The 'Dragon Defender'

A Ship Teaming With Dragons

No sign of any dragons yet. All the usual spots were empty. Perhaps the Morphwings had already been and gone? Maybe my trainees were able to free other dragons and now the hunters were retreating?

Still, I suppose we can't have that, can we?

I hear a door open and raise my sword, pausing when, instead of two hunters, two familiar faces wander in.

"So it is you guys," I remark, lowering my sword. "Sorry, you startled me there."

"Indigo?" Asher and Adriana approach me in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"My job," I reply to Asher pointedly. "Is there anyone else here we need to worry about?"

"Plasma's somewhere around here," Adriana answers. "He split off to search more of this place. Did you train him privately or something? He hasn't really come to much of any of the training..."

"I haven't," I shake my head, sighing. "Right, let's grab him and burn this place down. Stay close and keep an eye out."

We head back through the ship, keeping a careful watch for any signs of Plasma. We do run into a couple of hunters on the way, but we're able to handle it pretty efficiently between the three of us, so it's hardly even a distraction.

And just when it feels like there was nowhere left to search, we hear it; the clash of steel against steel. I peek through a keyhole in the door right before us, not wanting to burst in on something dangerous.

Plasma, in human form, against two hunters, all three of them brandishing swords.

Plasma standing between the hunters and a cage, where I can see a few dragons flinching away from the violence.

"Two of them fighting Plasma," I tell Asher and Adriana quietly. "Keep them outnumbered. Ready?"

When I receive two nods, I throw the door open and block an attack aimed at Plasma. Asher and Adriana use the distraction to go after the second hunter.

"In- uh, Dragon Defender?" Plasma gapes, just managing to catch himself in time. "I can't leave you alone for five minutes, can I?" I remark, my tone a little harsher than I intended. I catch myself with this and force myself to relax a little - well, vocally, anyway. You can't really relax when you're in the middle of a fight, funnily enough.

"Didn't know you knew how to fight," I comment instead, kicking the hunter's chest to buy us a moment of time while he stumbles back. "Care to join us, or...?"

"Yeah, sure..." Plasma agrees, getting back into the fight, lunging with his sword as the hunter comes back in for more. The blade pierces the side of his shirt, but doesn't appear to actually harm the hunter, so I come in with my own blade. Another near miss when the hunter backs away again.

"Where'd you learn how to use a sword?" I ask Plasma. "My father taught me," he answers. "Neither of us know too much, but it's enough to defend myself, at least."

"That's what matters," I nod. "You'll have to join the training at some point."

"Maybe," Plasma agrees. "... Look, I'm sorry for, uh, what I last said to you. That was something big to put on you and I should have been more considerate of-"

"We don't need to discuss this," I cut him off, unable to go back into this right now. "Not here, at least."

"Yeah, of course, sorry."

"Thank you."

The hunter comes back for more and aims my way, but Plasma blocks his sword with his own, enabling me to swing lowly, successfully knocking the hunter off his feet, so to say. "Good job," I nod as Plasma does the honours, taking the chance to check over on Asher and Adriana. They're both still on their guy, but wrapping it up nicely, Asher giving Adriana the final blow with a murmur of thanks.

"Don't tell me after all this you don't want to kill," I tease him, to which he shrugs. "What? Just because I'll do it doesn't mean I want to."

"That's what he's got me for!" Adriana smiles in a way much too innocent for what she just did, approaching the caged dragons. "Hey, don't worry, we're getting you guys out of here, okay?"

"Can you boys check for keys?" I request, moving closer to inspect the lock. Hopefully we don't have to brute force it. Just because we have the combined strength of four dragons doesn't mean we want to risk harming the dragons inside the cage.

"Got it!" Plasma announces after a few moments of inspecting the hunter we took out. He comes to my side and unlocks the cage, opening the door for the dragons. "Right, let's get you all out of here. Follow us."

The dragons follow us out of the ship and burst free once we reach the deck, all crying out in relief as they fill the skies once more, splitting off to find their ways home. Among them, Stylive is still hovering, but she comes in to land on the deck once she spots us.

"Ah, you're all here, then," she notes. "Do you guys have a group name or something? I feel like you need a group name at this point."

Asher seems expectedly intrigued by this. "That is an incredible idea. I'm getting on that right away."

"Course you are," I remark, unable to keep the amusement from my voice as I mount Stylive. "Right, I believe we need to finish the job?"

The group nods and morphs, taking to the air along with Stylive. The four of them set the ship alight in a wash of purple and orange flames licking at the wood until it's all reduced to no more than rubble in the sea.

"Does this mean we're all Dragon Defenders now?" Asher asks, making Adriana laugh. "Whatever helps you sleep at night," I shrug, but once again I can't quite keep the amusement out of my tone.

"So where have you been, Indigo?" Asher continues. "Back at the Sanctuary?"

"Yeah," I confirm. "Just taking care of the usual business. Haven't been back in a while. You know how I get."

"Trust me, anyone who's met you a single time knows 'how you get'," Stylive remarks. "You're friendly as ever today," I quip. "We should be heading back, I suppose. You guys know your way back to your island, right?"

"Uh..." Plasma looks around for a moment, noting the position of the sun. "I should have it. We'll have a nice tailwind, too."

"Good," I nod. "If you do need a hand, the Sanctuary is just up this way." I jab my thumb in our direction.

"Not coming back yet?" Adriana asks over Plasma's awe-filled murmur of "The Sanctuary?!"

"Not just yet," I shake my head. Especially not now they've made the day where I wasn't going to think about them into me working with them. "I'll be back soon, though. I just want to get some affairs in order first."

"Okay, well how about we join you?" Asher suggests. "Help you out a bit? Or just bother all your dragon friends, whatever."

I bite my lip, glancing momentarily at Plasma, whose face has lit up at the thought. Being around him isn't exactly high on my to-do list at the moment. But I'd probably let them come otherwise. So if I say no now...

"Don't put her on the spot like that," Adriana scolds Asher. "It's fine if you want to keep the place to yourself, Indigo."

She keeps glancing between me and Plasma. She knows why I left, being the only Morphwing I told about the situation. I'll admit it, I'm kind of surprised that she's not trying to force us together, but I'm certainly grateful for her help.

But maybe... it's best this way? Maybe it's best that I get it over with? And it's not like distracting myself has seemed to work too much anyway; I'm just avoiding the issue now. I'm no closer to an answer.

"... It's fine," I hum. "Follow us."