Into the Dragon's Den(Traveler x Princess P)

[Star Pupil]

Things were growing increasingly hostile in the Kingdom of Eldron, where humans and dragons coexisted, just barely. It wasn't always that way, in fact the peace treaty had been made less than a century ago between them. On the day that Lucina, the Princess of dragons had been born. She had grown to enjoy living right above the Kingdom, often shifting into human form to visit and enjoy herself.

But then, everything changed because of a single, lone dragon who ignored the peace treaty just for a little treasure. The castle keep was ransacked, the gold was stolen, and horrible, charred bodies were left behind. It was not hard to guess what had done such a thing, and her kind could not ignore the evidence.

Yet they seemed so unapologetic about it, including her father who had simply told the humans that it was not any of their doing, but a rogue dragon. He did not offer to catch and punish this dragon, he only shifted the blame away from his den. But it wasn't good enough. Lucina knew it wasn't good enough. She had to make it right somehow, and protect her people for what would soon be war. The best way was to catch the rogue dragon and have him executed, but her father forbade her to meddle in the affairs of the humans.

Not that it really stopped her. She snuck away, in search of the Hunter who was tasked with finding said dragon. She would help him catch this dragon, and make sure that he did not try to kill any innocent ones. That was her duty to her people, and to the humans that she also wanted to protect. This peace was nice, and she would do her best to keep it. Still, her current goal was to find the hunter, and she had no idea where to start. So she went to one of the bigger taverns in search of him, disguised as a huntress herself.

She would find him at all costs.

 

[Traveler]

RE: Into the Dragon's Den(Traveler x PrincessP)

The royal plaza sparkled with silken clothes, bejeweled draperies flowing gently from the parapets, and the tinkling laughter of the wedding attendees. Everyone was dressed in their finest and were groomed to impress. After all, it wasn't every day that two royal families united. The crown princess of the Gold Coast Kingdoms had traveled with her entourage and ambassadors to the Kingdom of Eldron. Her marriage to the newly crowned King would seal their two lands together. In the raised platform

"That could have been you," the Huntsman smirked at his companion as they stood in a balcony far above the festival. Far below they could see the priests officiating,and when the final pronouncement was spoken and the two kissed, the crowd cheered their approval.

The two men on the balcony wore similar garb, that of the Royal Outriders. Unlike the traditional knights, the Outriders roamed far and wide, using unconventional methods to keep the populace in check. They were, in the words of the late king, a 'necessary evil'. Even with the king passed away and made the oldest of his sons king, the general opinion among kingdom leaders were that some things needed to be done and not spoken of in polite company.

The younger man shook his head at his mentor. "That was never me, Huntsman. The pomp, the politics..." he smiled at the scene below. "My brother is better suited to that world than I."

"Perhaps. So much so that you traded names and birthright with him?"

Harlen startled and turned his gaze upon the Huntsman. No one knew of that - not their parents, not their nannies...no one. How had the Huntsman known?

"I wasn't sure at first, but your reaction has confirmed." The man removed his helm of office and cradled it in the nook of his right elbow, against his hip. "It's a dangerous game you play, Harlen Montgomery Munrowe. You know that now that your brother is married, any chance you have to inherit is gone. Once you take the final oath to the Outriders all else is forfeit."

"I do know," he slowly spoke, weighing his words, "I've always known this is my path."

"Very well." The Huntsman began to turn away from the rail. "Let us-"

Then the world as they knew it exploded. A blinding flash of light and sound poured upon all in the plaza, in an instant turning joy and frivolities into unspeakable horror. Harlen felt the world around him turn into the segmented, under-water clips that his mind would allow him to remember. There was a maddening dash to the rooftops to attempt to attack the damned creature that continued its soulless murder of the nobility and their guest. He remembered seeing his brother and bride engulfed in flames that writhed and strangled them until mere blackened crisps remained. He fought alongside the Hunter until the dragon chanced to turn towards them and spew acidic fumes at the more experienced warrior, then finish him off with a precise line of flames.

Somehow Harlen managed to keep his senses intact, even as he battled the flames himself. He heard the royal knights climbing the stairs, heard words that made him hastily remove his ring of office and slide it on the Huntsman's charred finger, then slide the helm of office over his own head, to hide his identity.

Somehow...

Somehow he managed to convince them that Prince Harlen had died, and somehow he managed to convince everyone that he was the Huntsman...

...who was buried later that week in the crypt that would have been Harlen's. He looked around at the knights, at the newly self-appointed Magistrate who was taking control of the Kingdom of Eldron, and wondered how such a horrid thing had happened. How had it been orchestrated?

Did the knights really mean what he had thought they meant when one had said to the other "Let's find Prince number two and make sure that he's dead too." Or was that merely paranoia?

