Chronicles of the Resistance - Caretaker

by IntergalacticFlyingToast

After escaping the Advent mega-city of New Providence, a scientist buys his way into a resistance cell operating within the City-23 Contagion Zone. Hoping to avoid further contact with his former viper creations, the man is thrust into a role that could very well change his outlook on vipers, and force him to face a ghost from his past. (see tags inside)

17. A Knight's Vow

Staying Connected:

Curious about what goes on behind the scenes? Join me and other XCOM fanfiction authors in The Viper Pit Discord server: www.*discord.*gg / PBFpc4g (edited link to avoid fanfiction filters)

Chapter Specific Warning(s):

Danger noodle(s), mythological creatures

Opening Notes:

I'm back at it with another chapter release, which continues where we left off with Adrian. Fair warning, this chapter is dense, so take a moment to mentally prepare yourself for what's to come. Also, be sure to...

Enjoy!

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XVII: A Knight's Vow

Terminus: Containment Labs

Oct-19th, 2034, 12:13

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The Doctor

"I'm coming home…"

Adrian closed his eyes and accepted his fate, briefly noting the pressure that had been applied to his bandaged skull by a berserker who'd just been released from her psionic shackles. Though he'd witnessed the real her only minutes before, such a gentle soul had since been drowned within the bottomless pit that had consumed her life. And unfortunately for him, Epsi now planned to drag him down alongside her.

However, as the catalyst of lingering voices pushed through, an impassable fog came to subsist within his mind, and the pendulum swung back, causing his body to respond with violent tremors. Yet, as the pressure ceased and the taste of copper filled his mouth, a melancholy voice soon rose above all the rest and forced his eyes open once again.

Though he no longer found himself underground.

In fact, the man was on his back, gazing into a midnight sky while the sound of distant sirens filled his eardrums. He then registered the autumn chill and accompanied drizzle that peppered his face, mixing with warm blood that littered an open wound. Though, as the doctor lifted a hand to correct the issue, he found them stained crimson as well.

Unnerved, he shifted his head to the side, only to find himself shoulder-to-shoulder with a mutilated figure, whose gutted throat and fissured face oozed a rancid puss that reeked only of death. Adrian reeled away on instinct, throwing himself towards relative safety and striking the back of his head on a nearby object, which toppled over and caked a cobblestone pathway in dirt and uprooted geraniums.

The doctor took a moment to catch his breath, acknowledging the rest of the mazelike courtyard, which included an assortment of hedges and further planter boxes teeming with a colorful array of meticulously manicured flowers and sweet potato vine, whose burgundy hue matched that of the neon signs hanging off of the buildings overhead.

Adrian shifted his attention back to the mangled body at his feet, which continued to weep a river of blood that sought out the nearest storm drain. Upon further inspection, it belonged to a man decked out in a military getup that almost reminded him of—

He forced his eyes shut in an attempt to block out the discomfort in his leg, which flared up out of nowhere and compelled the doctor to extend his opposite hand in the hopes of catching relief. Instead, he was met with cold steel that drew his gaze toward its source.

A snub-nose revolver.

Adrian closed an unsteady hand around its grip, pulling it closer to his body to determine the number of rounds contained within its cylinder.

Four to be precise.

The man then looked down at his bloody hands to escape the harsh reality that lay decorated within the glow of the world that he thought he'd left behind.

New Providence.

"No…"

Adrian moved to stand, only to earn himself a secondary shot of pain that forced him back onto his ass. However, his body's protests were soon drowned out by others as the voices returned, sending a shiver down his spine and directing his eyes toward a shallow alleyway leading out of the courtyard. Despite momentary indecision, the doctor pulled the revolver to his chest and found his footing, gathering the necessary strength to overcome the needles of pain and seek out the voices. Though, as he stepped over the downed mercenary in favor of a dimly lit passageway, the shallow pockets of neon light soon revealed a glint of metal hung within the crevasses of the cobblestone.

Adrian leaned over, using the nearby brickwork for support as he picked up the foreign object, quickly determining that it was a medal, which commemorated the date and ASD of its intended recipient. Turning the medal over revealed a crudely imprinted etching of a feline made possible by a sharp set of claws.

While the edges of his mouth lifted, Adrian's appraisal was cut short by continued shouts from afar that pulled his attention towards a four-story apartment building outside the alleyway and across an empty street. Though, as he strung the medal around his neck and shambled his way towards it, a series of explosions in the distance set off a rich bloom that illuminated the night sky alongside what appeared to be a horde of livid protestors, all marching towards Unification Park.

Sure enough, a pair of Advent dropships soon screeched overhead, forcing the doctor to quicken his pace amidst a growing storm on both fronts and towards the apartment building shielded underneath a dark overpass. However, as he reached its vacant threshold, the shouts once again collapsed into a single voice, muffled by a windowed veil captured in a faded light one story above his head.

Adrian tightened his grip on his weapon, passing through the threshold while being drawn to the voice like a moth to a flame. The sound of broken glass matched his hobbled footsteps, refracting pockets of light that shone through holes in a dilapidated ceiling. Eventually, the man made his way down an adjacent corridor, finding a narrow staircase leading toward the floor above. Though, as he placed himself at the bottom of its sunken steps, the mourning voice once again fell underneath a wave of others, leaving the doctor to contend with each personality that had stuck with him after all the years.

Sectoids.

Mutons.

Vipers.

There were so many of them, and he knew them all by name, thanks to his unusual case of eidetic memory.

Yet, in the end, he wished he couldn't.

Because his horde of malevolent miscreants only served to jumpstart the root of his woes, which he hoped to displace and cast into the bright embers that forged him a path out of New Providence.

Yet here he was again, losing count in the end.

And with each step taken towards the apartment at the top of the staircase, another voice withered in favor of the one that had sought him out since the very beginning. And while he eventually called out in the hopes of an answer, said voice soon fell alongside them, leaving him alone as he pushed his way into the abandoned apartment.

Once inside, Adrian found dust-covered floors, torn wallcoverings, and a set of blanketed furniture lined with a shabby runner, which continued across the darkened room and towards a makeup vanity, whose mirror served as the source of light cascading through a faded window.

Despite his injuries and blooming apprehension, the doctor pressed forward towards the wooden vanity, noting the outside fires beginning to spread across a tainted skyline. He soon slowed his stride, standing before the table and laying his weapon across its hardened glass once he registered the potted plants that littered the rest of the apartment.

All of which ended up being of the same color and genus.

Red Amaryllis.

He then gazed through the vanity's glass, finding an all too familiar object contained within.

A wooden jewelry box.

Hers.

Adrian's heart began to pound as he rapidly turned his attention back to the mirror, catching the azure eyes that had been staring back the entire time. The doctor's reaction was immediate as he forced the vanity's stool between them, wrestled with his weapon, and then pointed it directly at his ghost, who slithered forward until her blue stripes shimmered against the available light.

"S-stay back."

The serpent only cocked her head at the feeble display, continuing onward in spite of the gun currently pointed at her head. And while incredibly small for a viper and carrying an underdeveloped hood, Adrian was no stranger to what lurked beneath the surface.

"I said stay back, or I'll shoot!"

He positioned the gun over the vanity, unloading a round and shattering its tempered glass. Afterwards, he turned it back on her in another effort to intimidate the monster from his dreams. Though, again his threats offered him less and less territory. And as the predator closed in on her prey, an overwhelming sense of desperation forced him to push a hand through the shattered glass in an effort to retrieve his wooden sanctuary.

However, his bloodstained hand only came to meet vacant air, pushing Adrian's anxiety into overdrive as he shoved the gun back in the viper's direction before turning it on himself.

"I'll fucking do it!"

However, she knew that he was incapable of carrying out such a task. After all, both parties understood who the real threat was as the tremors returned, and Adrian's body started to break down like it had done so many times before. The man's left leg responded in kind, and the revolver descended from his bruised cheek, falling alongside a knee and leaving him open to reproach.

To his surprise, the ebony viper chose to halt her advance, basking at their relative positions as she loomed over the stunted man. In another attempt to put as much distance between them, he pushed himself against the edge of the vanity, which caused his tendons to flare in response to the countless lacerations across his back.

"Please…" Adrian kicked the weapon to the base of the viper's tail and positioned his hands as if to hold back an inevitable tide. Again, painfully aware that he was too much of a coward to do it himself. "Just finish what you've started so that I may finally leave this hellscape."

The fanged maw morphed into a smile before his spectre allowed her scaly lips to part. However, an unmistakable voice cried out instead, drawing both of their gazes towards another doorway along the far wall, hidden amidst the darkness until now.

"Adeline?"

The voice called out again, weakening as if the distance between them was growing even further. Nevertheless, the man was compelled to follow it as he returned to his feet in renewed energy.

"Adeline, I'm in here. It's Adrian!"

In a fit of desperation, the man pushed past his ghost in favor of reconnecting with the woman of his life, making it to the doorway but pulling away just as quickly once he registered the scalding temperature of its doorknob. He then turned to the azure eyes responsible, daring to gaze straight into their purple hue.

