AFF Prompt Responses

Written for the prompt: Yule

Warnings: Angst, Mind Control

Rating: Adult

Fic Type: FlashFic

AN: Hello, if you're new to my prompts, I would highly recommend starting from chapter one, as they all tie in together, and have evolved into a story. Thanks for giving my work a chance. I hope you enjoy! :)

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Ashton sat against a stone wall with his eyes closed. He couldn’t bear to watch the happenings before him. The smell was sickening enough as it was. The mint and pine he had enjoyed not two weeks before was now overwhelmed with smoke. His stomach twisted. He had to fight back the urge to vomit. He wanted to yell, but nobody would care. It was just a barrel…a barrel that cost his best friend ten thousand fol. It was the most thoughtful gift he had ever received, and his friends were burning it.

The fact that his barrel was being burned wasn’t even the most disturbing thing. He and his party were traveling through the ruins of an ancient city. The temperatures were below freezing, and there was nothing around to build a fire with. Nothing but his precious gift, and a hearth inside of a crumbling building. It was upsetting, but necessary for their survival. The thing that was making him angry was how his friends were acting. They were…celebrating. Having a feast of some expensive food they all bought in the previous town, and behaving as though they weren’t currently in a life-or-death situation. They had no regard for his feelings. Well, Rena did. At least, she did until Claude pushed the issue. Then she sided with him. Celine was glad to be rid of “the useless burden” as she so affectionately called the swordsman’s treasure. She did nothing to hide this.

The people who stood a chance of caring, or standing up for the hapless dragon host had gone in another direction to search for a some magical jewel or another. Something to help them on yet another pointless quest. Ashton sighed. He wondered if life was supposed to be this way. Was it normal for a bunch of complete strangers to form a group and wander around the world killing monsters, leveling up, and searching for treasure? The swordsman shook his head. He wished the others were here. Noel would certainly stick up for him. Bowman might, on principle. Precis would. It was obvious she had a thing for him, though he couldn’t understand why. Probably out of desperation since Claude was claimed. Leon wouldn’t care one way or another, but at least he wouldn’t rub it in.

“Hey, aren’t you going to eat?” Rena asked the brooding dragon host.

He gave her a pitiful look.

She offered up an apologetic smile. “If you get your appetite back, just tell me and I’ll make you a hamburger.”
The corners of his lips managed to twitch slightly at the fact that someone remembered what his favourite food was. “I’ll be fine.” He said softly.

The healer nodded and went back to her other friends.

Ashton scooted closer to the fire. His thick robes, and the living heater that was Creepy weren’t keeping him warm enough anymore. Nobody acknowledged him. Either they didn’t care, or they knew better. He glowered at them. ‘How dare they sit around my barrel as if it were a Yule Log?’ he hissed mentally. His dragons cried out in anguish, in response to his thoughts and feelings. Then, he blacked out.

Ashton stood suddenly, pointing an accusing finger at his friends. “How dare you sit around my barrel as if it were a Yule Log?” His eyes narrowed dangerously as he repeated his thought. “We are in the middle of a crisis! How can you be so festive?!” He hollered. “Is feeling death breathe his icy breath down your necks cause for celebration?”
The group stood in stunned silence.

“Every one of you knows he had an emotional attachment to that container.” He growled. “Not one of you offered any of your sentimental items as fuel for the flame… you all made him give up his without a second thought, because his happens to be a burden to you!” An inhuman noise escaped his throat.

“Creepy? Weepy?” Claude ventured.

A sharp nod was the response.

“We didn’t mean to hurt his feelings.” Rena said. “We needed to build a fire, and his barrel was the first thing we thought of…It didn’t even occur to us to use our own possessions.” She hung her head. “We’re sorry.”

“Speak for yourself!” Creepy/Weepy snapped. He turned his piercing gaze to Celine.

She crossed her arms over her chest, and returned his glare. “It was holding us up. It was detrimental to our chances of survival in this environment.” She argued.

The possessed man snorted. “And the hundreds of pounds of treasure you lug around on a regular basis aren’t?”

Celine’s mouth fell open, then snapped shut. She turned her nose up at the swordsman and said nothing.

“I grow tired of your selfish ways, humanoid.”

“And having a whiny brat with a barrel fetish as a traveling companion has been lovely,” the busty mage seethed.

“Knock it off, you two.” Claude ordered.

Celine stomped off.

Rena and Claude followed after her.

Ashton left in the opposite direction.

The swordsman woke next to the entrance of a cave. He was cold. His hair clung to his face, and his clothes were soaked through. Ashton shivered. ‘Where am I?’ He wondered.

The dragon host took in his surroundings. He began building a fire pit, and then gathered branches. “Creepy.”
The red dragon breathed fire onto the pile of branches, quickly setting it ablaze.

“Thank you.” He patted Creepy’s head.

Since there were no other life forms in sight, Ashton figured it would be safe to take off freezing clothes and let them dry. He struggled out of the heavy robes, and laid them out on a rock near his fire. Ashton then stood as close to it as he could handle.

Weepy whined, and Ashton apologized to the ice dragon for having to endure such heat. “Just a little longer,” he soothed, scratching Weepy’s chin.

Ashton’s luck could never be described as good. So it didn’t surprise him when four figures emerged from the cave behind him…