[Team Future] (Here be dragons) Waiting for the End

[little_echo]

Title: Waiting for the End
Prompt: Here be dragons
Rating: pg-13
Warnings: guns, foul language every now and then
Note: 'GAU' is the German equivalent for maximum credible accident. I'm just using it in my fic because it's shorter and because I can.

The ghost of the old days

The moment Kurogane opened the door to Yuuko's pen, he knew she was not alone. Her dark melodious voice carried through the room, even when she spoke in hushed tones; the underlying tinny note became more prominent when she was excited. Not that she had many reasons to be excited these days – she hadn't seen the sky for almost a year.
The airman strode past a storage rack full of brushes and brooms and stopped a few meters from his girl and her visitor, choosing a little bit of comfortable space – not out of politeness but because it was Fai he was dealing with. Of course it was Fai – the other airmen had no interest in Yuuko and Fai was the only one crazy enough to sneak in, knowing very well what would await him if he got caught. So Kurogane took the moment to steel himself, prepare for the metaphorical dance that was about to happen whenever they met. One would suppose by now they would now the steps very well, would know how to avoid stepping on old wounds – and Fai did, only he chose to trip on purpose when it suited him. It wasn't helping at all that the blond bastard looked even prettier every time they met – it seemed like he had gained some weight on his scrawny limbs and the lines around his mouth and eyes when he smiled had lost their strained edge.
His bangs were tucked away with a set of bronze hairpins so that they wouldn't bother him while he sat crouched on a stool, scribbling away on an old college block.
What kind of idiot walked through the streets with a whole block of paper? The sheets had turned yellow and wavy around the edges but it was still worth enough to buy two meals for a little family, and it wasn't as if one couldn't get stabbed in the streets for the worth of that whimsical hairpieces alone- Kurogane figured he should have a serious conversation with Yuui soon, about how he could not at least try to talk some sense into Fai every now and then. (Ah, but that was a stupid promise, wasn't it? The times Yuui had visited the city during the last year were so scarce, he could count them with the fingers of his good hand alone.)
Yuuko was engrossed in talking about her favorite topic – the only topic that any member of the Dragon Force had.
“... anything but trustworthy, I can tell you. I tried to start a conversation during the last routine cleaning but this little arrogant thing refused to talk to me. Can you imagine?”
Fai chuckled and wetted his little finger, rubbing at a line he just drew to create some brushing effect or whatever it was that these artists did that looked like magic to anyone without talent. “I'm sure she didn't mean to be rude. I think it's the new feature, that keeps them from talking to anyone who is not their rider.”
“And what would you know about the new features?”, Kurogane interrupted and Yuuko's dark triangular head turned to face him. He could hear the cogs and gears whirr inside her, starting into motion to fuel the more complicated thought processions that were required for sarcasm.
“Oh, look who had come to bless us with our presence. Didn't your mother told you how to knock, you insolent little shit?”
Fai clucked his tongue disapprovingly, completely undisturbed by Kurogane's presence. “My my, Yuuko, a lady shouldn't curse.”
“And whose fault is it that she knows how to curse?” Kurogane snapped, crossing his arms over his chest in defense.
“You taught her.”
“If you hadn't flown like a madman, I...” He broke off, tripping over what he just said.
Fai seemed unaffected, only flashed him a little smile. “You say it like it's a bad thing,” he joked, not pointing out how many times Fai and Freya's suicidal maneuvers had saved Kurogane's precious ass during one of the rare but violent conflicts with a nest of crossbreeds. He didn't point it out because he refused to talk about Freya or anything that evolved around her and Kurogane knew better than to even try it. Prying would only result in Fai withdrawing.
So he settled for an indignant snort and muttered: “What are you here for, it's not even Wednesday.”
“I felt like I needed some space for drawing. And Yuuko always complains how boring company you are, so if I can give a lady some company and appreciate her beauty by trying to ban it on paper at the same time, I thought why not?”
Fai's eyes wandered back to the tip of his stubby pencil, but Kurogane didn't need to see his former fellow airman in the eyes to know that this was a big fat lie. Hell, even Yuuko knew, he could see it in the way her metal tail swished through the air, grazing the concrete walls and creating a small shower of sparks in the process. If there was one thing they had over there in the wastelands it was space. The dragon looked at Kurogane, her dark talons tapping against the floor as if she was expecting him to call the blond out on his shit. And just a year ago, he might have... but things had changed a lot since then and lying had become an option that Fai used a lot simply because he knew he would get away with it. He had his own life now, and as long as he stopped by every once in a while he could pretend to be a princess or a bunny, whatever suited him best.
All Kurogane could do was make the best of what they had now, so he trudged over, a closer look at the blond's sketch. If one could still call it one. It was more like a portrait of the dragon, showing her full body sitting with the posture of a sphinx, neck craned upwards with a royal grace, details and shadowing so accurate that Kurogane could imagine the wicked gleam in her eyes, though there was none. She seemed to be watching, or waiting. Fai had even bothered to add the larger scratches that covered her dark metal plates like a web of scar across a human's skin, just to make sure that everyone knew this girl, this woman, was a woman of war.
And all Kurogane could say was: “Yeah, looks nice, I guess.”
Fai chuckled so hard that his shoulders started shaking.
“What?”
“You're still terrible at flattery, I see.”
“Oh, for- what do you want me to do, sing a goddamn hymn of praise?”
“Aw...”, Fai cooed playfully and batted his lashes, “You think it's that good?”
Yuuko snorted and when a dragon snorted, it looked more like they burped fire out of their nostrils... although the main purpose of this part of the dragon anatomy was to serve as a relief valve, in case the steam pressure in her engine increased to a critical level. Not that it was likely – because none of the dragons of the old series was allowed to fly anymore and Kurogane had refused to let anyone shut her down, she was maintained on a low energy level - which in turn burned significant holes in the airman's paycheck.
“Get a room you two,” Yuuko demanded.
Kurogane grunted in response but laid his left, gloved hand on the blond's small shoulders. He could see Fai's back tense for a moment, but the blond didn't flinch.
“Actually...” Fai closed his block, stuffing the pencil behind his ear and placing his fingers over Kurogane's. They were just as calloused as the taller man remembered them, proof that what Fai was doing for a living had nothing to do with drawing. They squeezed and for a moment the black haired man wished he could feel this, that the digits underneath the fabric were still made of flesh and bones and not steel, brass and titanium.
'Actually we just might.'
There was no need to finish the sentence out loud.
“Humans,” Yuuko commented with something akin to a sigh.

A struggle on barren land

The bright afternoon sun was burning his neck as he was looking for a sign of intelligence in the eyes of the hunched creature that he had roused from its sleep. He was sweating; his blond bangs stuck to his forehead just like the beige cotton shirt under his sturdy leather vest stuck to his back and the weight of his backpack wasn't helping either.
“It's alright. I mean no harm. It's alright. I mean no-”
(He spoke these words over and over again like a prayer or – lacking a deity he could pray to – a lucky charm.)
“-harm,” Yuui finished and ducked as the creature made a leap for him, his feet skittering on dust and gravel, failing to provide him with a more solid stand. He clutched to the piece of tubing that he had found only minutes ago, and raised it like a club. He's always been a top member of the Dragon Force's softball team and his mutated friend would soon regret attacking him.
The mutie had distant resemblance with an ape, with arms that reached from its shoulders to the ground, and a dark, reddish-brown skin the color of dried blood... only its face looked like one had taken a plastic doll from the Old Age and held it to close the the intestines of a dragon; sunken, asymmetric, generally hideous. What disturbed Yuui the most were its eyes: bulging, and yellow where they should have been white, with a red corona around a dark brown iris. He knew the creature wasn't pleading, that the scheme of childlike characteristics was tricking his eyes and still pity stirred inside of him.
Its chest was heaving heavily, skin tight over a set of prominent ribs. The mutie was surely starving. But how quickly could all pity fade – the mutie leaped at him once more, both arms outstretched.
Yuui hit and with a terrible crack, bones broke under the metal. The impact also took up most of his swing's force, missing his opponents second arm and before he could react, spindly fingers closed around his throat.
Yuui dropped the pipe, trying to pry away the hand with both of his hands, to no avail.
Long nails grazing against his skin, digging deeper. The pressure against his windpipe increased.
He could not... not properly breathe...
Struggling he dug his nails into the mutie's wrist, opening dry, soft skin but it didn't back down-
There was an inhuman shriek like two metals forcibly grinding against each other, then heat hit his side like a wave as a trail of crimson flames hit the ground. The mutant let go, shying away from the fire.
Yuui ran, ran towards the flames who quickly died down because they could find no more nourishment than any other creature out in the Waste. Pieces of scrap clanged against each other in his backpack, weighing him down as he hopped over the churned ground. Yuui searched for cover behind the remnants of a wall. He peeked over the bricks, curiously scanning the blue-grey afternoon sky for a beacon, a large, dragon-shaped piece of metal reflecting the sun.
Her wings were the shape of straight rectangular planes as she leaned into a curve, and came back. She dropped drastically, gaining speed from the fall, going back into a straight course only meters above the ground, raising a cloud of dust behind her trail.
The dragon opened her mouth and breathed fire but even the sudden roar of her engine could not drown the high-pitched screech of the burning mutie.
Yuui's entire body broke out into goosebumps. A sense of dread crept over him, his heartbeat rose. A wind picked up, carrying the smell of roasted meat. It took all his self-control not to turn sideways and vomit on the ground.
'Pathetic,' he scolded himself. 'You're so so pathetic.'
(Killing was the part he had always hated; one didn't sign in for the Dragon Force for the killing, one signed in for the flying, and oh, how he had done his fair share of killing because that was what he'd been expected to do and because it was so much easier when one was up in the air - but that didn't make it right and he had lost more than one nights sleep due to his nagging conscious.)
The ground shook as the dragon came to land in three bouncing jumps, probably hobbling like an emu – Yuui had seen this before and it was laughable. He didn't need to look. He didn't want to look.
Stones crunched under heavy boots as the rider jumped off his mount and strode towards the ruins. A voice, familiar and in equal amounts welcome and unwelcome called out for Yuui. The blond sighed and stood up, bracing himself against the low brick wall. “I'm here.”
He was greeted by a bright, somewhat proud smile from the young airman and Yuui had expected no less. He was handsome, much like his brother (exactly like his brother) yet still very different in the way he expressed himself.
“Did you just see me?” There were red rings around his eyes were his flying goggles had pressed against his skin. He had pulled the goggles down; their rubber band hung loosely around his neck.
“Yes, Syaoron. I did,” he offered with a sigh. “That was a very reckless maneuver.”
Syaoron shrugged. “Well, you have to be good before you can be reckless.”
Careless, that was what it was. Careless and foolish, what the hell was Vision thinking, letting boys ride these dumbed-down dragons, especially a boy that was so eager to laugh at the face of danger?
“One day, young man, you will break your neck.”
Syaoron leaned in closer, smug like the cat who stole some cream. He smelled of grease and ash, of hot metal and sweat and Yuui was torn between swiping that grin off his face and getting closer to soak in these scents and savor the homesickness they caused.
“Do you need a ride?” There was something slightly flirtatious about the way Syaoron spoke, a subtle nuance of his natural provocative manner and Yuui would have missed it, had this been the first time that the young man made an approach.
“I'd rather walk home, thank you.”
Yuui hopped over the wall, and jogged back to the place where he thought he had dropped the tubing. He tried to ignore the charred mess at the brink of his vision that used to be a mutant. (It didn't move; luckily the dragonfire burned hot enough to boil one's lungs, should one breathe in while being exposed to it, which resulted in a quick but painful death.)
“I'll be more careful, I promise,” Syaoron shouted.
Yuui sighed. He picked up his piece of piping and a few smaller scraps of metal that poked out of the ground, and stuffed them in his backpack. His shoulders already hurt and the long walk it had required to get to this long-abandoned remains of human settlement would seem even longer with the additional weight. So it was more a question of considering if his back would hate him more for walking or riding a dragon and he remembered clearly how sore he had been after his first time riding Elda.
“No suicidal maneuvers. No loopings, no showing off. Do you hear me, young man?”
The grin on Syaoron's face could only be described as radiant, which was a bit ironic regarding the fact that nineteen years ago, around the time when the brunet had been born, the area where they were now had still been declared restricted due to the remaining dosage of radiation after the Marina super GAU.
He approached the dragon hesitantly; the sight of her motionless tail upset him. He had grown into the job learning to look out for the tail; one stupid remark and your dragon lady might as well slap you right across the face for your indulgence – he had seen that happen often enough. His Elda had been a kind one but Yuuko... well.
This one would slap nobody. This one was more machine than a companion and sometimes Yuui wondered why Syaoron was not bothered by this at all until he remembered that this was the only kind of dragon the young man had ever known.
Syaoron mounted, and Yuui followed close behind, heaving himself up with an ease he had not expected. It's been more than a year that he had sat on the back of a dragon but his body remembered the feeling all too well.
“Hold on tight, the start is always a bit bumpy.”
The blond wrapped his arms around the airman's stomach, leaving as few space between them as possible as Syaoron bent over to reach for the control panel at the base of the dragon's neck.
“I've flown with my brother before. I know the drill.”
“Good. Naoko?”
The lamps underneath a row of switches sprang to live.
“Password accepted. Dragon Unit Oh Four is ready and waiting for orders,” the dragon replied in a monotonous, tinny voice.
“Initiate flying mode.”
“Roger. Initiating flying mode.”
Parrots. That's what they were, not dragons, parrots. Sure, from what Yuui had heard they did own a limited AI, but no personality program. Still...
“You gave her a name?”, he asked as the dragon rose to her feet, shaking them to the left, then to the right. “I heard that's not allowed.”
“Not quite. It's unnecessary, yes, and President Rondart regards it as stupid, but it's not forbidden. Besides, I didn't give her a name. I just chose a password that happens to be a woman's name.” Syaoron flashed him a crooked smile before he put his flying goggles on. “You better close your eyes.”
The dragon broke into a jumpy run, leaping higher with each step, until after the seventh jump she unfolded her straight wings. Turbines started to wail beneath them and on each flank, soaking in air and driving her rigid metal body forward.
And, just like that, Yuui was flying once more.
He had expected it to feel like coming home, but it didn't.
Not at all.

