It is written...

[beboots]

As promised in my previous post, here is the alternate universe temeraire fic idea that I had. Title is coincidentally the same as that of a recent shoot'em up game, but... yeah. Unintentional. :)

Also, on another note, I managed to lose a file with a bunch of stuff (quotes and avatars, mostly) that I was going to show to my sister upon her return from Japan. D: Can anyone find me a copy of that avatar that says something to the effect of "Hogwarts is so last year. I'm enlisting in Star Fleet"?

Left For Dead

 

Essentially, the first few chapters of His Majesty’s Dragon occur in the same manner, with Temeraire hatching and choosing Laurence as his captain, and with them slowly bonding… perhaps malignant weather means that they can’t return to shore, so that they’re together for over two months, and, of course, grow very fond of each other.

Then, the French attack! (As they are wont to do, in times of war.) Laurence had had some sort of mishap a few days previously, resulting in a twisted ankle or something like that, so Temeraire had taken to flying alone because it hurt Laurence too much to move his leg to climb onto his back (especially with the pseudo-harness involving leg straps that they had concocted in their inexperience); the surgeon onboard recommended against Laurence taking to the air for about a week. So Temeraire had been hunting alone for whales or tunny or something off in the distance when the French began their attack (coming in from the opposite direction), and so he arrived only belatedly.

Oh, and there are two middle-weight French dragons helping out the other side.

Meanwhile, fighting has been going on for at least fifteen minutes, and each side has boarded the other. Laurence had participated in a boarding party. Chaos! Essentially, Laurence gets shot in the shoulder. The force of the shot sends him spinning around, and he wacks his head in the railing, becoming dazed/unconscious. One of the lieutenants shouts out “Captain! NO!” before getting killed himself. However, just as this occurred, one of the other (blond) British officers gets blown off the deck of the Reliant. Because it was an effing cannonball, the body is unrecognizable.

However, what Temeraire saw, upon his approach – too slow, too slow by far… - was a blond man being killed, accompanied by someone screaming “Captain! NO!”

Temeraire, essentially, sees his captain die. In the confusion and bloodbath, no-one can correct him – half of the crew are dead anyway. Temeraire goes into a mad battle rage, and manages to drive the French ship away from the Reliant. But he still has to deal with the French dragons. They drive him off course (he’s almost untrained, remember?), but his grief and anger serve him well, so he can hold his own for a little bit. He rejoins the Reliant later on, still grieving.

What he doesn’t know is that Laurence was actually only shot in the shoulder (or upper arm?) and hit his head – he’s actually still alive, but on the French ship that was driven away. He’s been captured! D:

Meanwhile, Temeraire blames himself for Laurence’s death. Acting-captain Riley tries to convince him otherwise, claiming that he acted admirably under the circumstances, but Temeraire feels that he shouldn’t have let Laurence out of his sight in the first place, shouldn’t have gone hunting, should have been there from the very beginning, should have been faster, more fierce…

He does know one thing: he’s going to get those damn French for killing Laurence. He knows that Laurence had fought the French for years, and for the past few months, in between readings of the Principia Mathematica, Laurence had told him of the war and famous battles and the battles that he himself had been in – the vast majority of them fought against the French. Temeraire believes that the best way to do what Laurence would have wanted was to join in the fight in earnest. But he realizes that he needs to be trained. As soon as they get within sight of the shores of England (the white cliffs of Dover) he flies off and rushes up to the first dragon he sees – which happens to be Volly and Langford James – and demands to be enlisted.

This has never happened before, understandably. Volly and James had just finished delivering a message, and were on their way to the admiralty anyway, so they take him to the highest-ranking person they can find within the aerial corps – Captain Portland of Laetificat. Of course, after evaluating the situation – a dragon of unknown breed with a dead captain, but fiercely determined to fight for the English – Portland immediately tries to press a suitable candidate for captaincy upon Temeraire. The one he has available? Dayes.

All seems to be going well… for about twenty minutes. Temeraire had been telling Dayes about his life, Laurence, where he had been hatched, Laurence, eating tunny and other sea creatures, Laurence, the battle… Laurence. And, at some point, Dayes makes an inappropriate comment about how navymen didn’t know how to handle dragons and don’t worry, you’re with me, now… and that was going way too far. Temeraire idolized Laurence, and still blames himself for his death, and is not about to let anyone speak ill of him. Dayes is shut out – forever.

