Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"Everything here's state-of-the-art,” Said Mike Doman, helmsman of Starchild II to Bolt Mitchell. “Miles ahead of that old rustbucket you came here in."

"She's beautiful," Bolt said. He wore his brand-new captain’s uniform, all high-tech OmniFabric with the Terran Unified Star Command emblem, consisting of the Terran emblem being encircled by a sleek pair of bird’s wings, 3D-printed onto his right sleeve, and the three concentric rings on the other shoulder signifying his rank. It was hard to believe he was going back, especially with a whole team of his own!

Bolt pressed his hand onto the control panel on the armrest of his chair, pressing the button to trigger BIS-SI, the ship’s AI, whose name was an acronym for Basic Information System- Standard Intelligence.

"Commanding officer recognized." BIS-SI said, "Hello, Bolt Mitchell."

"What!? The ship actually knows my name this time!"

"Of course she does! She's your ship."

Soon the rest of his bridge crew made it onto the bridge. Alongside Helmsman Doman and himself there was Harry McAllen, his communications officer, Solas Jericho, his security/weapons specialist, (Whom Bolt desperately hoped he wouldn’t need) and chief engineer Marcus Ridley, who had been on the main design team for construction of the entire line of Falcon V ships, including this one. Downstairs in Medibay was the ship’s only doctor, Ellie Danfield.

Before he had come to Earth, he had never thought humans could be so… Varied. The second he stepped onto the planet’s surface for the first time, he found that humans came in all sorts of colors and shapes! Rather than the olive-brown skin and black hair most Pyrrhian humans had, Terran humans could have pale skin like his, or they could be even darker than the “scavengers” he’d known for most of his childhood.

His crew was representative of that dynamic. There was Mr. McAllen, with extremely pale skin that apparently came from spending his childhood indoors experimenting with electronics, and brown hair. Solas had a slight tan and black topping his head. Marcus was what the Terrans called “African-Terran,” which meant that he had very dark skin, darker even than Pyrrhian humans. Then there was Mike, who, according to his personnel file, had a very mixed ancestry from all over Terra, and his skin was pale, but slightly darker than Bolt’s own skin. And finally, Ellie looked almost like she could be related to Bolt, with long blond hair and an identical skin color to him.

Bolt had time during the crew’s training to get to know each and every one of them. TUSC’s regimen was designed to make the team ready for anything, but also to bond the crew together like a family. And Bolt was responsible for taking care of them. If anything happened to them, the blame would fall on Bolt alone. Pyrrhia was a dangerous place for humans. Bolt knew how to survive there, but his crew were born-and-raised Terrans. It would be like shepherding a herd of goats through a forest filled with wolves. Bolt hoped he was up to the task.

Everyone settled in and took to their stations. Just like on Starchild I, the pilot’s chair sat on a motorized arm that lifted upwards roughly twenty feet, affording the helmsman a full view of the space outside the ship’s oversized windscreen. As Doman was lifted, the familiar rings and screens surrounded him. This time, however, the ship was not controlled by “analog” levers and steering wheels, but a fully digital control scheme operated through an Omniglass screen in the center of the Doman’s view. Bolt was thankful he had a real helmsman on his team, because the old DKI machine back in Pyrrhia only taught him how to fly “stick.”

“Latantite core’s hot and rarin’ to go!” Said Marcus, barely contained excitement charging his voice. Bolt could guess why. Marcus had helped build this ship, and now he got to fly in it to a new world. He supposed he’d feel the same way if he were in his position.

“How’s our flux drive doing?” He asked Marcus. “I don’t want a repeat of my last interstellar journey.”

“Don’t you worry your blonde little head, cappy. Ship’s brand-new! Ain’t no WAY this thing’s gonna fly apart at FTL. Not if I have anything to do with it.”

“Very good,” Bolt replied with relief. “Harry? What’s our status with TEC?”

“We’re still awaiting clearance for departure, captain. Should be any moment now.”

“Well, we’re ready to go. Maybe remind them we’re still here?”

"Starchild II to TEC Beta,” Harry spoke into his commlink, “We are prepped and ready, awaiting launch authorization."

Within seconds they received their response.

"This is TEC Beta. You are authorized to launch. Good luck out there."

"Doman, take us out," Bolt commanded.

"Aye, sir."

With the docking clamps disconnected, Starchild II ignited her thrusters and pushed slowly forward out of TEC Beta’s dock. Per TUSC safety regulations, they had to be at least six-hundred miles (Bolt forgot what that was in “Standard Distance,” which had supplanted “miles” in this “modern” age) from any planet, moon, orbiting structure or ship before engaging their flux drive. Otherwise their ship could inflict devastating damage on other things in the vicinity.

FTL blowback, it was called. Bolt was glad he hadn’t been stupid enough back in his teenage years to jump straight out of Pyrrhia’s atmosphere. Apparently Starchild I was big enough that an FTL jump close to a structure, say, a dragon stronghold, would have been powerful enough to wipe the castle and its surroundings clear off the map. That definitely would not have been a very good parting gift for his dragon friends.

Soon they were in the clear.

"FTL destination coordinates set, Captain Mitchell.” Said Mike Doman, “We are go for jump at your mark."

"Tell me again why they made an eighteen-year-old civvie the captain of this mission?" Asked Solas.

"Like we went over in the mission briefing, Jericho,” Doman replied, “Mitchell's the only human being on Earth with direct experience of the planet we're going to, AND a personal relationship with its locals. He's perfect for the job." He turned back to Bolt. “We’re ready when you are, captain.”

Bolt was lost in a daze. He was going back… Back to Keeper, back to his other friends, back to his birthplace! It seemed almost too good to be true, like a dream.

“Captain? You here?”

Bolt shook himself out of his thoughts. “Right, right.” He adjusted his scarf over his uniform. “Jump to FTL speed in five… Four… Three…”

Helmsman Doman tapped some buttons on his screen and swiped his finger slowly upward on a virtual slider switch, and the stars in the viewscreen began to streak outward just like when Bolt had traveled to Terra when he was sixteen.

“Two… ONE.”

BOLT AND KEEPER: ENVOY OF THE SCAVENGERS

BY JBHUGHES54ENWILER

……………………………..

TUSC Operation Files (Op. ID 23991171B, Classification Level (None, Mission is unclassified))

Mission Name: Operation “Dragon Rider”

Mission Date: Mission Start: 19 April, 2799 (End date not specified)

Mission Objectives:

1. Assist local human population in “Pyrrhia” with communication with the planet’s sentient draconic species

2. Facilitate peace between the two species

3. If peacemaking fails, secure the evacuation of human population to a safer location on the planet, or find another suitable planet for them

Operation Area:

Planet Name: Devonhart 3, specifically continent locally named “Pyrrhia”

Planet Notes: Devonhart 3 bears a striking resemblance to our own home planet in terms of biome diversity, atmosphere content, and even the presence of an intelligent primate species that is practically a mirror image of humanity, even inexplicably sharing our name and language, though they are far behind us in their societal development. One major difference between Devonhart 3 and Earth is the fact that Devonhart 3 has three moons as opposed to one. Scan data from Starchild I specifies that all three of the planet’s moons do not support life, meaning evacuation of humans to the moons will not be possible. According to mission captain Bolt Mitchell, the wildlife on Devonhart 3 is uncannily similar to Terran life, though larger in scale. Further research is warranted on this fascinating phenomenon.

Operation Vessel(s)

1. TUSC “Starchild II”

Ship Details, OV1:

Model: Terran Aerospace Engineering, Inc. 21488A9 “Falcon V”

Construction Completion Date: 12 January 2799

Refit Date: N/A (Ship is new)

Length: 1.145 SD (Wingspan 0.770 SD)

Weight: (Unladen) 100,010,000 SM

Maximum Occupancy: 1,250 adult humans

UVID: 3434-0001-B

Ship Callsign: Bolt 3B

Ship Classification: Large Exploration Vessel- Long Distance (Class Code LEV-1-LD)

Onboard Armament: Two Class II Pulsar cannons, wing-mounted, rated for asteroid destruction and to be used only for that purpose as per TUSC regulations.

Commanding Officer: Honorary Captain Bolt Mitchell

Mission Crew:

Commanding Officer: Honorary Captain Bolt Mitchell

Second-In-Command: Lieutenant Michael Doman (Also serving as helmsman aboard Starchild II)

Chief Engineer: Corporal Marcus Ridley

Communications Officer: Ensign Harry McAllen

Security/Weapons Specalist: Sergeant Solas Jericho

Medical Officer: TUSC Field Medic Ellen Danfield

Mission Notes:

A: Starchild II will launch from Terran Entry Control station Beta with a minimal crew in order to leave room for evacuees from Pyrrhia in the event of mission failure.

B: Bolt Mitchell is not officially on the ranks as a TUSC officer, but due to his outstanding role in “Pyrrhia,” in that he was born there, lived the majority of his life there, had ties to both sentient species on said planet, and has firsthand experience with the operation of exploration vessels at an exceptionally young age, TUSC Administration’s admiralty has voted to grant Mr. Mitchell honorary captain status of this mission, granting him full control over Starchild II and her crew for this mission only.

C: In keeping with First Contact Protocols (Despite the fact that Terra has already made previous contact with this planet) all personnel are to adhere to strict guidelines regarding combat engagement. Personnel are ONLY to initiate combat with EITHER intelligent species in the operation area if their life is in express, immediate danger. Any deviation from protocol, as logged by weapon control chips, will result in severe penalties including court-martial trial upon return to Earth.

D: Devonhart 3 has a landing zone for Falcon ships pre-constructed below the planet’s surface, though the facility is extremely old and may not be in full operational condition. Please be mindful of aging machinery. Starchild II is loaded with a legacy docking protocol to be able to interface with the LZ’s 202-year-old computer systems. For further information, please consult Captain Mitchell, who was trained in the operation of these ancient systems by way of a Direct Knowledge Infuser device.

E: There is no official time limit for this mission, though Starchild II only has enough Raw Atomic Material cartridges for food production to last roughly five months under standard TUSC rationing. Please pay attention to your remaining supplies on your ship’s manifest, and default to supplying the crew with food from Devonhart 3’s surface if supplies run low.

F: All crew aboard Starchild II have been hyper-immunized and cleared of all Terran infectious diseases prior to launch to prevent possible transfer of Terran diseases to the native population of the operation area. However, all crew must still regularly submit to a mediscan performed by the assigned medical officer while the mission is in progress.

..................................................................................

To be continued in Chapter One: Arrival

Chapter Text

Chapter One: Arrival

-The Invincible Lord, Two Years Ago-

The Invincible Lord had personally seen, along with most of the other denizens of his fine city, the colossal white structure that took to the skies off to their east, towards the residence of the Mountain Dragons. The citizens panicked, and it took most of his guards to calm them down. He, on the other hand, saw an opportunity. He immediately ordered his wisest men to survey the flight path the thing took, and determine where it came from.

Within a day, he assembled a team and personally went with them across the marshes of the Swamp Dragons’ domain, despite the cries of warning from his closest advisers telling him such a journey would be too dangerous for him. The Invincible Lord, of course, admonished them for doubting his strength, and embarked anyway.

After trekking across the swamp for two days, hiding from any dragons they came across, the Lord and his men came across a hill, one that his second-in-command told him was out of place here. On his order, his subordinates searched every nook and cranny of the landmass. Half an hour later, they heard a cry of alarm from a soldier, followed by a muffled thud that came from inside the hill.

The Lord himself scaled the hill towards the sound, and carefully tapped the ground with his feet. Halfway up the hill, his foot phased through the ground, and he knew he had found what he was looking for.

After carefully climbing into the hole, which, upon closer inspection, had a ladder going down into it, The Lord, followed by his team, entered the cave, and found what appeared to be a huge vault, which had been opened, somewhat recently. Mysterious bright lights far brighter than torches dazzled the interior, and a translucent window floated above a pedestal, which had nothing but the words “AIRLOCK SEAL DISENGAGED” displayed on it.

“Did dragons build this?” One of the men asked.

“No, it couldn’t have been,” another man replied, “All the writing here’s in English.”

The Invincible Lord approached the vault door, and stepped inside. There was a large pit in the center of the room behind the door. His second-in-command peered down and immediately determined that it would be impossible to climb down, on account of the impossibly smooth stone-like material the pit’s walls were made out of.

“We can’t climb down…” The commander said, “But look! There’s rails running along the sides of the pit! Perhaps there is a lift that traverses the pit!”

The Lord gave no compliment for stating the obvious, and looked around the room. There was nothing on the edges of the hole to pull up the lift.

“Over here!” A low-ranking guard called out to him from the far wall of the chamber. Everyone crowded around what he had found. It was a mysterious contraption with a magic window somewhat like the one outside the vault door, with countless buttons arranged beneath it.

“Move aside,” the Invincible Lord commanded, and he stepped up to the machine. Not letting a single slip of confusion or uncertainty radiate off of him, despite the fact he knew he was dealing with something far out of reach of his understanding, he pressed a button on the device at random.

The window lit up with an arcane green glow, and words began to appear on the device’s surface.

DEVONHART 3 CENTRAL COLONY COMMAND

EMERGENCY ACCESS TERMINAL

//WARNING! AUTHORIZED USE ONLY!!//

USER ACCESS MEMORY LOADED: HELLO, [MISSINGNAME]

COMMAND PRIVILEGE LEVEL: CAPTAIN

---------------------------------------

MAIN MENU:

>[COLONY STATISTICS] [PERSONNEL FILES]

[EMERGENCY PROTOCOLS] [AIRLOCK SEAL CONTROLS]

[ADMINISTRATIVE FILES] [REMOTE SHIP CONTROLS]

[CALL ENTRY ELEVATOR]

The Invincible Lord, being the most educated man in the world, looked over the words on the screen, and determined that this was some sort of device that could relay information and control other machines. Deciding not to rift through the information stored on it, he examined the buttons below the window once again, and found a grouping of buttons below it that seemed to correspond to the arrow pointing at the first control option the device gave him.

The Lord pressed the downward-pointing button, and just as he guessed, the arrow on the window shifted downward to the next option, [EMERGENCY PROTOCOLS].

“Your intelligence shines through, as always,” his second-in-command told him, causing the Lord to glare at him. He absolutely hated being needlessly flattered. So many of his subordinates tried to curry favor with him using endless praise, and it became so annoying that he imprisoned an adviser for trying to embark on a quest to Jade Mountain to steal treasure for him, which would have been a suicidal move that would also draw the dragons’ renewed wrath on his city.

The Invincible Lord continued moving the arrow downward, until it sat next to [CALL ENTRY ELEVATOR]. Looking over the keys once again, he found a button labeled “Select” and pressed it.

From deep, deep beneath the surface came a loud “clank” and a rumbling sound that quickly grew louder. Within minutes, a metal platform slid into place inside the pit, and a gate opened on the front of it.

The Lord pointed at the platform, and his men assembled on it. He stepped on once everyone else had got on the lift, and he pressed a large button that could only have been the control to move the lift to the other end of the pit. The platform shook, and roughly slid downward on its rails.

-------------------------------------

Several minutes later, the lift reached its destination. The Lord got off and looked around. They were in a wide tunnel that trailed off into the distance, and an opening could faintly be seen at the other end of it. More of the magic lights illuminated the area with a sheer white glare.

“Unbelievable…” One of the soldiers breathed, “We must be miles beneath the ground… How could any human being dig this deep?”

Everyone followed the Invincible Lord down the tunnel, until they reached what seemed to be an atrium. “My Lord, look! The painting here depicts the flying structure we saw earlier!”

“I can see that, imbecile!”

The Lord read the writing on the painting.

TERRAN UNIFIED STAR COMMAND: OPERATION “TREK”

LARGE EXPLORATION VESSEL “STARCHILD”

Now the Lord really couldn't hide his confusion. What in the world is a “Terran?” How do they “command” the stars? And evidently the structure they saw ascending into the clouds a few days ago was some sort of “ship” used to explore… Something. This was a momentous discovery. He knew it now: He would study these “Terrans” and learn their secrets. If he could “command the stars” like they could, perhaps he could finally achieve his ultimate goal: Reclaim Pyrrhia from the terrible beasts that had overrun it.

His followers thought the Invincible Lord was bent on making the world a safer place for humans. That was indeed the facade he wanted to project. But he could care less about the safety of his people, so long as they continued to serve him in his quest for power. He would rule the world, and now that he had discovered the vestiges of this mysterious race called “Terrans,” perhaps… He could rule the stars as well.

After giving a grin, imagining himself in such a position of unbridled power, he ordered his men to search the underground building, every nook and cranny. It wouldn’t be long before a soldier found an armory, and soon, the Invincible Lord had found his calling. It was beautiful. Weapons unlike anything they had ever seen, filling a gigantic room. Enough weaponry to arm an entire legion.

These weapons seemed to be long, handheld cannons of some sort. A soldier picked one up, and curiously pressed a button on the side. A whine issued from the device, building in intensity. He saw a target on the wall, and clumsily aimed it there. He pulled the trigger, and with a loud BANG, a beam of light shot out of the cannon and melted a hole through the target, though far away from its bullseye. The rest of the team gasped in awe, then applauded.

The Lord himself approached a curious weapon resembling the handle of a sword, mounted on a pedestal. He picked it up and gently held it in his hands. Finding a button right where his thumb sat on the handgrip, he pressed it, and suddenly, with a sound like rapidly expanding ice or an Ice Dragon’s deadly frostbreath, a blade manifested on the end of the handle, giving off no small amount of light and releasing a gentle pulsing sound. With curious eyes, he swung the “sword,” and it cut through the air effortlessly.

A target-practice mannequin, in the shape of a human’s torso mounted on a thin pillar, lay on the floor nearby. He stood it back up on its mount and quickly swung the light-sword at it. With an unrealistically small amount of work, the blade cut straight through the mannequin, parting it in half, with the exposed holes on each end of the now two-pieced mannequin, glowing with heat. Visualizing how such a sword would cut through a dragon’s scales like a hot knife through butter, he stowed the blade in his pocket and looked out over his team, who were all playing with various forms of otherworldly tools of destruction, like babies who had stumbled upon a room full of dragon-slaying superweapons.

With weapons that a dragon, no, whole armies of dragons couldn’t stand against, nothing could stop the Indestructible City from growing, and covering the entire continent! His beady eyes glimmered with desire and hope. Humanity was about to exact its revenge for its downfall five-thousand years prior. And the beauty of it was… No dragon would ever see it coming.

Not ever.

---------------------------

-Bolt, Present Day-

“All hands, dropping out of FTL,” Said Helmsman Doman, and he slid his finger across the slider control for the flux drive. With a huge whoosh, the streaking stars and flecks of rainbows disappeared and the Devonhart system zoomed at high speed into view.

It only took about ten hours to get to Pyrrhia. Ten hours! It was mind-boggling that Terran starships had progressed enough that it only took this long to make a journey that had taken almost two weeks on his old ship. Starchild II had gigantic engines for its size, allowing it to reach unheard-of speeds in the name of exploration. For a Falcon V ship, six lightyears was a walk in the park.

Bolt looked out upon the view from his chair to see several planets orbiting the Pyrrhian Sun. All of the other planets were recognizably lifeless, but one planet, dead in the center of the windscreen, was the three-mooned world he was birthed on. It looked tiny from here, and the moons were barely even visible from this distance. Bolt wondered if anything had happened while he was gone.

“Engage sublight thrusters and begin approach,” Bolt ordered Doman.

“Aye.”

The ship began to move forward and Devonhart 3 started to loom even closer. Within minutes they were getting close to the planet.

“Everyone ready?” Bolt asked.

“As I’ll ever be,” Marcus replied.

“OK then. Doman, engage drop shields and prepare for atmospheric entry.”

“On it.”

All Terran ships had a special deployable energy barrier called a “drop shield.” It was a low-level force shield that negated almost all friction, allowing a ship, even a large ship like Starchild II, to slip into a planet’s atmosphere without causing any damage to the ship itself or the environment of the planet the ship was entering. With the drop shield deployed, Starchild II punched straight down into the atmosphere, with Pyrrhia dead in its sights.

Even with the drop shield up, the shield itself would still heat up a little going through the extreme conditions of the atmosphere during entry. Starchild II no doubt looked like a meteor or comet streaking down out of the sky. Talk about wings of fire, Bolt thought in his head jokingly.

No doubt the sight of the ship dropping out of the sky was visible all the way over from the Sand Kingdom and beyond. Every dragon in Pyrrhia would certainly know they were here now. Including Keeper. Bolt felt light inside knowing that he would soon be reunited with his friend and savior. But he also had a lump of fear that Keeper wouldn’t want to be his friend anymore after he left him suddenly for two years. Now that he thought about it, this terrified him.

It didn’t take long for gravity to pull the ship into the inner layers of the atmosphere. Mike Doman quickly pushed the gravity plates to maximum power, which slowed the descent and righted the ship so it was parallel to the ground rather than flying into it. And with that, their entry into Devonhart 3 was complete. Doman deactivated the drop shield, and began to push the ship towards the ocean off the shore of the Mud Kingdom where their underwater landing site awaited them.

Soon they were hovering over the ocean directly above the undersea hatch that covered the starship’s dock.

“Time to see if these legacy docking protocols work,” Doman said, and he called up a terminal on his control panel and began to type in some commands that he seemed to be a bit unused to. Most starship controls for docking in the modern era were totally automatic. Having to manually park Starchild II was going to be a challenge for him.

With a huge splash, the ship hit the ocean, and with the polarity on the grav-plates reversed, the ship sank like a very big rock. Beneath them the outer hatch slid open, and the ship sank into the airlock chamber. The ship floated in place as the hatch above them closed, and the seawater was quickly sucked out of the chamber, before Doman opened the inner hatch, and the ship floated down into the dock, with some leftover water dripping from the ceiling with it.

Doman, whose hands were flying across the keyboard, was wrangling the ship as it floated closer to the floor. Bolt looked up at him, somewhat in awe of his skill. He was thankful he had never had to land the original Starchild. It seemed that getting a massive Large Exploration Vessel safely to the ground took way more work than getting one into the air.

Doman flipped a big switch on his screen, and far below them, the gigantic legs of the ship’s landing gear unfolded from the bottom of the hull. Unlike Starchild I, this ship’s head section was much higher up, and the wings swooped downward several stories, causing the ship’s bottom to be very lopsided when it came to landing. The head’s landing gear unfolded from midship diagonally towards the bow, an unusual design decision that allowed the ship to spare a significant amount of space in the head section. Strong hydraulics and long “sled runners” on the end of the gear supported the weight of the ship’s bow even at this unusual angle.

Doman began to announce the final stages of landing. “Touchdown in three… Two… One.”

CLUNK!!!

Starchild II hit the ground gently, its legs flexing as it bore the weight of the big ship.

“Kill the engines,” Bolt told Doman, and he did. The thrusters and grav-plates entered their cooldown phase, and finally, the ship settled down.

“And that, my friends,” Marcus declared, “Is a successful landing. Not bad for our maiden voyage.”

“Great job, everyone,” Bolt said.

“Errrm, we’ve got a problem,” Doman said.

“What is it?” Marcus asked, “We blow out a power relay on our way down?”

“Nothing serious, it’s just that the old dock’s gangplank won’t line up with our crew entry port at all. Starchild I’s entrance was on deck six. Ours is on four.”

“We’ll have to use the cargo hatch,” Marcus said, “Let’s get down to deck one.”

-Five Minutes Later-

Harry McAllen opted to stay behind on the ship’s bridge to hold down the fort and manage their communications. He found he could tap into the dock’s ancient communications equipment to allow him to stay in touch with all the other crew members by WristUnit. He could also monitor their positions and health with the uplink. Very nifty.

After passing through the ship’s massive cargo hold, (Which was mostly empty since this wasn’t a colonization trip) the team came across the ship’s cargo hatch, which was, in a word, enormous. It was about as big as the airlock seal the ground-level entrance into the dock was. Doman activated his WristUnit and tapped some controls, and with a gigantic WHOOSH of the airlock seal breaking, followed by the roar of large hydraulic motors, the hatch ground downward, and when it hit the floor, it had become a convenient ramp that they could exit the ship through.

They set foot on the concrete floor of the docking bay. Bolt hadn’t been on this level when he was leaving Pyrrhia. It was a simply sprawling space. If you removed the ship, you could fit the entire dragon population of Possibility in here and they’d all have enough room to spread their wings! Above them loomed Starchild II itself, and it really loomed. It was a strange feeling having a machine the size of the SkyWing palace standing above you.

“Hey cappy,” Marcus said, “Look over here. Got a surprise for you.”

Bolt looked at Marcus, and he tapped some controls on his WristUnit. Above them, another hatch opened, and much to Bolt’s amazement, a much smaller ship with swept-back wings appeared inside of it. The vessel activated its grav-plates and floated down to the floor, where it rested in front of them on nimble landing legs.

"Aww!” Bolt exclaimed, “The ship had a little baby Starchild!"

"You really did grow up in medieval times, didn't you?” Solas walked up to him with an air of mild disbelief. “That's an IAEV, or In-Atmo Exploration Vehicle. All Terran exploration vessels have one of these. Makes it a hell of a lot easier to get around a strange planet.”

“We’re calling her ‘Starchild Junior!’” Marcus said.

“I thought we agreed on ‘Starchild Mini?’” Doman dissented.

“It’s a utility ship,” Solas explained, “They don’t get names.”

Awkward silence for a bit…

“We’re still calling her Starchild Junior,” Marcus said with finality.

“Let’s just get onboard that thing, shall we?” Bolt reasoned.

-------------------------------------------

-Ten Minutes Later-

Out of the ocean shot Starchild Junior at high speed. The small in-atmosphere craft was exceedingly fast and could top out at Mach 14 at its upper limit. Inside the ship sat Bolt and his crew, with Mike Doman at the controls, and Bolt sitting up front in the co-pilot’s seat. Unlike the ship’s big sister, this craft had lever/wheel controls, which were only a little unfamiliar to Bolt since they were on a smaller but similar scale to the original Starchild’s controls. The ship followed a similar design language to the Starchild itself, with plenty of white panels and holographic displays. In seats parallel to the fuselage behind the pilot and copilot’s chairs were the passenger seats containing Ellie and Marcus. There were side windows as well offering a panoramic view of the ship’s surroundings.

“So this is where you grew up, huh?” Marcus said, “The mission briefing was definitely right. This place’s a lot like home.”

“I still can’t believe I’m actually back here,” Bolt said.

“So where to?” Doman asked, “Our mission’s to foster peace between the two races on this planet; how are we going to do that?”

“We’ll start by reuniting with an old friend. Doman? Hand me the controls.”

“You sure, buddy? This isn’t like the Starchild, this baby’s way more responsive and fast.”

“I’m sure.”

“Alright, knock yourself out, but try not to kill us all.”

With a swipe of his finger, the main control panel slid over to Bolt, and the spare levers in front of him went live. Bolt grabbed the reins of the ship and pushed forward. He double-tapped his wrist, causing the all-too-familiar holographic map of Pyrrhia to appear. It was still out of date.

“Uhh, I think we should have done a new orbital scan on our way in,” Bolt told Doman, “My maps are two centuries old here.”

“I was wondering if you were going to realize that,” Doman said, “It’s too late now.”

“Why exactly didn’t you remind me, Mike?”

“I trusted in your abilities as captain.”

Solas entered the argument: “A captain, who, if he were actually on the ranks, would easily hold the world record for youngest TUSC captain of all time. He needs all the help he can get.”

“Guys, let’s not argue two seconds into our mission,” Ellie suggested.

“Oh, clip, man!” Marcus exclaimed, “I almost forgot you were with us!”

“I don’t like to speak unless I need to,” Ellie said.

“Well, it did say ‘woman of few words’ in her personnel file,” Doman said.

That was when Bolt jolted the ship in a violent emergency course-correct, and a huge set of wings flew past their side window.

“WHAT THE BLIP WAS THAT!?” Marcus screamed.

“One of our soon-to-be friends,” Bolt said, “One of the people we need to convince to be on our side.”

“Holy CLIP. They’re HUGE!!”

“Of course they are! They’re dragons!”

"You know, when the mission brief said 'sentient draconic species,' I was kinda expecting something like the Silurians from Doctor Who, not ACTUAL DRAGONS!!"

“Should have read deeper into Bolt’s file,” Solas scolded, “This kid’s had some seriously messed-up stuff happen to him because of those things.”

“They’re not things, Mr. Jericho. They’re just like us!”

“Give or take a few major differences which may or may not spell our demise,” Solas responded.

“Which is exactly why we need Keeper,” Bolt said, “He’ll protect us.”

“One dragon to protect all of us. I feel safer already.”

“That’s enough, Solas! He’s my friend, and I trust him! He’s saved my life so many times!”

“Didn’t you abandon him to come to our planet? How do you think he’s going to feel about that?”

Bolt’s face shattered into a horrified grimace. That hit a soft spot. He’d been dreading Keeper’s reaction to him leaving.

Bolt let go of the controls and stormed up to Solas, his face turning red. Which turned out to be a very wrong move that caused the ship to suddenly plummet into a nosedive.

“BOLT!!! THE CONTROLS!!!” Doman screamed, and he jumped in a panic out of his seat into Bolt’s chair, and quickly corrected the ship just a few feet from the treetops.

Everyone sat in silence for a few seconds, panting.

“What the blip were you thinking, captain!?” Doman exclaimed angrily, “This craft doesn’t have autopilot, you could have crashed us!!”

Bolt’s anger quickly departed him, and he shrunk back nervously. “I… I’m sorry.”

“Lighten up on him, Mike!” Marcus said, “He’s a kid!”

“A kid who nearly killed us all before the mission even began,” Solas interjected.

“EVERYONE STOP!!” Ellie screamed, causing everyone to jolt their eyes towards her. “What part of ‘We’re A Team’ don’t you understand!? What happened to all the training we had together, huh?”

“Uhh… G-guys…?” Marcus pointed with a shaking finger out of the windshield.

Smack-dab in front of them hovered an adult MudWing and several of his brothers. Thankfully, they looked more curious and confused than hostile. Bolt figured they could hear the distinctive squealing of scavengers inside of the strange metal bird floating without flapping its wings before them, which probably further flummoxed them. Then Bolt realized that every person onboard this vessel had a telepathic translator implant. The MudWings almost certainly heard everything, since the translators had a range of a mile in some cases.

“Get us out of here, Doman!” Bolt commanded, and since everyone was thoroughly frightened at the moment, they obeyed him without question.

“Does this thing have shielding?” Solas asked once they were safely away from the MudWings.

“Only environmental barriers,” Marcus replied, “If those dragons wanted us outta the sky, we’d be toast.”

Doman turned his head towards Bolt. “Where does your dragon friend live, Bolt? Just point me in its general direction. I think from now on I should be the pilot for this mission.”

Bolt sighed. He’d really messed up, and now his own crew didn’t trust him. “It’s that way,” Bolt told him after consulting his map.

With a huge burst of speed, Starchild Junior took off into the sky towards the Sand Kingdom.

Chapter Text

Chapter Two: Reunion

With Doman’s expert piloting, the IAEV reached the Sand Kingdom in a matter of minutes.

“Doman,” Bolt said, “We should probably land somewhere outside Possibility.  We don’t want to cause a scene by landing right in the middle of town.”

“Agreed,” Solas said, “The societies of both intelligent species on this planet seem to be in their medieval phase.  Though the appearance of the Starchild in their sky likely already gave us away.”

The IAEV soared across the desert and soon Possibility was visible on the horizon.

“I’ll set her down here,” Doman said, and he pushed the controls down and slowed into a hover over the ground.

The vehicle extended its landing gear and softly touched down on the sand, and then the ship’s engines were cut.

“So…  What now?”  Marcus asked.

“I’m going to go get Keeper on my own,” Bolt stated.

“You sure about that buddy?  We should go as a team, strength in numbers an’ all that.”

“I’m certain,” Bolt said, “Besides, the dragons there know me.  Blond hair like mine is a real rarity among humans on this planet, so they should all recognize me.”

Solas stepped up to Bolt as he got out of the seat.  “At least arm yourself.  The last thing we need is our inept captain getting himself killed.”

Bolt chose to ignore Solas’s insult and watched as he pulled a small, handheld contraption out of a container in the back of the ship.  It resembled a handle of sorts, folded in half.  Bolt knew about this device from training.  It was a projector blade, a sword crafted using the finest Terran technology.  Its hard-light blade’s cutting power far outshone metal weaponry, meaning if he decided to defend himself from a dragon, hurting one would be all too easy with this sword.

“It’s a Mark-IV,” Solas explained, “Standard-issue TUSC defense weapon.  It’ll get the job done.”

Bolt saw Solas’s own projector blade sheathed on his hip.  His looked much different, the handle shaped somewhat like a curved hook.  Solas saw him look.

“It was my grandfather’s,” he explained, “Specially made for him by a craftsman.  He served in defense of Earth from an alien threat with it.”

“What’s different about it?”  Bolt asked.

“The blade’s much bigger.”

With that, with lightning speed he equipped the weapon and triggered it.  A moderately-long but exceedingly wide orange hard-light blade manifested over the hook part of the handle, making a gentle pulsing sound.

Bolt was genuinely impressed.  “Whoa,”  he said.

Solas spent several minutes boasting about his “exotic” projector blade, treating Bolt like he was a middle school student he was visiting at class during Defense Day.  Bolt was actually hooked, despite the fact that he was being talked down to.  Finally, Doman got out of the pilot’s chair and produced his projector blade, which looked even more elegant than Solas’s.

“Check out mine,” Doman declared, and Bolt’s attention was instantly diverted to his pilot.  Needless to say, it is very easy to impress Bolt with technology.

Doman triggered his blade, and out popped a curved blade reminiscent of Terran scimitars, only this one had a very unique feature.  A secondary edge floated off the outer edge of the blade's tip.  Bolt stared with gleaming eyes at the sword, while Solas glared at Doman for stealing his thunder.

Finally, Bolt activated the blade Solas gave him.  With an audible click the projector section of the handle flicked out, and with a “crystallization” sound, the blade appeared.  Bolt’s PB was a basic model, with a moderate-length straight blade, light blue in color, and like all projector blades it floated a couple inches away from the handle.

Marcus grinned at them.  “Hey, there’s three PBs here, you guys know what you gotta do.”

“What’s that?”  Bolt asked innocently.

“You gotta touch them together.  Come on, man, it’s literally what every TUSC team does before a mission.”

Bolt’s eyes lit up, and he looked at Doman, who nodded.

“We have to choose a dedication for the mission,” Doman said, “That honor falls to you, Captain Mitchell.”

“Well, what do I do?”

“You have to choose what the mission’s for.  Then we touch our projector blades together and say what our objective is, like ‘For Defense of Earth,” or whatever.”

“It’s kinda like an unwritten protocol among TUSC people,” Marcus explained.  “Everybody does it.”

“Well, let’s do this!”  Bolt said excitedly.

Bolt and Doman raised their blades, Solas joining, somewhat reluctantly, soon afterward.

“For peace!”  Bolt declared, and Solas, Bolt, and Doman crossed their blades out in front of them.  The blades made a distinct scratching sound as they touched.  Ellie and Marcus stood up, and having no projector blades of their own, they placed their hands in the middle of the cross.

“For peace!”  Everyone recited as one.

--------------------------------------------------

-The Sand Kingdom, Two Miles Southwest of Possibility-

After some warm words of “good luck” from Marcus and Doman, Bolt left the IAEV and stepped out onto the desert sand.  For the first time in two years, Bolt had his feet on Pyrrhian soil.  His OmniFabric automatically adjusted to the desert heat, opening up its threads a little to allow more airflow.  Bolt opened his WristUnit map and gauged out Possibility’s position based on the location of the Great Five-Tail River relative to his position.  Bolt set out towards the town.

He hoped that he wouldn’t run into any dragon hunting parties.  He knew that most SandWings now considered his kind to be off-limits for consumption, though a lot could have changed in two years.  He gripped his holstered weapon as he walked, his head scanning the sky for any movement.  He could feel his scarf billowing in the desert breeze.  Bolt noted that he probably looked a lot like a hero in a historical Middle Eastern film he watched back on Terra.  He continued on.

-------------------------------------------------------

-Possibility-

Bolt stepped onto the streets.  So far, so good, Bolt thought.  Some SandWings were milling about, none of whom noticed him.  Yet.   Bolt, with his pale skin, scarf, blond hair, and unusual outfit, would stick out like a sore thumb here.  He wondered if anyone would even recognize him with his unusual getup.

A pale brown blur darted towards an alley nearby.

“Huh?”  Bolt went.  Out of curiosity, he followed it.

Inside the alley Bolt found a multitude of wooden crates, one of which had a trembling tuft of fluffy black hair poking out of it.

Bolt could recognize the sight of fear anywhere.  “Hey, sir?”  Bolt called gently to the human, “Are you okay?”

He could hear muted panting coming from the crate.  This person was terrified.   Bolt cautiously approached the box and looked inside.

Inside was a Pyrrhian human, with the light brown skin and dark hair he was familiar with from his childhood.  He wore moderately damaged brown clothes, and was barefoot.  He looked to be about his age, though he was slightly shorter than him.  But then Bolt noticed something that made his heart drop.

The young man was missing his left arm.  All that remained of his limb was a bandaged nub sticking out from a shredded left sleeve on his shirt.

“Oh, jeez, what happened to you?”  Bolt felt immense pity for the man.  Obviously a dragon had done this to him.

“W-who are you!?”  The man asked; everything about him, his body, his voice, was trembling with terror.

“I’m Bolt,” Bolt replied tenderly, “I’m a friend.  What’s your name?”

“I-I’m Twig.”

Some roaring and rumbling issued from the street outside the alley.  After a few seconds of calibration, Bolt’s telepathic translator kicked in.

“Lucky?  Where’d you go?”

Lucky, Bolt deduced, This human must be a dragon’s pet.  And that dragon’s voice sounds familiar…

Bolt finally recognized the dragon’s voice as belonging to Fen the MudWing.

Hold up.  Fen got a scavenger friend?  Him??

And it took one look at Twig, AKA “Lucky” to figure out that the young man did not want to be Fen’s pet, let alone his friend.

“It’s Gentle Dragon!”  Twig exclaimed, “I’m safe!”  Twig leaped out of the crate and dashed past Bolt into the street.  Bolt accepted that he misread the situation.  Twig liked Fen.  But then what was he scared of?  Who was he running from?   Bolt then chuckled at the fact that both Fen and Twig had endearing “pet” names for each other.  Fen called Twig “Lucky,” while Twig called Fen “Gentle Dragon.”

“Lucky!  There you are!”  Fen called happily in the street nearby.  “You look so scared…  What happened?”

Bolt decided to step out into the street.  Fen was holding Twig gently in his talons and staring with a concerned look deep into the man’s face.  Then Twig looked over at Bolt, and pointed at him with his good arm.  Fen saw this, and looked where his finger was pointing.

Right at Bolt.

Fen’s eyes went wide.  Bolt could tell he was trying to process what he was seeing, trying to find some form of familiarity.

“Bolt?”  Fen asked.

Bolt nodded.  Twig looked confused in Fen's talons.

And then a shadow fell over the MudWing, and Twig whimpered.

A burly red SkyWing, far more muscular than the average SkyWing, looked hungrily at Twig.  Fen looked up at the dragon and his gaze steeled.

“Stay away from my friend!”  Fen shouted, and he stepped back, cradling the young human defensively in his talons.  Fen clearly knew this dragon.  Is this who Twig was running from?

