Maximum Ride

The end of the world is a very scary prospect. Everything you know, everyone you love gone in an instant. The crushing inability to save anyone, or save yourself from a nebulous doom. Its that inability to do anything, that uncertainty that motivates others to believe in things that they probably shouldn't. Say things that they typically wouldn't say. In times of struggle and uncertainty everyone is always looking for an individual or group to follow. Someone to tell them that everything is going to turn out ok. That their suffering isn't needless. There are such groups out there, led by individuals who can tell you that everything is fine. That there is a plan for everything. One such group is Ut Maximum Devotione, the Order of Maximum Devotion. Some call it a religion, some call it a cult. For many its their whole world. 
Ut Maximum Devotione is at its foundation a cult. Don't let anyone ever convince you otherwise. It preys upon the ignorance and fear of its members, warping their understanding of reality so completely that many can barely even remember a life before the Order. The Order of Maximum Devotion is a doomsday cult, which is essentially a group that believes that the end of the world is upon all of society and that they are the only one who know about it, and will be the only ones to live through the destruction of everything. With other such doomsday cults, the manner in which the apocalypse will come about can be anything from a gigantic war that kills everyone, to the sun exploding and it burning everyone alive. For The Order of Maximum Devotion, their apocalypse takes on the form of something similar to the latter example. The members of the Order believe that the sun is going to collide with another star, causing a giant explosion and wiping everything off the face of the planet in the process. How the order planned to survive this event was by hiding underground in an expansive tunnel system beneath the mountains. The influential and charismatic figurehead of Ut Maximum Devotione was an IceWing named Roman. A member of Blaze's army during the War of SandWing succession, Roman was far from a model soldier. He often slacked off in his duties and near the beginning of the war he deserted from the army during a battle. Before his desertion Roman was rarely chastised for his shortcomings as a soldier as he was a brilliant speaker and was very charismatic. He was often able to talk his way out of any punishments. It was this ability to convince others to agree with his way of thinking. Once he'd left the army Roman spent a few years wandering the continent. During this time he would come up with Ut Maximum Devotione and preached of the dangers of two stars colliding in a world ending explosion wiping out all life. Somehow he got others to listen to him and even follow him in his new endeavor to warn as many others of the coming apocalypse before hiding underground. It sounds absolutely insane to you and me, but there actually were dragons who believed in the things Roman was saying. Every reason behind believing in and following Ut Maximum Devotione are far beyond me but there are a few reasons that I can at least begin to understand. 
1: There was a war going on. Roman and Ut Maximum Devotione stepped into the public's attention five years after the start of what would become a two decade war. Nobody enjoys war at the best of times, but five years into a rather bloody one and it was already becoming hated. Roman, wrapped up in as much crazy as his words were, was essentially saying: "Guys lets hide in a hole away from all the fighting because if we don't we'll all die." Another group, The Talons of Peace also showed up on the scene around this time with a similar message of hiding from war. Since nobody really wanted the war, a good majority of dragons likely wanted out. Going with the Talons was often seen as cowardly since they specifically wanted to hide from The War of SandWing Succession. To many, joining up with Ut Maximum Devotione and Roman was getting the same thing as joining the Talons. It was a choice between seeming like a coward, or seeming crazy. Both groups gained similar amounts of followers. 
2: It genuinely seemed like a good idea. You didn't have to 100% believe in the Order or that the world would soon be ending to join the cult. Roman let anyone join his order. Roman's end of the world hiding spot was also really secret. He was the only one who knew where it was. (He wouldn't take anyone there or even go near it until he'd decided he had enough followers. Nobody had any clue where it was and there was a real chance that it didn't exist. It did exist though.) Maybe now the idea of taking your entire family and all your stuff and going to live in a cave under ground seems strange, but it sounded like a great idea 20 years ago. 20 years ago your house could be destroyed by the war. Your family members could be killed or drafted. The world was scary and dangerous. It wouldn't be so in a cave that nobody knew existed. You would be really safe there. 
