by Mell Eight
After school, kids and parents would congregate in the park instead of going home. During the summer, the park was still the hang-out place. Families brought their kids to play, elderly folk found it a relaxing spot to sit, and gossip was tossed around regularly. They spent enough time locked inside during the winter, which could be very harsh in the Berkshires, and therefore spent as much time as they could outside now.
No one looked twice when Nickel and Alloy walked into the park. It was a nice change from five years ago, when Dane had finally allowed the kits he brought to work with him free rein outside of his office too. Dragons, particularly those who lived in wild areas like the Berkshires, weren't particularly educated. Nickel would call them ignorant, but that was a polite description of how little wild dragons had been able to learn about the world outside of their carefully guarded territories. It was a problem when a creature that could use magic, but didn't understand basic currency, came into someone's store to get something. Those dragons shoplifted, and when someone tried to confront them about it, the dragons had been known to get violent in their attempts to escape. The dragons honestly didn't know any better. They survived in the wild, and a wide majority of them would never enter what humans considered civilization.
The humans had been right to be wary of Nickel when he had first started frequenting their shops and walking around the town. Even when he had proved that he had money and paid for everything he wanted, they had still watched him closely. Realizing that he was working for Dane had eventually eased some of their fears and his continued good behavior had cemented them.
Alloy wandered off further into the park, and Nickel let him go.
"Weird weather we're having," Nickel groaned as he sat down on a wooden picnic bench next to two elderly women who Nickel knew were happy enough to gossip with anyone about anything.
Mabel twittered. "It's the Berkshires. Sure, it's never snowed in July, but May or October? Plenty of times."
"It's global warming!" Louise declared.
"Is not!" Arthur yelled from the next picnic bench over. He was supposed to have been playing chess with Charles, Mabel's husband, but he apparently had his hearing aid turned up to max. "It's some spell, I tell you. The government's just hiding their machinations with magic by calling it global warming."
"You're a crazy old fool," Mabel hissed. "It's not magic, it's just where we live!"
"It's magic," Arthur repeated. "Mark my words, ladies! We'll be struggling through knee-high snow before we know it and the government stooges will shrug and send the snowplows, and then increase our taxes to pay for their own magical messes."
Mabel slowly pushed herself to her feet, her old bones creaking as she moved, and stomped over to Arthur. "You listen to me, you conspiracy-theory nattered fool!" She continued yelling, attracting plenty of attention, but nothing she had to say helped Nickel, so he tuned her out.
"Are you seeing anyone, dear?" Louise asked gently, smiling eagerly at him as she waited for him to share in the gossip fest with his own news.
Nickel shook his head. "I'm not."
"Haven't found the right girl?" she asked, her grin growing. "Or guy? We may be a backwards town," she added when Nickel couldn't help blushing at her words, "but we're not stupid. Anyway, if you're still single, I think you should call on this new boy that just moved in. I've only seen him a few times, but he's cute as a button and about your age. Bought one of the old places high up Mountain Road and only comes down when he needs to go shopping. He's got this long white hair he keeps braided to the top of his head; you can't miss him." She fluffed her own permed gray hair with one hand.
"He recently moved to the area?" Nickel asked, wondering if there was such a thing as a coincidence. The strange weather starting at the same time that a new person moved to the area? Nickel would have to pay the newcomer a visit, although doing so without Louise making the wrong assumptions would be difficult. To be perfectly honest, he was more interested in figuring out why the weather was screwy than finding a date. Maybe Becky could dig up some information for him so he didn't have to ask Louise anything else.
"Oh yes," Louise agreed. She opened her mouth to say more, but was interrupted by a panicked scream from the other side of the park. Two dogs were also barking and a little girl was crying. Nickel jumped to his feet as Louise gasped. Even the argument between Mabel and Arthur paused as they looked over with worry at the noise. Alloy added his voice to the melee, and Nickel started jogging across the lawn towards the disturbance.
