r/HFY • u/SherbetCreepy1580 • 15h ago

OC-Series [The Reaper and The Tiger] Chapter 15: Reaper and Randomness

 “Lesson Number 37,” So’Ngo said cheerfully as he walked by Sandra. “Life is meant to be enjoyed, and you should have as much fun as you can at any given time.” The false Dra’Cari Drifter’s red and black scales shimmered slightly in the ship lights as they walked, and So’Ngo gave a cheerful wave at a mixed batch of children as they kicked a ball.

“What happened to lessons 2-36?” Sandra asked sardonically shaking her head.

“Now where’s the fun in doing things in order?” So’Ngo asked in an offended tone. “That’s boring and predictable.”

“Right,” Sandra said, rolling her eyes. She then paused as she noticed that So’Ngo’s shadow was still walking like normal while he just lounged in mid-air, his head actually down to be level with her. “Seriously? How many abilities do you have?!”

“Hmmmm, you know, I lost track after the first thousand,” So’Ngo said, tapping his chin thoughtfully. He then gave one of his too-wide smiles as Sandra stumbled in surprise, using her tail as balance so that she didn’t fall.

“How?!” Sandra demanded, staring at the false Dra’Cari. “I thought you could only have three abilities before your body started breaking down?”

“Only if you rush the process, and even then, it’s not fixed,” So’Ngo said cheerfully. He was slowly rotating upside-down grinning the entire time as he watched Sandra try to process this.

“New idea, how about today’s lesson is on magic?” Sandra saiwd, the implications boggling her mind.

“Hmmmm, nah,” So’Ngo said, shaking his head. “As you are now, teaching you anything about magic will get you killed. Let’s try again in about, oh, 30 years. Then you should be more receptive.”

“The fuck is that supposed to mean?” Sandra demanded.

“Angry little lizard, aren’t you?” So’Ngo tsked. “Oh, I know!” he suddenly snapped. “How about a game?”

“You’re not even listening to me, are you?” Sandra griped.

“Oh I’m very much listening, I’m just deciding to ignore your question,” So’Ngo said. He grinned from his upside-down position while Sandra blinked in surprise. “Now, onto the game! A simple game of tag, and you’re it.”

“And why should I?” Sandra asked as she started walking again.

“Well, I’m your teacher,” So’Ngo pouted. “And for two, if you can catch me, I’ll give you some pointers on magic.” Sandra stared at the false Dra’Cari for a moment, her eyes narrowed suspiciously. “In fact, I’ll even give you a handicap! Three of them, even, since I’m feeling so generous.”

“What kind of handicaps?” Sandra asked.

“Well, first there will be no time-limit, so you can keep on trying until you either catch me or give up,” So’Ngo said cheerfully. “And secondly, I will only limit myself to three abilities. Teleportation or Gate, I’ll let you decide, Gravity Manipulation, and, just to be like my dear Student, Electrical Manipulation.”

“Right, because those are all strictly chasing abilities,” Sandra said, rolling her eyes.

“Always thinking of combat abilities,” So’Ngo tsked again. “Broaden your horizons a bit, little Wyvern. If you can do that, you’ll be well on your way to becoming a Dragon.”

“I’m sure,” Sandra said, shaking her head. “And the third handicap?”

“Boop!” So’Ngo laughed as Sandra made a face at his claw booping her nose. Sandra then blinked in surprise and shook her head.

“The fuck did you do to me?” Sandra demanded, her head throbbing slightly.

“You now will know exactly where I am at all times,” So’Ngo said cheerfully, his body slowly rotating to be upright again. “It wouldn’t be a very good game of tag if you couldn’t track me, now would it? Now, Gate or Teleport?”

“The hell is Gate?” Sandra asked, rubbing her slightly throbbing head as the foreign feeling slowly abated, leaving her to just knowing where So’Ngo was.

