Desert Dragon

by Michael Rogers

  Trevour: "O-Of course, boss!" *He walked slightly faster to get a better look at Rachael's facial expressions.*

  Rachael: "Could you please tell me more about your family?"

  Trevour: "Oh.." *He sounded less enthusiastic, as if he was hoping to talk about something else.*

  Rachael: "It's cool if you don't-"

  Trevour: "Alan.. He's the oldest sibling from my family. He was always the most stubborn and arrogant-" *He walked down the grey rocky terrain, watching the colourless clouds sway across the sky.*

  Rachael: "Aren't all older siblings?"

  Trevour: "Heh heh. He acts out the parental role, trying to keep the three of us in check."

  Rachael: "Oh?"

  Trevour: "Then you have Felipe. He's-"

  Rachael: "He's the one I met at The Agoura Marbles, right?" *She noticed she interrupted Trevour.* "Oops, sorry, hehe."

  Trevour: "Heh heh, that's quite alright, boss. And no, that was Alan."

  Rachael: "Please." *She nodded her head as if she wanted Trevour to continue while she hopped over large boulders.*

  Trevour: "Felipe, he's strong at manipulating lava, but not so great at ground, well, compared to Alan and Rosemary."

  Rachael: "Tell me more about Rosemary, please."

  Trevour: "She's very kind and always looked out for me. She treated everyone well and was the reason why I was able to stay at home for so long."

  Rachael: "What does that mean?"

  Trevour: "I eventually got kicked out."

  Rachael: "By your own family?"

  Trevour: "Yes. They were disgusted I could never achieve the level two elemental affinity."

  Rachael: "What are level two?"

  Trevour: "Well, for example, fire eventually turns into either lightning or lava."

  Rachael: "Two?"

  Trevour: *He nodded his head.* "It depends on the user."

  Rachael: "And the others?" *She smiled with satisfaction, as if she was happy she was learning.*

  Trevour: "Wind eventually turns into lightning. Ice turns into water or vice-versa."

  Rachael: (Vice versa? I would've imagined ice being stronger than water, but after learning how to use Dust Storm, I understand how hard manipulating free-moving elements can be-) "And what about ground?"

  Trevour: "Lava.."

  Rachael: "But I've heard a few people say sand or dirt is the next stage above rock."

  Trevour: "My siblings are living proof that's not the case."

  Rachael: "I still think you're amazing."

  Trevour: "Heh heh, thank you, boss."

  Rachael: "What about your parents? I don't like to think they'd let your siblings treat you in such a manner."

  Trevour: "Well.. That's all I'd like to say for now." *He smiled with sadness, causing Rachael to look away in understanding.*

  Rachael: (Did something happen to his parents?)

  Trevour: "Well, if you don't mind me asking, boss. Could you tell me more about this Ashton gentleman?"

  Rachael: "Ash?" *She spoke on her breath and looked down with a smile.*

  Trevour: *He noticed Rachael's strange behaviour, causing him to stutter in understanding.* "What shall we do after this quest? Check and see if Lezard has found anything out about-?"

  Rachael: "Ash, he's my partner."

  Trevour: "Partner?"

  Rachael: "Yeah. The most kind hearted person you'll ever meet.. He's the reason why I want to go back to Earth."

  Trevour: "Oh.. He means that much to you?"

  Rachael: "Of course. I guess you could say, I'm hopelessly in love with him."

  Trevour: "In.. In love?" *He sounded surprised and confused, as if he didn't want to hear it.*

  Rachael: "I usually don't like talking about Ashton or how I feel to strangers, but-" *She looked at Trevour with a widening smile.* "We're friends now, hey."

  Trevour: "Y-Yeah, friends heh heh.. You really love him, don't you, boss?"

  Rachael: *She nodded her head.* "There hasn't been a day where I haven't stopped thinking about him.. That strong urge to protect and be protected by him, just thinking about him makes me feel all warm and safe."

  Trevour: "Boss?"

  Rachael: "I.. I love him more than anything else, he's.. He's my will to keep going."

  Trevour: "..."

  Rachael: "Sorry to bore you, hehe, I know some guys aren't really fond of this talk."

  Trevour: "Oh, it's fine. I asked, remember? Heh heh."

  Rachael: "One day.. One day, I'll get to see his lame smile once again."

  Trevour: (I.. I love him more than anything else, he's.. He's my will to keep going.) *Rachael's voice echoed inside his head, causing him to discreetly form fists.*

  Rachael: *She noticed a warp in the air, causing her to slow down.* "I think we're here."

  Trevour: "Right you are, boss." *He sighed and mentally prepared himself, allowing him to smile in a happy-like manner.*

  Rachael: "Thanks for the chat, Trev."

