Eye of Calamity Ch. 2
Hello everyone, it's…uh, been a while eh? ^.^7 Well I mostly just want to say thank you to pretty much each and every single one of you because this is honestly, in terms of reviews/follow/faves per chapter, this is by far my most popular one even with only one chapter and you all don't even know how many times that drove me to open this document and try to work on this. Sadly, as a select few of you may know, I just haven't been able to think of anything whenever I did so though. For a long time now I've been suffering some heavy writer's block and it beat me up for a while because I love to write these kinds of things and love to give you guys good material that you will enjoy. That adding onto moving twice, getting some serious schoolwork dumped on me, trying to get a job to make sure that we even have power/a home in general and my free time and time to possible plan things has been…limited to say the least.
That being said though, with the approach of Dark Souls II and, as of the moment I'm typing this, the anniversary of the last time I updated this story, I really want to get this out for you guys. And hey, maybe this will get my mind back into writing for me to further continue giving you loving fans content! Now, I feel there are some things that need to be addressed here namely the biggest point of all my issues and that is that Kalameet is not a humanoid. To many this may seem like a 'well duh' kinda thing but it should be stated that he is a huge dragon in the place of what is meant to be a humanoid main character and that honestly means either cutting a lot of stuff or writing it somewhat differently from the original story. Basically what I'm trying to say is that things can get very difficult for myself when coming with ideas as to what to do with filler and certain events and I have had plenty of time to give a multitude of things a thought over with less than stellar results. At the moment though I am somewhat testing several ideas which I've had that I'm hoping will produce some productive results but right now it's come down to two results and I'm not so certain on how much one might be received. Anyway though, I'll also be posting the original AN that was up here at the end so look forward to some of the stuff I have going down there as well if you are so inclined.
Let it be said I own nothing nor seek to get any profit from any of this. With that out of the way, onward!
Louise slapped her hand down on the alarm of her clock to silence its piercing ringing and slowly sat up and blinked her eyes groggily. She wiped them with her knuckles and yawned before looking around her room empty room, nothing seemingly out of the ordinary. Yawning and stretching her arms over her head she recalled having the strangest dream last night: she had dreamed it was the Springtime Familiar Summoning and she had summoned a massive, elegant black dragon as her familiar. "It was a nice dream," she muttered sheepishly to herself with a small and happy smile before she suddenly opened her eyes wide and ran to the window. Low and behold, there he was, the dragon's huge shape curled into a ball right where he had been the night before.
The pinkette smiled widely, it hadn't been a dream, she had actually summoned a dragon! Releasing a sigh of what could have been relief, Louise fell back into a chair positioned near the window, no more 'Louise the Zero', that was for absolute certain. She laughed a bit and stood, walking confidently over to her wardrobe so she could get dressed and ready for the day as she fell into thought. This was it; this was certainly her crowning achievement. A dragon of all things as her familiar! No matter how many times she thought it, it never failed to bring about a whole slew of emotions she did not often feel. Her mother would surely be so proud.
It was with that thought she wrapped her black cape around her shoulders and observed herself in the mirror for a long minute or so before she nodded in approval, grabbing her wand and walking out the door. After turning to close and lock it, Louise heard another door open; looking back she saw that it was none other than Kirche. Louise mentally made a goal not to get too angry, she wouldn't let the flirtatious redhead spoil her good mood for anything, not today.
"Zerbst," Louise stated plainly in acknowledgement, hoping the woman would just go about her business but knowing that would never happen.
"Ah, Louise, where's your familiar?" she asked mockingly, looking up and down the hallway.
Louise raised a brow and crossed her arms with a straight face, "If you recall what exactly I summoned then I should think it would be obvious."
But of course Kirche hardly seemed to notice or care much, "Well I summoned a familiar too, Flame dear, come on," she called into her room and her fire salamander ran out the door into the hall where looked around. Louise did think the salamander was quite impressive, but compared to Kalameet the creature was practically nothing and so let her face reflect as much, unchanged and indifferent. "Tabitha and I were just about to go to the dining hall to grab some breakfast, weren't we dear?" Kirche asked looking down the hall at the bluenette as she walked toward them with a book held up as per usual. Tabitha nodded but remained silent, not even looking up from the words she read. If ever there was one thing that Louise had learned about the quiet girl it was that there was only one thing she liked more than books it was food, but otherwise Tabitha just kept to herself, only really ever around Kirche of all people.
Louise's lips remained in a tight line, "Yes, well, while you do that, I'm going to get my familiar," she said turning to walk off with a sarcastic wave over her shoulder at the duo.
"Ah, that reminds me, Tabitha, where is your familiar, Sylphid?" Kirche asked with her sly smile never waning.
"Outside."
"Ah, perhaps we could stop by and see Louise's familiar."
Louise stopped and sighed loudly in frustration with a twitch of her brow, knowing exactly where this was going, "Fine, obviously you've forgotten what my familiar is anyway," she said and decided she'd relish in the chance to show off Kalameet, "Come on then." You dumb Germanian broad, she fumed quietly.
After a couple minutes of bickering and insulting they finally walked through the doors to the courtyards, Louise leading the group to where Kalameet was resting when she saw Tabitha's dragon sitting down like a dog would, looking at something beyond their current line of sight. "Ah, that's your familiar isn't it Tabitha?" Kirche asked and the girl looked up a bit and nodded, "What's she looking at?"
