All Wings of Fire property belong to Tui T. Sutherland, I only own my OCs.
Author's Notes: First let me apologize to those that read my silly fic, sorry for the embarrassingly late chapter.
Stuff happened that messed me over both physically and mentally that I couldn't focus writing this chapter out, but I'm relieved to say my life has gotten steadier, so that basically means that my future uploading schedule should at the very least be sooner and predictable.
Gonna keep it short since I still have things to say, so I'll keep it in another author note's box in the bottom of this chapter for those interested in my plans and ideas for the future of this story.
Please do NOT hesitate to criticize my work, or point out any flaws and inconsistencies in this fic. If I wanna improve as a writer, I'd need them. I only ask you to do so politely.
Hope you enjoy this chapter.
Percival's POV:
"Haaahahh…"
Stretching my back as I woke up groaning, on a bed made with nothing but soft old fiber.
I sat up from my bed and immediately began looking for my old tank top, wincing in pain as I bent over to retrieve it from the floor.
'getting old…'
Smelling it, I reluctantly put it on.
Next, I retrieved my now cleaned lab coat that stood hanging on the wall.
With that simple morning routine, I was ready for the day.
My current residence was an old house the elder previously owned before his demise, since I refused to take the blood soaked one. I even had it ordered to be destroyed, so now it was reduced to only salvage.
I walked out of my small room, and into another that was just opposite of it. Inside a desk was facing the door along with a chair, I promptly walked around it yawning as I lazily sat down in the chair. Reaching for underneath the desk, I pulled out a stack of paper that was tied with a piece of string.
Laying it on my desk, I untied the string and pulled out the top sheet of paper. I aimed to continue finishing what I couldn't finish the night prior, mostly due to my laziness I'll admit.
I scooted the stack of paper to the side of the desk, a little anxious that the breeze from the nearby open window would swoop them all away. But either way I retrieved my ink and quill, and so I began to write once again about the past month of ruling here.
'Much more difficult than I ever expected…'
Turns out ruling a village that feared you proved to be more troubling than beneficial. Sure, they're willing to do what you say just because they're afraid of losing their lives. But that's the minority of this village, the majority despises me, and would much rather kill me.
So basically.
Not much was accomplished this past month.
Whenever I try to go out in public, everyone quickly usher themselves right in their own homes. Even the remaining warriors don't dare to look directly in my direction but rather glare at me menacingly from a distance, and the children run off whenever I try to approach them. Few seemed to actually like me, but they were shunned or insulted by others for their admiration for me, and consequently brought them to dislike me instead.
Even Flea.
To be fair, upon further self evaluation. Not like I could blame him, turns out death or murder isn't something that's taken as lightly as I thought it would.
'…'
'Sigh'
It was disheartening for sure, it's not like I wanted to be a tyrant. I genuinely want to help these people, and at the time I figured the approach I took was the most only way I'd be able to build a prosperous future for everyone, kill the few to save the many, ya know? But now I realized that I need them to trust me, not fear me, and I'd have to find a way to do so.
Ruling over your subjects just because they fear you would be an inevitable demise, they'd eventually revolt and kill you. A future I obviously do not want, and it's a future I need to find a way to prevent.
Letting out a breath, clenching the wet quill tightly around my fingers.
I began to scribble some more ideas, reaching deep into the crevices of my mind to come up with a more successful method to gain the trust of those around me.
I tried before to gain the trust of the children, by introducing common childhood games these children might enjoy.
Third Person POV:
A group of children were happily playing, only a week or so after the massacre. Doing everything they can to forget about the event, and moving on from the grief of losing their loved ones.
Not an easy task for children, but it was better than sitting in their homes all day, fearing what else they're new Lord could have in store for them.
So today.
All the children of the village reunited to resume their weekly hangouts.
And for today, they wanted to play keep up. The concept was simple, keep the ball in the air. You do this by tossing the ball in the air, and as soon as it drops down to you. You'd knock it back up in the air with your palm, or any other means. As long as you don't catch it, it counts.
All the while, someone keeps count of the amount of hits. So far the record is 78 hits before the ball falls onto the ground, they intend to break that record eventually.
And today might be the day.
*Thud.* The ball weakly fell on the grass, a child remained zoned out on the field just next to it with other children circling around him, looking at him disappointingly.
"Awww come onnn Flea!"
"We were doing so good…"
"What was the score?"
"Hurry up and let's do it again!"
The group of children began to whine but others continued to remain ecstatic about their silly game, everyone was having a generally good time.
Flea, the child that messed up the game. Continued to stare blankly into the forest, it was only until another boy his age poked his cheek.
Bringing back Flea.
"H-hey!" Shouted a Flustered Flea at the boy who took the liberty of poking his cheek, giggling mischievously.
Another boy picked up the ball from the grass and noticed Flea rubbing his cheek, glaring at the boy who poked him.
The boy who was staring at the two, holding the ball in his hands, couldn't help but ask.
"What's up with you?" The child asked bluntly, catching Flea entirely off guard.
Flea turned around facing the child that asked him, unease present in his face.
"Shush!"
The child looked anything but offended, deadpanning Flea who was nervously twiddling his fingers.
"Mhm…" The child finally mumbled out, raising a small brow at Flea who only became more nervous.
"Can you two shut up, let's start the game!"
"Yeah what she said, Hurry up!"
"What was the score, can someone tell me already!?"
The child holding the ball rolled his eyes at Flea, and turned to face the others who were patiently waiting around him. Eager to resume their game and hit the ball with all their might into the air, the child glanced once more at Flea who stood behind him. He gave Flea a somber look, and returned his gaze to the other children around him. Raising the ball in the air with his hand.
"Ready!?" The child shouted.
Immediately, all the children around him happily cheered.
"Yeah!"
"I was born ready!"
"I'm ready! I'm ready!"
"WHAT WAS THE SCORE!?"
Ignoring the last child, he threw the ball into the air.
When the game officially started, Flea only stared at the group of children as they began to slap the ball into the air. All laughing together as one, even strategizing with buddies to find the most efficient way in keeping the ball in the air.
'How could they just be okay with this…' Flea grimly thought.
Flea couldn't get what happened a week prior out of his mind, he'd never seen anyone act so strange before, let alone violent. Even his father was unnerved and distraught at what he'd done, and Flea swore that his father could take on a dragon without breaking a sweat.
Looking at all of these children playing as if nothing happened, really tugged at Flea the wrong way. But he couldn't blame them, they weren't there when everything happened. Flea was the only child present during the massacre, and every other kid in this village was only told to "not to worry about it and stay away from him.".
Course, some other kids were equally as distraught as Flea. Solely because they lost their loved ones.
Just because of some foreigner, who apparently wanted nothing but the best for their village. Flea now thought it to be ridiculous, how could he want the best for the village if he already killed a few members of it?
Technology was one thing Caine told him personally about, maybe that could be how he fixes the village? That's how he makes it better? But Flea still doesn't even know what technology is, but he's not sure if he even wants to know anymore based on what happened
'Magic man…'
'…'
"Caine…" Flea grumbled, tugging at his shirt in frustration.
There was a short period of time Flea thought of that man as a new foreign friend.
So the thought of being able to welcome him personally into his tribe was something he really looked forward to, especially after Caine promised to show him some magic.
Flea knew magic was something his village frowned upon, but it was his guilty pleasure. So the moment Caine promised something of the sort, Flea couldn't simply pass that on.
But because he didn't.
He helped lead Caine into his place he called home, the same Caine which caused a disaster his village had never experienced.
Multiple dear members of his village were slaughtered because of his foolishness, a guilt he alone had to bear.
He hated it.
He hated Caine.
'Why did Caine have to be so-'.
"Watch out!"