But that still leaves the problem of finding a captain for Temeraire so he can be properly trained to fight the French. Laetificat convinces Temeraire of the need for such a captain, and Temeraire agrees and understands… he just wants anybody but Dayes.

(He really just wants Laurence back, of course.)

So Laetificat has Temeraire accompany them to Loch Laggan to see if they can’t find a suitable replacement. Temeraire, knowing that Laurence had family, requests that they stop by the Allendale estate. He wishes to introduce himself and tell them of their son’s fate.

It’s awkward, because they have no prior acquaintanceship, but these are extenuating circumstances. At first, only Lady Allendale agrees to see Temeraire. She had only received word of William’s death just the day before.  She is comforted a bit by the fact that this beast is obviously grieving. She agrees to send him letters at Loch Laggan. Portland was about to say that such things are simply not done – dragons don’t form correspondences, owing to the fact that they can’t read or write – but the thought of such letters gives the gloomy Temeraire so much cheer that he can’t say no.

Temeraire, after a few days of introductions and interviews with all available aviators, finally settles upon John Granby as his captain. He mostly picks Granby because he’s nothing like Laurence. Temeraire doesn’t want to be constantly reminded of Laurence (and his death) because Martin has blond hair as well, or what have you. Temeraire, who tries to live up to Laurence’s ideals, is now very concerned with propriety. This is the beginning of the alienation between Granby and Temeraire, where Temeraire is much less informal than Granby – calling him “Mr. Granby” instead of, well, “John” or even “Granby.” Granby feels a little bit shut out and awkward, not knowing what level of politeness he should be using.

The aviators are immensely curious about Temeraire’s breed. They realize that he is an Asian breed, but other than that… they have no clue. They consult the same naturalist as Laurence did in the books, and Temeraire is tentatively identified as an Imperial again.

Temeraire progresses surprisingly rapidly. Some of this is because of his natural faculties and intelligence, but more than that his determination to pretty much beat the French single-handed really helps him leap forward. Granby is a good captain for him in this respect, because of his experience. He still gets nervous and flustered sometimes, and Temeraire does inadvertently offend him a few times because he still holds Laurence (and navymen) in such high regard. Granby hates the fact that he is just a replacement for a dead man, but doesn’t say anything. He understands the way it is, with grieving dragons. He feels that he should just be grateful for this opportunity. 

Both Lady Allendale and Captain Riley form correspondences with the dragon. Granby thinks it weird, but still reads the letters to Temeraire, who of course, cannot read...  though not through lack of trying. The letters are simply too small for him to see properly. Granby has a sneaking suspicion that Laurence was actually trying to make his dragon literate by teaching him the alphabet. Scandalous! (Granby doesn’t try to encourage anything but the letter correspondence.)

Riley sent Temeraire Laurence’s copy of the Principia Mathematica, but Granby doesn’t speak/understand Latin, so after one abortive attempt at reading it aloud, Temeraire doesn’t let Granby touch the book again. Granby has never been so ashamed of his limited education before. The dragon keeps the text in a special box – Laurence’s old sea trunk – which has a lid big enough for him to open and close delicately with his claws. It is his most precious possession.

Temeraire insists on being clean; he bathes after every meal. When Granby tries to argue, that dragons don’t really do that, Temeraire just gets a sad look on his face and says that he always used to bathe with Laurence. Granby curses the dead man for spoiling Temeraire and teaching him strange ideas.

But despite some of this negativity between them, Granby and Temeraire do grow relatively close. Not as close as they could have been, but close enough to work well together in a team. Temeraire does “come out of his shell” a little bit with Maximus and Lily and their captains, especially during training, but he still broods a lot, especially at night.

He is mollified when they start to actually get some action against the French. Temeraire is very fierce in battle… and unfortunately he is less apt to follow orders if he believes he has found a course of action that would kill more French aviators or soldiers. He doesn’t forget the reason he’s doing this. And Temeraire sees himself as knowing best what the limits of his body are; he gets frustrated when he’s limited by tactics designed for slower and less manoeuvrable British dragons. He knows that he is superior, and believes that this translates to knowing best what to do in battle. Granby’s orders are suggestions, nothing more. Granby has to deal with this insubordination somehow.

