This is just something that I wanted to put together to keep everything linked with each other (or at least the more important stuff). That way, you won’t have to scroll through everything to find anything in particular. Hope this helps with everything.
If there’s anything that you want to see on this list, please just let me know and I’ll add it.
My other accounts:
Archive Of Your Own: click HERE
Wattpad: click HERE
Moomin:
Sick: click HERE
First Time For Everything: click HERE
Storms: click HERE
Reunion: click HERE
Possession: click HERE
Nightmare: click HERE
Snufkin AU:
Shot in the Dark AMV series: click HERE
The Phoenix: click HERE
Rise: ???
Big Bro Snuf AU
Disclaimer: click HERE
Names: click HERE
First Meeting: click HERE
Kaimaki:
Momoharu Week 2021: click HERE
Childhood Friends: click HERE
Kingdoms (Fantasy AU): click HERE
Limitless (super power au): click HERE
Running (Limitless sequel): click HERE
Momoharu Week 2022: click HERE
Kingdoms Sequel by Emerald_Shadow on Ao3: click HERE
Chapter feels a little rushed, but that’s because I’m trying to get back into writing.
The next morning, everyone woke up with an uncomfortable knot in their stomachs. Each one wanted to wake up only to have the past forty eight hours be nothing more than a collective dream. The weight of everything just made everyone feel sluggish and not want to move around much. They all just didn’t want to get up. Even Dude, who was always the first one to wake up early, almost didn’t go for his morning jog. He did anyway. Mostly to keep up his routine, but to also feel more like he was ready for what the day would throw at him. He was especially slow for his jog and didn’t do the full route that he usually did. He only got halfway before he got tired too soon and turned to go back. He was awake until, he guessed, close enough to midnight, and even then it was a restless doze more than a proper sleep. When he came home, Mimi had already boiled the kettle and started pouring a cup of tea for herself. When she offered Dude when, like usual, everything seemed like clockwork again for a while.
Rainbow came in from the garden, shaking off some morning dew from his shaggy fur.
Bud graced the two with his presence, carrying a small rucksack that had small clinking sounds emitting from within it.
Sprout came downstairs, cracking a joke with a wide smile.
Candi was yawning loudly, rubbing one of her tired eyes.
Pip was humming to a tune as she had one ear bud in, waking herself up through the music.
Misty grumbled as she strode in, heading straight to the nearest cupboard to find herself some cereal.
Everything just seemed to be normal.
“Gang! We have an emergency!” Bud’s voice called out from his room only twenty minutes later. He had gone to his room to collect the Fragments and pass them out to everyone again. There was the sound of footsteps running as the red genius came downstairs, nearly losing his footing.
“What’s wrong?” Misty’s groaned, her tiredness still lingering on her shoulders.
“The Crystal Fragments are gone!” Bud responded as his eyes widened into dinner plates.
“What?!” Dude exclaimed. Everyone suddenly woke up. Misty forgot that she was tired and cranky, as Candi and Rainbow started to pace frantically. Rainbow started sniffing around, trying to determine some kind of scent.
“Someone snuck into my room and pilthfred them!” Bud continued to panic, scanning the room for anyone to speak up.
“Bud, calm down.” Dude said calmly, holding his hands up. The gesture was enough for Bud to stop where he was. Rainbow, sensing the tension, abandoned his sniff search and plodded towards the red genius. He shoved his head under Bud’s clenched hand and waited patiently. “I’m sure they’re around here somewhere.” Bud’s fist unclenched slowly, his knuckles cracking a little. His hand stayed on top of Rainbow’s head, smoothing out the fur. Bud’s tensed muscles in his shoulders visibly relaxed as he took slow deep breathes. The highly panicked feeling in the air died down to a mild one. One that made everyone more clear headed and rational.
“Where do you remember having them last?” Pip asked cautiously, doing her best to not set Bud into another panic.
“In my room, in the box right after you gave the Fragments to me.” Bud answered slowly, recalling his last steps during the night before. “To keep them safe. I remember putting the box on my desk. When I went to get them, the box wasn’t there. Because I’m not used to them being in my room, I didn’t think to check when I woke up.” No one moved from where they were standing. They couldn’t say anything either to refute Bud’s statement.
Could there have been some kind of break in?
No, that couldn’t be, Dude thought. Rainbow would more than likely to have alerted everyone in the house. Even if he didn’t, the thief went straight to Bud’s room and took the Fragments. None of the other more valuable stuff was missing as far as Dude was concerned. Unless someone was watching them the day before and knew the house’s layout enough, it would be hard for anyone to just walk straight there and take the Fragments. It had to have been someone inside the house.
“What’s happening?” Mimi’s voice rang out. Everyone returned to the staircase to see her at the very top. In all the chaos, no one had noticed that she was up there at all. She must have been in her room doing her usual morning routine of getting ready when she heard all the shouting.
“The Fragments are gone.” Bud stated, his hand remaining on Rainbow to prevent his meltdown from returning. Mimi’s eyebrow arched slightly for a moment. Then her eyes held a spark as she realised what her red friend had meant.
“Oh! I have them!” She declared rather gleefully.
“What?!” Everyone exclaimed as they looked up at her. Mimi didn’t stop to answer as she skipped back to her room. Everyone else continued to stare at the spot where she was in shock and disapproval. How could Mimi cause all that unnecessary panic?! What was she thinking?! Mimi returned as quickly as she left, the box carefully secured in her hands. She practically pranced down the stairs and brushed past everyone as they continued to throw some shade at her. She gingerly placed the box on the coffee table.
“Here they are.” She announced with a smile as she opened the box. Everyone looked inside it. All the irritation that they had was melted away by what they had seen. All the Fragments were there, but they were different. Mimi had decided to take some fashion liberties with all of them. The purple Fragment was infused with Pip’s glove while the grey one was imbedded in one of Misty’s wristbands. The pink Fragment was part of a golden, heart shaped, locket, fitting perfectly in the centre of it. The red Fragment was styled into a brooch like badge. The orange Fragment was part of a keychain that was large enough to fit onto Rainbow’s collar. The green Fragment was on a leather cuff that can be buttoned on securely. The yellow Fragment was part of a charm bracelet. The blue Fragemnt was fashioned into a pendent on a lightweight leather cord.
“So that’s where my other wristband went.” Misty exclaimed, snatching the wristband out of the box.
“And my glove!” Pip had a similar reaction as she grabbed her glove just as hastily.
“You left them down here last night.” Mimi shrugged. One by one, everyone else grabbed their own respective colours. In Rainbow’s case, Candi grabbed his and showed it to him. Rainbow gave a curious sniff as he took in the newly made accessory for himself.
“How long did these take to make?” Sprout asked as he fastened the leather cuff on his wrist. It was a comfortable fit that wasn’t too tight nor loose. It felt perfect on his wrist.
“The less you know the better.” Mimi groaned as she pointed under her eyes. When everyone looked carefully, they could see faint dark patches under her eyes. As they processed the fact that she was up possibly for half the night, Mimi’s face creased a little in thought. “Though, I think some of the magic took over when I stopped for a break.” Dude took a closer look at his pendent. Mimi was right. The way that the Fragment was seemingly fused into the metal that held it to the pendent was impossible for anyone to do easily in one night, especially regarding how Mimi was limited with her resources. Dude observed everyone else’s Fragments as they all started to fit them on. Every fusion, attachment and even some stitching that was applied to the accessories were all doe with expert precision. Nothing that Mimi could easily do in one night.
Unfortunately that meant that while she did take her break, the magic took over and caused them more time. It might have been mere minutes, but it was still a resource that they can’t afford to waste.
“But why?” Candi asked as she clipped Rainbow’s keychain to his collar. It was buried under his fur, but the canine had a feeling that if it reacted to a Crystal, it would be bright enough for his human friends to notice.
“With the amount of time shoving them into our pockets and all, I thought it would be easier and probably safer to have them attached to something that we can wear without drawing too much attention.” Mimi explained as she fastened in her bracelet. She then held it up to the light, grinning proudly. “Not to mention, they’re all fabulously stylish too.”
Well, at least Mimi wasn’t entirely wrong about needing to grab the Fragments easily enough. At the very least there was no risk of them falling out of anyone’s pockets.
“Mimi, do me a couple of favours next time please?” Bud grumbled as he secured his brooch to his dungarees.
“What’s that?” Mimi asked.
“First of all, wake me up instead of sneaking around my room like a thief.” Bud ranted as his voice rose to a steady shout. “And second of all, warn me next time you plan to do something like this!”
“Sorry, Bud.” Mimi winced. Well, at least the panic was over. Everyone was still a little upset with Mimi, but they can scold her properly later.
“Let’s go. We can’t waste any more time.” Dude declared as he slipped the pendent over his head. He tucked it under his shirt, keeping it out of the way. Sprout had just finished with clumsily assisting Candi with her locket when a loud beeping noise came out of nowhere.
“What’s that?” Pip asked, securing her glove. Bud quickly rummaged through his backpack and pulled out his iPad. With a few quick taps, he accessed the CCTV around the Skyline. He had installed an alarm system not too long ago. It was mostly for when the Skyline was receiving deliveries, which shouldn’t be in this case considering that it was closed. Bud had cancelled and/or put a hold on all deliveries until further notice. No one was at the loading bays. So he switched to the gates that guests used to enter with their cars. Sometimes people would try to break in while the Skyline was closed, so the alarm trigger there was mandatory.
“There’s someone trying to get in.” Bud stated as everyone started to peer over his shoulders to get a look.
“Who’s that?” Candi asked as she pointed to the outline of people.
“Looks to be a reporter and her camera crew.” Pip answered. Sure enough, there was a woman standing at the gate, peering in, with a crew of four people setting up their gear. Camera, microphone, sound system and other gear were being set up at a fast rate. The woman continued to look through the gate, as if she was expecting someone. She then rather impatiently pulled out her mobile phone and a small piece of paper. She then punched in a number and tapped her foot as she brought it to her ear. After a couple of seconds, the phone in the hallway suddenly started ringing. Dude, while suppressing an irritated sigh, quickly picked it up.
“Hello?” He spoke, keeping his voice as calm as he could muster. Everyone waited silently and patiently as Dude paused and spoke to the reporter. “Yes, I’m Dude. No, I’m not liable to comment. No comment. No we cannot have an interview about the events that happened two days ago. I’m sorry, but I’m not able to let you in to have a look around. Miss Green…sorry, Mrs Green, the building isn’t safe and we’re waiting on professionals to take a look at it. Again, we are not able to have an interview.” Dude then quickly pointed at Bud and made a handwriting gesture. Bud immediately understood. He rapidly pulled out a small notebook and pen from his pocket and passed it over to Dude. Dude opened the notebook to a blank page and poised the red pen to start writing. “By the way, how did you get this number? Good to know.” Dude wrote something down, obscuring it from everyone else. He then put the pen down. “Now, do me a favour. Please don’t call this number again, it’s for staff and emergencies only. In fact, lose the number all together. Have a good day.”
With that final word, Dude slammed the phone back down on the receiver. He muttered some Spanish under his breath as he rubbed his eyes. No one rushed him as he let out his frustrations. Then he tore out the page he had been writing on, tucked it into his pocket and gave the red stationary back to Bud.
“It’s official…I don’t like reporters…never watching the news again.” Dude said warily. Everyone should have seen something like that coming. They should’ve known that reporters will want to come sniffing around for any leads. They wanted to give the public what they wanted, information as to what had happened.
“Want me to scare them off?” Misty smirked.
“I can help!” Sprout jumped up and down with one hand in the air.
“No, we don’t have any time.” Dude said sternly. Misty and Sprout pouted in disappointment. “Not when we still have five Crystals out there.” The phone started ringing again. Dude growled a little and went to pick it up. However, Mimi was much faster than him. She picked the phone up so fast that she was a mere blur. She then cleared her throat before bringing the receiver to her mouth.
“Hello?” She spoke, her voice sounding a little different. After a few seconds, she changed her voice to sound like a frail old woman almost perfectly. “I’m sorry, dearie, I’m afraid that you have the wrong number.” Without batting an eye, Mimi then put the phone down, though not as aggressively as Dude did.
“Good voice.” Candi complimented as she clapped rapidly.
“It’s pays when you have cold callers bothering you.” Mimi smiled boastfully. “Do reporters count?”
“They do now.” Dude grinned the first real one he had all morning. “Let’s get going.”
The gang had to be careful. If the reporter and her crew were still sniffing around, they needed to avoid being seen. Luckily, there were some paths that were obscured from prying eyes on the outside of the fences. They went a couple at a time, just in case, to avoid detection. Once they were in the Pavilion, they all felt less exposed to the outside. Without waiting for any celebratory notion, they immediately went to the Sky Crystal. No sooner than they all shouted to announce their presence, the Sky Crystal brought them in.
“Hey everyone!” OJ greeted warmly as everyone emerged from their landing spot. “Hope you’re well rested.”
“I would say you kids are running a little late, but at this point I’m not bothered.” Mr Conjurer murmured as he limped over to the Gang, his walking stick gently clacking on the ground. His hair was almost all grey at that point, with a few streaks of silver lined within. His eyes landed on the accessories everyone was suddenly wearing. He gently took Mimi’s hand and examined her bracelet, more specifically at the Fragment. “Very well made.”
“You’ve got the magic to thank for it, as well as yours truly.” Mimi smiled.
“As much as I would continue to admire your handiwork, my dear, time is marching on.” Conjurer was quick to dismiss as he released Mimi’s hand. Mimi pouted a little but didn’t kick up a fuss. Conjurer then looked at everyone else expectantly. “Where to then?”
“Jungle please!” Pip declared, raising a hand. Dude, Mimi and Rainbow looked at her carefully. She didn’t even pull them aside to discuss where they should go next. “Come on, you expect me to miss out on that place again?”
“If it’s alright, I believe that we should go to Rattlesnake Ridge.” Bud spoke up cautiously. Candi, Misty and Sprout had their turn to look at the genius with some disapproval. Like Pip, Bud hadn’t discussed a plan of action with them either. Dude made a mental note himself to talk about the issue with everyone when they all get home for the day. “Try to eliminate a further distance while you’re capable of taking us there.” At least Bud had some logic behind his decision.
“Sounds reasonable enough to me.” Mr Conjurer shrugged. His voice was level, as if he expected something like that to play out before him. “Just bear with me a minute.” While Mr Conjurer stepped back a little to have more room for the portals, the air suddenly shifted. The fine cracks that had been seen before grew in size and became much more noticeable. Dust rained from the walls and ceiling as some books fell from the shelves. Tremors rattled from beneath everyone’s feet while there was this inhuman groaning sound that echoed all around them. Senses spiked into high alert as small parts of debris started to fall.
“Watch out!” Dude yelled after he looked up. The cracks had formed a near perfect circle on the ceiling. The chunk then became loose and gravity took over. The Gang scattered like ants as it came hurtling towards them. It shattered like glass as it impacted the ground. Sprout and Candi had huddled together. Rainbow ducked under the table, with Pip following close behind. OJ had grabbed Misty and Bud and yanked them back away from the danger. Mimi dived out of the way, arms up to protect her face. Dude just missed the debris by inches, a small part of it scratching his face as it flew by him. Conjurer tried to keep himself from falling over, but his body wouldn’t allow that. He felt his chest tighten painfully, like a child squeezing a toy too much. His walking stick clattered to the ground next to him as he braced himself against the table. Dude had watched the whole thing. He heard another creaking sound from above. He took one more look at the ceiling then charged forward. He tackled Conjurer to the ground as another piece of the ceiling fell where the magician had been standing, narrowly missing their feet.
“You okay?” Dude asked as Conjurer got his breath back. The magician merely nodded as he got his breathing regular again. He reached over for his top hat, when his eyes became sharp. Before Dude could process what he was doing, the magician raised a hand toward where Sprout and Candi were. One more piece of the ceiling was crashing towards them. It merely bounced off a shield that was conjured from thin air. While the siblings were still huddled, they watched as the heavy stone was deflected from them.
“Thanks!” They cried both said in unison. Conjurer didn’t respond. He raised his other hand and snapped his fingers. Two portals manifested, swirling with a sense of urgency.
“Go!” Mr Conjurer ordered through gritted teeth. No one needed to be told twice. They didn’t even wait to be told which portal went where. OJ let go of Misty and Bud, allowing them to take the lead to one of the portals. Sprout and Candi followed them, the portal closing behind Candi as she was the last to go through. At the same time, Pip and Rainbow came out from under the table and raced each other to the other portal. Mimi was close on Pip’s heels, looking back only once to see if Dude was following. Dude hesitated, but a physical shift from behind him forced him to stand. He didn’t want to leave things like that, but he didn’t have a choice. It was too much of a mess to leave behind. Dude glanced back for a second. It wasn’t a good sight. One thing he was convinced that he saw was a trail of blood from the corner of Conjurer’s lips. Another invisible force pushed him to fall into the portal.
The moment the portals closed, the library became still and silent.
Short story to help get me back into writing, but hope you all like it. Might make this into a mini series of sorts.
Trotting around the Skyline, aside from chewing on a bone and chasing squirrels, was one of Rainbow the Dog’s favourite past times. On a day that he wasn’t involved in shows or had any free time, he’d run around and explore a little. He’d play with some children, hang around the Gang or Redcoats or even lounge in the shade on a hot day. People usually left him to his own devices, especially his human friends because they trusted him to take care of himself. This day was no different. It was a busy day, schools had been let out for the summer holidays. That meant loads of children and families. Some staff advised grown ups to keep an eye on their children. Some listened, others didn’t which led to them being scolded or issued a warning. Granted, some of the unattended children happened because of excitement and not listening to their parents. Accidents, nothing more. Thankfully, those cases were easy enough to solve and were let off the hook. It’s the ones that happen on purpose that put everyone in the Skyline on high alert. Even Rainbow kept an eye out during his strolls in case he needed to entice some kids back to their families or a Redcoat that was nearby.
It was a thankless job half the time, but it was necessary. It was better to be safe than sorry in cases that involved young guests.
“We don’t know where she could’ve gone…”
Rainbow stopped walking as his ears pricked up at the voice. He didn’t know how to explain why, but he didn’t need to. He had recognised the distressed tone, having heard it more than enough times. That time was no different. Rainbow immediately moved to where he had heard that voice. A Redcoat, Redcoat Grace, was standing with a couple. The man had his arm wrapped around his wife, who was crying close to hysterics. She was writing her hands anxiously as her shoulders were being rubbed as a form of comfort. It did little to help.
“Try to stay calm.” Redcoat Grace spoke evenly, her small walking-talkie in hand. “Where did you see her last?”
“At the Animals and Mythical Beasts show.” The husband answered as he was caught between being stoic and consoling his wife. “We lost sight of her while everyone was leaving.”
“I just lost my grip on her hand…” the wife whimpered, shaking her head despairingly. “I should’ve picked her up…”
“It’s not your fault.” Her husband spoke softly, rubbing her shoulders. Unbeknownst to the trio, Rainbow had been listening to every word, understanding each syllable. A lost child? A young one by the sounds of it. He whined mournfully for her as he watched her parents holding back from a breakdown.
