Disclaimer: Hmmm, what should I say? Well, if I DID own these TOTALLY AWESOME CHARACTERS then I would be SUPER RICH NOW, WOULDN'T I?! But, I don't so maybe that's why I'm FLAT BUSTED, huh?

Ch.2. Sometimes Being Cute Can Save Your Life!

Rune woke up to the bright golden sunlight which had strewn itself across the floor and onto his bed. The elf lay there awhile simply soaking in the vibrant warmth, feeling totally at peace, before he began to get the feeling that something was missing. Where was the little chatterbox that had kept had kept him up practically all last night? He turned over to view the spot where the small black-haired child had finally gone to sleep. The space was now empty, and only a slight dent in the mattress gave any sign that someone had been there recently.

The elf's stomach let loose an almighty growl that would've made him blush if anyone had been around to hear it. Breakfast-time, he thought as he slipped out of bed, That's probably the reason he's gone. Rune made his way over to the closet and pulled out an outfit, then slipped out of his nightgarb and into the outfit. And placing his shoes on hurriedly he was out of his room and down the hall towards the dining area, for he was quite hungry himself..

Along the way he passed by several Dragon Fighters, some chatting loudly amongst themselves, others leaning against the wall eating their breakfast. The dining table was too small to fit all the squadrons of soldiers that the Dragon Palace sheltered, however long it was, so many of them had to eat their meals elsewhere until Tetheus had finished his so they could resume their daily swordsmanship training. As Rune made his way past the raucous crowd, all talk ceased and he was awarded with long stares and looks.

Rune's face flushed. Alright, so he had long ears, more pointer than theirs, so what? Or maybe it was the fact that he was elf, not a human, which made him so strange. He tried not to look at the silent spectals face on, but glanced at them out of the corner of his eye. The Dragon Fighters were not staring at him with avid blank faces, but rather they looked like they were straining themselves terribly hard trying not to laugh.

Whatever on earth about? Rune wondered, when his discreet gaze set upon a red-haired member of the Dragon League Force. The elf's face, already a bright color, turned as red as a strawberry. He wanted to shrivel up and die on the spot. That's why! He thought in agony remembering.

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Flashback

"Hey, so you're the new Dragon Knight, huh?"

Rune wiped the sweat off his face with a cloth and looked about to see who had spoken to him. A smiling red-haired Dragon Fighter had suddenly appeared beside him. Behind him, the elf could see several more Dragon Fighters-some of his friends no doubt-looming about the wall of the sword-fighting training center trying to look inconspicuous as they cleaned their weapons, but obviously listening to the conversation.

Rune smiled back and tossed the cloth aside, "Yeah, that's me."

The Dragon Fighter nodded and clearly trying to think of something else to say, asked, "An elf, right?"

"Yes," Rune answered, puzzling over the Dragon Fighter's odd questions. Everyone at the castle knew who and what he was. Had the recent sword lesson with Tetheus damaged his brain a little? Or perhaps, the young man was just being friendly with small talk?

"I bet it's sort of weird living your life out peaceful solitude then suddenly having to live around a bunch of people, and fight and defend the land, huh?"

Rune blinked and suddenly did not feel quite so lonely as he had since he had arrived here in late fall and now it was early winter. Someone…someone understood! Perhaps, he was going to make a friend at long last.

"Yes," he stated truthfully, "It is weird. Especially when you don't know a thing about anyone or anything around here."

The Dragon Fighter must have been looking for an opening like this for he pounced on it like a dog fresh on the scent, "Hey!" he said excitedly clapping his hands together, "I've got it! Why don't I show you around Draqueen, so you get acquainted with the sights and the places? Then it won't seem like such a strange place anymore? What do you say?"

Though the elf was a bit taken back by the rushed request, it did sound like a rather good suggestion, so he agreed.

The red-haired Dragon Fighter looked like he was going to keel over with joy, "Great! Cool," he started to edge backwards and looked behind to his friends who must have given him an unspoken message of some sort because he stopped and looked back to Rune and seemed rather nervous.

The elf waited, still much perplexed by the person's odd behavior.

The Dragon Fighter moved a little closer, glanced at his friends one more time, then seemed to get a grip on himself and moved in until he was standing up close to the elf, "So," he stated casually, "How about this Saturday night?"

