Dragonheart

[A commission for Buzzbeak's vtuber lore. Thank you for commissioning me!]

She remembered the city– its streets a map she had long engraved upon her heart, knowing them as well as she knew herself. All around her, the sounds of idle chatter and laughter. Everblue skies above, nary a cloud as the sun shone down upon them. Bountiful gardens aplenty. Fountains roared with abundant water and all knew happiness.

Oh how it had been their paradise back then. Beautiful Avisia, where they wanted for naught and everything in the world seemed to gravitate around their utopia. These were the glory days. The golden days.

...

The bygone days.

---

“Buzz?”

The gull nearly dropped the cup she had been polishing when Suzie called her name.

Ah… another daydream, huh?

It was starting to happen more and more these days. Ordinarily, she would have blamed it on business being slow but business had not actually been slow at all. In fact, it was quite the opposite; the Roost had been bustling like none other lately.

She felt Suzie’s pressing stare and set the cup aside, looking up at her wolfish co-worker while trying her best to shoo away the tiredness from her eyes. Buzz blinked rapidly, shaking her head slightly as if that would help pull her out of her reverie. Yet the vestiges of it seemed to cling to her regardless. It made her head feel cloudy lately and she could not claim to be a fan of that.

Too many video games lately, maybe? Yeah, that’s probably it.

“Yeah?” Buzz asked after a moment of silence that felt a pinch too long to not be awkward.

“Looked over that work order that came in. Y’know, the bathroom one?”

Buzz did not know about the bathroom one but decided she would play along with it. She did not want to come across as negligent after all. “Yeah.”

“Tried to take a look at the toilet but damn it, I’m stumped. Wanna try your wing at it? Dunno if you got any plumber skills.”

In all honesty, Buzzbeak could not think of a single thing she wanted to do less than look at a faulty toilet but it was her job. This was her punishment. So she hung her head slightly and acquiesced. “Sure, I’ll give it a try.”

Suzie flashed her a toothy grin. “Don’t fall in!”

“I’ll… try not to.”

Armed with a plunger, Buzzbeak mentally braced herself for the worst. Their humble little cafe had seen all sorts of happenings over the past few months and someone leaving a veritable stinkbomb was… well, while certainly unpleasant, not the worst of Buzz’s typical worries. Still, she could not say she was enthused to go to battle with whatever was wrong with the toilet, her fingers digging into the plunger’s wooden handle as she gritted her teeth.

An apprehensive sigh huffed out as she made her march to the stall in question, grimacing preemptively. But when she managed to fumble the stall door open, Buzzbeak was both confused and relieved to see that it was not that someone had left something unpleasant for her to plunge away at. The toilet sat passively, looking entirely normal. She blinked at it, adjusting her glasses. Then her eyes traveled downward, to a small puddle of water that had pooled at the foot of the porcelain throne.

Odd…

Tentatively, she hit the knob to flush the toilet, listening all the while. The sound was normal and then… not. She noticed more water leak from somewhere near the wall. The water drew even closer to her toes and Buzz instinctively backed up to avoid getting her shoes wet. She scratched the back of her neck, pondering what to do. It seemed like whatever was going wrong was behind the toilet and she was quickly realizing this was probably beyond her level of experience. Still, she knew it was her job and began her investigation– cringing as she stepped forward into the shallow pool to get a better look.

Fortunately and unfortunately for her, it did not take long to see what the problem was. There was a fracture in the wall where the pipes led– how Suzie had missed it, Buzz did not understand (the seagull was starting to think maybe Suzie had missed it on purpose so as to not have to fix it herself). The opening was big enough to stick her hand through, stretching over a foot across the wall. She made a soft “hmmm” in thought, thinking of the repair costs.

And then she heard the noise. It was strange, alien to her. It sounded far away– like the cross between a creak and a guttural groan. The sound made her feathers ruffle and her heart race. Was their building falling apart? Was their Roost going to crumble beneath them? She could not have that. Not under her watch. Not without suffering another punishment, something far worse than being posted up at some miserable café.

It did not take her long to come up with the next course of action.

“Orun,” Buzzbeak said without knocking as she walked into the office. The horned man looked up from his paperwork with a marked grimace on his face.

“You’re getting the carpet wet,” Orun observed sourly, glancing from Buzz’s wet shoes up to her face.

“Sorry… I’m here to ask you a question, though. You’ve been here for a while now, right? Do you think there’s a way to get under the Roost?”

He stared at her quizzically. “Why do you ask…?”

“There’s something going on with the toilet and… well, I feel like I’m crazy,” Buzzbeak began. “But I think something is wrong with the Roost’s foundation. I want to take a look at it.”

He chewed on that thought for a bit. After a moment, however, Orun relented, “Yes, there is a way underground. However…” His voice trailed, studying the seagull thoughtfully. “I cannot let you go there alone.”