  Trevour: "..."

  Rachael: "Trevour?"

  Trevour: "Oh-" *He coughed and nodded his head.* "Any time, boss."

  Rachael: "Hehe." *She giggled and stepped through the warped air, causing her image to fade out of sight.*

  Trevour: "Ashton.. He must be an amazing person to win the heart of someone like Rachael." *He spoke to himself and followed Rachael through the warped air, causing his image to disappear.*

  ----------

  *Swaying tree branches suddenly exploded, dropping the man and poodle-like Scoldrant on to the ground.*

  Nathan: "You! Get out of here! We'll hold off the Wah-Whakatah."

  Man: "R-Right! Fruity-loo!"

  Scoldrant: "Peowpeow."

  Karol: *He watched the man leave with his Scoldrant.* "Nafan? Loona?"

  Nathan: *He pointed the sword at the moving tree.* "We'll weaken it and then retreat."

  Luna: "Windstream Shot." *She flicked the string and shot an arrow of wind to the side of Nathan, exploding a wine-like branch away from him.*

  Nathan: "Huh?" *He watched splinters of bark spiral past his face.*

  Luna: "You're the one with the sword, go on." *She nudged her head at the tree, implying for Nathan to run towards it.*

  Nathan: "Fine!"

  Luna: "Fine then!"

  Karol: *He watched Luna and Nathan shout at each other face to face.* "Shouldn't we be fowcusing on the Scoldrant-?"

  Nathan: "Whatever."

  Luna: "Wateva!"

  Tree-like Scoldrant: "Vine Brush." *Vine-like branches whipped past Nathan, cutting his cheeks open.*

  Nathan: "Argh!-"

  Luna: "Nath!"

  Karol: "Nafan!"

  Nathan: *He slid back with squinted eyes and quickly faced the Scoldrant.* "You two get back!"

  Luna: *She frowned.* "I'm not weak, I can-"

  Nathan: "How can I protect you?!" *He shouted in determination and placed his right hand on the sword's tip, as his body glowed a shade of blue.*

  Tree-like Scoldrant: "Vine Brush." *It whipped its vine-like branches and swayed them towards Nathan.*

  Nathan: *He opened his eyes and watched the vines whip the sword, noticing they flicked back in a repelled-like manner with each hit.* "Great Div-"

  Tree-like Scoldrant: "Oarrrrrrr-" *Its bark made mouth creaked, causing more branches to whip at Nathan.*

  Luna: "O-Oi!" *She screamed at the tree.* "Why are ya only attackin' him?!"

  Destiny: "Yeup!"

  Nathan: (I can't use my Azure Burst with these consecutive hits!-) *His face violently rocked to each side.*

  Karol: "Defence Up." *He started to dance, causing a small sigil-like glyph to draw itself underneath Nathan.*

  Nathan: *He noticed the vines no longer moved him with each hit.* "Thanks!"

  Karol: "We're men! We pwotect each other!"

  Luna: "Pssht-" *She pulled the string to her bow and shot an arrow of wind in front of Nathan, bursting all the branches away from him.*

  Nathan: "
Hmph-" *He readjusted his grip on the sword and readied to charge towards the Scoldrant.*

  Tree-like Scoldrant: "LIFA BLOSSOM"

  Karol: *He stopped dancing, causing the sigil-like glyph to fade away.* "Lifa Bwossom?"

  Luna: "Sounds gay-" *She suddenly choked, as a vine burst out of the ground, wrapping itself around her neck and feet.*

  Destiny: "Yeup! Yeup!" *She hissed and started to gnaw on the vine, attempting to bite it off.*

  Nathan: "Luna!" *He shouted with growing panic and glared at the vines.* "Air-"

  Tree-like Scoldrant: "Growth Tuck." *It suddenly withdrew all of its branches, flicking Luna over the ledge.*

  Luna: *She dangled upside down, suddenly looking up at the sky as Destiny rolled over in disorientation.* (Shit, shit, shit-)

  Destiny: "Yeup?" *She quickly attached herself on the back of Luna's head, allowing them both to see the violent ocean below them.*

  Luna: "Oh shit-"

  Nathan: "I'm coming, Luna, Destiny!" *He shouted in a worried-like manner.* "Ougi."

