When I realized I was awake and not in my cot, I took a good look around my cell. It was large, and made of wooden reeds and vines strapped together. In my daze, I worried for a second that I was hallucinating and that I had in-fact been captured and thrown in a Japanese prison. That is, until two dragons materialized out of thin air.
He's awake. We should go tell Glory. "Go tell Glory."
The other dragon flew off.
I shook my head, making sure I was conscious. That was a fricken dragon that just appeared out of nowhere!
What's wrong with him? Is there a fly or something?
No, that was not an echo. What did Moon say? That I was... a mind-reader? Is that what this is? I can hear other people's thoughts, these dragon's thoughts?
Then my training kicked in. Walking up to the edge of the cell, looking up at my captor.
"Name: Marvin Jerez. Rank: First Lieutenant. Service number: nineteen, nine, twenty-five, seven seven seven. Date of birth. March 9th, 1919."
Great. Now he's talking gibberish. "Be quiet will you. I'm missing suntime for this."
I flinched under his tone. "Suntime? What's suntime?"
Suddenly, he looked up from his laying position. "How in Pyrrhia am I even talking to you right now?"
"Maybe we share common language roots." I don't know, it was my best guess. But really, I was just trying to keep him talking.
He seemed to consider thinking it over, but he trashed the prospect of theory frightfully quickly.
"It doesn't matter. You need to stay quiet." He lay back down.
This dragon's attitude scared me a little. He wasn't curious, he didn't even fathom the prospect of thinking. He had no greater goal in mind, other than following orders and wondering what his next meal will be. I shivered at the thought of being held captive by this specific dragon. He was a good prison guard, but not a conversationalist. The prospect of gaining information that I could use to help myself survive in this world went out the window as fast as my proposed theory. So I headed back to the corner, sitting down in a position to rest my back. Even while laying down, he kept one orange eye on me.
Hell, look at me all you want, I ain't going no place. I wanted to say that to him, but I could only degrade my neutral relationship with him. Rather keep my mouth shut than make an unnecessary enemy.
Suddenly, I felt an awkward feeling in my stomach. It radiated up to my upper abdomen before a low rumble escaped me. I missed breakfast, it was probably midday by now. I hadn't eaten in a while.
"Sorry to bother you, but when will it be mealtime?" I asked in the most neutral voice I could muster. Though I could not keep a few drops of venom from getting through my hungry mouth.
The dragon just looked up, then looked off to a shelf on my left. He walked over to it, picking up something. He lifted up a small door in the cage, then slid the fruit in.
"There. Go nuts."
I walked up to investigate it. It was a mango, but it was bigger than any mango I've ever seen, about the size of a watermelon. I looked around for anything I could use. Tools, cutlery, a sharp-ish edge, but there was nothing I could use. All I had... was my crucifix.
I had an idea. I picked up the large fruit, positioning the long end of my metal cross in a small divot in the wood floor. I dropped the mango on it with a hollow thunk. I did it four more times, carving small holes in a line around its circumference. Then, I positioned the leaking and bruised fruit along one of the more narrow and sharp wooden poles. I lined up my combat boot to kick it like a soccer ball, lodging the mango into the pole. I carefully kept kicking, being sure to avoid it fully splitting and losing my prize. Eventually, I got leverage enough for me to pry it apart by hand. Finally able to taste the literal fruits of my labor. It was opened, but with half the inside turned to mush. The sweet, pungent, smell of mango filled the area, in contrast with the slightly uncomfortably hot and humid weather of the jungle. I grabbed a small amount of the mango mush, slipping the dripping mass into my mouth. The sweet, sugary flavor contrasted sharply with the saltiness of my fingers. An interesting but acquired taste.
I would actually be pretty fine if all they gave me was this.
As I was about to get another handful, I heard wingbeats. The leaves and vines swayed in the wind, but there was nowhere for the wind to get through. Suddenly, a dragon materialized in front of me, dressed in dark emerald-green and orange. I set down my snack, meeting her at the edge of my cage. When she spoke, she had an accent different from the other two dragons.
"So this is our captive? A scavenger? Please don't tell me you wasted a blow dart on a scavenger." The dragon groaned.
"Hey, we were following unknown visitor procedure."
"Yeah, I must admit, that was a pretty decent idea. If you guys engaged me normally, I might've opened fire myself." I tried to disarm the situation.
The smaller dragon seemed to freeze, staring at me. It looked over to my warden, then back at me.