“If you want to help, the more the merrier,” Buzzbeak replied.

They grabbed a pair of flashlights and two simple handguns from their paltry armory, which was stashed behind the droves of coffee beans in their storage room. Though Buzz doubted the guns were necessary, in their line of work one just simply had to be careful.

Orun led the way outside through the back door. Squinting through the bright flash of morning sun in her eyes, Buzz made her way down the alleyway that ran behind the Roost’s humble walls. The air was crisp and invigorating, but if the gull was honest, she still felt half-asleep. Her mind traveled everywhere and anywhere, unable to stay fixed on a single topic for more than a few seconds.

I hope it’s not a foundation issue… I don’t want to know what that’s going to cost us…

Orun set a brisk pace – matching that no-nonsense mien he donned. She chased after him, power walking and trying to shake herself more awake. A blink later and Buzzbeak realized a fraction too late that Orun had stopped abruptly. She bumped into him and he shot her an annoyed look before gesturing to a small half-set of stairs leading downward.

“Down there’s an entrance to the sewers,” Orun explained. “I sincerely hope you do not get nauseous easily. The smell is enough to turn a skunk’s stomach. And that’s saying something.”

“Great…” Buzz’s voice trailed.

They descended the steps towards that fateful door that would lead them below. Each footstep was an echo that chimed in the depths of Buzz’s chest. Her nerves swelled as they approached, thankful that Orun seemed totally unbothered. Something about this path made her uneasy, though she could not put the reason into words.

Orun opened the metal grate door leading into the darkened depths below the town’s streets. Buzz could already smell sewage and wrinkled her nose. Her ally tossed her a knowing smirk. The gull shuffled inside, completely drained of any amount of enthusiasm. Orun followed her inside and she soon realized they were met with another set of stairs leading ever deeper underground. It was strange to her that the sewers were so far below but Buzzbeak shook the thought away– she did not know much about sewers, after all. Maybe there was a reason for it. Orun pulled out the flashlight he had grabbed earlier, clicked it on, and the two began their next descent.

After the stairs, the floor leveled out. Underfoot, the walkway was made of a sort of brick that looked somewhere between off-white and yellow. Buzz could not have said she was a fan of the color but that was neither here nor there. Water drifted along in a canal about a foot below them. It reeked fiercely, like Orun had warned, but Buzzbeak stomached it.

The underground was mostly quiet save for the sound of lazily-moving water. There was a silence in that damp underground world– the sort that sent shivers down the spines of most and Buzz was no different. Her eyes flitted about the tunnel as they walked, aware of the scurrying in the dark. Rats, she told herself, trying to use logic to assuage her fears. But even still, her mind crept to deeper, darker places. It was hard not to– that place… it sang to her a silent song. A sad song, a fearful one. Buzzbeak’s hands clenched into fists and she could not even say why.

The gull took notice of a fork in their path– one that Orun seemed to abruptly ignore. He kept on in one direction but Buzzbeak slowed, glancing down the other corridor briefly. It stretched a mild amount, ending in a grand door with a strange but familiar design about its trim. Buzz could not say where she knew it but she did somehow.

“Hm? What’s…?” Buzzbeak began to ask. “Is that a door…?”

The horned man did not answer and she was left to simply ponder the question. Buzzbeak frowned after him and eventually decided to carry on. Though as she walked, she found it hard to look away from that door until it vanished from view behind her.

“Aha,” Orun said after a few more minutes of walking. “Here we are. This ought to be the main pipe leading from the Roost.”

He stopped and Buzz felt that growing unease come to a standstill at the base of her throat. Orun’s face scrunched slightly as he peered into the dark.

“Hmm. Looks like that may be the answer to our concerns about the Roost’s foundation,” Orun said, shining a flashlight up the wall. Buzz’s eyes trailed up, looking at what he was illuminating.

Part of the sewer wall and ceiling had been damaged, though by what, the gull could not say. It looked as though something had slammed into it multiple times in various places. The wall was chipped and dented, with some of the brick laying in pieces on the ground. Even the pipe seemed battered from what she could see and that did not bode well. Buzz felt her stomach churn. What were they going to do? How much money was this going to cost?

“Looks like one of the pipes might be having issues as well– would explain any leaks in the bathroom,” Orun continued. “Though, I confess I do not quite understand how it ended up like this…”

“You don’t suppose something is… down here… do you?” Buzzbeak asked.

Orun scoffed at that. “This is reality, Buzz. Not a video game. Not some funny… scaryspaghettis or whatnot that you read on the internet. No, it’s very likely this is simply the town’s structure beginning to fail after the passage of many long decades.”

“Time does… that?” Buzz asked, gesturing to a dent in the wall.

