crowspace | Dragon's Bride Meme

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Dragon's Bride Meme

The Dragon's Bride

Flames, then ash. Your village will be left with little else should the dragon that plagues the countryside not get his demanded sacrifice...if you're lucky. Your good fortune turns south, the bones of your neighbors (or whatever else remains of them) litter a new charred graveyard that was once a town. So, the necessary offers must be made.

At least that's the hope. The alternative would be too awful to contemplate.

In a last-ditch effort to save those you love — or against your will, as these things tend to go with forcibly created martyrs — you have been hoisted onto the pyre, waiting for the dragon to fly off with you. What terrors race through your mind as your doom impends?

How you'll end up in a beast's belly, no doubt. Except, you must consider this: there are worst fates than being a dragon's next meal. A monster that covets you as its treasure...a new type of danger unfurls its wings. You've become a dragon's bride.

But could such an infernal creature ever learn to know honest, unselfish affection? Is it possible to be more than a "spouse?" A mere treasure?

Perhaps, you could learn to be a dragon's love.

HOW TO PLAY
✗ Comment with your character, roles ("dragon" or "bride") prefs, etc.
✗ Y'all know how this goes. Approach "dragon" as a stand-in. The monster mash could be elves, orcs, goblins, werewolves, demons, dwarves, fey, purple people eaters, what have you. Of course, actual dragon and shifters folks are welcome, too! And don't think that you have to make your boring human a boring ol' human. Consider this the monster/supernatural being/cryptid/creature AU of your dreams!
✗ Second verse, same as the first, "bride" registers as gender-neutral 'round these parts. That word choice just sounds a touch more poetic.
✗ Reply to others.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Even a tiger can feel the tension in the air as they head deeper into the jungle. For a few minutes the only sounds are the crunching of sticks underfoot.

It speaks, suddenly, voice a low grumble.]

How old are you?

[Hinata flinches at the voice - and then realizes there are words, he's being spoken to.

He looks both ways. Nobody else is around, there's only one person... or creature that it could be.

He doesn't understand why the tiger would ask him such a thing... But maybe there was a reason that had been a rule of the selection.]

...Seventeen. [His voice is a little hoarse as he struggles to clear it.] My village refused to pick anyone over twenty.

Ridiculous. Your people are so eager to be rid of their children.

[There's disdain in the tiger's voice, but it's not directed at Hinata. If anything, it's aimed at the people who sent him here.]

[Hinata's nose wrinkles even as turmoil unfurls in his chest.]

Seventeen is hardly a child, you know. Some in the village my age have already had arranged marriages. [Old enough to be married off, but still in that sweet spot of getting denied a lot of the privileges of adulthood. Besides, the more important point:] I'm taller than a lot of adults, too.

[Still.

The tiger's words sting. Not because they're wrong, but because they're right.]

...I guess they were, though. The ones in charge, at least. They wouldn't even listen to the people that actually were mad for my sake. [He shakes his head, though. What does it even matter?] Is it really that important, though?

I told them to send someone good-looking. If they assume that only means 'teenager', that says a lot about them.

[Like. It's not inherently bad that they sent a teen, but the fact that they only send teens is questionable.]

[Hinata - stops, full on stops, nearly trips over his own two feet in fact.]

What the fuck- [He didn't mean for that to slip out but it sure is what he said. His face is burning. Hinata knows he should be angry, should probably even hate the people that put him in this situation, but all he can feel right now is embarrassed.] I... didn't realize that's what you'd asked for. They never told us even once.

[Is he more flustered that his village leaders are weirdos or that he was possibly chosen for being attractive? A mystery.]

Hah. Consider it a compliment, in that case.

[They're almost there anyway, once Hinata recovers enough to walk. The jungle opens up to a small clearing. Animal pelts are stacked in a pile vaguely resembling a bed, and a few books are tucked underneath a tree.]

Here we are. Make yourself comfortable.

A compliment, huh...

[He rubs the back of his neck as he starts walking again, grateful that he's walking behind the tiger and not in front. Ridiculous, really, to be embarrassed over such a thing when...

Well. It probably won't matter soon.

That's what he's thinking, at least, until he hears what's said upon their arrival at... not quite a den, with all of this space probably, but a resting spot he supposes.]

Make myself... comfortable?

[Hinata's whole body is tense.

What the hell... is with all of these pretenses...?! Just get it over with and end it already!

The waiting is worse when he knows what's supposed to follow... but maybe it'll be less painful if he plays along, so he sits atop some of the pelts with a sigh that he hopes gives away only a little of his feelings.]

...Whose books are those?

[Better to make conversation, probably.]

Izumi Kyouka. Humans haven't invented much of worth, but books are nice.