The early days

The sky used to be their home.
Flying, experiencing an illusion of complete freedom, forming a unit with their dragons; this was the life of a dragon rider and they lived it from day to day. Few actually bothered with the question what was coming after that, when they were older and so worn-out that they could no longer sit straight on their girl's back. The Fluorite twins have been an exception; they had been the ones who had not chosen this life. Rather, the life of a dragon rider had chosen them.
Yuui was a programmer, one of the privileged, because all still functioning computers that had been found after the explosion of the nuclear power station Marina had been claimed by the state.
Fai was an engineer.
They had been twenty when the old President Reed had initiated the dragon project and because Clow Reed was a peculiar man, he decided that he shall have intelligent mechanic beasts that had their own mind. He wanted them to support their riders, to be self-aware and unafraid.
He wanted to make a fairy tale come true in a land that was in dire need of some hope and so, Fai and Yuui answered his call.
Fai designed some of the dragons. Yuui gave them a soul. While the other programmers in the team focused more on the task of creating an artificial intelligence that allowed the dragon to navigate and evaluate critical situations and to move on its own two legs, the younger Fluorite brother wrecked his brain over individual personality codes that were later embedded in the main code, codes that made the dragons to their girls.
Yuui made Hikaru, made Elda and Freya and also Yuuko; he had a special hand for that because he was a good listener and it was not much of a secret that he used the personality of people he knew and cared about as a template.
It took the team of scientists and programmers eighteen months to build six dragons. It took another month to find suited riders for any of them, because... the ladies turned out to be quite picky. Safe for Yumi and Beast, who had been typed together by a rather weird man that everyone just called Icchan, the dragons refused to accept just any rider, especially those who had been picked by the ministry of defense. Therefore, the position of a dragon rider became available to anyone, from the boy on the street to the upper class industrial manufacturer.
It just happened to be that two of the men who had been involved in the process of 'fathering' were picked to be also riders. (It also happened to be that Yuuko picked a simple garbage man with a temper that quickly rubbed off on the dragon. The joke, of course, was that her rider later fell in love with the very same person who had served as the role model for Yuuko's personality.)
For more than five years they flew the heavens over the arid post-GAU lands, until that one terrible night when Yuui didn't return from his regular patrol. When a bunch of crossbreeds – the rare offspring of humans an muties – had the nerves and equipment to pluck Elda out of the skies and tear her apart, bit by bit, to satisfy their curiosity.
And when Elda died, Freya went berserk.
That night marked the end of the 'old generation' of dragons and led to a re-discussion of the Mutant Policy.
In the blur of events that followed, Fai turned his back to the Dragon Force as he knew it, not willing to just stand there and watch it fall apart, but at the same time clueless how to avoid the undesired outcome.
So he left.
And Yuui followed close behind.

The lovers

With an lazy eye, Kurogane watched the pale, calloused finger tracing circles on his left palm. He could not feel the touch, could only imagine that it might tickle a bit, but he had no reason to be sorry. He was alive, he had an able body that allowed him to fly a dragon, and sometimes he had Fai. And, what was even more important, the blond no longer had this guilty look in his eyes when Kurogane took off his glove during foreplay. (Sex had been incredibly awkward the first six months after his accident, aside from the pain, he always had to look out not to use his mechanical arm to reach out for his lover, because it had spooked Fai. Not to mention the bruises he had left on these skinny hips, before he had learned how to deal with the new strength of his prosthetic limb.)
Things were getting better, weren't they?
Fai was visiting the city more often to sell the latest tools he had tinkered together, or some of the vegetables and fruits his bother had grown; he had gained some weight and had become more settled. And in moments like this when they were together, their skin still sticky from sweat and semen, their bodies heavy from the afterglow, he could almost believe things were like they used to be, back then when they used to be partners, friends, almost betrothed rather than being friendly strangers who occasionally sought each other's company.
“Kuro-quiet?”, Fai asked, letting his head droop on Kurogane's chest. His finger trailed deeper, to the place where metal and flesh connected in a clean, sharp line.
“Hm?
“Can I draw your arm?”
“Why?”
“I want to know how it works.”
“Then ask the creep who made it,” he dismissed.
“I did. Mister Mihara wasn't very helpful when it came to the question of the information transfer between the brain and the mechanical muscles, though.”
Kurogane let out a long-suffering sigh and wrapped his good arm around the other man's waist. “Whatever. Just don't break anything.”
“I would never.”
“You slaughtered my radio once, remember?”
Fai pouted. It was an endearing, very kissable pout. Not that Kurogane would let him know. “I needed the electromagnets of the loudspeaker to pull that cog out of Yuuko, the very cog that came loose because someone was riding his dragon too rough.”
The playful banter, the familiarity of their naked bodies intertwined made Kurogane believe that the world wasn't such a shitty place after all.
Even the goddamn crossbreeds have made themselves scarce and the reports of traveling merchants, nomads and rogues being attacked by muties became rarer.
Still.
Something was bothering Kurogane, like a nagging itch under his skin at a spot that he couldn't reached with his hands.