“It could,” Orun huffed. “Well, I will have to see if we can get a hold of someone who can repair this. Surely the city will handle it…. Eh, who am I kidding? There’s no way this does not fall back on us.”

He sounded bitter and Buzz could not blame him. She was not sure they would even be able to pull the necessary funds. Upper management would probably frown at having to spend even a dime on something like this.

“You’re our numbers guy,” Buzzbeak said. “If anyone can figure out the logistics of this, it’s you.”

“Yeah, well… let’s see if we can’t convince some greasy politician to do it for us,” Orun scowled. “I don’t know about you but I don’t look forward to–”

That was when they felt the first shake. Both Orun and Buzz locked eyes for a half-second that felt like a lifetime. Then the second shake came. Then the third.

The gull could not tell where it was coming from. Her eyes darted about but Orun seemed to spy it first. She turned and saw the massive figure in the dark, half-obscured by shadow. What she could see of it were a set of white-yellow eyes, glowing unnaturally. A slender muzzle peeked forth into the dim light of the underground, jagged teeth protruding out. Buzzbeak could not tell what it was. But she was not foolish enough to stick around and find out.

“Go!” Orun yelled and the gull did not need to be told twice. Even with both of them lightly armed, she did not want to fight in the dark of the beast’s lair.

The two of them took off for the exit. She heard Orun pop a few shots at the thing but that barely seemed to slow it down. It rushed in a flurry of thunderous footsteps, a strange and alien moan crying out from its parted jaws.

That sound I heard earlier…

The realization was chilling, as though someone had dumped a bucket of ice water upon her. But she pressed on, knowing the exit was not far. Yet from the sound of things, it seemed as though the creature was gaining on them. Would they even be able to make it to safety before the beast caught up?

“We’ll see how it feels about this!” Orun hissed as he loaded a bullet into his gun.

He slowed as he turned to make the shot. Buzz’s heart leapt with fear, watching as the beast’s foreleg swiped the horned man aside before his finger could even pull the trigger. Orun slammed into the wall, crumpling to the dirty floor. Though the gull feared for him, she knew she had no time to help; the beast was upon her soon enough. Its other leg slammed into her and Buzz was thrown to the ground. She started to scramble away but a massive, gnarled hand pinned her, not shy at all about digging the very tips of its claws into her flesh.

A failing light on the ceiling illuminated the creature just enough for Buzz to take in the rest of its features. Its body was gray-scaled and horribly gaunt. Its front paws looked akin to mutated hands, each toe equipped with a sickle-like talon. The beast moved on its fours, a whip-like tail flitting back and forth in anticipation. A tangle of black hair sat upon its head and it looked down at Buzz with a growl emanating from its throat.

And then that noise came again, deeper this time and less of a moan. It sounded choked and raspy, the creature’s jaw moving ever so slightly. The noises were garbled and blurred together, foreign to her ears… until they were not, in a flash of clarity that baffled the gull.

It’s… speaking.

She let out a small gasp.

“How long…. How very long I have waited… you still have that same foolish look about you…”

That voice.

It was so familiar and yet she could not say where she had heard it before.

“How long have you lived in the light just out of reach? How long have I waited for you to venture down into these nostalgic depths… Time is cruel but fate rewards me this day.”

Its jaws bore closer to her face, dripping with thick saliva.

“I knew… it would call to you… it would bring you back to me… and we can finish what we started all those long years ago… fear not, little one. What she gave you will be far better in my hands…”

“Get away from me!” Buzzbeak yelled. “I don’t know… a damn thing… about what you’re saying…!”

“Spare me your pleas. Tonight I sup on the heart of a dragon. The morrow will see a new god crowned over a world of fools.”

The beast reared its head back and its silhouette imprinted upon Buzzbeak’s mind, searing fear deep into her heart and deeper still. It reached into a haze that she had long forgotten, a murkiness that had always felt something like a reverie. Real and yet not.

The city. The city was so beautiful, so perfect. She walked its streets, trailing her hand over the flowers in the garden and feeling the softness of their petals.

Her hand reached for the beast’s ankle, trying to wriggle free.

A podium. She remembered being so nervous to address the people. Their eyes were upon her, eyes filled with hope. Eyes filled with expectation. The medal at her chest hung heavy but she knew its weight, its responsibility. She would bear it all proudly. They needed her to.

Buzzbeak watched the demonic light in the monster’s eyes as its jaws parted. Rows of teeth lined the insides of its mouth. The gull knew death was imminent.

Fire everywhere. The city was burning. Its people were terrified of the senseless tragedy that had come to pass. Howls in the dark, obscured by smoke, chilled her to the bone. But she looked up to the dragon, their guardian for years uncountable. The dragon’s body was battered, bloodied with scales missing and horns chipped.

“Take it, child.”

The dragon’s voice was serene in the midst of utter chaos.

“This city… it is yours. To govern. To protect. To love.”

