Private Tales How to Train Your Dragon Avatar

Polina · Nov 3, 2022

Thanasis

Po wore a servant's uniform. But not just any, one that marked her as a servant of the palace. It was the day after the Feast of Thunder festival. The red handprint of Madame Sinclair still marred one side of her face, though now the red had transitioned to the faintest of blues and greens of bruising. For the seventh plus time, her hand came up to smooth tresses of blonde over it. To make sure it was hidden from view.

It was early morning.

The sunlight was just pricking over the horizon. Enough light for the streets not to feel too dangerous. Many shopkeepers getting ready for the day. A lot of folk still asleep from the festivities the night before. Polina had her pockets full of food that was never eaten at the palace. And she wove her way carefully through the growing hustle and bustle of the waking streets and populace. She was on a mission to her old home; the Outer City. But first she had to get through the Inner City. And she had a short amount of time until her next shift started.

There was a sudden shadow overhead as an Ēarendel dragon stretched its wings, giving off a sulfurous yawn, shifting on the rooftops it perched and slept upon. Po shifted her attention and looked up. It never got old to her. Dragons were beautiful to her. Such magnificent creatures. Her heart always tugged toward them even if the chances of her ever having one of her own seemed bleeker and slimmer than ever.

Her body jostled as she suddenly ran into someone and tipped backward.

An 'oof,' leaving her surprised lips as her rear hit the cobblestone streets.

"WENCH. Watch where you're going!" Polina kept her head bowed, fighting the urge to sneak a peek. Okay, she couldn't help it. She looked up. He had fine boots and clothes. He was certainly not a servant. Perhaps a merchant or noble. "You dare to lift your gaze at me?!"

His face was turning more purple than a plum.

Po quickly lowered her gaze. "No sir, I-I'm so sorry. I-." he took a step closer, clearly enjoying the power of authority he had over her.

Llothr · Nov 6, 2022

He was an obvious stranger here. Such was the case nearly everywhere he went, but unlike most places he'd been to that he could recall, this place was unfamiliar to him. While he rarely outright remembered most places, there were few times he could recall feeling like it was somewhere new to him. This place felt that way, and for the first time in a very long while, he was intrigued - almost everywhere he looked there were references to dragons, if there wasn't actually one there in the flesh. He'd never seen such a place, and yet, though this city and its people were an oddity to him, the essence of this place was familiar.

It wasn't much different.

He wasn't sure which part of the city he was in, the layout and architecture, and significance of status, meant nothing to him. He sought to understand this place and would make his way where he chose to, unless starkly set against. He was no fool, there were particular places he would be barred from and he had no intention of creating conflict.

That was until...

"WENCH. Watch where you're going!"

It was peculiar. It was as though something had forced him to look. He'd not usually have taken interest in such an interaction. But his eyes did not fall upon the one who'd turned his head, but rather the one he seemed intent on screaming at. She was timid and meek, clearly apologetic for whatever had taken place.

"You dare to lift your gaze at me?!"

Llothr started to approach.

"No sir, I-I'm so sorry. I-."

The man took a step closer to her, and for whatever reason, Llothr actually felt angry. Perhaps it was the man's proximity to the poor girl, perhaps it was the obvious enjoyment he was having in towering over her, glowering and shouting at her. Whatever it was, it was not the norm for him, and it took him.

As he drew near to the conflict, his hand shot up from beneath the long tattered sleeve of his cloak, and grasped at the air toward the man. At this moment, a strange light took shape around the merchant/noble, and wrapped itself around him in an ensnaring grasp. Llothr drew nearer, and began to use his magical hold to lift the man off the ground and pull him away from the girl.

"Be silent, human wretch, or I'll pull you apart piece by piece," he spat, taking no notice of the people around him, seemingly lost in some enraged trance.

Polina

Polina · Nov 8, 2022

Polina's fear-frozen self began to thaw. Shock taking its place. As the noble had loomed closer, she began shrinking further and further into herself, prepared for the worst. Not prepared for - THIS. She couldn't help the turn of her delicate chin to the voice that filled the morning street.

"Magic," she whispered, hazels widening. Lips unabashedly parting.

