Serendipity (Veldora x TBATE)

08 | Post-Play

"You see, sometimes friends have to go away, but a part of them stays behind with you."

—Ash Ketchum

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Weeks melted into one another like ice under a summer sun. For a dragon such as myself, this passage of time was barely a flutter of eyelashes. But for my... traveling companions (I hesitate to use a more familiar term), these weeks seemed to hold great meaning.

We traversed the Beast Glades, going deeper and deeper with each passing day and facing mana beasts that would have sent novice adventurers scrambling for their mothers. A pack of fiery wolves here, a nest of venomous drakes there—child's play, really.

I found it all rather mundane, truth be told. Just a little snort was often enough to send the beasts fleeing or, more frequently, to their doom. Yet the Twin Horns derived an almost obscene amount of satisfaction from our little adventures.

I watched it all, quite amused but unmistakably conflicted—disdained, even. Their jubilation over such trifling victories, their reliance on each other—it was all so utterly human... very mortal. And yet, I couldn't deny a certain fascination with their dynamics.

One evening, as we huddled around the campfire after a particularly grueling day (for them, not for me, obviously), I found myself the subject of the Twin Horn's unwanted scrutiny. Angela turned to me with a quizzical expression.

"Veldora," she began with a careful tone, "we've been traveling together for weeks now, but I feel like we barely know you. You're always so... distant. Aloof, even."

Oh? It's been weeks already? I raised an eyebrow as I smirked dismissively. "And why should that matter? Our association is temporary at best, a mere blip."

Adam frowned, setting down the piece of wood he'd been whittling—a crude attempt at a bear, I believed. He spoke like he's been wanting to say the words for a while, like he's been keeping these feelings bottled up for a long time.

"That's a rather cold way of looking at things, friend. We've fought side by side, shared meals and stories. Hells, you saved Durden's life last week when that chimera nearly took his head off. Does that truly mean nothing to you?"

"Friend?" I scoffed at the bitter word. "You people and your petty attachments. Friends are merely tools, temporary amusements to pass the time."

The silence that followed was so complete I could hear the blood rushing through their veins. Even the fire seemed muted, as if the flames themselves were holding their breath. I could tell they were offended, but it was honestly how it was to me.

Jasmine was the first to break the oppressive quiet, her normally impassive face clouded with emotion. "Is that all we are to you? Some kind of... of entertainment?"

I shrugged, feigning indifference even as a strange discomfort settled in my chest. "What else would you be? Your lives are but fleeting moments, and I dare you to tell me otherwise."

Durden stood up abruptly, his hands clenched into fists. "I've had just about enough of your high-and-mighty attitude, Veldora. If that's how you feel, why bother traveling with us at all? Why not just go off and be superior all on your own?"

A part of me—the part that terrorized my world for eons—wanted to laugh in their faces, to remind them of their place. They're speaking to me, the Storm Dragon, goddamn it. But another part, a part I scarcely recognized, felt... uncomfortable.