Log #7: People Are Crazy, And I'm Okay With That.
Okay, so, it's been about a month since my last journal entry. There really just hasn't been much to say.
Zena's learning to talk. Well, she's learning to swear and insult people with proper syntax. Which is basically the same thing, right?
Asuka's still a sad sack, but that figures. I mean, she is an orphan now. Though, so am I . . and Zena, though she does view Equivaton as a surrogate father . . and, y'now, the big lizard's never talked about his family, so . . we've got a real club going here, eh?
And Equivaton's still teaching me this Dragon Slayer magic shit. I'll be honest; it's all kinds of whacked out, but in a good way. After all, I've already turned one dragon into a cyclops and another into a laughingstock. And soon, I'll be able to fight them on their own terms. Yeah, it's only a matter of time until I have a dragon skull on my mantel. (Also, it's only a matter of time until I have a mantel. I'll put that on my to-do list, right after 'kill a dragon'.)
We're still on the move. Drifting from place to place. Equivaton's wing is healing, which is a relief - it'll be good for him to be able to get airborne. Every few days, we spot a dragon or two, but so far, no humans. And, at Asuka's suggestion, we've been heading east. Apparently her old home town is on the east coast, and she hopes some of her old friends might still be holed up there. I think it's a hell of a long shot, but after losing her mother, no one really wants to tell her no.
Anyway. Our destination is some place called Magnolia. Let's hope it works out better than Ghoulia, eh?
{Apo-C} - One month ago . . .
Stardust groaned as he crashed to the ground. A heavy, muscled form hit him, pinning his neck to the ground, and a massive mouth snarled at him.
"I don't think I'll kill you," the large dragoness, with faded blue scales, covered in red and white highlights, and large, goat-like horns encroaching on her cheeks. "Much better to let you live; a life full of shame and dishonour, regretting your mistakes,"
"They . . weren't . . mistakes," Stardust wheezed, glaring defiantly up at her.
The dragoness laughed coldly. "We'll see if you still think that in a few days. Remember this, wind dragon; you live only because Miach, the Prismatic Dragon, allows it," And with that, she took wing, flapping into the sky.
Miach was on the verge of plunging into the debris field that was Ghoulia and sampling some human prey, but she noticed a large, brown shape fleeing on the ground.
Moving in closer, the dragoness realised it was a dragon; injured, and carrying two humans on its back. A smile tugged at her triangular jowls as Miach considered her options; she could kill them now . . or follow, and hope that they would lead her to more prey.
This should be fun.
{Apo-C} - Present Day
"Well, this is it," Equivaton declared, looking over the crest of the hill he and his passengers were standing on.
"Well, hot damn," Kynigós murmured.
"Yeah. It's been ages," Asuka mused.
Before them was a massive body of water, glittering like an ocean of sapphires.
"We've reached the coast," the hunter observed.
"Magnolia should be just a bit north, along the shoreline," the gunslinger informed the others. "I'll take my bike and scout ahead, see how things are in town,"
"By all means. I'll find something to eat," Kynigós declared, and Equivaton let the two of them down. Asuka wheeled her bike onto solid ground and mounted it, strapping the SE plug to her wrist. "Alright, I'm gone," she declared, revving up the engine and speeding off.
As she left, Kynigós cocked his gun and waved to Zena. "Back soon!" he assured her.
{Apo-C}
It wasn't long before the earth and dirt underfoot turned to paved stone, and the trees fell away to be replaced by ruined, abandoned buildings. Asuka looked around in dismay; it had been years since she'd been here, but she still remembered how her home town had once been. Passing down the main street, she noted with grim satisfaction that the garish building that had once served as the base of operations for Twilight Ogre had been reduced to rubble.
She knew that she ought to be looking for survivors, but first, there was something she had to do.
And so it wasn't long before the gunslinger was pulling up outside the dilapidated farmhouse that, for much of her early childhood, had served as the guild hall of Fairy Tail. Incredibly, the windmill was still standing, even though the nearby barn had collapsed.
Pulling up outside and parking her bike, Asuka warily advanced. The door was missing, but that was no surprise. She looked inside, and, suddenly, was struck with a wave of nostalgia.
