Keith's Point of View
If you think real dragons have large wings the size of chariots or fangs as long as swords, then the fairytales you read are obviously deceiving you.
Dragons are tiny creatures the size of your average housecat, depending on the breed. I would know this because I live in the country of Altea: a land filled with dragons harmoniously flying alongside us as we go about our ordinary human lives.
My older brother Takashi, was lucky enough to have earned the trust of a black, Voltron dragon- a rare breed that can only be acquired by a soldier. Considering the fact that Shiro had been born with that mark, I honestly saw that coming from a mile away when I was a child.
Our father always used to say that my older brother had the potential to be a great leader. He said it each time Shiro practiced fighting with him or did something good for the needy. My father also said it on his death bed before he breathed out his last words: I love you, my sons. That was a dark time for both of us which I shall not dwell on further.
My father used to own the Blacksmith Workshop so once he died, the position was immediately given to my brother and, since I practically follow in my brother's footsteps, I began helping him out more frequently in whatever needed to be sorted. Whenever Takashi had to leave for the market, I would be the one in charge.
I was a good fighter, if I do say so myself- both my father and Takashi commented on my technical and instinctive skills with a sword- but I was not as strong as Takashi. I did, however, draw better than him. It's a silly reason to compare to, but I was a creative craftsman. The designs of most of our swords and armoury were done by me, if not by one of our assistants who had been working for us for a few months now, getting food for Takashi's dragon and organising the tools on display. She goes by the name of Shay.
"Keith!" Shay called from the front, "Your dragon is trying to eat the iron again!"
I groaned, getting up from my room two doors away from the front of the store (we live in the Workshop so we do not have to worry about there being a break in). A black tail was sticking out of the shelves of the store where Shay was pointing to and I rolled my eyes at the behaviour.
"Playing hard to get again, are we?" I chuckled, making my way to the shelves.
It's difficult to hold onto a dragon with sharp features, especially our little devil. A lean neck runs down from our dragon's head and into a slim body. The top is covered in thick skin and an armoured ridge runs down its spine. It's bottom is covered in coarse skin and is colored black like the rest of its body. Each limb ends with strong claws seemingly made of onyx. He's graceful tail ends in a sharp, arrowhead shaped tip and is covered in the same thick skin as its body.
"He is so disruptive, honestly," Shay sighed, folding the arms as I grabbed for the tail.
"He's probably just hungry," I said, easing him out from the shelves, "I'll take him to the welding pit now to feed him."
I noticed that Shay was wearing one of her favourite dresses. She had admitted to seeing a very attractive boy purchase bread from the bakery so it would not be a surprise if she was aiming to dress better in order to grab his attention. I already told her that her curly, short hair and deep hazel eyes are pretty enough but she never listened to me when it came to beauty (who could blame her?).
Once I had the scaly, black dragon wrapped in my arms, I asked him, "When was the last time Takashi's fed you, Blacksmith?"
Yes, 'Blacksmith' is the name of Takashi's dragon and it is the best title we could have possibly given him (I should know since I'd come up with it when it found my brother in the first place).
"Isn't Takashi supposed to be back by now?" Shay asked, placing some utensils back on the shelves, "He said he'd be going to the market, right?"
I stopped petting Blacksmith for a moment, glancing out the window. "You don't think he's looking for...?"
Shay shrugged. "I'm not sure, Keith, it's probably got something to do with..." She dropped her voice to a whisper, "The Blade."
I nodded understandingly and gratefully, making my way to the welding pit. I dismissed Shay from her duties and called it a day so that I could feed Blacksmith in peace.
* * *
My brother strolled in with a bag of groceries and sheets of steel for forging weapons (thanks to our usual trader) and he watched me as I fed his dragon pieces of bread and cheese.
"Oh, I was about to do that," he said, "Thanks."
Blacksmith jumped out of my lap and scampered to his master, looking a bit worried.
"Where have you been?" I asked, a hint of warning in my voice.
