Disclaimer:
I don't own anything to do with the Harry Potter universe, J. K Rowling has that honor. I also don't own anything to do with Temeraire, that wonderful Naomi Novik does. I'm just borrowing the verses for a bit.
Chapter 3: Trouble comes calling.
Part Two.
The ships had moved quite a bit from where they had been when Gregory and Harry had arrived earlier, and as Temeraire wasn't to move from where he was stationed, it was clear that Harry had some heavy flying to do in order to regroup with the younger dragon. Especially if Temeraire HAD moved and managed to get turned around again and started off in the opposite direction. The lad did have a excellent sense in the air of where he ought to be and when, but on the water he seemed a bit lost, where as Harry was good on both the air and the water equally, though his air navigation was second best to Temeraire, who appeared to be born to live on the wing.
Harry called out a wordless cry in response to another wave of fear from Temeraire, hoping he was close enough to the other for him to pick it up. 'I am coming! I am coming little brother!' he sent the impression of a pissed off older sibling crashing in and destroying whatever had his brother in such a state, but wasn't sure if Temeraire was getting it or not. The fear hadn't lessened and there was still that horrible sense of lonely despair. Ten minutes of flying and Harry bellowed a call, hoping something would be heard and he could figure out if he was going the right way or not. He could be moving away from Temeraire for all he knew!
Finally an answering cry reached his ears after another five minutes of flying, weak in volume but not in strength, which could only mean Harry was far away from the one who called out, not that they were too weak to raise their voice. This was good, at least he was going the right way and was in hearing distance of the other dragon. He was about to yell out that he was almost there when another cry, this one of pain, sounded, and it wasn't at all like the first; a different breed entirely! Dragons! Temeraire must have been stumbled upon by a roaming patrol! But which side?
Again the older dragon called out, this time he tried to mimic the sounds Tomas had made when he was startled, hoping to get Temeraire's attention and yet also throw off the group harassing his brother; if they thought a middle or lightweight was on their way, they may be less inclined to rush toward them head on, instead choosing to continue their attack as is. A small breed would be nothing but an annoyance to a group of dragons unless all the attackers were lightweights themselves.
'If they are French, I can perhaps talk them down. I hope. If they are English...well, that's a whole different box of beans. Surely those English ships have made it to port by now, and someone from the ships must have notified the Aviators that there had been a dragonet and a Frenchman out on the sea, and that they might possibly still have an English Navy Captain hostage. This could get out of hand really fast if that is the case.'
Harry pumped his wings and flew harder in the direction of the roars and cries, his heart beating faster as both fear and feral excitement filled him. The sound of gunfire suddenly became audible over the sounds of the sea, mixing in with the dragon calls and the shouts of men and dragon alike giving orders back and forth. Finally the battle came into view in the distance, looking more like a bunch of angry wasps from this far away than a group of dragons of any size. It didn't take long for him to get close enough to judge the breeds - the sight of four dragons filled him with dread already - but the types were well known to him by word of mouth and that added an extra helping of bad to the situation. Circling over his brother was an English rescue party consisting of two Yellow Reapers, an Anglewing and one fricking huge Parnassian. He could tell from the type of commands being shouted about from the crews as well as the sizes of the beasts diving down on Temeraire that this was not going to be an easy fight.
'Damn that Parnassian is huge...' Another shouted command from someone in the fight caused Harry's scales to pale a shade 'Oh, no, it's not a rescue party, it's a snatcher group! That's why they have such a big brute out here over open water, they're here for Temeraire! Those English ships have definitely made it to port then.'
Harry shook his head in dismay as he turned again to keep a tight circle and watched the Parnassian below him circle around in formation with the smaller breeds, trying to herd Temeraire into a compromising position so he could be lifted away by the largest of the attackers.