Rune felt quite uncomfortable,-what about he didn't know-however all he said was, "Erm…all right."

Suddenly the elf found an arm around his shoulders and pulled in towards the Dragon Fighter who was looking anywhere but at his face, "O.K., it's a date then."

And Rune got it.

"WAIT A MINUTE!!!" he yelped, throwing the Dragon Fighter's arm off from around him and placing himself a safe distance away.

The red-haired Dragon Fighter stared at him puzzled. Obviously, he didn't get it. Rune wished he had a mallet so he could whack his head in.

"I'M A GUY, YOU MORON!!!"

The Dragon Fighter stared blankly at him at a loss for words, then when he finally regained his ability to speak, all he asked was, "Really?"

"YES!!!" Rune screeched, his face turning red from anger and humility.

The red-haired Dragon Fighter's face crumpled like wet paper, and he backed away holding his hands up, apologizing in embarrassed sincerity, "Hey, I-I'm sorry! I thought-they told me-It's just…YOU LOOK LIKE A GIRL!!!"

Behind him, his friends were falling down and leaning against each other laughing hysterically.

"WELL I'M DEFINETLY NOT A GIRL!!!" Rune yelled, his fists clenched tight at his sides.

The Dragon Fighter had now backed up far enough to fall over a wooden bench in his path. "Hey, I said I'm sorry! Your looks just don't suit you, that's all!"

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!?!" Rune screamed seeing red.

The Dragon Fighter's friends were now laughing even harder. The elf couldn't take it. So he hurried out of the training room, utterly and totally humiliated, the laughter following out after him.

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The painful memory spurred the elf onward and made him quicken his steps. Practically running, he rounded the corner and sped down the hallway into the dining room. Behind him, he could hear wild laughter breaking out. Well, at least in here, he wouldn't be the object of ridicule. He spotted the Dragon Lord and his Officers at once as he entered, but to took him awhile to see the small black-haired boy seated at the table. He glanced up to see him and Rune smiled at him. The child quickly fixed his eyes on the table's surface and did not look at him again. The elf frowned, wondering what was wrong.

Lykuleon and everyone looked up as he moved to take a seat at the table. And everything fell apart. Ruwalk, who was drinking out of a cup, choked and spewed the liquid all over the table. Alfeegi, who had a spoon halfway to his mouth, dropped it back into his porridge making that splatter all over the table. Tetheus, who never had any kind of reaction, raised his eyebrows. And the Dragon Lord started laughing outright.

Rune could feel the heat rising to his cheeks. Why were they laughing? They couldn't possibly know about that incident unless…the Dragon Fighters had told! I SHALL MAKE THEM PAY!!! Rune thought fiercely.

At that moment, Cernozurna came bustling in with a tray full of steaming mugs. "Here is your coff-Aaaaaaaaahhh!!!" the maid let out a cry of surprise upon seeing the elf, and dropped the platter, letting the hot brown liquid spill out over the floor. Then the woman blinked at the elf for a few seconds, before throwing her head back and laughing uproariously. That seemed to have set off a button in the Officers for they joined in with the maid and the Dragon Lord in loud raucous laughter. Well, except for Tetheus, he merely allowed a small smile.

By now, Rune was the color of a tomato and gripping the back of the chair so hard, it was a wonder it hadn't cracked. HE WAS MOST ASSUREDLY GOING TO SLAUGHTER THOSE DRAGON FIGHTERS!!!

Finally getting himself under control, Lord Lykuleon wiped the tears from his eyes and smiled at the uptight elf, "Decided to dress up today, Rune?"

Huh? Rune blinked and looked at the giggling, snickering group and realized they had only laughed after they had seen him…

The elf dashed to the nearest mirror-which was in the dining room hanging above a chest-and stared in it.

And stared.

And stared.

And stared.

OH, GODS, HE WAS NEVER GOING TO LIVE THIS DOWN!!!

For there in the mirror, was a person whose long blond hair had been tied up into two high ponytails held in bright pink ribbons, and on whose face was the result of a bad work of makeup done. His eyelids were heavily coated with blue eyeshadow and the mascara around them was smeared so thick, it looked like a mask. His cheeks were heavy with ruche so red it must have made his blushing stand out terrible, and his lips…his lips were the worst. Red lipstick had been smeared on them but the work was inexperienced, obviously, because the substance was not just within the boundaries of his lips, but all over his chin as well.

