All Wings of Fire property belong to Tui T. Sutherland, I only own my OCs.
SirBobbo's Notes: Hey guys.
I had no idea this chapter would take a month to make, sorry to those who were waiting patiently for me to upload.
The rest of my notes are at the bottom of this chapter.
Please do NOT hesitate to criticize or point out any inconsistencies/flaws in my fic, I always take them to heart in order to improve on my general writing.
I only ask you do so politely.
I hope you enjoy this chapter.
Third Person POV:
Fwap! Fwap! Fwap!
The sound of wing beats resonated in the air, an IceWing flew over the sands of the SandWing kingdom. He flew strong, under the starry night sky above. Attached, a leathery pouch bounced up against his chest with every beat of his wings.
In the far distance, the lights of the Scorpions den lit up a portion of the desert. Its walls stood tall, and the dark silhouettes of SandWings flashed every now and then.
That was not his target.
His eyes fell upon the stronghold ahead of him.
Queen Thorn's stronghold, where he was expected to be.
At the request of Qibli, who was the General of the SandWing militia.
The IceWing was nervous. He never traveled this far before, living in the IceWing kingdom for the majority of his life.
He was trained like any growing IceWing would be, with his main talent being his ice sculpting capabilities. From a young age he constructed dozens of ice sculptures, and as he continued to grow the more skilled he became with his designs. Eventually he was able to make grand statues that caught his Queen's eye, an accomplishment that he will forever take pride in.
Nevertheless, he still had to fulfill his other duties that he was given. One of them being a meager guard to patrol the IceWing kingdom. With the absence of the circles. It was something now deemed necessary for all IceWings coming of age, and was preached as an "Honorable duty" to help motivate those training to become one.
What did this IceWing think of his new found honorable duty?
A waste of time, benign, incredibly boring. Yet he couldn't really complain, even with his new position he was forced to occupy, he found himself with plenty of time to resume his hobby. It was really thanks to Queen Snowfall, who removed the strict circles of the kingdom. Allowing him to chase his interest with little holding him back.
Needless to say, it didn't make his patrols any less boring for him.
Till one day, he would ask himself, "Who knew ice sculpting would save his life?"
His name is Wolverine, one of the few daring IceWings who saved a dragon's life with frostbreath.
During a patrol, he and his fellow guards were called to subdue a group of low-lives in the kingdom. Long story short, the job was done. Except one of his comrades was hit in the chest with a spiked tail.
Acting quickly, Wolverine used his frostbreath to stop the endless flow of blue blood that seeped from his comrade's chest. Doing that saved the dragon from blood loss, but brought a new danger of succumbing to Wolverine's frostbreath instead as it spread throughout the dragon's chest, making it difficult to breath.
To combat this, Wolverine conducted a careful procedure of cutting the frostbreath crystals off his comrade's chest with his sharp talons until proper help arrived.
Wolverine managed to save that dragon's life, and that was the spark that introduced him into a new career…
Being a Chirurgeon.
A big leap in careers, fortunately in his case being a skilled ice sculptor translates well into the medical field. Being extraordinarily good with your claws is a skill few dragons have, especially when it comes to delicate surgical procedures.
A good Chirurgeon requires; intense attention to detail, dexterity, intelligence, and endurance. These are just some of the few qualities one would need to become one, and it was the qualities this IceWing had since he was just a dragonet.
Now Wolverine is an adult, experienced with this relatively new form of medical specialty. He is amongst the first pioneers in the art of surgery.
Thanks to that title, Wolverine was pretty confident that he knew the reason why he was invited to Queen Thorn's Stronghold. He had assisted the General of the SandWings using his expertise, in one of the most high profile cases that has formed in recent years.
The SkyWing Slaughter incident, a name given by the dragons of Pyrrhia after reading about such a story.
He lowered his altitude when he neared the stronghold, flying over a few tents and cobble houses. Wolverine was careful when trying to land on the path that led directly to the entrance of the stronghold, not wanting to pick up too much sand into the air.
Once he landed. He scanned his barren surroundings, as if expecting to be ambushed by a gang of SandWings. When he felt like he was in the clear, he turned his attention to the imposing sight before him. Guards stood tall on the walls of the stronghold, and even with his training he received as a guard of the Ice Kingdom, he felt a chill under their intense gaze.
Wolverine took a small breather to renew his resolve, and stepped forward. Keeping his wings folded and spiked tail in check.
"Stop where you are, IceWing!" One of the guards above addressed him, Wolverine immediately halted his approach, and stood tall. Slowly, the gate opened just enough to allow another dragon to pass. A guard slithered his way through the gap, clad in leather armor, a few pouches dangled at his sides, filled with unknown contents. He wore a badge on his armor, a badge that showed that he was no simple guard, he was a commander.
"State your name, and reason for your visit to Queen Thorn's Stronghold," The dragon spoke with authority, his eyes unwavering as he stared into the soul of Wolverine.
"My name is Wolverine, I received an invitation this morning…" Wolverine cautiously reached into his bag strapped to his chest, the commander viewed him with suspicion, and likewise reached for the dagger holstered on his leather armor, not unsheathing it, but as a subtle warning should Wolverine try anything.
