Well, after this chapter I will be working on my Crash Bandicoot story, because it needs updating. It has 10 chapters right now and it's been on a cliff hanger for a long time. But I decided to make this chapter long for a reason.

Enjoy. Hopefully my writing improved over the years from when I started on this site.

I'm more of an artist than a writer to be honest.

The next day...

Shigure woke up to the sound of his pegasus, it was excited for some reason. He yawned and opened his eyes as he got up slowly and went outside to check on things. Shigure saw something strange, like a watery looking shadow. Purple energy was coming from it's body.

"What the heck is that?" Shigure rubbed his eyes and grabbed a lance that was on the wall. It was Chi-chi's lance. He moved closer to the watery figure and gave it a stab, it disappeared as Joseph was still panicking.

"It's okay Joseph! Stop panicking! It's okay boy, that's it, calm down." Shigure was gently getting Joseph to stay calm. His pegasus only huffed and sighed. Shigure let out a sigh of relief before thinking about what he saw. Kana who was standing there the whole time gave Shigure a long look. Shigure turned to Kana and gasped.

"Oh, Kana! You're awake... I'm sorry about Joseph, he was excited." He quickly said while rubbing the back of his head.

"Oh no... Don't be sorry, what was that?" Kana also noticed the watery figure that Shigure saw.

"I don't know. It got Joseph upset. But it's gone now." Shigure was petting his pegasus.

"Hey, can we play this morning? Like hide and seek!" Kana asked, he loved playing hide and seek a lot.

"Oh alright... Let's wait until Soleil gets up, I'm sure she'll want to play too." Shigure went back inside to get food for Joseph.

"Okay!" Kana jumped up and followed him. He has so many questions to ask his cousin.

"Shigure, is Joseph a flying horse?" Kana noticed it had wings.

"Of course. He's a pegasus. He's not just any kind of horse you find. And they are quite rare out here." Shigure replied. He noticed the present box his mother left him, he eyed at it as he went back outside and gave his pet some food.

"Hey, Shigure! Here is your present, I thought you would open it!" Kana held out his present with a grin.

"Oh, yes, I was going to open this. Let me come inside." Shigure went back inside and sat in his nest to open his gift. He took out new clothing from the box. It was his very own armor. It was white, gold and light blue. Black smooth pants and some armored boots came with it all.

"Mother did a great job." Shigure smiled and let out a chuckle.

"She did! She really knows what you like!" Kana smiled at his gifts.

"Hey! Are you guys up without me! I already opened my gift, it was the same, I got clothes too! And it's fancy! I'm dressed up like my daddy!" Soleil cheerfully ran into the room.

"Oh? Well then, let's get dressed everyone." Shigure decided to go into the stable and found a secret room to get dressed. Dwyer saw him go into that room, he let out a sigh.

"I'm already dressed..." Dwyer added.

Chi-chi came up to Dwyer.

"Relax my boy. You did the right thing. You saved a pegasus, you saved these other children." Chi-chi smiled.

"Oh I know... But this morning, I saw something strange. I can't explain it too well. I fear that we might be in more danger than we could ever imagine." Dwyer replied while looking at Joseph.

"I think you're getting too gloomy here. Be happy, Dwyer! You have a great life ahead of you here." Chi-chi replied, she patted his back.

"Oh... I guess I do..." Dwyer finally smiled and decided to go out for a walk that day.

Shigure came out of the room, looking like a young pegasus knight. Soleil looked like a hero and Kana looked normal. He was like a noble. A Nohrian noble.

Near the Apple Forest...

"1... 2... 3... 4..." Kana was counting while Soleil and Shigure was hiding.

"Hide in here!" Soleil pointed to the hole in the tree.

"I don't think I can fit in here..." Shigure whispered, but his sister pushed him in there as she fitted in there perfectly.

"I'm comfortable!" Soleil giggled.

"I'm not! It's tight in here and it's cramped!" Shigure grunted, he didn't like the hiding spot at all. He was about to say something more, but he heard Kana.

"Ready or not! Here I come!" Kana shouted out.

He ran down into the forest, he looked behind most of the trees and walked straight ahead, calling out for Shigure and Soleil.

"Hey! Where are you guys?" Kana was bending down and looking under a log. He was near the tree that Soleil and Shigure were hiding. Soleil was trying to hold back a giggle, but she couldn't help it.