The elf stood there, staring and wondering how on earth could this have possibly happened, because he clearly hadn't done it, and he highly doubted that he sleepwalked, so HOW? He hadn't had this when he had gone to sleep, yet it had been on since he had gotten up and the only person who had been with them in-between that time had been…

Rune turned slowly around and locked eyes with the small black-haired child who had been sneaking peeks at him. Then he began advancing steathily towards him, not saying a word.

"I'm sorry!" Rath cried, voicing outloud his guilt of the crime, "I thought you would like it!"

By now, the elf had reached the table and made a grab for the boy, but he quickly ducked under the table and appeared on the other side proclaiming vehemently, "Honest, Rune! I thought all girls liked makeup!"

That halted the elf and made the others all start laughing again. This is what made the elf loose it. This was the last straw to a morning of bad memories, targeted laughter, and people thinking he was a girl.

"I'M NOT A GIRL!!!" he screamed furiously, "DO YOU HEAR THAT?!?!" he shouted towards the direction in which the Dragon Fighters were, around the corner, "I-AM-NOT-A-GIRL!!!"

"Your features would prove otherwise, Rune," the Dragon Lord stated jovially, after getting himself under control.

Of course, this only managed to make the others get even more wild. Ruwalk laughed so hard he fell out of his chair. Rune's forehead, by now, was popped out full of throbbing veins. Oh, what he wouldn't give for a mallet! A mallet!!!

Finally, Lykuleon coughed, and said seriously, "I'm sorry, Rune. Please, why don't you clean up and come back later?"

The elf nodded, being too mad to speak, and turned, starting to leave the room.

"Oh. Rune," the Dragon Lord said and the elf turned back around, "Take the other exit out so you won't have the fortune of meeting any unwanted people."

Rune gave an incline of his head, and did as told, still smoldering in fury.

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Rune wiped the last bit of ruche off his cheek and viewed his face, which was now back to normal. He gave a long-flowing sigh of relief.

"Rune?" came a small voice.

The elf looked about to the entrance of his room, where a young boy with untidy black-hair was peeking around the door-frame nervously.

Rune sighed again, "Come on in," he said.

The child stepped foot into the room cautiously, looking ready to bolt from it if the elf showed even the faintest sign of being about to shout.

Rune felt guilt from every inch of his being wash over him. The elf's recent show of bad temperment had long since left his system. Looking back, he was appalled at how he had behaved. And having a child frightened out of his wits because of him wasn't helping things either.

"Hey," he said, smiling down at the unsure boy, "I'm sorry for how I acted earlier. I was just mad at a lot of things. It wasn't just you. Forgive me?"

Rath didn't hesitate for his face to break out in a beaming smile, "O.K.," he chirped so fast, the elf wondered if he had been acting the whole time. But all Rune said was, "Breakfast?"

"YEAH!!!"

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Both the boy and elf had just re-entered into the dining area, which thankfully was vacant of any Dragon Lord, Officer, or Fighter, when Rath was suddenly bowled over by a barking, excited mass of white fur. Alarmed, Rune was about to come to his aid, when the child squealed in wild delight, "CREWGAR!!!"

Then the elf remembered the white demon-dog who he had seen with Rath when he had first laid eyes on the boy. Relaxing, he stared upon the pair who were happily wrestling on the floor, when a voice spoke came from behind him, "What? No hug for me?"

Whirling about, Rune clapped eyes on a tall man with white hair and glasses, wearing traveling clothes. He was smiling at the scene on the floor with kind, sparkling eyes.

From the ground, underneath the demon-dog, the young boy peeked out and seeing the man cried, "KAI-STERN!!!" joyfully.

The man-Kai-stern-, crossed his arms and pouted, "Crewgar gets affection and I don't? You must like him better than me!"

"No!" Rath said laughing and tried to worm his way out from under the demon-dog, but he was pushed back as Crewgar began licking his face enthusiastically.

"Well, I better go and find a new friend who cares about me," Kai-stern said mournfully and started to walk off with his shoulders slumped.