"It was from General Qibli, requesting my presence in his quarters to discuss private matters," Wolverine pulled out the scroll containing the invitation, and passed it to the commander. The commander released his grip on his dagger, and received the scroll. Unraveling it and viewing its contents.
"Wolverine of the IceWings, the Chirurgeon of Harmony?"
Wolverine nodded.
The SandWing looked surprised for a moment, then he resumed his normal commander persona. He offered Wolverine the scroll back and he gratefully took it. Placing it back into his pouch.
The commander slowly leaned his head closer to Wolverine, enough to not make it look suspicious or odd, but close enough to whisper to him a quick "Thank you."
Wolverine was caught off guard, and stammered a confused "Your welcome?" He couldn't see the commander's reaction, as he turned his back to him and walked back to the gate
"Wait here, move when I tell you to," the SandWing called out to Wolverine, who then nodded in acknowledgement after discarding his previous confused thoughts. The commander then slithered his way through the gate, and a few seconds later. A large rattle shook the space, and both ends of the gate began to open inwards.
Wolverine stood, feeling the rattle of the gates vibrate even within his spines.
When the gate was open.
The familiar face of the commander, along with a few others finally made themselves present. All of them standing in formation, the guards above continue their watchful gaze.
"You may enter!" Shouted a guard, Wolverine walked towards the gate. And when he made it past the threshold, he was stopped by a guard.
"The bag, IceWing," demanded the guard, her claw open expectantly to receive his luggage.
Wolverine felt like he couldn't abide by her request, and turned her demand down. "This bag contains all of my sensitive documents, I'm sorry but I can't-"
"No excuses, its standard protocol for any foreign dragon entering the stronghold," The guard remained undetered, now reaching out to snatch his bag. Wolverine instinctively stepped back to avoid his stuff being swiped, but he didn't even need to do that since…
Her arm was swatted down by the commander standing next to her.
"He is an exception, stand down Iguana," Iguana was taken aback, taking just a few steps back from her superior, confusion evident in the way she spoke.
"Commander, the protocols state!-"
"Stand. Down," To Wolverine's astonishment, the commander was the one to shoot the demand down. Iguana took a few steps back and kept her head low, avoiding the stares of the other guards.
The commander glared at Iguana behind him, and then turned his gaze back to Wolverine, clearing his throat. "I'm sure such protocols aren't necessary for a dragon like yourself, Wolverine…"
Silence filled the dry air, Wolverine eventually caught on that the commander was waiting for him to speak. "Yes!" He blurted. "I-I'm just here for some business regarding a case that I wouldn't be surprised you heard, hehe…" The IceWing chuckled nervously, scratching the back of his neck.
Wolverine held an awkward smile, causing the guards around him. Who didn't originally think he was planning anything malicious, now do because of it.
The commander was amused at Wolverine's flustered expression, but didn't show it. He turned his head to address the guards positioned around them. "Return to your assigned positions!"
Around them, the few guards that stood at attention nimbly returned to their stations. Others acted fast in closing the gate, the ground rumbled again until it was fully shut. The commander then left Wolverine, barking extra orders and generally making sure everyone was doing what they were supposed to be doing.
Wolverine also stood at attention, despite not being a guard at the kingdom. His training that he received from his kingdom kicked in, Wolverine stood tall with his wings neatly folded, tail positioned properly just as he was taught to do. Waiting for whatever orders the commander might have for him, even though he is technically a guest.
While the commander was overseeing the guards, Wolverine took the opportunity to marvel at the courtyard of the palace.
From afar when he was flying, Wolverine could hardly make any details of the courtyard the palace held. Other than the large obelisk that protruded into the sky.
On the other claw, standing right in front of it?
It was hypnotizing, even under the dark starry night. Wolverine could still make out the many colors of the flowers before him, all of them neatly organized into gardens. Small ponds of water were formed in this courtyard, allowing the loose flower petals to float on top of the water's surface. From where Wolverine stood, a white path of tiles led him towards the outskirts of the obelisk that stood in the middle of the courtyard. The path then circled around the obelisk, before eventually leading to the palace's front doors just on the other side.
The obelisk served as a memorial to Queen Oasis, with an epitaph painted on it with gold. Sand circled the obelisk, a perimeter to remind any dragon not to step inside.
"Wolverine," the commander was now back at Wolverine's side, Wolverine gave him his full attention.
"Yes?-"
"Follow me, I'll take you to our general."
The commander took the lead, walking on the path ahead of him. Wolverine hesitated but then followed him, his eyes subconsciously falling on his menacing barbed tail.
Wolverine was careful with his own tail, keeping it firm to avoid it from colliding with the garden as they walked past it.
Once they rounded the memorial, the path was straightforward. The doors to the palace were ahead of them, and two Scorpions stood at the entrance, a nickname given to the warriors of Thorn's kingdom. With a nod from the commander, the Scorpions parted and pushed the two large doors open.
The commander remained steadfast, passing the two Scorpions without sparing another glance. Wolverine took a few more clawsteps inside after the commander, and his eyes widened in awe at the palace he now stood in.
He was at the great hall.
Doors took over every space here, each one led to another location in the palace. A wild variety of plants in pots were scattered around the hall, each with their own little table to house them. Curtains of high quality hung from the ceiling, containing unique symbols and patterns on them. There were a dozen open windows in the great hall, allowing the moon light from above to shine into the relatively dark space of the great hall, assisting the torches in lighting the area.
