Author's Notes:

Timestamp key: "D" for days, "W" for weeks, "M" for months, "Y" for years, "EM" for early morning, "LM" for late morning, "EA" for early afternoon, "LA" for late afternoon, "EE" for early evening, "LN" for late night, and "AD" for all day. Note that the Realms follows the sexagesimal system for keeping time, just like Earth. (In other words, 60 seconds per minute and 60 minutes per hour.)

Snip category key: There are four categories of snips. "Settling In", "City Life", "Beyond the Wall", and "The Journey Home". All four represent parallel storylines that take place within Aimless, and other than "Settling In", each snip category has at least two subtypes. Those subtypes aren't listed due to potential spoilers.

Enjoy!

City Life – Employment

Chapter 32: Glorified Peon 2

"The way to get started is to quit talking and start doing."

- Walt Disney

[7D/EA]

Joshua's right arm ached like a bitch. His muscles felt like gelatin. They wriggled violently beneath the heavy load he held as he walked through the twisting and turning corridors of the Temple. He passed under another cluster of crystal stalactites, which gave off an otherworldly glow bright enough to cast the halls in a luminescent blue light.

The burdensome weight on his forearm suddenly lurched off-center. "Shit!" the young man hissed. He bent forward and, jerking his arm a couple inches ahead, barely made it in time to prevent the load from falling. "Whew," he sighed from relief.

Things would have been so much easier if he could use his left arm. Alas, merely seven days into his "stay" at the famed City of Dragons, it refused to move and kept him partially disabled. And it wasn't like he could just let the bundle of joy he carried drop and land on the floor with a thud.

Because it was literally a sleeping dragon the size of a Jack Russell terrier.

And because that dragon was his adopted sister, who happened to have her teeth clamped on his earlobes. The prepubescent dragoness unconsciously nibbled the cartilage, not unlike a slumbering infant sucking their own thumb.

Joshua would very much like to have his only other ear stay in one piece, thank you very much!

His viridian gaze focused on the path ahead. In front, Volteer lumbered to Jesus knew where. With the Guardian as large and imposing as he was, Joshua had to take seven steps for each one of his. Annoying, since he was supposed to be guiding him to his first job in this world—his first step to attaining social acceptance. No pressure, Joshua. You can do this...

Kilat stretched in her sleep and, with a tired yawn, extended her forepaws past Joshua's neck. She smacked her muzzle a couple times before—of course—returning to her favorite chew toy for the morning. Joshua cringed; it was like having someone give him a wet willie every minute, by the minute. Luckily for the dragoness she wasn't biting down at all, otherwise her brother would've dropped her like a hot potato.

And frustratingly for him, the gamer found every single movement she made a series of distractions. Huge enough distractions that Joshua had already lost Volteer twice or thrice. Even though the Electric Guardian would hear him after a couple seconds of hollering—even though the guards trailing a little bit behind him would probably know which way he went—Joshua Renalia disliked being in the Residential Area's upper floors by himself.

Did he just say 'dislike'? Nah, he really hated being all by his lonesome.

The Temple's Residential Area from the third floor and onwards had been cordoned off from the rest of the dragon population residing here. With the halls, corridors, and rooms other than his own unused, Joshua found it terrifying.

The wide berth of the hallways—big enough to fit adult dragons and their humongous bodies—combined with the dim, crystal light to create an eerie, desolate atmosphere. This place was dead. Joshua felt chills just being here.

Jesus Christ, there was already an awkward dread with just the silence between him and Volteer!

So, Joshua had nothing else better to do than speak up the next time he caught up to the old dragon ahead of him. He dashed forward, exerting best effort not to dislodge the little girl clinging to his arm, and tapped his foot on Volteer's.

"Yes, Joshua, what concerns you?"

"Ehrrrmmm, there's something I'm curious about. I'm hoping if—

"Feel free to ask away, my boy. I am always ready to lend clarification, understanding to the curious soul."

Why must he make it so goddamn formal? Joshua shelved the thought away. "It's just a simple question, dude."

"As you often say, 'no problem'!" he said. "The deepest quests for truth always start with the most simplest of null hypotheses."

"Ooooookay. Well, I noticed you and the other Guardians don't frequent the upper floors of the Residential Area. I don't see Spyro and Cynder either, or the people from that council the other day."

"Ahh. And I suppose you are inquisitive of our personal arrangements?"

"In a manner of speaking," Joshua replied. He left the fact the upper floors felt more like a prison than a living space unsaid. Compared to the shit he encountered occasionally on Quora or Facebook, Joshua felt Warfang had and continued to give him many privileges mere, ordinary prisoners could only dream of having. He didn't want to ruin Volteer's day any more than he might already have.

"I see," the old dragon acknowledged. "Alright then! Since people still consider your, prolonged accommodation in the Temple a great source of anxiety, such knowledge may possibly save your life in the end.

"People of our level, specifically the Elemental Guardians, the various Warfang Councilors, as well as our beloved Saviors of the Realms, are given free residence in the Noble Chambers."

"The Noble Chambers?" Joshua repeated, surprised that the highest authorities of the Allied Territories were given their own rooms. All the other stories he's read online focused on the Guardians and the special treatment they received as a consequence of their reputation, their wisdom, and their leadership. This was the first time he heard of them sharing their space with others.

Then again, he knew next to nothing about life in the Middle Ages or earlier, so what did he know?

Volteer had already been speaking when he turned his attention back to him. "...the ease in assuring the safety of our honorable, esteemed leaders, being grouped together facilitates rapid coordination across multiple, often overlapping, areas of concern. The Audience Chamber where we held your hearing a couple days ago is a short walk from the Noble Chambers, and itself has a VTOL point for easy entry and exit for our fastest, swiftest messengers."

