Azure Flame

by Silver Page

The reasons we struggle

Author's Note:

Early chapter for everyone! I'm going to be on the road this weekend and won't have any internet for a while. So, I felt you should have a chapter now rather than later.

“So, you met my son in Germaneigh, correct?” Slim’s mother Earth Steel, a massive slab of muscle and grey fur, asked. It was clear she worked outdoors, as her hooves were dusty and cracked while her fingers were heavily calloused while dark lines abounded around her arms and torso; clear signs of sunburn. She was easily the largest Minotaur Azure had ever seen, and he’d met the Guild-Master of the Mason’s Guild, who stood at ten hooves tall.

“Er, yes, Ma’am,” Azure said. “I ran into him around the entertainment district. We sort of, clicked, and began to travel together.”

“Good to know that someone is watching out for him,” Earth Steel said before taking a large gulp of blazing hot curry.

“Yeah, he’s talented, but tend to act rather stupidly,” Slim’s father Wood Throw said with a laugh, slapping his eldest son on the back with a wide grin on his face. “Did you know he once tried to practice juggling with Steel’s best dishes? He reasoned that because they were so precious he’d have more incentive not to drop them.” He was a smaller Minotaur with a thin physique, similar to Slim’s, but with bronze colored fur and red horns.

“How many pieces were left after that?” Creepy asked, cautiously blowing on the dish before him.

“All of them were fine, mostly because he got caught and had his hide tanned by Steel,” Wood Throw said with a smirk.

“Please stop bringing up the past, pops,” Slim groaned, burying his head in his hands.

“No can do, son. It’s the job of the parents to viciously embarrass them in front of friends and lovers… and on that note, are any of them your lovers?” Earth Steel asked after a moment.

“OK, time to change the subject!!” Slim shouted as Azure choked on his water and Creepy snorted with barely contained laughter into his curry. “How’s school, you two?!”

“Pretty good. I did a wood carving project and got top marks!” Stone Stomp declared proudly.

“And I’m entering the talent show next month! I’m gonna dance!” Rapid Dance said with a cheerful smile.

“Good for the both of you! See, this is why you two are my favorite twin siblings! No trying to embarrass me, no trying to force me to stay, and you’re both a lot cuter than Mom or Pops!”

“I’m not cute!” Stomp pouted, while Dance just giggled.

“We’re the only twin siblings you have!”

“So how long do you three plan on staying?” Earth Steel asked, looking over at the quadrupeds at the table.

“Not long, no more than a day. We’re trying to find passage to Ti-bit,” Azure explained, swallowing a bite of curry coated bread. “It’s for research.”

“Research on what?” Wood Throw inquired with a raised eyebrow.
“Oh, you know, this and that, pops!” Slim said, waving a hand dismissively. His parents both arched eyebrows, so the prince-in-hiding jumped to his rescue.

“How Llama’s spend their free time. If Slim is going to be an entertainer, he has to be able to entertain anyone,” Azure lied, quickly crafting a reason for their trip.

“I’ve heard they like harps,” Dance offered, licking her spoon clean.

“I’m sure they do, squirt,” Slim said with a grin, mussing up her hair, which she responded to with a cute pout.

“Bed time for little calves!”

“Ah, but mom!” Dance and Stomp whined in tandem. The family and guests had retired from dinner a few hours ago, and they’d spent a pleasant evening swapping stories. Slim’s family embarrassed him with tales of his youth, while Azure and Creepy swapped some of the more amusing incidents that had occurred to them on their trip. The sun was completely gone outside, and the moon peeked weakly through layers of clouds and smog.

“Butts are for sitting, not complaining! It’s late, and time for you two to get ready for bed,” Earth Steel chided, who was greeted with mumbled consent.

“Will you be here tomorrow, big brother?” Dance whispered, giving her older sibling a hug.

“I don’t know,” the Minotaur admitted, returning the affection with a tight squeeze. “I think we’ll leave early in the morning.”

“I miss you,” Dance whimpered into his leg, which caused Slim to wipe a tear from his eye.

“I miss you too, but when I’m done, I’ll come back. Promise.”

“Promise Promise?”

“Promise Promise Promise,” Slim said with a chuckle.

“…Ok. Goodnight, brother. Good night, mister Unicorn. Good night, mister Donkey.”

Azure and Creepy waved at the young Minotaur girl, and as she scampered up the stairs after her mother and twin, Slim’s expression fell.

“You sure this is the right idea, Azure? Heading to Ti-bit on the word of a disembodied voice?”

The Unicorn sighed, and shrugged. “I honestly don’t know, Slim. But something is going on. Someone is pushing me towards a goal, but I don’t know if it is the right one, or the wrong one. All I can do is keep faith that this will end up with me finding the answers I need.”

The mood in the living room turned morose, until Slim’s father stepped in from the dining room.

“Can I speak with you three?” Wood Throw asked, looking them over. With confused glances exchanged, the trio stepped into the room they’d consumed curry in hours before. A faint hint of spices still hung in the air.

“I’m not sure what you’re really going to Ti-bit for, but I know it isn’t for studying harps or Llamas,” Wood said, sitting down at the table with a glass of whiskey at his fingers.