"No! Don't go!" Rath cried and managed to break loose from the demon-dog. Running after the man he leapt up on his back, and folded his arms around his neck, "Stay here!"

Kai-stern laughed in a deep, rich voice and reached behind him to pull the child over his shoulders and hugged him tight to his chest. The young boy squealed in delight and buried his face in the man's neck. The two stayed like that for a few seconds before Kai-stern held the child out a bit in front of him and said, "Remember what I promised? Everytime I get a hug, you get a…TICKLE-FEST!!!"

Rath howled in mirth, trying to escape from the man's clutches, but to no avail. Kai-stern began tickling the boy merciless, though the child kicked and squirmed in a battling struggle. Crewgar raced around them in a frenzied racket of barking. Kai-stern only stopped until Rath had begun to wheeze from all his laughing.

The man set the child on the ground and waited until he had gotten his breath back to ask, "Well, aren't you going to introduce me to your friend there, Rath?"

The young boy glanced up at Rune and smiled, "That's Rune, he's an elf! Rune, this is Kai-stern, he's a Dragon Officer!"

Rune started at that. Whatever he had suspected this man to be, a Dragon Officer was not it. He seemed so different from cold, expressionless Tetheus, and serious, no-nonsense Alfeegi. Even from easy-going Ruwalk.

Kai-stern smiled at the stunned expression on the elf's face and said, "I know what you're thinking: How on earth did this man ever become a Dragon Officer, right?"

Rune blinked. Well not exactly, he thought, but close enough.

"Let me tell you," the man said grinning, "I don't know! However, I would like to know why and how an elf came to be in the palace."

Rath cut in before Rune had a chance to speak, "He's the new Dragon Knight!!! He's Water's master!!!"

Kai-stern looked flabbergasted. Now he stared at Rune as if in a whole new light, "You mean to say," he said as if he could hardly believe it, "That we actually control another dragon now, besides Fire?"

"Yes! Yes!" Rath cried jumping up and down excitedly.

Rune was a bit puzzled as to why they were both so excited when he remembered Ruwalk telling him right before he was about to set off and free the Water Dragon that the Dragon Tribe usually had more dragons, but that only Fire was with them now. The elf supposed that to fight off as many demons as there were in the land, they would need all the help they could get. And dragons, he supposed must assist them quite a great deal.

All of a sudden, Rune found his hand being pumped up and down enthusiastically as Kai-stern shook it, grinning madly, "Welcome! Welcome to our family! I hope you like it here. You do, don't you?"

Wrenching his arm away from the man as politely as possible, the elf replied truthfully, "Well, I do like it here, it's just I don't feel like I fit in."

Kai-stern waved a hand aside in the air and said in a reassuring manner, "I know how you feel. I've been here I-don't-know-how-long and I still get uncomfortable around these Dragons. But they sort of grow on you after a while-even though some of them need the wiring in their brains clipped to loosen their electricity a little."

"He's talking about Alfeegi," Rath explained to Rune helpully.

"SHHH!!!" in an instant, Kai-stern had cupped both hands around the child's mouth and was casting anxious glances about the room, "Don't say that out loud! I'm already two weeks past due on reporting and I don't need Alfeegi on my case for a second time for bruising his ego."

"But he couldn't have been able to hear what Rath said," Rune declared, "He' s not even here."

"Don't be too sure about that," Kai-stern advised, still flinging furtive looks around, "You never know with Alfeegi. He's everywhere."

And as if on cue: "KAI-STERN! WHERE ARE YOU?! YOU HAVEN'T MADE YOUR REPORT ON YOUR TRIP TO LUWA! AND I KNOW YOU'RE HERE! RUWALK'S HIDING BECAUSE HE GAVE YOU EXTRA MONEY ON THE TRIP-AS USUAL-AND HE ONLY HIDES HIMSELF WHEN YOU RETURN! SO COME OUT AND TAKE THIS LIKE AN OFFICER! I'LL FIND YOU ANYWHERE! YOU CAN'T AVOID ME FOREVER!!!"

