Chapter Text
Firefly sighed, as the last meeting of the day finally ended. She closed her work laptop and pushed it over on the nightstand. She was on her bed, crawling up in a ball as she was hugging her shark plushie, calming her aching body.
She hated this. She hated her existence so much.
She couldn't tell her adopted family . She couldn't risk the higher-ups knowing that her cover was compromised. God knows what they might be doing to them! She was alone in this. And she feared what might happen next.
She heard the dreaded notification, as her second phone made a sound. She wanted to scream. No, she needed more time for the rest of the day. At least let her have a weekend for once! Her muscles were tense as she tentatively picked the phone from the place she hid it under the mattress.
“SAM, new bounty for you. -J”. The message had an attachment to it, a small pdf from what it looked like.
She opened it and she was greeted by the image of a rather public figure. She had seen this woman quite a lot on the news. “Species: Dragon…” she muttered to herself. She never hunted a dragon, but… There was a start for everything.
She scrolled to the end of the file, expecting a list of weaknesses about her. All of her targets came with that. However, this lady had nothing about it. Only a mention that maybe her partner could be kidnapped. Firefly scoffed. Her mecha was made to kill, not for ramson. She was considering herself a monster, but she never reached rock bottom to even consider involving an innocent being.
She laughed to herself. Look at her, having morals now. She knew the group she was working for was killing magical beings just for the sake of it. They even fabricated some crimes so that their hunters never felt bad about killing one of those creatures…
The world was full of corrupt people and, to survive, you needed to learn how to dance to their music. Firefly picked a side-job for this, one which paid just enough to get to save up the money she needed.
She sighed, scanning through the document, trying to catch any key word that might be useful. Nothing. She was completely blind to this.
Firefly hid the phone back, turning it off. She got her new bounty, surprisingly with no time limit attached to it. Considering the VIP she was hunting? It made sense that it would be extremely difficult. The reward? If she received all of that, she would be very close to her goal.
This would be her last bounty. Her family could help her with the rest of the money. She managed to save up almost half of the sum she needed. Treatment was expensive but, thank the gods, treatment existed.
She joined the Unnatural Hunters to save up money to cure her disease, after one of them encountered her alt account as she was researching forums, talking about cheap cures for it. Although the Dream Eater’s curse is curable, compared to the Pixie variant, it still had a high mortality rate. After all, barely anyone was able to afford the treatment for it.
These curses, as the diseases tend to be colloquially called, are remnants from the old War of Magic. History relates that magical beings fought against humans, but every side recorded their own reason for why it happened. Bullshit.
She pushed her face more and more into her plushie, trying to stop herself from breaking down. Her muscles felt numb. This was a bad day to start hunting, yet, she had no idea how long she would still have to live. She searched and searched for records about this disease and… she never found someone older than 30 surviving this disease.
She hated this. Her life, being reduced to a mere number, just because of a war she was never part of. She hated these magical beings for even inventing this curse against the humans. The war ended up in a stalemate! No side won in the end! Yet humans suffer from many and many diseases that manifested from these creatures and their wild magic.
She forced herself to get up, slowly changing her clothes. She was trying not to force herself too much. She needed the energy for the long road to reach her mecha suit.
Firefly sighed, looking at herself in the mirror, counting on her hands the years she still has. Her body has already started showing critical signs of the disease, teal scars painting her pale skin… sometimes it was even hard just to exist. She hadn’t even got to properly enjoy her life as a girl.
At the end of everything, she knew that she would stop feeling her body, being completely paralyzed, as her organs started to fail one by one. The legends mentioned that the target of a Dream Eater was always put in sleep paralysis, as their entire essence was consumed. The disease acts in a similar way, forcing the soul of a person to disconnect from their body entirely, leaving the flesh to die.
She clenched her fists. Nothing would stop her from reaching her goal. She refused to believe that the dragon couldn't be killed. Not a lot of them have been hunted so far, but the sibling of the Lord of a neighboring region was killed in plain sight, with a curse made by humans nonetheless.
She had to be the dragon hunter who would claim the next one. A dragon distantly related to the Lord. A rebel who never adhered to the rules of the “human form”, flashing her draconic features in broad daylight whenever she could. A scandalous being, being always on the news because of this. The so-called face of the rebellion against the authorities.
Her name was Stelle and Firefly would be her reaper.
