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Emily pressed the cloth wet with spirit on Damon's claw wound on his body and he shut his eyes to hiss in pain. His muzzle moved when he muttered to himself, both his forepaws curled inward as he held himself together, tail twitched behind him, "Ancestors, that really stings."

I giggled as I still sat down cross legged beside the little girl dragon we rescued, deciding that I should watch her closely after what happened a couple hours ago. Her frame just laid on her side, barely moved a muscle except her chest that showed the sign that she's alive and breathing. It has been such a long time since the battle happened and she still hasn't woke up yet. Well at least she's not dead and still breathing.

I may not know her, or her name, but I don't want an innocent dragon dead. Like I don't want Damon to die. Even especially not someone who's small as her. She really isn't tall and big all that much. Her height would probably reach my shoulders. She is pretty much the size of a donkey. I frowned at her unconscious form. Speaking of which, who is she and what was she doing out here?

Is she from Wingspan like Damon here? Did she fly far away from home and gotten into trouble? Well she seems a bit small to fight anything...Like me, my girlfriend and her father are, but at least we're just prepared. I'm getting a feeling she wasn't.

Or perhaps she lives around here somewhere and not from the dragon city? Damon did say that there are dragons who live outside of the place. I wonder if she lives somewhere in the forest? Or in fact, does she have any family? Does she live out here alone? Is her family at Wingspan and they're probably worried about her?

I reached out to touch her neck, the palm of my hand and fingers smoothly rubbing it up and down. Poor girl.

I sighed when I withdrew my hand off her red scales, moving my eyes off of her to the others nearby. Eyes pretty much drawn to Damon there. After Emily bandaged one wound on his body already, she immediately went to work on another one at his neck. When pressing and rubbing at his claw wound on there with the spirit filled cloth, that elicited a mumble of pain from Damon's snout. I giggled a bit at his expression. Poor guy's not as much lucky as the little dragon beside me. He gotten hurt so much by that Dark Dragon. But I gotta say, he's pretty tough. He kept saying to us that he didn't need any help. But me, Emily and Rick beg to differ with that. So after we'd gotten at a far away distance from that clearing we fought at, after me and Rick just laid the girl dragon we dragged softly on the grass, Emily told the dragon to lie down on his stomach and she and Rick immediately went to work on him. There are like several bandages on his green scales right now and there are about a few more wounds to work on.

At least we had the first aid kit from the cruise ship with us to help him and there were plenty of medical supplies for his scaly hide. He really needed it. And boy, he has been hissing and groaning in pain as Emily patched him up. But he didn't lash out, never jerked away from that cloth that cleaned his wounds, he held himself. He really is one tough guy.

I now watched over Emily, rubbing that cloth on him over and over again, a pity look on her face for the poor green guy. Well at least she wasn't hurt and just did what I said and hid. I didn't want her hurt at all. And gosh, me and Rick were just lucky that we weren't hurt, or worse killed by any Lost Soul. My eyes trained on Rick now, who was standing in front of Damon's chest holding the first aid kit in both hands. And as for Rick, I'm happy that he sees now that Damon, nor any other normal dragon, are nothing like the evil Dark Dragons at all. About fucking time, I'd say. Damon and Emily were probably thinking the same damn thing.

I narrowed my eyes at my girlfriend's father. Rick really needs to apologize for his behavior towards the green drake. He deserves it pretty much. Heck, Rick hardly apologizes, so that would be the first time he'd done so on this journey. As Rick stood in front of Damon, Emily strode up to him and dug in the kit for some more bandages. Emily went back to the wounded dragon, bandages in hand. As Damon moaned in pain when she applied the bandage on his wound, Emily replied with a chuckle, "Aw, is the big boy feeling a bit hurt?"

Damon turned his snout, casting her somewhat of a glare, "That's not exactly a laughing matter. It really does hurt."

She playfully shot at him, "That's what you get for fighting a bunch of baddies."

Damon just snorted, his tail moved a bit behind him, "Someone had to save that dragoness's life. Ancestors, they were going to kill her and then mate her while she's nothing but a lifeless shell....That's pretty cruel." He shook his head in disgust with a bit of fire in his eyes, "I wouldn't do that."

Emily said, almost done patching up the neck wound, "We know. You're not exactly cruel and uncaring." Then she shot a narrowed look behind her at her father, "At least this certain someone gets it."

Rick sighed, "I get it, I was wrong and I apologize."

Damon made a rumble in his throat when he giggled and playfully shot at him, "I told you before that I wasn't working with them. Pretty much showed your stubborn little ass that I'm not evil." He gestured his paw to the wound that Emily finished patching up, as she poured some more spirit on that cloth, "I got the wounds to prove it. So have you choked up your accusing words as you ate them? I think you know where I stand now."

Rick groaned and rolled his eyes, "Alright, I said I was sorry, so lets drop it already."

I giggled and called out, "I don't know, Rick. You did say a lot of things that seem unforgivable. I don't think we can let that go."

Rick proclaimed loudly with a furrowed brow, "I said I'm sorry, damn it!"

Damon laughed, "Oh we're just kidding, you stubborn little brute." He rose a brow, "Sheesh, you really can't take a joke." Then he shut his eyes and hissed as Emily started using the cloth to clean on his chest wound next. His snout clamped shut, trying to hold back a roar of pain and his tail twisted as the pain shot at him.

Rick remarked, putting down the first aid kit beside him, probably tired of holding it, "How can I take a joke after we survived a battle? Not to mention my gun's out of ammo."

