A shorter chapter here…I'm not feeling particularly inspired today, so my writing's crap.

rainbowrose- I think Cray's perfectly fine at home, actually. He gets to boss around an entire army and kill lots of stuff…and he's engaged to the woman of his dreams. Even better, he's far enough away from her he doesn't have to listen to her talk about wedding plans. XD

Crimson Primrose- Yes, I'm afraid both he and Fou-Lu share a tendency to run around in the nude. Humans beware! (NAKED DRAGON CROSSING!)

aegis- Congratulations…You have discovered the real reason dragons don't have a nudity taboo. *Lol*

Luna's Meow- No Kaiser yet…I may or may not give it to him… Depends on whether or not I remember to write it in when we reach the appropriate chapter. ^_^

Please see introduction for disclaimer regarding this work.

Chapter Thirty Four

Scales

"Ryu!" the windian scolded, blushing slightly at the sight of the dragon's naked body. Still in shock from what he had just witnessed, Darnik unconsciously felt a bit of envy at the sight. Though he had often enough been told that he was pleasing to the eye, the human knew he didn't remotely compare to the athletic dragon. Why do dragons always have to make the rest of us look like crap?

The dragon looked down at himself, seeming to realize for the first time that his clothes hadn't returned with his transformation. While he seemed comfortable in his own nudity, he genuinely appeared to regret flustering his human audience. "Ah…sorry!" he exclaimed amid the stares.

"That…looks like a great way to get sand in uncomfortable places," Darnik commented, attempting to recover his composure. Why didn't anyone tell me Nina was travelling with a dragon?! Still, surprise was overwhelmed by the need to throw what little was in his stomach back up. The sight of the youth shedding one form for another was probably one of the grossest things he'd ever seen. The blood from the transformation remained on the dragon's skin, dried fast, and would for a while. Baths were rather difficult to find in the desert.

"You have no idea…If you'll excuse me for a moment." The dragon headed for his sandflier; the craft was dwarfed next to the larger three the Imperials had brought with them. The bright sun gave everyone a very good look at the Endless' physique, which ran towards lean and wiry. Darnik noticed out of the corner of his eye that Nina wasn't averting her eyes quite as much as he'd have expected. He made a mental note to ask her about that as soon as the situation resolved itself. Just what was this dragon to her?

Moments later, the boy reappeared, casually adjusting the fit of his new clothes. They were essentially identical to his previous outfit, wrinkled with the occasional folding crease here and there. Perhaps the pants were of a vaguely different shade and the shirt a brighter white, but apparently the dragon-boy had decided upon a style of dress and stuck to it. Though he had replaced his gloves, his now went barefoot. He jumped down onto the sand, the soles of his feet seemingly unaffected by the searing hot sand. As Ryu walked casually though ankle-deep sand that would have inflicted unbearable pain on any other there, Darnik noticed for the first time that the dragon wasn't sweating, either. Had heat no affect on him at all?

"What was that?!" Ursula demanded, her hands shaking slightly on the grip of her gun. The rest of her troops were likewise unnerved, the fact that they had held their ground speaking of their high level of training. Their spooked expressions might have been humorous, but the mirth of the situation was somewhat ruined by the impressive arsenal under control of the alarmed bunch. The captain took a step toward the dragon, but one of the massive animals flanking him snarled a threat and she backed away hastily.

Ryu shrugged depreciatively, still fiddling with the fit of one glove. "That? I lost control over the change. I transformed before I could morph my clothes away. I'm haven't been doing this long enough to be particularly good at the metamorphosis part of it." The admission of imperfection demonstrated another difference between Ryu and the dragon Darnik had already known. The proud dragoness would only have admitted anything was wrong under duress.

"And that's why your bodily fluids decided to come out and play, huh?" Darnik asked, trying not to thing of skin shredding itself or of being ripped apart from the inside out. Simply watching had been nightmare material, and he couldn't even image what it would be like to experience that.

