Donghae, Kyuhyun AU fic
title: fire, flight, and fantasy
theme: 057. scales; 003/100; archive
Donghae, Kyuhyun
humor and fluff
i. i don't know.
When word came down from the castle that all available knights were to spread out through the lands and dispatch of that which threatened the peace, the news was met with, mostly, annoyance.
Heechul waved the written decree around in one hand. "I always knew you were stupid, but this," he stabbed Kangin in the chest with his finger. "Even for you this is dumb. Dragons?"
Shiwon calmly pulled Heechul away from Kangin. "I have to agree," he said. "The part about dragons, I mean," he added when Kangin turned to him, eyebrow raised.
"I know," Kangin sighed. "But look, some people think there are dragons roaming about and eating entire villages. So we've decided to send our knights out for a while to take care of it. All you have to do is leave and then come back in about a week and say you've defeated them. Everyone's happy!"
"I'm not!" Heechul yelled.
"That's just a bonus," said Kangin. He jumped back when Heechul lunged for his throat, but Hankyung and Shiwon each grabbed one of Heechul's arms and held him in place.
"Well I think it'll be fun," Donghae said, picking up the parchment that Heechul had dropped. "I've always wanted to meet a real dragon. Did you know they can breathe fire?"
"Donghae," Hyukjae started, then closed his mouth and looked around the room. Heechul had stopped trying to attack Kangin while Shiwon and Hankyung were still clutching Heechul's arms, but for the most part they seemed to be trying to act like they weren't there. Kangin was slowly backing out of the room and Kibum was pretending to be asleep, though by the way he was smiling it was clear he wasn't. Hyukjae took a deep breath. "You do know dragons aren't real, right?"
Donghae frowned. "Just because you haven't seen one, doesn't mean they don't exist," he said. "I know a guy, who knows a guy, whose sister claimed to have once seen a dragon steal a goat in the middle of the night." He folded his arms across his chest.
Hyukjae blinked. "But--"
"He's right," Kibum spoke up. His eyes were still closed and he was still lounging against the wall. "Maybe dragons are real and maybe Donghae will find one. It could happen."
Hyukjae blinked again. "But--"
"See?" said Donghae. "Even Kibum believes in them."
Kibum opened his eyes and sat up. "What? Donghae, I never said--"
"Damn you, Kangin!" Heechul shouted, even though Kangin had long since retreated from the knight's quarters. "Look at what you've done!"
It was nearly a week before Heechul had calmed down enough to consent to Shiwon and Kangin convincing him to just do this one quest, please, and another week for Kibum, Hankyung, and Hyukjae to be sure that yes, the King was still in his right mind, really. Donghae just wanted to leave already because there were adventures to be had and dragons to slay. He was practically clawing at the walls the day they were told that they would all be leaving in the morning. Kangin added that, by order of the King, none of them were allowed to do anything untoward or stupid and under no circumstance were any of them to pick fights with anyone from a neighboring country. Especially after last time, Heechul.
Donghae was so full of excitement for what was to come that he had barely been able to sit through the feast before their departure. When dawn came, he was on his horse and through the castle gates before anyone else had even woken up. For many days and many nights Donghae traveled until, finally, he reached the edge of his map. Or, at least, he thought it was the edge of the map. Donghae was, quite unfortunately, very, very lost.
"I think we've gone by that tree before," Donghae said, dismounting from his horse. He surveyed the area around him, then unfolded his map and studied it for what was going on the hundredth time. "There are no mountains on this," he said. "But I can see mountains over there." He looked over at the distant skyline. His horse beat its hoof against the ground, but otherwise offered no helpful suggestions about their current situation.
"Do you smell meat cooking?" Donghae asked his horse. He waited a moment, in case this time the horse would have some kind of answer, and then started walking through the forest in search of food. Eventually the smell of roasted something lead him to a rather large cave bordered by a small clearing. "Hello?" Donghae called, stepping inside and letting his eyes adjust to the softer light. "I'm lost and hungry and...you seem to be rather large and covered in scales-- is that a person you're about to eat?"