Joshua hummed as he followed the elephantine dragon down the steps to the fourth floor. "Back home only the leader of the entire country and their family are given something like your 'Noble Chambers'. Everyone else just lives in rich areas."

"I didn't say we all lived in the Noble Chambers. Some of our most influential councilors and their stewards live in Central Warfang."

"Central Warfang? You mean, it's not just those knights from Talonpoint Keep?"

The old dragon laughed. "Oh Joshua, whatever gave you that idea?" He shook his head. "Warfang is a city that has been around for many, many, many generations. Not everyone wants to put themselves and their families up here. We would've run out of space millennia ago!

"Once you regain even a semblance of your mobility, young human, perhaps you should pay a visit to Blowout. Or maybe Lodestar? Those are our most affluent districts in Central Warfang. It will do well to curry favor with dragons of influence."

"...'dragons' of influence? You mean..."

"Mainly dragons live there, yes," Volteer admitted. "Dragons whose families or relatives have played significant roles in life, according to our scholars. The lesser species tend to stick together with their own kind, and they settle down in districts where many of them reside."

As the only "Ape" in the City of Warfang, Joshua had either nowhere to go or everywhere to stay in. He preferred the latter. He had to think positive, after all. He had to!

"Which brings us to this job you got for me," Joshua noted.

"Affirmative."

"What exactly is a manual scavenger? What sort of responsibilities does it entail?"

Volteer's sphere of life contracted very slightly. Joshua might not have noticed if its color had not clearly shifted to red for a split-second. "I know you gave me a little 'heads-up' back at the balcony—

"...heads-up...?"

He nearly facepalmed. These f*cking cultural barriers! "It's slang for 'advanced notice', dude."

"I see."

"Anyway, the information you gave me up there wasn't specific enough, so I want to know more. You've got a job offer for me, and I assume you have some idea of what my duties and responsibilities are going to be, right?"

A long pause settled between Joshua and Volteer. It bothered the gamer. He could sense the Guardian's sphere of life making minute vibrations as its spin intermittently switched between fast and slow. His heartbeat went faster, just a bit. And there was that abashed expression up on the dragon's yellow muzzle whenever he glanced back down at Joshua.

"…Right?"

"It, is noble work," the wizened reptile began. "Doubtlessly its total contribution to the general administration, management, command of the Allied Territories is—I reiterate for your memory—minimal. However, it is simple, undeniable, incontestable truth that our dear 'City of Dragons' cannot function without the thousands of manual scavengers diurnally keeping their snouts to the ailerons."

Keeping their snouts to the… ehhh? Joshua withered. He didn't f*cking understand that last bit. "…snouts to the, uhm…" His head hurt. "Uh, the f*ck you just say?"

Another patronizing smile from the Guardian. "Ah, of course." It showed every time Joshua had a problem with the figures of speech here. Sometimes it originated from him; others, from whoever he was speaking with. Jesus-Mary-Joseph, it made him miss his world more. At least most people understood him. "My apologies, Joshua. Occasionally I forget you are as much a foreigner to our ways as any of the other species in Warfang."

The gamer waved it off. "It's fine, Volteer. So what's that you just said and what does it mean?"

"'To keep your snout to the ailerons' is one of the many idioms we use here to describe intense, heavy focus on work."

"You pronounce it as, uhhhh, 'hey Leon'?" He had to give it a try. Who could blame him?

"Aileron."

"Heylaron?"

"Aileron."

"Ailiron."

An exasperated groan. "Close enough, I suppose."

Joshua swore he heard a clicking sound in his brain as understanding finally took place. "I'll improve on my diction later. Anyway, where I'm from, we call that 'working your ass off'. I have another friend who writes fanfic—err, works of fiction on his own time, and he uses 'head down, bum up' instead. It means the same thing. I'm not sure why though."

Volteer brightened. "Ah, I've been hearing metaphors like that from our new generation of apprentices. Young dragons these days commonly say 'eyes straight, ailerons flexed' notwithstanding the fact its underlying meaning is identical."

Having this sort of conversation with Volteer—a shallow discussion Joshua might actually have had with his friends with a bottle of beer or two—drove the nail further into the coffin. That he was in another world. A living, breathing world with its own customs, its own nuances, its own values, its own ways of life. This was not the TLoS world he'd come to know from playing the Legend trilogy on his PlayStation 2.

.

.

This was more.

.

.

Joshua probed, "You said Warfang won't 'function' if there aren't any manual scavengers. Why?"

"It is noble work, as I had verbalized. The job harnesses talent resources that would have otherwise remained idle to supplement public health, to bring much-needed comfort to life in the Temple, and to further democratize economic opportunities to even people lacking the qualifications or"—the dragon eyed the human.—"the public trust."

He said it all with a straight face. His sphere of life indicated agitation of some sort, but Joshua's complete, utter inexperience with reading people failed to provide better insight.

"…You're really not going to tell me anything, aren't you?"

"I'm afraid I can't say much about the work. I simply don't know anything about it." That was total bullshit, the gamer believed. He was calling it now. "Just take comfort in the fact Moles who do not possess much creative talent or expertise happily volunteer for the job. It would be much better to experience it for yourself. Ah, we're here."

Joshua looked up and recognized their surroundings. Residential Area, third floor. They stood right at the landing of the stairs leading down to the second level. Joshua sensed multiple spheres of life roaming the floors below, going about their own business. He counted at least a hundred. Majority were Temple apprentices. The younger dragons given the privilege to reside here, in the continent's seat of power.

He gulped. He hadn't been down there in a while. Did they really have to go this way?

"Alright, Joshua," Volteer's voice sliced into the silence. He sounded gleeful, if eager. "Time to wake up my little prodigy!"