Every step Wolverine took, the more he felt like he was committing a crime being here.
Wolverine never stepped foot onto a royal palace, not even in his own tribe. So stepping into one of a completely different tribe was a surreal experience, doesn't matter if he was personally invited, it still felt wrong to him.
They both traversed through the palace, the commander taking the lead. With time and endurance on Wolverine's part, the commander led them to the General's quarters.
Where Qibli was expecting him.
The commander hasn't spoken a word, until now. "Stay, I'll notify him you're here," They found themselves on one of the many twisting towers the palace had, standing before a door after traversing up the winding staircase that appeared to never end.
Truly pushing Wolverine's endurance.
Wolverine stood a short distance away, doing his best to be subtle with regaining his breath. Meanwhile the commander walked up to the door, raising his knuckle to knock on it three times.
No response.
The commander tried again.
No response.
The commander looked back at Wolverine, slight confusion on his face.
Wolverine shrugged, and the commander tried again.
No response.
Sigh.
The commander, after letting out a sigh. Put his claws on the door knob, and turned it.
"General, pardon my intrusion but your…"
The commander bolted inside. "General!?" He yelled in concern, Wolverine stared at the now open door with wide-eyes, debating whether to break the commander's orders to follow his own principals as a Chirurgeon, to rush in and find out if their general was in any kind of medical emergency.
There was none.
"H-hey I'm fine!" Another voice yelled back from inside, sounding startled.
"Were you tranquilized!? W-were you knocked unconscious by an intruder!?-"
"Three moons… NO Hollow!"
"Then w-why were you…"
"…"
"…"
Silence followed suit.
After a while of silence.
"Your guest has arrived, General, would you like to see him?" Hollow's voice was neutral, it was him trying to hide his immense disappointment and slight embarrassment.
"Yes, send him in…"
Hollow exited the room, disappointment lathered on his face. He silently walked towards Wolverine, who fixed his posture.
"The general awaits your appearance, you may enter his quarters."
Without saying another word, or allowing Wolverine to respond. He pushed past him down the winding staircase, his gaze firm on whatever was ahead of him.
Wolverine questioned what he got himself into. So he renewed his resolve for the second time tonight, and walked towards the door.
Where Qibli was expecting him.
"Ahem, General,'' Wolverine addressed him as professionally as he could, his eyes immediately scanning the room he was about to find himself in.
Qibli's room, or more like an office. Was a pretty simple layout, a desk stood directly opposite of the room. Large shelves stood, covering one side of the room. While the other was largely empty aside from a few built-in cabinets, table, and an open window, allowing a comfortable cold breeze to seep in.
The small table was placed under the window, with a simple flower pot to accompany it, and a small claw drawn portrait. It was poorly made, a dragon hardly resembling Qibli was on it, along with another dragon, and finally a small dragonet in the middle of them.
The floor was decorated with a causal red rug, made with golden colored borders
Just beside Qibli's desk, to his left. A small stove was built in place, with a pristine white kettle that had an eye-catching design of dragons swirling around it.
On the wall behind Qibli, a large map was stapled to it. The map being of Pyrrhia, it had a few stamps on it. Each varying in location, some in the Scorpions den, MudWing kingdom, and as far out as the IceWing kingdom's borders.
Qibli himself was frantically searching for something under his desk, he sheepishly peeked his head over his desk with a smile. "Heyyy bud come take a seat, I'll be right with ya!" Lowering his head again, mumbling a few curses in frustration as he continued to search.
Wolverine blinked, closing the door behind him, he advanced towards Qibli's desk. Sitting patiently, waiting for whatever he had planned.
Suddenly Qibli smacked a scroll onto the table, a few of his tabletop portrait frames jumped and came threateningly close to falling off his desk entirely. In quick succession, he pulled them away from the edge.
With his thoughts now more or less organized, half asleep. Qibli gave Wolverine his full attention, giving him a tired smile.
"Glad you can make it, I hope the trip wasn't too much trouble," Wolverine noticed how slow Qibli blinked as he spoke, and how his smile would diminish for a second before reappearing on his lips.
"It was alright, and thank you for organizing our meeting this late in the night…" Wolverine flashed his own sheepish smile. "Y-you must be tired."
There was one primary purpose for Qibli requesting Wolverine this late in the night, and it was because he was an IceWing. IceWings don't do well under the intense heat of the sun, so to make it more accommodating for Wolverine. He had set up their meeting in the night, where instead of intense heat, there would be intense cold.
In turn, Qibli would be sacrificing his own comfort.
Qibli was fine with that, he figured the business he had with Wolverine was more important.
Still, Qibli wasn't used to staying up impossibly late. So he may or may not have indulged in a short nap before Wolverine came.
"I'll survive…" Qibli suppressed a yawn. "But how've you been buddy? It's been ages since I last saw you!" It was like the energy magically returned to Qibli, and his previous sleepy demeanor was replaced with a more jubilant one.
Wolverine answered, a little unnerved at the abrupt change of behavior. "I-I'm alright. Moving into Harmony made my life a little more bearable, so… I've actually been doing better since you last saw me," Instead of a nervous smile, Wolverine gave Qibli a warm smile of gratitude.
