fifth chapter of Salvation! It’s my second favourite; and it’s called Oh, Brother, Where Art Thou? Also have the notes from before the chapter started for a bit of context :)
Nom: I miss my rogue, guys. I miss him a lot /ref
This chapter is brought to you by the power of my spite for the guy (on ao3) who tried to tell me to be embarrassed about calling myself an artist for the Bannerfall Scaleshifter Nom art I did so heck them I do what I want <3
This is set two weeks in the past, and it’s supposed to be when Nom was about to unearth the mace, then decided “nah” and ‘threw it into the sea’ and came back to Bannerfall after 4 days
…it may or may not be me trying to write a bit more Nom lore
Upon returning to the Kingdom, Nominal can sense something has changed.
The Kingdom can be quiet sometimes, its denizens always appearing to be off doing various tasks or sleeping, but this is different. He’s no expert, but surely being raised in a land where war is looming over his head at any moment has given him a better feel for something being amiss, and that sense is setting off an alarm in his mind now.
A first careful assessment of his immediate surroundings tells Nom that there doesn’t seem to have been an attack, or not a severe one at the very least. There isn’t any visible damage, in fact, some buildings look better than he remembers seeing them when he left. There isn’t the scent of fire or blood in the air, only flowers and the tinge of magic left behind by a Mage’s spell. Scott must’ve shrunk someone again.
Nothing seems to actually be wrong.
So what’s wrong?
Is it him?
He’s spent around 4 days away from everyone and everything, first to consider taking out the mace before deciding against it, then ensuring that he would be returning with a (relatively) clear head, and avoid any possibility of being overwhelmed again. He can take no chances of being in a lack of control over his body. One wrong move, and the consequences will be more than just his sister turning to Red.
Speaking of, he should go apologize to Graecie, even if it was her that told Katie about his oath. Now that he’s had a few days to calm down, he recognizes that he could have handled that better, and the comment about their friendship hurts more now that he’s in the mind to actually understand.
That is, assuming she’ll allow him to get close enough to try.
He won’t know until he makes the effort, however, and he is determined. Already, he misses the reliability of her companionship, her advice, and typically steady mind when it came to assuaging worries (of which he has had oh so very many).
As the Draconic knight moves through the streets, he finally picks up the sound of voices nearby. Tilting his ears, Nominal advances quietly.
“… lanterns. Uh… here, see, like this.” Owain.
There is the shuffling of feet, the heavy clank of armour, and the dull clatter of wooden boards as the man presumably reassembles whatever he’d been working on.
“‘Cause then the… Shan? Shan, are you alright?”
Nominal rounds the corner, met with the sight of Shandrea valiantly avoiding tearing up as Owain moves to come in front of her and carefully puts a hand on her shoulder.
Owain looks up, catching the Scaleshifter’s eye and nodding only once to acknowledge his presence before returning his attention to the distraught elf, murmuring soft assurances.
There is a sadness to the Mage that Nom hasn’t seen before. Sure, they’ve only known each other for a matter of months, but still. It’s a sense of loss, and while that could be anything from the loss of materials to a beloved relative, he can’t simply leave her to her distress just because the Lion is there to help her through it.
Nominal approaches carefully, and Owain moves to direct Shandrea’s attention to him so she can process that (though she says nothing of his arrival), as he expands the conversational circle to include Nom.
“Shan, are you okay?” The Draconic knight asks, watching the elven woman shake her head and lose the battle against her emotions. She wipes her eyes, takes several shuddering breaths, and shuffles into the hug Owain offers her for a couple seconds before regaining control enough to speak.
“4C is… missing.” She explains quietly. She always spoke a little more softly than other people in the Kingdom, but there is a graveness to her words that make it sink a little deeper.
“What do you mean, missing? He’s been gone for a few days at a time before, he’s probably just sneaking around somewhere again. I swear, it’s like we hardly see him anymore.” Nominal points out, but Shandrea fervently shakes her head and steps forward. Her shoulders draw up and close, she holds her arms, and she can no longer look at the Draconic knight.
