“Hey Jack?” Luvia poked him in the side to get his attention. It had been a few hours, and the entire lecture theatre was mostly silent as they watched an interesting educational video showcasing several different roles aboard a small mining ship crew, and how the lessons they had been taught applied to each specific role. Jack found it interesting to see how it compared and contrasted with science fiction from Earth, but was a little sad at the same time, knowing how rare and expensive starships were.
“Yeah?” Jack asked, looking back to the dragon.
“Mr Sparrel’s calling for you.” She motioned up the row to where the spectacled history teacher was beckoning him over with a smile.
‘Oh crap.’ Jack thought to himself. Was he in trouble?
He got up and carefully sidestepped his way past his friends to where the avian teacher was waiting, before Mr Sparrel wordlessly led him down the stairs and out the door, crossing the deserted corridor to the nearby classroom where he had a comfortable chair at his desk with a two smoking mugs of tea.
“Sit down Jack. Don’t worry, you’re not in any trouble.” Mr Sparrel smiled as he indicated the second mug of tea. “And I took the liberty of making you a drink.”
Jack nervously sat down and took a small sip. Mr Sparrel had said at the start of the day that he would periodically call people out, though Jack had no idea what that involved. Admittedly he hadn’t been paying the best of attention, having been recovering from the advances of a horned-up red dragon. He said nothing as he waited for Mr Sparrel to do something, nervously drinking his tea. He had no idea why he was feeling guilty. He knew he shouldn’t be, but there was always something about a teacher pulling you aside that had all the alarm bells ringing…
“First of all, it is good to see you again, old chap!” the History Teacher chirped. “I know I saw you and your friends at the end of last week, but a lot has happened, far more so for you than everybody else.”
He gave Jack a knowing smile as he casually sipped on his own tea.
“How have you been?” he suddenly asked, looking at Jack with inquisitive eyes. “I remember what you told me when you first joined my class, how you feel like you don’t belong, and I’ve been trying to keep tabs on you ever since. The Temple of Hope has done wonders to begin to introduce you to our…society. However, I can only imagine how you’ve been coping since you joined this school.”
“I’ve been…alright,” Jack lied.
Mr Sparrel smirked. “It’s alright Jack, I understand why you feel like your burden should be kept secret, but you can be straight with me, unless you do not wish to answer. This isn’t a punishment, I’m checking on your wellbeing as your temporary Homeroom Teacher.”
Making a motion with his hand he summoned another hot mug of steaming liquid that he then telepathically sent gently sliding towards him with a flick of his wrist.
“Honestly?” Jack sighed, defeated. “I don’t even know how the hell I’m even still alive at this point.”
“I’m sorry to hear that, Jack.” Mr Sparrel put a comforting hand on his shoulder. “I can only imagine your pain, however, to my relief I sense that you haven’t given in to despair, and from my past experiences, I find it best to try and hold on to something positive and happy. Happy memories can be a balm to the mind. However, I always preferred something practical I could do in the moment, or close to it. Your circle of friends and your relationships with them are your obvious touchstones, though I would recommend you find more reasons to keep going. This realm has a lot of good in it as well as bad, and I encourage you to seek it.”
He fixed his spectacles as he allowed a few moments of silence to calm the atmosphere down. “I saw your Deathball game last week, you all played very well! And I could tell you were having fun!”
“Yeah, I did,” Jack admitted with a nervous smile. “It was much better than I expected it to be - the name originally put me off since I thought they were being literal.”
“I can see why you might think that.” Mr Sparrel sighed. “I saw the bounties being placed on you, and I finally coaxed the Greenwardens into telling me the details of what happened. Awful stuff. I swear to you once again that it was never my intention to lead you into trouble, though that does lead me into something else that may help you.”
“What’s that, sir?” Jack asked, curiously. His gut told him he could confide in and trust Mr Sparrel, and though he had been wrong before, he was pretty confident he could trust the teacher.
