Part one | Part two

Tw: light gore, alcohol mention

Crow spends a lot of time alone handcuffed to the cot. Whenever Silas isn’t home, Crow spends a lot of that alone time sleeping. He doesn’t sleep well when he knows Silas is in the house, preferring to stay awake and alert. He may not be able to speak, but he has ears and uses them as much as possible.

Whenever there’s a knock on the door, he always listens closely, trying to hear the people, trying to hear Silas. Will he be angry after this? Happy? It’s all important to Crow, to know what to expect from Silas’ ever changing mood.

He’s learned a few things while watching and listening. Silas has a terrible gambling problem. He’s often in a lot of debt, avoiding confrontation with people he owes money to. Crow was worried at first that Silas would try to use him to make some quick cash, sell him off to who knows who to pay off some of his debts, but he never did. Or hasn’t yet.

Crow knows there’s a particular group that Silas owes a great deal to, and they’ve started coming around a lot- asking about their money, making threats, and giving him ultimatums. It always puts Silas in a dangerous mood, choosing to take his frustrations out by drinking and beating Crow, even if he didn’t do anything wrong.

Like today.

“Stupid! Fucking! Bitch!” Each word is punctuated with a fist slamming into Crow’s face. Bruising is already darkening around his eye and cheek and there’s nowhere for him to go, no way for him to escape this. So he takes it. Silas has him crowded, back against the kitchen counter, Crow’s hands scrabbling at his arm to try and get him to stop.

Silas pushes the weak trembly hands away and clamps his own strong hands around the shifter’s neck and squeeze hard, anger fueled. It feels good to have control over something smaller and weaker than him. Something he can do whatever he wants to without consequences.

Crow chokes, scratching at Silas’s arms, mouth wide, trying to breathe air that won’t come. Grey eyes round with fear, one quickly swelling shut. Silas will let up. He always does. He has to.

But he doesn’t.

Crow’s hands fall back on the counter, searching for something- anything to use to make Silas let go. Black dances in his vision, but his hand finds something and he grabs it, swings forward-

The pressure on his neck releases and Crow slides down against the cabinets, gasping loudly and pulling in deep, strained breaths. That’s when he hears the screaming.

Everything seems to be moving in slow motion. He looks up to see Silas clutching his face, red running through his fingers, screaming incoherently. He looks down at what’s still clutched tightly in his hand. A knife, blood smeared in its sharp edge. He should feel sick really- but he doesn’t. In fact, it feels… good.

He slowly, painfully gets to his feet, still clutching the knife and unsteadily walks to where Silas is kneeling and clutching his face. “You- you-“ is all he manages to squeeze in inbetween screams of pain.

It would be so easy, Crow thinks, as he looks down at Silas. Just a quick slash. He reaches forward and pushes the man’s hands away from his face with the blade. A thick, bleeding gash runs from his forehead, across his nose, and to his chin. Well, now they’re both only seeing out of one eye.

He drags the flat of the blade down Silas’ cheek, both of them caught in this uncertain situation. Silas’ breath quickens, but he doesn’t move.

It would be so easy, Crow thinks. Quick.

But he doesn’t want it to be quick. Oh no. He has something far worse in mind for this man.

And for the first time in months, a smile spreads across his face.

Whumptober Day Four: Human Shield

Thiago belongs to @mielosastuff

Dray hums as he counts the several small parcels that make up his purchases. It will be nice, having more food and what he bought will make it stretch while still being filling. Thiago needs good food, and it disappears into him like coins down a wishing well.

There’s also some clothes for the small dragon, something he desperately needs. He can’t keep wearing torn rags and Dray’s equally tattered cloak. But these- these will fit him nicely. It brings an almost smile to his face as he imagines Thiago’s delight at the food and new clothes.

There’s some shouting up ahead and Dray looks up to see a crowd gathering. He hates crowds with a passion and immediately turns to find another way back to where he left Thiago but then realizes- that’s where he left Thiago.

He sprints towards the gathering crowd in a panic, clutching the bundles in his hands, pushing through the outside of the circle of angry people. Dray knows the beginnings of a mob when he sees one, but he can’t leave until he knows Thiago is far from here.

