I've had a rough weekend, so I won't keep you from the chapter.

"Come on, hit me." Yang held her arms out as she looked up at Thorn. "I can take it."

Thorn growled and took a step back. I would rather not.

"I know you want to. I know I can be annoying."

Your Aura and wards are weakened here. I could break you easily.

Aaron shook his head. Thorn had a point. He always was strong for his age, maybe even more than Halcyon. But they were trying to find the limits of Yang's Aura here. He was honestly surprised Yang took those punches from the Berserkers last week. "You might as well do it now, Thorn." Aaron looked up at the dragon. "She's going to keep talking until she says something that will make you shut her up."

"Listen to him." Yang gestured at Aaron. "It took a while to convince him. Now he's tried to beat me to a pulp the last five days."

Summer snorted next to Aaron. "Can we stop for a second to acknowledge how terrible that sounds?" She gave Aaron a fake glare. "How long exactly have you been abusing my daughter?"

Yang waved her off. "It's okay mom. I'm into it." As Aaron felt all the blood drain from his face, Thorn raised one of his paws and backhanded Yang across the forest floor. She bounced twice and slid to a stop underneath a tree. She stuck up a hand with a thumb pointing up. "I'm good."

"But not a good joke." Summer shook her head as she walked to where Yang lay.

Aaron blinked and looked over his shoulder at Nalia. The skin and scales on the Viper's face took a paler shade of green. How about we never mention that to anyone, he suggested.

Agreed. Nalia shook her head. I never wanted to hear Yang say that.

I never wanted to hear anyone say that. Aaron shivered. Come on, let's make sure she didn't break anything. He glanced at Thorn as he walked toward his sister-in-law. The dragon snarled at where Yang lay and shifted on his feet. That hit was probably more of a reflex than anything, and it was nowhere near the limit of what a dragon his size was capable of. Yang would be sore, but fine. "I told you. You should have hit her before."

I see that now. Thorn snorted and turned away. I've needed to clean my scales anyway. He raised his wings, plunged them down, and flew off toward the river a mile away.

Well, he is Angel's dragon. Nalia slithered ahead and crossed her arms as she stood over Yang. "You know, you really shouldn't taunt dragons like that. You could get hurt."

"Halcyon's definitely hit me harder." Yang sat up and rolled out her shoulders. Despite the hard hit, the only signs of impact were patches of dirt and mud on her clothes. Her hair, of course, was completely clean. She looked up at her mom. "I feel good, but what does the scanner say?"

Summer held a tablet out toward Yang. Aaron looked over Summer's shoulder. Her Aura bar wasn't in the red, but it looked like one more hit could take her down to that level. "You're not in immediate danger," Summer said, "but you're not far off. Thorn was smart to hold up. I don't think you'd be able to take one of Halcyon's high fives."

"Yeah." Yang stood up and brushed herself off. "But it's nice to know. I probably shouldn't take one of the Berserker Queen's punches. That thing looks like it could bring a skyscraper down with one swing."

"Probably not far off." Aaron grimaced. "If we ever find this 'Vahlen,' I'm giving her a piece of my mind."

"Maybe something that's moving a little faster," Nalia said. "She has to be working with ADVENT, or at least she was when she made the 'Rulers.' There's no other reason I can think of that would justify giving a Berserker giant meat tenderizers."

Summer's smile disappeared. "I have to agree with you there. That's crazier than what Merlot did a decade ago?"

"Who?" Aaron asked.

"Be glad you don't know him." Summer shook her head. "Be glad Salem never reached out to him. Those few months were not pretty."

Halcyon's mind entered Aaron's. Would you people kindly stop beating up my Rider? he asked like it didn't bother him too much. Anyway, Delta's about to engage the ADVENT guarding one of their relays. The Commander wants you all onboard. Also, and more importantly for us, Dahlia has an update on that brain switching device.

Aaron straightened and faced Nalia. The Bio Viper stared at the Avenger with her arms hanging at her sides. What kind of an update? Aaron asked.

Some good, some bad. Dahlia's talking with the Commander now about some specifics. Halcyon growled. Okay. That's definitely some more bad.

