Straight to the Heart

One can't simply tell who are we going to fall for.

Straight to the Heart

 

The brightness of sunlight began to form itself stronger and my closed eyes started to be not much of a barrier for it. Slowly my consciousness started to betray my need of sleep and made me more aware of my surroundings by the second. I started to hear the singing birds and the leaf shaking soft breeze that added an annoying buzz to my hearing. I slowly opened my eyes and felt the light stabbing at my only good eye until it finally managed to adapt itself to the bright midday sun. I lifted my head a bit and stretched forward my neck as my bones cried with so pleasuring snaps. I looked around and gave myself the pleasure of an epic yawn, so epic it was accompanied by a grave howl.

 

Did you sleep well?

 

The presence was behind me and covered me with his wing. I turned my head to my right side and, suddenly something crashed against the side of my upper jaw, which I didn’t manage to even see… Grunting and quickly shaking my head away, I remembered Helios slept by my side last night and said… Damn it! I’m sorry, Helios. Still not used to my stupid half sight.

 

It’s ok, I should have warned you.

 

Quickly driving the conversation to another direction, I asked Helios…

 

How long have you been awake?

 

Just a little while.

 

Then I suddenly felt this strange weight over my whole being as I thought for myself… How much time would that actually be!? Helios has been awake and lying by my side for who knows how long! What had he been thinking all that time? Probably he just felt protective over me since I’ve been so vulnerable lately… Yeah… that may be just it… But… on my behalf… What is this feeling? I don’t want Helios to let me off his grasp, but… this feels so uncomfortable!! I… no… it can’t be… I can’t love Helios! He is Patrick’s friend’s dragon!! But... What if… What if it doesn’t work that way? What if I am independent on that topic? What if riders aren’t related to this matter?

 

I couldn’t stop drifting away into these confusing ideas. It was for such a while that Helios suddenly said…

 

Furia, you are shaking. Are you ok?

 

I… um… Yeah… I’m… thanks for accompanying me.

 

No need to thank me… I’m glad you let me in the first place.

 

In a quick attempt to change the drive of the conversation and to prevent the horribly awkward silence that was just born from lasting a single second more, I unstably said… Why wouldn’t I? You are one of my dearest friends, right? I… um… let’s go hunt something for breakfast.

 

I quickly stood up and began stretching my limbs from what hardly seemed to be a long and renewing sleep. Helios followed my lead as he said… Being this late, I’d say it will be more like lunch.

 

As we took off and looked for the herds, Helios placed himself next to me by my left side. For a moment our sights connected… his golden eyes reflecting sparks coming from the sun. As if compassion and care had their origins in solar light and said metal… Oh what the f**k are you thinking, Furia!!... I thought for myself and quickly looked forward… I can’t handle myself… I can’t eat with Helios alone! What if he… notices that I... NO! I just won’t say it!! D****t, where is Tyranis when you need her!?... And we continued flying while I discretely looked for Tyranis, if by any chance I managed to see her.

 

Helios and I then found the cattle and we performed our kills… his as flawless as ever while mine looked like an impersonation of one of “The Three Stooges”. Yes… Patrick had told me about them. Despite my earlier thoughts, I won’t deny that eating alone with Helios was more pleasurable than I had ever imagined. My nerves got to relax and I could comfortably converse with him… he told me stories of his travels and jobs in Miami and the nearby states, while I told him about Kansas and what it was like to be a racer, always avoiding any way to connect with the attack after the Selections.

 

When we finished, we decided to go back to the house and join our riders at whatever they were doing. Patrick, Alan and Oliver where at the porch studying a map, pointing at it and taking notes while Tyranis rested outside. When Helios and I landed, straightening ourselves to land on our hind legs and flapping our wings forward to slow our approach to a stop as we hit the ground. The map flew away, but Oliver was quick enough to catch it right before it was out of his arm’s reach.

 

The three riders, along with Tyranis, approached us and greeted us. I lowered my head and Patrick petted my left side as he touched my mind and said…

 

Hey, Furia… Did you sleep well last night?

 

Yeah… I slept like a cool lizard. Did you?

 

Yeah, I missed you though. A bed has nothing to brag compared to your back.

 

Slightly flattered, I chuckled a little and said…

 

Achievement unlocked… Flying Fire Breathing Bed! Now… I then arched up my neck and looked down on Patrick… on serious talk… did you sleep well?

