Finding the Chosen Ones

Chapter 4: Fire and Water

By Silent Shadow

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A/N: Well this is where you will meet Cye. Erm that's about it. If I get enough reviews I'll continue this story. If not then I'll just start on a new story. Well peace out all!

Mia, Sage, Ryo, and Anubis were walking in the forest away from Sage's village which they learned was on a mountain. How they ended up there no one knew.

"Your so lazy Mia," Anubis snorted as he watched Mia climb up on White Blazes back.

"Shut up Anubis," she said, "I'm doing this for the good of you guys. This way we can move faster."

"Yeah well then let me on, too."

"You're too fat. You'd break poor White Blaze's back," she said rubbing his fur affectionately.

Anubis grumbled under his breath. "Wouldn't talk about being fat if I were you."

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?" Mia raged bawling up her fist.

"Nothing!"

"I heard you say that. Prepare to die!" she growled but was pushed back my Ryo who had learned that acting fast was the only way to prevent bloodshed.

"Can't you guys move any faster," said Sage above the trees frowning down on them. Sage found it more comfortable to travel by tree swinging like a monkey.

"We would but Anubis keeps complaining," Mia said huffily crossing her arms.

"Yeah well at least I'm not high strung!"

"I'll teach you high strun-" she stopped in mid sentence.

"What's wrong?" Ryo said as she saw her turn pale she shushed him and strained to hear something. There was nothing but silence.

However the silence was disrupted the squawking of scared birds flying away in fear.

"Something's wrong…" Sage said suddenly as if he sensed something.

"Run…" she whispered.

"What?"

"RUN IT'S A DRAGON!" she screamed. White Blaze took off in the direction of the birds were headed with speed. Anubis ran after her.

"How would she know if there was one? I don't see anything," Ryo asked running beside him. The sound of a roar and a flap of wings silenced him. A few seconds later a large dragon came into view.

It moved it's near blind eyes around searching for a victim, he found it. In fact he found five. It roared with excitement it's tail lashed eround and the spikes stuck out.

"Holy," Anubis started and tried to run faster. It blew fire from it's mouth.

Mia tired to remember everything she read about dragons when she was younger.

'Dragons, contrary to popular belief, does not see movement but heat. It seems silly since the fire it breathes should hide its victim but the fire in fact very cold. And icefire if you will. The way it knows you are dead is if your body heats drops to same as the fire. Dragons are in fact vegetarians but it kills for sport and places all dead victims in a pit as trophies to show off or ward off any other dragons who think about taking their territory.'

'This isn't helping any,' Mia thought, 'Why can't I remember anything helpful?'

'Swords and other weapons are mostly useless because the dragons skin is covered by a coat of acid that eats through metal. The spikes in its body are pushed out when it is excited or angry. The spikes are venomous.'

"My freakin god," she though angrily, "Why did I learn all of this stuff. I know how it can kill me, all I need to know is how to kill it."

If you destroy it's heart it dies.

'Well no duh. If you destroy anything's heart anything dies'

However don't try to get at it from the outside. The heart is in it's throat, where it also produces the ice-fire. You must throw something inside it's mouth that is incredibly hot- not just any fire but something much more hotter then that.

'How am I suppose find that in the forest?'

However this is near impossible. If you encounter a dragon you will be dead in the next minute most likely.

'Well make me feel better why don't you.'

However there is a way to avoid it. Water seems to distort whatever heat is given off by your body and makes you seem invisible or too small and insignificant to kill.

'Great. All I need it a whole bunch of water. No problem," she thought sarcastically as it opened it's mouth for another attack, this time at Sage. It spit fire at him and this time it was on target. It hit him. Mia almost screamed but she didn't. She could still feel his power. Sage emerged from the smoky fire unharmed. It was a miracle, was this the power of a chosen one?

Instantly the world turned black and it everything was still.

