Dragon's Passion
A/N: Alrighty, after some thinking I finally came out with Chapter Three! ^_^ As always everyone's a bit OOC since their original personality interferes with the plot. ^_^ Enjoy! And a appreciative thank you goes out to Icy-chan! THANK YOU!!!!! For clearing my writers block!!! I should definitely talk to you more often about this story.. ^_^
Disclaimer?: I own the plot. Toei owns Digimon, Saban RUINS Digimon. Don't like it? Sue Saban, not me.
Summary?: It's a medieval world of Dragons and Knights; The Prince riles the Advisor and an insult war ensues, Miyako reads a book, and a dream shakes both the Dragon and Princess. AU and MIORI!! ^_^ Chapter Three! Enjoy.
Chapter San: Dragon's Nightmare
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"'Very icky'.. REALLY Yamato. I never would've thought.." Prince Daisuke mocked the Advisor, who was beginning to boil over. "Gentlemen.. Gentlemen!! And I use the term loosely.. PLEASE!" King Inoue stood between the feuding twosome, trying his best to keep them from slaughtering each other. "We need to discuss battle tactics for the Dragon! PLEASE refrain from killing, hurting or maiming each other for the time being!" the King pushed the Advisor and Head Scribe, Yamato, to the head of the room, where a canvas holding paper sat.
Yamato took a deep breath, exhaled, then proceeded with the strategy plan, while the King and Prince sat at a long table facing the semi-calmed Scribe. "Well, Your Highness. Daisuke." Yamato began, shooting a glare at the Prince, who was too busy fiddling with a bit of charcoal to notice. "As Head Strategist, I believe that Daisuke's.. 'Mob Tactic' is just an act of idiocy, in which only a total fool would lead a bunch of untrained, unarmed pedestrians into battle with a wild, rabid, and vile creature such as the one that holds your daughter, Your Kingliness." Yamato explained, nodding to King Inoue. Daisuke picked up on the last sentence and pouted in his royal chair.
"Now. I say that we gather the knights and attack the thing's castle when it least expects it. Therefore, we will have the upper hand via Element of Surprise." The blonde continued. He then sketched, badly may I add, a stick-figure Dragon, and a few little stick-figure men holding what looked like twigs standing next to it. "…What ARE those little men doing!? Fighting a Dragon with sticks! That's foolish!" Yamato froze and his right eyebrow picked up an angry twitch. "They're SWORDS you idiot." He glared daggers at the smug looking Prince. "ANYWAY. What I was GOING to say is… that I'm sure Lord Daisuke has a good way of coming up with an ambush plan. Since he's SO smart. Is that not correct my Lord?" Yamato asked slyly, complacently watching the spiky red-haired Prince jolt up in his seat.
~*~
The Dragon/Boy politely escorted Miyako back up to her room, beseeching her to get some rest. She gave him a small smile and entered her room. With a last bow, the boy walked toward the great doors of his room.
Sighing, he pulled open the huge wooden doors and walked in, closing the heavy entry way when he was fully in. The enclosed area was massive, more than enough to hold a fully grown Dragon. It was mostly empty, except for the mountain of feather pillows in one corner; the room was obviously used as his sleeping quarters. Iori flopped himself down on the large mound of pillows, sighing longingly and staring up at the ceiling. 'A refreshing bath might help.. I think I need one anyway.' Iori thought to himself, sitting up and grabbing a few towels from the hallway closet as he made his way down the corridor.
He walked into the bathroom and set the towels near the tub. As soon as he removed his jade green, sleeveless and rather tattered shirt, he was joined by a herd of Fire-Lizards. Some of which turned on the faucet, allowing hot water to fill the bathtub. Steam built up quickly, and the room was some what more like a sauna than anything. After he was fully disrobed, he slid carefully into the bathtub, taking time not to burn himself in the steaming water. When he was comfortably adjusted he swam to the center of the "pool" and dived. The Fire-Lizards seated themselves around the rim of the bathtub, awaiting the reappearance of the Dragon/Boy. The boy never came back up.
Instead, a Dragon's head popped up from the water, greenish-blue with gold scales glittering in the candle light. It's large back surfaced as well. In an instant, what seemed like hundreds, but were really just fifty, Fire-Lizards swooped in, attacking with rough tongues and picky claws, helping remove dirt and other particles unable to be washed off with just water.