Home, where the riff-raff gathers

The closest thing the twins had to an actual home – a place made of four walls and a roof – was the old library.
Everyone in the capital knew the old library, yet few had actually been there. It was too much on the wrong side of the city walls to make an attractive destination for a random stop-by and also there was this not so unimportant detail that it was part of an abandoned prison complex that made people uneasy. But the bars that kept the inmates in did a good job of keeping mutants out.
When Fai approached the library that night, he could hear the squeaking of the wind turbines he had installed on the roof, which meant that he would have to oil every single rotor first thing in the morning. He liked to be thorough – during the next months, they could not afford any power blackouts, nor had they any scrap metal to spare to replace a broken axis or the S-shaped vertical rotors.
Fai pulled the lever next to the door and started to count to six. The lever was part of a contraption of wheels and wires, of several pulleys, a mechanism designed to do nothing else but turn on an old gramophone. Six seconds later, even through the thick steel core, he could hear the faint tones of Debussy's Clair de Lune. Granted, he could have designed an easier doorbell, but where was the fun in that? Who said that the symbiosis of form and function meant that a device who served a simple purpose had to look simple as well? Perhaps it was snotty, but Fai tried to avoid simplicity.
He could hear bolts turning inside the door's framework and slowly, it opened just a crack. A green eye, almost hidden behind long auburn bangs peeked at him curiously.
“It's just me, Sakura-chan.”
“It's Fai!”, Sakura yelled over her shoulder and then two pairs of hands were pulling back the heavy steel door just wide enough to let Fai slip in. The kids hurried to close the door right behind him, to keep the dust and much worse things than the dust out. Fai turned off the gramophone and set the mechanism of the doorbell back to its active mode.
“Welcome home,” Syaoran greeted, his face slightly flushed due to the exertion or perhaps the fact that his arms brushed against Sakura's as they pushed. “Good thing you're early. Yuui's making dinner.”
“Yuui's home already?”, Fai asked. It was barely after sunset and with the distances they had to cross to reach areas that haven't been devoid of all scrap metal yet, it wasn't unusual for them to sleep one night out in the wastelands and to make the way home in the early morning light.
“Brother dropped him off.”
“Ah, Syaoron is just too kind,” Fai chuckled, his face brightening. If Yuui was standing in the kitchen, that meant his brother was having one of his better days.
“Did you get what you needed?”, Sakura asked.
“Most of it. But let's talk about our process later. I'm famished.”
The teens said nothing, but he could read in their faces that they were anything but avert to the idea. According to their society's standards Sakura, Syaoran and Syaoron were rogues; people that had lost their status as citizens (or had never owned one) and who lived in the law-free zone of the Waste; hunger was a daily problem and it was somehow considered rude to mention one's own empty stomach.
They sat down in the reading room, because no matter how often Syaoran would complain that the aroma of the food would settle in the pages of the books, this was the only place with a table large enough for their little group to eat together. Actually, it was the only place in the entire library who still had a table that was suited for eating on it because all the other ones had been gathered in the cellar and were stained with soot and motor oil. Another disadvantage of this location was that one had to look very careful where to step, unless one wanted to trip over one of the dozens roses of Jericho that were strewn all over the place to keep the air dry.
The meal was a rabbit stew of carrots, turnips and potatoes and everyone silently supped out of their cracked china bowls while Yuui opened the yellowed pre-GAU map that showed the Southern regions of the United Nations of Antone, with a lot of graphite scribbles and notes added to it. For example, the entire nation of Sallany was surrounded by a big shaded circle, which was marked with the words Marina and represented not, as one might presume, the location of the former nuclear power plant, but the area that has been destroyed because of the meltdown and that was still polluted with dangerous dosage of radiation. There were other blotches added, surrounding the capital; city names were crossed out and while Yuui was eating, he added one more area using his left hand and marked it with a red cross.
“You've been attacked?” Fai asked abruptly, still chewing. They used red crayons for mutie encounters and a green one for crossbreed encounters.
“It was nothing,” his twin assured with a small smile. “The mutie was starving and weak. Most of them are, lately.” Yuui didn't add 'the ones that don't live with humans' because he didn't need to. Depending on the degree of mutation, some of the mutants almost looked human again and some could even speak. There was no safe way to study them and most of what was known about mutants relied on reports of nomads and people who searched the waste for resources. One mutie alone was not a threat – they were anything but social and hardly formed larger groups but some more intelligent had begun to form a symbiosis with groups of rogues or nomads (groups of people who wandered through the Waste, who had regarded themselves as citizens). Alliances like those sometimes resulted in offspring; also known as crossbreeds. They were something to worry about – they were intelligent and organized. A group of crossbreeds had the brains to pluck a dragon and her rider out of the air – no one could testify this better than Yuui.
“Alright,” Fai sighed and a little bit of the tension in his shoulders eased. “So, anyone- how much progress did you make?”
“I melted and cast-in the first parts of the wings.” Syaoran said.
“And I installed Fuu today. She is still in her learning phase, but she's very quiet and doesn't have much of a temper,” Sakura added. “If everything goes well, we can start making flying tests tomorrow night.”
“The problem-”, Yuui began, rubbing his neck and leaning back in his chair, “is that it's getting harder and harder to get more material. We have searched the entire area around the capital and without a vehicle of some sort it will take up too much time to get to the next city, especially because we don't know if there is still something to find.”
“And by vehicle you mean something faster than a bicycle, I presume?” Fai asked sheepishly and Yuui was anything but amused. The older twin let out a long, suffering sigh, just dramatic enough to not be over the top. They were running out of resources, he knew that.
“Why can't we just use Fuu?”, Syaoran interjected.
Yuui shifted uncomfortably in his seat, but the lack of comfort was a physical one. (The members of their little rebellious crew of rogues and outcasts were well acquaint with the sight of the belly-dance of back pain, oh yes they were.) After something in his spine cracked – the way a knuckle would crack, only creepier – Yuui drew a long breath and explained: “I'd have to fly her only at night and make sure she is well hidden during the day. So that would not buy us any time and increase the risk of getting caught.”
“Then there is the problem with the fuel,” Fai added. “She's not running on steam like the other dragons but if I start buying large amounts of diesel, people will get suspicious.” He could lie, he was an excellent liar but all it took was one person – one aware airman that was capable of seeing right through him – and they were screwed.
“No,” Fai said eventually, “We have to find another solution and we have to find it fast because according to the grapevine the next public announcement will be in about two months.”
That caught everyone's attention and the room got quiet.
“Impossible,” Syaoran said with a frown.
Sakura looked equally taken aback. “It took us four months to build Fuu, even if the second dragon is going to be much smaller, we will never be done in time.”
But Fai was adamant; there had to be a way to finish preparations until that date, it would not do to wait for the following public announcement. The mood in the Lantern House – which was where the capital's impromptu government was seated – became less and less friendly towards not-citizens. The contact to the other states and the even the cities decreased drastically. Step by step, Kyle Rondart was isolating the capital from the rest of the world and who knew if the next law would forbid everyone who was not a citizen to enter the city? Luck was too sparse these days to test it.
“What if we don't have to build another dragon?”, Sakura asked.
Syaoran rubbed his eyes. “But the plan requires at least two dragons.”
“I know that,” the girl huffed, “All I'm saying is we won't have to build a new dragon from scratch – what did the Dragon Force do with the old generation?”
A mischievous spark settled in Fai's eyes and the lopsided smirk that formed on his lips was unsettling for Yuui. “Sakura, love, are you implying that we should sneak in to the capital and just steal one of their dragons?”
“I- uh, I guess I do?”
“That's dangerous!”, Syaoron objected.
“It's madness” Yuui added.
Fai waved a hand, airily. “Merely difficult.”
For the rest of dinner, a passive-aggressive silence dominated the air as Yuui sent his brother disapproving glances and the kids pretended not to notice.

Later, when he and Sakura had finished clearing the table and washing the dishes, Fai sneaked in his brother's room. Yuui was already in bed, lying flat on his stomach but due to his instincts or some strange twin telepathy Fai knew his brother was not asleep. He placed a gentle kiss on the top of soft, sand-colored hair that still smelled like sun and rocks and sweat before he sat down at the edge of the bed.
“Go away.” The words, muffled against a thick pillow, held no malice.
“Are you still mad at me?”
Yuui let out a grumble. He turned his head, coming to rest with his cheek pressed against the rough fabric of the pillow. “You know, it's not to late to just go back to the capital. Take some books with us, find jobs for Sakura and Syaoran and just deal with whatever the government throws at us.”
“You don't really believe that.”
“It would be safer.”
“For us. And every other citizen. Do you know that the Dragon Force does no longer serve a delivery purpose? The trade with the other cities is completely cut off. I think they are testing the autonomy of the city. I think they want to form a state inside the state.”
“I don't care, Fai.”
He patted Yuui's shoulder, hoping that it was just the fatigue speaking out of his brother. Yuui cared, Yuui always cared even if he should not, that was just who he was. It had always been Yuui's kindness that had inspired Fai, motivated him to be a better person – but a lot of his brothers all-loving attitude had been ripped away after the accident. It had left the younger twin bruised and scarred, but not bitter. No, the bitterness came later, crept in during their days in the Waste.
The Waste never changed and yet it changed people.
But one day.
One day when they had done what they had to do, when they had given their city the possibility to be a better place, maybe then they could go back and sow some hope. Until then...
“I have a shameless demand to make,” Fai announced and Yuui chuckled.
“As if you know any other kind.”

The beautiful Wednesday that followed

Even when he was sleeping, Kurogane was in a state of permanent alertness. He possessed the enviable talent to sleep wherever and whenever he needed to without much shifting and turning, which meant, that in a case of emergency – usually a fellow member being attacked by crossbreeds or muties there were few other things that posed a threat – he was the first one to mount his dragon, the first one up in the air, the one who took the lead despite the Dragon Force's official lead being the Eagle Vision.
Yet, the tall man never so much as flinched when Fai sneaked into his room. Fai was silent as a cat. Fai also meant no harm and Kurogane's subconscious was able to differ this man's presence from any other intruder. He did not wake until he felt a light touch against his shoulder.
It was still dark, too dark to see but the fingers brushing against his biceps felt familiar, just like the voice that called him not by his given name.
“Kuro-sleepy?”
“What?”, he asked, irritated. It was too early for sex, which was one of the main reasons why Fai visited him, unless it was something important... wait. Had something happened to Yuui? He rolled onto his back which was a mistake because now he could feel a curious finger poking his naked chest.
“Today's your day off, right?” Fai sounded sheepishly. Sheepish Fai was a bad sign, that meant he had something planned and he already knew that Kurogane wouldn't like it. Kurogane put a hand before his eyes. Damn that man. “Is it after midnight?”
“Yes.”
“Then today is my day off. Why?”
The shuffling of feet. “Do you have any plans?”
“I never have plans, dummy,” he retorted. The use of his spare time fell victim to spontaneous activities, most of them being some sort of physical exercise.
“Care to spend time with me?”
The creaking of a mattress, as it had to bear additional weight. Kurogane's eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room, noticing the silhouette of a lover at the edge of his bed. With a grunt, the airman threw back his blanket and reached out for the slender frame of Fai's body, pulling him closer.
“Sleep first,” he grumbled and with a giggle Fai snuggled up, burying his face against a strong chest. Kurogane buried his hand in soft locks that, for once, were not twisted and pinned up with clips and barrettes.
In the morning, he might just wake up to find that the blond had dragged in all kinds of dirt from the Waste but for now, he couldn't care less.
He slept easier, once his body had someone to hold.

