PreA/N: Aetheo: Warning: Rewrites in progress. Reality is currently subject to change without notice. Though... There will be at least an attempt at notice. We might just fail. So... Reality subject to change with possible notice? That sounds less ridiculous though. Ignore everything past the second sentence.

A/N:

Howdy Gents' how was your New Years…

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Aetheo: Well, now we get to test Unicode cross-applicability between google docs and .odt format. Here goes nothing. No effort whatsoever, to be entirely honest. Just… Lenny.

And it's the no effort tests that provide the best outcome because you don't expect much to begin with…

…

Yeah, so, here's the chapter.

Aetheo: This time, fun things happen, and the one thing that all of you have been looking forward to since the very… second chapter has begun: Ellix x Kein.

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You're spoiling the chapter… in the chapter. Redundancy.

Aetheo: You never know with some of our... sillier readers. They might miss the subtle romantic tension, the burn of romance that begins with a single glance, the candle and flame that explode into the burning passion of a wildfire within a tornado, the low smashing of waves against the coast that tears away at cliffs over weeks instead of centuries.

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Aetheo: They may miss the earth-shattering revelations, the quaking of those within reach of the planet's uncomfortable shifting beneath the weight of their passion.

So love is just a massive fucking natural disaster…

Aetheo: Pretty much.

Dude same.

…

That was our disclaimer, by the way.

Chapter 15: Temple Congregation

Never wake up wondering why you aren't dead yet. Just don't. Even if you think you have every right to. Take Kein's case, for example. He completely expected to die, asphyxiated by his own internal bleeding, when he passed out. Only, he didn't. Instead, he woke up later the same evening on a giant mushroom cap; one arm shoulder deep in a river and one leg completely asleep because it was being laid on.

"What's that look supposed to mean? Is this somehow a problem for you?" Ellix responded about as insensitively as he'd expected.

Granted, Kein had no clue where he was at the moment, so his expression probably told more than any words he could have mustered. Still, he tried anyway.

"Fuhuh?"

Ellix raised an eyebrow, "Same."

"Fuck off," Kein garbled out. He pulled his arm out of the river, whatever remained of the sleeve now thoroughly entangled with the duckweed analogy that glazed the water's surface.

"Oh! Looks like someone woke up with some spice," Ellix chirped.

After that, there was silence between the two. Kein remained face down on the mushroom boat, staring half aware into the water; thinking about all that had happened while trying his best not to look at the blood that was still on his face. Ellix just watched.

Kein threw up in his mouth.

"That's disgusting."

Kein didn't respond. Rather, he began to flip himself over. With the grace of the hammered and a good thirty seconds, he managed to roll to his back. The boat continued to rock in the wake of his movement.

"Wow, that was a pilgrimage, wasn't it? Do you need anything? Snacks? Water?"

Kein stared into the night sky for a moment, then spoke hoarsely. "This place has two moons… or is a moon."

Ellix raised an eye ridge as Kein groaned into his hand. "Yeah? What does that mean to you."

The drake was given the death glare. "You know... I would kick your dumb ass off th-cough, boat." He looked to where his free leg was, which happened to be perfectly placed to kick Ellix in the face. "But, I know you'd just... flip the fuckin' thing."

Ellix appeared vaguely moved. "I mean… you're not wro-"

"But... yeah," Kein interrupted.

"...Yeah, what?"

"Yeah, water," Kein mumbled.

"What?"

"Wa~ter."

Ellix scoffed. "What do I look like? Your mother?"

"Bitch… cough, I bet you still live... with your mother." Kein tried to sit up. "Where's Sparx? Spar-cough!" The attempt was pathetic.

"He's not here, dumbass."

Kein looked Ellix in the eyes. "No shit, dumb-cough-ass. Why do you think... I'm calling for him? Or are you so antisocial that y-cough, don't get that?"

"Where is this coming from?" Ellix laughed.

"Yo!" Sparx flew into view from somewhere off on the rivers shore, the glow around his body now ever so apparent in the setting sun. "Kein! You're not dead! I knew you'd make it!"

Kein took a second to wonder how this species managed to survive as literal flying beacons.

Ellix grunted. "You know, if I recall, the moment he passed out you took one look at him and almost threw up; 'Oh, oh ancestors, hark, I think he's dead. I gotta… oh, he smells so bad. I need to leave for a moment~'"

Kein at least granted Ellix a point for impeccable acting.

"In my defense," Sparx held a hand to the sky, "you really do smell."

"Wha-cough, I don't fucking…" Kein groaned. "Sparx, just... can you tell me somethi~ng?"

"Yeah, sure. What's up. And you can just straight ask me. No need to be all like, 'warning: question incomi-'"

"Is the water drinkable?"

"...Well, yeah. You just gotta get past the surface," Sparx said. "Trust me when I say, these pearl spores are pretty gross."

Kein leaned heavily into the mushroom cap, causing Ellix to copy his actions on the other side in order to balance their makeshift boat. He had been hoping for just that, but his expression certainly didn't show it. Though, he felt a bit too crappy to even be happy about not having to drink his own piss.

Sighing, he dropped his head to the side and looked downstream. They were about to pass around a bend occupied by a thick bundling of reeds, some of which were stretched out far enough into the middle of the river to reach.

"Intuition… please," he mumbled.

Letting his hand flop out over the edge of the boat as they passed the reeds, he grasped for them. With his weak grip, a few slipped pass, but eventually, he managed to take hold of a firm stalk and yank it out of its bush.

Placing it into his lap, he looked up.

"Fuck off."

Ellix's mouth crooked. "Tsk, and I'm supposed to be the asshole."

Sparx began to whine. "Hey, man! Why'd you say that? I just interested in what you're doin'."

Kein had taken Tom's knife out of his bag and was trying to cut the ends of the reed stalk. "But you're lookin' at m~e like I'm some kind of-cough, foreign freakshow."

Ellix took his chin with one forefoot and gestured at Kein with a wing. "Yes," he said, definitively.

"Fuck~ off."

With nothing else to say, the group fell into silence. Kein used the valuable time to finish his makeshift straw. Simply taking one end up to his mouth, he used whatever breath he was able to muster and blew through it. After making sure the airflow was uninterrupted, he rolled to one side and dipped the reed in the water.

Sparx stroked his chin, watching Kein drink from the river. "Truly ingenious. In mere moments, this previously unknown creature had constructed a tool to bypass the river's natural defenses. Does nature no know bounds?"

Ellix chuckled. "You should write a book," he mocked. "Call it… Animal Planet, or something.

Kein choked, sputtering violently as dimensional boundaries shattered around his ears. Unfortunately, his body's lurching only served to shake his guts like some sick bartender and with casual disregard, he vomited into the water.

As the 1 parts bile, 1 parts blood, 2 parts water, shaken-not-stirred margarita of bodily fluids and pain spilled into the river, Sparx cringed.

