting place. At that time he hadn’t imagined exactly how difficult it would be to find any source of water.

The world had changed drastically during his time of isolation.

Ever since the beginning of humanity, the four great dragons had inhabited the world, being worshipped by the mortal. But alongside adoration and respect, humans started to show greed and wanted to create a god of their own.

Succeeding in their avarice plans, the birth of the emerald dragon Wang Jiexi brought forth chaos into the world. Uniting their powers the four great dragons were able to restore peace, but soon after the golden dragon Ye Xiu disappeared. Following suit, the rest of the dragons decided to retire from the eyes of humans as well.

Yu Wenzhou, who was called the azure dragon among humans due to his blue scales, had eventually decided to settle down on an island in the middle of a big isolated lake. He had his peace for a couple centuries, until humans had decided to expand further and further, conquering new lands. They eventually settled down right beside the lake, surrounding Yu Wenzhou from all sides.

Having not interacted with humans for such a long time, Yu Wenzhou felt threatened by their sudden appearance. One day he finally decided it was time to leave his nesting place and search for a new home where he could settle down.

But that’s where the problem was.

At the time of abandoning his home, Yu Wenzhou had not expected it would take this long for him to find an unoccupied lake away from the humanfolk. He had been so desperately trying to keep himself away from human living areas that it had been months since he’d last seen a proper lake - and for a week now he had found himself stranded in the middle of a desert that seemed to have no end or edge to it.

Without water, his body had almost dried up and Yu Wenzhou could feel how all the power was getting drained away from his body. Once his powers completely ran out, he wouldn’t be able to retain his dragon form. Yu Wenzhou was perfectly aware that in human form it would be even harder to find a source of water.

Was this the end of him?

He was battling against the clock. Yu Wenzhou knew it.

Was this really going to be how his life would end?

As he felt the remainder of his strength getting drained away, Yu Wenzhou’s eyes got droopy and his vision blurred. If he had known from the start that it would all go down like this, maybe he would’ve done things differently. Maybe he should’ve been more courageous and approached areas where humans lived. Maybe he could’ve taken a better route or turned back. Maybe it would've been such a bad idea to remain on the island and get discovered by humans. Most definitely he should’ve never entered the desert.

His thoughts clearing out and his body twitching, Yu Wenzhou snapped out of it as he had felt his eyes close down. In his trance he had started unwillingly descending and lost a lot of height, heading towards the ground. Yu Wenzhou pulled himself quickly together and was planning on rising up again, towards the clouds, but something caught his eyes.

Was that really a lake?

Was it really a lake of water he saw down there?

Not willing to second guess himself, Yu Wenzhou gathered together every last ounce of strength he had and headed towards the direction of the blue surface in his vision. He knew it was dangerous to trust his eyes in the heat of the desert, it could all just be a mirage trick, but he had no other option.

Either he would now discover water, or he would die. If finding water was an option, Yu Wenzhou was willing to take the risk here.

Thankfully, it was indeed water. Yu Wenzhou was so relieved that his body relaxed immediately, having run out of gas. The flight had drained him out of all of his powers that he didn’t even realise that he turned to his human form as soon as his feet hit the ground.

All he could think of was getting a sip of water.

“Hey! You better not…!”

Yu Wenzhou could hear someone yelling, but was so occupied in his own thoughts and thirst that he completely ignored it. All he could think about was getting that little sip of water. His hands shaking he dipped them into the water and brought them close to his face.

“Are you deaf or just an idiot?! Don’t drink the water, it’s poisonous!”

The last thing Yu Wenzhou felt was the relief of finally having something wet touch his lips. After that his consciousness started fading away. He was already willing to yield to the fatigue when he saw something.

Was that a person running towards him?

Had he ended up finding human territory in the middle of all this desert?

But Yu Wenzhou was too tired to think.

He closed his eyes, falling into deep slumber.

Chapter Text

Taking a deep breath, Yu Wenzhou opened his eyes. Everything was blurry. He blinked a couple times to clear it, and then noticed the cloth wall and ceiling surrounding him. He realised that he was inside a tent. 

