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[personal profile] gwenchan
 Fandom: Yuri on Ice

Personaggi: Victor Nikiforov, Yuuri Katsuki, Christopher Giacometti


Rating: Teen and up audience

Additional tags: Alternate Universe_Fantasy, Alternate Universe_Dragons; Soulmate

Chapter 1/?

Prompt: Il corso delle cose




Victor had seen a dragon two times in his life. The first one had been when he was six, gathering mushrooms and chicory with mama on the edge of the woods. Mama had cried and Victor had found himself on his back, mama's body shielding him and his eyes full of blue. A giant shadow blotted the sun and through mama's hair who had fallen on his eyes, Victor had seen a belly shimmering silver and a glimpse of two powerful wings. Then, a flame lit the sky. Mama had pulled back on her feet, took his hand and dragged him, pressing to be faster, as behind them the woods burnt.


The second time, the house near the woods had already been only a memory for a long time of Victor's existence and a little tombstone marked mama's final resting place. The sun had circled twenty times around Earth, old Yakov had been training him in the subtle art of herb and potion since he was ten and they were travelling to a nearby village when an urgent letter had begged their help with an outbreak of pox. 



Little Yura was the first one to notice, scoffing then about Victor's distraction for it would be hard to not see the beast lying across the road, blocking the paths of people and carriages that were piling in a long queue. In seconds Yura sneaked in between the bystanders, thin and fast. Yakov cursed, grumbling against having to deal with two kids who, despite the object of their apprenticeship, cared nothing for their poor teacher's health. Victor joked he should learn to relax more and followed Yura through the crowd. Not mirroring the boy's stupor at the sight hadn't been easy. 

The dragon lay on its side, wings folded, eyes open but distant and mouth half-open to show rows of teeth the lengths of an adult man arm. A heated debate had lit the presents, debating if the beast was death - and so it was safe to move to free the road - or simply sleeping. In that case, they should simply walk around the dragon the quietest possible. Somebody else proposed to simply climb atop the dragon, claiming even sleeping they would be too light to wake it up. Others called him crazy.


Victor had stepped forward and walked right to the dragon, ignoring the crowd breaking into a frenzy at his foolishness. He touched its snout and lifted one rough eyelid enough to peer inside. The dragon didn't budge an inch and he wouldn't anymore.

"It's dead," Victor announced, forcing his voice to hide the disappointment raising from his belly. In his mind, dragons were not supposed to die.


Almost eight years had passed since that day and no dragon had again crossed Victor's path, no matter where the fame of his skills called him


Now, he was kneeling on the shore of a small local lake, the late hours of afternoon perfect to pick the tender leaves of an aquatic plant that did miracles with acne and other skin ailments. 


Arms immersed up to his elbow, Victor was searching the lake banks when a sudden wind rushed through his hair. He lifted his head and his mouth fell open.


Glimmering blue in the lowering sun, a dragon stood across from the water, its wings folded over his body and a pair of silver horns shining on its head. 

A few steps from it was a man, not quite tall, seemingly completely unaware of the potential threat a feet steps from him.


Victor opened his mouth to shout a warning. Instead, he cried out in pain, his chest as if a burning iron was being pressed against his skin. Tears spilt from his eyes as the agony forced him to his knees. He threw up.

Then, as quick as it had arrived, the pain vanished, leaving behind only a faint warmth at heart level. 

Dizzy and nauseous, Victor lie face down in the grass. A cold hand caressed his cheek.

"Are you alright?" A soft voice asked. Victor murmured a vague response, turning his head to see his helper. The Dragon-rider stared back at him, his skin pale under the sun. Behind him, the Dragon waited. A spiral glowed on its chest. 

Victor sat up to see better. 

"I think so," he said, eyes jumping from the Raider to the Dragon. He never heard of Dragons carrying any kind of body marks, but this one was tamed. The raider must have marked it

The more Victor looked, the more the mark felt familiar.

"Are you sure? It was pretty intense. I felt it too."

"Felt what?"

"My soul mark activating."



When Victor was four he asked mama what was the sign on her back, right between her shoulder blades. They were having a bath in the river near their house, summer in full swing. She laughed with tenderness.

"My soulmark, my little piece of sun."

"What is a soulmark, mama?"


She hugged him, telling everybody has a soulmark and a soulmate. Each soulmark was unique, but when soulmates met, their soulmark will heat up to let them know. 

