One year later and Rust had never been in a big battle. Sure, he fought dragons one on one in the arena, but a full-on battle? Not in all three years of his life.
Today though was the day that changed. Burn decided to take part in a few of the battles that raged near her borders, taking Rust with her. The first one that she went on was without Rust by her side.
"'You need to get used to some of the chaos,' she said. 'I'll be fine,' she said," Rust grumbled to himself, still annoyed that he got left behind. Left behind was a bit of a strong way to say it seeing as instead of being in the thick of it, he got to be an errand boy for the small encampment that served as a fallback point for heavily injured soldiers.
Several days ago, a battle between only SkyWings and those on Blaze's side had taken place. Now, new forces from the enemy were to be fought with the united forces of SkyWings and SandWings. Burn was leading the charge.
And Rust was left behind to help guide injured allies to healers and chase off any persistent enemies. Not much fun, in his opinion. Especially not when it was likely that the enemies were going to be spineless lizards.
Sighing with complete exasperation, Rust snarled at the ground like it was the reason for his situation. With a huff, he looked up, caught a glimpse of a worried SandWing healer staring at him, and took off. Hovering above the camp, he watched and waited.
For a while, it was rather rinse and repeat. Go to the dragon or dragons, help the injured one to the camp, call the healers, then go back to his original position to repeat. It took a while before something 'worth his time' happened.
It started out with the standard, a dragon returning to camp with help from a comrade. Rust was quick to go to them, supporting the injured SandWing with help from an allied SkyWing. Glancing over his shoulder, he was glad he did when he saw an unfriendly approaching IceWing with ready-to-go frost breath.
Without a word, Rust gave a strong enough shove to move all of them out of the way. "Give me a minute!" Rust shouted over a yelp of pain from the poor unfortunate soul that Rust had to use force on. Quick to disengage from the two, he could only send his best mental wishes to them while he went to go deal with the problem.
Darting forward with fire building in his throat, Rust made the other try to avoid him by going to the side. Halting abruptly, Rust blew a cloud of fire that made the IceWing yelp. Flying through the fire with a hiss that wasn't only from the brief pain, Rust cannonballed into the other's chest.
He managed to get a long scratch of his barb in through the tangle of wings and limbs. Backing away, Rust blew more fire at the other. Now fleeing, the IceWing let Rust return to the two that he had abandoned.
"Let's go," Rust mumbled, not meeting their looks of surprise. Especially not when the sting from the IceWing's claws finally registered.
That was the only enemy that was risky enough to get that close, much to Rust's disappointment. For the next little while, he was delegated back to helping dragons to the camp. Until a SandWing searched him out directly after he left another injured dragon with the medics.
"Burn wants you by her side. I was sent to guide you to her," she said in a rush. Rust gave her a curt nod, motioning for her to go with little care making its way to his face.
On the inside, he was beaming. Finally, he got to be in the thick of the battle with Burn by his side. He got to protect her and vice versa!
I'll be her sword and shield. She'll be my flames and scales. I always say that I'm hers forevermore but now it gets to be forged in blood!
The two weaved through the madness, Rust getting a few cheeky scratches in with his barb. Those that he hit were too preoccupied with their current fight or they couldn't see who did it before the other dragons got in the way. It was absolute mayhem and Rust's entire being was singing anthems for it.
With the mention of dragons getting in the way, he got to feel the frustration and annoyance of that interruption when a few IceWings got in the way when he could see Burn right there. Just past their annoying glittering scales that reflected too much light, he could see Burn scorching similar scales to fine charcoal. The rest of them were going to be powdery husks if they got between him and his Burn.
Building up fire in the back of his throat, he kept a hold of it as he lashed at the closest IceWing. She easily moved out of the way, giving an opening to her comrade. Moving just as easily, Rust dodged the blow that was meant for him. Vengeful, Rust snuck in a spiteful scratch on the IceWing's wrist.
The original IceWing went for a strike like her comrade, not all that surprised when Rust dodged. She was surprised when Rust bit her wrist, giving him leverage to dig his claws near her throat and swipe his barb by her stomach. Roaring out her fury, she latched her claws into his shoulder to get back at him.
Growling out his pain, Rust swerved both of them to the side. With that, he twisted her to be where he once was. Directly in the way of frostbreath. Kicking as hard as he could with his hind legs while letting go, he sent her careening into a nearby IceWing with one of her talons soaked in his blood. While they tried to figure that mess out, he searched for his guide.
Locked in a tussle with a different IceWing, she couldn't pay that much attention to him. She had to when Rust got into view, digging his claws into the back of her enemy while wrapping his talons around the IceWing's throat. It didn't take long before the dragon's throat was ripped to shreds, giving the guide a chance to wriggle free as the other clung to the last bit of life.