Flea looked out last minute to the voice that called out to him, then looked up to see a ball barreling to his face.
All of his self preservation was thrown at the window as Flea only stared blankly at the ball with wide eyes.
"Oh-" Flea blinked once more, completely accepting his fate to be socked by a ball. Only for that fate to be ripped from him by a random hand.
Flea blinked and turned behind him to thank his savior, only for his eyes to widen in fear.
His savior was Doctor Caine.
Flea stood agape at Doctor Caine's sudden appearance, positioned ready to run any second away from him.
The children also paused, taking in who exactly was Flea's savior. Many stood still in shock, others stood in fear, and a few others bore an angered look as they all continued to stare up in silence at Doctor Caine.
Doctor Caine during all of this, after saving Flea from being hit by a ball. Awkwardly stood there, sweat dribbling down his forehead as he felt the stares of a dozen children.
Doctor Caine stared down at Flea, and offered him a warm smile.
Flea started crying.
Then he ran off.
"Oh…" Was all Doctor Caine said, watching Flea run off into the village.
All the other children only stared at Flea running, all unsure if they should follow suit or not.
They all turned back to face Doctor Caine, who was now slightly blushing in embarrassment.
Caine's eyes widened at a sudden realization, and quickly offered the ball back to one of the kids.
"H-Here's your ball." He awkwardly handed it over to a nearby little girl, who screamed at his sudden gesture and hid behind another little boy.
Despite Caine holding an uneasy smile on his face, doing his best to appear friendly. It genuinely hurt how she reacted to him.
'I can't be that scary!' He screamed out in his head.
A boy snatched the ball from Doctor Caine's hand and ran off back into the village.
Unlike last time, all the children followed him.
Which only left Doctor Caine staring at them as they all ran off into the village, unsure of what to do now.
'Oh dear…'
Doctor Caine stuffed his hands into his lab coat, feeling the breeze of the wind hit him. Causing his ripped lab coat to sway in the wind, he simply stood there.
Thinking.
'I just wanted to ask them if they wanted to play red light green light.'
Percival's POV:
So that didn't work out.
I leaned back in my chair, clenched my hair in frustration. Staring onto the wooden ceiling as I continued to think about my past failures in building friendships.
'Why is it always so…Difficult for me.'
I realized when I was younger that building fruitful relationships is nothing like solving equations. No numbers, statistics, physics, or anything of the sort was involved in making them. It required human interaction, something I embarrassingly lacked.
Something I TERRIBLY lacked.
What little human interaction I achieved was through my academic career until I was 28, only a few years later and doing some "Questionable" task given by a third party. I was offered to work for the Skia Society, and of course I accepted.
I was given the opportunity to work for the shadow government, who in their right minds would deny that? At Least in my opinion, I doubt that anyone would.
By that point I was only working with a close team of other scientists alike, and I've been with them for the next few decades of my life. But just because we spent that long together doesn't mean we ever got along or even developed any sort of a friendship, we were only coworkers.
Nothing more.
Even then, and as pathetic as this sounds.
I wanted friends.
But no one wanted to be my friend.
I even went as far as to purchase gifts for all of my coworkers, assisting in organizing their birthdays, preparing their favorite meals for each scientist individually, in the hopes that at the very least they'd want to spend time with me. If they didn't, I would've been satisfied with a simple thank you.
They could've cared less.
Everyone only saw me as a cold hearted monster, something they didn't hesitate to tell me in my face. No matter how hard I tried to show I was more than that, they never removed that label from me. Just because I took the decisions that involved the best interest of the Skia Society and humanity as a whole.
'What else did they possibly expect from me!?'
Those people weren't idiots, they knew damn well what kind of job they signed up for the moment they joined the Society! It's not my fault I did their fucking job better then they ever could!
"Damn them all!" I slammed my fist on my desk, resulting in the papers on my desk to jump. Causing a few of them to flutter off, while the large stack of them remained largely undisturbed.
I watched the few that flew off my desk with a weak gaze, cursing myself for my childish behavior.
'This is probably the reason why they never associated with me…'
With a huff, I got up from my chair and began to pick up the small mess of paper I made. Doing my best to refrain from thinking of the far past, I decided to think of the only decent memory I made so far.
Third Person POV:
A little girl was happily walking along the trail towards Doctor Caine's residence, holding a plate of food.
The plate of food was meant for her, but she decided to be generous and give it to their new lord. In the hopes of actually getting to know him, the little girl heard what happened at the previous Elder's residence.
But despite this, she continued walking towards his direction.
Thankfully none of her loved ones had died during the incident, but even then. Even after listening to the countless warnings given from the adults of the village, she wanted to form her own opinion about the man that now ran their village.
Naturally a bit nervous, but she was determined to know this strange man of the village. Somebody who apparently everyone feared, but she simply couldn't believe anyone could be that mean.
Even the dragons didn't cause this much fear to this village compared to the fear this lone man caused, so to this little girl she was confident that everyone was just exaggerating things to scare the children of the village.
Plus, she believed everyone deserves a second chance.
With this in mind, she arrived at his house.
Approaching his door, she couldn't help but feel a little anxious. Looking down at the plate of food on her hands, she hoped that Doctor Caine would like it. The meal was simple, but to the little girl it was the best thing in the world. It consisted of a generous slab of cooked deer meat, beans, mashed potatoes, and to top it off some cornbread.
Taking a few anxious breaths, she looked back up to the wooden door in front of her and knocked on it a few times. She stood up straight, doing her best to hold her nervous smile as she patiently waited for him to open the door.
A few moments passed and she began to grow a bit somber at the silence, but then she finally perked up the moment she heard a few thuds from the other side. Only a few moments more and the front door was open, revealing a Doctor Caine that stared down at the girl inquisitively.
Her mind went blank as she felt his eyes fall on her, a second later her words came back to her.
"Hi!" The little girl yelled out, raising the plate of food towards Doctor Caine.
"Hello?" Doctor Caine looked at the plate, and wasn't sure what she was signaling.
'Is this for me?' Eyeing the meal the girl was holding up towards him. 'That's preposterous.' He couldn't help but think of the possibilities as to why a little girl would come offer him food, he even went as far as to consider it poisoned.
"This is f-for you!" She smiled at him brightly, albeit sweating nervously waiting for his reaction.
Doctor Caine began to feel just as nervous, he was crossing territory he'd never thought possible for him to achieve. He found himself subtly blushing in embarrassment, at a loss for words, thousands of thoughts sprang in his head. Each of them calculating why she could possibly be out here, Doctor Caine simply couldn't believe someone would go out of their way to see him and offer him a meal, let alone a little girl.
"W-would you like to come in?" Doctor Caine asked nervously, stepping out of the doorway for her to enter.
"I-" The little girl never thought she'd be offered to go inside the Lord residence, and certainly didn't expect to make it this far.
But in an effort to remain respectful to their new lord, she accepted.
She lowered the plate to her stomach and nodded, then carefully walked into Doctor Caine's home. Doctor Caine closed the door behind her, and quickly brushed past her into the small kitchen/living room in his house. The little girl didn't move from the entrance however, waiting patiently for her lord to address her.
"Please, take a seat!" Doctor Caine called out to her from his kitchen/living room, motioning towards one of the 2 chairs by the wooden table. The little girl peeked her head around the corner, and nimbly walked over to where Doctor Caine was motioning. She carefully laid the cold plate of food on the table, and sat comfortably on the wooden chair, doing her best to scooch herself closer to the table.
Meanwhile, Doctor Caine was frantically trying to find a source of water. Holding an empty wooden cup in his hand, he mentally cursed himself for being unprepared.
'It had to be now!'
'I can't even supply her with a simple cup of water, this is humiliating!'