"Go away!" Alloy yelled, waving his arms at the two barking dogs. His hands dripped sparks that fell harmlessly to the ground, but the lights scared the dogs. They backed away with rumbling barks as their owner rushed over.
"Sorry! Sorry!" the owner gasped as he grabbed both dogs by their collars and pulled them further away from Alloy and the little girl he was standing protectively over. A pair of leashes hung uselessly from his hands.
Nickel joined Alloy in standing between the crying girl and the dogs. Another young boy, maybe a few years younger than Alloy, with the exact same shade of brown hair as the girl, came running over from where he had been playing with a group of other boys.
"Jilly! Are you okay?" the boy gasped, scooting around Alloy and falling to the ground at his sister's side. Another man was helping to hold the dogs back so the owner could safely get the leashes on, so Nickel turned his attention to the girl Alloy had saved.
"I think so," she sniffled. "But one of the kitties ran off." She uncurled, revealing a kitten with his claws imbedded in her sparkly shirt. It was a tortoiseshell kitten, a mishmash of colors ranging from white to black and multiple shades of brown. It mewled softly.
There was a crushed sign under Jilly's knee, Nickel noticed. It was covered in sparkles and rainbows and read "Free Kitties." The idiot dog owner obviously hadn't noticed Jilly or her sign before letting his dogs off leash.
Nickel heard a second meow from overhead and looked into the high branches of a nearby tree. The kitten there was bright orange, his fur sticking out in all directions as he hissed after the quickly retreating dogs. Nickel jumped, grabbing onto the high branch easily. He reached for the kitten, got his hand scratched, and growled. The kitten froze in place for long enough that Nickel could grip it gently around the middle, and then he jumped down.
"Guess we don't have to call the fire department," one of the many bystanders stated as Nickel held out the cat towards the little girl. Her hands were empty, Nickel noticed, but the tortoiseshell kitten wasn't in her brother's arms. She reached out to pet the orange cat's head, but didn't take him from Nickel.
Alloy sighed happily and Nickel looked over to see him with his cheek pressed against the tortoiseshell's side. The kitten was purring furiously.
"We can take them home, right, Nickel?" Alloy asked. He looked so eagerly hopeful, and the kitten looked so contented, that Nickel couldn't say no.
"Only if Dane says we can," Nickel said, trying to compromise while knowing that once Alloy had brought his kitten to Dane's office the kitten was coming all the way home with them. "Wait," Nickel added with a pause to look at the orange kitten glaring in his hand, "we're taking both home?"
Alloy nodded happily. "That one's Lumie's. He told me so."
And that was why Lumie had gone to the extra effort of coming to the office today. The little brat wanted a kitten and knew Alloy would be able to get him one.
Jilly giggled and nodded, her fright forgotten over the happiness of adopting out both kittens. Nickel couldn't say no to her or to Alloy. Dane would no doubt grumble, but it wasn't the worst thing Alloy or Lumie had done. Alloy had melted Dane's oven just hours after hatching.
"Fine." Nickel sighed. "We should return to the office now." Alloy nodded agreement and waved goodbye to Jilly and her brother. Nickel took a more secure grip on the orange kitten and led the way back through the park to Mountain Road. He walked quickly, unsure of how long the kitten would be content with him holding it. His hand alrea
dy stung from getting scratched earlier; Nickel didn't want to know how bad it would hurt if the kitten clawed his way out of his arms.
Luckily, the office wasn't far away. They turned the corner onto Main Street and hurried up the sidewalk. Nickel pushed the office door open and held it so Alloy could get inside, then he shut it firmly behind them. Lumie was waiting impatiently in the middle of the room, no doubt driving Becky nuts, and he hurried forward to take the orange kitten from Nickel. He cradled the kitten close, rumbling softly at it. The kitten immediately started purring. Lumie wandered back into Dane's office.
"The hell?" Nickel heard Dane swear, followed by an imperious meow. Dane, apparently evicted from his own office, stomped into the main room. "Cats? Really?" he grumbled to the room as a whole.
Becky hid a grin in the Mitchell folder she was still transcribing. Alloy, on the other hand, proudly held out his mottled kitten for Dane to see.