Damon shot his head to his right, wings resettling upon his back, "At least you're still alive. And I took out most of them for ya."

Rick actually made a chuckle, "I saw how you used electricity against a lot of them. I have to say...That really is remarkable. Dragons breathing electricity. That's pretty odd, but cool at the same time."

Damon held up his head smugly, "Not only that, but also fire."

He waved his hand at Damon's chest, "Yeah well, at least you're not using your powers to shock and burn us all to death."

The drake cocked his head, "So you really trust me now?" The pain came to him again and he shut his eyes tight when he let out a hiss, curling his forepaw once more. Afterward he shot an angry glare at Emily, "Hey, watch the cloth!"

Emily giggled weakly, looking at his eyes and saying in a apologetic tone, "Sorry." After that, she picked up a bandage and starting covering up that wound. Making him let out a calm sigh.

Rick answered his question, "Yes, I trust you. After what they were going to do to that girl dragon over there, I see the truth now. You didn't exactly have to just fight them to prove me wrong."

Damon chuckled deep in his throat and rose a claw, "Correction, she's a dragoness. Not a girl dragon."

He shrugged his arms, "Whatever, I guess."

Emily turned and hollered at me, "So how's the dragoness now, Scott?"

I looked at her, seeing she's still out cold, and I hollered back, "She's still sleeping, people."

Rick let out a worried sigh, when he turned and watched the red dragon lying on her side, "I hope she's not dead now."

I shook my head, "I doubt she's dead. She's still breathing."

Rick let out a whoosh of air, "Well that's a relief. At least we didn't save her for nothing."

I shrugged my shoulders, "I'm just worried that her back's hurt from all the crushing she'd endured."

Damon nodded at that, "We'll see how she feels." He let out a low growl as Emily was already rubbing the damped cloth on another chest wound, his paws balled up tightly again, "Emily!"

She laughed at that, rubbing the wound still, also washing off the red crimson on his green scales, "Sorry, Damon. It happens."

He asked with a bit of a whine, "Are you almost done? I'm getting a bit tiresome of this."

She gave him a glare, "Damon, stop being a big scaly baby." I laughed at hearing that.

Damon lowered his head to her level and gave her a snort, his air blew some of her hair off her shoulders, moving his tail back and forth along the grass, "I'm not a baby."

Emily grinned and patted his nose, "You kinda are. Now shush and let me finish up. I'm almost done just to tell you something." She went back to work on him after telling him so.

Damon breathed in through his nose and let it out slowly through his snout, "Good. I'll admit, I'm feeling better already." His frame quivered, "Course, I don't like the stings. How do humans put up with that sort of stuff called a spirit?"

Rick made a grin on his mouth, crossing his arms, "We man up. That's how us humans deal with the power of spirits."

Damon dipped his head and moaned in a bit of pain, "It still hurts."

"Didn't my daughter tell you to stop being a big scaly baby?"

Damon then shot a narrowed glance at him, "Oh, you get to call me 'big scaly baby' now? I'm not a hatchling!"

Emily ordered while she tried to bandage him up again, "Hold still!"

Damon held himself, having an look of apology on his face, "Sorry." He took a deep breath, his long tail now curled around to his side as he was waiting patiently for this to be over now.

Emily remarked, "You know, big guy? Maybe you wouldn't have gotten yourself into this situation if I came out and helped you guys fight."

Rick said, "How can you fight them? You don't exactly have a gun."

Emily laughed, "I can fight a little bit! I did some self defense classes a few years ago."

Rick waved his hand at her handiwork on Damon's wounds, "Maybe you should stick to being a doctor. You're good at this."

Damon added with a growl, "SOMEWHAT good at this."

Emily sighed, "Damon, what did I tell you about being a baby?"

He groaned a bit and shook his horned head, "Never mind."

Then she looked over her shoulder at her dad, "You know something, dad, maybe after graduating from high school I should go to college to get a degree of being a doctor." Then she held up a finger, before turning to Damon's wound to finish patching that up, "But I still don't want to stand around and do nothing. I want to fight too."

Damon held a bit of a worried look, "I know you don't want to stay and hide, but you still could get yourself hurt. Maybe even by that Dark Dragon."

Emily looked up at his face, "That part I get, and you fought hard and have the wounds to prove it." She made a look of determination, "I'm just tired of being a coward to the dangers in this world, I want to at least try to fight. I have a knife and went into self defense classes before. So can't that be enough?" She went back to work, almost done bandaging him.

Rick shrugged his shoulders, "Sure! If you can handle it."

When Emily finished working on Damon, she whirled around with a huff, "I'm not a little girl, dad."

"Doesn't matter, you're still my daughter and I think you should stick to being the good nurse."

She rose a brow, "I thought you said being a doctor."

Rick chuckled, "Nurse, doctor, kinda the same thing to me."

She walked up to him and rose a finger with a smirk, "Actually, nurse and doctor are different."

He waved her off, "Whatever! Point is you should stick to something that's medical wise. Not stick to something that'll get you killed."

Emily replied to that, "Dad, can we stop arguing and do it later? Not really in the mood to argue with my own father." She turned her back on him, facing Damon, "Mom would want me to do this."

Rick shot back when he shook his head defiantly behind her, "No, your mother would probably not let you go fighting. If she's smart enough to not let you. And Marco...I'm thinking he might, since he's probably not smart enough to be a father."

I think I can tell from watching behind Emily that she's fuming at the statement, "Dad, I'm not in the mood."

Rick only stared at her back, as she went up to Damon's chest to pat him lightly, "We'll talk about this later." He bent down to pick up the first aid kit and walked back to his bag that's on the grass to put it away.

