The Dawn Scale City Chronicles by The Lady of Dragons

Chapter 2 – Intro Time!

Part 5- Coal, Tydal and Sharrd (sort of)

"It's funny you should ask Artha because we're going to visit Coal. You wanted to meet him right?" Sharrd asked.

"Oh yeah. I forgot about that."

"Well it looks like you're going to get your wish Artha." Kitt remarked.

"Volcanites if I remember correctly." Parm said thoughtfully.

"Good memory." Shard nodded "Now let's get a move on. Time's a wasting and Coal gets grumpy when he's impatient." She chuckled and took off down the street. A few blocks later the red building that was undoubtedly the Volcanite compound came into view. It was tall and consisted of one main tower of sorts ringed by several smaller buildings and connected to them at ground level by hallways.

"Neat place." Kitt remarked, looking at the practice track.

"That track was built for Magma class dragons specifically to test their limits." Sharrd explained, noticing the direction of Kitt's gaze. "And just like back at Dragon City there are magma caverns with tracks set in them. Those are inside one of the mountains that is closer to the ocean and run deep underground."

"I can't wait to race on those." Kitt said, smiling at the prospect of a challenge "What do you think boy?" She asked, patting Wyldfyr.

He grinned "Sounds like fun." Although Kitt couldn't understand him.

Sharrd laughed inwardly at his words and smiled.

'Like rider like dragon.' Vulken said.

'Yes V, like rider like dragon.' She replied.

'The same could be said of us you know.'

'The same could be said of many pairs.'

'True enough.'

"Hey Sharrd, you ok?" Artha asked, noticing she was not paying attention.

"What? Oh I'm fine." She assured him. He just shrugged and decided to ignore it.

They entered the compound and Sharrd waved to the sentry "Thanks Phoenyx!"

"No problem! And if you're looking for him, he's on the track. He got bored of waiting for you!"

"Just like him too!" Sharrd replied, shaking her head.

"Sounds like someone I know." Kitt remarked with a glance at Artha.

Sharrd laughed "They're more alike than you know. This way guys." They made their way over to the edge of the race track just in time to see a long legged Magma class dash past them and start around the track again. Sharrd focused for a second 'Migma we're here. Would you two mind taking a break to say hello?'

'Ah, there you are. He was wondering what was keeping you. I'm coming now.'

Artha watched as the red dragon skidded to a halt with no visible prompting from its rider and trotted over to them.

"Hey! What's gotten into you Migma!?" the dragon's rider cried. He pulled off his helmet and looked around. He spotted Sharrd and gave a wry smile. "That explains it." He slid out of his saddle and landed on the ground in a small puff of dust "I really hate it when you do that, Sharrd."

She laughed "Well how else am I supposed to get you attention with you zipping around like that?"

"I suppose it's better than throwing a bucket of water at me." He admitted "Or anything else your over-creative mind can concoct."

"Yes, consider yourself lucky." She replied.

"Very lucky." He said, placing a hand on her shoulder as he faced the others. He was a few inches taller than Sharrd, which put him at Artha's height. His eyes were a light amber-gold and his red hair was streaked with orange. He wore a light red racing jacket with yellow stripes and a high collar that was unzipped a little. He had a symbol on his left at chest level that looked like a flame that was dark red at the bottom and then orange as it went up ending in yellow. His pants were orange and he wore short red boots with thin yellow stripes and grey bottoms.

Coal's dragon was as tall as Wyldfyr but her tail was ridged and her paws were dark orange. The spines that ran from her head to her tail were yellow and she herself was a deep red. Twisting orange patterns covered her scales and her green eyes gleamed with intelligence.

Artha didn't like the way Coal talked to Sharrd or how friendly he was with her, and it occurred to him that maybe they were a couple. After all according to Sharrd they had known each other for a long time and it was certainly obvious they cared for each other a great deal.

"So, do I get the pleasure of knowing your names or are we just going to stand here judging each other silently for the next ten minutes?" Coal asked with a smile.

"I'm Lance Penn." Lance said, then smirked and added, "The one drooling over your girlfriend is my brother, Artha."

Coal blinked and looked at Lance, evidently confused "Girlfriend?"