"This is Turtle," Alloy declared happily. Dane looked at Alloy's smile and then opened his mouth—but then sighed and shut it before he could say anything to erase that smile. He shot Nickel a look to which Nickel could only shrug. It wasn't his fault Lumie and Alloy had schemed together to get themselves kittens.
"It was Lumie's idea, apparently," Nickel said by way of explanation.
Dane shot a disgruntled look over his shoulder at his occupied office and then his shoulders slumped. "I'll go buy some supplies before they pee all over my office," Dane grumbled without voicing any arguments. Lumie wouldn't actually listen to Dane's words, and Alloy would follow Lumie's less-than-stellar example. Instead, Dane patted his pocket to double check that his wallet was still there before heading out the door.
Once the door was closed, Becky let out a snort of laughter. "You kits have him wrapped around your little fingers."
"More like he's learned that the word no and Lumie aren't synonymous." Nickel sighed. "Anyway, when you've got a moment, I need some information looked up."
"No problem. Give me a second to save this and then I'm all yours," she replied.
Alloy took Turtle and vanished underneath Nickel's desk again while Nickel waited for Becky to finish up. Nickel gave her all the information Louise had told him once Becky was ready, then he waited again while she ran a search.
It only took a few minutes of clicking and typing before Becky turned to Nickel with a frown on her face. "I'm not doubting you or your source," she began with, which didn't exactly buoy his hopes, "but there's no record of anyone purchasing property on Mountain Road or any of the side streets up there. Either your young man is squatting illegally, or he's camping in the woods."
Damn. "Thanks, Becky." There went his easy lead.
She shrugged. "I'll see if I can't find a picture of him on a local camera feed."
"Until then, I'm going to have to search the mountain on foot." She nodded, and Nickel sighed again. A glance at the clock on Becky's computer screen told Nickel that he would be better off waiting until tomorrow morning to go hunting through the heavy forest and steep hills. The firm closed in half an hour. Dane would be back any minute with the cat paraphernalia, and he would want to get them all home as quickly as possible before Lumie decided he wanted a dog too.
Tomorrow, then, Nickel thought resolutely with a mental reminder to wear jeans and walking shoes. It was going to be a long day.
CHAPTER TWO
Platinum was running. His bare feet hit the ground and dry clouds of dirt erupted with every step. His breathing was loud and panicked, more of a wheeze than an actual breath. Everything hurt, but that wasn't strange. Platinum's body had been one constant ache for longer than he could remember. This time was different, though. This time, he hurt because his naked feet kept stumbling on rocks and sticks. His knees and palms were bleeding from all the times he had needed to catch himself after a fall and throw himself back to his feet so he could keep moving. Platinum wasn't used to running either. Most of his life had been spent inside a cell or a lab, and he had never accumulated the muscle needed for running; his legs were yelling in pain with every step. Still, Platinum couldn't stop. This was his only chance at escape.
He didn't know what had gone wrong this time. The scientists and the guards had led Platinum to his normal operating table. They had been as vigilant as always to ensure that he wouldn't have a chance to try and fight back. Fighting was futile, Platinum knew. He had been living with the bastards for nearly twenty years now; he knew that fighting back wouldn't garner him anything but more pain. He was a docile fool, and they knew it.
The gas mask had fit on Platinum's face like it had been molded specifically to adhere to his cheekbones. It had been stuck there for so many hours of his damned life that it had conformed to his shape. Platinum had felt the rush of air as knobs were turned and sleeping gas was sent deep into his lungs. Then, as usual, he had fallen deeply asleep.
Waking up was always difficult after an operation. It wasn't something he would ever get used to no matter how frequently it occurred. There was some relief now that Platinum knew he wasn't going to wake up next to a destroyed dragon egg. There were plenty of those nightmares in his past, but they moved around too frequently now for that to happen. The scientists couldn't keep the eggs alive in their incubators as they changed facilities over and over again, sometimes multiple times every week. Eventually, all the eggs had died, and they were left with only Platinum.
