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6 years ago Aijin was out gathering herbs for his medicines when he spotted a large blue dragon with a yellow underbelly and brown stripe lay under a tree. It seemed to be in pain. The doctor placed the herbs he had gathered into his bag and rushed to help. That was when he noticed the scent coming from the wounded dragon. It was intoxicating, a musky scent mixed with the smell of fresh water, and earthy smells.
'Could it be?' Aijin wondered to himself. 'Ugh, no! Focus Aijin!' He shook himself then hurried to the dragons side, its eyes were closed.
"Um, excuse me, do you need help? My name is Aijin Otoko, I'm a doctor." The blue dragons ears twitched at the sound of his voice.
"A doctor huh?" It said, "You don't sound much older than me, but I'm still in training."
"Oh well that's because I'm originally from the Nature's Blessings Clan in Hayazaki Kingdom, we do things a little differently. If you pass a certain test you gain the title 'doctor' though by Yuuei Kingdoms laws, I'm a doctor in training but they still allow me to heal and provide medicine to people." The young Mystic dragon explained, while appraising the larger dragons wounds.
'He's so handsome, such a strong looking body too.' he thought to himself. He shook his head again. "So will you allow me to treat you sir?"
The blue dragon attempted to adjust his position and flinched. "Ouch! Ugh damn manticore." He opened his eyes and turned his head to look at Aijin and his eyes widened. "My name is Hiroto Mizubuki, and yes I will accept your treatment, Doctor Otoko."
Aijin chuckled. "Just Aijin will be fine. Your sense of humour seems to be intact then." Hiroto gave a strained chuckle and flinched again. "Hmm you might have some damage to your ribs there." Aijin commented.
Hiroto nodded. "Crashed." He looked sheepish.
"Oh don't look like that. Wyverns are allowed to crash you know. Especially with injuries like this around their wings."
Hiroto opened his mouth to speak, but Aijin cut him off. "And yes I know you're a hybrid before you say it. Western I'm guessing?"
Hiroto closed his mouth and nodded. "Thought so, now can you lift that wing for me? I'm sorry, I know it must be painful."
The hybrid nodded and raised the wing as requested letting out a pained growl as he did. The doctor examined the deep gash just under the wing joint.
"Yes, that does look rather nasty. But don't worry, it's nothing I can't deal with." He assured his patient. "I will need to clean the wounds first though." He put his bag on the floor and fished out a flask of water, a bowl and a clean cloth. He poured some water into the bowl and soaked the cloth in it, then turned to Hiroto. "This is going to sting a little." The larger dragon nodded at him with trust in his eyes so Aijin began gently cleaning the wounds.
Hiroto endured the pain quite well, with only a few grunts and growls escaping during the whole process. Though Aijin did get a little wary when Hiroto's long spiked tail swished and hit the ground a couple of times. But he carried on with his work nonetheless and soon the wounds were clean and ready for healing.
"You did well." Aijin smiled. "Now for the painless part." He placed a paw on the dragons side, inhaled deeply and his horns began to glow and a green light surrounded his paw.
Hiroto gasped slightly. 'He looks amazing like that.' He thought.
"Healing Touch!" Aijin commanded. The glow around his paw intensified and Hiroto's wounds healed almost instantly.
Aijin picked up a small vial and placed the toxins removed from the wounds inside and corked it, slotting it back into the bag afterwards.
"Alright, try moving your wing now." He instructed.
Hiroto did as he was told and raised and lowered his wing. He felt nothing. "It's fine!" He said happily.
"Excellent!" Aijin grinned. "Now let's see how those ribs are doing. Take a deep breath for me." Hiroto inhaled. "Good now hold it…keep going… Okay let it out." The hybrid let out the breath in a puff. "No pain?" Hiroto shook his head
"Perfect, it seems you're all healed." Hiroto sat up.
"Thanks so much. That was a big help." Aijin smiled again.
"No problem. It's what I do after all." His face turned serious again. "Now you may still get stiffness and aches in your muscles for a bit, but just keep moving and it should wear off in a couple of hours. Other than that you should be fine." He picked up his bag again.
"Hey Doc.. Er Aijin. You think I'm safe to go home alone? No risk of collapse or anything?" Hiroto questioned.
"Well I don't see… Oh." Aijin paused as he realised what Hiroto meant. "I should probably escort you home. Just to be sure." He said with a smile. "You're from the Midnight Star Clan right? Some of the herbs I use grow in Kura Forest so I was heading there next anyway."
Hiroto chuckled. "How very thoughtful of you. My little Doctor Omega." He nuzzled the Mystic dragon, purring as he enjoyed the soft feel of his fur.
