All was still as a figure silently slid through the darkness of the upcoming dawn. Looking at the golden watch on his wrist. With a sigh, he looked at the book in his hand, it's old leather spine ready to give way any second as he opened it, he already lost several pages and had to glue them back in himself, but he knew it'd all be worth it soon enough. This experiment will not fail. Not like all his others. He paid good money for this, and he hoped it'd pay off soon enough. Slowly the sun started to rise, turning the British sky a pinkish hue instead of an ugly gray for once that summer. Putting the book on the ground below him, he looked at the sky and tilted his head. Licking his thumb, he leaned down and gently turned a page in the book as he continued to read. Turning his head once more he reached into his coat pocket and pulled out two bird feathers.

He had to travel far and wide for these feathers, but he had them all the same, and he wasn't going to run out anytime soon. Throwing the feathers down on the book for now, he turned and walked over to his car and pulled out a large wooden box and dragged it back to the book. His arms strained under the weight of the box, but, still, he managed to bring it back all the same. Next to the book he opened the wooden box and brought his prize: a dragon's tooth. It was hard to find, but a man by the name of Kenneth Valentine managed to get his hands on on one. It was a pretty penny, but there it was in all of it's glory. Sucking in a deep breath he looked at the rising sun and then his watch. It was now almost seven AM. It was time for the normal humans to get up and go to their meaningless jobs. Not him. Now, he was making history, and it was going to be glorious.

Looking past the trees, the figure could see the city just beyond his reach, the bright fast food signs off in the distance still glowing despite the sun now rising more fully. He could hear the numerous cars humming and honking at one another as they raced off to their jobs, the tiny ant-like people hurrying off, kids going to school, adults bustling about. Now, it was all going to change. His time had come and he wasn't going to fail. Not this time.

20-year-old Benjamin Greenbloom let out a low groan as his alarm clock blared in his ear loudly. He tried to reach over to shut it off, but nothing happened. No, nothing ever happened when he tried to move his right arm anymore. Cracking an eye open, he turned over to his left side and shut the alarm off. Just a few short months ago Ben lost his right arm protecting his friend Ivan 'Damian' Newlands from deadly dragon fire, the fire wasn't from a silver dragon, but a big black dragon he and Ivan were trying to save. He actually kept his arm for a short while after the hit, but, in the end he had to be rushed to the hospital. They couldn't save it. Still, with a headshake, Ben hopped out of bed. It was time to get ready for work.

He worked at a highly tourist fast food joint just out on the edge of the city. It wasn't a glamorous job, that's for sure, but, it was slowly helping him learn to work with his non-dominant arm. Honestly, at the start, the job was fine; the manager was nice towards Ben and even sympathized with him at one point, but then the manager left and got replaced with a woman who clearly never learned what 'compassion' was in her life. Going to his dresser drawer, he started to slowly undress out of his night clothes and his mind started to wonder. How did his life get so...Weird?

He was best friends with not only a homunculus named Twigleg, but also a vampire - well, a half-blooded vampire. Atticus Noel.

Atticus was one of his best friends that's been in his life since high school, but, according to Atticus, he's been in Ben'd life since Ben began living with the Greenblooms. Atticus has been there for Ben through thick and thin on many occasions. Hell, Atticus literally went half way across the world with the professor and Twigleg to help save Ben, and that only happened four years ago. He also adopted three half-blooded vampyric children. Mostly out of pity for them, but also because they were either in the process of turning, had just turned, or really young, and Atticus was also a big softy. Atticus's real name was Orrick, but only two people in the world can call him that: Ben, and Zenith.

Zenith...He was another wild card. Zenith was interesting to say the least. The real Zenith was the original dragon rider and Atticus'... erm... crush. He died in the 1400's due to illness… And then he wa's back, it was not exactly him though; it was a clone. A clone that at one point was dead set on killing Ben but was hit with Firedrake's fire. He was thought to be dead because he, at the time, was a vampire, but, he showed himself to Ben once more showing that he was very much alive and no longer undead due to unnatural circumstances and dragon fire. He was now living with Atticus. Ben was sure Atticus was on cloud nine now.

Then, there was Ivan 'Damian' Newlands. What was there to say about him? He was almost a typical American male: loud, kinda rude, no manners. But, he was nothing short of a hero almost. Ending four months ago, he and Ben traveled all over the UK for three years, freeing as many dragons from James Marrs (Ivan's father, Ben came to realize later on) as they could. It's what caused Ben to lose his arm in the end. Ivan had an identical twin brother working for James as well… Joshua Newlands…

Ben shut his eyes and sighed at the memory of Joshua. Something that will haunt him for the rest of his life. Ben accidently caused Joshua's death, slamming him into a large cabinet and causing the cabinet to fall. Ben managed to get out of the way, but Josh... Josh didn't. It broke the poor guy's neck on impact, but even after that, Ivan never hated Ben or tossed him to the side, in fact. He saved Ben using his twin's ID and posing as him. Ivan was in jail now just so he could protect Ben and something about it... It always made Ben happy to have him as a friend. In fact. Ivan was getting out tomorrow! Ben was going to be the one to go and pick him up... With Guinevere, because Ben couldn't drive.