'I can't mess this up!'
Doctor Caine, accepting his failure in procuring a cup of water. Sighed, and laid it in a cabinet. He took a moment to practice smiling, doing his best to appear friendly. After deciding on a smile, he calmly approached the little girl with his hands behind his back.
"Th-thank you for your kind and thoughtful gift, small child." giving her the most genuine smile he could muster.
The little girl sat on the chair, noticing Doctor Caine's slow approach as he sat diagonally to her right. But thanks to his friendly demeanor, she felt more relaxed than she ever has since she met him.
"No worries!…Ocker cannn?" She finished off, unsure of her pronunciation of his name.
"It's Doctor Caine." He corrected, still holding his smile.
"Doker caym?"
His brow twitched, in mild frustration at her mispronunciation.
"Do-ct-er Ca-ine, is how it's pronounced."
"Okay Do-ct-er Ca-aine!" Smiling at him innocently.
'This child…'
Doctor Caine made a quick mental note to establish proper reading classes, maybe even introduce the English language into this village. But he can worry about that another time, as the little girl continued to stare at Doctor Caine expectantly.
"Just call me Percy…" Doctor Caine eventually conceded, refusing to waste more time trying to help this child pronounce his title and name.
"Percy?" She asked.
"Mhm, I'm giving you permission to call me that. Only in private, Make sure to remember that."
She stared at him blankly as she took in what he said, before nodding at him in confirmation.
"Percy is a funny name." the little girl blurted, giggling.
"What? It's a normal name." A subtle memory returned to him about Flea also poking fun at his name and title.
"No it's not silly!" She joked at him, giggling even more now.
Doctor Caine lost his smile for a second, but soon bore it again.
"Okay, what's your name then?" He challenged.
"Daisy!" She proudly announced.
'Huh, her name is more normal than I thought…'
Caine turned his attention to the plate of food on his table, and questioned Daisy about it.
"And you said this is for me?" Asking in confirmation.
"Uhh…" Completely forgetting about her original intentions of coming to his residence in the first place, she snapped her gaze to what Doctor Caine was now picking at "Yes! S-sorry I almost forgot…"
"Hmm…" Doctor Caine inspected the cold meat, poking it, feeling its texture and slightly recoiling at the charred smell.
'Did they even use seasoning?…'
Doctor Caine pulled the plate closer to him, he inspected the dish and its contents slowly, all the while Daisy looked at him uneasily due to his now serious expression.
Doctor Caine flipped the meat over to view the underside, only to shake his head in disappointment. He then poked at the mashed potatoes to test its consistency, before scooping some with his finger and putting some in his mouth.
'It's Incredibly moist, and even more bland…'
Next on Doctor Caine's inspection was the beans, he slightly grimaced at the unpleasant sight of them. Just a brown wet mass on a plate, he scooped up some on his stone knife and planted it in his mouth.
'Disgusting.'
He spat out the brown mush from his mouth onto the plate, which caused Daisy to stare at him in genuine shock.
'He doesn't like it!?' Daisy began to panic. If the rumors about him were true, then she didn't want to be left alone with him. Maybe it was a bad idea for her to come.
Doctor Caine used his stone knife to attempt to cut a piece of the deer meat, only for the knife to not be able to pierce it cleanly.
'It's like cutting into leather…' He scowled at the slab of meat that now laid motionless on his plate.
He didn't even bother with the cornbread.
Doctor Caine put his left elbow on the table and began to scratch his chin with his eyes closed, deep in thought.
Daisy was only becoming more anxious and panicked as time went by in silence, to the point where tears were welling up in her eyes. She only wanted to make a good impression with Doctor Caine, now she was afraid that Doctor Caine wouldn't like her, or do even worse.
But Inside Doctor Caine's mind, he was busy concocting the future of his village, the culinary aspect specifically. Different methods jumped out at him as to how he can introduce more modern and delicious forms of cooking, but he quickly dismissed them as they were unlikely to actually work, at least for now.
Not because they were impossible, but because no one trusts him in this village. You can't forcefully teach someone, they'll simply ignore anything you tell them, or simply do the bare minimum. Doctor Caine believes cooking should be done for the passion, that's how delicious meals are made.
'But maybe…'
He could attempt to inspire them, and fortunately for Doctor Caine. He already had someone in front of him he can inspire, he just has to pull it off.
Doctor Caine won't allow this to fail, even if it's something as trivial as cooking. He already failed in gaining back Flea's trust, he doesn't want to mess up this next opportunity he's been given.
"I-I'm so s-sorry Percy…" Daisy choked out, the tears overwhelming her as they slide down her red cheeks "I d-don't mean t-."
*Slam.*
Daisy let out a yelp as Doctor Caine slammed both of his palms on the table while he got up, before he turned away from her. He looked at her dead in the eye, with nothing but a determined expression on his face.
"Stay here."
With that, he left his home.
Daisy blinked in confusion, wiping her eyes while she stared blankly at the door Doctor Caine just left through. Time passed, and she eventually calmed down to the point where she was only sniffling, doing her best to clean her snot and tears from her face.
Daisy didn't know why she actually sat there and waited, her mother was probably paranoid by now. But something told her that she needed to accept whatever fate Doctor Caine had in store for her, she didn't believe she could escape even if she tried.
After a few more minutes of silence, with the only sound being Daisy sniffing her nose. The front door opened to reveal a Doctor Caine holding a bag of fresh meat, he promptly walked in and headed straight for the backyard.
Daisy couldn't even register Doctor Caine walking in, before he seemingly vanished into thin air. She looked to her left and right and to no surprise Doctor Caine was nowhere to be seen. Footsteps were soon heard approaching from the backyard, and Doctor Caine walked back in, now empty handed and went straight for the cabinets in his kitchen.
Daisy wanted to ask what he was up to, but the way Doctor Caine acted. It made her think twice. It was as if Doctor Caine was a robot, every movement he did was almost mechanical, calculated, he snatched up various seasonings from the cabinet with precision.
Doctor Caine stuffed all the seasonings that were stored in bags into his lab coat pockets, he spun around and walked straight for the backyard once more. His serious demeanor not faltering, not even for a moment.
The little girl now stood there in the kitchen as he left for the backyard once again, contemplating whether to actually remain or run out the house.
After a moment, Daisy decided to leave.
She quickly ran over to the front door, prepared to book it the moment she opened it. Only to be halted by a booming voice.
"Daisy!" Called out Doctor Caine from his backyard.
She froze in fear holding the doorknob, weighing the options to either completely disregard her lord's orders, or to simply endure whatever Doctor Caine had planned for her.
'I don't wanna die…' She silently cried, the rumors and stories she heard from the older folks of her village jumping in her head. The fact that Doctor Caine had killed members of their village without a second thought was now dawning on her, regretting her decision entirely in coming here. Daisy just wanted to give someone a second chance, but now because of that she fears for her life.
'Why did I have to be so stupid!'
"Daisy?" Doctor Caine called out to her, but this time much softer.
She didn't turn, and remained facing the door with her hand on the doorknob. Looking down at the feet, nervously shuffling.
Doctor Caine, unsure of what to do. Slowly approached the little girl and got on one knee, and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. Daisy jumped at the contact, but semi-relaxed a moment later.
"W-" Doctor Caine cleared his throat, and attempted to speak once more "What's wrong?" Doctor Caine did his best to speak in a gentle and comforting tone, but it sounded more demanding than he would've liked.
"N-nothing…" Daisy choked out, doing her best to hide the emotion in her voice but failing miserably. She wiped the tears from her eyes with her arm and dried them off on her dress.
Doctor Caine uncomfortably patted her shoulder, once again unsure of what to do in this situation. So he decided to continue his original plan.
