A Knight's Beginning: Rise of the Dragon

by TFAN Override-Dragon Light

My start was rocky at best. Examined, chased, burned, chased again, nearly drowning… and being saved. My name was GP02, now my name is Dragon. This is my story. {HIATUS}

div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"Prologue: Awakening /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"White. That was the first thing I saw when I woke up. A white ceiling. I turned my head from side to side and saw pale blue walls surrounding me. I shifted slightly, wonderingem 'where am I?'./em That's when I felt a comfy, warm, and fuzzy feeling in my chest. Looking down(?), I saw a sphere like object with rings rotating around it floating above my chest. There was a small flame glowing brightly inside. /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"em'Soul Drive.'/em/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"em /em/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"Then it folded into my chest and disappeared. That's when I noticed that my body was made of medal. /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"em'Gundamnium'/em/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"I looked at my body as best as I could. My frame was white, with bright crimson red and cobalt blue stripes. The red stripes were more on my chest and arms, while the blue stripes were more (from what I could see) on my legs. I could not tell what colour my head or eyes were. /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"At the opposite side of the room, a door opened to reveal a woman in her early thirties. She was wearing a white and blue outfit. She had blond hair and soft brown eyes. /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;""Hello there," she said smiling. "you must be our newest member."/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"I looked at her, confused. She smiled again, and gently held out her hand, grasping my own. I 'blinked'./div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;""You must not know how to talk yet." She said calmly. "Let me help you up."/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"Gently wrapping her other arm around my back she carefully pushed me upwards until I was in a sitting position. With that she helped me swing my legs around the bed and pulled me up until I was standing on both feet. I wobbled slightly and swung my arms around trying to balance myself. The woman quickly reached out and grabbed my shoulders helping me balance. /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;""There, that better?" She asked me./div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"I nodded slowly, eyeing her warily. I came up to her chest in height. She smiled kindly at me, and lead me out of the room, my hand locked in her own. I was greeted by white walls, white ceiling, white floor and many, emmany/em people walking all around. As I walked, I stumbled over my own two feet, which were a dark grey colour, and I let out a small squeak. A lot of people looked at me then, and started whispering in their companions ears. I fidgeted slightly under all the stares. /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"The woman noticed my unease and carefully tightened her grip on my hand. She then lead me down the hallway that was mostly empty. emMostly. /emAs I walked down the hall, the few people there stared at me and some frowned at me. I let out a small whimper and tried to hide behind the woman, still holding her hand. She led me down the hall a bit farther until we came to a door. I heard strange noises inside. /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"emKLANK CRASH BOINK!/em/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"em /em/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"I watched as the woman typed in something on a panel. Just as she finished typing, the door slid open. /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;""Whooemhoo/em! Nuuun mun emhoo!/em" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"I ducked behind the woman as a strange person did flips and cartwheels and karate(?) moves around the room. He was slightly chubby, with grey hair in a funny looking hair style. He was wearing a orange and yellow outfit. /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;""Kao-Lyn, our newest member has woken up." The woman said to the strange man who stopped doing flips and looked my way. His eyes, hidden behind funny looking glasses, like a purple and pink yin-yang design, locked onto mine. I quickly ducked behind the woman. She chucked, and gently pulled me into the room. I tried to stay out, but she managed to pull me in and closed the door behind me. She pulled me over to a table on the other side of the room. I was then picked up and placed on it. The man, called Kao-Lyn, came over to the table. /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"Right in front of me. /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"I quickly tried to get away from him, but the woman held me in place. I squirmed, trying to escape, to get away. The woman gently held me in place, rubbing soothing circles on my back, making me relax. Kao-Lyn held up a device, and a wide, thin beam of light came out. I tried to get away, but the woman continued to hold me in place. Kao-Lyn held the strange device up near me, and a strange tingly feeling passed through me. I continued to squirm as he moved the device up and down my body, the tingly feeling following it. After a few minutes, Kao-Lyn moved away from me with the device, muttering something about 'impossible' and 'defies all logic'. I glanced up at the woman, and caught a glimpse of her name tag. It said 'Carol'. /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"Kao-Lyn came back over, and before I could do anything, he plugged something into the back of my head. I cried out at the sudden intrusion into my head. Carol immediately started rubbing soothing circles on my back, trying to calm me down, but to no avail. /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"I suddenly yanked my head forward, desperately, and caused whatever was plugged into the back of my head to unplug with a small emsnap/em. The movement also allowed me to leap off the bed. I immediately bolted to the door, only to find it locked. I panicked, and suddenly, without control, my right hand snapped up to my back and with a emclick/em, something came off. My arm came down in front of me, and suddenly, there was a hole in the door, and a sword in my hand. /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"em'Beam Sabre'/em/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"I rushed through the hole in the door, ignoring their cries of surprise. /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"I raced down the hallways of the building, swerving around corners and skidding through intersections. A white and blue robot with a green screen on their face dove at me, trying to get me. /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"'emMobile Citizen/GM/em'/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"I ducked out of the way, and continued my sprint down the white corridors. Red lights started flashing and sirens blared as I ran. Eyes wide with fear, I skidded around a corner so fast, that I crashed into something. /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;""Zako!"