The stronger the heat, the stronger the bond. 


"Do I have a soulmark too?" Victor asked. Mama tickled his belly. "Of course. Look here." 

As she said it, she pressed her finger on the left side of his chest. Victor looked down. On his pale skin, barely a darker tone were three parallel lines. 

It will become darker when you meet your soulmate.

Victor looked at Mama. Hers was a rich coffee-colour. He thought that with such soulmark hers and papa's must truly be in love; that no soulmark could be more evident.


He was wrong. Striking and impossible to not notice, those three lines he had all his life and had almost forgotten about, had become black. Victor touched them gingerly. Though still warm, they didn't burn. He looked up back at the Dragon-rider, marvelling again at his paleness. He looked almost ethereal, unreal.

"You are my soulmate."

"I am afraid yes. My name is Yuuri."


He said it as if he was apologizing for existing. Victor thought he had no reason. 


"It is a pleasure, Yuuri. I am-"

"Victor! There you are."


Victor tripped, falling on his back just in time to see a blonde young man marching to him upside down. 

"Hi, Chris," he greeted with a grin. "Just in time to meet my soulmate."

Chris smiled back, shoulders rising with a deep sigh. 

"And where they - Oh my god 


Terror painted his face, still upside down. Victor stood up abruptly. 

"What is it?"


But nothing has changed in their surrounding, the lake and grass still quiet, no one in sight safe from them, Yuuri and the Dragon.

Oh.

"Don't worry. It's tamed," Victor reassured Chris, nodding to the beast. That man is his rider."


Chris stared at him like he was crazy. "There is nobody there, Vitya," he said, just as a few meters from them Yuuri crouched in the grass. 



Victor frowned. Closed his eyes and opened them. Yuuri was still there, standing quietly in the grass.

"Him." Never breaking eye contact, Victor lifted his arm toward Yuuri and turned to Chris full of expectance. Chris looked even more puzzled than before.

"Again, there is nobody there. Well, nobody but a very real dragon."

"But -"

"Victor," Chris interrupted him, "you probably inhaled some strange pollen. It's the season. Now be a good friend and get away from here."

Not waiting for an answer, he grabbed Victor arm till he resigned to follow suit in safer, dragon-less places


Yuuri was still there.


***


"At least look at this."

In the back of his temporary shop, Victor pulled his shirt up to his head and let it fall on the floor. On his left pectoral, the soulmark was very much visible, the black the same it spotted a week before.


Victor had returned to the lake every day, determined to prove some toxins had played games on his brain. Neither Yuuri nor the dragon had shown up, despite Victor waiting for hours even neglecting his duties.


He would have gone too, that afternoon, if Chris hadn't invited himself in just as Victor was about to exit. "We need to talk," he said. Victor had thought better to indulge him. Maybe he was right. Maybe he really had delusions.


Chris bent a little closer to examine the soulmark. "It surely is an activated soulmark."

"See?" Victor pressed. "Somebody was there. That dragon rider!"

"Vitya, I don't know what to tell you. We were alone."

"So what? Did this happened for now reason?" He widely gestured toward the soulmark, almost smacking Chris in the nose in the process.

"I'm not saying that. There is surely an explanation."

"I am all ears."


Chris scratched his chin, pensive. He examined Victor's soulmark a little more. "There are woods nearby the lake, right? Maybe your presumptive soulmate was hiding there."

Frowning, Victor examined the option. In theory, it was the most logical explanation, except it didn't hold up for too many details.

"Yes. And afterwards, they didn't even approach," he said, making a face at the absurdity of his words and hoping Chris would notice too.

"Well, not everyone wants a soulmate," Chris tried. Victor shook his head vehemently.

"I told you. He spoke to me. I saw him, I - oh."

He froze mid-speech. But it couldn't be possible. If it were, it would be crazier than seeing and hearing spirits. "The dragon," he exhaled, clapping his hands.

"The dragon?"

"Yes! It had a mark on its chest. You saw it too, right?"

"I was more concerned with its teeth."

"Well, it had. A spiral.!


It took a moment for Chris to connect the dots. He burst into a half-hearted laugh. "I - you cannot possibly think what I believe you are thinking."

"I know," Victor huffed, all too aware of how silly it sounded. Yet, something inside told him he was right. "What other explanation do you have?"

