Ridikyu

Ridikyu “Ridicule” Bloodheir

Female // She/Her // Pansexual

Snowy Owlynx

Familiar

Despite its impressive wings, the Snowy Owlynx is incapable of flight. But it is a natural born sprinter, and very dangerous over short distances.

2600

Scarlet Macaw

Familiar

One couldn't ask for a finer First Mate! This parrot seems to agree with you and repeat all that you say!

500

Tricky Telescope

Familiar

At least it only has one eye!

1500

Ashscale Ophiotaurus

Familiar

You'd think that, as a serpent, having hooves would be a detriment. You'd be wrong.

2525

Terra Tortoise

Familiar

Knows nothing about nothing.

2000

Greater Sandstrike

Familiar

A sandstrike will bury itself until only its spines are exposed. It is an ambush predator.

2450

Green-Breasted Sawbeak

Familiar

A wise dragon will know that it's called a gular sac. A wise dragon will also know it's a bad idea to poke it.

2350

Skittering Megashrimp

Familiar

This imposing crustacean uses the giant fins of its tail to gracefully swim through the water. It uses its ten legs to hobble very poorly and comically across land.

2400

Garden Larail

Familiar

Larails are a gardener's nemesis. However, they will try and feed on the shells of their fellows, so populations never grow too large.

1000

Muckbottom Catfish

Familiar

A bottomfeeder that consumes only the finest of refuse.

2800

Mammertee

Familiar

Dragons once mistook mammertee aggregations for schools of maren, taking care to avoid the waters they grazed in.

2900

Clown Hippocampus

Familiar

No more humorous than other equines.

2550

"The Arrangement"

"Don't worry darling, you look beautiful."

Ridikyu stared numbly down at her paws, refusing to answer the compliment. Though she knew it wasn't phony flattery, and rather the actual opinion of the dragon saying so, staying silent was the last bit of defiance Ridikyu could offer up. It wasn't like she could openly insult the dragons that had shoved her into such a predicament, or run off into the night. The village leaders were guarding her possessions religiously, and physical altercations were never something she was able to come out on top of. Worse, if she was caught after attempting to flee, the village leaders would soundly beat her into submission. Silence was the only thing her stalwart resolve could offer her-- the knowledge that they would never be able to steal her voice. It was a tiny comfort, but a welcome one.

Maleficent gave a hum at Ridikyu's lack of response, simply choosing to ignore it and return to braiding her hair. Ridikyu was unsure of what to think about the patient, yet stern, Gaoler. On one hand, Maleficent was doing her best to make Ridikyu feel at home with her family, and let Ridikyu take her time adjusting to the momentous arrangement. On the other, it had been Maleficent and Maleficent alone that chose Ridikyu to be Greed's wife, going so far as to bribe the village leaders so that Ridikyu didn't have an out.

Oh, Greed. The worst of Maleficent's children. Even in their first meeting, Ridikyu could see that he was absolutely deplorable. She would have gladly chosen the secluded and disinterested Delusion, even the unhinged and cannibalistic Aberration, as her mate instead of the youngest of the siblings. Greed was full of false pleasantries and phony flattery, the sibling most well-adjusted to life in the Caravan. On the outside, he was the most "normal"-- the nicest to others, the most helpful and hardworking, the most sane. But Ridikyu could see that he thought all else but him were below him. He thought himself as the son of a deity, and that one day, he would rule them on. At the time, Ridikyu could not have known the truth to this, but it still rubbed her the wrong way. It still would. It's not like Greed would ever change.

Ridikyu hissed as a sharp pinprick of pain dotted her scalp. Maleficent gave her an apologetic look, though Ridikyu couldn't see it, and muttered something that Ridikyu didn't care to listen to. A flower floated to the ground. Maleficent had told her they would make her look extravagant-- flowers blooming out of her pelt like a deity of beauty itself. The charm was simple, and the flowers wouldn't need any tending to, so Maleficent saw no problem with it. Basically, Ridikyu had been forced to accept the "generous" donation.

Maleficent clapped her paws together, startling Ridikyu out of her thoughts. She looked up into her reflection, and flinched. Delicate silks were draped over her wings and horns, shimmering in the sunlight. Her fluffy mane had been braided to perfection, and the flowers were lush and bright. An extravagant wedding dress covered her body, and was obviously quite expensive. Ridikyu was nothing short of luxury incarnate, dolled up to perfection and able to make dragons drop with just one toss of her head.

She had never looked so ugly. Never felt so uncomfortable.

Their stares pierced through her like claws through flesh. The braids were much too tight, and pulled at her scalp. The dress made it hard to breath, constricting in on all the wrong places. It will all be over soon, Ridikyu told herself again and again. All she had to do was survive the wedding and the ceremony, and then it would be over. She would be free of this hideous dress and the silks that were too bright and the hairdo that made her want to tear her mane out.

The only price to pay would be her freedom. She would be shackled to another against her will for the rest of her life, however long that may be.

Maybe he would show her mercy. Kill her when he got the chance.

