Jason stood at attention, making sure not to fall out of line with much older recruits who had spent far longer at the academy. He was at a graduation ceremony, having completed military training far before anyone else in his class, and with honors too. His prior time serving in Camp Jupiter's army and time as praetor certainly worked to his advantage here, and Jason was beaming in pride. Just a few days in, and he has already received his first assignment! He remembered Amber's shocked face when he told Amber that he was graduating, only a week and a half in. They were sitting on top of a grassy hill at sunrise that morning when Jason broke the news to Amber.
"Three moons! Jason. Hot damn!" he had said, admiration glinting in his eyes, the smile crinkling the soft scales adorning his face.
Jason could only look sheepishly at Amber. He wasn't used to so much praise.
"You're almost too good to be a new soldier," Amber told him. Jason's smile waned slightly as he got nervous. He didn't want to reveal his 'past'. It could ruin everything. Jason managed to hide his anxiety by steeling his face, but his mind was racing.
Don't say it. Don't say it. Don't say it!
"Can you tell me your secret? How do you do it? I wish I was as good as you!" Amber asked in admiration.
NOOOOOOOO!
There was a long and awkward silence between them. Jason's face morphed as his fear was displayed for Amber to see.
"Uh... erm... good genetics?" Jason managed to stammer out while trying to appear smaller.
Seriously? What a crappy excuse.
"Aw, come on Jason. You were so out there during training! You knew what to do. You inspired everyone here, including me. Hell, I bet you even blew that grumpy officer away! I swear you've probably had prior training. Genetics is so bullcrap. Tell me the truth, I want to know!" Amber exclaimed.
"Keep it down, Amber," Jason hissed.
Jason looked down at his talons and fidgeted them nervously for a moment, then looked at Amber with pleading eyes.
"I really want to keep it to myself," Jason whispered sadly. "I understand you really want to know, but it would probably affect the way you see me. It's Pandora's Box, you know. Once you open it, there's no going back."
Amber just gave him puppy eyes, completely disregarding what Jason said about Pandora's Box. Jason averted his eyes, ashamed. They'd become really good friends over the short time they knew each other. Training didn't give them much time to talk, but when they did, it was really fulfilling and meaningful. They talked about all sorts of interesting things. Recipes, family, nice places to see, what they planned for their future. He managed to navigate away from questions about his heritage and his mysterious appearance in this realm so far. Yet, here he was, shirking away from what seemed to Amber was an innocent question.
Jason sighed, pouring out all his stress, and recomposed himself. Amber was stupidly stubborn, and this time, it would work in his favor.
"Later. During lunch or something," Jason said, resolute in his fate. "Just not now. I need time to think, and the ceremony is in about half an hour and I shouldn't be late for that."
Amber thanked him, then walked back to do whatever he needed to get done before lunch, wearing a grin and getting giddy inside. He would finally know why Jason was so dominant in training. He was already getting 'shipped' off, for moons' sake. What was even more intriguing, was that Jason really didn't want to tell him. What was so shameful about the prior military experience? It only built the anticipation, and with that on his mind, the ceremony, the clapping, the announcements, it all flew by as lunch quickly approached.
Jason waited for Amber on the agreed spot down at the beach, a bit weary from the ceremony. He could always get lost looking at the horizon. He sighed again, preparing himself for the difficult conversation ahead.
I guess I was just that impressive to Amber.
Jason looked up after hearing the distinct sound of flapping.
My time has come.
Amber looked down at Jason with child-like excitement. He touched down rather dramatically, striking a pose, before running to Jason, eager to find out everything.
"Care to tell me? Tell me! I get it is kind of touchy, but you can tell me, right?" Amber asked. "I'll keep it a secret. I promise, Jason. You have my word."
"How should I start. It's really convoluted," Jason said, wracking his brain for a good way to start off his explanation. He really should have thought about how to conduct this conversation. The calm, commanding, and driven facade that he'd put up so far during his time was cracking. Amber knew something was wrong.
"Take all the time you need. I'm not hungry," Amber said with a small chuckle, dragging over a piece of driftwood with ease and sitting down with his elbows on said piece of driftwood, as though he was listening to a lecture. He thought it might calm Jason down a bit. Why was he so nervous? Is there anything shameful about some prior military experience?
Unless he was booted from somewhere else. I guess that could be shameful. Sort of?
"I sort of woke up on the side of a mountain, you know. I was just 'there' all of a sudden. No family, nothing familiar, nada. I'm not from here. I was never a dragon my whole life," Jason said, recalling the first time he awoke in this strange land.
"Fascinating. What were you? What about your family and friends you keep talking about? Made up?" Amber asked.
"No. Far from that. Everyone I talked about was real. Just, we weren't dragons. We were... those" Jason said, pointing at a pair of scavengers watching them.
"I'm one of those," Jason repeated. Somehow, he wasn't shocked humans lived here. Amber, on the other hand. He flipped shit. His jaw practically hit the ground.
"You're joking, right? Not just a dragon with amnesia or anything like that, right? Right?!" Amber exclaimed hysterically. The serious look on Jason's face told him otherwise. His acquaintance and roommate wasn't even a dragon. He was a scavenger.