That clinging didn't last long, not when Rust dropped the IceWing. They were left to fall to their doom. Not wasting a second on them or the dragon he had helped, Rust rushed past his guide and towards Burn.
The near unnoticeable burn at the back of his throat from holding so much fire for so long began to throb. Timing was perfect as he saw Burn whirl around to snarl at a group of IceWings that were aiming for her. Getting in the way and arguably too close to the enemy, Rust let the fire meant to protect Burn loose.
It was a glorious sight to see. A wall of fire that some could argue was tinged blue was raised. The squawks and roars of pain from the IceWings were a symphony to the sight. When the last of it died down, Rust got to smirk at the singed and charred IceWings that rushed to escape.
"I don't know whether to love or hate your timing," said Burn, only getting a cheeky grin from Rust. "C'mon, we have work to do."
"Yes, ma'am," Rust said with an over-the-top salute. Wisely, Burn chose to ignore that in favor of aiming for more enemies. While he loyally followed, Rust prepared more fire.
They tore and burned through the ranks of their enemies, their claws dyed purple by the end of the battle. At the end, Rust never wanted to hold fire in his throat for longer than five seconds. He doubted he could talk for the next few days, only able to rasp snide comments through Burn's snickers. Not that it wasn't funny that he couldn't really talk through the burns in his throat, it was just annoying.
Whatever. At least I got to fight for her. After all, I'm hers.
{(:)}
For the next couple of months, it was rather quiet. Too quiet. Quiet enough for Burn to send Rust to the MudWing Palace to cause some ruckus.
"Remember, don't do anything I wouldn't do and don't do anything I would do."
"How thin of a line do you want me to walk?"
"Oh just shut up and get going."
As before, seven MudWings were there to greet him. This time, they vastly outnumbered him seeing as Burn didn't send anyone with him. He was capable enough in her eyes and that alone made him mentally preen at such praise.
When he landed, he decided to continue the streak that Burn and Moorhen had started. "Queen Moorhen," Rust greeted, bowing briefly to the much older MudWing. Of course, he had to modify it a little but the streak was still alive.
"Rust," she said, nodding respectfully to him. "Burn didn't tell me the intention of this visit, just the fact that you would be here. Alone, apparently."
"Well, not every visit must be a full display of power and nobility. I'm here to perhaps suggest a few battle plans, look around, and create my own connections with the MudWing tribe. Burn has her connections but I'd rather that mine weren't so... tense would be the word, I guess," Rust said with a small shrug.
"All good reasons, I guess," Moorhen said, still eyeing him carefully as if he would turn into Burn at any second to hiss veiled threats. "Come along, there's food for you to recharge from your journey."
"Ah, a glorious way to recharge," said Rust with a smile, moving to keep pace with her as Burn would've. Maybe that's why Moorhen grew a little tense when she saw him from the corner of her eye.
"What type of connections were you planning on making?" Moorhen asked cautiously, her steps much more measured and slow compared to Rust's hurried talons on the stone.
"Ones that could be a little more friendly than the ones that SandWings and MudWings have. At the end of this war, we still share a border. I'd rather there not be a reason for tensions," he said, still keeping pace with the much much older dragon.
"Reason enough, I suppose," Moorhen said, barely glancing at him as the group moved to the dining room. When they sat down, Rust took Burn's spot with little physical reaction from the queen. "How long were you planning on staying?"
"Three days at most, I'll leave sometime tomorrow at the least. Hopefully, my stay won't be that much of a bother," Rust said, starting to pick at some of the food as the others took their share.
"It won't be a bother to us but will it be a bother to you?" said one of the royal brothers, the second smallest of the siblings. One of the two who had pitied him last time. Ibis gave that brother a harsh look that was easily ignored.
"Why would it ever be a bother to me? I came here myself, no?" Rust said, not giving the hint that he knew what the MudWing was talking about.
"Only because Burn loosened your leash," that brother said with a scoff, getting the rest of the siblings to bristle at his lack of tact.
"Goose," Ibis hissed, nudging 'Goose' to warn him. No warning was taken.
"Seriously, I'm surprised you got your food on your own. Wasn't that a problem last time? What, are you at Burn's every beck and call?" Goose continued crassly.
"And if I am?" Rust said, interrupting Goose before he could go on a tirade about Rust, Rust, Rust.
"How pathetic are you? No, better yet, how pathetic is Burn? She has to get a little pet to feel like something," Goose said, getting his sibs more alarmed. If Rust said a thing to Burn, there could be more war. Ibis tried to get a read on the hybrid with a glance but Rust didn't react.
Even if on the inside he felt his temper flare up at the insults towards Burn.