Yu Wenzhou tried to move his lower body, but as soon as he did, pain shot up his legs. He yelped, but his throat was too dry and no noise came out. Instead all that could be heard was a quiet chirp. 

“You’re finally awake.” Someone seemed to react to Yu Wenzhou’s cries and rushed to his side. “Do- do not move yet! You just drank poisoned water. I’m surprised you’re even able to move after drinking it! Most end up paralyzed or dead.” 

Yu Wenzhou turned towards the person talking to him, blinking a couple times to fix his vision. Unlike the flowy light robes he was used to seeing on humans, this one was not only wearing multiple layers of clothing, but the outermost was leather and fur. He must’ve been so hot. He was also wearing ornaments on his head that probably belonged to his tribe. 

Yu Wenzhou didn’t recognize these patterns. Either he had never been west enough to meet this tribe, or the world had changed enough during his isolation for new tribes to be born. 

“Wh- who are you?” Yu Wenzhou managed to whisper with a hoarse voice. 

“Who am I? Who am I ? Are you seriously asking me that? Who am I?” The young man scuffled. “You’re the suspicious person out here, looming in the skies and falling down all of a sudden and even then the first thing you do is drink from a nearly dried and poisoned lake. So, excuse me, but I am asking the questions here. Who are you?” 

Yu Wenzhou’s head started trumming from all the yelling. “Yeah. I guess I do owe you an introduction. It is good to introduce oneself before asking for names.” He moved around and tried to stand up to sit. The young man rushed to help him while keeping shushing him not to move.       

“The name is Yu Wenzhou.” the man smiled. 

Looking worried, the young man replied. “Huang Shaotian.” 

Being able to finally sit a little bit better and look around, Yu Wenzhou realised he was in a tent that was obviously occupied by one person only. Having a single bed and table to write on, it was small but comfortable looking. 

Having examined the tent properly, Yu Wenzhou's eyes then landed on Huang Shaotian. “It’s nice to meet you.” 

Huang Shaotian’s eyes widened.  

“It’s nice to meet you- ?” 

Yu Wenzhou's loud scream cut Huang Shaotian off. The pain the dark-haired man was suddenly feeling was unbearable. He reached for his clothes, trying to rip them off himself in order to ease the pain. 

“Wha- what’s going on?” Huang Shaotian looked shocked at Yu Wenzhou tearing his clothes apart. Beneath the white robes revealed something that wasn’t a human skin at all, but rather heated up reptilian scales. 

“What the heck is that?” 

“I need something to cool it off with.” 

“Wha- what do you mean?” Huang Shaotian looked confused and scared. He was looking around, but it looked like his body had been glued to that place. 

Wincing, Yu Wenzhou rushed. “A damp cloth and cold water works the best! Hurry!” 

Having received his instructions, Huang Shaotian rushed to find the items that Yu Wenzhou had asked for. He found the cloth easily, but had to leave the tent to go gather the water into a bucket. Once he returned with water, Huang Shaotian looked at Yu Wenzhou, who was panting hard. 

“What do I do now?” The young man asked, worried. 

Yu Wenzhou, barely able to think through the pain, gulped. “I need you to wipe my body with the wetted cloth.” 

Huang Shaotian sat on the bed behind Yu Wenzhou and started slowly wiping the dark haired man’s body with the wet rag. As the cold water touched Yu Wenzhou’s burning dry scales, they cooled down and Yu Wenzhou could sigh in relief. 

Once Huang Shaotian finished wiping Yu Wenzhou, and the latter was feeling much better, the lighter guy offered some new clothes instead of the ones Yu Wenzhou had ripped. Feeling slightly embarrassed of having someone witness his episode, Yu Wenzhou thankfully took the new pair of clothing. 

Sitting down next to Yu Wenzhou, Huang Shaotian breathed heavily, disbelief written all over his face. “What in the world was that? What in the world are you?”

Yu Wenzhou stared at the lighter guy, taking deep breaths while trying to calm down. The reality wasn’t hitting him hard, and he realised things weren’t going well for him. He had just met his first human after years of isolation and this man had already discovered his unnatural identity. 