"Come." He carefully grabbed her wrist from the door, and began to lead her to his backyard. Daisy allowed him to do so, not fighting back in the littlest.
Daisy squinted once she left the inside of his home, the sun was glaring down at her. Just a moment later she was finally adjusted to the light outside, and scanned her surroundings.
Doctor Caine's backyard was nothing special, it was more ordinary than anything. It had no gate whatsoever, it was simply a small open plain until the tall forest just beyond the village. Though only one thing stood out to Daisy was the odd formation of rocks that she noticed she was heading to with Doctor Caine.
It looked like a miniature stone stove, 2 stones remained prostrated on the ground just beside each other, leaving an open gap between them. Above them laid a large flat smooth stone that stood as a bridge, connecting the 2 stones together. Just beside this small structure, laid a bag with a nice slab of meat inside. Along with a nice supply of dry sticks and other shrubs as fuel.
Daisy didn't know that however, she stared at the bag in curiosity. She felt the soothing breeze, and slightly shivered as it made contact with her tear soaked cheeks. Daisy looked up to Doctor Caine while he held her wrist, guiding her to the small structure. He looked on ahead without sparing Daisy a glance, deep in thought.
A few moments later, they arrived.
"Sit and watch Daisy." Ordered Doctor Caine, and Daisy did so.
Doctor Caine knelt down just beside the homemade stove he had built moments prior, he reached into a pocket inside his lab coat and extracted a few miniature bags. Each containing ingredients he gathered and a few handmade seasonings, he placed them orderly on the ground. Next, he reached into the opposite pocket. Withdrawing his phone, he turned the screen to face him and narrowed his eyes to take a quick peek at the time.
Daisy stared in slight wonder at the device, obviously. She had never seen a phone, let alone anything that resembles it. So she couldn't help but stare at the strange device, squinting to get the best possible view of the screen due to the glaring sun obscuring most of it.
'Could that be what Flea was talking about?…'
Flea mentioned it to her and their group of friends about his experience with Doctor Caine, he didn't speak much of the finer details of their interaction. Mostly because Flea was still ashamed of his involvement, but the children didn't care much for that. What the children did care about was the device Flea mentioned in his experience, a device that seemingly held kittens inside.
'There are kittens in there!' Her eyes widened, finally making the connection.
*Click.*
"Aww…" And just like that, they were gone.
As soon as Doctor Caine clicked the power button, he flicked a switch on the back of the phone. A small flame now appeared at the end of it.
"What!?" Now Daisy couldn't keep silent.
The simple act of flicking a switch and a fire manifesting was something unbelievable to her, something that can only be done by magic.
'It's real!'
Doctor Caine was a little amused at her reaction, he purposely flexed his phone to her for a reaction. In the hope of her wanting to learn more about the device and its origins, much like what he did with Flea.
Doctor Caine lowered the phone to ignite the sticks and shrubs that he stuffed under the stone structure. Once he did, The fire began to cackle as Doctor Caine began to fan it to help it spread, throwing some extra grass and twigs for good measure.
"H-how'd you do that!?" Shouted Daisy, standing up at his side now. Looking intently at the flame while he pocketed his phone once more.
"Magic." Replied Doctor Caine, purposely adding an ominous tone in his voice as he said it.
"Woaahhh!" Daisy was stoked, her fear of Doctor Caine before washing away.
'One at a time.' Doctor Caine thought to himself.
As the stone heated up, Doctor Caine reached for the bag of meat and dragged it towards him.
"Hmm…" Doctor Caine grumbled once he realized his lack of preparedness, he required a flat stone rock to use as a table to cut the meat.
'I swear, I'm getting stupider by the day here.'
"Stay." Ordered Doctor Caine, he stood up and began to scour the area for any flat smooth rocks. At Least ones large enough for his needs.
It only took a few minutes of scuffing around, Daisy watched him from a distance while she sat.
Finally, he returned with a rock.
He set up the rock by laying it on the ground after cleaning it thoroughly through the available means, he slapped the meat on top of it and began to work.
Using his stone knife, he cut away at the fat.
"Tch!"
Doctor Caine holstered the stone knife as it barely cut through the fat, clearly the knife lacked an edge. But his phone knife didn't.
He withdrew his phone, and with a flip of a switch, he revealed a knife that remained hidden on the side of a phone. Daisy continued to stare in wonder at the device, silently betting what else it could do.
'I wanna play with the little kittens inside!'
Doctor Caine, none the wiser at Daisy's intense stare. Tugged on the knife that protruded from the phone, making it release it all together. Now with the new blade he began to cut the fat off the meat. A small smile of satisfaction formed on his lips, it cut through the fat like butter.
Using the fat from the meat, he threw it on the heated stone slab. A loud sizzle was heard instantly as the fat began to slowly melt away, Doctor Caine did this in hopes of lubricating the slab just a bit and so it could replace the lack of butter and vegetable oil this village had.
Daisy flinched slightly at the noise, and turned her gaze back to the stone stove. The fat began to bubble slightly, and began to shrink into a liquid. She turned her gaze back to Doctor Caine, he plucked a small bag off the ground that contained his ingredients. Next, he removed the meat and placed it back into the bag.
He then returned his attention to the bag he just picked up, and removed the contents of it. It contained jalepeños.
Doctor Caine diced the jalepeños into a nice group of small circles on the stone he used before, and chucked them onto the stone stove. With the fat completely melted, it began to bubble with the introduction of Jalepeño to the mix.
Quickly, he exposed his next ingredient. A single onion. Much like he did with the Jalapeño, he diced the onion into fine squares. Only using half of it, he left the remaining half of the onion bag in its bag. He scooped the diced onion in his hand and poured it over the stone stove. Using his knife to spread it evenly over the slab.
Lastly, brown sugar. Which thankfully enough, wasn't too hard to acquire since he did have to ask for it from a nearby vendor in the village.
With the brown sugar, he poured it over the slab much like he did the onion. Allowing it to mix with the jalepeños, onions, and melted fat. Each ingredient sizzled in the intense heat, emitting an incredibly appetizing smell causing Daisy to hover closer just so she can get a better whiff of it.
Satisfied, Doctor Caine reached for the meat in the bag and made space for it on the slab. He slowly lowered it onto the slab, instantly eliciting loud sizzles as the meat finally made contact with the stove.
Using the side of his knife, he scooped up the melted fat, diced onions, diced jalepeños, and lastly partially caramelized brown sugar. He lathered the top of the meat with the mixture, so both sides can be evenly seasoned as possible.
Daisy stayed silent, she noticed the seriousness Doctor Caine did this entire action with. She refused to break his line of intense focus, but also watched in wonder and curiosity at the preparation of the meat. To her it seemed awfully elaborate and time consuming, but everything told her that whatever he was making.
Would be worth it to wait.
And wait she did, the breeze of the wind carrying various vegetation through the air. Doctor Caine and Daisy watched the venison cook in silence, the pleasant aroma growing by the second as the wind carried it further.
Doctor Caine comfortably sat on the ground, watching the meat intently while it cooked. Daisy was also seated next to him, her eyes fixed on the meat as well. But she took small glances at Doctor Caine, studying him. Debating whether she should ask a question that's been nagging at her for a while.
She let out a nervous breath, deciding to just go for it since she doesn't know when will be the next opportunity to ask him this.
"Percy?…"
"Hm?" Doctor Caine side-eyed her, refusing to face her directly.
"What-" Daisy hesitated "What do you plan to do with my home?" Speaking cautiously, partially expecting him to jump at her for asking such a question.
Doctor Caine took his eyes off her and watched the venison once more. He sighed, got up, and stabbed the knife into the meat. He flipped it over so it can begin to cook on the other side, exposing the seared side of the venison. He quickly lathered the meat once again with its juices before he sat down.
