HELLO FRIENDS! This story was a real treat to work on, and it took FOREVER to finish. Yep, it's done, but I'll be posting the chapters every few weeks and editing them in between. I'm still a bit iffy on the last 2 chapters, so this'll give me more time to perfect that. Anyway this is a fantasy AU because you can never have enough of those, and I really hope you enjoy it!

Most often when one of my kind comes into being it's with a purpose, coded instructions of behaviours and abilities woven through us to give us life. Mother has a plan that we're to carry out, and to follow that purpose is the most fulfilling thing one can ever hope to experience. It sounds lovely, I'm sure it is. I wish I knew.

Not all of us are created equally. 'Happy accidents', I suppose you could say. Life is very different for those of us that start out with nothing. My creation was followed shortly by disorientating confusion strong enough to consume all thought, and I found myself aimlessly wandering my land as I tried to conjure up a reason or desire—something to drive me moving forward. But when nothing came I was left staring up at the sky, silently questioning just what I was doing.

My ability matched my land, I suppose: a barren snowtop mountain stretching out towards the clouds, reaching to the sky—to her. It brought me some strange form of comfort that to this day I cannot fully wrap my head around. Nevertheless I liked my home, despite the isolation surrounding it. And isolation was only partially accurate, really; there were animals, wintry forests spreading out into the horizon, stretching far as I could see from my snowy mountain peak. But there were no higher beings, none that I could talk with or listen to. At the time this lack of social contact brought me nothing more than boredom… It's hard to long for something you've never known.

I never resented Mother. Even in my confusion I was grateful—maybe a tad envious, even, of how she shaped the world. She was… awe-inspiring. She stretched across the land and touched the world in ways that I never could. But I wished that I could ask her just what I should do. It would come with time—that was what kept me content all those years atop that cold mountaintop.

A blurred mass of sunrises and sunsets found something new coming to my mountain one day—travellers. At least, I thought they were travellers. Having never seen any I couldn't really be sure. Dragons, they were—massive beasts with wings that darkened the sky. They flew in from the east and dove within the mountain caverns in search of warmth. It was remarkable, how they found their way inside almost instantly, not even bothering to search the perimeter of rock and ice. They were something new—something exciting—and I wasn't about to ignore it. I watched from out of sight as their massive forms huddled around an open fire, sharing stories until one by one they each fell asleep.

There were more travellers. Not often, not many, but as time flowed on they would stop through, all manner of beasts and birds, those of elven descent. My favourite were the humans. They weren't impressive in brawn or skill, and their magic was limited if present at all, but they were warm and kind, they passed with families and friends. And they stayed.

But these settlements had life cycles as all things mortals do, and inevitably they would meet that same end. I watched them come, and I watched them go, just like the rest. But there I was, there I remained, unchanged in the sands of time.

The problem with forever is that it does not meet that end. It just keeps going and going and no matter how exhausted you are, you cannot stop. And sometimes… it gets to be too much.

Even for a god, 'forever' can be quite the burden.

The one thing that can always break a routine is noise. I'm not sure why this is, but I've found it true time and time again. My evenings had fallen into a dull pattern of staring at the sky from my mountain's peak, watching as the colours of the setting sun cascaded across the clouds and lit the snow in a golden inferno. Everything just seemed to glow and heat despite the ever-frigid air in a way that put me so far at peace that when I felt the tingle of a foreign presence I safely ignored it, almost to the point of not even grasping that I'd felt it at all. Wasting the days away had been the norm for me, but there were certain instances—like this—where I just… didn't really mind, I guess.

But noise broke me out of that peace-induced daze. Howling winds swept the recently-fallen layer of powdered snow off the ground into a swirling dance reflecting the fading yellow light, and as relaxing an image as it was I started to come out of my thoughtlessness, now feeling the chill. Cold was… a strange, foreign thing for me. I always felt it, of course, but not fully. It didn't… bother me the way it would another creature. Now, though… Well, after over two centuries on my own I'd come to know its unpleasantries quite intimately. It was enough of a distraction to soon find myself reminded of that tingle, the alarm of a foreign presence in my lands.

