Hearts of Heroes
The dragon riders were in the Giant Realm where Buzzsaw had set up several small flags all over the place. The riders and their dragons were taking them all down. Edelweiss supervised, and kept a look out for Buzzsaw himself. The riders' parents decided it was safe for their children to go down into the realms if she was with them. Once the flags were all removed the riders regrouped.
"That seems to be all of them," said D'Angelo. "I knew Buzzsaw was crazy territorial, but this seems next level."
"Yeah," said Alex, who was lounging with Feathers. "We could set up sensors of our own down here." She opened her saddlebags, suddenly she scowled. "Hey, who took all my stuff out and replaced them with cheesy loops?"
"Oh, right here," said Eugene eagerly.
"Maybe we can set up sensors next time we're down here," said D'Angelo. "In the meantime I'd like to check out the flora around here, see if there's anything I can use in the dragon hospital. You want to help Tom?" They all glanced around confused when Tom didn't answer. They soon spotted both him and Jun a short distance away, talking.
"Hey Earth to Jun and Tom," Eugene called. "We're planting over here, maybe you want to be a part of it." Tom and Jun joined them, both laughing.
"Sorry guys," said Tom. "I guess we just got distracted."
"Yeah, you two seem to be getting distracted a lot lately," said Alex.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Tom asked.
"Nothing," said Alex nervously.
"Oh, come on," said Eugene, sneering. "You're not fooling anyone Tommy, just admit you like my sister." Tom rubbed the back of his neck.
"Well, yeah," he stammered. "We all like Jun."
"No, I mean you like like her," said Eugene. Tom burst out in uncomfortable laughter.
"You're funny Eugene," he said. "It's not like that at all. Jun and I have known each other since we were little kids. That would be just weird, because she's weird." He paused realizing what he'd just said, and spotting the angry look Jun was giving him. He tried to back track, but kept stumbling over every other word. He finally stopped and looked sheepishly at Jun.
"Gee Tom, you really think I'm weird?" She asked.
"No, I don't," Tom stammered. "I just mean this is weird." Jun's frown deepened.
"I'm sorry you're so weirded out by me," Jun snapped. "Why don't I just leave you alone, since you prefer that." With that she jumped on her dragon and rode off. She didn't fly since the big Swooper dragons were always prowling the area above the grass. So they just rode on the ground. Jun suddenly spotted Edelweiss and Black Widow riding ahead of them. They'd all been so focused on Tom and Jun, that no one had noticed she'd rode off. Wu and Wei came up alongside Black Widow.
"Hey Edel," Jun sighed.
"Hi Jun," Edelweiss said. "Wu, Wei."
"Why are you out here by yourself?" Jun asked.
"Just looking for any flags they might have missed," said Edelweiss. "Were you looking for me?"
"No," Jun said. She briefly explained everything that had happened in the clearing.
"So you got upset because Tom said you were weird," Edelweiss said.
"Yeah, he said it right out loud," said Jun, raising her voice.
"I see," said Edelweiss. "I take it you're getting tired of people calling you that." Jun nodded.
"I've been called weird by pretty much everyone now," she said. "I'm surprised no one has called you weird."
"Oh they do," said Edelweiss. "But I guess I don't care what others think of me. You've known Tom a very long time?"
"Since we were little kids," Jun said. "Have you been in a relationship?"
"A few," said Edelweiss. "None of them concrete."
"I'm sure your parents had arguments when they were our age," said Jun. Edelweiss suddenly grew sad.
"No," she said gloomily. "When they were around your age my daddy and Grampa went out on a scouting mission one day. They got caught in a very violent storm. My daddy fell out of the saddle and into the sea. He was lost and presumed dead, for many years. The whole family was devastated, too devastated to argue with each other."
"Oh, I see," said Jun softly. "But he was okay though."
"Yes, he'd been rescued by sea dragons," said Edelweiss. "Then taken in by another dragon, my Aunt Windwalker, and her squadron. Daddy helped defend her mountain home from bad humans." Just then they came out of the grass and into a large, bright clearing. In the center was a tree so tall and so thick, it dwarfed a redwood. Jun dismounted and went to sit among its thick roots. Wu and Wei laid down behind her, giving her encouraging nudges. Edelweiss and Black Widow rode off to examine the massive tree. A short time later; Tom landed Thunder near the tree and Tom dismounted. Jun glanced up at him.
"Hey," he said, approaching her. "I wanted to see if you were okay." Jun turned her back on him.
"Like you care," she grumbled.
"What, why wouldn't I care?" Tom asked, stunned. Jun faced him glaring.