Fen ran over to Bolt and set Twig down next to him, giving him an imploring look that clearly read “Protect him.”  Taking the hint, Bolt stepped in front of the wildly shivering man and drew his projector blade, drawing a shocked look from Twig.  Fen then approached the SkyWing, a low growl coming out of his mouth.

What have I walked into?  Bolt wondered, I took two steps into this town and already I have to play the “Armored Scavvie” role again.

“That is my prey that you stole from me, MudWing.”

Fen looked like he was faltering, but Bolt could tell that he loved Twig enough that he was swallowing his fear and doing everything he could to defend him.  “You know the rules around here, Crimson,” Fen growled, and Bolt suddenly dropped his PB out of shock.  “Scavengers are a protected species!”

Crimson!?!?  I thought we KILLED that dragon!  And why is he more buff than I remember him?!   Bolt picked his weapon back up, and looked at the SkyWing with a mixture of fear and a well of anger.  Twig trembled next to him.   Bolt would ask questions later.  For now, he had a helpless, one-armed human being he had to defend from a monster.

“Crimson” took a leap towards Twig, but was tackled in midair by Fen, whose bulkier body pinned the SkyWing down.

“Scavengers took everything from me!!”  Crimson shouted, “Those little freaks helped to kill my father!!”

Wait, WHAT?!  I don’t remember killing Crimson’s dad!

WAIT A MINUTE…

That’s his SON.

“Hopefully he doesn’t recognize me…”  Bolt whispered sheepishly to himself.

Crimson “The Second” didn’t stay pinned for long.  His extraordinarily powerful musculature heaved Fen off of him, and wasting no time, he charged the two scavengers.  Bolt readied his sword and prepared to fight, while Fen looked on in horror, trying to get up and re-tackle him.

Crimson took one look at Bolt and screeched to a stop.  His eyes cycled from shock, to fear, to rage.

“YOU, ” Crimson growled with unadulterated anger.

He recognizes me, Bolt groaned in his head, I’m screwed.

Crimson lunged, his teeth bared and angled directly at Bolt’s body.  Bolt shoved Twig behind him and raised his projector blade.  Bolt looked like he was going to slash at the SkyWing’s head…  But it was a ruse.  Bolt speedily dodged the attack and with the grace and agility only a trained human warrior could possess, he danced around to Crimson’s leg and executed a wide slash into it.  

True to the form of the projector blade, the cutting edge sank almost effortlessly into the SkyWing’s front leg, leaving a gouge in it that was instantly cauterized.  Crimson let out a pained roar and fell on his chest, while Bolt took the opportunity to climb onto the dragon’s shoulder, preparing to sink his blade into his neck.

Unfortunately, Bolt had left Twig wide open.  Crimson lashed out at the man with his uninjured talon.

“NO!!”  Bolt screamed.  There was nothing Bolt could do.  Crimson was moving too fast.  He was about to watch an innocent man get slaughtered for something Bolt himself did.

A flash of gold, and Twig disappeared.  Seconds later, something huge collided with Crimson, and Bolt was sent flying off the dragon’s shoulder and he landed hard on his back on the ground, thankfully not falling on his own weapon.  Bolt groaned, and looked up at the dragon that had interrupted the fight.

It was a somewhat generic-looking SandWing, his tail barb pointed right at Crimson’s neck.  Bolt’s vision was foggy from his impact, but he would recognize this dragon from a mile away.

It’s Keeper.

“Get out of this town,” Keeper growled at the SkyWing, “ Or you’ll suffer the same poisonous death that befell your father.”

Crimson hissed with primal fury at Keeper, but his eyes were fixated on the tail barb ready to plunge into his neck.  He looked like he was weighing his odds of breaking free from Keeper’s grip and continuing to assault the scavengers without being killed, and soon, he made up his mind.

Crimson faded into a calm demeanor, and he shook his head.  “Very well, I concede.”

Keeper let go of Crimson and the SkyWing stood up.  Keeper kept a very close eye on the dragon as he limped with his slashed foreleg and eventually took off towards the east.  Keeper watched the SkyWing leave and when he was just a dot on the horizon, he turned his gaze to Bolt.  His eyes softened, but also looked a little tired, maybe even a little upset.  He spoke to him in English.

"I can’t believe you’re finally here, Bolt.”  Twig looked down at Bolt from Keeper’s back with confusion.

“I wish it could have been under better circumstances,”  Bolt said.

Keeper scooped Bolt up in his talons and plopped him onto his back next to Twig.

Twig finally spoke up.  “Wait, so you’re that Bolt?  The human Keeper’s been talking about for as long as I’ve known him?”

“Yep,” Bolt said proudly, “The one and only.”

Suddenly from behind Keeper…  Came Marcus and Doman from the IAEV.  Bolt did a double-take and facepalmed.

“Guys!?  What the blip!?”  Bolt groaned.  These people had come in at the worst time.

“Harry told us that your HR had spiked, so we figured you ran into trouble.”  Doman reached Keeper, and looked up at Bolt sitting on his back.

Marcus looked between the two dragons, then turned to Bolt.  “Sooo…  Which one’s Keeper?”

“I’m Keeper,” The SandWing said, “Bolt, who are these humans?”

Bolt didn’t expect this to happen so fast.  “Keeper…  Meet Marcus Ridley and Mike Doman.  They’re part of my crew, who came with me to Pyrrhia to solidify the bond between humans and dragons.”

Fen looked amazed.  “So wait, these people are alien scavvies just like you are!?  That’s awesome!”

Twig looked at the Terrans, then to Bolt.  “We thought you’d never come back.  I thought that this “Terra” place was so safe and comfortable that you’d never want to leave.”

“It is safe.  Really safe, or at least compared to here it is.  And I even have a family over there!”  He looked right into Keeper’s eyes.  “But I was born here.  I was always going to come back!  ...It just took a bit longer because apparently you have to be at least eighteen years old to pilot a spaceship.”  Marcus giggled at that remark.

“Anyway,” Fen said, “Let’s go inside.  I think there’s been enough action out here.”

Chapter Text

Chapter Three: Past Times

Fen, Keeper, and the humans entered Fen’s home, which Bolt had never seen before. In the Mud Kingdom, Bolt knew MudWings lived in huts made (predictably) out of mud. Here in Possibility, though, there wasn’t much mud to be found, and Fen’s house was made like most of the rest of the buildings on the desert side of town, out of a mix of wood and sandstone. There were two rooms: a main room, kind of like a living room in a Terran dwelling, and a bedroom in the back.

Bolt looked around the living room and his eyes immediately shot to a small, human-sized set of stairs leading up to an enclosed space containing a human bed and some spare clothes and bandages piled up in the corner. Obviously, that was where Twig slept. Its architecture seemed familiar, perhaps Winter had built it for him; he always was the foremost expert among dragons when it came to a human’s “nesting habits.”

Off in the back room there was a big pool of mud (Imported or domestic? Bolt thought) where he presumed Fen himself rested at night. Bolt couldn't imagine sleeping in such a dirty place. No thanks, he would stick with his comfy, warm cloth beds and blankets.

A big table sat in the middle of the main room, with a half-eaten cow carcass laid out on top of it. It seemed that both Fen and Twig had made their meals out of the animal, with dragon-sized bites and some sliced-off portions taken out of it, and a small plate with bits of cow that had been cooked lay near the edge of the table. Doman and Marcus seemed to be a little put off by the carcass. The only place you’d see an animal cut up like this on Terra was a butcher shop.

Bolt looked behind him on Keeper’s back to see Twig looking at Fen with a peaceful expression on his face. The young man clearly trusted that MudWing. He really wanted to learn more about him, especially how he lost his arm. Keeper placed his back against the big table in the main room, allowing Bolt and Twig to get onto it.

“So…” Bolt said, “I think the first order of business is catching up.”

“I agree,” Keeper said, “I would very much like to learn about what your homeworld is like.” Fen nodded in agreement in the background.

“Before we start with that,” Bolt said, “I’d like to know why Twig here is missing one of his arms. What happened to him?”

Fen looked confused. “Twig? Do you mean Lucky?”

Bolt nodded. “His real name is Twig, Fen. I guess you wouldn’t have known that since you don’t understand our language.”

Twig jumped into the conversation. “What does Gentle Dragon call me?”

Bolt turned his head towards him. “He calls you ‘Lucky.’”

Twig looked down to the ground for a second as he considered what he had been told. “Well… I guess I am kind of lucky.”

Fen piped up. “What does Lucky call me?”

“Gentle Dragon,” Bolt told him.

Fen’s eyes widened and teared up with joy as he swooned. “Oh, you little furball, I love you so much!” He jumped up and nuzzled Twig with his snout.

As Keeper brought Marcus and Doman up to the table, Bolt sat down cross-legged next to Twig and asked, “So, Twig, what’s your story?”

------------------------------------------

Twig began to look somewhat distant. The memories he was about to talk about clearly bothered him. Keeper came close to them, preparing to translate Twig for Fen.

“It all started… On my eighteenth birthday, almost a year ago. My parents were trying to get me out of the house ever since I was sixteen… They really didn’t like me because I wanted to be a dragon-watcher, rather than a farmer. They poured all their love into my younger brother… I was just… There.

“That’s terrible…” Doman said.

Twig continued. “I decided that for my eighteenth birthday, I wanted to finally see a dragon. Our village isn’t terribly far from this dragon town, so anyone who wants to see a dragon can just sneak into town and watch them from an alley or another secluded place. Except we’re not supposed to do that; it would be dangerous, not just for individual people, but for the whole village because we could lead the dragons to our town.”

“That’s actually not a bad reason,” Marcus commented.

“Well… I didn’t make it to the town anyway. I entered a clearing on my way there, and I was really lost in my thoughts about my parents… I didn’t notice the Mountain Dragon flying overhead.”

Bolt started feeling a little sick. He could guess where this was going.

The dragon swooped straight down at me… I turned around and tried to run, as fast as I could, back to the forest… But I wasn’t fast enough. It landed right on me and I got pinned under its talons. I was screaming, ‘please don’t hurt me!’ as loud as I could, but obviously it couldn’t understand me. Next thing I knew, its mouth flashed towards me. I raised my hands to try to shield myself from the inevitable… And that was when…”

Twig shivered. He paused for a few seconds, remembering how badly it hurt.

"It actually didn't hurt as much as I thought it would... Probably because of all the adrenaline running through my veins when it happened. I saw the dragon chew on my torn-off arm for a bit, then it spit it out, and it landed on the ground next to me… And then the dragon flew off, probably to find tastier prey… And that was it… I knew it was all over for me. I was losing blood really fast, and I was too weakened and in too much pain to get up and try to find help…”

After Keeper finished translating to Fen, the MudWing chimed in: “And that’s where I came in!” He said proudly.

Keeper and Bolt switched roles, and now Bolt translated to Twig what Fen was saying.

“I was going on my morning stroll through the woods when I heard a big whoosh of SkyWing wings, then I heard the unmistakable scream of a scavenger. All I could think of was Bolt, and how scavvies were really intelligent people who don’t deserve to be eaten, and I dashed towards the sound. The SkyWing was gone when I got there… But there was Lucky-- I mean, Twig… Poor guy was lying in the grass, there was blood everywhere… And I saw his little arm shredded to pieces on the ground next to him.”

Fen looked upset. “I felt so bad… My parents taught me to always respect my prey… To finish them off quickly so they wouldn’t feel too much pain… That SkyWing sickened me, leaving poor Twig to suffer like that…” Then he looked a little optimistic. “But, there was one good thing that came out of that situation. Since little Twig wasn’t dead, I had a chance to save him!” His expression shifted to pride: “And save him I did! Fen the MudWing, hero of scavengers everywhere!”

Bolt laughed. This MudWing really took his “job” seriously. Bolt turned back to Twig, who was looking both a little glum and a little happy. “Well,” He began, “At first I was terrified of Gentle Dragon, or I guess he’s called Fen…? In any case, I thought that he was going to finish me off.”

Now Fen jumped back in once Bolt finished translating. “I could definitely tell that too. He was looking straight into my eyes and panting really hard, but he wasn’t moving… He must have been too injured to do much more than stare at me and fear me and stuff. I picked him up in my talons, being really careful with him. I could feel him shivering, and I flew straight to the doctor’s office!”

“You mean Mayfly’s practice?” Keeper said, “You’ve told me this one, that MudWing wanted nothing to do with Twig.”

“Right you are! Mayfly was all like (His voice contorted into a crude imitation of Mayfly’s supposed voice) ‘Grr, I’m a doctor, not a veterinarian! Get that furry trash outta my office!’ But all it took was a nice little sack of gold I was carrying at the time, and then she was like ‘Oh all right, I’ll see what I can do.’”

Twig picked up from there. “By then, my adrenaline rush had worn off… And all I could feel in my left shoulder was pain, like my arm had been replaced with a limb made of fire that was going to consume me completely. I knew at that point that the swamp dragon was trying to help me, but all I could think about was how much it hurt…”

“He was screaming really loud, so loud that a SkyWing resting in a cot nearby was yelling at us, going ‘Would someone PLEASE shut that scavenger up!?’ I yelled back; ‘Hey! You’d be screaming pretty loud too, if someone ripped one of your limbs off!’ And that quieted him down.”

Fen continued. “Mayfly definitely wasn’t used to treating someone so… Little, but she was a good enough doctor that it wasn’t much of a problem for her to switch from fixing scales to healing skin.”

“She started off with disinfecting the wound,” Twig said, “And that’s as far as I remember. Getting acidic antiseptic splashed on my open wound was so painful it knocked me out.”

Fen, therefore, picked up the rest of the way. “I knew that Twig’s arm was a lost cause, it was all chewed up and torn to pieces, that’s why I left it in the woods where I found him. And both me and Mayfly presumed that scavengers couldn’t regrow lost limbs, so the doctor focused on wrapping his body in bandages, which was the best we could do.”

Bolt had seen Terran medical technology close up, and he knew that if Twig were lucky enough to be a resident of Earth, with their technology it really was possible to regrow a limb. Living in the “future” truly was a blessing.

“He ended up recovering so quickly! His stump formed into a little nub, and within a month, he was happy and healthy. Both me and Mayfly were so amazed at how fast the little guy had turned around that I decided to name him Lucky.”

“So, that’s it then?” Marcus said, “Dragon bites off his arm, another one rescues him, and yet another patches him up?”

“What’s funny is that I can still feel my arm there…” Twig said, “It’s like there’s a ghost arm extending out from my nub that I can move.”

“That’s a typical reaction the human body has when it loses a limb,” Doman said.

“I see,” Twig said.

Fen poked his snout between Bolt and Twig. “Are you guys talking about all the times Twig tried picking up food with his nonexistent arm? Or all the times he waved at me with his nub? I always found it adorable when he waved that little nub.”

Twig didn’t understand what Fen was saying, so Bolt translated to him. Twig actually looked somewhat upset. “Well, I was trying to wave my hand, but I don’t have that one anymore! It doesn’t really help that I was left-handed; now I have to use my right one for everything and it’s making me so clumsy!”

Fen didn’t need to be able to understand Twig to know that the human was offended by his statement. “Sorry, was that the wrong thing to say?”

“He’s still used to having that arm, Fen,” Doman explained, “He’s not trying to be ‘cute’ by trying to use that nub to do things; it’s part of his body’s response to losing a limb, and he’s greatly bothered by the fact that it’s gone.” He turned to Twig. “Am I right?”

Twig nodded. “I mean, it was a part of me that I relied upon every day. Now it’s gone… And it’s not coming back.” He looked at Bolt. “Kind of like how you lost your parents.”

Bolt scratched the back of his head nervously. “Well, I suppose that analogy kind of makes sense.” He looked down at the ground. “Our families are kind of like parts of our bodies. We rely upon them for support… And losing one hurts… .” He began to look even more depressed. “There’s nights I replay my dad’s messages to me from my WristUnit on loop, just to hear his voice…”

Marcus put his hand up on Bolt’s shoulders. “It’s okay, Bolt. We’re here for you.” He looked at Twig. “And you too, big guy. Things’ll get better for you as long as you stay on the bright side.”

“Do you miss your parents at all, Twig?” Bolt asked, “I mean, I know they weren’t very nice to you, but…”

“I miss them. What hurts me more is that they probably don’t miss me. And even if I went back to Haven Village… They’d probably treat me even worse since there’s no way a one-armed man can be a good farmer. So like it or not… Fen the Gentle Dragon is now my family. I’ll stick by him like he’s my brother. We do everything together, eating, hunting, even singing! Though his voice usually drowns mine out…”

“That’s something I’d pay to see,” Marcus said, “A dragon and a human singing together, that would really be a sight to behold.”

Twig perked up a little. “I taught Fen my village’s song, with Keeper’s help. It’s the only thing in my language he knows. Keeper tells me they both think it’s one of the most beautiful melodies they’ve ever heard.”

“So does half of the rest of the town,” Keeper said, and he switched to Dragon: “I tell you, Fen, you should really start charging tickets for your little ‘concerts’ with Twig, you could get rich off of your duets with him!”

“Can we hear you sing?” Bolt asked.

“Maybe later,” Fen said, “Now I want to hear about what you were up to those two years you were gone.” Keeper nodded next to him, and even Twig looked like he was interested.

“Well, Bolt,” Doman told him, “Let them hear it. How was your time on our planet?”

--------------------------------------------------

Bolt straightened up. “Well, when it comes to Terra, where do I even start? It’s such an indescribably fantastic place that I’m not sure words will do it justice… Thankfully, I took some pictures.”

“You what…?” Keeper looked confused.

“Oh, yeah!” Bolt looked excited. “That’s something we have on Earth, we have these little machines built into our communication devices called ‘cameras’ that can instantly make pictures out of things!” He pulled up his WristUnit and opened the photo gallery app. Keeper, Fen, and Twig gathered around the little screen, the dragons having to squint to see what was on the display.

“This is Harry’s house, where I lived with him. Harry’s my adoptive father, by the way. It’s in this really pretty seaside town called Harborford!”

The picture on the screen showed a two-story suburban house, painted a deep shade of blue. Laying in the driveway was a machine that clearly confused Fen, Keeper, and Twig. “What’s that big metal thing in front of the house?” Twig asked Bolt.

“That’s Harry’s grav-car,” Bolt explained, “It’s this vehicle we ride around in that floats off the ground and goes really fast, so we can travel to nearby towns in a matter of minutes or hours rather than days! Practically everyone on Earth has one.”

The dragons and Twig looked fascinated. “But that’s not even the coolest part,” Bolt said, and he switched to another image, this one showing an aerial view of a simply massive city sprawled out in a field, shaped like a circle. Many of the buildings in this settlement stretched even higher than the clouds, and many flying machines sped around the skyline.

“This is New Geneva, our capital. The entire planet is run from this place.”

“That’s one big scavenger den,” Fen commented, “Must be really easy to get lost in.”

“Oh, you bet,” Marcus said, “But it’s not too bad. We have interactive maps posted everywhere, not to mention anyone can simply call up a map on their various devices.”

Bolt switched to another picture; this one showed a positively elated Bolt holding a big trophy over his head.

“What happened here?” Fen asked, “It looks like you won a competition of some sort.”

Bolt looked quite happy looking at this picture with his friends. “That’s me at the regional archery championship… That’s actually what we were in New Geneva for.” He made a prideful grunt. “The Terrans were not prepared for a competitor who actually had to rely on a bow and arrow for survival for years. I totally toasted all the other archers. I was the talk of the entire high school for the rest of the school year.”

Bolt looked over at Keeper. He looked… Conflicted. He stowed his WristUnit.

“Keeper, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing, Bolt. I’m happy for you… You found a home for yourself and… Well… I don’t see how you’d need me anymore.”

If Bolt’s eyes went any wider he’d have torn his face open.

“Keeper, what could possibly make you think that!?”

“You have all these new friends, all of which are from your own kind… What would you need a dragon for then?”

“Keeper, that’s not true and you know it! You’re the best friend I ever had! Nothing could replace you in my life!”

Keeper still looked as if he was struggling to believe that Bolt was really here, that their friendship was still intact. Bolt, without thinking, ran up to Keeper and jumped onto his back, wrapping his arms around his neck in a loving embrace. He was terrified of Keeper thinking he didn’t need a dragon companion anymore, so he let the dam break and sent a tidal wave of affection his way.

“Keeper, I’m here. I’m here for you.” He buried his face in his scales. “I’ve missed you so much...”

Bolt tried every expression of friendship and affection he could think of; he stroked Keeper’s scales, hugged every part of the SandWing’s body he could reach, he even took off his cherished scarf and wrapped it around one of Keeper’s horns. This all looked very strange, and Fen, Marcus, and Doman all stifled laughs, while Twig looked a little confused. Bolt, in all honesty, had been holding all this in for a while. He was so happy to finally be with Keeper again, and now he had the chance to pour all the love he had been building up into his dragon. Finally, Keeper cracked a smile.

“Did you really miss me the whole time?” Keeper asked. The dragon shifted his head uncomfortably while craning his neck behind him to look at his little friend, not used to having a tiny scarf wrapped around his horn.

“Every second of every day, Keeper.” Bolt stared sincerely into Keeper’s eyes.

Marcus broke out into laughter. “Guys, seriously, you’re starting to look like characters in a rom-com my aunt would watch.”

Keeper looked at Marcus with a grin even though he had no clue what a “rom-com” was; he presumed it was a compliment. All he knew was… His friend was back, and he was here to stay…

Right?

Chapter Text

Chapter Four: Memories

-Bolt, Fourteen Years Ago-

“Wake up, Bolt, it’s time for school!”

Bolt’s mother gently shook him in his bed. He didn’t even stir; he was deep in a dream about chocolate and fruit trees.

“Come on, honey.” She shook his body a little harder.

“Unnugh…” Bolt groaned, “Mommy, why?”

“It’s your first day of school, young man. Don’t you want to make a good first impression on your uncle?”

Bolt’s uncle was the village teacher. He was very intelligent, (having been educated by a scholar visiting from the Indestructible City) and Bolt wanted to impress him by learning as much as he could from him.

Bolt got out of bed, yawning and mumbling incoherent protests, and snatched his plush rabbit from beside his pillow, and followed his mother into the living room.

His father was sitting at the table eating breakfast. His mother leaned in and whispered in his ear, and his father frowned a bit, stirring his cereal with his spoon.

“I’ll head downstairs tonight and see what I can bring up,” Daddy whispered back a little too loudly. This confused Bolt even more. This house didn’t have a “downstairs.”

Bolt’s father looked at Bolt and a huge smile broke his face. “There’s my little schoolboy! Come here, son.” Bolt ran up to his father and he rested his chin on his broad chest. The boy giggled happily and when he let go, he saw a rare treat on his plate: pancakes. He usually only had this fluffy delight on his birthday, so seeing one of his favorite foods set him off into an over-joyous tizzy.

Bolt greedily scarfed down pancakes while his parents continued to discuss something important-sounding in whispers on the other side of the room. He could hear words like “wrist” and “implants.” His father told his mother that “he wasn’t ready.”

Ready for what? Bolt wondered.

His parents finished talking soon after Bolt swallowed the last of his breakfast, and his mother beckoned him to join her as she walked towards the door.

---------------------------------------

Outpost Village was alive with activity. Bolt looked around at all the people moving about while holding on tight to his mommy’s hand. He remembered that they lived very close to the domain of the brown dragons. He wondered what they were called.

“Do you think we’re going to see any of those brown dragons today?” He asked his mother.

“They’re called Swamp Dragons, and I doubt it, honey. They mostly leave us alone, since we don’t infringe on their territory or steal anything from them. And that’s how we prefer it. We mind our own business… And hopefully they’ll mind theirs.”

Bolt saw his cousin, who had turned fifteen last week, playing with his new birthday present: a shiny hunting knife. Ever since he obtained his new weapon, he had dedicated himself to becoming the village’s next master hunter, bringing home bigger and bigger animals for the town to feast on.

Bolt and his mother passed the steel hatch of the dragon shelter. The shelter always made the boy feel uneasy. It was a reminder that at any moment a dragon could swoop down from the sky and gobble up someone, and that they always had to be on their guard. He had heard his cousin bragging that if a dragon tried to eat someone, he would valiantly defend the village with his special knife. Even a simple-minded four-year-old like Bolt could guess that trying to take on a big, scary dragon with a short knife like that would be hilariously futile and suicidal.

Unfortunately this village, unlike the Indestructible City he had heard from his uncle about, had absolutely no offensive capabilities, neither against humans or dragons. It had been decades since there had been a war between humans, and most human settlements were united enough in their fear of dragons to not desire any conflict among themselves. Dragons, of course, were the ever-present threat, and it worried many that they had no attempts, at the very least, of defenses against them.

And that was where Bolt’s father came into play. He was always telling his friends and neighbors that he had a plan, some mysterious discovery he had made that would solve all their problems. He didn’t say much about it, but Bolt imagined that it was something amazing, something no other settlement had, a weapon that not even the Indestructible City would possess. And he had a strange feeling some days that maybe, just maybe, Bolt himself had a part in this plan. Maybe it was the way his father’s face looked when he mentioned his wrist feeling funny, or having a weird headache out of nowhere.

There’s something daddy’s not telling me… Maybe it’s because I’m “not ready?”

Out of nowhere came Bolt’s best friend, Basil. “Hey, Bolt!” he shouted excitedly, “Ready for your first day at school??” Bolt’s mother smiled warmly at the boy, welcoming him into her presence. Basil looked at her and went “Hi, Bolt’s mom!”

Basil was one year older than Bolt, so he had already been in school since last year. For the past month he had been non-stop in telling Bolt how awesome it was to be learning. Apparently he had also been badgering the teacher about giving Bolt a seat next to him.

“One day,” Basil had chattered a few months ago while they were sitting underneath a tree, “I’m going to know everything in the whole world! I’ll have piles upon piles of books, and we’ll spend all day reading together! We’ll be the smartest people in Pyrrhia!”

Bolt didn’t know how to read yet. But from how his friend described the sensation of reading, it must be pretty awesome. Basil’s dream was to become a scholar, it had been ever since he met one of the teacher’s scholar friends.

“So, Basil,” Bolt’s mother said, “Are you going to help Bolt in school? He could really use a helper in class!”

“Yes, Ma'am! He’ll be in good company!” He puffed out his chest. “The very best!”

Bolt laughed. Yep. I’m definitely in the very best company.

After a short walk, Bolt, his mother, and Basil, arrived at the school building. They walked inside the roomy hut to find his uncle standing amidst rows and rows of desks, fenced in with stocked bookshelves and a chalkboard on the far wall. Bolt already knew his uncle, he had occasionally visited his father to talk privately about things that according to his dad were things he’d tell him about when he was older. Seeing his uncle in his element, here in the classroom, felt different.

“Hi, uncle!” Bolt happily exclaimed towards him.

His uncle smiled at him. “Hello, Bolt. It’s so good to finally see you join us here. However, I must ask you address me as ‘Mister Myna.’”

“Okay, Mister Myna,” Bolt grinned as he said his name. He hadn’t known his name up until now, and now he had a new name to add to his list of people he knew; Darter, his father, Bud, his mother, (Or “Budsy,” as he sometimes heard his father call her) Basil, his friend, and now Myna, his teacher and uncle. He had also heard that his aunt’s name was Conifer.

“Okay, Bolt,” Bud said, “It’s time. I’m going back home to do some work with your dad. I’ll see you this afternoon.”

As his mother left, he waved at her. “Bye, mommy!” He said, and soon, it was time for school.

“Okay, Bolt,” Mr. Myna said, “I’ve heard extensive pleas from your friend here that you should sit next to him. Is that what you would like?”

“Yes, please, Mister Myna!”

“Very well. But I expect you two to be on your best behavior.” In the corner of his eye, Bolt saw Basil pump his fists in triumph.

Bolt sat down in a desk next to Basil. It was a little big for him, since it was made to fit people of all ages, designed to serve him well into his teenage years.

“Bolt,” Mr. Myna said, “I want you to look at the chalkboard. Tell me what you see there.”

Bolt could see the teacher’s writing on the board. To him, they looked like a jumble of scribbles, but scribbles with a definite pattern to them. He knew a few letters already, since Basil had brought some of his books with him when they played college, and his friend had tried his hardest to give him a head start on learning to read.

“I think that word says ‘Cat,’” Bolt said as he pointed at a word in the middle of the written passage.

His uncle looked very impressed. “Very good, Bolt! Can you find any other words?”

Bolt looked long and hard at the blackboard. “Sat… Stars…? I think that’s all I can read from here.”

“Perfect, Bolt. That’s enough for now. I will say, most students your age don’t have nearly this much reading ability yet. Have you been receiving lessons from someone?” He looked with a smile at Basil, who put his hand behind his head and blushed. “Basil, you’re five years old and already on track to replace me. Great job, I can tell our future students are in good hands.”

Now Basil really blushed. “Thank you, Mr. Myna!”

Just then, Bolt’s aunt walked in the door at the back of the classroom behind Mr. Myna. “Hello, Mrs. Conifer!” Basil said.

“Hello, Basil!” She looked at Bolt. “And hello, Bolt. You’re growing up so fast… I can hardly believe you’re already taking classes with us!” Now it was Bolt’s turn to blush.

The rest of the class began to walk in. Within a few minutes, all of the students were assembled in their seats. Bolt looked around at them. There were a lot of kids close to his age; most of the students were five through seven years old. Bolt was the youngest here, in fact, he was currently the youngest child in the whole village.

“Okay, class, as you can see, today we have a new student!” Mr. Myna extended his hand out to Bolt. “This is Bolt, Darter and Bud’s son. Today will be a special class, since we will be teaching our new student the basics of learning.”

Everyone in the class turned their heads to look at him. This of course made him shy, and he blushed again.

“Tell the class what you want to be when you grow up, Bolt,” Mr. Myna looked expectantly at him.

Bolt drew a total blank.

Uhh, what do I want to be when I grow up? I haven’t thought about it!

The class could see his confusion, and a few of the older students snickered, causing Mr. Myna to glare at them.

“It’s okay if you haven’t thought that far ahead yet. I’m sorry for putting you on the spot like that.”

The class continued. Bolt gradually was introduced to the rest of the alphabet, and the teacher helped him read through some passages on the board. He was rapidly picking up on the different letters and the sounds they made. Mr. Myna clearly looked happy that his newest student was learning so quickly.

-Five hours later-

“Okay, everyone, I think that’s enough for today.” Mr. Myna shut the textbook he was teaching out of. “Class dismissed!”

The entire class, minus Bolt and Basil, quickly left the schoolhouse, chattering amongst themselves about the activities they were going to engage in for the rest of the day. Mr. Myna approached the two remaining children.

“You did very well, Bolt,” He said with a congratulatory expression on his face, “I can see my brother has raised a very smart child.”

Bolt wasn’t sure to thank him or not, since the compliment seemed to be directed at his father, but he thanked him nonetheless.

Basil wrapped his arm around Bolt’s shoulder with a huge grin on his face. “I told you you’d like school!”

“I never said I wouldn’t!” Bolt blurted back at him, and the two boys laughed in the warm-hearted way only children could. Mr. Myna and Mrs. Conifer looked on with warm smiles on their faces. It was moments like these that made teaching totally worth it for them.

Bolt looked over at his teacher and his assistant. He started wondering how they came to love learning like his friend did. The two of them looked like they were practically made for each other.

“When did you decide to become a teacher?” Bolt asked Mr. Myna.

Mr. Myna looked at his wife, then looked out into space, deep in thought. Then he looked sincerely at Bolt and stated: “Well, it wasn’t a sudden decision. It’s hard to put down exactly when I wanted to study to become a scholar, but I think the first time I truly took this path is when I met my wife, when she began collecting books.”

Mrs. Conifer stepped in. “My husband and I bonded over a mutual love of knowledge. We’re inseparable today because of it.”

Mr. Myna took Mrs. Conifer’s hand. “We always used to joke, if a dragon came down today and started eating up our village…”

“We’ll always make sure to be eaten together.”

Suddenly, everything grew darker. Bolt looked around him and saw that everything outside was on fire, and there were people screaming, being chased by huge, dark shadows. Basil looked at Bolt, his eyes wide with fear.

“B-Bolt? What’s going on?”

A huge, flaming talon smashed through the front of the schoolhouse and crushed his best friend before he could even scream, and Bolt was catapulted backwards from the shock wave it made. He looked down at his body and saw that he was now much older, and wearing his TUSC uniform, which had been splattered with Basil’s blood.

I’m dreaming, Bolt suddenly realized, I need to wake up!

Bolt pinched himself, hoping that strategy really worked. Unfortunately, it didn’t. What did happen is that Bolt discovered he was holding both Solas’s and Doman’s projector blades in each hand. He decided that he’d have to fight his way out of this memory-turned-nightmare. He ignited both his blades and took off out of the ruined schoolhouse, and ran smack-dab into a SkyWing feasting on his friend’s parents. Using a whirling spin-attack, he sliced off one of the dragon’s back legs, causing it to fall to the ground. He followed by shredding his dual-wielding skills he didn’t know he had into the dragon’s guts , burrowing his way into its body, using the two energy swords as a drill. Blood covered his body, and his face bore a grim determination.

The dragon collapsed to the ground and promptly died, and Bolt ran down the street towards his parents’ house, only to find… He was too late. His house had been burned to the ground, and all the other villagers were dead.

STOMP.

Bolt looked behind him and saw his old nemesis, Crimson the SkyWing, with his mother’s bloodied torso hanging out of his mouth, grinning devilishly at him.

“No matter what you do,” He said mockingly, “I’ll always be part of your past.”

“There’s no escaping me!”

And with that, Crimson exhaled a wave of flame at Bolt, and everything went white.

-------------------

-Present Day-

“GAAHHHHH!!!” Bolt jolted awake out of his daytime nightmare, his scream causing Twig, his crew, and the dragons to jerk their faces towards him. He looked around and saw he was sitting at a human-sized table with the other humans, which itself sat on top of Fen’s table. He looked in front of him and saw a half-eaten slice of cooked beef, and gradually gathered his bearings.

“You okay, cappy?” Marcus asked, “You gave us quite a scare there.”

“It’s nothing,” Bolt said, “Just a nightmare.”

Keeper looked concerned. “You had really bad nightmares when you lived with me, as well.”

“Weren’t you seeing a therapist about them back on Earth?” Marcus asked.

Bolt nodded.

“Well, I’d say you need more help.”

“What I need,” Bolt countered, “Is to go think.” He stood up out of the table and climbed down a set of stairs leading to the floor level from the larger dragon table. “Mind if I borrow your bedroom, Twig?”

“I guess that’s fine,” Twig said.

Bolt walked up the stairs into Twig’s “enclosure,” and sat down on his bed. Admittedly, it was much more soft and comfortable than the bed he made for himself in Keeper’s house. Bolt settled down and went deep into thought. He remembered his confrontation with Crimson I. The SkyWing had taunted him with how his friends and family tasted, which set Bolt off into a techno-fueled rampage against the dragon.

They refused to be eaten apart, Crimson had said. Just like his aunt and uncle told him on his first day of school, they died together, most likely among their books.

And then there was Basil. Sweet, innocent Basil, who wanted nothing more than to learn and grow... He didn't deserve the fate Crimson forced on him. Bolt didn't know whether his friend had been eaten... Or simply burned to death with his village. Either way, no child should have to die like that.

Bolt would never forgive Crimson for what he had done to his family and friends. He got his revenge on the cruel SkyWing, nearly dying in the process. But now he knew that by ending Crimson’s life he had inflicted a very similar fate as his own onto the dragon’s own son, who no doubt now wanted his head on a platter for ruining his life. Bolt didn’t know what he was going to do.

Keeper poked his head into the entrance to Twig’s bedroom. Fen wasn’t too far behind. “Bolt, are you doing okay in there?”

“I’m just… Thinking about that SkyWing that nearly killed us. Is he really… Crimson’s son?”

Keeper and Fen looked solemnly at each other, then Keeper looked back at Bolt and nodded. “I didn’t know he existed, Bolt. I never knew that by killing his father to save you I’d be throwing his son into such… Turmoil. Most other dragons now acknowledge your species’ intelligence, and have laws in place to protect your settlements. Crimson the Second, on the other talon, is too hurt by the loss of his father to care.”

“He’s been waging a one-dragon war on humankind ever since…” Fen continued, “He’s practically maniacal about it, he even almost got himself killed one day by trying to attack that one scavenger city with all those weapons and stuff.”

“The Indestructible City,” Bolt corrected, “Yeah, that’s not a place a dragon should approach lightly.”

“He knows there’s one human who is particularly vulnerable,” Keeper said, “Twig here is easy pickings for him. He’s been repeatedly showing up in town trying to catch him.” He looked down at the floor as if he was feeling guilty. “He almost got him this time.”

“That’s why I’ve been getting help,” Fen said, “Clay from the Jade Mountain Academy has been training me to defend myself and Twig from Crimson.”

That made Bolt feel a little better. If Fen was getting defense classes from one of the legendary Dragon Kids of Peace (Was he remembering this right?) then certainly Fen would be more than capable of protecting Twig. Add on Keeper to the mix, with his extensive experience of protecting humans from dragons, and Bolt could tell that Twig was one of the most well-protected scavengers in Pyrrhia.

-Keeper-

Crimson… Crimson the First didn’t just ruin Bolt’s life… He also ruined mine.

“Bolt?” Keeper looked at his friend. “There’s something I should tell you… Alone.”

Bolt looked out at Keeper, then he stood up. Bolt walked out of the bedroom and climbed onto Keeper’s back, and together they walked into Fen’s bedroom. There, Bolt dismounted Keeper and the SandWing crouched down to his level.

“So, what’s this about, Keeper?”

“Remember when Crimson kidnapped me? You know, he burst into my shop and wrecked it?”

“Of course! That was so terrifying I couldn’t possibly forget it!”

“You were probably wondering why he was after me.”

Keeper shuffled nervously. He scanned Bolt’s face for a reaction. The human looked like he was deep in thought, remembering the day Keeper was dragged out of his house.

“I’ve been a bad friend, Bolt. I should have told you this a long time ago, especially since you were so open about your past.”

Bolt looked a little saddened by that statement. “Keeper, I’m open about my past mostly because I’m comfortable talking about it. They’re painful memories, sure, but I always felt it would help if I shared them with others. And I was right. But if you feel whatever’s bothering you is something you want to keep private, I would never hold that against you.” He put his hand on Keeper’s snout. “It’s up to you, buddy. If you want to tell me about your past, I’m all ears… But I’ll totally understand if you want to back out now.”

Keeper blushed at his friend’s raw sincerity. He’s so… Understanding. No dragon I’ve ever met is this capable of empathy.

I’ll do it. Bolt’s the best person in Pyrrhia to talk to about this. And he deserves to know the truth. After all… It was the same dragon that ruined both our lives.

Keeper looked deep into Bolt’s eyes. “Did I ever tell you about my family?”

Bolt searched through his memories. “No, you didn’t.”

“Well… Let me tell you about them.”

----------------------------------

-Keeper, Seven Years Ago-

Keeper, as a three-year-old dragonet, was already bigger than a fully-grown scavenger. Which was a fitting comparison since the young SandWing was positively obsessed with the little mammals. He would read every scroll in the town library about them. Unfortunately, his parents wouldn’t let him visit any scavenger dens, mostly since they lived in Possibility and the nearest settlement of the creatures was outside the desert, far away.