/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"I 'blinked' at the bot before me. He was much smaller than myself, covered in green armour, and had a single pink eye. We made eye contact, and then he screamed. /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;""Zako! It's a Gundam! ZAKOO!"/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"That is what I am? A 'Gundam'?/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"The 'Zako' backed away from me, and I spoke slowly: "What's a Gundam?"/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"I never spoke before, and I was surprised at my voice. It was strong, yet it had a caring tone to it. My voice also held authority in it, and it was also light. I spoke softly this first time, and he did not seem to hear my question. /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"I turned my attention to the robot and asked again, only louder. /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;""What's a Gundam?"/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"Obviously he did not expect me to ask that, because he spun around in surprise. That caused the 'Zako' to trip over his own two feet. I leaped up in shock as he fell on his face. Sirens forgotten, I immediately ran over to him to make sure he was okay. /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;""Are you alright?"/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"The Zako looked up at me with his single pink eye wide. I held out my hand and said, "Here." /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"The Zako hesitantly grabbed my hand, and I pulled him to his feet. He stared at me, surprise showing in his eye. /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;""You're not going to hurt me, zako?" I blinked at the strange question. /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;""What do you mean by 'hurt you'?"/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;""Gundams have always hurt us zakos. Always because we make bad choices. Zako."/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"I stared down at the Zako in surprise. How could someone think of hurting someone who made mistakes. I made up my mind. /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;""I promise that I will never hurt you or your companions."/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"The Zako looked at me in shock, then he 'smiled'. I 'smiled' back. /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;""There she is!"/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;""Uh oh."/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"Racing up to the both of us were two mobile citizens. They both held large guns in their hands and were racing toward us./div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;""Hold on!"/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;""Zakoooooooo!"/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"I grabbed the Zako's hand and felt something on my back adjust. Next thing I knew was that I was flying through the air holding the Zako's hand tightly of my own. I heard the GM's cry out in surprise at my sudden flight. Without even knowing how to fly, I flew through the hallways and made quick turns around corners. The Zako screamed as we flew, him clutching my hand tightly as he closed his one eye. I shook my head and thought em'Oh boy.' /em/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"Though I didn't know what a 'boy' was. /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"I made a quick left then another right as I avoided the GM's who tried to grab me and the Zako. I turned another corner only to nearly crash into a figure who looked similar to myself, but different. He had bright green eyes and a pair wings on his back that the kind of look like jet wings. He was mostly white with dark blue detailing. He had a golden shaped V-fin on his forehead. He leapt up in surprise as I flew past him, him crying out "Hey!"./div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;""Stop her!" A GM cried out as I made another turn. I heard jet engines stir behind me and I dared to glance back. Sure enough the look-alike was following me. Note the sarcasm./div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;""You there, stop!" The flying look-alike called out to me. I did not listen. /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;""STOP!"/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"The look-alike pulled out some sort of beam rifle and threaten to fire it at me. I knew he would not. How I know, I just do. He realized that I knew he was not going to fire as he cursed. Putting the beam rifle away he instead sped up his engines and try to overtake me. Rolling my eyes I sped up too. /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;""ZAKOOOOOO!"/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"The poor Zako was starting to look more greener than he already was with his already green armour. I adjusted my grip slightly on his hand before I sped up. I spotted a turn and immediately slowed down, feining that I was running out of energy. The look-alike fell for it. Just as we neared the turn, I sped up rapidly veering around the turn. The look-alike did not have time to stop./div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"emstrong style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"CRASH! /strong/em"OOFF!" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"I winced. That had to hurt. I focused my attention back on the hallway in front of me as I sped up, trying to keep a good distance between myself and the look-alike./div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"I am not sure how many turns I made or hallways I flew through, but I landed in an empty corridor. /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;""Zaaakoooo~!"/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"I glanced down at the Zako, who still had a death grip on my hand. He looked emreally /emgreen. /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;""Are you OK?"/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"The Zako looked at me, then made a mad dash for a waste bin. I winced as he retched. Oops. /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;""Sorry. I didn't want us to get caught though."