He took a small breath and he closed his eyes, envisioning his future.
"Make it a thriving city." Doctor Caine answered, opening his eyes to continue watching the venison cook.
"City?…" Daisy answered, not knowing what the word city meant.
"Or in other words, make it a kingdom." sparing a glance at her, to view her reaction.
"Kingdom…" Daisy muttered, in slight disbelief.
"Is it not…already good enough? I-I think our home is pretty nice…" Asked Daisy earnestly, for the 9 years she's been alive. She had never once felt the need to improve this village she called home, Daisy had everything a young child could ask for. Friends her age, a family, delicious foods, a home, and even a school. To think a man who came seemingly out of nowhere, immediately commits multiple accounts of manslaughter, and all of a sudden claims to change it into a prosperous kingdom.
Well, it seemed silly to Daisy.
So naturally she couldn't help but doubt it.
However, Doctor Caine seemed to emit an aura she had never felt before. Something strange and foreign, almost paranormal.
"No." Replied Doctor Caine much more firmly, with a hint of disgust.
"It's nowhere near good enough Daisy." Doctor Caine turned to look at their directly, narrowing his eyes at her as he spoke "But I will make it better, better for all of us to enjoy."
"H-how?…" Asked Daisy weakly, unnerved by the stare Doctor Caine was giving her.
"By any means necessary Daisy, it will be done."
Doctor Caine averted his gaze from Daisy, and got up to stand the venison on its side so it could cook evenly, holding it in place with his knife.
As Doctor Caine continued to flip the meat on its sides, Daisy sat in silence. Marinating on what Doctor Caine said.
Everything that Doctor Caine just uttered is something Daisy would hear from a delusional child her age, but even then. Daisy already knew better than to doubt him, the same aura convinced her that Doctor Caine genuinely meant every single word that came out of his mouth.
Like such a future was already set in stone.
What lengths would Doctor Caine go for to achieve this future? Daisy couldn't even wrap her little head around the sheer possibilities. She just knew the world was big, and filled with creatures much bigger than them.
Dragons were the obvious example.
Would Doctor Caine go as far as to challenge them? Would he attempt to make his own thriving kingdom to rival those of the dragons? Will he learn how to fly? Can he teach himself how to breathe fire as well? What about the fact that-.
'Ahh my head…' Whined Daisy, clenching her head as countless thoughts ran through it.
But to think they'd ever hold a candle to their power, let alone to make their small village into a kingdom. it understandably seemed unfathomable to the little girl, or at least it was until meeting him.
Daisy opened her eyes as she continued to rub her head in pain, and in front of her. Doctor Caine was offering her a plate of food with part of the venison he had just cooked, chopped into strips.
"Take it."
Daisy hesitated to reach out over the plate, only for the smell to encourage her to do so.
The little girl took just a moment to study the plate, relishing its smell but also noting its difference in texture then she's used to. But one thing immediately stood out to her was the fact there was still pink in the middle of the stripes, which caused some concern for Daisy.
"It's raw…" Daisy meekly said to Doctor Caine, who was holding another plate with the rest of the cooked venison chopped into strips.
Doctor Caine stood and looked down at her, disappointment apparent in his eyes.
"Just eat it." he walked off back into his home, leaving Daisy sitting there on the ground. The plate of meat steamed off the plate while she continued to look at it, unsure of what to do in this odd predicament.
The fact that it had pink in the meat blared all types of red alarms in Daisy's head, she's always been taught to cook it thoroughly. But having Doctor Caine tell her to just eat it with such confidence, unfortunately caused both of her sentiments to collide in her head.
'Smells so good though!'
Daisy decided to risk it, if she got sick, she got sick. Letting the aroma of the meat win her over, she quickly plucked a strip from the plate and took a bite out of it.
'It's yummy!'
Percival's POV:
"Hmm" a satisfied smile appeared on my face, reminiscing about the only pleasant memory I had in this village so far.
Haven't seen her since then.
'...'
I found myself sitting at my desk again, it only took me a couple of moments to collect my scattered paperwork and scrolls.
But sitting here.
"…"
Like a coward.
"..."
Was gonna do nothing for me.
To be completely honest, I'm a little nervous to step out of here, stupid and humiliating I know. But I quickly discovered a flaw about myself I didn't know I possessed prior, that being my new found social anxiety.
'Damn myself…'
I've been living in this secluded part of the village, a little ways from the main hub. Close to where the previous Elder's residence, in fact. The home I resided in was one of the Elder's previous homes, but he moved into the bigger/luxurious one long ago.
Until I killed him of course, and I had it ordered to be destroyed the same day everything went down. Mostly due to the fact the inside was not a pleasant sight, and figured it was best to start fresh.
That was honestly the only time this village had listened to me, ever since that day I've been trying to make a more friendly appearance. But I quickly figured out people don't move on from death as fast as I do, something that confused me for a couple of days until I truly meditated on it.
With that, I moved here. With the paperwork I scavenged from the previous elder's residence before it was destroyed, I concocted plans to execute as soon as I win over this village's trust and reliance.
I'll also shamefully admit I've been procrastinating my plans and scheduled outings into the village, thanks to my phone. With the amount of free time I had and with my social anxiety tugging at me to stay inside, I stayed watching various shows and anime I had downloaded throughout the years.
But I did eventually come to an idea on how I should rule this village over.
I pondered over the idea of fear, but doing such a thing will be much harder to pull off then I thought. Sure, a gun would work. But I only have so many bullets, if I wanted to bring fear to this village. I actually needed something for them to be afraid of, I could bluff. But it would only be a matter of time before it crumbles, and someone will find out about whatever bluff I made.
Then kill me.
So, to save myself the effort. I decided winning the village's favor would be the best option for myself in the long run.
I'll just keep the option of fear in the back of my mind, maybe as a life line of sorts.
Anyhow.
But if I wanted to actually pull that off however, I need to get out of this hut. I need to stop being a hermit, and get out. Maybe help a villager or two out…
'This is all so confusing-.'
*BOOOM!*
"What on earth!?-."
My entire house rumbled at the sound of the impact, knocking all of the items in my room over onto the ground. Scattering all of my neatly organized papers, which only worsened my daze when I fell back on my chair and landed flat on my back, wincing in slight pain as paper swayed in the air above me before nestling down on the ground.
I began to get up only to be knocked down by another thunderous boom, with an accompanying roar in the distance.
A roar?..
'D-dragons, already!?'
I was nowhere near ready to fend off a dragon, the only fighting chance I have is a gun. But even that's not a guarantee, I have no way to know if a bullet could even penetrate through their scales. I scrambled back onto my feet, nearly tripping over a sheet of paper as I ran out of the small study room. I barged my way through my front door, all the while distant booms and thuds were heard in the distance.
First thing I noticed was the previous elder's residence was already in a ruin-like state, after I had ordered it to be destroyed.
That was expected.
What was unexpected however.
When I turned to the right, I saw a large cloud of dust covering a portion of the distant forest. The distant sounds of booms and thuds were no longer heard.
Now, it was just an eerie silence.
I stared in awe at the random event, not even realizing the small troop of warriors approaching behind me.
"M-my Lord!" their armor shifted and clinked together once they halted to a stop.
I snapped my body to face them, each warrior stood with their spears at the ready, shivering in fear.
"What the hell happened!?"
"Dragons, we saw 2 of them crash into the ground!" The warrior pointed at the direction of the cloud of dust.
Fear washed over my being for a second until my calculating side took over, allowing me to think despite this dangerous and unpredictable event.
'How peculiar…' I stared at the direction in thought, bringing my hand to scratch the beard I started growing ever since I arrived in this world.