"Tehehehe!" She giggled. Shigure placed his gloved hand over her mouth.

"Shhh! He's right there!" Shigure warned her.

"Huh? Was that tree talking?" Kana looked at the tallest tree in the forest. Then he looked down at the hole.

"Oh no..." Shigure whispered.

Kana bent down and saw shadows in there, but he recognized them quickly because of Shigure's bright colored blue hair.

"I found you! Wait, is Soleil with you! I found you too!" He giggled.

"Well, if she didn't giggle, it wouldn't have been that easy." Shigure chuckled and Soleil laughed.

"You got us, kid." Soleil smiled.

"So who is counting this time?" Kana asked, it was his turn to hide.

"I guess I will count, you and Soleil can hide this time." Shigure shrugged with a careless smile across his face.

"Okay! Come on Kana! Let's hide in a place he'll never find us!" Soleil grabbed his hand and dragged him along.

"Yay!" Kana cheered while following her.

Shigure started to count to 10.

"1... 2... 3... 4... 5..." He started counting with his eyes closed, his thoughts drifted for a moment as he saw something. It was like a vision. He was a dark figure. It was a man wearing a cloak as his face was covered.

"Ah Shigure... We finally meet..." It whispered to him.

"Who are you?" Shigure was confused.

"I'm someone that you should fear!" It laughed.

"Whatever you are thinking, it's not going to get by me!" Shigure replied while coming over to him, but he disappeared.

Shigure snapped out of his thoughts and looked at his hands and then at the sky.

"What was that?" He was worried. He sighed and remembered that he was playing a game with his family. He continued counting again as he had to start over.

"I bet Shigure won't find us near the lake!" Soleil snickered as Kana giggled.

"Where are we hiding?" Kana laughed.

"I know! Let's hide near that broken down building, I bet no one is in there!" Soleil hopped across the rocks in the lake. Kana followed but slipped and fell in the shallow water.

"Oof!" He grunted.

"Are you alright, Kana? Come on, let me help you." Soleil reached out to grab his hand. When she pulled him up, she heard a crackling sound. She looked around quickly and held her cousin close.

"Kana! Don't move... Or scream..." Soleil was still smiling, but she had some fear in her eyes, she looked to her right as she saw a watery looking figure, it's purple energy was showing.

"What is that?" Kana was able to turn his eyes and see a little bit.

"I don't... I don't know... Kana, run..." Soleil's face became serious with worry in her eyes.

"Wait.. What?" Kana was worried, he didn't want to leave her behind.

"I said run Kana..." Soleil repeated, she didn't want her little cousin to get hurt by the beast that was there to attack.

"Okay!" Kana ran through the shallow water and made it to the other side of the lake. He hid in the broken down building which looked as if there was war going on in it. His heart was pounding hard as he tried not to think about what was happening. He felt like his blood was rushing, he didn't know what was going to happen to his cousin.

Soleil saw the figure running up to her, it had a sword as it was about to cut her as she jumped down from the rock and landed in the shallow water, she ran across to find Kana. She took a moment to think about where he went, then her eyes pointed towards the broken down building, she ran over to it and went inside. She heard sniffling and crying, it sounded like Kana! She found him.

"Kana, it's me!" Soleil called. Kana stopped crying and looked ahead of himself. She was right there in front of him.

"Soleil! I thought they got you!" Kana was scared.

"Those shadow people are just coming from out of nowhere and I don't know why. We'll have to hide here..." Soleil was holding him close. She didn't want to lose him.

"What about Shigure? What about Dwyer and the others?" Kana asked.

"I think they will be okay. We'll have to let them come and find us." Soleil was scared too, even though she decided to smile to make Kana feel better, she felt fear touch her heart.

In Apple Forest...

"Kana! Soleil! Where are you?" Shigure was looking around for them. He was finally about able to shake the evil thoughts out of his head from counting. He walked straight until he saw a lake with shallow water. He saw a few foot prints in the grass.

"Hm... Did they play here too?" Shigure noticed some rocks that made a path to the other side of the lake and a broken down building near it's shore. He saw some shadowed like people around the area, Shigure knew it wasn't good.

