Truvius stared at the suitcase, crouched before the contraption with glittering eyes enchanted by curiousity. He'd been stuck in the action for a solid minute, turned from disturbing its contents out of a courtesy for privacy, yet pulled by its irresistible charm.

          Would Káel mind?

          Truvius' fingers twitched, hovering over the lip of the shining zipper.

          If he could just understand its basics, that would be enough. It looked like the toothed clips Alta Staar had been refining for years, yet engineered to perfection and daily convenience.

          A smile warmed Truvius' cheeks.

          Káel had been the best roommate he could have ever hoped for. So blind to the basics of Lumi and its lands he'd picked up a nomad dragon, and the only distaste he showed Truvius was when he yammered too much. A single flaw he was definitely trying to fix.

          His homeland made it hard to stand equally amongst what should have been peers. In reality, the only way he'd managed to score an affordable education was shining so bright academically the Garaean Empire's migration camps had no choice but to pay him a glance. Cobalt had come with staggeringly high recommendations, but even its welcoming gates allowed a couple Goldwater nobles and other United Mizer sympathizers to slip in.

          Truvius sighed at the thought. He would have loved nothing more than to trust everyone, but in his position, only Káel's staggering ignorance, and unworldly contraptions, had bought his trust.

          Truvius reared his mind back to happier thoughts, smirking at the suitcase. He'd taken what little he knew of Káel's flat personality and concluded that he wouldn't mind. Too much.

          He pinched the zipper, the muffled crick of the separating teeth nurturing his excitement as he slowly went ahead with the covert operation. Ten bumps in, a mass brushed Truvius' side, but his attention was too concentrated to acknowledge his running nose and itchy eyes, forcing Jeremiah to turn to force.

          The cat chirped, an innocent call to prelude his sinister plans. 

          He flopped onto his side, Truvius' bare foot inches away.

          The perfect target.

          Twenty three notches down. Truvius was counting.

          He gently pulled it down a sliver, his stealth mission shattered by a sudden yelp that escaped his throat. He yelped again as another set of claws anchored to his ankle, followed by the quick barrage of feline feet, and Jeremiah's prickly fangs that had taken a liking to his pinky toe. 

          He instinctively threw his hand down to shoo the hell sent interruption, regret gnawing into his knuckles as Jeremiah seized his hand. 

          To Truvius' utter misfortune, the door clicked behind him. His roommate storming in, only for his mysterious temper to be soothed by a spell of confusion at the sight of Truvius' wrestling back his hand while he frantically zipped up the suitcase.

          Káel blinked, his arms still folded to cradle Puff. Truvius noticed the small drake's turned body, his face hidden in Káel's arm while his small form trembled. 

          "Is Puff okay?"

          Káel's mouth twitched, the fury he'd greeted his entrance with returning via a sharp sigh. "He'll be fine. Tia and the pretty boy were being douchebags."

          Truvius drew back a little, sliding his hand away from the calmed feline and sneezing as a pack of air born fur tickled his nose. "Pretty boy?" He assumed douche bag was some form of an Earthly insult, the strength of which would likely be answered by the person in question.

          Káel glanced at the wall beside him, his face buzzing with irritation. "Horus."

          Truvius wanted to smile at the scathing tone, but in the face of a serious conversation, he knew it was more than inappropriate. At least they seemed to hate the same people. 

          "What did he say?"

          "I don't know, mostly stupid gibberish. But then he called Tia like a whiny kindergartener and she decided to be an all knowing snob and told me I couldn't free Puff on school grounds, and that he'll be sent to the Garaean Empire in a couple weeks anyways since he's a nomad." 

          Truvius wasn't surprised by the tale, fighting a smile at the cute gesture Káel had made to finish off his sentence, sticking two fingers up and bouncing them while he said nomad. Earthling really were strange.

          Káel sighed, dropping onto his bed and placing Puff on a pillow, the small drake flashing his wet eyes to Káel for a split second before he curled up and hid his face to save some pride.

          "How do they even know he's a nomad?" Káel continued, his tone rising while he restlessly got off his bed again, pacing about the room while he cooked up a decent argument for his ghost audience. "My cat is more violent!" He stuck his finger out, the accusing gesture narrowing Jeremiah's eyes. "He bites me for giving him belly rubs for Christ's sake! I even have a scar! Are they going to send him to the Garaean Empire? I don't think so! Maybe I should just call Puff an Earth cat so everybody leaves him the hell alone!"

