I walk around the island, looking to see if anyone is watching. Nobody's around. Usually, the island had children playing on its peaceful shores. This island is dominated by a giant mansion. I live there, but it is owned by my brother. I start running toward the water, a crazy move, since the island is surrounded by shark-infested waters, but I know what I'm doing. An outling of a dragon's head appears on the back of my left hand as I continue running. As I reach the shore, there is a flash of golden light, and I fly out of the light, as a dragon. My name is Briar. I am a Dragon Warrior, but you can call me the Dragon Guardian!
I continue flying, my large, electric blue wings keeping me in the air. Looking down, I spot my brother and land on a building, returning to human form as I touch doown. Lucas is his name, but everyone calls him Vio, due to the purple highlights in his jet black hair. He is also a Dragon Warrior, but he only has one power: telekenesis. Being the Dragon Guardian, I control all ten powers, but the next Guardian is already known. Vio's daughter, Sky. She is only four years old, but already can control lightning. I continue to spy on Vio until his wife walks out of a store. She's from a different world. Hard to know unless you see her around water. Her name is Katara. A water bender and the Dragon Warrior of water. I jump down, still unseen, and sneak up behind the pair.
"Hey!" I suddenly say, scaring them into almost attacking me.
"Don't do that!" says Katara, still catching her breath. I'm still laughing at them, but I quickly stop when Vio picks me up with his mind.
"Never do that again." he tells me, glaring right through me. He puts me down, and walks away with Katara. I'm busy anyways. I walk the other way, toward the forest.
Nobody usually dared to enter the forest. It has been said that those who do are never seen again, but that isn't true. The rumor began when the person I'm trying to find appeared in it. Lion, the Dragon Warrior of darkness. He's not bad, though he looks like pure evil in his dark robe. His face is almost completely hidden by the hood. The Mark of the Dragon is passed down through generations. This means his fourteen year old sons, Night and Shade are also Dragon Warriors.
"Hey, Lion" I say, nobody seems to be around. A dark mist appears in front of me, and Lion appears.
"Hey" he says, "bring the food?"
"yeah" I reply as I remove a bag from my shoulder.
"Good. My sons are eating me out of the cave!" We laugh, but I know he's serious.
"Going to see Autumn?" he asks.
"Hopefully." I respond. Lion snickers, so I zap him with a small lightning bolt.
"What? I know you like her!" he says, still laughing.
He's right. I do like Autumn, the Dragon Warrior of fire. I don't hide things from my friends.
"I got to get back to the cave." Lion says, walking away. I wave and teleport out of the forest.
Autumn and Azalia, the Dragon Warrior of light, walk into a small mountain village. They were going to go hunting, but couldn't because of a storm.
"Know who I blame?" asked Autumn. Azalia laughs and replies
"yeah. Briar." Autumn smiles awkwardly and looks down.
"Something wrong?" asks Azalia.
"No. i'm fine." says Autumn, "but I've got to get back to the city." The Mark of the Dragon appears on Autumn's hand as she turns into a dragon and flies toward the city. Azalia looks at her as she flies away before walking the other way.
I walk through the forest, but I stop when I think "I could use my other mark to get back faster." I run, gaining speed every second. A mark that looks like a tiger's face appears on my right hand, and I become a tiger. I keep running, dodging trees and rocks that try to stop me. As I exit the forest, I look into the sky toward the mountain. I see a red dragon and return to human form.
"What is Autumn doing?" I think. She is flying toward the city, which is where I'm going.
"Hey, Uncle" a voice says from behind me. It's Kitai, my niece and the Dragon Warrior of ice.
"Did I scare you?" she asks. I try to keep a straight face, but can't.
"Yeah. you did, but never do that again!" We both look up as Autumn flies overhead. She sees us and lands, returning to human form. Kitai looks at me. "Is that your girlfriend?"
I glare at Kitai, who giggles and says "she's pretty. You should date her. I think "What do you think I'm trying to do?", but I just nod. Autumn walks over to me and Kitai.
"Hey, Briar. Just get back from visiting the Grim Reaper?" she asks with a small laugh. She always thinks of different nicknames for her friends. She once called Vio the Psycho Ninja, and it almost ended in a battle. I nod and say "Yeah. We were just heading into town.
"Same here" she says, "I'll go with you."
We walk into town together, talking about the search for the Dragon Warrior of earth.
