Aiden Thinsule's Story

The clouds obscured the sun and called for an overcast day in the city of Pruwas. In truth, many of the days were like this. The region, bustling with those of the darker magics, was quite developed and the clouds were probably made of smog for the most part. In a small duplex, a tan young man was just beginning to stir in his bed. This young man, Aiden, was no man after all. The scar of teeth marks on his right side showed that he was a werewolf.

Regardless of his species, he was still beginning to wake up. He was still slightly groggy from the late night before, which had been a full moon, the one night he couldn't control his powers. He sat up out of bed slowly, stumbling to his small bathroom, grabbing a grey t-shirt, red plaid button up shirt, and faded jeans. He took a rather quick, and unfortunately, cold shower before drying and dressing himself for the day. He took some gel in his hands and tousled his hair with it until he got it to stay a way he liked it. After that, he put some beat up converse on and grabbed the keys to his motorcycle, throwing his leather jacket on, and leaving the house. Maybe he could find some odd jobs to do today. He would travel East today, see if they had some openings for him. With that thought, he started the bike and began riding toward the East.

The morning dew tells that last night's air was cool and moist. Everything seemed normal in a tree housing neighbourhood in Clearwood until a thunder like sound was heard, attracting some curious inhabitants. Toko, the sheriff was also one of the curious creature. When he turned a corner, his eyes widened in surprise to see a white furry dragon the size of a small house hanging on a large tree, hunting tree lambs that were kept as livestock kept in a pen.

“Everyone get back to your houses! Quick!” The sheriff told everyone that was there

There are many varieties of lambs in Daughtris. The tree lambs are round shaped lambs that have the abilities to climb sideways on trees which are why they are mostly found in Clearwood region. These furry creatures breed fast, easily multiplying their numbers. They are a great source of protein and milk which is why their produce is sold in the entire Daughtris.

There are also many varieties of dragons in Daughtris. Some are intelligent and able to talk and live as the humans do but not this white furry dragon. It is a wild animal that hunts to eat. Most dragons have horns on their head. If their horns are broken, they don’t stray far from their homes and only eats fruits nearby, saving people from losing their livestock. The horns may grow back in a weeks, months, or years, up to what kind of dragon it is.

The dragon has finished eating its meal for the day. It leaned its head back and sprayed blue fire to the sky, as a gesture that it was full and may come again later to feed again. With a stroke of its wings, it was up in the air. Another few strokes and it was gone.

“Sonava bitch!” The sheriff cursed out loud. “A few mothers placed their hands on their children's ears, shaking their heads at the sheriff. “Ops… sorry bout that” He apologized and tilted his hat to them “I’m going to have to call a hunter to get rid of that dragon…” He explained to them before walking back to his tree house

A hunter is needed to break the dragon’s horn or else it’s going to come back. Toko just knew who to call. He picked up his cell phone that he placed on the corner table of his bedroom and started texting. One last press of the cell phone and a short text message was sent to Aiden Thinsule.

Aiden had stopped his bike and parked it, resting in the parking area. So far, he had no luck in finding any jobs. He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, not really knowing what to do now. There were no jobs in the areas he had been in, but he was running out of gas. He didn't have the money right now to fill the tank back up, and he estimated he had a little more than enough to get back home. Looked like he wouldn't be buying groceries tonight.

That was about the time that he felt his phone vibrate in the pocket of his jeans. He quickly pulled it out, hoping it would be a job. His hopes were answered. It was a text from Toko, the sheriff of Clearwood. Apparently there was some pesky dragon issue over there. Aiden did the calculations in his head. He had just enough gas to get there. Hopefully someone would be able to pay him some amount of money, or even just give him gas. Anything would be nice, really. Beggars can't be choosers, after all.

With that, Aiden started the motorcycle up again to a roar and sped down the streets and to the highways. Within a few hours, he had made it to Clearwood, where the morning was just beginning to break. He made his way over to Toko. "Do you have any sort of supplies for me, sheriff?" He asked, seeing as he hadn't brought any weapons with him. He could see that the dragon had already done lots of damage, so they had no time to waste.

It has been a day passed since the dragon incident. Toko was watching the tree sheeps in their pen. Until a familiar voice was heard. "Do you have any sort of supplies for me, sheriff?"

Toko turned around and saw Aiden. Toko was smiling but not a lot of people would notice the changes of his doggy lips when he did.