"Could you possibly have said weird one too many times," she snapped. Tom opened his mouth, but before he could say anything Buzzsaw came around the corner on Old Jack.
"Surprise kiddos," Buzzsaw taunted. Jun and Tom ran towards their dragons, but Buzzsaw landed between them. "Sorry, your dragons are as good as mine." Tom then spotted a tunnel among the tree roots.
"Jun!" He said, pointing it out to her. Jun saw it and nodded. Tom then looked at the two dragons. "Thunder!" The Night Light turned his attention to Old Jack's tail, and hit with a small lightening blast. The Timberjack roared in surprise and flew off. Thunder, Wu and Wei ran towards their riders and they all ran into the tunnel. Buzzsaw chased after them, but was blocked by a red plasma blast. The blast was strong enough to knock Old Jack off course, but it also caused several large boulders to fall and block off the tunnel. Tom, Jun, and their dragons were trapped inside. Black Widow landed on a thick root out of sight.
Inside the tree; the two dragons had shielded their riders from the dust. Once it cleared the riders got to their feet. No one seemed hurt.
"At least we're okay," Tom said optimistically. Jun just glared at him and walked off. They then examined the place they were trapped in. It was an enormous cavern made out of carved wood.
"Look at this place," Jun said awestruck.
"Yeah not a bad place to be trapped," Tom said. He went to approach Jun, but Wu and Wei slammed their tail down in front of him making him stop. Suddenly they heard creatures chattering. Everyone looked around to see hundreds of small, flightless beaver like dragons. They were mostly white with dark grey markings, and large buck teeth. They all emerged, curious about their visitors. Jun spotted one approaching her. She knelt down.
"Awe, they're like little woodchucks," she cooed, petting the small dragon.
"Woodchippers," Tom said lightly. "They must be the ones that carve this place." He glanced around vast space, now crawling with Woodchippers.
"Well, we better find a way out of here," Jun said, annoyed. "So you won't be stuck in here with me any longer than you have to." She walked off. Tom sighed helplessly. Thunder nudged him encouragingly, grunting.
"Yeah I know, she's tough," Tom whispered.
Outside; Edelweiss and Black Widow crouched in the shadows of the tree roots, waiting for Buzzsaw to make his move. For the moment he was just standing there gloating about cutting the tree down, root by root. Edelweiss pulled out her helmet and put it on. Then suddenly Old Jack headed for the nearest root. Black Widow quickly blocked him with a blast. She jumped out of hiding and perched on the highest root, guarding the tree. Buzzsaw growled in frustration. Then jumped on his dragon and took off. They flew at Black Widow but Edelweiss pulled a flashbang out of her saddlebag and threw it. It exploded near Buzzsaw and Old Jack with a blast so powerful it shook the whole tree, disorienting them. However, they didn't back down.
Inside the tree; Tom, Jun and the dragons heard the commotion out side. The ground shook after each explosion.
"What's going on?" Jun asked. There came another blast that shook the ground.
"Buzzsaw, he must be attacking the tree," said Tom. "If he destroys this tree the Woodchippers will be homeless." Jun then saw the Woodchippers coming at them, glaring and baring their teeth.
"Tom, I think the Woodchippers have just decided that we're the bad guys," Jun said nervously. They all backed into each other, the Woodchippers were getting closer. Thunder growled at them.
"No don't," Tom cautioned. "They're just scared." There came another explosion from outside.
"Edelweiss and Black Widow are out there still," said Jun. "They must be trying to defend the tree."
"Sounds like they could use our help," said Tom. "But the exit is blocked." The Woodchippers came closer. "We wouldn't be in this possession in the first place if Eugene had just kept his mouth shut."
"We wouldn't be here in the first place if you hadn't conveyed how unlikable and weird I am," Jun snapped.
"Now you're just putting words in my mouth," Tom said. "I never said you were unlikable. All I said was we knew each other since we were kids, and it would be weird."
"See?" Jun roared. There came another blast from outside. The Woodchippers screeched in irritation, then continued their advance.
"Can we focus on getting out of here first, then discussing this?" Tom asked, stressed out.
"Sure, avoid the issue," said Jun sarcastically.
"I'm not avoiding anything," Tom shot back. "Except being attacked." He looked down at the advancing Woodchippers. Tom thought a moment. "These guys carved this place. So if we can bond with them, maybe they can dig us out of here."
"Good idea," Jun said. Tom went over to the Woodchippers. He knelt down in front of them. The nearest Woodchipper looked at him, gnashing its teeth. Tom held his hand out to it. The Woodchipper paused and sniffed him, seeming interested. Then came another blast and the Woodchipper snarled, he almost snapped Tom's hand off had Thunder not pulled his rider out of the way.