The noble sputtered like a caught pig, moreso as his fine boots left the cobblestones. Folk opening shops paused, some staring and stopping their work entirely. Others muttering: just another day in Thanasis. A few nearby dragons turned their large eyes toward the scene.

There were not many mages in this city, at least, those who didn't have bonds with dragons that enabled them to perform magic. Somehow, Po managed to push back to her feet, not bothering to straighten or brush off her skirts. Her head was on a swivel between the approaching cloaked stranger and the nobleman in the air, his face turning redder and redder.

Shouldn't she run? Yes, yes she should run. But. She. Couldn't.

"Put me down," the nobleman finally found his voice, his outrage focused away from Polina and at the stranger. "Do you even know WHO I AM?!" His plump fingers flexed at his sides. Angry eyes darting quickly to Polina, as if she were to blame for all this.

She took a reflexive half-step back.

Llothr · Nov 15, 2022

"It is you who fails to see your place, human," he said, regarding the man as a human for a second time which likely seemed odd, "were all as it should be then you would not have even the courage to bow, only to flee."

He himself wanted to crush this man right there and then before all these people and before these dragons. He wished to make an example of his intolerance for such behaviour toward... toward what exactly? Toward... wherever the source of this strange apprehension was coming from. Toward this... girl? His own reaction to the man's hateful gaze turning to her was some confirmation of this, as Llothr's own anger flared toward him. But, there was something that stayed his vengeful hand.

Llothr, without releasing his grip on the man, turned to face the girl he'd been bombarding. From beneath the shadow of his hood he looked at her, seeing the confusion on her face. Gazing at her, he felt an odd sense of empathy - something he had not felt in quite a long time. It was peculiar, and even, overpowering in a sense. He felt compelled to follow a particular path in a somewhat overriding way. Goals of his own seemed secondary in this moment, and he became... curious.

"What is this place," he said to her, "who are you?"

Polina

Polina · Nov 15, 2022

The ensnared noble quieted but the promise of murder never quite left his eyes.

Human.

The stranger said it again. But wasn't he...he looked, didn't he...Po's thoughts churned and suddenly stopped as the hooded something's gaze fell upon her. And he spoke to her, darting eyes moving away from the floating red-faced and angered noble to the shadow of his cowl. As if she could pierce through the darkness if she just stared long enough.

She swallowed.

Another step back even as he spoke his questions plainly to her. He was a mage without a dragon. With the way he'd said the earlier word he wasn't...well, human. He was one word plain and simple.

T R O U B L E

"I..," she hesitated but dipped her chin in respect. "Sir, you're in Thanasis." How had he traveled across the perilous routes without knowing where he was arriving to? Was he a merchant but confused - lost?

Her cheeks burned without knowing why.

"I'm-," she began.

"She's a FUCKING SERVANT. Put me down! GUARDS. GUARDS!" The nobleman yelled, spotting a pair of peacekeepers up the street. Po wasn't looking for trouble. And with things that had happened with Bri, she did not like the idea of being involved with any sort of authority. They usually took noble blood side.

So, she turned to run.

Llothr · Nov 19, 2022

Thanasis.

It didn't ring any bells, neither did this girl's countenance, and yet still there was something about her that seemed so familiar as to be liken to kin. It was almost infuriating to feel such a way for someone he did not know. Even more peculiar, someone who was deemed no more than a servant. But even as the nobleman called for the guards, even as this girl turned and fled, he did not take his eyes from her. Instead, as she fled, he instinctively felt as though this nobleman could no longer possibly pose any harm to her. He was released, and fell abruptly but a short distance, though it proved enough for him to break an ankle.

The guards were of little consequence to him no matter what it was they intended to do - or so he hoped. He expected them to rush to this nobleman's direct aid and ignore him for a few moments, which they apparently did as the nobleman cried out in pain.

Llothr, meanwhile, followed after Polina. He did not run as she did, but he seemed to cover ground rather quickly despite his casual pace.