In the morning, he should find out that Fai's idea of spending the day together was forcing Kurogane to wear his best suit, his shiniest boots, even a tie, which annoyed Kurogane to no end because he hated ties. He had strong hands, strong enough to lift up his lover and carry him over his shoulder, strong enough to hold the reigns of a dragon in the midst of a storm. He had scars and callouses and he wore them with pride, but when it came to a simple tie knot, they failed him. Technically, the motions were simple enough, but his fingers to tall, too clumsy (the mechanical ones even more so). And Fai was being a jerk, watching him struggle until he surrendered and asked for help.
Help that the blond was more than willing to provide. His hands, no less scarred than Kurogane's yet elegant and pale, were used to put clockworks of miniscule design together, to connect wires and position cogs with a set of pincers; a silken tie was no challenge for them.
Fai treated him to a late brunch – or early dinner depending on one's point of view – in one of the capital's more expensive restaurants. So expensive, they had meat on the menu, even if it was 'just' goat. Fai paid, Fai provided the conversation; idle chatting about books he had read, inventions he had re-discovered, about the plant seeds they had found in the Waste and that Yuui was growing and all that was required from Kurogane was an occasional nod or a question.
They sat on opposite chairs, separated by an old oaken table and the things they did not talk about. Freya. Elda. The two rogue kids that the twins now lived with and of whom Kurogane had seen neither hair nor hide, and who he would surely never meet because Fai made sure to keep his past well separated from his future. It was somehow assuring for the black haired man that he was the one tie to Fai's life as airman that he had not been able to cut off. (Kurogane still wondered if Fai's precious little rogue kids knew that he existed or if he kept him a secret, because that was the way most people proceeded with their late night booty calls. Kurogane liked to believe he was a little more than that, still the gap between what they had now and what they used to have was a pain to think about, a thorn in his side.)
Only at one point during the dessert, he interrupted Fai to ask if he was going to return to the city in the next months. Fai only showed him a wan smile and replied that he did not know. There were things that Kurogane wanted to reply but in the end, didn't.
Those things were: We could move together, you and I. Get a little apartment in the city. Well, maybe not so little after all, so that you can bring your brother along and the kids if you like. We could find a place with a roof terrace for a greenhouse if we only tried. You could find jobs for the kids if you asked your old friends in the ministry and as long as they are doing something for society, it should not be that hard to get them a status as citizens. We could be a family again, not like we used to be, as brothers-in-arms but a different kind of family, a better one.
The reason why he kept quiet: The idea that Fai was perfectly content with the family he already had, which caused Kurogane a persistent stomach ache when he allowed himself to think of that. And then there was Yuui. Always Yuui. Kurogane genuinely liked the younger Fluorite and it was terrible what had happened to him but Kurogane also knew that Fai was likely to use his brother as an excuse for not leaving the waste. Yuui was Fai's anchor, the one who kept him grounded and the main focus of Fai's life. Yuui was a sweet guy, who had not deserved to get fucked up by life but when had life ever given a shit about what people deserve? Fact was, he needed psychological help (perhaps they all did but Yuui needed it the most, no man should ever be forced to witness his girl being ripped apart by a group of crossbreeds, that was like having to watch your child being killed and defiled by strangers, it just wasn't right).
He was glad when Fai admitted that he would have some shopping to do – going to the market was a nice distraction.
The half withered sun-dial in the middle of the market place showed that it was short after 1 pm when they arrived there and the sun was warm enough to make a man curse his lover's insistence on donning formal wear. A light breeze from the swamps in the south was carrying a whiff of decomposition through the streets, that was more or less tolerated by the citizens because the swamps were rich of peat and thus both the source of the capitol's most important fossil fuel as well as the origin of a special kind of pneumonia that plagued the peat cutters, apparently caused by a fungus that inhabited the sun-dried material.
It was not long before Fai had his arm hooked under Kurogane's and debated with a merchant about the price of a bike who had a flat tire. The woman was excusing her astronomical prices with the argument that he only had to fix or replace the tire and it was as good as new, which was a joke because the nearest place to get tires was the rubber factory in Tallegry, and the only place to get there – for anyone who wasn't an airman – was by waiting for the expansion of the railway routes to be finished, which could take six months to three years, depending on the steel resources they could come up with. Of course, the merchant lady pretended to know nothing of this, once Kurogane confronted her with that fact. In the end, Fai ended up paying much more than he had needed to anyway, because he was just too kind. (The airman hoped that Fai's generosity was a sign that he squeezed out some decent money of the government whenever he installed another wind wheel and that the idiot had become better at dealing with money. Somehow, he doubted it. He made a mental note to pay for at least three of their future dates, just in case.)
“What do you want with a broken bike anyway?”, he grunted as they made their way to the dry fountain in the center of the Plaza of Remembrance, Fai leading the velocipede next to him.
“I bought another one last week. A BMX bike. With the frame and the wheel of this one and the smaller BMX wheel I will be able to build something akin to a penny farthing.”
“Oh,” Kurogane said.
“It's a vehicle,” Fai explained.
“I knew that,” the airman snapped, petulant. He hadn't. There was no way to know for sure with Fai – he could turn a bike frame into welding equipment.
They sat down at the brink of the fountain, stretching out their legs.
From the plaza one could see the estate on which the Lantern House was built. But the strong, withered sandstone pillars of the government's residence that had turned black throughout the years caught less attention than the building flanking it. Originally called 'the stables', this building housed both airmen and their dragons... but everyone referred to it as the Salmon, due to its reddish-pink color.
Fai prodded at Kurogane's cheek when he found that he was no longer the center of the tanned man's attention. “Hey, Kuro-stare!”
“What is it?”
Fai hooked a finger under Kurogane's tie and pulled the man down into a kiss, then and there. Their lips met slowly, friendly and with no urgency. Little did Kurogane know that while Fai was stealing kisses, Yuui and Syaoran were sneaking through the bowels of the Salmon, where the remains of the first generations of dragons were stored, to steal, well, dragons.

When the theft was noticed, there was reasonable suspicion that the criminal had been one of the airmen, since they were the ones who knew where the archive was situated and what could be found there. An investigation was initiated that lasted for a week. Both Kurogane and Syaoron were the first ones to be proven innocent for similar reasons. A handful of citizens could confirm that Kurogane had been out with his 'pretty blond boyfriend' (which was people's favorite description of Fai, never minding that the guy was an inventor and maybe just a little bit mad, nah, it was the prettiness that counted) while Rikuo had spotted the boy on a date with a girl, promenading along the city wall. Rikuo had also felt the need to tell that the girl had been way to cute for dating an airman and that her eyes had been as green as grass was supposed to be.
After careful consideration, Kurogane decided not to tell Fai about the incident.
The pieces that the thieves had stolen belonged mainly to Elda and Freya and it was best when some old wounds remained untouched.

The start of the day that changed not everything but a lot

As he woke early on the day of the announcement, Kurogane noticed two things. First, his bed was too empty. There was just him and the scent clinging to his sheet that remained like an olfactory ghost image of the lover that left during the night. Second, his hand responded somewhat sluggish to his demands. It wasn't until he went to the kitchen for breakfast that the creaking started, the unmistakable complained of strained metal.
Kurogane had learned to dread the creaking sound, especially if the origin was his own prosthetic. He had ruined his hand once, after crash landing Yuzuki during his first flight with her. (His new dragon was numbered DU03, but Kurogane had been one of the first to re-name his girl and some of the enthusiastic newbies had picked the habit up. He had decided not to be impressed nor flattered by this act of false camaraderie.)
Some of the fine workings in his palm had cracked and had to be replaced, which lead to three days where he hadn't been able to fly and never mind that flying was not the same anymore with a girl who was too hesitant, too sweet and obedient, it was still bothersome. He had never been good at sitting his ass sore.
The dragon rider had been spared further accidents and always showed up at his monthly inspections to let his arm get checked for parts that needed replacement. The last appointment had been barely three weeks ago.
He cursed internally.
During his morning routine, the sound got worse until, with a chilling crack, the noise and his prosthetic's movements stopped altogether. He reported to Eagle that he would not be able to report for duty this day. He was dismissed until his arm was fixed.
Which meant he would have to see that nutter of a mechanic, hoping the guy had not planned to witness the speech at the Plaza of Remembrance himself.
It was annoying, to be troubled with this shit on a day as important as this one. More than that, it was the worst kind of luck; in his stead, Eagle Vision himself would step in to be the second air guard during the announcement. The other airmen would be waiting in the wings, just in case something happened.
Not the most thrilling of tasks, since the main threat was luring outside the city, cutting them off from other isles of civilization, but still better than knowing one was not allowed to fly at all.

He slipped out of the Salmon Building and took a walk across the marketplace. People had gathered, more than on any regular day, gossiping instead of trading. Theories left their mouths, hung in midair and were neglected or accepted by the listeners. Off them radiated an air of promise, of change. Most public announcements were about smaller changes to the common law and concerned the life outside of the capital rather than inside. And although the lives of the citizens were barely affected by it, such events proved a distraction. At the very least, there was nice music.
Kurogane froze as his eyes caught a scrawny kind with hair that had the color of straw. They were sitting in front of a scrap stand, opening an old radio with a screwdriver. The sight sparked something in him.
He remembered that Fai never sneaked out of Kurogane's bed. Fai never sneaked out when the other was sleeping – he left either straight after an 'appropriate time of post coital cuddling' (Fai's term, not Kurogane's), or in the morning, after they had woken. But today, Fai had done just that. The airman could dismiss it as another one of Fai's increasing oddities, yet...
The kid on the street had the interior of the radio exposed, ripping out some wires.
Something in Kurogane's stomach coiled.
Funny thing, that his arm should get broken on a day like this.
Fai was a mechanic. It would be a totally natural thing for him to ask about the workings of Kurogane's hand. He had never asked about that until late.
His instincts had told him that something was off all along, still that tugging at his conscious had been to weak to grow into a suspicion. Fai would never- he was too much of a kind idiot to do something as stupid as trying to sabotage the announcement, wasn't he?
Kurogane turned on his heel and stomped back to the Salmon.

Dragons mid-flight

Grey clouds started to gather by noon, blocking out the brightness of the day.
Three dragons flew over the court that was framed by the Salmon and the Lantern House in a well-rehearsed circular pattern: Sorata Arisugawa, Syaoron Li and Eagle Vision. Syaoron's features revealed nothing of the nervousness that left him with a tingling in his fingers and a rapid heartbeat. He could do this, he told himself. He had been chosen by the president personally (but based upon Eagle Visions observations) as the one who would keep a closer eye on the listeners and gapers, singling out individuals that could prove a threat. In order to do so, he had to fly very low. He had been chosen, because he had the right reflexes for the job and because he had excellent control over Naoko. A good eye and a quick mind was just as much worth as the experience of the older dragon riders who sometimes struggled with the strangeness of their new mounts – Syaoron had never known another dragon than Naoko.
So he told himself that he could do this. Over and over again he told himself, forcing his jittery nerves to calmness. Kids waved at him, men and women pressed a hand flat on their hats to keep them from getting carried away in the wind current of Naoko's turbines-
He did such an excellent job at watching the crowd that he missed the swift little creature approaching from above.
Like a winged snake, Chii was gliding through the air, her female rider clutching to her neck and backbone, keeping her head low to provide a more aerodynamic shape, just like her mentor had told her to do. Chii's shape was slim, her nature trusting and kind and she flew gracefully – making it easier for her hardly experienced rider to stay up.
Eagle spotted them first, but Sorata was the one to break out of his flight routine, approaching the new dragon that was obviously not one of theirs, yet designed like the old generation. As soon as he made a move toward the machine, it turned and flitted away, quick as a dragonfly.
A merry chase began.
Eagle chose to wait and watch, to see what to make of it, while Syaoron drew another few circles in the air, noticing the the murmur going through the crowd like a wave before he could make out the reason. He steered Naoko towards yard framed by the Salmon and the Lantern House.
“Back on your position, boy!”, Eagle yelled.
“That was a dragon!”, he replied just as loud, spiraling closer and closer around the blond.
“I saw that much.”
“Do you think it's from one of the other cities?”
The older man seemed to regard this, patting his girl's brazen hull. “They had no reason to flee in that case.”
“Shouldn't we set after them?”
“No. Let's see if they're faster than Arisugawa.”
It was a strange thing to watch; they set their eyes on DU05 – 'the Storm' Sorata liked to call her – the more bulky one of the dragons. Whenever she seemed to catch up, the stranger would dart sideways, which cost Sorata important time to make a turn. Using their pursuer's sluggishness – whoever was flying this baby knew about the Dragon Units greatest weakness. (Which, to be honest, was quite obvious to anyone who knew just a little bit about dragons.)
Soon, they were out of sight.
Syaoron got back to his flying pattern, although now his eyes searched the skies rather than the ground. Sorata and the Storm did not return, neither did the swift little dragon.
Minutes passed.
Trumpets could be heard from the Lantern House as a brass band moved towards the Plaza of Remembrance where a platform had been erected for the president's announcement. The ceremony had begun.

