Arthur Leywin
*thud*
My eyes shot open at the sound, waking me from my sleep. I shot up into a sitting position on my bed, looking around my bedroom. As I sat up, I startled Tess awake, who sat up as well. "Whaaaa, what's wrong Art?" Tess asked confused.
"I thought I heard a loud thud." I replied looking around confused.
"I don't hear anyth-" Tess began until we heard the thud again. I immediately looked to where the sound came from, and saw it came from the dresser drawer.
I got out of bed, and walked over to the dresser. I used mana to unlock the drawer, and slowly opened it. I was met by a small black kitten but with scales. The sclera that is usually white in the human's eyes is black. Her pupils are sharp slits that would typically make it look menacing, but with the body of something akin to a small feline animal, she looks adorable. Her tail looks exactly like Sylvia's tail. It's a reptilian tail that has two red spikes at the end. Along the spine, there are small red spikes that match the color of her eyes. She doesn't have wings, but where the wings would be located are two small bumps instead. Her belly didn't have any scales, but it looked leathery.
She sat there looking at me confused, while tilting her head to the side. "The egg hatched!!" I yelled excitedly.
Tess ran over to where I was sanding, and she started gushing with hearts in her eyes. "Oh my god it's so cute!!!!!"
"Kyu" I heard the baby dragon sound off. The baby dragon jumped onto my chest, and I held her gently. She looked at my right arm and sniffed it. Suddenly she bit my arm, and I felt a sharp pain.
"Ow! What the...."
'Papa?' I looked around the room, and looked for the origin of the childlike voice.
"Who said that?" I asked looking around.
"I didn't hear anything Art." Tess said looking at me confused.
'Papa?' I heard the voice again, and looked down.
'Was that you?' I thought.
'Papa!!' "Kyu!"
"Woah! I can hear her in my head! That's so cool!" I exclaimed.
"Really?! What is she saying?" Tess asked excitedly.
"She is calling me papa. Ya I guess I'm your papa little fella, I'll take care of you. I will call you.... Sylvie!" I said happily.
'Sylvie?' Sylvie asked mentally.
"That's right! You're Sylvie!" I said.
"Kyu!!" Sylvie kyu'd happily jumping in my arms.
I could tell she was pretty smart, and was intelligent for just being born. Probably had a mental capacity of a two or three year old.
I looked to my left, and saw Tess looking at Sylvie with her patience wearing thin. I gave her a smirk, "wanna hold her Tess?" Tess nodded enthusiastically causing me to laugh.
I gently placed Sylvie into Tess' arms, and Tess cuddled her happily. Sylvie looked at Tess and tilted her head. "Kyu?" 'Mama?'
Sylvie looked at me questionably. My eyes flicked between Tess and Sylvie, and I gave Sylvie a happy nod. "Kyu!" Sylvie kyu'd happily as she snuggled against Tess.
After Sylvie was born, I noticed she left a mark on my arm where she bit me. It looked a lot like the markings that covered Sylvia before she passed her will onto me. The shape of the mark was one open wing made up of several dashes and curves.
Tess and I introduced Sylvie to Gramps, Mother, Father, and big sisters Alea and Aya. They were shocked to say the least. It's not everyday you see a baby dragon. Gramps told me to play her off as some mana beast, and not tell anyone what she really was. He also told me to always keep her close, or under some sort of protection. I agreed with gramps and promised to keep her a secret.
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*1 year later*
Well today is the day. I turn nine years old today, so Mother and Father decided to throw me a party. They sent out messengers throughout the capital with invitations to my birthday party.
During these past five years of living here so far, Tess and I have gone out almost everyday. It was weird at first since people gave me a cold shoulder, and didn't really pay attention to me. But after a while, I got really close to a lot of the citizens here.
Overtime, some of them would tease Tess and I calling us the royal couple. Being called this would cause Tess and I to blush, and be a little embarrassed, though, part of me liked it. Over this past year, Gramps and I have been sparing like crazy, with me getting used to the first phase of my beast will.
Using my first phase boosted my physical abilities, making it so that I can keep up with Gramps. During ours spars, I unlocked a new ability I called static void. It allowed me to freeze time. Although when I used it, it put some strain on my body, and I could only keep it up for about 15 minutes straight.
Gramps said the stronger I get, the longer I can use it. It's weird though, whenever I use static void, it feels like my back and arms are burning. Just like that time I tried to use the purple particles. I wonder if they're connected somehow.
Now here I was getting dressed in my room getting ready for the day. Sylvie was laying on my bed still sleeping. I finished putting on some dark green elven robes, and was getting ready to leave my room. I opened the door, and I was met by a gunmetal haired elf, who immediately tackled me to the ground. I fell flat on my back hitting my head it the process.
"Ow! Well good morning to you too Tess." I said laughing as I looked up from the floor, and saw Tess laying on top of me giving me a hug. Tess pushed herself up while straddling my torso looking down at me. "Good morning Art, are you excited for the day." Tess asked.