He wasn’t even allowed to leave town. His parents were very protective of him, so the best understanding Keeper could get of his favorite species were the study journals the town library had. All of them were almost the same. They described scavengers as tiny, mostly hairless primates with a tendency to pilfer dragon treasure. Deep down Keeper dreamed that someday one of them would sneak into his room and want to be his friend, though logic would dictate that would never happen; scavengers were universally terrified of dragons and wouldn’t be stupid enough to enter his town, let alone his bedroom.

Keeper had only recently learned how to control his tail barb, even though most SandWings learned how to do that a year or two before him. It was a soft spot for him, he was embarrassed that it had taken that long to achieve that milestone.

“Keeper?” His mother poked her head into his room. “I’m going to the store with your father. We’ll be back in an hour.”

“Okay, mom!” He put down the scroll he was reading for the fifth time today: Scavengers and Their Nesting Habits, and he stood up out of his bed. Keeper waited a few minutes, then tentatively stepped out of his bedroom into the house’s living room.

Keeper’s house was not particularly opulent, but it wasn’t terrible either. Keeper had his own room separate from his parents, a luxury some of the other dragonets he knew didn’t have. The living room housed a large table that they ate at, with his father’s bookcase on the wall nearby. Keeper looked back at the table and found that it was covered in papers covered in numbers, as if they were trying to calculate something.

Keeper slowly stepped towards the door. His body shivered with anticipation. He had been planning this for months. He was going to do something he had never done before, something his parents would hate him doing.

He was going to leave town. He wasn’t going to go far, just a little bit into the desert, and give his wings a stretch. He wouldn’t be gone long, and his parents wouldn’t suspect a thing. Easy as pie!

Keeper stepped out of the house, and looked both ways, scanning the streets for his parents. He quietly shut the door behind him and began walking towards the edge of town. Possibility was mostly empty right now. They were in a somewhat residential part of town, mostly homes and shops in this area.

A few doors down from his house was an abandoned, run-down storefront. He remembered that his name was chosen because of his parents’ desire for his career: they wanted him to follow in their footsteps and become a shopkeeper. Keeper, of course, wanted none of that. He wanted to be a scavengerkeeper, and learn things about them that no one else knew.

It wasn’t long before young Keeper reached the edge of town. He took a deep breath… And stepped off the stone roads onto the sand. It felt so soft and inviting, like his feet were made to walk on this terrain. He took a few more steps, and unable to hold himself in any longer, took off into the air. He suddenly felt so proud of himself: he was flying; he was free!

The SandWing soared over the desert, feeling the desert Sun warm up his scales. It felt so good he felt he would burst!

Then he saw a small shape on the desert below him. It looked like a horse… But something was off about its shape. There was something stuck to the top of the animal. Keeper was very curious about this strange animal. Was it some mutated horse with a huge lump on its back like a camel? A hybrid between a horse and a camel? He swooped down lower to get a better look. That’s when he noticed that the weird thing on the horse’s back was another creature! And not just any creature… A scavenger! A huge smile split his mouth. He had only just began his exploration of the desert, and he had already run into his very first scavvie!

The animal’s head shot up, pinpointing his position in the sky. Such wide, adorable eyes, Keeper thought. The scavenger’s proportionally large eyes darted from Keeper to the desert around it, apparently looking for a place to flee to. Judging by the length of the fur on this scavenger’s head, this one was female. The scavenger shook some ropes attached to the horse’s neck, and they took off at a gallop, obviously trying to flee from him. It was cute how the scavvie thought she could escape from him; that horse ran far slower than he was capable of flying at. He soared after her, and, stretching out his talons, plucked the creature off of her horse and flew back towards Possibility.

The scavenger was flailing around in his talons and emitting loud squeals. She probably thought he was going to eat her. It’s okay, little scavvie. I just want to get a better look at you.

Within minutes, he was back home, and he shut his bedroom door behind him and let the scavenger go. She collapsed to the ground, looking frantically around his room, and immediately she was on her feet and sprinting for the door.

Keeper could do nothing but stare at her. She was, in a word, elegant. The way her body was shaped, the way she moved, had a grace to it that no dragon could match. She had brown fur, and brown skin, and brown cloth coverings, so pretty much everything about her was totally brown.

Keeper suddenly remembered that scavengers usually carried around weapons to protect themselves, and Keeper hoped the scavvie wouldn’t get the idea to attack him. He doubted she could do much damage to him, but he still wanted her as a friend, not an enemy.

The scavenger gradually gave up on escaping, and she slumped to the floor, looking actually somewhat depressed. Oh, no… Keeper thought, Did I hurt her feelings by catching her? Maybe this was a mistake.

“Yibble? Yobble yib?” The scavenger had turned to Keeper and was moving her mouth, making noises that Keeper swore was some sort of language.

None of the scrolls I read said anything about scavengers having a language. That’s it! That’s my big discovery! I’ll write a scroll about scavenger language! That’ll make me famous for sure!

Keeper stepped closer to the animal, who shrunk back into the wall and cowered before him.

Keeper opened his mouth… And… “Y-yibble? Yib-yib-yob?” Keeper shakily attempted to imitate the scavenger’s noises.

The scavenger stopped shivering and stared, open-mouthed, at him.

Did I do it? Did the scavenger understand me? I wonder what I just told her?

Before they could continue, Keeper’s door opened and his father stepped into the room.

Oh no.

The scavenger screamed and ran towards the wall next to the door, where she crouched down monkey-like onto the ground, and just as Keeper guessed earlier, she pulled out a long claw-thingy made out of metal, taking a stance that indicated she was ready to defend herself if anyone got too close to her.

Keeper’s dad looked around the room, at Keeper, then he finally noticed the scavenger. The young SandWing’s heart sank. “Don’t hurt her!” he yelled at his father, and he jumped between him and the scavenger and spread his wings protectively. He was terrified that his father would kill the poor little animal.

“Where did you find that!?” Keeper’s dad yelled. Keeper stood his ground, hoping the scavenger would know he was protecting her and that she wouldn’t attack him from behind.

Keeper tried to think of a lie to describe how he came across his new friend. He couldn’t tell him he had been outside the town. “Uhh… She was sneaking around town and I caught her!”

His father looked skeptical for a little bit… “Scavengers never come into town, son. They’re animals, but they aren’t that stupid.You were outside of town, weren’t you? And don’t lie to me!”

Keeper swallowed nervously. His father had seen straight through his lie. “O-only a little, dad.”

His father sighed. “Don’t do that again. I have enough to worry about today besides my only son getting lost in the desert.” He looked behind Keeper at the scavenger. “Do you really want to keep that thing as a pet? They’re a lot of work, I’ve heard.”

Now Keeper jumped with joy. “You’d actually let me keep her?”

“Only if you promise to take care of it. And if it tries attacking anyone like they did the queen years ago… I will kill it.”

That’s when Keeper realized how the scavenger herself felt about this situation. He looked over at her, and could see her panting and holding her claw in front of her and generally being a panicking, terrified animal. She doesn’t want to be my pet, he decided, I don’t have a right to keep her if she doesn’t want to be kept. It would be cruel to force her to stay with me.

Keeper looked at his dad. “Actually… I don’t want to keep her. I want to release her into the desert.”

His dad smiled affirmatively at him. “A very wise decision, Keeper. Let’s take it back to where it belongs.”

Keeper carefully picked up the scavenger, being wary of her weapon but thankfully not getting stung by it, and together with his dad they strolled out of town, and soon, he set the animal down on the sand outside town, and stepped back.

The scavenger looked up at the two dragons, then out at the desert. She looked back at them and squeaked something. Keeper swore that the scavvie was thanking him. Then she turned around and walked out into the desert.

-That night-

Keeper was asleep in his room when he heard a loud BANG that jolted him awake. He looked around his moonlit room and could hear a huge commotion coming from the living room outside. He burst out of his room to find a chaotic scene before him. His parents’ faces jolted to him, fear written all over them. They were trapped in the corner of the living room by a duo of SkyWings.

Keeper’s mom looked at her son, and immediately she cried, “Keeper, go back into your room now!”

Keeper was about to refuse, and launch into battle to defend his parents, when a large SkyWing entered the room through the busted front door, holding a limp form in his talons that made him freeze in place.

It was a scavenger; his scavenger. Tears came to his eyes when he saw that the poor creature’s head had been bitten off. Soon the tears were evaporated by rage.

How DARE he.

“You monster!” Keeper shrieked at the SkyWing, engulfed in rage, and his parents looked with horrified faces at him.

The SkyWing looked at him with a curious expression, then at the scavenger’s corpse in his talons. “Oh, you poor little dragonet, did I kill your pet? How sweet.” And with that, he popped the body into his mouth and began to chew on her.

Keeper roared at the SkyWing. He had never roared before, it shocked him how loud and sonorous his cry of rage was; it shook the whole room! The SkyWing’s minions even looked shocked for a second!

But not the monster SkyWing. He simply swallowed the scavenger and began to laugh. “I like your passion, little one! I think I might just keep you! How about that, you two?” He pointed his claw at Keeper’s parents. “I’ll forgive your debts… If you give your son… To me.”

His parents were thoroughly outraged. “WE WOULD NEVER!” His father roared.

“Considering the alternative is that I simply kill you, I’d really reconsider.”

Keeper gasped. “Mom? Dad? Why are you in debt to this dragon?”

The SkyWing looked at Keeper and chuckled. “My, my, they didn’t tell you? Your happy, healthy lifestyle with your parents isn’t cheap, you know! When you hatched, they couldn’t afford a place to raise you! So off they went, straight to my mansion… To take out a little loan. Unfortunately they have defaulted on their payments, and they’re all out of time.” He looked back at Keeper’s parents. “Well? Which is it? Your lives… Or your offspring?”

The atmosphere in the room suddenly got very dark, and in a flash, he could see his parents launch themselves at the SkyWing minions. The SkyWings tried to contain the SandWings, but Keeper’s parents were running completely on instinct to defend their child, and they were beginning to overpower the dragons. But soon the SkyWings fought back with their claws, leaving deep cuts in his parents’ scales. But the SandWings had something their enemies didn’t. With a flick of their tails, deadly poison was introduced into their bloodstreams, and soon the red dragons collapsed, releasing his parents.

“Well, that’s unfortunate,” the monstrous SkyWing commented, staring down at the spasming SkyWings, “I rather liked those guards,” His parents charged the monster, but before they could reach him, he quickly let loose a wave of flame at them.

Everything slowed down. Keeper’s parents looked at their son with desperate, pleading looks before becoming enveloped in flame.

“NO!!!!” He roared, and he sprang at the SkyWing with his own tail barb poised in front of him. The SkyWing fluidly dodged his barb.

“Why!?” Keeper shouted, tears flowing from his eyes.

The dragon brought his talons to his mouth in a mock display of surprise. “Oh, where are my manners? I should introduce myself. I am Crimson, young dragonet… And now… You belong to me.”

-----------------------------------------------------------------

-Present Day-

“All that time we knew each other…” Bolt said, “We were so alike the whole time. That same dragon killed both our families! And wow, you were into us humans right from the very start! But what happened after that?”

Keeper looked depressed. “He forced me to pick up my parents’ debts. He made me restore that run-down shop down the street from my old home, and that became my life. Sell whatever I could get my talons on for a profit, and almost everything I made went to Crimson. I could barely feed myself, and I was still not making enough to pay off the debts anyway. My hope was starting to dwindle… But then... I met someone who made my life worth living.”

Bolt looked at Keeper with wide eyes. “Who was that?”

“You, you blockhead! My own little scavenger that I could talk with, a little ray of sunshine in my life! Someone to hold, someone to protect! You complete me, Bolt.”

Keeper let a tear fall from his eye, and Bolt realized something. “I really mean that much to you… When I left to go to Earth… You must have been so lonely…”

Keeper looked sadly down at the floor. “Yes. I was…”

Bolt hugged Keeper’s leg. “Well I’m here now. And I’m ready to finish what we started. Let’s make sure no one else ever loses their parents ever again.”

Keeper looked down at Bolt and saw that he was right. Bolt was here, right at his feet, with his golden fur, his scarf, and his optimistic attitude. Things were going to be just fine now.

Keeper picked up Bolt in his talons and set him on his back. “Agreed,” He said, “Let’s go save your species from the man-eaters.”

Chapter Text

Chapter Five: The Mission

-The Invincible Lord, One Year Ago-

The advanced weaponry of the Terrans was proving troublesome… Besides the fact that the technology was beyond their understanding, many of the weapons were coated in a layer of dust and age that made them cumbersome and unreliable. He couldn’t give up now… Perhaps a second sweep of the underground compound would be beneficial. The wait was long and arduous, but at the conclusion of the fourth day they emerged with news.

“My Lord,” They said while bowing, “We--”

“Spit it out, boy. I do not have time for pandering.

“Well, we apologize for taking so long, we--”

“NOW, WHELP!!”

“T-their machines make mention of a settlement,” One of the scouts said, “It’s nearby. Supposedly it has some sort of education facility beneath it.”

The man took a map out of his bag, that he had apparently made just for this encounter, and pointed to a mark he made on it. “They call it ‘Outpost Village.’”

The Invincible Lord stood up. “Gather the men. We leave immediately.”

-Outpost Village-

The forest served as a slight hindrance to their advance, giving no defining features from which to get their bearings. Eventually, the team made it to the village… Or at least a husk of one. All the buildings were charred skeletons of their former selves, the ground covered in broken pieces of homes and even some human bones were littered around. All this set the men on edge.

“Dragons did this… Those monsters…” One man looked dejectedly at a crushed rib cage lying near him.

Another man nodded. “Do you think anyone made it out alive…?”

“I’ve heard of a kid who was roaming around the wilderness who lost his village. Nobody’s ever seen him up close… There’s an urban legend that he’s not really alive; that he’s a ghost haunting the woods around here… What if he came from here?”

“Town burned like this, skeletons everywhere; this place has to be haunted.

“Hopefully they are not vengeful spirits…”

“Silence in the ranks!” The Lord called.

A man shouted from afar. “Look! A safe!”

Several people broke off of the search party and examined the vault. It really stood out among the ruined wooden structures, and it was still pristine and shiny, even after sitting out in the open for who knows how long.

“Not a speck of rust… What metal is this?”

“Never mind that, look at this!” One of the senior members of the team beckoned them over to a circular platform in the ground.

“Another lift…” A man said.

The Invincible Lord pointed at five of the team members, two of which were high-ranking, the other three were scouts. “You five; with me. The rest of you, guard the entrance.”

“Hold on!” One of the men shouted over from the ruins of a house.

“What is it, subordinate?” The Invincible Lord called back.

“It’s a key of some sort… It might be useful!”

The Invincible Lord walked over to where the man stood. As he passed over what remained of a wall, he stepped on something soft. He looked at his feet, and found that he had stepped on a ruined toy of some sort… It appeared to be the remains of a stuffed animal.

There had been children living in this village… The Invincible Lord lamented, And there is no doubt the dragons feasted on them. He clenched his fist. All the more reason to eradicate them all.

He looked down at the man, who was holding a cylindrical device in his hand.

“How do you know that is a key?” The Lord asked. It did not resemble any key he knew.

“It says it right on it,” The man replied, “’Master Override Key Unit,’ it’s engraved into it.”

The Lord swiped the device out of the soldier’s hand. Indeed, engraved into its smooth metallic surface were the very words the man had spoken. In addition, instructions on its usage were engraved onto one end of the “key,” a pictogram showing the cylinder being inserted into a slot on a door. Finally, on the other side of the key were the words “Administrative Use Only, In Case of Authentication System Failure.”

“Back onto the lift,” The Lord commanded, and the team he picked assembled on the platform, and the Lord hit the button on it. With a huge groan and some sparks flying off the edge of the lift, it began to descend into the ground.

A few minutes later, the lift reached the bottom of its shaft. Down here it was pitch black, which caused the soldiers to shuffle around nervously. None of them had thought to bring any torches.

A mystical blue light appeared in front of them, in the shape of a circle with a line cut out of it. This startled the men so hard that a few of them cried out in alarm.

“It’s a spirit!” A man shouted. “We’re doomed!”

The Invincible Lord glared at him. “Pipe down, coward! It’s just more Terran machinery!”

The Lord approached the light, holding the key in front of him. As he drew closer, the door made a “beep” sound and a circular hole appeared on it, next to the blue light. He inserted the cylinder into the hole, and it made an audible “click” when it went all the way in. The key popped itself out, and the door slid open as the Invincible Lord pulled out the key.

Inside was a corridor, dimly lit with eerie orange lights. More of the strange doors with blue lights on them lined the hall. The team stepped into the corridor and looked around. A deep metallic creaking issued from the ceiling. Labels on the doors told them what each room was for. At the very end of the hall, a door sat jammed partially open, and its label was too worn to read. Even more mysteriously, a sharp white light could be seen behind the door.

“Split up and search,” The Lord ordered, and he began opening all the doors with his key. One of the rooms, labeled “Armory,” opened normally when he inserted the key, but suddenly, an alarm sounded, and a voice spoke from the ceiling, causing all the men to go erect with fear.

"Warning. Unauthorized access detected," Said the voice. "Deploying defensive countermeasures."

The soldiers looked nervously at each other. What kind of fantastical weaponry would this strange labyrinth throw at them? The lights flickered for a couple seconds, then...

"Error. Insufficient power supply. Unable to deploy defensive countermeasures."

They breathed a sigh of relief and continued to explore the vault. Behind the armory door was some more Terran weaponry, though not nearly as much as the stock found in the larger facility to the southeast of here. Additionally, some of the weaponry was missing from their racks; a cannon here, a smaller gun there. A large platform stood in the middle. It had been a mount for a suit of armor, most likely the same kind they had taken from the other location.

The armor was the biggest enigma of the Terran weaponry. No matter what they did with it, they could not get it to open. They had used crowbars in their most extreme attempt, and only succeeded at bending the crowbar itself to a degree.

The Lord left the armory and went into the next room. This room contained some truly indescribable objects. They were all laid out on a counter, minute in size, and some were taken apart. Someone had been doing their own research here. He picked up one of the objects. He had never seen anything close to it. Many tiny parts, some barely big enough for his eyes to detect, were welded onto a paper-thin… Membrane of sorts, about twice as big as his thumbnail. On one side of it a thick ring encircled the edge of the device. Some tiny cords dangled off the edges of it.

The Lord squinted closer at the circular slip of “paper.” Written in miniature letters almost too small to read were the words “WristUnit Mk. I, Compatible with All Forms of Human Life, Implant into User at Birth for Best Functionality.”

He set down the device and looked over some more of the machines. The rest of them, like the first, had no function he could discern, but he presumed these would also be “implanted” into a human being. He decided to leave the room and explore further.

The Invincible Lord approached the jammed-open door and squeezed in. Immediately he saw what was generating the white light. A cylindrical contraption somewhat similar to the key he was holding lay on the floor, spilling bright light all around it from a glass opening on its front. Next to it was a large, heavy-looking backpack, made out of primitive, rough fabric that didn’t match its surroundings.

Someone was here before me, thought the Lord.

Curiously he ruffled through the bag. Attached to it were some odds and ends including a portable spit and lightweight cooking pot, and more notably an elegant, hand-carved wooden bow with a quiver containing two handmade arrows with expertly sharpened stone heads. Inside the bag were various jars of herbs, a full outfit of cotton clothing seemingly made to fit a young man or teenager, a folded tent with its included stakes and frame… And something that made him recoil in disgust; a pile of rotten peppers and some other emaciated vegetables. He put down the bag and looked around the room.

He was certain he had found what he was looking for. Lining the walls were old books, and in the middle… A chair with many cords coming out of it, crowned by a helmet. It resembled a torture device his dungeon-master might keep, but this most definitely was not a torture chamber.

“Everyone, assemble in here!” The Lord yelled, and the team all squished through the stuck door one at a time into the chamber.

“We found it,” The Lord said, “This room contains more secrets of the Terrans. I need a volunteer. Sit in that chair.”

His men were loyal to him, but they weren’t stupid. That machine looked far too much like a torture device. The soldiers looked nervously at each other, each imploring the other to follow the order.

“Somebody sit in that chair, or I will choose one of you and make you sit in it.”

“I-I will…” One of the recruits, apparently trying to impress his friends, said.

“Very good.”

The man nervously approached the seat, and sat down. Right away the chair spoke. “Welcome, student. Beginning infusion process. Please hold still.” The helmet suddenly dropped onto the man’s head, and he flailed around in panic before he suddenly went limp, causing multiple men to gasp in horror.

A few seconds later, the helmet lifted off his head, and he looked blankly around the room, and at the Invincible Lord, and said, “It worked, my Lord. The secrets of the Terrans have been bestowed upon my mind.”

The Invincible Lord smiled, and he helped the man to his feet. “When we return to the city,” he said, “Gather the entire army, and prepare to bring them here. We’re going to give our men the gift of knowledge.”

In the back of the group, a young man with pale skin and a heavy pile of brown hair on his head stood, looking somewhat distant. He began to whisper to himself.

“This is how I avenge you, old friend. With knowledge.”

-------------------------------------------

-Bolt, Present Day-

Marcus and Doman had gone back to the IAEV to sleep. Bolt opened a communication channel via WristUnit with Harry on the Starchild about their current situation. Harry was interested with how the mission was going so far. He was very impressed with how Bolt took on Crimson on his own, all without getting seriously hurt at all. Upon mentioning Twig to him, he immediately went into a rant about Terran medical technology, and how it would be remarkably easy to give the young man a new arm. Bolt had to stop him mid-sentence to ask him how he himself was doing.

“It’s a little damp and dark down here, to be honest. Lots of creaking and groaning too. I went for a walk through the old colony administration facility just now. There’s actually something I should tell you. According to the manifest, there should be a full armory in the dock. Well, I went down there, and almost everything’s gone. Pulsars, projector blades, LinkSuits. All antiques, mind you, but it’s still concerning that it’s almost all missing. I don’t want to sound paranoid, captain… But you should be careful. There’s no telling who’s in possession of those guns.”

“I’ll watch out then,” Bolt said, “I’ll call you again tomorrow night.”

And with that, he hung up and turned off his WristUnit’s screen. He shivered. There were a lot of places those weapons could have gone. And since only humans could navigate the compound, that meant that things may have gotten more dangerous for the dragons of Pyrrhia, if the humans that took the weapons had any ideas of revenge against them for lost loved ones.

Bolt decided that he would worry about that later, after he had some sleep. He tucked himself in and closed his eyes. Soon after he fell asleep.

--------------------------------------------

Bolt awoke from a dreamless sleep into his old bedroom in Keeper’s storage room. Admittedly, his old bed was nowhere near as comfortable as the one he had on Terra. Still, it was impressive he had managed to build a full-sized bed out of wood and other scrap as a teenager.

Bolt sat up and looked out over the shelf his room sat on. There was his ladder leading down to the floor, another job well done on his part. After standing up and stretching himself out, he put on his boots and went over to the ladder, and began to climb down. A bit more than halfway down the ladder… Bolt slipped and lost his grip, and plummeted backwards towards the floor. With a surprised cry he hit his back hard on the floor, and he lay there groaning for a bit.

Fen barged into the room. “Bolt! Are you okay!?” He ran over to him. “Show me where it hurts; is anything broken?”

Bolt stood up, rubbing his back. “Calm down, Fen. I’m not that delicate.”

Fen stared at him. “Are you sure? I heard you cry out.”

“I’ve endured worse. You’re forgetting I literally died two years ago, and I’m still here standing. We humans have a saying. What doesn’t kill you… Makes you stronge--”

Bolt suddenly jolted, and groaned. His back was really starting to ache.

“Bolt, here. Let me carry you up to the table. There’s a nice soft seat for you there.”

Before the human could protest, he was scooped up gently in the MudWing’s talons, and whisked away into the main room. Bolt grumbled to himself, things like “I’m no one’s pet,” slipping off his tongue.

In Keeper’s shop room, Twig was sitting on a couch on top of one of the tables, eating a big cookie that Fen must have baked for him. I hope Fen’s feeding him healthy food too, and not just junk, Bolt thought.

After Bolt was set down next to Twig, immediately he noticed some posters on the wall. A lot of them had drawings of Twig on them, and were covered in text in the Dragon script, which Bolt didn’t understand because his “ancient” telepathic translator didn’t work on the written word. They all looked uncannily like the activism posters he sometimes saw around Terra.

“What are those?” Bolt asked Fen while pointing at the posters.

“I was wondering when you were going to notice those,” Fen said, “Those are posters for the Union Society!”

“Union Society?”

“Yeah! It’s an idea Keeper had about a year back, soon after I rescued Twig here! It’s an advocacy organization for scavengers just like you!” He flexed his foreleg. “We’re making sure you guys are protected! We’ve already made it illegal to hurt humans in three kingdoms!”

“Wow, that’s impressive! What’s on those posters that’s changing so many minds?”

“Nothing too special, just simple sayings like ‘I am not prey’ and ‘Please don’t eat me; my family will miss me.’ Keeper really surprised himself with how many dragons we brought over to our side.” He pointed excitedly at Twig, who was just finishing his cookie. “It really helped that Twig is a perfect poster child. His missing arm made a lot of dragons realize just how badly we were treating you poor things.”

Keeper walked into the room. “Your story really helped too, Bolt.” He pointed to a pile of scrolls sitting on a table. “The tale of your tragic childhood shattered hearts across the continent. A lot of dragons know how you’re a ‘talking scavenger’ and all, but they didn’t know the full story behind you. It really opened a lot of eyes.”

“And that’s why we’re going to the Sky Kingdom today!” Fen chimed in, “You’re going to meet Queen Ruby!”

Bolt did a double-take. “Wait, me!? Keeper, I don’t know if that’s a good idea. Most SkyWings like eating humans, you can’t just throw me into the lion’s den!”

Fen gave Bolt a sideways look. “That’s kinda stereotypical of you, Bolt. The Queen’s okay with you, and wait till you meet Princes Cliff and Vermilion! They both love humans!”

Keeper nodded. “They have their own scavenger sanctuary right in the palace. We’ve been trying to teach them your language so they can communicate with their humans. They’re not fluent yet, but now that you’re here, it’ll go a lot more quickly.”

“Don’t worry, little guy,” Fen said with a soothing tone of voice that upset Bolt a little, “Keeper’s your best bud, remember? He’ll make sure no one lays a claw on you. And besides, Cliff would throw an almighty fit if he found out a scavenger got killed under his roof! No one wants to make that spirited youth upset!”

“Well, I guess that makes me feel a little better. Could we go get my crew first though? I want them to be with me for this.”

“Sure thing,” Fen said, “They’re camping out in the desert, right?

“They’re sleeping in the vehicle we came here in.”

“I’ll fly you out there to meet them,” Keeper said as he lowered his shoulders, “Hop on.”

--------------------------------------------

Keeper flew with Bolt on his back out over the desert around Possibility. It felt great to be flying on a dragon’s back again, and he could tell from how relaxed Keeper’s muscles felt that he felt good about having Bolt ride him again too. It was just like old times.

“I wonder how your parents would feel about this,” Bolt mentioned to Keeper, “You’re friends with a human, changing the world to make the whole place safer for us… I mean, this would have been a dream come true for you as a dragonet, from what you’ve told me about your childhood!”

“You’re right,” Keeper said, “Though, to be honest, my parents would be really weirded out by you. They were supportive to an extent of my scavenger studies, but seeing me talking to one would have been a bit of a jump for them.”

“That’s what we’re trying to fix,” Bolt replied, “We need to make it less weird for dragons to talk to humans, and to make humans less afraid to talk to dragons!”

“Couldn’t have said it better myself! Say, is that your vehicle?”

Bolt looked down off of Keeper’s side and saw the IAEV below them. “Yep, that’s it!”

“It’s so sleek!”

“Let’s put it this way, it got us from the Mud Kingdom to here in about ten minutes!”

“Seriously? The record for that for a dragon flight is way longer than that!”

“That’s technology for you!”

Keeper swooped down and landed next to the air vehicle. Nothing moved inside the ship. Hopefully his crew wasn’t oversleeping. He ran a loose ship, but he couldn’t have his men and women snoozing off on mission time. Then again, he never really set an “up” time for his crew, so this might have been his fault.

Bolt slipped off of his friend’s shoulders and approached the IAEV. With a tap of his hand, the rear hatch opened and Bolt came aboard. Sure enough, Ellie, Doman, Marcus, and Solas were fast asleep in their chairs, which had been converted into simple beds as they were designed to do on overnight away missions.

“Guys?” Bolt said gently but firmly at the same time. “Wake up.”

Nobody budged. Bolt sighed. Then an idea came to him, and he grinned mischievously. He stepped off the ship and walked over to Keeper. He whispered in the SandWing’s ear, and he also smiled. The SandWing stepped up to the rear of the aircraft, let in a breath, and roared. It was a moderate roar, not as loud as he could be, but it was loud enough that everybody inside the IAEV’s cabin were nearly jolted out of their skins, and were instantly alert… And upset.

“BOLT!! WHAT THE BLIPPITY BLIP!?!?” Marcus was livid, along with the other crew members.

Bolt and Keeper both laughed, thinking their joke was quite amusing.

His crew didn’t think that at all. Until they realized that it was Keeper roaring, they genuinely believed they were under attack by a hungry dragon. Marcus had come close to wetting himself thinking he was going to get eaten.

“Not funny, captain!!” Ellie shouted, crossing her arms.

Solas glared at Bolt almost as if he was about to behead him with his projector blade. Nevertheless, he said nothing and simply prepared his mission kit for the day.

Doman walked calmly up to Bolt, looking very disappointed with him. “Bolt… Next time… Just shake us and yell. No need to sic your fifteen-foot-tall reptile on us.”

Now Bolt felt bad. Dragons had been the terror of his existence for most of his life, and having to be woken up by one roaring in your face would be the stuff of nightmares for any Pyrrhian human.

“I’m sorry,” Bolt told his crew sincerely. “That was really insensitive of me.”

Keeper nudged into the conversation. “I feel like I should have known that would have been really inconsiderate too. I apologize as well.”

Everyone looked at Keeper, not sure how to respond. “Let’s just get on with our day,” Doman finished.

“Welp,” Marcus said, hefting his TUSC jacket over his shoulders, “Now that that’s over with, what’s on the schedule for today?”

Bolt jolted. “Oh my goodness, I totally forgot!” He adjusted his scarf and tried to look like a capable leader about to brief his team. “Today… Our mission begins! We’re going to fly to the mountaintops of the Sky Kingdom and meet with the Queen of the SkyWings, Her Majesty Ruby. Keeper here, thankfully, has done a lot of the hard work already, and most of the dragons there are already… Desensitized to the presence of our kind. With any luck, Keeper’s protection will be unnecessary. However…”

Bolt reached behind his back and felt the scars crisscrossing his flesh on that part of his body. “I think it’s obvious that the species we’re dealing with on this planet poses an immense threat to us if we’re not careful. Please be on your best behavior and whatever you do, do not provoke the dragons. SkyWings in particular are known for having short tempers and--”

“Bolt, you’re diving into stereotypes again,” Keeper interjected, “Maybe you should let me explain.”

Bolt blushed. He didn’t want to admit he had a bias against SkyWings… But then again, could one blame him? It was a group of SkyWings that had forever tarnished his childhood and doomed him to a lonely life of constant fear… Or at least until he met Keeper. Every human in Pyrrhia knew that SkyWings were the last type of dragon you wanted to have chasing you, their hunting habits were notoriously vicious, leading to humans everywhere telling horror stories of entire villages torn apart, innocent human beings ripped limb from limb…

Am I even ready to try and work out peace with the SkyWings? I’m starting to feel like I’m going to slip up and let my history with this tribe dictate my actions with them… That wouldn’t be good…

Keeper explained SkyWing culture to Bolt’s crew while Bolt stewed in his thoughts in the background, completely tuning out Keeper’s speech. He opened his WristUnit and tried to use his map application.

Bolt’s WristUnit abruptly flickered out, emitted a long beep, and displayed an orange window with words in the five Terran languages. Bolt gasped, and tried to tap the screen several times. Nothing happened. He read the message on the screen.

YOUR WRISTUNIT ENCOUNTERED AN ERROR THAT COULD NOT BE RESOLVED THROUGH NORMAL MITIGATION PROCEDURES. PLEASE HOLD YOUR FINGER IN THE CENTER OF THE PROJECTOR RING TO INITIATE A FORCED REBOOT.

He called over Marcus, his engineer. Hopefully he knew how to fix this.

“What’s up, Bolt?”

“I got this screen here. What does it mean?”

Marcus took one look at the screen’s color and grimaced nervously. “Oh boy. You got the Orange Screen of Doom.”

“The what?”

“Your WristUnit crashed.”

“Speak English please.”

“It broke.”

Bolt looked like he was going to start panicking. “I-it did!? How do I fix it!?”

“It’s telling you how to do it. Just put your finger on the ring for a few seconds and it’ll restart.”

Bolt held his finger over the now-orange ring on his wrist. About three seconds later, the window vanished, the ring flashed a few times, and the WristUnit began to go through its startup procedure, and soon it returned to his home screen.

“Why did it do that?” Bolt asked Marcus, “Did I do something wrong?”

“Well… That is a Mark I WristUnit. That thing’s positively ancient by our standards. I’m really surprised you were even able to update it to the newest FluxOS. Most of the time you’d have to have the hardware surgically upgraded if you have one that old. I’m going to guess your WristUnit can’t handle all the new stuff it got on Terra.”

Bolt sighed. “Well it’s too late to upgrade now. I’ll just have to hope it won’t crash at a bad time.”

Marcus nodded. “Well, I think we’re good to go. Let’s go to this palace.”

“Agreed. Keeper? Let’s go.” He began to walk towards his friend.

Marcus looked at Bolt. “Wait, you’re not flying with us?”

“It feels more natural for me to fly on Keeper. Is that fine with you guys?”

Marcus threw his hands up. “Well, you’re the captain. Try not to fall off.”

Bolt nodded and climbed onto Keeper’s back. “You guys follow us!”

With the hatch on the IAEV closed, the craft’s engine ignited and it floated off the ground. In response Keeper spread his wings and took off, with the airship following at a safe distance behind. Keeper looked behind him and became a little nervous. The IAEV was a bit bigger than he was, and Bolt figured having a big hunk of metal tailing him in the air was not something a dragon like him was used to.

Bolt called up his WristUnit and checked the map. “Do you know how to get to the palace, Keeper?”

“I’ve been there before as a member of the Union Society. I should be able to get there fine.”

Together the dragon and the airship soared east out of the desert, towards the Sky Kingdom.

-Three Hours Later, in the Sky Kingdom-

Keeper landed in a small town near the palace. Almost as soon as he did, Bolt’s WristUnit began to ring. He tapped his wrist and opened a channel with the IAEV.

“Captain, we can’t land here!” Doman said, “We’ll have to find a safe place to touch down. We’ll catch up with you later!”

“OK, I’ll see you soon!” He hung up.

Bolt slipped off of Keeper’s back. “Where are we?” He asked his friend.

“This is Phoenix,” Keeper replied, “It’s where we did a lot of work for the Union Society. I made a promise to a certain citizen of this town that I’d show you to her when you came back to Pyrrhia.”

“Who is she?”

“You’ll see.”

Bolt looked around. He could see the spires of the SkyWing Palace way above them in the mountains. They were really close. Some SkyWings were milling about doing their daily errands, paying no mind to the dragon and human standing in the middle of the square.

“Follow me,” Keeper said, and he began to walk towards a hut nearby. A sign hanging off the front of the hut had a scroll on it, and one of Keeper’s “Union Society” posters hung next to a window. He knocked on the door, and waited. The SandWing smiled mischievously and looked at Bolt, and told him “Hide behind me.” Bolt smiled in return and hid behind Keeper’s much larger body. The door opened, and a dragon stepped out, but Bolt couldn’t see who, on account of his friend’s huge body blocking his view.

“Oh, Keeper!” The dragon, a female according to her mental voice, sounded. “I… I wasn’t expecting you!”

“Remember that promise I made to you last year? The one where I’d introduce you to my friend who’s been away for a while?”

“Keeper… You don’t really mean…?”

A gigantic smile broke Keeper’s face. “Take a look behind me, Amber.”

A SkyWing with what Bolt thought was an appropriate scale color for her name stepped out from in front of Keeper and looked right at Bolt, her glasses-clad eyes widening. Bolt looked up at Amber, smiled warmly, and waved at her.

“Oh Moons, Keeper! Is this really him?”

Keeper nudged Bolt with his tail. “Say hello, Bolt.”

“Hi, Amber. Nice to meet you.” Amber’s eyes went even wider as she understood his speech, and she rushed up to Bolt and ogled him up close.

“That gold fur, that pale skin! And you talk! It’s like one of my talking animal characters just stepped out of one of my scrolls!”

Bolt looked confused. “Well, I’m not from a scroll, I’m as real as Keeper and you are.”

Keeper looked at the two of them. “Why don’t we go inside?”

“Oh, sure thing!” Amber looked back at Bolt in wonder and she let the two of them into her home.

Bolt looked around the main room of Amber’s house. Scrolls were piled up everywhere. A huge desk sat in the corner, with the tools of an author’s trade neatly stuffed into a cup: quills, ink bottles, blank scrolls. Really a far cry from what an author would use to write a book on Terra. Here, getting a work of literature onto paper was much more difficult, and Bolt couldn’t help but feel respect for Amber’s dutifulness.

“So, Bolt, how are you?” Amber walked up close to Bolt, admittedly making his instincts act up. One of the last times he had been in this close proximity to a SkyWing, his arm got broken, his back got slashed with poisonous claws, and he nearly got eaten. There it goes again, Bolt thought, I can’t let my past dictate my dealings with all SkyWings!

“I’m fine, Amber,” Bolt said.

Apparently that made Amber think it was time to let all her questions loose. “What was it like living in the wilderness for that long? Did you meet any cool animals?” Her face soared with joyous realization. “Ooh, can you talk to animals??”

Bolt didn’t like living in the woods for almost his whole childhood. He’d gotten used to it, but it was definitely not fun. Having to live in constant fear of being mauled by a bear or torn to pieces by a dragon had taken its toll on Bolt’s mental state. But… Amber obviously thought it was amazing that he lived that long totally alone, as a kid no less, so he decided to sugar-coat his story for her sake.

“Uh, it was really scary most of the time… But it was fun sometimes too. I felt so free... Sorry though, no talking animals. I’m only able to communicate with other humans and with dragons.”

“Oh, I see. Can I… Hold you?”

Now Bolt got really nervous. He could tell Amber meant well and wouldn’t hurt him, but many bad things had happened to him while he had been trapped in a dragon’s talons, like when Keeper dropped him out of the sky by accident soon after he met him, or the time Sienna snatched him up in her claws to eat him. Looking at Amber, he could tell that she could see how tense he was.

“Uhh… Maybe I could just ride on your back?”

Bolt walked up to Amber’s leg and began to climb onto her shoulders, where he settled down at the base of her neck. He felt more in control of himself here… He could get off anytime he wanted, unlike if he was being held in her talons. Much safer, this way.

“Oh Moons, this is so cool! I’ve got the Armored Scavvie riding my back!”

Bolt grinned. “Well, I’m not armored right now. And I’m a human, not a ‘scavvie.’”

“Oh right! That’s what Keeper told me you call yourselves. So Bolt, where do you want to go?”

Before Bolt could reply, his WristUnit began to ring again. “What’s that noise?” Amber asked, looking behind her shoulder at Bolt.

“It’s my communication device. My friends are trying to contact me.” He picked up the line. “Bolt here.”

Doman’s voice blared out of the ring, notes of panic lacing it. “Bolt, we need you right now! This red dragon found us, and we can’t tell if he’s friendly or not, but-- HEY!! PUT MY ENGINEER DOWN THIS INSTANT!! Captain, we need your help ASAP! Sending you our coords now!”