He finally pushes to the front of the crowd only to see people starting to pick up rocks from the ground and hurl them at the cowering figure on the ground, the cloak that had been covering him pulled away and torn on the ground. The little dragon is covering his head with his hands, trying to protect himself from the stones hurtling at him.

“Get out of our town!” Someone shrieks. “We don’t want creatures like you roaming around free! Get out!”

Others join in, shouting and jeering, and throwing whatever rocks or stones or trash they can find on the ground near them.

Dray is frozen in place for what seems like hours, though it’s only a few moments before he’s pushing out of the crowd and rushing toward Thiago, parcels scattered across the ground and forgotten, pulling the boy up and covering him with his own body. “Stop this!” He snarls, eyes flashing. “Leave him alone!”

A sharp rock catches his cheek, leaving a jagged cut. He ducks his head down and hold Thiago tighter, trying to cover every part of him. “ ‘s okay, you’re gonna be okay” he mumbles to the shaking boy, wincing as rock glances off his shoulder, another on his back. They don’t stop raining down- his demand only seeming to have infuriated the crowd.

Thiago is sobbing, clutching at his shirt, huddling tightly under Dray’s cover, terrified of the angry people. He doesn’t deserve Dray coming to his rescue, the people have a right to be angry at him. He’s just a horrible creature that doesn’t deserve to walk around their town like he’s a person. He’s a coward for staying hidden and letting Dray take the blows that were meant for him. He can feel Dray’s labored breathing as the older dragon forces himself to not give their assailants the satisfaction of hearing his pain.

A well-aimed stone hits Dray’s temple and he gives a cry, fingers digging into the back of Thiago’s shirt, shuddering, keeping Thiago covered and not letting him push him off. He has to protect him. It’s his fault- he should have never brought him into this town.

A hand grabs the back of his shirt and yanks him backward, away from Thiago and his head smacks against the rough cobblestone. “That’s a lot of heroics for one measly little creature”, the man says, ignoring Dray’s groan. “Makes me wonder why you’d do such a thing.” He kicks Dray in the ribs, hard, making Dray gasp and curl to try and protect himself. The man just kicks him back on to his back again and pulls him up by the front of his shirt.

He’s about to slam a punch into the already bleeding face when his arm is tugged back by Thiago in a burst of bravery. “Get off him! Leave him alone!”

The man angrily growls and slams his elbow back into Thiago’s knocking him off his feet. “Stay on the ground where you belong.”

The crow is growing bored and starting to dissipate, mutters and scowls still tosses in Dray and Thiago’s direction. The man shoves Dray into the ground again before dusting his hands off on his pants. “Just get lost and don’t ever show your faces here again.” He kicks the scattered parcels as he leaves and stomps off.

Thiago waits- frozen until the man is out of sight before scrambling to Dray’s side. “Dray? Dray wake up- can you hear me?” There’s so much blood on his face, bruising starting to bloom around the cuts. “Dray please wake up.” His voice wavers and he paws at his shirt, not wanting to shake him but not knowing what else to do.

Dray groans and presses his hand to the bleeding wound on his head. “You- you okay? You hurt?”

“No no- but you are- Dray you’re bleeding-“

“Heads bleed more”, Dray mutters, not wanting to open his eyes and face the situation and the splitting headache that’s coming on fast. His whole body feels like one big bruise. “Help me up- we need to go before- before they decide to come back.”

Thiago helps him up and he sways- but manages to stay on his feet. “See if- see if there’s anything that can be salvaged”, he says, voice strained as he tries to start picking up the scattered contents of his bundles.

Thiago hurries to do that and together they gather their belongings up and Dray makes sure Thiago gets his new clothes, now a little dusty from the ground, but still worlds better than what he’s currently wearing. “You can change once we get out of the town limits, okay?” Dray rustles Thiago’s hair lightly and bites back a wince as they start walking. When the kid is asleep tonight, he’ll assess the damage.

@whumptober2019

Some young teen Dray/bit of backstory?

Dray didn’t like playing with the other young dragons. They were too rough and a lot faster and stronger than him. Downside of being only half dragon. Sapphira didn’t mind. She was always in the thick of it, asserting herself as one of the toughest group. She fit in better with the others, but Dray? He looked too much like his dad, a human.

