Asking the Hard Questions
Boots and Aurora made themselves scarce when they woke up the day after their sprint through the tunnels. Aurora was feeling chipper after their rest and she couldn’t quite figure out why. Was it her first, true meal of gems? Or was she still riding the excitement of the chase? Whatever it was, their trek was faster than previous. Boots had sped up, citing the need to get as far away as possible from the dragon, even if he was just as lost as they were.
They travelled south through the forests for most of the day, not even stopping for lunch. Boots theorized their lack of hunger stemmed from their meal of gems. If that was the case, gems might be even more nutritious for a dragon than a normalized diet of meats and grains, though harder to come by. They talked little through the day, for which Aurora was grateful. The events of the previous day pestered her thoughts.
Her fear had all but disappeared after Boots had spoken to her in the tunnel, whirled away and replaced by... something else. Strength? Perhaps Boots had a word for it. As though she could stand against the world. Brave? She decided to ask him later. The things he said about himself bothered her more. What did he mean, that she gave him purpose? Surely he wouldn’t have given up if she hadn’t found him but she couldn’t deny that he likely would not have survived if she had not been there. But there's no way I could be that important to anyone... She was just Aurora, the ugly gray dragon that no one liked.
To be fair, she was far from gray anymore. Ever since she’d left the mountain, her scales had grown brighter and brighter. Now, they practically shone in any light. Boots occasionally joked about how blinded he got whenever she stood in the sun. She wasn't sure if that made her less ugly, but she did love the way her scales reflected light now. The colors reflected off them in shimmering waves. Boots said she sometimes looked like a disco ball, whatever that was. They stopped to eat again as night fell, picking out a few of the gems Aurora had uncovered.
As Aurora sat waiting for Boots to siphon the last dregs of his gems, a thought struck her. "You never told me how you knew the path out of the mines.”
Boots was silent for a moment before swallowing the remnants of dissolving stone. “We’re honestly lucky I was right. I wasn’t completely guessing, mind you, but I really didn’t know if that was the way out.” Aurora’s eyebrows raised in alarm. “I had an idea, calm down! I’d been trying to pay attention to the walls as we were walking through the mines. The dogs had to have something marking their paths, or at least, I hoped they would. Thinking about it, we’re lucky it wasn’t a scent based system. But they did leave some small images here or there. I just put my bet on one of them, a little mound with lines coming off the top. I was hoping it stood for the sun or something and it looks like I was right in some aspect.
Boots stretched his arms. “Not exactly an exciting solution but those tend to work out poorly anyway.”
Aurora stared at him, mouth agape. “You’re amazing. I could never have figured anything out like that.”
Boots didn't meet her eyes, fiddling with his hands.. “You’re giving me too much credit. I just try to pay attention to everything. And you're smarter than you think. You’ve absorbed everything I’ve said, and I reckon you remember most of what we’ve talked about too. That’s faster than any human I know.” He waved his hands around his frills. “All this knowledge trapped in my head – I just come from somewhere else. It’s not that I know more, it’s that I know different stuff.”
He tapped his chin. “Take the gems you found, for example. I could probably tell you the generic names for them, just as you likely could tell me the differences as well. But I could not, for the life of me, go back down in those mines and come out with even a single gem. I have no idea how to detect the gems, dig them out with injuring myself, or identify any veins I could tap into. But I’d wager you could, yeah?”
Aurora was silent. She hadn’t thought of that. Was there really that much she knew? “Not to mention, I’m not even from this planet.” She looked back at him. “Think about it. How much do you remember about your parents’ tales? You may not really believe them yet, but I think there’s probably more truth to them than you’d think. And no, I don’t have and special powers telling me so. It’s really just a guess. But, I know none of those stories, truthful or not. You’ve got a trove of history in your head that I simply don’t.”
She laid her head on the ground. Maybe he was right. “But you know so much more.” She said, almost to herself. She just found it hard to believe that she was good at anything besides mining and that skill had come from years and years of experience. He was so much younger and yet he could talk like the universe was an open book for him to read, explaining so many details about an inside and outside to the world that wasn’t even visible.
“Well, maybe I do. But not as much as you think. It may seem like I know a whole lot, but really, the scope of my information is sorely limited. It’s simply all new for you but to me, there’s already so much I’ve forgotten, that I can’t remember, that I worry I’m not even giving you as much as you need to know to understand it all properly.”