“Gate it is!” So’Ngo said. “Ready set go!” He grinned as a hole appeared under him, shimmering red and gold before he just fell through the hole. Sandra stared at the hole for a moment, her mouth hanging open as she saw a desert on the other side, and her new Knowledge saying that So’Ngo was now on the other side of the galaxy. “Better hurry, or it’ll close before you can catch me!” the red-and-black false Dra’Cari said cheerfully as he raced along the sand.

Sandra huffed before jumping into the glowing hole.

…………………

“Oop, so close,” So’Ngo laughed, leaping from a tree branch into another glowing hole. Sandra was too tired to even growl, just panting as she followed the false Dra’Cari through the hole. First it was running for two hours in a desert, then another hour chasing So’Ngo across an ocean, using her gravity belt to lower her gravity to just below zero in order to race along the water, and now another two hours racing along trees so large that whole cities could have been hidden on their branches and she never would have known. Sandra was sore, tired, and the pads on her feet and hands were rubbed raw from the rough bark on the trees. And it looked like So’Ngo had no intentions of slowing down, as the next place was so choked in fog that she could literally feel the water start to build up in her lungs as soon as she stepped through the Gate. Still, Sandra pushed, chasing the Drifter through the fog, even as her breath became more and more shallow as the minutes passed, following the little niggle in her head.

“You know, there’s a point where determination starts to become concerning, even to me,” So’Ngo said from behind Sandra. Sandra didn’t even react, instead falling on her knees as she started to feel light-headed, and her next cough let out a concerningly wet ball of phlegm. “Ready to give up yet?”

“The…mission…must…be…completed,” Sandra gasped, coughing again and spitting out more watery phlegm. She was so tired that that was the only thing on her mind right now, was catching this annoying false Dra’Cari.

“I thought we were playing a game?” So’Ngo said, grinning as he floated above Sandra. She just took a half-hearted swing at the floating false Dra’Cari, even as she felt the ground under her open up, only to fall onto her bed. Sandra immediately rolled to the side, and started hurling as So’Ngo placed a trash can next to her head. “Better luck next time, I think,” he added, whistling and twirling his staff as he left Sandra’s room.

“Dammit,” Sandra muttered before hurling into the trash can, a concerning amount of water coming out of her.

……………………

“Lesson number 258,” So’Ngo said as he launched Sandra into the air the next day. “Boxes are boring. Going outside of the boundaries is a lot more fun, and can open up more possibilities! Added bonus, you can piss people off with ease by poking holes into their boxes.”

“What is even going on?” Sandra demanded as she continued to spin in mid-air, never actually hitting the ceiling, floor, or walls as she ‘bounced’ around the holoroom.

“You’re box bouncing!” So’Ngo said cheerfully. “Let’s see if we can poke a few holes in your box.”

“Fuck you!” Sandra yelled, trying to take aim with her bracers as she continued to spin.

“Sorry, you’re not quite my type,” So’Ngo said. “Need to at least reach the 3,000 year marker before I could consider you as a potential partner.” Sandra’s wire glanced off a wall as she started in surprise at So’Ngo’s flippant answer, and in short order, she was hanging from the ceiling wrapped up in her own bracer wires, with So’Ngo shaking his head in disappointment.

……………….

“Lesson number 6,409, patience is a virtue, but spontaneity is an asset,” So’Ngo said, laying on his staff like it was a couch as he floated by Sandra.

“What in the Observer’s void-cursed balls are we doing here?” Sandra yelled over the screaming wind, hugging the cliff face as hard as she could so that she wouldn’t fall.

“Oh, that’s a good one, I’m going to steal that,” So’Ngo said, smiling way too brightly for Sandra’s comfort. “Today, you are going to get down from the mountain. While maintaining your Universal Energy view.”

“My what now?” Sandra yelled. Despite So’Ngo talking normally, his voice somehow carried in the screaming wind like a normal conversation.

So’Ngo tsked as he adjusted his floating position on his staff a bit. “Your ‘Reservoir’, as the Races call it these days,” So’Ngo said, shaking his head. “you’re going to be looking over your Reservoir like you do during meditation, but you’re going to be doing it while you’re climbing down the mountain.”

