Dragon Wings: The Outskirts of Heaven - Chapter II
The next morning, Jared entered the Mess with a subdued Jensen by his side. He wasn’t sure what was wrong with his mate, but he decided that he would give him time rather than push at him. He spotted Chris sitting over by one of the windows, alone. He took Jensen’s hand and pulled him over to the empty table. “Chris!”
“Hey, Jared.” Chris drawled his reply and cast assessing eyes over Jensen. “And I believe this is the surprising Recruit Ackles...”
“Chris, this is my oldest friend, Jensen. Jen, this is Chris Kane. He’s a heavyweight like you.”
Jensen held out his hand and the two men shook. “Nice to meet you. Maybe you’ll be my instructor.”
“Most likely.” Chris agreed. “I’m the only other heavyweight still here. As soon as they’re trained and mated, they ship them off to the War Front. So far, I’m yet to find my mate.”
“I’m sorry.” Jensen replied sincerely.
“So, no luck yesterday, huh?” Jared commiserated.
Chris waved their concern off. “Nah, didn’t get lucky like you two.” He leered. Jared gave a half a smile, and Jensen seemed to curl in on himself without moving a muscle. Chris fiercely bit his tongue to keep from asking ’what the hell’. Instead, he changed the topic to today’s agenda. “So, you’re slated for morning training, right?” They nodded. “Me, too. I guess that heightens the chance that we’ll be working together. Should be fun.”
Jared snorted. “Yeah, last time you thought something would be fun you ended up in the infirmary. Can you please not teach Jensen to fly head first into danger?”
“That’s what you’re there for, Jay-bird! The cool head to keep us fiery dragons out of trouble.” He winked at Jensen, who smiled this time. The kid was timid, but Chris could see he would be a force to be reckoned with one day.
“Oh my god, we’re all going to die.” Jared lamented, making the other two men laugh. After that, Jared and Jensen collected their breakfast before returning to Chris’ table. Conversation flowed easily between them now, and none of them noticed the covetous glances thrown their way.
***
Training was, in a word, boring. Although it was outside, the space was set up as a classroom. Jensen sat quietly at the back of the group while they discussed proper lines of communication, evasion tactics, and the importance of travelling fast and silent. Not exactly topics of use to a dragon the size of Jensen. He would never be a courier, evasion was the opposite of his purpose, and he would be a part of a fighting squadron. Front on attacks rarely required silence. Jared sat beside him, attention fully focused on every word as though he hadn’t been mated to a heavyweight. Jensen couldn’t help the shame that flowed through him. He had been so happy when Jared had called out his name, but clearly it was not what Jared had wanted. He was not what Jared wanted.
“Hey, Jim. Mind if I steal my two boys now?” Chris sauntered over to the group and spoke to the instructor.
Jim Beaver looked up from the diagrams and over to Jensen and Jared. Turning back to Chris, he smirked. “Sure. I was just about to start on the practical drills. A heavyweight would just mess up my lines.”
“Excellent. Jay, Jensen, come on with me now.” Chris headed off, the two students quickly rushing to follow him. Once they were a good distance from where the lightweights had changed and started darting about in practice lines, Chris stopped and turned to face them with a grin. “That should do it. Now, I need to know a few things. Have you tried out your mental communication yet?” Both Jared and Jensen shook their heads. “That’s fine. You’ll find that it’s easy enough after the first connection. Jensen, do you have fire?” A nod. “Can you control it?”
“Yes.” Jensen looked confused, as though he had never had trouble controlling it. Jared snorted a muffled laugh too.
“What?” Chris wanted to know.
Jared sent a fond smile at Jensen. “Jen here not only had fire at five years of age, he could always control it.”
Chris was surprised.”Really? That is...most unusual. But great news! That means I don’t have to waste time teaching you how not to incinerate everything in sight.” He grinned. Jared had a sneaking suspicion that Chris wasn’t actually very good teacher material. “So that means we can move right on to target practice. How good is your aim, Jensen?”