"That dragons have marks of their own, your soulmate was passing by but decided to not introduce themselves, and the pain made you see and hear things. For real, Victor, there is nothing more."


It was the most logical explanation. 


***


Except dragons didn’t have marks. 


Victor had flipped through all books about Dragons he could gather from the Local library and they all agreed on one point. Dragons didn't have marks. Older ones might present discolourations of the scales and it happened scars broke their skin, but that was it.

For a Dragon to spot the same spiral Victor saw on its chest, it must have been impressed by an external force. His tamer, probably. 

Or a higher power.


The only thing Victor knew, was he wanted to get to the bottom of things. Being it real or a delusion, he wanted to see Yuuri again. Even if it meant going to the Lake every day for the rest of his life.


Luckily, he didn't have to wait that long. About a month after Victor firstly spotted him, Yuuri appeared from the woods to kneel on the lakeshore, his Dragon following at a short distance.

Victor waved. "Yuuri!" he called. He knew it, knew it hadn't been a hallucination. 

Yuuri lifted his head, looked gaze with him for a few fateful seconds. "Hi," he said eventually, standing up as if he was weightless. "It's good to see you again."

"Where have you been?"

"Away."

He gestured toward the dragon. It flapped its wings creating a gust of wind, then it took flight without a warning, landing on Victor's side of the Lake. Yuuri was too.

"How did you?" Victor began, but Yuuri only smiled and shook his head. He must have run while Victor was busy following the Dragon.

"You came back.


"Why shouldn't I?"

Of course, he came back. He came back every day and he didn't see why that could be strange. He could expect that from Chris, but Yuuri had felt the soulmark too. So he said. He should expect Victor would want to see him again. If they were truly soulmate, Fate said their lives were intertwined. 

"You," Yuuri began, then shook his head, stopping. "No, never mind." He smiled, though it didn't reach his eyes. Victor recognized it. He had worn it many times. 

"I came back to see you," Victor reiterated. Now that Yuuri was standing before him, there were no doubts he couldn't be a delusion. No matter what other people said, Victor knew what he was seeing.

"We are bound, are we not?" he stretched out a hand to caress Yuuri's cheek. The man jumped back. The dragon reared. It must be truly protective of his master

"I'm - I'm sorry," Yuuri muttered. "I'm not used to being touched."

"No. I shouldn't have assumed."


Some soulmates fell the moment their eyes met. For others, it took longer. Victor guessed with Yuuri it would be the second case. 

"What is its name?" he nodded toward the dragon. Yuuri blinked once before widening his eyes in understanding. "His name? Oh, well. That is - Katsudon."


Victor chuckled. "It's a strange name."

"A dish from my family's homeland. It's my favourite." In saying so, Yuuri's eyes sparkled with enthusiasm. "It's really good and tasty."

"You must really like it. But it still a strange name for a dragon."


Yuuri looked down at his feet. "I guess so," he murmured. "I didn't think much about it."

Behind him, Katsudon puffed a breath of fire. His giant eyes gazed down at Victor, almost sad. 


Chris had told him he could be too abrupt, warned him not everybody had been made tough by years of Yakov's tutoring and having to deal with Yura. Surely subtly insulting his soulmate wasn't a good place to start a relationship.

"But it means you care," he added. "I'd like to try it once."

Yuuri lit up at the words, a fraction of a second in which Victor could swear he was beaming before a shadow fell again on his face.

"It might not be a good idea," he murmured, drifting back toward his dragon.

"Why? I want to know."


Rationally Victor didn't expect his soulmate to rush into his arms right away like in the fairytales mama used to tell him before bed. But he didn't see the problem in sharing a meal.


"But maybe it's not a dish you can prepare in the open," he considered, bringing a hand to his face. Of course, he had been a fool to not think about it.


"No, I can bring it here. But it will not be warm and very fresh, I'm afraid."


He mumbled as if he was talking more to himself than to Victor. "Would it be alright still?" 

Expectation ignited his eyes while he asked. 

"Of course."


Not that Victor had a way to judge the quality of the dish and he had a gut feeling Yuuri wouldn't feed him something to make him feel sick. If it happened, it wouldn't be for his fault and Victor knew herbs that did wonders against stomachaches. Then, while he was curious, his sudden interest in the food was only an excuse to meet Yuuri again. Yuuri furrowed his brows for a moment before his lips stretched into a shy, demure smile. 