A torn and dirtied easel still sat in one corner, and she recalled Uncle Reedus sitting at it, painting any number of amazing things for her. The worn patch of floor where Vijeeter had once practiced his Dance Magic. The barstool that had always been favoured by Mister Macao, where he had drunk away his sorrows time and time again.
It was all so familiar, and yet all so far away.
And it was empty. Swallowing nervously, Asuka forced herself to be objective, and shouted, "Hello? Is anybody here?"
There was no immediate response. The tweenage girl shrugged, turned around, and was about to step outside . . when, suddenly, the building shook, and she heard a distant rumble from behind the building.
Taking her bike and stepping back from the guild hall, she looked around for the source of the noise, and saw something above the tree line. There was a plume of steam that hadn't been there before, and it seemed to be moving . . in her direction.
Walking around the side of the building, Asuka peered through the trees, attempting to see what the source was. Between the branches, she saw flashes; faded steel plates, wheels kicking up sparks, glowing windows, trees being knocked aside and collapsing.
And, whatever it was, it was encroaching on the guild hall.
The blood drained from Asuka's face, and she pulled her bike away from the building, before climbing on and gunning the engine. In minutes, she was speeding down the hill, escaping the threat, until she was at the end of the road, watching the building and knowing, whatever was in the forest, whether it was a dragon or something else, it was about to destroy her childhood home.
And then it exploded from the tree line. Immediately, Asuka recognised it; it was a train! A retrofitted train with car wheels to replace its own and the front of an off-road magic-mobile haphazardly attached to the front. There was what looked like a steel water-wheel mounted to it, spinning forwards as the train moved, scooping up everything in its path and feeding it to the roaring engine contained within the metal monstrosity, and with steel guards rigged around the wheels to protect them. A funnel still attached to the rusted orange boiler belched out the trail of steam and smoke that Asuka had seen before, and attached to the funnel hung a black pirate flag that showed a pair of lips and a tongue with a crossbones.
And as it emerged from the forest, it skirted the Fairy Tail guild hall and targeted the collapsed barn, scooping up the ruined timbers and piles of straw and consuming them, causing happy gouts of flame to burst from grilles on the sides of the machine.
The hodgepodge monstrosity rolled over the garden, eating its way through the fence and emerging onto the main road. As it did, Asuka saw that two similarly-retrofitted train carriages that still bore a faded green/gold paint job were connected to it with an assortment of pipes and cables, and a flatbed lorry was similarly attached to form a fourth carriage. On the roof of the first trailer was some sort of turret that looked like a Gatling gun, and mounted in the bed of the lorry was what almost looked like a missile launcher. Following in the absurd vehicle's wake was a bright blue van, as well as a car and a pair of magicycles not unlike her own.
And the procession was now barreling down the road, its spinning waterwheel rig and the black void beneath it like a massive mouth prepared to swallow her and her motorbike whole and convert them into fuel.
Asuka gulped, swung her leg over the seat of her bike and gunned it.
{Apo-C}
"Alright, lunch is up!" Kynigós grinned, hefting a freshly killed deer.
"Indeed it is," Equivaton assured him, throwing a rock in his direction.
Kynigós narrowly dodged the small boulder. "What the hell was that for, you big lizard?"
"That was for lunch. It's about time you learned how to eat your element for strength,"
"What the hell are you talking about?" Kynigós asked as Equivaton picked up another boulder, opened his jaws wide, and crunched it between his teeth. "Oh, no. No, no no no,"
"You have seasonings in that bag of yours, right?" the Earth Dragon questioned.
"It doesn't matter what I season it with, I'm not eating no goddamn dirt!" the hunter roared in response.
In response, Equivaton leapt over and pinned the boy to the ground with a claw. Kynigós gasped, before raising a fist. "Earth Dragon's Titanic - mph!" His half-formed Spell was interrupted by a chunk of stone being forced into his mouth by Equivaton's surprisingly dexterous claws. "Eat it," the dragon commanded.
Zena watched all this with wide eyes. She thought it was hilarious.
Kynigós struggled as Equivaton shoved the rock further into his mouth. "Mm . . nat . . gunna . ." And then his gag reflex kicked in and he swallowed, taking the rock into his body.