[The tiger settles underneath the tree next to the books, one paw on the front cover. It looks like it'd be pretty difficult to turn the pages with claws, and that's because it is.]

[Hinata's eyebrows furrow in confusion, because. Who??? Who is this and where are they.

...Wait, isn't that the name of an author, actually.]

That's... the name of an author, right? It's an interesting coincidence... [He never expected someone would associate with the tiger, not considering its reputation.] Although I'm surprised you took an interest in anything of ours at all, honestly.

[His village lives in fear for a reason, after all.]

Of course it's the name of an author. If you're asking who owns those books, they're mine.

[Obviously????]

Wait- their yours?!

[Maybe he'll perish for speaking so bluntly alone - Nanami always did chide him for that - but at least he'll sate his curiosity first.]

But... How do you read them? Don't your claws get in the way?

[Unless... Hinata's real job is going to be reading the books to the tiger?

It's so outlandish that he doesn't know if he should laugh or cry.]

[Honestly, I can't guarantee that Atsushi wouldn't take a sacrifice just to read him books if he had no other option.

Either way. The tiger's form shimmers for a moment, becoming hard to look at - and then there's a young man sitting back against the tree, gold eyes the same shade as the tiger's.

Also, he's naked. Obviously.]

Surprise.

[he's right for that, honestly]

...Huh?

[His brain is fuzzy for a moment, white noise as he takes in the incomprehensible image before him.

And then it finally processes what his eyes are seeing, and there's a sudden flood of oh shit oh fuck oh fuck because. Because oh no. Oh no.

Why did the tiger turn into a man, why did the tiger turn into a man that's attractive, and why did the tiger turn into an attractive man that's naked.]

C- Clothes! [The word squeaks its way out of him in a pitch higher than he'd like if he were aware of it, hands slapping over his eyes but doing next to nothing to hide how red his face is.] Where are your clothes!

[Atsushi laughs, because of course he does. It doesn't sound mean - just genuinely amused.]

It would look stupid for a tiger to wear clothes, wouldn't it? I can only transform my body.

[Clothes don't come included.]

It doesn't matter, there should be a way!

[Hinata can't be bothered with logic at the moment, even if that's usually more of the norm for him, because he's too preoccupied with the warring feelings of wanting to melt through the ground and wanting to look. There are issues with both of those things.]

I know you're a tiger, but... Seriously, how can you be so casual about something like this?!

[Probably because it is something casual for him, but that's the furthest thing from Hinata's mind right now.]

It's humans that complain about it too much. Fine.

[With a huff, Atsushi turns back into his tiger form. There, no naked hot guy. Happy now?]

[No, he's not really happy because there's no naked hot guy now. Duality of man.

But that's bad to feel and even worse to say, so Hinata just. Ignores the feeling. It'll go away, surely.]

...Thanks. I guess.

[His voice doesn't sound disappointed, does it? God he hopes not. He'll wilt right on the spot.]

How often do you... do that? I never once heard anyone mention you changing into a human.

[You just can't be satisfied, can you, Hinata.]

Only when it's useful. So usually just for reading. It's easier to hunt as a tiger.

[No because the hot man is gone, but that's also why he's relieved. Sometimes you have hormones and it makes things complicated.]

I guess that... makes sense. [The thought of the tiger changing just to read makes something flicker through his chest that he can't really put a finger on.] It's practical, at least. Has anyone else even seen you like that before?

[It would make sense if Hinata wasn't the first, right? He had to get those books from somewhere, after all.]

The tributes before you have. Sometimes it makes them less afraid.

[Not that they really should be afraid in the first place, it's not like he was planning to hurt them or anything.]

[Nanami scolds him pretty often, about speaking without any filter.

And he's about to wish that she was here now.]

I don't get what the point is of us being less scared when we're just going to get eaten anywa- [Hinata's mouth snap shuts, breaking off what he was saying as his face goes very pale.] Oh- oh crap, I-

[He feels stupid... but it's probably better to get it over with, right?]

I...

[It does make the tiger scowl, but...]

I can catch my own prey if I wanted that, I don't need my food delivered to me. Any predator would be insulted hearing you say that.

You're not for eating.

[He's on the verge of saying- something. An apology? Expression of fear?

But those words... give him pause. Disbelief paints his face, hits him in a wave that makes him grips onto his shirt where it rests over his heart. He needs the anchor.]

What... do you mean I'm "not for eating"? They said we were being sent here as a sacrifice. That I'd never go back to the village one way or another... So if I'm not here to die, what am I here for?

[...Well. The tiger huffs, looking pointedly away from Hinata.]

...You're for company.

[He sounds... almost a little embarrassed about it.]

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