I don't own the Suikoden 2. If you read this, please review it. I
wouldn't even mind getting told that this story is stupid as long as I know
that people are reading this.
Chapter 3: Memories
"Could we please stop hugging?" Dracius begged.
"Fine." Devin and Sierra both said as they released Dracius from their grasps.
'Wonderful.' Dracius thought. 'Now I'm stuck with two overly affectionate idiots. What uses have beings for these FRIENDS anyhow? Well, whatever. If I can manage to kill Devin, Sierra will be easy pickings because she doesn't have defense magic. Yeah, I'll kill them. I'll kill them and laugh. I'll laugh so long that the planet shall die before I'm through laughing.'
"MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! HAHAHAHAHAHA!! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!" Dracius laughed in a maniacal way.
"What was that all about?" Sierra asked Devin.
"I dunno. He does that sometimes these days. I have no idea why, though." Devin replied obliviously.
"Well, where should we go?" Sierra questioned while scratching her head.
"Oh, oh, let's travel through that mountain pass, 'dearest friends.' I'll even scout ahead to make sure it's safe." Dracius volunteered sarcastically.
"Well, okay. We'll wait here, I guess." Devin retorted as Dracius started ahead.
'Perfect.' Dracius thought. 'Now, if I just set up some bow and arrow traps in the mountain walls, I can kill one of them off. Maybe both!'
Dracius made it to the mountains, set the traps that he conveniently had in his small leather backpack, and ran back to Devin and Sierra.
"Okay, it's safe. Let's go." Dracius instructed.
"So, where are we going again?" Devin inquired.
'Just ignore it. He'll be dead soon anyways.' Dracius told himself.
"That way, I believe." Sierra said, pointing in the direction she believed they were going in.
"Okay, let's go." Dracius stated, getting a little impatient.
As the three advanced towards the mountain pass (which magically appeared seeing as it wasn't there in the game), Dracius began to fall a little behind his immortal companions so as not to be hit with the poison arrow traps. The traps sprung a moment sooner. All 15 arrows were speeding towards Devin. 'This is it.' Dracius thought with his eyes closed with excitement. 'He's gonna die!' Dracius waited for a scream of pain or something like that, but heard nothing. He opened his eyes to find all 15 arrows in Devin's hands.
"Hmm. Lots of bandits these day or something." Devin said as he tossed the arrows out of his hands.
'How the hell did he do that?' Dracius thought. 'It's as though Sidenda, dragon goddess of life, death, gambling, wine, and inner pains, wants to spare him, just to feed off of my own inner pains!'
"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!" Dracius yelled.
"I don't think I understand him anymore." Sierra sighed.
"You mean you could to begin with? Wow." Devin responded, somehow amazed.
So, these 'saviors' as they may someday be called continued to travel along the mountain path. After a few hours, they got tired and decided to make camp. The tent, of course, was somehow jammed inside Dracius' small backpack. I mean, it only had one strap, it was so small. After camp was made, the three immortals began to converse.
"You know what?" Devin asked. "I think we should tell some scary stories so no one can get to sleep."
"How about stories of our childhood? That was pretty scary to me." Dracius replied.
"Yeah! Let's reminisce!" Sierra added.
"That was sarcasm, but I don't really care anyhow." Dracius stated lazily.
"Well, I think I'll start when Sierra and I met you, Dracius." Devin explained. "That was WAY back when we were all about thirteen. . . . . . . . . . . . " ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Flashback~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Hey, look at that up in the sky, Sierra. What do you suppose that little dot is?" A very not-vampire Devin inquired as he pointed up to the sky.
"Hmm. I dunno, Devie. Maybe it's a shooting star." A not-old Sierra responded.
"Maybe it is! Let's make a wish!" Devin shouted.
"Okay, um, I wish we had another friend to hang out with!" Sierra wished.
"Me too!" Devin agreed.
