"HELP--"

The call itself set off alarm bells in Lorcan's head, his gaze snapping from the dragon to the deck. He had been so fixated on the circling beast that he somehow missed the entire fact that the woman that had been upon its back no longer was. And given the call for help, and her absence, it was easy to assume she hadn't simply slipped and fell silently to her death.

His pink gaze scanned over the deck, his eyes piercing over each and every detail as he tried to pinpoint where the sound had come from. Like hell was he losing his ship to this dragon. And LIKE HELL, was he losing his men to some beast riding girl.

His gaze lingered on the only point of the deck that seemed to have any cover from his sight. It was a gamble. But one he would take. At least this time, he would be able to retrieve his weapon. The other men seemed to be on high alert, having heard the call as well. Some paused momentarily, halting the barrels as the last few flames were snuffed out.

One of the younger blokes glanced around, before his eyes met Lorcan's. The captain was PEEVED, and even that as a thought in itself was the biggest understatement of their century. The captain raised his axe up above his head from the wheel, before swinging it down, letting it sail across the ship with heavy momentum as the blade crunched into one of the barrels.

Water instantly began to rush out of the opening as he scrutinized the space, watching for the reaction he wholly expected from any sane person who mightve been hiding behind. He cursed inwards at his throw.

Perhaps, if he had been the smallest bit closer when he threw his axe, maybe it would've gone all the way through like he had planned. Another mistake.

His flawless record was taking hit after hit today, and that knowledge only seemed to egg him on more as he stormed down the steps of the deck, paying no mind to the crew mates who scrambled out of his way as they reloaded their weapons and turned their focus to the circling blue dragon and left their captain to... Whatever it was he was doing.

His boots thundered along the wooden boards, each step radiating his growing frustration at how this entire hunt was playing out. His ship was now half munted. Some of his men dead. He had missed not one, but TWO shots now. His blood roared through his veins, drowning out the sounds around him as his rage dragged him along, blinding him to the rest of what was going on around him as his focus narrowed to that single point. Where his axe lay embedded in a now drained barrel, surrounded by wooden fragments from the blow.

They didn't do stowaways. Never had. Never will.

Lorcan's attention soon diverted away from the barrels as he sharply turned back at the sound of the dragon making a move. Its wings beat down in powerful strokes, sending the beast barreling past with such speed the wind shook the ship and knocked a few of the men off balance. A couple dropped their weapons in their surprise, scrambling to re-equip their weapons.

Lorcan quickly fixated on the beast as it swooped by, disappearing from sight below the ship before he saw the shadow of a huge form blocking the sun out from behind. With barely a second to spare, Lorcan managed to sweep himself low to the deck, yanking on the back of his tunic as a separate cloth was pulled free from hiding. It was a long cloak, faded from time and use to a dull and paler maroon colour. The cloth itself was rippled with small segments, like... Scales.

The blue dragons flames raged down upon the ship once again, causing even the metal ribcage around the ships base to bend awkwardly as the metal began to give out under the intense heat. Lorcan held the cloak over him, feeling the sharp push of the heat on the otherside as he took a staggering step back under its force.

The sounds of his crew were drowned out under the raging inferno, some of the flames flickering from a normal orange-red... To a deep blue much like the dragons scales. The flames were beautiful as they were deadly... He froze. He'd never seen anything like this before. Something was different about this dragon, and he had about half a mind on betting it had something to do with its now absent rider.

"DAMMIT-!!" He cursed out loud as the flames flickered out, leaving behind a glowing, smoking mess on the ship. The furnace was now far past its usual limits. The metal ribcage that reinforced the ships wooden structure was now bent and warped from the heat. The deck was now flaking into charred chunks as the wood burned beneath his boots.

His eyes stung from the thick black smoke that curled up, streaming off the ship in swirling trails as alarms began to sound from below deck. The damage was extensive. Far beyond what just a few water barrels could manage to fix, even if just temporarily. The wings were no longer flapping in their steady pace, the sails completely singed and now full of holes, and the heat from the flames remained the only thing keeping the ship in the air.

But without the furnace and the dwindling flames, that hot air was diminishing quickly.

Lorcan's eyes widened as he swung the cloak around, sweeping aside some of the smoke as he raised his arm up to rest over his nose, shielding his face from the remaining fire. The deck had grown silent. His men all felled or close enough to.

'Fuck. Fuck fuck FUCK-! This wasn't meant to happen...! Not like this! How the hell did it all go so damn wrong?!'

