Author's Notes:
Direct continuation of the previous chapter. Moving Up 3B clocks in at nearly exactly 10,000 words and ends this series of chapters.
Good thing I made it right before the new year! Lots of things to look forward to. COVID-19 vaccine, a certain man-child stepping down from the US Presidency... return to normalcy, perhaps? I sure would like a chance to go back home again, even if it's just a few weeks. The country I live/work in makes me just so damn toxic and paranoid that I can't wait to kick back and relax...
Anyway, Stryker has a message for y'all too: Hey all, Strykeruk here. Thank goodness 2020 is almost over. Thankfully, this story has been one of the bright spots and I've thoroughly enjoyed contributing and reading it. Silent has been one of the most impressively consistent fanfic writers I know of and I hope there is more good stuff to come
Glad you find me consistent, bro, and at least you like the content I churn out, even if it doesn't really advance the BTW and TJH categories. I'll be focusing on those in the next few updates though, to get the main story moving along. SK suggested I should.
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 48: Moving Up 3B (Final)
"If they don't like you for being yourself, then be yourself more."
~ Taylor Swift
[44D/LM]
Blink's snout went back and forth.
They were in an L-shaped corridor. Korahnir and Mellanus ahead; Levanelle to their left. Two electricity, one ice. It was a good element combination, and they held the numbers advantage. Running was still an option; Blink had a few Blink Bombs in his pouches to make that opportunity happen. The compounds within didn't contain any of his lethal recipes, as they were made to cause a distraction for half a minute at best.
Even so, fleeing still carried the risk of getting trapped in a cul-de-sac. Unfortunately, neither of them could open the utilidor access on their own. Having lived in the Temple's utilidor network for most of his young life, the boar knew from experience that the Temple guards didn't enjoy being assigned to guard the access doors. They had a tendency to roam around and run patrols to alleviate the deadly boredom.
Had this situation occurred last cycle, the guards would've heard the shouting, the commotion that was happening close to the second floor landing. At the time, memories of the Incident were still fresh and both the Council and two of the Guardians were quite wary of Joshua.
Now, many people had realized Joshua wasn't as dangerous as first thought. In fact the human was gradually being assimilated into the path of apprenticeship. As a result, although the security edicts remained in place, all who didn't bear the armor of Talonpoint Keep had become complacent.
Lazy.
Bored.
Comfortable.
They were far more likely to attract the guards' attention by staying here and making noise as loudly as they could. The question is, was Joshua thinking the same thing? If he ran, Blink had to join him. If he stayed, then they had to stall for time.
Problem was, he didn't look like he was thinking.
He looked like he was still suffering from shock. Shock at the ice scalie's reasons for blocking their way to the Second Floor landing.
"My friend?" Joshua shot an incredulous look at Blink. "He doesn't go up here at all. There's no reason he'd be bothering you—
"Not the mole," Levanelle cut him off. The dragoness had a nice voice, but with her frigid tone it only sent chills down Blink's tail. "You're friends with False Purple, aren't you?"
"False Purple? You mean Vara?"
"Who doesn't know that undragon?" Levanelle sneered. "I was looking forward to seeing her expelled. False Purple always poked my wings whenever I saw her, and I thought the Summer Exams would be the last time I'd see that stupid egg in these halls. Monoscales and weak, pathetic dragons like her don't belong here."
"Neither do apes pretending to be something they're not," Korahnir added.
"Honestly, I don't share Korahnir's views—
"Hey!" yelled Mellanus. "Whose side are you on?"
"—but you should've never taught False Purple anything," Levanelle continued, ignoring the other dragon. "Lizards like her should just stay on the ground and serve those who'll soar high into the firmaments. Now look at what you've done!"
The dragoness lowered her stance and snorted from anger. "Azeroth the Infinite, False Purple's starting to think she's better than us! She even threw an icicle at me the other day. How dare she!" Levanelle snarled at Joshua, the sheer volume causing Blink to jolt. "And that's all your fault, Novitiate Joshua! The longer you stay here, the more people will forget their place! You ought to be thrown out of Warfang instead of staying here subverting the natural order!"
Something in Levanelle's words struck at Blink, and they struck deep. It reached into the core of his being, touching upon his frustrations towards his fellow Moles and his profound dislike for the way dragonkind sees his people. The boar couldn't help himself and shouted at the dragoness before Joshua could even answer back. "There's nothing wrong with giving people an opportunity, scalie! Everyone should be given a fair chance, no matter what their species and defects are!
"Joshua's earned the right to be here. Every time I look at him, he's always working hard to move up in life against all odds; he's never faulted anyone for treating him the way they have. If anything, he deserves to be living on the second floor too!" He pointed a single claw right at Korahnir. "And you two!" he yelled to the striped dragon and his crony. "I was there in Windvale Arena and both of you needed his damn help. You're nothing but ungrateful worms!"
Korahnir snarled so loudly that spittle flew out of his maw. "SHUT UP!"
"Where in the Realms did this rat come from?" Mellanus leered, baring his fangs as much as the other dragon. "Go away and be quiet like the good servant you're supposed to be."
Levanelle huffed in amusement. "There's a lavatorium by the stairs, little mole," she said, gesturing towards the second floor landing. Blink clenched his teeth. Her condescending tone agitated him. "Why don't you do your duty and get in there? I just dropped a nice, warm pile of scat and it's waiting for you to jump right into it. It's all yours to roll around in like the dirty, hairy savages—
Blink couldn't take it anymore. It tested his patience to endure the fanaticism his fellow Moles displayed wherever they went and to withstand the disdain, the disapproving glances they sent his way. But to be tossed in with the rest of those freaks just because he was a mole himself? It infuriated him. Moles were more than volunteer servants.
"Suck my toes, you damn scalie! We're better than that!"
Levanelle's maw opened to rebut, only for Joshua to cry out. "Blink, no!"
Blink broke off from Joshua and rushed over to the ice dragoness, boots echoing resoundly in the corridors. The mole apologized silently. He knew he was being stupid, but his pride was at stake.
His pride as the Professor's nephew.
His pride as an inventor.
His pride as a true mole.
"As if I'm letting you talk scat again!" Blink growled out as he leaped straight into a powerful kick aimed right at Levanelle's scout.
Blink was upon her in a few steps, catching the dragoness by complete surprise. His boots, several layers thick, were capped with a rare, durable metal. Levanelle's snout whipped back at the blow.
The dragoness growled in pain, stumbling back, her eyes shut and a paw over her snout. As he expected, one good hit wasn't enough to take a scalie down. A few more hits were needed.
"Ancestors damn you!" Levanelle cursed. "I'll—
Blink brandished his spanner and slammed the weapon right at her face.
Snarling, Levanelle pulled back her long neck to avoid a second blow. Blink noticed a blue light envelop her claws. Her Element! She batted upwards at him at the same time he kicked right into it. He lifted his spanner, parried the dragon's blow, and ruthlessly counterattacked with his free hand.
Whack! Metal knuckles rang true. Another blow to the head. Levanelle went down. Not yet out. She was quivering before him, glaring with fury. He couldn't let her recover. One more strike and—
One of the Electric dragons came out of nowhere. A pair of yellow jaws rushed in, snapping at his outstretched arm. "Damn it!" Blink pulled back his finishing blow at the last moment, grumbling.
"You're open!" Mellanus cried. An orb gathered in the apprentice's mouth. A golden lance shot out from his maw. Blink twisted to the side, barely evading it. The mole hissed; he felt his fur tingling. That was too close.
The dragon wouldn't let him have any breathing space. Arcs of lightning danced across his wings. He pirouetted, whipping his tail around. The move pushed Blink back. It also gave him the rotational momentum to spring forward in a corkscrew jump.
Korahnir's voice echoed in the corridor. "Mel, watch out!"
"Crouch!" Joshua's call followed the bully's warning immediately. Practically simultaneous.
Blink curled himself into a ball at Joshua's command. The dragon flew over his head, knocking his goggles off-center. He craned his snout back and saw Joshua Renalia right in Mellanus' line of attack.
Rather, he was tangential to it.
The Electric dragon landed on all fours in the perfect spot for the human to drop an attack on him. "W-where'd you come from?" Mellanus exclaimed.