Damon held a concerned look for Emily, "Are you ok?"

She took a deep breath and nodded, smiling up at his yellow eyes, giving his chest another pat, "I'm fine. And also, I'm done patching you up now."

He giggled and slowly got up on all fours, shook his scales and wings along with his tail behind him, "Well that's a relief." Then I can see on his scrunched up face that he'd fought the urge to raise his claw and scratch at the bandages on his chest, "They feel a bit itchy."

Emily rose her voice, "Well don't scratch them off! Let them stay on you for a little while!"

"I figured you'd say that. Alright, I'll leave them alone." Then he gave her a smile across his snout, "Thank you for helping me."

She softened her look and grinned back, "Hey, you saved our lives, figured we do the same of helping you."

I giggled at this, looking at the red dragoness beside me again. This time, I reached out to rub her back, then I went to touching her wing membrane laid close to her side. I saw it twitch by my fingers, making me pull away from it. I gasped.

That's when the girl dragon moaned, groggily opening her eyes, her eye color appears to be yellow. She lifted her head off the grass, confusion in her eyes, "Where....?" Then she must've got her vision back when she looked right at me.

I shyly waved at her, "Hi."

I saw fear show up in an instant on her face and she shot up on all fours like lighting, screaming in terror, "Ah! Aaaah! Aaaaah!"

I screamed as well, scooting back a bit on the grass and shooting myself off the ground too, "Aaaaaahhhh!!!" The others cried out in surprise, when they spot the dragoness standing on the ground now, wings flared and tail thrashing behind the terrified girl. Her teeth bared when she hissed.

The girl dragon backed away from us, eyes on me, then trained on the others, "Who are you?! Stay away!" I see in her terrified eyes that she was thinking about flying or running away, when she started to turn her body.

Emily held out her hand and strode up to her, a sincere look on her face, "Wait! We won't hurt you!"

Damon padded beside Emily, shaking his head, "We saved your life! Don't go!"

The red dragon stopped herself, squinting her eyes as she looked at us curiously, "You...Saved my life?"

Damon motioned his paw around the area, "Do you see any Lost Souls or Dark Dragons here? We did save your life from them."

I made a step toward her, hand stretched out to touch her. She let out a small gasp and flinched from my fingers, like they were going to cause her harm, crouching low to the ground like she was gonna attack me. I calmly said, "It's alright. We're not gonna hurt you."

Now she rose her body off the grass and cocked her head with those eyes filled with confusion mixed with curiosity, "What...Are you?" She sniffed the air, trying to catch my scent, "Hmmm....You don't smell like a cheetah and you're standing on two feet." Her eyes moved off me, to Rick and Emily, "What are you creatures?" Then she looked up at Damon, "And who are you?"

Damon introduced himself, "My name's Damonen, Damon for short, and I'm from Wingspan." He motioned his snout towards me, then at Emily and Rick, "Those three are Rick, Emily and Scott. They're humans."

That look didn't leave her eyes and face, "H-...Humans? What's a human? Where did you guys come from? I never heard of you."

I walked up to her and held out both hands to calm her down, "Calm down, alright? We're foreign to you, but we're not evil. We really did save you. Look, take a deep breath, ok? Can you do that?"

She paused when she stared at me for a few moments, until she relaxed her whole body with a deep breath. Her wings on her back folding and her body looked less tense now. I smiled and nodded, "Good."

The dragoness said after taking and letting out a calm breath, "I-....I'm sorry about that. I thought you were enemies." She looked at the green dragon with us, "Even him. I don't really see strangers a lot here. And with all that's going on, trust is hard to come by in the world. Anything bad could happen."

Rick shrugged his shoulders, "That's understandable. Don't trust a stranger. But we're not gonna hurt you, we promise."

She nodded softly at that, "Well if you say so."

I asked her with a smile, "What's your name?"

The red dragoness turned her yellow eyes to me, forming a small grin on her muzzle, "Corajan. But you can call me Cora for short, if you want."

Emily smiled and nodded at that, leaning herself against Damon's body, "Cora, ok then."

Damon smiled as well, "Alright, Cora, now that's settled. Tell us about yourself." He began to frown, "What are you doing out here all alone?"

Cora cocked her head at us, "Aren't YOU gonna tell me about yourselves?"

I chuckled deeply, "Well which should go first, us or you?"

"How about you guys first?"

I took a deep breath and let it out, "Well....Okay."

*****

I walked alongside Luna, her long tail swung back and forth behind her. The sunlight shining through the canopy above us. Me and here were still in the woods we arrived about a couple hours ago, after she pulled off her flight tactic with me. I mentally giggled at that. Part of me felt angry and terrified at her so called practical joke, and another part actually found the whole thing somewhat funny.

I know she also did that so I wouldn't be afraid of flying anymore. Wanting me to embrace it. So now I'm thinking if she keeps up with her tactics, perhaps the fear would go away. But would that fear really go away? I really was scared earlier.

Then the memory of what happened to me years ago came to my mind. The day that I'd developed that fear. My blood turned to ice as the terrifying memory showed up, I even felt like I was shivering. God...That really was scary.

Luna's voice went through my reminisce, "Mike?"

I frowned when I turned to her, her eyes down at me as we continued to walk on the trail, "Yes, girl?"

She asked with a grin, "You have been quiet for a long time. Did I scare you enough that time that you've gone quiet?"

I shook my head and waved her off, "Nothing that scary would keep me from talking to you." I added when I raised my finger, "Actually, I'd think that falling from a very high altitude would make me so scared and speechless. Hell, I probably won't say a word again!"

