Prompt XIII: Flight
Yugi huffed as the net held, swaying slightly but refusing to budge any further. The branches dipped and tugged and the fabric of the rope seemed to almost squeak against the bark, but nothing happened any further. It held and the rocks on the ends made it impossible for the net to fall. He couldn't expect Atem not to be able to maneuver his way out of it if the stupid thing was stuck there among the branches.
Atem wasn't foolish and Yugi knew better than to underestimate him. Even if he didn't know how intelligent he was through what he'd seen of him as a hatchling or his status as a God Dragon, he would have realized when he heard the rumors. Atem was not a stupid creature.
No stupid creature survived for so long on their own, fighting so many suitors, without intelligence to match their claws.
He paced and looked at the net. The rock he'd thrown into the center hung limply among the strands. It sagged and dipped and the branches swayed again when he shoved at the lowest hanging. His stomach lurched as he considered, watching it and bristling.
The rocks on the ends were too big. And they were too heavy. Atem would get caught for a second, then likely murder him for even attempting to use such a trick…
He needed smaller stones—not quite as heavy but not light enough Atem could slip out the moment he hit the ground. They just needed to be between the ones he'd gathered already and the heavier one he kept tossing to test the weight it would hold. He should have been using a deer or moose carcass, but he didn't want the scent of blood on it. So he'd improvised with a larger boulder which seemed an almost identical weight.
He huffed and paced again, circling the tree once more. He'd need to find a way to keep Atem from chewing through the net immediately. The God Dragon wasn't stupid, as he'd told himself more than once during his planning. He had to know what a net was. He had to know how to free himself from one.
But his tail…
Yugi took a seat and glanced toward the mountain range. Atem had been resting on the uppermost peak the other day. He'd spotted him, in his Battle Form, laying about it and lashing his long tail. Yugi had been startled to spot him there, almost fearful when Atem had turned his head and tipped it toward him that he'd been found. But the God Dragon had merely been looking at the village, staring and studying the human movements.
A mating call had come and Atem had gotten up and shot off so quickly Yugi had barely been able to track him. Apparently the usual meeting point for suitors was the riverbed where Atem sunbathed, the spot Yugi had been overzealous upon finding and marked by accident.
He shivered and looked back at the net.
Anyone else would have come to hunt him down by now. It had been only a moon since he'd done it. Had Atem not been as gentle in nature as he was, he would have ripped Yugi to pieces for marking his territory, let alone for even being there…
He wondered if Atem thought it was a mistake and hadn't come for him because of it. He wondered if he'd chosen to ignore it for the sake of waiting to see if he'd show himself. He wondered if Atem just hadn't cared enough to try to hunt him down and use his corpse to sharpen his teeth.
Any of those seemed within his nature.
Yugi hadn't known him to be so incredibly violent before.
A lot of time had passed since he'd been back to their home range, but he didn't think Atem was so estranged to who he'd once been. Otherwise why would he have even allowed courtship challenges and failed to just kill any to enter his territory? It was within his right as a God Dragon.
It was within his right just for existing. He didn't need to accept the courtship challenges to begin with. Yugi almost wondered sometimes why he did.
But he supposed it just had to do with the fact he knew the rumors would circulate that he'd killed suitors and it would save him a battle another day.
It had to be so miserable…
Yugi jumped high enough to knock the rock from the net, sending it toppling to the ground. He'd have to turn human and climb to get to the ends of the net so he could figure out different rocks, but what of the net itself? What did he use in the meantime to keep Atem from chewing his way out?
When the net was weighted properly, it should be heavy enough to pin his tail and keep him from lashing out. He didn't know how accurate that was, but he'd have to hope. He'd have to hope and just pray for luck, because he wasn't sure he could outsmart Atem as much as this trick so required. But there was no backup plan. Once he did this, if it failed Atem would exile him from the territory. If it succeeded, he just had to hope Atem honored the conditions of the challenge.
He would have every right to deny it after, because Yugi was planning on solely tricking him. He couldn't take him in light of brute force. He couldn't take him in light of speed.
All he could do was hope Atem was easily led to the net, pinned, and—
Metal.
Yugi bristled with excitement, jumping up and down in place and almost trembling. He could lace the net with melted metal! If he shred it with his claws and melted it with his fire and dipped the rope in it, he'd be able to reinforce the fibers.
It would weight the net as well, making it more balanced than just the stones. And with Atem's jaw power split because of both of his mouths, he wouldn't be willing to test his teeth on the net to get free. He wouldn't want to sink his teeth in for fear of wounding them or cutting his gums.
And he knew Atem couldn't afford that—not with the copious amount of courtships he faced daily. He couldn't afford to hurt himself…
Yugi bounced about again, then rushed off to find some gold. The humans had a cavern with it. The leader liked to use the metal to center himself when he requested blessings for the village. He especially used it during the festivals to ask Atem's Blessing for the solstice festivals. Yugi was sure that a dragon requesting the metal would waive the usual ban put toward touching or harvesting.
He needed to make a note of where Atem went after his challengers fled, however. He was relatively sure Atem's den was to the west of his sunbathing spot by the river, even if he so often stayed atop the mountain peaks. If he headed in that general direction, Atem would follow. And then if he kept level with the net when he flew to lead him, Atem should put on a burst of speed to catch him. And when he did, Yugi would do an abrupt cut to the side and Atem would be going too fast to follow and get caught.
He was trembling as he raced forward.
Atem wouldn't let anyone go near his den like that. He knew Atem would grow infuriated when he followed. Hopefully it would blind him to the net and he'd get caught. From there Yugi could release him after he agreed not to hurt him and he'd be able to prove himself as the perfect mate.
He would have purred if he was still able.
