bsumone | ❝ It is one thing to read about dragons ❞

A river spirit. A water dragon. That’s something Nagare doesn’t have in his collection. Dragons, they’re a tricky lot. Ancient, powerful, difficult to deceive. The local lore spoke of a benevolent spirit in the water that will grant wishes in return for offerings. That seems an easy enough way in. For several months, Nagare made his way to the river, leaving silent offerings at the shore without staying to make any wish. His offerings were always simple: freshly caught fish, rice, and fruits. All the typical things a human might leave to honor someone… or something.

After a time, Nagare approached the river with intent to meet the creature. If it really is a dragon, well, hopefully his plan would work. Dressed in the garb of a local fisherman, Nagare settled at the water’s edge with his fishing gear and a basket full of food. He rolls the legs of his trousers up and steps into the water to cast his net in hopes of catching a dragon.

Nam has been vaguely aware of the comings and goings of the human for months now, though he's never really paid him any mind. He often doesn't until they start asking for things. Until such a time, he remains beneath the surface of the water, aware of the presence on the shore but taking little interest in it.

This human has been an interesting one, with his offers of fish and rice and lovely fruits while asking for nothing in return. Of course it could simply be that the human is gearing up to ask for something bordering on unreasonable from the dragon, but there's a chance that it really is just a selfless offering. Still, Nam doesn't make his presence known to the human, he just accepts the food long after the human has left each time. Revealing that there's actually a dragon here and that it's more than just local lore and folktales could ruin what's been happening here. Learning that there's actually something to the stories could make this human just like all the rest, it could make them just as greedy as the people who have evidence that there really is something in the water.

Finally, though, it's time for the human to earn the dragon's full attention. The moment the human's foot breaks the surface of the water, Nam starts to watch him, waiting to see what he chooses to do with his time in the river. Much to Nam's disappointment, however, he chooses poorly. He should know better than to think that humans can leave well enough alone.

Shifting back into his human form, Nam slips out of the water further upstream to keep himself from being immediately spotted, even if the water dripping from him is probably rather telling. He makes his way back to the human, hoping to make it before he manages to catch anything. Not that Nam won't simply tell him to throw it back if he already has.

"Remove yourself and your net from the river."

Perhaps for someone who isn’t looking for a dragon, they might be confused or surprised to see a young man soaking wet. But not Nagare. He feels in his gut that this ethereal young man is exactly the creature he’s searching for.

Though Nagare is dressed as one of the local fishermen, it’s very clear that he isn’t a local once he speaks. Though he knows the native language of this place, he speaks it with a pronounced accent. He stoops into a low bow, then steps out of the water before gathering up the net. Enough time hasn’t passed for anything to be caught, likely a blessing in the face of this dragon.

“I’m so sorry,” he utters quietly. “I didn’t realize fishing was forbidden here.”

He pauses briefly, glancing toward the basket of food he brought along with him.

“Are you… the river’s guardian?”

How disappointing. He doesn't necessarily expect someone from away to know the state of the river in which he's trying to fish, but the locals that likely dressed him and gave him the gear he needed should have warned him. They should have made sure he knew which places he was allowed to fish, and in which places such things were forbidden. Though he supposes they can't be entirely to blame. If he wasn't told, then he should have simply asked for a safe place to fish. While fishing in these waters isn't always strictly forbidden, it's not worth explaining to someone who won't be around for when the fish are plentiful enough for the dragon to once again allow locals to fish in his river within reason. So for all intents and purposes, to this foreign man fishing is just entirely out of the question.

Perhaps if he returns in later years, the dragon will be feeling more generous.

Nam's eyes follow the net as the man pulls it from the river, relieved to see that there is not even so much as a rogue piece of vegetation caught up in it. "Many of your kind tend to get overzealous in their fishing and have made it a necessity." If a dragon of his size can manage to not snuff out the entire fish population while subsisting on them almost entirely, surely the humans can learn to control themselves.

"I am its guardian, yes."

Nagare couldn't disagree. Humanity definitely takes and takes and takes far more than its fair share of any and all resources they find of value, without any regard for the balance of nature of how the depletion of such resources will affect everything. Nagare is, after all, greedy in his own way. He understands that it's a very common trait among his kind.

Once he pulls the net in, he drops it beside him, safely away from the water so it won't get pulled back in. He gives the guardian an apologetic bow and then gestures toward the large basket he brought.

"I had planned to still make my offering, if you will accept it."

They take and take and some of them decide to simply ignore the dragon when he tries to warn them away. They don't respect the land and the water, they don't respect him. They see nothing more than the young man that he presents himself as standing before them and they decide that taking him seriously is purely optional. He explain what will happen if they continue, that there will be no fish left for them to catch and no flora left for them to gather and that's enough to convince some. Yet others still continue. He warns again and again. He's patient, but his willingness to watch humans slowly destroy all that he holds dear is very finite. Every step of the way, some more finally understand the errors of their ways. It's usually accompanied by some half muttered reply to the effect of 'I have enough right now anyway' as opposed to any admission of wrongdoing, but Nam accepts that.

