Tom

The three dragons sat in silence for a few moments. Matt's scales had shifted to a lime green when Tord had started yelling, and had stayed that color.
Finally, Edd sighed.
"We need to go talk to him," he said. "At least one of us do."
"I can't," Matt said, his scales shifting to a dark purple. "I'll only make things worse."
"No, I'll make things worse. You actually were willing to forgive him."
"I yelled at him when I saw him though! You managed to be completely calm!"
Tom sat in silence, listening to Edd and Matt bicker. He finally stood up after a few seconds, dropping the harpoon and slowly following Tord. His ears twitched as he listened to Edd and Matt whisper things to each other as they watched the Seawing leave.
He winced as he got closer outside, hearing the thunder loudly boom overhead. Rain immediately pounded on his face as he came out of the cave. Tom fluttered his gills, squinting through the downpour. Tord hung his head, sniffling and gripping onto the stones on the rocky ledge. He opened his wings to fly off, but quickly closed them after a few seconds and quietly sobbed.
Tom winced, backing up a step. There's that feeling again.
Guilt.
Even though Tom was glad he stopped Tord from taking over the world... Was throwing a flaming harpoon at him really the right thing to do? Tom thought for the longest time he had killed him, and so did Edd and Matt, as much as they hated to think about it. Those thoughts always haunted him. Tom, a murderer.
Tom thought that he probably shouldn't of felt like that. Dragons died all the time, and a lot of the time it was by murder. But it still felt awful. Whether they were your enemy or not, killing someone was the worst feeling in the world.
Was he glad Tord was alive? Was he angry that he felt that guilt for no reason?
Or is there still a reason?
Tom sighed softly, twitching his wings. He stepped forward, noticing Tord looked like he was about to leave for good, spreading his wings. He opened his mouth once, then closed it, then finally spat it out.
"Hey, Sunshine Lollipops. Leaving so soon?"
Tord perked up, seeming to not expect to hear a voice behind him. He folded his wings and looked down.
"Hva vil du?"
"Oh cut it out with the Núi already." Tom snorted.
Tord perked up again, glancing back at Tom for a few seconds, then looking back down again.
Tom sighed. "Look," he said, but was interrupted by a loud thunder crash overhead, making both dragons wince. The Seawing shook his head. "What you did was horrible," he said. "I am not afraid to admit that at all... But what I did to you, whether you deserved it or not, was not any better."
Thunder crashed again and lightning flickered as Tord looked back at Tom. The tears in his glossy eyes were nearly camouflaged by the rain. He sniffled.
Tom sighed again. "I guess what I'm trying to say is... I may still," He gritted his teeth. "DISLIKE you. However, I pity you. If you need a home... I guess I can tolerate you. I'm the only one who isn't afraid of you, anyway."
Tord turned around, shifting himself. "You're... Actually serious?..."
Tom sighed, nodding as thunder once again boomed overhead. "Yes," he said. "Now come back inside, even I hate storms. And I'm a Seawing."
Tord hesitated for a few seconds, then sighed and nodded. Tom began walking back inside, and the Skywing followed gingerly behind him. The red dragon shook the water off himself, while Tom just simply let the water soak into his scales.
They both turned their heads to see Edd and Matt staring at them, wide eyed. Matt's scales were a shiny gold now, and he flared the frills behind his ears.
Tom raised an eyebrow, picking the harpoon back up. "What?"
They both cleared their throats, and Matt's scales shifted back to their normal purple color.
"Nothing," Edd said.
"Yeah, nothing," Matt agreed.
If Tom had eyes, he'd be rolling them. He looked back at Tord, fluttering his gills. "Hey, there's something I–... WE'VE been meaning to ask you, commie."
Tord raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"
"Your arm," Edd said. "What... Happened to it?..."
"It looks like liquid!" Matt chimed it. "How did you get it to look like that?"
"Oh..." Tord said, clearing his throat and looking down. "That..... Well, Matt, it doesn't just look like liquid, it is liquid. After the fall, I hit the ground pretty hard. So hard, it apparently paralyzed my arm... So what I did was enchant the blood from it to form a new one... I know it's weird, but it was the first thing that came to mind to fix it without anyone's help."
Tom winced.
I did that. It's all my fault.
How is he so willing to live with me after what I did to him?
"W-Well," Edd started, trying to break the awkward tension as he seemed to notice Tom's actions. "That's pretty cool how you did that! But, you probably should've been more careful... Y'know with animus magic draining your soul and all..."
Tord sighed. "Yeah, THAT part I didn't think about. Paul even told me that himself."
Matt tilted his head, his scales beginning to show orange spots. "Paul? Who's that?"
"A friend of mine," Tord answered immediately.