Joshua swung his only working hand down. Balled into a fist, it had a glowing light wrapped around it. Blink heard bone and skin strike Mellanus' skull. A weak but sharp pak sounded out.
It was ordinarily something any scalie in the Dragon Realms could laugh off.
But for Joshua, the pathetic-sounding punch was accompanied by a flash of light that illuminated the L-shaped corridor for an instant. Several bystanders turned and ran away at that moment, a few pronouncing their intent to find the guards.
"Uguhhhhhh," Mellanus mumbled. He stumbled over his paws, a groggy look on his muzzle. He appeared—he acted as if the world had suddenly become topsy-turvy. "M-mother of Knowledge. W-what… what's going—
Korahnir shouted, "Dragonbane! You'll pay for—Ancestors! Where'd he go?"
Blink was utterly confused. Joshua was still standing right in front of Mellanus. Contrary to Korahnir's understanding, the human hadn't moved at all. "Finish him," Joshua said. He broke into a run, heading straight for Korahnir while the scalie couldn't perceive him for whatever reason.
The mole shot a glance at Levanelle. Still struggling to stand. She had a hateful glare fixed on him, but she couldn't stand. She still had a paw clutching the base of her horns. His confidence buoyed, Blink dashed to Mellanus.
Korahnir tried to warn him. "Mel! Do—
But Levanelle cut him off. "Joshua's coming!"
"What? Where? Where?" Korahnir spoke with increasing panic.
"In front of you!"
"No way! I can't see him!"
"I can! Do something now or…!"
Blink had no idea what or how Joshua was doing this. He knew it had something to do with his Element, but he couldn't afford to waste time watching or even listening to his side of the fight. The boar was upon Mellanus in a couple strides. He smashed his spanner into the dragon's snout. Without anyone to defend him, the attack hit. The electric dragon, dazed, fell to the floor.
Blink took the opportunity to stomp on the scalie's head. "And stay down!" he cried at him once he got a third hit in.
Mellanus curled his forepaws around his head to protect himself, to stop the mole from truly knocking him out. "A-Ancestors damned rat…"
"Blink!" He heard Joshua yell right as he gave the fallen dragon a fourth blow to the head. A kind of pleasure filled him, seeing the bully's scales crumple inward.
A kind of pleasure that deadened his reaction time for a moment.
One moment was all it took to hit Blink where and when he least expected it, for Korahnir—confused and desperate—reached into his mana core and sent a wave of electricity outward, fanning out in a wide area.
The yellow wave circled around what Korahnir considered empty space—revealing Joshua's location to him—and continued onward, striking a distracted Blink. He went still, electricity coursing through him. "A-aghhhhhh!" he growled from pain. It was as though someone had shoved needles into his body. His muscles spasmed out of control, and it hurt a lot more than he expected.
"There you are!" Blink heard Korahnir exclaim with joy and disbelief.
Joy at finally having found Joshua and interrupting Blink at a crucial moment.
Disbelief at how close the human had come. Even Blink was shocked at how Joshua managed to come within two paces of the striped dragon without the latter even noticing him.
An infuriated Korahnir gnashed his teeth together. Electricity dribbled out his mouth, little sparks dancing around his fangs. "You'll pay for this, Dragonbane."
Joshua raised his hands in a placating stance. Blink thought it was too late for that. He suspected Joshua knew it too, yet the monkey was still stupid enough to try. "Okay, I'll admit, we started it, but you guys were the ones provoking us to begin with."
Korahnir didn't reply.
"Look, dude, Blink and I aren't apologizing for shit," Joshua spoke. "You guys are the ones at fault here. You're the ones who can't let this go. C'mon, Corey, let's stop this now."
"No!" Korahnir replied. "Not until I'm done with you."
Joshua sighed exasperatedly. "What the f*ck, man! I'm trying to stop this unnecessary bullshit. You can't kill me! Volteer and Cynder—ehem, Master Volteer and Lady Cynder are responsible for me. Do anything and your life is over. Your apprenticeship, your—
"Vulcan's Flames, I know I can't kill you. I'm not that dumb." Korahnir glowered at him. Meanwhile, Blink eyed his previous opponents. Mellanus was still out but was now showing signs of waking up; Levanelle had been trying to stand, but her stance remained wobbly, unstable. Another hit or two would take her down again.
He rose to his feet—rather, he tried to—while the other two continued to talk.
"I don't want to kill you anyway," Korahnir conceded. "I don't even need to! I just have to bite and claw at you to the point you physically can't go down here again and play pretend novitiate."
Joshua groaned. "Dude, what the hell is wrong with you? Jesus f*cking Christ! I know I killed your dad, and I'm really sorry for your loss, but I was just—
"Your mother's cloaca, Dragonbane!" Korahnir cursed at him. "I don't care if you killed Dad on accident or didn't mean to kill him! By Valorem the Principled, it's my job to make sure you don't fly away from this with just a mere nip on the forepaw."
"God-f*cking-dammit! I told you—
"If I don't do this, I'll never fly well together with Dad when I see him again in Alona's Realm."
Joshua went quiet. "There's… there's no convincing you, huh?"
Korahnir sneered, "Finally, the furless ape gets it."
Blink had managed to get on his feet, then dragged himself over to Levanelle. The arrogant trash of a noble noticed his presence when he had his spanner raised for the final blow he should've given her a minute ago. "This is for insulting me, scalie."
He brought down the weapon on her skull with every intent of knocking her out for good. It was aimed for the spot of soft turquoise scales located right between her eyes.
Had Blink done this earlier, Levanelle wouldn't have been able to even attempt at evading the blow. Thanks to the breathing room both Mellanus and Korahnir provided, she had recovered enough from the boar's surprise attack.
Enough to regain the reflexes needed to bring her head back, contort it, and part her mouth wide open, aiming straight for Blink's muzzle.
Ice Breath.
"Damn it."
Levanelle conjured a micro-blizzard which appeared between her jaws and practically spat it towards the unsuspecting boar. A flurry of subzero temperatures and ice shards instantly collided with Blink. His goggles were knocked off his head. The mole raised his arms to blunt the damage, yet even the sheer force behind her attack sent Blink back to the floor. "This pile of scat!"
Joshua rounded on them. He was closer to them. "Don't worry, Blink! I'll—
"As if I'm letting you!" Channeling more electricity, Korahnir sent a bolt of lightning towards Joshua.
Joshua noticed this without even looking at the bully. He raised his right arm and then, palm outstretched, with his eyes taking on that unfocused, vacant air, he declared, "You two aren't the only ones with Elements!"
What happened next was something no one would ever expect from anyone else besides the Purple Dragon. Korahnir's lightning suddenly froze in the air, completely still yet brimming with enough power to render the human unconscious had it struck. The purplish-white glow of the Unknown Element stained the edges of this jagged, ethereal dagger.
Only a mere moment had passed before Joshua swung his arm towards Levanelle. Korahnir's lightning moved without warning, as though hurled by some near-invisible force. Had Blink been able to watch this, he would've seen the lightning bolt become a screen of energy that absorbed the mana in Levanelle's Ice Breath and protected him.
Korahnir roared. "Nothing but tricks!" Electricity crackled around him. In his peripheral vision, Blink saw the dragon disappear in a flash of yellow light. Wrapped in the aura of what the dragons called Volt Tackle, he was as a shooting star, headed straight for Joshua Renalia with his horns trained on the human's thigh.
One hit would pierce Joshua's skin and fracture his leg, Blink realized. He might have a tough body, but a strike like that would easily end the fight in their loss. He had to do something. Blink grabbed a paper pouch in his belt. He only had a split second to toss the Blink Bomb between Korahnir and Joshua—
He didn't need to.
Joshua clenched his fist as though clutching something invisible beside him and dragged it to the right. Blink gawked while he watched Levanelle's Ice Breath act on its own volition, bend away from him, and slam into Korahnir a split-second before his attack connected. Instead of hitting his target, he flew past the human, rolling on his side and crashing in the corner. "Gah!"
Blink clicked his tongue. If Korahnir had hit his head on the wall, the force might have actually knocked him out.
Levanelle ceased attacking, eyes dilating from a combination of shock and terror. "That's impossible!"
Joshua Renalia stumbled over and fell to a single knee. He clutched his head using his only arm, growling. "Arrrrgghhh…" His body swayed unsteadily, as though dizzy and unable to stand straight.