"Benny?" His door opened just as he got his work pants on, still shirtless he smiled at the youngest Greenbloom. Jackson. Jackson was only three, almost four. He was a little boy with auburn curly hair, big blue eyes, and freckles on his cheeks. Today he was wearing overalls with a white shirt underneath. Ben wasn't there to see him born, unfortunately, but he was still his baby brother nonetheless.

"Mornin' sproutster!" Ben greeted warmly, Jackson stuck his tongue out at the nickname given to him. It was equal for them; Ben hated being called Benny and Jackson hated being called Sproutster.

"You 'eft your 'rm down'airs again." Jackson told him the best he could.

"Oh, did I? Damn."

" 'Wear jar! Mum!"

"No! Jackson! Urg!" Before Ben could stop him the three-year-old was gone.

"Benjamin!" Came Vita's shout from downstairs.

"Urg!" Ben groaned as he hurried and got his shirt on. "I'm coming!" Grabbing a sterling he rushed down, hopping the last step, he put the coin in the jar on the table, labeled,

Swear jar

Each day the coins in it got higher and higher.

"At this rate, you'll pay for his college," Barnabas chuckled as he read his paper.

"More like his life savings," Twigleg joined in as he sat on the edge of a chair.

"Ha," Ben sarcastically laughed as he grabbed his fake plastic arm from behind the couch. Attaching and hooking the fake arm on, he rolled his long sleeve down to cover it up. Up close it anybody could tell it was fake, but from afar of it looked normal enough. It wasn't functioning, just a cover up, really.

"Master, can I join you at work today?" Twigleg asked Ben, and Ben just softly poked Twigleg's nose.

"We talked about you calling me 'master' and no. Remember last time? You almost got me fired when you shouted at that American."

"She was rude!"

"They're all rude, Twigleg. It stands. Besides, if you met my new boss you probably would get me fired with your shouting."

Twigleg crossed his arms in a huff, and Barnabas let out a cough while Vita put Jackson in his highchair.

"Tell me about your new boss again, Ben." Barnabas asked, leaving no room for argument as he set his paper down.

"Her name is Joy Asenburg, she's American as well. Plump, shorter than most women, almost sixty- there isn't much to say, really. She's mean, show's extreme favoritism at times, loud, demanding, condescending, a big fucking bitch at times!"

"Benjamin!" Vita scolded.

Ben sighed and put in two more coins in the swear jar. "No matter." He sighed out once he calmed down. "I got to go in each day with a smile and leave each night hating myself." Ben smiled as he grabbed a piece of toast.

"I really don't see why you don't just quit?" Guivere asked as she grabbed some orange juice from the fridge.

"It's helping me, as much as I hate it. Once I know for sure I can manage with... Well... Then I'll quit." Ben shrugged as he bit into his toast. Looking at the clock he let out a startled noise as some crumbs fell from his mouth,

"Shit!"

"BENJAMIN!" Both Vita and Barnabas yelled at him this time around.

"Sorry. Imma be late. Here." Throwing in another coin, Ben rushed towards the door only to be stopped by Guin speaking up from her seat.

"I'll give you a ride. It's on the way to school."

"Oh, thank you."

Guinevere got up and the two said their goodbyes and got into the car. Once in, Guinevere's radio started to blare loudly. She turned it down and drove out of the driveway. After a few moments of silence, she finally spoke.

"So, Ivan's getting released tomorrow. Exciting right?"

"Yep! I requested that day off months in advance just to see him again!"

"Good, you've earned it. Maybe you'll get to confess to him this time around."

"Oh, god, don't go sounding like Atti now." Ben chuckled as he lightly shoved her. She just giggled in response before sighing out. Once more there was silence between them as she drove on. Once more, she started the conversation,

"How's Oliver? I know you went to see him the other day."

Ben frowned. Oliver. His biological father.

Oliver tried to come back into Ben's life with mixed results. At first it was normal. Then he met Atticus, and it all went downhill from there. Oliver worked at a morgue but had to take some time off as he went a little on the... crazy side. Being kidnapped along with the Greenblooms, meeting dragons, a vampire, and having to be shoved in a room with giant Roc didn't do anything good for his mind. He had to check himself into a mental hospital.

"Better... He's still not... Well, but he's better. Poor sod."

"Well, he wanted into your life, and your life is crazy."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Ben, since you were just a young teen your life has been just a crazy, wild ride, I mean, you're the dragon rider! That's insane!"

"True."

Guinevere parked her car in front of the fast food place, the big yellow arches telling Ben it was time to get to work.

"Alright, thanks for the ride, Sis."

"Do you need me to pick you up tonight?"

"Nah, I think I can walk. See you." With a wave, he shut the door and rushed inside. Instantly he was greeted by Joy.