'Maybe if I-.'
"We can't just stand here!-" another warrior shouted.
"Shut up!" I turned to scowl at them, then I resumed my thoughts staring off into the dust cloud in front of me.
An opportunity presented itself, an opportunity to truly study what a dragon is and what they're capable of. If my warrior's eyewitness account is true, then it'd be safe to assume that those dragons are currently battling.
But, considering the eerie silence that enveloped. It's also possible that such a fight is over.
'How unfortunate…'
Despite that.
Being able to study a dragon's corpse could easily allow me to learn more about them, learn their biology and anatomy. The species of dragons that exist and so on, not only that but it can also assist me in inventing a way to hunt them in the future.
Not only that, perhaps I could also make use of this opportunity to win over the favor of this village. Perhaps by confronting the situation head on, maybe they'll grow more respect for me due to my selflessness? For charging into danger of course, I wonder if that's how it works...
And it's not like I'm doing it without cause, either way I'll gain something. That being crucial knowledge about this world, or the favor of this village.
Another thing.
I also know this could result in my death, if I were to investigate the crime scene head on. One of those dragons could easily kill me with a swipe of their claws, so at the very least for extra security, I should bring my gun.
I looked back for a second at the guard behind me, each one shivering in fear and anxiousness, clearly waiting for whatever orders I have to give.
'I doubt any one of them would accompany me for this investigation…'
Not everyday such an opportunity presents itself, so I need to make the most of it.
"Hmmm…"
'I know what I must do.'
Third Person POV:
"I hate this part of the job…" A lone Skywing muttered, flying just above the clouds as he carried saddle bags filled with various goods and items. Each strapped around his abdomen and chest, tugging on his scales uncomfortably.
Still though, he was determined to see it through.
Why?
You see, this Skywing in particular has been through quite a bit. Being a former soldier of Queen Scarlet's previous army long before Queen Ruby even had her son Cliff, he is an experienced veteran.
His life changed the moment Queen Scarlet was no longer in power, for the better. Now he was free to make his own decisions, free to enjoy what's left of Pyrrhia after the war.
He tried, but he couldn't.
Being a soldier for Queen Scarlet took a toll on him, physically and mentally. He couldn't casually move on, especially after participating in dozens of unpleasant battles.
For years he spent trying to better himself, years spent loathing his actions but doing his absolute best to fix the sins of his past.
How? For one, he began to volunteer in charity work. Assisting those who were too weak to support themselves, teaching young dragonets how to hunt, read, write, even fly in some cases. And most importantly, to not follow the same path he walked on. Rather, with his wisdom. He did his best to educate those to follow the path of peace, to accept any dragon no matter the tribe.
Whilst he followed this new path he forged for himself, he was able to slowly move on. With time, he found the dragoness of his dreams. Started a small family, and he continues at this very moment to support the ones in need.
His name is Crane.
At this time, he was tasked to carry supplies to the Rainforest kingdom. Normally, he wouldn't mind such a task since he is a Skywing. Skywings were practically built for long distance flying, but not at his age.
Crane refused to let age stop him, even now as he complains about it.
"Phew…" Crane panted, soaring above the clouds.
Crane was so determined to make it to the Kingdom, that he didn't realize the Skywing dragoness diving down behind him.
Aiming straight for his back.
In less than a second later, the same Skywing dragoness crashed into his back. Immediately sending both into a downward spiral towards the ground, all the while the Skywing dragoness clung into his back. Stabbing her claws in his back, gnawing at his wing in an attempt to tear it off.
Crane was so caught off guard, that he was momentarily knocked unconscious at the ambush. When they finally broke through the clouds, he woke up. Searing pain throbbed throughout his entire back and wing as the dragoness continued her mid-air assault.
He did his best to retaliate, but the dragoness held a firm grip on him.
With only a few seconds to spare before they hit the ground. The dragoness let go of Crane.
Crane refused to go down alone.
With all of his might, he spun around and snapped his jaws tight on her tail as she attempted to fly off. Dragging her down with him.
The dragoness let out a short yelp of pain before they collided into the ground, erupting a plume of dust. Any trees were instantly knocked down by the shockwave, leaving a crater with an open space large enough for the 2 dragons.
The two dragons groaned, with the dragoness getting back onto her claws faster than crane. Though incredibly dazed, her eyes locked onto Crane's figure while he rose from the ground, standing on shaky legs.
Crane wasn't faring any better, doing his best to assume a fighting stance, slowly rotating his body to face her.
His entire back aches in pain, Crane instinctively fixed his wings in a battle position. But this only caused further pain, due to his right wing being almost torn off his body, hanging off with threads of meat. With one of his wings immobilized, and his back effectively broken. He did his best to stand tall and strong, using what little energy he had in his body.
The dragoness also assumed a fighting stance, her wings positioned ready to dash in whatever direction she needed to go. She eyed Crane, taking a mental note of him attempting to undo the bag that clung on his chest.
She would rush in to kill him now, but the unwavering look of resolve Crane held on his face made her think twice.
Only a moment later, a dragoness void of any color on her body flew from the tall forest around them. She landed next to partner in crime.
The Skywing dragoness didn't bother to remove her eyes from Crane, waiting for the Nightwing dragoness to collect herself.
"I told you…To wait for me-." The Nightwing dragoness let out a small wheeze, taking a few more deep breaths.
"Hmm." Grunted the Skywing dragoness.
"Hmm" Mocked the Nightwing dragoness in response, taking a final breath of fresh air, flapping her wings to get rid of the dust that danced in the air.
"I'm ready whenever you are, Peregrine" she also assumes a more defensive stance, standing behind Peregrine.
Crane limped on his right foreleg, but did his best to stand as strong as possible. His training from long ago kicked into high gear, almost like instinct was taking over.
The air was tense, both parties eyeing each other intensely. Waiting for one to make the first move.
All the while a particular Scavenger hid in some nearby bushes just inside the forest, with only his phone to record the battle. Doing his best to remain inconspicuous as possible.
A few moments passed before Peregrine made the first move, deftly launching herself forward. Using her wings to propel herself at an incredible speed, her claw outstretched to slice at his neck the next second. Crane was expecting this, knowing his inability to take the offensive charge in his crippled state. He decided to react defensively for this attack, and he's now fully prepared his counter.
With a final tug on the strap that wrapped around his chest, he pulled on it. Using the strap as a method to swing the bag, Crane clobbered Peregrine the moment she came into reach. Swinging the bag at her face, knocking her off course, crashing into a fallen tree behind him.
Using this as his chance to attack her companion, with all of his might. He launched himself forward, using all of his muscles in his legs to do so. The Nightwing dragoness, caught off guard by this sudden change to offense. Quickly flew back up into the air to dodge the attack. Dust once again being stirred back up into the air the moment Crane landed on the now empty space.
The Nightwing dragoness didn't have a chance to reposition herself since Crane once again launched himself into the air like a shark, exerting all of his leg muscle. Leaving a few cracks in the ground, forcing his claws to reach out for her despite the pain.
Her eyes widened and she released a cloud of smoke, disappearing into it thanks to her void like scales. Causing Crane to not only completely miss, but to realize his mistake as the inertia continued to launch him forward up into the air. Due to his natural affinity with the air as a Skywing, it was common for him to always take his battles with dragons who flew up in it. But now with his half torn wing, he was a sitting goose in the sky. His previous soldier training misguided him and because of this, the Nightwing dragoness took the chance to monopolize on it.
A searing pain engulfed his torn wing, with a short glance. Crane saw the same Nightwing dragoness holding onto it. With clear intent to swing him back into the ground, with a roar. The Nightwing dragoness heaved Crane midair, spun him, and threw him back into the ground. There was nothing he could've done, but brace for impact.