What kind of bad? Nalia asked. A setback? She can't decipher alien tech?

I'll let her explain it. I'm just listening in right now. She'll have more when you get to the lab. Halcyon's mind pulled away.

"I… don't like the sound of that." Yang gave Aaron and Nalia a sympathetic look.

There's good news. Nalia hissed. If there's any bad, that means we're back to where we started. I don't see how we could take a step back. Aaron felt what ran through Nalia's mind right after that. She thought of a few things that make things worse. Aaron couldn't decide if Halcyon's tone indicated any of them. Nalia turned away and slithered to the service elevator waiting for those on the ground. Let's go.

Aaron followed his dragon as he stretched his mind back toward where Thorn flew. One of our squads is about to be in combat. The Commander wants everyone on the ship, or near it in your case. Its standard procedure… I think. Very few people have been outside the ship when a squad is deployed.

Understandable. I'm on my way back.

Dahlia has some information on the mind brain transfer thing too. She'll be telling us as soon as we meet up with her.

Really? Thorn mentally growled. Good. The sooner we get dragons back in their own bodies, the better.

Agreed, for multiple reasons. Aaron stepped onto the elevator and waited for the others to get on before pressing the button. The elevator rose into the ship.

"So…" Yang started, "you and Ruby, huh?"

Aaron looked over his shoulder at Yang. She had her arms crossed and a slight glare. "Something tells me you don't mean mine." He wondered if this conversation was going to happen.

"I'm talking about the one who currently doesn't have her dragon in her head and is mentally unstable." Yang tightened her grip on her arms. "I'm just looking out for my little sister."

Aaron thought he knew where this was going. "Does that mean she is my wife?"

Yang's jaw dropped open like she was going to say something, then she growled and shook her face. "You and I both know that's different. I'm not trying to sleep with a Ruby from another universe. Anyway, taking advantage of women in a terrible mental state is terrible no matter the universe. By Nalia's reactions, you've gone at it three times."

Nalia hissed and glared daggers at Yang. "Leave me out of this."

Aaron sighed. "I don't think there was anything stopping the first. That one was probably the other way around. Others…" He stared at the floor, imagining his Ruby's laughing face on one of their dates in Vale. "I really want to say it's a worse version of Cerise' and her month apart, but I don't know if I can. There's too much there, for both of us. I just… want her back. What would you do if your Brom died and you met another one with the same memories, same experiences?"

"Probably not what you're doing." Yang's voice wasn't as forceful as before.

Aaron gave Yang a look. His almost-sister-in-law shifted on her feet and her glare lessened. Apparently, something in his gaze made her uncertain. "I wouldn't even think of it if I didn't believe some part of Ruby didn't mind. I've seen the aftermath of so many of them. She's spent a good chunk of her life fighting that crap. If it turns out I'm wrong, you can do what you want with me." He turned his head away. "I'm sure we'll have that talk when Cerise is back in her head."

"Yeah, you better."

Summer glared at Aaron and crossed her arms. "Or else we'll pin you down and let Ruby and Cerise tear you apart themselves."

"As I would hope." The elevator stopped and the doors opened. "Can we… drop this conversation for now?"

"For now." Yang nodded. "Let's go hear what Dahlia has for us." She pushed past Aaron and stepped out of the elevator.

Aaron glanced at Nalia. I'm not… am I?

Nalia sniffed. If you were, I wouldn't have let the first time go through. She rested a hand on Aaron's back and led him out of the elevator. If Yang thought you were, you'd already be dead.

There is that. Their group made it to the infirmary last. Everyone else from Remnant was already there. Dahlia stood glaring in front of a screen with what looked like a piece of dragon armor faceplate on it. The faceplate had tubes and wires coming out of it and leading to what looked like a helmet that could accommodate a Viper's head. Halcyon was also on the screen, and his image had teeth bared. Neither were a good sign. Aaron found his 'wife' in the small crowd. Ruby gave him a weak smile and leaned into him. He rested an arm around her shoulders. If only one of those looks could reach her eyes.

