Chapter Text
The story of humans and dragons is very.. Troubled, to put the words nicely. In some storybooks, they say dragons and humans lived in peace, while others say that the two clans were always at war. Regardless of their history, there was a truce. The dragons promised not to destroy their towns if the humans promised to leave them alone. But Endeavor.. He wasn't happy with this truce.
"This.. This won't do, Lea." Endeavor shifts in his chair, which creaks under his weight. There's a desk in the room that separates Endeavor from Lea, who is the current leader of the dragon clan. Lea waves her hand in exaggeration, "This is the perfect contract! You don't mess with us, we don't mess with you. Is this not the peace you humans wanted?" The dragon leader raises her voice, and it echoes off the small room walls.
"You will provide me with a dragon," Endeavor says in a cold tone. He opens the desk drawer and pulls out a hefty small bag of gold coins. "How about this, I give you 200 coins a month, for your finest dragons." The room falls silent, apart from the wood creaking and the townspeople outside closing shop for the night. Lea leans back in the chair, a clawed hand resting on her chin. "And what if I don't like this agreement?" she replies to endeavor with dismissal.
"You don't see me asking you for townspeople, this seems very unfair to my clan" lea continues, her eyes narrowed into slits, a common defense method used when a dragon feels threatened. "Well, then. It seems we don't have a deal." Endeavor folds his hands together, "Unless, .. Maybe just one dragon..it does not have to be the best." Her eyes don't leave Lea's eyes. After a couple of minutes of uncomfortable Silence, there is a reply, "You can have one dragon." She looks away in defeat, away from Endeavor's prying eyes. It was a cruel tactic, staring until the other looked away.
Endeavor smiles and slides the contact to Lea, the dragon picks it up with one hand. "I guess this is it, I better not see your humans in our territory." Lea gives a warning as she signs the contract. "Of course not." Endeavor's smile widens and makes the atmosphere more uncomfortable. Lea gets up, her chair screeching against the floor. "I'll send you a dragon tomorrow morning, at the gate," and with that, the meeting is over.
_ _
Lea was scared to give Endeavor a dragon, to say the least. The way the man was smiling was filled with dark intentions. The flight back to the clan was filled with anxiety and dread, he truly didn't want to give a dragon to Endeavor; she was scared of the horrors that dragon would have to endure.. But she had already signed the contract. There was no going back.
She flies until she comes into view of a small town. Her clan. The dragons have since industrialized since the last war between the dragons, they now have houses, markets, and a school to teach the young. She lands on the ground with a soft thud, the lights of the street illuminating his figure on the verge of running to his house. When she opens the door, she is greeted by the sight of her mate, Melissa. Sitting in a rocking chair near the chimney.
She nearly collapses fully onto Melissa's lap, barely managing to put her head on her lap. Melissa, concerned for her wife, starts to run her fingers through her dark purple hair. "Oh, .. Lea, darling, what happened to you?" Her voice is soft as she holds Lea close. Lea thumps her tail in annoyance as she looks back up at her mate, "he wants a dragon." She waits a couple of seconds for the realization to appear on Melissa's face.
"What?!" Melissa jumped up; she was a slightly smaller dragon than Lea but had the same amount of respect. Unlike her dark purple hair, Melissa had a softer shade of blue. "We can't give him a dragon! Who knows what he will do to the poor thing!" She waved her arms around, so she was definitely on the same page as Lea. "I told him I would have a dragon by tomorrow morning." A pillow is thrown in her direction, which Lea thankfully dodges.
"Melissa, listen." Lea is probably talking to a brick wall.. But she has to try. "Do.. Do you remember the boy we took in from the ruby clan?" Melissa pauses mid-pillow aim, she slowly puts her arm down. "Yes, I remember, what about him?" Melissa gasps, "You're not suggesting what I think you're suggesting." The silence that followed was the answer she needed. "Oh my god! Lea, he's a child, we are not giving him to Endeavor!" She screams and the pillow is thrown in leas direction.
"Well, what else can we do? We can't give one of our dragons!" Lea yells back with similar emotion. She watches as Melissa paces around the room, "But he is a dragon, Lea." She turns to look at her wife fully. "He's a ruby dragon, Mel. If anything, I'm helping our tribe!" Lea stomped behind Melissa, who had begun to take flight upstairs while the ruby dragon slept.
