Hey again. I wanna thank everyone for the positive feedback on my previous story. I'm not sure where to go with it, to be honest, and I wasn't expecting feedback at all! So it was a very pleasant surprise. I present you guys with this weird little story because across tumblr I see the occasional post about people wanting an AoT dragons!AU. So, I made this. Hopefully it will suffice.
Warning! This story will contain futa!Ymir. If that's not your style, I don't recommend reading it. At least not the smut, anyways... I am still getting back into the writing grove, so constructive criticism is super welcome. Now, enjoy my failed attempt at writing Krista's perspective. (It's a bit OOC, I know... Or is it?)
I never imagined my first time outside the city walls would be so chaotic. Perhaps that was naive of me, for I knew the risks—and I was fully prepared to face our enemies head on. But to see so much blood in such sporadic spurts... Young men and women, friends that I'd made over the years, people whom I had been sweating and bleeding with not but a few days ago are being ripped in two, incinerated on the spot, eaten alive... The smell of death is heavy in the air this afternoon.
I watch, frozen in place, as my comrade is lifted into the air. The monster flings her broken body up and catches her in its jaws. Bones crunch; flesh splits. She screams before the dragon tilts its head back and ushers her toward her final resting place. I can hardly imagine a more terrifying way to go...
I am torn from my disorganized thoughts as a winged beast drops from the sky before me. My horse rears back and I tumble to the dirt after I slide my feet from their stirrups. I don't have time to catch the breath that's knocked out of me. The dragon snaps its massive jaws and lunges. My hand flies to my sheathed blade, but I'm not fast enough. I have to dive to the left to avoid getting chomped in half.
It's funny—I'd always hoped to get a good look at a dragon, and now that I'm faced with the opportunity, stealing a glance may well be the last thing I ever do.
Finally I draw my blade and prepare to go on the offensive. I look up at my towering adversary in an attempt to determine where I should make my first strike. The sheer size of the beast makes my head spin. Everything I learned about them seems to spill out my ears. My muscles freeze. I want to strike, but...
My arms feel solid, heavy at my sides. My knees buckle and I barely manage to remain standing. Why won't you move?!
The dragon drops its jaw. I stare, dumbfounded, as the sparks generate a flame within its throat. The swirl of fire builds and I raise my hands to cover my face—as if that would help—but instead of intense heat I feel the slightest chill. I crack open my fingers to sneak a peek at the beast that is surely about to finish me, and I find it has been frozen almost entirely solid.
It struggles to shed the thick blanket of ice on its left flank. I should really take this opportunity to flee, but just my luck, something—a talon, perhaps?-grips around my bicep and I am hoisted into the air. My feet dangle and I glue my eyes helplessly to the fleeting ground. I chance a look upon my captor, a dragon much smaller and sleeker than my previous opponent. It tilts its head and one ardent topaz of an eye pierces into my own terrified gaze. The beast curls its lip in what may have been a grin, flaps its enormous wings, and within seconds the sounds of agony and death no longer pervade my ringing ears.
Helplessly I grasp at the dragon's talon with the intention of alleviating some of strain on my confined limb. Never thought I'd be clinging to a monster in such a fashion... But, strangely, I am not afraid. My heart still pounds and adrenaline courses through my veins, and I still feel the need to defend myself—but I find myself thinking more clearly without an aggressive beast looming overhead whose purpose was to kill me outright.
The dragon descends into a forest, setting me down gently in a small clearing toward its center. With my eyes focused on the winged beast, I reach for my sword, and I—wait, where is my sword?
The beast folds its wings in at its sides, striding around in front of me before tilting its head. Abandoning my search for a proper weapon I clench my fists and... And face this dragon unarmed.
Shit.
Its jaw drops and it lets out a quiet huff.
Was that a laugh? Is this dragon laughing at me?!
"What's so funny!" I shout. I can feel my cheeks alight with anger. My knuckles turn white beneath my gloves, leather creaking as I tighten my fists.
It just watches me, tail flicking in a docile manner on the forest floor. Through narrowed eyes I glare up at it, just waiting for it to attack. This fearlessness I now embody is most enticing—I never wanted to meet my end while cowering and sniveling.
"Well?" I challenge it, lowering my hands. "What are you waiting for?"
I stare in unconcealed confusion as the monster simply bows its head. To further my confusion, the dragon's form begins to shrink inward and its anatomy shifts. The ebony scales soften and come to resemble tan skin. The frightening horns that jutted from its head split into fine, messy curls of dark hair. Its jagged snout retracts into a handsome face...