The dragon giggled at me, "Oh I haven't carried you up that high and dropped you today, now quit worrying, you little wuss."

I made a mock expression and held a hand to my chest, "Hey! Don't call me names! You-...Meanie."

She let out a laugh, snaking her head towards mine afterward, "Meanie? Is that the best you got?"

I made a mischievous grin, "What would you do if I called you a fat, annoying lizard?"

Then she flashed anger in her eyes, "I'd drop you from very high above the ground, if you did, you little shit."

I laughed and rubbed her nose, "There, now we're even on the name calling."

She brought back her grin when she lifted her head away from my gaze, "Actually, I have another name to call you. How about furless cheetah?"

I groaned, "Now that ain't fair!" She was chuckling away and I playfully shot back, "Freakin twat."

Luna made a comeback, "At least I'm not a bad fighter." She winked.

I whined and that made her laugh hard at that, "Can we talk about something else? Seriously, I wonder how your best friend from back then put up with your name calling?"

Luna let out a sigh after her bout of laughter, "Oh, I always get under Damon's scales when I say that the color of his scales looked like something that was inside of my stomach. That always makes me shiver in delight when I do that!" She giggled to herself, "Ahhh....Such good times."

I waved to her, "Well tell you what, when I meet this guy, me and him will double team on your smug, black ass on the name calling. I'm sure we'll come up with something."

She was still giggling, "Good luck with that."

I smiled up at her, "Thank you." Then I said after that, "Hey you know? Since we're just talking about this, you haven't really told me much about....Draynomo."

She laughed at my attempt, "It's Damonen. But just call him Damon. Trust me, I think it's easier for you."

I shrugged my hands and shoulders, "Yeah, he probably wouldn't like my lame attempts of saying his full name."

"Damon's pretty calm about things. Besides he wasn't much of a fighter when we were friends. Actually....He never fought at all in his life. So he wouldn't kick your little butt, so you're good."

I wrinkled my brow, "Really? He hardly ever fought?"

Luna replied, wings fluttered on her back, "Yeah....Honestly enough, he was pretty scared of the war. Scared of fighting. Heck, he doesn't even like fighting at all." Then she had a curious frown, "Which makes me wonder if he would ever fight at all in his life. I kinda don't think so."

I stated, "Well if you imagine that he's big and tall like you are now, then he'll have to fight something sooner or later. I mean, what dragon doesn't want to fight?"

She tossed her head, "Hey, I don't want to fight, so does that make me afraid?"

I waved her off, "Oh heck no. You're not even afraid to fight at all." I let out a sigh to myself, "I do get the feeling though...I don't even like fighting myself. But I can believe that nobody wants to fight."

Luna shook her head, holding a pity look on her face, "You're right...No one does. Not even me." Then she changed her expression to a determined one, "You do have a point though. He'll have to fight sooner or later. There's always a reason to fight for everything."

I asked with a grin and a small tilt of my head, "Am I one of the reasons?"

She chuckled in her throat and looked down at me, "You have to ask?" I giggled and patted her scales, the two of us continuing on padding on the trail. Well I'll take that comment any day. We both walked through the woods for about thirty minutes...I think anyways. And after all those minutes went by, we both see something sparkling ahead. We can see a big pond and the rays of the sun are shining off of it. I muttered out loud, "What do you know? There's a pond over there."

Luna smacked her snout a few times, clearly showing that she's thirsty, "Well I'm pretty thirsty right now. Lets go to it."

I nodded in agreement as we both picked up the pace in fast strides, "Me too, lets go." We trudged towards the shining pond, there was actually a clear path through the trees and bushes that we didn't have any trouble heading towards that land of water. Me and Luna made it out of the woods and we only stood on a small bank at the side of the pond. There weren't exactly a lot of banks that were empty as this one, everywhere else around the pond was just covered with bushes and trees. This was the only spot we had.

Luna lowered her snout to the water and her pink tongue started to lap at it. She sighed as the refreshness of the cool water hit the back of her throat. I laid the stuff that I carried, including the bow and quiver of arrows on the ground, and I got to my knees and cupped some handfuls of water in my hands. Bringing them up and I started to sip the water from them. The water hit straight at my parched throat. We dranked for a long time until we quenched our thirsts.

I let out a satisfied sigh, "Whew. That's better."

She rose her snout, the water dripping off of it, "My thoughts exactly." She sat down on her haunches, "Now I'm just in a mood for a break. Doesn't this place look nice?"

I nodded at that, enjoying the sight of the pond, "It does actually." I crawled until I was beside the dragon, sitting my own butt on the grass myself, "We both could use a break right now. So why not spend the rest of the day here? I'm sure Wingspan can wait."

Luna snickered, "Yeah, Wingspan can wait. This is such a nice spot. We'll move on tomorrow." She puffed out her chest scales and let it out slowly through her muzzle, wings relaxing on her back. The two of us sat around in silence for a long time.

I don't think neither of us cared how long the silence went between us. The only sounds that we had were the small gust of wind at the water and the critters in the forest. The place seemed a lot more peaceful than any other spot we took a break on. More peaceful like the cheetah village.

Then Merana's face showed up in my mind. I haven't thought about the female cheetah for a long time. I wonder if she's thinking about me and Luna now? That perhaps she's gotten over her sadness that we both left the village? I can understand why she would miss us still...Well miss me most of all. It's like a cub leaving his mother and maybe won't come back. I can understand why a mother would love and miss her child so much...Even though I'm not Merana's child at all.