Incidentally, the dot in the sky was Dracius. He came crashing down. He wasn't dead, but he was pretty beat up. You'd think he would have burned up upon returning to the atmosphere.
"Ouch, my head." A short-fanged beat up Dracius complained upon getting up.
"Hi! Who are you?" Sierra greeted.
"Uh, I'm Dracius. A half-dragon whom is shunned everywhere. My life is a joke." Dracius replied.
"Aw, that's so sad. Well, I'm Sierra and this is Devin, my best friend and pretty much only friend. Soooooo, let's all be friends!" Sierra shouted gleefully.
"Okay, whatever." Dracius responded blankly.
"Yay!" Devin and Sierra exclaimed at the same time.
"Hey, hey, remember when we met you, Dracius? It seemed like only yesterday. . . . . . . ." Devin trailed off, reminiscing on events that had only happened that day.
". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ." Dracius said nothing as his anger and hatred towards Devin slowly grew. That was the beginning of his life going downhill. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Not a Flashback~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I remember why I came flying toward you guys, too. Some old man took me to school in Dragon-style fighting. I never did exact my revenge." Dracius stated coldly. "O'Course, that day DID mark the beginning of my life going downhill."
"That's one of the nicest things you've ever said." Devin retorted, obviously not catching Dracius' meaning. "Those days were great. Just us three kids, having fun. Remember that flying squirrel we met a few months after you showed up when Sierra had to go to town to buy food since her mom was sick, Drak?" Devin questioned.
"Uh, sure. Just don't call me Drak." Dracius replied lazily. "Wait a minute! Food? What do vampires eat, anyhow?"
"Well, we suck blood out of raw meat." Sierra answered proudly. "That's what my family did, anyhow.
"Whatever. Devin, get on with the impending flashback." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Flashback~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Come see, come see!" Devin shouted, pulling Dracius along by his arm.
"What is it, Devin? Not more of those 'land fish' droppings, I hope." Dracius hoped.
"No, this is way cooler than that!" Devin insisted.
"Joy." Dracius responded joylessly.
When Devin ceased from dragging Dracius, Dracius gazed at his surroundings. He saw a flying squirrel wearing a red cape.
"Uh, it's a squirrel." Dracius pointed out.
"Yeah, isn't he cool? He's the leader of his tribe, too. His name's Makomuko."
"If I didn't know mindfulness runes existed, I would shudder to think how you knew all that." Dracius retorted.
"Well, I don't have any more mindfulness runes, and seems to want something, but I don't know what." Devin said.
"Alright, I speak some squirrel. It's a complicated language, really. I'll see if I know what he wants." Dracius stated confidently as he walked closer to the squirrel and leaned down.
"Mu mo, mo mu ma momu!" Makomuko exclaimed.
"Oh, really? Well, I've got what you're looking for." Dracius responded as he searched his pack.
"What's he want?" Devin inquired excitedly.
"This." Dracius replied as he pulled out a painting of a female squirrel without its cape and handed it to Makomuko. "It's what every male squirrel wants, really."
"MU!" Makomuko shouted. "Uh, it's a painting of a capeless squirrel girl." Devin pointed out, now very confused.
"Yep, and to him, that's pretty hot." Dracius retorted, almost chuckling. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Not a Flashback~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Uh, you had a painting of a female squirrel without its cape?" Sierra asked, somewhat disgusted.
"Trust me, it's a long story, and it ends with me in the middle of the wilderness with nothing but my under shorts." Dracius answered. "Well, I'd say it's time for me to remind us of a disturbing point in our childhood."
"Okay, let's hear it!" Devin shouted.
"Alright, how about the time when you and I received true runes. . . . . . . . ." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Flashback~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Aw, do you really have to leave, Drak? You've only been here a few months!" Devin pointed out to Dracius as though he didn't know.
"I know, I know, and don't call me Drak!" Dracius retorted.
"Well, if you're leaving, at least let me show you that shrine-thingy that's conveniently hidden behind my house!" Devin begged.