“I watched him go. I saw him disappear right in front of me, and it–it wasn’t a Hearthstone or another Mage’s spell. Something took him.” She insists. “He kept saying that he was in trouble with God. I… I think he was right.”
Nom looks at Owain in mute question, receiving a slight tip of the head in confirmation. “So this is connected to his whole ‘I have to play all these Farkle games or God takes my soul’ thing? I thought he was just being dramatic about it.”
“The Gods do not give their threats lightly. And considering it has been around… I think two days, now–since anyone has seen him, I’m inclined to believe that this is a result of that.” Owain states, as Nominal’s tail rattles behind him. Owain is very dead-set in the belief that Gods are real–the Knight God specifically. And Sausage having claimed to have gained his powers from Lady Death herself is another point that the Scaleshifter cannot simply ignore, yet he doesn’t quite believe they exist himself. Rather than voice this, he decides to simply go with it for the time being.
“And we’re sure this isn’t some new trick from the Red Kingdom? That Necromancer… I don’t know exactly what he can do, but maybe he worked with their Mage or even their rogues, and did something to him?” The Draconic knight muses aloud, though he’s mostly thinking to himself than actually asking for input.
“It was not the Red Kingdom’s doing, lizard knight.” A new voice states, followed by Kitty’s appearance out of the shadows just behind Owain, causing the Lion to jump. “You have been gone for multiple days, and yet, we are not the reason for your disappearance. Why must you assume we have taken your friend now?”
They do have a point.
However, it’s also Red Kingdom. He can’t trust them, not fully.
“I don’t know, but there’s only so many things that could have happened.” Nom replies. Kitty cocks his head, the scarf trailing behind him settling into stillness as he stops moving. Nominal has never been able to get a read on what the feline-turned-human may be thinking, even after having spent time in their body. Their gaze is something that feels distinctly incorrect for a human, closed and quiet, but perceptive and knowing, confident and alert. The same is true now.
Owain steps forward. “We’ve talked with Cherri and Cam; they don’t know what happened to him either. He isn’t in their jails, he didn’t teleport back home, and there’s been no trace of his presence anywhere.” Kitty nods, drifting a little closer to the Lion’s side.
“He may still return. Your friend is not as easy to kill as he seems.” She offers, taking a moment to bat at the feather in her hat as it moves in front of her face. Sighing, Nominal lets his tail curl loosely behind himself–or tries to, as it begins to sweep from side to side.
Maybe he’ll show up somewhere soon, and it’ll all be okay, but for now, the knight cannot shake the feeling that he must find the slime.
* * *
Stepping across the No-Man’s-Land bridge, Nominal charges past the opposing Kingdom’s gates, immediately seeking out the last place he remembers the Red Kingdom designating a jail.
“4C? 4C, are you here?” He shouts, poking his head in the door and moving to individually inspect each cell before moving on.
He remembers the castle held a jail; Katie having been jailed there for a while under Cam’s rule. There’s someone in the background he can hear, but they aren’t 4C so he doesn’t pay them any mind.
The castle itself has seen marked improvement, clearly displaying the range of talent in the Red Kingdom as there is more elegance and care shown in the arches lining the long hallway and stonework behind the throne. “4Cvit, where are you?”
He can’t smell the faint residue left by the slime’s presence, nor can he see any signs of the same, though he does smell that the Frogue was here at some point.
Regardless, 4C is not here, so he moves on.
In his search, he shoves open a door, disrupting Apo and Cherri as they look up in surprise from their game of Farkle.
“Nom, what are you doing here?” Apo demands, already on their feet with spear in hand, and while Cherri does the same, it isn’t done with as much combative readiness.
“4C. Is he here? Where are you keeping him?” Nominal says, letting his gaze roam the room and discover that it appears to be a communal space. There’s that button in Cherri’s house that leads to a secret room; maybe he’s been put in there?