It's like me. It's like a child would miss his mother...After being gone for a long time. Being gone after sailing across the ocean alone seven years ago. That everyone, especially me, would assume that her ship for some reason sank and she drowned out at sea.

Then I held my hands together along with a sad look upon me, just glad that Luna never noticed it as she was looking at the sunlit water. Merana really was like a mother to me. More like...Gretchen, my real mom. My own eyes wandered up to Luna's side. I still haven't told her about my mother yet. Come to think of it, I still haven't told her about my past all that much. About all the things that I did. All the stupid stuff. Stuff that's gotten me in trouble more than once.

I have been in the same situation as Luna had for so long, nobody trusting me because of what I did. The only difference I have with her is I was never controlled or anything. I did all that stuff on my own. Nobody's influence but my own.

I'm sure Luna wouldn't treat me any differently. I can see how caring she can towards me. I'll get the chance to tell her about everything. Including why Scott and uncle Joshua did not trust me for years, despite I'm their brother and nephew. It's just...A touchy subject like hers was.

Then a different change of subject crossed my mind. I was imagining Luna and her best friend, Damon, playing with each other years ago. Luna did say that Damon was pretty playful back then. I remember she and Merana said that she was littler back in the day than what she is now, so I can imagine how small she and Damon sorta were. I may not know what Damon looks like literally, but I can see that his green scales look pretty good on him, like Luna's black scales look good on her. And they were chasing each other. Running around in the woods. My mind only focused on Luna, seeing how different and happy she was. I know what those days were like, knowing myself.

I wish I could go back to those days before mom died. Like maybe Luna probably wishes she could go back to her good ol days before Abyss ruined her life.

A tiny little thought crossed my mind and I finally broke the silence with my voice, "Hey Luna?"

Luna turned her snout down to me, quirked brow raised, "Hmmm?"

"You said that Damon was pretty playful with you, right?"

She nodded a bit, "Yeah?"

I smiled and looked up at her, "What did you and Damon do together?"

A smile formed across her snout, as her memories of her past apparently flooded in her, "I remember Damon and I played chase....I remember how fast that drake was on four paws."

I giggled, "I would think you were the fast one."

She shot her head to her left with a chuckle, curling her tail around her, "Well even he can be a trickster too. We both always flied around in the air, racing to see who's the fast flier." She held up her head to the sky, "I'm the faster flier by the way."

I made a toothy grin, "Well at least you're fast at something."

Then she shot a playful look and flicked the tip of her tail at my chest, "Hey, when it comes to running on foot I'm sure that I could catch you. You're looking at someone who's bigger than you."

I gave her a smug look, "I'm sure I can move faster than you."

Luna snorted, "We'll see about that." She gazed out at the water now, more fond memories coming to her face, "We even swam together."

I asked with a frown, "No joke? Were there lakes or something like that in Wingspan?"

She glanced at me again, "If you mean inside the city, no. Actually outside of it." She let out a sigh, "Dragons do go outside the city, but not a whole lot. Except to hunt for food, go to eat some apples that are on those apple trees out there, leave for a new home away from Wingspan, and...." She giggled, "Even go swimming at a lake. A very large one."

I replied, "Ah, I see."

She admitted, "I know I was curious what's outside the city back then, but back before what happened to me I didn't go very far from there. That lake's not very far from Wingspan, actually close by. Even though I was outside the city only a bit, I was still curious about what's very far from home. So...I'm sure you know the story about me...When curiosity grabs my scales." She hung her head, "Guess that's what I get for flying far away from home in the night, huh?"

I reached out and touched her smooth black scales, showing her a comforting smile, "Hey, it's ok."

Luna gave me a smile in return, "Thank you, I'm fine." She went on with her tale about swimming, "We dragons go to that lake outside our home, pretty much just for fun. The grownups go there, laying on their backs, exposing their bellies underneath the warm bright sun. Several others jump in the water and swim away. Hatchlings chase around the water, and even jump and swim in there a bit, that is the parents keep a close eye on them while at it." I snickered at the image of hatchlings playing in the water as she continued, "Me and Damon did love to swim together. We splash water at each other's faces....I chase him around the water and he smacks his tail against the surface splashing me with it....I jump on his back and he submerges below the water...He swims under the surface and pops out of it like he was some kind of water monster-"

I laughed at the tale, "Sounds like you really had a good time back then."

She giggled, "Told you he was rather playful." The black dragon's silver eyes showed that she missed those times, "I haven't swam for a long time. Not since I left my home. And I miss Damon. He really was a good drake. The best friend I could ever have. Heh, the only best friend that I had...Other than my father figure. I...I even miss his family too. His mother....She was pretty nice....Before she'd thought differently about me."

Now a thought came to me. Hmm....She never did bring up about her family. She says that Illuminus, The Great One, is like a father to her. But does she have any real family? I asked her, "What about yours? Do you have any family?"

She only dipped her snout in response, shutting her eyes at the question, her black form quivered slightly like the question stung her soul. I held some concern for her in my eyes. I'm taking the silence means that either she was hated by her family so much because of what happened to Luna back then, that her mother and father disowned their own daughter because of all those horrible things that weren't even her fault. That it was the reason Luna thinks of Illuninus as a father figure. OR, perhaps her family died in the war, or some other way and she's deeply saddened by it.

Either way, I do not know.

Luna held that look, until she turned her snout and smiled brightly, "Do you want to swim?"

My concern washed away, as that question caught me off guard, "What?"