In a flash, Kai-stern had withdrawn his hands from about Rath's mouth and turning, was racing out of the room full speed, shouting behind him, "HI, RUNE! BYE, RUNE! VERY NICE TO MEET YOU AND REMEMBER: YOU NEVER SAW ME!!!"

Leaving behind a sweatdropping elf who was pondering exactly how the Dragon tribe had survived so long from all the demon attacks when their own relationships was so unstable, when Alfeegi came barging in.

The strawberry-haired man swept narrowed eyes about the room, then spotting the child and elf marched up to them in a swaggering manner and demanded of Rath intensely, "YOU, RATH, WHERE IS KAI-STERN?!"

The black-haired boy feigned innocence, inquiring up at Alfeegi wide-eyed, "Kai-stern is back?"

"DON'T PLAY THOSE GAMES ON ME!" the White Dragon Officer shouted vexed, "I HEARD KAI-STERN IN HERE, NOW WHERE DID HE GO?!?!"

"I don't know," Rath stated truthfully.

"Oooooh!" Alfeegi sighed exasperatedly, pinching the bridge of his nose between his forefinger and thumb, "You'd think a guy would come directly to me and give his report at least once! Not, Kai-stern, NOOOOOOOOOOOO! It's almost as if he's afraid of me…ah, that's insane!"

Rune believed otherwise, though.

And while Alfeegi was muttering under his breath about other certain faults of Kai-stern, Rath took his time to ask, "Alfeegi, where's my sword?"

"Where it should be-safely locked up in my room!" the White Dragon Officer snapped, still fuming over his inability to catch his fellow Officer.

"Can I have my sword back now?" the small black-haired boy put in.

The strawberry-haired man-who was just getting himself under control-flew off the handle again, "NO!!!" he practically screamed, several veins popping out of his forehead.

"But whyyyyy?" Rath whined.

"BECAUSE EVERYTIME YOU HAVE YOUR SWORD, UTTER AND COMPLETE CHAOS INSUES AND I ALREADY HAVE A BIG ENOUGH HEADACHE AS IT IS RIGHT NOW WITHOUT WORRYING ABOUT WHETHER OR NOT YOU'RE GOING TO TRY AND SLIP OFF AGAIN TO GO KILL DEMONS!!!"

"I wasn't going to go kill demons," the child stated honestly, his eyes wide, "I just want it back so I can let Fire out, so he can talk to Crewgar, so he can tell if where he and Kai-stern went is dangerous enough for demons to come there. Then I would go and kill demons!"

Rune didn't think it could be very healthy for a person to have as many veins popped out on his forehead as Alfeegi did. Fortunately, before the man could do anything too drastic to Rath, a commation came from the direction of where Kai-stern had disappeared to. A surprised cry, a loud crash, and a man's voice could be heard saying apologetically, "Oh, I'm so sorry-here let me help you up!"

In a flash, the White Dragon Officer was off in running towards the voice, fire blazing in his eyes, crying triumphantly, "I HEAR YOU, KAI-STERN!!! THIS TIME YOU WILL NOT ESCAPE!!! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" then almost in an afterthought, before he had cleared around the corner shouted threateningly back at the boy, "AND DON'T YOU DARE GO LOOKING FOR YOUR SWORD, RATH, OR YOU WON'T EVER GET TO TOUCH ANY WEAPON UNTIL YOU'RE 81!!!"

Then from around the corner, came cries of terror, gleeful exclamations and horrified screaming. Crewgar whined and slinked away to the kitchens, not wanting to know what Alfeegi was doing to his poor friend. Rune sweatdropped. Oh my, he thought, What kind of Tribe have I joined?" The elf turned to ask Rath if he had ever thought that the people around him were…a bit…odd, but the boy wasn't there. Glancing about, he managed to catch a flash of the child's black wild hair before he had disappeared down the hallway the other way. Rune raced after him.

He didn't really need to follow the boy. It wasn't as if that had been assigned his duty, or the child been told to be his guide and show him around. It was just the fact that Rune was new there and didn't really know how he should go about things. The young boy seemed to hold vast amounts of information in his head about anything anyone wanted to know about the palace, and since the elf hardly knew a thing, he just thought it wise to stick tight around the child and watch and learn.

