Return
Sunset, eyes closed, was vaugely aware of where she was. She was lying in something cold. Snow, she reasoned. Her mind was clouded beyond recognition. Shoving the clutter aside, she focused on her memory, trying to jump start it again.
'Okay. I'm in dragon form. Lacyus and I were...'
There was a moan from beside her. Opening her eyes, she saw Lacyus sleeping peacefully beside her in the snow. He was crying.
Sunset's mind snapped. Sitting bolt upright she switched her eyes from the normal light spectrum to the thermal spectrum. Everything became blue and red, indicating heat. She got up, looking for Hannah and Sarah. There was two red heat blotches in the blue cold snow. She blinked switching back to normal sight.
Hannah was snoring lighty. Sunset knelt down beside her.
"Hannah?" She shook Hannah gently. "Hannah, get up."
"Nnnnnoooo." Hannah moaned and pushed Sunset away. "Mom. I don't have school today. Let me sleep."
Sunset fought back the urge to laugh. "I'm not your mom."
Hannah's eyes opened. She took one look at Sunset and closed her eyes again. "I still wanna sleep."
'I'll fix that.' Sunset grabbed a handful of snow and shoved it down into Hannah's shirt.
Hannah's eyes snapped open as she screamed. She scrambled to her feet, throwing her shirt off.
"W-W-WH-WHAT THE HELL!!!" Hannah screeched, shivering. "FUCK YOU!"
Sunset doubled over laughing. Hannah shot her a sour look. "IT'S NOT FUCKING FUNNY! I'M FUCKING FREEZING!"
Sunset managed to catch her breath. "Okay. Hang on." She walked over to her bag. Reaching inside, she pulled out her warmest pants, tunic and cloak. They were a dull green with white embroidering on the wrists.. "Here put these on."
Hannah, still angry, disappeared behind a tree. She came back admiring the clothes. "Wow. They're beautiful." Hannah tightened the drawstrings on her hood. "Where's Sarah and Lacyus?"
"Here, you squealing mother fucker." A red and white furred hand waved from beneath the snow. "My ears are still ringing."
Sarah stood up, brushing snow off of her fire red tunic. "Where's Lac?"
"Here!" Lacyus growled. "You could raise the dead Hannah."
Sunset walked over to him. "How come you aren't getting up?"
"I can't move anything below my neck."
***
"Okay. So let me get this straight." Hannah said, her robes glowing in the light of the fire. "Lacyus is suffering from pyscokinetic shock?"
The group had to carry Lacyus to a cave they found. There, they lit a fire and put Lacyus in a dark corner. He quickly fell asleep.
"Right. It's very rare to find outside of shapeshifters but it's when your mind isn't ready for a new body." Sunset explained. "In Lacyus' case, his mind isn't used to a full dragon's body anymore. He needs a few good days worth of sleep and he should feel better."
Sarah got up. "Well, if you guys don't mind, I'll be off. I have a family that I want to see." She smiled. "My mate hasn't seen me for nine years."
"Good bye and good luck!" Hannah offered. "I hope I can see you again."
Sarah waved as she left the cave. The two sat in silence for almost an hour. Finaly, Sunset mumbled something.
"Pardon?" Hannah asked.
"Those robes. You can keep them." Sunset smiled. "Consider them a friendship gift."
Hannah shifted them on her. They were so soft and warm. In fact, they felt better than anything she ever wore on earth. "Thanks, but you can keep them."
"No, seriously. I was going to buy you some new clothes to help you fit in here anyways."
"You don't have to do that for me." Hannah was stunned by Sunset's kindness. "I'll find some of my own."
"I'm sorry. It's just that I never had a female friend before. I dunno how to treat you as a friend."
Suddenly, there was a groan from Lacyus. The two turned and looked at him. He was struggling to prop himself up against the wall.
"A little help please." He growled.
Sunset walked over and actually picked him up. She brought him over to the fire and set him down, sitting him up.
It was the first time Hannah actually got a good look at him. Jet black scales completely covered him, lashed with blood red marks. His wings had tribal patterns of the red scales. On his head, he had three prominent red marks on the flat ridge of his snout. His eyes were blood red with a slit instead of a normal pupil. On the outside, he looked literally like a demon from the gates of hell.
