Infinite Blossom
Panting from passionate exertion Danny reached out to nuzzle Tucker. The rushes from the mattress smelled sweet and the boys were slick with sweat. All the draconic lust had drained from Danny's mind. "Tucker…" Danny said softly. "Tucker I'm so sorry… I shouldn't have… the queen… I could feel her… she was screaming in my mind." Danny whimpered slightly.
"I'm the one who should apologize." Tucker said softly, in a whisper that hissed in Danny's ear. His arms wrapped around the halfa's waist. "I don't want anybody to know about this. I hurt you… for some reason I can sense it."
"It's physical hurt Tucker… inside I've never felt better." Danny said sleepily. He closed his eyes, still feeling the warm glow leftover from dragonroused passion. It was, he thought, his own strength combined with Tucker's. He wanted to hold onto that rosy feeling as long as he could.
"You mean you were actually aware of what was going on?" Tucker demanded. "Remember how when you went evil because of Freakshow your eyes had turned red?"
"I never noticed that." Danny said, sitting up straight and then grimacing because the numbweed was starting to wear off.
"Well Sam and I noticed, every time you turn evil your eyes go from green to red. And when the whatever it was happened your eyes went from green to gold. Like, metallic gold. Like dragon gold." Tucker pointed out, tenderly running a hand through Danny's pure white hair.
"Tucker…" Danny said softly. "I had feelings for you even before this… it doesn't /matter/ to me!" He insisted.
"It matters to me!" Tucker protested. "If you weren't in your right mind that's borderline rape."
"I wanted it in the first place it was consensual." Danny argued. "I /LIKED/ it Tucker, and I /WANTED/ it." He glared.
That was about the point that Sam poked her head in, saw the clothing on the floor and growled at the boys. "Real smooth guys." She growled. "Danny, you could have /told/ me you were planning on sleeping with Tucker…"
Danny groaned. "Sam it's not what it looks like."
"To hell its not." She growled, tossing Danny his jumpsuit, which was still on the floor. Tucker's hat went flying across the room and hit him in the head.
"Sam something went wrong. You know how Valerie said that Danny was sensitive empathically?"
"Yeah, what of it?"
"One of the dragon queens went into heat." Danny growled. "It's emotions… just too much…" Danny said with a sigh as he flopped back in the bed. He looked over at Sam.
"So you're saying you weren't responsible?" Sam asked with an arch of her eyebrow.
"It's more than that Sam. I /love/ Tucker." Danny sighed as a couple of tears escaped his eyes. They felt cold on his cheeks, and turned the declaration into a plea.
Sam looked pityingly at the two boys. "Alright, I'm sorry. It wasn't your fault either of you. I came to tell you, according to Mirrim's Path the firelizards will be hatching sometime tonight, probably around dinner time. Now at least get yourselves covered. Mirrim's coming to check your wounds Danny."
Danny moved his injured arm and hissed. Tucker had been as gentle as he could in their lovemaking, but when numbweed wears off it wears off. And the salve, which had felt cool and numb against Danny's skin when he'd woken up, was now hot, itchy, and the pain was coming back. Danny growled and used his other hand to reach for his jumpsuit. "Great, how long am I going to have to stay in ghost shape in order to keep from confusing the natives?" Danny demanded as he pulled on his clothes and changed back. The T-shirt was more comfortable on his shoulder, but a threadscore is a threadscore and they hurt.
"That's up to you." Sam said, she had turned away and closed her eyes. "Can I look now?"
"Yeah." Danny peered at the bandaged shoulder. Blood, with a hint of something green, was seeping through the bandage. "Er… why is my blood green?"
"It's ichor." Sam replied as she turned around. "It must be left over from the transformation."
Danny was trembling hard, he had to sit down. That was when Mirrim knocked on the door. "Danny?" She called gently. "There you are. I'm Mirrim. My green Path brought you in." She paused. "That you're sitting up is a good sign. Your mother was worried sick about you. I had to send Reppa, Lok and Tolly through the aether to get to her."
"Who?" Danny asked as this strange girl, about eighteen or nineteen and about a handspan shorter than Dash walked in with a medical kit.
"My firelizards." Explained Mirrim. "They make excellent messengers." She laid out several jars on the bedside table. Danny gulped, several of them smelled okay, but one of them was pungent, astringent, and a rich blood red sort of potion in a vial bothered him big time. Then Mirrim was undoing the bandages. The dried blood hurt as Mirrim separated the blood ichor and bandages. "Yes, it should hurt." Mirrim commented. "Though why you should bleed like a dragon is beyond me or even Master Healer Oldive." She commented as she finally got the last of the bandages free.
