A/n
Here is the next chapter, again the story in general overall has not change, but details have, so enjoy the story!
Chapter 29 Revelation and Regret
-Neutral pov-
Chaos is defined as the majority of the time as a state of utter confusion or disorganization. It can also refer to a state where chance has supreme control while logic has little effect and preparation is a hit or miss. Or it can be phrased as the inherent unpredictability in the behavior of a complex natural system. Whichever definition one uses chaos to label unusual to outright ludicrous situations, we all understand what chaos refers to, some of us more than others.
Saber is an individual that knows chaos better than most, much like misery and loneliness. However, even if chaos is a subject that he knows all too well, he has honestly learned to roll with it and deal with what comes, where most don't. For Saber, his motto is 'in the midst of turbulence and chaos, keep stillness inside you' and it works with his mental discipline. Nonetheless, the experience that had changed him into a dragon and had strained his mind to its limits had put such to the test. Now, he is left to wonder about a great many things, both that he thought he knew and others he would have considered completely nuts.
-Saber's pov-
Okay, like the narrator just told you all, I'm used to dealing with different forms of chaos and upheaval, unfortunately, I've become accustomed to that. It comes from the crap which flies my way often enough, thus has my life been up to this point. However, the crap that has been sent my direction has gotten weirder ever since I got to the Dragon Realm and it's in ways that words don't say well. The phrase 'when the poop hits the fan' hasn't happened to me literally just yet surprisingly, but I feel metaphorical, I've been in the path of a spray of poop lately. Said crap reeks and I don't know if I'll ever get over what has been occurring to me and my plate keeps getting more shoved and piled onto it!
I know I can make it look easy or at least seem manageable to go through the situations and circumstances that I get. It's an art and takes practice along with work, I'll admit it and long years it has taken for me to get as good at this as I am. Yet, even I as good as I am, I have limits of what I can handle and deal with before developing serious issues. Being transformed into a dragon, I'm fine with that, it's cool and I can rock the idea given the opportunity. Having to deal with a dragoness chasing me for most of the day intending to rape me if she caught me, not so nice. I'll give Lara that her heat is the cause but that doesn't make avoiding her easier, makes it harder as a matter of fact. But being shoved to the edge of my sanity, I could have done with freaking out thank you!
And now, I somehow find myself in the position I had been avoiding the whole day and had been successful at doing until now. Lara had me in her grasp, but there was a difference as she wasn't raping me right now as I would have expected her to do earlier. So, in the end, I was unable to escape her, and I would rather not resort to the drastic measures I had before. True, I am a dragon now instead of a human and that provided some perks, like being bigger and stronger for instance. So, the long developed reflex over the years, when Lara had tackled me I had raised my… uh, forelegs as they would be now up so that they wouldn't be pinned by her hold. My wings also unfurl by their own accord before we crashed to the ground so that they didn't get crushed. I have no idea why I did that, it just seemed the instinctive thing to do and happened by reflex.
I found myself on the ground with Lara hugging me while sobbing and mumbling things unintelligible. I was at a complete loss of what to do for I have no clue how to comfort a girl let alone a dragoness who is wailing for whatever reason that I know not of! I don't have any experience in this kind of thing, and I didn't plan to get some anytime soon. This is just getting awkward and uncomfortable and it is time to change that, pronto!
"Saber what is going on," asked Fredrick. "Why is Lara acting like this?"
I glared at Fredrick, who had spoken. Does he really think I know any more than he does?! I replied to him with a look of sarcastic annoyance, "Oh hmm, you cannot see that I am enjoying this," I mused, then I gained a more serious expression. "NO! What by the ancestors who are in a place which I will not mention, makes you think I have any idea why Lara is doing this?!" I then did my best to 'face' Lara, "As for you Lara, get off of me and give me space."
Lara didn't seem to hear me, but that's nothing I hadn't grown accustomed to today. After all, she didn't listen to my screams or logical reasoning during the day while she had been chasing me, so why would that change now. Tarra took a few steps forward, "Lara maybe you should let him go," she suggested.
I was in complete agreement, "Yes, Lara get off me will you! This is just not something I want to do right now," I stated clearly and louder than I normally speak.
Tarra did continue forward I believe to try and convince Lara to remove herself from me, but after a few steps and due to some type of bad paw work, she slipped and fell forward. I had observed the incident in its entirety, she… I don't know what dragons would call it as for humans it would be said that she really stubbed her toe and face planted as the result. After she did so she had lost her footing and tripped and fell. The crash to the ground sounded a little painful though Tarra's face when she lifted it from the ground said she was fine. Ah ha! I had forgotten that Tarra has the same kind of luck that I do even if not to the magnitude. This had probably been happening a good deal of the time, I just hadn't seen any of it, since I had not been around Tarra most of the time I have been here at Carona. My time has been spent 'playing' run away and hide n' seek with Lara!
And now that I have the time to think about it, my luck hasn't hit me for a longer period than normal. Well, other than my problems with Lara, however, that isn't the usual method or way my luck works, so it doesn't count. My bad luck rarely relies on help from another person or being to do the job it does. My bad luck has proven time and time again to be very self-sufficient at its purpose! This means that I am developing 'luck buildup' again and that never ever goes well! What do I mean by luck buildup, my luck is normally consistent in striking me and is regular at doing so. So, the longer my bad luck is delayed and has time to build up, the stronger it is when it strikes me. Oh, the things I get to look forward to, yeah me…
I came out of my thoughts back to my current predicament and then put forth a good amount of effort. When I managed to extricate myself from Lara's embrace, got up to my paws and back up a couple of paces. Lara got to her paws a bit after me and looked in my direction still with tears brimming in her eyes. I still don't understand why Lara is acting like this and it's getting extremely creepy! For what it is worth mentioning, females playing the tears and touchy feeling card is SOOO unfair. If a guy tried that, then he would be hit and told to act like a man or something, but does that happen when a female does such things? No, they pretty much get their way because of the action either through guilt-tripping others or vying for pity. Hence, the reason I say it is unfair for girls to get to do that, but I'm just saying my opinion!
However, in this, I will make my voice heard even if I have to shout it at full volume and I got the volume to work with believe you me! I managed to get the dragoness to look at me straight in the eyes, "Look Lara, I have no idea why you tackled me in an embrace or are crying. This is completely different than how you were acting towards me earlier and I am not against that in any way. It is just that this is getting awkward in the weird sort of way, so I think we need a little personal space between each other, okay," I reasoned.
Arkanis stepped forward before Lara could reply to my statement, "I believe he has a point for now. It is late and we could all use some rest," he said.
Arkanis then proceeded with the dragons that had I assumed been helping him in the search, to call all the dragons back to Carona. I made sure to keep a set distance from Lara as I went over to Tarra and looked down at her, "Tarra you okay," I inquired.
Tarra got up and turned to me nodding, "Yes I will be fine, this is nothing to worry a-about," she answered.
I smiled good-naturedly at her as I replied, "That is good though a piece of advice for you then, keep in mind your paw work, it will do wonders on avoiding the falls to the ground. And you know, even though my appearance has changed, I am still myself," I commented.
"Hey you two," called Fredrick.
Tarra and I looked over to where the voice had come from to see Fredrick coming to where we were. "Yes Fredrick, what is it," I hollered back.
"Well we have been told to go back to our rooms and get some sleep," Fredrick answered, "I think Arkanis had already arranged a room for you."
