Angels with Newfound Hope

Act 1 Chapter 20: Nostalgia

"Back when I was a kid, some friends and I used to always play outside and go 'adventuring' together. We'd go anywhere as long as it was close enough to town. Woods, mountains, beaches, we loved it all. We ended up being fairly familiar with our surroundings as a result. Then one day, we caught wind of a cave system nearby. Caves! That was completely new to us, so of course we went as soon as possible. All of us were so excited. It thankfully wasn't a big enough system to get lost in, but we still had a ton of fun that day..."

20 years ago...

"Hey Mrs. Gregory. Is Allister home?" An enthusiastic voice picked up on a landline phone.

"Oh hello Bryce. I'm sorry, but he's not home from school yet. He had to stay later for an after-school event." The serene voice of Allister's mother replied. A much younger Bryce's face immediately dropped.

"Oh. How long until he's out then?" He asked hopefully. Surely, it can't be that long.

"Bryce, it's only 3PM. He won't be out for another two hours." Mrs. Gregory's response killed the last shred of hope he had. He thanked her dejectedly and hung up. That was the last friend he tried to no avail. And he was so excited to go caving again.

Maybe he could anyway. He didn't need his friends to have a good time. Yeah, he'd just go by himself! He'd just need a flashlight so he could see, but the head mounted ones were such a pain to put on.

"Hey mom, I'm going out." Bryce called from his eclectically decorated entryway.

"Now hold on you. Where's the fire? Where are you going?" His mother: an earth dragoness of smaller frame peeked out from the living room. She held a crochet needle and some project in her salmon colored hands. He never understood why she did that. Her stuff didn't ever get much better than a scarf or something.

"You remember that cave system I was talking about last night? I'm just going back there." The child took a seat at the door. He had a feeling his mother would be a bit overbearing about it.

"Okay, well are you meeting up with your friends at least? And where's your flashlight?" And his hunch was right... to a degree.

"Uh, yeah. We're just going to meet there." The younger dragon lied, opening the door in preparation to leave. "Got to go now I'll be back before dark bye!" With that out of the way, he sprinted out the door.

"Wait, don't-" The door slammed shut on the dragoness. "-forget your flashlight..." She sighed heavily. What was she going to do with that boy?

A good ways away from his house, Bryce finally slowed to a light trot. His rush to avoid suspicion may very well have attracted it. Heck, his mother may be coming after him right that second! The thought sent a chill down his spine. He picked up the pace once again and didn't stop til he was at the cave entrance.

"Finally... I hope she didn't... follow me." He panted. His heart was racing and his legs burned from fatigue. The poor kid never ran that much in his life, besides running the mile in school, that is. He sat down for a minute to cool off and catch his breath. All that exercise had him sweating like crazy.

"Starting to wish I wrestled with that stupid flashlight now..." Bryce complained softly. He was in a corner of the system, checking out a cool stalagmite formation that looked like a sword. Or rather, he would be if he could see well. But he was just stuck squinting at it in the dark. A soft shuffling sound from below caught his attention.

It was more a weird cracking noise, now that he thought about it. That was when a pang of dread struck.

'Cracking? Oh no...' The cracking grew louder as he tried to get away. Unfortunately, the ground below gave away with the shift of his weight. He had no clue how long he screamed before the impact finally came. All he did know was that his breath was gone for a full minute.

When he could finally breathe again, Bryce began looking around. There were a few holes that looked big enough to fit him. Maybe he could try crawling his way out. He got up and paced over to one of them. Trying to squeeze through was a bit tougher than originally thought. It was just too small. His claws did nothing either, no matter how hard he tried.

"Come on!" The young dragon groaned as he tried forcing a rock loose. It didn't give, but he sure did. The kid was sent careening back a few feet onto his rear. The hopelessness finally started to set in around the fifth attempt to get into a random hole. There really were no entries or exits besides where he fell from. He was completely screwed unless he could climb out.

Yeah. Fat chance of that happening. He couldn't even stay on the school's rock wall for more than a minute. Still, it was his only option. The wall had to be a good five meters tall from where Bryce stood. It didn't seem like much to a runner or anthro, but this was him: an earth dragon.

"Please let me get out of here safe." The dragon prayed before digging in and hoisting himself up. An image of his worried parents flashed by in his mind. With it, came a few holds. Bryce had to get out. For him, his parents, and-

His friends came next. They were cheering him on in his head, giving him the strength to climb another meter. They always gave him hope, even now when he was all alone.

"I'm not going to die here." The boy grunted. "Like heck if I'm going to let myself!" More grappling with the unrelenting stone became more progress made, became more determination to leave this dingy cave and never come back. He could smell victory now. The end was so close!

And yet, one stray rock was all it took to tear the king from his throne. Bryce sorely underestimated the spite of the universe. And for that, he was punished harshly. He was sent tumbling from the wall and onto his back again. Searing pain shot through his muzzle as he lay crying out.

"Ah, fucking rocks!" The boy spat out. He wouldn't have even cared if his mother was around to discipline him, that hurt beyond comprehension. Droplets of sticky blood spattered against his bruised chest.

