A/N: Well, folks are either going to like this or hate it... *Braces for hate* T_T
Fine, fine, bang down my door why don't you...Here's that fragment you saw earlier, fleshed out, lengthened, and made into a tale.
Seems we're making this a story after all. Doesn't help that Untraveled Road is FIGHTING me tooth and nail right now...
Can't wait for my vacation. Then I'll have time to sit back and write at my leisure...
Once more, we're sticking with the "Embers" rule for this story, and others. If folks don't like this, it won't be continued. Meaning that if the story itself ain't popular? POOF! Gone. Completely. I'm working two jobs -might need a third soon!- so I barely have time to write; as such, I cannot afford to write something folks don't enjoy. So by all means, speak up! Your voice matters! Make yourself heard! As ever, reviews are the fuel that sustain me. Without them I cannot write a single word. Simple as that. Working nearly all hours of the day keep me absurdly busy, and I can't bring myself to write something folks don't like.
As ever, I own no references, quotes, memes or themes. Not a wit or a one. They're merely tributes to those far greater than I.
I'm just a humble author trying to make his way in this wild world, one word at a time.
Hope this little flclet makes you smile in these trying times.
Oh, and the "little mouse" line is a reference to Dota.
Because I just binged that. Yup. Both seasons.
"Fear me, for I am the lord of dragons!"
...bwah?"
"Such a strange little creature...
~?
Heir to Dragons
For thousands of years Placidusax had lain dormant.
Beyond time did he slumber in crumbling Farum Azula, awaiting the inevitable return of his God. In dreams did he dwell, awaiting the chance to avenge all dragonkind. His Lord would return someday. He knew it in his old, scaled heart. Until that blessed day came, he had no reason to rise, no reason to wake, no reason to roar. Naught to do but dream and watch from afar as the world came to ruin.
Today, he didn't even deign to rest in the sky's embrace, but instead chose to sun himself against the cool tiles of his temple.
And why shouldn't he? His solitude was eternal. Few could reach him here, and even less dared disturb him.
.
..
...or so one might think.
A strange mewling noise pierced Placidusax's slumber. He tried to ignore it. Mayhap it was the wind brushing against his scales. He need pay it no mind.
Something touched his scales. the Dragonlord jolted awake with a start. He hadn't imagined that!
"Who dares disturb mine slumber?!"
His twin necks craned down. And saw.
Indeed, he took him in at a glance. Bright blue eyes, messy blond hair, whiskered cheeks. Soft, small, weak, fleshy. No scales or wings to speak of. T'was a human. Barely more than a babe. What was the word they used? A toddler? Baffling small creature. Naked, but for some tiny scrap of white cloth wrapped round his hindquarters and a tiny blanket clutched in his fist.
This tiny little creature was touching him. Running its pudgy little hands over his rough, crackled scales.
In the end, only six singular words came to the dragonlord. "...what manner of madness be this?"
...bwah?"
The boy blinked up at him without fear. It didn't not flinch in the face of his two heads, nor did the sight of great bulk distress it overmuch. It just...stared. Why was it staring? He was Dragonlord. Men cowered before him. The very name "Placidusax" struck fear in the hearts of Demigods themselves. And yet! The boy just kept staring!
A low rumble built in the back of his throat, not of anger, but confusion. It should be possible for a human hatchling to be in this place. And yet here he was.
...very well. He would indulge his curiosity. T'wasn't as if he had anything better to do.
On a whim he took on his human form, that of a striking warrior clad in a battered grey tunic; a bearded man with piercing golden eyes and greying hair to match. Only then did he kneel before this small, pudgy creature. He poked him with a clawed finger, batting him as a cat would a small mouse. The boy grinned at him and made a faint gurgling noise. It only baffled the dragon yet further.
"What brings thee to my home, little mouse?"
The child only giggled and clapped his hands, reaching pudgy arms up from. As if he recognized him. As though this false fleshy form of his resembled another.
...nonsense. What were the chances?
"Gampa!" the boy lisped, not quite speaking the word properly in his young age. "Up!"
Placidusax's brain fizzled. He knew precious little in the way of human idiosyncrasies, but that term was familiar. Grandfather...?
"No." he shook his head. "I am not thy sire. I am a dragon. I ask ye again, what brings thee here?"
The little lad would not be swayed. He tottered to his feet, still reaching. "Gampa!"
His brow darkened. "Cease!"
Here at last, this child flinched at the brutal bite in his voice. The little mouse fell back on his hindquarters with a start. Hiccuped now, little eyes brimming with unshed moisture. Placidusax's face went from stern to panic. Oh, dear. He knew that noise. Surely he wasn't about to...
He was.
"Waaaaaaaaaah!"
The Dragonlord's entire posture collapsed as the boy burst into tears.
"Stop that at once!" he flailed his hands at the noisy little mouse, to no avail. "End thine wailing!"
The boy did not obey; he threw his little head back and only wailed all the louder. Such lungs he had! So noisy he was! Such a clamor he made!
