It was seven twenty-five at night. Crocness was marching through the forest, alone, thinking about the message Thorne had left her.
Crocness, meet me at the lake at seven thirty tonight. I've already left.
Crocness found it a little odd that Thorne went to the forest by himself. He had never done that before. But she was fine with it. She just couldn't figure out why he left early.
When Crocness was still a little ways away from her destination, she noticed a blue glow near the lake. There was also a tasty aroma lingering in the air. She tipped her head to the side a bit, then marched on.
When she arrived at the lake, she was surprised. Standing about fifteen feet away from the lake was a table. It was covered in food and utensils. Surrounding it were some moss-covered rocks. Around the area was a long, drooping stand of blue lights, which glowed in the pale moonlight. The atmosphere had a mysterious feeling to it, which Crocness liked.
The half-human, half-reptile's eyes followed the line of lights to a nearby tree. Thorne, who was half-human, half-dragon, was clinging to the tree with his claws, currently tying the strand of lights to a branch.
Crocness walked over to him. "What's all this?"
"Dinner," Thorne stated stoically, making sure the line of ghostly blue lights was secure.
The alchemist, satisfied with the positioning of the strand, leapt down from the tree and landed on all fours. He stood up, then walked over to the table he had brought.
"I've got chicken, ribs, steak, barbeque sauce, bread, butter, and sparkling grape juice," he said, pointing to each item with a silver claw as he spoke. Thorne then moved his gaze to the astonished croc-woman's face. "What do you think?"
Crocness stared at the table. "It..." When she looked at the meat, she felt her stomach growl. She lifted her head to Thorne and grinned. "It sounds good."
Thorne almost smiled back, but restrained himself and nodded. He walked to the end of the table and pulled out the chair in front of it. Crocness took a seat after he motioned for her to sit down. Thorne walked to the other side of the table and sat down, himself.
"What do you want to try first?" he asked.
***
"Gildar, come on! Keep up!"
"I'm working on it! Not everyone's as fast as the speed of light, you know!"
The viking received a loud groan. Then there was brief pause. All that could be heard was Gildar's heavy boots stepping on multiple twigs and leaves. And on the ground.
"Shaiden, do we really have to do this?" Gildar inquired a minute later. "I don't like it out here! It's too dark to see my handsome reflection!"
"Yes," the ninja replied sternly, silently leaping over a log. "I don't believe that Thorne has been thinking straight. I'm worried that this night may not end well."
Shaiden felt a sting of guilt as she pressed on. She felt bad about breaking her promise to her brother, but she wanted to make sure both he and Crocness would be okay.
Suddenly, Gildar loudly tripped over the log Shaiden had just jumped over. The ninja whipped around to the fallen viking.
"Will you be quiet?" she hissed.
"I'm sorry, but I was not the one who asked me to come along!" Gildar hissed back, pushing himself up.
Earlier that day, Shaiden had asked Gildar for help, just in case the date with Thorne and Crocness would end badly. And by "end badly," I mean that Thorne would turn into a dragon and go on a violent rampage.
A few minutes later, Shaiden and Gildar reached their destination. Shaiden crept behind the trees, and Gildar soon appeared beside her. They were close enough to see what was going on, but far away enough that Crocness and Thorne couldn't hear them.
"There they are," Shaiden whispered.
The vain viking set his eyes on what Shaiden was staring at. He observed the cool, mysterious scenery for a quick moment, then looked at the two Defenders at the table. Thorne was busy serving Crocness a thick slice of steak. Even though his face had only a shadow of a smile on it, anyone could tell that he was happy.
Gildar was amused. "I didn't know Thorne was a romantic," he stated, smirking.
The ninja shrugged. "I'm not surprised; he is a bit of a softy."
***
Thorne looked up from his steak to check on Crocness. She had just finished her steak and chicken, and had moved on to ravenously eating her ribs.
"What do you think?"
Crocness swallowed, then looked up at him. "These are great," she replied, picking up another rib.
The pleased feeling that rose in Thorne's chest almost forced a smile onto his face.
"You cooked all of this?" Crocness inquired, pausing from eating more meat.
Thorne nodded. "I cooked the chicken and the ribs, then barbequed the steak."
Crocness took another bite of her rib. "I'm impressed."
"Thanks."
Thorne glanced at Crocness's empty glass sitting next to her plate. He reached over the table, grabbed it, then set it next to his. He grabbed the bottle sitting next to him and filled the crocodile woman's glass with sparkling, dark red juice.
"Here, try this," he advised, handing the glass back to Crocness.
The half-human, half-reptile wiped her hands on a napkin, then took the glass into her hands. Thorne watched her carefully as she took a sip of the sweet drink.
"This is good," she said a few seconds later.
"I made a few alterations to its original formula," the alchemist explained, turning his attention back to his steak.
Crocness drank the rest of her juice, then set the empty glass down. After doing so, she folded her hands together and looked at Thorne seriously. "Okay, who did you kill?"
Thorne looked up from his plate. "What?"
"Why did you do all this? You wouldn't have set this up unless you killed someone, right?" Crocness paused. "If it was Gildar, then I'll let it slide."
Thorne gripped the edge of his fork as he contemplated telling Crocness about the way he felt about her. He was starting to doubt that he should.
