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4C was gone. That was what had been repeating in Nom’s head like a morbid mantra for the past week or so. It was going through his head when he was searching the beach practically day and night, going through his head in the few bouts of restless sleep he managed to force.
He knew he was gone. Or at least, not anywhere near here. He still felt sick thinking about it. 4C couldn't be gone. The slime was so stubborn, always there. Despite only occupying his life for a year, it felt like he had been a missing puzzle piece, or someone he never knew he needed.
Yet the universe decided he was gone. Just poofed, vanished, faded out of existence. At the start, Nom had assumed he was having one of those weeks. 4C had a habit of getting overwhelmed or confused by the current events and just withdrawing from society for a few days.
But then a few days turned into a week, then a week into 2, then 2 into 4. A month, basically. His brother had been missing for a month.
Missing wasn't the right word though. There were two options to where 4C was. When Mae had tried to jail him, he didn't show up, which meant there were two options. Either a) he had been removed from the kingdom’s data for.. whatever reason, or b). He was dead.
But he couldn’t be. Nom kept telling himself that. 4C could not be dead. He was too stubborn, too nice, to be dead. His brother can't be dead. Maybe he could though. Maybe 4C was dead and he was too blind to see it.
The dragon spent most of his days wandering the beach trying to find the slime. Maybe god took him and landed him on the beach again, maybe he was simply lost. Maybe, maybe, maybe. He just wanted his brother to be ok.
~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~
Mae sighed as she tapped her fingers on the meeting desk. Despite this being a room to talk, to converse with the kingdom members, she was alone. It was just her and her thoughts, the endless possibilities of what could and what can.
She was waiting for Nom. No one had seen the dragon in person for practically two weeks, and as much as she wanted to let him search, there were matters that needed to be attended to. And she needed ideas, opinions, thoughts. Plus, she needed to fill him in on.. the thing.
They leaned back on their chair, putting their feet on the table. Yes it was considered inappropriate. No they did not care. There was so much that was happening, so much that wasn't happening, that they did not give a second damn about proper table manners. Plus, they were in this room alone. Who was gonna judge them, the chandelier?
“Hello??” A voice called suddenly though the halls, jolting Mae out of their dreams. “Is anyone here or..?”
“In here!” They called, not bothering to change their position. Nom would encourage the action, even.
The dragon walked into the meeting room, raising an eyebrow at her.
“…it's just you.”
“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”
“Well, no, I was just expecting everyone for how urgent your letter seemed.”
“Well everyone already knows what I’m about to tell you.”
“Well, what is it?” The knight sighed, tapping his foot impatiently and leaning against the wall. As annoyed as she was with his behaviour, he couldn't fault him. Most of Blue was on edge after 4Cs sudden disappearance.
“Do you know what a cryptid is?” The monarch asked. Nom paused, looking at them confused.
“Like.. bigfoot?”
“Kinda. Well, we might or might not have one in the forest. No, it's not one of the mages. Yes, it's also tormenting red. No it hasn't hurt anyone, including your sister. Yes, I just predicted all of your questions.”
“How did you- nevermind. What in hell do you mean there is a cryptid? Is bigfoot paying a visit?!”
“Uh, well! We haven’t properly seen it. We’re pretty sure its a fish though.”
“A fish.”
“With claws.”
“With claws. A fish with claws.”
“Dont be like that!” Mae sighed, exasperated.
“But you said it was in the forest..?”
“Just- dont be like that, okay?! We don't know! It's just there, and it hasn't spoken yet, but its being creepy and watching us and I don't know what the hell im supposed to do because the only person i considered trustworthy and a friend is probably dead but everyone is expecting me to be a-oh-kay with that and I feel like i am going to explode-“
“Woah, woah, breathe for a second Mae!”
“But-“
“Dont ‘but’ me, you need to take a breath and think.”
“Well, nuh uh!”
“Frick you mean nuh uh?!”
“I-“
They paused, swallowing. “..I do not know..”
They tucked their legs to their chest and hid their face, averting Noms stare. Sighing, Mae sat there as the dragon walked over and sat next to her.
“Too much is happening.” They muttered. Nom huffed, shuffling his wings awkwardly.
“I’m.. not exactly sure how to comfort you, but we’ll figure it out!”
~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~
2 months. Nom’s brother had been missing for 2 months. By then, Mae's reign was over and Scott’s had begun. So much had happened, and his brother seemingly wasn't coming back. The last threads of hope the dragon had been clinging onto like a lifeline fell short.
