"-I'm telling you, Benjamin, it took all of my strength not to punch 'em!"
Ben gave a slight breathy chuckle at Yui's story. The woman was currently punching her own fist in the palm of her hand to draw emphasis. For a moment the two of them were both laughing together before the laughter died down and Ben went to take a sip from his coffee. It wasn't good coffee, but it did the job of keeping him and Twigleg awake. Ben then heard footsteps before anyone else and turned his head.
"Oh!" Twigleg jumped a little from Ben's shoulder not expecting the sudden turn.
Kyo was standing there in the doorway. Her eyes flickered from Ben to Yui.
"What's going on?" Kyo cautiously asked. There was a tone in her voice that made Ben hum out in question. She then shifted from what foot to the other anxiously.
"Nothin' just enjoying some coffee…" Ben muttered before he took another sip of his drink. "Yui was just telling us a rather funny story as well."
"Hm... "
"Kyo, how's Sicily? She seemed rather upset earlier." Yui stood up from her chair. Kyo looked at Ben briefly before she focused on Yui.
"She's… watching TV right now, to calm down. She seems like she's on the edge of a breakdown."
"I'm afraid with this evacuation in place it's only going to get harder…" Yui muttered in response to Kyo. Yui then walked over to the coffee pot and poured some more into her half-empty cup. "The people aren't happy… trust me, some of them personally let me know…"
"Yeah, well… All that matters is that the people are safe. I don't know how much longer we have to try and stop Ohanzee before their next attack."
"Okay, Amadeus wants to come along as well."
"Fine by me, more eyes… Oh, Danke." Ben smiled as Yui came over and refilled his coffee. Turns out he likes his coffee black.
"What time are we leaving?" Kyo leaned against the doorframe. She then crossed her arms and waited for an answer. She didn't have to wait long.
"Probably around five maybe five-thirty, just before the sun goes down. That'd be best. Will Amadeus be flying with us?-" Ben paused for a moment before chuckling at the notion.
"Oh no. That boy is like me, his feet stay on the ground."
Ben once again chuckled slightly. "I get it, flying isn't for everyone." He then stood up from his chair and stretched his arms above his head.
"Tell me about it, when I first got on Junior I thought I was gonna die!" Kyo laughed slightly at the memory. "I'm still not used to being in the air…"
"Speaking of Junior…" an annoyed sigh left Ben's mouth before he put his empty coffee cup in the sink. "He should probably be here by tonight or tomorrow, assuming he and Silverstorm didn't get lost that is."
"How is Firedrake taking this?" Yui was the one to question.
"Oh, Firedrake is pissed and will probably give Junior and Silverstorm a firm talking to once they arrive."
"Probably more than that." Twigleg chimed in.
Ben then suddenly clapped his hands and spun his heel so he was facing both Yui and Kyo. "I just remembered! I need to go into town, get a few supplies and what not."
"... Like hunting supplies?" Kyo timidly asked as she started to mess with her fingers. Sicily had told her about Ben's plan with Ohanzee if it must come down to it.
"Heavens no! We're out of water and food."
"Oh."
"Yeah." The room became rather silent after that. Nobody really knew what to say in response to that. Finally, after what felt like forever Ben just clapped his hands again and smiled at Yui and Kyo. "I gotta go. I'll be back around five or so to pick you two up." With that out of the way, Ben left rather quickly. Once the front door shut, Kyo looked up at Yui and placed her hand on her hip.
"So… Coffee, huh?"
Ben hummed softly as he looked at the many bottle waters that were in this petrol station… er… Gas station. He knew none of these brands, but water was water… So he went for the ones named Fuji as they were two for five dollars. 'Dollars equal… pounds? Uh, why are Americans so odd?' Ben will admit the deal wasn't too bad, the bottles were pretty big and would last Ben, Sorrel, and Twigleg for a good while.
Ben was passing the candy rack when he stopped to look. No Mars Bars, no Knoppers, just Hershey's which Ben never really gave it a try. Ben poked into his shirt pocket to look at Twigleg "Willst du schokolade?" Ben question Twigleg as quietly as he could. Twigleg gave him a bit of a 'So-so' look. Ben took that as a no, meaning Twigleg would probably go for gnats or noseeums. Still, Ben wanted chocolate so he snatched a bar off the shelf.
So, he got into line ready to check out. He did so, paid (something that did take a little longer than normal as he was trying to figure out the odd currency Americans had) and left the store pretty quickly. It was almost instant, the moment he stepped out his phone vibrated. With one hand he finished his phone out of his back pocket and checked his messages. He had one from Kyo and two from Guinevere.
Guinevere sent a message!
Hey, Winston just arrived here and I was thinking do you need any sort of back-up? You've been quiet…
Guinevere sent a message!