Oh, well that was quick, I have no problems with getting sleep at the moment, it has been a long day. "Fine, lead the way Fredrick though I bet I will not be sleeping much," I said.
Tarra looked at me curiously as we followed Fredrick, "Why," she questioned.
"Oh," I hummed, "there is a lot on my mind or in it, just so much to... think about."
Our group walked to the temple and we separated into the rooms we were assigned. After I was shown which room I would be staying in, I found it was a simple one, much less fancy than the room I had in Warfang. I like that fact since I think the room I had at Warfang was a bit too fancy if you ask me, I'm all for simplicity and practicality rather than elegance. I plopped down on the bed and tried to get comfortable though I'm sure I wouldn't be getting much sleep. The bed was a comfortable one, but the gears in my mind just kept turning on the events of the night.
Hours went by and little changed as I had been reviewing the events of the day and night I had been through. Along with that, I had been going over the memories that weren't mine to see what the subject matter was for the majority of them. Many of them involved interesting ideas and points in different ways one from another and I was learning some important things from a number of memories. One thing was I'd been right that use of the elements would be different as a dragon. Yet with these memories and experiences, learning how to use the elements would be easier and less time-consuming in theory at least. Time will tell if the theory will be proven to be right or not.
It was then I felt, someone or something calling me, not a voice per se, but more like an urge or feeling that was pulling me. I glanced around the room trying to find the direction of the source and what could be disturbing me. In the end, I got out of bed and followed the force pulling at me to find out what was doing this. I walked through the dark temple without making a sound, putting my stealth skill set to good use. I quickly found myself exiting the temple and once I had I scanned around looking for the one who had dragged me out of bed. The feeling came to me again, urging me towards the left and in the direction of the old city ruins that remained.
I proceed along the road and eventually got to the crumbling archway that led into the older ruins. I hesitated at the entrance to the old city for most of the dragons avoided these ruins and said they were dangerous. There was a power in the old city that wasn't in Carona and it was strange, I felt that even standing at the entrance of it. I swallowed and took a deep breath before I took a careful step into the old city. I didn't feel any danger close at hand, so I continued further into the ruins, but kept up my guard just to be safe.
And even with my guard up, less than a minute coming here I was on edge for many reasons. This place could hide countless attackers without any problem and no one would know until it was too late. Then the city itself was so quiet, not a sound that comes during the night much like a graveyard. Nonetheless, I swear I heard whispers, but I saw nothing that could prove that my mind was playing cruel tricks on me. The worst thing about my entire current situation was the farther I went, feelings of fear, anger, and sadness grew within me from somewhere unknown to me. These feelings had nothing to do with the ruins themselves per se, yet these feelings definitely were connected to the old city! I just couldn't figure out how or why or what was causing them to come. It was almost like those emotions had to do with something I was trying to recall but couldn't.
This inability to recall whatever fueled these feelings was bringing to mind something I remember one of the older students talking, or perhaps it would be better to say that the student was lecturing. The female student was attending college and was a psychology major and so was lecturing on the subject. She had been explaining an idea called 'repressed memory'. The general definition is when one experiences an event which is usually of the traumatic kind. The mind in the attempt to cope buries the memory deep in the subconscious part of the mind. This is done to the point that one can't recall the memory. The only way the memory can be brought back to the conscious level of the brain is to activate the trigger or triggers. The trigger(s) could be anything that is connected to the experience, normally to one or more of the five senses; whether that is a smell, sight or one of the others. In simple terms, it was very possible that something had happened here that I had been involved in some way. The idea sounds ridiculous, but with what has happened earlier this evening, I'm not counting such out of the realm of possibility.
I was approaching the center of this place on what appeared to be the main street when a tingle went down my spine. I threw myself to the right, rolled over and slid to on my paws to settle into a defensive stance. However, after a full minute of nothing happening, I looked around and became confused. The tingle I just felt was a warning tingle, there was no way I would mistake such a thing with the many years that have developed over. It has saved me lots of pain and issues, so I recognize my danger sense's warnings loud and clear!
Still, there had been nothing threatening me while I've been in the old city, so why did the tingle come? My senses were rarely wrong so that I was getting nothing coming my way was beyond odd to me. I got to the main street and the feeling of unexplained fear was reaching new heights as I did so. I was glancing around myself looking for something, anything that could possibly explain why I was on an edge so damn sharp and thin. I was so tense that I could explode and do a lot of damage at any moment. The tingle hadn't been the strongest I've had though it was certainly near the top of the list! And yet, I still saw nothing that would set it off, I shook my head from side to side to clear my mind.
I focused on the rode that went deeper into the ruins walking down the street, turned a corner and stopped dead in my tracks. I couldn't possibly be seeing what I was, yet the feelings of déjà vu left no room to deny the sight. There in front of me was a monolithic structure in the center of the city, and it looked familiar. Then I had an epiphany, this is the place, this structure in the middle of the city that was more a wide tower-like structure, it was the place I saw in all my visions. The rest of the old city of Carona was the place that all my visions physical attributes were based upon.
As I took in the ruins more fully now, it was looking more recognizable as it was now that I got a better look at it from a different standpoint. The tower-like building or construct was more like a small city in itself, which I hadn't known previous to this. The tower was around the same height as the whole city of Warfang. On top of it was some kind of dais or at least by what I could make out, an arrangement that had four large pillars on corners. In my visions, I was usually somewhere on the tower city looking down on the city below. Granted, it was more run down than the structure from my visions, but it was still far too similar to be a coincidence.
I remember Arkanis saying that the city previous to the war, the old city of Carona had been very large even by draconic standards and that was no small thing. The fact that this place itself looked so much like the place my visions seemed to be, somewhat confused me. As it was I hadn't thought much about the idea that the city in my visions might actually be real somewhere in the dragon realm. Nonetheless, here it was in front of me and it made little to no sense to me that such was the case.
The question now is why does the cityscape from my visions look like the old ruins of Carona? I was hoping to find the answer somewhere in these ruins. Perhaps that is why someone or something is calling me here? I don't know, but I will find out and so, I picked up the pace as I went toward the structure in the middle for I had to know what the connection to this place was. I wasn't running as I still was working on motor skills as a dragon at the moment. It would be best not to push MY luck, especially right now with where I am, too much opportunity for my luck.
I stopped short of entering the grounds around the tower at a stone archway that led into the grounds. I could sense the power or it could be called magic around the archway. I myself never had believed in magic though that was before I came to the Dragon Realm. My adventures here had taught me there are powers that go beyond logical explanations. And looking at the arch I started to see some oddities. Around the arch though it was night and so dark, there was still color while within the arch no color could be seen, it was black, white, and grey.
I approached the archway cautiously as I had found out by now that just going forward without knowing what you are getting into, in other words, going in blind doesn't end well. I halted a foot from the 'doorway' studying it trying to understand what this doorway was and its purpose. The arch appeared to have on closer inspection, a wave-like sheen within it, like water slowly waving or the waves of heat you see on a hot day. After about a minute I raise a paw and touched the 'veil' of the doorway and it felt like smoke and more importantly, it was not harming me. I retracted my paw and looked at it with a slight smile of amusement and wonder. The veil felt different than what I normally touch, but it was very interesting and cool.
The feeling of the presence from before calling me again registered and with more urgency. I looked back at the veiled arch as that was the direction that the call had come from, closed my eyes, took a deep breath and walk through. It felt like moving through water for a second before it the world around me returned back to what it had been. I opened my eyes on a similar scene, however, there were noticeable changes from what there had been.