March yawned, as she was fighting with her photo editing program. It wasn’t a case of “things not working as she was planning to”. No, if anything, the picture turned out great! She managed to make her boss look exactly as he wanted, friendly and with a few pounds lost. Why did he think that would improve the company image? Oh well, not her place to judge, she’s just paid for this. Her task for now was to bring some small enhancements to the pictures they took during their team building trip. It was a nice trip in the mountains, with a lovely hot water bath which she… couldn’t really enter.
But oh well, she wasn’t the only one that didn’t pack a swimsuit! She used the opportunity of not joining the “big group” to actually chat with her dear coworker, a cute vanilla blonde girl who’s mostly working remotely. Couldn't really blame her, considering she was using a cane for movement. Going to work just to have the boss be annoyed in person instead on a screen? Yeah, not worth the time spent in traffic.
Aaand her program crashed again. Great. Amazing. Thank gods she got used to it already and she had been saving quite often. However, it was quite annoying. Those people want her to use the program they have a license for which, fair enough. But at least give her a device that was not dying just because she made a new layer! Alas, the picture was mostly done, she made sure to not make the boss look like he frowns 24/7. That was what he was doing, almost every picture making him look ready to shout at someone… But now he had a friendly smile plastered across his face, that sure will bring more people to the company! Look how friendly he i- ok yeah that thought almost made her puke her lunch.
She heard her phone alarm, signaling the end of today’s work. She sent the finished pictures to the coworker that was dealing with their company website. Not all of them were done yet, but at least they had enough to figure out how to design that part of the site. She could maybe push for an hour or two and finish them today, then have a short day tomorrow buut it was a Wednesday! Wednesdays were always cuddly movie nights with her girlfriend!
That was more important than her boss’ self-image. She had to finish them ‘till Friday so eh, plenty of time! She slapped her forehead as she just remembered something very important. She forgot to send Firefly the selfies they took during the work trip! She browsed to her list of work contacts, seeing that she was already offline which. Fair enough, it was already past 18. They did exchange numbers, so just dropping them as text messages should be fine, right? Sure they didn’t… exactly texted each other out of work times but there was a start for everything!
She really loved the time they spent together during that weekend, even if it was more in an “official” setting. On the rare occasions she would see her in-person at work, March was always interested in striking a conversation with her. But eh, everyone knew how friendly the pink haired lady was, but for some reasons approaching Firefly felt more difficult than any other random coworker. Oh well, probably nothing important! She was really cute, though.
Leaving beautiful ladies behind, she closed her work laptop and swapped its place with her personal one. No more thinking about work, she had to prepare for a lovely date!
She got up from her desk. stretching her back. Sure, she never really dressed up for these nights, mostly because the clothes had a high chance of not staying on her, but she still made the effort of looking adorable for her girlfriend. At least anything that wasn’t the shirts she was rotating between for her “webcam absolutely needed” meetings. Blegh, some days she just wanted to work in her pajamas.
Usually Stelle would show up at around 20-ish, so she still had around two hours to prepare everything. She had the movie downloaded already, an adorable animation about a cat surviving a flood and all the friendships she makes along the way. However, something was telling her that they might not finish the movie tonight.
She sighed, going into the kitchen to grab a can of soda. Ever since the big event happened a few weeks ago, i.e. an important magical creature being killed by the Unnatural Hunters, her girlfriend had to work way too much. And thus, she was constantly falling asleep during the movie nights. Also didn’t help that they were now just seeing each other once a week. Something about making sure that March will be safe from those Hunters.
Without noticing, her can of soda froze in her hand. She mumbled a small swear to herself, as she placed it on the table. Hopefully this time around it didn’t take too long for it to melt. Oh well, it was Stelle’s job to bring the snacks, at least.
March went back to her bedroom, going straight for the closet. While waiting for the sweet treat to be at drinkable temperature, she might as well come up with her outfit for today. Looking through her array of skirts, she settled upon a pair of shorts. While skirts were her go-to for outside business, for something as chill as a movie night at home? Might as well go for the comfiest option. And of course, what better to pair this with than a long t-shirt with a cat cake on it!
With her cute face and cute outfit, this should be adorable enough to make Stelle fall in love again. Although she was curious what would Firefly think of- why was she thinking about Firefly now? After all, she was also a cute lady in March’s eyes and… She shook her head. No need to think about other people right now, it was her only day this week with her girlfriend!.. Maybe she should bring this up to Stelle, though.
She booted up her personal laptop and started blasting the new album from her favorite singer, Robin as she put on some casual make-up. Nothing more than just a bit of mascara to make her eyelashes pop a bit more. And to top everything off, a subtle pink lipstick, just enough to leave some marks when she’d kiss her dear partner.
