Notes: This part is more PG-13ish than the others because of some violence and blood, and one offensive word. ^_^;
Disclaimer: I still don't know Digimon, its characters, or Tamachi. I own a mother who told me, "You could rewrite the ending of that show if you don't like it so much," after I complained about episode 50, though. ^^;;
Bewitching the DragonPart One -- Chapter ThreeBy: Hanae Michiko===============
Violet… The
piercing gaze of stunningly beautiful violet eyes seared into him, almost as if
they wished to burn him to the core. Daisuke stared, lost in the depths of the seemingly human eyes, and
forgot for a moment that he was face to face with a dragon. This realization stunned him out of his
desire to gaze into the eyes forever and enjoy the giddy yet comfortably warm
feeling that came over him when he did so.
"Oh…oh no…"
Daisuke muttered, taking a step backwards. He eyed the magnificent creature before him in awe. Daisuke estimated that it stood nearly ten
feet tall, and the volume of it could hold about a hundred times the volume he
himself took up. It was covered with
shimmering, almost iridescent navy blue scales, and had a slight mane to
match. Its angry face held within them
the most lovely eyes Daisuke had ever set sight upon, and as their gazes met,
the redhead again felt his stomach do flip-flops and his heart do a weird
fluttering thing in his chest. The loud
roar of the monster before him brought him out of his daydream.
"Right… I
have to…um, I have to slay you, so…"
Daisuke reached
behind him to grab the sword from his sheath, a task that proved to be more
difficult than it should have been because of his shaking, sweaty hands. He brought the sword before him and turned
his eyes back to the large blue dragon that seemed to be waiting
patiently. He found the creature eyeing
him --hungrily? …appreciatively?-- and
it made him nervous and embarrassed and want to show off his awesome skill as a
knight all at the same time. Something
about the dragon made him feel like a giggling schoolgirl and a shivering
coward all at once.
The
russet-haired boy took a deep breath, grit his teeth, and took a fighting
stance, ready to strike when the dragon tried to attack. The dragon stepped forward slowly,
completely unwavering. Daisuke stood
firm and tightened his grip on the hilt of the sword. When the creature was close enough, Daisuke dove forward to
strike, but the dragon stepped easily out of the way. The redheaded knight jumped backwards, calculating his next move,
when the dragon attacked, swiping his claw at Daisuke. The boy blocked the attack with his sword
and pushed the talon-like claw away from him, jumping backwards again. He charged forward, sword pointed straight
ahead like a lance during a jousting match, and struck the dragon in the
shoulder of its right front leg. The
creature howled, and Daisuke immediately regretted hurting it. He took a few cautious steps backwards,
eyeing the wound he had created and the blood as it dripped down the dragon's
leg. He closed his eyes tightly. This was what he was sent here to do, and he
had to do it, no matter what. Guilt
temporarily aside, Daisuke got ready to strike the dragon again, but the dragon
was quicker and used Daisuke's previous hesitation as an advantage. It swiped a massive claw and caught the
redhead across the chest. Daisuke
hissed, the wound only stinging for the moment. Then, as blood began rushing to the wound, Daisuke could feel his
pulse throbbing in the open gash. He
looked down at his chest and immediately felt a searing hot flash of pain, and
he screamed. Clutching his chest with
one hand and raising his sword with the other, Daisuke glared at the dragon,
and his glare immediately softened. The
dragon looked almost…apologetic.
'I knew
this wasn't going to be a good idea from the start,' Daisuke thought, 'But
I didn't think that what was going to make this harder for me was the fact that
it seems neither of us really wants to hurt the other…'
Daisuke
sighed, and when he saw that the dragon's expression of sorrow had quickly
changed back into one of hatred and anger, he pushed the thought of a truce
aside. The dragon charged at him, and
he stood his ground, waiting for the slash of its claw. But instead of tearing a wound with its
nails, the dragon decided on a different approach and went for Daisuke's head
with its mouth. Daisuke meeped and
dodged the dragon's chops, narrowly escaping a beheading. The redhead turned to slash at the dragon
with his blade, but the dragon blocked the attack with one claw while slashing
at Daisuke with the other. When the
creature's nails dug into his shoulder, the young knight wished he'd had a
shield.
"Yaaaaaaaa!"
