The Dragon's Companion
Disclaimer:
I do not own BBC Sherlock.
Notes:
Basically there are people who are creatures. They can look human but can make certain animal features of theirs appear/disappear at will to blend in with ordinary humans. There's prejudice between humans and creatures so they generally hide what they are.
I dedicate this chapter to: zaylo267, nina-hany, Serenityofthematrix, ebonymystikwolf, AwaitingTheInevitable, merlynnllwyd, mayflower55, Hikaru Mioko, OwlFruit, vixxoxo, the-woman-of, wildchild033, and Raineh14. Thank you for following my fic :)
Chapter 11
Sherlock wasn't used to doing something as pointless as small talk. Most especially when there was no ulterior motive and there was something he would much rather be doing. However, as he glanced at John and saw him smiling as Janine talked about something he had long ago tuned out, his inner tension relaxed slightly and he felt his mouth curve up in the slightest of smiles. His cool blue eyes met Meliora's green ones when he glanced her way.
She smiled at him. It didn't take a genius to figure out the dragon was itching to change back into his full creature form. Her smile turned into a smirk for a brief second before smiling brightly at her life mate. "Sherlock and I are going out. There's not a lot of food in the cabinets or the fridge."
Jan gave her soon-to-be wife an amused smile. As if she could be fooled. "Alright. Have fun."
"Mind if I go with?" John was surprised by the looks he got from the women.
The dragon looked a little embarrassed. "Perhaps later," he said as he stood up and left the room.
The man frowned in confusion as Meli placed a kiss on Jan's cheek and swiftly followed. "Did I miss something?"
Janine sighed, shaking her head.
Unsurprisingly, there were a number of animals to hunt but Meliora hadn't expected elk, moose, and caribou all so close to their vacation area. Then again she supposed Mycroft would want to ensure Sherlock didn't go hungry just because he was too stubborn to eat in human or mid form. Maybe they could show their mates how good they were at hunting. Green wolf eyes glanced over to see the dragon landing. She ran to catch up to him as he entered the den.
Sherlock was not as enthusiastic as Meliora was about the idea of hunting with their life mates. Not because he didn't want to but because he was unsure how John and Janine would react. He knew this was likely to be a cross-species issue. Would their humans understand how this was a bonding activity for them as a pack as well as life mates? He hoped for the wolf's sake things didn't go wrong. He knew what it meant for Meliora to finally have a pack to share things with and while as a dragon he wasn't naturally inclined to have the pack mentality after Mary had taken precedence in John's life and having Meliora support him he could understand the need to share experiences and keep those important close.
John's brows knitted together. "So...you want to take us hunting?"
"We want to show you how we hunt," Meliora corrected, green eyes sparkling. "You guys can pack a lunch if you like or I could chase down a couple rabbits for you."
Janine smile nervously. "So will we be camping out there or just going out for the hunt?" She wasn't the type to hunt anything down or watch an animal be hunt down. But she knew this was important to her life mate so she'd give it a try.
The other human blinked. Camping. His time in the military was as close as he ever came to camping but it didn't sound too bad. He'd never thought Sherlock would be the type though. Of course he'd never imagined that the consulting detective would be a hunter either. Although, now knowing he was a creature he supposed it made sense. And he was curious to see Sherlock's creature form in action.
"Camping," the dragon replied after reading John's body language.
His black scales had spread to cover his large body, grey scales covered his underbelly as he fell on all fours. His bat-like wings grew and horns grew in a line up his cheekbones and on top of his head while a tale grew out, the end of which looked like a large sharp knife. His dark hair, fur, hid half of the two horns on top of head and fell down just above his cool blue eyes.
John had to stand in awe at then sight of Sherlock's creature form as Meliora worked to strap on the harness-like saddle that would help John and Janine not fall off mid flight.
When she was done she undressed around the corner and out of sight before also changing to full creature form.
Janine smiled at Meliora's form. She didn't see it often but it was easy enough to recognize.
The wolf was covered in black fur except for her chest, underbelly, some of the fur along her cheeks and the markings under her green eyes. Those were all dark grey.
When she looked back at Sherl she realized the dragon had dark grey markings under his eyes too and recalled how Meli had told her these marks were what told them whether an animal was a fellow creature or simple animal.
