Chapter Text
Traveling with Hyunjin was like traveling with the wind.
Some days they were walking up the hills, across the country with the animals, rabbits at their feet and birds above their heads. They'd talk about everything and nothing, and Hyunjin's laugh would float up into the heavens. His laughing was like medicine, and Jeongin could not get tired of it.
Other days it was next to a bubbling brook, which would lead to a roaring river, one that Hyunjin would bend to his will, purify clean drinking water from, or simply sit in and let himself be renewed. Those were days of awe, where Jeongin watches with wide, admiring eyes, and Hyunjin teased him for his fly-trap mouth, perpetually hung open.
And other days, they were lying in the trees, staring up at the stars, or basking in the coolness of the rain, Hyunjin tugging Jeongin towards him until he was draped over him, holding his securely to the branches until morning. Those days would be long, and they wouldn't speak. They tried not to think about how a home was more comfortable, and some people were better than no people, even if those people hadn't liked them.
"We'll find it, Innie," Hyunjin would whisper into Jeongin's ear when he thought he was asleep, "Somewhere you don't have to feel afraid."
Jeongin felt safe in Hyunjin's arms. He wasn't sure why that worried him. He was even more unsure why Hyunjin thought he was afraid– he was way past being afraid.
"You're sweet," Hyunjin liked to touch Jeongin's face a lot, run his hands through his hair and untangle the knots, "I love you too much, you know?"
Jeongin scrunched his nose, "Don't say rash things."
"I'm serious!" Hyunjin pouted, "Even if you are rather useless at hunting."
"Hey!"
Of course, bad things followed Jeongin wherever he went, and it was only three weeks into their aimless wandering, that a persistent cloud caught their tail, and could not be shaken.
Jeongin noticed first– creatures of fire, perhaps, were more attuned to each other's smoke. Maybe that was what drew it to them in the first place, the unwashable aura of smoke that clung to Jeongin wherever he went.
"Innie?" Hyunjin frowned, looking up at the sky where Jeongin often stared, "Everything alright? Are you worried about the weather?"
"Hm?" Jeongin was distracted, he felt bad for worrying Hyunjin, but he could never let his guard down, "Oh no… not the weather."
"Then what?" Hyunjin served him some stew he'd whipped up from wild herbs, and some fish he'd caught in the river, holding it carefully till Jeongin took it, "You stare at the skies almost religiously these days. Ever since the sky became dark– two days back was it?"
Jeongin nodded, only too aware of when the sky darkened, "Yes… it was two days."
Hyunjin waited patiently, bowl in his hands, for Jeongin to eat first. He couldn't lie, he was starving– traveling and eating off the land wasn't as romantic as he'd thought. But eating with Jeongin was better than a day of cruelty, and Hyunjin would take it, scarce meals and all, from what they'd come from. So he cooked with the meager ingredients, and waited for Jeongin to take the first mouth, eager for his impression. But as he waited, Jeongin only grew more distant, staring at the sky.
Hyunjin's patience wasn't infinite.
With an indignant huff, he set his owl bowl down and took back Jeongin's bowl, taking a spoonful of the stew right to the phoenix's lips.
"Wha– I!-- Mmf," Jeongin had no time to protest, or even take back his bowl, as Hyunjin meticulously and painstakingly fed him.
"If you've got business with the sky," Hyunjin shook his head, "Then I've got to make sure you don't pass out. The sky is an infinite expanse– you'll get sick without anything in your body."
Although he wanted to protest, Jeongin could not find the opportunity between each mouthful of food quickly placed between his lips. And with each bite, he wasn't sure he wanted to, Hyunjin growing more content as the bowl emptied.
It felt somewhat like eating with his mother. So Jeongin looked away from the sky and his worries to let Hyunjin take joy in baying him.
After Hyunjin slept, snoring into Jeongin's back, arms wrapped loosely around him, only then did Jeongin look back to the sky.