She let out a laugh and shot her head towards the pond, "Do you want to swim? You know? With me?" She began to get up on all fours, moving herself to get behind me. I watched her while at it, and she snaked her nose to my back, nudging it, "Come on, Mike. Swim."

I laughed and shot up off the grass, turning around to face her eyes, "I don't have any swimming trunks." She cocked her head, and then I sighed and added, "I have to take off my clothes and get naked to swim with you."

She snorted, "Take them off."

My face turned white and I shook my head at her, "No way! I'm not gonna take them off in front of you!"

She rolled her eyes, protesting, "Aw, come on! I know that cheetahs are modesty about their bodies, but you....Not humans too!"

I nodded about three times, "Yeah, well, sorry to say this but I am."

"Honestly, I don't understand why creatures like you are modest. What's the big deal of not showing your bodies? Dragons do so."

I exclaimed with my face turning red, "That's because you don't have to wear clothes! You're a dragon!"

"Exactly! So take them off!"

"Nope."

"Why not?"

"Because humans are very private about things!"

"So what? That doesn't mean you can't be open about things. What? You never took them off in front of anyone before?"

"....No."

"Sheesh, you don't like flying, then you say you don't travel much from where you were from, and now you're telling me you never showed off your body towards anybody! You REALLY need to get out more."

I blushed a deeper shade of red, "Luna."

Luna groaned, her silver eyes narrowing, "Come on! Quit being a jerk and come swim with me!" Then she made a devious grin, "If you won't get in the water yourself, I'm gonna do it for ya."

I held a suspicious look, "What are you getting at, you devious dragon?" Then she brought her jaws to my pant leg, snatched it with her teeth and jerked back her head for a sharp pull, making me cry out and fall on my back. After falling, I was basically lifted high off the ground upside down by her teeth tight on my leg. I was crying out in surprise, as I could feel the blood rushing into my brain now, "Put me down!" I groaned and let my arms fall down, my shaggy hair was hanging too.

She said through her clenched jaws tight on my pants, "Whatever you say." She rumbled in her throat when she was deviously giggling.

She trotted a bit towards the water, I was dangling high over the surface, my eyes going wide. She wouldn't dare. She'll get my clothes wet! I cried out to her, "Luna, don't do it!"

She was giggling again and started to tease me now, by swinging me back and forth over the air. I was swung over the grass, then back over the water. I thought I was gonna be dizzy when she kept it up. Maybe even puke. And that won't be a pretty sight! I was actually giggling uncontrollably since I found this amusing as well. I was crying out to Luna through fits of giggles, "Luna...Put me...Down!" I laughed hard after that.

Luna's voice mumbled through her closed jaws when she asked with a playful threat, "You want to take them off and swim now? Better say it, or I'll swing you over the pond and drop you."

"I....I..."

"I, what?"

"Yes! I'll do it!"

Another rumble of giggle came from her throat, when she stopped swinging me and lowered me to the ground and put me down, I landed on my back on the grass. Saying after she turned loose of my pants, "That's what I thought."

I groaned after standing on my feet, dusting myself, "You fat, annoying lizard."

Luna rolled her eyes at my comment, "Since I'm in a excitable mood, I'm going to ignore that." She pointed her claw at me, right at my clothes to be precise, "Now take them off."

I blushed once more, before I twirled my hand, wanting her to turn around, "Could you turn around?"

Luna whined, "Come on! Quit being such a wuss!"

I begun to cross my arms, glaring at her, "I'm not gonna swim if you keep this up." I shot my head at the water waiting for us to get in, "Either turn your black ass around and wait, or go in the water without me a moment and don't look at my nakedness. I'm a private creature, so give it up."

Luna paused for a moment, before she sighed, "Fine." Then she walked past me, her forepaws touching the water first as she took her first few steps in it. As she went further in the pond, her long black tail ran smoothly along my chest and along my chin, until now she appeared to be about stomach deep at the moment. Luna looked over her shoulder at me with a demanding look, "You better get in there, or I'm coming back for ya!"

I hollered at her, when I grabbed the bottom of my shirt to take it off, "Get going! I'm coming!" Luna shot up her head in pride, continuing to stroll deeper in the water. I groaned to myself, muttering quietly and giggling too, "Bossy."

That was when I heard Luna barking at me, "You damn right I'm bossy!" I rolled my eyes at that but I didn't shoot any words back, only making a small grin. I know that I talked quietly to myself, so she must've had good hearing and heard me say it. Note to self, Mike, don't call her bossy under your breath. Then my eyes went to my hands at the bottom of my shirt. I nodded to myself.

Well better not keep the bossy dragon waiting.

I took my shirt off fast, tossing the thing aside since I'm feeling ready to go swimming now. After much coaxing from the black dragoness over there. I rolled my eyes seeing her going deeper in the water, chest deep by the looks of it. I found myself smiling at this. I never swam with a dragon before. First time for everything.

Well knowing myself, I better take my shoes, pants and underwear off and fast before she looks over there and embarrasses me. I nodded at the thought and started to unbutton my pants, kicking my shoes off my feet away. I jerked down my pants, pulling my legs off of them. Then my socks next. After tossing them now near my shirt and shoes, I was left with my underwear now. I spied on Luna, who dunked her head in the water, getting herself wet. My heart pounded with adrenaline at the situation. Alright, get this over with.