I rose to my feet in a sudden flurry of snow and ice and focused on the sensation, a bubbling surge of energy making its way through my being at the thought of another traveller finally stopping in. No one had passed through in many years, and it'd been so long that I honestly worried I would never have another visitor. But there they were—I could feel their presence shifting through the dense forestry near the mountain—and a slow grin stretched across my face. I closed my eyes, focused on the sensation far below the mountaintop, and soon I could hear the crunch of snow as heavy steps drudged through the forest of pines. It was a two-legged creature… a human, I soon realised, and my excitement only grew. My search continued and with time I made out dark skin and hair, a heavy fur coat—and before I could make out the rest my eyes shot open. They entered the mountain.

At the time of this impromptu visit I happened not to be in the same plain as my guest. Otherworld made it easier to pass the time alone. It acted as a spiritual plain for the gods, one that existed beyond the laws of time. I liked it there. It was easier to just project the world around me and to skim through the blending days than to go through them one by one on Earth. I figured I could just… observe from where I was. I wouldn't risk scaring away the stranger, and I could see everything from right where I was, and…

...Bloody hell.

With a groan the projection faded and with it the cold. Soon I was making my way through the Otherworld entrance and slipping back into the mortal plain, suddenly hit with the real frost and winds so common to my lands, harsher than what the dull echo of the projection allowed me to feel. That had been no more than an imitation; this was unabashed reality. For a moment I considered wiping away the effects of the cold from my body but thought better of it. As lovely as that would have been, well…

I had to conserve power.

Shivering against the chill, I pressed on towards the mountain and entered one of the open caverns at its base, the same I'd seen the human enter not long before. My steps were quiet and cautious as a precaution against any unwanted reactions, should they not like my company for example, and I had to resist the urge to cloak myself, at least for now. I could feel their presence above and started up the aged stairs of carved stone, my breaths echoing through the hollow path. The higher I got the more I could scent a curious blend of magic and blood permeating the air. That was… odd. Very odd. It was coming from the traveller, wasn't it? But from what I knew humans didn't use magic. They couldn't.

My curiosity only had me climbing faster, an eagerness to my step that hadn't been present in over two hundred years. By the time I reached the floor that I sensed the stranger on, that dull stench from earlier had grown revoltingly powerful—both the blood and the magic. It became so overbearing that I cloaked myself on instinct, a shudder of caution running through me. Was that human… hurt, then? Were they trying to heal with magic?

I followed the presence deeper into the ruins, down an age-worn hall until I came to a large, open room. My first instinct was to press flush against the wall, my back chilled by the cold rock as I stood against it, eyes falling over a dark figure hunched on the ground. A large, thick cloak was draped around their shoulders, brown spots patterned around the base and sleeves and a fur-trimmed hood lying flat across their back. They faced opposite me and I swallowed, sliding along the wall until I could make out their features. It was a human man, by the look of it. Detailed white markings stood stark against his skin wherever it was visible, from his neck and what I could make out of his chest to his… fingertips…

My eyes followed those fingertips to a small, limp figure on the ground, and I felt an immediate onslaught of dread. The body was reptilian, young, and from the wings, bipedal structure and barbed tail I could only guess 'wyvern' as the human hunched further. The scent of blood was coming from the child, but I only needed to see the raw skin along the left side of the wyvern's body to know. The cuts were deep and I couldn't imagine how that'd happened, unless…

Humans.

Worry curled in my gut and I tensed, watching the man carefully. If he tried anything, I would…

But he didn't. As he pressed a hand to the wyvern's chest I could feel a rush of energy pass from him to his young charge, and within minutes the bleeding slowed to a crawl before stopping altogether. Magic? Moreover, healing magic? For a human that was… well, that was just unheard of. Humans couldn't—

The man tossed aside his cloak and rolled up his sleeves, and I could make out the marks previously obstructed by his clothes. They crept up his arm, leaving very little skin untouched, and the longer I looked the more I felt the familiar symbols click in my head: spell circles, enchanted lettering. They were magic amplifiers, though I'd never seen any quite like those… My two hundred years cut off from human society was starting to show. I found the whole thing fascinating, and I almost wanted to go over there and ask him about it, but…

Looking at the small one, I realised there were more important things to worry about.