"Not now," she groaned. The light from her necklace shone and projected and image, water. Dead ahead. The image dissolved and she was back in the real world still holding on White Blaze for her dear life.

"Keep going White Blaze, almost there," she whispered in his ear encouragingly as another fireball just missed them.

"WATER!" she hear Anubis yell, "Everyone dive in the lake!"

"No really?" Ryo yelled after him and then a splash.

Soon there were at the edge of a large lake, well maybe not a lake, probably a sea, but hey. Who cares what it was. "Go in White Blaze!"

It didn't move.

"Come on you big baby. It's just water."

The dragon came nearer and White Blaze just stared.

"White Blaze it's either get wet or get killed."

That did it. White Blaze jumped into the water and she let go of him. From below the water surface she saw the dragon hesitate looking for its prey that just vanished. It stood there confused.

'Hurry up and leave,' she begged the dragon, 'I need to breath.'

She saw the dragon reluctantly leave, she felt overwhelming relief and began to swim up when something caught her leg and pulled her down.

'Riptide!" she thought hysterically as she was pulled down lower. This was not her week. First surrounded by an angry mob, then almost frozen death, then almost burned to a crisp. Now she was going to drown. Someone up there hated her.

Then, strangely enough, she was floating up to the surface. She didn't know how, she just was. She felt so numb and her vision was doubling. And someone was there with her. Ryo, Sage, Anubis, White Blaze? No…

An instant later she reached the surface and she gasped for breath.

"You OK there?" she heard a man say in a strange accent.

"…" She couldn't talk she was concentrating on breathing.

"That's good," he said as he began to beat her back to help her cough out the water that filled her lungs.

"Thank you," she managed to coke out. She looked behind her and her eyes began to shine with wonder. His skin had a strange blue tint to it as well as his eyes. He had shaggy light brown hair.

"A merman?" she asked. He smiled confirming what she thought.

"A merman so close to shore?" she said confused as he began to swim towards land.

"Strange isn't it," he said grinning at her, here we are. He pushed her on the seaside.

'Mermen," she thought.

Mermen are almost as secretive as elves. They live mostly in the ocean. They don't have permanent fins. They have scales on the legs that can stretch and connect with the scales on the opposite leg to create fins, as well as on the arms and sides. They also compress them when they don't need them. Oxygen is like water is to them. They need a daily dose of it but cannot breathe it.

"But... you could talk above water. That means… you can breathe air. Impossible."

"…" he didn't say anything. She noticed the blue tint was vanishing from his skin, a result of the lack of water he wasn't breathing.

"MIA!" Anubis and Ryo shouted rushing to her side with worried glances. Sage also appeared next to them, not saying anything but looking equally worried.

"Hey guys," she said smiling, "I did it again. I really have to stop doing these near death experiences huh?"

"You had all of us worried to death," Sage said in a no nonsense tone.

"Oh come off of it. I'm fine," she said sticking out her tongue then motioned them to the merman, "Thanks to him."

They looked at him with shock.

"Good to meet you." He said getting out of the water. They could see his scales and he must have compressed his fins back so it looked as if he had normal strange colored legs.

"You're… outside the water," Anubis said pointing it out.

"Yeah," he said shyly, "My name is Cye."

"I thought sub creatures like mermen can't breathe air," Sage said curious.

"I'm the only one," he said blushing as thought it was shameful to be that different.

"Why are you all the way out here?" she asked him finally getting her energy back.

"I'm just exploring. I'm tired of the ocean. I want to go on land," he said shrugging.

"You can come with us if you want to," she said, "Think of all the things you can see."

"?" Everyone stood confused.

"Come on," she said smiling, "It'll be fun." She had no doubt this strange merman was a chosen one.

"OK!" he said excitedly.

"Good but first," she giggled, 'How about some clothes."

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A/NWell Cye is a mermen. Pretty obvious no? I couldn't think of anything else. I hope you like this chappy even if it was on the dull side. Well toodles. A bit boring and the ending was rushed. But that's OK.