"You're doing this already?" Joshua questioned. "But, d-dude, I thought you're bringing me to my new job!"

"Calm yourself. All shall be fine." He unfurled a wing and gestured at one of the armored guards standing diligently by the landing. A bulk of flesh, muscle, and skin among these living statues stirred and came to life. A rhynoc clad in golden armor broke the ranks. Its brown leather hide gleamed ominously under the gem light. Joshua ogled the thick, muscular hulk of an arm—wider than his frail, human body—and studied the long spear in its grip. A pair of crimson eyes fell on him. The rhynoc grinned down at Joshua, revealing two rows of jagged, yellow teeth.

A low, rumbling voice rolled out of its massive jaws. "Clear skies," it—he greeted, not so much speaking the words as grunting them out. Joshua would have been frightened by the display if he hadn't been able to sense the rhynoc's tranquil sphere of life.

Volteer's reply came instantaneously. "Steady winds." He turned to Joshua and gestured at the brute. "Joshua, this is Streeg. I have entrusted him with the task of guiding you to the Under Steward overseeing several labors in charge of manual scavenging duties."

He didn't like the way Streeg gave him the stink eye. If he'd been trying to intimidate the gamer, he was definitely intimidated. He curled inward. "C-can I trust him?"

"He's Talonpoint." Another guard walked up to him. A leopard, tall and imposing. He glowered down at Joshua, a hostile disdain impregnating his gaze. The gamer flinched. "Like everyone else assigned to the Temple. The Talonpoint Code is sacred. All knights from our Keep—without exception—swore an oath to keep it until our dying breaths." He leaned down until his snout hovered inches before Joshua's face. The gamer recognized his furry muzzle. He was one of his guards. He had a familiar name, one that reminded Joshua of someone from the team behind Classic Spyro. This leopard was usually one of the friendlier guards, though his attitude right now betrayed his irritation. Dude must've been pissed for doubting his colleague. "Is that enough for you?" He hissed. "Or should I tag along as well?"

The condescension oozing out of his mouth disturbed Joshua. He yelped, "Y-yes! Yes-yes-yes, it's enough. Streeg is, uh, uhm, definitely good. Y-you-you don't need to—

The leopard cupped the gamer's shoulder and gave it a strong squeeze. "Then get to it," he said, cocking his snout at the dragoness sleeping on him. "We can't keep Master Volteer waiting."

"Right."

Waking Kilat up wasn't very difficult, despite having one arm dead at the side and the other clinging tightly to her rump. The little girl still had his ear nestled in her mouth. But as she had long fallen into a deep sleep, Kilat's bite had lost much of its strength and her muzzle was now leaking warm saliva all over one shoulder. It didn't take long for Joshua to wrestle his only ear from her muzzle and start nudging her cheeks with his own. "Psst. Kilat."

The dragoness didn't move. "Kilat!" She smacked her lips in reply and, still asleep, opened her mouth, reaching for his ear again.

"Hey!" Joshua butted Kilat's head before she could clamp down on his ear. "Wake up!"

He had been aiming for her horns, but he overestimated his reach and ended up striking the little girl's flews. It was enough to jolt her awake.

Eyes flying wide open, she blinked a few times before focusing on Joshua. "...morning, Joshua." Kilat yawned, not caring whether her brother had a front row seat to the stink of her breath and her icky mouth. She smacked her lips a couple times. "Clear skies."

"Steady winds. Had a good sleep, didn't you?"

Kilat let out a soft giggle and nuzzled his nose. "Yeeahh... I sleep a lot better when I'm with you like this."

"I can tell, kid. You've been drooling all over my shoulder."

The child gasped. Her muzzle formed a shy grin. "Oh! Sorry."

How cute. Joshua patted his sister's head, and drummed on her curved, ram-like horns. "Eh, it happens. Don't worry about it. I already get plenty of this from the baths you give me."

"Okay!" Kilat scanned their surroundings. She trembled a little, noticing how everybody was waiting on them. Staring, at them. "Uhhh, Joshua, we're downstairs?" She stretched her neck left and right. Joshua noticed some dirt had accumulated on her neck scales. It needed a little washing, or some vigorous rubbing, but it was out of reach of her tongue. He filed it as something to scrape off later tonight. She wasn't the only one keeping tabs on their personal hygiene.

Recognition of the third floor's landing pooled in her eyes. "Huh? What's going on? I thought we're staying at the balcony?"

Now, how was he going to break the news to her? "Sooooooo," Joshua started. He drawled as long as he could, to conceive a nice, concise summary of the quick chat he just had with Volteer some thirty minutes ago. "I'm getting a job."

"'Job'?" She tilted her head. Slowly tested the word. "What's a... job?"

Shit. Of course a ten-year old would be ignorant to the harsh realities of "adulting". Why the f*ck did he expect something different here in this alien world? Christ, had he been the same way back home?

Joshua inhaled slowly. He had this. Kilat shouldn't be a stranger to the concept of a communal life, with everybody pitching in. That place with foxes and mongeese, that village she lived in for several years surely divided required labor among the right talents. Maybe she knew it under a different name.

"A job is, it's a way of helping people in the place you live in, every day," he explained, praying to God he got his message across. "Not everyone can do certain things even if they wanted to." Joshua palmed the child's muzzle and pushed it—gently—very gently nudged it until she was looking at one of the guards there. "Look at them, Kilat. They're here because they make people like you and me feel safe. If something—someone invades Warfang or causes trouble in the city, they'll be the first to act while everybody else is too scared or confused to do anything."