Once the make-up was almost done and the clock was showing around an hour ‘till Stelle would show up, March grabbed her now-room-temperature can of soda and sat down on the armchair, scrolling through social media.
The amount of accounts she had to block there passed thousands, but there were still some great accounts that were posting artwork of her favorite things. And also photography accounts! A lot of pretty landscapes to discover which made her have a long list of places to visit to take pictures of! One of these days she would have a more relaxing period where she could take Stelle on a road trip.
A new post about the Molten Knight, a well-known Unnatural Hunter, caught her eye. Ah, of course, someone just had to gush about how the guy in the mechanical armor just killed another magical being. It was wild to see people just… being so hyped about someone committing murder? Thank gods they didn’t post pictures of it like last time. Just because someone was a magical being, that didn’t mean they could just murder them like that! A shiver went down her spine… She knew Stelle had a hard time, but hey, those hunters would never… No, no, too much doom scrolling, she needed some funny cat videos now.
Stelle was preparing herself to leave, sitting on her bed, trying to muster the energy to get up. Her “den”, as March jokingly called it, was a little one room apartment at the edge of the city. Sadly, that was almost at the other end of where March lived. Sure, Stelle would cause a ruckus if she was spotted in public for such a long distance but…
Stelle didn't have to be herself . If she loved anything about being a dragon, it was that shape shifting was like a second nature to them. So of course, this walk wasn't Stelle's walk, no, she had to use her… human persona? Human form? Terms were confusing.
Considering that her day to day form didn't adhere to the rules that were imposed by the government? Being a complete human felt like she was naked. She couldn't show her beautiful golden scales that she spent so much keeping in good condition. She pouted, looking herself into the mirror as she took a deep breath.
Right, no more Dragon Stelle, it was time for Human Polaris to take the stage. Snapping her fingers, her gray hair turned dark, as the glow of her golden eyes was reduced to a neutral tone of gray. Where her scales would decorate her muscular arms, some small black tattoos popped into existence. If anything, her Polaris self looked more goth than she first intended to, but March pointed out that the contrast between her sporty self and this look helped a lot.
She put on some small black earrings and threw in a bit of mascara as well. Her look was completed with a big black sun hat. That and some sunglasses. Might as well have her face as covered as one could have it. Without, of course, raising suspicions. Some fanatics would try to get a face mask of someone’s face just to “prove” they’re a magical being. One of these days she would destroy these rules. At least she had the support of the neighbouring Lord. Such a shame their region wasn’t ruled by a dragon as well. Anyone but not her, she couldn’t deal with such responsibilities. It was enough how much the rebels were counting on her…
She sighed, followed by another check in the mirror. Yeah, she couldn't tell that she was herself, the stranger named Polaris looking back at her. An amazing job at disguising herself once again!
She grabbed the bag of snacks she had prepared and checked the bus schedule. Thankfully, she had one arriving in a few minutes, so she should still be on time. Hopefully Marchie won't be mad at her for being a bit late. She grabbed her small backpack, which had a change of clothes and a charger, and left the apartment.
The bus station was empty, as it usually was in the evening. People rarely leave this neighborhood at this hour, usually tiredly getting off the public transport. She took a deep breath. Being in disguise was always nerve-wracking. Sure, she made sure that her voice always sounded much deeper in this disguise… which Marchie absolutely loved if she might add. Alas, bus trips were always dangerous for her, considering what assholes could be in it.
The bus arrived and a sea of people spilled all over the area. Stelle waited next to the door, making sure that there was enough space for people to safely get off. Still, one old guy still had to comment about why she was in the way. Some people.
She found an empty one-person seat and took off her sunglasses. Having them in the bus as well would have raised suspicions. She scanned the vehicle which was mostly empty, as this was the last stop before the end of the line and the loop that would ensure. There were a few people towards the end of the bus. She sighed and turned her headphones on. At least she doesn't have to listen to people complaining about everything.
She rested her elbow on the windowstand, using her hand to support her head as she started looking outside. Stop after stop, the bus would start to get filled with many people, alas, none of them dared to ask for her spot. Maybe her appearance was less friendly than her usual self? At least that worked in her favor.
After one stop, the bus freed up a bit as a catfolk got in. They sat down on one of the many seats and started scrolling through their phone. Stelle noticed a person, looking in his mid-fifties, approaching them. She fixed him with her gaze. He didn't seem to have the “ticket control” vest. The pair was also rather close to where she was standing.
He cleared his throat, in an attempt to catch the attention of the catfolk. They looked up, towards the man, tilting their head in confusion.
