Author's Notes:
The context of this story is that it originated as a little crossover entry between my Spyro fanfiction "Aimless" and one of my favorite dragon games, Angels with Scaly Wings. In short, I was trying to imagine what it would be like for my human OC Joshua Renalia to be in the AWSW world. Since he's starved for all the conveniences of modern Earth in "Aimless" canon, I figured it would be far more entertaining to set up the story such that Joshua finds himself on an alternate Earth (as presented in the AWSW game) after certain events in the Spyro world.
For those who are following "Aimless", the events in this story are not considered canon. I'm just having fun here with my plot bunnies! Buuuuut, if you're looking for hints to things that might go down in the future of my fanfic... please, go and peruse to your heart's content. Similar to what I already do with my writer's challenge prompts, there are minor spoilers and tiny clues to my main story. I try to keep things consistent with what's set to happen in my outline, after all.
As for the endgame of Home But Not Home, well... there's none. The story was birthed by a bunch of plot bunnies. I did not think of any end goal for this fic and it will probably just fall off somewhere.
Either way, I do hope you'll get to enjoy the story while it lasts.
Home but not Home
"At the end of the day, it is what it is."
~ J.E. Lawrence, Nebraska State Journal, 1949
Blinding light bathed the streets, a dark sphere in its center. Gravity warped around it for a second, drawing the litter and trash in its direction before spacetime stabilized.
A human appeared from inside the sphere. He was clothed in nothing but a blue cloth wrapped around him like a cloak. He fell to the ground—it was solid, harder, denser than cobblestones—and whipped his head back. Viridian eyes gazed at the portal behind him, sensing something within. An itchy feeling that intensified by the second.
"Shit," Joshua muttered, recalling what happened on the other side. If it weren't for Spyro and Cynder, he wouldn't have made it. "They're not that far behind. I don't have much time."
The thought of getting caught made him shudder. Not again. That wasn't happening again.
Getting up on his feet, he decided to take stock of his surroundings. He froze instantly. His gaze trembled. The surroundings looked just like…
It's just like home.
Streets made of asphalt.
Buildings built from concrete.
Storefronts along the sidewalk.
Streetlights powered by electricity.
Tears dropped from Joshua's eyes. By Azeroth the Infinite, was this real? Was he back on Earth?
But wait, where were his friends? They should've been waiting for him. "Reny! Kilat!" Where were they? A red dragoness and a yellow one were hard to miss in this environment.
The portal behind him continued to pulse. There were people inside the compressed space now and they would emerge in a minute or two.
Joshua dipped into his power, one that had been fused into his soul and enabled his transcendence from humankind when he'd been transported to the Dragon Realms years ago. In his mind's eye, he discerned bright, glowing spheres. They were like stars in the vastness of outer space, each corresponding to individuals. Specific people could be identified through their size, their flow patterns, their spin, their color, and even by the scents or tastes they give off.
None of these spheres of life were close by. All were a few blocks away. Worse, none of them exuded either Serenya's scent of wildflowers and parchment or that of Kilat's lavender. They weren't around at all.
Joshua snapped back to reality. If they weren't here, then there was no use waiting. He brought out a rectangular golden sheet he had tucked away in his robe. Made of leathery material he couldn't identify, it had runes embedded into it—seared onto the surface. Spacetime seemed to warp around the inscriptions, with light literally curving around them.
The Worldshift Talisman, a consumable relic that enabled safe travel through the Space Between Worlds. Powerful spacetime magic beyond Joshua's comprehension rested in this sheet and he not only had stolen several from his captor's stronghold but he had used it to elude his pursuers.
In his hands was the last one in his possession. If he tore this in half, it would open a wormhole leading to somewhere in the vast spacetime. In the hands of a Portal Master or their apprentice, this was a terrifying weapon. In the hands of a complete talentless buffoon like him, it was a lottery ticket.
Joshua used it without hesitation. He tore the sheet in half, both hands ensconced in the purplish-white aura of his power. Ten feet away, gravity became distended as space collapsed into a micro black hole, but it quickly stabilized as the wormhole connected to another world. Another universe. Joshua could already see the passage through the chaotic maelstrom wihin..
When he still had a bunch of Worldshift Talismans in his hands, he'd leapt into the portals at once. Now, having consumed his last talisman, Joshua had second thoughts.
