A/N: Alright, I finally got this posted! And...sorry for the short notice, but this is the last chapter. But I believe it's the longest one I've wrote for this story. Hope you enjoy it!
The next three days were critical. Thorne was confined to his bedroom, and had been unconscious the whole time. During the fight with Moray, he had lost a lot of blood; almost enough to kill him. Moray had sunk his claws deep into Thorne's shoulder, and even around the chest area below it. That was why it bled so bad. The other Defenders, especially Shaiden, were all terrified that he might not make it.
However, their fears lessened when he woke up on the fourth day, even though it was just for a few mere seconds. It meant that he was making progress in recovery. The injured alchemist woke three more times that day, and four times during the fifth day. And every time he did, he saw Tinkor right beside him, tending to his wounds.
Near the end of the sixth day, Thorne awoke again. His eyes were still shut, but he was conscious of his surroundings. He was just about to drift back to sleep when he noticed that the atmosphere felt different. He wasn't sure how he knew, but someone was right beside him. And it wasn't Tinkor.
When Thorne opened his eyes, he found himself looking into his sister's face. Shaiden was sitting on a stool beside her brother's bed, and her brown eyes were gleaming with gladness.
"It's about time you woke up," she chimed, smirking playfully. "How are you feeling?"
The blue alchemist paused. He felt tired and sore, and his head ached a little, but otherwise okay. "Fine."
Shaiden nodded. "Good."
Thorne sat up, determined to stay awake for a while. He looked down at the bandages wrapped around his shoulder and part of his chest. His eyes moved down from his shoulder, and he noticed another bandage wrapped around the middle of his upper arm. Moray had put that spiked bracelet right there. Thorne almost flinched when he recalled how much those spikes hurt.
When he looked back at his sister, he was slightly surprised to see her holding the spiked bracelet in her hands.
"I don't know if you want this back or not," she said, handing him the device.
Thorne took the accessory and inspected it carefully. The spikes weren't as stained as he thought they'd be, but nevertheless, it still looked quite sinister. He decided that he liked it by carefully putting it on over his sore arm.
"What happened to Moray?" Thorne asked, turning back to the blue ninja.
Shaiden crossed her arms and smiled evilly. "Let's just say Skabb got a new skull for his collection."
The British alchemist grinned in the same evil manner as his sister.
"I can't give you all the details," Shaiden said a few seconds later. "Skabb and Knightriss want to tell you all about it when you're up for it."
Thorne nodded. "Fair enough."
Shaiden quickly scanned the alchemist's arm, shoulder, and area around it. A moment later, she stared back at her brother's face. "You were a huge mess before we wrapped you up."
The alchemist glanced at his bandaged wounds and shrugged. "Doesn't hurt that bad."
Shaiden nodded. "Crocness said you put up quite a fight."
Thorne's eyes brightened a little, which made Shaiden smirk. He looked away from his sister's face and stared at the doorway.
The ninja seemed to read her brother's mind. "I believe she's in the moat, right now." Shaiden paused. "She wanted to speak to you when you were feeling better."
Thorne nodded, seemingly indifferently. Shaiden wasn't exactly sure what he was really feeling, though, so she changed the subject.
"Tinkor wants you to eat more iron-rich foods. There's leftover unicorn and fresh spinach in the fridge. Can I get you some?"
"Sure," he replied, giving her a nod.
Shaiden returned the nod, with much more energy, then hopped off the stool. She marched to the slightly ajar door, pushed it open, then left. No sooner than three minutes later, she returned with a tray in her hands.
"Here you go," she said, resting the tray in front of Thorne. She tapped the glass of grape juice on the tray. "Make sure you drink this. Gildar said Vitamin C helps your body absorb the iron better."
The alchemist nodded, then stared at his meal for a moment. Shaiden frowned impatiently, then grabbed the silver fork from the tray and thrust it into his hands.
"Eat. Come on. Now."
Thorne gave his sister a look, but complied with her command by shoving a forkful of the unicorn meat into his mouth.
They were both relatively quiet after that. When Thorne was done eating, Shaiden ordered him to get some rest, then took the tray and began to leave.
As she walked away, Thorne noticed that she no longer had a limp. That observation led to a series of memories. In them, he realized that, even though he had been irritable and hurtful towards her during the past week, Shaiden had never showed any bitterness towards him.
"Shaiden?"
She stopped, then turned around. "Yes?"
Thorne lowered his head a bit. "Thanks for all your help. You're a good sister."
Shaiden stared at him for a moment. Afterwards, she put her hand on the door's handle, then smirked at him. "You keep telling yourself that."
With that, Shaiden shut the door, leaving Thorne by himself.