“I’ve gotten in touch with a Starseeker colleague of mine. A brilliant detective and investigator by the name of Sable Krynn, and I have reason to believe that she has obtained some accounts from and involving previous Outsiders that have arrived on Hive Station Bastilla. She was certainly most interested in meeting you when I hinted that I might know you, though I confirmed nothing out of respect for your privacy. Though, should you wish it, I can set up a meeting. But I would recommend that you converse with your inner circle of friends first, since I doubt she will part with any information for free, especially rare information that could possibly help you return to your plane of existence. If she doesn’t know how to help you outright, I’d be willing to bet she would be able to set you on the right path.”
“Um…Right.” Jack nodded, thinking. “That sounds…encouraging I guess. After meeting the Oracle, I thought that was it and there was no chance of going home, so I’ll take any chance there is at this point, but it wouldn’t be fair to put that on my friends right now after everything we’ve gone through. Would you be alright with us taking our time on that?”
“Certainly, lad!” Mr Sparrel grinned. “When you’re ready, and not before. I can only imagine what you must be up to after everything I’ve heard you’ve been up to. Krynn might be a little obsessive, but quite patient. You’d have to be, in her line of work.”
“Okay.” Jack sighed as he came to a decision. “We’ve got some other more immediate problems we need to work on first, then hopefully we’ll be in a position where we can make contact.”
“As you say.” Mr Sparrel nodded, clearly expecting that kind of answer. “I hope you aren’t planning anything overly dangerous.”
“No, we had planned to take things easy for a while,” Jack confirmed. “Nothing big, some light jobs and some home maintenance.”
“Well I wish you the best of luck with that.” Mr Sparrel smiled as he sighed in relief. “Some time away from serious danger will be good for your mental state. Now as your teacher, I am required to encourage you to try to tap into our corporate sponsors for part-time jobs, though I sense your attitude towards that may be the same as mine when I was your age - fortune favours the bold, after all.” He gave a knowing wink.
“Understood, sir.” Jack nodded, sensing that this meeting was soon to be over. He could see why the others liked Mr Sparrel, and he could admit to himself that he did too.
“Now, one thing before we go.” Mr Sparrel reached to his commlink and sent Jack a message. “I have compiled everything I myself have been able to find on Outsiders. Other planes of existence, species, notable Outsiders of history, that sort of thing, and I’ve now sent that to your commlink. I’ve also marked a few passages I found particularly interesting, though I have no idea if it bears relevance to your particular situation.”
“Thank you, sir.” Jack gratefully nodded again.
“Don’t mention it. Now, once you’ve finished your drink you can go back on in and enjoy the film. I also took the liberty of adding a few works to that data package that can help you catch up to your classmates in certain areas your teachers previously noted you are currently deficient in. Not your fault, of course, but if you have the time it will do you much good to catch up, otherwise you will be severely disadvantaged academically.”
“I’ll do my best, Sir.”
“I’m sure you will.” Mr Sparrel smiled as he put his hand on Jack’s shoulder again. "Remember, Jack, we're here for you. Don't hesitate to reach out if you need anything."
“I will, Sir,” Jack replied as he finished his drink. “Thank you.”
*****
“Luvia, what the fuck?” Alora asked bluntly as she practically chased after the dragon as they took to the air to quickly get out of the lecture theatre the moment the bell rang. “Your impulsiveness may have been in your nature as a dragon, but that does not excuse the line you just crossed.”
“I already apologised to Jack, Alora.” The dragon sighed. “How else am I meant to put myself out there?”
“Not by completely blindsiding him and doing that publicly!” Alora almost yelled. “It’s worth a conversation at the very least.”
She quirked her head curiously as Luvia gave her an awkward expression.
“What’s really going on?” Alora asked, sensing that Luvia was holding something back.
“I’ve received word from Grandfather.” Luvia sighed, realising she would have to spill the beans. “Several dragons have died under mysterious circumstances within Red Legion space, and that’s gotten him even more paranoid than usual. He’s made more demands for me to find suitable suitors to begin producing heirs, and he’s threatened to betroth me to an elder blue wyrm over a hundred times my age who has a reputation for killing and torturing his previous wives as a sign of his displeasure.”
“That’s horrible!” Alora exclaimed. “And I thought my family was terrible!”
