Chapter Text
"That's him?" Asked Asra.
"Yeah, he's really helpful, every time I see him, he's always helping someone out and giving advice," Selki replied.
Asra let out a nervous breath, "I hope what you said was true, I don't want to go to Wasteland and get hurt again."
Selki nudged Asra’s shoulder, her smile never wavering, "Oh there's no way you can get hurt, Dan would rather let the krill bite them than have your trust broken."
With that the two got closer to the sky kid, apparently named Dan. Asra thought that’s a very boring name for a krill tamer. But regardless Asra needed a Wasteland guide, and her friend said they knew a guy so here they are. Dan was a bit taller than most sky kids but not too much. They had a short mohawk and wore a mask that was white from their nose to their chin and ears. They must've gotten it from the performance guide. Their cape was a very dazzling pair of blue butterfly wings, and they wore a thin blue shirt with black pants. His get-up made Asra wonder how many seasons the veteran was old. Overall, they looked very friendly and approachable, but Asra was more concerned about their survival skills.
"HEY DAN!" Selki called out, causing Dan to look at them. His hidden smile reached up to their eyes as they answered back. Asra simply heard a lot of honking since they hadn't lit Dan's candle yet.
The two friends hugged and after Selki introduced Asra she lit their candle and the first thing the sky kid said was "Oh you look amazing!" The unexpected compliment caused a slight blush on Asra. "Oh, um, thank you! You’re really cool too!" She quickly responded.
After a bit of chatting Selki reminded Asra as to why they were here.
"So, Dan, Asra actually needs someone to guide them through Wasteland, she had bad experiences in the past and I lost her trust after getting us both krilled once and you're the best person I know that loves helping people so-" before she could finish Dan interrupted her.
"Oh, heck yeah I got to candle run Wasteland anyway count me in!" Dan smiled warmly to Asra "I'll keep you safe no matter what, but to do that follow my rules; never let go of my hand and always trust my word." Asra nodded, she can do that, although she was uneasy about the trusting part she can keep her hand glued to her new guide. After exchanging candles, she took hold of her new friend’s hand, and they went on towards the darkest realm of the kingdom.
After a while of flying Selki had to leave them. They said their goodbyes to Selki and Asra was left alone with Dan. Her anxiety was a bit high, but he assured her a lot of encouragement during the travel. "Ask me anything you want during the trip, I'm like the thickest book on the shelf," he chuckled, and Asra took him by his word. Throughout their flight, she got to hear a bit about his adventures, but it seemed his favorite topic was his mission to befriend all the krills. He dragged on about the krills' personalities, how he plays with them, and...feeds…them? Asra immediately asked what he meant by that. She remembered hearing about there being veterans who throw people into krills to get them hit on purpose and her anxiety about this trip grew exponentially.
Dan must have noticed her unease as he quickly responded, "Oh no, no, no don’t worry, I don't feed them with other people just my own light,” his tone was determined as he went on to add, ”But if someone is creepy to my friends I don't mind throwing them to the graveyard, just saying," He said with a smirk on his face. Yeah, that didn't make Asra feel any better.
As they approached the first gates, Asra had the pleasure of seeing her guide in action, at their first krill. Most people she knew quickly flew to the pillars to gain a good hiding spot as the krill passed the area in circles, but as these two entered, Dan began to wave into the distance.
"Bob! Hi buddy, nice to see you!" Dan said. At first, Asra looked around for a sky kid because surely, they must be greeting a friend of theirs, but no, they were looking straight into a krill that was chewing on a poor manta.
As they flew straight through the area and over the krill Dan called out "Make sure to eat the whole thing bud I don't like cleaning up after you!" The creature didn't even look at them. Asra was entirely confused, "How did it not see us!? Or hear us!?" she asked.
"Oh, he heard me alright, but he seems to be in a good mood today, so he isn't picking a fight," Dan said nonchalantly.
"But how do you know that!" Asra asked.
