Chapter Text
What was the saying? Live fast, die young, leave a good-looking corpse?
Well, Akira was about to accomplish all three of those things in spectacular fashion, minus the part of him actually leaving his corpse behind. He doubted whatever he was about to be sacrificed to would leave leftovers, after all.
A rough shove against his back made him stumble further forward. Closer to the edge of the cliff, making his heart race faster in his ribcage, but not from the good kind of thrill.
"Move," hissed the knight behind him, pushing him forward again, and Akira, bound in chains and immobile except for his feet, had no choice but to yield and take another step towards his certain doom.
No need to be so rough, he wanted to say, but forced himself to bite the words back. After all, he could not afford his disguise to slip now. Not after he had come so far.
It had taken him months to grow out his hair and take other necessary steps so he could pretend to be a woman in order to be picked as the next sacrifice. A little bit of lipstick, a few strings pulled behind the scenes, and the title of oh-so-lucky sacrifice went to Akira this time. So far, they had thought he was just too shocked to speak, but Akira was sure that his deep voice would not do him any favours.
Too much was on the line tonight, even if Akira’s confidence was rapidly fading, given how nothing had gone his way so far. The unwanted chains around his body proved as much.
As if noticing him spacing out, the knight promptly shoved him forward even harder, Akira barely managing to catch his balance before he could stumble off the cliff. He watched a stray rock fall down into the chasm below him and swallowed hard.
Akira supposed it could be worse. Hell, even if his plan would fail and mean his doom, this was at least better than an innocent person being sacrificed in his stead. Not that he believed he would not be successful, though. Akira was here to slay a beast, not fall prey to it. He wanted to make sure that whatever was waiting here for dinner each solstice would never get to take another life again.
He just didn't expect them to force him to put on the skimpiest toga he had ever seen and chains that went from a collar around his neck over his entire body, hugging him like a harness, everything connecting to pairs of shackles around his wrists and ankles. Like this, he was effectively immobile, unable to do anything against whatever was about to swallow him whole.
And really, he had been prepared for the change of clothes and the fact that whatever wanted him for dinner would be dangerous, but not for them finding and taking away all of his hidden daggers as well and putting him into full-body restraints as a punishment. He knew how to get rid of handcuffs, not chains.
Okay, yeah. Maybe his plan had been a little bit more stupid than he had thought at first. He blames him having been fixated on the same plan for months, so much so that he couldn’t see the flaws in it anymore. The fragility of it.
In any case—all Akira could do now was brace himself for whatever was supposed to arrive at any moment to make dinner out of him. Judging from the sudden, earth-shattering roar in the distance that almost made him stumble off the cliff in shock, nothing good. If he had only paid more attention to the old wives’ tales, he would maybe know what he was dealing with here now.
Your impending doom, a taunting voice inside him whispered. Not so cocky now, are you?
The knights around him grew restless at the noise, their captain shouting something Akira didn’t register. He was far too busy watching the little dot in the distance, heart standing still, breath taken away at the sight. He thought he was dreaming. He must have been, because the closer it came, the more he was sure he had never seen anything like this before in his entire life.
It couldn’t be possible, could it?
A dragon.
A real, live dragon, just like the ones from the myths and tales he had heard as a child. Imposing and majestic. Dark purple scales shimmered in the evening sunlight and its bat-like wings spanned out imposingly, the patagium coloured a translucent lavender. There were sharp spines running down its body, their dangerousness rivalled only by its long, curved horns.
The creature was a sight to behold, as if right out of a fairytale, only that Akira knew this one was about to end unceremoniously as soon as that giant maw full of sharp teeth got a hold of him. Its fangs were bared, gleaming dangerously even from afar.
And here he had thought that the term “monster” had just been a metaphor for something like a particularly large animal. Not an actual dragon.
Akira was paralysed with fear. He had no idea how to fight this thing. Was this how he would die? Humiliated and having accomplished nothing in his life? Suddenly, the infinite abyss before him looked a lot more inviting, especially once it was clear that the dragon was not slowing down the closer it came. If anything, it seemed to speed up, wings flapping harder, rumbling loudly, furiously—
“Retreat!” the knight behind him shouted and shoved Akira forward, and he was so caught-off guard that he had no way of catching himself, a frightened scream getting ripped from his throat as he fell down into the darkness below him.