Ben, answer me, please.
Ben frowned a little. "Guinevere texted me." He told Twigleg once he was sure he was in the clear. Twigleg poked up from Ben's pocket fairly quickly.
"Is everything alright?"
"She wants to know if we need back-up."
Twigleg looked ready to answer but quickly shut his mouth. "Do you think we need back-up?"
Ben kept his frown on his face. Truth be told he hasn't been avoiding Guinevere… but he has been debating getting her anymore involved. Given what he knows now and he knows that Ohanzee sounds… dangerous, insanely so. This is a person who's own anger twisted them into the form of a dragon… but that insanity was telling Ben to include back-up just in case. Ben knew that Tattoo wouldn't hesitate to fly down and wouldn't be more than a few hours away. Tattoo is faster than Junior that is.
"I… don't know… I'll have to think on it some more…" Ben concluded finally he exited out of Guinevere's messages and focused on Kyo's. He also used his free hand to open the chocolate bar and take a bite. He finished chewing before he spoke again. "I mean it's just nothing then there's no point in having them coming here, right?"
"You do have a point, but if it becomes uncontrollable?" Twigleg argued pretty quickly. Ben knew that Twigleg did have a point just as much as Ben's point was. Truthfully they still had no idea what they were up against.
Ben went to reply but before he could he misstep a curb and suddenly he went tumbling down. The water bottles hit the ground first as Ben let go of the bag to quickly shield Twigleg from the fall. Ben's knee hit the ground and he felt it twist uncomfortably. Thankfully, he managed to stop himself just before he fully hit the pavement. "Scheiße…" Ben groaned for a moment a pain radiating from his knee that was still twisted."Are you okay?" He asked Twigleg.
"I'm fine! Are you alright?!"
Ben was about to answer with a 'yeah' and shrug it off like it was nothing, but here's the problem. His knee was seriously hurting from this. So, with another painful groan, Ben slowly, and painfully, untwisted his knee and simply sat down on the curb. His knee didn't pop out of place thankfully. Still, it hurt and he was pretty sure his knee was starting to swell a little. "Remember when I could take hits like a champ and be fine? Now, I walk funny and my knee swells…" Ben gave a weak chuckle at his own joke.
"-Are you alright?"
Twigleg let out a sudden noise and quickly try to hide, but stopped suddenly once he realized it was Amadeus. Ben looked at Amadeus for a moment before he tried to stand up and just shake it off; unfortunately, the moment he put any pressure on his bad knee he almost went tumbling back towards the ground. Amadeus grabbed Ben by his arms to stop him from falling. "Ah… no… I'm not."
"Do you need to go to the hospital?" Amadeus asked, he actually sounded concerned for Ben.
"Hospital? No… Can you help me get to Firedrake?" Ben really didn't want to lead Amadeus to Firedrake, but it seemed he didn't have much of a choice there is no way he could make the walk himself.
"Uh… sure." This clearly wasn't Amadeus's first time helping someone like this. With a quick pull he already had Ben's left arm over his shoulders which allowed Ben to keep leg up in the air. Amadeus leaned down and picked up Ben's bag while he was at it. "I was just getting some gas when I saw you take that tumble." Amadeus explained while leading Ben back to his truck, thank god they wouldn't have to walk it seemed. "Looked like it hurt."
"Didn't exactly feel good…"
"So, how will a dragon help you? I mean, I know your leg has to hurt, but I think having it set on fire is a bit extreme."
"Oh? The Twins never told you? Silver dragons fire heals."
"Huh… healing fire, sounds a little uh… oh..." Amadeus made a sudden sound that made Ben narrow his eyes slightly.
"Oxymoron?"
"Dick."
Ben couldn't stop his laugh. "No, an Oxymoron is a contradictory statement. I get it, healing fire does sound counterproductive, their tears burn by the way."
"Why kind of ass backwards logic is that?!"
The two of them chuckled for a moment before they finally got to Amadeus's truck. Amadeus opened the passenger side for Ben, and managed to help hoist Ben up on the passenger side. Of course it hurt like hell, but Ben tried to not let it bother him too much. The door shut and Amadeus came over to the driverside, hopped in, and started the engine up. "Where to?"
"Just go straight down Main street."
Amadeus took off and for a moment it was silence between all three of them. Until Ben noticed something: "Why don't you have windows?"
"Eh, long story…"
"Fair enough…" Ben crossed his arms slightly and looked down at his knee. Swollen for sure. 'What happened? I remember getting knocked around and shrugging it off like nothing, now?...' Ben frowned he knew the answer, but he didn't like it. It was actually a little humiliating that he needed help just walking… oh, well… he'll be right as rain in no time. Ben looked at Amadeus for just a moment and took note at how tense Amadeus seemed to suddenly be. He was clutching at the steering wheel and just looked rather nervous.
