Well... I decided to write a fic... this is what came out... (as is what usually happens when one goes to write a fic...) I wanted to explain why Mortis may have decided not to reveal who he was. Without making him evil and nasty. The best I could do was make him look a little stupid. :P I think it's IC, but... not entirely sure... he's a bit hard to write. And I also haven't seen the Choosing pt 1 for ages, so if anyone sees anything inconsistant with that, please tell me. Okay... here we go... ;)


Father of a hero

He rushed out into the burning stables; desperate to find out what had happened. The explosion had been what brought him up from the temple concealed beneath his stables. He had to make sure his boys were alright. He didn’t know what had caused it, though he could guess who, and it had to have been intended for him. If Artha or Lance had got caught in it… he didn’t want to think about it.

He came to the surface to find practically the whole stables on fire. His thoughts were still on Artha and Lance, but then part of his mind thought about Beau. What if the dragon couldn’t get out of the stables? It was on him who the prophecies rested. If he was killed… He was wasting time, those few thoughts had cost him precious seconds. But he didn’t know where to go. If he went to the stables first, he might get Beau out, but what about his boys? But if they lost the black and gold dragon, could it possibly change what the prophecy said would happen?

A burning rafter crashed close to him and he jumped. He didn’t have time for this. He had to make a decision. But the prophecies couldn’t help him. Another crash, he looked up, only now realising he had his fists clenched so tight that he couldn’t clench them any tighter.

The black and gold dragon was alright! He had just smashed through the side of the now almost destroyed house. Even better, Artha and Lance were safe on his back. He had the urge to run to them, but then remembered he was still dressed as a dragon priest. He still wasn’t sure if he should let them know this side of him. They didn’t need to anyway. The dragon temple was right under the stables; it wouldn’t interfere with him being their father and never had. He could go down and be back up in time for dinner.

But as his excitement at seeing both his boys and the dragon of legend safe began to fade, a thought hit him. Beau’s letting Artha ride him. It was clear to see his older son wasn’t just hanging on to get out of the flames. Beau had never let anyone ride him like that – not for long at least – and he now made no sign of wanting to toss Artha off, having now got him and his little brother to safety.

“The dragon of legend chose Artha…” he said to himself, his mouth dry. There were more creaks from the rafters and he realised he’d better get someplace safe. It would have been difficult to get out of the stables by now, so instead, he retreated to the lift that would take him back to the temple, and told it to go back down. As the doors closed on his burning home, he heaved a sigh and leaned against the wall. “He chose my son…” he repeated again. But why? he wondered, and immediately regretted having such a thought. Artha wasn’t bad, but could he really be the one Beau had chosen? He could be a bit lazy sometimes, and he probably spent a bit too much time playing vidd games. But, yes, he did have the potential to be the Dragon Booster. He knew his son could be the Dragon Booster. But, well, it was just potential. Had he been too busy breeding the dragon of legend to help his son bring out that potential? Probably. He felt his shoulders sag at that thought. And now, he was supposed to be the Dragon Booster’s mentor. Could a father mentor his son to save the world? Would Artha really listen to his advice? Probably not. Not as much as he would listen to a dragon priest. A dragon priest he would respect. His perception of his mentor wouldn’t be clouded by his already conceived view he had of his father.

So… he supposed that was what he would do. He wouldn’t mentor his son. ‘Mortis’ would. It would work the same as he had already planned. The Dragon Booster would come down to the dragon temple to meet with him. Not with his father. It was then he realised that the boys’ father wouldn’t be able to come back upstairs for dinner. No, it was too close. Artha wasn’t stupid, he’d figure it out. It would just end up like one of those movies where one person had to keep swapping personalities and clothing until they got them so mixed up that they were found out.

It wouldn’t be that difficult, he supposed they would just think he had been killed in the explosion. But could he really do that to his boys? Artha was capable of looking after himself and Lance anyway. And he wouldn’t be far. Mortis would still be able to help them, just not as their father. He’d have to do it, he decided. Because no matter what it cost, he had a war to stop. His son, the Dragon Booster, had a war to stop.

This is good, as I've told you several times. :P

You're right, it's really hard to know if Conner is IC, we haven't really been privvy to much of his thought processes.

