Sacrifice
Summary- She was a sacrifice for the Shadow Dragon, Skiadrum, and events don't turn out the way she expected. AU RoLu
This is my first Fairy Tail fic, and I adore RoLu, and I have no idea how that actually came to be. I was honestly trying to make a non-AU one, but this one came easier, and I like the storyline to this one. Anyway, here it is. Hope you like.
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She heard the news three days ago. Although it was a tradition in her village, it never really sunk in that she would one day be one of the lucky maidens. 'Yeah, lucky…' she thinks with heavy sarcasm.
Lucy Heartfilia, a young woman of seventeen, of the wealthy Heartfilia family, was the next sacrifice to the Shadow Dragon, Skiadrum. According to legend, Skiadrum was a large black dragon who lurked in the shadows of the high, rocky cliffs of the villages' mountains. Witnesses claim that he ventures down into the valley in a large shadow shape. No one has actually seen him in all of his glorious enormity.
There had been several times when Lucy was accompanying her friends when she felt as if she was being observed, but with each glance around, she saw no one. A time or two she voiced her thoughts to her friends.
"I swear I feel like I'm being watched!"
"Haha, it's probably Skiadrum!" her friend Natsu laughed.
"That's not funny…"
Her friends were great, but sometimes they were too much.
She hasn't seen a single one of them since she was informed her current role. Lucy had pretty much been locked away from her family and friends with very little contact from people over the last three days of her confinement. They tried desperately to get her out of it, but the elders refused.
The young woman was wearing a white summer dress and sandals – the clothing all sacrifices wore. Her wide, brown eyes glimmered with tears as she stared at the clock on the wall.
'Five more minutes,' she laments. Every dream and desire she had for her life will never come to pass. Her friends will begin careers, get married, have children and grow old while her fate is to be eaten by a dragon for the sake of the villages' protection.
'Why me?' she thought. For several days she asked herself this. Her eyes widened before diming. 'How selfish am I? All my predecessors had to have thought the same thing.' She realized she wasn't the only one whose life was thrown away.
A knock sounded on the door. She jumped, startled from her deep contemplation. With one final inhale and exhale, she stood and walked toward the door that clicked open. "It's time." The man said and those were the last words she would hear from another human being.
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She wished she could fight herself, but she accepted her fate moments before she entered the carriage to her destination. The morning sun shimmered through her golden locks and the small breeze wafted them around gently. 'So this is it, huh?' she thought dejectedly. 'They tie you to a post and leave you there. What a great village I lived in.' The elders left only a minute ago, making haste to return home before Skiadrum appeared to devour them all. Unfortunately, the rocky terrain was hard for a carriage to maneuver around, but the clattering of hooves disappeared.
Lucy wondered how her friends would react, although she knew they tried everything to get her off the hook. Gray, Erza and Natsu put up the most fight, she heard. They were bashing skulls and the soldiers of the village had to step in and apprehend them for their defiance. She was also moved to another location so they wouldn't find her. She could only imagine their reaction to learn that she was sent off to be a dragons' appetizer.
She struggled against the ropes that bound her hands behind her back. Her skin was beginning to chaff they tied it so tight. The young maiden felt the desire to cry, but she was done with that. If she was going to be eaten by a dragon she wanted to have as much dignity as possible.
A thrumming noise shook the mountain slightly, causing a few loose rocks to tumble down the cliffs. The blonde felt fear finally grip her as the noise became louder. Time slowed down for the young heiress. Cresting the top of the mountain was a moving patch of black, growing in size as it slithered across the bulky terrain. It lay on the ground like shadow moves with each hour of the suns trek across the sky. Terror filled her as the shadow grew larger and slowly approached her. She rung her hands more, only to chaff her wrists until they were raw. All she wanted to do was run. It was a human instinct, wasn't it? Fear is a natural defense mechanism and she thought she could face it, but when it came to that moment it shattered.
It stopped a few short feet from her now, stalling momentarily. Suddenly something was coming out of the shadow. Lucy could only watch in wide-eyed horror as the beast revealed itself. No creature was as massive as he was.
She almost died when he was muzzle to muzzle with her staring at her with large, red eyes. It exhaled and she could feel the force of it sway her dress and hair, and disturb the pebbles at her feet.
Just as she thought she was going to be devoured in one quick bite he pulled back and her hands were suddenly released.
"Ah!" she caught herself onto her knees before remembering the creature in front of her.