Blink took a deep breath and rose to his feet. He focused on Levanelle, who was still stupefied from the sight of Joshua manipulating two elements at once. She was open. Vulnerable. One solid hit and she'd be out of the fight, too.
He picked up his spanner and, tightening his paw, prepared to sprint—
"Joshua, behind you!" shrieked a female voice. Blink whipped his head towards it. That was far. About three, no, four corridors away. He spotted the dragoness instantly—she was the only apprentice sticking her head out the corner. Dark red, definitely monoscale. Lime-green eyes, a round muzzle, and a panicked expression on her snout. He inhaled sharply, having recognized Joshua's stalker.
Unlike Blink, Joshua turned around and yelled. "F*ck!" This drew Blink away from the anxious dragon in time for him to see Mellanus pouncing at his friend. Joshua stumbled backwards. A white orb the size of Blink's muzzle quickly materialized into existence beside his head.
The human threw himself to the side. He barely eluded Mellanus, who landed on the floor gracelessly, still recovering from all the blows Blink had landed on his head. Joshua was muttering incoherently. Blink could barely hear him. "K.O., K.O., K.O., K.O., K.O—
The white orb burst into particles and vanished.
"—Goddammit!" Joshua cried, his good hand on his head. Mellanus struggled to stand. Joshua's stance wobbled just as terribly. "Again… again. Got to do it again!"
Blink watched the white orb come into existence once more. Joshua had a glazed look over his eyes. It was obvious now that whatever he could see was unique to him, and it factored into how he channeled the Unknown Element.
Then suddenly his head swung in his direction. "Blink!"
The mole didn't need further warning. "YAH!" With a cry and a twist of the waist, Blink stepped to the left and whipped his spanner upward in a diagonal trajectory.
Regret filled his eyes. On the very second he lashed out, Blink realized he could've hit Levanelle in the head and completely knock her out if only he had reacted with a downward swing.
For his wrench flew over her snout. Before he could bring the weapon down, Levanelle let out a growl. She shuffled and kicked the mole with her hind legs. The counterattack was strong, with plenty of weight behind it. Blink landed on his back. He was ready to bounce back into his stance, but Levanelle herself expected this, a blue light already illuminating her maw.
Blink hesitated.
That moment was all she needed.
Joshua's white orb became a beam of energy. The attack was as noiseless as all the others he'd done earlier with the Unknown Element. It rushed towards Levanelle, streaming right for her face. Blink noticed blood dripping down Joshua's nose just as a second orb materialized beside the first.
Levanelle spat an icicle not at Blink, but at Joshua himself. She lowered her center of gravity at the same time—barely dodging the white beam—and then slammed her forehead on Blink's snout.
THUNK.
It was agony like the boar had never experienced in his entire life. Yellow spots blinked in and out of existence. A fuzzy sensation marred his thoughts. His vision turned blurry, and all Blink could hear were yelling.
Mellanus screamed in the background. Indistinct.
He heard Levanelle's voice next. "We outnumber you two to one, Novitiate!"
"Make that three to one," growled Korahnir. Blink's eyes began to clear. He could see all three dragons surrounding Joshua. He gritted his teeth in frustration. Didn't he overhear a few apprentices saying they we're fetching the guards? Where were they? Why was it taking so damn long?
He turned his head to look at the corner. He scowled deeply when he saw Joshua's stalker still watching the scene. He didn't care if she was anxiously observing them all. She clearly cared about Joshua to some degree and for all he knew, they might actually know each other. But why wasn't she helping? She wasn't even doing anything!
The thought that he was lying down on the floor recovering from a solid blow to the snout while that cowardly, good-for-nothing monoscale stayed still watching from the sidelines irked him so much. The fight would've been more even had she joined them. In fact, they definitely wouldn't have gotten into this situation to begin with if this stupid reptile didn't flee from them to begin with!
He assessed the situation again; the mole was relieved none had made a move yet. All three were circling around Joshua. Their strides clearly betrayed the fact they'd all been injured once or twice and were now cautious about attacking the human. Blink noticed the second white orb was no longer floating in the air, causing him to conclude he must've used it, and probably missed.
Blink tried to stand, but the impact of being hit on the snout left his legs shaky at best. He'd struggle to get around just as badly as Levanelle and Mellanus did after bashing them with his spanner. Said weapon had fallen from his paws and now laid a few paces away in the opposite direction. He needed other options.
Blink thought about the decoction in his pouch. An experimental potion of strengthening cooked using what meager lessons he'd learned from a dabbler in alchemy. It'd do nothing at best; it'd take him out of the fight at worst.
Blink Bombs then.
His gaze fell on Korahnir. Among their opponents, he was the only one who hadn't been injured enough for a big drop in his fighting ability, whereas Levanelle and Mellanus still looked like they only needed one good hit or two to take them down.
He made his decision. Dipping his paws into his utility belt, he cried, "I'm still here, you dumb scalies!"
Blink took out a couple of paper pouches with one paw, and a clump of metal pieces with the other. He suppressed his surprised reaction. Of all the times I forgot to throw out the garbage in my belt, it had to be yesterday.
Unfortunately he just had to work with the tools he had on him. With no time to chastise himself, Blink quickly threw the projectiles at the dragons encircling Joshua. The Blink Bombs aimed at Levanelle, and the metal pieces at Korahnir.
Levanelle's reaction was commendable. Instantaneously, the Ice Dragon fell on her flank and rolled over. With her out of the way, the pouches had a clear line to Mellanus and both exploded on his confused muzzle.
Blink watched the metal shards hit Korahnir, but as expected they merely bounced off his blue, white-striped scales. The dragon rounded his banded eyes on the boar and growled, annoyed. His growl became deafening rumbles that reverberated in the near-empty corridors the second he noticed Mellanus drop to the stone floor in a coughing fit.
"Ancestors! You damn scat egg!" Korahnir raged at Blink. The Electric Element inundated his maw in a golden light. Blink knew he had to react fast. He dipped his paw into the only pouch containing his paper bombs—two remained—and tossed out one sphere.
It exploded into a cloud of acrid smoke when Korahnir's lightning bolt struck it in midair. Before Blink could do anything else, Levanelle spread her wings and was upon him in a single bound. She pirouetted in the air and whipped the floor with her tail. The mole stepped back to avoid it, then he crouched down, following up with a forward kick to her turquoise snout.
He sprung with speed and accuracy, and still the attack failed to connect.
The dragoness rose on her hinds and leaned to the side. She stretched out her forepaw and, sheathed in a thick layer of frost, caught Blink with it. Claws dug past his fur and drew blood. The mole hissed.
"The same move won't work on me twice," Levanelle said. She powered through her counterattack and slammed Blink down on his back. The very impact had him gasping for breath.
Then Korahnir roared angrily in the background.
"Vulcan's Flames! Get hit already!"
"Keep trying, asshole!"
"Let's see you get out of this!"
Blink didn't like the sound of that. He glanced at Levanelle, who'd been standing over him, catching her breath. He had to get up, to get out of the way, to recover. Sweep her off her feet with the metal tip of his boots and punch her snout in with the solid metal knuckles adorning his gloves. It was the only way. Decisively, Blink lifted his torso—
Right on time to see the dragoness' paw stomping straight down on his muzzle. The leathery paw pad fell on top of him, covering part of his eyes. Sharp pain followed almost immediately. Sharp enough to have Blink yowling.
"Just stay down!" Levanelle cried. With a frigid glare, she increased the pressure on her paw and placed her other forepaw atop his chest. Blink tried to fight her off but the weight was too heavy for him. "Azeroth's horns! It's over, little mole. You're done. Give it up."
The dimly-lit cave flashed white; then Blink overheard Korahnir shriek. "Mellanus! Mellanus!" Another roar. "Alona curse you, Dragonbane! What've you done to Mel?"
Blink twisted his head to see what was going on. He managed to glimpse Joshua Renalia standing above Mellanus with his right hand cupping the back of his neck. Said dragon had slumped over to the floor, eyes shut, unmoving, yet still breathing. A short lance had also formed in the air beside Joshua's shoulder, sporting an otherworldly purplish-white color.