 

What do you mean?... Said Patrick as he shook his head.

 

After killing Sanchez, you went to the house like a drunk. I guess you just fell asleep afterwards. Do you think Sanchez affected you?

 

Patrick looked away for a second as he rubbed his chin and twisted his lips. Images and sensations from last night came back to him as he made an effort to remember. Then he shook his head and shrugged before saying…

 

Doubt it… It probably was the Energy outtake.

 

Ah well… Then how’s the plan going?

 

Suddenly, Tyranis steps forward and greets me with a friendly head-butt...

 

Say, Furia! What’s up?

 

Not much… just had breakfast with Helios and…

 

She then quickly stepped closer to me, slightly startling me, and looking straight at my eye she interrupted me by saying… And how was it?

 

I frowned and answered her… What are you… But it only took me a moment to then realize what Tyranis was meaning. Angrily directing myself straight to Tyranis, careful not to do it making enough presence of myself for Helios to hear me when I snapped… You disappeared this morning on purpose!?

 

Tyranis just closed her eyes as she chuckled and said… You’re welcome!... Then she opened them and looked straight at mine as she irreverently said… Saw you and Helios so cutely close this morning! You and Helios!? Never saw that one coming!

 

Shut up! Everyone is going to hear you if you don’t control yourself!

 

Patrick suddenly intervened and asked me…

 

Furia, is something wrong? Why are you blocking your thoughts? I can still sense something is bothering you, though.

 

I had to get out of there… I wasn’t on any control of my display… I quickly turned to Patrick and told him… I gotta talk something out with Tyranis, I’ll be back in a snap… I said it with enough presence for Tyranis to hear me out, and to what Patrick answered…

 

Alright, I’ll just be here with the guys, and come quick to tell you what we have analyzed so far.

 

Got it.

 

I looked back to Tyranis and nodded at her, act followed by a turn around and a take-off after a small fast pace. Not very far away I landed on a small clearing and heard Tyranis landing behind me, then as I turned around, we ended up facing each other and I took the first word…

 

First of all, Tyranis, Helios just accompanied me for the night… Besides… it wouldn’t work anyway…

 

Why do you say that?.... Said Tyranis with a calmer and more serious tone as she walked in front of me and looked straight at my eye. I had to be fast and go straight to the point… there were far more important matters to be discussed. Then I said…

 

He is Alan’s dragon and…

 

So?

 

Just hear me out… and Patrick is my rider, they are friends, they don’t love each other.

 

Tyranis then slowly shook her head and said…

 

And you go ahead and believe that s**t is an excuse. Our lives are unrelated to our riders in that matter, Furia. Have you asked yourself then what if Patrick picks someone whose dragon you don’t like? Besides, Helios is amazing! When we are Bounty Hunting, he is the one who makes the plans and we haven’t failed a single time! And…

 

Alright, alright, Helios is a badass, I know him too… so if you hang out with him so much when hunting and not, why don’t you go try to make it work with him?

 

She chuckled a bit before saying…

 

It’s even cuter when you try to push it away! Besides, he’s not my type; I’m way more loosened up than he is. Look he’s coming, hey Helios!

 

She quickly looked past me and roared. I, as fast as if there was an incoming attack at my left side, looked back with a suddenly racing heart… only to find out Helios was nowhere to be seen… and then to hear Tyranis’s out loud laughter while she said…

 

Gotcha!! If Helios would have been there, you wouldn’t hold going to greet him with an unwarned hug!!

 

My front claws began to shake; there was this inexplicable heat on my head as I thought for myself… I won’t be able to help it at some point; I have to recognize it if I want to be completely concentrated on the trip ahead… That’s it! I can tell Helios after all this!

 

So what’s it going to be, Furia? You have or not a crush on Helios? I know it already… Chuckles… I just want to hear it from you.

 

You win then; I’ll tell him after all this.

 

Tyranis stepped closer at me and looked straight at my eye with her hyped wide open eyes, her presence so strong at inquiring the exact information she wanted me to spill…

 

What are you going to tell him?

 

And I answered out of reflex and without thinking as I stepped back… I have a crush on you!

 

Only a second passed before Tynaris fell to the ground on her side and snapped laughing like a retarded dolphin as she clawed at the ground and struggled to breathe right in front of me. Never have I felt more embarrassed in my whole life… but at the same time so relieved… Saying it, even though it was to the irreverent none-nuts of my friend Tyranis, felt so well and took a huge weight from me. I have a crush on Helios… I said to myself… it felt good… Now it was I who couldn’t wait to reveal it to Helios himself. I then composed myself and told Tyranis it was time for us to go back. It took her a couple of minutes to be able to stand from the ground and compose herself enough to take off.