"You're not gonna just like, die right here, are you?" he asked.

Kein silenced him with a finger and took the time to wash his mouth out.

"Well," he said, "I haven't died so far, so what do you-"

"-think?"

Volteer blinked his stupor away. "I-I'm sorry?"

"What do you think?" Cynder repeated.

The three were currently camped on the border between the dragonfly swamp and the Valley of Avalar. The two different backdrops of foliage painted quite the picture, one quite difficult to see in the fading light. The Guardian's only saving grace in this instance was the fire at his feet, which illuminated the area just enough to reflect light off Cynder's deep violet scales.

"Oh… Um, I'll require a tad more exposition than that, I'm afraid," the Guardian said. "My mind isn't quite what it used to be."

Cynder was also in the same boat- Volteer was almost hidden in the yellows of the mushroom forest, but his size betrayed him; light bathed across his form.

"You had that look on your face. The 'I'm contemplating' face." Cynder said. "So I ask, what do you think?"

Volteer laughed. "A strange way of putting it, I suppose, even if correct" However, his jolliness died quickly. "But you needn't burden yourself with this old dragon's thoughts. I doubt you'd find it interesting, regardless."

Cynder smiled. "You need to work on dissipating questions."

"Have I gone and made you more interested?" Volteer asked.

"Yup!" The Guardian sighed.

"Ah, well. I suppose you're right then." Volteer chuckled again, managing to keep the happiness for a little longer. "I guess it won't cause any harm to address my feelings."

"As long as it's to the right person," Cynder replied.

Volteer "hm'd" in agreement and threw the fire some fuel. "It just seems-" he paused, most likely looking for a better intro. "I'm sure you're aware I've been put in charge of a majority of the city's logistics and financial programs. I believe I informed you of as much yesterday."

"You did," Cynder said.

"Mm, yes, well. I've discovered an issue insofar as our funding goes, and my attempts to push it back have only resulted in more problems. As you know, the economic centers were destroyed, demolished, obliterated in the attack, and the treasury stores with them. So, I've been trying to come up with a way to revitalize the economy, but every solution I've thought of would require the funding that would have been provided by that selfsame empty treasury."

"That's annoying," Cynder said.

"To make it worse, we're having to rely on a lot of third-party construction companies to even keep up with deadlines. Which is in and of itself a pressuring issue, as per their dependency on the immediate acquisition of resources we don't have." Volteer sighed and buried his face in the dirt. "Despite the constant, looming threat of war, it seems the King wasn't anticipating such destruction."

Cynder also took on a distraught expression and lowered her head. "Yeah, that golem was quite the trump card. Spyro and I let it too far into the city… we should have confronted it in the main gate's courtyard."

"Nonsense!" Volteer exclaimed with sudden vigor. "I feel you two were quite right in waiting until it was completely isolated to engage it."

Cynder grinned faintly. "I'm happy you feel that way, Volteer, but… we did so at the expense of everyone else."

Volteer sighed. "Cynder, while I will admit the golem's path was a violent and costly one." The Guardian chuckled quietly. "You should have seen Mason's expression when we gave his team the task of repairing the aqueduct system without cutting off the source."

Cynder smirked. "Okay, that just sounds cruel."

"Perhaps it was. But regardless," Volteer leaned down to Cynder's eye level. "The fact that you defeated the golem where you did, in spite of everything else, is more than any of us had the right to asked of you." He looked to where Spyro had fallen asleep, no more than a foot from Cynder's side. "Either of you."

Cynder cocked her smirk, her eyes also on Spyro. "Not to sound unappreciative of your sentiment or anything, Volteer, but… it's kinda our jobs to kill the big baddies."

"It would seem that that is the task the world has set upon you both," he said, returning to his normal position.

"Don't be so down about it," Cynder said. "It's not like either of us had a very normal childhood."

"I don't think that's a valid excuse to have dragons your age fighting life-threatening battles," Volteer replied.

"I guess, but… well at least I, don't really have a good example to compare a 'now' versus 'then' in terms of difficulty." Cynder fidgeted with her answer for a moment, then looked up with a smile. "So, to be honest, this is pretty great for me."

Volteer was silent for a moment, his face portraying nothing but concern for the dragoness. "You are quite mature for your age, Cynder."

"Well, I have been an adult before."

"Yes, but your willingness and, well, rather lackadaisical, reference to your past is quite concerning for me."

"And I appreciate that concern, but don't worry too much about me. I've lived through that, so I'll live through this," she said. "If I'm totally honest with you, it doesn't really bother me all that much. Like, I feel like it should but, in reality… no."

"Along with maturity, you also have an incredible willpower."

"That, or my ability to care was destroyed by the action," Cynder said. She stood and stretched, then casually flopped back down against Spyro's side. "Actually, I wasn't totally honest. It does still bother me sometimes, usually when Spyro brings it up."

"Is that because he was the one who saved you?" Volteer questioned.

Cynder sighed. "Maybe? I don't actually know. The best example I have is the weeks after we woke up from the battle with Malefor. I was really excited and happy the first few days but after that… I just started to get agitated for no reason. I kinda feel bad about it."

Volteer hm'd, rubbing his chin. "And you said this was a few weeks ago?"

"Yeah, until about two days ago. Maybe I was reacting to a plant in the hills or something."

Volteer failed to respond. He was currently deep in thought. Cynder, thinking the conversation had ended rested her head on his forearms and stared deep into the fire.

"Mmm!" Volteer suddenly outburst. He began to cough heavily and hit his chest, as if he somehow managed to choke on his own thoughts.

"Are you alright?" Cynder asked.

Volteer looked at Cynder with puffed cheeks, the words in his mouth perhaps didn't belong outside. After staring awkwardly at her for several seconds, his face lit up in embarrassment and he released his breath.

"A-Ah, yes… I'm alri- fine…" He shuffled nervously in place.

"Uh, maybe you could share?" Cynder said.

"S-Share?" Volunteers face dropped for a second. "N-No, it's okay… I just had a stupid thought from yesterday."

Cynder blinked. "Alright, if it's that embarrassing. I won't pry."

"I appreciate that…"

Cynder relaxed, Volteer's grunt having scared her slightly. With a small sigh, she let her head drop onto Spyro's forearm.

Abruptly, the drake shot awake, the sudden pressure on his arm startling him. He jumped to his feet and, in effect, threw Cynder off him.

"What was that?" he asked, panicked.

Cynder chuckled. "It was me, dummy." Spyro looked confused. "I just touched your arm, sheesh."

"No," Spyro said, his stance still tight and eyes flicking around the treeline. "No, I felt the ground shake."

It took a moment, but Volteer produced an answer. "Ah, yes. It is about that time isn't it?" he said.

"That time?" Cynder questioned, looking between the two.

"Oh, yeah," Spyro said, relaxing and lying back down. "I forgot."

Now Cynder looked confused. "Anyone? Please?"