"...You know, Bestie, our cow, once kicked Alice in the shin so hard that it dislocated her knee." Amadeus decided to start up a conversation. To ease his own thoughts? Maybe. Ben… didn't engage. "... yeah, she had to wear a knee brace for weeks… she was pretty upset about it…"
Ben only let a noise from his throat, but still didn't engage. He was starting to get a feeling. A feeling that it was no coincidence that Amadeus was at that gas station. The sun was starting to set now, so, Ben looked at the time on his phone. It was just becoming Five PM.
"Can I ask you a question?" Amadeus seemed rather un-edge and that alone made Ben a little nervous.
"I guess…"
"Why do you hang around the twins?"
"... Because they're friends with Junior, and they saved Firedrake, Sorrel, and I just last year."
Amadeus continued to clutch the steering wheel, Ben decided to go a head and just leave his phone on his lap. He had a feeling he was going to need it. Twigleg also picked up on this tonal change and jumped up on Ben's shoulder. "You know what almost happened to them, right?"
"You mean the forced marriage thing? Yeah… turn left." Ben instructed, Amadeus did as he was told. "Good thing they got out of it before it happened."
"... yeah… I just think it's a little… strange that you… a fully adult man-"
"Stop."
"-No! I'm not done talking-"
"I mean stop, you wank, we're here!"
"Oh…" The truck came to a halt and once it did so Ben turned to Amadeus.
"I get your concerns, I do. The twins had a hard life leading to this point, and I want it to be known that I do not intend to do any harm to them. If I did do you think Yui would let me near them?"
"I just think it's weird that you have them in your phone-"
"They're dragon riders! I'm the dragon rider! Winston is a dragon rider! I like to keep in touch with all the dragon riders if possible!" Ben suddenly poked Amadeus in the chest. "I get it. I do, but you are overstepping your boundaries!"
"It's just-"
"You're eighteen, correct?"
"I- yes. I am."
"Why do you hang out with the twins? I mean they're underage after all!"
"Watch it, old man! You're in my truck- ah!"
Maybe Sorrel had heard the fighting from inside the truck, maybe Firedrake had decided to see who was loitering outside of the cave, but regardless of why, Firedrake had leaned down to look inside the window. His eyes watching the two of them intensely for only a moment. Amadeus suddenly jumped back against his door with a loud "holy-!" leaving his mouth.
"I told you it was Ben, Sorrel!" Firedrake's voice boomed outside of the truck.
"You got lucky!" Came Sorrel's reply.
"Thank you for your help, Amadeus." Ben opened the door to the truck.
"Uh, wait your knee-"
But Ben didn't listen. He steadily got out of the truck, nearly tumbling down on his way out, but got down. "-There was a bit of an incident, sorry if I scared you." Ben explained as he hopped along the truck.
Amadeus didn't want to get out, not with that monster looming over him and his truck, but at the same time… he had to see just how big this dragon was. So, with only slightly shaky hands, he opened his door and hopped on out. "-I tripped and I think I tore something." He heard Ben explain as he lamely tried to hop the rest of the way to the dragon- no… his dragon, Amadeus realized. This dragon was huge… at least the size of a two story house, maybe even bigger than that. Then this… furry just came out of nowhere. Brown with lighter brown polka dots on her fur, she looked like a bipedal cat. She instantly took offense to Amadeus.
"Are you even trying to keep us a secret anymore, Ben!?"
"Sorrel, he's with the twins. Don't worry… he's okay." Ben explained to her as he slowly lowered himself to the ground with a painful noise leaving his mouth.
"Are you helping us, tonight?" Sorrel asked him, but honestly Amadeus wasn't even paying attention to her, no his focus was still on Firedrake and Ben. Firedrake sniffed Ben's bad leg.
"Did it pop out this time?"
"No, but I tore something, can't walk on it."
"You really need to be more careful, Benjamin."
"I know."
"You're not as young as you once were."
"... I know…"
'Did it pop out this time? So, it seems like Ben's been hurting himself more frequently with his older age.' Amadeus picked up pretty quickly. Firedrake then leaned up a little, sucked in a deep breath, got down and blew blue fire on Ben's leg. "Whoa!" Amadeus took a sudden step forward, forgetting momentarily about what he and Ben had talked about earlier. It was then that he was pushed back by the furry.
"It's fine… he's healing Ben." Sorrel explained to Amadeus. The flames only lasted for a few seconds but once Firedrake was done it became clear that the flames didn't even burn. The plants actually seemed to grow greener where they had been hit. Like nothing had even happened Ben stood up and dusted himself off. "Thanks, Firedrake." Ben smiled at the dragon.
