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Hisashi gently glided to the burnt ground of a once luscious courtyard; grass now black, trees now smoking, he lands with an unnatural grace for a six-ton dragon. His black claws dig deep into the soil as he balances himself, before rising to his full height, tucking his wings tightly against his body.
Hisashi knows he makes a glorious sight. His long neck arches gracefully, fully exhibiting his glossy, white scales, their shine reflecting both the white of the moon and the orange of the fires burning the previously thriving castle to the ground. His red eyes gleam only just brighter than his crimson horns as he looks about the courtyard, admiring the damage dealt by his clawed paws.
He begins to wander, then, scoping the area for the perfect to make his nest. That’s why he attacked this place, after all, not just to steal their treasures for his own but to also make it the new hold for his growing hoard. The castle serves as the perfect place for him to hide his treasure—the tall, stone walls would stand strong against attacks, and the mountainous region surrounding the castle would function to deter travelers from venturing into his den. Not that many humans would want to test the wrath of the dragon in the first place.
As Hisashi wanders, he finds himself in the center of a great hall. The hall itself is massive, ceiling reaching almost twice the height of Hisashi himself, great pillars of grey marble providing support to the ridiculously tall ceiling. Magnificent stained-glass windows reach floor-to-ceiling, bathing the hall in washed-out colors from the moon’s light. He knew in the light of the sun the colors would reflect deliciously on his hoard of shiny gold and jewel. Hisashi grinned, yellowed teeth splitting past his reptilian lips.
It’s perfect, he thinks, before his thought are interrupted by a single heaving sob echoing from one end of the great hall.
Surprised because he thought he had killed every living thing on this side of the mountain face, Hisashi peers into a dark corner, just out of sight of the rainbow of lights illuminating the great hall. A boy, small and shivering, dressed in fine clothes while shaking so hard in the deep corner his green curls bounced, cried freely as he struggled to muffle his cries.
Hisashi creeps forward on silent claws as he debates what to do with the child. Should he burn him? It would be a shame to waste the food, though, no matter how small. Besides, he thinks gleefully, I haven’t had fun with my food for quite a while. However, before he can come to a decision, the child notices him.
The child’s green eyes widen at the sight of the massive beast in front of him. His sobs are silenced completely, though the tears still flow, and his shivering and shaking slow to small tremors that occasionally traverse his frail limbs. His lower lip trembles as he looks at Hisashi with something akin to awe.
“Are. . . A-are you a dragon?”, the boy almost whispers.
Hisashi pauses, quirking his head to the side before he answers with a rumble from deep in his chest, voice unused to human languages.
“I am”, he answers before pausing again, thinking, and resuming, “Who might you be, Child?”
The boy’s eyes widen again, though this time in excitement.
“I’m—I’m I-Izuku”, he says carefully, ”Are you here to help Mommy and Daddy with the monster?”
Now this makes Hisashi hesitate. Does the boy not know to fear me?, he wonders. His thoughts are interrupted by the boy, though.
“Mo-mommy and Da-haddy says that dragons are really strong and smart and that—that they’re really ni-ice even if they’re might be scary looking.”, he says. Here the boys hesitates before looking up shyly, eyes lit with something like hope and admiration. “I don’t think you’re scary looking, though. You’re scales are—are very pretty Mr. Dra-dragon.”
Hisashi just stares at the small child, equal parts surprised and flattered, before he leans in close. The boy—Izuku, he corrects himself—leans away slightly, but Hisashi doesn’t believe it’s out of fear. The tremors that had previously travelled Izuku’s body were gone, small limbs that had once curled into his form were now braced against the cold, stone floor. That, paired with his openly awed expression made the dragon realize that the child was only shy and unsure of a stranger, rather than fearful of a monster.
“Thank you”, he finds himself rumbling out, “That’s a very kind thing to say. Your parents must have taught you well.”, he pauses, debating with himself, before finally saying, “I’m not here to help, and everyone is already dead. But I can protect you if you wish, Child.”