The black wolf nudged her life mate toward the dragon.
She automatically ran her fingers once through Meli's fur before looking up at Sherlock's back.
Sherlock moved his head to hint at the two humans to climb on.
To those who have never done so, it's difficult to climb onto a dragon's back even if said dragon is lying flat against the ground and waiting for you to do so. What is perhaps even more disconcerting is the realization that the straps you are using to ensure you don't fall off don't make the idea of riding a dragon any less frightening. However, at least there is cushioning for your bum and the scales aren't sharp like they appear to be but smooth.
Janine wraps her arms tightly around John's waist, thankful to have something to hold onto.
John is not so lucky as the only thing he can cling to is a rope-like handle attached to the harness.
Meliora barks five times.
Sherlock makes a show of nodding his head.
The wolf barks again but this time there's a pause before the next bark and the two humans realize it's a countdown.
One.
Two.
Three.
Janine clenches her eyes shut.
Four.
John grips the handle and takes a quick breath.
Five!
Sherlock and Meliora both sprint off down one of the hallways
John is thankful for the goggles the creatures insisted they wear. He watches as the transition from castle to cave comes and sees the light at the mouth of the cave.
Janine manages to gather up the courage to open her eyes just as the dragon exits the cave and takes flight. Her squeak goes unheard as she shuts her eyes again, squeezing John.
Sherlock senses her unease and glides through the air once he's high enough.
She calms down quicker this time and opens her eyes, only to gasp in awe at the view around and below them. Her grip on John slackens for which John is grateful. She can just barely make out Meliora's form below, no doubt running toward some pre-agreed destination.
John is exhilarated at this method of flying, knowing it must feel even better for Sherlock. No wonder he was always so restless! Being cooped up in one form and unable to fly. Was this how Sherlock felt while working on a case? Was it like flying for him? If it was, he couldn't blame him for being so anxious about finding a case.
Although unaware of his life mate's thoughts he would've agreed with his conclusions. The feeling he got from working on a case was indeed a lot like flying. Moriarty had been wrong. Falling and flying were completely different things and in his mind, no way alike. Falling never inspired anything positive for him. One might've argued that he had 'fallen' in love with John and that had been a good thing but he would argue otherwise. While, yes, he did care for John in that manner there had been no 'falling' in the equation. His realization of his feelings had felt as if they'd been literally slammed into him. First, upon thinking John had betrayed him when he had set up a meeting with Moriarty at the pool and again that same night when he realized Moriarty had strapped a bomb to John. Even though he'd known growing feelings for his life mate was inevitable he had still been surprised. His thoughts were interrupted by a lone howl, signalling that Meliora had reached her destination and was ready to change back to mid-form to set up camp. He changed course to head in her direction.
Meliora was swimming in the lake by the campsite when she saw Sherlock coming in to land. She waited until the dragon landed before getting out and shaking the water out of her fur coat.
Janine was a bit shaken up. Landing was a tad nerve-racking but John helped her off the dragon's back. It was a lot easier to slide off than it was to climb on.
The wolf came padding over and changed into her mid-form, not caring that without her fur she was naked.
John's eyes widened comically before he spun around to face the other way, his face red.
"Meli!" It was only then she realized that Sherl had been carrying bags tied to his creature form's ankle.
The green-eyed wolf opened one of the bags and pulled out a towel to dry herself off before quickly getting dressed. "You can look now," she told John, her tone declaring her amusement. She then began taking the harness off of the dragon, after which it was Sherlock's turn to change into his naked mid-form.
This time John couldn't bring himself to look away as he drank in the sight.
Sherlock's lips twitched in a slight smirk.
Jan briefly looked him over before giving him a look as if to say 'you aren't that impressive.' Although she'd never seen him naked in mid-form she had seen him naked in human form plenty of times. She was surprised that her life mate didn't seem to mind.
"Put that thing away before you make your life mate faint," Meliora snickered.
John's blush intensified as he shot her a glare.
Sherlock shot her a brief amused smirk but did turn to pull out a towel and some clothes of his own. "So, shall we put up the tent then?" He asked nonchalantly.
"Sure," Meli agreed.
"Excuse me, tent? As in just one?" John questioned.
Everyone turned to look at him.
"Problem?" The consulting detective asked.