"Almost late again, Benjamin," she sneered, and he fought the urge to roll his eyes at her.

"Almost." Ben simply told her as he quickly clocked in.

"Try to be at least ten minutes early from now on. It's only fair to the people you're replacing," she simply told him as she turned and walked away.

"Yeah right…" he mumbled softly as he then focused up. Not even five minutes later a man came in with his family and ordered. Placing the order up, he waited as the food was being prepared. Hearing soft whispering, he turned his attention the family. The wife was pointing at his fake arm and whispering to the husband frantically. Ben only rolled his eyes. Yes. From afar the plastic arm looked real enough, but behind the counter, it was completely noticeable in the fact that he never moved his arm once. Still, he gave them their food and watched them hurriedly leave. For a while that's how it went until an hour into his shift.

A rather large American male was ordering when the ground shook. Ben put his hand on the counter as several customers screamed out in terror. The monitors up on the wall shook violently, and one almost came crashing down on top of the cook. Out of instinct Ben went down on the ground and huddled up. The cook and the fry maker did so as well. The fry maker crawled over to the counter and held on to Ben's arm for dear life. It never seemed to end as the ground shook more and more violently. People were crying and sobbing as they huddled to the ground.

"How are you so calm?" the fry maker, Sarah, asked him softly, tears in her eyes as she sobbed. She realized he hadn't said a peep since the earthquake started. He decided not to talk, not 'till it was done.

Another monitor came crashing down, shattering on impact, Ben pulled Sarah closer to him to avoid her getting any glass on her face. Hearing the cook cry out, Ben turned to see him clutching his leg; some of the scalding grease from the fryers spilled out of the fryers and onto his leg. Johnson was the youngest out of the group, only sixteen.

"Johnson, get over here!" Ben commanded bravely. The cook looked at him but did so carefully to not disturb his leg any farther. The man then stayed with them, and the three of them huddled together as the ground continued to tremor. Then, once the power went faulty, it stopped. Still, for at least thirty seconds nobody moved from their spots in fear of an aftershock. Slowly, Ben was the first stand. His heart pounding and out of breath, he looked out at the lobby. All the chairs and tables overturned, the customers were all on the floor, hands over their heads in pure fear clearly petrified, but slowly, one by one, they shakily stood.

"Is everybody alright? Anybody hurt?" Ben took charge as he yelled out to them.

"Me leg…" Johnson groaned out as he slowly tried to stand.

Taking his attention off the customers, Ben turned and looked at Johnson's leg, moving the fabric of the man's black pants a bit. He sighed. He could see where the grease hit.

"Thankfully, you had long pants on. That probably blocked most of the grease, but, still, that's going to be a bad burn. Go get a chair. I think we have some burn cream in the office. Sarah can you get that for me?" he asked her. She nodded and rushed off to do so. Ben looked at the people in the lobby. There was a silence as they all just shook in their spots. Some of them were quickly calling their loved ones. Ben sighed and helped Johnson to a chair.

"I'm going to roll up your pant leg, ok?" Ben told the victim simply, and he nodded, groaning out in pain as he did so.

"Son of a bitch! I knew I should have called off!" Johnson yelled out as his pants stuck to the wound.

"What is going on out here?" Joy yelled as she came storming up to them.

"Johnson suffered a grease burn from the earthquake-"

"Ok? And? You're not a doctor or nurse. You can't treat him here in front of customers!"

"I highly doubt customer satisfaction is an issue right now! We just had an earthquake, Joy! Johnson is injured! If this is a third degree burn it could be bad!" Ben fought back against her.

"Benjamin...My office. Now. I will deal with this."

"No you won't!"

"Office! Now!"

Ben groaned out and got up, giving Johnson a look before retreating inside the office. With a sigh, he turned and looked at the schedule while waiting on Joy. Instantly, his blood boiled and he clenched his fist in rage.

She scheduled him for tomorrow. Nine AM to nine PM. Instantly he looked down the schedule and felt his jaw drop as he saw that Samatha got the day off. Biting his lip he shut his eyes in rage as he tried to calm himself, all the while trying so hard not to say every known curse word in the English language. Sarah sat there in the chair in shock, watching as Ben shook.

Joy came into her office, Johnson in tow, the man limping pitiful behind her.

"Jesus Christ, woman!" Ben snarled as he rushed over to Johnson, having the teen lean on him.

"Now! That is enough, Benjamin! The cops are already on their way. I have to call corporate about replacing those screens-"

"What about an ambulance?" Ben cut her off.

"Nonsense. Johnson is fine, all he has to do is wash it off."

"You're not fucking serious are you." Ben cursed out finally. Unable to hold in his rage for this woman's arrogance any longer, he rolled up his sleeve. "THIS! Was caused by a burn that wasn't treated properly! Now you listen to me! I am dead serious when I say I will walk out of that fucking door if you don't call a goddamn ambulance! He is your employee, be it a big or small burn YOU are responsible for that! Do. Your. Job!" Ben yelled out to her. Everyone looked at him like he grew three heads at once, their jaws dropped.