Sharrd laughed. "I think he's talking about me, Coal."

Coal's face turned slightly red with embarrassment and he said quickly, "Sharrd's not my girlfriend."

"Oh. My bad." Lance apologized awkwardly.

"No, it's ok Lance." Sharrd assured him as Coal glanced at her with a look on his face that clearly said 'I wish'.

Coal cleared his throat. "That aside, let's continue with the introductions."

"My name is Kitt Wann and this is Parmon Sean, though he prefers to be called Parm."

"And as my little brother already said I'm Artha, and I'm not drooling over anybody."

"Hey, I never said you were. Little brothers enjoy causing trouble and I totally get that, heck I've been that little brother."

"Yes, and you caused plenty of trouble." Sharrd said, looking up at him.

"Oh, and you were a little angle?"

"What's with all that sarcasm? I was a wonderful child."

"Yeah right. It wasn't like you were the one who put green dye in my toothpaste on graduation day."

"I told you that was Tydal."

"And what about the time you wrote 'Missing: brain. Return for reward' on the back of my jacket in permanent marker?"

"Ok that one was me, but the toothpaste thing was on Tydal."

"Suuuure it was."

"I hate to interrupt this walk back down memory lane but is there any chance I could test out that track?" Kitt asked.

"Of course you can, Sorry about that, sometimes I get distracted. I'd be more than happy to be your opponent if you'd like." Coal offered.

"Alright, you're on." Kitt smiled. They both mounted their dragons and moved to the starting line.

"Well this should be interesting." Sharrd remarked and went to stand at the side of the track.

"Are you ready little one?" Migma asked Wyldfyr.

"I am not little and I'm always ready." Wyldfyr retorted.

"I like your fire. Let us see if you can match mine." Migmareplied.

"Let's see if you can keep up." Kitt called over the sound of the countdown.

"Keep up? I'll do better than that." Coal replied as the last buzzer sounded.

Migma and Wyldfyr tore out of the starting lane and barreled up the track. Almost immediately obstacles sprang up and Kitt slowed down to avoid them. Coal sped up and Migma vaulted off the ground, clearing the first round of obstacles with ease. Kitt growled and hurried after them. The track began to twist upwards until it became completely vertical and then it curved over and back down again, forming a sort of spiral. Kitt managed to catch up with Coal on that section and they were neck and neck as they rounded the bend. The track began to wander back and forth like a giant snake and it was difficult to control movement as such speed. The track evened out and more obstacles popped up. Pit falls pocketed the surface and rounded hammers swung from every angle. The finish line came into sight and Kitt was about to overtake Coal when Migma lowered her head and tucked her body in, leveling her tail like an arrow. Coal flattened himself in the saddle and Migma whizzed past Kitt. Wyldfyr, determined not to lose, put on an extra burst of speed, clearing the finish line at the same time as Migma.

"Not bad. Not bad at all." Coal said, sitting up "You're going to fit in very well around here if you keep racing like that."

"Thanks. You're not half bad yourself." Kitt replied.

Coal laughed. "Well I didn't become crew leader by sitting in the dirt all day."

"How did you do that last trick?" Kitt asked.

"Oh that? You just have to pull in and get rid of any excess drag. It works best with straight up racing, without any gear. We call it Arrowing." Coal explained.

"I'll have to remember that." Kitt nodded.

"So anyone else want a go?" Coal asked, turning to the others.

"Maybe some other time." Artha said. He was starting to like this Coal guy. He was a nice guy, a decent racer, and more importantly, he wasn't dating Sharrd.

"He's got a point Coal; we've got some other people to visit today after you." Sharrd said, walking over.

"I get it. I look forward to that other time, Artha." Coal said politely.

"Me too." Artha replied.

"So where are you off to next?" Coal asked.

"Tydal." Sharrd replied.

"Tell him I said hey. I'll catch you later." He waved and walked away, followed by Migma.

The Aqua Scales compound was a sprawling set of light blue buildings, each one different from the last.

A woman in light blue standing in front of the gates was chatting speedily in what sounded like another language to a young boy with short blonde spiky hair. The boy nodded and said something back then hugged her and walked away. The woman turned around and caught site of Sharrd. She smiled brightly and held out her arms. Sharrd walked forward and they embraced.

