When I came in with Silver and Tara, I recognized Jim, Benflight, Stormy holding little Ama, through I presumed the woman with them is Jim's mother, Sarah. They were sat at a wide oval table, with three chairs empty. Tara immediately went to her chair which is the smallest chair to everyone's chairs. Silver lumbered over to his seat, the biggest and sturdiest one next to Stormy's seat. The leftover chair was for me, a wide yet sturdy chair with space at the back for my tail. B.E.N. abruptly came out of the kitchen, crashing through the doors, carrying plates.
He announced, "Jimmy, here is your mashed potatoes, sliced plums, and beef filet. Benny, here is your Alponian chowder with a flair of solara seeds, and rare meat. Stormy, here is your sunny side eggs with Zeppolin toast, and sliced peaches. And for little Ama, a nice warm bottle of goat milk. There you go, cutie. Sarah, here is your scrambled eggs with multi-grain toast, and sliced bananas. What about you three?". as he gave each plate to everyone already sat.
Silver replied, "I'll 'ave the doub' lunar eclipses, Zeppoolin toast, and a medium rare 'amburger 'ith the works, and water. What about you, princess?". as he looked at Tara.
"I wanna have sliced strawberries, scrambled eggs with white toast, please, B.E.N, and white milk.". Tara chirped.
"Great! What about you, miss ..Airi?". B.E.N. asked happily.
I blinked slowly as I remembered the meals I had with Sunrise, and decided on one I found that I liked. I asked softly, "I would like a few slices of watermelon, a bowl of peaches, and spaghetti with sauce, and I'd love to have some chocolate milk, please.".
"Okay. I will return with the drinks first, then I will be back with the three meals for our late people.". B.E.N. smiled as he replied casually, then zoomed back into the kitchen. I blinked at this robot's energy. 'He looks funny.'
Then Tara started up an conversation with me, telling me of everything that occurred while I was sleeping, er, hibernating as Silver called it. B.E.N. returned with the drinks for everybody including me, replying that our meals will be done soon. We kept talking with sips of our drinks inbetween, then soon, I got my meal. 'Strangely, I reacted like a Night Fury before, but now, I react like a human despite my wings and tail.' Then Tara replied that she got a story for me. It began like this:
/Once upon a time, there was a town far away, lost without a kingdom to guide it. They say that the town's most richest couple has disappeared for a number of years, and they were never seen until one night, when it happened. The town was being threatened by a gang of thieves, being robbed of its food and its beloved treasures of the famed couple. The famed couple may have been the richest couple in town, but they were beloved by the town as well, for they took in kids who has no home.
The man were a handsome fella, wise, confident, yet cunning, and a music lover as well. He had deep blue eyes, and the most curliest brown hair that the town had ever seen. He was called Kian, and his wife were a stunning beautiful woman, caring, witting, yet the greatest graceful dancer ever known in town. She had luminous sea green eyes, and silky red hair that rivaled the roses near town. Her name was Ralieve. The thieves, yes, has taken the couple's orphans, but, when that happened, the ground shook violently.
Then there were inhuman growls echoing through the town, and the leader of the thieves, who was holding a tiny child, crying out. He was struck by a flash of brown and a gleam of white When he looked up into the eyes of the intruder, he saw that it was a huge wolf, brown-furred, and gleaming blue eyes. The wolf looked furious and actually growled at the thief before he howled, calling a big group of predator animals, wolves, foxes, lions, tigers, bears, you name it, and they attacked the thieves, pulling the children in their protection.
The very last thief, holding a small girl, was struck by the biggest fox you could ever imagine. Similarly in size to the huge wolf, the fox contained red fur and terrifying green eyes, burning like fire. She growled threateningly to the thief as she pulled the child under her protectively. Swiftly, the thieves were down and corralled by the big group. The children were safe, yet they were awed and curious of the biggest animals, the blue-eyed wolf and the green-eyed fox. To their shock, and to the town's surprise, the animals transformed into people, not just people, but they were the famed lost couple! They were strikingly taller than their old neighbors, and had features of their animal selves. Kian had his wolf tail and his eyes were wolf style, while Ralieve had her fox ears and her hands had retracting claws.