"...Very well." Was all Joy said as she picked up a phone.

Ben rolled his sleeve back down and Johnson just whispered a soft, "Thank you…"

"No problem, mate. Sit." Ben sighed out softly. Running his hand down his face, Ben only sighed. Things could only get better from here, hopefully.

For once, 15-year-old Joseph didn't have to worry about hiding from people or keeping fed or even sleeping. Zubeida and the village took care of that. The dragons kept to the tomb and maintained their distance, but Zubeida had insisted on preparing a special dinner for the other arrivals. Actually, the boy wanted to politely decline; part of that was the usual modesty, but the other part was that associating with humans openly now felt somewhat alien to him. I suppose it might be rude to decline, though.

Besides, Joseph knew Grey wouldn't let him turn down dinner.

At least it was all familiar faces, to the boy's relief. There were five only relative strangers to him at the table: Zubeida herself; the three Greenblooms Barnabas and Vita (now old and weary) with their daughter Guinevere (now on the cusp of 30); and Sorrel, who by her own declaration was only there for the mushroom soup. Along with them were his now constant companions Grey, a very young ash colored brownie no older than the boy; and Kiloh, who at present posed as a German shepherd to fit inside of Zubeida's kitchen but strongly preferred his black bear form. Kiloh was a sprite, a creature with the power to take the form and abilities of any non-human, non-magical animal. Not in the room with them but also not far off was Shimmertail, the dragon who had brought them all there in the first place.

Though he was currently in Pakistan, Joseph came from much farther away, thousands of miles. Specifically, Florida. His encounter with the brownie Grey happened in his own home, though it was unplanned by both of them. The brownie had been trying to steal from Joseph's house, specifically taking the boy's sweatshirt for a disguise and an atlas for navigation. Grey tried to take those things back to Shimmertail, who at the time feared all humans, but had the boy in pursuit. Fortunately for Grey, Joseph got bit by a snake during the chase and couldn't continue.

However, the brownie feared Joseph would die from the bite and couldn't bear to let that happen. He begged Shimmertail to reveal himself and use his fire to heal the boy. At first the dragon refused but eventually gave into the pleading. The pair had to save Joseph's life again when a hurricane bore down on his town and he had no way out. He rode Shimmertail out of the disaster zone, though it was reluctant for them both. Later the boy learned his town had been devastated, almost entirely demolished and flooded, and very many were killed. Thankfully, the boy's parents were not in the area; they had been on a trip abroad and would return in a couple weeks.

Grey insisted it was only fair that until they came back, he and Shimmertail would take the boy and keep him safe. In return the travelers could keep the atlas. Along the way they ran into Kiloh, who lived in an everyday forest at the time but was drawn to Joseph by the exemplary character he sensed from the boy. So the sprite vowed to become Joseph's guardian of sorts. However, tragedy struck again when the boy found out the plane carrying his parents back went down over the ocean. By now Shimmertail had warmed to the boy, partly because he knew Joseph couldn't be dangerous if a sprite didn't think so. That was how Joseph ended up a permanent member of the travelling crew.

There he learned why they crossed the ocean in the first place: out of fear driven by rumors that humans were closing on the Rim of Heaven, the dragons once again set off in search of new homes. Grey, inspired by Firedrake's journey, insisted on going west just like Firedrake had, only with the aid of a sea serpent they had gone much farther west than Firedrake ever did. Months later, they all ended up in the Pakistani village of the first dragon rider, Joseph in tow, for rest and resupply before fetching what dragons remained in the Rim.

There they learned none remained at all, for they had spread the world in search of sanctuary. But two other dragons were coincidentally in the village that day, for it was a regular five-year occurrence to return to the tomb now and mourn the death of Benjamin Greenbloom, who contracted malaria and died fifteen years prior at the age of 13. It seemed there would be no legendary dragon rider to save the dragons this time, but some at the table weren't convinced of that.

Joseph asked that the subject be avoided, though. He didn't want to think about such a mantle being thrust upon him.

About halfway through dinner a face that Joseph hadn't met earlier took a seat like he knew he was welcome without having to ask. Apparently that was correct, though. Zubeida went on to introduce, "Joseph, Kiloh, Grey, I do not believe you've been acquainted. This is my assistant Ivan." Ivan was about Guinevere's age, Joseph noted, and apparently was a redhead.

"Hello." Joseph hadn't heard an American accent besides his own in a long time, so it was a pleasant surprise to catch one.

"I had a distant cousin named Ivan," Joseph initiated as his best conversation starter. Meeting new people wasn't his strong suit, unfortunately. However, Ivan seemed to take to that just fine. "He passed, unfortunately, but I always loved seeing him at family reunions.

"Hm well, I have a cousin named Joey!" Ivan exclaimed back excitedly. "Probably about your age, too. Haven't seen him in years, though. Parents won't let me anywhere near him. I guess you look kind of crazy spouting theories about hippogriffs and sprites, am I right?"