The dragon waits for an answer, but Izuku ignores him, rather ungrateful, as he begins to shake anew and wails eco around the hall. Hisashi only sighs indulgently. “I cannot understand why you cry so, Child, but I will stay with you nonetheless”.
And with that, Hisashi settles onto the stone floor, unbothered by the cold, before reaching out and carefully gathering Izuku into his forepaws. Hisashi is then lulled into a deep slumber by Izuku’s quiet hiccups.
-
“Have no fear! I am here, to rescue you!”, Izuku cries to Hisashi as he races forward to fight unseen enemies.
Hisashi sighs in mild annoyance before relaying his part for the umpteenth time.
“Oh, save me please, brave knight.”, he replies, voice steady, even, and completely disinterested. Izuku, ever the imaginative child all but demanded to play Knights and monsters with Hisashi again in the courtyard. The sun was bright, the plants were lush, and the passtimes were immensely boring. Honestly, it’s a wonder the dragon hasn’t gone brain-dead at this point. There are only so many rounds of the same game he can play before he decides to eat the child—and honestly, the boy is really pushing the line.
Hisashi watches the boy battle invisible enemies when decided to reign in his bloodlust before he does something he regrets. In reality, the boy has truly grown on him, so Hisashi might feel something a bit like regret if he were to consume the child. Maybe.
Hisashi is broken from his thought as a tiny fist pat-pats him on the tip of his snout. Looking a little cross-eyed, he glances to the child trying desperately to climb upon his nose.
“Are you okay?” Izuku asks, brows furrowed in what seemed to be genuine worry.
“Yes.”, Hisashi answers, confused. Why does Izuku look so scared? In the past year, the boy has shown nothing but love and adoration for the old dragon, often going so far as to prepare food (rats caught in homemade traps, burnt to a crisp), watch for danger at night (a sharpened stick clutched in sleeping hands), or preparing defenses against invaders (broken stones piled haphazardly in random archways). However, despite the child’s escapades, Izuku has always completed each task with a certain amount of conviction and even joy. Izuku very rarely expressed any sort of worry of any kind. Especially for him.
Izuku stares into the dragon’s eyes, green irises meeting red, and his lower lip trembles as tears gather at the corners of his eyes.
“I-it’s just,” Izuku continues, “You were so still. . . I-I was worried some-something was wrong.”
Ah, Hisashi thinks, That’s what’s wrong.
“Izuku”, Hisashi starts, gravelling voice so quiet and gentle it’s almost a purr, “Do you think I’m going to die like the weak humans that used to live here?”
Izuku flinches, obviously ashamed that his thoughts were laid out so openly before Hisashi. While some might have thought of such a gesture to be sweet or thoughtful, Hisashi sought to correct the glaring mistake Izuku had made in his assumptions.
“Izuku”, Hisashi began again, voice a little louder, a little sterner, “You cannot possibly be comparing me to something so weak as you. I am a dragon!”, Hisashi rises in time with his voice, and Izuku tumbles to the ground with a yelp as Hisashi rears his head and flairs his wings in a show of strength.
“I am invulnerable to the very things that seem so threatening to you, Human. Fires are weaker than whispers to my hide, hurricanes bend to power of my wings like stalks of wheat, and enemies are torn to ribbons with my teeth and claws”, leaning down close again to Izuku, Hisashi grins, wide and malicious, before finally saying, “Don’t compare me to you, because next to me you are nothing.”
Instead of making Izuku tremble in fear, the words and actions of the ancient dragon seemed to inspire the boy. Jumping up with a decisive nod, Izuku gives a quick “Alright!” before running about in continuation of his game.
Hisashi only huffs good naturedly as he settles once again into the ground.
-
“Did you know that there’s a kingdom really close to here called Yuuei?”, Izuku asks, “It’s supposed to be a really big place, with lots of ca-capa-capet—"
“Capital” Hisashi rumbles indulgently. Izuku beams up at him.