          Truvius glanced at Puff, meeting Káel's glare as he huffed out breaths with his arms folded. Telling everyone Puff was an Earth cat was as unbelievable as it was dangerous, exposing Káel's origins to a whole school full of backstabbing nobles and rich merchant families. 

          "I don't think they'll send him away, Horus doesn't know Puff's your guardian." Truvius' warm smile shrank a little at Káel's unconvinced scowl. "Besides, I don't think Puff is a full fledged nomad. He'd fit right in with the Garaean Empire."

          Truvius swallowed, rethinking his words as they resounded through the silent room. 

          "Not that I want him to be sent away!" he quickly blurted, throwing his hands up to hold off Káel's retort. "He just seems really friendly, so I don't think he's actually a nomad."

          "You know what the Garaean Empire is? Is it some sort of dragon reserve?"

          Truvius snorted, choking out a small laugh. "No. It's an empire... full of Garaeans." he shrugged. "And dragons."

          Káel glanced at the wall again, flashing it a sour frown for a couple seconds before swatting at a nonexistent fly. "Haha. So helpful." He walked over to his closet, voice muffled as he fished around for a bag. "I don't care what Garaeans are, Puff isn't going there."

           "Garaeans are just people that can use both magic and lumience. The empire's capital, Frigusilvrum, has a massive city of dragons underneath it called Shamassara. They're all super nice and hospitable, I used to buy old books from them on my rare visits to the capital."

          "Don't care, Puff isn't going there," Káel grumbled, ignorant to Truvius' frown while he ignored the tale and stuffed his bag. 

          "What are you packing for?"

          "I'm going to the town and finding a locksmith," Káel replied, the utter surety in his voice glossing over the fact that he hadn't the foggiest clue as to where the town was, let alone the obscure locksmith Alestra had suspiciously mentioned to him. "Except..." He felt his pockets, seizing his suitcase and switfly opening it. "I don't think I have any money."

          "Is there any in your bag?"

          Káel poured the contents all over the floor. "That's what I'm checking, what's it look like?"

          "Coins?" Truvius replied. "Wait, do your people have coins?"

          "Yeah, and we also use paper," Káel said, fishing through his suitcase for anything that looked like a coin.

          "Paper? Are trees rare on your planet?"

          "Not yet," Káel joked. "Our money system is just complicated." 

          His wallet was stuffed at the bottom of a deep pocket, which gave him quite the scavenger hunt, but when he found it he flipped it open, looking for any strange coins. It was just as he left it however, messily stuffed with receipts and loose change, and unless Lumers knew what Canadian money was it was worthless.

          Jeremiah jumped onto the mass staring at Káel with an amused smirk. "Hey Jay, do you know if there's any money in here?"

          The cat looked at him unblinkingly, then walked onto the concentration of socks and clothing, and with a long yawning stretch he flopped over, licking his paws.

          "Maybe Earthly cats are less intelligent than ours," Truvius said, receiving a death glare from Jeremiah when he turned to look at Puff. The dragon was on his hinds legs, batting at thin air.

          Weird.

          Káel finished his skim, turning to Jeremiah's claimed territory and attempting to grab the cat off his suitcase. Jeremiah went limp in defence, and hooked his claws into a mass of clothes and other miscellaneous, dragging out a small black sack as Káel lifted the heavy feline. "Why are you so fat?" He huffed, pulling the unamused cat to his side and smacking the fur off his arms.

          Truvius stared at the little black sack, trimmed with gold, and bound with a wrapping of rich shining silk. It was definitely the classic string drawn coin sack, and the way it bulged sprinkled a dusting of envy on Truvius' face. "I think that might be something."

          Káel grabbed the sack, groping at it to feel the hard metal bumps slosh about. He scooched to sit facing Truvius and emptied its contents on the floor between them. A hoard of shining bluish silver and golden coins fell out, tinkling like fragile crystals as they danced on the carpet. The small pile eventually stilled, glittering like a sprinkle of gems that escalated the envy on Truvius' composed face. "Doesn't look like a lot."

          Truvius scoffed, his cheeks reddening a little at the innocent look Káel gave him. "Er... who gave you that bag?"

          "My uncle." The innocence on Káel's face twisted to irritation for a second as he darted his gaze to the right.