At fast pace, I pulled my underwear down over my legs and tossed them away as well. Now bare without any clothing, I ran in the water before she could look at my naked body. My feet made small splashes and making small ripples across the surface. With my legs knee deep in the water, I dove in the water, gosh it felt kinda cold! I sucked in some air after my head emerged out of the water and I began to swim my way to Luna now. Who appeared to have heard me coming and was now waiting patiently. I think her feet are touching at the bottom of the water, that's why she doesn't appear to be paddling away like me. I could feel the water's too deep even for my feet to touch the bottom.

I finally made it to where she was, giving me a big grin across her mouth, "Bout time. I thought I was gonna have to come back and get you. Maybe even grab you by the pants to let you dangle for a moment over the water and drop you headfirst. That would be funny."

I shrugged a bit when I stopped myself in front of her water deep chest, "Well can't grab ahold of me when I'm not wearing them."

"Then I'll have to grab you by the furless leg anyways and drop your ass in the cold water."

I quirked a brow, "How do you know that my legs are furless? I didn't take off my pants for you to see!"

She giggled, snaking her head that holds a teasing grin toward me, "I didn't! It's just I can imagine that like your arms and face, your whole body's furless. Except your hair. The top of your skull is not furless."

I nodded at that with a smirk, "Ohhh, I see. You were just guessing."

"Or perhaps I was taking a glance at your now bare body before you got in the water, curious if you have internal balls like a drake."

That really made my face flush instantly. Wait, male dragons have internal balls? Huh, they actually have internal privates like a lizard. Luna chuckled, "Well am I right? Are human balls internal like drakes?" My eyes went wide and she shook her head, "It's ok, if they are. Or...Are they external, like a cheetah? I mean, I kinda have thought that they're external like cheetahs since I heard they do have them externally, so-"

I shouted at her when my blush came full force, "My balls are external, you dirty woman!"

She laughed at my outburst, exclaiming like she's proud to know about it, "I KNEW IT!"

That tears it! Without any time to be wasted, I splashed some water at her face, "Here! Have a bath!"

She cried when water hit her eyes, "Hey!" She jerked her snout away from me, shaking the water off of her side to side. Blinking her eyes repeatedly, she shot a defiant glare, "Oh, you're gonna get it!" Then she rose one of her paws and slammed it hard against the surface, a lot of water went over me and I cried out in surprise. I was under the surface for a second until I started coughing when regaining some air in my lungs.

I saw Luna was laughing away, holding up her snout with pride swelling up her chest, "Now YOU have a bath!"

I let out a war cry, "I'm gonna get you!" I started to make fast strokes and kicks against the water, wanting to get her scales.

Luna giggled and began to bound away through the water to get away from me. I barely caught her tail before she pulled it away from my grasp, "You'll have to catch me first, Mikey!" She laughed hard at that and then I frowned at her when I slowed my strokes a bit while chasing her. Mikey? Did she call me Mikey? I wonder how she came up with that? Only my mother has called me that before, nobody else but her.

But I just mentally brushed that off. The only important thing on my mind was the swimming dragoness. I used my energy in my arms to swim as fast as I could after her. My arms were aching a bit, but I didn't give up. I was stroking after her giggling black form across the surface, her tip of the tail as flowing along the surface like a rope being dragged by a boat. I was only inches away and I picked up the pace on the pond. Until I reached and my fingers of my hand wrapped around her tail, my other hand firmly grasping it, "Ha! Gotcha!"

She whined and looked back behind me, as I was being dragged by it, "Dang it!" She stopped in her tracks in the water, trying to jerk her tail out of my grasp, "Let go of my tail!"

I defiantly shook my head, holding onto it real tight, "No!" But with another forceful pull, a sharp cry out of my mouth as she actually slipped it out of my hands and raised it over the water.

Luna made a devious grin, "Now the tail's gonna get you!"

Then her big tail went down like a whip and hit the water hard, splashing some of it on me. She was doing it over and over again, her tail not letting up. When the water hit my face and at my eyes, I rubbed them with my hand and coughed, "Cut it out!"

The menacing dragoness howled in laughter at my protest, her tail hanging mid air now, finally stopping it's restless assault on me, "Well my tail will let it slide. You're lucky it's giving you mercy."

I brushed my wet hair off my eyes and forehead, then started to swim to where she was, finally stopped coughing from her relentless attack, "Thank you for sparing me, tail!" She chuckled warmly at me, I was breathing deeply when I stopped on the surface and looked up at her silvery eyes.

Luna fondly tilted her head with those eyes still on me, "You're pretty fun, Mike. Actually, more fun than Damon. There was no way he could grab my tail like that and be dragged by it."

I took a deep breath and let it out, my heart still pumping from all the excitement, "That was because he wasn't small like me."

She giggled and lowered her nose to my forehead, nuzzling it a bit, "I think with you being small is what makes this more fun."

I touched her nose, when the warm air coming from it blew at my wet face, "Glad you're having fun, big girl."

"Heh, I haven't really had this much fun since years ago. And now...I have a new playmate. Thank you, Mike."

I gave her nose a kiss now, smiling warmly at her, "You're welcome, Radiant Night." Then I made a crack, "Heh heh, well you're not Radiant Night now, you're acting like a raging current of a river!"

Her mischievous grin came back and asked, "Like this?" She pulled her head away and immediately slapped at the surface with a forepaw, splashing water at me again.

I shook my head and rubbed my eyes, Luna laughing like a maniac again, "Yep, like that!" Then I gave her a playful glare, "Now here's my raging current!"

She shot a playful look back, showing her teeth, "Have to catch me again to do so!" She laughed and started to trot her way through the water again, making me give chase behind her.