"You have to let me in there. It's Adeline, she's in danger, and I'm the only one who can—"

The man shuddered as a fresh line of blood trailed from his nose, followed soon after by a wave of tremors that tethered him to the ground. Despite the overwhelming pain, he somehow managed to shift his eyes back up to his shadow, who used a four-fingered hand to wipe away a yellow line from her snout before turning it over against the light, smiling all the while and in a manner that made his stomach turn. He then closed his eyes, trying his best to block out one of the cruel plays that he was forced to relive without remorse.

Thankfully, it was nearing its end, and hopefully, he would come to pass alongside it.

However, the quakes that hounded him soon abated. The black hand came to cup his chin, tilting it upwards as his emeralds fluttered open against his will, drawn to a purple hue that only grew in intensity.

His wife's voice then rang out through the walls amongst a chorus of strings, calling out to him as though he was right beside her once again. Although, this time she was quickly joined by another, one that he failed to recognize but forced an inquiry all the same.

"H-how…"

The scaled spectre smiled back, the sickly purple hue almost overpowering the man in her grasp as her eyes seemed to bore into the fragments of his soul. She then shifted both of their eyes to her opposite hand, which she slowly pushed against his. She allowed the tips of her fingers to spread the entire length of his palm, which was so much larger than hers could ever hope to become. However, to his mounting horror, such a fact was made null as the reptilian digits began to stretch and thicken across his hand, overtaking it in a matter of seconds as the rest of the viper swelled in size.

Regaining control of his body, the man made another attempt for the doorway; however, his ghost acted quicker by forming a tight cage around his hand, cutting into it and holding him off the ground as her unstable size continued to catapult her towards the ceiling. All the while, the ebony tail thickened, and her twig-like arms began to pack on more and more muscle, shredding a white undershirt that once seemed large by comparison.

The hand holding him soon encircled his arm, then his entire torso in quick succession, forcing the viper to contort her massive frame as it continued to fill the room and crush everything in its path. Yet the viper's growth only accelerated as sharp quills began to sprout from her head and penetrate a weakened ceiling, which collapsed along with the floor beneath them.

The serpent's hand closed around Adrian in response, pulling him towards her scaly chest as floor after floor succumbed to her bulk, raining down debris that quickly spread to the bridge overhead, which also stood little chance of holding back the ebony tide.

Thankfully, her growth soon slowed, allowing the hand to reopen against an autumn sky, chilled by rain that worked to stave off the heavy smoke of a burning vista. As for the man contained within, he was left to stare into the eyes of a draconic beast, one covered in darkened scales and a patchwork of sharp thorns, which now lined an expansive hood. The creature was further crowned with a prominent set of horns, swirling outward in a royal display that marked an extensive ancestry. However, a pair of haunting, azure eyes juxtaposed such decorative features, offering a glimpse into the true monster that lay within.

A set of otherworldly quakes knocked him on his ass as he was suddenly rocketed towards a jagged muzzle lined with a set of pearlescent fangs. Thankfully, the punishing g-forces soon diminished as the hand reached its apex, putting its occupant in line with a serpentine gaze. However, as Adrian found his footing and used a house-sized digit for support, he realized that the apartment building now lay far below him, buried beneath countless tons of reptilian woman, who shuddered in sickening amusement as her vast coils bulldozed through building after building until the entire city fell within her hold.

A city that he was almost happy to see disappear.

Nevertheless, left with no other choice, Adrian held on to his organic pillar and gazed back into the eyes of the ebony colossus, which regarded him silently as she shifted an immense talon through the air and probed at the bandages that covered his back.

Her artwork.

He closed his eyes in anticipation; however, to his surprise, the pressure on his back shifted in favor of addressing the medal around his neck and the newfound bandages around his head. In response, Adrian reopened his eyes, only to watch the same talon pull away as the azure slits hardened alongside the rest of the serpent, who pivoted her attention to him out of blooming irritation.

"Impossible…"

Adrian's legs gave out, acknowledging the second aberration in their game and her ensuing quakes as the serpent's façade began to fade, and her features shifted one last time. The extensions lining her upper body sharpened into a thicket of thorns, accompanied soon after by a set of frills that traveled from a wedge-shaped jawline to the edges of her thick hood. Her draconic horns straightened and then curled upwards, pulling against the top of her black crown in a more streamlined fashion. Additional growths in the shape of fins also sprouted from the serpent's arms, tail, and backside, which gave way to a patchwork of gruesome markings and feathers that matched a powerful hide.

As for the rest of the viper, her torso extended outwards as the passage of time continued until the veil of shadows finally fell away, revealing a feminine bust wrapped in a protective layer of armor, complete with a segmented cuirass, gauntlets, and accompanied tassets. However, it was the painfully familiar markings covering her black mask and pointed pauldrons that made his heart sink to its lowest point.

Adrian's thoughts then drifted back to the flashing symbols that decorated the control panel of the berserker's cell.

Alien symbols that he hadn't had time to rationalize until now.

Yet the answer now lay before him.

Alien symbols that served to jumpstart another episode.

Adrian was driven to his knees and then against the ebony palm of the titanic huntress, which carried with it a yellow gash that seemed more like a river to the minuscule man who was left to trace a hand within its cold depths, resulting in a bloody confluence that only increased the amplitude of his tremors.

And alien symbols that destroyed any hope that he had left.

"Y-you're alive..."

The voices soon returned in full force, questioning his every action and demanding a reason as to why everything happened the way it did and why he was the way he is.

A spineless coward.

And though he had years to find one, even now as he lay broken and dying, he was still left without an answer.

Sectoids.

Mutons.

Vipers.

There were so many of them, and he knew them all by name.

Some good, some bad, but the distinction mattered little in the end.

And she was the worst by far.

As Adrian succumbed to his latest episode, he made sure to gaze up into the azure eyes of his least favorite test subject, who continued to blacken the sky with her draconic features, which he'd also grown to hate with every fiber of his being. Nevertheless, her smile only widened as she watched his human form fumble within her giant hand, knowing full well that she was the one who held all the cards and would play with her food until he breathed his very last.

The doctor shuddered as a single word came to mind, describing how she currently saw him and one that he refused to repeat as he allowed his lips to part, the bitter taste of copper flooding his senses as he addressed his patient.

"You have to let me go, Eight. I'm no longer of any use to them, not like this." He paused as another violent tremor traveled the length of his small body. "I'm…no longer of use to anyone, not anymore. So please…just let me die along with the rest of them."

Adrian's foundation shook alongside him as the ebony serpent's expression morphed again, regarding him with the same anger that had marred their relationship since its inception. Her azure eyes then took on a vibrant hue, matched closely by twin bands of psionic energy, which slowly weaved their way up her arm and came to ignite her palm in a purple haze, blinding the man temporarily before her towering fingers began to collapse inwards.

Although, Adrian failed to respond, instead succumbing to the tremors that brought forth the voices of his past.

There were so many…

Even still, the voice of his beautiful nightingale soon came to rise above all the rest, causing the man to close his eyes in another attempt to hold back the pain.

"...I love you, Adrian. We're going to..."

Yet the memory of that night came all the same, along with the ebony cage that formed around him, pushing him over the edge as the pressure against his body began to build once more. His voice then fell among them as he pushed against his organic prison, shouting her name through the darkness, again and again, hoping for an answer when he knew that he would find none.

And while his shouts soon diminished into choked whimpers, the cold chill soon gave way to a warm one that slowly eased the tension on his body. The darkness then faded along with the voices, replaced by a bright light that forced his eyes open.

He then registered the shouts of another. And though it didn't belong to Adeline, he knew it by name and was quickly pulled back into the confines of an underground laboratory.

"Damn it. Adrian, I need you to say something or at least give me a sign that some part of you is still in there!"

"Wha-what?"

The bright light dissipated, revealing a lanky man wearing a lab coat and a pair of dirty spectacles, which failed to hide a pale complexion that now somehow seemed even lighter.

The other doctor closed his eyes and tilted his head back. "Oh, thank God. At least you're still alive."

"I'm…I'm alive?"

Adrian took a moment to gather his bearings, noticing that his bandaged head now rested against the edge of the ramp leading out of the berserkers' enclosure. Harper also stood above him in continued relief. However, celebrations were cut short as Adrian fully registered the other man's reply.

"At least?"

Harper's expression turned crestfallen as he tightened his grip on the sphere in his hands, which now carried a steady red light that waned against the device's black exterior. "I…tired to save everyone, but I'm afraid that in the end, I was left to choose between two lives." He pocketed the device before motioning to the smaller man that lay before him.

"Yours…"

Harper then acknowledged the control console next to them before turning his attention to the area below them, where a red and white mass lay still beneath a pool of yellow blood, which continued to yawn across the rest of the enclosure and towards a silent set of cells.