“Yes.” Luvia sighed. “I cannot deny that I wanted to make my move on Jack like that anyway at the party, but….yes. There was another reason for doing what I did publicly. By being seen to lay claim to a suitor, my grandfather will leave me alone for another decade or two. I was chosen to reside at Scion of Wyrmwalker to stay away from the fighting and ensure my bloodline is secure. At the time I did not wish to leave Red Legion space, but now I do not wish to return. I know I am expected to produce heirs, but I don’t feel anywhere near ready for that even if I wanted to - but I may have no choice soon.”
“How likely is it that your grandfather will follow through on his threat? What will you do if he does?”
“I don’t know.” Luvia sighed, and Alora noted that she was on the verge of tears. “I have so many expectations placed on me, I just don’t know what I could even do if my grandfather orders the legion to take me into custody.”
“You could leave?” Alora noted, and Luvia chuckled dryly.
“That would be a death sentence for me and anyone close to me once the Legion catches up. I was actually hoping that after my display things would die down, and that perhaps I could at the very least pretend to be involved with your group.”
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“I’ll talk to the others.” Alora sighed. “But you should make plans to leave. The Red Legion is far away, and even that message from your grandfather would have taken a long time to reach you. They have little power outside of the Scion of Wyrmwalker.”
“I shall ponder your words.” Luvia nodded slowly. “Can you forgive me?”
“It is not me you should seek forgiveness from,” Alora sternly told the dragon. “And I would allow some time to pass before you seek it.”
*****
“Guys this is awesome!” Sephy grinned. “No homework! We have a totally free evening!”
You do realise this means we will most likely have extra work to do once normal classes resume? Chiyo pointed out to the excitable Skritta, as they hung out by their lockers to unload their textbooks that they now knew they wouldn’t need. Their lunch break had been pushed back due to the length of their assembly, and afterwards they would then go back to watch more educational programs.
“Sephy has a point, Chiyo,” Jack pointed out. “We’ve got a lot on our plate, we don’t need any more things to deal with, though there is something else I need to talk to you all about tonight when the five of us are alone. It’s not time sensitive though.”
“Is this from when Mr Sparrel wanted to talk?” Alora asked as she approached them, and Jack nodded.
“Speaking of a lot on our plate, anyone take you up on your offer yet Alora?” Nika asked.
“Not yet, but I haven’t checked my messages since, and we’ve been sat in that lecture theatre most of the day.” Alora shrugged. “If nobody takes us up on our offer, then I won’t take it personally. In fact, it would be encouraging if they can bounce back from this.”
We’re not the only ones making offers of refuge, Chiyo pointed out. And people will do what works best for them. Crill for example will be staying with Kritch and Clan Ashtail temporarily, and I believe Zook intends to join the Red Legion. That being said, I believe at least five of our classmates are seriously considering our offer right now.
“Well, they should probably hurry up and make up their minds,” Nika shrugged. “Offer of sanctuary or not, we’ll be busy tonight.”
“How are we going to go about it?” Jack asked. “Go to a few places on our way back to the house or go home first?”
“Definitely home first. I don’t think the Squa’Kaar keep their pocket-magic-carry-thingy on them,” Sephy pointed out. “And it’s better if we go fully armed just in case other scavengers get violent.”
“Sounds good.” Jack nodded. “If Dante’s feeling better we can take him with us.”
“Hey guys…” The group turned around to see Karzen and Bentom nervously approaching them, or at least as nervous as two armadillo-like aliens could appear to Jack. “You guys serious with the offer of shelter?”
“Absolutely!” Alora quickly answered. “But what about…”
“Hah, Dad’s fine.” Bentom grinned, waving off the Eladrie’s concerns. “Our original plan wasn’t great. Our lease is almost ending and things are getting chaotic, so we thought we would have to go stay with our grandparents, but having too many people in a tiny retirement studio-flat isn’t great for anybody.
“Yeah, we were thinking of signing up with the Red Legion like Zook is, but I don’t really know if that kind of life is for me, even though Bentom is more for it.” Karzen smiled apologetically to her sister. “If you’ll allow us to live with you, we can contribute and pay our way until everything goes back to normal.”
“Overheard you talking about visiting a few of the scrap sites and stuff too,” Bentom added with a shrug. “We’re pretty good with the whole ‘manual labour’ thing since we work part time at CorvMart stacking shelves for a shit wage. Just let us pick a few things up and we’ll help you out.”
