Resistance C45: Mulling over

Resistance
Chapter 45: Mulling Over

It took a while, and I nearly turned the house upside down, only to find that Fenek was nowhere to be seen. I spent the next hour running up and down the block frantically searching, only to come up with nothing. Not even a scale.

In the end, after it started to get dark, it occurred to me that I wasn't quite thinking like a dragon would; more specifically, more like a creature with wings.

After smacking into the wall several times, I finally landed on one of the roofs, trying very hard not to dislodge half the roofing tiles while I was at it. Suffice to say that I was not exactly very successful.

The next few minutes were spent skittering on the rooftops, my instincts trying to make me use my foot-claws to gain a hold on the roofs, the roof tiles were not cooperating. I spent more time putting the tiles back rather than searching for the brown dragon.

it was annoying and slow, to say the least, and if anything, would have given Fenek ample warning to run off to some other spot if I was getting even remotely close...assuming that I was even on his trail at all.

However, when I finally managed not to make a huge mess while moving about, I started wandering about on the rooftops, finally able to make some decent progress.

Unfortunately, the first dragon that I chanced upon was not who I was looking for.

Actually, to say I chanced upon him would be inaccurate. In actual fact, I stomped onto Sythes' tail without realising it until he actually shot to his feet with a growl of pain, then whirled round to glare at me.

However, his expression softened a bit, tampered by understanding when he realised that I was the one apologising.

"What brings you here, brother? I've never seen you around this area before." Came the slightly stunned reply after I shifted my foot off his tail and apologised again.

Shrugging, I gestured in the general direction of the rooftops. "I'm looking for Fenek. He walked off just now and was more than a bit upset."

Sythes blinked. "Is he not always with you? What happened?"

"I pressed him to tell me why he doesn't like Drak'rrth very much...or rather likes him less than the rest of you guys." I replied, while sitting down with Sythes, who had gestured for me to join him.

"I see. It must have been a rather personal incident for him to react in such a way. It would be for the best if you could speak with him." Sythes remarked after a moment that he devoted to pondering.

With a sigh, I shook my head, "If I can find him at all, that is."

"I have not seen him, but I can direct you to his favourite spot. Hopefully he will be there, no?" Sythes added as he got up and pointed at one of the larger chimneys that stuck up from the sea of orange tiles, now turned to a sort of earthly grey-brown colour in the darkness of night. "All of us like some warmth. He is no different."

After several disastrous attempts at getting up, and around fifteen minutes spent putting the tiles back, I thanked the slightly amused Sythes, before heading off.

I walked past several other dragons, whom I greeted as I went past, eventually coming to the chimney. There, I poked my head round to find Fenek sitting at the base, staring out into space.

I sat next to him. "Wanna talk about it?"

Fenek huffed in my face and turned away.

I looked at him for a moment, then got up. "Well, if that's how you feel..."

His head snapped round and in a sudden blur of motion, pulled me back into sitting position. "No, stay."

"Not like I have much of a choice." I replied, while giving a pointed look to my arm which he was still grasping.

"...well, you can leave if you wish..." Came the dejected answer as Fenek let go. He seemed to want to curl into a ball of emotion in his spot.

I ended up draping my arm across his back and moving a bit closer. "I wouldn't be much of a friend if I walked off like that. What's bothering you?"

Fenek gave a long sigh. "It's...hard to speak about it. That mage was the one who dragged my parents away, and forced me to watch as they were killed in the war..."
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Unfamiliar sensations, emotions that were not mine... I found myself in a cave...on all fours, with a pedestal in the middle, which held a large bowl thing, filled to the brim with water.

...I had no idea what was going on...

Another dragon stepped into view; Drak'rrth. He looked to be obviously younger than when I had last seen him... He spoke, and his voice also sounded different...not quite so resonant. "The sentence has been passed and will be carried out. As decreed by the Court, you are to watch."

I found myself moving forward, and with no way of stopping myself. It was becoming increasingly evident that this had nothing to do with me... I noted fear, apprehension, and a sort of cold acceptance. Whoever I was seemed to be holding back a great deal of grief, but chose not to speak of it.... In fact, this person whose perspective I was seeing remained silent.

"Watch, young one, as they carry out the will of the Council, as penance." Drak'rrth continued, and waved a clawed foreleg above the bowl, to reveal a cityscape.

...A cityscape that I would recognise anywhere. Singapore. Even through the burning buildings, the smoke and fires I could make out the distinctive skyline.

The view changed to show the central business district. Two brown dragons stood there, looking petrified as soldiers from the SAF fired upon them from various spots.

There were spots of blood on their scales, and they attempted to lash out at anyone that came close. However, it was obvious that neither of them had any training whatsoever in fighting battles. Their time was limited...

...Still, there was something hauntingly familiar about the skyscraper next to one of them. The one on the other side of the road had already fallen, and laid in a heap of rubble and broken glass.

