The Dragon Isles: Red Dragon
May. 23rd, 2007 10:07 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tygatiSo, M bribed me into finishing this. ^^; Heh. Takes place after Silver Dragon and ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
maderr's Black Dragon, but before Grey Dragon.
There is still one more story planned for The Dragon Isles, and possibly more set in this 'verse. Haven't decided yet. Also haven't decided if I need to do a post-story drabble or not... Hmmm...
Minor warnings for violence. Dragons will be dragons... ^^;
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Ruadh paced slowly down the dock, perusing the assortment of ships currently berthed and contemplating each. They were much the same, the larger, blockier merchant ships, the smaller, sleeker private pleasure vessels, the occasional armed naval vessels... only tiny things to differentiate them from others of a similar type. The one he was looking at presently had a figurehead of a woman in a flowing dress with the largest breasts he'd ever seen. It was very hard to keep a straight face while looking at it, as he kept expecting her to topple forward into the water at any moment from the weight of them.
That ship (The Sea Lady) seemed to be the tackiest, though none of the selection was particularly appealing. He'd just about given up and resigned himself to another few days on... whatever the name of this island was... when he rounded the bulk of yet another ugly ship and stopped short.
It was a merchant style vessel, though slightly smaller than the norm for such things, and must have been newly arrived because it hadn't been there when he'd made his morning inspection. The ship had, bizarrely enough, dark red sails carefully furled on each of its three masts, but it was what had been painted on the side of the ship that drew his immediate attention. Someone with no small amount of skill had detailed out a stylized dragon in black and crimson along the entire length of the ship from bow to stern. It wasn't particularly accurate, indeed some parts were almost laughable, but it was a dragon. A red dragon.
He could practically feel the grin spreading across his face. What better vessel could there be to transport a genuine dragon on a sightseeing cruise around the world than one adorned with his own likeness? Well, in the broadest sense of the word, anyway.
Snagging one of the passing dock hands, Ruadh pointed at the ship. "That one, with the red sails. What's the name of that ship?"
The man arched a brow and snorted, rolling his eyes. "Ain't it obvious? That's the Red Dragon." He shook his head as he walked away, muttering about crazy gentry with more money than sense, but Ruadh didn't even hear him. He was too busy grinning gleefully and making plans. It was perfect. Absolutely perfect.
Scarlet eyes gleamed as he ran his gaze over the ship one last time, then he turned sharply on his heel and set out for the inn he'd been staying at. He had preparations to make, treasure to pack, and clothing that needed changing before his upcoming journey aboard the Red Dragon.
Even if the Red Dragon was as yet totally unaware of it.
Smiling in a practiced, casual manner, Ruadh carefully buried his smirk at the human's utterly nonplussed expression. He knew exactly what he looked like to the man - a lazy, wealthy, utterly spoiled child of some member of the aristocracy with too much time on his hands. It was an image he and Lord Aeynanyi had spent nearly a month concocting, learning all the subtle messages that human clothing could convey in a single look. Part of him had found the whole thing fascinating. The other part was still laughing over how seriously humans took such matters as the proper arrangement of bits of colored fabric.
Personally, Ruadh thought he looked rather good in his human costume, even if he had dulled the flame-red of his hair down to a muddled red-brown to fit in better. Provided it didn't rain, anyway. Lord Aeynanyi's pet human had assured him that the color would wash out if he got wet. A pity. He liked swimming, even in human form.
Dragging his attention back to the human, he brightened his smile ever so slightly. "I can pay handsomely for the trouble, of course..."
The man was a touch shorter than Ruadh - impressive, as dragons tended toward height as a general rule - with the solid build of a lifetime sailor. His brown hair was more or less chin-length, cut unevenly in a manner that suggested he'd used a knife to do so, and his face would probably have been fairly handsome were it not for the scraggly suggestion of a two-day beard obscuring half of it. Then again, how easy would it be to cut all that on a rocking boat at sea? Not something Ruadh ever wanted to try. Nor would he have to. Dragons didn't grow facial hair. Something he abruptly decided he was profoundly grateful for.
Sighing, the man shrugged. "Where to?"
"Wherever the winds take me," Ruadh replied honestly, resisting the urge to snicker when the man raised a brow incredulously.
"No destination?"
Ruadh shrugged fluidly with the natural grace inherent in all dragons. "You could say I'm exploring, I suppose. I go where the winds blow, and I won't know what my destination is until I reach it."
He could see the human sizing him up carefully, evaluating his face and his clothes and the carefully casual way he was holding himself, trying to decide if the promised money was worth the pain of having to put up with a spoiled child of the upper class. The man's hazel eyes lingered a moment on Ruadh's face and the dragon did his best not to look away. His eyes always got him second and third looks. Humans, insofar as he had been able to determine, did not have ruby-red eyes. A pity. Ruadh rather liked his eyes.
Finally, the man sighed. "I'll ask the captain." He turned and walked away, wending his way to the aft of the ship and knocking upon the plain door there. A moment later he opened it and stepped inside, closing the door behind him.
Ruadh smiled. It was going better than anticipated, honestly. He hadn't even had to flash any jewels to get his way, and already they were considering his request. While that was all to his advantage, it did make him wonder about the state of the ship. Were they really so desperate for coin? Everything he could see appeared to be in good repair, and the crew seemed content enough in the somewhat curt manner of sailors. Interesting.
He was contemplating the crimson sails overhead, trying to decide what had been used as dye to get that particular color, when the door opened and the brown-haired sailor reappeared, followed by a second, slightly shorter man. Ruadh watched as they approached, doing some rapid mental recalculations. This was the captain?
In his three years of exploration, he'd met any number of humans of wildly varying types from any number of backgrounds. He'd thought he had the 'sailor' type figured out by now, but apparently he was wrong. Not that he minded being wrong, in this particular instance.
The captain - if that was truly the man's identity - was amongst the most handsome of humans Ruadh had yet encountered. A touch on the slender side, but he carried himself with such confidence and assurance that he seemed somehow bigger than he was. He had long, straight hair the color of the finest gold in Ruadh's collection, pulled back into a loose tail by a single red ribbon. He was dressed all in black-trimmed red from head to toe, from his snug black boots to his scarlet trousers and matching crisp jacket to the sharp-cut hat on his head that vaguely reminded Ruadh of some of the silly 'dashing' things that were all the rage at Lord Aeynanyi's lover's court right now, only on this man it didn't look quite so silly.
He only realized he was staring when the man arched a golden brow at him rather pointedly, and to his utmost embarrassment Ruadh found himself blushing. He! The fastest, most skilled red dragon on the dragon isles! The only dragon who could and did regularly duel with Deyllgo without losing every match.
"You match your ship," Ruadh found himself saying, and promptly wanted to beat his head against the mast. This was so unfair. Where was his suave dragon poise now?
The man in red snorted inelegantly. "So I have been informed, more than once. I understand you desire passage to an as-yet-undecided destination."
"Um. Right." Ruadh plastered his best smile up. The one he'd learned from that adorable little baby human that never failed to get the child exactly what he wanted. It never failed to get Ruadh exactly what he wanted either, so far. He hoped the red-clad human wasn't immune. That would be bad. "I've been traveling for a couple of years now, following the winds, seeing all that there is to see. I'm pretty unobtrusive, there are no soldiers or anybody searching for me, and I've started to get a feel for sailing enough to be able to help if the need arises."
The red-clad blond snorted again. "Right." He slowly looked Ruadh down and up again, golden-brown eyes seeming to miss nothing in their perusal, lingering a moment on Ruadh's hands, or more specifically his claws, (which he'd tried to file down to something vaguely resembling human but it was such a tedious and boring task) and lingering again on Ruadh's face with its not-quite-human features and those telltale red eyes. Ruadh had to suppress the urge to reach up and make certain his ears were still safely hidden away beneath the fall of his long, dyed hair.
After what seemed like forever in which Ruadh did his best not to squirm underneath that intense gaze, the man in red shrugged. "Fine. Whatever. Just stay out of the way of the crew, and if Kormiel or myself gives you an order, you obey it immediately, understood?"
"Uh..." Ruadh blinked, gaze flicking briefly to the brown-haired man he'd originally requested passage from, and he pointed curiously. "Kormiel?"
The man in red snorted again. "My first mate, Kormiel," he confirmed. "I'm Captain Vinnissaen, no you may not shorten it, nor my you call me solely by name. It is either Captain or Captain Vinnissaen, understood?"
Ruadh fought a grin and offered his hand in that strange human custom he'd learned. "Understood, Captain. I'm Ruadh."
Captain Vinnissaen looked at the hand with its scarlet nails for a moment, then rolled his eyes and walked off, barking orders to the crew as he did so. Ruadh watched him go, trying to make sense of the strange human and most certainly not admiring what little he could see of a shapely backside beneath the obscuring fall of that brilliant red jacket.
A soft chuckle brought his attention back to the brown-haired first mate, Kormiel, who offered a hand of his own. "It's not just you, he's always like that," he explained apologetically as they shook hands. "You get used to it after a while. Welcome aboard."
Smiling, Ruadh let his eyes roam once more over the ship, lingering briefly on the bright spot of color that was the captain. This should be an interesting voyage, that was certain. Humans were so strange!