Dray knew there were muttering about how a clan leader shouldn’t have married a human and have half-born children. But his mother Indra was the biggest, scariest dragon for miles around and no one, for all their talk, felt like challenging her.

So he was seated on a fallen log at the edge of the woods, carving at a stick with the knife his dad gave him recently. Something about not wanting Dray to use up his knives, but Dray had seen the twinkle in his eye. Dray was determined to make something wonderful to give him as a thank you.

“What do we have here?” Comes a voice off to his right. “The little half breed? What’s he doing?”

Dray looks up sharply. These were a couple of the bigger, mean, younglings. “What do you want?”

“Just curious what such a small helpless runt is doing out here by himself”, says the first. “Oh look it’s got a knife. Trying to make up for your lack of claws, huh?”

“No”, he said almost defensively. “My dad gave it to me as a gift. Now go away. I’m busy.”

The ringleader rolls his eyes. “Yeah sure. Super busy hacking at an old stick with a knife from your human dad. What makes you think you get to tell us what to do? You think you’re better than us just because your mom is the clan leader? Well I think she’s weak. After all, who would want to have pitiful kids with a human?”

Dray jumps up, his quick temper flaring. “You take that back! My mother is not weak! She’s the strongest dragon and you know it!”

“Aw look it’s getting angry”, they taunt. “What- are you going to try and fight us?” They get a little more serious looking and slowly moved in.

Dray tenses and clenched his knife and wood he was carving. “I don’t want to fight you.” He didn’t want to disappoint his dad. Dad didn’t like when he fought out of anger.

“Well maybe we’ve decided it’s time we teach the uppity runt a lesson.”

Someone grabs him from behind and knocks the knife and carving out of his hands. He tries to twist out of their grip but they were bigger and stronger, so he bites down on the arm holding him with his sharp teeth. Whoever it was restraining him howls in pain and releases their grip. Dray grins, only to take a hard hit to the side of the head that sends him tumbling.

“Stupid runt!” The bully he had bit was dragging him up from the ground. “Hold him.” The other two jump at his words and pin Dray’s arms behind his back and no matter how much he struggles, he can’t pull free.

The first punch sent hits his cheek, knocking his head to the side. But then came the second and the third. Dray struggles, but he was held tightly. Tears welled up in his eyes from the pain and the other boys just laugh. A knee to the stomach and they let him fall to the ground, curled up to protect himself as they kicked at him. One of them picked up the carving he was working on and snaps it in half before climbing on top of him to start hitting him again.

The punch never lands, and there’s someone holding his wrist with a tight, white knuckled grip.

“Leave him alone!” An angry voice yells, throwing the bully off of him and kicking him in the rump. “Get out of here.”

Dray looks up through his swollen eyes and sees her. Hands on her hips, yelling at the bullies, sending them scampering. Her long brown hair is wavy and shiny and perfect, and her clothes are all greens and blues and silvers. He knows her- well knows of her. She was too pretty and popular for him to ever approach. Legossi.

But right now, she’s not just pretty or popular, she’s his savior. Once the bullies are gone, she kneels down in the leaves and helps him sit up. “Are you alright? That looks bad...” she reaches out to touch his bruised and swollen face. “You’re bleeding.”

“ ‘s just my lip”, he mutters, dazed from the beating and the timely rescue. “Th-thank you. For helping me.”

She smiles and it makes him feel warm like sunshine inside and sets his heart racing in a totally different way than before with the bullies. “It’s what any decent person would do.” The little broken carving catches her eye and she picks the pieces up. “Did you make this?” When he nods, she smiles again. “It’s so pretty! I love it. You have some skill with this sort of thing.”

The praise makes him feel a little better, even though the carving is broken. “It was for my dad”, Dray says. “He gave me the knife.”

Legossi picks it up out of the leaves and hands it back to him. “It’s a nice present. You should keep it safe so you can make more carvings.” After he takes it she helps him to his feet. “Now come on. I know of a little stream where you can wash your face. It might help a little.”

She takes him by the hand and looks back to make sure he’s going to follow. And he knows at that moment he would follow her anywhere.