Dahlia looked everyone over. "Good. We're all here. I'll cut to the chase." She took off her glasses and gestured them at the faceplate. "The good news is I can build what you see here. This has all the necessary mechanical components to transfer a consciousness from one body to another." Nalia and Orchid straightened.

"The bad part," Dahlia crossed her arms, "right now, we can't power the dang thing. In order to get it going right, we need about half as much power as the Skyranger needs to fly. Tygan says we'd need two Elerium power cells to get the required output, unless he figures out how to use all the crystals we have now."

"That would be easier than hooking them up to anything on the Avenger," Aaron said. "We'd be able to take this to them."

"Also," Ruby started, "the power systems on this ship are worse than the slapped together generators in the middle of nowhere Vacuo." She shook her head. "The number of times I've heard of someone tripping a fuse because they plugged in their razor…"

"The worse news," Halcyon's voice came from the screen's speakers, "is there is one part that we can't replicate and is the thing that prevents both minds from being scrambled and both subjects dying. Remember that orange stuff in some of the tubes?"

"I'm guessing it wasn't orange soda?" Yang asked.

"If only it was something as innocent." Halcyon shook his head. "XCOM has already encountered it. They call it Meld."

Invidia stiffened. "I have heard of this. I found it in XCOM's database when I first arrived." She grimaced. "It's why the aliens won the first time."

Aaron glanced at the elf. It wasn't like her to exaggerate. He faced Halcyon on the screen. "Care to explain?"

"Meld was discovered in the early days of the initial invasion. Shen senior and Vahlen of Alien Ruler fame researched it and found several uses. The exact science goes over my head, but it is somehow biological and organic at the same time. Shen wanted to turn soldiers into mech troopers, Vahlen wanted to use it to genetically modify soldiers to use the aliens' own abilities against them. Both ideas worked spectacularly," Halcyon growled, "until the aliens decided to attack XCOM HQ in Egypt. It turns out the aliens never truly lost control of the stuff. Their own soldiers turned against them, and there was nothing they could do. They were prisoners in their own bodies."

"Barzûl," Aaron whispered. He felt his dragon's sudden nervousness.

"Are we…" Nalia hesitated, "Are Orchid and I infected with this… Meld?"

"That's what I'm going to find out." Dahlia gave both Vipers a pointed look. "Neither of you are leaving this infirmary until I am one hundred percent sure that both of you are Meld free. Neither of you are going to protest. If necessary, I will strap you to a table to make sure you don't turn on us. I don't want to, but it's for your own good."

"At least we're not my father." Orchid rubbed one of her arms. "He… wouldn't appreciate it."

"Not without a lot of kisses from you." Summer elbowed Orchid.

"I don't think that would do it for him, not without Velvet." Nalia nodded at Dahlia. "We'll stay here. I hope we don't force you to chain us down."

"If you do, I swear we'll be nice." Dahlia sighed. "Doctor Romero is already working on an alternative option. There's also… something from my world that might be able to help, the thing that allows two people to pilot a Jaeger."

Aaron crossed his arms. "How are those things even possible? Those things make less sense to me than Amity Colosseum."

Dahlia threw up her arms in surrender. "I'm just a doctor. This brain switching stuff is about my limit. Don't ask me about the physics of it. That's team SPHR's specially. Not mine."

"Why doesn't Doctor Romero do more for our research?" Ruby asked. "She's supposedly a scientist from a space faring civilization herself. Surely, she has more things she can give us."

"I've asked her plenty of times." Dahlia rolled her whole head. "She calls it the First Regulation or something like that. She can't advance this Earth's technology, but since there is dimension skipping here, she can do whatever it takes to get everyone back to their homes." Aaron blinked. Part of that sounded like something out of Galaxy Trek.

"How's that going, anyway?" Summer asked. "Have you heard anything back from your people?"

"Not yet. Again, power is terrible here. We have to wait until-"

Halcyon growled and jumped on the screen. He glared at something no one else could see. Everyone else faced him. Aaron found himself reaching for Redemption's pommel but grabbed empty air. "We've got problems," Halcyon finally said. "The Chosen Warlock has engaged Delta… riding what looks like Ariana."

