Hey everyone!

So, even though this isn't my first fanfiction, this is my first Death Note fanfiction. I just started watching this anime, so it will be following the story line. Please forgive me if anybody is out of character, or seems that way. I would love constructive criticism so I could make my story better.

Read on!

-Prologue-

"Rin, why are you going away?"

A seven-year-old version of me asked my caretaker, and friend. She turned to me, giving me a bright smile that I could feel all the way to my toes. Leaning down, she placed her much bigger hand on my cheek, caressing it lovingly.

"You knew that this was going to happen someday, Lira. As much as I would love to stay here with you, I cannot. It is my duty to someday return back to my own home. Don't worry, I will always watch over you. This is not goodbye forever, little one."

I felt tears prick my amethyst eyes, daring to spill over. She couldn't leave yet! If she left, I'd be all alone!

I ran into her arms and hugged her tightly to my small frame, sobbing into her shoulder. Her wings wrapped around the both of us, hiding us from view even though no one else was around. I could hear her sigh as she embraced me back.

"B-But, Rin," I complained, pulling back to look at her. "I have no one else but you! Where will I go? I have no family, no friends…" I sniffled. "I'll be on my own, with no one to take care of me!"

It was true. When I was younger, I had thought that Rin was my Mother. She made it clear that she was only a guardian, not related by blood, who was sent to take care of me. I had never known my parents, or any of my family, for that matter. Technically, I was an orphan. But I never considered myself one, since I had Rin. She had been with me since the day I could remember, always by my side and never leaving me.

Until now.

"Lira, I hate to leave you alone like this, I really do." She placed me on her lap as she sat on the cool, morning grass. "But if I don't leave, I don't know if I will ever be able to see you again. It's for your safety, and my own as well."

I looked down. It would be complete chaos if she didn't come back to me, I'd be lost. I silently nodded my head, showing my approval. She smiled, ruffling my brown hair. She laughed as I grunted and tried to fix it.

"Good. Now that you understand, I have three gifts for you. They should get you by in life. The first gift," She reached her hand in her pocket, pulling out a white envelope. Handing it to me, she grinned mischievously

I gave her a confused look, taking the envelope and opening it carefully. Inside was a check.

"Even though I haven't been working that long, that money should last you up until you're an adult, and maybe even longer."

I felt my mouth drop open in shock, and I looked back up at her. "So, is 2.3 million dollars a lot of money, or…?"

Rin laughed, the sound much like a bell. "That's more than enough money, little one. Don't worry, I already left half of it inside the apartment, so you can shop for food and clothes. You can move out when you are a little bit older. And you won't be alone. Ms. Crista will watch over you every day except Sunday."

I felt my eyes lighten a little. Ms. Crista was our next door neighbor. She was one of Rin's closest friends, and babysat me every time Rin was away. She was right; I wouldn't be alone.

"How long will you be gone for?" I asked hesitantly, afraid of the answer.

As if confirming my dread, Rin's smile dropped. Her lips formed a firm, tight line. "I don't know how long. It could be in any time period from a year, to twenty years. You will just have to be patient."

I went quiet. That long?! No wonder it sounded strange when she told me all of those things! It better be a good reason why she won't be around for a while.

Before I could let the sadness overrun my emotions, she spoke again. "For the second gift," her grin was back, and she whistled loudly. Out of the sky, a winged dragon, about the size of a horse, landed in front of us, bowing it's head low. It's body was a pristine white, and at the tips of its wings, tail, and feet were a light blue.

I let out a small gasp, hiding behind my guardian's body. She giggled, scooping me up in her arms and walking towards the majestic animal. I was a little bit frightened, since I didn't know that dragons existed, or could exist in this situation. Although, Rin existed, so it wasn't that hard to believe.

"There's no need to be afraid, Lira." She soothed, placing me on the dragon's back. It folded it's wings to it's sides, and nudged it's head against her as she pet his head with affection. "This is Talon. He will be your friend, and your guardian for the time being. Don't worry, the only one that will be able to see him is you. No one else will be able to unless he removes the barrier around him."

Talon nodded his head, looking back at me with his sharp blue eyes. "That's right. Though that will never happen unless I deem it necessary."

I blinked. So he could talk, too? I gave a small smile. That's so cool!

"And for the third gift…" Rin reached up, placing both hands on the sides of my head. I felt a weird throbbing sensation, and then it was gone. She took a small mirror out of her other pocket, handing it to me. I looked at my reflection, letting out a noise of disbelief.

On both sides of head, were small, white wings. I lifted a hand to touch them, running a finger along the smooth exterior of it. It felt as soft as a feather. I gave an experimental tug, taking note that they were now extra appendages.

"What are these for?" I asked in curiosity, giving her a look of complete confusion. She grinned brightly, tapping the side of her head knowingly.

"That is for me to know, and for you to find out. Later in life, those will become very handy. You can also change the color of them so that they match with outfits. I don't think anyone will suspect them, considering they look a lot like hair clips. The only thing about them is that you can't take them off."

