Scared, that was the best way Shin could describe this feeling. He was alone in the dark forest, hiding in a small crevice he found. Normally he would be fine with this, he lived in forests and caves as long as he could remember but there was one difference between then and now... his mother was gone. He had spent all day looking for her but he found nothing, no sight, sign or scent of her as he traveled the woods.

He had been left alone before, when she had gone hunting, looking for stuff for him to wear. For fruit and vegetables for him to eat. Or to enjoy the night air, but it never felt like this. He never recalled feeling this scared before.

He glanced up at the night sky, the moon light shining through the clouds and leaves, but he did not feel as calm as he usually felt when he watched the moon. "Mommy..." he muttered as tears started to fall from his eyes again as he looked back down at the ground. His eyes looked to the left and a pile of berries and fruit he managed to gather during his search. He reached out and grabbed one, taking a big bite out of it. Normally he would have smiled at the sweet taste of it but the empty feeling in his heart quelled any excitement. Slowly his eyes started to feel heavy and he closed them, drifting off to a restless sleep.

The next morning Shin was awakened by the sun shining through the trees and into his small crevice. He yawned as he sat up and stretched his arms. As he fully came to his senses he glanced around before he lowered his gaze to the floor. "It wasn't a dream.." he muttered sadly as he reached over and grabbed some berries from his stockpile for breakfast. His vision blurred a bit as tears ran down his cheeks and onto the ground. "Where are you Mom?" He muttered as he ate.

After eating breakfast and drying his face, gathered up his food and continued on his trek through the forest as he tried to find either his mom or another person. He walked from sunrise to sunset, stopping only to rest and eat but all he could see was more trees.

"Where am I? How do I get out of here!" He yelled as he looked around him trying to catch sight or scent of anything other than trees and animals. "Is there anyone else here?" He muttered sadly. Tears threatened to fall again as he started to make a place to sleep under one of the trees near a bush.

He took out some berries and a piece of fruit and ate them before he curled up in his makeshift home. "Maybe tomorrow.." he thought before he drifted off to sleep a single tear finally sliding down his face.

Shin's days continued like this for over a week as he traveled the dense forest until he got tired, he would rest for a bit before continuing on, looking for a way out. Unknown to him he was slowly but surely making his way there. Eventually he came out of the forest onto a dirt road. "Finally.." he said, panting as he took a seat to catch his breath.

As he rested he looked up and down the road, one seemed to lead downhill, possibly back into the forest while the other led uphill onto a ridge of some kind. "Which way should I go?" He muttered to himself as he looked at the two options. After thinking for a few moments he nodded to himself and stood up. "If I go higher, I could see more." He said and started to make his way up the road to the ridge line. Despite the distance he was determined to make it before night.

He traveled up the path for a while, his legs started to get tired again when the ground finally leveled out. As the sun finished setting he reached the top of the path he saw a large Cat shaped tent set up a bit away from the edge of the ridge. Shin blinked for a moment at this. "Do people normally make things like this?" He muttered aloud as he slowly walked towards it. As he got closer his ears picked up noise coming from the tent. His eyes widened at this and he smiled for what felt like the first time in days. "P-p-People!" He said excitedly.

With a sudden burst of energy he ran towards the Cat tent stumbling a few times due to exhaustion. Just as he made it into the tent his legs finally gave out and he collapsed to the floor. He heard gasps and his ears picked up the sound of footsteps on the dirt floor, making their way towards him.

He slowly titled his head up and saw a pair of big brown eyes staring back into his emerald ones. As his vision came back into focus he realized a girl about his age with short deep blue hair was kneeling in front of him, behind her was a shirtless old man wearing leaves and grass as some sort of weird pants.

"Are you ok?" The girl asked as she tilted her head curiously.

Shin nodded. "Ya... just tired from all the walking." He replied as he managed to sit up. He winced in pain and glanced down, noticing he had scraped his knees when he fell.

