Author's Notes: Enjoy episode three!!
Disclaimers: Card Captors belong to CLAMP, all 'Invasion' dragon legends, all 'Legends' elder dragon legends, Tevesh Szat, 'Weatherlight' characters, non-Clow cards that are still represented as spells, some quotes and lots of other stuff belong to Wizards of the Coast. Relena belongs to Sunrise and TV Asahi. Don't sue. I only own Strider.
Chronicles of the Ur-Dragon - Episode Three
Chapter 5
"This is the area where Rith has been spotted, right?" Strider gave a weary sigh and forced himself not to explode at the annoying vampiress. "For the last time, Sakura, yes!!!" He took out a card. Perhaps the destruction of the saprolings would startle Rith so much that he would reveal his hiding place.
"Outbreak, destroy all beings in the area known as saprolings." His staff struck the surface of the card and the Death spell began to work its magic. Startled yelps were heard in the forest near the grove. The entity quickly darted through the forest, following the trail of saproling corpses.
"Alright, now I..." Strider's face fell at the sight before him. Several Verdant Forces were looking at him with fury in their eyes. Right behind them, he saw a creature, one of the Treefolk creatures powered by Nature magic. Another being stood near it.
"I thought I sensed Rith near this area." This changed the mood of the elementals from fury to understanding. "I'm assuming you're trying to overthrow the Ur-Dragon to free the land?" Strider nodded. "Sorry to cause such a mess...Verdeloth, the Ancient, right?"
The old Treefolk nodded. Strider turned his gaze to the other being. "You must be Nemata, Grove Guardian. A quick question, hotshot. When I cast the Outbreak spell, why didn't you drain the lifeforce of a saproling to give all the other saprolings a small temporary boost in power and defence?"
"It's kind of hard to react quickly when you're a few centuries old." Strider was about to fly away when he noticed a trace of black energy. He narrowed his eyes as he focused on the source of the energy. In the shadows of the forest, he could see tentacles. 'Is it possible?'
The tentacles started to disappear but Strider used his speed to confront the creature. "Tevesh Szat? Impossible...the only survivors were a few members of the Weatherlight crew and Urza!" The dark planeswalker gave a smirk. "Where do you get your news from? Urza nearly became corrupted because of Yawgmoth's magic and Phyrexian science. He engaged Gerrard Capashen in a battle to the death for the amusement of the Phyrexians and the population in the Yawgmoth region. I was surprised that Gerrard won."
The entity gave Tevesh Szat a cold glare. "What about you? I thought Urza destroyed you when you betrayed him. And what about Treva, Darigaaz and the rest? They were fighting in the war as well and surely they died as well."
"You really need to pay attention to the details behind the war. That's the real stuff. I would love to chat but there are places to go and things to do." Strider growled underneath his mask. "Like control the dragons? It's what you tried to do in the war. Looks like you finally got it to work here."
Tevesh Szat gave a cold smile. "I would like to take the credit but there's somebody else being the puppet master. I just work for...it. Catch ya later." With that said, the planeswalker promptly teleported away from the forest. Strider flew back to where Nemata and Verdeloth where residing. "Why didn't you two enter the afterlife?"
"Multani and Molimo both knew that Yavimaya would barely survive the Apocalypse war. We were cloned in order to revive Yavimaya after the war," said Nemata. Strider raised an eyebrow. "Since when did Nature and Water start working together? I thought they opposed each other."
Verdeloth chuckled. "During the war, allies became enemies and enemies became allies. It was hard to tell who was on what side anymore." The entity paled at how much of the story he was missing. "Tell me everything. Now."
Chapter 6
"X-ray glasses?" Sakura glared at Kero. "It's the only thing I could think of. Now be quiet while I scan the forest for Strider." She placed the glasses on her eyes, made thanks to Create's power, and eventually found him with several treefolk, elementals and a lot of dead saprolings.
They were about to walk toward him when he teleported away and came directly in front of them. They let out a small yelp before catching their breath. "What the hell is going on?! Where's Rith?!?" Silence was the entity's only answer. "Well?!?" Strider gave a sigh. "No Rith here but now I'm unsure about the magic structure as I know it."
Sakura's hard gaze softened as she noticed the distraught look in his eyes. "What's bothering you?" He shook his head. "I'll have to explain it later. Right now, we have dragons to capture and a friend to save." His voice regained the twinkle it had earlier.
The trio started to fly off until they heard a rather loud crash some distance from their position. They saw Rith soar into the sky with a stone dragon head. 'That looks familiar...' Sakura flew off towards the dragon. "Not again," groaned Kero.