Since he pursued his new medical career, he had moved out of his Kingdom and into a small niche place called the Sanctuary. It was thanks to Qibli who quotes "Hooked him up" to his new home. Where Wolverine was more than welcomed, and he was able to fully invest time and energy in honing his skills as a Chirurgeon, in order to help sick dragons and humans alike.
"Haha what did I tell you!?" Qibli grinned proudly, turning his body, heading towards his stove beside him. "Speaking of Harmony, how's it like this time of year? Is it busy? Boring? A fun mix of both? I've been DYING to visit but…"
Qibli sighed and picked up the kettle, filled it with water from a container. Placing it back on the stove, he lit a small twig with firebreath and tossed it under the stove. Lighting the other dry pieces of wood ablaze.
"There's just a lot of things holding me down here, so I'd appreciate any gossip or news you're willing to share with me," Qibli half heartedly chuckled, and continued to tend to the stove, his ears perked up awaiting Wolverine's response.
Wolverine hummed in thought. "Well there is a celebration this time of year, so you'll find humans and dragons alike are preparing for it."
Years have past, and the small Sanctuary Wolverine had moved into long ago. Evolved into a large thriving town, it was later renamed to Harmony to symbolize the harmony between human and dragons.
"Oh yeahhh…" Qibli spoke softly in realization, he grabbed a tea bag from a cabinet and placed it into the kettle as it began to boil. "Heh, who knew that humans are capable of partying so hard. I swear, those little guys never cease to surprise me," returning to his desk, he grabbed the scroll that lay motionless on it and offered it to Wolverine.
Clearing his throat, Qibli spoke in a more serious tone. "Wolverine, about my invitation…" Wolverine took the scroll in his claw, and looked at Qibli questioningly. "I-" he stammered, before backpedaling. "First of all, thank you for the assistance in the case I've been working on."
"It's nothing-"
"Ahh stop being so humble, I really mean it." Qibli reached under his desk and pulled out another scroll, much wider than the one Wolverine was given. "It helped me develop a few… interesting theories," He looked at Wolverine sincerely. "And, I need your help with some of them."
Wolverine took a small breath, feeling determined to assist the General in whatever he needed. "I'll do all that I can General," Wolverine placed the scroll he received from Qibli beside him.
Qibli smiled gratefully. "Thanks bud, and as I was saying about my invitation…" Abruptly, he got up from his desk to close the windows, and to make sure that the door was sealed shut.
Wolverine felt uneasy as he watched the process, and knew that whatever Qibli was about to disclose was really meant to be kept hush hush.
After checking the room, he returned to his position behind his desk. "It was vague for a reason."
He then reached under his desk and retrieved another scroll from it, unrolling it then laying it flat against its surface. Revealing a large autopsy report of the SkyWing Slaughter incident, the victim was drawn along with his injuries, with labels circling each one.
"Couldn't take the chance of information leaking, and if somehow anything about the scroll I sent you, did leak," He looked back up at Wolverine. "It'll just sound like two pals wanting to hang out, nothing about investigating a high profile crime."
"Th-that makes sense, yes-"
"Annddd in my personal experience…," blatantly interrupting Wolverine. "There's a high chance this case can spiral down an elaborate rabbit hole that connects to a powerful dragon, bonusifitsahuman. That remains undiscovered, only to be discovered, then finding out they have a stupid plan to rule over the continents using something they pulled out of their ass."
Wolverine whispered a weak "Oh…" At Qibli's sudden interruption, Wolverine then followed up with "Is that… Actually one of your theories?..."
Qibli sighed and lowered his head onto the desk.
"It's been a long couple of days…"
Wolverine felt pity for the General, with dozens of NewsScrolls being published about the incident. It naturally attracted a substantial amount of media public attention, with every day that passes, the more pressure anyone who's working on the case gets.
Qibli wasn't the first to be given this case, a dragon from the SkyWing kingdom initially volunteered for it. It only lasted for a little over a week until he withdrew from it, the SkyWing's excuse was that "There's nothing linking the crime to a singular dragon, and there are no leads to follow."
This didn't sit well with the public.
So then Qibli stepped in.
He was confident with his sort of connections, status, and experience in these sorts of mysteries.
That he'd have it solved.
Qibli in fact did not have it solved, not even close.
The dragon was stressed out.
"But!" Suddenly exclaimed Qibli, lifting his head off the scroll rolled out on the desk, allowing Wolverine to view it clearly. "I do have a few believable ones, if you can believe it…"
"So that's where you come in, so you can help me answer some questions, and help my theories sound a tiny bit more believable."
"I think I understand now, General…"
"Great!"
Qibli flipped the scroll upright to Wolverine, so it wasn't upside down to him. "Ima ask you a few questions about your autopsy report-" A deafening whistle rang in the air, causing both of the males to jump.
"Thank the moons!" Qibli excitedly walked back to the tea kettle, lifting it up and smoothly pouring the light brown liquid into two cups. Picking up the filled cups with both claws, he walked back on his hindlegs, casually placing down the cups just beside the open scroll.
"Be careful with spilling it onto your hard work," Qibli whispered, as he took a sip of his tea.
Wolverine never remembered asking for tea, by this point it'll be rude of him to decline. So he picked it up with a claw, and raised it to his lips, catching the aroma of cinnamon as he took a sip.