"Honestly, how could no one see it before? She gets weird little trinkets and such to make herself feel better. In reality, she's a whelp of a dragon who can't even get the throne on her own," Goose scoffed.
"And yet she's more of a dragon than ya could ever try to be," Rust said cooly, only a hint of his anger making it into his voice in the form of steel.
"All I see is a manipulative lizard--"
His temper continued to flare, sparking a fire that rolled beneath his scales in slow thundering waves.
"--who's too weak--"
Those waves began to pick up the pace, causing small wisps of smoke to gather near his talons. Oh, Rust would show this imbecile--
"--scared--"
--who had the gull to insult his Burn--
"--and angry--"
--how weak and scared someone could be. He would show this 'ally' why his sister was so scared of what could conceivably happen.
"--to possibly think--"
The heat in Rust's scales had a mind of its own, fueled by his senseless anger. The waves grew more rapid and intense, a cyclone that Rust couldn't control.
"--of a way that she alone--"
Not alone because she had Rust, she would always have Rust. Not even death could change that. Not even the fire underneath his scales that howled with the fury of a cyclone and growled with the power of a volcano.
"--could get a throne--"
She didn't need the throne, she just needed Rust. She wanted the throne and Rust respected that. No magic or dragon could change what Rust-- wait, no-- Burn needed.
"--that not even her mother could maintain--"
The mother who Burn mourned. The mother who might as well be a grandmother to Rust. The mother who was an amazing queen and didn't deserve this slander from this-- this pitiful maggot of a whelp.
"--against useless, mindless, and insignificant scavengers."
Rose was anything but useless, mindless, or insignificant. She had so much personality and talent. She was even learning the language of dragons and teaching Rust the language of scavengers!
This maggot didn't deserve to speak of Oasis or Rose. He most indefinitely didn't deserve to even think of Burn in such a manner. Rust's Burn.
My Burn...
"Goose!"
Ibis' shout started Rust into motion. The waves of fire and cyclone of rage united, setting his scales ablaze with the fury of the gods. Fury that cut straight through the table when Rust slammed his talon on it.
"You..." Rust's voice never raised, only making it scarier with the small fires that were starting around him. Anything that was flammable and that he was touching wasn't in good shape, least to say.
He didn't focus on any of that, too busy glaring into Goose's eyes, soul, and burning a hole through the latter.
"You do not get to speak of Queen Oasis like that. The dead do not deserve to be slandered by your filthy mouth. She doesn't deserve any justifications I could give ya because you would slander that as well.
"And you do not get to think of Burn like that. I do not care who you are, who your family is, and what your status is. All of that goes out the window the moment you even think to speak ill of her.
"My talons do not care if ya have royal blood, it will spill just as easily as any other blood. I would talk all day and all night about threats but I'd rather keep your attention. The only universal language is violence but I'd rather not have to speak that language with allies.
"Even if you are a despising ally to have," Rust snarled at Goose who looked sufficiently scared to death. Standing up, Rust chose to ignore the surrounding damage for just a little longer. "Sorry, Queen Moorhen, but I believe I've lost my appetite. Tomorrow, we can pick up more delightful talks on a very different note."
With a final glare at Goose that made him cower away, Rust scoffed lightly as he turned away. Leaving with a spiteful swipe of his tail that set another cushion aflame, Rust was careful to avoid anything flammable. As furious as he was, burning down the palace and the dragons inside wasn't a good idea.
It felt like a good idea, don't get him wrong, but Burn still needed the MudWings for the war. And for Burn, Rust would do anything. Even if that meant restraining from barbequing the dragons who insulted her in the first place.
That maggot of a mud-covered half-rotten alligator that was too cowardly and weak to get what it needed! Y'know what, he embodies that perfectly! A rotten personality-ed dragon who hides under the mud while throwing rocks that he can't handle himself.
An absolute brat that doesn't understand what type of protection he gets from being our ally. Wait no, he understands it and he thinks he can use it to do what he wants. Raincheck, you coward!
He's so so so lucky that I can't throttle him. With whatever flame stuff that's happening to my scales, I would enjoy seeing him flail as he burns up into a husk. Wait, where have I seen something like that before?
"Open the door for me," Rust said, not even glancing at the guard next to the door that led to where he had stayed last time.
"Wha--?"
"Now!" Rust roared, stomping one of his talons onto the stone floor to have some sparks fly. Startled into motion, the guard scrambled to open the door. "Thank you," Rust said calmly, choosing to not acknowledge the guards shaking talons and terrified expression.
The door closed behind him, leaving Rust to navigate his way to the rock ledge that served as a bed. Careful not to light anything else on fire, he mechanically stepped past the rugs on the floor and onto the ledge. Every motion had to be calculated as he laid down, not wanting to possibly light something up last second.