Louise walked over to where the small dragon was and saw her own dragon. Kalameet turned his head in their direction and watched them, Sylphid cocking her head to the side a bit like a curious hound. "This is Kalameet," Louise stated proudly, gesturing a hand to the black dragon after she turned to face the two other girls. Kirche seemed quite surprised, had she seriously forgotten? Tabitha raised her head up from her book again and tilted her head a bit like her dragon currently was but not nearly as pronounced.
"Oh my, quite the beauty you are~," Kirche purred, seemingly interested in something though and stepped past Louise with narrowed eyes and raised a hand thoughtfully to her chin. Finally, she turned to Louise, "Is that a gem of some sort on its head?"
Louise raised a brow, "That's his eye," she said almost matter-of-factly and Kirche's eyes widened with an expression of stunned surprise, a look which soon changed to intrigue.
"Interesting~," she mumbled before turning, "Well, let's not keep our stomachs waiting, shall we?" She walked over and stepped in-between Tabitha and Louise, "Come on, Tabitha," she said as she walked past.
The blue haired girl stared at the black dragon with expressionless eyes, Kalameet returning the look upon noticing her gaze, that was of course until she abruptly turned around a moment later. "Sylphid," she muttered as she walked behind Kirche, the dragon looked at her then back to Kalameet once more before standing and following her master.
Louise watched them go with crossed arms before taking a deep breath to calm herself. She let a small smirk play across her lips; even Kirche couldn't deny how amazing her familiar was and that was most certainly a boost to her own pride. She turned and looked at Kalameet and waved for him to follow, "Come on, familiar, we're going to go have breakfast." The dragon stood and that was enough for her to turn and walk towards the Dining Hall, hearing the heavy footfalls of Kalameet behind her.
When they approached the door to the Alviss Dining Hall, Louise couldn't help but feel filled with pride at the fearful and amazed looks of her fellow classmates as they watched Kalameet follow behind the pinkette. She turned to her dragon confidently when she stood before the doors to the dining hal, "Familiar, you will wait out here with the rest of the familiars while I eat, is that understood?" her voice was stern as she held her head high talking to the dragon.
He stared at her blankly but she felt there was annoyance and perhaps irritation in that single orange eye of his. Despite this odd feeling though she wrote it off as her imagination, after all dragon as he may be he was still just a beast after all. "I'll take that as a yes," she turned and walked into the Dining Hall to have some breakfast.
Kalameet watched the human girl that was his supposed master enter the building with several other humans like her, some staring at him with wide eyes or checking over their shoulders multiple times as though to verify his presence once more. He suppressed the urge to sneer though, humans always seemed to have a smug sense of superiority no matter the circumstance and this bunch, especially this Louise, seemed to be no exception to the matter.
Kalameet looked at the creatures he had been told to remain near and walked over in that direction. Many of the various other familiars, most of which were beings he had never laid eyes upon despite the oddness of the many which inhabited the world he previously called home, cringed away from him as he passed. Separating himself from the group of creatures, the dragon laid down in the middle of the courtyard. He closed his eye and took a deep breath of fresh air as he relaxed, if there was one thing he did like about this new world it was that the taint of death and the abyss did not fill the air constantly as it had in Oolacile. One thing that did fill the air though, even more prominently so than even in the previously mentioned land, was magic.
Magic was everywhere here, he could feel it in his bones and while he was not certain if it was just in this academy or throughout most of the land, but it was a constant presence and what that made him slightly wary. Kalameet felt something touch his tail and he opened his eye and looked down to see the small dragonling from earlier curled up in a ball in the nook of his tail, already fast asleep. He watched the blue dragon for a moment before sighing and lying his head down on his forelegs. For now he'd allow it, it was natural for a youngling to seek an elder for guidance, protection, whatever the reason may be.
After several minutes he finally found his eye closing slowly, sleep finally beginning to take overtake him again when he heard footsteps and human speech growing louder as they were surely approaching him. He growled in annoyance and opened his eye as he raised his head, tracking the sound and locating the source of this disturbance. Low and behold, Louise was walking toward him, the two females from earlier not far behind.
"Kalameet!" the pinkette called out his name as she appeared to be searching for him before her gaze came to a rest on him, "Ah, there you are!" Louise made her way over to him whilst the two behind her seemed to be doing something similar to what she had been a few seconds ago. She approached him and looked up at him with her hands on her hips in a proud way, a small smirk on her lips whilst she examined him up and down, "Today all second year students have the day off to get to know their familiars, I say we should-."
Her brow furrowed and she seemed like she was about to finish when the two females approached, the taller one seeming to be looking for something as she interrupted Louise's words. "Louise dear, have you seen Sylphid? Tabitha and I just left breakfast and can't seem to find her anywhere," she asked with mild concern on her tone while her companion continued to read her book despite not knowing the location of her familiar.
"Why should I care about your guys' familiars? They're not my responsibility," Louise replied with annoyance barely hidden in her tone and crossed her arms. The two girls once again got into yet another fairly one-sided argument, but the black dragon hardly paid them mind.