“What’s her name?” Redcoat Grace asked, keeping her cool.
“Madeleine. She responds more to Maddie.” The father explained after clearing his throat.
“And how old is she? What was she wearing?” Redcoat Grace pressed as she held the wallow-talkie closer to her face. She was ready to relay the information.
“Five. And she was wearing a Pip outfit.” The father responded with a slight stutter. “She has a Pip doll as well.”
“Her hair is tied back in a ponytail, it has a purple ribbon.” The mother hurriedly added. Redcoat Grace immediately communicated everything she had been told. She continued to remain calm, but at that point she had a small shake in her voice. The mother openly wept as her husband struggled to keep her on her feet. Still unseen by them, Rainbow set off. A little girl wearing a Pip costume wasn’t that much help as a few other small children were wearing the same thing. The added information about her carrying a Pip doll and the fact that her hair had a ribbon in it helped a lot more. It gave Rainbow something to go on. He ignored any guests that called out to him as he headed towards Studio 36. That’s where the little girl was last seen, so it was the best place to start there. He had witnessed people leaving the venue after a show. He was a big dog, but even he felt overwhelmed by the sight of the crowd. It was quite scary for him. So the thought of a five year old girl being lost in something like that was much more terrifying. The moment she lost her grip on her mum’s hand, Maddie must have been overwhelmed as she got swept up by the crowd a small girl lost in an excitable crowd probably wouldn’t have been noticed that easily. If she was lost in the crowd that easily, maybe she went to hide somewhere. Rainbow hoped that she wasn’t badly hurt. If she was, he needed to raise the alarm.
Rainbow shook his head a little. He didn’t want to think like that. He couldn’t afford to. A little girl was missing, he needed to focus. If Maddie got lost as she was exiting the building, she had to be outside somewhere. So, with that in mind, Rainbow started at the doors. He didn’t have Maddie’s direct scent, but he needed to start somewhere. He sniffed around. Food, deodorant, body odour, sweat and even some perfume. Nothing that could separate Maddie from the crowd. So, Rainbow needed to rely on his sight for the time being. Something, anything, that could become a massive clue. He scanned the ground first and then he tried looking more upwards. He looked towards trees that were by the path. Flapping on one of the lower branches was something long and thin. It didn’t look like litter in the traditional sense. It seemed like a breeze had brought it there.
Rainbow tilted his head curiously at the object. He was,ed up to the tree. Using the trunk to steady his front paws, he stood on his hind legs. He craned his neck to get a little closer to it. A ribbon. A purple ribbon.it must have been the one that Maddie was wearing. Rainbow barked happily as he saw it. He must have looked silly to anyone walking by. They probably thought that he had chased a cat or a squirrel up the tree. The orange canine paid no mind to his surroundings. He had what he needed to make his search much easier. Straining a little further, Rainbow tapped his nose to the end of the ribbon that was closest to him.
One long stiff.
Another long sniff.
The scent was much clearer now. Rainbow jumped back from the tree and stuck his nose to the ground. He sniffed around as he followed where the ribbon must have detached from the girl. Maddie’s own unique scent got stronger with every step. Rainbow followed the ribbon’s trail until he reached the exact point where Maddie had lost it. The poor girl was right in the centre of the crowd when it happened. She was frightened, Rainbkw could feel that in his bones. He focused on the spot where she had been standing. He briefly scanned the area, his eyes sharp. If Maddie had been standing there, she had to be somewhere close.
But what if someone had grabbed her?
Maybe she was already taken somewhere safe?
Rainbow shook his head again. He couldn’t assume things like that. He was determined to make sure she was safe. He felt like he owed it to her parents to help. Rainbow once again sniffed for Maddie, keeping his resolve in the forefront of his mind. The trail was still fairly fresh. There was still a chance to find her. Rainbow followed the trail carefully, making sure to not get distracted by anything else. He noted how his path was in a zig-zag pattern. The frantic motion of a child fighting through a crowd. Rainbow could practically hear Maddie’s footprints as she ran to find a safe place. Rainbow know what it was like to be lost. He, himself, had been spooked and ran away before more than once. The relief of being found by his friends meant more than words could describe. He’ll do anything to make sure that Maddie feels that sensation too.
Rainbow moved forward, following the scent. Maddie was close, the smell indicated that. Rainbow could piece together what had happened. When Maddie got lost, she went somewhere to hide and wait for someone. No one else was with her as far as Rainbow could tell. So far, he didn’t need to think that someone had grabbed her, no need to raise panic of a possible kidnapping. Maddie was still somewhere on the grounds of the Skyline. Rainbow continued on his way. Again, he ignored anyone that tried to give him attention. When they saw that he was occupied with something, they shrugged and left him alone, thankfully. They probably thought that he was sniffing out another animal or something like that. Well, they were half right if that was the case. Rainbow resumed his journey, finding himself near the picnic bench area. It was quiet there. People were either attending other shows, eating elsewhere or were somewhere else entirely. Rainbow paused his sniffing and looked around. He perked his ears up, tuning into his hearing. At first, it wasn’t much to pick up on. He heard birds, laughter, the distant echoes of the rides and the music from the speakers. Nothin that was different from the usual routine. Still, the canine waited patiently. He couldn’t afford to miss anything. Sure, he could continue his sniff search, but he felt that need to wait.
Cranking of rides.
Laughter.
Music.
Crying.
The crying of a child.
That was it!
That was what Rainbow was waiting for!
He regained the path Maddie’s scent had led him on. It was stronger now. Closer. Maddie was much closer now. She was in the general area. Rainbow continued to walk, this time, a little more carefully. He couldn’t risk spooking Maddie by accident. The scent led Rainbow to one of the picnic benches. Huddled under it was something purple. The crying was coming from it. The canine kept going until he could see a little more clearly. Curled up, knees to her chest, was a little girl. She was wearing a Pip costume, which was a little dirty from her having to duck and hide. Her light coloured hair was draped over her shoulders, a little tangled from the chaos that brought her there. She was crying her eyes out, sniffling a little.
That’s Maddie! It had to be!
Rainbow almost ran over and barked loudly, but he stopped himself. He reminded himself that he couldn’t afford to scare Maddie. She’s probably still overwhelmed by everything. The last thing she needed was a giant dog charging towards her. Slowly, Rainbow approached the table, keeping a two metre distance. He then laid flat on his stomach, head between his paws. That was as small as he could get. Hopefully it would be enough.
“Maddie! Hello!” Rainbow spoke as softly as he could. He followed that with a quiet bark. Maddie flinched at the voice, which caused Rainbow to whine a little. He was worried that he did the one thing he didn’t want to do and Maddie would run away. He stayed still like a statue. Maddie moved a little, picking her head up. She didn’t make any gesture that she was going to run. Maybe she was too tired to do so.
“Doggie…?” A whimper came out from her. Rainbow whined again, wagging his tail a little. Maddie turned her head. Her red rimmed eyes landed on Rainbow. “Rainbow…” Rainbow gave a small bark as a confirmation. He remained frozen on the spot. His eyes remained on Maddie, making sure that she was aware that she had his attention. After another sniffle, Maddie crawled out from under the table, a Pip doll clenched tightly in one hand. Without waiting for an invitation, she continued to crawl to Rainbow. Rainbow raised his head a little as Maddie reached him, allowing the girl to wrap her arms around his neck in a desperate hug. He nuzzled her a little as he felt her trembling through his fur. Her free hand clenched him so tight that he was convinced that she would pull a few strands of fur. However, he didn’t mind that. So long as it helped to keep her calm, he can stand to lose some fur. The world kept moving on, but to Rainbow, time stood still while Maddie wept. His head was damp from the tears, but that would dry off in no time at all. After a while, Maddie!s trembling had stopped. She pulled back, wiping away any remains of tears from her sore eyes. Rainbow huffed a little, satisfied that she had calmed down.
Time to move.
“Climb on!” Rainbow said as he gestured his head to his back. Sure, he could have Maddie walk alongside him, but he didn’t want to take any chances. Maddie whimpered a little. Maybe she preferred to walk after all, Rainbow thought. Whatever she would be comfortable with, Rainbow will oblige with it. Then Maddie got to her feet and approached Rainbow’s side. Rainbow waited as she attempted to climb onto his back. It took a couple of tries but she was able to do it. Rainbow had carried children, and even a couple members of the gang (albeit for ten seconds maximum on stage) before, Maddie was no different. Since she was small, she wouldn’t do any harm to his back either. Once Maddie was settled, the canine slowly stood up, being careful with his precious passenger. Maddie meanwhile, stayed still, holding on with one hand while her doll was held by the other. After double checking that she was comfortable, Rainbow slowly trotted back to the Pavilion. He caught the eye of several guests. Some kids got excited by the sight, asking to have a go at riding him next. However, when their parents saw an upset child riding Rainbow, they were quick to put together that Maddie wasn’t having a simple joy ride. They distracted their kids or explained that something wasn’t right. Whatever they did worked as no kids ran over to demand a turn. People, upon seeing Rainbow and Maddie, even parted a path for them. It made it much faster and easier to get to where Rainbow was headed. He spotted Redcoat Grace exactly where he last saw her. Maddie’s parents were still with her, waiting anxiously.
“Maddie! Woof!” Rainbow barked. Maddie’s legs tightened on his sides a little as she saw where they were going.
“Mummy!” She cried out. “Daddy!” Combined with Rainbow’s bark, all three adults spun around to face the pair. Instantly, Maddie’s mother ran over to them, her arms outstretched in front of her.
“Maddie!” She cried, tears streaming down her face as she swept Maddie up. Rainbow had stopped at that point. Maddie’s father also came running over, looking like he was close to tears. The mother hugged her daughter tightly, as if she feared that Maddie would vanish if she let go. “Oh, Maddie!” Maddie snuggled up in her mother’s hold, shaking again as she started to cry from joy.
“Are you alright?” The father asked, scanning Maddie for any injuries.
“Where were you?” The mother asked as she pulled back a little.
“I got lost. I was hiding.” Maddie answered as simply as any five year old could. She then shifted, reaching a hand down to Rainbow. “Rainbow found me.” Rainbow strained his neck to get as close to Maddie’s hand as he could. She just managed to brush his fur as Redcoat Grace came up to them.
“-Rainbow’s found her!” She cheered into her walkie-talkie. She then slipped it back into her pocket and made a fuss of Rainbow. She rubbed his head ceremoniously as she beamed with pride. “Good boy! Good boy, Rainbow!” Maddie’s father then knelt down. Redcoat Grace took a step back as man and dog made eye contact. Respect and gratitude were silently exchanged before the man patted Rainbow on the head.
“Thank you.” He spoke softly, still choked up. Rainbkw howled long and loud, causing Maddie to giggle. Rainbow spun around in a circle, jumping up and down in his joy. He had done something good, better than what he had been doing all day. It was his victory for the world to see. Maddie laughed a little more, the fear that she had felt now melted away. Her parents hugged her tightly as Redcoat Grace wiped away a small tear.
“Rainbow! Here, boy!”
Dude’s voice rang out like a bell before it was followed by a short, low whistle. Rainbow paused his celebration and spotted his blue friend waiting for him. That’s right, there was a show soon, Rainbow thought. He had almost forgotten about it with everything that had been going on. Maddie whined a little, reaching her hand out for Rainbow again. The canine, not wanting to make her upset, jumped up and gave the offered limb a quick lick. Maddie squealed, which turned into a laugh, and squirmed in her mother’s hold. Not wanting to keep Dude waiting, Rainbow dashed up to Dude. His blue friend gave him some head rubs.
“What have you been up to, eh?” Dude asked with a grin.
“Search and rescue!” Rainbow howled, sitting proudly.
“Is that so?” Dude asked as his eyebrow arched. He looked back at the family. Redcoat Grace gave Dude a nod while Maddie waved gaily. That was all Dude needed to know. He gave Rainbow another head rub. “Well done, boy.” Rainbow barked and bowed playfully. Dude chuckled before he gestured to the stage. “Come on. We’ve got a show to do.” Rainbow follows with a bounce in his stride. His tail wagged furiously, threatening to drop off out of happiness. Rainbow wouldn’t care if it did or not. It wouldn’t ruin his pride. That was his good deed for the day, making a little girl feel safe and happy to be with her family again.
It was the least a dog could do. Especially when his name is Rainbow.
More than two weeks ago, we lost my Grandma. I won’t go into detail of what happened for the sake of privacy, but she passed away surrounded by us as her family and was in the excellent care of St. Luke’s Hospice, a charity that she volunteered herself for the past twenty years.
Like what I did for my Granny a few years ago, I drew one of her favourite flowers, which is lilies. I drew a primrose as well, but I don’t have an image of it. Both were in her room along with photographs of all of us.
To everyone that has reached out, thank you for your kindness, it means more to me than anything.
This was a request made by one of my readers on A03. Hope you all enjoy it.
Happy Pride Month!
Going to the parkour gym was fairly new to Pip’s routine. After discovering that Dude had decided to make it a new form of exercise, she decided to attempt it herself, effectively becoming a buddy for Dude while they went. It took a while to make it work well enough to not disturb everything else, but once it was concrete, (and Pip had some breathable clothing to move around in under Dude’s insistence) she made a start. The first month consisted of testing how high she can jump, her upper body strength, how her speed was, as well as her reaction time and how well she can balance.
In the time she had been at the gym, Dude helped her to work on mostly strength, jumping and balance since the Rick chick was already a good enough runner. With the amount of times the Gang had needed to run, it was natural that any of them would get better at it.
On a particular day, Dude, along with the coach decided to work more on Pip’s balance. On feet, she could walk on a beam that took a couple of weeks for her to get right. Now she was trying to do handstands. However, she either couldn’t get her legs to kick high enough or she kicked too high, as she always lost her balance. Dude had helped a couple of times, having held her ankles to help keep her upright. When that happened, Pip would be able to stay like that for a few seconds before falling over or she got back on her feet.
The day they went for another run should’ve been a day for Pip to improve. However, even while doing warm ups, Dude could tell that something was distracting Pip. It wasn’t anything too new, as either one of the gang would get distracted by one thing or another. However, this distraction had Pip wrapped around its little finger for the last few days. And that rope seemed to have gotten tighter with each day. It was a miracle that she hasn’t missed her cues during the shows. Though Dude had a feeling that she would sooner or later if she didn’t say anything about it.
When Pip tried again to do a handstand on her own, she had kicked too high. As she felt her body go up, she felt herself go backwards. She panicked and tried to go back to being upright, but it was too late. She slammed backwards onto the padded flooring. A wheeze left her lungs as she had the wind knocked out of her.
Time to intervene.
“Pip, are you okay?” Dude asked as he leaned over the stunned rock chick.
“No, I’m embarrassed…” Pip groaned, her breath coming back to her.
“That’s not what I meant.” Dude said as he calmly offered a hand. Pip eyed at it for a moment before accepting the help. Dude carefully pulled her up into a sitting position. “How about a break? Get more of your breath back?”
“Says the guy that’s been doing nothing but watching me.” Pip snorted.
“Spotting. I was spotting.” Dude lightheartedly fired back as he sat down in front of Pip. The gym wasn’t particularly busy that day, so they were able to sit where they were without getting in anyone else’s way. As they sat in silence, they listened to the few that were there as they ran, jumped, pulled themselves up and performed many tricks. It was a new rhythm that Pip had become accustomed to. Not for the first time, she was coming up with music in her head in time with the beat that she was hearing. Seeing that Pip started to relax, Dude decided again to break the ice.
“What’s on your mind?” He asked, watching Pip’s expressions carefully. “You’ve been more distracted than usual as of late.”
“Nothing!” Pip exclaimed, pulling back from Dude slightly. She wasn’t making eye contact either. She’s hiding something.
“Come on, Pip.” Dude smirked knowingly. “I’m the leader, I know when something’s wrong with anyone in the gang.” Pip wanted to shout another protest, but it died in her throat. She knew that if she did, it would only spin them both in circles. So, she stayed silent. That was Dude’s hint that he wasn’t wrong. He just needed to probe further, but just apply the pressure gently.
“Has someone been bothering you?” He asked.
“No, it’s not that.” Pips sighed, still looking down. That was the truth. If someone, especially if it was Misty, had been upsetting Pip, the rock chick would be ranting at a mile a minute until she ran out of puff. So no one had been bothering her, but something was if it was enough to distract Pip. Dude pondered over what it could have been.
It probably wasn’t a thing that was bothering Pip.
It wasn’t anything she could’ve been excited about either, because she wouldn’t shut up about it.
It was something but maybe it wasn’t all negative or positive? A mix of both maybe?
It was a shot in the dark but it might help make some eliminations.
“Let me guess: you like someone?” Dude asked teasingly. It was a joke, but Pip didn’t laugh. She flinched so hard that it was as if she was struck. She then hid her face in her knees, but not before Dude caught how red it had become. That made the eliminations alright. Dude found the source. “Wow. Didn’t think I’d hit the nail on the head.”
“Since when did you turn romantic?” Pip huffed, her voice muffled by her knees.
“Ha, ha.” Dude remarked. He then glanced around to make sure that no one was paying attention. Luckily, everyone else was still concerned about what they were doing. No one was going to bother them. “Just want to make sure that you’re okay.” Pip rose her head, looking less embarrassed but still a little pink. “So, who is it? Is it Bud?”
“Bud’s great, but not my type.” Pip smiled fondly, shaking her head a little. “Before you ask, it’s not you either. Great mate, but again, not my type.”
That’s two people down.
“Sprout?” Dude asked hesitantly.
“No!” Pip exclaimed. Dude chuckled a little, knowing that Sprout was a long shot. Not that many people left to identify.
“Can’t be a Redcoat?” Dude asked cautiously.
“Definitely not.” Pip agreed. Dude doubted it was a guest as well. Unless she saw a particular one enough times and hung out with them long enough, there wasn’t a way that Pip would develop a crush for them. If Dude was wrong then he’ll happily accept that and try, but it didn’t feel like that would be his answer.
“One of the girls?” Dude asked slowly. Pip’s faces crumpled to shame and she lowered her head again. Now Dude needed to be careful. He was on new ground for him., and he didn’t want to cross any liners. If Pip didn’t want to say anything, then Dude will drop the matter, but she didn’t. Dude then started thinking about each of the girls in the gang and how Pip interacted with them. It didn’t feel like anything was obvious at first glance. Then Dude recalled those moments again. A name popped up. “Candi?” Pip curled up tighter, but again, she didn’t tell Dude to back off. “How long?”
“I don’t know…a long time I think…” Pip mumbled but loud enough for Dude to hear. Dude stayed quiet, giving her space. She needed it. After a minute, she picks up her head and starts spilling out words. “I just…I don’t know why. Candi’s a brilliant friend. She listens when she needs to, she’s sweet and kind. She’s just…someone I think I could rely on when it counts and be able to love dearly.” Then Pip’s face turned red as she couldn’t help but say: “And she’s so cute too!”