"He talks?" I didn't know scavengers could talk.
"And could someone please fill me in on this 'scavenger' term?" I said half-heartedly jokingly to again defuse the situation, but also half serious.
"Hey! Be respectful to Queen Glory!" My warden whipped his tail around and rattled the cage, making a resounding thud and what sounded like a rattlesnake. I promptly backed away and shut up.
"Three moons, Heliconia. Don't treat our one talking scavenger like that."
But then I blinked rapidly, realizing what my warden just said. "Wait a minute, you're Queen Glory?"
She shook her wings before splaying them before me.
"The one and only."
"Okay." I nodded, looking down. "I figure I might share some intel then..."
So, apparently, these "RainWings" can change their colors at will, and have some sort of powerful, spitting, ranged attack. But they want peace and prosperity all the same as we do. I told her about Moon, and she said she knew her and had built up a good rapport. I told her a paraphrased version of what she told me, including that she's out looking for me. I must admit, she acted more like a close friend than a queen of a state when she asked me questions about my chasers.
"How is Kinkajou?" Glory asked.
"Kinka-who now?"
The small RainWing. Moon's friend.
The ruff behind her neck seemed to be unfolded somewhat, and I saw spirts of light blue cover her wings. Whoever Kinkajou was, she seemed to care for him.
Then I realized something. Small RainWing, where have I seen these dragons before? ... At the beach! The one who was bright pink and gold!
"Actually, does this... Kink-a-jou keep herself like a bright pink and gold?"
She seemed to be filled with hope at my description. "Yes! How is she?"
"Psh. Just fine." I motioned. "They were hanging out with Moon and some other dragons near the crash site." Oh shit! The crash site! She was a friendly dragon, but also brightly colored. I hope my men don't engage her. Actually, I don't quite know what they might do.
Her face shifted. Is there something wrong?
I looked around. "I need to get to a radio. I need to tell my guys."
"Why? Is something wrong?" Glory sat up, concerned.
"You know how I said they were hanging out by the crash site? Well, there are about a dozen other scared soldiers with guns that could probably kill a dragon."
I inhaled in a shaky breath. I started pacing, trying to come to a good conclusion for this situation.
A letter might work, but they won't know my authorization signature. Maybe if I said some personal detail? No, they don't know me enough for one. Maybe a series of questions I would know the answer to? That would take time, time could get someone killed.
Suddenly, a dark dragon walked in on us.
"Your majesty. A SeaWing, SandWing, and another RainWing are requesting an audience with you."
Glory turned around back towards me.
"They're probably here for me, I'm guessing."
She seemed to hesitate, before darting off down a bridge. Only when I saw the door slam shut, did I realize how high I was up. Like, I could only see the middle canopy of trees high. If from what I saw, this village was stringed together with leaves and vines. I prayed a moment for our safety.
Lord, please don't let any of these buildings fail. Don't let these dragons get hurt. I pray that I can get out of this one alive.
I waited in silence for quite a while. I heard dragons flying around me, it sounded pretty chaotic for a moment there. The one beam of sun that poked through, had passed over its zenith, slowly angling downward toward my end of the cell. If I had to guess, I've been here most of the day. But thankfully, that mango was really filling, and I wasn't feeling too hungry. The draft though, made me shiver like a wet dog. But then again, I've had to deal with wind chill, and it wasn't fun. No worse than Bastogne though.
Eventually, I heard wingbeats again, coming closer, more of them this time. I counted five dragons landing, walking up to my cell.
"This is him?" The seafoam green, aquatic-looking dragon asked.
"It looks like him." The tan, sand-colored dragon, the one I recognized from the crash site, stated.
"He looks so cute!" The pink and yellow-colored RainWing, now Kinkajou, said happily.
While I wasn't fond of being called cute, I let it slide, I wasn't about to risk ticking off a dragon. Even if Kinkajou looked like she was the most obvious object in the world.
"So, Moon asked for him?" Glory asked, coming up, behind them.
"Yeah, she asked us to go get him for her," Kinkajou told her.
"Okay. Very well. Have his things fetched!"
Glory turned towards my warden, now named Heliconia. He grumbled, going back to his shelf. He picked up something, and carried it back over in hand, awkwardly walking on three legs. Unlocking the door, he set the leafy bag before me. I went up and opened it. There was my MKB, duty belt, and everything else I managed to bring with me. I threw the sling around me, charging my rifle to put it on safe. After making sure I would not have an accidental discharge, I slung my rifle and looked at the group.