He didn’t fall for long as he was suddenly swooped out of the air by teeth clamping around him, his scream turning pained as they dug into his skin. The dragon dove back up in a graceful motion that made Akira’s heart stand still once more, all cells in his body frozen in terror.
When he finally snapped out of it and was able to recognise what had happened, the world was already tiny below him. He was getting carried through the air, stuck in the maw of an actual monster, one he had never even believed to exist before today.
It slowly sunk in that he was not dead yet. That he was about to be taken somewhere to be made dinner of. Completely immobile in his chains, and on top of that stuck sideways in an actual dragon’s jaw.
The very creature he had been preparing to slay for so long. The one that took the most important things in his life from him.
Adrenaline refused to let Akira think twice before kicking out as hard as he could, hitting one of the dragon’s large fangs clumsily with his foot, screaming as if that would somehow intimidate his captor.
A grumble came out of the beast, loud and terrifying. A clear warning that made Akira freeze in fear immediately, or at least until he realised that there was no point in not struggling. Falling into the abyss below him seemed like a much better fate than being chewed and devoured by a monster this size. So what if that would mean that the sacrifice hadn’t been fulfilled? Akira hadn’t planned on dying today anyway, plans only foiled by heavy iron chains. Besides, if the prophecy had any truth to it, he wasn’t a great fit anyway, being a man and all.
“Let me fucking go!” he shouted, wiggling like a worm caught in a bird’s beak. Akira tried not to think about how utterly helpless he was, how there was nothing he could realistically do to escape his situation as he delivered another kick to its maw, letting out a war cry that was more for show than to actually achieve anything.
The dragon’s rumbling grew louder. It huffed dark smoke out of its nostrils, sounding almost annoyed as its teeth dug the slightest bit tighter into his body. Not enough to pierce skin, but painful nonetheless.
“Shut up.”
Akira gawked at the beast, freezing mid-kick as he stared at its slitted red eyes looking down at him disdainfully. He blinked in confusion, replayed the words in his head, then shook himself out of his stupor.
“You can talk?!” he squawked.
The dragon let out another huff, its warm breath making Akira shiver inside its mouth, more smoke coming out of its nostrils. “I can also bite if you don’t keep quiet and be a good little prisoner.”
It all but confirmed it. Its words had been muffled by Akira’s presence in its maw, but that had definitely been human speech, which in turn meant that the ruthless beast that was currently abducting Akira had the capacity for intelligence rivalling a human’s, possibly even surpassing it.
And wasn’t that just a frightening thought? His death no longer being caused by a beast acting on survival instinct only, but a creature that seemed entertained at his fear?
Something didn’t seem right about this, though, but Akira had better things to worry about. He was paralysed with terror, looking up at the dragon with his eyes wide. Glancing down at its prey once more, the dragon let out a noise akin to a laugh. Dark and dangerous, voice loud yet somehow with a melodious quality to it.
“Ah, humans are so easy to frighten. Now stop bothering me while I’m flying, or I’ll drop you just like you so carelessly wished for.”
He was about to fight back against the creature, kick out some more, prove to it that Akira would not go down without a fight, but that was when the oddity of the situation truly hit him.
Why would it care whether or not Akira died if it was planning on eating him regardless?
Before Akira could unscramble his thoughts and vocalise exactly that, a few mighty flaps made the dragon soar unspeakably high into the sky, diving down the next moment to win speed until Akira felt too dizzy to focus on anything that wasn’t dark scales and the pain of his cramped limbs pressed together.
“Where are you taking me?” Akira stammered out the only thing that came to mind.
The dragon didn’t seem to like it, judging from the way it rolled its eyes in an almost human-like way, but pleasing his captor was far from Akira’s mind anyway. Not when his life was at stake.
