Rust went into a type of catatonic state in front of the obelisk. For a whole week, he didn't move, eat, drink, or sleep. After that, he never did it again but that didn't mean that he didn't hold silent vigils at Burn's grave.
When he wasn't there, he was wandering around the castle as a ghost. Rarely did anyone see him, even then it was only for a moment. Smolder and Thorn never got to speak to him, the guards not even trying.
The only being that could find him was Rose. She tended to console him after a long vigil, consoling him whenever she found him. Sometimes, it would just be by silently being there. A few other times, it would be by whispering gossip that she found around the stronghold thanks to their language lessons.
A whole six months and some weeks later, Thorn finally got a chance to talk to him. Rose had insisted that Rust went to the dining hall in the middle of the day, causing him to break the habit of going at midnight for once. There, Rose could only smirk at Rust's glare when they both noticed that Thorn was there.
And she had approached so she could spend less energy trying to talk to him. "Rust, right?" she said as if she hadn't been talking to Smolder about him almost every day since his arrival. (Rose had said it off-handedly one day but Rust remembered it.)
"And you're Thorn, the queen who ain't even related to Oasis," Rust said, only slightly snappish. Considering he hadn't threatened her with his barb yet, he'd say that it was a win.
"Well, yes. The Eye of Onyx has a mind of its own," Thorn said, trying to chuckle it off. Little did she know that the name of the artifact sent a pang to Rust's heart.
"How did you find it?" he asked, absentmindedly picking up a lizard to eat.
"Flower guided us to it," she said, making him freeze.
He turned his head, deadpanning at the scavenger on his shoulder, "You seriously knew where it was the whole time?"
"I didn't know it was important. I thought it was more gaudy dragon jewelry," Rose reasoned, giggling at his disappointment. Rolling his eyes and huffing at her ridiculousness, Rust turned his attention back to Thorn who was staring.
"I forgot that Smolder said that you could speak Scavenger," Thorn said, glancing between the two once again. "Maybe you could teach some dragons at Jade Mountain Academy..."
The second statement was said more as a whisper but it still piqued his interest. "What?" he asked.
"Oh, it's a school that teaches dragons from all tribes. I'm sure you would interest some students with learning Scavenger," Thorn said, shrugging as if it was nothing before freezing mid-action. "Actually, I want to talk to you about that."
"Mm?" he hummed as if he didn't already have a pretty good idea.
"My daughter helps run the school. If you want, I'm sure I could set up a brief meeting there so you can tour around. Maybe you could find some new friends," she said with a smile.
"Wow, don't get that bored of me yet," Rust joked, his talons curling up nervously anyway. Leaving the stronghold? Without having Burn to return to?
"You know I don't mean it like that," she chided, frowning despite her light-hearted tone. "It's just that being here is killing you. You don't have to stay around here."
"But I want to," he said, forcing his talons to be normal. "I need to be loyal to ya like I was to Burn."
"I don't want to trap you like that--"
"She didn't trap me," he said, snarling at the very idea. Thorn got the hint, falling silent as she tried to find a new way to approach this.
"Rust, you should go," Rose said, interrupting their little staring contest.
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Wings of Fire: The Prequels
قصص الهواةDust was supposed to be normal. Obelisk was supposed to be powerful. Cloudwatcher was supposed to be dead. Gust was supposed to be a nobody. Rust was supposed to be a decoration. How are their stories going to intertwine? At their beginnings, their...