Polina

Polina · Nov 20, 2022

Her heart racketed against her ribs like a trapped bird trying to get out. After one alley and then another, she began to slow her pace, finding the shade offered from a wall. It was a space mostly used for hanging laundry to dry. Lines criss crossed along the alley from the terraces above. Small potted plants and herbs bloomed along the porches and balconies that were deserted at this time of morning.

Unaware that she had such a close follower, Po took a moment for respite. Back leaned against the wall and her eyes closed as she fought to catch her breath. Steady that wild heartrate of hers. Listen to the sounds of the gentle wind make the hanging clothes rustle and flap above.

Her mind wandered to what it might feel like to be on the back of a dragon of her own. Soaring through the sky. Feeling the wind against her hair like those hanging skirts felt it now.

Llothr · Nov 23, 2022

Although there was likely an intended brevity, he wasn't long finding the one he sought resting with her back against the wall. His approach was quite silent, as he had mastered the art of illusion long ago, and as he came near it was apparent to him that she was, for the moment, absent. Exhaustion had a tendency to help the mind drift, and he was certain she was tired not only from his pursuit, but from what had transpired before. It was unlike him to feel quite so empathetic toward someone, especially someone he did not know, but now he found himself addressing her, as though his will were not his own, and yet it quite wholly was.

"That man called you a servant," he said as he came near, "how can this be?"

He stopped a few meters from her, obviously passive, but it was clear that he was studying her with an acute interest, despite his face being hidden behind and eerie and even unnatural seeming shadow cast down from his hood.

Polina

Polina · Nov 26, 2022

Hazel eyes snapped open. Flecks of greens and golds more hidden with the lack of sun hitting them in the shady alley. A strangled scream of surprise lodging in her throat and not making it out. She straightened, eyes darting around.

They were alone.

But he wasn't coming nearer to her. He wasn't threatening her. He was just...brokering conversation. Her logical mind tried to smooth out the edges of her frayed nerves. And once again, she caught herself staring into the blackness of his cowl. Wishing she could push the night sky away to see what lay beyond.

"Sir," she began, unsure. But once again curiosity got the better of her. "You are a mage without a dragon in a city you do not know. You are surprised to find that the one you helped is a servant. Does helping a servant make your regret your actions?"

Arms crossed beneath her chest as she stared that pocket of blackness down, finding a spark of courage catch and run down her spine.

Llothr · Nov 29, 2022

"No, there is little I regret, and this is something far from that," he replied, "it is simply a curious circumstance."

He walked with a casual pace closer to her, but not directly, keeping some space between the two as to ease any discomfort and maintain a passive presence. Though, he continued to hide his head, and even seemed to look away from her as he approached, looking around them as if studying the architecture as he continued speaking.

"One must be with a dragon in order to be a magician? Since when is this? Should I regret helping a servant in this city called Thanasis where a mage without a dragon is strange?"

Polina

Polina · Dec 1, 2022

"No, I hope you don't regret it," she huffed. Finding the closer he got, it made her more comfortable. Which made no sense. A frown tugged on her lips as she continued to look him over. A quick flicker of her gaze around the alley.

More folk would be moving about now. Getting up. And she didn't think the authorities from earlier would just dismiss the little...incident.

"What's your name? How did you come to this city? Where are you from?" A bubble and flurry of questions as she pushed off the wall. A hesitant point of her fingers at his chest as her voice softened. "You might want to get different clothes if you hope to fit in here. I know a shop, down the way."

And not get thrown into the cell-block.

That part didn't need to be said.

Llothr · Dec 2, 2022

Normally he would not be so inclined to worry about his dress. Perhaps it was ill-placed confidence in his ability, but he had doubts that he was in any danger of being apprehended by the local authorities. Still, for as long as he had existed, there was a great deal of that time that was lost to his memory. Perhaps methods such as these were how he'd persisted for so long.

So, after her bombardment of questions, he took a moment to recollect, then he said, "My name is Llothr. I am a traveler, and I have traveled many places searching for it. I come from nowhere, only the place before the next. As for my dress..." he looked down, then to her saying, "take me there."

Polina

Polina · Dec 5, 2022

She held out her hand after hesitating only a moment. "I'm Polina. Thank you...for what you did back there," shy gaze dropped from the ever-shifting shadows of his cowl and focused on his hand instead as she held her own out.