Two weeks at sea and Captain Vinnissaen hadn't gotten any friendlier. If anything, Ruadh thought in amusement, he'd become even more prickly. There seemed to be no one immune to the bite of his sharp words and cold looks, but for all of that he was a good captain. He knew his business as well as anyone, there were no fights or arguments amongst the crew, and he kept the ship in top condition. He also, Ruadh was pleased to note, kept his cutting demeanor limited to words only and never once raised a hand to any of his men.
Of course, Ruadh noted wryly, the words were more than sufficient, delivered in that crisp, icy manner. He rather wondered if there was something wrong with the human, to be as cold as he was. Even Deyllgo hadn't been this bad, before he found his small human to gentle him. Not that gentle was a word that should ever be applied to Deyllgo, but at least he wasn't picking fights with sea monsters every week anymore. Once a month was sufficient these days.
By contrast, the first mate Kormiel was downright friendly, often telling Ruadh this or that bit of information about the waters and islands they were passing. He'd grown up in a sailing family and had seldom been on land for longer than it took to load and unload the ship's cargo. As a result, there were very few places in the world he hadn't been, even if it was only for a few hours to resupply. He was also familiar with the various local mythologies of many areas, including the dragons of the eastern isles, though he dismissed the rumors that the dragons were real and had recently resurfaced as 'fanciful nonsense.'
Ruadh had been hard pressed to keep a straight face at that point, imagining Kormiel's reaction were Ruadh to switch forms in front of him.
Still, it was a pleasant enough voyage, and he was learning quite a bit from it, even if some of those things weren't what he had been expecting to learn. Sailors had the widest variety of obscene language of all the different types of humans, and it seemed that each ship knew a few words that the last ship hadn't, which meant that Ruadh's vocabulary was getting rather impressive indeed. Even if he still wasn't quite sure what a 'chastity belt' was or why anyone would need one.
He still hadn't gotten to test out any of the sailing skills he'd been observing, as he'd been instructed quite clearly not to touch anything or go near the crew for any reason. As a result, he had quite a bit of free time. He'd counted and reorganized his treasure collection eighteen times, inspected all of his human clothing for flaws (there were none), filed his claws down to something only slightly longer than normal human length, and harassed Kormiel.
Well, harassed Kormiel until Captain Vinnissaen had snapped at him for being in the way.
Ruadh sighed and stared out over the water at the port they were approaching. He'd seen all sorts of humans during his travels, but Captain Vinnissaen was something else. He really did seem to hate everyone; Ruadh wondered how anyone could live that way. Dragons were a very social people, considering their entire race to be 'family' regardless of whether or not they shared parentage. He couldn't even begin to imagine so totally cutting himself off from others as the captain seemed to have done.
Even Deyllgo, anti-social as he was, hadn't withdrawn to such an extent. It made Ruadh wonder if the man had been damaged somehow. Humans were so easily broken...
He brightened, grinning widely enough that a few of the nearby sailors gave him odd looks. That was it! If he wasn't allowed to do anything else of interest, then he'd solve the Mystery of Captain Vinnissaen! That was a challenge worthy of a dragon. Figure out what was wrong with the pretty human with gold-for-hair before the man kicked him off the ship.
Today was the perfect day to start, too. They would be docked overnight to unload cargo and take on new, which gave Ruadh plenty of time to loosen the tongues of local humans. He wasn't forbidden to speak with those, after all.
Gleeful at the prospect, Ruadh whirled around in anticipation of heading back to his cabin to change, nearly running smack into Captain Vinnissaen. He backpedaled swiftly, wondering when the man had managed to sneak up behind him and grateful that Deyllgo or Lord Aeynanyi weren't around to see. It shouldn't have been that easy to sneak up on a dragon.
Golden-brown eyes looked him over slowly, coldly, then one brow arched rather pointedly. Ruadh firmly suppressed the urge to take a step backwards. He was a dragon! Dragons didn't get intimidated by pretty blond humans with sharp words and sharper gazes. They didn't.
"Umm... Good Morning?" Ruadh attempted lamely.
Captain Vinnissaen snorted, then turned sharply on his heel and stalked up to the rear deck, engaging in clipped conversation a moment later with Kormiel. Their words didn't carry over the sound of the breeze, but he watched anyway. It wasn't like he had anything better to do. Thus it was that he was still watching a few minutes later when the second mate, a man whose name he'd never quite managed to catch, joined the two. There were only a handful of words exchanged, though Captain Vinnissaen managed to seem even more chilly than usual, if that was possible, then stormed off to his cabin with the second mate following right behind them. As the door closed, Ruadh found himself frowning.
That had been... odd. He wished he could go ask Kormiel about it, but the first mate was fully occupied with bringing the ship into port. Maybe later, when Vinnissaen wasn't around, Ruadh would corner Kormiel and inquire about the strange exchange. Until then... he had an outing to plan.
Dropping onto his bunk with a groan, Ruadh wrestled his boots off and wriggled his toes, glad to be free of the painful contraptions. Even though they'd been specially designed for dragon feet, they still were far from comfortable. Really, he saw no reason why everyone couldn't just go around barefoot. Stupid humans and their insistence on clothes, clothes, and more clothes.
He felt like he'd been walking forever, though really it had only been one night. And most of an afternoon. And he hadn't been walking all of that time. Sometimes he'd been sitting. Or standing. But the boots had still been on when they were far more comfortable off and humans really were very stupid.
Ruadh scrambled out of his clothing, draping it somewhat carelessly over a chair before flopping back down and sprawling out nude on his bunk. That was much better. It was a pity he couldn't just run around naked all the time, though the humans would surely object to that. They had such strange hang-ups about their appearances...
Sighing, shoving the thought of the uncomfortable clothing out of his mind, Ruadh stared at the ceiling overhead and thought back on what he'd managed to glean from the port city.
Very, very little. The Red Dragon only occasionally stopped in at the island, mostly when carrying cargo bound for that destination, and on the rare occasions Captain Vinnissaen disembarked he tended to keep to himself. He didn't drink, didn't gamble, didn't visit any of the paid-sex establishments that humans were so fond of, and the only reason anyone remembered him at all was because of his rather flamboyant mode of dress.
It had been the Harbormaster who had eventually given Ruadh the only real information of the night, and even that wasn't much. Vinnissaen was a southerner who'd been raised in the north. His family owned a large merchant fleet, the Red Dragon amongst them, based out of the port of Makani. They were fairly new to the business, but had managed to dominate the trade in the northern waters and were slowly expanding their empire further. Though the Harbormaster hadn't said anything directly, he had expressed his displeasure at the thought of one family having so much power over the seas.
Though none of that explained why the captain of the Red Dragon was such an icy, snappish man. If his family was rich and powerful, shouldn't he be, well, happier?
Ruadh exhaled in frustration. A whole night of work for zilch. It was enough to make a man give up completely. Fortunately, Ruadh was a dragon. Dragons were far too stubborn to let little things like this get them down. He'd just try again at the next place they docked. And the next. And the next.
Smiling broadly, he hummed a rather raunchy song he'd learned three ships ago and closed his eyes, wondering where the ship was bound for next. He wasn't really sure, and he hadn't seen Kormiel yet to ask. Not that it mattered. One human town was much the same to him as any other. Still, he liked to know so that he could note it on his little map of Where He'd Been so he knew where he Hadn't Gotten To See Yet. Eventually, he was hoping to have visited every single known island in the world. When that happened, he figured he'd assume his dragon form and fly out beyond known waters to see what was out there that he hadn't seen yet.
Voices just outside his cabin door jolted him out of his thoughts and he jerked upright, eyes going wide. He rolled off his bunk in one fluid motion, scooping up his cast-off attire and scrambling to hide the flame-red scales that ran in intricate patterns all down his body. Most humans passed his eyes off as a trick of the light. He'd be a lot more hard-pressed to explain the scales.
The volume of the voices rose, and though he couldn't quite make out the words, he could recognize one of them. Captain Vinnissaen. But who was he arguing with?
Creeping closer to the door, Ruadh pressed his ear up against the crack and whispered softly to the wind, coaxing it to carry the sound past the obstacle. Such subtle magics were beyond all but the most skilled dragons - and the Wind Lord of course - but Ruadh had spent a long time practicing until he was one of the best. It had helped him win more than one match with Deyllgo, though Deyllgo was still unaware of this fact. Ruadh liked breathing.
"I'm not a murderer."
That was Captain Vinnissaen. Ruadh blinked. Murderer? What was going on?
"You are what you're told to be," came the sneering reply. "Do you need to be reminded of why?"
There was a tense silence, then he heard Captain Vinnissaen's clipped "No." A few slight sounds, possibly someone shifting, then a sigh so soft that Ruadh almost missed it. "I remember."
"Good," snipped the smug voice. "When we berth in Makani. Don't forget."
Footsteps, swaggering and arrogant, pacing away. Then nothing. Ruadh held his breath, trying to hear better. Had Vinnissaen left? Was he still there? Who had he been arguing with? What was going on with Makani? Captain Vinnissaen was supposed to kill someone? But he was the captain! He outranked everyone on the ship... didn't he?
Frustrated, Ruadh debated storming out there and demanding answers from the first person he came across. Preferably that sneering, swaggering, arrogant voice, so that he could eat the man if he didn't get the answers he wanted. Though Vinnissaen would work too... maybe. If Ruadh could manage to speak with him and not make an idiot out of himself.
