Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh
Update schedule: Part three on 16th
Story Warnings: Mentions of Asexual Reproduction, Mentions of Sex Change, Mentions of Past Kills, Mentions of Past Suitors, Mentions of Death, Mentions of ATTEMPTS at Forceful Mating, Mentions of Past Wounds, Mentions of Past Sibling Abuse, Dragon Sex/Animals Mating (part three), SLIGHT Harm During Sex, Sexual Content
I didn't go much into detail, but Seto OBVIOUSLY isn't a Blue Eyes in this story as he's a Sky Dragon and not a Lightning. He's modeled after the Felgrand Dragon, Bakura is modeled after the Hunter Dragon, and Malik is modeled after Ra. I needed a basic color scheme for the other three (Seto and Malik gold, Bakura silver) and I use the Hunter Dragon all of the time in Duel Links and Felgrand seemed more Seto in style. Try not to picture it too hard. It might just be me who sees it lol
Anyways, so, the mating rituals will come in more detail during the actual scene next chapter.
Have fun.
Part II: Atem
"You're a Gandora dragon," Atem spat furiously. His tail lashed, the end opening to display the blades for only a moment. Then he stared at him, eyes full of spite, as the scales along his spine began to elongate once more. "Why would you even come here? This is not your native land. It is not even as if I might be capable of procuring offspring for you, in any regard. You are half Fire Dragon. Sky Dragons cannot breed with Fire."
Yugi blinked, startled by the aggressive tone, and then tilted his head in slight bewilderment. "It has nothing to do with whether you can provide me with eggs," he whispered after a long moment. His eyes flickered away, the pupils slit beautifully down the middle of his irises, before very slowly growing wider, stretching and flipping onto their sides. Atem stiffened and, bewildered by the open display of distress showing within his gaze, for once he truly found himself grateful that his own eyes lacked such a mechanism of display, for Yugi would have seen it double within his own. "I never suspected you could give me a nest."
"Then why have you come here?" he snapped, sniffing and looking at his wings again. They still felt so heavy. But they seemed okay for the most part. Even when he bothered to flex them, they held firm and powerful despite their visible droop. Yugi looked incredibly crestfallen, smaller than he'd ever seen another dragon appear before. It startled him, the sight of it causing his hearts to skip beats, and the display of emotion daunted him. He'd never known a dragon to show such sorrow or misery before in mere conversation. He'd seen it after winning, when they had been utterly convinced of his loss formerly. Even then, however, it had not been true sorrow to grip them but rather bruised pride and frustration. "You came here to mate with me…"
And then he wondered at this idea.
Had he simply come here to humiliate him instead?
Had he come here to simply beat him and brag?
Atem's stomach sank and he swore all six of his hearts shut down in a shuddering rasp within his chest. He could not imagine the many various challengers that would come upon this loss being announced. So many of them would come to seek him out, attempting similar routes to victory. And then how long might he be able to hold them off?
Yugi had tricked him.
And he had barely even been able to lay a claw on him before he'd fooled him.
How foolish of him to believe that another dragon might be fair.
Why be fair to the God Dragon with two mouths?
So many of them simply wanted to use him as a key for power alignments. If a God Dragon was the forefront of their allegiances, whether by friendship or mating, their territory was almost guaranteed to remain untouched by another. There would likely be no battle for terrain or any hardship to greet their lifetimes.
And so many of them more simply wished to use him to produce nests upon nests of eggs. Not one of the dragons he'd had as challengers had been interested in the thought of a single mate. There was no dedication as there should have been.
Sky Dragons mated for life.
And should he have eggs, he would have to fight fang and claw for them while an unfaithful mate ran about to reproduce with copious others. If he was tied to a Wind Dragon, he would see them but once a year—if even that—with the unpleasant knowledge that they had mounted another of the same species days or weeks or perhaps even minutes prior.
And then he'd be forced to lay on his stomach and allow it to happen again and again.
He could only take such actions for so long before the inevitable happened and he killed them. Being devoted emotionally to another did not ensure that his hatred would not surpass even his eternal instinct to wait on and satisfy his mate. There would be nothing to keep him from snapping and destroying them.
Water Dragons would force his movements to be dictated by their impulses of moving about and he'd rarely see the sky, as their regions were so close to the oceans themselves. And then he'd have to go underwater with them, have them constrict around him until he produced an egg. They were far more callous when it came to the hatchlings as well, as a male was far more likely to eat them than raise them. The females had to attempt to get to them first, risking painful attacks in retaliation, and would then flee before the males got their claws on either of them. And, if they should truly be unlucky, they would not recover from the pressure in time and be forced to watch the males eat and then go through it a second time. They would then be pumped until either they could produce no more and the male then left to find another or then be forced to flee their wrath. And they had to be faster than the male in question. Or otherwise it would begin anew.
And Lightning Dragons were often more or less sterile at first. Their inability to mate properly on the first try made the experience all but excruciating. Their barbs set off electrical surges through the system that could potentially stun or kill another dragon. The males usually had to mount up to ten times to produce sperm and the females so often were exhausted because of the brutality of it all.
But Yugi was part Fire Dragon. And Fire Dragons poisoned their mates to effectively force them to remain docile. The females hated to mate so much that they often tried to fight and kill the males before they might properly mount them. And the males not only poisoned, but they would grab the females by the neck and shake them limp whenever they stirred in order to keep from being forced off. Fire Dragons had the most to lose in the mating game, forced to either lay beneath a suitor that would immediately flee after being all but beaten or risk being killed if they could not woo their potential mate.