Kurogane watched from the roof of the Salmon, half of his arm hanging limp against his side. His brows furrowed as he watched the chaos and the confusion unfold among the crowd. His hand clenched and unclenched to a fist.
That idiot.
That goddamn melodramatic idiot.
The black haired man had expected some sort of protest activity, a flash mob, or sending an own transmission on the channel that broadcast the president's speech but where exactly did Fai get a fucking dragon from?
Kurogane swore under his breath.
One didn't build a dragon just to prove something. Well, Fai just might, but...
It was no good. He had to find that blond bastard to get some answers. And to stop him from whatever insanity he had in mind.

Just as Kurogane ran down the stairs from the roof, Syaoron heard a crash in the distance. Neither Fuuma nor the other dragon had returned so far. He and Naoko were on their way back to Eagle, to ask for reinforcements; somebody would have to look what the reason for that crashing sound was.
A giant piece of metal dropped from the sky.
Syaoron shouted out for Eagle, but the thing who vaguely resembled a bulky water plane grazed one of Gaia's wings in its drop, broke it right through. Dragon and rider spiraled downwards. They crashed onto the lawn.
Installed in a pair of stalwart, rigid wings a set of rotors sprang to life, braking the fall and hovering the aircraft. Syaoron accelerated Naoko. As he approached, he could smell diesel.
Left and right from the hull, more rotors were activated, these ones propelling the bulky construction forward.

Inconvenient outcomings

“There is someone on my tail,” a timid voice echoed through the cockpit.
“Thank you, Fuu.” Yuui checked a little monitor at the cockpit's left that showed him a blurry black and white image from the camera installed at Fuu's rear end. The wide front windows could only provide a 180 degree vista, a clear disadvantage compared to any other dragon, but her heavy built and the seat with the tight safety belts were definitely worth it. The younger Fluorite twin did not frown when he recognized the dragon that was closing up on them. He could not precisely make out the rider, but he didn't need to. The flight schedule was only part of the information that Fai had gathered during his trips to the Salmon.
Yuui adjusted to Syaoron's speed, keeping a safe distance between them. He steered Fuu higher, towards the main building; over the roof. Yuui swallowed hard and prepared himself for the vertigo that was about to wash over him, as he forced Fuu into a somersault. He could feel the pull of gravity.
Turning the vertical rotors off, he commanded: “Fuu, target.”
She counted down meters while Yuui adjusted her height ever so slowly, until the silhouette of Syaoron's dragon was in the center of a bulls eye that Fai had painted with red markers at center of the window. The blond's hands hovered over a red button. The boy noticed that his opponent was not about to move and tilted his dragon slightly to the side, to avoid collision. With that move he exposed his dragon's belly.
“Target within reach,” Fuu stated, sounding content.
“I'm sorry,” Yuui said and pushed a button.
Ordinary dragons breathed fire, but Fuu spat out a missile that pierced through Naoko's hull and detonated five seconds later. Syaoron had the brains to let go of his dragon the moment he saw it coming and Yuui watched – with no small amount of horror – how the body of the teen fell.
Syaoron hit the roof in the same moment that his dragon was ripped apart.
Yuui sat in his seat, heart beating fast, dizzy from the blood flowing into his head and dared not to blink. Not until he had seen a life sign from the boy. Slowly, he tilted Fuu back to her normal flying position.
The brunet was lying on his back. His arm moved and came to rest on his stomach as he coughed or cursed – Yuui could make out no words from his position. He let the relief wash over him and muttered absently 'good girl', patting Fuu's dashboard. Then he waited for the arrival of the other members of the dragon guard.
It was time for some mayhem.

After Eagle Vision had been taken out, the rest of the Dragon Force came into motion. Each of them
had been waiting, itching for something to happen – now their wish was granted. They snatched their flying goggles and soon the hallways echoed with the sound of heavy footfall as the remaining six members – not counting Kurogane – ran to the pens of their dragons.
They paid no attention to the black-haired rider who was supposed to be paying the mad tech doc a visit nor did they wonder why he was heading in the opposite direction, for the older wing of the building.
He, too, was on the way to his girl. But not Yuzuki. He couldn't fly Yuzuki with just one arm. But with Yuuko, now that was another thing entirely.
The last meters, Kurogane broke into a run, using his shoulder to push open the heavy steel doors of the pen.
Inside, he found himself... alone.
Yuuko was gone.
Which was impossible, because she wasn't capable to fly alone and she was his fucking dragon, she would accept no other rider. But. Perhaps.
Fai.
Fai didn't fly. Fai had promised himself, never to sit on the back of a dragon again, he had made that promised on Kurogane's sickbed, after Freya had bitten half of his arm off. Kurogane hadn't asked for it, not for the loss of his limb and not for Fai to make a stupid promise and leave but he had accepted it all the same. But it had proved a lie.
For a moment, the weight of the realization seemed to weigh him down. But the airman caught himself, and took a deep breath. 'No.'
No, he said to himself, he knew the idiot better.
Fai's promise had been some sort of stupid punishment that he mistook for atonement (there was nothing to atone for, after all) and he would not break it. Someone else had flown away with Yuuko, someone who was with Fai. Yuui or one of the kids. Didn't really matter, did it? Because the point was that he was still out there, with his feet on the ground. Watching. Coordinating.
What was it that Fai wanted? Enough to start serious trouble?
Then it hit Kurogane.

Sorata's enlightenment

When Syaoran dismounted, he made the mistake to believe his feet would carry him and so he staggered and fell right into the dirt beyond the city wall. Sakura looked cutely concerned. Yuuko on the other hand snorted with laughter.
“Upsy-daisy,” the man with the ragged short black hair said. He wore a broad grin on his face although they had just caused his dragon to crash and despite the fact that he was now somehow their prisoner. Not that they had any ropes or handcuffs to prove that claim. “Are you okay, boy?”
“'m fine,” Syaoran replied, coming to his feet. His thighs were burning, not surprisingly. He had been allowed to fly Chii a few times to get used to steering a dragon, but the one that Fai had led him to, Yuuko... that was a bit harder to handle. He had had to press his legs tight to her metallic torso to stay up on her back.
“Don't get upset, kid. You're not the first one to end up sore from a ride.” Her voice had a strange sly quality to it that made every one of her statements seem like there was a hidden innuendo, even the ones where there was none.
“That's a fine dragon you have there, girl. Does she have a name?”, the prisoner inquired.
“Chii. And I'm Sakura.” The dragon turned her elegant neck as she heard her name. “Chii!”, she chirped in approval and bumped her head against Sakura's, who started to giggle and rub Chii's snout. “And this is Syaoran.”
Syaoran sputtered. “B-but you can't give away our names.”
The girl's cheeks puffed up. “Fai never said not to. And I don't see a problem with that. We destroyed his dragon, it's only fair to tell him.”
Their prisoner chuckled and patted a wing of his dragon. “Don't worry, I'm sure it's nothing a good mechanic can't fix. I'm Sorata, by the way.”
“Fai is a mechanic! I'm sure he will fix your dragon when everything is over.”
“Um, Sakura...”
“Right,” Sorata said, “About that... What's your plan for me? Regarding that you actually took the time to get down here and watch over me, you must have something in mind.”
The kids shared a look. Sakura shrugged.
Syaoran cleared his throat. His face had taken on an earnest expression. “We need to tell you a story.”

Mayhem

Little by little, the dragons hobbled out of the building, gaining speed before taking up in the air. Five minutes later, they all circled around Fuu like moons on an orbit around a planet.
Yuui remained calm, even when the fire started. His girl's hull was coated with a flame-repellent hardened resin, making the dragon's only weapon useless. He, however, only had to wait for a moment when the next rider would steer his girl right in the fire line of one of his missiles. He hit the dragon's tail, which resulted in smaller explosions than the one that had ripped Naoko apart as the fuel didn't inflame, but it was enough to ruin their balance and pluck them out of the air. Despite his nature, despite knowing exactly what it felt like to crash down, the blond felt not sorry for them. They had known what they signed in for when joining the Dragon Force.
He took three of them out before they realized they had reached a stalemate.
His opponents kept on circling – it was due to their dragon's built that they had to move forward in order to stay up – but chose a larger distance, keeping an eye on him.
He would not attack unless they attacked.
Now it was all a matter of who ran out of fuel first.

On the ground, the screaming had begun.
The brass band had scattered and ran, panic spread among the crowd of citizens. People were pushing their way out, shoving aside anyone who dared to get in their way. In some cases, curiosity beat the sense of dread and a few unfortunate souls were run over.
Kyle Rondart could not comprehend what was happening. His bodyguards were pulling on his arm, trying to get him away, but how could he move? How could he dare to look away? The Dragon Force, his father's dream and the capital's sign of hope and freedom, was defeated. The words he had intended to say on this day now became meaningless in comparison.
He turned to his consultant, Alcione.
“Sir, you need to get in,” she said. The flames of the burning wreckage were reflected in her dark eyes, but her face remained unaffected by that heat; her cold, prominent features reminded him of a marble statue. He had always appreciated her ability to stay calm and unfazed but in a situation like this it was a bit unnerving.
“Send the paramedics. These pilots need help.”
She cocked up an eyebrow, ever so slightly. “As you wish, Sir.”
“Mister President?”, a girl peeped up. She came running from the entrance; auburn hair, dark green eyes and freckles all over a retroussé nose.... Kyle recognized her as one of the interns.
“What is it?”
“One of the dragon riders just came into your office. There is something wrong with his arm but he says he needs to talk to you. He says he knows who stole the dragon parts.”
“Well, that should be pretty obvious now, shouldn't it?”, Alcione interrupted icily. The girl's face colored.
Valerie, Kyle remembered. Her name was Valerie.
“But it seems like he knows a name.”
Kyle Rondart looked once more at the scarred battlefield that used to be his lawn. The grass may have been sickish and yellow but it had been a lawn, a little bit of normalcy in this twisted world. There was nothing he could do for the men who fought for his security. He was useless. Had always been.
“I'm coming,” he said.
“I'm not sure if we have the time for this now,” Alcione objected, but Kyle raised his hand, silencing her. “I will always listen to a man who is willing to confide in me. Especially if he's a member of my Dragon Force.”
“Your Dragon Force, Sir?”
Kyle clenched his teeth. He didn't need to be reminded. He was not his father, he knew. And he was aware that everyone thought the footsteps he was trying to fit in were a bit too big for him. The joke about it was, he wasn't even trying to do things the way is father did, he just wanted to do what was right – even when it was hard to recognize.
The door to his office was open, so he could see the young airman from afar, leaning against the office desk. Valerie hadn't been kidding when she had said that something was wrong with the man's arm – he reminded Kyle of a doll that had been broken and poorly fixed; the shoulder joint was dislocated. He gave his bodyguards and his assistant a sign that he would talk with the him in private – he had come to learn that the men from the Dragon Force didn't appreciate it at all to be regarded like a threat (not few of them had a shady past or, in the case of this boy, not a past as a citizen at all) and none of them had warmed up to Alcione's presence.
“Syaoron,” the president said while entering.
“Mr. President,” Syaoron nodded with a lopsided, painful smile.
The door slammed shut behind him. Cold steel was pressed against his nape.
“I think we have some talking to do.” A familiar voice, the tickling of breath against his ear. Kyle's heart missed a beat.
Syaoron didn't even pretend to look sorry. “No offense, Sir, but we got our hands on some early drafts of your speech and we're not happy at all.”

