Author's note: Occasionally, you will see an exclamation mark where a question mark should be. Please note that this is not an error on my part. I don't know if it's a new thing, or I just recently noticed, but when I've been uploading chapters with sentences that end with both an exclamation mark and question mark, the site is automatically cutting out the question mark. So blame the site for this issue.
Chapter XI: Fiirawen's Adventure Part Two
In which Fiirawen makes progress on her quest.
"Uh, excuse me, sir. Miss, may I speak to you for a moment? Hey kid, let's talk for a minute. Ugh, is this town deaf!" Fiirawen screamed in anger.
"Keep it down, dragon," a male, adult Rainbow Face called over as he walked by.
Fiirawen narrowed her eyes and frowned.
"I guess they aren't. Hm…" she paused in contemplation. "They seem to react when I get really loud…"
She quickly spotted a child and grabbed him. She flew to the top of a house and yelled, "Attention! If I don't get some help, I'm going to eat this child!"
All the Rainbow Faces nearby, young and old, stopped and looked up.
"Transport," one of them whispered.
"Okay, now that I have your attention, I was just kidding about-" but she couldn't finish that sentence, having been knocked out cold from a blow from behind.
"Someone call the guards," he called down. "Seems we have a troublemaker here."
Nearly an hour later…
"Ah, ugh, ow, my head," a Red Dragon moaned, sitting up in a prison cell. "What am I doing in- Wait," she suddenly said, thinking back. "No good. I have no memory of what happened to me. Hm, the walls of this room are made of wood. I could just burn right thr-" but once again, she was cut off as a nearby door opened.
An overweight Rainbow Face marched in and gave Fiirawen a good look over.
"Child or not," he began, "I don't allow threats in my town. You'll be kept here for a week, then let go. Think about what you've done as you sit in my dungeon." he turned to leave, but Fiirawen stopped him.
"Wait, sir!" she called out. "There's been a mistake."
"A mistake, eh? Did you or did you not threaten to eat a child?"
"Yes, but I started to say that I was only-"
"Enough! You've confessed to the crime. There is nothing more to discuss." He then left the dungeon and slammed the door.
"What a jerk!" Fiirawen said aloud. "He must be the governor, what with calling things his town and his dungeon. I don't have the time to waste here. I'm burning out right now."
Before she took a deep breath, the door opened again, but she didn't hear it. Right as she was about to let loose a stream of fire, a voice yelled, "Stop!" Fiirawen nearly choked on the flames and began coughing up smoke. She quickly turned to see a small Rainbow Face, a boy, looking at her.
"I have friends in trouble! I can't stay here!" Fiirawen told him.
The boy said nothing. He merely walked over to one side of the room, pulled the ring of keys off of the hook, walked over to Fiirawen cell, and unlocked the door.
"Go on, just don't get caught. I doubt I'll be able to do this twice," he told her.
Fiirawen emerged slowly, then asked, "Why would you do this for me?"
"I love dragons. They are my favorite kind of beast. I wrote a report on one in school the other day. Helping one is a great honor to me. But again, please don't be spotted. The governor would give me a major spanking that I'd never forget if he found out about this."
Fiirawen tried muffling a laugh.
"The governor punishes kids by spanking them. What a weird guy."
Now it was the boy's turn to laugh.
"He only does that to his son," he explained.
Fiirawen froze. "You're the governors son?"
"Heh heh. I read that dragons are supposed to have excellent hearing."
"Pfft. I heard you alright. That was just startling news," she replied with a grin, gently shoving his shoulder.
"Anyway, you'd best get going. I don't know what false accusation was brought against you, as a Red Dragon would never commit a crime, but this is your only chance to avoid retribution." As the boy started to leave, Fiirawen ran over and grabbed his arm.
"Wait! I was unconscious when they brought me here. I don't know my way out."
"Very well. I'll lead you. But wait here just a minute. I need to get something first." The boy left and shortly returned holding a bed sheet. He quickly threw it over the little dragon.
"Hey!"
"Easy, dragon. This is your chance to escape. I cut two little holes for you to see out of. Now just stay close."
As he started to head up the stairs out of the dungeon, Fiirawen asked, "I want to know the name of my rescuer."
"Freund. And may I know the name of my new dragon friend?"
"It's Fiirawen. I will never forget this kindness, Freund."
The Rainbow Face grinned and made his way through the large building.
A guard passed by, and Fiirawen shook a little.
"What have we here, young master? Goofing around with your friends again?"
"Yep. We're about to play ghost attack outside." Fiirawen nodded beneath the sheet.
"Have fun!"
"Whew, that was close," Fiirawen thought to herself.
They passed two more guards, and the scene was repeated over and over.
Finally, Fiirawen could see a door leading to daylight.
"Yes!" Fiirawen thought to herself. Before they reached it though, yet another Rainbow Face passed by- the governor himself.
"Now what are you up to, son?" he asked.
"Oh, just playing around like usual."
"Which friend is it this time?
"It's, uh, my girlfriend Saft."
"Don't be gone too long. You have homework due tomorrow." Then the governor continued on his way. Just when they both thought that they were home free, the governor suddenly turned to say something else. He opened his mouth to speak, then spotted the tip of a red tail sticking out from underneath the sheet. He abruptly turned and walked back over to them.
"You said this is Saft, son?"