"Aiden! So nice of you to drop by and end us of the dragon problem" Toko said to Aiden. He paused for a second before asking "what supplies do you need, my pal?"

Aiden looked around at the damage done to the city around him, thinking about the supplies he would need. "Well, a gun, a large amount of netting, maybe like the kind they use in those large fishing boats, some rope, a sick and dying animal, preferably livestock, and perhaps a sword of some kind." Aiden already had a plan formulating in his mind as to what would happen with this dragon, should everything go according to plan. "Oh, and I need some sort of large wooded area near here to do all of this in." He planned to trap the dragon and kill it, since this type reproduced rather quickly and wouldn't be missed.

"Guns, ropes, sword and livestock are easy to find but we are going to have to substitute those fishing net with silk net. It's strength is quite the same as Avory's fishing net so I guess it would serve its purpose" Toko explained.

It only took Toko a few minutes to prepare the things needed. He placed them all in a black bag with dimension spell imbued on it. The outside of the bag looks small but the space inside is big enough to fit everything.

"Here. You can find everything inside" he said, holding the bag for Aiden to take. "Last I saw the dragon, it was heading east"

Suddenly, a ringing sound could be heard. "oh sorry. Phone" Toko apologized before taking his phone from under his dimension imbued hat. "Hello?"

"What?!" Toko said a little annoyed "What the hell are you calling me for?! The sheriff is not someone you call when you need a handyman, Alica" He questioned and explained while trying to calm himself down. "I'll call and send the handyman for you just this one time but next time, call one yourself"

Aiden took the bag from Tomorrow, but before he could reply in thanks, the sheriff's phone rang. Aiden simply nodded his head at the sheriff and began to walk east. There was a fairly nice sized wooded area, the type he had been looking for. And it seemed there were no houses around, so no one would be hurt in the process. Aiden took the bag and began to empty it's contents. He began to diligently work at the trap he had planned, climbing into the trees to tie the net between two of them. The net seemed to be sturdy enough, as the sheriff had said. He then crippled the poor animal, being sure that it wasn't in a way that was painful, and laid it on the ground way in front of the trees with the net. The dragon would need to begin it's decent to the ground before the animal, so if his calculations were correct, it would become trapped in the net. Aiden took the gun and sword, then hid in some bushes, lying in wait for the mighty beast.

A beautiful white figure slowly descended down from the sky with its wide feathery wings spread. Cracks were heard from the tree branches where it landed. A smell of an easy meal has drawn it to the area. It moved its head around and down, trying to figure out where the aroma was coming from before landing its eyes on the live bait. Curious why the creature wasn't fleeing for its life, it leaned its head close to the creature, noticing it was crippled. The dragon dropped down to the ground, shaking the earth slightly, springing the trap which released the net on it.

Aiden leapt up at the sound of the trap being triggered. He would have limited time before the dragon figured out a way to escape. The trap wasn't really one meant to last long. He just needed it to get the job started. Aiden sprinted to the site of the trap, seeing the dragon entangled with the net on the ground. He took out the gun he had asked for, pointed it at the dragon's head, and shot.

Ping!

As he feared it might, the dragon had a few protective scales around it's head. Most dragons do, but some get theirs ripped off in some accident. Unfortunately, this did not seem to be the case with this one. But he had planned for this, as every good hunter did. Aiden drew the sword he had asked for, approached the dragon, and began attempting to tear the scales off with the blade. The dragon was thrashing, and this made the job all that more difficult, but eventually Aiden managed to finish the task. He then put the gun to his shoulder again. It was a small, and mobile, target. Naturally, the first few times he attempted the shot, he missed. However, finally, on the second to last bullet, he hit his mark and the dragon fell. He ten went to the animal and put it out of its misery, apologizing to its corpse for having to put it through that.

Aiden made his way back to the town and found Toko, the sherif. He strode over to him and handed him the bag with all the supplies in it. "The corpse is in the forest down that way." He said, pointing to the direction in which he came. "I didn't mangle the body, so the parts of the dragon can be used by the people if they wish."