“Sure!” Alora agreed, as the two turned and left to go do their thing.
Well, we have two others confirmed, Chiyo noted. Though I did not expect those two to want to join us over the Red Legion.
“Yeah, I thought they were pretty stable,” Nika agreed. “And I thought they’d head straight for the Red Legion.”
“Maybe they’d prefer not to be indentured servants,” Jack reasoned. “Presumably this is only temporary.”
“Oh yeah, probably just a week or two,” Sephy noted. “Might as well use the extra help while we can…”
*****
All in all, seven classmates had taken them up on their offer, including their two Armadillo-like Deathball teammates. Jack didn’t recognise any of the others, save for Obeda - the feathered serpent he had helped bandage immediately following the Klown’s attack on the party - who had stressed that they only required temporary shelter for a few days while they change the location of their permanent lair to a safer section of the Gloom Paths, though Jack suspected from the way that they called him to ask to stay with them, that the nervous wreck needed some company too.
The other four were three girls of varying species who were not-so-subtly casting glances his way, and one boy who looked like he was about to die of embarrassment at all the female company. From what Jack understood, the attack had left them all homeless, and they would try and find a new place to live as quickly as possible.
“Shit! Nice place!” Karzen complimented as Sephy led the two sisters and one of the other girls down the corridor towards Zayle’s room, where there were plenty of spare bedrooms for each of them.
Lensa? Vasati? Chiyo addressed the other two girls, floating by the entrance to one of the other corridors. Please allow me to show you to your rooms.
“Jack, would you be able to show Akkar and Obeda to their rooms?” Alora asked, making teas for everybody as Nika took Vanya and the Squa’Kaar to the ‘armoury’ to get outfitted.
“Sure!” Jack grinned, beckoning the two guys to follow him upstairs. “Come on you two! Us gents need to stick together!”
Left alone, Alora sighed. She knew this would be a difficult time for all of them, and that offering to allow more people to stay with them, even temporarily, brought more problems that they would need to work to fix, but she knew she would never forgive herself if she could provide sanctuary to her classmates who needed help and didn’t. What was a budgeting problem compared to having your life ruined by a devastating tragedy? She had no doubt that she made the right decision.
Her expression softened as she looked to the side, where on a special spot on the sofa, Dante was now awake and staring at her with bright eyes, twin tails beating the cushions like a drum as they wagged in happiness at seeing her. Curiously, two of the little Screediips had decided that Dante made an excellent bed for them and were perched on top, so the ‘dog’ didn’t move too much, though Alora could tell he wanted to.
“You up for a walk?” Alora asked with a smile as she gave Dante a few scratches behind the ears.
*****
“Alright! Anything else you need to do before we go?” Nika asked the assembled crowd. “We’ve ordered fresh bedding for all of you which should be here by the time we get back, and we plan to have a late dinner then as well.”
Jack looked around to see if anyone would hold them up, but was happy to see that everyone was happy with the plan. He and the original housemates had quickly put on their battleskins underneath casual clothes and were all mostly fully armed, though Nika didn’t bother with her gatling laser, and Jack still didn’t have his gauntlet which Clan Bharzum were repairing and improving for him.
“By the way,” Nika added, “this is Dante.” She introduced the ‘dog’ to those who didn’t know by pointing at him, who still looked tired from sleeping all weekend but had made it as clear as they could to the group that he was joining them, though Jack suspected that he might end up carrying them by the end of it.
“He’s with us, and he’s friendly,” Nika finished.
“Let’s go already!” Sephy spoke up. Indeed, they had spent more time at the house than they intended to, and there were several sites they were hoping to hit.
“I agree.” Alora chucked. “Let’s go!”
*****
“Alright, let’s hope this place has something good.” Sephy sighed as they made it through the unattended entrance to the fourth dump district of the night, with desolate towering heaps of rusted metal and debris looming over the students like twisted giants, casting gnarled shadows in the faded light of the solar orbital plate far above their heads. The sounds of metal clashing against metal and many desperate scavengers rummaging through piles of scrap rung out in the late afternoon air, and the group realised that this place too would likely be a bust.