"What?" the dragon asked. It stared at Donghae in complete bewilderment for a moment. "What?"
Donghae pulled out his sword and pointed it at the dragon. "I'm here to vanquish you!" he announced.
"What? Why?" the dragon sniffed sadly. Not that Donghae had anything to compare it to, but, he thought, that was the most forlorn looking dragon he'd ever seen. "Why would you want to kill me?"
"Because you eat people and terrorize countrysides and things like that," Donghae explained. He lowered his sword, however, when the dragon looked like it was about to burst into tears. Though he couldn't really tell for sure. Donghae didn't even know if dragons could cry.
"I don't eat people!" said the dragon. "Mostly I like wild boars and the occasional cow or goat when one escapes from a farm. And I've never terrorized anything in my life. Well," it amended. "Not intentionally."
"Oh," said Donghae, sitting down next to the dragon's tail. "You're the first dragon I've ever met, so I didn't know. Sorry."
The dragon sighed and set its roast boar back over the fire. "It's okay," it said. They sat together in awkward silence for a while. Donghae could see the dragon looking hungrily at the boar every few seconds, but neither of them moved. Finally Donghae stood up and pat the dragon on the back a few times. "My name is Donghae," he said. "I'm a knight from the castle over there." He waved his arm around vaguely. He still wasn't sure where he was or which direction the castle stood.
"My name is Kyuhyun," said the dragon. "And I don't think there is a castle over there," he used his tail to mimic Donghae's previous vague hand gestures. "There's one over there," Kyuhyun tilted his head to indicate the direction behind him, "but it's really far off, even for me."
"That's probably it," Donghae said casually. He eyed Kyuhyun's dinner. "Do you mind sharing some of that?"
"I guess not," replied Kyuhyun. He tore off a piece of meat with his claw and handed it over to Donghae who was holding out his shield to use as a makeshift plate. Donghae made himself comfortable in front of the fire and ate his meal happily. Kyuhyun sighed in resignation.
After that day, Donghae made himself perfectly at home in Kyuhyun's lair. As it turned out, the further back he went in the cave, the more treasures and human objects he found. Kyuhyun said he'd collected a few from abandoned homes, but that most of them he'd been given as offerings from villagers so he wouldn't eat their young or something. He also said he'd tried to explain to the people that he wasn't planning on eating any of them, especially the young, but everyone had run away before he'd had a chance.
Kyuhyun didn't appear to mind Donghae's extended stay in his home and even offered to let Donghae ride on his back when he went off soaring through the clouds once or twice. Between breathing fire, flying, and being very, very big, Donghae had to admit that being a dragon would probably be the coolest thing ever.
"Hey, Kyuhyun? Why aren't there any other dragons here?" Donghae questioned one day while he was organizing the gold treasures and the silver treasures into separate piles.
Kyuhyun heaved his massive shoulders up once, in what Donghae had recently figured out was his version of a shrug. "There used to be," he said. "Most of them live on the other side of the mountains now."
"Doesn't that get lonely?" asked Donghae, frowning.
Kyuhyun looked down at Donghae and blinked. "You're here," he said.
Donghae smiled, and then went back to sorting through Kyuhyun's many tons of treasure. He hummed happily to himself. Having friends was always nice, but having friends that were dragons was even better.
It was a month later before Donghae finally thought that he probably should return to the castle. He'd been gone for so long that the warm summer days had faded into chilly winter nights. He hadn't even been able to gloat about the existence of dragons to Hyukjae yet. That really wasn't right.
Talking Kyuhyun into going back to the castle with him wasn't nearly as hard as Donghae thought it might have been. Apparently Kyuhyun had only seen the castle from a distance and really wanted to view it up close. Also, as a small dragon child, Kyuhyun had heard stories of human Kings and was somewhat excited about the prospect of getting to see one with his own eyes.
