Benedict
(#40101686)
Level 1 Guardian
Familiar
Featherback Boar
Click or tap to view this dragon in Predict Morphology.
Energy: 0/50
This dragon’s natural inborn element is Light.
Male Guardian
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Personal Style
Apparel
Skin
Scene
Measurements
Length
18.62 m
Wingspan
19.45 m
Weight
8772.53 kg
Genetics
Sanddollar
Pinstripe
Pinstripe
Pistachio
Basic
Basic
Yellow
Smirch
Smirch
Hatchday
Breed
Eye Type
Level 1 Guardian
EXP: 0 / 245
STR
7
AGI
6
DEF
8
QCK
5
INT
5
VIT
8
MND
6
Lineage
Biography
B E N E D I C T
FACTION: GLORY
the refugee
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Benedict didn't have an easy start to his life. His home town was attacked by Luminax, and he was forced to flee when he was just a hatchling. In the weeks before the town burned, he had been harassing a young Fae named Verdance, and told everybody that he could that Verdance was his Charge. Because he was so young, nobody believed him, but when the Emperor attacked and his parents went to fight to defend the city, Benedict's protective instincts sent him straight to Verdance. The Fae realized how much danger the hatchling was in, and took him along when he fled. As they traveled toward Nature, far from the destructive path of Luminax, Benedict grew and began to fly. Food wasn't readily available, so he was small for his age, but once they reached the Clan of the Outcast, he caught back up to where he should be. (The clan may have its problems, but food has never been one of them.) Now he is tall, and strong, and still fiercely protective of Verdance. The two have become close friends, and Benedict has vowed that he will find a way to repay the kindness of his Charge, because without him, Benedict would have likely died. Benedict spends a lot of time with Lucien, who has been the matriarch's guardian for years. The older guardian teaches him the ins and outs of having another dragon as a Charge, and the two of them sometimes commiserate about the complete loss of privacy this brings. Still, neither of them want to end up like Euphrates, who let his Charge out of his sight, and paid the ultimate price. So Benedict shadows his tiny Charge, and waits for the moment when he can repay his debt. |
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Verdance vaulted into the air to avoid being side-checked by a very wobbly young Guardian who stumbled into him in the street. His frills flattened against his neck with a crack as he gazed down at the hatchling. This is what he got for straying out of the city's Fae marketplace. “Careful!” he told the boy, who was big enough that he could have done some damage. The Guardian looked up at where he was hovering, eyes wide, and was silent for several seconds before replying, “You be careful!” “BENEDICT.” The hatchling's distraught mother, who had been perusing a shop window, entered the conversation by lowering her head to their level. “You're being very rude.” “No, mom, he's my Charge! He needs to be careful!” His mother sighed hard enough that Verdance had to beat his wings harder to maintain his position. “I'm sorry,” she told him. “They do this a lot when they're young.” “It's okay. I understand.” Verdance didn't, really; he had no children. He did understand that it was an annoying habit, though, and as a result could empathize with the mother. “Ben. Come on.” The hatchling stamped a paw on the cobblestones. “I'm not supposed to leave my Charge alone! You an' Dad said so!” His mother responded by simply picking the young boy up in a paw and settling him in between her wings. With another apology, she set off down the street, grimly ignoring her now shrieking son. Verdance watched them go, feeling more certain than ever that he was never having kids.
*****
“Verdance?” His landlady, who owned both the private garden and the tree within it that he'd built his nest in, called up to him from her back door. “There's someone here looking for you.” He set aside his book with a sigh and flew down to her. “It's not another traveling salesman, is it?” She nervously fidgeted with her pearl. “He's, um, a child.” “Why would a child be looking for me?” He heard a voice call from the other room. “Mr. Fae? Is that you?” Verdance's fins drooped. He recognized that voice. With a sigh, he padded past his landlady and into the front hall. “Benedict? How did you get here?” The hatchling smiled. “I waited until mom was asleep an’ sneaked out.” “How did you know where to find me?” “A Guardian always knows where to find his Charge,” Benedict said imperiously. “You live real far across the city, though.” His stomach sank. “Did you sneak out last night?” “Uh-huh!” It was evening His mother was going to be in hysterics by now. His landlady peered around the corner. “We need to get you home. Your mother must be so worried.” The hatchling scowled. “I'm not supposed to leave my Charge.” “He did this in the marketplace last week,” Verdance explained to her. To Benedict, he asked, “Do you know your way home?” “Yeah! Dad says I'm a natural av-nigator.” “You can't send him back out in the city alone,” hissed his landlady. Verdance made an effort to keep his frills still. “Of course not. I need to talk to his mother, anyway.” “I'm hungry,” Benedict announced. “Then you better get us there fast,” Verdance replied, and walked for the front door. His mother looked relieved, and also like she wanted to strangle her son, when they showed up at their house on the big dragon side of town. While Benedict whined at her knees that he was hungry, she tried explaining her son's behavior to Verdance. Something something only child? Whatever. “Is this going to happen again?” “No. We'll keep an eye on him. Hopefully he picks something else as his “Charge” soon. I'm so sorry for the trouble.” When Verdance began to fly away, Benedict started wailing. Thankfully, he couldn't fly after, so Verdance soon left the irritating little hatchling behind. Guardians.