They explained to the town and their beloved orphans that they had been elected protectors of the town by the gods. They had been turned immortal, and the leaders of their big group that appears at their call. The town was shocked yet they were so happy and excited. They got protectors! The couple had a hidden will in their house, and it said that the house belongs to their beloved orphans and any future descendents of the orphans as well So, the house became a sanctuary, aka Sanctuary Home of Orphans as the kids called it.
For decades, the couple protected their town from intruding enemies, disasters, and illness. And they became legend over future centuries, appearing when believers need them if there's trouble. The legend of Kian and Ralieve became one of the stories in countless books, but the couple themselves remain the protectors of the town which developed into a city of proportions. For if you someday saw them by need or trouble, you are one of their beloved believers./
I loved her story, and I actually believed it well. Tara might be a writer/author someday or perhaps a storyteller. When we all finished our lunch, Benflight said that he was asked by Sunrise to take me back to base, as Stormy is busy right now. I grinned gratefully, and I got up, freeing my tail from my chair, and relieving my wings of stiff tension while I sat. I hugged Tara and cooed to Ama, shook hands with everyone. Benflight got ourselves out of the inn, and after checking that it is clear, Benflight called up for the portal, and it appeared. I held on Benflight's shoulder, and we leapt into the portal, a brief flash, then we landed kinda roughly at base. I was overbalanced when I was using my tail and wings on the way to the portal, and now, I was completely back to normal; a human. Sunrise saw our landing, and she was amused lightly by it from what I could see in my returned usual sight.
(Sunrise's P.O.V.)
I smiled, "Looks like you got Airi here just fine, Benflight. Thank you.". with a relieved sigh.
Benflight chuckled, "No problem, my leader. I better get back before Jim wonders of me.".
"Of course. By the way, has he asked yet?". I raised an eyebrow as I asked gently. Benflight shook no.
Benflight then replied, "It seems that I have to do it myself, through I would like to wait awhile for that.". I nodded assuringly. Benflight replied goodbye to us girls and went back through the portal to home.
(Clawheart's P.O.V.)
I was confused at the casual chat between Benflight and Sunrise.
"What was that about?". I asked curiously. Sunrise, from my view, waved a hand in dismission and chuckled.
"Just something about Jim.". She chirply said. I nodded softly, then she spoke again.
"It's great to have you back. I have been so concerned about you. Here's your necklace, and promise me that you won't do that until I say so, understand?". Sunrise sternly replied.
I sheepishly smiled, "Sorry, Sunrise. I apologize about what happened, and I promise I won't be near the portal until it's time.".
(Sunrise's P.O.V.)
I sighed heavily, "Good. Now, Airi, since you had been busy, I kept our 'flying' students busy, and they have been progressing well. Do you want to come and check it out?".
Airi smiled, and nodded. I nodded, and we went on to the training room, where the 'flying' students had been training for flying off buildings and etc. We walked in, and saw the kids in a line, waiting for us. Airi went into teaching/questioning mode, and with demonstrations of everyone, Airi seemed mostly satisfied with a few slight adjustments. She replied that everyone is ready for short buildings, and that they still require a few days of training under that mode before they could do the tall ones. I smiled, nodding at the accomplishment that everyone has done.
With the class done for the day after a trip to the Surface which they trained at the lake, jumping off boathouses and gazebos, and 'flying' well. We were all famished after that, heading to dinner in the cafeteria back at base. Airi got her favorite pizza, a bowl of vegetables, and a dessert of jello, with her usual chocolate milk. As for me, I got chicken nuggets with ranch, corn, and a dessert of carrot cake, with Sunny D orange juice. After dinner, as it was a Thursday, we went to the theater room with everybody else at base, voting for 'Antz' and 'A Bug's Life'. Apparently, it felt like a experiment to the 'flying' kids and Airi seemed to get a kick out of it. As the movies got finished, we all got to sleep at our rooms respectively.
Airi and I striked a brief chat in the hallway before we separated, explaining what happened so far in her chosen world. I was shocked that Tara was there as a four-legged cub and became a first friend for Toothless, then Clawheart being healed by Snowy, face to face with him, then the conditions by Dark Star. With whirling thoughts, myself trying to calm them down, I went to bed, changing to pjs, and immediately fell into dreamland with a last thought about Airi. 'Gee, I do hope everything goes okay over there once Airi gets officially to be there.'