SciLab

The sky was starting to lighten up as the moon set. Chaud, Famous and Raika were up on the roof of SciLab, watching the sunrise. They remained quiet; not looking at one another. Chaud was sitting next to Famous, as Raika stood at the other end of the roof. The wind was going right through Famous who was regretting his decision to join the two boys; Chaud was covered in fur and Raika had an eternal fire in his chest, and Famous had a lab coat. He shot a glance back at Raika and saw that he had taken his coat and shirt off so that he could shift into his half form. The tops of his arms were covered in small aqua blue scales, and two massive white horns were jutting out of his forehead. They went straight out for a few inches until they bent back and traveled above the length of his back. A long aqua blue tail with small white spikes traveling down the top of it had appeared; slightly twitching every now and then. Protruding out of his back was a giant pair of the same blue wings.

Raika looked over his shoulder and met Famous' glance, and with a sigh, walked over to join them; grabbing his shirt and coat. He threw his coat onto Famous' shoulders, knowing that the man would always be too proud to admit that he was cold.

"Thanks." Famous mumbled, repositioning the coat so that it sat properly.

"You didn't have to come up with us." Raika replied, smiling a little.

Famous chuckled quietly, happy to see Raika starting to lighten back up. His own smile vanished suddenly, unknown to the other two, as he felt his skin slightly burn. He made a mental note to look into it once he was alone.

Ten minutes later and the sun started to rise above the horizon. The rays of light hit the roof, and Chaud's body started to morph back into black and white haired boy. He was completely naked and immediately curled up into a ball in an attempt to stay warm.

"See, told you that you'd be alright." Famous said quietly, passing him some clothes. "Come on, let's get back inside."

Chaud put the pants on and pulled the shirt over his head while Famous handed Raika back his coat. The three of them turned around and went through the iron door that led to a set of stairs leading back down to the many levels of SciLab. As they were heading down the stairs, Raika was slowly taking back on his human form. Chaud followed, still looking bewildered.

"Famous what happened to me?" Chaud asked as he tried to keep pace with Famous. He felt exhausted and couldn't think straight.

"Not here Chaud; just wait until we get back to my office." Famous said over his shoulder. "Before I tell you anything though, you two each owe me a story."

They stepped into Famous' office and closed the door. Famous sat on his desk, Chaud sat on the couch, and Raika lurked in the corner near the door.

"Raika, I want to hear your story first." Famous said, pulling his keyboard into his lap and adjusting one of the monitors so that he could see it better. Everyone had learned to put up with Famous' multitasking; it wasn't that he was ever trying to be rude; he was just a busy guy. Raika walked out of his corner and took a seat on the couch next to Chaud.

"Where would you like me to begin?" He asked looking over at Famous who was scanning different news websites.

"Start from the beginning." Famous replied, not looking away from a story.

"Well I've been a dragon for almost three years now; my first change happened a few months after I got back. Right before it happened I got really sick; the fever almost killed me. Lucky for me Iriya knew what was happening and got me out of the city. He had a hunting cabin deep in the mountains and took me there for my first change. I don't remember what actually happened but I do remember waking up in a small valley. Iriya was there watching over me." Raika started, sitting back closing his eyes; lost in the memory.

Sharo, three years ago

"Glad to see you're finally waking up; I was starting to get worried." Iriya said, walking over to where Raika lay; a small bundle under his arm.

Raika was trying to focus his vision, everything seemed brighter than usual. His head was filled with noise and his mouth tasted like copper. He saw a figure standing above him, blocking out the sun.

"Iriya?" He coughed, his throat was dry and he was feeling dizzy. His heart rate was accelerating as he realized that he had no idea where he was or what had happened. The last thing he remembered was being in his room back on the base.

"Here, put these on; I'm getting cold just looking at you." Iriya said, handing him the bundle that turned out to be his clothes. Raika blushed; he just realized that he was lying naked in the snow.

Once he had gotten dressed Iriya handed him a bottle of water; which he finished in a few quick gulps. The water brought back some of his strength. He looked around trying to figure out where he was. It was a small valley, more of a basin. There were strange rock formations everywhere; Raika had never seen anything like them. Upon further inspection he realized that they were the ruins of buildings; he was standing in what used to be a village.

"Where are we?" Raika asked, his cool demeanor setting back in.

"I know you can answer that yourself," Iriya said sadly, putting a hand on Raika's shoulder.

"Why does it feel familiar, I've never been here before." Raika said, slowly walking through the ruins, unable to shake the feeling.

