Hey y'all, it's Ender! I hope you're having a lovely, fantabulous, all-together spectacular and overall a great day and I hope to make it even better with this new one-shot! (Yes, I am very happy, what was your first clue? XD) NOTE: I do not own Minecraft, Mianite, any YouTubers mentioned, and really, I don't own anything except this story.

Song recommendation: "Ready Aim Fire" by Imagine Dragons. Quite honestly, "Who We Are" would have fit better but maybe that will be for another day... ;)

Ready, Aim, Fire

"There it is," I whispered under my breath, staring at the distant glimmer of reds and green of dragon scale buildings, built able to withstand even the strongest explosions. "The City of Scales is upon us."

"We've made it so far," Twisted breathed, taking off his helmet and running a hand through his dust caked hair. I could clearly see the dark circles under his eyes, showing where he hadn't been sleeping, but he was still pressing on as strongly as ever, always there to support me. It taken almost a month for my leg to heal enough to be able for me to walk long distances, and even then I still limped and stumbled at times. But I never fell; Twisted was always there to catch me.

I had shed most of my armour when I was ill, and had left it behind at the old campsite. Most of it was so worn that it wouldn't do much good anyway, but I still had my helmet circling my ridiculously long and tangled hair, the wavy curls streaked with mud.

"There's just one more journey we have to complete," I drew my dragon-bone sword and faced the city known for its huge population of dragon hybrids, all except two long gone. Those two were the exact hybrids myself and Twisted were searching for and we had always been enemies, ever since the day we had met.

"And it's the hardest of all," Twisted sighed, raising his own sword. "Not only is it the final fight, but these are hybrids that we knew. Not that we really made friends with them or anything, but still."

"Exactly," I agreed with my companion, understanding what he was trying to get across, simply because I felt the exact same way. "We may as well search around before night falls. It certainly won't do us any good to put off the fight any further."

"And it will do us even less good if we're not at the best fighting strength we can muster," Twisted raised an eyebrow as he looked at my leg again, the exposed flesh still pink and hardly healed over. A ghost of an ache squeezed the muscle of my calf and I gritted my teeth, hating the fact that I was being seen as weak.

"I'm fine now, so just shove off," I hissed, my voice sounding unintentionally harsh. Twisted flinched at my cold tone and quickly turned his back to me to effectively cut off any apology I could have offered. Guilt stung my heart and I directed my gaze down to my feet, regretting snapping at Twisted just because he was worried about me.

"Listen, we should probably just make camp," Twisted sighed, apparently opting to just let the matter drop. "Outside of the city, of course."

"Unless you wanted to go back to your roots and stay with dragons," I said, voice now lacking any emotion. "Fire-breather."

"User, just shut up!" Twisted suddenly yelled, startling me badly as he turned to face me, eyes burning with hurt. "Please! I took care of you when you were sick and I was the one who rescued you when the building collapsed and that metal bar stabbed you. I've listened to you criticise my every attempt to make sure you're okay and that you're recovering without a single word and I can't do it anymore! I'm sorry but please... I can't do this if this is what you're going to make me go through."

"Oh Notch - Twisted," I breathed, a suddenly tight feeling of regret squeezing my heart. Twisted gave me a sad glance as his only acknowledgement before slowly walking down towards the city. I hesitated before following him, limping a few paces behind though I wasn't trying to catch up. I didn't want to get separated from him in a city of danger but he was giving off a strong vibe of wanting to be alone.

In truth, I did feel awful for hurting his feelings like that. I had never thought of Twisted as someone who could be so sensitive - you wouldn't think any less of one of the toughest dragon hunters around. But our friendship had run deep during the last month and I hadn't really noticed the fact that Twisted was no longer just my companion. He was my best friend.

I closed my eyes for just a heartbeat as I remembered the day I had gotten injured. The ground had still been shivering with the echoes of the impact when the massive warehouse we had taken refuge in gave a groan, the centre of the tin-roofed ceiling slowly caving in. Twisted gave a yell for me to move but before I could, the entire building collapsed on top of us. A steel support beam plunged straight down, piercing my leg and sending a shuddering wave of absolute agony washing over me. I screamed. Not just a shout like Twisted had uttered just mere seconds before, but a true scream of terror and pain. And I kept crying at the top of my lungs, unable to escape the anguish that continued to pulsate through my very being.

Twisted was instantly by my side, one hand on my shoulder to keep me from moving around so much and the other hand on my leg where blood was bubbling up thickly around the dull grey metal bar stuck in my calf. I was half-choking on sobs by then, shameful whimpers escaping my lips as Twisted slowly and very gently pulled my leg away, blood streaking down my skin from the puncture. And throughout the whole ordeal, Twisted never seemed to stop whispering words of comfort to me, even though his hands shook with fright and he too was wounded, though not as severely as myself.