These things were so much easier to deal with amongst dragons. Stupid humans.
With a quiet sigh, Ruadh returned to his bunk and stripped out of his clothes once more, snuggling under the covers. Tomorrow he'd talk to Kormiel, figure out where they were in relation to Makani so he knew how much time he had to solve the mystery. Maybe he'd even find the slimy voice too.
That was a nice thought, and one that followed him into sleep, filling his dreams with pleasant visions of unsavory humans screaming in terror as he bit them in half, while off to the side a human with spun-gold hair watched and smiled.
Three days passed, during which he learned absolutely nothing, and changing shapes and eating the frustrating humans was becoming more and more tempting every day. He still hadn't found the slimy voice, Captain Vinnissaen was being even more snappish than usual, and they were only four days away from Makani.
He was running out of time.
As he dressed, Ruadh found himself thinking that something wasn't right. It was hard to tell what, not having a sailor's instinctive knowledge for all matters of ship and sea, but there was something... He finished dressing quickly, only checking himself over briefly to make sure neither ears nor scales were visible, then slipped out of his cabin and stalked up on deck.
There, the problem was immediately apparent. All around them the water was smooth like glass; the sails hung limply from the masts. The ship was becalmed.
It was distinctly odd, to see all the sailors doing nothing but watching. Waiting. He was used to them constantly scurrying this way and that to obey the barked orders of their prickly captain. And speaking of...
A blistering stream of oaths came from the rear of the ship, where Captain Vinnissaen stood with his first and second mates, glaring out at the still waters around them. Cautiously Ruadh made his way up the steps to the quarterdeck, suppressing a wince when all three immediately turned to stare at him.
"Good morning," he greeted, plastering a smile on his face. "What seems to be the problem?"
"Are you really as stupid as you seem to be?" Captain Vinnissaen snapped. "I should think even to an idiot it would be obvious."
Ruadh pretended to look around, then brightened his smile further. "We're stopped?" he ventured.
Wow. That was an impressive glare. It was almost worthy of Deyllgo. "So observant."
Ruadh's cheeks were beginning to ache with the strain of keeping the wide smile plastered to his face. "So, why doesn't your weathermage fix it?" he asked. In response, Captain Vinnissaen cursed again, using several words that were new to Ruadh. He'd have to remember those.
"We don't have one," Kormiel said finally, when it became apparent that Vinnissaen wasn't going to answer.
Ruadh looked between the three men for a moment, blinked, then shrugged. "Oh. Well why didn't you just say so?" He tipped his head up to look at the sky, feeling out the calm, reaching as far as his magic would allow, then summoning an easy breeze that would carry them out of the becalmed area. As the sails began to once more fill, he beamed and returned his attention to the men at the helm.
And took a step back.
Captain Vinnissaen's glare had darkened far past Deyllgo levels, to the point where Ruadh would probably turn tail and hide if he could get his feet to work properly. Now what had he done?
Glaring a few moments longer, just enough to make Ruadh want to lose the breakfast he hadn't had yet, Captain Vinnissaen promptly turned and stalked off, down to the main deck, and they could all hear the slam of his cabin door as he closed it. No one spoke, though they were all staring at Ruadh.
"Did... I do something wrong?" he asked finally. Confounded humans. Why couldn't they make any sense?
Kormiel sighed quietly. "Captain hates weathermages. S'why we don't have one aboard. He thinks they're responsible for calms like this and that the world would be better off without them, even though having a weathermage would get us out of situations like today's."
Ruadh blinked, then shrugged. "Well, it's true, though I don't see how this ship not having a weathermage is going to make all the rest of them quit messing with the winds."
Both Kormiel and the second mate gaped at him. "You mean the Captain's right?"
"How to explain this so hu- ... non-weathermages can understand..." Ruadh considered, then gestured with his hands. "So, say a weathermage makes the winds go in this direction. Another weathermage, over here, might want the winds to go in the opposite direction. So, in between them, the winds go nowhere. Calm." He shrugged. "Depending on where weathermages are located when they start messing with the winds, you can get all sorts of weird things happening. Get enough weathermages in a close area, and you can wind up with some pretty impressive storms too." Those were great fun to ride, though he wasn't about to add that part.
"All this time," Kormiel breathed. "I thought he was just crazy." His gaze focused as he stared at Ruadh. "How come nobody else knows this stuff besides you and the Captain?"
Ruadh blinked. "I have no idea. It's common knowledge amongst my people. I didn't realize you all didn't know until now... Though it would certainly explain a few things..."
"That's..." Kormiel shook his head slowly. "I think I need to go apologize." He turned toward the second mate. "You've got the helm." He made his way down to the main deck and vanished from sight.
Ruadh watched the place where he'd disappeared for a moment, then sighed and shook his head as he turned back toward the second mate. "I will never understand you hu-... people."
The second mate grunted. "You may have convinced Kormiel, but I think you're full of shit with all that nonsense about weathermages creating calms. You just want to get in good with Vinnissaen. I've seen you panting after him like a bitch in heat." His eyes narrowed. "I think at the next port you'd better make yourself scarce and not come back."
For a moment, all Ruadh could do was gape. It was the slimy voice! The second mate was the slimy voice! But how could the second mate order around the captain? What power did this man have over Captain Vinnissaen? He was so caught up in his discovery that it took several moments for the man's actual words to penetrate; when they did, he frowned.
"You, sir, are not the captain and as such have no authority to order me anywhere. Furthermore, I have a few questions to ask you..."
Ruadh smiled darkly, stepping up close to the man and forcing him to look up at the taller Ruadh. "For example, what is it that you're holding over Captain Vinnissaen that makes him follow your orders, hmm? A man like that should never be beholden to an ugly, slimy little worm like you..."
The second mate's face paled, then flushed with anger. He made a swift motion and Ruadh barely slid out of the way of the dagger the man pulled. They put a little distance between them, circling, Ruadh silently wishing he hadn't managed to get his claws filed down. He'd never learned to fight with human weapons.
The man lunged and Ruadh dodged, able to keep away from harm with relative ease. Humans weren't used to fighting a creature with a dragon's speed, that was for sure. Speed and stamina were on his side; he could probably dodge indefinitely, but that wouldn't help him win this confrontation. Without his claws, there was little he could do short of changing back into a dragon and eating the sour man.
Of course, then he wouldn't get the answers he wanted either. Maybe if he could get his boots off. His toe-claws were still sharp...
"What is going on here?" an icy voice demanded suddenly, causing both Ruadh and his opponent to stiffen. "Put the knife away, Rannick," Vinnissaen ordered.
The second mate glared at him a moment, then reluctantly returned the blade to the folds of his clothing. Ruadh relaxed his guard, turning to take in the sight of a very angry Vinnissaen, Kormiel standing just behind him. He opened his mouth to apologize, then caught the sound of a heavy tread coming at him. He whirled, though not quite in time to avoid Rannick as the second mate barreled into him, knocking him backwards. His back collided with the railing, leaving him momentarily winded, and Rannick shoved again.
With a startled yelp, Ruadh tumbled overboard and hit the water with a splash.
Everything seemed to be dragging him down. His clothes and boots made it terribly difficult to swim, as opposed to the smooth glide of bare skin and scales he was accustomed to. It seemed like an eternity before he managed to get his head to break the surface, wet hair tumbling into his face and partially obscuring his vision. He could still see enough to spy the ship, however, several meters away and the distance increasing.
Ruadh bit back a growl. Stupid ship. Stupid humans. He was going to eat every last one of them. He drew in a breath and prepared to change... only to blink as something landed in front of him with a heavy splash.
Rope. Leading up to the ship.
Blinking, Ruadh grabbed onto the trailing rope and looked up as Kormiel and two other sailors began to haul him in. Just beyond them he could see Vinnissaen and Rannick shouting at each other in fury. That was interesting.
Curiosity temporarily cooling his ire, Ruadh allowed Kormiel to help him on deck. His boots squished unpleasantly and his clothing was clinging in all the wrong places. He growled again, the sound seeming louder than it should have in the sudden silence that had fallen.
He blinked. Everyone was staring at him. Why...
Eyes going wide, Ruadh quickly clasped his hands to the sides of his head. Too late, as he felt the unmistakable points of his ears poking through his drenched hair. There was also something oddly sticky, and he pulled a hand away to stare at it. Brown goo? Where had that...
Cursing with every profanity he'd learned during his voyages amongst the humans, Ruadh glared daggers at the stunned second mate. His ears were showing, the dye was washing out of his hair, and it was all that man's fault. Death was far too good for him.
"What... are you?" Kormiel asked slowly, from a distance he apparently considered 'safe'. Indeed, all of them were standing several lengths away.
"Very, very angry," Ruadh replied, wringing water and dye from his hair and making a face at the mess it was causing. All over his fancy clothing too! Someone was going to pay. Painfully.
"Dragon," Captain Vinnissaen said quietly, causing all heads to swing toward him a moment before returning to stare at Ruadh. And take another step away.
"I guess the ears were kind of a give-away." Ruadh considered his ruined clothing, then began to methodically rip it off until he was wearing nothing at all. No sense in conforming to human habits if they knew what he was. Besides, it was much more comfortable this way.