"I know Edelweiss is trying to help with that blasting," Jun said. "But I wish she'd ease up just a bit." Tom looked down at the Woodchippers. Suddenly they paused and looked off in one direction, as though something had called them. But then they went back to their advance.
"Edelweiss once said that every nest of dragons has someone in charge," Tom said. Jun looked around at the Woodchippers.
"These guys move like a colony of insects," she said. "And where there's a colony of insects, there's a queen."
"Right," Tom said. "If we can find her, and bond with her. Maybe she'll convince these guys to help us." He quickly jumped onto Thunder.
"Looks like it's a good thing I'm around," said Jun sulkily, getting on her dragon.
"I never said I didn't want you around," Tom said. They took off and flew over the Woodchippers.
They wandered the vast cavern for several minuets. So far, they didn't see any sign of the Woodchipper queen. The two riders split up for a short time.
"We've looked all over this place," Tom said, frustrated. "Do these tunnels all look the same to you?" But then Jun spotted something and smiled.
"Not this one," she said, and pointed. They looked to see a small wooden spire in the middle of a chamber. Perched on it was a Woodchipper that was larger than the others, and the only one with wings. It had streaks of neon green among its usual colors of white and black.
"The queen," Tom said, relieved. "We score with her, we're as good as out of here." The two riders dismounted and got a better look at the queen. She was chattering happily with her subjects. Tom calmly approached her and knelt down. The queen approached him, she looked like she was smiling. Tom held out his hand to her.
"Careful Tom," said Jun. "You mess this up you'll be stuck in here with me, and we both know you hate that." Tom faced her shocked.
"What, why would you think that?" He asked. "You're one of my best friends." Thunder suddenly noticed that the Woodchipper queen was about to bite Tom's hand off, and pulled his rider out of the way. The queen hissed angrily, flaring her wings. Tom caught his breath. "What the heck?"
"Looks like you offended her too," said Jun. "You're on a role today." Then she looked over at the Woodchipper queen. "Here let me try." She approached the queen and knelt down. The queen glared at her at first and growled defensively. Jun held her hand out to her, and the queen relaxed slightly. She sniffed Jun's hand curiously. "Hmmm, she doesn't think I'm so repulsive."
"What?" Tom shouted, then he took a deep breath. "Okay, I'm sorry I hurt your feelings. But I was out on the spot."
"Whatever," Jun said, rolling her eyes. Thunder, Wu and Wei saw that the queen was getting upset again and neither rider noticed.
"Oh why couldn't Edelweiss be trapped in her with us?" Wei wondered aloud.
"Yeah, we'd be home free by now," Thunder said. Just then Tom also picked up on the Woodchipper queen's mood.
"Hey Jun, something tells me she changed her mind about bonding with you," he said. Jun spun around and saw the queen snarling at her. Wu and Wei pulled their rider back to the group, as all the Woodchippers came at them again.
"Great, you scared her," Jun said. "And now she's called her whole colony."
"Me!? You were bonding with her," Tom said.
"Well clearly no one feels like bonding today," Jun said. They both got on their dragons and flew off.
They found a smaller cave to hide in. The dragons landed and the riders dismounted. There were no Woodchippers in there. Tom and Jun listened to the conflict out side for a moment.
"Why didn't it work?" Tom asked. "Neither one of us could bond with the queen."
"Yeah," Jun said. "It seemed to work with me, but then you broke my concentration. You put me on the spot and I didn't know what to say, I felt anxious."
"That's how I've been feeling all day," Tom said. "I kept trying to say how I feel, but it kept coming out…"
"Weird?" Jun asked, scowling.
"I know you don't like that word," said Tom. "But yeah, I kept feeling this anxiety." Jun's face suddenly relaxed.
"I think that's it," she said. "Dragons are very sensitive to emotions. Every time we argued the Woodchippers picked up on our anxiety and acted aggressively."
"So if we want to bond with the queen and get out of here. We need to figure out what's making us anxious and resolve it," Tom said. The two dragons exchanged hopeful glances. Tom and Jun thought a moment then both lit up at the same time and faced each other. Tom started to speak but hesitated.
"Well, go ahead," Jun urged.
"Why do I have to go first?" Tom asked.
"Because you're the one who started this whole thing," Jun snapped. Tom stammered again, then paused and took a deep breath.
"Well if you're so sure about what the right thing to say is, why don't you say it?" He asked.
"Because you're supposed to," Jun snapped. "Oh, never mind. Just forget it." And she stalked off to the other end of the cave. Tom went to his side and leaned against the wall.
