HELLO MY LITTLE KITTENS! I'M BLOWING OFF MY GLOBAL HOMEWORK TO BRING THIS TO YOU! BE GRATEFUL! Ahem, back to the point. While I was sketching out this chapter I was thinking "How cool would it be if they could fire bend?" so I should tell you that when these dragons are in their human form they can still use fire, but it's like fire bending. Now we get to see some action in this chapter so bear with me. Enjoy!

Chapter 1: And so it Begins!

Daniel was walking down an old road surrounded by what was known as the Stone Cold Woods, the town he was recently staying in far behind him. It was only dusk and he had already made it this far. He was dressed in regular travelers clothing so that he wouldn't draw attention to himself. Even so, he tended to stay in the shadows. He had left earlier that morning when everyone was asleep so that no one would see him leave. He had only stayed in that town for a few months, which was enough to get an odd job and earn some money and rest up a little before packing up and leaving. He never stayed in one place too long to avoid getting attached to something there, whether it be an area or a person. It was a hard life, but he was used to it. His ears pricked when he heard another set of footsteps behind him. He glanced back to see another man in the distance with dark hair and tan skin riding a horse along the road. Quickly Daniel pulled his hood over his head and walked a little faster, hoping that when the other traveler passed they would just brush him off and keep going. It didn't take long for the man on the horse to catch up to him. Of course Daniel tried to ignore him in hopes that they would give him the same treatment. But of course, his hopes were soon shattered when the man greeted him.

"Hello there fellow traveler!" the man on the horse said to him with a wave.

Daniel just kept walking, trying to ignore him/pretending not to hear him. But, much to his dismay, the rider had his horse catch up so that they were walking side by side.

"Hello there!" he said again.

Daniel glanced at the man on his horse. As it turned out there wasn't just one man, but two. The one directing the horse had long dark hair and a beard to match it. He looked and spoke as if he was part of the upper class. The man that was sitting behind him looked to be a little younger. He was tan as well but he had short light hair.

"When someone says hello I expect them to answer me." The man with dark hair said.

Daniel sighed, knowing that he had no choice but to acknowledge these men. "Hey."

The man with dark hair gave him a strange look, but continued to engage in conversation. "I am Damien Sandow," he gestured to the man behind him "and this is my company."

"Rhodes, Cody Rhodes, and you are?" the man, Rhodes, asked Daniel.

Daniel glared up at him. "Why do you care?"

Rhodes shrugged. "Just trying to start a conversation."

Daniel snorted a little and began to walk faster. "Well maybe I don't want to talk to you."

Rhodes and Sandow glanced at each other with a look that said "Is this guy for real?" before Sandow laughed slightly. "Maybe you do, maybe you don't? I have a feeling you don't really socialize that much, do you young man?"

Daniel really wanted these guys to leave him alone. Normally giving people the cold shoulder worked but apparently these guys were too stupid to get his message. So, he figured that might as well humor them for a little while. "I'm Bryan, Daniel."

Daniel didn't remember what his last name used to be, so he gave himself one so that he could fill out a form for a job or an inn. Plus he thought that 'Daniel Bryan' sounded catchy, plus it was easy to remember. For some reason this seemed to spark an interest in Sandow's and Rhodes' eyes.

"Daniel…I think I've heard that name before. Have you Cody?" Sandow asked his partner.

Rhodes thought for a moment before snapping his fingers. "In fact I think I have! It was the name of one of the poor children that went missing in the attack of the Dragon Hunters on that little village!"

Daniel froze stopping in his tracks. Sandow stopped the horse as well, them both looking down at Daniel with a smug look on their faces. Daniel felt his skin begin to heat up as he clenched and unclenched his fists. Slowly, he turned to Sandow and Rhodes and looked right at them, his eyes having a dangerous glow to them.

"What do you want?" He said in a low voice.

Sandow tried to act innocent, but it obviously wasn't sincere. "Oh nothing, I and my partner are just curious."

Daniel directed his glare on Sandow, as if trying to melt him with his eyes. "Curiosity can easily turn into stupidity, Sandow."

He glanced at Rhodes and saw him reaching for something on the other side of the horse. His instincts kicked in and he slid under the horse and grabbed Rhodes' wrist, which was clutching a dagger. Of course, they were Dragon Hunters! Daniel's hand heated up and he burned Rhodes' wrist, causing said man to scream out in pain a drop the dagger. Before Sandow could react Daniel grabbed his shirt forcing him down to his level and he punched him hard in the face. Daniel turned to run and bolt into the woods when he felt something sharp pierce his right shoulder. He bit his tongue trying desperately not to cry out and turned around to see Rhodes with a cross bow.