“Hold on, I’m on my way!” Bolt hung up, and shot his gaze at Keeper. “Keeper, my crew’s run into trouble with the townspeople; we need to go help them!”

Bolt slid off of Amber’s back, and lept onto Keeper. “Let’s go. Now!” Bolt was dreading what was happening at this moment to his crew. He had to get to them fast.

“Wait, guys!” Amber called out to them. “Can I come with you?”

Keeper and Bolt nodded. The three of them ran out of Amber’s house. “Where’s your crew, Bolt?” Keeper asked, and Bolt pulled up his map. A dot appeared on it labeled “PERSONAL DISTRESS BEACON: MICHAEL DOMAN.” “We need to go that way,” Bolt said, and the group took off for the eastern edge of town.

----------------------------------------------

Bolt reached the location of the distress signal. He scanned the area around the ship, and immediately found Marcus hanging by his foot from a SkyWing dragonet, only about twice as big as he was.

“SOLAS HELLLLP!!”

Marcus was being shaken upside-down by the big playful dragonet a little too roughly. Bolt saw that Solas had his oversized projector blade at the ready, and prepared to launch at the SkyWing. Doman glanced his way and held out his arm in a gesture for “stop.”

“That’s a kid, Solas! Don’t shoot!”

“Like hell!” Solas growled, “That ‘kid’ could crush Marcus just by accident!”

Bolt, Keeper, and Amber made a beeline for the group.

“Took you long enough!” Solas yelled at them.

“Oh my goodness!” Amber’s eyes sparkled, “There’s more of you!?”

Bolt patted Amber’s leg. “Could you please stop this dragonet before he ends up hurting my friend?”

Amber nodded, and approached the playing dragonet. “Hey there, little guy,” She lilted soothingly, “Could you let that little scavvie down please? They don’t like being shaken like that.”

“Awww…” The dragonet said, “But he’s so cute and fluffy!” Marcus let out an offended groan in his talons, understanding everything he said on account of his translator implant.

“I’m asking you nicely, dragonet,” Amber said, “He’s not a plaything, he has feelings and he’s really scared of you right now!”

Marcus looked at Amber. “I’m not scared! I’m totally in control here! I-AaaaUUgghh!!” The SkyWing shook Marcus even more violently. “I’m GoNNa LoOse MY LunCh!!”

Keeper stomped forward and growled at the dragonet. Clearly he was going to take the not-so-nice stance with this one. “You have five seconds to put down that human. Five…”

The dragonet looked at Keeper’s violent expression and his eyes widened in fear.

“Four…”

The SkyWing shivered, and sat Marcus gently on the ground before high-tailing it outta there. Marcus stood and brushed off his uniform, and looked up at Keeper and Amber. “Uhh… Thanks, guys.”

“So, should we head up to the palace?” Doman put his arm around Marcus’s shoulders and supported him as they approached the two dragons.

“I don’t think we could bring our IAEV up there. No spots for it to land, from what I can see from here.”

Bolt glanced at Keeper, and counted his crew members. Five humans… That’d be a little too many to squeeze onto Keeper’s back… But now that they had Amber…

“Question…” Bolt faced his crew. “How opposed would you be for trading the IAEV in for a more… natural kind of flight?”

Marcus looked horrified. “Uh-uh. Nope. Not doing it. Did you see what happened just a couple seconds ago? I’m not getting anywhere near any dragons now!”

“It’s the only way we can get to the SkyWing palace, Marcus. Besides, you can ride on Keeper. He’s used to having humans ride him, he’ll be gentle.” Keeper nodded affirmatively behind him.

“Well… OK. I trust you, cappy.”

“Alright! Everybody pick a dragon!”

Bolt, Marcus, and Solas climbed onto Keeper’s back one after the other. Ellie and Doman mounted Amber. Once everyone was secured, the two dragons took off for the palace.

After some initial cries of alarm from Marcus, soon he looked positively elated. “Woo!! Bolt, I can definitely see why you like doing this! This beats flying in an airship any day!”

“I told you it’d be fine!” Bolt called back to Marcus, “We definitely don’t have anything like this on Earth!”

“We don’t have to worry about getting eaten on Earth,” Solas grumbled to himself.

The two dragons and their passengers soared upwards towards the palace. That was when Bolt remembered something rather unpleasant about that castle…

“Keeper?”

“Yes, Bolt?”

“The SkyWing palace… They don’t still… You know…”

“Under Queen Ruby’s rule the arena has been abolished. Neither your kind nor mine need to worry about it anymore.”

Bolt sighed with relief. He had heard horror stories about humans that had been caught by SkyWings and sent to their palace. Some unfortunate men and women were sent to the dining hall to be scarfed down… And some even more unlucky humans were forced to fight dragons in their arena. Though from what Keeper just now said of it, it seemed that dragons feared the arena just as much as his kind did. Still, at least the dragons who were imprisoned in the castle didn’t have to worry about being chopped up and served with potatoes! Hopefully they had stopped doing that with humans too…

“See it, Bolt?” Keeper looked behind at Bolt as he flew. “There it is!”

Bolt had already seen the palace when he was younger, though not this close-up. Now he could make out details with the building, the nuance that the dragons had put into their home. True to the SkyWings’ nature, many of the spires of the castle stretched into the clouds. It was made out of stone, and many parts of it were recessed into the mountains it was built on. Without a dragon’s help, it would be a daunting climb to reach the palace, all the way fraught with the danger of being plucked off the mountainside by a SkyWing and devoured.

Soon the palace loomed in front of them. A structure off in the corner of Bolt’s vision made him swallow nervously. He glanced quickly at it, noting the rows of stands and the sandy pit below, where countless gallons of the blood of both his and Keeper’s kind had been shed. How many helpless humans were slaughtered there?

Keeper and Amber landed in the castle’s entry courtyard, which was a massive stone shelf jutting off the edge of the mountain. There were no fences along the edges of it, so if you fell off and weren’t blessed with the power of flight… You’d be done for.

Some guards stood at the main gate. One of them, a male, took one look at the group and huffed. “We weren’t expecting company.”

The other guard, a female, nudged him. “Judging by the overabundance of furry friends piled onto your backs, I’d say you’re from the Union Society? We have, in fact, been expecting you. Come on in.”

Keeper and Amber walked through the now-open gate, but the male SkyWing stopped them in their tracks. The guard looked right at Bolt, causing his nervousness to ratchet back up. “You’re that ‘talking’ scavvie, right? Well since you can understand me, let me make this clear. Be careful around the Queen, you hear? Try anything funny with her and I’ll eat you in one bite.”

Bolt smirked, trying to buff out of his fear with snarkiness he didn’t know he had. “I wouldn’t recommend threatening me with a fun time.” And with that, the team stepped through the door into the palace.

All around them were tapestries and some statues of dragons. It was just as opulent as the SandWing stronghold he visited two years ago, but in its own unique way. Some more guards walked around, some of them nodding in their direction as if to say “We’re watching you.” One of them eventually walked over to them and gestured for them to follow him.

The guard took them up a ways towards a staircase leading to the throne room. After several minutes they reached the top of it. Before the guard turned to leave, he leaned into Bolt’s face, the SkyWing’s terrifying teeth on full display inches from his eyes.

“Mess with the Queen, and I’ll--”

“Eat me?” Bolt chuckled. “Evidently there’s going to be a line.”

Keeper rushed past the slightly offended guard into the throne room. Behind Bolt, Marcus commented to Solas: “He’s really playing the part of a no-nonsense dignitary, isn’t he?”

Solas sighed. “Admittedly he is at least trying to act like an official Terran ambassador.”

A SkyWing announced their presence. “Presenting the representatives of the Union Society, Keeper of the Sand Kingdom and Amber of Phoenix, and their… Companion, Bolt of…” The announcer trailed off. He whispered to himself; “Where exactly did these scavengers come from again?”

“That’s enough, Vermilion,” a deep red SkyWing sitting on a cloud-shaped throne told the announcer, “I know them well enough.”

The humans got off of their respective dragons and Bolt promptly walked to the front of the group, and knelt down. He gestured for his crew to follow, and they obeyed.

The SkyWing laughed when she saw this. “Well now, this is a real treat. Scavengers who know to respect dragon royalty! Where were you twenty-seven years ago in the Sand Kingdom, hmm?”

Bolt took the comment in stride. “Well, your majesty, I wasn’t alive twenty-seven years ago, but if I were around then, I would probably have been the voice of reason preventing any treasure-napping from occurring.”

The dragon’s mouth opened in shock, then she quickly settled back into a regal attitude. “So the rumors are true, then. You can talk.”

Marcus stepped forward. “We can all talk… Your majesty. Most dragons don’t know how to understand our language.”

The SkyWing leaned back on her throne. “In any case, it is a pleasure to meet you all. I am Queen Ruby, ruler of the SkyWing tribe. Now, might I ask what you are doing in my throne room?”

And here it was where Bolt drew a total blank. He went pale as he truly realized he had been thrust into this situation by Keeper with almost no preparation. “Uhh, Keeper? Help?”

Keeper stepped forward. “As you might have guessed from what we’ve been telling your subjects, we at the Union Society want to promote peace between dragons and scavengers, or, as they like to be called, humans. They have been living in constant fear of dragon aggression, and much of the humans’ hostility towards dragons, which was always thought to have been pure animalistic stupidity, is in fact simply because the humans are scared that the dragons will attack them, thus causing them to attack preemptively purely out of fear.”

Queen Ruby raised an eyebrow, or at least she would have if she had any eyebrows.

“But humans do, as my friend Marcus here said moments ago, have a language! All this time what we perceived to be mere squeaks was in fact a very elegant way of speaking! And if we learn their language; learn to communicate with our small mammalian brethren, we can achieve peace!”

Ruby paused for a moment, and Bolt couldn’t tell if she was genuinely considering what Keeper was saying… Or preparing to laugh them out of her throne room. Bolt could definitely admit this would sound ridiculous to someone who wasn’t already aware of his species’ intelligence. Finally, Ruby spoke:

“If I’m not mistaken,” She stated, “The scavenger you designate “Bolt” was partially responsible for the defeat of the Crimson crime gang?”

“Yes indeed, your majesty. His heroics and bravery saved my life that day, almost at the expense of his own life.”

Bolt shuffled his feet and blushed. The way Keeper put it, it was almost like he was describing him as some sort of superhero!

“And it was his “vessel” that flew over our palace two years ago, causing a kingdom-wide panic?”

Bolt blushed even more, though this time with regret.

“Well… Yes, your majesty.”

“I think the evidence is obvious that scavengers are much more than meets the eye, I will admit. Seeing that vessel and hearing of Bolt’s accomplishments, not to mention having the creature himself in front of me talking, does present a very compelling picture of the intelligence of… Humans.” The Queen looked down at Bolt. “Tell me, Bolt. Crimson was the dragon who killed your family when you were a very small hatchling, am I correct?”

Bolt looked sadly down at the floor. “That’s… Correct, your majesty. He destroyed my whole town and ate everyone who lived there… Except for me.”

“Would that not drive you to vilify all dragons and try to attack every one you came across?”

“In most of my experiences, it would be the dragon who would try to attack me first. To be honest, this did cause me to paint all dragons as human-eating monsters… Until I met Keeper. It was then that my ability to communicate with your kind awakened. Since then, I try to see dragons as people and will only fight if I myself am attacked. I am fully committed to ensuring peace between our races.”

Marcus put his hand on Bolt’s shoulder. Bolt looked at him, and he whispered, “You’re doing great, kid!”

Ruby looked away for a few seconds, then back at Bolt. “Bolt… Could you take your pack and leave somewhere? I would like to talk with Keeper in private.”

“Uhh, sure, your majesty. Where… Should we go?”

“Just go out into the lobby and… Groom your fur or something.”

Marcus looked somewhat amused. “Uhh, to be fair, some of us actually do do that, for hours on end."

With that remark, Ellie glared at him. “That wasn’t funny, Marcus!”

“Come on, guys,” Bolt told his crew, “The Queen commands it.” And with that, they slipped out through the throne room door, which had been opened just a crack, and huddled in a safe-looking corner of the gigantic lobby chamber.

“What do you think she’s telling him?” Marcus asked no one in particular.

“She’s probably discussing the finer points of what she wants to have happen with us.” Soon after he said that, Amber stepped out of the throne room and joined them.

“Did the Queen kick you out too?” Doman asked her.

“Yes,” She replied, “She told me to guard you and make sure nobody tries to hurt you.”

“Well your protection is much appreciated,” Marcus affirmed.

Amber sat down next to the humans. “So, you’re not from around here, right?”

“You could definitely say that,” Doman said, “We’re not even from this planet!”

“Really? What’s your world like?”

“A lot like this one, but everything’s smaller, and there’s no dragons. On Earth, your kind is only found in storybooks and fairy tales.”

Amber giggled. “That kinda reminds me of the scrolls I write. Amazing worlds and fantastical creatures…”

Marcus chimed in. “We’ve got cities of shining spires, green fields as far as the eye can see… It’s home, and there’s no place like it. Right, Solas?”

“Correct. It’s a place I would defend to my last breath.” He fondled something beneath his shirt as he said this.

Someone’s stomach grumbled, and everyone looked in the direction the sound came from. They ended up looking at Doman.

“Well, yeah, I haven’t eaten yet today. None of us have.”

“Weren’t there rations stored on the IAEV?” Bolt asked.

“It’s equipped with a miniature raw matter processor; we could have made breakfast. We were too excited to get started with the mission, I guess.”

“Well, I’d say we could ask the dragons for lunch… But I’d be a little too worried they’d end up making us their lunch.”

“Agreed,” Solas said, “I think we can handle empty stomachs until we can return to the IAEV.”

Just then, Keeper left the throne room and looked at them.

“Time to come back inside?” Marcus asked.

Keeper nodded. The humans and Amber passed through the doors into the throne room, where Ruby waited for them. When everyone was assembled, she began speaking again.

“I remember a few years ago, soon after the beginning of the fall of my mother’s reign, my son, Cliff, found that one of the scavengers we had captured for our feast had escaped. He told me that the creature had been talking to him, and I merely thought it was the little dragonet’s imagination at play, and thought nothing of it as I allowed Cliff to free the scavengers and let them escape the palace.”

She leaned in to look at Bolt and his crew better. “But now I can see that my son was right. And it does make me slightly upset with myself that all this time… The centerpieces of our feasts, and the ‘throwaway fighters’ of our arena battles… Had feelings, and families. What we did to your kind is something I would not wish on our worst enemies. Hearing what happened to you, Bolt, makes me think of Cliff, and how devastated he would be to lose me, his parent. For that, for what it’s worth… I apologize.”

Bolt looked up at Ruby, and thought for a second. This was it, the representative of the SkyWings, the tribe that had ruined his life… Was apologizing to him. He felt for most of his life that all he wanted was revenge for what happened to him, that Crimson and his lackies had to die… But having the Queen of the SkyWings say “sorry” for what the Crimson Gang did to him somehow felt more satisfying than the time he shot Crimson’s wing off with a Pulsar cannon. It was proof that maybe… Not all SkyWings are heartless monsters.

“I… Accept your apology, your majesty.”

“Very well, Bolt. And with that, I will issue a royal decree. In the Sky Kingdom, humans will be a protected species! And Keeper?”

“Yes, Queen Ruby?”

“Keep working on your human language classes. I’m sure Cliff and Vermilion would be ‘thrilled,’ to quote my mother, to be able to communicate with the humans in their sanctuary.”

With that, Ruby stood up. “You are all dismissed!”

“Thank you, your majesty!” Keeper called to them, and he, Amber, and the humans left the throne room and began to journey downstairs for the exit.

---------------------------------------------

“So, that’s mission accomplished, then?” Marcus said as they flew down off the mountain back towards Phoenix.

“Well… There’s still the Ice Kingdom,” Keeper said, “But they’re kind of not accepting visitors, like, ever. They even have a magical ice wall that shoots spikes at any non-IceWing that passes over it, so it would literally be impossible for anyone in the Union Society except Winter to go there, and the IceWings really don’t have the best relationship with him.”

“Maybe someday,” Bolt said.

They landed in front of Amber’s house, and Doman and Ellie got off of Amber’s back.

“Thanks for the ride, Amber,” Doman said.

“Anytime,” Amber replied, “I’d love to see you again someday.”

“That was certainly a thrill ride,” Marcus said, “But I think I’m ready for some grub on the ship.”

“We could all use a bite to eat,” Solas said, “Let’s hurry to the IAEV.”

A few minutes later, the humans and Keeper reached the ship and they went inside and took turns ordering from the RMP onboard the vessel. They all sat on a log outside the IAEV and ate while Keeper watched.

“Want anything, Keeper?” Bolt asked Keeper.

“I’m okay. I can go for a lot longer without food, and it looks like that machine of yours only makes enough portions for people of your size. It wouldn’t do any good for me.”

When everyone was finished eating, they packed up their plates and everyone except Bolt began to walk onto the ship.

“So… What happens now?” Doman asked, “I mean, our mission’s pretty much accomplished. Should we go back to Earth?”

Keeper paled a little bit on hearing that. “Would... Bolt be coming with you?”

“Well, yeah,” Marcus said, “We can’t exactly operate the Starchild without a captain.”

Keeper’s expression went dim, and Bolt got a very bad feeling.

“Bolt, you just got here,” Keeper said, “Please… Stay a little longer.”

“I will, Keeper. As soon as I get these people home.”

“What if they keep you there like last time!?”

“Keeper, I’m an adult now. As long as I have the money to afford a personal starship, which, with what they’re paying me to do this, I can afford, they won’t be able to stop me from coming back here! But you can’t keep me here, Keeper. I have a life on Earth too.”

Keeper looked even more dim. He looked like he was plotting something, which made Bolt very uneasy. “Keeper? What are you thinking? Please tell me you’re not-- Graah!?”

Keeper snatched Bolt up and took off with him in his talons. Bolt looked down at his crew and saw that they were scrambling for the IAEV. Within moments they were in the air pursuing Keeper.

“KEEPER!?!? ARE YOU NUTS!?” Bolt flailed around in Keeper’s talons, “LET ME GO!!”

Behind them, the IAEV soared after them. Bolt knew that the ship was unarmed, and even if it did have weapons, there would be too much of a risk of hurting Bolt if they fired at Keeper.

“I’m not letting you disappear again!!” Keeper roared at him.

“Keeper, this is NOT how you get a scavenger to stay with you!!”

Keeper wasn’t listening. Bolt had figured that Keeper was upset about how long of a wait it was for him to come back… But he didn’t know he was this upset about him leaving again.

Suddenly, a blur of deep red dove out of the sky, and Bolt’s blood ran cold.

CRIMSON!

Much to Bolt’s horror, the dragon targeted the IAEV.

“NO!!!” Bolt shouted.

The ship was defenseless; no shields, no weapons. Within moments, Crimson ripped off one of its wings, and with only one grav-plate to keep it in the air, it began to tumble out of the sky.

“Keeper, STOP!! We have to help them!!”

“And let Crimson hurt you? Not a chance!!”

“Keeper that’s my CREW!! My FRIENDS!!” Tears began to flow from his eyes; painful flashbacks of his parents’ deaths playing through his mind.

“They can handle themselves, with their fancy weaponry and all!”

Crimson dragged the IAEV towards the ground, and with an earth-shaking BOOM, it crash-landed in the forest below. Smoke began to rise up from the woods where it crashed. Bolt went cold; he realized what he had to do.

“I’m sorry, Keeper… But that’s my crew down there… I have an obligation to protect them…”

He pulled out his projector blade.

“JUST LIKE YOU PROTECTED ME!!”

Bolt dug his blade into Keeper’s talon.

The SandWing cried out in pain, and instantly dropped Bolt. The young man tumbled through the air down into the trees below...

Chapter Text

Chapter Six: Catastrophe

Bolt plummeted towards the forest, his heart pounding. He hit the trees, grasping at branches and slowing his momentum. He hit the ground running, and kicked up loose dirt as he raced towards the IAEV. He had his projector blade held out in one hand, dashing through the forest with the afternoon Sun looming above the treetops. He pleaded with multiple Terran deities in his head, Please let them be safe!

He could hear Keeper soaring overhead looking for him. He ducked between trees and made himself harder to spot from the air, using the same tactics he used years ago as a kid to avoid dragons.

Before long, he reached the crash site. The IAEV lay on the ground, emitting smoke. Its fuselage was torn wide open and decorated in claw marks. Bolt’s heart sank as he stumbled forward.

“Guys??” Bolt called.

His eyes scanned the area for Crimson's hulking form, dreading the possibility of his crew's death. The SkyWing was nowhere to be found.

Did he take them? Are they already dead?

“Bolt!” Doman’s voice croaked from the wrecked IAEV, “In here!”

Bolt dashed into the ship through a wide gash in its hull. The airship was totally dead, all its instrument panels pitch-black, and sparks were being thrown all around by destroyed machinery. Inside were the banged-up (But alive) forms of Ellie, Doman, Solas…

But no Marcus.

“Where’s Marcus?”

Solas looked Bolt dead in the eye. “Gone. That thing got him.”

Bolt went pale and started shaking. “No. No, no, no… This can’t be happening…” He burst into tears, his whole body shivering with sorrow.

Ellie walked up to Bolt and hugged him. “I’m so sorry, Bolt… I… I couldn’t save him…”

Solas, with a grim expression, put his arm on Ellie’s shoulder. “No, Ellen. This was my fault. I should have done better to fight off that dragon.”

He took his projector blade out of his holster… And Bolt saw that the hook part had been snapped off…

“Solas…” Bolt breathed… “Your grandfather’s--”

“I can buy another weapon. But we can’t buy another Marcus. Let’s worry about that more.”

They went outside, and Bolt saw what was left of Marcus. His tears welled up, streaming down his cheeks and he felt bile build up at the back of his throat. Marcus’s entire torso had been ripped open, and a huge pool of blood surrounded his body and was splattered on the tree trunks nearby. Bolt walked up to him and knelt down beside his body, sobbing violently.

Heavy thuds made Bolt turn around, and through his tears he saw that Keeper had landed behind him. Keeper looked around at the wreckage, then at Marcus’s shredded body, and he visibly went pale.

“Bolt… I… I’m sorry, I--”

Bolt jolted to his feet and his face flushed with rage.

“Get out. Get away from me. I don’t want to see you EVER AGAIN!!”

Keeper stepped back in alarm. “Bolt…”

“NOW, KEEPER! FLY AWAY!! BEFORE I TREAT YOU HOW ANY HUMAN SHOULD TREAT A MAN-EATING MONSTER!!”

Bolt waved his projector blade around at Keeper, causing him to become even more fearful. Doman rushed up to him and put his hands on his shoulders, staring with a serious look straight into his eyes.

“Bolt,” He said, “That’s your friend! Things are bad enough as it is, please don’t do this to him!”

“What about HIM, huh!?” Bolt waved his hand at Marcus’s body, his voice choked with rage and sorrow. “What the FUCK am I supposed to tell his family!?” He scowled furiously, then looked at Solas. “Where did he go. What direction did that SkyWing go off in?”

Solas thought for a moment, then pointed to the east.

“Everyone stay here,” Bolt commanded, “That’s an order. I’m going after Crimson.”

“Bolt, you’re a Terran,” Doman pleaded, “We don’t believe in revenge!”

“I’m not a Terran!!” Bolt shouted at him, “I may have the DNA of you people, but I was born here! And I say, as a Pyrrhian, screw this ‘mission of peace!’” Bolt glared at Keeper. “I’m going dragon hunting.”

And with that, Bolt dashed off into the woods, leaving his horrified crew and a devastated Keeper behind.

-Keeper-

Keeper, barely keeping himself together in the aftermath of Bolt’s outburst, tried to listen in on what the Terran scavengers at his feet were saying. In his chaotic mind, he couldn’t remember their strange, alien names. They were, nonetheless, distinct from each other, so he was able to tell them apart anyway.

“S-should we go after him…?” The female Terran looked unsure.

“He gave us an order to stay here,” The burly male said, “He’s the captain.”

“Then what are we going to do!?” The female asked harshly, “Our engineer’s dead, our captain’s gone rogue, and we’re stuck in the middle of nowhere!” She sighed, “This mission was a mistake. All this just to bring some forest boy home to talk sense into a bunch of giant reptiles. What was TUSC thinking making him captain!?”

The pale-ish human walked up to her. “Marcus believed in him, Ellie. He liked the kid. And you have to admit, Bolt knows more about survival than all of us combined. Without him, every single one of us would have been slaughtered as soon as we landed.”

Keeper stared off into space, suddenly lost in the horror of what had just happened, knowing that Bolt was now running to his own death just to get away from him…

I let my selfish desire to stay with Bolt take me over… And now… I may have just driven Bolt away from me forever…

-----------------------------

-Bolt-

Bolt dashed through the woods, letting tears of rage fly from his cheeks, and he panted with an animalistic lunacy as he tracked his prey through the forest. He saw Crimson’s talonprints in the mud as he ran.

“He’s making it so easy for me to find him!” Bolt shouted to himself, “Hold on, Marcus! I’m going to avenge you… Or die trying!”

He jumped onto a tree and switched to maneuvering around the treetops, swinging from branches, his anger reverting him to a baser form.

He’s close. I can sense it!

Ten feet in front of him he saw Crimson’s tail swishing through the brush. Locking onto it, Bolt catapulted himself from a high branch and flew through the air after him, igniting his projector blade as he descended, straight as an arrow, for Crimson’s body.

With a primal scream, Bolt landed blade-first in Crimson’s back, embedding his sword deep in the SkyWing’s spine. Amazingly, the huge dragon didn’t even flinch, and Bolt jumped off to retreat back into the woods to prepare another strike.

Crimson turned around, looking very amused for some reason. “Hello, scavenger!” He announced cheerfully, “Did you like the little gift I left you?”

Bolt’s furious panting built in intensity. I’m going to kill this monster!!

“You know, I think it’s wonderful we finally have this chance to meet,” Crimson casually strode through the forest. “You and me, one on one.”

Bolt zapped out of the forest and swiped with his sword at his stomach. Still no reaction from the dragon. Feel pain, dammit! Why won’t you bleed!? Bolt ran back into the cover of the woods.

“You know, I think it’s funny the Queen gave you an apology. I never got a ‘sorry’ from you for killing my father and stealing all my treasure.”

Bolt stalked out of the forest, seething with rage, his projector blade dripping with Crimson’s blood. “I never WANTED to steal your treasure. That was KEEPER’S idea! All I wanted was to live a happy life with my family! Your father took that away from me!!”

Crimson laughed. “Oh, you poor little thing. You know, you turned out all right for a cub with no parents. It’s almost like you never needed them at all. Unlike me, who had to beg for food after your ‘friend’ took my parent and all my money!”

“You’re a dragon. Survival is easy for you. Think of what I had to go through! I endured living hell to get where I am now!” He pointed his projector blade at Crimson’s face. “I don’t think you can say the same, you big pampered lizard.”

Crimson pretended to be offended. “Oh, you take that back, you little fluffhead.”

Bolt jumped back out and slashed at Crimson’s leg. It still did nothing significant.

“I could set that pretty little head of yours on fire any time I want, you know, but I think this is fun; this game we’re playing.”

“SHUT UP!!”

“Like you ‘shut up’ my father? It would be so convenient for you if I just dropped dead, wouldn’t it?”

“Your father was a monster who hunted my kind for sport!”

“Isn’t that your place, animal?”

Bolt didn’t even bother responding to such a horrible, demeaning statement. He jumped back into the trees and prepared to launch himself onto Crimson’s back, where far juicier targets awaited him. Bolt swung down on some branches, and dropped down…

But Crimson appeared to have been expecting that. He raised his head, and to Bolt’s sudden horror, prepared to catch him in his mouth mid-jump. Bolt frantically repositioned himself in the air, and raised his legs. As soon as his feet planted themselves on the SkyWing’s snout, he sprung himself away from the sharp teeth and floundered backwards, landing hard on his back, the air getting knocked out of his lungs in the process.

While Bolt recovered from his hard fall, Crimson stalked towards him, a huge grin on his face.

“You came here to avenge your little friend, scavenger. Unfortunately, that was the plan, all along. I was never after your ‘crew.’ All I wanted… Was you.”

Bolt stumbled to his feet, his resolve draining. He couldn’t keep going like this. He built up all the anger he had left, and charged Crimson with a scream of vengeful fury… Only to be swatted away by Crimson, and sent flying backwards, landing on his back again. Now he was too exhausted to get up, and Crimson continued his approach.

Within moments, the SkyWing raised his talon, preparing to pin him underneath it. In an effort to do something to defend himself, Bolt raised his projector blade above his stomach and held it firmly there, just as the dragon’s talon came bearing down on him.

Amazingly, it worked just like he thought it would, and the hard-light blade impaled Crimson’s talon, the tip coming straight out of the top of it, and blood spurted from the wound. The dragon let out a shocked roar.

“You insignificant little speck!!” Crimson roared.

“What’s wrong?” Bolt sneered, regaining some of his fighting spirit, “Got a little problem with your talon? Here, let me help,” And Bolt twisted his sword inside Crimson’s wounded paw, causing the SkyWing to cry out even more.

Crimson finally looked like he couldn’t take anymore, and he drew his mouth closer to Bolt’s head. Now Bolt lost whatever rage he had left, and terror flooded his body. It was obvious the SkyWing was about to bite off his head and end the fight right here.

Okay, I may have to consider the possibility that I may very well be DONE FOR.

The SkyWing’s terrible mouth drew closer. He could smell human blood on his teeth; it must be Marcus’s. This is it. It’s all over…

CRACK!!

A sharp beam of white light speared straight through Crimson’s skull, and suddenly, the horrible SkyWing dropped dead.

Now he was trapped under a dead dragon’s talon. Bolt lay under Crimson’s paw, wondering how he was going to get out. He also began to think of his crew. Hopefully they’re okay without me… But Keeper… Nah, he can definitely handle himself. Over a minute later, Bolt finally got his answer about how he was going to escape. Something lifted the dragon’s entire body off of him.

Deus Ex whatever this is, Bolt mused.

Bolt stood up, and found himself confronted with an occupied suit of LinkSuit armor, holding a Pulsar cannon similar to the one he used two years ago. Everything was silent in the way it always was after an intense battle.

“Uhh, Doman? Is that you in there?”

A mysteriously familiar voice that wasn't Doman's issued out of the LinkSuit's faceplate. A voice overflowing with emotion and raw friendliness.

"I thought I'd lost you, that I was the only one who made it out alive..."

The helmet of the LinkSuit folded away, revealing a chiseled face topped with a thick mop of brown hair... And familiar pale skin that could only mean he was a Terran human. The man's voice exploded into a happy shout.

"But look at you, man! You were alive the whole time!"

Bolt's brow furrowed. "I'm sorry... Who are you?"

The man looked positively stupefied. "Bolt, how could you possibly have forgotten me?" He cupped Bolt's chin with his armored hand. "Your bestest friend in the whole wide world?"

Flashes echoed in Bolt's mind. Impossible flashes. Countless books read under many trees... The unforgettable first day of school... That unfailingly optimistic attitude that taught him to always seek the light in the darkness, an attitude that no doubt contributed to Bolt's own survival after the fall of his village...

"Basil!?"

The man picked up Bolt in a Linksuited bear-hug, laughing wholeheartedly.

"Sure am! Moons above it's good to see you!" He set Bolt down. "So, uh, how've you been?"

"How the blip did you survive the dragons!?" Bolt blurted, "I thought I was the only one that made it to the shelter!"

"Remember that old tree we used to play around? Turns out there's a hidden root cellar built into it. It was going to be a big surprise I wanted to show you, but the dragons kinda ruined that. I'm not gonna lie, it was pretty scary; I thought that old burrow was gonna cave in on me! Anyway, I hid down there for a couple days, surviving on some roots growing down there that I knew were edible from all my studying. When I came back up, everything was totally wrecked. Pretty low point, that was, knowing all my friends n' family were gone... But then a traveling merchant from good ol' Indestructible City picked me up, and he fell for me so hard he adopted me on the spot! And the rest...". He stretched his arms out dramatically. "Is history!"

Bolt ran up to Basil and hugged him again. “I can’t believe I thought I lost you…”

“I can’t believe I thought I lost you! And wait till you meet the people who took care of me! They ain’t my parents… But they’re awesome anyway.”

“Your caretakers… In the Indestructible City?”

“Mm-hmm! Oh, and I almost forgot! There’s someone else who wants to meet you!”

“And that is…?”

“Come on out, your lordship!” Basil called to someone behind him.

A man stepped out of the brush, followed by some guards in spiked armor. He was exquisitely dressed in red robes, had rings on almost all his fingers, and wore a thick mane of black hair running down to his shoulders. He was obviously royalty… And that meant one thing. He was the only true royalty among scavengers… He was the Invincible Lord.

“Hello, Bolt,” The Lord said with a friendly but professional attitude, “It is good to finally meet you.”

Bolt looked over the Lord. “Should I be kneeling… Or…?”

The Lord shook his head. “No need, young one. I am a gentle ruler, and I don’t believe in making my subjects display such… Submissive responses to my presence.”

“Well… Okay, that’s good. What do you want with me, your majesty?”

“Well, to put it simply, Bolt… I need your help. Won’t you come with me to my city and hear my pleas?”

Basil took the Lord’s side and took on a imploring expression. Bolt wasn’t too sure yet… But if he was going to unite humans and dragons, then he obviously needed to hear the humans’ side of things too.

“I accept, your majesty,” Bolt said as he approached their side, “Let’s get to your castle right away.”

“Splendid!” The Lord said, while clapping his hands, “You can follow me to my vehicle.”

Bolt, Basil, and the Lord began to walk towards a parked horse and carriage that had been hidden in the bushes. The guards helped the royal into it, who was followed by Basil. The weight of his LinkSuit caused the carriage to tilt over a bit, but it balanced out once he was seated. The guards got into the vehicle, and beckoned to Bolt to board it with them. Before he stepped onto the carriage, he looked one last time at Crimson’s corpse, and began to feel a little… Regret?

Deep down, Bolt felt that the SkyWing wasn’t all too bad; he was just upset about losing his parent, just like he once was. Now he’d never have a chance to redeem himself. But on the other hand, there hadn’t been much of an option; the dragon had been seconds away from killing Bolt, it was either him or Crimson who was going to die at that point; there was no saving both of them. Shaking his head, Bolt climbed into the Invincible Lord’s vehicle and they rode towards the Indestructible City.

-------------------------------------

-Keeper-

“So, what now?” Doman asked, “I don’t think Bolt’s coming back anytime soon, and this isn’t exactly a safe place to camp out, since if that dragon ends up killing Bolt, he’ll probably come right back here for a second helping of succulent, juicy us!”

Keeper stood up. “Is there any chance of getting your flying machine working again?”

“Definitely not,” Solas said, “It’s completely totaled. Nothing on it works anymore, not even the RMP, so we can’t get any food here.”

Keeper shifted on his feet. Part of him wanted to stay here and wait for Bolt, while the other felt he was obligated to protect his friend’s crew; he owed it to them after what happened earlier. And if Bolt were to lose his solo battle against Crimson, then the remaining Terran scavengers wouldn’t be safe here.

“I’ll… Take you to my home, then,” Keeper said, “All of you, climb on.”

Doman got onto Keeper first, followed by Ellie.

“Wait,” Solas said, “We can’t leave Marcus here. He needs a proper burial.”

Doman looked down at Keeper’s face. “He’s right. TUSC regulations say that all crew members killed in the line of duty need to be returned to the ship for cremation.”

Ellie looked conflicted. “Well I don’t think it would be very sanitary to carry around a disemboweled corpse with us for the rest of the mission!”

“Call Harry then. He can come pick him up. Besides, he should be informed that we’ve lost a crew member, especially since he would have been notified by BIS-SI that one of our WristUnits went dark. He’s probably really concerned right now!”

Just then, Solas’s WristUnit began to ring. “Speaking of whom,” He said, “That’s him.” He picked up the line. “This is Security Officer Solas Jericho.”

Harry let out a big sigh on the other end. “Thank goodness you’re okay. I lost Marcus’s vitals signature. Please tell me that was just an equipment malfunction!”

Solas maintained a businesslike attitude, despite the raging emotions within him, following his training to the letter. “I’m afraid not, Mr. McAllen. We lost him. A hostile dragon tore him up. We need a body retrieval at our current location.”

“Oh my God…” Harry breathed, “Where’s the captain going, anyway? My sensors have him at several miles away from your position!”

Solas hesitated. “The captain… Has had a breakdown… Of sorts. He went off to kill the dragon that got Marcus. We don’t know when or if he will be returning to our ranks.”

“This is a blipping disaster… Hold on, I’ll take out one of the escape pods and come topside to pick up Marcus’s body, you guys hang tight!”

Keeper barged in and pressed his snout against Solas’s wrist, and began speaking in Scavenger to the human through his communication device. “Wait, did you say Bolt is still alive?”

A pause for a second… “Who is this, Solas?”

“He’s Bolt’s dragon friend,” Solas explained, “He’s concerned about Bolt’s safety.”

“Well, good news is that I haven’t lost his signal, so he’s still alive. His HR was really high for a while, but he’s settled down now. He’s moving off with speed to the south. I think he’s in a vehicle of some sort.”

“I’m going to go get him!” Keeper said, “Hold here for a sec--”

“Keeper,” Ellie said, “Are you sure that’s a good idea? Bolt was really upset with you, he probably won’t be happy if you go chasing after him right away. Let him cool off for a bit.”

Keeper paled as he realized that the female human was right. He had completely ruined his friendship with Bolt. He told him to his face he never wanted to see him again. He felt like crying… But at least for now he knew his human friend was okay.

Harry spoke up on the WristUnit. “Anyway, I’m coming to join you guys. Hang tight!” And with that, he hung up.

-Doman, Five Minutes Later-

“There he is,” Solas said, “Clear some room for him to land!”

Everyone backed up, and a spherical escape craft floated down out of the sky and unfolded its landing gear, then touched down. The hatch opened, and out stepped Harry. Right away he saw Marcus’s corpse and gagged.

“Good Lord!” He shouted, “He’s been ripped open!”

“Unfortunately,” Doman said.

“Let’s just… Get him on board, and I’ll put him in a cryo-cell until we can burn him. Help me lift his body.”

Solas and Doman gathered next to Marcus’s body, and they and Harry picked up the corpse and carried it onto the escape pod. They laid him in the pod’s cryogenic chamber, and sealed it. Within seconds the pod froze, preserving Marcus’s body.

“So what now?” Harry asked.

“I think we should regroup in Possibility, and try to get a hold of Bolt,” Doman said, “We could also keep Keeper company, since he’d probably be really lonely if we sent him back home alone.”

“I agree,” Ellie said.

“Alright then,” Harry said, “Everyone get on board!”

The humans got onto the escape pod, and the hatch sealed. Soon it floated off the ground. Keeper gestured for it to follow him, and together they flew away.

-Bolt-

“So what happened over the last thirteen years?” Bolt asked Basil as they rode towards the city.

“Well, like I said, a merchant family took care of me; fed me, clothed me, and all that. They really liked how I loved to learn, so they let me read every book they could get their hands on, hoping to get me into the big college in town. I studied and studied, but then… Well you more than anyone would know this, but on my seventeenth birthday, this big white thing flew over us, and sent the whole town into a tizzy.”

“The Starchild,” Bolt said, “Yeah, I really caused a stir by getting that thing into the air.”