He was still staring at her. "Do not be afraid, young one. I will not harm you." She gaped at him. The deep thrum of his voice echoed to her. She watched as he lay down and the action was similar to a dog.
Another black shadow crested the mountain and moved fast toward them; however, this one was much smaller. The dragon didn't seem bothered by it, but Lucy—understandably—stepped back. "You need to inform the villagers that you are not interested in sacrifices." A smaller masculine voice sighed.
A young man emerged from the darkness in the same manner as the dragon. Lucy watched with wide eyes, stupefied. He was around her age, perhaps a few years older, with crimson eyes. Although the right one was hidden behind messy black hair. A scar swept across the bridge of his nose, giving him a gorgeous, wild-boy look. He was wearing a gray shirt underneath a long black cloak and a long skirt-like material with red crosses outlined by yellow over his pants and armor shin guards across his boots. She noted a katana was also strapped to his left hip.
"Now, Ryos," the deep voice of the dragon rumbled, "you cannot plan to take away all of my fun. Can you, my boy?" It sounded like laughter.
"My name is Rogue."
Lucy blinked, still trying to process what she's hearing. "So…" her voice broke the other two out of their conversation, and for the first time, the human male, looked at her. "You're not going to eat me...?"
A deep chuckle made the mountain quake. "No, young one. I do not eat humans. Although I do enjoy playing with them when they are in my territory." She saw the fleeting image of a cat throwing a mouse in the air for fun and visibly paled. "Not the way you are thinking, young one," he laughed again. "I meant the way I revealed myself to you." She didn't need him to elaborate any further. She got it but she wasn't sure he wasn't going to eat her.
"That's enough, Skiadrum," Rogue sighed.
The girl blinked, "Were you a sacrifice too?" she asked. The sacrifices from her village were all female so she wondered who he was.
His crimson orbs fell upon hers. "No." There was something different about this man. She has many handsome male friends and has seen many gorgeous men, but he was the first one she found attractive. "Skiadrum is more of a father to me," he finished lowly.
"What?" she looked confused.
"I found Ryos as an infant and raised him as my own."
"But you're a dragon! How could you have raised him without hands and other human stuff babies need?!" her reaction only furthered to amuse Skiadrum.
"Magic," he answered simply. The dragon only continued to confuse her so she stopped asking questions. "I am Skiadrum, the Shadow Dragon, and this is Ryos, my son."
The man interrupted, "I go by the name Rogue."
His reply was ignored by the dragon, but the blonde acknowledged his announcement. "Who might you be, young one?"
"Eh, Lucy…" she reluctantly replied. It's not everyday you get sacrificed to a dragon and he has pleasant conversation with you.
"Lucy," he supplied, as if learning it for the first time. "I like it." She wondered if she should take that as a good sign.
"Eh, thanks…"
Rogue stepped up to her and she got a better look at him. He was even better looking up close. They stared at each other for a minute. Lucy was wondering what he wanted when he spoke. "Return to your village and tell them Skiadrum wants no more sacrifices."
"What have you done with the others?" she inquired. "And if he doesn't like sacrifices, where did that tradition begin?"
"Skiadrum used manipulation magic to change their memories. They have no memory of meeting him. We sent them to another village so they could rebuild their lives after your village disposes of them." Rogue explained. "And the idea of giving up human lives to a dragon started centuries ago, when dragons didn't exactly coexist with humans and the tradition became a truce between both races. I'm tired of this. It's the same every year."
"You need to socialize more with your race, Ryos. There are other humans beside Sting who can offer friendship. I believed you would have made a new friend each year the sacrifices arrived. And I think some female companionship will dilute the intense rivalry you two share." Lucy thought Rogue looked annoyed, but his expression was greatly stoic and he remained silent. "Perhaps Lucy would not mind."
It took a moment before she completely understood what was being asked of her. She stared at the man who had his arms crossed over his chest with his eyes closed as if to reign his irritation. Her gentle heart felt sad for him and she made up her mind. A bright and beautiful smile graced her lips, and her eyes sparkled. "I would love to be friends with Rogue." Her voice held genuine interest and made both males regard her. "I can introduce you to my friends!" she was excited now. "They are crazy and sometimes eccentric, but once you get past that they are great people."
Just then the heat of the early summer morning bearing down on her and she stumbled back to lean herself against a rock. She fanned herself, feeling the moisture gather at her clothing only to remember she's wearing white. She briefly noted that neither Skiadrum nor Rogue were bothered. And they either wearing black or covered in black scales.