“Won’t deny that.” Dude smiled, understanding what Pip was saying. As Pip calmed down from her high, he thought it was a good time to ask his next question. “Do you plan to tell her?”
“And then what? Ruin our friendship?” Pip asked back, looking ashamed of herself for even speaking her secret. “What if she doesn’t…you know?” Dude didn’t need validation for what Pip was leading to.
“You don’t know unless you try.” He said encouragingly. Pip only gave a hopeless sigh. “Do you want me to help out?”
“No offence Dude, but you’d be hopeless.” Pip shook her head. “If anything, if you try to sneak around about it, you’ll probably make it worse.”
“Fair point.” Dude agreed with a laugh. “I’m not the most subtle guy in the world.” Pip laughed along with him. It broke the tension she had and made her feel better. Talking about coming out, in a parkour gym of all places, and to Dude no less, was something she didn’t think she’d do so easily. It felt good. It just made everything feel right for the first time in a while.
“Just don’t tell the others…at least not until I’m ready…” Pip begged, anxiety creeping ion again.
“Deal.” Dude simply said as he offered a hand to shake. Pip accepted then gesture. It wasn’t Dude’s secret to share, so he won’t. But he’ll be there to support Pip when the time was right. He owed her that much. Time to change the subject as to not linger any longer. “Now, how about those handstands?”
“Please, help!” Pip pleaded desperately. Dude laughed again as he and Pip prepared themselves for another try for the rock chick.
———————————————————————————
It had been a couple of weeks since that conversation. Dude and Pip, in front of everyone else, acted like nothing had happened. Dude kept his words about keeping Pip’s secret, and Pip was grateful for that. She became less distracted since coming out, as if she was merely going through a phase. However, she couldn’t be alone with Candi. Whenever she was, it was like a time bomb was ready to blow and the only way to stop it was to avoid her pink crush, or have someone join them. She was too scared to ruin everything. Dude tried to talk with her about it in private; sometimes, she would open up, but other times she wouldn’t.
Candi herself didn’t seem to notice at first, but after a while, it was starting to affect her too. She was confused and sad that Pip was starting to act strangely around her. She just didn’t understand anything. Dude, while still trying to keep Pip’s secret, tried to tell Candi that nothing was wrong, and that Pip just had a lot on her mind, bout that didn’t help much. It was like a gridlock situation. Something needed to be done, otherwise everything could fall apart.
One day, Dude was relieving some stress by playing basketball and practicing some throws. While doing so, he was trying to think of a plan to resolve the issue. He can’t force Pip to come out to Candi. He might need to have a sit down with her and talk about it. He still needed to be careful, and try not to pressure Pip into anything. That was the worst thing hew could do. While Dude was still thinking things over, a Redcoat suddenly walked up to the court.
“Dude? Someone’s here to speak with you.” He called out, snapping Dude out of his thoughts. Speak with him? That sounded a little ominous. Though Dude thought that he was overthinking it.
“I’ll be right there.” He said, his basketball tucked under his arm. “Where are they?”
“By the main stage.” The Redcoat answered as he pointed to the pavilion. “They’re sitting near the back of the sitting area.”
“Thanks!” Dude smiled as he broke into a light jog towards the pavilion. He didn’t even think to store his basketball somewhere safe. He even dribbled it a little before he went inside. As he scanned the sitting area, he spotted an individual at a table. They had short dark hair, with a hair clip keeping a part of their hair back from their face. They were wearing loose fitting clothing in the form of wide jeans and a baggy shirt. They were looking down at a book they were reading intensely. They had an A3 portfolio propped against a table leg with a satchel next to it. As Dude got a little closer, he noticed a pin badge that was of the non binary flag on the satchel.
“Hello.” Dude greeted gently as he approached the table. The individual looked up eagerly as they heard him. “You wanted to speak with me.”
“Yes. I’m Mel.” Mel smiled as they stood up and offered out a hand. “I’m part of the local LGBTQ+ community.”
“Pleasure to meet you.” Dude smiled back as they shook hands. “How can I help?” Mel then reached for their portfolio and laid it out on the table. They opened it up and pulled out a glossy looking poster for a festival and a date was printed on it.
“We have Pride Month starting next week.” Mel explained as they offered the poster to Dude so he could have a closer look at it. “I have some posters here about a festival we’re hosting for the end of the month. With your permission, I’d like to put some up to advertise it. We’ve done it before in the past with the old gang but I wasn’t sure how you’d be okay with it.”
Dude scanned the poster up and down, impressed by what it was advertising. Nothing flashy. Just enough to grab the attention of those that would have an interest.
“That’s perfectly fine by me.” He answered, approval evident in his voice. “If you’d like, you can put them up in the old areas that they have been previously. Put up as many as you’d like.”
“Thank you so much.” Mel sighed in relief, closing the portfolio. As they grabbed their satchel and put their book in their satchel, Dude was suddenly struck by inspiration. He looked at the poster again. It was a farfetched idea, it’s might be cheesy, but at the same time it felt right. With how Pip was acting and her coming out to him, he thought that it might break the ice a little. If not, then he doesn’t know what else to do about it.
“Do you mind if I take this one myself? Or perhaps a leaflet if you have any?” Dude enquired, gesturing to the poster. When Mel gave him a curious look, Dude continued: “I think a couple members of the gang would be interested in going if we have a non busy period.”
“Sure thing! The more the merrier!” Mel beamed, excited for new faces to join the yearly event. Dude and Mel exchanged goodbyes and went their separate ways. Keeping the poster close, Dude ran to Central Stage. It was currently;y closed, no one, not even staff were there. Except for Pip. Sometimes, she found writing songs or playing her guitar there when it wasn’t being used was better than the house. Less distractions, and she wouldn’t cause trouble for being too loud. As Dude got closer to the doors, he could hear Pip’s guitar as she let out a couple of rifts. She paused for a few seconds, possibly to write down or change an idea she had, and then continued her music again. When Dude opened the door, Pip was found sitting on the stage, pen tucked behind her ear with her notepad lying open beside her as she played. Sensing that someone was in the same room, she looked up.
“Hey, Dude.” She greeted, strumming a couple of notes.
“Hey, Pip.” Dude said, holding out the poster for her to see. Pip paused her song, and looked at the bright paper. “Pride Month. The town is having a festival.” Pip scanned the date of the event and got excited. She had been to Pride events before with her dads since she was young. It would be her first time representing herself and she felt more excited for it.
“Thanks for letting me know.” She smiled, placing the poster by her notepad. She was ready to start strumming again, when she caught the looks on Dude’s face. “What? Oh…” Message received. That was why Dude brought her the poster instead of taking it to the house for everyone to see first. He was hinting on how Pip could open up to Candi. But only if she wanted to.
“It’d be good timing…” Dude offered, taking a seat next to Pip on the stage.
“Wouldn’t it be too corny? Or predictable?” Pip asked anxiously. If only she knew that Dude had a similar thought when he formed the plan.
“It seemed right to me, but it’s your choice.” He shrugged. Pip bit her lip and looked away. Dude wasn’t wrong, but she still wasn’t sure. Dude gently placed a hand on her shoulder, providing an emotional anchor. “And only if you’re ready. The problem right now is that Candi’s suspecting that something’s wrong. She’s probably thinking that she did something to upset you or something.” Dude loathed bringing Candi into the conversation like that. He felt like he was manipulating Pip like that, but he couldn’t stop himself. It would seem that his words caused Pip to think about it though.
“I’ll…I’ll think about it…” she said quietly. She knew that Dude was right. She had seen the harm that she was starting to cause Candi. She knew that it needed to end. She just didn’t know how to fix things.
“Maybe ask your dads about it too?” Dude suggested kindly, offering another door for Pip to open. “Who knows? Maybe talking to them will help.” That was something Pip honestly hadn’t considered. Why didn’t she do that in the first place? Was she that insecure about coming out to them? She should’ve known better. After thinking it through, Pip calmed down and felt better again.
“Thanks, Dude.” She said, more confident. Dude rubbed her a little before he let go and stood up. He felt a little better himself.
“I’ll leave you to it.” He smiled and left the rock chick alone. As the door closed behind him, Pip looked down at the popster again, a small, but firm, resolve forming in her mind.
———————————————————————————
That night, after everyone retired to their rooms, Pip was still stuck in a rut. The poster was laid out on the bed in front of her, almost mocking her. Her phone was in her hand, her fingers clenched around it like a vice. With the house being mostly quiet, with some noises making it to Pip’s super hearing, gave her some comfort that everyone had settled into their nightly routines. It gave her an extra cushion in knowing that she wouldn’t-shouldn’t-be disturbed. Dude’s words kept replaying in her head, a broken record that she couldn’t stop playing. She needed to do it, that’s what she also had on repeat. Just anything to help her with her situation.
She looked down at her phone, her contacts list open for the world to see. Knowing the current time, and her family’s routines, Pop was probably the better option as he’d be taking a break from his music and Dad would more than likely be doing some painting or something like that. Pip played a small beat in her head, gaining more courage as her head moved to the beat. One more deep breath, and Pip hit the call button. She waited for ten seconds before the screen changed to Pop’s face on the video call. He had stubble on a tanned face with brown eyes that held a silent strength that showed through his music. He was wearing a leather jacket and his hair was up in a man bun. It seemed that, like Pip had predicted, he only just finished practising his music and hadn’t started getting ready for bed due to being too hyped up. He brightened up as he saw his daughter’s face, a smile that Pip always associated with whenever he was ready to burst out into a power ballad.
“Pip! Hello, Rock Star!” He beamed, the video shaking little as he seemed to tremble with excitement.
“Hey, Pop!” Pip smirked, just as excited. Her smile helped to hide her nerves.
“Is that our daughter?” Dad’s voice suddenly called out. So he wasn’t painting after all. Or maybe he was somewhere close enough to hear the phone. Pop shifted from where he was sitting as his husband sat next to him. He was almost the complete opposite of Pop. He had short, light coloured hair with eyes that’s held a serene calmness. An old shirt had paint stains that dried up a long time ago. He had a splatter of paint on his cheek, which he attempted to wipe off with a small towel.
A rough, rock genre orientated musician and a calm, collected artist.
Complete opposites, and yet, they somehow work well together.
“Hey, Dad!” Pip continued to greet as both her dads were seen on her phone screen. Things felt like they were falling into place.
“Hello, sweetheart.” Dad smiled back, the paint now off his cheek. “Haven’t heard from you for a while.”
“Yeah, I’ve been busy.” Pip agreed, her nerves returning to her. She can do it. She knew that she could. She just needed to build up to it so she doesn’t shock them too much. She grabbed the poster and held it up as best she could so they could see. “Listen to this: I’m going to a Pride Festival. I’ll be representing you two.”
“Thank you Rock Star.” Pop beamed again as he and his husband shared a grin at their daughter’s news. “We’ll be going to our local one too. We’ll miss you being there, but we appreciate you going to yours for us.”
“And for me…” Pip couldn’t help but mutter as she was reminded of the main point she wanted to talk about.
“Pip?” Pop prompted, his smile vanishing. Like Pip, he had immaculate hearing, almost as great as Pip’s. Pip dropped the poster, and played her beat again. She needed to take it easy.
“How did you two know that you love each other?” Pip asked. She knew that she loved Candi. At least, she wanted to believe that. She didn’t entirely know why she asked that. Maybe a part of her believed that it was just a phase she was going through. Either way, she wanted some kind of validation to quell her doubts.
“Pip, what’s wrong?” Dad asked, his concern showing. The big question had been asked. Pip wished that she got her answer instead, but she knew that she needed to nip it in the bud.
“I…I’m a lesbian, Dads. She stuttered, her attempt to stop her voice from shaking was gone. “At least, I think I am…” The men didn’t say anything. They exchanged a mildly surprised look before looking back at her. The fact that they were silent somehow made things feel words. Pip’s breath came at short breaths as tears started to well up in her eyes. “I think I like one of my friends as more than a friend…I don’t know what to do.”
Everything came crashing down. The secret is out and her dads know now. Suddenly everything that she had bottled up, even things she didn’t think to tell Dude, felt liked it was all out inn the open for everyone and anyone to see. There was nothing she could do to stop it and all negative that she had feared rose in levels before she could stop it.
“Pip, calm down, sweetheart.” Dad spoke through the fog. Pip, with her blurred vision, looked at him as he seemed to take over the screen. He made a hand gesture as he started to breathe slowly. Pip, after a few botched tries, followed him. In for five, hold for five, out for five and repeat. After the fifth breath, Pip’s chest no longer felt tight and she could see clearly. When he saw that she had started to be calmer, Dad allowed Pop to share the phone again. He then spoke calmly. “You really love this young lady.”
“Yeah.” Pips whimpered as she wiped her eyes. It wasn’t a question, but she didn’t pay attention to that.
“Then don’t overthink it.” Pop interjected encouragingly. “You need to be honest with her.” Honesty’s good.
“I didn’t know about my sexuality until I met Pop.” Dad referred to Pip’s earlier question. Pip paid close attention. She knew the story of how they met. In their college days, Pop was dragged to an art exhibition by one of his friends. That was where he met Dad. Pop knew he was homosexual and Dad slowly learned that he was bi after they first met at the gallery. It always sounded cheesy, but Pip liked that story. “We talked with each other and it clicked into place after a while. We’re not perfect, but that’s okay. If you really care about this girl, then you need to tell her. Nothing is worse than keeping it bottled up, especially with her.”
“And if she doesn’t like me like that?” Pip asked, voice hoarse from her breakdown.
“Then best case scenario, she’s still your friend.” Dad answered calmly. “And judging by how much you’ve spoken about your friends, I’ve got a feeling that you’ll be okay.”
With her mind more calm and rational, Pip thought those words through. She thought back to how Candi was. Even if she was upset at someone, which was rare enough, if she was close to them, she wasn’t one to just abandon them when there was still time to fix everything. She calmly talks things through, and listens. Pip then thought about the way she had been acting with Candi and the concern that Dude had brought. Was there any time to fix everything? There had to be. Even at dinner, Candi was acting like her normal self. She could’ve been masking when she roped Pip into talking, but the rock chick hoped she wasn’t. There was still time to fix things. Like Dad had said, even if Candi wasn’t into girls, she wasn’t the kind of person to judge harshly and abandon a friend for those reasons.
There’s still a chance.
“Thanks.” Pip smiled tearfully. Her dads smiled, looking relieved that they managed to get through to her. They also looked more relaxed about the situation. They did their job by helping Pip during her own sexuality crisis.
“Try to get some sleep. You look like you need it.” Dad suddenly pointed out as Pip let out a huge yawn. With all her worrying, Pip didn’t sleep as well as she thought she did, and after talking with her dads, exhaustion was catching up to her. “Clear your head and you’ll feel better for it.”
“And Pip, no matter what, you’re our daughter and we love you.” Pop added with a wide smile. “We’re very proud of you for coming out to us.”
“Congratulations, Pip.” Dad smiled proudly. Those words meant more to Pip than either of her parents would know. She did what she needed to do and everything felt better and better with everything that went well. There was still more that Ashe needed to do, but it didn’t feel so heavy anymore. It was still on her shoulders, but at a point where she could lift it easily.
“Thank you.” Pip yawned again, her eyes becoming droopy. “I love you both too. Goodnight.”
“Rock on, Rock Star!” Pop shouted, flashing the rock on hand gesture. Dad rolled his eyes affectionately at his husband, but didn’t say anything else against it. He was used to it by now.
“Goodnight, Pip.” Dad waved off. After an exchange of waves, Pip hung up. Her smile gave in to sadness, but it didn’t affect her too much. She placed her phone on the bedside table and turned off the lamp. She slid under the covers. She stared at the ceiling for a long time, trying to think of what she wanted to say to Candi.
When she scrapped the third idea, exhaustion finally took over and she slipped into a restful sleep.
———————————————————————————
Over the next few days, Pip worked hard to repair broken bridges with Candi. She managed to get them both back on even ground, and Candi no longer felt like anything was wrong in their friendship. They can both speak alone without Pip needing to bring anyone else in or leaving Candi alone. However, when Pip tried to bring up the topic about her liking Candi to trying to ask her out to the Pride Festival, she couldn’t either she was interrupted by someone or something, or she just couldn’t get the words out. She kept the conversation she had with her dads as her first thought, but whenever she tried to bring up the topic, no words came out, as if the phone call never happened.
Then the festival came. Pip felt like she ran out of time and gave up in asking Candi to join her.
“Heading over there?” Dude asked as he caught sight of Pip combing out of the house. She was out of her usual attire and wiped off her make up. Instead, she was wearing a black shirt, purple jacket, black jeans with purple motifs and black boots. She still wore her chocker and head band but nothing else; she figured that she should make herself less recognisable as possible. She didn’t want to make herself coming out as fully public yet
“Yeah, while there’s still plenty of time to enjoy it.” Pip said as she slung a small shoulder bag on her shoulder.
“Are you taking Candi?” Dude asked in anticipation. Pip’s face fell a little, remembering her botched attempts to ask Candi out.
“No, I haven’t told her.” She confessed with a sigh. “I couldn’t in the end.”
“Sorry, Pip.” Dude sympathised, looking disappointed himself. He really hoped that his suggestion would work. To hear that it didn’t brought down his mood.
“There might be another time.” Pip smiled, more optimistic than Dude was expecting. She then pulled out two pin badges that she had ordered. One of the Pride Flag and one of homosexuality for women. She stuck them on her jacket proudly. “At least I’ll be representing myself and my dads.”
“Focus on the positives!” Dude smiled and he and Pip shared a fist bump. “Have a good time!”
After exchanging goodbyes, Pip strode off for the town, a small skip in her step.
However, little did either of the two know, a certain grey mischief had been watching and listening.
In all fairness, Misty didn’t mean to eavesdrop, one of the rare times it was genuine. She was just coming back to the house, wanting to grab a snack or two, when she saw Pip coming out of it. She found it strange that Pip had decided to change clothes. So she listened in. She picked up on Pip’s odd behaviour, everyone else would be blind if they hadn’t. They were probably too polite to bring it up. So Misty wondered if she would pick up on some clues. And that conversation was a treasure trove.
Pip going to the festival that the posters advertised was confusing to Misty. She didn’t think that Pip would be one to go to places like that. Then she remembered about Pip having dads, and concluded that was part of the reason for her going. She wasn’t entirely wrong. She found it odd that Candi was brought into the conversation. Then she saw the pin badges Pip had put on so proudly. She only knew a few of the LGBTQ+ flags, but she recognised the lesbian flag almost immediately.
Now that explained a lot.