Well, comfortable for him, at least. The humans were giving him rather strange looks. Except Vinnissaen. The captain was acting as though he met nude dragons every day.
"What do you want from us, dragon?" Captain Vinnissaen asked, back to the cold and disdainful manner he'd always shown.
Ruadh sighed. "I already told you. I'm exploring. I just wanted to see the world and not cause any trouble. It's not my fault your second mate is an asshole." He glared pointedly at the man, somewhat mollified when the bastard cringed away.
Captain Vinnissaen was silent a moment, then he snorted. "Point." He turned toward the crew, eyes narrowing. "What are you all staring at? Back to work!"
There was a mad scramble of sailors fleeing their captain (and perhaps a certain outed dragon) until there were only four men left on the quarterdeck. Ruadh, the captain, and the two mates. Captain Vinnissaen eyed Ruadh a moment longer, then turned and began stalking back toward the stairs.
"Captain-" Ruadh called, somewhat surprised when the man actually stopped.
"What?"
"Um, could I speak with you? Please?"
Vinnissaen turned, brows furrowed slightly, elegant face holding elements of confusion. "Why?"
"Vinnissaen has no time for the likes of you," Rannick spat, though he still kept a careful distance from Ruadh.
Ruadh bit back a growl. "I should think he'd rather speak with a dragon than an ugly human who wants to use him for a killer," he hissed.
Both Rannick and Captain Vinnissaen stiffened. Kormiel merely looked confused as he glanced between the three of them. "Captain...?"
Vinnissaen shook his head sharply. "Not a word, Kormiel." His gaze snapped over to Ruadh. "You, come with me." He hesitated over Rannick, then his shoulders straightened and he stalked down the steps. Ruadh looked over the remaining two men, then turned and followed him. Finally, he would get some answers.
And there was always the bonus of getting a peek inside the Captain's quarters. He'd never been in one before, and he'd always wondered...
Two steps inside, Ruadh stopped. Blinked several times. Stared.
"Shut the door," Vinnissaen snapped.
Slowly, Ruadh complied, then returned to staring. Surely this couldn't be normal, this strange blend of starkness with strategically placed fabric in bright, vivid colors. Most sailors didn't seem fond of colors, unless they were on jewels or other expensive items. But then, considering how Vinnissaen dressed...
Vinnissaen flung a handful of fabric at him, then dropped into a sturdy chair behind a heavy table covered in maps. "Put that on," he ordered, "Then tell me everything you know."
"Everything?" Ruadh queried, sorting out the fabric into a pair of loose trousers and slipping them on. Oh well, at least they were loose enough that he could pretend he wasn't wearing anything.
"Everything about me, the ship, and Rannick," Vinnissaen clarified, ire plain in his voice.
Ruadh frowned. "Why do you get to ask all the questions?" He crossed his arms, trying to look Impressive. "I'm the dragon."
"I'm the Captain," Vinnissaen retorted, pointing at a second chair. "Sit. Talk."
Scowling, Ruadh dropped into the highly uncomfortable chair. "If you're the Captain," he muttered, "Then why does that slimy bottom-feeder order you around?"
Vinnissaen drew in a hissing breath and leaned forward, golden-brown eyes flashing. "What, exactly, did you hear?" This was the closest he'd been to the prickly man since their first meeting, and that pretty gold hair looked very soft and shiny and horribly distracting and Vinnissaen was glaring again...
Giving a quiet sigh, Ruadh closed his eyes and forced himself to pay attention, dredging up the conversation he'd gone over and over again in his mind, reciting verbatim the strange words he'd overheard, only re-opening his eyes once he was through. Vinnissaen was sitting straight in his chair, regarding Ruadh with a strangely blank expression.
"So," Ruadh ventured finally when it became apparent that Vinnissaen wasn't going to speak up, "What's he holding over your head that's enough to make a human kill? From what I've seen, killing is considered very bad amongst humans, isn't it?"
Vinnissaen's mouth twisted into a strange grimace. "Not just humans, I think." He looked rather pointedly at Ruadh. "Would you kill another dragon?"
Ruadh blinked. "If the Wind Lord told me to..."
One of Vinnissaen's golden brows arched. "Wind Lord?"
"He's..." Ruadh's brow furrowed. "It's complicated. But dragons are usually much better behaved than you humans. We have the Wind Lord to watch over us, so we don't wind up with slimy creatures like your Rannick." He grimaced. "I want to eat him."
Vinnissaen regarded him oddly for a moment, then exhaled slowly. "Believe me, I would like nothing more than to have you eat him."
"But..." Ruadh prompted.
"But if you eat him," Vinnissaen replied sourly, "They'll know." He sighed. "I think it would be best for all of us if you found another ship to travel on and forgot everything you heard here."
Ruadh frowned. "Why? What's going on here anyway? You still haven't told me why he gets to give you orders."
Vinnissaen glared darkly at him, but it didn't work as well this time. Ruadh almost preened. Maybe he was getting used to it!
"If I tell you, will you leave?" Vinnissaen snapped.
Ruadh considered, scratching his head through his wet hair and grimacing when it came away still sticky. He was seriously going to need a bath. "Maybe?"
Vinnissaen continued to glare pointedly at him until Ruadh finally sighed. "Fine, fine. Tell me all about the Mystery of the Pretty Captain Vinnissaen and I'll leave your ship. Okay?"
"And you won't tell anyone what you learned here," Vinnissaen pressed.
Ruadh scowled. "Take all the fun out of it," he muttered, then nodded. "Fine, I won't tell any humans. I can't promise dragons, because I'm not allowed to lie to Lord Aeynanyi."
Vinnissaen hesitated, then nodded curtly. "Fine." He closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair, rubbing at his temples. "Twenty years ago, during a visit to the north, my family was killed in a storm. The people they were visiting took me in, ostentatiously as their son, and Bound me so that I must obey their wishes. They control me, my ship, and most of the northern waters. Rannick is their spy, and makes sure that I don't try to run." He crossed his arms and glared at Ruadh. "There. Now you know. The next time we make berth, you leave."
Ruadh opened his mouth, closed it, opened it again, and blinked. "Wait, what? Why? How? What do you mean Bound? So your family isn't really your family? Don't you have anyone that can help you?" He blinked again. "So, why can't I just eat Rannick? Then there'd be no more problem."
"I'd still be Bound," Vinnissaen pointed out sourly. "The Binding is tied to their bloodline. Only one of the family can undo it. Killing Rannick wouldn't do me any good." His voice dropped into a dark mutter. "I've thought about it more than once."
"Huh..." Ruadh scratched his head. "So, I guess asking nicely probably wouldn't work?" He grinned at the look Vinnissaen shot him. "Just asking. Hmm." Unfortunately, his experience with mages was limited. Dragons were all wind mages to some extent. The royal family of Temnia tended toward healing magic, though Lord Aeynanyi's human didn't have it. Few of the humans he'd met in his travels had any magic at all.
"Now will you leave?" Vinnissaen asked with a sigh.
Ruadh blinked at him slowly. "Why?" he asked. "Why do you keep trying to make me leave? I know why Rannick wanted me gone, so I wouldn't figure it out, but why do you want me to go away?"
Vinnissaen scowled, looking down after a moment. "They've already got me," he said quietly. "I don't want them to get their hands on a dragon."
Ruadh blinked rapidly, then beamed. "You don't hate me!"
Vinnissaen's head snapped up and he glared. "I never said that! You're pushy, obnoxious, loud, irritating, arrogant, overconfident-"
Not impressed with the litany of abuses being hurled at him, Ruadh decided to take the most efficient route to shutting up the golden-haired man. He hopped over the table into Vinnissaen's lap and kissed him.
The pretty captain made a muffled sound of protest that Ruadh quite contentedly ignored in favor of taking the provided opportunity to deepen the kiss. Vinnissaen tasted just as delicious as he looked, hot and spicy and tingly and entirely too edible, and that hair was even softer than it looked, all gold silk that slid through his fingers as he drew the human closer and-
"Ow!" Ruadh looked up from the floor where he'd been shoved, meeting furious gold-brown eyes that glared down at him.
"Out," Vinnissaen hissed from between clenched teeth.
Ruadh picked himself up off the floor gingerly. "That really hurt. You're stronger than you look."
"Out," Vinnissaen repeated, pointing at the door.
Sighing deeply, Ruadh paced over to the door and started to open it, then stopped. He turned back around and pointed down. "Do you want your pants back?" he asked.
"No," came the sharp reply. "Leave. Now."
With one last look at the pretty golden hair and the furious man it belonged to, Ruadh slipped out of the Captain's cabin and returned to his own.
To Part Two
maderr's Black Dragon, but before Grey Dragon.There is still one more story planned for The Dragon Isles, and possibly more set in this 'verse. Haven't decided yet. Also haven't decided if I need to do a post-story drabble or not... Hmmm...
Minor warnings for violence. Dragons will be dragons... ^^;
---
Ruadh paced slowly down the dock, perusing the assortment of ships currently berthed and contemplating each. They were much the same, the larger, blockier merchant ships, the smaller, sleeker private pleasure vessels, the occasional armed naval vessels... only tiny things to differentiate them from others of a similar type. The one he was looking at presently had a figurehead of a woman in a flowing dress with the largest breasts he'd ever seen. It was very hard to keep a straight face while looking at it, as he kept expecting her to topple forward into the water at any moment from the weight of them.