"I feel crazy just knowing them." Joseph paused before pointing out another coincidence. "At the old family reunions my cousin Ivan always called me Joey, too. Or occasionally 'José.' And I remember not really liking it."

The boy had feared things weren't going well when Ivan frowned. With a serious look Zubeida's assistant leaned forward toward the boy and spoke the names, "David. Irene," as if he were supposed to know what they meant or who they were. But in fact he did. And there was only one way Ivan might have known those were his parents' names.

"They... they told me you were dead. You and Josh both, killed in a car crash!" Joseph stood then and demanded, "How can you be here?"

Grey, though slower on the uptake, jumped in when he figured it out. "Wait, you two- how? What kind of crazy luck is that?"

Ivan answered both questions. "It was partly true. Josh was killed riding with one of his drunk older friends. And I... well, I came here. Your parents probably thought they'd never see me again and didn't want to, so that's why they told you that." Ivan inclined his head toward the magical creatures section then. "Clearly they didn't succeed in keeping you away from 'that crazy magic nonsense.'"

"They're dead, Ivan." And suddenly the atmosphere got quiet and dark, just what Joseph had wanted to avoid. "Plane crash. That's how I'm..." The boy stopped to clutch at his messy auburn hair and then removed his glasses to compulsively clean them as a brief diversion. But once he couldn't avoid feeling anymore he declared, "Excuse me. I need a moment." And without waiting for permission the boy made a hasty exit.

Kiloh and Grey followed the boy up the path to the dragon riders' tomb even though he didn't want them, too. So about halfway up he turned and asked them with a quavering voice, "Please. Can I have a second?"

"What about your cousin?" the brownie reminded Joseph, "He's probably worried about you!"

"I'll come back. In the meantime-" Joseph didn't stop because he wasn't sure how to finish. He stopped because a tremor below him that had begun gradually was escalating. "Guys-!"

"Hold onto me." Kiloh made that demand as he morphed into a black bear. Joseph got it pretty quick: bears were heavier, so combined with their four paws they would be harder to knock down. Grey and Joseph both grabbed strands of the bear's fur tight, and though the ground shaking turned violent enough to uproot distant vegetation the group was unharmed at first. It seemed the area was open enough that there was nothing to hit them.

Then a crack appeared in the ground in front of Kiloh. "Look!" the bear tried to warn. But just as the crack got everybody's attention, it extended in an instant to be so long that it went between Kiloh's legs. And was longer than him. It also began folding out, threatening to split.

"A fissure?" Joseph yelled over the noise. And just as he did... it burst open. Everyone yelped. Joseph and Kiloh were swallowed up immediately with no chance to save themselves, but Grey managed to hook some claws to the ground above before he could plummet too far.

"No! Guys!" Looking down in horror he watched them fall out of sight... which he found odd. Waiting below wasn't rocks or lava or, well, anything. Nothing the brownie could see, anyway. It was pure darkness even with his feline night vision. But before he had much time to be confused, the ground shook Grey loose, so he, too, was consumed.

Wherever the three awoke, it wasn't a magma pool or underground pit. They all knew the feeling of sunlight beating on their backs especially after travelling through the harsh Sahara and Arabian Deserts. At least, they did once they were conscious. And that didn't happen immediately. Kiloh was first, though, and as soon as he noticed his surroundings he knew he couldn't keep being a bear, so he shrunk to a brown rat instead. And from there he prodded both of the others. "Wake up."

That itself was enough to get both of the bipeds awake... and once Joseph got a look around he snapped into action immediately. In his head he was thanking God that Grey had been wearing his human clothes despite the safe environment of the village, because before the brownie could raise his head, Joseph pulled the hood of the camouflage jacket over the brownie's head. "Hey! What gives?" the brownie demanded.

"Shh." Joseph quieted the brownie and finally let him lift his head to see... Well, they were still in a human settlement, but definitely not the village. From all the green on street corners, Joseph didn't even think it was still Pakistan. Street corners? Indeed, this was definitely some kind of urban metropolis. Joseph wasn't where all the skyscrapers were, but he could see them over the horizon, so they weren't far off.

"How...?" Grey tried to ask.

"I believe 'where' is the better question to address first," Kiloh decided. "I am sure everyone is shaken, but that should not overtake our caution." As the pair stood up then, Kiloh burrowed under Joseph's collar.

"Please, don't say 'shaken,'" the boy groaned. But he realized the sprite was probably right, so he looked around. One thing stood out immediately. "Stop. Yield. One way. Those street signs are all in English. Why are they in English?"

"We should get out of sight," the rat suggested, "The longer we stay out here, the more likely we are to be seen as out of place. Especially the brownie." It was a good thing Kiloh was there spouting calm and practical advice because the boy could feel his heart beating out of his chest and lungs compulsively pumping double time.