Tea party

His original destination had been the roof of the Lantern House, but after a second consideration, Kurogane had dismissed that. Too many men in the air, too great the risk of being spotted – if he had bee a crazy blond who was up to no good, this place had not been his first choice.
Still, he was sure that Fai had been there at first, before it all began, giving the others the sign to get started. Meaning they would have a way to communicate. Walkie talkies. If he had a radio and if he was lucky, he could find the frequency. Or he could find the security and tell them to look for the blond fool and haul his sorry ass right here. The screams from outside told Kurogane that this was more than just a prank.
In his attempt to find anyone, who had anything to say, Kurogane spotted Rondart's assistant. Or consultant, something like that, he had never cared much for the hierarchy of bureaucracy.
“Oi,” he called out.
She turned on the sharp heels of her high black boots and the look she presented him gave Kurogane chills. Literally – it was that kind of arrogant death glare that made you feel like ice-cold fingers cupped your balls. (And Kurogane knew that feeling very well.) He had never liked that bitch.
“I need to talk to the boss.”
“You and everyone else,” she sneered.
'What-?'
She jerked her head in the direction of Clow's office. (Technically Rondart's office but it was there that all the grave changes in Kurogane's life had taken place and it had been the touch of Clow's hand on his shoulder that had ended his life as a garbage man and, by some strange magic, had turned him into someone who was now a role model for people.)
Some bodyguards were banging against the door.
“What's wrong?” He felt like he knew the answer. It was the same answer as to all his curses and prayers alike. Fai.
“The president's locked inside with one of your kind.”
“Who?”
She crossed her arms in front of her chest, straightening her back. “How am I supposed to know? One of the young ones, the brunet.”
“Just them?”
“Perhaps not.”
There was a commotion as a piece of paper was slipped through under the door.

We want cookies, was written on a ripped-out page from a statute book. And Tea.
It's not a proper hostage tea party without cookies and tea.
Sincerely,
F

“I will give you fucking tea and cookies you moron,” Kurogane grumbled.

“This is a musket. A real musket.”
Fai had decided that Kyle Rondart was a weird hostage. Which was a good thing, since Fai himself was not an ordinary kidnapper, but if the wide-eyed wonderment the president was any indication, he wondered what about this man had earned him his people's loyalty. For now he would give the president a chance. After all, he considered him dangerous enough to point a weapon at his lithe body and never let his eyes off Rondart. Fai had locked the office from the inside, but it was Syaoron who had dragged a chair over to jam the door. The boy hissed whenever his limp arm was moved.
“He should see a doctor.”
“We just need to relocate his shoulder,” Fai replied. Which was a trickier business than he wanted to let Rondart know.
“Don't worry, I'm going to do it myself. It isn't the first time that this happens,” Syaoron let them know. There was a fine sheen of sweat on the boy's brow and Fai had the feeling that he owed Syaoron more than just a beer for dragging him into this affair. In a way, he had been part of it from the very start, but that didn't mean that it was right letting him fight for their purpose.
“I'll be off lying in my corner,” the boy stated and literally, teetered away to lie down next to the desk. Fai watched him undergo a certain routine – bending the elbow to a ninety degree angle, lying it down on his stomach, then moving it flat to the floor and back, moaning and whimpering quietly.
“Do you have any pain killers?”, he asked the president.
“I said I'm fine,” Syaoron mumbled through clenched teeth, then he gasped. From the greedy way the boy was sucking in air, Fai deduced that he made it. 'Kids these days' he heard Kurogane's complaint echoing through his head, 'always playing tough.' Of course it had to be Kurogane's voice he heard. He hadn't had the chance to change his clothes since yesterday and a little bit of his lover still stuck to them – not a scent, rather the memory of Kurogane stripping him out of them... he would have a lot of apologizing and explaining to do.
He picked a walkie-talkie from his belt and set it to the first channel.
“Syaoran? Can you hear me?”
He waited, listening to the cracking and hissing of the ether until... “I can hear you, Fai. Loud and pretty clear.”
“What's your status?”
“We made it over the wall and Sakura is preparing for the calling. We have a man called Sorata with us; the dragons are having an eye on him.”
“Sorata, huh?” He was one of the few airmen who had joined the Dragon Force after Fai left, but judging by what he had heard about the man, he shouldn't be trouble. Syaoron confirmed this, saying that Sorata was 'a good guy, and willing to listen if you can make him shut up'. And then the boy said no more because he was trying to sit up and retched into the office' paper basket. Not so tough after all.
“Okay. Your brother and I will be stuck in the office for a little while with Mr. Rondart. Do your thing and then leave. Only call me up when something is going wrong.”
“Understood.”
He switched to the second channel.
“Yuui, where are you?”
“Still over the yard. There are three dragons left, buzzing around Fuu.”
“Fuel?”
“We'll by fine for at least another five hours. Not sure about our old friends on their new dragons, though. Just... try not to sit in there for five hours.”
Fai scrunched up his face. For how stupid mistook Yuui him? One of them would have to pee eventually and he was not sure how willing to listen Mr. Rondart would be once they had pissed on his carpet. And every minute they spent in here was a minute in which the others could figure out how to get in.
“Syaoron tells me to say 'hi'.” Syaoron did not approve of the misuse of his name, but remained quiet about it. That was until Yuui shyly asked if he was alright.
“You can ask him yourself,” Fai laughed and threw the walkie-talkie. The boy caught it with his left arm.
“Next time it would be lovely if you didn't try to kill me when you shoot at me,” Syaoron remarked with a grin.
Even from his position, Fai could hear his twin chuckle in a carefree way that made his chest tight. “I'll try to remember it,” Yuui retorted. “I guess we're even know.”
“I never tried to kill you,” Syaoron pointed out.
“You shot me out of the sky.”
“My tribe. I just built the catapult. Which means we're not even. Which means you owe me a date, mister.”
“... maybe.”
“I'll take you up on it.”
Fai shook his head. And Yuui called his relationship with Kurogane complicated. He turned to their hostage.
“So... about you. You need to stop.”
“Stop what?”
“Hunting mutants. And misusing the Dragon Force for it. That's not okay. See, I get that you want some change, and that's nice and all, but it has to serve a purpose. For instance: when was the last time a dragon was sent to communicate with one of the other cities?”
He considered. Gnawed on the inside of his cheek. “We have been doing quite well so far on our own. We had to do quite well on our own, it will take a while until the railway tracks will be finished. The muties are a threat to everyone who crosses the waste. By killing them we help the railway workers, we make their work more safe.”
“Some of them,” Fai agreed. “Some of them are a threat. See, during that one year that I lived in the Waste, I only had to kill three muties and only one of them was an abandoned, starving crossbreed that I put out of their misery. My brother had to kill five. And the kids that live with us never had to harm even one mutated creature, crossbred or not. You can't-”
There was a knocking on the door.
“My, it seems the tea is prepared. Good timing.”

“This is never going to work.” the woman complained. Kurogane rolled his eyes as a shy little redhead put a china tray on his palm and forearm. Once there might have been golden and blue flowers painted on the tray but the years had washed them away; now there were only cracks left.
“My left arm isn't working properly and we used to be members of the team. He will let me in. Doesn't mean I'll be able to convince him to come out and surrender, though.”
Alcione looked like she had smelled something rather unpleasant. Kurogane hoped she did.
They listened to the noises behind the door when whatever furnishings the kidnapper had used to block the door were shoved away.
When they opened, Fai was the first thing he saw. A cheerful smile in place, he held Kyle Rondart tightly, an arm wrapped around the neck, an old-fashioned firearm pointing at the president's head. Yet Rondart seemed more annoyed than terrified. Fai's eyes widened in surprise when they locked with Kurogane's, but he caught himself quickly, beckoning the taller to come closer.
“Kuro-waiter. Why, if I had known you would come, I had ordered some lemon tarts.”
“I hate lemon tarts.”
“I know.“ Fai nodded at someone behind Kurogane and the door was shut once more. Well, that shouldn't surprise the man too much, he had known that Syaoron would be in here. The brat squeezed a stool under the doorknob.
“Alright, since we now have all gathered...”
“What the fuck are you doing, you idiot?”, Kurogane demanded to know and Fai let out a small sigh. “Negotiations, Kuro-nervous. Negotiations.”
“Do you know what they're going to do with you if you don't surrender?”
This time, it was Kyle Rondart who spoke up: “Technically, they can't do much. Arrest them, maybe. But not if I don't press charges against them. And that depends on what they have to say.”
Fai beamed at him. “See? We're all so very civilized in here. Now sit down, Kuro-darling and let Syaoron take the tray, before your foul mood turns the cream sour.”
They sat down on the floor, forming a ring around the tea tray. Fai handed his weapon to Syaoron, who asked the president ever so kindly if he could be so kind as to pour them some tea. He could.
“Mister President, do you mind if I have a look at my friend's arm while I explain the situation to you?”
“Oh, not at all.”
Fai retrieved a set of pincers from the pocket of his vest and opened the mechanic arm, rummaging through a rainbow of wires. Then he began to explain the situation.

The situation...

