I don't own anything but original story idea and original characters. Also, Yondu is still alive (I have another fanfic about him if you're interested) so he may crop up; and I kept Pietro/Quicksilver alive as well. This will use some of the Endgame ideas and sequences, but I will not attempt to stay completely canon with the films. Feel free to write requests for characters (even vague ones) or scenes between characters—I adore song prompts! Did I mention I also love song prompts? For example, major inspirations for this chapter are Tina Turner's "We Don't Need Another Hero" and "Believer" by Imagine Dragons—so any genre is welcome. Cheers!
She'd watched their ashes fall to the ground and had felt her heart fall with them. The wind had blown the remnants of her family around her like a desert storm and she could still taste the acridity in her mouth. There'd been no warning, no indication. Just…gone…
But that had just been the beginning. Kushala al-Javresh was the last generation attempting to rule those that had been left behind. Though the kingdom had tried to rally behind their new queen, as young and inexperienced as she'd been, it had not been enough. There were others who'd not turned to ash who took advantage of the chaos. Where for years they'd lurked in the shadows only attacking the vulnerable and weak, now they moved in broad daylight. And all within the kingdom, even Kushala in her palace, had grown accustomed to living under the fear they brought until it seemed nothing else remained but fear.
Kushala had always seen herself as broken from a young age, her strange abilities marking her as different and at one time deeming her unfit for rule—including the fact that she'd been the youngest, and female. She'd been inhibited by her own character weaknesses and youth. But through the fire and the flames that became her country after that fateful day, Kushala had done her best to adapt and overcome. However, she'd been limited in allies amongst her own people upon who she could draw wisdom and strength. There was not enough left to stand against the extremists and Kushala, not having the diplomatic training of her father, had been unable to solicit the aid of their strongest neighbors: the Wakandans.
Then it'd happened: the coup. Kushala had exhausted herself, and her powers, trying to prevent it. But every alternative still led to the coup, either earlier or partially later, and Kushala always found herself captured by the extremists. That same day they'd paraded her naked around the palace rooftop and through the streets, shouting insults at her and calling down curses upon her family. Then they'd beat her, tortured her, violated her, but they never tried to kill her. They wanted to draw out the pain that was to become her new existence. But the pain they'd inflicted upon her had made Kushala a believer that anything less than absolute revenge was nothing but a castle in the air. She would survive this. Out of the ruins and wreckage that had become her life, that had become her kingdom, Kushala would let the bullets rain down upon her enemies and eradicate them from the earth. She would ensure that the face of the future for her people was going to be better, brighter, even beautiful. She would give this mission her all as the blood coursing through her veins was not the blood of inbred royalty but the blood of warriors and dragons.
And that was how she'd met Tiamet. Though Kushala hadn't expected a hero, she'd gotten one. When she felt she'd been broken down almost to a point where she could never build up again, that was when Tiamet had come. Crashing into her life with as much subtly as a raging dragon can have, Tiamet had made quick work of Kushala's captors and then whisked her off to a place of seclusion where Kushala could recover.
During that time, Tiamet had taught Kushala about the dragons, the Taninoui, about their origins unknown but their arrival on Earth along with the vibranium meteors centuries ago. Tiamet also taught Kushala about ancient family history she'd thought only mythical-their blood connections to the Taninoui-and this history explained so much about her abilities, about her family, and about her kingdom. But this history also reminded Kushala that she couldn't afford to make the same mistake twice: trying to save her kingdom on her own. She could not alter the past on her own. She needed help. If she wanted to leave a mark of hope on the lives of her people even at the cost of her own, she would have to risk herself and seek allies.
That desire for a life beyond the ashes was what had prompted Kushala to seek out the Wakandans, violating their treaty by sneaking into their kingdom. Of course, Tiamet had done much less sneaking and it had actually been Tiamet's presence that had kept the Wakandans from killing Kushala and had brought their new leader, the young princess Shuri, to Kushala's aid. Arrangements were thus made and Kushala was to meet with the remaining Avengers at their headquarters. It hadn't taken much convincing on Kushala's part to get Tiamet to commit to the endeavor; the Taninoui stated she had nothing better to do anyway. And so the odd pair, an ancient dragon and a young mutant, made their way to humanity's last hope.