I nodded. As if I wanted to do that! These things were amazing! I would stand out among everyone in my class.

"I've wasted too much time," she suddenly muttered to herself, extending her wings out farther. She kissed me lightly on the forehead, and turned to walk off. This would be the last time I saw her until she returned. I would miss her so much.

Out of instinct, I hugged Talon's neck, and he gladly accepted it. Rin turned back to me, giving me the most loving smile that she could. A few tears mingled with her expression.

"Our time is up, little one. Know this; I love you, and I intend to come back. Be aood girl, and take care of yourself for me. Farewell, for now."

Before she could leave, I shouted back to her.

"And I love you, Rin."

She gave me one last smile, then disappeared in a golden light.

"Miss Thompson, I hope you're not sleeping in my class."

I groaned as I came out of the daydream, looking over to my stern Economics teacher. It was my last class of the day, and I couldn't wait to go home. Especially since that meant I could watch another episode of Death Note. Yay me.

"Of course not, Mrs. Webber. I apologize if it seemed that way."

She nodded to me, giving me a warm smile. Even though I thought of the class as a bit boring, Mrs. Webber was one of my favorite teachers. I had her for my freshman year of English, and my junior year of Physics. Now I was a senior in high school, almost ready to graduate. Again, yay me.

She resumed her lesson, and I heard slight snickering coming from my lap. I looked down at Talon, who was in his mini form, no bigger than a house cat. I raised an eyebrow.

"Is something funny?" I whispered to him. He stopped, looking up at me with mischievousness in his eyes. It was a good thing no one could see him, I don't think they could take knowing dragons were real. Although, it would seem strange, since people would think I was talking to thin air.

"Nothing at all," he mused, scratching the side of his scaly head. I shrugged, looking back up to watch the lesson.

After class, I walked through the halls to my locker, opening it and placing the remaining books inside. I had decorated it with characters from other anime's such as Fairy Tail, Black Butler, Rosario + Vampire, and of course, Death Note. Since I only had a few friends, no one seemed to mind the nerd display.

Suddenly, a hand slammed my locker shut, showing the large male behind it. I growled in frustration. Just my freaking luck, I thought bitterly.

"Hey, babe. Why don't you join us for some coffee later? And after, you can come to my place to hang. Sound good?"

I looked at the three jocks in front of me. I think this guy's name was Chris. The others, I don't know of. Not that I ever wanted to.

"Chris, right?" I asked, and he nodded. Don't get me wrong, he was pretty cute. With his wavy blond hair and startling blue eyes, he could get any girl he wanted to, I was sure of it. Though at the moment, I wasn't really into dating, nor have I ever been. I looked at the two boys behind him. One had brown hair and hazel eyes, and the other had reddish-brown, with green eyes. Also pretty cute, but none of them were my type. Want to know why?

I knew for a fact these three were players. And douche bags, at that. I mentally swerved them all. They both gave me a look of pure disgust; not that I cared.

"Thanks, but no thanks. I'm kind of busy today, and I have to get home. It was nice of you to offer, though."

Before he could say anything else, I spun on my heel and walked away, leaving the trio shocked. The bell rang for dismissal, and I pushed open the school's front doors, walking to the woods that had the walkway leading to my apartment. It wasn't a far walk, just about ten minutes away. Nothing I couldn't handle.

Talon snickered, his voice coming out of my bag. "You and boys just don't mix, Lira."

I chuckled, agreeing. "It's not that I don't want to, Talon. It's just I don't have time for it, since graduation is coming up, and separate colleges. It would be better to just wait."

I walked along the trail, taking in the scenery. Most people would say that these woods were pretty creepy, but I've been following it since I was in third grade. It wasn't much of a problem for me. And, I had Talon. So if I got tired of walking, he could just put up a barrier and fly us home.

My thoughts were disrupted as I was pushed into a tree rather hard, a small yelp coming out of my mouth. I glared at the attacker.

"Now, now, freak. A one night stand wouldn't kill you, would it?"

I snarled, trying to push their hands away. Chris and his friends began to grope at my body, pulling on my clothes to loosen them. "Me, the freak? Let me go, you disgusting pigs! Or I'll scream!"

SLAP

I felt my skull rattle as tears pricked my eyes. Chris pulled his hand back down to my body, squeezing my right breast harshly, sure to leave a bruise. "Of course, you're a freak. Tell me, do you know anyone with your freaky eye-color? And don't get me started on these ridiculous looking wings on the sides of your head! You look like a slut with a bad hair day!" he laughed mockingly, pulling on the white appendage, earning a cry from me.

Even though I didn't look like other people did, I was still human. And I was not going to allow them to harass me any longer. Bring one hand back, I punched him as hard as I could. His face snapped to one side, and blood trickled out of his nose. He fell back, landing on his back in the dirt. As the others were left surprised, I pushed them with all of my might. They fell down as well, and that gave me the green light to start running in the direction of my house.

