Chapter Text
Chapter one
“So it's really you? Scott Boralith.” The words repeated in his head, god he didn't want to mess this up, it's been years since he's seen Scott. And now here he is, Pyro Dagmeare hiding away in his room, trying to come up with the best conversation starter. Every single one he thought of made him either really proud, or visibly cringe. So much had happened just within the first day of the academy, and here he is. Day two at the academy that they were summoned to just to learn how to deal with a corruption that had been spreading for decades and now, pyro had to learn about having to deal with someone setting his room ablaze and now having to deal with Scott.
“Damn… I need to get someone else to help me with this, JoJo might?” Pyro spoke to himself, running a hand through his hair. He stood up from his bed, looking around his empty dorm as he walked to the door and out into the hallway.
The door squeaked open, Pyro let out a sigh as he stepped out. He looked up and saw the one person he was least expecting to see. Shit. First they were in the same faction, and now their dorms are across from each other?
“Well, unexpected for sure, isn't it, Pyro Dagmeare, the run-away?” Scott’s voice cut through the silence, it caught Pyro off guard. Pyro considered just turning around and hiding in his dorm forever, but he didn't. He wouldn't, he wanted to prove that he's not just a run away, that he never ran away.
“Scott Boralith. It's been years, long time no see, my friend.” He spoke, his voice coming out more nervous than he would have liked. He cleared his throat, trying to clear some of the awkward silence. Yet as he went to speak again he was abruptly cut off.
“Friend? That's really how you see us? I'm not your friend, Pyro. Hell, it's too much to say that I even tolerate you.” Scott spoke, crossing his arms. He knew Pyro was in the wrong, it could just feel it! Pyro left his family for years- he's a run away, he just won't accept it. Pathetic.
Pyro was expecting that reply, of course he wasn't a friend of Scott's anymore. “A run away?” Pyro spoke with a scoff. “I’m not a run away Scott, you just refuse to see my side of the story.” Pyro spoke as he straightened his posture up.
All that Pyro was met with was a disappointed sigh, the man stepping down from the stairs, and walking down the hallway. What great manners.
He just sighed in return, of course Scott would treat him like this, if only Scott wasn't so biased when it came to seeing the other side of things. He didn't run away, being stuck in a small village like Tegrith? God he would just die of boredom, and yes of course there were some regrets he had about leaving- like his sibling, Igna. His little sister who in his absence he's never gotten to meet. God, the kid is 6 years old now, and Pyro saw none of it. But really that's the only part that haunts him at night.
“Idiot.”
Pyro waited for Scott to be out of sight before starting to walk down the same path as him. As much as he tried, he always found himself near Scott, and by whatever gods were up there he hated it.
He thought he’d never have to see him again after leaving Tegrith when he was 15. Then finding himself living at Moffa for 8 years, where he met someone, rather worse than Scott. He found Maddy, alongside her brothers. Guards who thought they had absolute authority. Cutting off the hands of thieves, they are thugs! God it annoyed him, her family despised him for no reason.
As he was walking he heard some commotion coming from the floor below, he looked down past the railing, seeing a group of people from below.
He let out a sigh when seeing who was down there. “Maddy, Water… and Scott” He noted as he watched Scott walk over to the two, seeming to greet them happily. He let out a huff of annoyance, why can Scott greet them fondly? Why can’t Scott just understand him with this?
Pyro mentally prepared himself for the interaction before heading down the steps, each step creaking under his weight as he stepped down. Of course they were standing right where he needed to go, how fun. He tried to look away, look past them as he walked by, trying not to draw attention to himself. He just wanted to go to the library, that's it. But that was short lived as he heard a voice coming from behind him, Maddy.
“Hey dickhead!” Maddy called out, trying to get Pyro’s attention, to either ask a question or just simply insult him.
Pyro turned to face the group, he was mentally preparing to get an insult, but he opened his mouth to ask a question first.
Pyro knew he could be an asshole, he wasn't the brightest, and he sure as hell had an ego, that's for sure. In all honesty he just wants to build a legacy, create stories for him to tell around the folk flame, a flame that each family that lived in Tegrith boundaries had, But the one flame that burned brightest, belonged to the Dagmeares. A flame fueled with the stories of the past, it was Pyro’s one goal to make sure he was one of the reasons that flame was the brightest, to be able to share stories with a family of his own, just like his parents had done to him, just like how his parents are doing to his little sister, Igna.
“Hey, have you guys seen Drift, Jojo or Callum around?” Pyro asked as he walked over to the group, sure he didn't like them, and they didn't like him but he needed one way to pass the time. To no surprise he was just met with a glare from Water.