"…or hers." Harper tore his eyes away from Epsi's battered body and centered them back on him, doing his best to keep his composure despite the unforeseen circumstances. "And I ultimately chose yours."

"I…thank you," Adrian answered, attempting to stand but falling backward instead. Luckily, a hand soon reached out to support him, allowing the doctor to reestablish himself on solid ground. He then turned to the man responsible. "How…how did this happen?"

Harper sighed, turning back to the leftmost cell, which once housed the deceased berserker and appeared largely damaged as a result. "The psionic resonators fell out of tune and the fail-safes failed to activate once things destabilized. As for…Subject Epsilon, she succumbed to her rampancy, forcing me to silence her...through other means. Thankfully, Subject Alpha survived, but it was as if someone…" he trailed off before shifting his gaze back to Adrian. "What do you recall before she was allowed to roam free thanks to the failure in her cell door? Did you see anything out of the ordinary? Perhaps tampered wires, loose bolts, or even damage to the linkage itself? Anything that could point us to who was ultimately responsible."

The color drained from Adrian's face as the alien symbols once again came to the forefront of his mind, along with a subtle set of tremors that urged him to reach into his pocket in the hopes of finding refuge, only to come up empty as he turned it over in desperation. He briefly noted the gash on his hand and then turned back to the dead berserker, pushing his way past Harper in another attempt to ignore the facts that lay before him.

"Adrian?"

The doctor soon came to kneel amongst the carnage that befell his last tether to his wife, which lay scattered amongst an uncaring floor and at the foot of the one responsible. Despite what little remained, Adrian lowered a shaky hand to sort out its fragments, pulling forth the largest one, which carried a single worn heart that was barely distinguishable. However, the man knew that it wouldn't be enough and was left with the horrible realization that despite his best efforts to contain his nightmare, she managed to survive and was still out there.

On the hunt for him.

"Adrian!"

The doctor slipped the fragment into his pocket before being pulled back to his feet, failing to hide the growing tremors that would soon leave him open for attack. Even still, Adrian found himself staring up into a pair of sharpened emeralds, ones that match his own and served as another painful reminder of his past.

One that he had now failed to run from.

"What did you see before her escape?" Harper pressed, placing a hand on the smaller doctor's shoulder in an effort to hold him in place. "I need to know, Dr. Fairchild."

And one that would come to collect.

Adrian shifted his gaze to the control panel on the leftmost cell, deciphering the symbols of its surface as though they were still flashing in front of him. "We know…" he murmured, leaving out the final designation that spelled out its creator. "They're coming."

"What?" Harper furrowed his brow. "Adrian, you're not making any sense. Who knows, and who's coming?"

Despite his best efforts, Adrian's tremors began to worsen, throwing the spindly hand off his shoulder as he sunk further and further into the cold embrace of another.

"Advent and one of the Elders'…" he murmured, unable to complete the sentence before his left leg gave out, a phantom pain throwing him temporarily off balance. And after pressing himself against the side of the nearby scaffolding in an effort to stand back up, Adrian made sure to run a hand across his bruised face, coming away with a fresh trail of blood. He then looked towards the reflective gaze of the closest cell, catching a pair of azure eyes staring back through the void.

Adrian immediately forced his eyes shut in another attempt to block out his nightmare, perilously searching his memory banks for anything to override the malevolent gaze. He searched through everything related to his past life, initially coming up empty as he tried to swerve past the different avenues that would only lead him back to her. However, the man then chose to switch directions entirely, dredging closer to the surface, which began to paint a picture over a contested canvas. And while her influence kept drifting them back to a reptilian set of eyes, the brushstrokes left available to him allowed for their cool color to fade in favor of another, which regarded him with a newfound warmth that betrayed the very nature of the creature who wore them, so he continued onwards.

And though she carried no voice, he still knew her by name.

Adrian then completed the picture in mind, coming away with a very different serpent, one who also carried with her a red gaze decorated in a petalled crown, one that had a calming aura that he'd only experienced with one other person in his life, and one who ultimately lessened the tremors that plagued him.

Upon regaining some semblance of control, Adrian turned away from the cell and made a split-second decision, knowing that such control would not last unless he placed himself closer to the source.

"Take me back to the viper's containment cell."

"What?" Harper answered back in shock before crossing his arms and tightening his gaze. "That's not possible, especially after what happened yesterday. That unkempt creature is dangerous and can't be trusted given all that has happened, and that snake of his is no better. Besides, you and I need to sort out the details related to our research and what might've been lost thanks to—"

"That wasn't a question, Harper," Adrian stuttered, trying his best to maintain control as he stepped past the taller doctor and began to hobble his way up the ramp leading to the exit. "I left something of value in there and desperately need to retrieve—"

He felt the same cold hand catch his closest wrist, spinning him around to face its owner, whose dirty spectacles lit up against the overhead light. "Dr. Fairchild, I implore you to reconsider your options. There's already a place for you in these labs. Besides, I'm sure that whatever you're missing can be replaced." Harper briefly acknowledged Epsi's body, appearing to swallow his words before continuing. "Furthermore, Hoffman strongly requested that I'd look after you, and I refuse to go against his wishes if I can help it."

Despite his tremors, Adrian managed to scowl at the other man. "Yet you'd still go against mine, making you no better than him."

Harper made sure to match the expression. "I'm nothing like that man, and I just saved your life."

"Only after endangering it in the first place!" Adrian pulled his arm against his chest in another attempt to get away but failed in the end due to the difference in scale. "Please…I may not have much time left and need to attend to something before I commit myself to this project."

Surprisingly, the pressure on his wrist faded as Harper took a step back, gripping the sphere in an unsteady hand once more. He traced his attention back to the dead berserker that lay below, then closed his eyes, inhaling and exhaling several times before turning to Adrian and covering his opposite hand in shallow acceptance.

"If that's truly what you desire, Dr. Fairchild, who am I to stand in your way? Though, expect Hoffman to raise hell once he learns that you've been handed back over to Rooker, who I'm sure is already up to something nefarious thanks to your absence and his unhealthy connection to that oversized snake."

[—]

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The Pilot

Rooker cautiously poked his head out from underneath the unearthed roots of a sizable tree trunk, surveying the dense underbrush of Rose's enclosure, which had now become his best piece of cover against the giant serpent, who intended to lasso his human form between an all too familiar set of coils.

Thankfully, Rose had chosen not to immediately pursue him after his final declaration to her challenge, giving the man enough time to slink further into the enclosure and gather some much-needed supplies that were left over from the past. Funny enough, he found some very peculiar relics while setting up for her arrival.

Of course, this wasn't the first time that the two had played said game, which started out thanks to Rose's fondness for nature and the creatures that inhabited it. Though, the ball of red and white soon became fixated on the likes of mythological creatures. Admittedly, he inadvertently fostered such curiosities after gifting her a dusty copy of The Hobbit, believing that such long-winding descriptions of nature would eventually wear the little booksnake down. Instead, the viper, who stood around three feet at the time, became obsessed with dragons, claiming that Smaug was misunderstood but also lamenting over the dragon's hubris and the fact that he was the last of his kind.

Much like herself in that regard, or so she'd come to believe.

Thinking back to their early interaction, he remembered humoring the hybrid by asking what she would've done differently if she were Smaug, and he was Bilbo, who had attempted to steal from the dragon's horde. Without hesitation, Rose decided to clamber up a nearby boulder in her best attempt to loom over her caretaker from her mountain of treasure. She then puffed out her petals in a show of determination, signing that she would simply befriend the hobbit and keep him as a vassal to befriend even more hobbits.

He remembered challenging her claim by stating that such a hobbit had intended to rob her, was probably afraid of dragons, and likely didn't want to be friends. While the little viper's smile initially diminished, Rose recovered soon after, countering with the idea that they'd play games until they became friends and that she'd even allow the 'tiny hobbit' to ride on her back as a show of good faith.

Rooker glowered as he recalled his cruel, trailing remark, one that pointed out that the viper was currently short on friends as well as height. However, much to his past annoyance, Rose continued on in stride, gleefully bouncing up and down while claiming with a swish of her tail that she would simply become the biggest of her kind because a bigger dragoness meant 'the very bestest of hugs,' which would easily sway a hobbit—or human—to her cause.

The man's frown deepened as he then remembered another harsh statement escaping his lips, one that saw him floundering in his already unsteady commitments and proclaiming that the human before her would eventually come to abandon such a 'crimson dragoness,' leaving her alone in the enclosure that had since become both of their cells.

Nevertheless, Rose again chose to be the better individual, leaving her treasure pile in favor of latching onto a cold, calloused hand, learning from past experiences, and guarding the man from her sharp claws. She also made sure to wrap her dainty tail around his closest ankle, acknowledging her isolation in a world that only saw her as an experiment. The viper then pleaded for him to stay with a hopeful embrace and the declaration that she could prove her worth to him through a game.

