#The Dragon That Slayed My Heart // Annalise & Butch | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

dragonskxn · 7 months ago

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Her shoulders relax as he wraps his arm around them, pulling her close. She nuzzles close to him, inhaling his familiar scent. Though she caught a brief glimpse of him rubbing his eyes, she didn't say a word; there was no shame in being upset, in crying, in letting your emotions out instead of keeping them locked away deep inside your heart and soul. In a sense, Annalise is proud of Butch for being so upfront and honest with her. For a majority of her life, it was hard to find trust in others...but she trusts him, with all her heart.

"Thank you, amour. I think I am ready to tell you everything." She smiles weakly at him, nodding her head. "And I'll always do the same for you. It feels ...comforting, to be so open with each other, you know?"

She snuggles closer to him, seeking and giving the warmth and comfort they both need.

"My parents and I lived in a small clearing near the forest I eventually began to live in. We had our own little flock of dragonskins who had traveled with my mother, before I was born. Let's just say she was the matriarch," she laughs softly. "My father traveled from his homeland and ended up meeting my mother halfway, and they fell in love quickly and had me shortly after.

"We all lived peacefully together in our own little camp, living off of the land around us, never once approaching human settlements to cause harm or destruction, unlike most tales of dragons. The dragonskins who could blend more easily in with humans, like my mother, would sometimes visit to buy or trade goods to bring back. The littlest ones like myself always were eager to see her come back with wooden swords and stitched dolls.

"One winter....we hardly had any food. My mother...she made the grave decision to steal some sheep from a farm in a human settlement, to feed the hatchlings. But someone saw her, I suppose, and...and..."

Annalise swallows, blinking back tears.

"During the night, a hunting party had been arranged. Monster hunters. In fairy tales, the knights heroically charge into battle to slay the evil dragons, but these men...they snuck up on all of us, while we were sleeping. It was...it was a massacre. No one was spared. The dragonskins in human form, the children...

"I saw my mother and father slain right in front of my eyes. I was only around ten years old, when it happened, but...this anger, this fury, it rose in me, and I leapt upon the one who murdered them as a dragon and...I ripped him to shreds. I only stopped when another hunter tried to get me off of him by thrusting a lit torch to my back. A young dragonskin isn't flame resistant like an adult. I...I still feel the pain, sometimes. Still feel the burning, still smell the flesh." A small sob rises in her throat, but Annalise tries to choke it back down, so she can continue.

"I managed to flee. And...after that, I ...I suppose you could say I simply survived. It took time, but...I learned things. How to repair the dilapidated cottage I had hidden in, how to cook, how to sew, how to raise animals. It was all trial and error, but I suppose I managed.

"Despite all of that, I was still alone. The villagers thought I was a changeling child, coming out of the haunted wood with no parents in sight, dressed all in rags from head to toe. When I became an adult, the whispers evolved from changeling to witch. I had no quarrel with them, but they didn't like what they didn't understand. And as the years passed, their superstitions passed on from generation to generation, leaving me isolated for a majority of my life, until I finally decided to stop being so afraid of the outside world...and left in search of a new life."

She listens quietly, patiently, as he speaks, not wanting to interrupt his story. Her facial expressions shift throughout, from surprise to bewilderment, then to one of concern. To think that for a majority of her own life, she had been accused of being a witch, when Butch was traveling with a real witch himself! An actual witch! Regardless, the look of care and comfort in her eyes remain the same once he finishes, trailing off.

"Butch...." She smiles gently, reaching out to place her hand on his arm, and giving it a comforting squeeze.

"You don't have to apologize. Thank you for telling me. I know it must've been hard, keeping all of that bottled up inside. I...I can relate to that." Annalise huffs softly, blowing a stray strand of hair out of her face.

"....I don't know what the future has in store for both of us, but I want you to know that I'll be here for you, no matter what happens, Butch."

She cares about him deeply, more deeply than anyone she's ever met in the long life she's lived. To see him this vulnerable, the origins of his demonic attributes revealed...it made her heart only ache and long for him more, to see him happy.

"We've both been through...a lot, haven't we?" Annalise chuckles softly, plucking a blade of grass and twiddling it between her fingers. Her smile falters slightly, however.

"...I don't think I've actually told you about... everything that's happened to me. I...I know I mentioned that I lost my parents when I was young, but...bringing up the details at the time was ...hard. I couldn't do it. But..." She swallows, then sighs. Her eyes close as she leans her head back against the tree trunk.

"I think I'm willing to tell you, too. If you want me to."

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