It gave him a look that spoke more than words. “To cook you in my cauldron with carrots and potatoes, of course.” The flinch that went through Akira at those words, no matter how ridiculous they were, made the dragon scoff in annoyance. “I merely jest. After all, I don’t eat humans, no matter how deliciously they’re prepared. I suggest you stop asking stupid questions if you don’t want to receive stupid answers—I’d much prefer talking with an empty mouth anyway.”
Not as if Akira had any capacity for speech at the moment. He was far too busy letting the words sink in.
Nothing about what the dragon said made any sense. Was it just giving him a false sense of security by claiming it wouldn’t eat him? Then again, neither its tone nor behaviour seemed disingenuous. That, or it was an excellent liar. Having experience with putting on charades to earn people’s trust and in return recognising when he was being made a fool of for the same reason, Akira highly doubted that, though.
So why was it abducting him? Why had it come all the way out here to fetch its sacrifice? What happened to the others before him who never came back?
“Why?” he croaked out, his voice shaky, fear still sitting cold in his gut. “Why take me with you then? What are you gonna do with me?”
The dragon huffed in annoyance, as if Akira was incredibly dense for not having figured it out himself. “If you must know that badly… I’m flying you to safety. They would have killed you regardless of me for their rather useless rituals and what not, so leaving you there would not have been better than actually trying to choke you down.”
Horrifyingly enough, it sounded genuine. Akira was stuck looking up at the dragon with wide eyes. The more it spoke, the more human it seemed in his eyes, and Akira knew that while he didn’t have proof that he wouldn’t just be devoured in one gulp once they arrived at its nest, there was something about the dragon that told him he could trust it more than anything the kingdom had told him all his life about the sacrifices.
Which in turn meant—
“If you’re not making a fool out of me—” Akira inhaled shakily. “Then you don’t actually want to attack the kingdom. You don’t— you don’t need to be appeased.”
A grumble came from the dragon. It sounded almost smug this time. “What makes you think I would not eagerly wreck a little havoc, if given the chance?”
Now it was making fun of him, but Akira couldn’t care much in the face of his new revelations and all the questions they brought with them. His tongue felt as if made of lead as he tried to get past the lump in his throat to speak.
“And the other sacrifices? Did you…” He broke off, not daring to vocalise the impossible.
The dragon did it for him, expression unchanging. “You are correct. I did indeed save them, if you want to call it that. Well, to my best capabilities, at least.”
“... Oh.”
He wanted to laugh from the sheer ridiculousness of the situation. He had been gearing up for this day for so long, had planned extensively and pulled all the strings he could so he would finally be chosen as the next sacrifice despite being a man, and now the monster itself told him that it had all been for naught? That the prophecy was essentially bullshit?
It was… strangely relieving. Not just that; the realisation that this was the reality of the sacrifices made him downright giddy with joy. Joy that stemmed from hope.
She could still be alive.
The dragon seemed oblivious to his train of thought. “How intelligent. Is that really all you have to say?” It rolled its eyes, which made it seem even more human. Akira was starting to realise more and more that he wasn’t dealing with a bloodthirsty predator here, but a being with higher intelligence. One that didn’t mindlessly kill humans it was being offered. Hell, it could talk, for starters.
“I mean, I’ve got no idea where you’re bringing me or why, but like hell am I gonna complain about living one day more.” Before he knew it, his lips curled into a bright grin. “So... means you saved me, huh?”
“You may praise me later.” Despite the aloof words, the dragon almost seemed flustered at the words. It made him more confident to test the waters, just on the off-chance that the act would break and the true monster would reveal itself.
“My knight in shining armour,” Akira chirped. “You whisked me away!”
Its eyes widened in shock that got immediately replaced by utter annoyance, which only added to Akira’s enjoyment. “That is not what this is,” it growled.
“What is it then?” Akira’s eyes shone up at the dragon, who suddenly seemed like the opposite of a threat. In fact, he doesn’t think he’s been so happy over someone in a while. “You caught me mid-fall after scaring off the royal guard. No matter where you’re bringing me now, it doesn’t get more badass than that.”
“Shut up. In case all the flying has gotten to your head, I’ll gladly remind you that you are still being abducted right now.”
“You just admitted you’re rescuing me just like you did the others.”