“I don’t know, we haven’t seen him.” Apo answers, watching Cherri as the princess approaches the enemy knight.
“Are you okay, Nom? You look kinda…” She hesitates, and in that time, the Scaleshifter turns and leaves them to their game.
4C cannot just be gone.
Not like this.
He was supposed to keep him safe. What was the point of saving him, of breaking his oath, if he’s failed to ensure the reason he had remains? It has been around 3 days since he returned and found out the rogue was declared missing. Nobody’s seen any signs of him, and while Shandrea continues to state that he simply disappeared in front of her eyes, surely there must be more to it than that.
He has to find him.
There’s a collection of voices behind him now instead of just one, following close as he strides through the Kingdom in search of anywhere they may be imprisoning his friend.
One of the voices is Katie’s.
“Nom–Nom, stop, he’s not here!” Katie shouts, shoving herself in front of him and forcing him to stop or go around her, of which he attempts the latter.
“Where else could he be? It’s–I know people keep saying it, but it’s not like he just disappeared.” Nominal spits, only now becoming aware of the ever-constant ticks and rattles that accompany him, louder than the sounds of armour and footsteps. When did they start? He can’t remember. It’s been in his subconscious for enough time that he’d tuned it out entirely.
Katie draws out her shield and shoves him, hard enough that he stumbles for a moment. It isn’t a shield bash, but it is powerful nonetheless.
“He did, Nominal. I don’t know how, but he did. I’m worried about him, too, but you don’t see me tearing apart your Kingdom just to find him.” She replies, and finally, the Scaleshifter backs off. Katie sighs, lowering her shield and glancing around. Someone’s still coming their way–the clank of armor suggesting Apo and Cherri trailing after him, or Bek. “Look–I’ll look for him around Red Kingdom, okay? I swear I will. But you should get out of here before you’re thrown in jail. Although, maybe a bit of time in a cell would do you some good.” The Red knight ushers him off before he can give a quip in reply, slows once she’s certain he’ll actually leave on his own, then falls back entirely to presumably delay whoever was following them.
Curling his hands into fists, Nominal trudges his way back to his own Kingdom, passing Scott on the way, though the elf wisely keeps his distance, watching from afar as the Draconic knight plunges into the Well (Well Well).
* * *
The darkness clouds over his awareness like a sheet of inky mist put over his eyes. It warps his perception as the ghost of sensation teases him with suggestions of what may be lurking in the shadows around him.
Even with his advanced vision, there is no identifying what could be a handful of inches from his face, though he isn’t as sensitive to light as Kitty claims to be. It has affected him, however: his night vision is not as strong as it was a few years ago. Having lit pathways and humans/other creatures that truly do need the light of a lantern or torch has meant that he also doesn’t need the ability to see in the dark so much, and as such he has begun to lose it.
There is a burst of pops, groans, wooden squeaks, and low notes that announce the arrival of the Creaking King, which is admittedly a slight surprise. Perhaps Nominal has caught his attention today.
“Hm. I did not expect to see you here.”
Nominal huffs, coiling his tail in a wide semi-circle around his legs. “Oh, so we’re talking again? What do you have for me this time?” He asks, ears lifted and angled to hear the direction of the raspy words better.
“You will not find him here. He has been taken from this place, far beyond your walls.”
Nom freezes, feeling his lips start to pull back. “What.” He growls. He doesn’t allow himself to make noises like that if he can help it, both to avoid any possibility that someone realizes reptiles don’t make noises like he does, and to simply try and feel more human.
Regardless, this is one of the cases where that means nothing.
“Your efforts are in vain. He will die, far, far away and alone. I look forward to watching the guilt consume you.”
The knight commits to baring his teeth, readying to charge forward with his sword drawn, only to run into Scott instead as his interaction with the Creaking King abruptly concludes.