          Truvius didn't linger on the motion, but like the many other times, he noted it "We'll have to exchange one of these for smaller coin, I don't think the townspeople have enough change for one of these. Especially the blue ones."

           "Wait, are these worth that much? They're tiny little coins," Káel said, picking up one of the gold coins and twisting like an overpriced candy. "Looks like a fancy Loonie."

          "Well the golden ones are a little easier to carry around, they're just a hundred. But these silver ones..." Truvius said, delicately grabbing one and holding it up to the light. The cold blue in it amplified at the touch of light, coating the silver coin in a rippling shine that looked like subtle waves were washing across its surface. It was definitely, and worrisomely real. "These are worth a thousand..."

          "You people have coins that are worth a thousand? Coins?! What happens if you drop it? They're so easy to lose!"

          "Well then it sucks to be you," Truvius retorted, paying Káel a defensive squint when his words finally registered. "Wait. Your people don't have coins that are worth a thousand? Don't tell me it's the paper." 

          Káel ignored the sudden concern filling his roommate's frown. He could almost hear his mind calling him a simpleton, as if he was responsible for Earth's monetary structure.

          "We do... At least it's easier to keep a hold of."

          "Wind," Truvius replied tauntingly.

          "Grass," Káel retorted.

            Káel darted his gaze to the right. Again. But before Truvius could finally point it out, he cut right to the chase.

           "I suppose all money is made to be lost anyways." He scooped up the coins, pouring them into the small sack and shoving it in his pocket. 

           Truvius frowned at the gesture, hoping he wasn't planning on travelling to a busy town with enough slivs to buy a fully furnished house and an equaam. He didn't feel like following that kind of trouble.

     —————    

           Puff had gotten better after an hour, his mood still cast to the floor with a little bit of swelling under his eyes. Káel was still carrying him while Truvius skimmed the halls for Alestra. He'd reasoned that the town wouldn't take kindly to a nomad pet, and the dragon hunter cuff hugging his wrist was a telltale sign of his origins, despite his friendly demeanor. With the way most of the school looked at Puff, Káel couldn't help but believe his roommate's claims.

           After a lengthy trek through the halls, they turned to the outdoors, nearly hitting themselves when they immediately saw a chocolate haired girl sitting with a circle of friends in the grass. Most of the school's populace soaking in the breezy summer day around the vast clearing of grass. 

          Puff rocketed out of Káel's arms and bounded into the unsuspecting girl's lap, spooking her with a sudden fluffy package as her friends immediately glared at Káel. He shrugged off the lack of welcoming, the sets of daggers aimed solely at him while Puff received a massage from the girl and her two closest friends.

          He gave the girl a small wave, unease choking his sentence as she stared at him like an alien. Not that he wasn't one. "Can you take care of him for a couple hours?"

          "Who're you?" she asked, the familiar hazel eyes clouded with judgement.

          "What do you mean? We're in your class," Truvius explained, just as confused as Káel at her reaction.

          Her eyes widened a little, dropping to the purring mound of white fur. "Oh! Are you Unicorn Boy? Alestra told me about you, and you also have the wrong person." She pulled a yellow ID crystal out of her shirt, flashing an amused smirk. "I'm her sister, Jade."

          Puff stopped rubbing against her arm, sniffing the stranger with an incredulous warble.

          "Oh..." Káel felt the embarrassment climbing to his head as the girls snickered. "Do you know where she is?"

          "Nope." She groped Puff's cheeks, squeezing them with a massaging rhythm as he melted like butter. "But I'll take care of him if you want." She pressed her face closer to Puff's her voice piping with a coddling tone. "My sister was right, you're the fluffiest dragon alive, aren't you?"

          Puff warbled in absolute bliss.

          Phantom leaned in on Káel's ear with a mocking tone. "Hey look, even your dragon's better at picking up chicks than you."

          Káel swatted at Phantom's face, as if a bug was buzzing around his head, and accepted Jade's proposal. Alestra liked Puff enough to have her sister's head if they harmed him, and judging by the swath of massaging hands the circle showered Puff with, his fate today would be the exact opposite.

          "Take care Puff, be back at the dorm by four," Káel said, smiling as Truvius dragged him away to find their friends.

     —————    

          Káel flinched as he nearly squashed a purple lizard, the jitters rattling his bones while he suppressed a yelp. The one thing he hated about the forest was the sheer amount of 'welcoming' creepy crawlies. 

