Malefor: TTO: An Old Illness
#3 of True Origin
Right...I forgot to mention that dracidon is my version of 'people'. Sorry for confusion!
Malefor woke up with a start, drenched in cold sweat and blood around his maw. Coughing up a tiny bit of blood, he wiped it off with his claw. Quickly running his eyes over the room, he saw that no one was in it. Normally, it would send waves of relief through someone's mind, but not Malefor. If he was coughing up blood and sweating, and no culprit, that could only mean one thing.
His Tuberculosis was acting up.
At a young age, Malefor was diagnosed with the disease. It completely sucked, as it would leave him crippled for a short amount of time and made others hesitate before allowing him to go places. He constantly argued that it only acted it up at night, but in truth, the times were random. However, at least seventy percent of the time it was at night.
Slowly moving from his bedding, he walked out of his room. There, both of his adopted parents, Josiah and Terra, were looking at him. Evidently, they heard him and he avoided their gaze (not that Terra could see him). For the longest while, his illness had vanished, but it seems he wasn't out of the safe zone. The medicine he was given, a small absorption of orange crystals, was the only thing that stopped it from completely crippling him. When it pulled the disappearing act, they stopped getting it.
Now, he was screwed. "Morning," he mumbled, approaching the table they were sitting at. The silence he was given was enough of an answer.
"Malefor...it came back, didn't it?" Terra asked, her claw somehow finding his shoulder. In the years he had known her, the burns that seared her eyes shut never ceased to shock him.
"Yeah...it's back," he confirmed. Another silence fell over the table. Trying to distract himself, he tore into the haunch of meat in front of him.
"I'll go grab some orange gems from the temple when we go." Josiah got up, stabling his back left leg.
From what Malefor was told, Josiah had lost all stability in that leg. As such, a local scientist devised a support for the leg. It looked like armor on the leg, but tiny beams made him stand up straight. Pistons on the side allowed him to bend down, although he was limited. Holes in the armor allowed it to 'breathe'. As cool as it was to Malefor, getting his leg crushed by a boulder was not something he wanted to go through.
"Dad, can you please keep this quiet?" Malefor requested. Although he wasn't related by blood, he still considered them to be his parents.
Malefor wanted this kept hidden because the last thing he needed was Aure or someone else raping him with worry. Sure, it may get him a shot of getting lucky, but that would be cheating. Plus, he didn't want to disappoint Aure from going into the mine. If he told her, she would immediately turn into her overprotective stance and force him to stay home. The last time he got it bad, she literally forced him into the infirmary for a week. Of course, Malefor left three days before the week would be over and didn't show himself until after three days. He was smacked. It was hilarious.
Josiah gave him a concerned look, but slowly nodded. "Yeah, I'll do that." He promised. Malefor gave off a small smile, hitting his chest. Many would look at him with confused looks, but it was a symbol that he would pull through this.
Claws skittered across the floor as a small bolt dashed into Malefor, nearly knocking him to the ground. Attached to his chest was a tiny (well, tiny to him) dragoness who had her claws and wings wrapped around him. Her emerald scales contrasted against his purple scales. Her horn, wing membrane, claw, and underbelly scales were also the same as Terra's. However, the eyes were the same as Josiah's.
"Good morning to you too, Estar." Malefor tried to peel the younger dragon from his chest.
Estar was the biological daughter of Josiah and Terra. She inherited most of her mother's looks (she lacked plants), but her element was fire. She was only a few years younger than Malefor, but as she didn't hit her growth spurt that most dragons go through, she only came up to his shoulder.
"Hi Hi Hi!" she squirmed against his struggles.
If there was anything Estar was, it was incredibly clingy; in Malefor's case, literally. At first, it was embarrassing, but he warmed up to her and knew this was a regular occurrence. Everyone who knew her knew how she acted. It was a game that they played to attract her attention and bolt before she caught them. When they were younger, he and Aure would do it and run away.
"Dear, can you stop constricting Malefor's breathing?" Terra asked, running her claw over a brail book. Over the years, Terra had had Estar leap at her as well, so she already knew what she was doing. However, the way she said it, while light hearted, conveyed the message clearly.
"Okies!" Estar unglued herself, landing in her back on the floor. Then, she noticed that Malefor was grasping his chest. Instantly, she turned serious, "Malefor, is it...?"