"Whatever." Dracius responded.
Devin led Dracius to the back of his house, where Sierra was waiting for them.
"What took so long? I've been waiting here for hours!" Sierra scolded.
"Sorry. Devin got held up telling me a very 'interesting' story about walking trees with fangs, claws, and whiskers." Dracius explained.
"They're real, I tell you!" Devin insisted.
"Sure they are, Devin. Anyways, let's check this out already!" Sierra exclaimed impatiently.
"Okay, getting in requires the sacred word. I will now speak it. ARRRRRIBA!" Devin yelled, causing the boulder in front of the shrine cave to disappear.
"Wow. Sacred words sure are messed up these days." Dracius pointed out in response to Devin's strange ritual of sorts.
The three children slowly walked into the cave. Eventually, they came upon a large tablet with writing on it.
"Uh, that's it?" Dracius inquired. "A rock with illegible markings?"
"Heh. Yeah." Devin answered.
"This shall go among the biggest wastes of time in my life. Furthermore, I-
Just then, a pillar of light appeared and surrounded Devin and Dracius, disabling Dracius from finishing his statement. It warped then to a different part of the shrine, where the two boys saw Leknaat for the first time.
"Greetings, Devin and Dracius. Welcome to your new destiny." She said.
"Yeah, yeah. Who are you?" Dracius asked demandingly.
"I shouldn't have to tell you that. Isn't it obvious who I am?" Leknaat questioned.
"Not really." Devin stated.
"Fine. I am Leknaat. You know, keeper of the Gate rune?" Leknaat inquired rhetorically.
There was a long silence.
"I've come to grant True Runes to the two of you and-
"True Runes? Why didn't you say so?" Devin asked.
"Well, before you are granted runes, I should probably tell you how-
"Shut up and tell me where the runes are." Devin demanded.
"That way." Leknaat sighed as she pointed to the right.
"Cool. Thanks, old lady." Devin said as he ran off.
"Right. So what were you gonna say?" Dracius inquired.
"Well, I was going to explain how to use them properly. Say you were trapped in some sort of prison cell. These runes could help you out." Leknaat explained.
"Interesting." Dracius replied. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Not a Flashback~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Ha!" Devin laughed. "Like we'll ever end up in prison!"
". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ." Dracius said nothing in response.
"Well, you guys both had flashbacks, so I'd say it's my turn." Sierra said.
"Great. What kind of flashback are YOU going to have? Some kinda vampire affair?" Dracius questioned.
"I might, but affairs aren't very humorous or scary. I was thinking maybe the time when Devin was almost eaten by a baby land dragon about a month before you left, Dracius. We were all climbing a mountain that day. . . . . . . . . ." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Flashback~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Where's Devin? Is he being lazy again and falling behind?" Sierra called down to Dracius.
"Of course not!" Dracius shouted back. "A rock that he was holding onto broke off, so now he's basically hanging on by a thread. I was hoping he would have fallen to his doom by now, but my dreams never come true!"
". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ." Sierra didn't speak as she stared down at Dracius, giving him the evil eye.
"Fine. I'll save his sorry butt yet again." Dracius said in response.
Dracius sprouted his small dragon wings, flew down, grabbed Devin be his shirt collar, and flew him up to a balcony in the mountain.
"Well, my wings just got their exercise for the day." Dracius stated.
"Why are you so lazy with them anyhow?" Sierra asked.
"Well in truth, I'm a lazy guy." Dracius answered proudly.
"Right. Well, let's keep climbing." Sierra ordered.
The two climbed until they reached the balcony Dracius placed Devin on, rested a bit, and then resumed climbing. They reached a cave a few hours later and decided to rest there.
"I don't think it's a good idea for us to rest in a cave, guys." Devin stated.
"Devin, you don't even think. Just relax." Dracius instructed as he closed his eyes.
As the three rested, a small land dragon appeared from the depths and started vigorously sniffing around Dracius.
