Rawr, everyone! It's Dragon Tuesday, and I'm freaking exhausted. Started the second job this week. Combine that with the fact that I can't fall asleep at certain times, even when exhausted, and have to get up early for both my jobs, and you get a person who has gone four days on 2-4 hours of sleep average a night. Know what that leads to? Falling asleep while walking. It's a horrible experience, and I don't recommend it to anyone. Ever. Don't do it, okay?
Anyway, enjoy!
The door to the inn slammed open and a drunken, green-faced man was thrown unceremoniously onto the muddy ground. He groaned, his breath turning to bubbles in the bitter muck. His limbs weren't working right. This was the part of the night when he was supposed to lie down somewhere and sleep off everything he had consumed.
He felt a much gentler touch to his side as a familiar, webbed forepaw rolled him onto his back. He was too out of it to be angry about the fact that mud was now staining his cape.
"Sssorrry," a low, whale-like voice murmured. The water dragon was well-practiced at saying that word. He had to say it on his Rider's behalf at least a dozen times a week. Rain glistened on his cerulean scales, which were covered with a spattering of black freckles on his back. His pale blue, white-speckled underbelly glistened in the places where it wasn't spattered with grime.
The innkeeper huffed angrily, ignoring the dragon's apology completely as he continued to glare at the man in the mud. "Don't think having that great sea serpent will protect you if you show your face here again!"
The water dragon breathed a long-suffering sigh as the door slammed, then bent down to tend to his partner. Carefully, he lifted the groaning man into one of his forepaws and carried him toward the woods at the edge of town.
Once they were far away from prying eyes, the dragon found a large, flat rock to place his Rider on. With claws that shouldn't have been so nimble considering the webbing, he undid the tie to the tattered cape, set it aside, and unbuttoned the human's shirt.
Groaning, the man roused himself just enough to shrug his shirt off. He kicked off his shoes and fumbled with his pants until they were also gone.
Nodding with satisfaction, the dragon placed the muddy clothes on one side of the rock, took a deep breath, and let out a gentle stream of warm water over both his partner and the clothes. After a few gushes, he rolled the human over, flipped the clothes, and repeated the process.
Rain was still falling and the man was starting to shiver, so the dragon undid one of his saddle bags, withdrawing a thick blanket to drape over his partner, then extended one wing to shield him and his clothes.
The man snuggled gratefully under the blanket, not even noticing the fact that he was lying on a rock. "S-Salty…?" he mumbled.
Salty bent down and nuzzled his partner. "Rrrow. Dum."
Opening one reddish eye, Qrow Branwen let out a humorless laugh. "Yeah… Shoulda realized…that barmaid…had a wedding ring…"
Salty shook his head, not saying anything else. Instead, he shifted closer, lying down and placing his head between his paws. It looked like this would be another night of not being in a nice, warm stall. He could handle it, of course, but he worried about Qrow. It was freezing outside, and a human body could only handle so much.
Worse still, Qrow was tired. Salty knew that they were on an important mission. He overheard a lot of Qrow's talks with Ozpin, and Qrow filled him in on whatever he didn't hear. Right now, their job was finding out who the White Fang was working for.
Apparently, the crazed group of Faunus had started stealing eggs and Dust in huge amounts, even going so far as to attack brooderies. Qrow had mentioned that the one next door to Taiyang's home had been attacked. Thankfully, no one had been hurt. Salty didn't know what he would have done if Quake, Tempest, or any of the others were to die while he was halfway across Remnant.
Worse still, he didn't know what he'd do if Qrow died. It was common for dragons to snap entirely in response to the death of their partner. Salty wasn't sure what he would do. He just knew that he had to keep Qrow safe, whether it was from Grimm, crazed Faunus radicals, or his regular drunken stupidity.
As for the White Fang, Ozpin was sure that they had a sponsor of some kind. That was the best explanation for their sudden change in objective and their more advanced machinery. There was also a high number of humans committing similar robberies.
There were also rumors of a lone, dark-haired rider on a gold fire dragon.
Salty shifted uncomfortably at the thought. He still remembered the last time he had seen Phoenix. His sister and he had listened while their Riders yelled at each other. Raven was refusing to leave the rogue Rider group she had become the leader of, and had accused Qrow of not being loyal and not choosing the right side. Qrow expressed anger at Raven for not seeing Yang, and gave a not-so-veiled threat involving telling Ozpin of her whereabouts if she kept interfering with his investigations.
