Chapter Two - The Newcomer

Kayla woke up in the middle of the night and saw everyone had fallen asleep except for Tatum.

"Ugh..my head...." she groaned. 'Damn you, Terehawken...' She sat up rubbed her eyes. "Hey Tatum...long time no see, huh?"

Tatum looked over at Kayla and smiled warmly. "Hello, Kayla. How do you feel?"

"I feel like I just got burned, smacked around, and jolted," she replied, "I guess I had it coming for attacking you guys..."

"It wasn't your fault, but we're glad to have you back," Tatum said. Kayla sighed.

"I couldn't stop myself....I didn't even know what I was doing. It's like I was set aside and something else took over..."

"Do you know if your friends suffered the same fate?" Tatum asked.

"I think so...if did, then I'm sure Terehawken did the same to the rest of us. How did you find out what happened to us though?"

"Luna sent a distress call to me. She told me how to get here and I assembled who I could. We were hoping you could fill in the blanks and show us how to get to Terehawken's Citadel." Tatum said.

Kayla smiled. "It's a bit of a walk from here, probably take us a few days. But I think the others are going to be expecting us along the way...but I'm glad Luna wasn't affected."

"Let's hope she stays that way until we get there," Tatum said, looking back up at the stars, "We should take turns keeping watch, in case another one of our friends show up under Terehawken's influence." Kayla nods and takes a spot far off from where she was and looks up at the stars.

'It's beautiful tonight....'

Suddenly, one of the starts started to move, and with great speed. It streaked across the night sky, its brilliant fire illuminating the ground. At first, it appeared to be another shooting star, but soon began to get closer... and closer...

The fireball streaked over Kayla's head, flying clear over the group and smashing into the ground just beyond. A great plume of dirt blasted up from the site and dirt and debris rained upon the area. Kayla instantly stood up. "Holy shit!" She looked behind her to see if anyone saw the flying object, but no one stirred. So she decided to investigate herself and rushed toward the fallen object.

The fallen object was not a rock... or anything that closely resembled a rock. It was metallic, grey and was still smoking from the entry. It sat in a crater and she caught sight of the letters 'UERAF' painted onto what she gathered was the front of the object. As she went closer to the object, a pop blew her ear drums and the forward pannel flew off as small explosions jetisoned it. The pannel skidded on the ground and as the smoke cleared, she saw a chair sitting in the center of the pod, with blue glowing screens around it.

On the chair was a blue crystal, with a black arrow imprinted on the front of it.

Kayla walked closer to the crystal. "Oh my..." she breathed and moved to touch it, "It's beautiful..but what is it doing here?" Her talon makes contact to the crystal, feeling its smooth surface.

At once the crystal blew out an large dose of light, blinding her. As she recoiled back, her talon touched a small switch next to the chair and it clicked, a small green light blinking in contrast to the bright blinding light flashing from the crystal. Finally, the crystal began to dim and the silhuette of a dragon begins to form. Kayla reopens her eyes and is shocked when she sees the body of a male dragon take the place of the crystal.

The dragon was black, with a red under belly and wing skins. His two sets of horns were golden and there were three triangle symbols on his body, one on his head and the other two on his shoulders. The dragon had a wound on his stomach. It looked as if it were healing. The dragon was also sound asleep. Kayla walks up to the black dragon slowly, getting a closer look at him.

"Wow...this is..whoa..." Kayla's heart pounded as she stared at the dragon and then his wound. "Seems like you've been through a lot...for someone who just fell out of the sky." She set his body on her back carefully and walked back toward the camp, wondering what world he came from.

On the screen behind her, a small text message strolled across the screen:

DISTRESS SIGNAL AWAY///385493-0029374//POD_DOWN-CORDINATES IMBEDDED- SEND AID//3929498-END//d-8-11-2226

-------

Kayla walked back to the camp with the black dragon and set him down gently by the fire. Tatum was awake by now and her eyes widened at the sight.

