Fireborne: Rashen Rising

CHAPTER 8: THE DREIGON CENTER

Things cooled down as Rashen had finally come back to his senses,he got too angry and was overcame with a kind rage he had never felt before. He looked around the room,the faces looking at him,some in shock,some in fear and some in disgust. He looked at Ballious standing right in front of him who looked absolutely mortified. He thought of wether he should apologise to him or not; Ballious abused and assaulted him in front of everyone but he wasn't the one getting looks of disdain. He wanted to say something, anything,he took a step closer to Ballious to apologise but as if on instinct Ballious formed his Gem Gloves and aimed at Rashen's head as hard as he could,but before it could make contact Raspin formed a wall between them,he knew it wasn't going to stop Ballious'attack but it would take most of the damage and slow his momentum.

On contact with the wall it easily went through it sending dust and debris flying,when it settled the wall was almost completely destroyed, Rashen was laying on the floor hands over his head like he put reflectively to defend himself and Ballious stood over him, looking at him with both fear and anger.

Ngoko sent another gust of wind towards Ballious this time sending him back and away from Rashen as Raspin went over to check on him.

"That's enough Ballious, you've caused enough trouble for one night." Ngoko said.

Raspin helped Rashen up,he had a blank look like his face,

"You okay? Are you hurt?" Raspin asked but Rashen didn't respond,he simply slightly nodded.

"We should get going Raspin," Ngoko said as he walked up to them both, "I'm not really in a partying mood right now"

"Sounds like a plan" Raspin replied in full agreement. They both walked Rashen out of the building.

The three wandered around Dreigon Center,a big amusement park where the club the cadets rented out was built. In the cool of the night is probably when the amusement park is most active. The three walked past various shops,kiosks,street shows and performances with almost zero interest, at least that was the case for Ngoko and Raspin, Rashen walked behind them ignoring their chatter and lost in thought. Rashen couldn't help but wonder why those two would leave the party just because of him, like he was their mess. The night wouldn't have gone the way it did if they just went without him and now they were forced to leave with him. He felt awful.

"Why did you two leave with me?" He finally asked. The two stopped, looked at each other then at him,

"Didn't you hear us? We said we weren't in a partying mood anymore" Ngoko answered,

"Yeah, did you think us leaving was because of your little incident with Ballious? Because it wasn't. We weren't feeling the party anymore and decided to leave" Raspin added.

Rashen wasn't sure about how he felt about that answer but he could at least hear some level of sincerity in their voices and frankly,he felt a little relieved.

"Although," Raspin said as he slowed down his pace moving behind Rashen, "I immediately stopped feeling the party when I saw Ngoko dancing. It was horrendous"

"WHAT!!!" Ngoko blurted out, "That was the Talahiki dance of my ancestors from the Old Odon Empire of Nigea,you think it's bad because you just don't get it man"

"No. I think it's bad because it is,I know the Talahiki dance man I was there with you during that dance presentation we went to with Squad Commander Kuro" Raspin said leading to an argument between the two,but Rashen thought it was more of a playful bickering between friends.

"So where to next?" Asked Raspin, "It's not even midnight yet and I'm not really feeling like heading home yet"

"Well Dreigon Center has this gaming alley" said Ngoko

"And?" Raspin asked uninterested

"I heard they recently got the Talon Claw" Ngoko said slyly,Raspin perked up.

"What was our record against the game?" Raspin asked

"Zero to fifty seven,you lost thirty of those by the way" Ngoko made it a point to add that last part

"Doesn't matter...our hour of retribution has finally arrived" Raspin said now full of energy.

While having absolutely no idea what they were talking about Rashen still followed them to the gaming alley to play the Talon Claw. Apparently it was a game where your main objective is using a wooden claw controlled by buttons and a lever to retrieve a golden egg. It was a really addictive game that is originated from the country Jing-Hai that only recently began exporting it to other countries.

After blowing a considerable amount of money on the game they decided to take a break and get some food. After a few more losses to the Talon Claw the trio decided to leave the game entirely a focus on other games they could win.

Rashen had noticed that, and to his surprise,the duo weren't very good at the games. In fact they were terrible; Ngoko only managed to win a fancy key holder and Raspin won a shirt,a shirt that read "I HAD A BALL IN DREIGON CENTER" which he gave to Rashen.

There was a slight satisfaction in seeing the very best of the best struggling with amusement park games little children could win. Even more satisfying that Rashen was,also to his surprise, good at those games. He amassed so many toys and prizes he decided to just give them away to little kids.

Wandering around the fairgrounds again Rashen stared intently at Ngoko and Raspin as they argued over who performed worse that night. Looking at the two you wouldn't think they'd get along but in reality they were the best of friends. Rashen hadn't seen them a lot back in the academy until their final year they were announced as Senior Cadets,but he remembered their names. On every list of results he would see their names at the very top, sometimes Ngoko was number one, sometimes it was Raspin,on rarest occasions it was Lumins. He remembered feeling frustrated about it and despite never meeting them,he felt resentment towards them.

But he acknowledged that in a way, they pushed him,his drive to surpass both of them was one of the factors he came out where he was.

Now looking at them he felt jealousy, not the kind of jealousy one would feel over material things, different from the jealousy he had felt when looking at Lumins. He was jealous he didn't have what they had. A friendship like they had. The only real friend he had was away and he hasn't heard from him in four years. Even Mr and Mrs Cobbs, despite everything they'd done for him and how much he still appreciates them,even they eventually dissociated themselves from him after Argins left.

He looked fondly at the sky, at the moon wondering where Argins was and hoping he was safe.

They were in the shops closer to the Ruins of Old Dreigon,a deserted section of the park. It was at exactly 12 o'clock when they heard screams coming from there.