Takashi put the bag down on the table and answered casually, "The market,"
Just as he turned around to pet Blacksmith, I noticed a dark line running down his back under his grey shirt. He had the nerve to lie to my face!
I scowled. "Were they selling whips?"
He hesitated for a second and sighed, "You got me. I got into a little fight."
Suddenly, a wave of protectiveness and anger came over me. I stood up and shouted at him, "Why didn't you take Blacksmith with you? Why do you always leave him with me when you know you're powerless without him?"
"Blacksmith stays here to protect you and that is final," Takashi said, glaring back at me, "We've discussed this already."
"But you will-"
"Be fine! Today, there was a thief with a knife and I acted in the moment. It won't happen again."
I highly doubted that. He would do it a thousand times again if he had to because he was always convinced that that is what a great leader should do. That's just my brother: always playing the hero ever since I was born. I sighed in a defeated manner. There was no use arguing with him.
"Is your mark okay?" I asked, feeling myself grow a bit more calm.
I was still upset with my brother, but I cared about his wellbeing more. Takashi slowly grabbed the back of his shirt and raised it higher to show me.
I studied the grand portrait before me, admiring the art of the accurate representation of a Black Voltron Dragon. Blacksmith joined me, practically staring at himself upon Shiro's back: black, triangular wings spread out over each shoulder blade and the head portraying a proud roar just below the nape of his neck.
"How's it look?" he asked.
Luckily the recent wound was not deep enough to be stitched, merely a scrape. It would sting to treat, but it wasn't as severe as the wound Takashi had received on the bridge of his nose a few years back.
"It's alright," I replied, gripping my own mark on my left arm.
* * *
Everyone is born with a mark that represents their soulmate. Takashi had been born with a dragon mark on his back, a Black Voltron- it is rare to be blessed with a Voltron dragon to share your Quintessence with (more on that later). There are legends that say Voltron dragons can shape-shift, that they are Defenders of the Universe. How myths can deceive.
Only some people in this world have dragons as their pets. These dragons have chosen masters worthy enough to be granted great power. These special people are called 'Mages'.
Takashi has been a Mage for a few years now, even before we started joining The Blade. A dragon's duty is to fulfill their master's desires. When a Mage uses his power, the dragon is absorbed into their mark gives them all the Quintessence they need to attack.
However, once your soulmate dies, your mark disappears. Without a mark, your dragon is not able to give you Quintessence and you are no longer able to use your power. If you die, on the other hand, your dragon gets passed down to someone you love.
* * *
The worst part about being an assistant blacksmith is not the amount of hours you put in, believe me- it's the flirting. The perks of working at my family's store is the exercise we get, along with the descent pay, but the tolerance my brother and I have to give in order to smile at seductive women once they've made their purchase, honestly tired me out.
One day, while I was designing a sword for a soldier from the Eastern village, a maiden with long, blonde hair came up to me with a suspicious look in her eye. I knew immediately that she was probably there to try and seduce me.
"You're designs are spectacular, love," she had said, "Very creative? Are you looking to be creative with anything else in particular tonight?"
"Unfortunately not," I said, holding back a glare, "I have a whole night's work ahead of me, including armoury and sword-making."
"I bet you really wish you had a break."
A break from you, I thought, irritated at the fact that we needed to be kind to customers in order to get more positive reviews from villagers.
The next thing I knew, her hand was on my bare arm. I had not been aware that my mark was exposed, I usually covered it up because it felt small in comparison to Shiro's. Now I felt even more self-conscious knowing that a stranger was studying it.
"Is this your mark?" she asked, "It's very sexy."
"What would you like to buy?" I asked, voice monotonous.
"A little bit of this?" she said moving her hand slowly towards my shoulder.
Oh, hell no. Completely discarding customer rules, I gripped her wrist swiftly with my hand and sneered at her.
"My body isn't for sale."
The girl stared at me as if she was shocked that a man actually let down her offer for physical activity. Unfortunately for her, I was not like other men.