"Less of the little, my cheeky Alpha." Aijin purred as he moved closer to his mate.
Hiroto chuckled. "No promises."
The two stayed there like that for a while, cuddled close and just enjoying each other's company. Aijin telling Hiroto about his reasons for leaving Hayazaki Kingdom, wanting to share their medical expertise with people who couldn't manage the trip to the Kingdom.
"That's very admirable of you." Hiroto told him.
"Thanks." Aijin smiled. "I can't do everything they can do there of course. But I'm gonna do my best with what I can do." He nuzzled the blue dragon.
"That all anyone can ask for." Hiroto said softly, resting his head on his mate, content.
"So are you gonna tell me how you got injured?" Aijin questioned as he and Hiroto were flying towards Kura Forest. "You mentioned a manticore?"
The Warrior nodded. "Yeah, I was sent to clear out a group of manticores that were causing trouble for a village near Chowa Cliffs." He explained. "It was all going fine until I landed to check that I'd got them all. One of them wasn't quite dead and managed to fling itself at me, that's when I got the one near my wing. I shocked the sneaky little devil one last time to finish it off and left."
Aijin sighed. "You do realise that moving around while poisoned isn't the best idea. Right?"
Hiroto rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Yeah, I know. Movement increases your heart rate which spreads the poison quicker." He replied. "We lost a couple of our best fighters that way a few years ago."
Aijin's ears flicked back. "Oh, I'm sorry to hear that." He said quietly. "Were you close?"
Hiroto pondered for a moment. "I'd say I'm closer to their son Kiiro than I was to them." He answered eventually. "We were friends, yeah and they'd trust me to look after Kiiro if they had to be gone for a while and his brother Ryusei was busy with his own training. But Kiiro took it way harder than I did. I suppose it helped that I was older too, he was only ten when it happened."
The doctors brow furrowed." That poor boy. " He murmured. Hiroto nuzzled him gently and for a little while they flew in silence until,
"So what happened after that?" Aijin inquired.
"Hm?"
"You never finished telling me what happened to you." Aijin reminded the Titan Wing.
"Oh, right." Hiroto clicked. "Well at that point I think I was probably running on adrenaline 'cause I didn't really feel any pain for a while." He continued. "Don't get me wrong I knew I was injured, just not how badly. That is until I got near the edge of Shinzo Forest, all the pain hit me at once and I went down. Newsflash, trees are not a good place for a crash landing."
Aijin chuckled at his mates' ability to joke even when talking about something serious. But then he frowned again." You're lucky you didn't get any worse than you did if you crashed like that." He told the Alpha. "But, how did you get to the field where I found you if you crashed in the forest?"
Hiroto tilted his head slightly, with a puzzled expression on his face. "Well I walked obviously."
Aijin let out an exasperated sigh. "Good grief you are a glutton for punishment aren't you."
Hiroto chuckled. "I prefer to see it as I don't let anything get in the way of my mission."
"So you're stubborn and stupid then. Got it." The Omega said with a cheeky glint in his eye.
"Oh so now you're insulting me? Right then, let's see how you handle this!" With a powerful flap of his wings, the warrior launched himself at the doctor and grabbed him by the shoulders rendering him immobile. He then folded his wings, sending them plummeting toward the ground at a breakneck pace.
"Hiroto what are you doing?" Aijin asked, alarm clear in his voice.
"Heh, you'll see." His mate smirked. The ground was getting closer.
"Hirotoooo." Aijin was beginning to panic.
Hiroto merely laughed.
At the last possible second Hiroto opened his wings and pulled up out of the dive and, when he was sure that he could float still, let go of Aijin who seemed a little shaky and noticeably paler than before.
"Are you insane?!" The Mystic dragon demanded, wobbling in the air slightly.
"Not that I know of. Haha, that was just revenge." Hiroto informed him.
"You could've killed us both!" Aijin scolded.
"Nah, I've done that loads of times." The Titan Wing waved a dismissive paw.
"Yep you're definitely insane." Aijin muttered.
"What was that?"
"Nothing!"
Hiroto chuckled at Aijin's quick response. "Well, we're nearly in Midnight Star Territory now." He mused, gazing toward the forest now only a short distance from them. "We'll probably see a few guards soon."
Aijins ears twitched slightly. "Guards?" He repeated warily. "They won't attack will they?"
Hiroto smiled at him. "Course not, you're with me."
Aijin relaxed a little, but he still moved closer to Hiroto… Just to be safe.
Just as Hiroto had said, as the two drew closer to the forest's edge, movement could be seen further in.
'Guards.' Aijin thought, all but glueing himself to Hiroto's side.
The Alpha merely glanced down at him, chuckled and extended a wing over him, Aijin instantly relaxed.