She opened her mouth to deny that but he shook his head. “We won’t get anywhere with this conversation. I’ve had it before pretty often. ”
“I don’t know…”
“Please? I… It’s hard to accept compliments. Can we, just, talk about it tomorrow?” His eyes dropped downwards and a strange melancholy came over him. He jumped when she took his hand. He looked up at her and the golden irises gazing back held an understanding he’d never expected to see.
“I understand. Like, the more you know, or the more you can do, the harder everything will be when you fail, right? A-and you can’t move past what happens when you do fail.” Not that failure had really ever been an option for her. Boots' eyes stayed glued to hers, taking on a strange glaze, as though he was no longer looking at her.
“Exactly. If I’m so good at stuff, why isn’t everything easier?"
"And why does it take so long?" she responded.
"If I’m so intelligent, why do I make so many mistakes?" Boots spoke, almost to himself.
"Why does everyone else's success seem to ride on your own? I get it, I do." She nodded emphatically.
"Why… why do I fall to my own vices time and time again?” Watery orbs began to appear in his eyes and Aurora lost herself in the blue gazing back at her. The rise and fall of his chest. The thumping of blood in her ears. She brought her claws to his cheek.
“Because the greater you are, the greater your problems.” She swallowed hard, her voice rasping peculiarly. What was this mood she'd created? “Let me help you bear them.” Was this really happening? Her stomach fluttered as their mouths drew closer and she felt his breath blow over her lips. Still, their eyes held. “Let me be there for you, like you have for me” She closed her eyes and moved in.
I woke with a start at a woodpecker digging for bugs on a nearby tree. Daylight spilled through the canopy. We’d slept a little later than we’d planned. What was that last night? I remember eating gems and then we started talking… The woodpecker knocked again. “Hush!” I rasped. Movement on my shoulder brought my attention to Aurora’s head perched on my shoulder. Those scales are even more beautiful now. I wonder what changed to make them so shiny? Must have been pretty bad for her health in the mines. I frowned, thoughts returning to our late night conversation. I remember arguing about something and then...
The memories were fuzzy. She had looked at me and then I’d felt all the weight lifted from my shoulders but… Nothing after that. It was all blank. Certainly nothing to explain why our fingers are clasped and my arm is around her. Cursing the habits left over from my last girlfriend, I extricated myself from Aurora, rousing her as I got up.
“Huhwha? Morning already? Wait… *GASP*” With lightning speed, she backed up against the tree the woodpecker was eating from. “What did we…!” With an indignant squawk, the woodpecker drummed a staccato beat right above her head and flew off. She jumped as the sound barraged her skull.
“Birds aren’t afraid here it seems.” I gathered our bags, chuckling at her. “What did what now?” Aurora’s breathing was fast and shallow but she didn’t seem afraid. More like… embarrassed?
Aurora took a breath and held it before responding. “What do you remember about last night?” I cinched my eyebrows in thought. “Not much really. I know we were arguing about how intelligent I was an then there was something after that but I must have been really tired as it’s all fuzzy." I blinked. She's avoiding my eyes. "Whyyyyy?”
She stared at me for a moment before chuckling nervously. “Oh, no reason. I must have had a weird dream is all. Heh heh.” That smile was suspicious but I didn’t press. I’d had weird dreams before and if this one was throwing her for a loop, asking about it wouldn’t do any good.
I was feeling as happier than I had the past few days. I love hiking normally but, well, when it’s all one does all day long, it gets tedious. Especially without campfires and card games at the end of the day. At least the surroundings were all new to me. Trees bearing fruit seemed a little odd, as it had been the start of winter when I'd been pulled from Earth but that was easily explained by calendars not matching up. Who knew how far away I was or what kind of year cycle Equus operated on?
I looked over at my companion and smiled. Her muttering about whatever dream she had was kind of cute. Aurora had surprised me the past couple of days. Her timidness was starting to disappear, which I was glad for. As it was evident those dragons would actually keep following us, I would have to rely on her more than I already was.