She could almost get in for a sneak attack until she felt someone yank her back. "Let go, I have to get that dragon!!!" Strider gave a sigh. "It will be better if we followed Rith to get an idea of where Li may be. Rushing head first into things like this could lead to disaster."
Eventually, they found themselves at a strange temple with a partially constructed artifact, an arch, of some sort. Crosis and Rith had a quick discussion before departing. Kero and Sakura started to search the area for their lost comrade while Strider studied the arch. 'What are you? I could swear that you were somewhat common in the war.'
Minutes later, a tired and hungry Kero and an upset Sakura met up with Strider at the partially built arch. "Well, all we came up is the big goose egg," grumbled Sakura. "I told you we should have sealed them when we had the chance."
Strider remained silent for a few minutes. "I think I may have an idea about their plans. But there are still a few pieces of the puzzle missing." Kero gave Strider a look. "What about me and Sakura? As far as I'm concerned, we are the ones playing the game without knowing the rules. It looks like there's something else that may be brewing that's deeper and more serious than rescuing Li."
"You're right, Kerberus. The Apocalypse war had distorted the characteristics of the five magic elements. There were only supposed to be a certain number of survivors. However, I found that the dragons are alive as well as Tevesh Szat. Somebody brought them back to life. The dragons, I may be able to understand, but reviving the most treacherous and dark planeswalker is another matter..."
"So, there's somebody controlling the Ur-Dragon?" The entity gave his reply to the vampire's question. "When Li got kidnapped, I felt a sudden life energy change in Rith and Treva before they regained their original life energy patterns. This led me to believe that these reborn versions have been altered to depend on a different type of life energy. Slowly, their mental states have changed to suit the wishes of the source of this life energy. The real spirit of the Ur-Dragon may be still trapped between this life and the afterlife."
Strider gave a heavy sigh. "And the most disturbing part is that now I know for sure that they continue to survive and create endless suffering for others." Kero floated up in front of the entity's face. "Who are you talking about?!" Strider clenched his fist as he spat out the next word. "Yawgmoth."
TO BE CONTINUED...
Next Episode: Crosis, the Purger discovers the real reason why the other dragons are disappearing all of a sudden...
Disclaimers: Card Captors belong to CLAMP, all 'Invasion' dragon legends, all 'Legends' elder dragon legends, Tevesh Szat, 'Weatherlight' characters, non-Clow cards that are still represented as spells, some quotes and lots of other stuff belong to Wizards of the Coast. Relena belongs to Sunrise and TV Asahi. Don't sue. I only own Strider.
Chronicles of the Ur-Dragon - Episode Three
Chapter 5
"This is the area where Rith has been spotted, right?" Strider gave a weary sigh and forced himself not to explode at the annoying vampiress. "For the last time, Sakura, yes!!!" He took out a card. Perhaps the destruction of the saprolings would startle Rith so much that he would reveal his hiding place.
"Outbreak, destroy all beings in the area known as saprolings." His staff struck the surface of the card and the Death spell began to work its magic. Startled yelps were heard in the forest near the grove. The entity quickly darted through the forest, following the trail of saproling corpses.
"Alright, now I..." Strider's face fell at the sight before him. Several Verdant Forces were looking at him with fury in their eyes. Right behind them, he saw a creature, one of the Treefolk creatures powered by Nature magic. Another being stood near it.
"I thought I sensed Rith near this area." This changed the mood of the elementals from fury to understanding. "I'm assuming you're trying to overthrow the Ur-Dragon to free the land?" Strider nodded. "Sorry to cause such a mess...Verdeloth, the Ancient, right?"
The old Treefolk nodded. Strider turned his gaze to the other being. "You must be Nemata, Grove Guardian. A quick question, hotshot. When I cast the Outbreak spell, why didn't you drain the lifeforce of a saproling to give all the other saprolings a small temporary boost in power and defence?"
"It's kind of hard to react quickly when you're a few centuries old." Strider was about to fly away when he noticed a trace of black energy. He narrowed his eyes as he focused on the source of the energy. In the shadows of the forest, he could see tentacles. 'Is it possible?'
The tentacles started to disappear but Strider used his speed to confront the creature. "Tevesh Szat? Impossible...the only survivors were a few members of the Weatherlight crew and Urza!" The dark planeswalker gave a smirk. "Where do you get your news from? Urza nearly became corrupted because of Yawgmoth's magic and Phyrexian science. He engaged Gerrard Capashen in a battle to the death for the amusement of the Phyrexians and the population in the Yawgmoth region. I was surprised that Gerrard won."