Rooker allowed a smile to warm his face as his chest continued to hug the earth in a continued effort to conceal his position from the very creature that he had tried so desperately to hate. Thankfully, he wasn't too far gone at the time to deny her a chance, and Rose more than proved her worth after a few goes of a game that came about by her own machinations, and one that they eventually coined as 'capture-the-human.'

He couldn't help but release a soft chuckle and displace the leaves beneath him, righting himself in order to unlatch an all too familiar helmet from his waist. He noted the faded decals and paint that once covered up a plethora of hotrod flames, which the viper detested to no end.

Thinking back to their original games, he had speed and size to his advantage, which resulted in rather hilarious, one-sided affairs as Rose did her best to bring down the humungous human. In fact, in the beginning, she neglected to use stealth altogether, enacting instead to charge her target straight-on with tiny fangs extended and skinny arms flailing wildly like an utter buffoon. She even attempted to use her head as a battering ram, lowering it towards the ground while pulling in her hood as though it were an arrowhead meant to be directed into his exposed shins. However, such efforts only served to blind the viper, who would immediately veer off course and bounce her alien noggin into the nearest tree.

While Rose's thick skull would ultimately prevent any lasting brain damage, he stopped taking chances after her third attempt and forced the little serpent to wear her climbing helmet and protective padding as an additional safety net, much to her annoyance.

Nevertheless, Rose's determination proved admirable, and her childish energy eventually allowed her to catch up to him, though her efforts to coil around his legs and pull him to the ground only resulted in her being glued to one of them as he continued to tread forth through the enclosure. Though as she grew older, the budding serpent soon got creative with her attacks, using the dense underbrush as cover, creating natural smokescreens, and even jumping out through the trees like a spider monkey after lying in wait for her prey.

The caretaker's thoughts were interrupted by the rustling of foliage in the distance, causing him to swear under his breath and recede into the burrow of his natural cover. Though his scaly pursuer gave him ample time to hide and prepare for her attack, which so far amounted to an old military poncho, a fresh pair of shoes, and a weapon capable of slaying giants, he had no intention of giving away the element of surprise. Regardless, after returning to relative safety, he began to fondly reminisce once more.

As Rose outgrew her safety helmet and had more weight to throw around, she gathered more wins in her column, and garnered further leverage over him, favoring a more drawn-out game that allowed her to toy with her prey and include her fondness for wrestling whenever possible. Though the drawn-out nature also gave him a chance to get crafty, which often came in the form of various traps that he picked up over the years.

At least for a time, all of this proved harmless and in good spirits, and he never had the heart to tell her no, especially once she gave him her best puppy-dog impression while stationing her favorite stuffed animals on her tail for emotional support.

The man repositioned her old helmet against his heart.

Of course, Rose soon reached the later stages of adolescence, and he came to barely reach her decorative neckline, then her padded chest, and then her armored waist, and…things only cascaded from there until the crimson dragoness packed on more muscle than both of them knew how to deal with. In the end, he was left to stare at the white underside of a monolithic tail as Rose hopelessly watched him shrink before her eyes.

Despite the complete size reversal and Rose's earlier statements ultimately coming to fruition, she insisted that their games continue in the hopes of retaining some semblance of her childhood, at least until that fateful morning, when she got it in her head to change the rules on the spot and—Rooker unintentionally shuddered at the fragmented memory and flexed the muscles in his left arm, opening and closing his hand to verify its range of motion. Despite the years, he still felt the same dull pain that continued to plague him due to his own negligence. Because in the end, Rose proved too much to handle in her energized state and her scaly rump carried out the rest.

The man released a burst of hot air through the relative darkness as he leaned against his wooden support, looking down at his fist and clenching it once more. Rooker then turned the helmet over and felt the shallow engravings surrounded by worn hearts—Rose's handiwork, and one of her first attempts to get him to stop being such an intolerable ass.

The caretaker sighed once more.

Once the dust eventually settled, he made himself a promise, one of many that he ended up keeping from Rose to protect her.

From the outside.

From the scientists.

From herself.

And most of all, from—

The dull thuds brought about by heavy scales sifting across the earth forced the man back into the present. They were followed soon after by the swaying of branches that brought a smile back to his face. After taking final stock of his inventory, Rooker concealed his weapon of choice beneath his poncho, adjusted the uncomfortable swim trunks that Rose had picked out for him earlier, and slowly retreated from his burrow in favor of another hollowed tree trunk, opposite the path leading to the courtyard where his reptilian predator would be forced to trek.

Sure enough, the persistent slithering from afar stopped soon after, and the shadow of the red and white serpent cascaded overhead. Though, her efforts to remain undetected by circumnavigating the path leading toward the pebbled brook were immediately hindered by a thickening layer of trees. And after several failed attempts to push past the natural barrier without destroying it in the process, the giant biophilia released an endearing whimper, choosing instead to prop herself up on her tail and straighten her sinuous neck as though it were a scaly periscope. Her large sonar dish was also erected momentarily amidst a storm of nervous jitters and fluttering petals, which she quelled using the same breathing technique that he'd taught her as a bourgeoning adolescent. Rose's hood then collapsed against her wide shoulders, and the powerful serpent wiggled a pair of reinforced hips in refocused resolve.

Unfortunately, such hips soon worked against her as Rose darted through the trees, upending one of them entirely before unceremoniously kissing the earth with her striped snout and biting her forked tongue on the way down. A small earthquake resonated throughout the enclosure as the out-of-practice huntress failed to prevent the rest of her expansive body from pooling on top of her in a disheveled mess.

Rooker cringed at the sight and began to crawl out of his cover, initially concerned for the serpent's health but pulling back just as quickly once she showed signs of life and pushed the thick layers of tail off of her torso with an honest exhalation. However, as Rose attempted to right herself, one of her oversized hands slid too far forward, springing one of his previously laid traps, which released a puffy cloud of the serpent's least favorite perfume into the air.

It took all of his willpower not to burst out into laughter as Rose immediately reeled back in disgust, collapsing into her coils once more while doing her best to limit the number of coughs and tongue flicks that once aided her in homing in on his position. However, such attempts were quickly met in disaster as the viper's venom glands accidentally misfired, shooting a short volley into the air that immediately came back and smacked her right between the eyes. A black smokescreen then flooded the area as she also failed to suppress another series of heartfelt whines while flailing her arms out in a desperate attempt to locate a handhold, which turned out to be another tree that only served to fall alongside her.

After coming to a second time and allowing the cloud above her head to subside, Rose released the poor tree from her clutches and hastily replanted it to the best of her ability, moving to massage a warming snout after directly addressing the additional destruction left in her wake with her tail, which resulted in an even larger mess. This continued for some time until the giant serpent gave up in favor of readjusting the rosebud blanket stretched across her chest, which she must've recovered after his timely departure from the water basin. A final sigh then followed as both of them noted the large tear in her improvised garment, which left a healthy line of red scales exposed to the elements.

Nevertheless, Rose adopted another resolute expression, making herself as large as possible in an apparent change of tactics that saw her swaggering out in the open and towards his previous hiding spot. All the while, she set off several other traps, which rebounded harmlessly off her armored body and lingered far underneath that of the towering serpent. Despite this, the big girl still did her best to reduce the amount of carnage caused by her heavy coils, which soon formed a tight perimeter around the tree where he once sought shelter. Rose then made sure to puff out her chest in a show of strength and raise her clawed hands to address its assumed occupant.

[ It's fruitless to try and escape from the heightened perception and crimson coils of a dragoness. For I've grown far too large to face injury at the hands of a tiny creature such as thyself, so come out and accept thy fate, onion knight. ]

The so-called onion knight kept his mouth shut, choosing instead to watch the scene unfold from afar, which saw the proud serpent tighten her crimson perimeter around the burrow after it answered in silence.

[ This is thy last chance, human. Either come out of thy flimsy shelter and face me with pointy weapon in hand or prepare thy tiny hands for a uhm…full body massage at my behest. ]

Rooker froze, tightening his grip on a weapon that would hopefully continue to aid him in their game. The thought of a full body massage did raise the stakes considerably, at least for him. Granted, Rose had learned from past mistakes and would never coerce such a fate upon him without his prior agreement. However, his own demons kept him in place and convinced him that an attack from the shadows was the only logical course of action. Regrettably, Rose's honored stance soon diminished as a result, compelling the dragoness to fully surround the wooden structure and loosen its foundation in order to peek within.

[ Where art thou, onion knight? Have thee… ]

Upon uncovering the fact that it now lay empty, Rose slowly turned toward the enclosure's exit in what almost appeared to be a fit of desperation, allowing her large hood to sink to its lowest position, her petals wilting alongside it.

[ …already left me for thy tiny mage. ]

The onion knight sighed, clenching his fist once more before removing himself from cover. He noted the helmet currently concealed along his waist before clearing his throat in favor of addressing its previous owner.

"Right here, amorous beast! For I'm a man of my word and am exactly where I need to be. Though, I feared that thee grew tired of my presence and fled to the safety of thy cave to revel in further deceitful decadence."