Danny saw the wound and wanted to cry. The edges of the wound were burned. The flesh was raw, tender and red with blood, green ichor swirled into it. He bit his lip, tears threatening to spill over his eyes. Tucker scooted over to the side and took Danny's other hand, squeezing it comfortingly. Then the numbweed started taking effect, but the damage had been done. Danny was in tears seeing the shape his arm and shoulder was in. As soon as Mirrim finished spreading numbweed salve on the wound she started wrapping up his shoulder. Danny just cried in silence.
"Danny, are you okay?" Valerie had poked her head in, Dash too, in the meantime.
Danny wiped his eyes. "I… I… in all the time I've been fighting… every battle I've been in… I've never been hurt like this… never…" Danny sobbed.
"You aren't the only one who's ever been hurt Danny… riders get scored every fall…" Valerie began.
But Dash interrupted her, surging forward, slipping off his jacket. "Fenton, you think you're so tough? Mr. Danny Phantom? Well I got news for ya, there are things that hurt a lot worse than a battle wound." He slipped up his shirt. A long, thin scar lanced its way across his chest and down his side. "Got that in a way that would make your hair curl. Ever been attacked with a knife? By your own father? I was in the hospital for two months and placed in foster care until DCF blackballed my mother into leaving my dad so that I could be safe." Dash glared at Danny. "And you get upset over a wound from something that isn't even alive?"
"Dash ENOUGH!" Valerie hissed. "Threadscores are traumatic by their very nature. Danny could have been eaten alive, the burn hurts like Hell, and I don't think he's ever been injured like that before." She adds.
"Path says there's something else bothering him." Mirrim added. "But I doubt its our place to pry. If there's trouble Danny, don't be afraid to call for me, or Path." She adds.
Mirrim says that I am to speak to you if there is trouble. A voice echoed through Danny's mind, tender, gentle.
Who… who are you?
My name is Path, when you are strong enough to go outside, then we will meet in the flesh. The voice said softly.
Path… Danny whispered with his mind.
Yes. The gentle voice, a touch in his mind, whispered. And then the feeling was gone.
Exhausted, Danny leaned against Tucker. Mirrim pressed a vial to Danny's lips. "This will keep you out until the firelizard hatching this evening."
Danny shook his head. "No… I don't want to sleep…" He said softly. The vial retreated.
Tucker shook his head, pulling Danny into his arms for support. "Sleep Danny, for me?" He asked softly.
Danny looked into Tucker's eyes, "Stay with me…" Danny said softly.
Tucker ran tender hands through Danny's soft hair, too shy to kiss him in front of the others. "I will…"
"The whole time?"
"Yes, I promise…" Tucker said softly.
"Give…" Danny took the measured dose of fellis juice. The potion was bitter and Danny grimaced at the raw aftertaste. Then he lay down on his back on the bed, looking up at the ceiling.
Tucker lay down next to him, watching Danny's eyelids close, slowly, until they shut and stay shut. Tucker closed his eyes and slowly fell asleep. /He/ slept soundly, but Danny was tormented by dreams, dreams of cherry blossoms, shadowy figures, and the shape of a dragon, so huge, yet so gentle. A red orb hanging from the skies glowed evilly, then a single explosion, and a keen so horrible that it tore his heart.
Danny sat straight up in bed, panting with a nightmare. Tucker was gone, and his ghost sense let out a faint exhalation. A girl with pale white hair, and glowing emerald eyes, and dressed in a blue jumpsuit poked her head in. "Er… are you… who I think you are?" She asked, floating in.
"If you mean Danny Phantom, then yeah. Are you one of the local ghosts?"
"OH MY GOD/THE/ Danny Phantom? But… you died! Over fifteen ago you went… between?" She girl gulped. "Then that means… oh no…"
"WHAT? ME DEAD?" Danny demanded. "Wait a second… do you have a time medallion?"
"A what?"
"There's a ghost who can travel in time named Clockwork. He uses time medallions to take people with him." Danny explained.
"No, not me, I was training with my queen Ziraleth and we were learning to go between. Then we were here!" Explained the girl.
"What's your name?" Danny asked, curiously.
The girl changed back to her human form, revealing a girl with violet eyes and long black hair. "I'm Sora, Sora Manson! Nice ta' meetcha!"
Danny gawked. "Wait a second… who are your parents?"
"Um… well, my mom is Sam Manson, but my dad died, a long time ago." Sora said sadly.
Danny froze. His hackles stood up. "What was your dad's name? Was he a rider?"