“Yeah! That’s it”, Izuku confirms before turning back to the ancient geography book he’s been excitedly reading for the past month. The new-found interest in cartography has presented Hisashi with a golden opportunity to teach the boy to read—after all, there remains no one else who might educate the young nine-year-old.
Currently, both Izuku and Hisashi are curled within the great hall, piles of treasure and artifacts making the massive height of the ceiling feel a little smaller and more comfortable. Hisashi rests in the center of his hoard, exhausted from his last venture outside the castle walls, with Izuku tucked tight in between his two forepaws. His claws were pointed slightly inward as though to catch the flighty child should he try to escape.
Hisashi is very comfortable. Laying within his great hoard with the small, warm body tucked into his chest, excited words lulling him further to sleep, he feels his eyelids grow heavy as he begins to drift away. He dozes like that for a while, mind just barely slipping in and out of awareness. Normally, he might have paid more careful attention to his fragile charge. As it was, Hisashi was tired from pillaging villages and towns for treasure and food. Right now, all he wanted to do was nap among his beloved possessions.
It wasn’t meant to be, however, as Hisashi was gently brought back to consciousness by small hands and sweet voice kneading at his awareness like a kitten.
“Hisashi?” Izuku asks with a little apprehension in his voice.
“Yes?”, Hisashi rumbles back. He waits, but Izuku is quiet for so long that Hisashi almost falls asleep again. Instead, he’s brought back from the edge of slumber as he feels the tiny body shifting beneath him. Izuku hesitates only a moment longer before continuing.
“Do y-you think I c-could go with you? Next time, wh-when you. . . Leave the castle?”, Izuku almost pleads, looking up at Hisashi with big, puppy-dog eyes.
If Hisashi wasn’t awake before, almost assuredly was now. He almost lurches from his languid position on the floor, heart racing in irrational fear. No!, he thinks, panicked, Mine! My treasure!
Instead he says, “Why would you ever want to leave, Izuku? Do you plan to break my heart and leave it in little pieces at your feet?”. Now, initial fear gives way to anger, “Do you think you can leave whenever you want? No!”, he growls, loud and low and threatening in Izuku’s ear, “You insolent child, are you so ungrateful for my protection that would leave your home as soon as the idea was conceived in your head?”, He all but roars at the boy.
Hisashi only pauses in his tirade long enough to hear the quiet sniffles and violent shakes plaguing the tiny form in front of him. Izuku looks positively terrified. Snot and tears run in rivulets down his flushed face, knees drawn up and arms tucked tight. Hisashi is a little taken aback by both his own outburst and Izuku’s absolute fear of the dragon before him.
“It’s. . . I’m sorry, Izuku, I should not have yelled at you so.”, he croons, soothingly. Izuku only sobs alone on the floor a moment longer before standing to fling himself into Hisashi’s embrace for comfort. They stay like that for a long time, Izuku’s sobs and hiccups only just softer than the comforting purrs and warbles coming from Hisashi.
Later, once Izuku had calmed and fallen asleep, Hisashi began to contemplate his reaction to Izuku’s request. The fear and anger that had rolled through him had truly taken him by surprise, his body reacting before his mind had caught up. It didn’t take Hisashi long to realize he had reacted in a way that imitated a response to a threat to his hoard. Instincts led to Hisashi responding with hostility to a danger—in this case, Izuku’s free will.
He thought on this. . . But he wasn’t bothered by the fact that the small human in his care had wormed his way onto his list of valued objects. In fact, Hisashi’s instincts seemed to soothe with the acknowledgement of the changes to his hoard. Yes, he practically purrs in his head as he nuzzles the sleeping child, You are mine now, little Izuku.
-
“What do you think you’re doing?”, Hisashi growls at Izuku, the stupid, stupid boy having thought he could follow Hisashi out of the castle.
“I-I-I j-just thou-thought-t—!“, Izuku fumbles over his words, the foolish child terrified with the bubbling anger Hisashi was leaking from his form. Apparently Izuku thought he could quietly tail Hisashi out of the castle and follow him while he was out looking for treasure, and the thought made Hisashi absolutely livid.