I noticed she was wearing an emerald colored dress with silver gems embroidered on her neck line, with silver linings. I smiled and blushed noticing the dress matched her eyes. "I am actually, did you have anything special planned?" I asked Tess, and knowing her, she did.
"Of course I do." Tess stated as she put her hands on her hips, while giving me a smug smile.
"Well don't you two look comfortable down there." I looked towards the voice, and saw Gramps standing in the doorway looking at us with a smirk.
"What are you talki-" Tess immediately looked down and noticed the position we were in. Both mine and Tess' faces grew red at a records pace. She pushed herself off of me, pushing off my chest knocking the wind out of me.
"S-sorry!!" Tess said stuttering.
"I-it's ok." I said stuttering as well, feeling my face red hot as I stood up.
"Well if you two are done flirting, you two come down to the kitchen. Alduin and Merial are having the staff make you breakfast." Gramps said.
"Ok" we both said. I walked over to Sylvie, and picked her up. "Kyu" Sylvie said groggily as she stretched and climbed onto my head.
Tess and I followed Gramps to the kitchen while Sylvie sat on my head. When we entered the kitchen, I was surprised by Mother and Father who were sitting at the dining table with a huge buffet of food. "Happy birthday Arthur!" Mother and Father said happily as they stood up and gave me a hug.
"Thank you! This all looks really good! You didn't have to do this." I said.
In truth, I was happy they put so much thought and love into making sure I had a good birthday. My first birthday here was the hardest. Being without my Mom and Dad, I was moping around missing them like crazy. Mother, Father, Tess, and Gramps all noticed this, and did their best to cheer me up. After that, they always put in so much thought into my birthday to make sure I knew I was loved.
I sat down at the table next to Tess as we ate happily. I would occasionally give some meat to Sylvie who kept say 'yay, meat!!' Through out mental connection. She didn't really eat much except meat. Sylvie kept jumping from my head to Tess' getting meat from both of us, making both of us laugh.
"So Arthur, are you excited for the party?" Mother asked me.
"I sure am!" I said happily getting a laugh out of Mother, Father, and Gramps.
"The big nine, do you have any plans, or are you just planning to stay around the castle, and hang out with Tess all the time going on your little dates?" Gramps asked in a teasing tone getting a blush out of Tess and I. But, he was also opening the door for the conversation Tess and I wanted to bring up.
Tess and I looked at each other, and we gave each other a nod before we looked at the other three. "Well there is something Tess and I wanted to ask you."
"What is it?" Father asked in a curious tone.
"Well, you know how there have been talks about uniting the three races, and how the adventurers guild have accepted all three races? Well Tess and I were thinking, and we wanted to get some experience, and go into the Beast Glades as adventurers." I said while shrinking up a little, not knowing how they would react.
The room fell silent, the only sound heard was Mothers fork falling onto her plate. Everyone just stared at us like we just said the craziest thing in the world. Gramps was first to break the silence. "Ah-em, well-"
"ABSOLUTELY NOT!!! UNDER NO CONDITION WILL I ALLOW YOU TO GO INTO THE BEAST GLADES AND GET HURT OR WORSE!!!!!" Mother yelled so loud I thought my hair was blowing back. Tess and I immediately locked up.
"Hold on a second. Let's hear them out first." Gramps said.
"HEAR THEM OUT??? THEY ARE NINE AND TEN YEARS OLD! LIKE HELL THEY NEED TO BE ADVENTURERS." Mother continued to yell.
Father grabbed her hand to calm her down, and looked at us. "Arthur, Tessia. Why do you want to go to the Beast Glades and be adventurers?" Father asked.
"Well, Art and I have been in the capital for years, and we think going to the beast glades and being adventurers would give us some good social and combat experience." Tess stated almost shaking. I grabbed her hand which made her smile and calm her down a little. Although, I wasn't in any better shape since this was absolutely nerve racking.
"YOU CAN-" Mother began but was cut off by Father.
"And you two think it's a good idea to go to the Beast Glades, and be adventurers by yourself?" Father asked in a calm tone.
Gramps just sat in his chair rubbing his chin as if he was deep in thought.
Tess and I looked at each other. "Well, I.... We just..... we just thought it would be cool and fun." I said looking down thinking they were going to say no.
Father let out a sigh, and was rubbing his temples. Mother was glaring at us with watery eyes, not out of anger, but concern. "I'm sorry you two, but I cannot permit this. It is far too dangerous, and I will not risk either of you." Father stated.
Tess and I looked at each other, I could tell she was disappointed. In truth so was I. I had told her about the Twin Horns and my Mom and Dad. About the adventures they would tell stories about at camp fires to put me to sleep. We were both excited about becoming adventurers, and making our own stories, together.
"What if we gave them an escort." Gramps suggested. Mine and Tess' heads shot up and looked at gramps.
"What do you mean?" Father asked.