But he'd heard more about their barbs and mating rituals than anything. Not only was the mounting itself incredibly painful due to the poisoning and then being shaken limp upon stirring, they also had a much larger organ, one which had to be buried extremely deep after a particularly painful thrust that could potentially tear.
Then it could last for hours and the females were forced to feel their release inside of them as it moved because it burned. It was a concentration of heat so intense that it numbed the mind and could even damage nerve endings.
"You did this simply to humiliate me, didn't you?" Atem said slowly, his golden eyes narrowing. All Yugi could see there was absolute hatred, with the smallest definition of despair there as well. "That is why a Gandora ventured all the way from his home territory. Not because you held interest in truly breeding, but because you caught whisper of a God Dragon killing off suitors and you determined it would be fun to force them to mate with you."
Yugi was floored by the accusation, visibly startled and shocked. His eyes grew wide, at first with horror towards the very idea, and then with distress and dismay. Then he breathed in deeply, blue-violet eyes becoming almost uniform in color, and looked at him with a miserable expression.
"They truly did a number on you, didn't they?"
Atem blinked. The question was so defeated and irrational that he could not do much more than stare blankly. "Hmm?"
"Your brothers." Yugi was bristling now. He lashed his tail angrily and a tremor of pure ferocity and open hatred came through him. "They're the reason you're so closed off and hateful. They told you your mouths were—"
The other dragon was on his feet immediately now, tail lashing furiously. The gem that rested on his forehead began to glow much brighter with his anger. "You dare to pretend to know such things?" he spat, his bottom mouth twitching with the urge to open wide and sink his teeth into his throat. "I will only ask you one more time. Who are you?"
Yugi grimaced now and his own long tail went back and forth in an irritable throw of flesh. The silver spears of muscle along the outer side of his wings glinted fiercely when he opened them slightly. But he had begun to look exhausted now, as if the very weight of the question was overpowering. "I used to live a couple of miles west of your nest," he finally answered, tilting his head to the side. When he shifted his weight his wings gave Atem a better view of the couple of bones that protruded out of along the joints, between each of the gems that lay there. The black dragon's expression had become crestfallen and his wings drooped now as well, his former determined expression lost. "I was about six moons when you fled your nest."
Atem bristled now, flexing his claws so that they sank further into the earth. His entire body was trembling now, enraged, and the scales along his back rose into a taller display of rage. "You…" He snapped both sets of teeth at him and the blades of his tail opened for only a moment. He was shaking harder than ever and, if Yugi had not seen the aggression, he might have assumed he was scared. "You truly have come here simply for the right to humiliate me, haven't you?"
Yugi blinked wide eyes. A slightly horrified look crossed his face, and then his head tilted slightly further to the other side. His wings tucked tighter, drooping where they outlined his thin frame. His entire expression collapsed and his blue-violet eyes flickered away, the pupils further dilated with distress and dismay. "You and your brothers used to play a few feet from my den. My parents were always really scared one of you might notice us, that your parents would come and dispose of us. They'd been fleeing for a long time before they'd settled there and I was the only one who hatched because of the stress it put on my mom. I would always hide when you guys were out there but I used to sometimes watch too. You were my favorite."
Atem was frozen, staring at him blankly. He'd…? And his parents…? The Sky Dragon blinked wide eyes. His parents would have killed them the moment they'd seen them there. With a nest of four hatchlings and the long years it took for the Sky Dragons to mature, it would have been ludicrous of them not to kill them. He blinked again.
Yugi had said he'd been his favorite?
Why?
Of the four of them, his color was perhaps the most vibrant but also the most basic as well. Unlike Seto, his scales had not been a brilliant golden and soft silver, so beautiful that it made the metals themselves dull in comparison. And Bakura had a brilliant silver color that looked white in sunlight but gray in the shadows, with an underbelly of black. And Malik had taken the full body of bright solid gold the same shade as the metal, glowing beneath the sun like a flame, with a single bright blue gem in his forehead as well.
Out of all of them, the strongest had been Seto, who had also grown faster than the rest of them. He himself had grown the slowest. Malik had proven the best at his magic and lung capabilities, though Atem had not been far behind him. Bakura had been the most adventurous where Atem himself was all but afraid of his own shadow. And Atem had often scared potential playmates because of his two mouths and the way they naturally seemed to project hostility.
Out of the four of them he was most certainly the least likeable. So how was it possible that Yugi might decide him the favorite of them?
His eyes weren't even as pretty as his siblings'. Seto's had been an almost glowing pale blue that had turned a silver shade in sunlight. Bakura had muddy brown that looked almost amber in moonlight. And Malik had gotten the brilliant silky purple of blooming lavender flowers.
Yugi hesitated, unsure of what more to say for a brief moment. Then his tail lashed from side to side to stir the dirt beneath it, and he let out a sour breath of pure disappointment. "But your brothers always picked on you so relentlessly. Especially the one with the pale blue eyes. He would knock you around until you cried out. And the brown-eyed one liked to see how long it would take you to grow back your claws when he decided to tear them off. And the purple-eyed one liked to knock you out of the air or throw you underwater and hold you there."
Atem snarled low in his throat, eyes blazing. "I am the one who lived with them, who suffered at their whims. I do not need you to tell me what I went through."