The first thing I noticed was that there was still no color, still all greyscale* which makes the world look funky. The next thing was the damage, wear and dilapidation had disappeared as they had never been there. I turned around and look behind me and except for the archway where the veil was the old city was now not in ruins. All the building and structures were almost like new. I turned back to the tower and I looked up and now had no doubt in my mind now, the wide tower looked exactly like the 'vision city'. I was looking for a different point of view, yet I knew it was what I had seen. I looked forward and spotted an entryway into the massive tower.
I proceeded up the winding road of the tower and around two-thirds of the way up I began to recognize the area I was passing. I now knew where I was in the 'vision city' for I knew my way around here somewhat. I kept climbing higher and higher, determined to reach the dais at the pinnacle, that was where the call was coming from. I kept going along the circular road until I reach the stairway to the dais and started up them.
And I found out that there is a reason that I have seen a few stairs while I have been in the Dragon Realm. Dragons' bodies weren't meant to use stairs, they're not built to work well at all with them period! This set of steps was LONG and I stopped counting after thirty, and that wasn't halfway up them. My breathing was getting more labored the farther up the stairway I went. When I finally spotted the top I kept going crawling the last few steps, "Whoever had," I had to pause and huff a bit, "the bright idea," another pause for huffing and puffing "to build so many stairs," my breathing was labor from the climb, "needs to be publicly executed," thoughts of what things I think should be done to the builder of these stairs came to my mind. "And it needs to be done in a very painful way," I exclaimed still gasping for air, "Oh my aching baaaack!" I collapsed in front of the top of the stairway, still breathing hard from climbing… I hated stairs right now.
"Well it took you long enough to get here let alone up to here," said a voice that I knew. My eyes which had closed due to being exhausted shot open at the voice. It was him, the punk from the visions standing there by the dais, Azreyel. He was still human at this time, unlike me and he was leaning against one of the pillars staring at me. Well, I gazed back in growing annoyance and I don't know what it is about Azreyel, but when I see him I feel this intense emotion of irritation that I couldn't explain. I managed to keep my emotions under control though, "Hello again… Azreyel," I uttered.
Azreyel stood up straight and walked over to where I was and began to study me, saying nothing as he did so. This made no sense to me and I was getting thoroughly ticked at him, somewhat because he wasn't even saying anything! Not even Sparx has managed to irk me like this and that is saying a great deal. And there came a point that I couldn't stay silent any longer, "Is there something you want to say about your observations or are you doing this to get me boiling," I posed. "Because if you are, then you are doing a great job at ticking me off you punk!"
Azreyel's gaze met mine, his eyes were still expressionless as they were before, "I must say, I was expecting this form to have a bit more length and height. Nonetheless, it could be due to late blooming, who can say," he remarked.
Did this no good punk just indirectly CALL ME A RUNT?! If he did, then he is stupider than he had led me to believe and I have got the impression that he's an idiot. Nobody insults me like this and I not retort in a fitting manner, mark my words, "HEY I AM NOT A RUNT YOU BLIND JACKA**," I snarled loudly.
Azreyel face didn't change at all which frankly surprised me from what I've gotten to know about this guy so far! Normally he would be laughing and saying how foolish I am and he was doing none of that! Hell, I had bellowed and sworn at his face and yet still absolutely no reaction! What do I have to do to get something out of this punk?! No, he simply hummed, "No, you are not a runt and mind your language."
So he did notice my swearing, I didn't think he would, he doesn't seem to notice much else I do or say! Still, if he thinks I need to watch my language, then I will show him just how good I know profanity and it is extensive! Nevertheless, that was a short answer for Azreyel and that isn't his style, something isn't right here. "Why are you here Azreyel," I posed. "And as for my language, it is my business and no one else's. I will swear, cruse and cuss when I see a reason and as I see fit. If you don't like it, then you can cram it up you're a** so far that I do not have to care about it for the rest of my lifetime!"
He was silent for several moments before he answered, "You still don't remember this place?"
No comeback for my retort… there is definitely something off with this situation. So then, was he testing me in some way or was his question inferring something else? For the record, I hate tests and loathe them entirely, "This is the place the visions physical scene is based upon," I replied simply.
"Yes, but there is a reason," he shot back. I got to my paws and waited for him to go on, "This is where it happened, this is the place where everything went from bad to completely wrong. Then we were forced to leave the Dragon Realm to the other world for years."
I blinked at hearing that, cause that blew me away as that was another piece of evidence that I had come from the Dragon Realm and am not natively from Earth. And the other question that was coming to mind was what Azreyel could mean by 'we'. Apparently, my question of what he meant was written on my face as Azreyel continued, "Since you do not seem to understand what I have been telling you, I will be blunt. This structure, these ruins is where you were forced to leave the Dragon Realm our home before we ever existed. In the transfer, due to a side effect of the magic, our memories were sealed. It was done as much for your protection as it was to help you blend into where you were going."
He paused and then pointed at himself, "When the sealing happened I began to exist," Azreyel pointed at me, "In simple terms, you and I are two sides of the same individual. I am what was left of the draconic side made from our memories, while you became a blank slate in essence."
I stood there staring at Azreyel trying to take in what he had just said for it sound like malarky and more than one kind of nuts. Did he seriously think I would swallow such crap as what he has spouted? "You don't believe me do you," questioned Azreyel.
I shook my head for it wasn't exactly what I disbelieved him as somehow I actually did to an extent as it could explain some things. The real issue was that what he said was a lot to take in at once and I was having trouble processing it. Azreyel smiled slightly, which was creeping me the heck out, "Tell me, been attracting any females since getting here, and I don't just mean dragonesses," he inquired.
What the hell, how did he... know about that?! My current cause too many of my problems as of late are females being attracted to me and I'd not figured out why I was the weirdest chick magnet possibly in existence. Yes, obviously Lara was implied yet he also somehow inferred that whench Lucrecia, maybe even Mara. But there was also more females on the way if what has been happening is anything to go by as well. "By the look on your face that would be a yes, it is not a surprise really. It is an unsaid truth that power attracts others no matter where you go. As white dragons are naturally more powerful than other dragons by a sizable margin, you will have a knack of attracting females," iterated Azreyel.
So, he is confirming that I'm an overly powerful 'chick magnet' with weird quirks and the point it can't be turned off I would imagine. Great, that sounds like it is going to be loads of fun, and when I say that I mean about as fun as a fun-run marathon through hell tends to be! Let me paint you a picture of the idea, got a general idea with the time I've known the devil after all. With a fun-run through hell, you take out the fun and put in mandatory, that's the first point of it, there's no choice in participation. Then you add weights on your limbs to make things harder on yourself and they wouldn't be light I assure you. Oh and there's the referee or rule enforcer who isn't going to be your friend, they would be using a whip on you bellowing 'faster faster you fool you fool' as they cracked the whip. It was that moment I found use of my voice, "How the hell," I started then stopped. "What do you freaking," I hesitated again, having trouble forming complete sentences, "why would…"
I normally don't have issues saying what I see the need to, but right now I certainly was and few can do this to me. Azreyel seemed to notice my difficulty, much to the irking or me, "Absolutely correct then. Oh, the 'bad' luck we have always had, wouldn't you say?"