"You killed it?!" Toko questioned in shock "you could've just broke one of its horn and it would stop bothering the neighbourhood" pausing for a second before sighing and continued "but I guess what's done is done". "I guess the usual payment would suffice, right?" Toko questioned while looking around then to the sky. "The sun is almost setting. You should stay at the inn for the night. I'll pay for the room"

It was already pass noon in Lightwake. Trish shift is done for the day and he doesn’t have to go to work for another two days. When he reached his scooter, he quickly wore his helmet before starting the motor. A screech was heard before the scooter carried him away.

A few minutes later, Trish reached his apartment. Leaning his back to the wall of the building was Lionel, saluting Trish casually with a smile on.

"Lionel!" Trish cried out while parking his motor in front of the garage. He got off the scooter and took off the helmet, laying it on the seat before jogged towards Lionel with arms spread. Lionel did the same and they hugged.

"Long time no see, man" Trish said cheerfully while patting Lionel's back.

"You too, Trish" Lionel patted back and released

“So how’ve you been?” Trish questioned

“I’ve been good” Lionel answered “you?”

“Never been better, man” Trish grinned

“Hei, have you seen the fireflies in Clearwood before?” Lionel asked, smiling

“Ahh…” Trish thought for a moment before answering “No, I don’t think so”

A grin appeared on Lionel’s face. “Wanna check them out?” He invited

“Sure, I don’t need to go to work for another two days” Trish grinned back “Let me just lock my scooter in the garage first”

Excited, Trish ran to scooter and pushed it in front of the garage. The barrier surrounding the building opened up a little before the garage gate automatically opened. Trish pushed it in before running out again before the garage door and the barrier became whole once more.

Lionel placed his arm across Trish’s shoulder and took a small tear shaped glass bottle filled with red substance from his pant's front pocket. “Ready?” He questioned. Trish responded with a grin and nodded. The bottle was smashed on the ground and black flame rose from it. “Let’s go” Lionel said and both of them walked through the fire.

In the metropolis of Clearwood, on a large branch of a giant tree, there was a sigil carved. Black fire rose up from the sigil before Trish and Trish appeared. They both looked to their surroundings before at each other.

“This is Clearwood’s metropolis” Lionel told Trish “We have to take the air-taxi to get to the village where the fireflies are”

“After you” Trish responded and patted Lionel’s shoulders

Time has passed. Lionel and Trish reached the village with the air-taxi which they took from the metropolis. They were walking through the neighbourhood. Trish’s attention was to Lionel, exchanging stories with the half demon but wasn’t concentrating to where he was going

“I was savouring the moment when a black haired female elf appeared on the ro-“ Trish was talking

“Trish watch out” Lionel warned but it was late

Trish ran into a blonde male from behind.

Aiden was slightly irritated now, it seemed the sheriff was ungrateful. "You know what? Forget it! Forget you! You wanted me to ge rid of it, I did! It's never going to bother the town again, that's what you asked for!" Aiden felt his body begin to shudder and his eyes turned a light yellow color. "It isn't like those things don't reproduce quickly enough! It's one goddamn dragon Toko!" Aiden felt his nails begin to grow to a point, and he closed his eyes and began to take deep breaths. He knew he needed to get control of himself. He slowly opened his eyes once more and they were back to the normal brown color they always were, and the shaking in his body stopped. "You know what Toko? I don't need anything from you."

Aiden was just about to turn and walk away when a man bumped into him. He turned and there were two fairly handsome men behind him. "Uh, can I help you?"

"What? What is up with the sudden anger?" Toko muttered confusion.

"Sorry, wasn't paying attention to where I was going" Trish apologized.

In reflex, Lionel checked the blonde guy out. Their height seems to be the same but the blonde seems to be younger with a softer clean looking face and a well built body. In that moment, A feeling of attraction appeared in Lionel for the blonde.

Lionel watched Trish for a moment before turning his head back to the blonde. "you a native here?" Lionel questioned, starting a conversation between them.

Aiden shook his head at Toko. "I'll talk to you about it later, sheriff." He said to him in a slightly annoyed tone of voice. After that, he turned toward the two attractive men. Both had darker hair and a strong face, and they were both attractive. Though, Aiden had to admit that the paler one attracted him more than the other. "It's alright, don't worry about it." Aiden said to the tanner of the two men. He then directed his attention to the other man when he asked a question. "Nah. I come from Pruwas. D'you come from here?" He asked, his Australian twang coming out in his voice.

Toko left and headed towards Alica's house to check up on her. If Aiden wants to get paid, he would have to find the dog-kind beast-man later.