He let out a roar of pain as his back skidded along the ground, his entire back pulsating in pain. His wing almost completely torn off, awkwardly holding onto him thanks to a few scales and chunks of meat binding him and his wing together. Before he could even begin to stand up, Peregrine pounced on him.
Pinning him down with her hindlegs, one of her claws pinning Crane's one good arm. Then prepared to slice Crane's throat with her free claw. All of this, she executed in a second, but Crane was faster. In the short second Peregrine took to pin him down, Crane had been preparing his own retaliation. Holding his fire breath until the moment Peregrine laid her eyes on his own, Peregrine's eyes widened the moment she saw Crane's maw slightly widening. A red glow emitting from within, as in slow motion.
Peregrine smacked and held Crane's face to the side the second he released his fire breath, causing the line of fire to aim directly for the nearby forest, and consequently into the bushes. Where the one lone Scavenger hid within.
With a high pitched squeal, he did his best to jump out of the way. The fire breath was fast in scorching anything in its way, but the Nightwing dragoness was not gonna let the scavenger turn to ash. Her ears perked up the moment she heard the scavenger's squeal of terror, she dived down to grab him. Yanking him up by his arms and braced to crash into a tree, turning her back at the last moment to absorb the collision.
The fire breath incinerated a portion of the forest.
The Nightwing dragoness took just a few seconds to review the condition of the strange scavenger, her soft spot for scavengers momentarily taking priority in this situation, she scanned the scavenger for another moment more then released him from her grasp. Flying back to assist Peregrine, leaving the Scavenger in a daze on the forest floor.
When she returned she found them at another stand still, Crane standing directly opposite of her and Peregrine. She deduced that Crane must've thrown off Peregrine and repositioned himself whilst she was saving the Scavenger, Peregrine side eyed her return with a scowl, once again in a standoff with Crane.
Crane watched intently as the Nightwing dragoness once again positioned herself next to Peregrine, finding himself in another stare down at the dragoness duo.
With the only sound being they're breathing, and the distant cackling of fire.
Crane was exhausted, in pain, and far from his prime. Not only was he severely handicapped, lacking a wing and being encumbered by the remaining saddle bags on his body. He didn't bear any of his weapons he once used for combat.
But he was still determined to fight off his attackers, families in need were waiting for him to make his delivery, his wife and son still needed him in their lives. And he'd let no low lives get away with this, he refused to lose.
Taking shallow and raspy breaths, he stood in his combat stance. His Skywing training returned to him, as if responding to his plea for help.
His gaze was fierce and unwavering, like a new fire had been set ablaze in his eyes.
The duo picked up on his new flame for fight, and began to prepare once more to charge.
Crane let out a roar that seemed to shake the very forest around them, causing both Peregrine and the Nightwing dragoness to wince, but they both took defensive stances once they saw Crane rushing for them.
Crane charged at them.
*POP.*
Then he dropped.
The Duo flinched at the loud noise behind them, watching Crane drop like a ragdoll, watching his body skid against the ground until the momentum eventually stopped.
"What." Muttered Peregrine in shock, glancing down at Crane's lifeless body, who just a few seconds prior stood strong and determined.
The duo continued to stare and blink at the dead Crane in disbelief, half expecting him to get up and charge back at them again.
The Nightwing dragoness glanced behind them to see the Scavenger she previously saved, he lowered his weapon to his side and nervously stared at them. Mentally deciding whether he should take aim at the dragoness duo or not, he wasn't entirely sure if they meant well. But he considered that after one of them saved him, the very least he could do was return the favor. So he flashed her a nervous smile.
She took in the Scavenger's odd appearance, but didn't find anything exactly telling her that he had caused this dragon to seemingly collapse at a moment's notice. The gun on his hips was of course the cause of this, but to the Nightwing dragoness. It seemed like a rather odd scavenger tool to her.
Relieved that the scavenger is relatively unscathed, she gave her a smile of her own to him. But this only made the scavenger more on edge, her sharp teeth betrayed her friendly intentions.
Peregrine on the other end, was stuck staring in disbelief at the sudden drop. Watching Crane's body twitch and his tail stiffen, blood seeping out of a small hole in his head and through other fresh holes in his body.
The Nightwing dragoness took the authoritative lead now, and casually walked ahead of Peregrine. Her eyes on the remaining bags that remained strapped to his corpse.
"Hm." Mumbled Peregrine as the Nightwing dragoness walked by, turning her body to face away from Crane, unintentionally noticing the scavenger who continued to watch them intently.
While the Nightwing dragoness cut the strap off Crane's body, then rummaged through the bags Crane held, looking for something in particular.
Peregrine narrowed her eyes at the scavenger, finding his presence annoying. Unlike her Nightwing companion, she was never fond of the little creatures.
The scavenger noticed this attitude of hers, and nervously placed his hand back on his weapon that remained holstered to his waist. Peregrine dropped her eyes to his waist, taking note of this odd tool, at least to her it looked odd.
'I've never seen a scavenger use that thing before.' She glanced back at the corpse, to see it was looted of all of its belongings. With The Nightwing dragoness standing close by with the bags at claw, searching through them.
'Surely that little critter didn't cause-.'
"Peregrine!" The Nightwing dragoness called behind her, fear laced in her voice.
Peregrine immediately turned back to face her, ready to defend her companion.
"W-What!?"
"I think we killed the wrong one!"
"..."
"..."
"Just take some of his shit and go!"
Peregrine quickly plucked a bag from Crane's corpse, her companion followed suit. Peregrine took off into the air without looking back, the Nightwing dragoness hesitated once she looked back at the curious scavenger.
"You can have the other one." Not expecting the scavenger to understand her, she took only a second to gesture towards the bag that remained limp against the fallen tree in the crater, the same bag Crane used to whack Peregrine's face. Then she took off flying into the tall forest, melting into the darkness within it.
Leaving Crane's rotting corpse for all to see, or for a certain scavenger to use.
Percival's POV:
'That worked.'
"Hehe."
Easily one of my most reckless things I've done, second to taking over the village with a half-assed plan.
'I should really stop making these sorts of plans a habit.'
'...'
'I'd admit, these sort of plans are fun.'
But with high risk comes high rewards, and this time it's seemed to go in my favor. With a more or less intact dragon corpse to work with, and a bag of dragon items that I think it's safe to assume that black dragon left for me. I'll soon be able to gather even more knowledge about this world than ever before.
Or at least I'm pretty confident it left that bag for me, it'd be a shame if it came back and killed me for it.
But anyways.
I turned my head to the tall forest around me, squinting to see if the same black dragon that saved me was still nearby.
Being saved by it was certainly something I didn't see coming. I was pretty confident that I was gonna perish under that fire breath, but I was not at all confident that a dragon would actually care if I died.
'Empathetic creatures…'
That's another thing I need to take note of when I return to my office.
The fact it went out of its way to save me just means they held some sort of value towards me. Would it be the same type of value a human would have for their children? Pets? Or maybe it's just the same way we humans find anything smaller than us adorable.
'Doesn't matter.'
Dragons hold some sort of value for us, what that value is, is something I do not know. But it's something I'm willing to manipulate, by returning the favor to the dragon. I can only hope they picked up on it, and maybe they can return a favor of their own.
Such a thing is a speculation of course, but I didn't see why I shouldn't at least attempt to make dragon connections.
Having a dragon insider could be something incredibly beneficial. They'd be able to supply, inform, and maybe even defend us, such as what that black dragon did.
I doubt they'd stand by what I intend to do in the future, so I just have to make it seem like I'm their trusted companion.
This is all planning of course, unfortunately I don't think I'll be getting any dragon companions anytime soon.
