Sudongtober 2020

Sir Henry thinks that his day is going far too easily. 

He’d come prepared. There were scores of stories about others who’d attempted the task he was currently undertaking. None had succeeded. Most made it back, but with new scars on their bodies, damaged armor, and with tales of a fierce dragon guardian that no one could best. Sir Henry was ready for a fight that many had lost. The potential reward was too great to pass up the opportunity. 

Now, however, he feels wary as he wanders the empty halls of the castle. The ride here had been long but remarkably uneventful, and as he approached the castle, it held no signs of life besides a faint light from the tower. No sign of any guardians, much less a dragon so fearsome that only the bravest knights in the land dared attempt the quest he had undertaken. 

Never one to turn down good fortune when it happened though, Sir Henry forges onwards as he searches for the way up to the princess’ tower. Stories and songs had been written on the beauty and grace of the princess locked away in this castle. The knight is eager to witness it for himself and the excitement pushes caution from his mind when he finds the stairway to the tower. 

It’s a long climb, and his breath comes in huffs by the time he reaches the top. He takes a few moments to compose himself. This is it.

Sir Henry knocks on the door. 

It opens moments later, revealing the most beautiful woman he’s ever seen. It’s easy for him to see how so many songs had been written about her, despite few people ever having actually seen her in person. 

Coming to his senses, he drops to a knee and bows his head. “Princess Han.”

-----

Now, Sir Henry is certain his day is going far too easily. 

Again, don’t get him wrong, he’s never been one to turn down good luck when it’s given. 

But this is just downright strange.

The princess had been all smiles, telling him to rise and getting straight to the point, asking him if he was there to rescue her. After his confirmation, she’d merely told him to lead the way, and they’d proceeded to just… walk right out of the castle. 

They’d mounted his horse and left, with nary a peep out of so much as a bird, much less a terrifying dragon. All this mental preparation, all his apprehension about attempting this quest… nothing. The blood red beast and its scorching blue flames nowhere to be found.

Even if he couldn’t have hoped to defeat it, he’d expected to at least have to outrun it. Perhaps best it with some clever trick to evade it. 

Nevertheless, he certainly can’t complain about his job being too easy. Instead the knight focuses on the nice feeling of the princess gripping his armor from behind as they ride. 

-----

It’s already close to nightfall when Sir Henry decides they should have enough distance between them and the castle to set up camp. 

With a fire going, and himself and the princess both settled in comfortably beside it, the knight finally allows himself to relax. He did it. He, Sir Henry, actually rescued Princess Han. The princess thought by many to be unrescuable. 

Grinning, he watches the princess as she warms her hands by the fire. Marvels at the way her skin glows with the oranges just beginning to spread across the sky as the sun sets.

His return will be a triumphant one, indeed. Just imagining the awed looks he’ll receive from everyone back home (everyone, because everyone from peasants to royals has heard the stories of Princess Han) fills him with confidence and pride. He’ll never have to struggle to earn respect again, not with this beautiful woman on his arm.

“So, princess,” he starts, “how does it feel to finally be free?”

The princess giggles a bit at his question. She must be so relieved, he thinks. His lips quirk up as well with the obvious excitement she’s showing.

“It’s… different.” She acknowledges. Before he can press any further though, she continues. “How about you? How does it feel to finally have conquered the beast so many others could not?” She leans forward a little, batting her eyes and gesturing to herself. “To claim the prize that’s evaded so many?”

The knight balks, surprised by her forwardness. More so, however, suddenly a bit sheepish. How does he admit to… not… accomplishing that first point at all. “Well…” He rubs the back of his neck, considering his words.

The princess seems to see right through him, not giving him time to put together his response. “You… did slay the dragon, did you not?” She leans back, taking in his silence. “I did think it seemed a bit… quiet, before you made your way up my tower.”