Daisuke cried, falling to his knees. He
felt as if there were a thousand burning hot needles digging their way through
the skin and tissue and muscle surrounding his shoulder to scrape at the
bone. The dragon showed no mercy and
continued to tighten its grip. It was
when a tear of pain trickled down his cheek that Daisuke felt the dragon
release its hold on his shoulder.
Daisuke
slung the hand that had been holding his chest onto his shoulder --to stop the
bleeding or hope to numb the pain, he didn't know-- and staggered to his feet,
breathing heavily and trying his hardest not to weep. Taking a few deep breaths to collect himself, Daisuke lifted his
sword again and held it out in front of him until the violently shaking blade
became still.
That was
it…that was all he could take.
The redhead
grit his teeth and bent his knees slightly.
"BASTARD!!"
the young knight screamed, charging forwards.
His smooth
onslaught became hindered once the sword came into contact with the dragon's
lower belly, but Daisuke refused to stop. He pushed the blade further into the dragon's body, completely numb to
the howls and wails of pain it emitted. The dragon, unwilling to submit to the pain, turned its whole body
around an invisible central pivot and smacked Daisuke with its tail, wrenching
the sword from Daisuke's grasp in the process. The creature tore Daisuke's sword from its belly and watched Daisuke fly
backwards and land hard on his back.
Daisuke
opened his eyes and waited for the splotches of white to stop dancing in front
of his vision. Once they were gone, the
redhead had a clear view of the piercing violet eyes above him. He was vaguely aware of the huge claw
pressed onto his chest to keep him on the ground, aggravating the gashes
already there, and of the sharp, glistening teeth sparkling mere inches from
his face, but his world seemed to be engulfed in purple-blue. Staring into the dragon's eyes, Daisuke
couldn't believe they belonged to a merciless, bloodthirsty creature like the
dragon seemed to want everyone to believe it was. They were simply too beautiful, and looked as if they belonged
to…
The dragon
was closer to Daisuke's face, and the redhead could smell the creature's
blood-soaked breath, but only dimly, as he was still captured within its
lavender-blue depths...
That looked
as if they belonged to a…
A light
bulb went off in Daisuke's head, and he suddenly realized the situation he was
in, with the dragon's face only centimeters from his head and ready for a
meal. He didn't panic, though. There didn't seem to be a need to. He wasn't scared of the dragon anymore… It's
eyes…eyes that looked as if they belonged to a…
To a…
"You're
human, aren't you?"
Startled,
the large blue creature jumped off Daisuke's body and staggered backwards. It stared at Daisuke in awe and disbelief as
he sat up, supporting himself on his elbows. The boy had discovered his true nature? How was that…possible?
Then, as if
the fight and all the dragon's injuries suddenly caught up to it, the creature
swaggered and finally collapsed, exhausted and in pain.
Daisuke
frowned at the dragon. Now that he knew
it wasn't merely the merciless, bloodthirsty creature everyone had made it out
to be, he couldn't slay it. And he
couldn't leave it lying there on the ground, either. Something had to be done.
"I'll take
care of you…" Daisuke muttered, crawling on his hands and knees towards the
dragon. He knew walking would cause too
much pain.
The
mahogany haired knight eyed the wounds he had created and bit his lip.
"I'm
sorry…" he apologized, removing the sheath that was slung across his back and
then his shirt. He tore the shirt into
strips and wrapped the strips tightly around the bleeding gashes his own blade
had made.
"My sister
always said that if you kiss a boo-boo, it'll feel better," Daisuke said as he
leaned forward and gently touched his lips to the bound injuries. "I hope it works for you and you don't hurt
too much when you wake up."
Daisuke
brought his hand up to the dragon's mane and ran his fingers through it,
wrinkling his nose at the blood he realized his hand was streaking through the
silky strands.
"I will take
care of you…and I'll help you… I'll figure out a way to bring you back to
normal, I promise."
Daisuke's
pledge was the last thing out of his mouth before he, too, collapsed from
exhaustion and his injuries. He nestled
against the dragon's heaving side as he was swept away into a gentler world of
oblivion.
* * * * *
Takeru
frowned as he looked out at the night sky. The evening was unusually quiet. No screaming villagers, no more townspeople seeking refuge at the
castle, no dragon… Maybe help had
arrived and the dragon was rid of already. At any rate, Takeru wasn't going to send the people lodging in the
castle home, not until he was sure the dragon had been taken care of and
everyone had a safe place to go home to.