"What a shame," she said, storming out of the Workshop.
The next morning, an attractive, rouge-looking man walked into the store and I put down everything in my hand just to stare: he was a young, tanned visitor who wore a single earring and had messy, silver hair. His muscular chest and arms stood out the most. He then stared at me and made his way almost hurriedly towards the desk at which I was standing.
For a second, my heart leaped from its cage and I thought, This is the one, isn't it? My soulmate? The one I always fantasised about? Just for a second. Unlucky me.
"Hey, YOU," the man growled, "what were you doing with my girl?!"
Quiznack.
"Excuse me?" I asked with a look of confusion.
"You heard me. I saw that you was talking to my girl, Nyma, yester-afternoon!"
Yester-afternoon? Oh, he was definitely not my soulmate. Thank goodness, I was going to hold a grudge against the Fates.
"With all due respect," I said, "it's my job to ask customers what they want to buy."
"Don't try acting smart with me!"
Thank the stars above, Takashi was there to save the day again. He stepped in between me and the stranger, folding his arms. My brother was quite tall, in fact he towered over most people in the village. It made sense whenever someone felt intimidated by his presence. To be fair, he was the main blacksmith in town.
"Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to leave," Takashi spoke, his voice sounding lower than I was used to.
The stranger stumbled back and made his way out of the building after glaring at me and saying, "This isn't over."
Once he left, Takashi turned to me and teased, "Keith, you didn't tell me you liked women."
My brother was one of the very few people in the universe who knew that I was gay. Shay was another since we always trusted one another with our secrets, including that of The Blade. The last person who knew was an inventor by the name of Pidge Gunderson who noticed me pining for a guy at the market once as we were both looking to buy steel for our respective jobs.
"Oh, I'm so ashamed," I replied sarcastically, "Woe is me, you've found out that I'm no longer homosexual."
Takashi laughed, lightly pushing my shoulder in an amused gesture. I do enjoy making my brother smile- he was much too stressed these days, especially ever since-
"Marmora spoke to me today," he said, his smile gone.
'Marmora' is the nickname we give to our group, The Blade. We use it when we aren't meeting just in case someone has the intention of spying on us.
"What did she say?" I asked, playing along.
"That the next errand will be in a few days and we should be prepared to meet her."
Errand, I thought, translating in my mind, an ambush from the Galra.
"Should we bring anything?" I asked, "We don't want her to have any trouble with it."
"She'll be alright. It's her father I'm worried about."
Father: Kolivan, the leader of The Blade. Takashi had been worrying about how our leader was becoming weaker and his 'mark' is slowly beginning to deteriorate.
"He'll be okay," I said, "as long as everything goes as planned."
Takashi nodded in agreement before making his way to the door. "I'm going out."
"You're not going to try and find your soulmate again, are you?" I asked, thinking back to the conversation I had with Shay, "I'm not an idiot, Takashi."
He turned to me with a sad expression and replied, "When I meet them, I'll know."
"Only time will tell. You always tell me that patience yields focus. Same goes for you."
He did not reply to that. Instead, he left me and Blacksmith alone and continued on his journey to find absolute nothing.
"I guess it's just you and me," I said to the dragon.
Blacksmith spread his wings wide, similar to the shape on Takashi's mark. I looked down at my own mark on my arm and frowned. It was a picture of a single blue wing attached to a dragon tail that coiled around the bicep of my arm. It may be small, but a part of me knew that there's much more to it.
I was not worthy enough for a dragon, and my birth mark was not as exquisite as Takashi's, but I knew that somewhere in the world, there is a boy... and he represents the colour blue.
He would be a fighter, like I've always imagined- a soldier. He'd be kind and always willing to do the right thing. Most importantly, he's alive and probably thinking about me too. That idea itself, is enough for me.
"I wonder what he's like," I said to Blacksmith as he charged back to the pile of iron, "Damnit, not again!"
* * *
A/N: y'all know who the next chapter is about.