Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon or any of the characters
"Found you!" Lyra blew into Silver's ear to startle him but he didn't move. He looked over his shoulder and raised a brow at her and she blushed when she remembered that startling him was impossible since he could sense her presence with their Blood Bond. "Why are you sitting here all alone? Come and join the fun. It must be boring sitting here all alone."
"Blue looks like she's having fun but I don't think I'll enjoy listening to Green read fairy tales." Silver crossed his arm and Lyra wonder if Green could feel Silver glaring at him. It was slightly amusing watching his expression since she wouldn't expect a serious man like him could make such an adorable expression. "And I'm not good with kids so I'll just sit here."
"Then I'll sit here with you," Lyra offered and sat next to him. She looked over the village and wondered what Silver was thinking since he was so quiet. He wouldn't meet her eyes but she knew that there was something was on his mind. She knew that she could easily compel him to tell her with the Blood Bond but she wanted him to trust her on his own.
"It's really nothing for you to worry about. My sister told me that the King is planning on resurrecting an army of dragons and it's obvious Gold is trying to find the Last Dragon. But when we spoke, he didn't bring up the topic once. You know what we talked about? Food, music and animals. I don't understand humans any more than I did a century ago."
"Gold is a strange person and I don't know what he's truly planning." Lyra agreed.
"But he's a very blessed person. He told me about his home and how it was full of music. Every night they would play music and dance around the fire for no other reason than they want to. It must be nice to grow up in a place so peaceful and never having to worry about surviving." Silver stared at the children playing around the bonfire.
"I want to give them that life as well. They're still young and they don't have to fight yet. I don't want my sister and friends to have to constantly fight either. That's why I searched for you. If people knew we had a dragon, they wouldn't attack us." Lyra drew her knees to her chest and leaned her head against them. "I want to apologize to you for that."
"Apologize?" He was confused by the solemn in her voice since it was so unlike her.
"Now that I know what you've been through and how you've been used, I can understand why you're so against helping me. I'm sorry for making you live through a Blood Bond again. I always prided myself on my knowledge of dragons but I didn't know about that. All I cared about was finding you. I was a little selfish, wasn't I?" She finally met his eyes and he felt his heart move. He placed his hand on her head.
"You couldn't have known and honestly you're the best Dragon Master I've ever had. If it wasn't for you, I would be dead by the poison right now. You saved my life." His hand moved through her hair and she felt her heart beat faster. "There's not much you can do about our situation."
"I know! Come with me." Lyra suddenly stood and took his hand to pull him to his feet.
"Where are we going?" He asked even though he knew from her cheeky smile that she wouldn't answer him. At first he was reluctant to follow her but his curiosity overcame his caution when he saw her confident smile. She led him away from the village and he wondered where she intended to take him. If anyone else had taken his hand, he would've resisted but he found himself following her.
Together, they walked hand in hand deeper into the mountain. He lived in the mountain for most of his life but he didn't recognize the path she was leading him down. It wasn't towards the church which was the only place he could think of that she would want to visit. Silver wondered if she knew where she wanted to go herself. "How much further are you going to drag me around?"
"It's not that much further now." Lyra assured him as she pushed the branches away from their path. She held them so Silver could pass with ease. It was a small act of kindness but the thought touched Silver more than she could know. As they continued to walk, she spoke energetically. "You're going to love this! But you need to keep it our little secret. Do you promise?"
"It'll be our promise." He agreed just as heard the sound of rushing water. She finally let go of his hand and pushed through the last row of greenery before stepping onto the edge of a water fall. There was no fear in her eyes as she walked to the edge of the waterfall and sat on the ground. He stood next to her and admired the sight of the mountain coated in moonlight.
"This is the best sight on the mountain. It's so peaceful and it's almost like time stops here. This might not be much compared to dancing and singing around a camp fire but watching the sunrise is magical as well." Lyra told him and there was something wistful in her tone. "It'll be a while before the sun rises but we can sit and enjoy the view for now."
"You can see everything from here." Silver sat next to her. Since he was a dragon and could fly, the view wasn't as majestic to him as it was for Lyra but looking over the mountain while flying felt different from enjoying the view next to her in a way that confused him. Both made him feel at peace but the latter made his heart beat irregularly.
"This is the place I fell in love with dragons. I was exploring the mountain and I came upon this waterfall. I wanted to see if there was any pretty rocks in the water but when I was looking, I fell in. I thought I was going to die when I went over the edge but then this blue dragon saved. I'll never forget flying and how those scales felt like gems."
"My sister always travels using bodies of water since her scales blend into the water bed easily. If she wasn't there that day, we wouldn't be speaking here now." Silver knew that humans were very fragile and the thought of losing her confused him. It was a simple decision to kill her to free himself from the Blood Bond but know he knew his life would be very different if she died that day.
