WARRIORS HIGH
ISLAND OF THE LOST
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
RELEASE
"You have always been there for me. Through my darkest nights, you stayed by my side, Amidst my most trepid fears, you lifted me up and in times I thought all was lost, you lit the way to the end of the cave by any means necessary…"
Jaywhisker kept walking down the cliffside, trying to ignore Crow's bombastic proposal speech. It was cute, and the boy had no doubt in his mind that Fir wouldn't say yes, but it had been a while since he had last gotten this kind of fresh air. He wanted some time to himself.
The morning was dull and gray. A plain overcast of color washed clouds painted the sky, giving a dreary, almost depressing atmosphere. Jaywhisker found it ironic. The least the weather could have done was welcome a tiny bit of levity into the two former assassin's engagement.
After a bit of walking, he found a nice spot down near a cleft overlooking the vast lake. He sat down and leaned back against the slanted landscape, his eyes drifting to the cloudy sky up above him.
Jaywhisker, out of view of anyone within a couple hundred feet, relaxed for one of the first times since he was inducted into the resistance. His back seemed to sink into the grass and he let his eyes close, soothed by the soft, chilly breeze of the early October air.
Jaywhisker was at peace.
For only about six minutes.
His eyes fluttered back open as he felt a vibration in his pocket. At first, he thought it was a call from someone at the house, so he shut his eyes again. He could pull an explanation out of his ass when the time came.
And then he heard the music.
"Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday, happy birthday,
Happy birthday to you."
And just like that, Jaywhisker's serenity was ruined.
He ruffled into his pocket and pulled out his phone. The home screen showed a "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" graphic surrounded by smiling monster-alien hybrids that looked to be crudely photoshopped together off of stock photos in about ten minutes and overlaid by a repeated gif of computer-generated confetti. Disgruntled, he swiped down, dismissing the alarm.
He made a mental note to get back to trying to disable the damn thing when he got the chance.
Reluctantly, Jaywhisker sat up, stuffing his phone back into his pocket and curling up, his chin resting between his kneecaps.
"Happy birthday to me," he said out loud to nobody in particular.
It was true. Today was September 29, 2024. His seventeenth birthday.
And the ninth anniversary of the day his birthday became his least favorite day of the year.
"Alright," grumbled Jaywhisker, "Let's get this over with."
He grabbed the sleeves of the sweatshirt he wore and rolled them up, showing a bandage covering the front of his forearms under each sleeve. The bandage was stained, dirty and covered in grime, as if it had been worn for much longer than it was intended to. After a couple seconds of feeling and sinking dirt in between his fingernails, he found the end of the bandage and undid the wrapping, the rest of the bandage coming off easily due to the adhesive wearing off.
When he was done, he walked about fifty feet to throw away the bandages, scurried back to his spot, his sleeves completely rolled up.
Under his bandages were two long scars coursing across each of his wrists. The gashes were old, but cluttered in scar tissue. It didn't take a doctor to realize the scars were permanent. Slowly, he ran his finger over the dried blood and dead skin, which was intermingled with dirt and grime.
Words played in his head, like classical music being played at an elegant party from the 1800's. It was like there was a struggle, a fight for those memories to get to the front of his brain. Jaywhisker was very calm, though. He had spent years building his skill to tune this out.
He thought of Russ.
His cute little smile.
The way his eyes lit up like the fourth of July when he showed him his suit.
The bond that the two of them shared.
And when that was what he thought about, those memories had no chance. Jaywhisker swore he could feel them scampering to the back of his mind, prepared to be forgotten for at least another year.
Smirking to himself at his own victory, he drew his nail along one of the gashes on his wrist and got to his feet, heading back in Crow and Fir's direction, not noticing a man in a hoodie grabbing one of the bandages out of the trash bin.
He found them at the same cliffside, Fir nestled into Crow's chest and and Crow holding her in a tight, loving hug.
"I hear congratulations are in order," said Jaywhisker, cracking a smile.
Fir held out her right hand, a beautiful engagement ring wrapped around her ring finger.
Jaywhisker smiled, rolling up his sleeves and sitting down next to the couple. "So what's next?" he asked, "Got a house to move into? Maybe on a tiny island in the middle of nowhere?"