"Grr, it's too early for this. . . . . . ." Dracius whispered in his sleep.
Next, the dragon started sniffing around Sierra.
"Mmm, stop that, Devin. I don't have any apples with me, and even if I did, you can't really smell apples that easily anyhow. . . . . . . ." Sierra mumbled in her sleep.
The dragon then stomped over to Devin and sniffed around him. Man, you'd think they would've woken up by now. . . . . .
"That tickles. Kind of like porcupine quills. . . . ." Devin muttered.
'Brainless. That's the way I like my raw meat.' The dragon thought. The dragon started to nibble on Devin's shoulder. He was pretty big, so I don't see why he didn't just eat him whole.
"How many times do I have to tell you that I don't want you sucking my blood, Sierra?" Devin asked.
"What are you talking about? You're the one sniffin' me for apples." Sierra responded in her sleep.
"Will you people shut up? I'm trying to read here." Dracius said, still sleeping. "I'm reading a book on advanced strategy, I'll have you know."
"No you're not! You're asleep!" Devin shouted, waking himself up in the process. "Good morning, Dragon!"
Now, it took Devin a while to remember that Dracius wasn't a land dragon and that his name was Dracius.
"Uh, oh yeah. AHH!!" Devin screamed, waking up his comrades in doing so.
"What is it, Devin?" Dracius demanded, looking over at the dragon after saying that. "C'mon, Devin! Can't we go ANYWHERE without you attracting some age-old beast that could eat us with unfathomable ease!"
"I don't know why you're talking about the ocean, but we've got a real problem here!" Devin responded.
"I'll ignore the first part of what you just said, but only this once." Dracius warned. "Now then, he's eating you and not me, so that's good. It'd be nice if I had a sword with me, but what would a thirteen-year old boy be doing with a sword?"
"Uh, here! Use this dagger!" Devin exclaimed as he tossed a dagger over to Dracius. You'd think the dragon would have eaten them considering all the time they were wasting.
"This thing is rusted! What kind of knife is this?" Dracius scolded.
"Well, what do you expect? I haven't unsheathed that thing in 8 years!"
"Alright, I guess I'll get up now instead of listening to you two argue." Sierra stated.
"Ah, Sierra. Good. Now, if you could just bite his neck there, we could-
"What? Me? Bite something that ugly? Not on your life, Dracky." Sierra replied in a rude tone.
"But, but! It's on Devin's life!" Dracius pointed out.
"Hmm. Wait a minute! What are you implying?" Sierra questioned.
"Oh, nothing." Dracius insisted. "Let's just say I may know about that little mountain incident. . . . . . ."
"Fine, fine. I bite the dragon's neck, but only because you just promised not to tell anyone about that."
Sierra's sharp teeth punctured a hole in the dragon's scales, allowing Dracius to stab the dragon in its neck, thereby killing it. Somehow.
"Well, I'm glad that's over. I'm really glad none of us got hurt." Devin said.
"Sure, sure. There's just one thing that's really bugging me. How did the dragon not make it past your shoulder when it was eating you?" Dracius asked.
"Huh? Oh. That's an easy one! Look at this!" Devin shouted as he pulled his shirtsleeve open, letting out several pots and pans with teeth marks in them, which ungracefully tumbled to the ground. "I keep my mom's kitchenware up my shirt."
"About time your stupidity and pointless antics paid off." Dracius responded.
"Well, let's get back to sleep!" Sierra exclaimed.
So, the three went back to sleep. While this is redundant, it feels right somehow. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Not a Flashback~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Well, I guess it's getting pretty late. Let's go to sleep!" Sierra exclaimed.
"Aye, aye!" Devin retorted, trying to sound cute I guess.
"Whatever." Dracius mumbled, upset that Devin barely got injured in the land dragon incident.
To be continued. . . . . . .