Together they traveled back to the Kingdom and Donghae couldn't help but to notice that he really had been much more lost than he had previously considered. The first castle they'd gone to hadn't even been the right one. But eventually they made it back to Donghae's home with only a few instances of people screaming and fleeing in terror. Donghae made a note to apologize to the King about that later.
Kyuhyun carefully dropped Donghae off through one of the lower windows in the castle throne room. The king, his advisors, and royal knights were all gathered together, looking grim.
Kangin was speaking softly to those who had gathered. "I'm afraid that after all the time that has passed; we will have to declare him--"
"Donghae!" Ryeowook interrupted. "You're back! We thought...how did you get in here?"
"Kyuhyun flew me in," said Donghae. He turned and beckoned Kyuhyun over. "This is Kyuhyun. He's a dragon and my friend."
"Hello," said Kyuhyun.
Hyukjae made a strangled noise in the back of his throat when Kyuhyun poked his head through the window. Heechul shrieked, pushed Shiwon in front of him, and whispered "Defend me with your life," loud enough for everyone in the room to hear. Shindong rubbed at his eyes a few times like he couldn't quite comprehend what he was looking at. "Whoa," he said.
Eeteuk stood up, took a deep breath as if he was going to say something important, then sat down again with an air of defeat. Yehsung rubbed his back comfortingly.
"You brought a dragon here?" asked Kangin. "You. Donghae. How could." He was almost incoherent and Donghae thought the shade of red Kangin's face was fast becoming probably wasn't very healthy.
"Can I keep him? He's really nice and I promise to take care of him and please can I keep him?" pleaded Donghae. "He doesn't eat people or anything like that, I swear!"
Kangin made a few wringing movements with his hands, but Eeteuk spoke before he could answer. "Fine, keep the dragon," he said with all the royal authority he could muster. "Just please, please keep him out of trouble," he added, speaking to Kyuhyun.
theme: 057. scales; 003/100; archive
Donghae, Kyuhyun
humor and fluff
i. i don't know.
When word came down from the castle that all available knights were to spread out through the lands and dispatch of that which threatened the peace, the news was met with, mostly, annoyance.
Heechul waved the written decree around in one hand. "I always knew you were stupid, but this," he stabbed Kangin in the chest with his finger. "Even for you this is dumb. Dragons?"
Shiwon calmly pulled Heechul away from Kangin. "I have to agree," he said. "The part about dragons, I mean," he added when Kangin turned to him, eyebrow raised.
"I know," Kangin sighed. "But look, some people think there are dragons roaming about and eating entire villages. So we've decided to send our knights out for a while to take care of it. All you have to do is leave and then come back in about a week and say you've defeated them. Everyone's happy!"
"I'm not!" Heechul yelled.
"That's just a bonus," said Kangin. He jumped back when Heechul lunged for his throat, but Hankyung and Shiwon each grabbed one of Heechul's arms and held him in place.
"Well I think it'll be fun," Donghae said, picking up the parchment that Heechul had dropped. "I've always wanted to meet a real dragon. Did you know they can breathe fire?"
"Donghae," Hyukjae started, then closed his mouth and looked around the room. Heechul had stopped trying to attack Kangin while Shiwon and Hankyung were still clutching Heechul's arms, but for the most part they seemed to be trying to act like they weren't there. Kangin was slowly backing out of the room and Kibum was pretending to be asleep, though by the way he was smiling it was clear he wasn't. Hyukjae took a deep breath. "You do know dragons aren't real, right?"
Donghae frowned. "Just because you haven't seen one, doesn't mean they don't exist," he said. "I know a guy, who knows a guy, whose sister claimed to have once seen a dragon steal a goat in the middle of the night." He folded his arms across his chest.
