Hello, lovelies~ So some of you who follow the dragonbo-tells-all ask blog on tumblr are already a bit familiar with this AU. I actually wrote this for the opbigbang initially but, well, the plot grew and rather than cutting things out in order to finish it on time for the event, I pulled it from the big bang and just posted A Sea of Stars and Lost in the Fire instead. Here we have the start of the story, which is more an introduction to the plot and characters than anything. Also this is a collab in a way because while I'm the one writing the story, it's both mine and mah-blackberreh's AU, so she's helped with plot and the like throughout.

Alright, enough blathering. Enjoy~

He missed the bus again.

Staring down the long, poorly lit road out of the city, Law sighed. It was his own fault, he knew-he'd chanced staying behind to speak to one of his teachers and consequently found himself without a way home, forced once more to walk the aggravatingly long path to the house on the outskirts of town. The soft glow in the night sky signalled the fast approach of dusk, bright oranges and pinks fading into the dull purples and blues that would soon veil the land in a dark wash of colour, a lightless world with strange sounds and a suffocating sense of isolation.

He cursed himself as he stepped onto the beaten, dirt path alongside the road. It was no exaggeration to say that he'd known his talk with the educator wouldn't have gotten him anywhere, and it hadn't, but he'd at least wanted to try, to make the attempt. Of course, the teacher hadn't so much as budged on the issue, and Law was left both without a resolution and without a ride, bitter and annoyed-at himself, at his teacher, and possibly at night coming so damn early this time of year. But nothing annoyed him more than the long walk that was ahead of him.

By the time his shoes clacked against a familiar stone walkway, Law had been left alone with his thoughts for little over forty minutes. The sky, once awash with brilliantly vibrant yellows and pinks and reds was now covered in a dark velvet, leaving the only remaining light to be cast by the stars dotting the inky blackness overhead, and the small, last-remaining tiny beam of sun disappearing behind the horizon. He'd watched it set as the only real thing worth looking at during his walk, but his foul mood left him without so much as a single thought towards the sight. Just an ordinary sunset, just like the rest.

Law kicked a twig littering his path with a sore foot, shuffling tiredly across the stones as he approached the forest treeline and continued to complain to himself internally, lifting his head to avoid walking into a branch-and he supposed it was a good thing he looked up, as he otherwise would have missed the large, black silhouette that blocked out the sky as it sped through the canopy of trees before him. He didn't have time to question it before a loud bang resounded around him-a gunshot slicing through the noises of the forest and causing him to instinctively duck and cover his head. The crash that followed was almost in line with the shot, the violent impact of whatever it was causing the ground to shake, and he stared with wide eyes in the direction of its source. Just what the hell was that?

When all that followed was silence, then the quiet return of the forest's usual chirps and the howling of the wind, Law cautiously straightened his back and swallowed his anxiety as his mind tried to process what just happened. He was anxious, his steps slow and cautious as he listened for any further abnormalities-any signs of danger or explanation, and against his better judgement, he found himself headed towards the sound.

Trafalgar Law was, admittedly, a very curious man. His legs moved faster than his mind could caution them, and any fear he felt was pushed aside by thoughts of just what could be waiting for him at the crash. Still, he remained aware of his surroundings-cautious and ready to act if he ran into trouble. Hunters weren't allowed in the forest-it was private property, after all-so if that gunshot was from one of them it couldn't be good. And if it wasn't, well… that would be even worse, wouldn't it? And then, whatever was being shot at, well…

Maybe it was a UFO. His mind dismissed the thought as soon as it formed. That was an absurd notion. Still, it was… large, whatever it was. And it was flying…

No. No, that was an absolutely ridiculous thought and he wouldn't entertain it any longer.

As he walked, his pace picked up, faster and faster until he was taking long, hurried strides, his mind a clutter of confused thoughts as he squinted through the dark, never once entertaining the idea of removing his glasses from his bag. By that point, he'd forgotten he even had them.

The creature had turned in time to catch his pursuer aim. He saw the way the man cocked his gun and dipped low, out of the bullet's path as he heard the loud, resounding bang of it going off.

His eyes trained on the human's shrinking form, he never looked ahead.

Flying at top speed, he turned to face forward only to see a large, towering tree in his direct line of flight. He let out a surprised yelp, angling his body to veer away, but was too close and a painful crack met his ears as his side slammed into it full-force, and with it, his wing.