_ _
When Eijiro was awoken from his sleep, he wasn't greeted by the gleaming sun rays or his Umma walking him gently. This time, it was more desperate, like something really bad was going to happen. His door swung open with enough force that he thought it might have flown off the handle. His Umma, the name he gave to both Melissa and Lea.. Since the couple had practically raised him, she comes into the room, and Kiri can smell the anxiety coming off her in waves.
"Umma," his voice is barely clear even to himself. Melissa practically throws herself at him. She pulls the smaller dragon into a tight hug, and Kirishima feels like he might suffocate with how tightly she is holding him. He notices Lea standing in the doorway, her face is clouded, so he can't even read it. "Eijirou" Lea finally acknowledges him, "We, .. Not we, I decided.. To send you somewhere," she finally spits it out after about a second of hesitating.
"..you're sending me away?" Eijiro sits up in bed. Well, he sits up to the best of his ability, but Melissa is still weighing him down. "Well, yes, but.. It will be an opportunity.. For you to grow, as a dragon" Lea is fucking lying her ass off, at this point she doesnt have a ass. Eijiro looks at Lea, she always hated the way his eyes were like a dog's. It makes her feel guilty.
"I found someone who said he'll take care of you,.. So I would pack all of your things before the morning," and with that, Lea walks out of the room. Melissa turns back to Eijirou, and he can see the tears in her eyes. "Umma, don't cry, you know it makes me sad." he lifts his tinted hands to her face. It was a weird thing Eijirou was born with.. From his fingertips to his elbow, his skin is just red.
Melissa said it made him unique, but Kirishima wishes he were born normal. He knows people don't like him; he saw all the harsh stares and heard the hushed whispers. There is nothing unique about being a disgrace to his tribe. This is probably why he was being sent away; he was different, and they didn't want that. "You're thinking too hard again, aren't you?" Melissa now sits beside him with a gold locket resting in her hands. Kirishima doesn't answer, It's scary how well she can read his face.
Melissa sighs as she turns to face Kirishima, “Eijirou,..” She puts the locket in his hands. “I want you to have this,” and with that, she kisses his forehead and leaves. Kirishima clutches the locket with watering eyes, This is for the best. The packing of the room didn't take long, and by the time he was done, the rays of the sunrise had already started to shine through the window.
_ _
Kirishima has never gone beyond the walls of the village, not that he wasn't allowed to. It just scared him. What if he got lost one day and couldn't find his home? Then Melissa would be sad, and he would never forgive himself. Thinking of this, he stayed very close to Lea. They almost bumped their wings a couple of times.
The annoyance was rolling off Lea in waves, and Kirishima was quick to notice.. Since he was probably the root of her annoyance. It only drained when they reached the entrance of a nice village with a nice castle in the middle. The village was filled with humans, big or small. They stop at the entrance gate, and Lea switches weight from her left to her right foot anxiously.
After a couple of minutes, the gate opens and a very Tall man walks through. He has a hideous buzzcut, if Kirishima might say, Kirishima had long hair that fell to his shoulders.. And he was very proud of that, he couldn't imagine cutting his hair that short. But at the same time, his hair was black.. No cool dragon color, just straight black. So maybe at the same time, he was also very hideous.
The man speaks with a booming voice that makes him flinch, “Ah, I see you have kept your promise, Lea.” The man walks closer to Eijirou and puts his hand out, “Hello there, I'm sure we will get to know each other very well,..?” He trails off, “Kirishima, Kirishima Eijirou,” and Kirishima answers. He hoped the man trailing off meant he was asking for his name, or this was going to be a very embarrassing moment.
Eijirou is still a pretty young dragon; he hasn't even grown into his wings fully yet, and his tail drags when he walks. He is barely grasping English currently, and he doesn't know where he came from originally. But his language wasn't spoken here. The man seemed happy with Kirishima's answer, though as he smiled widely, he retracted his hand, however.
A hand ushers Kirishima beyond the gate walls, he turns to Lea, who shakes her head. “Where are we going?” he turns his gaze back to the man, he hasn't even gotten the man's name yet. What is happening? Is this his new family?? Nobody is answering his very important questions. He glances over his shoulder again, except this time Lea is gone. Which means Eijirou is now alone with a man he barely knows in a new environment.
Great.