It was because of him I had managed to summon the emotional strength to carry on this far, to persevere through sweat and blood, and what made me so upset when I found he had left to get supplies, therefore abandoning me. He was my lifeline, but how had I repaid that? By snapping at him every chance I got, teasing him without a hint of lightness in my voice to alleviate the intensity behind my taunts, and now... not even bothering to genuinely apologise to him for doing and saying such things.

"Twis-"

"No."

"What?" I stared in shock at Twisted as the dragon-hunter halted, shoulders slumped and head of ratty ginger hair bowed. "I'm trying to say I'm sorry!"

"User... I don't want apologies. I don't want sympathy. I don't want you to feel guilty. I just want this battle to end," Twisted sighed, turning around and giving me a hollow look with sad eyes. "Our home, our entire world, has been completely obliterated. We're fighting for safety from internal threats but we will never survive."

"You're not giving up!" I cried, taking a quick step over to my companion. Fear for him filled me, but for the first time in so long, a smile finally twitched at Twisted's lips.

"Far from it - but I'm almost considering the Elvish Paexan. Maybe after this it would be best. I'm sure you'd know how to make it," Twisted joked, though his eyes were still haunted with grief. "It'd probably be easiest."

"That's basically suicide!" I protested, though my argument sounded weak. The Elvish Paexan was a combination of herbs that not only sent you into an eternal sleep, but also contained a chemical from certain plants in the mixture that forced you to dream of peaceful or happy things. "That's just like you're giving up."

"User... please understand that I'm tired. I've been a warrior my entire life and it's worn me down," Twisted paced back over to me and rested his left hand on my shoulder. "It's this battle that will be my last, one way or another."

"You shouldn't talk like that," I ordered him determinedly. "We have to do this like how we started. Together."

Twisted's only response was one last, sad smile. "We should just camp here," he changed the subject, steering the attention away from himself. "I'll take first watch."

"You just told me you were exhausted, dammit," I said, before swearing when he shook his head. "Just let me watch for five hours, I promise I'm fine! If there's anything happening, I'll wake you up."

"Okay," Twisted seemed to give in far too easily but I didn't question it. I was just glad that he was finally sparing some of the burden from his own shoulders. We set up camp quickly, though not quite so speedily as we used to, back in our prime with the group of Tramplers - the close-ranged dragon slayers. Unfortunately, several of the group had actually been met with the painful fate of being trampled, but mine and Twisted's luck always seemed to be on spot with that.

"User, I'm just gonna rest for a while, okay? Wake me up when you're ready to eat," Twisted blinked wearily at me and I nodded, motioning for him to go ahead. I would never hold a nap against someone who obviously needed to relax and recover through the promise of sleep. "I'll be fine, I promise. The stress is just getting to me, is all."

"Rest. If you haven't got your health, you haven't got anything," I advised, making sure Twisted followed my instructions as he undid his armour, setting it over to the side of the tent and lying down in his bedroll, his eyes already drooping with sleep. I half-smiled as I watched him, out of his sight as he closed his weary eyes entirely, relaxing in just mere minutes as exhaustion claimed his consciousness. He seemed so peaceful in his sleep and I felt content just watching over my best friend, at the same time listening for signals of movement from down in the city. I took the time and silence to reminiscence

The day I had first met Twisted had been during my second week of training. I had just turned fifteen and was being teased by some of the elder kids in training. My elfish features of youth had stuck out like a kiwi fruit amongst a handful of grapes - I was the odd one out with my pale eyes and complexion, and even my willowy frame was unusual for teens training to fight close-ranged. So they had chosen the opportunity to pick on me and even though I knew that I shouldn't be letting their words get to me, they were.

But then Twisted had appeared and asked what was going on. The older teens had immediately retreated from him, leaving me confused. Twisted cast me no more than a scornful glance and at that moment I had seen the two dragon bone swords hanging from the cord around his waist that seemed to have intimidated the other kids. After that, we hardly spoke, but I got several glares from Twisted whenever we did.

It was only after I got top of my class in agility that Twisted's gaze softened as he glanced my way. I would later learn that he had been told I would probably be his companion when I first enlisted my talents and he had been judging me to see my strengths.

And it had apparently been the best choice any training instructor could have made.

Everything stayed quiet until around dusk, when Twisted woke up. He blearily opened his eyes and I glanced over at him, one of our last few lollipops in my mouth. The warrior sighed slowly and closed his eyes again, as though he were wishing he could continue to sleep for eternity.

