Let me Think

Arlen had never really had any purpose. His only real goal up till now was survival and even then it was sort of a half assed attempt at it, he never really bothered trying to make it comfortable just getting enough to get by. And although brief Arlen felt like he had purpose, that he needed to find this "Tooth Wrangler" his supposed father told him about. So finding out that his journey had ended basically as soon as it began was a little jarring for him.

"But that doesn't make sense, if you want to take down Tar why would Tar tell me to find you?" Arlen questioned slightly disheartened.

"I don't know. That kids brain is the perfect combination of dragon greed and human intelligence, who knows what he's thinking. But I'm not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, you've got the potential to help us." Mr. W retorted comfortingly.

"How?"

"You're the first of your kind that I know of, elves and humans don't mix well. Elves are one with nature and coexist with it while humans have a tendency to blatantly disregard it, a mix like you I don't think has ever existed but hypothetically, you could be immensely powerful."

"How do you know that?"

"It's just a guess. I did my research when I took on the youngins, and usually the rarer the mix the stronger they are."

"Why should I help you? Why would you even trust me to begin with?"

"Tar can't be fought by an army, we need a small tight knit force, Tar is physically powerful and smart but the real threat he has is his Dream-eater powers. I don't know their full extent but I'm positive he could topple an army singlehandedly from the inside."

"He wants to, what, take over the world or something right? Sounds like he could."

"He's smarter than that. If he attacks unprompted he'll look like the villain, and the citizens will strike against him. My guess is he wants to rule over them not destroy them."

"Alright look, I'm flattered by all this but I can't fight. All the fights I've been in I've either ran away or they were pushovers anyone could deal with."

"I can help." Gunk interjected.

"Ha! Yeah, he didn't get that way just from eating his wheaties I'll tell you that much," Mr. W exclaimed boastfully, "We can help you get stronger, don't worry about that part."

"Alright I'm in," Arlen responded.

Mr. W blinked several times, and then stared vacantly at Arlen for a moment, before saying, "That's it?"

"What's 'it'?"

"You don't want to think about it, I mean, I just told you a lot. You're involved with a dragon mix who's more than likely powerful enough to topple nations and the three of us are gonna fight him and you're alright with that? You can say no son, we aren't forcing you."

Arlen scratched his head for a moment before saying, "I don't have a home, or anything really, so as long as you feed me I think I'm fine with going with you."

"Yes! I knew I liked you!" Gunk exclaimed slapping Arlen's back.

Mr. W seemed apprehensive, he was concerned with Arlen's willingness and was afraid that the young man didn't fully grasp what was being asked of him, and the potential danger it could put him in.

"Gunk go take care of that request you've been putting off, take Arlen with you."

"Wha- I have not been putting it off." Gunk replied grumpily

"It was submitted over a week ago and you could get it done in a day, now go take care of it."

"Alright fine. C'mon brother I'll show you the way."

With that Gunk stood and waved for Arlen. As he stood to follow he locked eyes with Mr. W who gave him a reassuring nod and a glance that appeared purely vacant. As he jogged to catch up with Gunk's massive stride and the crystalline sun flowed over his skin the weight of the past 12 hours slammed onto him like a harsh wave. He felt mental exhaustion seep into his mind and an overwhelming gnawing of suppressed anxieties coat his conscious. The visage of his supposed father fluttered into his mind, he tried to remember every detail of him from his dream, but had trouble recalling, was that even his father? He realized that if the cop truly was Tar it was very possible that he used his Dream-eater powers to make him up entirely. And if that was true then-

"Don't worry, he was real."

A voice from no discernable direction pierced through Arlen's skull, it sounded sickly sweet and caressed around his brain and dripped down to his stomach, causing a faint sense of unease to ripple into his very core. He turned rapidly trying to find it's source and on his 5th double take he spotted someone leaning in the entry of an alley directly to his left. The man stood tall, not as tall as Gunk but higher than average, and was draped in shadow. The man took one slow step and moved out of the shadows, and his very presence induced overwhelming vertigo to erupt in Arlen's mind.

"It's okay. It'll pass, it's the natural reaction when seeing something that shouldn't exist, not anymore anyway."

Arlen regained his balance and eyed down the man. He stood tall, muscular, and his core and parts of his face were a light olive skin tone that showed no age, but expanding out from the border of his torso, around and down his arms were lavender scales that shimmered a mesmerizing sheen in the crystalline light, he had no hair, instead two massive horns curled down and around two sets of sizable ears. His hands and feet were three pronged daggers, talons sharpened to a point peeking out from the ends of each of his fingers. He wore mat black pants tied to his waist with a piece of string and no shirt.

"I'm not here to hurt you, I'm assuming you already know who I am?"

"Tar Cinder?"

"In the flesh," he said gesturing to himself confidently, Arlen felt the need to be suspicious and on guard, but for some reason was unable to muster his instincts, he felt at ease in his presence, calm.

"Was that a dream you showed me or was that really my Dad?"

"Oh that was him alright, quite an impressive feat to send a Spirit Call from that far away, but what else would you expect from the former Captain of the Elven Guard."

"What? What's a Spirit Call? How do you know my father?"

Tar looked Arlen up and down and then locked eyes with him, his pupils seemed like deep pools of molasses, churning slowly and lazily as they gazed at him with a slight pity. He began to speak,

"Don't worry about that right now. I promise you'll meet him soon, you've lived a neglectful life, there's much you haven't learned that you should have. I can relate." Arlen felt sincerity somewhere in his tone, but it was overshadowed by suspicion.

"I'm not here to hurt you. I'm not even here to talk. Just wanted my presence to be known to you, and that I'm not hiding. I believe we can be allies, I've sent you here for some training. And that is all." Tar turned on his heels and pulled another orb Arlen recognized as the one from when he was sent here, except instead of red it was a mossy green.

"I'm no warlord, or conquerer. I just want what's right. And I think as your journey progresses you'll feel the same." He calmly explained as he threw the orb onto the ground, creating another portal. He made eye contact with Arlen one last time, conveying a somber stare of what seemed to be sympathy before hopping into the portal, and he was gone.