/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"The Zako waved it off. /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;""It's fine... zako~."/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"Maybe not. /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"Pulling my gaze away from him, I surveyed the (so far) empty corridor. The doors lining the hall were few and far between. One of the doors, which was next to us, looked unlocked. /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"Reaching out, I grasped the door handle, and yanked gently. The door slid open with a emstrongcreak/strong/em, then stopped two thirds of the way. The Zako looked up from where he was kneeling, and blinked at the open door. /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;""Zako?"/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"Well, he sounded better. /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"I pushed the door open, and poked my head inside. There were crates and boxes, but other than that, the room was empty. I slipped inside, the Zako following behind me. My eyes scanned the room just to make sure. There were only cobwebs among the boxes./div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;""It's creepy here, zako." The Zako held his hands close to his chest./div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"I had to agree. /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"Once we were fully inside, I gently close the door. It made of soft emclick/em when it closed. And just in time too. Only seconds after I closed the door, I heard footsteps race past./div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;""She went this way!"/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"The footsteps faded as the GM's raced past our hiding spot. The Zako let out a quiet sigh of relief./div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;""Zako..."/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"I got curious of our surroundings, and decided to look around. Walking over to one of the crates, I lifted the lid and peaked inside. Inside the crate was a small square looking device with funny gears on the outside. Curious I picked it up. Turning around with the device, I showed it to the Zako./div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;""What do you think this is?" I asked him. /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"The Zako blinked at it, before shrugging. /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;""I don't know. Zako."/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;""Me neither." I twisted the device around in my hands, looking it over. Weird. /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"strongCrash!/strong/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"I jumped at the sudden noise, and saw that the Zako had knocked over a few of the crates. /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;""Shh!" I hissed, before I pressed my audio to the door. Nothing. Good. /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;""Sorry. Zako." The Zako squeaked. /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"I sighed, but decided to ignore him (not completely though), and continued my examination of the device. The Zako looked up at me, and from the corner of my vision, I saw him fidget. /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;""What's wrong?" I asked. /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"The Zako sighed, before he spoke. /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;""Well… uh… I was kinda… um… kinda sortasenttokillemthenewestGundam/em!strongYou/strong!" He blurbed out. /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"I blinked. "Then why don't you?"/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"The Zako shifted uncomfortably. "Because you were nice to me, unlike the other Gundams."/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"Oh. /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;""Well then… what now?" I shot my head up at the distance sound of voices outside the door. /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;""Zako?"/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;""Shh!"/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"I grabbed the Zako and pulled the both of us behind some crates. /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;""Za-!"/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"I clamped my hand over his mouth, shutting him up as the voices grew louder, accompanied by the sound of footsteps. I narrowed my vision as the door rattled slightly. I felt the Zako stiffen up under my hand, before he trembled as the door emcreak/emed open. /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"From our hiding spot, we watched as the look-alike stepped in, followed by more GM's. The look-alike's front was covered in scratches, most likely from the crash. /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"The GM's began searching the room, so I pushed myself and the Zako farther back, away from the group. I watched as a single GM spoke to the look-alike. /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;""Guneagle! Sir, what do we do when we find GP02, sir?"/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"GP02? Was that my name?/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"The look-alike, no, emGuneagle/em, seemed to frown. /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"He sighed. "We need to bring her back to Kao-Lyn, and ensure that she is intact."/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"I inwardly shuddered at the thought of the strange man. /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;""And the intruder Zako?"/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;""It will be sent to the holding cells."/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"I felt myself get warm as anger rose within me. emThey wanted to sent my friend to the holding cells?!/em My thoughts screeched to a halt. emFriend? Holding cells?/em/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"I was pulled out of my thoughts by a cry of "There they are!"/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"With a yelp, I grabbed the Zako's hand and bolted. The GM crashed to the ground we had been just standing on. Everything then fell into chaos. /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"I don't remember much about the fight, but I do remember screaming, shouting and the GMs and Guneagle trying to grab us. I dropped the strange device at one point, and it made a funny emwhir/em sound. /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"The next thing I heard, was strongboom!/strong/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"Then everything went black. /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"When I woke up, the room was bathed in an orange glow. I felt intense heat and pressure in the air. That was when I noticed that the room was on fire. /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;""Oh no!" I cried out. Where was the Zako and the others?