And let himself grow worried, when he saw the terrible outline of a beast, weaving behind the clouds.
Jeongin found his opportunity to do business with the beast when they entered a dense forest.
They'd strayed away from the river to enter it, perhaps to keep Jeongin's eyes off the skies more, and something about that made Hyunjin more quickly exhausted, and need frequent naps. He'd apologize profusely, but Jeongin took it as a blessing. They had been traveling at a pace that put horses to shame– it was nice to finally observe and take in where they were.
He left Hyunjin to rest by a well-supplied fire, and followed the trails under oaks as big as houses, and mushrooms as bright as berries. The beetles hummed loudly as the passed him, squirrels circling up and down the trunks over a singular nut that was not at all uncommon in a forest of this size. A choir of birds chatted in the branches.
For a moment, Jeongin took a deep breath, and just was . The fire wasn't crackling in him, trying to burst out, only a dull, building ember.
He felt at peace.
But only for a moment.
He felt it before he heard it. The aura of power that decided to descend into the tree cover, down from the heavens to haunt the earth. Jeongin's heart froze. Only then fid heavy footsteps crack root and branch, the moss and grass doing little to muffle the weight of the beast.
" You ."
The voice was a low rumble, quietly dangerous, filled with power. Jeongin turned slowly, only too aware of his size in the presence of such power. When his eyes landed on the claws, the scales, the eyes burning with an everlasting fire, wings spread to catch every bit of light, Jeongin knew just how small he was.
"You," he whispered back, swallowing harshly to gather his courage, "Have been following us for quite some time.'
He was small, but no less powerful. Jeongin was a Phoenix. He tried to remember what his mother had said, when he was very small, and didn't know the extent of what he was.
But even as he did, he couldn't compare to the beast before him in sheer magnitude.
The beast cooked its head to the side, like raising an eyebrow, " Curious ."
Jeongin frowned, "We don't want trouble. We're just passing through."
Lowering its head, a forked tongue flicked our at Jeongin's face, considering him before replying, "Mm… no."
Jeongin sputtered, "No? What do you mean? We're not here to hurt you, or trespass, or steal, we just want to be on our way!"
Lifting its head back up, raising itself to full height, the beast shook its scales, twinkling sounds echoing through the forest in reply.
" No ," it repeated.
Every emotion between fear, and awe, and shock, disappeared in that silly word, Jeongin's temper flaring as he crossed his arms.
"Why?" He asked back, "What did we so wrong?"
The creature tilted its head, as though crossing its arms in return, a deep rumbling echoing out of its chest, reverberating in the clearing.
Annoyingly.
"Listen," Jeongin felt heat rising, whether he consciously thought of it or not, "My friend is very tired, and we're very far from his home. We don't belong anywhere anymore, and we're just doing what we can to survive. If we've done something wrong, you'd better tell us instead of haunting our every step, or- or- or-"
He doesn't like making threats, but the fire in him is flaring to do it anyway. It has no effect on the beast, who just rolls its neck languidly, yawning, before looking back at Jeongin.
The nerve!
"Listen!" Jeongin was getting angry now, "You can't–! We've just–! Argh! Why won't you just say something?!"
The eyes of the creature dipped in a sudden loss of amusement, and Jeongin was afraid he'd offended it, right up until he sees the fire flare in its eyes, brighter than before, more passionate, as Jeongin noticed the burning of fire in its chest grow hotter, brighter, shining through its scales as it pulled its head back, and Jeongin had a belatedly horrified realization that–
" Hey!" Hyunjin burst out of the forest, the rain following his steps and dousing the beast immediately, "Stay back! Stay away from him, don't you dare! "
Surprised, the beast shook itself off, annoyed and put off by the weather, like a cat tossed into a bath. It doesn't seem any less angry though.
"Innie?" Hyunjin shuffled nervously, tucking the Phoenix behind him for safety, "Why are you talking to a dragon?"