Satisfied, Equivaton released him, leaving the hunter to splutter uncontrollably. "You big -"
"Ash-hole?" Zena put forward.
"Yeah! What the hell are you playing at?!" Kynigós demanded.
"Shush, you. It worked, didn't it?" the Earth Dragon responded.
Kynigós rolled his eyes. "I am not eating rocks!"
"That's fine. Soil is better for digestion anyway," The hunter was certain that Equivaton was toying with him now. "Oh, go bury yourself in a cave or something,"
"If I do, I'm taking you with me," the dragon informed him.
{Apo-C}
Asuka sped down the main street of Magnolia. The absurd train and its convoy continued to pursue her, the clattering noise of its engine drowning out all else.
South Gate Park sped by to her right, and, suddenly, Asuka noticed that the massive tree - the one she remembered having picnics with her parents underneath - had been knocked onto the road and was blocking her route. It looked to have been there for a while; the trunk was blackened and decayed, and the leaves had long since abandoned the cracked and splintered branches.
She grimaced. "Shit," and twisted the handlebars sideways, sending her bike dropping off the road and down into the park to avoid the blockage. Gripping the frame of her ride with her knees, Asuka immediately sped back up the embankment and briefly let herself fly into the air, at which point she landed with both wheels back on the road.
Glancing behind her, she saw the gluttonous engine of the train bite into the tree trunk, breaking it into splinters and swallowing the remains. "I really liked that tree," she sighed, before speeding on, seeing the smoke-stained spire of Kardia Cathedral not too far away. Maybe the cathedral might afford her some safety?
But as she emerged onto the street, she saw it. The cathedral had collapsed, crushed under the foot of a long-gone dragon, with only the main tower still held up by a shaky foundation of stone.
"Shit," Asuka muttered and drove past it, continuing to angle south. If she could lead her assailants back to Kynigós and Equivaton - well, a junkyard on wheels was no match for the greatest hunter in Edolas.
Oh, and an Earth Dragon. Actually, Equivaton probably would be more effective.
So she left the buildings behind her, speeding back into the forest as the train pursued her, smashing through the undergrowth and eating up trees and bushes. On nimble wheels, Asuka darted between trunks before angling left and emerging onto the beach. As the pursuing train emerged onto the beach, it kicked up a cloud of sand, and Asuka dared to look back, hoping that it might have been trapped in the sand. But no such luck; the thick, off-road wheels of the train were ploughing through the sand, and the train kept coming.
They must have made quite a sight, a lone motorbike with a trail of sand behind it being pursued along the shore by such an absurd train. But Asuka didn't care. She was a little too preoccupied with not dying.
And then she saw them; the massive form of Equivaton looming next to a hill. She grinned; the dragon's brown scales made him look like a pile of dirt if you didn't look too closely. And Asuka was certain that her pursuers were too preoccupied with her to pay attention to the topology. The forest had cleared, so she angled back onto solid ground. The last thing she wanted was sand clogging her precious bike's engine.
As the gunslinger crested a hill, and Kynigós and Zena came into view near Equivaton, she hollered, "Look alive, we have hostiles!"
Kynigós was on his feet in an instant, unslinging his gun. "Dragons?!" He shouted back at her.
"Trains!" Asuka replied as she reached the bottom of the hill and sped towards him.
Kynigós frowned, cocking her head at her. "What was that?" he frowned, and the dragons seemed equally confused.
And then, with a loud whistle, the absurd train reached the top of the hill and started to speed downwards in pursuit. The glowing yellow windows locked with Equivaton's eyes for a second as a roar echoed from the motor within the massive spinning mouth wheel, and Equivaton growled, realising the threat. As the hostile vehicle rattled down the hill, Kynigós watched it in equal parts horror and bemusement. "Oh. Trains,"
Asuka sped past him, shifting her balance and skidding to a half, splattering Kynigós with dust. The hunter barely even noticed, raising his gun and taking aim at the windows of the front carriage. "Eat this," he declared, and fired. The window exploded, and the hunter saw someone duck for cover within. He frowned, and wondered if it would be more effective to target the engine.