Oh, and while all of this is going on… Laurence actually isn’t dead. He’s just captured. He is shuffled from a camp for prisoners of war to a prison to another camp, etc., etc. They consider ransoming him because of his officer status, but then the story of Temeraire leaks across the channel… and suddenly he’s much too valuable to give back. The French decide that Laurence will be their trump card, an axe that they can use to hold over Temeraire’s head in the next major conflict. They don’t reveal their hand just yet.

Besides, during the chaos of battle and the jostling of the subsequent journey to France, the condition of Laurence’s leg and bullet wound worsened. Laurence had to now walk with a cane. The French didn’t even have to hobble his feet with chains, they only had to confiscate his walking stick.

But Laurence is determined to escape, after all. When his leg starts to improve… he continues to limp, even pretends to have his leg collapse underneath him whenever he tries to walk quickly. There isn’t any sense in letting them know that he could run again, after all. He waits for the opportune moment.

That moment comes with the capture of Lily and Captain Harcourt by Choiseul. She was also a valuable prisoner, being the captain of a Longwing, and so was placed in confinement with Laurence. Not in the same cell at night, of course, but they were still capable of conversation. The French do not have female aviators, and actually humiliated Harcourt by forcing her to wear skirts. Laurence, upon learning the reason for Harcourt’s imprisonment, was scandalized (he didn’t know about female aviators beforehand, of course). She quickly corrects him when he makes the mistake of addressing her as “miss”, though. He doesn’t make that mistake a second time.

They do have many conversations, then and later on. Harcourt learns of Laurence’s story, and realizes that Temeraire’s captain is still alive. Laurence wants to know all about his friend the dragon, and though Harcourt is awkward with Laurence at first (as she is such a good friend to Granby), she is mollified when she hears the obvious affection in his voice, and sees it in his eyes, when he talks about and listens to her speak on Temeraire. He worries that Temeraire is dreadfully unhappy.

Being one of Temeraire’s best acquaintances (her dragon could be considered one of Temeraire’s two best friends), she resolves to reunite them.

 Laurence is also galvanized into finding a way to escape (with Harcourt) more quickly. He doesn’t trust that the French soldiers won’t try to ravish their only female prisoner, aviator or no aviator.

Because the French underestimate Laurence (and because of his status as an officer) they allow him a bit more freedom. They’ve grown used to him over the past year – he is almost inevitably polite, despite his abysmal French (which has, admittedly, been improving with practice), and of course, he’s a cripple, right?

After ascertaining where Lily was being held (close by, because the French had to parade Harcourt in front of her dragon periodically to drive home the fact that Harcourt’s life was dependant on Lily’s good behaviour), in the middle of the night, (using his walking stick as a bludgeon?) he overpowers a guard. He steals the keys to the cell, along with the Frenchman’s sword and pistol, frees Harcourt, and they manage to almost get to Lily before the alarm is sounded. Chains are nothing to an acid-spitter, so Lily breaks free, flies over and manages to pick the two of them up as they fought against the French, back-to-back.

Cue a wild chase across France, evading French patrols, terrorizing the French countryside… and stumbling across the secret plan for French invasion (spotting those lightweight boats held by dragons as they were being built). They make haste across the channel, running into several more French patrols that they must fight off. Laurence sustains a sword-wound or two, protecting Harcourt.

They finally make it back to England. They waste no time in telling the higher-ups of the dastardly French plan, and how they must immediately prepare to repel a French invasion force. Despite his wounded shoulder, Laurence manages to sketch out the flying ships and provide fairly detailed information on estimated speeds (after consultation with Harcourt), estimated capacity for soldiers, etc., etc. The situation looks grim.

A day later, all of the dragons that could be spared from Loch Laggan and other coverts are running patrols and converging on the south-eastern shores. Laurence had been continuing to help out with Lily and Harcourt, as his former command, the Reliant, was currently in the Mediterranean, captained by Riley. Laurence is relieved that his old friend got that post, at least. But that means that for the moment, Laurence is off-duty. His brain was picked by intelligence officers, and he was told to recover from his wounds first, and after the battle they would figure out where to place him. He mostly stays with Harcourt, helping her out with little tasks while they wait for her crew to arrive on different dragons. Plus, by now they’re firm friends. There’s nothing like getting out of life-threatening situations for solidifying acquaintances, right?