"We can send someone with them to keep watch over them. Make sure they are safe. Plus Tessia makes a good point. They've lived in the capital for most of their lives. Perhaps this could give them some good experience." Gramps suggested.
"But Elder, it's still to dangerous!" Mother stated in a worried tone.
"Not if the person that goes with them is strong enough to protect them." Gramps replied.
"Who?" Asked mother.
"We can send Aya with them." Gramps suggested with a smirk.
"Absolutely not!" Tess yelled standing up while knocking over her chair, getting a laugh out of Gramps.
"Then what about Alea?" Father suggested.
Tess and I looked at each other and nodded, then looked back at the three looking at us. "We are ok with that." I said while Tess fixed her chair and sat back down.
"But what if Alea isn't enough." Merial said concerned.
"She's a white core mage, she's strong enough to protect herself and others." Father stated.
"But what if they get injured! They could seriously get hurt." Mother said. I thought for a second and my mind went to my Mom, who would heal me when I got hurt. Wait, there was another healer that I knew!
"Sebastian!" I yelled in excitement.
"Ah yes, Lieutenant Araic." Gramps stated looking at Mother and Father. "Lieutenant Araic being a mid silver emitter in the Elven special forces, plus having an S class beast will of a Wind Gryphin would make him a good addition." Gramps said getting a nod from Father.
Mother looked down like she was thinking about this. After what felt like an eternity, she looked at Father who gave her a nod. Mother let out a sigh, and looked at Tess and I. "Fine. But, both Alea and Lieutenant Araic have to agree. You can be adventurers but for only two years, max. If at any point during those two years I say you stop being adventurers, then you stop. And, you have to visit every three months." Mother stated in a firm tone with no room for negotiation.
Tess and I beamed at each other in excitement, and we immediately agreed.
After breakfast, Tess and I went out to the court yard where we were sitting under the tree. Sylvie was sitting on my head dead asleep. We were just sitting there talking, but I noticed as Tess turned a little red, and wasn't talking as much. "Are you ok Tess?" I asked concerned.
Tess seemed to jump a little and nodded. "Hey u-uh Art. U-Um happy birthday." Tess said as she gave me a square rectangle box. I opened the box, and found a black necklace with a black sword pendant with rubies in the cross guard. A gold dragon wrapped itself along the blade of the necklace. My jaw dropped at the sight of it.
"T-Tess, t-thank you." I said in awe looking at this necklace.
I took out the necklace, and placed it around my neck. The necklace was a little too big. However, it began to glow and shrunk to fit me perfectly.
"Y-you're welcome Art." I looked over at Tess who was looking down red faced with a small smile. I couldn't help but feel very happy receiving this, especially since it was from Tess.
Without even thinking, I leaned forward and kissed her left cheek. "It really means a lot to me Tess, really, t-thank you." I said while my face felt warm.
I watched as Tess' face turned as red as a tomato as she froze in place. She moved her hand to gently caress her cheek. "U-uh, you're uh welcome, uh Art." Tess said stuttering in shock. She slowly stood up still red faced. "I-I'll see you at the party Art!" Tess said while running off back to the castle.
"Bold move little Arthur." I look to the right, and see Aya standing there smirking at me.
"Did I do something wrong? She ran away." I said a little concerned and disappointed.
Aya giggled, and sat down next to me. "No, you did nothing wrong. Good of you to make a move though. The princess was just a little surprised. Trust me. You just made her whole year." Aya said while smirking.
I let out a breath. "Good, I was afraid she was mad at me." I said calming down.
"Oh no, she's definitely not mad, trust me. Now let's go, it's almost time for your party my future prince." Aya said with a smirk causing me to blush.
After speaking with Aya, we went back to the castle where I was met with a large group, who was there for my party. I was met by many familiar people to include Aunt Rinia, FeyFey, Aberforth, and Lena.
To say I had fun was an understatement. Everyone told me happy birthday, and told me I was growing up too fast. Tess hung out with me shortly after I returned to the castle.
Gramps spoke with Alea and Sebastian who both agreed to accompany Tess and I to the beast glades. Alea seemed happy to spend some time with Sebastian, since he's on missions a lot.
During the party, I secretly approached Aarod, who was a well known jewelry maker. I asked him for a favor, and he said he would get it to me as soon as possible.
After the party, I went back to my room tired from the day. I laid Sylvie down on the bed who fell asleep. "What a lazy dragon" I said to myself teasingly. I washed the day off me, got dressed in my nightwear, and laid down in bed.
As I laid there I head the door open, and Tess walked inside. "Hey Tess, managed to sneak past Aya?" I said smiling.
"No, she just said I can stay here as a birthday present to you." Tess responded as she climbed onto the opposite side of the bed as me, with Sylvie laying at the foot of the bed. Tess laid her head on my shoulder, and closed her eyes.
"Goodnight Tess, and thanks for the necklace." I said smiling at her.
Tess blushed at this and nuzzled her head into my shoulder. "You're welcome Art, and goodnight." She said with a smile as I watched her gently caress her left cheek with a blush.