The next chapter will be up soon. If you have any ideas for more misadventures these three undertake, be sure to tell me! I could integrate them in the actual storyline somehow!
Chapter 3: Memories
"Could we please stop hugging?" Dracius begged.
"Fine." Devin and Sierra both said as they released Dracius from their grasps.
'Wonderful.' Dracius thought. 'Now I'm stuck with two overly affectionate idiots. What uses have beings for these FRIENDS anyhow? Well, whatever. If I can manage to kill Devin, Sierra will be easy pickings because she doesn't have defense magic. Yeah, I'll kill them. I'll kill them and laugh. I'll laugh so long that the planet shall die before I'm through laughing.'
"MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! HAHAHAHAHAHA!! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!" Dracius laughed in a maniacal way.
"What was that all about?" Sierra asked Devin.
"I dunno. He does that sometimes these days. I have no idea why, though." Devin replied obliviously.
"Well, where should we go?" Sierra questioned while scratching her head.
"Oh, oh, let's travel through that mountain pass, 'dearest friends.' I'll even scout ahead to make sure it's safe." Dracius volunteered sarcastically.
"Well, okay. We'll wait here, I guess." Devin retorted as Dracius started ahead.
'Perfect.' Dracius thought. 'Now, if I just set up some bow and arrow traps in the mountain walls, I can kill one of them off. Maybe both!'
Dracius made it to the mountains, set the traps that he conveniently had in his small leather backpack, and ran back to Devin and Sierra.
"Okay, it's safe. Let's go." Dracius instructed.
"So, where are we going again?" Devin inquired.
'Just ignore it. He'll be dead soon anyways.' Dracius told himself.
"That way, I believe." Sierra said, pointing in the direction she believed they were going in.
"Okay, let's go." Dracius stated, getting a little impatient.
As the three advanced towards the mountain pass (which magically appeared seeing as it wasn't there in the game), Dracius began to fall a little behind his immortal companions so as not to be hit with the poison arrow traps. The traps sprung a moment sooner. All 15 arrows were speeding towards Devin. 'This is it.' Dracius thought with his eyes closed with excitement. 'He's gonna die!' Dracius waited for a scream of pain or something like that, but heard nothing. He opened his eyes to find all 15 arrows in Devin's hands.
"Hmm. Lots of bandits these day or something." Devin said as he tossed the arrows out of his hands.
'How the hell did he do that?' Dracius thought. 'It's as though Sidenda, dragon goddess of life, death, gambling, wine, and inner pains, wants to spare him, just to feed off of my own inner pains!'
"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!" Dracius yelled.
"I don't think I understand him anymore." Sierra sighed.
"You mean you could to begin with? Wow." Devin responded, somehow amazed.
So, these 'saviors' as they may someday be called continued to travel along the mountain path. After a few hours, they got tired and decided to make camp. The tent, of course, was somehow jammed inside Dracius' small backpack. I mean, it only had one strap, it was so small. After camp was made, the three immortals began to converse.
"You know what?" Devin asked. "I think we should tell some scary stories so no one can get to sleep."
"How about stories of our childhood? That was pretty scary to me." Dracius replied.
"Yeah! Let's reminisce!" Sierra added.
"That was sarcasm, but I don't really care anyhow." Dracius stated lazily.
"Well, I think I'll start when Sierra and I met you, Dracius." Devin explained. "That was WAY back when we were all about thirteen. . . . . . . . . . . . " ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Flashback~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Hey, look at that up in the sky, Sierra. What do you suppose that little dot is?" A very not-vampire Devin inquired as he pointed up to the sky.
"Hmm. I dunno, Devie. Maybe it's a shooting star." A not-old Sierra responded.
"Maybe it is! Let's make a wish!" Devin shouted.
"Okay, um, I wish we had another friend to hang out with!" Sierra wished.
"Me too!" Devin agreed.
Incidentally, the dot in the sky was Dracius. He came crashing down. He wasn't dead, but he was pretty beat up. You'd think he would have burned up upon returning to the atmosphere.
