Hello

Here is day two of CoLu week!

Today's prompt is 'Caged'

Hopefully you guys are enjoying the story so far

and you find it satisfying to your CoLu

needs.

Let me know if any of you are writing a CoLu

fic and I will happily read it!

Thanks for reading guys!

Enjoy


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'Who blew me away-'

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Day Two: Caged

~QOoOQ~

Lucy stared at the male in utter silence, he looked horrible and it caused a small tremor to run through her body at how gruesome his injuries were. Was this what her father had become? A ruthless monster willing to kill- or come close to- a man, even if he was a prisoner, no man, woman or child deserved to be beaten in such a horrid and painful way. Her muscles tensed as the prisoner drew closer to the bars that stood strong between, the sounds of shackles being dragged behind him sending another wave of unease through her, allowing what little light the candle provided to light up the rest of his features. The blonde gasped at his appearance.

The male-although beaten- was quite handsome with his tanned, mocha skin color that was marred with scars, fresh cuts and bruises, his maroon colored hair knotted and stained in blood, his need to be cleaned was clearly shown through the greasiness of his hair, a large, menacing scowl plastered on his face as he stared at her with his left eye-the other being forced shut by a jagged scar- something that concerned her. His broad shoulders stiffened, something Lucy guessed was from being cautious, which he had ever right to be. He was hunched over in a crouching position on the cold stone floor of the dungeon, his purple eye illuminated slightly as an animalistic growl ripped from his throat.

His teeth, she noted, were unnaturally sharp much like his pointed ear which almost reminded her of an elf-almost. The blonde princess noticed that there was a large cuff around his neck and two on either of his wrists, each attached to the same chain with a small weight on the end of it, surprised and slightly curious, she wondered how the man was able to get a nights rest chained up as he was. That was if he could get a nights rest as is. "I said, who the fuck are you!?" His growl was nothing to mess with and although, she knew she shouldn't she kneeled down in front of the tense prisoner and held onto the bar.

His eyes, they held the knowledge of a man who knew pain and suffering, this man knew the loneliness of being secluded from someone-anyone to speak to that were willingly there to strike up a conversation and by the tense muscles and offensive position, Lucy knew the male could sense potential danger. A trait admired amongst few men within the castle walls, protecting her and her father as well as the people of the country-sometimes protecting others from themselves, she assumed that somehow that's what they were doing to the purple-eyed prisoner before her.

Her brown eyes flickered across the fresh wounds littering his tanned skin, worry flashing in her eyes, "are you okay?" Her voice was light and although she meant for her words to be soft and hopefully comforting the man flinched before pulling a scowl back on his face and crawled closer to the metallic bars separating him, it was then Lucy realized just how much the man looked like a feral child even if a man, he looked lost, alone, broken and yet had small characteristics of an animal which-she was not able to identify herself. He barred his teeth at her as he pressed his face closer to her to inspect the delicate hand gripping the bar, his eye flicked upward to stare into her own chocolate brown.

Curiosity flowed through both of them-from what she could tell- but more so for her as he sniffed at her hand, on odd action that the young princess deemed as one of his animalistic traits to which she held no response and left her pale hand in its position, she almost felt like she was being sniffed by one of the royal guard dogs. Lucy was tempted to reach out to him but held back, not fully knowing how dangerous this young male could be if provoked or when he felt threatened, again she was reminded of a feral person-one that held no trust for the human species.

"... You didn't answer my question." He barked, although flinched when he heard a noise that didn't quite reach her ears, his eyes darting between her and the halls she had just travelled from, "Who are you?" His eyes squinted as he observed her in the dim light, she swallowed thickly under his heated gaze, she wasn't sure about the male before her and since he was the only prisoner in the dungeon she guessed he was the one who screamed earlier that evening. Opening her mouth she told him, "Lucy, My name is Lucy." His purple colored eye stared directly into her own, judging her, looking for any sign of a lie before he slowly got off his feet and sat himself on the floor.

"Lucy," growling out her name he stared at her through his messy locks, her heart thudded "why are you here?" Straight to the point. She laughed quietly, ignoring the curious stare she received from the maroon haired male and shook her head quietly, the prisoner was so curt it reminded her of one of her old friends and even though she knew she shouldn't, she answered.

"Curiosity," she shrugged her delicate shoulders and continued, "I found the guards sleeping outside of this room and decided to come in and see for myself what was here, then I found you." Her explanation was brief but the blonde deducted that it was adequate and gripped the ends of her nightgown tightly as she asked, "Was that you I heard?" The male raised a brow at her question, clearly not understanding what she was asking him and she sighed lightly, "that scream I heard earlier, was that you?"

The man's muscles tensed and it was then that Lucy realized that the male before her had a combative attitude, seemingly ready to fight at any given moment whether he wanted to or not, his eyes narrowed, "what of it?" He was stubborn, something Lucy knew she was but always denied it, another act of her stubbornness and although she knew-she would never admit it aloud.