The blonde
sighed and turned his concern elsewhere, deciding that he was in no position to
question the quiet of the night and that it was best to be thankful for
it.
Takeru
hadn't received a reply back from his Iori in several days. He forced himself to think the delay was
caused only by the lack of people traveling into Tamachi, as the mail carriers
had certainly refused to and his love had to use tourists to deliver the
messages, but the blonde-haired servant couldn't help but worry. What if the person Iori had sent his letter
with had gotten attacked? Or had
refused to deliver the message? What if
the dragon had in fact left Tamachi and attacked Iori's inn? Or what if Iori decided to deliver the
letter himself and had gotten attacked or mauled?
"No…"
Takeru told himself. "No, there just
aren't many people coming into Tamachi, that's all."
Pushing all
of his concerns and worries away, the boy decided going to sleep would be
best. In the morning he could
investigate the dragon's fate and figure out what to do about Iori, if he had
to do anything. In the morning…
* * * * *
Daisuke
awoke, groggy and disoriented and with a throbbing headache. He sat up, ignoring the pain it caused his
shoulder and back to do so. Looking
behind him, the redhead noticed the dragon awake and watching him.
"Decided
not to eat me, huh?" Daisuke asked. He
swore the dragon had blushed as it turned away.
"I'm glad,
because I wouldn't be of much help to you eaten, would I be?"
The dragon
turned back to Daisuke, and the boy read the question in its eyes.
"Right. I want to help you. You obviously don't seem too happy about the
state you're in and, well…" Daisuke looked down, feeling his own face getting
warm. "I want to help you return to
normal."
The dragon
slowly got to its feet and made as if to walk away before Daisuke wrapped his
arms around one of the creature's legs.
"Where are
you going? I want to help!"
The dragon
shook its head as if to say, "There's nothing you can do."
"Let me try
at least! Please!"
Daisuke was
barely aware of how desperate he sounded.
"Please! Give it a chance… I'll find out how to change this! Just…let me try. Let me
help you."
Resignedly,
reluctantly, the dragon sat again. Daisuke hopped excitedly to his feet, hissing at the pain for only a
moment before whooping with joy.
"Great! Okay, first things first…you have to have a
name, right?"
The dragon
nodded.
"Well, what
is it?"
The dragon
blinked at Daisuke for a few moments before looking around itself. It looked at the tip of its tail and
brightened, bringing the tail around to its front and writing out a series of
characters in the dirt. Daisuke read
over them and smiled.
"Hello,
Ken! My name's Motomiya Daisuke."
The redhead
grasped Ken's tail and shook it in a mock handshake. He giggled at the appalled look Ken gave him and dropped the
dragon's tail to the ground. Daisuke
immediately turned serious and crouched onto the ground so he was eyelevel with
Ken.
"I want to
find someone who can explain to me what happened to you. Is there anyone who knows what happened?"
Ken looked
off to the distance, thinking back to his last day as a human, wondering if
anyone knew what had happened. He
turned his violet gaze back to Daisuke and nodded. The redhead brightened significantly.
"Is this
person back at your home?"
Ken nodded
again, growing frustrated with the fact that he couldn't communicate with the
boy in front of him beyond gestures.
Daisuke bit
his lip. He wanted to go back to Ken's
home and ask this person what had happened so that he might be able to do
something about it, but he didn't know if taking Ken back into the city was
such a good idea. However, maybe since
he would be with Ken, if people saw them, they wouldn't worry so much. Then again, they might turn against Daisuke
if they thought he was allied with a still-terroristic Ken. He furrowed his eyebrows in thought and
looked into Ken's eyes.
"Do you
think you could take me there?"
Ken
recoiled immediately upon Daisuke's request, and Daisuke frowned sadly.
"It's the
only way, I think. We have to see this
person you say knows what happened so we can fix this."
Ken nodded hesitantly. Daisuke could tell the dragon didn't like the idea, and Daisuke wasn't too sure he liked it, either. But how would he be able to help Ken if he didn't know what had happened? Reluctantly, the two of them got to their feet and headed into the city of Tamachi.
~End Chapter Three~