"Halt!" A voice called suddenly, Aijin almost left the ground he was startled that much. "Who goes there?!" The voice demanded. "State your name, Clan and rank immediately!"
Hiroto rolled his eyes. "Cut the crap Dameda." He said. "We both know you were asleep behind those bushes until a minute ago. Otherwise you woulda known it was me already."
A dark brown head with a mop of pale red hair popped up over some bushes in front of them. "Oh uh hi Hiroto." Dameda said sheepishly. "Who's this then?" He questioned as his gaze fell upon Aijin (or at least the part of him that was visible beneath Hiroto's large wing).
"Someone I'll properly introduce when I've seen father and handed in my report, for now I'll say that his name is Aijin, he's a doctor and he probably saved my life today."
Dameda looked startled. "He saved your life? How? What happened?" He hopped over the bushes to get closer to the pair, revealing his two front paws, wings and well, tail. Dameda was a Zilant type dragon, a cross between a drake and an amphitheatre dragon, they do not have hind legs and though they are capable of flight they mostly glide while in the air and generally prefer to be on the ground. Along with his dark brown color and pale red hair, Dameda had a light, very light, purple underside, some orange markings and warm, chocolate brown eyes. Overall he seemed quite sweet, Aijin had to wonder what possessed him to become a guard in the first place.
"Right Aijin?" Hiroto's voice interrupted the doctor's reverie.
"Sorry what?" Aijin questioned.
"I was just telling Dameda here about how you removed the venom from my wounds and healed me all without knowing who I was." Hiroto explained.
"Oh, yes that's right." Aijin confirmed with a blush.
"Well then Mr Doctor, my name is Dameda Namakemono and you have my thanks for saving our Polaris here." The zilant bowed his head.
"Ugh, knock it off with that Polaris stuff would ya, I'm not that great." Hiroto groaned.
"Hiroto! You've returned I see!" Another voice boomed as a large smoky grey warrior dragon appeared through the trees. "All went well I assume?" The new arrival was much larger than any of them, had one broken horn, a scar down the left side of his face that continued to his neck and only his right eye, hazel in color, was open. His short, slicked back hair was black but peppered with white and grey and his underside was a deep forest green. Aijin was in awe, clearly he was in the presence of a great warrior.
"Master Riki! Hello sir!" Hiroto's eyes lit up as he bowed his head to the older dragon.
Dameda bowed his head too. "Master Riki."
'Master Riki' nodded at the two young warriors and then caught sight of Aijin. "Well hello." He said with a warm smile. "And who might this be?" It was amazing how much the smile did to lessen the larger dragons' intimidating presence.
"This is Aijin. He's a doctor from Hayazaki Kingdom." Hiroto told Riki. Then he turned to Aijin. "Aijin, this is Riki Tsuyoi. He's the Clans Zenith, our Warrior Master. He trains every warrior in the clan and he's really strong!" Hiroto's yellow eyes were bright as he spoke.
"It um, I.. Uh, pleased to meet you sir." Aijin stuttered shyly, still rather intimidated by the 'Zenith'.
"And I you, young doctor." Riki gave a nod. "Now, I assume you mean to see your father?" He added, turning to Hiroto.
"Yes sir." Hiroto confirmed.
"I'll walk with you." The master offered.
The three bid farewell to Dameda and made their way to a large building at the centre of the clan's territory. Outside it there was a small group of children gathered around two adults, a male and a female.
"Sirius Atama!" Riki called as they approached.
"Sirius?" Aijin repeated quietly.
"That's what we call our Clan Head." Hiroto informed him. "Atama Tokage is his name." He paused for a moment, watching as the large black warrior dragon stood and began making his way over to them. "But I just call him dad."
Aijin almost toppled over. "Dad?!" He spluttered.
"Yep." Hiroto attempted to stifle a chuckle but it didn't quite work.
"But wait, the female with him, she's a drake right? So how…"
"I'm adopted." Hiroto cut off the doctors question. "Dad found me in the forest when I was a cub." He continued. "He thinks someone tried to kidnap me and my parents caught up to the kidnappers. I was too young to really remember any of it but apparently, the ground was all charred and scuffed up like there had been a fight but no one was there and I was found in a hollow in a tree. No one knew who my parents were or if they were even still alive after all that and Atama and his mate Hina had also had a child taken earlier in the year so they took me in."
Aijin was silent, trying to take it all in.
"They're great parents, Atama and Hina. They just treated me like I was one of their own. Never pushed me to call them Mum and Dad or anythin' in fact, you shoulda seen it when I did. Dad was the one crying if you can believe it."
That got a chuckle out of Aijin, making Hiroto smile.
