Chapter Text
"Hazuuuki!" Chup called out from outside the bedroom. "Today's the day! Get up!" With no response, he banged on the door wildly. He pressed his ear to it as he heard a quiet grumbling.
"Chup!" A sharp voice called from down the hall. He turned sheepishly towards Mayonna who was giving him her usual glare.
"Yeah?" He mumbled, pulling a face.
"Don't bother Hazuki!" She held up her wand with a nasty look. As Chup stared back, she raised it above her head, sprinting over.
"Aaaaaa! I was just trying to get him up!" Chup yelled as he stumbled down the hall. Of course, all the commotion had stirred the little cat. Hazuki slid open the door with a sigh but they were both already gone.
"I'm getting up... " He mumbled before heading back inside his room. It took a lot of mental strength not to snuggle up back into bed. But he too knew what day it was. They’d finished their training at Chowlin Temple and today was the day they could meet The Millenial Falgon. It all sounded so daunting, meeting a powerful dragon and becoming a knight, he wasn’t quite sure he was up to it. But the simple minded and fumbling Chup had somehow managed to get through the training so far so that gave him hope that he could do it too. He put on his adventuring gear, his training robes no longer needed, and headed downstairs.
“Hazuki! Good morning!” Mayonna waved from her seat. The other adventurers had set down for breakfast outside the temple.
“I made us all pancakes! They let me use the kitchen!” Bearnaise gave him a wide grin. “You hungry, little buddy?”
“Mm! I am!” He grinned and scampered over. He could smell the sweet sting already, eyes drifting to Mayonna’s plate where she’d drowned a stack in golden syrup.
“They are delicious, I must agree.” Veloute dabbed at his mouth with a handkerchief.
“Y-yeah..?” Hazuki grew flustered almost instantly but quickly tried to hide it. Veloute was the newest member of the adventuring party who too was training to defeat Sultan Vinegar. Little was known about him except the fact he lived in the same village as Chup and Hazuki and they somehow never met until now. But that mystery made him even more alluring. Pale sandy curls and a dark gothic outfit, Hazuki had fallen for him almost instantly. He hurried past him shyly to sit next to Mayonna and await his breakfast.
“Sleep well?” She asked as she hacked at her pancakes with her fork.
“Yeah! I was so tired I slept like a baby!” Hazuki smiled, his tail flicking happily.
“It’s not hard for you to get to sleep though, is it?”
He giggled in agreement, as a cat, he could sleep soundly almost anywhere.
“Here you are, little buddy.” Bearnaise returned with his plate of pancakes. “We’ve got a few condiments just by Chupster.”
“Thank you, they smell lovely.” He could feel his mouth water as the buttery cakes stared back up at him.
“Whaddya want for your sauce?” Chup piped up from the other end of the bench.
“What is there?”
Mayonna grumbled as she was yelled across.
“Golden syrup! Jam! Sugar!”
“I am here you know!” She prodded Chup’s cheek with the blunt end of her fork. Although both were shouting, his voice carried far more than the gentle Hazuki’s.
“S-syrup please..!” Hazuki leant around Mayonna in a whisper.
“Veloute! Teach them some manners!”
He merely chuckled,
“Of course. Chup, you have no idea how to treat a lady.”
Mayonna grinned, pleased to be called a lady, but Chup simply had a dimwitted look on his face.
“Yeah I do! You uh… “ He paused as he tried to think it over. “Get her lots of gifts and don’t talk about her weight.” He was swiftly thwacked by Mayonna for his thoughtless comment. Everyone laughed, agreeing he was a bit clueless.
“Vel! Show us how to treat a lady then!” Bearnaise piped up as he put his cutlery down. “Chup ain’t gonna find out by himself!”
“Oh? Of course.” Veloute smirked and stood, stepping over to Mayonna who looked back curiously. He fell to one knee and took her hand gently.
“Lady Mayonna, you look beautiful this fine morning. What would you like to do today? We can do anything at all.”