'A friend of mine'? Tom thought. I thought we were his only friends. Why doesn't he just go live with this 'Paul' instead?
Maybe he really is sincere about his apology.
Tord turned towards Tom. "Well, shall we get going into the apartment?"
The Seawing cleared his throat, shifting himself. "Yes, follow me."
The Seawing walked into his apartment, and the Skywing followed a few seconds after. Tord's tail was the last thing to disappear before the door shut behind them.
Tord stood beside Tom, his eyes widening.
It was the perfect home for a Seawing, with a comforting aquatic theme. The walls were painted blue, with silver and light green swirls dancing around them. Shells and pieces of dried seaweed hung from the ceiling, and sand covered the open floor.
There was a large river-like body of water immediately when you walked it, with tiny steps leading down into the darkness below. Tord couldn't see it, but underwater was just as cozy. With aquatic features such as underwater plants, warm sand, shells, even some small fish and crustaceans at certain times.
The apartment was very dark, however, with few torches dimly lighting it. This was mostly for when someone would come over, so Tom wouldn't look like a mad dragon who hid in the dark, even though Seawings could see in the blackness. There were also harpoons circling the room, with one every few inches. Tom put the one he had back into its holder, which was right by the door.
"So this is your place," Tord said. "Hmm. Looks exactly like a place where you would live."
Tom narrowed his eyes, fluttering his gills. "The hell is that suppose to mean?"
"You figure it out yourself. Unless you can't, which wouldn't surprise me. Classic Stupid Tom, as I always say."
Tom gritted his teeth. Yeah, what you always say: absolute bullshit.
"So where's your room?" The Skywing asked. "Or I guess..." He winced. "OUR room."
Tom snorted. "Follow me."
He began walking down the narrow paths around the body of water, and Tord followed.
"Hmm..." The Skywing said.
Tom looked back at him and raised an eyebrow. "What?"
"The sand," Tord said. "It's very warm... And feels really different..." He then stopped, raising an eyebrow.
"What now?" Tom grumbled.
"There's two rooms..." Tord said. "What's the other one for? And why is it so bright compared to the others?"
"Oh," Tom said. "That's the only room in the apartment with no water in it. I use it for when Edd and Matt come over. There's a few scrolls in there and stuff. Now stop moping around and come on."
Tord shifted his wings. "Fine."
When they both entered Tom's room, Tord squinted.
"It's so dark in here, I can't make out anything."
"Well, when you can see in the dark, you don't really need much light," Tom said. "There's a window, but since it's dark and stormy, it's hard to see."
Lightning flashed outside, lighting up to room for a few seconds.
Tord raised an eyebrow. "Are these walls sound proof? Why can't I hear thunder?"
"They are somewhat. We are in a cave, you know. But yeah, they kinda are. If you go closer to the window or actually shut your big mouth for once, you'd hear it."
Tord pulled his wings closer to his body. "Rude."
The Skywing then began digging into one of his bags, flicking his tail.
Tom raised an eyebrow. "What are you doing?"
"Lighting this place up a bit," Tord huffed. "I always carry torches with me.... Aha!"
He pulled out a brand new torch that looked like it hadn't even been touched. The Skywing made a small hiss before breathing out a tiny plume of flame, and the torch began burning instantly. He perked up when he saw a torch hanger on the wall and gently put the flaming object into it. The flames crackled and popped on the wall, and small flakes of ash began gently floating down.
Tord looked around the room, the ridge on his back standing up. "Fascinating..."
"Alright, you've seen pretty much everything," Tom said. "Now, this is still my house. So there's rules I have to lay down."
Tord groaned. "Fine, what are they?"
"Rule number one," Tom said. "Don't touch anything without my permissio–"
"What about the floor?" Tord interrupted. "The air? My own food?"
"You didn't let me finish, so shut up," Tom growled. "Don't touch anything, EXCEPT, your own belongings and the things I allow you to touch. Which means, yes, you can touch the floor and air. You can also lay on the sofa if you want, and MAYBE read the scrolls, but you better be careful with them or I swear to the moons."
"Alright, alright. I get it," Tord said, waving his talons. "NEXT!"
"Rule number two. Remember when I said don't touch anything? There's one item you can NEVER touch. And that's Susan. You even try to touch my bass, and I swear I'll bite you."
The Seawing went over to the silver instrument. It was a curved, stringed instrument, decorated with silver seahorses along with tiny squares of obsidian and white marble that formed into a checkered pattern along the bottom. The more upper body of the instrument formed to make two silver-carved dolphins, whose tails were the neck of the bass. Tom plucked one of the strings with a single talon, sighing through his nose. Tord lightly padded over to the bass, staring down at it. Tom looked away.