"What?" Summer yelled. Aaron's blood ran cold. The dragons hissed. Yang clenched her fists. Ruby stepped in front of Aaron and straightened. "Show me."

Halcyon and the consciousness transfer device disappeared. An isometric view of a grown over town appeared in its place. Six XCOM soldiers were marked on screen, three of which had already taken hits. But Aaron was focused only on the large silver dragon with the purple skinned alien on its back.

"How ironic, XCOM," a deep, unfamiliar voice came over the speakers. "You think to free one of the creatures the Elders desire. Now, one of them will be your undoing."

"Who the heck is that?" Aaron demanded.

"I'm guessing the Warlock." Yang scowled. "Ran into him once before when I was with MOCX. Hacked into our comms then. Guess he's doing the same here." The Warlock dismounted the dragon and the thing in Ariana's body pounced forward. The dragon speared one of the soldiers Aaron didn't know through the chest. His vital signs disappeared instantly.

"How far away is the AO?" Nalia asked.

"Thirty miles," Halcyon said. "Even you'd need your jets to get there in time to do anything." Nalia hissed, clenched her fists, and turned away.

A deep growl reverberated through the ship. Thorn's mind thundered into Aaron's. He must have brought himself in on the conversation. Is there nothing we can do?

Not in time, Aaron thought. A purple light surrounded the Warlock. Another of XCOM's soldiers dropped her rifle and grabbed her head. A second later, she took the frag grenade off her belt and pulled the pin. She ran at another soldier, still holding the live grenade. Her squadmate didn't react until the last moment. The grenade blew, sending fragments into the bodies of both soldiers. The first was killed instantly. The one she targeted sprawled out on the ground. His vitals didn't disappear, but Aaron had seen enough injuries to know he wouldn't make it.

"Firebrand!" the Commander's voice burst from the speakers. "Get in there and get our people the hell out of there!"

"I'll do what I can," Firebrand said. "I'll drop the cables right on top of them if the air's clear."

"It won't be fast enough." Summer growled and clenched her fists. "Can I…"

Only three members of Delta squad remained, the Templar cultist that Aaron didn't care to know, and the two called Grizzly and Bobcat. As Aaron watched, the Templar jumped out of cover. She sprinted for the Warlock, wrist blades glowing. The Chosen was too busy doing… something with his purple light. The Templar jumped with her blades slicing across the Warlock's body. Blood oozed from the twin cuts in the armor, but the Warlock only glared at her.

Before the Templar could do anything else, a glowing, purple, human-like figure ran up to her side. It swung at her and connected, sending her sprawling. The Warlock jumped back, grabbed the rifle from his back, and shot several three shot bursts into her. The Templar fell to the ground, unmoving. The Warlock stepped forward and stood over the downed soldier. "This is the end that will come to all who defy the Elders, Templar." He brought his foot up and crushed it down on the soldier's head. Bits of flesh and bone spurted out from under his foot.

"Firebrand!" the Commander yelled.

"I'm almost there! I'm coming… oh my god…"

The view shifted back to the two remaining soldiers. Both fired up at the dragon hovering over them. The mag rounds deflected, and the lasers had no obvious effect. 'Ariana's throat bulged, and her jaw dropped open. Fire burst forth from her maw, engulfing both soldiers. Their vitals lasted for two seconds.

Aaron and the rest of the Remmartians stood in silence. A squad was wiped in less than a minute, and ADVENT used one of their friends to do it.

"This is Firebrand," the pilot broke the silence, her voice calm as a windless lake, "all XCOM operatives are KIA. Returning to base."

"Mission failed," Central said. "The relay is still intact... Complete squad wipe."

"Oh my god…" Yang whispered. "That… happened."

"Ariana." Orchid raised a hand to her mouth. "She'll be devastated."

"It's because of Thorn." Summer grimaced. "Are we going to have him on standby for all ops now? Are they going to keep throwing our own at us?"

"They know we're dangerous," Nalia hissed and shook her head. "We've already noticed that with some of their ground forces. Do we know if this is the first time they've used a dragon in combat?"