She could out Pip, but then she changed her mind almost after she thought that. That’s too low, even for her. Seeing as how Dude knew about the situation too, Misty wanted to ask him about it. Then he’d probably ground her for eavesdropping. She then thought about Candi’s reaction if she were to find out. Misty wasn’t Cupid nor be one to be involved with people in a romantic manner, but honesty she couldn’t stand the attitude that Pip had. It was entertaining at first, but she got bored of it after a coup,e of weeks. Since Dude was too much of a pushover, Misty decided to take matters into her own hands. She dashed away from the house, and hoped that Dude hadn’t spotted her. She scanned the general areas first like the Pavilion and Sky Park. No sign of Miss Pink. So Misty went to the rides. She was just in time as Candi had just stepped off the Merry-Go-Round. She was smiling and waving to some kids that happened to be on at the same time.
Time to go to work.
“Hey, Candi.” Misty called out, trying to put on the friendliest act she could muster. Manipulate, don’t let Candi on to what she was trying to do.
“Hi, Misty!” Candi cheered as she spotted her opposite. Good, Candi was her usual, gullible self. The thread was there, and it was time to sew all the pieces together in order to send Candi on her way to Pip.
“There’s that event going on in town right now.” Misty gestured towards one of the poster that had been pinned up on one of the glass doors for the pavilion. Candi looked at it, blinking curiously. At what Misty was suggesting. “Heard that Pip was heading there. Maybe she could have a certain pink friend to join her.” Candi’s eyes lit up for a moment at the suggestion. She enjoyed being with any of her friends at anytime. However, the excitement dimmed a little when she recalled her recent interactions with Pip. First the rock chick was distracted, then the started to distance herself from Candi, and now she started talking to her again, but seemed to be avoiding a topic.
“Are you sure?” Candi asked, tilting her head. “She’s been acting a little strange recently.”
“Just go!” Misty urged as she got behind Candi and started to push her forward. “No time to make up for everything like the present!”
As Candi was moved forward, she thought about it a little more. She did consider going to the Pride Festival out of curiosity. She didn’t want to go alone and she was quite shy about asking anyone to go with her. Since Pip was already there, and was quite possibly alone, she didn’t need to ask. It was probably better to not be alone, even if Pip was tough.
Why did Pip go anyway?
“Well, if you say so.” Candi said cheerfully as she pulled away from Misty. “I’ll just get changed into something else real quick. Bye, Misty!” As Candi waved and ran off for the house, Misty couldn’t keep a sly smile off her face. She really outdid herself. She was looking forward to the outcome. Even if it ended all mushy. Either way, it might get things, mostly, back to normal.
“Misty…”
Misty flinched and let out a wince. She slowly turned around to see Dude standing right behind her. Judging by his arms crossed and brow furrowed, he either caught her running from the house, or had caught the tail end of her sending Candi off.
“Hi, Dude.” Misty said, trying to shake odd the issue.
“What are you up to?” Dude asked, tapping a finger on his arm.
“I don’t know what you mean.” Misty shrugged. She tried to walk past him, but Dude’s hand shot out as a reflex and grabbed the strap of her dungarees. He pulled her back so she was standing in front of him again.
“Misty…” he spoke slowly.
“Relax, I’m not the kind of rat to out somebody.” Misty said, not sure how else to get out of her situation. Dude’s eyes flashed with irritation. Better say something quick. “Just guided Candi to where Pip is.” Then Misty pried Dude’s hand off her and ran.
“Misty!” Dude called out to her, but she was gone. Dude looked back and forth between where Candi was running to and where Misty had disappeared. He briefly if he should stop Candi and explain everything. No, he can’t do that. He promised to keep Pip’s secret locked up tight. If he stopped Candi, then he’d be forced to break that. So he let it go and hoed that things would go well. With that thought in mind, he went to chase down Misty to give her a stern talking to.
———————————————————————————
Pip had arrived on time for the festival during a quieter period. Her ear drums rattled from the live music that the local bands had been playing. Among them, people were talking among their own groups. Some were sharing their own coming out stories, while others were catching up and updating their friends on their lives. Some people seemed to be on their own, either experiencing the festival for the first time or fully comfortable with the atmosphere. Stalls were set up selling food (which made Pip’s mouth water, especially ones selling burgers), drinks, handmade carts and even offered face painting.
These were all things that Pip was familiar with. She had seen everything before in a different place. That didn’t matter to her. She was somewhere that she felt like she belonged and was able to feel comfortable. She felt like she was happy despite being alone. She was sad that Candi wasn’t with her, but she felt better the longer she stayed. She planned to stay for at least another half an hour to an hour before heading home.
“Pip!”
Pip’s head snapped up from the table she had been looking at. She stepped a little further out into the open, scanning the area. That’s when she spotted Candi heading towards her. She was wearing a pastel pink dress, white pumps with pink flowers, and a white sun hat. She had a small bag hanging off her arm. Pip’s heart was beating so fast as she kept herself under control. The less she wanted to blurt out that Candi looked beautiful to her, the less trouble she’ll be in. Candi seemed oblivious to the struggle as she ran up to Pip.
“Candi? What are you doing here?” Pip asked, her voice shaking a little.
“I was told that you were here.” Candi beamed, her eyes sparkling. “I’ve never been to a Pride Festival before so why not today if a friend is here too?”
“Who told you?” Pip asked, suppressing a shudder. She started to rack her brain. Dude couldn’t have set her up right? He promised to not share her coming out, but he didn’t promise to not tell Candi about her going or telling Candi to join her. Pip thought that it couldn’t have been him, he wasn’t that kind of guy.
“Misty…she heard that you had planned to come here.” Candi continued to smile, but her spark dimmed a little.
“What else did she tell you?” Pip asked again. That little mischief! She must have overheard Pip and Dude talking. She had to have heard all of it. She knew! Pip knew that! If Misty knew, then who else has she told? What did she tell Candi?
“Nothing.” Candi answered quickly. She saw Pip starting to hyperventilate. She quickly grabbed her hand, the touch seeming to soothe her. “Pip, what’s wrong?” Pip looked at Candi deeply. That question. That all important question. Pip needed to answer it as best she could. She gently grabbed Candi’s hand and pulled her to a quieter area. Candi was confused, but complied. When they were somewhere more private, Pip let go of Candi. She paced a little, trying to plan what she needed to say. Then her dads’ words came back to her. Honesty is the best policy.
“I really like you, Candi.” She stated, looking Candi in the eyes.
“I like you too, Pip.” Candi smiled. She meant it as a friend, Pip knew that.
“No…I mean… “like you” like you.” Pip reworded, still maintaining eye contact. Candi’s brow furrowed for a moment. Pip could see the cogs turning in her head. Candi’s eyes drifted to Pip’s jacket, spotting the pin badges. Then it dawned on her as to what Pip meant.
“Pip…” was all that she said as she processed everything.
“Look, if you don’t like me like that, then that’s fine.” Pip hurriedly spoke, panic rushing in her again. “I’ll still be happy being your friend.”
“It’s not that…” Candi sighed, looking conflicted. Pip waited, allowing the pink girl to take her time and choose her words. “I don’t know if I like girls like that. It’s not something I’ve explored or thought about before. I think I do but I’m not sure.” Pip nodded, acknowledging Candi’s conflict. Then Candi’s eyes brightened. “So, if you’re okay with what I’m suggesting, could we try having a date? Nothing too romantic, but maybe as a possibility. I think it would be lovely to at least try it out.”
“What? Like right now?” Pip exclaimed in surprise.
“Why not? We’re both here already.” Candi giggled. Pip couldn’t help but jump with excitement, causing Candi to giggle again. She couldn’t believe it! She really couldn’t! It was better than she was hoping for. She was lighter than air with how happy she was.
“Am I okay to kiss you?” She blurted out, unable to contain it. Candi thought about it for a moment.
“Just a little one.” She said as she pointed to a spot on her cheek. As gently as her excitement would allow, Pip pecked Candi’s cheek, right on the spot that she was pointed to. She felt Candi’s skin go pink before she gave the pink girl a gentle hug.
“Thanks, Candi.” She whispered, close to tears. Candi smiled as she returned the hug, rubbing Pip’s back as she felt the rock chick being close to tears. It wasn’t a yes, but a maybe. Candi had agreed to date her. Pip couldn’t have hoped for a better answer. When the two broke away, and after Candi gently dapped Pip’s eyes a little with a tissue, the pink girl grasped Pip’s hand. She dragged the rock chick behind her as they ran back into the festival to enjoy what time they had there. Both were content and ready to see where these “dates” would take them. They won’t rush and push without permission.
All it took was one step at a time.
First of all, I hope you all enjoyed this one shot. Second, I apologise if it seemed corny or rushed. It had been a while since I’ve done a short story with a romance centred genre. Thank you for reading this one shot!
Felt a little nostalgic for Rainbow Magic all of a sudden. So I decided to draw three of my favourite fairies. There’s Ruby the Red Fairy, the first fairy of the series, Evie the Mist Fairy (I don’t know why, but I found her very pretty) and Amy the Amethyst Fairy, part of the inspiration for my internet name. Might do more but I haven’t decided yet.
The free falling wasn’t the thing that terrified Danny the most. Nor was it that there was nothing that he could do to stop it.
What terrified him was that he was going to die in this strange world. He wasn’t dying old. He was going to keep falling until he collided with whatever might come out from under him. Or keep falling forever. And no one would know where he’d be. His mind briefly wondered back to the Davidsons at the pizza restaurant. He didn’t know why but it did. He wondered if they noticed that he had ran away and if they even cared.
Probably not…
“Hold on, kid! I’ve got ya!”
Over the roar of the wind in his ears, Danny heard the voice as clear as crystal. As the world was spinning around him during his descent, he couldn’t focus on where the voice was at all. He couldn’t tell which way was up. The colours swirled around him in a toxic blend; green, blue, brown…purple? That last colour didn’t make sense until Danny recalled that it might belong to a ship or hot air balloon. Then abruptly, he felt something clamp down on his shoulders. The descent through the sky then turned into one of assent. It was at a fast but steady pace, as if Danny was gliding. His legs dangled limply as he was held like a puppet on strings. Whatever was holding onto him, it was gripping tightly. Something that felt akin to needles could be felt through his hoodie and shirt, which poked at the skin. Above the wind in his ears, he could hear the beating of something. A rhythmic, calming beat that shattered through his fright. Danny opened his eyes. Underneath him, an island that he would’ve passed during his fall became smaller with every sound of the beating. The height that he was gaining was at a steady rate, nothing like the rapid decent he experienced merely moments ago. Danny’s looked around, trying to gain an understanding as to what was happening. To him. That was when he saw what had his shoulders in a tight grip. Paws. Purple, scaly paws with sharp claws clung onto him without a chance of the grip wavering. The source of the beating was a pair of wings that was brimming with confidence.
“Talk about a first impression, kid.”
That voice. That was the same one that called out to him. It came from just above his head. A pair of red eyes looked right back at him, piercing into his blue ones. As Danny looked even further, he found a fanged smile, a purple snout and a pair of horns. Whatever thin hope he had that it was a human that spoke to him was shattered like glass. A dragon! A real dragon! Not something that was large like he had dreamed up or seen in the movies, but still a dragon nonetheless. And his life was hanging by this dragon’s claws.
“The name’s Spyro.” The dragon grinned widely, not seeming to be worried about the human that he had caught.
“You’re a dragon!” Danny exclaimed, trying to keep his legs from kicking out automatically. He thought that the less he moved, the less chance he had of continuing his fall.
“Took you long enough.” Spyro responded sarcastically. He shook his head a little, before returning to the situation he seemed to have flown into. He focused back on continuing upward. As Danny looked around, he saw some “people” looking towards them from their ships and balloons that happened to have seen what was happening. None of them were human. Were they Mabu’s too? They looked a little different from Flynn. But the similarities were all there. They were all clapping and cheering, as if this was the most exciting thing that’s happened to them. Maybe it was, Danny thought. As that thought crossed his mind, Danny saw the island that he had previously fallen from. Those that he had seen were al;l crowded around the edge of the island, except for Gideon and Rachel. Maybe they were still fighting off those little monsters.
“What the…” Danny heard someone say, but he had no time to process who. Once they were high enough, and away from the edge, Danny was deposited onto the ground. With his numb legs, he couldnt land steadily enough. He collided with the earth on his front, a groan escaping his lips.
“Danny!” Crystal exclaimed as she and the others ran over.
“Are you okay?” Kyle followed up, helping Danny sit up. Danny couldn’t bring himself to respond. He wasn’t able to form any words. The entire system in his body to form words just seemed to have stopped functioning temporarily. All of the shock of everything that happened worked against him. He tried to think name five things her could see: grass; a stray stone; a flower that was trampled on in the chaos: the sky (even though that was the last thing that Danny wanted to think of right now), and one of those little monsters. Upon seeing the creature, Danny was finally able to let out a scream.
“Duck! Now!” The dragon suddenly called out as he circled back. Seeing that Spyro was charging right towards them, Brian, Crystal, Danny, Dylan and Kyle ducked down as low as they could manage. The inside of Spyro’s mouth glowed a dim orange that erupted into a fireball. It zoomed so closes and fast to the group that Danny felt sweat forming on his back. It slammed into the creature, setting it ablaze until it was a pile of ash. The preteens looked at it in wonder as Spyro circled around again, this time heading towards Gideon and Rachel where they continued to hold the line. “All fired up!”
Gideon and Rachel, seeming not to have noticed what something was happening behind them, snapped their heads in surprise at the voice. Spyro reacted just as quickly. Another fireball was launched from him. With steam coming from his nostrils, he charged forward, knocking back more monsters before they could have a chance to take a chunk out of him. Finally, he turned his attention to the pod that the creatures were spawning from. He opened his mouth. Another flame burst from it. This one was white and hotter than the others. A powerful flame that caused Spyro to be flown back from the momentum. The flame hit its target with perfect precision. The pod was lit like a Roman candle. There was something like a small shriek as the pod disappeared into smoke and ash. Coming out of the flame was at least one more of those monsters. It was disorientated, going around in a circle.
“Not that tough now, are you?” Gideon huffed. Before the creature could do anything or be conscious enough to attack, the boy delivered a swift and powerful kick. As if it was a mere, cheaply made football, the creature went flying off the island. No more was left after that. The danger had passed. Spyro landed gracefully on the ground behind Gideon.
“Well, that’s went rather her well.” The dragon smiled smugly. The voice caused Gideon to whirl around, raising a fist. Spyro put his paws up frantically. “Easy! I’m on your side!”
Rachel grabbed Gideon’s arm gently, causing him to pause his actions. He took a couple deep breathes, coming down from the adrenaline rush of the fight. Spyro relaxed too and looked around him. He counted seven humans when he saw the trouble, one fell off which he hands grabbed; that meant that seven humans were still on solid ground and safe. Safer. Nothing and no one hostile was coming out or back anytime soon to attack.
“Hopefully that will deal with the Chompies.” Spyro said as he scanned the land one more time just to make sure.
“That’s what those little things were?” Dylan asked as he got to his feet. One by one, those that had to duck low on the ground just moments ago did the same.
“Yep. No one got bit?” Spyro asked, glancing from one human to the next. Now that he was on the ground, Danny could tell that Spyro was smaller than he thought. At the least the size of a greats Dane with orange spines along his back and an orange end to his tail. With the response to his question, everyone checked themselves over. No bites, not even a scratch or scrape. They were completelyunharmed from the whole mess by a miracle.
“Who are you?” Brian asked as he looked up and down at Spyro. He looked like he was carefully dissecting the dragon with his eyes, mentally documenting every detail. Danny could’ve been wrong, but he felt like the dragon’s gaze on him lingered a little longer compared to everyone else. Then again, he did have a harrowing ordeal so her guessed that’s Spyro was just making sure that’s he was okay.
“I’m Spyro, Skylander of the Magic Element.” Spyro finally answered as he finished processing what everyone looked like around him. The way he said that was as if he was expecting a hero’s welcome. Well, he did save everyone from tiny predators, so maybe he kind of was. However, all he got was more confusion.
“Magic Element?” Danny repeated.
“What’s a Skylander?” Brian asked eagerly. Spyro once again looked at everyone as if he was expecting someone to answer. All he got were confused glances and silence. He realised that the whole conversation was getting nowhere.
“I’ll fill you kids on what you need to know later, I promise.” He finally said, his voice holding a firm vow. At least that was something. Everyone would get the answers they all needed. “Now, my question is where is your driver?”
“Driver?” All the humans repeated, all little in shock. Surely they weren’t expected to know how to drive a vehicle already.
“The ship that you all came on.” Spyro quickly clarified. That made a lot more sense. That was when everyone remembered how they were left on the island in the first place. “Don’t tell me you missed it?”
“Quite the contrary, he left us behind.” Rachel started as she gestured to the empty dock where they all departed from. Spyro looked confused for a second, before it twisted into annoyance.
“Let me guess: a cocky Mabu with a red scarf, says boom and calls himself the best pilot in all of Skylands?” He asked, listing off the details so calmly her may as well have gone shopping.
“Something tells me that you know him…” Dylan grumbled, readjusting his beanie.
“Sounds like Flynn.” Spyro facepalmed. Dylan’s suspicion was right. “You remember which direction he was headed?”
“That way, I think.” Crystal answered as she recalled where the ship was heading towards.
“I’ll try to see if I can catch him.” Spyro insisted as he flexed his wings.
“He’s probably long gone by now, mate.” Kyle suggested, as he looked into the distance. No sign of the ship was there.
“Trust me, I’m a pretty fast flyer.” Spyro smirked as he flapped his wings, his body lifting off the ground. “I’ll do my best to catch up to him.” Without another word, the purple dragon took off like there was no tomorrow. The humans that he left behind watched him leave and hoped that he would come back before anything else would happen.
———————————————————————————
“Sorry for ditching you, kids.”
True to his word, Spyro was able to get Flynn to return where he dropped the group of preteens off. As he was fast like he glad claimed to be, he was bale to return before the ship. That was when he had a hurried introduction with everyone and was able to be on at the very least some middle ground. Then he took off again for the ship when it started to come into view. Whether it was to get Flynn to hurry up or just to make surer that the ship didn’t go past the island by mistake was anyone’s guess. Either way, whatever he did worked. When the ship returned to the dock, the Mabu was marched to them, by Spyro, with the dragon head-butting him a couple of times to get him moving. He was standing sheepishly before them like a kid caught with his hand in the biscuit tin. In return, the humans all shot him rather dirty looks. They didn’t exactly want to forgive him anytime soon for abandoning them when he was meant to wait for them to continue their journey. Whether he forgot about that detail in his job or he didn’t think it was a big deal, didn’t matter. If Spyro hadn’t helped them when they did, or if Flynn hadn’t given them a ways to escape the Chompies, they would’ve been in more serious trouble.
“Flynn, they don’t know how to open portals yet. Why do you think you were told to give them rides other than for that particular reason?” Spyro highlighted as he crossed his arms. “Not to mention, none of them have Skylanders yet. What if they were in trouble and needed to get away?”
Portals?
“Sorry…” Flynn said again, this fur turning a little red on the cheeks. It wasn’t a perfect apology, but the acknowledgement was there.