"We'll find him soon." she says, "You found the others pretty fast." Kitai looks at me, and i can see the it in her eyes. She wants me to date Autumn. I whisper "Not now.", but Autumn hears me.
"Not what now?" she asks.
"Well..." I say, trying to think of how to say this. She looks at me and instantly knows.
"You like me, don't you?" she suddenly asks. I'm shocked that she already knew, but I nod.
She smiles and looks down slightly.
"I kinda like you too." Kitai looks at us, then runs to find her mother. I stop her, though.
"Katara will find out tonight." I say, before looking at Autumn, "That is, if you want to go to my brother's island with me."
"Sure" she replies.
"He's having a party tonight." I add, "Be at the shore at 8:30." Autumn nods, and walks to her house.
I enter my house, completely shocked. I was thinking Autumn would say "no", since what happened 6 years ago. Back then, she was with the former Dragon Warrior of wind, Chrome. I remember how he went rogue after me and Lion killed his brother, another rogue Dragon Warrior named Yukio. I did what I had to, even after being shot by Yukio. I killed Chrome. Autumn didn't talk to me for an entire year after that. Thinking of this gives me a headache, and I decide to rest. About an hour later, I wake up, look at the clock, and freak out. It's almost 8:00!
"I need to get ready!" I think, walking to my room. Even though my brother is rich, he doesn't care what people wear to his parties. Well, just don't show up naked. I dress in my usual outfit: A shirt, usually with a lightning design, jeans, and a jacket. I exit my house and run to the shore to meet Autumn.
"I wonder if Autumn knows that she doesn't have to dress all fancy" I think. Then, I remember: I can talk to her using telepathy.
"You know, the party is casual dress." I tell Autumn through telepathy.
8:20. Ten more minutes. Suddenly, I see Autumn walking along the shore toward me. She wears a black skirt and a shirt with red and orange flame patterns. Her light brown hair is in a single braid.
"What do you think?" she asks.
"You look beautiful!" I reply. Autumn blushes and smiles.
"We should get to the island." I say. "But how?" Autumn asks, "We can't walk on-" I interrupt her by creating a bridge of ice across the water.
"Oh. That works" she says. We walk across, and we melt the bridge with dragon fire once we're on the island. The red and silver glow lures Katara out of the mansion.
"You're early." she says before she sees Autumn and smiles.
"New girlfriend?" she asks.
"You already know Autumn! And yes!" I reply. Vio walks out of the mansion, and sees me and Autumn.
He laughs and says "So you did find a new girlfriend." I glare at him.
"Hey! It's a good thing." he says.
"But if this works, you might need to build another wing onto the mansion!" I say jokingly. Everyone laughs, but stops when Lion appears, carrying his scythe. He really does look like the Grim Reaper.
"What are you laughing at?" he asks.
"Nothing. Just a joke." I reply. Lion looks at Autumn. "So your-" Lion begins to say before Autumn interrupts.
"Yes! We're together." she says, smiling. Nobody can see it, but Lion smiles, "Good." All of us walk into the mansion and wait for everyone else to arrive.
All adult Dragon Warriors are here but one, Shadic, the Dragon Warrior of wind. He doesn't usually attend these parties anyways. He's more of a lone wolf. I don't even know where he is most of the time.
"Not much of a party with only six Dragon Warriors here." Autumn says.
"Too bad Kitai and Eon are too young." I add.
"Well" Vio says, walking from the kitchen, "You know what I'm about to say. It's time for this year's Dragon Race." Every year since Vio and Katara got married, they held races for the Dragon Warriors. I won the first two easily. I wasn't around for the third or fourth.
"This year, the race will be in pairs. I'll be with Katara and Briar with Autumn." Vio continues. I smile and look at Autumn.
"The race will be in three days. Be ready." he finishes. I look at Vio and ask "Did you think of this when you saw me and Autumn together?" He nods and laughs.
"Thought so." Everyone laughs at that.
"We should go." I say to Autumn.
"Ok." she says, getting up. We walk out, but not before I get everyone laughing again by mind controlling Lion and making him dance. I walk Autumn home, and tell her to meet me in the morning at the mansion. I turn into a dragon and fly back to the mansion.
Lion and Azalia have already left. Kitai and Sky are asleep. It's just me, Vio, and Katara.