The human emptied his luggage and began suturing the deepest wounds before carefully binding them, and in time the smell of blood and magic began to fade. I found that curious, though—that he would use magic to stop the bleeding and not to heal the wound altogether. Were his abilities too limited? I could help, I thought. But despite the urge I held still, took a deep breath and relaxed. Conserve power. I repeated those words like a mantra in my mind, my caution outweighing my concern. It would be alright. The human was fixing things.

He repacked his supplies before throwing his cloak around the child, and it was then that my eyes wandered to the few layers of cloth lying beneath the patient. It was a comforting sight. The days that I recalled showed humans as… less than kind towards that species in particular. It wasn't just them, but others—dragons especially. They considered wyverns their 'lesser' counterparts, unable to speak or use magic, small and lacking in many of the skills that made dragons so revered. In all honesty, though… this was my first time meeting one in person. I'd heard they liked cold climates but up until then none had passed through my mountain, and I just had to wonder where on Earth this human found one. Moreover, how he got a youth away from its flight…

A soft moan broke my thoughts as the small bundle stirred, ending with a broken whine as the wyvern came to fully realise their pain. I could only hazard a guess by the dark, vivid colours that they were male. His scales were this bright, intense red that stood stark against the dull stone of the caverns. I slid down the wall and lowered onto the floor to watch as the boy roused into wakefulness and peered blearily around the room.

The moment his eyes caught on the human his head shot up. Immediately he regretted this as the movement tugged at his injuries, a pained whine escaping as he carefully lowered himself back onto his side.

The human snorted, setting out some raw meat that he had packed away somewhere in his luggage, watching with amusement as his young charge sniffed at it, unsure of whether or not it was safe. For his part the man looked exhausted, and I knew that travelling through my lands was no easy task for a mortal, let alone one with such a heavy, albeit small, burden to carry through.

Eventually the wyvern's hunger outlasted his pain and he crawled on his stomach to the food, almost as though he was stalking it. He looked to be around the age to do that, small in size but able to move well enough on his own. The pathetically small wings were sign enough that he still needed a guardian, though, and I once again found myself wondering just where his flight had gone off to.

"Try not to move about much," a smooth voice called, a pleasing break to the near-silence that had fallen when I entered the room. "If you break your stitches I won't fix them."

I glared dully at the human, though this of course went unnoticed. What kind of healer would say that? The ones that existed in the human town before hadn't been so… cold towards their patients. Their positions meant that they were held in high regard, and they treated their injured with the utmost respect in return. Perhaps I was old-fashioned? Had that changed over time, or was this man just odd?

Soon the nestling was eating and my thoughts were left forgotten, a satisfied look on my face. He seemed to have energy, at least.

"Do you have a name?" the human questioned, drumming his nails against the rock absently as he watched. The frown on his face seemed only to deepen at the silence he received, but if he was expecting a verbal answer he was out of luck; wyvern couldn't speak in that form. "You can call me Law."

Perhaps he hoped that giving his own name first would help motivate the child to respond. If he did then he must have been sorely disappointed, because all that boy seemed interested in was stuffing his face, the human presence not even phasing him. Though his efforts were for naught, as I watched the pair I repeated that name in a hushed whisper, inaudible beneath the howling winds rushing past the cavern entrances. Law. Law the healer. Law the traveller.

And as I whispered I couldn't help but wonder just how long their 'village' would last.

-oOo-

What I found curious about humans was just how unpredictable they could be, and how vague their intentions were. Even a lesser god like myself had trouble deciphering just what their motivations were and they never failed to leave me both confused and intrigued. I was expecting a short stay of perhaps a few weeks—to allow the boy to heal, yeah?—not a long-term visit spanning a year and counting. By that point I'd mostly given up the thought of them leaving. Law—or 'Trafalgar', as the boy called him whenever they fought, as though using his last name somehow showed his anger—had fixed up some of the upper caverns that were falling apart and unstable. He worked on it daily when his charge went to bed… Ah, the boy's name was Kidd. Well, it wasn't really Kidd, but after a few days without an answer Law's patience grew thin and he chose that name at random, even against the wyvern's protesting growls. Kidd, after biting him a few times, eventually gave up. It didn't seem worth the effort, I suppose.