“And if you won’t stop making a fuss about it, I’ll decide to satiate my hunger with you after all.”
Akira grinned. “Now you’re just playing it up.”
The dragon let out a frustrated noise with a rumble so powerful, Akira was sure it shook the earth under them, but it didn’t respond anymore. Akira decided to spare it from hearing any further comments and instead dedicated his thoughts to the future, or rather: to where they were heading now. Would he find answers now? Would the other sacrifices be where they were going? Honestly, he’d rather have a fairytale outcome with all his preparation having been for naught than his plan succeeding, no matter that it did sting his ego a little deep down.
He craned his neck to look at the world below them better. Lush greenery and rocky mountains were making up the landscape, painting a colourful picture. Valleys full of summer flowers spanned everywhere, the sunset tinting everything in hues of purple and orange. Akira was startled by just how beautiful the world was from above. Honestly, as much as he believed the dragon to not just lie to him, he fully expected to be abducted into some evil dragon overlord lair—rocky mountains, withered trees, stormy clouds and all the like.
In the distance, further up in the mountains and surrounded by dark trees, he saw a castle, white walls and blue roof tiles shining from afar. It was rather small, built like a fortress and palace at once, architecture probably meant for defence on the outside and grandeur on the inside. The towers, clad in winding ivy, rose imposingly into the sky, yet with how high he was up in the air, they rather looked like a toy to Akira.
It didn’t take a genius to figure out where they were heading, and at rapid speed at that. Akira wondered which kingdom this was and why it apparently sent out a dragon to fetch a sacrifice from another kingdom twice a year. What if he wasn’t out of danger yet and he was to be sacrificed for real now? A strange thought, but fortunately one that didn't make much sense to him given the dragon's behaviour.
The closer they got, the more his confusion grew, though. As beautiful as the land under them was, it looked largely untouched safe for a city barely visible in the distance. There were no villages and not even houses close to the castle. No carts or humans visible from above, either. The castle as well—no one was guarding the gate, no one was patrolling the perimeter, nothing. The moat was empty of water, the bridge was down, no defences on the walls or towers. Not a single sign of life anywhere Akira could see.
All of it brought some unease back into his body, coldness reaching into where warmth had started to settle. Were they all hiding? Or worse, what if the dragon wasn’t bluffing and had actually—
It suddenly dove down at that moment, gaining speed only to fan its wings out and dive back up, circling the castle, likely looking for a landing place. Akira would hold on for dear life if he could—the teeth were holding him too gently now for him to not be afraid of falling out of the dragon’s maw. Likely to not hurt him more than they already had, and as much as that made him feel soft about his probable saviour, he’d prefer security over physical integrity much more right now.
“Can you not fly to impress for a change?” Akira complained, voice too squeaky to make the words sound as cool and composed as he wanted them to be.
The dragon didn’t acknowledge him, seemingly having found a good spot as it manoeuvred between towers. The flapping of its wings became less and less as it glided through the air until its feet hit the ground of the courtyard with a mighty thud.
It spat Akira out onto the stone ground unceremoniously, making him let out an ungraceful, startled noise as he couldn’t even catch himself.
“Hey, couldn’t you be a bit nicer for a change?!”
“You taste vile. They should know by now I don’t like my sacrifices drenched in overly floral perfume.”
Akira frowned. “I thought you wanted me to believe you eat people?”
Its huge red eyes narrowed in response. “I’ll make an exception if you don’t stop asking stupid questions.”
“You’re out of luck.” Akira rolled over so he at least sat on the ground instead of just lying there all tied up. “So, where are we? Is this entire castle just… empty?”
The dragon let out a huff, then took a few steps closer and bowed down, coming dangerously close to Akira, who recoiled instinctively. It looked amused.
“You’re in my castle. And I see no reason to keep humans around anywhere other than the dungeons,” it purred.
No matter the teasing words, Akira paled at having it come so close to him. From his current angle, it looked much more intimidating than from, well, inside its maw. Awareness that this was still a dangerous beast in front of him hit Akira like a brick wall as he looked at its sharp horns and fangs. It seemed to notice—with a smug expression on its face, it pulled back and stretched out its wings, towering over Akira at full height.
