Will Hanzo ever see Dragon!Symmetra again? It is not the dragon he was expecting. And why did Symmetra want his ribbon?

itshigh-boop:

He sees her again but it’s not really because he intended it. Shortly after he returns to the surface with his treasure from Satya, he finds he can’t part with the crown. Despite knowing that it’d be worth an exorbitant amount of money, he can’t sell it. Every time he sees his reflection in the crown, he remembers golden eyes.

However, one evening, he’s resting at a tavern and ends up having the crown spotted by other treasure hunters. They harass him, demanding to know where he got hold of such a beautiful piece. He refuses to share the secret, both from his pride as a treasure seeker himself and because he doesn’t want anyone else to disturb Satya. Nagini are beyond beasts of myth – stories say they are closer to deities than mortal. Disturbing one could cause all sorts of disorder. She let him go because he managed to entertain her, perhaps…but he doubts it would be the same for these fools.

Unfortunately, his refusal to speak causes a bit of an uproar among treasure hunters, determined to find this secret cave that “only one other” has seen. Even though he knows others have seen Satya before, he’s probably the only one who bothered to make civilized contact. Hanzo goes back to the cave in secret, ensuring no one follows him. It’s difficult to find, since the first time he found it completely by accident, but he manages. He feels he has to warn Satya about possible intruders. She’s not a killer – he hadn’t sensed blood lust within her in their first encounter but who knows what she’s capable of.

When he finds her, she’s in her human form, settled against a rock and overlooking her giant, tranquil pool, his yellow silk ribbon wrapped around her forearm. She doesn’t seem disturbed by his intrusion or presence but does ask him what caused him to return. He tells her of his mistake and she merely seems irritated at the greed of humankind. Nothing will happen if the mortals find her, beyond them thinking she’s a helpless human woman and ransack her cave. 

Hanzo still feels guilty for essentially causing her so much trouble. He asks her if there’s a way he can help and even offers his bow to dispose of any intruders. This offer, however, causes her to swear that she’d sooner seal off her cave to the rest of the world for all eternity. He quickly apologizes; it truly appears that Satya avoids killing as much as possible, if not entirely. 

Instead, she admits that perhaps the situation could be made into something productive. Millennia of guarding her cave have left her without stimulation. For all the trouble Hanzo has brought her, Satya says he’s also provided entertainment. She essentially demands his help in seeking a new cave – one untouched that she can mold to her design. It would pass the time, at least, and leave her in peace. 

He agrees readily, glad to help, and is surprised when she does not walk out in her human form. Instead, taking the form of a thin, long snake and slithering up his body until she reaches his head, where she asks him to hold his hair back. When he does, she uses herself as a ribbon, and the two are off.

Satya is very picky – she will accept nothing less than perfection when they look for a new cave for her. Hanzo takes her to many caverns, caves, openings in the earth, but each one is deemed unworthy. He never questions her criteria but it does make things take longer. The archer doesn’t mind, instead, as the days stretch into weeks, and months, he takes to the companionship of his nagini partner. Hanzo’s never been one for jokes but he enjoys Satya’s dry sense of humor. He secretly admires how he can sense her curiosity whenever they pass through human settlements but she never has any questions for him.

One night, as they rest underneath a milky-way littered night sky, Hanzo decides to ask why she agreed to his initial trade for her crown and his ribbon. It takes her a moment to answer but eventually she explains that she was once mortal; a girl who sought truth and order in a time where the world was more chaotic than it was now. The gods turned her into a nagini for her virtue, and truthfully, she’d been happier for it. But it did become lonely as time went on. Humanity is chaotic but it does present certain pleasures of mind and wonderful discoveries. Every human that ever wandered into her domain reminded her of less pleasant times in her once mortal life and she quickly sent them off. Hanzo was the first mortal to ever attempt contact as an equal rather than act as if she were some mindless beast simply guarding treasure. The trade presented itself as a chance to regain some token of humanity, the soft silk so different than her hard and cold gems – it was an anchor, at times. 

Hanzo is humbled that she would be so honest with him and thanks her. She makes another confession; in truth, many of the caves they’d seen were perfect. She just grew to enjoy and prefer his company, even while traveling in the world of chaotic humans. He returns the sentiment and the two fall into a comfortable silence. The journey for a cave is soon forgotten as the nagini tags along with the treasure hunter, and occasionally teases him about perhaps one day showing him to the realm of the naga, where he’d find treasure beyond his comprehension. In turn, he makes amused promises of showing her his homeland and the beauty they’ll find there.