There is nothing I can really say to that, it's true and I can't deny it without lying so, I grumbled in response as I couldn't come up with a comeback. That comment on the bad luck was something that few knew, yes I have bad luck now and anyone can see that. Yet, few know that I have always had it from my earliest memories. I was good at hiding the fact of my bad luck from most people even when I was younger. This was a testament to the idea that Azreyel said that he and I are the same individuals. My mood had been going downhill all day and at times very steeply, my mood I had thought had hit rock bottom. Yet no, I just had to have my reunion with Azreyel here, which made said mood so much worse!
I may not like Azreyel, but he was here and he was listening, and I really, REALLY needed to vent on the hell I had been through in the last few days and especially this evening! My pent up emotions were getting to the point that if I didn't vent soon by choice, then I would do so involuntarily and very likely end up hurting someone in some fashion. Here and now was as good a place as any to vent, so time to unload I supposed. Without thinking, I dropped my head so that I wouldn't have to look at Azreyel as I began, "You have no idea," I paused for a moment, "what kind of hell I have had to go through today! Let alone however long I was imprisoned by the apes," I snarled.
I brought my head up and glared at Azreyel, "I get hauled by the apes to their city and then I am taken to their leader, only to find that said leader is a female! I already have one female monkey obsessing over me at the same time as she is trying to kill me!" I let out a giggle that was somewhere between being sarcastic and downright manically, but what sane being could blame me? Especially with the crap I had been through recently, it's a miracle that I still in one piece in body AND in mind! "However, 'fate' seems to think it's the epitome of amusement and entertainment to freaking bend me over and f**k me in the a**!"
My giggling had transformed into laughter as I said the line like someone to the point that I could be seriously considered on the edge of insanity. But I couldn't help by continuing in the rant, "Ohh, but why stop there?! Add to being f**ked in the rear while kicking me in the place that makes me a man over and over again at the same time as f***ing me!"
I took a deep breath and kept going, "How is this being done?! Well, let me tell you! It is being done by having the female monkey leader of the apes have an interest in me, which is just downright freaky! Then if I did not have enough things to deal with, I get thrown into a pitch black cell, given food that would make garbage on the same level as five-star cooking! When the apes do let me out, it is to fight for my health and wellbeing if not my life!" I took in another gulp of air and now with my second wind, I kept the momentum I had built up going, "But wait, there's MORE! For almost the whole day today, I have gotten chased and hunted by a dragoness that has some kind of human furry fetish! My only saving grace is that she has purple scales, so she sticks out like a freaking sore thumb!"
I paused for a moment for effect for I was about to get to the climax after all! "That's not all! That's just the icing on the cake, the appetizers before receiving the main course to what I get to have happened to me earlier this evening! Getting turned into a dragon is one thing and I have little problem with that! NO! It is having voices screaming in my head and driving me insane! THEN, having memories crammed into my brain to the point that I seriously think my brain and the grey matter will come EXPLODING OUT OF MY SKULL!"
I was breathing hard from the venting I had just done and I had to admit that I felt better as I always did after getting got things off my chest. This is my way of dealing with the kinds of hell I find myself in, it's how I cope! So, don't any of you listening judge my methods until you try them after going through what I have!
Azreyel had been silent through my triad, but after finishing he spoke, "Well, that is interesting," he put a hand to his chin, "and surprising. I knew she was persistent but not to this extent. Who would have thought that Lara would go that far," he mused with a shrug. "I mean, I knew she had a 'thing' for us, she always did even Koren was beginning to see it. Yet, it appears that it has become stronger than it was before, "
I stared at Azreyel in shock for not only did he apparently know Lara but by what he said Lara had a thing for us or something. Yes, I was coming to accept the idea that Azreyel is likely another side of me. That doesn't mean that I like the fact for I don't in the slightest, but I'm stuck dealing with it! Nonetheless, it is time to get back to the first subject, I took a deep breath and then spoke again, "You say that this is the place we left the Dragon Realm, care to elaborate on that?"
Azreyel walked around me until he was standing in front of me which wasn't a position I was entirely comfortable having him in. "It would probably be easier if I were to show you," he said.
Show me, what is that supposed to mean? As usual, he says things that make no sense whatsoever and it bugged me. Azreyel reached his right hand forward and touched where my forehead would be where I still human. I guess for dragons the place would be called… what was the term… core… no… Crest, yes that was it, the crest was the top part of a dragon's head. The second that he touched my crest I felt some pain though also a weird floaty feeling. I closed my eyes and shook my head a little. "Be still," he stated.
The punk Azreyel is such a stupid head and it is really getting on my nerves more lately and I don't like that! I stopped shaking my head and noticed that the feel of Azreyel's hand had faded away. I opened my eyes and found that the environment around me had changed. The first thing I saw was the color was back, yet it still looked off like something wasn't as it was supposed to be. Perhaps the term that would fit this would be rough maybe, or partly distorted. I strode to the edge of the dais and look down, the city was back to being ruins like before I stepped through the veil. I look up to the sky to see the dark grey clouds. I could smell the moisture in the air that signaled the imminent storm's arrival. I was beginning to feel the same emotion of fear growing in me that I had before and the impending storm was only making it worse.
As I stared at the sky my mind began to replay a particular nightmare that started flashing in my head. It was the one where I was hiding from something and crying which had never made much sense. The nightmare took place during the night, very much like this one I was seeing. I began to see the nightmare vividly, the clearest it had ever been even over the many times I had dreamed it.
The foliage that was all around me whipped around in the strong wind that accompanied the storm. The rain was coming down in sheets, I felt my mind racing, thinking that I needed to hide from those who were chasing me so that they wouldn't find me. There was a flash of lightning followed by the boom of thunder and as if something had caused the sky to open more. The rain got heavier and soon turned in to a deluge of water coming down buckets… no make those barrels sending down the deluge, the fifty gallon kind of barrels. Out of the darkness of the night, I heard a cry that was something between an angered roar and a blood-curdling scream of pain and despair!
This only added to my already degrading condition worse for it gave me a feeling of pain and sadness that ran deep to my heart. Then there was some sort of blur or… well, everything went fuzzy for a second and then I found myself now looking at a young white dragonet. The said dragonet ran in the direction as fast as they could towards the old ruins that were now somehow behind me. As he was running I was… what the? Am I gliding just about the ground like some kind of ghost… that's rather unsettling and freaky. My attention was snapped back to the dragonet as I could hear others behind where we were. The dragonet tripped on something under him as I watched and fall to the ground into a puddle of water from the continuing heavy shower of rain. I found that he was crying and I heard him saying, "What did I ever do to the ancestors to have this happen to me?"
I couldn't help but feel sorry for the dragonet as this situation portrays some bad luck and I would know how that works. Then a thought came to me which had me gawk at the dragonet, the idea was crazy, it shouldn't be possible! I shook my head ridding it of such thoughts and looked on, the dragonet had got back up and run towards the ruins. I was unable to do anything but watch as I glided beside him as he went.
My head snapped back up at a boom of thunder that sounded as the storm got over the ruins and loomed over the old city. I found myself back on top of the tower where I had been before wondering if I was seeing a nightmare or something. Now the storm was here over the ruined city, the rain started to fall quickly becoming a deluge accompanied by the thunder and lightning. Even through the violent storm that was now in full swing with sheets of rain, I was able to see a young white dragonet come rushing from out of the forest. In a near trance, I observed that the white dragonet was the one from the nightmare. I watched him from above, race towards the tower. However, I also noticed there was another figure on a different path that would intercept the dragonet's path. Oh dear, this won't be pretty and I doubt there is anything I can do in this at all.
