El Dorado
Prompt#: 99
Title: El Dorado
Word Count: 7874
Side Pairing(s): None
Rating: PG-13
Warning(s):[click to open]No warnings apply, unless mopey dragons count.
Disclaimer: The celebrities' names/images are merely borrowed and do not represent who the celebrities are in real life. No offense is intended towards them, their families or friends. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this fictional work. No copyright infringement is intended.
Summary: Chanyeol, a highly decorated soldier from a noble kingdom, comes to slay the dragon that's rumoured to lurk in the neighbouring mountains. He's surprised to find a lonely man there instead, sitting atop a mountain of gold.
Author's Note: Hope you like it, OP. Thanks for the lovely prompt.
(tink to AO3)
He’s tired of trudging through the mountains. Three days and Chanyeol hasn’t found so much as a spotted deer, to say nothing of dragons. And yet, the sightings had been definite, the terror of travelers passing through the mountains had been real enough. Chanyeol had personally interviewed them and they had given descriptions of a fearful creature. Perhaps the only odd thing had been the colour of the dragon - that had changed from person to person but they had all agreed on the basic fact. There was a dragon up in the mountains.
It would be another feather to his cap - another achievement to add to his already impressive list of achievements. When the king had offered up the commission, Chanyeol had accepted it without a second thought. It would be the ultimate thing - killing a dragon and bringing its head back to place it before the king. The rewards would be tremendous but he cared for something more than just rewards. To Park Chanyeol, his reputation mattered beyond anything. Which is why this damned dragon had better turn up or else...or else he is going to be very very unhappy.
Kai had said from the beginning that dragon-slaying was dangerous business. He had been referring to the hundreds of soldiers, hunters and other species of mercenaries who had vanished in the mountains. Better to stay safe and fight humans, he’d said, watching his blade spin in the air before catching it. Maybe Kai had been right. This was turning out to be a wild goose chase and Chanyeol knows without a doubt that if he returns without a dragon, people will think him a coward who ran away from a challenge. And if there is one thing he hates, it is being made to look like a coward.
So he pushes onwards, hacking viciously at the branches that block his path with his scythe-shaped blade. Chanyeol has had it made to the proportions of what the imaginary dragon’s neck but so far, all the blade has done is cut through harmless thorny trees. He has half a mind to swing it at one of the huge trees - it would give him some satisfaction to see the mighty tree come crashing down but it would blunt the blade and Chanyeol still hopes to meet a dragon. A hope that is diminishing every hour but he holds on to it.
Since when is a dragon so hard to find ? Chanyeol has listened attentively to all the stories - in allof them, regardless what the travelers did, whether they travelled in silence or raised hell during their passage, the dragon always found them. It would seem to be pretty enterprising dragon and yet, Chanyeol has been cursing freely, creating all sorts of disturbances along his journey but nothing so far. His opinion of the dragon is getting quite low. It’s almost as though the dragon doesn’t want to be found.
But at the back of his mind, somewhere deep and primal, he has an instinct that he’s being watched. It is a small, indeed a tiny niggling thought that he hasn’t been able to shake off. He’s meticulously searched his surroundings, laid traps too and lain awake at night but he hasn’t caught anyone or anything yet. His instincts are usually never wrong but in this case Chanyeol thinks it might just be the fruitless quest messing with his mind. After all, he is a man of action - even a hunt is enjoyable if one catches sight of their prey. The waiting is offset by the pleasurable anticipation of a win.
In sheer frustration, Chanyeol does exactly what he thought he wouldn’t. He raises his huge blade and swings it at the nearest tree. The first strike does nothing and it spurs his anger. He takes another mighty swing at it and the tree begins to list to the side. Five hard strikes later, there is the gratifying sound of wood splintering and Chanyeol jumps backwards, scales a nearby tree to watch it crashing down. It’s a beautiful sight and it makes a huge amount of noise going down completely destroying the peace of the forest. Pleased with himself, he begins to prepare to climb down when something catches his eye. Off to the left, right at the edge of his vision, there is something shimmering white. He turns around, just to the shimmering white vanish.
Intrigued, Chanyeol jumps down from the tree, sheathes his blade and runs in the direction. It could be the sunlight striking something shiny, something metallic but he’s unable to think of a single thing that would be that white in a forest of all things. Also he had the impression that whatever it was, it was large and yet when he reaches the spot where he thinks he saw it, there is nothing to be seen. Chanyeol inspects the ground for tracks, and then the barks of trees. Nothing. Not a single thing looks out of the ordinary.
He has a sneaking suspicion that he’s finally caught a glimpse of the dragon but then it presents a problem. If it’s indeed the dragon, where did such a huge creature vanish off to ? Chanyeol looks upwards - the canopy of closely entwined branches hardly provides any clear space for a dragon to take off. So where is it ? He glares around at the offending foliage, stumped for the moment.
He’s about to turn around and leave when there’s a rustling of leaves in the bushes just ahead. They are too low to hide dragons but he’s not too eager to waste his energies over any wild boars either so he grips his blade tightly, waits for whatever it is to emerge. When it does emerge, he starts laughing. It’s a lone spotted deer that looks at him inquisitively at him, while chewing some leaves.
He approaches it slowly and though the deer watches his approach with some wariness, it doesn’t run away. He sheaths his blade again, and kneels before the deer - it’s a little small for its size, quite young yet and perhaps has never encountered human beings because it hasn’t run away. Chanyeol extends a careful hand towards the deer, and the deer backs away a little now focused on his hand.
“Okay okay.” He retracts his hands and places them on his knees. The deer keeps a wary eye on him but goes back to chewing its leaves. Chanyeol watches the deer for a few minutes and the deer stares back at him unblinkingly.
“Well, aren’t you trusting, little deer. How do you feel about becoming my dinner, hmmm ? Saves me the effort of hunting.” He laughs at his own words but the deer uncannily seems to understand his words and backs away again. Or maybe it’s the sound of his voice.
“Don’t like the sound of it ? I thought as much.” He sits down cross legged on the forest floor, reaches out a long arm and pulls off some leaves and holds them out to the deer in an attempt to befriend it. After watching him for several moments, the deer deigns to pick the leaves out of his hand. It doesn’t look very impressed with his selection but turns its head away, chews sedately. Chanyeol takes the opportunity to pet it. Really he’s never seen such a friendly deer in his life - it’s absolutely not scared of him and if he wanted to, he could easily turn it into dinner. Strangely though, he doesn’t want to - maybe because the deer is so trusting of him. Its closed its eyes right now when his fingers scritched at the deer’s head - wait, did deers like being scritched like puppies ? Chanyeol has no idea - he’s never met deer in a social settings, they have mostly been served up in various dishes over the years.
“Well this is stupid.” He tells himself while still petting the deer. “Maybe all this wandering in the forest is making me insane. But you are a very trusting deer.” He stands up and the deer watches him unblinkingly. “Let me tell you, you should not wander near humans. Not everyone is as nice as me. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a dragon to hunt. On second thought, would you happen to know a dragon’s lair ? No ? I thought not. Well I’ll be on my way.”
He looks to the right and left - now if he were a dragon, which way would he go ? Right or left ? He decides to go leftwards, if only for a change in direction. Maybe he’s not high enough, maybe the dragon’s lair is much higher up than he’d calculated based on its sightings ?
A short while later, Chanyeol stops to get the lay of the land and realizes that the deer is trotting behind him. Has it been following him all this while ? He makes shooing motions at it. “Run away. I am going to look for a dragon. Big beast. Giant teeth. Not friends of deer. Run away.”
The deer doesn’t look like it understands at all. He takes a few more experimental steps and sure enough the deer trots along obediently though it keeps a very healthy distance.
“Shoo !” Chanyeol glares at the dragon, exasperated. “Go away.” The deer though doesn’t listen to him. It is a strange deer indeed, has taken an unaccountable fancy to him. “Shoo ! If you don’t go, I will make you into tasty venison stew. See if I don’t.”
The deer ignores him.
“Fine, be that way. Let the record state that I tried, you stupid deer.”
For the rest of the day, Chanyeol is followed by the surprisingly agile deer. It appears when he stops to rest, disappears for lengths of time but reappears soon enough. When dusk falls, Chanyeol is still short one dragon but he has gained a deer. When he lights a fire, he spots the deer hiding in the far bushes. Its presence is strangely comforting even though he usually prefers his own company most of the time.
“Come here, you stupid deer.” He calls out, beckons to the deer. “Don’t worry, I have provisions for my dinner. You can have some of this bread if you want.” He holds it out, waves it until the deer emerges from hiding. It skirts the fire, stares at the bread until Chanyeol tosses the little bit of bread in its direction. The deer sniffs at the bread and then walks back to the bush as though offended.
“Sorry your royal highness but that’s all I have. I couldn’t hunt because you stuck so close to me and scared off any prey. Dry bread it is.” He laughs at himself for making conversation with a deer but heck, there’s no one around to fault him for it. Leaning back against a tree, he closes his eyes and tries to remember everything he’d heard about the dragon.
…
He awakens with a start. The fire is still burning along but something’s changed. Something’s different. His instincts have awoken him for some reason. Chanyeol glances around - the deer is gone too but he has no time to worry about that. Grabbing his blade, he stands up back against the tree. Is that someone standing in the shadows, just beyond the fire ? Chanyeol peers out in the darkness.
“Who’s there ? Show yourself now !”
There’s no sound for a moment and then the sounds of shuffling. Two men emerge from the darkness, their weapons drawn. One of them is an archer too and has his arrow nocked, ready to shoot. Not a good sign.
