Ch. 1- Destiny

Times have changed, and those who once protected us are now working to destroy us. The world has gone into chaos and malice, the demons of hatred infecting the minds of all mankind. They think we have disappeared; we have not. We are only in disguise, waiting for a time to reveal ourselves again to bring order to this world when the white dragon is born.

15 years ago:

"The hunters are here!" A red haired man yelled, his yellow eyes wide with fear as he ran as quickly as he could into the camp of his people. The very trees of the South American jungle shook with fear for the inhabitants of this small village, who were now pouring out of their clay and wood huts into the protection of the forest.
"How did they find us?!" A blue-haired man yelled back to the one who had shouted the warning, a white-haired girl cowering behind him with wide yellow eyes.
"I do not know, Shinta. All I know is that I saw them- they have claw and horn weapons with them, so they are dangerous." The red-haired man said quickly, his voice stammering as he looked around wildly for any signs of danger.
"We must run, Namito. This place is no longer safe. We will find a new home, and try to lay low again. Hurry- we must go." Shinta said, looking down at the girl behind him. "Little sister, we have to run now. Are you ready?"
The small girl nodded, her eyes wide with fear as she heard screams of pain in the distance. They had already started their work, killing the people she knew and loved. Why did they hate her so much? What had she done?
Shinta looked behind him with pained eyes as he heard the familiar scream of his father and kneeled beside the girl. "Aki, you must be strong. You will not touch these bad men, they will make you sick." Shinta took the girl into his arms, in a tight hug for some semblance of reassurance among this horror.
"Shinta, we have to go! Hurry- you must let her go by herself, or she'll slow us down." The red-haired man said, his eyes wild as he looked at the humans bursting through the forest with large swords looking to be made of bone. They spotted the three people and started running, their eyes directed toward the small girl.
"They will not take her! I will not allow it!" Shinta yelled, his eyes glowing a fierce blue. Aki shielded her eyes as the glow became stronger and Shinta's form rippled and grew into a new form, a long serpent made of clear, blue-tinted ice.
"Get on!" Shinta cried, his voice echoing in an almost ethereal tone as he looked back at Aki, who was trying to climb up the slippery sides of his back. With her finally on top of him and firmly gripping his ice-like horns, Shinta started slithering much like a snake along the ground, digging deep rivets into the dirt. He closed his eyes to muster all of his energy and sprung into the air, slithering through the sky until he was only a blue speck among the white clouds.

Now:

Aki sighed as she pulled her long white hair into a pony tail in the bathroom mirror of the small motel she and her older brother were staying at. Remembering the fateful day she had lost contact with the rest of the dragons, she bit her lip nervously at the thought of meeting this new dragon Shinta had found in the city they were currently stopping in. For some reason Shinta didn't want her to meet the new dragon until he had met him first and made sure he was safe enough for her to go near.
It always bugged her how he was so overprotective of her, for no apparent reason. Sure she was different from the other dragons, being white instead of the normal blue, red, green or brown, but that made no difference to her, it meant she had no defenses. No element was harbored within her soul to be used in an attack, like Shinta's ice. She looked up as the blue haired man walked into the hotel, shutting the door behind him and putting the door lock into its place.
"Alright Aki, are you ready to meet the new guy? He's a fire dragon. His name is Hi. Original, huh?" Shinta laughed, walking over to the entrance of the bathroom to watch his little sister mess with her beautiful white hair. She was old enough to be anxious meeting this new dragon since she was now 20, old enough to be looking for a mate. Shinta was anxious had the possibility of his little sister meeting someone who was possibly a mate for her. He didn't like the idea of her romping around with anyone, much less a young punk.
"You look fine, Aki, why are you so worried about how you look?"
"Other than you, this is the only dragon I remember meeting. I want to look my best." Aki smiled sweetly, reminding Shinta once again why it was so important to protect her from any harm. She was the only one of her kind in the whole world- the white dragon, born only once in a century, and the only white dragon for the last 500 years to not be corrupted by hatred by the time they were 20, and mature in dragon terms. She was the hope of their race to be able to set the world straight, but must be pure in order to do so. If she even so much as touches a being filled with hatred toward her or anyone she knows, she will get sick, or worse- turn to a black dragon. Shinta had heard of the infamous black dragon, and couldn't stand the idea of his sweet little sister turning into such a monster.
"Ready!" Aki said, pulling Shinta out of his thoughts as he looked up at her with a smile.
"Looks good to me- ready to go?" He said, walking to the door to unlock the safety latch. He opened the door for Aki and shut it behind himself, his walking slightly rigid in anxiousness at this next encounter.