He sputters. “Well, no, but-” The shocked look on the Princess’ face makes him defensive. “Well it never showed up! We made it out just fine so I figured-”

The princess cuts him off sharply. “And you didn’t think to look for the dragon? What, you think that after all the other knights driven off that this time the dragon just decided not to bother?”

“No!” Sir Henry runs his hand through his hair. “I mean, maybe? I thought why question good luck, it’s not like the thing will follow us all the way out-”

He’s cut off again, but this time by a cacophony of noises, leaves rustling and branches snapping and wind churning all mixing together in an orchestra of warning as he jumps to his feet and turns towards it in horror.

Just in time to see the tower of blue flame shoot past the treetops, a large creature emerging from the forest almost as if it materializes out of thin air. His stomach drops as he takes in the color of the dragon’s shimmering scales.

Blood red.

"Princess! Run!"

Sir Henry sees the woman take off for the tree line in the other direction. Satisfied she's listened, he draws his sword and goes further out into the open, hoping to draw the creature's attention.

It works. Sir Henry just isn't so sure that's a good thing.

The dragon lands, just far enough away that the knight is out of reach of its various limbs. The impact with the ground is so strong it feels like the entire world shakes beneath Sir Henry's feet.

Nor does he get time to recover. He doesn't even manage to properly regain his footing before he's again thrown off kilter by the loudest noise he's ever heard.

The dragon's roar is deafening. With no other choice, Sir Henry falls to his knees as he clutches his ears, desperate for any protection from the sound.

He stares up at the creature, just waiting for the battering to end.

It really is an impressive sight, he has to admit. The dragon's iridescent scales glimmer in the fading sun, shining different shades of red depending on how they catch the light. Its long neck points skyward as the roar pours from it, its wings spread outward to their full wingspan.

Sir Henry wouldn’t exactly consider himself a small guy, but the size of this thing? He’s not sure he would even qualify as bite size for the dragon.

Mercifully, the roaring finally stops. He climbs to his feet, as quickly as he can, but silently curses himself at how slow he moves and how out of breath he already feels. The shock of being snuck up on, the sheer intimidation of facing down a beast like this one… it leaves him unsteady. Unsteady, off balance, and at even more of a disadvantage than he already would’ve been. And nothing that could be called a fight has even started yet.

Regardless, he is still a knight. He has a princess to protect, even if all he can do is give her the time to make it safely to the trees and hope she has a chance on her own from there. Squaring his shoulders, he settles into the best fighting stance he can manage.

He and the dragon regard each other. Before he can second guess himself, he charges. 

He doesn't even see the dragon move. One moment he’s yelling, running ahead, hoping to land a hit on something with his sword and if nothing else buy some time. The next he’s airborne, sent flying by an impact against his entire flank.

For a longer time than seems possible, the world spins around him, before he crashes into the ground. Hard. Clumps of grass and dirt ripped up and thrown about him as his body tumbles to an unceremonious stop.

Sir Henry groans as he attempts to sit up. He really regrets having taken off some of his heavy armor when he set up camp. He’s only barely managed to lift his head when he’s pinned to the ground by the dragon’s massive paw, claws extended around him like the bars of a dungeon cell.

The beast’s head hovers above him, allowing him his first good look at it. It regards him coldly, with an intelligence that makes his fear spike even more than it already has. Its piercing, violet eyes seem to glow with their own fire from within. It rears its head back and he braces himself, expecting the worst. Instead of frying him to a crisp right there on the spot though, it snorts and smoke billows from its nostrils, engulfing him

A warning, a threat.

Princess Han screams, and both he and the dragon suddenly turn away from their staredown towards the sound. She bolts from where she’d apparently been hiding behind some large rock, running away along the treeline. Sir Henry curses, his arm reaching out automatically towards the charge he couldn’t protect. “No… princess…”

As if further igniting its anger by reminding it of his presence, the dragon whirls on him once more. The beast’s violet eyes seem to glow even brighter now, the fire within them gathering into a swirling inferno. 