I grunted when I almost had her tail again by the fingertips, but missed, "I'll get you!" I was swimming fast to catch up to her, didn't even take me long to catch her tail again. She whined and I cheered in victory. My voice echoed up to the sky. And then afterwards, without wasting any time, I started showing my 'raging current' by splashing handfuls of water at her.

The two of us just went on playing in the water, just having the time of our lives.

*****

Corajan had a pity look upon her face, "So...There were others like you? A whole bunch?"

I nodded with Emily and Rick standing near me, "There were, but we're the only ones who made it out of there."

She cocked her head, "And those monsters just kidnapped a lot of you? Why really?"

Rick sighed and shook his head, "That part we really don't know. But point is we escaped and everyone else has died." He thumbed at Damon on his haunches next to him, "And after we escaped, that's when we found him."

Damon nodded in agreement, "I'm trying to take those three to The Great One in Wingspan. I believe that he knows how to get those three back home. That's what we've been doing for the past few days."

The red dragoness nodded slowly at the answer, "Well that makes sense." She made a small grin on her muzzle, "And it's a good thing that you guys found me before I was killed." She let out an angry snort and made a wince when she moved her back, "That big bastard hurt my back."

I asked her, voice full of concern, "Are you feeling alright? Maybe you better take it easy."

Cora waved me off with a paw, "No, I'll be alright. It's just sore. Guessing if he'd slam his foot on my back, my guts would've been splattered out of my sides."

Rick replied, "Well, we're glad you're ok."

Emily gestured to her with a curious look, "So what are you doing out here all alone? Are you from Wingspan like Damon here?"

Cora shook her snout, replying, "No, I don't live in the city of dragons. I live out here with my family friend."

Damon got off his haunches, strode up, and lowering his head to hers, "Family friend?"

She shrugged her shoulders, looking deeply into Damon's eyes, "It's a long story of why I'm out here with him. But here's what happened to me today. I left my cave because I just wanted to walk around. I know how it works when you fly around too much. You'll attract attention. BAD attention. I haven't done anything like that, only moved around on foot. So anyways, I was feeling hungry too, so I wanted to go hunting." She growled a bit in her throat, tail thumping behind her on the ground, "And after I got to that clearing and right before I could catch a sniff of any prey at all, that was when I was tackled to the ground by Lost Souls! And I never met one in my life!"

Rick chuckled, "Never met one in your life?! You must've missed out a whole lot!"

Cora reared back her head with her eyes wide, "I know!" She giggled and went on, "So I would've fought back, which I did actually. Torched some of those bastards, but they kept coming. And then that was when a shadow was over me. I'd thought for sure that was my family friend, but then-"

I muttered, "It was a Dark Dragon?"

She sighed and nodded, "That big asshole knocked me on the ground. I rolled around until I laid on my stomach. Before I could get up and run, that was when I was trapped beneath it. I couldn't get free and then I was...Unconscious."

Damon smiled, "That was when we came and save your pretty little butt." Then he looked at himself, at the bandages on him, "Can't say that we'd escaped unscathed, but in the end we saved your life."

She shyly smirked, "Thank you very much for that and...Sorry about how I was reacting earlier. Like I said, I-"

I waved off the apology, "Don't worry about it. You're fine. What matters is you're fine." I walked up to Cora's form and started caressing her back with my hand in smooth strokes. She didn't mind that I was touching her, "I'm also happy that your back isn't broken. You're still standing."

Cora stood firm and regal, wings flared and holding up her head, "Yep, I am!" Me and Damon laughed at her stance and I pulled my hand off her back. I'm liking her already. She seems pretty funny. Also glad she's starting to like us too and hasn't run away in fear. Least she gave us a chance to speak.

Cora turned her eyes on me and said, "Well so what're you guys going to do now? Go on to Wingspan?" She turned her eyes on Damon's now, as he already rose his head above our levels. She held a worried look on her face, "I mean, you appeared to be hurt. I think you need some rest."

Damon shook his head adamantly, "I'm fine."

She snorted with a serious look, "Course you'd say that. I have heard drakes can act pretty tough." She shook her head with a defiant look, "Listen, I don't care what you say. You really do need some rest so your wounds can heal. I'm sure it won't take forever to do so. If you want to protect everyone here, then you need to be at full strength to do so. I'd suggest you rest before moving on."

Emily joined in with that look of her own, "Corajan's right, Damon. Better rest, than be sorry you didn't."

Damon let out a defeated sigh, "Well I suppose you're right."

Cora beamed, "Great. Then the only safe place that you can rest up is at my cave. My family friend's probably out searching for me and I'm not nearby. But I think I know where I'm at now, so you can follow me and stay there until you're fully healed."

I smiled and nodded at the idea, "That's a good idea. Lead us the way then."

She began to trot away from me and Damon, her tail moving back and forth as she did so with her wings folding against her back, "Alright, just stay close and follow me."

Damon started following her, kinda winced in pain when his limb stepped on the ground. He's probably sore right now from the battle, but he pushed himself on. Staying as close to the little dragoness as possible. I went to my bag on the ground and so has Emily and Rick to their bags. We swung them over our shoulders and began to jog to catch up to the dragons. We began to follow right behind them. Emily then whispered with a grin, her eyes locked onto Cora, "Well she seems to be moving alright."

I whispered back with a grin, "Yep. She doesn't appear to be lying at all. She's walking fine."

Rick added with a nod, "Well since I know damn well that there are dragons who aren't evil, I wonder what her 'family friend's' like?"

I replied, "Guess we'll find out. Lets just follow her." And so we did, the four of us including Damon who sorta limped a bit with another step, kept pace with Cora. Heading off to where she's staying.