"Sharrd! No me te vi en mucho tiempo! Come estas?!" the woman asked excitedly. (AN: For those of you who don't speak Spanish, she said: Sharrd! I haven't seen you in a long time! How are you!?)

"Hola Marrine, estoy muy bueno, gracias." Sharrd replied in kind (AN: Hello Marrine, I'm very good, thanks) "Can you stop hugging me now, please?"

"Pfft, you're such a hug killer." Marrine snorted and stepped back.

"I know Marri, but some of us don't survive on hugs." Sharrd replied with a smile.

"And I don't know how you can live like that." Marrine declared and crossed her arms.

Marrine had black hair with dark brown highlights that went halfway down her back in prominent waves. She had tanned skin and soft brown eyes that radiated an open kindness that made you feel welcome and gave the impression that she really did care about you. She was a handful of inches taller than Sharrd and her light blue clothes were speckled with sequins, making her look like some sort of living rainbow. The Aqua Scales logo hung on a long chain around her neck and she had little blue swirl earrings.

"I have some new friends for you to meet, and hug." Sharrd indicated the gang and Marrine smiled brightly again.

"Bienvenido, me llamo Marrine." when they gave her confused looks she lightly smacked herself on the forehead and giggled "Sorry, I said: Welcome, my name is Marrine."

"Oooh." They all said in unison.

"It's nice to meet you." Marrine grinned as they introduced themselves.

"So, Marri, where's Sunai?" Sharrd asked with a small smile of her own.

"Hmm…" Marine thought for a moment "He's around somewhere."

"Well that's specific." Sharrd crossed her arms, raising an eyebrow skeptically.

"To be honest, I'm not sure where he is right now. We don't keep tabs on each other like the Dragon Fang. I think I heard him say something about the river, but that was a few hours ago."

"Alright then, we'll have to check there and hope we get lucky. See you later Marine." Marine waved and walked away humming to herself.

"It's a completely different atmosphere here than at the other compounds." Parm remarked "They're all so laid back, like they haven't got a care in the world."

"Well, watch a little closer if that's the impression you get." Sharrd told him "They're certainly more laid back, but they're not slackers, not at all. Not everyone knows where everyone else is at all times, but if you need to find someone you'll find them. The Aqua Scales have the connections to get information if and when they need it. But things are much more lose here than other places, so you are partially correct."

"So what's the river she mentioned?" Kitt asked.

"Ah. Good question. It's a river." Sharrd replied teasingly.

"No, really?" Lance said sarcastically.

"I know it's hard to believe. But sarcasm aside, the river is the main source of water that flows from the harbor into the city. There are a few other sources but this is the biggest."

"Do you use it for drinking water?" Parm asked.

"Yes, we do, as well as a lot of other things that I don't know anything about."

"But isn't the harbor on the ocean?" Lance inquired "How can you drink salt water?"

"It's not salt water. I'm surprised you haven't heard about it. Dawn Scale City's sea is freshwater. It's not really connected to other major oceans so the freshwater from all the rivers that feed into it keep it clean and free of salt."

"Well that's certainly something you don't see every day." Kitt remarked.

"Yeah. Anyway, Tydal loves to go and sit by the river. He does it all the time. It's pretty neat but I don't know what exactly it is that fascinates him so much. It's near the back of the main compound, so just past here and through this aqueduct gate." they passed through a huge tunnel with a wrought iron gate that slid up and down with a series of pulleys. Once out of the tunnel they emerged outside the inner wall of Dawn Scale and entered the space between, known as the middle ground or the courtyard. It was green and covered with trees as well as a thick soft grass of some sort. The river gushed past them and on towards another gated opening in the outer wall several meters away.

There was a collection of rocks under the shade of some trees and a light blue dragon lay curled around the base of one. Atop the rock, leaning with his back against a tree, sat a young man dressed in a similar shade of light blue with wavelike patterns of a slightly darker blue splashed across his clothes. He had wavy black hair that was streaked with strands of light blue. His eyes were closed and he was listening to something through a pair of white headphones with his arms crossed loosely across his chest.