The dragoness immediately turned his way, unable to hide the heavy blush that returned to her face and the persistent tail wiggles that hinted at her growing excitement. Nevertheless, Rose quickly recovered, releasing the large tree from her grasp after giving it a careful adjustment and a quick pat on the head as though it were a startled child. She then slithered his way with a sashay of her hips and pushed out her petals in another regal display.

[ Only for but a moment, and thee're far too interesting of a human to let slip through my talons. I fully intend to add thee to my horde, either through honest conversation or… ]

The dragoness made sure to slap her large tail against the ground before wrapping it around a nearby boulder, covering it completely and giving it a light squeeze.

[ …through forceful capture. ]

However, the resulting tremors from Rose's tail strike caused her former target to suddenly crash to the ground behind her, startling the dragoness in the process, who then offered her newfound prey a nervous smile. She shifted her torso to block his view of the devastation, pausing in between to adjust her makeshift bra, failing to alleviate the issue and doing her best to draw his attention away from the tear along her chest, which only grew with further intervention.

Eventually, the giant's frustration got the better of her, and one of her sharp talons sunk deep into the soft blanket, leaving Rose unharmed but causing an even larger hole that exposed more scales to the overhead light. Her happy expression turned crestfallen as she directed her attention to the tools responsible, marring her previous confidence as she collapsed back into her shell. She then looked down at him and reeled back as if a dark realization had finally dawned on her.

[ O-on second thought, while I admire thy willful tactics of subterfuge, even utilizing the venom from that horrid crone, maybe we…could just return to my cave and discuss the terms of thy surrender to my cause? After all, there's no sense in continuing if all I'm going to do is cause further damage to the things that I…don't wish to see destroyed. ]

Rose briefly turned her attention down to the uprooted trees left as a result of her actions before shifting back to him, giving the human an out from the game that she'd been so excited to reignite minutes prior.

"Are thee…are you sure?"

The serpent slowly nodded her head, finding solace in the ground before letting go of the boulder and instead wrapping herself in an armored blanket that failed to hide her growing tremors.

[ I'm quite content with the way things are at the moment, and in avoiding any further risks given the present circumstances, really, I am… ]

Rose trailed off, latched onto the end of her tail, and then turned her back to him as she succumbed to another coping mechanism, which he worked so hard to address while she was an adolescent. All the while, Rooker frowned at her skittish reaction and the sudden desire to halt their game altogether. She had been so happy earlier and was still lying to herself, and they both knew it.

With the viper's attention averted, Rooker paused to unlatch the helmet from his waist and then brushed his left hand over the worn R&R engravings that sat alongside a colorful array of flowers. His thoughts drifted to Adrian's wooden box, which he had damaged out of misplaced anger.

Anger for the one that had given him a renewed purpose in life.

"Well, I'm not," he muttered to himself and then unfastened the straps, turning his attention back to his ward. "And I'm not about to let you fall prey to such thoughts, at least not anymore. Now…" The onion knight removed his poncho in favor of exposing his scars and ornate armor to the woman in front of him. Before letting the camouflage covering fall to the earth, he pulled out his chosen weapon and concealed it at his feet. "I will learn of thy name and of the one who fostered such perilous demons, so turn and face me, dragoness!"

The striped snout turned his way, now glistening against the giant sunlamp above their heads as water trailed down its scalloped edges.

[ Enough Rooker, this was a horrible idea from the start, especially considering my overall clumsiness and violent mood swings. So, let's just agree to call it a draw and clean up the mess that I've already created out of misplaced hope of ever— ]

"Nonsense, a challenge once issued must be honored until the end. Now come hither and face thy onion knight over open ground. Otherwise, I'll be forced—"

The crimson colossus uncoiled herself with a huff and then pointed an accusatory tail through the air.

[ Forced to do what? Charge me head-on like an idiot and then get crushed underneath my body because I'm an even bigger idiot that can't control herself?! No Rooker, it's not worth the risk or your life. So, let's just call it a day and forget the idea that we'd ever be capable of interacting like in the past. ]

"This is thy last chance, dragoness," Rooker bellowed, ignoring Rose's pleas altogether as he fastened her old helmet onto his head. Its straps uncomfortably tore at his ebony beard but the floral patterns came to match the swim trunks that Rose had picked out for him earlier. The man also picked up the fuzzy slipper at his feet, which carried draconic features and a set of googly eyes that Rose adored as a child, insisting that she wear it on her tail so that she could be just like her caretaker.

To be like him.

Rooker pushed the discouraging thought to the back of his mind, adjusted his stance, and then pointed his weapon in the serpent's direction. While he would surely become the laughingstock of Terminus if anyone would've chanced on such a scene, at the moment, he didn't care.

Because he was tired of seeing her this way.

And he wasn't doing it for himself, at least not anymore.

He was doing it for her.

His Rose.

"Now draw thy weapon or prepare thyself to be boarded, hogtied, and then dragged to the cleansing waters of thy hallowed basin. For I will have my victory, and thee will be cured from such terrible thoughts henceforth!"

The serpent acknowledged his attire, unable to suppress the smallest of smiles as former recognition took hold. However, Rose quickly checked herself and her forceful frown returned in a storm.

[ No. While I appreciate your commitment to the role, neither of us can afford to make another mistake. ]

Fully shooting the pilot down, Rose then turned to her side and acknowledged her most recent artwork once more.

[ Now, please come and help me clean up this mess, because I'm…too large and awkward to ever hope to fix anything myself. ]

The serpent then offered her back to him, planting her hands onto the ground and bending down in an effort to shovel up the channels of dirt kicked up thanks to her series of falls. Her caretaker responded with a sigh, lowering his weapon in shallow acceptance but failing to take his eyes off the lower section of tail that had served as the source of both of their woes. Rooker noted the helmet on his head, Rose's previous rebuke, and the fact that he would be dealing with a stationary target far larger than any of its kind.

It appeared that he would have to prove her wrong without her approval.

Just like she had to do for him all of those years ago.

The man loosened the cord on his swim trunks and secured his weapon inside its waistband. He then closed his eyes and took one final breath; a crafty grin found its way onto his face as his recollection of the past sealed his fate.

With that, Rooker laser designated his target, dug in his heels, and then lowered his head, lining it up and rushing forward as fast as his feet could carry him before giving the serpent in front of him his best war cry, which was rather pathetic considering he was mostly shouting at the ground. And unfortunately for him, Rose wasted no time in shifting her sinuous neck his way, releasing a startled yelp and pulling his mark closer to her body. However, with momentum carrying him in only one direction, he adjusted his attack leftwards in a continued effort to track it, hoping to land true but veering wildly off instead. With little braking action remaining, both knight and dragoness were left to watch in horror as the half-naked human collided headfirst into her armored rear, which absorbed the blow as though it were nothing. All the while, both parties released a pair of harmonized moans with Rooker rebounding into the dirt and Rose standing bolt upright in shock.

While it didn't take long for the pilot to recover, eighteen feet of reptilian woman soon cast her shadow over him. Though he expected her to lash out in anger, Rose's red gaze only displayed profound embarrassment that was matched by a nervous set of hands, which the large serpent tried to steady before addressing her diminutive attacker.

[ D-did you just deliberately ram your head into my posterior? ]

Rooker felt his cheeks burn as he propped himself up onto his elbows and stared straight into the confused eyes of his accuser.

"Uhhhhh…"

He paused, immediately running through the different scenarios in his head and hoping to find the one that would prevent an untimely demise thanks to the serpentine hindquarters that he just headbutted out of misplaced timing. He considered lying straight up to save face, shifting blame onto her to remain on top, or…his thoughts then drifted back to their game, and he couldn't help but release an honest grin.

"O fair and influential dragoness, I beseech thee to understand the full nature of such actions. For I was aiming for thy scaly shins while donning the Helm of uhm, Fortitude and Friendship." The knight then motioned to the flowery helmet atop his head. "The magisters of Term…opylae have imbued it with the power to grant its wearer the confidence of lasting friendship with whoever struck and left under its control, even if their aim ended up being rather questionable in the end…" he finished with a nervous smile.

Rooker's questionable declarations were met with a skeptical look and a raised eye ridge.

[ You do realize that I don't have any shins, right? So, what in the world were you actually think— ]

Rose's hands froze in place, and her expression slowly shifted as his trailing remarks and the parallels to their past finally caught up to her.

[ Term-opylae? I've…heard stories of such a place, but have never been allowed to see it with my own eyes, only in wistful dreams where I wake up afterwards and find myself trapped inside a lonely cavern. ]

The serpent paused, gazing at the worn floral patterns of her old climbing helmet.

[ Regardless, I'm aware of such an artifact, which grants extra protection against a hostile world and the ability to grow and fortify a friendship with any creature that the wearer desires. ]

Rose offered him a knowing smile, unable to suppress a happy jig on her tail before snaking it towards his body in order to force him closer to her torso. She then jutted out her chest and reprised her role.