"Ouch, my head." A short-fanged beat up Dracius complained upon getting up.
"Hi! Who are you?" Sierra greeted.
"Uh, I'm Dracius. A half-dragon whom is shunned everywhere. My life is a joke." Dracius replied.
"Aw, that's so sad. Well, I'm Sierra and this is Devin, my best friend and pretty much only friend. Soooooo, let's all be friends!" Sierra shouted gleefully.
"Okay, whatever." Dracius responded blankly.
"Yay!" Devin and Sierra exclaimed at the same time.
"Hey, hey, remember when we met you, Dracius? It seemed like only yesterday. . . . . . . ." Devin trailed off, reminiscing on events that had only happened that day.
". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ." Dracius said nothing as his anger and hatred towards Devin slowly grew. That was the beginning of his life going downhill. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Not a Flashback~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I remember why I came flying toward you guys, too. Some old man took me to school in Dragon-style fighting. I never did exact my revenge." Dracius stated coldly. "O'Course, that day DID mark the beginning of my life going downhill."
"That's one of the nicest things you've ever said." Devin retorted, obviously not catching Dracius' meaning. "Those days were great. Just us three kids, having fun. Remember that flying squirrel we met a few months after you showed up when Sierra had to go to town to buy food since her mom was sick, Drak?" Devin questioned.
"Uh, sure. Just don't call me Drak." Dracius replied lazily. "Wait a minute! Food? What do vampires eat, anyhow?"
"Well, we suck blood out of raw meat." Sierra answered proudly. "That's what my family did, anyhow.
"Whatever. Devin, get on with the impending flashback." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Flashback~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Come see, come see!" Devin shouted, pulling Dracius along by his arm.
"What is it, Devin? Not more of those 'land fish' droppings, I hope." Dracius hoped.
"No, this is way cooler than that!" Devin insisted.
"Joy." Dracius responded joylessly.
When Devin ceased from dragging Dracius, Dracius gazed at his surroundings. He saw a flying squirrel wearing a red cape.
"Uh, it's a squirrel." Dracius pointed out.
"Yeah, isn't he cool? He's the leader of his tribe, too. His name's Makomuko."
"If I didn't know mindfulness runes existed, I would shudder to think how you knew all that." Dracius retorted.
"Well, I don't have any more mindfulness runes, and seems to want something, but I don't know what." Devin said.
"Alright, I speak some squirrel. It's a complicated language, really. I'll see if I know what he wants." Dracius stated confidently as he walked closer to the squirrel and leaned down.
"Mu mo, mo mu ma momu!" Makomuko exclaimed.
"Oh, really? Well, I've got what you're looking for." Dracius responded as he searched his pack.
"What's he want?" Devin inquired excitedly.
"This." Dracius replied as he pulled out a painting of a female squirrel without its cape and handed it to Makomuko. "It's what every male squirrel wants, really."
"MU!" Makomuko shouted. "Uh, it's a painting of a capeless squirrel girl." Devin pointed out, now very confused.
"Yep, and to him, that's pretty hot." Dracius retorted, almost chuckling. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Not a Flashback~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Uh, you had a painting of a female squirrel without its cape?" Sierra asked, somewhat disgusted.
"Trust me, it's a long story, and it ends with me in the middle of the wilderness with nothing but my under shorts." Dracius answered. "Well, I'd say it's time for me to remind us of a disturbing point in our childhood."
"Okay, let's hear it!" Devin shouted.
"Alright, how about the time when you and I received true runes. . . . . . . . ." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Flashback~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Aw, do you really have to leave, Drak? You've only been here a few months!" Devin pointed out to Dracius as though he didn't know.
"I know, I know, and don't call me Drak!" Dracius retorted.
"Well, if you're leaving, at least let me show you that shrine-thingy that's conveniently hidden behind my house!" Devin begged.
"Whatever." Dracius responded.