"Alright, uh..." Joseph's head whipped around the busy city street faster than it should have for the purposes of spotting details, but one thing caught his eye: a bright yellow arches sign across the street. Best not assume that means America, though, Joseph advised himself, Those things are everywhere. But maybe we can take a corner booth and get our bearings. Joseph wasn't a big city kid, so he wasn't sure if he should press a button somewhere on a post before crossing the street or if he could just go, but he did notice that no cars were crossing his path either way. "That's where we're going. Grey, as soon as we're inside, keep your head down and sit as far away from humans as possible." When the brownie nodded, Joseph led him across the street and inside.

"I requested tomorrow off months ago, Joy!" Ben yelled so loudly that Joseph caught it from out front. He knew he shouldn't be yelling at the front counter, but he was in the middle of cleaning the broken monitors, and Joy was already talking to him as it was.

"I don't care, you don't always get what you want."

"Then how come, Sammy got it off then? She only asked for it... Mmm. Yesterday." There was a ding at the door causing Ben to look up at a hurrying figure rushing on past the counter.

"Uh..." Joseph could tell he had walked in at a tense moment just by walking inside. At first he wanted to just ignore it and ask about where he was anyway, but something else caught Joseph's attention: the fallen monitor. It couldn't have happened here, too, could it? So as Grey sat down as stealthily he could, which the boy anxiously watched over his own shoulder, before inquiring, "What happened there?"

"Earthquake, mate, knocked the power right off." Ben filled him in before Joy could.

Joseph noticed immediately that the accent was British. I guess that answers two questions... how could the same thing happen, though? "And was there any sort of... 'pit' opened up?" Joseph knew it looked suspicious that he wasn't ordering, but what else could he do? He didn't have any money.

"Unless you mean the pits of hell that opened when she became my boss, no. Sorry." Ben chuckled.

Instantly he was met with a harsh, "BENJAMIN! We will discuss your behavior later!" With that Joy stormed off towards the office.

Benjamin, eh? That was certainly a name Joseph had heard plenty of lately. So the exact same thing didn't happen here. But it's too coincidental to be disconnected. Joseph struggled with a next move, but he didn't think he could learn anything more there. "Hey, Grey!" the boy called then, "Let's go." Joseph hoped to get out quickly then for two reasons: it was very suspicious to talk a little bit and leave without ordering, but the boy also noticed that Grey had to face the counter in order to head toward the door, and his face just couldn't be fully hidden. Joseph tried to divert Benjamin from that by excusing himself, "Sorry to waste your time! I think we'll eat somewhere without major earthquake damage," before then trying to quickly slip out himself.

"Yeah, I don…" Ben looked passed Joseph and his jaw dropped, was he seeing things? Was that a brownie? No, it couldn't have been, but at second glance, there was no denying it. "Is that a... Brownie?" He asked without hesitation.

Joseph's knee-jerk reaction was to deny that, but Grey gave himself away by freezing and looking at the stranger in shock. By making direct eye contact he exposed his face. Crap! Joseph cursed inside his own head. But since there was now no avoiding it, the boy then had to consider, He knew. He recognized what Grey was immediately! So Joseph made back for the counter and leaned in as far as he could. That was so he could ask as quietly as possible, "How do you know about that?" with suspicious, narrow eyes.

"...I…" Ben paused and leaned in as well, "Do you know Firedrake?" he asked just as softly. It was the only question he could think of at the moment, with his past of being shown as the dragon rider leading him to be just a little more cautious, not a lot, but a little more.

The fact that the boy inhaled a big breath anxiously probably answered that question without having to say anything. "I met him once," Joseph admitted quietly. "Maia, too," he added for extra proof. Then Joseph looked over his shoulder before requesting, "Can we talk somewhere else? There's... there's something really weird going on here." Benjamin, Benjamin, and he knows Firedrake? Still a coincidence? Or... Joseph glanced at Grey, who just stood dumbstruck for the most part, before insisting, "Please," with pleading eyes.

Ben glanced around before licking his dry lips. "Johnson. I'm going on break!" Ben yelled to the back and then moved his head towards the door. "Follow me." Before he could even make it out from behind the counter, Joy's voice sounded from the back, so instantly he moved his arm, silently ushering for Grey to sit back down as Joy came up to him.

"Say's who?! We just had an earthquake! Now! Pick up that broom-" She paused to shove a broom harshly into Ben's arm. "-and sweep! Get on me about me not doing my job! Yet you can't follow simple instructions!" she snapped at him.

"They're lost, they just need instructions-"

"I don't care! And neither should you. Get back to work!" She snarled at him. As if on cue, a rather large family came in from the front door.

Oh, come on! The American boy shouted in his own head, Just when we were catching a break! But about then, Joseph felt Kiloh shifting inside his jacket. What are you up to...? The boy felt the rat descending under the jacket and even Joseph's jeans, Is he coming out? Joseph mentally cried, If someone sees him, they'll-

"Rat!" The oldest woman of the big family exclaimed as Kiloh emerged from Joseph's ankle and proceeded to scramble across the floor in full view of everyone in the building.

...That clever sprite.