'Unless, of course, a patrol happened upon the English ships while they were still out to sea and they then sent them out to look for us, though that's still an awful large bit of luck that the group found us out here, either way it's no good. And why are they attacking Captain Laurence? Surely they know he is a French prisoner? Or did Temeraire cause an uproar with his French loyalties and they assumed Laurence had turned traitor?' Harry thought, pulling up sharply to keep out of sight of the group when the Reaper pair flew danger close to Harry's current altitude.
It turned out to be a pretty good choice to fly higher up. The dragons were now the size of small dogs which meant Harry could be sure to see not only their movements, but the whole surrounding area for miles just in case more dragons came. He could also just make out the small shapes of the French ships a few miles away. 'If only I had something reflective on me. I could signal them for help'
He needed a plan of attack that won't get himself or Temeraire killed or captured, the only plus right now was that the attackers didn't know he was there, probably hadn't heard him over everything going on around them, or if they had they were ignoring it in favor of trying to take Temeraire.
'I need to be careful, I can't just go rushing in! They have crews with guns and possibly some very experienced commanders on board. Unfortunately Temeraire will be out of the fight trying to keep Captain Laurence safe, being new to this whole combat thing he won't know what to do. I at least have some previous experience in my other life which means it'll be up to me to get him away from the enemy.' Harry then decided to pull a trick that both he and Temeraire shared - which further pointed to possible relation - and stopped suddenly, hovering in place high over the battle instead of circling.
The larger of the brothers tried to make sense out of the chaos underneath him. The smaller breeds were trying to snatch something away from Temeraire's hands - probably Captain Laurence - while dropping people onto his back to subdue him. But so far Temeraire just kept diving under the water to wash them off whenever a couple of people made it on board, and then he popped back up to the surface with the help of what Harry now noticed - upon closer inspection of the black dragon's hands - was a barrel being clutched tightly to his chest. It was clear that for sure Captain Laurence himself must be safely tucked in the barrel with the lid in place as Harry couldn't see why else the dragonet would be so protective of the damn thing and why that was the target of the Yellow Reaper and Anglewing grab attempts.
'I need to draw their attack somehow, get them interested in me and not Temeraire and his Captain, he can't fight them efficiently because he won't allow Captain Laurence to be put in anymore danger than he is already in' one of the Yellow Reapers started looking around in the direction that Harry had called from earlier, but then returned to the fight after making a few circles around the outside of it; apparently they DID hear his calls and were keeping an eye out for whatever had made them, probably thinking a small French patrol was coming back for their comrade.
'I wish I had a crew, they could really help out right now, only problem is I would have to protect them from being snatched!' but then a jolt of realization flooded him 'Wait, I don't have crew...Or a Captain! That would draw their attention! Surely a rare looking breed of dragon that's un-captained would be considered the bigger prize over a hard to catch dragon with a Captain protected by a barrel...I hope'
Harry then dipped his head down and started tearing at the ropes on his chest with his teeth, mindful of the ones on the base of his neck as well. They all came loose rather easily and he had scramble to catch them all and the sail cloth just to make sure it didn't drop onto the dragons below and give away his position. Still hovering over the fight below, Harry zeroed in on the Parnassian and watched how it kept trying to get into a good position over Temeraire every-time it flew over him from behind, the much larger dragon was trying to grab Temeraire up from the water with each pass, but was missing because the black dragon would tuck under the water to keep from being caught. His brother sported quite a few rake marks down his back though, which meant he only learned to duck after an attempt to grab him had almost succeeded.
Harry pulled his wings in and dropped quite a bit in height, hoping to get closer without being seen so he could get a better idea of what exactly he was about to literally dive into. He hovered again in a spot he figured was good enough for a view of the fight; it did put him in plain sight though if anyone cared to look.