“That’s right!” it shouted, sneering at him. “You’re my prisoner from now on, human, locked away in my dungeons for all of eternity!”
“You know, uh,” Akira started, already less intimidated than he was a second ago, “I kinda doubt that. Hey, care to remove those chains, by the way?” He rattled the chains around his wrist for good measure.
Akira recoiled again when the dragon huffed out dark smoke at his response, coughing through the cloud enveloping him. It seemed almost offended. “You will learn to believe the reality of your fate in time once you make acquaintance with the dungeon rats gnawing on what little flesh you have on your body,” it snarled, completely ignoring the request.
Yeah, it was really playing up the act now. Being a prisoner would certainly be better than being made dinner of, but Akira didn’t believe its words anyway. It wouldn’t just rescue him to keep him around in a dungeon, that wouldn’t make sense. If this dragon cared so little for him, it could have just left him and the people before him to die.
Not that it mattered much at the moment. Now that Akira wasn’t stuck in its maw anymore, he was finally able to get a proper look at who had brought him out here.
If he thought the dragon was large before, nothing compared to seeing it stand in front of him now. The creature was easily three times the size of a horse, so tall Akira was sure he would barely reach up to its neck at full height. Its scales weren’t completely purple as he’d thought before—a closer look revealed a myriad of colours dancing all over them in the evening sun, iridescent scales rippling in beautiful hues of blue and red, complementing its translucent lavender-coloured wings, horns and spines. Akira had seen many wonders of the world across his travels, but never before something so… mesmerizingly beautiful.
It bent down, tilting its head at Akira. “Are you done staring so I can finally show you where I keep my prey? Or did I intimidate the poor, poor sacrifice too much?” It sneered once again, seemingly satisfied interpreting Akira’s silence as fear. It’s deep red eyes glittered at him, their colours complementing the evening sun, and despite the slitted pupils, something about them made the dragon seem even more human than Akira was already sure of. The scales around its eyes twisted and curved beautifully to frame them, the sight almost entrancing.
And because Akira had always been too blunt for his own sake and never one to shy away from the unknown, he blurted out, “Wow, you’re gorgeous up close.”
It only occurred to him once the words were already out that he should probably still exercise some level of caution instead of making eyes at what was essentially a monster with the ability to kill him in one bite, saviour or not.
Its reaction was certainly something. The dragon’s eyes grew wide as it pulled back, and for a moment, it was frozen like a statue. Then it opened its mouth to speak. No words came out and it closed it again, the dragon simply staring at Akira as if it was trying to figure out just what exactly it had heard. Just when Akira thought he had successfully flirted with a dragon of all creatures, it threw its head back and roared angrily, the volume making Akira's ears ring.
“Are you this dim-witted or what part of being kidnapped by a monster don’t you understand?” It hissed angrily as it leaned closer again, fangs on display, looking two seconds away from biting Akira’s head off. “One more word and I’ll rip your head off and make you my dinner, human.”
“Yeah? Big scary dragon’s gonna eat me up whole?” Akira blurted out in amusement before his brain could catch up with the words, feeling only a tiny bit regretful as the dragon’s eyes flashed angrily. “I mean, you can’t deny you’re making everything about this sound a little weirder than you have to.”
The dragon snarled at Akira, seemingly biting back an insult as it grit its teeth and pulled back. “I’m starting to think I should let you rot out here instead of housing you.”
“Housing me?” Akira blinked.
“Indeed. Am I not so kind to my prisoners?”
“So why did you play up the dungeon thing so much?”
Instead of answering the question, the dragon scoffed and came much too close for comfort again, leaning down until the hot smoke from its nostrils was hitting Akira’s skin, making him shiver. “Stay still now, or this will only hurt you.” Its eyes flashed up at Akira, who suddenly felt much weaker than he should at the words.
The dragon bowed down and hooked its fangs through the chains wrapped around Akira, the sharpness of them gracing up his thinly clothed body and flustering him more than it should. He could only stare at the creature with his mouth agape, scared and weirdly aroused at the same time.