Rune hurried down the long hallway, turned down the adjoining corridor and began looking hastily in the rooms on either side of him. The elf came to a stop in front of one, catching sight of his small friend standing on a chair, trying to open an obviously locked cabinet. The young boy gave several lasts attempt at the feat, before hitting the cabinet angrily and slumping moodily down on the chair.

"What are you doing?" Rune questioned, stepping into the room.

The child barely gave the elf a second glance, "Trying to get my sword out, but I can't."

"Wait," Rune said halting and casting fleeting looks about, "This is Alfeegi's room…"

"Yup," Rath said crossing his arms and sulking, "Old 'Feegi's getting smarter. He didn't used to lock things up, but I always kept sneaking into his room to get stuff, and his Chocolate Truffles were the last straw. So now he always locks everything up, even if it belongs to me."

"Oh," was all the elf could think of to say, "But he's right. You really shouldn't take things that aren't yours."

The small black-haired boy managed to shake himself out of his gloomy mood to glare at him indignantly, "You sound just like the Dragon Lord! Why don't you just-HEY!" the child's eyes flew fully open as he gazed at the elf, "YOU GOTTA SWORD!"

"Er…yes," Rune said a bit uncomfortable fingering the weapon which hang by his side, "I brought it so I could go to my sword-lesson with Tetheus after breakfast and-Hey!"

For Rath had sprung out of his seat and in two bounds had grabbed the sword out of its sheath and jumped back up on the chair. "This'll work!" he yelled excitedly and swinging the weapon in a large arc over his head, brought it smashing down on the cabinet, breaking the lock, and slicing both doors open. And toppling out, came another, rather big sword.

"Yeah!!!" the child squealed happily, and discarding Rune's, caught his own and raised it high in the air shouting enthusiastically, "FIRE, COME OUT!!!"

There came a red light so bright that the elf had to shield his eyes and when it had faded away, he opened them to view a small red was sitting demurely on the floor. The little lizard barely had time to see his surroundings before he had been swept up by Rath and squeezed happily-if not also very tightly. Squirming out of his master's grasp, the dragon flew up in the air, dropping a sign onto the boy's head which read:

:My Master has been cloned!:

Rath found this extremely funny, "You silly dragon!" he called up, "Why would you think that?"

:My real Master would not have conducted in such a girlish manner towards me :

All of the child's chagrin vanished completely. In a rather ominous voice, the boy said, "Say that…again."

: You are girlish and Master isn't:

Fire and to do wild loop-to-loops in order not to get sliced open by the young boy's sword.

"I'LL SHOW YOU WHO'S GIRLISH, LIZARD-BREATH!!! I'LL CHOP UP YOUR LIVER AND SERVE IT IN ALFEEGI'S CHILI!!! COME DOWN AND FIGHT LIKE A COWARD!!!"

In an instant the little dragon had dove down and flung its wings around Rath's neck exclaiming tearfully on his sign:

:MASTER!!! IT REALLY IS YOU!!! :

Rath pulled the clinging lizard off him stating huffily, "Of course, it's me!!! Who else would I be?!"

: It's just: Fire wrote : I was put up so long, I couldn't tell how much time had gone by, and I thought maybe I would have a new master when I got out again! :

"Don't be stupid!" the child assured the Dragon fiercely, "You're mine and nobody else's!!! They'll have to deal with me if they try to take you!!!"

: Aw, Master, you really do care about me!!!: Fire pretended to cry. He was bowled over with one of his signs by Rath who declared emphatically, "Don't push your luck, Fly-boy! I might just seal you up again!"

Rune watched the scene with an amused feeling. This kid had a soft side he tried to hide, but through which most people saw through at once. However, when he spoke of demons, going off to fight, and killings, he grew so serious and firm, the elf knew he wasn't joking about doing those things. There was a darker, hidden side to him as if he carried a great secret. Who are you, kid? Rune thought wondering. His thoughts were interrupted by Rath asking excitedly, "Hey, Rune, why don't you bring out Water so we can see how he'll react to Fire!"

The elf had begun to see now, that anything the child asked led to something drastic. So, of course, when the boy asked him that, he felt very wary-that and the fact that he knew the natural elements of fire and water did not like being together. Therefore, he hesitated and said, "I don't think that's such a good choice, Rath. Besides, I'm late enough as it is for my swordsmanship class."