"Well, you were here for a few months. This is where you were born Raika." Iriya said slowly.

Raika whipped around, betraying his shock and surprise. He couldn't find the words that he wanted to say. A thousand questions rushed through his mind. He turned away, trying to compose himself, but for the first time in his life he couldn't.

"What's going on?" He finally managed to ask.

"Raika, I need to tell you something about yourself. It's going to be a lot to take in." Iriya started, looking for permission to continue. Raika gave him a short nod. "You are a dragon Raika; just like your parents and their parents. But you are the last of your breed of dragon, as you might have gathered from the scene before us."

He was right; it was a lot to take in. Raika just stared at him, a thoughtful look on his face. Then he started laughing, catching Iriya off guard.

"Yeah ok, I think you need to give me your flask for the next few days." Raika chuckled walking up to him hand out stretched.

"I'm not making this up Raika. You were passed out buck ass naked in the snow and you didn't even notice until I pointed it out. You flew all the way home because that's what a dragon does for their first change; they go home to where they were born. Look at where we are; do you remember getting here?" Iriya shouted, desperately hoping that Raika would believe him. He saw the look in Raika's eyes; he didn't have a doubt as to what he was.

Raika was quiet for a while, busying himself with exploring the village. One ruin in particular held him in place. He knew what it was without Iriya's explanation; it was his parents' house. He stepped over a crumbling wall and stood inside of it, it seemed like it was a decent sized home.

"What happened here?" Raika asked quietly.

"The military found out about the village, and determined that the inhabitants were a risk to the city's population. So, they were destroyed; every single one was cut down or shot out of the sky: every single one, except you."

"Why was I spared?"

"Because your father was the only one who believed me when I came here to warn them. He and I were friends; he saved my life long before when I had gotten lost in a blizzard. He gave you to me, saying that he couldn't abandon his people."

"You raised me as a soldier, a little too sick for you Iriya." Raika said; malice in his voice.

"I raised you that way because you need a high level of discipline and a strong will to control yourself now. Being a lone dragon is no easy task, you need to learn how to control it. Stay at my cabin for the next few months; there's plenty of game in the area to keep you from going hungry and away from the city." He said sternly, making Raika look him in the eyes. Raika nodded his understanding; tearing his eyes away to look at the ruin one last time before following Iriya to a secret passage.

SciLab, present

"I lived out in the mountains for a little over a year. Out of my mind half the time; but I eventually got a handle on myself; enough that I could go home for a few weeks at a time." Raika said, ending his story.

"When are you forced to change?" Famous asked, feigning interesting in his monitor.

"Every new moon, once on a lunar eclipse; those are the hardest to control." He answered flatly. Famous made a thoughtful sound, obviously lost in his own thoughts.

"So what happened that they chased you out of the country?" He asked bluntly.

"My squad was participating in a new training mission; I was grounded by my own choice that day, I was having control issues. At one point; when they were over the city, one of the jets stalled and started losing altitude. I watched from the runway, praying that they would regain control; but the jet kept falling. All the sirens started to go off, alerting the city to the danger. I could hear the squad yelling in my ear piece, telling the pilot to eject, but something was wrong. I tore off down the runway, changing for all to see, and took off as fast as I could toward the jet." Raika stopped; the second half of his story was still painful. He saw Famous looking over at him, caught in the story. He gave a sigh and continued. "I caught the jet before it crashed into a building and was somehow able to get it close to the base. The jet was totaled, my claws had ruined the wings and body from where I had gripped it, but the pilot was ok for the most part. I landed and found myself surrounded by armed men and a few tanks. I grudgingly changed back, not thrilled about being naked in front of my comrades. Iriya stepped forward, lowering his gun; I knew he had to keep up face and forgave him; he threw a bundle of clothes at me. There was something strange in his eyes. I expected them to lower their weapons; instead they closed in on me. I looked back to Iriya, he was looking right at me and I could see that he was mouthing something to me. He was telling me to run; and I did, not bothering to get dressed I gripped the clothes and took full form. They chased me all the way to the boarder, new squads of jets joining every time I flew over check points. But fear kept me ahead of them, and got me here." He said, finishing the story.

"Wow." Chaud breathed, not realizing how much his friend had gone through, let alone how long he had been a part of this new world. He couldn't imagine how much pain Raika must be in.

"I'm so sorry Raika." Famous said quietly, looking back to the monitor.

"We're one in the same now Chaud; both chased out of our homes." Raika said looking over at Chaud.

