Ha, never mind. I'm over it. Who needs reviews, right? It's just fun to write these, and I know... that last one wasn't the best chapter in the world.
Ingus groaned, rolling onto his side to look out at the forest. In the faint light of morning, he couldn't make out much. In fact... It was sort of dark blue all in front of him. Why couldn't he see the forest at all? He'd been sure he slept on the side closest to the woods, to guard the other two from any dangers...
"Hey, Iggy. Wakey, wakey!" Luneth's irritating voice called from somewhere in front of him. The boy was just getting back now?!
With a growl, Ingus threw off his blanket and leapt out into the blue. His head smacked painfully against something, and he slid down an invisible wall to the grass. "What in Castle Sasune... What did you do, Luneth?!"
"Me? I was a good parent! Didn't I tell you Yosuko wouldn't starve?" Luneth slid down next to the black mage and gestured up at the wall. A light blue head snaked down from somewhere above and blew a puff of smoke into Ingus' face.
Refia limped over to them. "Don't feel stupid, Iggy. It happened to me, too..."
"And she managed to twist her ankle, and hasn't remembered that she can cast Cure yet," Luneth finished. "Yosuko finds it very amusing!"
The white mage blushed, and turned to the overly cheerful red mage next to her. "And this lucky chocobo knew all about dragon growth rates, and failed to alert us!" She kicked him in the shins. Hard.
"Now, now. You're upsetting Yosuko! Don't beat up his friends..." Luneth tutted disapprovingly at her, and began climbing his dragon's back. As Yosuko backed away from the raft, Ingus could see just how huge and magnificent he was.
The dragon looked nothing like its bipedal parent. He crouched on all fours, about six feet high and nine feet long -not counting his tail. His whole body was a dark blue, but his wings were white as the clouds. Two pairs spread down his back; the first were set at his shoulders, and the second, smaller pair stretched out in front of his hips. The lower wingspan looked about twelve feet, while the first could easily be twenty. And the tail...
Yosuko's tail was a wonder in itself. At least ten feet long, it practically glowed with every color imaginable, and ended in a sharp spear of gold. In the place where it connected to the second pair of wings, Ingus got the impression of wisps of cloud surrounding a rainbow.
Strong, muscular legs supported the creature, each the thickness of a young tree. The milky white scales sharpened into five claws at the end of each tawny limb. Two horns protruding from the angular head had the distinct hue of fresh rain, clear as an undisturbed lake.
Ingus gazed up at Yosuko in amazement. Deep amber eyes stared into his, and the dragon snorted with pity.
"Yosuko says you have to walk. You're too dirty," Luneth giggled.
Ingus continued to stare, watching the dragon preen his snowy feathers. "Is that... really him?"
"Of course!" Arc stepped forward, tapping his staffs on the ground. "Dragons grow into fearsome creatures on the eve of their hatching. Luneth's skill in feeding Yosuko has resulted in an incredible appearance on the dragon's part."
Luneth grinned, gazing down at his friends. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go find the bad guy!"
"You don't understand, do you?" Refia cried, stomping a foot. "We can't just take him on as we are, right now! We're too weak, and the mastermind behind the earthquake and all... is strong enough to create an earthquake!"
Luneth shrugged. "Yosuko can do that, too. Can't you, buddy?" The dragon shrieked, stamping a foot in an imitation of Refia and sending a tremor through the ground.
"Morning, guys. What's going... whoa." Desch stumbled to the side of the raft and blinked. Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, he blinked again. And again. "But... wasn't the dragon green yesterday?"
Refia's jaw dropped. "That's all you're surprised about?! What about the size of that thing? It's humongous!"
"I guess so. But I could have sworn it was a nice forest-green color yesterday..."
Luneth nodded. "He was. And he can change back if he wants, too. That's his land camouflage. But this is his flying colors, so hop on!"
Desch didn't need to be asked twice. With a whoop of excitement, he leapt out of the raft, onto Yosuko's back and sat down behind Luneth. The dragon reared and pawed at the air before taking off, straight up into the sky.
"This is his first time, so hold on tight!" Luneth yelled over the sound of wind. Yosuko shifted underneath them, changing direction to go straight down, instead.
As the dragon touched down, Arc and Desch clapped wildly. Refia's mouth dropped, for the third time that day. "That's it?"
Ingus shook his head slowly. "I did not see the purpose in that."
"The purpose is that he can FLY!" Luneth crowed exuberantly. "We don't have to go to Tozus!"
Refia's eyes widened. "We don't?"
"Of course not," Desch scoffed. "Yosuko's practically an airship!"
The white mage nodded, realization dawning on her. Suddenly, she began clapping, even louder than the other two.
"This will not turn out well," Ingus muttered to himself. "We will undoubtedly end up skipping many major points of our journey..."
And boy, was Iggy right!
Keep reading, yay! There's more to come... tomorrow! Mwahahahaha...