While it was hardly a voluntary journey, I’d not really thought of it as a joint venture until last night. It had been run for our lives certainly, but I’d felt that she’d needed protecting. Clearly, I was still leading us onwards but now, now it felt much more like we were equals. And glad though I was for the change, I didn’t quite know how to feel about it. Something had shifted in our friendship. I was no longer the older caretaker or big brother. We’re partners now.
I smiled. That was it. While I was certainly still going to be teaching her all kinds of things, I felt like she’d realized she could teach me in return. Even if it felt like laziness, I could relax and let her do some of the work. When we’d hunted before, I’d taken the lead, even when we were both inexperienced. Now, maybe she would. It brought a strange warmth to my chest.
The day went on without incident. Which is to say I had more time to think. Which was bad, and not just because of my new chronic headaches.
Psst.
Yes brain?
So. Ponies.
Yes. Your point, brain?
Whatcha gonna do when, due to cosmic happenstance, they don’t have a way to send you home?
Hush.
You know it’s true. That’s how these things work.
Doesn’t mean I have to think about it.
Too late for that. I sighed. A goal like going home was really too far off to consider but that never stopped my concerns from surfacing. Sure, Luna seemed to recognize a spell somewhere along the line but that didn’t mean it could be reversed. In which case, I had no idea what I would do. I didn’t really have a specialization beyond psychology and that took a PH. D. to get anywhere on Earth. Sure, I could probably get a job for a construction company but what then? It would keep my body busy but I’d be bored to tears at work.
I wasn’t even sure what I’d do in my free time. At home, I was either reading or playing video games - mostly the latter. In Equestria, I’d have books but what else? I’d probably start hobby hopping, growing bored within a week or so of starting. It didn’t help that I’d had the same problem on Earth. I wouldn’t call myself anti-social but college parties never held much allure for me. That didn't bode well for getting myself grafted into a town.
Then there was this whole ‘soul’ business. Half a soul? Shouldn’t I be dead from something like that? Or maybe this was just a case of “magic, don’t gotta explain shit!” How did souls even work here? Maybe there was magic that focused on it? It couldn’t possibly be a good thing. Where could I even start though? Presumably, the princesses had offered me help in this but it still meant I had to search for wherever this other part of me was.
And what of Aurora? Sure, I said I was trying to get her to a better life, but the more I taught her, the more I began to think she really didn't know how to begin her life. Which made sense - she’s spent everything up to meeting me as an unhappy slave. I couldn’t possibly go gallivanting off and expect her to do fine after a month or more of being her only friend. The concept of being on her own was probably completely foreign to her.
Aurora’s dream evidently bothered her for quite a while and she was a little jumpy. A few times I had to stop her running into a tree and squirrels darting around spooked her occasionally. Once again, night was upon us and we found the gems had staved off our hunger for nearly a full day. Sadly, it looked like the stash we’d found would only last us another meal and I lamented the loss of our personal lembas bread.
“You alright Aurora? You’ve been surprisingly quiet all day.”
She looked at me startled, as though she had forgotten I was even there. “No, I’m…” She shook her head. “Well, maybe a little spooked.”
“Spooked?” I swallowed my second to last meal of gems, supposing we didn’t find any more.
“Maybe that’s the wrong word for it. The, um, dream I had was a little,” She shuffled her mouth, looking for the right word. “Personal? Happy? No, provoking?”
“Provocative?”
Her cheeks reddened. How do scales do that?
“Yeah, that’s the word.” She averted her gaze and I thought about the conversation we’d had in the mines.
“You said you’re only just entering adolescence, right?” She nodded. “So, that means that you’re bound to be going through some changes. Not just to the size of your body but also all kinds of chemical and mental changes as well. Well, I’d guess so at least.”
“Yeah, my mother said I’d start liking male dragons and thinking about their, um…” Her entire face turned scarlet, eyes glued to the forest floor.
“Oh. Oh dear.” It was that kind of dream. And here I was, having to give some form of the talk to her. “Well, if the dream was about something like that, then I think what you had is called a wet dream, if I understand you correctly. It’s natural to find males attractive and dreams like that are your body’s ways of encouraging you to reproduce. Your body is sending signals that it’s reaching an age where children are a possibility. I know it’s probably a little embarrassing but there’s nothing to be ashamed of.” I didn’t know how dragons worked, dadgummit. Didn’t they hatch from eggs anyway? Not live birth, of course but still, those eggs had to be fertilized som-
You are going to stop thinking about this right now, you damn dirty pervert.