Jeongin doesn't have a rational answer to give, especially as said dragon bucks and huffs in annoyance, each step echoing through the entirety of the forest.
It only became worrying at it turned its terrible eyes to Hyunjin, very clearly angry and ready to exact its anger on a certain elf who made starting his fire more difficult, but no less dangerous.
Hyunjin gulped nervously, "S-stay behind me Innie, I'll protect you."
Jeongin certainly didn't feel protected, the elf shaking out of fear as the beast stalked closer. But Jeongin didn't feel scared, because as angry as the dragon was, and as dangerous as an angry dragon was–
" Don't ," he hissed, forcing Hyunjin's arms don't, "Don't scare him."
Hyunjin scoffed, "Scare him?" He squeaked when the dragon huffed, and then added in a whisper, "What about me? Huh? How about him scaring me?!"
But Jeongin didn't hear him. He moved slowly around Hyunjin, one foot carefully in front of the other, hands open and outstretched as he looked the dragon in the eye.
The fire within it burned hot, hotter than the stars, but Jeongin knew that type of heat. More than that, he knew that type of pain, the pain of loneliness that one tried to hide with every single breath.
"You're hurt," Jeongin whispered, the dragon lowering its head until its snout rested in Jeongin's hands, "You've been hurt, and you didn't know what to do so…" the dragon noses Jeongin's chest and Jeongin breathed out a sound of understanding, "So you followed something familiar."
Hyunjin shuffled behind him, crunching leaves below his feet, "Innie?"
The dragon looked at Innie, with eyes swimming in emotion, " You."
Jeongin nodded, "Me… the fire."
"Mm, you."
Letting out a small laugh, Jeongin scratched the dragon's scales, resting his head on top of them, looking into one eye.
"You're lonely, and scared," he whispered, "Just like us."
It was easier to see when he was this close, but the beautiful red and black of red dragon's scales were littered with scars, criss-crossing, piercing, the evidence of chains chaffing around its claws.
"Can you shift?" Jeongin quietly asked, and with a sad moan, the head of the dragon dropped to the floor of the forest, birds shaken from the trees and screaming in fear.
Hyunjin finally understood, "A dragon who can't shift? Oh… oh, he's been hurt…"
The dragon closed its eyes and Jeongin could feel its exhaustion, its frustration seeping out in waves, and in swollen tears that ran over its scales and puddled on the ground. To be stuck in the form of a dragon was to be cut from communication, cut from civilization, cut from any relationship other than fear. Dragon's stuck in their form carried their pain and hurt till death, or until they were released of it by magic.
Hyunjin laid on the other side of the dragon's snout, sniffling empathetically, "Oh, poor thing… just like us, aren't you? Alone?"
"Well," Jeongin took his sleeve and vainly wiped away the dragon's tears, looking it certainly in the eye, "You won't be alone anymore. You're with us now, alright?"
If Jeongin didn't know better, the dragon smiled.
It turned out, dragons were much better hunters than elves or phoenixes. After weeks of stew and malnourishment, Hyunjin and Jeongin ate meat: rabbit, wild chicken, squirrels, whatever the dragon caught until they made it stop. The dragon seemed happy to be helpful, delighting in whatever they asked of it.
"Dragon?" Jeongin asked hesitantly, when Hyunjin tripped over his feet in weariness, "Can… can Hyunjin ride you? He's very tired, and we'd cover more ground if–"
He didn't finish asking before the dragon delicately picked them both up, settling them on its neck. It was terrifying, at first, to be so high from the ground as the dragon walked through the forest, head near the treetops. They didn't dare fly yet, just walking was terrifying enough, and the dragon seemed to find great amusement in their little fears, so they kept journeying on foot. Because that was all they could do.
"I feel bad," Hyunjin brought up one day, munching an apple they'd snagged while riding dragon-back down the mountainside, "We keep calling you 'dragon' and referring to you as 'the dragon.' Do you have a name?"
