Dragon tales of Gotham
I do not own batman
The Prince, The servant & The dragon.
The third prince of Gotham, Timothy Jackson Drake, formerly known as the son of the duke Jack Drake, is now known as the third prince of Gotham. His story begins when after his parents died the king, Bruce Wayne, took him in. He is now the first in line of the throne since second prince Jason Todd is death and the first prince of Gotham, prince Richard Grayson is now the king of Tamaran and is helping his wife ruling it. To being able to marry Koriand'r he had to give up his right to the throne of Gotham.
The third Prince of Gotham, Timothy Drake, is currently following his friend and servant, Stephanie Brown who works as a maid in the castle, out of the safe walls of the capital. Ever since the second prince Jason died after he went out alone the king has forbidden his son to go out of the walls that protect Gotham and the castle. But since Stephanie claimed sitting still in the city the whole time feels suffocating she thought it would be nice to go outside the walls. To feel the wind against your skin and see another serenity. So they are following a way out Stephanie has found without the guards noticing it. Tim should really tell king Bruce about the security issues in his kingdom. Last night dragons fought above the Kingdom and Stephanie saw something falling down.
''How exciting would it be if it was a real dragon, Tim?'' She says with sparkles in her eyes. Prince Tim said it wasn't a good idea and Miss Stephanie responded it is a fun and exciting a idea. And with that the third prince of Gotham couldn't argue. He has been fanatic about the magical creatures in the world, reading every book about them. But he has never seen one before except the magician friend of the king named Zatana and Diana Prince, a woman who can turn into a dragon. Or was it the other way around? It doesn't matter. The point is that the prince has read about them and has always heard stories from others and the young prince has always wondered how a dragon in real life, up close would look like. How would it act? Are the books telling the truth? Can dragons understand human language? So in the end his curiosity won and so Prince Timothy is following his friend who really should not know how to sneak out of the city. On the other hand he heard his two older brother used to do it all the time.
So after they left the city walls they walk towards the mountain where they deduced the dragon would have gone to after it landed in the fields. They can clearly see the spot where it fell. But it is not there anymore. The soldiers said it would have probably flown away and no one saw it because it was dark. But to Prince Tim and his friend Stephanie that didn't seem likely. Not only because Miss Stephanie saw the dragon make a very long fall but also because of the place where the dragon made contact with the ground. It must have been a hard fall. They thought it might have not been able to fly away because it was injured and sought refuge somewhere. That is what they have placed their hope in. They see track marks around the fields towards the mountains and they follow it. Slowly they make their way up the mountain. They end up in a open space between the forest with grass.
''Are you sure it is here?'' Stephanie Brown, the prince's servant and friend asks.
''It has to be. The tracks lead to this place.'' The third prince answers. Suddenly the prince moves his head to the left and his friend looks at the same direction. They hear something. Maybe it is the rustling of the leaves they think. They feels a shiver down their spine and feel like they are being watched. Maybe following a maybe injured dragon wasn't such a good idea after all. Suddenly a thing jumps from out of the shadows in front of them and the dragon is in Stephanie's face. The prince's friends screams in shock and the dragon takes a step back and growls showing its teeth, it's very very sharp teeth. The prince and his friend swallow as they stare at the dragon who is standing ready to attack. It is small. Smaller than they expected. It is also black with brown eyes.
It is circling around them. The Prince and his friend take a step back and the eyes of the dragon narrow. They hold their hands up in the air but it seems to only scare the dragon into attacking them. It pounces on them and they can evade it just in time by jumping out of its way. It crashes into a bush and turns around to face them again while growling again. It is then, when the prince looks from his place lying on the ground that he notices that one of the wings of the dragon is hurt. It is torn.
''It is hurt.'' He whispers to himself.
''What?'' His friend, Stephanie asks as she runs towards him and helps him up.
''The dragon it really is injured, look at its wings.'' The prince says as he points towards the spot where the dragon's wings are torn.
''Oh it must hurt.'' Stephanie says as she takes a step closer wanting to help the dragon but the dragon growls again and starts circling them again. Tim takes a hold of her arm and moves her back.
''It must think we are a threat.'' He deduces.