Under any other circumstance he might have respected such. Now? After eons of solitude and silence, the racket was too much. Clamping his hands over his ears availed him naught; for the noise persisted. Worse, as he looked on the little mouse made it to his feet again somehow. Little arms reached for him still.
He failed and fell flat on his face. But he didn't give up. Hiccuping, the boy pushed himself up and tried to totter his way.
Again, he fell. Again, he picked himself up, despite his tears.
A strange feeling rose in the old wyrm's cracked chest, one he'd not experienced since he'd first fled from the Greater Will in a bygone age. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been a hatchling, much less raised one. It had been...eons? Yet longer perhaps? Dragon young were far, far different than these fleshy things.
And yet.
In hindsight, Placidusax wasn't sure why he moved. Only that he did. In no time at all he found himself kneeling, taking the child into his arms. The little mouse latched onto him and buried his whiskered face into his tunic with a whimper. His body betrayed him and he began to rock him to and fro almost without realizing it. Almost immediately, his cries were quelled.
"Hush, little mouse...
The boy seemed to take offense to that, and started squirming again.
Placidusax squinted at the blanket the boy still clung to, even now. There was a name stitched within. "Naruto...?" An odd name. No matter.
Awkwardly, he wrapped the boy in the blanket and began to rumble softly, an old lullaby for dragons.
Not once did he cease...until the little lad finally fell asleep.
(.0.0.0.)
How did one feed a baby?
Placidusax found himself at something of a loss once the boy woke some hours later; as Dragonlord he did not require such base sustenance. His was the strength of Runes. He fed upon the fallen souls of his enemies and added their power to his own. Such was the way. Likewise, dragon hatchlings were oft fed fallen carcasses, and they too gained strength in such a manner.
But a human baby?
He knew precious little about such mice, but something told him a toddler needed more than raw meat to survive. Feeding him such things may very well sicken him or worse.
And so it was that Placidusax left his stronghold in Crumbling Farum Azula, child nestled in his arms, in search of a great many things.
He looked upon the crumbling towers of his kin and nearly despaired.
Much of their civilization had fallen to ruin in his absence. Another matter to which he must attend, when time permitted. Time was in constant flux here; the boy would not starve, not right away, but haste was still very much needed. He had elected to watch over the little mouse -for now!- and it was not his way to give anything less than his very best in such a task.
He was the Dragonlord, after all. He had a reputation to maintain.
Craning his neck back, he gazed upon a sky teeming with dragons on high. They sensed him of course; indeed many wheeled and whirled about, rejoicing at his return. Surely one his descendants would know how best to care for a human. He could plot a course of action afterward.
It was a simple matter to call out, to raise his voice in the ancient tongue.
His kin answered to him; soon enough, A harsh clamor of wings drew his ear. He looked up and watched one peel off from the flock; beheld a black blur winging his way. It was the work of a moment to recognize that one, as task made somewhat easier when said dragon crashed down on the terrace before him
'Ah, Fortisax. How you have fallen...
Once upon a time his scales had been the purest of white, a great glittering sheen that shone with the sun's love. Before the tragedy. Before the Night of the Black Knives. Before the scion of the Golden Order, Godwyn the Golden, friend to dragons, was slain in coldest of blood. He'd sought to free his friend from Death soon thereafter and had nearly been taken by it in turn. He'd been lucky to escape with his life. The experience had changed him, hardened him, stripped away much of who he was once.
Now his blackened scales would forever mark his failure. His shame.
Even now he stood before him, refusing to assume human form. Ever proud, this distant descendant of his...
...Dragonlord." his long neck inclined in the shallowest of bows. "Why do you wear that guise-what is this?" he reared back with a snort, seeing the bundle in his arms. "A child? What is the meaning of this? Have you taken leave of your senses?" A spark of gold flashed through his gaze, drawing a flinch from him. "I meant no disrespect."
...I see thy eyes have not yet failed thee, even if thine tongue has."
"And thine wit is sharp as ever." The younger dragon relented with a growl. "Still, why do you hold that little mouse? We know naught how to care for such a thing." he leaned in and sniffed the boy dismissively. "Best to kill it and put it out of its misery." Slitted eyes regarded the curious babe with baleful intent now, his desire made clear. "Little lights such as these are fleeting in dark times, just like he was." a clawed finger rose as he drew close enough to touch, sparking with dread light. T'would be a mercy...
The boy reached up and batted the black dragon on his snout with a gleeful cry.
Placidusax barked a laugh despite himself, impressed by his valor.
Fortisax reared back. "Brave little mouse. Perhaps I should-
"Hold, brother. "I would have thee stay thy claw."
A crackle of red lightning heralded the arrival of yet a third party. This one Placidusax recognized outright; four wings carried her gently to them as she glided down from the storm, her landing almost silent by comparison. Here stood a gleaming white dragon through and through; pale white scales shone in the light of the storm, crackling with faint red lightning.