“Well, lesson learned.” Spyro sighed as he shook his head. It felt like he was used to this kind of situation from the Mabu. At the very least, he was able to keep level headed about the issue for that reason it may seem. The dragon then gestured to the humans. “When we get to the next island don’t suddenly abandon them, okay?”
“Are you staying with us?” Danny asked, unable to keep the sensation of being giddy out of his voice. He couldn’t explain it, but he had this feeling, a subtle pull that he just wanted to continue staying with Spyro for as long as possible. The thought of travelling with him felt like this whole new adventure was going to be more exciting. And a little safer.
“Someone’s gotta watch your backs while you’re here.” Spyro winked confidently. As he said that, everyone else also started to get excited and comforted at having a more reliable figure around them.
“Look on the bright side, kiddos.” Flynn interjected, his massive grin returning to his face. “You get to spend more time with the best pilot in all of Skylands.”
“Is it too late to find another pilot?” Gideon whispered as subtly as he could to Dylan. If Flynn heard it, he was choosing to be ignorant.
“So, we’re good to go yeah? Alright!” He grinned. With a flourish he spun around and made his way back to the gangplank of his ship.
“Wait!” Crystal suddenly spoke up. As she got everyone’s attention, she was scanning the area around them. “There was another kid with us. A boy around our age.”
“Where’s he then?” Spyro enquired, looking around just as sharply.
“We don’t know.” Kyle shrugged. “He abandoned ship before us.”
“You don’t think those things got him, do you?” Dylan pondered worryingly as he pointed to the former battlefield behind them.
“I don’t think so.” Rachel shook her head calmly. “If anything he might have been in another area or had a lucky escape.” She was right. If the boy was being attacked by those Chompies, he still would’ve been there or there would’ve been more evidence of an attack halving happened before everyone else came to the scene. Not to mention they probably would’ve heard him being attacked. He was probably okay, but they couldn’t just leave him behind like that.
“I’ll search by sky.” Spyro said as he flexed his wings as a warmup. He then looked towards Danny. “Hey, Danny? Want a ride?”
“Me?!” Danny exclaimed. Why him?! There was no rhyme or reason behind it. He didn’t really need to have a flight. The last one was horrifying enough.
“Yeah. You know what he looks like.” Spyro spoke up convincingly. There was a valid point there but it wasn’t solid enough to just choose Danny out of all the humans that were there. “With your help, we might be able to find him.”
“Good idea. We’ll search on the ground in case he’s gone into any buildings.” Brian added, poimntimng towards the town that they spotted since they first arrived to the Restored Islands.
“Are you sure that you can carry me?” Danny asked as he looked at the dragon. No one else was volunteering to take his place and he felt a little more than outnumbered.
“Trust me, you’re not that heavy. I’ve lifted much worse.” Spyro grinned confidently. With a gentle nudge from someone behind him, and encouragement from the dragon’s smile, Danny carefully mounted Spyro’s back, avoiding the spines on his back. When he got his feet off the ground, Danny held on tight as Spyro dashed forward. With a heavy beat from his wings, the dragon leapt off the edge of the island. Danny yelped as he felt like he was going to fall again. However, Spyro, true to his word, ascended through the sky. He rounded a calm turn as he rose higher and higher. The island was below them, with the wind whistling down Danny’s ears. A waves of calmness washed over Danny as he watched the land below. His new friends were running to the main island at that point, with Rachel leading at a steady pace, while Dylan and Brian struggled to keep up from the back.
While flying overhead, Danny scanned the open streets of the town. His friends went in and out of buildings, occasionally exchanging a head shake as they came out of random buildings empty handed. They spoke to a couple of Mabu, only to get the same result before they moved on. Aside from the humans searching carefully, there was no other human in sight. Not the boy that they were searching for, nor any other kid that might have happened to arrive to the island.
“I don’t see him.” Danny sighed hopelessly.
“He might have found his own way off the island.” Spyro shrugged, his voice crystal clear. Danny nodded, not caring if Spyro had noticed or not. Given that the boy didn’t get caught up in the Chompie attack and how long everyone else had waited for Flynn to return, it was a possibility that the boy left the island whether it was through another ship or even a balloon. “So, Danny, got any interesting stories?”
“What do you mean?” Danny stammered. The question was out of nowhere. It was so uprising that Danny almost lost his grip on the only thing that kept him from having another involuntary free fall.
“Where are you from? What’s there?” Spyro asked in rapid fire. “What’s Earth like?”
“It’s okay I guess.” Danny said, not entirely sure about what he was supposed to say. He then glanced at the mid air islands. “No floating islands though.”
“Sounds boring.” Spyro huffed. “What about dragons?”
“Only in stories.” Danny stated.
“Even more boring!” Spyro whined, shaking his head disapprovingly. He then turned his face towards his human rider and smiled. “Trust me, you’re going to love Skylands.”
That might take awhile to “love Skylands” considering everything that happened earlier. However, Danny couldn’t deny that he felt something kind of…connection to this world. Like it was already reeling him in like a fish on a hook. He couldn’t resist it. It was like he wanted to stay in this world already. A place he felt like he could fit in.
But why?
“Hold on tight!” Spyro suddenly announced. Before Danny could react, Spyro suddenly dived. The boy clung on tighter as he felt like he was on a rollercoaster. The peaceful glide turned into an adrenaline rush as the dragon dived, weaved and soared in different ways as he dodged balloons, ships and even random clumps of land that were just floating needlessly. The wind and gravity combined threatened to rip Danny off, making his grip almost impossibly tighter than it was before. Finally, after performing a tight turning circle, Spyro’s flight steadily returned to a controlled glide, slowing down his speed. They were above the town once again.
“Pretty fun, right?” The dragon grinned.
“Please don’t do that again!” Danny begged, his skin gone white as a sheet and his body trembling. He didn’t know what was worse: the free fall, or the sudden rush that Spyro had given him without much of a warning. Spyro opened his mouth, possibly to convey an apology, when he suddenly stopped moving. He was flapping his wings to keep himself in the air as he paused his flight path. He was looking ahead. Under his shins, Danny could feel a small heat, as if the dragon was getting ready to launch a fireball. Danny looked ahead at where Spyro was glaring at. Blimps, a small fleet of them. They were heading towards the Restored Isles, looming the sky like a storm cloud. Before Danny could ask about them, or what was wrong, one of the blimps aimed a cannon at him and Spyro. As the cannon fired, Spyro dived once again, this time without the carefree attitude that he had a mere minute ago. The projectile narrowly missed the top of Danny’s skull, just scraping the hair on his head. The fleet seemed to have not been phased as it continued towards the Isles.
“Can one dragon just have a normal day of flying?!” Spyro growled, his muscles tensing underneath Danny. He swooped upwards, flying above the fleet. Danny scanned the decks. Figures were preparing for running around. All of them were different shapes and sizes but all had two things in common: long pointed ears and green skin. Some were holding spears, some throwing blades and hulking figures with half of a shield on each arm.
“What…are those things?” Danny shuddered as he eyed at the sharp point of the spears.
“They’re Drow!” Spyro growled, his own eyes trained on the figures on one of the blimps, like a cat locking onto a laser pointer. “Nasty elves! Work for Kaos!”
“Who’s Kaos?!” Danny asked. However, Spyro immediately tensed up again, his posture changed.
“Hold on, Danny!” Hey warned, no more containing a playful attitude. “I’m not playing around this time!”
Then Spyro dived towards the blimp that he had locked on. Danny gripped on tight once more as gravity threatened to cast him off the dragon. Tears formed from his eyes as the wind hit him hard. The heat that he felt under him erupted from the dragon’s mouth, the fireball striking the deck. Some of the Drow were able to move out of the ways, while others weren’t that lucky. Spyro launched another attack, this time aiming at the balloon holding the blimp up. The canvas turned into an inferno as the blimp tilted downwards to oblivion. Danny watched it.
This wasn’t like what happened with the Chompies. It was far more dangerous.
Danny then looked toward the town. The ones he came with, the ones that he hoped to continue calling them his friends, were still there. They were in danger. They could get killed. As if spurred on through telepathy, Spyro charged toward the town, determination simmering under his scales.
———————————————————————————
“What is it with this place and getting attacked?!” Dylan exclaimed after another cannonball smashed into a house. The moment that the group heard the first explosion, they all rushed out and regrouped. That was when they’d spotted the fleet. Mabu rushed past them, screaming. A loud bell clanged its warning as the fleet got closer. The Drow that were on the blimps jumped off and started to charge the street.
“Get somewhere safe!” Kyle shouted to a group of Mabu as they huddled behind some crates. They were spurred on by his words to keep moving. Crystal and Brian were swept up in the crowd, not like they felt like they could be much help. Dylan himself was huddled out of the way, overwhelmed by ther chaos around him. Meanwhile, Gideon was already at the frontlines. He pushed through the Mabu that charged past him. The Drow didn’t relent in their charge as they went in and out of houses, and shops to loot whatever they could find. Gideon cracked his knuckles, determined to land a punch.
“Not a good idea!” Rachel shouted above the crowd, her hand firmly planted on his shoulder.
“What?!” Gideon exclaimed, his eyes wide in shock at what Rachel had said. Reached projected an air of calm around them, her eyes like a calming ripple on the water.
“We need to help with the evacuation!” She reasoned, gesturing to the panic.
“We can’t just-” Gideon started to protest.
“I’m not suggesting abandonment.” Rachel interjected, her grip tightening on Gideon’s shoulder. “I’m suggesting that we help a different way. We don’t know those things and we could get killed.” That was when something that could only be described as a frisbee with blades attached to it whizzed past Rachel, nearly cutting off her hair. As it struck some brickwork behind her, Gideon glared at it.
“When you put it like that…” he muttered. Then he backed away from Rachel’s hand and climbed onto a stack of crates. After taking a massive breath, he belted out. “HEY! ANY BOATS, BALLOONS OR WHATEVER YOU HAVE, GET TO THEM! IT’S NOT SAFE!” The crowd seemed to have heard him as the Mabu now started to moving in a more calmly fashion. Still rushed, but somewhat more organised.
“Well done!” Rachel smiled proudly as she went to assist a Mabu that had tripped over. That was as when a shadow flew over her. Expecting an attack, she glared upwards, her muscles tensing. However, upon seeing the purple streak in the sky, she felt calm again. She pointed upwards for Gideon to notice. “Look! Danny and Spyro!”
“Finally, some even ground!” Gideon cheered as he jumped down from the crates. “Let’s move so we don’t get in the way!”
Meanwhile, Spyro continued to fire away as much as he could without hesitation. He dodged more projectiles as the Drow continued to try shooting him out of the sky. Danny suddenly screamed, however, as he ducked down to avoid getting hit. Spyro looked toward his passenger before changing the course of his flight path. He couldn’t do more with Danny on his back. He knew that, and he should’ve done this in the first place before his pride got the better of him. Danny wasn’t safe with him like he originally thought. Spyro landed in a quiet area that hadn’t been attacked yet.
“I’m dropping you off here!” He declared as he came to a stop. Danny climbed off his back, legs wobbly from not having used them properly during his flight with Spyro. Spyro didn’t appears to be phased as he pointed in a specific direction. Flynn’s ship. It was still there. “Get back to Flynn! Wait there until your friends get on the ship and leave!”
“What about you?” Danny asked, looking at the dragon.
“I’m a Skylander! This is what I do!” Spyro answered, his voice brimming with confidence and urgency. “Now go!” Without another word, Spyro soared back upwards to the sky. Danny watched as the dragon disappeared across the rooftops of a building. The chaos from the attack came through the air. Spyro was right. Her can handle this. Her does stuff like this all the time right? He can do anything to protect anybody. The Chompies were probably a weakly in the park for him. He can handle those Drow. Danny turned, intending to get to safety. Then he felt a violent o pull inside of him. Something that was new and strange. He felt this urge to go back, top see what was happening. Even if he made it to safety, there was no guarantee that the others, nor Spyro would. He cant, he won’t leave them behind like that. Not unless he knew that they were okay.
With that resolve, Danny turned back around and towards an alleyway. It was the only direct path that he had to one of the streets. He didn’t know what he was doing exactly. He just wanted to know if everything was really okay. From what he saw earlier with the Chompies, Gideon and Rachel were more than capable of handling themselves. The others, including himself, weren’t like that so they’re probably either helping Mabu escape or trying to reach Flynn’s ship themselves. Just somewhere to escape for the time being until Spyro could clears that fleet. It was the worry that if could on his own that ate away at Danny the most. He wondered if back up was coming. If there was a way on the way, then they need to hurry up. Surely there should be more than one dragon-or Skylander for that matter-that was willing to help this place, right?
Danny finally reached the end of the alley after his thoughts were occupied about his worries. The street was deserted of Mabu, all of them having been evacuated by then. It would seem that none of the others were there either.
Had they already reached safety?
Danny heard a noise. A fireball being launched. He listened to them enough times already to recognise them from Spyro. It was from another street. Danny rushed to another alley, hearing more screams and yells as he got closer to the chaos. That street still had some Mabu stragglers rushing to an evacuation point. Danny spotted Dylan still hiding, still looking overwhelmed. Gideon was seen punching one of the Drow as they got too close for comfort with a spear. Rachel meanwhile was dodging flying blades gracefully. She even caught bone and launched it back at the female Drow that had thrown it at her with almost terrifying accuracy. Brian, Crystal and Kyle were nowhere to be seen. Spyro’s shadow flew over the street, fireballs having erupted from his mouth, covering Rachel and Gideon. Her barked orders for them to run and to take Dylan with them. Gideon and Rachel understood, trusting the dragon to watch their backs. Rachel was the first to reach Dylan and worked as calmly as she could in order to get him on his feet. Gideon scanned the street, making sure that they weren’t ambushed. No one had spotted Danny at all. They were too concerned with getting to safety for the time being. Danny looked up at the sky, watching Spyro as he cleared the street as best he could. However, while he was distracted with the enemies on the ground, he wasn’t able to keep an eye on the blimps in the sky. One hit was all it took. Spyro was hit in the back and was stunned. He crashed into the ground below him, the force having made a crater under him. A high pitched whine rung in Danny’s ears as he watched. He should’ve called out. He should’ve shouted a warning. He should’ve done something to help. But all he did was stand there as if he was watching something on TV. He was just watching as Spyro struggled to get up from the ground. One of the hulking Drows that he recognised from one of the blimps jumped and landed on the street. The ground rattled, causing Gideon and Rachel lose any composure that they had and hid along with Dylan. It was clear that it was the first time that they saw one of those Goliaths. Danny watched as the Drow approached Spyro as the dragon continued to fight in recovering his breath. The ringing in his ears and his heart beat got louder and louder with every second. Danny couldn’t move, he couldn’t speak. He was just…
Pathetic…
Burden…
Useless…
Dumb…
Slow…
NO!
“Leave him alone!” Danny suddenly yelled stepping out of his hiding place. Why did he do that? Why did he say that? Why didn’t he just run?! His voice was enough. The Goliath Drow turned his head, locking onto the preteen human that was just standing there like he knew what he was doing.
“Danny! Run!” Rachel shouted, her eyes wide with alarm.
“You idiot! Get out of here!” Gideon joined in, looking just as shaken. Danny couldn’t move, he couldn’t breathe. There was just something keeping him in place. He wasn’t shaking any more. It was like his body had its own form of control. Just anything to keep the monster away from Spyro. Spyro himself seemed to have started to get back on his feet, looking at Danny with extreme concern op0ver the human he had attempted top bond with over just one flight without danger up until now. The Drow kept on target as he let out a massive roar. He then charged, bringing his arms together to make the shield whole. Finally Danny felt like he could move as the hulking creature rushed toward him. Not to run, but to bring his hands up, palms facing forward, as a feeble attempt to protect his face. After all, he couldn’t do anything to stop the monster.
Pathetic…
Burden…
Useless…
Dumb…
Slow…
He couldn’t run.
Pathetic.
Burden.
Useless.
Dumb.
Slow.
He couldn’t breathe.
Pathetic!
Burden!
Useless!
Dumb!
Slow!
So what good was he?!
Spyro…I need to help him…
Hope!
It was like electricity pulsed through Danny’s body. He couldn’t explain what had happened to him. He opened his eyes for just one second to see the Drow coming within metres from hitting him. That was when he noticed something strange about his hands. They were glowing. Not just glowing, but carried a bright purple hue as mist seemed to have come out of them. The next thing he knew, something launched out of them. It was bright, shaped like many stars, as it hit the Drow. The massive body couldn’t stop its charge in time-or maybe he just didn’t see it-as he was launched back. Danny himself, not having been ready for the sudden burst, was knocked off his feet too by the momentum. Danny looked down at his hands, the glow dying down. There were markings on both sides of his hands. Stars. Danny tried rubbing them, as if they were temporary tattoos that he suddenly got. They didn’t budge. With the way that they were colourised, it was as if they were part of the skin like birth marks, rather than being etched onto it.
As Danny marvelled by this new discovery, the Drow recovered quite quickly. However, he didn’t get a chance to charge again as Spyro immediately got back into the fight. Another fireball and the Drow was gone in the inferno. Without another word, he flew back into the sky, almost like he hadn’t been injured in the first place. Dylan, Gideon and Rachel cautiously came out from where they were hiding and went up to Danny.
“Danny? How did you do that?” Dylan asked slowly.
“I didn’t know I could…” Danny stammered as Gideon helped him to his feet. The sound of the battle in the sky raged on, crashes and explosions could be heard with Spyro’s form acrobatically avoiding more projectiles.
“Are you guys okay?” Crystal’s voice suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Everyone else turned to see her, along with Brian and Kyle, running up to them. They had taken advantage of the crowd now being non-existent in order to regroup, despite the danger.
“A little rattled, but I think we’re okay.” Rachel answered for everyone else.
“Danny, your hands…what happened to them?” Brian observed as he noticed Danny’s hands. Danny looked at his hands again, allowing everyone around him to take a look for themselves.
“I don’t know.” Was all that he could muster. What else could he say? It wasnt like he even knew bios to start with explaining what had happened. Dylan, Gideon and Rachel were witnesses, but even they couldn’t begin to explain the events that led to that. While Danny was still trying to think of an explanation, the sounds of the battle were abruptly silent. No cannon fire, no shouts, nothing at all. Just a gaunt quiet.
“Sounds like Spyro dealt with the last of them.” Kyle said quietly after a minute of silence. No one said anything tried agreeing nor disagreeing to that. It was as if they were all expecting some kind of sneak attack at any second. Nothing happened. Then a dragon sharped shadow flew overhead. The humans all looked up to see Spyro approaching them. He seemed exhausted, maybe even a little battered after all. Other than that, he looked fine.
“Danny!” Spyro shouted, trotting up to the humans as fast as he could manage. He still had a serious look on his face, causing
“Spyro, I’m sorry.” Danny started with his apology. “I know you told me to run, but-”
“You’re right, you should’ve ran.” Spyro interrupted with a small growl. Danny clamped his mouth shut and looked down, shame burning inside of him. Then Spyro broke into a smile. But, you saved me back there. Thank you.” The shame melted into pride. Danny couldn’t hold back a smile. Despite the dangerous situation that he had put himself in, he couldn’t deny that it felt good to know that he did something right for once. Spyro then looked at Danny’s hands, his smile getting wider. “And it looks like we’re partners from now on.”