Scott and Maddy looked at each other before Maddy spoke. “Well I saw Callum getting chased by Sun Guard and Guard Guard so best bet is he's jailed again, and I think Drift and Jojo are sleeping.” Maddy explained, it was one of the rare times Scott helped Pyro out, even if it was small things like this.
“Jailed again? And asleep? It's three in the afternoon!” Pyro sighed, dragging his hand through his hair, getting it out of his eyes.
Scott opened his mouth to start speaking again, it was short-lived by Maddy speaking over him. “Why do you need to know where they are?” Maddy spoke, crossing her arms as she looked towards Pyro. He was the only person Maddy knew before being summoned to the academy, they met in a town called Moffa, and quickly had a disliking for each other, Pyro’s constant talking in the middle of a park, standing on a box, just going on and on about his Politics, in Maddy’s eyes Pyro was just a suck up to everyone, Maddy didn't see Pyro as strong at all, All he did was make fun of her brothers, her family.
“I don't need to tell you, Maddy. But if you want to know so badly, I'm looking for Drift mainly. I need to talk to her and Shelby, to see if they could help me finally decorate my dorm” Pyro just glared towards Maddy and Water, who was standing behind her. Maddy always had to find a way to get into Pyro’s business, having to know what he was doing because he was deemed ‘dangerous’ in Maddy’s eyes.
Maddy just laughed, she had seen Pyro’s room and it was, something to say the least.
“Right, you need to upgrade your room so you don't have that classic ‘Teenage boy room’ that looks horrible, might I add” Maddy was making fun of him, it's all she did to him really.
“Well, I've been working on it, I have the colour theme I want down, I was thinking of a grey tone for the walls? Using that wood! The Hellbark wood I feel like would make a great wall, it looks like dragon scales, and the floor I was thinking of using mangrove” Pyro went to keep speaking but Maddy cut him off.
“Okay well it looks like shit” Maddy said bluntly.
It was quiet for a moment, while Pyro was trying to think of a comeback. He let out a sigh, he didn't want to be dealing with this right now, he wanted to go into the library, and just find the book that would end up helping everyone with getting their dragon. Pyro had been thinking of names for the little thing ever since it was first mentioned they would get dragons, his first thought was to name it ‘Dagmeare’ but he knew that Maddy and Scott would never let him live down the fact that he named the dragon after his last name.
There was a quiet sound of bells ringing coming from a room away, in the library. Pyro, Maddy and Scott looked over to the entrance, seeing Legundo, Graecie, and Zam. Maddy gave them a wave, calling them over.
“Hey! Graecie, Zam, Science boy! Over here,” Maddy waved her arm in the air, grabbing their attention, she smiled as she saw everybody walking over.
The bells made a noise every step Graecie took, it was an easy way to grab somebody's attention, or an easier way to find Graecie if she got lost.
Pyro had always been interested in the bells, and why Graecie carried them around with her, at first he just assumed it was some weird comfort item, he always thought everyone in the Feles dorms were a bit odd.
He had asked about the bells in the past, it was something that really caught his interest. Graecie mentioned the name of a Goddess called by the name of The Shepherdess, who apparently was said to love bells and sheep.
Pyro didn't know if it was a type of cult, a religion or what, but whatever it was, it had his interest. He was all for learning about the other students at the school, what stories they had to tell, what shaped them into the person they are now.
“Oh hey guys! What's going on? You all seem happy?” Pyro spoke, taking in all of their faces, seeing that they were extremely happy. Did they find something? A new secret place? A book?
“Yes!” Graecie spoke, she was excited, she had a slight bounce when she spoke, clearly excited. The three bells she was holding rang.
“I found a book! On how to hatch our dragons!” She excitedly yelled, before realising that she was yelling and took a breath.
The mentions of being able to hatch the dragons caught Pyro’s interest. He took a slight step closer to the group standing in front of them.
“You found it? Can I take a look, to uh, y’know make sure it's real” Pyro spoke, he wanted to get his hands on the book, he wanted to know how to hatch the dragons. He could visualise it now, the ‘great’ Pyro Dagmeare with a dragon by his side. His dream.
“Oh! We can show you, we were headed to the Ritual room, because our dragon's egg is cracked! We just need to do the hatching ritual? Come on!” Graecie grabbed the hand of the person closest, Pyro.
Graecie started leading Pyro to the ritual room, he knew where it was and how to get there, the first thing he did when he got to the academy was make a mental map of everything, the last thing he wanted to do is get lost in this labyrinth of a place.
Who knows what he could find, there are already dragons, rituals, magic and corruption! Getting lost in this place would be one of the worst things.