Levanelle did not let Blink see what happened next. "Worry about yourself first," she said. The dragoness pushed down on him even harder, causing enough pain for Blink to cry out.
Levanelle's snout coiled into a sadistic grin. The pressure on Blink's nose suddenly collapsed, plummeting a short distance before it transferred to his open jaw. The foul stench of sweat and unwashed leather coated Blink's tongue. He gagged, eyes dilating as he realized the dragoness had her paw in his mouth, and she was spreading her toes and the disgusting filth it surely carried everywhere.
Blink choked. "Urrrk!" He yearned to spit it out, yet he couldn't. She had him trapped.
"You're not getting me too!" Korahnir's snarl echoed in the corridor. "Arrgh! That damn shield!"
Blink heard the snap of electricity. Joshua cried in pain. The glow of the Unknown Element vanished as though it had never been there to begin with.
"F*CK!"
Thud.
"JSHFF!" Blink's voice was muffled out by Levanelle's foot. He began to continuously choke. "Urrk!" To violently retch. The horrible stink in his mouth worsened to the point he could compare it to drinking an endless volume of brackwater from a coastal swamp. The longer her toes bathed in his spit the more unbearable it became. "Aghk!"
Joshua screamed in the background. Had Blink been able to watch, he would have seen formless wisps of energy appearing around the human and then scattering harmlessly into the air, unable to take shape and become solid. Not only did Korahnir manage to put an open wound in his left leg, but he also had him trapped. The human's only working arm was stuck in Korahnir's mouth, and the dragon was biting down on it. Biting deep and thrashing about, tearing into skin and muscle.
Blink could only stare at Levanelle, who, knowing what was happening in the background, slowly lowered her muzzle down towards his head. He heard her chuckle. "I love how you're just gagging down there, little mole." She sneered, "This is exactly where you belong."
Levanelle flopped on top of him and pressed her large body down on the boar. Blink could no longer move. "What you did still hurts. Honestly I can barely stand, but that's fine as long as you're underneath me."
Blink couldn't answer either.
"Moles love slaving over dragonkind. You fight over our fresh dung, service our every need, and ask for almost nothing in return. You're obviously too young to accept it, but that will come in time."
Levanelle continued to move her paw. She rubbed it all over his mouth, even dared to play with Blink's tongue. "Go on then. Lick it. Clean up every bit of it. Suck in all that flavor like the slave you are. Serving dragons like me is your only purpose in life!"
The pressure slackened a little. Sufficient enough for the boar to crane his head a little and check on Joshua. Korahnir yelled, "This is what you get"—the Electric dragon batted at Joshua's bad arm, claws slicing through the skin, making him cry out—"for flying too high, furless ape!"
Joshua's eyes were as wide as he could open them. He continued to scream. He punched and kicked at Korahnir, but his sturdy, blue and white scales proved all his efforts meaningless. The Unknown Element flickered—blinked in and out of existence in random intervals. A second passed. Two seconds.
Blood spurt from Joshua's other nostril at the same time a short dagger materialized into his good hand—its make, wraithlike. He swiped at Korahnir, expecting his desperate attack to land. But Korahnir's teeth had damaged his arm. It was slow to move. Slow to swing.
Slow to hit.
Korahnir saw it coming and reared his head back. Joshua Renalia had a look of shock on his face. The ethereal dagger vanished in the wake of Korahnir's grin. Joshua didn't even have time to curse before the dragon pinned both his arms to his side and pounded his head—his horns into the human's chest. "Think you're one of us, huh?" Blink could hear him utter. "Arrogant"—thwack.—"cocky"—thwack.—"stack of dragon dung!" Thwack. "When I'm done"—thwack.—"you'll never go down here again!"
Many questions passed through Blink's head in a moment. Why couldn't Joshua use the Unknown Element anymore? Why wasn't it reacting out of some deep-rooted instinct, just like the other Elements did with scalies—just like what happened last cycle?
Then it clicked. Signs of dizziness. Bleeding from the nose. Moments of unsteady balance. The constantly vacant gaze.
A hypothesis was formed in Blink's mind: the Unknown Element did not operate on instinct. It did not correspond to either feeling nor emotion. It responded to focus.
The boar might have pondered some more if it weren't for the repulsive paw in his mouth. Levanelle growled in annoyance and pinched his tongue. Blink yelped, unconsciously swallowing the vile putrescence flooding his muzzle. His eyes went wide at the realization, then he retched anew. He struggled against her mass; she was too heavy for him to move.
Levanelle smirked at his ordeal. "Most of you creeps would be in ecstasy by now, but I can tell you're one of a kind. You hate this, don't you?"
Blink tried to block out her rich voice, but it was impossible when she would speak right into his ears.
"Novitiate Joshua's finished," she said. "Korahnir's tearing into him as we speak. Let's talk about you. How about I offer you a deal?" Levanelle continued without his prompting. "I swear to Azeroth the Infinite that you will come out of this unharmed if, and only if, you acknowledge your rightful place in Warfang and you demonstrate it, publicly, with reverence, anytime, anywhere, and at my command."
Blink shook. He stewed in a pit of silent rage. Tears trickled down the sides of his snout. This was why he hated noble dragons. Dragonkind had always viewed the "lesser species" from their lofty positions in the air. Even the nicer ones treated them as though they only amounted to preconceived roles, with the Moles automatically assumed to be invisible laborers who dedicated their lives to their scaly betters.
The aristocratic scalies were the worst. They were supposed to be special in some way, destined to become "high-flyers" and soar far above both common and flightless folk alike. They believed the world had to treat them with adulation, and they were rightfully entitled to it all.
"I will own you for no less than a year, and I'll make sure you'll be happy worshipping me reddit-to-black." Levanelle taunted him, "Sounds wonderful, doesn't it? Every mole in the utilidors would kill to get a heavenly deal like this."
Every mole other than him. Blink glared at the dragoness. He was resistant to the end.
Levanelle pinched his tongue, and once again, Blink swallowed the sludge in his mouth in reflex. He felt sick. Sick and powerless.
"You won't even need to talk," the dragones sneered. "If you accept my terms, all you have to do is show it. I can always ask Moneybags to prepare a contract later."
Blink broke eye contact and looked away from the reptile. He continued to think of a way out of this, to escape and help Joshua before that damn scalie did something to him, or worse, stupidly caused the events last cycle to repeat all over again.
Then he caught Joshua's stalker peeking at them again. Still in the same corner, still having done nothing at all. This time, he glimpsed a conflicted expression on the monoscale's snout. Her lime eyes, replete with anxiety and concern. He knew that look. It was the face people made when they debated internally with themselves. If only she'd act. If only she'd act faster. Was she that afraid of Korahnir and Levanelle?
There was no use looking to a worthless, good-for-nothing scalie for help.
Blink retreated into his thoughts, but in the end, there was nothing he could do. He was trapped, pinned by the heavy dragoness that had flopped on top of him. Joshua's agonized moans went in Blink's ears.
Korahnir demanded, "Got anything to say now, Dragonbane? Huh? Huh?"
"M-mother, f-f*cker…"
A loud whack. "Agh!" Blink heard Joshua spit on the floor. Blink couldn't clearly see if he'd been injured more from his position, but the fact the human hadn't yielded to Korahnir yet reignited a flame inside him.
Blink knew what he had to do.
He didn't like it—he didn't want it, but the gods had left him with no other choice.
The mole swallowed his saliva. His tongue curled upon the rough, calloused pads entrapped in his mouth. It took all he could to ignore the repugnant aftertaste in his throat, to power through the urge to vomit, and open his mouth as wide as he could manage.
Levanelle snickered. "So the little mole finally capitulates…"
As if! He wanted to tell her. This scalie was delusional to think he'd given up, and Blink planned on making her pay dearly for misconstruing him.
Completely and absolutely cognizant of what the consequences would be, Blink took a deep breath—
A small explosion cracked the air and bathed the Temple walls in orange, preceding the swift approach of thick, heavy footsteps. Blink heard Korahnir roar. "Who did that? Who spat that fireball? Show yourself!"
—and crunched the soft, sensitive leather-like flesh. Ignoring all the sounds he could hear, disregarding even the increasingly loud jingling of metal, Blink gnawed on Levanelle's paw with his teeth, investing all the strength he could into this final act of rebellion.