"Ah~" Lionel sounded amused. A flirting smile curved on his lips "you and I are from the same region" Lionel told the blonde.

Trish gave a friendly smile, constantly changing gaze from Lionel and the blonde. "I'm Trish" he introduced himself, giving the blonde a casual salute

"Lionel" Lionel introduced himself to the blonde.

While waiting for the blonde to respond, Lionel made a cigarette appear on his palm out of nowhere using a dimension spell and placed it between his lips. He covered the cigarette from the wind with his left hand and lighted it with blue flame that rose from the tip of his right hand index finger, pointing up to the cigarette.

Aiden chuckled slightly at the look on the man who's name was Lionel's face. It seemed he may be a bit flirty. "I've never seen you around. Maybe we need to change that." He said with a small smirk at the man. "I'm Aiden, by the way." He then turned his attention to Trish. "And it'd be nice to get to know you too." He gave a shy smile, feeling his shyness coming to him once more.

Ringing was heard coming from Trish's pants. He was startled by the sound and quickly took out a phone from the front pocket of his pants. He raised it for the two to see, excusing himself, before signing with his other hand for the two to continue chatting.

After moving away a few feet from the two for some privacy, he touched the screen of the phone then held it beside his head. "Hello?" Trish said and waited for a moment for a respond but there was none. "Hello? Is anyone there?" Trish questioned, frowning a little. “Oh" He said, his expression relaxed a bit. "Ella?" He asked. He nodded a couple of times in reflex even though the person on the other side of the line won't be able see him. "Hei that's great" He smiled and glanced at the two before turning away "I'm great, yeah. I'm currently in Clearwood with a friend. We teleported" He said, raising his brows. "Listen, I'll be back in a few hours, how bout you meet me in downtown later?" Trish asked Ella "I'll be at a bar called Duskbreak in 23rd street"

Meanwhile, Lionel was alone with Aiden. Lionel glanced at Trish before turning his attention back to the good looking blonde guy. The burning tip of the cigarette brightened up blue when Lionel pulled in air through the cigarette’s bud. He then held it between his index and middle finger, holding in his breath for a few seconds.

“We are going to watch the famous fireflies of Clearwood” Lionel told Aiden before exhaling grey smoke out which smelled like coffee. “You wanna join us, Aiden?” Lionel invited Aiden with a smile “that is if you aren’t busy or anything…”

Aiden cleared his throat a bit, his face turning slightly pink as the invitation was extended. Yep, the shyness was definantly back. "Uh, sure. If you guys don't mind. Don't want to, uh, intrude on anything." He rubbed the back of his head a bit. Right now he was feeling downright horrible for lashing out at Toko. Perhaps he hadn't meant that he didn't appreciate what Aiden did. Aiden gave a slightly frown as he thought about it.

Lionel smiled at Aiden before walking to his side. He gave Aiden’s shoulder a slight friendly punch to break the ice between them. Trish was done with the call, he then came up to the two.

“Ready to go?” Trish asked

“Aiden is coming with us” Lionel told Trish and placed his arm around the blonde, smiling.

“Oh both of you are friends already?” Trish grinned. “We’ll let’s go then”

Lionel nodded and looked at Aiden with a smiled before walking ahead, smoking his cigarette.





They were waiting for the fireflies to appear on a field with tall but thin looking trees not far from the village. The first ten minutes was almost boring, nothing but darkness of the night. Only the sound of other animals like crickets no sight of the fireflies. The wind wasn’t blowing hard that night. Not much fluttering was done by the long grassed of the field. Lionel watched the trees in the jungle and the sky above before looking at the two which was not more than two feet away from him. A smile appeared on Lionel’s face. Somehow, it entertains him being in this condition with friends. He shook his head and he turned his gaze around once more.

A moment later, a tiny blue light could be seen flying around.

“Firefly…” Lionel whispered and nudged Trish for his attention

A second later, there were two. Another second more, there were three. A full five seconds later, thousands of tiny blue lights filled the area. Some was hanging to the trees while some were moving around the air, lighting up the area with blue. The sight was beautiful.

“Woo…” Trish muttered and grinned, amazed.

While gazing at the fire flies blue lights, Lionel walked backwards and stopped beside Aiden. For a moment, he was silent.

“Have you seen anything like this before?” He whispered a question to Aiden