The entity gave Tevesh Szat a cold glare. "What about you? I thought Urza destroyed you when you betrayed him. And what about Treva, Darigaaz and the rest? They were fighting in the war as well and surely they died as well."
"You really need to pay attention to the details behind the war. That's the real stuff. I would love to chat but there are places to go and things to do." Strider growled underneath his mask. "Like control the dragons? It's what you tried to do in the war. Looks like you finally got it to work here."
Tevesh Szat gave a cold smile. "I would like to take the credit but there's somebody else being the puppet master. I just work for...it. Catch ya later." With that said, the planeswalker promptly teleported away from the forest. Strider flew back to where Nemata and Verdeloth where residing. "Why didn't you two enter the afterlife?"
"Multani and Molimo both knew that Yavimaya would barely survive the Apocalypse war. We were cloned in order to revive Yavimaya after the war," said Nemata. Strider raised an eyebrow. "Since when did Nature and Water start working together? I thought they opposed each other."
Verdeloth chuckled. "During the war, allies became enemies and enemies became allies. It was hard to tell who was on what side anymore." The entity paled at how much of the story he was missing. "Tell me everything. Now."
Chapter 6
"X-ray glasses?" Sakura glared at Kero. "It's the only thing I could think of. Now be quiet while I scan the forest for Strider." She placed the glasses on her eyes, made thanks to Create's power, and eventually found him with several treefolk, elementals and a lot of dead saprolings.
They were about to walk toward him when he teleported away and came directly in front of them. They let out a small yelp before catching their breath. "What the hell is going on?! Where's Rith?!?" Silence was the entity's only answer. "Well?!?" Strider gave a sigh. "No Rith here but now I'm unsure about the magic structure as I know it."
Sakura's hard gaze softened as she noticed the distraught look in his eyes. "What's bothering you?" He shook his head. "I'll have to explain it later. Right now, we have dragons to capture and a friend to save." His voice regained the twinkle it had earlier.
The trio started to fly off until they heard a rather loud crash some distance from their position. They saw Rith soar into the sky with a stone dragon head. 'That looks familiar...' Sakura flew off towards the dragon. "Not again," groaned Kero.
She could almost get in for a sneak attack until she felt someone yank her back. "Let go, I have to get that dragon!!!" Strider gave a sigh. "It will be better if we followed Rith to get an idea of where Li may be. Rushing head first into things like this could lead to disaster."
Eventually, they found themselves at a strange temple with a partially constructed artifact, an arch, of some sort. Crosis and Rith had a quick discussion before departing. Kero and Sakura started to search the area for their lost comrade while Strider studied the arch. 'What are you? I could swear that you were somewhat common in the war.'
Minutes later, a tired and hungry Kero and an upset Sakura met up with Strider at the partially built arch. "Well, all we came up is the big goose egg," grumbled Sakura. "I told you we should have sealed them when we had the chance."
Strider remained silent for a few minutes. "I think I may have an idea about their plans. But there are still a few pieces of the puzzle missing." Kero gave Strider a look. "What about me and Sakura? As far as I'm concerned, we are the ones playing the game without knowing the rules. It looks like there's something else that may be brewing that's deeper and more serious than rescuing Li."
"You're right, Kerberus. The Apocalypse war had distorted the characteristics of the five magic elements. There were only supposed to be a certain number of survivors. However, I found that the dragons are alive as well as Tevesh Szat. Somebody brought them back to life. The dragons, I may be able to understand, but reviving the most treacherous and dark planeswalker is another matter..."
"So, there's somebody controlling the Ur-Dragon?" The entity gave his reply to the vampire's question. "When Li got kidnapped, I felt a sudden life energy change in Rith and Treva before they regained their original life energy patterns. This led me to believe that these reborn versions have been altered to depend on a different type of life energy. Slowly, their mental states have changed to suit the wishes of the source of this life energy. The real spirit of the Ur-Dragon may be still trapped between this life and the afterlife."
Strider gave a heavy sigh. "And the most disturbing part is that now I know for sure that they continue to survive and create endless suffering for others." Kero floated up in front of the entity's face. "Who are you talking about?!" Strider clenched his fist as he spat out the next word. "Yawgmoth."
TO BE CONTINUED...
Next Episode: Crosis, the Purger discovers the real reason why the other dragons are disappearing all of a sudden...