"What happened?" She asked.

"I saw this thing fly over my head and land somewhere far off from here. And then the door blew off and I saw this blue crystal. I touched it, and then it disappeared and he took its place! I didn't want to leave him there alone, so I just brought him along with us."

Tatum looked at the black dragon, taking in his details. She couldn't tell at this time if he were a threat or an ally. She figured they'd find out once he woke up. Tatum then looked back toward the fire.

"Get some rest, Kayla. We'll need whatever energy we can salvage to save our friends," She stated. Kayla nodded and layed down on the grass, giving one last look to the black dragon before falling asleep. Tatum looked back up at the stars and sent a message to Luna.

Luna? Can you still hear me?

Ugh...yes Tatum?

We saved Kayla. I thought you'd like to know.

Thank you Tatum....please...save Zombie Snake for me also....if anything were to happen to him....

I know Luna, don't worry, we'll do everything in our power to save Zombie Snake.

Meanwhile...

"Sir, we're picking up a distress beacon." An officer said as he swiveled in his chair.

"Put it on the main moniter." The Commander ordered.

"Aye sir." The officer turned back around, flipped a few switches and a distress beacon text message played across the central viewing moniter of the outpost's command station: ///385493-0029374//POD_DOWN-CORDINATES IMBEDDED- SEND AID//3929498-END//d-8-11-2226

It was strange to the Officer in command. This remote United Earth outpost at the Deshmier Colony never received any distress beacons. The Human Officer looked at the message before sighing.

"Send this message to Admiral Freeman. He'll know what to do." The commander ordered.

"Aye sir, message sent."

Meanwhile...

"Sir, message from Gamma Long Range Outpost, they've picked up a beacon." The Coms operator said to the man standing at the bridge of the UERNF Cruiser in orbit around Deshmier.

"Hmmm... where are these coordinates?" The Admiral asked.

"Well beyond any UER controlled space sir. Here." His Navagations officer pointed to a star map that was pulled up and it showed a small blip representing the distress signal. It was far from them but they were the closest colony to the signal.

"Get me the Frigate Thunder." With that, an image of a man appeared on the monitor. That of the Captain of the UERNF Frigate Thunder.

"What is it Admiral, sir?" The Captain said while saluting.

"As you were." The Admiral said while returning it.

"Captain, we've picked up a distress beacon from an Orbital Drop Pod. I want you to follow these coordinates to its location and locate the survivor, if he's still alive. Also, find out why the pod is all the way out there, out of UER space. Find out where it came from and recover its Black Box as well. If you find any survivors, extract them back to UER Space. Is this clear?"

"Yes sir."

"Good, uploading coordinates and message now."

"Right sir, on our way."

With that the Captain snapped off the view screen and turned to his crew.

"All right, prepare to jump. Alert the crew and have everyone ready for transition."

"Where are we headed sir?" The Navagations Officer asked.

"Coordinates are in the computer already. Just follow them and send us there."

"Just where is 'there'."

"Hell if I know, but we're going there."

-----------------------------------------

Kayla woke up to the sun beaming down on her eyes. She yawned, rubbed her eyes, and sat up from her spot. The black dragon was still asleep, and Kayla shrugged.

"Mornin, Tatum."

Tatum was awake and appeared to be cooking something over the fire. She looked over at Kayla and smiled. "Good morning, Kayla."

"Kayla!" came a familiar voice from behind. Sydney ran up to Kayla and all but glomped her. Tatum chuckled at this.

"Oof!" Kayla chuckled and tackled Sydney. "Hey girl! Long time no see!"

Sydney laughed and tried to pin Kayla. "I'll have to admit. You're a real die-hard to take down!"

"Heh, I'd say the same thing for you too!" Tired from their wrestling and sat by the fire. "Whatcha cookin?"

"Some type of rodent-like creature that Sky hunted. According to him, they're edible," Tatum replied. Firenha hovered up beside them.