“I want to sit down.” The man said, pointing at the seat on which the other person was sitting.
The catfolk looked around, noticing some free spots around them as well. They sighed and moved to the seat more towards the window, to leave space for the man.
“No, no, you didn't understand me correctly.” He said, looming over the person. “I want to sit down. Without having a flea infested creature next to me .”
“There are many empty spots.” The person replied. “You can pick a different one, away from me.”
“Why should I move when you are occupying the spot that I want. A waste of air like you should know their place.”
Their shoulders dropped. Would Polaris act to protect this being? She knew that if she was in her normal form, she would have already tackled the guy on the ground. She quickly glanced around, seeing a two-seat spot a bit further down the bus, away from the middle-aged man. She got up, picking her bag and approached the pair. She turned towards the catfolk person.
“I didn't notice you were here!” She addressed them, flashing a smile at them. “Let's go to a different spot, we should definitely catch up.”
They seemed to understand what she was trying to do as they grabbed her extended arm. The man glared at her but she just ignored him, as they walked past him. The man was sprouting some other vulgarities, but someone else in the bus shouted at them to shut up.
They reached their spots. Stelle let the cat sit next to the window, making sure to protect them in case someone tried something like that again. They gave them a weak “Thank you” as they went back on their phone. Polaris smiled back at them, gently tapping them on their arm in a comforting way.
She hated these humans. The ones that think they’re oh so great just because the government is filled with them. Once she has gathered enough forces she would burn down the building. The magical beings' rights in this region were atrocious. No wonder everyone moved into the neighboring area. Sadly, someone had to stay here and make things right and if her petty acts of rebellion were enough to keep the government on their toes? She would love to continue doing this.
The rest of the stops went uneventfully and, after around half an hour after she had to move her spot, she finally reached the destination. Thankfully, the catfolk also got down at the same station so at least she knew they were safe now.
She opened her phone, checked the time and waved goodbye to the stranger. She put her sunglasses back, as there were still some rays of sun hitting her pale complexion and continued her way. She took the smaller alleys, walking between the apartment buildings, avoiding any main road.
The weather was really nice, the reason why the main streets were covered in people. At least the less-walked streets shaded by the many trees planted around were empty. She, of course, made sure that nobody was walking behind her. She couldn't risk being followed to her girlfriend's place.
Once she reached the target building, she ringed at Marchie’s apartment. She couldn't wait ‘till she finally reached a safe place. She wanted out of this disguise. She was itching in places that weren't a part of this form, which fucked around with her brain a lot . Reasons why she hated the legalized human form: phantom limb itches.
March answered the door and, after a quick elevator trip to the fifth floor, Stelle finally reached her door. She was greeted by her bubbly girlfriend and, as soon as she got inside and locked the door completely, placed down her hat and her sunglasses.
She dropped her coat and, stretching her spine, transformed back into her usual form. Even her height was slightly altered, now being half a head taller than Polaris. She grinned at March and gave her the biggest bear hug she could muster, picking her up a bit as well. Stelle’s scaly tail was wagging, similar to how a dog’s does when they see their favorite person.
“Hehe, I am very happy to see you as well!” March said, placing a small kiss on her cheek. “How was the traffic?”
Stelle sighed. “Full of racists.” She frowned. “Sorry, had to bump into a fucker that decided to act like a piece of shit towards a catfolk person. I was veeery close to snapping their neck.”
They broke the hug and Stelle picked her bag as they walked into March’s room. The laptop was nicely placed on the desk, being opened on the movie. She placed the bag on the floor and laid down on the bed, as the nights she hadn’t slept finally took a mark on her. She yawned, which made March pout a bit.
“Are you overworking yourself?” March asked, her pout turning more into a worried look.
“Someone has to fix shit around here…” She said, stretching herself a bit more. She patted the spot right next to her. “Although having you next to me is enough to recover from it~” She winked.
March sat down on the bed, laying her head on Stelle’s arm. She turned her head towards her, placing a kiss on the top of her head, smelling the sweet perfume she was wearing. Gods she loved her adorable bubblegum.
“So, what’s the occasion of you looking this adorable?” Stelle said, smirking at her. “Didn’t know you have a date today? Who’s the lucky person you dressed up for?”
“You, flirt~” March playfully punched her torso. “I am happy that you enjoy having the cutest person with you.” Her playful smile turned into a smug look.
“Hmmm, I don’t know. You probably wouldn’t have dressed yourself if it was for me…” Stelle looked away, faking a sad reaction.
March moved closer to her face, placing a hand on her cheek and forcing her head to be facing towards her. “You know that it is for you, silly.”