"Yeah."
"Funny, I don't remember Saft having-" then he quickly ripped off the sheet, "a red tail."
"Father, I can explain!"
"No, I understand the situation all too well already. Get to your room, now! Guards, the dragon has escaped!"
Freund grabbed Fiirawen by the hand and rushed out the door at an incredible speed. He moved so quickly that the dragon's body fluttered in the air as he pulled her along. He went out the door and made his way to the city limits. Guards tried making chase, but they couldn't keep up and began breathing heavily as they stopped. The two of them reached the hills outside the town and finally came to a stop. Both of them were breathing hard.
"Th- huff thank you huff."
"Don't mention huff it," he replied.
"I am so sorry. Because of me, you're in trouble."
"Eh, father will get over it. I'm actually glad this happened."
"Huh? Why?"
"It'll be a while before father cools off. In the mean time, I get to hang out with my favorite beast."
Fiirawen smiled and sighed. "It won't be all fun and games. I'm on a mission."
"Ooh, do tell."
Fiirawen explained everything, starting with her friends being stuck in a deep sleep to when he showed up.
"Heh, wow, you're even luckier to have met me than I thought."
"What do you mean?"
"The great chef Cocinero cooked for my father on many occasions. More importantly, I think I was the last one to have seen him before he vanished."
"Perfect! Okay, start talking. Err, please."
"It happened really late one night. I should have been in bed, but you know how kids can be…"
Flash Back
A young boy crept down a hallway to get to the kitchen. His tiptoeing was completely inaudible. When he reached his destination, he poked his head around the corner and looked inside. What he saw quickly made him yank his head back in to the other side of the wall. Two Rainbow Faces were inside talking. One was the chef, and the other guy, the boy did not recognize.
"I am an advisor to the governor! He's not the only one who has the power to order you to cook. Now heed my command and send for me when it's done."
"I will not," Cocinero replied bluntly.
The other Rainbow Face, he was clearly a lot older, punched the chef in the face, and he crashing to the ground. The boy's heart began pounding wildly. Cocinero slowly got to his feet.
"Do you still refuse?" he asked him.
"I do, and I will now call for the guards. Assault is a serious offense, but the governor will be especially displeased that his own cook was the one hurt."
"You leave me no choice," the old Rainbow Face replied. He quickly grabbed a frying pan, then whacked the chef over the head so hard that it not only knocked him out, but left a bloody scrape across his head. The boy gasped but quickly covered his mouth. However, the noise was heard.
"What have we here? Ah, the governor's own son. Listen well, child. If you want your family's little cook unharmed, you won't tell your father or any other Rainbow Face. Promise me, as a Rainbow Face never breaks a promise."
"I- I-"
"Quit stuttering and say it."
"I promise."
Then the old Rainbow Face plopped the cook over his shoulder and left into the night.
End of Flash Back
"Wow… And you never told your father about this?"
"I couldn't. I promised not to tell a single Rainbow Face. But, heh heh, lucky for me, he said nothing about dragons."
The two kids grinned in unison.
"So then, where do we start looking for this guy? Think he's still in town?"
"No," Freund replied. "Father had many guards search for him for days, but they had no luck. I'm sure he's fled quite a distance."
"Great. To be honest, while your story was interesting, it hasn't brought me any closer to finding the cook.'
"Oh. Yes, that is true," he replied quietly.
Suddenly, they heard a rustling in some bushes. Fiirawen and Freund quickly turned as two figures burst from the foliage.
"Now we've got y- Huh!" one of them went, suddenly seeing who they were.
"Rane? Clowd?" Fiirawen asked in surprise.
"Aw. It's just that little dragon and a Rainbow Face. Back to the hunt," Rane said sadly.
"Wait!" Fiirawen called out to them.
"Hm?" Clowd asked.
"You guys are out a lot. I'm sure you see many things, both inside and outside of the town," Fiirawen said.
"Yes," Rane replied. "And?"
"Did you ever see an old Rainbow Face carrying something on his back?"
"Nope. You, Clowd?"
"Sorry, but no."
Both Fiirawen and Freund hung their heads.
"Though," Rane said thoughtfully, "I did see a Rainbow Face carrying someone on his back."
"You big goof!" Fiirawen uttered. "Something, someone, same difference!"
"Did you see where they went?" Freund asked.
"It was pretty dark, so I couldn't make out much, like who they were, but they were heading to the swamp, the one not far from here."
"Do you know where that is, Freund?" Fiirawen asked.
"Sorry. I rarely leave the town. Father doesn't like me wondering off."
"Think, uh, you two could take us?" Fiirawen questioned them.
"No can do, kiddo. If we spend all our time helping you, we'll likely come back empty-handed, then Winndia will kill us fore sure." With that, the two Rainbow Faces started to head back to the trees."
"Hold it!"
They stopped and turned to her.
"If you do this for us, I'll hunt you down a whole bunch of meat. Deal?"
The brothers exchanged glances.
"Deal," they said.
Character Bio Number Eleven
Name: Ceit
Species: Flying Sharptooth
Gender: Male
Personality: Obedient, loyal, and hardworking
Power given in part one: Illusionist- The ability to deceive the senses, create things that are fake, and alter memories.
Power given in part two: Switcher- The power to switch the position of two objects or creatures within range.