"So, you're back, huh?" the red-haired man looked at Shinta as he walked up to the stranger, with Aki hidden from view behind him.
"Yeah, and I brought someone else for you to meet. Aki, this is Hi."
Hi looked at the girl with wide yellow eyes and looked quickly to Shinta.
"You didn't tell me you knew the white dragon, why the hell wouldn't you have mentioned that?!" Hi growled at Shinta, then looked at Aki nervously. "Nice to meet you." He said, bowing slightly as was the custom to a dragon male meeting a new female.
Aki nodded her head and smiled sweetly. "Nice to meet you too." She said, her voice soft. She wondered why it had been such a big deal to him that Shinta had not mentioned her. She wasn't that important.
"So… you're the white dragon? Have you been on the move with Shinta this whole time?" Hi looked at her with his eyebrows raised in curiosity.
"Since the attack on the dynasty when I was little, yes. He thought it was best to keep me on the move to avoid the hunters."
"Shinta, did you ever think that since no one has seen the white dragon for 15 years, that many thought she was dead? No one told us you left with her." Hi looked toward Shinta with angry eyes.
"I figured Namito would have told you we had left- he saw us take off."
"Namito died in that battle. He didn't even have a chance to scream before they killed him. He never told anyone anything."
Shinta froze, his eyes wide in horror. Had he taken away the only hope of his species, by hiding Aki? He had thought it was best at the time, but now… people may have given up hope and been consumed by the elements within them, after giving up their will to live.
"I know what you're thinking. No one's died of despair, at least none that I know of anyway. I think you should make contact with what's left of the dynasty though. I know where they are, but they may be… annoyed with you." Hi smirked. Shinta let out a long sigh and nodded.
"I know, I did not mean for this to happen. I was just thinking of what was best for Aki at the time."
"Understandable." Hi nodded, and turned to Aki with a wry smile. "Aki, do you remember the dynasty?"
"No, all I remember is people running and then dying." Aki said sadly. She didn't even remember what her parents looked like.
"Well, the dynasty isn't quite as big as it was before that attack, but it's still nice to be with others of your own kind. Shinta, would you like to take her to the dynasty? I believe they would be grateful to see her."
Shinta nodded, and looked to Aki for her opinion. When the young woman nodded as well, he held out a hand to Hi. "Deal, we'll take Aki to the dynasty, so that she can meet with the elders and we can see what we can do about this horrific world." Shinta said, smiling in satisfaction when the younger dragon took his wrist and they shook in the manner of ancient custom to seal a deal. "But only on one condition."
Hi looked up in surprise as Shinta spoke, refusing to release his grip on Hi's arm until he was done.
"You must protect Aki. She is the last hope of our race, and she must be kept safe." Shinta said, looking straight into Hi's eyes and seeing only confidence.
"Of course. I would have done that without you making it part of the deal, but we'll include it in the contract as a reassurance." Hi chuckled, and they released their grips.
"Aki, we must pack our things. Would you like to stop anywhere along the way?"
"How about a place where I can get a cheeseburger? I'm starving." She said shyly as Hi burst out into laughter.
"I thought white dragons were supposed to be vegetarians." He said, looking at Aki with interest.
"I like cheeseburgers." She said with a pout, but Hi put a hand on her shoulder reassuringly, ignoring Shinta's bristling at the contact.
"It's no problem, sunshine. Just a rumor, I suppose. We'll go get you some beef." Hi laughed and broke the contact to calm Shinta.
"Alright, let's get going, then." Shinta said in a low growl, not knowing whether he liked this new dragon or not.