“What do you want ?” He calls out roughly.
“A talking dragon. Now we have seen everything.” One of the men whisper to the other. “It uses human speech !”
“Of course it does. It’s a shape shifter, you fool. A tricky one this one.”
Chanyeol stares at the two men. “What ? You think I am a dragon ? Have you lost your mind ? Hit your head on some branch somewhere ?”
The archer gives him an indignant look. “No we have not. And if you aren’t the dragon, what are you doing wandering about the forest in the dead of the night , huh ?”
“I am hunting the dragon ! The king offered huge rewards to capture it.”
The archer turns to his friend. “What do you think ?”
“Oh it’s a shapeshifter, ofcourse it could have gone down to the town to gather information.”
“That’s true !” The archer raises his bow again. “You are the dragon !”
“Right. And I walked right into town, somehow gained access to the king’s court where only well known soldiers and hunters are allowed in, offered to hunt myself because why not ? If I was the dragon, I would be insulted right now at how stupid you think me.” Chanyeol growls out, exasperated. “I am a well known hunter. Park Chanyeol. I carry my seal with me but I don’t think I should show it to idiots like you. “ He turns to the archer because he’s the easier mark. “Put that bow down before you hit something, you fool.” He orders and the archer slowly obeys him, looks doubtfully at his partner.
“And you are going to stand there all night with your sword raised, is it ?” Chanyeol addresses the more cautious one of the two. “Fine. Be my guest. You, archer, sit down by the fire and tell me about this dragon. Why do you keep calling it a shapeshifter ?”
It’s the cautious one who replies. He finally puts his sword away and flops down by the fire. “Been hunting it for months now. Know all there is to know about it. It’s a goddamned shapeshifter. The rarest of the rare. Would be a prize if we could catch it and sell it to some travelling fair. Maybe we’d start our own fair - the magical shapeshifting dragon !” He sees the incredulous look on Chanyeol’s face and snorts.
“How long have you been hunting it ?”
“Three days. Three useless days.” Chanyeol replies.
“Well I’ve been hunting it for six months. It’s a shapeshifter. How else do you explain the way it disappears. One moment you see it, the next moment it’s gone ! Poof ! Vanished.”
“Are you two drunk ?” Chanyeol demands to know.
“Don’t believe us. You’ll realize it soon enough once that damned dragon leads you into a merry little chase.”
Chanyeol turns to the gullible archer. “And you believe his yarn ? Never mind. Don’t answer that. You two wouldn’t be together if you didn’t believe the same tall tale.”
“But it’s true. I saw it myself !” The archer protests.
“Oh really ? What did you see ?”
“One moment the dragon was there, the next moment, it was gone. I saw it with my own eyes. I did see a butterfly fly away. So it must have changed.”
“Must have…how drunk were you exactly when you saw this ?” Chanyeol exclaims in disgust.
“He’s a doubter too.” The archer nods to his partner who sighs. “They all are. Anyway, hunter, do you some meat on you ? This dragon scares off all the deer and smaller animals from this land. No good hunting at all. So do you ?”
“I don’t. Just dry bread. “ Chanyeol sighs. “I agree with you on the poor hunting.” He keeps the information about the deer to himself , unwilling to share the information. “I have some bread.”
“We do too. Just dry bread and water. This damn dragon - when I find it, I am going to kill it and eat it.” The cautious man grumbles.
“But dragon meat is tough. Besides we wouldn’t be able to cook it all at one go. We don’t have a large enough pot.” The archer points out, subsides when both his partner and Chanyeol glare at him.
“Well, boys. It has been very informative talking to the both of you. Now why don’t you clear out ? I got to catch up on my nap. Big day tomorrow. Got a butterfly to hunt down.” Chanyeol smiles sarcastically. ‘Big challenge there.”
The two men eventually leave after relieving Chanyeol of some water. He heaves a sigh of relief. Even the deer was more intelligent company than those two humans. He looks around the clearing but the deer is definitely gone. He closes his eyes, snorts at the mental image of the dragon-butterfly that the men have conjured up for him. When he opens his eyes again, the deer is at the edge of the clearing, nearest to him. Chanyeol smiles at the deer. “Come here. Did those idiots scare you off ?”
The deer steps cautiously closer and almost at the same moment, those two idiots step into the clearing.
“Hey could we borrow your fire ?” says the cautious man while the archer spots the deer. He’s a lot quicker than Chanyeol had given him credit for because before he could say a word, the archer has raised his bow and let loose an arrow at the deer. It leaps back into the forest but they all know that the arrow has found its mark. It disappears into the bushes and the two hunters chase after it.
Somehow, he feels protective about the deer which is why a second later, he picks up his weapon and chases after them. The sight of the drops of deer’s blood doesn’t improve his mood - that stupid deer had been too trusting for its own good, followed Chanyeol around like the fool it was. He follows the deer tracks, now made more obvious by the two louts following it. Up ahead, he can hear them crashing through the foliage, hot in pursuit.
He follows the sounds until they stop abruptly. Within a few shortsteps, he comes into a clearing where the two of them stand, peering around.
“Don’t tell me, you managed to lose an injured deer ?”
The archer looks a little woebegone. “Yes. There goes dinner.” While his friend turns to Chanyeol, annoyed. “You had the deer in your clutches. You could have easily caught it. You let it go.”
“I was luring it towards me when you interrupted me.” Chanyeol informs them primly. “You two idiots burst into the clearing just when I had it in my clutches. You are to blame. Not me.”
They turn to him, argue hotly with him. He engages them, and since he’s quite a head taller, he spots the deer limping silently away deeper into the forest. Chanyeol raises his voice, absolutely drowning out any other noises the escaping deer might be making and almost comes to fistfights with the two hunters. Eventually when he judges that the deer is well gone, he ends the fight. It’s tiresome to talk to the two hunters even and he renders a quick apology and before they can quite react, he vanishes. In reality, he shimmies up a tree, keeps an eye on the hunters progress. They waste quite some time at the clearing and much to Chanyeol’s pleasure, take a different direction from the one the deer has taken.
He gets down from the tree and considers his options. He could rest or he could chase after the deer. He doubts the animal will trust him after this current fiasco but he has the desire to find it nonetheless, maybe take the arrow out of the wound even. A limping deer is hardly going to be able to protect itself. He sways on the balls of his feet, considers his options and then runs in the direction he’s seen the deer disappear into.
By the moonlight, the trail is surprisingly easy to follow. The deer must have been bleeding quite a lot. Chanyeol grimaces at the thought - he doesn’t want his efforts to come to waste, just to find a dead animal. On the bright side, he’d have provisions for meat for his actual mission which is to hunt down the accursed dragon.
The trail is pretty complicated and if he hadn’t noticed the drops of darkened blood by the moonlight, he’d have never found his way. As it is, the trail leads far deeper into the forest than he had anticipated, towards the older parts of the forest where the nighttime seemed much more dark and ominous. Still he pressed on until the trail stopped abruptly on the banks of a stream.
He stopped and looked around. Had the deer crossed the stream ? The water hardly came upto his ankles so it’s possible that it had. This was one determined deer. Chanyeol crossed the water and paused. Up ahead was a small rocky outcrop of white stone. He approaches the outcrop, looks to the right and left but there’s no deer to be found and yet, there seems to be no way past the outcrop that he could see except by climbing it. Surely the deer wasn’t climbing in its state ?
“Strange.” Chanyeol mutters to himself. He decides to climb atop the rock - maybe he’d get a better lay of the land. Finding footholds are easy enough and soon he can see the top of the outcrop and something….on it. It’s too far away for him to make out so he climbs quickly, hauls himself onto the relatively flat surface of the rock and strides towards the thing he saw.
The moon comes out from behind the clouds and Park Chanyeol gets a very nasty shock. He’d been expecting to find a deer, dead or alive or somewhere inbetween. What he’d not been expecting was a sad-looking young man looking up at him, with an arrow sticking out from his ankle.
Chanyeol is lost for words. It isn’t often that it happens but he is. He stares at the arrow and then up at the man who is looking at him. Somewhere in all this staring, the thought filters through that the young man is beautiful, in a way that he hadn’t thought men could be.
But the more pressing problem is the arrow. Kneeling down on some unknown instinct, Chanyeol grips the young man’s ankle, and in one swift move, yanks it out. The cry of pain from the young man is heart wrenching but it had to be done. Chanyeol throws the arrow away and turns his attention back to the man who is clutching at his knee - he’s flat on his back on the rock, moaning in pain.
The hunter rummages in his bag but he hasn’t any healing herbs. Cursing his own oversight, Chanyeol tries to reassure the young man. “Hey ! Hey. I am going to the stream to get some water. Try to breathe through the pain, okay ?”
“You try to breathe through the pain when an arrow has gone through your leg.” Comes the surprisingly snappy answer followed by a groan of pain. Chanyeol stands to leave but the man opens his eyes. “Don’t go. I’ll be fine. It will heal soon.”
“It’s a bad wound.” Chanyeol inspects the wound. “You’ll bleed to death. Let me hunt for some herbs to bind it with. I am sure I’ll find some by the stream if I look hard enough.”
“No I won’t. I’ve been hurt worse. Just sit down.” A pause. “Keep me company ?”
The young man sounds so sad that Chanyeol feels a pang of sympathy. He sits down and notes now that the man barely has any clothes on. His rags are barely holding together but he doesn’t seem to be cold. He does have his eyes clenched tightly together as though the pain is too much to bear.
“Really I should get those herbs…” Chanyeol begins when those eyes fly open. “No. I’ll be fine.” The man breathes out with some effort. “It takes a little time.”