He directed her muzzle towards the Guardian. "Him, he's here because these guards are too busy making us feel safe to keep track of whatever's going on with the rest of the world out there, beyond the walls. He's here to, uh, uhhhhh..." F*ck. F*CK! His talk no jutsu just sputtered out on him. Goddammit, this bullshit is hard as balls.

"To be a beacon of leadership," Volteer saved him. The old dragon, ambling towards them, took Joshua's dawdling as his cue to come in and begin tugging Kilat away. "As an Elemental Guardian, I possess the wisdom, the maturity, the experience, the history, to make decisions on the stratospheric level that would push the Allied Territories towards a better future for its people." A warm smile. "And that, I pray to Alona, also includes you two."

"Oooohh, I get it now. Wow, jobs are nice! They sound so much better than the boring dung they made me do at Mungo Volpe." Amazement sparkled in those youthful, cobalt eyes. Joshua almost squealed at the way her snout fell open and she started panting in excitement, like a dog. If this didn't paint Kilat as an innocent little girl, he didn't know what else would. "Oh-oh-oh! Joshua! Then you—y-you mean, you're gonna have a job too?"

Oh my f*cking god, look at her tail! Look at it wag! She was truly and honestly happy for him. Joshua cursed in his head. He couldn't bring it to himself to strip away her naiveté. "That's right," he told her. "Streeg over there"—he pointed out the not-intimidating, not-at-all-scary-and-F*CKING-terrifying rhynoc spearman patiently waiting by the stairs—"he's guiding me to the person in charge. It'll be an important step for me to get people's trust around here."

"And what will you be doing then?"

"Err, Volteer calls it 'manual scavenging'. The Moles normally do the work, and supposedly they enjoy it. He also said the Temple can't function without it."

"Can't wait to see it," she said, with a smidget of excitement in her voice. "So why are we still here? What are we waiting for?"

Joshua almost deflated. This was it. This was the moment he'd been dreading all morning. "You."

Kilat tilted her head. it took a couple seconds longer for her to answer. "Me?"

Joshua took a deep breath. "Kilat, you can't come with me. You need to go with—

"But why? Why not, Joshua?"

"I'm going to be busy. I can't have you around distracting me from doing whatever work they'll have me do."

"Then I'll just sit near you!" she chimed. "I can stay in one place and watch you work and not bother you and—and—and maybe sleep and wait and—

"No!" Joshua raised his voice.

Instead of shrinking back as she usually did, Kilat straightened her neck and raised her voice as well, recalcitrant. "What do you mean 'no'? We're going to be together. We'll always be together! Always! Nothing's coming between us ever again. Never, ever, ever, ever!"

He suppressed the urge to facepalm or let out an angry hiss. Jesus Christ this girl could be stubborn. "Don't waste all your time on me, kid. You got to have a life for yourself too! You need an education. You need friends!" He snaked his one working arm further up her body, wrapped her in a tighter grip with fingers curled on her golden scales. Smooth, if a little waxy. Just like usual. "Just go with Volteer already. You've got so much talent, don't you know that? I've told you so many f*cking times, with him supporting you, you're going to go far. You'll be a high roller! You can't let go of this opportunity. There's so much you're not—

"No!" She screamed. "Noooooo!" Kilat latched on to the gamer for dear life. Her claws easily punctured through his yellowed bulak tunics. Joshua couldn't pull her off of his chest. "I'm going with you and THAT'S, FINAL!"

"Goddammit, Kilat, just listen to me for once—no, just f*cking use your head and THINK!" He tapped the side of her head for emphasis. "We're not even going our separate ways here. You'll see me later tonight, and you're going to bathe me the same way you already do every single time before we sleep!"

"And leave you to them?" Kilat scowled at the guards watching the two of them. She bared her teeth. Her sphere of life contracted, and Joshua also felt her claws digging deeper, and deeper until they drew blood. He did the best he could to ignore the sharp, hot pain on his chest and shoulders. "To them?" Kilat popped her only wing open. It made a lateral movement once. "Ancestors, no! I'll never see you again. Why should I trust any of them? I have ears, Joshua. None of them like you. Your own guards want you dead!"

With her wing, she gestured at Streeg. "And look at him! I don't like the way he's staring at you. I have to be with you. If not, for, f-for all I know he'll probably go and rip out your throat the second you let him take you somewhere dark—

A jarring crash deafened Joshua's ears, interrupting Kilat's tirade. Both human and dragon jumped at the sound. It went on to echo throughout the dim corridors of the third floor, alerting every Dragon Knight patrolling this place, and possibly every apprentice living on the floor directly beneath them. He and Kilat slowly turned to the source of this deafening noise.

The leopard from earlier.

Specifically, the pommel of his sword and the slight dent it had just made on the enchanted walls.

He was p*ssed. Now that Joshua took stock of the situation, even Volteer looked agitated. The Guardian might have actually intervened if his and Kilat's arguing went unabated.

"By the Huntress, I refuse to stand here and listen to you two besmirch the Talonpoint Code! You have been told, time and time again, that it is our way to uphold the substance of all duties assigned to us, no matter our personal opinion." His feet took three strides towards them. The short distance that separated them.

Volteer shuffled. "Mother of Knowledge, Copeland, ground yourself! Remember they are foreigners—

He gazed at the Guardian for a second before sheathing his blade. It slid in the scabbard with a smooth and noticeable shink. "I am painfully aware they are foreigners, my lord, but I've had enough of these naive children belittling my fellow knights of the Keep." Copeland then bared his teeth at Joshua and Kilat. Nearly snarled at them. He addressed the latter, "Girl, show some respect! If we really wanted the furless ape dead, we would not resort to honorless subterfuge and deception as you brazenly imply. I do not speak for the other Warfang guards, but I can vouch for the integrity of Talonpoint Knights."