And he was certainly mysterious. Was he doing it just to be frustrating? She didn't know but in her mind she owed him a debt. And she would start that repayment by getting him...something less that screamed he was a foreigner. If he offered his hand, she wouldn't hold it long. But she would probably feel something strange as she shook it. And perhaps he would, too.

"This way," she tipped her chin to the end of the alley and lead the way. Winding through streets, more backroads than main ones, they ended in front of a cheery, modest little shop called the The Fixed Stitch. A small bell rang on the door as she pushed it open. An elder woman with greying red hair and bright red cheeks greeted them.

"Po, how good to see you. How is your Pa? What have we here? A friend, hmm?"

Po's face turned a bright red as she read the woman's assumptions plain on her face. "Just a friend. Cleary, he's a traveler who just arrived and wanted to try out the fashions we have here. Can you help him?"

Cleary clapped her hands. "Of course, of course, right this way Mister. We've got you taken care of. A friend of Po's is a friend of ours."

Llothr · Dec 8, 2022

When she held out her hand, he did indeed reach out and take it. He was familiar with this gesture of greeting, and that it was typically a show of benevolence. When he shook her hand, he did in fact feel something incredibly strange.

He remembered.

Only for a moment did the memories confuse him before they assimilated themselves as though they had always been and never interrupted. But even though they felt right at home, he knew which ones were new. Or rather, newly returned. And it was through this happening that he felt for this Polina the oddest sense of familiarity, as though he had truly met her before - though she was nowhere present in any of his memory at all.

But there was someone.

He did not speak again until they had made it to the tailor's shop.

"Yes," he said, "we are friends... as for the fashions, something simple, eh? Nothing too fancy..."

After having been carted off and around the shop by the greying lady, he'd been presented to Polina looking absolutely nothing like the enigma that once stood before her. Long charcoal hair, scarred, and sun kissed skin, and deep amber eyes. His shirt, trousers, and footwear were all for the most part unremarkable and fir the local trends, but more importantly were suited well for his fit and colours. The greying lady had a talented eye.

His expression was one of relative indifference, but he did seem as though he was almost... embarrassed.

Polina

Polina · Dec 12, 2022

Polina sat in a small sitting area, waiting for Llothr to come out. She tried not to fidget too much. Or worry about the time. Her shift started soon and she hadn't even made it to the outer-city to deliver what she'd been meaning to. But as he came out, nearly all thoughts of what she needed to do left her mind.

Her fidgeting hands stilled on her lap.

Head tilted upward, silky-blonde curls brushing down her shoulder as she stared. Madame Clearly was still smoothing out the fabric of clothing along his shoulders. But Polina's eyes were drinking in every detail of his face like a fine wine. Every scar. Dark hair. And those eyes.

And they seemed to tug her in. And something almost seemed...like she'd always known them.

"There now, that color suits you nicely, Sir," Madame Cleary finally stopped her fidgeting of the man's clothes and stepped back. Po finally felt a hint of pink rise along her cheeks and she blinked, breaking her stare.

"You look," amazing, good, familiar, gods was she staring again, "well," Po finally managed and swallowed. Stand up. Stop staring. Move or do something PO. A clear of her throat and she stood, facing the shop owner. "For payment I can...," Madame Cleary cut Po off.

"Consider this a debt paid to your father, dear."

Polina paused, surprise at Cleary's generosity.

Llothr · Dec 13, 2022

"Please," Llothr interjected, "I'll have no one settling any scores for me."

The greying lady Clearly had also provided him with a pack he could sling over his shoulder, and within were those belongings he'd previously carried beneath his cloak, as well as that tattered old thing itself, folded up as nicely as could be. He refused to be parted with any of it. But within, besides an old cloak and some odd trinkets, he did have a few things of value. He pulled out a small sack sinched tightly with a string and set it on a surface nearby. After pulling the string the cloth fell open to and an assortment of small gems spilled out, many of them likely worth his entire wardrobe on his own.

And he had several of these small sacks tucked away, though having hidden them beneath his dress none would ever know.

