Chapter Text
The sky was clouded over in a murky grey as the clouds above left no room for the sunlight to shine through, harsh rain poured down and battered the land below, shaking the fresh green leaves of the tree and dampening the mud of the freshly covered grave, the scent of grass and mud perfumed the air around. Dunk stood under the elm tree, his hair dripping with rain water and his tunic soaked through, the cold chill and dampness of the fabric was numb on his skin. His eyes were focused on the grave a few feet in front of him, his fist clenched at his side but shaking, not from rage but grief, his tears ran down his cheeks as they blended in with the rain drops on his face.
He had just buried the only thing he had called home and now he was alone, Ser Arlan had been the only thing Dunk had known and called his family and now he was gone, the ever present empty feeling in his chest felt even more heavy than usual.
Ser Arlan had raised Dunk since he was a hatchling, after accidentally happening upon his egg one day when he was in the woods searching for nuts. He had thought the egg was an oddly sized and coloured bird egg and had no qualms about grabbing it from its place amongst the rocks on the water edge and shoving it inside his pack for later. Though when he had placed it in the old steel pot above the fire to his bewilderment out hatched a small mewling dragon hatchling.
Instead of selling it off or eating the small thing, he had taken it in, cared for it like one would a dog. Well that was until Dunk was a year old and suddenly the small hatchling had somehow turned into a human babe, that was when Ser Arlan had given him the name of Duncan and treated him almost like his own, he fed and watered him and taught him everything he knew, about the world and about being a knight but most importantly he told him stories and tales of dragons.
He told him how they used to rule over the entire land and seas of Westeros, how they were mighty creatures that could destroy entire armies of men in a single breath. How beloved they were and how untouchable they had been until tragedies had struck and they had slowly died out, either slaughtered or dying naturally. He explained how they, he, were creatures believed to be gone from this world but that Dunk's very existence was proof that was untrue.
Along with the stories he also told him how important it was that nobody found out of his scaled form, he had told him if anyone were to found out that he was a dragon that he would be hunted down or worst, turned into a chained display in some lords castle for all to see. Dunk had always listened to Ser Arlan's teachings and his words, even his drunk ramblings.
Of course this didn't stop Dunk from experiencing life through his true body, Ser Arlan would take him to thick woodlands and help him become more comfortable with shifting from Dragon to Man and back again, he even helped him learn to fly, to take his heavy wings and touch the tops of the trees. He taught him his dragon body was something to be proud of and to never deny the fact he was one. When Dunk hit 13 his dragon body was far to large to hide when flying and he was limited to stretching out on the woods floor but even that became something he was rarely able to do when he soon began to grow like a giant.
Ser Arlan said his giant body even as a human must be due to the fact he was a dragon, even if he wore the flesh of a man, and it made sense as his dragon body seemed to grow by two times the size his human one did. He was just thankful he wasn't that big as a human even if he was tall compared to normal standards.
When he turned 15 though it was no longer possible for him to stretch his legs even in Dragon form in the woodland, he was simply too large and every step he took seemed to shake the ground around him. It was just too much of a risk to take and so he remained in his human form after that, he missed being his true self desperately but he understood Ser Arlan's wary advice to not shift anymore.
He was now 18 and he had never felt so unsure on what to do, he no longer had Ser Arlan's rough but guiding voice to point him in the correct direction and to reassure him that he would be okay. Deep rooted loneliness settled in his chest like a vice, sure he had always had a weird longing ache before, ever since he had hatched he had felt like a part of him was incomplete, missing even but he had just chalked it up to the fact that he was spending too much time as a human. But now that he was alone, the feeling throbbed in his chest like a mockery telling him over and over again that he was alone now, physically and in every other way that mattered.
The only man who knew his secrete was dead and cold in the earth and Dunk wanted to cry and weep like a babe at the pain of it all, it was all so unfair, he had always felt alone but at the very least he had, had Ser Arlan, who knew who he truly was and that helped sooth something inside of him. The pain of being alone turned and twisted into a bitter and animalistic instinct, for the first time in 3 year Dunk felt the blood in his body boil, his bones cracking and shifting to make way for the change his body was under going and his limbs began to shift and contort and his body grew.
His body was covered in scales and his hands now had talons and attached to them were long and sheer wings, two twisted horns settled atop of his head and a heavy tail laid flat against the damp earth behind him. Everything felt so right, so him, he had forgotten how natural it felt to be in his dragon body, how it slightly soothed the dull ache and pull in his chest.
His dragon form was magnificent, like it was pulled straight from the story books and ripped from the tapestries, his scales were a dark bronze like a old copper, they layered his body and covered him like a fine armour made just for him, and his eyes were a deep blue, standing out against his scales and drawing anyone who looked in. His wings tucked against his size and were a slightly lighter bronze compared to his body and his horns were a dark brown. But the most impressive thing about his dragon form was his sheer size, easily as tall as the tallest tree, a stagger 120 meters and he was likely still growing. He wasn't sure how much bigger his dragon body would get but he could almost instinctively tell he was still growing.