So for now, I'll have to work with this.
Turning my body to face the dead dragon in the crater, I slid down, almost tumbling forward.
After dusting off my pants and lab coat, I took a step closer to the corpse, thinking of the opportunities that now presented itself with it.
I can use this dragon corpse as a means to study their biology. Find what makes a dragon, a dragon in this world. Not only that, but be able to create blueprints for possible weapons that would be effective to use against them. I only have so many bullets to go around, and it'll take years before we truly begin to advance as a species to the point to steadily make armor and weapons.
Let alone any modern weaponry.
'Hmm.'
I holstered my pistol after checking the remaining bullets I had remaining, which were three. I'd HAVE to make them count now, anymore wasted bullets could prove detrimental should I ever need them.
But I wouldn't necessarily call this one a waste.
I walked a few feet to the large bag of items that laid slump against a broken tree in this crater, and took a quick peek inside. Letting out a whistle as my eyes graze through its contents. The contents being various scroll and wares, each decorated with foreign symbols. I reached my hand and pulled out a faintly similar object, I had to use both hands to actually pull it out. It proved to be much larger and heavier than expected.
'Is this a…Pocket mirror?'
Setting it on the ground, I flipped the latch and it instantly popped right open. Jumping back since it almost gave my jaw an uppercut.
I was welcomed with a mirror, obviously.
Just an oversized pocket mirror.
I let out a small chuckle at the absurdity of this item.
'A pocket mirror, what on earth would a dragon need this for?'
Despite me having little use for a pocket mirror, especially of this caliber-.
Hold that thought.
Actually…I could use it.
'It's not that bad of quality-.'
'…'
'Sigh, oh how I miss the convenience of modern day self-care'
I slammed down the lid in frustration and locked it once more, resuming my thoughts prior as I walked towards the large corpse.
A pocket mirror is an item commonly used by individuals who practice cosmetics. A common example would be those who apply makeup, another example would be tweezing one's eyebrows, eyelashes etc.
But realizing this, you would quickly ask yourself.
Well why would a dragon ever need this? I sure as hell can't help myself asking the same question, especially after getting a close up look of this dragon corpse.
While its face endured many injuries and open wounds, and with its blood obscuring parts of its face. I can easily tell that it has nothing resembling hairy human eyebrows, the only piece of facial hair it has being its eyelashes, and even those are short, or at least I think so for dragon standards. I also doubt dragons would ever need makeup, they're reptiles, not humans. Though I wouldn't be surprised if they held different beauty standards compared to humans.
Then again, what do I know? I've only been in this world for 2 months, there still are many things for me to discover about these dragons and the current state of the world. Maybe the explanation could be as simple as them being conscious of how they look, and they'd use these pocket mirrors as a method to help clean dirt or other grime off their face. Or maybe they do in fact, just use makeup.
Sounds silly, but I suppose anything is possible at this point.
Even then however.
Having a pocket mirror is something that's incredibly human. Even for these dragons, which was a tad bit odd to think about.
What else could they have that humanity also has? Barbershops? Restaurants? Hotels? Fucking dragon school!?
The possibilities proved endless, and there's no doubt that these dragons have more things in common that even I won't see coming. With their obvious intelligence, there's no telling what they could be capable of inventing.
'…'
This revelation however, does not dissuade me from my original goal.
If everything goes as planned in the future, then I should be able to take what these dragons stole from humanity, back.
'Easier said than done.'
I failed to even think of a way to properly win this village over, but I would need to think of a proper method eventually. Being a tyrant no longer seems plausible, especially with what little fire power I have. It seems my lack of understanding human relationships fucked me over this time around, and most definitely will continue to do so in the future.
'…'
Putting my hands on my hips, I began to think of just how I will move all of…this.
I sighed as I looked up into the blue sky, slightly envying the dragon's ability to fly into the clouds.
'What couldn't I just be isekaied into a dragon instead?..'
I hate to admit it, I really do. But being a dragon sounds incredibly fun, and who says I can't be a dragon who supports human supremacy?
'…'
Just a little fun.
'…'
A tad bit.
The possibility of one transporting into another world was already an unfathomably small percent, essentially impossible.
But here I am.
If I were to take into account the chances of me not only being transported into another world, AND becoming a whole new creature all together.
'…'
It becomes a number so small it might as well be nonexistent.
'I need to stop wasting time with these thoughts.'
Shaking my head, I decided to get down to work on moving and transporting all of this mess.
It started to rain.
'sigh'
Still.
One can't help but imagine how life could've been like as a dragon, despite my dislike for them. I find them quite fascinating creatures, they have their own society and history for crying out loud! I can only imagine how different their cultures are from humanity's.
'Maybe someone doesn't have to imagine…'
'…'
'That's stupid.'
Isaac's POV:
I snapped my head up.
"W-what are you doing?" BeautyBat asked besides me, sticking her head out from under my wing, pausing her brushing.
I vigorously scanned my surroundings, it being nothing but trees swaying their branches in the wind as we remained seated on the platform that housed Serenity's home.
"I…Felt something." Whispering, slowly craning my head right to left, squinting to make sure I didn't miss anything.
"Are you sure it isn't just the paint? Or maybe something is wrong with your noggin all together…" BeautyBat asked plainly, frowning in disappointment.
"I could've sworn I felt someone watching me." I scanned my surroundings for a few more seconds.
'Why does it feel like I'm being watched!?'
'…'
'I don't have the energy for this.'
With a defeated huff, I laid my head back on the platform once more. BeautyBat didn't hesitate to resume painting on my wing.
*Brush brush.*
"Are you almost done." I mumbled.
"Nope."
'Great.'
Author's notes:
This chapter seriously challenged me lmao, I wrote this chapter out like 4 times, each time it contained thousands of words before I deleted it and rewrote it entirely.
It wasn't even supposed to be about Caine, rather about Isaac. But I figured it made sense to give Isaac some more time to live in the world of WOF before I went back to him, let him truly experience it, in his own odd way. So I more or less have an idea for next chapter, assuming I don't scrap the idea entirely.
Since this story is progressing, I'm of course gonna start writing about other characters that will have their own importance to the story I'm trying to build. The only obstacle so to speak about doing this, is my relatively old knowledge about this universe. I've only read up to book 12, and that was years ago back in like 8th grade lolol.
So do forgive me if I somehow mess up the continuity or lore of the books, I'm doing my best to base this story about 5 years after the last events of book 15. Again, I only have shallow knowledge pass book 12 about the events, but it's not to say I didn't do some research about it, to at least get the summary of what happened.
I may or may not add my own little twist about the world.
I'm also trying to build up these characters in the story even further, so you guys will be able to understand their own current understanding of the world and reasons for why they do stuff. I'm sorta new to that thing, so do forgive me if it isn't adequate enough. I hope later in the story my writing will improve further and I'll be able to deliver at the very least higher quality writing and story telling.
From now on I'll do my best to make these chapters 10k+ words, if I ever don't it's most likely for a purpose in the story.
Not entirely sure if you guys are wondering about this, but I also plan to include characters from WOF. I already have an idea how, but I wanna make sure that if I include them, it'll be because it makes sense to in the story. And maybe just to have a silly cameo, either or works fine for me.
That's all I really have to share, I'll most likely do these sort of talks after every chapter. I wanna be transparent making this story, so you guys can understand about where I'm going with this and just to share my own thoughts about the progression of it. But obviously don't want to spoil anything about it, so anything I do share about the fic's direction is gonna be vague.
Thanks for reading, seriously. Even if you don't like the fanfic and think it's stupid, still means a whole lot you bothered to read the words I type on a screen. Next chapter will be dropped at an orderly fashion, I'll make sure of it.