"... Did they do that to you?" Her hand slipped through the bars and touched one of the fresh markings on his forearm only to quickly retract her hand when he growled at the contact and shifted further away from her .Lucy frowned slightly when he inched away from her touch but shook her head; she doubted she would be any other way if she had been beaten so mercifully just as he had, she tilted her head curiously to draw the tension away from him, "What's your name?"

...

He stared at the blonde in curiosity and slight confusion, no one had spoken to him like they would to one another, they would always speak to him as if he were some monster and yet here she was, a small, fragile female, talking to him as if he were a human like herself, asking for his name with such a voice. None of it made any sense to him. He observed Lucy, he had been surprised on her first arrival seeing her in her nightwear but she had completely disregarded it once she saw him and he was curious as to how someone such as herself could be so calm around a prisoner.

A monster.

Why was she here in the first place? Even if she was curious, a woman should never leave herself open like she has and although he could not escape from the four walls that confined him; feeling smaller and smaller with each passing day, Lucy should know. He glared at her, his barriers reappearing as he remembered he knew nothing about the blonde, "Yes... Those shit guards you saw taking a fuckin' nap were the ones who did this..." He laughed bitterly, "assholes."

He hung his head, shielding his eyes from view and although his belligerent attitude was already apparent, he felt the need to cover the only thing that was open for people to see what he was feeling, his eyes. 'What am I doing,' a voice rung in his head as he heard a small sigh before the light sound of metal clinking against metal, something he had heard often before being taken out for a 'special' treat. He glanced through his dirty bangs and saw the odd woman plaguing his thoughts standing in front of him with the cell door wide open, she held out a hand in front of him, hunched over slightly with her other hand resting on her knee, she smiled, "come on."

'Why am I doing this?'

He stared at the hand in question, was this girl just plain stupid? He couldn't help but nod to himself, the girl in front of him must have surely been crazy to open a cell door to prisoner, especially him. "Why?" he was answered with silence as she pointed over at the showers just outside his cell-was the damn thing trying to tell him he stuck? His nose twitched as he turned slightly and sniffed himself, immediately turning away after, yeah, he couldn't blame her, a giggle caught his attention and snapped his gaze up to the blonde.

"No silly, that's not what I meant," she gently grabbed his hand and helped him up as he briefly wondered why he was even letting the girl touch him, he hated anything touching him especial people of the opposite gender, they were all the same, lying idiots. The sound of their feet padding to the other side of the dungeon, their movements amble and unrushed as he was sat down in front of her on the small space of tiled floor. He glanced over his shoulder as she switched the water on and running her fingertips under it with a slight frown marred on her face,

"That's not going to work," he informed her, "the only temperature down here is cold." His purple eye glanced at her, now that he could see her more clearly, he couldn't help but think that she must of been someone well off, most of the citizens didn't get the luxury of warm water, just cold but then again it was a possibility that she was a maid living in the castle but that didn't explain numerous things about her that went against it. Slowly, he felt a wet cloth press against his back, the multiple wounds screaming in protest as his new blonde acquaintance rubbed a bar of soap over each of them, thoroughly cleaning the fresh cuts. "...Cobra,"

Her movement stilled, she seemed almost alarmed at the mention of a venomous snake and he had to let out a deep chuckle at the humor of her reaction, he had uttered the word to the guards but they held no frightened reaction, much to his chagrin. Though, Lucy she was something words cannot describe, "What?"

"My name," he told her, rolling his eyes, "call me Cobra." He received no voiced response but the continued movement of the cloth and soap was all he needed as a reply before they descended into silence. Cobra couldn't even begin to fathom why Lucy was not afraid of him or why she was treating him with such gentleness while everyone else in this forsaken castle treated him like horse shit under their shoes. The silence weighed heavily on him as he was left to himself and his thoughts, barely noticing the blonde sliding the cloth over his tattooed arm that resembled that of a purple snake.

It or once, was peaceful for the maroon haired male, he felt strangely calm and he wasn't sure how he felt about feeling so relaxed in the presence of a woman as she washed his marred skin, touched him. It was different, Cobra never willingly allowed anyone to touch his skin-much less his back- and yet here he was, allowing a complete stranger-much less a girl- touch his skin and clean his wounds. He had obviously been surprised when she appeared in the entrance of where he resided, but what bothered him was by how delicate Lucy was.

Her hands were much to soft and gentle for them to be a maids, no marks on her beautifully pale skin so she wasn't some sort of entertainment for the male species living in the castle and she was not fit for being a fighter so what could this girl possibly be? He tensed slightly as she ran her hands through his hair, sudden thoughts arising; maybe Lucy was of noble birth. The thought didn't sit well with him, he despised the nobles for thinking of everyone like trash and throwing their wealth around for selfish purposes, people like him would do anything for a dollar, yet he had nothing.

He was the monster everyone in the country feared yet did nothing to exterminate him-just keep him confined within the space of the dungeon and they thought they would be protected, the people felt at peace, and the king was pleased with his happy peasants. Joy. Then again, his old friend once told him 'men fear what they don't know', they didn't understand everything about him, they didn't know of what beastly race he was nor did they know what he was capable of when angered or sad, distressed even and so he was thrown in a jail with one meal a day.