[ But such a helm was originally forged in the fires of Mount Calamity by my kin and then stolen by a horde of smelly humans, who happened to be on a quest. And while there's no greater offense in dragon culture than to touch a dragoness' posterior without her permission, I shall spare thy tiny life if the helm is returned to its rightful owners. ]

The onion knight returned the gesture, re-found his footing, and noted the tail that could be used as a queen-sized bed close in on his position. Though, it didn't take long for the scaly appendage's tip to lightly brush against his shins, thanks to its uncontained waggles. As for the serpent herself, she now beamed down at him with renewed anticipation.

He made sure to narrow his gaze and feign a sense of profound irritation. "Blasphemy of the highest order! For such a helm would never fit upon the skull of a dragon, and thy be no exception, especially with thy frilly petals that would only serve to get caught inside its straps."

The dragoness allowed her forked tongue to hang out in annoyance.

[ Ugh…don't remind me. However… ]

Rose slithered toward him, further encircling the fleshy biped that lay beneath her.

[ If such a helm were to sit atop my head, no human would be able to resist my draconic charm. ]

Rooker was further corralled against a wall of red scales, which shuddered as he pressed a hardened hand against its surface. Rose's torso then proceeded forward until the pair sat inches apart, with Rooker left to slowly trace his gaze up a thick tail, then a chiseled abdominal section, and then finally past a pair of blanketed swells that mostly blocked his view of her face thanks to her proud posture. Despite their close proximity, the giant serpent momentarily pulled back, biting the underside of her lip and turning away to offer him a view of the bandages still wrapped around her waist. While he was immediately reminded of his own injuries, he suppressed the acute pain in favor of continuing their game.

Rose managed to steady herself just as fast, taking his earlier wisdom to heart and placing a hand on her hip in a statuesque manner while a crimson tail slithered between his legs, growing thicker by the second until he was left to straddle its weighty bulk.

[ I could befriend all of Termopylae, in doing so, subjecting them to my will and spreading such influence to it and beyond. ]

The human was slowly lifted towards the serpent's face, which encased a set of red eyes that were now set ablaze. And while Rooker wasn't afraid of heights, he was still left to latch onto the scaled appendage for safety.

[ Think about it, onion knight. If thee were to pledge thy loyalty as a vassal, I'd be allowed to grow indefinitely, reaching heights that would allow for embraces once thought unobtainable by the likes of man or beast. ]

Rooker allowed his gaze to harden even further. "The artifact is better left in the hands of someone who won't attempt to hold the world in the palm of their hand, or misuse its power in other such ways."

Both man and dragoness paused to shift their gazes down to her posterior with the former coughing lightly and the latter raising a reptilian brow once more.

"Anyways…the world is not ready for such a fate, especially one led by a serpent carrying such deviant intentions. Therefore, I beseech thee to reconsider and give thyself fully to the faith through allowing this humble human to continue with his quest."

[ And was such a quest also meant to involve running around half-naked and headbutting an unsuspected dragoness, one who happened to be tending to her garden? ]

The onion knight grumbled from atop her tail. "Thee were supposed to forgive that second part. And we've been over this, such armor was given to me by the Maiden of Roses, whom I care deeply about and wished to see smile before my departure into this accursed forest."

While the serpent ultimately blushed at another one of the knight's remarks, she hastily ironed out her tightened snout in an effort to continue her role unabated.

[ What's the matter, onion knight? Have I struck a chord? If thee truly cared for such a maiden, thee would've never left her alone in a castle to entertain such a quest, which has only led thee to injury and heartache. Though, thee did eventually happen across my humble abode... ]

Rooker laughed. "There's no such thing as a humble dragoness, especially one as large as thyself."

He was immediately pulled towards a striped muzzle, which retightened despite Rose's best efforts to hide the fact.

[ Thee have nice manners, for a thief and a liar. But such manners will not save thee in the end. ]

The man scoffed, unfazed by the added pressure as he swung his opposite leg over his crimson carousal to fully face its conductor. "An onion knight tells of only the truth. And if thee are truly immune to the effects of the helm, then thee have been corrupted in more ways than one. So, I find myself left with no other choice but to prevent thee from obtaining such power."

[ Oh? ]

The serpent's red eyes collapsed into slits, and her muzzle flared, producing a billow of black smoke as a forked tongue tasted the air around them.

[ And just how do thee intend to stop me? Especially once I take what is rightfully mine and overtake this forest in an endless sea of coils. ]

The onion knight grinned and then leaned forward to place a finger on her sizable snout, which felt warm to the touch and caused the serpent to go cross-eyed. She then bit her tongue in anticipation, leaving a noticeable blep that betrayed her supposed nature.

"No, bad dragon. Stop trying to grow to ridiculous sizes in an effort to encompass the world. Thee're better than that and should feel ashamed of thyself."

Rose made sure to release an endearing whine as the crimson dragoness appeared to reconsider her options. However, the moment was fleeting, and the flushed muzzle pulled away. She then lowered the human on her tail to redraw attention to the difference in scale and cement her place on the food chain.

[ An honest attempt, but I've since made my decision. For this dragoness will have her reckoning, human. And thee can either join her cause atop her shoulder or be confined within countless tons of uhm, cuddles—against thy will! ]

Rooker's smile widened at Rose's hastily tacked-on demands, along with the way her hands fidgeted after what was supposed to be a resolute stance. Clearly, she was still unsure as to how actual intimidation tactics worked, which again made such claims absolutely adorable.

"While I can think of worse forms of torture, such draconic shenanigans mustn't be allowed to continue within this or any forest." He then released his breath in exasperation. "I had hoped that it wouldn't come to this, but thee have left me with no other choice."

[ Don't be foolish, onion knight. For no blade could ever hope to pierce me. ]

"Maybe, but the helm that thee seek is not the only artifact in my possession…"

The knight then pushed himself to his feet, balancing on the red and white appendage before drawing the fuzzy slipper from his waistband, an action which produced a measured gasp from his scaly adversary, who quickly lowered him back to the ground in favor of pulling her tail out of harm's way.

"And given thy initial reaction, I suspect that thee know full well of the weapon that's stationed in my hands."

[ Saurian's Slipper… ]

The crimson dragoness paused to gaze into the duct-taped, googly eyes of the legendary slipper, which Rooker made sure to rattle as he pointed it up towards her unprotected muzzle.

[ Forged by the darkened matriarch herself and meant to control even the most powerful of dragons, should a rift in the ranks ever occur and once— ]

"It was firmly secured onto the end of their tail. Yes, dragon, I believe that we're finally on the same page. Now, either willing relinquish the name of the one who supplied thee with such scrolls, or be forced to do the very same under the influence of—the slipper!"

The sizable serpent slowly backed away, grasping the end of her tail as if to prevent any chance of the treacherous human from coming within reach.

[ And humans say that dragons are cruel. No, tiny knight. I'd sooner fight against becoming a thrall than let their name be known on my own accord; dragons don't go back on promises. ]

Rooker smirked at the final assertion. "And neither do knights…"

The man then pressed his advantage, charging forward with a slipper deliriously raised above his head while attempting to chase the very tail that had held him captive moments before. However, the serpent proved to be just as quick, pivoting herself around his body and bolting towards the other end of the enclosure with arms pulled close to her chest.

"Running away? Get back here at once, you oversized salamander!" he shouted while weaving in and out of the foliage as he continued in hot pursuit of the elusive serpent.

[ No! ]

While Rose had no voice, she managed to hurl the rebellious response his way and giggle all the same as she suddenly changed speed to narrowly evade capture. Given the difference in scale, he knew that she had come to be much faster than him, yet the serpent made sure to give the human a fighting chance as she carefully maneuvered around each obstacle, glancing back occasionally to make sure that he hadn't strayed too far behind or gotten lost, much like he had done for her in the beginning.

The memory only widened Rooker's smile as the pair continued onward through the enclosure, eventually making it to the entrance, which the serpent used as leverage to switch directions on the fly and double back towards its center.

"I said get back here!"

[ Make me! ]

"I will once you're wearing this adorable slipper!"

[ Never! ]

Despite her best efforts, Rose's size eventually worked against her as she chose an unfavorable direction, leaving the giant sandwiched between a rockface and a minuscule maniac decked out in a flowery helmet, questionable swimwear, and wielding a weapon intended for nightwear. Though fortunately for her, Rooker's endurance had finally diminished, and he allowed them a moment's rest while he leaned over to catch his breath.

"Now…sit still and accept thy humbling fate. After all, I've…experience with catching…tigers and vipers, but I'm sure that dragons…will end up proving to be no differ—"

Rooker was immediately cut off as his intended target attempted to reposition herself, rushing past the human but clipping him with the end of her tail as it tried its best to follow suit with the limited space available. The result was him being swept away and forced to straddle the thick appendage as she passed under the stone archway and into the temple courtyard. Thankfully, the dragoness soon registered her human stowaway.

[ Release me at once, tiny knight! ]

"Not until thee are wearing thy slipper!" Rooker turned himself around, beginning to slink his way down the long tail and towards its tip. "The end is near, dragoness. For all that's left for me to do is—Shiiiit!"