"Easy, body language. I know these krills, especially Bob, even if he saw us, he wouldn't attack unless provoked or hungry, which he clearly wasn't considering he was snacking." He responded. Asra didn’t have the brainpower to get more answers out of him. Even if she asked his responses just cause more questions to pop into her head. She'll ask Selkie if they can explain what she just heard. Everyone knows krills attack anything in sight, and if not, you can safely assume you just got lucky. What Dan just said doesn’t add up to anything all her other guides taught her about surviving in this area.
Their flight continued over the skeletal structures of Wasteland’s graveyard. Giant ribs and bones of unidentified creatures make up perfect hiding spots for people to pass all the eyes of the krill swarm. As the two passed through the terrain, Dan just zoomed right past the blue lights. Even if the krills noticed them, his maneuverings over the hiding spots kept the krills confused about their location, and by the time the krill gave up on finding them they would already be on the other side of the graveyard. Asra was quite relieved and started to feel confident they would pass through without any incidents.
Until a krill saw them midair. No hiding spots anywhere in sight.
The red flashing light of the krill's eye paralyzed her. Oh, stars she can’t do this, she doesn’t want to get hurt again, she should have just skipped this area it wasn’t worth it, oh no, oh no, no, no, no, no-
"ASRA DO YOU TRUST ME!" Dan gripped her hand tighter, helping her stay grounded for a little longer.
The light was blinking faster.
Trying her best not to scream she honked in agreement. He hugged her closely to his chest. His grip is strong and a little bit crushing. And then her world started spinning.
The krill roared.
Asra closed her eyes; she was disoriented from all the spinning. Her limbs shaking and her mind couldn’t form a single thought out of all the fear and adrenaline in her body. She was waiting, expecting the painful hit to happen at any moment…But there was no pain.
She didn’t dare to open her eyes until her feet felt the soft sandy ground beneath her. She looked up, Dan's head was looking up at the krill searching for them up in the air.
Taking a moment to shake her head and reorient herself, she swallowed and tried to talk between her heavy breaths, “What…in elders name…did just happen?”
She felt Dan take a deep breath before answering, “That my friend, was krill dodging.”
He sat her down on the floor, finding a place for himself right next to her, “Most krills here are easy to shake off but Sara is a mean one, she just has a grudge against me I have no idea why. Should’ve been more careful around her sorry about that.”
Bringing her hand up to her head Asra needed a moment to register what she had just heard. She didn’t die, that’s what’s important, they collected what they needed here, and they can move on, no reason to stop now…wait a minute.
“Did you say…krill dodging?” Her brows furrowed; her mouth opened in a confused frown.
He looked at her with a small smile, “Yeah, it’s possible, took me a while to learn it. It’s painful at the start of the training so unless you got a lot of courage and a good pain tolerance, and of course, a lot of winged light to spare,” He reached up to stretch his hands above his head as he continued, “I have to advise you to never try practicing it on your own.” He glanced at her, his smile disappearing, a serious expression taking its place.
"Could you teach me!!" She reached for his shoulder gripping it tightly, “I want to be able to travel here on my own, if I knew how to do this, krill dodge I’d be sure to be safe anywhere I go!” she made sure to get right into Dan's face hoping her excitement ensures a positive answer.
Dan put a hand between them, “Woah ok, maybe, MAYBE, sometime in the future we can give it a try. But not anytime soon, you must train your reflexes and grow more winged light before facing off an actual krill alright.” He tried explaining but based on Asra’s wide smile never wavering he concluded she probably only listened to the `maybe` part. Oh well, that’s a problem for future Dan to deal with.
She leaned back into the sand spreading herself like a starfish. She can't wait to learn this skill, she’ll be the coolest person in her friend group if she can learn how to krill dodge! But, she doesn’t want to sacrifice her winged light. It took so long to gather it, and she can barely fly through wide areas without getting tired. That makes her wonder about how much light Dan sacrificed to learn this.
"How many lights have you lost to the krills?" She sat up looking at him in expectation.
He whistled a low note “Oooh it’s a lot, I get reborn with 10 stars on my back so I can spare to lose a big amount and still have the energy to fly comfortably.” He continued, “Better it be me than some poor moth.”