“Quiet!”, Hisashi practically roared. He launched from the gateway he had been blocking with his body braced and wings flared before scooping up Izuku into his mouth. He ignored the yelp of surprise and pain that came from the boy as Hisashi stormed through the castle towards his hoard. He could feel Izuku struggling in his teeth, whimpers of pain finding their way to Hisashi’s ears, but he couldn’t care less about the boy’s struggles since Izuku so idiotically tried to leave the castle. Leave Hisashi.
My treasure.
Pushing through the doors to the great hall, Hisashi practically threw Izuku into the mountains of gold before turning back once again to shut the doors. A few whispers of dark enchantments had the doors sealing together—trapping Izuku inside.
“No, wait—please! Don’t trap me in here! Hisashi! Dad!”, Hisashi could hear Izuku plead through the door, tiny thumps emanating from the other side of the oak indicated young fists beating against it. Hisashi waited as pleas turned in to bargaining which turned into sobs. “Please. . .”, Izuku says, barely audible through the sturdy wood.
Hisashi, still simmering from Izuku’s perceived escape attempt, only informs Izuku that he brought this on himself, before Hisashi leaves to raid a village. Or raze a city. That sounds like a very tempting way to help bring his rage down.
When Hisashi returned two days later, he found Izuku curled by the great doors where Hisashi had left him. Izuku didn’t respond at all when Hisashi brought him back to the center of the hall where he wrapped his long, reptilian body around Izuku and slept.
-
“Izuku?”, Hisashi asks gently, “Why don’t you come inside? Please?”
Izuku didn’t respond from his position on the balcony overlooking the mountains and the land beyond. He hasn’t responded to much the past few months, opting to stare blankly, and Hisashi doesn’t know what’s wrong. He’s given Izuku nourishment, cuddled him, brought him treasures, carried him on Hisashi’s back around the castle, almost everything Hisashi can think of, he’s tried.
Hisashi will admit. . . He’s worried. Genuinely. During this time, Izuku has also shriveled away, growing paler and even weaker than his small form usually entails. Especially now that the cold season is coming, Hisashi has grown more and more fearful of Izuku wandering any distance from the safety of Hisashi’s hoard.
Gently, so as not to hurt Izuku, Hisashi gathers him up into one giant paw, cradling Izuku to his chest. He turns from the balcony, half-limping, half-walking back towards the great hall. He grows more worried with each step for the limp child he holds.
As he finally makes it to his hoard, he makes his way towards a large gathering of silk sheets and satin pillows that serve as his hatchling’s nest. Laying Izuku in the center, he carefully covers the boy in the softest pieces he can find, gently purring and nudging Izuku with each new addition to little reaction. At some point, the only thing Hisashi can spot of the child in the blankets is a round face topped with green curls.
Once he’s finally wrapped Izuku to his satisfaction, he moves away from the nest to gather some of his newer and more interesting treasures. Recently, Hisashi has been telling Izuku about some of the objects in his hoard. It was a habit from when the boy was younger, something Hisashi quit doing once Izuku no longer demanded a story before his bedtime. Now it seems to bring a little light to his eyes when he regals stories of the objects history, or description of what they are.
Hisashi returns a few moments later with a few of his more magically oriented items. Maybe Izuku will get a little better if Hisashi teaches him some magic? Hisashi entertains the thought. Nothing too advanced, though. He wouldn’t want his hatchling to get hurt. Hisashi smiles to himself as he thinks of the possibilities, already talking aloud to Izuku about the basics of magic in the objects he held
-
Hisashi is a patient dragon.
He’s been so patient with Izuku, in particular. The child is not easy to deal with, either. When he was younger, tears were so common Hisashi wondered if the child had sprung a leak in his eyes. Often the child was dissatisfied with his meals, or with the nest Hisashi had made for Izuku. And Hisashi guided Izuku back to the nest when he was always insisting on exploring the world. The big, dark, dangerous world that would whisper pretty tales and offer puny treasures in an effort to take Hisashi’s hatchling from him.