Once again, the man's victory was cut short. However, this time he was sent sailing through the air as Rose suddenly changed directions to avoid one of the courtyard's tall pillars, resulting in a loud bang as he collided headfirst into it instead and ended up sprawled out on his side.

Though Rooker's vision quickly returned to him, a long shadow soon fell over him, flickering against the overhead light as her hood was sent into a worried flutter. Based on the shifting breeze across his exposed backside, Rose was also in the midst of regaining control of herself before pushing an anxious set of hands into view.

[ R-Rooker. Are…are you still alive? ]

The caretaker groaned as he rolled over to better face his ward, only to find the floodgates on standby in anticipation of the worst. He made sure to offer her a disarming expression before pushing himself against the base of the pillar. "Did…did I come to change thy mind and emerged victorious?"

Rose immediately raised one of her eye ridges, appearing ready to challenge the first half of his question but calming down and adopting a genuine smile instead.

[ I'm afraid that the inanimate object has bested thee this time, and that thee have likely emerged with brain damage. ]

"Really?" The man put their conversation on hold while he patted the top of his head, confirming that Rose's old helmet remained intact along with his human noggin. "Impossible! Not while I have the helm of Fortitude and French Fries in my possession!"

[ Friendship. ]

"Huh?"

He looked back up at the serpent, who flicked her tongue in renewed concern for his wellbeing.

[ It's Fortitude and Friendship. ]

"Yeah, that. What did I say?"

The smile returned to Rose's face.

[ Fortitude and French Fries. Last I checked, we don't work at some burger establishment. Though, on second thought, such a place does sound like paradise. After all, we'd probably get our own name tags, get to greet customers with an honest smile, and work behind a grill while having unlimited access to burgers… ]

Rose's eyes immediately glazed over as her mind no doubt flooded with thoughts of being completely surrounded by burgers.

Her caretaker laughed at the reaction. "Or just get stuck working with a coworker that has a massive chip on their shoulder and an unhealthy desire to bite anyone who gets within touching distance. Believe me. Been there, done that. Never again."

The viper failed to respond amidst her ensuing tail wiggles, serving to only rebound into another pillar and dislodge an all too familiar slipper from its hold, which lightly smacked Rose on the snout and then fell between them. Naturally, the woman turned to the man as the primary culprit, narrowing her eyes but failing to hide her smile.

"What?"

[ You did that on purpose. ]

"Did what on purpose?"

[ Don't play dumb. You set another trap in order to distract me while you planned your next attack. ]

It was Rooker's turn to raise an eyebrow. "Huh? We're back in the courtyard, and you've already traversed the limited minefield that I was able to set up, in one fell swoop with that tail of yours, I might add."

Rose tightened her red gaze even further.

[ Now you're calling me fat. ]

"What?! I mean…" Rooker rubbed the backside of his neck. "Fat wouldn't be the first word that I'd use."

The giant serpent proceeded forward, pinning him between the pillar and the base of her tail, which blocked his vision of the rest of the enclosure and forced his attention skyward.

[ Oh. And just what word would thee use to describe me, tiny knight? ]

Shit.

Despite her apparent anger, Rose made sure to offer him a sideways pose while resuming her role, accentuating a set of respectable hips which connected her tail to the rest of her body. Though, the knight tried his best to track the pair of blood moons, which hovered in and out of view, yet also betrayed the gesture and spelled out a sense of built-up anxiety for his inevitable answer.

"Uhm…thick?"

The dragoness gasped, pulling her tail against her body out of apparent insult.

[ First, thee touch her posterior without permission, then thee make such sweeping declarations about it. ]

The color immediately drained from his face. "Now, hold on just a minute, I was talking about thy tail, which is admittedly a little—"

[ Even worse! ]

Rose's expression then turned downright deadly as she leaned down and picked up the fuzzy slipper that lay between them, giving it a gentle jiggle to admire the googly eyes that responded in kind. To his surprise, she then loosened the blanket across her chest to allow the footwear to be swallowed up by her cleavage, which she fluffed with a pair of generous pats before turning her claws back to him.

"My weapon…"

[ Is now rendered harmless and far, far out of reach, which leaves its onion knight wide open for a counterattack. ]

"Counterattack? What're thee blathering about." A thick shadow suddenly consumed him, blotting out the sky as a mountain of muscle came to loiter above his head.

"Oh…that."

The knight's eyes widen as realization hit him like a freight train, which left the station and was slowly followed up by a red and white appendage that forced him to roll out of the way before it descended to the earth in a deep rumble, which shook the entire courtyard and him along with it. Despite the initial escape, the giant serpent persisted, giving him more than enough time to dodge her mattress-sized tail in what was quickly devolving into a game of whack-a-mole.

[ Hold still so that I may capture and teach thee a valuable lesson in respect! ]

"Capture?" Rooker dodged another tail strike. "More like a lesson in death after thee squish me out of existence!" The man then turned back to read the viper's response, slowing his pace after she unexpectedly stopped and appeared to be coughing up a lung.

"Trouble?"

Rose made sure to let out one of her signature whines before holding up a finger, indicating that he should wait while she cleared whatever was backing up her system. Of course, it ended up being another organic blob that immediately fell to the earth before fizzling and then exploding like a smoke bomb, which momentarily shrouded its owner in a thick mist.

Admittedly, the first time that she pulled such a parlor trick was during their designated storytime. Naturally, she was immune to its effects, but the observation wing had to be aired out for several days while he was rushed to the infirmary after losing his eyesight. Luckily, the loss of vision was temporary, and Rose's venom cloud proved to be no deadlier than a can of mace.

Upon his return, the regretful serpent refused to leave his side until he was able to discern her tail from her snout, which admittedly took some time. And while similar episodes did crop up from time to time, the budding adolescent eventually got a handle on manipulating the potency of her venom, which turned out to be surprisingly benign considering her origins. Though, he always figured that such a viper was meant to crush her prey with overwhelming size over outright killing it with venom.

"Better?" Rose's caretaker asked after the natural smokescreen began to dissipate and the giant regained her composure.

Rose nodded her head before raising her tail as though it were a baseball bat, turning it his way in a renewed effort to smoosh him against the ground. Although, this time she followed it up with a couple of volleys that plunged the two into a thicket of smoke that oddly smelled of pumpkin spice. And unfortunately for him, such efforts began to offer him less and less cover to choose from. Eventually, the human began to tire and turned back to his scaly pursuer, who at this point was probably slithering painfully slow for his benefit.

"Crushing me beneath thy red coils achieves nothing! I'm sure that if we sit down and discuss matters like two grown adults, we can—"

[ Nonsense, I may be thick but am also light as a feather, so I'm sure that thee'll survive capture. We can discuss the terms of thy surrender then. ]

"That's not how things work! Also, wait…thee just admitted to being thick!" he shouted as they continued to skirt the edges of the courtyard and towards the water basin at its rear. Luckily, his reptilian adversary had since run out of smokescreens to obscure his path.

[ Oh! Uhm, well, I mean…kinda. Nevertheless, I'm still deeply offended that this fact was brought to light and will continue to irrationally shift blame onto thee. Now. Hold. Still. ]

A trio of attacks was directed his way, forcing a retreat as he narrowly avoided capture against a group of neighboring boulders, which shuddered thanks to the ensuing tremors. Unfortunately, the only remaining path available to him involved climbing the shallowest side of the block waterfall, which led to a narrowed ledge that overlooked the water basin.

Quickly determining that he was trapped, the knight made an attempt to double back, only to be blocked from doing so by a hand the size of his torso, which corralled him back toward the edge of the cliff, putting him level with his attacker's muzzle, who gazed back in joyful amusement.

"What's so funny, dragon?"

[ There's nowhere left to run, and I officially have thee cornered like a mouse, which means that I'm one step closer to that promised back massage and sweet, sweet burgers. ]

Her prey sighed. "Figures that thee would remember our original challenge when it best suited thee…"

The dragoness proceeded to run her forked tongue across her lips, nodded her head, and then jutted out her chest while she completed a little victory dance on her tail, twirling around in a flood of emotion. However, she soon adopted a serious stance, turning her attention back to her prey.

[ Naturally. Now be a good little human and hold still while I shove thy head straight into my watery basin. ]

Rose's eyes immediately exploded in size.

[ Oh! Wait. Uhh…that didn't sound quite right. Uhm, what I actually meant to say was flarbalholshovhedinmy… ]

The viper's hood was sent into an embarrassed flutter as she released a fretful whine and tried to steady a pair of wobbly hands, whose tremors only worsened as she continued to bring an undecipherable string of signs into the fold.

Though he felt for her, Rose's slipup quickly became the center of her attention and bought him a few precious moments to plan his next move. A move that would be limited because he was without a weapon and she had effectively checked him into a corner with her massive body, which…

Rooker took note of the serpent that lay before him, shifting his eyes down until he found what he was looking for—a weapon forged by the ebony queen herself and intended to bring down even the toughest of giants. And while it originally lay between a pair of sturdy stones, Rose's earlier movements had since displaced it to the tear along her left cup.