“What takes a little time ?”
“Healing.”
“A wound like that will take a month to heal atleast.” Chanyeol tries again and this time, he is met with a narrowed gaze.
“Shut up.”
Surprising even himself, Chanyeol subsides. There is something forceful about the young man, something makes him want to shut up and obey. Which is all fine but the question that is plaguing him is how the arrow that nicked a deer is now in the young man’s leg. Had those two hunters mistakenly shot at a person too ? What could they hope to achieve out of this young man ? He barely had clothes on him.
“Er…how did you get an arrow in your leg ?” He ventures to ask.
“I was shot. You were there.” The young man gives him a meaningful look and Chanyeol stares at him, uncomprehending. There are implications to what the man just said but it’s hardly believable. Maybe he meant something else entirely.
“Do you mean that when those louts were indiscriminately firing arrows you got caught somehow ?”
“They shot just one arrow, and you know it.”
“But…but that’s impossible. They shot a deer and you…you are a human being.”
“Well spotted.” The snark in the man’s tone is undeniable. But he turns, gives Chanyeol a tired smile. “You’ll reach your conclusion eventually, hunter.”
“But you’re not a deer !” Chanyeol feels stupid for pointing it out repeatedly. “But…you say the hunter’s arrow struck you. Their only arrow. But if you’re a deer and you’re human then…”
“Yes, exactly.” The young man gives him a kind smile. “Say it.”
“You’re a shapeshifter ! But that means that they were saying the truth and you…you are the !”
“Dragon. Yes. Welcome, hunter. I believe you’ve been searching for me.”
Chanyeol has half risen to his feet - his own conclusion sounding unbelievable to his ears. “But…it’s not possible.”
“It is. I followed you as a deer all day. You told me to stay away from humans, gave me some very questionable bread to eat too, and tried to shoo me away like I was errant puppy. That was funny.”
The man rolls onto his side, smiles a little. “All the while you were cursing at me. Or rather my dragon form and how I had eluded you for days.Well, here I am…”
“But you can’t be the dragon !” Chanyeol protests. “You can’t be because which dragon would willingly reveal himself to a hunter. You’d have to be a very stupid dragon for that and I don’t believe it. Infact I don’t believe any of it.”
“Maybe I revealed myself because…because I thought you were nice ? Maybe I am lonely and wanted to talk to ? Anyway, I am the dragon.” The man pushes himself upto a sitting position and shuts his eyes, appears to be concentrate on something. Before Chanyeol’s eyes, the surface of rocky outcrop beneath his feet turns translucent and a moment later, he finds himself standing on gold.
Chanyeol’s jaw drops to the ground. It’s a huge pile of gold - gold of all kinds - coins stacked neatly atop one another, gold bars of all sizes and stamps upon them. Raw unmined gold, still embedded in its rockform. He is standing on a veritable treasure. Bending down, he picks up a coin, bites into it and holds it up in the moonlight, feels the heft of the coin. Yep, still gold. Shocked, he locks eyes with the man…no, the dragon.
“You really are the dragon !”
“I said as much.” The dragon gives his gold a dispassionate look, indicates it all with a wave of his hand. “I am the dragon you are looking for and this is my hoard.”
Chanyeol is having real difficulty forming full sentences now. He gurgles at the young man who smiles kindly at him. “Yes, it is a lot to take in. Sit down, breathe. This gold will still be here when you’ve caught up with everything.”
The hunter obeys the dragon, keeps a healthy distance from which which has the dragon rolling its eyes.
“But…if you are the dragon..” Chanyeol takes several deep breaths. “Why…why would you reveal yourself to me ? You knew I was hunting for you.”
“Maybe I got tired of running away.” The dragon shrugs. “Who knows ? The more important question is what are you going to do now ? You could kill me and take all this gold….I am injured just now. Quite the best time to kill me. When I am this weak.”
“But…”
“If I recover my strength, who knows - I might want to live. You won’t get another chance like this, hunter.”
Chanyeol frowns. “You seem very bent on being killed. Why is that ?”
“Does it matter ?”
“Yes, I don’t like being told what to do.”
His reply has the dragon smiling. “Is that so ? My apologies. I thought the king told you to kill me ?”
“That’s different.” Chanyeol points out haughtily. “I was offered a commission and accepted it.”
“Well, I am offering you more ‘commission’ and a chance to earn your reward.”
“Again, why are you so keen on being killed ?” Chanyeol casts a suspicious look on the dragon.
“Like I said.” The man explains patiently. “Maybe I got tired of running away. It’s not an easy life, being hunted by everyone who has a knife or a bow.”
“So you just decided to lie down and offer yourself to me ?” Chanyeol crosses his arms over his chest. “I find that hard to believe.”
“Fine. Be that way. Let me go find those stupid hunters you were with.” He makes as if to get up but falls back because of the pain. “Damn they looked stupid but they sure had good aim. This hurts so badly.”
“Should I get those….”
“Herbs ? This will heal by itself before dawn. Which is coming very soon. If you want to claim your reward and all this money…..you have to kill me soon.”
“I am not going to kill you, okay ?!” Chanyeol shouts exasperated. “I don’t kill humans. Well not any more and certainly not helpless ones who might or might not be delusional. I don’t know how you did it but I can live with a rock turning into a pile of gold. Maybe it’s magic, maybe it’s something poisonous I ate that’s giving me hallucinations. But there’s no killing happening here so get that thought out of your head.”
“I see.” The man/dragon/deer/something turns his head away, sighs.
“Besides, I don’t think you really wanted to be killed. If you did, you’d have waited for those two hunters. They said they had been hunting for six months so you had plenty of time to hand yourself over.”
“That is true enough. They have been most persistent and they are the only ones that guessed that I was a shape shifter. Smart of them.”
“Uh….”
“Yes, hunter. I am a shapeshifter. I can take the form of almost any animal and humans are nothing but a form of animals.”
“So you can be a butterfly ?”
“With effort…yes.”
“Great.” Chanyeol mutters. “Just great. Is that how you gave me the slip today morning ?”
“I have been following you for two days now in my human form. While shifting to a deer, I accidentally turned into a dragon for a split second which is when you spotted me. Your hacking away at that giant tree startled me.”
“So you admit to being a dragon ?”
“Have I been saying anything different ?”
“No…no. I think I am going mad.” Chanyeol groans, clutches at his head.
“No you are not.”
They sit in silence, staring at eachother. Chanyeol breaks the silence finally. “Are you…do you have a name ?”
“Sure. It’s Baekhyun. Do you have a name ?”
“Chanyeol. Dragons have names ?”
“Yes they do. We communicate amongst our own kind by name.”
“I see. Where is the rest of your kind ?”
Baekhyun the whatever-he-is, gives Chanyeol a furtive look. “Does it matter ? I am what you want.”
“You seem awfully alone. Where is your pack. Come to think of it, lone dragons are rare. Did you get separated from your pack somehow ?”
“Why do you care ?” Baekhyun asks. “You have a mission from your king. To serve my head on a platter. Why do you care where my pack is ?”
“Well….I don’t but…” Chanyeol sits back down on atop the gold bars. “I don’t get this. I don’t get any of this. I am…I am confused.” He sighs deeply. “Look, Baekhyun, dragon, whatever. I…I don’t think I can kill you.”
“Maybe if I turn into a dragon, you will feel differently ?” Baekhyun shuts his eyes and is no doubt trying to turn but Chanyeol has had enough. He clutches the man by the shoulders and shakes him roughly.
“What’s wrong with you ?! Why do you want to die so badly ?”
“Because…because I don’t have anything to live for.” Baekhyun’s whisper is almost inaudible. “I don’t. I’ve been thinking for awhile now. The only thing I lacked was a worthy hunter to kill me and now I have that too.”
“Oh ? Now you are an expert on worthy hunters too, I see ?” Chanyeol replies rudely.
“I heard you tell them that you carry your own seal. That’s only for very recognized hunters is it not ? You got a commission from the king himself so surely you are worthy ?”
“That might be the case but I am still not going to kill you.”
“Why not ? You have to kill the dragon to get its hoard. Don’t you want to be rich ?”
“I didn’t accept the commission for the money.” Chanyeol grits his teeth. “Why does everyone keep assuming that.”
“Prestige and honour then.” Baekhyun mutters listlessly. “You’ll get that too if you kill me.”
“Here’s a new thought. Can you please shut up about being killed ? It’s tiresome.”
“But…”
“Be quiet.” Chanyeol orders and again there is a brief period of silence. He tries to think coherently but a part of his mind is still shrieking at the idea of a shape shifter dragon. The rest of his thoughts are fully occupied with trivialities like ‘oh, the dragon talks !’ and ‘where is its tail’ and more useless thoughts of that nature. He definitely has no desire to kill it though which is odd. Where is the….fun…or anything In killing such a pitiful dragon which is trying hard to convince him to kill it ?
“Wait…you said you had nothing else to live for. What did you mean ?”
“I meant exactly what I said.”
“So what do you need ?” Chanyeol asks, curious. “What do you need that you already don’t have ?”
The dragon sits up, inspects his ankle. “Are you married, hunter ?”
“Ofcourse not. Marriage is a distraction from hunting and I swore never to let anything interfere.”
“But do you not feel the need of a companion?”
“No.”
“Well then you are lucky. I had a mate once. He died of his injuries while battling with humans. They didn’t kill him and yet, in a way, they did.”
“I am….um…sorry for your loss ?” Chanyeol feels a bit awkward. “Why were they after him ?”