Asra took a moment before answering, "That is…are you insane?” She stood up, “Every wing is precious and painful to lose and you just- give them up willingly?! That’s-“ She stopped herself mid-rant to turn back to her guide, “Is that the secret to not being scared of krills? being an outright maniac!"
Dan smirked up at her, "Yep, being delusional is actually solutional" he chuckled at his own rhyme. "Anyway, let’s get going, Sara will try sniffing us out soon." He got up and dusted himself off before beginning to walk away. Asra kept ranting at them to stop and listen to her, but after realizing he wasn’t going to stop walking, she took hold of his hand, grumbling at the smile they pointed at her.
And with that, the two went on. Asra got to hear Dan talk more about the area and how the four krill in the graveyard were affectionately named Sara, Clara, Darla, and Marla. He also mentioned how his favorite was Darla. The reason being, as he put it, “She is as smart as a rock but really cuddly once you get to know her,” yeah, Asra was now absolutely sure he was not right in the head.
During their flight through the shipwreck, Dan introduced her to the krill "Jeff" as he explained how that’s the best krill to start learning how to krill dodge with. Jeff is partially blind so it’s not much work to avoid him once he strikes. But Dan noticed that Jeff had been learning how to rely on his other senses and catch people behind his back that didn’t even fly through his blue light. Asra made a mental note to herself to never bother Jeff.
At last, they finally reached the front door of the temple. The moment before Asra went to light the entrance, Dan stopped her hand and asked, "Do you trust me?"
She squinted her eyes at him, "Why do yo-"
"Do you trust me, Asra?" His face got closer to her, his gaze hiding something behind his eyes. Asra didn’t know him well enough to figure out what it was.
"I…guess I do, but what does that have to d-" He stopped her mid-sentence.
"I want you to remember the first rule okay, don't let go of my hand, got it?" His grip tightened and her anxiety was buzzing under her skin.
Why is he being so cautious all of a sudden? She's getting kind of scared. She knows that opening the gate will let the last few krill know that they're here but there's enough time to get in the temple before they attack. This is making her very confused.
"Got it," she properly gripped his hand, prepared for anything.
He lit up the dark stone mechanism, and as the gate began to rise Asra waited for her guide to start rushing in.
The gate was open enough.
But they're still at the podium. She can hear them. She can hear the sand moving as the krills come out to the surface, hunting for the light that’s opening the gates.
Dan turns around, facing the monsters.
"Hi ladies!" he yells, blowing a kiss to the krills, “Nice to see you’re doing well Dal and Tri!” he started slowly walking backward towards the gate, one small step at a time.
"D-Dan?" Asra whispered.
"Oh Jen, you're looking beautiful, our exercise routine is doing wonders on your legs!" He yelled and laughed. Why is he laughing? If what he said is a joke then it's a bad one, they need to LEAVE right NOW.
But just then the first krill saw them, and then the second, and then the third.
Asra didn't have time to try and escape before she felt her body being yanked backward.
The Krills launched one at a time. Yet before she could get hit, the gate closed in front of them.
The first krill makes a quick dodge to the side.
The second flies up.
But the third one didn't seem to react fast enough. And it slams its horns into the gate. Its roar was defending. Asra let go of Dan and covered her ears as she backed away from the gate.
"Calm down Dal you're fine, you're fine sweetie,” he let go of Asra’s hand and walked closer to the krill, “You just got stuck, I'll help you so stop being so dramatic." Dan’s words were stupidly calm in this situation. He took a glance over his shoulder to smile at Asra. "You did great out there, I'm very proud of you, thanks for trusting me. Now just give me a second to help this poor clown out."
He flew up to the krill’s head. It's HEAD, why did Selki recommend her a crazy person, she should've just stayed home and skipped Wasteland.
While contemplating her life choices, Dan grabbed onto the bars next to the krill’s head shaking every which way, trying to get out. "Calm down, shh shh, hey, pss pss pss, look at me."
And looked at him it did, it looked and tried stabbing one of its horns into him. Craving revenge and blood.