There was some kind of distortion all around me like before and then, I suddenly found myself down off the tower and in the streets of the ruins. I looked around and my sight became glued to the white dragonet when I caught sight of him. I now had a front row seat to whatever would happen in this vision or memory. When the two beings' paths intercepted the white dragonet collided with the figure that was bigger than him. The other was a dark blue adult male dragon and he was bearing down on the dragonet. The white dragonet struggled against the other dragon that was at least three times his size, closer to four. A losing battle, yet still you had to hand it to the kid that he still fought back in this. Watching this was making me feel this whole scene was familiar but I couldn't place it. "Get off me," the dragonet screeched.
"I think not, you are not getting away," replied the dragon.
Why do I suddenly get the urge to yell, 'think again blue boy!', it doesn't make sense. The struggle continued until there was an explosion. The blast had thrown the adult dragon flying through a few buildings. Ah ha, that would be why the urge came, odd that I seemed to know that something like that was going to happen beforehand. I looked at the white dragonet to find he was lying flat on the ground, with a burn mark on his neck.
I looked closer to the mark and began to feel shocked, the mark on further inspection looked a lot like the one on… my neck. Pain shot through my head at seeing the burn mark and seemed to act as a trigger. Images and sounds flooded my mind and began to fit themselves together like a puzzle. The more I started to recall, the clearer this event unfolding in front of me became, meaning that the dragonet is me.
I stared in fascination at the dragonet as the fact sunk into my brain at what I was seeing. This was surreal to me for this was the first time I had seen what I looked like as a young child or dragonet as it is the case. I say this since I couldn't remember anything before I was more than five years old until now. I'd always wondered how I got that mark, it had always puzzled me as I couldn't recall any event that could cause it. Well now I know, not exactly the way I had ever imagined, but still.
The younger me stirred and got to his paws and once again towards the tower, what drove that goal, I couldn't say, one of the things that were missing in whatever this was. I followed myself not that I had much of a choice in this and observed his progress. This is one of the weirder things I have done and that isn't something that I would say often with the crap I deal with. Anyways, as he made his way closer to the tower, there came a roar that sounded from the opposite direction, meaning it had most likely come from the forest. Feelings of anger and sadness well up in me at the sound of the cry, much like if it came from someone I knew. I could tell now that these emotions were swelling up because of this event I was being shown. The young version of me stopped and turned looking in the direction that the roar had come from. His face fell into sadness at the sound of the roar, "Koren…"
Did he just say… I didn't finish my thought as the dragonet turned back to the tower, yet I caught sight of tears for a brief moment. A feeling of painful sorrow came to me as I kept watching the scene. The white dragonet kept going, but he hadn't gone more than fifteen meters when I heard a noise. I twisted around and noticed the adult dragon was on his paws and shot ice at me. When the ice shot was sent, I saw it coming at me and out of reflex took a defensive stance and started evading. I found I couldn't move much and stared at the ice shot towards me, and it was freaky to have it go right through me. Specifically, it went through my lower chest/underbelly and my… well, I don't really want to mention anything of mine that's south of the border if you know what I mean, so I'll leave it at that. I mean that's good that it went through me as if it didn't then that ice could have frozen my… um, I think it is time to change the subject!
Anyways, the ice shot hit the dragonet's right hind leg and froze the leg to the ground. The young dragon came to an abrupt halt and yelped in pain for the ice had held his leg to the ground he had bent his left-hind ankle more than it should bend. The position looked painful and probably hurt like hell, but thankfully, I didn't hear a crack of bone, that would have been worse. It's one of those that you have to look at the bright side of things, mostly because things are going really bad. "Not so fast, little one," said the adult dragon.
If there were a referee here and they had watched what I had just witness and did nothing about it, then I would chuck something at them and be bellowing that there had been an obvious foul! Of course, were it me down there, no pun intended, I would be loading and aiming my rear bomb bay. And rest assured, where my belching may be stupendous, it has got nothing on the performance that my rear bomb bay has earned its name and feared reputation for! So, if that adult dragon wherein the location he currently was and I was where my younger self was, then that dragon should be performing their last rites, cause I'd finish them!
But, that wasn't the case so back to the memory or whatever this was that I had been viewing. The young me twisted to face the adult dragon, anger beginning to show on his face and with justifiable reason. And I admit, it is impressive that the young me already had a high pain tolerance, it would serve him more than he could ever have known, I personally will attest to that! Honestly, with the bad luck that tormented me, my high tolerance and threshold to pain had been nothing short of a merciful lifesaving miracle! "What did Koren or I do to be hunted down and killed," snarled young me.
I paid closer attention as I was curious about the subject as the adult dragon answered, "You were hatched, little one, you exist, that is what you have done."
Oh, that answer is just wrong on so many fundamental levels that it sickens me beyond measure! No one can change the fact of being born any more than one can stop the sun from rising or setting. So, using that as an excuse to kill someone just shows how low a scum bag is and that infuriated me! I seethed with inner rage for I couldn't stand people like this adult dragon, who seem to think it is some divine given right to make the rules and decide who is treated fair and which are not! I continued to watch the scene and I then caught sight of the adult dragon's eyes and stopped my current tangent of thought. His eyes for a lack of a better term looked off and I don't mean in color or anything like that. I know there is the phrase that goes, 'eyes are the window to the soul' and if that is the case, then there was something wrong here! The adult dragon's eyes looked empty and almost void of… something… I don't know how to exactly put it.
The sight had the thought of the lights are on, but the owner isn't home going through my mind and screaming for attention. The eyes weren't glazed over exactly, it was like looking into the eyes of someone sleep-walking. Yes, I know what I'm talking about for as it happens, Uncle Douchebag does that every once and a while. And I will neither confirm or deny that I may have entertained thoughts of pranking him while he did such. But the point is, the eyes of this adult dragon looked very much the same and it was weird. It was then the adult dragon went on speaking which got me to focus again, "White dragons are no longer supposed to exist. They are too powerful and so are dangerous, they need to be gone forever. The older one has been dealt with and that leaves you."
My mind returned back to the previous tangent for this excuse and line of reasoning is getting worse with each phrase. Not even my uncle is this low of a douche bag and I can truthfully say that he's a really low douche bag! Still, he still has certain morals that stop him from doing particular things, that's not so here apparently. And yet, it did give an unexpected piece of information, someone or something saw white dragons as too powerful. Young me still shook, yet it was no longer out of fear, but now in anger, "He is not just 'the older one', his name is KOREN," young me bellowed. The air started to get heavy with building power to the point even I felt it… Ooo, I have a feeling I am going to enjoy what's about to happen a lot! The younger me continued building towards a roar, "And I am not little one or just a white dragon, my name is AZREYEL!"
After saying that the younger me opened his maw and to my utter astonishment, letting loose a beam of light. The light beam slammed into the dragon and sent him, I would guess the quarter of the way across the ruins. And said dragon appeared to be crashing through things as he went adding to the idea. To say this left me in a state of shock would be an understatement at what I had just seen. I had gone slack-jawed at seeing my younger self not only use what looked like light but had also blasted away an adult three times or more his size! It was freaking awesome to witness and I'm not easy to impress regardless of the circumstances.