It bit down, and as if they were no more than twigs, the chains around his chest snapped with a weirdly satisfying clack. Before Akira could comprehend that it was freeing him, the fangs hooked into the shackles around his wrists and ankles next, the sharp touch as they travelled up his body making him shiver uncontrollably.
The dragon noticed, embarrassingly enough, and let out a frustrated noise. “Stop making this weird or I’m gonna bite your limbs off next, one by one, painfully.”
“At least I’m not the one with a knack for weirdly suggestive-sounding threats!” Akira defended himself, eyes fixated on how the chains broke once more, heart beating loudly in his chest at those sharp, huge teeth so close to him. A threatening growl, another bite, and then Akira was able to move his limbs again, flexing them in disbelief.
He immediately got to his feet when the dragon leaned back, shaking out his legs. Akira decidedly ignored the tingling in his lower regions, choosing to examine later why a dragon of all creatures made him feel like that.
“Uh, thanks,” he offered, looking to the dragon for an explanation and trying to fight the blush off his face. He might be a flirt regardless if his opposite was human or not, but bashfulness wasn’t something he usually liked to show.
It looked about as vexed as expected. “I simply prefer you walking for yourself. I’m not keeping dead weight around. That being said, I will show you the way to your chambers now.” The dragon straightened itself out, then took a few steps towards a set of large wooden doors, connecting the courtyard to the castle. It looked back at Akira, expecting him to follow, but he was frozen in place with uncertainty, blinking at the dragon in confusion.
“My chambers? Wait, I still have some questions!”
Akira still had no idea what was going on here. The dragon was too cryptic about the reason for his stay for his tastes, too nice where Akira expected a monster without any rhyme or reason. Too dodgy when it came to the important things.
“For starters, tell me why I’m here?” Akira asked.
The dragon looked incredibly annoyed, rolling its eyes again. “You were sacrificed to me. Does that jog the memory, or do you perhaps think a hearty blow to the head would help?” It huffed. “We can discuss the details of your stay here tomorrow morning. Let’s go already.”
“All you do is dodge questions!” Akira protested. “I mean, I’m thankful you didn’t let me die and that you’re not as bloodthirsty as I thought, but don’t blame me for being suspicious. So what about the other sacrifices? Where are they? Do you keep them here? And if yes, why did they never leave?”
The dragon grumbled, the noise rapidly turning louder and louder until it escalated into a roar. It stomped forward, Akira unable to react in time and evade it as it captured him in its maw again, then taking off into the air with a growl.
“Whoa!” Akira exclaimed, holding onto it for dear life despite the tight grip the dragon had on him. “What the— hey! I thought we had established that I could walk on my own!”
It didn’t give him an answer, instead soaring high and circling one of the taller towers before slowing the beat of its wings so that it stayed at about the same height. Akira watched how they approached a balcony, and even with how he readied himself to get spat out again, he wasn’t prepared for how roughly he landed on the stone tiles.
“Thanks for sparing me the stairs, I guess,” Akira groaned as he got up and straightened his toga out, then turned around towards the glass door, looking with surprise into the most luxurious bedroom he had ever seen in his life. Sure, he was in a castle, but the fact that the dragon didn’t just keep him locked up like the prisoner he apparently was spoke volumes.
“Your dungeons seem comfortable,” Akira joked and, despite his better judgement, walked closer to the dragon again. “Is this how you keep all your prisoners? Lucky them. Do you just need people to repopulate the castle, or—”
“Believe me, if I could, I would love to get rid of you,” came the hissed response. “Rarely was I offered someone with such a stupidly huge mouth.”
“Hey, no need to be mean and deny your feelings. So, care to answer my question?”
It glared at him, flying higher up into the air. “There’s food prepared in your room since you likely haven’t eaten yet. Breakfast is at sunrise sharp. Descend the stairs and you’ll eventually reach the main hall. Don’t be late or there won’t be any left.”
“Wait, breakfast? At least explain to me what I’m doing here!” Akira protested, stepping forward and leaning over the railing. “What about the people who came before me?”
The dragon scoffed. “All in due time. Goodnight for now.”