And then the train reached the bottom of the hill, and Equivaton was upon it, snatching the engine in a mighty claw and lifting it off the ground like a toy. The other four vehicles trailed to a halt as they registered the presence of the imposing Earth Dragon.
Kynigós' eyes widened as he spotted someone on the roof of the train, making for the artillery emplacement on the second carriage. "Look out!" he shouted, scrambling sideways and taking aim.
His finger was on the trigger when a vaguely familiar voice shouted, "Hold your fire!"
And then a very familiar-looking blonde woman jumped out of the train, clutching a makeshift white flag in both hands. Her command had been addressed at the man operating the turret, but Kynigós heeded it too, not least because he recognised the woman before him. "Lucy!" he shouted in amazement, abandoning his position and running towards her.
The Celestial Wizard turned in surprise. "Pierce?" She gasped, before beaming at him. "No way. I thought you were dead,"
Kynigós drew up short. For a second he had forgotten that this was Earth Land, not Edolas. ". . He is," he shot the Fairy down. "I'm Kynigós. I'm from Edolas,"
Lucy Heartfilia regarded him curiously, and a faraway look entered her eyes. "Edolas. Right, of course . . I haven't thought about that place in years," she admitted.
"Lucy?" Asuka gasped, running towards her, and Lucy turned and smiled. "There you are, Asuka," she greeted her guild mate.
Who promptly punched her in the face. "What the hell kind of crap are you pulling? You almost killed me!" Asuka shouted as the blonde collapsed to the ground.
Kynigós stifled a chuckle.
"I wasn't going to kill you," Lucy weakly offered, pushing the younger girl away. "I just saw you at the old guild hall, and I recognised that hat, and," She sniffed, and moisture began to brim in her eyes. "It's been so long since I saw anyone else who I knew before," the Celestial Wizard admitted, sinking to her knees and pulling a surprised Asuka into a hug. "I'm sorry that we scared you. I just wanted to catch up,"
"Well, you got us," Kynigós nodded, before looking up. "Or, rather, we got you. Oi! You can let them down now, you big lizard!" He hollered up at Equivaton, who carefully set the train carriage down, before peering at the two of them. "So, this little fleshbag's not my dinner?"
"No," Asuka fiercely retorted.
"Eh, she might be useful," Kynigós shrugged.
"Fine by me," Equivaton nodded, oblivious to the way Lucy was shaking in fear, and retracted his head. "So, he's, uh, a friend of yours?"
"Yep," Kynigós confirmed.
"Do I want to know?" the Fairy nervously questioned.
Kynigós thought back, considering the Sempiternal Phoenix, the time travel, the mess in Ghoulia, and shook his head. "No, I don't think you do,"
Behind her, someone else emerged from the train, and Lucy looked up. "Don't worry, they're friendly,"
"Good," the man standing behind her nodded. Kynigós looked up and saw a dark-skinned man with blonde hair and an arrogant smile. He could practically smell the attitude oozing off him. "Cause we shouldn't hang around,"
"Why not?" Kynigós asked, standing and looking at the other man.
"We survive by staying on the move," he explained, placing his hands on his hips. "Name's Bellamy, by the way,"
"Kynigós. And why come to Magnolia?" The hunter, who had pieced together the series of events, asked.
"We've been moving around for years. We have a friend who lives in a bunker somewhere around here, and we were going to meet up with him," Lucy explained, and Bellamy added, "He's a mechanic, and we were hoping he could upgrade the Neo New Witch's Tongue,"
Lucy stood and elbowed the man. "I told you that we are not renaming Urano Metrion after your old pirate ship," she hissed, gesturing to the absurd train.
"Urano Metrion? Isn't that a spell? Mum told me you used to do that," Asuka mused thoughtfully.
"Yeah. But I don't anymore," Lucy frowned, looking down as a shadow fell over her face.
". . Why not?" Asuka asked.
"Because only Celestial Wizards can perform Urano Metrion," Lucy sighed, and her eyes fell on a spot on her hip, where, once upon a time, a pouch had hung containing a magical keyring.
There was a moment of silence.
