100 Puppies and Dragons

Author's Note: Follow-up to Thirty-Three Percent. War is a terrible thing. Time skip, also.

Faith

Joey bit his bottom lip and gripped the curtain in his hand tightly. "Ra, look at all of 'em. And your brother said only half of the troops would probably come back," he whispered, frowning. "How do we know that he's gonna be part of the half that stays on the battlefield?"

Mokuba looked out the window as well, frowning as the hundreds of uniformed soldiers continued to march out of the city. "I guess we'll just have to have faith that he'll come back. Burn a stick of incense for him every day."

They both turned to look at the altar of the brunet's patron dragon made of purest white marble. There were two smaller alters, one of obsidian and the other of jade. Seto had promised to get larger and prettier ones once the two had graduated, but they were both content with their small and simple statues.

The green and black statues had already had incense put in their claws.

"…He's praying for us to be safe while he's gone, too," Joey whispered, frowning, and reached out to trace the curve of the white dragon's cheek as the younger boy lit a stick of incense and carefully placed it between its white claws. "…I'll keep readin' so when he comes back, I'll be able t' do my homework without his help. Because he's gonna come back."

"Yeah," Mokuba agreed, looking up at him and smiling. "Yeah, he will."

.-.-.-.-.-.

Seto covered his wounded eye, wondering how he had been so lucky to lose just that when his comrades had been cut down on all sides of him. He lifted his glowing hand as he trained his one good eye on the enemy, letting out a snarl as he lashed a whip of lightning through the air at them.

He'd forgotten to adjust for his sight. His attack missed the group of men by two feet. One of them reached over and used the static to shock another.

If Seto hadn't been about to die, he would have laughed at the way the other man screamed in terror and then promptly turned and smacked him.

He wished he'd been more powerful. He wished he'd been able to protect his comrades—hell, his country even—better. He even wished he hadn't yet graduated, so he couldn't be drafted into the army like he had—because students that hadn't graduated were too much of a liability to both sides. He was glad that his brother and Joey were both safely kept away from the battlefields by inexperience and even a little neglect.

The leader of the group of man laughed. "Are you ready to die, dragon lover?"

Seto grit his teeth, electricity crackling over his body angrily. He only had enough energy left for one attack that wouldn't even be able to blow them off of their feet. He might able to kill one of them if he concentrated his energy into a narrow attack, but he doubted his aim and he sincerely doubted they'd just stay in one place if he shot blindly into the middle of the group.

"Aw, poor baby. He probably just got out of school!" one of the others jeered, and the rest began to laugh.

The brunet trembled with a mixture of anger and anxiety. He would not win this fight. He couldn't even take one of them with him, as he watched all of their powers surge up—mixtures of fire and wind. They were going to burn him so there was nothing left of him except ash.

Joey and Mokuba would get no closure that way.

Setting his jaw, Seto ignored the throbbing pain from where his eye had been and the spearhead still stuck through his calf, lightning crackling louder as he let out an angry roar and charged at them. "Get the fuck out of my country!"

He saw the men's faces contort from glee to terror and wondered if it was because they realized that if they attacked they would injure themselves or because they hadn't expected so much energy from a clearly injured man.

He only realized why they were afraid when a white dragon flew over him, its open maw crackling with electricity that it immediately spat at the group. As the men screamed and disappeared in the bright light, Seto stumbled to a stop, watching the dragon circle around and land in the crater that its attack had made. "…What…"

The dragon blinked its beady blue eyes at him, then turned to look over at the setting sun. Death.

The voice was loud and knocked him flat on his back as his body wracked with pain, the throbbing in his head exacerbated by the volume of it. "Guh-!"

The dragon's head came into view for a moment. The sun has set. But not for you. The voice was still loud but he noticed a slightly feminine lilt.

Seto shuddered. "What…"

Its scaly lips twisted into a grin that should have scared him, but he felt only comfort. They have faith. You continue to protect them. I will continue to protect you. It looked up and whined in the back of its throat. Help. It looked back down at him. Let them. It flashed its teeth again before leaping into the air, wings beating so hard that the wind pressed him harder into the ground.

The dragon roared and disappeared in a flash of lightning.

Seto stared up at where the dragon had been. 'What… just happened?' He became vaguely aware that he heard the sound of people in the distance. He hoped they were on his side.

Mustering all of his strength into one last attack, he shot a bolt of lightning into the air and hoped they saw it. Then, all he saw was darkness.