"Do you think it's a good time to attack?" I asked Twisted, crunching through the rest of my lollipop and savouring the sweet burst of sugar. "I mean, you're pretty well rested and I'm on sugar high."

Twisted cracked a wide grin and nodded, grabbing the tunic he had taken off to sleep and slipping it on over his head, the worn leather dull from the dust that coated it. "Well, there's no better time to attack than when you're on sugar high," Twisted spoke wisely as he slipped his helmet on. "You're a little hummingbird."

"Wise words of wisdom, my dear Twisted," I spoke fondly to him. "And I am indeed a hummingbird at the moment."

Once we had both been geared to our full extent - which granted, wasn't much, we readied our swords and descended down into the City of Scales. It was silent, as most of the word was nowadays, but a greater threat loomed over our heads and made the lack of sound seem almost menacing. Our footsteps echoed loudly in the dusty, cobble-paved street and no conversation carried between us. I forced my muscles to stay relaxed, knowing that getting tensed up could be detrimental to my survival. If I couldn't swing my sword easily and widely, I could potentially hurt myself and not deal as many fatal hits to the hybrids.

Softer steps caught my attention and I turned my head to face a taller building to our right, the slowly sinking sun darkly outlining the skyscraper. A flash of wings made me halt and stare closer as the gleam of darker red scales faded.

"There?" Twisted whispered, following my gaze. I nodded, knowing that it would be a bad idea to just charge straight into a dragon's nest.

But we didn't expect for the dragon to come charging out.

A roar resonated through every particle of the earth as a small red dragon burst out of a second story window, black stripes lining his slender body and thickening towards his tail. There was nothing human about him and his claws were most definitely like those of a pure dragon. Even his dark brown eyes were reptilian, mere slivers in his narrow face.

"We thought you were dead!" the dragon snarled angrily, landing just feet in front of us, his two pairs of wings angled sharply in the air. "Dec! You were wrong, you little bastard!"

"Don't go calling names to the one who found the blood to turn you into a full dragon," a much deeper grumble sent a portion of the building the first dragon had emerged from crumbling to the ground in a mass if scales. "And I would like to point out that I am much bigger than you are, Ryley."

Ryley, the first dragon, growled as an even more massive reptile slunk out out of the half-crumbled building, pure gold nuggets glittering as they cascaded from his scales. He was the shining red of dried blood but his underbelly was a paler ginger colour, though his eyes shone a fierce, flame-like yellow. Their glow broke clearly and brightly through the gathering dusk like spotlights over the dusty city.

Twisted and I were both frozen in fear, suddenly doubting whether we would truly survive our quest of vengeance and survival. One dragon might have been enough to handle but two was impossible - besides, we had come here only expecting to face a pair of half human, half dragon hybrids. But they had done something to change themselves and now... they were pure dragons.

"What should we do?" Twisted choked out quietly, barely able to be heard. "User?"

"Dammit, Twisted, just run!" I yelled my orders, panic taking over my thoughts for the first time I could ever remember. Ryley hissed at us and Dec raised his head, chest swelling and beginning to glow like the embers of a fire relighting as he drew in a breath. "We can't fight them!"

Twisted darted to the left, moving surprisingly swiftly for having such a large frame. I took the dangerous approach and turned my back to the dragons to flee to the abandoned building in the street behind me. Hot flame licked my back as I pushed at the double doors, screaming in frustration at finding them locked, but then my voice rose higher in pitch as the heat scorched my skin, charring a chunk of flesh on my shoulders. I slumped forwards against the doors, banging weakly at them with my fists as I heard Dec take another breath. Blood was already trickling down my back as my knees hit the ground.

A sudden yell from Twisted seemed to distract the dragon and I took the opportunity to limp away, barely able to struggle back to my feet. I glanced back over my pain-filled shoulders and saw Twisted being backed up to a building, weaponless as his dragon-bone sword was buried in Dec's neck, right where his third lung would have been - the fire sac.

Dec seemed royally pissed that his primary method of attack had been disabled and his teeth were bared in a soundless snarl. Ryley had focused his attack on me and his muscles were tense, ready to pounce at me and tear through my armour like it was paper. I forced myself to stay relaxed, still loosely holding my own sword as I waited for Ryley to lunge at me.

The young dragon hissed and darted forwards, lips curling away from his teeth. I stupidly stood my ground, a plan already formulating in my mind. I jumped aside at the last second, my sword flashing out and raking past the leathery skin of Ryley's jaw.

