Warning: Spoilers for the first two hours of the ExtraLife stream! If you don't want to be spoiled about some things that happened, I would suggest you either go to CaptainSparklez's twitch and watch the past broadcast up to an hour-and-a-half-ish, or you wait until someone else posts the footage. Otherwise, enjoy!
Jordan blinks, staring up at the ceiling of his house. The thought of moving into Jerry's Tree once again comes, unbidden, to his mind. It is not that he does not like this house anymore – in fact, he loves it; it has memories attached to it – but the tree feels more comfortable. More familiar. For all of the memories that his current home has, Jerry's Tree has ten more to meet it. It is also larger, with a better-hidden vault, and is, in a sense, a gift from the Wizards. A reminder of what home used to be.
He sighs and shuts his eyes, shoving away the thought. No, he's content here. This house is hardly poorly made, despite it having its flaws and not being as massive as Sonja and Tucker's home or as decorated as Tom's tower. It is perfect for him – for someone who has nothing to hide.
For someone who is alone.
That is a chord that strikes home to Jordan. Yes, he has typically traveled alone. He has rarely had a large group of friends to surround himself with on his journeys – but now that he has got friends around, the sensation of lonesomeness and emptiness is noticeable. It is palpable, weighing down on his chest like an anvil and making his heart fill ill with envy. Tucker and Sonja have each other; Tom has Nadeshot; the Modsteps have each other; and even Declan has someone with whom he can venture and discuss regularly. Jordan is alone.
And suddenly that is the worst thing he could ever admit to himself.
He considers getting out of his bed. Walking out of the door. Maybe heading to the Mianite temple to visit Lara. He stops himself, though. Lara is most likely with Jace, dancing around him like she seems to always do, while the younger Guardian laughs and entertains the idea of stealing gold blocks from the temple.
Guardian.
Jordan's thoughts trail to Furio. Dianite had called Furio a Guardian, had he not? Was there a relationship between Jace and Furio, one that was dangerous and threatening? The mere question of it makes his stomach knot. Anxiety kicks in, and Jordan finds himself wondering what a Guardian really is, whether or not Jace and Lara are really what they seem.
Caught in his thoughts, Jordan just manages to catch what sounds like an enderman teleporting. His first instinct is to get to his feet, grab for his sword, and find the creature. He does not truthfully need more pearls, but it is always a service to have them. He is certain Ianite would understand why he chooses to go after the creatures of the End.
However, when he attempts to sit up, he realizes that it is not just the loneliness that has settled atop his chest.
There is also something real on his chest.
And, by the feel of things, it is moving.
He opens his eyes immediately and reaches down to grab the thing on his chest. It is cold and covered in plated scales that make Jordan think of a snake. But there are no snakes in Mianite, are there? He has not seen one; no one has mentioned anything about snakes. Whatever thing is on his chest, however, is covered in the scales – and further inspection promises that it has a tail, and a snout, and—
Two glowing purple eyes, which are now looking at Jordan as curiously and cautiously as he is looking at them.
Realization hits Jordan like a lightning strike. The thing on top of him – the creature on top of him – is an Enderdragon. The knowledge of that makes Jordan's heart race in his chest because how? Tom had killed the only Enderdragon in the Realm. How can there possibly be another, and how can it be so small?
The little Enderdragon, which is only the size of a fairly large cat, presses its cold, wet nose against Jordan's hairline, sniffing at him. It pulls back after a moment, blinking once, twice.
"Uh… hi there…?" Jordan greets.
The dragon tilts its head, warbling quietly. Its tail swishes across Jordan's stomach. Only then does Jordan realize, with an even deeper sinking feeling, that he does not know how to read the body language of an Enderdragon. It may very well want to eat him and he is not certain he could fight off even a baby dragon by himself.
"Good… Good dragon," he says. He dares to lift his hand to stroke underneath its chin. The dragon lets out a noise similar to a purr, leaning into his touch. After a moment, it rolls over onto its back, stretching its neck.
Jordan risks a smile. "Hey there. You're not so mean, are you? I'm just gonna…"
He raises his other hand, bringing his fingers to the chat-pad attached to his wrist. With just a brush across the screen, a hologram appears. He sifts through the names located on the projection until he finds Declan's. After that, he just hopes that Dec is awake still – and has some idea as to why an Enderdragon is now located on his chest.
CaptainSparklez: Sooooo… Declan.
CaptainSparklez: Did the gods get in touch with you recently?
He waits a moment – two, three, four, five. All the while, he tries to keep the little dragon content. It continues to purr and rumble out quiet growls at him, which he assumes to be happy noises because it has yet to try to bite him. If he has not yet lost a limb, he can only guess that the creature is delighted.
CommunityMC: Yes, they did.
CommunityMC: Lady Ianite mentioned that she sent you a present.
CommunityMC: It should be arriving soon.
Jordan blinks down at the dragon before turning his gaze back to the hologram.
CaptainSparklez: Did she say what it was?
CommunityMC: She mentioned that there were a few like it already.
CaptainSparklez: Is it named?
CommunityMC: Lady Ianite didn't mention a name.
He hums and looks longer at the dragon. It has moved away from his hand now. In fact, it is now sitting on the floor, playing with a few loose strands hanging from his blanket. It lets out noises that should probably be the beginnings of a roar, but instead sound like a cat just learning to hiss. The sounds are almost adorably squeaky.
CaptainSparklez: Okay. Thanks, Dec. Night.
He shuts down the chat-pad, and then swings his legs carefully over the side of the bed. The dragon jumps back. It lowers down so its chest is closer to the floor and raises its hind into the air. Jordan wonders for only a moment what it is planning, before he remembers the cat he once had. Karry had behaved similarly when she was about to—
Pounce.
He flinches slightly, feeling the dragon land on his left foot. Its feet scramble around on top of his foot, batting at his shoe. Tiny claws scratch against the shoe, but do nothing to damage it otherwise.
Jordan breathes a sigh of relief.
"Haha… oh. You just… wanna play, huh?"
He reaches down, sweeping the dragon up into his arms. It whines for a moment before settling against his chest. It presses its head over his head and growls softly, eyes slipping closed.
"You need a name," Jordan tells it, "are you a boy or a girl, though?"
He hums and considers checking, face turning red at the thought. He decides against it. Instead, he thinks back to seeing the dragon on its back earlier. It had not seemed then to be male, and Jordan had heard rumors of Enderdragons being primarily female. The rumors stated that the egg taken after the defeat of an Enderdragon was actually just that dragon, waiting to be reborn.
"How about…"
He bites his bottom lip.
Whistles a few times.
Bounces on his heels.
Because he cannot think of a name for it.
His thoughts trail to his days spent with his friends. Memories of things that they have named coming to mind, and only then does Jordan realize that he has not named many things. Sonja has Borris; Tom has his fish; Tucker has other fish he has named to replace Tom's; Nade has his horse.
Jordan has Jerry, but Jerry is not a very feminine name – and there is already one Jerry, waiting for Jordan in the tree, a namesake for the lost slime.
Jordan looks down at the dragon. Dragoness? She is asleep in his arms. Despite her state of being, she is still growling quietly in time with his heartbeat. Content that she is asleep, he glances out of his window and notices something bright and shiny in the sky.
That.
That is it.
"Polaris," he says. "That's your name, girl. Your name is Polaris now."