"Respect?" Kilat growled at him. Her sphere of life spun slightly faster. If he didn't stop this now, she might start throwing out her Element soon. "How could you! Ever since we came to this city no one treated my brother with respect. Not, at, all. Not you! Not your Purple Dragon! Not your f*cking leaders!"

"How ungrateful! Damn brat, your 'brother' wouldn't be alive right now if it weren't for Master Vol—

"I know that!" Kilat dropped to the floor on all fours. "'I'm young, but I'm not stupid! They don't really care about Joshua. You're all just using him!"

Joshua intruded into the conversation before things could get worse. "Kilat, stop it! We already talked about this! Did you forget what I said before? I don't f*cking care if they're using me! No matter what the circumstances are, I am still alive despite everything they've thrown at me the past seven days AND they are also giving me a chance to make a life for myself here.

"If you ask me, that alone is worth respecting the people helping us."

Kilat rounded on him and stared up into his eyes. A long, increasingly awkward moment passed until she let out a heavy sigh. "Okaaayy, Joshua, if that's how you truly feel, I can't change that. But no matter what happens, I'm still going wherever you're going." She glanced at Volteer. "Nothing else matters."

"Nothing except you, Kilat."

The little girl swiveled back, ogling him. "If you're trying to get me to leave..."

"Yes, I am," Joshua admitted without hesitation. "I'm worried about you. I'll be fine, once I pay my—once I've gone on a few flights on my own." Goddammit, these f*cking idioms were so hard to acclimatize to. "But what are you going to do when we get to that point? You'll be starting at zero, and at an older age. For all I know you'll be as big as Cynder by then!

"Back at home, people who start late go through life at a huge disadvantage. I also want you to be happy, Kilat. I don't want you to waste the rest of your life on me just because you wanted to keep a close eye on my safety for the next year or two."

"But... Joshua, I, I don't want to lose you too..."

Seeing how the child was about to cry compelled Joshua to kneel down and place a hand under her muzzle. He leaned in and gave his sister a loving peck on the nose. "Look, I'm going to be fine. To be completely honest with you, I have a vague idea of what kind of work they're going to make me do. Think of it like I'm..."

He racked his brain to figure out the best way to say this. Comforting children just wasn't his forte. "Like I'm some sort of glorified peon. I know it'll be important work. Important for my future, that is. Because if it's anything like the shitty work a lot of my folks have back home, it's going to be ugly, and it definitely will be thankless. It's not something I'd even want you to see, but it's something that will help me—help us get out of that godforsaken room on the third floor."

Joshua's warm, melancholic gaze was a stark contrast to Kilat's fiery, passionate glare. The two of them ogled each other. Viridian on cobalt, and the other way around. Neither of them spoke for a long time, until the dragoness shut her eyes and ultimately—finally acceded to Joshua's will. "Only for you, brother."

With those four words and a passing lick on Joshua's nose, she turned away from him and approached Volteer. Kilat bowed down at the Guardian. If she had any apologies prepared, she didn't get to say them. Volteer ushered the child away as soon as she stood by him, trembling with excitement.

But not before both her and her new teacher looked back at him for a few seconds before finally moving on, to another staircase. Probably the one going to Proudtail Hall. Joshua mouthed off an "I love you" to her as they left, and a warm, fuzzy feeling swelled up in his heart when he watched her do the same. What a sweet kid.

As soon as Volteer and Kilat were gone, Joshua Renalia bowed before the Talonpoint guards. In an imitation of the Japanese, the gamer bowed at the waist. "Sorry for what happened back there," he apologized. "I know we've been disrespectful to you, but I pray we can push this past us. And sorry for doubting you. Kilat and I can't help it; so many people want me dead."

"Chin up, boy." Copeland nodded at him, approvingly. "I suppose there is hope for you yet." He stroked his whiskers a couple times. "Alright, I think I'll go with you after all. Maybe you do need the additional security." The Talonpoint knight switched his gaze to the rhynoc spearman, who had remained as still as a statue even though there was a heated conversation happening just beside him. "Ok, Streeg, lead the way. You know which utilidor to go."

Uti-what now? Joshua furrowed his eyebrows. He didn't quite hear Copeland as clearly and failed to stop the word from fighting its way past his comprehension.

The rhynoc lumbered down. His measured footsteps were as gongs, echoing down to the hall below. Joshua followed after him, Copeland trailing not far behind with a cool, resolute vigilance keeping his life signature still.

The stairway went 360 degrees at the mezzanine and continued another fifteen steps down. When Joshua descended to the second floor, he expected a crowd to have formed by the time he walked into view, waiting to assault him with jeers, curses, insults—the same kind of hostile behavior he had to endure a week ago, during that long and absolutely demeaning procession through the city.

Instead, and much to his relief, none of the dragons living down here had a clue he was coming. Not more than ten reptiles loitered in this section, each smaller than Spyro or Cynder. These were adolescents. Several years older than Kilat, by the looks of it. They were either chatting with one another while idling on the floor beside the walls or walking to whatever place they needed to be info. Still, that fact didn't stop any of those dragons from giving Joshua a long, impenetrable look the second they recognized him and stopped in their tracks.

Their spheres spun, dilated, and changed colors in various ways. The one common factor joining them altogether was the judgmental glint in their eyes. Their bodies tensed, and it was quite clear each of them prepared to use their claws, fangs, and mana in the deadliest and most brutal way possible.

Joshua couldn't stop himself from cringing at the sight. He knew what they were thinking. He knew what they all saw him as. They're the ones who were scared. Not him! Oh no, they didn't see—possibly couldn't comprehend—how he was the terrified one. He particularly watched one, a navy blue dragon standing to the side, tremble as he approached. Its life signature radiated a low glow. Not once did Joshua feel the intense gaze of its white-banded eyes leave his body. Jesus, didn't they notice he had two Talonpoint knights flanking him? Even if he could—and intended to—attack them, he wouldn't have the time to get a single move out! Did these lizards have rocks in their heads or what?