The view changed again, centring on one of the dragons, the one next to the somewhat intact tower. A matador blast from in front of it caught it off guard, and it skittered to one side, allowing the projectile to fly off into the distance. However, in its haste, its tail slammed into the building, reducing the pillars and supports on the first floor to dust.

Whoever it was that was watching was by now obviously Fenek, albeit a younger version. He was caught up in a flashback...

Fenek wanted to look away, but was forced to watch.

In the background, there was screaming, something that had only been noticed after the damage to the building. As the tower itself toppled, the view changed again to show it crashing down onto the opposite street, onto a group of fleeing civilians.

Of the group, half survived, and the view focused in on the guy who had only just been missed. He wore what was left of an army uniform, and picked himself off the floor, coughing and shaking the dust off.

he paused to look back, muttering something. As he turned, I didn't quite get to see the face; the action had been too quick, but he was wearing an army issued admin T-shirt

The man seemed ready to break down, and Fenek himself seemed to sympathise a bit, but the dragon himself seemed to numb to be able to react.

The man seemed to pull himself together at the last moment, and got to his feet, muttering about not wanting to die too.

I half wondered why they were doing a closeup of a human... but by then, I already knew why.

At that moment, the human turned around and I found myself looking at my own face.


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Before I could do more, I was pulled back to the present.
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[Fenek]
I had not intended to show him the memory, but my control slipped at the wrong moment. He was pulled in together with me.

As it progressed the way it did, the same way I had seen it go on so many times in my mind, Keane seemed to understand a little why I felt the way I did...

However, I scrabbled to bring us out of the memory when I realised what he would see.

However, I was too late. I could only hope that he would not react badly to this.

When I turned to say something to him, he spoke first, his expression neutral. "Why didn't you tell me this?"

Even his voice was devoid of any emotion. He didn't seem to know how to react. I could sense that he was angry, yet he somehow understood why it happened...

I didn't want to face his rage. Not like this, and I didn't want to be rejected again....not after how we had grown to be friends... "I...I didn't know how you would react..."

He sighed and nodded, his expression still blank, while he locked his emotions away. His voice was flat as he replied. "Fair enough. Did you know at that time?"

"That you were my Rider? No, but I was told that you would be an important person in my life later on." I replied, attempting to match his tone...
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[Keane]
Fenek was trying very hard to sound as flat as I did, but was doing a horrible job.

Of all the things that could have happened, it had to be this. His parents had killed my entire family, yet I couldn't blame them either. They were forced onto the battlefield with no training, and it had been an accident.

However, accident or not, there were still deaths.

Emotion is a strange thing. On one hand, I empathised, yet on the other, I still felt a cold anger, and a sort of morbid satisfaction in the knowledge that the killers were now most definitely dead.

I half wanted to give Fenek, who looked really wretched, a hug. The other half wanted to either walk off and have nothing more to do with him, or to actually actively drive him away.

I settled for sighing. "I need time to mull this over. Alone. My apologies for not being of much help."

I suspected that my tone was harsher than I intended, and on top of that, Fenek took it quite harshly and dipped his head, keening softly to himself. I had no idea whether the reaction had anything to do with me, or whether he was caught up in another emotional maelstrom.

I ended up clambering down the side of a random building and wandering around aimlessly till I found myself sitting in the back of one of the trucks in the carpark, after unlatching and pulling the tailboard down.

Of course, I knew that the logical decision was to just let it go. It was not his fault, and on top of everything, he needed support.

Still, my emotions clamoured for my attention, insisting that I oust this dragon from my life, demanding that I make him pay for the murder of my parents, since the actual perpetrators were no longer around...

I ended up sitting there for what must have been hours, staring into space, unable to follow through with logic, yet refusing to go with my emotions, knowing full well that that would put me on the same level as the Council.

After a while, Fenek came over, wings sagging and tail dragging on the ground. He refused to meet my gaze as he knelt in front of me.

If anything, I was surprised. he had turned up out of nowhere, and then just fell to his knees with a 'thump' in front of me. I could only wonder what the blazes he was going to do...

He began speaking, his voice wavering. I could have sworn that he was crying. "I...apologise..."

I made my decision and reached over, grabbing his snout and holding it shut so that he could not continue. I spoke instead. "Don't apologise for something that you didn't do...and it wasn't your fault...or theirs either for that matter."

With that, I let him go and offered him my hand as I leapt off the truck to stand in front of him. "Now get up."

Fenek stared at me in confusion at first, and it took him a while to realise what I was saying. He gave a weak smile as he took my hand, and I pulled him back onto his feet. He thanked me for understanding, and both of us ended up sitting on the truck.

It took a great deal of poking and prodding, but Fenek eventually told me what had happened. Drak'rrth had pushed for his parents to be sent to the front, and given the great influence that the mage wielded, the verdict was passed. I suspected politics at work, but it was hard to say, since Fenek was too young at that time to notice these things.

In the end, Fenek had been forced to watch as a 'lesson'. His parents were killed by a suicide attack by what remained of an armour battalion. At the time he grieved for his parents, I had done so for mine.