Hyukjae blinked. "But--"
"He's right," Kibum spoke up. His eyes were still closed and he was still lounging against the wall. "Maybe dragons are real and maybe Donghae will find one. It could happen."
Hyukjae blinked again. "But--"
"See?" said Donghae. "Even Kibum believes in them."
Kibum opened his eyes and sat up. "What? Donghae, I never said--"
"Damn you, Kangin!" Heechul shouted, even though Kangin had long since retreated from the knight's quarters. "Look at what you've done!"
It was nearly a week before Heechul had calmed down enough to consent to Shiwon and Kangin convincing him to just do this one quest, please, and another week for Kibum, Hankyung, and Hyukjae to be sure that yes, the King was still in his right mind, really. Donghae just wanted to leave already because there were adventures to be had and dragons to slay. He was practically clawing at the walls the day they were told that they would all be leaving in the morning. Kangin added that, by order of the King, none of them were allowed to do anything untoward or stupid and under no circumstance were any of them to pick fights with anyone from a neighboring country. Especially after last time, Heechul.
Donghae was so full of excitement for what was to come that he had barely been able to sit through the feast before their departure. When dawn came, he was on his horse and through the castle gates before anyone else had even woken up. For many days and many nights Donghae traveled until, finally, he reached the edge of his map. Or, at least, he thought it was the edge of the map. Donghae was, quite unfortunately, very, very lost.
"I think we've gone by that tree before," Donghae said, dismounting from his horse. He surveyed the area around him, then unfolded his map and studied it for what was going on the hundredth time. "There are no mountains on this," he said. "But I can see mountains over there." He looked over at the distant skyline. His horse beat its hoof against the ground, but otherwise offered no helpful suggestions about their current situation.
"Do you smell meat cooking?" Donghae asked his horse. He waited a moment, in case this time the horse would have some kind of answer, and then started walking through the forest in search of food. Eventually the smell of roasted something lead him to a rather large cave bordered by a small clearing. "Hello?" Donghae called, stepping inside and letting his eyes adjust to the softer light. "I'm lost and hungry and...you seem to be rather large and covered in scales-- is that a person you're about to eat?"
"What?" the dragon asked. It stared at Donghae in complete bewilderment for a moment. "What?"
Donghae pulled out his sword and pointed it at the dragon. "I'm here to vanquish you!" he announced.
"What? Why?" the dragon sniffed sadly. Not that Donghae had anything to compare it to, but, he thought, that was the most forlorn looking dragon he'd ever seen. "Why would you want to kill me?"
"Because you eat people and terrorize countrysides and things like that," Donghae explained. He lowered his sword, however, when the dragon looked like it was about to burst into tears. Though he couldn't really tell for sure. Donghae didn't even know if dragons could cry.
"I don't eat people!" said the dragon. "Mostly I like wild boars and the occasional cow or goat when one escapes from a farm. And I've never terrorized anything in my life. Well," it amended. "Not intentionally."
"Oh," said Donghae, sitting down next to the dragon's tail. "You're the first dragon I've ever met, so I didn't know. Sorry."
The dragon sighed and set its roast boar back over the fire. "It's okay," it said. They sat together in awkward silence for a while. Donghae could see the dragon looking hungrily at the boar every few seconds, but neither of them moved. Finally Donghae stood up and pat the dragon on the back a few times. "My name is Donghae," he said. "I'm a knight from the castle over there." He waved his arm around vaguely. He still wasn't sure where he was or which direction the castle stood.
"My name is Kyuhyun," said the dragon. "And I don't think there is a castle over there," he used his tail to mimic Donghae's previous vague hand gestures. "There's one over there," Kyuhyun tilted his head to indicate the direction behind him, "but it's really far off, even for me."
"That's probably it," Donghae said casually. He eyed Kyuhyun's dinner. "Do you mind sharing some of that?"