Ben couldn't stop the smile on his face as Joy let out a loud shriek and jumped back in fear. He watched the family turn and flee out. "GET OUT!" Joy shrieked as she tried to throw something at the rat but missed horribly.

"Honestly, Joy, it's just a rat. Hi, little guy." Ben waved to the tiny critter. As he then extended his arm. "You're friendly aren't you. I know a lot of friendly rats."

"Crazy! You're crazy!" Joy shrieked out in terror. A rat made the restaurant empty out pretty quickly, minus its employees. The rat that had been running away looked over its shoulder when Ben invited it and ran back toward them. Joy just couldn't handle that and fled the room, leaving everyone alone at last.

"What do you think?" Joseph asked the rat.

Kiloh stood on his hind legs and seemed to scrutinize Ben for a moment before concluding, "We may trust him."

Joseph still wasn't sold himself, but he supposed that was about how Shimmertail felt when Kiloh said that about him. "Alright. I'm Joseph. The brownie is Grey, and the rat is a sprite named Kiloh. You can probably tell by the way I talk that I'm not from around here, and you don't know the half of it... and something tells me I don't, either. But what about you? What do you know?"

"Well, I'm Ben Greenbloom. I know a lot of brownies, not so much sprites." Ben smiled at Kiloh, "and here I thought you were related to Lola." Ben spoke softly to Kiloh. He then looked at Joseph and frowned a bit, "How did you come in alliance with these guys? Also you said you met Firedrake. Does that mean you've ridden on him?" Ben asked as he finally left from behind the counter, dropping the broom as he did so.

Joseph shook his head. "No, never rode him. He and Maia were visiting the tomb of the dragon rider for-" But he paused then, thinking maybe he shouldn't reveal that. "-...reasons." In his head,

Joseph though, This can't be real. Benjamin Greenbloom, from the U.K., dragon rider... alive and well. Studying Ben's face, Joseph also concluded, And looking very young for his age, too... though it seems he's not still riding. "But I've ridden a different dragon, Shimmertail. He... he claims he knew you." Avoiding the subject of Ben's supposed death was something Joseph was trying very hard to do. But it seemed he was the only one.

Grey lowered his hood then and exclaimed, "Ben!" With all the wonder and shock that Joseph had been suppressing. "I can't- wow, how are you still alive? That's not possible!" Joseph pursed his lips in the young brownie's direction, but it seemed the damage was done.

"Oh? I'm afraid you must be specific. I'm assuming it's about what happened recently? if you know Sorrel, that is." Ben asked as he silently looked down at his arm before back to Grey.

"Met her, too... she didn't really take to me. But, God..." Joseph had to take a breath to realize the care as already out of the bag anyway. So as Kiloh climbed up to the boy's shoulder he elaborated, "Professor Greenbloom - he's your dad, right? Barnabas? His wife, and his daughter, and Zubeida - Firedrake and Sorrel, too. And Shimmertail - they all said the same thing." Joseph gulped before revealing, "They all told me you contracted malaria at 13. You refused any medical help... And you died."

To Joseph's great relief, Kiloh interjected then. "None of us feel very open speaking in this place. Perhaps we should talk elsewhere?" That was an idea Joseph nodded to.

Ben silently mouthed the words 'contracted malaria…' to himself before he looked at them suspiciously. "Yeah...Sure. Follow me towards the back. It's more private," he spoke softly as his brow furrowed suddenly. He stopped suddenly and took his name tag off of his shirt. "I'm sure she gets the hint by now," he mumbled as he turned and lead them out.

"Well at least we're not interrupting anything then," Joseph observed. "Alright, we haven't shared much have we? Here's the deal: last we knew, we were in Zubeida's village stopping off for a moon dew refill. While we were there a freak earthquake happened. A strong one that even tore a hole in the ground. The three of us fell through it and... now we're here. In urban UK by the sound of it. Did I miss anything?" To that Kiloh shook his little head and the brownie silently shrugged. "I have no idea what's going on! We woke up on another continent, you're alive, and... aww, geez, everyone else is probably worried sick for us, aren't they?" Grey frowned to that.

"Probably... Shimmertail will be beside himself. Not to mention your long lost cousin."

"Oh, yeah," Joseph remembered as a side thought. "Apparently I have one of those... but that's not important right now." '

Ben stood there, jaw dropped as he tried to take this all in at once. With a simple sigh he just brought his one arm up and pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head.

"Ok...Let's start with the obvious one first. I never contracted Malaria, I mean yeah, I think I got sick at thirteen but that was more of a cold more than anything. Second, you say you were at the village and the earth just...Swallowed you guys up and somehow you ended here, in urban UK? You guys are starting to sound like Oliver." He sighed out once more this time more softly as he shook his head.

"I don't know who that is! Look, just... maybe you can't help us. Can you at least tell us what city we're in so we can start with knowing something?" Joseph demanded, "It's been a really long ten minutes."