The ice dragoness shrieked, interrupting Korahnir's search for Joshua's stalker and drawing all attention to them for a short moment. She withdrew her paw from Blink's mouth in less than a second. Jolted to a great degree, Levanelle reared onto her hindlegs and leaned away from the young boar.
With so much less weight on his chest, Blink whacked away Levanelle's forepaw, hitting her directly with his metal knuckles. She yelped, not expecting this either. He spun away from underneath the dragoness, scampering backward beside his fallen spanner. He picked it up and held it tight. It felt good to have something in his paws again.
An icicle crashed into it, overpowering his weakened grip. Despair filled him. He didn't expect to lose his preferred weapon again that quickly. Levanelle growled at Blink, ambling towards him in a low crouch, ready to pounce.
He really should have worked on his potion making skills the other week, the mole thought.
"Fine then," she grunted. "I gave you a choice and you blasted it out of the sky. Don't blame me for what happens next!"
Thick ice formed around her short, shiny horns. With a cry, she charged forward, her head brought down and aimed at Blink.
"Don't blame us either!" shouted a familiar voice.
Copeland appeared beside Blink, sprinting rapidly before coming to a dead stop. Expertly utilizing his momentum, he twisted around and backhanded Levanelle's head with his enchanted gauntlet. It was a mighty blow. The ice on her horns shattered on impact and its sheer power sent her careening into the middle of the hallway, out cold.
Rushing minecarts! Before now, Blink had never been glad to see a Warfang knight. "Joshua—
"Streeg's got him," uttered the armored leopard, accentuating the heavier footsteps booming in the corridor. "Lady Cynder's coming, too."
Blink couldn't help blurting the question, "What took you so long? We—
Streeg grunted when he came upon Joshua and Korahnir. He pummeled the floor with the blunt end of his spear, causing a sound loud enough to stun at close range. "Back off, boy!" The rhynoc snarled at the apprentice and reached out to yank him away, deal with him if needed.
To Streeg's—to everyone's surprise, Korahnir flopped over backwards. Choking, squirming, gasping for dear breath. "C-can't b-b, b-breathe," he wheezed. The dragon twitched constantly, as if none of his muscles refused to work no matter how much or how hard he tried. "W-what've you… Ancestors…"
Korahnir went quiet, unable to waste precious air. While he rasped and panted, Joshua groaned. He was clutching at his head, stumbling sideways out of balance. Ichor dripped from both nostrils this time. His tunic was ruined at the chest, and both arms caked crimson. Joshua gasped, as if awestruck, confounding Blink in the process. You really didn't expect this, huh? He thought.
With things clearly settling down in their favor, Blink could finally relax. He licked his arm, sweeping his tongue on his fur. He blanched. No matter what he did he couldn't get rid of the putrid taste that still lingered in his palate. He'd have to drink water or eat something later.
He was just about to ask Copeland (again) how they found them and why the other knights hadn't come when Joshua's eyes focused on the gasping Korahnir and trudged towards him, limping on his left leg.
Joshua shouted, "What the F*CK is wrong with you? You're all a bunch of thankless assholes! Yes, yes, I know I f*cked up—I know I killed your dad and a score of people last f*cking month! I apologized for it already, a hundred times over, but even I know that'll never be enough. Jesus Christ, why do you think I've been working my ass off for the last thirty, forty, something days?
"You think I'm down here for shits and giggles, Corey? I want to help people here, you f*cktard! I know it won't bring back the people I killed, but this is the only thing I can do, 'cause WHY, THE F*CK, am I gonna off myself, huh? HUH?" Joshua made a wild, unreserved gesture at Mellanus. Blink noticed the Electric dragon had recovered from his Blink Bomb but had elected to remain still and behave lest he incur the wrath of the two Talonpoint Knights who'd finally caught up to them. "And you know what, where the f*ck is your sense of gratitude? I helped you and your f*cking minion here the other day, and you two beat the snot out of me in return! And for what? Because I'm being a pretentious prick? Because I'm pretending to be an apprentice? Because your high-flyers are keeping me alive?"
Korahnir had difficulty breathing. He kept his maw agape, inhaling with ragged breaths. Mellanus tried to reply in his stead, but the strength and timbre in his voice had become a squeak. "W-we're sorry, Mister Drag-d-dragonbane. We—
"Don't f*cking call me 'Dragonbane'!"
Mellanus flinched and went on all fours; presented his neck. "Okay, Novitiate Joshua," he replied. "Okay. We're, we apologize. We just thought it wasn't fair that you—
"Fair?" Joshua seethed. "FAIR? Don't f*cking talk to me about 'fair'! Just about everybody in the Temple was born with silver spoons in their mouths"—another human metaphor, whose meaning was lost on Blink and the others—"flying around the place learning shit and doing nothing else! Try working in the lavatoria or the utilidors for God knows how many hours a week before talking about what's fair and what's not."
Korahnir breathed heavily in silence. His eyes were locked onto Joshua with a sullen and resentful glare. Blink wondered if he actually felt sorry and was just too proud to back down, or if he abhorred the human that much.
Then the unnerving vacant air from before returned to Joshua's eyes. His face became calm, all emotion forced away. "Corey, you don't deserve a single damn ounce of compassion from me," he uttered coldly. Emotionlessly, as though the dragon was a mere ant before him. The human subsequently took a deep breath, then flames burst into life around his hands. They enshrouded even the one dangling limp on his left side. It was a chilling mix of purple and white. "You know what? There's only one way you'll learn to leave me alone."
Joshua marched towards Korahnir, wincing every time he stepped with his injured leg. Korahnir's eyes widened. Although he couldn't move, even Blink could see he was shaking from fright. He soiled himself in broad view. "Nov, N-novitiate Joshua, please, I—
Joshua's response was also impassive. "No."
The rhynoc moved. He got between Joshua and Korahnir, with a clearly sympathetic expression on his snout. "Joshua. No."
"Out of the way, Streeg."
"Enough," the knight retorted. "No more fighting."
"I don't care. This R-Tard needs to learn his lesson."
Copeland took a step forward and remarked, "Boy! Just leave it to the Disciplinary Subcouncil. They'll sort it out properly and—
"Their parents are probably high-flyers too," Joshua rebutted. "They're going to get away with this, I just know it."
Streeg continued to bar his path. "Maybe," the rhynoc grunted, "But—
"Move out the way, damn it."
"No."
Anger resurfaced in Joshua's eyes. "I SAID MOVE!" He lashed out at the knight and slapped his armor, with the flames petering out in mid-strike. Awkward silence flooded the air, with Joshua's hand refusing to leave Streeg's full plate. Did he just try to use the Unknown Element? Why didn't it—
Streeg snorted. "Well I said no."
Copeland raised his voice. "Just stop it, Joshua!"
"Just f*cking move, bro!" Joshua ignored them and shoved the rhynoc from the side. With surprising strength, he managed to push him—to cause the giant knight to flounder sideways. The human growled in frustration and briskly walked towards Korahnir.
He managed only three steps at most.
Because Joshua himself faltered. He wavered, bent over, and groaned. "Ahh… my head…"
And because Cynder had finally appeared.
She turned into the corridor from the farthest corner Blink could see. He couldn't find the Fire dragon who'd been stalking Joshua anymore, and he conjectured she had absconded the scene the moment Copeland and Streeg caught up to them.
Cynder trotted over to them as soon as she came into view. She moved with elegance, practically gliding over to them. With a piercing set of eyes the exact shade of the human's, she immediately assessed the scene and sprang into action. Disappearing and then reappearing amongst them in a puff of black smoke, ghostly tendrils of the Shadow Element materialized from the void and wrapped themselves around Joshua, Mellanus, Korahnir, and Levanelle. They went for Blink too, to the boar's surprise, despite the fact he'd merely been standing ever since Copeland rescued him.
The Temple Guard arrived within seconds of Cynder's overt intervention. At least ten knights, some being led by apprentices, two of whom Blink recognized. The boar recognized those he and Joshua personally questioned back at the second floor landing. Curiously, one group was led by the Fellow who desperately wanted to accompany them, and until now he still couldn't figure out whether the scalie had Ice or Earth for her element.