I recognized Kinkajou. But there was also that sandy-colored dragon I saw on the beach. There was also a deeply colored, sea-green dragon, who gave the impression he belonged in Atlantis or something. Between Queen Glory and the visiting dragons, there was another dragon who looked similar to Moonwatcher, but lacked the white scale by her eyes. It was jet black, with speckled star wings, like Moon's. One thing I realized is that he always kept one eye on me, like he knew I was dangerous. A prideful feeling really, if it weren't for the fact there were six dragons, and I only had one magazine. I don't think my rounds would even make a dent in their armor. The three visiting dragons seemed to call themselves into a group huddle, discussing a plan. A plan I couldn't decipher. So I walked up to Heliconia and the black dragon.
"Thank you for your hospitality."
I gave him a salute. The black one seemed startled at my sudden and sharp movement, I let my hand rest easy so as to not spook him further.
"But how would we get him back?"
"We could put him in that bag and carry him"
My eyes went wide when I finally overheard enough to realize they were talking about me. "Oh God! Don't do that! Heaven forbid. I've already fallen from the sky once this week, don't make me do it again."
They all turned to me.
"How else would you suggest we get you down then?" The sand-colored one inquired.
I thought for a second, then quickly swatted that idea away. But as I looked closer at my resources, there were only two options: either I ride in that bag, much to my discomfort. Or...
"I could hang onto one of you guys."
They all took a step back in shock.
"W-wha?" The green one began.
"I could carry him!" The young-looking RainWing optimistically suggested.
"Eh. Maybe." I shrugged.
She was larger than me, and her wingspan was definitely enough to carry me and her weight without much problem. Although I would prefer to be in a bird, and not hanging on for dear life.
"You don't have much of a choice." The sand-colored dragon bluntly stated.
I sighed. "Well, you got me there."
Kinkajou bounded up to me, grasping me in her claws. I tried my best to not go into a panic attack as she set me on her back.
"Hold tight. She has a habit of twisting and turning sharply." The green dragon said.
Great. I grumbled mentally. I tried wrapping my arms around her neck, but it was too large for me to interlace my fingers. I settled moving up further than I was comfortable with to grab hold of her horns. And with not a moment's preperation, we swooped up into the air. I was nearly thrown off in the ascent, she was way more powerful than I expected. The other dragons were similar. The wind chill and little protection made me freezing cold rather quickly. I shivered involuntarily. I guess that bothered Kinkajou because she tried to turn her neck, nearly throwing me off again.
"Are you okay?"
"Y-y-yeah. I'm just... c-c-cold."
"Well hang on. We're not that far away." The sand-colored dragon said.
I got a chance to look down. We were high enough that the trees blended together, and a small cloud layer colored the world in a slight shade of baby blue. I never really got a chance to see anything from this high. When we drop, we aren't much higher than 600 feet, but my lowest was at 423 feet. Gave me one hell of a sprained foot afterward, but I survived. We were way higher than 500 feet. I clung tightly to the slippery horns of the dragon, hating myself for thinking what would happen should I fall.
"Hey-um... I n-never got your guy's n-n-names." Trying to keep my mind off.
"Well, my name's Kinkajou. I'm a RainWing if you didn't know, and it's very nice to meet you."
Suddenly, we were nudged by the sea-green dragon.
"Don't mind her. I'm Turtle."
"And I'm Qibli. What's your name talking scavenger?"
I chuckled. "Marvin. Marvin Jerez. And I must ask, what exactly is a scavenger? Everyone keeps saying that around me."
"Well, you are a scavenger. Aren't you?" The dragon I was riding said.
"What?" I frowned. "I'm, not a vulture. ...Are you talking about a person? A human?"
"Hu-human? Is that what you call yourselves?" Qibli asked.
I was as confused as he was. "Y-yeah?"
I heard him say quietly to himself. "Fascinating."
We flew on for a little while longer until I spotted something along the beach. A second later, we all banked down towards it. Kinkajou settled down with a thud, and I slid off. Bending my legs, nearly going into a roll to absorb the fall.
"Oh my! Are you okay?" Kinkajou came up and booped me.
Brushing off the sand I collected, "I'm fine."
Taking a look around, orienting myself.
"Okay. Our camp is that way. But where's Moon?"
Qibli walked up to me. "She went to find your den, and try and talk to them."
I spun around to face the tan dragon.
"She WHAT!"