"Ok, just calm down. You're in Bristol, it's a small little city really….Look. I live with my mum, dad, Guin, and little brother just...thirty minutes from here on foot. If you'd like I can take you there." Ben spoke sternly as he looked at all of them one at a time.

Joseph's lips were pursed with confusion and indecision, but he already knew what Kiloh would want him to say before being told. Still, the sprite was the one to speak anyway. "That is very kind of you. Thank you."

Ben smiled at him in response, ready to get a move on, but his phone rang in his pocket, causing him to pause and take it out of his pocket. Using his thumb, he pushed the flip part up and answered the phone. It was Barnabas. Great timing.

"Hello?" Ben answered softly.

"Oh thank God! They must have just got the cell tower back up and running! Are you alright?" Barnabas asked him worried,

"Yeah, I'm fine, ur…" Ben paused and looked at Joseph before rubbing his nose and continuing on, "Listen, this might sound, crazy, but I have someone with a Sprite and a Brownie I figured it'd be for the best if I bring them back home with me. Just so they can get their bearings?"

There was a moment of silence on Barnabas's side before he got a simple, "Alright… Just... Be sure they're not…"

"They seem fine, thank you."

With that, Ben hung up and looked at Joseph with a smile. "Alright, shall we?"

Ben opened the door, expecting to the inside of the home in shambles, but to his surprise it looked like it wasn't even hit. Blinking in surprise, Ben heard a sudden, "Benny!" Before he could react, Jackson had wrapped himself around Ben's middle and instantly demanded to be held, ignoring the strangers behind Ben. With a sigh, Ben leaned down and picked up his brother, turning him to face the trio behind him.

"Guys, meet my little brother, Jackson, Jackson, say 'hi'."

Jackson pouted and buried himself in the crook of Ben's neck, clearly showing no intention of doing so.

"Sorry, he's shy."

"I don't blame him," Joseph shrugged off like it was nothing, "But nobody ever mentioned you had a brother. Just a sister, Guinevere." Narrowing his eyes, the boy thought of another discrepancy. "Your phone looks pretty old, too. These days I thought most everyone had a smartphone." Meanwhile, it seemed Kiloh had taken to the baby boy. In an effort to get Jackson's attention, he scurried onto the ground and transformed into a fluffy white rabbit.

"Got a soft spot for baby humans, Kiloh?" Grey observed.

"I have never seen one before," the sprite pointed out, "They are rather cute. And I can sense more innocence from him than I have ever seen in a human."

"Smartphone, eh? I think I heard of em, but they don't interest me." Ben then let out a soft chuckle, he then looked at Jackson and gently patted the boy before bringing him down, "Go get dad, please." Jackson turned and rushed away. "Are these the same people who told you I died?" Ben asked Joseph once Jackson was out of earshot.

"Those people were your family," Joseph reminded Ben. "They were in the village with all of us." The outsider's eyes narrowed further then. "And... what do you mean, you 'think you've heard' of smartphones? They're... everywhere. Apple is probably about to release its sixth iPhone right now." As he spoke, theories began racing in Joseph's mind. Time travel? Really far-fetched... but so are sprites and dragons. Still, that doesn't explain why Ben lived to be however much older than 13. "Let's see if your dad can help clear this up," the boy supposed out loud. But in his head he was just certain Barnabas would make things even more confusing.

Thankfully they didn't have to wait for too long for Barnabas and Vita to appear. Instantly Vita went to Grey. "Look at you!" She exclaimed happily as she started to pinch his cheeks in excitement. But it turned out Grey didn't care at all for that, so he kept out of the wonan's reach.

"Oh my...I heard of seeing double…" Barnabas chuckled as he looked at Joseph, "You look almost like Benjamin. Save for the glasses and hair color." Barnabas mumbled as he examined Joesph. "You're younger as well…"

Ben sat down at the table and watched as they all interacted with one another for a brief moment. Finally he spoke, "Dad. Did the earthquake hit here?"

"No, just on the outskirts of the city. How strange." Barnabas broke away from Joseph long enough to look back at Ben, who was still at the table.

"Oh, my manners! Did anyone want tea?" Vita asked them all.

"Umm... don't you recognize us?" Joseph apprehensively asked. "I'm Joseph. And that's Grey, and Kiloh." Joseph picked the rabbit up off the ground then. "We were all eating together just under an hour ago." He addressed Vita. "You act like you never met Grey before, too! None of this makes any sense!"

The rabbit spoke, then, which caught the Greenblooms by surprise. "I do not believe we are speaking to the same people. They appear younger, and they clearly do not remember us."

"But that's impossible!" the brownie cut in then, shouting, "I mean... how? Just how? I don't get it!"

Time travel was becoming more plausible in Joseph's mind given the Greemblooms' apparent age being five or ten years younger. But that still left the loose end of Ben's life. And the best theory he had for that was one he had been avoiding just because it seemed so ludicrous. But he supposed no one was getting anywhere anyway, so he anxiously suggested, "You two are experts in the unusual, right? I don't suppose you know if there's such a thing as... maybe, parallel worlds?"