"Ancestors!" Cynder accosted Copeland, who'd been nearest to her. She was shocked by the scene in front of her. "What's going on? Why is Joshua on the second floor? Why are there three injured apprentices here?"
Copeland bowed in deference, a custom Blink often saw the knights do whenever they were called upon by the Guardians or the Saviors, in a less formal setting. "Your Grace, Joshua's been involved in another bullying incident."
"A second one?" Cynder sighed, shutting her eyes in frustration. "It hasn't been even one cycle since the first! How did this happen?"
The leopard glanced down at the young boar. Blink's tail sprung up and went still. He didn't like that look. "I believe," said Copeland, "this mole can tell us more." He didn't like that answer either.
"Who is this?"
"The boar's name is Galleron, Your Grace. Professor Dumitru's nephew. Although Galleron answers to the appellation 'Blink' for reasons I do not understand."
"I see." Cynder looked him over before glancing at the human. "Must be the pup Tuconsis mentioned," Blink heard her mumble to herself. It didn't surprise the mole in the slightest that she'd heard about him. People at their level typically knew bits and pieces of everything.
The brown-and-blue dragon from before stepped forward, and fearlessly, it appeared to Blink. She stood straight, with wings folded tightly around her body. "Lady Cynder," she said and bowed her head. "Clear skies."
"Steady winds. What is it?"
"I'm Mei. I'm a Fellow residing on the first floor." Using her wing, Mei gestured to the scene and said, "Half an hour ago I had the opportunity to speak with Novitiate Joshua and his companion. I believe I can help with your investigation. Besides myself, there are also other witnesses who can provide testimony and I think I can convince them to speak up."
Cynder warily accepted her initiative. "Thank you for volunteering."
"It's nothing, Your Grace. I just want to help Novitiate Joshua. I know others who feel the same way."
Mei's response took the older dragoness by surprise. A flash of a smile appeared on her black snout, though Cynder was quick to suppress her emotions and easily recovered the grace and poise of an experienced orator. "Can they help clarify what happened here?"
"Yes, Your Grace." Mei bowed her head respectfully. "I'll do the best I can to get their cooperation. I have your neck."
"Excellent. Now go and get it done. The Temple guard will help you."
"Thank you." Mei turned away and marched away, headed for wherever the other apprentices scattered to when the fighting started. Blink could've sworn he saw the dragoness tremble with excitement, which wouldn't be surprising. Rarely did one get a chance to work with one of the Saviors.
Cynder didn't see this, having returned her attention to the scene in front of her. She fixed her posture and examined the L-Shaped corridor, her gaze imperious and critical. Blink was certain she was taking in the sight of all the knights waiting for her commands and the few brave apprentices who were ogling them from a distance. Even Joshua's stalker peeked in after Mei was out of sight, and from an even farther corner than before.
A full minute passed while everyone anxiously waited for her decision.
Then it came.
"I have an announcement to make."
.
.
.
.
.
.
Cynder's decisions came with swiftness and resolution.
The injured dragons—Korahnir, Mellanus, and Levanelle—were brought to the nearest clinic outside the Residential Area for emergency treatment, then held for questioning by the Temple guard. Joshua, given how severe his injuries appeared, was given a red spirit gem for immediate recovery. He would be subsequently and indefinitely confined to the third floor until further notice.
Levanelle and Mellanus showed signs of repeated blunt force trauma on the skull, which corresponded to the head of Blink's spanner. Korahnir himself had no outward injuries aside from bruised scales on his flank, but his difficulty in breathing and current state of paralysis, which had barely alleviated over the few minutes Cynder spent giving instructions, were compelling enough for him to be confined together with his fellow apprentices. Blink had a feeling she suspected—and rightly so—that Joshua's Element had done something to his body.
Joshua Renalia was in worse shape than any of the dragons. One of the metal shards Blink threw at Korahnir was apparently embedded in that hole in his left leg. Several bite wounds—all made obvious by the teeth marks Korahnir left behind—were present on both arms and his shoulder. Worse, he had an ugly, dark-colored bruise on his chest. It was so bad that Joshua once casually remarked to Blink, "Volteer was right about that dragon constitution thing."
It would be a few days from now when Blink remembered to ask Joshua about this and learned that a normal human would've died from Korahnir's assault due to a crushed ribcage. His reaction would be one of shock and wonder. Shock at the fragility of human beings, and wonder at how the Elements modified natural physiology.
Cynder became furious with Joshua when she learned his reasons for meandering about the second floor. He had been searching for Vara, that ice dragoness he was "friends" with—Blink was still wondering if she was just another kind of bully—and for the banal reason that he wanted to spend time with her. The young man did not even think about two simple, undeniable facts: not everybody agreed with him being in the Temple, and there were still people who wanted him gone, if not dead.
Even Joshua couldn't help but gasp in utter, absolute shock when Cynder slapped the human herself the very second his wounds magically vanished and the red spirit gem disintegrated into gray dust. Her wing rushed out and smacked his cheek, dragging out a pained grunt from the young man. Then, before either Blink or Joshua realized it, Cynder had lifted the latter up and shoved his primate body to the wall on the Third Floor landing, not caring if it rendered his tunic more irreparable than it already was.
"I can't believe it!" Cynder scolded him. "You aren't a novitiate! You aren't even a real apprentice! How could you forget something that simple?"
Joshua squirmed against Cynder's grip, but her paw was firm and not to mention large, nearly covering his entire torso. "I'm sorry, Cynder! It's just that ever since you and Volteer had me show off my 'leet' skills in Windvale Arena the dragons on the second floor never looked at me the same way. They stopped running away from me, they're a lot friendlier than they used to be, hell, they're even willing to talk to me now—
"That's not my point! You know it's still dangerous for you."
"Isn't that why you have knights guarding me?" Joshua rejoined. "The second floor—no, the entire Residential Area isn't as dangerous while I'm with them."
"So you say, and yet you left your escorts behind anyway."
"I was chasing someone."
Cynder's muzzle scrunched up with clear exasperation. She exhaled with strength, her breath washing over his face. Joshua's face twisted a little at its meaty smell. "Oh yes, your stalker. Even I get those from time to time, but I'm not so dumb as to let them poke my scales. Didn't you realize you were separating from your guards?"
"N-no," Joshua said. "Cynder, I, I-I just wanted to confront him—
Blink couldn't help interjecting, "It's a 'her'! Your scalie's actually a 'ness. I saw it myself."
A look of confusion appeared on Joshua, but he recovered easily. "—confront her, since he's—she's been following my ass every single time I walk to the second floor utilidors on my way to work without even trying to talk to me! I just wanted him—her to stop and, well… I, uh, uhmm…"
Joshua's voice fizzled into awkward silence. He didn't speak for another few seconds. "Uhm, I, I actually haven't thought all of it through, honestly."
Cynder gaped at him. She didn't utter a single word for a long time. "Ahh Joshua, you stupid, impatient fool." She released him and turned away, her tail whipping out to give him one last slap on the face.
"Owww!"
"You should never let your guard down just because you converted some members of the public on your side. If you're complacent, it's only a matter of time before someone with a grudge finds a way to get to you." She looked over at him, stern. "You remember what happened last cycle, don't you? At the Eastern Gate, with Rimeer and Infernus?"
He bowed his head, unable to meet eye contact with the Savior. "Yes, Cynder," he responded sullenly, forlorn.
The dragoness sighed again. Her cold, disciplinarian tone softened. "Joshua, I know where you're coming from and I can personally empathize with your flight, but you don't command the kind of power or respect that I do. You need to be more careful when you're moving around, even when it's just the Temple.
"Furthermore, your safety isn't the only thing at stake. I believe you've gotten better at controlling the Unknown Element, but we still don't know much about it. Your power might just go crazy all of a sudden because we haven't figured out how or why that happens."
He raised his good arm. "All right, all right, all right already!" The human swore, with his hand over his chest, "I promise, I'll be a lot more careful. I'll try my best not to get into fights or anything in the future."
"That's exactly what I want to hear," Cynder said approvingly.
Blink hummed. "Lady Cynder," he spoke. "I have a question."
"What's on your mind, Galleron?"