Akira watched the dragon in disbelief before realising that he would likely not get any more answers from it for today—if anything, the way it talked made it clear it had fun saddling him with more questions instead.
“Will you at least tell me your name or do I have to spend my time here making one up?” he shouted after it.
The dragon glared back at him. “My name is Akechi,” it shouted, and before Akira could say anything in response, the dragon already dove down. Akira watched it land in the courtyard again, pushing the large gate open with its head and entering with heavy steps.
No, not it anymore. He. This was clearly no ordinary monster with the way the dragon had acted towards Akira. The fact that he had a name was the biggest proof of that. He might intentionally be secretive about the reason for Akira’s stay, but what monster would keep its so-called prisoners accommodated like this and even promise them breakfast?
Speaking of which, Akira decided to go inside the room to finally check it out properly past the little glance he had gotten earlier.
He was in a bedroom, and a luxurious spacious one at that, the stone walls covered in gilded red leather he had never even dreamt of being so close to before. Even more beautiful than that were the queen-sized bed, the large closet, the vanity and all else, all of the furniture made of the same dark wood with golden floral ornaments decorating it. The fabric on the bed and chairs was a cream white, nicely contrasting the softest dark red carpet his feet had ever felt. As if that wasn’t enough comfort, the room had a comfortable warmth to it, likely coming from heating in the rooms below the tower.
Perhaps most pressing for him of all right now was indeed a bowl of fruit and tender-looking bread on the nightstand, and Akira’s mouth watered just looking at it. It had been a long day without anything to eat. No one fed a commoner meant to die anyway, after all.
In his life, much too often Akira had slept in barns and tree crowns when he hadn’t been able to afford a room for the night. He had lived off what he could steal at the market, and on worse days, off what people tossed out the backdoor once it seemed inedible enough.
This? This was a dream come true in comparison.
He closed the door behind him, enjoying the warmth enveloping his thinly-clad body a lot after the hours he had spent walking and then flying in nothing more than a toga. Akira let himself fall backwards onto the bed, sighing in relief at the comfortableness of it, then reached for one of the slices of bread on the nightstand and chowed it down—it was perfectly soft, almost as if freshly baked—as he went over the events of the day again.
He wondered what the dragon wanted from him. Why he had gone through the trouble of rescuing and housing a person originally meant to feed him only and what the human look in his eyes meant. Whether he should trust Akechi or fear him. Akira knew nothing yet, neither about the dragon nor about the castle nor about the true nature of these sacrifices, and that was perhaps the thing making him feel the most uneasy about all of this. It couldn’t have been as simple as the dragon had made it seem, right? It left too many questions unanswered. Personal ones that had brought him into his situation in the first place.
He supposed the deciding factor would be whether or not he was able to achieve his goal here. Bringing her back unharmed, no matter how.
All in all, it could have been much worse, though. He could have died. Hell, realistically he should have, with how stupidly wrong his plan had gone.
Akira decided to let it rest for the evening and question the dragon over breakfast instead. The idea of sitting together over bread and water with a creature of that size felt absurd to him, but he’d take any hospitality he could get before the inevitable crash when he found out the true reason why he was supposed to be here.
Nothing in life came for free, after all. Having lived on the streets since he had turned old enough to work for himself, Akira knew of this, and he also knew what it meant when people would rather keep quiet than tell you the truth. His earlier joy over getting a chance to find what he was looking for was already diminishing more and more by the second.
Still, as he finished his dinner and cosied up in bed, wrapping himself in the softest sheets he had felt in his whole life, Akira allowed himself to believe just once that life had been good to him. He had escaped death and now had a roof over his head and food on the table that wouldn’t give him a stomachache. He had a chance to get back what he lost and return life to how it once was. It was too good to be true, which was exactly why it was so easy to give in to it.
Maybe it was exhaustion, or maybe it was a deep-seated yearning inside Akira that a kind look from red eyes had touched and awoken. For just one day, he wanted to believe that his life wasn’t about survival only, that he was welcome here.
It made it easy to fall into the longest and most peaceful sleep he ever had, dreams of purple dragons whisking him away to a better future keeping him company.