Yugi shook his head and frowned at him. He flexed his toes, wiggling them with slight anxiety, and for the first time Atem noticed the tops of each had bright red gemstones outlined in soft silver. "You were my favorite because you never gave up on the idea of forgiving them. You never gave up on the idea that maybe they would grow out of that phase and eventually just see you as their younger brother. But you were always so much smaller than them and a lot kinder too. I used to watch you play in the river sometimes when you were alone, because you would catch the fish by their tails and then gently release them again. And then you started doing it less and less and I saw how tired you started to look. The last time you did it, I saw how much you really didn't care for it, and I knew then that you had lost your spark for all of it."
Atem blinked, stunned. He'd seen him doing that? It was amazing that he'd managed that entire time never getting caught by his siblings. But they had always ditched him for certain intervals and not returned for hours on end. When he would sense them coming, he'd turn and lay back in the den.
"I saw you a few days before you left," Yugi continued, tilting his head and watching him with wide eyes. "You looked so haggard then. Who was the one to carve into your side with their claws like that?"
The Sky Dragon stayed quiet and his eyes flickered self-consciously towards the spot in mention. It had long since healed, leaving not even a scar, though the wound had encompassed his entire side for moons after he'd fled and gone on his own.
"Seto," he finally muttered softly. He remembered how bloody and raw it had been, how terribly painful it had remained for moons afterwards. "Bakura and Malik held me down for him and he clawed my side open for the fun of it."
Yugi tossed his head back and forth, snarling. "He had no right!" he burst out, tail lashing again furiously. The hate in his bones made him quiver again and he bore his teeth as his head snapped towards him. "I couldn't believe they would do that to you. I almost went out there to help you! I saw you bleeding so badly and I almost tried to go out there but then you started cleaning it and I guess I thought that maybe that meant you knew what you had to do to heal it…"
Atem felt his side twitch for the smallest of moments. The very thought of the wound was almost enough to bring the burning ache back to the surface of his mind. His tail lashed in a self-conscious jerk of muscle, almost overwhelmed by the very memory, and then he drew it closer to himself, as if to tuck away along his body.
The blades were still open when he brushed them lightly against his skin as if perhaps to stroke at the former wound. He shifted his weight, flexing his wings only slightly, and turned his head towards the ground with a soft tilt. With a sense of unhappiness, Atem folded his wings far enough to drape over his lean sides, shielding them entirely.
Yugi looked away, a slightly hurt but mostly dismayed expression upon his face. "I'm sorry, Atem," he said quietly, "I should have tried to help you that day."
"You were barely six moons old by then," he scoffed, voice scornful, but he did not discount the plea for forgiveness the other's tone held. "What could you have done for me?"
"Been there. I could have talked to you. Maybe it would helped you. It…it wouldn't have hurt any less, but I could have offered some comfort." He opened and closed his mouth as he struggled to think of something else to say. Then he deflated again, drawing his wings closer to his sides. "I feel terrible, Atem. I watched all those things happen to you and I never did anything to help you—"
"My bothers would have killed you should you have stepped in. And if your parents had interfered, mine would have slaughtered them." Atem watched him with a slightly embittered expression upon his face. He flicked his tail again, the keratin blades slightly tickling his skin. It flexed again, twitching, and he blinked slowly. "The death of three dragons for the sake of one alone is not a fair trade in any manner, Yugi."
The black dragon lowered his head, a glimmer of shame entering his eyes. "Yes, I know," he said in a tone that sounded somewhat agonized but worn out as well. "But I…I still regret it, Atem. I still wish… Every time I think back to that moment, I just wish I was older or smarter or…or just something."
"You were smart enough to resist interfering. You are alive now because of it. You have some form of a survival instinct." Atem fell silent again and looked at the ground for a moment. The seconds passed and the Sky Dragon moved slowly closer to him, hesitant as his stomach twisted. When he found himself entirely unable to move towards him any closer than those few inches, the Sky Dragon finally stretched his forelimb out. He cuffed him gently along the shoulder, making Yugi yelp in shock and turn to him with wide eyes. "That does not explain your being here now, Yugi."
The reprimand was soft, almost gentle, and the black dragon was shocked by the easy timbre. It was enough to coax Yugi to look at him completely now. "I didn't know if it would be you or not," he admitted in a soft, somewhat shaky voice. "I…I had come to hear of a Sky Dragon that had begun to kill their suitors and it made me remember all of the pain that you had gone through before. It made me think of your vile brothers and I…I had come to realize in some small part of me that it had to be you."
Atem blinked and tilted his head slightly. It was a lot of faith to be placed upon intuition and hope. It was something he himself did not think he had the heart to do.
"But some part of me was also hoping from the stars to the earth that it was not. Because, should it be you, then it meant that you had become too hurt and angry to care any longer. And that scared me and hurt so much to consider should it be applied to you."
The Sky Dragon considered him. "My mother called me a coward," he commented softly, a curious undertone lining his words, and a smirk crawled across both of his mouths. "Right before I killed her."
The black dragon was frozen in his horror, eyes wide and owlish. He opened and shut his mouth, then blinked when Atem snorted loudly and shook his head with amused eyes. Yugi reacted instinctively, laughing, and rose up onto his haunches to press his front paws into his chest and shove him gently. "You jerk. I thought you were being truthful!"
The Sky Dragon chortled softly and shook his head. "No. I would never dare to lay a claw upon my parents, let alone kill them. For as much as I thought they did not care about all the damage done to me, I realize now that they did not truly know. Seto and Malik and Bakura would tell them stories to cover up for whatever they might have done. And I was so young and incredibly foolish then. I would agree and say I had broken a claw upon landing improperly. Or that I had crashed into a boulder or a rocky outcrop and harmed my side."
