Hello and welcome to my latest fic that will most likely join the rest of the unfinished but working on stories. This is a bit darker than the usual so if you don't like angsty stories, you should probably stop here.

-how to dream again

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail

Murderers, thieves, criminals are considered the lowest of humanity. But even they believe that oathbreakers are worse than them. In a world of dragons and their riders, oathbreakers live an inescapable fate of death and grief, forever chased, forever unfree. Lucy Heartfilia was born an oathbreaker.

Prologue: A cursed girl meets a cursed dragon

When Lucy was born, her mother Layla passed away.

When Lucy turned seven, her father Jude was killed.

When Lucy turned eight, she nearly died.

When Lucy turned nine, she wished she had.

Now Lucy, age ten, and fully aware of the cruel nature of the world walked aimlessly in a forest whose name she did not know, near a town that would never know of the young oathbreaker that had been so close to them.

Oathbreaker. A title regarded with hatred, fear and so many other negative emotions that Lucy couldn't name but she could feel. Even her own father, in what little sane moments he had left after the death of her mother acted the same as anyone who knew of oathbreakers would. Safe to say, Lucy had a fairly jaded view of the world and had learned the hard way the benefits of keeping to oneself. Though that was difficult for her with a target on her back and stupid lizards in the sky that could track her.

Yes, for here in the land of dragons and their riders, a wanted person was much like a game of hide-and-seek to them. Except the chaser had all the advantages with strengthened senses and the like, while the chased had ratty shoes and a backpack.

Lucy sighed, her thoughts swinging like a pendulum between depressed and bitter. Not only was she an oathbreaker but as if that wasn't bad enough, she was born an oathbreaker and apparently that made her an even greater threat. Why else would the king be so persistent for her head? Though she didn't see what threat she posed when she didn't have any real decent sword skills, running skills, or even a bloody dragon.

Freedom would always be a wish. And an unattainable one at that. All she could do was keep running. For what could one small girl do against a system of prejudice? Without power, what change could she bring and furthermore, why would she even want to bring it?

Ah, the world really sucks, Lucy thought, clenching her fists. Maybe I really should try to destroy it and prove the truth of the title I am cursed with. No, no, she shook her head. Life is just a game and you were unlucky enough to be born a player. She relaxed, rolling the words over in her head. It was one of her top phrases that she frequently repeated to deal with the stress of her life.

Now back to the story, Lucy had entered the forest which coincidentally was one of the cursed ones which made people that weren't Lucy wary to enter. Even the dragons wouldn't go near these cursed forests which meant they were basically a safe haven for Lucy, well until a hunter got enough courage to enter and chase her out of the forest. Young Lucy was many things but she wasn't a person built for running over long periods of time. Maybe in the future, she mused, if I manage to live past ten. It was a sad thing when a child believed living past ten would be a milestone. If Porlyusica, one of the very, very few people she knew but did not trust, for Lucy would never make the mistake of trusting anyone but herself, were here she'd probably whack Lucy on the head for her pessimistic thoughts but not say anything, understanding the truth of her words.

For oathbreakers lived short lives, hated by all, forever chased, forever unfree. But Lucy truly hoped that one day in the long distant future, that if another one like her came into existence, they would be free and if they weren't then she hoped they would have the journal she was currently compiling.

A documentation of her life and her experiences, in hopes that it would prepare them for the cruel future that awaited them. Maybe it would be useless but even better for them to realise that all humans in general were useless. Ah if her father was still alive he probably would've gone into one of his cruel rants at her. Though it might've been all the harsh words he'd spat at her that had allowed her to get so far in life. Perhaps that was why she cursed him as she cried over his grave.

The deep caw of a raven startled her out of her usual dark monologue and she gazed unflinchingly into its dark eyes. Winning the stare down, the crow retreated up to reveal the night sky, surprising her at the swift passing of time. Taking a deep breath at the brilliant sight of the dark expanse, she brought her eyes back to the ground in front of her and took a step forward when suddenly thoughts and emotions that felt very pure and almost animalistic flooded her being. She grasped at the fabric over her heart at the sudden staccato it had decided to beat and looked around wildly with glazed eyes.

It couldn't be, her rational mind told her, but her heart was pumping out a different tune. Only a dragon egg could cause this, according to the books she had borrowed without returning, but no dragon would enter this forest. Gathering her courage, she moved towards the source of all the new chaos that brewed in her heart. Running through all her knowledge on dragons she remembered that there were only two rules in the partnership between a dragon and its rider.

The first, the dragon chooses the rider. And the second—

Her mind suddenly spiked in pain and she grasped her head, cursing her curiosity and wayward heart though stopped when her eyes caught a glimpse of a dark egg that reached up to her waist. Lucy's eyes widened in disbelief, for how could it be, the possibility of something like this was, was almost as impossible for someone to be born an oathbreaker. She chuckled ruefully. This dragon was as unlucky as her. Lucy's shoulders slumped, wanting desperately to take the egg with her but she knew she should not, could not, would not doom this dragon with her cursed fate. The egg released a wave of annoyance as if reading Lucy's train of thought.

Lucy walked even closer to the egg until she was within touching distance.

"…You want me as your rider…?"

The egg glowed slightly as if in affirmation, now that she was closer she could see it was a beautiful shade of midnight with small specks of silver and white spread randomly on the surface.

"But…but I'm a monster…an oathbreaker."

Another lance of pain hit her, giving her a migraine.

"I don't want you to be killed because of me one day! Why don't you get that?!"

Instead of pain it sent out, this time it was a wave of something heartbreakingly familiar. Loneliness. A loneliness that seeped into her bones to her soul. This dragon egg had been alone for so long. Few ventured into the forest and the few it had met had turned tail fearing the egg was cursed.

.

.

Did this change things?

.

.

And the answer was simple.

.

.

.

Yes, it did.

.

.

"…Dragon. I can't promise an easy life. I can't promise a long one and I can't promise a happy one either…" Lucy crouched on knee before the egg, pulling off the black glove that usually covered her right hand, revealing the small, black four-pointed star on the back of her hand that marked her as an oathbreaker.

"But if you'll have me, then I'll make sure you're never lonely again."

"My name is Lucy Heartfilia, an existence who has no place in this world. Would you like to go on a journey with me?"

She placed her marked hand on the egg, surprised at the warmth and the strong heart beat that was slowly synchronising with her own. Something welled in her chest and much later she would realise she had been crying.

And as a crack echoed throughout the forest, and a golden eye opened to meet the bright hazel eyes of its rider, well perhaps that was the day that the wheels of fate finally began to turn.

But even as the oathbreaker made her very first oath and formed an irreversible bond with a dragon which would probably lead to both their deaths one day, something much more important was occurring. Two kindred spirits were feeling some of the soul aching loneliness they had carried for so long, finally ease.

And as the sun finally peeked out from the horizon, a young girl and her dragon began their journey together.

This is not a bright tale. There is no heroine aiming to save the world.

This is simply the story of a cursed girl who made a vow to a dragon to be their rider, their ally and friend, because she knew the pain of loneliness.

Review, favourite and follow to your heart's content!