"ah, noooo we're not doing that, you'll hurt your neck." Before he could get hurt, Dan grabbed the horn from its side and changed its path of stabbing. Then, with a lot of struggle, he pushed the krill's head out of the gap. Once free from its previous predicament, the krill shook its whole body, covering its surroundings in dust, before quickly flying away from the temple entrance.
"Oh they're going to be mad at me for that later I just know it." Dan joked, and turned around to face Asra, "So how'd you like the trip-"
"WHY DID YOU DO THAT!" Asra screamed at him. She took a handful of his shirt and lowered him down to have him face-to-face. "THAT WAS SO UNNECESSARY WHY PUT ME THROUGH THAT!"
He giggled. "Heheh, sorry but I love scaring new friends with the gate trick, it's a great way to face your fears." He pulled away from her grip and began walking into the temple.
Asra felt so angry right now. He had no right to be that mean. He's not nice at all! Screw it, she's not keeping her feelings bottled up.
"You're mean! Selki was wrong about you! You're mean and rude and insane!" She stomped her way behind him. "And, and you're so stupid! No common sense. And you’re terrible at naming things! Even your name is stupid, Dan, who names themselves Dan! In a world where you can name yourself anything cool and fun or cute you're the only kid with a name THAT boring, how did you even come up with-" she stopped talking as he turned around to face her.
"Hey now slow your mantas, no need to lash out on me I get it," He let out a deep sigh, "I'm sorry, my intention wasn't to scare you that much. I was truly never going to hurt you during this trip. If the gate didn't close in time I was always standing in front of you to take the hits."
"But that's even worse! how can you protect me if you're gray!" Asra interrupted.
"Oh I wouldn't turn gray, I have the elder's blessing of protection." With that said, he pulled out a strange glowing object. After adjusting her eyes to the sudden brightness for a moment, she realized it was the Isle elder's mask made entirely of light.
"What is that?" She asked.
"The Elder's blessing, it takes the form of the elder’s mask whose blessing I got it from. The mask creates a shield so that when darkness attacks me, I will simply lose my energy but my light stays intact. I always take it with me when I'm in Wasteland with my friends." He answered honestly.
So…she was safe the entire time…he really did take precautions to make sure she didn't get hurt. That made Asra pause for a minute.
"And Dan is just a nickname."
Asra had to blink at him a few times before she recognized what he just said. "What?"
"It's a nickname, my full name is Snail Dandelion." He gave her a proud smile, puffing up his chest and moving his arms to rest on his hips. His posture oozed with confidence.
Asra was silent for a moment. Then she bursted out laughing. "Bahaha so you- hahaha that's even worse- hahahaha!"
She giggled and laughed until her cheeks started hurting from all of it. When she looked at his face, she noticed his ears were showing a hint of a golden blush.
"I give you my full name in a show of trust and apology, yet you laugh at it more than any previous joke I made, shame on you!" He said, his tone revealing that he was only teasing her. She gave a few more giggles before taking his hand.
"Okay, heh, I uh, I forgive you, I feel a lot better now," Asra’s words caused his eyes to crinkle upwards from his mask-covered smile.
They reached the Wasteland elder's statue and did the same as the few other people were doing there. Collected the wax and offered the elder their light and prayers before meditating away to return to their home space.
All in all, the trip was very educational, and Asra might consider going with Dan again.
"Same time tomorrow?" He pitched.
"Nope, but maybe next week." She gave him a tight smile and he laughed.
"Okay, okay very understandable," He chuckled, “You still have to meet the other krills, Momo is a very calm one, you might like her since she can be seen well even from afar. Oh!” Suddenly, his eyes shined with what she now came to realize must be mischief or passion, or maybe it was one and the same for him.
“Have you ever been to the Abyss?" Asra shook her head, confused yet intrigued at the promise of a new area. He went on to talk about how fun it’ll be visiting it and the group of spirits that can be found there. It all sounded nice and innocent, but for some reason, asra couldn't help but feel it in her gut that she wouldn't be able to peacefully sleep in the upcoming weeks.