Why did the Sky Stop Crying? - Frederick & Blood

" “

It wasn't like the young dragon to feel boiled at any point. Considering his already high body temperature, there weren't many heated conditions that he didn't feel comfortable in, not to mention his Dragon Slayer training involved sleeping in a volcano with a superheated fire dragon belly as a pillow. These factors included, Ibara didn't understand why this desert was scorching hot. He'd wrapped himself in thick layers of sand coloured-cloth (see image above for visuals) to warn off the sand that threatened to almost rip his face off. The area was ripping quite a storm, whether it were due to the beasts that flew up ahead or the wind that constantly battered at Ibara's robes; the young dragon didn't know or care, he simply wanted to reach the destination.

"Pffh.. pathh.. ergh!“

Three sounds that emanated from Ibara's throat as they threatened to tumble into his stomachs; sand grains that had rised up from the ground and shot directly into the young dragon's face, an encounter he certainly wasn't prepared for. This momentary lapse of movement triggered him into secondary thoughts, thoughts of whom his partner would be. However, he really already knew the answer to this question. It would be his mentor, Frederik, a man he certainly hadn't got off onto the right foot with. Their backstory was complicated at best but, while walking through this barren terrain to a destination in god knows where, Ibara had the time to afford such thoughts.

"It wasn't long ago now, maybe six months until he finally accepted me as his mentee? It all started when we got into that fight over the street vendor. I suppose if it weren't for that illusionary girl, we would've ended up tearing eachother throats out, my throat more than his most likely. He liked my fighting spirit, and to get Fred to like something? The Sabertooth Guild members told me that was an extremely rare occurrence. To have him as my mentor was both an honour and an unfortunate happening they said. His power was to be marvelled but his temperament was to be feared. I didn't really understand them myself, I'm not scared of anything, especially not him; maybe that's why he likes me. After six months, by then he'd witnessed me fight several times as I ascertained a plethora of jobs to show to him after completion. He was impressed although he didn't show it and finally agreed. We're probably pretty similar, maybe that's why he took me on, although I'd never admit it to his face.“

Ibara had quite forgotten where he was after his temporary mind-rant but to his relief he stood at a door to a metal institution which was literally in the middle of nowhere. The building itself looked like a cubed piece of metal, no windows and only one door which was the only obscurity about it's main building. However, above this was a hatch which opened out into a one hundred metre long ladder which ascended into the clouds. Above the ladder, the young dragon could just about make out the signs of a massive skywalk which hovered above the clouds. Ibara assumed this was how the scientists placed the water lacrima there in the first place; the thought of having to ascend such a high monument made this dragon's tummy twirl.

"Igneel.. help me out on this one.“

He prayed for himself before throwing his body inside the metal building and out of the scorching heat, there he pressed his body against a wall next to the door and waited for Lord Frederik. The scientists attempted to approach him but he waved them off until his mentor arrived, he'd let him deal with the logistics of the job; that wasn't the young dragon's expertise anyway.

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the picture above references what Ibara looks like btw

" “

Ibara wasn't surprised with Frederik's apathetic reaction. In fact, it was a custom that the young dragon had grown to be quite accustomed to in actuality. The constant revolving cycle of throwing job after job in his mentor's face in an attempt to win him over was usually received with a similar reaction - hence Ibara's adaptability to it.

With that disregarding attitude in mind, the young dragon motion himself off the steel wall and forwards, expecting Fred to drag along in tow. Having been here for a reasonable amount of time, ten minutes or so, he'd ascertained a decent amount of information simply through surveying what everyone else was doing, where they were going and when they were doing it. He'd noted that there were only scientists that inhabited the area, he'd assumed the engineers responsible for fixing the lacrima (that they were now meant to fix) were lost atop the skywalk above since naturally, with capable engineers, this job wouldn't have been necessary in the first place. Ideally, the young dragon would've liked to waltz up to the nearest scientist and get the job underway immediately, sadly there was this entire administration process which involved meeting the head honcho and discussing the problem in detail before they were actually allowed up on the skywalk.

"Ughhh! Are we heading there or what?!“

Ibara referenced the office where the bossman resided. His voice was loud and resonated off the metallic walls clearly, creating a pitch-perfect echo which reverberated around several rooms. Every scientist swivelled their heads in his direction, it was creepy, almost robotic inr response but soon enough they returned to their business. All but one whom went to receive them, not a word was uttered from his mouth, could this be due to the disturbances going on above? If it had lulled him into such a sense of insecurity, how bad could the situation really be here? It made the young dragon question if he was in over his head on this job.