Hazuki felt his face blush bright red as those words rang out in his head. His brain scrambled to rearrange the name and pronouns for himself. He stared at Mayonna’s hand with a deep jealousy.
“Hmm, it’s alright I guess.” Mayonna flicked her hair dismissively, breaking Veloute’s gentlemanly demeanour instantly. Bearnaise laughed, Chup joining in despite not quite understanding why.
“Sorry, sorry! Practicing on Mayonna will get you nowhere! She’s not the romantic type!”
“I am!” She snapped, returning her hands to herself.
“Ah, I see, my apologies.” Veloute smiled, albeit a little bashfully. “But that is the kind of gentle approach you need, Chup.”
“Okay!” He grinned absentmindedly. Of course the display hadn’t sunk in and he certainly wouldn’t change his attitude any time soon.
“It seems you’re experienced though, Veloute.” Mayonna crossed her arms with a glint in her eye. “What’s your love life like, hm? I wanna know more about you!”
This time, the blush appeared on his own cheeks. Hazuki’s ears were perked and ready to find out. He was also hoping it wouldn’t be ‘I’m currently taken’.
“Ah, fleeting. Before Vinegar’s attacks, I was training here so I’ve had little time for romance.”
A relief for one of the adventurers.
“Really? You seem like the kind of guy girls would swarm..! The male Melonia!”
“Ah you must’ve had a crush on her at least once, right?” Chup chimed in at the mention of his favourite person. Veloute merely smiled,
“I’m afraid not. I prefer personality over looks.”
“Eh? Whaddya mean?! Melonia has a GREAT personality!”
Everyone else shared a look between each other. He really was two sandwiches short of a picnic.
“Sure.” Mayonna muttered through gritted teeth as she began to collect up their plates.
“Um… do you want me to wash these up?” Hazuki spoke up.
“Eh? No way, dragon knight in training Hazuki should get out there today! Me and Bearny can do these.” Mayonna grinned, “Don’t wait for us!”
“Ah… okay… “ He waved as they headed to the kitchen.
“Yeah! We’re gonna meet this dragon! I’m so excited!” Chup sprung up from his seat, Pigsy making happy oinking sounds as she flew around him. “Last one there is a massive loser!” He called out as he hurried towards the gates. Veloute chuckled and held out one hand.
“Please go ahead, I don’t mind being a ‘massive loser’.”
Hazuki just nodded, too embarrassed to respond. How could he sound so suave and cool even when belittling himself so? He truly was a gentleman.
“What took you so long?!” Chup called out as the two joined him. He was doing stretches as if he’d been waiting hours.
“We didn’t even take a minute.” Veloute smirked as he played along. “Save your energy, Chup, I’m sure we have more trials ahead of us.” He reached into his bag and pulled out the dragon heart. It glimmered in the morning sun, the red gem looked like shimmering blood. “Hazuki, would you like to do the honours?”
“Ah… I’m nervous… “ He looked down at it in his hand. He was all of a sudden feeling anxious about this Falgon person. He felt so small, like a little ant in comparison to him, in comparison to everything.
“Then shall I?”
“Can Pigsy do it?” Chup spoke up, “She did get it back for us!”
“Oh, of course, little lady.” Veloute chuckled as he passed it over. She oinked happily as she held it gently in her mouth. Tossing it into the air, the heart began to glow. Then a brilliant beam of light shot out. Everyone shielded their eyes as a figure formed ahead of them.
“Who has awoken me?” A deep voice spoke. Everyone’s eyes adjusted, in front of them was a tall dragon humanoid. He had pale silver scales with outstreched wings at his back and a long tail. There were spikes and horns atop his head that matched the feel of a legendary dragon and he had rich, royal blue eyes.
“Hey! Us!” Chup stuck his hand in the air, waving sporadically.
“Lord Falgon.” Veloute stepped forwards to give a much more polite introduction. “We are adventurers from Stilton, we are hoping to train under you to defeat Sultan Vinegar who wishes to unleash Smorg Asborg.”
