Chapter 1: The Black Dragon Returns

Stars. They were pure, incorruptible, loyal in a way, noble in many others. They kept the night sky alight, standing sentries beside the moon as she cast her soft glow upon the world. They only relinquished the duty in death, in their final hours after eons of keeping watch over earth, a symbol of the light that stands in the darkness, a silent rebel that brings hope to all.

He was not one of them. They had realized this long ago, but let him suffer; not that they were particularly malicious, they simply had no power to help him. Thus, they let the coldness seep into him; they listened silently as he screamed into the abyss for what seemed like eternity; they stood by as he cried out for a savior, and then truly cried, weeping for himself; finally, after forever, they watched him fall from the heavens like a spurned angel.

He fell with grace, not another tear was shed. He knew this was coming, eventually, once Heaven got bored with toying with him, torturing him by keeping him revolving around the beautiful planet he had once called home; but now, as his sentence ended, he couldn't help but feel a sense of soft joy amongst the numbness that blackened his soul, so subtle that it surprised him to discover that he was feeling it; joy, that finally, after all this time, it was all over. He could finally rest in peace.

As he entered the atmosphere, he felt his skin burning as mother Earth pulled him back into her arms. He closed his eyes, refusing to look into the face of death as he approached it at rapid speed. The sky whisked past him, midnight black; the stars got further and further as he was snatched away from them; the ground came rushing into his view, green and brown broken by the occasional blue of water or the grey of night clouds; his wings would not work, the force of gravity besting him as he was pulled, down, down, still down, down until-

A large amount of dirt and debris flew up into the air as he hit the ground in a burst of energy, the impact creating a large crater that knocked trees to the ground and sent animals scattering from the sudden collision. He couldn't breathe, couldn't see...everything was black, like his wings. He thought he was dead for a moment, as pain previously unimaginable racked his now compact form, his brain unable to process the signals his body was sending, demanding his attention. He coughed and shook, his small body in too much pain to move. So tired...so, so tired…

He would just rest for now.

Shu Matsutani looked at the night sky through his brand new telescope, which he had just received as a gift from his parents for his 14th birthday. He grinned as he felt Nezzucho, the small hamster-like creature, settle down on his shoulder.

"Gagagaga?" Nezzucho asked, tugging on a lock of his saga's black hair.

Shu smiled at him. "You want to look too?"

"Gaga!" The hamster nodded, flapping his tiny wings excitedly.

Shu moved aside so the eyepiece rested on his shoulder. He adjusted it and held it for his tiny friend, then turned his gaze to the moon. For a while, the two simply listened to the crickets chirp and watched the stars in silence, until something strange zipped across the sky. Shu narrowed his eyes at the object.

"Is that a shooting star?" He asked, trying to track its trajectory with his eyes.

"Ga!...Ga?...GAGAGAAAAA!" Nezzucho suddenly started going ballistic, as if seized by a sudden madness. Shu tilted his head.

"Geez, are you that excited over a meteor?"

Nezzucho grabbed a lock of his hair and pulled him towards the eyepiece, pointing at the thing zipping past them in a rapid blur of fire. Shu blinked and looked through the telescope, trying to keep track of the object...but it was too late; it had already zipped out of sight past the horizon. Shu snorted.

"Well, that was dumb." He said, looking at the hamster. "Next time you want to show me something, act faster."

The hamster seemed to take offense at this, and he stomped his tiny feet and shook his fists at him. Shu yawned and flicked him off his shoulder.

"Calm down. You can show me another shooting star some other time, if it matters that much to you."

He went through the window into his room. "Good night, Nezzucho. You can keep watching the stars if you want, but I'm going to bed."

Nezzucho continued to babble curses at his saga long after the boy had fallen asleep. Curse his ignorance! Curse his stupidity!- He finally ran out of energy and perched on the windowsill, panting softly. He looked up at the moon with worried thoughts running a familiar track through his mind:

A bad wind was coming soon.

"Ranshiin…Ranshiin...Wake up…" The windragon growled and slowly opened his eyes. He coughed and squinted at the bright light all around him, already disliking it.

"Hello?" He called. His eyes widened as he realized he was speaking in actual sentences and not hamster language. He looked at his hands and body, then realized he was also in his true form. He spread his wings and grinned, examining them with glee.

"I'm alive! And no longer in that pathetic, contemptible weaker form!" He scowled at the thought of the tiny black hamster he had called a body.

He heard giggles and laughter surrounding him on all sides.

"Should we tell him?"

"Poor thing…"

"What a fool!"

"Is he serious?"

Ranshiin growled and clenched his fists. He hated being ridiculed by an audience he couldn't see. His neck whipped around to glare at his invisible attackers.

"Who are you? Show yourselves!"

"Wow. He is serious. Has he learned nothing all this time?-I mean, if several versions of him were able to get it, doesn't that mean he shouldn't be far beh-"

"-Let him figure it out; I think he's close."

Ranshiin's eyes widened. "You! You're those spiritual legendz who made Shiron and I turn away from the path of war!"

"There it is!-See, I told you guys he was smart!-Just...misguided."