-make sure he's dead too-

Not, 'find out if he's dead'.

And so, the Huntsman had sworn fealty to the Magistrate, and as the last surviving member of the once-elite Outriders, had been sent out to chase the dragon who had killed the dream of Eldron and the Gold Coast Kingdom. He stood now upon a cliff, his eyes glassing across the tops of the forest below.

The mountain ridge beyond the valley was rumored to be one of the possible lairs of the heart-less dragons. The beasts who murdered and killed despite the tenuous peace treaty they had made nearly a hundred years prior. The Dragon King had dismissed Eldron's cry for justice. He had told them to basically move past the event as if it had never happened.

But Harlen could not forget his mentor's words. "That could have been you." And now, to avenge his brother, his sister-in-law, and all the others murdered that day, he would find the rogue dragon who caused this misery. He would find it, and torment it until any secrets it knew was revealed...and then he would find a way to inflict upon the Dragon King the kind of pain and horror that was inflicted upon his own people...and see if was something they could move past as easily as they had expected his people to have done.

 

[Star Pupil]

During her visit to the tavern, she had learned a number of things that she was not quite aware of. The humans that died were royal...just like her. If she had been murdered by humans, she knew that her father would stop at nothing to destroy the Kingdom. And from the way people spoke, they wanted to do something similar to her den. It was unnerving, hearing murderous threats that came from so many humans, but none dared to venture into the den. However, there was one lone man tasked to find the rogue dragon, but she already knew that, it was the Huntsman.

She asked around, and she did find someone who had seen him leave the citadel recently. She thanked him and left the tavern in search of the Hunter. She wished she could have had a scent...it would make things all the more easier after all. She had a strong sense of smell because of what she was, and could track him better. Instead, she followed the metallic smell of armor once she left the citadel, hoping it would lead him. Sure enough, she was led right towards the cliff, and she saw a lone man looking down at the forest below.

She approached carefully, as her instincts told her to. She wasn't sure why, after all she was a dragon. She was stronger than a human, if she chose to be. In human form, it wasn't that simple. Most of her magic was suppressed, so she had to rely on her sword. Her hand reflexively moved to the hilt of her blade before she stopped and let it rest at her side. "Huntsman?" She asked curiously. She sensed it was him...there was something about the way he made her feel.

 

[Traveler]

Every leaf, every blade of grass, crawling bug, and floating wisp of pollen, was articulated in the evening air. The rays of the sun shot long fingers of soft light across the tree tops. Birds swirled below, catching a last bite before the sun's light was gone and the sky became the place of owls and bats. And dragons.

Harlen was no stranger to magic, but he had been surprised at the magical elements contained in the helm. At least, in the ones that were obvious to him. His vision was as sharp as a hawk's. He could see details and distances that no human eye was designed to see. Thankfully, that skill did not extend to scent - he'd come across a fetid and maggot-ridden corpse early in his journey, with enough distance that he did not have to suffer the stench of putrid death. He'd become too familiar with that smell already, and his human senses could not discern human death with animal. It was all the same.

It wasn't his hearing that first alerted him to the warrior's approach. It was the reflection in a sparrow's eye that showed a movement behind Harlen's silhouette. His shoulders tensed as he turned his head slightly, allowing his right ear to more clearly hear what was behind him.

He didn't expect the voice of a woman.

"Huntsman?"

She sounded like a woman who already knew who she was addressing. Perhaps she wanted him to know that she was looking for him, or perhaps she was announcing herself to him. He couldn't imagine what a woman was doing out here, dressed in armor, with him.

But then he remembered that the people of the Gold Coast Kingdoms were more...equalized than those in Eldron. The princess had brought her own horse, bow, and arrow, along with the keepers of her hunting falcon. Perhaps this woman was one of her entourage-?

He turned the rest of the way. Under the shade of the helm he could see every detail of her, down to the pulse on her neck moving delicately, strongly, beneath the microscopic soft blond hairs that sprinkled across her skin. It seemed wrong to be looking at her so intimately; from the distance where she stood he could only glean that she was hesitant to approach, and for good reason.

But she was a lady, and to stand there, head covered and silent, when she had called out to him, was rude. Courtly manners won out.

He reached up and pulled off the helm, then held it in the crook of his arm the way his mentor had done so often. "I am." His pale blue eyes roved over her armor. She was comely. Her attire was roguish, yet she held her shoulders like one accustomed to being recognized. Her almost feline eyes were both strong and mischievous, and the tilt of her chin, though demure, gave him pause. There was something about her that stopped him from sending her away.

"There is nothing for you here," he said. "Unless you bring a missive from the Magistrate, I have no use of any news you may bring..." he narrowed his eyes. Her sword was not a mere decoration. The way she wore it and the way she stood told him that she was not a novice.