The heavy paw holding him down retreats, but he isn’t given much reprieve. The dragon’s head comes close and lets loose another thunderous roar. Sir Henry curls up, trying to protect himself but left with nothing to do so besides his own limbs. 

Thankfully, this bellow is short, and the noise stops quickly.

Only to be replaced with fire.

Bright blue fills his vision even behind his closed eyelids as heat pours over him. He can feel the jet of flame shoot past him, aimed just high enough above where he lay that he doesn’t actually catch on fire, but still much too close. The smell of singed leather and burning hair fills his nose. Left with nothing else, he screams.

The heat finally stops. A gust of wind around him gives him hope that the dragon has spared him, instead taking off to return to its nest at the castle. He only manages to crack open his eyes to check when another scream from the princess makes his heart sink.

Frozen with fear, he can only watch as the princess is effortlessly scooped up by the dragon. It takes off, flying back towards the castle. The bright red scales serving as a beacon for his eyes to follow his failure as it disappears into the beginnings of nightfall. The princess’ screams steadily fading into the distance.

It isn’t until long after they’re gone, that he manages to uncurl himself, laying flat on the ground. His ever loyal horse returns to him, poking at him with its muzzle. With effort, he pats the animal affectionately. 

“Don’t worry boy, we won’t be trying that quest again.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Handong stretches, groaning in satisfaction as her muscles relax back into place after the long day. She enjoys these little outings, but they take their toll. Especially when she has to play the role of meek, starstruck little princess for as long as she did today. Returning to the comfort of her tower at the end is always a relief. 

The only thing that would make it better would be if a certain someone would hurry up and join her. She knows they usually need the extra attention whenever Handong “gets rescued,” so it’s a bit strange to her that they haven’t arrived yet. 

As if summoned by her thoughts, the door opens and a smile automatically forms on Handong’s face at the sight of the smaller figure entering the room carrying an armful of food for her. Here Handong was pouting about them taking so long, and really they were making sure she got a good dinner tonight.

“There you are, did you miss me?” Handong calls out, wiggling her eyebrows playfully.

Bora doesn’t go along with it at all, Handong’s mood sliding right off of them. Instead, they pointedly keep their gaze away from Handong, focusing on laying out the food for them to prepare later. A couple moments of tense silence pass before they say anything back.

“You need to get cleaned up, those clothes are filthy.”

The icy tone stings. Handong’s face falls a bit, her eyebrows furrowing. Bora may not like these… “trips” Handong goes on from time to time as much as the princess does, but they usually enjoy it well enough. They’re less eager, but still content to join in on making fun of the various men who attempt the quest. 

Not sure what to make of it, Handong attempts to salvage the playful mood she was in before. “Yeah they are. It was a long one today, I think I really had him going this time. Poor guy thought he was completely in the clear and had me wrapped around his finger.”

The knife Bora’s been using to chop vegetables slams extra hard as they cut through a potato, the loud bang filling the room after Handong’s words. 

"Yeah,” Bora starts, seemingly taking great effort to start calmly slicing again. “You had quite the adventure today, didn't you. Did you have fun gallivanting around with that… jester in a metal suit?"

Oh. 

Is Bora… jealous? It’s hard for Handong to believe. Rarely if ever does Bora get upset after a knight shows up, and almost never is it directed at the princess herself.

Handong hums, sliding up behind the smaller figure to wrap her arms around them. They tense a little, but they’ve never been able to resist the younger woman for long. It only takes another moment before Bora relaxes back into the embrace. They still try to keep up the cold front though - Bora’s nothing if not stubborn when they want to be - but Handong knows she’s already won the first battle. 

“You know that’s not the fun part for me, Bora.” 

They huff, and a little smoke comes out their nose. Handong has to swallow down the little laugh that threatens to break out. She both loves and hates that Bora does that. She knows they can’t help it, and that’s exactly the problem, honestly. Handong loves it because it’s so dang cute, and hates it simply because it can make it so hard to take them seriously when they’re trying to be grumpy. 