(Harcourt’s started wearing trousers again, by the way – cue scene with an embarrassed Laurence and gleeful/teasing Harcourt? To demonstrate how close they’ve become in the past two or three weeks?)

Temeraire has only heard second and third-hand accounts of Lily’s escape, and so doesn’t know that there was another prisoner with them – such information never occurred to him.

Of course, Temeraire is overjoyed to hear that Lily and Harcourt made it back after being captured by the French. He had been having horrible flashbacks to the attack on the Reliant throughout this past week. He didn’t want to lose another pair of friends to the French. Granby had done his best to comfort him, but he realized that that wasn’t enough for Temeraire. Temeraire needed blood.

When Maximus and Temeraire arrive in London, Granby and Berkley of course immediately come to visit Harcourt to see if their colleague is all right. Hugs all around! She had been having tea with Laurence, actually. After that initial round of hugs, she awkwardly introduces him with a brief story of how they got to know each other – stressing the fact that Laurence almost single-handedly allowed them to escape. Berkley gives Laurence a once-over, taking in the slightly haggard-looking appearance, polite demeanour, and Harcourt’s words, then proceeds to shake Laurence’s hand and welcome him back to England.

Granby is all awkwardness. His first instinct is to leave the room, to run back to Temeraire, and not say a single thing. If he ignores Laurence, he childishly thinks, maybe Laurence will stop existing. Granby knows that he isn’t the best captain, but he is Temeraire’s captain, and this untrained navyman is about to change all of that. But Granby knows that being uncharitable is unfair, especially considering what Laurence has been through, and what he means to Temeraire.

And Granby always puts Temeraire’s interests before his own. He carefully shakes Laurence’s hand, and, biting back his bitter feelings, offers to take Laurence to Temeraire. “Immediately, if you like, sir,” he says, stiffly. Those are some of the hardest words he’s ever had to say.

“I’d like that,” Laurence replied after the slightest of pauses. He probably heard the unnatural tone to the polite words.

Laurence was trying not to let on how worried he felt about this upcoming meeting. It had been a year, and Temeraire had been growing and developing so quickly. Would he still be able to recognize Temeraire? Would Temeraire still remember him? (He worried about this despite Harcourt’s assurances to the contrary). What would happen?

Temeraire’s appearance had changed – in the past year he had increased twofold in size, developing a ruff and two trailing whiskers… but Laurence still recognized him. How could he not?

Granby’s aviators were busy preparing for battle, cleaning and rubbing oil onto the harnesses, organizing and inspecting their weaponry, etc. Granby’s runners – one of which was Emily Roland – were the first to spot the two as they entered the clearing. “Look! The captain’s back!” (Meaning Granby, of course.) Granby feels a pang in his chest at the inadvertent meaning of these words.

Temeraire’s great head swung around. “What news? When shall the battle begin?”

Granby hesitated. He honestly wanted to put off this moment for as long as possible – for forever, even. But that was impossible. And it would be unfair to his dragon – Temeraire, the one he had sworn to take care of and look after and…

“Temeraire… another British prisoner of the French helped Captain Harcourt and Lily escape. I believe that you know him.” He gestured to Laurence with his right hand, not taking his eyes away from Temeraire’s massive blue ones, which loomed larger as Temeraire tried to move closer to take in the new man. Granby saw the exact moment when Temeraire recognized the man standing beside him… and he knew that all other thoughts had flown out of the dragon’s mind. Granby no longer existed to him.

There was only Laurence.

Temeraire’s massive head came down, very close, investigating. Granby half-hoped that perhaps they had been mistaken, that this was a French lookalike who could speak perfect English but was really a spy and Temeraire would see through the disguise immediately and… and…

Those thoughts disappeared as Temeraire’s eyes lit up. “Laurence!” He cried, joyfully, voice actually breaking. Granby felt ashamed at his selfish feelings.