Phoenix had been evasive when asked what "sides" Raven was talking about. She was a very secretive dragon, though she hadn't been before. The secrets had started after Team STRQ left Beacon, after Raven and Phoenix suddenly disappeared following the birth of Raven's daughter, only to be seen occasionally when she and Phoenix chose to be found by their brothers. Was she the dragon people kept seeing, or were she and Raven involved in some other secret plot? Salty didn't know if he could handle more than one.
Qrow trembled under the blanket, not quite waking up. "Salt…" he moaned.
Salty immediately lowered his head to touch his muzzle to his partner's back. Opening his mouth, he began to sing softly in the language of whales. He had first heard the giant mammals singing when he and Qrow had gone to Menagerie several years ago to bust a Dust smuggling operation. Having never been in an ocean before, Salty had eagerly gone as deep as he could while Qrow drank on the boat. There, he had heard the most beautiful music known to any living being. The mighty creatures, which were even bigger than the largest dragon, sang in deep, ancient voices that could only carry through the darkest depths of the sea. Now, Salty used what he had learned to soothe his partner to sleep as needed. He wasn't as good as the whales, but he wasn't terrible, and Qrow didn't seem to know the difference.
When the following morning came, Salty's eyes were drooping with exhaustion. Still, he kept his wing erect and his head up as his partner began to stir.
Qrow groaned, rubbing his aching head as he sat up. He was sore and mostly naked. Had he gotten lucky, last night?
The smell of fishy water answered his question, and he breathed a sigh as memories of the previous night returned. "Mornin'."
Salty yawned loudly and turned to look at him.
Qrow shook out his damp hair, using the blanket to rub himself down a little more. His nose was stuffy, and his head was still muzzy from the alcohol of the previous night. "Sorry, boy," he mumbled, patting his dragon clumsily on the side. "Got…Got us kicked out again, huh?"
Salty snorted, narrowing his sea-green eyes.
Qrow flashed a hopeful grin. "Come on. You still love me."
Letting out a short growl, Salty folded his wing, causing a fresh cascade of freezing water built up over the course of the night to fall on Qrow's head. He felt a little bad when his Rider started shaking again, but not much.
"Okay, okay! I deserve that." Qrow sneezed, wiped his nose on the blanket, and stood up. "Look, I'll- Whoa…" He swayed where he stood and quickly planted his feet further apart. "I'll make it up to ya, okay?" He walked over and patted his dragon's shoulder. "Come on. We're going to Beacon for Yule, remember? I'm putting this mission on hold for the sake of family. That's something, huh? You remember those nice stalls at Beacon, right?"
Salty flicked a head fin. He did remember. He missed Beacon. Why couldn't they just go back to Beacon? Or go back to staying in one spot and teaching kids at Signal? Salty had liked that, and the kids had loved him during his short time there. Of course, teachers couldn't make themselves stupid drinking alcohol every night, so that was never going to happen.
He quickly shook himself from those toxic thoughts. He understood why his partner drank. He knew that Qrow was in constant pain. Summer had been his best friend, after all, and he and Salty had been far away when she died. They hadn't even heard about it until weeks later. Salty still remembered just how broken Tempest had been. If dragons were able to drink alcohol, would she have become like Qrow?
Add in the fact that Raven seemed to have turned her back on everyone, and it was no wonder why Qrow wanted to make himself feel nothing. He did his job for Ozpin, and he loved and cared for Salty as well as someone like him could. That was all that really mattered.
Qrow took another blanket from the saddle bags, dried himself off, and hurriedly dressed up in his cleanest set of riding clothes. He adjusted the waterproof chaps with a grimace. "Shoulda just worn this yesterday…" Just in case, he took out his weapons belt, which held his signature broadsword along with a special ice Dust pistol, and strapped it to his side. Once his other clothes were packed, he tightened the saddle straps, which went around the base of Salty's chest and around his legs, and climbed on to the saddle, sitting down at the very beginning of the dragon's long, thick neck. "Okay, Salty. Let's keep going."
They walked along the edge of the village before taking off, Qrow setting a course for Vale, even as he wondered if going home for Yule was really a good idea. He had a lead that something fishy was happening in Atlas, something involving the Schnee Dust Company. Part of him wanted to go there and just keep looking for clues.
But Tai had told him how excited Ruby had been about his promise to come home. He couldn't disappoint the kid by not showing up. He disappointed himself and his dragon enough on a daily basis. He wouldn't do the same to Ruby and Yang.