"Aw. PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEASE, Rune! Aren't you curious? Fire hasn't seen another dragon in so long! Wouldn't you miss your own kind, even you had others around you?"

The last remark hit a spot. It was exactly how the elf felt right now: missing his elven friends, surrounded by strange, odd people who did things without explanation. He was going to cave in, Rune knew it! Curses! How had this kid manage to wrap himself around his little finger, without Rune realizing?! Oh, well…he was curious.

"O.K.," Rune relented with a sigh and the child let out a happy shriek.

Picking up his fallen sword, the elf mimicked the boy's earlier actions and held it high above his head, crying, "WATER, COME OUT!!!"

There was another bright light, this time blue and when all was clear, a small blue-colored dragon was sitting on the floor. Blinking, it looked about, then stared at the elf above him. Rune held his breath. He had not seen the Water Dragon since the day Varawoo had been sealed. He was not sure if the two of them had a bond as strong as Fire and Rath did. Opening his wings, the Water Dragon alifted into the air and gracefully landed on the elf''s left shoulder and nuzzled his cheek gently as if to reassure him. Rune exhaled and let himself relax.

"WOW!" Rath cried viewing the dragon, "He looks so cool!!! Why don't you look like that, Fire?"

Fire, although enjoying the first dragon he had seen for years, did not like this comment one bit. Jealous, he flew over to Water was perched and asked on his sign:

:Hey, cousin! Long time-no see!:

Water viewed his relative with mild interest.

Fire held up another sign which read : What would I have to do, to be just as cool-looking as you?:

Water did not respond, but merely stared back at his fellow dragon unblinkingly.

Fire, who was getting quite disgruntled by the blue dragon's lack of speech wrote next : Why don't you write on a sign like I do, so all of us can understand you?:

Water ignored the red dragon completely and turned to groom one of his wings.

Fire sweatdropped and scribbled angrily : STUCK-UP SNOB!!!:

Water's tail came whipping out of nowhere suddenly, knocking Fire back though the air and forcing him to slam into Alfeegi's now destroyed cabinet. The small red dragon sat up in the wreckage, an outraged look to his face and tattled to his master on his sign:

:HE HIT ME!!! :

"ALRIGHT!" Rath cried almost as if he was overjoyed rather than mad at someone attacking his dragon, "A BATTLE!!!"

"What?" Rune questioned nervously. Somehow, that particular exclamation did not sound good.

Rath jumped on top of his chair declaring boisterously, "WATER HAS OFFENDED FIRE'S HONOR! NOW HE HAS TO MAKE RES-RES…er…resty-"

"Restitution?" Rune helped out.

"YEAH, RESTY-TOOSHUN!" the boy cried, "IN OTHER WORDS: LET THE DUEL BEGIN!!!"

"What?! Wait! WHOA!!!" Rune yelped ducking as stream of Fire jutted above him where his head had been seconds before. Obviously, both the child and his dragon's minds were linked on the same brain-length, for Fire wasted no time in making "resty-tooshun".

Water took off from the elf's shoulder indignantly and flew up high to the ceiling. The red dragon followed in hot pursuit, spewing out a crimson wave of hot fire.

"Water, look out!" Rune cried berating himself an idiot for letting a little kid persuade him to do something so stupid.

The blue dragon whirled around in time to blast out a wave of gushing water. The two attacks collided in the air, steaming and hissing violently as they met. The water, of course, overpowered the fire, then fell down upon the unfortunate victims below, drenching them to the skin.

How ironic, Rune thought with his hair plastered tightly to his head, That I should be called the Dragon Knight of Water.

Rath, of course, seemed to think it was a great game and jumped and down merrily on the chair, his wet clothes flapping about him like wings. "GO, FIRE, GO!!!" he screamed enthusiastically, "SHOW THAT COOL-LOOKING DRAGON WHAT COWARDS ARE MADE OF!!!'

That comment must have totally shredded any ounce of decency the little dragon had left for he attacked his fellow dragon with a renewed fury. Fire-balls and blasts now whizzed around the room trying to hit the Water anywhere he flew. The poor dragon didn't even have any time to defend himself.