Falgon looked across the three slowly, finally landing on Hazuki and pausing.
“Your names.”
“Veloute.”
“I’m Chup and this is Pigsy! She’s my-“ Veloute held up a hand to stop Chup before he babbled on. Falgon turned to Hazuki again who yelped in panic,
“H-hazuki..!” He bowed quickly, unsure what to do.
“I see. Your intentions seem clear to me. Then I shall help you.”
“Thank you, we need the strength of a dragon knight. You shall set us trials, correct?” Veloute asked, setting them back on track.
“Indeed, to test you are worthy. So all three… uh… four of you..?”
“Three.” He mumbled, a little embarrassed. “Pigsy is Chup’s… support pig.”
“Oh I don’t go anywhere without her!”
“Right… “ Falgon was seemingly getting the gist of Chup’s intelligence already. “I shall wait outside the temple. I wish to speak to each of you in private.”
“Oooh!” Chup grinned at his friends. “Can I go first?!”
Falgon glanced over at Veloute, silently pleading for him to disagree.
“Please go ahead. We shall wait here.” Veloute smiled, looking to Hazuki for approval.
“Yeah, I don’t mind.”
“Right… “ Falgon mumbled as he headed to the gates, Chup in a cheery tow.
“He’s cool..!” Hazuki whispered as they were out of earshot.
“Indeed!” Veloute smiled down at him. “I trust his training shall be good too. I wonder what we must do, and what he wishes to speak to us about.”
“Maybe an intelligence check.” Hazuki giggled as he prodded his fingers together. “Though I suppose a knight needs strength more than their brains.”
“It seems Chup is a proficient fighter, I don’t think Lord Falgon would deny his title.” Veloute quickly cottoned on to who he was talking about.
“Mmm… well we’ll see how tough it is…”
“Say, Hazuki. May I ask something that concerns Mayonna?”
“Hm?” Hazuki cocked his head to one side curiously. “Has she been mean to you? I’ll tell her to tune it down a bit if you need, she can be pretty blunt.”
“No, no..!” Veloute chuckled. “Well, she seemed very uninterested in my display earlier… I thought it was good… “ His smile turned to a concerned frown. It seemed like he was a little upset it hadn’t made an impression.
“I-I thought it was really good!” Hazuki blurted out, quick to try and cheer him up. “Ah well… no man’s kindness can really sway Mayonna that way… if you know what I mean.”
“I’m afraid I do not.”
Hazuki pouted. As much as he adored Veloute, he did not adore his cluelessness.
“She’s into ladies… “
“Ah..! My apologies!” Veloute tapped his lips in thought. “Oh but it makes sense now..! I see!”
Hazuki smiled, pleased he took it well.
“It must be pretty tough having men as your travel companions..! Some are oblivious to women’s likes and feelings.”
Hazuki sighed quietly, if only he knew.
“Do you think you get what people are feeling? I struggle with that sometimes.” He kicked at the ground idly.
“Hm..? Well it is impossible to know for a fact… “
“D-do you think you know what everyone here thinks of you?” Hazuki butted in. His words had rather tumbled out of his mouth but it seemed like too good of an oppurtunity to pass.
“Oh? I’ll give it a try!” Veloute smirked at the challenge. “Chup is hard to read if it’s not about Melonia… I think he likes me. Mayonna is a tough nut for sure but I feel a sense of respect. The same for Bearnaise but he seems to be friendly with everyone. And you… “
Hazuki felt his chest tighten as the moment came. “Well I just don’t know!” He smiled like he was teasing him.
“H-hey! I wanna know..!”
“Oh, was this all a ploy? How sneaky, Hazuki! I thought you were more innocent than that..!.
“A-ah..!” He blushed, feeling embarrassed. “I-I am… please don’t think I’m… “ Veloute smiled, patting his shoulder.
“I was just joking. I think you’re a great fighter, Hazuki, and I respect you. I hope you feel the same.”
“Y-yeah… “
Respect... Just that?