Both Frederik and Ibara navigated through long corridors. The walls either side of them were barren and enclosing, everything was singularly-functional, simplistic in design. Ibara would've assumed differently since this place clearly leaked of intelligence but he shrugged it off. Clearly their intentions were clear and they didn't want anything getting in the way of that. After coming out into a semi-ovular room with a simple metallic desk at it's back, shouldered by a leather chair; they were greeted by a rather rotund man whom sat comfortably against the seat, eyeing both mages like a hungry predator.

"Hey, we're not your next meal. Let's get straight to the point, we need access to the skywalk.“

That intentional predatorial look vanished from the boss' face and his eyebrows furrowed, clearly angered about the remark on his weight. He rose from his chair and stood at an astounding height of seven foot. Clearly, to any ordinary human, he wasn't someone to be reckoned with. However, Ibara was no ordinary human, he had the blood of a dragon and rose to meet the boss in a squared-up fashion just as he began to speak.

"Watch your tongue, kid.“ Ibara sneered at him and stuck out his tongue intentionally. The boss, clearly knowing he was out his depth, sat in his chair and backed down before continuing in a much more civil manner. "I don't want this conversation lasting for any longer than you do. However, I must greet you with this warning before allowing you access to our sky-walk. There our many dangerous beasts that lurk up there, they are responsible for the death of many mages whom have come and failed at this particular job. Although you may think you can rise to this challenge with open arms, this is no walk in the park. One mistake, and you'll die. Hell, even if you make no mistakes, there's still that possibility. Be as vigilant as possible and kill them as quickly as possible for they will only multiply.“ The boss looked sincerely scared at this point, so frightened in fact that he wouldn't even mention what the two mages would be facing up against. He gulped and waved them away, his eyes were watering. The young dragon glared on in bewilderment. Was the situation really that bad?

In the distance, the sound of a rattling metallic gate could be heard from an ascended position. Then the descension of a ladder from above slammed right in front of Lord Frederik, opening up to a sky-blue scenery above, layered with one particular steel skywalk, matching in colour to the rest of the building, only this time, parts of it were stained the colour of red.

"After you.“ Ibara grinned at his mentor; something he didn't often do. Alike all the other mages, Ibara did greet the job with open arms but there was one difference. Unlike the other mages, Ibara would succeed no matter what the cost.

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"You should've t-told me before you did that..“

Ibara was suspended in an absolute freeze-frame, seated on the sky-watch bum down, hugging his knees while the last of the dark matter that clouded the sky infront of him began to evaporate away into nothingness. Despite the trembling of his legs after witnessing such raw, and powerful magical power first-hand, he got to his feet and walked to the side of the skywatch, only to glance downwards to see a massive crater in the ground beneath them -- clearly Frederick hadn't appreciated the comment about his spells not being powerful enough beforehand.

With a slightly less-trembling body figure, he stanced himself to look at Frederick, pointing to the lacrima behind him and furrowing his brows in preparation for the statement he was about to introduce. It was better that the two be on the same page rather than a different one, if they coordinated then maybe this lacrima could get fixed quicker, besides, Ibara had proved he could take down these monsters; despite such an overwhelming difference in their power levels. It was just a matter of brains over brawn.

"There's something I didn't explain before. Thought you might've been too busy to take this into account before, but since we have some time between waves.. Anyway, this lacrima is powered by magical energy, the only way to kickstart it back up again is to blast it with more powerful magic than what was required to start it in the first place, meaning I can't power this thing up on my own, it'll require us to work together or rather I'll hold the lacrima in place and you blast it with one of your spells. Just make sure not to hit me.“

Ibara didn't wait on his reply, he wasn't counting on that. Besides, Ibara doubted Frederick cared if he hit his mentee or not, they weren't exactly on a lovely basis with eachother, more of a just generalistic understanding. With the lacrima now tucked under his arm, he glanced back to his partner, no degree of worry passed on his face, a brave feat worthy of commendments since he was about to take an S-Ranked spell head on with only a lacrima in hand. Besides, even if the spell didn't hit him, the magical charge from the lacrima would radiate onto his body anyway -- there was really no way to escape this predicament. If you're wondering why Ibara would have to hold the lacrima in the first place; it's because without it, the lacrima would go flying off the platform and into the abyss below, something the two wizards really couldn't afford to do -- especially after everything they've been through.

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