"As far as I know." Halcyon reappeared on the screen. "None of our allies have reported anything."

Ruby took in a quick breath and let it out just as hard. "I need to get the Skyranger its gun." She marched out of the infirmary without another word. Aaron watched her go. It was probably a good thing she was getting back on her weapons. At least it would help against a Chosen in the future, or any other enemies. Hopefully never a dragon.

"What's the play now?" Yang asked. "We can't just sit back and do nothing."

Summer shrugged. "I'm not the Rider here. How do we stop a dragon without severely injuring it?"

"Another dragon to pin it down, or some kind of magic, both are in short supply." Aaron sighed. Why couldn't anything go right?

"Let's see here…" Ruby backed away from the mount. From what she could see, everything looked solid. All bolts were screwed tight, and all wires were tied and connected. Everything just needed to be prettied up. That is, if it worked. She stepped forward again and grabbed the handle and trigger assembly. She traversed the gun through its full range of motion. It turned and dipped like butter.

She stepped back and into the cockpit. With Firebrand's permission, though that was sketchy with how furious the pilot was at the time, Ruby installed another screen and control stick in the cockpit console, these just for the gun. She booted it up and heard the gun assembly move behind her. The mechanic grabbed the stick, leaned to the side and looked out at the gun. She thought it had moved from where she left it. With a turn of the stick the gun moved. With a quick peak back at the screen, she saw the scope POV from the camera on it. She pulled the trigger and heard a click on the gun and a beep from the screen. Everything was working as intended. The new assembly would need to be taken on a test flight to calibrate everything. She wasn't going to test fire a high power machine gun in the armory.

With a sigh, Ruby powered down the system and stepped out of the Skyranger. "Halcyon, have we landed yet?"

"For two hours, Ruby," Halcyon's voice came over the hangar's speakers. "You've been in there for six."

"Oh… that explains a lot." Ruby's last two words were interrupted by a yawn. "Is Thorn still awake?"

"He says he's on guard duty. Unless his mind can stretch farther than I think, the ship's sensors can pick up more than he can. It's a nice gesture though."

"Good to know." As Ruby approached the armory's exit, the door opened, and Firebrand stepped through.

The pilot took one more step before stopping and thrusting an arm in front of Ruby. "What did you do to my ship?"

"I finally gave it its laser machinegun." Ruby yawned again. "There's a control point in the cockpit for you. Just have to charge the cells, refasten the interior plates, and zero in the sights. I'm in no shape for any of that right now."

"Good." Firebrand let her arm drop and she put her fists on her hips. Ruby walked toward the exit. "Now I've got some firepower. Maybe burn a few holes in the next oversized lizard."

Ruby froze in place in the doorway and jerked her head toward the pilot. "No. Don't. We've got to get our dragons back in their own bodies."

Firebrand glared daggers at Ruby. "One of them just fragged an entire squad, barely taking any damage itself."

"The Warlock did a good chunk of its work." Ruby turned back and returned the glare. "Besides, don't you have a saying for that? 'That's XCOM baby?'"

"There!" Firebrand scoffed. "'Don't you have a saying for that?' Are you even one of us?" She jammed a finger into Ruby's chest. "If one of those things threatens our people, I'll turn it into Swiss cheese. Our people come first. Not some monster that's not even from Earth." She turned around and stormed off.

Ruby stared after the pilot. Did she just… She clenched her fists. No one was around. Halcyon could wipe the cameras. It would be so easy… Ruby turned away and stomped out of the armory. Add another reason to the list why she was going up top.

Instead of taking the elevator like she planned, Ruby stomped up the steps to the hull access. She flung the door open and stepped into the cold night air. Like Halcyon said, Thorn lay curled on top of the Avenger, taking up almost all the room on top of the hangar doors. His head rose from the deck, and he stared at Ruby. He cocked his head and gave a questioning growl.

"You're off guard duty." Ruby marched toward the dragon. "We're going into that forest and not coming back until Halcyon calls us." She climbed up the dragon's side and settled in the hollow at the base of Thorn's neck. Her breath hitched for a second as she saw a red dragon head right in front of her, right where her little Cerise' should have been. Then reality caught up as Thorn's face registered. She jerked her head away. "Just fly." She leaned forward and wrapped her arms around the dragon's neck.