“But the dream, it was about…” I held up a hand.
“I do not need to know. In fact, I’d probably rather not. Dreams like that are private. I don’t need to know what you were doing OR who you were doing it with, ok?” I gave her a soft smile, hoping she’d calm down.
She nodded, eyes still wide with embarrassment.
“Even I had those kinds of dreams once upon a time.” Her head snapped to attention. “It’s a natural occurrence. I don’t claim to know what other changes you have been or will be experiencing but when I was a teenager – adolescent – my body changed a lot, very rapidly. I grew taller, my voice grew deeper; suddenly, girls came to the forefront of my mind and, well…” Why did I have to be having a conversation regarding the awkward parts of growing up with a girl, especially one of a completely different species? “There are some private activities that many adolescents pick up-“
“M-Masturbation?” Now I was the one hot under the collar. I’m glad I didn’t have to explain it at least.
“Er, yes. Masturbation” My my, how interesting the stars are tonight. God, really, what did I do warrant this job? ”Suffice to say that physical attraction can become a little overwhelming sometimes. Many things to happen as a matter of course but always remember they are your decisions to make.” I was copping out of the conversation and I knew it but I was not ready to talk about this kind of thing with her. Or with anyone really. I wasn't THAT far out of my shell.
“Anyway! It’s late. Let’s get to sleep and maybe that will ease our minds a bit, hmm?” I backed myself against a tree, as I’d gotten used to sleeping upright as of late. Aurora nodded, and laid down a little ways away from me. The thoughts wouldn’t stop coming, so I went to sleep with a headache that night.
How could he not remember!?
Aurora could not sleep. That conversation had spun too many new thoughts in her mind and none of them were helping. She had a talk like that ages ago with her mother but she’d been too frozen up to say anything when Boots had started explaining. No, what had been setting her off all day was that she had NOT had a wet dream. Or, at least, she didn’t think she had.
She could have sworn they’d kissed again the previous day. She could remember everything up to that point in great detail, the anguish on Boots’ face, the rasp of her voice as she asked to help, his breath heating her face… and then she moved in to kiss him. They had kissed, right? Doubt clouded her mind. What if she had imagined it? She couldn’t quite remember the feel of his lips, thinking about it. She could feel the grit of his scales, the tiny plates covering his palms but as far as lips went… She couldn’t remember anything. Groaning, the silver dragon sat back up, noticing Boots had already fallen asleep. Good, he didn’t need to watch her mocking herself.
All day! All day, she’d been so caught up in a kiss that never happened. All that worry, all that stress and for what? Stupid, stupid, stupid! Her claws gripped the sides of her head. Boots probably didn’t even look at her that way. He’d said taboos or rules or whatever were different where he was from. She was probably just an animal, like those spiders, to him!
No, that’s not true. Look at the respect he treats you with.
Her emotions deflated. If he didn’t think of her as more than an animal, he wouldn’t have tried to save her when they met. He wouldn’t care about her now and clearly he did. Boots was quite proud of how fast she was learning from him. A strange feeling, like tiny wings, filled her chest when he praised her for remembering a fact or detail he'd spoken of. Her gaze turned to him. They'd talked a lot about science and about the inventions and culture of his world. What dawned on her, sitting there, silently watching his chest rise and fall, is that she knew very little about him as a person. Or rather, who he was. She could see him now, yes, with his care and skill and knowledge far beyond her own but, while he knew her time as a slave, being there was really very little to talk of, he'd never mentioned who he was before they'd met. Not in any great detail at least.
She looked up at the moon floating above her. The worst part now was that she could no longer deny her growing attraction for him. She’d spent an entire day worry about a reaction that wouldn’t have been there in the first place. Her mother had mentioned these kinds of things clearly when talking about mating and what her mother had referred to as "love".
This is a natural feeling, right? Why shouldn't I be attracted to him?
Boots was kind, Boots cared and that alone was more than anyone else had ever done! Even if Aurora didn't really understand this "love" her mother had talked about, she certainly understood the things only her parents had ever done for her. Then again, Aurora didn’t know if she should even be feeling this way about him. He wasn’t really even a dragon, not a proper one anyway. She supposed he didn’t have to be but until recently, she didn’t even know there were other options.