Fortunately, Joshua Renalia walked past the group unimpeded. The ones who either sat on their haunches or laid down on their bellies never barred the way to begin with, while the few dragons ambling about were quick—really quick—to give the gamer a wide berth.

Beyond this group, in the maze of hallways ahead, were even more dragons. According to his innate Detect Life, many clustered together, forming a long, dotted line, branching out into groups of two or three in almost evenly spaced intervals. Joshua realized he practically had a mental map of the rooms and corridors on the second floor. Father have mercy on him, it was crowded down here!

Worry gnawed at him. Was Streeg leading him down this direction? Joshua shuddered. He wasn't ready for this. No, not yet. He didn't have enough guards. He didn't know how to channel his power. He didn't have enough... enough of anything to bolster his confidence in facing such a large group of strangers! F*ck, maybe he shouldn't have listened to Volteer—

Aaaaaand they took the next immediate turn and entered an isolated hallway, making yet another turn just as Joshua had gotten his bearings together. All of his worries evaporated. He had stressed himself out over nothing. Multiple sliding doors, not unlike his own on the third floor, marked the rooms down this way. Some were occupied; many others weren't. A Talonpoint knight stood guard every several meters, and most were dragons in young adulthood. Slightly bigger than Spyro and Cynder.

Their life signatures cooled into chilly swirling orbs of blue at the sight of him, but at least he could count on the "sacred code" Copeland was so proud of, most especially when the guy himself was just a few steps back, ever-vigilant, ever-ready.

As Joshua understood it, the third floor was laid out as a rectangular grid with cells of equal length and width, or rather, as best as nature permitted. The shape was limited to the contour of the mountain throughout which the entire Temple was constructed, after all. Beginning from the chamber that contained the stairwell, the tunnel branched out into three separate directions. One went straight to the opposite end, to another stairwell. The other two went to the sides, either leading to the maze of rooms and corridors or a path that went around the perimeter.

Two wide passages cut straight across the midpoint, where they intersected with each other. These large corridors either featured big, wooden sliding doors denoting rooms specifically tailor-fit for groups (if not individuals who deserved the bigger size), or opened up to narrower corridors that branched further out from there. Slightly narrower, of course, since the Mole in charge of the architecture obviously designed the Temple with adult dragons in mind.

Such corridors led to lavatoria or smaller rooms, splitting apart one last time into paths that each terminated in something akin to a cul-de-sac, where the tiniest rooms were located. Joshua Renalia stayed in one of these, precisely because the labyrinthine layout guaranteed both isolation and ease of providing security.

If the layout of the second floor mirrored that of the third floor—and it damn well should!—then they should be approaching the center of a quadrant. Their exact location was long lost to an increasingly disoriented Joshua. All he knew was, the corridors grew narrower every time he looked. Thank God Streeg was easy to follow!

The few dragons residing in this quadrant cracked their doors open for a quick peek. Joshua felt their curious or fearful gazes fall upon him. Fearful described them better, for each and every door slammed shut every single time he looked back. Joshua scowled. Jesus-Mary-Joseph, people! Like what the f*ck! I don't freaking bite!

What did they think he was? A wild, rabid beast? For sure they had a reason to fear him. A perfectly legitimate reason at that—he did have at least sixty corpses under his belt, many of them veteran Dragon Knights. But why did it feel like EVERY NORMAL PERSON hereassumed he had an insatiable thirst for blood? The way these idiots behaved, it wasn't hard at all for the gamer to imagine himself in their figurative shoes and see that both Streeg and Copeland were there, not to protect him from them, but to protect them from him.

Joshua was so engrossed in his disconcertion that he didn't notice with his sixth sense that someone had actually mustered the courage—or perhaps the stupidity—to follow him, Streeg, and Copeland out of the safe confines of their room. The distance was far enough that neither the rhynoc nor the leopard felt any reason to be on full alert, plus the fact that person did nothing at all but stare meant Joshua had no reason to pay any attention to them either.

At least until he felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise up one time too many.

His heart suddenly palpitating, Joshua pirouetted on the spot. He whirled towards the last corner they turned from, eyes straight and focused, and attempted to get a good look at the same sphere of life that had been following them for the past minute. His ears picked up a panicked squeak.

His eyes caught a flash of red wine, of burgundy and carmine.

A tail was all he glimpsed. Smooth, and devoid of spikes.

Copeland reacted just as fast as Joshua and turned around. He unsheathed his sword and slashed at where someone's neck would've been in one masterful movement. He dropped into a fighting stance. "Who's there?" he hollered. "Show yourself!"

He waited for an assailant to pop out of the shadows. His ears twitched, picking up echoes of someone's paws rushing through the corridors.

Joshua couldn't help but track them. Anxiety and stress radiated from that dragon. He did his best to follow their progress through the second floor, only to lose track the instant they vanished into the crowd of life signatures inundating the second level.

Several seconds passed. "They're gone," Joshua noted.

"Hrrmph," grunted Copeland. He returned his blade to its sheath and let out an annoyed growl. "Great Hunt! I hate it when people let curiosity get the best of them."

Streeg had been waiting on them. At first glance, the knight appeared to be stupidly standing in place. A closer look, though, it revealed that Streeg also tensed up during this encounter. The gnarly monster of a guard was just as ready to attack. Lord forgive him; he had truly underestimated these people!

"Everything, okay?" Streeg verbalized his question in detached, rumbling grunts.

"Quarry has gone away," Copeland replied.

"See anything?"