Stelle got caught a bit off-guard, as she can feel her face deepen in color. She cleared her throat and completely turned towards March. “And you look amazing in it. Although I wouldn’t mind seeing you without it as well.” She winked, as she slipped her tail under her t-shirt, gently touching her cold back,
“Alright, alright, enough with the flirting~!” March promptly got up. Stelle wrapped her tail around her waist, trying to pull her back in the bed.
“Boo, what happened to the Marchie that loved cuddling? Where did she go this week?” Stelle pouted.
March turned back towards her and sighed. “Alright, the movie can wait.” She plopped back into the bed, as Stelle wrapped her arms around her.
Stelle could feel March’s breathing, as it gently hit the exposed skin of her t-shirt. She wrapped her arms around her tighter, as a tinge of anxiety invaded her brain. She didn’t want this fragile being in her arms to be put in danger, just because she’s associated with her. She didn’t want her to be hurt or marginalized because she’s a hybrid of unknown origin. She wanted her lovely partner to live a good life, without wearing the scar of their relationship on her back.
Maybe something in her breathing betrayed her worries, as March started drawing circles on her back, the cold touch feeling rather comforting. “What’s worrying you?” she asked, flashing a bubbly smile to her lover.
“It’s a bit stupid to worry about things.” She said, taking a deep breath. “It’s just. I know that well, if one bleeds it can be killed. Just that… knowing that a human can kill a dragon? I suppose it made me question my mortality. And my strength. Especially when it comes to protecting you.”
March stopped, as her hand moved from Stelle’s back to her face. “Stelle, look. I’m sure things will be good. You’ve done so much just to make sure that I am ok…” She laughed. “And hey, I did train up to use a sword! Maybe I can also fight with you if the time ever comes.”
“You’re gonna bring… a sword to a gunfight?” Stelle laughed at the absurdity of the idea.
“A gun will pale in comparison to my swordsmanship!” She flashed a smug smile.
Stelle moved one of her arms and gave her lil Marchie a pat on her head. “Alrightie, I’ll leave protecting to you, my brave princess~”
“I will protect the dragon that kidnapped me.” March stuck her tongue out.
“Hey hey, it was a consensual kidnapping! Wait, no that does sound wrong.” They both bursted into a hearty laugh.
Stelle broke the hug and got herself up. She moved some pillows around so she could sit comfortably, having something to support her back. March took the opportunity to rest her head on her shoulder.
“So what has my little snowflake been up to these days? I did hear something about a work trip. Anything interesting happened?”
March's eyes sparkled for a second before she looked away, slightly embarrassed. “I befriended one of my coworkers! Remember that girl I was telling you about, the one I always wanted to talk with but I never really got a good opportunity to? Well, finally managed to!” She smiled.
“Ohh, Marchie got a new friend!” Stelle wiggled her eyebrows. “Something tells me it’s not juuust a friend.”
“She is just a friend.” March said smiling. “I did have a great time on the trip with her, making missing out on the pool much easier to digest.” She picked her phone, opening the gallery. “Here, a selfie of us eating some ice cream as people were getting burnt laying in the sun~!”
The phone was displaying a vanilla blonde girl, her eyes having a beautiful gradient of pink and blue, looking like she captured the sunset in her eyes. She noticed a small prominent vein on her face, in an unusual color than what a human would have them shown. She frowned a bit, blaming it on the selfie camera adding artefacts. Marchie looked amazing as well, with her cute little sun hat and her heart-shaped sunglasses. If anything, they were different kinds of cute. This picture could easily kill a person with the levels of cuteness.
“You two look cute together~” She complimented them, before her face got a bit more serious. “Right, going into the pool would have shown your powers to everyone...” Stelle sighed. “I’ve been meaning to ask. I know a lot of sorcerers, should I maybe talk with them about getting you some meds to help with your magic? It seems rather chaotic these days.”
“It should be ok without them, it barely manifests nowadays. Maybe me not using it made it weaker?” March tilted her head. “Magic is confusing, I have no idea how you can handle it.”
Stelle shrugged. “I suppose it’s just second nature for me. Although she’s a confusing mistress for me as well, as I prefer fighting with my fists and claws instead. Alas, how about we start that movie you prepared?”
Marchie’s eyes lightened up again as she got down from the bed. She woke up her laptop and pressed play. As the movie’s starting credits were rolling, she sneaked back to her place, resting her head on Stelle’s shoulder. The dragon gave her princess a small kiss on her forehead and she got a cute pleased noise out of her.