Platinum blinked open his eyes to find that the examination room was empty. The mask slipped sideways off his face. The hooks that were supposed to be behind his ears slid down his chest with the rest of the mask as he slowly sat up. Platinum was in one piece, so they hadn't left his body cut open while they went to lunch. He also wasn't tied down while they waited for the guards to return to cart him back to his cell. There was still air blowing through the mask, Platinum realized as he pushed it off his lap and onto the table next to him. The mask had come free, which had allowed him to wake up unsupervised.
He jumped off the table quickly, stumbling slightly in the oversized scrub pants hanging low around his waist. When Platinum didn't hear any startled exclamations through the one-way mirror across the room, he felt pretty safe in assuming he was unobserved. The lab door was unlocked when he tried it, and the hallway outside empty. Platinum crept along slowly, ready to startle at the slightest sound. He kept his hands held in front of him and the tingle of magic flared over his fingers. He was fairly well practiced at calling the wind. The guards didn't mind his using it to keep himself occupied during the long hours Platinum was alone in his cell—there was some sort of spell on the door that kept him from attacking the guards—so it came easily to his call. Anyone who tried to stop him would get pushed out of the way by his winds. Platinum was fully prepared, yet no one came into view.
Platinum passed one room where he heard a lot of voices and the clink of cutlery on dishes, and it made his legs move even faster. The bastards had left him lying on a gurney, breathing in sleeping gas to keep him docile, while they stopped for a meal.
For the briefest moment he thought about going into that room and unleashing his wind on them. Platinum could kill them for what they had done to him and still make his escape, but the lure of being outside for the first time in a very, very long time drew him further from his jailors. The door leading outside was unguarded. It had fanciful panes of glass in the center as if he was in someone's house instead of a lab. The glass let him look outside and see that there wasn't anyone guarding out there either.
Platinum took a deep breath as he turned the lock and put his hand on the door handle. Then he threw the door open and started running.
And he hadn't stopped since. He was their last dragon. The eggs had died, as had the other kits. Platinum was the only one they had to run their terrible experiments on, and they would want him back. They would chase him until they caught him. Platinum could hear dogs barking behind him and the yell of men and women as they called to each other while searching for his trail. He had to find
somewhere to hide before they caught up with him.
Splashing through a shallow stream sent unpleasant, aching chills through his bare feet. When he reached the other bank, Platinum changed directions, following the water downstream. The stream quickly grew into a river that slowly got larger and larger. He could hear the splash of falling water ahead. It drowned out the baying of the dogs and people behind him.
Then Platinum reached a high cliff. The river fell over the cliff and into a deep pool below. He didn't hesitate before jumping. It wasn't that high, and if the fall killed him, then at least the scientists would still be down one dragon.
The water came up quickly, and he hit it hard, all the air forcing out of his lungs as he flailed around.
*~*~*
Platinum woke up gasping for air, his hands waving around his head as if he were still swimming. He quickly stilled in the blankets, listening hard to make certain he was alone in the small cabin even as his own heartbeat tried to drown out any sounds Platinum might hear. Every crack and creak as the house settled around him while the wind blew outside made him jump and his heart rate ratchet up again.
The house wasn't Platinum's. He had chosen it because the owners had left the electricity and water on. There were skis and heavy coats in the closets, snowmobiles in the garage, and snowshoes hanging from the walls. It was clearly someone's winter getaway, and Platinum desperately hoped he could continue squatting for a few more weeks before he had to return to running.
The blowing wind outside died down as he pushed the covers back and climbed out of bed. Platinum headed to the heavy curtains he kept pulled over the windows and carefully twitched one small corner back so he could look outside. Early morning sunlight shone through the trees, but the only movement he saw was from the leaves dancing in the wind. There were lots of shiny spots on the ground and he had to look closer for a few moments before he recognized melting balls of hail dotting the lawn here and there. That must have been some storm. The clouds overhead were skittering away, revealing clear blue sky as the sun slowly rose over the trees.