"Yes."
Once more, the mood suddenly changed to depressing as they all ate in silence. Malefor was extremely lucky that his parents weren't the type to freak out whenever he got ill. They remained calm and got the medicine. When he was younger, they were all over him, but he must have told them off enough. Aure, on the other claw...
When he was done, Malefor quietly left the table and spread his wings. Estar was right beside him while Josiah watched Terra rise and approach. There were times that all three of them thought Terra was pulling their tail with being blind. When they were all ready, they took off at the same time.
However, Malefor quickly pulled head with Estar. Figuring she already knew, he spoke. "Estar, can promise me not to tell anyone about my condition?"
Estar looked at him oddly before slowly nodding, "Yup! I know how you hate having everyone worry about you. Sometimes I fail to see what you like about Aure..."
"Let's not go there, ok?" Malefor replied with a growl, but smiled afterwards.
When they landed at the main temple, they parted ways. She had to go to history, whereas he had to go straight to...training. Malefor placed his claw to his head and groaned at this. Maybe he would have to tell the instructor that he couldn't do as well as he used to. That would lead to being asked why, and then Malefor would want to tear his horns out.
Trudging down to the fields, Malefor saw that Gerald was also there. Malefor really hoped that a confrontation between them would not happen; sure, he could beat him, but he just wasn't in the mood. Thankfully, he turned his gaze at the sight of the purple dragon. One or two females tried to gain his attention, but he wasn't even in the mood for that.
Soon, the instructor, a wind dragon named Ventus landed, a smile plastered on his black feathered maw. Ventus was another cheerful dracidon who Malefor half wanted to bring down from the clouds. Sure, there was nothing wrong with being happy, but when nothing gets him depressed, it gets a bit irritating. He didn't know why he felt that way towards the elderly dragon, but he just did. Maybe something about his green eyes...
When he started to call out attendance, Malefor silently started to drift away. Only when his name was called three times did he register it. "Malefor, could you come here please?" he asked when Malefor woke up.
Trotting over, Ventus gave him a small satchel. When he opened it, orange crystals glittered in the sunlight. "He didn't tell me what it was for, but it doesn't take much to figure it out," He muttered to the younger dragon.
Turning away from the crowd, he absorbed the crystal. Instantly, the tightness in his chest lessened and he felt like he could breathe. Wrapping it around his neck, he walked back. Already murmurs were going around. Out of instinct, he told the dragon closest to him to shut up. He looked at him oddly.
Right after that, Ventus made them warm up. This included stretching (something that Malefor personally enjoyed), running twice around the field, and flying back and forth ten times. His chest burned by the end of it, but at least he wasn't hacking up blood. He wanted nothing more than to lay down and sleep, but that, again, would confirm it was back. Not that it was a big secret anymore....
"Alright, we are going to play another round of 'capture-the-flag'!" Ventus shouted over the students, "Remember, no elements are allowed in this. This is supposed to train your body, not make your elements make life easier. Plus, we all know what happens when certain material catches fire..."
A smaller dragon suddenly shrank into the crowd while everyone laughed. One patted his head and he swatted it away, making cat noises. After the class settled, Malefor found himself on the right side of the field when the teams were separated. Gerald was on his team and he felt the glare that the fire dragon gave him.
"Hey, we're on the same team here..." Malefor called him out, "Just remember; think with the head with a brain."
A few of the older students snickered, but the younger ones tried to figure out what he meant. Gerald glared daggers. Malefor deflected the imaginary daggers with his own stare. Two seconds later, the team came together and started to form a defense. Malefor was automatically selected to go on offense, but to their surprise, he came up with another proposition.
"I'll guard instead." He announced.
"Dude, who are you and what have you done with Malefor?" a female ice dragon replied not a second later.
"Yeah, seriously bro! We need you on offense!" A green dragon that he swore was the real sibling of Estar commented.
"Not fully awake today," Malefor cut off the rest of the encouragements, "You wouldn't want me on offense when I am moving slower than fat bastard!"
They all laughed at that. Fat bastard was the nickname of the water dragon teacher who was, implied, a fat bastard. He was cruel, strict, and Malefor enjoyed making sarcastic comments to every single thing he said. It got him in trouble multiple times, but it was well worth it. Once, he pushed him down a hill and innocently made the reason that he thought he was a ball. Even Josiah and Terra, when they heard that, burst into laughter and forgot to punish him.