I bolted, not giving them any time to recover. They ran after me, shouting profanities and "If I's" on the way.

"Lira!" Talon yelled to me, poking his head out of the bag. "Let me get rid of them! They're taking out knives!"

I looked back to see that they were indeed taking them out, and they were catching up to me. I shook my head. "I can't let you do that! It would give us away! I'll go home and call the cops!"

I spoke too soon, though. A beefy hand grabbed onto my waist-length hair, and I was thrown down on the ground with a body on top of me.

"You're going to pay for that, bitch." Chris snarled, slicing my shoulder with his blade. I cried out in pain, still trying to push him off of me. But it was no use.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Talon dispel his barrier and shoot out to attack him. He bit hard onto his forearm, earning a startled yell from him. "What the hell?!" He said, stabbing the knife into Talon's side. The dragon hissed, and was flung to the ground.

"No!" I screamed, squirming under the vice grip of my attacker.

Chris poised the knife above my throat, letting out a dark chuckle. "Don't know what that was, but the penalty for disobeying me and my boys, is death."

Before he could slit my throat, however, Talon let out a loud roar, making Chris cover his ears and drop the knife. I looked over to him, my eyes widening in surprise.

He stood in his regular-sized form, lunging for the jocks and flinging them into trees. He looked towards the man above me, ready to do the same.

In defeat, he rose quickly from me and ran the other way he came, his friends following right behind him with their tails between their legs.

I sat up slowly, holding onto my shoulder tenderly. Talon was holding onto his neck, but the blood still gushed between his claws. He lifted his other to seal the barrier once again so he wasn't seen.

"Damn human, got me pretty good." He bit out, walking over to me and helping me up with his tail. I frowned, placing my now bloody hand to his neck wound. "Thank you, Talon. You really shouldn't have done that, though." I took out an extra shirt from my bag, placing it where his claw was. He accepted it, placing it on the wound.

"If I didn't, you could have been killed." He growled, narrowing his eyes at me. I rolled mine, climbing onto his back in the process.

"Yeah, yeah. Let's hope no one believes their little story. Anyways, let's go home. I'm tired, and I want to take a shower."

He raised one hairless brow. "Won't it be suspicious to see a girl riding on an invisible dragon? Let alone talking to one?" He had a good point.

I growled this time. "If they say anything, I'll tell them to shove it and say that things get weirder every day." My dragon chuckled, walking in the direction of our apartment.

I laid spread out on my couch, my shoulder now bandaged up. Since Talon can heal quickly, it wasn't needed for him. I stared up at the television mounted on the wall, watching the episode where Light (more Rem) killed L. Even though I had watched the episode countless times, I still cried. L was my favorite character, with Light being a close second, even though he was Kira.

I could understand what he was trying to do for the world, but even so, it was still wrong. If I had that kind of power, I'd only kill the people that deserved it, like terrorists and what not. And I would only do it under police instruction. He was so young, led down the wrong path.

All because he found that stupid Death Note.

I scoffed, turning off the television and looking around my fancy apartment. I sat up, careful not to wake up the sleeping dragon on the end of the couch, back in his mini form. For a teenager, I lived pretty luxuriously. All thanks to Rin.

I was also going to Harvard on a full scholarship. I always studied Law, so I was hoping to become some sort of detective. Thanks to some of my expenses, I would also get to live there. Despite my harsh life, I could still get a good education and live up to people's expectations. And, I had Talon, so I didn't need to make a bunch of friends while I was away.

Sigh. Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're going to get.

A detective, huh?

My eyes widened at the raspy voice that spoke up. An intruder? But how did they read my thoughts?

Not an intruder, the voice chuckled lowly. A friend.

My television was turned back on, and it was paused on the same episode I was previously watching. I turned to Talon. He was now awake and looking at me, seeming to know that the voice was speaking to me. You see, it continued, I believe that you have the ability to change a certain plot. The path of two avengers. The path of good, and the path of evil.

I looked around, but no one was present in the room except me and Talon. What did the voice mean? The path of good and evil?

You will find out soon enough, Lira Thompson. Be prepared. Let me give you some advice. Go take at least half of the money out of your wallet.

I raised an eyebrow in confusion, but did as I was told. I had a couple thousand in case of emergencies. Why do I need money? What am I going to do with it?

Be patient, it scolded gently. Grab you little dragon friend, and hold on tight.

Hold on tight? I thought. As if hearing it's words, a wind picked up, swirling in a vortex towards the television. I grabbed Talon and pulled him tightly to me.

Beware. You cannot come back until I say you can. Good luck. I screamed as I was lifted off of my feet and flung into the wall, going through the screen and blacking out before I could have a say in anything.

I'm sorry that it's kind of cliffy, but it's only the first chapter. Forgive me! ~bows apologetically~

Please rate and review. For those of you who have read my other story, it's on hold at the moment. I promised a friend I would do this story for her. Thanks for reading!

~M~