"Hey, Kayla. Feeling better?" She asked, rubbing her slightly domed abdomen. Kayla nodded, taking a spot by the black dragon. "I wonder how long this guy is gonna be knocked out..."

"It depends on what he's been through," Tatum replied, testing the flavor of the food. She made a satisfied expression and stirred the food a bit more. "Just a little longer..."

Sky flew down and landed next to Sydney. "I see you've decided to join the living, Kayla."

She scoffed, "Like I was ever dead."

There was a new sound amongst the group and everyone turned their attention to the black dragon as he stirred from his sleep, groaning and slowly opening his eyes.

"W-where am I...?" He siad in a hoarse voice.

"You're on Reptilia, eastern region to be more precise. How are you feeling?" Tatum replied.

"Ow... my head..." The dragon gripped his head and as he stood up, almost doubled over as the wound in his stomach sent pain through his body. He cringed and groaned as pain rocked his nerves. Kayla went to his side, concerned.

"Hey, are you all right? That wound looks pretty bad.."

The dragon grunted. He didn't hear the other dragon's comment. Instead he looked around. As he looked to his new surroundings his face ran pale. He looked around frantically and had a look of fear to him.

"W-where's Damian?! Where's Taiga?! Who... who are you?!" He said in a panicked voice. Kayla gave him an odd look.

"Umm...I'm Kayla, I found you in some..UERAF box...thing..I don't know."

"In... in a what?" The dragon was confused... delirious... probably disoriented in the way he spoke. She rested a paw on his shoulder, "Hey, you need to calm down for now. I think you're taking in too many things at once."

"She's right. If you panic you won't be able to think straight and you may put yourself in more pain," Tatum stated, pouring some of the food into a bowl.

The dragon sat and gripped his head, pain going through his body. He sat back down but had a really worried face on him. Kayla looked down at the wound on his stomach.

"How'd you get hurt?" she asked, "If it's not a taboo subject."

The dragon looked down at his stomach and frowned. He opened his jaw and tried to think of the right words, but nothing came out.

"I... got it... in a fight..." He simply said, a small tear visible in his eyes. "Oh..." she replied, "I just you've had it rough from where you came from."

"You... could say that..." He said while rubbing his wound. He cringed a bit from the pain. "Things... do get rough..."

"Are you hungry? It may help if you eat something," Tatum asked, offering the bowl of food to the black dragon.

The black dragon looked at her for a second before taking the bowl and started to eat from it, almost gulping the whole thing in a single bite. Sydney blinked before chuckling. "Careful, you could choke eating it like that."

Tatum smirked and poured another bowl for Kayla, offering it to her. As she did, the black dragon finished his bowl and coughed, gasping for air after his gobbling of the food. Sydney looked at the black dragon in concern for a moment. "Told ya. If you can cough, keep coughing."

The dragon coughed in response and gasped for air a final time before breathing normally.

"Sorry... its... just that I haven't eaten in a while..." He said.

"We can tell," Sydney stated after giving the dragon a once-over, "What's your name?"

"Corporal Ash, 72nd UCC." He stated while rubbing the wound on his stomach.

"I'm Sydney, this is Kayla, Tatum, Sky, Firenha and Cainnan," She said, "Nice to meet you Ash!"

"Hi... nice to meet you too..." Ash sighed, looking at the two humans in the group and then returning a sad glance to the fire. Tatum poured another bowl for Sydney and offered it to her. Sydney took the offer, eating the food.

"Would you like me to heal that wound for you Ash?" Tatum asked.

"Uh... sure, if you can." He siad, a bit curious. Tatum nodded and moved closer to Ash, Sydney moving out of the way. Tatum placed her hand gently over his wound and muttered a type of spell. A light emitted from her hand and a few moments later, the wound was completely healed as the light disappeared.

"Uh... thanks." He said, looking a bit stunned. "How'd you do that?"