"I guess not," replied Kyuhyun. He tore off a piece of meat with his claw and handed it over to Donghae who was holding out his shield to use as a makeshift plate. Donghae made himself comfortable in front of the fire and ate his meal happily. Kyuhyun sighed in resignation.
After that day, Donghae made himself perfectly at home in Kyuhyun's lair. As it turned out, the further back he went in the cave, the more treasures and human objects he found. Kyuhyun said he'd collected a few from abandoned homes, but that most of them he'd been given as offerings from villagers so he wouldn't eat their young or something. He also said he'd tried to explain to the people that he wasn't planning on eating any of them, especially the young, but everyone had run away before he'd had a chance.
Kyuhyun didn't appear to mind Donghae's extended stay in his home and even offered to let Donghae ride on his back when he went off soaring through the clouds once or twice. Between breathing fire, flying, and being very, very big, Donghae had to admit that being a dragon would probably be the coolest thing ever.
"Hey, Kyuhyun? Why aren't there any other dragons here?" Donghae questioned one day while he was organizing the gold treasures and the silver treasures into separate piles.
Kyuhyun heaved his massive shoulders up once, in what Donghae had recently figured out was his version of a shrug. "There used to be," he said. "Most of them live on the other side of the mountains now."
"Doesn't that get lonely?" asked Donghae, frowning.
Kyuhyun looked down at Donghae and blinked. "You're here," he said.
Donghae smiled, and then went back to sorting through Kyuhyun's many tons of treasure. He hummed happily to himself. Having friends was always nice, but having friends that were dragons was even better.
It was a month later before Donghae finally thought that he probably should return to the castle. He'd been gone for so long that the warm summer days had faded into chilly winter nights. He hadn't even been able to gloat about the existence of dragons to Hyukjae yet. That really wasn't right.
Talking Kyuhyun into going back to the castle with him wasn't nearly as hard as Donghae thought it might have been. Apparently Kyuhyun had only seen the castle from a distance and really wanted to view it up close. Also, as a small dragon child, Kyuhyun had heard stories of human Kings and was somewhat excited about the prospect of getting to see one with his own eyes.
Together they traveled back to the Kingdom and Donghae couldn't help but to notice that he really had been much more lost than he had previously considered. The first castle they'd gone to hadn't even been the right one. But eventually they made it back to Donghae's home with only a few instances of people screaming and fleeing in terror. Donghae made a note to apologize to the King about that later.
Kyuhyun carefully dropped Donghae off through one of the lower windows in the castle throne room. The king, his advisors, and royal knights were all gathered together, looking grim.
Kangin was speaking softly to those who had gathered. "I'm afraid that after all the time that has passed; we will have to declare him--"
"Donghae!" Ryeowook interrupted. "You're back! We thought...how did you get in here?"
"Kyuhyun flew me in," said Donghae. He turned and beckoned Kyuhyun over. "This is Kyuhyun. He's a dragon and my friend."
"Hello," said Kyuhyun.
Hyukjae made a strangled noise in the back of his throat when Kyuhyun poked his head through the window. Heechul shrieked, pushed Shiwon in front of him, and whispered "Defend me with your life," loud enough for everyone in the room to hear. Shindong rubbed at his eyes a few times like he couldn't quite comprehend what he was looking at. "Whoa," he said.
Eeteuk stood up, took a deep breath as if he was going to say something important, then sat down again with an air of defeat. Yehsung rubbed his back comfortingly.
"You brought a dragon here?" asked Kangin. "You. Donghae. How could." He was almost incoherent and Donghae thought the shade of red Kangin's face was fast becoming probably wasn't very healthy.
"Can I keep him? He's really nice and I promise to take care of him and please can I keep him?" pleaded Donghae. "He doesn't eat people or anything like that, I swear!"
Kangin made a few wringing movements with his hands, but Eeteuk spoke before he could answer. "Fine, keep the dragon," he said with all the royal authority he could muster. "Just please, please keep him out of trouble," he added, speaking to Kyuhyun.