Twisted's scream pierced the air but I was too concerned about Ryley, who was shaking his head viciously, scattering droplets of his blood across the street. The dragon dove at me again and I took the advantage of his low posture to jump up, grabbing onto one of his curved ivory horns and slinging myself onto his neck, burying my sword deep within a section where his scales were slightly misaligned. Ryley screeched, thrashing his head around and throwing me off with a short yelp. I rolled for several feet after I hit the ground and lay, winded, in front of an alleyway.

Ryley was bleeding profusely now, my sword still stuck in the back of his neck where it had most like severed through his spinal cord. He had collapsed, his front paws were twitching, his mouth was half open, and his eyes were tightly shut. He would no doubt die soon.

However, Dec was doing much better at fighting than Ryley had been - Twisted was struggling weakly in Dec's claws, held very high up in the air. His weapon was still gone and there was a large gash across his forehead, helmet knocked off. He yelped again and even from this distance, I could see that his eyes were misty with tears of pain, as though something had been hurt internally.

I struggled to my feet, still short on breath but adrenaline fueling me once again. Twisted caught my gaze and his eyes widened.

"Run, User!" he shouted, gasping as Dec squeezed his talons tighter together. "Just run!"

Dec slowly twisted his head around, and upon seeing me frozen in shock, raised his paw even further... then let Twisted fall almost three stories to the ground.

There was a sharp crack and then a scream rang out over the air as Twisted hugged his arms close to his chest, blood already seeping from the new gashes and scrapes on his skin. His eyes were tightly shut and he let a strangled sob escape his lips.

"Twisted!" I yelled, taking a few running steps forwards before skidding to a halt as he shakily pushed himself to his feet, ignoring the dragon standing right next to him. He spat out a glob of blood and Dec growled unhappily, moving to stand between Twisted and myself.

"Just - just go," Twisted coughed, spitting out more blood. "I-I'll hold him off. D-don't wait f-for me."

My heart broke as he limped away quickly, not looking back even as Dec started to follow. He winced with every hasty step and I forced myself to turn away as he led Dec off, knowing that dragons preferred to hunt severely wounded prey. And of course, Twisted had no means to defend himself whatsoever.

I ran off myself, spotting fallen weapons in a heap around the building that the dragons had first broken out of. I grabbed a bow and a quiver of arrows from the rubble, scraping my knuckles against the rough concrete as I fought to tug the heavy bow free.

I heard a short wail before silence reigned once again.

I swallowed, forcing back the tears rising to my eyes. Drowning myself in sorrow wouldn't help with the final fight. Twisted was gone and now the dragon would come for me - I had to be ready.

I slowly nocked an arrow, drawing the taut string back as I waited for Dec to reappear from behind the building where Twisted had run to, sniffling as I tried to hold back my sobs of grief. Twisted had sacrificed his life for me to get the upper hand in this fight - he had died for me. I had to make the price of his life worth it.

"User!" Dec roared angrily, crashing around the corner just like I had expected. Twisted's sword had finally fallen from where it had been lodged in between the beast's scales and he seemed fairly pleased about it. "Where are you hiding, you little rat?"

"Waiting to kill you, roach!" I jeered, forcing the pain from my eyes and letting the fear melt away from my features. Dec snarled and charged me, leaving the only option for me to choose was shooting the arrow.

I cursed my luck quite loudly and colourfully as the wooden part of the bow suddenly snapped, revealing that the oaken stick was rotten and filled with termites. I dove to the side as quickly as possible, barely avoiding being snapped up in Dec's fangs, but shouting as my burned shoulders collided heavily and painfully with the ground. The other bows would most likely be in the same sort of shape but maybe a spear or two would be intact... or even better, if I could find Twisted's dragon-bone sword. It was curved like the back of a bow and I could improvise weaponry pretty well, especially when it came down to archery. Elvish genes, I suppose. I never realised how useful they could be.

I ran towards the alley where the sword must have dropped, ignoring Dec's irritated growls as he lost me, not seeing me dart away behind him. I frantically searched for Twisted's sword down in the alley, paling when I saw it next to my best friend's body. Twisted had apparently managed to retrieve his sword before he was killed, but it had done him no good - there were four large gashes over his broken form, one on his face, another on his neck, and the other two across his chest. I let out a strangled sob, horribly sickened by the sight of dark blood still bubbling around his wounds, especially the slice across his face. One of his eyes was completely coated in quickly-drying blood and the other was half open and glassy with the fog of death. Twisted had - had let himself be killed for me in the most painful way possible. I couldn't fail his spirit.

A comet streaked across the night sky. Its trail of fire lit up the buildings of around me, and it shone like stars against the glimmering scales. A crystal tear slipped down my cheek, reflecting the orangey-red light of the dying comet's tail.

