Chapter Text
Once upon a time, in the kingdom of Aqua, a kingdom ruled by the bickering rulers Queen Cleo and King Etho, there lived a prince beloved by all, including, most importantly, his parents. He was handsome, kind, and all of his loyal subjects could not wait till he took the throne.
Yes, Prince Scar, the crown prince, was well loved by everyone. His parents, however, were not. They were, as previously mentioned, constantly arguing and bickering over everything, from matters of state, to what color to paint their nursery. Just about the only thing they could agree on was the fact that they loved their son.
This had put the crown prince in danger more than once, leading them to become extremely protective of their beloved son, treating him like a child even once he was an adult. Scar constantly felt smothered, and sometimes, in the dead of night, he secretly hoped someone would succeed and kidnap him
Once upon a time, in the poorest part of the kingdom of Dogwarts, there was a young avian orphan. This orphan, Grian, somehow managed to survive to the age of 16, when he found another avian child named Jimmy and a young wolf hybrid named Pearl.
Despite the fact that he had almost nothing, he took the two in. Survival became harder after that, and Grian tried to find a job that would take a hybrid. However, no one would take on an avian.
Left with no other choice, he joined the Watchers’ Guild, the only place that would take him. Grian didn’t love being a bounty hunter, but he was good at it, and the Guild let him bring his adopted siblings into the Guildhall with him, giving them all at least one good meal a day and a stable roof over their heads. They were all allowed to stay as long as he kept working for the Guild. That was enough to keep him working for the Guild, which was probably the point.
That is, in fact, is where our story starts. With a Prince who had a bounty on his head, a Bounty Hunter who only wanted to keep his found family safe, and a conflict between kingdoms that neither fully knew about.
Scar sat in his room and stared out the window, gazing out over the little bit of the town that was visible. His parents, of course, were busy bickering over how to re-decorate the dining hall since his mother was tired of its current look. Typical boring day in the life of a crown prince whose parents only made things worse.
"I guess I could go and take a walk around town…" Scar murmured to himself. Palace life had been quite boring here the past few days.
Of course, if he tried to go to town, his parents would want to know why, then they'd bicker over whether it was safe... the easiest thing would be to just go walk in the gardens and avoid the whole ordeal in the first place. That was assuming Scar could sneak out without his parents noticing or his brother, Bdubs, snitching. If that happened he’d end up with a whole regiment of guards just for a little walk in the garden, which would destroy the peace and ruin his evening.
Scar grabbed his cane, since this would likely be a long walk, donning his jacket quickly as he left his room. It was a bit nippy outside, and he’d rather not be cold. He checked that the halls were clear, then stealthily made his way to the gardens, hopefully without being noticed by his parents or snitch of a younger brother, who, on top of disobeying their mother at any chance he could get if it meant he might impress their dad, made back his lost brownie points by spying and reporting any mistakes that the crown prince made.
Scar was too focused on brooding over his dysfunctional family to notice as a shadowy figure trailed him through the gardens, or if he did notice, he didn’t care. Stealthier than a cat, she pounced!
"What the-"
"Mrow!" Scar laughed. Jellie wanted some attention it would seem. Still, he felt somebody’s eyes watching him.
To say he hadn't noticed the presence originally was a lie... Scar had just chosen to ignore the feeling of being watched, thinking it was just Jellie, his beloved, adventurous, adorable cat. He now knew it was not. Maybe a few guards would have been justified…
Scar knelt down petting Jellie, a privilege only the Queen of cats herself was allowed on days like this. "Wanna come with me while I walk around? I could use the protection." Scar smiled as she purred. Jellie’s purring almost covered the sound of a twig snapping. Scar’s senses went into high alert. He was in an overgrown part of the garden, and there were tons of bushes to hide in.
Scar hadn't noticed it, but the sun had set as he was walking around. None of the garden's fairy lights had come on yet, it was dark. With how late it had gotten, there were no gardeners around, all of them being sensible folk with families to get back to. Scar was alone in this part of the garden, so there shouldn’t have been anyone around to snap that twig.
"Hey, little princeling." The voice seemed to come from somewhere above him. Scar looked up, scanning the dense foliage, trying to locate the source of the sound
"Hello?" Scar glanced around "If this was a set up to try and scare me into staying inside-"
Grian couldn't help but want to spook the prince a bit after everything that royalty had cost him, so he chuckled, and turned up the snark a bit.
