Rules are Made to be Broken

[masquerade]

love it!

U still going to post the last 2 chapters on here?
Coz I don't have a deviantart

[Neon]

Oh! Of course I will. But this thread will probably fall off the front page and be tougher to find. My DA will just be a good archive for it.

[DJ yellow ;)]

Just started reading this Really cool Too bad it's almost over, should have read it earlier.. But, ah well!

[Neon]

DJ Yellow: Worry not, I'm just glad you like it!

Penultimate chapter here, folks! It's kinda sad almost.


XV. Intervention

A lot happened in a small amount of time. Qwerty watched as Ronan quickly intercepted Tristen’s father in the doorway and began making small talk with him. But Qwerty flinched when suddenly a giant hand landed over him, creating a dome of space from which he couldn’t see out. He settled his nerves in time to walk in step with Tristen slowly pulling him closer. As much as Qwerty disliked such a confinement, he didn’t want to be found out, either.

“Ronan, what happened here? This house is a mess!” came the adult Varan’s strong voice.

Ronan gave a small laugh. “Well, boys will be boys … Marius is home, you know.”

“And you say he did all this?!”

“Of course not, sir! Tristen joined the fun too. Had to calm the boy down, after all.” Ronan seemed all too relaxed; Qwerty heard Tristen groan slightly as he was ratted out.

“…. Fine. I’ll talk to you when I’m through talking to your brother.” Qwerty heard the adult Varan say.

After a pause, Qwerty saw light again. He turned to look up at Tristen, who had a frown in his eyes. At the moment, he directed his gaze at Ronan, who still stood in the archway, trying to look innocent. “You had to just rat me out like that?”

“A little honesty goes a long way …” Ronan replied lamely. “He won’t be so suspicious of Qwerty now, right?”

Qwerty didn’t like their caution. It made him nervous. “What would he do if he found out?” he asked slowly.

Tristen shook his head. “I don’t know, really. But I think it’s best that you stay hidden …. is my pocket okay?” He gestured to a side pocket on his jacket. Qwerty frowned doubtfully. It wouldn’t be fun, but he needed to stay out of sight. And he had to trust that Tristen wouldn’t let things escalate into a fight.

“… Fine.” Qwerty muttered with a shrug, stepping forward. Tristen slowly reached out to gently take the Tinic in his hand and placed him into the pocket. Qwerty put his hands to the sides to brace himself against the walls of fabric, looking up as the giant hand retreated.

“Now, I suppose I’ll head down and get his bag—“ Ronan began, but was cut off by a far-off voice yelling up the stairs. Qwerty winced as he heard Tristen’s father hurrying back up towards them. His voice sounded surprised, and a little angry. He curled into a tighter ball, nervous about the impending raised voices.

Apparently he’d been hidden in the nick of time, for soon enough Tristen stood just as Qwerty heard the adult Varan reenter the kitchen. Qwerty couldn’t be sure, but it sounded like Marius had followed.

“Marius here tells me you two got into a fight over a Tinic. Is this true?” the father asked sternly.

Tristen cleared his throat and shifted on his feet. A slight growl from his father prompted a quicker answer. “He’s just trying to get out of trouble. H-he came home and started acting out so I got ticked and—“

“I’m not lying, he really does have a Tinic! And he got mad ‘cause I played with it …” Marius protested, cutting off his brother with a desperate insistence.

“Tristen, where is it?” their father asked. Qwerty frowned at being called “it”.

Ronan cut in. “Now, sir, even if he did have a little one, don’t you think he’d have told you by now?” he asked confidently. Qwerty clearly heard Tristen groan, and got the clue to what the answer was.

“Hell no, he wouldn’t, you puff.” Though his answer was sharp, it also held a certain smiling tone to it. “Tristen … are you going to make this conversation easier or not?”

A long moment of hesitation stretched the next several seconds. Qwerty gasped when Tristen’s hand returned to the pocket. Though he tried to shrink back from it nervously, the gigantic fingers curled around him gently and fished him out of the pocket. He felt his heart pounding as he rose through the air. He quickly shifted to Tristen’s palm when the Varan opened his hand. Qwerty looked nervously at the new Varan. He essentially looked like an older, broader version of Tristen, with orange wings rather than red.

The elder Varan brushed past Ronan, who stood nervously twisting a lock of hair around his finger. He approached Tristen to set his intense eyes on the tiny person on his palm. Qwerty leaned back at his approach, intimidated. He couldn’t read the intentions in that gaze. “Tristen, where did you find this Tinic?” The man’s voice had quieted a bit, but he still sounded quite stern.

Tristen seemed to have lost the resolve to lie anymore. He drew Qwerty closer to himself protectively. “In the wild. That day I flew over the mountain range.” His father’s eyes narrowed at that. Apparently that area was normally out of bounds.

“Well, it’s illegal to keep him, you know that right?”