"Oh. Sorry, Cynder," Spyro said. "At night, the larger monsters start to come out."

"Larger?" she replied. "Define larger, please."

Volteer took up the opportunity. "Oh! Well, to start off there are Growths, Giant Toads, and Keksicks Beetles- but Growths are the only naturally aggressive of the three. Then there are reports of Bulb Spider Queens, which are, by the reports, larger than dragons. Fortunately, the likelihood of seeing one outside its nest is astronomically low. Sometimes Frog Weeds can grow large enough to consume adolescent dragons, but again, the likeli-"

Spyro and Cynder had lost focus by the third word in. Instead, they simply stared into the fire together.

"We should be fine," Spyro said. "Nothing ever comes near the edge of the swamp."

Cynder didn't look too sure.

"It's alright Cynder." He wrapped a wing around her back. "You got me, don't you? Let's just go to-"

"-sleep?"

Kein sighed. "No, Sparx, for the fifth time, I am not asleep."

"And why are you asking me if he's asleep?" Ellix commented, his eyes closed. "'Hey, did he go to sleep?' I don't care. Kein can sleep if he wants too."

"Ugh, you guys are so boring," Sparx whined and, for the first time since he had shown up, sat down. The stayed there for a few seconds, fidgeting madly. "We should talk about something."

"No," Ellix immediately responded. "Absolutely not."

"There a lot of things I want to talk about..." Kein said, clearly annoyed.

"Let's talk about something," Sparx repeated.

"No…"

"Let's talk about our feelings."

"Absolutely not..."

"Alright, Kein. You go first."

Kein rolled his head forward. Up to this point, he had been enjoying the half-assed quiet. It gave his mind time to be free. A time in which he could forget about being half dead and hungry, surrounded by a moron and a jackass.

But when he looked into the eyes of the jackass, they both knew there was no way, in any conceivable instance, they were going to get out of talking about their "feelings". It was at this time a rare occurrence happened, and they made a mutual agreement to suffer as one.

"So… Sparx." Kein said, drawing out the "a" sound as long as possible, "How do you want this to start?"

The dragonfly tapped his cheek. "Start with 'I feel.'"

Kein scowled as reminisces of failed therapy sessions flooded his mind. But in the end, he sighed and gave in. "I feel… annoyed-"

"Shocker there," Ellix interrupted, eyes closed again

Kein continued. "That no one tells me anything until after the fact."

"Hey! That's not true! I told you the temple was destroyed and we're not there yet!" Sparx exclaimed.

Ellix and Kein groaned.

"That's not the point!" Kein said.

"And you can't whine while doing an 'I feel' therapy session. The point of this kind of thing is to literally take what the person has to say at face value!" Ellix said.

"And not bitch!" Kein emphasized.

"Sheesh, fine," Sparx pouted. "It's like you both work nine to five office jobs."

Kein growled angrily and sat forward. "That's another thing! I was just annoyed at first, but now I'm pissed!" He pointed at Sparx. "How the hell do you know what a nine to five job is?" Kein turned to Ellix. "And how the hell do you know what therapy is? How the fuck do either of you know these kinds of thing when, so far, I have gotten zero context clues as to those even existing here!"

"I've done therapy," Ellix said.

"Yeah, and everyone knows what a nine to five job is," Sparx added.

"I have done both those things! Actively!" Kein yelled in response. "And so far I've only run into one other dragon and absolutely no settlements that could support either of those things!"

Ellix's general lack of interest allowed him only one question. "What did you go to therapy for?"

Kein growled again, this is why he couldn't get any points across, they just ignored him! His menacing stare did die, however, but not due to Ellix's nonexistence expressional change. Rather, he actually remembered the reason for his therapy trips.

His face dropped and is suddenly looked like he regretted a lot more than he was willing to say.

"I don't want to talk about it…" he said.

"'Kay," Ellix said offhandedly.

"I wanna know! It sounds deep and easy to blackmail you with," Sprax commented.

Naturally, Kein ignored Sparx, and instead looked to Ellix, surprised. Obviously, he expected him to pry more.

"What?" the drake asked, feeling Kein's stare. "I can respect people's pasts."

"Really?" Kein asked, skeptically. "'Respect' isn't exactly something you seep."

"Well, I got my own stuff, so it'd be rude to judge."

"Rude…" Kein repeated. "Again, that is the absolute last thing I'd list you being worried about."

"Whatever."

"Pfft, you guys are weak," Sparx said.

Only Ellix heard the dragonflies comment. "Oh, what? You think you got something worth mentioning, pixie?"

"Well, maybe not me. But, I know this chick who's twice as messed up as the two of you combined! Her name is Cy-"

"Actually!" Kein interrupted. "I can see that from you!"

"Hey, I was talki-"

"Because you're a walking trope," Kein blurted.

"Trope…" Ellix said. There was a moment, clearly spent digging deep into his memory, where he was silent. "I… yeah you got me there."

Kein squealed internally. Beside obvious technological advantages… maybe, he finally had something over the two that they didn't know. And something as... "valuable" as tropes for that matter!

"Ha!" Kein shouted in excitement. "Finally! Something I can hold over you!"

Ellix deadpanned. "I swear, this better not be the actual you…"

"Shut up! Just, please give me this." Kein said. He then reached down to this waistline were his satchel was still tied. Opening it like a fanny pack, he grabbed his binder and pulled it out.

"What is that," Sparx asked, pointing a finger at it in comedic disgust.

"Har har. It's my binder."

"Elaborate," Ellix commented. Regardless of this answer, Kein knew he was interested by the way he adjusted himself. "I know you keep your drawings in it but that's clearly not it."

"Fine. Since the name won't do it justice. This is where I keep most of my thoughts. Like, if I have an idea or need to remember something important, I put it here. I also put my drawings and related things here, as you said."

Ellix looked incredulous. "You keep a physical record of your thoughts, memories, and other sensitive information… that anyone could read should they pick it up?"

"So it's a diary," Sparx said.

"It's not a diary!" Kein attempted to defend himself.

"Kein, this is in every way a diary. This is worse than a diary…" Two against one.

"It's not like I actually write diary-style entries in this!" Kein tried again.

There was a sudden silence as Ellix looked Kein straight in the eyes; without words, the drake conveyed to him how much he thought that was bullshit.

"I bet you'd know all about having a diary," sass invaded Kein's tone. He then opened the binder straight to a tab titled: Tropes. A few more page flips later, he stopped at a word riddled entry.

"Commander Contrarian: Their main purpose in the plot is to naysay and find flaws in the hero's plans so the others can fight physical and social obstacles. They might be legitimate concerns, but are usually spurious..."

Kein dramatically slammed the binder shut and slapped it down on his lap. "That is you."

"No, it isn't." Ellix attempted to defend himself.

"Ellix, that is in every way you!" Kein shouted.

"Yeah, that's pretty you," Sparx said.

