X-Men: Evolution

Blood Magics

A/N yes, I live. I know it's been awhile. My college course gave me little time to write… and even when I had time, I didn't have any inspiration. I'm still not finished writing the story (you may remember I said I liked to write out the whole story before I start posting it so I know where it goes and can make any necessary changes in earlier chapters), I only have 10 and a half or so (and this story will most likely be at least 20), but I have a couple reasons for posting this now. One, I feel fairly confident that I won't need to change anything in this chapter- it's just an intro, it doesn't have anything too important in it. And two, I'm hoping that posting this chapter will get me back into writing this story. My mind doesn't stay focused on one story; it jumps around so I work on a bit of this one, a bit of that one. (Good news: I have lots of stories started. Bad news: most of them are only just barely started.) Anyway, I'm hoping I don't really need to make excuses for posting a chapter early, yes?

Oh yeah, and the whole summary wouldn't fit, so here's the whole thing:

The worst secret Kurt had is out in the open, and he's relieved that no one cares. The institute carries on as usual, but with improvements; a new member, for one. But it's not over yet. Kurt's past is rising to strike again, this time from so far back that Kurt can't even remember it. And Dragon, trying only to start a new life, runs into a string of the worst luck imaginable. Will either of them be able to keep themselves from tumbling into a chaos they won't be able to get out of, or will they fall and never rise again? Sequel to Destiny Magics.

For those of you who haven't read Destiny Magics, I recommend you do so. Things would make much more sense. And, if you do read it, feel free to review. Tell me what you think of my character. I'd like to publish stories someday, so it would be nice to know what you think of my ability to give a character depth and a personality.

Now, the stuff I said in the first chapter of the prequel still stands; I haven't seen the final season of evolution. I will also still alternate code name and real name; that's just my mind being weird. It likes to be weird. So, let's start Blood Magics, huh?

Disclaimer: I do not own X-men: Evo.

A Dragon's lights

A small black dragon perched on the wall outside Xavier's institute, looking at the sunset. Threads of light in every colour danced in her vision. To the dragon, they seemed to sing in praise of the sinking sun.

"Nice, isn't it?" the voice broke into the dragon's thoughts and she turned to see a red- headed girl with pigtails and a somewhat canine scent leaning on the wall next to her.

"Hmmm. I never used to really appreciate it. It just used to mean it was going to get even colder." The dragon answered. "It's so much warmer here."

Rahne smiled. "It's warm now. But fall is just starting. It'll get colder in the winter."

"It'll get colder here, sure, but compared to how it was thousands of miles further north, I don't think it will be so bad. Winter in northern Yukon was harsh." The dragon stood up. "Let's go inside."

Rahne grinned. "Yes, I did come out here to get you. Dinner's ready."

"Ah."

"Can I ask you something?"

"Go ahead."

"You said… just as we were all going to find Kurt that one time… that everyone had a different light pattern. What makes it different?"

"What makes it different? That's… hard to explain. It just is different, in the way we would all be different even if we all looked completely identical. Our preferences, our experiences would make us different. The lights are the same, I guess. They are attracted to everyone by a force emitted by our bodies; they bend different ways because of things we cannot see. I don't know why or how they are different, I can only read the story they tell."

"They tell a story? What does mine say?" Rahne wanted to know.

The dragon looked at her a moment. "Yours say that while you were teased sometimes for having close relationships with canines, your life has been a fairly good one. You have many friends. I won't tell you who your match is, though, because that would be cheating."

"My match? It tells you that?" Rahne looked startled.

"When patterns interact, they do. But you have to find out for yourself."

"Oh." Rahne was quiet for a moment. Then she grinned. "Okay then, who's yours?"

"I don't actually have one… I mean, I don't have a light pattern. Not one that I've ever seen."

"Huh…" Rahne was quiet for a moment, then she grinned again. "Maybe you're compatible with everyone. Spend some time with people, Dragon, and I think everyone would like you. Come on, let's go in." Rahne headed toward the door, leaving the dragon behind her staring at her back without realizing it.

'That's… certainly one thing I never considered. But… after the incident in the woods with Kurt and that vengeful shadow, I got a whole new answer.' The dragon reflected. 'Tristan was a being of shadow. He had no substance, scent, and he didn't have a light pattern, either. I may have substance and scent, but…' The dragon turned her head to the side and breathed a wisp of Shadow Fire, the same thing that the hate- filled Tristan had been made of. '…I too am a shadow being. And shadow and light cannot coexist in the same place and more than it can be day and night in the same place at the same time.' The dragon crouched down and launched herself into the air, beating her wings. 'Of course, I still doubt I have a match. Who else besides me would look like this?'

The dragon flew toward the doors of the institute.

Upstairs, in a room empty except for the two of them, Kitty held a sobbing Kurt. "Shhh." She soothed.

To no one's surprise, the "incident," as everyone now called it, had left Kurt with PTSD. Kitty joined him in his sessions with Professor Xavier for support. Kitty wished it wasn't so hard on him- the session left him like this every time. She wished they didn't have to do this at all. But she knew that if they didn't Kurt may not be able to recover from this. So she stayed with him through the sessions, to hold him after- he needed her to. Kurt's crying began to subside.

"Thank you." He whispered. Kitty pulled back so she could kiss his forhead, then hugged him again.

"Don't worry." Kitty whispered back. "I'm here, always." 'whether you need me to be or not.' She added inside her head. "I'm here."

A/N okay, so that's that. I've been figuring out some better ways to format thing… I'll probably (eventually) go back to Destiny Magics to do some editing, fix typos, that kind of thing. But focusing on this story, please review. I may be convinced to a) write faster and b) post more chapters sooner (before I finish the rest of it, which may take a while) if I get reviews. If you have a comment, I want to hear it.