That ship (The Sea Lady) seemed to be the tackiest, though none of the selection was particularly appealing. He'd just about given up and resigned himself to another few days on... whatever the name of this island was... when he rounded the bulk of yet another ugly ship and stopped short.
It was a merchant style vessel, though slightly smaller than the norm for such things, and must have been newly arrived because it hadn't been there when he'd made his morning inspection. The ship had, bizarrely enough, dark red sails carefully furled on each of its three masts, but it was what had been painted on the side of the ship that drew his immediate attention. Someone with no small amount of skill had detailed out a stylized dragon in black and crimson along the entire length of the ship from bow to stern. It wasn't particularly accurate, indeed some parts were almost laughable, but it was a dragon. A red dragon.
He could practically feel the grin spreading across his face. What better vessel could there be to transport a genuine dragon on a sightseeing cruise around the world than one adorned with his own likeness? Well, in the broadest sense of the word, anyway.
Snagging one of the passing dock hands, Ruadh pointed at the ship. "That one, with the red sails. What's the name of that ship?"
The man arched a brow and snorted, rolling his eyes. "Ain't it obvious? That's the Red Dragon." He shook his head as he walked away, muttering about crazy gentry with more money than sense, but Ruadh didn't even hear him. He was too busy grinning gleefully and making plans. It was perfect. Absolutely perfect.
Scarlet eyes gleamed as he ran his gaze over the ship one last time, then he turned sharply on his heel and set out for the inn he'd been staying at. He had preparations to make, treasure to pack, and clothing that needed changing before his upcoming journey aboard the Red Dragon.
Even if the Red Dragon was as yet totally unaware of it.
Smiling in a practiced, casual manner, Ruadh carefully buried his smirk at the human's utterly nonplussed expression. He knew exactly what he looked like to the man - a lazy, wealthy, utterly spoiled child of some member of the aristocracy with too much time on his hands. It was an image he and Lord Aeynanyi had spent nearly a month concocting, learning all the subtle messages that human clothing could convey in a single look. Part of him had found the whole thing fascinating. The other part was still laughing over how seriously humans took such matters as the proper arrangement of bits of colored fabric.
Personally, Ruadh thought he looked rather good in his human costume, even if he had dulled the flame-red of his hair down to a muddled red-brown to fit in better. Provided it didn't rain, anyway. Lord Aeynanyi's pet human had assured him that the color would wash out if he got wet. A pity. He liked swimming, even in human form.
Dragging his attention back to the human, he brightened his smile ever so slightly. "I can pay handsomely for the trouble, of course..."
The man was a touch shorter than Ruadh - impressive, as dragons tended toward height as a general rule - with the solid build of a lifetime sailor. His brown hair was more or less chin-length, cut unevenly in a manner that suggested he'd used a knife to do so, and his face would probably have been fairly handsome were it not for the scraggly suggestion of a two-day beard obscuring half of it. Then again, how easy would it be to cut all that on a rocking boat at sea? Not something Ruadh ever wanted to try. Nor would he have to. Dragons didn't grow facial hair. Something he abruptly decided he was profoundly grateful for.
Sighing, the man shrugged. "Where to?"
"Wherever the winds take me," Ruadh replied honestly, resisting the urge to snicker when the man raised a brow incredulously.
"No destination?"
Ruadh shrugged fluidly with the natural grace inherent in all dragons. "You could say I'm exploring, I suppose. I go where the winds blow, and I won't know what my destination is until I reach it."
He could see the human sizing him up carefully, evaluating his face and his clothes and the carefully casual way he was holding himself, trying to decide if the promised money was worth the pain of having to put up with a spoiled child of the upper class. The man's hazel eyes lingered a moment on Ruadh's face and the dragon did his best not to look away. His eyes always got him second and third looks. Humans, insofar as he had been able to determine, did not have ruby-red eyes. A pity. Ruadh rather liked his eyes.
Finally, the man sighed. "I'll ask the captain." He turned and walked away, wending his way to the aft of the ship and knocking upon the plain door there. A moment later he opened it and stepped inside, closing the door behind him.
Ruadh smiled. It was going better than anticipated, honestly. He hadn't even had to flash any jewels to get his way, and already they were considering his request. While that was all to his advantage, it did make him wonder about the state of the ship. Were they really so desperate for coin? Everything he could see appeared to be in good repair, and the crew seemed content enough in the somewhat curt manner of sailors. Interesting.
He was contemplating the crimson sails overhead, trying to decide what had been used as dye to get that particular color, when the door opened and the brown-haired sailor reappeared, followed by a second, slightly shorter man. Ruadh watched as they approached, doing some rapid mental recalculations. This was the captain?
In his three years of exploration, he'd met any number of humans of wildly varying types from any number of backgrounds. He'd thought he had the 'sailor' type figured out by now, but apparently he was wrong. Not that he minded being wrong, in this particular instance.
The captain - if that was truly the man's identity - was amongst the most handsome of humans Ruadh had yet encountered. A touch on the slender side, but he carried himself with such confidence and assurance that he seemed somehow bigger than he was. He had long, straight hair the color of the finest gold in Ruadh's collection, pulled back into a loose tail by a single red ribbon. He was dressed all in black-trimmed red from head to toe, from his snug black boots to his scarlet trousers and matching crisp jacket to the sharp-cut hat on his head that vaguely reminded Ruadh of some of the silly 'dashing' things that were all the rage at Lord Aeynanyi's lover's court right now, only on this man it didn't look quite so silly.
He only realized he was staring when the man arched a golden brow at him rather pointedly, and to his utmost embarrassment Ruadh found himself blushing. He! The fastest, most skilled red dragon on the dragon isles! The only dragon who could and did regularly duel with Deyllgo without losing every match.
"You match your ship," Ruadh found himself saying, and promptly wanted to beat his head against the mast. This was so unfair. Where was his suave dragon poise now?
The man in red snorted inelegantly. "So I have been informed, more than once. I understand you desire passage to an as-yet-undecided destination."
"Um. Right." Ruadh plastered his best smile up. The one he'd learned from that adorable little baby human that never failed to get the child exactly what he wanted. It never failed to get Ruadh exactly what he wanted either, so far. He hoped the red-clad human wasn't immune. That would be bad. "I've been traveling for a couple of years now, following the winds, seeing all that there is to see. I'm pretty unobtrusive, there are no soldiers or anybody searching for me, and I've started to get a feel for sailing enough to be able to help if the need arises."
The red-clad blond snorted again. "Right." He slowly looked Ruadh down and up again, golden-brown eyes seeming to miss nothing in their perusal, lingering a moment on Ruadh's hands, or more specifically his claws, (which he'd tried to file down to something vaguely resembling human but it was such a tedious and boring task) and lingering again on Ruadh's face with its not-quite-human features and those telltale red eyes. Ruadh had to suppress the urge to reach up and make certain his ears were still safely hidden away beneath the fall of his long, dyed hair.
After what seemed like forever in which Ruadh did his best not to squirm underneath that intense gaze, the man in red shrugged. "Fine. Whatever. Just stay out of the way of the crew, and if Kormiel or myself gives you an order, you obey it immediately, understood?"
"Uh..." Ruadh blinked, gaze flicking briefly to the brown-haired man he'd originally requested passage from, and he pointed curiously. "Kormiel?"
The man in red snorted again. "My first mate, Kormiel," he confirmed. "I'm Captain Vinnissaen, no you may not shorten it, nor my you call me solely by name. It is either Captain or Captain Vinnissaen, understood?"
Ruadh fought a grin and offered his hand in that strange human custom he'd learned. "Understood, Captain. I'm Ruadh."
Captain Vinnissaen looked at the hand with its scarlet nails for a moment, then rolled his eyes and walked off, barking orders to the crew as he did so. Ruadh watched him go, trying to make sense of the strange human and most certainly not admiring what little he could see of a shapely backside beneath the obscuring fall of that brilliant red jacket.
A soft chuckle brought his attention back to the brown-haired first mate, Kormiel, who offered a hand of his own. "It's not just you, he's always like that," he explained apologetically as they shook hands. "You get used to it after a while. Welcome aboard."
Smiling, Ruadh let his eyes roam once more over the ship, lingering briefly on the bright spot of color that was the captain. This should be an interesting voyage, that was certain. Humans were so strange!
Two weeks at sea and Captain Vinnissaen hadn't gotten any friendlier. If anything, Ruadh thought in amusement, he'd become even more prickly. There seemed to be no one immune to the bite of his sharp words and cold looks, but for all of that he was a good captain. He knew his business as well as anyone, there were no fights or arguments amongst the crew, and he kept the ship in top condition. He also, Ruadh was pleased to note, kept his cutting demeanor limited to words only and never once raised a hand to any of his men.
Of course, Ruadh noted wryly, the words were more than sufficient, delivered in that crisp, icy manner. He rather wondered if there was something wrong with the human, to be as cold as he was. Even Deyllgo hadn't been this bad, before he found his small human to gentle him. Not that gentle was a word that should ever be applied to Deyllgo, but at least he wasn't picking fights with sea monsters every week anymore. Once a month was sufficient these days.
