Taming a Dragon - DioJona Week Day 2 Summary:

Beast Master, Jonathan Joestar, faces his greatest challenge yet: taming the great, fearsome dragon, DIO, to rescue his beloved Erina from his clutches! But how does one tame such a ferocious beast?

Notes:

(See the end of the work for .)

Work Text:

Echoing through the mountains, the booming roar of the ferocious beast that Jonathan knew he had to face was nothing short of terrifying. If he hadn't already faced the mouth of a bear and a lion in his youth, he'd have been running for the hills. His companion Speedwagon, however, didn't hesitate to throw out a, "Bloody Hell!" as he flinched at the sheer tremor of the voice. William, the man Jonathan looked up to as a mentor, sage-like as he was, showed indifference as he simply prepared some of his spells-- specifically one for keeping their party warm. They had faced many great foes up until then, a little roar wouldn't scare Jonathan nor William now.

The temperature dropped with the increasing altitude, and despite Speedwagon's constant nagging that he would sell his wares to Jonathan for cheap, Jonathan refused his appeals.

He had two reasons: Not wanting his merchant friend to sell for naught, and not willing to wear anything more than what his tribe of Beast Masters were meant to wear to protect their bond with nature: practically nothing. Simple, natural. With skin painted with a few tribal tattoos and markings, most of which encircled his natural star mark. Essentially bare, save for a pair of stone sandals, a necklace made of the sharp teeth of the fallen beasts they were proud to call allies... and rather cheap linen shorts, bound with some rope. Perhaps some cloth bands on his wrists as well, but none of them provided the needed insulation to survive in this area.

Jonathan pushed on with sheer will, as he usually did, knowing he couldn't rest until he had rescued his fellow party member, Erina. It wasn't long until they had finally arrived at the Dragon's lair, covered in ice and darkness.

Their steps were light and stealthy as they entered the icy cave. Speedwagon kept his eyes out for the dragon's loot. William kept his eyes on protecting his allies. Jonathan had his eyes trained into the darkness, watching warily. Sensing. Feeling. That distinct feeling of movement in the shadows. Lurking. Familiar.

Jonathan took a few steps forward by himself. Then a few became more. Until he found himself alone, with gold coins and planted roses at his feet.

And then he finally sensed it, his eyes were locked in on eyes not visible. A shadow cast itself over his face as Dio himself, in human form, revealed himself, looking over his shoulder to lock eyes with the Beast Master.

"Still alive, Jojo?" The dragon hissed before growing his hand into a large talon, "I'm surprised you didn't fall down the mountain hours ago."

"Were those roars an attempt to throw us off?" Jonathan clenched his fists, the magic William had cast was starting to wear off, his fingertips felt cold, "Unfortunately for you, we have come to take back our companion!"

Another large talon appears in his path, crashing into the earth in front of Jonathan, tossing up some of the loose rocks, ice, and earth. "What makes you so sure I haven't already eaten her?" The dragon's eyes glowed almost pink, as if threatening to shoot the Beast Master down with a mere stare. Jonathan made no sudden movements, not even flinching at the rocks flying at his face. He merely wiped them away.

Jonathan's mind was in fact racing, but he knew he could not make any moves to show it, or Dio will snap him right up. He tames beasts for a living, so how do you tame a monster such as this dragon? His eyes darted across the room stealthily as he waited for the dust to clear. Dio's glowing eyes and icy breath was definitely about to pounce, but to the dragon's surprise, Jonathan raised his voice, "I know you won't kill me, Dio! You didn't kill Erina either!"

Shocked, but keeping himself collected, the dragon, growing sharp, cruel fangs, let out a "WRY...". The cold from the dragon's breath made the air freeze even more, and Jonathan certainly felt it creeping against his skin. Frostbite. He likely couldn't take much longer in here, but he knew he had to tame him. This dragon.

"How could you be so sure, Jonathan Joestar?" The dragon's tail swung to point at a few bones on the floor, mixed in with his hoard, "Those could be hers."

The Beast Master's response came far too quickly for Dio's liking. Jonathan on the other hand was just glad his shivering didn't mix in with his voice.

"Far too big, those are a cow's bones. You haven't been eating humans at all! And those roses, Dio, they aren't frozen over. They're growing quite well in here." Jonathan gave Dio a wary smile, to which the dragon glared.

"What makes you so sure? Simply because you're a beast master? Don't make me laugh."

"It's precisely because it's my job. That I know. My new job as... as your friend." A shot in the dark. Perhaps a little too sudden. But Jonathan couldn't take the cold any more. It was freezing. Far too much. Too cold. Dio. It's too cold.

His thoughts were interrupted by a large sigh, blowing hot air into his direction, only for the cold to return twice over, sending Jonathan to his knees. To Jonathan's surprise though, scales suddenly surrounded him, large, warm, secure. The ferocious beast clicked it's tongue near Jonathan's face, eyes looking down at the spent tribesman. "It's your fault for wearing such revealing clothes. All of it. You oaf."

All of it?

"Mr. Joestar!" Speedwagon's voice called out in alarm as various magic circles surrounded Jonathan and the dragon that had wrapped himself around him. "Please wait, Mr. Joestar, we'll get you out of there! Let him go, Dio, you fiend! We have Erina now, we've rescued her!"

Erina herself appeared beside William-- who was straining to keep up the multiple magic circles--holding her lute in her hands. "Dio! Let go of Jonathan already! You've already gotten his attention, haven't you?"

The room suddenly felt much warmer. Perhaps it was due to Dio's body heat increasing. Jonathan had never truly wondered whether dragons could blush, but now he knew that they were perfectly capable of it. "Be quiet, woman. It's this idiot's fault that he went up here wearing nothing but trunks as usual."

"Dio, what does she mean?" Jonathan's hand carefully placed itself on Dio's scales, smooth and almost welcoming to the touch, "Did you do this to get my attention?"

"Don't flatter yourself, boy. It is merely I, Dio, being generous and amicable for a change," the beast growled, "You simply caught me with a good mood, so good, in fact, that I shall escort all of you back to your tribal land, after which it would only be polite to offer me some tea."

Jonathan couldn't help but laugh, softly, as he placed his head wearily against Dio's body. "I knew you weren't bad," he whispered gently, tiredly, as he quietly praised himself for the success of "taming" a beast like Dio.

Dio, on the other hand, kept silent, knowing that any response would have killed the mood. He had planned everything to the T, but some things like Jonathan's stupidity were often times hard to plan for. No matter the method, as long as it ended up in his favour... Even if he had to act friendly, be a better person for his sake, to have Jonathan lean on him for just this little while, so be it.

Notes:

HI AGAIN THANK YOU FOR READING!!! I'M STILL DYIN BUT AT LEAST IT AINT 12AM (It's close though it's about 10pm and im still tired as usual man)
Dragon shape shifter Dio and Beast Master Jonathan with his chest fully out are filling my mind with so much more content but this little drabble is all I can come up with for now with my limited time for today! I would love to write more about their dumb little party's adventures someday, maybe even adding the rest of the Jojos into their little fantasy land!

Side note: Joseph is definitely a god damn bard

Series this work belongs to: Part 2 of the series