“Partners?” Danny parroted with a raised eyebrow. Then Danny’s phone suddenly started to ring. Danny reached for it and stared at the screen. Unknown number again. Wondering if it was going to be the same voice that he heard back on Earth, he answered it. It was the same voice. The man only said one thing:
The Golden Desert was a paradise for the Doom Raiders.
It was quiet, hardly anyone came out so far inland because it was so hot. The temple that they had was one that Golden Queen’s had been planning on turning into a base for a long time. Since it was one that none of the Skylanders knew about, it was the safest place she felt it was safe for as long as they needed for the Skylanders to give up. It was just one Skylander that they took. They’ll give up on him sooner or later.
Even if they don’t, it’s not like Golden Queen will surrender him that easily. She went into a lot of trouble to try to get him the first time, only to find out that he ran away in the night. She bided her time and held so much patience. To find out that he was a Skylander was a shock. That elven couple kept their word about bringing him back. Well, on a technicality. Multiple actually. She never thought that he would be part of the investigation to find the Doom Raiders. It was a mere coincidence. That time window to grab him was tiny, but worth the risk in grabbing him. Turning that other Skylander to gold was just the cherry on top.
Now if only she could get him to cooperate, then she can have the best gold hunting spree of a lifetime. If her fellow Doom Raiders wanted something within reason, then they can have their piece of cake and eat it too. She just took more of a priority.
Not that the Doom Raiders had tried to ask for anything immediately. They all knew that they needed to wait until the heat died down. They made a list of things that they want the Fire Elf to find for them. Components for Krankcase. Ingredients for Pepper Jack. Instruments for Wolfgang. Chompies for Chompy Mage. Dream potions for Dreamcatcher to steal dreams. And finally, soda for the Gulper. Every single one of them were given clear orders to not make a move, to not ask the elf for anything until the time was right.
Only the Gulper tried to go against her orders. She ought to have turned him to gold the moment she found him with the elf. However, she wanted t give him a fair chance. She hadn’t seen the Gulper for a while now that she thought about it. Chances were that he was sulking in a corner somewhere about not having soda.
Suddenly, Dreamcatcher reeled back from something that she had seen. She had been monitoring the Skylander search party situation for anything, whether it be if they’ve given up or they were still persisting. She floated past the other Doom Raiders and stopped just a couple of metres away from Golden Queen.
“Bad news!” She cried out, her eyes wide. All the other Doom Raiders stopped what they were doing and looked up at the giant head. “It’s the Gulper! The Skylanders have captured him!”
“What?! How?!” Golden Queen demanded. Upon her voice, the entire room fell silent. Wolfgang stopped plucking his bone harp. Chef Pepperjack and Chompy Mage/Puppet stopped their arguement. Krankcase stopped tinkering. The sound being cut off was so sudden that no one dared to even breathe. Golden Queen had wondered where the Gulper had been hiding. She didn’t think, despite all of her warnings, he would get out to satisfy his thirst. She cursed herself for not doing more but she didn’t think that she needed to. She had the other Doom Raiders had taken measures behind Gulper’s back.
“He was at that lame Soda Festival!” Dreamcatcher scowled, seemingly oblivious to how angry Golden Queen was. “I thought that he wasn’t supposed to know about that!”
“He wasn’t!” Golden Queen seethed, stamping her staff on the ground. The metallic clang echoed throughout the throne room, causing a shudder to run through the Doom Raiders. “How did he find that out?! Who told him?!” Golden Queen scanned each of her crew one by one. They were all wide eyed and scared. They chose their next words as wisely as they could manage.
One after another, the Doom Raiders gave their answers, trembling a little from Golden Queen’s anger. No matter how they reworded them, all their answers were the same. No one had disclosed the information that would’ve gotten the Gulper caught. Golden Queen waited five minutes for someone to say something. However, she still didn’t get her answer. They were all telling the truth. None of them betrayed her orders. And Gulper wasn’t smart enough to find out about the Soda Festival without someone telling him about it.
So then who did?
Then it occurred to her.
She remembered the incident that happened earlier.
With a frustrated and determined stride, Golden Queen stepped down from her throne. She ignored the other Doom Raiders. They all exchanged a glance. They were briefed about what the Gulper had done before he did his disappearing act. They knew where Golden Queen was going. They followed her, wanting to see where the show was going to go.
———————————————————————————
That’s not good…
Flameslinger hurriedly pulled himself back from his second sight. He closed his eyes allowing himself to only see darkness, refusing to allow his eyesight to see through any flames. He fought to keep his breath steady, his body from shaking. He needed to stay calm for what was coming.
He had been watching the Doom Raiders for a while. Not long after the Gulper had left. Since there were no flames at the Soda Festival, at least none that could allow him to see everything clearly, he didn’t know if his plan had worked or not. So he decided to watch the Doom Raiders, spy on them. He knew that they had to be keeping an eye on the search for him. He knew that sooner or later, they would figure out that that something was wrong. His patience paid when finally he overhead that the Gulper was caught. He literally felt like cheering when those words were like music to his ears.
Then Golden Queen figured out the big clue that led Gulper into the trap.
Flameslinger himself.
Stay calm. Don’t panic.
Suddenly, the door slammed open. The force was so hard that it caused a small dent in the wall and the hinges threatened to snap. Golden Queen was standing in the doorway. Her eyes were flashing so bright with fury, that Flameslinger was convinced that that they rivalled his own. He could hear her teeth grinding as they clenched in her anger. She was clenching her staff so tight that it was shaking slightly. The Doom Raiders slowly appeared from behind her, one by one. Each of them were all just as scared as each other, even Wolfgang’s fur seemed to have gone a pale shade. Golden Queen didn’t take notice. She made determined strides toward the Skylander, her heels clanking loudly on the ground. Flameslinger kept himself still, fighting to keep his breath steady.
“You told the Gulper where to go! Didn’t you?” Golden Queen seethed, getting uncomfortably close to him.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Flameslinger responded, deadpanned. That was the wrong thing to say. Golden Queen reared back her hand and swiped at Flameslinger. It was so fast that he didn’t have any time to try to avoid it. A searing pain scratched his face, causing him to let out a pain shout. He felt a warm trickle of something wet going down his cheek. He saw red specks on Golden Queen’s claws. As the pain slowly started to subside, Flameslinger felt the scratches on his face, narrowly missing one of his eyes. He felt like that was too close for comfort. Maybe he should’ve been a bit more careful. Another swipe like that, or worse, and he might very well be put in a worse situation.
“Don’t play me for a fool!” Golden Queen scowled, her golden glow getting brighter. “Who else could it have been?!”
“He told me that you changed your mind!” Flameslinger blurted out. “He forced me to tell him!” Not much thought was put into it, but he needed to at least try to stall or trick them into not punishing him any further. However, that made Golden Queen furious. If there was one thing that she loathed more than being denied her gold, was being made a fool out of. She wasn’t one to be made a fool of. She suddenly grabbed Flameslinger’s throat and put light pressure on it. It caused him to flinch. He tried to pull back but the hand remained.
“Now because of you, he’s been caught!” Golden Queen continued to shout, her grip tightening. “Everything has fallen apart!”
“What a shame…” Flameslinger glared as the pressure increased. He could feel the air being cut off in a slow, agonising way. Darkness started to edge his vision. Despite the trouble he was in, he was still pleased about his gamble paying off. Just hearing it from Golden Queen was all the more sweeter.
“Gulper will squeal on us!” Wolfgang suddenly pointed out. His bravado was back as he rationalised the situation. Golden Queen finally let go of Flameslinger and faced the werewolf. “He’ll lead the Skylanders right here and they’ll no doubt have an army to take us on!”
“Don’t be over dramatic!” Golden Queen chastised as she heard Flameslinger inhale deeply behind her.
“Am I?! We have one of their own and another that was turned into a gold statue!” Wolfgang argued, gesturing wildly to a random direction and Flameslinger. “They have been searching for him since we brought him here! What makes you think that they won’t be out for our necks?!”
“He has a point.” Flameslinger shrugged as much as the chains would allow him to. The Doom Raiders glared at him, waiting for his next remark. “There’s no shame in letting me go and giving up.” Golden Queen reared her hand back once again. Flameslinger braced himself, expecting the strike to come at that second. With his wooden limbs rattling with a rapid stride, Dr Krankcase rushed to get between Golden Queen and the target of her anger.
“Easy!” He shouted desperately, holding his hands up. “You don’t want to damage him, right?” Golden Queen froze, contemplating the word spoken to her and her actions. After a minute, she lowered her hand and seemed visibly calmer. However, her eyes remained glaring at Flameslinger. He had a feeling that next time, even her own minions wouldn’t be able to stop her. Better keep it in with the taunts and snarky comments for the time being.
“So what do we do?” Pepper Jack asked. “Take the elf and run?”
“What other choice do we have? We’ll be outnumbered.” Krankcase responded.
“It’s too late! They’re already assembling and ready to get here!” Dreamcatcher announced as she showed a projection of a group of Skylanders assembling. They were at the Academy by the looks of the background. More and more started to join them. “Stupid Portal Master will be using his stupid portals!”
This progressed faster than Flameslinger had hoped. At the rate that things were going, the rescue looked like it was happening soon. He’ll be free from the nightmare. Things can go back to some form of normalcy. The Doom Raiders would be locked up and he can move on without having to look over his shoulder. Freedom was so close that he could taste it. He needed to hold out for a little more.
“Prepare the minions! Hold them off!” Golden Queen ordered, banging her staff on the ground. As if they were electrocuted, the other Doom Raiders were fast to vacate the room. With Golden Queen being that furious as everything was falling apart, they didn’t want to test her patience any further. Flameslinger hung his head a little. Just a small hitch, he thought. Just a little distraction and fight. Then he can be saved. Then he noticed that Golden Queen was still in the room with him. Two heavy sets of footfalls were heard approaching. Two massive forms managed to squeeze through the doorway and bowed to Golden Queen. Flameslinger instinctively and feebly pulled at the chains as he recognised what the minions were. Grave Clobbers. Golden Queen didn’t bat an eye as she heard the chains being pulled. She only gave a simple command:
It was only Dude, Mimi and Sprout that time in the lift. There was no point in everyone going down to the Core. It was easy to remember where the lift was for their journey. The moment that they were told to go to the Core, Dude immediately pulled Mimi and Sprout with him while everyone else either rested or kept an eye on things while they were gone. They didn’t speak during their descent. Sprout had tried cracking a few quips, but they fell flat.
“So…why the sand?” Sprout suddenly asked after awkwardly listening to only the clanging of the lift.
“Why do you smell like burnt gunpowder?” Dude fired back. Sprout raised an eyebrow before taking a quick sniff of himself.
“Thought that vanished with the clothing…” he muttered, earning a confused glance from Dude and Mimi. That’s when he realised that maybe Dude’s team didn’t go through a wardrobe change like he and the others did. He then shrugged carelessly. “To make a long story short, I was the human cannonball again.”
“What?” Dude and Mimi exclaimed.
“It was an accident this time, I swear!” Sprout shouted, waving his hands wildly. Seeing the question as to how it happened being written on Dude’s face, he couldn’t stop talking a mile a minute. “And Misty only fired me out of the cannon to get me out of a pinch. And the safety net was definitely in place this time.” Dude and Mimi exchanged a glance, seeming to share a silent message and decided not to press any further. Sprout then looked at Dude and Mimi as silence cloaked the trio again. Seeing Dude brush off an irritating speck of sand from his neck, it prompted Sprout to ask his first question again. “So, the sand?”
“To make a long story short…” Mimi started before she let out an involuntary shudder, “let’s just say I get why Misty’s skin crawls over the concept of being buried alive…”
“Wha-” Sprout started.
“Don’t ask.” Dude cut him off. Sprout once again observed both of his friends. While Dude had his arms crossed, his hand was gripping one of his arms so tight that his nails started to dig into the skin and his shoulders were tensed up. Mimi seemed just as uncomfortable as she was tapping the yellow Crystal lightly but rapidly. Neither were willing to open up. So Sprout decided to drop the issue. He didn’t want to stir up trouble. Finally, the lift came to a halt as they reached the underground level. Dude reached over and pulled the door open. “Here we are.”
The torches on the wall were dimmed down to a mere flicker of flames. The frost had grown more in size, threatening to smother the cave in white. The Core’s light was still faint. It flashed white to a dull blue hue and vice versa with each beat, but it wasn’t enough to compensate for the lost light from the torches. The cold had intensified, the cold from the chamber had leaked to the tunnel. As the trio advanced to the Core, goosebumps started to appear on their skins.
“Cold, cold, cold. Very cold.” Sprout shivered, shaking cartoonishly from the cold.
“I should’ve asked for a scarf.” Mimi complained with another shudder before breathing onto her hands to regain a modest bit of heat. Despite the freeze, the three keep moving. They didn’t have time to complain. Time to return two Crystals where they belonged. With shaking hands and misty breaths, Sprout and Mimi approached the Core while Dude was watching them closely. They circled around, looking up and down for the right places. When they found a space, they tried to slot the Crystal they each held inside. Nothing. It was on,y shortly after his second try that Sprout noticed a spot that was high up. He jumped up as high as he could manage. Not even close. He tried again and again, that time trying to grip onto the Core to climb up. The Core was too smooth to grip onto anything and his legs weren’t quite long enough.
“Dude, give me a boost while you’re here.” Sprout said after giving up on the third jump. Dude was already approaching him at that point. He saw Sprout struggling and knew that he needed to step in. He bent down and hooked his hands together. Sprout placed one foot there and with a silent nod to Dude, he carefully climbed up. Dude, at the same time, straightened himself up and heaved Sprout just enough so the green friend could stand on his shoulders. As he braced himself against the Core, with Dude holding onto his ankles to keep him steady, Sprout slotted the Crystal into place. Meanwhile, Mimi was kneeling at a lower point of the Core, ignoring the ice biting through her dungarees. She had found the spot for her yellow Crystal and slid it into place. As both Crystals were returned to their rightful spaces, the air grew warm. Once Sprout had jumped down from Dude’s shoulders, the Core flashed green and yellow before settling into the white.
Three Crystals.
Five were still out there but this was a small victory to revel in.
A shared, exhausted but uplifting silence circled the trio as they rode the lift back up to the surface. It was something that made the mission of rebuilding the Core somewhat hopeful. They were getting somewhere and with all the progress that they had done, things felt like that would go smoothly (even just by a little) from then on.
However hope always seemed to have dimmed when they needed it the most. Once they reached the library, even before they had a chance to open the doors to enter, a muffled, hacking cough was heard through the wood. A chill ran down their spines as they realised who could be making that sound. It sounded much worse compared to the last time they had heard it first hand. As they stepped across thee threshold, they immediately looked toward as the source of the coughing. Conjurer was slumped at the table, the walking stick on the floor next to him, evidently having been dropped. No one else seemed to have noticed the three returning as they were all crowding around him.
“Are you okay?” Candi asked as she gently rubbed his back.
“Sit down.” OJ insisted, pulling out a chair.
“Don’t. I’m fine.” Conjurer rasped, and he pushed Candi back as politely as he could.
“Clearly you’ve taken a page out Dude’s book about being stubborn.” Pip fired back. Conjurer looked at her, and then everyone else. He saw the worry, they knew that he did. Nine against one. And with the current state that his magic was in, it wasn’t like he could give himself as leg to stand on. He could barely stand without the use of his walking stick. Sighing in defeat, he sat down in the chair OJ had offered him. Everyone gave him space, allowing him the time he needed to get at least some strength back. When it seemed to have passed, he let out another cough. It wasn’t as horrible sounding as the first, but made everyone else wince nonetheless. Whatever composure Conjurer had was gone in an instant. When the coughing subsided again, Conjurer looked at his glove before clenching his fist. That was when Misty felt a slight twinge. A feeling.
Magic.
“What magic did you just use?” She accused, her voice echoing across the library.
“Pardon?” Conjurer asked in a shocked tone.
“I sensed you using magic. What did you do?” Misty demanded, daring to take another step closer as if to make a point. Conjurer’s eyes widened momentarily. Everyone else looked just as surprised by Misty’s sudden accusation. Only those that weren’t fully aware of Misty picking up ion the magic and becoming ill herself for a couple of moments at a time didn’t understand to the full extent. Candi, Dude and Mimi didn’t say anything to argue against what she was saying. They wanted to hear what the magician himself had to say in his own defence.
“Just cleaned my glove.” The magician said as if it was the most normal thing that he could say. Cleaned his glove? What was on it before he erased it?
“Hey! No more unnecessary magic!” OJ barked, one hand slammed on the table as she leaned over Conjurer to look him in the eyes. “Believe it or not, you’re limited just like the magic is, remember? You said something similar yourself.”
“You’re right… I apologise.” Conjurer relented. He saw no point in continuing the argument. He didn’t know how to at that rate. Now that he had calmed down, everyone could see him properly. Grey hairs streaked across the dark colour. Wrinkles had creeped along his face. His body was sagging, as if all the coughing and even that little dose of magic he had used had drained almost all of his energy out of him. The only positive thing that can be seen was the yellow and green stripes that now accompanied his clothing. It was showing progress, but at too slow of a rate.
“You need to see a doctor.” Dude suggested, stepping forward.
“No doctor can help me.” Conjurer shook his head, some strength coming back to his voice.
“We can bring one to you.” Dude tried to throw a lifeline.
“No! No outsiders!” Mr Conjurer suddenly shouted, banging his fist on the table. The sound was like a thunder clap that ended with a deafening echo. That was the first time that anyone had seen him out of a controlled emotional state. His eyes were wide with resistance and anger at the mere thought of someone else being dragged into the situation. “It’s too dangerous!”
One breath.
Time had stood still.
Two breaths.
Erratic heartbeats started to calm down from all sides.
Three breaths.
The storm calmed down.
“He’s right Dude.” Bud calmly agreed, placing a hand on Dude’s shoulder. The anchor brought Dude out of trying to continue his side of the argument. “If we let someone else in, there’s a chance that they will let this all slip out into the open. Then we could be in a lot more trouble.”
Logic overruled everything.
Dude looked around; at the library, at his friends, at OJ and then finally the Conjurer. Too much. Too heavy. Then Dude’s fists unclenched slowly, a soft crack coming from his knuckles. Far too much was riding on this to cause a wider rift than there already was.
“Sorry.” Dude relented, the tension in his shoulders loosened.
“It’s fine. I know that you’re trying to help me.” Mr Conjurer sighed as he slouched forward. The fist that he banged on the table released, like a hedgehog uncurling from its ball. It laid flat on the table, a struck white clashing with the dark wood. “But the only thing that can do that-for all of us-is fixing the Core.” In other words, get the job done and things can go back to some form of normalcy again. Everyone knew it, they didn’t need to be told. It was easier said than done.