A part of me was reaching the point where I wanted to reveal. There were many reasons why I knew that I shouldn't, most centering around the fact that gods were feared and the pair may have left if they found out what I was, but… could I be blamed? Watching day in and day out from Otherworld gets tiresome after a while, and I was maybe just a bit jealous of their company. Kidd just recently began learning how to shift forms, Law had been making… potions, or something of the sort, in what seemed to be a lab he'd build, and I was… there, watching. Static.

It was only natural that I get curious, right? Somehow, someway, it was inevitable that I would slip through the rift and join them. So one day I found myself in the mortal realm, sitting in the snow at the base of the mountain and peering into one of the caverns. My form was inconspicuous, I'd think—arctic hares were quite commonplace in those lands—and as much as I would have preferred the body of something a little sturdier… that was the form my humans had given me. And, well… it wasn't so bad. At least it brought back a lot of memories; I'd always been weak to nostalgia.

Half an hour passed and I found myself nestled in a little nook I found by the main entrance to the caverns, waiting. And waiting. And for all that I was a patient god I did have my limits and I'd reached them decades ago. But my ears twitched at the distant sound of crunching snow and I sat patiently in a loaf by the entrance, soon spotting a familiar spotted cloak pushing through the white-laden shrubbery. This was it. This would be our first meeting, and I had so many things I wanted to do and say and I didn't even know if I was ready to change forms or—

I was so distracted by my own racing thoughts that I failed to notice the patter of deft footsteps bouncing off the cavern walls before I was caught with my neck between strong jaws. A loud, panicked squeal escaped me and I didn't know whether to squirm or go limp as I was lifted into the air in a choking grip. Kidd—I knew it was Kidd, and I knew that he stayed home while Law left for town earlier but, damn it, I didn't think. No sooner than he picked me up in that death grip did he bound towards the human, presenting his catch proudly as he sat at Law's feet.

Law let out a snicker, plucking me from Kidd's jaws before he had a chance to suffocate me and holding me up for close inspection. "What's this?"

Disoriented and slightly panicked—shocked stiff when I realised that Law was the one holding me—I must have missed the moment Kidd shifted into his half form. Tiny, pathetic-looking wings fluttered excitedly in the place of arms and I managed to catch a glimpse of a devilish grin in my panic. "Dinner!" I paled. Oh no. Ooooh no no no, they wouldn't. "Can we eat it? I wanna."

Law gave me a dull, considering glance, to which I responded with the largest, saddest pleading eyes I could muster, and then he grinned. And I was beginning to wonder why I ever wanted to meet this man in the first place. "I don't see why not."

Evil, evil man.

Kidd let out some indistinguishable noise of excitement and we started up the long flight of stairs to the upper levels—some of us more willing than others. I could be thankful they were waiting to kill me, I supposed… As much as I would've just come back if they did kill and eat me, I still felt the pain. It was… horrid. I'd felt it before, and… I'd rather avoid another taste of death.

"You left my lab alone, I hope." Law's voice was firm, echoing through the halls, and the underlying tone warned against any trouble his young charge may have gotten into while he was away.

"Yeah, yeah," Kidd grumbled, eyes cast aversively to the side. He had this way of pouting that made it look like he was in a perpetual state of anger and disgust, but by then both Law and I could see right through it. I may have not interacted with them personally, but… I observed. That was all I did, really—all that I could do—and I liked to think that I knew a thing or two about them by that point. "Not like there's anythin' interesting in there, anyway."

Law let out a soft snicker and I turned to watch our path, noticing the kitchen at the end of the long hall we'd been trudging through for the past few minutes. Great. Bloody great. My curious trip into the mortal realm was going to end with a human and a wyvern making me their evening snack. "Not for you, no. But it can be dangerous."