His dragon raised her head and blinked her light brown eyes at them once before returning to her previous position. She also had splashes of white across her cerulean blue scales and fin-like spines along her tail and legs.

Sharrd walked over to him and pulled out her staff. She gently poked the side of his head with one end, grinning as she did so. He opened one dark blue eye and swatted her staff away with a knowing smile on his face. He pulled off his headphones and stood up.

"Hey Sharrd, it's great to see you. How've you been?" He hugged her and he hugged him back.

"I've been great, thanks for asking. Things certainly seem to be going well around here." She said as she stepped back.

"They are, as usual, running smoothly." He replied "So who might your new friends be?"

"Guys, this is Tydal. Tydal this is the Penn crew from Dragon City." Sharrd introduced them individually.

"Nice to meet you all. I heard you paid Coal a visit, or did he get impatient and go off to do something else?"

"Oh, he was there. He was running laps out of sheer boredom when we got there."

"Sounds just like him." Tydal grinned but his expression changed to a slightly awkward one when he asked "So, um, have you seen Hunnter?"

"Yes, and she's doing just fine. As a matter of fact she asked me yesterday how you were."

"Oh, ok, thanks." He looked a little embarrassed and hastily shook it off "So you guys are the members of the Penn crew I've been hearing about?"

"Yeah, that's us." Artha replied.

"Rumma was chatting about it this morning on the radio." Tydal remarked.

"Ah." Sharrd sighed "Of course."

"Yep that's our Rumma." Tydal agreed.

Their visit with Tydal lasted a while longer but soon enough they were off again, this time back into the city.

"So, that's it, right? That's all the crews?" Parm asked.

"Yes, that's all the crews, but I wanted to show you guys around my home compound to finish off this little tour."

"Sounds good to me." Kitt remarked.

"Great. It's not too far from here. It's actually just a few blocks from the Dragon Fang compound."

Another large compound building was coming into view. This one bore the same silver diamond with black claw marks that was depicted on Sharrd's shoulder. The color was hard to describe. It wasn't grey, but it wasn't exactly silver either. In front of the main gates a woman in dark blue stood. As they approached she looked up.

"Ah, Sharrd. I was just looking for you."

"Well here I am. So what's up? I thought you were at the initiation."

"I was. It finished early and I decided to return and see if you'd be interested a match or two of our usual sport."

"I'd love to, but I've got a few things to do before I can take you up on that offer. And speaking of which, I have some people I would like you to meet. Guys this is Mai, Mai this is the Penn crew. They're going to be joining us for the race season this summer."

"It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance." Mai said with a small bow. Much like Erra, her features were reminiscent of an Asian background. Her long black hair was tied in a simple ponytail and she wore no jewelry except a small circle stone of some sort in a dark brown frame on a long white string around her neck. Her dark brown eyes were relaxed but held no indication of what she was thinking. One could tell that she was extremely intelligent. She wore a simple outfit all in dark blue, with long sleeves and tall navy blue boots.

With her was a dark blue dragon. He was long legged and slim-bodied just like most of his kind, but with unusual white lightning patters along his body, head, legs, and tail. One of his eyes was a curious sliver grey and the other and amber gold. His claws were white, as was the curved pattern on his belly.

Sharrd was about to say something else but at the same moment a light on her com. link and one on Mai's began to blink furiously. She glanced at it quickly and met Mai's eyes in a silent exchange of information.

"Sorry guys, the tour will have to wait. I've got some critical business to take care of. I trust you can find your way back to your place from here?"

"Yeah, we can get home alright." Artha told her, looking rather puzzled.

"Where are you going?" Lance asked.

"Some important crew business." She replied simply, unwilling to specify any further.

"Sharrd." Mai's voice had a barely audible touch of urgency as she mounted her dragon.

"I'm coming. Bye guys, I'll see you around." And with that Vulken turned and thundered away, Volttage close on his heels.

"I wonder what's occurred." Mai said.

"I don't know, but it's gotta be important. Otherwise she wouldn't have called us."

"Yes, let's just hope that it is nothing too grievous."

End of Intro Time Part 5

Sooooo. I wonder what could send Sharrd and Mai running off like that. Hmmm….