#bpad creature

[chessb0r3d]

Bipolar creature also known as the iykyk creature (to be pronounced as 'eekyeek') (Requested by @2drunkbugs )

Its faces? Those are fur patterns, and their expressions are the way they are. The same for the legs.

[rigel126]

The Prince and Dragonfly (working title, ori fic)

This story idea has been boiling in the back of my head for months and now I finally drafted the first chapter. Just a bit of context, it’s set in a historically-inspired fantasy world; I’ve tried to make it somewhat analogous to the early days of the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644 AD) years after the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. I still haven’t decided how much fantasy elements I can put in, hopefully a lot, especially supernatural creatures a-la Journey to the West or the Odyssey because gods, demons, fairies and monsters? My sort of kink people.

Read under the cut, and send me your questions, comments, and ideas! Don’t be shy people! If you’re interested in keeping up with this story, I’m tentatively using the tag #rigel-bpad.

Update: Originally the working title was The Black Prince and Dragonfly until I questioned why the need to point out the character’s blackness, and thought that it might have been a racially insensitive thing on my part, so I tweaked the title.

The Prince and Dragonfly (Working Title)

by Rigel126

Tags: fantasy, history, black lead, possibly supernatural

Chapter 1 – Night Messenger

Ruan Dynasty, 15th year of Emperor Xiang Qiang’s reign

A noise roused Dragonfly from where he slept, atop a mat in a corner of his lord Bayezid’s room.

“The hell is that racket?” grumbled Bayezid, still half-asleep.

“I hear the guards’ voices. I’ll go take a look.” Sixteen-year-old Dragonfly scrabbled for a flint in the dark and lit an oil lamp, then a paper lantern. He threw an open-front robe over his white drawers and sheathed his heavy knife in his waistband.

“Sure.” Bayezid slumped back into his bed.

“Don’t fall asleep yet, my lord.” Dragonfly reached for Bayezid’s scabbard. “At least not till I get back, just in case.”

“You’re noisy, Dragonfly,” Bayezid, also sixteen years of age like his servant Dragonfly, grumbled. “You’re good enough to protect me, right?”

“Please, Young Prince. For my peace of mind if nothing else.” Dragonfly gently slipped the sword into Bayezid’s lax fingers and patted his master’s hand.

“Hmph.”

“I’ll be back quickly.” With lantern light leading the way in the darkness, Dragonfly left the bedchamber in search of the source of disturbance.

He arrived at the entrance of the mansion, where Dragonfly found the door guards, three Imperial soldiers, arguing with a Kaynak merchant.

“What’s this ruckus?” demanded Dragonfly.

“It’s this damned Kaynak fool!” grumbled one of the sentries. “It’s in the middle of the night but he stubbornly insists on seeing the Young Prince.”

“I’m telling you I bring an urgent message to the Young Prince!” retorted the Kaynak merchant, who struggled to push past the other two guards. “It cannot wait for a moment longer.”

“All of you, stand down.” Dragonfly approached the merchant, studying his face more closely. “I know you. You are Master Ulcik Effendi’s secretary, aren’t you? Didn’t you and your master travel with Prince Jihangir’s caravan to Kaynak last year? And why are you back here but not His Highness?”

At the mention of Prince Jihangir’s name, the Kaynak merchant’s face darkened. Dragonfly noted that he eyed the guards suspiciously, with hesitation.

Dragonfly switched languages. “If it is not for all ears, then speak in the Kaynak tongue. Tell me, and I shall bring you to the Young Prince.”

The Kaynak merchant let out a ragged breath and moisture began to gather in his eyes. “Misfortune has befallen His Highness Prince Jihangir.”

*

“W-what did you say?” Bayezid slumped onto a stool, his thick, dark lips trembling. Even with his skin as black as coal, his face looked ashen.

The skinny and weather-worn merchant could not hold back his own tears. “Your noble father Prince Jihangir was murdered in Merkeshir.”

“You lie.”