"Then, meet me" he stopped and counted on his fingers, "at the new moon."

"The new moon? But -"

"I have work to do, Victor. Now, I must go," Yuuri explained, standing next to Katsudon. He murmured something. The dragon seemed to nod and flapped its powerful wings, creating a gust of wind in Victor's face, so strong it made him close his eyes, an arm lifted to protect them.


When he opened them again, Yuuri and Katsudon were gone. 


***


It was another two weeks before the new moon. Victor thought time couldn't go closer, blessing the constant amount of work for the little distraction it provides from the waiting. 

Sometimes he asked around if anyone knew a rider named Yuuri. No, not Yuri. Yuuri, the sound was longer. They all shook their heads. At least they must have spotted the Dragon.

Someone nodded. Indeed they have seen glimpses flying above the village but since it hadn't attacked, nor sheep had reported missing, they decided against attacking it.

Attacking a Dragon unprovoked was never a good idea. 

Of a man named Yuuri, however, absolutely no trace. But Victor was certain 


Glimpses could not be enough to see the rider and Yuuri had seemed quite the shy and reserved person, living on the margin of the village instead than inside it.


The night of the new moon Yuuri appeared from the woods, punctual like a clock. He waved for Victor to approach. Katsudon was standing behind him like every other time they net, while a bowl waited on the grass. 

Victor picked it gingerly. It was warm. "Katsudon?" He wondered. Given he didn't see any fire nearby, Y must have used the Dragon to heat the dish. It was quite impressive

Yuuri nodded. 

"It should still be good," he said, rubbing his hands in his lap. "I also brought a fork."

He tilted his head toward a piece of cloth that had come unnoticed. For a moment Victor thought it was quite strange Yuuri didn't give the fork directly to him but had placed it on the ground as he did with the bowl. But Yuuri looked already so apologetic he decided to not press further.

Instead, he picked up the fork and un-lid the bowl. Katsudon, it turned out, was a dish of rice, breaded meat, onions and eggs. 

"You need to pick up a little rice and a bit of meat," Yuuri instructed. Victor did as he said, trying to gather all ingredients into the first forkful. As he munched on it, he couldn't help his lips to stretch upward.

"My," he muttered, mouth half-full, "this is good! This is very good!"

Now he understood a little more why Yuuri took inspiration from it to name his dragon. He peered above the bowl to check on him and grinned. Yuuri was beaming.

"Wow, I could eat this every day." Victor flopped onto the grass and patted his belly. Yuuri smiled sheepishly, sitting too. "Right? My - I prepare it every time I start to miss home."

He lowered his voice onto the last part, again that sadness seeping through his words. 

"Is there something wrong, Yuuri?" Victor scooped a little closer to Yuuri, only half-eying Katsudon in case he became protective with his Rider. The dragon, however, simply huffed and si acciambellò too. "People around here made strange faces when I told you about you," he continued, attempting a laugh. Yuuri chuckled too, but Victor could bet he never heard a faker laugh. "I mean it, Yuuri. Is there something wrong?"

There must be. He could see it in Yuuri's eyes, heard it in his voice. In the way, he looked so fragile, as if he wasn't there. In how Chris hadn't seen him, nor anybody in town seemed to know about him

Yuuri huffed, "It's complicated."


"I like complicated-"

"You will go away."

"Did you kill someone?"

Yuuri jumped. "No! Of course not," he sputtered, sounding absolutely scandalized. 

"See? Then it's alright," Victor said. He paused, searching for the right words. He looked down at his chest, the mark underneath. "Yuuri, I know I still don't know you a lot. But I know we are linked. I am going to stand by you. I swear."

"Do you promise?"

"I promise."


Yuuri curled his hands in his lap, ducked his head and seemed to took a deep breath. 



"I'm not a dragon rider."


Already expecting god-knows-what-kind of revelation, it took a moment for Victor to process what he had just heard. Given Yuuri' hesitance, he was ready for a powerful, ancient secret, something that would turn his world upside down in seconds. Yuuri not being a dragon rider was a little disappointing at best.


"What do you mean?" he asked, trying to understand it better. "The dragon is not yours? Are you a poacher?"