Devin led Dracius to the back of his house, where Sierra was waiting for them.
"What took so long? I've been waiting here for hours!" Sierra scolded.
"Sorry. Devin got held up telling me a very 'interesting' story about walking trees with fangs, claws, and whiskers." Dracius explained.
"They're real, I tell you!" Devin insisted.
"Sure they are, Devin. Anyways, let's check this out already!" Sierra exclaimed impatiently.
"Okay, getting in requires the sacred word. I will now speak it. ARRRRRIBA!" Devin yelled, causing the boulder in front of the shrine cave to disappear.
"Wow. Sacred words sure are messed up these days." Dracius pointed out in response to Devin's strange ritual of sorts.
The three children slowly walked into the cave. Eventually, they came upon a large tablet with writing on it.
"Uh, that's it?" Dracius inquired. "A rock with illegible markings?"
"Heh. Yeah." Devin answered.
"This shall go among the biggest wastes of time in my life. Furthermore, I-
Just then, a pillar of light appeared and surrounded Devin and Dracius, disabling Dracius from finishing his statement. It warped then to a different part of the shrine, where the two boys saw Leknaat for the first time.
"Greetings, Devin and Dracius. Welcome to your new destiny." She said.
"Yeah, yeah. Who are you?" Dracius asked demandingly.
"I shouldn't have to tell you that. Isn't it obvious who I am?" Leknaat questioned.
"Not really." Devin stated.
"Fine. I am Leknaat. You know, keeper of the Gate rune?" Leknaat inquired rhetorically.
There was a long silence.
"I've come to grant True Runes to the two of you and-
"True Runes? Why didn't you say so?" Devin asked.
"Well, before you are granted runes, I should probably tell you how-
"Shut up and tell me where the runes are." Devin demanded.
"That way." Leknaat sighed as she pointed to the right.
"Cool. Thanks, old lady." Devin said as he ran off.
"Right. So what were you gonna say?" Dracius inquired.
"Well, I was going to explain how to use them properly. Say you were trapped in some sort of prison cell. These runes could help you out." Leknaat explained.
"Interesting." Dracius replied. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Not a Flashback~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Ha!" Devin laughed. "Like we'll ever end up in prison!"
". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ." Dracius said nothing in response.
"Well, you guys both had flashbacks, so I'd say it's my turn." Sierra said.
"Great. What kind of flashback are YOU going to have? Some kinda vampire affair?" Dracius questioned.
"I might, but affairs aren't very humorous or scary. I was thinking maybe the time when Devin was almost eaten by a baby land dragon about a month before you left, Dracius. We were all climbing a mountain that day. . . . . . . . . ." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Flashback~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Where's Devin? Is he being lazy again and falling behind?" Sierra called down to Dracius.
"Of course not!" Dracius shouted back. "A rock that he was holding onto broke off, so now he's basically hanging on by a thread. I was hoping he would have fallen to his doom by now, but my dreams never come true!"
". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ." Sierra didn't speak as she stared down at Dracius, giving him the evil eye.
"Fine. I'll save his sorry butt yet again." Dracius said in response.
Dracius sprouted his small dragon wings, flew down, grabbed Devin be his shirt collar, and flew him up to a balcony in the mountain.
"Well, my wings just got their exercise for the day." Dracius stated.
"Why are you so lazy with them anyhow?" Sierra asked.
"Well in truth, I'm a lazy guy." Dracius answered proudly.
"Right. Well, let's keep climbing." Sierra ordered.
The two climbed until they reached the balcony Dracius placed Devin on, rested a bit, and then resumed climbing. They reached a cave a few hours later and decided to rest there.
"I don't think it's a good idea for us to rest in a cave, guys." Devin stated.
"Devin, you don't even think. Just relax." Dracius instructed as he closed his eyes.
As the three rested, a small land dragon appeared from the depths and started vigorously sniffing around Dracius.