"Come," Llothr said, gathering up his pack, and turning to Polina, "I must find a place to stay."

Polina

Polina · Dec 13, 2022

Po’s lips parted about to protest. She was trying to repay a debt to him. Lips pressed closed into a thin line as the shop keep quickly accepted the payment. Looked like she’d have to find another way. Perhaps showing him around would work.

A lofted golden brow as he said ‘come.’ Though she found it hard to look away from his amber eyes, she couldn’t help the small quip that tumbled from her tongue. Even though she would've been flogged for saying it to anyone else. It was a testament to how comfortable she felt around this Llothr already.

Which was dangerous.

“Some of us have to work, you know.” A timid smile to show there was no real bite behind her words as she lead the way back onto the streets. “There are a few inns around here. Mother Duckling is right up here. The further out you go, the cheaper, though perhaps not as safe. The further in the city, more expensive.”

She paused. Not sure if it was allowed. Or if he would be offended by the offer.

“Although. I still owe you a debt. My father is housed within the units for family of servants who work for the palace. It’s not much but there is an open bed.”

Llothr · Dec 14, 2022

"I see you insist on believing you owe me something, very well, I will rest at the palace," he said, unwilling to protest her any further, "I require little else than a place to sleep in this body." Well, that and food, but he was not too worried about that at the moment. From what he could see as he traversed the street with her, there were many places he would be able to find a proper meal.

Carrying on as though he hadn't just dropped an enormous bombshell, he asked, "tell me about this place? Thanasis? Why are there so many dragons? I've not seen so many gathered in one place in many years."

Polina

Polina · Dec 16, 2022

His own insistence at her insistence made her about to utter an apology. She shouldn't forget that he was probably a traveling nobleman from afar. A wizard nobleman at that. If he really wanted to, he could just hover her in the air like he'd done the other lord.

And he...

She stumbled at his other words, nearly face-planting in the street, just managing to catch herself.

in this body

But then he went on. Head shook. She must've imagined it. Surely. Hands lifted to smooth out her locks. A light wince at the spot where bruises were spreading along her right cheek from yesterday's events. "Funny because this is all I"ve ever known. How could a city exist without their gods living among them?" Because dragons were gods.

sometimes scary and terrifying gods but really that only added to their godliness

"But, the story goes, our ancestors made the great crossing and landed on this continent. They were hunted and nearly wiped out by the monsters that still live here." A sudden shiver of her shoulders though it was far from cold outside. She still heard the screams. A memory so powerful and vivid suddenly swept to the forefront of her mind.

It was her mother throwing herself over Polina as one of those monsters ripped into her. Po would never forget the screams or the feeling of the warm blood soaking into her own clothes as the merchants' caravans were attacked.

"They prayed to the gods for help and came upon the dragons. Thirteen souls offered themselves as sacrifices to the dragons and in turn, they helped our people. The families of those sacrificed make up the noble houses today. And of course, we have the royals. Since then, dragons bond to those in the great houses who care for their hatcheries.”

Llothr · Dec 16, 2022

Gods?

Curious, he thought, that they were quite so highly looked upon. He had always viewed them with the highest esteem of course, but he'd never fancied them to be godly. He did suppose, of course, that he of all people would know better.

"So because they came to your aid, you believe them to be divine," he asked, turning an intrigued glance her way, "yet do they not bleed? Do they not die?" His gaze left her and turned out again to the people and storefronts they passed by, "I do wish it were not so."

More intriguing however was the notion of the dragons bonding with individuals of the great houses. This, this he was uncertain of how to react to. He knew full well of a dragon's capacity to bond their soul with another's, but to be held to such an arbitrary criteria was almost... insulting. But of course he would have never made such a pact, and such was one of the many differences of those things done in times like these as opposed to times that were his. Earlier times.

"Are all the dragons here bonded to someone?"

Polina

Polina · Dec 17, 2022

"Yes," she said sadly. "Like us they bleed and die." A frown on her lips. It was no small thing to lose a dragon. And greater still when a bonded lost theirs. She heard it was like losing a part of your heart and very soul. And she believed it. There were even stories of the humans left behind being driven mad and taking their own life.