"I'm a 'scavenger' as you guys say. Though these are far inferior to the ones back home," Jason continued, unfazed. He put a talon to his jaw inquisitively.
"Actually scratch that. I'm half-scavenger," Jason added.
"Half? What the hell does that mean? What's your other half? I haven't even asked you how you got here!" Amber half-shrieked. It was getting out of hand. Horror and shock swept over his face and never faded. He was about to continue when Jason cut him off.
"I told you you wouldn't want to hear. But we are here now. Calm down. I'm still your buddy from training, your roommate, the whole deal," Jason said assuringly, putting a talon on Amber's shoulder. "Take a deep breath, Amber. Calm down," Jason repeated. Amber looked up at him. His face was ashen, tears threatening to spill over, and his hunched posture tried to make himself shrink away from Jason. Jason realized Amber wasn't going to calm down all that easily.
Time to go into commander mode, unfortunately.
Jason stood up straight and barked at Amber. "I'm not going to sugarcoat it. Stop blubbering and let me finish, will you?"
He finally got Amber's attention again. He felt bad for yelling at him for so natural a reaction, but Jason had no choice. He sighed, before sitting back down. No going back now.
"Amber, please, please calm down. I'm still me," Jason said warmly, lowering his voice to just above a whisper. Amber could only manage an inaudible nod.
Chose the wrong way to start. Just summarize then let him ask questions.
"Let me get the basics down. I'm a scavenger. I was transported here by mysterious means. My consciousness was put into this body. I'm a dragon for the meantime. Joined the military, rest is history. I'm still me, your friend, your peer, the whole deal, as I said earlier," Jason stated. He waited a couple of moments for Amber to collect his thoughts. Amber was stabilizing. His breathing slowed slightly, color returned to his previously ashen face.
"Ask your questions, one at a time," Jason said.
"O-ok... Are the family and friends you talked about real?" Amber asked shakily after a moment of silence between the two.
"Yes. 100%. I'm not sure if they are here. They got stuck in the same 'portal', like me. They may be here. They may not be. I don't know," Jason replied. As the questions were answered, the shock and horror slowly melted away from Amber's face, and a look of uneasy understanding and acceptance formed. Jason was in the military where he was from. He was a general equivalent, though Jason called it a 'praetor'.
"You're avoiding the elephant in the room, Amber," Jason added after Amber said that he 'didn't have any questions left'.
"You're a half scavenger," Amber said in defeat. "What's your other half, though I probably don't want to know now."
"I'm half-scavenger, half-god, Amber," Jason said.
"God?"
"Maybe this will help you understand," Jason said. "Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you," Jason assured Amber after seeing Amber back up.
With that, he flicked his talon down and called down a lightning strike from the clear sky onto the sand, creating glass where the lightning struck. Amber shrieked in surprise and held his talons to his head to stop the ringing from the thunderous noise. Jason called down lightning from thin air. Amber was hyperventilating again, but he managed to get himself together.
"I've seen enough. Can I go now? Won't tell anyone. Just want to think," Amber said, before bolting. Jason opened his mouth to say something, holding his talons in front as though to grab something, to hold on, but it slipped through, and Jason sat back in regret.
Jason sighed and looked down at the monotonous sand in shame, tears dribbling out. He started drawing lazy circles in the sand to try to distract his mind. Maybe he shouldn't have told Amber, but it happened. He suddenly remembered the two humans staring at him and Amber. He snapped his head up and looked at where he last saw them. They were still there. This time, they ran, feeling Jason's gaze pierce them. Jason was faster.
Rather, my winds are.
Jason floated the scavengers to in front of him. They squirmed and screamed, but Jason really didn't care at this point. He wasn't planning on hurting them anyway. He just wanted a close look. Couldn't hurt.
"I hope you liked the light show. Didn't know people lived here," Jason said to the scavengers, as he looked over them. They just gave the same look of surprise Amber gave him when he called down lightning. A silence followed, interrupted only by the whistling of the wind.
"What am I doing? They don't even understand me. Probably just a bunch of retarded things," Jason muttered. He just floated them there as he looked another way lazily, thinking of what to do. He wasn't slated to leave till afternoon. He was cut from his repetitive thoughts by a quiet sound. Jason almost missed it.
"Yes, we do."
Jason snapped his head back at the scavengers. One was glaring at the other, but they both looked back at him with terror.
"Great, you've done it for us. Now it's gonna eat us, whether it understands us or not. You idiot!" one of them shrieked at the other.
"I'm not going to eat you guys," Jason said.
"Just because I'm a dragon? Did you hear what I said to Amber?" Jason asked.
He let them down onto the sand.
"Go. Do what you gotta do. I'm busy," Jason shooed them.
Cool, they understand me. So what?
Jason turned and flew back towards the barracks. He had things that he needed to do. Including reporting to the leader of the barracks, before leaving on his first assignment. Escorting the queen to an undisclosed location, and perform a body retrieval. The commander didn't specify whether or not it was the same mission. He hoped it was separate.