“No, the fun part is when my brave, scary dragon shows up to save the day.”

Bora relaxes a little further, and Handong mentally cheers. Baby steps. 

She gives Bora a playful squeeze. “You really scared the shit out of this one, huh?”

They tense up again and squirm out of Handong’s arms.

“Yes I did, and what about it?” They say, that cold tone back, though less harsh than when they first walked in. Bora starts pumping water up for a bath, and Handong’s heart warms despite the bad mood. Even when upset, Bora is still taking care of her exactly as they normally would. 

Deciding this dancing around will get both of them nowhere, Handong figures it’s time to just address it directly. Bora’s always done best with blunt, straightforward exchanges anyways. 

“Bora.” They stay focused on the bath. Handong takes a deep breath. “Bora, are you… jealous?” 

They huff again, more smoke billowing around them. 

“Bora, look at me. Please.” 

Finally, they do. Bora stands and faces her, their brilliant violet eyes meeting Handong’s head on. It takes Handong’s breath away. Bora’s eyes are always striking, the fire within them never going out, but now it burns brighter than Handong’s ever seen when they aren’t in their dragon form.

The flames churn angrily, somehow both displaying and hiding Bora’s emotions within. While Handong can see them all in there, agitating the blaze, it’s impossible to parse out and decipher any individual one.

They grit their teeth, offended. “I’m not jealous.”  

She’s not out of the woods yet, but the princess allows herself to feel the relief that statement brings her. It didn’t fully dawn on her at first, but the implications of Bora being jealous are ones that concern her. The idea that Bora perhaps didn’t trust her alone with someone else, or that Bora could even think that Handong might actually like one of the knights enough to choose him over Bora… it hurts. Handong is definitely relieved that Bora wouldn’t think that way.

They’ve been each other’s rock for way too long now for Handong’s heart to be able to handle any sort of trust concerns between them. She doesn’t know what she would do without Bora and their undying love and loyalty at her side. 

“Then what’s wrong?” Handong can already see Bora closing up again. “Please, Bora. Talk to me.”

Their eyes flare, and Bora lets it out. “What’s wrong? What’s wrong is this, Handong. This…” They pause, gesturing around as they figure out how to express themselves. “This… disregard. I like messing with these idiots too, but this is too much. Haven’t you considered what could happen if one of these stunts goes wrong? If you actually… if he managed to…”

Handong springs forward as she sees the dragon’s anger build. A few red scales pop into existence on Bora’s arms, showing just how agitated they are as their dragon form threatens to emerge. The princess gathers them up into her arms again, running her hands soothingly along their arms and back. 

“Hey, it’s okay. I’m here, Bora. I’m here.”

Regret and heartache rolls through Handong like a candle suddenly being blown out. Letting the knights take her away… it’s always just been a fun game to her. She enjoys getting the men’s hopes up, only to dash them away soon after. To her it’s always just been the least she could do in return for all their pomp about coming to “rescue her” only for the sake of what they actually want - claiming her as their own as if she were merely a trophy to be won. 

She’s known that it’s not Bora’s favorite thing, but she figured they were fine with it. After all, Bora would have to be going along with it for Handong to ever actually make it off the castle grounds with the knights. As much as Bora would prefer to do it up front, dealing with the knights before they ever even make it up to Handong, the dragon does still enjoy taking the men’s egos down several pegs.

Handong squeezes Bora tighter. “They won’t actually take me away, Bora. You always have and always will make sure of that. I know you will.”

Bora pulls away abruptly. “But that’s exactly it! What if one time I can’t? This-... Messing with the knights is one thing. But lately you’ve been insisting on taking it farther and farther and what if I can’t keep up?”

“Bora, you-”

“I almost lost your scent today.”

Handong freezes. “What?”

Bora nods, crossing their arms. “Yeah. You wanted to get off the castle grounds, let him get far enough away to make camp and feel safe. Well, it’s all open for quite a ways once you’re off the grounds. I had to wait if I wanted to follow without being seen, and constantly shift to this form to check the trail discreetly, not to mention to sneak up on you once I did find the camp.”