“Your Highness, it’s the truth, I sw-“

“You’re lying!” roared Bayezid, who surged out of his seat. Dragonfly barely had time to seize Bayezid from behind to keep him from pouncing onto the merchant. “You lying snake! How dare you slander my father so!”

“My lord, calm yourself!” snapped Dragonfly, using all of his might to hold back the larger and more stoutly-built Bayezid.

When the Young Prince finally calmed down somewhat, Dragonfly turned to the sobbing Kaynak merchant. “Tell us all that you know.”

The merchant sniffled and rubbed his teary eyes. “Yes. As you know, in spring last year Prince Jihangir led our trade caravan back to the Kaynak Empire. Nothing untoward happened until we arrived in Merkeshir. We heard that His Imperial Majesty the Padishah had passed away under suspicious circumstances several weeks before our arrival.”

Bayezid’s eyes widened in shock. “My Imperial Grandfather... he... That’s means that –“

The Kaynak merchant was able to recompose himself and now looked upon the Young Prince grimly. “Precisely, we walked right into the middle of a war of succession. Your noble father Prince Jihangir was not spared from it. The very night we arrived, before we could even meet with the Grand Vizier, our caravan was attacked by assassins. They killed everyone in their sleep. I only managed to survive because I happened to be at the outhouse at the time.” He shuddered.

“Even my... my father?”

“When they left, I went back inside the inn. Truly, I was the only one who was still alive in that murder-house that night. As for Prince Jihangir’s body...” The Kaynak merchant started sobbing again. “They took away his head and cut his body to pieces! Oh! The horrors of all that blood and butchery will haunt me until the day I die! Oh!” And he wept without reserve.

The words continued to ring in Bayezid’s and Dragonfly’s ears long after the Kaynak merchant had left, sent away with a pouch of money. With a bit of luck, he should be able to travel somewhere far and safe from the eyes of those who would wish him harm.

As for Bayezid himself, he sat listlessly on the floor and leaned back against his bed.

Dragonfly watched his master for a while, then silently sat down right beside Bayezid so that their shoulders touched.

“What am I to do, Dragonfly?” murmured Bayezid. “My father is dead. What am I to do?”

“Right now? Grieve. Cry. Get angry. Feel the pain.”

Bayezid’s chest started to shudder, and all of a suddenly he flung himself onto Dragonfly, crying and wailing into this servant’s shoulder inconsolably. His fingers dug painfully into Dragonfly’s flesh but Dragonfly did not care.

“My prince, I too have lost my father before his time.” Dragonfly hugged the Young Prince back and gently stroked his curly jet-black hair. “At the time when I was captured and made a eunuch slave in Ruan, I watched my father get cut down by slavers, so I understand what you are feeling now. A raw, terrible agony in your heart like it was pierced with a burning iron spear. It’s a pain so terrible that you would do anything to get rid of it: kill another, or kill yourself. I shan’t lie to you my lord, that pain will be with you for a long time.

“But, the pain will dampen, with passing days, weeks, months and years, until it is but a painful ache in your chest. The pain will harden and strengthen you. You will live on, survive, and maybe? You will avenge your father’s death.”

“There is no ‘maybe’, Dragonfly,” hissed Bayezid. “I swear upon my blood I will find my father’s murderers and avenge him!”

“Then when the time is right, you shall.”

It was nearly dawn by the time Dragonfly coaxed Bayezid back to bed. “ Try to rest even if you can’t fall asleep. I will wake you when it is time for the dawn prayers.”

“Dragonfly?” Bayezid gripped Dragonfly’s wrist tightly to prevent him from going away. With a small voice, Bayezid asked, “Sleep with me?”

Dragonfly smiled helplessly. “As you wish, my lord.” Dragonfly slipped under the covers next to Bayezid. The Young Prince immediately latched onto Dragonfly, as though afraid he might leave.

Dragonfly snuggled against his young master. “Whatever happens, I will always be with you, my lord. Now rest, for tomorrow will require all of your strength.”

“Mm.”

To be continued....