The sound of footsteps quieted as everybody had grouped into the room. Graecie had let go of Pyro’s hand, running over to the ritual circle.
Graecie placed one amethyst shard, one feather, one torch, one lavender, ten wheat, ten raw beef, and the cracked dragon egg, inside of the circle. She grabbed a lit torch that was hung on the wall, walking back over and lighting the quartz inside ablaze.
Nothing happened for a moment, Graecie opened her mouth to speak, concerned that she had done something wrong, but the moment her mouth opened, a sound that was like thunder crashed, a purple and black smoke filled the room.
As the smoke slowly disappeared, there was a quiet noise, it sounded almost like a hiss.
The smoke cleared from the middle of the circle, and what sat in the heart of the ritual circle, on the Quartz block was a little baby dragon. A small creature, cream coloured, with light brown eyes, it was just a small thing.
Graecie's eyes lit up with excitement, she slowly walked over to the creature, kneeling in front of it, she admired the beast with a sort of gentleness.
“Oh blessed bells!” Graecie spoke with pure excitement, the bells she held in her hands rang, a simple yet loud noise. The dragon perked up when hearing the bells, looking at them with a sort of curiosity.
“Fleece. That's your name,” Graecie spoke gently, holding out her hand to the beast that she had just named, watching as the dragon sniffed her palm curiously and with a caution.
The dragon gave her palm a slight headbutt. Graecie swiftly picked up the dragon, hugging it to her chest
“Fleece! Oh blessed bells!”
The rest of the group just watched, they hadn't seen a baby dragon before this day, only the adult ones, the parents of the baby dragons.
Pyro stepped closer to Graecie and her dragon, admiring the small thing.
“Pyro! Look at my dragon!” Graecie held her dragon with gentleness, not wanting to ever hurt the small creature that was sitting in her arms, slowly falling asleep.
“What a beauty, such a small gentle thing huh?” Pyro spoke, he watched as Graecie moved the dragon to be closer to him, allowing him to pet the beast.
Pyro reached out to pet the small thing, it replied by biting Pyro’s hand. His hand moved away and he let out a laugh.
“Guess they don't like me, she's going to fit in just fine” Pyro stepped back, as much as he wanted to hatch his dragon now, see the beast that would go and travel alongside him for as long as he lived, he didn't, he wouldn't, not yet at least.
“Well, I'm going to head back to my dorm, I'll come check out everyone else’s dragons later.” Pyro turned to walk past the group that was standing by the door, he walked past them, giving a wave as he left.
As Pyro walked back his dorm, he really couldn't get rid of the feeling that there were eyes burning into the back of his head, but every time he turned to see if there was anybody behind him there was nobody, it was empty, it was normal for the hallways to be empty, it was a big place after all but, it felt wrong, like it was too quiet, too empty.
He just ignored it, and continued to walk. He saw something out of the corner of his eye, a figure running down the hallway, it looked like Legs.
But it couldn't be, Legs was with everybody else in the ritual, half way across the academy. He pushed the thought to the back of his mind just trying to stay focused on getting to his dorm.
He finally reached the Vulpes main room, he walked towards the stairs. Gods, he wished he had some sort of magic that would make it easier for him to get to different places, rather than risking getting lost in this labyrinth.
As he was walking back he started thinking, what happened with the whole thing about being ‘soul bonded’ with the first dragons they had, most people felt upset which is fair, the dragon that picked them, bonded with them, they died.
But Pyro didn't feel sad, he didn't know the things for long, they had the dragons for less than twenty minutes.
The more Pyro thought about this, the more that the dull ache in his head grew stronger.
He had finally reached his dorm, he opened the door to the empty room, he sat against the wall, it's not like he had a bed, it managed to just vanish, it didn't make sense, nothing made sense.
Pyro had closed his eyes, sitting with his legs up to his chest, blocking the bright sun from his eyes, praying that the ache in his head went away.
He hated getting these headaches, it always threw him off when talking to people, always having to leave groups early or it would get worse, luckily its not as bad as it used to be in Tegrith, he would always complain about it to Scott, sure it annoyed Scott but Pyro thought it was funny annoying him.
There was a quiet knock on the door, Pyro looked up, trying to figure out who could be at the door.
The person at the door knocked again, Pyro stood up, walked over and spoke as he began to open the door.
“Hey uh, not the best time right now, just trying to sleep y’know? Long day.” Pyro lied, he didn't want to admit that he was hiding away because of a small headache. He had been looking at the floor, not wanting to look into the bright hallway.
He looked up, being greeted by the one person he would rather not be dealing with at this time, Scott Boralith.