Did this man even know about dragons? Whatever the answer was, there was no reason for him to try hiding his true identity from this man. 

Reaching towards Yu Wenzhou’s scales, filled with fascination but too afraid to touch them, Huang Shaotian asked. “Those scales, what are they?” 

Yu Wenzhou sighed. It seems that the dragons had been away from humanity for too long. He probably needed to beat the bull with this guy. 

“Have you heard about Dragons?”

“Dragons? As in the four heavenly dragons? Yeah, sure I’ve heard about them. They used to live among humans and helped us out. But no one’s really seen one since centuries ago, after the green dragon was create-” 

“Well, I’m one of them.” Yu Wenzhou interrupted. 

A silence. 

Huang Shaotian’s jaw dropped. 

“What?”    

“I’m one of the Dragons. I’m the azure dragon. The one who…” 

“The one who they say disappeared into the waters…” This time it was Huang Shaotians time to interrupt Yu Wenzhou. The young man knew enough. 

Yu Wenzhou nodded. “That’s me.” 

“Holy cow, how is it even possible that I of all people met the azure dragon? It was supposed to be just a normal day taking a walk outside, but instead I stumbled upon a dragon.” Huang Shaotian was flabbergasted. 

Yu Wenzhou closed his eyes. “And all I wanted was to get a drop of water to drink, since I hadn’t had water for weeks. But instead I got myself poisoned. And it looks like now I don’t have the powers to turn into a dragon anymore.” 

Yu Wenzhou looked at his hand, slowly opening and closing it into a fist. It was lightly coloured and had long nails, resembling that of a dragon claw. He didn’t like what was happening to him, being stuck in a very bad position. Not completely human but couldn’t transform into a dragon either. 

Huang Shaotian’s eyes widened. “You can’t transform back…?” 

Yu Wenzhou nodded, looking grim. 

“It must be the lake's curse.” Huang Shaotian said thoughtfully, receiving a confused glance from Yu Wenzhou. 

“What do you mean?” 

“The lake had started to dry up ten years ago and our mages did everything to preserve it. But a blessing ritual had gone wrong, and instead of nurturing the lake to prosperity, the people who drank from it started to fall ill. At first it was just minor things like temperature and upset stomach, but as the years passed the effects started to be stronger and last longer.” Huang Shaotian explained, his expression getting darker. 

Based on what the young man had said earlier, Yu Wenzhou had a hunch of the direction this story would head towards. 

“A couple years ago we had our first death cases. People have ever since been banned from going to the lake, but the damage has been done and slowly the poison is killing everyone in the village. The lake is also our only close source of water, so some people are desperate enough to ignore the orders just to get a sip of water.” 

Yu Wenzhou looked grim. This didn’t sound good. 

Having finished the explanation, Huang Shaotian looked Yu Wenzhou in the eyes. “What are we going to do?” 

Yu Wenzhou blinked. 

We? 

Since when had they become a tag-team? 

Ignoring that part though, Huang Shaotian had a point. What was it that he should be doing from here on? Which direction should he go from here? Just abandon the man and leave the village? But wandering around the world with poison in his body while he was unable to turn into a dragon was dangerous. 

He couldn’t leave this village and this man. 

Not just yet. 

Having made up his mind, Yu Wenzhou looked at Huang Shaotian. “You, first of all, do not let anyone know about me nor my real identity. Second, no matter how impossible you said it is to find a cure, we are going to need to find one. I cannot let this poison kill me.” 

“But there is no cure. The poison is made to slowly kill you!” 

Before Yu Wenzhou could reply they heard noises and movement by the entrance of the tent. Huang Shaotian’s eyes widened. 

“Shit!” He cursed and tried to look for a way out, but it was too late. 

A group of men, who Yu Wenzhou assumed were some kind of guards, based on their outfits, barged into the tent. They had their weapons out and gathered around Huang Shaotian, cornering him. 

“The Great Mother wants to see you.”

Chapter Text

The guards took Yu Wenzhou and Huang Shaotian out of the small tent which was located in the outskirts of a small village. If it could even be called a village. It was more like travellers, barely more than a handful of tents, living together as a very small community. 