Her mother's lectures had never covered anything like this. And Aurora's parents were considered strange for dragons anyway.
Aurora sighed again and dropped back to the grass under her. This was all too confusing and arguing with herself was getting nowhere. Maybe a solution would come with the morning light. She rolled onto her side and tried to get some sleep.
“I’m glad you’re feeling better.” It was mid-afternoon. Aurora and I had woken up just after dawn and glad for it too. At least to me, it seemed we’d made a lot of progress for the day. Aurora had tried to apologize for the uncomfortable conversation the night before, but I’d waved it off. Conversations happened, it wasn’t like she’d offended me, hurt me, or otherwise caused harm upon my person.
“I am too. That dream had me really confused. Yeah, confused. How do you think we’re doing?”
“What do you mean?” I hopped over a fallen log as we walked.
“Like, in getting towards Equestria.”
I frowned. “I don’t know. Really, I don’t. It could be another month before we get there.” I sighed. “All Luna said is that we were far away and there was a lot of space between us and Ponyville.” I stopped myself from saying more. There wasn’t anything good to say, and I had noticed the day before that an unfortunate habit had crept back into me. I rambled, rambled to the point that no one else ever got a chance to talk.
“”Oh…”
“Hey, it’s okay. It’ll be an adventure! Better than sitting in some mine, digging dirt all day. And besides, it’ll be over before you know it. Time is funny like that.” We came to a dead drop, a valley laid out before us. “Hmmm… I think I see a path over that way.”
We climbed down into the holler, branches crunching underneath us. I’d never figured out what season the world was supposed to be in. There were no pegasi to keep the weather here, so maybe that had something to do with it. It wasn’t terribly cold or warm, kind of a weird mix of spring and autumn. While my mind was pondering the differences between these and why I wasn’t getting the smell I associated with either season, a body forced me to greet the soil.
“Aurora, what-“
“Shhh!” Her eyes scanned the sky as she pinned me beneath her. “I thought I saw…”
A jet of flame broke through the canopy behind us. I was up and running but Aurora swung me on her back again and took off. She was, in the end, faster, if less experienced travelling rough terrain. The dragon roared his displeasure behind us and Aurora changed direction. A stump appeared in my vision and I had to throw my arms around her neck to stay on as she cleared it.
“It’s the same one!” I cried, as she hurdled a log moments later. Behind us, branches snapped and the dragon bashed through without a care. Flames flew from his mouth, torching places moments after Aurora had left them behind. As I watched, fires spread from the spots we left behind Sorry Smokey, I can’t prevent these forest fires. My arms tightened as Aurora turned sharply. The airborne red was forced to swing in a wide arc to chase us again.
How he had found us after we entered the tunnels, I wasn’t sure but he could fly, so that was probably part of it. I turned my eyes ahead, looking for somewhere we could take shelter and blanched. Ahead of us was only a cliff face and we were approaching fast. In vain, I looked for an end to the wall but I couldn’t see a path up anywhere. We’re trapped.
Aurora panicked as she approached, darting left and right, as though hoping to find another way. She was too late. Claws dug in the dirt as she skidded to a stop against the wall. I was thrown off her back, bounding off the wall. The red dragon landed in front of us wings spread wide, pressing against the wall and forming a cage.
“Hahaha! You would run from me? Now, I will burn you!” Aurora looked up but his mouth was aimed upwards as he gathered his flame. Wings? Wings. I barrelled towards one of the leathery appendages, and burst through. A gout of flame flew from his mouth as he howled. “You’ll pay for that!’ He turned to chase after me, leaving Aurora at the wall. I scrambled around his fists and short blasts of flame, searching for some other way to hurt him or have a go at his wings. Without weapons, there was probably no good way to damage him but maybe just getting away would be enough.
That would, of course, require me to actually reach Aurora first. I jumped away from one of his claws while trying to move closer to her as she swiped at his hide. We might have been dividing his attention, but Aurora clearly didn’t really know how to fight anything. Probably. Did dragons even have martial arts? The dragon’s good wing clipped my head, sending me sprawling. As I got up, I noticed blood on my hands. I lifted a hand to my head and, sure enough, he’d given me a cut just above an ear hole. A crash brought my attention to Aurora, who had just been smashed through a tree stump. Before I was halfway there, the dragon scooped me up and flung me against a tree.