  Karol: *He staggered back, watching the entire area around him come to live as more branches swayed into the air.* "N-Nafan-"

  Nathan: *He started to shake his wrist, causing the sword to unnaturally vibrate.* "Let her go!" *He jumped towards the tree and raised his arm, causing the sword's image to move like a snake.*

  Karol: *He watched the top of Luna's leg move up and down from behind the ledge.* "If she falls from that hight..." *He squealed in shock.*

  Nathan: "Hah!" *He waved the sword to each side, causing the branches to explode away from him.*

  Karol: *He watched Nathan slowly march deeper into the forest of moving branches.* (The bwanches are breaking before they even touch Nathan or his sword-)

  Nathan: "Hahh!" *He shouted and ignored thick veins which bulged around his right shoulder.*

  Karol: *He intensely stared at Nathan, watching him slowly stagger towards the ledge where Luna screamed from.* (Pwease.. Make it-)

  Tree-like Scoldrant: "Oarrrrr." *It continued to whip its branches towards Nathan, watching them explode closer and closer to Nathan, as if his attack was growing weaker.*

  Nathan: (I'm sorry, Luna.. I don't think I can-)

  Karol: "Nafan!" *He squealed at the top of his lungs and kicked the ground, causing an expanding orange glyph to spread from his foot.* "Power Up."

  *Karol started to dance with enthusiasm, causing the glyph to spread under Nathan.*

  Nathan: *He listened to the change of sound in his sword, causing the branches to explode much farther away from him.* (It isn't hurting as much to move my sword with this speed-)

  Karol: "Swave Loona!"

  Nathan: "Karol?" *He stepped to the side and waved his snake-like sword down, exploding all the branches to his right.*

  Tree-like Scoldrant: "Oaarr! LIFA BLOSSOM" *It croaked with an echo, as more branches erupted out of the ground around Nathan.*

  Nathan: (With every cut, my confidence continues to grow-) *He glanced at his hand around the sword, noticing shards of wood jabbing into his skin.*

  Karol: "Pwease, Nafan!"

  Luna: *The branch around her foot tightened, causing a loud crack to be heard.* "Urgh!" *She screamed in pain, alerting Nathan, Destiny and Karol.*

  Destiny: "Yeup! Yeup! Yeuu!" *She hissed in pain, as if she felt it too.*

  Nathan: *He glanced at the orange glyph under him and continued to run towards the ledge.* (Even with this glyph, my power isn't enough!) "Double Slash."

  *Nathan visible swayed his blurred arm twice, listening to two 'vsssht'-like sounds, as several branches crumbled to dust.*

  Nathan: *He frowned in determination and jumped off the ledge, ignoring the bursting splinters of bark around him.* "Luna!"

  Karol: "Naf!-" *He gasped, watching Nathan fall out of his sight.* "Nafan!"

  Luna: *She gasped in shock and looked up to her side, watching Nathan grab hold of a branch.* "Dickhead?"

  Nathan: *He hung off the branch by Luna's side.* "Give me your hand!"

  Destiny: "Yeup?!" *She meowed in shock, as if she wasn't expecting Nathan to be there.*

  Luna: *She noticed Nathan's sword revert back to normal, as he stopped moving his wrist.* "Your arm-?"

  Nathan: "Take my hand!" *He tried to reach forward to grab Luna.* (Dammit! She's too far away!)

  Luna: *She squirmed, trying to reach Nathan.* "I can't!"

  Destiny: "Yeu, yeup!" *She readied to hop down Luna's arm to see if she can extend the reach.*

  Nathan: "Don't, Destiny! You'll fall-" *He grabbed the branch with both hands to prevent him from falling.*

  Luna: "Wat the fuck can we do then?!"

  Nathan: "Use your lightning arrow!"

  Luna: "My wat?"

  Nathan: "You used it before!"

  Luna: "I dunno how to do that! I only manipulated gastly's lightning-"

  Nathan: *He paused in thought and suddenly gasped with a smile.* "I'm not a fan of Rostical, but learning elemental affinities should be similar to Azure Bursts."

  Luna: "Harh?" *She grunted with gritted teeth, as blood ran up her leg from the branch.*

  Nathan: "I tried to learn the Azure Burst, number forty five."

  Luna: "Aye?"

  Nathan: "Sorry-" *He chuckled, shaking his head.* "Streaming Sword."

  Luna: "I'm not in the mood to be learnin' shit right now! If you haven't noticed, I forgot to bring a pen!"

  Nathan: "Even though I couldn't grasp the element, this is what many people did-" *He raised the sword in pain and slashed the rocky cliff next to him, causing a line of sparks to splinter off the stone.*

  Luna: "So?"

  Nathan: "It may be different from manipulating lightning, but use the sparks!"

  Luna: "How the fuck can I do that?!"

  Destiny: "Yeup!"

  Nathan: "An Elementalist would have no problem!"

