Nerissa hauled her body out of the shallow strait that ran through the middle of the island, winding its way through the forest. Using her strong arms, she pulled herself along the ground away from the water until her streaming, ribbon like tail emerged completely onto the dry ground. Breathing was a nightmare, verging on asphyxiation, until her gills gradually receded from her sides, folding inward and expanding to form lungs to allow her to breath the air on land.
Her beautiful tail divided into three parts. First, the back peeled away, the flat paddle-like end forming the trailing end of a gossamer, glistening dress of blue and green as if her scales had been knit together to form the fabric. Next, the remaining part of her serpentine tail split to form two human legs. The aquamarine scales on her upper torso formed the top of her dress creating a lovely yet armor like covering to protect her. Beads of water gathered around her neck in a circle forming a pearly liquid necklace. At least the magic gifted to her by her human sorcerer father and water dragon mother enabled her to construct a form to allow her to exist in both worlds.
Nerissa twisted her wet hair the color of the clear blue sky and shallowest parts of the ocean into a thick braid to keep it out of her face. Her eyes, a shade of green equivalent to the green of the verdant grass under bare feet, scouted the area around her. Through the trees she could see the sun setting, lighting up the sky in shades of fire: red, orange, and yellow.
Red. Her favorite color. The color of his shining scales. And also the color of his hair when he took human form. His eyes were like lustrous rubies no matter which form he chose. The fire dragon.
Nerissa pressed her hand to her chest in an effort to keep it from beating through her newly formed ribs. She sniffed the air on the off chance that she might catch a whiff of him. She smelled a scent akin to smoke from burning wood. Pleasant. With only a small hint of destruction. The aroma of him. He was close.
The air swirled around her, chilling her still damp skin. Night was coming. He would be on patrol, wandering through the forest in search of intruders, protecting his master's land - a volcanic island. Meanwhile, she had left her own master alone. But she had come here on his behalf at his request.
"Fire dragon!" she called, her voice bouncing back to her from the trees. "Kirishima!"
"What is it water demon?" he asked, his voice deep and growling. He appeared out of the grouping of trees in front of her as a great big red dragon.
Nerissa sighed, rolling her eyes. Mild anger and major aggravation pushed away the excitement of her anticipation of his arrival.
"I'm not a water demon, lava lizard," she retorted acidly.
"Lava lizard?" he repeated in his loud, booming voice. "Why are you here water nymph?"
His body started to shrink, the elongated torso gradually raising up until he resembled an extremely large lizard-puppy thing begging for food. His arms and legs elongated to form human limbs. The scales melted away into rivulets of crimson that slid across his body like water to reform into his clothing: loose red pants,skirted by another layer of red material, and tucked into knee high black boots with white fur around the top. Bare from the waist up with a sprinkling of iridescent scales across his upper chest and top of his shoulders, he flaunted a hard ridged belly, defined chest, and well muscled arms. He retained part of his dragon appearance from the horns on his head, the wings on his back, and his long, tapering tail. All of these dragon attributes had become smaller and proportional to his human semblance.
"I rather miss you calling me fire lizard," Kirishima said, his lips parting to reveal his sharp pointed teeth that reminded her of a shark's teeth.
Nerissa inhaled deeply, her breathing shaky and hitching at the end of her long inhale. Dammit, she cursed herself. Hold it together.
"Why are you here, Nerissa? Does your master have a message for mine?" he inquired.
"Yes," she gushed, suddenly recalling her actual reason for being here. "Master Midoriya, the Lord of Terra Firma, would like to cordially invite your Prince, the fire warrior, to a banquet to discuss an alliance."
"When will this banquet take place?"
The humanized fire dragon stepped closer, and she backed up a step to keep her distance from him. Not that she didn't want to be close to him. Therein lay her problem. She wanted to be extremely close to him. However, she had to maintain her professionalism and her dignity while acting as envoy for her Lord and Master. At the moment, her position as trusted proxy and devoted friend to Izuku Midoriya outweighed her desire to get to know the handsome dragon better. They had formed a friendly relationship acting as go betweens for their lieges of the neighboring kingdoms.
"The banquet will be planned a week from the time of my return to my master should the answer be favorable. Until I receive an answer, I will remain here," she said, raising her chin defiantly.
"My master will need time to think over this request. He does not accept such invitations quickly. Where will you stay?" Kirishima asked her.
The metaphorical wind immediately left her sails. Nerissa had expected an immediate answer. How much time did the barbarian need to think? A simply yes or no was all she required.
She glanced around, rubbing her cool arms with her hands. Being a sea creature and coming from the cold depths of the ocean, one would believe her to be accustomed to frigid temperatures. However, spending time on land, walking in the sunshine with her master, had acclimated her more to the warmer air. She would have thought a land mass situated on top of a volcano overflowing with molten rock would be a little warmer. However, the water surrounding it stayed wonderfully tepid so most of it must be under the surface of the island and the sea.
"I suppose I could sleep here in the forest. Or in the shallows surrounding the island. They're nice and warm," she murmured, looking around as if a presentable place to sleep would show itself.
"You can stay at the castle. With me," he added, smiling broadly. His cheeks turned as red as his hair when she fastened her shocked gaze to his face.
"What about your master?" she questioned. "Will he mind?"
Nerissa did not care for the violent, loud, and completely unsophisticated Warrior Prince of the tiny island. He was everything her master was not which confused her as to why her Lord Midoriya wanted anything to do with man, why he tried so hard to be his friend and ally. She wanted to believe it was to strengthen their small island kingdoms, to give them both a sense of peace and security. However, somehow she had no doubt the warrior prince could hold his own in a fight with absolutely no one to help him.
She looked into the glittering ruby orbs studying her emerald green eyes. Besides, he had his dragon to protect him. Kirishima: strong, proud, and oh so handsome. She bit her bottom lip, lowering her eyelashes to her cheeks to avoid his probing irises. A shudder started at her shoulders and ran through her body more from what his steamy look had done to her rather than her chilled skin.
"He won't mind," he assured her. "You look cold."
Nerissa gasped when his scaly tail wrapped around her waist, pulling her close to him. He was warm like a fire, the heat radiating from his body to hers.
"Why would a land dweller choose a water spirit to be his go-between?" he questioned her, winding his tail around her again.
"Because I live in the gap, quite literally, between their two worlds. The two islands are separated by the sea, my world. So in a way, I'm protecting my own interests, my own people, as well," she explained. "I can tell you the story of how I met my master."
"Another time," Kirishima said, the pointed tip of his tail touching her chin. "And I'll tell you the story of how I met mine."
Nerissa's entire body quivered. Heat emanated from his tail which pulsated around her with each beat of his heart. The thrumming resonated through her chest, finding her jittery heart. The steady beating of his heart calmed hers, bringing down her pulse to match the tranquil rhythm of his.
"Let's go to the castle. I will take you to a room."
A/N: I'm honestly not sure how far I'll go with this. It may be just remain a plot bunny. It could be a short long story or a long short story. Or maybe it will grow into a full fledged story. I always did like the little AU ending of the second season of My Hero Academia. I was inspired by seeing artist's concepts of Kirishima as a dragon. I had a few thoughts and decided to type them up to see how well they would be received. Let me know what you think. Thanks!