“Yep. Anyway, soon after you left Pyrrhia in that thing, the Lord began searching for the wisest men in his city to begin studying some strange machinery he had discovered underground near where the Starchild came from. Naturally, I was a good fit for that, so I volunteered.”

“Basil… You know that you’re, you know?”

“That I’m a Terran? Yeah, after a while I figured that out. Everyone in Outpost Village was Terran, right?”

The Invincible Lord began speaking. “With his lineage, young Basil was, and continues to be, a natural choice for helping us in the study of your species. For this reason, he is the leader of the elite strike team tasked with operating the Terran weaponry.”

Bolt paled for a second. So that’s where the dock’s armory went… He didn’t say anything more.

It took several more hours of driving in silence to reach the Indestructible City, and the Sun was beginning to set when they finally arrived. They rode into a special hidden entrance that led into a big ramp that in turn led into an underground stable, where they parked and got out.

Basil walked over to the wall of the stable and pressed his hand against the back of his neck, and the LinkSuit he was wearing disassembled itself and he stepped out of the armor, to reveal that underneath it he wore a high-rankingsoldier’s uniform. Looking at his wrist, Bolt was shocked to find that he was outfitted with a WristUnit just like he was.

“You’ve got a WristUnit too!?” Bolt asked him.

“Oh, this fancy doodad? Yeah, as soon as we figured out how to use the implant machines, I was one of the first to get one of these. Without one, it’s pretty much impossible to operate the Terran armor suits,” Basil patted the LinkSuit’s chest following this statement.

The Invincible Lord walked up to them. “While it warms my heart to see you two reconnecting, we need to get into the city. Follow me.”

They followed the Lord up a spiral staircase that led upwards for quite a ways. Eventually they reached the top, and it opened directly into the main hall of the grand palace.

Bolt was, admittedly, in awe. He had seen two dragon castles, but this was the first time he had seen the inside of a royal dwelling built by Pyrrhian humans. Everything about this castle screamed humanity. Marble columns shaped by human hands. Works of art that had been weaved into existence by the gentle touch of a human artist. Where other humans had been just barely getting by, trying to merely survive the dragons, here humanity had flourished!

The Lord looked at him. “Impressed, are we? I am pleased that you like my humble abode.”

“It’s beautiful,” Bolt said.

“Come, let’s get you to where you’ll be staying.”

The Lord led them up some more stairs into a corridor, and he took him down the hall to a door; behind it was what seemed to be a guest chamber, with a soft bed and a fancy-looking dresser with a mirror attached to it.

“Here’s where you’ll be staying, Bolt,” The Lord said, “Get yourself settled in; we will have dinner in an hour.”

“Thank you, your majesty. Your hospitality is… Amazing!”

“It is nothing. Please relax until dinnertime, you must be exhausted after your close brush with death.” And with that, he and Basil left.

Bolt sat down on the bed, and he realized that he indeed was tired. He let out a yawn that he had been holding in for hours, and then he laid down on the silk pillows. Why didn’t I come here sooner? Bolt thought, I never knew that the Invincible Lord was so… Nice! And I can still hardly believe Basil’s been alive this whole time!

Bolt’s brow furrowed. I guess I should be worried that these people got their hands on advanced weaponry. I’ll bring that up when I meet the Lord at dinner.

-Keeper-

Keeper landed next to the escape pod in front of his house in Possibility. The humans got out of the vehicle and followed them towards the door. He tried to hide his emotions, but he was having trouble holding back tears.

Fen walked up from behind them. “So, guys, how’d it go?” He frowned when he noticed their group was smaller in number. “Uhh, where’s Marcus and Bolt?”

Finally Keeper couldn't take it anymore, and he ran up to Fen and wrapped his wings around him and burst into tears, letting out all the emotion he had been building up. “He left me, Fen!! He told me he didn’t want to be my friend anymore!!”

Fen’s eyes went as wide as they could go. “Bolt said that!?!? Keeper, what under the three Moons happened out there!?”

Keeper didn’t respond, only continuing to sob into Fen’s scales.

“Oh my goodness, Keeper, I’m so sorry! Here, come inside and let’s talk about it.”

Inside Keeper’s house, Keeper explained how the mission went, and the disaster that followed.

“I think I’ve driven him away from me forever, Fen!” Keeper sobbed, “He’s never coming back!”

Fen thought for a second. “Well, for starters, you scavvie-napped him and left his friends to die. That’s definitely not cool.”

Keeper looked horrified. “I really messed up… Didn’t I? What am I going to do without Bolt?”

“Keeper,” Fen said, “I think Bolt just needs some space for a bit. He’s really upset about his friend dying. I don’t know everything about scavengers, but if they really are like us, he probably wants some time alone to process his grief.”

Ellie put her hand on Keeper’s leg. “He’s right, Keeper. Bolt and Marcus really liked each other, and losing him hurt him a lot. Also… I don’t really think he meant what he said when he was yelling at you.”

“Do you really think that?” Keeper said as he wiped his eyes.

“Part of my medical training for TUSC involved human psychology classes, Keeper. It’s pretty obvious that Bolt is going through the classic stages of grief here. He got angry at you because you caught him at a really bad time, during his ‘anger’ phase.”

“Then… You think he will come back?”

“Just give him time, buddy,” Fen said, “Let him heal, and I’m sure he’ll want to be around his friends again.”

Keeper wiped more tears from his eyes. “Thank you, guys...”

---------------------------------------------

-Bolt-

Bolt woke up to someone knocking at his door, not realizing he had fallen asleep.

“Come in,” Bolt said.

A servant opened the door and entered the room. “Dinner is ready, sir. Follow me to the dining hall.”

Bolt got out of bed and did as he was told. The servant led Bolt through an opulent hall. Busts of what Bolt presumed were the previous lords of the city lined the walls, protected by their own little alcoves. A little plot of history.

At the end of the hall was a spiral staircase, which Bolt and the servant went down. Two floors later, they reached the main hall of the palace again, and with some more walking, the man left Bolt at a huge set of doors, which he opened for him.

“Go through, sir,” He said, “The Lord is waiting for you.”

Bolt entered what was easily the grandest dining hall he had ever seen. The SandWings’ hall he had eaten at two years ago had nothing on this! Gold was everywhere, and all the seats were lined with silk.

Now we’re talking, Bolt thought, This guy really knows how to treat his guests! None of the dragons ever had anything like this laid out for me!

The Invincible Lord was seated at the far side of the table, with Basil seated next to him, and some other high-ranking soldiers were also seated there. “Ah, Bolt,” The Lord called, “Come sit with us.”

Bolt happily sat next to Basil. “Hey there, buddy,” His old friend said, as he did so.

“Bolt, this reminds me, I believe we have something of yours.” He pulled something achingly familiar out from behind his seat.

“My old backpack!” Bolt shouted, then he got a little nervous. “So… I guess that means you guys found the underground research facility…”

“Indeed,” The Lord replied, “It taught us much about your society. You are so lucky to have a world without dragons. Your peoples are many, and your cities are so unbelievably grand!”

“I guess you could say that.”

Just then, a line of servants came through the door, carrying many plates of food with them. Many of them had something that instantly caused Bolt to salivate.

“Venison! How did you know that was my favorite!?”

“We found a recipe for an exquisite fire-roasted deer dish in your bag, and I decided that I simply had to try it! After all, a master woodsman such as yourself would certainly have a taste for this type of meat! I had a royal hunter go out this morning to catch a deer specifically for this purpose!”

A plate of perfectly-cooked venison was placed in front of Bolt. He couldn't wait to dig in, but he would respect his host and wait for everyone to be served. After the last plate had been set, the Lord gestured for everyone to start.

Bolt tore off a bite of the meat. It was just like he prepared his venison, but better in every way! He found that he simply couldn’t stop eating, not even caring about his manners, which caused several of the royal soldiers across from him to look disapprovingly at him. The Lord, nonetheless, paid his sloppy eating no mind.

“Tell me, Bolt,” The Lord said, “You have lived among dragons. What are they like? Do they dream of tasting our flesh the way you enjoy deer’s meat?”

Bolt swallowed his food. “On the contrary, your majesty! Dragons are just like us! And many of them really care about us; they wouldn’t dare harm any humans!”

“I see. But you have met dragons who happily harm our kind, simply because they can?”

“Well… Yes. Me and Basil lost our families to those types of dragons. But there are just as many, if not more, who try to protect humans! Me and Keeper are part of a group that wants to bring together our species in peace!”

“Keeper is…”

“A Desert Dragon. He saved my life, and we’re…” Bolt looked down at the floor. He still wasn’t happy about what Keeper did to him. “Acquaintances.”

“Very well. Please, continue eating.”

Bolt tore into more of the venison. He could tell that the Invincible Lord wasn’t the biggest fan of dragons in general. It was a good thing he had come here alone, in that case. They would probably have tried to kill Keeper as soon as they saw him, though the SandWing wouldn’t even fit into this building in any case. Speaking of killing dragons…

“Your majesty… What exactly do you plan on doing with all the weaponry you found?”

Everyone stopped eating, and stared at Bolt. A few of the soldiers looked as if they were about to scold Bolt for speaking out of turn. The Lord, however, looked at Bolt with a serious expression.

“Bolt, we do not plan on waging war against the dragons. That ended disastrously for us last time. What we are doing is merely… Evening the playing field in the event the dragons try to attack our last great holdout here. I promise you the weapons of your species will only be deployed in defense of our home, never to attack without provocation.”

Coincidentally, that was the exact same philosophy the Terrans held about their weaponry on their planet.

“Please be careful with it and only use it if you really need it. All the stuff you took is really old, and it will eventually run out of power and be useless to you.” He felt his back scars. “I learned that the hard way.”

“We will take your advice into account. In any case, it appears we are all finished with our food.” The Lord stood up. “Come with me, Bolt. There is something I want to show you.”

“Yes, your majesty.” Bolt slung his old backpack across his shoulders and followed him out of the dining hall.

The Invincible Lord led Bolt down the hall, then hung a right down a corridor that seemed to end in a dead end. The Lord placed his hand against the wall, and tapped it in a rhythm. Suddenly, the wall opened like a sliding door, revealing a hidden staircase.

“You first,” The Lord said.

Bolt went down the stairs. They kept going for quite some time, even longer than the staircase that took them from the ground-level stables to the main hall. Eventually they reached a point that, just like at the research facility, the environment became pitch-black and they couldn't see. The Lord took something off the wall, apparently knowing its exact location in the darkness, and struck a flint, causing the object, a torch, to ignite. Soon the staircase was illuminated, and they proceeded further.

Finally, they reached the bottom of the staircase, and they found themselves in front of a door that didn’t match the rest of the palace’s décor in the slightest. Bolt couldn’t identify the material it was made out of, it resembled some fusion between glass and stone, but it wasn’t crystal, it was something else, almost like solidified fluid. Engraved into the door was an emblem of sorts, a circular crest depicting a Sun, and two crescent Moons flanking a full Moon, all of which was surrounded by strange, alien writing that Bolt had never seen before.

“It is the script of the Ancients,” the Lord said, “Unfortunately, I cannot read it. No one can. Their language has been lost to time…”

The Lord placed his hand on the surface of the “glass,” and it slid away almost by magic, revealing a dark chamber beyond it. Bolt and the Invincible Lord stepped into the room, the only illumination being the torch the Lord was carrying.

Everything was silent down here. Bolt could hear his own breathing mix with the sound of the Lord’s breathing. He heard him take a deep breath, then he spoke:

“I want to tell you a story, Bolt… Far older than you or me.”

The Lord held his torch up to the far wall, and revealed that a gigantic mural had been painted here. The paint mysteriously began to glow in response to being bathed in torch light. The mural showed a happy scene of humans and dragons coexisting, cooperating. Humans flying on the backs of dragons, humans building fantastic machines for the dragons.

“About a time when humans flew on the backs of dragons, partners to the end.”

So we did coexist at some point… Bolt thought… But he had a bad feeling about how this story ended.

The Lord illuminated a second mural next to it, showing numerous hands outstretched to a dragon hovering in the sky. “The humans worshiped the dragons in those days; they were our guardians. We loved our dragon companions with all our hearts…”

And it was here the Lord shifted in his personality. He clenched his teeth and fists, and, with his hands shaking with emotion, he lit up the final mural.

Bolt gasped. It was terrifying; it showed what had to have been hundreds of thousands of humans being attacked by dragons, humans burning alive, humans torn in half, humans in general being killed horribly. It was, without a doubt, a depiction of the Scorching.

The Lord’s voice fell to a dread whisper. “This… Is how they repaid us…”

Bolt felt terrible. This man looked as if he knew intimately how such a calamity would have felt to all the poor souls slain during the Scorching. He could see how such knowledge could drive someone to hate dragons with every shred of their being.

"We called it, simply, The Catastrophe... Followed by the Age of Sorrow and Terror. Dragons worldwide that we once hailed as our benevolent guardians... Turned on us."

The Lord turned to Bolt, a look of quiet determination on his face. "Do you see why all this is necessary now? Do you know what must be done? We need to strike back, we must make them pay for betraying our trust!"

Bolt realized at this moment that yes, the Invincible Lord, despite what he had told him upstairs, was indeed planning a war against the dragons, and now that they had Terran weaponry… It was no longer out of the question that they could win… Though it would still be laughably unlikely.

Bolt answered from his heart, hoping to win over the Lord to his side with reason. "No, I don't. Violence shouldn't beget violence. The Catastrophe was over five thousand years ago. We need to let go of that horrible past and focus on peace!"

“What do you know about peace, boy? Peace with dragons is impossible, as long as they are more powerful than us, they will see themselves a superior to us! You may have befriended some, but mark my words, if most of them had the chance, they would happily drive our species to extinction! For no other reason than the fact that they simply can!” The Lord looked with very serious eyes right into Bolt’s own. “And with your help, with your weaponry, we can finally build a world where we can truly be at peace, where we can truly be safe!”

“The world you’re describing is one without dragons, and I will have absolutely no part in genocide!”

“Why can’t you see that I must do this!? We finally have the chance to build a world safe for us! With your technology--”

“Pardon me, your majesty, but you stole that technology! Second, do you really think you can win a war against an entire continent full of dragons? Your army, even with all the weapons you took from us, is far too few in numbers to defeat every dragon in Pyrrhia."

“We must try, Bolt! Before it is too late to save our species!”

“By doing this you will doom your species,” Bolt said scoldingly.

The Invincible Lord’s expression went dark. “I see I will not be able to change your mind. A shame, that. I’m afraid I cannot let you leave my city. You would go back to your dragon friends and spoil my plans. You will come with me--”

Bolt, with lightning quickness, ignited his projector blade and, with a deft stroke, cut the Lord’s torch in half. Immediately the chamber was plunged back into pitch blackness, and Bolt, wasting absolutely no time, rushed out of the room and dashed up the stairs.

“You will not escape, Bolt!” The Lord called up to him, “You cannot stop what’s coming!”

Chapter Text

Chapter Seven: Escape

As soon as Bolt reached the top of the stairs, he began to walk more casually, trying to act normal. He couldn't hear the Invincible Lord coming up the stairs. He figured that the Lord had already instructed his guards to prevent him from leaving. And since only the Lord knew he was actively trying to escape, he had the element of surprise.

Still, though, Bolt was hesitant to do this. These humans were heavily armed, and likely at least somewhat trained in combat. Up until now, Bolt had the upper hand technologically and was more than a match for any human on this primitive planet. Now the enemy had the same weaponry he did.

But he had no option. To stay here would be to give up and let the Invincible Lord go to war and cause the end of humanity on Pyrrhia. He thought of Twig being ripped out of Fen’s talons to be slaughtered along with all the other innocent humans, and the sheer horror of that mental image alone propelled him into action. There was a low chance of success here, but he had to take it.

This was going to be tricky. The only weapons he was equipped with at the moment were his old bow and knife, neither of which would do anything against the armored soldiers, and his projector blade, which would work against them, but it would also seriously injure them or even kill them. He didn’t want to kill anyone. He would have to be careful.

Bolt continued to walk through the halls. He decided he would commandeer a horse from the stables he went in through and escape on it. Unfortunately, Bolt had never ridden a horse before.

It can’t be that different from riding Keeper. Just without the flight part, and I can’t talk to a horse .

Bolt approached the stairs that led down into the ground-level stables. Sure enough, a single guard was standing next to the door. He looked high-ranking. Most likely one of the captains.

Here goes nothing…

Bolt un-holstered his projector blade and got closer to the guard captain. He was holding a Pulsar pistol and had a metal sword sheathed on his belt. The sword would be easy to fight against; a projector blade would cut straight through it. The Pulsar would be the real threat.

“Stop right there!” The guard ordered, “I have orders from the Invincible Lord to keep you confined to the palace!”

Bolt gestured to the Pulsar. “Do you even know how to use that thing?”

The guard grew a stern expression. “I know enough. Don’t make me use it.”

“I don’t want to fight you.”

“That’s good then, now please return to your quarters.”

“The problem I have is, I also don’t want you hurting my friends. And the thing about wanting to protect your friends is, it tends to make you want to do stupid stuff.”

Bolt ignited his projector blade. The guard stiffened, and raised his Pulsar. Bolt continued to put out a confident expression. Maybe he could get the guard to step aside with pure bravado.

“I’m telling you, sir! Please don’t make me do this!”

“I’ve fought dragons, soldier. What makes you think I’m scared of that little pea-shooter?”

BANG!

The soldier fired his Pulsar. The beam seared over his head and splatted into the wall above and behind him, leaving a black spot on the stone. Uh oh, he has it set to kill. I should be more careful.

“Soldier, put down your gun.”

“I don’t take orders from you! Now lay down your weapon and surrender!”

“Suit yourself,” Bolt said, and with the lightning quickness that came from being a master hunter, Bolt swiped precisely at the gun in the guard’s hand. Unfortunately, the guard dodged, and fired off another shot. The guard missed as well, and the two of them became locked in combat.

This isn’t good, Bolt thought, This is the biggest thing the TUSC combat instructor told us never to do, fight someone using a gun with a bladed weapon. Thankfully, I still have my options.

Before the guard could get off another shot, Bolt rushed forward, and, using a disarming technique he had learned in hand-to-hand combat training, he grabbed the muzzle of the pistol, followed with a strike to the guard’s wrist, then twisted. Just as he predicted, the Pulsar fell out of the guard’s hand, and Bolt quickly picked up the weapon, flicked the mode lever to stun, and shot the guard in the chest. The guard captain collapsed like a house of cards.

Now Bolt could hear heavy footsteps running to his position. The noise of the fight had attracted all the guards in this part of the palace. There was no time to waste. Bolt destroyed the door’s lock with his blade, threw it open, and jumped down the spiral staircase, two steps at a time.

About halfway down the stairs, he could hear the stomps of some guards’ footsteps coming after him. Bolt picked up the pace and hoped he would reach the bottom in time.

“Come on, come on,” Bolt chanted to himself as he continued jumping.

Finally, Bolt reached the bottom, and finding another locked door, he stabbed the lock here too. Bolt burst into the stables…

And ran straight into an occupied LinkSuit.

“Bolt!” Basil’s voice called out from the suit, “Where are you going?”

“I need to leave, Basil. Please don’t try to stop me.”

“Bolt, the boss told me I can’t let you do that. We’re friends, but orders are orders.”

“Basil, your ‘boss’ is about to commit genocide. I know you, you can’t possibly want to do that!”

“They’re dragons, Bolt. They don’t want us alive. We’re doing this for our own survival. There’s no other option.”

Bolt could hear the rest of the guards coming down the stairs. He was running out of time, and he couldn’t let Basil stall him.

Bolt got a cold feeling, knowing what he was about to do. He opened his WristUnit and fired up an app he was given when he signed on with TUSC as a captain.

“Uhh, Bolt, what are you doing with that little doodad of yours?”

//LINKSUIT MK3 RV 1—CONNECTION ESTABLISHED//

INPUT COMMAND

>EMERGENCY_STOP_MASTER_OVERRIDE@PRIORITY9+TIMELIMIT=00:01:00

COMMANDING OFFICER RECOGNIZED

INITIATING OVERRIDE

LINKSUIT EMERGENCY STOP PROTOCOL INITIATED

Basil’s LinkSuit immediately went limp, and Basil cried out in alarm from inside the suit.

Bolt typed in another command that forced the helmet to stay over his face. He didn’t want to have to see the anguished, betrayed face his childhood friend was surely displaying beneath his visor at this moment.

“I’m so sorry, Basil,” Bolt said, “But I’m the captain of the Starchild… And this is for your own good.”

“B-but Bolt…” Basil blubbered, dammit, he could hear the tears in his voice, “We’re friends!”

“I am your best friend, “ Bolt replied back, “And sometimes we have to do what’s best for our friends… Even if it hurts.”

Bolt ran past Basil’s disabled LinkSuit towards a group of horses chained to the wall. He severed a fast-looking one from its tether and jumped on. This horse must have belonged to a high-ranking soldier, because there was a Pulsar rifle strapped to the horse’s saddle. Very convenient for him.

“Let’s go, horse!” Bolt told the animal. Nothing happened.

“Uhh, horse, start running!”

The horse let out a neigh, but didn’t move otherwise.

What did Terrans do in movies to get horses to run? Oh, right!

Bolt kicked the sides of the horse and shook the reins he found in front of him. The horse immediately took off at a gallop, and Bolt struggled to stay on as it dashed at top speed for the exit gate.

Bolt quickly took out the Pulsar rifle and set it to its highest setting, then added a concussive shot mode, and shot the gate.

BLAM!

The gate was blasted open, and Bolt and his steed ran through into the fields surrounding the Indestructible City. He looked behind him and saw that the soldiers had reached the stables and were themselves getting onto their horses. He set his rifle to stun and prepared to fight.

Soon, Pulsar bolts began shooting past him. He had the horse make evasive maneuvers, steering randomly and making him a more difficult target to hit, and began firing back at them. The soldiers outnumbered him, but Bolt was an official TUSC officer. He had been given far superior training for Pulsar fights than they had.

Bolt aimed down the sights of the weapon and fired at the closest soldier. Taking a direct hit, the soldier went stiff and fell off his horse. Now there were a few more to go. Bolt picked off another soldier, and--

A searing agony exploded from his side, and Bolt cried out in pain. He looked down at his body and saw that he had been hit with a Pulsar round. His TUSC jacket and shirt were completely burned through, and his flesh beneath it was red with a second-degree burn. Thankfully he had only caught the edge of the blast or he would have suffered an even worse injury.

Bolt returned fire, and shot another soldier off his horse. One of his comrades took his place and fired off another shot. This one hit his arm. With more agony, Bolt lost all feeling in his right arm, as this Pulsar had been set to stun, and he dropped his rifle.

Bolt cursed to himself out loud and goaded the horse to run even faster with his good arm. He no longer had any ranged weaponry. He had to get to the safety of the woods, and fast. Thankfully, the forest wasn’t too far away. Soon he was in the shelter of the trees, and much harder to hit.

The horse was beginning to hesitate. He wasn’t a creature designed for running through heavy growth. Bolt managed to convince the horse to keep going, mostly because the horse himself was scared of the soldiers shooting at them. He opened his WristUnit map and lifted his still-limp right arm up to his chest with his other hand to view the map. He needed a place to hide out and contact his crew. A place only he would know about. Fortunately, he had the perfect location for that.

In the background Bolt could hear the horses belonging to the soldiers tramping around looking for him. He realized that his horse too was making lots of noise. He decided he would sacrifice speed for stealth, and leave behind a decoy while he was at it. He dismounted the horse, patting it on the side once he was on the ground.

“Good job, horse. Now go be free!”

Bolt shoved the horse away to the east. The horse galloped off in that direction and was soon lost to him.

Bolt himself began traveling towards the northwest, in the direction of the mountains.

Hopefully the soldiers aren’t very good climbers.

Nighttime quickly approached. Soon the forest was pitch-black. It seemed that Bolt had successfully thrown the soldiers off his trail. However, he wasn’t going to take any chances by giving off his position with his flashlight. What he did instead was open his Wristunit’s screen on a low brightness setting. It gave him barely enough light to see in front of him, but didn’t make him visible from halfway across the forest.

The forest was quite peaceful at night. He could hear the creatures of the moonlight stirring around him. An owl hooted in a tree above him. Once upon a time he would have been terrified of being caught by a dragon on the prowl after dark. Now he was on the run from his own kind, who posed a significantly different kind of threat. His side was still burning painfully from his Pulsar wound. It was clear he wasn’t going to die, but the pain was highly distracting nonetheless.

Bolt consulted his map. He still had a ways to go to get to his destination, but he was too close to the city still to set up camp. He decided he would keep going to his safe place, even staying up all night if he had to. The soldiers wouldn’t be easily able to carry on the search in the dark, which gave Bolt an advantage.

-------------------------------------------------

It took three hours to reach the point in the mountains where he could finally start climbing. He knew this part of the range by heart, but just to jog his memory, he looked for a mark he left here. Sure enough, on a boulder partially hidden by a bush there was Bolt’s face painted in yellow, with an arrow pointing above his head. This was his entry point. He made sure his things were attached securely to his body, and then raised his arms to the rock wall and pulled himself up.

The main thing he had been taught by villagers across Pyrrhia about climbing is that you should never do it at night. Obviously, they were right. He couldn’t see any footholds, and his depth perception was completely useless. He had to rely completely on his sense of touch. There would also be another problem. His Pulsar-stricken right arm was still somewhat stiff, though he could move it over his head with some effort. This would be doable, but very difficult.

He put his left hand above him and searched for another handhold. Finding one, he pulled himself up, and followed by putting his left foot onto a foothold. He continued upwards.

“Gaahh!!” Bolt screamed about a minute later as he lost his grip and tumbled off the wall. Thankfully he hadn’t gotten too far off the ground, and he hit the ground on his backpack-padded back with no injuries.

Okay, this isn’t going to work. I’m going to need to wait for daytime.

Bolt got up and looked for an open area to set up camp in. He found a small clearing nearby and in minutes, his “portable scavenger den” was ready to be occupied.

“Village of Bolt, population one,” Bolt commented to himself as he stepped into his tent, and curled up inside his sleeping bag. Before he went to sleep, he set a wakeup alarm for eight in the morning.

---------------------------------------------

The next morning, Bolt was woken by his WristUnit ringing. He turned off the alarm and got up.

Out of instinct Bolt looked in his backpack for breakfast. He immediately regretted his decision. All his bread and food ingredients were beyond rotten after being left in there for two whole years. Just looking at them caused him to lose his appetite.

Bolt couldn’t linger here for long. The Indestructible City would certainly find him here eventually. needed to get to his safe place, so he skipped hunting for breakfast and quickly took down his campsite. He walked back to the spot with the Bolt-face painted on a boulder. Now the climbing would be much easier. His arm had (mostly) recovered, and all the hand and footholds were clearly visible now. He climbed up to the first ledge, and continued upwards from there.

A few minutes later, he reached a ledge with a cave at the end of it. He knew this was the place, but just to confirm it, there was a big yellow painting on the wall just inside of the cave showing a smiling young Bolt surrounded by peppers, baby deer, and fruit. This was it. His happy place.

Bolt walked through the cave, which was actually a tunnel. About five minutes of walking later, the tunnel opened up into a valley, and he swooned as he saw…

Bolt’s Happy Pepper Farm.

He called it that as a kid. This was the closest place he could say was his “home” as a kid. He could have settled down here for the rest of his life, but he liked to explore and roam the continent, so he only ended up coming here on occasions he wanted to be sheltered and alone. All his famous chilli peppers came from here. He had spicy peppers down to a science; these peppers were a special breed he had created all on his own. They weren’t as spicy as the “ghost” peppers he had seen (and tasted) on Terra, but it was still impressive he had managed to create peppers this spicy as a kid.

He had left this place to itself for a while. Many of the pepper plants had become overgrown, and his shack in the corner was showing signs of wear. Even more concerning was the lack of security here; Bolt knew what the capabilities of a Mk. I WristUnit were, and Basil had one. He would be able to monitor all the communication frequencies in the general area. Of course, modern TUSC transmissions used a much stronger quantum encryption than Basil’s WristUnit was capable of handling, but the signal would still be traceable. As soon as the call went out, he would be wide open to attack.

Then Bolt’s stomach grumbled, and he realized how hungry he was. The peppers on their own would be dangerous to eat. They were far too spicy for that. There were, however, some fruit plants here too, Bolt approached an apple tree on the far side of the valley, and picked a low-hanging fruit. He bit into it, letting the juices soak his tongue. He sat down in the shade of the tree and snacked on his fill of apples.

What am I going to do? Bolt asked himself, “I’m an enemy of the Indestructible City now, and I doubt Keeper wants to see me again after I threatened him with my sword.

I’ve really messed up, haven’t I?

Bolt got up and walked over to his “house” which amounted to a rough wooden shack he had thrown together when he was twelve. There wasn’t any door, and the windows were just openings with no glass. He was surprised it had stayed standing for this long.

Hanging on the wall was a sword he had picked up off a dead traveler one day, as well as a “prototype” bow he carved before the one he ended up using, the one currently strapped to his backpack. There wasn’t much else in here, just a dresser and a bed, the materials for which he had somehow managed to get up the mountain.

Bolt looked at his TUSC uniform. It was totally ruined, with a big hole on its side exposing his raw, burned flank, and another burned spot on the sleeve of his right arm. He looked in his dresser, and found some of his old clothes. But it took one look at them to figure out that none of them would fit him anymore.

He had never gotten rid of any of his clothes, for some reason. He had outfits going all the way back to when he established this farm at age eight. He chuckled to himself as he looked at one of his earliest shirts, hardly believing he had grown this much.

He dug deeper into the dresser until he heard a crackling sound at the bottom of the drawer. He reached in and pulled out a small piece of paper.

Bolt groaned with sadness when he saw, and remembered.

He was holding a drawing he had made when he was nine. It depicted Bolt with an unnaturally big smile with Basil and his mother and father standing in Outpost Village. It had been drawn in a way only a child could, with simple, crooked shapes, and lots of colors. A big yellow sun floated over the scene, making a perfect childish vision of happiness.

He flipped it over and a drawing with the opposite mood was drawn there. Here, Bolt was standing in the village’s ruins, all alone, and graves representing his parents and friend were standing where the people had been in the other drawing. Little tears were coming off of Bolt’s face.

It was very difficult looking at this. The eleven years between his parents’ death and meeting Keeper were the worst. He had been so unbearably lonely. And it was all a dragon’s fault.

What if the Invincible Lord was right? What if there really isn’t any way of making peace with the dragons?

He had to shake himself out of that thought. There were dragons that wanted to be friends with humans. There was Winter, and Sky, and Fen, to name a few.

And then there was Keeper, who would have literally done anything for him.

I’ve really messed up with Keeper… He loved me like a brother… And this is how I repaid him? By running off to another planet and threatening to kill him when he tried to keep me from leaving again?

Bolt crumpled up the drawing as he clenched his fist, hot tears beginning to stream from his eyes. He sat down on the bed and cried silently for a while.

Eventually Bolt curled up in his old bed, which was too small for him now, causing his feet to hang off the edge.

What would Dad do in this situation?

Bolt stiffened when he realized that his father would probably have perceived Keeper as a threat and he would kill the SandWing on sight.

Dad wouldn’t have given Keeper chance to become friends with him. He wanted me to lead the citizens of Outpost Village to the Starchild, and fly them all to Earth to escape the dragons. The last thing he’d want me doing is befriending a dragon.

Bolt scratched his chin thoughtfully.

But I did befriend one. And with his help I’m making this planet a better place for humans. Instead of running away with only the people we know, we’re staying here and saving everyone.

I’m not Dad. He’s a part of me, but I’m my own person. I need to stop comparing my actions to what I think his would be.

So in that case… What would I do in this situation?

Bolt’s eyes went foggy as he went into deep thought.

Let’s start with the facts. The Indestructible City is preparing for war with the dragons using stolen Terran technology. The technology they’ve taken is so old, it will almost certainly fail them, and the dragons will respond by driving humans to extinction on Pyrrhia.

Bolt sat up in bed.

The only humans on this planet who stand a chance of stopping them are me and my crew. I’m currently walled inside a valley that offers me some protection from the enemy, but won’t stand if I give away my position by calling my crew.

Bolt held up his wrist to his face, examining the section where his WristUnit sat inside his skin.

I think it’s obvious I need to make that call, but I should make preparations first.

Bolt stood up out of his bed and began to think further. He didn’t have protection from other humans in mind when he constructed this farm, besides the natural defenses this location had, most significantly the rock climb one would have to undertake to reach the entrance. The tunnel was the most obvious thing to fortify, if he could close that up, the only other ways into the farm would either be to scale the rest of the mountain and climb into the valley from above, or to fly in.

What can I use to block the tunnel?

Bolt left his shack and looked around his farm. He had a stock of scrap wood for building next to his house. He walked over and looked at it. It seemed there was enough to build a wall here. Bolt ran back into his shack and opened a drawer on his dresser. Inside were several tools including a rough hammer made from a really hard rock and a sturdy piece of wood, and a container of nails. He took the supplies outside, and got to work.

-----------------------------------------

-Several Hours Later-

Bolt hit the last nail with the hammer for the last time, and looked over his work. The barricade he had built would fit in the middle of the tunnel, and had reinforcements on the rear that he hoped would stand against a battering ram at least for a while. Bolt took a deep breath, and began to heave the barricade towards the tunnel, and several minutes later, it was in position. He went back to his bed and sat down to rest from his exhausting construction job.

Just then, his WristUnit started ringing. He read the screen that popped up.

//Incoming Video Call: Michael Doman//

Well, I should have guessed they would try to call me eventually. There goes my cover.

Bolt accepted the call. The screen showed Doman’s face.

“Bolt, this is Doman. How are you doing?”

“I’m, uh... Fine.”

“Listen, Bolt, I don’t really know where you went, or whether your little revenge mission was successful, but I have a rather upset dragon here who really wants to talk to you.”

“Hold on, Doman. We have more important things to discuss.”

“Bolt, your friend just woke up from a nightmare where he watched you get shoved through a tree branch! He’s terrified that you’ve been killed! At least tell him you’re oka--”

“The Indestructible City has Terran weaponry.”

Doman paused for a second. “The what has the what now?”

“The natives have come into possession of Terran weapons, Doman. They’re planning a war with the dragons as we speak.”

“Bolt, this is very serious. If the natives have Terran guns, the risk of mission failure just went up by a thousand percent. Never mind the fact that a society like this one having advanced weaponry is a huge problem in terms of TUSC regulations and inter-planetary First Contact laws. How did they get the guns?”

“They found them in the dock, probably soon after I left this planet in the first Starchild. I didn’t know how to reseal the airlock back then, so it was left open.”

“We’ll chalk that one up to inexperience, since you were only sixteen back then. But once again, this is a very serious issue. We’re going to come pick you up. Where are you?”

“I’m at my old house in the mountains. I’ll send you my coordinates now.”

Bolt hit a button on his screen, and beamed his location to Doman’s WristUnit.

“Got them,” Doman said, “We’re on our way!”

Bolt opened a remote link to BIS-SI on his WristUnit. “BIS-SI,” He asked her, “About how long will it take for the escape pod to arrive at my current position?”

Silence followed. Thirty seconds later, BIS-SI’s voice issued out of his wrist. “Unable to establish a connection. Please try again later.”

This confused Bolt. Yes, he was in a mountain valley at the moment and that would interfere with the signal somewhat, but BIS-SI operated over quantum subwave frequencies and by all accounts he should be able to get a signal here. He’d have to be barricaded in a Faraday cage or literally lightyears away to not be able to contact the ship’s AI.

Something’s not right. Did something happen to the Starchild?

Bolt heard the sound of grav-jets approaching his position, and he stepped out of his house to see one of Starchild’s escape pods landing in the farm. It landed right on top of one of the pepper bushes, which greatly upset him. He only crushed one bush out of many, but still, these peppers were the only representatives of their kind; they were irreplaceable.

“Hey, watch the peppers!! I worked hard on those, you know!”

“Sorry, Bolt,” Harry said as he stepped out of the pod, “It was either that or landing on top of your house, and it doesn’t look like that shack’s roof’ll take our weight!”

“Ugh, fine, let’s just get out of here.”

Bolt stepped onto the pod, and soon it took off.

“Did you grow all those peppers?” Doman asked him, genuinely impressed.

“Yeah. Started when I was eight.”

“Eight!? Bolt, you must have been an agricultural prodigy back then! Maintaining all those plants on your own must have been really hard work! If you weren’t set on being a diplomat, you would definitely make a good bio-science officer in TUSC!”

“I guess you’re right.” Bolt looked down at his lap for a second. “Hey, I’m really sorry about rushing off like that.”

“Don’t be. We were all upset about what happened to Marcus. It just so happened your reaction was out of proportion with ours. Also, I should probably give you credit where it’s due, if you hadn’t gone off to fight that dragon, we wouldn’t have known about the humans preparing for war with the dragons. That intel could really save the mission.”

“I just hope Keeper forgives me.”

“I’ll let him speak for himself. But from what I could tell, he’s not mad at you. What he seems to really be feeling is scared for you.”

Bolt went pale with guilt. “Aww man… And he probably would have blamed himself if I did end up getting myself killed…”

“Well, let’s reunite you with your friend and we’ll go from there.”

Bolt realized something. The soldiers didn’t come after me when Doman called. Either they weren’t anywhere near me… Or they decided to go after something else.

“Doman? I need you to try establishing a connection with the Starchild.”

“What’s up? Do you think something happened to it?”

“I tried asking BIS-SI something earlier and I wasn’t able to establish a connection.”

“Hmm, that is a problem. BIS-SI has an insanely reliable connection protocol, you should be able to contact her any time you want. And it’s especially weird because we were able to talk to each other by WristUnit just fine. Then again, your WristUnit is really old; it might be having some problems simply because of its age. Anyway, I’ll try running some diagnostics.

Doman opened his WristUnit, which, admittedly, had way more bells and whistles than Bolt’s did, including a full-color display and extra controls below the screen. His second-in-command scrolled through some menus and a diagram of Starchild II popped up in a window. After a series of checkmarks appeared on the diagram, Doman closed the window and gave Bolt a thumbs-up.

“Everything seems to be fine with the ship. My guess is that your WristUnit’s acting up, either because you got shot on that arm, or your device is just too old.”

“Alright then…” Bolt replied, but he still had a bad feeling. But first, he would worry about making sure Keeper knew he was sorry for what he did to him.

-Keeper’s House-

Bolt, Harry, and Doman stepped through the open door into Keeper’s shop. Ellie and Solas were standing just inside the door.

“So you finally decided to come back?” Solas said, looking so stern he was practically hostile.

“Look, Solas, I’m really sorry. I really am. But right now we have a bigger problem than my outburst. Get everyone together.”

Ellie looked at Bolt’s burn. “That could have only been caused by a Pulsar rifle. Come with me, we’re going to get that treated.”

Ellie led Bolt into the storeroom and they climbed the ladder to Bolt’s bed. Bolt sat down while the doctor reached into her bag and pulled out some tools. She began talking science to herself.

“Let’s see, right-side lumbar has second-degree Pulsar burns, right forearm’s been hit with a class III stun round…”

She pulled out a needle filled with a clear fluid. “You’ve been hit with a stunner, so you’re going to need this medicine injected into your muscles to fix any muscle and nerve damage you might have received in that part of your body.”

Bolt held out his arm, and gasped with mild pain when Ellie gently pushed the needle into it and pumped the drug into his body.