He stops, abandoning the snarl for a momentarily confused expression that quickly becomes apologetic. Scott has his hands up, not to defend himself but to catch Nom and steady him. The elf tips his head in a silent reassurance, but it does little to stop Nom’s guilt.
“Don’t let him get in your head. He’s trying to rile you up so you make stupid decisions.” The elf tells him gently, stepping away once he’s certain the knight has his footing and sense about him again.
Nominal nods, but as he takes heavy, deep breaths that threaten to become a low growl in the notch where his throat meets his chest, the realization settles like a net cast over him.
The Creaking King knows about 4C.
He knows that 4C is missing.
“Nom? Are you good?” Scott asks, as Cherri slows to check on him as well.
“Was the Creaking King extra mean today?” She inquires. It’s asked lightly, but her concern is genuine. It’s akin to the look she’d given him a day ago when he raided her Kingdom.
Drawing his shoulders back and attempting to appear less tense and shaken as he is, the Scaleshifter nods. “He always has a way of knowing just what to say to piss me off.” He replies, then forcibly focuses his attention on the task at hand, belatedly identifying the scent of fear beneath flowers, magic, and the dank, stale odor of the Creakings paired with the ancient stone surrounding them. Rolling his shoulders, the knight weaves past Cherri to follow Apo down the hall.
“I’ll make sure to hit him extra hard this time.”
* * *
Nominal stands on the walls of the Kingdom, looking out at the opposing Kingdom in the distance. Shandrea had said that 4C had disappeared while they were in the Red Kingdom. He would go look for clues again (peacefully), but he doesn’t feel like dealing with Apo or the Necromancer right now. Besides, according to the Creaking King and all facts thus far, 4C isn’t even in the Kingdoms at all. He’s somewhere else.
What if he’s in danger?
He had saved the rogue and brought him back to Blue Kingdom thinking that he’d be safe here. He’d tried to keep him safe.
In his recent upset and following absence, it appears Nominal has failed, and now is in danger of losing another part of his already split family. It would be his fault. Had he been there, he would have been able to do something to stop his friend from disappearing, he knows it.
The Draconic knight sighs, slowly flexing his fingers and leaning against the battlements. He’d removed his gloves to give his hands a little reprieve from the leather and metal rubbing them raw all day, and while that’s good, now he has to be careful, otherwise he might cut himself.
The soft sound of footsteps begin drowning out the incessant, clatter that follows him like his own shadow has gotten louder, more intense, no longer subtle enough to be overlooked by his thoughts. It informs the knight that someone’s coming, so he turns his head to identify them before halting entirely, leading to a rare moment of true silence, brief as it is.
“Graecie.” Nom says. He’s meant to approach her for days, now, but finds himself unprepared for the present reality of her coming to him first. His ears lower and flatten slightly against his head, an unavoidable indication of his emotions.
“You’re going to go look for him.” The elf states softly, evidently withholding. Withholding what? Anger? Support? Discomfort? Displeasure?
Slowly, Nominal nods. “I have to. I… if something’s taken him, and he’s in danger, I have to go find him.” Graecie nods stiffly in return. He doesn’t need to elaborate on that; he trusts that she knows. “But before I do, we need to talk. The–Graecie, I—“
The elven knight puts up her hand, shaking her head. “I don’t want to hear it. I… believe it or not, I don’t care about that right now. I’m here because you’re about to go look for your friend, and I want to make sure you don’t do anything stupid.”
As Nominal steps back, he shakes his head. “I can’t take you with me. That wouldn’t be a good idea. Not–not after what I’ve said to you or what’s happened. And Blue Kingdom still needs you here. We can’t leave Owain to fend off the Red Kingdom knights alone.” Graecie crosses her arms, sighing. She doesn’t seem to be truly mad, soft and solemn as her tone is, but she’s still not entirely pleased to be here. That he can tell.
So why would she come anyway, with how upset she is with him?
She said she wanted to make sure he wouldn’t do something stupid, but that hasn’t exactly stopped him before. She of all people knows that.