3: What did you really stand to loose? I mean come on, what was the loss in this situation? Safety, community, crazy person in charge? The pros out way the cons in this situation. Plus if it was truly necessary you could always just kill Roman. There really was no reason to... YET. This was why so many dragons joined Ut Maximum Devotione and followed Roman. Once he'd locked everyone in a cave and made sure that nobody could escape, there was nothing else left to believe in save the Order and Roman. When you believe in something for such a long time, it becomes harder and harder to shake that belief as time goes on. That's why so many stay in cults, even when things start getting deadly. And why its so dangerous raising dragonets in a situation like this. They have no other knowledge of the world beyond their sheltered walls, and of the ways real societies work. Its even harder for them to break away because of it. Now I'm sure that you still have many questions, but I'm also sure that one of the big ones is who am I, and why I'm telling you all this. Allow me to introduce myself then. My name is Spiritbox, I'm the son of a cult leader and this is the story of how I escaped from one of the most dangerous groups in the history of Pyrrhia, Ut Maximum Devotione: The Order of Maximum Devotion. 
=MAXIMUM RIDE:=
Written/Edited by: Isis The Masked Dragon
Unless you're like me, your probably haven't been underground that often. And If you have, I would assume not for longer than a few hours. Being surrounded by cold grey and brown stone, every twist and turn leading you deeper into a maze of shadows and unknowns. For claustrophobes like myself, a total nightmare. I was born underground. It didn't mess me up all that much... My mother always said that I was "Very handsome" and there was never a shortage of girls vying for my attentions. (I'm sure that most of this was due more to my father and status within the Order, rather than my looks.) I do have one major physical flaw, the lack of a left back leg past the knee. As I never had one to begin with, I don't really see the lack of a leg that much of an issue. It certainly doesn't hinder my movement far as I can tell. Growing up I had a little brother and sister, twins both four years younger than me. Their names are Doe and Ti respectively, all three of us were pure blood IceWings. Including us and our parents there are only 7 pure IceWings in the entire cult. (I'm sure that number has changed now as there was a clutch of 3 hybrid eggs close to hatching when this story took place. I'm sure they've hatched by now.) The IceWings were the least numerous of the tribes in the Order. The most numerous were the SandWings. (No surprise there really. They were the ones fighting the war most, and the ones who wanted out of it most.) My father had managed to gain followers from every tribe save RainWings and NightWings. (He actually had visited the rainforest, but nobody would agree to go with him. Something about how being locked away underground would be a horrible thing to do. How right they were...) In total there were close to 80 members of Ut Maximum Devotione. My siblings and I were what came to be known as second generation members. We were the ones who had lived the entirety of our lives in the expansive cave systems that the Order called home. Lets take a moment to talk about those caves for a second. As I previously mentioned, those caves were incredibly claustrophobic. There were a few caves that were quite large, like the Main hall and The Spring; and with the help of the fire-breathing tribes decently lit but for the most part the Ut Maximum Devotione's caves were small and had at most one torch at all times. Many of the narrow corridors, some so narrow that a fully grown dragon could barely walk down one even with their wings folded close to their bodies could fit inside one. The majority though could just barely fit two dragons standing shoulder to shoulder. They often weren't lit at all because of how easy it would be to burn oneself as you walked down the tight halls. The caves where families and individuals lived were larger than the corridors but not incredibly so. One could pace around the room in 35-40 steps, but at least it was wide enough to spread your wings in. These rooms typically had only two to three torches and would often have to be re-lit by a fire-breathing Order member. Since the living conditions were so tight, often members would spend their time in the Main Hall, Library, or, The Spring since they were the largest spaces and could comfortably hold all the members at once. For most, the only time spent in their living spaces was for sleep. Right now you must be wondering "Now Spirit, how exactly did you guys have torches and a library? And what did everyone eat?" Those are good questions. The answers are pretty simple. The members of the Order brought stuff with them, and they left the cave to get more stuff when the original stuff ran out. Never did I once said that the Order's cave was 100% sealed. That wouldn't happen until after The Great Quake. For the longest time, life in the Order would be rather nice. Everyone was safe and marginally happy considering everything. I was born around this time, 11 years before the end of The War of SandWing succession. I don't remember much from when I was younger nowadays. I was hit in the head by a falling stone during The Great Quake and was unconcise for many days. When I awoke I forgot many of my memories and many of the dragons in my life. It was a very confusing time for me, only made worse by how much the order had changed while I was out. One of the memories I still can recall is racing my younger brother to the cave entrance when I was six or seven. Its one of the few happy memories I have of him. 