"He was a bronzerider, his name was D'ton, but they also called him D'ny." Sora explained. "Mother said he was the best ghost ever, and that an accident caused him to go between. She even showed me his grave." Sora broke off. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't mention it."
"How old are you Sora?" Asked Danny.
"14." Replied Sora. "I'm not as young as I look. Besides, they don't let you on the hatching grounds until you're 13." Explained the goldrider. "I'm supposed to be staying a Weyrling until I turn 16, no matter what my queen does." She adds. "I… listen… I need to go… and so do you…" She went ghost again and dashed out the door. Just in time too, because Dash poked his head in before coming in.
"Danny, Mirrim said to bring you to the Weyrhall for the firelizard hatching and dinner." He reached to scoop Danny up in his arms and away they went.
Danny was grateful for Dash's help for once, because he didn't think he could have made it the distance from the guest weyr to the Weyrhall. After what seemed like forever Dash brought him to the Weyrhall and placed him in a seat by the fire. "There, Valerie said she wanted to talk to you later, after the firelizard hatching. By the way, I thought I saw a ghost floating away from the guest weyr."
"Yeah, she was one of the locals, come to see what was going on." Danny lied with a shrug.
"Cool."
Valerie came striding in, in her jumpsuit, hood down. Her gatekey was sheathed to her back. A woman about eighteen or nineteen came walking in behind her. "Brekke, I'm sure Danny will be fine. See? He's sitting by the fire."
"He must be a fast healer then." Brekke replied. "When F'nor gets scored it takes him weeks to recover."
Valerie smacked a hand over her forehead. "Danny's half ghost, they have faster healing speeds than we do."
"I'm still treating him like any other threadscore patient." Brekke replied. "And keep an eye on all three cells for Firehead. You don't know what to do about it. You're not from Pern either, so you don't know the right shade of yellow that the infected beaches are stained with. If any of all three crews start to develop colds or coldlike symptoms, send your firelizard to me or Sharra immediately." Brekke said gravely.
"Sure thing." Valerie rolled her eyes. "Brekke, why do I almost always end up disagreeing with you?"
"Because we're different Val." Brekke said calmly. "We grew up on two different worlds. I'll bet if I were to go to Amity Park I wouldn't survive the day."
Valerie nodded, finally reaching the hearth. She set down a tray, with thirty firelizard eggs in it, and sand piled around them. "Okay, Dash, go get Mrs. Fenton and the others. I know Jack didn't want a firelizard, but I'm sure Maddie does. And Vlad's the greedy type, he'd definitely want one."
"Wow, that's a lot of firelizard eggs." Danny exclaimed as he saw them.
"It's a queen's clutch, they have a lot of them." Valerie explained. "Thirty is actually the record. And it depends on what color flew the queen. If a brown flies the queen then there isn't a queen and very few bronzes, plus the egg count goes down. This was a pretty average bronze/queen clutch. I even heard that a blue firelizard caught a queen once, but the clutch was only about fourteen eggs, with no bronzes and only one brown."
"Why wouldn't Dad want one?" Danny asked. "I mean, he's interested in things that are far out like that."
"I asked, he didn't want one." Valerie replied. "Danny, I don't think you realize everything that your mother and father went through as gatekeepers."
"You're right, I don't." Danny said crossly.
"Danny, has anybody told you about the shadows yet?" Asked Valerie as she and Brekke took a seat.
"No, wait, I think so."
"The king of all shadows is known as Mulengro, he's an ancient and powerful spirit created from the combined malevolent emotions of all mankind, in all the dimensions. He's the manifestation of evil. Awhile ago, before you were born, he sent an army of shadows into Amity Park. Now in those days Shadows were more common than ghosts, and there were plenty of them. But there were also many, many gatekeepers. And Mulengro's forces were thrown back. However, that spurred Mulengro to come out of hiding in Yomi, known to us as the Ghost Zone. Mulengro attacked Amity Park himself. Your father lost a lot of friends, and a lot of the people who relied on him. Even worse, he blamed it on himself. Since then he's been trying to forget, everything, about his days as a gatekeeper." Valerie explained. "He hasn't transformed or even talked about it, and aside from Maddie and Vlad he wouldn't talk to any other gatekeepers."
"How do you know all this stuff?"
"Because I told her." Maddie replied. "And you weren't meant to know that Danny. It's one of the darker moments in gatekeeper history."
"How did the gatekeepers beat Mulengro then?" Danny asked, curious now.