“And I’m not going to. I just want to hear your plan. If you just leave with no warning, they’ll start asking questions. Shan and Mae are already distressed enough–we all are. So what do I say when they start asking where you are?”
The Scaleshifter looks at her, then tilts his head. “You wouldn’t have to cover for me. I could just say I’m going to look for 4C. There wouldn’t be anything wrong with that.” He points out. It isn’t exactly a secret that he cares about the slime–his incursion into the Red Kingdom displayed as much rather clearly, and whoever didn’t know before certainly does now. And Scott is reasonable. Even when he wasn’t Monarch, he was patient and understanding. Surprisingly very understanding.
“Fine. That is fair. Are you leaving tonight? Or tomorrow?” She inquires.
“I… might go tonight, since you already know. I don’t need to prepare much, and whatever I really need, I can get plenty of on the way.” He decides, shifting his stance and looking back out at the No-Man’s-Land. He could stock up on a bit of bread or carrots, but that would do 4C more good than it would Nominal himself, so he wouldn’t need to account for as much as one would normally for two people. Graecie dips her head, then points at the mountains around their Kingdom. “You might be able to start covering more ground if you start out behind the mountains, or down by the beach.” She offers.
“Thank you.” Nominal starts. Truthfully, bringing Graecie–or anyone, really–would be helpful, but with his current standings with the elf and the fact it would be just as uncomfortable to bring Katie–and cause both of them to be questioned, it isn’t a good idea. “And–I swear, we will be talking about my accusation against you later. I just need to get 4C back first.” The elven knight nods.
“I understand that he’s your friend, you’re worried about him, and you already went to great lengths to save him once. But be smart, okay? I might be mad at you, but that doesn’t mean I want to see you get hurt–or worse, killed. When you find him, I expect both of you to come back home.”
The Scaleshifter bows his head in acceptance, and Graecie visibly relaxes. There was a tautness to her posture, and while there is still much left unsaid and unaddressed, she has been relieved of some of the weight. The seconds tick by, drawing out further and further as neither knight has anything they seem willing to offer in order to continue the conversation.
Nominal steps back, breaking the deadlock-esque silence once again. “I will.” He promises. “I mean, I can’t find him if I’m dead, so I will do my best to not die.” The humour in his tone is almost nonexistent, but Graecie forces a light snort of amusement.
“Good. I’ll… good luck, then.” They share another few moments of silence, until Graecie finally turns and leaves, so the Scaleshifter is once again the only one atop the wall.
He does not linger long, only staying until he’s certain he won’t run into the elven knight again before making his way down the steps himself to do some final checks, get anything he thinks he may need, then starts his journey toward the beach as the sun begins to rise.
A/N
—The beach is where Cherri and Kitty see Dragon Nom. I imagine that space in the fic translated from the game is a bit bigger, so like, the walk from Blue Kingdom to the dungeon takes like, two, maybe three hours instead of a matter of minutes. Thankfully, Nominal has already shifted by the time Cherri and Kitty see him, but he’s in the middle of taking to the sky and therefore doesn’t realize they were there.
—So in my mind, Nom has a hoard. Like, shinies and treasure and all that. And then he has a second one, one made of the people he cares about. Right now, that consists of 4C and Katie. So now that 4C is actually gone, Dragon Hoard Brain is like “rahhhhh I must find himmmm where he beeeee” and this has led to some irrational decisions. Such as perchance raiding the Red Kingdom to find little slime boy. Nom does have instincts, but I haven’t decided if he’s not aware of them at all, or if he’s trying to suppress them and that therefore causes them to influence his actions in moments of distress and lack of focus. Might be a bit of both ngl.
—Nom doesn’t hate being a Scaleshifter, but the more human he comes across as, the less people question him about the fact that he’s not. The less of an outsider he feels like. After all, as far as the others are aware, the only way someone is supposed to be able to become a different creature is through a Mage spell, and he cannot and will not have Scott on standby each time he wants or needs to shift. Even with Mages before, he was attempting to hide his Draconic features, but with how much the success rate varied, and how most spells required constant concentration, it was not sustainable.