The leopard shook his head. "I drew a blank." He waved at his fellow knight. "Go on, Streeg. Carry on."

The next corner led to a deadend. To Joshua's confusion, he found four knights standing guard, despite the conspicuous lack of residents here. Painstakingly cultivated discipline embodied their stationary bearing. Now, he wondered, why were there guards—

That's when he noticed the door. Unassuming, practically inconspicuous. Even more so when a Dragon Knight planted his massive ass right in front of it. For a door of solid rock, it was a normal one, the kind with hinges just like those back on Earth.

"There's a door just like this outside your room," Copeland said. "You probably never noticed it. It is standard protocol to have a Dragon Knight directly blocking the way."

"Where does this go to? Why didn't we go to the ones on the third floor?"

"It's faster this way. As for where it goes," Copeland smirked. It looked unnerving on a feline. "I wouldn't want to spoil your first time."

Joshua scowled, but said nothing. The leopard was talking to him again, and he didn't want to stir him up too much.

Streeg stopped in front of the dragon. Joshua learned several days ago, when he and Kilat passed through the farmlands of Autumn Plains, that adult dragons were about as big of mammoth elephants. But Holy Mother of God, the way this adult dragon dwarfed the rhynoc left Joshua utterly speechless. Streeg's head wasn't that much higher than the dragon's withers. The closest analogy he could think of was that of a full-grown human standing next to an SUV.

Streeg fished out something from his pocket. A... badge, it looked like. "Bringing, furless ape, to Under Steward Nydec," he grunted. "Command of Master Volteer."

The dragon nodded then, after fiddling with a metal plate on the door, stepped aside. He eyed Joshua, a little surprised at the treatment, once he put two and two together. "Interesting," he remarked. "Spring of Fortune shines upon us. Maybe we were wrong about you after all..."

Joshua deadpanned, "You were."

"We shall see about that, furless ape. The truth is but a matter of time. You may proceed."

Streeg pulled the door open with an astonishing tenderness, the likes of which Joshua never expected from a brute. Beyond it lied a path even smaller than the Temple corridors. By the looks of it, the Dragon Knight could barely fit in there! Streeg simply tucked his head down and casually walked in, as though he'd been doing this all his life.

Diffident, Joshua paused at the doorway. These corridors weren't just cruder. They were darker, too. Gone were the cornucopia of glowing, inert crystals of the Residential Area. In their place blazed ordinary torchlight, reminiscent of medieval castles in Germany and Scotland. Joshua knew this not because he had actually been to such castles (the young man had never set foot in Europe all his life), but because he had read enough articles on Wikipedia.

The torches were placed at intervals barely sufficient to light up the cramped tunnels. They cast an eerie gloom. Joshua shuddered. Other than Streega and Copeland, he was alone here. If they wanted him dead, this was the perfect place to do it.

Thankfully the two Talonpoint knights stuck to their code of conduct and performed their duty of guiding Joshua wherever. The path began a rather steep descent, and the shadows made it difficult to see where he was going. They passed multiple branching paths, one after another. Streeg turned several times in succession, and in minutes, the gamer was completely lost. He couldn't make heads or tails of how many left or right turns or zigzags they made.

Worse were the short, spiral staircases carved into the rock. They led into slightly wider passages, but they also disoriented Joshua more. He felt dizzy from the stale air. He panted from all the walking. The stone walls were cold to the touch. They felt like ice on his bare, sensitive skin. The silence was unbearable.

A Spyro fanfiction Joshua had been following came to mind. "Firelight", its author called it. The plot, as he recalled the last few chapters he got to read, actually delved into Warfang. If he remembered correctly, the heroine and her party—three dragons and a tiny fox with wings—entered the city through Old Warfang, and were immediately swept up by good, old-fashioned bureaucracy once inside. Warfang was supposed to be one stop in the protagonist's adventure, not the destination. But with a functioning government in place, she had no choice but to sneak out in the dead of night, through a tunnel just like this.

Was this how Charla felt? Joshua wondered for a moment. The silence had become oppressive, torches were sparser, and the lack of room was apparent, because even Streeg had difficulty passing through the tunnels. Copeland was forced to hunch his back, too tall for this place. The eerie gloom had long turned ominous. Shit, I can totally relate to her. He did not want to be in this place any minute longer. Many times Joshua half-expected monstrous abominations to jump out of the darkness and eviscerate all three of them.

Comforting thoughts took root. Thank God he wasn't alone. Thank the Lord Jesus Christ that this was a sanctioned trip, and he wasn't anywhere near where he wasn't supposed to. It wasn't much, but it had a calming effect on the knot in Joshua's stomach as they pressed through the tunnels.

A few more turns.

A few more staircases.

Many more turns again.

The passage, while narrow, grew several inches in height. Streeg and Copeland could stand straight now, and still they moved on. Moved past a box of text and lines carved on the left side of the wall. Joshua couldn't read any of it.

"We call these 'utilidors'," Copeland spoke for the first time since they entered the tunnels, breaking the silence. "Shorthand for utility corridors. It's a network of tunnels spread throughout the Temple, mainly for bipeds like us."

"How does Streeg know where to go? I..." Joshua felt a slight headache. Seriously, this damn place was more like a dungeon than maintenance tunnels! "I've been lost ever since we went here."

They took another turn. Copeland pointed at a small box of text on the corner. Joshua squinted. These characters were not in English. Some were squiggly lines. Some were straight. Jesus, it looked like Chinese and Arabic f*cked each other and popped out this monstrosity. "There are floor plans on every level. They show the main areas as well as exits to every part of the Temple." He tapped on the carved text. "Every crossing has markers like this one, showing where each path goes." Another mocking smirk. "I know these tunnels like my hunting grounds in Avalar, and Streeg is no different. As for you, there's no chance of getting lost here, IF you can read."

