A Dragon's Lament

It was a rainy day again in the ivory-gleaming city of Demacia, the city losing all its glorious sheen and beauty it usually had in the sunlight to a more gloomy-looking, depressing tone of grey/blue skies and heavy downpour. The citizen who were still out and about on their errands were either rushing to get their duties finished, or covering their heads with hoods, umbrellas or even newspaper rolls to cover themselves from the raindrops. One of the figures among the crowd, however, walked slower than the rest, and she hung her head low in either deep thought, or deep sorrow, leaning slightly towards the latter mentioned. Shyvana had never liked rainy days like these. It reminded her too much of that devastating day in her life, where all she knew about life changed in an instant; The smoking pillars in the distance. Her village razed and burned to ashes. The bodies of her fellow half-dragons either mutilated or incinerated… and the corpses of her mother and father buried beneath the smoldering remains of their home. Those memories still scarred her mind, like a knife buried too deep into an already lethal injury, never seeming to heal. She just wished she could forget about it all, and move on with her life. But as hard as she tried, she always failed. The Half-Dragon failed to notice who was in front of her, however, and bumped into someone in front of herself, slipping out a faintly hearable 'sorry' before she was about to walk off, but the person held her shoulder, holding her still. She growled slightly, and was about to shake the person off, but heard a familiar voice speak;

"My child, what's troubling you? It's not like you to walk around outdoors on a rainy day like this."

She gasped a bit, turning her head up a bit to see no one more or less than the Crown Prince Jarvan himself standing behind her, his lance strapped onto a handle on his back, his golden armor still gleaming with its own, unexplainable sheen as his height towered above hers. His usual, stern expression was away from his face, however, and replaced with a soft, warm smile aimed towards her. Shyvana swallowed a bit, before she spoke;

"S-Sorry, Jarvan… I just… needed time to think for myself…" she explained, though she knew it was a half lie. "I'm fine… I promise. Just need some time alone…" Jarvan just dismissively chuckled, patting the Half-Dragon's armor-clad shoulder.

"There's no shame in being depressed, Shyvana…" the Exemplar of Demacia explained, holding her shoulder as he led her to walk with him, as they walked towards the inner city quarters and towards the royal palace. "I know very well what the source of your feelings are, Shyvana, and I completely understand it… it is not easy losing your family like that, and even if you try, the scars will always remain. You have tried to find a way to rid yourself of them, have you not?" as they were escorted into the palace by the guards, Shyvana sighed and nodded a bit.

"Y-Yes, Jarvan… I just can't seem to rid myself of my memories…" she explained to him, leaning her head onto Jarvan's side, seeking comfort as she – like a saddened dragon child – nuzzled him softly. "I just want to… forget it all. It's too much for me… I-I just want to do my best as a Demacian Guard… and don't be distracted by my traumatized past…" she kept nuzzling Jarvan, who just sighed as he snapped his fingers, telling the guards to leave them be once they were in the grand dining hall.

"Let's talk about it, shall we?" he asked his 'child' so to speak, since he personally had taken the task of raising her after the death of her father. He pulled out a chair for Shyvana, who reluctantly, yet obediently sat down on, and he nodded before he sat down on the opposite side of her. He just smiled a bit at her, to ease up her spirits a bit. "So, Shyvana… what is it exactly that you can't shake off your mind?" he then asked.

"Well… it's just the fact they are gone." She sighed, holding her head in her hands as she supported herself onto the table with her elbows. "I just… can't stop thinking of them. I miss them, Jarvan… I barely had time to know them fully…" she sniffled a bit, a few tears running down her cheeks as it was too much to hold in right now. "I-I want them back…" her voice was reduced to a slight whimpering tone now as she felt like it was hopeless, but she then remembered Jarvan was near, so she tried easing up.

"I know, it's hard to lose someone you hold very dear, Shyvana…" Jarvan told her as he could feel her pain and sorrow. He sighed, reaching out with a hand to fondle her cheek gently, wiping away some of her tears. "But listen to me… don't you think your parents are proud of you? Watching you from above, seeing you become such a fine, dedicated soldier of Demacia? I think so, Shyvana. So don't think your parents are fully gone… they're still there, watching over you."

"How… how do you know-"

"Know that they're still around?" Jarvan cut her off, before shrugging. "No one knows Shyvana, what happens after this life. But know this, I've lost my parents as well… but I believe they're still alive as long as I believe in them. You should do it too, Shyvana. No one dies unless they're forgotten." The Half-Dragon in front of the Crown Prince was stunned, and left silent after Jarvan's statement. She had no idea he had lost his parents too… but then again, he was a grown adult, so it would only seem proper that he had lost his parents due to them aging. She just nodded a bit, before giving Jarvan a slight smile.

"Y-Yeah… okay, Jarvan, I will try and think that way. Thanks for lifting my spirits…" she stood up, turning to leave, but before she left, she turned around and went up to Jarvan, and before the taller man could react, she had hugged him around his waist once he stood up, nuzzling him firmly, yet affectionately. Jarvan, albeit in a bit of a shock, chuckled softly as he patted her back.

"Easy, girl…" he joked with her, and she just purred softly like a dragon child would do. He just kept smiling at her, knowing she wouldn't let go of him for a long while. Not that he didn't mind, of course. He did, after all, love the company of his 'child'.