“In an ideal situation you would have received this shot sooner. Hopefully there’s no muscle atrophy already. Next we’re going to heal up that burn. Take off your top.”

Bolt did so. Just then, Keeper walked in.

“Bolt!!” Keeper shouted, and he ran up and prepared to nuzzle him, but Ellie stopped him.

“Not now, Keeper, I need to treat his wounds first!”

“Oh-okay. Is he going to be okay?”

“They’re trivial wounds. He’ll be all fixed in no time.”

Ellie took out a spray can from her bag. She lifted up his right arm with one hand and began spraying Bolt’s burned flank with the other.

“What’s that do?” Keeper asked.

“Skin recovery spray. It reverts any cellular damage and then it stimulates the healthy skin cells to undergo accelerated mitosis. We call it ‘flesh in a can.’”

“Uhh, what does that all mean?”

“It makes his skin heal faster.”

“I see.”

Eventually she finished spraying, and she let down Bolt’s arm. “Okay, now he’s ready,” Ellie told Keeper.

Keeper immediately rushed up to Bolt. “I’m so sorry, Bolt! I shouldn’t have left your friends behind, I’m sorry!”

He’s not mad at me?

Bolt sighed. “Keeper, I shouldn’t have driven you away like that either. We’re friends, and it was wrong of me to threaten you.” Bolt put his hand on Keeper’s snout. “I’m sorry too, Keeper.”

Doman, Harry, and Solas walked into the room. Solas didn’t look happy.

“Bolt,” Solas told him, “I need to talk with you.”

Bolt climbed down the ladder and came up in front of him. “What’s up?”

“Doman discussed what you told him with me. As the ship’s security officer it’s my job to ensure rules are followed. And you’ve broken a pretty big one.”

“Oh dear.”

“Now, you were obviously not a TUSC operative when the transgression occurred. You were a teenager back then. But exposing a TUSC base to a primitive society, and more than that, leaving it so open that the society is able to make off with highly dangerous weaponry, is a very serious problem. This will be going on your report, though, like I said, we can’t officially punish you because you were not on our ranks when you broke the rule, but in any case, this is something I have to notify the admiralty about.”

“Very well. I’ll accept whatever consequences they give me. But for now, what are we going to do about those weapons?”

“With any luck they’ll run out of power before they can do any lasting damage to the dragon society. They are two-hundred years old, after all. But we need to warn the other dragon tribes of the danger they’re facing, and not to have any deaths blamed on humans as a whole. As Keeper’s told me, the last time humans killed a dragon the dragons tried to drive humanity to extinction. I shudder to think of the dragons’ reaction to more than one of them being killed. As of now, we’re on damage control.”

“I agree. Let’s get to work. We’ll start with the Sand Kingdom. Let’s go to the escape po--”

“Uhh, captain…?” Doman looked up from his WristUnit with a very worried face.

The worry in his voice as he spoke caused everyone to stop what they were doing as they looked at Doman. Even Keeper looked at him. Slowly,they began to feel a deep sense of foreboding.

“Yeah?” Bolt replied.

“Starchild’s engines just started.”

“What!?” Bolt exclaimed. “But everyone’s here, who could possibly be flying the shi—Shit.”

“You’re getting it now too, huh?” Solas said.

Dread took over Bolt. A waking nightmare was beginning to unfold. The Invincible Lord wasn’t chasing after him at this point. They were going after something far more deadly, that he had left wide open for the taking.

“It’s the Indestructible City,” Bolt said with a ghost-pale face, “They’ve hijacked our ship!”

Chapter Text

Chapter Eight: Envoy of the Scavengers

“Bolt,” Solas said, “With Starchild II under the Pyrrhians’ control, we may be facing a lot more than just war with the dragons.”

“He’s right, captain,” Harry chimed in, “The new ship isn’t like the one you left Pyrrhia in two years ago. This ship is armed.”

Bolt paled. “I remember hearing about this in the mission briefing…” “Whose bright idea was it to give an exploration vessel weapons anyway!?”

"The Pulsar cannons onboard the ship are meant for blasting apart asteroids in the ship's way," Doman replied, “It was necessary, since we lost many earlier exploration vessels to FTL collisions with space debris. In fact, you’re lucky you yourself didn’t fall prey to such a fate.”

Solas turned away and looked dramatically into space off his shoulder. "The Pulsar cannons aboard our ship are not combat rated. In a battle against a technologically equal society they would border on useless. But Pyrrhia isn’t a technologically equal society to us. The cannons, turned against a dragon stronghold, would inflict devastating damage."

Harry looked grim. “And now that this ‘Invincible Lord’ character has his hands on our ship… We’re talking total destruction of any dragon castle he chooses…” He sighed.

Solas looked at Bolt. He wasn’t glaring like he was expecting him to do, rather he looked serious and expectant. “This is all you, Bolt. You’re our captain. And while you are grossly inexperienced for this situation... You’re all we’ve got. What’s our strategy?”

Bolt went cold. Oh my goodness… He’s right. It’s my job to fix this. What am I going to do!?

Well, start with the obvious, I guess.

“We need to reclaim our vessel,” Bolt announced, “As long as the Indestructible City has an armed TUSC ship in their possession, they will be a monumental risk to this world. We will use the escape pod we have to infiltrate the Starchild and neutralize the enemies.”

Solas nodded. “That’s a good base strategy. Now add on some fluff. Keep in mind, we will be outnumbered, and since we’re an exploration crew, we aren’t fully trained for combat situations. How are we going to compensate for that?”

“We… Can use stealth! I remember hearing about this in my 20^th Century History Unit! We can use ‘guerrilla tactics’!’”

“Very good. But there’s something we’re ignoring. Right now, there’s a vulnerable party with no idea of what’s about to happen above them. What are we going to do about them?”

“Oh, right, the dragons! We should tell them to prepare for an attack!”

Keeper stepped in. “I can tell the dragons here in Possibility to evacuate… But there’s one problem. We’re in a desert. There’s no shelter out there! And the forests on the SkyWing side of town would still be too open!”

“Darn it, you’re right,” Bolt groaned, “You dragons are so used to being the dominant species here… You don’t have underground shelters in your settlements like we humans do.”

Solas spoke: “A bunker would be the ideal defense against the ship. But if what Bolt’s saying is correct, then we have a problem.”

Bolt got an idea. “Wait a minute… I don’t know the Invincible Lord that well, but presuming he’s the way I think he is, he’s going to show himself off. He’s going to shoot for the biggest, shiniest target he can find. Keeper, which stronghold on Pyrrhia has the most power and influence?”

Keeper thought for a second. “I’d say it’s either Thorn’s stronghold or the SkyWing palace.”

“And Ruby’s castle is much closer to the dock than Thorn’s is. That means he’s likely going to strike there first. We need to warn them.”

Harry looked up from his WristUnit. “We’re not going to have much time. They’re minutes from getting Starchild off the ground!”

Keeper ruffled his wings. “I’m going now. I’ll have the SkyWings evacuate everyone to the dungeons, they’re fortified enough that they should serve as an adequate shelter!” And with that, Keeper rushed out to take off.

Bolt suddenly became worried. Keeper’s rushing off right into the danger zone without me… He’ll be toast if he faces the ship out in the open!

Bolt realized the irony. That’s literally what I did to him yesterday, when I went after Crimson…

Solas tapped Bolt on the shoulder. “Snap out of it, captain, we need to move now if we want to have any chance of saving the castle!”

Without saying a word, Bolt gestured for everyone to move out. The crew ran out into the streets of Possibility.

A SandWing strolled past them. “Where are you little scavvies scurrying off to?”

Solas waved up at her. “We’re on a mission to stop the destruction of the SkyWing palace. If you have any sense of self-preservation, you’ll take shelter somewhere sturdy!”

The SandWing’s snout scrunched up with confusion for a second, then her eyes lit up. “Oh, I get it, you’re playing pretend! That’s so adorable!”

Fen peeked out of his house. “They’re not kidding, Mirage! There’s a group of bad scavengers with really dangerous weapons coming after us! Keeper just told us to get somewhere safe!”

Mirage looked at Fen, then back at the humans. Then back at Fen. The serious expressions on both the humans’ and the MudWing’s faces finally convinced her.

“Three moons… You’re serious.” She crouched down to Bolt’s face. “You’re going off to save us just like you did two years ago… I wish I had that kind of bravery.”

“Guys,” Solas said, “We have to go now!”

Bolt nodded at his officer. The humans ran towards the desert.

“Good luck, humans!” Fen shouted after them.

-------------------------------------------------

After an exhausting sprint through the desert, the crew reached their escape pod.

“How fast can this thing go?” Bolt asked Doman.

“Its top speed is far below Starchild’s. We’re going to have to hope the enemy isn’t rushing too fast. We will also have to make sure they don’t see us coming.”

“Harry, what’s the ship doing?”

Harry opened his WristUnit. He looked over some data for a second, then: “It’s about to clear the ocean floor. We need to take off pronto.”

Everybody got into the escape pod. Doman took the pilot’s seat. Bolt walked past the cryo-cell, and cringed when he saw Marcus’s frozen corpse.

Yet another reminder of how horribly awry this mission has gone… I’m going to be in so much trouble when I get back to Earth.

The rest of the crew strapped in, and Doman quickly sealed the hatch and fired up the engines.

“Hold on, everyone! I’m gonna give this tin can everything she’s got!”

The escape pod shot straight off the ground, pushing everyone deep into their seats. When they reached cruising altitude, the pod’s thrusters pivoted, and the vessel burst into movement towards the east.

Bolt looked out the window at the town below him. Dragons were flocking away from Possibility, taking to the skies towards a place Bolt hoped would shelter them from the Starchild if it ended up turning its sights on them.

This is Keeper’s home… It was mine too, for a bit. And it will be again when I’m through with this mission. A lot of the townspeople think I’m their local pint-sized superhero, their Armored Scavvie.

What they don’t know is that this time, I’m fighting a disaster of my own making.

He could also see signs of frantic movement to the southwest over the SandWing stronghold, presumably they were also preparing for an attack now. Bolt and his crew were their only hope. The kind of threat the Indestructible City had become, by Bolt’s own fault, was now incapable of being stopped by dragons alone. But if the Pyrrhians found out how to deploy the ship’s shields, it would be even more hopeless.

Come to think of it, if they were smart enough to fire up the shields even WE won’t be able to get onboard.

“Doman, if the Pyrrhians manage to activate Starchild’s shields, how are we going to get on the ship?”

Solas answered for Doman. “Best case scenario is they forget to do that in the first place. Plan B is we hack the shields remotely. I used to work on a battleship chasing rogue vessels, pirates, and such. Almost all non-combat Terran ships have a hard-coded override that only TUSC has access to. All I’ll need is my WristUnit… And for us to get close enough.”

“Do that then. Harry, status update.”

“We’re running out of time, captain! The ship’s passing over the Mud Kingdom and picking up speed fast! Oh CLIP.”

“What is it?”

“I have confirmed weapon fire, captain. They’re shooting already!”

Bolt got chills. They’re killing dragons as we speak. We have to stop them!

“How much faster can this thing go, Doman?”

Doman took on a very funny-sounding accent. “I’m giving her all she’s got, captain!”

Solas shouted, “This is no time for 20^th-Century pop culture references, helmsman!”

“Just focus on getting us to the ship!!” Bolt screamed.

“Yes, captain!”

The escape pod continued shooting across the landscape. They were topping out at Mach 10, according to the speedometer on the instrument cluster. Still far too slow to keep up with the pod’s parent vessel, which had a maximum in-atmo speed of Mach 19. Though if the Pyrrhians were currently actively attacking dragons at this moment they were likely either stopped or moving very slowly. As bad as it was that the ship was shooting, it meant that Bolt and his crew actually had a very good chance of boarding it.

Provided they could stay out of the line of fire themselves.

“Does this pod have shielding?”

“Only drop shields,” Doman said, “And those won’t do a thing against Pulsar fire.”

“Then I’m thinking we’re going to have to be careful.”

“I’ve only got basic training in combat piloting… But given we’re going up against medieval blockheads that stumbled ass-backwards into a highly advanced stellar vessel, I think that’ll be enough.”

“I wouldn’t underestimate them, Doman. They’ve been educated by knowledge infusion just like I was. Of course, their knowledge is very out of date, but they would still certainly know their way around a Terran starship.”

“Uhh,” Harry stammered, “I just got a collision warning. It appears Starchild nearly crashed into a hill.”

Bolt paused for a second. “Okay, they’re not perfect. That gives us an advantage.”

“How much longer until we make it?”

“We should catch up to them in about ten minutes, provided they don’t speed up.”

“Okay, everyone, weapons check. What’ve we got?”

Everyone looked around the pod, then at their own bodies, and Ellie began to look very worried.

“Nothing, captain,” Doman said, “All our Pulsars were on the IAEV, and it’s toast now.”

“I left my projector blade and bow at Keeper’s house,” Bolt said, “So we’re totally unarmed. That’s a serious problem.”

“I think we should make visiting Starchild’s armory a priority when we make it to the ship,” Solas interjected.

“Good plan, Solas. It’s not too far from the escape pod bays either. We can use it as an initial rally point before taking back the rest of the ship.”

“Where do you think the Lord’s troops are going to be stationed?” Harry asked.

“If he has any sense of proper tactics,” Solas said, “He will have his best men stationed with him on the bridge. There will also likely be a guard or two in the armory, so we will have to fight to establish our first foothold.”

Bolt suddenly realized that Basil would likely be on the ship, His face fell. Oh my goodness… I’m going to have to fight him… My best friend…

Solas glanced over at the captain. “Bolt, you feeling okay? It’s normal to feel reluctant before a combat engagement, we can help you--”

“Guys, I have an important order. If you see a brown-haired elite soldier onboard, most likely wearing an antique LinkSuit… You are to leave that man to me.”

Doman looked with concern behind his seat at Bolt. “Bolt, we may not be able to honor that requ--”

“That’s an order, everyone. He’s mine.”

The crew looked at each other. Harry spoke first. “Who is he, captain?”

Bolt sighed, “An old friend. I might be able to convince him to help.”

Everyone stared at Bolt.

“I think we can manage that, Bolt,” Ellie said.

“Thanks everyone.”

“Guys?” Doman called as he looked with horror out of the windscreen, “Look.”

Bolt looked out of the window, and gasped. Below them, a small settlement in the Mud Kingdom was littered with smoldering craters, many of the distinctive huts MudWings lived in burst open like broken eggs.

“Oh my God,” Ellie breathed, “That’s not the amount of damage those cannons are supposed to be capable of doing…”

“It seems the Pyrrhians have managed to “overclock” the cannons onboard the ship,” Solas growled, “They’re even more dangerous now.”

Harry scoffed, “Not to mention they just voided the ship’s warranty.”

Bolt glared at Harry. “I think that doesn’t matter as much as the fact that our vessel is currently being used to carry out genocide. The compassionate side of me is screaming to land down there and look for survivors, but logic dictates… We need to get to that ship before it causes more deaths.”

“Agreed,” Solas said, “Mr. McAllen, status update. Now.”

“We’re almost there! We should have visuals of it soon!”

“Doman,” Bolt said, “I need you to make a sharp dive, then activate the pod’s Faraday cage.”

“Why, sir?”

“They’re most likely tracking our positions by our WristUnits. I think we can try tricking them into thinking we got attacked by angry MudWings mistaking us for the enemy, causing us to crash-land.”

Solas’s eyes widened. “Bolt… That’s actually a very good idea. Where did you learn that maneuver from?”

“I dunno. It just seems to make sense.”

“You really do have the Mitchell blood in you.”

“Doman, do what I asked now.”

“Okay, captain. Everyone hold on tight!”

Doman jerked the controls violently downward, sending the escape pod spiraling towards the ground. To add a believable nuance to his ruse, he opened an emergency channel and began shouting “Mayday!” into the comm unit. Just before hitting the ground, he flipped the Radio Stealth switch and forced the controls back up, bringing the ship to a stop feet from the surface.

Doman pumped his fists in triumph. “I think that did it, captain. Only way they’ll see us coming now is if they see us out the rear windows of the ship.”

Solas realized something. “That also means we won’t be able to communicate with the ship’s shields if they have them up.”

“The Invincible Lord, if his name is any clue, is likely full of himself,” Bolt explained. “He’d be the type of person to brag that he brought down dragon society without any extra protection.”

“Good point. Let’s put that to the test.”

“Doman, take us back out.”

“Yes, sir!” Doman lifted the escape pod back to cruising altitude.

Five minutes later, Starchild II finally came into view.

It was being attacked by an entire town of MudWings.

“Well, good news is,” Doman said, “Their shields don’t appear to be up. Good call, captain. Bad news… How the blip are we going to reattach to the ship in the middle of that mess!?”

Before Bolt could respond, a massive white beam shot across the sky out from the ship’s wing. Several dragons unfortunate enough to be caught in its path were incinerated in midair.

Bolt’s hands covered his mouth in horror. Those MudWings had families… Rage took over Bolt. “We don’t have time to worry about anything other than getting onboard that ship,” He stated sternly, “Doman, punch it.”

“Aye.”

The escape pod blasted towards the starship. Some MudWings immediately broke off from the main attack formation and approached the pod.

“Doman?” Bolt said nervously.

“Yeah, I see them!”

Doman immediately began putting the escape pod through evasive maneuvers. A clawed talon swiped past the windscreen as the pilot executed a tight dodge, then resumed course for the ship. A sharp scraping sound filled the cabin a few seconds later, as a dragon’s paw made contact with the hull, thankfully doing no severe damage besides presumably scratching the paint job.

Soon, the Starchild filled the view in front of them, the hollow socket this pod originally came from within sight, beneath the ship’s starboard wing.

Crash!

Alarm tones quickly began sounding on the control panel.

“Clip, we’re hit!” Doman shouted.

“Can we still make it?” Bolt asked.

“I… I think so! I’ll divert all spare power to the thrusters!” He threw some switches on the screen, and the pod launched forward.

“Initiating docking procedure!” Doman shouted, and he handed control of the pod over to autopilot.

The pod turned around and began backing into the slot under the wing. Seconds later, a loud thunk shuddered through the pod, and the controls went blank.

Everyone stayed stock-still for a moment, then everyone let loose a sigh they had been holding in for the past few minutes.

“We’re on,” Doman finally said, “Let’s get going.”

“Great job, Doman,” Bolt congratulated, “For a pilot with no combat experience that was some pretty impressive flying.”

Solas butted in. “Let’s leave the compliments until after the ship is secure. It’s possible the hijackers received word that our pod has docked. We have to move now.”

“Agreed,” Bolt said.

Solas took the lead after the pod’s hatch was opened. The crew exited the pod after him, walking into the lobby used to funnel the crew into the pods, in the event the ship had to be evacuated.

“Armory’s this way,” Solas said, and he gestured down a hallway towards the stern, “Follow me.”

Bolt took a spot in the middle of the line as Solas led them through the corridor. He was very tense, and could tell everyone else was too. They were all unarmed on a ship that was once their own, but had now been perverted into a weapon of mass destruction by the forces of the Indestructible City. Nothing about their environment had changed since they were last onboard… But the aura of their surroundings, the “vibes,” as Marcus would have called them… Now had become sinister and foreboding.

They reached the armory, which was clearly marked “Authorized Access Only,” and Solas pressed a button next to the door, which then opened.

Right away a shout of surprise came from the room. Solas could be seen rushing the rest of the way into the room, and then rapid sounds of hand-to-hand combat could be heard. By the time Bolt had reached the door, Solas was standing above a soldier that had been knocked senseless by what seemed to have been some very high-level martial arts. Solas waved his hand towards his crewmates, signaling them to step inside. Ellie was the last through, and she shut the door behind her.

“Okay, captain,” Doman said to Bolt, “It’s go time. What’s our strategy?”

Bolt took a deep breath. There were so many things that could go wrong with this impromptu mission now, he was very worried he would end up losing a second crew member or more. He had been formulating a plan in the back of his head for most of the flight over here, so he began speaking soon after his deep breath.

“I feel like I haven’t been acting official enough over this mission. This ends now. I’m going to start trying to act like the captain I’m supposed to be. First off, everyone grab a Pulsar and we’ll split up.”

Bolt pointed at Harry. “Harry, try to take the ship's weapons offline. Do whatever you can to prevent the cannons from firing, blow the damn things up if you have to."

“Aye.”

Bolt turned his gaze to Solas. “Solas, roam around the ship and take out any soldiers you find.”

“Permission to use lethal force?”

“Not granted. Stun shots only. We’re going to bring these people back to their home alive when this operation’s over with.”

“Ugh, fine.”

“Doman, I know you’re not an engineer, but you’re the closest thing we have to Marcus right now. I need you to reroute all controls aboard this ship to my WristUnit. You should be able to do that from the central computer core on deck nine.”

“And finally, Ellie, you stay here and hold out this position, so we can fall back here if we need to. When everyone's finished, we rendezvous on the bridge to take out the Invincible Lord. Is everyone ready?"

“As we’ll ever be,” Doman said.

“Good. Let’s go save the world.”

------------------------------------------

Bolt walked along the halls, his Pulsar held firmly in his hands. He looked around as he went, searching for enemies. He found one soon, patrolling the corridor outside the mess deck. He waited for him to walk past, then he sneaked through the area and continued on towards the vacu-lift bays.

Several minutes had passed since the beginning of the operation. Just before leaving, Solas had distributed audio headsets to everyone and paired them with their WristUnits, so they could communicate without easily alerting enemies in the vicinity. There had been some trouble getting Bolt’s headset to pair with his extremely old implant, (It had crashed again and again) but eventually they got it working.

A push-to-talk transmission came in from Harry. "Oh clip, these blippers know what they're doing. They've wired up the navigation core to blow!"

Bolt’s stomach flipped. If that goes, the ship’ll fall out of the sky… They must be planning on using that as a final play if they fail to keep the ship…

“Can you try to disarm the explosives?” Bolt whispered into his headset.

"It'd be too risky, captain! I don't have any training in bomb defusing, I'd be more likely to set them off!"

“We’re going to have to be careful then.”

Right after Bolt finished speaking, another transmission came in, this time from Doman. "Dammit, they knocked out BIS-SI. We're going to have to hack the ship's systems the old-fashioned way."

“Please hurry, Doman. Every second we waste is another second they can move closer to the SkyWing palace.”

“I’ll do the best I can.”

Bolt eventually reached the vacu-lift bay, and he pressed the downward call button. Seconds later, one of the doors chimed, and it opened.

A soldier was standing inside holding a Pulsar rifle.

“Shit!” Both Bolt and the soldier shouted in unison, and the soldier raised his rifle. Bolt dodged just as he pulled the trigger, and a kill round sizzled past Bolt’s head and hit the light fixture on the wall. Immediately the area was plunged into darkness, showers of sparks coming from the blasted light.

The man ran straight out of the elevator into the dark hallway, his conveniently dark clothing and skin tone allowing him to blend in. Now no longer able to see, Bolt blindly aimed for where he had last seen him and fired a stun shot from his gun. It predictably missed, but the momentary flash of light allowed Bolt to see the soldier making a run for it down the hall, and he lined his gun up with his back, and fired. With another flash of light he was able to confirm that his shot had landed, and the man collapsed to the ground.

By then, Bolt’s eyes had adjusted to the darkness, so he was able to faintly make out the body on the floor. He walked over and dragged him into a nearby closet, then went into the still-open elevator, and pressed the button for deck one. The door closed, and the lift slid down its shaft towards the bottom deck of the ship. Soon, the lift chimed, and Bolt stepped out into the cargo hold of the ship.

The massive cargo hold was mostly empty, and lit only by dim orange emergency lighting. Off to his left he could see the bay the IAEV had once been stored in, a massive metal cage with a hatch on the floor inside it. Numerous metal crates with numerical codes written on them were stacked in front of him. Above him a dull metallic creaking sounded from the ceiling, the hull flexing slightly from the forces of flight.

Bolt held out his WristUnit and checked his screen. A deck plan of the cargo hold appeared on the screen, with a dot on it not too far off from his position. Found you, Bolt thought.

He walked quietly through the chamber. Another call came through his headset. “Okay,” Doman said, “I think I’ve got BIS-SI back online! I’ll go ahead and boot her up!”

A chime sounded, then BIS-SI’s voice sounded over the ship’s PA system, echoing throughout the cargo hold. “Basic Information System: Standard Intelligence. Please be advised, I am currently going through my activation procedures. BIS-SI is a product of of the Circuit Life Corporation, licensed through the GNU Modern Public License, as of January Seventh, 2750. Some rights reserved, please see my product documentation for details.”

Bolt winced. “You couldn’t have told her to start up without talking?”

“It flashed past the BIOS screen too fast for me to catch the options menu!”

“Hopefully they think she just turned herself back on. Go hide, they’re probably going to try to search the computer bay!”

Bolt looked up, and found Basil standing right in front of him, still wearing his old LinkSuit.

Clip.

Bolt and Basil stood in silence, staring at each other, reading each other’s faces. Bolt holstered his Pulsar.

“Basil…”

“Don’t try and change my mind, Bolt. We need to do this. If we don’t stop the dragons, they’ll kill us all.”

“They won’t, Basil! They’re turning around in our favor! I’ve been working with them to unify--”

“Don’t, Bolt. The Invincible Lord says, as long as they’re more powerful than us, they’ll keep trying to wipe us out!”

Bolt took several steps towards Basil. “Basil please. You used to want to learn everything. You would have wanted to study dragons, not kill them!”

“I’ve learned all I need to know about dragons. They’re monsters who think we’re the most delicious meaty morsels on the planet, and now we have the opportunity to ensure we won’t all be gobbled up!” His helmet activated and covered his face. “This discussion ends now. My Lord has instructed me to ensure no one stops him from taking back his planet.”

Basil rushed up to Bolt and forced Bolt off his feet by his neck. He dangled off the ground, struggling to breathe, and then, he eyed a shiny new LinkSuit standing towards the back of the loading chamber Basil was walking him into. The hatch began opening, causing a huge rush of wind to permeate the chamber.

“BIS-SI…” Bolt choked into his headset, “Deploy…”

Basil held him out over the hatch, the ground hundreds of feet below them.

“Deploy…” Bolt croaked with the last of his breath.

“Goodbye, Bolt,” Basil said, and he dropped Bolt out of the ship.

Bolt screamed as he fell through the air out of his own ship, tumbling around as he fell.

And back on the ship, a building whine came from behind Basil, and suddenly, the LinkSuit behind him split into pieces and launched at high speed for the hatch, Basil narrowly dodging the pieces of the armor.

Halfway towards the ground, the armor caught up with the falling human, and it entered a formation that swallowed Bolt whole and fitted itself onto his body.

“LinkSuit Mark CX Evo… Online,” Said BIS-SI through the built-in communication unit, and the HUD flared up, showing the ground careening towards him, and in the nick of time, the grav-wings flipped open, and Bolt jolted to a stop inches from the grass, the force of sheer gravity creating a small crater on the ground below him.

Oh yeah, super-Bolt’s back!

Bolt immediately soared back up to the ship, landing in front of Basil, whose face was still hidden by his helmet, but was no doubt either grimacing with anger or open-mouthed with surprise.

“Sorry, old friend,” Bolt declared, “You’re not getting rid of me that easy!”

Basil raised his Pulsar cannon. “Don’t make me do this, Bolt!”

“You just tried to kill me, Basil! I think you’re past the point of caring about not trying! And so am I!”

Bolt launched towards Basil, and he landed a gravity-boosted punch on Basil’s chest. It was enough to leave a large dent in his armor. Basil let off a shot from his cannon, hitting Bolt’s arm at close range.

An alarm rang on Bolt’s HUD.

//PERSONAL FORCE SHIELD INTEGRITY: 50%//

Thank goodness the new LinkSuits have that feature… Bolt decided to target his gun so he wouldn’t be able to blast out his shield, He grabbed Basil’s gun and ripped it right out of his hand, wincing behind his helmet when he heard Basil cry out in pain, but remained determined to defend himself from his former best friend.

With his gun out of reach, Basil resorted to launching gravity-boosted punches and kicks, letting loose on Bolt’s LinkSuit. The force shield on the LinkSuit was useless against physical attacks, so he felt every punch that landed.

Do I deserve this? Bolt wondered, I could have gone and looked for him after the village burned… We could have survived together, and we would have both met Keeper, and he would have been on my side.

But I didn’t even try to find Basil. I presumed he died, and moved on. The Indestructible City found him, indoctrinated him, and now he’s trying to kill me!

Bolt grabbed Basil’s fist mid-punch, and began wrestling with him. Eventually, Bolt’s newer LinkSuit was able to overpower Basil’s antique one, and Bolt lifted Basil off the ground, and threw him over his head towards the open hatch. Basil skidded to a stop inches from the edge, and he quickly stood up and rose into the air, and flew towards Bolt, who braced himself.

Basil forced Bolt off his feet and flew him straight into some crates in the back of the loading chamber, which buckled slightly from the force of their impact. Bolt activated his suit’s weapons; a high-power Pulsar popped out from his right wrist, being held in place an inch from the armor’s body by an energy field, and he unleashed a salvo of shots into Basil’s armor, continuing to fire until Basil stumbled off of him, presumably because his LinkSuit’s AI was warning him his suit couldn’t take much more.

Bolt took the opportunity to take the offensive. He rushed up to Basil and landed a heavy punch on Basil’s faceplate, shattering his visor. Bolt immediately followed by gripping the side of Basil’s helmet and he ripped it clean off his armor, causing some sparks to fly out of the severed cables exposed by Bolt’s attack.

This revealed Basil’s face, showing that his eyes were wide, and his mouth was open, a textbook picture of terror. Bolt raised his Pulsar and prepared to fire a shot right into Basil’s quivering visage.

Bolt jolted to a stop. What the BLIP am I doing!?

No, I HAVE to survive! He raised his fists.

He’s my FRIEND!

Not anymore! He tried to kill me!

His mind teetered on the edge of issuing the mental command to fire his weapon. He continued wondering what to do for a few seconds.

The mission’s more important. Basil’s never going to change his mind. Let’s get this over with.

Solas’s voice erupted in his earpiece. “BOLT NO!!” An un-armored hand shoved his arm aside.

Bolt fired his weapon, but the sudden intervention from Solas caused his shot to miss. The Pulsar bolt seared out the open hatch into the open sky, narrowly missing a MudWing flying nearby.

Solas’s face filled his HUD. “Bolt, stop right now!”

Bolt lowered his helmet. “He tried to kill me, Solas! He’s not going to change!”

Solas looked at Bolt, then over at Basil. “Okay, you two, sit down, NEXT to each other, RIGHT here!”

Neither of them wanted to disobey him, given how upset he looked.

“Solas,” Bolt said, “What’s this about?”

Basil nodded next to him. “Yeah, uh, thanks for saving my life and all, but aren’t you supposed to be against me?”

Solas sat down in front of the two of them. “I’ve been a TUSC solider for ten whole years. I’ve made triumphs… And I’ve made mistakes. Bolt, you probably know me as a very strict person who only focuses on the mission at hand. That’s mostly true. I for the past couple days considered you inexperienced and overly laid-back. But just now I learned that we’re more alike than I thought.”

Solas reached into his shirt and pulled out a locket. He opened it, revealing inside a picture of a young man in uniform, Bolt recognized it as a TUSC officer portrait usually taken upon enlistment.

“His name was Tim. Tim Hartman. We were inseparable since we were kids. We even married just before we enlisted.”

Basil raised a big eyebrow at this statement. Bolt noticed this, and realized that on Pyrrhia, most of the time same-sex unions were considered taboo among native humans, especially in the Indestructible City.

“We were on a station several lightyears out from Earth, farther even than here. Two months into our deployment, we got attacked by pirates. They… Captured a bunch of us, and took off. Tim was among them. I wasn’t.”

Solas looked away for a second, then continued. “I tore the whole damn star system to pieces looking for him. It took a whole year, but eventually, I found the ship that took him.”

“I got in a LinkSuit and assaulted the pirate vessel with a strike team. I went off to find Tim. I found him, but…” He sobbed, “They got to him. They used some form of torture to force him onto their side. They did the same with the rest of the men and women they took. I fought him, all the way trying to bring the man I knew back.”

He sobbed again. “He was on the verge of breaking through my LinkSuit, he was going to kill me. My own partner was… irretrievable. So I did the unthinkable. I completed the mission… And… I killed him. It’s something I regret doing every time I go to sleep.”

Solas wiped his tears. “Basil, you weren’t tortured to make you the way you are. You weren’t brainwashed the way Tim was. We can show you that dragons can be brought to our side. But please… Help us stop this unnecessary slaughter of innocent beings. Let Bolt be your friend again.”

Bolt and Basil looked at each other. Bolt could see it in his eyes, the walls were coming down. He had a chance to change his mind now. Thanks, Solas.

“Basil… He’s right. You’ve been living in a bubble, you were told that all dragons are man-eaters. That’s not true. Keeper is so close to me, he’s like a brother. And we’ve got a plan to make sure dragons never eat humans again. But if we attack the dragons like this, they won’t want to change. We’ll just keep fighting each other forever. Help us stop this, and we can really make humans safe.”

Basil stared deep into Bolt’s eyes. Eventually, he opened his mouth. “You’re really telling the truth? You’re not setting a trap to get me eaten?”

Is that what the Invincible Lord told him to get him to not trust me?

“Of course not, Basil! Why would I ever lead my friend into a dragon’s stomach!?” Bolt and Basil stood up. Bolt held out his hand to Basil. “What do you say, friend? Let’s save the human species together.”

Basil’s eyes narrowed. “Bolt… After everything I’ve seen dragons do to humans… You know I can’t let any of that go easily, right? My parents, Mr. Myna and Mrs. Conifer, everyone we grew up with? They’re all gone because of them.”

“You’re right. Dragons have millennia of innocent blood on their hands. We’re an endangered species because of them. But they’re not all bad. I lived with dragons for a while. Yeah, there were times I almost got eaten, but there were also times where they showed they can change. My friend Keeper would do anything to make sure I’m happy. He’s fought tooth and claw to ensure I walked away unscathed from every dragon attack. The fact that I’m standing in front of you right now… That’s my proof that good dragons exist.”

“Good and bad, huh? I guess that is kind of like humanity...” Basil looked at the floor, then back at Bolt. “I take it you have some sort of plan in mind to bring about this ‘peace’ you want? Because like you said, they’re not all going to want to be friendly all of a sudden.”

“Part of it involves proving to all the dragons without a doubt that we’re intelligent. Most of the violence they’ve been inflicting on us is because they simply don’t understand that we’re sentient beings and not just animals. If we can make it known to everyone that we’re just like them, that’ll stop a lot of the bloodshed right there.”

“That sounds like a good plan… I’ll admit that even sounds better than blasting them all to pieces.”

Bolt took Basil’s hand. “We can do it together, Basil. And besides, imagine all the things dragons could teach us! You could learn so much from them!”

Basil’s eyes widened. “You’re… You’re right. I wonder if they have libraries like we do…” His face went distant as he imagined the gigantic books dragons must have, full of knowledge waiting to be absorbed.

Bolt drew his daydreaming friend into a hug, a deep, brotherly hug that could only be shared between childhood friends. Basil sobbed and began dripping tears from his eyes.

“I’m so sorry, Bolt… I’m so sorry for trying to kill you!”

“I forgive you, Basil.” Bolt let go of the hug. “But we need to stop the Lord before he destroys the Mountain Dragons’ palace. Will you join us?”

A gigantic smile split Basil’s face. “Totally. Let’s show that long-haired stuck-up royal what two armored friends can do!”

Bolt looked at Solas, who was smiling wholeheartedly at them. “Thanks, Solas. Thank you so much!”

“No problem, captain. Now let’s go get our ship back.”

“Where’s the Invincible Lord, Basil?”

“He’s on the bridge. The rest of the guys I’m supposed to be commanding are with him, some of them have these suit things just like we do.”

Bolt’s headset chimed. “I’ve got good news, captain!” Harry’s voice spoke, “I’ve managed to override the cannon controls! The only way they’re going to be able to fire those things now is if they pry my WristUnit right off my arm!”

“Great job! I’ve got good news, too! We’ve got a new crew member!”

“Uhh, who is it?”

“Meet me in the armory and I’ll show you!”

“On my way now!”

Bolt looked at Solas and Basil. “Let’s go to the armory. We’re going to coordinate our strike on the bridge.”

Several minutes of avoiding enemy soldiers later, the team was regrouped in the armory.

Right after he walked in, Doman noticed Basil in the room. “Did we have a stowaway this whole time? What’s a Terran doing here?”

“He’s not a stowaway, Doman. He’s my friend, who up until recently was on the opposite side as us.”

“So this is the guy you wanted to handle yourself?”

Bolt nodded. “He’s going to help us take back the ship.”

“Well, what are we waiting for?” Ellie said, “Let’s go!”

“Okay, let’s organize,” Bolt said, “First of all, Ellie, I need you in medibay. We’re going up against seasoned soldiers, there’s going to be injuries. Doman, Harry and Solas will hold up the rear; me and Basil will provide cover by taking the front with our LinkSuits.”

“Bolt, Basil’s LinkSuit doesn’t have a helmet. His head will be vulnerable.”

Basil spoke up. “I’ll be fine. Most of this is my fault, I’m the reason these people all know how to use these weapons. If I get killed… I guess it’ll be solid karma.”

Bolt lightly punched Basil’s shoulder. “Don’t say that, Basil! You’re going to make it through this, I promise!”

Harry’s WristUnit beeped. “Hey, guys? We’re off course. We’re picking up speed, and we’re no longer aimed at the SkyWing palace.”

“What!? Where are we going now?”

“If we hold our current trajectory, we’ll be on a crash course for the SandWing stronghold.”

Solas frowned. “Why would we change course so close to the original target?”

“Basil,” Bolt asked, “Any ideas?”

“The old boss is kind of… Spontaneous. He probably realized he’d cause a bigger stir among dragons by targeting the Desert Dragons instead.”

Bolt scrunched up his face. “Or it could be something else. Over twenty years ago, humans managed to kill the SandWing queen. It was mostly a misunderstanding that led to a series of accidents resulting in her death, but the event caused dragons across the continent to begin hunting humans with a vengeance.”

Solas stepped in. “So the Lord is trying to send a message. Something like ‘we killed your queen, you burned our villages…’”

“And now the Invincible Lord wants to escalate this conflict straight to the ‘we’ll blow up your cities’ stage of war.”

“Sounds illogical,” Harry said, “Totally not something a rational person would do.”

“War is in its face irrational,” Solas said, “The Terrans of the 21^st Century learned that the hardest way possible.”

“So that means we’ve got a little more time to stop them!” Doman said.

“But we still need to hurry,” Bolt said, “Is everyone ready?”

The crew nodded.

Bolt handed Basil a fresh Pulsar rifle, and set it to Stun. “It’s go time.”

The crew made their move towards the vacu-lift bays. It seemed there was minimal security on this deck, as they encountered no one on the way to the elevators. Ellie took a separate vacu-lift to deck five to go to medibay, which Bolt hoped was free of adversaries. The rest of them crammed tightly into another lift and traveled to deck ten to hit the bridge.

Right as the doors opened they were confronted by soldiers, who were quickly dispatched by the crew who used the elevator as cover against their Pulsar fire.

The bridge was just down the hall from the elevator lobby, and they met no further resistance on the way there. They stopped just outside the door.

Bolt turned his head to Basil. “This is it, Basil. Are you ready?”

Basil nodded. “My adoptive parents are going to be so mad… But I know now this is for the greater good, something my real parents would have wanted me to care about. This is for them.”