The girl also seemed to notice this and her eyes widened before becoming a bit serious.

"H-hold still." She said as she held her hands palms out towards his scraped knees. Her hands started to emit a light green glow.

Shin watched with fascination at her magic, he felt the pain in his knees starting to disappear and he glanced back down at his knees, the scraps quickly vanished.

"Woah..." he muttered in amazement as the green light faded and he looked back up at the girl who just smiled at him.

"There, all better." She said happily. "Umm I'm Wendy, Wendy Marvell, what's your name?" She asked politely.

"My name is Shin Tsukinoyo, nice to meet you." He replied with a smile. "

"So what are you doing out this late at night, we are quite a distance from the nearest town." The old man asked, "My name is Roubaul by the way."

Shin looked down at the ground and his sadness started to return once more. "I am looking for my mom, I woke up a few days ago in the woods and she was nowhere to be found." He explained.

Wendy's eyes widened at this and started to water. "Mine too, my mother vanished a few days ago." She replied.

Roubaul stared at Shin for a few moments before speaking up. "The woods are quite dangerous, you were either very lucky or skilled to make it out of there unharmed.." He said as he seemed to contemplate something. "What is your mother's name?" He asked cautiously as his eyes focused on Shin.

Shin looked up at him somewhat nervously but he focused on his magic for a bit for comfort. "Tsukiyomi, she is the Moon Dragon Queen." He answered, causing Roubaul's and Wendy's eyes to widen surprise.

"M-my mother's name is Grandeeney, She is a Sky Dragon." She said, causing Shin's eyes to widen in surprise as well.

The two Dragon slayers stared at each other speechless until Roubaul broke the silence.

"It seems to me the mystery of young Wendy's missing Dragon has grown, if yours is gone as well young Shin then it stands to reason that any other Dragon Slayers out there have lost their Dragon's as well." He said wisely.

The two Slayers nodded, their gaze returned to the floor as their eyes watered. "I-i-I hope they are all ok." Wendy said sadly.

Shin nodded slowly. "Me too, I hope they don't end up lost like I did." He said adding his two cents as he thought about his Mother.

The two Slayers devolved into silence again for a few moments before Roubaul took the initiative. "Well you are more than welcome to join the Cait Shelter guild and stay here." He offered.

Shin raised his head, tilting it slightly. "A guild? What's that?" He asked curiously.

"Its a place where magic user get together and work while having fun, like one big family!" Wendy said while she smiled excitedly. "Please stay. I am sure you will love it here, plus we can look for our mothers together!"

Shin thought about it for a few moments before a small smile appeared on his face and he nodded. "Sure I would love to join!" He said with some excitement.

Roubaul smiled at the two of them, very good but for now you two get some sleep it's late and you are still young." He said in a commanding tone.

Both of them pouted but nodded in understanding as neither of them felt like they could stay awake much longer. Wendy took Shin's hand. "This way, you can sleep in my room." She said with a smile and led him off to another room.

Roubaul watched them go, his smile turned to a frown as they disappeared. 'I am not sure what your parents were thinking but they have a lot to answer for.' He thought as he moved back to his chair. 'But for now I have a guild to finish making, I just hope this will work.'

After he finished casting his spells Roubaul made his way to the room his charges were sleeping in. Upon entering he could only smile at what he saw. On the bed roll were Wendy and Shin, laying beside each other, their eyes closed indicating that they were asleep.

Roubaul walked over to the sleeping pair and adjusted the blanket over them. They seemed to tense a bit at the change but quickly relaxed. Roubaul chuckled and made his way quietly out of the room. 'I am glad you showed up Shin, at least young Wendy will have one real friend during her time here.'

Hope you all have enjoyed the story so far and will continue to do so, my next update will probably be for A Past to Change before I come back to this and then back to A Forgotten Biju, any changes to that release schedule will most likely be due to my own personal interests or ideas at the time.