 

When Tyranis and I arrived, we were surprised to notice a bunch of other big and strong, even to me, unknown dragons. There were ten of them and they were wearing black standard saddles that had a badge on their side. It read D.D.I. and had attached as well an assault rifle, loaded with a 150 rounds drum magazine to avoid the necessity of reloading, and a high power sniper rifle for the rider to reach for, given the situation. The riders were tall and strong, muscular men who wore dark grey uniforms and light armor that had the same symbol as the badges on their dragons’ saddles. They were as well equipped with a small gadget on their right ear. I guess it was some sort of communication devise.

 

As Tyranis and I approached the ground, I heard Patrick yelling… “There they are!!”… and before we even finished landing, the D.D.I. agents turned and faced us completely. Among the ten agents were Elvis and Pyro, geared up the same way as the rest. When I landed and stopped in front of them, just before I could greet everyone, the dragons lowered their heads and their riders swiftly drove their right hands, straight as blades, to in front of their faces while looking straight forward to the distance. The scene startled me and made me half-back-step. Unsure of how to act now… I just stood still, quickly looking at each of them until…

 

The dragons and riders then went to a relaxed posture, each one of them at their own speed and motion. Then the one in the middle said with a hard voice…

 

-Your brother Pyro told us about the incursion at Missouri, “Wings of Liberty”, and we decided to take part in it. For this war and any others to come, we ride with the Double Scarred Rider.

 

And just when he was finished, the dragons roared as they said… and we fly with The First Dragon.

 

You guys practiced that, didn’t you?... Dijo Tyranis de repente.

 

To think I wasn’t going to see again such reverence and respect. Why was I feeling so vulnerable in the first place when I could still inspire such greatness? I had forgotten so much while on my own. I had forgotten the value of who I was despite of what I had done. Questioning if I was good or evil when actually I was a hero all in all. What matters is why you do what you do, not the event as itself. And all that I had done, not only was it a hell of a burden, it was MY burden. Packed only… and only with the events that make me who I am… And I am Furia “Wings of Liberty” The First Dragon… Revolutionary of the whole world as it was. Then… with a lot to thank this guys and dragons for what their presence here and what they just said meant to me, I decided to sum it all by stabilizing my stance, lowering my head and saying…

 

Thank you all… It will honor me to fly with all and each of you. My deepest gratitude belongs to you.

 

-These are Spotters…-Patrick said-… dragons who own the sharpest eyesight among all dragons in Texas. They can spot a pistol a mile away during the day and at five hundred meters during the night. And their riders can snipe out moving targets five hundred meters away even from the back of their dragons in midair. Each team is a one unit army trained to spot and hunt down snipers. Fire arms may be old-school, but not useless since we are going to enter an area where long shots are the only way to get us.

 

Suddenly Oliver and Alan emerged from next to Pyro and the first one said…

 

-See that, Furia, Tyranis! We’ll fight alongside D.D.I.’s best of the best!

 

Then Elvis said for everyone to hear, as everyone turned to see him…

 

-We’ll depart tomorrow at five a.m. Alena arranged with Missouri’s D.D.I. a joint operation to storm the targets. There will be agents waiting for us at Chesterfield Park, Springfield’s southwestern outskirts, and will have ready everything needed for the assault. Now let’s hear what Patrick, Alan and Oliver have analyzed about Mr. Prisco’s organization and tactics.

 

Patrick left to Alan and Oliver the expo of the plan we would follow once in Missouri. It turned out to be just an all-out assault. There were three locations to storm: Mr. Prisco’s mansion, The Twin Brothers’ mansion and one so called Shawver’s mansion… all of them heavily protected, knowing that one of them might have been interrogated. The last two would wait for a direct attack at Mr. Prisco to then strike at the D.D.I. on the flanks at an appropriated moment. So the best way to strike was to storm all three places at once.

 

The enemy won’t be expecting us to attack like this nor would they expect us just two days after their failed attack. Although, that could be a double edged blade for us: they may be waiting for us, knowing that Sanchez might have spilled some vital information about them. Or they might not, just due to our quick attack at their doorstep.