"Oh no! Kana and Soleil are lost with these guys running around!" Shigure quickly ran back into town and grabbed his pegasus. Dwyer noticed him, he saw that the young unit was in a hurry.

"What's the rush?" Dwyer almost sounded worried but he was more confused at what was going on.

"It's Kana and Soleil! I lost them during our game! They might be in trouble!" Shigure didn't have time to explain it all in detail. Dwyer gave him the same gloomy look.

"Well... Be careful." Dwyer only said as Shigure quickly nodded, determination filled his mind as he climbed on Joseph.

"Come on boy! Let's ride!" Shigure held the same lance he found by the wall as they charged forward. A few people gasped as his pegasus started flying in the air and into the forest where Soleil and Kana have gotten lost.

His heart was pounding as his pegasus felt his sense of worry.

"I'm fine Joseph, just keep on flying ahead for me! We have to save our family!" Shigure said while seeing the figures crowd the broken up building at the other side of the lake. Shigure flew into the fight, he stabbed the shadowed men as they each disappeared one by one. From inside the building, Soleil and Kana were helpless.

A shadowed man was in the building, he found both Kana and Soleil as the units gasped.

"You must, die!" The shadow called out.

"Ahhhhhhhh!" Kana and Soleil screamed as it came closer to them with it's sword.

"Over my dead body!" Kana realized that it was Shigure's voice, he saw Shigure's pegasus ram into the shadowed man as it disappeared.

"Shigure!" Soleil cried as she and Kana ran over to him.

"Brother I was so scared! I thought you would never find us!" Soleil sniffled.

"I know... I know... I'm here now, let's get out of here!" Shigure allowed Kana and Soleil to ride on Joseph.

"Wow, three of us can fit on here!" Kana felt somewhat excited.

"Yes. He's getting bigger everyday." Shigure smiled, but got serious as more shadowed men started coming.

"We need to get back home!" Soleil shouted as another shadow was about to attack Joseph. The pegasus let out a cry and flew out of the broken building as it collapsed even more due to the evil shadows cutting at it with their weapons. Shigure sighed as his pegasus flew down near the lake.

"That was close..." Kana huffed.

"I know... I wonder where they keep coming from..." Soleil was scared. She held onto Shigure tightly and would not let go.

"I don't know, but we need to get back into town... Just in case Dwyer and Chi-chi are in danger." Shigure added, they all rode back home.

In the other realm...

Corrin was fighting off a few shadowed armies near her castle. Camilla was at her side while Leo used his magic to protect them.

"This is becoming too much!" Leo huffed, he wanted to drop his magic book and end it all.

"No! We can't give up!" Corrin shouted while cutting the enemies with her Yoto. It's power was draining as the shadowed monsters just kept on coming.

"It's no use, they are flooding up the place!" Xander was trying to get rid of the ones near Odin and Niles.

"Using my arrow seems to be working on a few of them, but not all of them!" Niles snorted.

"Niles, I think we are surrounded..." Odin gulped.

"Shit..." Niles cursed as he tried shooting at all of them. Some of them disappeared while a few seemed un phased by his arrows.

In Hoshido...

"Ah! Damn it!" Takumi cursed as another shadow cut into his arm with their sword. Ryoma was fighting the rest of the army, he was surrounded. Sakura and Hinoka tag teamed the bunch that was surrounding the prince. Kaze didn't know what to do. He swiftly used his attacks to send some shadows flying at Ryoma who was cutting them up.

"There is way too many for us!" Sakura called.

"I know... We might be in more trouble than we thought..." Hinoka grunted as a shadow was about to slice her. Takumi's shot hit the shadow and it disappeared quickly.

"You better watch your backs!" Takumi nodded to Hinoka and Sakura.

"Okay, will do!" Hinoka wasn't going to give up, she finally called her pegasus who came to her aid as she climbed onto it and used her lance to stab her enemies from above this time while Sakura was shooting arrows too.

"This can't be the end for us!" Ryoma growled while taking down a few shadows that were on his back.

A cloaked figure was watching them all fight from above, his darkness filled the air as he grinned.

"You may all fight... But you will never win against me... Never..." He whispered as he disappeared from sight.

Somewhere in the Deeprealms...

"Ugh, Forrest, where are we going?" A young girl asked, she didn't like what was happening that morning.