His mind then drifted back to the stories of such a weapon.

Of course, such tales were completely made up. It was just a fuzzy slipper that he found abandoned in some lonely dumpster scattered along an unmarked road on the surface. However, to the viper that currently had the slipper pressed against her heart, it mattered along with the wild tales that surrounded it and ultimately came to define her childhood.

One that was far from perfect.

Like himself…

But it was hers.

And hers alone…

And no one could ever take that from her, at least not while he still drew breath.

Because shame was all that he had left…

Because she was worth it, and he'd do everything in his power to see her live the life that she deserved.

Far away from monsters like himself…

Even if it meant taking a chance.

By lying to her face like a coward…

And living a little.

And dying without a purpose in life.

Rooker instinctively reached for the pocket that would've contained his musical watch, which had been left inside the observation wing upon his return.

His thoughts immediately went to the nameless viper.

Another target.

Another victim.

And another ghost to haunt him in the afterlife.

[ Rooker? ]

"Huh?"

The man shifted his attention back into the crimson eyes of the viper, who had since recovered from her latest round of verbal blunders and instead looked his way out of concern.

[ Is everything alright? ]

Genuine concern for his wellbeing.

Rooker offered her strained smile then scowled in an effort to distance himself from such thoughts and pull them back into the game. "No. Everything is not alright! I'm about to be bested by an overstuffed kobold who's chased me onto this rock because she can't accept the fact that she's got a little extra armor to throw around!"

The onion knight then looked down to the fabled slipper, whose derpy gaze stared back in equal measure while confined to its crimson stone—an opportunity, should the knight choose to take it. Unfortunately, the dragoness quickly followed suit, offering a fanged smile before pushing out her chest even further as if to dare the knight to try.

Though his continued hesitation soon caused Rose's expression to fade and her hood to wither alongside it. Despite this, the serpent gathered her strength and managed to lift an uncertain set of hands to finish what they started.

[ Thy quest ends here, onion knight. ]

Yet as the serpent's hands opened to their full extent and began to close in, the knight found himself staring into the same set of eyes that had stuck with him throughout the years.

Despite all the anger.

Despite all the pain.

And despite all the scars.

Rooker ran a calloused hand across the line of scars that covered his face while also drifting his attention to her damaged hood, both of which were faded but ultimately brands that would stay with them for the rest of their lives.

The knight then took one last look at her old slipper before taking a page from his own book, making a decision, and then adopting a wily grin.

"No…my quest is just beginning."

The pilot pulled back to give himself ample runway. Afterwards, he tightened the straps of his flight helmet, let loose another war cry, and then sprinted clean off the rockface, charting a course for a set of blimps that held within them the key to victory.

Of course, his plan immediately went awry, thanks in part to Rose, who went wide-eyed after registering his intentions and instinctively pulling back to dodge the diminutive warrior. However, such a reaction was quickly overruled in favor of trying to save the idiot, who was now rapidly plummeting to his death. The result was a mixture of both, with Rooker grabbing hold of his intended target before slamming face-first into a pair of blanketed airbags, which were further compressed as Rose guarded his exposed backside with one hand and cupped his flowery ass with another. Momentum then carried the grappled pair over the edge of the water basin and into its depths, where he felt a deep rumble propagate from his scaly partner, who released him from her hold as they reached the bottom.

Rooker then made an attempt to surface while clutching his prize but suddenly felt himself being maneuvered into an immense set of coils, which were unusually warm as they compressed his entire body and slowly pulled him out of the water and then onto solid ground, which he further dragged himself across in an effort to stand. However, a sudden burst of heat and a cavernous moan caused him to tumble backwards onto his ass.

Despite the sudden chill, the man eventually righted himself, pivoting on his feet in order to face his crimson savior, who had managed to surface on the opposite end of the basin and now held his gaze.

"Thanks for the save, Rose. Thinking back, that probably wasn't the best…" he trailed off as he noted how she covered her mouth and shifted her red eyes from the temperate waters, back to him, and then downwards, all followed closely by a high-pitched meep and heavy blush that decorated a striped muzzle.

"What?"

The man retraced her steps with his eyes, quickly locating a pair of flowery swim trunks floating along the water's edge. He then looked down, passing an array of scars, a respectable set of abdominal muscles, and then crashing straight into a flagpole that was currently standing proud for both of them to see.

"Oh…"

Rooker then registered the object in his hand, which didn't fit the form of a slipper and weighed quite a bit more as well—a rosebud blanket.

"Oh!"

His eyes rapidly shifted back to Rose, or specifically her upper torso, which now supported an exposed set of breasts that glistened against the warm sunlamp beating over their heads. Of course, they had come to match the rest of the viper, who continued to catch her breath and cause the generous knolls to shed the moister that clung to her sinuous form. Although, what caught his attention most was the pair of hardened nubs sprouting out from between a malleable layer of scales. The man then allowed his gaze to fall even further to the base of her tail, which had since split into two sections thanks to a thin crease that folded back and revealed a very different kind of flower, one that befit the scale and tenderness of the woman who wore it and complete with a swollen button the size of a cherry.

However, Rooker refused to allow his blue eyes to linger for a second longer, forcing them upwards to match a pair of flustered red ones, which expanded alongside his own as both finally registered what had happened and released a set of synchronized yelps.

"Sorry!"

[ Sorry! ]

The pair declared in tandem before covering themselves, with Rooker refusing to utilize her blanket for the task and Rose left to coil around herself while the man awkwardly hobbled his way towards her end of the basin, falling flat on his face twice in an effort to tie down his ship against a silent gale of cluttered emotions. Thankfully, Rose appeared to be in the same boat as he eventually approached the monolithic serpent, who continued to hold her feminine assets in a pair of jittery hands.

Nevertheless, Rooker made sure to acknowledge her with an awkward smile before setting the serpent's favorite blanket on her tail and turning away to give her a chance to redress. Surprisingly, he then felt a gentle tap on his shoulder, drawing his eyes back to the nervous serpent, who hesitated but then re-gifted the blanket. Afterwards, Rose motioned with her snout to her exposed backside, which the serpent offered to him unconditionally once she propped herself against a large boulder, effectively clearing a path for the smaller human.

She wanted him to be the one to do it.

Rooker's smile only widened as he nodded his head, stepped up onto the rock, and then tried his best to reach around her wide torso, finding the task impossible without first supporting himself against her muscular back, which tensed by then relaxed as a clawed hand left her breast to offer assistance.

Eventually, both man and serpent managed to carefully re-secure the blanket across her torso, with Rose letting off a tender coo after she allowed herself a quick appraisal of their handiwork. He then stepped away, only to find a crimson tail fall along his path. A clawed hand soon descended from the sky, offering him an unmistakable pair of swim trunks, which he donned immediately.

Rooker spun around in place, noticing a tear in the back that exposed a good portion of his posterior to the elements. A short whine called his attention back to a regretful set of eyes and a deflated hood, compelling him to give the towering set of coils that Rose had pooled next to him an encouraging pat. He then noted the large tear in the blanket that hung across her breast.

"Don't worry about it, Rose. We'll fix it together later. I'm just happy that you were able to fish them out."

His response resulted in an optimistic coo and a couple of subtle tail wiggles before the so-called dragoness shifted her gaze out across the water, offering her tail as a place of rest for her onion knight, who accepted the invitation without question. Once aboard, the man allowed his feet to dangle over the basin's edge while he unfastened his flowery helmet, placing it against his knee and then running a hand against the worn hearts lined within.

After a few precious moments, Rooker addressed his ward with an honest grin.

"So, I'm guessing this means that we can call it a draw, right?"

Rose shifted her beaming gaze down to him, taking a moment to puff out her petals and adopting a conceited one instead. She then maneuvered an enclosed fist in front of his lap, unfolding it to reveal the fuzzy slipper contained within.

Rooker laid his own hand on top of the giant's palm, pausing to register her warmth before pulling the slipper into his lap and allowing the serpent a chance to respond.

[ Not on thy life, human. ]

Rooker sighed, staring deep into the derpy eyes of the draconic footwear, knowing full well that its owner would call upon his aid in the near future, or more specifically his hands, which were far outmatched when one considered the mountain of a woman that they'd be up against. Nevertheless, he then looked back to the outstretched hands hovering overhead.

"Thy wish is my command, honorable dragon."

The knight made sure to latch onto the black talon of the closest one, pulling it into his lap in order to massage its outermost edge, then laughing at Rose's unwavering persistence on the matter.

"But first, let's get thee something to eat."

[—]

---

Closing Notes:

Things are starting to heat up as Adrian is left without his final tether to his wife, and Rooker gets Rose to finally come out of her shell. Expect a lot more twists and turns ahead as we continue into the second act.

As always, constructive feedback is welcomed!