"Shut up, pixie! You're literally just taking the most convenient side!" Ellix shouted. "And you don't know me, so how can you even make that comparison?"

"You've displayed enough of your personality to warrant its discriptification," Kein said.

"Discriptification? What are you, five?" Ellix retorted.

"You're proving my point, here!" Kein shouted. "Literally everything you've said up to this point has been just that! Look, here's another one..." Kein reopened to his trope page.

"Jerk with a Heart of Gold: A person you would expect to be a big jerkass has some redeeming, nice qualities behind their tough demeanor."

"I don't need your stupid, redeeming qualities! I'm perfectly okay with being a "Jerk with a Heart of Jerk"!"

Kein smiled a wide, evil smile. "Oh! So you mean this one!"

Ellix looked down at the page. Sure enough, the very next entry was titled: Jerk with a Heart of Jerk.

"Screw off!" Ellix yelled, flustered. "What are you gaining from this?"

"This is my revenge for the past two days!"

"Where is this coming from? Dammit!"

"I'm going to destroy you with tropes!"

"No!"

Thus begun the shouting match.

"Good is Not Nice: Good Is Not Nice is the inverse of Affably Evil: characters who are morally slanted toward the good side but are rude, unfriendly, and mean."

"Stop!"

"They never kill anyone if they can help it, nor would they allow people to come to any sort of harm by ignoring them! They are always willing to go out of their-"

"Dammit stop!"

"-ways to save the town and complete strangers! When the call comes, they will answer it, usually with little protest! They often help people in need with little promise of reward! In almost every way, they act like ideal heroes!"

"Screw off, Kein!"

"Except that they are asocial and sometimes downright abusive toward most people they meet! THEY MAY REFUSE TO EXPLAIN ANYTHING! They may also actively rebuke people who express gratitude, friendship, lov-"

"You BITCH!"

"This is literally you!" Kein emphasized.

"NO, IT THE FUCK ISN'T!"

"Dude, that is totally you," Sparx managed through laughter.

"I Was Just Passing Through: When there is a need for someone to save the hero, but the giver doesn't want to admit-"

"FUCKING NO!"

In a spur of movement, Ellix stood up. With one painfully simple action, the drake spun around and kicked Kein's binder over the side of the boat.

"Shit!" Was all the man was able to muster before his body, out of pure instinct, snapped back so he could catch it. Unfortunately, this now meant his form was sticking out over the edge of the boat well past his center of gravity. So rather than the binder falling into the water, he did.

Splash!

"Oh, crap," Ellix exclaimed, jumping to Kein's side of the mushroom cap. There were sounds of panicked, waterlogged flailing. "Aaah, crap!"

Just as he reached the opposite side, Kein's binder was thrown into the boat. Shortly after, two hands grasped its side.

"FUCK, FUCK, FUCK, FUCK-" Kein's head came into view.

"Ah, damphit-" Ellix grabbed the collar of Kein's jacket with his teeth and dragged him up.

"Fuck, FUCK! Fucking ARM! FUCK!" Kein, soaking wet, curled himself around his broken arm.

"Ancestors, why did yo- ACK!" Ellix reeled back as he was punched off the mushroom. However, his flight instincts prevailed and he flipped right-side up mid-air.

"DUMBASS!" Kein yelled, his fist still dramatically extended. Of course, once the sudden burst of anger had worn off, he reverted to coddling his arm and hissing in pain.

"Ah! What the heck, Kein!" Ellix yelled back, rubbing his snout as he backpedaled in flight.

"What do you mean, "what the heck?"!?" Kein continued to yell. "You stupid FUCK! Why did you do that!?"

"Hey, guys…" Sparx whispered.

"Oh! What a professional explanation!" Ellix retorted. "I guess you went to therapy for being retar- thwap- AH!" A particularly firm reed nailed Ellix square between the eyes.

"Shut your mouth you fucking clod!" Kein shouted. "You know damn well what the fuck you did!"

"Hey, guys… you shouldn't be yelling right now," Sparx's voice seemed to get smaller.

"Maybe I don't know. Maybe knowing isn't part of my trope!"

"Why the fuck did you kick my binder!?"

"Because you were being a twit!"

"Twit!? You're the one being a TWAT!" Kein yelled. "And yes! It is exactly part of your trope, Commander Contrarian!"

"I mean… I can't exactly stop you, but… It's like, almost nighttime."

"No, it isn't!"

"Yes, it is!"

"NO, IT ISN'T!"

"The literal fucking point of tropes is to easily define asshats like you!"

"And really big and nasty things come out at night… all looking around for food. Just, nom om om om."

"You're being a fucking child cause you can't handle your horridly clichéd, stereotype-ridden personality!"

"IT FUCKING ISN'T!"

"IT IS!"

Suddenly, a giant, frog-like tongue shot out from the darkened treeline. With a grotesque splat, it nailed Kein straight in the back.

"'Oh! Sparx!'" The dragonfly had his hands over his mouth. "'Why didn't you tell us why there were giant, man-eating frogs in this swamp?' Well, see, the thing is-"

"SHIII-" Splash!

"-sometimes-"

"Ah! CRAP!"

"-people-"

"Ellix! I dropped the KNIFE!"

"-ignore me…"

"So… what were you two talking about last night?" Spyro asked.

Normally, the sheer intensity of passing wind would have deafened any flying dragon, making any and all vocal conversation completely impossible. But, in Spyro, Cynder, and Volteer's special case, it was not.

The major, or rather, only, contributing factor to this was Cynder and her innate ability to control wind. So as she sat, perched on the back of the Lightning Guardian, she projected a bubble around the three that broke the through the wind like a stone in rapids, creating a wake of calm air.

Fortunately, Volteer respected democratic decisions enough to submit to being a chair.

So, not only could they speak to each other in normal voices, they could fly in comfort as well. It was like they were seated on plush, velvet coaches before a roaring fire; sipping tea and talking about politics or other government affairs.

As much as being a thousand feet above the ground could feel like that.

"Oh, not much. Volteer here was just a little stressed and decided to talk to me," She giggled to herself. "You should've heard some of the stuff he told me. Like, did you know he has a girlfriend?"

"Phub-C-Cynder, kindly, don't spread rumors!" Volteer sputtered out.

"Eh, fine. You're no fun," Cynder said, lazily splaying herself across the Guardians back.

Volteer squirmed, his flight suffering because of it. "And please try not to move. I'm not used to being ridden."

Spyro frowned in confusion and interjected. "Is being ridden normal?"

"Well, eh, not particularly," Volteer started, still adjusting himself, "but during the time you were gone, the number of dragons that went into hiding increased, so we had to find a way to maintain our... air superiority."

In an accidental spur of motion, Volteer launched Cynder into the air. He got thoroughly poked for that. "Ah, Cynder. Please! Ahem. The need for such a method increased with the addition of the 'wyvern' grublin variant. So we started to employ mole riders who flew along with dragons during combat."