"Because Gatekeepers gain strength from the hearts of mankind." Maddie replied as she took a seat by the fire, gazing into its depths. "Each human has two souls, the soul of light and the soul of darkness. Those two souls can be separated. The soul of darkness becomes a shadow, but it leaves the soul of light in dominance. The only problem with that is that both souls have to be in harmony for the person to be balanced. Vlad, for example, is dominated by his soul of darkness, even when they aren't separated. All the souls of light came forward at the same time, combining their power into one force, through their belief, their optimism, that mankind was inherently good and peaceful. The light was too much for Mulengro, and the shadow was reduced to a fragment of his former power. Skulker, Technus and a few other ghosts took it upon themselves to guard the fragment. It sits in a secret room under Walker's Prison. Clockwork has several Observants keeping an eye on it. And each of the evil ghosts you've fought has a different booby trap keeping the fragment in, and anyone who would steal it, out." Maddie explained.
Danny thought back to Dan Phantom. If ever there had been a shadow of his heart, Danny knew it was him. "So Dan Phantom was…"
"Your Dark Soul." Said a voice behind them. Danny turned, a familiar face at last. Skulker had been watching from the ceiling. He was intangible, but Danny could still see whre he was hiding. "Listen ghost child." Skulker said as he became visible and stood by the fire. "Your Dark Soul has been separated from yourself. None of us are sure how, but your shadow must be returned to you. All of us are looking. We think he may be a younger version of Dan Phantom. And considering the trouble that he's caused, we probably don't have much time. Our only clue is this, a shadow's first instinct is to kill its other half. That means that you're his first target. I'm sorry to hear that you're weak, injured, we need help on our end. Don't be surprised if you see some of the ghosts you've fought hanging around. I've asked them to watch you and wait for Dan Phantom to return and attack." He turned to Maddie. "You must be the ghost child's mother…"
"So what if I am?"
"I am called Skulker." Skulker replied. "You have a remarkable and resourceful son. It's an honor to meet you." And with that the hunter became intangible again and disappeared.
Valerie's queen came sailing in almost the instant that Skulker had disappeared, her throat and stomach had expanded with air as she began to hum. Valerie came running in. "They eggs, they're hatching! Quick everybody! Get over here!" From one end of the Weyrhall came Vlad. Several kitchen workers came rushing in from another door, Danny noticed a heavily disguised Lunch Lady Ghost among them, carrying platters of raw meat to feed the hatchlings.
Now that Danny looked around he spotted three others. Ember was seated not far away, dressed in some kind of blue uniform with a badge on the shoulder displaying a sapphire harp, and Spectra was wearing some kind of leather trail get up, Bertrand had disguised himself as a firelizard and was sitting happily in her lap, mrrring. Spectra hissed something in his ear and the boggart began to hum along with the scores of firelizards that were sailing in the door, landing anywhere they could find an entrance. Sam, Tucker and Dash came running from the opposite end of the Weyrhall.
"Here you go…" The Lunch Lady ghost handed Danny a bowl of meat scraps.
Vlad knelt by the fire with his own bowl of meat and explained to the children. "When an egg hatches, you feed it the meat. And yes Sam, I know you're against eating anything with a face on it but could you please bear with me at least this once. Since eating human food is unhealthy for a firelizard?"
"Whatever." Sam said with a roll of her eyes.
Other weyrfolk were crowding in, forming a dense circle around the fire. Spectra's tall frame stood at the edge of the crowd. She winked at Danny before pretending she didn't know him. Ember squeezed her way through the crowd. "Scuse me, pardon me, Harper coming through here. No, I do /not/ want a firelizard, I /want/ to get a better view!"
Ember ended up right next to Sam. "What brings you here?" Sam asked irritably.
"Guard duty." Ember hissed.
Several of the firelizard eggs were rocking. One handedly Danny scooped up a handful of meat scraps and waited.
Spectra rubbed her hands together in an all business fashion. "Okay people, let's get this party started!"
"I second that!" Ember cheered.
"Okay." Mirrim pointed to the eggs. "Everybody who's got a bowl of meat, pick an egg, any egg. There's enough for everybody in the crowd to get one. Is there anybody who doesn't want a firelizard egg? If so, take three steps back."
Most of the kitchen staff, as well as the disguised Lunch Lady, pulled to the back of the crowd. However, both Spectra and Ember, each one giving the other menacing looks, moved forwards to join the others at the fire. Jazz was a few minutes late, but slipped into the crowd to join the scramble for eggs. In the end Danny, Sam, Tucker, Jazz, Maddie, Vlad, Valerie, Dash, Spectra and Ember each got their hands on an egg.
By now Danny's egg was starting to crack. Tiny shards went this way and that. "Man, this thing looks like its ready to shake rattle and split." Danny commented as he struggled to hold onto the shaking egg. Suddenly a little gold head poked its way, hissing, out of the egg, which crumbled in his hands to reveal a queen firelizard, as bright as a sunrise, that exact same redgold as a rising or setting sun.