The other fact I couldn't deny any longer that Azreyel and I were related so closely that we're one and the same at one time. I mean for such a young dragon to show that kind of power is amazing as well as uncanny. Still, this is me we're talking about though, so… actually, even I can't explain how I did that honestly. Then taking into account that the shot wasn't any of the eight elements, but another element that the dragons apparently they don't know about! Maybe that means there are elements that the dragons have no idea about, it wouldn't exactly shock me much if there were.
Hell, young me had literally blasted away an adult dragon that was a good amount bigger than him and sent them flying! And upon looking down at the ground, the large and multiple splatters of blood that the adult dragon had to have left when he was sent flying showed evidence of my assumption. A sense of pride welled up in me at seeing what I had done for it was no small feat let me tell you. If I could do such a thing when I was this young, then I should be able to do so now right? Yet, I will still have to find out how it is done as I had no clue how much could be done or works. Nonetheless, if I could pull it off, ooo the realm of possibilities that would open to me would be very amazing to explore!
The dragonet after having given a thorough beating to the adult dragon was now using his tail blade to break the ice on his leg. Within a few minutes, he had freed himself and returned his journey to the tower. I was about to follow, yet then heard I noise of crashing in the near vicinity. I paced over to the newly carved path from the beam of light and looked down it. I looked in shock and mild annoyance as the adult dragon got out of the rubble. That was unexpected… why can't the trouble makers just stay down and accept when they get whipped? First, that he had survived that and was conscious was something impressive in my view with what he took! And second, in his condition, he shouldn't be standing at all with the hit he had just taken and he showed that he hadn't shrugged the shot off!
The said dragon wasn't by any means unharmed after taking that last shot, nope he had lots-O-marks! His underbelly had no scales anymore as they had most likely been blasted off from the beam of light. It wasn't just his underbelly, but most of the dragon's body had either lost his scales or had burned marks leaving just hide. His wings had also had holes in the wing webbing, which I was hoping would prevent him from flying. He had deep gashes on both sides and was still bleeding from those injuries. Honestly, it looked like patches of his hide had been peeled off and his muscles were visible. Honestly, he looked like roadkill that somehow could still walk and I mean that literally, it was a rather gruesome sight! The dragon was still able to walk somehow and was doing so in the direction of the young me. The look on what was left of his face, which wasn't all that much which didn't make sense. And the feel of killing intent was present, but it wasn't coming from this adult dragon at all, yet nearby.
As I stared for a moment, I heard a voice, "Do not let that white one get away, kill it," it snapped. The voice had sounded somewhat like one from a child, but it was very off as there were tones in it that no kid has. Truthfully, it chilled my bones and kind of reminded me of that freak of nature that haunts me sometimes. That alone put me on-guard and suspicious of what was going on, but then things distorted again and I found myself by the archway.
My younger self was coming towards the archway, but I highly doubt that adult dragon was far behind. And I was wondering how I would get through this for I had to or I wouldn't be here… I think? This is confusing the more I witness, curse this time paradox, it just hurts my brain just thinking about! I was starting to remember this event as it was though I couldn't remember it completely, it was coming back in pieces and parts.
It was then I heard a faint sound of paw falls coming from the direction of the forest. I look back towards the city itself and the sight of the blue adult dragon almost within striking distance wasn't comforting. I kept staring at the dragon closed the distance and young me hadn't noticed what was coming at him. Then I saw out of the corner of my eye a white blur come from the right of the adult dragon. The white form hit the adult dragon hard knocking him down and out of reach of the young me. My young self turned at the sound of the noise apparently taking notice at last. Thank you for your teachings, Master Kai, they have been doing good for me as noticing one's surroundings is something I was not so good with when I was younger.
The adult dragon was down on the ground and in front of that said dragon was another white dragonet standing there. His scales were a slightly darker white than my own, but not by much, you would notice the difference if we stood next to each other. His underbelly and wing membranes were a metallic silver color so not as shiny as my underbelly is. And other than the white scales you wouldn't think much of this dragonet as he was a tad on the thinner side.
Yet, my eyes widen in horror as I continued looking at the dragonet had seen much better days. The dragon's right horn was completely gone leaving a white circle, probably the horn had been ripped off. His left horn was still there… at least some of it was. What was left was what came from the side of his head and appeared to be broken off four inches out. He had cuts and lacerations all over his body and many still bleeding freely which was I wouldn't doubt was taking a toll. His scales along his back and underbelly were darker due to the blood from a long and deep laceration that ran along a little more than half his spine, seeped out and down soaking his scales. The most noticeable injury was the missing right wing! I saw the stump where the wing had been connected to but appeared like it had been cut or sliced off, blood was still flowing out of the stump that was there.
It was plain that this dragon who I would say was a few years older than the younger me who was I would guess five or so. Maybe he was seven or eight, still more a child than an adult and yet when he was attacked, he had fought back. It was clear that he hadn't been able to dodge all the attacks aimed at him and had paid a heavy price of getting through the battle he had. My younger self, took a step forward with tears in his eyes, "Koren you are still alive," he said.
'Koren' turned to him with a serious look set on his face and that brought pain to my heart for the expression told me a lot. I could see in his eyes that Koren knew he would die soon enough and yet he was more concerned about me than himself. If it wasn't from fighting whoever had attempted to kill him, then Koren's injuries and loss of blood would finish him. He knew that he wasn't going to make it much farther in his present condition, there was just too much damage done to him! Still, he was going to use all he had left to give my young self a chance to get away. "Azreyel you need to go," Koren said, "run now!"
"But," young me began.
Koren however, cut over the younger me, "This is not the time to argue," he interjected. "Go to the dais at the top of the tower, do not worry about me and do not look back."
Young me hesitated for a second more and then spun around and began to climb the tower. The adult dragon rose to his paws and looked at Koren, "Very surprising that you are still able to move,"
Koren somehow managed a smile pained as it was, "The same could be said of you, taken a heavy beating from a little dragon." Koren paused, or rather he stopped and coughed up an amount of blood before he continued. "You adults think the young cannot do anything to make a difference. You cannot understand that when a friend is in danger, I will find a way to help them no matter what!"
There was silence for a moment, "End this one," said the freaky child-like voice again.
I glanced around trying to identify and locate the source of the voice, but I found nothing and that was weird. The blue adult dragon took a step forward to which Koren opened his maw and shot a shriek of the fear element that forced the dragon to drop to the ground. The blue dragon began to writhe on the ground in pain from what I assumed to be the piercing sound of the fear element.
My eyes were drawn to a shadow on the ground that was moving without anyone else doing so. Unnoticed by both, the shadow came under the two. Koren was still pinning the blue dragon and so did see the paw and talons coming out of the shadow. Koren didn't know it was coming and though I looked away as the talons from the shadow went through the right side of his chest, the sound hurt to hear. The shriek that Koren had been emitting stopped and blood came flowing out of the gaping wound in his chest. Koren took a shuttering breath that sounded painful that I flinched at the sound. It was likely by the pain in Koren's voice that the hit he had taken had been in a vital spot probably his right lung. That blow would, unfortunately… would pretty much end his life at this point.
Out of the shadow beneath the two dragons came another adult dragon, this one had scales black as the shadow he had come out of. The dragon still held Koren by the foreleg that had the talons that had punctured Koren in his chest. I still heard Koren's pained breathing faintly though it was and becoming more so. The black dragon looked to the blue one, "You are letting this white abnormal one get the better of you?"