  Luna: "But-" *She paused, shaking her head.* (I'm getting light-headed-)

  Nathan: "Do it!" *He slashed the sword across the cliff, causing his face to momentarily light up from the sparks.*

  Luna: "Gah-" *She swayed her hand, causing a swirl of wind to elongate the sparks.* "H-Huh?"

  Nathan: "See! Again!-"

  Tree-like Scoldrant: "Ougi, oarrr!" *It dragged itself towards the cliff, as if it was ready to finish off Nathan and Luna.*

  Karol: "H-Huh? Isn't this fowest its Ougee?!" *He squealed to himself.*

  Tree-like Scoldrant: "Thorn Shrewfield!" *Its echoing croaks caused large thorns to burst out of the branches.*

  Nathan: *He heard wood-like cuts, drawing his attention to the thorny vines.* (We don't have long-) "Keep at it!"

  Luna: "OK-" *She tried to calm herself down and waited for Nathan to cause more sparks.*

  Nathan: "Hah!" *He slashed the sword across the rocks.*

  Luna: "Gah!-" *She swayed to the side, causing strings of electricity to flash from the growing sparks.*

  Nathan: *He squinted his eyes and watched the lightning flash away.* "You almost did-"

  Luna: "Again!"

  Nathan: *He smiled and slashed the sword once again.* "Now!-"

  Luna: *She swayed her arm, causing strings of electricity to swirl past Nathan and around her hand.* "I got this!"

  Nathan: "You need to shoot the Scoldrant's nervous system!"

  Luna: "Where the fuck is that-?!"

  Destiny: "Yeu, yeu!" *She meowed in agreement and observed the tree with inverted vision, focusing her attention on a crack in between two large branches.*

  Luna: *She pulled the string back, causing the electricity to form itself into a lightning arrow.* "Seraphic Volt."

  Destiny: "Yeup!" *She meowed with widening eyes, ensuring Luna had perfect vision on her target.*

  Luna: "Gah!-" *She released the string, shooting the arrow made of lightning into the tree's branches.*

  Tree-like Scoldrant: "Oarrr!" *It croaked in pain, as lightning sparked down its vine-like branches.*

  Nathan: *He noticed the
branches around him lose their life-like movements.* "Now!-"

  Luna: *The branch around her feet loosened, allowing her to reach Nathan.* "Sh-Shit-"

  Nathan: "Gotcha-" *He tightly held onto Luna and looked up.* "Karol!"

  Karol: *He glanced across towards Nathan's voice, shaking his head.* "I kan't see yooh!"

  Nathan: "Karol! Power it up, only on this branch!" *He shouted and tugged on the branch, showing Karol which one to focus on.*

  Karol: *He danced with his arms and spun around, causing a small sigil-like glyph to form around the branch.* "Power Up."

  Luna: "Why do you want to power this fucker up?!"

  Tree-like Scoldrant: *It swayed the branch Nathan, Luna and Destiny hung off and threw them up into the air with heightened strength.* "Oar-?"

  Luna: "Arh!?"

  Karol: "Everwyone!" *He watched Luna, Nathan and Destiny hit the ground in relief.*

  Luna: "Fuck.." *He grunted with a loss of breath, lying on her back.*

  Tree-like Scoldrant: "Oarr!" *It slowly turned around in confusion, as if it wasn't expecting to throw Nathan and Luna right over its body.*

  Nathan: *He quickly grabbed the sword and slashed behind him.* "Air Slash."

  Tree-like Scoldrant: "Oar-" *The air slash hit its stump and pushed it back, as its body was still weakened from the lightning.*

  Karol: *He stopped dancing and ran towards the guild, tripping on his own foot.* "Wah-" *He landed face-first into the ground.* "Owch!"

  Nathan: *He ignored his throbbing arm and leant over Luna, ensuring she was okay.* "We did it?"

  Luna: "Aye?" *She looked behind her and watched the tree fall off the cliff in shock.* "How?"

  Nathan: "It was violently moving its branches through the ground, combined with losing its strength and being near the cliff-" *He rocked his head to the side, as if the rest was obvious.*

  Luna: "Aha, nice."

  Nathan: *He smiled and looked Luna in the eyes.* "Ha ha."

  Luna: *Her smile slowly faded into seriousness, as she stared at Nathan's lips.* "Thanks, aye."

  Nathan: *He dropped the sword and placed one hand on Luna's face.* "We thought we lost you."

  Luna: *She rested flat on her back, staring up at Nathan who leant over her in a protective-like manner.* "Oh...?"

  Destiny: "Yeu?" *She purred to herself, listening to Luna and Nathan's heartbeat.*

  Nathan: "Don't scare me like that-"