I coughed as I hit the ground. This was not going well. He was too big and clearly had experience fighting things smaller than him. Even my newfound strength wasn’t going to do much to those scales. Rolling out of the way of a swing, I dashed away, trying to come up with a plan. I needed to get to Aurora, then hope we found somewhere small enough that he couldn’t get through, quickly.
I chanced a look to see where Aurora had gone and paid for it. His good wing threw me hard and I slammed into a stump 10 feet away, groaning. I’ll feel that in the morning. I got to my feet in time to see Aurora’s bravery emerge. She fought more recklessly now and stamped on the dragon’s tail before darting away again. I ran behind the red beast, finally catching the webbing of his other wing as he spun around.
“Enough!” He roared and tail whipped me, flinging me into the cliff. I slumped, leaning against the cliff, head drooping. That HURT. If I had nothing broken, I’d be lucky. A whump and a cry sounded next to me, Aurora’s head falling into my lap. I looked over to see gashes all over her body. Bits of wood and leaves stuck to the blood. Failing as I tried to get up, a sound like walking trees approached us. Aurora spat flame at his grin but he shrugged it off. “Any last words?”
I felt Aurora’s arms reach and pull me in. A glance told me what I needed to know. She gazed resolutely up at the dragon, her shaking arms betraying her emotions. I choked. For the first time ever, I truly felt like I was going to die. I had accepted a long time ago I would die but I’d never imagined someone else would be dying with me. Time seemed to slow as we gazed at the dragon. For just a moment, I thought I saw him flinch but Aurora slumped against my side and it passed. Sighing, I closed my eyes to wait for the flames.
...
......
..................
Flames that never came.
“Open your eyes mortal! I need you to do something for me.” A snap brought back the sight of a dragon, seemingly frozen in time and what appeared to be a young girl, a human girl, garbed in white and burgundy robes - like a shrine maiden, though that was impossible. Her blond hair flowed down her back, with pins stuck in it as to emulate a halo of light. A Japanese-styled umbrella lay nonchalantly over her shoulder.
What in the blue blazes?
“Hello there! How are you doing today?"
"What do you want?" I grunted.
"Oh, good to hear! Straight to business! Well, I’m in the market for a… representative of sorts.” She flicked dirt from her nails and smiled at me. “Seeing as you’re in a bit of a bind, I thought you might be amenable to an agreement. We can come to terms after you’ve agreed.”
I panted, my thoughts racing. Smells fishy. Who is this lady? Representative? Definitely too good to be true. Not this conveniently. She had to have been waiting for this. Deals with the devil aside, we’re going to die otherwise. Isn’t there anythi- “OW!”
“Do hurry in deciding. I can only hold him off for so long.” I glanced at Aurora but she had passed out. The dragon’s eyes moved, darting from the newcomer to myself, face locked in a glare. We’ll never get out alive.
“Help us.”
She smiled, a scroll popping into existence in front of me. I looked at the blood on my hand and raised an eyebrow. “No need for blood, your signature will do just fine.” A pen uncapped itself and floated to my hands. I had no time to check the details - a wing twitched on the dragon. I jabbed the pen to the page, scribbling a bare minimum signature before the paper disappeared in a burst of smoke. “Perfect.”
With a twist of her wrist and a rush of air to fill the new vacuum, the dragon shot into the distance, disappearing like Team Rocket after a particularly bad spat with Ash. She turned back to me, same mysterious smile on her face. “Now that that’s taken care of, I’d better give you the details of our contract, hadn’t I?” I groaned, standing up shakily. Muscle fatigue. Weakness in the limbs caused by stress and overexertion. Pain. Her words sounded like tin in my ears and everything looked like it was covered in TV static. Something shifted in me and I realized I might have broken a rib. Or two. I shouldn't be feeling anything poking my lungs.
“Oh dear, I’d better set that hadn’t I?” She snapped her fingers and I fell against the wall for support. I could feel the bones under my skin shifting back into position and held my hand to my mouth. “Can’t have my champion dying so soon after I saved him. Now then, no heavy lifting, operating heavy machinery or bending at the waist.” I paid her words no mind. Shock. This is what shock feels like. You should be lying down, feet elevated, water in hand. But Aurora… Her wounds weren’t going to clean themselves. I needed water. I took a step and the world turned sideways. Maybe water had to wait.
