A/N: Here we go into the more interesting stuff!!! Yay!!! Oh and this chap. has a little spoiler at the end.

Disclaimer: I don't own Keryl or Mirror. I just own Ryan.

Known to fight back

Ryan was running on her four legs as fast as she could, which was considerably fast for a dragon on land. The lone moon shined overhead making the light mist on the ground seem to glow. True to his word, Mirror was training Ryan on how to be a dragon. At first Ryan hand laughed at the thought, but now she was feeling as if she would die from the strain.

To build up muscles in her legs, hips and shoulders (the muscles needed for flying) Mirror would make her run. When she had refused to do this he had begun to chase her, snapping at her legs. The only problem with Mirror's idea was that she was much faster on land than he was (because her legs were so much longer). Mirror would trip and sometimes fall trying to keep up with her galloping pace. He usually didn't have to deal with being behind for long because she grew tired quickly and would even stop to catch her breath. Once he caught up with her he would plow right into her to get her going again. After several days he saw that she was beginning to use her wings for balance as she ran, meaning the muscles were getting stronger. So he stopped chasing her and called her over. Not use to stopping in the middle of these runs she walked over to him suspiciously.

"We're going to try something more..how would you say it..taxing on your strength." he led her over to the lake nearby.

Ryan looked at the dark waters that rippled in the moonlight, "I have never swam before..in dragon form.." she said quietly.

"Yes most dragons don't swim in deep water or aren't good swimmers, but then again your not a real dragon. Now get in the water, just the shallow part for now." he commanded.

"What?! Are you crazy? That water is probably freezing!" she exclaimed glaring at him.

Mirror didn't even argue. Before Ryan could do anything Mirror grabbed her neck and went plunging into the water with her. Sputtering she hissed at him and lunged at him with a roar mixed with a shriek. The two of them fought sending water everywhere. Mirror easily avoided her swinging claws and snapping jaws (not that they would do much harm to him anyway). Eventually she tired and stood quietly panting in the water.

"Now that your done with your little fit," Ryan shot him a amber eyed glare, "We can move on. Once you can swim we'll go into the deeper water."

"And what will that do?" she snapped at him irritably.

"Well the way I see it is that the water will act as a sky but safer because you can't fall. It'll be harder to flap your wings through water but it will prepare you for the strains of flight in the sky." He explained ignoring her bad mood.

Ryan muttered something but went deep enough so the water went up to her back. Dipping her wings under the water she dropped to her belly and began to flap her wings using her legs to help herself along. They did this until Ryan just couldn't move anymore. Dragging herself from the water she lay half on dry land half in the water.

Satisfied that she had worked enough he called it a night and helped her back to the Lone Mountain. Keryl had been watching them from the cave and was a little disapproving of Mirror's methods.

"It's the only way to get her to do this stuff." Mirror said, understanding that Keryl had Ryan's best interests at heart. He didn't like being rough on her either but it was needed, otherwise she'd push you around. It was a good trait for life but not for when someone was trying to help you.

The next night wasn't as bad, it actually went very well. By the end of the night she was swimming in the deeper center of the lake. Mirror watched her swim along with only her neck above the surface. Even underwater he scales shined brilliantly as the moonlight hit them through the water. He still couldn't understand why her coloring was so impressive, but to ease his curiosity he used the same excuse as always, 'She's not a real dragon'.

After two more nights of swimming he felt she was ready for a test. He took her out at dawn to the highest hill in the area. He found a prefect hill and led her up to the top. And explained what he was thinking.

"You'll jump into the air from up her and glided down. You don't have to flap your wings yet because we'll do this a few times just for you to get use to leaving the ground." He saw her eyeing the distance down, "And don't worry, I tried this hill and even if you fall it won't hurt."

"What do you mean by 'tried'?" she asked uneasily.

Mirror rolled the eye he could see through, "Just trust me."

Ryan knowing very well that he hadn't 'tried' anything, uneasily flapped her wings to warm up.

"I'll wait at the bottom." Mirror leaped up and flew far from the hill. "Try to glide or fly this far." he yelled to her. Ryan shifted, pawing at the ground like a nervous horse, but nodded. Closing her eyes she leaped into the air and spread her wings. She dropped several feet but remained off the ground, she opened one eye and wish she hadn't. Her body tipped to the side, she frantically tried to remain airborne but her flapping was off. With a thud she hit the ground and rolled several times.

Mirror flinched watching her fall, and he glided over to her when she came to a stop. "Are you alright?" he asked not wanting to get too close to her if she lashed out.

She lay there for a moment and then rolled over onto her stomach, "Yes I'm fine.." she stood and then smiled, "It was great! I was flying!" she yelled jumping around like a puppy.

"Well you weren't exactly fly..." he rethought what he was going to say. Deciding not to burst her bubble he said, "Yes, that was great. Go try it again but this time..keep your eyes open, it helps." She nodded eagerly and tried it many more times after that. The last few times she managed to fly over to him but nearly ran him over. He had to admit he was impressed on how quickly she was getting this flying thing down. They left the hill before noon and went back to the cave.

It was proven the next day that she could not breath fire no matter how hard she tried. In the end she only caused herself extreme pain. So Mirror stuck to teaching her how to fly, which she was showing true potential in. By the end of that night she was able to control her altitude and steer relatively well. Her only real weakness was that her flapping was off beat. Sometimes one wing would be going down and the other would be going up, but she was able to maintain flight although it took a lot more effort. Unfortunately, she couldn't fly over long distances, so grew tired rapidly and would slowly float to the ground no matter how hard she tried to remain airborne.

Mirror was quit pleased with how far she had gotten so quickly. So pleased he felt that she was ready to leave her cave home and fly out into the world.

"What!" Ryan said shocked when he said this to her the next morning, "Leave? What for?"

"To solve this problem. To find my brethren and to find out what happened to the other Gods."

"Well, I suppose finding the ancient Gods will prove interesting but your brethren is none of my concern." she said rather heartlessly.

"Come now Ryan." Keryl said patting her long foreleg, "He taught you how to fly, you owe him."

"I owe nothing." she growled.

"Fine, but I still want you to come." Mirror insisted.

"Why?"

"So you can out of this hole! You plan to live here all your life?! What a waste!" he countered mildly annoyed, "And imagine how much help you can be in the fight against the Dark Knights. You'd be remembered forever. Wouldn't you get satisfaction out of that?"

"No, not particularly." she said mildly, "but I'll take you up on your offer. I will come, but for my own uses."

"I thought that would be your answer." Mirror mused, "From the stories I've heard of your father you seem very much like him."

"Really? So you believe I'm in this for more then just seeing the sights?" Ryan asked darkly.

"Possibly. But I was wondering..did you hear that voice in the storm? The big storm that seemed charged with energy?" Mirror asked hopefully.

"You'd have to been deft not to hear it." Ryan muttered shuddering, remembering the voice.

"Do you know who it was or have any guesses?"

"I have one.." "Yes?" Mirror urged her to tell.

"Takhisis..."

"Yes, I thought so too.."

"Do you believe she is this One God?" Ryan asked thoughtfully.

"Without a doubt..." Mirror said sadly.

They walked out side, the sun was setting. Keryl mounted up on Mirror who was the more steady and experienced flyer. They prepared to fly to where they could find out more about this Mina.

"I do know one story of my father..the one where he challenged the Dark Queen. And she killed him..without mercy when he realized his mistake. Now it is my turn, my turn for revenge. I stand with you Mirror, I will help you isn anyway I can. But I think you should know," her body began to shake with rage, "She took my family from me, she took everything I treasured so it is not her wraith you should fear..it's mine!"