''We are not a threat I want to help it.'' Stephanie argues.
''I know that but I don't know if the dragon can understand us.'' The prince responds.
''Than we must figure something out. You are smart right?'' His friends looks at him. The prince gets lost in thought as his friend slowly moves forward with her hands up.
''Easy there we are not here to hurt you.'' She says. She lifts her skirt a little bit and takes out her hidden dagger. The dragon snarls.
''I don't think that is getting the right message across.'' The prince comments and his friend, Stephanie rolls her eyes at him and mutters that she is not done yet. She places the dagger on the ground and the dragon looks at it. She then kicks it away. The dragon looks confused.
''See? Not here to hurt you.''
Tim watches his friend and comes up with an idea. He take one of the fishes he brought with him out of his bag. He took them with him because he thought that if the dragon was injured it might have not been able to collect any food and it might be hungry. If he gave the dragon the fish the dragon might not eat him and Stephanie. He slowly stands next to Stephanie and shows the fish to the dragon who moves it's head to the left and sniffs the air. It than looks at the fish, than at the prince and his friend and then at the fish again and slowly approaches. More like sneaks towards the two of them.
''I really hope that it is not going to bite your hands off.'' The prince's friend whispers in his ear.
''Thank you for putting that idea in my head.'' The prince responds.
The dragon is a few centimetres away from the fish and then in a blink of an eye opens its mouth and takes the fish from the prince's hands and eats it. When the dragon is done swallowing it is looking at their direction again.
''I think it wants more.'' Stephanie, the prince's friend says.
''I think you are right.''
''I hope you have more.'' She responds.
''I have one more.'' He returns.
''I hope that is enough.''
He throws the fish towards the dragon and it catches it in the air and eats it. Then the dragon approaches them again slowly.
''I don't have anymore.'' Prince Timothy says while the dragon is circling them again and sniffing. It is very close to them and holds its nose to Tim's bag. Tim slowly takes it from his shoulder and shows the dragon that it is empty. The dragon is so close that Stephanie cannot shake the temptation and reaches out to touch the dragon. It gets startled and snarls in response and tries to fly away but it can't and crashes lightly on the grass. It sniffs in frustration and curls up in a ball while keeping it eyes on the prince and his friend.
''Stephanie.'' The prince scolds but he must confess he also wanted to feel how the scales felt like.
They both look at the dragon again.
''I think this is our cue to leave.'' Prince Timothy says as he tears his eyes away from the dragon to look at his friend who looks determined. He know this look and it almost always gets him in trouble. When they are back at the castle his friend, Stephanie tells him that they need to help the dragon. The prince agrees but they must come up with a plan. The next day they come to the same place again where they hope the dragon still is. It doesn't come out this time so they place a fish towards the end of the open space and walk a few steps back. Slowly the black dragon approaches the fish and eats it. Each day, Stephanie and Tim repeat this process. They give the dragons fish. Every time with less space between them and the dragon. They talk to it so that it gets used to their voices. In a few days the dragon begins to trust them and eats from out of their hands, a few days later it lets them touch its head with their hands. The next time they come the dragon is already waiting for them and even greets them. They don't only feed the dragon now they also play with it. They throw away large sticks or dance with it. It seems to like music and dancing. Dancing meaning trying to follow Stephanie's movements as she dances. The dragon also likes listening to Tim reading out loud. In the end they won the dragon's trust and the dragon won theirs. They formed a sort of friendship with it.
''We should give it a name.'' Stephanie says to Tim and she is petting the black dragon on its head.
''We don't even know if it is a male or a female.'' The prince responds.
''A female.'' Stephanie notes.
''How do you know that?'' The prince raises an eyebrow.
''Call it a woman's intuition.'' He laughs at that.
''All right.'' The prince begins to think. What about the name of the person in the book I am reading right now, Cassandra?'' he asks addressing Stephanie but also looking at the dragon who looks at him with big eyes.
''Too long, Cass sounds better.'' Stephanie, his friend responds. ''Don't you think so too?'' Stephanie asks the black dragon.
She points at herself and says : ''Stephanie'' She than points at Tim. ''Tim.'' Then she points at the dragon. ''Cass?'' She says.