Immediately he plummeted downwards, the fall broken only by sharp branches and all manner of leaves, and he found himself collapsed on the ground.

Everything stung, and a hiss of pain left him as he scrambled onto all fours, his limbs unsteady through the pain. There was no time to be hurt! They would find him! So he didn't allow himself a chance to think as he spread and flapped his wings, hurried and frantic, and the moment he was off the ground he fell back down with a whimper, curling into himself as his right wing burned.

Wincing and whining, he turned to look at the appendage only to see blue feathers caked in red, his wing twitching with pain and hanging limp, and every attempt to move it ending in a muted whimper rising up from his chest.

No. Nonononono, not there, not now. He had to get away-had to run because they would find him.

His second try ended in failure and made his blood run cold, raw panic rising up from his gut.

He couldn't fly.

Shaking his head to free it of despairing thoughts, the creature scrambled to his feet once more and bit his lip. If he couldn't fly away then... he'd have to make himself smaller-to minimize the risk of being found. Inhaling a deep breath-it hurt, and he may have bruised the muscle around his ribcage when he fell-he closed his eyes and felt his body twist and contort. The process was usually painless, but right then he felt like every muscle, every tendon, was being torn and stretched and contorted.

When next he opened his eyes, the creature's face was only inches from the ground. He felt small, weak, and daresay feeble in that form. It was... different-far, far different from what he was used to. He couldn't recall the last time he'd taken it. But it was tiny, so it would be harder to locate, and that, at least, gave him hope.

The dragon's arms and legs shook, his body a rush of panic and anxiety, and he let out a strangled, scared, helpless sound as he began to scramble forward on all fours and try to create more distance before they got close. He pretended not to notice that his ears were right against his head and his tail between his legs, trying to give off a false bravado, an illusion of bravery, even though he wasn't.

...He just wanted to go home, to his nest. But... he couldn't get to his nest without his wings, could he?

Whimpering, he pressed his forehead against the ground, his claws digging into the dirt as he growled in frustration. He wasn't covering any distance like that. Walking on all fours in his half form seemed useless, and though he knew he could try to walk on his hind legs-humans did that, he recalled-he didn't have confidence he'd keep his balance.

What, then? Wait to be found-hunted?

Suddenly he heard the crunch of steps and his head snapped up, wide, scared eyes catching on a figure in the trees. He hadn't even noticed! How long had they been there?

When he smelled a distinctly human scent he let out a quiet, terrified sound, scrambling away until his back was against a tree. His whole body shook. Was it... was it one of them?

Law came to a dead halt as he reached an area of broken trees and snapped branches, the whole place left in a state of complete disarray from… whatever crashed minutes ago. His eyes scanned the scene and he'd no doubt that whatever landed there was the very same thing he'd seen flying overhead not long ago, but any direction he may have taken his observations fell out of mind as his poor vision came to rest on the small, pale form of someone seated amongst the chaos.

The man-boy? Law couldn't make out many of his features in the damnable darkness that had fallen-was stark naked and shivering against a tree. Blond, big eyes and-

He swallowed, his eyes fixed on the massive wings protruding from the stranger's back, the right one drooping heavily, and he had to ask himself if what he was seeing was no more than the product of an overactive mind. But as he allowed his sight to scroll along, catching on the horns on the blond's head and the tail at his feet, Law couldn't help the thought that this was real, and those were indication enough that whatever this man was, he wasn't human.

The student's observations came to a full stop when he notice that the… the boy was cowering, small, terrified noises escaping his mouth as he pressed as close to the tree as he could possibly get. And it was only then that Law noticed wide, blue orbs staring back at him, and that this… whatever he was, was scared of him. And that wing…

He was hurt.

Raising placating hands, the teen straightened his back and, against his apprehension, chanced a single step forward. "It… it's alright," he tried, speaking softly and slowly in an attempt not to startle the other. "I'm not… going to hurt you…"

Immediately the blond jumped, his shoulders stiffening as he hissed a low, feral warning no human could have possibly made. He scrabbled further back in what looked like an attempt to melt into the bark of the tree, an effort that proved futile and ended with another panicked whine.