"So, Vio." I say, "What do you think of Autumn?" He looks at me.
"She's nice."
"I've known her for a long time." I reply, "She was the second Dragon Warrior I met and the first one I taught." Katara smiles and says "Like you helped me learn my powers?" I nod. "And like I'm going to train Sky."
"I thought you already started. She already knows lightning." Katara says.
"I learned lightning at that age as well, but it was weak." I reply.
"Of course. You were only four." Vio says.
"So about the race... Me Who is Lion paired with?" I ask.
"Azalia." replies Vio. "You know, light and dark don't usually get along..." I say, looking at Vio.
"This could end badly." adds Katara.
"Are Kitai and Eon in the race as well?" I ask. Vio and Katara look at eachother. After a moment, Vio breaks the silence. "I don't see why not."
"I already know who'll win." I say, arms crossed. We all laugh.
"I'm serious." I say. Everyone stops laughing.
Morning. I teleport to the roof of the mansion. Looking up, I see Autumn, flying toward the island in dragon form. She lands and returns to human form.
"Good morning." she says.
"Hey. Ready to train for the race?" I say as I jump to the ground.
"Yeah." she replies, "I'm ready." We walk to the shore.
"We should go to a different location. We don't want our competition to see us. I grab Autumn's hand and teleport to the desert.
"Why are we here?" Autumn asks.
"It's the best place train." I reply, "You'll have to learn to use a new power."
"Really? Cool!" she says.
"Watch." I say as I start running. My feet are suddenly surrounded by silver flames and I speed up.
"Woah!" Autumn says, "That's your dragon fire!"
"You're right." I reply, "I use it to melt the sand and literally surf on it."
"But how will this help if there's no sand?" she asks.
"It's hard to explain, but it works." I reply.
"Ok. I'll try it." She says as she begins to run. Red flames appear around her feet. She speeds up to extreme speeds.
"This is awesome!" she says, running back to me. She tries to stop, but can't and runs into me. We laugh as she helps me up.
"Sorry." she says.
"It's fine." I reply, still laughing, "We'll win this for sure!"
"Yeah! We will." Autumn says, "I need to meet Azalia in an hour to hunt. See you later."
"I'll teleport you home." I say as I grab her hand and teleport to her house.
Race day. The eight competing Dragon Warriors, even Shadic, are at the mansion. The race starts on the island, where we must fly to the mountain village in dragon form. Then, we need to race on foot down the mountain. Finally, we return to the sky for the last leg of the race.
"Ready?" Shadic says, "On the count of three! 1... 2... 3... GO!"
We all fly toward the mountain. Me and Autumn are in second place. Vio and Katara are in the lead, but we are gaining on them.
"Ready?" I ask Autumn.
"Yeah." she replies. We both begin to glow. I become the Golden Dragon, while Autumn catches on fire. A sonic boom is heard over a mile away as we take the lead at mach 5. We reach the village before the others are even half way there.
We return to human form in the center of town.
"This is where the fun begins." I say, "Let's run!" Autumn and I begin running down the mountain. Our feet are surrounded by our dragon fire as we speed up. I look up to see the others land as we reach the half way point. "They're catching up!" We reach the foot of the mountain and become dragons again. We fly over the town at high speeds and reach the mansion, and we know. Autumn and I won.
"We won!" I think as we return to human form. Autumn hugs me, cheering, "We did it! We won!"
I smile as Vio and Katara land and return to human form.
"I never knew you could fly that fast, Autumn!" says Katara.
"Neither could I." Autumn replies.
"But you did." I say. Vio is speechless, for once.
I return home. Suddenly, Ixen appears.
"Hey, Ixen." I say.
"I heard you have a new girlfriend." he says, looking at me.
"That's right. And you already know her." I reply.
"Yeah. I must say, you two seem happy together."
"We are. We won Vio's race today." I say, "Easily."
"Cool." says Ixen,"Got to go." Ixen vanishes.
"That was random." I say with a laugh.
The next day. I walk to the coffee shop and find my brother inside. I order my coffee. and sit beside him.
"Hey, Vio." I say with a tired-sounding voice.
"Good morning." he replies before taking a sip of his coffee.
"You know how I knew Autumn for a while before now?" I ask.
"Yeah. But what does that have to do with me?" he replies.
"I just need to talk to Katara about this. She'll understand." I say, looking away. Vio instantly knows what I want to talk about.