The Dragon, Iori, lay his massive Dragon's head on the floor of the bathroom, letting the Lizards clean, not really caring either way. His gold-ish-blue wings jutted out from the water, neatly folded on his exposed back. His emerald eyes, which were strangely outlined with gray, roamed the room, until they fell on his tail, which waved laughingly, the feather-like end saturated with water. It was then he could fully see and understand his current position, and what he was. A mild depression set in, dampening his dreams, and smashing hope. He was a Dragon. She was a Princess. For every Dragon there is a St. George to slay it. For every Princess there is a Prince Charming. He told himself quietly. There was no way to be a Dragon and someone's Prince Charming at the same time, that he could see anyway. Unless.. Maybe she IS my St. George. If she is.. I forfeit the fight right here. Right now. It was indeed a comforting thought, but it wasn't enough to piece back together his shattered hope of loving one that wasn't of his species.
~
Sighing, Miyako rolled over onto her side. Sleep had not come, and she was getting a bit restless. She sat up, careful not to awaken Chibi, and stood, walking over to the window. She opened the window, letting a cool breeze enter, and gazed over the land. A crystalline river shimmered in the moonlight a good distance away. Farther away, she could see a large circle of rock formations, it looked like a wonderful place to sit and think. Trees surrounded it, so it was well hidden unless you could fly. She sighed and turned around to look over her room. A few woven afghans hung from the walls, embroidered with images of Dragons breathing fire, or flying. Her amber eyes wandered, finally landing on the stand next to her bed. On it was a book, the book Iori had wanted her to read when she first came here, only a few days ago. It seemed much longer than that. She walked to the stand, and picked up the book.
The title read 'Dragon Tails'. 'Tails' most likely supposed to be meaning 'Tales'. Inside, were fables of Dragons who had succeeded in surviving the knight, and lived happily. 'The Dragon of the Well' was the first one, about a Dragon that lived in a well, scaring anyone that tried to bring up water, but befriended a man named Simonides, who called him 'friend'; the Dragon gave him three pomegranates, in which each seed was a diamond, for him and his wife, a Princess, driven away by her own father.
Another story was 'Pepito'. The Dragon only wanted a friend, and he met one, named Pepito, who found a wife, then wanted to go and see his mother; Pepito and family left the Dragon to live somewhere else, while the Dragon lived happily with a Dragoness whom Pepito had also saved.
And her favorite out of what she had read so far, 'Chien Tang', the Chinese Dragon that rescued the Princess of the Dragon King from her suitor who treated her like a slave. Now she saw why this book was Iori's favorite, none of the Dragons had been slayed, and they were all friendly, and willing to help.
Miyako lay her head on the pillow, reading by candle light. The last thing she remembered before drifting off to sleep was the thought of having a Dragon as a husband.
~
Iori opened his large bottle green eyes and smiled Dragon-like. She found the book. I hope she enjoys it as much as I did the first time I read it. He "said" silently to no one in particular. Figuring it was about time his bath was up, he crawled out of the bathtub, still being in Dragon form, and dried himself with a towel. He scooped up his shirt, pants, and used towels, and carried them to his room.
~*~
"WHAAAT!!??" Daisuke screamed as he jerked from his seat, Yamato watching smugly. "You're certainly "smart" enough to lead us against a Dragon.. are you not, my Lord?" Yamato asked, all too haughtily. "M-me!? Against a Dragon!? ARE YOU MAD!?" "Then you shouldn't interrupt me!" "Your drawings are stupid!" "How DARE you!! You incompetent-" "ALRIGHT!! If you two would just shut UP for a minute without trying to insult each other and just MAKE a battle plan, then my daughter might be SAFE by now!!" King Inoue once again separated the two, who were face to face, tossing insults this way and that. He was virtually ignored as the two, a Prince and the King's Advisor, argued, oblivious to just about everything but the other's insult. The King sighed, and began to quietly pound his head on the table's edge…
~*~
Iori plopped himself onto the stone floor and set his large green-ish gold head onto the mound of pillows. He closed his emerald eyes and considered the day's earlier events. One perk-up was he actually got to hold the girl, even though it was only for a few seconds. The only real contact he and Miyako had ever made was the other day, when he mistakenly tackled her, and today, when she fell. There was, of course, the day he brought her here, which at times made him want to kill himself. The things he'd done to bring her here. Though he wasn't surprised she had forgotten that day's events.. Things forgotten were better left that way. He knew it would break her heart to know what had happened. If she ever found out…
He could feel the pleasant waves of feeling emitting from his guest. She must be having a pleasant dream.. he "spoke" to no one. I wonder if she would mind if I did a bit of dream walking... he smiled and concentrated. The Dragon's ability to read minds came in handy sometimes. Even though she might be angry about it later, Iori was curious as to what she could possibly be dreaming.