"Not for—hey! Stop that!" The boy glared daggers up at his companion while a webbed wing rubbed at his forehead where he'd been flicked, his unimpressed expression telling volumes of his internal conflict—whether to let the reprimand slide with a warning or to bite the human's hand off. Apparently the title of 'food-giver' was a compelling enough argument to save Law the hassle of trying to heal his own wound, as Kidd settled on little more than a menacing gaze.

Law, however, went unaffected. Perhaps after so long he was used to being on the receiving end of such dark looks but a part of me liked to think that he just didn't care. From the very start he'd been a strangely open and accepting human, and any perceived threat just seemed to roll off of him without effect. He was… a bit admirable, maybe? For a human, I mean.

Soon my absent thoughts returned to focus and I let out another panicked squeal as they stepped inside the kitchen. I could feel my heart pounding inside my chest and before they could let out another word my head snapped around and I bit hard into Law's palm. A strangled noise escaped him and instantly his grip on me failed, sending me sprawling onto the countertop. I wasted no time in hopping onto the floor and scrambling out of the room as fast as my legs could carry me, and the very moment I was out of sight I discarded my physical form and hurried back to the safety of Otherworld. Their half-hearted search didn't really interest me at that point and I paid little mind as they went out to hunt for something else—though I did catch Kidd moaning on about how they should have killed me right away, and that if they had they wouldn't be having this problem. Which was very true, and I found it curious when Law never gave an excuse towards why he'd bothered to wait at all.

I may have been a god but I was never one to learn from past mistakes as hardly a week later found me within the walls of the mountain corridors, corporeal in the familiar form of an arctic hare once more as I made my way around in solitude. The pair had stepped out and I overheard that they needed to stop into town to restock on medical supplies and potion ingredients. That wasn't much of a surprise; for all that he was agile Kidd was a very accident-prone boy, and it was rare to find him going longer than two days without getting hurt in some way or another. Law's magic didn't appear to be all that advanced, so while he could seal wounds and lessen the severity of illness he was far from all-powerful. It was fortunate that he was a trained doctor, as well. I'd caught him pondering whether or not to get a new tattoo to cover the empty spot on his back as a way of advancing his skills. It was a bit sweet, I think—almost like a sign of his worry for the child he'd taken responsibility for. For all that he could be horrid, he was surprisingly caring. Not fatherly, really, but… quite a respectable guardian.

My heart swelled with warmth as I made my way through the halls and marvelled at all of the repairs Law had made over the past thirteen-or-so months. Seeing them from Otherworld was one thing, but being there, right in front of it, cemented all of the hard work I'd seen put into this place since the human's arrival. I was grateful. So, so grateful…

All of that was cut short when I heard echoes of footsteps coming up from the stairwell behind me and I froze in place—bloody hell I'd been so distracted by my own reminiscent thoughts that I hadn't even noticed. It took a moment for me to calm and begin to shed the form but by the time I was ready the two had rounded the corner and caught sight of me, and all I could think was to stop what I was doing before they saw me disappear. Even after they had dwelled within my mountain so long I hadn't a clue how they would react if faced with a god. I had seen many, many creatures come through that mountain and not all took kindly to the thought. I didn't want them to leave, so above all else my goal in that moment was to keep still.

At the same time I really did not want to feel the pain of mortal death.

Kidd seemed to notice me first, yellow eyes locked on me across the dimly-lit hall, and the widest of grins stretched across my face. The moment I tried to run he bounded towards me, narrowly missing me as I darted past, down the hall towards the stairs—

Law didn't seem to require much effort to stop me, pinning me down with the butt of his staff as I ran by, staring down with mild interest. I wanted so much to just disappear and save myself the agony of what was to come, especially as Kidd came to crouch beside my still form, sniffing me curiously.

The boy blinked. Law noticed. "What is it?"

Kidd's brow scrunched up in confusion and he leaned in closer to examine me. "It smells like the last one. Why'd it come back?"

I could see something light across the human's face at that, a small spark of intrigue in the curl of his smile, and I could only assume that wouldn't bode well for me. This was the same man who contemplated experimenting on his young charge every time the pest wreaked havoc in his lab. "Who knows?"