By contrast, the first mate Kormiel was downright friendly, often telling Ruadh this or that bit of information about the waters and islands they were passing. He'd grown up in a sailing family and had seldom been on land for longer than it took to load and unload the ship's cargo. As a result, there were very few places in the world he hadn't been, even if it was only for a few hours to resupply. He was also familiar with the various local mythologies of many areas, including the dragons of the eastern isles, though he dismissed the rumors that the dragons were real and had recently resurfaced as 'fanciful nonsense.'
Ruadh had been hard pressed to keep a straight face at that point, imagining Kormiel's reaction were Ruadh to switch forms in front of him.
Still, it was a pleasant enough voyage, and he was learning quite a bit from it, even if some of those things weren't what he had been expecting to learn. Sailors had the widest variety of obscene language of all the different types of humans, and it seemed that each ship knew a few words that the last ship hadn't, which meant that Ruadh's vocabulary was getting rather impressive indeed. Even if he still wasn't quite sure what a 'chastity belt' was or why anyone would need one.
He still hadn't gotten to test out any of the sailing skills he'd been observing, as he'd been instructed quite clearly not to touch anything or go near the crew for any reason. As a result, he had quite a bit of free time. He'd counted and reorganized his treasure collection eighteen times, inspected all of his human clothing for flaws (there were none), filed his claws down to something only slightly longer than normal human length, and harassed Kormiel.
Well, harassed Kormiel until Captain Vinnissaen had snapped at him for being in the way.
Ruadh sighed and stared out over the water at the port they were approaching. He'd seen all sorts of humans during his travels, but Captain Vinnissaen was something else. He really did seem to hate everyone; Ruadh wondered how anyone could live that way. Dragons were a very social people, considering their entire race to be 'family' regardless of whether or not they shared parentage. He couldn't even begin to imagine so totally cutting himself off from others as the captain seemed to have done.
Even Deyllgo, anti-social as he was, hadn't withdrawn to such an extent. It made Ruadh wonder if the man had been damaged somehow. Humans were so easily broken...
He brightened, grinning widely enough that a few of the nearby sailors gave him odd looks. That was it! If he wasn't allowed to do anything else of interest, then he'd solve the Mystery of Captain Vinnissaen! That was a challenge worthy of a dragon. Figure out what was wrong with the pretty human with gold-for-hair before the man kicked him off the ship.
Today was the perfect day to start, too. They would be docked overnight to unload cargo and take on new, which gave Ruadh plenty of time to loosen the tongues of local humans. He wasn't forbidden to speak with those, after all.
Gleeful at the prospect, Ruadh whirled around in anticipation of heading back to his cabin to change, nearly running smack into Captain Vinnissaen. He backpedaled swiftly, wondering when the man had managed to sneak up behind him and grateful that Deyllgo or Lord Aeynanyi weren't around to see. It shouldn't have been that easy to sneak up on a dragon.
Golden-brown eyes looked him over slowly, coldly, then one brow arched rather pointedly. Ruadh firmly suppressed the urge to take a step backwards. He was a dragon! Dragons didn't get intimidated by pretty blond humans with sharp words and sharper gazes. They didn't.
"Umm... Good Morning?" Ruadh attempted lamely.
Captain Vinnissaen snorted, then turned sharply on his heel and stalked up to the rear deck, engaging in clipped conversation a moment later with Kormiel. Their words didn't carry over the sound of the breeze, but he watched anyway. It wasn't like he had anything better to do. Thus it was that he was still watching a few minutes later when the second mate, a man whose name he'd never quite managed to catch, joined the two. There were only a handful of words exchanged, though Captain Vinnissaen managed to seem even more chilly than usual, if that was possible, then stormed off to his cabin with the second mate following right behind them. As the door closed, Ruadh found himself frowning.
That had been... odd. He wished he could go ask Kormiel about it, but the first mate was fully occupied with bringing the ship into port. Maybe later, when Vinnissaen wasn't around, Ruadh would corner Kormiel and inquire about the strange exchange. Until then... he had an outing to plan.
Dropping onto his bunk with a groan, Ruadh wrestled his boots off and wriggled his toes, glad to be free of the painful contraptions. Even though they'd been specially designed for dragon feet, they still were far from comfortable. Really, he saw no reason why everyone couldn't just go around barefoot. Stupid humans and their insistence on clothes, clothes, and more clothes.
He felt like he'd been walking forever, though really it had only been one night. And most of an afternoon. And he hadn't been walking all of that time. Sometimes he'd been sitting. Or standing. But the boots had still been on when they were far more comfortable off and humans really were very stupid.
Ruadh scrambled out of his clothing, draping it somewhat carelessly over a chair before flopping back down and sprawling out nude on his bunk. That was much better. It was a pity he couldn't just run around naked all the time, though the humans would surely object to that. They had such strange hang-ups about their appearances...
Sighing, shoving the thought of the uncomfortable clothing out of his mind, Ruadh stared at the ceiling overhead and thought back on what he'd managed to glean from the port city.
Very, very little. The Red Dragon only occasionally stopped in at the island, mostly when carrying cargo bound for that destination, and on the rare occasions Captain Vinnissaen disembarked he tended to keep to himself. He didn't drink, didn't gamble, didn't visit any of the paid-sex establishments that humans were so fond of, and the only reason anyone remembered him at all was because of his rather flamboyant mode of dress.
It had been the Harbormaster who had eventually given Ruadh the only real information of the night, and even that wasn't much. Vinnissaen was a southerner who'd been raised in the north. His family owned a large merchant fleet, the Red Dragon amongst them, based out of the port of Makani. They were fairly new to the business, but had managed to dominate the trade in the northern waters and were slowly expanding their empire further. Though the Harbormaster hadn't said anything directly, he had expressed his displeasure at the thought of one family having so much power over the seas.
Though none of that explained why the captain of the Red Dragon was such an icy, snappish man. If his family was rich and powerful, shouldn't he be, well, happier?
Ruadh exhaled in frustration. A whole night of work for zilch. It was enough to make a man give up completely. Fortunately, Ruadh was a dragon. Dragons were far too stubborn to let little things like this get them down. He'd just try again at the next place they docked. And the next. And the next.
Smiling broadly, he hummed a rather raunchy song he'd learned three ships ago and closed his eyes, wondering where the ship was bound for next. He wasn't really sure, and he hadn't seen Kormiel yet to ask. Not that it mattered. One human town was much the same to him as any other. Still, he liked to know so that he could note it on his little map of Where He'd Been so he knew where he Hadn't Gotten To See Yet. Eventually, he was hoping to have visited every single known island in the world. When that happened, he figured he'd assume his dragon form and fly out beyond known waters to see what was out there that he hadn't seen yet.
Voices just outside his cabin door jolted him out of his thoughts and he jerked upright, eyes going wide. He rolled off his bunk in one fluid motion, scooping up his cast-off attire and scrambling to hide the flame-red scales that ran in intricate patterns all down his body. Most humans passed his eyes off as a trick of the light. He'd be a lot more hard-pressed to explain the scales.
The volume of the voices rose, and though he couldn't quite make out the words, he could recognize one of them. Captain Vinnissaen. But who was he arguing with?
Creeping closer to the door, Ruadh pressed his ear up against the crack and whispered softly to the wind, coaxing it to carry the sound past the obstacle. Such subtle magics were beyond all but the most skilled dragons - and the Wind Lord of course - but Ruadh had spent a long time practicing until he was one of the best. It had helped him win more than one match with Deyllgo, though Deyllgo was still unaware of this fact. Ruadh liked breathing.
"I'm not a murderer."
That was Captain Vinnissaen. Ruadh blinked. Murderer? What was going on?
"You are what you're told to be," came the sneering reply. "Do you need to be reminded of why?"
There was a tense silence, then he heard Captain Vinnissaen's clipped "No." A few slight sounds, possibly someone shifting, then a sigh so soft that Ruadh almost missed it. "I remember."
"Good," snipped the smug voice. "When we berth in Makani. Don't forget."
Footsteps, swaggering and arrogant, pacing away. Then nothing. Ruadh held his breath, trying to hear better. Had Vinnissaen left? Was he still there? Who had he been arguing with? What was going on with Makani? Captain Vinnissaen was supposed to kill someone? But he was the captain! He outranked everyone on the ship... didn't he?
Frustrated, Ruadh debated storming out there and demanding answers from the first person he came across. Preferably that sneering, swaggering, arrogant voice, so that he could eat the man if he didn't get the answers he wanted. Though Vinnissaen would work too... maybe. If Ruadh could manage to speak with him and not make an idiot out of himself.
These things were so much easier to deal with amongst dragons. Stupid humans.
With a quiet sigh, Ruadh returned to his bunk and stripped out of his clothes once more, snuggling under the covers. Tomorrow he'd talk to Kormiel, figure out where they were in relation to Makani so he knew how much time he had to solve the mystery. Maybe he'd even find the slimy voice too.
That was a nice thought, and one that followed him into sleep, filling his dreams with pleasant visions of unsavory humans screaming in terror as he bit them in half, while off to the side a human with spun-gold hair watched and smiled.
Three days passed, during which he learned absolutely nothing, and changing shapes and eating the frustrating humans was becoming more and more tempting every day. He still hadn't found the slimy voice, Captain Vinnissaen was being even more snappish than usual, and they were only four days away from Makani.
He was running out of time.