"Well, it makes a cool train," Kynigós uncertainly offered, and Lucy weakly smiled. "Thanks,"
"So," Equivaton rumbled, and the four humans looked up at him. "Who's this friend you were going to meet?"
"He used to be part of a rival guild to Fairy Tail, back when there were guilds," Lucy clarified, before looking at Kynigós. "Your counterpart in this world was a guildmate of his, actually,"
The hunter brightened at this. It would be interesting to meet another of his old guildmates - this world's versions of them, anyway. "Yeah? Who is it? Tyria? Master? The twins?"
"Um, no," the former Fairy shook her head. "His name's Astro,"
{Apo-C}
High above, a blue/red dragon flapped, circling above like a vulture. Miach grinned; she knew her gamble would pay off eventually.
{Apo-C}
Soon, Urano Metrion was rattling onwards, as Bellamy, armed with a map, steered it towards the place where Astro's bunker should be. He was seated in a central chair, with a steering wheel before him and a myriad of other controls mounted around him.
"So, did I hear something about you being a pirate?" Kynigós, who was riding in the driver's cabin with him, asked. "Is that why there's a flag on the funnel?"
"Yep. You're looking at the former captain of the Bellamy Pirates," the dark-skinned man saluted. "Of course, this was back when people could still live on the Grand Line,"
"The Grand Line?" Kynigós asked, frowning.
"Oh, that's right, you're from some other universe, or something," Bellamy hummed. "The Grand Line is an ocean, filed with islands. There used to be pirates all over it, looking for fame and power and the "One Piece" . . but then the dragons came," he frowned. "Those monsters quickly learned that ships might as well be lunchboxes to them. And on the small islands of the Grand Line and surrounding areas, there was nowhere to run. We had to get out or get eaten,"
"So you came here, to Fiore," Kynigós surmised.
"Naah. I went to Alakitasia. But that place is even more screwed up than this one," Bellamy chuckled mirthlessly, swallowing and biting back tears. "I lost my ship, and my crew, and my idol, and my treasure," he choked. "All that's left are my fists and my flag,"
"And that's your flag out there," Kynigós gestured through the train's broken window to the black crossbones flag attached to Urano Metrion's funnel, with its pursed lips and extended tongue.
"You got it," Bellamy admitted, before starting to quietly hum a tune to himself.
After a moment, Kynigós asked, "What's that song?"
"It's an old sea shanty. Everyone on the Grand Line knew it," Bellamy shook his head.
Kynigós raised his eyebrows in expectant curiosity. "Well? Go on, sing it,"
"You sure? I'm pretty terrible," the pirate shrugged, but the hunter nodded encouragingly. "Alright," he nodded, and cleared his throat.
"Gather up all of the crew, it's time to ship out Binks' Brew,
Sea wind blows, to where, who knows? The waves will be our guide,"
Kynigós hummed along as Bellamy sung. It was a catchy, uplifting song, and, on an impulse, he whipped out his journal, flipped to the back page and copied down the lyrics. After all, a bit of levity could go a long way.
"O'er across the ocean's tide. Rays of sunshine far and wide.
Birds they sing, of cheerful things, in circles passing by,"
{Apo-C}
Soon, the Urano Metrion was pulling up outside a large metal building with a rounded roof, painted with khaki colours for camouflage. Kynigós looked up at it, impressed. "This Astro guy has style," he admitted.
And then a quartet of turrets popped out of the ground, each baring lethal weaponry. One was aimed at the engine of the train, the other three at Equivaton, who had been following it on foot.
Lucy dashed out of the first carriage. "Whoa! Hey, Astro, it's alright! We're friendly!" she shrieked.
Kynigós cracked a grin, leaning out of the driver's cabin to watch the proceedings. He really liked this Astro guy's style.
"Why did you bring a dragon to my bunker?" a voice echoed from tiny Lacrima around the main doors that the turrets were defending.
"He's friendly!" Lucy shouted in response. "See how he's not killing us?"
"He could be manipulating you, waiting for me to let you in before killing us all, including me!" the speakers retorted.
Kynigós rolled his eyes, dismounting from the train and looking up at the lacrimas, before focusing on one of the gun placements. "Earth Dragon's Roar!" he shrieked, letting loose a contained blast of spinning rocks that battered the turret until it was only so much scrap.