"Interesting," Cynder commented, smiling to herself. "On average, how many moles would ride?"

Volteer thought for a moment. "Understandably, we needed to keep the load light. Sacrificing mobility would defeat the purpose, of course. So usually, a max of five moles would ride. There were exceptions, of course, but usually just for transport."

"That doesn't seem too heavy… I'm assuming the expendable weight went towards arms, then?" Cynder asked.

"Hm, indeed. The saddles themselves took up most of the weight, even despite Mason's modifications. Crossbows were the main weapon used by the riders, but they were mounted to the side-saddles themselves to prevent them from falling off."

"Did anyone ever get hit by their own shots?" Spyro asked.

"It actually happened less than even I would have assumed. The only incident that I personally describe would be the first time we attempted it. Even then, it was due to faulty hardware."

This was how most of their conversations went. Spyro would initiate, Cynder would make some offhanded quip that would then, in turn, be passed to Volteer, who would accidentally say something he thought to be normal, which would confuse the other two and create questions. Casual talk.

"Is there a Pool of Visions in the Warfang Temple?" Sypro asked.

"E-Eh? Oh! Yes! There is, in fact," Volteer managed. "It's just inside the inner sanctum."

"Really? Hm, not to be rude. But, unless I'm wrong, the room the Pool of Visions was in in the swamp temple didn't seem all that… sanctum, like," Cynder said.

Volteer murmured anxiously. "Oh, well, that was because that was not the inner sanctum. It was, rather, the temple… grotto..."

"So… you moved it?" Spyro said.

"Is that even possible?" Cynder added.

"A-A-Ah… Well, yes," Volteer stuttered. "Y-You see, a Pool of Visions isn't exactly… difficult, to create, per say. It's more or less just a pool of distilled water. Despite it taking all four, er... all four main elements to properly create."

"Really?" Cynder said, surprised. "That's a little… underwhelming."

"I suppose it is… but the ability rests more in the user than the pool itself," Volteer added.

"Is there any way to tell if you can use a vision pool?" Spyro asked.

"I-I'm not actually sure. I can't recall any studies ever made on the subject. Possibly because the practice was sacred in the first place," Volteer went quiet for a moment. "The ability to look into the m-memories and thoughts of others is quite a d-dangerous tool."

Cynder shivered. "I wouldn't want any random person looking into my mind, that's for sure."

"But in the hands of good, well, it is what allowed us to survive this long," Volteer said. "I wish any of the current guardians could use it. I'd like to show you both the day we were integrated into guardianship. Before that, Ignitus was a sage in training- sages used the vision pools- and the crowd's excitement when they learned a sage was the next fire guardian. It gave them hope…"

"How interestingly sentimental of you, Volteer," Cynder quipped.

Volteer tumbled over his words. "O-Eh, uh, hm… I didn't mean to… or actually, eh, oh my."

Cynder laughed. "Oh, come on, Volteer. You act that's a bad thing."

As the day progressed, their travels brought them closer to the temple, and with that, more and more interesting conversations reared their heads. But even with the number of interesting tangents to go off on, the three began to bore. Soon, long swaths of silence crept their way through the group and the drone of wind started to grate on them.

But it was only noon, after all. A lot could still happen today.

"Are you alright, Volteer?" Cynder asked.

"O-Oh? Um… why do you inquire?" Volteer smiled weakly.

"I can feel you shaking," Cynder said, curtly.

"A-Am I? Oh, my… I apologize if I'm making you uncomfortable…" Volteer said.

"What's wrong, Volteer? You're acting so… not you," the dragoness replied.

Volteer gawked for a second. "I-I don't know, to be truthful. I just feel, unnaturally nervous. The air feels… off."

"Well, that's not foreboding…" Cynder laughed. "Hey, Spyro. Can you think of anything less creepy, perhaps?" Her question was met with silence. "Spyro?"

When the two looked to the drake, they found him staring off into the distance. It took a moment, but they eventually followed his eyes.

On the horizon, deep within the bustling ecosystem of the swamp, was a tiny, neon red light.

"What is that?"

"It's… a crystal," Spyro answered.

"A-A crystal?" Volteer said, incredulous. "N-No, that's impossible. A crystal's glow wouldn't be this obvious at this time in the day, especially from this height!"

"Eh, I think I'll trust Spyro's super-eyes," Cynder said. "If he says it's a crystal than that's what it is."

"I-I'm sorry?" Volteer questioned.

"Just go with it."

The Guardian hummed, shortly. "If you say so…"

There was a comradely silence as the three held their gazes on the speck of red light.

"Let's go down to it!" Cynder exclaimed.

"Absolutely not," Volteer said.

"Aw! Why!"

"Cynder, in this case, I must deny your request. I studied essence crystals quite extensively in my youth and from all that I learned, deviations in crystal qualities were rare and considered unnatural." During the time he had been talking, the three had grown closer to the shining life crystal, almost to the point in which Cynder could see it with her own eyes.

"And?" The dragoness asked.

"...And, I will not allow myself to put my students in danger."

"Don't you want to study it? Since it's 'rare'," Cynder pressed.

"I will admit, it has piqued my interest. But my answer is still no." The Guardian said. "Especially since we are underprepared to conduct a proper investigation."

"Awww!" Cynder groaned and rolled over onto her back. She caught the crystal passing by just beneath them. "Eeeh! Fine! But only cause I don't want to get up..."

"Thank you for reconsidering," Volteer said. "I'm sure Spyro would agree with me too. Right, my boy?" No response came. "Spyro?"

Again, the two looked over to where the drake had been throughout the flight. They found him missing. A quick turn back and they saw him stopped mid-air, hovering at their level and above the crystal.

"What in the world is he doing? Spyro! Are you alright?" The Guardian called out.

Cynder frowned. "Volteer, go back."

Doing as instructed, Volteer flipped around and flew back to where Spyro had stopped. As the two neared, they noticed his lack of reaction and expressionless face. He was simply staring down.

"Spyro?" Cynder's tone boarded on a whisper.

"Lad?" Volteer followed up. When Spyro continued to not respond the Guardian reached out to him. "Are you alright?"

His foot clipped the edge of Spyro's beating wing. The drake suddenly jumped, as if he had been woken from a nap.

"I'm sorry, did you say something, Master Volteer?" he said, nonchalantly looking to them.

The two were taken aback. Not just because of his rather calm response, their words were held back for another reason.

"A-Are you feeling alright?" Volteer stuttered. Spyro nodded. "A-Are you sure?"

Luckily, Cynder was blunt. "What's up with your eyes?"

Spyro paused. "My eyes?"

"I-Indeed… they seemed to be… pupiless."

The purple dragon didn't reply. He wasn't quite sure about how to take the situation. But, one this was for sure, he wanted to see for him. Taking a moment to cover his arm in ice, he created a simple mirror. Spyro looked into his reflection.