Thorn snorted and stood up. Ruby closed her eyes and just felt the dragon move. He was different from Cerise, but some things came from biology. His muscles tensed and flexed as his legs brought him into position. Near her legs, Ruby felt the stretching of Thorn's wings as they rose, and the contraction as they plunged down. Thorn fell into a natural rhythm after a few flaps.

But his breathing. The slow in and out that Ruby felt in the dragon's chest and neck. It was steady, full, and healthy. A dragon that flew like this could fly from Teirm to Ileria in a day. Such ease, not a care in the world. She maybe even heard a little bit of his heartbeat. She'd be lying if she said it wasn't soothing. If only she could fly on Thorn all day every day.

It wasn't to last. Thorn's muscles and the wind flowing past her told Ruby they were descending. The Rider felt her daughter's dragon's legs tense as he landed. She opened her eyes and pushed her torso up. Thorn stared back at her, his resting glare focused on her. He growled at her and tapped a claw against his head.

Ruby shook her head. "Sorry, Thorn. No translation button." She slid off the dragon's back and looked up at him. "I don't want to hear any fake dragon words. I want to hear them in my head. Not through a button, not over comms, not from a Viper's mouth."

Thorn narrowed his eyes and growled again.

Ruby threw her hands up. "I don't know, Thorn!" She turned around and walked to the nearest tree. "You're the only real dragon we've seen since coming here. There was the thing controlling Nalia in Munich, then the thing controlling Ariana killed Delta, and now-" Ruby screamed and launched her bionic arm into the tree. It plunged straight through, severing the trunk from its roots. The top of the tree fell to the stump, then fell away from Ruby. Dirt and wood chips bounced back up at her. She didn't flinch.

She turned her head back toward Thorn. "We can't stop people across the planet from killing the controlled dragons. I don't know if we can stop our own people if a dragon attacks a squad. There was already an attempt on another alien's life. What's to stop that from happening to us?" Ruby sighed. "Things are bad, Thorn. There were times I thought about leaving XCOM to go search for Cerise on my own. I didn't think we'd need to leave to protect ourselves."

Thorn growled and flicked his tail at the Avenger. He didn't sound happy, and this time Ruby thought his anger was firmly directed at her.

"I don't know." Ruby shied away from the glare. "I don't know much of anything anymore. I can build guns and I can shoot. I'm not good for much else." Thorn growled again, this time with more intensity. "I know, I know. I shouldn't be thinking like this, but with this thing in my head, I'm a hazard to our own people. I'm… useless."

Thorn's growl turned into a light but intense roar. Ruby blinked at the dragon but didn't step back. She recognized the sound. It was the kind or roar that he used before he pinned Angel to the ground and growled and roared in her face. Ruby used to get defensive whenever that happened. What mother wouldn't want to stop a large, scaly creature gnashing its teeth less than a foot over her daughter's head. But being the target of that opening roar…

The red dragon approached her with thundering, intentional steps. Various growls, roars, and snarls escaped his mouth. Ruby stayed put, just staring at the approaching dragon. Thorn only stopped when his head was directly over the Rider. He raised a paw and rested a toe on each of her shoulders. The dragon applied gentle but unignorable force and pushed Ruby to her knees, then her back.

For a few seconds, Ruby thought she made a terrible mistake as shiny white teeth gnashed inches above her face. But as she lay there, she felt just how gentle the paw on top of her was. While it kept her down, she felt like she could get out of it no problem. As for the growls and teeth, she'd heard Cerise' anger for years. She'd heard Thorn's for a while too. Thorn was angry, and it was directed at her, but it wasn't for her. Or… it was, but in a different way. This was a slightly tamer of the way he treated Angel when she wasn't feeling right.

Ruby just stared and felt herself relax. She wasn't quite smiling, but she didn't fight it. Her relaxing apparently gave Thorn a green light because his growls and teeth gnashing increased. The pressure on Ruby's chest grew but she still had room to escape. The Rider sighed and Thorn gave a final, muted roar. Thorn pulled his head back and glared down at Ruby while panting.