Temeraire roared at a Yellow Reaper that got too close for comfort, taking one of his hands from the barrel the other dragon was grabbing at and swiping at the face of the one who dared enter his space, baring his teeth in a fierce, wordless snarl. The Reaper pulled back sharply to avoid loosing an eye, taking the lid of the barrel off as it reversed course, and then circled around to Temeraire's tail. Once there it started dropping a few people down onto the black dragon's back during the slow pass over. The crews then started tying ropes to Temeraire around his neck while he was distracted with the barrel, and as the dragon couldn't dive while pressing the lid back into place, it gave them plenty of time to get the ropes secure and start pulling tightly with the help of a passing dragon to yank Temeraire's head to lay almost flat on his back. They attached the other end of the ropes to the base of his tail to keep him from pulling his head back up.
The young dragon cried out in fear, twisting his body around to keep the Parnassian from getting a lock on him with it's paws when it came back down to grab him. Harry felt the spike of fear himself from his brother and sent a calm wave back at him with a clear intention; I am here, do not panic. Just as Temeraire's fear ebbed and Harry felt the other's relief wash over him, the lid of the barrel popped off again, this time releasing a very angry Captain Laurence.
The enraged man brandished a couple of pistols he must have grabbed off of someone before either getting in the barrel, or being stuffed in there by his dragon. He was also showing the beginnings of a rather spectacular bruise on his chest, which was on display because his shirt was torn in a way that suggested he might have been in some heavy handed claws at one point. A few streaks of blood were also there and Harry wondered if they were from an enemy dragon or a panicking Temeraire.
He took aim with one pistol and fired at a man standing at the front end of a passing Yellow Reaper, hitting him square in the chest and bringing the man down into the water near the rest of the still alive, yet not in combat crew Temeraire had washed off earlier. The Reaper gave a loud anguished cry of "NO! ALAN!" and dove down to land in the water after the man Captain Laurence had shot, pulling him up to the surface and cradling his weakly moving form to it's chest, crooning to him softly.
Obviously he was the dragon's Captain, and Harry felt a surge of pride and sympathy flow through him. Sympathy because he knew how a bond with a Captain felt, that just the thought of loosing a Captain actually almost cripples the dragon in question. Pride because Captain Laurence hadn't even hesitated to take the Englishman out, knowing full well that he was the Captain of that dragon and the severe emotional pain killing that man would bring said dragon. He had reacted purely on instinct to protect Temeraire, whom the Reaper had been pulling into a dangerous position with the ropes so the Parnassian could land over him and grab him up.
The added fact that he hadn't hesitated to kill an English Captain only pleased Harry even more.
The Anglewing spotted Temeraire's Captain out in the open and turned sharply, swooping in low over the panicking black dragon to try and grab Captain Laurence up in a large hand. The man saw the sudden move, however, and ducked down in the barrel once more to keep well out reach of the other dragon's searching hands. He did fire off the other pistol at the face of the beast as he ducked, though Harry couldn't tell if the shot hit its mark or not from this height. Probably not as the other hadn't even flinched.
'Well, its now or never old boy' Harry thought to himself, tucking his wings in and diving down into the battle, hoping to break up and scare off the smaller members of the flight now that they were down one. Though Harry being young and without an attack ability at range, they might not flee but rather turn and maul him en masse.
He was coming into position above the Anglewing as it passed by when the other, still airborne Yellow Reaper, cut him off unknowingly and put him or herself right into striking range. Harry inhaled deeply and roared, not quite as loud as before, but loud enough to startle the Reaper under him and bring every eye, dragon and human, to his darkly colored form. The Reaper dropped quite a few yards almost instinctively before it leveled out and tried to turn around to keep Harry in view. But that plan utterly failed due to Harry's built up speed and the Reaper wasn't able to complete the circle before the black dragon was on it. The beastie wasn't quite Harry's size in body length or weight so it was quite easy to knock the wind out of it once the larger dragon impacted on it's back with enough force to rattle all the teeth in both dragons heads.
