How Riyikith Ended Up Here....
Chapter Seven: A Surprise Aven-side
Somehow, Riya couldn't imagine feeling more excited than he did right now, standing slightly apart from Mullen's Favorites in this massive room, wearing a backpack and with a duffel bag at his feet, staring around the room with wide eyes and a breathless grin. Not the hateful Cadets, not the disapproving stares of the scientists, not even worries about his distant father could spoil this day. Today, they were leaving Earth and going Aven-side. Today, they were meeting the dragons. And Riya couldn't wait.
The Cadets weren't even being very hateful today. Half of them looked like they were going to wet themselves if they saw anything out of the ordinary, and the other half looked as breathless and excited as Riya himself certainly did. Oddly enough, Mister Military was actually smiling every now and then-- though not at Riya, of course. Everyone was ignoring him, but that was better than glares, and Riya was quite content to ignore them, back, and dream about the dragons he was about to meet in this wonderful, still-natural planet called Avangaea.
Finally, Mullen turned away from the scientists he was talking with and back to his pupils. Riya crossed his eyes at him, simply too excited to not be silly.
"All right, at attention." He straightened up with half-serious attention as Mullen began to speak-- though not even in play would he salute. "You too, Riya Keth. I don't care if you're part of this outfit to fight or not, either you go by my rules or you're not going."
Riya made a face as he addressed him directly. The Cadets'd practically forgotten I was here, no need to remind 'em, he grumbled good-naturedly to himself. ::Yessir,:: he sent, expression loosening up into a grin again. He simply couldn't not smile, not right now-- a strict contrast to the Cadets, who though excited, were as serious as ever. Maybe because they were thinking more about looking good and fighting than meeting dragons.
::Good man,:: Mullen sent back, then the intercom went off: a warning.
"Power up in one, pull it together, captain."
For the moment, Riya was forgotten as Mullen focused on the Cadets, his real reason for being here. Riya could tell he had been preparing this speech for a while, whether he realized it or not; there was a cadence to it. "Realize that once we're on the other side, you won't be coming back, at least not for a while. Realize that once you are Aven-side you will be in the hands of Trainer Fidalites!" God, yes, Riya thought happily. "You will answer to him, and for God's sakes, you won't cause trouble!" A very pointed look to Riya, then to Mister Military. Riya tried hard not to chuckle.
::I'll behave, I'll behave,:: he promised privately to the captain, adding to himself with more amusement, If he behaves, too.
"Portal launch in thirty seconds," the voice on the intercom boomed.
"Once you are on the other side, you won't be on safe ground anymore. You will be among men, you will be among dragons, and you may even have to defeat demons." Not me, no way, Riya thought, faintly rebellious. "You will have to use your intelligence, your training, and your team work to survive--" Oh God, they're all dead. "--and you will have to use your common sense if you hope to make this operation successful."
"Ten seconds," the intercom warned.
"You are Earth's and UNIS's future. You will represent our planet and you'll do a damn good job of it! Have I made myself clear?" Riya tried not to roll his eyes, but the Cadets gave a sharp, loud affirmative. "Are you ready to roll, Cadets?" Again, as Mullen broke into a wide grin, his Favorites made their agreement heard, and Riya promptly forgot his annoyance at the pomposity of being Earth's future, focused intensely on the portal platform as the countdown came to an end and there was a suddenly silence, as if the whole room were pausing to take a deep breath-- and then the sound began.
The sound was so low as to be more like a feeling than a sound, a humming, a thrumming in the pit of his stomach and the core of his bones. It felt like the floor was vibrating and static electricity was everywhere, making his head feel very fuzzy as the free wisps of hair that had escaped the braid and the gelled-together strands of his bangs stood out and up. A glance at the Cadets proved that they, too, were suddenly growing furry around the head and clothing-less places on their arms and legs. He smothered a snicker and turned his attention to something glowing-- the portal, obviously-- in the center of the room.
It was fascinating, watching the portal form. Surely that was hardly an electrical feat, creating a doorway to a distant world. If there were dragons and demons, then there was surely magic to accompany them, and this was a piece of it-- a beautiful piece, like everything else about the dragons. The light was warm and energetic, like something alive, spinning and reaching out and drawing back in like a strange, weightless, multi-limbed dancer. Riya was watching so closely that, when the sudden light of the portal forming up at last burst from it, he was blinded. He rub at his now-watering eyes, squeezing them shut and waiting for the afterimage of the portal's fixing fade.