“Are you listening now?” A hand grabbed the top of my head and forced me to look at the new arrival.
‘Huh? Sorry, I… “ I shook my head, trying to clear the feeling. I was leaning against a tree.
She sighed. “I guess I can wait a bit but I’ve only got so long.” Sliding down the trunk, I took stock of the surroundings. A few trees were bowled over, some bent and some looking like they’d been run through, splintered wood lying everywhere. Our bags were on the opposite side of the holler, apparently dropped when Aurora had entered the fray. Slowly, my vision cleared of the static and I could hear again.
“I- I think I’m good now. But I need water.” Grumbling quietly, the woman looked around before pointing to her right. “A stream a tenth of a mile that way.” I worked myself back over to where Aurora had fallen and, bending at the knees, perched her on my back. The left side of my body screamed at me. “What did I say about heavy lifting?” Once again piggybacking her, I stumbled slightly at the first step, pain lancing through my chest. Regaining my balance, I adjusted, keeping my torso as straight as possible. I looked at our savior.
“I need to clean her wounds. We can talk on the way.” Focusing on my goal helped block out the pain and fatigue. “Who are you?”
Floating up to me, she flicked the side of my head. “You could at least say thank you.”
I sighed, my rigid stance making for a slow walk. “Thank you for coming to our rescue. Sorry I’m grumpy.”
“That’s better. To answer your question, I am the Chichigami.” The name struck a chord in my head. It can’t be, that would be ridiculous. “I’m sure you’ve heard of me. Well, I know you have. I am a goddess of fertility. And now, champion, you are my piece.”
I frowned, shifting Aurora on my back. Bits of my dream with Luna trickled back to me. “Piece... Are you talking about the game thingy that’s going on here?”
She grinned. “Ah, you already know about it? This makes this so much easier. Then you can guess what you’re now tasked with.”
“You want me to win this game for you so… you can have more power?” Whatever that meant. Luna hadn’t been very clear in her explanation.
She laughed. “I see you do know the basics. But no, Mr. Swan, no, I do not care if you win or lose. After all, unlike the rest, you'll still be here when everything is all said and done.” I jerked to a stop, glaring at her.
“How do you know my name?!”
“I did say I was a god, didn’t I? Besides, how could I not know the name of one of my devout followers?”
Snorting, I resumed my careful paces. “I serve only one God and you aren’t him.”
“That’s true but you have adopted my most important tenant.” I frowned. If I was correct about the ridiculousness of the situation I was in right now, then I did know what she was talking about. But….
“That phrase doesn’t mean I follow you. My appreciation for such things doesn’t make me a part of your cult or whatever.”
She held her arm to her forehead, tilting backwards. That smug smile never left her face. “You wound me, Trenton. You like them bouncy and flouncy or cute and cuddly, just like me.”
I bit back an angry retort about flouncing her scrawny butt. “Anyway, that’s not important. You don’t care if I lose whatever this game is? What am I doing in it to begin with?”
“Spoilsport.” She tapped her chin, spinning the umbrella over her shoulder. ”Maybe I should start at the beginning. As a piece, you fight other pieces to knock them out of the game. Last one standing wins. You understand this, yes?”
“So… Killing them or just beating them up?”
“Well, as long as they surrender, you don’t have to kill them. But that’s not what I want you to do. How many other players do you think there are?“
I cocked an eyebrow. “I don’t know. Only reason I know anything is because a pretty pony princess decided my sky watching deserved a night visit. Maybe, like 50?”
“Oh no, no no no no darling. Hundreds.”
Hundreds?!?
“You see, this kind of thing happens every so often. They had it on earth, oh, 70 or so years ago? I wasn’t around back then. Anyway, I wouldn’t have you pit yourself against those other players, with their hand-picked, military-grade super pieces. They’re already gallivanting around the world, tearing it to itty bitty shreds. Which is a problem for me. Ah, here we are, the stream.” The stream wasn’t very big and rather shallow.