"Your sister is a wonderful woman and I'm glad that she wants to protect the village like you do." Lyra nodded. "When I returned to the village, I read every book I could to learn about dragons and tried to find you again. My sister found out about me coming to this waterfall and made me promise not to come back here. That's why you need to keep this place our secret. She'll be mad if she found out about this."
"Even if she did find out, I doubt she'll be mad. The reason she didn't allow you to come back was probably because she didn't want you accidentally fall off the waterfall again. She wouldn't know if a dragon would be there to save you again, after all. But now she knows that you have a dragon to protect you so there's no reason for her to worry."
"You're right. When I first went out to search for you, I didn't think that we would be tied together like this. But when I find a way to free you, I hope that you stay by my side." Lyra touched the brooch over her heart. While the silver scale was cold, she thought she could feel Silver's heart through it. Blue seemed to love the village and wanted to protect it so Silver must feel the same.
"You can see the village from here. It looks so small," Silver commented instead of addressing her concern. He still hadn't decided what to do about their Blood Bond. There was no reason to stay with her when his body was cured of the poison. "I lived so close to you but I never knew how much of an impact you had on the mountain. If you guys didn't protect the mountain, I would've been discovered long ago."
"And we'll continue to protect this mountain. I won't let that King get his hand on this and use dragons again." Lyra once again placed a hand over the brooch. He wondered if the scale of a coward was so important to her that she wore it constantly. When he asked her why she wore it, she blushed. "Because it's proof you care. It's the first present you gave me. You didn't know me then but you gave it to me."
"I just thought that my sister's scale was much more important than one of my own. Think of all the spells a human could cast if they had the scale of a powerful dragon. I ran from battle and disgraced the name of dragons. My scale isn't worth that much." Silver told her and was surprised when she reached over and pinched his cheeks. There was a fire in her eyes when she told him.
"I won't let you say that about yourself. This scale is my most prized possession. I don't think you were a coward for leaving that cruel man that used you. In fact, I think that you were brave for being able to do so." Silver was shocked when she said that since most retelling of his story cast his as a coward. "And here we are today, thanks to your actions."
"Most wouldn't think that. Are you sure you're not just bias towards dragons and refuse to find fault with us?" Silver laughed when she pouted her cheeks since she expected him to change his attitude quickly. He took out the wooden dragon he made to soothe her anger. "Here, take this."
"What is it?" She asked as she studied the carving. Silver blushed since he knew that his skills weren't as good as Gold's and it was a blow to his pride. He could only comfort himself by thinking that in the moonlight, it was difficult for to see the detail of the carving. Lyra clapped, as if she knew what he had made. "Is it a lizard?"
"It's a dragon, silly. Lizards don't have wings." He pointed out and her eyes widened. The sun began to rise then and she could see the dragon in more detail. Silver became more self conscious as he watched her play with the dragon. "If you don't want it, I'll take it back."
"Wait, no! I love him. Look, he's even smiling." Lyra laughed as she pointed out the detail to him, as if he wasn't the one that had made it. Looking at her smile, he was glad that he made it for her. "Thank you Silver. I'll make sure I take care of it."
"It's nothing. Think of it as me thanking you for taking me here. It really is calming here." Silver couldn't remember the last time he was able to merely sit and enjoy nature. As the sun was rising, Lyra's head lowered until it rested on his shoulder. She was struggling to keep her eyes open but his warmth was so comforting that she found herself yawning.
"It's okay, you can sleep. I'll take you back to the village safely." He promised her but she was already asleep so she didn't answer him. As he gently moved her into his arms, she leaned her head against him. There was no fear n her body despite how easily a dragon could kill her and he didn't understand how she was able to trust so easily.
"I know you have questions for me, Yellow, but I can't answer them. I want to know them myself." Red could sense someone watching him and knew that it was Yellow. The other villagers had kept their distance from him and she and Gold were the only ones who approached him. Since he could hear Gold speaking with the villagers, it could only be her.
"I'm sorry to disappoint you but she's not here." Red stood when it wasn't Yellow that answered him. He turned to see a woman standing some distance from him, covering her nose with a napkin. "She wanted to come with me to speak with you but I thought that it would be best for us to speak alone. It has been a long time after all, Red."
"You know me, don't you? Please tell me who you are!" He asked her but when he stepped towards her, she pulled out a knife and pointed it at him. There was nothing but hatred in her eyes and he was reminded of his reaction when he first saw her.
"Don't come any closer to me. This knife might not be able to kill you but I'm satisfied with being able to spill your blood. It's little compared to everything you did to my people." Blue's tone was cold and Red was confused. "I'll tell you about yourself but I don't know who would hate you more when they find out the truth. Yellow, or you."