A hand reached out to the dragon.

“Take my heart and fight. Fight until your enemies are naught but dust. And then live.”

The strength came from within– furious as a tempest with the roar of thunder in her lungs. A flash of light blinded her, the sound of it piercingly deafening in the sewer tunnels. Buzzbeak could not make sense of it. Thoughts rushed into her mind– chaotic, nonsensical, and strange– but they told her all she needed to know. She felt her nails turn to claws and her body shifted in a way that the gull could not describe. She felt its power course through her– stronger than iron. It poured from her open mouth and suddenly, the creature was no longer atop her.

Buzzbeak lifted herself upright, looking to where her pursuer had slammed into the wall across the canal. It brought itself back onto its feet, tail lashing in rage.

“So… you do remember…” the monster growled. “Very well. Let your heart be the last I devour, dragon!”

Its body coiled, tense and poised to strike. Buzzbeak felt a jolt of fear course through her. But when it struck, she felt her instincts telling her to respond in kind. Buzz’s claws ripped into the monster’s skin, its jaws snapping at her neck in an attempt to latch on. They grappled with each other in a flurry of claws and fangs. Blood splashed the walls and as the two fought, their strikes began to become all the more furious. And with that fury came a recklessness, though Buzz did not see it until it was too late.

Their duel felt unending until the transformed gull found an opening in her foe. She latched onto its nape and threw the beast away from her. Its body slammed into the ground with such a force that Buzz could feel the tunnel’s flooring underfoot begin to shift. The creature began to rise with a snarl in its breath. But the trembling persisted and Buzzbeak fearfully understood what they had inadvertently caused.

The monster took one step before the ground under it collapsed in a shower of dust and stone. Its cries were lost in the growing cacophony of the collapsing tunnel. Buzzbeak stared at where it had been for a moment, her fearful heart still drumming frantically in her chest.

“Run!” Orun’s voice interrupted her thoughts and she looked over at him, seeing he had risen from the ground with a bit of blood trickling down the side of his face.

As the two of them ran, she feared they would not make it. Rubble and stone rained down upon them, the air thick with dust. The sun shone through the distant grated door, blinding in those dark depths. She reached for it, spying for a second how her hand was more akin to a paw. A gasp tore from her mouth. And then she felt herself change, her hand hitting the grates and grabbing them with shaky fingers. Orun pushed her aside, pulling the door open and the two of them spilled out into the light. Buzz stumbled onto the steps, bracing against them with a forearm.

“What…” Buzzbeak said through pants, sitting on the stairs. She stared down at her hands in bewilderment.

Everything seemed normal now. But something was off, something was not right… She touched the top of her head, feeling where a set of horns were attached to her skull. Her lengthy, scaled tail swished– and she stared at it as it did, mouth agape in shock. The gull’s eyes darted to Orun, who squinted as he looked her over.

“Well. That is certainly… a change,” Orun commented.

“What’s happening to me…?” Buzz breathed.

Orun had a mysterious glint in his eyes. He offered her a hand up onto her feet and said, “Not a clue. But whatever it is, we will find the answer, I am sure.”

Buzzbeak wanted to comment on how Orun seemed unbothered by this turn of events. But her mind quickly focused back on the images she had seen before– passing through her mind’s eye quickly and yet so vividly. It all had seemed so… real. And yet how could it be? And yet how could it not be? She looked herself over one more time.

Who… what…. am I…?

She knew the answer, it called back to her in the depths of her dragon’s heart. But its language was wordless, built upon feelings that felt so old and yet still so raw.

Her fingers gently brushed the spot over her heart.

… Why? Why did this happen? There’s still so many questions I don’t have answered… but maybe someday, I’ll know. I’ll understand…

“Let’s get out of here,” Buzz said to Orun and the horned man gave a curt nod.

The duo left the sewer entrance with scarcely a word passed between them. As the wind whipped through the alleyway, Buzz thought she could hear the traces of that monster’s roar echoing up from the underground. She clenched her teeth and grabbed her handgun a little tighter, the feel of it in her palm a comfort.

Regardless of what the truth is… I do know one thing.

With her free hand, she pinched the bridge of her nose.

Upper management is not going to enjoy the report I’m about to send.

---

It was not often that Orun got to dial that special number tucked away in the confines of his wallet. She did not pester him often about progress and he generally had nothing of interest to report. But to say that the events of the day were important was an understatement. Orun leaned back in his chair, taking a moment to collect his thoughts. And then, after a deep breath, he dialed in that number.

“Yes?” the silky voice on the other line greeted him.

“There have been developments. I am in process of typing up a full report to you as we speak. But I thought you should know…” Orun said. “She is starting to remember.”

There was a long silence on the other end of the line. And then that voice spoke again.

“I see. Very well. Tell me everything.”