As he dressed, Ruadh found himself thinking that something wasn't right. It was hard to tell what, not having a sailor's instinctive knowledge for all matters of ship and sea, but there was something... He finished dressing quickly, only checking himself over briefly to make sure neither ears nor scales were visible, then slipped out of his cabin and stalked up on deck.
There, the problem was immediately apparent. All around them the water was smooth like glass; the sails hung limply from the masts. The ship was becalmed.
It was distinctly odd, to see all the sailors doing nothing but watching. Waiting. He was used to them constantly scurrying this way and that to obey the barked orders of their prickly captain. And speaking of...
A blistering stream of oaths came from the rear of the ship, where Captain Vinnissaen stood with his first and second mates, glaring out at the still waters around them. Cautiously Ruadh made his way up the steps to the quarterdeck, suppressing a wince when all three immediately turned to stare at him.
"Good morning," he greeted, plastering a smile on his face. "What seems to be the problem?"
"Are you really as stupid as you seem to be?" Captain Vinnissaen snapped. "I should think even to an idiot it would be obvious."
Ruadh pretended to look around, then brightened his smile further. "We're stopped?" he ventured.
Wow. That was an impressive glare. It was almost worthy of Deyllgo. "So observant."
Ruadh's cheeks were beginning to ache with the strain of keeping the wide smile plastered to his face. "So, why doesn't your weathermage fix it?" he asked. In response, Captain Vinnissaen cursed again, using several words that were new to Ruadh. He'd have to remember those.
"We don't have one," Kormiel said finally, when it became apparent that Vinnissaen wasn't going to answer.
Ruadh looked between the three men for a moment, blinked, then shrugged. "Oh. Well why didn't you just say so?" He tipped his head up to look at the sky, feeling out the calm, reaching as far as his magic would allow, then summoning an easy breeze that would carry them out of the becalmed area. As the sails began to once more fill, he beamed and returned his attention to the men at the helm.
And took a step back.
Captain Vinnissaen's glare had darkened far past Deyllgo levels, to the point where Ruadh would probably turn tail and hide if he could get his feet to work properly. Now what had he done?
Glaring a few moments longer, just enough to make Ruadh want to lose the breakfast he hadn't had yet, Captain Vinnissaen promptly turned and stalked off, down to the main deck, and they could all hear the slam of his cabin door as he closed it. No one spoke, though they were all staring at Ruadh.
"Did... I do something wrong?" he asked finally. Confounded humans. Why couldn't they make any sense?
Kormiel sighed quietly. "Captain hates weathermages. S'why we don't have one aboard. He thinks they're responsible for calms like this and that the world would be better off without them, even though having a weathermage would get us out of situations like today's."
Ruadh blinked, then shrugged. "Well, it's true, though I don't see how this ship not having a weathermage is going to make all the rest of them quit messing with the winds."
Both Kormiel and the second mate gaped at him. "You mean the Captain's right?"
"How to explain this so hu- ... non-weathermages can understand..." Ruadh considered, then gestured with his hands. "So, say a weathermage makes the winds go in this direction. Another weathermage, over here, might want the winds to go in the opposite direction. So, in between them, the winds go nowhere. Calm." He shrugged. "Depending on where weathermages are located when they start messing with the winds, you can get all sorts of weird things happening. Get enough weathermages in a close area, and you can wind up with some pretty impressive storms too." Those were great fun to ride, though he wasn't about to add that part.
"All this time," Kormiel breathed. "I thought he was just crazy." His gaze focused as he stared at Ruadh. "How come nobody else knows this stuff besides you and the Captain?"
Ruadh blinked. "I have no idea. It's common knowledge amongst my people. I didn't realize you all didn't know until now... Though it would certainly explain a few things..."
"That's..." Kormiel shook his head slowly. "I think I need to go apologize." He turned toward the second mate. "You've got the helm." He made his way down to the main deck and vanished from sight.
Ruadh watched the place where he'd disappeared for a moment, then sighed and shook his head as he turned back toward the second mate. "I will never understand you hu-... people."
The second mate grunted. "You may have convinced Kormiel, but I think you're full of shit with all that nonsense about weathermages creating calms. You just want to get in good with Vinnissaen. I've seen you panting after him like a bitch in heat." His eyes narrowed. "I think at the next port you'd better make yourself scarce and not come back."
For a moment, all Ruadh could do was gape. It was the slimy voice! The second mate was the slimy voice! But how could the second mate order around the captain? What power did this man have over Captain Vinnissaen? He was so caught up in his discovery that it took several moments for the man's actual words to penetrate; when they did, he frowned.
"You, sir, are not the captain and as such have no authority to order me anywhere. Furthermore, I have a few questions to ask you..."
Ruadh smiled darkly, stepping up close to the man and forcing him to look up at the taller Ruadh. "For example, what is it that you're holding over Captain Vinnissaen that makes him follow your orders, hmm? A man like that should never be beholden to an ugly, slimy little worm like you..."
The second mate's face paled, then flushed with anger. He made a swift motion and Ruadh barely slid out of the way of the dagger the man pulled. They put a little distance between them, circling, Ruadh silently wishing he hadn't managed to get his claws filed down. He'd never learned to fight with human weapons.
The man lunged and Ruadh dodged, able to keep away from harm with relative ease. Humans weren't used to fighting a creature with a dragon's speed, that was for sure. Speed and stamina were on his side; he could probably dodge indefinitely, but that wouldn't help him win this confrontation. Without his claws, there was little he could do short of changing back into a dragon and eating the sour man.
Of course, then he wouldn't get the answers he wanted either. Maybe if he could get his boots off. His toe-claws were still sharp...
"What is going on here?" an icy voice demanded suddenly, causing both Ruadh and his opponent to stiffen. "Put the knife away, Rannick," Vinnissaen ordered.
The second mate glared at him a moment, then reluctantly returned the blade to the folds of his clothing. Ruadh relaxed his guard, turning to take in the sight of a very angry Vinnissaen, Kormiel standing just behind him. He opened his mouth to apologize, then caught the sound of a heavy tread coming at him. He whirled, though not quite in time to avoid Rannick as the second mate barreled into him, knocking him backwards. His back collided with the railing, leaving him momentarily winded, and Rannick shoved again.
With a startled yelp, Ruadh tumbled overboard and hit the water with a splash.
Everything seemed to be dragging him down. His clothes and boots made it terribly difficult to swim, as opposed to the smooth glide of bare skin and scales he was accustomed to. It seemed like an eternity before he managed to get his head to break the surface, wet hair tumbling into his face and partially obscuring his vision. He could still see enough to spy the ship, however, several meters away and the distance increasing.
Ruadh bit back a growl. Stupid ship. Stupid humans. He was going to eat every last one of them. He drew in a breath and prepared to change... only to blink as something landed in front of him with a heavy splash.
Rope. Leading up to the ship.
Blinking, Ruadh grabbed onto the trailing rope and looked up as Kormiel and two other sailors began to haul him in. Just beyond them he could see Vinnissaen and Rannick shouting at each other in fury. That was interesting.
Curiosity temporarily cooling his ire, Ruadh allowed Kormiel to help him on deck. His boots squished unpleasantly and his clothing was clinging in all the wrong places. He growled again, the sound seeming louder than it should have in the sudden silence that had fallen.
He blinked. Everyone was staring at him. Why...
Eyes going wide, Ruadh quickly clasped his hands to the sides of his head. Too late, as he felt the unmistakable points of his ears poking through his drenched hair. There was also something oddly sticky, and he pulled a hand away to stare at it. Brown goo? Where had that...
Cursing with every profanity he'd learned during his voyages amongst the humans, Ruadh glared daggers at the stunned second mate. His ears were showing, the dye was washing out of his hair, and it was all that man's fault. Death was far too good for him.
"What... are you?" Kormiel asked slowly, from a distance he apparently considered 'safe'. Indeed, all of them were standing several lengths away.
"Very, very angry," Ruadh replied, wringing water and dye from his hair and making a face at the mess it was causing. All over his fancy clothing too! Someone was going to pay. Painfully.
"Dragon," Captain Vinnissaen said quietly, causing all heads to swing toward him a moment before returning to stare at Ruadh. And take another step away.
"I guess the ears were kind of a give-away." Ruadh considered his ruined clothing, then began to methodically rip it off until he was wearing nothing at all. No sense in conforming to human habits if they knew what he was. Besides, it was much more comfortable this way.
Well, comfortable for him, at least. The humans were giving him rather strange looks. Except Vinnissaen. The captain was acting as though he met nude dragons every day.
"What do you want from us, dragon?" Captain Vinnissaen asked, back to the cold and disdainful manner he'd always shown.
Ruadh sighed. "I already told you. I'm exploring. I just wanted to see the world and not cause any trouble. It's not my fault your second mate is an asshole." He glared pointedly at the man, somewhat mollified when the bastard cringed away.
Captain Vinnissaen was silent a moment, then he snorted. "Point." He turned toward the crew, eyes narrowing. "What are you all staring at? Back to work!"
There was a mad scramble of sailors fleeing their captain (and perhaps a certain outed dragon) until there were only four men left on the quarterdeck. Ruadh, the captain, and the two mates. Captain Vinnissaen eyed Ruadh a moment longer, then turned and began stalking back toward the stairs.
"Captain-" Ruadh called, somewhat surprised when the man actually stopped.