Bleh, Wolverine thought.
"Back to what I was saying," Qibli took another small swig. "I'll ask you questions about the autopsy report you made, and I need you to give your honest analysts on them, got it?"
Wolverine nodded. "Yes, General."
"Cool, first question…" he dragged his talon to an injury located on the dragon's chest, a short incision. "You mentioned in your report that this cut was far too small for any dragon to properly navigate its insides, like one would for surgery or in this case organ harvesting."
"Yes, that is correct."
Qibli tapped his pointer talon. "Then how did they do it? Cause in your report…" Now dragging his talon to a box that took up a corner of the report, with a dozen of notes in it. "It states, the victim was missing his; heart, lungs, muscle tissue, and of course we can't ignore the absent head, cut off claws, torn wing, and the large open wound on the victim's stomach but I'll save those questions for later."
Wolverine hummed to himself as he looked over the report, Qibli carried on speaking. "If they lost vital organs in the chest, then I don't understand why you would think no dragon is able to perform any sort of organ harvesting through that incision, your own report contradicts that idea," He looked at Wolverine Questioningly.
"It's… Something I'm not entirely sure of either, General, I'm sorry…" Wolverine slightly lowered his head.
Qibli hummed in understanding.
"Don't sweat it bud," Truthfully a little disappointed, he came up with a question he believes to be easier for him. "Hypothetically, what type of dragons do you think are able to do this kind of job?"
Wolverine raised his head and processed Qibli's question until he came up with an answer. Taking a small sip of tea to calm his mind, he cleared his throat and replied. "In my opinion General I believe dragons who specialize in their claws have the ability to possibly perform this task, so perhaps a dragon who specializes in careers involved with arts such as a scientist, a healer, or… just a really good butcher," Wolverine raised a talon, and circled the injury with it. "That in itself, is incredibly debatable, I doubt your run of the mill healer, scientist, or butcher would be this concise with their work. With that being said, my final answer would be dragons like myself, are the closest in ever replicating this type of evil procedure this victim had endured."
Qibli nodded, and followed up with another question.
"Can you explain to me how difficult it would be for you to replicate this?"
"Hm," Wolverine mumbled, figuring how to put it in digestible way for Qibli to understand.
"Hey," Qibli raised both of his claws in surrender, a small grin on his face. "If you come out clean and say this was you, it would make this A LOT easier."
Wolverine deadpanned, Qibli then lowered his claws, and softly chuckled.
"Honestly…" Wolverine sighed. "I don't even think I can pull this sort of procedure off… Maybe Unity?…" He muttered in thought.
His statement caught Qibli's attention, and he dropped his cheeky smile. "Mind elaborating on that?"
Wolverine nodded. "It's so…" he stammered. "I-its so perfect!" His change of tone managed to startle Qibli. "The angles, the precision, t-the skill it must've taken to perform this… It's so unbelievable!"
"Wolverine, I would realllyyy appreciate it if you could-"
"You don't understand Qibli, y-you don't understand how impressive this is. I wish I can show you how finely the veins and muscles around his heart and lungs were cut to release them, how much skill it requires to maneuver past his sternum and rib cage, without even breaking it!"
Wolverine pointed to himself with a talon. "Qibli, I can't do this…"
"N-now you're just confusing me Wolverine…"
"I mean it, Qibli…" Wolverine leaned closer to Qibli, speaking as clear as possible. "I am physically incapable of doing this…" He tapped his talon on the injury circled on the scroll, slowly. "This isn't a job that could be done by dragons, dragons can't possibly perform this sort of operation at this small of scale. Whoever performed this, was either an animus who can reach into a dragon's body like a phantom and pluck out their organs without a second thought, or was just not a dragon."
Qibli gave him the "Are you for real look?" look.
"The only other sentient species on this continent are humans, they're the ones that could have pulled this off," Wolverine continued, staring into the eyes of Qibli.
"You think a human did this?..."
Wolverine nodded, "Yes, now I do."
"That doesn't make any sense Wolverine… Take a look at this." Qibli circled another injury, the wing that was torn off the SkyWing's body. "A dragon caused this attack, there's no arguing that a dragon was present, Wolverine, I-I don't see how it's possible a human was also-"
"Hold on!" Shouted Wolverine, opening the pouch on his chest and yanking out a scroll containing medical records. He unrolled and it turned it to face Qibli, pointing at it with a talon as he explained it to him. "Read here, a Human Chirurgeon by the name of Unity performed emergency surgery on a SeaWing who was suffering from a stone embedded deep into his chest after an accident."
Qibli quickly skimmed over the document as Wolverine continued to explain and hold it up for him. "Note this, Unity carried out an incision to access his chest while he was unconscious. The incision was roughly seventy-two inches long, it was as long as Unity was tall."
Wolverine then lowered the scroll and drew Qibli's attention back to the autopsy report, tapping the Incision labeled on it with his claw. "This incision was sixty-eight inches long."
"…"
"The smallest incision recorded on a dragon to dragon surgery was, two-hundred sixteen inches long."
"…"
"Qibli, if it had been a dragon that did this. It would have been obvious since the beginning, something like this…" Wolverine solemnly shook his head. "Is a feat only possible by a human, Unity could serve as proof of that."