“Can you imagine how terrified I was, while I couldn’t find it? What was going through my mind, while you were off on some joyride with that guy, just to get some kicks out of teasing him for a bit?”

Bora leans in, still maintaining that intense eye contact, a challenge in her gaze. 

Handong just feels sad. She’d never really thought ahead when it came to this stuff. Or considered how different it must feel being the one who has to come get her back, rather than the one who gets to just wait for a pickup.

Tears prick at her eyes. “I’m sorry.”

Bora’s expression softens immediately. The fire in their eyes settles down, violet flames now more of a gentle flicker than a swirling inferno. It’s the soft and gentle warmth of a hearth, the way Bora’s eyes usually burn. Looking into them gives Handong that familiar feeling of home that only Bora can give her, and she knows everything will be alright.

Bora pulls her into a hug, and Handong gratefully melts into it. “Hey…” they start, now Bora’s turn to soothe the princess with a hand softly rubbing circles on her back. “I don’t mean to make you upset or anything, I just…” Handong feels the way Bora breathes deep to gather themself. “I just don’t want to do this anymore. Not like this. Not this far away.”

Handong nods into Bora’s neck. “Okay. I’m sorry, I never realized…”

Bora shushes her, squeezing her in reassurance. “It’s okay. Just… no more letting them take you off the grounds. How’s that? After all, if you ever want to go beyond those all you have to do is ask me, you know that.”

Memories of all the times Bora’s let her clamber on their back - the thrill of the wind rushing by as they fly together and explore the land all around the castle and beyond - all flood Handong’s mind and she smiles. Why would she ever want to trade that for a horseback ride with some other guy that just sees her as a status symbol? A social ladder to climb?

Bora’s been with her since the start, both growing up together in the isolation of this castle. Both cast away by their families - Handong left to be a prize by a king and queen that didn’t want to deal with her, Bora left to be a guardian as a payment of a debt owed by their parents. The dragon could’ve easily stayed true to their duty, falling into the role of fearsome guardian and leaving Handong to stew in her loneliness. 

But instead they’d fallen into each other, a young Handong curious to know more about the creature that stayed with her. And the creature curious enough in return to show the princess their other form. 

(Handong still remembers the way her child self had hugged the confused young dragon, asking what their name was and if they were a boy or a girl dragon. Not used to such friendliness (or forwardness, for that matter) from humans, the dragon had shifted to their human form to answer, well and truly shocking the young princess. Bora’s response of “what’s a ‘boy’ or a ‘girl?’ I’m… a dragon” had rattled Handong’s mind at first, but she’d quickly moved on when Bora told her their name and she fell in love with how well it suited their beautiful violet eyes. Their friendship only grew and grew into more from there.)

Bora really had been the best companion Handong could ever ask for, and had never wavered once in all their years together since they were children.

All this swirls in Handong’s mind and she wants nothing more than to vocalize it all, to share with Bora just how much they mean to her. She isn’t sure how to do it though, and the best her brain manages to put together is short and simple.

“I love you.” 

And maybe it’s enough, because Handong doesn’t need to see Bora’s reaction. Face still buried in the shapeshifter’s neck, she can feel the way Bora lights up at those words. 

Bora pulls away slightly, lifting Handong’s chin with their hand to place a chaste kiss on her lips, easily conveying more meaning with that familiar action than words ever could. They both let the moment sit, returning to their embrace. Time stops for a little while as they take each other in, warmth and comfort and love passing back and forth between them as easily as the air they breathe.

The dragon is the one to finally break the moment, their easy smile returning. After the icy demeanor of when they’d first entered the room tonight, seeing it is enough to make Handong’s heart soar once again. 

Smoke erupts from their nose, a hint of blue flame licking at their lips as they grin mischievously. 

“Alright princess, let me get that bath warmed up for us. I really did mean it when I said you’re filthy.”