Kalameet instead looked at the smaller blue-haired girl, Tabitha as the redhead female had named her. Absorbed as she seemed in her novel she looked up as though feeling his gaze and returned his stare with blank blue eyes. As their eyes were locked however, he was able to see through the façade at what was beneath those seemingly dead eyes and was truly…intrigued by what he found. They broke each other's gaze as there was a loud yawn; Kalameet looked down at the young dragon as she stretched and shook her head like a feline. Kalameet raised his tail to expose the dragon.
Louise and the other female she had been arguing with stopped and shared a bit of surprise when the dragon walked calmly over to Tabitha, sat in front of the small girl, and looked down at her master. The bluenette glanced up at the dragonling before looking back down at her book, "Ready," she said quietly as Louise and her rival gaped in bewilderment.
The taller girl, Zerbst as Louise called her, recovered first. "Well," she said with a smile, "see you later then Louise~," and with that, she gave Louise a small wave and began to walk off, Tabitha falling in line behind her.
Kalameet stood and Louise looked back at him, he stared at her for a moment before walking forward, not waiting for directions. She quickly ran in front of him to take the lead, looking back at him with an expression of irritation before returning her gaze forward. Louise thought herself the leader but Kalameet was simply deciding to be cooperative for a time, after all, he still knew she had great power but also didn't know if she herself knew she had it. All things considering though he very highly doubted it.
She should consider herself lucky in truth, normally he would have scorched this place to its foundation, showing it the same mercy he would have any human or God he came across in Lordran; as he expected most any dragon that could have survived would have were they to be in his place. The dragons, or at least he, felt nearly nothing but spite towards the Gods, Lords, and humans. The dragons were never aggressive lest provoked, and provoked they had been for no reason than that they existed it seemed. The fools hadn't realized the dragons were mere guardians, these 'Lords' were the vanguards unto their own destruction as their age of fire slipped from their grasp, humans spreading and conquering with their corruption not following far behind. Perhaps the ancient beings had thought the dragons were keeping them from the land they thought they deserved, thinking they had a right to something someone else had. Or perhaps they thought similarly to Louise and believed them nothing but mindless beasts, jealously guarding their territory from all who might trespass.
Humans were no different either, in fact one could say they were worse though in truth they were simply the final lord simply divided, were they not? The darkest of all the others with souls as black as their progenitor's; after all, with three Lord Souls found in light of fire, there must have been one hidden in the darkness.
But…but he was not filled entirely with hatred and prejudice, nor was he below second chances, he had lived beside humans for quite some time now and learned many things, some quite intriguing indeed. This is why he will remain passive and witness the extent of the capabilities and…humanity of these humans in particular. After all, he had come to learn that not all humans were the same and not all were like the Gods they worshipped so but only time would tell what his actions would be and it was most likely a good thing he had learned patience.
They had walked a short distance more and soon came upon another clearing of sorts with many tables and chairs set up in the grass with a multitude of students with their familiars either on their laps or nearby. Kalameet stopped at the same time as Louise though while he did it to observe she did so to try and find an adequate spot for her and her over-sized familiar. His eye roamed over those that sat around and the creatures which accompanied them, spotting several intriguing beings as well as those that he had seen in the past. There was a large mole-like creature sitting in the lap of one male student with blonde hair accompanied by a girl of similarly colored hair with large curls and a frog sitting on her shoulder. Floating around was a small purple orb of some kind that when it turned was revealed to actually be some sort of large floating eye which had lids to blink; a truly odd thing that certainly was and the dragon himself had seen quite a number of oddities in his time.
In the midst of it all Kalameet actually managed to find the maid he had run into the night before, Siesta of Tarbes he recalled she had introduced herself as. The young girl appeared to be waiting tables, taking things such as small cakes and cups of tea to those who called for them, not all in the most polite of manners but she did not seem to take too much offense to it. Kalameet blinked as he heard Louise exclaim from below and look back at him, pointing to a spot that was not far from the others that had much open space near it before walking over to the table with the dragon in tow not far behind.
The pinkette took a seat at the table and crossed her legs, raising her hand to snap her fingers for a servant to hustle over and place a teacup and plate in front of her before moving off to get to another student noble. Kalameet walked past where the girl had situated herself to allow himself some more space before turning around and laying down with forefront talons crossed, curling his tail around slightly and hugging his wings a bit tighter to his body. His head remained high for several minutes as he continued eying over the various nobles and getting many looks of various kind in response but he hardly paid them much mind as he simply watched and studied, taking notes of several of their behaviors and things of the like. Much of what he saw did not impress him.
The dragon gave a small huff and returned his attention to Louise who sat by herself sipping her tea quietly, pinkie out when she held the teacup and raised it to her lips. When she lowered it a deep breath escaped her and she looked up at the massive black dragon that was her familiar before peeking an eye around and catching the looks of some of her fellows, what she saw caused a small, satisfied smirk appear on the corner of her mouth. Louise turned her attention back to her familiar and studied him up and down, noting the long and numerous spikes on his back, neck, and on the back of his front forelegs.
"Hm, I suppose I'm going to have to get you a specially designed saddle of some sort if I'm going to be riding you around places," she commented with an expression of thought, brow furrowed and lips pursed to the side as she looked up before giving a small shrug and sipping at her tea.