Blink flinched a little at the name. However, with one of the celebrated heroes of the Dragon Realms and one of the most powerful scalies in the land speaking to him, there was little he could do but swallow his own insignificant pride. "Forgive me for saying this, and I could just be making a giant misunderstanding, but"—he paused, praying to the gods he wasn't going to enrage her all of a sudden—"you sound like Joshua won't be confined to the third floor anymore."
Cynder didn't reply. She merely looked down at him, her black snout bearing an unreadable expression.
Joshua was more vocal with his thoughts. "Really? I might've been skeptical before, but after what just happened down there with Corey and his goons? I don't think that makes any sense."
Blink rebutted him, "But why would someone with her position come here herself?" The mole then faced the dragoness, looking up at her, unwaveringly. "Lady Cynder, why were you at the second floor anyway?"
"...I was actually up here earlier," Cynder informed them. "I had intended to visit Joshua after he received his scrolls from Over Steward Hoffbar, but the knights here told me he hadn't arrived yet."
"You knew he'd come back this early?"
Cynder snorted. "Kilat's having lectures right now, and Joshua doesn't have training in Proudtail Hall on the days of Virith. Where else would he go but here?"
"Good point."
"I was already headed downstairs to the Office of the Keeper when I heard about the fighting going on near the second floor landing. I rushed over there as soon as I heard the apprentices mention 'furless ape' and 'Dragonbane'."
Joshua frowned. "What will you do with the dragons who attacked me? Will you expel them?"
"Those three?" Cynder's throat rumbled out a light growl. "Hmm. Their punishment will be determined after we evaluate their records. It isn't the first time they've been bullying our other apprentices. I will not rule out expulsion."
The human winced. "That's a bit harsh. I know they hurt me, but I wouldn't want them expelled…"
Blink wanted to slap Joshua for saying it. Why not expel those jerks? Apprentices like them would grow up to be terrible people in the future. He was sure of it!
"You're a good child," Cynder said, even smiling at the human. "If moderately stupid to even suggest it."
"W-wha—
"Joshua, you are in my care. Under my and Volteer's protection." Cynder's voice had gone cold. Blink could sense her anger. "Anyone who raises their claws and bares their teeth at you ultimately answers to us. Whatever we decide to do with them, we will be firm with it." Her tail nearly slapped the floor, and both Joshua and Blink noticed.
The Savior brought her head down to look straight at Blink. "You are partially at fault for this, Galleron. We already have witnesses who said you started the fight."
Blink yelled, "But they were provoking us! They blocked us from both sides and kept saying—
"Egeria's Wings, I don't care!" Cynder stomped her paw, and the sound was like a blow to Blink's chest. It was enough to shut him up in an instant. "You could've ignored it, could've run, could've asked for help, anything! Anything instead of fighting!
"The fact you stayed with Joshua and supported him means a lot, and I'm happy to know he's finally making some friends, but that won't save you from being disciplined."
Cynder was truly ascetic. Her voice did not falter, and she sounded angry, relieved, and frustrated at the same time.
"What will happen to me now?" Blink asked.
"I don't know. I will leave it to Gintomyr and let Professor Dumitru and Over Steward Hoffbar decide on your case. After all, they are responsible for you."
"...damn it," Blink muttered, grimacing. This meant he might be given manual scavenging duty for a week or worse. He wasn't looking forward to working the lavatoria with all those scalelickers. If Gaudog ever got his paws on him…
The mere thought had Blink weeping.
While the mole ruminated on his immediate future, he vaguely overheard Joshua approach Cynder. "Cynder, there's something I've been wanting to ask you."
Silence.
Joshua took that as a cue to continue. "Why did you want to see me in the first place? I rarely see you here."
Another lull in the conversation, although the question soon had Cynder smiling. "That's because I have wonderful news for you," she answered. "The Guardians have officially appointed you as a teacher's assistant, and you'll be directly working with them before they assign you to fellows or senior apprentices they trust."
Blink had seen this coming from far away, so the news didn't faze him. Joshua was astonished; perhaps he expected this to happen later and not sooner. "Seriously? I'm getting promoted? For real?"
Cynder didn't bother responding to him, choosing instead to go on. "In addition," she said in a raised voice, to hush him into silence, "after evaluating your character and work ethics, we decided you need to be more approachable for our young drakes and hens, but without compromising your safety in the process. Hence, we voted in favor of moving you to the second floor and cutting your security detail in half."
Joshua Renalia took a moment to process this. Then, he let out a triumphant shout. "WOOOOOOOOOOOO! Oh my god! Oh my f*cking God! That is huge news! HUGE!" The human wrapped his arms around Cynder's neck and hugged her, rubbing his cheek on her flews. "Shit! Shit! Shhiiiiiiiiiit! Cynder, I f*cking love you! Thank you. THANK YOU!"
Joshua went so far as to kiss the black dragoness' cheek. Cynder only had an awkward smile for the human and reluctantly pushed him away. "Ground yourself, Joshua. Don't get excited just yet."
"Huh? Why?"
"Obviously we'll have to make some adjustments in light of the incident this morning."
Joshua's buoyant expression fell. "What! Ohhhh f****ck. No wonder you said I was stupid and impatient."
She huffed in amusement. "Indeed."
"Ugh." He scowled. Blink believed he was really regretting his decision to meander about the second floor now. "So… what's going to happen?"
"Nothing yet," Cynder admitted. "The flight plan hasn't changed. I bet it'll be delayed given the stormcloud you just flew into, but I believe you might just get away with a nip on the forepaw. Volteer and I will do our best to absolve you from punishment, but I won't—I can't promise you anything."
Blink grinned at Joshua. "Sounds better than nothing." He elbowed the human. "And hey, congratulations! Looks like someone's gonna have more friends soon!"
"Not just that! Blink, this means I'll finally have an actual f*ckin life! Kilat won't have to worry too much about me now and—oh shit, wait a minute! If I'm getting upgrades, that means"—Joshua swiveled to face Cynder in his excitement—"Cynder! Is that room gonna be furnished? Can we put stuff in there? Can you help us actually get stuff? 'Cause, err, it's not like we've got anything to our names right now..."
The warm smug Cynder wore on her snout never went away. "Joshua, you and Kilat will be free to personalize your new room as you wish, provided it meets Temple standard. As for acquiring your decor, I'm sure Volteer and I can arrange something after your transfer."
Joshua began shrieking like a child. "YES! YES! OH MY GOD JESUS F*CKING CHRIST YESSSSSS!" He jumped off the floor, waving his good arm about. "Aww man, I can't wait to tell Kilat about this!" Combined with the comical manner his left arm dangled left and right, Blink found this scene hilarious. He started laughing at the way the human discarded all shred of his dignity and celebrated as though he'd just won a war all by himself.
That's when the boar sensed the sadness emanating from Cynder. She was smiling, yet her body language made her true feelings apparent. Her tail had not moved at all since she sat on her haunches. She was slouching slightly. Even her expression looked fake, now that he looked at it.
Was Joshua too caught up in his own joy that he missed this in spite of his ability to read souls?
Blink was afraid to ask her, but he couldn't stop his curiosity from checking on their continent's heroine. "Lady Cynder?" Blink inquired. "Is everything alright? Why… why do you look kind of… sad?"
Her reply not only stunned Blink. It also put Joshua's jubilation to an abrupt stop. Neither knew how to respond to that.
"...Spyro's gone. He flew off somewhere without telling anyone."
Author's Notes:
Finally done with the Moving Up series of chapters. Just a couple more chapters on Joshua's side and I can finally do a lot of the slice-of-life stuff I've been holding back from y'all. As for the main story, aka "Serious Aimless", I will definitely switch right back to the December Cliffs arc in the next update and I expect to stay there for a bit so I can get things moving along, so stay tuned for that.
Once again, I'd like to thank Angeles Frostscales#5004 for letting me use Mei, their OC. This might just be the last time y'all will see her, but hey, a cameo's a cameo.
Happy Holidays to everyone reading this and I pray for good things to come in 2021. As John Oliver says... FUCK YOU, 2020!
Replies to reviews now...
Djax80. Joshua's presently at the "beginner level" in terms of his elemental proficiency. Definitely much better than the Eastern Gate incident, since he won't have a temporary power-up this time around.