"What type of surgery did Unity conduct?"
"Does it matter!?"
"Every detail matters when it involves a murder, Wolverine!"
Taking a small breath to calm himself, Wolverine spoke. "My point is, a surgery at this small of a scale is literally impossible for any dragon to replicate. And yes, Unity isn't an expert or as experienced as I am, and whoever did this possesses a large amount of skill, but it is undeniably done by a very skilled human."
Qibli looked down at the report, in thought. "So, you really think a human did this?" He reiterated.
Wolverine shrugged. "To me. That's what it looks like."
"No… that doesn't add up to anything else I have. Wh-where would you even find a human who can do this sort of thing?" Qibli shook his head in denial, dozens of thoughts ran through his head.
"I-I can't answer that…"
"That's where my problem lies with this theory Wolverine, I mean… Do you also believe that a human managed to remove the head of this dragon?"
Wolverine stumbled on his words. "I don't know-"
"Then what about the claws? Cause in order to do any of those things, for a human at least… It would have to take a considerable amount of strength and one unbelievably sharp tool to do this sort of thing."
"..."
Qibli sighed, and noted Wolverine's silence. "Are you suggesting that it was an interspecies job?"
Double checking his work on the autopsy report, reviewing what he is about to say in his head. Wolverine took a breath before answering Qibli's question. "Yes, General… It would explain the brutalized state of the victim such as multiple open wounds and broken bones; Missing head, missing claws, mutilated stomach, and the torn wing indicating a dragon had a claw in inflicting the injuries as I labeled on the report. The presence of a human would also explain the miniature incision that was found on the chest of the victim, and the delicate organ harvesting that followed after the initial death of the victim."
Scratching his chin in thought, Qibli did his best to consider Wolverine's theory. What Wolverine says makes sense…
"Can you pass me the scroll I handed you?" Qibli asked.
Wolverine did as he was told, passing it to Qibli. Who didn't waste time in grabbing it, and got straight to reviewing his notes he had written on it. He wanted Wolverine to read it and to share his thoughts, but now Qibli needed it to help reorganize his own thoughts.
"I don't get it," Qibli muttered.
His notes contained a dozen theories he had concocted, each organized with pieces of evidence he had found about the case.
None of which involved a human.
Qibli did his research, he knew what humans are capable of. How crafty they can be…
How dangerous they can become.
Yet nothing aligns with them being involved with this incident, Qibli knew that as he scrolls further and further down his scroll, questions popping into his mind as he rereads his own work.
For example.
What would be their motivation for doing this? What do they gain from robbing and organ harvesting? Was it personal? Did the killer or killers know the victim? Is this a message? How did they know when to strike when there weren't any witnesses?
Throw in the possibility of a human into this equation, and you get…
Why would a human agree to work with a dragon? Where would you find a human who can do this? A resident of Harmony? Or some other obscure village out there? What if the human was paid by the dragons involved? Did the human take the initiative in this murder? What did the human achieve in participating in this crime? Did the human have history with conducting medical procedures on dragons before?
Qibli groaned, all of this thinking was brewing a headache for him.
He placed the scroll back down and rubbed his temples. "I wanna believe you, Wolverine, but there's still so much we don't know…"
"I understand, General… I apologize if I was too pushy with my theory, I'm sure it's much more complicated than I realize," Wolverine bowed his head to the General in forgiveness.
"Moonss, raise your head Wolverine!" Scoffed Qibli. "I'm not gonna send you to the dungeon or anything for speaking your mind."
Wolverine shot his head up, to face Qibli with an apologetic gaze. "Right, I'm sorry General…"
Qibli resisted the urge to deadpan him, in an effort to ease the small migraine he had developed during their discussion, he proposed an idea. "How does a five minute break sound, Wolverine?"
"A break?" Wolverine turned his attention to the clock that sat on one of his shelves. "Wouldn't it be better to continue our discussion? It's midnight."
Taking a slurp of his tea, and letting out an exaggerated breath of relief afterwards, Qibli replied. "We still have a crap ton of things I need to talk with you about, might as well make it a little more pleasant with a nice cup of warm cinnamon and cardamom tea."
Wolverine looked down at the cup of tea in his claw, and tested the temperature of it with one of his talons. Qibli watched in interest.
"Is it too hot for ya?" Qibli asked.
"N-no it's nothing like that…"
"Then why are you looking at it like it's about to use firebreath on you?"
"I'm… Thinking."
"Then stop thinking and relax for a second."
"..."
"Okay, if you don't want to relax… Heh."
Wolverine narrowed his eyes at Qibli.
"Then try to… chill out instead!" A huge smirk formed on Qibli's face, waiting to see Wolverine's reaction.
Wolverine didn't find it funny.
Qibli's smirked dropped as fast as it appeared, taking a disappointed slurp of tea.
One day I'll make an IceWing laugh with one of those jokes… He inwardly promised to himself.
"I'll try…" Wolverine replied, raising his cup of tea to his lips.
"Haha that's what I like to hear!" Qibli quipped, his smile returning.
When he saw Wolverine take a sip, he cocked his head in intrigue. "How is it by the way?"
Wolverine wasn't expecting a question, and his eyes darted looking for an answer. "It's umm… Delicious," he smiled weakly, Qibli knew he didn't mean it.