"I, uh… I don't feel wrong. I mean…" Spyro looked the rest of his body over. "Did I do something?"

"Well... you just kinda… stopped, above the crystal. Can't really find a better word," Cynder added.

"Y-Yes…" Volteer added. "We couldn't seem to pull a response from you." Spyro couldn't think of anything to say. "U-Uh. Why don't you climb on with Cynder. I'm sure she can make room for you."

"Are you sure?"

"Y-Yes, it's quite alright. I'd rather not risk leaving you behind. D-Despite how close we are."

Spyro nodded in obedience and dropped down onto Volteer's back. Once he was seated, the Guardian turned and thrust himself back toward the temple's location. With the bizarre situation still on his mind, the Guardian whispered to himself.

"What in the-

"-hell is that?"

Ellix and Sparx stopped arguing for the first time since the sun had risen above the mushroom tops. They were both slightly surprised. Kein had yet to say anything, and leading his apparent cognition with "What in the hell is that" was not what they were expecting.

Granted, Kein was fully prepared to not speak a word until they reached the "gone" temple. He was, in fact, quite invested in his task. Not wanting to talk about the night before and the farce that was the toad attack and having little else to do, having already drawn about as much of the swamp as he wanted that morning, Kein had instead taken up basket weaving.

Not underwater, of course, but basket weaving nonetheless.

Naturally, he got teased about it for the first thirty minutes, but his commitment to silence helped with that. The abundance of reeds in the river made sure he never lacked for resources to do so, should he fuck up. With so much time and nearly infinite attempts, he did manage to make an actual basket.

And he would have kept making baskets, in spite of their complete uselessness to him. However, this side-fucked world he was in still had about a million more curveballs to throw at him. It was just unfortunate circumstance that happened to throw one now.

"What is what?" Sparx asked.

Ellix, rather than repeating the question a third time, he looked downstream with Kein. In front of them was a bend in the river. It was sharp and sudden, so what was behind it was simply a mystery. Nothing special, really.

But what caught their eye, was the neon red glow that punched through the blinding sunlight and bathed the trunks of the mushrooms before them.

"What the heck?" Ellix said.

"You have no idea how wonderfully reassuring it is to know you're also clueless," Kein mumbled, his eyes still locked.

As they inched closer, the light that shattered the shadows grew brighter and more menacing. Even the river's golden hue took on a demonic sheen.

With murderously slow speed, the boat rounded the corner.

"What... the... fuck…" Kein barely managed to speak the words.

The scene before them was like that of a nightmare. Black and dead. The entire area beyond the bend had succumbed to what seemed to be a sudden, localized drought. Nothing had been given mercy. Mushrooms, ferns, grass. It was all dead, dry, and withered.

They were forced forward, the river not caring for their fear. Without a word, they passed into the aura of death. Cold settled into their bones, the concentrated desert caring not for sensibilities that insisted heat would come with such circumstances.

Ellix looked over the boat's edge. The pearl spores that coated the river's surface had become dark, dyeing the water a sickly grey, their luster only reflecting the unidentified fiery glow that seemed to take the warmth of its color from its surroundings.

"I-I-I…" Was all Ellix could manage. His normal interest in the unknown completely trampled by the sheer, unnatural force of whatever was present.

They were in deep. All around them, all they could see was dead plant life. The mushrooms and ferns that were usually vibrant instead created a dark, blank wall. The threatening red light, creeping from between the trunks, seemed more like veins, now.

A light breeze passed over them. A mushroom turned to dust, and another, another. The domino effect toppled downward and out until, right before their eyes, the dense wall became an open field. Dry flakes plumed into the air, causing the sky to turn crimson as they acted as backdrops for the light.

"What… god?" Kein mumbled. The collapse had revealed a new factor to them. Hidden behind the black wall was the source of light. A glowing, red crystal.

It was immense, surpassing even the combined size of Ellix and himself. The numerous arms it had grown were sharp and closely packed, as if they were the blades of a tight battle formation. And every few seconds, a pulse. The light would brighten for a moment, then dull. Perhaps a heart of its own.

"Ellix... " Kein whispered. "What is wrong with this crystal?"

Ellix just shook his head, eyes wide. They had passed a few crystals on their walk to the swamp. Of course, Ellix told Kein nothing, so he just came to accept them as a thing. But, none of the ones they had seen even came remotely close the this one's description.

"I-It's so… bright," Sparx managed. The crystal pulsed. "Ah!"

"This is wrong…" Kein said, ignoring the fact that Sparx was using him as a shield. "I don't even know what this is and I know it's wrong."

Ellix still remained silent, his eyes undeviating from the crystal. They floated onward, the other two falling quiet as well. A few seconds later, they were filled with a unexpected warmth.

Kein jumped, his hair standing on end.. "~Holy shit! What the fuc-" He looked downstream, everything had returned to normal. Only the pearl spores still held a remembrance of the aura, but even was fading quickly.

"What was that?" Kein asked, looking to Ellix. The drake was still staring at the crystal.

"Well, all I know is that was some magic…" Sparx usefully interjected. "Some black magic all up in that here hilltop!"

Kein ignored Sparx. "Hey, Ellix? Are you good?" He reached for the drakes shoulder, but his shot got blocked by a wing.

Ellix took a moment to respond. "Yeah, I'm fine." Finally, he turned to face them. "It was just a weird fee- what's your problem?"

Shock adorned Kein and Sparx's faces. They both stuttered for a second, finding difficulty in what they were trying to describe.

"Y-Your eyes…" Sparx managed.

"Your pupils are gone..." Kein followed up.

"What!?" Ellix was taken aback. He flipped himself over, attempting to look at his reflection in the water. The shining pearl spores stared back. "What the heck?"

"Here," Kein said, rummaging through his satchel. A second later, he pulled out a bent, metal spork. "Aw, man…"

Ellix leaned forward once he noticed his own reflection in the silverware.

He recoiled in shock. It was true, his eyes were pupiless, they were nothing more than a full, deep violet. Ellix was speechless.

"Hey, Sparx," Luckily, Kein was there to fill for him, regardless of the look he was getting. "H-How close would you say were are to the temple?"

The dragonfly tapped his chin for a moment. "We should be there by three or four. The river passes directly next to the temple, so we're good."

There was a sigh, Ellix had found his words. "Good." The other two looked to him, his eyes were back to normal. "We're almost-"

"-there!"

"Cynder," Spyro sighed. "That's not how you play 'I-spy.'"

"According to what you've told me, it is," she retorted. "You said 'I-spy something black,' so I found something black."

Spyro thrust a wing at the cloud of shadow that subsisted above them. "You can't make the thing yourself! You have to find the thing I was talking about!"

Cynder made a mocking "oh" face. "See, that's way more specific. Why didn't you tell me that?"

"You said you knew how to play it!" Spyro groaned.

"Well, now I do!" The smile that appeared on Cynder's face could have destroyed monarchies. Centuries of family lineage crumbling just because she walked into the room and asked for some candy.

