#drezeer

"You think the admiral is going to come get you, don't you?"

"He will."

"Take it from me, idiot. He won't."

"Why should we trust pirates, hm?" The one in the blue jacket grinned, rolled up his sleeve, revealed a tattoo that took their breath away. He had been a lieutenant?

"Back off, Bezel. You too, 'Zeer." Why the two men nodded in deference to this... Child, was beyond him. She couldn't be more than eighteen, fourteen at least. Her deep red coat caught the wind, flapping a bit as she studied the two captured sailors. And then, she grinned, and there was nearly no malice in it. "Well. Welcome aboard the Dragon's Fury."

"And you would be?" Her gaze shifted more to the Onyx, grin fading to a smirk.

"Captain Amal, scourge of the seas, at your service."

"You can't be Amal, he's the most fearsome pirate in these waters. You're a sixteen year old girl." A flash of steel and a sword rested a hairs breadth from his neck. The red coated woman was snarling, arms crossed, and Amal tilted his chin up with the sword.

"And yet we've not only plundered what remained of your vessel, we've managed to capture two high ranking sailors. All under my command. If you want to make it through the night you'll learn some respect." The sword left his throat and he scowled at her. She simply grinned back at him. "Put them in the brig until their attitude improves. 'Zeer! How much you think these two would fetch?"

"Nothing. They were captured. Probably be put to death by the admiral himself."

"Hm. Well, sounds like we've got some more crew. When they get used to the idea that they're stuck, find something for them to do." With that, she vanished up the rigging. 'Zeer', as she'd called him, walked over, grinning.

Galbratorix was good at hiding the fact that he had a dragon. His parents were too strict to let him have a pet, so he found it a place it could hide in the woods near his town. And he quietly asked it to stay there. It seemed upset, but stayed nonetheless. He ran back as soon as he could the next day, found it curled up at the roots of a tree. They bonded fast, and they took comfort in the fact they could still talk when they were separated. The dragon, Onyx, moved with him, flying high up during the night to get to where he'd moved to, and a cave he'd scouted out in the nearby forest. And they simply lived. He spent most of his free time with Onyx.

When he was woken by frantic pulling through the bond , though, he was quick to get out of bed and dressed, racing out and to the forest. When he got there, there was another dragon, and a figure in leather armor. He rolled them over, and froze. They were a kid, couldn't be eighteen. The two of them worked on getting them into the cave, getting the human out of their armor and the dragon out of the saddle. They were both injured, the - presumably - rider more so. But they were injuries easily tended, a broken wing, a leg, and a few cuts. When they woke, Onyx was the only one there. A very eloquent "What the fuck?" was the warning he got they were awake before the dragon was scooping up their rider and racing out. Unfortunately for them, Onyx was much larger than them. Galbratorix raced into the cave to find Onyx laying half atop the other, the rider held securely to their chest. He sighed, burying his face in his hands. This was going to take a while.

Bezel was something he'd never learned how to face. He was angry and cruel, willing to cut down any who got in his way. Lesser demons were his chosen method of torture, and Galbratorix was unsure how to argue for him to stop attacking people who'd enslaved his people. But Hope was his friend and deserved for him to try. He'd managed to talk him down in the end, but learned of his brother. The king of Shadows. Hope insisted on coming with, of course, and he didn't have the heart to tell her not to. Insisted they bring Bezel if there'd be no one to watch him though.

The prison of the king of Shadows was a sorry one. Crumbling walls, no guards. But it worked well enough, for they found the king, weeping black tears. And then he saw them, and the pool of inky black writhed as he screamed in rage. Bezel was rushing forward, easily leaping over the puddle that still writhed and prying at the shackles. Galbratorix moved to help, leaving the king confused, and Hope simply stared, horrified. When he was free, he stumbled, unused to supporting his own weight, and Hope was quick to support him. He froze, and then shoved away from her, falling back and landing heavily. "Rider!" "Not for long, not after this." "Brother, let us help." "Hope, you need to leave for a moment." The three who'd entered free spoke over each other, but Hope nodded, following Galbratorix's suggestion. They'd gotten Drezeer calmed down, thought they were out of the woods. Then they found a freshly injured Ruby - dragon claws, they'd realize later - and Hope was gone.

Drezeer, king of Shadows, bane of The Riders. He can’t wait to see where “little red”s loyalties lay. Herself, or those she may meet along the way.

1. ...I think Drezeer from the web comic I've never made. He's introduced as 'I'm gonna kidnap people and turn them into soldiers to destroy the riders!' and then OOPS SERIOUS TRAUMA that is spoilers but oh my GOD does he have a reason to hate both the riders and his brother.

2. Josh! 'I'm cold to everyone Unless I love you. I don't let anyone in Unless I love you. I'm just angry and aggressive but I don't hurt people Unless you hurt someone who doesn't deserve it-' You See the point. He has a nugget of anger in his chest that never burns out but By God Does He Love.

3. Kat, Josh's sister. She is the ice queen to his aggressive asshole, but she also cares So Fucking Much about her people. Hates that her brother throws himself in front of their father and takes all his abuse, but knows it hurts him if one of them gets hurt, and is stuck in perpetual 'this SUCKS' about it.

4. Jessica, because she is a dragon and I keep shoving her into different universes like 'LOOK AT HER ISN'T SHE COOL don't worry about her cool new trauma and related character flaws DRAGON!'

"History will hate us but they'll never forget her name!" And it didn't. She was remembered for a very long time, even longer than her dragon extended life. But the kings were not hated. Far from it. They were heros. They were alright with having merely been allies of the mastermind, though.

“The Riders had a long list of sins. Genocide, betrayal, mass enslavement, and, the ones that would truly come back to haunt them, kidnapping and neglect of their duties. Two kings of nothing and a scared little girl were a true force to reckon with.”