"Why would Yellow hate me?" Red asked even as something in his stomach dropped at the mention of Yellow hating him. She was the first person he spoke to when he woke without his memory and she had stayed by his side since then. "I don't remember anything about my past but whatever I did to you, I'm sorry. I'll try to make it up to you!"
"How are you going to atone for all the dragons you've killed? You can't exchange your life for theirs, you're already dead." Blue laughed bitterly. "You're dead and hopeless, Immortal Dragon Master."
"I'm dead?" Red felt as if the world had fallen beneath him and he could only stare at the woman, trying to process his words. He knew that he couldn't be hurt or killed but he couldn't have guessed that it was because he was already dead. There was something familiar about her but he didn't know if she was speaking the truth about his past. "How can I be?"
"Alive, you served the king well and killed countless dragons. I barely survived when I fought you but even the mighty fall eventually. I thought your death would be the end of my people's suffering but then the King revived you with dragon blood. Do you know how many had to die to bring you back to life?" Blue screamed.
"I'm sorry," was all he could say.
"Why did you choose now to come back? You disappeared right after you were revived so I thought that would be the end of it but here you are. I don't care how strong you are, if you hurt my friends or this village, I will kill you." Red knew that her words were not mere threats, but a promise. The genuine anger in her words told him that she spoke the truth about his past.
Red looked down at his hands and for the first time, he thought he could see the blood stain of a thousand battles on them. The memories were so distant and vague, he felt like an outsider in his own body. Was he truly a murderer of dragons? If he did follow the King, why was he sent to the village? No matter what he told her, he couldn't envision himself following a cruel king or killing a dragon.
"Did you tell Yellow this?" Red asked and was surprised when she shook her head. He was glad since he couldn't imagine her forgiving him for all the sins he committed. Even if there was a chance she was willing to forgive him, he couldn't remember why he killed so many dragons to justify it. "I know you must hate who I was but please let me show you that I'm not a bad person."
"The moment you get your memories back, you'll only fulfill your mission and I won't let you destroy this village. The only reason I haven't killed you yet is because I know it's pointless. You're immortal and still too strong for any living person to defeat. So I can either find a way to immobilize you or you can leave this village on your own."
"You're giving me the chance to go free?" Red was confused with her offer since the hatred in her eyes told him that she was reluctant to do so. Any logical person would take the chance to run with their life but he couldn't help but remember how Gold told him they needed to find the dragon hidden in the village to accomplish their goal.
Something in his gut told him that he needed to find the dragon even though he still didn't fully understand why. "I can't leave when I still don't have my memories. I'm really sorry that we fought on opposite sides in the past but now I don't want to fight you. Something is coming for this village and I won't let anything happen to it while Yellow is here. I promised to protect her."
"The only thing you'll do is hurt her if you stay here!" Blue snapped. She wouldn't put her friend in danger and knew that she would want to help Red regain his memories. But she had seen Red fight and knew how dangerous he could be. Her hands tightened into fists. "She told me that she healed you so repay her by not putting her in danger."
"I can protect myself and I don't believe we have to be worried about Red's past." They both turned to see Yellow come between them. She smiled wearily at Blue and Red felt rejected when she didn't give him a glance. Even if she glared at him, he wanted to know what she thought of him now. It was obvious that she heard about his past.
"I've travelled with him and he was kind to me. He protected me and even when we encountered someone, he only fought when they attack us. The wounds I healed were from a dragon and I know that it couldn't be you that attack him so there's another dragon. That memory is important if there are other dragons alive. We need to protect them."
"Protect dragons?" Red found himself saying by reflex. The glare they both sent him made him and he stepped back. "I'm sorry. I know that you have no reason to trust me but I don't want to hurt you. I just want to know the truth about myself. I don't know what my connection to the king or dragons but I promise to protect you and I will."
"We'll keep an eye on him and I have a way to restrain him if he turns on us when he regains his memories." Yellow told Blue and she held up her arrow. While she was a healer and didn't like fighting, she was skilled with several magic spells. She hated to think that she would have to use them again Red but she knew that she wouldn't lie about such past.
Did the Red she travelled with even exist and will it disappear when he remembered his past fully?
"I'm sorry but this will hurt." Yellow warned as she pulled her knife out of the fire. He took a deep breath steeled himself against the pain. Blue watched and fretted over her brother even though she trusted Yellow. "You'll need to endure the burning while I drain the poison from your body."
"I've been through worst so don't worry about me." Silver told her and held out his arm to her. His voice was muffled by a rag so he wouldn't bite off his tongue. Because he was a dragon, Yellow had to be more forceful when drawing out the poison. She punctured his arm and let his blood drip into a bowl. Chanting a spell, she redirected the impurity in his blood to flow out of his body.