Harry used this moment of inaction on the other's part to toss the ropes he still had in hand over the Reaper's head and yanked hard with his forepaws to throw the Reaper into an even more disoriented state. Harry's feet were planted on the Reaper's back and hips now with the claws dug deep into the flesh which would prevent any rollover attempt to dislodge him, though the other dragon was far too busy trying to pull up and away to bother rolling at all.
A sharp pain in one of his shins had Harry looking down at the Reaper's back and taking note of the large pile of angry Englishmen who were cutting at him with their swords or knives, whatever sharp object they had available to them. They weren't that small compared to him right now even at his respectable size so the weapons were doing quite a bit of damage to even his armored scales.
'Nope, we are NOT playing this game.' Harry thought, and pushed downward with his hind legs while still pulling the ropes with his forepaws, pretty much choking the poor Reaper. The black dragon then tucked his wings in to reduce drag, hoping his own weight added to the other dragon's would overcome his foe and send it crashing into the water below. It did indeed work, though perhaps a little too well.
The winded dragon hit the water with a breathless noise that might have been a yelp if it had been able to make a sound, shaking loose many of the yelling crew and throwing them from it's back. Harry himself was having trouble staying on, tilting dangerously forward and had to snap his wings out to stay balanced as the Reaper started to flail and sink. It's Captain was shouting at the crew still attached to the floundering dragon and Harry heard guns pop right before his left foreleg near the wrist erupted in pain. With an angry hiss the larger dragon let go of the ropes and pushed off from the smaller creature, forcing it down under the water a bit more, and pulled away from the guns still firing from many directions.
The other Reaper from before was crying softly over the still form of it's Captain, the body being held ever so gently by the distraught beast. It's crew was still willing to fight, however, and many who had fallen in the water or been tossed there by Temeraire, were now climbing onto any available space on the two downed dragons. Some had guns that were still able to fire and used them on the retreating larger dragon, others had to reload and ask for dry ingredients from their non-soaked companions.
Looping back around toward Temeraire, Harry felt another sharp pain, this time located in his haunches, and looked over his shoulders to see the Anglewing had snuck up on him and latched on near Harry's hips and was allowing some people it had pulled from the water to drop onto the captive dragon's back. The Parnassian also unloaded a few people as it flew over slowly, leaving Harry unable to stay in the air due to the sudden heavy weight he was carrying from both the crews and the very smug Anglewing.
"Not so nice now, when you are the one it happens to, is it?" came the taunt from the grinning dragon. Harry didn't even care to notice if it was male or female at this point, too busy sulking at being taken by surprise.
'Ah, the down side to having someone clever watch you do something, they tend to want to try it out themselves' came the annoyed thought as he tumbled downward, hissing and spitting out curses in English and French as he smacked into the water belly first. The Anglewing let go just before impact so at least Harry wasn't in the position of fighting the other off him as well as dealing with the crew that was now trying to tie Harry's head like they had with Temeraire's earlier.
"How well can you swim?" Harry growled at his attackers, twisting viciously over onto his back and diving, forcing the men to cease their rope handling and either jump off or be drowned. Temeraire at this point was free again, Captain Laurence having crawled onto the dragon's back and cut the rope that was holding him hostage.
With a quick look over at the resurfacing form of his elder brother, the younger dragon let go of the barrel and pushed off of the ocean surface with a powerful flap of his wings and got quite a bit of speed going during takeoff. He kept looking back at Harry as if he wanted to say something but didn't. His Captain was doing the same, looking wildly around Harry at the water and even chancing a few glances up at the visible backs of the other dragons, but whatever either wanted to say was never voiced and stayed firmly locked behind thin lips as they fled.
End part Two.
AN:
Temeraire's first battle! And it didn't at all go the way he had envisioned. And poor Laurence probably had a different idea when the English showed up anyway, battle wasn't the first thing he thought of I'm sure.
I made this one and the next part longer so that I would only this and the one other part to this and then I have to get to writing chapter four, which isn't even started yet. I have gone over this tons of times but may still have missed things, just let me know if something is out of place.