Pyro didn't speak at first, he cleared his throat. What could Scott even be wanting from him? Pyro stared at the door behind Scott, he wouldn't admit this but he couldn't stand eye contact, especially from Scott, it was always so awkward.
“You alright?” Scott spoke, snapping Pyro’s attention back to the real world, Pyro had been so lost in thought he had forgotten that Scott was standing right in front of him.
“What?” Pyro cleared his throat again, he was confused, why would scott be checking up on him, well, scott is a nice guy but he doesn't seem like the type of person to check up on people he doesn't like.
“Well, you kind of just left out of the blue Pyro, that's not like you, Maddy was also confused.” Scott spoke, Pyro could see that Scott was looking past him and into his room, his very, empty room, Scott had a slight smirk on his face.
“I’m fine, just tired, thought I would have a nap.” Pyro spoke, the lie was clear in his voice, Scott knew this, Pyro was the type of person to stay up all night, working, studying and just mapping out new places. Why would he be having a nap in the middle of the day?
The old Pyro, the normal Pyro wouldn't act like this, sure people can change but from the interactions that Scott has already seen, Pyro hasn't changed a bit, he's the Pyroscythe Dagmeare he has always been.
Pyro really just considered shutting the door on Scott’s face, gods he hates that he's stuck here with him, the one person he’d rather not see. Pyro did try to close the door, slowly, as a small sign saying ‘Go away’, but it was short lived quickly by Scott’s foot blocking the door way, the door refused to move.
“Bastard…” Pyro muttered under his breath, he let out a sigh, not wanting to talk to anyone right now, especially with the headache he is dealing with.
“Well, it's clear that you don't want me here right now, ill let you be with that headache of your’s, Pyro.” Scott sighed. It caught Pyro off guard, how did he know? He thought he was playing it off well.
Pyro gave a quiet hum as a reply, not wanting to be dealing with this, he went to shut the door as he saw Scott walking over to his own room.
“Wait” Pyro called out before Scott entered his own room. He paused before speaking again, he didn't even want to call out, he just did it without thinking.
“Have you seen anyone around, with well i guess odd activity around? I came back to my dorm yesterday and the floor was ablaze.” Pyro explained, he didn't know who could have done it, it couldn’t have been Scott, he's more of a cold guy.
“Someone set your dorm on fire? You sure it wasn't you, I mean you did get picked by the dragon that burned someone alive.”
“You know there is only one flame I'm after.” Pyro responds, giving Scott a stare. It was true, there was only one flame Pyro wanted. The ‘Folk flame’.
“I would be surprised if your family would even give it to you. I mean you did leave them for what? Eight years?” Scott knew this would piss Pyro off, but it was the truth, Pyro left his family for years, he didn't even get the chance to meet his little sister, he left his family, Pyro left him.
“They will.” Pyro spoke quickly, he was going to get the folk flame, it was promised to him, passed down from the different generations of the Dagmeare family, it was going to be his to tell his stories and make the flame glow, make it stronger then it ever has been.
“Besides, you wouldn't know anything, the folk flame gets passed down by blood family, which you wouldn't know about, would you?” Pyro didn't even give Scott the chance to even open his mouth and speak.
Pyro crossed his arms, staring at the man who had a look of frustration, Pyro just had to bring up the fact that Scott didn't ever get to learn about his family, his real family.
“Blood doesn't matter in a family, Pyro. Family is who you surround yourself with.” Scott replied, more frustrated and annoyed than anything.
Of course Pyro had to bring up the fact that Scott was adopted. Of course Pyro had to use that shit as an excuse, Scott knew Pyro wouldn't be able to come up with anything better, he never could, he was just a sad excuse of an insult at this stage.
It was quiet for a long moment, Pyro seemingly deep in thought, and Scott waiting for a snarky reply, an insult, a comment on how Pyro was just so much better then him!
There was nothing
Pyro was silent, thinking, would he be thinking about apologising?
It's not like Pyro to do that.
“Scott” Pyro paused, not knowing if he should continue speaking, here he was, Pyro Dagmeare wanting to hide away in his room again, hide away from the man that he hated, the man that he left, the man that he missed.
Pyro stared at the man for a long moment, seeing how Scott remained staring at him, expecting the man to speak, even just waiting for Pyro to say just a comment.
“I feel like we should put all this, well, fighting on a hiatus for a while.” The words felt disgusting on his tongue, he doesn't want to apologise to Scott, but they have to focus on the real issues that are happening, the corruption, hatching dragons and honestly just trying not to die in this labyrinth.