Yugi watched him twitch his wings but did not miss the way the gem on his forehead darkened faintly with misery. The gentle shake of his head was small and almost unnoticeable.
"But my mom did come to track me down. And she did attempt to talk to me. But there was an Earth Dragon that simply would not leave me alone. She kept leering and leering and leering and finally I told her that should she be capable of besting me in a competition of flight, I would become her mate." Atem tilted his head and considered the scene which played in his head at the words. He studied the truth of these words and felt almost sickened by the very concept. "When she failed, she attempted to impale herself on me. So I tore her throat out with my claws. My mother was absolutely amazed and horrified. She left soon after I assured her I was okay."
Yugi shivered, blinking at him, and slowly lowered his paws to the ground again. His hearts were racing as reality slammed into him. Atem had not shown even the smallest hint of anger towards the touch. "I can't believe she tried to forcefully mate with you," he said softly, slowly, shaking his head slightly and trying his hardest not to show his amazement. He didn't know if Atem had consciously resisted pulling away from him or had simply failed to fully notice.
"Why not? I am often told by my male suitors that I will be mounted until I can no longer use my lungs and my entire body is filled with seed." His voice was full of disdain as he blinked and lashed his tail slightly once more.
Yugi felt his hearts begin to ache as he looked at the dismissive expression that crossed the other's face; he almost appeared bored. The black dragon wanted to draw him close and hold him tightly. Atem had grown used to all of these numerous threats. He had grown familiar with all of those dragons telling him such things.
And he should never have had to.
"Or that they might strip me of my wings if I squirmed too much. I think one told me that he would kill me and bring me back by giving me his heart."
He stared, horrified, and the younger dragon felt his stomach knot as he shook his head again. How much abuse could one take before they snapped? It was no wonder that Atem had begun to kill his suitors so violently.
"Of course, considering he was a Fire Dragon, I doubt that it would have been possible as it is." The Sky Dragon fell silent for a long minute and a half, golden eyes narrowing faintly. Then, finally, slowly, he turned his attention away from the earth under his claws to settle his full focus upon Yugi again. A faraway look in his eyes had just begun clearing as they locked gazes. "You may have won, but I imagine that I shall still kill you after it is all over."
Yugi blinked and his expression was incredibly troubled now, hurt and growing bewildered. "You would kill your mate?" he asked slowly, tilting and shaking his head as he stared at him in growing pain. "Even though Sky Dragons mate for life? You would never be able to bring yourself to breed with another dragon."
"Yes, and what is your point?" he sneered spitefully, lashing his tail again. He almost assumed to do as his siblings had when they were younger, leaning forward and flicking their tongues. But the action was far too hateful and condescending and so Atem shook it away. "I did not ask you to do this. And you are not my first choice by any means."
Now the Gandora bristled and jumped to his feet, snarling as his tail lashed and his claws flexed. He was breathing hard as he spat, "Why not? You have no idea who I am or what I might be able to give you! I could love you as you so deserve and you will not even grant me a chance to show you that?"
The Sky Dragon blinked, long and slow, tilting his head and watching him with flickering golden eyes. "As I deserve?" he drawled, voice curious but slightly laden with confusion as well. "Because you think that you might know the things which I have come to deserve?"
"Maybe I don't. Maybe I have no idea, but I do care. I care for you so much, Atem. And I know absolutely that you have never once deserved to be dealt the punishments your brothers gave you. They didn't have any right to harm you for being smaller than them or because you bear the mark of the God Dragon or simply because you grew the slowest or you were kinder than them. I also know that you did not deserve to have so many power hungry dragons sent your way because of it!"
The power in his voice shocked Atem. The sheer determination and strength of it made him almost tremble with bewilderment. The moment passed, however, his sheer audacity catching up with and overwhelming him. Yugi flexed his wings and then ducked his head in growing embarrassment as he dropped them again and the tip of his tail flicked back and forth. His eyes fell downwards onto the stone near his claws and he was too shy to raise his gaze again.
"If I was older I would have come here a long time ago. But I… You were already almost half-grown by the time I first saw you and I loved you then. And… I-if I could have prevented it, Atem, I would have. But I was too small and I didn't have the necessary control of my magic. And I…"
Atem considered him for a long moment. "You were but a hatchling back then. How might you possibly call it love?" he murmured softly, blinking and tilting his head with a slightly bewildered expression. "You were new to the world, a mere six moons, and you think that you fell in love with me?"
His skeptical tone made the other dragon's head snap up. Yugi's beak nearly brushed his as he learned forward, snarling. "I did! I fell in love with you the moment I first saw you. You were the sweetest Sky Dragon I had ever seen. And you were so gentle and…and beautiful! And you didn't want to harm anyone or anything. Your siblings were monsters—cold, heartless monsters. I hated them so much for all of the things they did to you. And I wish—by the gods, do I wish—I could have helped you. And I wish I could have saved you all that heartache and emotional pain. I truly wish I had the ability to. But the most I can do is prove it to you now."
The red dragon closed his eyes again, tilting his head somehow further to the side. His tail lashed slowly, thumping when he unsheathed the feathered blades and hummed softly. "You could not have saved me."
Yugi flinched. "Not then."
"You cannot rescue me now, either." Atem thumped his tail again, opening his eyes and moving the smallest inch closer. He could feel the scales along his back rising into a furious bristle as he flexed his claws to keep from bolting. What was this? "But if I do this with you, I shall kill you the moment you should ever drift. I am not going to be the helpless mate who stays within the den and waits for the other to come along for some fun before they might wander again."