"Oh, you really think your parents sent me? Hah that's a laugh." Grian hated all royals, but Aqua’s were some of the worst. Not that King Ren was that much better. The only reason he’d accepted Dogwarts’ job through the Watchers’ Guild was because he was short on cash and the Guild was getting impatient since his last failed bounty. Grian wouldn’t have touched it with a ten foot pole otherwise
"Where.. no who are you?" The voice seemed like it had come from almost every direction, and Scar was actually starting to worry. If this wasn’t someone his parents had sent, that meant he was in genuine danger. This was what he got for all those late night wishes… Scar opened his mouth to call the guards but was cut off by the stranger’s response
"Someone who hates your kind. Hush now, if you call the guards, I have to kill you." Grian had been sent to capture, not to kill, but he'd do what he had to. The bounty wasn’t exactly dead or alive, so keeping the prince alive was far preferable. Besides, Grian had been watching his mark for the past few weeks. From what he’d seen, Prince Scar was a genuinely kind man, and it would be a shame if he never got the chance to rule. It was really too bad that he had a bounty on his head.
Scar sighed. Yet another death threat. It wasn’t like he hadn't heard that one before. Scar knew that episodes like this had caused his parents’ paranoia. He’d never said they didn’t have a reason to worry, just that they’d worry a little too much. Scar stood, leaning heavily on his cane.
"What is it you want?" Even if Scar were to call the guards, he doubted they would make it to his location in time to save him. Besides, he’d be gutted by his parents if they knew he was out here this late.
Grian let himself fall from his cover, gracefully doing a flip and sticking the landing, wings flaring out behind him to help him balance. He twirled around behind the prince, set his hands on the prince’s shoulders, leaning out from behind him, and grinned. "Why, my prince, I want you." Grian didn’t move till he saw a slight pink tinge to the prince's face. Once he did, he backed away, changing quickly to a business-like posture. "I've been sent to collect you, for Dogwarts. They're paying the guild good money for you." Grian watched Prince Scar’s face go through the five stages of grief in as many seconds. He was having a hard time keeping a straight face watching it. This man showed every emotion so plainly! How did the noble courts not eat him alive all of these years? Grian had gone undercover a few times in a few different courts, and the nobility could be brutal.
"Ah-" Wait what-? So Scar had a wonderful bounty on his head. great. "How much?" Why was that the question he chose to ask?! He was an idiot! Scar should be trying to get away from the avian bounty hunter, not asking how much he was worth! Though it would be interesting to hear how much someone would pay for him…
Grian was more than a little amused by this man. How had he survived this long? Grian looked at the cane. Maybe he hadn’t, at least, not unfazed.
"A couple hundred diamond chips." That was the highest coin value, and Grian watched the prince's face go pale when he heard the amount. This man really was an open book.
Scar’s eyes widened. That was a lot of money. A whole lot of money. Scar took a step back, trying to think about the best route of escape, taking into account that his legs hurt too much today to even try running.
"So you plan on uh.. trying to trade me for that money I assume-" Jellie was watching them from an overgrown bench, and she did not look too happy. Scar’s breathing quickened as the avian stepped closer.
"That is typically how a bounty works..." Grian inched closer again, but then heard rustling elsewhere in the brush. "Blast! Well, I'll see you later, Prince. And I'd suggest keeping quiet about our encounter... It would be too bad if you got locked away..." With a cheeky smile, the bounty hunter fled, silently cursing himself for wasting time teasing his mark.
Before Scar could say anything in response the avian was gone, and he saw one of the guards, in fact the captain of the guards, Skizz, walk around the corner. That was both good and bad timing.
"Sir! What are you doing out of the palace? there is danger everywhere!" The Skizz escorted Scar to his room. He let himself be guided like a child, still a little shocked by what had happened and not exactly sure what to think of it.
Grian watched from afar as Scar was led back inside the palace. He had to strike soon, or else he would never get the chance. If he took too long, the Guild would send someone to check on him, or worse, give his bounty to someone else. Grian really couldn’t let that happen. That money would be life changing for his siblings. He had to complete this bounty.
Scar went through the wonderful experience of being berated by his parents when he got inside. He eventually managed to slip away to his room, entering with a sigh as he shut and locked the door. Scar leaned against it, sliding to the floor with his head in his hands. He was supposed to end up ruling Aqua someday, but both of his parents just treated him like he was a child. Ah well… that was just his life