This is the first chapter of a story that I have rattling around in my head. (Ah, yes, the first day of a new semester is such a terrific time to start something new, isn't it? Especially when you still haven't finished most of your other stories, right?)
Anyway, this story is yuumeishipping, and will feature Ryou, Yami Bakura, Marik, Yami Marik, Yugi, and Yami Yugi all in a relationship together. So there's your fair warning on that one, and you can choose to read further or not.
But let me know what you think and hopefully I'll get the next chapter up as soon as possible.
"Nest Mates" 5/31/2015
Chapter 1:
Ryou could hear the din of war on the other side of the locked door. The teenager had been handcuffed to the metal-framed mattress that the gangsters kept in the bedroom, most of his clothing removed from his body and making him extremely aware of just how vulnerable he was.
He fought against the gag that was tied around his face and the handcuffs on his wrists to no avail, but he could hear the beast outside getting closer.
Ryou lived alone, his mother having died last year and his father only God knew where. He'd always known the risks of coming home alone late in the evening, but he'd been careless this evening. This gang had caught him, knocking him unconscious and having their fun with him. They would rape and kill him eventually, and Ryou knew that it was only a matter of "sooner or later."
But, apparently this gang had gotten themselves into trouble. Sounded like they'd set up shop in dragon territory, and one of the monsters had decided to show up tonight to rectify their mistake. The sobs and screams that suddenly stopped was enough to tell Ryou the fate of his captors.
He tensed as everything on the other side of the door became quiet. There were no more thugs. And he could hear the dragon getting closer to the door, the one shred of safety he had left.
Oh well. Better to die quickly at the creature's hands than to die slowly of starvation or anything.
He stared at the door as it was ripped off its hinges, small tears of fear pricking his eyes. The monster stood in the doorway for a moment, simply looking at him. It looked almost human, but for the broad, black, leathery wings that grew from his back, the horns on its head, and the long, scaly tale that drug along the ground behind him.
Growling lowly, the dragon entered the room, walking over to the bed where Ryou was trapped. He looked down at the boy, his facial expression unreadable, while his nostrils flared, sniffing the teenager.
Ryou simply stared up, memorizing the face of the one who would grant him death. Russet eyes and grey hair, and scar cut deep into his face. Fangs that poked out from behind thick lips.
The dragon was oddly attractive, all in all.
A thickly clawed, scaly hand tore the gag from Ryou's face, the dragon's face descending down to meet his in the same movement. It didn't seem threatening, but it still startled him, making him cry out lightly.
"What are you doing here, boy?"
It took him a moment to realize that the dragon was talking to him, and that it expected an answer.
"Those men that you killed caught me on the streets and were going to have fun with me. Whether you kill me now makes no difference, as they would have killed me by morning anyway."
"You have not entered my ancestor's nesting grounds of your own will, then?"
"No. If I had my way, I would have steered clear of it, and would be home in my apartment right now."
The dragon said nothing for a few minutes, apparently content with the answers he'd received. Then, he spoke again.
"Tell me... Why do you smell of dragonblood, boy?"
He stared at the beast above him, confused. "I... What?!"
The beast just looked at him, seemingly amused by his confusion. "Don't you know you smell like a dragon, boy? You don't smell quite like the humans do. More wild, a sense of darkness and danger."
Ryou was careful not to move as the dragon lowered his face into the teen's hair, sniffing and even licking at the teen's neck. But, no matter how hard he tried, the boy couldn't help but squirm a bit as that long, slippery tongue lapped at his skin. The dragon was straddling him on the bed by this point, legs bent on either side of him, clawed hands feeling up and down his bare sides.
"I like your scent, little one..." it growled, almost purred, deep in its throat. "Tell me, though. Why do you look like a human, and yet smell like a dragon?"
Ryou turned his head away, not wishing to look the beast in the face. "My mother... used to tell me stories about my father, telling me that he was a dragon. I never believed her. I don't know whether that would be true or not, but that's the only explanation for your question that I can think of."
The dragon hummed, burying his face deeper in Ryou's white locks. "A halfling. They are rare, but they do exist. I've never met one before, nor have my other nestmates.
"Where is your mother now, little one? Will she worry about you?"
"... She is dead. So no, no one will be there to mourn or come after you for my death."
"I wasn't planning to kill you, little one."
Ryou turned to look at the dragon sharply, his eyebrows arches in a disbelieving fashion.
The dragon smirked at him, lips pulling away to reveal large, sharp teeth. "I have found a halfling, whose presence very much pleases me, in the nesting and mating grounds of my family. This halfling also has no nest or home to return to, and right now nothing would please me more than to bring him back to my nest with me and mate with him."
Ryou stared at the beast, very much taken aback. "... Do I have a say in this?"
The dragon shrugged, still smirking at him. "Not really. Unless you think you can defeat me in unarmed combat."
"What?"
"When dragons court one another, we can either accept or decline the offer. But, by declining, we must fight our would-be mates in combat. If we are able to defeat them without the use of trickery, then we need not mate with them. If we cannot defeat them, however, we must accept our fate and become their mate regardless of how we feel towards them."
The dragon grinned, actually grinned, down at Ryou. "Could you defeat me with nothing but your bare hands and feet, little halfling?"
"... Probably not." He cried out suddenly as the handcuffs at his wrists were suddenly completely shredded, and he was only given a few scant seconds of making sure his hands were alright before his was whisked up into the dragon's arms, quickly being carried out of the small hideout.
"Do you have a name?" He ventured to ask the dragon, genuinely curious.
"Bakura," came the low answer. "And you, little halfling?"
"It's Ryou."
"Well, Ryou," the dragon purred, nipping at the boy's ear. "You're coming back to my nest with me, and hopefully earn the approval of my mates."
The boy looked at the dragon curiously, trying to hide the redness of his cheeks. "You already have other mates?"
"Most dragon nests have several who are equally mated to one another. My nest has myself and four others, as well as our three offspring."
"Five mates?!"
The dragon laughed in utter amusement. "By the end of it, you will be mated to five dragons."
Feeling confused and uncomfortable, Ryou hid his face in the crook of the dragon's neck, somewhat wishing he'd died back in the hideout.