Independence

A/N An update! Yay! And I’d like to thank my good friend, kitsune, for beta-ing this chapter. She rocks. Anyway, enjoy the chapter.

Chapter 6: The Battle of Wills


“Ouch, that hurt!” yelped Reeve Blackforest as he glared at his red haired companion. Damon merely sniffed and continued bandaging his arm.

“Ouch, that’s too tight!” cried out Reeve, trying to pull his arm away from Damon’s clutches.

“It wouldn’t hurt as much if you just stopped moving!” growled out Damon in frustration. He ignored the little complaints and tugged Reeve’s arm back in place.

“Ouch!” yelped Reeve again. Rolling his eyes in exasperation, Damon tied the final knot around the bandage.

“Sometimes I think you’re just a big baby beneath all that muscle. Couldn’t you have stayed still for about five minutes?” asked Damon in annoyance.

Reeve merely grumbled under his breath.

“There, it’s done,” Damon declared as he stood from his kneeling position and glared right back at the dark haired Ro. He should have just allowed the medics to take the other dominant to the hospital. Who cared if they got to see the extent of Reeve’s injuries due to his loss? He bloody deserved it! His pride be damned; he was the one who got himself into this situation in the first place.

“It’s during times like these that I question myself as to why I even put up with you,” said Damon, looking over the form of his injured companion. There were large gashes on his chest – claw-like marks that were altogether too large to belong to any ordinary predator, creating zigzag-like patterns on his skin. His right arm, which had sustained a few broken bones, was caught up in a sling and was bandaged from his elbow right up to his shoulder blade. Other than that, the dark haired dominant looked pretty fine. That is, if you weren’t counting the large bruises that were sure to be forming in a few hours.

Damon sighed as he studied the other dominant. Reeve sure knew how to pick a fight.

“I told you so,” Damon said as he threw a smug grin at his dark haired companion.

“Yeah, yeah, sure,” Damon waved him off as he tried to roll over the bed to get to the magazine sitting on his bed side table. The only thing he managed to get, however, was a smack from Damon.

“You’re not supposed to be moving around,” pointed out Damon with a grin.

“Oh, will you let it go already. I hate being bored, just let me have my magazine,” said Reeve as he reached out to grab that month’s issue of Dragon’s Monthly.

“Well, you wouldn’t be in this position if you had only listened to me. Challenging an elder, for goodness sake; what were you thinking?” asked Damon as he pried the magazine from Reeve’s hold. Reeve frowned at his magazine-stealing companion and huffed as he flopped back onto the mattress.

“It was within my rights to challenge his claim,” said the dark haired Ro in his defense.

“But an elder? Oh, come on Reeve, you weren’t even serious about the Ri,” countered Damon as he glared at his best friend.

“But I was!” he said, glaring right back at his companion.

Damon merely lifted an elegant brow.

“I was, it was just that Crescent was a little bit….more,” the last word was mumbled under his breath.

“More what?” asked Damon, who had heard the muttered word. He had been Reeve’s friend for centuries and could honestly say that he was the only one in the world who actually understood his companion’s mumbling.

“Serious,” answered his companion with a small frown playing on his face.

Damon studied his sulking companion, sighing he said, “I’ll get you a glass of water.” He turned to exit the room, leaving Reeve to his thoughts. The other dominant did look like he needed some time alone, if only to lick his wounds.

Damon shook his head in amusement; somehow he had known that this would happen. Damon prided himself at being excellent at reading a person, and it was during that night itself that he knew that the winner had already been decided. The look in Lucien Crescent’s eyes that night had clearly spoke of his strong resolve to claim the submissive. Reeve had already lost long before he had even entered the battlefield. Crescent, after all, was not someone to be trifled with when he got serious.

(break)


Serious seemed almost too tiny a word to describe Crescent during the battle, Reeve knew. In the beginning Reeve had been so sure of himself, so sure that it would be an even battle. A battle between two Ro’s for the right of claiming a Ri.

But the moment he had seen Crescent standing at the opposite end of the battlefield, he had finally understood that he had been wrong all along. Like a predator, fangs ready and poised to strike in a moment’s notice, Lucien Crescent had glowered at him from where he stood at the easternmost corner of the grounds. And that, coming from an elder who was known to be cold and indifferent at all times, was nothing if not surprising.
Reeve had fought in many battles and wars, and like all soldiers, he knew when he was walking into a losing battle. The intensity of the glare coming from the elder told him as much. Crescent was dead serious about the submissive.

Who knew?

Perhaps he should have called off the match there and then, but pride had edged him on. And with the huge amount of people seated in the stadium-like stands built around the grounds eagerly watching their every move, it made it twice as difficult to simply give in and forfeit. Reeve had then glanced towards the seated audience to his left and caught sight of his long time friend, Damon, making hand signals at him to ‘throw in the towel’. But he had ignored Winters, choosing to simply continue with the battle.

The fight started the moment they both transformed into their reptilian forms, launching into the air and diving in to attack their opponent at breakneck speed. Snarls and growls thundered above the spectators, holding them at the edge of their seats. Claws met claws and fire lighted the ever-brightening sky.