/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"I scanned the room, and saw the Zako and Guneagle lying close by. I had to get us out of here! I pushed myself up to my feet, and staggered over. They were both unconscious, so I began to drag them across the floor towards where I hoped that the door was. I could barely see with all the smoke. /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"Some how, I made it to the door, which was thankfully open. As I pulled us out, the faint sound of sirens reached my audios. I looked both ways, but I could not see a way out!/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"Thinking quickly, I chose to go down the corridor on my right. The heat from the flames was really intense, and I could hardly see through the smoke. I felt my armour beginning to melt, so I sped up my pace, trying to get us out of here. I am not sure how long I fought my way through the flames and smoke, but I soon felt it. /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"Clean, cool, and smokeless air!/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"I sped up, trying to get us out as fast as possible. We were almost there-!/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"emCreak!/em/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"I glanced up, and my eyes widened. The ceiling was about to collapse! /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"Thinking fast, I swung the Zako and Guneagle forward. The two went flying through the opening, just as the ceiling collapsed on top of me. /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"I screamed as the ceiling crushed my frame to the ground, pinning me. The flames surged closer, and that's when I realized…/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"emI was going to die. /em/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"I had only been online for about an hour, and I was already about to go offline. /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"Though I had no idea of what an 'emhour' /emwas./div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"I closed my eyes as the flames closed in, and I felt them grow slightly wet. Even though I was surrounded by flames, I was curious about why my eyes were wet. I reached up, and felt the liquid on them stick to my hand. I brought my hand in front of my face, and saw the clear liquid disappear in the heat of the flames. Was I… crying?/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"The flames continued to close in on me, so I shut my eyes again. I was going to die. /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"em"Do not give up yet, young dragon."/em/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"emWhat?/em/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"Looking up, I saw a figure standing in front of me. Where did he come from?/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"The figure was covered in armour, and had a v-shaped fin on his forehead, like Guneagle's, only fern-green and white. Was he a Gundam too? /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"The Gundam's cape floated in a non-existent wind. The figure's sapphire blue eyes seemed to glow as he looked down at me. He then reached down to me with his right hand, and spoke again. /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"em"It is not your time."/em/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"emNot my time?/em/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"em"Take my hand. Quickly."/em/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"I took his hand, and I felt the weight of the ceiling disappear off my frame. He pulled me up, and draped his cape over my shoulders. The cape, for whatever reason, protected me from the flames. The figure lifted his left hand, and a blue glow surrounded it. /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"em"Oh mana, who dwells within all the universe…"/em he chanted. /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"The glowing increased, and I watched with wide eyes as a small blue circle, covered in strange runes, appeared before us. The Gundam continued his strange chant, and the circle grew, until it was bigger than the both of us. /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"em"Come."/em The figure spoke, and guided me towards the circle. I hesitated slightly as we came up to it, unsure. The Gundam gently guided me closer, and I stepped through. /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"My vision went white for a moment, and I lost all sense of feeling. I heard the Gundam speak one last time. /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"em"May the spirits guide you, young dragon."/em/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"Then my vision went black again. /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"When I regained my sight, as well as feeling, I realized that I was lying down on something… emsoft? /emThe sky(?!) above me was blue, dotted with white clouds. I was surrounded by trees, and I heard the sound of rushing water beside me. What was em'water'/em? How did I get here? Wherever 'emhere' /emwas. /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;""Over there!"/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"I was pulled out of my thoughts by a voice. Turning my head, I saw a man wearing strange clothing running towards me. The man was followed by others dressed similar to him. Remembering the last time I had encountered strangely dressed people, I scrambled back up in panic. The men seemed to sense that I was afraid of them, and they stopped a good distance away from me. /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"The lead man took a tentative step forward, and I took two back. He frowned at my reaction, and took another step forward, holding out his hand, palm up. /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"I took two steps back. /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"My frame shook with fear as he spoke. "It is okay. We won't harm you."/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"emYa right. /em/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;""Please come here." He spoke again, taking another step closer to me. /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"I shook my head, and took another two steps back. I saw his eyes widen as I felt the ground disappear from beneath me. /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;""No!"/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"I screamed as I fell into icy cold water. My frame froze up slightly from the shock, and I thrashed desperately as I was pulled down by an unknown force. /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"emWas I going to die this time?