Not only was he starting to need to cope with his brothers supposed passing, the cryptid that Mae had called Nom back for finally made a move. Unfortunately for the dragon, he was the person it decided to make a move on. And not in the romantic sense.
He had been walking through the forest, heading towards the beach to once again look for the slime. Nom knows it’s unhealthy, that he should let go of his brother, but he couldn't. No matter what they said, no matter what proof was against his delusions, he wasn't going to believe 4C was dead until he saw his body himself.
It was late at night. Yes, it was a pretty dumb decision. Walking in near-dark while knowing full well there was an evil creature was not the smartest thing Nom had ever done. Then again, he wasn't doing the best mentally in the first place. So he went into the forest, trying to ignore the looming sense of finality.
Nom paused as he heard a small snap of a twig behind him. He turned around, trying to make out any shapes within the darkness. He didn't see anything.
“Hello?” He said anyway, not trusting his vision. Luckily he did so, because someone answered back.
Hi!
“Wha- hello?! Why are you here? Are you the cryptid?”
Maaaybe. The voice said. It sounded young, somehow, maybe naive. The voice sounded familiar and foreign at the same time, but sounded monotone and staticy as well.
“Can you tell me your name?”
Nope. I dunno what it is.
“You.. don't know what your name is?”
I just said that, stop with the questions.
“O- ok..”
Why are you here?
“I was just heading down towards the beach.” Nom said, cautious. He felt like he was being interrogated.
Hm.. whatcha going to the beach for?
“Just.. just to look at the water?”
..at night?
“Look, for someone who didn't want to be questioned, you're asking an awful lot of them.”
The cryptid paused. Nom could feel its eyes on his neck, and he turned around, trying to see what it looked like. That was his mistake. Instead of seeing a figure, or a person like he expected, he was met with claws swiping at his eye.
He yelled curses, before grabbing his sword and swinging wildly, half-blind. He heard a hiss of pain and grinned with satisfaction, before sprinting in the general direction he remembered the castle being in.
Nom didn't hear footsteps following him, at least. It meant the cryptid didn't follow him. He stumbled into the blacksmith, slamming the door behind him and gasping for breath. His right eye was burning, and he couldn't properly see out of it. The dragon fumbled for his communicator, opening up his conversation with Scott.
-
You whisper to Smajor1995: hlep
You whisper to Smajor1995: thisgn hurt
You whisper to Smajor1995: eye
Smajor1995 whispers to you: ?
Smajor1995 whispers to you: Nom??? Are you ok?
You whisper to Smajor1995: help
Smajor1995 whispers to you: Where are you?
You whisper to Smajor1995: blasvchamith
-
Nom sat on the floor, delirious with blood loss and pain as he heard the door open. He heard a small gasp as Scott walked up to him.
“Nom?! The heck happened??”
“Thing..” he muttered. “Cry- crypt thingy..”
“The cryptid?”
“Yea..” he mumbled. The dragon stared blankly at the wall as the half-elf treated the scratch. He covered his mouth with his hand as he choked on a sob, trying not to move his head too much to avoid making Scott's life harder.
“Wanna talk about it?” The mage asked, wrapped the wound in bandages. Nom made a strangled noise that he was sure humans couldnt make.
“Kinda.. it was just asking m’ questions then i turned around ‘n it scratched me.. I hit it with my sword tho..”
“Well,” Scott said, sighing. “That's good, at least. Both you fighting back and your cut.”
“Oh..!”
“You can go to bed now, but do you mind if I stay here? Mainly to watch over you.”
“Mhm..” Nom mumbled, feeling like he was going to pass out after the adrenaline ran out. He tentatively touched his eye - or what was left of it. He only felt soft bandages underneath his fingers.
The half-elf helped him up and onto his bed, where the dragon all but collapsed onto it. Closing his eyes - eye? He wasn't sure now - he fell into a dreamless sleep.
~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~
Nom’s attack was, unfortunately, not an outlier. The cryptid had gone from a silent thing that they weren't sure was real to a snarky figure in the shadows with claws sharper than a sword. Mae wasn't sure which version she preferred. She wasn't sure if she was supposed to prefer any version.
Thankfully no one had gotten quite as injured as the dragon. Everyone else who got attacked managed to get out with a small scratch or two on their arms. The marks themselves were odd, almost curved like a crescent moon. Mae didn't know what creature had claws that made those marks. They thought they were kind of pretty, though. Morbid, but pretty.