At least that's what Spyro thought.

He sighed again. "Never mind." Afterwards, Spyro fell silent, chin in hand.

Cynder simply watched him skulk, not wanting to interrupt his apparent contentment. But the lack of conversation bored her. What was the point of traveling together if they weren't going to talk about stuff?

"Hey Volteer, are we there yet?" Classic conversation starter.

The Guardian took a moment to respond; his head was dipped toward the ground. "If you'd like to see for yourself, you may."

Naturally, she did. "Are we really that close?" Cynder asked. Standing, he began to walk up Volteer's spine.

"Ah! Cynder! Please, refrain!"

"Hey!" the dragoness said, perched between Volteer's horns. "Spyro, come look! It is literally gone."

"What's gone?" Spyro already knew.

"The temple!" Cynder was very excited. "Just… fully gone."

"That's not entirely true. One of the watchtowers survived," Volteer sounded less than excited. "Perhaps, I could find something useful in that..."

Spyro peeked over Volteer's side. Below them was a large lagoon, an unusual sight for the swamp. Of course, it was going to be unusual, seeing that, three years prior, the crater-turned-lake was actually the dragon temple. Regardless, it was quite the spectacle.

Due to its unnatural formation, the lagoon had no beaches. Instead, it was lined by rocky cliffs. Whatever tiny areas of beach that did exist were most likely due to the erosion of the bedrock, so they were situated around the serval waterfalls that drained into the lake. Additionally, the Silver River itself ran through the lagoon, sharing its golden hue.

Atop these cliffs were surprisingly flat areas of land. So flat, in fact, that rainwater was able to pool there. The blue, clear water contrasted heavily against the reds and golds of not only the much larger lagoon but surrounding treeline as well. And, since the ground there was comprised of nothing but bedrock, plant life was sparse, creating a very picturesque sense of minimalism between the water and stone.

"Despite what it represents… the scenery is quite nice!" Cynder said.

Spyro hummed. "I guess."

"It's a shame, really," Volteer said, downtrodden. "All that knowledge lost due to one dragon's horrid aspirations."

"Don't be sad, Volteer! You've always got the Grand Library at Warfang!" Cynder said.

The Guardian's shoulders fell limb. "But they aren't the same books!" he whined.

"Well, that's too bad! You'll just have to deal with it," Cynder chided.

"Why are we here, then?" Spyro asked. "You knew the temple was destroyed, didn't you?"

Volteer began to descend, having chosen a proper place to land amongst the pools. "I-I mean, yes, but I didn't know the extent of the damage. This outcome is unsurprising to me, however. But the actual reason we're here is to search for any remaining scraps of the old temple."

"I'd be surprised if there was anything left. It had been three years," Cynder said. "And didn't you mention something about a 'stash' before we left?"

Volteer blushed. "A-Ah, well, yes, I did. That is the second reason we're here."

"What did you hide?" Cynder poked.

"D-Don't worry about that f-for now, young dragon! You will see soon enough."

Within the next few seconds, the group landed. Scraping the sharp rocks away from his feet, Volteer bent down to allow Spyro and Cynder off.

"You don't have to do that, Volteer," Cynder commented, jumping off herself.

"O-Oh, I suppose so. I seem to be used to the action." he said, nodding at Spyro's "Thank you".

"It's those mole riders! They're getting the better of you!" The dragoness reared back and balled her forefeet into fists. "They have taken your pride Volteer!"

The Guardian laughed. "Yes, apparently so. But, I feel my pride as a Guardian fell with this temple."

Cynder smiled. "But you've got a new temple now! A bigger and fancier temple!"

"Indeed I do."

The conversation broke between the two. Spyro, who had respectfully avoided butting in on their chattering, saw his opportunity.

"So, where do we start looking?" he asked.

"Hm, there's no specific place. We're more or less just looking for abandoned books and trinkets," Volteer replied. With that, the three set off and began to wander around the clifftop. After ten minutes of failed searching, they congregate in the middle of the plateau.

"So, I'm assuming by the lack of desire to "show and tell", neither of you found anything?" Cynder asked.

"I'm afraid not," Volteer replied. Spyro shook his head.

"That's a shame," she said. The tone lacked any and all sincerity.

Spyro sighed, he knew this game. "What did you find?"

"Aw, you're no fun," Cynder pouted. Reaching her head around, she pulled a piece of paper out from under her wing. "I found this."

She placed it on the ground between the three of them, holding done one edge so it wouldn't fly away.

"Hey, Volteer. You're blocking the light."

"Oh, my apologies."

A single step back and the noon sunlight flooded down on the paper. There was a collection of blinks and confused stares.

"It's a… drawing," Spyro said.

"It's a half-finished drawing," Cynder noted.

Volteer lowered his head and turned an eye to the picture. "This is quite interesting. No wear or tear, only some dirt. It must be very recent!" The Guardian spent a few more moments scrutinizing the picture. "I am quite impressed by the quality, I wonder who-"

"Doesn't that look like… here?" Spyro interrupted.

Cynder paused, studying the picture closely. "Yeah, it kinda does."

"My word! It is!" Volteer stepped back. "This sketch is of the lagoon!"

"Ah~Fuck!"

The three dragons whipped to the cliff face as soon as they heard the grunt. They watched frozen in shock as tall, thin ape pulled itself up over the edge and crouched before them.

"That, ah, wasn't to ba-"

The four made eye contact.

The creature sighed. "For fuck's-"

!000!

"-sake!"

Kein and Ellix were enraged. They had just arrived at their destination. Unsurprisingly, the temple was gone. Fully removed from existence and replaced by a massive, water-filled crater. A crater that they were currently floating in the middle of.

The scene was not one that should, or would, inspire rage, however. In fact, Kein, and Ellix- to an extent, were both quite impressed by the lagoon. The unnatural landform clashing with the swamp seemed to interest them in their own special ways.

Unfortunately, they weren't able to enjoy it for long. It wasn't long after the arrival that Ellix asked Sparx the direction in which they need to go from the "temple". Surprisingly Sparx said: "I don't remember."

"What the hell do you mean you don't remember which direction the fucking city is in?" Kein was actually a lot more pissed about it then Ellix was. "How!?"

"Did you not tell us the direction when we first picked you up?" Ellix said, his voice muffled by the folds of the mushroom.

"I gave you a direction, not the direction," Sparx said. "And in my defens-"

"No! There is no fucking defense here!" Kein shouted. "Nothing you say could possibly validate that!"

"Why did you even bring us here?" Ellix asked, face still buried.

"Hey! If I recall, you guys were going here in the first place," Sparx retorted. "So why were you going here."

Ellix lifted his head, growling. "Because I didn't know it was gone! The moment you said it was, my plan died!"

"Along with mine, for that matter!" Kein added. "And I guess me, too!"