Was he the only one who thought this was weird? Then it suddenly hit him. "Is this another one of those creature things?"
"In a manner of speaking. It's a wolf pack mentality to promote welfare and companionship within a pack," he informed his life mate.
"Ah," John shifted under Meliora's intense gaze. And here he'd thought all the invites to bed had been to make him jealous. Apparently he was wrong. Again. God, he felt like an ass. "Ok then." At least the wolf seemed to be backing off when it came to yelling at him.
The pack spent the day enjoying the outdoors though perhaps not in the typical way others would.
It wasn't everyday Janine had a mini heart attack because her fiance was not only riding on Sherl's back without the safety of the harness but jumping off to dive into the lake...or jump onto the top of a tree...or just free fall until the dragon flew close enough or at an angle that Meli could grab him again.
John had chuckled as Sherlock put on a show, trying to show off how well he could fly and was surprised to see Sherlock in mid-form essentially taking a nap on a large rock by the lake. The consulting detective claimed to be going to his mind palace but he'd known the man long enough to know the difference between a thinking Sherlock and a sleeping one.
Come lunch time Meliora fetched them all some rabbits although Meli briefly started to rethink her idea of showing off her hunting skills when one particular rabbit was not only dodging her attempts to catch it but making her appear rather foolish. However, once she saw Janine smiling and laughing her embarrassment and irritation disappear despite her outward pouting.
Sherlock did not insist on John accompanying him to hunt down a caribou but he did give his life-mate the option to do so.
John smiled at him and said, "Sherlock, I watch you hunt all the time." Seeing the consulting detective slightly frown, he added, "You hunt down criminals all the time in human form. I imagine you find plucking off an animal from the ground dreadfully boring."
The dragon smiled back at him. They had bonded over Meliora's hunt anyway.
At the end of the day as they all (yes, even Sherlock) laid down in the tent to sleep John witnessed the wolf's soft side for the first time. It was odd to witness Meliora using, what he was now going to mentally dub, her Alpha voice to make Sherlock settle down. Really, the fact that the dragon listened at all was amazing. Of course he had wondered how often Sherlock actually listened to her. Alpha or no, the consulting detective hardly seemed the type to allow someone else to order him around. And yet... the closest thing to an argument he had seen Sherlock give was a pout and even that barely lasted a second or two. He watched as she seemed to rub her face in the crook of Janine's neck.
She giggled and the wolf gave her a slight smile in return.
He became curious as Meliora moved her face to Sherlock's neck and saw her sniff him.
When she pulled back wolf and dragon gave each other a small smile. Then she leaned her forehead against Sherlock's for a brief moment with their eyes closed before pulling away again.
John stiffened when she moved over to him.
Her expression revealed she was exasperated but nothing more as her green eyes looked directly into his.
He glanced over at Sherlock but the dragon didn't even look at him, his attention focused on his Alpha.
The wolf snapped out a harsh bark-like growl to bring the human's attention back to her. When his eyes met hers again she relaxed again.
John remained tense at her intense gaze.
Meliora reached out and put her hands on his shoulders before she pushed him on his back.
He automatically tried to get up but froze when she gave another snappish bark.
She held him down with one hand on his chest and used her other to tilt his head to expose his neck. Then she leaned in and sniffed.
He stayed completely still.
After a moment she pulled away. She met his gaze, briefly tugged on some of his hair and gave him a small amused grin before patting him on the head and turning away.
John stayed on the ground as the wolf went back over to Janine. Sherlock came into view leaning over him. "What just happened?"
The consulting detective blinked, "She just welcomed you into the pack by establishing herself as your Alpha."
"And the sniffing?"
"I was checking for any illnesses," Meliora replied from beside Janine. "You can tell a number of things from a person's scent," she explained to John. "As Alpha it's my job to make sure my pack is well."
And now he understood a little more how sleeping together with the pack promoted welfare and companionship. He also made a mental note to look up everything he could about wolves, dragons and expected pack behavior. All thoughts of this drifted away though as Sherlock cuddled into his side, making him smile.
Tonight the pack would sleep soundly but tomorrow would result in an underlying tension in all of them when a visitor came to the castle.
This story may or may not end with the next chapter. It depends on whether or not I feel inspired to write it through to the real ending. If not, the next chapter will likely be where I leave things.