"Liar."
"I'm not lying…"
"Admit it then."
"Admit what?-"
"That you don't like the tea I made."
"But-"
"Last chance buddy."
"General I-"
"I feel generous, so I'm giving you a FINALE chance to tell me your true feelings about my tea."
"..."
"..."
"I don't understand why your so fixated on my opinion-"
"It's personal."
"..."
"..." Slurp.
"I don't like it-"
"Damn it!"
Wolverine winced at Qibli's curse of frustration, leaning back slightly.
Qibli was just bad at making tea.
"I'm not mad or anything…" Qibli laid his cup down and stood up, walking towards the shelves. "More mad at myself really…" He mumbled under his breath, searching for a clean sheet of paper.
Chugging the rest of his tea in slight fear at what Qibli would do, he laid it down and turned his body to face Qibli who was still rummaging through the shelves. "General, about our discussion-"
"Yeah yeah I know…" He found a sheet of clean paper, and pulled it out from a canister. "Wolverine, you're rambling about how it 'has to be a human,' gave me an idea." Qibli grew a small grin on his face, Wolverine didn't understand what he was planning.
Sitting back down at his desk, Qibli rolled up the autopsy report scroll and placed the clean sheet of paper down on the desk instead. "There's a small human village, close to where the body was found…" He retrieved an ink and quill from under his desk, beginning to write a few things down. "Unfortunately my dragon to human speech isn't… Refined, and if I was to show up at the village, they'd think I've come to burn them all."
Wolverine sat silent, listening on to Qibli as he spoke about his plan.
Qibli stopped his writing and pointed at Wolverine with his quill. "My plan? I hear you ask."
"Uh, yeah?-"
"It's simple, ask the little guys if they saw anything. If we're lucky, a human will know if it was something other than a dragon that had something to do with it. Or maybe they'll disclose information we don't know yet, both are good outcomes," He lowered his quill and resumed his writing.
"So you're writing a letter to the village?"
"Close, wanna try another guess?"
"I would rather not, General…"
Removing his focus from the paper and giving his attention to Wolverine, he finally exposed how he plans to execute his idea. "I'm writing a letter to a friend of mine, I'm sure you know him. He used to be the founder of the Scavenger Sanctuary before it merged into Harmony, so Imma ask him for a favor if he could help with getting information from this village."
Wolverine spent a second jogging his mind. "Oh Winter? Does he speak human?"
Qibli paused and shrugged. "Probably, but I'm pretty sure he knows someone that can. If not, then I'll try my luck somewhere else "
"Y-you think that'll help progress your case?" Wolverine asked, uncertainty in his expression.
"Maybe it does or maybe it doesn't, it won't hurt to try," Qibli went back to writing, slowing down just a bit. "Here hoping Winter feels a little festive with the celebration coming up, and he doesn't straight up decline my favor," he mumbled.
Wolverine let out a small yawn as Qibli continued to write.
Qibli's ears shot up, his earrings bouncing. "Want some more tea? We still need to talk about the autopsy, I have a couple more questions… Ya know? Just in case this plan I'm working on leads to a dead end."
"I'll…" Holding back a yawn. "Be fine…"
"You sure?"
"Very sure."
"I don't need you passing out on me."
"General, I appreciate your concern. But I'm confident I won't abruptly pass out."
Qibli rolled his eyes.
"Alrighty, whatever you say. More tea for me then."
Slurp.
Third Person POV:
Inside the lush rainforest, and inside a shady shack that lies in an obscure corner of the rainforest.
Lies a dragonet, peacefully asleep.
The air was cold, the critters of the rainforest all sang their nighttime lullaby for all to hear. Hog's shack was still, his products inside hung lifelessly from the wall and the ones on the table sat still like statues.
In the middle of the wooden floor, a dragonet slept.
The dragonet's chest breathed in and out as he lay on his side, a small pool of drool accumulated by where his open maw was.
Hog was nowhere to be seen, he left soon after his first two visitors. A bag was slung over his shoulder, and he didn't bother to remove the sleeping dragonet from his humble abode. Sparing him a mere glance of pity before he vanished into the night.
Time passed.
Until the dragonet's eyes lethargically opened, blinking as his senses returned to him.
"Huh…" He said, without even moving his maw to properly pronounce the word.
Lifting his head up, he choked on his saliva and wiped it off his chin. Observing his surroundings.
Oh shit… The dragonet came to the realization of where he was. "Can't believe I…" He groaned as he stood back up on his four claws, stretching his back. "Passed out here," Spreading his wings, feeling the blood return to them. His tired eyes drifted to the empty counter in front of him, and cringed under the thought of falling asleep in front of his employer.
Not a good look.
"Welp… it is what it is," The dragonet grumbled, scratching his chest then turning to face the exit. The door was closed, the moonlight was seeping under it. Taking a few claw steps he reached for the door knob and opened the door.
The moonlight shot into his eyes, forcing him to squint until they readjusted. Taking careful steps onto his porch then descending down the short flight of stairs, Isaac took a few sniffs of the humid cold air around him. His ears flicked as he heard the calls of the wild animals echo throughout the rainforest.
One of these days, I'll wake up back home…
Isaac huffed as he took in his nighttime surroundings.