"That would be why. Although, it's not normally that grisly." The dragon said apologetically, glancing down at the dried blood on his palms.

Left without anything of real substance to say, Darnik responded with his usual drivel. "Too bad. I think watching that would freak your enemy out more than the actual end result." Indeed, having spent weeks around one dragon already, it was his nauseated stomach that was troubling him, not any fear.

"A messy transformation also hurts more," the immortal informed him, unoffended by the absurd commentary. It was a nice change from Yahla repeatedly telling him to shut up.

Darnik took a deep breath and swallowed his nausea, his face returning to its normal color. "…Sucks to be you, then."

The imperial captain broke into the conversation, ignoring Darnik to concentrate on Ryu. "Who are you?! What is your business in this?!" She sounded perturbed. Darnik had the feeling that this was a woman who liked to have things under control, and that the unknown factor Ryu had just inserted into the situation was most unwelcome.

Ryu sighed wearily, though his face betrayed none of his boredom. "You already know my name and as much of the rest as I'm going to tell you, Captain."

One of the massive beasts rumbled deep in its throat, addressing the imperial officer, "As thou art the servant of the Master, so this one must be brought before him. 'Tis the will of the Emperor."

As the kitsune registered the words of the Emperor's creature, Ryu asked gently, "What will it be, Captain? Are we on board, or not?" If not, what would happen, Darnik wondered. Would the imperials simply leave with Yahla, who they would never see again?

There was a long silence before the captain nodded jerkily. "Get on the sandflier." Her flat tone betrayed her displeasure, and she sheathed her gun abruptly at her side.

One of the soldiers behind her stirred, daring to protest, "Captain, he…"

"I don't recall asking your opinion!" she snapped, spinning on the unfortunate conscript. "He'll come under our guard. If we can't keep him from causing trouble then he's powerful enough that refusing to let him into the Empire won't stop him anyhow." Whether the captain's reasoning had reassured her troops or not, no one made further issue of it.

"Thank you for letting us come, Captain Ursula!" Nina exclaimed happily, eyes full of relief. The kitsune glared at her and she added in a more subdued tone, "…The medic told me to tell you how she's doing." There was no question as to who the windian meant.

"Yahla? Will she be alright?" Darnik demanded impatiently, interrupting the Captain's response. The death glare he got in response barely penetrated his concerned mentality.

"It's really too early to tell…but I was right earlier, parts of the vertebrae were crushed. The doctor wants to operate to realign the bones before splinting her neck." Nina's look of concern did little to reassure the others of Yahla's chances. Operations were risky things, particularly in such unsanitary conditions. Infection could kill an otherwise healthy patient or come accompanied by a fatal case of gangrene. Hopefully, Nina's magic and the doctor's potions and skills would stave off such afflictions.

"He wants to cut her open? Isn't that dangerous?" Ryu asked, raising a blue eyebrow. His calm, contemplative air was not without concern, but that worry was more controlled than that of either Nina or Darnik.

"I don't know…" she replied hesitantly, a frown marring her delicate features, "He said the fracture's too unstable to fix without an operation."

Ursula, having heard enough, interrupted their conversation without regard for niceties. "We're leaving. Now. Get on one of the sandfliers." Nina and Ryu exchanged glances, but let the discussion die without protest.

"A moment, and we'll have ours up and running." Ryu told the kitsune, turning to head toward the sandflier in question. The cocking of a gun behind him stopped the dragon in his tracks.

"I don't think so," Ursula said tenaciously, her steady aim emphasizing her words. "You're coming with us so I can keep an eye on you."

"But…our things!" Nina exclaimed in dismay, throwing a glance to the small craft they had labored so hard to obtain.

Ursula was unmoved, her mobile ears beginning to flatten against her head. "Some of my men will pilot it for you. Get on board!"

The party, exchanging glances, complied. An escort of soldiers flanked them, herding them to the nearest sandflier. The last on board, only Darnik caught a glimpse of Captain Ursula lifting a handful of shed scales from the sand.