Vapor
My dreams are the usual; fire, blood, war. This time, I'm in the middle of watching a concert in Vlamkorlar, when the stage suddenly bursts into flames. Everything is chaos, until my parents grab me and push me out of the stadium. Then, right as we're about to escape safely together, a huge, muscular arm comes out of nowhere and snatches them. I look up through the ceiling, and see an ugly, hulking giant, lifting my parents towards its mouth. I scream as my parents beg for mercy, and then I wake up, panting.
The dream is a memory back to haunt me. I remember everything... After watching my parents' death, I stumbled far away, trying to find something, anything, to get me out of that nightmare. At the time, I was convinced it was one. Not real. Not harmful. But I was wrong. So wrong. Eventually, I found a portal to here- it was highly protected by part of the army, so it was difficult- but I just kept pushing, determined to wake up and for everything to be alright. But it wasn't. After I realized that, I found the others, who are my family now... I guess. Still, whenever I have the nightmare, some part of me is always going to hurt. When I wake, I suddenly wonder how Pustyn and Durpner did.
"Durpner?" I ask from my corner. I try to sit up, and then fall over. Everything aches.
"Yes?" He asks, looking up at me.
"Um... I was wondering... How did you get here? The human world, I mean?" I clarify. Durpner's face falls.
"Durpner," Pustyn says softly. "You should tell them." Everyone is now awake, waiting to see if Durpner will answer.
"But-"
"It's for our own good. You can't hide it forever," Pustyn places a hand on her hips, in that adorable tough way she always does when she wants to make a point.
"We...we lived with our mother," Durpner begins, his eyes distant. "Our father fought in the war... and- and was killed. By a demon. So I ran away. I was a coward." Durpner scowls and turns away.
Pustyn grabs Durpner's hand and squeezes it gently. "If you don't want to continue, I will," She whispers softly. Pustyn closes her eyes. "My mother never told me my father was fighting in the war. She probably thought I was too delicate. I ran away both to prove I was tough, to find Durpner, and because I believe our father is still alive," Her face lit up. "If we find him, we can reunite the family!"
Nobody seems to want to argue with her, but Durpner grabs Pustyn's shoulders and spins her around to face him. "Pustyn," He starts, frowning. "The letter did s-say he was gone,"
Pustyn just smiles at him, determination etched into her eyes, and breaks free from his grasp.
Everyone sits there for a moment in silence, processing each twin's side of the story. "What about you, Vapor?" Shadow asks. "Why are you here?" I sigh, not wanting to repeat the entire story, because I might just break, so I snuggle into my corner, trying to get as comfortable as possible, then simply say,
"Giants." The word seems to explain most of my story, and Pustyn simply huddles a little closer to me, giving me a reassuring smile. I ask Dracoponian why he's here, but none of us can understand his wild gestures. Something about hats and other dragons. We leave it be.
The next day, I feel better. I walk, jump, and awkwardly try to fly. A pixie shakes its head. "You'll never fly again," it squeaks.
"Oh, yes, I will!" I declare. I summon wind to lift me, and fly up. The pixie snorts. "It's never gonna work, elf." It's voice is so high pitched, I can barely hear it. Frankly, I don't want to hear it.
"Your tricks don't count." it says, grinning. I scowl at it.
"If this is a trick, then what about your magic?" I snark back. The pixie snaps its tiny yellow fingers, and a few flowers sprout from the ground.
"Oh yeah, my magic is real." it says haughtily. I lose my temper and summon wind to push the pixie's hat off. It squeals angrily, and Pustyn and Shadow come running.
"Vapor!" Pustyn sighs in annoyance.
"We have things to do, Vapor!" Shadow yells. My face flushes bright red.
"This pipsqueak called my magic a trick!" I yell angrily. "How dare they!" the pixie flies up to me and slaps my nose. It's so weak I can't even feel it. The pixie reddens and I scowl at its resilience.
"Hmmph!" it yells, and flaps away. Pustyn rolls her eyes. Shadow bites her lip, and then loosens it. "Vapor, you shouldn't be using your abilities to annoy pixies. They aren't with us, but they help, so you don't need to annoy them." she says, walking away. Pustyn follows.