"Not yet."
Jaywhisker cocked his eyebrow. "Wait, you're staying here?"
"ARS knows that we betrayed them," said Crow, "They probably know that we gave up information. We can't be sure that we'll be safe until Rock is dead. So...we were thinking that we could hide, maybe give you some battle plan assistance if you want it? We can stay in the basement."
"That would be great," said Jaywhisker, smiling, "Thank you. We will forever be in your debt."
"No, thank you," said Fir with a dreamy smile on her face, "You went behind everyone's back and got us out of being tortured. I can't imagine how hard that must have been, but we're grateful for your kindness."
Jaywhisker smiled, scooting closer to the newly-engaged couple and looking out on the gray lake.
For once, insubordination felt good.
"You're lying."
"Nope," said Dusty, coming to a halt across the street from the mansion he called home.
"You…" stuttered Axis, "You live in a mansion."
"Yep."
"Heh...no wonder you act like a spoiled brat."
"Har har," said Dusty, shouldering him as he biked over to the front, locking his bike to the front porch and meeting Axis on the front step.
"So, uh," said Dusty, "My folks kinda don't know you exist, so…we're gonna have to sneak you in."
"Wooow," said Axis, crossing his arms and smiling, "Got the temperamental kind, huh?"
"Eh," he shrugged, "They're more like just nutjobs."
"Gotcha," said Axis, "So got any ideas?"
Dusty thought a moment before he got one.
"Can you climb?"
And so five minutes later, Dusty had ran into his bedroom, locked the door and popped out the emergency escape window right over his bed and tossed down a rope that Foxleap had hidden under his bed. After a couple minutes of struggling and practicing of physics, Axis finally got over the barrier and stumbled into the bedroom.
"Holy shit," Axis said in awe, "You live here?"
"Yep," said the boy, locking the window back into place, "But you're not here for that, are you?"
He led the bartender to the door of his walk-in closet, slid open the door and hit the lights. Purple light illuminated the converted studio, with soundproofers glued to the walls, a keyboard in the back corner and the several different instruments on hooks along the walls. Just to their left stood a mic, with a chord leading out of the closet and into the computer that was across from the foot of Dusty's bed, and two pairs of headphones.
"Impressed?" said Dusty, grinning ear to ear as Axis walked around in a trance-like state, running his hands along every little thing.
"This...is...amazing!" he squealed, jumping around in joy, "Let's play something! What do you wanna play?"
"We can play anything," said Dusty, loving how this night was going so far, "Last I checked, I had...900 instrumental tracks to songs?"
"Stop it."
"Thought you might enjoy it," he said, "So what's first on our magical musical adventure?"
"Hm…" said Axis in exaggerated thought, "You a Brendon Urie fan?"
"Hell yeah."
And so the night went on. The two worked like a well-oiled machine, Axis' fantastic voice matched with Dusty's incredible instrumental ingenuity made for a fantastic night for both of them. All throughout, they tried to keep on one-upping the other, Axis picking higher and higher songs under his voice peaked at Ariana Grande and Dusty somehow managing to fluke the guitar solo in Paradise City in two tries.
By half past midnight, two and a half hours after Axis had arrived, the two were exhausted. Axis' voice was raspy as he downed water bottle after water bottle and Dusty was covered in sweat, his joints thinking he just ran a marathon.
The two of them had worked each other to their instrumental peak. No one else had ever done that before.
"Damn," said Axis, who was on his fourth water bottle, "I don't think I've worked myself this hard before."
"Same," said Dusty, finishing his water.
They sat in silence, heads resting against the soundproof walls as they drained their water bottles.
Dusty was having the time of his life. Axis was having a blast and the two worked together so well. He couldn't think of a way this night to get better.
Suddenly, Dusty felt Axis' hand drift on top of his. He turned to see his lips pursed in thought.
"Do you…" he suddenly asked, "Do you dance?"
Dusty froze.
"Uh...no, not really…" he admitted after a second.
"Oh okay," said Axis, his nervousness becoming more and more prevalent, "Sorry I asked."
Silence filled the air, though this one was much more awkward and uncomfortable.
"Can you teach me?"
"Huh?" said Axis, turning to him.