Only a few water dragons enjoyed being near him. They were also as cruel and strict as him, but lacked the weight. The school dubbed them 'T.B.B.', which stood for 'The Bastard Brigade.' Malefor couldn't resist playing tricks on them and flying faster than a bullet before they figured out who it was. Hell, even Aure helped him on a few.
Ventus made the wind whistle and the team went off to their respective locations. The flag that Malefor was guarding with the ice dragoness who commented before was green and white colored, whereas the opposing flag was red and white. Not very original, but then again, the concept was not to marvel the color.
"Oh look, Ventus has his wyvern out again!" the dragoness, Glacia, whispered to him. Keeping one eye on the field, he looked into the air and saw that she was correct.
Wyverns were distant cousins of dragons. Serpentine in appearance, they were set apart from the regular snakes by having draconic wings and tiny claws. Their eyes were the same as a dragon's, but lacked the intelligence of the dragons. However, they weren't dumb. They proved worthy assistants and companions. Although they couldn't speak more than a word (usually) of their language, they could understand most of the teaching.
In this wyvern's case, she was found by Ventus when he was about Josiah's age as a hatchling. He took her in and raised her, and now she helped teach his class by squawking every time someone flew too high in the air, for example. Her name was Viento, which sort of fit as her scales were the same color as a rain-heavy cloud.
Resting in her claws was a small scoreboard and curled in her tail, a small piece of chalk dangled.
"Here they come!" Glacia whispered excitedly.
Sure enough, the opposing team was trying to take their flag. Malefor instantly stood as close as he could to it (the minimum distance away was about five claws); spreading his wings to make sure no one could get close. Glacia did the same, swatting a smaller dragon with her tail. Malefor faked a lunge, making his target move back further.
These dracidons were idiots. If they had a bit more aggression, they could have easily slipped past his defense. Stealing a quick glance at the other flag, he saw that his team was being a tiny bit more forceful. Had Malefor been over there, he would have gotten the flag one way or another. Then again, it was a two strike basis; if he was struck twice, he'd have to go onto the sidelines and wait about three minutes.
On that subject, that dragon that Glacia hit decided to distract Malefor, which was a bad idea. Malefor's tail hit the tip of his. Growling, he flew to the sidelines next to Ventus. Suddenly, Glacia fell and someone grabbed the flag, starting to fly back. Malefor was on him instantly, already feeling the fatigue kicking in again.
Just as he was about to catch him, Malefor coughed and he got away, crossing the line. Growing in frustration, he landed, unconsciously holding his chest. Viento chirped and put a line for the other team. When the team started to get back together, Malefor could feel himself breathing heavily. Evidently, Ventus saw this and called him over.
"Take a break, Malefor..." he whispered, "If you continue doing this, you'll just make it worse."
"I'm fine!" Malefor hissed. As soon as he said that, he coughed. When that happened, Ventus gave him a stern look that knew that his argument has been rendered invalid to his judgment.
Being forced on the sidelines sucked. Ventus joined the team he was previously on and everyone looked at him, worry on some of their muzzles. He really hoped that the air dragon didn't decide to blab about his illness. If he did, Malefor would send ice his way.
The rest of the period went by slow as hell. Malefor could have ended the game swiftly, but no, his damned TB had to be a jackass. If it were a physical object, he imagined it to be a dancing minstrel, pointing and laughing at him. Thankfully, Ventus wasn't the one to let age get to him; he was blocking students left and right. Gerald managed to grab the flag, but was taken down; not after he tossed it to another, of course.
He must have drifted off to sleep, as the next thing he remembered was being nudged awake by Viento. Realizing that the next class was already pouring in, he swiftly darted to his next class, hoping that Fat Bastard wouldn't be too strict on him.
Yeah, Malefor has TB (He did in the original). Draconic version of it, anyway. So this marks the...third character of mine that is currently dying of something. At least Malefor has a hope of being cured! Also, I had a lot of fun in this chapter. I'll especially have a lot of fun in the next one.
Will Malefor survive Fat Bastard's roundness? Or will he be run over? Tune in next update (whenever the hell that is)!