"Of course it has a name," Jeongin rubbed the dragon's scales as it spun into head around to glance at them for a moment, before continuing downhill, "It just can't tell us yet. But one day it will," he pet the scales of the beast fondly, "I promise."
Hyunjin seemed unsettled hy another fact, "Innie, this dragon isn't an 'it.' You shouldn't keep saying that."
"Well, until our dragon tells us otherwise," Jeongin argued, "I don't really have much to go on, do I?"
"Well, yes, but–"
They argued back and forth, the dragon never offering a word, only faithfully carrying them through the forest, weaving through the trees until–
Jeongin nearly fell from the back of the dragon as they jersey to a stop, secured only by Hyunjin, who grabbed him tightly.
"Oh, why'd we stop?"
But then he peered around the neck of the dragon and there, in a clearing, was a small hut, smoke rising from the chimney, golden light from within.
Perhaps because they'd been deprived of a home for so long, they were instantly drawn to it, the aura and comforts of belonging. But more than that…
"It's magical," Hyunjin whispered, "Someone magic lives there."
Jeongin slid of the dragon first, landing softly on the ground with restrained wonder. A beautiful garden was fenced behind the cottage, and large, colorful fruits and vegetables grew there. More than that, birds flit in and out of the windows, like drawn to the essence there. There was something special about this place.
"We should say hello," Jeongin decided, "Even if we're just passing through. It's only polite."
Hyunjin agreed and they approached the little wooden door, little blooming vines crawling up it. Hesitantly, Jeongin held his fist over it for a moment, before knocking.
Suddenly, the house was still.
Whoever was inside quickly hid the golden light, scurrying off to somewhere deeper, away from the door.
"Hello?" Hyunjin tried, "We're just passing through…"
The dragon nosed its way through the windows, before landing on one and letting a puff of smoke through it, someone squeaking inside and running back down to the door.
"We're not here to hurt you," Jeongin reassured, "We just wanted to say hello."
The key turned in the lock, with a click, and the door squeaked back, a small face with dotted freckles across it peeking through. Jeongin could make out the golden outline of fairy wings behind him.
"Hi…" He said timidly, "I'm F-Felix."
It was hard to not love Felix.
After deeming they weren't a threat, he practically adopted them, pulling out all the food he had and setting the table for them, hovering across the floors as he flit back and forth.
"Excuse the house," he would say as he passed by, gathering a teapot from one place and cups from the next, "I wasn't expecting guests. Haven't had them in a while."
"Not at all," Hyunjin whispered in wonder as dishes floated above them, washing themselves.
Felix even opened up his largest windows, allowing the dragon to watch through, offering his bigger meals for it to eat.
"It isn't much I'm afraid," he said sweetly, and then repeated, "I don't get guests, sorry, um, but please! Please! What's mine is yours, please!"
Jeongin's stomach nearly turned at how beautifully exquisite the food was. Perhaps it was his meager diet of traveling, but everything was almost too rich for him to savor, the food sending him into a happy, delirious stupor.
"Do you like it?" Felix himself glowed like a thousand suns, "Oh you look like you do, I hope you do, I really do."
"It was amazing, Felix, really," Jeongin promised, "Wow, I'm surprised you don't have more visitors with your cooking."
Felix's face fell for a moment, but with a quick flutter of his wings, his happiness returned, "It's a quiet part of the woods… But tell me about you! Where are you from? Are you visiting family? Not many people travel this way?"
Jeongin had to give Felix credit, as he explained his story and the fairy managed to somehow remain positive, no matter how sadly it affected him.
"Oh, I'm so sorry," he kept saying, "I'm a healer fairy, and you're welcome to stay here for as long as you wish. Please."
Jeongin couldn't deny Felix's wishes, even if it made him uncomfortable. Part of him didn't trust himself to such a beautiful, safe place. What if he ruined it?