Rainbow looked between down at the floor where the walking stick was, and back up at the man in the chair. He might not understand everything that was happening, but he knew enough to understand the danger his home was in. And that the strange man couldn’t move around easily. He had seen enough visitors with long sticks like those to assist with walking and moving around. Without an invitation, he trotted forward and grasped the stick in his mouth. He bit down enough to have a hold, but was mindful to not bite so hard that he would leave teeth marks. He sat down in front of Mr Conjurer, his tail wagging a little at the good thing he was doing. The man gave a small smile, the light returning to his eyes as he reached out. He took the walking stick back and gave Rainbow an affectionate pat on the head.
“Dude, give me a boost while you’re here.” Sprout said after giving up on the third jump. Dude was already approaching him at that point. He saw Sprout struggling and knew that he needed to step in. He bent down and hooked his hands together. Sprout placed one foot there and with a silent nod to Dude, he carefully climbed up. Dude, at the same time, straightened himself up and heaved Sprout just enough so the green friend could stand on his shoulders. As he braced himself against the Core, with Dude holding onto his ankles to keep him steady, Sprout slotted the Crystal into place. Meanwhile, Mimi was kneeling at a lower point of the Core, ignoring the ice biting through her dungarees. She had found the spot for her yellow Crystal and slid it into place. As both Crystals were returned to their rightful spaces, the air grew warm. Once Sprout had jumped down from Dude’s shoulders, the Core flashed green and yellow before settling into the white.
Three Crystals.
Five were still out there but this was a small victory to revel in.
A shared, exhausted but uplifting silence circled the trio as they rode the lift back up to the surface. It was something that made the mission of rebuilding the Core somewhat hopeful. They were getting somewhere and with all the progress that they had done, things felt like that would go smoothly (even just by a little) from then on.
However hope always seemed to have dimmed when they needed it the most. Once they reached the library, even before they had a chance to open the doors to enter, a muffled, hacking cough was heard through the wood. A chill ran down their spines as they realised who could be making that sound. It sounded much worse compared to the last time they had heard it first hand. As they stepped across thee threshold, they immediately looked toward as the source of the coughing. Conjurer was slumped at the table, the walking stick on the floor next to him, evidently having been dropped. No one else seemed to have noticed the three returning as they were all crowding around him.
“Are you okay?” Candi asked as she gently rubbed his back.
“Sit down.” OJ insisted, pulling out a chair.
“Don’t. I’m fine.” Conjurer rasped, and he pushed Candi back as politely as he could.
“Clearly you’ve taken a page out Dude’s book about being stubborn.” Pip fired back. Conjurer looked at her, and then everyone else. He saw the worry, they knew that he did. Nine against one. And with the current state that his magic was in, it wasn’t like he could give himself as leg to stand on. He could barely stand without the use of his walking stick. Sighing in defeat, he sat down in the chair OJ had offered him. Everyone gave him space, allowing him the time he needed to get at least some strength back. When it seemed to have passed, he let out another cough. It wasn’t as horrible sounding as the first, but made everyone else wince nonetheless. Whatever composure Conjurer had was gone in an instant. When the coughing subsided again, Conjurer looked at his glove before clenching his fist. That was when Misty felt a slight twinge. A feeling.
Magic.
“What magic did you just use?” She accused, her voice echoing across the library.
“Pardon?” Conjurer asked in a shocked tone.
“I sensed you using magic. What did you do?” Misty demanded, daring to take another step closer as if to make a point. Conjurer’s eyes widened momentarily. Everyone else looked just as surprised by Misty’s sudden accusation. Only those that weren’t fully aware of Misty picking up ion the magic and becoming ill herself for a couple of moments at a time didn’t understand to the full extent. Candi, Dude and Mimi didn’t say anything to argue against what she was saying. They wanted to hear what the magician himself had to say in his own defence.
“Just cleaned my glove.” The magician said as if it was the most normal thing that he could say. Cleaned his glove? What was on it before he erased it?
“Hey! No more unnecessary magic!” OJ barked, one hand slammed on the table as she leaned over Conjurer to look him in the eyes. “Believe it or not, you’re limited just like the magic is, remember? You said something similar yourself.”
“You’re right… I apologise.” Conjurer relented. He saw no point in continuing the argument. He didn’t know how to at that rate. Now that he had calmed down, everyone could see him properly. Grey hairs streaked across the dark colour. Wrinkles had creeped along his face. His body was sagging, as if all the coughing and even that little dose of magic he had used had drained almost all of his energy out of him. The only positive thing that can be seen was the yellow and green stripes that now accompanied his clothing. It was showing progress, but at too slow of a rate.
“You need to see a doctor.” Dude suggested, stepping forward.
“No doctor can help me.” Conjurer shook his head, some strength coming back to his voice.
“We can bring one to you.” Dude tried to throw a lifeline.
“No! No outsiders!” Mr Conjurer suddenly shouted, banging his fist on the table. The sound was like a thunder clap that ended with a deafening echo. That was the first time that anyone had seen him out of a controlled emotional state. His eyes were wide with resistance and anger at the mere thought of someone else being dragged into the situation. “It’s too dangerous!”
One breath.
Time had stood still.
Two breaths.
Erratic heartbeats started to calm down from all sides.
Three breaths.
The storm calmed down.
“He’s right Dude.” Bud calmly agreed, placing a hand on Dude’s shoulder. The anchor brought Dude out of trying to continue his side of the argument. “If we let someone else in, there’s a chance that they will let this all slip out into the open. Then we could be in a lot more trouble.”
Logic overruled everything.
Dude looked around; at the library, at his friends, at OJ and then finally the Conjurer. Too much. Too heavy. Then Dude’s fists unclenched slowly, a soft crack coming from his knuckles. Far too much was riding on this to cause a wider rift than there already was.
“Sorry.” Dude relented, the tension in his shoulders loosened.
“It’s fine. I know that you’re trying to help me.” Mr Conjurer sighed as he slouched forward. The fist that he banged on the table released, like a hedgehog uncurling from its ball. It laid flat on the table, a struck white clashing with the dark wood. “But the only thing that can do that-for all of us-is fixing the Core.” In other words, get the job done and things can go back to some form of normalcy again. Everyone knew it, they didn’t need to be told. It was easier said than done.
Rainbow looked between down at the floor where the walking stick was, and back up at the man in the chair. He might not understand everything that was happening, but he knew enough to understand the danger his home was in. And that the strange man couldn’t move around easily. He had seen enough visitors with long sticks like those to assist with walking and moving around. Without an invitation, he trotted forward and grasped the stick in his mouth. He bit down enough to have a hold, but was mindful to not bite so hard that he would leave teeth marks. He sat down in front of Mr Conjurer, his tail wagging a little at the good thing he was doing. The man gave a small smile, the light returning to his eyes as he reached out. He took the walking stick back and gave Rainbow an affectionate pat on the head.
However, the peaceful moment didn’t last for long. There was a soft rumble and creaking. The floor shook a little, like a warning sign of an earthquake fast approaching. Everyone’s stomachs felt off, a result of the vibrations running through them in a toxic mix. Any light that was in the room flickered momentarily, another warning. No one was willing to wait for another rumble. When the noises, shaking and the nausea paused, Conjurer, still shaking, slowly got to his feet. He did his best to straighten his posture, a crumbling act that was ready to break apart.
“That’s that for today.” He announced sombrely. He wanted them to continue, everyone could see that. He wanted the issue to be fixed faster than ever. However, he knew himself that he couldn’t push them too hard, and he needed to regain as much strength as he could. “All of you get some rest for the next day. You need it.”
No one was given a chance to give a response. With a sad gesture of his hand, Mr Conjurer had the Skyline Gang ejected from the Sky Crystal. Like last time, they all landed with a loud thud that made them feel bruised. It felt more violent than last time, highlighting an underlying urgency that Mr Conjurer appeared to have had. No one had broken anything, but it came pretty close.
“That’s it.” Dude declared with a groan. “Before we go back to the house, we’re getting one of the crash mats down here. I don’t want anyone breaking anything.” Everyone around him gave a collective groan in response. As they all got to their feet one by one, before they could go and search for a crash matt, there was a high pitched groan. It came from the Sky Crystal. Another vibration rattled underneath everyone’s feet. It wasn’t as prominent as the shaking inside the crystal, but it was not I able all the same.
“I don’t like the sound of that…” Candi whimpered as the sound died down. Rainbow let out a long whine, his ears folded back as his tail tucked between his legs.
“Try not to worry…” Pip whispered encouragingly, looping an arm around Candi’s shoulders as she tried to lead the pink girl away. Mimi followed behind them with Misty as Rainbow brought up the rear. Sprout opened his mouth to try to crack a joke, but nothing came out. He just didn’t have the energy to even think of anything good to laugh at. So he limply went up the stairs. Dude and Bud exchanged a worried look. They didn’t need to say anything. They felt like there wasn’t any time to. In the end, they knew the dangers of what could happen if they lingered any longer.
———————————————————————————
After everyone worked together in setting a crash mat beside the Sky Crystal, the Skyline Gang returned to the house. When they went through the pavilion, it no longer felt warm and welcome. It was cold, bitter. The lingering darkness that seemed to have been left behind from their adventure with the Sceptre of Shadows seemed to have started to I make itself known. There was just something there that the Gang didn’t want to feel ever again.
When they returned to the house, they were just as quiet as when they left the crash matt at Sky Crystal. Not a word, laugh, bark, not even a cough was exchanged between all of them. When the day finally drew to a close, everyone turned in for the night, trying their best to fall into a restless, haunted sleep for the next day of where the adventure would take them next.
Skyline Gang: Sky Crystal. Chapter 17: Mummies, Rags and Crystals
Prologue: click HERE
Chapter 16: click HERE
Chapter 18: click HERE
No air.
Tight sensation.
Compressed.
Unable to move.
No light.
Muffled noises.
Then all of a sudden, gravity.
Air.
Freedom.
Free fall.
Mimi felt this feeling of falling for a few feet before she landed on her back. The fall was cushioned by sand under her, breaking the worst of her fall. However, she felt this sensation of being paralysed when she made contact with the ground. All feeling in her body had vanished, the blood flow fighting to run its normal course. Her heart was beating like a trapped bird as her lungs took any air that she could inhale. For a moment, she couldn’t breathe or move. She laid there, waiting for something to happen.
Then sand continued to fall onto her face, going into her mouth. Like a jolt of electricity had run through her, Mimi snapped out of her daze. Her body could suddenly move and her rolled to the side. She spat and sputtered sand from her mouth, desperately trying to clear her airway again. Once she was clear, she heard a loud groaning from above. She dived away as the ceiling above her caved, ancient brickwork and sand rained down. She barely had enough time to grab her backpack, where she saw the one of the straps poking out like a flag. She stumbled and limped away from the debris as she heard the bricks crashing onto the floor where she previously was. Her vision blurred as she found the doorway that was her only way out. The moment her foot stepped outside the room, she immediately felt like collapsing from shock.
She glanced back into the room. The ceiling had almost completely collapsed, sand raining down like that of a sand timer. Mimi wondered if the room had been drained of the quicksand or if it was barely scratching the surface. She brushed off the remnants of the quicksand from her clothes and hair, desperately trying to maintain at least some form of fabulous. If anyone else saw her like that it would be an embarrassment.
Anyone else?
The others!
With that, Mimi looked back into the room she stumbled out of. Sand continued to fall, but not at a slower pace. The pit must have a noticeable amount of sand missing. Maybe if the others were still up there, they might be able to hear?
“Dude! Pip! Rainbow!” Mimi called out as she cautiously returned to the room. Nothing. Could they not hear her? Did they really move out that quickly? How long had she been under for? How long did it take until the ceiling collapsed, allowing her to be freed?
Not wanting to see if the entire ceiling would go above her, Mimi fled the room. Her hands shook as she fumbled for the torch in her bag. Everything inside it was remarkably in tact, as if the magic that created it, and its contents, had protected it. Once she flicked it on, she scanned the area around her. The corridor that she was in was empty, void of anything else that was living. She looked to left. Then right. Then left again. The only sound that reached her ears was the sand falling. No scarabs. No mummy. No Skyline Gang.
Mimi reached into her pocket. The familiar weight of her phone brushed on her fingers. Triumphant, she pulled it out. Despite the quicksand, the pressure and wet sand, the phone was miraculously undamaged. Since her clothes were (sort of) magical, maybe that’s where her phone was protected too? Mimi didn’t think about it for too long. She unlocked it, the background flashing with a selfie she took with everyone. She pressed Dude’s number in her contact list. She pressed it to her ear. However, she heard three dull beeps. She looked at her phone. She was so stupid. Of course she wouldn’t have any signal in this tomb.
What was she thinking?
Defeated, Mimi slumped against the wall, sliding down until she was sitting down. She felt intolerably lonely. Being underground, with no one else around her, Mimi wanted nothing more than to feel the sun on her skin and see her friends’ faces. That was all she wanted, even more than the designer shoes that she had seen on sale just a few days prior. That was all before this mess with the Sky Crystal started. She reached into her pocket again. In the centre of her palm was the yellow Crystal Fragment. It was so small and fragile. As much as she enjoyed jewels as much as the next fashionista, Mimi couldn’t hold back a glare. She wanted nothing more than to throw it away and try to forget about the Sky Crystal altogether. She just wanted to go home and pretend this never happened.
But first she needed to get out of the tomb.
She picked up her phone again, desperately clinging to it like a lifeline. As the Home Screen flashed, her heart ached as she saw the faces of her friends. However, she tried to push through that as best as she could. That was when she noticed something. She had a bar of signal. That was impossible. She had no signal just a minute ago.
She looked at her phone, then the Fragment in her hand. It was glowing slightly, as if it was reacting to something. She couldn’t be near the Crystal already, could she?
Mimi looked at her phone again. Pursing her lips a little, she moved the Fragment closer to the phone.
Two bars.
Three bars.
Full service!
Mimi felt like crying from pure joy! It was a little hesitant, but this was a big step for her. She went back into her contacts and tried one more time.
If this didn’t work, she’d be in more trouble.
———————————————————————————
“Dude?” Rainbow whimpered, nudging Dude’s hand.
“Dude? You’ve got to get up, mate.” Pip said as encouragingly as she could manage. Dude didn’t respond directly at first. Since losing Mimi, Pip and Rainbow had to drag him away from the room, rounding a corner several metres away. Since then, Dude had sat down, looking drained and void of any emotion. His eyes had lost their spark. It was like he was shutting down. Pip knelt down. After exchanging a glance at Rainbow, she reached out and touched Dude’s shoulder. He reacted like a wind up toy, flinching back violently and snapping his head up to face her. Pip stepped back as Rainbow let out a small whine. Then as if he was waking up from a nightmare, Dude’s body sagged as he looked around him, remembering where he was. And remembering what had happened.
“I should’ve kept an eye on her.” Dude muttered, taking his cap off and running his fingers through his hair.
“It’s not your fault.” Pip offered, extending a peaceful hand to him. That was a mistake to say that. It was like a trigger had been pulled and the bullet pierced through Dude’s quiet demeanour.
“What kind of a leader am I?!” He barked, his voice bouncing off the walls. Pip flinched as Rainbow jumped back. Dude glared at Pip, his face hard as stone. “Pip, tell me!” As Dude heard his own voice fade away, the pent up anger seemed to deplete. He couldn’t bring himself to be angrier at the situation. He just looked down again and sealed himself away. Letting out a small whine, Rainbow went to Dude’s side. He curled up and nudged Dude’s side with his nose. Dude’s hand, which mimicked that of a puppet on strings, gently placed itself on Rainbow’s head, stroking the fur. The texture was a little off, with Dude’s fingers catching grains of sand almost instantly. However, just the sensory touch of the fur was what helped to keep Dude grounded. Upon seeing the tension in his shoulders give way, Pip felt deflated herself. This whole adventure has been chaotic from start to finish. They couldn’t have known how serious the risks were going to be when it all started. Finding the Crystals sounded easy on paper. But now? This was point where it was all becoming more serious. But they need to keep a steady head.
“A good one, and a better friend.” Pip stated as she took a seat next to Dude. “But you can’t save everyone.” Dude pulled a face that made Pip wince internally. Probably the wrong thing to say at the wrong time. The grief was still raw and it will be for a long time. But they needed to get moving. If they don’t, the Mummy will probably find them. Even if the monster didn’t, time was still ticking away. There was no time to sit and grieve. Just maybe try to set Dude down gently. “If you want, I can tell the others. You can’t put yourself through a worse state.”
Again, it seemed to be the wrong thing to say, but Dude responded to it a little. He nodded his head a little and patted Rainbow’s head a little more.
Focus on the Crystal. Grab it, get out and back to the Sky Crystal.
Dude then thought of OJ and how Mr Conjurer was able to bring her back. He wondered for a moment that if they got lucky and once the magic was back to normal, maybe he could bring Mimi back too. It was the best possible chance that they had. If he can do it, then it could help with moving forward.
“Let’s just get that Crystal…” Dude finally said, his emotions in check. Just keep a clear head. Stay on track. The quicker they move, the faster they can retrieve the Crystal. Dude got to his feet, ignoring the numbness that was in them. He offered Pip a hand, which she had accepted. Rainbow jumped to his paws, nudging Dude’s side a little. Just a little insurance that helped to keep the blue friend on even ground.
Suddenly, as the trio were examining their surroundings, there was a blaring sound of music. It echoed around, acting like a lighthouse in a storm. Dude felt a small vibration in his pocket, causing him to automatically react by diving his hand into it. Recognising the music, Pip’s eyebrows raised.
“I didn’t know you had signal.” She commented, scratching her head.
“I shouldn’t have. At least not a great one.” Dude responded, pulling out his phone. He didn’t bother to look at the caller ID. He just accepted the call. In a split second, he wondered if it was the others with some good news. Or bad. Or any kind of news. How was he going to explain what happened to Mimi? Dude quickly shook that thought off as he looked at his screen. “Hello?”
The call was a video call. However, the signal wasn’t on anyone’s side. The video was heavily pixilated and lagging, making it impossible to make out who was calling. The sound wasn’t fairing any better. Heavy static, allowing only a few syllables to be heard.
“…de…” a voice crackled.
“That’s a rubbish signal alright.” Pip agreed with Dude’s previous comment. “Can’t make anything out.”
“What? What are you saying?” Dude asked as slowly and clearly as he could. He wasn’t sure if the signal was just as bad to this caller, but he hoped that something distinguishable got through.
“…fra…one…” the voice called out through the crackle.
“Fra…own?” Pip parroted, tilting her head slightly. Dude turned up the volume on his phone as much as he could. Even with the increase in volume, however, the signal only let so much come through. Dude was almost tempted to hang up when finally one word came through with crystal clear clarity.
“…Fragment…” the voice said, sounding like the caller was desperately shouting.