Everyone watched this in surprise, Lucy particularly so. "You're a . . Dragon Slayer?" she gasped.
The lacrimas buzzed for a second. ". . Alright then," Astro accepted, and the doors rolled open.
Bellamy blew the Urano Metrion's whistle victoriously and drove the absurd train into the garage. Kynigós and Lucy watched as the four satellite vehicles, as well as Asuka on her own bike, followed, and Lucy walked in.
"You gonna be alright out here?" Kynigós hollered at Equivaton, who still had Zena resting on his back. "We'll be fine," the dragon rumbled in response.
{Apo-C}
The various occupants of the five vehicles all exited for the first time, and Kynigós raised his eyebrows; not counting himself and Asuka, there were a dozen men and women inhabiting the Urano Metrion and its splinter vehicles.
Asuka shivered, standing near him and looking at the small community; mostly adults and teenagers, but she saw one mother clutching a young child. "I miss Ghoulia," she murmured to Kynigós. "Hey . . do you ever miss your home? In Eda-whatsit?"
Kynigós considered this, taking a moment to reflect on the times he had shared with his old guildmates. Before Knightwalker had brought it all to ruin. "Yeah. I do," he admitted. "But those days are gone. The here and now, that's what's important,"
Asuka shot him a knowing smile. " 'How are we going to survive this?', right?"
"Yeah, exactly," Kynigós nodded at her.
A clattering noise distracted Asuka, and as she turned to look at the commotion, Kynigós paused, realising what he had just said, and facepalmed. "Damnit, Pierce. Don't get attached, or you'll just set yourself up to get hurt," he commanded himself.
Meanwhile, a humanoid figure who seemed to be made entirely of metal was floating towards them, seemingly in defiance of gravity. "Good morning, travellers! What can we do for you today?" the mechanical woman with her lightbulb eyes asked, seeming to peer at all of them, as though she were somewhat nearsighted.
". . The hell is that?" Asuka questioned.
"Well, hello Tinka. A pleasure to see you as always," Bellamy grinned at the robot, and the gunslinger realised with surprise that she was actually hanging from string that hung from a mechanism on the ceiling. "Wow . . it's like this place is a giant puppet theatre," she observed.
"We need the Urano Metrion repaired, and maybe upgraded if you can," Lucy explained.
Tinka giggled, and threw the Fairy a mock salute. "You got it, cutie pie," she grinned, and sections of the floor that the train was resting on began to descend into the bowels of the earth, before rapidly being sealed up.
"Um," Kynigós frowned, and Lucy noticed his concern. "Astro never actually comes out. He figures that the dragons can't get to him in his bunker, deep underground, and he's safe as long as he doesn't leave,"
"Well, why aren't we all down there?" the hunter demanded.
"Because he's incredibly paranoid, and hates contact with other people. Besides, it's a dumb plan to begin with. A dragon could easily dig him out, but staying down there keeps his paranoia in check," the Fairy sighed.
"So, if a hostile dragon attacks us here, we might all die because he doesn't play well with others," Kynigós interpreted, and Lucy shrugged. "That's life,"
"Bullshit is what it is," Kynigós grumbled.
"Well, there ain't nothing we can do about it," Bellamy shrugged, coming over and sitting with them.
"So, tell me more about the Grand Line," Kynigós suggested as a means of passing the time while Astro worked.
Bellamy brightened at this, and it wasn't hard to guess why. Everyone liked reliving happier days. "Alright," he accepted. "Have you ever heard about the legend of "One Piece"?"
"Nope," the hunter shook his head, and Asuka shrugged.
"Well, it goes like this. Twenty-nine years ago, there was a pirate named Gold Roger," the pirate began. "This incredible man gained wealth, fame, power - everything the world had to offer," he continued. "He was hailed the world over as the King of the Pirates,"
Kynigós raised his eyebrows. "Go on,"
"And then he died,"
A smile played at Bellamy's lips as Kynigós, Asuka and Lucy all simultaneously fell over in shock. "Well, what the hell was the point of 'everything the world had to offer' if he didn't live to enjoy it?" Kynigós demanded, picking himself up.