"Let me look at your friend," Felix suddenly lept up and flew out to see the dragon, "Oh you've been hurt, you poor thing…"
Felix was just being kind, Jeongin was convinced. They could stay, but shouldn't abuse his hospitality.
Hyunjin hugged him from behind, "I like Felix. He gives good hugs."
Jeongin bit his lip and said nothing, until Felix called them to come out, and they saw the fairy with two glowing palms, flying before the dragon's face.
"Felix…" Jeongin couldn't completely understand this quirky fairy, and he'd stopped pretending to, "What're you doing?"
"I'm going to heal him," he said, like it wasn't the most earth-shattering thing ever, "Hyunjin could you grab a cloak? He'll be cold when he shifts."
Hyunjin stood shock still for a second before Jeongon nudged him and he stumbled away. Then Jeongin slowly walked up to the dragon, hand on its– his– claw.
He didn't know anything about healing hurt, and from the terror in the dragon's eyes, neither did he.
"Is it," Jeongin looked up at Felix,"Is it painful?"
Felix didn't answer, but his gaze softened, "I promise to be gentle."
That was all the warning he got as a bright light burst between Felix's hands, wrapping around the whole beast, sounds like the twinkling of stars filling their senses. It was too bright, too loud, too much, so Jeongin closed his eyes, holding the claw as it slowly shrunk and shifted, the scales smoothing into skin, and thinning into an arm.
When Jeongin opened his eyes again, he was holding an armful of man.
Hyunjin quickly came and wrapped the man in a cloak. Felix shakily flew to the ground.
The dragon, now a man, held onto Jeongin's arms, looking at the world as though for the first time.
"Welcome to freedom," Felix bowed respectfully, before letting out a tired sigh, "That was... exhausting. I need a cookie."
Hyunjin's eyes were wide at everything he looked at, especially as he trailed the fairy as he walked back to his cottage.
"Fairies can't do that," he mumbled, "they can't. Jeongin, they–"
"Who cares," Jeongin whispered back, looking only at the man, who was much broader than Jeongin, but somehow seemed very fragile in that moment, adapting to his senses and failing terribly,"Hey, it's alright, you're okay," Jeongin spoke gently, "You're safe, dragon… what's your name?"
The man looked up, testing his jaw and lips for a moment before stuttering, "Ch-Cha-an. Ch-Chan."
"Chan?" Jeongin smiled, "Well, Chan. You're free."
Chan's eyes watered, and he threw his arms around Jeongin, and cried.
Chan didn't talk much the first few days. He walked slowly, and carefully, and Felix didn't allow him to shift. But he smiled with his whole body, his dimples popping out like Jeongin's whenever he did.
He was much older than then, they were all aware of that, so they let him learn on his own, hesitantly, wobbly, as he taught himself to eat again, to walk, to speak.
He told them his story, in his own way.
"I fell," he said slowly, "Was shot down, by my people– no, my people were shot–" he grunted in frustration, the words not coming easy, "My… family."
"Other dragons?" Jeongin tried to help.
"Yes! They… they lived… we lived in the north. Alone. Alone together. But these hunters came, and shot us down, and sold us. For… for… as pets… pets for kings."
Hyunjin scowled.
Felix pressed gently, "Chan, is that where you got your hurt?"
"N-no," he shook his head, "No, no… I was with… I was with a queen. She had… she had… three dragons. One… one died, but the other love… loved me. We had… we had a life bond, and they killed–" Chan stopped and they didn't press him further..
Dragon life-bonds were partners for life. Jeongin ached to think of how painful it would have been for him, taking Chan's hand to rub it soothingly.
Felix stood up suddenly,"Well, you have us now!" He seemed far too enthusiastic, "You'll be fine with us, because I'll take care of you, and we'll all be together now."
Chan smiled so they all did as well. Jeongin dared to hope a little, because it felt safe between Felix's cottage walls.
Hyunjin looked nothing except skeptical.