His boots thundered on the deck as he tore off back to the steering wheel... Only to find it half burnt to a crisp too. Ignoring the remaining embers, he grabbed the bars tightly, pushing aside the burning pain in his palms and fingers as he fought for control over the ship as it groaned in protest.

He could feel it... The balance he had. It was slowly tipping. And as the bow of the ship began to tip away from the horizon, he realized with startling clarity, the ship was going down. He grit his teeth as the first hints of desperation began to claw at his chest, his heart racing as he tried to regain control of the ship, to set it to a safe glide.

From this altitude, they could still manage a landing. But that would require a manual lowering of the gears, for the furnace to miraculously unbend from its overheating earlier for them to funnel hot air back to the balloon, and for the wings to be reset to a straight position.

But all of that required people.

And he was now but a lone man.

The sound of wood crunching and groaning filled the air, a metallic grinding joining the deadly symphony as the ship continued its sharp descent towards the ground. Water sloshed over the sides of the ship, along with the left over barrels that were no longer secured as they tumbled over the railings and plummeted ahead of them.

Time was running out, and he knew it. He wasn't going to be able to steady the ship, to glide it to any form of safety in which he might survive. But when that cursed woman stepped out and revealed herself, radiating such confidence that spoke levels of her certainty in her victory, he wanted nothing more than to see her burned by the very flames her little pet had wrought upon his vessel.

He growled at her words, his fingers tightening their grip as she ran by him.

His axe... His hunting weapon still lay across the deck, wet and discarded by the wooden remains of the barrel he had thrown it into before. He had nothing now. He barely had any sense of control left, his thoughts colliding in his mind as he was left stuck between his fight or flight.

At the strong yank, he felt himself get physically pulled from his thoughts before they were jumping onto that wretched beast. The rush of wind was like nothing he'd experienced before, his fingers scrabbling for a grip on the slick scales as the dragon flew by.

"I'LL SEE TO IT YOU BOTH BURN IN THE HELLSCAPE YOU CAME FROM-!!!" He shouted over the rush of wind, cursing himself for not having grabbed his weapon. If he had, he could've ended her right here and now. Or better yet, finish the hunt he started and take down this dragon. Lorcan's chest heaved as he stewed in his anger, until a heavy weight hit the back of his head...

Then. Nothing.

One second he was struggling to cling to the back of a flying dragon, and next, everything had gone silent and dark. He could barely feel the cold bite of the wind as it gushed past them, even the pain in the back of his head was a dull and distant throb.

His head felt like it was swimming, the waves of dizziness disorienting as a large figure loomed over him, a disappointed look in their gaze.

Cyrus... His father, chief of the dragon hunters.

He'd never seen such a look on the man's face before. He was a gentle man, with immense amounts of patience and kindness. Even in Lorcan's worst nightmares, he never wished to see that look on his father's face. Like HE had somehow managed to piss off the one and only person in this world he truly looked up to.

He reached out a shaking hand, his heart dropping as the form of his father turned away from him, leaving Lorcan reaching for nothing in particular.

With a start, he jolted awake, a cold sweat beaded along his forehead and skin as he breathed raggedly.

His eyes were wide, still shaken by the strange dream, before they quickly sharpened. Where the hell was he? This wasn't his ship. And what was that tightness around his arms-?!

A sharp grunt left his mouth as he tried to wriggle about, before the cold realization set in. Ropes. FUCKING. ROPES. He had been tied up, taken somewhere unfamiliar. Even his head felt ten times lighter, his crown of horns no where to be found as he struggled more against his binds.

"WHO THE FUCK-!? GET ME THE HELL OUT OF THESE THINGS!! DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM!? I'LL GUT YOU BEFORE YOU CAN EVEN BLINK!! YOU'LL BE DEAD BEFORE MY FEET WITHOUT SEEING THE LIGHT OF TOMORROW-!!" He shouted out into the dark room. He didnt know where he was, or who was around, but like hell was he just going to roll over and let himself be held like some weak little hostage and not the grand hunter he was.

"Why the hell are you killing dragons?"

Lorcan would've laughed had she not seemed so downright serious when she asked that question.

Why the hell would he kill the very creatures who had plagued their lands and skies for generations? Why the hell would he kill the scaled menaces that burnt their homes, took their livestock and killed his people? It was his job-! His livelihood-!

"Why the hell do I kill dragons...? That's the question you pull from your ass after riding one?! Have you not seen the destruction they have wrought upon the people in these lands?!" He snapped sharply, his eyes narrowing into the most piercing glare.

"Everyone knows how bloody dangerous those scaled fucks are! They don't write stories and legends based off of thin air!" He continued as he struggled against his restraints once again.