I grabbed Twisted's sword, darkness once again falling across the apocalyptic world. I quickly found a dislodged scale from a building, ripped it away, and filed out two places on each end of the sword. I then took the still-intact string from the broken bow and tied it to the notches with an expertise skill that I didn't know I had. My hands flew as fast as my thoughts did as I tested the string to make sure it was tied tightly enough. Then I realised I had no material to nock the arrow on my string, seeing as how there was usually a place to lock the arrow in. I swore, then glanced down at my hands. I still had the tough bandages wrapped around them to help grip a sword better. I unwound the bandage on my right hand, wincing as I heard the thundering footsteps of Dec drawing ever closer. I fastened a small strip of it just above the midsection of the bowstring, creating the makeshift nock that I would have to use for the time being.

My arrow had practically flown from the quiver into my bow by the time Dec charged at me and I fired without hesitation, not even considering the fact that I was trapped in the alley. It misfired, however, and only sparked harmlessly against the thick scales on Dec's chest. I cursed again, knowing that I wouldn't have time to reload another arrow.

I supposed... I supposed I would die now.

I waited in an accepting silence, not trembling or showing any fear as Dec roughly snatched me up in his talons, trapping me for good. I closed my eyes, waiting to meet such a gruesome fate as had befallen Twisted. I had failed. Simple as that. I wouldn't cry, I wouldn't beg for mercy, I would just - just go.

But Twisted's words echoed through my head as I waited for a burst of pain that seemed to drag every heartbeat out before it came.

"We are some of the last few people alive on this world; we have to take care of each other."

"I don't want sympathy. I don't want you to feel guilty. I just want this battle to end."

"D-don't wait f-for me."

No.

No.

Twisted gave up his life for me.

And notch dammit, if I was going down, then I'd be going down swinging.

"Bastard," I hissed, opening my eyes to meet Dec's glowing gaze. His dragonic eyes narrowed, but I raised my bow, nocked an arrow and aimed it straight ahead. "You killed my best friend. Prepare to die."

Dec opened his mouth as if to roar and I released my grip on the taut string, sending the flint-headed arrow shooting into his dark maw. His eyes widened in shock and pain as it collided with the inside of his throat and he screeched, giant wings stiffening as a shudder ran throughout his scaly body.

"Son of a bitch," I spat as he swayed, the wound slowly killing him. Dec's grip on me loosened considerably and I swallowed, closing my eyes once more as I tumbled towards the ground, the massive carcass of a dragon following just seconds later.

The wind buffeted me and whispered soothingly past my ears, filling me with peace just moments before I hit the ground.

I first met the people of the city of Mianite when Twisted and I were tracking a dragon. There were a few hybrids, mostly dragons, but the large population was human. Firefoxx, the leader, had greeted us with hesitance, demanding to know our cause and purpose here.

"We're dragon-slayers," Twisted explained. "A drakaina passed by here a few days ago."

A dragon-hybrid with ginger hair and a ragged red shirt was standing next to Firefoxx and he narrowed his eyes, flicking his cream-tipped tail with annoyance. I stared at him and he stared back, curling his lip slightly to reveal sharper-than-normal teeth.

"This is Dec," Firefoxx introduced us stiffly, perhaps sensing the tension that suddenly charged the air between us. "He's the co-leader of our army, along with Ryley."

"Another hybrid, I presume?" Twisted's voice was cold and clipped, and he was glaring very angrily at Dec. "Firefoxx, I don't know your city, but appointing dragon-bred to a high position doesn't sound like the smartest choice."

"Hold your tongue, stranger," Firefoxx snapped, reaching out and resting a hand lightly under Twisted's chin. I was confused until I saw a gleam of metal under the sleeve of her hoodie that she was keeping concealed. But if she jerked her hand down, the knife could slide out and from then, even the merest slash of her wrist would be enough to slit Twisted's throat. My companion, though not at an angle to see the knife, seemed to sense that there was a deeper threat and kept very still, not letting up on his enraged stare for even a second. "I have chosen strong soldiers to lead my army and they have done a fine job for years."

Dec lifted his head arrogantly at the praise and I fought not to whip out my sword and slice the boastful smirk right off his pale face. He was acting so haughty that he got to command an army, but he was not the commander of Twisted and I - we were part of a much more noble society, after all. One that didn't stoop so low as to invite dragons of any kind into our ranks.