At first they think the dragon doesn't understand them but then the dragon nods. They then run around calling her Cass and she runs towards them. Because she now fully trusts them she allows them to put medicine on her wings so that it will heal faster. It makes it hurt less. Stephanie and Tim knew that they couldn't keep Cass here. They knew that someday Cass would leave. Go back to where she came from or fly around the world. They also should be grateful that no one has figured them out already though they think that Alfred, the doctor, has figured them out but hasn't told anyone. They knew that when her wing was healed and she could fly again she would probaly leave. Even if they knew that didn't mean goodbye hurt any less. Some tears fell and Cass though first happy to being able to fly again seemed reluctant to leave them as she saw her friends being sad. But they took a big breath and smiled and told her it was okay. She is free to go where she wants to and they won't keep her here. They have one last big group hug before Cass takes off into the sky.
They haven't seen her in two weeks. They knew it but they still couldn't do anything but hope. They even went back to the place to see if she came to visit. But she wasn't there.
''I miss her.'' Stephanie tells her friend, the prince while she is cleaning and he stands next to her.
''I know me too. But we couldn't keep her here Stephanie. She is a dragon, she is free and what if someone found out about her?''
''I know. But I still miss her. You think she misses us?''
''Maybe. I'm sorry Stephanie but I need to go now. I'm already late.''
''Yeah don't keep your fiancé waiting.''
Prince Tim sighs. He is engaged to Tamara Fox, the daughter of Duke Lucius Fox, a good friend of the king. Since Tim is too young to marry Barbara it was decided he would marry Tamara instead. Tamara is nice but she is not the one he loves. He sighs again as he looks at his blond haired friend who is cleaning the hallways of the castle.
Two months later Gotham is under the attack by Ra's al Ghul. He is the king of a neighbouring country and rumours say that he has lived for centuries. Gotham has been at war with him for a long time. An arranged marriage was supposed to end that but when king Bruce found out that Ra's Al Ghul had ulterior motives with the marriage and tried to use him for his own goals, which the king didn't agree with, he divorced with the daughter of Ra's Talia Al Ghul and sent her home. Ra's just like his daughter has never forgiven him for that and ever since the rivalry between the countries has grown. And that is why the third prince, Timothy Jackson Drake finds himself in a dangerous situation. Ra's al Ghul has attacked the castle together with his assassins. The prince is a good fighter but even he has his limits and they drove him towards a window. One assassin especially has it out for him and uses every chance he gets to attack him. The assassin is very small and the prince deduces it must be a child. There were too many assassins for him and when he defeated the tenth the eleventh jumped on him and pushed him out of the window. The prince got a hold of the window with one hand while the assassin fell down. Before the prince has a chance to pull himself up the small assassin appears looking down at him.
''Gotham has no use for you anymore since Bruce's Wayne true heir has arrived.''
The Prince has no time to process that information before the small assassin swings his sword at the prince's hand and the prince lets go out of reflex. As a result he falls down towards the ground.
This is it.
The prince thinks but before he pummels to his death he landed on something, not quite soft but also not that hard. Slowly he opens his eyes afraid of what he sees. What he didn't expect was seeing Cass. Brown eyes stare at him as she flies him towards a safe space. She then helps Tim and the soldiers make the assassins retreat with Ra's al Ghul who was defeated by King Bruce Wayne.
''Tim!'' His friend, Stephanie shouts as she runs towards him and gives him a hug. ''Are you alright?''
''I am fine.'' He smiles as he returns the hug. ''Cass saved me.''
Stephanie moves her gaze from the third prince and finally realizes that Cass is sitting behind Tim watching her.
''Cass!'' She shouts a she hugs the dragon and the dragon hugs her back with her wings. Tim smiles but ten hears the whispers of the soldiers muttering dragon, what is it doing here? and isn't it dangerous? Then he hears a voice he easily recognizes.
''Tim.'' The king, Bruce Wayne walks toward the third prince. The general, James Gordon and his daughter, lady Barbara are not far behind. The soldiers kneel.