"Shit!" Daniel screamed in his head as he once again turned and bolted into the woods ripping the arrow out of his shoulder. Sandow quickly recovered from Daniel's blow and he jumped off the horse and chased after Daniel. An arrow whizzed by Daniel's head causing him to stumble a little, the pain from the wound in his shoulder getting worse. He saw a small clearing in the trees and went for it, hoping that there would be something there that could possibly help him escape. Just his luck, the clearing was a slanted ridge looking over a small river. Daniel jumped down and slid down the ridge as fast as he could without falling. It didn't take him too long to get to the bank of the river. When he looked back he saw the Dragon Hunters at the top of the ridge, hesitating. Daniel took that opportunity to shoot fire at the grass on the top of the ridge. The dry grass lit on fire causing the Dragon Hunters to jump back. Seeing how Dragon Hunters weren't dragons, they weren't fire proof. Daniel hoped that it scared them off and he began running down the river bank, trying to get away. He heard something else whiz past his head making him skid to a stop. He looked back and saw that Rhodes had climbed up in a tree and had a pipe in his hands. Daniel looked at what had been fired at him and gasped. Buried partly in the mud was a long, purple dart. These darts were special and hard to get because they had water venom, the one poison that can kill a full grown dragon. Daniel didn't know what to do. If he ran that would require turning his back on Rhodes and increase the risk of being shot. He could swim across the river, but that would render him vulnerable without his fire abilities. Another dart whizzed past his head causing him to bolt forward as fast as he could. When he glanced back he could see Rhodes jumping through the trees trying to get a good shot. Daniel had a lot of stamina, but his injury was slowly wearing him down. As he ran along the river bank the water became more rapid, the sign that there was going to be a water-fall up ahead. Which was great….Daniel was running strait into a dead end. Daniel tried to think of every possible way he could escape without having to take a swim or jumping off the water-fall. Unfortunately there was none. As he got closer to the water fall he could have sworn he saw something black dart across the sky. Then again, he must have been hallucinating from the blood he was loosing. In the distance he saw mist and water signaling the drop of the water-fall. He skidded to a stop just in time to meet the edge of the cliff. Daniel stared downwards, it was a long way down and he was wondering if he would survive if he jumped. Then he felt something sharp pierce his neck. He cried out in pain in pain and ripped out the dart that had got him. He stared at the offensive thing with wide eyes before dropping it, his body suddenly becoming weak. His vision began to blur, but he tried his best to stay conscious. He looked up at Rhodes, who was standing in the trees with a triumphant look on his face. Daniel glared at him and stumbled back a little, his foot grazing the edge of the cliff. Well, if Daniel was going to die it sure as hell wouldn't be by a Dragon Hunter. Daniel stepped back so the he was on the very edge of the cliff. Rhodes' face lost its smugness and became mixed with shock and worry. Daniel glared at him one more time before completely stepping off the cliff, falling towards the water. As he fell Daniel wondered if he should try to brace for the impact, but decided against it. Even if he did, he would soon die after from the poison. He heard some yelling over the wind, must have been the Dragon Hunters realizing that they had lost their prize. It seemed like he was falling for hours, but it was really only a few seconds. He hit the water with more of a thud than a splash. Daniel only held his breath by instinct, but he didn't even try to swim back up to the surface. He knew that it would take a miracle to get him out of this and that he should just accept his death. So, he closed his eyes as if he was going to sleep, but he still held his breath. All of the sudden he felt someone grab his wrist. His eyes snapped open and above him floating in the water was a large man. He couldn't really make out what this man looked like but he was wearing dark clothing. The man wasted no time in pulling them both to the surface. They broke out of the water gasping. Daniel, being deprived of oxygen for too long, fell limp in the man's arms. The man tightened his hold on Daniel and dragged both of them to shore. As soon as the man first felt his feet hit land he picked Daniel up and ran out. Gently, he laid him down on the ground. He said something, but Daniel couldn't make it out. Daniel was barely able to see the man's face before darkness over-took his vision.

HE'S NOT DEAD IF HE WAS THERE WOULD BE NO POINT TO THE STORY! So we finally jump to the story! Now I apologize to any Rhodes Scholars fans out there, I just thought it would be funny if they were the dragon hunters. But it works…..right? I hope so; I put a lot of thought into it! Now I am LOVING sketching out the chapters before I type them! It gives me something to do during Honors English! Its weird…..Honors English is SO much easier than regular English….same way for Global Honors. It pays to be smart! Now a heads up I'll be spending Thanksgiving vacation with my mom and if you follow me you know why I won't be able to update but for those of that are new my mom does not have a computer. Reviews are love!

Love and yaoi

~ladyknights104