Alfred had learned to adapt quite well to his new form rather than struggling to get around he had become used to hobbling on three legs. Eating grass and leaves had become rather bland but it seemed to be the only things his new form could stomach aside from the occasional berries he would sometimes find in the forest.
He had been hopping around looking for something more interesting than grass to eat when he noticed a berry bush. Seeing the blue berries was an exciting thing to him as it meant on less bland meal. Alfred hopped over to the bush as quickly as possible only when it was too late did he notice something was wrong.
A trigger was activated which caused netting to shoot up and catch him holding him high up in a tree. He tried to squirm loose but that only seemed to tangle himself further. His heart was beating a mile a minute knowing that the trap either belonged to Arthur or some stranger and he wasn't sure which possibility made him more nervous. Until someone arrived he had no choice but to stay stuck in the netting.
Arthur conjured up many narratives of their reunion. Arthur imagined waking up one morning with Alfred tucked inside his arms, tickling his nose with his fur. He imagined sitting by the brook one morning and Alfred hopping up behind him, holding a flower between his teeth as a peace offering. He even imagined Alfred coming to him as a grown man again, having Arthur's enchantment dispelled but still wanting to be by him.
Needless to say, Arthur's daydreams were nothing close to finding Alfred trapped and hanging in a hunter's net, suspended high in the trees. Arthur was searching in the forest for something sweet for lunch when he stopped. He looked up at the little animal swinging to and fro as it struggled in its confinements.
Arthur immediately knew it was Alfred. The missing arm and wings were a hint, but he could sense the dragon's great presence within his furry frame. Arthur gaped, mouth open.
They stared at each other, one in horror and the other in shy awkwardness.
Alfred had heard footsteps come closer to him he glanced over to get a glimpse of the person approaching him and to his joy and dismay Arthur stood there gawking at him. Alfred glared at Arthur for a moment before he started wiggling around in the net again. "/Well what are you waiting for? Get me out of here!/" The dragon tried to communicate to the young blonde.
"Alfred!" Arthur's eyes popped out, mouth unhinged and agape. He dropped the basket and covered the few feet it took to stand under the swinging net. But he didn't free him as the bunny requested. The boy's lips quivered, at first pressing in a line to stave it off, then launching into a full-scale bellow of laughter.
"Alfred! My goodness how did this happen?!" Arthur pinched his eyes shut as he laughed in mirth. He held his arms around his stomach, almost teetering off balance from the force of it.
"/Fuck you! This is your fault!/" Alfred snapped as he began squirming more only succeeding in tangling his leg painfully in the netting. He yelped as it pulled painfully, his lip quiver as he tried to force back tears of pain. A few moments later Alfred asked much more subdued, "/Just get me out of here so I can leave./"
Arthur shook his head. "I don't take orders from you anymore." The boy crossed his arms as he cranked his head up at the bunny. "We need to talk." Alfred's entrapment was working in Arthur's favor. They were going to talk no matter what Alfred wanted.
"/Why would I talk to you?/" Alfred glared at Arthur growling slightly under his breath even trapped in the net Alfred refused to submit. He refused to fall prey to humans again, they were not to be trusted.
"You're a trapper's next breakfast, if you want one reason," Arthur shot back tartly, leaning on one leg impatiently. "Reason number two and three: only I can understand you, and I'm still the only one who can unbind you from the spell. Are you truly going to run away because you are too proud to accept help?"
"/The spell only lasts for as long as the mage is alive. Our life spans are quite different. As for the trapper…/" Alfred blew a puff of fire at the ropes singing one after another until the ropes gave out leaving Alfred miserably hanging by his hurting leg. He struggled to get up enough to burn the rope even as his collar began choking him. Alfred panicked and struggled more on succeeding in straining his leg more.
Arthur clenched his hands into his crossed arms, restraining himself from leaping to the rescue. No, he had to be patient. Arthur said his piece; it was Alfred's turn to take the next step. So the boy watched his former mentor, once a great dragon transformed into a human and now into a rabbit, dangle in the air as he both strangled himself and twisted his leg.
Alfred continued to struggle until finally the collar tightened enough to cause him to pass out his body hanging limp by his leg. After a few seconds the collar loosened up enough to allow breath to enter the dragon's body again, but left him in a dazed state.
A guilty wave of relief released the air pent up in his lungs. He didn't enjoy Alfred passed out hanging from one of his three limbs, but now the stalemate's ended and they could get back home.
