The Phantom Hunt (Ryker x Reader)

Trust

You woke up slowly still being in Ryker's arms. You looked up and you saw he had a smile on his face. You wanted to get up and get yourself some breakfast, but Ryker wrapped his arm tighter around you. "Please, don't go." He whispered.

You smiled as you thought he was being really cute and stayed with him a little longer. "I'm sorry for how I reacted to you last night. Thunderstorms really get a bad side of me to the surface." You apologized to him. "Don't be. After you told me what happened to you so many years ago, I totally understand you have a difficult past. Have you truly been all alone for all these years?" He asked you out of curiosity.

"I have tried to live among other people in different places, but they were all scared of Jaynu. They wanted me to release him or they didn't want me in the village at all. I couldn't let go of Jaynu so we just moved on. Then we came here." You told him and you were hurt people would not take you in and accept Jaynu to be your friend.

"I will accept the both of you and that's a lot coming from me. You're not the only one with a difficult past." Ryker said to you and it made you wonder what he had been through. You got up a little and showed him your interest. "What is yours?" You asked him. He sighed out. "Very well. You have told me your past, I will tell you mine." He signed you over to come closer to him and you happily obliged to his wish.

"I am from an honorary house in my tribe, the Grimborn house. Our family has been in charge of the island for generations and everything was going quite well. We hunt dragons to make a profit out of them, both living and dead. The living dragons would be sold on auctions to the highest bidder and the dragon would be taken by the person who bought it. The dead dragons would be sold for their skins, hides, bones, teeth and more. Some folks even come to our auctions just for buying bones, something to do with them believing bones have some magical or healing properties?" He asked to himself as he wasn't sure what these people believed.

"I do know about such things. I've come across tribes like that. They used the bones of many different animals and dragons. They even believed a fish head would have magical properties." You told him and you both had to laugh a little about it. "How's that?" Ryker was curious. "They said their gods could still speak through it and punish them if they were disloyal to them." You said and Ryker laughed even harder. "That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard." Ryker laughed, but soon got a shot of pain rush through his body.

"Easy." You were instantly worried about him again. He blew out his pain as he laid back down. "I'm alright." He smiled at you and showed you his puppy eyes. You couldn't resist those and you wanted to show him you felt different, but how?

"Anyway..." He continued. "I have always been raised to be a hardworking man and I have always strived to earn as much gold as we could." You were a little confused by his story. "Wait, we? Who's the other person?" You asked. "My little brother Viggo. I'll get to him soon." He said.

"Our father was to retire as he was too ill to continue his work as chief. As heirs to the throne, both me and Viggo were made to play a game of Maces and Talons against each other to decide who of us was going to be chief. While I was the favorite of everyone in the tribe for my strength, it was Viggo who ultimately humiliated me by beating me in that game." He certainly felt ashamed again of that particular day.

"How?" You wondered. "Viggo is very different than me. I have the strength of body, like he calls it, but he has strength of mind. My little brother is a very smart man, cunning and does not hold back to take what he wants. He will kill men without any sign of mercy or regret. His actions are always thought through and he will strike swiftly. Be sure to watch your steps with him. He can be very unpredictable." He warned you about his little brother.

"Is he really like that?" You were quite shocked to hear about his sibling. "He is and it wouldn't surprise me if he wouldn't even come looking for me. Our bond as brothers hasn't always been that good. We collide with each other often and he blames it on me for being jealous of the power structure within our tribe." He explained.