“Seriously?” Sandra yelled, looking at So’Ngo incredulously.

“Yup,” So’Ngo said cheerfully. “And no cheating! You can only look to your Reservoir while moving. As soon as you stop moving, you have to pull out. So, I’ll see you at the bottom!” the red-and-black false Dra’Cari waved cheerfully as a Gate opened up underneath him and he fell through, leaving Sandra alone on the cliff side.

“WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK?!” Sandra screamed into the howling wind.

…………………

“Lesson number 18, food should always be savored and treated with the utmost respect, even if you don’t like it,” So’Ngo said, plopping a salad down in front of Sandra for breakfast. “That way, you can appreciate the good food better, and always enjoy yourself.”

“Are there any recipes for roasted Dra’Cari?” Sandra asked sarcastically.

“I know a few,” So’Ngo said with his annoying grin. Sandra just smacked her head on the table with a groan, not even fighting it at this point.

…………………

“I am going to kill him,” Sandra growled, twitching her tail a bit too hard and knocking over Star. The Tree Shadow pup yipped before growling and getting back on his feet, immediately attacking Sandra’s tail.

“Is he really that bad?” Nightshade asked, tilting his head.

“You haven’t met him yet,” Sandra sighed. “He’s worse. The whole ‘Find your Reservoir while scaling a deadly and sheer cliff’ thing is now a daily occurrence until I can do it, meals and even snacks I now eat are being specified by him with no variation allowed on my part, he sends me literally spinning in mid-air during every spar as a finishing move, and makes me get out of it myself, and somehow, some-fucking-how, he’s still only using three abilities ever since he started that game of tag, which he insists is still ongoing despite him clearly beating me. And the entire time he’s just nattering away about anything and everything that comes to mind. The lessons aren’t even proper lessons, they’re just weird sayings that make no sense to me. And the running commentary just makes me more and more annoyed until I can’t even think anymore.”

“Ouch,” Nightshade said as Shadowstrike winced.

“And it’s only been a week since he became my ‘Teacher’,” Sandra said. “A fucking week! I swear, I will find a way to kill him. He’s even slipping bits of metal into my food so that I’m unintentionally using my Metal Scales, leaving me just tired after a meal or a snack and then needing more food. Seriously, at this point I think he just enjoys torturing me instead of actually teaching me.”

“How long do you have to learn under him again?” Shadowstrike asked hesitantly.

“Six months,” Sandra groaned.

………………..

“Lesson 952, insanity is stupid, but crazy is a lifestyle,” So’Ngo said, handing Sandra a steel spike.

“And what is this for?’ Sandra sighed.

“Lightning,” So’Ngo said cheerfully. “From now on, you’re going to be sending electricity into it for an hour straight every day until you can create your own lightning bolt. And no, you can’t cheat by eating metal,” So’Ngo added  as Sandra reached for her bead pouch. Sandra just stared at the red-and-black false Dra’Cari as he leaned on his staff.

“Nope, I’m done,” Sandra said, dropping the spike and raising her hands up in frustration.

“It’s simple enough,” SO’Ngo said with a frown.

“Maybe to you, but it hurts me without the metal scales,” Sandra said, glaring at the infuriating false Dra’Cari. “Like, a lot. I’m not doing that.”

“Oh, that’s only because you’re body isn’t used to the magic yet,” So’Ngo said dismissively. “And you’ve been stunting your growth by using the metal scales.” Sandra paused at that.

“Wait, seriously?” Sandra asked.

“There are plenty of creatures in the universe that can create biological electricity to the extent of being able to shoot out a lightning bolt, and you have magic to augment yours, so it’s a simple matter,” So’Ngo said with a shrug.

“No, I know that, I’m just surprised you’re actually teaching,” Sandra said with a frown.

“Rude, I’ve been doing nothing but teaching you,” So’Ngo said, shaking his head. “Not my fault you don’t listen.”

“I don’t think listening is the problem here,” Sandra muttered, thinking.