From the very edge of the tents, almost as if Huang Shaotian’s tent had been separated from the rest of the population, the two young men were taken to the dead centre. At the very heart erected a tent that was twice as tall and wide as all the others around it. 

Yu Wenzhou might’ve spent decades away from civilization but even he wasn’t completely obvious to how the system worked. He realised immediately that the tent they were about to enter belonged to someone of very high status. 

Most likely the head of the village. 

“Get inside.” Yu Wenzhou heard the guards yell and brazed himself. He and Huang Shaotian were pushed inside, and the guards then forced them onto their knees. Huang Shaotian hung his head low and Yu Wenzhou followed suit. 

“Huang Shaotian, my dear. Raise your head, lad.” A raspy voice spoke. 

Yu Wenzhou tried to take a peek from between his fringe and saw a woman of old age sitting in a chair, staring at Huang Shaotian. Her whole being was pouring with wisdom and authority, something that comes with great age. She might be centuries younger than Yu Wenzhou, but she certainly wasn’t lacking in knowledge.   

“Raise your head, lad.” The woman repeated. 

Hesitantly, the man next to Yu Wenzhou raised his head, gulping loudly. Even as he had his head up, he refused to look straight ahead and meet the eyes of the older woman. Yu Wenzhou could feel the feelings of respect and fear that Huang Shaotian, and many others in the room, held for this old lady. 

There was no doubt that she was the village head. 

Yu Wenzhou found that slightly odd but intriguing. Back when he had still roamed alongside humans, there weren’t many communities that had a woman for a village head. The old women and shamans of the villages were highly respected and seeked upon during troubling times, but the role of leading the people was always left to a man. 

This community seemed a little bit different in that part. 

The old woman stared at Huang Shaotian with a straight face. “I take it as you know why I have brought you here?” 

“Yes, Great Mother.” 

The woman closed her eyes, looking disappointed. “I have received worried messages that you were spotted outside your tent unattended. And that you brought someone into your tent. Is that true?” 

“Yes, Great Mother.” 

“You’re one month away from marrying my granddaughter. You do understand what that means, right?” 

“Yes, Great Mother.” 

It was like Huang Shaotian didn’t know any other words to say. 

“And yet, you go and break the two very rules you’re obligated to follow. Do you realise how much trouble your actions are causing to the whole community? Now we need to start the purification and preparation for the ritual from the very beginning again, pushing the wedding forward. At this rate, I fear I might not live to see my heir being born.” She massaged her forehead. 

“I’m sorry, Great Mother.” 

The old woman pursed her lips in dissatisfaction, but spoke no further. She then moved her attention from Huang Shaotian to Yu Wenzhou. By the time she spoke again, her expression had softened a little bit. 

“And this young man is?” 

Before Yu Wenzhou could reply, Huang Shaotian spoke first. 

“He was drinking from the poisonous lake when I found hi-” 

“QUIET! You’ve already caused enough trouble for one day, you don’t want to add more crimes to it. We’ll deal with your punishment later.” 

With wide eyes Huang Shaotian lowered his head, shocked and embarrassed. “Yes, ma’am.”

“Now, what were we at…” The woman said and turned back to Yu Wenzhou. “Ah, this young man. Would you mind raising your head and telling me a little bit about yourself.” Compared to the tone she had just spoken to with Huang Shaotian, her voice was much softer.

Yu Wenzhou raised his head and turned to the old woman. Unlike his companion, he was not afraid to look her in the eyes. Her conceited expression showed that she found this particular gesture interesting. 

“They call me Yu Wenzhou. I am just a lone traveller who was lost and looking for something to drink. That’s when I came across the lake and drank from it. It was only later I discovered that the lake was poisonous.” 

The woman’s eyes were visibly wide. “You drank from the lake? But you look completely fine.” 

Yu Wenzhou hesitated to answer. Revealing too much information could lead them to discover his true form. His dragon powers, after all, helped him to fight the poison and eject it from his body. 

“I might look fine on the outside, but that doesn’t mean I’m not doing my all just to remain conscious.” He finally replied.  