The black dragon blinked wide blue-violet eyes, lowering his head with a sheepish but excited expression. When he angled his throat, Atem stiffened and bristled further. His golden eyes were thrice as large as usual. "If you Claim me, I won't be able to," he commented. He stretched his neck out slightly further and watched him with such ease and simplicity that it shook the other to his very core. The underside of his scales looked so beautiful and smooth, soft in an odd way, and Atem could feel ripples of disbelief spread through him like waves. "I would never, regardless. You have and always will be the only one I have ever wanted, Atem. But I will let you do it if it will give you peace of mind."
Atem felt his stomach twisting and knotting hideously. He tilted his head once more, unable to think straight as they studied each other. Parts of him recoiled with disbelief, others swelled with wonder, and the two were at such war within him that he almost could not remember how to breathe.
Yugi wanted him to Claim him? He wanted to initiate such an important ritual with him? That was something meant only to be done by dragons that had been mated for almost a lifetime. It was for those who felt utter devotion to each other, so completely that they were willing to share their emotions and thoughts.
It was not something meant to inflict punishment or sentence another to go against their own nature.
"No."
Yugi blinked, bewildered, and his expression fell as he looked at him. "No?" he whispered, his wings drooping more than ever now. He stared at him, hearts aching.
Atem drew in a deep breath, then closed his eyes tightly. "I will not Claim you for the sake of making sure that you fail to stray from me. That is not… I can give you the courtesy of trust until you come to prove me wrong."
The Gandora perked up faintly now, eyes glowing with delight, and lifted his wings slightly with growing excitement. "I won't prove you wrong!" he answered in something of a vow. He watched him with wide, beautiful eyes, and trembled with his elation. Atem stared at him, shocked, tilting his head, and his insides warmed faintly at the peculiar sight. Was he truly so happy to have his agreement? Maybe he really had somehow managed to fall in love with him. "I will always be completely faithful to you, Atem. And then, maybe we can Claim each other later, when we're used to each other and you come to love me in return."
Atem snorted and shook his head, chortling. "What is it that makes you think that I am capable of love, Yugi?"
Yugi failed to answer him for a moment. Then, without pause, he sprang to his paws and nuzzled Atem's forehead with a deep, gusting exhale. His tongue flicked out from between his teeth, passing from the tip of his beak to the very top of the crown of spikes on his head. Then he pressed his paws into his primary breast plate and looked into his bewildered eyes. "If you weren't capable of it, you would have killed your sibling when he saw you last."
Atem stiffened, shocked. "How do you know about that?" he asked in a near demand. Then he paused and his eyes grew wide before narrowing in mocking disapproval. "You're the one who marked my favorite river! You peed all over my favorite hunting spot!"
The black dragon withdrew and covered his eyes with his large paws, whining pitifully for a long moment. "I know. I'm sorry! I got really excited when I found out it truly was you and you had just been there and I totally just lost control and peed everywhere." He hesitated, then looked at him and ducked his head. "But, I…I saw Seto there when he was leaving. You had wounded him pretty badly but left him alive. I thought for a little while that he was going to try to court you and I guess between the rage and the excitement I just wound up marking there… I'm sorry?"
It wasn't unusual for siblings of certain types capable of doing so to try to purify the bloodline when it had become too watered down. They would try to breed a nest or two and then usually disappear altogether. They didn't truly mate for fear of inbreeding, but they would attempt to asexually produce in which one would lay the eggs and the other might fertilize.
Seto, however, Yugi would never place above forcing his brother onto his belly for the fun of it. He'd probably court and overpower him for his own laughter. And the black dragon was disgusted by it all. The bastard would have done it for the last bit of empowerment it would have given him to beat his brother so far into submission…
Atem chortled loudly and then moved to butt his shoulder with his head. "You're sorry? You actually saved me from three different dragons that wanted to try courting me a couple of weeks ago." He blinked and pulled away after a few seconds. His golden eyes were a small shade darker. "But aren't you a very self-entitled little dragon? I cannot believe you assumed you might best me like this."
"I didn't, in all actuality. Like I said, I couldn't take you in light of brute strength. And I know for a fact that my magic is nowhere near as controlled as yours." He swallowed and his tail moved to wrap around his paws. "But I had no idea if I could truly trick you either. I was amazed when you fell for it."
He huffed. "I think your lack of boasts and leers managed to unbalance me." But he also did not assume to have ever thought that another dragon might use human ways as a means of victory. He flicked the tips of his wings and glanced at him sideways, curious. "The tighter turns you displayed did well to slow me. I commend your cleverness."
Yugi raised his head, his chin tipped slightly upwards as he basked in the reluctant praise. He shivered once, and this time Atem knew it to be budding excitement. He had not lashed out at him again so there was no reason for him to be fearful. The red dragon tilted his head, smiles tugging at his mouths, and turned away from him again. A Gandora dragon…
How had he not known?
But then…he had never met one before. How strange to see a dragon predominantly Fire come to a place like this. And he'd come there for him, a dragon with the capabilities of summoning rainstorms without the smallest sense of unease. He had traveled here without even the truest sense of the danger he could have potentially placed himself in.
All because he'd wished to see him.
To win him over.