Silver felt as if someone was twisting his stomach and forcing the life from his body. He struggled to stay conscious but he barely felt the pain since his mind was distracted. He still hadn't decided what he would do with Lyra and he doubted he could decide in time it took for Yellow to cure him. When he closed his eyes against the pain, he could see her smile.
"Silver!" Lyra sat up quickly in her bed. Her body felt hot and she instinctively knew that Silver was in terrible pain. The Blood Bond spurred her into action and she jumped out of bed to find him. She threw on her cape and secured it with the brooch with his dragon scale.
At first she ran to the stable he usually stayed in but when she threw open the door, she found it empty. The pain around her heart hadn't subdued and she concentrated on the Blood Bond they shared. While she didn't fully understand it, she knew that she could use it to find him. She tightened her hand around the brooch and her feet began to move by themselves.
As she ran to him, she could only think that she had to save him. Lyra could only imagine the worst scenarios. What if someone had captured him and dragged him away from the village? The further apart they were, the weaker he was so she hoped he was safe until she reached him. She knew that she was close since she could feel his pain the more she ran.
The pain took her breath away but still she pushed her body harder. She trusted that once she reached him, he would have the strength to save both of them. Lyra doubled her efforts when she heard Silver scream. Stopping to catch her breath, she looked up to see Silver, Blue and Yellow sitting in a circle. She didn't understand why they were so far from the village or why Yellow was holding a knife to his arm.
"The poison has almost left your body so please endure it for a little more." Yellow told him with a gentle voice. Poison? Lyra didn't understand their conversation until she thought of the arrows that he protected her from when they first met. Surely, Silver would've told him if he was poisoned. He had no reason to lie to her after everything they've been through.
"That's the last of it." Yellow pulled away the knife and began to heal the wound. Blue held out a bowl of food to him so he could eat since he lost a fair amount of blood. With little energy left, Silver felt his body slump and Lyra's body mirrored his as she sank to her knees. The blood in the bowl was tainted black and she knew that he had in fact been poisoned.
Why did he hide it from her and felt the need to cure it without her knowing? Unfortunately, as she listened to them, they told her their reason.
"Thank God, you're okay now. Now we don't need to worry about it holding you back." Blue hugged her brother and he nodded in agreement. While he didn't know if he still wanted to stay in the Blood Bond, he was glad to be rid of the poison. "Lyra might not have known but that Blood Bond saved your life. The poison would've killed you otherwise."
"But now that I've gotten rid of the poison, what will you do?" Yellow asked. "The only reason you decided to stay with that woman and the village was to survive long enough for me to come and cure you. The village speaks highly of you, especially that woman, so they obviously trust you."
Silver looked down at his feet and Lyra could feel his guilt. He didn't answer Yellow's question but Blue did. "At first we thought that it would be simple. We were only going to help her until we had no reason to do so. At first we thought that we could kill her to free Silver from the Blood Bond but it has gotten more complicated. The decision is still Silver's. So what will you do?"
Silver didn't answer her and Lyra bit her tongue. Her heart felt heavy and she didn't know if it was her own emotions or Silver's. He had never intended to protect her village and she felt foolish. She thought that she was running to his rescue only to discover that he intended to kill her. Lyra bit her tongue and stormed out of her hiding place.
They were shocked when she stopped in front of him. No one moved, waiting to see what Lyra would do. The fire and tears in her eyes told him that she had heard them. Before he could say her name, she raised her hand and slapped. Still no one moved in reaction, too shocked that she had struck a dragon. "Lyra…"
"Don't say my name!" Lyra yelled at him. "How dare you pretend to be my friend like that? If you never wanted to be my partner, then you should've told me and I would've let you be. But you used me and intended to throw me away! This is the only command I'll give you as your Dragon Master: Stay away from me and my village. I don't want to see you ever again."
Lyra turned on her heel and ran from him. He started to follow her but he was still too weak to run so he could only call her name. Blue helped him stand but she had run too far away from them to follow. The whirlwind of emotions in his heart was a mix of his and Lyra's. Regret and betrayal. Sadness and anger. But the emotion they both felt was a deep rejection.
"Lyra!" She heard him call her even when she was too far to hear his voice. Lyra wished that she had never found him or made a Blood Bond with him. Tears clouded her visions so she ran blindly through the mountain. She didn't know where she was going, only that she wanted to be alone to sort her feelings.
Unfortunately, Lyra ran blindly into the path of a horse. It knocked her aside but she was able to roll away from its hooves. As she pushed herself to her feet, she saw a hand reach out to her. She thought that it was going to help her but it roughly grabbed her brooch and pulled her off the ground.
"What are you doing with a dragon scale?" The cold sneer of the rider made Lyra's heart stop.
I really wanted to finish this chapter before I work on all the mep parts I put off.