"What is happening over here?" a new voice broke in, deep and heavily laden with a slightly foreign accent. I glanced over to see another dragon hybrid, eyes thin and a scarlet hood drawn over his dark hair. His wings were as scarlet as his hood, but his scales had faded black accents, almost like soot. "Are these spies? Invaders? Old friends who got on your nerves? I know any of those are possible with you, Firefoxx," the other hybrid said amiably. He seemed cool and at ease with the situation, and there was no hostility in his eyes when he glanced at me. I decided instantly that maybe he wasn't so bad.

"Ryley, they were merely dragon hunters passing through who decided to stop and throw some insults around at us and Miss Firefoxx," Dec frowned. "Oh but of course, since they haven't wounded us yet, they must be good people."

Ryley's facial features suddenly set with an icy chill and his stare became measured. His whole demeanour seemed to change and his tail swung low to the ground, brushing past the tufts of grass sticking up from the cobbled street.

"I would advise not acting too rashly, however much they seem dangerous," Ryley stalked unhurriedly over to Twisted, who was still frozen, and stared at the dragon-hunter. "This one... he has traces of dragon blood. A traitor to his own kind; typical."

"What? Typical for a dragon? How right you are," Twisted sneered, abruptly falling silent as Firefoxx revealed her hidden switchblade, holding it up to my companion's throat. I stepped up to Twisted's side, raising an eyebrow when Ryley made no move of defense like I would have expected. The hybrid merely gave me a wry smile and lowered Firefoxx's hand, whispering something in the girl's ear. Dec's gaze was blazing with fury at the motion of peace but he held his tongue, waiting to see what would happen next.

Finally, Firefoxx sighed and tucked her knife back away. "My apologies. I was only defending my friends. Now, if you would kindly get out of my city before I kick your asses into a dragon's mouth, I would appreciate it. Good day." With that, Firefoxx stomped off, Dec trailing after her - but not without him shooting one last dirty glare over his shoulder at us.

"Eh, yeah... don't mind them," Ryley rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, giving us a fairly apologetic smile. "I get that you hunt my kind - well, at least part of my kind - and I'm not too thrilled about it. But like, can we just let the matter pass?"

"I guess," I muttered, realising that Ryley seemed to be like a teenager at heart. He had acted mature and fair around the others, but when he could be casual, it seemed he felt free to do so. "So I guess we'll leave."

"Unless you want to get more than your fair share of wounds from a fight with Firefoxx, yeah. That would be advisable. Off you go!" Ryley waved a cautious goodbye, which Twisted barely returned and I only acknowledged with a slight dip of my head. We left the city, confused, wary, and hardly sure why Ryley had seemed so friendly.

Later, he learned that we had been tracking down and seeking to kill a small drakaina - his sister - and he had never forgiven us, especially when we passed back through with her uniquely black-tinged hide over our shoulders.

The elves had a civilisation underground to protect from the asteroids. Crystals reflected even the smallest light source and kept the place well lit, seeing as the ceilings were positively covered in the natural rock. They grew food and kept basins full of cold, clear water from springs. And they also rescued me from the ruins of the City of Scales, where they had found me bleeding to death, next to the bodies of a dragon and my best friend. My physical wounds had since healed quickly with the strong medicine of the elves, but my emotions were still in a shattered state of no repair.

Taerntym, leader of the small elvish society, entered my room and glided gracefully between the vine-like pillars of quarts. His pale green eyes were filled with sadness and his silver silk cloak trailed forlornly on the ground, brushing against his pale bare feet. I was sitting on a chair overlooking the waterfalls created from the tumbling springs in the caves, blankly watching the activity down below. Elf-maidens gathered herbs in the farms scattered about the hollow, while elf-warriors paced the terraces of rooms carved into the hollow's walls like mine was. The civilisation was booming and everyone seemed content with their peaceful crystal hollow - everyone except me.

"You still grieve," Taerntym stated, kneeling down next to me. I nodded, sniffling slightly as my eyes stung. I hardly cried about it anymore, but sorrow continued to weigh down my thoughts and actions. "It has been over a month, you have found no relief in anything and this sadness... it is destroying your soul. I - I hate to ask this of you... but if you so desired, we have all the herbs for a dose of Elvish Paexan."

"Let me," I rasped, blinking as the image of Twisted sprawled in a pool of his own blood appeared freshly in my mind again. "Tw-Twisted talked about it before and I thought he was going m-mad. Now... I think I agree with him."

"I understand," Taerntym dipped his head. "Here. Follow me." The Elvish lord extended his hand to me and I took it, allowing him to help me to my feet. My legs trembled, as did my whole body. I had beating myself down so much mentally that it was starting to have an effect on my physical strength as well, since the depression of Twisted's death had finally consumed me. "If it is any consolation, those dragons deserved a much worse fate than what they met - they poisoned themselves with pure dragon blood to erase any trace of their human legacy." I nodded numbly, not really caring how exactly Dec and Ryley had become dragons.

