fic: forged in fire (april fic challenge)

[csi_sanders1129]

Title: Forged In Fire
Chapters: 1/1
Author:csi_sanders1129
Ratings: T
Word Count: 886
Pairings/Characters: Creedy, Quinn.
Synopsis: In which Creedy and Quinn meet for the first time under incendiary circumstances.
Comments: Written for my April Fic Challenge 2021, Prompt: Beginnings. Comments and kudos would be awesome. Enjoy!

Creedy is trapped.

It's his own damn fault. He'd done something stupid, so incredibly stupid. Running into this wrecked out shell of a building on the edge of the city in search of supplies his crew desperately needed – four of their strongest were injured and they were fresh out of the things they'd need to patch up the wounded – and now he's trapped, on his own and out of luck.

There is a dragon is poking around the debris near the building's entrance, no doubt in search of him. And if that weren't bad enough, he can hear it calling out to another of its kind a little further off.

He's as good as dead.

He's let his group down – without the supplies, the others are as good as dead, too. With five down, nearly a quarter of their number, the rest of the camp will surely suffer with the loss. They'd trusted him for this run and he'd failed them all.

The second dragon has joined the first, and the two of them are momentarily waylaid by the haggard wooden doors. A blast of flame sets them alight, though, and the fire licks through the old wood in no time, burning its way through the building. Creedy is forced to retreat to the higher parts of the structure, climbing up rotting stairways and braving the unsteady floors. Smoke makes his breath catch, his vision blur, his head spin. He makes it to a window on the third floor, sucks in desperate gulps of fresh air as both the fire and the dragons chase him.

Suddenly, a hand lands on his shoulder.

Creedy whirls around. He doesn't know what he expects to find – certainly not a dragon, but eight years in to the dragon plague has left humanity a bit hit or miss in terms of morality. He braces for an attack, but only sees a young man, crouched low and stifling his own smoke-induced coughing, beckoning for him to follow. With no other choice, he does. It's nearly impossible to see through the dense smoke, so he catches his savior's hand in his own and lets the man lead him through this maze of a building. They go, first, up another flight of steps and then down again via a back stairway where the flames haven't reached just yet.

It's a relief to be back on the ground floor, but the sound of an approaching dragon causes them both to freeze. The man shoves him into a nearby closet as the dragon's searching steps draw nearer, pulls the door closed behind them. They're pressed close together in the near darkness, barely able to make out each other's faces as they wait for the beast to pass them by. Neither of them dares to move in the small space, they hardly dare to breathe.

But there is still a fire creeping steadily closer to them, so as soon as they're sure the dragon has moved on, they prepare to bolt from their hideaway. The young man grabs hold of him this time, and quickly rattles off instructions should they get separated. "There's a back way out. Down the hall, left, through the third doorway, one of the windows is unlocked."

Creedy nods, and the door opens. Together, they sprint through the building with the hope that no dragons stand between them and their way out. When they make it to the right room, the remains of what was once an office, it appears, his rescuer herds him out of the window before climbing through himself.

They're out.

But, they're still not out of danger.

Sooner or later, the dragons will wander out of the blazing building in search of their meal and Creedy, for one, would rather not be standing around waiting for them. When darkness falls, the light from the fire is likely to draw in even more dragons.

"C'mon," he says, urging the other man to move again once they catch their breaths, "Let's get clear."

They break from the city, moving back into the charred forests that surround it. These woods had been green and lush once, but now they're just skeleton trees, barren and grey. As they walk, they risk brief bits of conversations. Creedy gives the stranger his name and gets one in return, Quinn. He learns that Quinn has been on his own, living in the burned out husk of a cottage not too far away. He learns Quinn frequented the city, scouring the buildings at the edges for supplies. He knew them well, knew multiple ways in and out, knew the layout of the floors and what supplies were likely to be where, knew roughly how many dragons lurked about regularly. Creedy, in turn, tells Quinn of his own desperate attempt at scavenging, about the injured waiting for him back at his own camp.

"I've got some medical supplies. You could take some," Quinn offers, as they approach his ruined cottage.

But Creedy has a better idea. This man saved his life, could save many more with his supplies and his skills. "You could come back with me," he offers, "No one should have to be alone in this world." He offers a hand, which Quinn takes without hesitation, cementing the beginnings of a friendship forged in dragon fire.