I had an outline of the fight when I started working on this. Said outline became completely irrelevant after Levanelle bypassed Blink to fire something at Joshua (and then attacking Blink again) - she wasn't supposed to do that! Even Joshua's stalker wasn't supposed to spit a fireball at Korahnir guerrilla-style. She was supposed to sit there quietly in her corner and yet... well, it is what it is. FWIW I hope the final product turned out better than what I had intended.
Thanks for the review & see you in the next update.
Chaoscontrol108. Hello!
Aaaand there you go. The conclusion to the fight and the Moving Up series of chapters. Hope you like it.
I've been wanting to use Blink's viewpoint for a while now, actually. It's pretty unique, and I'd like to think he's a much better character here than in his original incarnation in Spyro: A Hero's Tail.
GeminiSparkSX. I said it before in PMs, and I'll say it again: HOLY SHIT MASSIVE REVIEW! I totally love it! Thanks so much for spending a lot of time and effort writing this.
Re: the mistakes. I revisited the chapters you mentioned (19, 29, 35, 44) and edited it hehe. Jesus, it looks Strykeruk ought to step up his game a little.
Re: Korahnir. Ah I'm sure you can put 2 and 2 together on him. :P
Re: Sparx's dialogue. Yeah, this gnat is quite the fourth wall breaker in Legend, right? He'd basically talk the same, but without all that.
Re: Spyro's reaction (CH20 vs CH26). I'd like to say that people remember things differently, so what Joshua thinks Spyro would do (or has done) might look completely different from viewpoint! I'd like to think Spyro laughed when he heard about Joshua's blunder with the golem though, but out of spite since he did have a good reason to dislike the guy or even hate him at the time.
Re: Fire Dragons in the December Cliffs vintaine. You're right! That was my mistake. Even Volteer's assessment presages it. Well, it has since been fixed.
Re: Joshua's training. I admit I haven't thought this out so much since the chapters aren't planned yet, and they won't be until I hit the Upgrades chapter (the final entry in "Settling In"). Still, your input is extremely helpful here and I'll be sure to look back at it when the time comes.
Re: Spicy foods. You're assuming that the sapients of the Dragon Realms will react the exact same way feral animals do on Earth, when they most likely won't. They have a very diverse culture and they also cook their food. I would expect spices to be a part of local cuisine. Still, that's a nice idea for a future bit, though no longer original. I've seen it done in a scene of Distance Between Dimensions, another human fic on the Spyro archive. A shame that one hasn't been updated for a while now...
Alright, I reached the end! Thanks again for the review and I hope you liked this update.
BronzeHeart92. Oh yes, a historic moment indeed. I'm not inclined to say any political stuff in my A/N, though I admit I'm kinda glad that we'll have an adult in the White House again.
Hehe well after the long-awaited news Cynder just dropped, we'll definitely see Joshua's happier side more often.
Piston24. That's how stories go! When one plot thread ends, a new one begins and picks up where things were left off.
Anyway, the events in this chapter were long-awaited. I'm pretty sure anybody saw it coming from afar. Still, I'm glad it's finally out! :D
Thanks again for the review. Hope to hear from you again.
Derick Lindsey (guest). Lol Cynder pretty much said the same thing to him at the end.
Yeah it's not a bad idea from Blink. I might've done it if it'd been me in Joshua's position. You don't know how famous, rich, and well-connected people can be just because they're really, really, REALLY good at what they do. But then... that would've made Aimless a true self-insert fic. As I said before, Joshua is based on the real-life Joshua I knew back in high school after all, down to his mannerisms and way of speaking.
Would they get jealous though? I'm not so sure about that. Vara would be a very consistent customer and she'd demand to be given superior, if preferential, treatment for making it possible in the first place. Kilat gets it every night so I don't think it'll matter much that he'd makes serious coin (and become well-liked) that way especially if he ends up getting people of all species lining up outside his door lmao
Anyway, thanks for the review! See you again next time if ever.
EndlessPossibilities57. The revelation Joshua not only comes from a different world but also that their entire world is a piece of interactive fiction to him would be quite the shock, yes. When that'll come into play will be a long time from now...
Most chapters follow Joshua since he's pretty much the main character. I acknowledged that everybody has their own story to tell, though, and I am starting to branch out with the December Cliffs arc.
No, I haven't used Kilat as a POV for a while. Now that you reminded me, I should. In fact, maybe I'll write "Upgrades" from her perspective. It's only fair for her, I suppose.
Thanks for reviewing! :D
Guest #1 (guest). You should read Chasing Leads for a hint on that. :D
Bolt Thrower (guest). I still have plenty to say in response to your comments but since you no longer want me to reply, then alright, I won't. That's okay. ^^
Though I will admit one thing: you're right that the whole "dismiss parts of canon as corporate meddling and change things up to shake off both MC and readers" is a dick move. I understand that world-building in the fanfiction context is supposed to extend what canon has set up, regardless of how illogical said canon is. You see, one of the things I fundamentally dislike about Aimless and the success it has over my previous longfic (that's been on hiatus since 2012 or something) is how I worked so little on the world-building here. Sure, the TLoS world has a lot of blank spaces for writers and artists like me to fill in, and I filled those in properly later on. However, there are still some inconsistencies that I made adjustments to—y'know, 'cause "my story"—rather than working around them like most other people would. Meanwhile, in the other fic, I painstakingly incorporated everything, made no changes/adjustments at all to the canon, and extended it to make sure it was consistent even with situations not covered in the show. Yet both fics had a different result—one worked well, the other... sank to the depths of the archives, forgotten. I actually get writer's block whenever I feel the desire to update that.
I'm mad and disappointed, but this experience just tells me that the value of world-building isn't so big that it'll make or break a story. It's not a must-have; it's a nice-to-have. So as much as I dislike Aimless for how it succeeded in spite of its lazy world-building (relative to the other fic), I prefer writing it the way I already am since it lets me tell the stories I want to tell. It's as simple as that. I feel more free, writing chapters for Aimless than my other fic. If anything, the lesson I learned is that I don't need to bind myself completely to the rules of canon to tell a great story, so long as the rules I set are consistent and the people whose stories I tell are believable and relatable. I now believe that holds true whether it's an original story or a fanfiction.
If you ever decide to come back, feel free to. Until then, see you around.
DiabloPProcento. Well, you got your wish—moar Joshua screentime lol
I hope you liked the way that cliffhanger ended. XD Now to address that other cliffhanger...
Earthpatriot117. Heh, I'm not dead yet! Just real busy, 'cause adulting and shit.
Bizzleb. Ahhh yeah, jobs. What I hate about adulting is that it tends to sap your time away from all the fun stuff you used to do when you were younger. (I'm one of your fans who's always waiting for another entry in Matt and Selema's story, after all!)
Anyway, yeah, better chemistry between Joshua and Blink. I'd say that he's more like a like-minded friend at this point. So thanks for liking the change in perspective.
Oh, Vara will eventually learn about this. Knowing her, she'd preen over how he must miss her already and tease him about it, that he's a step closer to accepting his "true place" in typical tsundere fashion. I daresay real-life Vara would definitely act exactly the same way (except for the "last bit).
Hope you like how this cliffhanger ended!
Guest #2 (guest). Not really. Need to pay attention to the surrounding context some more.
ThatBombsMine. Thanks for the feedback!
I know where you're coming from—the issue with a lot of stories that have slice of life in it is that they tend to never end, to the frustration of people who follow it. With Aimless designed to be mainly slice of life, it's not surprising you feel this way.
Unfortunately, I enjoy writing the slice-of-life chapters more than the "serious chapters" that drive the plot (hence a big deficiency in the chapers tagged as BTW and TJH). Don't get me wrong - there is progression on both ends of the spectrum, and they eventually intersect, but I hear your concern here.
As stated before I plan on doing content on both categories. This means that, yes, it'll take a long time for th main story to make meaningful progression. I won't holdeit against you if you decide to leave a bit. It's why I got the chapters tagged in the first place, so people can jump straight to the content they want to read... once it's up, that is.
Either way, I'm looking into progressing the main story in the next few chapters so I hope that'll keep your interest up.
Thanks again for your comment.
Guest #3 (guest). Sounds weird. What made you think of that? (Would be nice if that happened in One Day. That fic would've been much less of a tearjerker if it did.)
Guest #4 (guest). Heh, what do you think of the events that happened in this chapter?