DuckTales (2017) || ScaleFeather || A Story of Brotherhood and Friendship

(11) Dylan

Dylan started to feel tired. He didn't know how long he and Damian had been running, but it was long enough to make his stump start to ache. But the boys kept running, and Dylan kept a grasp on Damian's robotic hand...until he tripped.

Dylan tripped over a rock, right on his prosthetic, which promptly slipped off as he fell to the floor, as did his bag and his sword. He let go of Damian's hand from the impact, only to realize that he'd pulled off Damian's prosthetic as well. Damian didn't seem to notice, for he simply turned around and gasped upon seeing Dylan's sprawled, one-legged form.

"Dylan, are you okay?" he said worriedly, dropping his own bag and bending down to help him up.

Dylan was a bit surprised; that was probably the first time Damian had called him by his name, rather than Dragon Knight. With one foot gone, and the other one hurting, he didn't feel like trying to stand, so he let Damian help him up into a sitting position.

"I'm fine," he breathed once he had.

Both of the boys' robotic limbs lay on the ground near them, but neither of them felt like getting them. They were both caught up in things at the moment. Dylan was tired, and would hardly be able to stand, even with his prosthetic. Damian, on the other hand, didn't seem tired at all. However, he looked around worriedly, as both of them were in the dark of night.

"Where are we?" he said, his voice a bit higher than usual.

Dylan lit a flame in his palm, then noticed the remains of a small campfire. He lit it, so he wouldn't tire himself or his powers anymore than they already were. He looked around, noticing very tall trees, and specks of star and moonlight peeking from the heavy cover of leaves.

"I don't know," he replied.

"Oh man, this is the worst," said Damian, his voice rising with panic. "I ran away from my only home, broke several rules and regulations doing it, you're hurt, and we don't even know where we are!"

Damian began to breathe very fast and loud.

"What-do-we-do? What-do-we-do?" he repeated.

"Hey," Dylan interjected gently, "try to breathe."

Damian's chest heaved as he looked at Dylan, who smiled and put his hand up.

"Like this."

He promptly started his Uncle Wildwing's signature breathing exercise. He inhaled, counting to four on his hand, held his breath, counting to four again, and exhaled, counting to six. He looked at Damian, signaling for him to do it with him. He started the exercise again, and Damian joined, following every step as Dylan did it. His shoulders seemed to relax as he sat close to Dylan, and they did the exercise a few times until it seemed Damian had relaxed. Dylan rubbed Damian's shoulders to make sure of that, and found no tension in them.

"Feeling better?" he asked gently.

"Yeah," Damian whispered after a beat.

Dylan gently patted Damian's shoulder. "We'll be okay."

Damian nodded, though not meeting Dylan's eyes. Dylan understood. Then he looked around. This place seemed familiar, but he felt like he'd been here forever ago. However, the remains of the campfire seemed to narrow it down.

"I might know where we are," he told Damian.

"Where?" Damian asked, turning to look at Dylan.

But before Dylan could answer, there came the noise of flapping wings from above. A shadow shaped a bit like a lizard, the size of a housecat, glided down in a spiral, and Dylan recognized it immediately when she approached the firelight, and landed by his foot.