The Dragon's Vessel

It was a split second, that’s all it takes when it comes to attachments. The loss of self-control. Who can blame them? Their world comes together as quickly as it had fallen apart when they meet their vessel. The rush they feel when they make the connection.

A gasp escapes Kimi’s mouth, followed by a surprised yelp as the guy bit down on the nape of her neck. Arms wrapped around her, his long dark hair tickled the side of her face and for a moment Kimi had lost focus on her surroundings. The feeling of having her energy removed, she wanted to hate it, to feel disgusted but that’d be lying. It’s a built in feeling, to feel good during feeding, it’s supposedly meant to make it less traumatic for the vessel. It doesn’t.

Asami stared in surprise, unsure of what’s happening and she glanced around for help, thankful when she spotted Ryujin and Andrei arrive and tear the stranger away from Kimi who could barely stand.

“Oi! What the fuck? You creep!” Andrei yelled as he threw the stranger back.

Ryujin caught Kimi and turned moving to push her gently away until she was being held by Laxus. Both males exchanged a look as Ryujin moved back to face the stranger. His hand curled into a fist and he went to punch the guy in the face, only to have the guy catch it with surprising ease.

Ryujin studied the guy carefully before moving his fist back down to his side and turning to Andrei. “We need to leave.” He paused, looking back to his nakama. “All of us.”



“What the actual fuck!” Laxus snarled, staring the guy who had introduced himself as Gajeel down.

By now the small clan of dragons, Andrei, Ever and Kimi were back at the dragon’s apartment. Gajeel stood in a corner of the room while Laxus paced at the furthest side of the lounge. Ryujin was sitting on the arm of the couch, Andrei stood beside him. Ever had made her way to the kitchen, grabbing a glass of water for herself. Kimi sat in an armchair in another corner and Natsu sat in front of her on the floor, like a guard dog.

Erik entered, rubbing his eyes and still wearing his pajamas. “What’s going on?” He asked in a sleepy blur as he glanced across the room and at Gajeel. His mind cleared of sleep and he frowned as he took in the stranger in his house. “Another?” He questioned, hearing Gajeel’s confused thoughts. “But that’s… that’s unheard of.” He muttered, looking at his nakama.

“It was already unheard of when Laxus and I bonded to Kimi.” Ryujin grumbled, not liking that another dragon had formed an attachment to Kimi, a vessel to already five dragons.

“I’m sorry,” Kimi spoke up, feeling bad that she would have to be stretched even further.

Andrei laughed without humor. “Why are you apologizing Kimi? You don’t ask for this,” he pointed out. “But this is bad,” Andrei ran a hand through his hair. “Another dragon means an increased risk of danger.” He pointed out.

“No shit.” Laxus scowled, “we’re at full capacity here as well.”

“Hey!” Gajeel growled, looking displeased that he was being talked about when he was right there. “Who even said I wanted to join your weird dragon cult.” He huffed. “I didn’t sign up for this shit.”

“Yeah?” Ryujin stepped forward, feeling disrespected that his family had been called a dragon cult. “Then leave and don’t show your face around here again.” He taunted, watching Gajeel hesitate and look at Kimi. “That’s what I thought.” Ryujin replied. “Fact is, you got a taste of your power, which means you’re now bonded to Kimi and judging from your lack of self-control you demonstrated earlier, you liked what you tasted and want more.” Ryujin analyzed.

Kimi winced at Ryujin’s harsh behaviour but said nothing, there was no point trying to reassure them that everything would be alright. Not when she wasn’t sure if everything would be alright or not. Six dragons were now bound to her. Six dragons relied on her to give them strength. How was she meant to cope? She was sure that was why Ryujin was worried. There was only so much energy she could give them before she was left drained.

Panic rose within her and she tried to hold it back. Erik moved to her side and maneuvered to sit in the armchair with her, curling around her and leaning his head on her back. He placed a hand over her heart, feeling the increase as she panicked inwardly. Erik’s movement broke the concentrated glaring contest between Ryujin and Gajeel, both men turning to look at Kimi and her laboured breathing.

“Hey,” Ryujin moved over to Kimi and Natsu slid back, allowing Ryujin to crouch in front of her. “Everything will be okay, we’re here, we’ll make it work out.” He tried to comfort Kimi but she shook her head. Tears formed in the corners of her eyes.

“I just,” Kimi started but had to pause to find her voice, “I’m scared,” she whispered, her blue eyes pierced into each person in the room. “Another dragon bonded to me,” she swallowed the lump in her throat. “That means another vessel is dead,” Kimi buried her head into her hands, covering her eyes as a sob racked her body.

The men glanced around, unsure of how to comfort Kimi when what she was saying was true. It was a fail safe for dragons. If their vessel died but the dragon still lived, the dragon had the chance to bond to another vessel, taken or not. This helped to ensure the dragon still had access to a power source. This was something they thought would never happen but with in the increase in murders it was actually happening.

“I don’t understand, my actual vessel is dead? So I bonded to you?” Gajeel tried to make sense of what he was being told. “I haven’t met a vessel until now,” he scowled. “How can a dragonless vessel be found anyway?” Gajeel asked.

“Vessels are born with a mark shaped like a dragon, it can appear anywhere on their body.” Erik answered. “It’s between her shoulder blades,” He quickly answered, cutting Gajeel off who closed his mouth, his next question being answered.

“So now what?” He asked instead, eyeing up this mismatched bunch of people.