By the time he could see again, all but a couple of the Cadets had hurried through the portal, which was now something he could look at again, looking like a door that led to nothing. As he watched, blinking away the last of the dazzles in his eyes, Cadet Michael charged through, looking as if he thought he had to get it over with before he chickened out. He just disappeared. Riya blinked again, but this time not because he couldn't see. Franco went through next, and he, too, disappeared. There didn't seem to be anywhere they were going to, they just suddenly weren't there anymore.
It was his turn. All that were left were himself and Mullen, and Mullen obviously wanted to be the last through. Riya gave the captain a glance, then hefted his duffel bag and padded forward, stepping onto the portal's platform and through.
He came out on the other side dizzy and disoriented, staggering with the sudden returned weight of his duffel and blinking dazedly. He was half blind again; somehow the trip, for all it had lasted a heartbeat, it had also been bright enough to ruin his vision again. Luckily the Cadets had moved away from the portal doorway, or he probably would have stumbled into one. Mullen came out behind him and he just barely made it out of the way, dropping his bag and rubbing at his eyes again.
Even though he couldn't see them, Riya could feel more eyes on him. When his vision cleared again, he looked around. They were outside, now, and there were people everywhere, walking this way and that, some staring at him as they passed. Riya didn't suppose he blamed them; he hardly looked the part of a UNIS military Cadet in his usual faded black jeans and tank top, even less so with his duffel and backpack not only non-military-standard, but covered in patches and pins. Even his hair was different, long and messy compared to short and neat. But he refused to care; he was on Avengaea, far away from the dangers of Earth, and face to face with-- a dragon!
Esuro Fidalites the Fire Dragon stood over the Cadets, with an older gentleman in an unfamiliar UNIS uniform in his shadow. Riya focused more on the dragon than the human, like he usually did; the UNIS officers rarely cared what he did, as long as he stayed out of their way, and he generally avoided them, with the sole exception of Mullen. The dragon was much more entertaining to watch, and certainly more different.
"Welcome to Avangaea, Cadets!" the fellow was saying. "I'm Colonel Roset, and I'm in charge of this little shindig. I trust you have all met Fidalites? Good. Now, due to time restraints, you'll be leaving for Sanctuary tonight. The dragon there will set you up with some living space, I've been assured." Esuro nodded simply, agreeing to that statement, and Riya finally gave this Colonel Roset a glance. He hadn't seen the man before, but that might be a good thing. If Roset didn't know he was a glorified kitchen server, maybe he wouldn't hold any grudges.
"Actually, Colonel," Mullen interjected. "There's been a small change of plans-- no, nothing serious!" A hand and a quick addition forestalled Roset's protest, and the captain continued. "I'd like to discuss this matter with you two briefly." And then Mullen, Roset, and Esuro moved a bit apart to talk between themselves, too low for even the sharp-eared Riya to make out their words.
While they spoke, Riya looked between the two UNIS officers-- obviously some kind of compatriots in the past, for very few in the military would speak with their superiors so familiarly-- in mild confusion and a little fear. Something had changed? Had Mullen changed his mind about Riya, after all? Was he being sent home, demoted to kitchen duty again, arrested for treason?
It turned out to be nothing of the sort. Mullen looked very smug, and Roset somewhere between disappointed and apologetic. "Right," Roset said. "Well, for the sake of testing this operation, the captain has suggested an experiment. So. We will require a military and a non-military representative from Earth."
Riya's heart jumped. He was the only non-military member of the little group, so that practically assured that he was going ahead in this "operation", whatever it was. Whether that was good or bad was yet to be seen, but it meant that, unless this was some elaborate trick to lure him into feeling safe, he was still trusted and they had plans for him. As he expected, Roset's finger jabbed at him as he said, "You," and Riya took a single step closer to him to show he'd heard and a half-bow to show he'd acknowledged him, but the colonel's eyes were already roving over the actual Cadets, making his choice for who would accompany him. Riya could guess who he would pick almost immediately.
Not him, not him, oh God, Mullen's trying to torture me, isn't he?
"And you." The dark finger jabbed at Andy. Riya could have groaned. He would now probably be spending most of his time with the one member of the team who hated him more than any other-- with the possible exception of Miss Bitch, but even so, it would have to be an equal hatred, at least.
Then Mister Military broke into the silliest, happiest smile Riya had ever seen on him, and he thought that there might be a ray of hope. If his new partner-in-crime was as excited as he was about meeting more dragons, perhaps there was hope....
But then, Andy met Riya's eyes, saw Riya's own grin, and the expression of joy faded at once. So did Riya's hope that they might share even the barest hint of a friendship. Riya gave Mister Military another of his half-bows, with a smirk on his face to hide the dread he was feeling. Dragons or no dragons, this was going to be a long "operation".