"Feed it! Quick!" Said one girl about a year or so older than Jazz, who was standing at the side watching.
Danny scrambled to feed the little queen. With the first bite Danny felt a rush of emotion, hunger, fear, joy, elation, all of these coursing through him. Spectra and Ember both gasped as their eggs also crumbled. The older ghost simply closed her eyes, drinking in the rush of empathic emotions that was impression. Where as Ember sat, frozen for several long moments, eyes squeezed shut in an expression that almost looked like she was in pain. Danny, personally, didn't care what either ghost did as long as they left him alone.
Sam's egg crumbled next. The goth distastefully handed the little, darkly bronze firelizard a scrap of meat. With a cry of triumph the bronze snatched up the meat. An expression of concentration was on her face as she kept feeding the firelizard until the creature's belly was distended with the food. The firelizard yawned and curled up in the crook of Sam's arm.
Tucker's egg practically exploded, a bronze as well as it screamed angrily for food. This one was lighter, almost coppery in color. Biting a lip the other boy began to carefully feed the bronze lizard, keeping up a steady stream of meat.
Dash and Valerie's eggs broke at the same time. Dash's firelizard was a deep, moonlight blue and Valerie's new firelizard was a chestnut brown. Dash blinked in surprise as he comprehended the blue lizard, then the creature began to beg for food. Once it had eaten half the bowl it had been given Dash's blue crawled up his arm and fell asleep on his shoulder. The bully eyed the creature warily. Valerie's brown snuggled against her chest, fully fed and half asleep.
Vlad's egg also hatched a brown, one a deep mahogany color. He was, by the time Danny could track the two of them, halfway through feeding it and the creature was sleepy. Danny also cast a worried eye towards his mother and Jazz. Jazz also had a blue, one that matched the color of her hairband, the creature was hissing and wiggling in Jazz' hands. "Okay, okay, I'll put you down." Maddie's firelizard was a rich russet brown and the creature seemed to be doing fine, curled up in Maddie's cupped palms. Maddie opened a pouch on her jumpsuit and carefully placed the sleeping creature inside. Leaving the pocket open so that it could peak out.
Spectra and Ember each received a green. Though Spectra's was a lot lighter in color than Ember's. "Awww…" The music ghost crooned. "Isn't she the cutest thing…" Ember asked as she put the fully fed baby forest green on her shoulder. Spectra giggled, totally unlike her and it was scary, at the baby green, who was yawning cutely.
"We'd better keep our eyes on them, I've heard that firelizards can be a lot of trouble." Spectra commented as she stroked her own green.
"Yeah, but they're cute! And when Kitty sees them she'll be so jealous." Ember said with a smirk.
Danny slowly stood from his kneeling position on the hearth. Suddenly something pounced on the half finished bowl of meat in his hands. It was a stray blue firelizard, this one with a cobalt colored hide. The creature ate the food ravenously, and Danny had to pick it up out of the bowl. In those few seconds he was holding it, Danny felt the rush of a second firelizard impression. He reeled back in reaction before placing the creature on his shoulder next to his queen firelizard. The blue quickly fell asleep, so did the gold.
"Lucky you got two of them." Commented Jazz as she peered at her own blue on her shoulder. "I like my little one though… I wonder what I should call… oh I have the perfect name, Athen."
"After Athena the goddess of wisdom." Vlad noted with a yawn. "My, all these sleeping firelizards are making /me/ sleepy. I guess I'll turn in, take a quick nap, excuse me." And he walked away.
Danny peered at his two. "Hmm… I don't have a name idea yet." He said as he gave each of them a pat.
Sam stood, careful not to upset her bronze. "And when we get back to Earth, we'll have enough bronzes and browns to breed firelizards. I mean, okay there are a lot more browns than bronzes among us, but still."
"Why'd I get a blue?" Dash wondered. "I thought blue was the 'gay' color."
"Blooie." Valerie said, giving Dash a poke.
Spectra and Ember departed, and Bertrand flew out the nearest window. The kitchen staff went back to their work. Danny yawned, still too tired. "Man, I think I"ll skip dinner and go back to bed." He yawned.
"This has been a big day sweetie." Maddie scooped up her son in her arms and carried Danny all the way back to the guest weyr. Danny was more than happy to set his firelizards down by his pillow and fall asleep. The only time he stirred was when Tucker climbed into bed with him. But Danny hardly noticed.
He also didn't notice Ember, hiding, intangible, in a corner of the guest weyr.