“What do you mean, pops? I’m sure you’re mistaken,” Slim said, chuckling nervously, taking a seat across from his father, between Azure and Creepy.

“You only call me pops when you’ve done something wrong or dangerous and are trying to weasel out of it,” Wood said sternly, fixing his son with a hard look. Your mother knows this too, and even if she isn’t showing it, she’s worried.” Wood throw leaned in towards the friends.

“Tell me the truth. What is going on? Is it because of these two beside you?”

Azure tensed, and though Creepy kept a calm look, they’d been around him enough to know he was as taut as a coiled spring and ready to leap into action at the drop of a hat.

“…Yes it is,” Slim said after what seemed like a hour of silence. “At first, I was just trying to repay my debt to Azure, after he saved me from being sold into slavery.” Wood Throw’s eyes widened, and he was about to say something, but Slim cut him off. “We started looking into the group he’d vowed to hunt down and destroy; Black Phoenix. They’ve hurt him, deeply, and I went along with his desire for revenge. It was the right thing to do.”

“But things changed. We met Creepy by stumbling into a black market deal being conducted by Black Phoenix and the Bologna familia. Azure and I were chased for days, hunted by the best damn hit-pony in Gaeum, but somehow, through luck or fate, managed to show him the truth behind his employers.” Creepy looked away, shamefaced, but a comforting pat on the back from Slim made him look back.

“The three of us… we started to see things. I started to see things. Deals, actions, and ideas, kept in the dark, and hidden from the gaze of good, wholesome beings. Black Phoenix may be right, that the nobility is corrupt and needs to be shaken up,” at that, Azure swung his head sharply to stare at the Minotaur, “but I can’t agree with their ideals or methods either. Creepy lost his sister, his only family, to them because they believe anyone who is even remotely associated with the nobles must die. They are murdering and harming others because they too were harmed? An eye for an eye is it?! How does that make any sense?!” At that, Slim slammed his fists into the table, leaving a wide crack in the surface.

“After Prance, no, after surviving a trek through Tambelon, I made a decision. No matter what the end may be, no matter what the cost, I will see this quest through to the end. Azure Flame isn’t just my savior; he is my friend. Same as Creepy. One way or another, I will help them put an end to the injustices of this world. Even if I die doing so, it will be worth it, because I’ll have died trying to bring smiles back to the faces of the beings of this world. And in the end, isn’t that what an Entertainer is supposed to do?”

Silence hung heavy in the room for a long time, Slim staring defiantly at his father, daring him to oppose or contradict him.

“I see.” Wood Throw stood up, and pushed the shot glass to the side, untouched. He stepped out of the dining room and disappeared down a door that Azure assumed led to a basement, judging from the angle of the steps. After a few minutes of awkward silence, Wood Throw returned, clutching an old slip of paper in his hands.

“Give this to a griffon called Captain Bezel, down at the sky-ship docks,” the older bull said, passing the sheet to his son. “Tell him that I’m ready to cash my debt to him, and that he should take you anywhere you need to go.” Slim stared at his father, then down at the paper. It was a worn, faded document that the trio recognized as a receipt for the purchase of a slave! The purchaser was… Wood Throw?!

“Seems like father and son aren’t so different after all, if only a bit backwards in the order,” Wood Throw said with a sad smile. “Let Bezel know he should stop clinging to the past. He was free the day I saved him. He shouldn’t keep trying to pay me back.”

“Thank you, father,” Slim said, giving his slightly smaller parent a crushing hug.

“Easy, there, Shadow. Now, I think you three should be heading out soon. You’ve got an adventure to continue.” Wood Throw turned around, facing the wall. "go on. Hurry up."

He stayed like that for a long time, even after the door had opened and shut. When he couldn't hold it in anymore, the Minotaur slumped to the ground, holding back tears.

"Damnation son, why did it have to be this way?"

Hours later, Wood Throw was walking to work at the lumber yard through the streets of Grandine when another Minotaur sidled up to him.

“Wood, have your heard? Vandal and the rest of them captured a new base of operations! You’ll never guess where!”

“Is it a changeling fort in Tambelon?”

“Dang it, how is it you always know before me?! I was sure you hadn’t heard anything from other members yet!”

“I wouldn’t be an officer of Black Phoenix if I didn’t have ways to get information outside of official channels,” Wood Throw said, with a smirk.

“Well, yuk it up now, but keep an eye out. Supposedly the prince Vandal is looking for is in Toro, and we’re to keep an eye out for him.”

“I’ll get on that,” Slim’s father said with grin. “Yes, I’ll be sure to do so.”

As his conversation partner drifted away, Wood Throw looked out at the sunrise. “Good luck, you three. I might not agree with your decisions, Slim, but I’m still your father. Don’t you dare get caught…”

Comments

[RadicalDishonesty]

Well then... that complicates things.

It's pretty easy to assign a bigger story to Wood Throw, too, with him interacting with corrupt nobles back during the day of his adventuring, joining a rebellious organization as a result. No idea if Wood Throw is in the know about the kinds of horrible things that Black Phoenix has done and agrees that they're necessary, or if he doesn't...

[SageBrony07]

WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!

Great chapter. But it really throws a wrench into everything