Both males noticed her distress. "Come," Skiadrum's voice thundered as he faded into shadow, "let us get out of this heat. Ryos."
The blonde woman blinked as Rogue quietly approached her and couldn't help but think that he looks even better up close, even though he was wearing neutral expression. Next thing she knew she was in his arms bridal style and enveloped in black. She looked around in a mix of awe and curiosity. Today was full of a few new experiences. Her inattention missed Rogue's minute reddening of his cheeks before they were quickly schooled to his usual detachment.
Before Lucy knew it she found herself in a cave, though the entrance provided her some light. The air was much cooler and provided her heated skin with comfort. She heard the distinct sound of a droplets of water echo into a pool further in the mountain. Rogue's back was facing her. "Follow me," and she obeyed him as he stepped deeper into the pitch black.
"I can't see," she said when the darkness became too much and she stumbled. A squeak escaped her lips as she waited for impact. A large, calloused hand grasped her arm to prevent her from hurting herself.
"My apologies," Rogue's voice replied, it sounded musky to her. "We don't get visitors. Skiadrum and I can see very well in the dark. I'll be your eyes until we arrive." True to his word, he held her hand and guided her, letting her know when to step up and step down and where the bulky rocks were.
An ethereal light lay beyond. Lucy squinted as her eyes adjusted to its soft blueish glow. Her hand was released and she instantly berated herself for immediately missing its warmth and followed her companion through the entrance of the glowing cavern. She gaped in awe.
The area was huge. Of course it had to be if it had sheltered Skiadrum for centuries from dragon slayers. It was her first time in a cave. Since she was the Heartfilia heiress, she wasn't exactly expected to go on wild adventures but to be prim and proper—even if she had always wanted to go on one. She could see the diagrams of the caves she had seen in her library with stalactites, stalagmites, flowstones, columns, straws and drapes (1) all present here. The walls were mostly smooth, though there were some protruding stones sticking out from them. A large pool of glowing water lay within. Echoes of single droplets of water dribbled upon the surface, breaking the silence of the cave as it fell from the stalactite high above. The gentle blue glow was coming from the pool itself and danced across the walls and Skiadrum's massive bulk.
Ruby eyes watched the fascinated female gawk at the place he had called home for eighteen years. Her multiple expressions were a beautiful sight to behold. He'd seen her myriad of emotions with her friends when he was on errands in the village. The first time was when he caught an alluring scent that smelled vaguely of vanilla, strawberries and light and it wasn't bathed in perfume like nearly every woman in the village. When he found the source of the appealing smell he was instantly captured. On several occasions, he would lurk in the shadows and watch her. However, when he heard her tell her friends she believed she was being stalked he realized he was scaring her, something he never meant to do. After that, he backed off and left her alone.
He couldn't explain the mix of emotions he felt all at once when he saw her as this years' sacrifice.
Rogue felt his father's intense stare and shifted his gaze from the woman to him. Instant irritation grated his nerves when he realized his foster parent was giving him a smug grin. "I see," the deeply amused voice thrummed through his head. "You skipped your first mating season because you found someone else to pursue. However, you found your mate relatively fast. I had to wait two centuries. " At the boy's silence he continued. "There are several weeks before mating season officially begins, so now would be a good time to begin courting her. Who knows who else will try to woo her?" he grinned even more when his son stiffened.
Lucy finally broke out of her stupor and turned to Rogue, only to find him and Skiadrum staring at each other, almost as if they were having a mental conversation. Hesitantly, she placed her hand on the dark haired man's shoulder. He flinched and she pulled away as he turned his head. She was about to speak when he spoke. "You must be thirsty." He led her to the pool and knelt down, cupping his hands and brought water to his lips and drank. She mimicked his actions. "This water is from a glacier. It's very pure." The water was cool and refreshing and tasted better than any water she had ever drank. She could see the bottom of the pool clearly.
When she finished, she looked at the red eyed man and smiled, "It's good." She was taken aback when a small smile twisted his lips. 'He has a gorgeous smile.'
"Tell me about your friends," he said. Rogue chose to court her now, and had planned to since the moment he first caught her scent. "After, I will return you home and tell the village elders to stop the sacrifices."
Her smile was beautiful.
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1) Basic cave details.
This is my first Fairy Tail fic, and RoLu, so hopefully the characters are not too OOC. I hate it when they are way out of character. Hopefully it's believable. Leave a review so I know how it was and what I can do to do better.
Hope you enjoyed.
SPECIAL NOTE: I will make another chapter or two. The second one is currently in the works.