—Nominal’s got like, relatively normal vocal cords, but he is capable of making deeper growls, purrs, snarls, hisses, and other Draconic sounds I totally have names/descriptions for. This also means he has a wider range of octaves, though most of them are in the lower register. In my mind, those would come from deeper in his chest, or at least, he felt them more prominently there. Also, just for the fun of it, you know how Nom can take sound bites or like, replay audio (idk exactly how bro does it ngl) to parrot other people? Main example being Katie’s “I’m so… I’m such a chud” quote. That’s also a result of being mostly human but not entirely. He can mimic voices or sounds rather accurately, something all Scaleshifters can do, but not Dragons themselves.
—There was a time where Nominal would let Katie fly with him. Especially when they were younger. As Nom and Katie grew, Nom grew faster as a Dragon than he did as a human. So when Katie was within the ages of 1 month to 18 (months), Nom was small enough that he’d be more like a family dog (medium? Kinda like, Labrador sized idk), and sometimes would curl around Katie to cuddle when sleeping. When they were both over the age of 10 and Nominal deemed big and strong enough, their mother finally allowed Nom to give Katie legitimate Dragonback rides, provided they stay close, stay under supervision, and Katie be sufficiently prepared (so like, special riding straps and protective gear and stuff). Eventually when they were older still, they started going on flights without the supervision, and while Nominal won’t say it out loud, sometimes he misses those moments. He no longer has his set of riding gear; he’s outgrown it and didn’t see the point in making more with Katie no longer in the Kingdom.
^Katie still has hers.
—Nominal cannot breathe underwater as a human or a Dragon, but he’s actually very good at swimming. The tail helps a lot.
—I usually throw Nom’s VODS on in the background while I do things, so idk how the full bright thing really works, but that’s what Nominal’s night vision is, just altered to work more like a muscle that’s not seen as much use and therefore begins to weaken. It’s a sort of film over his eyes, like a crocodile and that clear membrane that shields it’s eyes from stuff underwater, which protects his eyesight from being damaged. If the membrane/film was in place all the time, it would be subjected to bright light a lot more, and therefore would be less effective and hurt him. Being able to choose when to have it in effect keeps his eyes safe from being overwhelmed by the light. If that makes sense. Idk.
—When Nominal eats something as a Dragon, the nutrition only slightly scales to his body. I don’t know how exactly to explain this, but like, say Nom eats an entire cow as a Dragon, then shifts back into human form. It won’t change how he looks too much (otherwise it could kill him) but the amount of nutrition he gets is still very high, more so than if he’d just eaten a cooked cod or something as a human. That kind of gives him a hack for sustainability. All he needs is to take a drink or eat something of sufficient size as a Dragon, then go back to human form to make it last. This only works if he’s a Dragon for short periods of time, though, or he will have to start eating and drinking more to accommodate for his bigger body as a Dragon.
—The Write Brain told me Graecie was supposed to see Nom off and historically people haven’t seemed to hate what the Write Brain tells me to do so I took a chance yet again
—Idk how to write Kitty or Graecie yet so I’m sorry if they were OOC. I was working on vibes.
—Also I’m not sure if BF!Nom was supposed to like, not believe in the gods in canon, bcs I haven’t seen any evidence that clearly tells me it’s definitely one or the other, however I’m also kinda stupid so if he does believe in the gods then I apologize for the inaccuracy. I figured that since it seemed like Katie didn’t believe in the gods whenever 4C tried to tell her, Nom may not exactly believe in them either.
—Anyway I HAS DRAGON NOM IN FULL WAHOOOOOO
^It isn’t EXACTLY how I see him; his snout is a bit too long and the wings look awkward but it’s the right idea. im just really bad at drawing dragons XD
Chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,