“Better words have never been spoken.”

Bolt threw his helmet over his head and tapped the button for the door, strolling straight into the bridge. He took inventory. The Invincible Lord was staring out the windscreen at the sky around them, specifically at the dragons who were still swarming the ship. An elite soldier was manning the helm on the elevated chair. Two LinkSuited guards stood nearest to Bolt and his crew.

Bolt stood rigid and defiant. “Nobody move!!” Bolt shouted, “You are trespassing on Terran property, relinquish control of this vessel immediately!”

The Lord turned to them. “Oh… It’s you. So I presume that trick you pulled with the Swamp Dragons back in their territory was a ruse to make us think you all died?”

“That doesn’t matter. You are to give us back our vessel, and we will fly you back to your settlement. No further blood will be shed.”

The Lord’s voice remained calm and collected. “I am not going to do that. Not when we are so close to achieving our goal.” He raised his hand towards the LinkSuit wearers. “Kill them.”

They immediately opened fire. Bolt shielded everyone else in front of him and returned fire. He set his wrist-mounted Pulsar to Concussive, letting loose blasts that made the soldiers stumble backwards, but did no further damage. Bolt then targeted their weapons. With a few more shots, their weapons were knocked out of their hands. He followed this with a rapid-fire command to their LinkSuits to disable them for an hour.

Bolt gestured for the rest of the crew to form onto the bridge. Two more soldiers ran towards them, these ones without LinkSuits. Bolt looked at Basil, who nodded. Bolt and Basil simultaneously picked up a man each and threw them towards the windscreen, where they collided with an audible thunk, and they fell to the ground and didn’t get back up.

The “helmsman” looked down at Basil. “Sir! What are you doing!? Those are your own men!”

“Change of plans, everyone!” Basil called confidently, “We’re going to give these guys their ship back!”

The Invincible Lord, who had been nonchalantly staring back out the windscreen at the dragons up until hearing Basil’s voice, abruptly swung around, his eyes wide with surprise and rage. “General Basil, what is the meaning of this!?”

“I’m choosing to side with my friend, Lordy. No hard feelings, but he says there’s friendly dragons out there, and it doesn’t seem right to wipe them out anymore.”

“You are out of line. You answer to me, subordinate! Do you want the dragons to consume you!?”

Basil visibly broke down for a second. Bolt put his hand on his shoulder and whispered simply, “They won’t as long as me and Keeper are around.”

Basil puffed back up. “Sounds like someone’s mildly upset he won’t get what he wants!” He shouted at the Lord.

The Lord’s mouth dropped. Then he turned his fiery gaze onto Bolt. “Whose side are you on!? The dragons, they are not your friends! They will--”

“Eat us as soon as they get the chance?” Bolt asked, deciding to join in on Basil’s snarky party, “Yeah, I’ve heard that line before. I think you’ve been blinded by the many centuries of blood since the Catastrophe, you can’t understand a friendly dragon because to you, it’s impossible. Well I have news for you. They exist, whether you want them to or not.”

The Invincible Lord scowled hard. “My men are still at the controls. You cannot stop us.”

Bolt laughed out loud. “Your men are at the controls… But this is still my ship.”

“BIS-SI?” Bolt asked loudly. “This is captain Bolt Mitchell!”

BIS-SI immediately responded. “Commanding officer recognized. Hello, Bolt Mitchell.”

Bolt paused for dramatic effect. “Initiate self-destruct sequence.” Bolt’s crew promptly gasped. “Authorization code: S6, B8, 98, Omega."

A window flashed on the windscreen displaying:

SD: S6 B8 98 Ω

All the bridge displays flickered out, and blood-red words stating "Self-Destruct" in five languages appeared on them instead, with a timer displaying 5:00 next to them. The lights dimmed to a chilling red.

"SELF-DESTRUCT SEQUENCE INITIATED," Blared the AI, "YOU HAVE FIVE MINUTES TO EVACUATE THE SHIP."

"Five minutes!" Bolt shouted confidently, "Anybody want to get off?" No one dared even breathe. "BIS-SI, advance self-destruct countdown to one minute." Accordingly, the timer jumped down to 1:00.

"Captain!?" Doman shouted with genuine alarm.

"What does 'self-destruct' mean?" Asked one of the Lord's soldiers from inside their disabled LinkSuit.

"I'm glad you asked," Said Bolt with a grin, "It means that in less than one minute, this big 'ol ship is going to blast itself to smithereens. With us on it!"

Several seconds passed.

"You're bluffing," Said the Invincible Lord.

"I'm waiting," Bolt corrected, "I'm ready to die; are you?"

"THIRTY SECONDS TO SELF-DESTRUCT DETONATION."

"Anybody here want to see just how 'invincible' this Invincible Lord is?" Bolt addressed the soldiers. "How 'invincible' are you soldiers? Certainly not tough enough to survive a starship explosion, right?"

"TEN SECONDS TO SELF DESTRUCT DETONATION. COUNTING DOWN. TEN... NINE... EIGHT..."

"Anyone? Seriously?"

"FIVE... FOUR..."

"OKAY I SUBMIT!!" Screamed the Invincible Lord.

"BIS-SI, cancel self-destruct."

The bridge immediately returned to normal, and Bolt's crew and the soldiers alike breathed a sigh of relief.

"Get off my ship," said Bolt.

“Fine. You win.” He motioned to the person manning the helm to step down from the controls, and he did so.

But then the Lord made another gesture to him. Before Bolt could try to stop him, the former helmsman opened his WristUnit and tapped a button.

BOOM!!!!

The whole ship shook, and suddenly listed to starboard. Alarms began blaring across the vessel.

“Danger,” BIS-SI said, “Total navigation system failure.”

Bolt went pale. The explosives on the navcore!!

“Doman! Take the helm! Now!”

The Invincible Lord took out a small Pulsar pistol and shot Doman, who crumpled to the ground. He then turned and shot one of the Omniglass displays on the helm. It shattered and erupted in a shower of sparks.

Basil screamed out loud and fired a shot from his Pulsar. It seemed to be a stun shot, but it was a stun shot that hit the Invincible Lord square on the face, which is technically not where one is supposed to hit someone with a stun round. The Lord fell to the ground, his face frozen in a very funny-looking expression, and most likely also suffered brain damage.

Bolt turned back to his crew. “Anybody else know how to fly this thing?”

Everyone shook their heads.

“Well I flew a ship like this once,” Bolt told himself, “How hard can it be?”

Bolt ran up to the control chair and rode it up to its operational level.

“Caution, pull up,” BIS-SI said through the speakers on the control unit. The view outside the ship showed a lopsided descent towards the desert. Thankfully they had already cleared the Claws of the Clouds Mountains, so they didn’t have to worry about crashing there.

Bolt looked at the remaining controls he had to deal with. The other screen threw up a spark. "Ok, this looks like steering, so this must be the pitch control." He threw the slider upwards.

The slider turned red and slid back to its original position.

"Unable to initiate flux drive with current trajectory."

"Ok, that's not it then." He looked down at his crew. "Everyone strap in. We're probably going to crash." Solas and the others sat in various seats throughout the bridge and fastened their seatbelts.

Bolt could see out the windscreen to the desert horizon below. According to the speedometer the ship was traveling at around 395.4 MPH, which was only a fraction of Starchild II's cruising speed in-atmo. With the ship's downward list, and their current altitude, they would likely hit the ground in about one hundred miles or so.

"How resistant are we to crashes?" Bolt asked Solas.

"Ship's tough," he replied, "We should be fine as long as we're strapped in. Not sure about the Mad King and his men over there though." He gestured to the unconscious Lord and his soldiers on the ground.

"Caution: pull up."

Bolt pressed a button on the control panel labeled "Ann. Emerg. Lndg." ("Announce Emergency Landing," he knew from his training)

An alarm sounded. "All crew: prepare for emergency landing." Said BIS-SI across the ship. Hopefully Ellie down in Medibay had a secure seat to strap herself into.

Harry looked with panic towards Bolt. "Captain, if this thing crashes into a settlement the devastation will be incalculable!"

"I know!" He could see Possibility in the distance. In a last-ditch effort to prevent the destruction of his hometown, he tilted the steering controls he thankfully still had. The ship listed to port and veered to the west. When Possibility was out of the crash zone, he leveled the ship out again.

Then Starchild II's nose dipped downward sharply. "Crash imminent. Brace for impact." Said BIS-SI.

The ground flew quickly towards them, sand filling the windscreen. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Keeper’s neighbor Ghibli flapping as fast as he could out of the ship’s way. Seconds later, the ship crashed.

With a colossal THOOM, a wall of sand took over the windscreen, and sounds of metal rending echoed throughout the vessel, followed by thick BOOMs that Bolt hoped weren’t anything vital breaking, The displays around the bridge flickered and jumped, multiple warning signals and alarms sounding on top of each other.

After a solid minute of screeching across the desert, the ship hit a large dune and instantly was brought to a stop, the force of the collision sending the men who weren’t secured flying forward.

Silence followed. The lights flickered and went out for a second, then came back on in hues of emergency-lighting orange. Bolt sat in his chair for a few more moments, grateful that the crash hadn’t been any more brutal.

"Is everyone okay?" Bolt shouted.

"We're fine." Harry replied.

"Solas? Take the Invincible Lord and his men to the brig... Until I can figure out what to do with them. Harry, take Doman downstairs to Medibay. BIS-SI? Damage report."

An image of the ship's hull viewed from the top appeared on the main screen. The ship's stern and her right-side wing were highlighted in red.

"Structural damage to starboard wing, and critical damage to main thruster array. Hull integrity at 87 percent."

Solas and Harry carried out their orders, and began carting out various people towards the vacu-lifts which hopefully still worked.

“Basil? You okay?”

No one responded.

“Basil?”

Bolt looked down and gasped. Basil was sprawled out in front of the windscreen. A few feet above where he lay was a small splatter of blood.

“Basil!!” Bolt shouted.

He slammed the button for lowering the chair, and as soon as he was on the ground, he rushed up to Basil’s limp body. He turned his head around and found that a spot of blood was dripping from his forehead from above his hairline. He touched his hair, and found that a spot on his head was too soft.

“Oh, please, no…” Bolt whimpered.

Bolt opened his own WristUnit and opened the same app he had used to disable LinkSuits earlier.

//LINKSUIT MK3 RV 1—CONNECTION ESTABLISHED//

INPUT COMMAND

>PILOT_EJECT_NOW

COMMANDING OFFICER RECOGNIZED

INITIATING PILOT EJECT SEQUENCE

The LinkSuit Basil was wearing fell apart. He looked down at Basil’s WristUnit and found that it was lit blue. He was still alive. Bolt carefully picked Basil up in his arms, which was easy given he was still wearing his own LinkSuit, and began carrying him towards the elevators.

They still worked. He slid down to deck five, and rushed towards Ellie’s domain. He stepped inside, and found Ellie tending to Doman on a bed. She looked up at Basil and gasped.

“What happened to your friend?”

“He hit the windshield when we crashed. I think his skull’s broken!”

“Set him down on the bed next to Doman’s.”

Bolt did so, and after she finished pumping a large dose of the anti-stun drug she gave Bolt earlier today into Doman, she pulled out a handheld scanner and held it over Basil’s head. A few seconds later, it beeped, and she looked over the data, then turned to Bolt.

“He’s hurt bad, Bolt. I’m going to do my best… But don’t get your hopes up.”

“Please, do everything you can.”

“I will. Now head down to the brig. Solas says he needs you down there.”

Bolt hesitated.

“Captain, your friend’s in good hands. I work better alone, so please go help Solas!”

Bolt nodded, and walked out the door to the hall. The brig was at the stern of the ship on the same deck as medibay, so within minutes he was there. Solas looked away from the holding cells to see Bolt approach.

“Hello, captain,” He said, “I trust you have a plan for these wrong-doers?”

“Are any of them awake yet?”

“The so-called ‘Invincible Lord’ has been stirring a bit. His face is no longer stuck in that ridiculous grimace it was in when your friend shot him, so he’s starting to come around.”

“Let me in there with him.”

“Captain, are you sure?”

“Open the cell, Solas.”

“...Very well.” He tapped his WristUnit, and the door slid open.

Bolt walked up to the semi-conscious royal. He suddenly saw flashes of Basil’s bloodied cranium. His eyes narrowed, his vision went dim, and before he knew he was doing it, he was lifting the Invincible Lord off the ground.

“Bolt!?” Solas shouted from outside the cell.

The Lord stammered incomprehensibly, his face weak but displaying obvious fear.

“You killed him.” Bolt growled at him, “You killed my friend!”

The Lord moaned in a plaintive fashion. He was begging for mercy, but Bolt didn’t care.

“Bolt stop!” Solas yelled at him.

Bolt lifted his fist, and separated his armor so his flesh-and-blood fist was exposed. Before Solas could protest again, he socked the Lord in the face as hard as he could, the contact producing a wet thunking sound. Bolt punched again, and blood began pouring from his nose.

He made motions to hit him again, but he was forced backwards by Solas and restrained with his arms behind his back. The Lord fell like a sack back onto the floor.

Solas spoke: “Look, captain, I totally understand you right now, but this is not how we deal with this situation!”

Bolt considered using his LinkSuit’s strength to overpower his security officer and continue to assault the Lord, but he realized that Solas was speaking from experience. He had likely taken gruesome revenge on the pirates when he learned what they had done to his partner.

This isn’t going to make me feel better.

Bolt relaxed in Solas’s grip, and he let go of him.

“As I was saying, Bolt… What is your plan for these men? It can’t involve beating them up.”

“I… Don’t know. We were going to drop them off in their city, but now our ship’s grounded, and we’re in the desert!”

“We could take them back in the escape pods.”

“Wait. I have an idea.”

-----------------------------

“You cannot possibly be making me do this,” the Invincible Lord complained.

Bolt glared at him. “With all due respect, your majesty, be quiet. Considering you murdered a bunch of them for no logical reason, you’re very lucky they even want to talk to you.”

Basil was still on the ship recovering from his head injury. He was still in serious condition, but stable. Ellie was optimistic about his recovery, and Bolt considered himself lucky his friend had the full expertise of Terran medicine on his side.

Keeper stayed at their side, making sure their “prisoner” didn’t try anything funny. Two days ago he spent the daylight hours walking across the desert back to Possibility to find him. The whole town was abuzz with the news that the Starchild had crashed near the town. Several dragons thanked him on the way there, a couple thanked the skies that he was okay.

He dodged around them and reached Keeper’s house, where he was waiting for him. He caught him up on what had happened aboard the ship. Eventually he got to his new plan, and Keeper decided to go along with it. The next day was spent negotiating with the MudWings. That brought them to now, with the crew parading the Invincible Lord across the swamps of the Mud Kingdom alone, his soldiers having been stripped of their Terran weapons and taken back to the Indestructible City in the Starchild’s escape pods.

Several MudWings gazed on them as they went. Bolt admittedly felt nervous. The MudWings, as a result of the Lord’s actions, could possibly go back on their promise to the Union Society and begin attacking them right here. The bargaining to allow them to come here had been tough yesterday. He hoped they would listen.

Eventually they reached a clearing where a group of MudWings waited for them. In the middle was a huge dragon, bigger than the others. Queen Moorhen, their monarch. Her face became stern when she saw the humans and Keeper approaching.

“Thank you for meeting us here,” Keeper told her.

“Let’s get this over with,” Moorhen responded, “Many of my subjects have lost their siblings to this scavenger’s folly, and that is something that will take work for me to forgive.”

Solas shoved the Lord ahead. Bolt handed a tablet to him with what he wanted him to say typed out on it.

The Invincible Lord nervously shuffled around for a few seconds, looking fearfully at all the dragons surrounding him.

The Lord began speaking, and Keeper translated for him. “The… The Indestructible City formally apologizes for its aggression. We sincerely regret the loss of your families. We will accept whatever sanctions you wish to impose on us…”

“Enough,” Moorhen interrupted, “We will decide what to do about you in a moment.” She looked down at Bolt. “The… Thing they attacked us with… It has been disabled?”

“It has,” Bolt replied, “It crashed in the Sand Kingdom. We also plan to take back all the weaponry they stole from us and return them to our planet for safekeeping.”

“Very good. Do you yourself plan to impose sanctions on their den?”

“I will have to discuss with my own leadership. I personally think I’ve given them the most punishment I could give them. And I should apologize as well. It was my short-sightedness that granted them access to this weaponry.”

Queen Moorhen looked away for a second, then at Keeper. “Scavengers are a new territory for us dragons. I would likely have reacted in a similar manner, if I were subject to the torment dragons had been inflicting on them. If I were to think logically, I would most likely have to blame the deaths yesterday on myself as well. Me and my subjects are not clean of wrongdoing, many of us, myself included, have tasted scavenger flesh.”

She turned to Bolt. “That still does not excuse their actions, but in conclusion, I feel that their consequences should be left up to the humans themselves. Do with them what you wish.”

With that, Moorhen spun around and took off for her home, the other MudWings following soon after.

“That’s it?” The Invincible Lord asked Bolt, “They’re not eating us?”

Bolt shook his head. “You need to stop thinking that dragons are incapable of logic, or change. Me and my dragon partner have been working on getting them to accept us. We’re the reason why they didn’t kill you on sight.”

The Lord looked reflectively at the ground. “What do you want me to do?”

Keeper whispered to Bolt for a few seconds. Bolt relayed what he told him. “The final stage of our unification plan is a treaty signed between the dragon tribes and human leaders. You’re the most influential human on this continent. Perhaps you could make history by confirming the beginning of peace between our species and theirs.”

The Lord sighed. “That… Seems like as good an idea as any.”

“Let’s return you to your city. We will contact you when we’re ready.”

-To be concluded-

Chapter Text

Chapter Nine: The Return

-TUSC Central Headquarters, Sun-On-The-Rise, Old England, Terra-

Bolt sat inside a chamber with five men and women perched in seats behind a large curved lab-wood desk that took up most of the room. The hearing had been going on for half an hour so far. The admiralty had at first wanted to hear Bolt’s side of the story; they had already received a report from Mr. Jericho when the retrieval and repair teams came to pick up the wrecked Starchild.

Bolt remembered his last words to Keeper before he left. "Well, Keeper, provided they don't arrest me for bungling this mission so badly, I should be back here in about a week or less."

His crew really didn’t give him much more time for goodbyes. After the incident with the Indestructible City, TUSC had made it a priority to get all functional Terran technology off of Devonhart 3 with haste. Bolt also felt bad about leaving Basil behind… But Ellie said he was in a stable enough condition that he could rest and recover at Keeper’s house without any further medical assistance.

The one thing that did go right was the treaty-signing. The Invincible Lord had turned around quite nicely, and most of the dragons present could see that. Though it might have just been fear of angering the many powerful dragons surrounding him that kept him in line. All of the Pyrrhian tribes save for the IceWings were present. And with the stroke of a pen, a new beginning was born. There’d still be a lot of work to do, but at least it was now on paper that humans are to be treated as equals to dragons.

After many moments of silence, Admiral Donneley, a sharp-looking woman with a white TUSC jacket perfectly smoothed out across her body, spoke to Bolt.

“Mr. Mitchell, I’m certain you know that this mission was a colossal farce and you made a total mockery of everything TUSC stands for, correct?”

“Yes, I do, ma’am.”

A white-haired male admiral, the oldest on this panel, spoke next. “Do you have anything to say for yourself?”

“I… I was doing what I felt was right… At the time.”

An African-Terran man on the far right side of the desk jumped angrily out of his seat. "You lost a crew member, helped to kill one of the natives, allowed your operation vessel to be hijacked, and nearly started a war on the continent!"

Bolt shrunk back sheepishly. Now that this man had put it into words, it really did seem like he had really messed up. Admiral Donneley motioned for her partner to sit down, and she picked up where he left off, with a noticeably softer voice than the one that preceded her.

“That being said... You did, in the end, accomplish your mission. And we are in dire need of someone who can keep the peace on that planet. Someone familiar with their society. And no one in TUSC except one has nearly as much credentials in that department…"

A caramel-skinned man (Most likely of Hispanic descent) stood gently out of his seat. "We want to make you the Terran ambassador to Pyrrhia. You would not have any rank or crew, but you would still be paid for your services. Do you accept?"

Wait, WHAT.

“With all due respect, admiralty, I just completely failed in my duties. Why, if I may ask, are you offering this position to me?”

The admirals looked at each other, as if they were trying to coordinate a response. Bolt suddenly realized something. Harry Mitchell. My adoptive father is one of TUSC’s golden boys. He’d have a lot of strings he could pull.

God damn it, Earth-Dad. What did you bribe these people with?

“It is as I said earlier, Mr. Mitchell,” Donneley said, “You are the only human in our organization with the knowledge and skills to pull this job off. And besides, your mission wasn’t a total failure. You did, in fact, achieve peace between humans and these dragon beings despite all your failings along the way. In fact, your crew had many good things to say about how well you pulled together in the end.”

Bolt blushed. Yeah, I guess I did come a long way.

“Well, Mr. Mitchell?” The Hispanic admiral asked, “Do you accept our offer?”

“I do, sir. But I have a request.”

The African-Terran man raised an eyebrow. “What kind of request?”

----------------------------------------------

“Bolt,” Twig said, “This place looks really… Weird.”

“You’re on another planet, man!” Bolt patted Twig’s shoulder, “You’re the very first Pyrrhian human to set foot on an alien world! Have some excitement!”

Bolt escorted his friend along the sidewalk in New Geneva. The man’s eyes were darting all over the place just like Bolt’s were when he set foot in a major Terran city for the first time. The huge white buildings, the countless people milling about, all the advanced tech on display, it was a feast for the eyes that poor Twig was not ready for. He was a fish out of water, a medieval man juxtaposed into a 29^th century metropolis.

Bolt consulted a map. “Okay, we need to take the public rail over here.”

“The what?”

“Just follow me.”

Bolt led Twig up a flight of stairs onto a platform. After finding the right area, they waited for a few minutes, until a chime sounded and a female voice proclaimed, “Please stand back, a train is arriving.”

Twig looked at Bolt questioningly. “Just wait,” Bolt told him.

“Now arriving, Square Line from Carouge Square.” The message was followed by a version in French.

Twig looked to his right and his eyes went wide as he saw a sleek train floating off the ground slowing to a stop. When it finished decelerating, it lowered onto its rails, and the doors opened.

“This is the Square Line to Outer Ring Park. Next stop, New Geneva Police Department HQ.”

“Let’s get on,” Bolt said, and he gently ushered Twig onto the train, and they sat down in some seats near the door. A man in a clean suit and tie sat next to them. As the train took off, he looked at them with an air of interest.

“Are you guys performers or something? Those costumes look very realistic.” The man couldn’t see Twig’s left side, otherwise he would probably be commenting on his missing arm.

Bolt decided to play along. “Yeah, we’re auditioning for a time-traveling play.”

“Well I’ll say you’re sure to get the part! I’d swear that you’re wearing an authentic TUSC uniform! And your friend’s outfit looks like it came straight out of the Middle Ages!”

“Thanks, I designed them myself.”

The man lightly chuckled and looked away. He ended up getting off at the police HQ on the next stop. Two stops later, the announcer finally announced their destination.

“Now arriving at South New Geneva General Hospital.”

Bolt and Twig got up, and they stepped onto the platform.

“That’s a hospital!?” Twig cried as he eyed the gigantic building looming above them through the dome on the station ceiling.

Bolt made a shushing motion; he didn’t want to draw unneeded attention to his friend. He then leaned into Twig’s ear and whispered “It’s a very big hospital because we’re in a very big city with millions of citizens, many of whom can get injured or sick at the same time at any moment.” Twig nodded.

Bolt led Twig through the station gate into a reception area lined with desks, and approached one. A lady sat at the desk and silently acknowledged them.

Bolt cleared his throat. “Uhh, I’m on official TUSC business, I have a patient here scheduled for treatment in… Genetic Treatment Services?”

The receptionist nodded. “Very well. Can I see your TUSC identification?”

Bolt paused for a second, trying to remember where his ID was kept. He eventually figured it out, and he reached into his pocket and pulled out a card.

TERRAN UNIFIED STAR COMMAND: OFFICER IDENTIFICATION CARD

THIS CARD IS TO BE PRESENT ON YOUR BODY AT ALL TIMES WHILE OPERATING ON TUSC BUSINESS.

------------------------------

BOLT E. MITCHELL: ID#3091-3019-22229

DOB: 5 JAN 2781

ENLISTMENT DATE: 17 FEB 2799

RANK: N/A

OFFICIAL DUTY: AMBASSADOR

PAY GRADE: CLASS II

CLEARANCE CODE: 1A-1A

…………………

“Okay, Mr. Mitchell, follow the signs to the elevators, your destination is on the twelfth floor.”

“Thank you,” Bolt said, and he pulled Twig towards the hallway.

Twig’s head was still on a swivel. “It’s so… Clean in here. How do they keep it looking like this?”

“Lots and lots of janitors.”

Eventually they reached the elevator bays. Bolt tapped a touch button. A holographic cross-section diagram of the building projected over the doors showed the position of their elevator as it descended towards them. Eventually one of the doors “pinged” and the hologram showed a big upwards-pointing arrow, and the door opened.

Twig peered inside the elevator. “Uhh, Bolt, why are you leading us into a dead end?”

“It’s an elevator. It’s a room that moves up and down, so we can easily get between floors.”

“That’s… Convenient.”

Bolt and Twig stepped into the elevator and he pressed a button for their floor.

-------------------------------------------

“So… How exactly are they going to give me a new arm?” Twig asked Bolt as they sat in the waiting area.

“I… Honestly don’t know. I wasn’t raised in Terran society so a lot of their technological stuff flies over my head. They told me it has something to do with modifying your genes to enable a sort of regeneration ability that some Terran animals have.”

“What are my ‘genes’?”

“Well, this is way beyond your people’s science at the moment, but it’s basically this stuff your body has inside of it that kind of makes you what you are. It tells your body how to construct itself. Things like what color your skin and hair are supposed to be.”

“That’s fascinating. And by changing that stuff they can tell my body to grow a new arm?”

“That’s exactly it. You’re catching on pretty fast!”

A nurse stepped out from the station. “Mr. Twig?”

“That’s you, man.” Bolt poked Twig’s side.

Twig got up and walked towards the nurse. He then stopped and looked at Bolt with worry. “Is… Is this going to hurt?”

Bolt walked up to them. “Well… I’d ask the nurse.”

The nurse nodded and picked up from Bolt. “You’ll be put under sedation for the procedure.”

Twig tilted his head. Bolt spoke up. “You’re going to have to be really simple with him, like he’s a kid.”

The nurse nodded again. “Basically we’ll make your body go to sleep, and stay asleep while we work on you. The only thing you’ll feel is a small needle going into you to make you fall asleep.”

“It’ll just be a little prick,” Bolt told Twig, “Then it’ll be like you jumped forward in time by an hour or two.”

“Oh, okay.”

“If you don’t have any more questions,” the nurse said, “We’re ready to start the procedure.”

Twig followed the nurse into the hall. Bolt went back to his seat and began waiting.

------------------------------------

“Mr. Mitchell?” A male attendant called to Bolt, about fifteen minutes later.

Bolt stood up. “Yes?”

“The procedure has begun. Would you like to watch?”

“Uhh, sure.”

Bolt walked behind the attendant through a corridor, down several halls, until they reached a small operating theater.

“Wow, he’s getting a whole operation chamber?”

“We’re doing some additional research on Twig, specifically his genetic makeup. Since we’re already working on his DNA, we consider this a prime opportunity to study how this alien version of humanity differs from Terran humans. It’s the reason why the TUSC admiralty agreed to let this operation take place. Your friend has already provided a litany of groundbreaking data.”

Bolt’s eyes narrowed. “I honestly wish I was made aware of this beforehand. It’s not very nice to treat a living human being as your lab-rat without letting him know what you’re doing.”

The attendant nodded. “We thought that the admiralty already informed you of the condition?”

“They did not.”

“Hmm. I’ll send an email to Admiral Donneley later. It’s not like them to violate hospital disclosure regulations.”

Bolt looked through the window into the operating room. Twig had been stripped out of his shirt, and his rough bandage had been removed from his nub. An IV tube was inserted into his intact arm’s elbow, administering the sedation drug. A large ring encircled his torso, presumably containing a multitude of scanning apparatus, which Bolt figured was being used to study his “alien” biology.

“They should be administering the genetic therapy any moment,” the attendant said.

A machine began moving toward Twig. It looked like a big robotic arm with a number of needles on its “hand.”

“Is that thing autonomous?”

“No. Remote-controlled. While our current AI technology is more than capable of performing surgeries, most people feel more comfortable with it if there’s a human controlling the operation. Under certain circumstances we’ll deploy AI-powered operation systems but only in emergency or experimental situations.”

The robot flexed its “arm” and a tube attached to the side. “Administering initial recombinant dose,” a voice announced from the robot, presumably its operator documenting his procedure.

One of the needles pushed into Twig’s nub. The operator then announced, “Beginning gene splicing procedure.” Another needle pushed deep into Twig’s arm remnant.

Bolt winced. “Ouch.”

The attendant turned her head towards Bolt. “He isn’t feeling anything.”

“It hurts me seeing this being done to my friend.”

“We can go back to the waiting room if you’re feeling uncomfortable.”

“No, it’s fine.”

Finally, the needles were removed from Twig’s nub. “Administering genetic trait hyperstimulant.” Another needle pushed into his nub, and was removed a couple seconds later.

“Uhh, what did that do?”

The attendant smiled. “Just watch. This is the really fun part.”

Bolt watched, and his jaw dropped when he saw Twig’s nub growing longer.

“My goodness… It’s working!”

Within moments, an elbow appeared, followed by a tiny bud-like hand. The arm currently resembled an infant’s arm, comically small on his adult body. It seemingly stopped growing at that point.

“Is it going to stay like that?”

“He’s going to give him another drug that’ll develop the new limb to his current age.”

As if on cue, the surgeon said, “Injecting accelerated aging serum in a localized fashion.”

The tubes on the robot arm switched around, and a short needle pushed a tiny amount into the freshly-grown baby arm. Right away the limb began to mature. It lengthened, grew a thin carpet of hair on the forearm, and finally the hand expanded into a broad adult one matching his other one.

The Terrans had done it. Twig now had a new arm.

“Operation is complete. Disengaging controls,” The surgeon announced, and the mechanical arm detached its tubes, pulled away from Twig, and went limp.

------------------

The attendant sent Bolt back out to the waiting room while the medical team took Twig off of his anesthesia and cleaned up the OR. Eventually he came back out and gestured to him. “Twig’s awake, but his mental faculties haven’t completely come back yet. This is normal. However, you’ll need to help him back to where you’re staying.”

“Understood,” Bolt said as he stood up.

Bolt was let into the operating theater, which had been cleared of most of its equipment. Twig was staring into space with half-lidded eyes. He eventually turned his face to Bolt, and some of the light came back to his eyes.

“Bolt,” he whispered, “I still can’t feel my arm… Did the thing not work?”

Bolt smiled warmly. “It totally did, friend. I think Fen’s going to be very excited when he sees you’ve got a full set of limbs now.”

Twig, with what looked like a significant amount of effort, lifted his “old” right arm… Then finally raised his newly-grown left arm. He stared at his arms for such a long time that Bolt began to worry that the shock of seeing two limbs in front of his eyes had broken him.

Twig abruptly staggered to his feet, prompting an alarm to go off, and shakily rushed up to Bolt, and just before he would have fallen over, he crashed into Bolt and wrapped both his arms around him in a hug.

“Thank you, Bolt!” Twig shouted, tears streaking off his cheeks.

“You’re welcome, Twig.”

--------------------------------------

After Twig got a good telling-off from the nurse for jumping out of his bed too fast, they were discharged from the hospital and they went back to the hotel room that TUSC had prepared for them. Thankfully, it was right down the street from the hospital, so they didn’t have to walk too far, which was especially good because Twig hadn’t recovered full control over his legs yet and he had to be supported almost the whole way there.

They finally reached their room. By this time Twig had mostly recovered, and he flopped down on one of the beds. He gasped in surprise.

“Oh my goodness, this is the most comfortable bed I’ve ever touched!”

“Don’t get too comfortable. We’re going back to Pyrrhia a couple days from now.”

“Both of us?”

“Yeah. As amazing as this place is, it’s not fun. And besides, I have a job on your planet now, plus, Keeper would kill me if I spent too much time away from him.”

“So what are we doing tomorrow?”

“We’re going across the ocean to my… Other hometown. I’m going to talk with my ‘Earth-Dad,’ and then I’m going to use the gigantic pile of Terran Credits TUSC paid me for my little captain gig… To buy my own personal starship.”

“So you can go between here and Pyrrhia any time you want?”

“Exactly. I’ve been doing some studying on the ExoNet… I think I know which one I want. Anyway, you stay here and rest; I’m going down the street to pick up some dinner.”

“Where are you going to hunt? There’s no woods around here, from what I’ve seen.”

Bolt smiled. “You’ve got a lot to learn. On Earth, no one has to hunt. We just go to a store or restaurant to buy all the food we need!”

“You’re totally going to spoil me, you know.”

“It’s just for a couple days. Anyway, I’m going. Don’t touch anything you don’t know about.”

“That’s pretty much everything in here.”

“Exactly. Stay put, I’ll be back in a little bit.” Bolt opened the hotel room’s exit and left.

About half an hour later, Bolt returned to the room with a large cardboard box held in one hand, a 2-liter of lemonade balanced on top of it, and his WristUnit held out on his other arm, which he had just used to open the hotel room.

Twig was sprawled out on the bed, and somehow, the television had been turned on, tuned into a stream of what seemed to be a children’s cartoon.

Twig looked at Bolt. “You people have a very strange concept of entertainment.”

Bolt chuckled. “That’s a kid’s show, Twig.”

“That’s even worse! I wouldn’t want my kids watching weird stuff like this on their magic window… If we had those at home.”

Bolt laughed out loud. “Okay, then, turn that off so we can eat.”

Twig amazingly handled the remote control like he had been using one all his life, and switched off the holographic TV set.

“I wish I was able to acclimate to Terran society this fast when I got here,” Bolt said as he set the food and drink he bought down on the table beneath the holo-projector.

“What was your time here like?”

“At first it was just too much. Trying to talk with people about things was a real chore. Imagine going to a school where all the other students know infinitely more than you do. My classmates would make fun of me for being the ‘primitive alien kid.’ Then I whooped everyone’s butts at a worldwide archery competition and then they totally loved me.”

“You’ve certainly lived an interesting life. Anyway, what’s for dinner?”

Bolt opened the box. “It’s a Terran delicacy called ‘pizza.’”

Twig stared at the pie in the box. “Looks greasy.”

“It sure is. Tastes really good, though.”

“What’s that yellow drink?”

“Lemonade. Terrans drink this stuff by the gallon.”

The two men dug into their food. Twig was delighted by the new tastes he was experiencing, and Bolt was also happy that he was eating Terran cuisine again. It still wouldn’t beat fresh venison cooked over an open fire, though.

They eventually finished, their bellies stuffed, and Bolt set aside his paper plate and cup and stretched his limbs. “How are your arms feeling, Twig?”

He rubbed his left arm. “It’s great, Bolt. Though didn’t the nurse say something about ‘side effects’ on our way out?”

“Uhh, she did. She supposedly sent me an after-care packet by email, we should probably go over it together.”

Bolt looked through his WristUnit and eventually found it. He swiped up on the screen and the document popped up on the television so they both could read it. They read through the text, which had some medical jargon in it but otherwise was written understandably. When they reached the “side effects” section, they found something interesting.

“Wait, accelerated hair and nail growth!?” Twig shouted with surprise and disbelief.

“I guess the genes they put in you make everything regenerate faster. Normally the only parts of our bodies that we keep growing more of are our nails, skin, and hair. The DNA you received probably sped up that process.”

“Well, I guess that’s not terrible…”

“As side effects of Terran medical procedures go it’s not too bad. Anyway, you feeling tired yet?”

“Ugh, now that you mention it, that bed is awful comfy.”

“Let’s get some sleep. We’ve got a long flight tomorrow.”

-----------------------------------------------

-Harborford, Old America-

Almost half the day had been spent getting here. First the hypersonic commercial flight from New Geneva to New Boston, then a moderately-long train ride down south, then a taxi ride to the east, and finally, they reached Harborford.

“Home again,” Bolt said, as he set his bag down on the curb. Twig got out of the taxi, and he thanked the AI driver as he did so, and disappointingly didn’t get a response.

The cab drove off, and Bolt looked around.

“So, is this your place?”

“Earth-Dad’s place,” Bolt corrected, “He knows we’re here, so we should probably go inside.”

Bolt knocked on the door. Seconds later, Harry Mitchell’s face appeared in the door’s window, and the door was thrown wide open.

“Bolt!” Harry shouted.

“Earth-Dad!” Bolt returned, and the two of them hugged.

“How was your mission?” Harry asked.

Bolt had sudden flashes in his mind. Crimson’s talon descending towards Twig, Marcus’s disemboweled corpse, the destroyed MudWing village, and Basil’s limp body in his arms played through his head.

“It… It was interesting.”

“You look unhappy.”

“It was a huge mess.”

“Oh… I’m sorry. Want to go inside an’ talk about it?”

Bolt nodded. He motioned for Twig to follow him into the house, and he did so. Bolt and Twig sat down on a couch in the living room, while Harry sat in a recliner facing them.

Bolt told Harry everything. Everything that happened on Pyrrhia.

“Jeez, that’s definitely a bungled mission. Having one of your crew members die is never easy. But look on the bright side, ya still finished the mission. I have to ask, though, are you going to be attending Mr. Ridley’s funeral?”

“I… Didn’t get an invitation. I’m worried that his family blames me for his death…”

“At least call them. It’s your duty as captain to apologize to a dead crew member’s folks for allowing them to die on your watch. Just ghosting them will make them angrier.”

“Okay then.”

“Go, Bolt. Go up to your room and call them right now.”

“Okay, Dad.”

Bolt walked up the stairs to his old bedroom. His Terran room was pretty Spartan, with only a twin bed, dresser, a small TV projector, and his archery trophy sitting on a desk. He sat down on his bed and opened his WristUnit, then began a search through the TUSC databases he thankfully still had access to to find Marcus’s file which thankfully hadn’t been removed from the active-duty rolls yet.

MARCUS S. RIDLEY

RANK: CORPORAL /TUSC ENGINEER CLASS I

DOB: 09 DEC 2770

ENLISTMENT DATE: 09 DEC 2790

DECEASED: [AUTOPSY RESULTS NOT AVAILABLE CURRENTLY]

Bolt skipped over the rest of the data until he found what he was looking for.

IN CASE OF ON-DUTY DEATH NOTIFY: MS. AISHA RIDLEY, RELATIONSHIP TO OFFICER: BIOLOGICAL MOTHER

Below this entry was a phone number.

Bolt switched to the phone app and dialed the number.

“Naem?” A voice asked on the other end.

Oh, she speaks Arabic.

Bolt switched to Arabic, which he thankfully knew how to speak thanks to the knowledge infusion two years ago. “This is Bolt Mitchell,” He said in her language, “Do you have time to talk?”

“Yes, I do,” Aisha said, “How have you been doing?”

“I’m… Fine. Anyway, I’m calling in my… Former capacity as captain to apologize for the death of your son.”

“He came back in pieces, Mr. Mitchell! What the (Untranslatable) happened to him!?”