Atem looked at him again. His claws flexed as he sunk them into the dirt, the tip of his tail tracing a long path along his formerly wounded side. He was partially inclined to rub it over that flank once more, as if it might soothe the past ache. But the gash had been gone for so long he almost could not remember the way it truly looked but for the blood. And he did not wish to reveal that the very idea of it reminded him so greatly of his brothers pinning him as Seto raked his talons upon his underdeveloped scales in pure delight.
He flicked the tip of his tail again, this time with agitation rather than reluctance or sorrow. The blue-eyed dragon had come to him for food and aid when he had been attacked and driven from his mate and territory. He had foolishly asked that Atem help him to reclaim it. And, had it been Malik or Bakura, he might have truly killed them. But there had been something in his eyes, a sense of desperation and broken pride, that had been just enough to temper his rage.
But it had done nothing to prevent his attack. Atem had gouged his side and left a wound upon half of his face that went from the top to very bottom of his jaw, barely missing his right eye. He hoped it scarred, becoming a permanent reminder of his power. And he hoped Seto's mate would be repulsed by it should she ever lay eyes on him again in her lifetime.
Yugi watched the tip of his tail flick again and his eyes widened slightly as he looked at him curiously. He wished he could have reached out and held him, taken away his pain and shielded him from whatever memory he had allowed to come over him. Atem began to twitch again, then flicked the tips of his wings and slowly rose to his paws again.
"I once killed a Fire Dragon for coming too close to me."
The black dragon blinked, startled, and then tilted his head and frowned with an unhappy, almost miserable expression. "Why?" he asked gently, searching his face. "Do you truly dislike that half of me so much?"
Atem blinked and narrowed his eyes, shaking his head slowly with something almost bewildered in his face. "I do not dislike you in such a sense, Yugi. I killed them because I…" He was so quiet that Yugi almost could not even hear him breathing. His spine bristled with unease as the God Dragon slowly turned his head away. "I do not like being forced to my belly."
Yugi stiffened, then looked away. He tried to think of something to say, but what words were there? Even if they stood while they mated, the fact was that Atem was afraid of being mounted. He blinked and closed his eyes and, by then, the other had begun to fill the silence between them again.
"And I didn't want to be…" He flicked his tail. "I didn't want them to poison me and force me to my belly. Or to have them shake me limp. Their mating ritual is painful and each of the dragons to come here wished to mount me."
The black dragon looked away again. Atem had not pursued a mate and to remain idle as he had chosen, accepting challenges, was a more direct trait that females of any species displayed. The only difference was that Atem himself had not shown even the most remote sense of interest, had never given any a sign that he cared to have a mate.
And that would have made any sane dragon wary of even the thought of courtship with him—had it not been for his two mouths. Had he not been born with them, he would have been considered a simple Sky Dragon with red and black scales. But, because of them, he was considered a prize which could know no peace and needed to be completely conquered.
A God Dragon was said to have magic that other dragons simply could not touch, that they were born with immortality which did not rely on human worship in any sense. The legend said that offspring with the God Dragon would be more powerful than any other, with the most probability of survival.
Yugi doubted many—if any—of his suitors had even noticed the way the sun made his scales glow as if with fire or the thin white stripes that trailed his belly. He did not even think they would have noticed the length of his powerful, thin tail, the way he had to coil it multiple times in order to make it more useful in battle.
Had they ever even noticed that his eyes lacked pupils? Or that he had those claws to the sides that made it appear he had human hands? What of the gem in his forehead, how it darkened with his memories or the shame of such an admittance?
Yugi drew in a deep breath and lowered his eyes for a moment before facing him again. "I don't want to hurt you." He barely suppressed a flinch as Atem turned his head to stare at him with a frosty expression. "I don't want to have to shake you either, Atem. I really don't. And I don't know if I'll even have barbs from the Fire half of me. All I know is that I don't have the ability to release poison. I can't subdue you like that. And I wouldn't even if I could."
The red dragon growled softly, the rumbling low and gentle in his throat. "But you still wish for me to lay for you."
He shook his head slightly, blinking wide eyes. "I want you to be comfortable mating with me. But that does involve you beneath me, yes. And I'm sorry that you fear that so terribly, Atem. I wish I could change that too. Your brothers always forced you down and held you there. Or they knocked you off your paws. And I don't…I don't want this to happen if it will remind you of that." Yugi paused and lashed his tail as he flexed his left paw and the claws sank into the ground again. A small noise of discontent and despaired rage came out before he could stop himself. "I love you. I know you don't believe me but I truly do. And I don't want to remind you of that. If it's too hard for you to trust me enough to do this, then I'll allow you to mount me."
Atem's eyes stretched so wide that Yugi felt for a moment that it put the sun and the moon to shame. The shock of his expression made him feel slightly warm, but also incredibly sorrowful. No one would ever have offered that to him, would they have?
He was quiet for a moment before his tail lashed once and then coiled around his leg again. The end opened, sharp gleaming shards of keratin and bone glinting like metal. For a moment it remained there, then snapped shut so forcefully that Yugi could not suppress his instinct to flinch. But he did not flee as his most basic urges demanded. But he could not stop his breathing from growing tighter and faster, and all four of his hearts were racing within his chest.
"Fire and Wind Dragons do not fly high." The simplicity of the statement made the black dragon blink in surprise. Atem was studying him blatantly now, golden eyes narrow with skepticism and the darkness of the shadows that swirled within the sapphire upon his forehead began to turn stormy and tumultuous. But there was something in the way his head tilted slightly to the side that Yugi could consider him somehow hopeful and it was mildly encouraging. When he shifted forward, Yugi had to tighten his muscles in place as if he were going to turn to stone to avoid fleeing.