The dragon gives him a look. “Why do you think ? Prestige, honour, gold. They mounted my mate’s head on huge plaque I hear, down at the castle.”
“Oh yes !” Chanyeol brightens up at the memory. “The stories they tell of that dragonhead is the stuff of legends .” He realizes who he’s talking to. “I mean, very sad to hear that you two were related ofcourse.”
“….”
“A moment. So you want to turn martyr and hand yourself over so that you can join your mate in the king’s court ? Not a good idea, Baekhyun. They might put you in different rooms, you know. One dragon head per room is the king’s policy.”
“….”
“Fine. I was joking. But it’s still a stupid idea. Romantic sure, but stupid.”
“What would you know of love, hunter ? You kill for pleasure.”
“…never mind that. Do you have a tail ?”
Baekhyun gives him an irritated look. “What’s that got to do with anything ?”
“I have never seen a dragon or its tail for that matter. Just curious.” Chanyeol falls silent for all of a minute. “Do you have ears ?”
“Yes. And before you ask, very sharp fangs as well. And scales. And legs and a body. And everything that a normal dragon does, you know ?”
“Good.. good. Do you breathe fire ?”
The dragon’s smile turns dangerous. “Would you like to find out ?”
“Maybe not.” Chanyeol mutters. “What, don’t give me those looks ? When you were a deer, I didn’t turn you into my dinner did I ? “
“No. You didn’t. Why not ?”
“You seemed like a very stupid deer.”
“Hey !”
“Which deer tries to make friends with humans ? It’s asking for trouble. “
“Which human being offers a deer bread ? You don’t seem to be so full of intelligence either.”
They start laughing at the same time. The conversation is ridiculous and shouldn’t even be happening. But there they are sitting atop a pile of gold, the moonlight shining down upon the two of them - a dragon and a human.
“Tell me more about your mate ?” Chanyeol asks abruptly. He isn’t even sure why he does. He forestalls Baekhyun’s protests. “I just want to know.”
The dragon shrugs. He winces a little but manages to cross his legs. “Healing nicely. Anyway, my mate. He was one of the last of a long line of dragons. Very ancient. We mated when we were both quite young, moved around until we found what we thought was hospitable land. Dragons don’t mature until they are a hundred at least. We were hardly twenty years old and immature and didn’t quite know how to defend ourselves. The humans overwhelmed us one day and he got the worst of the injuries. He died too and when they found him, they cut off his head and took it down to the plains as a trophy.” Baekhyun snorts. “Some trophy. They couldn’t kill him while he lived. They had to wait to find his corpse. That’s no trophy - even by your barbaric human stands. So much for honor and glory - you’d stoop to behead a dead dragon instead of letting it rest.”
Chanyeol has no answer for that. That dragon slaying happened before his time. A thought strikes him, “Wait, are you saying you’re eighty years old.”
“Nearer to a hundred.” The dragon scowls. “I am an old mature dragon.”
“If your mate died seventy five years ago, why are you still here ? I would have thought you’d want to leave. Why are you still here ?”
Baekhyun sighs. “I don’t know. I ask myself that but I haven’t been able to make myself leave. I just want it all to be over.”
“Nonsense. What you need is a mate. Go and find one. I am sure there are many dragons who would be happy to have someone…I mean something…wait, some animal ? Some um…dragon like you.”
“I don’t want someone new.” Baekhyun replies quietly.
“Well you will never know until you go down to the local tavern…I mean to the local riverside ? Where do dragons gather anyway ? Somewhere. Anyway, go there and see if you like someone ?”
The dragon gives him an incredulous look. “What ?”
“I mean it.” Chanyeol leans forward excited. “Just polish your scales or whatever a dragon does to look attractive.”
“I….I can’t believe I am having this conversation. You’re insane. If you’re not going to kill me, just go.” And with that, Baekhyun turns away, his back to Chanyeol and it’s a clear sign of dismissal.
Except Chanyeol has nowhere to go. He is most definitely one dragon short and while that’s a loss to bear (his reputation is going to take such a hit), he finds this dragon quite amusing. It’s a bit mopey to be sure and keeps wanting to die but not on his watch. He’s tracked the dragon/deer through the forest and feels very protective about it.
“Aren’t you going to go ?”
“No. Not until you promise me that you’re not going to kill yourself.”
A derisive snort. “I am making no such promise.”
“What a waste. If I was a dragon, I’d never be so stupid so as to try and kill myself. So what my mate has passed on. I’d mourn, sure but then…well, life has to move on. I am sure your mate never meant for you to be this way and if he did, you’re better off without him.”
Baekhyun turns back to face him, indignant. “Don’t say that.”
“I’ll say what I please.”
“Rude human.”
“Weepy dragon.”
Baekhyun huffs, turns back to face the other way. “Go away, human.”
“ I have nowhere to go.” Baekhyun hears the sounds of the hunter arranging himself - when he turns around, the hunter is flat on his back beside him, looking up at the starry sky.
“What do you mean you have nowhere to go ?”
“Exactly that. Can’t return to town. No dragon’s head and all that. There are no wars nearby that I could fight in. Too peaceful for my tastes down in the valley. All in all, I am better off here.”
It’s fun watching the dragon splutter. “You can’t stay here !”
“Watch me.”
“But this is my home !”
“You have a lot of space. Share.”
“But…but…”
“No buts, Baekhyun the dragon. Would you turn away a poor defenseless hunter ?”
“I may be weepy but I am not blind. With that blade, you call yourself defenseless ?”
Chanyeol turns to his side, turns fully to face Baekhyun. “It’ll be fun. You said you’re lonely. And now you have me to keep you company !”
“This is not what I had in mind.” The dragon points out emphatically but he doesn’t protest further. Soon there is the steady sound of breathing and Baekhyun realizes that the hunter has fallen asleep. The sky will lighten soon, dawn is nearly upon them. He turns to his side and looks at the odd human by his side. When he isn’t talking utter nonsense, he is handsome…for a human. A human….what would his mate say if he knew that Baekhyun had (accidentally) befriended a human. What would he say ?
--
“What’s a good looking dragon like you doing in a forest like this ?!”
Baekhyun’s lips twitch but he refuses to smile. For one, the human is annoying and he should be annoyed ! Not trying his hardest to hold back his laughter. Yesterday, he’d latched onto the human in deer form, today, the human has latched onto him. He hadn’t been joking when he said that he’d nowhere to go. Right now ? Baekhyun is trudging through the forest with a human wielding an abnormally large blade right behind him. Oh and said human is trying to cheer him up with very idiotic lines that he’s no doubt picked up at some stupid human tavern.
“C’mon you know that was a good one. I know you want to smile. Go on, you can smile.” Chanyeol encourages him.
“No I don’t . And be quiet !”
“Why ? Who’s there to hear us. You’ve scared people away from these mountains for the most part. I can say what I want.”
“It’s…it’s weird. And let me tell you dragons don’t mix with humans. You are bad news for us. Can’t you just leave ?”
“Don’t want to.”
“Ugh…fine.”
Baekhyun continues his stomping through the forest. Why he’s at all walking when he could shapeshift at will, he doesn’t know. Probably to allow the human to keep up pace with him. Why ? Well, he hates to admit it but this is the first time in years that he isn’t lonely. Even though it is a human and a hunter at that.
“Where are we going ?” The human pipes up. Baekhyun groans. He’s barely had a moment’s silence.
“Do you care ?”
“Not particularly.”
“Then….”
“Yes, I know. ‘Be quiet.’ I know you’re old but do you have to be no fun, too ?”
He whirls around and it’s so sudden that the human isn’t able to react. He crashes into Baekhyun and they topple over. Chanyeol raises himself on his palms, spits out leaves and realizes that Baekhyun is squished beneath him.
“Hey aren’t you supposed to be a big strong dragon ? You went over like a leaf. Hahaha”
Baekhyun groans, pushes him aside. “I shapeshift, you idiot. That means taking on all the traits of the form I am turning to. I can’t weigh the same as a dragon when I am a human being nor can I breathe fire. Which, by the way, I am beginning to regret right now. Believe me !”
“You are one touchy dragon. You need to work on that before you get back into the market as Kai likes to put it.”
“Will you stop saying that ? I am not going back into any market. I am not going anywhere !”
“Why not ? Anyone..,any dragon I mean would be lucky to have you. You are handsome and wealthy and fiery without the actual fire. What’s not to like ?” The human trails off, has this considering look in his eye that Baekhyun finds quite suspicious.
“Are you trying to say something , human?”
“Huh ? No ! Nothing at all.”
“Good. Now we have arrived at the nearest point that I can descend to without actually visiting the valley. Our ways part here…Chanyeol. Be well.”
With that, Baekhyun turns around resolutely, makes his way uphill. He hears Chanyeol call out but he shape shifts and moves quickly. He’s taken a deliberately convoluted route but he’s confident the human wouldn’t be able to find him again. His hoard he is too tired to transport so he casts the usual spell over it and goes hunting for a new place to make his home.
Five days and nights later, Baekhyun finds a suitable spot even deeper in the jungle. No sunlight or moonlight penetrates through the trees here - he feels as though he is hiding but from what he has no idea. The loneliness that had dogged him for seventy five years returns with a vengeance but he is defenseless against it. All he can do is curl up on his side, in pain, and try not to drown in cold cold memories of his past.
On the sixth night, he hears a noise and opens his eyes. It’s the hunter again. Chanyeol standing at the mouth of his lair with his goofy smile and too large scythe. “I found you !” The human declares happily, strides forward and envelops Baekhyun in a hug.
The cold and the pain seep out in an instant.