“He was killed by a hostile native who happened to be a… Dragon.”

“Are you playing with me!?”

“I’m not lying to you, Ms. Ridley.”

“Yah Raby, Bolt! What was TUSC doing sending him to a planet with natives like that!?”

“I wasn’t the one who chose him for this mission, ma’am. But he served bravely right to the very end. And I reiterate; I am terribly sorry for your loss.”

The line cut out. Bolt groaned, and stood out of his bed, and trudged back downstairs.

“Well?” Harry asked, “How’d it go?”

“She hung up on me. She was pretty upset.”

“Well, at least you tried. Come sit down with us. You’ve got quite the interesting friend here!”

Oh jeez, what did Twig tell him?

Bolt sat down on the couch next to Twig.

“Dad, I’m not going to stay here long. TUSC gave me a job as an ambassador to Devonhart 3, and I need to go back there to get things started with my plans to make peace… And stuff.”

“You’re gonna need a starship of your own to get back there. How much did Ol’ Tusccie pay you for your services?”

“I’ve already done my research. I’ll be able to afford it.”

“Good job. Wanna go out and buy it now?”

“Uhh, really?”

“Yeah, no point in procrastinating! Hop in the car; take your friend too!”

“Oh, okay then!”

--------------------------------------

-Harborford Starmotors-

“How y’all doing?” A man asked from behind the landing gear of a small cruiser.

“Carson Red!” Harry shouted, “It’s been a while!”

How many friends does this man have!?  Bolt thought.

“I see you brought your son with you! Is it finally time?”

“Sure is! He’s even got his own TUSC money to buy it with!”

“He’s already been on a TUSC run? Wow, Mitchell, you people really do have asteroid dust in your veins!”

Ugh, they’re like carbon copies of each other.

Bolt stepped up to Mr. Red. “Anyway, sir, I already have the exact ship I want in mind.”

“Well! An informed customer! We’re gonna get along just fine!”

Bolt called up a web page he had saved to his WristUnit. Carson looked at his screen.

“Let’s see, 2800 StarWorks StarSpeeder, Level 5 trim, very good choice right there. It’s great for long trips out of the Solar System. And you’re lucky that I actually have one in my lot right now!”

“Really? That’s great! What’s the asking price?”

“I’ll let you have it for 150,000 Credits even. Taxes included.”

“Sounds great. I have a loan for about that much already loaded on my paychip.”

“Look at you! Hey, I’ll go call up the forms. I take it you have a pilot’s license?”

“It’s technically a TUSC Officer’s Certification, I hope that’s good here?”

“A TUSC training certification for spaceflight? Sure, that’ll work. Show me your officer ID and I’ll run that through.”

Bolt handed him his card, and he walked off towards the main building.

“Bolt,” Harry said with an air of calm seriousness.

“Yeah, Earth-Dad?”

“You take good care of yourself out there. Don’t you dare let yourself get killed on this home planet of yours, you hear?”

“I’ll make sure of it, dad. I have a lot of people watching out for me there.”

Harry pulled something out of his pocket and handed it to Bolt. It appeared to be a camera.

“I want you to take some pictures of this place you live in. Bonus points if you can get a few pics of your dragon friends.”

“Alright. I’ll send some to you when I get back.”

Carson returned with a tablet in his hand. “Good news, kid. Your ID and loan docs check out, so you’re green-lighted. Wanna go check out the ship before you buy it?”

“Sure.”

“Follow me.”

Bolt followed the dealer through a field of starships of many shapes and sizes. Finally, at the end of the lot stood the ship he had been looking for. It’s Earth Brown hull shone in the sunlight, and its access ramp had already been retracted, leading up to the main airlock on the port side of the ship. Bolt, Carson, Harry, and Twig walked upward into the ship.

Inside was a cleanly-trimmed living chamber. A head (ship-speak for bathroom) was crammed into a small sealed cubicle next to the exit. Some basic starship amenities such as an RMP machine, table, and bunk bed recessed into the wall were on the opposite side of the room.

“Engine chamber’s through that door,” Carson said as he pointed at a sliding door towards the stern.

“And the cockpit’s through that door?” Bolt asked, pointing to a similar door on the bow side of the living chambers.

“Yep. This ship’s smart enough that it won’t even need auto-Pulsars to shoot past space debris at FTL. It’ll just go around them. Ship scans up to half a lightyear ahead of itself using subspace scanners and plots a course accordingly.”

“That’s good to hear. Anyway, I’m ready to purchase.”

“Really? No test flight?”

“I’d rather save the exhilaration for my trip back to my operation area.”

“Suit yourself.” Carson handed the tablet he had been carrying to Bolt. “Oh, you’re going to have to choose a name for your ship too. I’ll even have someone paint the name you choose on the hull tomorrow.”

Bolt looked at the tablet, which had the title of ownership form displayed on it.

Bolt already knew what he was going to name the ship.

He pulled up the keyboard on the tablet and began typing.

SHIP DESIGNATE: DARTER.

Chapter Text

Epilogue: Homemaking

“Uhh, Bolt, what’s in that box?”  Twig asked as Bolt prepared to take off.

A large crate sat in the living quarters of Darter, metallic silver in color and bearing TUSC’s winged logo.

“It’s a surprise,” Bolt said, You’ll see what’s in there when we get back to Pyrrhia.”

Bolt flipped some switches on the control panel, and a rumbling issued through the ship’s hull, its engines having started.

Twig looked across all the buttons and screens.  “Is flying one of these things really that complicated?”

“Yes, but not always.  In some cases the ship can pretty much drive itself.”

Bolt lifted the wheel, and Darter in turn lifted off the ground.  With a tilt of the wheel, the ship listed to starboard as he aimed the vessel at the launch ramp on the dealer lot.

A transmission came through on the comm rig.  Harry Mitchell’s voice came out of the speaker.  “Hey, Bolt, ya hearing me?”

Bolt picked up the line.  “Loud and clear, Earth-Dad!”

“I just wanted to wish you good luck out there.  Get that alien friend of yours home safe, okay?”

“I will, Dad.  I’ll come back and visit soon!”

“Make sure you do.  Gets awful lonely around here without you.  I love you, kid.”

“Love you too.”

And with that, Bolt thrust forward the throttle and Darter launched forward, throwing Bolt and Twig back into their seats.  A funny moaning noise came out of Twig. 

“You okay, Twig?”  Bolt asked without taking his eyes off the runway.

Twig responded with a shaky voice, “T-this thing’s f-fast!”

“All the better to get us home quickly!”

Bolt gradually lifted the wheel, causing Darter to pull up, and ascend into the sky.

Within a few minutes, Bolt broke out of the atmosphere.  The artificial gravity kicked in before the pilot and passenger could be lifted out of their seats.  Bolt called up his Celestial Atlas and charted a course for the Devonhart system.  A target mark appeared on the ship’s navigation screen, and he aligned the ship with it, picking out the star he was born under in the space ahead of him.

Bolt flipped a switch after he had cleared the minimum distance from Earth.

“Drive charging,” BIS-SI said, and a whine began building within the ship’s engines.

“Here we go, Twig.  We’re going home.”

“Jump ready.  Throttle up to engage.”

“Hold on tight, and prepare for the lightshow!”  Bolt pulled the throttle all the way forward, and after the space in front of them distorted, they were catapulted to FTL speeds.

“Waaauughh!!”  Twig screamed, “Is this really necessary!?”

“If you wanna get home within your lifetime, then yes!”

---------------------------------------

The flight took nine hours, undercutting Starchild II by a full sixty minutes.  There wasn't much to do during that time; the ship didn't have much in the way of entertainment besides a television located in the living quarters, though they wouldn't be able to pick up any Exonet streams while traveling at FTL speeds since they'd be outrunning the signal itself.

About five hours into the flight Bolt prepared a meal for himself and Twig using the RMP.  Bolt had a burger, while Twig took forever to decide on a dish before settling for more pizza.  They ate as the stars streaked past the porthole next to their table.

Eventually a chime sounded on the ship's control panel, while Bolt and Twig were both sitting in the cockpit watching the space in front of them.

“Alright, we’re here,”  Bolt said, and he dropped Darter out of FTL.

In seconds, their home planet was in view.  Twig stared through the windscreen at it.

“It looks so beautiful from up here…  Like a gem.”

“Yep.  And pretty soon it’ll be a place where humans and dragons can coexist.”

Bolt quickly ran a new planetary scan, correcting his mistake from the last time he arrived here, and updated the maps on his WristUnit.  Bolt then flew Darter towards the planet, reaching it in a couple minutes.  Bolt activated the drop shields, switched the engines to Entry Mode, and they began to fall into the planet.

When they could see through the windscreen again, Twig made a noise of confusion.

“That doesn’t look like Pyrrhia, Bolt.  Where’s all the forests…  And what are all those weird buildings?”

“I think I picked the wrong entry point.  Hang on, I’ll try to find where we are.”

Bolt called up his map and checked for his location.

“Ah, here’s where I went wrong.  I put us in too far west.  I’ll just fly to the east then.”

Twig stared out at the scene below him.  “I don’t see any movement down there…  Where’s all the dragons?”

“There’s no human settlements from what I can see either…  Hopefully they’re not extinct here.”

Bolt flew away from the mysterious continent at hypersonic speeds.  About a couple hours later they reached the shores of the Sand Kingdom.

“So, uh, where are we going to land?”

“I’ve gotta stop at the Indestructible City.”

“Checking up on Basil?”

“Yeah.  Ellie said he should be all good by now.”

Bolt landed Darter in a field near the stairs leading up into the city.  After killing the engines, he stood up out of his seat.

“Stay here.”

Bolt exited the ship and walked down the ramp to the ground.  Having his feet make contact with natural Pyrrhian soil felt way more pleasant than touching down on hard Terran pavement.  Birds sang in some trees nearby, and above him the city towered.

Surprisingly, there was no line of humans outside the entrance.  There weren’t even any soldiers stationed outside.

Where is everyone?

Bolt pushed down an uneasy feeling that the city had been attacked.  If dragons hit this place the buildings wouldn’t be standing anymore.

Bolt reached the stairs and began to climb them.  Still, no one attempted to stop him.

“Okay, seriously, is anyone here!?”  Bolt voiced his thoughts out loud.

Bolt walked in through the open gate into the town.

Okay, maybe the Invincible Lord went crazy and killed everyone in town?

Unlikely.  He’s a good fighter, but he wouldn’t be able to take down his entire army single-handedly.

Bolt approached the castle, and immediately found where everyone was.

They were gathered around a stage set in front of the castle, upon which was standing the Invincible Lord, with what seemed to be his son, and Basil ( Thank GOODNESS he’s okay) at his side.

“Therefore, my dear citizens,”  Bolt could hear him saying,  “I hereby resign as leader of our city.  I have chosen my successor…”

He held out his hand to the boy who seemed to be related to him.

“Please meet your new ruler…  Undauntable, my son.  You will now address him as the Undauntable Lord!!”

Hang on, what!?  What happened to the Lord while I was gone!?

A round of applause came from the crowd that Bolt began to fight his way to the front of.

“Now, my son is young.  He will serve you well for a long time.  But he is young enough that he will need advisors.  I will be staying as his mentor…  But in this new age of cooperation with dragons, we will need someone with a bright mind and a heart that is ready for peace with the winged ones.  That is why I am welcoming Basil, my former general, into my family as well.”

What is this guy on!?  Why is he doing this!?

Bolt reached the front of the crowd, and right away the men on the podium noticed him.

“Bolt!”  Basil shouted with delight.

“Basil!”  Bolt shouted back.

Basil beckoned Bolt onto the stage, and he climbed up to join his friend.

“What the blip is going on, Basil!?  Why is the Invincible Lord giving up his power!?”

“You missed the first part of his speech?”

“I literally just landed here!”

The Lord approached them.  “I am glad you are able to join us, Bolt.  I’m sure you have many questions.”

“Damn straight.  Why are you stepping down as Lord!?”

“As much as I want to stay in power, young one, I feel that my type of leadership will be unnecessary in the new age.  I should be thanking you, Bolt.  Your work to make peace with the dragons has saved us all.  I once thought that the only way humanity would be safe is if we wiped the dragons away from the world.  But now…  It looks as if we may be going into a new age of cooperation…  Just like the murals below us depicted.”

The Lord looked at his feet, then back to Bolt.  “But I cannot lie, Bolt.  My bias against dragons still burns strong within me.  I still cannot abide by a world where dragons are among us.  So instead…  I shall hand off the torch to one who has a purer heart than I.  With my wisdom, and Basil’s heart, I believe that my son can be educated to be a perfect ruler for this new era.”

Bolt turned an eye to Basil.  “What did you feed this guy, Basil?  Is he going to die from it?”

Undauntable laughed.  “I think you need to let go of some of your own biases, Bolt.  We’re humans.  We can change.  We can grow.  Now all I need to do is find Wren and we can rule over a peaceful city together!”

Okay, this just keeps getting crazier.  This kid wants to marry Wren !?  Knowing her, she’d sooner kick him in the family jewels than marry the Invincible Lord’s son!

A man in the crowd began shouting.  “Bolt, do you have anything to say?  Do you approve of the new order?”

Well now they’re putting ME on the spot.  Uhh…

“Well, if it’s what the Invincible Lord wants, I don’t really have much say over it.”

“Do you really think we can make peace with dragons after everything they’ve done to us?”

“Look, everyone, I’m not immune from dragon aggression.  They’ve done some really messed-up things to me, but you don’t see me waving swords at every dragon I meet.” 

Bolt sat down on the edge of the stage, going full ambassador-mode, trying to look comforting in his speech. 

“I’m not going to lie…  The dragons are going to have a lot of answering to do, for the five thousand years of torture they put our species through...  And we as humans should listen to them.  We can’t move forward without acknowledging our past, but I really think peace is possible.  I have a plan to bring about this peace…  You’ll be seeing it in action soon.”  

Bolt stood back onto the stage as the crowd erupted into cheers and applause.  Okay, maybe this ambassador gig won’t be too hard.

-------------------------------------------

-Possibility-

Bolt had already attempted to deliver Twig back to Fen.  He wasn’t home.  They knew this because Fen had absentmindedly left his front door open and they couldn't find him after searching his house.

So they went to Keeper’s house.  Where they found that the door was shut.  And the doorknob was more than five feet above the reach of his arms.

“What now?”  Twig asked.

A deep sound of a dragon’s throat being cleared sounded from behind them.  Bolt turned around…

And found his old enemy Sienna.

Bolt’s hands flew to his projector blade.  “Don’t even try it!”  He shouted.

Sienna shook her head.  “I’m not going to eat you, Bolt.  I owe you a favor, after all.”

“Excuse me?”

Bolt then noticed that Sienna’s body, previously skeletal and thin, looked healthier and fuller.

“You defeated Crimson and returned the treasure he stole to us.  Now I can afford all the food I want, and it’s all thanks to you and Keeper!”

Sienna approached the door to Keeper’s house as Bolt and Twig stood aside and made way for her.  Sienna lifted her talon and twisted the doorknob, opening it for the two humans.

Bolt stared at the dragon that had nearly crushed him in her teeth two years ago, not quite believing what he was seeing.  “Uhh, thanks, Sienna.”

Sienna smiled, showing her teeth that she had almost stained with his blood.  “Don’t mention it.”  Sienna said, and she turned and left.

Bolt and Twig walked into the main shop room, where Keeper was sitting at a desk filled with scrolls.  He turned his head, and his mouth opened wide in a smile.

“Took you long enough!”  He playfully yelled.

“I’m actually ahead of schedule, silly!”  He waved his arm at Twig.  “Take a look, friend.  See a little something extra on him?”

Keeper’s eyes immediately focused on Twig’s left arm.  “Three Moons...  They actually did it.”  He turned to the rear bedroom.  “Fen!  Come see this!”

Fen bounded into the room, and he saw the two humans.

“You’re back!  How’d your little adventure go?”

Twig jumped up and down and waved his arms.  “Look what I’ve got!”  He had clearly been saving this for some time.

Fen’s eyes exploded to their widest aperture.  “Holy crocodiles!  You’re all better!”

Fen hoisted Twig lovingly into his talons, and Twig hugged his dragon’s face.

Keeper walked up to Bolt.  “So how was your trip to your planet?  I’m guessing they didn’t end up imprisoning you?”

“Nope.  They demoted me to ambassador.  I’m now officially the representative of the Terran humans here in Pyrrhia.  And there’s something I need to show you.”

----------------------------------------------

-Back at the Darter-

Keeper and Fen landed near Bolt’s ship with their humans on their backs.  Bolt jumped off of Keeper and ran aboard his starship. Seconds later, the sounds of Bolt grunting with effort undulated out of the cabin, and eventually he emerged with the large crate he had flown here with.

“You brought presents!”  Fen delightedly shouted, “How thoughtful!”

“Sorry, Fen, but these aren’t for you.  They’re for the humans of Pyrrhia.”

“Aww…”

Bolt reached the ground, and lifted a lever on the crate.  A pneumatic seal hissed, and the top popped off.  Twig, Fen, and Keeper peered inside.

Within the container were hundreds of silver-white human-sized bracelets.  Each had a metallic mesh speaker and microphone array, and an elastic clasp so it would fit almost any size of wrist.

Fen looked sideways at Bolt.  “You want to inflict your fashion sense on all the scavvies in Pyrrhia?  I don’t know about this, kid.”

“Twig, put one of these on.”  Bolt instructed.

Twig did so.  As soon as the bracelet touched his skin, an LED light illuminated on it.

“Try talking to Fen,” Bolt said.

Twig nodded.  He turned his face to the MudWing.  “Uhh, hi, Fen!”

Right as he said that, the bracelet immediately began speaking in the growls of the Dragon language.  Fen’s eyes lit up.  “Oh my gosh!  Is that what he said!?”

The bracelet’s light switched colors, and it began speaking what Fen had just said in English.  Now it was Twig’s turn to become elated.  “I can understand him!”

Bolt looked at Keeper.  “I’ve got a plan to further cement the bond between our species.  The first part of it involves these.  If dragons can all understand humans, that’ll make it harder for dragons to write us off as just animals.  I don’t know about you, but if I were a dragon that isn’t a heartless monster, I’d find it damn hard or even impossible to eat a scavenger that I can legibly hear begging for his life in my talons.

“What’s the second part of the plan?”  Keeper asked.

“We’re going to build a city.  Not a dragon city with a human ‘sanctuary’ like what Winter did.  A city where humans and dragons can truly coexist.  We’ll call it…  Union.”

“That sounds like a great idea…  But where are we going to get the money for that?”

“By leveraging the insanely high value of the Terran Credit.”

Bolt had converted a significant portion of his bank balance into gold.  He had easily a whole treasury’s worth in a safe aboard his ship.  Now he just needed to hire a construction crew.  Both humans and dragons.  

“I have a basic town plan already,” Bolt said as he presented a piece of paper with a map-like drawing on it.  For now, we’ll plan.”

---------------------------------

-A Week Later-

Bolt, Fen, Winter, Keeper, and Twig sat around a table.  Winter and Keeper had quill pens in their talons, writing a number of informational scrolls on the treatment of humans.  Fen looked at a paragraph Winter had just written, and his eyes widened.

“Wait, humans wear clothing under their clothing!?  What do they look like?”

Bolt’s eyes narrowed.  “I’d rather we not talk about th—”

Keeper barged into the conversation.  “I’ve seen Bolt in that state before.  They’re just shorter versions of his outer coverings that only go part of the way down his legs.”

Bolt blushed profusely.  “Keeper, that’s not something you say around humans!”

Twig began laughing.  “Keeper caught you in your underwear!?  You two really are friends.”

Bolt slapped Twig’s shoulder playfully.  “Shut up, Twig!”

Winter scoffed.  “You two have nothing.  In my research of scavengers I’ve been able to examine them without a single bit of cloth on them.”

Bolt went pale with horror.  “Winter are you serio--”

Winter continued.  “They looked very strange under their coverings and I concur with Bolt, they should indeed stay covered by their clothing at all times.”

Bolt blushed again.  “I agree, but did you have to insult how we look?  We’re not that ugly.”

Fen finally interrupted them.  “So, do we have any updates on takers for real estate in Union?”

Keeper consulted a scroll with tallies on it.  “So far only ten humans have agreed to move there.  Even less dragons agreed, only five.”

“Well, it’s only been a week since we made the announcement.  We should give it more time.”

“That reminds me,”  Winter said, “I have a suggestion.  Many movements like ours operate under a symbol.  Something to identify themselves by.  Does anyone have any ideas for one?”

Bolt scratched his chin.  “Hmm…  I’ll try to think of something.”

-------------------------------------

-One Month Later-

Bolt stepped through the grass in his former childhood home.  Keeper, Fen, Twig, and a small crowd of humans and dragons followed close behind.  He eventually stopped, prompting the others to cease movement as well.  

Bolt looked around at the wreckage of his home, of his happy childhood before his world changed forever.  He began to caress his scarf, reminiscing.

“You doing okay, Bolt?”  Fen asked.

Winter stared at a weathered human skeleton on the ground, an uneasy grimace growing on his face.  “You…  You were born here?”

Bolt turned and nodded.

Twig ran up and hugged Bolt.  “Bolt…  I’m so, so sorry.  I can’t believe something like this happened to you and even still you’re so strong and--”

“Twig, it’s okay."  Bolt wiped a couple tears from his eyes.  "It happened a long time ago.”

Keeper looked around.  “All this destruction, and yet something as soft and delicate as a tiny scavenger cub survived.  I’m not going to lie, Bolt…  I have a lot more respect for you now.”

Fen piped up.  “Didn’t your scarf come from here too?”

Bolt put the trailing end of his scarf up to his nose.  He paused for a few seconds, then spoke in a sonorous voice, clearly wanting everyone present to hear him.

"I've cried into this thing so many times...  It's been with me for all my adventures...  Comforting me...  Offering me solace where there was none to be found...  To say this strip of cloth is a part of me would be an understatement.  I used to say this was the only piece of my father I had left...  But it's so much more than that now.  Everyone recognizes me by this thing.  It wouldn't be right to call this scarf just a symbol of my dad anymore.  It's just as much a symbol of me now too.”

Bolt turned his head to address all the dragons.  “So you said earlier you wanted something to be the image of our new cooperative society?  Let's make this scarf that image.  Let everyone who strives for peace between humans and dragons identify by it, so that any human living in fear of dragons can see a dragon wearing that scarf and they would know...  That they have a friend in their midst.  Let's make that happen.  Scarves by the dozen, scarves all around!"

Twig took Bolt’s hand in his own.  “Let’s build a new future together,”  Bolt continued, “Let’s build our town of Union here.”

---------------------------------

- One Year Later-

Bolt’s eyes slowly opened, and he stretched his limbs in his soft cotton-fluff bed.  After yawning away the last of his sleepiness, he stood up, changed into a pair of cargo shorts and a t-shirt, slipped on a pair of sneakers, and walked towards a spiral staircase leading downstairs out of the tower his quarters were contained in.

At the bottom of the staircase Bolt strolled across the floor to a staircase leading up to a human-sized kitchen, where he opened a cabinet and pulled out a loaf of bread, then a plastic jar of peanut butter he bought on Earth.

Keeper’s voice came from behind him, nearly startling him.  “Good morning, Bolt.  Did you sleep well?”

Bolt turned to face his friend.  “Like a baby.  I guess I’m starting to get used to living here.”

“Don’t forget we have a Council meeting today.”

“Yeah, yeah, I won’t get stuck hunting today then.  I’m going to run to the market.”

“Don’t get lost.”

“I helped design this town, Keeper!  Of course I won’t get lost!”

“Of course you won’t.  I was joking.”

Bolt sighed and opened the human-sized door built into the larger dragon-sized door.  He stepped outside into the streets of Union.

Most of the town hadn’t been completed yet, but they had enough buildings constructed that the town could effectively function.  Union had been built in the Mud Kingdom, close to its northern border, but Queen Moorhen had granted them sovereignty, meaning they could govern themselves.

Bolt and Keeper’s house had been constructed in the “Dragon Half” district of town, where most of the buildings were sized for dragons, though many also had accommodations for humans, which one could easily tell because they would have a mark of a human handprint inside of a dragon talonprint posted near the entrance.

Down the sidewalk Bolt went, towards the center of town, which was called the Communal District due to the fact that all the buildings were designed to be cohabited by humans and dragons, basically the “downtown” area of the city.

Bolt entered into a square containing a stone memorial in the shape of an obelisk not unlike the grave of Queen Oasis, dedicated to the humans that were killed in the former Outpost Village, which had stood on around this exact location. Underneath the monument was where what remains of the humans they could find were buried.

A yelling human voice issued from nearby.  Bolt rushed over and found Winter hovering over a young brown-haired human sitting on a tree stump, who looked positively pissed.

“Please,” Winter pleaded with the human, “I had good intentions, you must believe me!”

The human’s face turned redder.  "You kidnapped me from my village, tortured me in a cage for weeks, then dumped me in the rain to fend for myself hundreds of miles from my home!  To hell with your 'good intentions,' you ruined my life!"

"B-Bandit..."

"MY NAME IS THRUSH!!" Thrush jumped off of the stump and ran towards a building where he disappeared inside.

Winter held his talon out, silently begging for him to come back.  He turned and looked at Bolt pleadingly.  "Bolt...  Why is he like this...?"

"He just told you why he doesn't like you.  I know it's tough hearing this, Winter, but it sounds like you really didn't treat him very well.  He might eventually forgive you if you give him time, but at least for now, I'd recommend giving him some space."

“I knew so little about humans back then.  I was a fool.  With all the teachings I had burned into me by my parents…  He was only an animal to me...”

“You were still treating him way better than some dragons would have.  But yeah, you could have done better with him.  Anyway, want to come down to the market with me?”

Winter sighed.  “I will.  It’s nice to know I’m still in your good graces.”

“As long as I don’t hear about you doing any more weird experiments on humans, I’ll be fine with you.”

Bolt and Winter began to walk eastward towards the Human Half district.  Here the streets became narrower and Winter began to watch his talons.

“HEY!!”  A male human voice screamed.

Uh-oh.

 Bolt ran down to where he heard the voice cry out from.  A man was lying on his back on the street, and a SkyWing, seemingly a female, was glaring down at him.

“Watch where you step, dragon!”

The SkyWing looked offended.  “Watch where you step, furball!”

Bolt quickly stepped in while Winter stayed on the sidelines.

"Okay, break it up!”

Both the human and dragon’s attentions were diverted to Bolt.

“Look, I know this isn't something we're exactly used to.  Humans and dragons haven't lived together like this since the Catastrophe.  But the point of this place is to cast aside our differences and work together.  This is Union, where anyone's welcome, whether you've got skin or scales.  Now...  What seems to be the problem?"

The SkyWing blurted out: “This scavenger (The human looked terribly offended) got in my way!  I nearly stepped on him!”

The human stood up.  “This scalehead swatted me aside when I was clearly on the human side of the path!”

“Okay, let’s calm down.  Ma’am, did you really swat him?”

“I gently pushed him out of the way so he wouldn’t get crushed.”

“You launched me airborne!”  The human cried.

Bolt approached the human.  Indeed, it looked like bruises were forming on parts of his body such as his arms where it seemed he had landed.

Now Bolt began to feel like he should side with the human in this case.  He turned to the SkyWing.  “Was this accidental?”

“Okay, I may have been a bit too forceful.  But I was trying to make sure he didn’t get killed!”

“Alright then.  How about we watch where we’re walking…  And also watch how hard we’re pushing if we need someone to move.  Sound like a good compromise?”

The dragon and the human looked at each other, gradually cooling off.  They looked back at Bolt and nodded.  They wordlessly went their separate ways.

Winter walked back up to him.  “That was…  Very impressive.”

“Back on Earth they made a huge point of teaching everyone about de-escalating fights rather than stoking them.  It’s a big reason why we don’t have wars anymore on Terra.”

The two of them continued east until they reached one of the only buildings in the Human Half with a talon/hand mark.  The Human’s Market sold exclusively food, clothing, and furnishings, among other things, that would suit a human, meaning most dragons wouldn’t need to shop here, but nonetheless the building was constructed to accommodate dragons at least a little, though the “dergs” would need to crouch down pretty low to see anything on the shelves of the stands.

Winter dodged around a throng of humans doing their shopping, studying each human closely, seemingly taking note of the differing styles of clothing, their varying heights, and such.  Bolt eventually reached the stand he wanted, where a young woman barely out of her teenage years was selling smoked meats.

Bolt thought that fire-roasted venison was the very best…  Until he found out about smoked venison.  His first bite of this variant of the food was pure heaven, and he was hooked.   He spent weeks begging Keeper to let him build a smokehouse in their yard, and eventually he caved.

Bolt bought enough smoked venison to last him a couple meals, paid in gold, and left.

-Keeper-

After Bolt left to pick up what Keeper presumed was going to be yet another pile of “smoked” deer meat, the SandWing sat down and opened a big notebook a human had made him.  It shocked Keeper that the humans had such an efficient way to keep documents, way more handy than scrolls.  One of many advancements the humans were providing dragons in this new city, advancements for which a dozen dragon families had moved here to enjoy so far.

Keeper took out a pen, but before he could start writing, the front door burst open and Fen walked in, Twig astride his shoulder as usual. Both the dragon and his rider wore the brown scarves that had become a sort of uniform for members of the Union Council.

“Hey, Keeper, what’s up?”  Fen announced in Human.

“Not much,” Keeper replied, matching his language.  “I see you’re practicing your new language.”

“I talked to a bunch of cubs today!  They were all so happy that I was talking like them!”

“Uhh, Fen, the word is ‘children,’ not ‘cubs.’”

“Got it!  Anyway, one of them gave me this!”

Fen pulled out a big frond necklace adorned with many flowers.

Keeper’s heart swooned.  It was so heartwarming to see how much the young humans adored Fen.  He had quickly become a role model among both the human children and dragonets, basically the mascot of the Union Council, appearing as a “cartoon” character on many public-safety posters around town. Clearly a heaping ton of love had been poured into that necklace, showing how popular the MudWing had become.

“It’s beautiful, Fen.  Take good care of it.”

“So, uh, where’s Bolt?”  Fen still spoke in English.

Keeper’s tongue began stumbling, as he still had trouble making the foreign noises necessary to speak Human. “Uhh, he’s ovv…  Getting more feud... at the…  Shop…  Place.”

“Uhh, Keeper, I think you mispronounced a few words there.”

“We’re both still learning, Fen.”  Keeper said in Dragon.

“Fair enough,” Fen said, switching back to his native language himself.  “Wanna go for a fly?”

“I can’t right now.  I was about to write in this ‘journal’ before you came in.”

“Ooh, is that the cool ‘book’ thingy a human craftsman made for you?  Those things are totally the future of storykeeping!”

“Yep.  I’m keeping a daily log of my life in it.  Bolt said it’s a really good thing to do.  Anyway, I’m going to get started.”

“Alrighty then.  Don’t let Bolt miss the next Council meeting again.  We really needed him last time, and it wasn’t good he got himself lost in the woods.”

“I made sure to tell him to show up earlier.  That’s why he’s getting his meat from the market today instead of hunting.”

“Okay.  See you around.”  Fen left the house and shut the door behind him.

Okay, where was I?

Keeper readied his pen and began to write.

This tendency humans have, their innate desire to build, to create...  It is a trait many dragons are highly envious of.  To say we have found a surprisingly formidable ally in "humanity" would be an understatement.  If our new bond with their species holds...  In just decades both our societies could see advancements never thought possible before.  With the humans at our side, the future of Pyrrhia looks hopeful indeed.  I am ready to do everything in my power to ensure this bright future comes about.

END OF ARC 2

“Wings of Fire” created by Tui T Sutherland

“Bolt and Keeper” fanfiction concept developed and written by jbhughes54enwiler

“Thanks again for staying with me on this story, and for your lovely comments on the work as I continually improved my writing with the help of several friends on Discord.  I hope you’re all staying safe, happy, and healthy in these dark times.”

--JBHUGHES54ENWILER

Chapter Text

Bonus Content: Keeper and Winter’s “Do’s and Don’ts of Interacting With Humans”

Do's and Don'ts of Interactions with Humans 

Distributed by the Union Society, written by Keeper and Winter with assistance from Bolt and Twig

Greetings, prospective citizen!  We are so thrilled you're open to living in our new town!  Union is a city developed by us, the Union Society, to allow dragons and scavengers, or, as they call themselves, "humans," to live in harmony.

You should have already received your resident guide scroll, which goes over the main rules and regulations.  However, we feel it is necessary to go over the finer details of interacting with our small mammalian brethren.  They are very much like us, but there are also some important differences to note.  We consulted with the human members of the Council to come up with these guidelines.  Here are the "do's" and "don'ts" of interacting with humans!

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Things You Should Do with a Human

1. Use their name- Just like dragons, humans are given names by their parents.  Addressing a human by their name, and not just "scavenger" or "human" will make it easier to establish a bond with them.

2. Keep your distance- Remember, most humans haven't quite gotten over their fear of dragons yet.  It will help keep them calm if you give humans a respectable amount of personal space.  This will also reduce the chance of accidentally stepping on them.

3. Try to understand their fear- Humans in Pyrrhia have been subject to horrific torment by dragons for millennia.  As annoying as it may be that a human doesn't trust you no matter how nicely you treat them, remember that not long ago, the relationship between our species was that of predator and prey.  It will take time for the humans to grow to accept us, and that is perfectly natural.

4. Be friendly!- Just like any social interaction with others of our kind, being affable with humans can go a long way.  It can placate their fear and make them more open to talking with you.

5. Watch your claws- Given the exceedingly delicate nature of human skin compared to dragon scales, please be mindful of where your claws are when dealing with a human.  Even a stray, misplaced movement can cause serious injuries to humans.

6. Try to enjoy their culinary tastes- Humans have a very colorful diet, being that they are omnivorous and also need to "cook" most of their food to be able to eat it safely.  In addition, they also have a unique talent for blending the flavors of different foods together to create new experiences in dining.  There are several establishments humans have erected around Union to showcase their food arts, many of which are open to dragons.  It can really help to establish a relationship with a human to dine with them, and who knows, you might find yourself falling in love with the unique twists humans can put on their meals.

7. Fly with them- One of the best ways to bond with a human is to give them a taste of the sky.  Many humans, interestingly enough, love flying despite being a flightless species, and many of them would be thrilled to be given a ride on a dragon's back through the air.  However, not all humans are into this activity, so make sure they're okay with it before you take off.

8. Try to speak their language- While all the humans living in Union City are given translator bracelets to make them understandable to dragons, it can really make a difference to know how to speak Human.  The human language is a very elegant tongue with nuances that the dragon language doesn't possess.  It will often impress humans when you address them in their own language, which can help you make friends with them.

9. See what they can do with their "hands"- Probably one of the first things you'll notice about a human is what's at the end of their forelimbs.  Their distinctive front paws, or as they call them, "hands," are truly a marvel of natural engineering.  They don't have any claws, instead they have plates made out of the same stuff as claws on the ends of their fingers, which they call "nails." What's amazing about hands is just how versatile they are.  Everything from gripping tools to writing and drawing to crafting an endless slew of objects is possible with them.  Humans have established many shops and galleries where the products of their skills are showcased and often made available for sale.  Some of their trinkets have fetched quite high prices among collectors, so getting your talons on genuine human "handiwork" can be a very smart investment.

10. Learn their body language- Humans, due to their different anatomy from dragons, have a non-verbal language a bit different from ours, while sharing some similarities.  While the finer details of human body language will be available in a separate packet at the Central Hub, some basic things to watch out for are the positions/movements of their hands, their stance, and their facial expressions, which, for a dragon would be more difficult to read at first due to the humans' flat faces.

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Things You Should Not Do with a Human

1. Pick them up- (Without permission) Many humans have had very bad experiences in the past with being held in a dragon's talons.  Additionally, as gentle as you might think you're being, generally a dragon's grip is firm enough to them to cause discomfort or even pain.  Unless a human explicitly states they want to be held, you should avoid grabbing them.  If you must pick up a human, please keep the following rules in mind:
2. Never pick a human up by their fur.  A human's head fur, or "hair" as they call it, is not attached very securely to their heads.  Dangling a human by their hair will cause them intense pain and their hair will very likely be ripped off of them.
3. NEVER dangle a human by their feet. Humans are not designed to exist in an upside-down state.  If they stay flipped on their head for too long, their blood will overflow into their upper body, which can outright kill them for a number of reasons, namely asphyxiation from pressure on the lungs, brain hemorrhages, and heart failure.
4. The safest place to grip a human is their chest.  It's one of the more fortified places on a human, though you should still be extremely cautious about gripping them too tightly, as you can restrict their breathing by constricting them too much.
5. Don't shake them.  This could make them very nauseous, and they would be liable to eject their stomach contents onto your talon as a result.

2. Never, EVER try to remove a human's coverings- They will consider it a grievous violation of their dignity, and they will immediately lash out at you. Whatever they're hiding beneath all that cloth, they very much want to keep it hidden. As curious as you might get, it's not worth it.

3. Never feed a human raw meat- If you are having a human over for a meal, you MUST have their meat cooked.  There are classes available at the Central Hub that can teach a dragon how to properly do this.  The human digestive tract is not capable of handling bloody or raw meat, and eating such food can make them intensely sick.  In any case humans will always reject raw meat on their plate, so if you plan on having them eat your food, please cook it first.

4. Avoid certain language- Some humans will be offended by certain words, one of the most common being the word "scavenger," especially its "cutesy" form, scavvie.  Humans prefer to be called "humans."  Some other words to avoid would be anything that compares humans to food, words that belittle them for their size, or calling a human your "pet."

5. Don't mess with their pets and livestock- Humans are even more inclined than dragons to keep pets such as cats and mice, and will also often keep animals as livestock.  They often form close emotional bonds with their animal friends, and will grieve the loss of a pet as much as they would the loss of a family member.  Under no circumstances should you eat an animal belonging to a human.

6. Don't get a human wet- This isn't something you will usually have to worry about, but we feel it needs to be said due to some recent incidents among our youth regarding the "scavvie-dunking" trend.  Water will not kill a human, with a couple exceptions.  If a human gets wet and cold, it will cause them to rapidly lose body heat and they can quickly die of hypothermia.  This will only usually apply in the Union area during the winter months.  Even if it's not cold, though, most humans will tell you it's a very unpleasant feeling to walk around with soaked clothes on.  And obviously, humans can't breathe underwater.  In fact, most of them can only hold their breath for a measly thirty seconds, so "dunking" them for too long can become serious very quickly.  Don't do it.

7. Don't startle them- Humans, being lower on the food chain than us and technically being evolved as prey animals, have very tight reflexes and therefore are very easy to startle.  This isn't helped by the fact that many humans can become very focused on what they're doing or thinking and can lose track of their surroundings as a result.  A startled human can spontaneously become aggressive or flighty at least for a little while by reflex, and could injure you or more likely themselves by accident.  To avoid this, try to make your presence obvious to them, which will be easy due to a dragon's size compared to a human.  Approach them from the front when possible.  (Humans' eyes have about 210 degrees of horizontal range)

8. Don't eat them, or even threaten to-  This goes without saying, and this was also covered in the resident guidebook, but humans are NOT food, and any case of scavenger consumption will be treated by our Council as an act of murder.  We've worked very hard to get the humans who live here to trust us enough to share their living space with us, and any action that breaks that trust will be taken very seriously.  Do not even joke about doing so, as humans, given their past relationship with our species, are extremely sensitive about such topics; almost all of them have lost loved ones or even almost their own lives to dragons.