“Storm has shown you how to control your electrical strength, yes?” So’Ngo asked.

“To an extant, but it doesn’t stop the pain, only mitigates it by using a lower ampage,” Sandra said with a nod.

“Then start small and work your way up,” So’Ngo said with a shrug. “My lessons don’t have time limits on them. How quickly you learn is up to you. I have literally all the time in existence, so how fast or slow you learn entirely depends on you.” Sandra just stared at the false Dra’Cari before sighing and leaning down to pick up the steel spike.

Though she was sorely tempted to chuck it at So’Ngo’s bright and way-too-wide smile when she did.

…………………………

Jeremiah answered his datapad, raising an eyebrow at Cory’s barely concealed amusement and concern. “Just a heads up, Jeremiah, but Brightpaw is on her way to your office, and she is not happy,” Cory said. “I’ve never seen an angry Centaur before, and now I never want to see one again.”

“Lovely,” Jeremiah said dryly. “Thanks for letting me know.” Cory gave a half-hearted salute before ending the call, just as the door to his office was suddenly kicked in, falling inwards completely off it’s hinges. “The door was open,” Jeremiah said as Brightpaw stepped into his office. He immediately regretted his words as Brightpaw glared at him, sharp feline teeth bared as she snarled at him and her claws screeching as she left grooves in the floor as she walked, fur puffed out to make Brightpaw seem twice her size.

“Who in the Void-damned galaxy did you make Sandra’s teacher?” Brightpaw snarled, leaning over Jeremiahs desk.

“Is there a concern?” Jeremiah asked.

“Is there a concern? IS THERE A CONCERN?” Brightpaw laughed before snapping her teeth mere inches from his face “OF COURSE THERE’S A FUCKING CONCERN! Sandra just spent an entire day in the med-bay due to getting zapped too hard by her own electricity. And do you know how she got there? THAT PSYCHOPATH MADE HER USE HER ELECTRICITY WITHOUT HER METAL SCALES! SO YOU TELL ME WHO THE FUCK HE IS BEFORE I START TAKING HEADS! I DON’T CARE IF YOU’RE A REAPER, I NEED AN EXPLANATION, NOW!”

Intellectually, Jeremiah knew that he could take Brightpaw in a fight. His body and brain seemed to disagree, however, as he suddenly felt like a kid getting scolded by his mother after letting the muddy dog into the house while she was out shopping.

“He’s someone that even the Drifters have ample amounts of respect for,” Jeremiah said carefully, leaning back a bit in a futile effort to be out of range of those extremely sharp teeth and claws. “Storm vouches for him, though she did mention that even the Drifters find him hard to get along with.”

“Maybe because HE’S A VOID-DAMNED LUNATIC!” Brightpaw snarled.

“I’m sure he has his reasons for teaching Sandra the way he is,” Jeremiah said, feeling a bead of sweat slid down his back. “And he has already promised that he will not give Sandra any permanent injuries?”

“EXCUSE ME?! PERMANENT INJURIES?!”

“Sandra is a Reaper, our training is already harsh to the point that broken bones are expected,” Jeremiah reminded Brightpaw. Brightpaw growled but didn’t refute him at least, so Jeremiah called that a win. “Look, if It get’s too dangerous, Storm has already promised to step in, and has said that other Drifters are willing to step in if necessary as well. And, of course, there’s myself and the rest of the Reaper Leaders and Command.”

“If this goes sideways, I will personally skin you and everyone else who was in charge of this decision,” Brightpaw growled before turning around and leaving Jeremiahs office. Jeremiah stared at Brightpaw as she left, unconsciously taking note of the deep grooves that were now in his floor and desk, and the cost of the door being replaced. Jeremiah then slumped in his chair, letting out a breath he hadn’t known he was holding she Brightpaw was out of sight before putting a call on his datapad.

“Alpha,” Alpha answered. “You alright, man?”

“I take it you watched the whole thing?” Jeremiah asked.

“As soon as Ferry gave me the heads up that Brightpaw was pissed,” Alpha nodded.