"Those winged demons have killed hundreds of my people! Took my Mother's life-! So YOU tell ME, why the hell are you siding with them after everything they've done?!" He spat at her. His gaze was nothing short of murderous, but whether it was from her question, her very presence or what had happened earlier that was causing it was still to be determined.

That smug look she'd had on her face when she entered... How Lorcan loathed it. He vowed silently in the back of his mind to rip it from her rosy lips himself, even if it was the last thing he did.

It was one thing to disrespect him and his work. But to straight up dismiss his profession and the reasoning behind it? That took guts. Or an extremely high level of stupidity.

He pressed his lips into a thin line as his gaze flickered over her form, weak, skinny, how the hell had he let her get one up on him? Stupidity. The thought rang out in his mind loud and clear, it hadn't been luck, it wasn't bravery that she had shown. It was straight cut stupidity.

The ship had been falling from its place in the sky. And she had taken him from it instead of leaving him to die.

Lorcan raised his head back up, sneering up at her as he thought about it.

"And what about you too, huh? Riding dragons and saving hunters. Seems a bit contradictory if you ask me Princess." He scoffed, feigning amusement to hide the way he was positively seething on the inside. Curse her. Curse her dragon. Curse every single aspect of the day that had led him to this very moment in time.

He needed to get a rise out of her. Find out what her deal was. Why she had brought him back alive instead of slaughtering him along with the rest of his men. Surely she recognized the danger he posed not only to herself but the dragon she had been riding too, right?! It was almost like signing a death warrant with express delivery.

"Princesses have pretty hair and those fancy ass little pets dont they? I heard they used to lock em up in towers, guarded by dragons. Sounds like quite the life." Lorcan snarked, his tone radiating his smugness.

"This has nothing to do with my ego either. You're the one that dragged me off that ship. Its like they say. Consequences... and actions or... Whatever." He scoffed a bit as he leaned back in the chair, letting his neck strain a little as he stared up at the ceiling.

"...Tch. Don't dragons have hoards or something? Surely your pet could buy you a better place. This thing looks ready to blow apart at any second. Ive seen goblin settlements better put together than this dump." He knew he was grasping at straws now, but he couldn't help himself either. Anyone else in his shoes would probably resign themselves to the fact there was no getting out of this one. Not fully intact at least. But that was everyone else, not him.

He could see it in the tenseness of her shoulders... The tight line of her lips pressed together, the slight narrowing of her gaze. He was getting to her.

Before he could say anything more to rile her up, she turned and left, just like that. He sat there stunned for a moment. Confused. Who the hell just walks out of a conversation like that?!

"Some rude ass manners you got there little lady...! Leaving your guests alone like this!" He shouted after her. Maybe she had finally had enough of his taunting words and scathing remarks. He was content with that thought until the sound of the stairs creaking again caught his attention all over again. She was back. And she wasn't empty handed this time.

Lorcan furrowed his brows as she approached, placing the water on the floor and the saddest looking piece of bread upon his lap.

"Good luck eating it with your hands tied, Oh! And here’s some water."

His gaze snapped back up to meet hers as he gave her the deepest glare he could muster. To her eyes, it probably seemed the same as every other glare he'd thrown her way since this whole shitshow started.

Like hell he was letting her feel smug about this predicament anymore.

With a grunt, he shifted his hips, carefully shimmying the bread onto his thigh. He pushed back more into the wooden chair, raising his knee slowly as he half curled down on himself, nudging the bread with his nose, before finally biting into it with a satisfied huff.

He kept eye contact with her as he took a vicious bite of the bread... But the intimidation was instantly ruined by the way he had to use his shoulder in order to actually PULL the bread apart.

The last bit fell to the floor as he clenched his jaw in frustration. How much more worse could this day get.

His gaze fell to the water bottle beside the chair on the floor, his brow twitching a little.

"How the fuck..." He murmured under his breath as he tried to nudge his legs over. Nope. The rope wasn't going to let him twist that way easily. At least bringing his legs up or down was manageable, but this? Out of the question.

He grunted again as he struggled against the restraints around his wrists, his shoulders protesting the strain heavily before he gave up on that too.

Maybe he could jump the chair around? If he could turn to face it, he could use his boots to grab and lift the bottle! Lorcan's eyes lit up at the plan. With his feet planted firmly against the ground, he pushed up, attempting to twist his body around with the chair... Until the chair leg caught on a small indent on the floor.

With a loud THUD the chair toppled completely sideways, leaving him cheek first against the dirty floors surface.

"...I hate this." He growled, before slightly turning his head to glare over at her.

"...I hate you."