 

Then Elvis and the D.D.I agents taught us, Helios, Tyranis and I some specialized protocols, like what to do when a sniper is spotted, for example. As for our riders, they were going to carry the same standard D.D.I. equipment… the communicators and weapons as well. Despite none of them showed prowess neither with the assault rifle nor the sniper rifle, the saddles their dragons were going to wear would have attached each weapon regardless, plus a back-up pistol at their waist.

 

By evening’s birth we were all set and cleared. John and Sahara came back, they spent the night in a small hotel and a nearby farm, respectively, while Elvis and Pyro guarded, just in case there were some other attackers looking to snatch a hostage or something… but in the end it ended alright for them. I don’t know if they wanted to talk because I was hell sleepy when the D.D.I.’s instructions finished… my friends and I had a lot of sleep to catch up if we were to fight effectively next morning.

 

I was turning away to go find a spot where to sleep when suddenly I heard Patrick’s voice in my mind…

 

So… Furia…

 

Yeah?

 

I just… good night… see you in the morning.

 

Patrick’s stance was weak and his mind was clouded with indecision that I couldn’t even guess what was what bothered him… yet I indeed had an idea of how to take it out. I looked at his eyes as I said… Want to sleep on my back tonight?... and just within a second Patrick’s stance relaxed, recovering his natural strength and his mind became clear to a solid thought as he sweetly smiled… Yeah…  Then Patrick proceeded to climb to my claw and then I gave him a boost to reach my back.

 

I walked away for a little while and then dropped myself to the ground with a sigh. Even though during the day we didn’t do anything laborious whatsoever, I had lost so much sleep last night that I feared I might not get it back for tomorrow, but whatever.

 

Good night, Pat.

 

Patrick patted my shoulder and answered… Good night, Furia.

 

Then there came that uncomfortable lapse of time between lying motionless and sleep… and as much as I allowed my mind to just banish into unconsciousness, it wouldn’t just take the hint. I felt colder than regular… could it be? Oh f**k no! come on!... and as much as I wanted to deny it… I missed Helios’s embrace. Suddenly, all that was present in my mind was Helios… nothing especial about his physic but his sunny bright yellow scales and golden eyes… what I craved for was his embrace… I would just give anything to have Helios by my side right now.

 

You sure give Helios a good piece of your thoughts.

 

My eyes snapped open as I suddenly shivered. Patrick then said… Wow, Furia! Sorry! I didn’t mean to upset you. I won’t mention it again.

 

I was careless and didn’t block my thoughts to ease up getting my sleep. Now Patrick knew, at least enough to deduce my feelings toward Helios.

 

It… It’s ok Pat…

 

A couple of minutes passed and none of us said a single word. Patrick’s presence was so uncomfortably absent I thought he might be asleep, but he neither felt that gone, and also I felt afraid of talking to him, for it might encourage him to ask about the matter. At a moment I couldn’t hold the urge to speak up, probably even revealing to Patrick about my feelings… I decided to just do it.

 

Patrick… are… are you sleeping?

 

No… What is it?

 

I swallowed dry and went for it… I… about earlier… I sort of… have a crush on Helios.

 

Then Patrick’s reaction was so unexpected… Really? That’s so nice, Furia.

 

You mean it? And… isn’t it weird that Helios’s rider is your friend?

 

Of course not, Furia! I can’t just force you to love whoever my lover’s dragon might be, now can I? Without mentioning that through all this you can spare your thoughts for love? I’m so glad you have!

 

Patrick finished patting my shoulder as I hummed gravely, alleviated from that hideous weight of hiding my feelings. Then Patrick continued and said…

 

When are you going to tell him?

 

Right after all this.

 

Nice… just don’t get nervous when you do. I’m sure he’ll answer you well.

 

I then heard Patrick howl with a yawn and felt him moving around, changing his position and continued talking…

 

I hope too I have enough energy for tomorrow… We better fall asleep soon enough to get some… Good night, Furia.

 

Good night, Pat.

 

I then started to drift off in my mind that finally stood quiet long enough to make me realize there was still something wrong… Without making a single sound, I softly touched Patrick’s mind and called him up as quietly as I could…

 

Pat… Are you still awake?

 

There came no answer from Patrick, he was deeply asleep. I then started to feel guilty for having hidden this from Patrick. You are the best, Pat… I said again as softly as I could… I’m sorry for not trusting you this… I’ll always love you.

 

That said, I could finally fall asleep.