"We are going to find a new safe place." Leo's son sighed.

"Why didn't you use your magic on them?" The girl asked.

"Nina, that's enough questions. Sophie ran off because of those things as we have to find her too." Forrest sighed.

"Fine... I mean I do miss Sophie, we better find her before she gets hurt and uncle Silas won't be happy that she's hurt." Nina stopped complaining and followed Forrest without another word.

Sophie was hiding near a town, she felt her heart pounding as she saw a figure coming up to her.

"Are, are you lost?" That was Siegbert's voice!

"Oh! Siegbert! It's you!" Sophie jumped for a minute before realizing it was Xander's son.

"Oh, Sophie, are you lost? Where is Forrest and Nina?" Siegbert asked with worry.

"They might be dead! I ran as fast as I could! Everything seems so dark!" Sophie noticed the sky. It seemed like night fall already came.

"Don't say such things... I think they will be alright, we have to keep our heads up." Siegbert reminded her.

"Right... Thanks Siegbert." Sophie let a smile tug at her lips.

"Aw, it was nothing. Let's find Forrest and Nina." Siegbert took her hand as they both walked back from where they came from.

A shadow had been standing there, watching them.

In Nohr...

Jakob, Azura and Laslow were fighting off the monsters that surrounded them and the castle. Benny and Effie were striking the shadows with their lances and weapons.

"Boy these guys will never get off our backs!" Laslow commented.

"I don't know what will happen..." Azura was worried. As much as they were fighting, there was way too many shadows as they kept on coming. Jakob could barely stand towards the end.

"I can't keep it up..." Jakob was about to fall down the stairs of the castle.

Laslow didn't want to give up, not even for his daughter.

"We can't rest! We have to keep fighting them off!" Laslow called to him.

"I can't... There is too many and look at me! I'm damaged badly!" Jakob yelled.

A shadow leaped at Laslow and knocked him to the ground.

"Ah! Damn you!" Laslow struck it in the heart as it screamed in pain and disappeared. He sliced another one in half with his sword. From a distance he could see everyone else fighting, but there was suddenly no sign of Azura, his love.

"Oh no..." Laslow gasped.

"What?" Jakob asked weakly, he felt as if he could barely move.

"Azura!" Laslow made so many shadows die that he saw her lying on the ground, lifeless. He was shaking her awake.

"L-Laslow..." She breathed.

"It will be alright!" Laslow shouted. He turned to Jakob who was the only one that could get her to safety.

"Jakob! Please, take Azura and hide her!" Laslow allowed him to pick her up.

"I will sir!" He added in a weak tone as he quickly ran out of the castle and got near the portal to the Deeprealms.

"Rest here, milady!" Jakob breathed.

"Jakob..." She said, she felt like she was going. She didn't have much time left.

"Milady, are you alright?" Jakob was getting worried, he felt like she was going to faint.

"Yes... But..." She was about to say more, but he silenced her.

"Don't talk now... It will be alright." Jakob whispered.

Azura only closed her eyes, she felt like she was going somewhere new as she saw a cloaked figure.

"Welcome..." The voice called to her. Azura looked around until she saw him get close to her.

"Who are you?" Azura backed away a few inches.

"You don't remember me? Are you really that dense?" He growled at her.

"Anankos?" She gasped when she saw his face.

"Yes... It's me... I'm the one that caused that war years ago. I was the one that made Nohr attack everyone in Hoshido. I knew that king Garron would be stupid enough to be controlled under me." Anankos grinned.

"So it's you that's causing all of this!" Azura realized that her children was in more trouble than it was worth.

"Why are you so surprised? I thought I gave you what you want." Anankos chuckled.

"No, it's not what I want." Azura turned her back on him.

"Don't even think about leaving... I have more to the story than you ever know." Anankos let a cold look on his face appear.

"Okay, spill it." Azura huffed, she was getting tired of seeing his face.

"While I was trying to kill all of the people in Hoshido, I decided to come up with a plan to kill Nohrians as well. Even the people of Vale. Yes... That girl, Corrin has gotten me so tied up with her kindness, that it will soon kill her." Anankos explained.

"No. You are trying hard to steal everyone's happiness! You are just sticking your heart into business that isn't even your concern to begin with!" Azura argued.

"Oh... You think you know everything, but you don't..." Anankos started attacking her, but she dodged his attacks.