Should he go through the last portal? He'd be stuck in the next world, and who knew what that would be like? The realm just a couple of jumps before this Earth-like place was an uninhabitable cesspit that would've killed him had he lingered there for more than ten minutes.
But then he couldn't just abandon Serenya and Kilat. He didn't know where they were. Did they get stuck? Or did they reach their destination?
If they were stranded, there was no way to reunite with them. The chances of them both being dead were immeasurably high. But if they met the person who orchestrated his breakout, if they had made it back to the Dragon Realms, then there was hope. Joshua could actually create a portal with his own power, but only one that led back to the Dragon Realms—the world he'd originally jumped from, the world his friends were from, the world he'd transmigrated to and come to call home, and the world where his captors waited for him.
The portal behind him flared. Only a few more seconds. Hesitation gnawed at the man's russet skin. If there was no way he'd see his friends again, and if the Realms were too dangerous to go back to, why not stay here? This looked like Earth.
No.
This was Earth.
He had no idea why the streets didn't have a single car parked by the sidewalk but this was obviously an Earth-like world with a modern, Earth-like society. Everything he'd been hungry for in the past was right here: the internet, video games, anime, comics, air-conditioning, movies, youtube, and memes!
Everything.
EVERYTHING!
It even had the one thing he desired the most: an honest-to-God bath. Not a slow, hour-long tongue bath with sticky dragon saliva, but a heavenly, relaxing dip in clean, warm water with soap and shampoo coating his skin.
He would just have to avoid fanfiction and fanart for a while. Especially Spyro fanfiction. That had been his entire life for years and he'd had enough of living in a video game world.
Joshua Renalia's desire for his old life overwhelmed the need to go through the last portal. He was sure his two friends wouldn't mind. He could only hope that they would see each other again someday. For all he knew, the shady bitch who helped them would come fetch him.
With these thoughts in his mind, he sprung into action. Joshua's power worked primarily by extending his ego boundaries beyond his very self. Powered by thought, imagination dictated the capacity of his ability. He encapsulated the mark his existence left on the world and projected it in several directions.
Then he ran for dear life and hid in an alley two blocks away—behind a garbage dumpster no less. Joshua focused on the spheres of life exiting the portal. He enveloped his ego around them and wished with sheer will that he would not be found by any of them.
About ten people made it through the portal.
He shuddered at the sight. Bright orange golems made of rock and magma walked out into the open, their arms covered in a blazing fire. Tall crocogators followed them, taking positions outside the wormhole, with their crystalline crossbows ready to fire. They looked more menacing at night as they cast their yellow eyes around, searching their target.
Then a single mole-like creature strolled out of the stabilized portal. He appeared to be the least threatening to the group, being shorter than a human was tall, donning a green cloak and a pair of spectacles so wide they made Harry Potter's look fashionable. A mabu, one of the many native species from the Skylands Empire.
Joshua flinched when the gaze veered in his direction. His nose began to bleed as he prayed to God or whoever that they wouldn't find him. He didn't want to go back.
"Sorcerer Hugo!" one of the crocogators turned to him. He pointed a talon at the open portal before them. "It appears Second opened another portal shortly after arriving here. From the looks of it, it will remain stable for another five minutes."
The mabu laughed. "Ha! Joshua must be desperate. He should run out of talismans soon."
One of the golems turned to Hugo. "Sorcerer Hugo," the automaton said, speaking without emotion. Like a machine. "There is a very high probability that Second has escaped to the next world. Seeking permission to pursue."
"No," Hugo replied. "It could be a feint."
Joshua couldn't help but pin his body closer to the wall. Shit! Hugo was a dumbass in the Skylanders games! Why was he so different in real life‽
"I find it very hard to believe that Joshua took that portal." Hugo studied the scene. "I'd cast a scrying spell, but his ability to hide himself is absolute, even against standard magecraft."
A humanoid with pointed ears materialized in front of Joshua. The man nearly shrieked at the sight of a creature half his height. Yet he maintained his silence, hoping the white, iris-less eyes of the stealth elf would not focus on him.