/em/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"Just as I thought that this was the end, I felt something grab my right hand, and pull me from the water. I shivered as I felt the water run off my frame, and kept my eyes closed tight. Wait… when had I closed them?/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"Something warm was draped over my shoulders, and I opened my eyes. A red fabric was draped over my body. I felt a shadow fall over me. I looked up at my saviour, and saw a figure wearing span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"deep blue and white armour, with a wingtip shaped v-fin on his forehead. He looked a lot like my first saviour. On each of his shoulders was a medal with some kind of flower emblem. On its chest was a light green jewel. His cape was what was draped over my shoulders. /span/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" /span/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);""Are you alright?" He asked. /span/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" /span/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"I nodded slowly, my frame tense incase I needed to bolt. Not like I could right now. /span/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" /span/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"He seemed to notice my distress, and his sky-blue eyes widened. He knelt down in front of me, making sure that his movements were slow and unthreatening. /span/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" /span/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);""It is alright now. I will not hurt you." He spoke. "My name is Zero. What is your name?"/span/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" /span/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"I shifted, unsure of what to say. Then I remembered what the GM had called me. /span/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" /span/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);""M-M-My na-nam-name i-is G-GP-P-0-02." My voice shook as I spoke. /span/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" /span/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"The Gundam, Zero, blinked at my 'name'./span/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" /span/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);""GP02?" He asked. "That is a strange name." The last part seemed to be more spoken to himself, but I still crawled back. /span/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" /span/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"Zero noticed, and gently reached out towards me. I flinched back, remembering what the Zako had told me about what Gundams had done to him and his companions. But I also remembered the figure who had saved me from the fire. /span/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" /span/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"I was so caught up in my internal battle, and I yelped as I felt a hand on my shoulder. My eyes shot up, and I saw that Zero had placed his hand on my shoulder. /span/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" /span/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);""It's okay." He murmured softly. /span/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" /span/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"My eyes grew wet again, and I ducked my head down. I felt Zero lift his hand off of my shoulder, and placed his hand under my chin. He lifted my head, and my eyes inadvertently locked onto his own. /span/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" /span/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);""You're safe now." He murmured again. /span/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" /span/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"This time, I believed him. /span/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" /span/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);""Thank you…" my voice was soft, and his hand moved back to my shoulder. /span/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" /span/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"Zero gently helped me to my feet, and that's was well I saw my reflection in the river. My colouring was the same, but my frame shape was different. My frame was shaped similar to his now, and his cape was still draped over my shoulders. I looked at my head, and saw that it was shaped similar to a wolfs, with more cobalt blue stripes. What was a em'wolf'/em?/span/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" /span/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"I pushed the thought from my head, and looked at my eyes. My eyes were a bright arctic blue colour, and my lower face was covered by a mask with two slits. Wait… what was em'arctic'/em?/span/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" /span/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"That was when I noticed that on my chest, over where my 'Soul Drive' had been, was a jewel, similar to Zero's. It was the same colour as my eyes. I had a ponytail of cobalt blue wires coming out of the back of my head. It came down to my hips, and was tipped in white. /span/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" /span/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"A slight pressure on my shoulder pulled me from my thoughts. I looked up at Zero, who had a thoughtful look on his face. /span/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" /span/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);""Dragon." He spoke up suddenly. I blinked as he turned his head to face me. /span/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" /span/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);""What?" I asked. /span/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" /span/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"He blinked at me. "You need a better name than 'GP02'. Your new name is Dragon. Do you like it?"/span/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" /span/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"em"May the spirits guide you, young dragon." /emI remembered what my first saviour had said to me. /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;""Dragon…" I spoke softly, "…I like it." I smiled. /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"Zero smiled back. "Then let me show you your new home."/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;"With that, Zero led me to a cliff that over looked a village that surrounded a large tree. A large castle was built into the tree. /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;" /div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 14px;""Dragon… welcome to Lacroa, our land."/div