"Hey, hey, shh..." Law cooed as he took another step, slowly bending down to place his bag off to the side, knowing it'd only hinder him if he needed to move. The noises it made had the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end, but he tried to swallow back the fear and keep it off his face. A nagging thought reminded him that this… this creature could be dangerous, but… it was hurt, as well, and…

He wanted… to help. But how? He didn't know the first thing about birds-he wasn't even sure this was a bird, because those horns and tail certainly didn't seem to fit-or whether this guy was more human or animal or-or-

Calm down. Focus.

The first thing he needed to do was get the boy to calm down. After that… well, after that he could try to figure out some way to help, if the blond would let him. He remembered reading something about covering a bird's eyes to relax it…

Taking a deep breath, he continued his slow approach. "You're hurt," he reminded, hoping the other would listen. "I can help you, if you'll let me."

The creature snarled, clawing at the dirt and balling his hands into fists in what Law could only observe as a desperate effort to retain composure. Obviously it didn't trust him, understandably so.

"G-get away!"

His eyes widened. The boy spoke.

The voice was raspy and unused, the words practically choked out and followed by a short coughing fit. Law tried not to allow his thoughts to linger on that, and instead focused on the knowledge that the other could speak. That… was certainly a relief.

"Go!"

Law sucked in a sharp breath and took another step. "Are you in trouble?" He thought back to the gunshot from earlier and pursed his lips. "Are you running from something?"

The creature continued trying to back away, uncaring of the very solid state of the tree, his eyes watching Law's hands as they moved about the zipper of his hoodie. With each new step the blond's movements became more frantic and scared, lacking any manner of coordination. "I-I said-" He coughed again. "Go! D-don't make me eat you, human!"

That had the youth stopping, his eyes growing wide and a peculiar fear stirring in his gut-a fear that almost had him pulling back in retreat. Almost, but he was stubborn, and even though he was infinitely tenser than just a moment ago he pressed on, sliding the material off his shoulders and holding it out in front of him. Now, how to do this without getting mauled…

On the bright side, the creature hadn't made a move to harm him yet. That was good, right?

"Let me help you." He managed to keep his voice from shaking. "You're hurt," he eyed the red leaking from various cuts and smaller injuries on his arms and legs, "bleeding… and on the run." Or so he assumed, just by the boy's panicked behaviour. "I can help… I can help fix you up." Law decided to forego the fact that he had no idea how to go about fixing an injured wing. He wanted to be a doctor, not a vet. But… he had books he could use, and it couldn't be that different from treating a human… right?

Oh god he hoped not.

The blond didn't seem to believe those words, shaking his head furiously as a growl rose up from his throat. When he saw Law still approaching, now quite close, he shoved back hurriedly, his wing slamming against the bark of the tree and causing him to cry out. His eyes squeezed shut tight and he slumped, the pain making its effects obvious.

Law took that opportunity to close the last of the distance between them and placed his hoodie on the boy's head, over his eyes, begging for this to work. If it didn't… he didn't know what to do.

The blond was stiff for a while before slowly, cautiously relaxing, and Law breathed a sigh of relief when all he did was let out a low whimper, thankfully not lashing out. As close as they were, he could now make out the claws and teeth, and it was a very real reminder of just what he was dealing with.

...Whatever that was.

"It's alright," he murmured softly-as soft as he could, which felt foreign because he most certainly wasn't a gentle person. "I'm not… going to hurt you…"

When the creature only shivered, never tried to attack, he felt his shoulders slump and a wave of triumph wash over him. But, at the same time… there was a small, barely-there voice in the back of his mind telling him to leave the boy there-that this was more trouble than it was worth. He had nothing there to treat the wounds-he didn't even have the knowledge of how to-and he certainly couldn't carry the boy home with those huge wings coming out of his back… So what, walk with him? Would he even cooperate?

Another look at the quivering form had him shaking his head and heaving a sigh. He couldn't just leave him there. As distant as he tried to be, he wasn't heartless.

He swallowed. "...Are you listening?" After a moment, there was a hesitant nod. Good. "I can help you, but I need you to walk with me. Can you do that?"

The only semblance of a response he received was the creature slumping against him tiredly, and by that point it was obvious just how out of it his 'patient' was.

This was going to be a long, long walk.

So there you have it, the introduction. I hope you guys enjoyed it, and I'll try to get the next chapter up in a few weeks. Thank you for reading!

Adieu~