"What?"
"Um, could I speak with you? Please?"
Vinnissaen turned, brows furrowed slightly, elegant face holding elements of confusion. "Why?"
"Vinnissaen has no time for the likes of you," Rannick spat, though he still kept a careful distance from Ruadh.
Ruadh bit back a growl. "I should think he'd rather speak with a dragon than an ugly human who wants to use him for a killer," he hissed.
Both Rannick and Captain Vinnissaen stiffened. Kormiel merely looked confused as he glanced between the three of them. "Captain...?"
Vinnissaen shook his head sharply. "Not a word, Kormiel." His gaze snapped over to Ruadh. "You, come with me." He hesitated over Rannick, then his shoulders straightened and he stalked down the steps. Ruadh looked over the remaining two men, then turned and followed him. Finally, he would get some answers.
And there was always the bonus of getting a peek inside the Captain's quarters. He'd never been in one before, and he'd always wondered...
Two steps inside, Ruadh stopped. Blinked several times. Stared.
"Shut the door," Vinnissaen snapped.
Slowly, Ruadh complied, then returned to staring. Surely this couldn't be normal, this strange blend of starkness with strategically placed fabric in bright, vivid colors. Most sailors didn't seem fond of colors, unless they were on jewels or other expensive items. But then, considering how Vinnissaen dressed...
Vinnissaen flung a handful of fabric at him, then dropped into a sturdy chair behind a heavy table covered in maps. "Put that on," he ordered, "Then tell me everything you know."
"Everything?" Ruadh queried, sorting out the fabric into a pair of loose trousers and slipping them on. Oh well, at least they were loose enough that he could pretend he wasn't wearing anything.
"Everything about me, the ship, and Rannick," Vinnissaen clarified, ire plain in his voice.
Ruadh frowned. "Why do you get to ask all the questions?" He crossed his arms, trying to look Impressive. "I'm the dragon."
"I'm the Captain," Vinnissaen retorted, pointing at a second chair. "Sit. Talk."
Scowling, Ruadh dropped into the highly uncomfortable chair. "If you're the Captain," he muttered, "Then why does that slimy bottom-feeder order you around?"
Vinnissaen drew in a hissing breath and leaned forward, golden-brown eyes flashing. "What, exactly, did you hear?" This was the closest he'd been to the prickly man since their first meeting, and that pretty gold hair looked very soft and shiny and horribly distracting and Vinnissaen was glaring again...
Giving a quiet sigh, Ruadh closed his eyes and forced himself to pay attention, dredging up the conversation he'd gone over and over again in his mind, reciting verbatim the strange words he'd overheard, only re-opening his eyes once he was through. Vinnissaen was sitting straight in his chair, regarding Ruadh with a strangely blank expression.
"So," Ruadh ventured finally when it became apparent that Vinnissaen wasn't going to speak up, "What's he holding over your head that's enough to make a human kill? From what I've seen, killing is considered very bad amongst humans, isn't it?"
Vinnissaen's mouth twisted into a strange grimace. "Not just humans, I think." He looked rather pointedly at Ruadh. "Would you kill another dragon?"
Ruadh blinked. "If the Wind Lord told me to..."
One of Vinnissaen's golden brows arched. "Wind Lord?"
"He's..." Ruadh's brow furrowed. "It's complicated. But dragons are usually much better behaved than you humans. We have the Wind Lord to watch over us, so we don't wind up with slimy creatures like your Rannick." He grimaced. "I want to eat him."
Vinnissaen regarded him oddly for a moment, then exhaled slowly. "Believe me, I would like nothing more than to have you eat him."
"But..." Ruadh prompted.
"But if you eat him," Vinnissaen replied sourly, "They'll know." He sighed. "I think it would be best for all of us if you found another ship to travel on and forgot everything you heard here."
Ruadh frowned. "Why? What's going on here anyway? You still haven't told me why he gets to give you orders."
Vinnissaen glared darkly at him, but it didn't work as well this time. Ruadh almost preened. Maybe he was getting used to it!
"If I tell you, will you leave?" Vinnissaen snapped.
Ruadh considered, scratching his head through his wet hair and grimacing when it came away still sticky. He was seriously going to need a bath. "Maybe?"
Vinnissaen continued to glare pointedly at him until Ruadh finally sighed. "Fine, fine. Tell me all about the Mystery of the Pretty Captain Vinnissaen and I'll leave your ship. Okay?"
"And you won't tell anyone what you learned here," Vinnissaen pressed.
Ruadh scowled. "Take all the fun out of it," he muttered, then nodded. "Fine, I won't tell any humans. I can't promise dragons, because I'm not allowed to lie to Lord Aeynanyi."
Vinnissaen hesitated, then nodded curtly. "Fine." He closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair, rubbing at his temples. "Twenty years ago, during a visit to the north, my family was killed in a storm. The people they were visiting took me in, ostentatiously as their son, and Bound me so that I must obey their wishes. They control me, my ship, and most of the northern waters. Rannick is their spy, and makes sure that I don't try to run." He crossed his arms and glared at Ruadh. "There. Now you know. The next time we make berth, you leave."
Ruadh opened his mouth, closed it, opened it again, and blinked. "Wait, what? Why? How? What do you mean Bound? So your family isn't really your family? Don't you have anyone that can help you?" He blinked again. "So, why can't I just eat Rannick? Then there'd be no more problem."
"I'd still be Bound," Vinnissaen pointed out sourly. "The Binding is tied to their bloodline. Only one of the family can undo it. Killing Rannick wouldn't do me any good." His voice dropped into a dark mutter. "I've thought about it more than once."
"Huh..." Ruadh scratched his head. "So, I guess asking nicely probably wouldn't work?" He grinned at the look Vinnissaen shot him. "Just asking. Hmm." Unfortunately, his experience with mages was limited. Dragons were all wind mages to some extent. The royal family of Temnia tended toward healing magic, though Lord Aeynanyi's human didn't have it. Few of the humans he'd met in his travels had any magic at all.
"Now will you leave?" Vinnissaen asked with a sigh.
Ruadh blinked at him slowly. "Why?" he asked. "Why do you keep trying to make me leave? I know why Rannick wanted me gone, so I wouldn't figure it out, but why do you want me to go away?"
Vinnissaen scowled, looking down after a moment. "They've already got me," he said quietly. "I don't want them to get their hands on a dragon."
Ruadh blinked rapidly, then beamed. "You don't hate me!"
Vinnissaen's head snapped up and he glared. "I never said that! You're pushy, obnoxious, loud, irritating, arrogant, overconfident-"
Not impressed with the litany of abuses being hurled at him, Ruadh decided to take the most efficient route to shutting up the golden-haired man. He hopped over the table into Vinnissaen's lap and kissed him.
The pretty captain made a muffled sound of protest that Ruadh quite contentedly ignored in favor of taking the provided opportunity to deepen the kiss. Vinnissaen tasted just as delicious as he looked, hot and spicy and tingly and entirely too edible, and that hair was even softer than it looked, all gold silk that slid through his fingers as he drew the human closer and-
"Ow!" Ruadh looked up from the floor where he'd been shoved, meeting furious gold-brown eyes that glared down at him.
"Out," Vinnissaen hissed from between clenched teeth.
Ruadh picked himself up off the floor gingerly. "That really hurt. You're stronger than you look."
"Out," Vinnissaen repeated, pointing at the door.
Sighing deeply, Ruadh paced over to the door and started to open it, then stopped. He turned back around and pointed down. "Do you want your pants back?" he asked.
"No," came the sharp reply. "Leave. Now."
With one last look at the pretty golden hair and the furious man it belonged to, Ruadh slipped out of the Captain's cabin and returned to his own.
To Part Two
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2007-05-24 08:46 pm (UTC)heheheh. I do love the Captains grouchyness. ^^
(no subject)
Date: 2007-05-24 10:59 pm (UTC)pushedoff the chair right there. How can I be coherrent with that?(no subject)
Date: 2007-05-24 11:11 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-06-12 11:57 pm (UTC)I love the opening. The description of the figurehead with the gigantic assets, and I find the Red Dragon ship as amusing as Ruadh does.
I adore Ruadh. He's fun, clever, and I love his mental observations. His comparison between Vinnissaen and Deyllgo, with observations of how the latter has been affected by his 'small human,' is particularly amusing.
I agree that Ruadh should be allowed to eat slimy voice. Poor Ruadh, not allowed to eat the asshole, and forced to leave the pretty captain.
Onward to part two.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-08-06 10:12 pm (UTC)Dragon
Date: 2008-10-23 09:01 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-06-23 06:21 pm (UTC)I love how he's curious and patient and so very strong-willed, so fearless and sincire and spontanious and full of life... :) And even when he's all that, he can still be all growly and want to eat the annoyances x) I adore him ^-^
Vinnissaen is also fun. Even though he's icy, Ruadh is starting to get to him :D And the way he's decorated his room... XD And hey, I smell a mysterious past that still haunts him ;)
I love the way you measure time, "three ships ago". It's so vague but realistic. On the sea, nothing is like on the land.
And love isn't a word strong enough to convey how much I like the way you write. Comparing Vinnissaen's hair to gold when a dragon is present - you have no fear! XD
(no subject)
Date: 2009-06-23 06:27 pm (UTC)