"Spirit! Spirit, wait up!" Doe shouted. Reluctantly I stopped, waiting at the entrance to the Main Hall. My younger brother came to a skidding halt at my feet. He looked up at me, crystal colored eyes shining. Slightly out of breath his puffed, "Mother said you have to wait for me before going outside." 
"Did she now? Mother happen to say anything about how in a race you don't just stop and wait for your opponent to catch up?" I asked. He frowned. 
"No... but you should know to wait for me! You're way older than me, its not fair racing. You always win anyways." 
"I know. Now, you've had a little rest lets go outside. We don't have to race this time." 
"Ok! lets go!" Doe brushed past me and began running across the Main Hall, dodging back and fourth to avoid the other dragons standing around inside it. I followed after him, but at a far reduced pace. This wasn't my first time seeing the outside world. When I reached the rock that stood between the caves and the world beyond I stopped. Doe was bouncing around happily, a ball of excitement waiting for me to move the rock aside and show him everything that lay beyond. "Come on, come on! Open it!" 
"Ok, ok. Just step back out of the way, make sure your tail doesn't get squished." Pushing my full weight against the stone I shoved hard to the right, slowly shifting the stone out of the way. Once fully moved the stone left behind a large portal, beyond it green trees and pale blue sky stretched out forward as far as the eye could see. 
"Whoa..."
"Pretty impressive huh?" I said. Doe had come to stand next to me in order to get a better look at the picturesque landscape before him. 
"It's amazing!" He shouted. "Can we go out there?!" I shook my head. 
"No. We're not allowed to." Doe turned to look up at me, a crestfallen look on his small face. 
"W-Why not?" he asked, voice quavering slightly. 
"Because its not safe. There's a war going on out there. Loads of dragons are dying." I considered telling him about our father's insane predictions that everyone would die because of a giant explosion, but decided against it. I was only seven, but I knew enough to know crazy when I saw and heard it. I'd been taught by an old SandWing named Saosin about how the things father spoke about were impossible and that father was just mentally ill, among other things. I didn't want to tell my brother any of my father's insane lies, so I told him the truth. 
"Oh." He said. "I understand."
"Its ok." I said. "You can always come here and look at the world. I'll always be happy to move the stone so you can." 
"Thanks Spirit." He said. I gave him a hug and we sat for a while, watching the clouds go by. 
That's where my memory ends. It makes me sad that I have so few happy memories of Doe. When I think of him now, all I can think of is regret. I have even fewer memories of Ti. She died while I was unconcise during the Purge. She'd only been 5 years old. 
"Spirit?" 
"Yeah?" 
"What does this word say?" Ti held out a scroll to me, her tiny claw pointed at the caption beneath a picture of the moon. 
"That one? It says moon Ti."
"M-oo-n." Ti said, sounding out the word. "Moon." She pointed to the next word. "What about this one?"
"That one says craters." 
"Oh. I knew that." 
"Of course you did Ti." I said patting her on the head. "Would you like to read the rest of this scroll together?" 
"Yes please." she said, smiling up at me. Her tinny face alight with the joy of learning new things, and spending time with her older brother.
I often thing about what her life would have been like had she lived. What other things she would have gone on to learn about... All good things eventually come to an end. The relative peace and happiness that the members of the Order found within the caves would be shattered one faithful event that would come to be known as The Great Quake. 