Like the disgusting piece of filth knight that’s trying to take Izuku right now.
So yes, Hisashi is patient, but right now that patience as narrowed down to the patience of a predator waiting for its prey, like Hisashi is currently waiting for his sixteen-year-old treasure (maybe that’s why he’s so rebellious?) and the knight to come towards the corner that Hisashi is hiding behind. He has to stifle a twitch when he hears their voices and footsteps coming from the far end of the hallway.
“—Thank you so much, I don’t know what I would’ve done—“, Hisashi hears Izuku say.
“It’s okay, you don’t need to thank me.”, The knight interrupts, voice sounding strange behind his metal helmet, “I’m just glad I found you at the right time. You said the dragon will be gone for another day?”
“Yes,”, Izuku answered hurriedly, “He’s never away longer than three days and he’s already been gone two.”
“Good, that means we have time. Let’s get you out of here—”
And with that, Hisashi’s patience snaps like a worn thread and he lunges from around the corner, knocking Izuku over, bags of personal things falling from his weak grasp, and snapping up the knight in his jaws.
“T-Ten—!", Izuku cries.
But he’s too late, for as soon as the disgusting piece of filth that dared lay a hand on his treasure is in his mouth, Hisashi begins to wildly thrash his head side to side before throwing the knight from his jaws into the corner where the hallways intersected, impacting it with an audible crack.
Turning away from the trash that lay on the ground by his feet, Hisashi found Izuku to be staring at the knight’s limp form, eyes wide, face pale, body shivering. Hisashi stepped forward slowly, claws clacking loudly in the too-still hallway.
“It’s okay, Izuku,”, Hisashi cooed, “I know he probably told you nice things about the outside, didn’t he? But it’s okay now, Izuku. You’re safe. You’re safe.”
Hisashi continued his cautious approach, finally coming to a stop in front of Izuku. Then, like he’d done when Izuku was a child, he carefully scooped the boy up and placed him gently on his winged back. Hisashi then made his way back to the hoard, careful of the delicate cargo resting between his wings. The entire way, Hisashi only spoke calming words, whispered in purrs and warbles in an attempt to relax Izuku. After depositing Izuku in his nest, where he belongs, Hisashi returned to the intruder to dispose of him properly. But alas, he was too late.
The trash was already dead.
A pity, Hisashi thought with anger that still simmered as he stared down at the knight, one leg missing and the other hanging on by a tendon, I would have liked to see him suffer.
-
Hisashi awakens slowly. He’s incredibly comfortable, scales warmed by both the silk pillows and the reflective gold that surrounds his massive form. He shifts slightly, sleepily reaching out with one large paw to bring his most precious treasure closer. But as is claws bat and paw gently at the fabrics around him, Hisashi finds his heart lurching, and he with it, when he can’t find Izuku.
Eyes wide, nostrils flaring, he sniffs wildly and finds Izuku’s scent to be old and stale; well over two days old. Despite the pointlessness of the action, he frantically searches through his nest trying to find his treasure when he stumbles across a book. More specifically, a spell book. It had obviously been dropped carelessly, book open and face down on the ground, pages crinkling beneath its weight. But. . . The smell. Izuku’s scent is at its freshest on the book, obviously being the last thing he’d handled before he disappeared.
Lifting the object carefully, Hisashi realizes that it’s one of his more advanced book on magics. He couldn’t help but smile ruefully to himself, then. So, little Izuku’s gone and taught himself a few tricks, Hisashi thought, eyeing the page on inducing a magical sleep for extended periods of time. Common in modern magical medicine, but Hisashi supposes it works fine for putting dragons to sleep as well.
Calmer, but with his nerves still on edge, Hisashi looks to the east, the only exit out of the treacherous mountains. It won’t take you long to realize, Izuku, He thinks, the world is not so pleasant as you might imagine. But he’ll wait. After all, Hisashi is a patient dragon.