Atama arrived then, putting a stop to the conversation. To say the Sirius had an impressive appearance would be an understatement. He was tall, black for the most part, save for the blueish white streak from his hair to his tail and his navy blue underside. Then there was his eyes, Midnight blue, just like the night sky.
'It's almost like he's the name of the Clan dragonified.' Aijin thought.
"Greetings Riki." Atama said cheerfully. "Hiroto, I'm glad you've returned. Your mission fared well I assume?" His voice was gruff but pleasant, gentle.
"Yeah. Mission accomplished dad." Hiroto grinned.
"Excellent news." Atama beamed, ruffling Hiroto's hair proudly. "So then, who's your friend?" He added, switching his gaze to focus on Aijin.
"His name is Aijin Otoko, he's a doctor originally from Hayazaki Kingdom." Hiroto responded. "He found me and patched me up when I was injured…"
"Injured?" Atama interrupted.
Hiroto sighed. "Yeah, I got injured and sorta crashed." The Titan Wing looked embarrassed and ashamed as he explained, in full, what had happened.
"Happens to the best of us Mizubuki." Riki told him.
"Indeed." The Sirius agreed. "Though you do need to be more careful where poison is involved. Continuing like that was foolish." He added sternly.
"I know, I'm sorry." Hiroto lowered his head.
"I'm just glad you're okay now." Atama nuzzled the young Warrior. "I can't thank you enough for helping my son like that." He bowed his head to Aijin. "You have my eternal gratitude, Doctor Otoko."
Aijin flushed at the black dragon's words. "Oh, no sir it.. It was nothing, after all it's a doctor's job to help those in need. I was just in the right place at the right time is all." The young doctor said, clearly flustered. "I..in any case. I quickly realised Hiroto wasn't just some stranger to me." He glanced at Hiroto to carry on.
"Yes, I didn't just bring Aijin here because he saved me." Hiroto continued.
"Oh?" Atama raised an eyebrow.
While the four males had been talking, the group of children had dispersed and the female had padded over to join them.
"Ah Hina." Atama nuzzled the female.
"Vega Hina." Riki bowed his head in greeting.
Hina nodded in response. "Zenith Riki." She then turned and smiled at Hiroto. "Hiro, I'm glad you're back safe."
Hiroto glanced at his father who gave a slight shake of his head and mouthed
"later."
So instead he nuzzled his mother and said, "Good to see you too, Mum."
Atama stepped forward. "Hiro was just telling us why he brought Aijin here with him.
"Ah I see. Well continue then dear." Hina encouraged her son who had stepped back and was now staring at the ground.
"Well you see…" Hiroto shuffled his paws a little.
Aijin titled his head. 'Is he shy?!' He wondered incredulously, spotting the blush spreading across the warriors face.
"Aijin and I are…" Hiroto cleared his throat in an attempt to regain his composure. It didn't work. "We're soulmates."
The excited squeal that left Vega Hina's mouth after Hiro' s statement didn't quite match her status - or age for that matter - but she didn't seem to care, she gathered up her son in a warm hug and congratulated him. Sirius Atama was emotional too, he was crying as he joined Hina in hugging Hiroto tight. As for Riki, he had a broad grin on his face. After the tears and hugging were done with - Aijin himself was dragged into the hug eventually - it was explained to Aijin that due to Hiroto's serious demeanour and intimidating appearance, people tended to give him a wide berth. So naturally, finding out he'd managed to find himself a mate brought them so much joy and relief that they 'couldn't help themselves'. Thoroughly embarrassed, Hiroto told the adults that he was tired and needed food so he was going to head home and promptly towed Aijin away.
Hiroto's home was a small place, pale blue walls and a mint green roof with a brown door.
"It's only temporary." The Titan Wing told his mate as they entered. "I'm gonna be moving to the city when I'm done with training."
Aijins ears perked at the new information. "Really?" He asked. "I live in the city, it's where I set up my surgery. Well, technically it's only a pharmacy until I've finished my training there but still."
Hiroto looked back at him with a wide smile. "Well now I'm even more excited to move."
Aijin blushed. "Well, I have a place next door to my pharmacy, there's um plenty of room… maybe you could…" He began quietly. "If you wanted to…"
Hiroto's eyes widened. 'Is he trying to say what I think he is?'
Aijin sat down with a huff. "Ugh what is wrong with me?!" He demanded of no one in particular.
Hiroto chuckled at the paddy but stopped when Aijin fixed him with a serious look.
"I'm trying to ask if you'd want to move in with me when you come to the city?" The Mystic dragon asked finally.
'Holy crap he was.' Hiroto blinked. Collected his thoughts. Took a deep breath and then answered. "Yeah… yeah I'd like that a lot."