Rath must have realized that Fire was winning, for his jumps on the chair became higher and more fast with the young boy's active hyperness. Finally, the wood could take no more and with a loud crack! the bottom split open and the child fell through. Rath lay stunned on the floor for a moment before beaming up at the elf giggling, "Just like Goldilocks, right Rune!"

Rune had other things on his mind at the moment then relating the antics of Goldilocks to events in everyday life right now, though. With fire raining down upon them, the elf did not think it was a good idea to stand out in the open like this. Rushing forward, he seized the younger boy by the arm and pushed both himself and the child under the bed, whispering firmly to Rath, "Don't you dare start saying anything about monsters, got it?"

Water knew he wouldn't last much longer in this tiny room and all places for cover were getting burned to a crisp. So gliding quickly, he was out of the room and flying down the hallway. Fire gave an enraged screech and flew out after him. And the elf and child crawled slowly from the bed to view the wreckage.

The cabinet was smashed, the ground had scorch-marks, the top of the bed was blackened and the walls had gaping holes everywhere which still were simmering red-hot. All in all, the room was trashed.

The two looked about open-mouthed and white-faced, at a loss for words. Then down the hallway came a sound they dreaded. The sound of happy shuffling feet and person humming-very badly offkey, I might add.

Rath gasped in horror, "Uh-oh, its Alfeegi!"

They didn't have time to hide. In less than a minute, the Dragon Officer had waltzed in, apparently still jovial about catching Kai-stern. All that left his system as he saw the room. His jaw went slack. He stared about for awhile, then Rune felt his gaze fall upon him. First he simply looked like he did not know how to react, then his face grew a bit red. The elf wanted to go and crawl into a hole. What a fine first impression he had made!

"Rune," he said slowly, "Can you possibly begin to explain what has occurred here?"

"Er…yes," the elf said, thankful he hadn't gotten whacked with a mallet-if the man had one that is, "Well, you see, we-"

"We?" Alfeegi raised an inquiring eyebrow.

"Yes, Rath and," Rune glanced down beside him. No familiar black-haired child stood there. Or anywhere near him for that matter. The elf cast inquisitive eyes about an dcaught sight of the door to the adjoining room slightly ajar. That little fink! He thought, He ditched me! But he had to admit, it had been a pretty smart thing to do.

"Ah, Rath you said," Alfeegi questioned and the red left his face, "No need to explain any further. That name describes it all. Let me guess, he talked you into doing something you normally wouldn't do, and after you did it, you wondered how in the name of Dusis was I led into doing it?"

"Hehe," Rune laughed weakly, still wary of Alfeegi after all he had seen this morning, "Yes."

The strawberry-blond haired man nodded matter-of-factly and crossed his arms, "Want a few words of advice for that little terror?"

The elf nodded and the man leaned forward. Rune leaned forward too.

"Don't let him get within an inch of scizors."

HUH?

Alfeegi took a final glance at the elf, taking in his long blond hair, "Yes," he said affirming his earlier statement, "Most definately."

Rune sweatdropped.

" Well, Rune, since you're new here, I'll let you off the hook. Cernozurna will send someone to clean this up and you should hurry along to your sword lesson. And when you see Rath again, don't let him con you into another one of his catastrophes," with that the man turned and was starting to go out the door when he turned about to say a final parting word of wisdom, "And don't drink anything he offers you, especially if he asks if you want a hair-cut before." Then the man disapeared around the frame.

Rune was drenched in sweat by now. Slowly he picked up his sword and began to exit out.

Well, you have to admit, he thought to himself heading out, Things certainly won't be boring around here!

WHEW!!! FINALLY! Sorry it took so long, but hey-wasn't it worth it?(^_^) O.K, I'LL GET RIGHT DOWN TO THE SUBJECT: people have been asking if this is slash or not. Let me ease your fears: NO!NO!NO!NO! Sorry DracoDormiens1, but this story is straight! However, I hope you continue reading even if it isn't what you wanted. ALRIGTY, MOVING ALONG!!! Ch.3 might take just as long as this one-or not, who can tell. But I really don't think it'll be up in week, sorry! SO, HOW DO YOU LIKE THIS CHAPTER? REVIEW AND TELL ME! TELL ME!!! TELL ME!!! See you next time, bye!