He was a prisoner, forever to be locked in his cage, shunned from society.

Yet, here was Lucy, taking him out of his cage and caring for him, something no one has done for him in a long time- so long that he found it slightly unfamiliar. Why did she care though? Why would Lucy care enough to clean someone like him? He was already tainted so what was the point of doing something for a lowly prisoner like him, "... I hate noble men," he told her-not completely understanding why he did. Her hands stilled on his back momentarily before continuing her movements,

"Oh, really?" she mused quietly, bringing forth a small chuckle from the male, "and why is that?" He stayed silent for a moment, listening to anything he could hear-ignoring the obnoxious snores from the sleeping guards, ignorant of what was being done and said within the dungeon itself- and just waiting to hear if she had anything to say to him, but she didn't and so he huffed a breath and answered.

"'Cuz they're all fucked up bastards that can't take care of themselves..." A comb-which she had managed to fine within the confinements of the stone walled room-, was brushed through his wet hair, "funny thing is they don't even have an ounce of stability in their fucking wealthy ass lives." She hummed quietly and continued the soft tugs of the comb through his hair, seemingly content with the topic of discussion as he sneered; "besides they'll take anything valuable to another within a fuckin' minute."

He knew she could feel the anger radiating off him but he didn't give a damn what she thought about his temper-well it wasn't necessarily true, he wanted to be able to speak with her again but, "let's just say I'm a freak and that's why I ended up here and why they aren't releasing me-though they probably wouldn't even if I was harmless..." He felt the damp towel running gently over his marked skin as her breath hitched, why was he even telling her this stuff? Maybe it was just because someone was willing to listen to him or something else-either way he didn't know and didn't care.

Having someone that was actually willing to speak to him as a human was good enough for him and if this was only a one time thing than Cobra had no way of reacting to it, would he be sad that he could no longer speak to the relatively special blonde or would he brush it off as if nothing had ever happened that night. Either option seemed unstable but the maroon haired male was unable to make a solid choice, did he want her to come back?

"... I agree to some extent," she told him quietly as she ran the comb through his damp hair, "I've met many men and women of high social status and-excuse me for saying this- but they are the most vile beings in Fiore." She huffed, shaking her head as she did, "although I did meet a very nice old noble once named Makarov Dreyar, such a kind old man." His eyes widened slightly before he nodded and proceeded to ignore her, obviously he was not expecting her to bring forth the name of a elderly man he's met of several occasions.

Whether it was for worse or better.

"... Cobra? What did you mean when you called yourself a freak? Why were you thrown in here?"

He sighed and turned his eye toward her curious brown ones, again why was he speaking to Lucy? The question seemed to appear a lot in the conversations he held within his mind; truly he had no answer for the curious voice in his head-he couldn't begin to think of an answer and so he shrugged it off.

"I can hear everyone's thoughts within the country, I'm the poison dragon slayer, that's why I am a freak..." he avoided her gaze and ignored anything he could hear from her inner thoughts and grumbled, "that's all I'll ever be." He felt warmth press against him before realizing Lucy was leaning against him with her arms wrapped tenderly around his scarred back; something was oddly different with this girl.

No one dared touch them with their bare hands let alone have full body contact unless they were tackling him to the ground, even then they had thick layers upon layers covering their skin and gloves hiding their hands, maybe weary of the poison he held. Although their attempt at hiding their skin would make no difference to the poison he held within his body, he was the poison dragon slayer for fucks sakes-no one could hide form it unless they had some sort of resistance. Even then that was highly unlikely. Although Lucy, she willingly held full on contact with him.

Something that excited and yet terrified him.

"You're not a freak Cobra," she murmured to him softly as her breath fanned against his tanned chest, he could feel her furiously beating heart through her thin clothing-him only now just realizing the scarce amount of silk covering her body, "you are a living, human being just like the rest of us but with special abilities." 'You're different from others and perfect in your own way, so never call yourself a freak Cobra, promise me.' His eyes widened to the size of saucers, never had he been held him so tightly and tenderly while speaking to him in a voice full of familiarity and understanding to him, no one had ever known what he felt except... He shook his head silently and leaned into her, encircling his arms around her to engulf him in a hug as his eye slid shut.

"I promise Bright Eyes..."

Finally, he had someone who understood his loneliness.


Day Three

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'-And it was the darkest of my days.'

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Shattered-Nightmares712: So I am leaving you off here, we get to see Cobra now, Yay~! The whole 'bright eyes' thing was not my idea I got this from a story I read and absolutely adored so hopefully GemNika, you aren't mad at me for using that because it was just so cute! I'm thinking of drawing Cobra and then posting it on my Tumblr page as celebration for CoLu week but I'm not sure yet, we will see~ Let me know how you guys are enjoying the story so far, I'm still struggling a bit with writing Cobra and Lucy like this but it's good to have a challenge every once in awhile so wish me luck on the next chapter guys!
Thanks for reading!

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