The mages unfortunately couldn't heal Noms eye fully, leaving the dragon half blind. Mae had taken it upon herself to help him, no matter how many times he insisted he was fine. She saw him staring at things with a blank expression, how he always tried to put people on his left side instead of right.
The rogue, in all honesty, was tired. Tired of being at war, tired of pretending to hate red, tired of trying to figure out the cryptid, tired of being away from 4C. Gods, they missed him so much. They didn't know where he went, how he died, if he even died. Unfortunately, it seems like the only possible solution. They did not remove him from the kingdom, after all.
She walked down the beach, sun just getting near to setting. If she looked hard enough, she could see a few stars twinkling in the sky like dew on a spiderweb. She took to conversing with a random bird which had decided to follow her. Almost looked like one of the crows Nom cared for. Odd.
“I just do not know anymore!” They yelled, exasperated while walking along the shoreline. “Everything seems to have gone to hell! We do not even know what the cryptid looks like, and it keeps attacking us for seemingly no reason.
Maybe there is a pattern? Who has it attacked.. Nom, Shan, Katie, Cherri… what do they have in common?”
The bird cawed at her, pecking at her hair.
“Wow, gee, helpful. Go annoy your dad or something.”
The bird instead hopped onto their shoulder, and they sighed, the crunch of seashells under their feet giving them something to focus on.
“This is all so confusing. I do not even know where 4C went! It's like he just…”
Mae paused as she felt a small shift under her foot. She spun on her heel, looking in the sand to see what she stepped on. The bird hopped off of her shoulder and started pecking in the sand. The rogue eventually grabbed a piece of dark blue material, and her stomach dropped as she saw the familiar goggles her friend wore, now cracked and waterlogged.
“..disappeared.”
~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~
Nom had lost track of the time his brother had been missing. He had stopped after the number had gotten higher and higher, leading him to feel sick with guilt. It wasn't even his fault. He hoped. But he didn't know where 4C was, still refusing to believe he was dead.
The dragon sighed, running a hand through his hair as the salty wind ruffled it. He was on the beach. After Mae had come back sprinting with one of his birds in tow and carrying 4Cs now broken goggles, he decided to do a bit more searching, on the off chance anything else had washed up.
Nom was starting to believe the possibility his brother was dead. No matter how many times Nom or Mae or Katie had gone to the beach with the slime, he always stayed on the sand. He remembered asking the rogue about that, who sheepishly replied that he never learnt to swim.
If he never learnt to swim, and his goggles had washed up after months…
You can see where he was going with this.
The waves lapped at his ankles, but he didn't bother moving out of the way. He probably looked insane, just staring blankly at the dark waves. He felt insane. The dragon tentatively touched what was left of his right eye again, rubbing his thumb over the jagged marks the thing had left him with. It was starting to become a coping mechanism, just to remind himself that it was all real.
The sun was practically set, stars twinkling brightly in the sky. They sent a twinge of annoyance through Nom - how come they could be peaceful while everyone else must suffer? He huffed, mindlessly watching the water rise up the shore slowly.
You weren’t kidding about watching the water at night, huh?
The dragon froze as he heard the now-familiar voice of the cryptid. He turned around, trying to see where it could be hiding, yet all he was met with was empty air.
“The heck..?” He muttered. He heard it laugh slightly.
You can't find me.
“I can and I will,” He snapped back in response, straining his eye to see through the darkness.
Not looking over there you wont.
“What? What does that mean?”
Get in the water and find out.
Nom wanted to scoff. How stupid did it think he was? He wasn't going to get into the water when the cryptid was part fish.
“Yeah, no.”
But you could try! The creature pressed, tone taking on a slightly darker tone. Just get in!
“Why should I?”
Well, you’re clearly trying to look for me. I’m just directing you in the right direction.
“I- shut up.” The creature annoyingly had a good point. “Im not getting in the water.”
Really? You seem to already be.
“Wha- what?!”
The dragon hadn't noticed how high the tide was getting. The water now reached just below his knee. Nom trembled slightly.
What's a little deeper into the ocean?
“No.”
Just get in.
“I said no.”
That wasn't a question.
“What-?!” He gasped, but before he could get any words out, he was shoved down underneath the water. He choked slightly as he accidentally inhaled the salty water, trying to break free from its grip.
Was that so hard? The creature drawled. The dragon struggled beneath the waves, vision blurred by lack of oxygen and the water. No. No no no no. He couldn't go like this! Please, lord, whatever god was out there, get him out.
Nom saw a flash of a familiar blue face smirking above him in the water, before everything disappeared.