Taerntym led me through the maze of hallways in the caves, exchanging a quiet word of explanation to anyone in the halls who gave us a questioning glance. It didn't take it long for us to reach a secluded hallway of burial chambers, only a couple already covered with a stone to signify a body inside.

I knew the one adorned with a dragon tooth sealed into a slab of quartz was Twisted's.

On the opposite side of the room were more carvings in the wall, but they were lined with glittering obsidian in the ceiling and edged with silk cloth in pale colours. They were longways instead of a cylinder straight into the wall like the burial chambers, and I stared at them with a pained gaze.

"Are you sure about this?"

"There's nothing left to say now... so yeah."

"Here," Taerntym handed me a small vial of pale minty green liquid and gently pushed me down onto the obsidian and silk lined notch. "I - I wish you goodbye."

"Thank you for your kindness," I returned the courtesy with a bow of my head, only hesitating for a second before swallowing the vial of liquid.

My eyes felt heavy just mere heartbeats later, my pulse slowed, and my head slowly fell onto the cool silk below me as I drifted into my eternal slumber.

The land of my dreams was my old home, back in the foothills of the mountains. The beautiful cobblestone house of my childhood was dark grey against the rising sun of a new day. Birds sand from the bushes and a cool breeze rustled the blades of grass under my feet, making it sound as though the stalks were greeting me. The smell of some sort of stew wafted pleasantly through the air and I smiled, memories of warm suppers in this valley flooding back through my mind. But there were three people were waiting for me - my mum, dad, and... and Twisted.

"Welcome home," Twisted smiled warmly, not even the scars from his death visible anymore. He looked just like he had before the apocalypse - strong, cheerful, and friendly. My mum and dad both grinned at seeing me, my mum's elfishly pointed ears tucked under her long auburn hair. "Oh gods, User, you're here!"

Twisted ran at me and catapulted into a massive hug. I laughed at his enthusiasm and embraced him back, tears of joy rising to my eyes. Even though it was a dream, I would never wake up. I would spend eternity here...

With my best friend.

D'awwwwww... to anyone who wanted this to be a Twisser 'fic, keep in mind that you can imagine how their relationship would grow in User's dream and create your own fantasies. But I would like to say that TheTwistedGuy was the one who gave the suggestion for his character to die defending User - honestly, I had been planning for him to die in his own fight - but I liked Twisted's idea so much I decided to go with it. And yes, to my readers, that means I read him Warriors on the TeamSpeak and told him a bit about this one-shot after finishing it. But before User read Immortals aloud and greatly embarrassed me. XD

And in celebration and in honour of people who've helped me get this far, I would like to feature a short, original story by DiamondOasis37 - she's a super duper good friend of mine as most of you already know - so I present to you "Fractions"!

Fractions

Mark stared at the carpet, hands shaking slightly. It wasn't even. There was a big white stripe in the middle and two blue stripes on the side and it wasn't fucking even. A hand rested on his shoulder and he looked up at Alexia, quickly grabbing her other hand and putting it on his other shoulder because the pressure needed to be even or her would end up breaking his shoulder from trying to fix it and then have to break the other to be even and-

"I'll get a new carpet. Come on, let's just go." Her voice raised at the end and Mark let out a shaky breath that evenly fanned out over his lips.

"Say that again… monotone, please…" She repeated herself, a good three times before he approved and grabbed his jacket that was perfectly hung on the hook that was centered on the door, putting it on two arms at once. Alexia grabbed her purse, holding it out in front of her just so it was even to please Mark and not get him worked up. The two left the house, her locking it as Mark walked over to their car, staring down at his feet and making sure he took even steps. He opened the driver's car door at a perfect ninety degree angle, sitting down in the middle of the seat. Alexia soon sat down next to him, handing him the keys and closing her door as he jammed the keys in. They were off as soon as he did and he made sure that they were perfectly centered in the road.

XxX

The pair sat down one inch apart and two inches from the end of their picnic blanket, holding hands in between them as they watched the sunset. Mark's gaze darted here and there, looking at parts where the sunset wasn't even. None of it was even and he couldn't do a damn thing because the world was just out to get him. If they weren't, why did they give him this horrible disease? Why couldn't he be normal and not stress over the fact that one button on his polo wasn't buttoned but his hands were too fucking shaky to fix it? Why did he have to wash a knife for five minutes before using it even though he just put it in the damn dishwasher? Why did he have to be so fucked up?!