And suddenly I am no longer faced with a dragon at all. Standing before me now is a girl.
"W-Where did—"
"Apologies, your majesty." She rasps. Her voice is gruff and carries a certain power behind it, befitting a dragon. She dips her chin down, lips curving into a crooked grin. "Took me longer to find you than I'd expected. But I did manage to save you from getting roasted alive. Think I deserve praise for that, don't you?"
My lips part. I want to speak, but what the hell do I say in response to this madness?
She quirks a brow, apparently bemused by my silence. What was she expected, though?
At a loss, she tucks some of her wild mane behind her ear which... Is pointed.
"What the fuck..." I manage to articulate at a frequency barely above a whisper. This, apparently, amuses her because she's now chuckling in that husky voice of hers.
"I reckon they didn't teach you lot much about us at all, did they?" She slides a hand down to rest against her hip, and I find myself locked in her fiery gaze. Her voice is so unique to my ears; rough, accented, and difficult to gauge. I stiffen when we are suddenly a few inches apart. I didn't even realize she'd closed the distance between us. My fingers twitch into clenched fists once more. She laughs. "I get it, you're probably confused as hell. There's others who can explain better than I, and I think it's time we—nngh!"
My fist connected with her jaw in a flash. She staggers back a step and I am granted a respectful distance. I watch indifferently as she wipes some blood from her now busted lip, sneering.
"You've got a lot of nerve, missy—"
"I thought it was 'your majesty'?" I correct her in a matter-of-fact tone. I set both hands upon my hips and stare at her with an intensity I didn't even know I could muster. My words effectively shut her up and dull her initial fury. She spits her blood yielding onto the ground and corrects her tone.
"If we could just get going—"
"Do you think I'm so stupid as to blindly follow a stranger—no, a dragon? Without some kind of explanation? I don't think so." I sit myself down on a tree stump, legs crossed and unwilling to move. I can see fire swelling behind her eyes, but I also see her fighting for restraint. This makes me smile. "I've been trained to kill your kind. Dragons have never come forward in a passive manner, so why exactly am I supposed to believe that no harm will come to me?"
"If I wanted to eat ya," she says low, almost like a primal growl. "I'd have done it already. I was charged purely with procuring you, and have no further information. All I can tell ya is that our king is dyin', and it's time for his daughter to claim the throne."
My brows crease. A dragon king's daughter? There's no way—
"That's you."
I lean back, mesmerized. I mean, she is right about being able to kill me—should she so choose. Perhaps she speaks the truth... But the truth only rouses more questions. Questions to which she obviously doesn't know the answers. I run fingers, damp with sweat, through my blood-matted hair.
"How did you find me?" I wonder out loud, thinking it too soft for her to hear.
Yet, she answers, "Easy. Dragons can identify their own through scent. You were the only 'human' that smelled like us."
"B-But I'm not a dragon, and you look more like an elf than a—"
"Purebred genes, love." She smirks, idly thumbing the tip of her ear. "We knew where you've been all this time. Why no one sought you out sooner, though? That's not common knowledge, and I don't have the answer myself. I'm willing to bet your father knows, so we should be on our way."
My head is swimming with so many thoughts I'm afraid it might burst. Slowly, I slide off the tree stump. "No one here will miss me anyway, I suppose..." I say matter-of-factly. When I notice her head tilted in confusion, I quickly elaborate. "That's not me trying to complain! I honestly mean that as a good thing... No one will seek me out if I vanish."
"Will probably think ya got eaten," she shrugs, picking at her teeth—for the sake of humor, I hope. "You ready to go, then?"
I nod. With a grin, she stretches her limbs as though she were about to take off sprinting. "Good. Now, we've a ways to go. Would you prefer walking," my eyes widen when she bites hard into her thumb and undergoes the swiftest transformation I've ever seen. A bright blue light shot out from her form and encased her in what appears to be solid ice. The rounded dome was much larger than she, and after just a few seconds it shattered to reveal the sleek, ebony dragon from earlier. "Or the alternative?"
"Of course dragons can talk," I gape, watching as she lowers herself to a height that I can climb. I stagger towards her, wary of the incredible power she now wields, and prepare myself to mount. "Seeing as how I've no other plans for today..." I hoist myself up like I would a horse, settling between her enormous wings. "I think I'll take my chances."
Satisfied with my answer, the dragon flaps her wings once to elevate us. Once we clear the trees, she positions her spine in a straight line and growls, "Hang on," before launching toward the horizon at an incredible speed.