Thorne took a deep breath, then leaned back in his bed and stared at the wall. The hole he had made weeks before was still in need of repair. Right now only a few boards were hammered over it.
As he stared at it, he wondered what Crocness wanted to talk to him about. He tilted his head a bit. Was it important?
He shrugged a second later. If it was, then she would be talking to him at that moment. So probably not.
Nevertheless, though, Thorne was still curious. He groaned, knowing that he wouldn't be satisfied until he knew. He couldn't help it; he was bored. And now that he was awake and had eaten, he didn't want to get rest by means of sleep. He had been asleep for days.
After contemplating how far apart the wooden boards on the wall were, he looked down at the side of his bed. He noticed a brand new pair of boots patiently sitting there. He figured that they were from Ballista, then observed his bandaged arm thoughtfully.
I'm not THAT injured...
***
Crocness was standing at the Defenders' Douse, looking up at the star-lit sky. She had just finished taking a swim in the moat, and was now taking in the nighttime atmosphere. It was dark and mysterious, and a chilly wind was blowing. She and Albert loved it.
Just as another cool breeze swept past her, the reptilian woman's nose picked up a familiar scent. She frowned.
"You're not supposed to be out of your room, dragon boy," Crocness stated without turning around.
"Oy, who said I had to stay in there?" Thorne responded in an almost indignant tone.
The reptilian woman turned around. Thorne was a few paces behind her, carefully working his way over to her. He was walking in a way that looked like he was in pain.
Crocness crossed her arms. "You're supposed to be inside, resting."
Thorne ignored her comment, then finally made it next to her. He leaned against the wall, then glanced down into the moat.
"Feeling alright?"
Thorne nodded, then adjusted his position against the wall. "I'm fine."
The half-human, half-reptile noticed the spiked bracelet around Thorne's arm. She smirked at him. "You like that thing, don't ya?"
The alchemist turned his arm up and down, gazing at his gothic bracelet. "Yeah."
"How does it feel to be human again?"
Thorne observed one of his clawless, scale-free hands. "Good. Although, I wish I still had those claws to terrify Kook with."
The reptilian woman laughed, then sighed. "That was some night, wasn't it?"
Thorne agreed by nodding. He then moved his gaze from his hand to the half-human, half-reptile's face.
There was a mischievous sparkle in Crocness' eyes. "I couldn't help but notice your interesting battle cry that night."
Thorne cocked his head, confused. "What battle cry?"
Crocness smirked at him. Thorne took a moment to recall the night, then suddenly remembered what she was talking about.
"YOU STAY AWAY FROM MY CROCNESS!"
"Oh...that one," he replied, turning red.
The half-human, half-reptile's smirk widened. Thorne frowned, then grudgingly crossed his arms and looked away until his face was no longer red in color.
Crocness looked down at her boots in thought. I wonder if now would be a good time or not...
Thorne saved her the trouble of debating by bringing the subject up himself.
"Shaiden told me you wanted to speak to me about something," he stated, turning back to her.
Crocness nodded. "Yes."
"What about?"
The reptilian woman seemed a little reluctant to say anything, at first. She looked up at the moon for a moment, then finally took a deep breath to begin.
"When you were a dragon...what was it that attracted you to me?"
Now it was Thorne's turn to feel reluctant to speak. He stared at the croc-woman for a long minute, then leaned back a bit more against the wall. He looked at the ground and reflected carefully upon the last month. He was silent for a lengthy period of time.
"...I liked your warrior's spirit," he finally said, looking back up at her. "I've...always liked that about you." He paused. "...And...I liked your scary, mysterious demeanor."
The half-human, half-reptile shrugged. That...sort of made sense. As Thorne continued to stare at her, he felt those familiar, strong emotions stir in his chest. They brought back pleasant memories from the times he and Crocness spent in the forest together.
He showed little hesitation in continuing. "I also liked how your eyes sparkle...and the way your face shines in the moonlight..."
Crocness blinked. "Really?"
Thorne nodded, slightly thrown off by how surprised her tone sounded. "Yes."
The reptilian woman lowered her head a little bit, trying to digest this new information. She was quiet for a moment longer.
"So...you actually thought I was...pretty?"
Thorne shrugged, and almost half-smiled. "Yeah. I guess I did."
The way Crocness looked at Thorne told him she hadn't heard that very often...and that she wished she did. Thorne knew she liked being told she was scary, but had it always been like that? Had her pride in her reptilian appearance ever been replaced with pain?
Thorne looked at her seriously. "Crocness, you're beautiful just the way you are; moss and all. Don't ever let anyone tell you differently."