"Be. Careful. I don't want to think as to what will happen if I'm not around and you get hurt again."
"Of course." Ben then focused on Amadeus. It was at the moment that everyone was now focusing on him. A grumpy looking Twigleg included. "So, as Sorrel asked, you're joining us tonight, right?" Ben asked after a few moments.
"Yeah… I just… gotta do something first…" Amadeus rubbed the back of his head awkwardly.
"Right, well, Kyo says you prefer to be on the ground, so we'll text you where we'll be if we find what we're looking for."
"I wasn't informed on what it is you're all looking for."
Ben just gave Amadeus a smile. A creepy smile that honestly just sent chills up his spine. "We're looking for the monster that blew up the town."
"..."
Guinevere let out a low sigh as she brought her coffee up to her lips. The daylight only just shining through her window. She's been up since four am hoping to get a text back from Ben, but nope. 'Damn him.' she thought in her anger. He does this and it pisses her off. He gets in over his head and and goes quiet making her wonder if he was okay or not until he eventually comes home.
It drives her crazy.
Guinevere pushed herself out of her chair and silently walked downstairs. She wanted some scones and knew there were blueberry ones in the fridge. The rest of the family was still asleep, so she stayed quiet with each step down. She quietly tiptoed to the kitchen, expecting to be the only one in there, she was pretty surprised to see Winston sitting at the dining table, scrolling through his phone with one hand while eating a scone with the other, getting crumbs on the table in the process.
"I hope you plan on cleaning those crumbs." Guinevere walked past Winston. A couple of little creatures were by his feet going for a few stray crumbs. "Also, that better not be the last scone!" She jokingly huffed.
"Have you heard from Ben?" Winston asked her as he shifted to look at her.
Guinevere opened the fridge and pulled out a scone, quietly she put it in the oven to warm up. She shut the door and looked at him. "Please…" She rolled her eyes. "You know Ben…"
"Why is he so stubborn?"
Guinevere frowned a little. "I don't think I can answer that…"
Winston rolled his eyes ever so slightly before he continued munching on his crumbly scone. Guinevere stood by the oven as she waited on her scone. She looked at her phone but didn't have a new notification. "Stubborn, Old man." She couldn't help but grumble.
"Aren't you the same age as him?"
Guinevere simply stuck her tongue out at him. There were a few more moments of silence and during that silence Guinevere pulled her warmed scone out of the oven and on a plate. With a newly warmed scone, she sat at the table and started to eat. "I'm going to head out with Tattoo tonight. We got more mail to deliver.
Guinevere nodded "Okay. I can't expect you to wait around for Ben to answer, if he answers at all." She told him
When Winston nodded in agreement it was odd. Both of their phones suddenly vibrated. First once, and before they could see who had messaged the both of them their phones vibrated again, and then again, and then stopped after the fourth vibration. Winston, who had his phone in his hand got to his messages before Guinevere could look at hers Winston spoke up: "Uh… Guin…" Guinevere looked at him and he showed her his phone's messages.
Ben sent a message!
911!
Ben sent a message!
SOS!
Ben sent a message!
SOS! SOS!
Ben sent a message!
SEND HELP!
Guinevere was up and out of her seat instantly. She forgot all about her scone and was already tearing off her bathrobe. "Get Tattoo ready! We've got Moondew!" She was racing up the stairs and Winston jumped from his own seat.
"It's just going to be us Three?!" He called back to her, she didn't even look back at Winston as she charged up the stairs.
"Probably not! Just go get Tattoo up!" Guinevere heard the front door slam shut not even seconds later. "Oh Jesus, what did he get himself into!?" Guinevere whispered to herself. "I knew I should have gone with him, I knew I should have…" She continued to whisper all the while she was getting out of her sleeping clothes and into an actual outfit. Guinevere, once her shirt was on, snatched her phone up and placed it between her ear and collarbone while trying to get some shorts on. The phone rang and rang and rang.
"Ben answer the phone! Answer the phone!" She urgently whispered. No answer. "Shit!-" Her phone vibrated in her hand. It was a text from Ben.
Ben sent a message!
Ben sent a photo!
Guinevere frowned at the photo Ben sent. She couldn't see anything. It was just black. Straight black. Maybe it was a mistake? But she could see two yellow spots...So she quickly turned her brightness up.
"Oh… no…"
The picture was of Firedrake… there wasn't a doubt in her mind that she was looking at Firedrake. The two yellow spots in the picture were his own eyes. Only the problem was… Firedrake wasn't silver. His scale, his color… it was gone. He was completely and utterly black like everything else around him.
Whatever this was had gotten Firedrake. This was no longer a simple mission. They were dealing with something completely and utterly dangerous. Ben was in danger and so was Firedrake…and so was all of Kansas...