Arthur lifted a single finger and pointed it at the rope. It snapped like a thread. Arthur caught Alfred's furry form in his green woodland cape. Tucking the dragon into the folds to keep out the fall chill Arthur treaded back to the cottage.
Alfred came around more as they neared to cottage; he squirmed slightly, but didn't fight back as violently as he could. When Arthur brought him inside Alfred couldn't help the way his body relaxed at the warmth in the cottage. It had been so long since he had been comfortably warm, he could practically feel his body melting into Arthur's arms.
The comfort of the warm cottage and the tension draining from his body reminded Alfred of how hungry he was. His stomach growled loudly protesting the lack of food within it. Alfred looked up at Arthur half-heartedly glaring at him, "/Don't say a word./"
"Mhm," Arthur agreed blithely as he gently set Alfred by the fire, mindful of his twisted leg. Using a poker to nudge the ashy wood back Arthur rekindled the fire with a zap. Stripping the bed of its blanket he set up a comfortable nest around the bunny. Then he went to work fixing the bunny a cup of hot, weak tea.
Arthur placed the tea in a saucer and set it next to Alfred. Then he kneeled down next to him. "Are you going to let me look at your leg?"
Alfred sleepily stared at Arthur his tired brain trying to decide if that was a good idea. The door to the cottage was shut and it wasn't like he'd be able to jump away with his leg injured. He gave his answer by silently drinking from his saucer choosing the route of less conflict even though he still couldn't bring himself to trust Arthur.
Arthur expected Alfred's brooding silence was the best answer he was going to get. Slowly and gently, so that Alfred's wary gaze could track his fingers, Arthur lifted the bunny's hind leg. "Tell me when it hurts," the boy said as he carefully extended it out. He bent the knee, and when the bunny jerked and snatched it away Arthur hummed. "It's a sprain, but not broken. The rope burns don't help." A ring of fur was rubbed away where Alfred fruitlessly struggled against the ropes. Arthur tapped the abrasions gently with a salve.
Alfred bit back whimpers as Arthur's fingers lighted over his wounds, the leg hurt but it wasn't the worst thing he had experienced. When the boy was finished Alfred burrowed himself under the blankets Arthur had provided, only his nose stuck out. He began to doze with one eye open not allowing himself to fully succumb to sleep.
Arthur let him be. Alfred needed time and space-and sleep. The poor thing looked harrowed and worn thin.
The boy busied himself around the cottage. He fixed himself something simple, having skipping his mid-meal. The plants were watered and the floors swept. Every once in a while Arthur peeked as close as he dared into the blanket cave Alfred burrowed inside.
Alfred would wake and silently watch Arthur anytime the boy came near him. He tried to ignore the rumbling of his stomach for as long as possible, but eventually his hunger got the better of him. As quietly as possible Alfred shuffled out of the blankets, when he tried to take a few steps towards the kitchen a sharp pain shot through his leg. He tried to avoid stepping on it but with only three limbs and his left leg injured it was a tad difficult. After trying and failing multiple times to use just his right side Alfred gave up and laid on the floor waiting for Arthur to come around and pick him up.
Arthur was captured in the words of his book and failed to take notice of his reunited friend's going-ons. It wasn't until Arthur moved to stir the boiling pot of soup that he realized his foot was mere inches from planting itself on Alfred's fragile skull. He glimpsed the dirty fur literally underfoot and quickly tripped backwards on his rear.
"Alfred! I could have crushed you!" The boy clutched his tunic over his heart. "You would truly let me step on you because you are too prideful to ask?!"
Alfred huffed and looked away refusing to answer Arthur's question, but his silence was answer enough. It wasn't his fault that he was small enough to be crush by a mere foot. He was even more sullen than usual now that he couldn't even manage to walk on his own, rather he would need the very boy who cursed him to get around. Any creature would find it miserable to be placed in such a position. As a dragon it was not in Alfred's nature to allow others to care for him especially not a human, the very species that forced Alfred into servitude and cut off his arm.
Gentle hands scooped underneath the bunny and picked him up by the stomach and ribs. He laid Alfred on the table (and out of the walkway). As he sat him down he felt the little hunger rumblings. "It's almost ready, don't worry."
Arthur indulged himself in something he always wanted to do. He scratched Alfred behind the ear, rubbing with a finger pad and stroking down his back in smooth strokes.