...was a tricky one. There was no law that offered a solution how to regard mutants and crossbreeds. Muties were not human – only had human ancestors. And there was no ethical review committee that they could turn to with that issue. For now, they had relied on the policy not to harm them unless they proved to be aggressive. However, crossbreeds had proven to be incredibly aggressive and intelligent and the only reason why there was something akin to a coexistence between humans and crossbreeds were the fact that they were dangerous enough that humans preferred to stay away and so they avoided the territory of the other ones.
However, that had been until Kyle Rondart decided that it was time to get rid of the danger, once and for all. The public announcement he had intended to make was that from this day on, he would make sure that the Dragon Force would track and destroy every crossbreed territory that they could find. And he had intended to promise that every free man or woman (which was an euphemism for the rogues) would be able to gain a status as citizen of the capitol if they could prove that they had killed at least a dozen crossbreeds or muties.
It was a nice solution for people like Syaoron.
If only...

“You have to stop treating them like pests,” Syaoron said. There were a hard edge around his mouth, untypically for the youth who wore a smirk like a trademark. “They are no animals. And they are no threat either. They are intelligent, sentient beings. They even have a culture.”
No one was more surprised than Kurogane to her these words from the brunet, who had seemed the most callous of the newbies. He was about to ask a question, when a jolt of pain ran through his arm. “The fuck?”, he hissed, but Fai only gave him a short apologetic smile as he reconnected parts of machinery that had come loose. On any other occasion he would have started to tease, alas now was not the right time for it.
“So, how am I supposed to go on now, in your opinion? Just leave them in piece?”
Fai tucked a loose strand behind his ear and offered: “You need to talk. You need to explain people that their way of treating crossbreeds is wrong. They can sense animosity and hostility, this is why they attack. And they can read faces far better than any human can. They even have a sign language – you could talk to them. All you need is someone they had accepted as part of their tribe.”
President Rondart took off his glasses and massaged the bridge of his nose. “Alright. Let's say, I believe you, how am I supposed to know if you tell the truth? I can't just spread assumptions. And how did you find out about this?”
“Ah, now we get to the core of the story,” Fai said with a smile and turned to Syaoron. “Do you want to tell it or shall I?”
The boy tilted his head and pondered. Then he shrugged.

A fairytale (not quite the words that Syaoron picked, but close enough)

Once upon a time, a man fell out of the sky. He did not fall on his own; it should be noted that he was merely riding his metal-born dragon over the waste when a tribe of crossbreeds had set it to their mind, that they could try out the catapult one of their foster kids had built. So they shot the dragon and forced it to the ground, trying to get behind the workings of such a strange creature.
Its rider needed to be dealt with, of course, because he was behaving pretty badly. Kicking and screaming, cursing them for harming his dear dragon. They tied him up.
Some of the younger ones, especially the boy who built the catapult, his brother and their dear girlfriend had taken more interest in the rider than the mount. Because the man had words and these kids were hungry for knowledge. The boys had joined the tribe with a small vocabulary of words that they had passed on to the girl, but that was not enough. It was never enough.
So, when the man had become tired from his tantrum and fell asleep, and the majority of the tribe returned to their home, the boys and the girl carried the stranger home, heading towards the direction where he came from. Half along the way, the man woke. Naturally, he did not know who they were and thanked them for saving him. (Later he would find out the true version of the story. Later, when the boys had learned his words.) He tried to leave the boys behind, but still they followed him.
He came home, dearly missed by his own brother.
The following days, more dragons and their riders flew above the Waste to collect what was left of the man's dragon. One of the dragons went crazy over the loss of her sister and had to be put down.
Things changed, as they had a habit to do, but the children of the Waste never strayed far from the city – one of the boys waited by the wall, the others settled down in a place that had been abandoned by humans. A week later, the man who fell from the sky and his brother left the city. They came to live with the children from the Waste, they learned each other's secrets and they realized that they were not that different at all.

“So you are-”, Kurogane began, but Syaoron shook his head. “Syaoran and I were picked up and raised by a tribe when we were six. Our parents were humans. However...”, he broke off, exchanging a look with Fai.
“-however in some few cases, crossbred humans, which is a more appropriate term, by the way, can give birth to a completely healthy, completely human baby,” the blond finished. “Which is just one more reason not to kill them.” He closed the metal plate that covered part of Kurogane's prosthetic. The airman found that he could flex his fingers again. He had the urge to knock Fai over the head, but he couldn't. What Fai was doing wasn't stupid; he was fighting for something he cared about even if his way of getting attention was a bit crazy.
“So... you're asking me to write a new announcement. What if I don't? I mean... I'm not saying, I am not going to do it, I just want to know my options.”
To Fai's surprise, it was Kurogane who spoke up. Well, it was more of a disgruntled growl, but still. “You will have to explain to the people what happened today. You will have to come up with some reason why almost all of the Dragon Force is lying shattered on the ground. You have promised to be honest to the citizens of your state; now would be a terrible time to break that promise.”
The blond elbowed him, his face beaming with pride and unvoiced words of praise. But when he spoke up, he turned to President Rondart and his smile became a more mischievous nuance. “Sir, you're not the only one who are hearing this story. While we are speaking, my friends are telling one of the other airmen the same story. And may I point out that we have dragons, in case you didn't notice. We will spread the word in other cities. On the bright side, now that you don't have to hunt the crossbreeds anymore, you can put the Dragon Force to better use. Well, the ones that are left.”
Rondart took a moment to let the words sink in and looked at the faces of the other three, one by one. Eventually, he sighed.
“Someone bring me a piece of paper and a pen, please?”

And the world keeps on turning

He found Kurogane at the railing of the city wall. The wall had always been the tall man's favorite retreat; it was lightly guarded, but open to visitors, yet no one actually went there. Maybe they found no beauty in the sight of the wastelands, maybe they were to busy.
But up there, the wind howled a little louder, blew a little stronger. It was not the same as flying, but just the right place to get a clear mind.
“Are you still sulking?”, Fai laughed, hugging Kurogane from behind, which elicited a grumpy little growl.
“I'll take that as a yes.”
Four days had passed since that stressful afternoon on which Rondart had written his new speech under Fai's watchful eyes. Not much had changed since then – the yard before the Lantern House had been cleaned, and it would take some time until new grass grew on the charred spots, but aside from that, people had returned to their daily routine. The city still felt the same, but maybe Fai was just asking too much. Maybe the change would be subtler than he had imagined it to be.
Time would tell.
“You could have told me.”
Fai let his cheek rest against Kurogane's strong shoulder. “I know. I even considered it, but I didn't want to get you into trouble.”
The taller man snorted through his nose. “I'm used to that by now.”
Fai laughed and squeezed his arms even tighter around the other's stomach. Kurogane patted them affectionately. For a while, they remained that way, enjoying that they had the moment for themselves, without liabilities, without having to think or worry about anything in particular.
But moments were fleeting, and this one ended when Kurogane asked an inevitable question.
“So, what's going to happen now?”
Fai let go hesitantly, stepping next to Kurogane, mustering the profile of his friend and lover's face. “I don't know. Sakura and Syaoran want to stay in the library and Yuui wants to move back to the city. He's pretty sick of sleeping behind bars, he says. I have offered president Rondart to help him re-build some of the dragons but he didn't want to. Can't blame the man.”
“He fired the brat,” Kurogane added, brows furrowing.
“Can't really blame him for that either,” Fai considered.
Their hands brushed against each other and intertwined at last.
He had paved the way for a greater change, or so he hoped. It was only fair if he changed as well.
“I heard Tallegry is nice this time of the year. And they can surely need people to help build that railway route.”
“Sounds nice,” Kurogane said.
“I bet they can use someone to improve their-”
“Don't even think of it.”
“But...”
“I said don't. You're not allowed to make any decisions anymore. You only blow stuff up and then they kick us out.”
“Us?”
“Us.”

~the end.

Thank you for reading! How did I do?
Please score my fic according to these guidelines:
1. How in-character was this fic? (1-10)
2. How well did this fic fulfill the prompt? (1-10)
3. How much did you enjoy this fic overall? (1-10)
Remember that you must provide some form of identification (a link to a blog or profile on another site will suffice) for your vote to be counted!

Comments

[zelinxia]

What a neat world! It took me a while to realize that Yuuko is a mechanical dragon, but I adore her. Cursing, badass powerful dragon Yuuko, yes please! Also, I like how President Rondart isn't really a bad guy; just some person who is stuck in the shadows of his late father. That was an interesting way to hold him hostage...

1. How in-character was this fic?
Fai (and Yuui's) are top notch IC. Kurogane I can see, but I'd like to know more of his background as a former garbage collector. Their interactions are adorable; but I'd also would have like to know a bit more of their past - how they hit it off, etc.

2. How well did this fic fulfill the prompt?
Dragons? (Mechanical ones! :D) Check. Dangerous territories with muties and cross-breeds seen as monsters? Check! The twist on the cross-breeds was excellent.

3. How much did you enjoy this fic overall?
It was fun to read! Your world building and setting makes me jelly in green. Again, nice plot twist of Fai and Yuui's true conditions.

8
10
9
Average: 9

[little_echo]

Thank you~ *squees*

I'm so happy that you like it, basically I'm always fangirling out when amazing writers read my stuff and think it's good. O///O

The things you pointed out... yup. I'm quite aware that the character development is a bit shallow at some aspects an if I hadn't procrastinated that much...

(btw will you finish your story nevertheless? I know you dropped out of the olympics but I'd really love to read it.)

[zelinxia]

Yup, I plan to finish Waiting for the Sun. Aiming to finish it by mid April, before time goes on and I never get to work on it until like...a year D:

[badluck_koi]

Yuuko as a dragon might be the best idea. I think she wanted Kurogane as her rider just because he is the funnest to tease. Also, some of the other characters as dragons, Elda and Freya! I was very curious how this prompt could be used in "Future" setting. The idea that the dragon-design inspired an old sense of hope in this post-apocalyptic world made sense, thinking the people in the future was look to the past.

1. How in-character was this fic? 8/10
Especially Kurogane and Fai's interactions and Fai and Yuui's (twin-love). Pretty solid characterizations with just a few questions. Mostly, with Syaoran and Yuui and with Sakura and everyone else, there was little history. Syaoran seemed like he should have been more present in the plot, especially at the end.

2. How well did this fic fulfill the prompt? 8/10
Loved the roles of the task force and the dragons, but the dragons ultimately seemed eclipsed by the mutant plot (which was good in itself and no arguments from me, as I really wanted to know more about the roles of the mutants and crossbreeds). Because of this, the prompt seemed out of focus.

3. How much did you enjoy this fic overall? 8/10
I enjoyed this much more than I thought I would at the beginning. It ends strongly, and the scene with Fai and crew taking the president hostage was suspenseful. The pacing suffered in the middle and I had to go back and reread some parts. However, when I did reread parts, I caught foreshadowing, like mentioning that the crossbreeds can appear human. I bet there is more to this fic than I caught in the first read.