"Man that was so close," Wei said.
"And now we're back to square one," said Wu.
"I think we're going to have to take initiative on this," said Thunder. Both dragons went over to their respective riders. All was quiet for the moment, apart from the occasional blast from outside. Tom looked around the corner at Jun, who was sat curled in a ball next to Wu and Wei. He walked out to face her, but then she looked at him and he scurried out of sight. Thunder pushed him back out.
"But what if she doesn't feel the same way?" Tom asked. Thunder crooned and gestured towards the outside. Tom knew Edelweiss and Black Widow were out there still fighting to keep Buzzsaw off them. He sighed and approached Jun shyly. "Hey."
"Hey," Jun answered gloomily.
"Look, I'm sorry for what I said," Tom said. "I, I should have told you right away how I felt."
"Felt?" Jun asked.
"How I feel," Tom corrected. He walked over to her and pulled her to her feet so he could look her in the eye. "Truth is Jun, I'm…." But he was interrupted by the sound of a huge explosion outside, that shook the tree.
Outside; Edelweiss and Black Widow were throwing everything they had at Buzzsaw. Every time he and Old Jack made a move Black Widow would use her blast to block them. Occasionally Edelweiss would throw a flashbang, which would disorient her opponent and they had to take several minuets to recover. Buzzsaw glared daggers at Edelweiss and Black Widow.
"Come on Leonard, what happened to all your big bad weapons?" Edelweiss taunted. "Did someone break them or something?"
"Get her Jack, we'll get passed her one way or another!" Buzzsaw roared. He steered the Timberjack towards the tree again. Black Widow flew at them, with her teeth and claws bared.
Back in the tree; Tom, Jun and their dragons took had hit the deck when they heard the sound of the flashbang. The tree shook violently.
"What do we do?" Tom asked. "We can't bond with the Woodchippers won't bond with us and Edelweiss needs our help." Thunder nudged him towards Jun. Tom took a deep breath, he knew what he had to do. He crawled over to Jun. "Okay Jun, I didn't say it before because I didn't want to mess up our friendship. But I like you, a lot. I love hanging out with you. You're the coolest person I've ever met."
"I like you too," Jun said smiling. They both sat up on their knees and Jun grasped Tom's hand in hers. Suddenly they heard chattering behind them. They looked to see all the Woodchippers watching them, the queen at the front. She seemed to smile up at them. Jun laughed. "Looks like we have an audience." The queen approached them and they held out their hands to her. She leaned into their touch, purring.
"We need to get out of her," Tom told her. "Think you can help us out?" The queen smiled and nodded. Then she turned to her subjects and barked out orders. The Woodchippers instantly started chewing their way through the walls. Tom and Jun got on their dragons. The Woodchippers soon chewed them a hole big enough that they could fly through. They flew outside just in time to see Old Jack and Black Widow collide in mid air. Old Jack managed to grasp Black Widow's neck in his jaws. It caused her no damage since she was protected by her armor, but it kept her from biting back.
"Hang on Edel!" Tom called. He and Jun steered their dragons towards the conflict. Black Widow slapped Jack in the head with her tail, which caused him to release her. Edelweiss steered her over to the other two riders.
"What kept you?" She asked, slightly irritated.
"Sorry, we had to work some things out," said Jun. "But we could never have gotten out if it weren't for our new Woodchipper friends." She pointed to the Woodchipper queen and her colony.
"Oh, nice," Edelweiss said.
"Those runty dragons will pay the price for helping you," Buzzsaw roared. "I'll make sure of it." He steered Jack down but were suddenly blasted by a bomb loogie. Everyone turned to see the rest of the riders heading towards them. Buzzsaw roared in outrage and steered Jack towards them, but then Black Widow rose up to block him. Edelweiss pulled out a canister of mace and sprayed it right in Buzzsaw's face. He howled in pain and now had no choice but retreat. He covered his stinging eyes with one hand and steered Jack away with the other. The riders all landed their dragons near the tree. Edelweiss put the mace back in her saddle bag. The Woodchipper queen flew up and perched on Black Widow's head. She chirped and squealed with excitement, the others did the same.
"What's she saying?" Tom asked.
"She says she's happy that the two of you are friends again," Edelweiss explained. "And thanks for keeping that parasite off her tree. We're all welcome to return anytime." She scratched the queen behind her horns. Tom and Jun smiled warmly at each other. Then they all looked up at the giant tree.
"Well, this it one tree Buzzsaw won't be destroying," D'Angelo said. The riders all said good bye to the Woodchippers, then got on their dragons and flew off home.