I REALLY LIKED THIS FIC!!!

It's totally IC ;:D:D:D and you portriat (is the word?) Connor Penn as a real human bieng with doubts and fears :D:D:D

YAY!!!

will this fic continued?

'Portrayed' I think, but I know what you mean. Thankyou. :D

It was just supposed to be a drabble actually. So that's all it. But if I write a fic with Conner/Mortis in it again I'll try write him like that. ;)

And thankyou again Flash. :P

*dances*

Really good story, hyperpsychomaniac! I think it's fun to see scenes like this replayed from a different point of view. And the rationale you came up with for Connor hiding his identify is a good one. In fact, I think it would have improved what's in the actual show.

One minor point about the action in episode 1 (not because I'm quibbling; I only mention it because you asked ;)): Artha had already sent Lance out to safety through the air vent before Beau comes crashing in to save Artha. So only Artha is riding Beau when they crash out through the wall. Lance then meets them in the courtyard below. But that's pretty minor. It doesn't change the way your story works.

Good stuff! I hope you decide to write more. :D

:blink: YAY.. I aggree very good.. I hope you makes more as well :D

Ooo! Thanks Furox. I might see if I can fix that, just so it's technically correct... whenever I actually get around to it. :D Of course... then I'd had to worry about Conner making sure Lance was safe... Maybe I'll just be lazy and leave it. ;)

It took me a while to comment on this fic, because it touches on some canon issues I have rather strong feelings about. We have a person who abandons his young children, lies to them, and generally manipulates the situation all for the sake of a three-thousand-year-old text--and I'm always going to think that a person who does something like that deserves to answer for it, because I'm weird that way. But you do make Connor seem very sympathetic in this story, although in my kooky way I might reinterpret parts as a little sociopathic:

- His first thoughts might be on Artha and Lance, but then he spends the next paragraph or so thinking almost entirely about Beau, prioritising the legend above his own children
- Even after a fire's nearly killed those whom he cares about the most, he's still thinking about hiding and coming back "for dinner" (secret identity above the kids, you know, nearly dying)
- He's wanting to be the dragon priest for Artha because of, quote-unquote, "respect"; this seems to imply "domination" to me and hence more manipulation
- He assumes the sixteen-year-old can look after the ten-year-old
- He doesn't think that his sons might feel, say, depressed at his apparent death/abandonment (...okay, so he's kinda right there...but that isn't a good sign either...)

But on the whole it did make me feel a lot more sympathetic to the character. This was probably because you wrote him as surprised by the fire to start with, and trying to solve a problem rather than in his usual canon omniscient impressions (and to that extent, I believe you've gone OOC in a sense, though in the sense of canon-doesn't-go-there rather than downright incompatible). So, yeah, I'd say you've done a successful job of it.

In some Christian fundie circles (I'm not talking mainstream Christianity), there's a perception that working for world peace is bad because the Bible says that the nations are doomed to war until the apocalypse and it's a good idea to try to set up the required apocalypse situation by whatever despicable means required; this so reminds me of Mortis. Ancient book, some likelihood that prophecies are going to come true (and people actually making them do so, like Connor himself), dedication to that surpassing common human values like honesty and kindness to one's children.

Ah, good... some of those came across. :D I did intend for him to be slightly more concerned for Beau than would seem... healthy.

And, yes, Conner does seem to be into the helping the prophecys along type thing. Doesn't seem like a good idea to me, even if they are supposed to be true(I'm guesssing they are to some extent), his intrepretation of them might not quite be. That could lead to problems... *is hoping it might* :D

I agree; a good few of DB's problems could be solved by giving the series' shaky moral foundation a firm place in the actual world-setting. Destiny's arbitrary and foolish, Connor's obviously done and is doing extremely questionable things, Word and Connor as the main movers and shakers were both priest-trained and are fulfilling the prophies that they both know about (cf. Macbeth), Artha's a spoilt brat who doesn't bother to question the instructions he's given regarding his near-absolute power... The thing is, I really, really doubt any of this will get acknolwedged in canon.

Probably true. :) I don't mind a bit of grey, but it could do well for it to be pointed out.

*two thumbs up* if I had more that two.....I would give you ten...XD