“Fragment?” Rainbow repeated with a gruff tone. Dude’s finger froze as Rainbow repeated that single word. The cogs could be seen working away in his brain as his hand dived into his pocket.
“Wait…” he muttered, pulling out the Fragment he had. He looked between it and his phone before he glanced at Pip. All she did was shrug and gestured for him to go ahead with whatever was in his plan was. With the affirmative, Dude brought the Fragment closer to his phone. The screen started to become clearer and the sound was less patchy. With the revelation, Dude held the Fragment and phone in the same hand.
Finally the signal was perfect.
The screen cleared and the sound was no longer patchy.
A very familiar face met with Dude and Pip.
“Mimi?!” Dude and Pip exclaimed as they saw the face of their friend. The one they believed that they had lost.
“I’m still alive!” Mimi smiled tearfully, brushing away a tear of relief. “I’m not ready for mummification quite yet!” Upon hearing Mimi’s voice, Rainbow let out a loud howl, not caring if the Mummy was close or could hear him. He was just as happy to hear her again as Dude and Pip. Dude almost dropped his phone and the Fragment in shock and extreme relief. All those feelings hit him so hard that his knees almost buckled from under him. He had never felt so relieved in his life.
“How?” Pip exclaimed, grabbing Dude’s hand to keep him from losing his grip. She fought to keep herself together, but she couldn’t hold back the shocked and relieved smile spreading across her face.
“Turns out that at the bottom of that pit, there was an opening.” Mimi explained. The camera flipped to show the tiled floor. After showing that Mimi was walking, the screen showed a room that was filling up with the quicksand that they had all seen mere minutes ago. “I fell right through it. That’s probably why I was pulled under so quick.” A lucky escape. One of many that happened since the morning dive.
How much longer until it runs out?
“Are you okay?” Dude asked almost immediately.
“I am hot, sweaty, and covered in sand that will take hours to wash off!” Mimi listed off with a grimace as she shook some damp sand out of her hair.
“I meant are you hurt?” Dude rephrased. Despite a small prick of annoyance, he couldn’t hold back a small laugh. Even after the near to death experience, it was nice to hear that it hadn’t changed Mimi’s personality. She was still the same old fashionista.
“Oh…no, I don’t think so.” Mimi said as it clicked in her head. She then flinched a little as if she had remembered something. Then the camera moved a little. Judging by the movement, Mimi might have been checking herself for injuries. She probably didn’t think to check properly until Dude had said something. After a few seconds, the camera focused back onto her face. “Probably a bruise or two but nothing serious.”
“Where are you exactly?” Pip asked, her brow furrowing.
“All I can say is that I’m a level below you.” Mimi said, pointing at the ceiling above her. “I had to get out of the chamber where the sand was falling into.”
“Stay where you are.” Dude ordered, eyes like steel. “We’ll try to find a way down to you.”
“And if the Mummy shows up?” Mimi enquired, looking around nervously. If that Mummy hadn’t heard Dude’s phone going off by then, he will have certainly heard them talking. He could be making his way to either the group of three or Mimi for all they knew.
“Run, find a safe place and try to call again or message to say so.” Dude instructed, keeping his voice steady as he looked around himself.
“Okay. Stay safe.” Mimi agreed.
“You too.” Dude responded and hung up the call. When he slipped the phone back into his pocket, he did his best to make sure that the Fragment was pressed up against the phone. If Mimi needed to call again, they would have a strong enough signal at the start.
“How are we going to get to her?” Pip asked. Dude glanced around one more time. No obvious way down and they needed to get to Mimi as fast as possible.
“I’ve got one idea, but I don’t think that you’ll like it very much.” Dude said and gestured down the hallway. The hallway where they just came from after they thought they lost Mimi.
“Oh no!” Rainbow whimpered, covering his eyes with his floppy ears.
“I am going to kill you after this.” Pip scowled a little as she caught on just as quickly as Rainbow did. Dude only gave a sympathetic look and a small shrug. Then he turned and retraced his steps back where they came from.
———————————————————————————
Mimi paced while she waited.
She hated this.
It was bad enough to know that the others thought that she was dead, but waiting for them to come find her was somehow worse. It just made the lingering senses of being alone and possibly stalked heavier, like a cloak made of lead that was placed on her shoulders. This was the worst. Even all the fashion disasters in the world couldn’t match up to this. As Mimi was mulling over that, she felt a slight tingling warmth in her pocket. She brought the Fragment out of her pocket again. It still gave off a glow. Small, subtle. Warm. While she was still pacing, Mimi noticed that it was going between glowing brighter and dimming again. She stopped walking. She held her breath and slowly turned on her heels. The glow got brighter by a tiny fraction. Dude said to stay where she was, but he didn’t say anything about staying still. With that small loophole in mind, Mimi walked a little closer to the direction where the Fragment started to get a reaction to. It glowed a little brighter, the warmth increase in her hand.
Mimi smiled as she saw that, knowing that things were getting a little better. That was when she heard the sound of the sand falling again. It was different. It had more weight to it and sounded less like a sand timer. She hurried back to the room to witness a news cascade falling into the room. There was a muffled noise, like someone trying to listen from being underwater. There was a new wave of sand as three distinct colours fell with it. Blue, purple and orange. Dude and Pip fell through first. Then Rainbow tumbled out and fell on top of the pair. They groaned loudly from the impact of a large dog landing on them but all three seemed to be okay.
“Dude! Pip! Rainbow!” Mimi exclaimed, almost tearing up upon seeing them.
“Sorry that took a bit…” Dude groaned, wiping wet sand from his face.
“Mimi!” Rainbow barked. He scrambled to get off of Dude and Pip, giving them momentary relief from the weight being taken off them. Rainbow trotted up to Mimi, wagging his tail so hard that it could detach. He bounced so hard that the floor was starting to feel like it was shaking.
“Hey, Rainbow!” Mimi beamed as she made a fuss of Rainbow, ignoring the current sandy texture in his fur. She then looked towards Dude and Pip as the former got to his feet. “Are you all okay?”
“I’ve got sand in places I didn’t know I had.” Pip groaned before accepting Dude’s hand and was pulled to her feet. Rainbow shook himself furiously, trying to banish the itching in his fur as Dude and Pip brushed themselves off. There was a loud groan which prompted everyone to evacuate the room. A loud crash reverberated from within the room and the entire ceiling collapsed. Sand slammed down with the bricks and flooded the entire room, spilling out of the doorway. That was too close for comfort. Everyone took a sigh of relief and just felt exhausted. They hadn’t even found the Crystal and already they just want nothing more then to turn back. However, even if they wanted to do that, there was no clear way out. Trying to shake off the initial shock of the room collapsing, Dude straightened up and approached Mimi.
“Are you sure that you’re okay?” He asked, gently gripping Mimi’s shoulders and scanning her for serious injuries.
“I promise, I’m fine.” Mimi said, gently taking a step back and squeezing Dude’s hands. She couldn’t describe how good it was to physically touch someone after all that had happened, it just felt nice to feel grounded once more. Dude opened his mouth but Mimi didn’t give him a chance. With how recent her discovery was, she was quick to recover her Fragment from her pocket. “The good news is that I think we’re closer to the Crystal now. Look.” Without missing a beat, Mimi grabbed Dude’s hand and pulled him to the direction where her Fragment had a reaction. Upon seeing the shine, Dude and Pip pulled out their own Fragments. The blue, purple and the orange Fragment glowed just as brightly as Mimi’s yellow.
“At least some good came out of this.” Pip said optimistically.
“Let’s get going. We can’t afford to waste more time.” Dude urged, readjusting his backpack. With that said, Rainbow took charge and started to lead the way. Pip followed close behind him, keeping in time with him. Dude and Mimi hung more in the back, with Dude glancing behind to make sure that they weren’t being followed. Mimi meanwhile just once again felt good to be near someone human again. Then she was shocked out of that moment of bliss. Suddenly, Dude’s hand came out and pushed Mimi. It wasn’t enough to hurt, just enough to cause her to stumble.
“Hey! What was that for?” Mimi hissed as she caught up with Dude’s stride.
“That was for scaring me.” Dude quoted, remembering the submarine earlier that morning. Mimi blinked as she recalled that moment in the Sky-Sub. That moment where she was both scared and angry at Dude for the fright he had given them. Now the roles were reversed.
“Touché.” Mimi spoke softly. Dude quickly gave her hand a squeeze before letting go. They can’t get too distracted right now. Meanwhile, Pip gave a subtle smile at the interaction. Her hearing allowed her to understand what they were saying. She allowed them to have a short moment. It was needed. She paid attention to what Rainbow was doing as he sniffed the ground and the Fragment’s reaction. Only after a few turns, Rainbow suddenly stopped. The Fragment in Pip’s hand had gotten brighter and warmer. Rainbow tensed up, letting out a small whine towards a doorway that he had paused at.
“What is it?” Pip asked Rainbow. She was expecting another chase but there wasn’t any need for it. She looked into the doorway before waving Dude and Mimi over. They peeked in before they stepped into the room. A large chamber was displayed before them. Treasure lined almost every inch of the floor, some piled high with gold. On the far side of the room was an alter where a sarcophagus lay. The resting place of the Mummy. Standing above the sarcophagus was the Orb of Ra, clearly having been moved since the last time everyone had seen it. Whether it was done by the Mummy himself so no one would find it or because of the Crystal’s magic, no one bothered to think about it. They cautiously started to step into the chamber.
“Well…we’ve found the right room…” Pip commented as she scanned the room. With all this treasure around, it might be hard to dig through it, even if a Fragment leads them to the right pile.
“Where’s the-” Mimi started her question.
“Mummy!” Rainbow suddenly barked. He had heard a noise and turned around. That was when he gave his warning. The teens looked and the Mummy was standing right there. His arms were stretched out as he charged towards the intruders.
“Scatter!” Dude ordered. Everyone split up and ran to different corners of the room. When Dude glanced over his shoulder, he noticed that the Mummy seemed to be thinking about who he should chase before settling on the blue friend. This caused Dude to pick up his pace into a mad sprint. “Try not to let him corner you!” With that said, Dude weaved between the treasure. The Mummy tried to keep up with him, but Dude prove to be too fast. He ducked behind a pile, attempting to catch his breath. Spotting what seemed to be a rod made of gold, the size being the length of a cricket bat, he grasped it tightly. Something to use for defence, nothing more. Dude peeked around his hiding spot. The Mummy was looking around before heading off in a different direction. That was when a hand suddenly placed itself on his shoulder. Dude swung around, ready to swing the rod. However, he stopped when he saw Pip, looking just as scared as he was.
“Plan? Please tell me you have a plan!” She begged, her eyes darting around.
“Find the Crystal and leg it!” Dude said for lack of better words. There literally was no other plan. At this point everyone was making up everything as they go. “Duck!” Pip ducked down as she saw Dude suddenly hold up his makeshift weapon. Dude then swung it hard. The Mummy, whom had crept up behind Pip while she was distracted, was hit solidly in the head. His body flopped to the side and Dude and Pip took the opportunity to run. The Mummy once again chased after them.
Meanwhile, Mimi and Rainbow were scanning the room. The Fragment in Mimi’s hand was still glowing, just a little brighter than before. Quickly checking to see if the Mummy had noticed, and noticing that she was in the clear, she held the Fragment out and started to turn. It was only when she faced the alter the Fragment showed a positive reaction. She groaned internally. Of course it was the alter. After sharing a glance with Rainbow, Mimi crept up the steps of the alter. The Fragment got brighter and hotter in her hand. Rainbow stayed close by her side, ears folded back in anticipation. Once Mimi reached the top, the Orb of Ra seemed to have this pull towards it. She fought hard to ignore it after seeing that it didn’t just happen to have a newly acquired Crystal decorating it. It was the sarcophagus that had the most reaction. Mimi shuddered as she realised what she had to do. She looked behind her to see how Dude and Pip were doing. Pip was nowhere to be seen. It was at that point that Dude was caught off guard by the Mummy. He had split away from Pip, ducking and weaving through the treasure. Then all of a sudden, Mummy had managed to cut him off.
“Keep him distracted!” Mimi shouted down to him. Dude didn’t have a chance to respond. The Mummy had grabbed him and tossed him into the air like a rag doll. The wind was knocked out of him, causing him to lose his grip on the rod he had. Distracting? That was easy.
“…no problem…” Dude groaned, recovering as quick as he could. The Mummy charged at him again. That time, he managed to recover the rod. While still down, he swung it, hitting one of the Mummy’s legs. He went down, buying Dude enough time to get up and run again. Meanwhile, Mimi had managed to heave the lid of the sarcophagus off. So far the Mummy was more preoccupied with playing cat and mouse to hear it being disturbed. The bottom of the sarcophagus was lined with linens that appear to have been ripped and torn. A layer that the Mummy fought out of the first time when Misty previously stole the Orb? Maybe. But that wasn’t important.
“Ew! Ew! Ew!” Mimi grimaced as she touched the linen. She hesitantly rummaged, trying to ignore the grim action she was doing. She squeezed her eyes shut, thinking that it was better if she didn’t look. “Just think of shopping. Dresses, make up, shoes…gemstones-oh!” Mimi’s hands stopped as they touched something solid and warm. Her eyes snapped open at the realisation. She dug through the bandages in that area and the light bounced off something. She grabbed it and the yellow Crystal was in her hands. She beamed brightly as she held it up high. “Found it!”
That was when the Mummy finally noticed. Mimi’s face drained of colour as he stared right at her. He let out a furious roar and started to charge toward the alter. Rainbow let out a warning through a growl and bark. That was when Dude and Pip charged themselves out of nowhere. They held a bejewelled spear and drove it toward the Mummy, the monster had no time to brace himself at the spear caught the wrapping on his shoulder. Dude and Pip continued their charge until the spear was embedded in the wall. Not permanent but it’ll do for a head start.
“Run!” Dude ordered as he and Pip backed away. Mimi and Rainbow sprinted down the steps of the alter, being careful not to trip over. By time the Mummy had winched himself free, the fours members of the Skyline Gang had already fled the chamber. They ran back the way they came from and passed the room that was flooded with quicksand. They were like rats in a maze, trying to find a way out while a predator was chasing them. They hadn’t made their way to the chamber in a conventional way so they had no markers to tell them where to go for the exit.
“Now where do we go?” Pip panted as the group skidded to a stop. In front of them were two corridors that branched away from them. With the Mummy getting closer, the teens and dog started to panic. There was no guarantee of a safe way out no matter which one they chose. That was when Mimi felt a tug on her hand. The Crystal was pulling all by itself. It was trying to go to the right.
A way out?
What else if there to lose if they don’t try?
“This way!” Mimi shouted as she started running to the right.
“Mimi?!” Dude exclaimed.
“Trust me!” Mimi called out over her shoulder. As the Mummy let out another roar from behind, Dude, Pip and Rainbow immediately ran after Mimi. With the Crystal now acting like a magnet, Mimi made herself aware of which direction it would pull. Another few turns and the group found themselves back at the point where they lost Mimi in the first place, right where she fell through the trap door.
“How?” Dude asked as he caught up to Mimi.
“The Crystal!” Mimi panted as she held up the Crystal. “It’s like it’s showing us the way out!”
“Less talking! More running!” Pip shouted from the back. All pushed forward as best they could. Now that the hallways look more familiar, and with subtle looks towards where each marker was, relying on the Crystal like a compass was no longer needed. The Mummy was getting closer, but not as close as the exit. Up the stairs. Out of the abandoned dig site and along the sand. Rainbow had taken the lead at this point. The Mummy didn’t stop his pursuit. To him, the Crystal was his newest treasure. He wanted it back. But he can’t. He can never have it back.
“The portal! Go!” Dude yelled as he spotted the light. Without much thought everyone dived in, leaving the desert and monster behind.
After the blur of colours vanished, Rainbow landed flat on the ground, unable to get a firm footing on the floor. Dude, Pip and Mimi tumbled and fell on top of him, sending sand that was still clinging onto them scattering about. Hearts pounded, lungs were tight and fighting for air. Their limbs were unresponsive. The adrenaline was gone. No heat. No sand. No Mummy had chased them through the portal. Just the private security of the Sky Crystal. They were safe.
“What happened to you four?” OJ exclaimed, looking at the group.
“You don’t want to know!” Mimi hissed, glaring up at the orange lady. She pointed the Crystal that was still clenched in her hand at OJ. “We have it!” It was as she said that, they noticed that Bud’s team had gotten back, with Sprout holding a green Crystal in his hand. They also noticed the state that Mr Conjurer was in as he leaned on his walking stick. He tried to put on a mask, but everyone could see how weak he had gotten, even without the hint of the walking stick. Nonetheless, he maintained as much authority as he could muster. As he approached get a closer look at the Crystal, Dude, Mimi and Pip got to their shaky feet. Rainbow remained still, opting to regain his strength. As the magician looked at the yellow Crystal, he gestured towards Sprout and the doors.
“Go to the Core.” He commanded. He then looked down disappointingly at his leg. “You’ll be faster than me at the current state I’m in.”
Sorry for not posting for a long time. Uni has been busy. Now that I’m finished with uni for the year, I’ve got more time for writing until September time.
Once again I decided to draw on OG member of the Skyline Gang. This is OJ. Like the Conjurer, she was in the gang until 2005 (left at the same time as the Conjurer). There are shorts of her on YouTube as well. From what I’ve seen in the comment section of one of the videos, she’s a cheeky character, so kind of like Sprout in a way.
Decided to do a couple of sketches of The Conjurer, who was a member of the OG Skyline Gang until 2005. I never got to see him in shows, but from clips that I’ve seen on YouTube and reading the comments on some of said clips, he seemed like an interesting character.
I know that I’ve had him in my recent Skyline Gang fanfic but I started writing him in before I knew more about the lore behind him, so he might be OCC which I apologise for.
Felt like doing a redrawing of characters from an original fantasy series that I’ve been writing since the pandemic. The series is called Dragon Seekers (link in pinned post). I haven’t touched the project for a while, mostly due to uni but it’s still important to me. The first beta version is online but I am working on it offline towards a final draft. These are Jamie (he/him), Ash (she/her) and Dreama (she/her). If anyone has any questions about the characters or the series itself, ask away.
Quick run through each of the characters:
Jamie is a boy from this world and the main protagonist. He accidentally goes through a portal to a world where humans and dragons coexist (name of the world is being workshopped).
Ashley (or Ash) is the first friend that Jamie makes in the dragon world. She’s a part of the fire element. She’s a tomboy and a skilled fighter but she knows when to hold back if needed. The spear was a gift from her father who was a Dragon Seeker, but was killed while performing his duty. She wants to be like her dad. Also if anyone tries to put a dress on her, she’ll literally run away.
Dreama doesn’t make a huge appearance in the novel but she acts as an observer and guide for Jamie. She’s a part of the air element. Due to her element, she was born with an air current around her, meaning that her feet rarely touch the ground. She’s able to sit on a chair like a normal person but that’s the most that she can do gravity wise.