One paw to the dripping cut made him realize just how bad his injury was. He immediately put pressure on, making the pain much worse. Yet he still had to persevere if the bleeding were to stop. The young dragon bit it down as he clamped his muzzle. He could feel the skin that had been torn open during his fall, creeping him out.

For what felt like an eternity, Bryce sat contemplating. His own thoughts became his only company after the bleeding eventually stopped. They swirled around in his head like a swarm of insects. Relentlessly, they tormented him, always mocking and pointing out what could've been done better.

Yet he accepted them with open arms. They were the only solace in this suffocating blackness. The boy seemed to have accepted the hopelessness that predated his fate. He was going to die down there. No friends, no company, not even any food to prolong the inevitable.

Tears streaked down the dragon's face as his mind wandered down the rabbit hole. Images of suffering and death drove him further into depression. All he hoped for now was that someone would find him, alive or otherwise...

"I've got something here." Was that his mind playing tricks, or-

"You're right, that doesn't look natural. Keep the rope handy in case I fall." A blinding light invaded Bryce's vision the moment after. "I see him! Hey down there!" Someone called out. He did his best to look up at them in spite of the lack of sight.

"H- help! Please..." The boy pleaded weakly. Some shuffling was heard above before the guy came back.

"We're here! Just stay calm, we're going to get you out." The other commanded. Bryce was reeling. He was getting out. He wasn't going to die! He was going to be okay...

Present Day

"I had plenty of time to think while I was down there, and I often returned to that experience later in life. It made me want to get stronger at first but... I realized that alone wouldn't have saved me. Our kind will probably never be able to climb, but I can at least try to better myself more feasibly. I guess that's why I build those models now. Feeling so helpless down there: it made me realize I wanted to help others. Being saved by the police sure did a lot to put me on the same path. Turns out I was even good enough to become chief." The dragon mused. Alex reflected wholly on what he just learned. It was quite a lot to digest to say the least.

"Damn... I never would've thought..." He trailed off.

"Looks like that's all of it. Thanks for the help. I might have to tell you about the other one sometime. But for now, let's head back." Bryce gave him a warm smile. The brunette hid his burning face as he went to pick up his drying tops and bag.

The warm lighting of passing sodium lamps illuminated their walk back quite nicely. Though, this route didn't lead anywhere remotely close to his apartment.

"Hey Bryce? Are you taking me back to my place at all? This doesn't feel feel familiar in any way." He pointed out, wanting to know just what was going on.

"I'd rather not risk anyone attacking us, especially Reza. You can just stay at my place tonight." The mere mention set the human's face ablaze yet again. How the hell has he not gotten used to this guy's attitude yet?

"Oh... E-even after the cheese?" He caught himself from stammering too badly that time.

"The ocean says we're even." Bryce stated, flashing a rude smirk his way. "Let's head inside now and get some shut-eye. I'm pretty beat." Alex hadn't even noticed their arrival. Yet there they were: at his front door.

Inside, the dragon wasted no time setting his sofa up as a makeshift bed. The brunette behind him also wasted no time stripping off everything that was still wet: which even included his watch.

"Ha! Holy shit, you really don't have a tail. I am so sorry I doubted you." Bryce laughed uncontrollably. All Alex did was flick the lights off and set his watch on the coffee table.

"Yeah yeah. I told you. Now, how about we hit the sack already?" He brushed it off with ease. It was getting easier to do so with the constant teasing.

"Sure. You can have the couch. I'll just sleep on the floor or something." The dragon took a seat on the rug and began getting comfortable.

"Wait, don't you have a bed at all?" Alex questioned, somewhat surprised he wasn't using one.

"As I said, it's only a temporary setup. I wanted to be closer to work, and my new place wasn't ready yet. So I'm kind of stuck here now. At least with all this armor, I'll barely feel anything. I could sleep on a cave floor if I wanted." Bryce casually bragged. That still didn't sit right with the human. He deserved better than what he was getting.

"You really don't have to. Why don't we just share the sofa? I'd say it's big enough for both of us." He proposed. That may have garnered a little too much attention.

"I mean, it is, but I didn't know if you... Well if you say so." With that, he joined Alex on the arguably softer sofa.

"Sorry if I'm a little cold. Being shirtless does that to you." The smaller human apologized jokingly. A soft chuckle emanating from the dragon behind him signalled the mutual humor.

"It's alright. Here, let me warm you up." The chief wrapped his arm around him, paw on his bare chest.

"T-thanks. You know, it's been a while since I did this..." Alex sighed. He couldn't even remember when he was last this intimate with anyone.

"What, sleeping over at someone's house?" Bryce asked half-heartedly.

"That and being completely naked in front of someone." The smaller brunette yawned. That cookout must've sapped more energy than he thought. He was barely beating back sleep.

"Heh. Well, I hope you're comfy at least." The chief yawned himself. Alex moaned his answer, already letting unconsciousness take him away. "Good night Alex..." Was the last thing out of his mouth before finally passing out.

"Good night Bryce..." The human mumbled. Sleep befell them in mere moments, the intimacy long forgotten. All that was, was them and their sweet embrace. Both human and dragon finally felt content in each others' arms...