NEW STORY! YAAAAAAAYY! Ok, I've taken a teeny break from original storyline (and it was SAAAAAAD.'). So now back to dragons, and Argost! This time our main villain shall make an appearance. 'Cause what's a heroic story without an antagonist? And a plot (From which I have strayed)? Maybe I'm just bored. Really bored. I need reviews to keep me going. SO READ THIS &AND THEN REVIEW! –Cryptid123

P.S. Disclaimer- I don't own The Secret Saturdays (sadly; boo-hoo!), but I do own Crystal (even though I might not like her at times).

Her hair was out from its normal ponytail, and her shoulder, healing quite fast, was still at her side. Crystal was staring up at the clouds passing Saturday HQ. Or rather, the forests around HQ. Shadows grew stronger, then faded, letting sunlight shine through in little miss-shapen spots. Sometimes she took a chess board out there, sometimes a sketching pad. She didn't eat much.

Would he try again? Would he dare follow her to ask a simple question? Zak wasn't sure. He almost didn't want to. But he had to. Did he? Or didn't he? Doyle would of course say no. Doc was still unsure about her, and Drew had almost definitely sided with Doyle. Fiskerton's hand still hurt. Komodo would probably give a hiss, and Zon would immediately say never in a million years. But this was his decision. He was the Emperor Kur. So…, what should he do? One part of him said; What could it hurt? Another part cried; No! You don't know what she'll do! What would his former self do? His former self would declare himself stronger, and therefore confront her on an offensive front. But he wanted to be an ally, not a bully. Maybe he could take this the dog whisperer way; give her a sandwich and then persuade her into a conversation. But then maybe she'd be offended. Besides he didn't know if she would even want a sandwich. He was hungry himself.

What Zak decided to do was pack a lunch, with extra sandwiches, and then pretend to "bump" into her, on the way to a picnic spot. It seemed like it would work. Then again it could not. But what did he have to lose? His leg maybe. But why would she hurt him? Maybe, whoever she had tried to kill on their last adventure was someone who had hurt her. He would then have to take this the cryptozoologist way; approach with caution. Yeah, he'd make this work.

What was he doing? Packing a lunch. Where was he going? She didn't know. Drew was worried. He couldn't be trying to talk to her, could he? If he was… but then again Zak was growing. She couldn't correct him on everything. It wasn't like Crystal had gone on a rampage, destroying everything in sight. Drew was confused. Doyle seemed so right, yet her baby boy did too. Crystal was more of a person than cryptid, so maybe it would be best for another humanoid cryptid to talk to her. Especially one that can protect himself from any attacks. What would Doc say?

Doc saw Zak going out into the forest, towards the fields that Fiskerton almost begged them every day to have a picnic on. He was going in the same direction she had gone. Doc may have been confused, but the word DANGER flashed across his mind. But he also knew Zak would be able to take care of it. And if he couldn't, well, he and Drew would be there to catch him.

Zak headed for the clearing that had the wildflowers; Crystal seemed to like their scent. As he traversed along, he came to a stream. Skipping over it, whistling nonchalantly, he continued along her well hidden path. It wasn't even a path at all. Crystal, obviously inheriting some qualities from her North American Indian ancestors, had not harmed a single leaf on any plant, and had left not a trace on the crumbled dirt and leaves. Zak wondered what he would say. He wondered if he would say anything at all. He wondered if Crystal hadn't left a trail because she didn't want to hurt the plants, or if she wanted solitude. Soon he heard mumbling, in a foreign language. Probably Latin- again. Around the house she had taken to saying rude things about his uncle in Latin. Coming to a place in the trees where he could see, Zak saw Crystal with a focused expression and notepad, a chessboard with scattered pieces, and a big diagram of a desert, with little pebbles and rocks scattered on that. She was doing calculations of some sort, but occasionally looked up to see a lark singing happily, or a meaningless tussle between envious squirrels. He stood there for some time, not sure what exactly to do.

"I know you're there Zak. You need to be a little quieter. And always make sure your scent isn't blowing downward with the wind." Zak jumped. She had known he was there the whole time? "There's no use hiding. Come out here where I can see you- there's a bit you need to know."