So solid 8's all around.

P.S.
“I have a shameless demand to make,” Fai announced and Yuui chuckled.
“As if you know any other kind.”

Love this dialogue exchange. XD

[little_echo]

<3

Thank you so much for your kind words. It's all my fault that the pacing is a bit off, I didn't really write all the chapters in chronological order which SHOULD help with including foreshadowing but it's actually even more a pain in the rear because I kept forgetting how much I already included. OTL

(Also, ah, I was afraid that the fic wasn't paying enough attention on the dragons apparently I'm not the only one who saw that. XD)

[badluck_koi]

XD I've done that before, write chapters out of chronological order! It's fun that way.

I feel a little too critical now. I am enjoying the stories, but when I score, I look back and treat the story as I would treat my own story. but since my main complaints so far has been that I want more fic, that is pretty good

[little_echo]

The only problem with writing scenes out of chronological order is when one notices during writing that the logic of the story outline somehow doesn't work or make sense so the plot changes and already written scenes that are about to take place later become useless.
This actually happens a lot to me - plot has a way of surprising me - so I'm careful about non-chronological writing.
>_>

[renlylittlerose]

1. How in-character was this fic? 9
I think Fai and Kurogane were pretty much in-character. Kurogane wanting a new family with Fai and everyone else was bittersweet since Fai and him were closer in the past. I loved their pasts, you made me want to know more about Fai, Yuui and Kurogane before the whole thing with the crossbreeds.
I just wish there had been a bit more development for the Syaorans and Sakura.

2. How well did this fic fulfill the prompt? 10
I think it fulfilled it pretty well, plenty of dragons, but mechanical ones, so yes.

3. How much did you enjoy this fic overall? 8
So, I'm going to be incredibly unoriginal and say that Yuuko as a dragon was amazing (and she and Kurogane are a perfect match!). It was also really nice to see Freya and Elda and MKR characters, they're usually forgotten. Your world was interesting, the dragons' story too. I really liked them.
I noticed a few typos, particulary using "to" instead of "too" in more than one ocasion. But nothing that really distracted me from the story.
I loved the little details, like the lemon tarts, and Sorata's dragon being called Storm, the story behind Kurogane's (missing) arm (and how Fai felt guilty about it).
I agree with badluck_koi, the pacing in the middle seemed a bit rushed, and I think the stuff about their plans and creating the new dragons could've been a bit more developped. But then, their "attack" was really nice, and I loved Fai asking for tea like it was nothing at all.

[little_echo]

(*hides face in shame because typos* I think towards the end I had reached the point where I didn't give that much of a crap anymore I just wanted to be done. But yeah, 'to' is my personal enemy, I sometimes write 'two' when I mean 'to' ahahaha oh god.)

But. ADFGFSSFGF
Glad that you like it! 8D

I wish I had done some more development, too.

[kittenkin]

I am so in love with the dragons and how they're their riders' girls. That word in this usage has so many lovely connotations for me. In fact it appealed to me so much that I almost got overwhelmed by the relationship I could visualize among the riders and their Ladies and started crying. o_O The next generation of pale imitations was heartbreaking by contrast.

Yuuko sounds so grand and beautiful, with such presence. I wish there'd been more of her as the story progressed; she's so amazing. Oh, and Freya and Elda and Yuui and Fai...so much hearbreak in that one incident. Though the story is hopeful, what's staying with me the most is what was lost and cannot return.

Lovely, lovely story. <3

[little_echo]

Maybe I should have written a disclaimer, but the first generation of the dragons and the relationship to the rider I are based upon a book that I love very dearly, 'Havemercy' by Jaida Jones and Danielle Bennett. In fact, I picked that prompt because I immediately thought of that book, only the 'original' dragons had a magical component to them, so I changed that and thought a lot about engines and stuff though I know nothing about it. *laughs* (And the setting is entirely different from the book.)

What makes me really really happy is that you are pointing out the things that have given me feels while writing it and it's so good to know that something of that came across to the reader.
Thank you.

[farenmaddox]

*barges in rudely*

Okay but seriously lady you are gonna have to read the Havemercy series because you are gonna love it. XD

*exits conversation that was so rudely interrupted*

[tsubasafan]

asdfghjkl;

LOVED, LOVED, LOVED IT!

Just the little details here and there, teasing us with what had happened before this takes place.

[little_echo]

AAAAAH; THAT MEANS SO MUCH TO ME ESPECIALLY SINCE YOU ARE PRETTY MUCH MY 'RIVAL'.

*dances awkward flailing dance of the ones who have been praised*

[mindlessadri]

1. How in-character was this fic?
9 I thought Kurogane and Fai we're extremely in character for their situation.

2. How well did this fic fulfill the prompt?
9

3. How much did you enjoy this fic overall?
7 just because as a reader I never like being on the "I don't know what's happening" side of things. I hate being in the dark when the characters obviously know what's going on.

Overall I think the best part of the fic was how well you were able to portray the emotions between various characters without ever coming right out and saying it.

total: 25/30

[little_echo]

Thank you for taing the time to read and rate!

Ah, I guess our preferences differ just a little bit. Personally I'm the kind of person who likes stories that leave it up to me to figure stuff out and that come along with plot twists and I think I'm quite lucky to be able to write the kind of story I'd like. 8D
But the good thing about the Olympics is that the writers and their stories are so diverse, so there is fic for everyone's tastes.

Overall I think the best part of the fic was how well you were able to portray the emotions between various characters without ever coming right out and saying it.

*sobs happily*
Subtly conveying emotions is very important to me, so I'm happy you think I did well.

[shachaai]

I'm going to be the vexing one and say that I'd really love to see you return to explore this world some more, if you ever felt like it. You really snagged my interest with this - mechanical steam-powered dragons? AI? Dystopia with mutant/crossbreed/human factions arguing? God, yes please. This is a fantastic world you've set up.

[(Anonymous)]

1. How in-character was this fic? 9
I think they are totally in-character, but the part where Fai "kidnaps" the president and points a gun to his head , just ... don't know, was a little weird for me xD

2. How well did this fic fulfill the prompt? 10
i think you linked all the things just great ! with the dangerous places, the mechanical dragons (completing the prompt) and with the mutants ! good one ^^

3. How much did you enjoy this fic overall? 9
ah i liked it very much! loved the plot , the personalities (loved when fai asked for a tea with a expression like "i don't give a fuck" XD) kurogane was so in character ^^ (and ooh god, you made kurogane use a suit! oh all the mental images ! ohh sweet suits (gah , weak point)) loved the interaction between them..
well loved it at all =D
great fanfic ^^


http://tessu0.tumblr.com/

[farenmaddox]

I have finally read this!!!!1! And omg!!11!! Yuuko is Havemercy and I swear I'm going to cry. I love that Havemercy inspired it but you took it so far beyond that and created such an interesting society and just, wow, this story was lovely and so full of loss and hope and conflict and longing. I love that Kyle Rondart was a pretty good guy and willing to listen to them. I actually LOVE the image of badass Fai with a gun, UNF. And I think you deserve like 12 out of 10 on the "fulfilling the prompt" bit, because dragons AND uncharted territory full of monsters at the same time, yesss.

I think what I really enjoyed most about this fic is actually the story of the kids, and Yuui. What he went through, being shot down and seeing his girl torn apart, it wouldn't be surprising if he HATED the kids but instead there's this Yuui/Syaoron thing you have going, and him trying to create a family with them, and using his experience to help create a better society for the people who raised the kids. And I'm just EXTRA intrigued by the idea that they had such a limited knowledge of verbal communication at the beginning. I mean, I know this is silly, but I would actually really love to see a story that explores Yuui's tragic first meeting with them and the time they spent getting back home. It's just so INTERESTING, the idea of them learning language from him, and Yuui's ability to see them as people instead of enemies...

This is just a super-fabulous story. WOW. I am amazed.

[(Anonymous)]

I cannot explain how in love I am with this fic. Asdfghjkl you hooked me in at the first paragraph.

If there had to be any flaw, it'd be that I found it a bit too anti-climatic. (Err, I'm not really sure if that's a bad thing because the president was adorable <3) If anything really, that just attests to the major potential this has asdfgjkl. What I'd give to read an epic version of this with gruesome battles and an even more intricate plot (twists). But ugh, that'd be asking for a full blown novel. XD I had to keep in mind while I was reading this not to get too caught up into the setting because this was only a fic and not an actual novel. It was pretty hard to do that though, since this gives off the feel of a novel-length epic.

Guess I have to point out some typos (probably three or four) that a beta could easily fix. Ergh, but that too just testifies how amazing this piece is, because I easily brushed them off, and they didn't even bother my reading flow. <3

(Haha, if you can't tell, you've enslaved me with your words and the world you have weaved with them. Asdfghjkl I'd give anything for more of this.)

Eep. Sorry for that long thing. @_@ I didn't expect it to be that long.

1. How in-character was this fic? (1-10)

NEIN NEIN NEIN <3 I love how you incorporated the characters into their roles here. (Fai as an artist ahiiieee love love looove!)

2. How well did this fic fulfill the prompt? (1-10)

Big fat arse TEN TEN TEEEENNN here. When I saw the prompt, I was really intrigued by how Team Future would handle this. Generally, you think fantasy AU's when dragons come up.

METAL DRAGONS ARGH SO IN LOVE WITH THAT <3

It's like... Gundam but with personalities. Set in some kind of rustic (possibly dystopian?) future--perrrfeeect. /spazz

3. How much did you enjoy this fic overall? (1-10)

I'd be really surprised if you can't tell how much I enjoyed this from my spazzing up there. (I'd apologize, but this is totally your fault <3)

An even bigger 10 here. (Can I say 20? ;__; I want more.)

-Carabarks @ Tumblr :)

PS: Am I doing this right? @_@ I'm not sure... I only just stumbled on this comm like, three days ago, and only finished TRC yesterday. /blatant newbie here apologizes if she did something wrong.

[egwene]

"We want cookies, was written on a ripped-out page from a statute book. And Tea.
It's not a proper hostage tea party without cookies and tea.
Sincerely,
F" ----> Hilarious!

1. How in-character was this fic? (8)
I liked everyone, the interactions were great but Kuro-sama was a bit off in my opinion. I can't really explain why... I felt him helpless during the 'attack', not his usual self somehow.

2. How well did this fic fulfill the prompt? (9)
Mechanical dragons? Absolutely YES! Well the social status (muties and crossbreeds)what you laid before us took of the edge of the actual dragon rider thing, but the main quest depended on dragons, so I guess it's okay.

3. How much did you enjoy this fic overall? (8)
You could explain the characters' back-stories a bit further and the world you created. Your plot is great and it could be more angsty and deep, it really has a great potential in it.