The red dragon reached for him, hooked his paw around his shoulder, and pulled him a little closer to him. The intimacy of such an action frightened them both. The only reason Atem had ever drawn another close or even drifted within reach of them was to test weakness in armor or rip through soft flesh. If they were ever to be this close, it was so that his tail could cut through their neck.
For Yugi, it was frightening because of that tail. When he had seen those scythes of bone and keratin, his entire body had locked in place out of sheer terror. That had not changed in the slightest. He did not think it would ever truly change. But he knew all too well the strength that one appendage possessed.
He had seen him once, when he was younger, going to a more secluded spot in the woods to swing his tail into a tree. He had only gotten it halfway through before it had gotten lodged, his younger age and meager muscle leaving him stranded for a few moments. Then he'd used his wings, slamming the powerful muscular appendages into the trunk so forcefully that it had snapped the rest of the way and crashed to the floor.
And, by the gods, if his wings were not one of the most powerful things Yugi had ever seen before. Not only did Atem possess two mouths, he had the most delicate bone structure of the Water Dragon with his long and lean body, the frailty of the Sky Dragon's hollowed skeleton, the claws of a Lightning Dragon and the light weight but powerful keratin and bone of the Sky Dragon's wings. Only they had the ability to go beyond the clouds.
Even Wind Dragons hesitated at the thought of breaching them, because the pressure became too immense, threatening to snap bones even as it weighed them down heavily. Their skeleton was not enforced with keratin nor was it hollow as the Sky Dragon's was, and they could easily be forced from the sky simply from the pressure.
The sheer weight of every species of dragon beyond the Sky Dragon was too heavy to fly as high as the birds might. And some, like the Fire Dragon, tended to stay almost completely on the ground altogether. It was easier for them, because their bodies were heavily weighted with weather-resistant scales of armor that could be almost twenty thousand pounds on their own.
Yugi had been lucky in having the physical definition of his father, with a body type far more like the Wind Dragon than his mother's own Fire. It had been sheer coincidence that they had wound up so close to the Sky Dragons on the mountain. And it had been even more amazing that his parents had both been more loving and faithful than any others he'd met of their respective species.
He looked at him, watching those golden eyes and the gleam of the sky blue orb in that crown of red claw-like scales on his head. The two large tusks on the ends of his bottom muzzle, stretching high enough to touch the lower lids of his golden eyes, glittered in the sunlight. It was somehow shocking to see them and the small glint that hit his eye was almost blinding.
The distraction allowed Atem more room to shift him closer and Yugi let him do so for only a moment or two. Then he twisted around enough to free his wings from the other's forelimb and face him properly. A paw came out, settling between the scythes that rested on his guard plates, and he blinked bright violet-blue eyes at the other male.
"You're also afraid of large bodies of water. And you cannot achieve the same amount of nutrients that I do from my core diet of fish." Atem tilted his head slowly and, as he exhaled, Yugi felt a hot gust of air pass over his forehead. The sensation made his eyes widen. "And I cannot sustain myself on the deer or the oxen, the goats or the horses, that live within the area. It would cease their existence should I ever choose to live on them solely. The oceans are vast. My body is capable of going deep within them in order to eat my fill. But you can do neither of those things."
Yugi flicked the bare tips of his wings and blinked at him again, narrowing his eyes after only a brief moment. "I can eat fish," he argued, huffing a soft breath and watching him closely for a moment. "I don't like them nearly as much as camels or buffaloes, but I don't mind eating them. I would do that for you if that's what it takes or that's what you wanted."
"You grant me power over you with offers to bend yourself to a form I might desire," Atem scoffed, but his voice was oddly soft and nearly warm. His tail flicked his side again, pulling his paw from Yugi entirely. The black dragon's wide eyes stretched tenfold as Atem backed up several steps. He was studying him now, shaking his head slowly. "You have no need to try so hard. It does not change anything. You have won, Yugi. As per our agreement—"
"Obligation should never dictate this! If you don't want this to happen then—"
"I did not say that." The forked, blue tongue within his bottom mouth flicked restlessly as his voice rumbled out of his jaws. Yugi blinked in shock, startled by the action, and more so by the sight of it. He had seen it before, of course, but now it was so close to him that he could spot the faintest texture to it. It was rougher than his own, probably to allow his food to digest more easily upon it scraping against it as it traveled down his long throat.
Yugi was tempted now to sit up much straighter. He wanted to look it over more, but felt blatantly stupid for the very thought. Atem had visibly grown self-conscious now and Yugi could sense it in the way the other dragon growled softly and moved his head to the side. The Sky Dragon feigned interest in checking on the wing closest his face.
"I simply mean to say that if I am to do this, it is binding and I shall be tied absolutely to you. And we are very incompatible in our needs, Yugi. There is no common ground as you require heavier meats and I can sustain myself on fish or birds alone. And you do not swim, nor do you fly to the heights that I do."
"If you're worried about my offer to let you mount me, then you truly needn't be, Atem. I am not sure I can go as high as you might want, but if I can get to the top of the mountain I can maintain it for at least a couple of hours. It's not as long as you might want, but I—"
Atem thumped his tail to silence him now, golden eyes flashing. "Considering that bonding and mating was never in my mind before this moment, I do not have expectations of you or the ritual itself. As for the height of which you are capable of flying, it is a considerably impressive feat for a dragon that is half Fire in species. Fire Dragons are not well-known for their desire to fly."
