The rain that lightly drizzled down to soak the ground was a welcome reality check to Chihiro. Dark clouds and light fog made the spirit world seem so much more…..real. The cold drops of rain might have bothered her in human form, but tough scales made for an underwater atmosphere protected her from the natural elements.
Even so, the dragoness realized that she really didn't like the rain; the mud it created would soon coat her ivory hide.
Sighing, she made her first official, what her brain titled "happy growl", snuggling against the now solid black dragon wrapped around her. The brute opened an eye before making a soft snort. After another few minutes, Haku gently urged Chihiro up, shaking his body all over, his decaying paw catching her attention.
"Is there anyway we can stop it?" she asked, looking at it.
This time, rather than snatch the limb away, he looked at it as if noticing he was injured for the first time. He looked back up at Chihiro before heading towards the river, stopping and looking over his shoulder after heading off a few feet.
"Alright, I'm coming!" the white dragon hurried along, nipping her partner on the side and racing ahead.
She heard Haku snort, with a playful growl before he tackled her as they reached the water. Somersaulting, they tumbled into the once peaceful stream, sending huge waves to each side of the bank. Chihiro gave a laugh, giving Haku a quick kiss to his muzzle.
Haku froze, looking at her with his head tilted again.
"Damn it Haku! Say something!"
She sat, huffing in anger more than exhaustion.
Not a sound came from him.
"I still love you," she sighed.
Haku made a faint growl, touching his forehead to hers.
…………………………………….
Chihiro slowly woke. Her fuzzy vision was quickly recovering, and she had a strange sense that she need to wake up- and fast. Lounging under an enormous willow tree at the edge of Haku's river, she quickly noticed the lack of heat from the black dragon that had surrounded her when they had decided to sleep for the night.
Storming out of the curtain of leaves, she stuck her nose to the air, breathing in heavily as every hair on her muzzle stood on end.
"Haku!" she roared.
The rain had stopped early in the evening, but left the ground wet because the sun had yet to rise for the day. The thick moist smell overpowered her nose, masking whatever trail she might have found. However, her sharp eyes picked out Haku's muddy prints, widely spaced apart and heading off into the forest. And, as she huffed, getting used to the moist smell, she just barely caught the faint sent of griffons.
He led them away from me?
She crashed through the woods, almost losing the trail in her haste as she both ran and sometimes flew through the forest. She could hear the griffons' eagle-like cries in the distance.
The moment the dragoness broke free of the dark woods, she spotted a black heap lying on the ground making half-hearted swipes at two large green griffons that swooped at the same time to strike it. Closing the half-mile gap between the forest and their spot in the grassy meadow, she also noticed something very disturbing about the winged beasts.
The pair of griffons carried human riders.
With saddles and golden bridles, two humans her age rode them. The boy rode the griffon with the thicker mane while the girl rode the other. Each directed its mount with reins in one hand while the other held either a long spear which they thrusted at the black dragon.
"Stop this!" Chihiro screamed, leaping in front of the spears and swiping at the griffons, fangs bared.
"Whoa Dana! It's a moon dragon!" The boy yelled, pulling his beast back and letting it land on the ground.
The girl, however, frowned before following, "It's probably its mate. It doesn't matter, Father ordered us to kill them. She might be infected too."
Chihiro snarled, "I can speak, you know."
"Oh, sorry," the boy blushed.
The pearl dragon turned to Haku, making sure only to turn to the side, not exposing her back. "Haku, are you alright?"
The black brute, however, was lying flat on the ground, panting with his startling black tongue and making wheezing sounds. He opened one eye to look at her.
"We can't fight two dragons, especially if one is pure. Not only would we lose, but father would kill us for harming that pearl colored one," the boy whispered, not realizing how acute a dragon's hearing could be.
"We should get help. Besides that, she is probably infected too," the girl whispered.
Just as the words left her mouth, Haku launched his massive bulk at the girl's griffon, clamping onto its wing. The girl screamed as her charge reared, striking with its claws at the darkened dragon.
"Haku!"
"Maylee!"
The boy leapt from his mount, only a few feet from the girl, and knocked her off the griffon. Haku began to whip his neck from side to side, avoiding the sharp beak as best as he could. A loud cracking noise was heard, like the snap of a dead branch from a tree.
The second griffon tackled Haku, knocking him away from its mate and jumped away from him.
"We have to go Haku!" Chihiro was too shocked to say anything, but took off, looking behind her to watch her partner. He hesitated, licking his fangs and looking intently at the wounded griffon before flying after the dragoness.
Slightly Haunted : Thank you EVERYONE for the reviews! I will respond personally to some later, but right now I have a time crunch and I though you'd rather have a longer chapter than a bunch of replies ;)