"Rule number th–"
Then, behind him, he heard a few of the bass's strings being strum. He quickly whipped his head around and flared his gills. Tord was sitting there, looking away with an "I didn't do it" face. Tom went up to the larger dragon, glaring up at him. Tord blinked down at the smaller male, a stupid smile on his face.
Tom quickly smacked him with his tail, and Tord stumbled against the wall, hissing.
"Ow!"
"Rule number three," Tom began. "Be on your best behavior. Don't you dare act like an immature brat, especially if I have company over. Edd and Matt are the only exceptions, that's only when I'll tolerate it."
"Really?" Tord said. "That's not what it seemed like back at–"
"Don't bring that up," Tom hissed. "Also, keep in mind of the things you did."
Tord winced, quickly snapping his mouth shut.
"Hmm..." Tom pondered. "I think that's everything... So, you need help with your bags?"
"Oh, no thanks." Tord said, beginning to take them off.
"You sure?" Tom asked, raising an eyebrow. "Really, I insis–"
When the Seawing grabbed one of the bags, his eyes immediately widened. His body was overwhelmed with a strange feeling, one he couldn't quite explain.
It's almost as if it was magic, magic that twisted reality in a way that wasn't quite right.
Wait... He'd FELT this before...
It all came back.
Tord, slipping on the necklace.
The water in the pool behind the Skywing rising, when the red dragon didn't even say anything.
The water immediately separating into droplets, only to quickly be formed into little bullets of ice shards.
When they all shot towards him...
When a few of them cut him as he ran...
He got chills sent through his whole body, and not just because of the cold...
Tom shivered and immediately let go of the bag, quickly backing away and breathing heavily.
"Tom?" Tord said, beginning to put the bags down. "What's wrong with you?"
The Seawing stared down at the bags for a few more moments, then slowly looked up at Tord, still breathing heavily. "Those bags... They're enchanted..." Tom said. "What the hell did you do to me? Don't even try lying, because I felt it."
"Woah woah woah," Tord said. "You think I enchanted those bags to do something to you? Calm down, that's not the purpose of the spell."
"What did you do to them, then?" Tom asked in an aggressive tone.
"Chill," Tord said. "Yes, these are enchanted, but only for one particular reason. I enchanted these bags to keep my belongings dry, even when it's pouring rain. Basically, they're 100% waterproof. Even if you dropped these in the ocean and let them sink to the bottom, the items inside wouldn't have a single drop on them. See? I'll show you."
Tord picked up one of the sacks, which appeared to be soaking wet. He carefully opened it, taking out a scroll. The Skywing looked back up at Tom, blinking.
"See? Feel it." The red dragon said, holding out the scroll.
Tom raised an eyebrow, slowly and cautiously reaching out for the scroll. He touched it with two claws, lightly dragging them across the paper. And, to his surprise, the scroll was completely dry.
That's... Actually really smart. Tom thought. That's a really useful spell to use if you were an animus...
But... If it meant losing a piece your soul just to cast it...
Tom then perked up, quickly taking his talons off the scroll and looking down, clearing his throat.
"There is... One more rule..."
Tord raised an eyebrow. "Oh?" He said. "Well, what is it?"
Tom looked back up at the Skywing. "Rule number four: no using animus magic."
Tord's eyes narrowed to slits.
Tom sighed. "One of the reasons I'm making this rule may be because I don't trust you, but it's not just that. I'm doing it so all of us can be safe. I'd rather not have to deal with an insane dragon who lost his soul. You can keep all your weird items and everything, but no more casting any more spells unless it's absolutely necessary, got it?"
Tord shifted his wings. "Fair enough."
  "Good," Tom said. "At least we can come to some kind of compromise."
It was silent for a few seconds.
"...So I'm guessing you're gonna sleep on one of your magic carpets?" Tom said.
Tord shot him an unamused look, twitching his wings. "Yes, actually." The Skywing opened another one of his bags, taking out a tiny cube.
Tom raised and eyebrow. "Exactly how many of those things have you enchanted?"
"Not much," Tord answered. "I did, however, enchant something to do what's similar to a duplication spell. But I won't get into that." He looked down at the cube, blinking before saying "låse opp"
After the words left his mouth, the cube levitated out of his talons. Within seconds, the bed took shape and flopped the the ground, flattening itself out.
Tom blinked, feeling the fur of the bed. "Mountain goat," he said. "Couldn't of expected anything less." He looked up at Tord, blinking slowly. "Well, it's pretty late. I'm going to bed. Night, commie."
"Goodnight, Jehovah's Witness." Tord replied.
If Tom had eyes, he'd be rolling them. The Seawing then dived into the pool of water, sinking into the darkness below. He curled up in the sand, and, to his surprise, quickly drifted off into a deep sleep.