Kalameet gave Louise an ear of attention but hardly much else as he watched the students interact with their familiars with mild interest, having known humans tended to keep pets but never really seeing first-hand what sort of relationship it entailed. Most of his interest came in the prideful looks many had or the different, loving attitude these children had toward their familiars versus their treatment of…well anyone else really. To that extent, as his gaze swept over the crowd whilst Louise talked pointlessly about a saddle, and idea he wanted to partially scoff at but supposed he could blame himself for allowing herself to ride him the day previous and possibly planting such a thought in her head, his attention once more fell upon Siesta as the maid reached down to pick something up near the blond boy with the mole in his lap.
Upon standing it was visible that she had a glass container housing some sort of liquid within it. With said container in hand, Siesta attempted to politely get the flamboyant boy's attention, Guiche the dragon caught his name being, and upon finally having it, presented it to him with a smile, one which quickly wavered and fell when it appeared to cause quick the…issue. The girl whom accompanied the boy at the table, Montmorency if his hearing still held true, questioned why the maid had the perfume she had given Guiche and as the fool tried to explain another girl with brown hair and a cloak to match approached with a smile and a basket of goods. One thing led to another and after some tears, accusations, lies, and excuses were exchanged, Guiche was thrown onto his rear with red marks the shapes of handprints on both his cheeks whilst both girls stormed away, one in tears the other with angry fists clenched tightly to her sides. Indeed, all that seemed to remain of the situation was Siesta watching the two girls off with a concerned and bewildered expression, hand still holding out the perfume she had attempted to return to Guiche upon seeing it fly out of his sleeve during an overzealous arm motion.
Kalameet could only snort with amusement after it had all unfolded, Louise still prattling on about how he would listen to her and obey her command obediently like a good familiar, a thought that made him inwardly scoff. However he looked down at the odd girl who called herself his master as she looked up at him, "Am I clear?" she asked sternly with an inclined chin.
The dragon's eye gave a small glow, imperceptible in this light, as he connected his mind to her own before he turned away, "Crystal," his voice hissed, a voice whom only she heard.
She gave a satisfied nod, "Good," silence for several moments before her eyes opened wide and she stared agape in stunned bewilderment up at her dragon, "Wait wha-"
Before she could say much more, the situation that had Kalameet's attention once more had escalated, Guiche having stood and grabbed Siesta's wrist tightly, the maid wincing and trying to pull away from him, "Lord Guiche, please, you are hurting me," she pleaded.
"Silence maid!" the flamboyant noble cried with an inclined chin, Siesta shrinking away from him and doing as she was told with lips pressed together tightly. "You have sullied the honor of two beautiful ladies, not to mention stealing from a noble!" the maid's eyes widened and she opened her mouth to defend herself from the false accusations but was quickly silenced. "Silence!" he snapped at her and turned to the crowd that had grown around them to watch the spectacle, "It is my duty as a noble to instill proper justice for such heinous deeds and that is what I so plan to do!" The dragon noticed a smug smirk on the blonde's lips as chatter, most of it excited began to fill the crowd and it made him want to sneer himself.
Humans, he thought, not noticing that Louise was still staring dumbstruck at him or at least caring if he did, such wicked creatures even to their own kind, a truly sickening sight. What came as a true surprise to him though, was a feeling he was not all that familiar with that arose in the deepest part of his being: pity. Pity for the innocent girl whom had to suffer for a false crime she did not commit. Guiche had now turned back to the maid, "Now, to enact your punishment!" he shouted and raised his hand, a rose in hand as though he were going to strike her down with it.
A low sigh escaped the black dragon as he closed his eye, Louise having finally turned her attention to what had his as he did so, perhaps he was already growing soft from being in this world, or perhaps he had seen something in the humans of Oolacile before its fall that affected his view now. Either way, when he opened his eye again it had a gradual glow to it, a whine so high-pitched it escaped many, especially those transfixed on the sight of Guiche 'dispensing punishment'. However, the boy most certainly must have felt what Kalameet was doing and if not then at least his rose did as its petals wilted and crumbled before everyone's very eyes, including its owner when he suddenly saw Siesta's widened eyes no longer on him but what was over his shoulder. He lowered the flower and saw its state with a gasp, quickly shooting an angry look behind him for his eyes to meet the dragon's own single, glowing one.
What truly happened at that moment no one knew for as Guiche turned and the two beings eyes locked, his face became stricken with pure terror, falling back with his forearm covering his eyes as he screamed as though seeing the worst horrors imaginable, shouting things no one could understand nor comprehend. However, when everyone turned to follow where his gaze went, almost all eyes falling upon the dragon, he seemed to be going about his own business, attention turned to the servant walking by underneath him carrying a tray of small, steaming dumplings paired with fried onions that had attracted his nose.
While students looked around in confusion about what could possibly have been the reason the blond to freak out in such a manner, Siesta stared wide-eyed between Guiche and the dragon, not knowing exactly what had transpired between them but knowing who was the cause of the noble's sudden sudden episode. Kalameet lowered his head and sniffed the platter, effectively causing the servant to jump and exclaim in surprise, mostly due to having been too caught up in trying to see what had been happening as well. Indeed whatever food it was it most certainly had captured his attention and made the hunger in his stomach spike a bit, his tongue slithering out and scooping up a handful of the dumplings, before he lifted his head up and tilted it back, strangely filling his mouth with a multitude of flavors he had never tasted before and it truly made his tongue almost tingle a bit.