He was pretty sure that he liked her. But if he liked her enough to want her to be his girlfriend was another matter. (Although, as he stared at her fierce, sparkling eyes, he was beginning to warm up to the idea.)
Also, he was worried whether or not he would still feel the same way after he was cured from his dragon transformation issue. His emotions have constantly been off and on. However, as he thought about it further, this romantic feeling he had towards Crocness had been consistent.
Crocness stared back at Thorne, waiting patiently for an answer. Thorne took a deep, nervous breath. It's also always nerve-racking for one to admit that they like someone, especially to that person's face. Especially if they had no idea how that person would respond.
Just tell her, Thorne told himself. Find out how she feels.
Thorne tapped the end of his fork on the table. "Well..."
***
Gildar looked down at the ninja crouched beside him. "Shaiden, they're just fine. I think we can leave them alone."
Shaiden kept her eyes on her brother for a moment longer. Then, reluctantly, she replied, "You're probably right."
Gildar arrogantly flipped his hair. "When am I not?"
The ninja rolled her eyes, then looked back at her older brother. After another moment, she smiled. Who knew that Thorne would fall in love, let alone with Crocness?
"I wonder if I can see my reflection better here..."
Shaiden blinked, then turned to the viking in horror. He had his mirror in his hands, and it was dangerously close to the moon's pale rays.
"Gildar, no!"
The ninja grabbed the viking's mirror, but not before it glinted in the moonlight. It was only for half a second, but Crocness still noticed it.
"What was that?" she asked, looking around Thorne.
The alchemist turned around. "What?"
"I saw a flash."
Thorne stared out at the forest. A few seconds later, he set his fork down, then stood up from his chair. "I'll go check," he stated, anger underlining his tone.
By the time Thorne started pacing away, Shaiden had already finished smacking Gildar across the face.
"You idiot!" she growled.
"Sorry!" Gildar replied, rubbing his cheek. "But was the slap really necessary?"
Shaiden groaned, then turned around. "Come on, we have to go," she whispered angrily, running away.
"What about my mirror?"
"Take it and shut up!" Shaiden hissed, throwing the mirror at him.
Gildar caught his red mirror, then quickly followed after the ninja.
"Ahem."
Both Shaiden and Gildar skidded to a stop. They turned around to see Thorne standing in the moonlight with his arms crossed, glaring at them. Shaiden cringed.
Great.
"Hey, Thorne," the viking said, flashing a cocky smile.
Thorne pointed at the two, then at the ground. The blue alchemist kept a heavy, angry stare on his sister and Gildar as they carefully walked over to him. Crocness appeared next to him when he opened his mouth to speak. Or, rather, yell.
"Shaiden, you promised me that you'd stay at the castle tonight!" the alchemist cried, his fangs sticking out more than usual.
Shaiden gazed at her brother with a look of regret. "Thorne, just listen-"
"And you brought him with you!" the alchemist snapped, pointing at Gildar.
"Thorne, please!" Shaiden replied. "We just wanted to make sure everything went okay!"
Crocness stepped in. "Wait, what are you talking about? What's going on?" She turned to Thorne. "Make sure what went okay?"
Gildar narrowed one of his eyes. "You don't know? He was treating you to a dinner date."
Shaiden shook violently, then turned to the viking. "You know, I think you've really mastered the 'Mumbling Moron' move."
Thorne was seething at the viking. His fists were clenched and his face had turned bright red. Crocness looked at Thorne and crossed her arms.
"A date?" she asked.
The alchemist turned back to the reptile woman. There was something in her tone that made Thorne's hard look soften. "I..." He stared at her for a moment, trying to think of how to explain. What he could say to defend himself.
Finally, he sighed, then humbly nodded. "...Yes."
"You mean like a romantic date?"
Thorne felt his cheeks grow warmer. "...Yes."
The water monster stared at him. Whether she was angry, amused, or astonished was hard to determine. But it was awkward nevertheless whatever she was feeling.
After what seemed to be an eternity to Thorne, Crocness turned back to the ninja and viking. "And you two knew about this?"
Shaiden drew in a deep breath. "Yes. Look, I'm sorry we interrupted your evening, but we wanted to make sure everything went okay."
Crocness nodded slowly. "Just in case he..."
Shaiden nodded back. "Yes."
"And you promised to stay behind at the castle tonight?" Crocness inquired.
Shaiden sighed. "I did."
The half-human, half-reptile nodded again, but didn't say anything. Gildar took a deep breath, then looked over at Thorne. His eyes widened.
"Shaiden? Crocness?"
Shaiden moved her gaze to the viking. "What?"
Gildar pointed in front of him. The two ladies turned. They were immediately alarmed when they saw Thorne hunched over, baring his teeth and holding his stomach.
Thorne was angry. And I mean really angry. All he wanted was just one evening, alone, with Crocness. That's all he asked for. But his sister didn't respect that; she even brought Gildar with her!
But Thorne wasn't just angry; he was also frustrated, and even embarrassed. And when those three emotions mix, the results are not by any means pleasant.
"Thorne, no!" Crocness cried.
Thorne roared angrily in reply, and his arms turned completely blue. His fangs jutted out as far as they could go, and his claws jerked out half an inch. The three human Defenders watched in horror as Thorne, now a dark blue dragon, rapidly grew in size.
Then everything went black.