Apparently that was the extent of Kidd's thoughts on the matter as the eager grin from before made a full return and he licked his lips. "Can we eat it this time?"

By this point I knew well enough not to fool myself with thoughts like 'they wouldn't'. But for some bizarre reason that I, at the time, could not comprehend, after a stretching silence Law shook his head, humming thoughtfully. The annoyed groan from the wyvern told of his displeasure. "Why not?!"

Yeah, why not? I was relieved, of course, but couldn't help this nagging feeling at the back of my mind that he was up to something and that the results would be disastrous. And to only worsen my anxiety his answer consisted of a shrug as he bent down and scooped me up into his arms, continuing on towards the library without so much as a word. I didn't have the mind to squirm free this time, and while one part of me was worried, the other was… curious. I'd wanted to observe them closer, even interact with them, and if they weren't going to kill my mortal form… maybe I could do that.

Kidd was far less optimistic as he lagged behind, irritated growls escaping him. For all that he'd grown over the past year he was still a child, one lacking manners—which wasn't a surprise, considering his guardian could be the same at times—and hating it when he didn't get his way. But despite that and the fact that his species was very temperamental, Kidd never fought Law's decision, never tried to go against his word and kill me, and I could only interpret that as a sign of his immense respect for the man who saved him. I was finding that wyverns were very… loyal creatures.

I still found it odd, though, to see a nestling away from its flight.

Soon the nostalgic scent of aged parchment buried my thoughts and I focused my sight on the rows of bound books and scrolls filling the left half of the room. Most I recognised; they were writings from the human colony that Law had retrieved from the lower levels of the mountain that were still very much in disrepair. They weren't in the greatest of states, some near falling apart and others damaged from the conditions they were subjected to, and I very much doubted Law could read the language they were written in. Nevertheless, he kept them and for that I was grateful. But amongst the old texts were crisp new books in a very different writing I recognised as what Law read. There weren't many of those and I was curious to know if books were still just as expensive as they were centuries ago.

Law meandered his way over to the sitting area on the right side of the room, tossing a blanket from one of the benches onto the floor and placing me atop it. He remained still, watching me carefully, his muscles tensed in what I assumed to be preparation for a flighty escape. But when I did little more than sit in place and stare up at him, he eased up and rose to his feet. "Close the door."

Kidd complied, still grumbling under his breath as he dropped onto the chair, glaring up at his senior. "'M hungry now."

"You're not eating it."

"I didn't say I was gonna eat it!" he hissed, wings folding back as he settled into place. "Jus' that I'm hungry."

Law let out a soft snort as he grabbed one of the newer texts and took a seat on one of the wooden chairs set against the wall, flipping absently through the pages. He saw through Kidd's words to the underlying question and shot it down before the brat got ideas.

Never before had someone been so set on eating me.

There was another lull of silence as I nestled in a loaf atop the blanket, carefully studying the two. I never missed the way the little wyvern crawled my way, slowly inching over as though I didn't notice. My ears twitched with the scuff of his claws against the ground and I grew uneasy—just a bit. Law was watching. Kidd wouldn't do anything while Law was watching, I was sure of it.

Eventually Kidd was looming over me, sniffing me again as I remained still, resisting the urge to bury myself beneath the blanket in some vain search for security. "So if we're not gonna eat it, what're we gonna do with it?"

A wry grin stretched across Law's face, "Well, I've been wanting a new hat."

The words 'he wouldn't' popped into my head and I chided myself, knowing just how little that man cared for me. But still… they wouldn't, would they?"

Kidd glared up at him. "Then why can't I eat it?!"

"Hush, brat. It was a joke."

"Well it didn't sound it…" Kidd snorted, wings flapping uselessly as he got comfortable. "'S not running away. I think you broke it."

"Leave it be; it's scared."

"So what?!"

"Kidd," Law warned, and instantly the subject fell away and I was left wondering whether or not I should be grateful to the strange healer for keeping me there.

Despite the threats there was something… pleasant about sitting in that room with them, passing the time.

And so it begins. If you're wondering about the title of the fic, it'll be explained more in future chapters. But I hope you're liking the start, and I look forward to hearing what you guys think so far!

Adieu~