Alfred's floppy ears pressed back against his head as he glared at Arthur. "/I'm not a pet./" He pushed his way closer to the center of the table and away from Arthur's hand thoroughly unhappy with being treated like some wild rabbit picked up to be a pet. Current appearance or not he was a dragon and deserved to be treated as such; if it wasn't for the godforsaken collar around his neck he could easily char Arthur to the bone.
"I did it to your hair when you slept, you realize," Arthur said as the rabbit fumbled out of reach. "Such lovely hair, like spun gold made from sunlight." The boy set his chin in his hands, watching. "Do your scales shine golden?"
"/I don't remember. The last time I saw myself like that was hundreds of years ago./" Alfred glanced away a he resettled himself on the table. He couldn't bring himself to be mad about the boy's insensitive question; Alfred hadn't ever spoken about his past after all.
Arthur was quiet, ladling a portion of soup into Alfred's saucer. He severed Alfred first like always, only sitting down when everything was set in order.
He sent a quick prayer up to his mother before taking his spoon. "I think your scales are golden, or some precious metal. Perhaps they change color in the light, as some dragons do." Arthur sighed, happy in his daydream. "Blue? Maybe they shimmer in the sun." Smiling to himself the boy took a sip.
Alfred stared down at the red liquid sniffing it cautiously before glancing over at Arthur. "/Are you truly going to force me to eat like an animal? I do have a hand. Simply change me back and I can use it./"
Arthur hummed serenely, entirely unbothered by Alfred's furry wrath. Once it might have been scary. Now it was just cute. "You never taught me dis-transmutation spells." He rested his cheek in his hand, simply watching. "You can't afford to be picky now."
"/Don't give me that crap. I know you were reading ahead in the spell book./" Alfred growled thumping unhappily. "/Hurry up and change me back you brat./"
Arthur pressed his lips white, determined not to laugh. "Later. Right now, just eat supper." In truth the boy had no intentions of unbinding Alfred. Not until they had a heart to heart. Alfred hurt him very deeply, but the boy never wavered in his feelings for him. Since Alfred ran away, the sun never passed the sky without the boy thinking of the smile that gifted Arthur with its warmth.
"/I would rather starve./" Alfred bit back angrily turning away from the food even as his stomach growled demanding nutrients. He refused to do something so undignifying as eat soup like an animal. If they boy wanted to play that game then Alfred could as well and Alfred doubted the boy would actually let him starve to death, he was much too sympathetic for that.
"In what manner have you been eating before? Where is your fork and knife?" Arthur was losing patience. "I hate when you're like this. Your pride is simply unbearable." The boy folded his arms and turned his head stubbornly. "You never compromise. Everything must bend to your will. Do you feel anything at all?" Arthur blinked back tears.
"/Anger for the hundreds of years I spent in chains forced to serve your kind. Pain from having my limbs removed for sport. Betrayal for having trusted humans to not attack my kind. I have little patience for your desire to compromise when you a merely a human child. Perhaps I would be more willing to listen and have patience with you if you were older and less prone to childish tantrums./" Alfred's words were harsh, but they needed to be said.
Often Alfred wish he would have come across Arthur when the boy was a young adult as he would be far easier to deal with rather than a child so desperate for love and attention he thought he was in love with Alfred. Any creature with even a hint of morals could see how sick such a relationship would be Alfred was 373 and Arthur was 12. Even beyond the boy's age Alfred would not be able to bring himself to trust humans ever again let alone someone of the Kirkland blood line. He needed Arthur's help to remove the collar but after that he would leave. He had no desire to coddle the boy with sweet lies.
"Coming from you, the Yun'lein dragon," Arthur frowned. It may not be Alfred's fault for his family betraying the Kirkland line, but he was accountable for upholding the reputation in their name. "It's not my fault you were held captive, and it wasn't your fault the Yun'lein dragons betrayed my family. But it is our duty to protect one another. Maybe, one day, we can rise to greatness once more."
"/DO NOT SPEAK OF THINGS YOU DON'T KNOW CHILD!/" Alfred bellowed. "/You may have been raised on lies but it is your fault for not seeking out the truth! My family did little more than retaliate against yours who had betrayed us first! I would rather this collar kill me before helping you recreate your evil clan!/"
"You betrayed us first! You refused to come to our aid when the rebels attacked!" Arthur bolted to his feet knocking his chair backwards. For the first time his height was at an advantage, "It's in the official accounts! When the Kirkland clan called the Yun'lein clan to aid they did not come." He slammed his fist on the table. "And now look at us. I am the last in the line, forced to live in seclusion because the rebels are still after us. They are afraid that we will forge a new alliance with you."