Turning his attention back at the shaking servant, he eyed the platter again and she made the connection, eying the plate and holding it up to him as he lowered his head back down to scoop up another handful of the food once more. At that point, Louise looked over and was surprised to see Kalameet bent down and doing…something with the dragon, not entirely able to see what was going on due to his large body blocking some of the view no matter how far forward she leaned. "Maid! What are you doing with my familiar?" she snapped loudly.
The maid, already a bit on edge from Kalameet himself, jumped again and looked at Louise with a small, nervous smile, "It would appear your dragon—I mean—your familiar likes perogies miss."
It was some time later in the day, Guiche had been taken to the medical wing of the school, curled up in a ball and rocking whilst muttering incoherently the whole way with still-wide, fear-stricken eyes, the medical staff saying his condition must have been some sort of trauma from seeing something but still no one yet knew what exactly had happened to cause such a thing. Siesta had been pardoned by Colbert himself while he was collecting statements as to what happened since some of the students had insisted on sticking true to Guiche's tale of her having stolen the perfume. Luckily enough for the poor girl though, at least the teacher himself had some sensibility and actual brains to take a fair guess as to what had actually happened.
Meanwhile though, Louise sat under a tree looking up at her familiar that was Kalameet, the two sharing a silent staring match of some sort with the girl still deciding whether to believe that she had heard the dragon speak to her before the whole incident with Guiche and everything. As they sat though he seemed content to retain his silence, simply matching her stare with his unblinking own as Louise simply sat and...well she wasn't sure, maybe wait for him to just speak to her on a whim again. As it was, she wasn't so lucky.
With a heavy sigh, Louise closed her eyes and fell back into the grass with her arms spread at her sides, "I must be going crazy…talking dragons, no way…" she muttered but still furrowed her brow and scrunched her face a bit, it all still not sitting right with her.
"Art it truly that hard to believe that one of my kind would possess enough intelligence to speak?" the voice said to her again and it caused her eyes to shoot open wide. The voice itself spoke directly to her, not through her ears but it was as if it filled her head as though intruding itelf into her very mind. It also contained a small hiss on its tone not to mention that it seemed…sly, intelligent, a voice she imagined a snake might possess.
The pinkette shot up and fixed her wide eyes on Kalameet again, staring at the dragon for a good several seconds whilst he sat unchanged and returning her look with his own single orange one in the middle of his head. Finally she blinked and shook off her daze a bit, "You…you can speak then?" she questioned incredulously, "But…but you never spoke before!"
Silence for several more moments before once more speech filled her head with perfect clarity, "I saw'th no reason to," he stated simply. "I contemplated it when thou asked for my name, but thou seemed to take a surprisingly accurate gander at it not long after," that got Louise's brow furrowed with a frown on her lips in concerned thought when he spoke again, "But I digress I doth suppose."
He certainly had an odd way of speech too, and while she understood what he said for the most part she had never heard some of the words he had used spoken before. Louise licked her lips for a moment and could still taste a bit of the tea that lingered upon them before she addressed him again, "So you can speak, is there anything else you can do I'm not aware of?" she asked and thought back to what happened to Guiche and that he had absolutely lost it when he had looked, coincidentally, in her dragon's direction. And now that she thought about it more, she began to wonder that if he was capable of intellectual speech…"And were you responsible for what happened to Guiche, weren't you?" the pinkette asked sternly with crossed arms and a hard look in her eyes. It was her place to make sure her familiar behaved and that was by no means something she should allow happen to another Noble of all people even despite how intimidating her Familiar may be, dragon or no.
Her dragon seemed to shrug, a gesture made obvious by the motions of his wings, "I can do a grand deal of things, child, some or most of which I doubt thou could even comprehend. As for what happened to gold-haired fool…" he fixed his eye upon Louise and she couldn't help but feel a chill go down her spine as his single word response spoke within her head, "Yes."
There was no doubt in her mind, there was much about her familiar Louise did not know and like he said even she wasn't sure she really could understand all of it. That being said though, he was still her familiar and she would not have him act out of line, she dropped her hands to her side and gave him a hard glare, "Kalameet, I forbid you from ever doing such a thing to another student or anyone else unless I am at serious risk. Do I make myself clear?"
There was pause in Kalameet's response before suddenly Louise heard a rumbling laughter, one, she realized, actually came from his throat and mouth as his body moved in the motions one would expect when laughing, his head lifted slightly whilst he laughed before it lowered again and he affixed his eye upon her again. "And, dear child, what dost thou plan to do to ensure I do not?"
The passive-aggressive question put the girl off, not to mention the way he almost seemed…entertained that she had tried to command him. He was right though, what could she do to make certain he listened…Once more she met his eyes and stood straighter with her chest puffed out slightly, "I am your Master!" she proclaimed confidently.
"Anyone who must state the fact is not truly what they claim to be," she frowned again and her eyes narrowed, indeed he would prove to be quite the problem if this was how he would always behave. Luckily for her though, as she held her hard glare upon him, he seemed to be impressed with something and gave an amused snort, "But I suppose I can listen for now, after all thou dost seem to be quite amusing and…interesting with thine pride and courage." Louise blinked and her surprise must have showed but he chose not comment on that, "Though I shall warn thee, such pride can lead to thy undoing and it art best not to trade courage for recklessness, for it shall only lead to the same end." She did not know it, but he also intentionally did not voice his interest in her magical potential and that also being a reason for him sticking around and possibly listening, however he had his own motives for that reason.