Tristen seemed to deflate slightly at that. “Yes. Ronan and I were actually just discussing what to do.” Tristen’s father barely threw Ronan a glance, who flashed an innocent smile.

“It’s my opinion that Qwerty—that’s the little one’s name—should be returned home as soon as possible.” Ronan announced haughtily.

The Varan man straightened up and shook his head. “You’re not going back to the uncharted wilds on your own.”

Tristen frowned and made an indignant noise. Qwerty noticed his hand curl slightly more around him as the Varan teen spoke up. “I have to take him home! Like you said, he can’t stay here …”

The adult nodded thoughtfully. “You’re right … why don’t you have Ronan just take him to the reserve? I’m sure they’ll take him in just fine.”

Qwerty huffed and stood on Tristen’s palm suddenly and spoke loudly, before anyone could answer. “Hey, do I get a say in this at all? It’s my life you’re talking about. I think you ought to let me give my opinion before you have anything else to add. Sir.” He faltered as the Varan turned his intimidating gaze back to him. Ronan smiled proudly, and Tristen and Marius looked impressed that Qwerty had the guts to talk back to their father.

“It may be uncharted wilds to you, but that’s my home out there. I don’t want to go to some strange nature reserve to be taken in by a bunch of people I don’t know. I don’t want to live here. My only way home is if Tristen takes me back over those mountains. He knows the way.”

~~~~~~~~~~
Like I said, this is the second-to-last chapter. Yay for wrap-up action! I have the other chapter written already and it only needs a little proofreading. I'd say to expect it tomorrow (later today depending on timezones) or Saturday.

[Amayasama]

o.o GASP! XD; Daddy-Varan isn't too friendly with new people is he? I'm surprised Qwerty got between the two like that, and I'm proud of him ;D He gotta stand up for himself!

[Neon]

XVI. Change

Qwerty had to work hard not to flinch as the adult Varan narrowed his orange eyes at him. It was too late to worry about offending the guy. He wanted to get home, and he would continue to say so until someone helped him do it. The silence ticked on, with Qwerty staring up at the Varan, not giving away the fact that he terrified him.

Ronan broke the silence. “They are people, too, sir. It would be rude to ignore his request. Beyond rude, even. Major dick move there.” Marius chuckled at that, unable to contain his amusement at Ronan’s unflinching lack of intimidation. Even Qwerty felt a smile waver at the corner of his mouth.

The comment emboldened Tristen, as well. “It’s not like I’m a little nestling anymore, dad. I remember the way and I can come right back. And that way we’re not, y’know, putting Qwerty through any more trouble.” He glanced pointedly at Marius, who looked away sheepishly.

The adult Varan narrowed his eyes, knowing his outnumbered situation. And the moral question was a tough one. He didn’t seem like the kind of guy who actively tried to hurt other people. Even though there was a clear tension between him and his eldest son, he also worried about letting him go out on his own. The man crossed his arms, looking thoughtfully between Qwerty’s brave face and his son’s determined one.

“Fine. You can go. But … I’d like someone to go with you.” He turned to looked pointedly at Ronan. “You’re the one with expertise with these … people.”

Qwerty frowned slightly. He didn’t really want two Varani too close to his village, let alone one. People would be terrified enough already. But, he knew by now that sometimes you have to pick your battles. And he hoped to change some of that fear into understanding someday anyway.

Ronan flipped some hair over his shoulder. “If you insist, sir. I’ll make sure your precious baby returns safely,” he announced with a grin. Tristen shot a glare at Ronan, while his father just rolled his eyes. Qwerty couldn’t help but smile. Things finally moved directly in his favor.


Before they left, Tristen’s father insisted on a lecture about flying safety over a mountain range. Most of it was clearly old news to everyone listening in except for Qwerty. He learned that the Varani had a lot to worry about while flying. If he had known half of the problems that could arise during flight before, he might have just fainted when Tristen had first flown off with him. He wondered if he’d be okay now that he knew the danger of updrafts, downdrafts, wind currents, and air pressure. He decided that he’d do his best to ignore his new knowledge.

Tristen and Ronan stood in the grassy backyard, Ronan stretching his wings slowly and rather daintily. Tristen’s father and brother watched from the porch. The adult looked merely concerned and had a face like he restrained a thousand more words of caution and “you’ll be in so much trouble if you’re home late”. Marius looked mildly jealous that he didn’t get to go along.

Tristen looked at Qwerty, standing in his palm. “You ready, Qwerty?”

“I am … be careful flying.” Qwerty glanced to the clouds around the mountain peaks as he said this. Tristen smiled and used his free hand to ruffle the Tinic’s hair gently. Qwerty smiled and took a swat at the already-retreating hand.

Ronan smiled and clapped his hands together. “Alright, shall we go? I look forward to seeing what your home is like, Qwerty.”

Qwerty nodded. “Let’s go … though you probably won’t see anyone there. My guess is that they’ll all be hiding as soon as they see you flying towards them. It’s gonna be tough changing ideas about you guys …”