Scott never thought he would hear the day that Pyro would say something like that. He knew that Pyro was right, with how much he didn't want to agree with the man in front of him, as much as he wanted to continue telling Pyro how much of a bad son he is for leaving his family for years with no contact.
He nodded, an agreement to have this fighting and this drama on a hiatus, Pyro was right, the corruption was spreading.
What Pyro was unaware of, the corruption was spreading to Tegrith, the land where both Scott and himself grew up. The place they had met, the place they had fought with each other in, the place where Scott felt abandoned after Pyro had left.
It was a secret only Scott knew of, he wanted to inform Pyro on what was going on with his old home, but he held his tongue. Pyro knew that the corruption had been near Tegrith in the past, but the thought that the corruption had spread to Tegrith never passed his mind.
“You're right, Pyro. As much as I really just don't want to say it, we should put it on a temporary hiatus.” Scott agreed. Giving Pyro another slight nod.
A moment of silence passed between the two, neither of them knowing what to say.
Scott started to feel off, he felt lightheaded, like he would pass out at any moment, a blue, white and gray smoke. The feeling of being lightheaded didn't stop, didn't falter for a moment.
“Uh Pyro?!” Scott spoke, his voice full of concern and confusion, it felt like there was a tingling feeling in his arm.
“Scott! Are you okay- what do I do?!” Pyro was concerned, like a friend would be if their best friend just got hurt.
The smoke slowly cleared away from Scott, the feeling in his arm went away, he was confused, scared. He didn't know what just happened.
“I’m- im fine now, my arm is just tingling, and…” Scott lifted his arm up, to see if anything had happened, had changed.
Right as he did that a shard of ice formed in front of his hand, his hand was cold, like he was holding the ice, he watched in amazement as the shard of ice shoot to the side of him, where his hand was pointing, watched as it hit the railing of the stairs down the hallway.
A voice seeming to echo in his head as it happened.
‘You lose a winter-breath… But it finds no living vein to frost.’
“Whoa… what” Scott stared in amaze, Pyro looked in pure shock and awe, neither of them daring to speak a word.
The silence was short, cut off by Pyro’s amazement
“YOU HAVE POWERS?” Pyro accidentally shouted, he stared at Scott in pure amazement, like a little kid that was excited to see something cool. Pyro grabbed Scott’s arm, trying to see if anything had changed on his arm, nothing had, he had only just noticed that his arm was freezing.
Pyro didn't notice that he had just grabbed Scott’s arm, Didn't notice that they were basically holding hands.
When he did notice he let go almost instantly, his face slightly red from embarrassment.
Pyro took a few steps back, so he was against his door to his dorm, he cleared his throat.
“Scott, that was amazing!” Pyro was still caught up with the whole thing of Scott having powers.
“We have to show the others right?” Pyro asked, basically just wanting to pull Scott around and show everyone what he can do.
Scott nodded, grabbing Pyro’s hand, leading him down the hallway and to the stairs, where he let go of his hand to go down the stairs.
Pyro watched as Scott took steps down the stairs, he looked at his hand that Scott had just grabbed, it was still cold, Pyro swore he could still feel the feeling of Scott’s hand grabbing his own.
Scott was near the bottom of the stairs, looking around seeing if anybody was nearby. Pyro was still standing at the top of the staircase, he was starting to feel off, his head felt heavy, light-headed.
Just like what happened to Scott, a smoke of Blue, white and grays surrounded him, his arm felt like it was melting from the inside out, like Scott did, lifted his arm, just in case.
A voice echoed in his head.
‘You pinch a spark so small it hates the air… When it kisses stone, the ground will remember how to roar. The Earth splits-your spark returns as a throat of flame’
A spark formed and flew the direction Pyro’s hand was pointing, hitting the ground behind Scott, the small spark grew into a larger pile of flames.
Pyro looked at it with sheer amazement, like how he did when seeing Scott use his power for the first time.
Pyro’s arm still felt like it was on fire, but it had died down just a bit, it was manageable, nothing he couldn't handle.
Scott had turned around when he heard the noise behind him, being greeted with a fire that was up to his height, not even a foot away from him, he jumped back.
“Pyro?!” Scott called out, looking to the top of the stairs, seeing Pyro with the biggest smile on his face.
“I did that! Scott! I have fire magic!” Pyro called out happily, this was his dream as a child, to have some sort of magic. Pyro had the biggest smile on his face, like a small child, just like how he used to be when he was younger.
Just for a moment, Scott felt like he was back with his Pyro, the Pyro he created memories with, not the Pyro that many deemed to be dangerous, who gets called ‘insane.’
There was a slight smile on Scott's face as he watched Pyro be all excited over his new powers. It's like they were kids again, finding out something new.