His wary confidence starting to deteriorate, Zak meekly followed to what she said, making sure not to step on bluebells and snapdragons- just for favor's sake.

"I- I brought some sandwiches." He said nervously.

"Good. You'll be here for awhile. You'll need them." Not looking up from the notepad.

"You're not hungry?"

"Not yet. Sit." She ordered, pointing to a medium sized boulder. He took a seat, and laying the picnic basket down, took a bite of a peanut butter, honey, and banana sandwich. "What do you see?" she asked, gesturing towards the diagram. It was a nifty little contraption. With a crank of the brazen-polished handle, one map slid back into a storage hold, and another came to take its place, and, if it had rigorous landscape, the seemingly flat map would soon spring to life with folds becoming deep trenches and high mountains. But what Zak saw on this map was sand, lots and lots of sand-colored paper. And the strange looking rocks were scattered about, with no pattern in particular.

"Msandb." He answered lamely, with his mouth full.

"Hasn't your mother ever taught you map reading?"

"Yeau, bufs allg rI seeh id sandb."

Crystal gave a sigh and said "Take a look again and study it." Zak looked hard…, harder …, harder still. Then it came to him. He had been there before.

"That's where the Hassi live!"

"Very good." She wrote something in her notebook. Zak cocked his head.

"But why are we doing this?" He took another bite.

"In case the enemy decides to find the Water Princess. She can't be too far from her precious Methuselah tree. Also, this is for training." She got up and moved some pieces in an elaborate strategy.

"Wait… we're training?"

"What did you expect?" She responded, her tone unchanged.

"So you were just waiting for me to appear."

"Yes.

"Will you teach me how to like, do that kung fu thing were you can kill a person in three seconds?"

"No. For now, we're just working on strategy. In order for combat practice, you need others…, something that I'm also working on."

"Why can't you just fight me?"

Crystal ignored this question. "Strategy first."

*Later*

"No, no, no!" she quipped. "Zak think! Offence may be the best defense, but that's a really bad move!" Zak was just about to move his chess piece, when he heard her rebuke. Getting red, and tired of losing he cried, "Not everyone is as good as you!" Still angry, he kicked the board, spilling the little statues over.

"Besides, I don't like chess." He mumbled. Crystal showed no signs of opposing him.

"Aren't you gonna get angry? I just kicked over your board- HEY, ANSWER ME!" he shouted. Crystal her voice calm and cold replied, "If you're tired, I suppose you can go frolic with Doyle while I just hand me and my key over to Argost."

Zak was shocked. She seemed so serious. His mom had never taken that tone with him, and neither did his dad. "No! You can't do that! It's just that I hate losing." He scuffed the dirt with his shoe.

"New lessons are taught from failure. Just remember-" She was cut off short by a piercing cry. A falcon came flapping down, circling around their heads. Crystal lifted an arm, and it landed.

"Cool! Is he yours?" Zak asked.

"No, he's from a friend." Taking out a folded piece of paper from the back of a harness strapped on it, she cooed her gratitude and let it fly back up into the air. Opening it, she read:

To my dearest friend, confidant, and fellow Guardian

News has reached us that Prince Gawain Lancelot Arthur ForrestWalker VI has been captured by a human. His guards were compromised by tranquilizer shots, and to put it quite frankly, we can't trace his location. His Highness and Her Grace are quite worried. All of us are hoping you could spare some time from Kur to find him. Best of luck,

-Jonathan

"I can't read that." Zak said, looking over her shoulder. "It's all a bunch of paw-prints on paper!"

"It's meant for Guardian eyes only." She replied. Putting the note in her pocket, she stood up. "We're going to have to put strategy on hold."

"Yes!"

"But we'll be learning diplomacy along the way."

"Aw man!"

Looks like Zak doesn't want to be schooled. Both Jonathan and (Prince) Gawain (Lancelot Arthur ForrestWalker the Sixth) were in the first story (well, Gawain was more of mentioned). And don't worry; this is not a Zak and Crystal only story. That's coming later. With adieus to everyone 'till next chappy, READ &REVIEW! –Cryptid 123 RAWR!