Suddenly, he could hear Laslow's voice.

"Hey! Jakob! Is she okay?" Laslow was calling out.

"I better go... Next time, I will strike you without a warning..." Anankos grunted as he disappeared.

Azura slowly opened her eyes and saw her husband looking down at her.

"Oh... Laslow..." She smiled a bit, she was happy to see him.

"We will have to retreat..." Laslow sighed.

"No, we must keep fighting, I saw who's behind all of this." Azura sighed.

"Who is it?" Jakob wondered.

"I can't explain it... But he's evil." Azura told him. Laslow saw that Benny and Effie were getting tired from the battle, most of the shadows were gone for now.

"We took care of them!" Effie sighed. Benny was lying on the ground huffing.

"Yes... We defeated them..." He replied.

Anankos grumbled and disappeared from sight, seeing that he could not kill Azura or get near her without Laslow being by her side all of the time.

"I will get you... Don't worry..." He whispered.

Later that night...

Shigure was looking in books for answers. There was nothing that Corrin wrote that was useful for him.

"You're more of an artist, there is no use looking in those damn books." Dwyer was shooting a dart at a wall.

"I know, but I have to figure this out!" Shigure was throwing books off of shelves after flipping through a few pages.

"I've heard my dad talking about the story of King Garron." Dwyer sparked some interest into Shigure.

"Wait what about King Garron?" He looked at Dwyer, surprised yet confused.

"You never heard of him? He was such a foolish king, tried to get the two kingdoms to kill each other." Dwyer snorted.

"Dwyer, your tales are not even true." Soleil was heard from the room.

"Who is King Garron?" Kana finally asked, he was scared.

"He's a fool, that's what. He tried to kill both kingdoms. Including your mother. It's what my dad said before I was placed here." Dwyer replied, it made Kana's heart pound with fear. Soleil slapped Dwyer in the back of the head.

"D'oh!" He yipped.

"Stop scaring Kana! I don't even think that ever happened! Your dad must have a bunch of bees in his brain!" Soleil smiled but sounded angry.

"How do you know? You weren't even there." Dwyer rubbed the back of his head while grunting.

"You weren't there either, Dwyer..." Shigure chuckled.

"I don't know what to believe..." Kana was more confused as he looked at Shigure.

"Well, why don't we all call it a day and get some rest..." Shigure yawned and placed all of the books back on the shelf.

"Well, I'll be sleeping in that room you found, Shigure... It is my room." Dwyer winked at him.

"Did you just?" Shigure was about to question it, but he didn't. As he was about to follow his sister and Kana to the room, he heard a soft voice calling.

"Hello?" It sounded like Sophie.

"Huh?" Shigure turned and noticed that it was only Sophie. Siegbert was with her.

"Hey, Shigure! My have you've grown!" Siegbert smiled at him.

"Siegbert, Sophie, what are you two doing here?" Shigure whispered. Soleil was calling her brother.

"Shigure!" She yelled.

"Coming!" Shigure called back as he turned to them.

"We were looking for Forrest and Nina. Sophie told me that they were attacked." Siegbert explained the situation as Shigure understood.

"We were attacked too. Well, Kana and Soleil. Some shadows were chasing them." Shigure explained how their game of hide and seek went wrong.

"That's terrible... Listen, can we stay here for the night? Tomorrow we will continue our search for them." Siegbert asked. Shigure thought about it for a while before deciding.

"Yes, follow me." Shigure leads them to the room.

"Is it just you, Kana and Soleil that lives here?" Sophie asked.

"No, Dwyer is still here too. And his friend Chi-chi." Shigure replied.

Sophie looked down and saw that the other kids were sleeping on nests. Soleil was sound asleep, Shigure walked over her so that he didn't step on her. Siegbert and Sophie did the same.

"Thanks Shigure." Sophie whispered with a smile on her face.

"Anytime..." Shigure yawned and rested in his nest.

They all were asleep that night...

What will happen to Forrest and the others? What will happen to their parents? What else will Anankos do to harm them even more?

To be continued...

Another chapter in the bag! Time to dance and kick some butt! I'm writing but it's hard! XD

Just kidding, anyway, thanks for reading this so far, more will come soon!

Dance Laslow! Dance! lol