“Hallo, my dear,” was Laurence’s reply, raising one hand to place against Temeraire’s soft nose. And here Granby had been hoping that perhaps Temeraire’s sheer size (noteably of his claws and teeth) would scare this navyman away, that Laurence would flinch back now that Temeraire was no longer a tiny, endearing and safe dragonet, would reject this giant creature with claws and teeth longer than a man’s arm…

But no, Laurence was all smiles and welcoming hands and Temeraire was shakily curling himself around him and crooning softly (not softly enough that Granby wouldn’t hear) that, “Laurence, you are back, you’re alive, and I’ll never give you up, ever, and I’ll keep you safe and-“

And Granby knows that if it were possible for dragons to cry, Temeraire would be right at this moment. Laurence’s own eyes looked suspiciously wet.

This was the happiest that Granby had ever seen his dr– Temeraire. This was the happiest he’d ever seen Temeraire.

And Granby knew, watching from the sidelines, ignored even by his own crew, that things had changed entirely, and not for the better – not for him anyway. But how can he begrudge Temeraire’s happiness?

Temeraire outright refused to let Laurence out of his sight from then on. Laurence is all but forced to sleep out there at night, and he has no objections.

However, Laurence is not recovered enough (or well-trained enough) to accompany Temeraire into battle, and must be left behind. Temeraire is immensely unhappy about this, and tries to refuse. Granby tries to argue with Temeraire about it, but Temeraire outright ignores Granby, talking over his protests. It is only when Laurence calmly explains why – that he still has a recent sword-wound, and that he has not the training necessary to be an aviator in battle (“But there is nothing you cannot do, Laurence!”) does Temeraire relent. Granby is resentful that Temeraire only seems to listen to or obey Laurence. He says nothing, though, because Temeraire wouldn’t listen to him anyway.

Temeraire insists that the battle will be a short one, and that he will come and see Laurence immediately afterwards.

Laurence actually sits out the battle with the commanding officers, offering them advice on how to coordinate with the navy and how to counter French battle tactics. He had had a chance to briefly observe regiments training while in France, after all. Unfortunately, in the middle of battle, that section of tents was bombed by one of the French dragons. Half of the officers are killed, and Laurence suffers a few cuts and bruises, plus a broken arm from a fallen beam.

Temeraire doesn’t learn of this until after the battle is over, and then he’s frantic. He’s torn between poking his head into the medical tents, trying to find Laurence himself (whom he’s heard is alive) and flying off immediately for France to try to chase down the dragon who did this to “my Laurence.” Granby dies a little inside, hearing Laurence so-called. Granby was actually wounded in battle as well, when they were boarded at one point… but Temeraire doesn’t even notice. It was only a minor stab wound, but Temeraire’s lack of concern is disheartening.

Berkley managed to convince Temeraire not to frighten half of the hospital tents’ patients to death, though, and got Maximus to threaten to hold Temeraire down if he even tries going anywhere before some of the bullets have been picked out of his scales.

That afternoon, Laurence emerges from the hospital tent (despite the fact that this was against the orders of the surgeon there) to reassure Temeraire that he was all right. (It kind of half-works, because Laurence is still in pain and banged up). Granby is slightly mollified, yet slightly offended at the immense relief evident in Temeraire’s countenance. Temeraire will only be more protective of Laurence after this incident.

Laurence spent some time reassuring Temeraire that yes, he was fine, and yes, you did a wonderful job protecting England and he himself, and please, go eat something… Temeraire is actually rather ravenous, but doesn’t consent to leave Laurence alone, where anything could happen to him. A cow has to be eventually brought to the clearing for him before he consents to eat.

In the meantime, while Temeraire is gulping down his meal, Laurence has a brief opportunity to speak with Granby. He thanks Granby for looking after Temeraire and leading him in battle. He also expresses concern for Granby’s wounds. Granby doesn’t know exactly how to feel – he’s infuriated because he can’t reproach Laurence. Laurence was there for Temeraire first (and he understands a dragon’s feelings in such a situation), and Laurence has been nothing but helpful and loyal and understanding and polite… and yet Granby couldn’t help that irrational hope that maybe Temeraire would still feel something for him, Granby, he who had helped him through training and had been by his side almost constantly throughout the past year and through dozens of altercations with the French…

Rejection burns.

Comments

[beboots.livejournal.com]

I... really should write it. Encourage me with tea and hugs and beta-reading, and I will try. :)

[kuiskata]

*offers virtual chai* ;)