*****
The city was on fire. It had been burning for hours, starting when the Emperor attacked the large side of town, but despite the fighting Ridgebacks and Guardians (who, rumor had it, had ordered all the Imperials to get as far away as possible), the fight was making its way toward Verdance's home. His landlady had already fled, but Verdance had hoped the big drive of the city would overwhelm the rotting monstrosity that had attacked them. Soon, however, the grim reality had come clear. He'd just gotten done packing a satchel with clothes and food and the few mementos that would fit when he heard a breathless call from the courtyard below. “Mr. Fae?” Verdance looked down to see Benedict, and felt the panic he'd been trying to stifle since the attack spike in his chest. He zoomed down towards the hatchling, who looked tired and was covered in soot. “What are you doing here?” Benedict frowned. “Keeping you safe.” “Kid, you can't-- where are your parents?” “I dunno. They went to stop the bad dragon. They told me to hide in the house, but it got burned up, so I found you.” Verdance looked out over the ruined city, what he could see of it in the smoke, anyway, and shuddered as he heard the Emperor's roar on the wind. It was getting louder, which meant the dragons who were fighting it weren't doing well. He looked down at Benedict and made a decision. “Look, kid. I was just about to leave.” “But it's not safe!” “You're right. I… need someone to come with me and keep me safe.” Benedict puffed his chest out. “I can do it!” “Okay, but if you come with me, you have to listen to me.” “Okay!” Verdance got them walking, but quickly realized that wasn't going to get them moving fast enough. The little guy couldn't fly, but he could definitely outstep Verdance even at his size. He swallowed his pride for the sake of increasing their chance of survival. “Benedict? Is it okay if I ride on your back? I'm, uh. Tired.” “Sure! I'm strong. I can carry you real far.” Verdance fluttered up and settled in between his shoulders. “Okay. Go where I tell you.” Benedict nodded, and they turned toward the trickle of refugees visible on the horizon, moving through the smoke.
*****
The first few days out of the city were tough. Benedict had no food of his own, and though he walked faster than Verdance, he got tired quickly. The insects that Verdance had packed for himself, he passed off to the hatchling. Their store dwindled quickly. They weren't able to keep up with the rest of the fleeing dragons. Benedict couldn't hunt, and Verdance didn't know which plants were edible. By the time they got to the next town, Benedict was tired and hungry, but Verdance was hungrier. The town had been wiped nearly clean of supplies, but as soon as the dragons living there saw Benedict, they broke into their personal supplies to help them in their journey. “Where are you going?” One of them asked. Verdance was about to tell them he had no idea, when the hatchling piped up. “The Clan of the, uh… the Outcast! Mom said if we got separated, we'd meet up there.” “Never heard of it,” their helper said. “It's real far away in Nature.” It was as good a plan as any. Verdance had wanted to get far away from the Emperor, and Nature qualified. They'd just have to go by boat, since Benedict didn't fly. With a rough plan now in mind, the two of them thanked the villagers and got back in the road.
*****
They weren't the only refugees trying to get out by water, but thankfully the worst if the crowds had come through ahead of them. So many of the dragons could just fly where they needed to go, after all. Again, Benedict's youth helped them, and soon they had passage on a small ship. They were sleeping on the deck with a displaced Snapper family, but they were moving. Benedict had nearly doubled in size on the road, but he was thin from not having enough to eat. He took his first experimental flight off the front of the house their third day on the water. Verdance kept an eye on him, periodically calling out tips, while one of the Snappers walked him through identifying edible plants that would be growing in Nature. Benedict curled up next to him protectively after his flight nearly ended in a crash and napped. Verdance transcribed notes about plants into the margins of his only book so he wouldn't forget. Benedict's first flight should have been longer. The boy needed more muscle, and energy. He was nearly done with his notes when a blue Snapper heavily laden with bags of herbs walked over and introduced herself as Enid. “The others told me you're headed into Nature. Have you ever been there?” Verdance shook his head. “I've never so much as been camping.” “Lucky I'm here, then. I do a lot of trade with Nature clans.” “We're looking for one called Clan of the Outcast.” “Even luckier than I thought. I can take you there. It's where my wife lives.” Verdance felt a surge of relief so strong that it left him exhausted. He thanked Enid profusely, then excused himself to rest. He leaned back against Benedict's ever-growing side and allowed himself to hope for the first time that everything was going to be okay.
*****
Benedict's parents weren't there when they arrived, but it was another few months before he was old enough to realize why. The clan took them both in and listened to their story with horror. They were isolated, and received news only when the Snappers came through to trade. It was hard adjusting to life in a hole in the ground after living in such a large city. Verdance eventually built a new nest in the branches of the massive tree above the hill that housed the clan. This caused Benedict to sleep outside. “They can give you a room, you know,” Verdance told him one day. Benedict's voice had grown deeper recently. He was now two-thirds his full size, having filled out rapidly on the plentiful food in the jungle. “I need to keep you safe.” Verdance began to wonder if he'd been wrong this whole time. When Benedict was full-sized and still insisting on sleeping under Verdance's nest, Verdance quietly went to the Matriarch and asked if they could build a room for Benedict. When it was done, Verdance spun a new nest on the ceiling inside it. Once that was done, Benedict gladly moved in out of the elements.
*****
A year passed. His parents never did arrive. Benedict never mentioned it, and Verdance was too afraid to bring it up himself. But one day, the Guardian surprised him. “I never thanked you for keeping me safe during our trip here.” The words drifted up from the floor of the room. They'd put out the lamps to go to sleep, so Verdance couldn't see his roommate. He decided to try deflecting with humor. “Hey, you kept me safe, remember?” “I'm being serious. I’d be dead if it weren't for you. Crushed, or starved, or worse.” Verdance felt his frills droop. “I wasn't just going to leave you there, Ben.” “I'll make it up to you.” He said it with the same determination of every declaration he'd given Verdance since that day they met in the market. “I hope you know where I'm coming from when I say I hope you never get the chance.” Benedict laughed at that, a low rumbling which Verdance felt in his chest and stomach. “Good night, Verdance.” Verdance lay awake, deep in thought. Benedict had turned out well, despite everything. Maybe… maybe he did want hatchlings someday. It would be nice to see them get the chance to be kids for as long as they deserved. |
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