          "Looking pale there, see another unicorn?" Leon teased, snickering while his overgrown black squirrel of a guardian slapped a butterfly out of the air before it shared a perch on his shoulder. "Flick! You'd better be eating that!" 

          Káel pulled ahead again, trying to soak in his thoughts so he didn't have to think about the entourage of forest creatures next to assaulting his party of friends with a need for attention. For all the time they'd spent scouring the fields for their friends, the thought of even passing the overgrown wall of unkempt shrubs and trees from his dreams hadn't even crossed his mind. And now he was killing himself with curiousity.  

          "You sure Puff is gonna be fine with that random chick?" Vera announced, tossing a glare over her shoulder that barely carved into Káel by now. "You don't know what her friends think of nomads."

          "Vera," Mariel said, her voice holding enough force to soften Vera's chilly tone. "Puff will be fine, I'm sure."

          Káel sighed, the sisters had been bickering for most of the walk, so maybe leaving Puff with Jade was a bad idea. Even if they were twins, it could have been the same story for Vera and Mariel. They were so black and white Vera had popped on a set of rough trekking pants and a baggy red shirt, and Mariel was gracefully hoping over roots and stones in a soft blue summer dress that touched her ankles. 

          If they didn't argue so much he wouldn't have guessed they were siblings at all.

          "M-my father said i-it's the whole package that c-counts," Talli said, close enough to Vera's side that she was intermittently bumping against her as they walked. "I-I think P-P-Puff is fluffy, inside and out."

          Leon shot his finger out to snap at Talli, his voice carrying through the forest and spooking away some of the smaller critters. "Well said! Puff is the cat of all dragons, and if these stuck up and pampered nobles had even seen a real nomad they'd think twice before letting out all that hot air stuffing their heads." 

          Káel laughed under his breath.

           "Some of us stuck up nobles have seen nomad dragons first hand, Leon." Vera retorted, scowling at his grin.

          "You Latos people don't count. Those nomads were real nice before, you brought that upon yourselves." 

          "I know, our king's a complete idiot. Maybe if we're lucky a dragon will swoop right through the front gates and eat him."

          "Vera," Mariel hissed, her gaze darkening with a strange hue of hostility. 

          Vera rolled her eyes in response, slowing to Leon's side and paying him a calculative smile. "You sound like you've seen a real nomad too, where are you from?"

          "Za'xar, like Talli." 

          "Y-you live in, in Ove'lahhan? W-w-we never get n-nomads."

          Leon waved his hand dismissively. "Just cause I live in Za'xar, doesn't mean I live in the capital. I'm from Sampa Da'lego, little town nestled next to The Eye."

           "Ah, that must suck." 

          He grinned at Vera. "Only if you cross their borders."

           "I guess The Eye is still controlled by dragons," Phantom said, drawing Káel's attention as the man talked to himself. "I'd hardly call an organised colony with a fully functioning city 'nomads'."

           The Eye?

          Káel had heard the term sprinkled into conversations, a seemingly casual subject tossed about like its own country. But he hadn't the foggiest clue as to what it actually was. "What's The Eye?"

          "It's a big hole," Vera said, her voice plain enough to kill Káel's curiousity.

          "It's more than that,"Truvius chuckled, catching up to Mariel so he could walk backwards facing his friends. "It's a massive expanse dropping straight into oblivion, a geographical anomaly big enough to swallow this entire region that has stunned scientists as far back as the portal wars." He stumbled as his heel clipped a jutting root, but still kept to his walk. "And if you map it all out, the cracks traveling from The Eye of Oblivion, and the ring of mountains surrounding it could mean something smacked Lumi pretty hard a while back."

          "Like an asteroid?" Káel muttered, glaring as Phantom snorted.

          "What's that?" Vera said.

          Káel frowned, they didn't even know what those were. "It's basically a doomsday space rock." 

          Leon breathed out a laugh to soothe the awkward silence. "Looks like soemone needs to lay off the black tranthis powder."

          Mariel glanced over her shoulder, cocking an eyebrow that killed the teen's grin.

          "Not that I have any myself," he blurted, grabbing Káel's shoulder with a firm rub. "Say, you've got some funky words, where are you from?"

          "The Mizer Islands," Káel lied, his alibi had been the only useful thing Ray had provided him with, although he hadn't exactly gotten the chance to look into what the Mizer Islands even were.