--
Title: El Dorado
Word Count: 7874
Side Pairing(s): None
Rating: PG-13
Warning(s):[click to open]No warnings apply, unless mopey dragons count.
Disclaimer: The celebrities' names/images are merely borrowed and do not represent who the celebrities are in real life. No offense is intended towards them, their families or friends. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this fictional work. No copyright infringement is intended.
Summary: Chanyeol, a highly decorated soldier from a noble kingdom, comes to slay the dragon that's rumoured to lurk in the neighbouring mountains. He's surprised to find a lonely man there instead, sitting atop a mountain of gold.
Author's Note: Hope you like it, OP. Thanks for the lovely prompt.
(tink to AO3)
He’s tired of trudging through the mountains. Three days and Chanyeol hasn’t found so much as a spotted deer, to say nothing of dragons. And yet, the sightings had been definite, the terror of travelers passing through the mountains had been real enough. Chanyeol had personally interviewed them and they had given descriptions of a fearful creature. Perhaps the only odd thing had been the colour of the dragon - that had changed from person to person but they had all agreed on the basic fact. There was a dragon up in the mountains.
It would be another feather to his cap - another achievement to add to his already impressive list of achievements. When the king had offered up the commission, Chanyeol had accepted it without a second thought. It would be the ultimate thing - killing a dragon and bringing its head back to place it before the king. The rewards would be tremendous but he cared for something more than just rewards. To Park Chanyeol, his reputation mattered beyond anything. Which is why this damned dragon had better turn up or else...or else he is going to be very very unhappy.
Kai had said from the beginning that dragon-slaying was dangerous business. He had been referring to the hundreds of soldiers, hunters and other species of mercenaries who had vanished in the mountains. Better to stay safe and fight humans, he’d said, watching his blade spin in the air before catching it. Maybe Kai had been right. This was turning out to be a wild goose chase and Chanyeol knows without a doubt that if he returns without a dragon, people will think him a coward who ran away from a challenge. And if there is one thing he hates, it is being made to look like a coward.
So he pushes onwards, hacking viciously at the branches that block his path with his scythe-shaped blade. Chanyeol has had it made to the proportions of what the imaginary dragon’s neck but so far, all the blade has done is cut through harmless thorny trees. He has half a mind to swing it at one of the huge trees - it would give him some satisfaction to see the mighty tree come crashing down but it would blunt the blade and Chanyeol still hopes to meet a dragon. A hope that is diminishing every hour but he holds on to it.
Since when is a dragon so hard to find ? Chanyeol has listened attentively to all the stories - in allof them, regardless what the travelers did, whether they travelled in silence or raised hell during their passage, the dragon always found them. It would seem to be pretty enterprising dragon and yet, Chanyeol has been cursing freely, creating all sorts of disturbances along his journey but nothing so far. His opinion of the dragon is getting quite low. It’s almost as though the dragon doesn’t want to be found.
But at the back of his mind, somewhere deep and primal, he has an instinct that he’s being watched. It is a small, indeed a tiny niggling thought that he hasn’t been able to shake off. He’s meticulously searched his surroundings, laid traps too and lain awake at night but he hasn’t caught anyone or anything yet. His instincts are usually never wrong but in this case Chanyeol thinks it might just be the fruitless quest messing with his mind. After all, he is a man of action - even a hunt is enjoyable if one catches sight of their prey. The waiting is offset by the pleasurable anticipation of a win.
In sheer frustration, Chanyeol does exactly what he thought he wouldn’t. He raises his huge blade and swings it at the nearest tree. The first strike does nothing and it spurs his anger. He takes another mighty swing at it and the tree begins to list to the side. Five hard strikes later, there is the gratifying sound of wood splintering and Chanyeol jumps backwards, scales a nearby tree to watch it crashing down. It’s a beautiful sight and it makes a huge amount of noise going down completely destroying the peace of the forest. Pleased with himself, he begins to prepare to climb down when something catches his eye. Off to the left, right at the edge of his vision, there is something shimmering white. He turns around, just to the shimmering white vanish.
Intrigued, Chanyeol jumps down from the tree, sheathes his blade and runs in the direction. It could be the sunlight striking something shiny, something metallic but he’s unable to think of a single thing that would be that white in a forest of all things. Also he had the impression that whatever it was, it was large and yet when he reaches the spot where he thinks he saw it, there is nothing to be seen. Chanyeol inspects the ground for tracks, and then the barks of trees. Nothing. Not a single thing looks out of the ordinary.
He has a sneaking suspicion that he’s finally caught a glimpse of the dragon but then it presents a problem. If it’s indeed the dragon, where did such a huge creature vanish off to ? Chanyeol looks upwards - the canopy of closely entwined branches hardly provides any clear space for a dragon to take off. So where is it ? He glares around at the offending foliage, stumped for the moment.
He’s about to turn around and leave when there’s a rustling of leaves in the bushes just ahead. They are too low to hide dragons but he’s not too eager to waste his energies over any wild boars either so he grips his blade tightly, waits for whatever it is to emerge. When it does emerge, he starts laughing. It’s a lone spotted deer that looks at him inquisitively at him, while chewing some leaves.
He approaches it slowly and though the deer watches his approach with some wariness, it doesn’t run away. He sheaths his blade again, and kneels before the deer - it’s a little small for its size, quite young yet and perhaps has never encountered human beings because it hasn’t run away. Chanyeol extends a careful hand towards the deer, and the deer backs away a little now focused on his hand.
“Okay okay.” He retracts his hands and places them on his knees. The deer keeps a wary eye on him but goes back to chewing its leaves. Chanyeol watches the deer for a few minutes and the deer stares back at him unblinkingly.
“Well, aren’t you trusting, little deer. How do you feel about becoming my dinner, hmmm ? Saves me the effort of hunting.” He laughs at his own words but the deer uncannily seems to understand his words and backs away again. Or maybe it’s the sound of his voice.
“Don’t like the sound of it ? I thought as much.” He sits down cross legged on the forest floor, reaches out a long arm and pulls off some leaves and holds them out to the deer in an attempt to befriend it. After watching him for several moments, the deer deigns to pick the leaves out of his hand. It doesn’t look very impressed with his selection but turns its head away, chews sedately. Chanyeol takes the opportunity to pet it. Really he’s never seen such a friendly deer in his life - it’s absolutely not scared of him and if he wanted to, he could easily turn it into dinner. Strangely though, he doesn’t want to - maybe because the deer is so trusting of him. Its closed its eyes right now when his fingers scritched at the deer’s head - wait, did deers like being scritched like puppies ? Chanyeol has no idea - he’s never met deer in a social settings, they have mostly been served up in various dishes over the years.
“Well this is stupid.” He tells himself while still petting the deer. “Maybe all this wandering in the forest is making me insane. But you are a very trusting deer.” He stands up and the deer watches him unblinkingly. “Let me tell you, you should not wander near humans. Not everyone is as nice as me. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a dragon to hunt. On second thought, would you happen to know a dragon’s lair ? No ? I thought not. Well I’ll be on my way.”
He looks to the right and left - now if he were a dragon, which way would he go ? Right or left ? He decides to go leftwards, if only for a change in direction. Maybe he’s not high enough, maybe the dragon’s lair is much higher up than he’d calculated based on its sightings ?
A short while later, Chanyeol stops to get the lay of the land and realizes that the deer is trotting behind him. Has it been following him all this while ? He makes shooing motions at it. “Run away. I am going to look for a dragon. Big beast. Giant teeth. Not friends of deer. Run away.”
The deer doesn’t look like it understands at all. He takes a few more experimental steps and sure enough the deer trots along obediently though it keeps a very healthy distance.
“Shoo !” Chanyeol glares at the dragon, exasperated. “Go away.” The deer though doesn’t listen to him. It is a strange deer indeed, has taken an unaccountable fancy to him. “Shoo ! If you don’t go, I will make you into tasty venison stew. See if I don’t.”
The deer ignores him.
“Fine, be that way. Let the record state that I tried, you stupid deer.”
For the rest of the day, Chanyeol is followed by the surprisingly agile deer. It appears when he stops to rest, disappears for lengths of time but reappears soon enough. When dusk falls, Chanyeol is still short one dragon but he has gained a deer. When he lights a fire, he spots the deer hiding in the far bushes. Its presence is strangely comforting even though he usually prefers his own company most of the time.
“Come here, you stupid deer.” He calls out, beckons to the deer. “Don’t worry, I have provisions for my dinner. You can have some of this bread if you want.” He holds it out, waves it until the deer emerges from hiding. It skirts the fire, stares at the bread until Chanyeol tosses the little bit of bread in its direction. The deer sniffs at the bread and then walks back to the bush as though offended.
“Sorry your royal highness but that’s all I have. I couldn’t hunt because you stuck so close to me and scared off any prey. Dry bread it is.” He laughs at himself for making conversation with a deer but heck, there’s no one around to fault him for it. Leaning back against a tree, he closes his eyes and tries to remember everything he’d heard about the dragon.
…
He awakens with a start. The fire is still burning along but something’s changed. Something’s different. His instincts have awoken him for some reason. Chanyeol glances around - the deer is gone too but he has no time to worry about that. Grabbing his blade, he stands up back against the tree. Is that someone standing in the shadows, just beyond the fire ? Chanyeol peers out in the darkness.
“Who’s there ? Show yourself now !”
There’s no sound for a moment and then the sounds of shuffling. Two men emerge from the darkness, their weapons drawn. One of them is an archer too and has his arrow nocked, ready to shoot. Not a good sign.