"/And you would side with the words of dead men over what I have seen with my own eyes. /Your/ family is the reason I was forced to live in chains! /Your/ family were the ones to rip me from my home and use me to intimidate the rebels. It was only a matter of time before they received what was coming to them! Why would my family help those who harmed us first?/" Alfred's hackles rose and if it wasn't for his injured leg he would have hopped out the window and far away from the boy before him.
"Why have I not heard this before?! You never said a word!" Arthur was besides himself. How could Alfred implicate his family and fault them for the lost war? Worse, saying they used Alfred as a pawn, leading to Yun'lein's betrayal. Yet, something cold in his heart would not yield to Arthur's fierce denial. Arthur could not deny the possibility.
Arthur did not know his ancestors. After hundreds of years of lineage all he knew was from written accounts by the Kirkland's victors. From what he learned they were not good people. The tyranny of the king led to a civilian uprising. Even their military turned against them. Resurrecting the blood covenant with the Yun'lein clan was their last hope of thwarting the rebels, but even they abandoned them.
"Alfred," Arthur began, swallowing hard. "Tell me what happened. Tell me everything."
Alfred was still pissed and half wanted to run out on the boy again, but Arthur was right Alfred never did divulge about his past. He huffed an irritated sigh, "/Turn me back first./" Alfred rolled his eyes at Arthur's reluctant face, "/I promise I won't run off./"
Arthur's face soured into a pout. "But you're so cute like this. Before I turn you back, may I pet your fur?" His hand was inches from stroking that soft but matted fur when Alfred wrinkled his bunny nose and snapped his jaws. The boy quickly took his fingers back. "Have it your way, then. You /always/ do," the boy groused under his breath as he flipped open the enchantment tome.
Alfred was returned to his human form. Arthur hoped Alfred's arm would regenerate in the transformation, but it seemed the enchantment's hold went beyond restricting his true dragon form.
Alfred fell off the table as he returned to his human form, glaring at Arthur he commented, "You could have at least got me off the table first." He stood slowly wincing as his leg was still painful, "Grab me a bowl of soup before we start I'm famished." Alfred practically collapsed in his chair his body positively aching from finally being transformed back after being in a bunny form for such a long time.
Arthur's pupils blew wide in horror. Alfred was naked. Color exploded from the boy's cheeks and turned his whole face red. "P-p-put some-make yourself decent first!" He nearly screeched as he dove for the small dresser and blindly chucked a pile of clothes at the dragon's face.
Alfred pulled a shirt off his head as Arthur ran out of clothes to barrage him with, "It hurts too much to stand and besides it's not like my physical form looks any different than yours." Even as he said that Alfred pulled the night gown Arthur had made for him, as a present last year, over his head figuring at least he'd be covered and wouldn't have to stand.
"It's not the same!" The boy wailed with his burning hands shading his beet-red face. His back was turned, waiting for Alfred to dress, and he refused to look until Alfred assured him it was safe.
When he turned the boy blushed seeing Alfred had chosen the gown he made. He stood there, feet shifting awkwardly until he remembered Alfred's dinner. But when he took a new bowl from the shelf and walked to the cooking pot, he stopped.
He placed the empty bowl in front of Alfred. "You can get it. It's not far."
Alfred's expression deadpanned, "I could barely get myself into this chair and you want me to hobble over on a sprained leg and try to take hot liquid out of a boiling pot all with one hand…" Alfred continued staring at Arthur wondering if the boy had momentarily become blind and forgot Alfred wasn't capable of completing a task that required two hands.
Arthur shook his head. "Remember when I burned my hands on the inferno spell? I still cooked and cleaned and did everything." He wasn't going to budge on the issue. He wouldn't let Alfred use his disability as an excuse to pass over paltry tasks. "It might be more difficult," Arthur reasoned with a pang of sympathy. He didn't like to think of the dragon suffering. "But, it can be done."
"I see," Alfred stared at the boy a moment longer before rolling his eyes and simply grabbing a piece of fruit out of the basket on the table. "Well then when you lose an arm one day you can go ahead and show me how easy it is to live like this. It will be very enlightening." He slowly savored the fruit enjoying being able to finally eat with his hand again.