Rebecca sat in a chair in a corner of the dimly-lit cellar. She as well as neighbors from surrounding houses all shared this one large safety cellar. And they all had to hide away in it again, after only a week. This time, two Varani had been spotted on the horizon.

The woman ran a gentle, seamstress’ hand back through her wispy hair with a sigh. It had only been a week since her son had disappeared. And now the giants were returning … who knew what this meant. Had the village finally been discovered? Would they all be captured just like poor Quentin? Or would this simply be two Varan flying overhead on their way to some other destination?

The others all muttered amongst themselves, giving their own theories. Rebecca remained silent, watching the conversation with her tired eyes. Two of the young neighbor children played in the corner, drawing pictures in the dirt with the eraser stub of an old, broken pencil. Rebecca only hoped that the same fate as her sweet boy didn’t await those children.

Everyone jumped visibly when a knock sounded down the staircase from the cellar door. Everyone waited for further noise. Another frantic knock came at the locked, concealed door; only someone who knew it was there would know to knock. The knocks preceded a muffled voice calling down into the cellar. “Hello? Is there anyone here? Please open the door … “

Rebecca stood, her chair clattering from the sudden movement. The others looked at her and back towards the stairs in awe. Rebecca darted to the stairs and started up them, lifting the hem of her skirt to avoid tripping. “Quentin? Quentin?!” she called incredulously.

After a brief struggle with the latch, Rebecca threw the cellar door open and emerged to see her son standing there, his bag over his shoulder and goggles over his eyes like he’d never left. Several tears leaked from her eyes as she threw her arms around his neck in a tight embrace. He returned it, and she heard him gasp slightly, as if trying to hold back his own tears.

After several seconds, Rebecca noticed Quentin’s fidgeting. “Um … Mom … there’s someone you should meet …”

She stepped back from him and he turned to the east, the way out of the village, and up. She followed his gaze and went absolutely pale. A Varan knelt in the dirt several yards outside the village, and another crouched close behind. The closer one had cautious, but kind orange eyes and looked to be a teenager only a few years older than her son. She couldn’t quite tell, but the other one seemed to be male too, though he looked rather girlish.

“Quentin—they … wha?” Rebecca stammered, clutching her son’s arm and wanting to pull him protectively towards the cellar.

Quentin started to lead her slowly towards the Varani, though she dragged her feet slightly. “Mother, this is Tristen, and that’s Ronan. I’ve learned a lot of things about the Varani from them. Our ideas are all wrong.”

Rebecca started to feel faint, not allowing herself to be led any closer to that draconic giant without further explanation. “Now, just a minute, Quentin. I’ve been worried about you for days. We all thought … !” she couldn’t complete the sentence.

The giant spoke up in a whisper, but Rebecca still flinched and looked up to him with caution. “Ma’am? Are you Qwerty’s mother?” Rebecca tilted her head at the fact that the Varan spoke so kindly, and knew her son’s nickname. She finally nodded slowly, after Quentin encouraged her with a nudge to her shoulder. The Varan smiled, as did the one lingering behind him. He slowly reached out, and though Rebecca tried to flinch back, Quentin held tight to her hand. The giant hand stopped in front of her as the Varan spoke again. “It’s nice to meet you.”

After Rebecca cautiously grazed the giant’s fingertip with her own hand in a skittish greeting, Quentin grinned. “Mom, like I said, this is Tristen. He did take me when he was here a week ago,” he glanced up at the Varan’s suddenly guilty demeanor before continuing. “But he’s brought me back.”

Rebecca thought carefully about all of the information pounding into her brain. She had two questions she could ask. Rather than ask why he took her son, she bravely addressed the imposing giant. “I am glad that you haven’t hurt my boy,” she began. “What made you decide to bring him back?”

Tristen smiled at that. “Well, because he’s my friend and he asked me to,” he replied. “And normally it’s against the rules for me to be out here or even have much contact with Tinics, but I couldn’t just keep him from his home, y’know?” He explained it in that typical teenage way, absolutely sure of his reasoning.

The other Varan, the one called Ronan, spoke up, throwing some of his long, admittedly beautiful hair over his shoulder. “Well, rules are made to be broken anyway, aren’t they?”

[Neon]

I'm proud of this ending, and of the whole story in general.
Thank you to my readers for encouraging me through the tougher blocks on this story.

I hope you've enjoyed reading as much as I have writing it.

[Amayasama]

;^; *sobcryblah* Beautiful...and what a great last line from Ronan XD I love it, absolutely love it dear. You did wonderful! I'm very happy that you could continue writing this through your busy schedule *hugs* x3

[DJ yellow ;)]

Very nice I read the whole thing in just a few days and I'm glad to have read it all

[kimgreenday]

Amazing story! I loved it! X3

[howlingwolf]

The last line is genius! I love it. Good job, Neon!