It didn't, fortunately. They strode forward, gloves clutching two bladed weapons. "Apologies, sir, but I had just swept the area. The Second Transcendent is nowhere in sight. We should summon Master Eon. If that human is hiding somewhere, then only the Portal Master can overcome his concealment."
"No!" Hugo shouted. "We have no time for that! Master Eon is keeping Kaos and Strykore occupied, but we are not the only ones looking for Joshua. The longer we dawdle, the sooner that human will find the Saviors, his two friends, or that wretched rabbit who started this whole mess!"
The elf knelt before Hugo. "Then what is your command?"
Hugo gritted his teeth in frustration, his thoughts opaque. Then he raised his finger at the portal on the other side of the street. "Skylanders! We move onward! Even if our target eludes us here, without a Worldshift Talisman, the only portal he can open by himself will be one that leads straight back to the Dragon Realms! He is stuck in this universe or the next. Master Eon will not find it difficult to search through two piles of sand if he so desires."
"Yes, sir!" yelled the crocogators.
"Understood." The elf said softly. They brought their hand to their mouth and blew a shrill whistle. With impeccable discipline, the entire group of golems and crocogators marched into the second portal.
"Come," Hugo said, gesturing his head at the portal as the mabu walked in after the small group. His green compatriot paid no attention to him, instead sweeping their gaze all over the street.
Not once did their creepy eyes fall on Joshua. When the first portal destabilized and imploded in on itself, the elf gave up and walked into the portal. The human did not relax—did not relinquish his tight focus—until their life signature no longer registered on his sixth sense.
Relieved he slid down the concrete wall, letting out a huge sigh. The nosebleed had not let up at all, covering his blue tunic in his own blood. He also had a splitting headache, but there was no massage that could solve this. Joshua, still, refused to move. He would not move until the second portal finally dissipated into the air, leaving him in a universe that feels strangely so much like Earth.
Guilt stung him as he sat there in an alley, alone, shivering in the cold, his body gaunt and devoid of muscle. How he wished Serenya and Kilat were with him right now. He would feel so much more secure while he was all wrapped up in their scales, and both were large enough to do that now that they were all young adults.
Because they were what's left of his life in Warfang.
Because they were the ones who, he believed, never gave up on him to the very end.
It was such a shame that they didn't get a chance to tell him what happened to their other friends. Something had definitely gone down, or he wouldn't have seen the way their muzzles twisted the second he mentioned Corvold, Korahnir, and Blink.
Joshua promised to God that he would always hold his companions dear and close to his heart for as long as he lived, and that he would never forget them. At this point, the only thing he could do was hope that they managed to escape—that whatever was happening at the Realms wouldn't compel him to return—that they wouldn't judge him for deciding to stay.
Although, as much as he loved them, he really missed the company of actual human beings.
Joshua slowly picked himself up. His legs wobbled, its muscles having wasted away. The man decided to go to the other street. It was late. The moon was out and high; he could sense few people strolling on their lonesome.
He wrapped his cloth tightly around himself like a blanket. "Brrr! So cold…"
Joshua walked as fast as he could to the nearest person. He stuck to the sidewalk despite the fact he hadn't seen a single car in this place. It was strange. Just why weren't there any vehicles around? The street didn't feature any of the brands or food chains he remembered from his life before the Dragon Realms. He'd already forgotten their names, but he could still remember the shape and style of their icons.
Joshua froze when he heard voices coming from the other end of the sidewalk, at a traffic light in the distance.
"Did you hear?" One was saying. "Barret lost another mouflon last night!"
"Sure did. Overheard Bryce yelling at someone about it."
"At the bar, right? Probably not Maverick." It was a third voice.
"What makes you think so?" asked the first.
The second voice replied, "Must've been Anna again. Ol' Bryce's probably wailing at that analyst of his."
"Hehe, cute addition to our town, that one…"
Joshua could pick up the conversation from afar, courtesy of the mutations that his Element had imposed on him. About two voices. No, three? He couldn't see the speakers, but he sensed them past the corner far ahead. He mentally prepared himself for the encounter, thankful that he could at least deceive their senses.
How should he approach them? As he was now, looking like a 40-year old hobo? Should he concoct an image of a well-to-do pedestrian? Or -
Joshua froze as the three people emerged from the corner. In the distance weren't three humans.
They were all dragons.