“What do you want ?” He calls out roughly.
“A talking dragon. Now we have seen everything.” One of the men whisper to the other. “It uses human speech !”
“Of course it does. It’s a shape shifter, you fool. A tricky one this one.”
Chanyeol stares at the two men. “What ? You think I am a dragon ? Have you lost your mind ? Hit your head on some branch somewhere ?”
The archer gives him an indignant look. “No we have not. And if you aren’t the dragon, what are you doing wandering about the forest in the dead of the night , huh ?”
“I am hunting the dragon ! The king offered huge rewards to capture it.”
The archer turns to his friend. “What do you think ?”
“Oh it’s a shapeshifter, ofcourse it could have gone down to the town to gather information.”
“That’s true !” The archer raises his bow again. “You are the dragon !”
“Right. And I walked right into town, somehow gained access to the king’s court where only well known soldiers and hunters are allowed in, offered to hunt myself because why not ? If I was the dragon, I would be insulted right now at how stupid you think me.” Chanyeol growls out, exasperated. “I am a well known hunter. Park Chanyeol. I carry my seal with me but I don’t think I should show it to idiots like you. “ He turns to the archer because he’s the easier mark. “Put that bow down before you hit something, you fool.” He orders and the archer slowly obeys him, looks doubtfully at his partner.
“And you are going to stand there all night with your sword raised, is it ?” Chanyeol addresses the more cautious one of the two. “Fine. Be my guest. You, archer, sit down by the fire and tell me about this dragon. Why do you keep calling it a shapeshifter ?”
It’s the cautious one who replies. He finally puts his sword away and flops down by the fire. “Been hunting it for months now. Know all there is to know about it. It’s a goddamned shapeshifter. The rarest of the rare. Would be a prize if we could catch it and sell it to some travelling fair. Maybe we’d start our own fair - the magical shapeshifting dragon !” He sees the incredulous look on Chanyeol’s face and snorts.
“How long have you been hunting it ?”
“Three days. Three useless days.” Chanyeol replies.
“Well I’ve been hunting it for six months. It’s a shapeshifter. How else do you explain the way it disappears. One moment you see it, the next moment it’s gone ! Poof ! Vanished.”
“Are you two drunk ?” Chanyeol demands to know.
“Don’t believe us. You’ll realize it soon enough once that damned dragon leads you into a merry little chase.”
Chanyeol turns to the gullible archer. “And you believe his yarn ? Never mind. Don’t answer that. You two wouldn’t be together if you didn’t believe the same tall tale.”
“But it’s true. I saw it myself !” The archer protests.
“Oh really ? What did you see ?”
“One moment the dragon was there, the next moment, it was gone. I saw it with my own eyes. I did see a butterfly fly away. So it must have changed.”
“Must have…how drunk were you exactly when you saw this ?” Chanyeol exclaims in disgust.
“He’s a doubter too.” The archer nods to his partner who sighs. “They all are. Anyway, hunter, do you some meat on you ? This dragon scares off all the deer and smaller animals from this land. No good hunting at all. So do you ?”
“I don’t. Just dry bread. “ Chanyeol sighs. “I agree with you on the poor hunting.” He keeps the information about the deer to himself , unwilling to share the information. “I have some bread.”
“We do too. Just dry bread and water. This damn dragon - when I find it, I am going to kill it and eat it.” The cautious man grumbles.
“But dragon meat is tough. Besides we wouldn’t be able to cook it all at one go. We don’t have a large enough pot.” The archer points out, subsides when both his partner and Chanyeol glare at him.
“Well, boys. It has been very informative talking to the both of you. Now why don’t you clear out ? I got to catch up on my nap. Big day tomorrow. Got a butterfly to hunt down.” Chanyeol smiles sarcastically. ‘Big challenge there.”
The two men eventually leave after relieving Chanyeol of some water. He heaves a sigh of relief. Even the deer was more intelligent company than those two humans. He looks around the clearing but the deer is definitely gone. He closes his eyes, snorts at the mental image of the dragon-butterfly that the men have conjured up for him. When he opens his eyes again, the deer is at the edge of the clearing, nearest to him. Chanyeol smiles at the deer. “Come here. Did those idiots scare you off ?”
The deer steps cautiously closer and almost at the same moment, those two idiots step into the clearing.
“Hey could we borrow your fire ?” says the cautious man while the archer spots the deer. He’s a lot quicker than Chanyeol had given him credit for because before he could say a word, the archer has raised his bow and let loose an arrow at the deer. It leaps back into the forest but they all know that the arrow has found its mark. It disappears into the bushes and the two hunters chase after it.
Somehow, he feels protective about the deer which is why a second later, he picks up his weapon and chases after them. The sight of the drops of deer’s blood doesn’t improve his mood - that stupid deer had been too trusting for its own good, followed Chanyeol around like the fool it was. He follows the deer tracks, now made more obvious by the two louts following it. Up ahead, he can hear them crashing through the foliage, hot in pursuit.
He follows the sounds until they stop abruptly. Within a few shortsteps, he comes into a clearing where the two of them stand, peering around.
“Don’t tell me, you managed to lose an injured deer ?”
The archer looks a little woebegone. “Yes. There goes dinner.” While his friend turns to Chanyeol, annoyed. “You had the deer in your clutches. You could have easily caught it. You let it go.”
“I was luring it towards me when you interrupted me.” Chanyeol informs them primly. “You two idiots burst into the clearing just when I had it in my clutches. You are to blame. Not me.”
They turn to him, argue hotly with him. He engages them, and since he’s quite a head taller, he spots the deer limping silently away deeper into the forest. Chanyeol raises his voice, absolutely drowning out any other noises the escaping deer might be making and almost comes to fistfights with the two hunters. Eventually when he judges that the deer is well gone, he ends the fight. It’s tiresome to talk to the two hunters even and he renders a quick apology and before they can quite react, he vanishes. In reality, he shimmies up a tree, keeps an eye on the hunters progress. They waste quite some time at the clearing and much to Chanyeol’s pleasure, take a different direction from the one the deer has taken.
He gets down from the tree and considers his options. He could rest or he could chase after the deer. He doubts the animal will trust him after this current fiasco but he has the desire to find it nonetheless, maybe take the arrow out of the wound even. A limping deer is hardly going to be able to protect itself. He sways on the balls of his feet, considers his options and then runs in the direction he’s seen the deer disappear into.
By the moonlight, the trail is surprisingly easy to follow. The deer must have been bleeding quite a lot. Chanyeol grimaces at the thought - he doesn’t want his efforts to come to waste, just to find a dead animal. On the bright side, he’d have provisions for meat for his actual mission which is to hunt down the accursed dragon.
The trail is pretty complicated and if he hadn’t noticed the drops of darkened blood by the moonlight, he’d have never found his way. As it is, the trail leads far deeper into the forest than he had anticipated, towards the older parts of the forest where the nighttime seemed much more dark and ominous. Still he pressed on until the trail stopped abruptly on the banks of a stream.
He stopped and looked around. Had the deer crossed the stream ? The water hardly came upto his ankles so it’s possible that it had. This was one determined deer. Chanyeol crossed the water and paused. Up ahead was a small rocky outcrop of white stone. He approaches the outcrop, looks to the right and left but there’s no deer to be found and yet, there seems to be no way past the outcrop that he could see except by climbing it. Surely the deer wasn’t climbing in its state ?
“Strange.” Chanyeol mutters to himself. He decides to climb atop the rock - maybe he’d get a better lay of the land. Finding footholds are easy enough and soon he can see the top of the outcrop and something….on it. It’s too far away for him to make out so he climbs quickly, hauls himself onto the relatively flat surface of the rock and strides towards the thing he saw.
The moon comes out from behind the clouds and Park Chanyeol gets a very nasty shock. He’d been expecting to find a deer, dead or alive or somewhere inbetween. What he’d not been expecting was a sad-looking young man looking up at him, with an arrow sticking out from his ankle.
Chanyeol is lost for words. It isn’t often that it happens but he is. He stares at the arrow and then up at the man who is looking at him. Somewhere in all this staring, the thought filters through that the young man is beautiful, in a way that he hadn’t thought men could be.
But the more pressing problem is the arrow. Kneeling down on some unknown instinct, Chanyeol grips the young man’s ankle, and in one swift move, yanks it out. The cry of pain from the young man is heart wrenching but it had to be done. Chanyeol throws the arrow away and turns his attention back to the man who is clutching at his knee - he’s flat on his back on the rock, moaning in pain.
The hunter rummages in his bag but he hasn’t any healing herbs. Cursing his own oversight, Chanyeol tries to reassure the young man. “Hey ! Hey. I am going to the stream to get some water. Try to breathe through the pain, okay ?”
“You try to breathe through the pain when an arrow has gone through your leg.” Comes the surprisingly snappy answer followed by a groan of pain. Chanyeol stands to leave but the man opens his eyes. “Don’t go. I’ll be fine. It will heal soon.”
“It’s a bad wound.” Chanyeol inspects the wound. “You’ll bleed to death. Let me hunt for some herbs to bind it with. I am sure I’ll find some by the stream if I look hard enough.”
“No I won’t. I’ve been hurt worse. Just sit down.” A pause. “Keep me company ?”
The young man sounds so sad that Chanyeol feels a pang of sympathy. He sits down and notes now that the man barely has any clothes on. His rags are barely holding together but he doesn’t seem to be cold. He does have his eyes clenched tightly together as though the pain is too much to bear.
“Really I should get those herbs…” Chanyeol begins when those eyes fly open. “No. I’ll be fine.” The man breathes out with some effort. “It takes a little time.”