If you'd ask him a year before his spontaneous transportation, if he ever wanted to be a cool ass dragon. He'd say "Hell yeah," and then talk about the things he would do as one.
Conquering cities, fighting other gargantuan dragons, flying freely in the open sky. Are all staples in being a "badass dragon," according to Isaac and no doubt millions if not billions of other people on earth.
Fast forward a year later, ask him the same question and he'd say something along the lines of "Hell no."
Can you blame him?
Isaac looked back at the sign that hung off the shake, exhaling in slight amusement.
I got a job as a dragon, cool.
Isaac has done nothing a "badass dragon," would do. The most spectacular thing he has ever done so far as a dragon was getting a job, second to that is him getting a disability in less then five minutes of his new life.
There was nothing exciting in his life, nothing to distract him from the loss he experienced. Being a dragon no longer felt swag to him, it felt like a curse. A constant reminder of the burden he was forced to carry, a burden Isaac called life.
Isaac was prepared to die when he heard the announcement of the world ending, but giving him a second chance at living felt like Life's petty revenge on him wanting Death instead.
Despite his grievances of this world, he wanted to give it a chance. It was a new world, a world in which Isaac wanted to explore in its entirety before he died, and it was individuals like Serenity and Princess Beautybat that made his journey all the more enjoyable.
Even if he struggles to express it to them, for some odd reason…
But how does one casually move onto a new world, after losing one that was entirely his world? The world he grew up in, the world he held his greatest achievements in life in, the world he wanted to have a family, grow old, and die in.
What could this world possibly offer to Isaac, that'll help him move on?
Isaac peered up into the night sky, admiring how clear the assortment of stars and constellations were. The moons shone brightly, coating everything in its soft light. Closing his eyes, he breathed in and out. Relishing in the cold crisp air.
Wish I still had my earbuds… This world can't give back his priceless earbuds, a fact he still has yet to come to terms with. At the same time, there were still many things out there left for him to discover; other dragons, food, music, food again and so on.
Time will tell with what Isaac decides to do in life, and in the meantime he just has to "Keep on grinding," that's his way of saying to keep pushing on.
So maybe this job can help? Help him continue "Grinding" in life.
Assuming it doesn't drag Isaac into business he had no reason to be in, and ruin what little progress he made into moving on from his past life.
Chances of that are low, but never zero.
Isaac of all people knew that.
Yawning, he returned his eyes to the dark path in front of him. Grumbling in annoyance at the long trek ahead of him, Isaac walked towards it.
Blissfully unaware of the pair of glowing white eyes that followed him, hiding in the darkness of the rainforest.
Plotting to itself.
Thinking.
His grace period is almost up…
SirBobbo's Notes: Hey guys again.
I REALLY didn't mean to take this long, I thought I would have this chapter done a week or two after the last one. Not a damn month later exactly. Sorry if I disappointed y'all with the wait, trust me. I was stressing over this chapter.
For one, I never thought a fanfic would get me researching shit like if I was preparing for a history exam. This chapter had me reading through the wof wiki for the summaries of books 13-15 AND the summary of dragonslayer. I shit you not I was diving deep into reddit threads and other wof community webs to understand the lore of the wof verse. It was so much I decided to buy the damn books, to read them myself so I don't have to read the wikis all over again for my future chapters.
So here I am, I bought book 13 and the Dragonslayer book. I'm starting with DragonSlayer for the sole reason of understanding the characters better, and to write them properly for whenever I decide to introduce them later on in this fic.
On the topic of characters, I don't know how I feel about Qibli. Again, I haven't read this series in years. So let me apologize if I butchered his character and personality in this story, if I get any criticism on him then I'll definitely work to improve on his character for the later chapters. I'm using my own interpretation on him, he's easily the most memorable character I have in my brain. So I'd me immensely disappointed in myself if I messed him up, I thought since he's older in this fic. I'm gonna make it that he likes Thorn's tea cause he old and stuff(Its the only sane reason people like tea, right?) A wof wiki stated that Thorn likes tea. Cinnamon and cardamom tea specifically, figured it'd make sense he'd like that one even if he's bad at making it.
I had a WHOLE different idea for this chapter, when I finished this chapter like a week and a half ago. I read my work, didn't like it, and promptly nuked it. I came up with a different idea days later, wrote that idea. Then erased it too when I was done(Thousand of words, days of hard work deleted with the press of a button) And I tried again, wrote out this chapter with this idea in mind. Reviewed it, I felt satisfied with it. And here I am publishing it.
Sorry if it felt like a rant.
This chapter helped me set up a few things for later down the plot, I more or less have the entire book planned in 4-5ish arcs. Still got a ways to go before I finish the first one, I'm making sure to take my time with it since I got a bunch of banger ideas that I don't want to fuck up in any way.
When I finish it(The first arc), I may rewrite some old chapters like chapter 5: Magic Man. Looking back on it, it feels pretty shitty in my opinion. And prob other future chapters for arc one as well.
Thank you to everyone who continues to read this fic, I genuinely mean it. It really means more then you would think, even if its just one person, it greatly encourages me to keep writing this silly fic out. Its a fun way in dipping my toes in the art of storytelling, so whenever I start my creative writing courses, I'll have some experience with writing stories.
Again, massive thanks.
Bye-bye.