"Grr, it's too early for this. . . . . . ." Dracius whispered in his sleep.
Next, the dragon started sniffing around Sierra.
"Mmm, stop that, Devin. I don't have any apples with me, and even if I did, you can't really smell apples that easily anyhow. . . . . . . ." Sierra mumbled in her sleep.
The dragon then stomped over to Devin and sniffed around him. Man, you'd think they would've woken up by now. . . . . .
"That tickles. Kind of like porcupine quills. . . . ." Devin muttered.
'Brainless. That's the way I like my raw meat.' The dragon thought. The dragon started to nibble on Devin's shoulder. He was pretty big, so I don't see why he didn't just eat him whole.
"How many times do I have to tell you that I don't want you sucking my blood, Sierra?" Devin asked.
"What are you talking about? You're the one sniffin' me for apples." Sierra responded in her sleep.
"Will you people shut up? I'm trying to read here." Dracius said, still sleeping. "I'm reading a book on advanced strategy, I'll have you know."
"No you're not! You're asleep!" Devin shouted, waking himself up in the process. "Good morning, Dragon!"
Now, it took Devin a while to remember that Dracius wasn't a land dragon and that his name was Dracius.
"Uh, oh yeah. AHH!!" Devin screamed, waking up his comrades in doing so.
"What is it, Devin?" Dracius demanded, looking over at the dragon after saying that. "C'mon, Devin! Can't we go ANYWHERE without you attracting some age-old beast that could eat us with unfathomable ease!"
"I don't know why you're talking about the ocean, but we've got a real problem here!" Devin responded.
"I'll ignore the first part of what you just said, but only this once." Dracius warned. "Now then, he's eating you and not me, so that's good. It'd be nice if I had a sword with me, but what would a thirteen-year old boy be doing with a sword?"
"Uh, here! Use this dagger!" Devin exclaimed as he tossed a dagger over to Dracius. You'd think the dragon would have eaten them considering all the time they were wasting.
"This thing is rusted! What kind of knife is this?" Dracius scolded.
"Well, what do you expect? I haven't unsheathed that thing in 8 years!"
"Alright, I guess I'll get up now instead of listening to you two argue." Sierra stated.
"Ah, Sierra. Good. Now, if you could just bite his neck there, we could-
"What? Me? Bite something that ugly? Not on your life, Dracky." Sierra replied in a rude tone.
"But, but! It's on Devin's life!" Dracius pointed out.
"Hmm. Wait a minute! What are you implying?" Sierra questioned.
"Oh, nothing." Dracius insisted. "Let's just say I may know about that little mountain incident. . . . . . ."
"Fine, fine. I bite the dragon's neck, but only because you just promised not to tell anyone about that."
Sierra's sharp teeth punctured a hole in the dragon's scales, allowing Dracius to stab the dragon in its neck, thereby killing it. Somehow.
"Well, I'm glad that's over. I'm really glad none of us got hurt." Devin said.
"Sure, sure. There's just one thing that's really bugging me. How did the dragon not make it past your shoulder when it was eating you?" Dracius asked.
"Huh? Oh. That's an easy one! Look at this!" Devin shouted as he pulled his shirtsleeve open, letting out several pots and pans with teeth marks in them, which ungracefully tumbled to the ground. "I keep my mom's kitchenware up my shirt."
"About time your stupidity and pointless antics paid off." Dracius responded.
"Well, let's get back to sleep!" Sierra exclaimed.
So, the three went back to sleep. While this is redundant, it feels right somehow. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Not a Flashback~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Well, I guess it's getting pretty late. Let's go to sleep!" Sierra exclaimed.
"Aye, aye!" Devin retorted, trying to sound cute I guess.
"Whatever." Dracius mumbled, upset that Devin barely got injured in the land dragon incident.
To be continued. . . . . . .
The next chapter will be up soon. If you have any ideas for more misadventures these three undertake, be sure to tell me! I could integrate them in the actual storyline somehow!