“What takes a little time ?”
“Healing.”
“A wound like that will take a month to heal atleast.” Chanyeol tries again and this time, he is met with a narrowed gaze.
“Shut up.”
Surprising even himself, Chanyeol subsides. There is something forceful about the young man, something makes him want to shut up and obey. Which is all fine but the question that is plaguing him is how the arrow that nicked a deer is now in the young man’s leg. Had those two hunters mistakenly shot at a person too ? What could they hope to achieve out of this young man ? He barely had clothes on him.
“Er…how did you get an arrow in your leg ?” He ventures to ask.
“I was shot. You were there.” The young man gives him a meaningful look and Chanyeol stares at him, uncomprehending. There are implications to what the man just said but it’s hardly believable. Maybe he meant something else entirely.
“Do you mean that when those louts were indiscriminately firing arrows you got caught somehow ?”
“They shot just one arrow, and you know it.”
“But…but that’s impossible. They shot a deer and you…you are a human being.”
“Well spotted.” The snark in the man’s tone is undeniable. But he turns, gives Chanyeol a tired smile. “You’ll reach your conclusion eventually, hunter.”
“But you’re not a deer !” Chanyeol feels stupid for pointing it out repeatedly. “But…you say the hunter’s arrow struck you. Their only arrow. But if you’re a deer and you’re human then…”
“Yes, exactly.” The young man gives him a kind smile. “Say it.”
“You’re a shapeshifter ! But that means that they were saying the truth and you…you are the !”
“Dragon. Yes. Welcome, hunter. I believe you’ve been searching for me.”
Chanyeol has half risen to his feet - his own conclusion sounding unbelievable to his ears. “But…it’s not possible.”
“It is. I followed you as a deer all day. You told me to stay away from humans, gave me some very questionable bread to eat too, and tried to shoo me away like I was errant puppy. That was funny.”
The man rolls onto his side, smiles a little. “All the while you were cursing at me. Or rather my dragon form and how I had eluded you for days.Well, here I am…”
“But you can’t be the dragon !” Chanyeol protests. “You can’t be because which dragon would willingly reveal himself to a hunter. You’d have to be a very stupid dragon for that and I don’t believe it. Infact I don’t believe any of it.”
“Maybe I revealed myself because…because I thought you were nice ? Maybe I am lonely and wanted to talk to ? Anyway, I am the dragon.” The man pushes himself upto a sitting position and shuts his eyes, appears to be concentrate on something. Before Chanyeol’s eyes, the surface of rocky outcrop beneath his feet turns translucent and a moment later, he finds himself standing on gold.
Chanyeol’s jaw drops to the ground. It’s a huge pile of gold - gold of all kinds - coins stacked neatly atop one another, gold bars of all sizes and stamps upon them. Raw unmined gold, still embedded in its rockform. He is standing on a veritable treasure. Bending down, he picks up a coin, bites into it and holds it up in the moonlight, feels the heft of the coin. Yep, still gold. Shocked, he locks eyes with the man…no, the dragon.
“You really are the dragon !”
“I said as much.” The dragon gives his gold a dispassionate look, indicates it all with a wave of his hand. “I am the dragon you are looking for and this is my hoard.”
Chanyeol is having real difficulty forming full sentences now. He gurgles at the young man who smiles kindly at him. “Yes, it is a lot to take in. Sit down, breathe. This gold will still be here when you’ve caught up with everything.”
The hunter obeys the dragon, keeps a healthy distance from which which has the dragon rolling its eyes.
“But…if you are the dragon..” Chanyeol takes several deep breaths. “Why…why would you reveal yourself to me ? You knew I was hunting for you.”
“Maybe I got tired of running away.” The dragon shrugs. “Who knows ? The more important question is what are you going to do now ? You could kill me and take all this gold….I am injured just now. Quite the best time to kill me. When I am this weak.”
“But…”
“If I recover my strength, who knows - I might want to live. You won’t get another chance like this, hunter.”
Chanyeol frowns. “You seem very bent on being killed. Why is that ?”
“Does it matter ?”
“Yes, I don’t like being told what to do.”
His reply has the dragon smiling. “Is that so ? My apologies. I thought the king told you to kill me ?”
“That’s different.” Chanyeol points out haughtily. “I was offered a commission and accepted it.”
“Well, I am offering you more ‘commission’ and a chance to earn your reward.”
“Again, why are you so keen on being killed ?” Chanyeol casts a suspicious look on the dragon.
“Like I said.” The man explains patiently. “Maybe I got tired of running away. It’s not an easy life, being hunted by everyone who has a knife or a bow.”
“So you just decided to lie down and offer yourself to me ?” Chanyeol crosses his arms over his chest. “I find that hard to believe.”
“Fine. Be that way. Let me go find those stupid hunters you were with.” He makes as if to get up but falls back because of the pain. “Damn they looked stupid but they sure had good aim. This hurts so badly.”
“Should I get those….”
“Herbs ? This will heal by itself before dawn. Which is coming very soon. If you want to claim your reward and all this money…..you have to kill me soon.”
“I am not going to kill you, okay ?!” Chanyeol shouts exasperated. “I don’t kill humans. Well not any more and certainly not helpless ones who might or might not be delusional. I don’t know how you did it but I can live with a rock turning into a pile of gold. Maybe it’s magic, maybe it’s something poisonous I ate that’s giving me hallucinations. But there’s no killing happening here so get that thought out of your head.”
“I see.” The man/dragon/deer/something turns his head away, sighs.
“Besides, I don’t think you really wanted to be killed. If you did, you’d have waited for those two hunters. They said they had been hunting for six months so you had plenty of time to hand yourself over.”
“That is true enough. They have been most persistent and they are the only ones that guessed that I was a shape shifter. Smart of them.”
“Uh….”
“Yes, hunter. I am a shapeshifter. I can take the form of almost any animal and humans are nothing but a form of animals.”
“So you can be a butterfly ?”
“With effort…yes.”
“Great.” Chanyeol mutters. “Just great. Is that how you gave me the slip today morning ?”
“I have been following you for two days now in my human form. While shifting to a deer, I accidentally turned into a dragon for a split second which is when you spotted me. Your hacking away at that giant tree startled me.”
“So you admit to being a dragon ?”
“Have I been saying anything different ?”
“No…no. I think I am going mad.” Chanyeol groans, clutches at his head.
“No you are not.”
They sit in silence, staring at eachother. Chanyeol breaks the silence finally. “Are you…do you have a name ?”
“Sure. It’s Baekhyun. Do you have a name ?”
“Chanyeol. Dragons have names ?”
“Yes they do. We communicate amongst our own kind by name.”
“I see. Where is the rest of your kind ?”
Baekhyun the whatever-he-is, gives Chanyeol a furtive look. “Does it matter ? I am what you want.”
“You seem awfully alone. Where is your pack. Come to think of it, lone dragons are rare. Did you get separated from your pack somehow ?”
“Why do you care ?” Baekhyun asks. “You have a mission from your king. To serve my head on a platter. Why do you care where my pack is ?”
“Well….I don’t but…” Chanyeol sits back down on atop the gold bars. “I don’t get this. I don’t get any of this. I am…I am confused.” He sighs deeply. “Look, Baekhyun, dragon, whatever. I…I don’t think I can kill you.”
“Maybe if I turn into a dragon, you will feel differently ?” Baekhyun shuts his eyes and is no doubt trying to turn but Chanyeol has had enough. He clutches the man by the shoulders and shakes him roughly.
“What’s wrong with you ?! Why do you want to die so badly ?”
“Because…because I don’t have anything to live for.” Baekhyun’s whisper is almost inaudible. “I don’t. I’ve been thinking for awhile now. The only thing I lacked was a worthy hunter to kill me and now I have that too.”
“Oh ? Now you are an expert on worthy hunters too, I see ?” Chanyeol replies rudely.
“I heard you tell them that you carry your own seal. That’s only for very recognized hunters is it not ? You got a commission from the king himself so surely you are worthy ?”
“That might be the case but I am still not going to kill you.”
“Why not ? You have to kill the dragon to get its hoard. Don’t you want to be rich ?”
“I didn’t accept the commission for the money.” Chanyeol grits his teeth. “Why does everyone keep assuming that.”
“Prestige and honour then.” Baekhyun mutters listlessly. “You’ll get that too if you kill me.”
“Here’s a new thought. Can you please shut up about being killed ? It’s tiresome.”
“But…”
“Be quiet.” Chanyeol orders and again there is a brief period of silence. He tries to think coherently but a part of his mind is still shrieking at the idea of a shape shifter dragon. The rest of his thoughts are fully occupied with trivialities like ‘oh, the dragon talks !’ and ‘where is its tail’ and more useless thoughts of that nature. He definitely has no desire to kill it though which is odd. Where is the….fun…or anything In killing such a pitiful dragon which is trying hard to convince him to kill it ?
“Wait…you said you had nothing else to live for. What did you mean ?”
“I meant exactly what I said.”
“So what do you need ?” Chanyeol asks, curious. “What do you need that you already don’t have ?”
The dragon sits up, inspects his ankle. “Are you married, hunter ?”
“Ofcourse not. Marriage is a distraction from hunting and I swore never to let anything interfere.”
“But do you not feel the need of a companion?”
“No.”
“Well then you are lucky. I had a mate once. He died of his injuries while battling with humans. They didn’t kill him and yet, in a way, they did.”
“I am….um…sorry for your loss ?” Chanyeol feels a bit awkward. “Why were they after him ?”