The blue dragon got back up to his paws and faced the newly arrived black dragon while the black one flicked his foreleg and in doing so tossed Koren to the side. "It was the younger one that did this, he is far more dangerous than he looks," the blue dragon replied.
I watched in horror as Koren flew through the air and then bounced once on the ground. I never saw what happened to him next as it was at that point once again that there was some kind of distortion around me and I found myself back at the dais. I little time to wonder why I was here when my younger self got to the top of the stairs. The sound of Koren shrieking was still audible and that seemed to make the younger me hesitate for a moment before continuing to the dais. As he passed the two columns closest to the stairs a light started to shine and when I looked down and saw a white circle that appeared to have been drawn by light. This circle was intricate and was by my guess to have something to do with magic of some kind.
As if to confirm my assumption, when my younger self reached the center of the circle that was made using the pillars as points on the circle, the light intensified. The light became blinding and the power I was feeling was still increasing in magnitude. I raised my right wing to shield my eyes against the light, then there was a boom and the light shot into the sky setting the sky alight as if it were day. I have to wonder how no one else had noticed any of what was happening so far, none of what had occurred had been silent or hidden that I could tell.
I lowered my wing and looked to the pillar of light, seeing the young white dragon was lifted off his paws and rose within the pillar. After he had risen a few feet there was a painful, blood-freezing roar that I had heard what felt like mere moments ago! The sad truth which the roar had rung was that Koren was dead… and gone. The white dragonet began to struggle against the force that was now carrying him upward. I turned my head away and shut my eyes tight, there was no question as to who made the roar, I had witnessed it just now. The younger me kept struggling but finding that was doing nothing stopped. In a final attempt in his despair, he let out a cry that cut me to the heart, "KOREN!"
The desperate scream was one of great pain and deep sadness and loss. It hurt to hear it as much as it had to have roared it. The screaming roar echoed in my head as everything around me began to fade into nothing.
I opened my eyes to find I hadn't moved an inch from where I had been standing when Azreyel had done whatever he had. I was reeling slightly from the understanding of what I had seen and it was hard to process. I looked back to Azreyel to see he had taken a few steps back from me and was looking at me with a small amount of sadness, but he was still mostly expressionless.
I think I was starting to understand why I was so annoyed by Azreyel better now than before. He reminded me of myself before I met Master Kai and started training at the dojo. I had before meeting Master Kai been despondent and fairly arrogant and didn't show much emotion. Through my time with Master Kai that had changed for the better, Azreyel just reminded me how much I came to hate how I use to be. I still had a question that gnawed at my mind and heart. I didn't raise my head as I asked the question I needed to even though I knew the answer, "Koren," I began, "did he," I trailed off not wanting to say what I assumed to be the truth.
"You know as much as I do, though I say it is rather obvious how it ended," Azreyel replied.
The memories I were playing through my mind made clear what Koren was to me. He had been a true friend even to the very end on his dying breath he had thought of me rather than himself. A pain I had never in my life that I could remember grew in my heart, it was a stabbing, heart-wrenching pain and the feeling was that of losing someone you care about. This feeling was completely new to me and I didn't like it at all. Even when I was told my 'parents' had died, I had felt nothing like this, I had never known them so they were total strangers.
Now knowing I was a dragon from birth, it raises many questions that I thought I had dismissed and buried. Are my biological parents still alive somewhere or are they dead and gone? If they are alive, then have they been searching for me? Regardless, should either or both my parents still be alive, then they have lots of explaining to do for what I've had to go through. I would make sure they answer for whatever reason they had sent me to the life I have had. I had hoped to answer questions here, yet with all the answers I received, I only find more and more questions waiting. I brought my head up to face Azreyel, "So, where does this put us," I posed.
"You tell me," he shot back without missing a beat.
My frustration flared up at that answer for that is what I had come to expect with this punk and it still just irks me to no end! Honestly, I had been training at the dojo with Master Kai for so long that I had forgotten just how much of a pain in the rear I use to be! Yet another reason that I hate my past so much as it showed the strides I had made. "You know Azreyel," I began, "you keep reminding me why I have been so grateful I found Master Kai and the dojo. It has slipped my mind just how much of a pill of pain I could be when I was younger," I snapped. "It makes me wonder how Master Kai was so patients with the brat I was, my attitude was just horrid even if it was somewhat justifiable."
Asreyel just gave me a deadpanned look, "Is that supposed to be insulting or something? I can assure you that memory isn't the only one of being shunned, I can show you more if you prefer. So, I very much doubt you could insult me in a way I would care about."
Oh, this guy is such a freaking punk! And shunned huh, he ain't the only one that knows what it's like from personal experience, I have my own collection of those memories. I have an abundance of material to compare to whatever he's got, and I would bet some that would outdo his memories. However, this is neither the time or place for getting into a contest of comparing misery to see who's had it worse. I sighed after a moment of consideration, "No, I don't think it will be needed," I returned.
The other thing that irked me at the moment is that nothing that I had said had seemingly had an effect on this punk. Not one single freaking chip in that mental wall of his, which with me is kind of rare. Still, he has got to have some kind of weakness for me to work with, everyone does and there are no exceptions. Although, as much as I would love to test that claim, not right now for I have better things to do at the moment. I glared at Azreyel, "Another time I may test that claim of yours, but it is the middle of the night and I think that it will be noticed if I am not in the room I was assigned when the morning comes."
Azreyel smiled slyly, "What afraid of the dark?"
My glare became cold to made certain that the point of dead seriousness was unmistakable. He should very well know what I was worried about! He knew how effective and prompt our bad luck can be! And this is a golden opportunity that I don't want my bad luck to have to work with, "No, I am worried that you dork, you should not even have to question why I do not want to be out here right now. If I stay out longer then my bad luck will strike me down and I want to avoid that! Right now I have luck building up and I really do not want it to hit me in these ruins," I stated. "Is that clear enough for you?"
Azreyel merely appeared to fade into the night after he gave me a final harrumph and that irritated me more. Not only did he just pull off a trick that I've been working on getting to work for years, but he made it look simple as heck. After grumbling a bit, I started to make my way back down the tower and then through the old city. Thankfully for me, my bad luck didn't hit me, yet anyway for I know it will strike me, no doubts about that. My issue is I'm getting seriously worried about the time my bad luck does hit me as this build up is the second worst I have ever had. The worst instance for I would bet some would ask about it, let's just say no one will forget that particular year's festival.
Long story short, at one of the annual festival that was held in the town when I was younger… well, I am grateful to be okay and not in prison or a hospital myself! What actually happened was I was with some of the boys the same age as me from the dojo, we were walking around the festival minding our own business. We didn't go looking for trouble, I know I rarely do but nope, it finds us as was the case at that time.
So, some boys from a rival dojo 'bumped' into us and say we were the ones that bumped into them. Of course, the guys and I weren't going to stand and let them accuse us of such crap as it was a lie. Well, one thing leads to another and… well, yes we got into a fight with them as a number would guess. However, in our defense, they started it and with the insults, they were throwing at us, they were freaking asking for a whooping! So, we set about doing just that, delivering the justice they had coming, then the ones we were fighting began to fight dirty. As the idea goes 'fight fire with fire' or in this case, if they fight dirty, then so shall we and that's what we did. Ah, the thought process of kids is so simple, yet so ignorant of consequences.