"Can you teach me?" he asked again.
"Uh...sure, I guess…" he said, getting up and heading to the computer as Dusty stood and put on the headphones.
A couple seconds later, very slow jazz started playing in his headphones. Even the mood his crush set was enough to make Dusty blush.
"Alright," said Axis, standing back in front of Dusty, "This one is simple. First, put your hands around my hips."
Trying desperately to hide how much his hands were shaking, Dusty reached forward and grabbed his hips. He flinched as Axis placed his hands on his shoulders and pulled him closer, until their bodies were mere inches away.
Dusty's heart was beating at the speed of sound.
"Now, just sway," said Axis quietly, leading Dusty into a gentle sway. Back and forth, back and forth as gently as he could.
The romantic saxophone melody played quietly as the two just rocked back and forth over and over. Dusty kept his eyes locked on Axis' t-shirt to hide how much he was blushing.
Breathe, Dusty. Breathe.
But no matter what he did or how subtle he did it, he couldn't calm his wild heartbeat. So, out of options, he looked up.
Axis met his gaze and they just stared at each other, a wordless coordination between their movements harmonious between them.
Dusty felt Axis grip his shoulders a little bit tighter and returned it with a gentle squeeze of his hips.
Their faces were inches away.
In those seconds, the tension between them was so prevalent and so thick that anyone could see it.
It needed release.
"You gonna move away this time?" whispered Axis with a smirk.
The response was automatic.
"Not this time."
Their faces moved closer and closer.
And they kissed.
It was gentle and inexperienced. It was clear to the partners that this was the first time they had ever kissed someone like this. The contact was light, teasing and uncomfortable as they learned how to move around in this environment they had introduced each other to.
As the agonizing seconds ticked on and on and on, The kiss became more and more possessive, confident as their lips locked together. Dusty's body burned with a fire which he had never felt before. He thought he was going to explode.
And yet there was a strange calm around him. He didn't need to think, he didn't need to worry about second guessing. He let his instinct take the lead. As the kiss grew in passion, he felt his hands slip under Axis' shirt and touch warm skin.
Axis noticed and broke the kiss slowly, keeping their faces mere centimeters away.
The question was so quiet, Dusty swore that if he wasn't hyperfocused in the moment, he wouldn't have gotten it.
"Wanna keep going?"
Dusty's response was automatic.
"Yes."
That was all they needed.
Axis leaned in and kissed him again, the passion between them burning so hot that it was almost impossible to quench.
Dusty slowly worked Axis' t-shirt off of his body, only breaking the kiss momentarily to slip it off of his head and drop it on the ground.
Axis slipped the headphones off of them, guided them out of the studio and to the bed in the corner.
And the night was theirs.
"Why do I have to be the one who calls him?"
Ashtooth crossed his arms. "You haven't talked to him in a while. This is the perfect time for you two to talk."
"He doesn't want to talk to me," muttered Coalstrike, dialing the number very slowly.
"Why not?" he said, "You two have known each other for ages. Besides, all you're asking for is a favor."
"Yes, a favor to take down Lindisfarne's sworn enemy and a madman who happens to be a god. Has the same amount of meaning as going to the store to get a carton of milk."
"Just make the fucking call," said Ashtooth, tired of Coalstrike wasting time.
"Fine."
Coalstrike finished the number and pressed the call. He really hoped that no one would pick up.
Sadly, after six rings, someone did.
"Hello?" said a gruff voice.
"Jaggedstorm," greeted Coalstrike, "It's been a long time…"
END OF ARC 1
*exhale of relief*
Aight y'all I need a break.
It'll probably be a week until Arc 2 starts (even though that's the norm now), but this feels awesome.
You probably rolled your eyes at the scars on Jaywhisker, but there's an...acceptable reason as to why. Hopefully, I don't fuck up the backstory of my current favorite character.
Before you ask, yes. Dusty and Axis are having snu-snu already. This is intentional. You'll see in the next chapter.
And who is this Jaggedstorm?
Ohohohoh...
To put it simply, Player 3 has entered the game.
Take that as you will.
I hope you enjoyed Arc 1. Keep an eye out for next chapter and make sure to leave a review!
Best,
~Res