There seemed to be an all-around agreement on this point; the voices all murmured amongst themselves, nodding to the fact that he, the black windragon, was indeed very misguided. Ranshiin hated this; what were they talking about? They were just talking over his head as if he was a naughty child and they were consoling him, trying to let him understand what he had done wrong but refusing to tell him directly- no, no, don't tell him!-Let him figure it out on his own!

Ranshiin spun around, flaring his wings open. "Stop speaking in riddles! Tell me why I'm here!"

There was a pause. For a moment, Ranshiin was fearful that he had offended them, or scared them away; but he could sense their eyes boring into him, judging him, assessing him.

"...You're here because we're trying to decide why you should get a second chance." Said a male voice, this time gravely, without any of the previous jovial tones he had been using before.

A chill went down Ranshiin's spine. Why had that statement sounded so condemning? He swallowed.

"A second chance? What do you mean?"

He could hear a book being opened, and pages flipping. A small female voice called out as if addressing some sort of audience:

"Ranshiin Windragon, you are being tried today for all of your crimes and sins: treachery, betrayal, lying, manipulation, murder on several accounts and several degrees, and much, much more. You have done things some may call unforgivable. I believe you already know this."

Ranshiin felt a sudden pang in his chest, and a horrible twisting feeling in his stomach. He physically clutched it, confused, as memories started to pour back into him: all of those humans he killed, or had killed; all of the lies he wove; the cult he had created, then the lives he destroyed through it; everything he had ever done started to rush at him in a new perspective.

He fell to his knees, shaking and wrapping his wings around himself. "But...I was doing what I saw as right...the humans are more evil than I!...I am not evil at all!...Right?" He said weakly, looking up into the light. He could not understand why he felt so bad now, when previously those memories didn't bother him at all.

"Ranshiin, what you did was wrong, no matter your intentions; your self-righteousness was driven only by bitter hatred instead of any true perceptions of justice."

Ranshiin's vision started to blur, and he felt his face become red-hot. A knot started to form in his throat, making his normally strong voice break into croaks and pieces.

"But...I was trying to save the world! The humans were destroying it! Poisoning it!...That is the true meaning of the Legendz War! To destroy the humans and wipe the Earth clean!" He blinked, realizing he was repeating himself; he didn't even believe in what he was saying anymore. He started shaking and put his hands on his head as hot tears started running down his face.

"...My God," he whispered, "I'm a monster…"

"Oh no! Look, we made him cry!"

"He realizes his mistakes!"

"He has a heart! The boy gave him a heart!"

Now there was applause. Ranshiin looked up in confusion as he felt something warm brush against his face, wiping his tears away. The light cleared, and now Ranshiin could see several glowing figures surrounding him, clapping and smiling; one of them seemed to be a small blue fairy, who was using a handkerchief to wipe his eyes clean. Ranshiin blinked. "What? Why are you clapping?"

The leader of them smiled. "Congratulations."

Another creature, a yellow horse-like legendz, as well as another blue horse, were stamping their hooves. "You have passed the test."

Ranshiin looked at the fairy and gently brushed her away. "Test?"

"We wanted to see why you deserve a second chance: you almost gave your life to extinguish Jabberwock, but we wanted to see if you had really learned your lesson." Said a small saytar creature with green hair.

Ranshiin felt all of the breath in his lungs start to leave him in a large gust. He could no longer inhale, only exhale. He started trembling in rage.

"You mean to tell me...this was all some sort of...twisted trial? A test?"

"That's exactly what we're telling you! See, I told you he was smart!" said the fairy as she flew above him.

Ranshiin narrowed his eyes at all of them, examining each one closely as if ensuring they were real, and not some sort of horrible hallucination. "...You are all sick."

The leader laughed. "Perhaps from your perspective, but we can discuss that some other time."

He made a motion with his hand to signal for Ranshiin to rise. Slowly, in a dream-like state, he rose to his feet and stood, still unable to breathe properly.

The leader cleared his throat and looked into the book. "Ranshiin Windragon, will you cast aside your sins and be born again as a new Legendz, one capable of good deeds and one with a pure heart? In the name of God, who sees you standing before us today, will you swear to use this second chance we bestow upon you wisely?"

Ranshiin looked at his feet, thinking hard. There was a light pause filled with tension before he took a breath and folded his wings, declaring loudly:

"I, Ranshiin Windragon, do solemnly swear to cast aside my old ways, to be born again as a new Legendz, to only do good deeds, and to use this second chance wisely," he said, puffing out his chest some as he felt the power of the words flood into him and make him stronger.

The spiritual Legendz all clapped once again as their leader closed the book with a nod. "Congratulations, Ranshiin. We wish you well upon your journey."

Ranshiin felt warmth engulf him, and looked to see that his wings were now completely white. He smiled as the warmth spread through his form and consumed him. He smiled and waved one last time to the spiritual legendz, and then vanished; for awhile after he left, they looked at each other in silence.

"...Do you think we were too hard on him?"

"Nah, the whole 'trial' thing was only for the sake of drama; gotta keep the readers entertained!"

"Seriously, this whole fanfiction is turning into one of those 'crackfics' we keep hearing so much about. What's next? Is the author going to ship Ranshiin with Shiron?"

"DON"T GIVE THEM IDEAS!"