#i know most of the fandom has been picturing namaari as the cat queen these last few days

[thedragonnerd]

Rayaari headcanon - have some fuzzy (serlot) shapeshifter AU

(inspired by these two lovely anons)

The people of Heart have been enemies with the neighbouring land of Fang as long as Raya can remember. She is taught from a young age never to trust someone from there, that they will forever be dangerous assassins and soldiers. And indeed, of all the Five Lands, Fang is known for having the most formidable warriors, trained to show no mercy - the types of characters that Heart mothers use to frighten their children at night.

'I heard that the Queen even has fangs herself,' a boy tells Raya and her group of friends one day. 'And her daughter is a hideous beast that roams the forests, searching for the flesh of Heart people to feast on.' He prowls around, pretending to be the evil Fang Queen and chasing the girls until Raya trips him in annoyance.

She logically knows this all to be an exaggeration, but as the years go by, she cannot help but picture the people of Fang as villains lurking in the dark, rather than regular human beings.

When Raya turns 18, her Ba sits her down, and passes across a wooden box with an ornate carving on the lid. 'There is something you must now learn, as Princess and heir to this land,' he tells her, and she opens it to find a beautifully engraved anting-anting lying within.

She learns that this is one of three closely-guarded antings that Heart possesses, and only a handful of people know of their existence. Secrecy is paramount; this one now belongs to her to protect and wear around her neck always. 'It is tradition for the royal heir to take up responsibility for a while, and learn the ways of the enemy,' Ba tells her. 'The other two are carried by my most trusted spies.'

The power of the amulet lends itself to spy-work, she discovers. It aids the wearer in shapeshifting, although Raya has several attempts before she can connect to the magic within. The first transformation catches her off-guard, and her Ba laughs at her as she trips over her own paws in surprise.

'We use this to patrol the lands of Fang,' he says, watching as she practices running in her new form. 'And the serlot is a perfect animal for the role - an amazing sense of hearing, and common creatures in the ecosystem. We've been spying for years, and never once been caught.'

Raya undertakes her first mission a month later, once she is more skilled both in shifting and in behaving in an inconspicuous manner. It is a relatively unremarkable outing - she spies on some Palace guards patrolling the walls, but fails to overhear any useful information.

It is not until her fifth mission that an opportunity falls directly into her lap; or, more precisely, shoots itself into her shoulder. She is searching for her next targets to spy on, when an arrow embeds itself into her muscle, and she falls to the ground in pain.

'Don't shoot, don't shoot!' a voice calls out. 'I think you struck a serlot by mistake!' Raya whimpers in pain, and a gentle hand reaches out to pat her head. A woman's face swims into view. Raya can hear the distant noise of people arguing, but as she drifts off into darkness, all she can focus on besides the pain is the soft caress on her fur.

When she wakes up, she finds herself lying on a comfortable blanket in the corner of a spacious and almost empty room, except for a large bed set out in the center. Her wound has been bandaged, although it still hurts considerably when she tries to stand up.

'You shouldn't be moving yet!' someone scolds her, and looking up, the woman from the forest has entered the room, carrying what seems to be a plate of food. Raya eyes the raw meat suspiciously, and the woman laughs. 'Don't be such a princess about your food...you need to eat in order to heal.'

Raya realizes that this is a great opportunity to continue spying, and besides, she won't be able to return to Heart with an injury this serious, at least for a few days.

She realizes after a while that her saviour is none other than Namaari, Princess of Fang herself. The enemy's daughter is not some horrible creature in the dark, but rather a young woman who seems to have a large capacity for love towards all things serlot, an impressive level of first aid knowledge, and a habit of talking out loud to Raya constantly, whenever she returns to her room.

Over the following few days, Raya becomes used to hearing Namaari rant about frustrating duties, or people who have annoyed her, or even once or twice her own mother. Raya starts to feel slightly guilty about spying on her, despite them being from opposing lands.

To her horror, the 'princess' nickname bestowed by Namaari sticks, and now she finds herself responding with a small purr whenever Namaari calls her such a ridiculous name. She comforts herself with the thought that surely purring is merely serlot instinct.

Namaari also loves to pet her ears often, and Raya resigns herself to having gentle scratches on her head (she will never admit to enjoying it). One time, Namaari is so exhausted from her day of work, that she sits next to Raya on the floor and promptly falls asleep, toppling slowly downwards until her cheek is resting on Raya's side, her breaths ruffling the fur on each exhale.

Raya decides eventually that she cannot betray Namaari's trust, not after all that the woman has done to help her. Her leg is much improved, with Namaari talking about letting her roam outside in the morning, and so as soon as first light rises, she slips out of the room, racing out of the palace before any of the guards notice her.

When she arrives back in Heart, Ba asks her what she learned. 'I learned that they are simply humans like the rest of us,' she says. 'And some of them are good people.' He nods as if in satisfaction, and together, they come up with a different vision for the future.

It takes them several months of negotiations and correspondence sent back and forth, but eventually Fang and Heart agree to meet on a diplomatic mission, in order to discuss a way to bring peace to both lands.

When the Fang delegation arrives, Queen Virana leads the way, and following her is Namaari. 'Hi,' says Raya, for the first time. 'I'm Raya.'

(Raya doesn't admit she was the serlot until many months later, fearful of damaging the growing trust and friendship between them. Namaari is more embarrassed than anything however, considering the topics of some of her rants.)

(Namaari switches back to calling her princess as a nickname though.)