The bells hurt Ridikyu's sensitive ears, though maybe if she had been farther away they might have sounded enchanting. The glare of the sunset caused her eyes to sting, though maybe if she hadn't been facing it, it would have looked extravagant. Her claws snagged on the carpet as she walked down the aisle, and Ridikyu wished that she had been able to admire its intricate weaving and delicate designs from a distance, instead of soiling it with her dirty paws. As Ridikyu had no father figure in the village, it was Maleficent that walked alongside her. Of course. This dragon that she wanted nothing to do with, sauntering by her side as if she was one of the most important dragons in Ridikyu's life. It's not like she had any anyways-- Ridikyu was completely alone. No parents, no siblings, no friends-- maybe that's why the village elders had been so quick to pawn her off. She would not be missed, and they could only gain from marrying her away.

Ridikyu was suddenly grateful that Maleficent was by her side. The large Gaoler blocked out around half of the crowd, and made Ridikyu want to cry that much less.

She tried to avoid looking at them. Their wide, hungry eyes. Their stretched, phony grins. The residents of the village were most likely disappointed that they had not been the ones to claim Ridikyu, now that they were seeing her in a beauty they never wanted. The denizens of the Gaoler Caravan were largely disinterested in both the wedding and Ridikyu, and thus only smiled to be polite.

Instead, Ridikyu tried to stare straight ahead of her. That was a mistake. Because Greed was there, and he looked so handsome, flowing mane and polished nails, luscious form and perfect suit, and the moment Ridikyu brought her eyes up to his face she wanted to vomit. A strong sense of vertigo overcame her, and Ridikyu was suddenly unconsciously leaning against Maleficent for support ever so slightly. She was filled with hate and despair and disgust and fear, convinced that her soon-to-be groom was the worst dragon in existence and filth incarnate.

(Later she would learn that, in some ways, Greed was worse than his father. Apex had certainly murdered more, but unlike his father, Greed had no qualms in taking an unwilling bride to further their heritage.)

Ridikyu blinked and she was at the altar. Greed stood tall in front of her, pure white teeth in a predatory gaze and shining orange eyes dull and disinterested. She couldn't see anything else. Everything else, everyone else-- they were all lost in a haze of static. They were all smoke. Only Greed mattered now, in all his horrible glory. This was just another step for him, this unholy matrimony. Another action to take to ensure that his plans would go smoothly. Ridikyu didn't know what was worse-- a husband she hated that actually loved her and wanted to build a life with her, or a husband she hated that hated her just as much in return and only saw her as nothing more than a pawn.

Somehow, Ridikyu decided that the latter was the lesser of the two evils.

Her breathing started to slow. The scent of fear that she was sure was drowning the guests started to dissipate. She stood a little taller, pupils growing smaller. The smoke that had filled her every sense faded.

Greed didn't love her. He never would. And that was okay. More than okay, actually. It was relieving. Liberating. Freeing.

If she was just another pawn, then she would sure as hell make it the most difficult pawn that Greed would ever have to play.

She was going to make their marriage just as infuriating for him as it was for her.

"If anyone here believes that these two should not be joined in blessed and peaceful matrimony, let them speak now or forever hold their peace," Solsten called out, cheerful voice ringing and soaring up and above the crowd. She was the priest for the wedding, as the Caravan had insisted that they provide the dragon to wed Greed and his bride, seeing as they would be living in the Caravan and not the village. For a moment, Ridikyu hoped against hope that someone would speak out against this atrocity. Save her from this terrible fate.

Solsten's voice was the only one to ring true. There was no other noise, not even a cough.

"Greed, do you take Ridikyu to be your lawfully wedded wife?" Solsten asked, looking to the groom. Greed smiled, staring directly into Ridikyu's eyes. They were vacant no longer. Now they held malice, and a smugness like no other. Greed was getting exactly what he wanted-- not Ridikyu, but a bride that would help him further his bloodline. And all he had to do was ask for one. There was no effort put into his appearance, stylists had been hired for him and paid for by another. There was no need for him to hide his horrid personality, this was happening whether Ridikyu wanted it or not and she was powerless to stop it. He would place no emotion of effort into the marriage, not a shred or scrap of care of compassion, into a ritual that bonded him for life. And he was so, so awfully smug about it.

"I do," he said, and his smile was pleasant to all but one. His voice was like melted chocolate mixed with honey to all but one. His appearance was stunning and beautiful to all but one. Everything about him grated on the senses of Ridikyu, and though Ridikyu could do nothing about most of it, the least she could do was banish that smug look from his piercing orange eyes.

"And Ridikyu, do you take Greed to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

Time seemed to slow to a crawl. Ridikyu could have stayed silent, could of made this harder for everyone involved and gotten away with it for a short time. Could have forced them to squeeze every bit of resolve out of her until it was only an empty husk that said those shallow, hollow words. Ridikyu would have preferred that, in all honestly. It would have been delaying her fate. It would have proved her strength.

Instead, she straightened up, narrowing her eyes that shone brighter every second. She stared straight into the eyes of her enemy, and her just a moment, saw his own resolve waver. A flash of uncertainly whisked across his features as Ridikyu's own snout settled into a sickeningly sweet smile. In that shared moment between them, Ridikyu had shown him that this was not her end, no-- this was their awful beginning.

There was no hesitation in her answer, and she could have sworn that she saw Greed flinch at the unexpected quickness of her response.

"I do."