He felt the mud as his talons clawed into the earth under him and the wind against his scaled face as he puffed out a smokey breath, everything felt so right, better then how he was a minute ago, he glances at the grave where Ser Arlan was buried and lowered his head for a short moment, the finality of it settling in and washing over him and he looked up at the parting clouds, the rain having finished leaving only the damp earth and dripping leaves in its wake. Slowly he extended his wings, flapping them ever so slightly, the familiarity was akin to getting back in the saddle of a horse, he just knew it was right as he lifted off the ground and took to the skies above, the land below becoming smaller under him.
He wasn't sure where he was going but he let his wings carry him against the blue of the sky, the wind passing against him as he soared in the now white clouds. The pull in his chest seemed to be taking over and driving him forward as he let it lead him over the seas and over large green plains. Eventually the sky darkened around him and he felt his body ache, growing tired and hungry as he lowered to the ground. He found himself a cave, just big enough but also hidden inside a dense forest to hide in, the cave was cold and dark but it felt oddly homey, something in his instincts seemed to preen and delight at the fact he had found his 'nest'. The word seemed foreign in his mind but it felt so right..
He laid his body on the cold stone floor, a small moss patch under him as he curled in on himself, his head rested on his talons, his tail wrapped around his body and his wings blanketing him, his eyes felt heavy as they fell closed, a small huff escaped his mouth as he felt sleep take its hold on him. The ache in his chest, slightly quieter than before but still there all the same..
-
When he awoke the sun was still rising and had began to light up the cave through small cracks in the stone wall, the rays reflecting off dunk's copper scales and giving them an almost golden glow and warming him to the core as he lifted up his head, stretching his neck and feeling the muscle loosen beneath his skin. A low rumble sounded in his stomach as the pangs of hunger unsettled his stomach.
Now that he thought about it, he hadn't eaten in maybe 3 days...just the thought of food had him practically drooling as he rose and shook his heavy body. Outside the cave the forest was quiet apart from the chirping of birds and the small squeaks of mice all waking slowly to the new day, Duncan sat still for a moment running ideas through his head on what to do, he'd left the only place he new as home and now had no clue where he was and he was hungry.
He could take his human form and try to find a village and barter for some food..but oddly the idea of changing to his human form made his hackles rise and a whine escaped his throat. It had been so long since he could be in his true form and it would be cruel almost to change back so soon, maybe he could scope the land out from up high instead..if he stayed up in the clouds nobody would probably spot him and if they did they would likely write it off as seeing things and think of him as a large shadow!
The idea appealed much more to something deep inside him as he slowly made his way out the mouth of the cave, the smell of damp and rotting leaves in his nose as he walked, the sky above was hidden by the trees and only small slivers of blue poked through but from how clear the blue was he could tell it was sunny..how nice would the flight be under the sun. Wasting no time as he unfurled his wide wings and felt the weight shift as he took up, his feet leaving the floor slowly till he was over the trees and heading up more and more until he was jut above the clouds, the ground below was mostly green fields, he let out a huff of relief, he had been slightly worried he settled in a populated area in his tired flight to find shelter.
The wind felt relaxing against him as he traced over pastures and trees bellow with his eyes, then a scent hit him, he had forgotten how sharp his senses were in this body, as he focused it became clear that it was the scent of grass, manure and sheep. He could already picture the image of him snacking on a sheep already as his stomach growled louder in his ears. Dunk wasted little time as he flew lower to the ground and closer to the sheep, they were grazing on a hill near a small cottage that seemed to be inhabited by two or three people, the shepherds likely, he decided the best line of action would be to try and stay low and maybe grab three or four sheep..try his best not to be noticed, not his best idea but he was hungry!
He landed near the slope of the hill as crouched his stomach to the floor, the grass against his scales as he crawled up and spotted a small group of sheep just close enough to reach, he was about to reach forward and grab one when he caught talking coming from the small cottage and sunk back lower to the ground, honestly he was barely hidden but that wasn't important at the moment as he listened in to the conversation..
He didn't catch the entire conversation but he could make out a few words..
'Targaryen' - 'Competition' - 'Celebration'
Dunk had grabbed two sheep and promptly gulped them down before he grabbed a third and was up in the air again, the sheep in his talons grasp and crying its lungs out but Dunk was too distracted by his thoughts to care as he flew back to his nest. Targaryens to his understanding were the house in control of the Seven Kingdoms, therefore people of importance..
And a competition and a celebration didn't mean anything good for him as that meant people, and important people meant even more, and heavily armoured people at that to accompany them while they were here. As Dunk's head was spiralling at all the possibilities of being found the ache in his chest seemed to warm slightly, like a small match had been set alight inside his chest and it was waiting to become a flame if given the chance.
The feeling was almost comforting in an instinctual way, maybe this was his instincts telling him he would be fine, maybe he could just hide away in the comfort of his nest for a week or so and nobody would be none the wiser to his existence and he can continue hunting after they have moved on. Yeah that would probably be what happens, Dunk was likely overthinking this entire thing! He's lasted 18 years without being found, he can sure as The Seven go on a mere week and not be found.
Back at the nest the sun was settling again and Dunk was curled up against the moss blanket once more, the sheep now digested as he huffed out small smoke clouds in his sleep.
Across the forest unbeknown to him tents were being pitched and horses were being led to their stables to prepare for the festivities and on a dirt road carriages were on their way to their destination, banner raised high with the symbol of a three headed dragon proudly displayed and inside one of the carriages sat someone, their chest also aching and an odd warmth filling them as the carriage drew closer and closer..