"Tatum has some light powers, so she can heal others with them too," Kayla answered.

"Light... powers?" Ash cringed as he said this.

"Yeah, you know, so she could heal you."

"Yeah... right... heal... " Ash seemed sad and looked at the fire once more. Suddenly he cringed and gripped his head, his paw directly over the arrow on his head. He growned out as a burning pain assaulted him. Kayla looked at him concerned.

"Hey, are you all right? Do you have a headache?" she asked, worried.

He groaned aloud, almost a yell. "My head... is... burning!"

Kayla grips him by the shoulders. "Hey, you need help?"

"No! Stay back!" He said as he gripped his head and moved his claw out to keep her back. Sydney stepped back away from Ash and Tatum raised an eyebrow at his behavior. Sky watched Ash apprehensively.

"Um... he isn't schizophrenic is he?" He asked. Firenha smacked him upside his head and looked over at Ash. Kayla quickly gripped Ash by the wrists.

"C'mon Ash, let us help!"

Ash screamed in pain as she did so. His wrists started to glow and a small explosion sent Kayla off of him and Ash flying into the dirt a few feet. He skidded to a halt and groaned silently as he tried to get back up. Kayla rubbed her head, and looked at him.

"What the hell was that?!" she yelled.

"It felt like a burst of dark power," Tatum replied.

Ash looked at them for a bit before scrambling to his feet.

"S-stay back!" He yelled before turning around and darting off into the field. Kayla ran after him

"Ash! Wait!"

"Leave me alone!" He yelled and kept running. He kept going and then slowly came to a halt. The crashed pod he had arrived in was right in front of him. He stood before it in silent suprise. Kayla slowed and stopped by him.

"That's the thing I found you in...." she said calmly. He ignored her and walked forward, looking inside. He looked around the inside and digging through things. He pressed a key on one of the boards inside and data flashed across the screen. Ash eyed it, trying to understand it. He finally read a message on it that read: POD LAUNCH-3-29-2225

"No..." He muttered. He sighed sadly and opened a hatch inside, pulling out a bandoleer with a few pouches and slipping a few things inside. He crawled out of the pod, shot Kayla a glance, and started to walk away. Kayla turned to him.

"Hey, where are you going?" she asked.

"I don't know... away from here... just leave me alone..." He said sadly while looking at the ground. He slowly trotted away as he slipped the pouches onto his chest. Kayla trods by his side.

"And where exactly do you think you're going? I doubt you know anything about this place!" she argued.

"I don't need to know... I just want to find a nice quiet place to die... I'm tired of this all..." He siad while walking off, not even looking at her, his head sadly drooped downwards. She kept being persistent.

"Hey come on, you can't die! That's the worst thing you'd want to do!"

"Whatever... just leave me alone..." He siad, a bit of anger mounting in his voice. She stands in front of him, blocking his way.

"You know what? I don't know what your problem is, but you seriously need an attitude change."

"I'm not the one with the problem, just leave me the hell alone! I never asked for your help! Besides, what's with that damn bone arm?!" He said, anger flowing out of his every word. She remained silent, but her anger started to rise.

"...that's not relevant, okay? But there's no way I'm just letting walk away where you're most likey to get yourself killed!"

"Good! I hope I do..." He said with a scoff. He turned his head away angirly and started to walk again. Kayla pushed him back. "The hell with that, retard!"

"Why can't you leave me alone?!" He said while pushing her away. Kayla scoffed and pushes him back. " 'Cause I can't! I'm not letting you get yourself killed!"

"Well who asked you?! I'm sick of being alive... I'm only endangering the ones I'm with..." A few tears fell from his eyes and he jerked his head away so she wouldn't see him start to cry. Kayla starts to calm down, seeing a glint of his tears.

"Oh come on, don't be like that..." she said softly. "It's not helping yourself when you think that way..."