Arthur pinched his eyebrows together and dropped his eyes to his hands lying empty on his lap. It was possible to ladle soup into a bowl with just one hand! Not as convenient as it would be with two, but possible nonetheless.
"I did nothing to merit this treatment!" Arthur blurted out, hands twisting into his tunic. "Why must you be so heartless towards me? One night you appear collapsed against my door bleeding, and ever since then I've worked endlessly to restore you to your true form. More than that, I do almost all the labor. There is no end to your criticism. I don't learn fast enough, I can't cook well. You never compliment or praise me. You blame me for what happened to you!" Arthur angrily dashed away his tears. "And once you are free you're going to leave me? I can't go on like this." The boy hiccupped, swallowing hard. "This isn't fair. I love you, Alfred. After all I've done you cannot return my love? What will it take?"
"You are a child Arthur. You know nothing of the love you speak. What you hold for me is affection, you feel comforted by another's presence rather than the emptiness left behind by your mother." Alfred sighed tiredly before reaching over and ruffling the boy's hair. "Just because I cannot return your feelings, does not mean I'm not fond of you. It's hard to keep nothing but bitterness in my heart after watching you grow. I may be quick to snap and push you to your limits, but it won't just benefit me in the end. I'm teaching you how you can manage to survive in this world."
"You're wrong!" It broke Arthur's heart to have his feelings dismissed by the one he held them for. He loved Alfred, truly. He may be young, but he knew what love was. "I thought after I freed you we'd stay together."
"I am a dragon, Arthur. I belong with my people not holed up in this cottage until you finally pass on." Alfred knew they weren't going to get anywhere with this topic running in circles like it was. "Perhaps I will occasionally come back and visit at the very least."
"I cannot come with you?" Arthur was pathetic. He knew it. His desperation reduced him to begging.
When Alfred denied him again Arthur buried his face in his hands and sobbed in earnest. He was half-tempted to change Alfred back to ensure that he will never leave, but Arthur wanted Alfred to stay of his own volition.
"Just leave!" He wailed. "It's not /fair/! You take and take and don't /give/." What was he going to do? Willfully take one step closer everyday to losing Alfred? And then what? Wait for the spare pockets of time Alfred would deign to spare for him?
Why did he love Alfred? Not only did the dragon not love him, he didn't care about what would happen to him.
He never felt so lonely in his life, sitting here with Alfred.
Alfred shifted uncomfortably not liking the way the boy made him feel guilty about using him to get rid of the collar. He had been honest from the start he just wanted to be free; he had never expected Arthur to develop feelings for him. It made everything more complicated.
He opened and closed his mouth wanting to stop the boy's wailing, but also not wanting to lie about the future either. "Why do you worry about things like this now? You still have a good eight or ten more years before you will be able to remove the collar. I will watch over you during that time, so stop worrying about the future and cherish the present."
After an uncomfortably long time the boy's cries mellowed down to gasping hiccups and whimpers. The assurance did little to comfort, but burden the boy with agonized resignation that his situation was hopeless and there was nothing he could do.
Hours later found them keeping a sullen distance from each other. Alfred had gone out for a walk and Arthur stayed inside. The boy watched Alfred leave from the window. The last of his tears were squeezed out of him. There was nothing left.
Arthur went to the mantelpiece above the cooling fireplace. He took a folded sheaf of paper carefully opened it. On the rough parchment was their shared crest, drawn with quill and carbon pigment.
Since last time Arthur labored at redesigning the symbol of their unity. Now the dragon was looming over the frame of the Kirkland crest like a beastly serpent, poised to attack or protect, while the unicorn and lion were captured inside, subdued and motionless.
Arthur ripped the crest right down the middle, separating the unicorn and lion while splitting the dragon in half. The boy tore it up into long strips and then again sideways. Little squares of parchment was all that was left. He tossed them into the fire like confetti.
Arthur watched with bleary eyes the squares curl at the edges and turn to ash. He watched for a long time until the light stung his eyes.
With a tired sigh the boy stood and walked back to the window, looking out. He crossed his arms, pressing his forehead to the glass.
It will be hard, and sad, but Arthur will pull through. That was human nature. The most unbearable things were, indeed, bearable.
Arthur wondered what time waiting for the inevitable will make of him.
A/N: Sorry these chapters take so long to get out my life is quite busy. I'll try to be a little quicker. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed the story so far! Until next chapter then…