The proof of the concept followed with what happened and though the results were not what we intended, that's how it goes. Anyways, a few of us from the dojo had some of the concoction we had been working on for amplifying belching power. It was still an idea in progress at the time, so had its good point and bad ones as well! I grant there were better ways to test than using it as we did, but we settled on testing the effects than in this instance. And it seemed like a good idea at the time, yet now looking back I can see just how stupid the thought really was. The liquid as we quickly learned wasn't just potent but also powerful besides, unfortunately, we found this out too late to help us.
How you might ask? Well, it is hard to not notice when you send a boy into a vendor stall that was ten feet away! Thank goodness we were in the area that the vendors of the stalls weren't there at the time. Nonetheless, the collateral damage was something we couldn't hide or deny that we made. Now how is that due to my bad luck? Simple, first the fight, in the beginning, shouldn't have happened! The rival dojo was one that kept their distance normally. The amount of collateral damage was much more than should have occurred. Lastly, the response time of law enforcement was far too quick to be natural I tell you. Yes, the crashes would draw them, but only two minutes after the belching power was brought into the fight? That said to me that someone had an inkling of what was going to happen and called ahead of time or at least early on.
And was the SWAT team really necessary to respond to this kind of incident?! Those guys tackling kids is just painful, I assume to watch as well, yet to have to be one of those they take down. I felt the pain for weeks and having been tackled by the SWAT team makes me really glad that my uncle wasn't in that line of professions. If he had, my beatings would have been a great deal worse and I have enough issues to deal with! Oh the memories of what my bad luck has done to me, it is really a miracle that I am still okay at all. I did reach my room without any dragon knowing that I had been gone and no incident. I went and lay on the bed staring at the ceiling like I had been doing previously that night.
The next morning I awoke to the sound of a crash which isn't a normal sound I hear in the morning. My eyes shot open though they were blinking blearily afterward as I tried to process what was going on. I'd been reliving the memory I had experienced last night, so I was confused and was trying to figure out what was what. My brain was running on auto-pilot as it always first started on in the morning and adding to the night I had last night, this day is going to be a long and hard one, I can tell. I had gotten very little sleep when I had gotten back to the temple, I had expected that but that doesn't make it any easier. The pain in my heart had become worse during the night, and now I had also a feeling of guilt. If I had been stronger maybe I could have helped Koren. I know such thoughts are meaningless and the past is something that can't be changed, the feeling of guilt didn't go away.
I shook my head and let out a sigh before I got out of the bed in order to find out what was making the noise this early in the morning. My paws hit the floor and I felt a shot of pain down my spine centering on my tail. I know I was still getting used to the appendage that was attached to me above my behind that I didn't have before. I swing my head and neck around to scan the pained part of my body as the pain felt much like a cramp or crick in a limb when you sleep on it wrong. I moved my tail from side to side attempting to stretch out the pain from bad sleeping positions. For the next few minutes I was just moving my tail in different directions and discovered the activity of stretching my tail felt nice, much like warm-up routines… well, for me at least. I soon lost myself in the motion of moving my tail, it felt really good as I kept going though I couldn't explain why. Another crash snapped me out of my revelry, and I looked to the door wondering what was going on.
I left my room looking to each side to try to figure out where the crashing noises had originated from. I heard a quiet commotion to my left and so I proceeded down the hallway and after a couple minutes I came to a quite comical and interesting sight. The hallway had lines of doors on both sides and the hall curved down the way I had come from to the other end the stairs to the ground floor was at. A door about midway down the corridor was open and cleaning supplies seemed to have exploded from the room behind the door.
What surprised me was in the middle of the mess of cleaning things was Tarra, who was entangled in said supplies. The first thing that went through my mind was I hope that Tarra is okay. This was followed by trying not to laugh at this scene for it was hilarious as it was one of the rare times I was a spectator and not the victim! I closed the distance to where Tarra was, "Um," I uttered, "Tarra are you okay?"
Tarra looked up and her face showed surprise at seeing me, "Saber, what are you doing here so early," she exclaimed.
I continued to look at her as I answered, "I could ask you the same thing, but I am a bit more surprised that there is no one else here seeing what is going on."
Tarra smiled slightly and looked away from me, "Well this is pretty normal for me."
I tried to make sense of what Tarra had just said, yet I needed more information to do that. How could this idea be in any way normal, and if it is why would it be? "Uh, you lost me there," I replied. "You care to expand on what you mean by normal for you?"
Tarra then started into an explanation about how she wanted to be nice and not be seen as a problem or a hindrance to anyone. So, she got up early and would clean the hallways to try to help out, but always seemed to have one kind of problem or another before she was done. The reason that no one was checking to see what was causing the noise was everyone already knew what the cause was and had become used to it, so they slept through this almost every morning. Honestly, I had to feel sorry for Tarra, after all, I too have pretty much the same kind of luck. The difference between our luck is just the magnitude of what it causes as mine does more. I sighed and shook my head and started forward to Tarra, "I guess that makes sense in a way," I said. "Anyways let me give you a helping hand," I paused before correcting my verbiage, "I mean paw up."
I balanced on three paws and stretched out my right forepaw to help Tarra to help her up. I am a nice guy regardless of me being a dragon or human, it is just the way I am. It is a chosen part of my nature, I am a gentleman most of the time unless given a reason not to be. Tarra stared at me, then took my offered paw and I helped her up to her own.
As it worked out for me though, MY bad luck decided that NOW would be the perfect time to let loose the buildup it had been acquiring! This came in the form of me slipping as I was helping Tarra up, a mop got under a paw, how it had gotten there, I don't know. Once I slipped off I went smashing through the cleaning supplies. It didn't stop there, oh no, with the amount of luck I have built up, my luck was just getting started on the ride it would give me this time! So, I continued sliding down the hall towards, you guessed it, the stairs. A wince came to my face as I saw the stairs in front of me and couldn't help but think, 'Oh no!'. I flew off the landing of the stairs and hit every other stair as I went down alternating between hitting my neck and whacking my tail.
Once I hit the final stair, the next time I hit the floor I began rolling down the ground floor hallway. I find the next room I got to was the foyer and I knew this because I hit the statue that I know is there and that I bounced on. That bounce got me in my back which was still sore from last night still. I was now going in the direction of the front entryway and out of the temple down onto the really bumpy and rocky street I went. This street never felt this hard, but then again I wasn't rolling in a ball on it until now, so go figure.
Now, where was I? Ah yes, rolling down the street in a ball. To say I was getting rather dizzy by this time wasn't wrong at all and truthfully I was wondering if I would stop or hurl first. The latter wasn't a pleasant sounding idea, hurling while I was in a ball, that would just be nasty! Thankfully or painfully, perhaps both of those, I rolled to where the fountain was, hit the edge and flipped up in the air. I came landing with a good size splash in the fountain itself face first to add insult to injury. And it took me a moment to get my head out of the water, but when I had, I just leaned up against the fountain centerpiece sighing at the results of my bad luck. I was now soaking wet and felt pain throughout my body, how nice this is for me.
Thus is the way luck buildup works, you never know when it will strike, that you can't predict. However, you can be certain to know it will be harsh when you are struck, that's just how it works. If there had been any still sleeping through Tarra's morning incident, then I very much doubt they were after my dose of luck! This day has started off horrendously and I'm left to wonder how the rest of the day is going to go. I still have yet to see Lara today, and with what things occurred yesterday, I have no real good idea what would happen to deal with her
A/n
And that's where chapter 29 will leave off, hope you're liking the rewrite please some of you take the time to write reviews, thank you for reading this.