"The pixie was annoying me!" I yell after her. I doubt she hears me, but then Shadow responds.
"Just stop moping about and start being useful, why not? Or are you too used to us doing it for you?" Pustyn isn't there anymore, just me and Shadow. I rush at her, wind with me. She grabs my arm and bends it, almost breaking it. Then, she lets go. "Come on Vapor, this isn't good for your recov-" I make the air push her. She falls to the ground.
"Had enough yet?" I scream. She pins me to the ground. I feel my injuries and howl.
"My- bruises and cut-"
We hear police sirens coming our way.
"Oops," we say simultaneously. We sprint behind a brick wall. Looking over my shoulder, the police look confused. They didn't see us get away. I produce a gust of wind to make it sound like we ran far, far away, then run farther across graffitied and grainy brick walls and scream, "Help!" The police barely pause to look at each other before they leap into their cars and drive away. I breathe a sigh of relief.
"Ugh, sorry," Shadow says.
"Sorry," I repeat. "That was a close one." We laugh, but don't really have a reason for it. We head back to the alley, where the others have already started eating.
"I'm so sorry, Vapor! I was so mean!" Pustyn bursts into tears. "I don't know why, I'm just so sorry!" I pat her.
"It's alright." She wipes her eyes with her sleeve. Dracoponian makes a roaring motion. "Huh?" I say. He thrashes his head back and forth, nudging a skinny rabbit.
"It's skinny?" Shadow tries. Dracoponian nods, and uses his tail to point to the sun. "Especially for this heat?"
"No," Durpner says. "It's skinny for the summer. It can't feed half of one of us, let alone him. He's bigger; he needs more food than us. And he almost always leaves the good food for us." Dracoponian cocks his head, agreeing. "I agree. I think we should go to Vlamkorlar."
"But it's safer here! You know it is!" Shadow exclaims. I shake my head.
"Shadow! I've felt the pain of the Hunters." I indicate my wings and bruises. "They know we're here. They'll find us again, and we won't be so lucky. You're risking all of our lives, not just yours." Shadow glares at me.
"But if we go home, the demons will literally kill us on the spot!"
"Shut up," Durpner hisses coldly. Both Shadow and I's eyes blaze with fury.
"What?" Shadow shrieks. I growl and ball my fists. Durpner scowls. Pustyn steps closer to us, ready to end any fights that could start.
"You'll alert the police!" he explains. I roll my eyes. Durpner, a goody-goody? But with my anger, I feel drowsiness overtaking me.
"Hmm." I yawn, and nestle into my corner, ending the fight. "What'll we do tomorrow?"
"We'll see," Shadow says.
"Right now, let's sleep!" Pustyn suggests. We nod tiredly.
"Good night," I sleepily yawn.
"Get some sleep. Tomorrow will be a sunny day, I think," Pustyn says, looking up at the darkening night sky.
"Alright," I agree.
Pustyn comes closer. "My brother and I made this for your recovery..." She holds out a small "blanket" made of grass, and I take it and place it on the floor. It will act as a mattress. "Thank you," I smile.
"Anytime," Pustyn says, smiling too. Her usually hard coal black eyes seem less hard than usual, because of the heavy bags under her eyes. I sigh. I just want a peaceful life, but it's impossible here. Would they let me stay if they knew? I hate it, right now in the human world, where I can't even fly. I scowl to myself. When I get home, and I know I will, I'm not going to act like this- I'll have the most peaceful life possible.
"Don't let the street bugs bite." Shadow adds in. Under the moonlit sky and the glowing crescent moon, I close my eyes and fall asleep knowing that I'm not alone. Tonight, the nightmares don't emerge.
The sun shines brightly down on us, and my eyes flutter open. My slumber was empty and dreamless, so I feel energized and strong. I get up and stretch. Miraculously, it doesn't hurt one bit! The others do the same. "Morning," I mumble sleepily.
"Morning," Shadow repeats, turning to me. Before I can reply, she hisses, "wait!"