"I do prefer the ground more often myself, but I don't fear flying. And I won't say no to letting you do this."
Atem remained silent for a very long moment. Then, slowly, he angled his head to the side and looked upon Yugi's jaw with a thoughtful gleam. His voice was awed and bewildered as it came out in a hiss. "You have offered me much more than I have you."
The black dragon tilted his head, surprised by his words. "You let me challenge you despite your disdain. And I'm still alive now, aren't I? I would gladly allow you to do anything you might need to feel comfortable. I never went through those things you did when you were hatched. I never had brothers to torture me and I was never born with the burden of being a God Dragon from birth. I won't pretend I know all of what you went through, Atem, but if there is any way I can make you feel better or more comfortable or happy, I am going to try."
Atem stared at him, unable to truly consider his words beyond his initial shock. The sight of this younger dragon in front of him was almost amazing to simply behold. How was it that such a young dragon had come to know these desires? Had his parents mated for life? Or had he truly been there, hiding beyond his sight, in love with him for so long?
He was so young…
Atem himself had over a hundred years to serve a gap between his own age and Yugi's. And Yugi had to be at the very cusp of maturity, budding into it sexually now even as his mind seemed much older than even Atem's. He could not have been more than a hundred and two years at the most. He was still smaller in this form than Atem and his scales still looked rather soft along his underbelly rather than raw muscle. When he grew older, Yugi would be much stronger, far more muscular and with a great many more hardened scales.
Atem tilted his head again. But to love from six moons? How was that even meant to be possible? He had never heard of dragons being capable of such feeling so extremely early in life.
The Sky Dragon blinked and closed his eyes. "I don't have the ability to articulate how much you have managed to amaze and subsequently baffle me." His tail flicked and thumped once more, slamming hard against the dirt as he huffed out a soft breath. When he opened his eyes again, his gaze was soft and somewhat warm and beyond anything Yugi had seen him wear formerly. "You are a beautiful soul to behold. I do not understand your desire to pursue me."
Yugi bristled and lashed his tail, voice coming out somewhat harder in his determination to make the other understand. "I think that you are just as amazing, if not even more. And I never want to see you suffer again. I…I truly just wish to see and make you happy, Atem."
The Sky Dragon shook his head slowly after a long moment, then craned his long neck to nudge his jaw with his beak. The younger dragon hesitated, startled more than anything, and then tipped his head enough to allow Atem room to slide his forehead beneath his chin. The red dragon was breathing softly along the line of the pulse, beneath his softer scales, and his hearts began to beat faster as he shivered with open delight.
"Would you still let me Claim you?"
"Yes."
Atem blinked. Yugi had not hesitated. The Sky Dragon considered the speed he'd delivered the word and tipped his head again before slowly pulling back. "And you are not nervous to allow me to mate with you?"
Now Yugi visibly faltered. His blue-violet eyes flickered away and back, voice incredibly small and quiet. "I'm…not going to mislead you and say that. I am nervous about that. Sky Dragons mate in the air and the only way to separate when you've hooked is for you to throw me. It makes me nervous to consider it at all."
Some small, spiteful part of him was happy to know that he was not alone in his nerves regarding the very action or consequence of their potential mating. But then Atem narrowed his eyes, flicking the tips of his wings for a brief moment and tilting his head further to the side. "Yet, you would do it for me."
Yugi's nod was immediate. "If it would make you happy. Or make you more comfortable, yes."
Atem stared at him for a moment. What a rare little treasure this Gandora actually was. How odd as well. Fire and Wind Dragons tended to be unrelenting when it came to lifestyle. Their temperaments were usually very dominating rather than accommodating. Even Timaeus tended to argue until he ran out of breath when he and Atem butted heads.
"Would you wish to learn to fly higher?" Atem asked quietly, blinking at the suggestion as well. He almost bristled with disbelief, startled by his own words, but found himself growing embarrassed by the very idea. It was still possible that Yugi could grow to dislike him and come to realize he desired someone or something else. It would be crushing to allow him this opportunity and offer so much with little in return. But, if Yugi could do it, then so could he, yes? Surely he should not have to offer such things without some reassurance that Atem would not simply take advantage of his generous heart. The black dragon's eyes were wide, stunned, and seemed almost ten times their usual size. "I taught my friend Timaeus to do so. He's a Wind Dragon. It took a long time for him to build up immunity to the pressure of higher altitudes, but it is possible. Last I heard from him, he had used the technique to impress his new mate."
The Gandora raised his head only a few inches higher, his eyes becoming beautiful and brighter than Atem had seen them formerly. "I would love to be able to join you up there." He hesitated and his wings tucked further into his sides as his eyes flickered to the ground. "But it's… Atem, I'm scared at just the thought of it."
Then he would do well to change this subject, yes? Or perhaps it would do him better to offer up similar information. But he was not so bold as to truly lay himself before Yugi in such a sense. The younger dragon could remain braver than him for the moment.
The Sky Dragon flicked his tail and got to his paws. "You vow to me that you shall never attempt to overpower me?" he demanded crossly.
The words made Yugi raise his head, bewildered at first before slowly blinking and shaking his head with a small smile.
"I promise."
The red dragon exhaled loudly and tilted his head as he looked him over. "Then come along. We should consummate our union before we commit to anything more."
Yugi blinked and jumped to his feet, his eyes still wide. But, rather than smug or even excited, Atem thought, as he glanced at the younger a moment longer, that he appeared absolutely amazed.