***
Miyako sat in a field of beautiful lavender colored flowers, dressed in a flowing pink and violet gown trimmed with gold. A shadowed figure stood in the distance. Miyako looked up as the stranger neared. She quickly stood as he stepped from the shade, revealing Iori, smiling warmly. He held out his hand to her as gentle orchestra music filled the air. She took his hand, and placed the other on his shoulder as he placed his free hand on her waist. Together, they Waltzed through the seemingly endless flower field. She let him lead, as she was occupied with looking into his unreadable emerald eyes. Soon as it had begun, the soft music concluded and they stopped their dance, though Miyako wished it could've lasted longer. She gazed into his soft, bright green eyes, of which were bordered with a thin line of gray, giving more mystery to his kind face. His smile was warm and inviting, and his eyes reflected a tender feeling toward her. She leaned in, slowly closing her eyes, the boy followed the suit.
Their faces neared, so close to touching, when Miyako felt the boy jerk. She opened her amber eyes to find his were wide open and his pupils were small, now reflecting an expression of surprise, a look of… pain. His breathing became jagged, and uneven. She tried to ask what was wrong, but before she could, he sank to his knees, pain apparent in his jade eyes. He gave her a look of sorrow, of pain and of remorse, she had no idea what was happening, but it became quite clear when he slumped over onto her.
Grief mixed with fear shot through her heart. An arrow, the end lined with black colored feathers, was lodged into his now red back. She gasped in horror, tears welling, breath now running quickly, her heart beating faster and harder than before, and slowly, fearfully, looked up. Another shadowed figure stood at a distance. He stepped only a little from the darkness to reveal an armored body, in hand a hickory bow, and a quiver of arrows slung on his back. Dark eyes glared from the still silhouetted face, a smug satisfaction dancing in them. He walked from the darkness toward the frozen girl, his proud grin sending chills throughout her system…
***
The Dragon's eyes shot open. A dream become a nightmare. He could only imagine what Miyako was going through now..
~
Miyako tossed and turned, upsetting Chibi, and practically throwing the book to the floor. "Chiii??" the animal cooed, blinking sleep from it's little chocolate eyes. From Miyako's tightly shut eyes ran tears. She sobbed loudly and whimpered, clutching the flannel blanket firmly as she turned again.
~
His guest's once pleasant feelings had turned to fear, anguish, and uttermost grief. Iori began to wonder if he should go to her and wake her up. His soft side won out, of course, and he shrank back into his more vulnerable human form, and slipped into his jade shirt and brown pants.
He quickly made his way to the girl's room and entered quietly as he could. There was really no need to, though, the blue cat-animal was already awake. As soon as he was in the room, he could hear the girl's pleas of 'How could you!?'. The closer he came, the louder her sobs became, as if she could feel the presence nearing her. Her cries became 'Get away!', the tone of her voice desperate and frightened. The blue thing looked worried and chirped quietly, knowing it's friend was scared, but of what it did not know. Iori sat on her bed, gently taking hold of her shoulder. She thrashed and tore away, shaking and whimpering. He tried again, but she only fought harder, her sobs increasing and becoming louder. Part of Iori's mind said to shake her awake, the gentler side said to comfort her. His sensitive side seemed to win out more since he'd been around her…
Lightly, yet quickly, he picked her up and seated himself securely on her bed, and set her in his lap. She protested, quite loudly actually, but settled down once he started to tenderly cradle her and whisper soothingly. She still whimpered pitifully, but the boy remedied this by affectionately rubbing her back. Her protests soon became murmurs, which faded into rhythmic breathing, as she fell into a more calm, dreamless sleep. Iori propped himself up on the bed's headboard, and drifted into a sweet, though slightly uncomfortable, state of subconscious being.
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A/N: ^_^ Squeeeeee!! It's done!! Muaaa! At last! The chapter is done! THANK YOU ICY-CHAN!!!! I couldn't be rid of the Writer's Block without you! ^_^ ^_^ AND I got to kill Iori without REALLY killing him!((We had a debate about my mood come time to end the story.. I thought about killing off Iori, the Prince OR the Dragon AND the Princess or some other combination.. or we could just have a happy ending..)) …man.. I think I kinda outdid myself on this chapter… ^_^ I hope it was worth it! ^_^ Please review! Whether you loved it and/or are worshiping my fic or you hate my guts and think I should be kicked repetitively then made to watch Barney! Eeek! No!…Just tell me anyway. ^_^ It's nice to hear from people every once in awhile. ^_^ Thanks for reading. Oh yes.. before I forget again..
Poll:: Do you, the readers(and hopefully reviewers) think I should start a Miori with a WereWolf based plot?? As in, "Does anyone care if I start a fic about a WereWolf??"
Thanks again. ^_^ Please e-mail me or just review with your opinion, death threat or just to say "Hello". ^_^