"No. The important part is what he did right before he was executed," Bellamy raised a finger, still with a devilish grin. "Someone asked him what he did with his treasure,"
"And what did he say?" Childish enthusiasm sparked within Asuka as she hung on every word from this grizzled survivor.
At this, Bellamy threw his head back and laughed, putting on a deeper voice. "You want my treasure? You can have it!" he quoted with a wide smile. "I left everything I gathered together in one place. Now, you just have to find it!"
Asuka grinned, and Lucy chuckled, having heard the story before. "And so the legend of the One Piece, the treasure that would make the person who found it the next King of the Pirates, was born," Bellamy finished.
"Sounds good. A bit too good," Kynigós skeptically pointed out.
"Well, it's a legend. No one ever actually found it . . the dragons saw to that. Or maybe it was never real in the first place, there's no way to know," Bellamy grumbled. "Odds are, though, some dragon happened on it and is using it as a bed or something, with no knowledge of what it really is,"
"That's a shame . ." Asuka sighed.
"Yeah, well, if we live long enough, maybe we'll go look for it someday, eh?" Kynigós suggested with a smile. "I mean, we have a dragon. And if the Grand Line is as bereft of humans as you say, then the dragons around there will probably have moved on to find richer hunting grounds. The place will be deserted,"
"Hey, you might be right," Bellamy realised, cracking a smile. "Alright then,"
"We're gonna be pirates!" Asuka grinned, and Kynigós cast her a look. "We have to survive long enough, first," he pointed out.
{Apo-C}
Things were quiet for the afternoon, as well as the first part of the night, and as the stars emerged like thousands of eyes looking down on them, Kynigós reclined outside, with Zena snuggled up with him and Equivaton's tail curled around them both.
"Why aren't you inside, whelp?" Equivaton quietly asked, gesturing to the nearby bunker. "It's warmer, and all the other humans are sleeping in there,"
"So what?" Kynigós shrugged. "That's their choice. Me, I like sleeping with the starlight and with Zena,"
Equivaton quietly hummed, considering this. "I see," he noncommitially responded, settling down once again.
Lying against the dragon's scales, with his adoptive sister's head resting in his lap . . Kynigós wouldn't say he was happy. Happiness was a fleeting memory for him. But he was at ease, and that in itself was cause for celebration.
And then, because, obviously, the universe would not allow Kynigós to get a good night's sleep, a bellowing noise echoed on the wind.
Equivaton and Kynigós were immediately alert, and the Earth Dragon picked himself up and looked around warily. "Take Zena, get her inside with the humans. I'll go check it out," he declared, picking the direction that the sound seemed to have come from, and setting off before the hunter could offer a word of protest.
The Dragon Slayer looked at the sleeping dragonet, and groaned. "Low blow, you big lizard," he grumbled, before hoisting the baby in both arms and carrying her towards the partially-opened doors of the bunker.
Meanwhile, Equivaton, his lumbering form straddling the trees, searched for the newcomer. "Where are you?" he growled, looking around.
There was a flash of light to his left, and he turned towards it, approaching to inspect - but what he saw gave him pause.
White scales bruised and battered, wings crumpled and claws ripped from his digits, Stardust was lying, half dead, in a clearing.
Equivaton gasped, recognising the dragon they had met in Ghoulia, and rushed to his side. "Stardust? What happened? Who did this?"
Exhaling, the injured dragon's eyelids fluttered, before going wide as he registered Equivaton. "You have to tell them . ." he weakly breathed, clenching his jaw and spitting out words. "The humans,"
"Yes? What about them? What do you need me to tell them?" the dragon urgently pressed, suddenly concerned for Kynigós, Asuka and Zena's safety.
Stardust spluttered as his body went limp. ". . Run,"
Equivaton blinked, and paled, turning back in the direction of Astro's bunker. Seconds before a vaguely familiar dragon fell out of the sky and landed in front of it.
A/N
A/N
The Urano Metrion train is completely inspired by Mad Max. I'll just put that out there.
Y'now, after writing the scene with Kynigós eating dirt, I'm wondering how Natsu and Gajeel learned to eat their elements. XD
War.
