Hey guys! I'm not dead, my tablet was hit by a power surge durring the big storms we had in Indiana a few we months ago, and its battery bit the dust. I have replaced its battery but since it was a 3rd generation Kindle Fire, it was a bit hard to get my hands on one. Nonetheless, I am back and have a lot of catching up to do.

Chapter IX

She definitely wasn't imagining it. His mental armour was disappearing. She could feel some of his thoughts now. Not all of them, but some of them. It was strange feeling a mind like his. It almost felt intoxicating to finally learn what his mind was like.

There was something else in there as well. Some sort of hum she hadn't heard ever before. He was different from others. She kind of liked him even more now. Or maybe the hum had something to do with it. Either way, his mind humed, beckoning her to it. But she had to stay away or else be hypocritical to Shadow or Stargazer or whatever his real name is.

Then there was Aurora. A strange one she was. Always staying around her or Shadow, but she didn't blame her. Banana was really annoying and she was pretty sure he was smitten with Aurora. Every single day she urged them faster and faster and never wanted to stop and rest. Three days and two nights went on like this. And thanks to her rushing them, their destination (according to Shadow at least) would be visible by the end of the third day. But that wasn't fast enough for Aurora. She wanted to get there by high noon. Something on the horizon stopped them. A silhouette of a dragon.

Morningstar feared the worst. He has uncovered my ruse and now he's here to kill me. Maybe they should have listened to Aurora. Nonetheless he came, and they flew. The dragon got closer and his features got more detailed. The first change was his scale color. It turned crimson red as he approached. Not a NightWing. Good? But Aurora's urgency continued worse than ever.

"We need to move now!" She cried. "He's here for me!" Morningstar and Shadow shared a look of regret. If they had both moved faster they might have been to his childhood home already.

"Aurora, give it up. We all know that he will catch up with us. He's a SkyWing for three moons' sake. We will protect you." They landed in one of the many clearings that dotted the forest.

"If it comes to it, I will kill him to keep you safe." Banana turned a shade of black and began fading into the sky.

"No! You can't kill him! Ruby would have your head. Besides, he isn't trying to kill me. In fact, he may be trying to do the opposite." Banana turned red with bits of black.

"Well, what should we do instead then?"

"How about anything that doesn't have to do with murder?"

"Banana. Can you hide her from view? Maybe he'll go away if he thinks that she isn't here." Shadow suggested. She just laughed nervously and replied.

"Um. About that. He has an animus touched object that points to me so he will know that I am here."

"Will you just shut up and let us handle it!" Morningstar said pushing her into Banana. Banana camouflaged himself and spread his wings over Aurora. Within seconds, a dragon almost landed on top of Morningstar but she reared up on her hind legs so he wouldn't squash her.

"Where is she? She is in terrible danger out here by herself." He said barreling past, Morningstar and in the process, knocked her down.

"Hey!" Shadow protested. "Stop right there. You say sorry and then we talk. No exceptions." Shadow said helping Morningstar up. He looked at something in his claws and ignored him. He looked straight ahead. At Banana and Aurora's hiding space. Silence.

"I don't know where you're hiding, but I know you're there. You don't -no- shouldn't be afraid of me." Silence.

"I shouldn't have given you that necklace." Aurora's head poked out from an invisible wing. A look of horror went through his face.

"You don't mean that. It's just your anger talking. You would never say that. You-"

"Enough! You have abused that necklace's power by stalking me and it's not okay. Give it back." She was now on the verge of tears and they all llooked at the SkyWing. Watching and waiting. He hesitantly opened his talons. In it was a necklace. A circular charm hung from the necklace. It was a beautiful mix of red gold and silver that had been intertwined to make a circle. Three branches stemmed off from the sides and met in the middle which was the base for an arrow. That arrow pointed right at Aurora.

"I didn't do it because your mother asked me to." He gave the necklace back. "I did it because I love you and worry for you." She couldn't take it anymore. The emotion welled up inside her and Aurora began crying. Banana, who had long since withdrawn his camouflage, tried to rush forward to comfort her. Instead he was shoved back for the SkyWing was already one step ahead of him.

Honestly, Morningstar had no idea what to do. Should she let the stranger comfort Aurora or should she pull him away? His mind held no particularly evil thoughts and he knew her better, so why not?

"Go on ahead. We'll catch up later." He said softly. Morningstar nudged Shadow.

"I trust him to be good to her. You said that our destination wasn't too far, so, let's go. Are you coming, Banana?" He glanced back at Aurara's crying form.

"I, however, don't trust him, so, I'm going to stay." ...And make sure she's alright. That thought burned brightly through his mind as he turned to try and aid Aurora's emotional situation. They took off into the evening sky and she couldn't help but to ask.

"Has he always been a hopeless romantic?" Shadow laughed but did not answer.

Yeah, I had all of the headers and footnotes for this chapter done, but, I thought that I needed to redo them because of the battery incident. So, here is a summary of this chapter's headings and footnotes:

One stupid joke

An explanation upon the subject of intermission

One reference to Queen that you probably wouldn't have gotten anyway

And one really sad story about my cat that passed away.

You didn't miss much. I am still me (surprisingly).