However, his eyes said different. They were completely devoid of any hate or anger or anything. Just a friendly, inviting look. And he had a presence to him. It felt like, to Hannah, that instead of Lacyus the dragon sitting there, it was her father.
Lacyus looked at her frowning. "Am I scaring you?"
Hannah suddenly realized she was staring. "No no. It's just that your, eeerrr, markings are really neat."
Lacyus smiled. "It's not the first time I got that reaction."
Sunset pressed herself against him, leaning on his shoulder. Lacyus leaned the other way involuntarily. The two toppled over like dominoes. Hannah laughed then stopped when she heard snoring. Lacyus had fallen alseep.
Sunset frowned as she got up. "He's really gotta be tired to do that." She scooped him up and set him in the corner. She yawned, exposing her long row of razor teeth. "I'm gonna go to sleep too." She laid down next to Lacyus and closed her eyes.
Hannah suddenly realized how tired she was too. Searching through her bag, she found her sleeping bag and unrolled it. Crawling in, she promptly fell asleep.
***
Three days had passed since the three arrived on Amorphis. Hannah noticed that both Sunset and Lacyus were gone. She finished her bowl of stew that was left over from the night before. It was early morning and she had just gotten up.
Sunset had followed through with what she had said. She had took Hannah to a nearby town to go window shopping. Both had ended up with new outfits. At the same time, she picked up a simple suit of leather and steel armor for Lacyus.
Suddenly, outside, there was a CLACK of armor on armor. Hannah ran outside to see what was happening.
To her horror, Hannah saw Sunset and Lacyus locked in a furious fistfight.
Sunset lashed out with a vicious high kick. Lacyus dodged it and grabbed her foot, tossing her like a piece of paper. Sunset made a slight correction in flight and landed on her feet, skidding five meters. However Lacyus was already there. He unleashed a storm of furious martial arts attacks, ranging from karate to judo. Sunset ducked, sidestepped and dodged every one of them. Finally, she caught his arm. Stepping on his tail, she grabbed his neck, slammed him into the ground and kicked him, sending him flying over twenty meters. Lacyus hit the ground and bounced once.
Lacyus laid where he landed, half moaning in pain, half laughing. "You improved on my move."
Sunset walked over and extended a hand to him. She smiled. "Maybe it would be a good time for that massage I promised you."
Lacyus sat up without taking her hand. He shook his head. "Wow. I'm actually dizzy." He stood up. "I'll be fine. "
"HOLD IT!" Hannah hollered. "First you guys are fighting like you two wanted to kill each other, now you're friends again? What's going on?"
Lacyus rubbed his neck. "We were sparring. It helps keep our hand to hand combat skills honed and it helps us overcome a fear as well."
Hannah stared. "What fear?"
Sunset piped in. "The fear of hurting someone. Once we get over the fear of hurting each other, we can forget about worrying about the foes we go up against. It's always the hardest thing to do, hurting a loved one."
Hannah was stunned at their cold logic. When she got a boyfriend, she couldn't imagine hurting him just to overcome a fear. If this was how they treated each other, she worried about their families.
***
Mira, age twenty-two, strode confidently through the halls of the Bounty Hunter's Guild. She was living her dream. A class A bounty hunter, she was proficient in almost all forms of combat, from melee to ranged. Her preferred method was guns though.
She adjusted her dual barreled .60 caliber Assault rifle on her back. Being a dragon, she could easily take the double recoil. Secretly, he conscience was screaming at her.
Mira still felt guilty over Sunset. She had let a friend down. And her brother, Lacyus. He was gone too. She missed both dearly.
"Lieutenant Commander Akival!"
She snapped out of her self-mourning. Turning, Mira saw her direct superior, a tiger by the name of Captain Baridan.
"Yessir!"
"In my office, please. I have a new assignment for you."
Mira followed him to his office. A large cherry wood desk dominated the room. Baridan sat in an overstuffed chair, leaving Mira to stand. He handed her a folder.
"Your record has been exemplary Commander. However, this assignment you may find difficult emotionally."
"How so sir?"
"A criminal dragon claiming to be your brother has resurfaced."
Mira's hand drifted to her rifle. "What!?!"
"He is traveling with a blue and purple dragoness shapeshifter and a blue haired green eyed human. Kill him."