Straining, I deposited Aurora into the stream as gently as I could. That is to say, I almost fell beneath her as she dropped from my back. I kept her head out while the stream began washing away her submerged belly. Groaning, I leaned back against a rock.
“A problem for you?” I closed my eyes and listened to the stream running past.
“Well, I’m a goddess of fertility. I want people to get busy and make babies, bring new life into the world. Keep the natural world up and running and moving forward. You might say that destruction and war are a bad thing for birth rates - a bad thing for me. That’s basically what this game is now.”
“Please don’t tell me you expect me to go around to women and-”
“Oh goodness no. I doubt you have the stamina for that anyway, hehe.” I opened my eyes and scowled at her. “Lighten up, it was a joke. No, I want you to do something a lot harder than that.” She landed lightly on Aurora’s back. “I want you to stop the game.” She pointed a dainty, well-kept finger at me. “I want you to save the world.”
I was dumbfounded. She couldn't seriously be asking me to... “You have got to be joking. Let’s say that, for some reason, you can’t do this yourself. You want me, some no name guy from the educational black hole of the U.S., to go stop what you, yourself, described as a war.” I threw up my hands, wincing as the muscles flowed over my ribs. “How? You expect me to just waltz up to, what, some god, say ‘Hey, you know buddy, you should think about the little guy here. Mind not stomping around and wrecking shit?’ and then survive his foot coming down on my head like an ant?” She cocked her head.
“Well, yes, that’s exactly what I expect.” I barked out a laugh. “I am serious. You’re the one to do it.”
“Enlighten me then. What do I do, huh? Do I get superpowers or something? Extra lives? Maybe a star power invulnerability. No, I know, I’ll grow wings, the power of God will come upon me and I will divide the goats from the lambs!” I cackled. If I’m going to be crazy, might as well go the whole way.
Her eyes flatlined. “You could try to take this seriously.”
I balled up my fists ”Take it seriously!? I'm running for my life from dragons. It's pretty serious already and I only got dropped in here a week ago! And now, you pop up, with impeccable timing, I might add, and expect me to just.. just... GRAAAAAAAH!” I screamed to the sky, startling my new patron. Aurora shifted uncomfortably in her sleep. I slumped against my rock, my anger expended. Taking some deep breaths, I reconsidered my words. A defeated sigh escaped my lips. “Fine. I suppose I’m bound by a contract now anyway, huh? What do you want from me?”
She perked back up. “That you are. And you said it yourself. I want you to talk to the gods and convince them to leave the game. If they refuse, well, you’ll have to find another way to remove them. Maybe cut their godly connection or convince their piece to surrender. Up to you really.” She admired her nails. “Maybe I should make the pink a little hotter.”
I stared at the ground. “Why are you so sure I can do this? I’m nobody. I don’t have the words or the presence. And I don't know if you noticed but I definitely have no magic legal power. I'm not a demonic notary.”
“A little lamb told me it had to be you. Something about the belly of a whale? I chose you, so it is you...” She dusted off her robe. “Well, I must be off. I meant it when I said I could only stay so long. No contact with your guy and other such details. But I did leave you a gift, from me personally. I hope you enjoy it. The heart’s desire is but a touch away...” She reached out and caressed his face, before fading away into motes of light.
"What?" I tried to stand but cringed as my ribcage bent. "Hey, get back here!" But she was already gone.
“What gift!? Dammit.” I brought my hand to my ribs, as I looked around. They throbbed painfully. The smallest twist of my chest sent pain flaring down my right side, so I had to change my position using my legs. Unable to see anything new lying about, I hobbled over to Aurora on my knees and began cleaning her wounds as best I could. The sound of running water and a brand new level of headache were the only things to accompany my thoughts.
“-Dammit” With a crackle, the image in the ball faded, leaving the room in darkness. A tapping claw drummed out the beat of thought. Divine intervention would make this more difficult than before. ’Was it worth it?’ his advisors had asked. The slave and her new abomination? No, they were not necessary to his hoard.
But the smear on his reputation could not stand. He would catch them in time, oh yes. Teeth shone in the meager light sneaking through the door. Oh, he would catch them and then, then they would be made an example of. Not just to the pitiful excuses for dragons he owned but to all of the dragons. Why stop there? Make a statement to the all of the races!
The world would learn to fear the name Foecruncher.