Besides, he thought with a nostalgic grin. I can't miss the chance to see those new little dragons. He still remembered when Salty had only been a little, puppy-sized hatchling who very quickly developed a habit of biting down on Qrow's cape and trying to drag him away from any trouble the human got himself into, from midnight brawls to raids on the professors' alcohol cabinet.
One interesting thing he had learned was that Ruby was apparently teammates with a Schnee, so perhaps Qrow could find something out there anyway. He was also curious to see if her ice dragon was as much of a stuck up bastard as that Winter woman's dragon was. He hoped for his nieces' sakes that the girl wasn't anything like her sister.
"Hell, we might have to see them at Yule," Qrow muttered.
Salty let out a questioning warble.
"Ah, sorry. Just talking to myself. I was just wondering if we'd run into the Ice Queen at Beacon."
Salty growled, rolling his eyes. He hoped not. Steele was the biggest prick he had ever met, and it wasn't just because of those deadly spines on his back! Or those sharp blue eyes. Or those scales that glistened like sunlight on a school of silvery fish in a clear stream. Or…
Nope! He wasn't about to go there again!
They flew for a few hours before the sound of screams caught their attention. Immediately, Salty banked to the left, peering at the ground. His eyes narrowed and he roared when he saw a pack of shadows grouping at the edge of a distant town.
Qrow cursed quietly, adjusting his goggles. "Okay, pal. Let's give 'em a rain of death!"
Salty swooped down, glaring at the Grimm. It looked like a pack of Beowolves. Several people were already running deeper into the town. He didn't see anyone near the main pack. A few Grimm were running into the city, but they'd deal with them next.
Opening his mouth, the water dragon gathered all the water he had absorbed over the course of the night and unleashed it on the Grimm in a torrent, pressing them into the mud. He flew in a circle. Then, at Qrow's signal, he did a loop going low so that he was upside down right above the Grimm.
Qrow tightened his grip on the saddle while pointing and shooting his Dust pistol at the drenched Grimm. Just three bullets were enough to coat the monsters in ice, freezing them in their places.
Salty completed the loop, then flew low, stomping on the frozen Beowolves one by one, roaring with satisfaction as they dissolved into shadow.
Qrow jumped from his dragon's back, rushing down the path into town. A Beowolf was creeping up on a house, raising its forepaw just as Qrow came up behind it and ran it through. A scream caught his attention, and he quickly darted toward the center of town.
There, three Beowolves were pouncing on whatever they could find. A few humans and Faunus lay dead in the street. Gritting his teeth, Qrow aimed at the furthest one, shooting it square in the chest, causing it to dissolve without Salty's help.
The other two, sensing his anger, turned toward him, both running at him at once.
Qrow rolled out of the way, slashing at the ankles of one in the process. He quickly reloaded his gun, shooting it in the head, then stabbing the other through the chest.
He withdrew his weapons and looked around. He didn't hear any sounds. Salty flew overhead. "Salty! Sweep!"
Salty flew around the town and the surrounding woods, but found no Grimm. He flew back over to Qrow, finding a relatively-spacious spot to land. "Gud," he declared.
Qrow grinned, walking over and patting his dragon's shoulder. "Good boy, Salty." He led his dragon off to the side, allowing people to carry off the dead and injured.
Of course, the leaders of the town were eager to thank the brave Dragon Rider for saving them. Qrow politely declined most rewards. The one thing he did take was an offer of free food and shelter from the local innkeeper.
"I can set you up in our finest room," the man said, spreading his hands jovially. "How'd you like that?"
Finest room, eh? Hm. I wonder just how fine the maids are. "I'd…" Qrow trailed off, noticing his dragon giving him a very pointed glare. "Actually, just put us in the nicest stall you got. I'm more comfortable sleeping next to my dragon. And if you know someone who can wash my clothes and refill my leather polish, that'd be great."
Salty bobbed his head, a relieved smile on his muzzle. "Rrrow gud," he commended.
Qrow couldn't help but smile back. No matter how nice it was to sleep in a bed (especially with a propositioned barmaid at his side), he would gladly give it up to have his partner look at him like that all the time.
I'm having a lot of fun coming up with the personalities of the adult dragons. I decided that Salty would either be as much of a hellion as Qrow, or that he needed to adopt the role of the sensible one for the good of himself and his partner at an early age. The latter appealed way more.
If you like what you see and want to show extra support in exchange for rewards, my P/atreon is Solora Goldsun.
Peace out!