Still.

All that never stopped her from wanting to bond with a dragon of her own. But she knew it would never happen. Those in a class like hers would never be let close to the eggs or hatchlings. And now bondeds didn't like exposing their dragons to the lower classes after what happened with Bri.

As they walked further into the city, the guards at the doorway to the palace district waved them in, seeing Polina and her uniform. Dragons here were more scarce. There was the giant palace with its massive balcony big enough for the princes' dragons to land comfortably. And roam freely. Other servants scurried about. A few lords and ladies as well. Po would cut across the courtyard toward a row of buildings on the left.

A pause she she looked up to Llothr. "No, not all dragons are bonded. Many of the unbonded live in the wilds or in Ōmeyōcān, near the lake beneath the mountains. They are the wyld dragons. How did you make it here anyway? Not many survive beyond the walls of the borderlands."

Llothr · Dec 24, 2022

"How did you make it here anyway?"

Darkness.

Cold. So cold.

Time passing, unknowable.

A sharp and sudden change.

Heat. Light.

Blurry.

Ringing.

A palm outstretched on the ground...

As they came near to the place Polina was leading them, it became apparent that Llothr had seemingly lost himself in his thoughts. The question of how he had gotten here had stirred a great deal of unrest in him as he began to recall things that he could honestly say he had not actually thought to remember before. It was not so much that these memories eluded him, but that he'd never actually grown so comfortable with another along his travels that one would ask the question of where he'd come from, which to him, became a question of how he came to be.

His arrival here was not unlike his arrival anywhere else.

"I will tell you more once we are inside... my words are for your ears alone," he said, his eyes almost avoiding her as he spoke.

Polina

Polina · Dec 26, 2022

She led LLothr the rest of the way. She and her father shared a humble townhouse. It was a terracota colored painted door. And unlike the others it was nestled between, this one had a thriving small garden in the front. A garden filled with herbs and plants, cleary given tender care.

The inside was narrow and small. A small couch in front of a small fireplace. The kitchen at the end with no separation. Beyond the kitchen was a small bedroom where her father stayed and upstairs meant to be an attic, only, was where she slept. Drafty on the best of days, freezing on the worst. But still. All this was far better than where her father had been in the Outer Circle. Before she'd been recruited to work for the Palace.

A frown tugged at Po's lips as she noticed her father's coat no longer hanging on the hooks by the door. He was out. And she was immediately worried. He just couldn't get around far on his own, due to those attacks years ago that took her mother away from her. And nearly took him as well. Jarlax were relentless.

"We're alone," she declared quietly and began unloading the bread from her apron pockets that she was never able to deliver. "Are you going to start giving me some answers now?" A cross of her arms beneath her chest as she looked him over. This place making him look even more grand.

Llothr · Dec 29, 2022

After stepping inside Llothr took a few moments to stand idle and inspect the place as well as he could from the entrance. It was a modest home to say the least, but it was a solid roof overhead and it was four walls between he and they. He grew weary of large crowds before long, and he was more than content to get away from them in spite of where it led him. This, as opposed to any number of alternatives, would do nicely.

His bag of belongings slid off his shoulder and hit the floor with a gentle thud and some light rustling as it settled.

"I am not what I appear to be," he said, then turned to face her, "the manner in which I arrived in these lands was neither by boat or by air. This body you see was made manifest in the wastes beyond this city, and it was here I was drawn to. At first I did not know why... but now I think I see."

Polina

Polina · Dec 30, 2022

"W-what?" She stared. Brow pinched. What he was saying was impossible, right? It didn't make sense.

"Your body," she took a step forward and reached out a finger, swiftly going to poke him in the chest. "Isn't real?" Just great. She'd brought a crazy man into her and her father's home. Her mind screamed at her even though her gut, something more powerful, some ancient something was telling her to calm down. For an instant, she felt that strange draw to Llothr. Something she'd been feeling a glimmer of since they'd first met. And when she touched him?

That connection strengthened like a slap in the face.

"And drawn here?" The pinching in her brow grew in wrinkled fashion.