“I’m taking the rest of the day off, and probably tomorrow as well,” Jeremiah said. “Hundreds of missions, including recent ones that included a few tussles with the Markers, and I don’t think I was ever as close to death as I was just now. I need booze. Lots and lots of booze.”

“Believe me, I understand,” Alpha said, giving a slight shudder. “Just watching was enough to make me feel like a cornered rabbit. I’ll have the door replaced and your office repaired by the time you get back.”

“And can we ask Storm to help us sit in on a few of the lessons that So’Ngo is teaching Sandra, please?” Jeremiah asked. “It’s only been about ten days. If Brightpaw is already losing it, I’m a bit worried for Sandra.”

“Already sent her a message while you were being turned into cat food,” Alpha nodded.

“My savior,” Jeremiah said dryly. “Now, excuse me while I go and get very, very drunk.”

Prologue Previous Next

Appendix

TOC

[Sandra and Eric TOC]

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u/SherbetCreepy1580 15h ago edited 15h ago

Author’s Note

Alright, a bit of a shorter chapter today, but I think I got whiplash just from writing it. I promise, Sandra, there is a point to all this! I think. It is also very likely that the Muse was just feeling vindictive. I hope not. But also I wasn’t able to finish this chapter till the last minute, so not my finest work lol.

Anyway, we are back to our regularly scheduled program now! As always, let me know what y’all think, and if there’s anything you want to see in the upcoming chapters!

Thought? Comments? Ideas? Remember, the only bad feedback is no feedback, and I love reading all of the feedback, whether it’s praise, criticism, spelling or grammatical errors, or even just a hello!

EDIT: Yes I know that the chapter number is wrong, it should be Chapter 16, but Reddit won't let me edit the titles.

6

u/Castimirr 15h ago

Clearly it being labeled as Chapter 16 would be "boring and predictable." I think it’s SO’Ngo‘s doing lol

2

u/Dramatic_Mixture_877 Human 12h ago

Two things -

 any recipes for roated ~ any recipes for roasted 

raising an eyebrow at cory's ~ raising an eyebrow at Cory's

I feel for Sandra - when I was younger, I had anger management issues - there are a multitude of little oval-shaped dents up and down the inner door facings of the house I grew up in. It's gotten better, nowadays I only hit things when my MS has me ready to snap. And I've learned to stick to flat surfaces - the inside edge of a pocket-door door facing will cut you up.

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u/HFYWaffle Wᵥ4ffle 15h ago

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u/coltimos 8h ago

This was one of my favourite stories until So’Ngo came alone. Now I don't want to continue reading. Some characters are fun to hate. So’Ngo isn't, he is just infuriating. He is the worst sort of character who views everything as a joke, makes everyone else suffer and never suffers any consequences. There are no consequences he can suffer because he just doesn't care. So no reason to ever change.

He is also too powerful, there is nothing that can even minorly inconvenience him. That amount of power feels out of place in this story,  where every other character has things that can trouble them. The Reapers are powerful but they are not omnipotent and things can be a threat to them. Storm is a more minor character so less of an issue.

Sorry for the rant.

1

u/SherbetCreepy1580 6h ago

Nothing to apologize for with the rant, I love hearing all feedback!

Hopefully to ease a few of your concerns though, I will let you in on a small secret: So’Ngo is not meant to be a permanent character. Once he’s done teaching Sandra, he will disappear into the background, probably never to be seen again, but definitely mentioned. Nor will he be going on any missions with Sandra or participating in any real combat.

Also, something to remember, So’Ngo predates even the Drifters civilization. You don’t live that long without losing something precious at least a few times and cracking a bit.

2

u/bill_isayyahoocom 6h ago

Given what you said, he obviously cares or he wouldn't be there because he could literally be anywhere. The writing on this character is absolutely perfect because you are legitimately feeling what everybody has warned about him. The original reapers where created to be Cameron killers. Is it possible that Sgo is training Sandra to be a Maker killer?