“It’s a much bigger place compared to the others,” Jack noted. “Hopefully that means we’ll find something more useful, though at least we’ve got some suitable sheet metal to at least give the shuttle a floor.”
“Now remember, we want to prioritise any kind of batteries and wires,” Alora told the group. “Power generation is something we’re going to need, and until we can get some renewable energy sources installed, we shall need to utilise what we can find in the short-term.”
“You heard the lady,” Nika called out. “Same as before. Split into 3 groups within close sight of each other, and stick together.”
They all nodded and got to work. Jack and Dante led Rayle, while Bentom and one of the new girls - whose name was Tarli - led the third group over to what looked like a pile of old vehicles that had been flung into a heap.
“Uh…” Jack began, realising he was a bit out of his depth. “Could we siphon fuel from these or something? I don’t actually know how these work.”
“Heh, power cores usually get removed long before they end up here.” Bentom grinned. “But your instincts are right. Even if you can’t get an engine out of one of these, there should be some parts we can use.”
“Awesome, would you be able to show me?” Jack asked.
“Sure!”
*****
“Hey, it’s alright Jack, these are pretty good!” Nika told him when they got back and began packing up the Squa’Kaars dimensional basket.
“Yeah but I have no idea how any of this alien tech stuff works.” Jack sighed. “Even on Earth my only experience with handiwork comes from YouTube videos or when I tried to help my dad or my older brothers around the house.”
“Don’t worry about it, you’ll learn this stuff over time.” The Kizun shrugged. “And I wasn’t kidding, the vehicle parts can be fixed up to be a generator or something. We might even be able to fix or rebuild the shuttle’s engine to work better, though that would mean we wouldn’t be able to use it as our secondary power source for the district while we work on it.”
“Well if you’re sure.” Jack sighed. “Sephy said that although most of the stuff would be fine going through a fabricator, we’re missing some key things she would prefer we were able to find.”
“Yep.” Nika nodded. “Not the end of the world though.”
“Yes!” Rayle chirped up from where they and Tarli were carrying an engine block to then place in the small pile they had started making by the lip of the dimensional space. “I can bring up water from the ground, and if Zayle uses their water spirit to follow the pipes then we can siphon what we need without having to pay the utility company! Also, Jack?”
“Yes, Rayle?”
“I saw some cargo containers that haven’t been opened, and there’s a plant inside that’s telling me there’s glowing things in there!” the druid told him excitedly.
“I’m sorry, what?” Jack asked, confused. “A random plant just…told you this? That something you can actually do or are you just messing with me?”
“I’m not! It told me that there is a low light emitting from a few glass boxes and that’s how it has been able to survive!”
“Sounds like something!” Nika grinned. “I’ll get the others!
They all got back together and followed the excitable Rayle to where they were pointing, making their way over to what looked like a few old shipping containers. “The plant is in this one! Can we bring it back?”
“We’ll see Rayle.” Alora patiently nodded while the others gave each other serious ‘WTF’ looks.
I cannot open these, they are rusted shut. Chiyo shrugged.
“Shame we didn’t bring the crowbar with us.” Sephy sighed. “Didn’t expect to be popping anything like this…”
“Alright.” Jack groaned, as he pulled the axe from his back. “I’m guessing shooting this thing will risk damaging whatever’s inside?”
“I’m afraid so.” Alora agreed.
If you can destroy the latches and hinges in the corners I believe I may be able to start prying it open, Chiyo told him after thinking for a moment. This isn’t vacuum sealed, so we should be able to open it.
“Alright then, I guess I’m up,” Jack muttered as he steeled himself before slamming his axe into each of the hinges, grinning as the Hoduth-forged material easily left deep gouges in the metal. He was glad it was magically honed to stay sharp and durable.
As Chiyo finally managed to start edging the doors open, he and Nika quickly got a handhold and yanked on the doors as hard as they could, muscles straining with the effort as the doors finally creaked open, revealing a trove of untouched electronic equipment that was overgrown with some kind of ivy, and several glowing green rocks stacked on shelves, or scattered on the floor.
“This shit better not be radioactive.” Were the first words Jack could think to say.