dragons dragons dragons

[bloodand]

SHAPESHIFTER DRAGON AU MEME

I was going to write a bunch of prompts for this but you know what? Fuck it. You all know why you're here. Just remember to content warn your smut, my fellow sinners.

TLDR Dragons can shapeshift, have been hiding among humanity, some of them for a very long time. Culturally there tends to be a split between the ones that stay in one place and build a power base versus the ones that are more nomadic and wander from place to place. Also hoarding instincts are weird and sometimes latch onto things that are very definitely not Typical Hoards.

Have fun.

Comments

[founderinglight]

[Izunia laughs.]

Oh, you're still young, aren't you? Not old enough to appreciate the frivolous things in life yet.

[kingshaming]

I'm not one for levity, no.

[He's being made fun of, and he knows it. And even though he's in his human shape, one could almost picture his tail lashing like a distressed cat's]

[founderinglight]

Oh, I do remember being that young and serious.

[Izunia, on the other hand, would be lashing his tail for a very different reason - one cat may be distressed, but the other just wants to play.]

Garon's committed a terrible sin if he's raised all his children with so little joy.

[kingshaming]

[Xander winces... and then a bit of sadness crosses his face]

I have plenty. But I was lead to believe this was business, not a social call.

[founderinglight]

...You've been misled, then. The sole reason I'm putting in an appearance is so that your father can't claim that I'm sneaking around behind his back and send you or some other member of the family after me.

[This is, probably, a way that Xander has lost more than a few siblings.]

[kingshaming]

Then why ARE you in this area, if it is such a hassle for you?

[founderinglight]

It's less of a hassle than trying to go around. Your family's territory is quite large. Simpler for everyone if I just keep things above board.

[kingshaming]

That doesn't answer my question.

[founderinglight]

I'm nomadic, Xander. I'm passing through because I'm passing through; it's the way I live.

[kingshaming]

[He growls again, but mostly muffles it in his drink. He'd never understand such a thing. This RV was certainly nice, but the idea of leaving the place of one's power- not having generations of work put into a stronghold... it sounds like-]

-it seems like such a shallow life.

[founderinglight]

Perhaps to you, it does. But I've lived the lifestyle of remaining in one place, surrounded by the safety of one's family, and I am old. My children are gone and my further descendants more than capable of taking care of themselves without my shadow looming over them.

[It's subtle, but pointed, in a way someone less experienced might miss. Garon's shadow is, indeed, looming.]

I value new experiences more, and I won't find those by staying in one place until Death comes to meet me. She's perfectly capable of finding me wherever I might go.

[kingshaming]

[Xander isn't the most clever beast, but even he notices that.]

Being so old and powerful, you have the freedom to do as you wish.

[founderinglight]

[Ah, good. So he can play the game.]

Age and power help, but they aren't everything. My youngest descendant, Noctis - he's already taken to the road, and he's younger than you.

[kingshaming]

[That actually seems to have his attention]

You aren't worried for his safety?

[founderinglight]

No more than I would be for any other member of the family. He's not travelling alone, and he's quite capable. I trust him to not pick fights with anything older and nastier than he can handle.

[kingshaming]

[He hums, thinking on this as he sips his tea. Younger then him? He wonders how much younger- Leo's age? Elise's? The very idea makes terror run through his spine. Leo could handle himself, but just because he made himself so utterly brutal- his amazing magical talent made him powerful, but was also almost impossible to mask. And Elise... gods, she was almost as talented but so friendly, so kind... someone would certainly try and hunt her. Kill her. Or worse. Bind her into some kind of service.

He's so distressed by the very idea that his guise of humanity starts to slip, and he starts gnawing on lips with overly sharp canines.]

[founderinglight]

[And Izunia does notice that, though he won't point it out directly.]

I do appreciate your concern, but you need not worry, either. Noctis is in capable hands - if he were not, I'm sure Regis wouldn't allow him more than half a mile from home. He's an only child.

[He doesn't know if the news of what happened to Aulea reached here, where the Nohrian clan's wings reach over the land, but even so, that's a statement that needs no more explanation.]

And my brother is in the area, so it's not as though they have no recourse should they find themselves in over their heads.

[kingshaming]

[The details were foggy and left to speculation- some said it was illness. Some said murder. Xander couldn't begin to speculate. And he knew most of their kind tended to only have one person they had children with- Garon was a very well known exception.]

Should we expect a visit from him as well?

[founderinglight]

Oh, no, they're all quite far down the coast. No offense meant, but it's for the better if Noctis doesn't come to your family's territory. Or any old family's territory, really. He's not very political yet.

[kingshaming]

You fear father would attack him if he saw the opportunity.

[He doesn't sound surprised]

[founderinglight]

Not precisely.

[Though perhaps he should, if that's what Xander's mind immediately jumps to. He's under no delusions; someone who lives around Garon constantly would know him far better than a wanderer who only crosses this way every few decades.]

I fear that Garon would try to manipulate him in some way, and Noctis would respond with something provoking. He doesn't take well to attempts to control him.

[kingshaming]

I could see that more from father's... advisers. Either way, it would only benefit him to do so.

["Shut your mouth, Xander" He thinks- he is saying too much. But he often disagreed with his father's orders. He obeyed because it was his duty, but that didn't always mean he liked it... and obeying didn't always mean following the spirit. All four of them had gone behind his back to try and... lessen things when they could.]

[founderinglight]

In the grand scheme, the two are not much different. He's bound for the Nox Fleurets instead, to get some experience of the world in a safer environment.

[Another old family with a surprisingly close association to the Lucis Caelums, given their relative lack of interbreeding.

As for Izunia, he's sincerely considering assassinating Garon and setting Xander up immediately, not that it shows on his face.]

[kingshaming]

Hmm, then I wish him well in his pilgrimage.

[His tea is finished, so he sets the cup down and stands, bowing again. The little frownline between his eyes is even deeper then when he arrived]

I will tell father that you only intend to travel through- likely you will be followed until you leave this area, but I assume you already expected that.

[founderinglight]

Of course. And probably some distance beyond that, as well. It's late enough that there's not much point trying to gain further miles this evening, though - would it be a great imposition if I remained here overnight?