It turned out that his aim was perfect. Jensen had quickly stripped, blushing all the while, and transformed into his dragon form. Chris had pointed out a variety of targets and had Jensen take aim at them. Each time, his fire took the target straight through the middle. Chris had nodded, impressed. He pointed to a second lot of targets set out in a pattern. These Jensen was to fly around and hit in a particular order. It tested not only his aim, but his memory and manoeuvrability. Again, Jensen passed with ease. He landed beside Jared, all but vibrating with eagerness. When Jared praised him, his eyes glowed, literally. Chris had never seen a dragon so desperate for the approval of its mate.
“Okay. We’re skipping through the training manual here. The head honchos are going to be most pleased. Next is a simulated attack against a guarded target.” Chris pointed out a target in the distance. “I will be defending it. It is your job to get to it, take it out, and return to your rider here.” He looked at his two students. “Before anything, though, I need you to be able to communicate with one another. Jared, this is pretty much what allowed you to ’know’ Jensen’s dragon name. He told you, and you heard him. You need to establish that connection, hold it, and be able to find it whenever you need to. So, ah, go ahead.”
The dragon and the rider looked at one another. After a moment, Jared spoke up. “I’m getting nothing.” The dragon’s eyes widened, and Chris recognised the panic for what it was. Suddenly, Jared grabbed his head. “Ow, ow! Jen! Not so loud.” Jared paused. “Yes, better.” Then he was quietly snickering, and Chris didn’t know what Jared’s response was, but Jensen’s eyes glowed that unearthly green again. Jared turned back to Chris with his smile still in place. “We’ve got it.”
Chris rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I gathered. So, let’s do this people.” He stripped out of his clothes and changed quickly before flinging himself aloft. It wasn’t the graceful takeoff Jensen employed, but it was purely powerful.
Jensen waited a moment and took off fast, staying low to the ground. Chris came at him from aloft, but his shadow gave him away and Jensen was able to back pedal and dodge before continuing on towards his target, leaving Chris to scramble so as to not hit the ground and then chase after him. Chris was catching him - his slightly larger body producing just enough more power to make him faster - and Jared was sure he would catch him. Frantically, Jared was trying to get tactics to Jensen, but got a hiss as reply. A moment before Chris would have clamped his jaws over Jensen’s tail, Jensen shot upwards at an almost straight climb. Chris snarled in the dragon equivalent of a smile; he had pushed Jensen into the area where he, Chris, was the more experienced and held the advantage.
“Jensen, let it go. You can’t beat him in this.” Jared told his friend. He got a screech of defiance from his dragon and nothing from the human mind. Instead of heeding him, Jensen did a tight somersault and dove back down, right at Chris. Chris bellowed in challenge. Jensen seemed to swell and suddenly threw fire at his erstwhile instructor. Shocked, Chris was forced to duck to the side, missing his chance as Jensen streaked by him.
“Pull him in, damn you.” Jared realised the courier training group had joined him when Beaver’s voice yelled straight in his ear.
“I’m trying.” Jared gritted out, and then concentrated. “Jensen. Jen.” Nothing. “Eirian!” He got back single-minded determination this time. “Come back to me. Now!” Jensen - Eirian - cast another defiant glance his way and only pushed harder to reach his target.
Beside Jared, Beaver gasped and grabbed him, shaking him a little. “Is that flamin’ dragon un-mated?! You let an un-mated dragon into battle with another? Are you insane, or just the dumbest idjet to ever fly a dragon?”
“I’m his mate.” Jared answered as calmly as he could.
“Mated dragons obey. Those two won’t stop until one of them is dead!”
Jared looked on in horror. He couldn’t stop Jensen. He was going to lose him before he even had him in the first place. The sky became blurry through Jared’s wet eyes, but he refused to panic. Maybe Jensen would win. Maybe it would be Chris... He shuddered. His two best friends. There was no consolation. Then, the end was upon them. Jensen reached the target and took it out with another fiery blast. Chris, furious to have lost his target, sought revenge on the copper dragon starting to lag after such an effort. His jaws clamped over Eirian’s tail and the younger dragon screamed in pain. Chris used his hold to pull the other dragon off balance, making him flap in ungainly desperation. Realising he could not escape, Eirian twisted around on himself and clawed at Chris, catching his wing. Chris squawked in shock and anger but didn’t release his hold, instead dragging Eirian down to the ground. They were just about to attack one another again when a new voice entered the fray.