Reeve, who had never fought a dragon as large or fast as Crescent, found himself struggling to match blow for blow. Reeve had to admit that the dominant was good – almost too good, even for someone who hadn’t fought in centuries. Perhaps this was why the others had warned him about the elder? Perhaps this was why they had called him invincible during the war? The fight certainly proved it, if nothing else did.

When claws sliced into his upper body, he let out a roar of pain. In retaliation, he had clawed back, but had only managed to graze Crescent’s arm before his opponent tore through the skin near his wings, sending him hurtling down towards the ground. Even dragon scales, which were almost as hard as diamonds, could not withstand a dragon’s sharp claws.

Reeve found himself crashing into the ground; almost sure that he had broken a few bones due to the rough landing. At that moment he had thought of getting up, of fighting back with every ounce of strength he still possessed. But somehow images of sky blue eyes flashed through his mind, making him pause in his movements.

Why was he still fighting? Crescent was going all out to defeat him. And what was he doing? Merely fighting just because he was interested in the Ri. He couldn’t be selfish; he was merely interested, but Crescent… Crescent looked positively ready to kill him for the Ri.

Reeve smiled inwardly – the submissive had Crescent wrapped around his little finger even before they were even mated. The other dominant was practically obsessed over claiming the Ri.

Hearing the tell-tale sound of his opponent landing on the grounds next to his fallen form, he shape-shifted back to human form.

“I admit defeat,” he said as he bowed his head in submission.

Still in his reptilian form, the other Ro took one last look at him and nodded before taking off into sky. Medics, both dragon and human alike crowded around him the moment Crescent left the grounds. They prodded him from all sides, making him want to groan out loud in annoyance until his best friend, Damon, chased them all away.

Reeve was glad that he had a loyal companion like Damon to back him up in times like these. And even though he knew he would be getting an earful later on, it was better than being treated in a hospital. He could imagine the gossip about his loss already traveling around. The thought of well-wishers visiting and seeing the amount of injuries he had sustained would only further highlight his loss.

Reeve gazed up towards the sky, eyes turned towards the direction he knew Crescent was heading towards – the Ri Sanctuary. Sky blue eyes once more flashed through his mind and he closed his eyes.

‘Pity, I would have loved getting to know him,’ he thought with a sigh.

(break)


A large black dragon streaked through the sky, its shadow darkening the surrounding landscape as it flew over mountains and large open fields. Inhabitants were far and few in between in these parts of the country where nature ruled supreme, leaving wildlife the only inhabitants around these areas.

Humans were prohibited from crossing past the boundary of these lands, and dragons needed permission from the council before stepping foot into these parts. The land was rich, unspoiled by human or dragon activity. It was a perfect place, a safe haven for animals to thrive in. In human terms, these lands were somewhat of a nature reserve, only on a much larger scale.

And in the heart of these lands lay the dragon’s destination, the Ri Sanctuary. The Ri Sanctuary was where the submissives were kept during the fights for the right of claiming, which usually went on for several weeks and some even for several months. The Sanctuary was a reminiscent of the forest in Naga, the natural habitat of the submissives which provided a small comfort to the submissives who were surely homesick after being taken from their island into unfamiliar territory.

The council made sure that there were always plenty of fruits and other forms of vegetation growing in the forest to ensure that the submissives had food to eat during their stay at the Sanctuary. Dangerous wild animals were kept away from the submissives at all times, leaving the Ri’s safe in the forest.

For the safety of the submissives and to keep them inside the Sanctuary, the council had ordered for a high fence to be built around the area. As the high fence was not easy to scale, chances of a Ri escaping were zero to none. Therefore, it ensured that the the submissives were truly trapped inside Sanctuary until it was time for a dominant to come and claim them.

They couldn’t have any missing submissives, could they? There were already too few of them as it were.

To ensure that the Ri’s did not shape-shift after the week was over, the council had ordered for collars to be placed on the submissives. These collars were invented especially to prevent a Ri from transforming into their animal forms, which would make escaping a easier task if their animal form was a type of bird. Once these collars were placed on a submissive, only a special key could be used to unlock the collars. The keys were then passed on to the dominants who had won the right of claiming, fully placing the Ri’s in their care.

The sun was high in the sky the moment he arrived at the Sanctuary. Lucien soared over the many trees in the area with only one purpose in mind, to find his Ri. He flew over the high fence, his reptilian form scenting for any sign of a submissive down below the canopy of trees. Lucien knew he needed his reptilian form, which had a highly sensitive nose, to find the submissive.

He would have to shape-shift back into his human form the moment he chose to land as dominants were prohibited from landing in their reptilian forms. Their reptilian forms were altogether too large and too powerful to allow in a forest full of submissives. Who knew what could happen if dozens of dominants or so landed in the forest where the fragile submissives resided in? He imagined that that would surely not be a pretty sight.