The strawberry blond didn't know how to respond for a brief while, not used to being compliment in such a fashion…or at all for that matter. Soon though she shook off her slight shock and once more took a stern attitude, not planning on thanking him since he had been a bit unruly in the first place after all. "Good," she stated simply with a satisfied nod, Kalameet suppressing a chortle at that, "I expect you to be more cooperative in the future right off the bat."
"We shall see child, we shall see," was the dragon's response as he crossed his forefront talons and gave his wings a small flutter to stretch them a bit. He might be obedient for a time but that did not make him a loyal hound.
Louise growled and gritted her teeth with an annoyed look, "And stop calling me child you stupid familiar! I am 17 years old!" she demanded with a stomp of her foot.
"And I am many millennia, old as the beginning of time in the land I hail from," he told her with a somewhat cold and un-amused tone and it was a statement that caused her to be taken aback in surprise once more at just how plainly he had said it, his eye falling back upon her as he watched placidly. "If thou doth insist on being referred to as some titles and not others I shall recommend thou dost prove thyself worthy of them first for thou art proving thyself only of the title which I call thee." So stunned by his admittance to his age that by the time she had opened her mouth to speak again Kalameet had stood and ruffled his wings, "Now if thou dost not mind, it has been some time since I hath eaten decently and I am looking quite forward to a meal untainted by the corruption."
Louise blinked before she growled and took a step forward, "Wait just a minute!" she demanded angrily but he had already spread his wings and coiled his body. Before the pinkette could open her mouth to further protest, the dragon pushed off the ground with a mighty beat of his wings and took off with a great gust of wind nearly taking Louise off her feet as it kicked up a great deal of dust as well. Coughing and covering her mouth as she swatted at the air, she finally turned her stinging eyes skyward and saw Kalameet's black form shrinking in size whilst he flew higher and higher into the air before gliding around. Louise watched in annoyed frustration for another couple of minutes before the massive dragon suddenly dove into the forest surrounding the academy, she didn't stay to watch what his catch might have been, already planning some ways she could possibly punish him for his disobedience as she stomped back to her room.
It wasn't until the sun had begun to set did the black dragon at last return and land with surprising gentleness in one of the various courts around the academy with a stomach that had not been as full as it was for quite some time. Kalameet was pleased, to say the least, not only had he hunted for several hours to find the creatures of this world abundant and uncorrupted, but he had also taken the time to scout the land from his vantage point and get a general layout of the area many miles out in all directions. Thankfully, while humans might have been fairly abundant here as well, there was no sign of the Abyss…at least not yet, but whether it chose to actually rear its disgusting face even in this realm he truly did not know.
If anything it was a breath of relief to have a meal that did not leave a bland or gagging taste upon his tongue, save for the small human treat earlier but that had done little to sooth his hunger, as well as a lacking of the Abyss' presence. That is also not to mention he finally got the chance to use his wings again and for that he was at least grateful. Kalameet walked a few paces into the courtyard and looked around, not spotting much activity but seeing some lights in various windows begin to turn on as the sun disappeared below the horizon, taking its own light with it. Lacking something to do, the thought of taking off again crossed his mind but decided against it, choosing just to wander around a little bit, perhaps rest when the sky grew darker and the stars above appeared.
Time passed and with a grand lack of activity happening anywhere, Louise not even showing up in all the time he was present, Kalameet walked over to a lone tree sitting in the middle of the courtyard and laid down beside it, tipping his head upward to gaze at the stars and dual moons.
It was a curious world, that was for certain, one that held a multitude of new creatures and sights to be held, including a race of filthy human-like creatures which had pig-like features and had been truly foolish enough to attack him whilst he had landed to snatch a meal. Needless to say they did not stand a chance despite their numbers, but that was to be expected, especially with how lacking in brain and sense they seemed to be. Truly if anything he had done the world justice expunging them from existence.
"Uhm…Kalameet?" the dragon heard a quiet but familiar voice address him from below.
Tipping his head down, the dragon gave a slight tilt of his head in acknowledgement as his eye fell upon the maid below him, "Siesta of Tarbes," he greeted plainly, merely watching her as she drew closer. It was obvious to him that the maid approached him still with some caution in her stride not to mention that a very nervous air seemed to be about her and Kalameet could only take a gander as to the reason for it, all things given.
Siesta stopped a fair distance away from him and seemed to be wringing her hands from what he could tell, though he said nothing more as he waited for her to state her business with him. It was hard for her to find words as she stood before the imposing dragon, his scales a dark black in the night, orange eye seemingly glowing in the darkness, not to mention just standing before him she felt small and insignificant, like he just exerted a presence of superiority. Though of course it didn't help if her suspicions were true and that look in his single eye didn't seem as…kind as it had been the night before.