''Are you alright?'' The king asks as he looks at his adopted son. Prince Timothy nods. ''Yeah. How are you? What did Ra's al Ghul want?'' The king's look darkens. ''I will tell you later. We must also contact your older brother.'' The king's eyes narrow then when he notices Cass and he stands on guard, ready to defend his men and son. ''What is that?''
''Cass!'' Stephanie replies from where she stands next to her dragon friend. ''And she just saved Tim's ass and helped taking down the assassins.'' She says proudly and still relieved everyone she cares about is safe and happy that Cass is back that she realizes too late to who she exactly is talking to.
The king, Bruce Wayne, is momentarily stunned by the young lady's response and looks at Tim who looks both shocked at his friend's bold response and embarrassed. James Gordon raises an eyebrow at her tone while his daughter smiles.
''I like this girl, who is she?''
''This is my friend Stephanie.'' The prince, Tim says as he stands next to her. ''This.'' He begins as he gestures towards Cassandra. ''Is a dragon we found and named Cass. She saved me and helped us defeat the assassins.''
''Cass.'' The king repeats.
Stephanie falls on the ground kneeling while apologising, finally realising to who she was talking.
''I am so sorry your majesty I didn't I ..u .''
''It is alright.'' The king says as he gestures for her to stop kneeling.
''So this dragon-''
The dragon makes an irritated sound.
''Cass.'' Tim says.
''So Cass saved you and helped you?''
Tim nods. ''She is not dangerous Bruce she can help us. Can she please stay? She is my friend.'' He pleads. The king looks him into the eyes and then looks at Cass and Stephanie.
''What does she herself think.'' The king addresses the Dragon. ''Do you want to stay here?''
Tim and Stephanie look at their friend. The dragon, Cass nods her head. The king smiles softly at the three of them and ruffles Tim's hair.
''Then it is decided though I do expect you to take care of everything that she needs and be responsible for her. I do not want any missing sheep or burned houses.''
''I promise.'' Tim nods.
''You are really going to let him keep it?'' The general asks.
''He needs more friends. '' The kings shrugs.
''Can't argue with that.'' The general smiles.
''Yeah!'' Stephanie cheers as she envelops Tim and Cass in a big, tight group hug and kisses Tim on his cheek in her enthusiasm. Then when she realises what she has done both Tim's and Stephanie's cheeks turn red and they break the group hug while Cass looks confused.
''Aah young love.'' Barbara says as she looks at them with a glint in her eyes that means she is planning something.
This is how the third dragon tale of Gotham ends. But it might just be the beginning of a great friendship that will last forever and it might be the start of something more between a certain prince and servant.
Author's notes
Thank you for reading. This chapter became much longer than I thought it would be. One of the reasons is that I added the bit with fighting Ra's and Cass saving Tim. At first I was just going to have her return by Tim's window when he was eating something and she was going to beg him for food with puppy dog eyes. In the end I went with this instead because I thought it would be a nice set up for introducing the character that the next chapter will be about. What do you think? Also in all honesty I thought that Cassandra's eyes were blue but I wasn't sure. On the internet on her character profile it said her eyes were green but then in a lot of comics they were brown so I changed it and went with Brown. I also added more of a Tim X Stephanie feel in it. That there relationship was more romantic than friendship. I hope you guys don't mind. That bit of Tamara Fox being Tim's fiancé was part of an idea for an arranged marriage AU and I thought well why not just put it in here. Barbara will just adopt Stephanie so that she can marry Tim. I guess another reason why this chapter is longer is because Tim had to share the spotlight with another robin and a batgirl. I also decided to add Bruce in some more. Also I didn't know if Alfred should have been a healer or doctor but I went with doctor in the end. I also tried still having it give that fairy tale vibe but it didn't really worked out that well because of the story I wanted to write. I aim for the next chapter to be around 1000 words. But then again. This chapter was supposed to be 1500 and it is more that that X 2. You probably know who will appear in the next chapter. The next chapter will not have a romantic focus though. Also to answer vi, I had already planned to write Stephanie in this. I myself have not read much with Cassie in it. Though you are right that if she was in this story she would be a dragon. I hope that Tim and Stephanie do have a kind of chemistry in here and hope that you could still enjoy it even if it isn't your ship. You guys can also see I was inspired by how to tame a dragon when I wrote this.