          Leon's grip loosened. "Jeez that must suck. Hey Truvius, weren't you born there too?"

          "Yeah... but that was awhile ago," Truvius replied, his expression growing grim at Leon's statement.

          The group grew silent, staring at the ground as they walked until Talli revived the conversation.

          "D-didn't you say you w-were from Ka'nada or something?" she questioned, smiling to Káel.

          Káel placed his hands in his pocket, feeling the small sack of coins Cobalt's weird office gave him after Truvius forced him to exchange a gold one. "Oh yeah, uhh... That was the name of my town."

          Leon was suddenly intrigued by a situation Káel knew nothing about. "Ooh, were they on revolutionist's side?"

          "Last time I checked I'm pretty sure that place was under revolutionist control," Truvius cut in. "So I'm guessing you got exported and that's why you're here."

          "You sure?" Leon said, tilting his head to get a view of the two. "You guys look nothing alike."

          "Ka'nada's in the mountain regions, I grew up on the coast," Truvius greeted Káel with a smile so staged he was half expecting Leon to call it out. "Even if Káel supports Mizer's leaders, our cultures civilised enough to put aside differences and not stab eachother. That's why you left, right? Too much of a mess."

          Káel nodded, still confused as to what they were talking about.

          "Anyways, on that happy note," Mariel cut in, pointing ahead at the parted curtain of tree branches framing a twisted iron gate drawn open to embrace the sudents. "Town, front and center."

     —————    

          It was so hot even Cinder huddled in the shade of Vera's hat. Fortunately the town was a hop and a skip from the forest, allowing them to escape the scorching power of Carcinos with newfound shade.

          Káel wouldn't have called the place a town. It was built up and articulately well kept, harbouring a mix of vine covered worn down buildings and new ones, laced with polished stones, varnished wood, and fresh paint jobs. 

          The town only had a small skirt of thick stone walls, easier to scale than Káel's back fence, with a wig of wiry vining flowers popping out of the cracks. It was nestled into a similar lush green field of long grass, with the special addition of a cobblestone path laced with lanterns looping around the walls and likely shooting out the back, but despite its similarities to Cobalt, it failed on the open armed appeal. Massive, sky gazing silver crossbows peppered the dozens of wall clinging towers, a couple smaller wooden ones mounting the roofs of shops and houses. Every single one of them had been well kept and polished until they shone, which either meant they hadn't been used much, or were so useful the townspeople treated them like kin.

          Káel wormed his fingers into his pockets, heart sinking when he didn't feel his phone. He'd left it on the nightstand to conserve its whittling life for important situations. The massive silver crossbow peeking over the rooftops to his right was a photogenic beauty asking for a shoot, and he could have used it as evidence too. 

           Káel sighed. He could always come back. 

          "Where to first?" Mariel announced, standing rigid in the bustling crowd of browsing teenagers gracing the town.

           Truvius raised his hand a little, suddenly remembering he wasn't in a classroom. "We need a lock pick."

          Mariel squinted, her voice pressed to caution. "A lock pick? May I ask what for?"

          "Puff."

          She looked at Káel, her widened eyes relaxing with an understanding smile. "Oh good, for a second there I thought you two were up to no good. Have you talked to lady Samanthra about freeing him?"

          Dismay thundered in Káel's stomach, her words hauntingly similar to Horus'. "I need to talk to her?"

          "Well, publicly freeing a dragon on school property may not go over well with some students. She would prefer it if you did it somewhere secretive, not to mention she's knowledgeable in magic and dragons, so I'm sure she'd be helpful."

          "You're gonna free Puff?" Leon cut in. "Can I come? I've never hugged a full sized dragon before!"

          "There's no such thing as a full sized dragon, they keep growing as they get older," Vera muttered.

          "Fine, a non travel sized dragon, that better?"

          "I-I haven't h-h-hugged a big dragon either. If we f-free him, does that mean he'll b-b-be a giant fluffy dragon?" Talli said, smiling innocently at the thought of it.

          "He'll be a giant fright for every student that passes him, that's for sure," Vera retorted, tightly folding her arms while Cinder perched on her head. "I still don't know if this will help him any."

          Mariel held her glare, attributing her sister's salty spell of muttering to the scorching outdoors. "Well, how about we go to the locksmith anyways to look into it, then browse around?"

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Quality Quip #5:

'Walking is a dream to those that never will, and a burden to those that can.'

~ Anon