“Grymus!” It was a powerful shout, and it drew everyone’s attention, including the two dragons. An average-sized man with non-regulation length blonde hair strode forward, approaching the dragons. Beaver elbowed Jared hard and gestured for him to follow. Eirian had stopped, his head bowed. Jared wasn’t sure if it was in deference or shame. Chris - or Grymus, apparently - was watching the stranger approach with glittering dark eyes. When they had finally crossed the large distance to where the dragons sat, the blonde spoke up again. “Grymus. I’m Steve. I’m your rider.”
Eirian suddenly disappeared, leaving only an exhausted and naked Jensen kneeling weakly in his place. Jared rushed over and threw his coat over him. Jensen looked up, his eyes full of tears. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” He just kept repeating it over and over, and Jared was at a loss as to what to do. He should be furious - and he was - but he also wanted to wrap Jensen in his arms and never let him go. Instead, he patted him on the head and shushed him. Turning back around, he saw that Chris had changed as well and was similarly draped in Steve’s coat. Their heads were together and they were laughing quietly, intimately. Looking back down, Jared saw that Jensen had begun to sob.
“Padalecki! Carlson! In my office. Now!” The fighting dragons had drawn attention from all quarters, and both men turned to see the facility’s officer in charge, Commander Hugh Jackman. “Kane, get Ackles back to his room.”
The two riders followed their irate commander, but Jared looked back and saw Chris squatting down beside Jensen. The last thing he saw before he was forced to face forward was Jensen curling into the older man’s arms, inconsolable.
***
Chris looked down at the young dragon and squatted to be on the same level. “Hey, Jensen. It’s okay. You were just acting on instinct, same as me. No need to be so upset.”
Jensen looked at him. “You’re mated now. You looked so happy together.”
“We are, I guess.” Chris frowned. “We don’t know each other yet, but the connection is just...there. Jensen, what is this all about? That out there today...that wasn’t the behaviour of a mated dragon. What is going on with you and Jared?”
The look Chris received in response was heartbreaking. “He doesn’t want me. I’m not the kind of dragon he wanted.” Jensen fell into his arms and Chris held him while he sobbed wretchedly. Chris watched Jared walk away and had never wanted to rage at someone more.
***
“What the bloody hell was that?!” Commander Jackman was an Australian native, and his accent was never stronger than when he was angry. Jared opened his mouth to explain, but was cut off. “If Recruit Carlson hadn’t arrived when he did, we would have at least one dead dragon on our hands! What the hell were you thinking?!”
“I don’t know what happened, sir.” Jared murmured. “Jensen has always been meek and gentle. I’ve never seen him attack anyone before.”
“Did you or did you not try to call him back?”
“Of course, sir. He was determined to take out the target. I think he was trying to prove himself worthy to everyone.”
“The only person that a dragon seeks to please is its mate. Otherwise, they view such targets as a treasure to be protected or taken. They will do whatever it takes to get or keep it. It is only once they are fully mated that they can be influenced by their rider. So tell me, did you seriously let that dragon go out there today without mating him?” The commander sounded like he was explaining to a simpleton. Jared was pretty much willing to give it to him by this point.
“I...I thought...”
Jackman blew out an annoyed breath. “I don’t know what the bloody secret is, or why you aren’t all educated well before the point where you attend the Ceremony. I’m surprised there aren’t more incidents like this, in fact. You’re an idiot, but this mess isn’t entirely your fault. I won’t be punishing you, but you will return to quarters and remain there until you are certain that dragon will obey you. Understood?”
“Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.” Jared relaxed ever so slightly.
“Carlson, damn good to have you on board. Padalecki will take you to Kane. Now, both of you get out of my office.” They turned and were almost out the door when the commander yelled after them, “And bed those bloody dragons!”
Chapter III: http://lady-krystal-79.livejournal.com/40736.html