He listed hypothesis, but the more he said them, the more no one fitted his logic. A poacher wouldn't go around with a living dragon. He would have already sold it to some nobles or, worse but more plausible, butchered the creature to sell its meat. Plus, Katsudon wasn't shackled, nor he was aggressive toward Yuuri and he didn't look drugged or something similar. 

Most of all, Yuuri didn't look like the type to do something so atrocious. 


By the look on his face, he must be expecting such questions. 


"Close your eyes," he ordered, gently. "Please?"


Victor hesitated, not seeing exactly how closing his eyes could help. But he wanted to trust Yuuri, wanted to know more. He knew Yuuri wouldn't order Katsudon to eat or burn him alive while he had his eyes closed.

"Like this?" he asked, keeping them shut tight. He heard an affirmative murmuration.

"Now you may open them."


Victor obeyed. Katsudon was staring down at him and there was no trace of Yuuri in sight.


Then, a voice echoed in the air, Yuuri's voice. "Hi, Victor," he said. Victor turned around, but no matter where he looked, Yuuri was nowhere to be seen and the voice sounded too close to think Yuuri was shouting hidden somewhere. It sounded as if he was speaking right into his ear like he was speaking into his mind.

"Yuuri?" he called. Katsudon was tilting his head, his eyes burying into Victor. 

"Hi," the voice called again. "It is nice to meet you."

 

With a shimmer of air, something flickered to life, glimmering with a bluish undertone in the dark night. Under Victor's attentive gaze, the fog gathered into a shape that looked almost human. It stretched and moulded and changed slowly till there was no fog anymore, only Yuuri.

Before Victor could move, he stretched out his pale, ghostly hand, caressed his cheek, passed through it. Victor shivered at the sensation. 


"Hello," he repeated once more. "Hello," the same voice was in Victor's mind. Victor looked at him, then up at Katsudon, then down at him.


Something clicked. It was absurd. It was crazy. But it was the right answer.


"You are a dragon," he whispered.



Yuuri's family had been dragon shapeshifters for centuries, legends say since humanity graced those lands. They had transmitted the secret knowledge for generations, hiding it away from those who would bring them harm and assuring its survival as the world around them changed.

They had lived in peace and harmony with society, perfectly blended with it since something happened. Nobody knew or remembered anymore what had happened exactly, safe that all members of that family began to transform into dragons without being able to control it as soon as they turned twenty. It started with abrupt transformations, then returning to human form became harder and harder, till one day they woke up to discover to be stuck as dragons for the rest of their lives.


It didn't take long before they were ostracized first from their village, then the region and finally the country


"We have been travelling ever since," Yuuri explained. "It's not much about hiding. Well, not only at least. But it's not easy finding a companion when everyone in the village knows about your curse."


Victor made a low, long whistle. Of all stories he heard, that was the most absurd. He had a soulmate and that soulmate was a dragon.

Human cursed in dragon form, a little voice inside précised. But then, it was amazing how life could 

surprise people, creating the most convoluted plots. 


"Are you going to leave now?" Yuuri asked, with the voice of someone who already expected a refusal. He sounded so apologetic it hurt. 


"No. I told you, why should I?"

 Yuuri looked at him like he wasn't expecting such a question.


"Because I'm ... I'm like this."


Victor shook his head slowly, hoping to be reassuring. "I was only thinking."


"About what?" Yuuri inquired, tentative. Victor brought a hand to his chest. "About this. You said your family came from away from here."


"Yes ..."


"Then, maybe we wouldn't have met without this curse."


He gestured toward Kat- no, Yuuri's spiral mark, then his own. It had burnt. Maybe it had all begun way before they were born. Legend has it soulmate bonds begun many times before the beginning of someone's mortal life. How Fate could wave threats linking people together already from their fathers. 

When the curse was placed onto Yuuri's ancestor, things were already in motion to bring them here, on this night, sitting together by the lake. 


It was kinda silly, thinking about it. He had known Yuuri only for a while and that was material good for love-stories and legends. Yet something inside Victor was telling him to trust his heart. 


 He pushed on his feet, clapped his hands.


"And now, we have more pressing things to tackle. How do we break it?" 


"I, I don't know. It's been so long. We forgot."


"Then, first step, we need to find that answer again." 


"It will not be easy."


Victor nodded. "I know." But he felt something pushing him from the inside, the same force who had pushed him to search for Yuuri day after day from that first encounter. While he might not know the path yet, he could feel the forces tracing it already. 


He had to prepare for a journey.






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