Finally she found enough confidence to clear her throat and speak, "Kalameet I…I needed to ask you about something…something that has…been on my mind for some time today…" The dragon kept his silence and merely watched her, his calm stare causing her to shiver a bit but she took it all as a sign to continue. "Earlier today, at noon, when we were all together in the courtyard and Lord Guiche was about to strike me…were you the one who…that caused him to react the way he did?" The question came out in a mumble of sorts as she thought back to the way he screamed and seemed so terrified by whatever plagued his mind or vision.
Kalameet's silence persisted and Siesta grew even more anxious, shifting nervously where she stood as she waited, soon about to repeat herself as she thought perhaps he had not heard her when at last his voice filled her mind. "Indeed, twas I," he stated simply at last, almost sounding disinterested, "Would'st thou hath preferred I left thee to thy fate?"
Her cheeks grew a dark red with embarrassment and she shook her head as she waved her arms, "No, no! I am quite grateful in fact," though she would have preferred maybe had done so in a less…traumatizing way. "I just…" the maid trailed off for a moment, looking away with a frown as she chose her words, "What exactly did you do to him or make him see that he…reacted in such a way?"
"I made him see the consequences of pride, twas not mine fault he did not like what he saw." The way he spoke, how he was so calm and spoke of it all so simply as though he cared little for it all…it made Siesta afraid, it made her feel insignificant.
She swallowed nervously and glanced around, thinking she'd likely regret asking the question which lingered on her mind but deciding she would ask anyway. "But…what exactly do you mean? What sorts of things did you show him that could have possibly been so terrifying?"
Silence was once more her answer for several long seconds before at last he responded, "In the world which I first called mine own, and in this one as well it would seem, humans were far from perfect beings, indeed such beings truly art not possible, but still humans seemed to parade themselves as such. As it was, humans have the blackest souls of them all, from the Lords to Gods, even to the other lesser divine beings, not even Nito the Lord of Death itself had quite as dark of souls as even the purest of humans. Perhaps this art not their fault, merely the fault of their predecessor whom split his dark soul so many times so as to spread his influence across the lands, but even still, humans art surely the easiest to corrupt for even the perfect human can always turn on what once they held above all else. And in the land which once I called my own, corruption is a thing all too easily found."
It was Siesta's turn to be silent, too enthralled by the tale the dragon wove. The way he spoke it making it obvious that he was not simply making it all up, not that he had any reason to and nor seemed like the type, but talk of other gods and divine beings was certainly a first to her who only ever knew of Founder Brimir. She of course didn't know how exactly to feel with the way he spoke about humans in such a degrading way, but his tone of voice made him sound objective on the matter, like he was stating fact. Though she could not deny that some of what he said made sense and could not be denied, nor did she think he'd really state such things without good reason.
"As it is, power is the thing which corrupts more than all else and when it art in the hands of humans all that is ever sought is more and more, and never do they realize the consequences of their seeking until it art too late for them and those under them. Such is the case of the city of Oolacile, a township of sorcerers whom were once just and, dare I say, true. However, they were still human and thus when the offer of power was dangled before them they took it, digging up the grave of Primeval man and unleashing the corrupting darkness of the Abyss upon their kind. I had the chance of experiencing this sight in person, watching from above as the city was devoured by chaos, death, and corruption and all that I did with he whom sought to place the blame upon an innocent was share with him that which I saw. Twas not mine own fault he could not handle what hubris could do to himself and others," he finally stated, lifting a talon casually to examine his claws.
Truth be told the maid wasn't sure what to say, taking it all in for a time as she comprehended Kalameet's words, that he had seen the fall of an entire city to whatever this 'Abyss' was that he spoke of. Given its name though she wasn't sure she wanted to find out what it was. Unsure if it was wise to really continue the conversation, the maid couldn't help but let her curiosity control her tongue, "Was…was that the only thing you showed him?" supposing that while that most likely could have been enough on its own, if there were other things he showed the noble that could have brought him to his knees in such a way. "And…what about what happened to his wand? Why did the flower wilt?"
Kalameet seemed to incline his head slightly, continuing to fix Siesta with a seemingly blank stare, "I am a very, very old being, Siesta of Tarbes, and time art of no concern to mineslf. I hath seen a great many things in my time including the nigh extinction of my kind…and I am not the last for no reason." His words brought a saddened frown to her face, not knowing if she should pity him but soon figuring he would not care for it.
"I shan't share all mine secrets for I hath not been here long and it would be wiser, if more entertaining, to keep some to myself. The dragon's eye seemed to focus Siesta, giving her a shiver at the seriousness of the look, "However, what I will share with thee art that in the land from which I hail, even the Gods dared to provoke mine ire."
Her eyes widened and before anything more could be said, Siesta heard her name called in the distance, turning to look over her shoulder whilst Kalameet also seemed to raise his gaze in that direction. "Thou hast been called, Siesta of Tarbes, twould be wise to heed it given the events of the day, pardoned earlier or no," the dragon spoke from where he lay and she turned to look at him, pausing and wringing her hands again before she nodded.
"Yes…I suppose it would be a good idea to do that…Uhm…thank you, for earlier, truly." The dragon merely gave a tip of its head as she began to back up, she flashed a brief smile before turning and running off as her name was called again, "I'm coming!"