It happened on the Second Brightest Night. A comet passed by the dragon planet, creating a third moon in the night's sky and causing a massive earthquake. For most of the residence of Pyrrhia, The Second Brightest Night was a time of celebration. The War of SandWing Succession had ended, peace was on the horizon. The earthquake that came with the comet, was merely a interesting event. For Ut Maximum Devotione the quake was far more than just interesting. Much of my memory of this event has been lost because of my injury so a majority of these events are from others points of view. 
The walls around me were trembling and the ground beneath me thrashed up and down. I my father right? I thought as I fought for balance in the dark confines of a tunnel. He can't be. This is impossible! I heard a low cracking sound above me and shouting ahead of me. I could see the faint glow of a torch at the end of the tunnel. "Over here! Help!" I shouted as I again heard a cracking sound. This time I looked up as bits of the celling of the tunnel began to come lose and crumble around me. Maybe he is right... Maybe the world really is ending. A large piece of rock fell, cracking against the side of my head. I cried out, and then the world when dark. 
My only memory of The Great Quake. I was struck by the rock in the first few seconds of the quake and subsequently knocked out. Luckily or unluckily I was found before I was crushed to death by a collapsing celling. I was brought to the infirmary and that was where I would stay for the next few weeks. When I finally did awaken I had to hear about what happened during the quake, and the terrible events afterwards secondhand. The basic rundown of the situation was that during the quake, many cave passageways collapsed and a fire was even started when a torch fell. A total number of 20 dragons died either from being crushed by falling rocks or by burning alive in the fire. 15 others were injured including myself. In the hours after the quake, while survivors were being rescued and the fire was being put out my father began to tell everyone that this was a sign that he'd been correct, and that the world had indeed ended. He said that the quake was caused by the shockwave of the stars exploding. Many of the Order members actually agreed with Roman. The Order members had just lost friends and family in a totally random and unpredicted quake, their entire world had been turned upside down. They were confused and shell-shocked. Now more than ever were they willing to listen to the charismatic well spoken IceWing, giving meaning and direction to a confusing and scary situation. Roman said that to now keep everyone safe, Ut Maximum Devotione must now seal themselves inside the caves. That the world beyond was gone and that the Order members were the last of the dragon species. While most of the Order now believed as Roman did, there were many that thought Roman was wrong. Thought that this was too far. They didn't want to stay in the horrible caves any longer. They wanted out. Roman refused to allow this. The day after The Great Quake Roman and those that now believed in him began going through the Ut Maximum Devotione caves, killing anyone who wanted to leave or who refused to follow Roman. Among those who refused to follow Roman was my mother. She and 56 others were executed by Roman's followers in what would come to be known as The Purge. After the purge, only those loyal were left alive. Now Roman ruled over a group who whole heartedly believed in the things he did and say. Roman finally had his cult.
Soon after his purge my father would completely seal the entrance to the Order's caves. In his mind, the apocalypse had finally come to pass, by imprisoning his followers Roman truly thought that he was doing everyone a great service by saving their lives. It was only after all this did my father come to visit me in the infirmary, three days after the event that put me there. It just goes to show how high on his list of priorities I was; lower than executing half his group including his mate and daughter. I'm starting to think Roman might have not been a good father. 
I feel like now is a good time for me to explain something. I... Don't hate my father. It sounds crazy, but I truly don't. "Why not? You have ample reason to." You might be asking. I know I know. I do have plenty of reasons to hate him, but in the end what's the point? What's the point in hating someone like him? A menially ill individual just doing what he thinks is right in a confusing world. That's what I choose to believe at least. By my nature I search for the good in others. I can't believe that Roman did everything he did with calculated malice. Because I choose to see the good in him, I can't hate him... Still doubt resides in the back of my mind because I am a rational individual. There is no way to truly know or understand Roman, so there is always the chance that he's just a malicious and desperate individual who came up with the perfect scam and hijacked the fear of an entire generation.
In the three weeks that I would be comatose Roman would only visit me one other time. He was doing more important things like preaching to his followers about the doomsday that everyone had just survived, and about how smart he was that he saved everyone. 
Category:Content (Isis The Masked Dragon)
Category:Fanfictions
Category:Fanfictions (Incomplete)
Category:Fanfictions (Fanon)
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