"It's true... everyone I've been near has been hurt... " He was struggling to hold back his tears. "I'm sorry mom... I'm so sorry... " He said softly, his body recoiling from hicups produced from his crying. Kayla walked closer to him.

"Ash? Is your mom....?" she fails to complete her sentence.

"Dead... just like all the rest..." He siad, tears falling from his face and onto the ground."I wasn't strong enough to save her..." He held back a huge wave of tears and a few spashed onto the ground as his head jerked to help fight back the wave of emotions. Kayla rested a paw on his shoulder.

"Don't cry....if it helps..my family's dead, so I understand what it's like having that loss...." Ash sniffled.

"I just wish... I could have saved her..." He closed his eyes tightly. "Instead she used the last of her energy to save me. And now... now... " He cringed and sniffled again. Something inside Kayla was being torn as she watched him, and felt she had to comfort him some way. She cupped his face with both paws and lifted his head.

"Ash...look at me..."

Ash lifted his head, tears falling from his face. Tears flowed from his face and he sniffed again, trying to stop crying, but obviously failing. She gave him a soft look, brushing the tears away from his cheeks with her palm.

"I might not understand what you've gone through, but I know that your mother had no regrets protecting you. And if you really love her, then you'd live for her." Ash sniffed at the comment. He looked at her for a second longer.

"I guess... you're... right..." He said lowly. Kayla smiled at him.

"Trust me...I understand....."

Ash looked up at her and tried to respond with a smile, but waves of emotion still nagged at him. He looked back to the camp where the others were and back to the pod. He glanced at her before walking back to the pod, looking it over one last time, as if trying to figure out something. She eyed him curiously.

"So...what is this thing, anyway?"

"It's an orbital drop pod... used by the Human Military to drop in soldiers from space for special combat missions..." He looked at it intently before speaking again. "You say you found me in here?"

"Yeah, but the weird thing is that you were actually a crystal when I found you..."

"Huh? A crystal?"

"Yeah, a small blue one with some black marking on it like yours. I went and touched it, and woo, you appeared."

Ash stared at her in disbelief for a few seconds, taking in what she just said. He looked back at the pod and looked stunned, shocked, and lost. He turned away from it. "We... should go back to the others..." She nodded.

"You're right," she turned and started walking back to camp. After a slow and silent walk, they arrived back at the campsite where the group sat. Tatum was eating some of the food in her own bowl when they had arrived.

"Everything okay with you two?" Sydney asked, looking over at Kayla and Ash. Sky was watching Ash as if waiting for him to freak out again and run off.

"Yeah... everything's alright..." He muttered in a low voice.

"There's still food leftover if you'd like some more," Tatum suggested. Ash took up her offer, eating food as if he hadn't eaten in days. Kayla took a spot next to him and ate some fish, since they were favorite.

"So," she said after swallowing, " where do you come from?"

"I'm from Draconous." He said. She gives him an odd look.

"Where's that?"

"You're guess is as good as mine. The Humans named it Draconous and were the ones that showed us that there were other worlds." He said in reply. Kayla chuckled, "I believe it, after meeting these guys.."

Sydney chuckled at that. They talked amongst themselves for a few more minutes until Tatum stood up and put out the fire. "We should continue on our way if we want to get to our friends in time," She reminded.

"Friends? What's going on? Is there someone in trouble or something?" He asked, standing up. Kayla nodded.

"Yeah, my friends were captured by this evil dragon, Terehawken. I was too and was controlled by him from citadel. I think my friend Luna wasn't affected and gave them the news and they came to save us. I'm back, but the others are still in his hands. He's probably going to send someone out again."

"Great... more fighting..." Ash sighed and rubbed his head. Kayla chuckles, "Exactly what I was thinking.."

Ash smirked, looking back in the direction of the pod and then back to the group.

"It never ends..." He said before rubbing his head one more time. Tatum gathered her things as everyone finished up and prepared to leave.

"On we go!" She stated, letting Kayla lead them to Terehawken's Citadel.