“I see.” The woman said, but Yu Wenzhou could hear the suspiciousness in her tone. She was seriously considering whether or not to believe his story. “What is your relationship with the young man next to you, then? Why would he bring you to his tent, when he’s forbidden from seeing others unattended.” 

Yu Wenzho glanced at Huang Shaotian and wanted to punch him in the face. Why was he out there creating problems for himself and everyone else, instead of staying inside the tent, like he was supposed to? 

Holding back a disappointed sigh, Yu Wenzhou replied. “He was the person who tried to warn me not to drink from the poisoned lake, and cared for me after I had fainted. I had never met him prior to that, but I do owe my life to him. Had he not been there, I might’ve died having drunk the poison.” 

“That means you weren’t aware that you were spending time with the future village head's fiance just before they are to be wed?” The woman asked. 

Yu Wenzhou’s eyes widened. He should’ve realised it when the village head had mentioned her granddaughter while talking to Huang Shaotian. He really had found himself in a messy situation. Getting involved in village heads business was never good, and now he had been caught between two people who were promised to wed each other. 

Fixing this wouldn’t be easy. 

“It seems you really weren’t aware of the position the person you were talking to had.” The old lady read Yu Wenzhou’s expression. She then continued, “Seeing as you’re an outsider and a person in trouble, we openly welcome you to stay here for as long as you need our hospitality.” 

Her eyes then turned to Huang Shaotian. “Now what do we do with you, young man?” 

Huang Shaotian glanced at Yu Wenzhou and blurted out. “I want to marry this man!” 

The tent was filled with such menacing silence that anyone would’ve heard a needle being dropped. Everyone was staring at Huang Shaotian in disbelief written all over their faces, but the young man’s eyes shined with determination. 

“You- WHAT?” Yu Wenzhou cried in utter horror. 

“Good gracious, you’re really asking me to strangle you, young man. First you break the rules and now you ask to marry someone else instead of my lovely granddaughter. You have some big balls for a boy of your age.”  

“I am truly sorry. I know the agreement was made between our families long before I was even born, and I truly wanted to honour it. But I truly don’t believe I can go along with it anymore. I love this man.” 

What was he going on about? Had he gone completely mad? 

They had just met a couple hours ago, known each other for less than an hour and this man was now proclaiming his love to Yu Wenzhou? He was surely moving fast for a man who was engaged-to-be-wed with someone already. 

How did it all come down to this? 

A light laughter filled the tent, and Yu Wenzhou realised this voice didn’t belong to the old woman. He then saw a shadow walk behind a curtain at a corner of the tent and sit down. 

“What an adorable declaration of love that was. I must really not be loved by my fiance.” 

“Mucheng, my dear. What are you doing here?” The Great Mother asked. 

“I heard that my fiance had gotten himself in trouble again. So I asked my maids to take me here to take a look. My timing was the most unfortunate as I walked into my dear fiance confessing his love towards someone else. 

“Worry not, dear. I will take care of this defamation. No one hurts my granddaughter.” 

The young woman behind the sheet chuckled. “It is more than fine, grandmother. In fact, why don’t we use the situation to our help.” 

The old woman looked surprised for a moment, but soon her expression softened. She was ready to listen to her granddaughter's suggestion. “What do you have in mind, Mucheng?”  

“We should test their love. If Shaotian truly loves this young stranger as passionately as he claims, let’s have him figure out how to cure the poisonous lake.” 

Huang Shaotian’s eyes widened. “What do you mean? The lake has been like this for years already!” 

“It’s all very simple. Find a way to cleanse and purify the lake and you two can get married. While it’s true that the lake has stayed untouched for years, it doesn’t mean there’s no cure. You guys need to find it.” 

Speechless, Huang Shaotian and Yu Wenzhou alongside the others in the room turned to look at the village chief, expecting for her reply and the final sentence. 

“I like that idea. Let’s see what happens.” 

Yu Wenzhou gulped. Finding a way to get rid of the poison and cure the lake? How had he found himself in this unbelievable situation? 

Fixing this was impossible.