"It's too soon. You've only started dating Autumn. Wait before you ask." he says. I sigh. "I still need to talk to Katara."
"Okay." Vio says as he gets up, "I got to go."
"Later." I say, thinking about what he said.
I walk to my house, thinking about my last girlfriend. It was Katara. We were engaged until my brother ruined everything. I wouldn't have it any other way. If that wouldn't have happened, Sky would've never been born. I would've been fine with all this, but something else happened. Only Lion, Katara, Vio, and Eon know what happened. I was posessed by the spirit of Chrome. He tried to make me hurt my family and friends.
Vio and Katara were the only ones around when I lost control 4 years ago. I entered Phoenix Armor, a state where a Dragon Warrior channels the power of his past lives, and began destroying everything. Vio protected Katara while this was happening. I regained control only once to tell Katara to get Lion. Before he got there, I was able to free myself from Chrome's control. He then revealed his true target: Sky. At the time, she wasn't born yet, but Chrome still wanted control of her. He tried to posess Katara, but I, still in Phoenix Armor, protected her while Vio and Lion fought the spirit. Lion couldn't capture it, but Vio almost gave his life to save us. He used his powers to create a giant explosion, destroying Chrome's spirit. Eon was waiting for us at the mansion when we arrived and helped us heal him.
I think "Autumn would probably hate me if she found out about this." I see Kitai and Eon walking in the distance. They don't see me, so I decide to follow them in the shadows. They walk to Autumn's house and Kitai stays as Eon walks towards me.
"You know, stalking is illegal." he says, laughing.
"Hey, Eon. What's Kitai doing?" I ask.
"I don't know. She just wanted to talk to Autumn." he replies.
"Oh." I say, looking down slightly.
"It's not about that. Trust me." Eon says, "She just wants to go hunting with Autumn some time."
"Why can't she go with everyone?" I ask.
"Good question." he replies. I laugh. "Well, either way works."
I arrive at my house.
"I should really try finding the last Dragon Warrior soon." I say to myself, "The leader of the Earth Dragon Tribe must be out there somewhere." I look at the Thunder Sword that hangs on the wall. It was a gift from an old friend. I take it off the wall and press a hidden button in the handle. The blade splits in two and half flips down to the bottom of the hilt.
"I remember the last time I used this." I say while looking at the light reflecting off the blade.
It was a cold day. I was suddenly ambushed by Ryu, a ninja with similar powers to the Dragon Warriors. He was about to kill me when I used the dual blade Thunder Sword. His swords were literally cut in half before he retreated.
I place the sword in a sheath. I'm walk out the door and stop. Right in front of me is an old friend. He doesn't notice me, but I instantly recognize him: Zero. He was a knight with the ability to turn into a king cobra, and a close friend of Chrome and Autumn. That is, until Yukio, a rogue Dragon Warrior and one of Vio's past lives, took control of him. With Yukio's death came Zero's freedom and the fall of the Shadow Hawks, a secret organization of warriors of different types that were pure evil. It was me, Chrome, and Lion that stopped them, with some help from Ixen. I don't try to get Zero's attention. He probably doesn't remember me anyways.
I fly to the mansion in dragon form, returning to human form upon landing. Katara sees me and runs outside.
"Vio told me about everything." she says.
"Good." I reply, "but that isn't why I wanted to talk to you."
"It's not?" she asks.
"Nope. I saw my old friend, Zero, today." I say, "Haven't seen him in years."
"You knew him when Chrome was alive?" asks Katara. I nod, "Yeah. Zero helped us in the search for the other Dragon Warriors."
"Cool. I'd like to meet him soon." she says as we walk into the mansion. I follow her.
"You know, we are the next leaders of each Dragon Warrior tribe. There are more of us with the same powers." I say.
"Like Lion's family?" asks Vio as he walks from the kitchen.
"Yeah. And I have reasons to believe that you know a few." I say, looking at Katara, "They might be coming to the city tonight."
"And you'll be fine as long as Korra isn't one of them?" Katara ask with a laugh. I glare at her. Korra broke my heart four years ago and I haven't forgotten the pain I felt.
"If she is, she's going to face my fury!" I say loudly as my eyes flash gold. That seems to have scared Vio.
"We'll see who when they arrive." Katara says after a moment, "But the suspense is killing me!"