"So what happened at the Blaze household?" Famous asked after a moment.

And so, Chaud told Famous about the nightmare that he had been having, and how he had been in a lot of pain the last few days of his human life. Then they told of how Shuuseki Blaze had tried to kill Chaud, and how they got away.

"I see, yesterday was quite the jammed pack day." Famous mumbled, seeing their looks of confusion he added; "Lan's elven self also awoke yesterday."

"Lan's an elf? Does that mean that Dr. Hikari is one as well?" Chaud asked, not really surprised by anything at the moment.

"Yes, they are both elves. But Yuichiro is a sage; he is much more powerful than Lan will ever be." Famous explained, forgetting to use Yuichiro's formal title in mixed company like he always did.

"When he touched my hand it felt like a knife going right through my mind; it gave me a chance to regain control. How did he do that?" Raika asked, not mentioning the second time it had happened.

"I don't know how he does it; I don't think he even fully understands it. But lucky for us it works, that trick has saved him many times over." Famous said, obviously done with the topic. The room got very quiet, for a moment it seemed like Famous had dozed off.

"My dad said that my mother was like me; do you know if that's true?" Chaud asked, breaking the silence.

"Yes; she was beautiful too. All werewolves are in my opinion." Famous answered quietly.

"So, I am a werewolf." Chaud said, picking back up his cool demeanor.

"Yes, you are, but not in the sense that you need the full moon to transform, that's just for your first transformation. You could change back into the wolf right now if you wanted, you can even do that half form trick like Raika." Famous said looking at him now.

"So I won't ever have to change again?" Chaud asked.

"Well on the night of the full moon you will change; whether you want to or not. The urge will be too strong to ignore. Be careful Chaud, you might have had control tonight, but that was only because you were weakened. Any other time you change, your instincts are going to be much stronger. You won't be as dangerous as Raika can be at times, but you still have a nasty bite." Famous said sternly. "You understand?"

"I do." Chaud answered flatly.

"Good, now why don't you boys get some sleep, and take the day off; tomorrow we will pick up speed and start to investigate." Famous said getting up to grab the door for them.

"Not so fast Famous." Raika said, beating him to the door; arms crossed across his chest. "I have a question."

"What?" Famous asked coldly, knowing where this was going.

"How do you know so much about all of this? You ask all the right questions and take everything so calmly." Raika stated, unfazed. "Your aura doesn't feel human at all; what are you?"

"A personal question, don't you think?" Famous said quoting him from earlier. He held Raika's icy gaze for a moment before giving in. "You're right, I'm not human."

"So what are you?" Raika pressed, trying to get an answer from him. After a moment of silence he knew that Famous wasn't going to break any further; it was his turn to give in. "Fine, you win this time."

"I win every time." Famous corrected him as he and Chaud headed out in the hall; making their way to the overnight rooms.

He closed the door quietly, putting his head against the cool surface of the mirror hanging from it. He was exhausted; he couldn't remember the last time he slept. He looked at his watch; it was seven thirty in the morning. Without moving away from the door he took his coat off and threw it on the couch and pulled his t-shirt up over his head. He stared at his reflection: all over his chest and arms were small patches of white scales; on the ends of his shoulders and elbows were small boney spikes. He sighed not seeing anything out of the ordinary, and gathered a small amount of his power. In response numerous tattoos appeared all over his body, they were in the shape of chains, cuffs and a collar; all made up of elven runes. They were supposed to be jet black, but they weren't even a dark gray. He let the power go and they faded back into his skin. He ran his hand threw his hair, unnerved. He knew he would have to tell Yuichiro; he needed to be rebranded.

With a long sigh he threw himself onto the couch, trying not to think about it. He just wanted to get a few hours of sleep; before everyone demanded his attention again. The thought of running off crossed his mind as it always did. A part of him missed his traveling days and regretted his decision to come back home. He didn't have much of a choice in it, Yuichiro nearly killed him when he revealed that he was back; he couldn't hurt his older brother like that again. Not after everything the Hikaries had done for him back when he was a kid. He closed his eyes, trying to push everything out of his head. He felt his PET vibrate in his coat's pocket. He pulled it up to his face and fished through the pockets until he found the device, it was a text message from Makoto.

'Hey how are you?'

He put it down on his chest, not answering the question. He couldn't deal with his feelings at the moment, and he couldn't deal with her. He just needed a few hours of sleep, and then he could handle everything. He pulled his glasses off, eyes closed, spread his coat out over him; and finally fell asleep.