Peril, Scarlet's champion. She can do this, can't she? Burning up everything that she touches that's even slightly flammable? She's a flamescales, I think.
Burn was terrified of her... Well, not terrified, more cautious. If Scarlet ever trusted Peril even the slightest, Peril would decimate a battlefield in seconds.
Could I do that? If I got angry enough or if I learned how to control this, could I clear out a battlefield? That would be helpful.
The question is, would Burn want that? Cautious as she is of Peril, could she trust me with a similar power? I don't want to scare her or force her to get rid of me.
Not that that would particularly matter, I would still be hers. I am forevermore, after all. But still...
I guess I could practice in secret and use it if absolutely necessary. This is a double-edged sword that I don't want to cut Burn with. If I hurt Burn, I don't know if I could forgive myself.
Oh by the dunes what if I hurt Burn?
I couldn't, I can't. There's no way that I would do that. I can't!
If she got hurt by my talons, I would be so ashamed! I wouldn't even want to live! I'd rather spear myself on one of the spikes that the heads are on!
If I hurt her, would she get rid of me? But she can't! I would still be hers! She wouldn't see it like that but I would be hers. I need to be hers!
I need to be! There's no other way for me to live! She's my everything! I can't leave her, I can't! I need her!
I don't care if she doesn't need me, I need her, I need her!
"Rust...?"
I need her. I need to be hers. I need Burn, I need my Burn.
My Burn. I'm hers and she's mine. It won't be any other way.
It can't be any other way. It can't-- I can't-- She can't--
"Rust?"
My Burn--
I need my Burn--
I need to be hers--
I need to--
I need to--
"Rust? You there?"
Burn, where are you? I need you. I need you to tell me I'm yours.
I'm yours, Burn--
I have to be--
Burn, Burn, Burn Burn Burn--
"Rust!" the shout was combined with a talon closing around his shoulder. That wasn't Burn, she would trace patterns on his scales. Where was she? Where--
Where is my Burn?
Rust jerked away from the talon that sought to trap him. Not like Burn, Burn would never trap him. Burn helped him, Burn--
Burn, I need you.
"Don't," Rust said, trying to convey the fury and power that Burn had, that Burn had taught him to have. His statement crumbled apart, revealing a broken dragonet who could barely speak for himself.
Burn, I'm sorry. I'm not strong enough. I'm not enough for you. I'll never be enough for you. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorr--
"Rust, calm down," someone said. Someone with a cherry red talon that had previously been clasped around Rust's shoulder. Rust's crumbling and shaking shoulder.
His image was fading, his strength was fading. He was just a mirage, just a pretty little picture. Nothing but a word that held no meaning without something or someone to stand beside.
Without my Burn to stand beside.
"Rust, I need you to calm down," the dragon wasn't leaving, why weren't they leaving? Couldn't they see how little they had to stay around for? Couldn't they see the decorations fading and rusting from Burn's pretty little oddity?
"Rust, you're here with me, Ibis. I need you to be here with me," they were still here. Why were they still here? Rust shouldn't be here.
I need to be with Burn.
"Rust, you need to calm down."
"I need Burn."
A whisper came from somewhere, a distant source. Like there was another dragon in the room that Rust couldn't see. A ghost, a phantom, a shadow. An impression of something that wasn't quite there. A shadow hidden by sheer will that was slowly faltering.
"Burn wouldn't want to see you like this."
She wouldn't. She would sit beside him, trace patterns on his scales, and tell him that she needed him to there. That she needed him to be strong enough to stay by her side, that she wanted him by her side, that he was hers.
I'm hers, I'm still hers. I will be hers forevermore and vice versa. Because we need to be.
"You good now?" the dragon said, finally registering as Ibis in Rust's scattered mind. Ibis stared at Rust with a type of worry that the dragon shouldn't have for Rust, a frenemy of an ally who could barely hold himself together without a certain dragon beside him.
I guess Goose was right about something, I am pathetic.
"Relatively," Rust said, his voice unwillingly coming out in a whisper.
Humming, Ibis seemed to consider something as he stared at the dragonet who still had wisps of smoke around his talons. (And hints of steam near his eyes.) "Is this your first time so far away from Burn?" Ibis asked, his voice too soft for Rust.
"And if it is?" Rust said, his voice too cracked for the sarcasm that was meant to show. Most of it slipped through the cracks just like some of Rust's sanity.
"Do you want me to stay in here or would you rather that I left?" Ibis asked, glossing over the fact that more steam gathered.
"Whatever," Rust said, too tired to come up with a better answer. Curling up into a little ball, he left Ibis to do what he wanted. As Rust slipped into unconsciousness, he blearily noted that the door didn't open to let Ibis leave.