Fortisax snapped his jaws at the newcomer. "Ever the meddler, little Lansseax."
She flashed her teeth at him. "Little, am I? T'was not I who took a beating last time, dear brother."
Her sibling burst upright. "YOU DARE?!"
Placidusax silenced him with a quelling look.
Even as Lansseax landed her body was shifting; wings shrank, her form folded inward, taking on human shape. She rose just as quickly, wearing a faint robe of glistening amber, not unlike her slitted gaze. A human hand swept across her beautiful visage, pushing a stay strand of straw-blonde hair from her eyes. Then those eyes fixed upon the babe in his arms.
"Of course, I dare. Neither of you know humans as I do. The boy needs proper care." she held out her hands toward him. "May I, my lord?"
Placidusax looked down. The boy looked back. The dragonlord stepped forward with a sigh. "You will be gentle."
She beamed and accepted him gladly. "As my lord commands. Has he a name?"
He gestured at the blanket still wrapping the boy. "...Naruto, I believe.
Fortisax scoffed. "This is folly. We cannot raise a little mouse!"
"Nonsense, brother of mine. You heard our lord. His name is Naruto." Lansseax cooed a little, nuzzling her nose against the babe's. "He will be the greatest of us-ah!" she gasped when he giggled and tugged at her hair, jerking her head to one side. "See! Such strength he was. He will flourish under our lord's wisdom...
.
..
...would he?
The more he dwelt on it, the more Placidusax found himself warming to the notion.
In their first conflict with the Erdtree, the Dragon's first, terrible mistake was in thinking themselves superior to the demigods and those that served beneath them. That they were weak. Gransax learned that lesson too late. They lacked an outside perspective. They lacked a champion, whereas the Greater Will had many. No more. No longer. Today was the day the balance shifted. Here they had one who may well grow to eclipse them all. He could sense the strength within him, raw power yet untapped.
"So let it be," he decided, running a hand across the boy's face. A spark of red lightning traveled down his palm -his power!- and nestled into the infant. "He is ours."
Perhaps this boy was a sign. A gift from their erstwhile god? Who could say? Regardless, he couldn't bring himself to cast the little lad aside.
One day the dragons would rise again. They would strike down the Erdtree and the Greater Will within.
This boy was the key to their ambitions. Their hope. Their son.
He would be their Heir.
A/N: Aaaand scene.
I'll let you guess what time period this is set in. Dropped pleeenty of hints.
Do you want this to be a story? Yes? No? Maybe so? Lemme know! Make yourselves heard!
For the record, its quite clearly stated that ancient dragons can take the guise of humans if they so wish. Lansseax and Fortisax did several times in the past, so it stands to reason that Placidusax, a dragon far greater than them, ought to be able to do the same.
Once more, we're sticking with the "Embers" rule for this particular story, and others.
If folks don't like this, it won't be continued. Meaning that if the story itself ain't popular? POOF! Gone. Completely. I'm working two jobs -might need a third soon!- so I barely have time to write; as such, I cannot afford to write something folks don't enjoy. So by all means, speak up! Your voice matters! Make yourself heard! As ever, reviews are the fuel that sustain me. Without them I cannot write a single word. Simple as that. Working nearly all hours of the day keep me absurdly busy, and I can't bring myself to write something folks don't like.
Aaaand there we go. As ever, reviews keep me alive. Without them, I cannot write. So...in the Immortal Words of Atlas...
...Review...Would You Kindly? And have some previews.
Warning! SPOILERS AHOY!
(Previews)
"Where did that boy crawl off to this time?!"
Young Naruto clapped his hands. "Alright, I can do this. C'mon. Red lighting." he rubbed his palms together frantically. "Just a spark...
The resulting explosion devastated a wall, blasted him forth from his feet, and knocked him on his arse.
Hacking and coughing, he raised his head. "Ha! Got it."
...why're ya so grumpy?"
Fortisax glowered up at him. "Get off my back, little mouse."
"Not until ya tell me why!"
She opened her eyes. "What troubles thee, little mouse of mine?"
The boy sniffled once. "Had a nightmare."
Lansseax raised one of her wings.
"Say no more, child. Come.
Silence stretched unto eternity.
"That is my son. My heir." Placidusax craned his many necks upward. "And you would do him harm?
Golden dragonfire licked at his teeth, ready to be unleashed.
...if you acknowledge any gods, start praying. Now."
"A dragon may have as many mates as they please."
"If I'm a monster, guess I'll own it. C'mere. I'll eat you alive."
A war soon began.
The demigods called it the Shattering. The dragons, foolishness.
It was then that they made their move.
"The demigods warr amongst themselves. None have perished yet. Hunt them down. Make them see the light...or slay them and drag their bodies to it."
"Oi! Just because I've got a few scales on my face...I'm still human!" He ducked again. "Can we just talk this out?! I don't wanna hurt ya!"
Radahn reared back. "Speak, then, dragon."
Naruto beamed. "Gladly~!
R&R~!