"Mark, honey, you're shaky." Alexia squeezed his hand and he grabbed her other hand, squeezing it quickly. "Sorry."

"No, no, it's not you, it's me. It's always fucking me because there's something wrong with me and I can't even handle it when you kiss my left cheek and not the right. When you try to say that you love me and I ask you to rephrase the sentence because 'I love you' is three words and that's an odd number so you always add my name in and then kiss me but we end of kissing twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three, twenty-four times because our lips weren't lined up! Alexia, I love you so much, but I can't comprehend how you even think of loving me."

"I love you because you're you." She pulled his shaky form into a hug, making sure to hug as tightly on the right as the left and that her hair wasn't falling only one side of his face. They stayed embraced for minutes on end, pulling apart to lay down and look at the stars. Or, Alexia did. Mark stared at her symmetrical face because the stars weren't evenly spaced.

Their half-comfortable and half-I-don't-know-what-to-say silence was broken when he spoke. "I hate fractions."

"Hm?"

"They're not whole and can never be because then they're not a fraction anymore. I'm a fraction. I'm not whole because there's something in my brain that's making me this over-obsessed shit. And I can't ever be normal because that's not what I'm supposed to be. It wouldn't be what people have labeled me as for years and years. Alexia… I'm just a problem that's confusing and people sometimes give up on figuring me out but others stick to it. You stuck to it. I know I've said this already but I love you so fucking much. I don't know how I'd function without you."

"I love you too."

XxX

"I'll be right back babe! Just gonna buy some meat for the stew."

"Make sure it weighs even, please."

"Of course." She leaned over and kissed his cheek, shuffling to his other side to kiss the other before smiling and walking out the door. Mark let out a shaky sigh, hands fidgeting as he thought of something to do because he needed to be always productive or he would start freaking out over the littlest things.

Not like he doesn't already.

He swiftly went over to the sink, grabbing the rag hanging from the faucet and the cutting board on the counter besides it, washing it thoroughly for a good five minutes before pulling out two carrots and two potatoes, washing those as well before beginning to cut them up as evenly as he could. Of course, after he washed the knife. It was going all fine and dandy until his hand slipped on the damp hold of the knife and he cut a carrot unevenly. Tears sprung to his eyes.

He didn't want to feel this way. Not one bit. But he just did.

Soon salty tears trickled down his face and blurred his vision but he kept on cutting the damn carrot, unable to see if he was doing it unevenly. Anyone that would have seen him right now would have laughed at the sight of a grown man crying as he cut carrots. The voices in his head laughed at him, too, until he cut his wrist accidentally and pain was all he could feel.

He dropped the knife down on the cutting board with a harsh clatter and wiped away the tears as best as he could, staring down at the open gash on his pale skin. Crimson blood trickled from the wound and onto his shirt. The board. The vegetables. It was all uneven and messy and red was everywhere and tears came to his eyes once more and he didn't even bother trying to keep them back as he stared at his arms next to each other. Without a single regret he picked up the knife and carefully slit the other wrist, managing a shaky grin as he looked at his evenly slit wrists. At least something was even.

The grin fell as soon as he looked back at the mess of blood, carrots and potatoes on the board. He stabbed the knife into the middle of the board, dots dancing in vision as blood gushed out from the cuts and he propped himself on the countertop with his arms, shaking like a leaf in strong wind. He couldn't take his eyes off of the mess he had made and the crimson blood from his wrists and the way they mixed with his tears and ran easier and stained his clothes and pooled on the ground and…

It was like someone was tearing him apart from the brain out and he couldn't do anything.

Tears streamed down his face and he couldn't get one phrase out of his mind: "I'm terrible."

Terrible for being born this way. Terrible for being unable to withstand it. Terrible for not being perfect just like he wanted everything to be.

Mark fell to his knees, cut arms scraping roughly against the side of the countertop and slicking a trail of more dark blood across the smooth granite surface. The blood itself was a solid scarlet with no specks or abnormalities. He fixed his gaze on the blood as he slumped to the ground, head resting in the sticky liquid, cradling his arms close to his body. He could no longer care about the symmetry of himself, not when the darkness behind his eyes was growing, as was the pool of blood on the floor. Everything was falling to pieces around him and he couldn't do a single damned thing about it.

"Give up," his mind urged, the blood continuing to stream down his quickly paling skin. The fullness of life was leaving him faster than it could ever be saved and he obliged willingly, his eyes closing in tandum as his heart finally stopped beating.

And the pressing silence of the darkness was welcome to his weary mind.

And let's have a big round of applause for Diamond! Give her your love!