"Who are you?" He felt as if something had happened in the tapestry of time. There was something about her appearance on the cliff side that was more than just coincidence. He choked down the echo of the Royal Knight's words "make sure that he's dead too", that made it difficult for Harlen to be around others. Everyone was suspect. "How did you find me?"

 

[Star Pupil]

When he took off his helm, even Lucina could see how handsome he was. His gaze was piercing, almost as if he were staring into the recesses of her soul. He did not seem like an ordinary human, but she didn't know why she felt that way. It was just the way he looked at her. She made sure she remembered his scent, which reminded her of pine and fresh air. She would need to keep an eye on him, and if he sent her away, she would follow him to make sure she could do anything to throw him off the trail of where her people resided. Where their nest was.

"My name is Lucina...and the Magistrate did not send me. In fact, I came here all on my own, to find you. I had to do a lot of asking around," She told him as she walked closer to him with a friendly smile, hands behind her back. "I heard you were hunting dragons. I came to offer my assistance." She was straight to the point, since she didn't have a lot of time to convince him. Something told her that he was wary of her, which he had the right to be considering the way she was dressed.

She had dressed that way on purpose, just so she could disguise herself from any dragon spies. After all, she was not the only member of her family that could take on a human form. All dragons that belonged to the royal line could. She would not put it passed her father to send someone to retrieve her, and if she waltzed around in royal clothing and jewelry she would draw too much attention to herself.

 

[Traveler]

Her assistance?

He laughed.

It wasn't a scornful laugh, or even one filled with derision. It was a laugh like the kind you make when you're caught by surprise and something completely ridiculous just happened. His eyes moistened with tears as her notion that she could help him sank in. Her?

When he could collect himself enough to speak he wiped the back of one gloved hand across his eyes. They still sparkled with mischief and humor as he tried to gather his words into a coherent sentence. "Girl," he chuckled, "I - ha! Look... Girl...I appreciate the thought. Perhaps you lost someone in the attack, or..." he started to laugh again, and had to use the heel of his palm to push back the tears. "It's all very nice, this 'offer' of yours, but you know nothing about what you are saying. Go home. Find a boy, have children, and just stay away from the work of warriors." He shook his head.

"Whoever planted the notion of a woman fighting dragons in your head should be flogged, Child. Your parents are probably worried sick that you've become a meal for one of those soulless demons, or worse, that a slaver has taken you hostage and is carting you across the oceans to be sold. This is no place for a girl."

 

[Star Pupil]

Lucina tilted her head at his laughter. Did he not take her seriously? She should have guessed as much, there weren't a lot of women who took up the class of a warrior, in fact she had never ran into one herself. But did he really have to laugh at her? A simple no would have sufficed, not that she planned to give up at that. Still, she couldn't help but feel her cheeks burn with embarrassment despite the fact that she knew how strong she was. She waited for him to finish speaking, politely despite the fact that he had not shown her the same courtesy by laughing at her. She was, after all, a Princess, and she remained calm despite any circumstances, regardless of how embarrassing.

"I'm not a child." She began. In fact, she was probably triple his age, at least. "My name is Lucina, not girl. And I'm not joking, no one has put this idea in my head. My parents are dead, killed by dragons. I have spent a long time honing my skills so I could seek vengeance on them, Huntsman. If you doubt my skill, perhaps a sparring match is in order?" She smiled at him, her hand easily settling onto the hilt of her sword. There was no better way to prove herself than to show him her skills first hand.

 

[Traveler]

"Yes, Lucina. You've told me your name twice. I suppose you are not quite a child." He smirked at her, and then at her hand on the hilt of her sword. "Woman, I appreciate that you lost those you loved to dragons. I understand." He leveled his gaze, his levity subsiding. "Many have lost much to those soulless creatures."

"The loss of your parents is a sad chapter of your story, but it does not have to end in tragedy. I, too, seek vengeance." His eyes danced over her body - the way she stood, the way her hand gripped the hilt, even the ease in which she wore her armor - she was not completely naive to the ways of the world.

"Do not let your sorrow drive you to your death. These monsters are cruel. They kill for sport, and think nothing of the lives they end. The one who attacked the king's wedding delighted in their screams. Do you not think he would find joy in tormenting an innocent like you, drawing out your death hour by horrendous hour, until you begged for release?" The Huntsman shook his head. "Go home. Find a man, have children, and delight in their laughter. Dragon hunting is no place for a woman."

He turned to walk to her left and journey down the hillside. "And best do it quick. This beast will not wait long to attack again. Someone taught you to use that sword you carry. Use it to defend yourself, not to seek out Death on Wings."