Crocness stared wide-eyed at Thorne. Then, slowly, a happy, gracious shine appeared in her sparkling brown eyes, before being followed by a sort of worried look. The alchemist didn't notice the latter immediately.
The reptilian woman hesitated to ask. "Do you...still like me as I am?"
Thorne stared deep into Crocness' brown eyes. The warm feeling in his chest seemed to flicker like a flame. Of course he did, whether she reciprocated his feelings for him or not. That was his choice, and nothing would change that.
But he was a bit reluctant to answer right away. Was Crocness interested in building a romantic relationship with him, or was this just out of mere curiosity? He didn't want to feel the sting of rejection again.
He casually shrugged. "Why do you ask?"
Crocness saw past his indifferent shrug and smiled sweetly at him. Another gleam appeared in her brown eyes, and there was a sudden radiance in her face that made Thorne realize he'd be smiling a lot more often from then on.
***
March ended, and the month of April finally came. Thorne was completely healed, the castle was fully repaired, and the only enemies the Defenders had to face were the teenage Attackers. The Defenders were soon reminded how much they actually missed the Attackers. They loved a good challenge, but they would take teenagers over fire-breathing dragons any day.
"I'M AMAZING! WHOO!"
A shower of cold water suddenly fell upon the new Attacker.
"You looked a bit thirsty there, thought you might need a drink!"
The half-human, half-reptile looked down into the moat and watched the sixth Attacker of the day dash across the Baffling Barrels. She nodded with satisfaction when he slipped off the third one. The reptilian woman then raced down to the Splatzooka.
The blue-armored Attacker made it across the first part of the moat, then began to climb the Slippery Slope.
"Hi there!"
The Attacker glanced at the blue alchemist eyeing him from behind the Splatzooka. Thorne shot three splat balls at him, making him stumble.
"Think you're gonna be the king of this castle?" Thorne asked, reloading his weapon.
The teenager didn't reply. He made it to the top of the slope, then stared at the Mace Roll. After making up some sort of strategy, he ran across it. Thorne then shot him in the neck, and the next thing he knew, he was swimming.
"Nice shot, Thorne," Crocness commented, walking next to him.
Thorne cackled in response. "You ain't gonna get the crown like that!" he yelled to the teenager.
"Oh, who asked you?" the Attacker shouted back.
"I'm detecting some sass!" the viking called from behind the Water Cannon.
Thorne shook his head, then looked over at Crocness, who was reloading the Splatzooka for him. When she realized she was being stared at, she blinked, then looked at the alchemist's face.
"Yes?"
Thorne shrugged. "I was just thinking...what do you say we have dinner together this evening? Lakeside barbeque?"
Crocness loaded the Splatzooka with one more slimy splat ball. "I like that idea."
"Great. How do burgers and steak sound?"
"They sound delicious," Crocness replied, flinging slime off her hands. "Think you can make more of that sparkling grape juice, too?"
"Done," he replied with a half-smile.
The half-human, half-reptile grinned back at him.
"Crocness, Thorne!"
The two turned back to the moat to see the blue Attacker crossing the Beastly Battle Axes.
"A little bit of focus!" Gildar cried. "Please!"
Thorne put on a fierce expression, then fired. Moments later, the teenager was swimming with the reptilian woman's relatives.
"What was all that worry about?" Thorne asked, shooting the viking a look.
Gildar rolled his eyes, then turned on the Water Cannon when the Attacker climbed on the top of the second Callous Column. In less than a minute, he had crossed the Rope Bridge of Disaster, and soon the Attacker was on the Finishing Platform, dancing.
The annoyed viking turned towards the Splatzooka. "You know, if you two lovebirds hadn't been so caught up in each others' eyes, he wouldn't be doing the happy dance right now!"
Thorne and Crocness glared at the viking. All of a sudden, Thorne fired the Splatzooka. The flying splat ball would have hit Gildar in the face if he hadn't ducked. The alchemist laughed.
Gildar was infuriated. "Did you just shoot that thing at me?!"
"Oh, I'm sorry; did I mess up your hair?"
Crocness' smile widened while Gildar's scowl hardened. He shook his head, then pulled out his little red mirror. His frown instantly vanished when he saw his hair was just fine.
Thorne turned his attention to the celebrating Attacker. "I'll get you next time," he announced darkly.
A/N: The End! That was fun to write.
So, now...I still need to finish Shoved By a Rainbow; I haven't forgotten about it, I just don't know what other chapters I should do for it. I also have a few ideas for other stories, as well...but not as many as I would like. Oh well; better than nothing, right?
Anyways...thanks for reading my story! And thanks for all your support! Have an awesome day!