No way! Joshua thought. This couldn't be right. How could dragons be here, in all places? Wasn't he on Earth? His head whipped to the stores beside him. Everything was human-sized! Human-proportioned!
The doors were the same.
The food was the same.
The posters and ads were the same.
The clothes—!
...Oh.
The clothes weren't all the same. The few mannequins in the storefronts featured a draconic biped. The proportions were barely on the large side as far as humans were concerned.
They didn't have smartphones here, but they did have video games and some weird sphere-looking computer.
Joshua couldn't believe it. What were the chances he'd end up in a world full of fucking dragons… AGAIN‽
He stared up at the sky, expecting to see twin moons, only to find himself gawking at a single one in its full glory. It was as a white plate, no larger than a quarter dollar coin. Pockmarked wrth meteor craters, it looked exactly like the moon back home.
The resemblance was uncanny. No, it was identical.
In a way, Joshua was home. He had returned to Earth. There was no mistaking it.
It's just that… he was in a different kind—a different version of Earth…
"Hey, what's that over there?"
"Doesn't look like any runner I've ever seen."
The spheres of life in his sixth sense froze. They expanded sharply before contracting into a tight ball, their swirling gases slowing to a crawl. Their blue colors began a gradual redshift. Joshua hissed. All signaled surprise and a growing anxiety. All portended one hell of a commotion if nothing was done about it.
Luckily, in the years Joshua had spent living in the Dragon Realms, he'd mastered his power to a respectable skill level. A level high enough to address this problem. He was able to synchronize with the three standing in the distance, to embrace their souls and connect his ego to them. It was through this connection that he glimpsed what they saw through their eyes. What they felt as they continued to stare at his figure. One of the dragons—a wingless quadruped, apparently—swallowed, trying to contain the sounds of its rapidly beating heart.
"...do you think… that's a human?"
The fact they have heard of humans was a surprise to him, but not so unexpected that it threw off Joshua's focus. "Discernment, deliberation, determination," the fugitive recited, the familiarity of the mantra producing some comfort. He willed his self-image away. Erased it from pure imagination alone.
One of the bipeds recoiled visibly. "Oh shit, it vanished!"
"L-l-let's get out of here, guys," the third spoke, his voice clear in Joshua's ears as though he was standing among them. It was a blue dragon about the size of Kilat, his adopted sister. At least, back when they had first met.
"Right, Lorem. We might've had too much to drink anyway."
Disengaging from his sixth sense, Joshua watched the trio shift direction. They crossed the street and disappeared into the next corner, maybe to traverse down a parallel road, far away from their "human sighting".
Joshua himself ducked into the nearest alley he came across. He almost jumped when something yellow and massive swung the glass doors of the nearest establishment open. Another dragon. A wy… wyvern, was it? Joshua furrowed his brows. He'd been in the Dragon Realms for so long he could barely remember anything from home.
The wyvern was too busy closing up shop to notice him before he managed to conceal himself from their senses. "All right," he heard them say. Ah, a lady. "Last delivery for the night and I can finally meet up with Amelia."
She put on a pair of goggles and took off into the night, clutching a thick paper box in her talons as she flew into the air and out of sight.
When Joshua finally knew he was alone within a large radius—and he didn't forget to check the constellation of stars in his unique vision to make sure—the human slumped down in the alleyway. He buried his head in his arms.
This wasn't what he expected.
Granted, this was everything he ever wanted. If it weren't for the fact that dragons populated this town—and dragons alone, it seemed—he would've mistaken this place for home. For the home he'd been yearning for the last several years.
"You fly where you turn," Joshua muttered. A common phrase in the Realms that meant one reaped what they sowed. He had decided to stay here and so, despite his disappointment, he must commit to it.
But first… he needed a disguise, both a dragon form to push into people's senses and actual clothing to hide his true self. After all, he wouldn't be able to deceive security cameras and the mental strain of fooling hundreds of people every day would probably kill him.
Joshua chuckled as he shut his eyes and let his imagination run. "All right, time to create a character…"
Author's notes:
For anyone familiar with the game, well, this is set BEFORE AWSW itself and is more or less along the lines of the AWBH webcomic. Maybe even before then. The Naomi mentioned here would be from the mod rather than the canon, since I favor the former over the latter.