The ones who continue to ignore and disrespect the dragon? Those who push him to the end of his willingness to watch them take from him indiscriminately? Nam drowns them. Simple. He doesn't necessarily enjoy taking their lives, but sometimes it feels as though it becomes necessary.

This particular human, though, at least shows a modicum of respect. He doesn't push back against or challenge Nam. He simply accepts that he's in the wrong and quickly corrects it. If only other humans could do such things.

Nam glances down toward the large basket then back to the human, head tipping very slightly to one side. "You're the one who's been leaving offerings on the river bank without a word." Not a question. A statement. Nam's been aware of his comings and goings, after all, even if he'd actually paid the human little mind most of the time. A fact that he wants to make sure the human knows.

“I am,” he confesses. Though it isn’t good fortune or blessings he desires from the dragon. Seeing him in this shape only cements that fact for Nagare. There’s a cold burning in the guardian’s eyes that warns Nagare of the dangerous quest he’s taking. A danger that only makes him want his prize more.

In more ways than one.

“What will atone for my trespass against you and your domain?”

Nam looks between the net and the river, watching a fish swim by just below the surface, blissfully unaware of the fate they narrowly avoided because the dragon is here to see they aren't wiped out entirely, to see that this doesn't just become another dead river. This human hasn't (yet) contributed to that potential future. He almost did and that is not something that Nam will soon forget, but he can look past it since no harm was done in the end. He can look past it for the moment, at least. One wrong word and the dragon could rescind this kindness he's currently showing to the human.

Gaze returning to the human, Nam gestures for the human to hand him the basket he brought. "Your offering. And your word that this will be the last time you'll try to fish from this river. Trust that the consequences will be dire otherwise."

Nagare bows low as he holds the basket out: containing, as all before it, fresh fish, rice, along with fruits and nuts of the season. Being vastly uninterested in fishing, Nagare can easily make the promise demanded of him.

"You have my solemn word that I shall not fish nor set a toe in this river ever again." An easy promise to make since it's true. Once he's claimed his prize, Nagare has no need or intent to return here. He holds his bow until he feels the basket taken from his grasp.

Reaching out to take the basket from the visitor, Nam inspects the contents. Much like the ones the human has brought to him in the past. If Nam had any doubts before that this is the human he's been keeping vaguely aware of, who's been leaving his offerings without trying to get something in return from the dragon, then they are all but gone now. Even the way the food is arranged in the basket has a sort of familiarity to it. The human unlike so many others who's been giving without taking.

Nam pays the rice, fruit and nuts little mind at first, it's the fresh fish that has his interest. He plucks one from the basket then sets the rest down. He looks it over to make sure that this isn't one from his river, that the human didn't somehow manage to trick him. A difficult task, but not entirely impossible though if the humans wish to think it is, he's not about to deny them their beliefs. The fish is perfectly unfamiliar to him, though. He feels nothing when he looks at it. Nothing but hunger. It would be a bold move to feed the dragon his own fish but not one that he would put past a human. Bold and stupid.

Elegant and dignified though Nam usually is, there's nothing dignified about the way he tears the fish open. "See to it that you keep your word." He takes an experimental bite of the torn up flesh. Delicious. The human did well in his choice. An acceptable offering. "I don't particularly enjoy ending the life of those whose lives are already so painfully short, but I won't hesitate to feed you to my river."

"There will be no cause for that."

Well, not yet anyway.

Nagare has rarely been one to trade in currency. Sure, he takes it often enough with running a very elite brothel. But more importantly than that, he trades in favors. He swaps what he can offer for knowledge and magic he doesn't have. Recipes for drugs that can take down even a dragon. Things like that. He didn't really expect to capture the river's guardian with a fishing net.

Drugs the likes of which Nam has never heard of before. He's unaware that such a thing even exists. It's no small feat to take down something like a dragon and most humans are at least smart enough to not even try, so he has few suspicions about the food. Things like human poisons or ones designed for their animals doing nothing to the dragon and he knows of nothing else.

If only he knew of something else.

"Let's hope not. It'd be a shame, really." To have to strike down a human.

Nam rips apart and eats a handful of fish before a really off feeling starts to settle over him. It starts a little slowly, with his hearing and vision losing a little of their sharpness. All the edges become soft and the world gets progressively more muffled. His body starts to feel heavier and heavier. He drops the last bit of food that he was still holding on to as he stumbles to the side a little until he finds a tree to lean against. "You." Nam lifts a hand toward the stranger though almost immediately, it falls back to his side. "You did... What have you done to me?" He slides down the trunk of the tree, all the while trying to keep his eyes on the stranger even as his world grows darker. "What have you done to me...?" Nam reaches for the man again, though this time he can do no more than push his hand across the dirt with Nam, himself, following soon after as he finally loses consciousness and falls face first onto the ground.

