Hola, this is Tigress-san. This is my second fic, but my first for XS. Please enjoy, but remember this-flames-from anyone-will get less response than would be expected from a brick wall. DISCLAIM: I own no one but Maya. Kirsten belongs to Flustered Vampire

We were Sinners, We were Saints

Prologue-Quest's End

Two girls approached the huge, whitewashed temple wall apprehensively. It was early morning, so early that the sun had not quite yet risen, and the sleepy world was bathed in shades of gray.

Kirsten Jay was tall and built like a dancer, having dirty blond hair and light green eyes. She was dressed simply and for travel- a pair of loose fitting jeans, a black tee shirt and a pair of hiking boots. Behind her padded a large German Shepard dog, panting softly. The brook they'd stopped at was a long time past, and the dog's fur was thick. Kirsten also wore a rucksack. Inside were the whole trio's worth of CDs, three sets of uniforms-she doubted they'd be needing them for long, they were almost Wuddai, and many sets of clothes.

She was tan, but lighter than her friend, for she was from America, and generally an English speaker, but she knew the Mandarin dialect well, naturally. She'd grown up in Wyoming, on a horse racing ranch, though she'd traveled a lot as a teenager and could therefore ride very well and was at ease with large animals. Actually, most animals liked her well, as they should. She was the Dragon of Life. Kirsten's power was pretty much all-inclusive. She could raise the dead, magically heal minor wounds, and summon animals, though she did this sparingly beacause they had the tendancy to be finicky and backfirish. Her main prowess lay in sensitivity to human feeling. This was useful enough and had proved itself more times than one.

Maya Vasquez stood a full three inches shorter than Kirsten. Her form wasn't as flawless as Kirsten's either, but it was close. Chocolaty, straight hair showed her Latino heritage, though her stormy gray eyes stood out in Rio. She was almost opposite of Ki, outfitted in a pair of old, worn capris and a white hoodie and barefoot, despite the biting fall temps. However, more like Ki, an animal also followed her-a silver-blue tabby cat with large, irregular markings. She too had a backpack. Inside were street clothes, one or two personal affects, and a small, thin, black laptop that the two of them shared.

Maya was tanned-she was one of two Brazilian Dragons. She'd lived in Rio with her older brother Aaron and their band of friends for a while until, at the age of thirteen, she found that her brother had been murdered. Now, here she was, though she, like the rest, had no idea how. Kirsten had spent a year or so with Maya before her brother died in Rio, mostly by coincidence. Though her accent was lost, Maya still spoke Portuguese to Ki when it was private, or when she was telling someone off. Maya was the Dragon of Storm-if she wasn't careful, her emotions could spark a thunderstorm or downpour, but usually she was.

They had no place to go. Their temple in the East had been attacked and destroyed by Hannibal Bean and likely Chase Young. So, they packed up wand went to the only other temple they knew existed-the Western Dragon Temple. They did not know what they would fine there, or if they'd be permitted to stay. They did, however, have an excellent feeling that something huge was about to happen.


Continue? Let it burn? You tell me...