The dragon gives him a look. “Why do you think ? Prestige, honour, gold. They mounted my mate’s head on huge plaque I hear, down at the castle.”
“Oh yes !” Chanyeol brightens up at the memory. “The stories they tell of that dragonhead is the stuff of legends .” He realizes who he’s talking to. “I mean, very sad to hear that you two were related ofcourse.”
“….”
“A moment. So you want to turn martyr and hand yourself over so that you can join your mate in the king’s court ? Not a good idea, Baekhyun. They might put you in different rooms, you know. One dragon head per room is the king’s policy.”
“….”
“Fine. I was joking. But it’s still a stupid idea. Romantic sure, but stupid.”
“What would you know of love, hunter ? You kill for pleasure.”
“…never mind that. Do you have a tail ?”
Baekhyun gives him an irritated look. “What’s that got to do with anything ?”
“I have never seen a dragon or its tail for that matter. Just curious.” Chanyeol falls silent for all of a minute. “Do you have ears ?”
“Yes. And before you ask, very sharp fangs as well. And scales. And legs and a body. And everything that a normal dragon does, you know ?”
“Good.. good. Do you breathe fire ?”
The dragon’s smile turns dangerous. “Would you like to find out ?”
“Maybe not.” Chanyeol mutters. “What, don’t give me those looks ? When you were a deer, I didn’t turn you into my dinner did I ? “
“No. You didn’t. Why not ?”
“You seemed like a very stupid deer.”
“Hey !”
“Which deer tries to make friends with humans ? It’s asking for trouble. “
“Which human being offers a deer bread ? You don’t seem to be so full of intelligence either.”
They start laughing at the same time. The conversation is ridiculous and shouldn’t even be happening. But there they are sitting atop a pile of gold, the moonlight shining down upon the two of them - a dragon and a human.
“Tell me more about your mate ?” Chanyeol asks abruptly. He isn’t even sure why he does. He forestalls Baekhyun’s protests. “I just want to know.”
The dragon shrugs. He winces a little but manages to cross his legs. “Healing nicely. Anyway, my mate. He was one of the last of a long line of dragons. Very ancient. We mated when we were both quite young, moved around until we found what we thought was hospitable land. Dragons don’t mature until they are a hundred at least. We were hardly twenty years old and immature and didn’t quite know how to defend ourselves. The humans overwhelmed us one day and he got the worst of the injuries. He died too and when they found him, they cut off his head and took it down to the plains as a trophy.” Baekhyun snorts. “Some trophy. They couldn’t kill him while he lived. They had to wait to find his corpse. That’s no trophy - even by your barbaric human stands. So much for honor and glory - you’d stoop to behead a dead dragon instead of letting it rest.”
Chanyeol has no answer for that. That dragon slaying happened before his time. A thought strikes him, “Wait, are you saying you’re eighty years old.”
“Nearer to a hundred.” The dragon scowls. “I am an old mature dragon.”
“If your mate died seventy five years ago, why are you still here ? I would have thought you’d want to leave. Why are you still here ?”
Baekhyun sighs. “I don’t know. I ask myself that but I haven’t been able to make myself leave. I just want it all to be over.”
“Nonsense. What you need is a mate. Go and find one. I am sure there are many dragons who would be happy to have someone…I mean something…wait, some animal ? Some um…dragon like you.”
“I don’t want someone new.” Baekhyun replies quietly.
“Well you will never know until you go down to the local tavern…I mean to the local riverside ? Where do dragons gather anyway ? Somewhere. Anyway, go there and see if you like someone ?”
The dragon gives him an incredulous look. “What ?”
“I mean it.” Chanyeol leans forward excited. “Just polish your scales or whatever a dragon does to look attractive.”
“I….I can’t believe I am having this conversation. You’re insane. If you’re not going to kill me, just go.” And with that, Baekhyun turns away, his back to Chanyeol and it’s a clear sign of dismissal.
Except Chanyeol has nowhere to go. He is most definitely one dragon short and while that’s a loss to bear (his reputation is going to take such a hit), he finds this dragon quite amusing. It’s a bit mopey to be sure and keeps wanting to die but not on his watch. He’s tracked the dragon/deer through the forest and feels very protective about it.
“Aren’t you going to go ?”
“No. Not until you promise me that you’re not going to kill yourself.”
A derisive snort. “I am making no such promise.”
“What a waste. If I was a dragon, I’d never be so stupid so as to try and kill myself. So what my mate has passed on. I’d mourn, sure but then…well, life has to move on. I am sure your mate never meant for you to be this way and if he did, you’re better off without him.”
Baekhyun turns back to face him, indignant. “Don’t say that.”
“I’ll say what I please.”
“Rude human.”
“Weepy dragon.”
Baekhyun huffs, turns back to face the other way. “Go away, human.”
“ I have nowhere to go.” Baekhyun hears the sounds of the hunter arranging himself - when he turns around, the hunter is flat on his back beside him, looking up at the starry sky.
“What do you mean you have nowhere to go ?”
“Exactly that. Can’t return to town. No dragon’s head and all that. There are no wars nearby that I could fight in. Too peaceful for my tastes down in the valley. All in all, I am better off here.”
It’s fun watching the dragon splutter. “You can’t stay here !”
“Watch me.”
“But this is my home !”
“You have a lot of space. Share.”
“But…but…”
“No buts, Baekhyun the dragon. Would you turn away a poor defenseless hunter ?”
“I may be weepy but I am not blind. With that blade, you call yourself defenseless ?”
Chanyeol turns to his side, turns fully to face Baekhyun. “It’ll be fun. You said you’re lonely. And now you have me to keep you company !”
“This is not what I had in mind.” The dragon points out emphatically but he doesn’t protest further. Soon there is the steady sound of breathing and Baekhyun realizes that the hunter has fallen asleep. The sky will lighten soon, dawn is nearly upon them. He turns to his side and looks at the odd human by his side. When he isn’t talking utter nonsense, he is handsome…for a human. A human….what would his mate say if he knew that Baekhyun had (accidentally) befriended a human. What would he say ?
--
“What’s a good looking dragon like you doing in a forest like this ?!”
Baekhyun’s lips twitch but he refuses to smile. For one, the human is annoying and he should be annoyed ! Not trying his hardest to hold back his laughter. Yesterday, he’d latched onto the human in deer form, today, the human has latched onto him. He hadn’t been joking when he said that he’d nowhere to go. Right now ? Baekhyun is trudging through the forest with a human wielding an abnormally large blade right behind him. Oh and said human is trying to cheer him up with very idiotic lines that he’s no doubt picked up at some stupid human tavern.
“C’mon you know that was a good one. I know you want to smile. Go on, you can smile.” Chanyeol encourages him.
“No I don’t . And be quiet !”
“Why ? Who’s there to hear us. You’ve scared people away from these mountains for the most part. I can say what I want.”
“It’s…it’s weird. And let me tell you dragons don’t mix with humans. You are bad news for us. Can’t you just leave ?”
“Don’t want to.”
“Ugh…fine.”
Baekhyun continues his stomping through the forest. Why he’s at all walking when he could shapeshift at will, he doesn’t know. Probably to allow the human to keep up pace with him. Why ? Well, he hates to admit it but this is the first time in years that he isn’t lonely. Even though it is a human and a hunter at that.
“Where are we going ?” The human pipes up. Baekhyun groans. He’s barely had a moment’s silence.
“Do you care ?”
“Not particularly.”
“Then….”
“Yes, I know. ‘Be quiet.’ I know you’re old but do you have to be no fun, too ?”
He whirls around and it’s so sudden that the human isn’t able to react. He crashes into Baekhyun and they topple over. Chanyeol raises himself on his palms, spits out leaves and realizes that Baekhyun is squished beneath him.
“Hey aren’t you supposed to be a big strong dragon ? You went over like a leaf. Hahaha”
Baekhyun groans, pushes him aside. “I shapeshift, you idiot. That means taking on all the traits of the form I am turning to. I can’t weigh the same as a dragon when I am a human being nor can I breathe fire. Which, by the way, I am beginning to regret right now. Believe me !”
“You are one touchy dragon. You need to work on that before you get back into the market as Kai likes to put it.”
“Will you stop saying that ? I am not going back into any market. I am not going anywhere !”
“Why not ? Anyone..,any dragon I mean would be lucky to have you. You are handsome and wealthy and fiery without the actual fire. What’s not to like ?” The human trails off, has this considering look in his eye that Baekhyun finds quite suspicious.
“Are you trying to say something , human?”
“Huh ? No ! Nothing at all.”
“Good. Now we have arrived at the nearest point that I can descend to without actually visiting the valley. Our ways part here…Chanyeol. Be well.”
With that, Baekhyun turns around resolutely, makes his way uphill. He hears Chanyeol call out but he shape shifts and moves quickly. He’s taken a deliberately convoluted route but he’s confident the human wouldn’t be able to find him again. His hoard he is too tired to transport so he casts the usual spell over it and goes hunting for a new place to make his home.
Five days and nights later, Baekhyun finds a suitable spot even deeper in the jungle. No sunlight or moonlight penetrates through the trees here - he feels as though he is hiding but from what he has no idea. The loneliness that had dogged him for seventy five years returns with a vengeance but he is defenseless against it. All he can do is curl up on his side, in pain, and try not to drown in cold cold memories of his past.
On the sixth night, he hears a noise and opens his eyes. It’s the hunter again. Chanyeol standing at the mouth of his lair with his goofy smile and too large scythe. “I found you !” The human declares happily, strides forward and envelops Baekhyun in a hug.
The cold and the pain seep out in an instant.
--