Kalameet watched her off as she ran to whomever needed her, eye turning to the starry sky again when she was halfway across the courtyard to simple gaze upon the stars. Mayhap there was hope for this world yet, but from what he saw there was still much to be proved, indeed at this rate the humans of this world would have some…issues changing his mind on their kind if they continued down this path. Regardless of it all though, Kalameet stretched his forelegs and wings, curling his tail around as he lowered his head and tucked it under his wing, catching a glimpse of something in the sky to see the youngling and her master flying in it.
He might have questioned it were this world not foreign to him in every which way, not to mention already being a society he knew little about. So with a huff of indifference, Kalameet slipped his head under his wing and closed his eye, hoping at least this time someone wouldn't wake him before he could drift off. And thankfully that was the case.
So far the feedback has been pretty positive for this story and as it's still fresh in my mind, I'm going to go ahead and continue, sorry my Abyssal watchers you'll have to wait again. With that I'd also like to try something I haven't really done before, responding to your guys' comments through means that isn't a PM. Ahem *adjusts glasses* (may I also note that while I do appreciate all your guys' support and reviews I'm not going to respond to 'good chapter's and 'look forward to the next update's simply because there's not much to respond to.)
NIX'S WARDEN: You'll kinda have to clarify what you're asking is okay, if you don't mind. Well we'll all find out eventually, I can tell you that much. As to your comment about Artorias being Gandalfr, as interesting as that idea may be, he's-uh-he's kinda-sorta…dead…so yeah. That and let's not forget he went pretty loony so he probably would've tried to slaughter the first person he saw. But you have given me something to think about though and I thank you for such an interesting idea.
Lord Sigfry: Thank you, trust me that's sometimes a pet peeve of mine too and I tried not to make it sound like he just gives himself up easily, being as how it's only the first chapter I didn't feel like I could show too much rebellion anyway, so there's that. Yeah I know, I have some interactions already planned between the two, though I can't say that that is one of them. Trust me when I say I've gotten weirder comments in the past, so no need to worry.
Dragfire: Thank you, it was something I was aiming for, and I already have a crossover with Arty, wouldn't want to get repetitive would we?
DemonOfFate: Finally someone understands me! ;} And may I add, thank you.
DaggerDoom: Well ROFLSTOMP's may happen from time-to-time but let me inform you one of my favorite fanfics is basically a ROFLSTOMP, "Zero's Noble Overlord" by Shintouyu. Then again they'll probably be better than I am at fics, but that's beside the point. I have low standards, what can I say? Well aren't we being prejudice? I actually have taken your criticism into account and actually have edited my story a wee bit so Kalameet isn't as 'friendly', but seriously, what's wrong with an honorable dragon, especially one we know next to nothing about? Through character development, and possibly some needed explanations, I try to portray my own take on Kalameet, and that doesn't involve him being genocidal towards anything that isn't a dragon. Technically every story has some OOC in it if it doesn't involve a character shaped by the player or an actual OC, just saying. I like hugs, what's wrong with hugboxes (insert sarcasm)? Well I'm reading your comment now and writing about how I was able to possibly improve my story because of it, does that make you a filthy filthy heretic? If not I think that's something for you take up with the audience, not moi. (Also, just adding this here at the current date, but I understand he was a bit too kind when it came to some stuff, mind you this was a long time ago and as of now I have had plenty of practice writing stuff for him and have shaped him to a point I think will be acceptable to everyone.)
Blakraven66: Ah, but there was interest, I win. I already spoke to you, hopefully you understand what I was saying and may I add thank you for possibly inadvertently helping this story improve. See people, constructive criticism helps, sometimes people just need to tell you how they feeeel.
Iverness: Thank you, but the main reason I'm making this is to ask a simple question…is your avatar a geth in a purple apron with a matching colored bow on its head? 'Cause, ya, that's just awesome!
Baddamobs: I always thought he would have something close to a witty snake, without the lisp of course, but what do I know, I'm just the guy writing the fic. I also wouldn't say a crush necessarily but at least a friendship because she can, and I emphasize 'can', play a somewhat important role in the story.
Nargus: Wouldn't be a bad idea that's for certain but I think I'll take it out a couple of chapters and see where that leaves me before it might go on just to highlight important parts, but I'm not really sure I'll do that, we'll see though. (Might do this all things considering right now.)
Guest 2: (yes there's a reason I did you last) I was having trouble thinking about that as well because I think he could be any of them, save Gandalfr for obvious reasons. (btw for space purposes I think I'll save these for the bottom of the authors note in the future.)
That brings me to this extra side note, let me know your guys' opinions for what you think Kalameet should be, as I said I think in truth he could almost be any of the Void familiars save Gandalfr so I'm open for suggestions. Though I will let you guys know at this point I can almost foresee it leaning toward Windalfr: the familiar who can identify, defeat, and control any magical beast. We shall see~
Well folks, that's the end of the old AN and I think it gets the point across. Might do these answers to reviews like this in later chapters but we'll see, the biggest problem was just that there were so many I felt could/should have been addressed given they had a year or so to pile up. In any case, I've officially graduated high school and hopefully I might be able to find enough time to continue writing these kinds of things, though I will admit that my attention is very often being pulled elsewhere. I hope it has been worth the wait for many of you and while I know that not much has happened I just wish you all enjoy what we got here for what it is, give it a review for what you like or think could use some improvement, and I wish every one of you the best of luck and a good day/evening!