"Please forgive the disrespect," he murmurs as Nam slides toward the ground. Nam may actually still be conscious enough to hear the words. In the end, it doesn't matter if he hears them or not. Nagare waits until he's certain the dragon is well and fully unconscious before gathering him up from the ground and whisks him off to his very secret place.

When Nam wakes again, he'll still feel a little groggy, but he'll find himself alone in a private room. A light scent perfumes the air, possibly contributing to that not quite awake feeling. Should Nam choose to explore, he'll find himself free to do so. Outside is a courtyard with a pool for Nam's use. He's a river dragon, after all. Depriving him of a body of water would be cruel. If he exits the room (there is no way out of the courtyard), Nam will find himself in a nondescript hallway lined with flickering lams, opulent draperies, incense censors, and closed doors. It eventually leads to an open room with a a few people milling about. Nagare himself is there, seated at one of the tables and prying the seeds from pomegranate. The others notice Nam first and a soft hush falls over them. Nagare, however, barely looks up.

"Come, sit."

How fitting that the word 'disrespect' is all that Nam hears before he succumbs to the darkness that's quickly taking hold. Were the situation different, Nam might almost be impressed that the human was able to concoct something strong enough to do anything to him. Has Nagare been targeting dragons or is this the first time he's gotten to use his drug? Was it developed just for Nam? How special.

When Nam awakens some time later, it's immediately apparent to him that he's been taken from his river. It feels like there's a thick fog around him and it's hard to make heads or tails of anything, but the absence of his beautiful home cuts clearly through the fog. Please find a way to protect yourself while Nam is gone. He'll make his way home as soon as he can.

For a long while, Nam just sits in silence on the bed, looking around the room and taking in his surroundings, including the very bed that he finds himself on. The bed is quite comfortable. It's hardly a surprise to Nam why so many humans choose to sleep of them. It's a shame that his own first time in one happens to be after he'd been drugged and carted off to who knows where.

Once he feels he's fought off enough of the groggy feeling, Nam climbs to his feet and heads straight for one of the doors. The one that leads out into the courtyard and the lovely pool in the middle of it. Walking over to its edge, Nam crouches down and dips his hand into the water, scooping some of it up only to let it drip back down through his fingers. Naturally, he feels nothing for this man-made body of water, but it brings a small sense of comfort in this strange place all the same. Comfort is the last thing he wants in this unknown place, however.

The last place to go is that second door which just leads further into this strange place. As expected. He's not naive enough to think it was an actual exit. At least that means he wasn't disappointed to learn that it really wasn't. His eyes drift over the draperies and the lamps and the closed doors (others like himself, perhaps? Those brought here against their will?) but none of it truly catches his attention. His main focus is the open area where he can hear other voices. His intent is to demand someone tell him where the human is, but when he enters the space, he finds he has no need. There sits Nagare, seemingly perfectly engrossed in his seeds.

"What is this place and why have you brought me here?"

Unfortunately for Nam, for most of the creatures Nagare's brought here against their will, the disrespect of being drugged will be the very least of it.

Noting that the dragon has not taken a seat, Nagare pauses in his task. He's not rushed in setting the pomegranate aside, in rising to his own feet, in smoothing a wrinkle that gravity would easily remedy with aid from the indigo kimono. If Nam prefers to stand to talk, so be it. He inhales deeply, casting his gaze around the room, shifting slightly one way then the other to do so. And then returns his focus to Nam.

"This place," he practically sighs. This place is his perfect dream. A place safely tucked away from the noise and dangers of all worlds. A place free of (most) suffering, free of hunger, free of (again, most) violence. A place built for pleasure. "This place is called The Red Tent." A name hearkening back to the days when Nagare wandered with naught but a tent and Vala.

"You are here as a part of my collection."

The dragon will not sit to talk. He will not bring himself down to the level of those lounging around. He will not give even so much as the illusion of relaxing by taking a seat. As the human climbs to his feet (there's no sense of urgency to his movements. The human is moving incredibly slowly in the face of an angry dragon), Nam stands up a little straighter, lifting his chin slightly. Though his human form isn't necessarily large, he holds himself as though he's the largest one in the room. In his natural form, he may well be.

"That doesn't answer my question of what this place is." The name of the place doesn't say much, though his senses do tell a bit of a story. An unfortunate story. A story that Nam wants no part of. The dragon narrows his eyes and tips his head to one side.

"I will be part of no man's collection."

"Yet here you are, already a part of it," he replies. He gestures behind Nam, presumable toward some unseen door down some unknown corridor. "You're welcome to try to find a way out. It's a waste of effort, though. This compound is all that exists in this place. You may go outside, but once you leave these grounds, there's only vast nothingnesss. We exist within a hermetically sealed box. Nothing comes in or out of this dimension without my express permission."

❝ It is one thing to read about dragons ❞

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