"So, that's what that feels like." Ruby gave the dragon a weak smile. "Thanks, Thorn."

Thorn jerked his head back. He gave a growl and made an expression Ruby hadn't seen before, which was much more impressive than the other way. While keeping her pinned, he curled down around the Rider and covered her with a wing. He gave one more quiet growl and closed his eyes, the universal signal that he wasn't moving until he woke up.

Ruby blinked at the dragon then sighed in content. She hadn't slept with a dragon since Remnant. It was nice to be back with one. She'd worry about the dirt and bugs in the morning. For one night, it was worth it.

Ariana stared at the evil-wrong-words from her not-mate. Her stolen body, used to kill war-friends. Not-her-hands shook as she held the light-screen. Halcyon didn't go into details, but that made it worse. She knew the things she could do to evil-beast-Grimm. Against two-leg-friends… She almost threw the light-screen as she leaned to the side and her traitor-stomach emptied its contents through her one-way-mouth.

She unconsciously reached her mind out to her partner-of-her-heart-and-mind, but like every other time, she didn't feel him any more than she did before. It still felt like he was in Alagaësia and she was on Remnant, only faded. Even if he didn't know what to say, he'd still be there. Yang and Halcyon, well, her Yang and Halcyon would do the same while trying to kill whatever hurt her. She'd have to talk things over with not-her-Yang and not-her-Halcyon when she eventually got on the Avenger. They might not be hers, but they probably still cared.

Another Viper slithered to her side and gave her a hug. "I'm sorry, Ariana," Sunny said. "Is there anything I can do?"

"Kill all the aliens." Ariana hissed. Sunny flinched back but didn't let go. Ariana winced. While she had only known the not-Viper for a few months, Sunny was probably the best dragon to be around in this situation. "I'm sorry. You were only trying to help."

"I can imagine how you feel," Ormr said. Ariana looked up at the other not-Viper. Ormr stood with not-her-arms crossed. "I can only imagine what they're doing with my own body. At least they don't have access to what else we can do… probably."

"Apparently they don't need it." Ariana powered off her tech-tablet and let not-her-arms hang. "Our fire is deadly enough as it is."

"I'll signal the Liberated. They'll send someone to pick you up. You're in no shape to-"

"No." Ariana hissed. "I need to see this through. I'm the tracker here. You'll never find Firefang without me. And if we don't meet her and whoever she's with in Vladivostok, we'll never find them." A few days before, Ormr hacked an ADVENT-computer-stand and found footage of Firefang and an unknown… two-leg-round-ears? Ariana wasn't sure. With the way she fought, she could be another Remmartian human, or she could be a no Aura-strong two-leg-pointed-ear… or something else. They just needed to make contact with one of them.

Ormr snorted. "Good." She brought a hand to not-her-chin. "Now, how should we contact them?"

Ariana faced Sunny. "You're the contact dragon. Do you have an idea?"

"Uhh…" Sunny fidgeted with not-her-fingers. "I thought about maybe leaving a note or just going up to introduce ourselves."

Ormr blinked. "That sounds like a great idea to get us killed."

"You never know." Sunny glared at Ormr. "I can be quite convincing."

Sunny… wasn't wrong. There were times when Ariana thought the other hidden-dragon was born from a ray of happy-sun. "Can we get you close enough?"

"I'd need to see the area, but it should be possible." Ormr nodded. "But in case that 'brilliant' plan fails, we need to have a different one."

Ariana stared at the cold-ground as she thought. How could they approach a Viper that killed pretty much every other Viper she saw? Would she understand a white flag or hands raised? They just didn't know enough about these invaders.

Who knows? Sunny's 'just say hello' idea might be the best option.

I've got nothing witty, or more like attempted witty to say here. Just this: Hug your pets. They're only in our lives for a short amount of time but we're their entire world. Let them know how much you love them. You never know when it will be the last day... Cancer can shove it so far up there you can see its eyes through its mouth...

RIP Kisses the Calico 2008-2022