As he flew in lower towards a clearing, he caught the scent of a male submissive somewhere around the area. And sure enough, he found a blond male submissive running and ducking under the cover of a small bush at the sight of his large reptilian form. Lucien gave an amused snort, blowing a small gust of wind towards the submissive that sent the Ri running from under the bush and into the cover of the canopy of trees. Lucien laughed inwardly, submissives were just too adorable.

But the thought of what his submissive would do when he caught sight of Lucien’s reptilian form made his heart beat faster. Would he run? Would he hide? Or perhaps even try to attack him? What type of reactions would his Ri show him? Lucien didn’t know, but the desire to find out made him fly faster above the canopy of trees. He couldn’t wait to get his hands on the Ri.

Lucien flew over a large patch of open land, catching the scent of a female submissive. He ignored the scent and continued on his little hunt. His Ri had been kept in a glass box, so he had never really caught the submissive’s scent. It didn’t matter to Lucien, though; his submissive was somewhere in this Sanctuary, and he was not planning on giving up until he found his mate to-be. If he had to, he would cover every last inch of the Sanctuary in search of his Ri. It was only a matter of time before he found the submissive.

It was a few hours later that he had finally managed to track down the right submissive. Following a trail which started at a clearing where a river ran through, he tracked the scent to the northern end of the Sanctuary. From high above the canopy of trees, he caught the first glimpse of his Ri standing next to the high fence.

Standing there in all his naked glory with a cute little frown dancing upon his face, he made quite delicious sight to Lucien. The submissive looked rather annoyed, glaring up at the fence as though it would cower and run away if he glowered at it long enough.

Lucien smiled at the sight; it looked like the submissive was actually trying to escape. Perhaps the submissive really was as intelligent as Lucien had first thought? Lucien observed the Ri a little longer, noticing that the submissive was looking for a weakness in the fence.

Lucien shook his head in amusement. The fence was built especially to keep their precious submissives in and intruders out. The council wouldn’t make such a simple mistake so as to leave any gaps or weak spots in the fence. He was one of the few involved in the planning of the Sanctuary, and he for one could say that everything had been thought of in detail and made perfect. There would be no chances of a break in or an escape.

Lucien glanced up at the sky, noticing that it was almost sundown. It looked like he had been searching through the forest for almost half a day.

Thinking that it was about time that he took his submissive home with him, he shape-shifted back into his human form and landed gracefully on a sturdy branch of a tree. He leapt down towards the ground skillfully, keeping his movements silent as he carefully approached the submissive who seemed oblivious to his presence. He didn’t want to have the Ri catching sight of him and bolting into the trees before he could even reach him. Playing catch with a naked little submissive did seem rather tempting when he thought about it, but it was going to be nightfall soon and he didn’t want his submissive running about in the forest, especially in the dark. The poor thing could end up tripping and falling.

Lucien managed to get a few feet closer to the Ri before the submissive turned around and caught sight of him. Sky blue eyes locked in on own grey orbs and he found himself getting lost in that gaze.

(break)

Lex honestly didn’t know what to do. He felt so small and vulnerable in his state of undress. The dominant had been standing as still as a statue and staring at him for a good ten minutes. He knew that he was blushing and he thanked his lightly tanned skin for hiding the blush. He wouldn’t be able to bear the embarrassment if he was caught blushing like a virgin maid.

None of them had moved a muscle ever since the dominant had appeared out of nowhere, and Lex was sure that the moment he so much as shifted his stance, the dominant would be on him like a hungry lion. With the way the dominant’s gaze burned into every inch of his body, Lex thought that ‘hungry lion’ was a fitting statement.

The staring match continued on for several minutes before Lex caught sight of Angel slowly making his way towards the dominant. When had Angel moved from behind him?

Angel stared curiously at the large stranger as he inched ever closer towards the dominant. The dominant looked too interesting to ignore and Angel definitely wanted to find out more about the large male.

Lex almost panicked the moment Angel stepped in front of Lucien. What the hell was his brother doing? The large dominant could break him in two if he wanted to. Didn’t Angel know not to go near large looking predators? Lex was sweating nervously the moment Angel started sniffing the dark haired Ro.

Lex furiously urged Angel in his mind to move away from the dominant as he knew that his brother could roughly understand him through their mental bond.

‘Angel, get the hell away from him and will you stop sniffing him?!’ he sent the message into Angel’s mind. Angel couldn’t understand human words, but with mental thoughts you didn’t need words, only feelings and images.

The dominant didn’t seem to notice the tiny Ri standing in front of him yet, so Lex knew that Angel at least had the chance to escape before the dominant saw him. Lex thought that his brother had finally gotten the message when Angel stopped his sniffing to turn around and stare at Lex, but his brother only frowned at him before turning back to continue on with his sniffing.

Lex felt like strangling someone – the little devil had ignored him!






A/N I wanted to update every week but life is getting especially busy ever since I’ve been attending night classes. So sorry people, looks like it’ll take me longer to update. I’ll try my best though. You guys are wonderful, did I ever mention that? You guys give me tons of encouragement and I really appreciate that. Well, until next time. (Hopefully it’ll be soon, hehe…)