"Nah, you're fine. You'll just have to live out here!" Sparx said, waving to the surrounding area. Kein threw a backhand at the dragonfly.

"Are you fucking daft!?" Kein propped himself up on his knees. "I'll be dead within the next fucking week! The only reason I'm not already is because I just so happened to get lucky while sleeping!"

"I'm surprised you managed to survive that frog," Ellix half-heartedly commented.

"I am too! But one hit! One hit right here," he pointed his broken rib, "One slip and fall, one pulled backed branch, fuck dude, if I cough to hard I could fucking kill myself! One fuck up and I'm dead!"

"That's a bit of an exaggeration…"

"You should probably stop yelling, then," Ellix said.

Kein fell back into a sitting position, his hands atop his knees. He was an arm-hair's length away from giving up, the only real thing keeping him going was his body's natural will to survive.

He wasn't even really sure if it was worth it anymore. It's not like, if they had found help, he'd be accepted and treated. From all that he had gathered, it was safe to say he was the only human on the whole damn planet, and the only creature that even closely resembled himself was generally hated by everyone.

He had pretty much been, by proxy, pushed so far against a wall that the wall had parted and revealed his own grave. Not that, by this point, he was particularly fearful of such a simple end. So far, with all that he had been put through, Death's Door had become subject to semantic variation.

Kein sighed. Looked like his third chance at life had gone to the dogs… or dragons.

"So… whatcha going to do?" Ellix slurred out.

He thought for a moment, only one thing really came to mind.

"I'm going to draw."

"Alright..."

Not that Kein needed Ellix's approval, of course. Like several times today, Kein reached into his satchel and pulled out his binder. Flipping through the pages, he reached the tab labeled "Scenery" and removed a blank page. The next several minutes were spent in silence, the midday sun beating down on them relentlessly.

Ellix suddenly stirred.

"Did you fall asleep?" Kein asked, tearing his eyes away from the sketch for just the moment.

"No, I just dozed off," the drake said, standing up in the boat.

"Mhm. Where are you going?"

"To look around, see if I can get us out if this mess. Seeing as our 'guide' is borderline worthless." Ellix flared his wings.

Kein looked skeptical. "Sure. Uh, I mean, yeah alright. Okay?"

Ellix scoffed. "Yeah, I'm going to leave right now. Disappear over the horizon." He jumped into the air. "I still want to see you die!"

The sudden burst of wind caught Kein off guard. Out of instinct, he brought his only free arm up to shield his face. Unfortunately, this meant that there was nothing holding down his sketch, so it was promptly stolen by the wind.

"Fuck! Ellix, you ass!" Kein yelled as he watched his drawing sail high into the air. "Dammit! Get it back!" The drake was already gone. "Fuck!"

Kein watched the paper fly far over the lake, flipping and spiraling all the way to the cliffside. It smacked the stone wall, getting stuck between two sharp rocks.

"Dammit," Kein said. Setting his gut down on the boat, he reached into the water and began to paddle. After almost three minutes of non-stop rowing and the mushroom tapped the edge of the cliff.

He looked up, the paper was a good five meters up.

"Fucking really?" Kein pinched the bridge of his nose. What had he done to deserve this? "Hey, Sparx…" The dragonfly was also gone. Kein threw a hand in annoyance. "Cool. Running it solo again…"

Kein sighed again. He really didn't want to give up on that paper, despite that it was barely half done. He also knew that it would be easier to redraw it, it's always easier to remake than make anew.

"Yeah, but… My fucking perspective is all fucked up now!" he shouted to the air. Plus, he was only climbing a cliff. It wasn't like the difficulty was unusual to him anymore.

With anger-induced confidence, he slid his first foot up the cliffside, then hand, then second foot. Suddenly, the first major roadblock became apparent. With the only one hand available, the job became much harder, and there wasn't a ladder of vines to help him this time.

"Ah, shit." Kein studied the rock wall, looking for an easier way up. Of course, there wasn't any. He groaned again. "I'm getting this damn paper!"

Kein adjusted his footing and tried to move his broken arm. He managed to get it above his head, but no further. The weight and pressure of the swollen area too much for him to bear. He became even more annoyed.

Now, with anger and annoyance-boosted confidence, he looked back up the wall. Noting a small jut of rock, a sneer appeared on his face. So what if he fell? There was water.

With little sense of safety, Kein thrust himself up the wall. With a sudden sense of vertigo, he flailed for the jut of rock. Luckily, his aim was true, and he latched onto it at the peak of his jump.

"F-Fuck!" His feet struggled to find a good foothold, but after a second, they managed. He stopped here for a moment, breathing strained. "Okay, that wasn't too bad. One more and I've got it."

Steeling himself, Kein repeated the maneuver. After the same flailing and struggling, he looked to the paper. It, luckily, hadn't moved and was now within reach. There was no way in hell he was going to let go of his grip, so there was only one option.

His broken arm became active again. He was going to have to push it this time. But, with maximum effort and a few seconds, his fingers managed to tap the paper.

"Fucking DAMMIT!" His missed his grab and the paper came loose. Kein swore loudly as he watched the sheet get caught in the vortex of air that rushed along the wall, then again as it disappeared over the top of the cliff.

Anger, annoyance, and rage now fueling his efforts, Kein haphazardly started to climb. Five minutes later, his hand grasped the edge of the cliff. With eyes closed in stress, he pulled himself over. Grunting as his chest hit the ground, he moved onto his knees.

"That, ah," he shook some pebbles from his elbows, "wasn't too ba-" Kein looked up.

His breath hitched and the color drained from his face. Before him stood three more dragons. Three, new, dragons. The race that he had been told specifically wanted him dead.

Very dead.

Kein's face fell and he sighed.

"For fuck's sake."

!000!

A/N:

Aetheo: In what. Fucking. Way. Was that a fucking disclaimer?

Damn, still don't know what's in Volteer's stash. What a shame. You know, it could be something…

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Aetheo: I thought you told me someone else was the drug fiend? Someone like Lilith?

...

I mean yeah, it's already been stated who. But, let's be real, they're all druggies.

Aetheo: In what way would you say that? I mean, they all have access to magical bullshit, but really? Every Dragon's a Drug Fiend? It sounds like some sort of shitty hipster band.

We should tweet snoopdog.

Aetheo: snoopdogg. Get it right. I live near him.

Get hit?

Aetheo: All the injections of the maryjewanna.

Nice.

Aetheo: Obviously, the entirety of California is wrapped in a cloud of MJ smoke, eternally getting us all high. Or it might just be the horrific smog of LA. You never really know.

!000!

Author's Fodder:

TO IS JUSTICE, AND BEYOND!

The Descriptifaction: Encyclopoediwarriors: The Movie: The TV Series: The Novel 7

It's Jerk all the way down!

Fuck of Kein!

The Sublying Underpostings

Distrodent: He's a distribution rodent

Chapter finished on February 11th, 2018. (At 11:59pm GMT-8)