"...F*ck you."

Author's Notes:

All right! So, a lot of stuff has been laid down as groundwork. There's a lot more going on other than "Joshua is being introduced to his first job" but I'll let y'all figure that out.

Replies to reviews:

Chaoscontrol108. Thanks so much for your glowing review! And you read QUICK. And yes, Skylands in Aimless will be much different from its canon counterpart. And yes, Spyro and Joshua actually having a connection to each other makes you think, doesn't it? Hmm...

Spyro fanboy. Be glad he didn't, then! As for Kaos and his illusion magic, the Guardians can easily guess he's using illusion magic without questioning Joshua. Remember, not all of the guards are dragons. And mistake was rectified as soon as I saw your review. So, thank you!

LoNeWoLf. I hope that isn't a bad thing. D: I worked hard on that last chapter! So much stuff in there. It's not just Kaos.

Bizzleb. I know, I took some risks in the previous two chapters, so the mixed results were expected. Glad you still enjoyed it, though.

Eh, anyone can tell that Joshua would've stayed if you were paying attention to the timestamps. The chapters with Vara do show that. But yeah, basically Joshua's a good kid and a big enough fanboy that won't just abandon his heroes and his benefactors.

Velocicopter. Thanks so much for your review! Really happy you enjoyed this one. Joshua not being able to harm Kaos is not surprising. In Aimless, Portal Masters are ridiculously powerful. They are noted for their mastery over spacetime and dimensional magic (if you didn't already figure that out from the portal being a wormhole and Kaos's constant invocation of Obito Uchiha's favorite jutsu). Plus, they are battle-hardened sorcerers. They won't get hit that easily.

Heh, Dark Souls moment...

Iceman3423. And watch me as I timeskip (or flashback) to more laidback content...

Yes! Kaos knowing all that and sharing it with the Empress will have consequences. The post-A/N scene in the previous chapter is one of them.

Kaos didn't reveal it though. You realize he spoke with Joshua through telepathy every time his origin was mentioned?

It's a good start for Spyro and Joshua, yes. Just pay attention to the timestamps.

PointlessFigment. Finally, someone who's feeling the aimlessness of, well, Aimless. It's in the name, dude! But don't worry, there's progression in most chapters. I haven't gotten to the point where I'm tossing in irrelevant fillers almost every other chapter. (Even this one isn't, since it's thematically related.)

Try reading Katekyo Hitman Reborn (it's a manga/anime series from the previous decade). The story has a similar structure where it's slice-of-life for, like, the first 60 chapters or so, and all the characters being introduced there turned out to be plot-relevant in the story arcs after that. Even the final boss showed up during that part.

Wiener Blut. Yes, pain before pleasure...

SonicDJM. Oooh, new reader! Thank you so much for reviewing. Next time, please log in or create an account, so I can reply to you directly. Unlike AO3 (and I don't post on AO3), I can't reply to guest reviews.

Well, Joshua is pretty genre-savvy and he IS supposed to represent a typical gamer who has a love for the Spyro franchise. So, the shoutouts are a given. You might have recognized the latest one in this chapter too. Firelight (and its sequel Balefire) are REALLY good stories. Go and check it out when you can!

I'm always open to ideas. PM me and we can discuss.

Re: Imperia. It's the exact same character. I've previously worked with 4Dragons to fit Imperia into the Aimless world.

hfort307. Hey, thanks for clarifying the reasons for your negative reviews in our private discussion.

So, you have three problems with the story itself, right?

First, Joshua's power. Yep, it's definitely OP, but it has very glaring weaknesses. I know you still think it's OP, but I think I'm handling it a lot better than most HITR stories.

Second, Joshua's cursing. That's not going away. I'm staying true to his namesake in real life, and back when we were in high school, he would throw out curses almost every other sentence. It was just who he was. I expect this habit to have gone away by now. I mean, it's been more than 10 years. Dude probably has a wife now. It's kinda sad that we lost touch over the years.

Third, moral/social division. It's a common trope in this kind of story, unfortunately. I tried to avoid it in the planning phase, but eventually I just figured it'd be better to follow the beaten path, but rather than making it easy for Joshua to win them over as I've read in other stories, he'd have to overcome stubbornness, skepticism, and even irrationality. As for Spyro... the portrayal's deliberate. You may have noticed I haven't done a single chapter from Spyro's POV.

Also, I want to point out that so far the story has been focused on Joshua's first month in Warfang. If you want to see real progression without all the stuff that goes on in between, then I advise you to stay away from Aimless until the timestamps start approaching 41 days and beyond. Real life rarely works that fast either, really.

Betrayed666. Eh, no I don't. But I'm not surprised. It's all I've been showing lately, and it's understandable. But, all I can tell you is to focus on the timestamps.

Also, as for the reason why I'm giving Joshua a hard time, it's really because I want to tell a story that shows how it's actually REALLY difficult to be accepted by others, how the world isn't a friendly place, and how most people must face life with more disadvantages than advantages. And moving to a new country, to an entirely different culture, will not resolve these problems. It might even add new problems too.

As for Spyro... he's not really evil. He's just like that to Joshua, and Joshua alone.

Piston24. Late always better than never, IMO. Glad you liked the chapter!

You're the second person to notice the "Y" for years thing. Not getting any comments from me, though.

Spyrofan34. Yeah! Spyro should be smarter and think that maybe, just MAYBE the connection they share is actually real? Man, what have those four years of hero-worship post-DotD done to our favorite purple dragon!?

Kaged. Thanks for reading this! Glad you ended up liking this story too. Hope you enjoyed this update. :D Next one's gonna come up real fast.