Part 8: The Quest
As I continued through the forest, something caught my nose's attention. A deer.
"Mmmm. Live prey." I mumbled and quickly sprung up into the nearest tree activating the Strata armor. I pulled out the bow and drew my arrow targeting the deer. Fit! Thunk! The deer dropped, dead as a doornail.
"Yes! Whoa!" The hook on the back of my foot caught a branch and I tumbled to the ground. Clang! I landed flat on my butt.
"Ouch. Blblblbe. I meant to do that." I got up, dusted off, changed back into my sub-armor, and went to work on the deer, making a fire and then I activated the Wildfire armor, skinned the deer and cut the deer up for jerky and steaks, and changed back into my sub-armor. I cooked the steaks, rotisserie style, and smoked the jerky, for later. It smelled wonderful. As the steaks were cooking I took off my vest and stuffed it in my bag, prepping for bed, sitting up against a tree I started eating my dinner, I was finishing my 5th steak when I heard something.
"Huh?" I sniffed the air a dragon was near.
"Uh-oh. Grrr." I slowly got up put the cooled leftover steaks and jerky in my pack, threw the pack over my shoulder, activated my sub-armor, and put out the fire.
"Rrroooaaarrr!" The dragon jumped out of the trees at me. I rolled underneath him, got up, and ran like mad.
"I'll kill you! You ruined my dinner you son of a uh-oh." Now I made him mad, great this day just keeps getting better and better doesn't it? The blue beam that brought me here fell and landed on me, lifting me up just out the reach of the dragon's fangs.
"HA! Try to catch me now ugly!" I shout at him as I went up I saw a portal open for the dragon.
"Aw, crap!" I shot up and as I descended down to Earth, I saw Texas, my home, and then my school. CHING! I landed hard on the roof by a skylight.
"What the!" I heard from below. I took off, running as fast as I could to the track. When I got there I threw down my bag, and roared,
"Armor of Halo, DAO CHI!" The sign of wisdom appeared in front of me, exploded into light green lotus flowers, and created the Halo armor on top of my sub-armor. I grabbed the helmet and put it on.
I pulled out my no-dachi.
"Who the hell are you?" I spun around quickly, ready to strike, but when I saw whom it was I nearly passed out. It was Lita, Sakura, Serena, and Mai.
"Well, who the hell are you?" Sakura said.
"Let's worry about that later. Go hide there is a land dragon coming, they're meaner than bull with a toothache." I said waiting for the portal to open ahead.
"Where have I heard that before?" Lita said. I saw a couple of feet ahead of me the plains spiraled into a vortex and ripped open showing the forest of Gaia.
"Oh, yeah." Lita said.
"Holy …?" Mai gasped.
"Ssssh." I watched the dragon come out of the vortex and demolished the fence.
"Scram. Go hide."
"You don't have to tell us twice." Serena said as they hide behind a storage shed, which stored the track equipment. It's chest glowed and expanded. Fire breath.
"Aiyaaa!" I retracted my no-dachi, pulled one cord, which extended my shield, and took cover. FFOOWOOSSH! The fire blew past me. SSSSSSSSSSSSSSS! My shield was smoking, red-hot, and warped; I pulled another cord. Psst! That jettisoned it; I swung my arm out re-extending my no-dachi.
"RRRROOOOAARRRR!" The dragon roared charging at me. I pressed a hidden button on temple, the chin slid up and folded down as my mask slid up my helmet. I took a deep breath.
"RrrrrrOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAARRRRR!" I let loose a roar that shook the Earth and probably Gaia. The dragon stopped in its tracks and sniffed the air. He charged again, I sidestepped him deactivating the Halo and activating the Strata armor. Aiming my arrow I said,
"Hey big and ugly! This is for ruining my dinner!" The dragon spun and faced me mad as a hornet. FLIT! Poomff! The arrow pierced his left eye that squirted out a large amount of bluish-green almost purple blood. The dragon spun right yowling in pain, now he is pissed off. I have his attention. While his was distracted I deactivated the Strata armor and roared.
"Armor of Turrent! DAO SHIN!" The sign of trust appeared in front of me, exploded into light blue lotus flowers, and created the Turrent armor on top of my sub-armor, the helmet already on.
Whipping the yari (trident) around opening the 2 outside prongs I stabbed his right front shoulder, closing it, the trident that is disabling that leg. Ouch! The dragon screamed even louder.
"Look out!" I ran, the dragon's jaws right behind me. I deactivated the Turrent armor and roared.
"Armor of Halo! DAO CHI!"
He struck at me with his tail. CHING!
The tail hit my armor as it finished, sending me flying.
"UNH! AAHHH! UNNH!"I hit the ground face down sliding towards my friends hiding spot.
"Watch out, tail!" Lita screamed. I rolled out of the way the tail digging into the ground. I flipped over, springing onto my feet, drawing my no-dachi, and saw the tail flying at me again. I dodged out of the way, the tail point slamming into the storage shed, destroying it, my friends screaming and running away, to find another place to hide. I hope everyone's okay I thought. Okay now I was mad.
"Nobody attacks my friends! KIYAH!" I roared enraged as I struck hacking off his tail blade in one slash, bluish-green almost purple blood spewed from the wound, the dragon roared in pain. I bolted around to other side and jumped, intending to end it, and I met the dragon's claws. I flew several feet and came crashing to the ground. I stabbed my no-dachi into the ground and pulled myself to my feet, my armor and sub-armor had been cut through and I was bleeding, and pretty badly too. I held my chest with my right hand, my blood dripping from my wounds, running down my armor, to the ground. I took a deep breath, looking the mighty dragon in the eyes and saw him lick the crimson blood, my blood, off his claws with his serpent-like tongue, he charged at me. I pulled my no-dachi out of the ground, held it with both hands in the Yakon stance, and roared with all my might as I charged. I saw the dragon falter in his charge I got in close and sunk my entire blade into him, the dragon screamed, as I cut up with all my might, adding a jump to cut higher, I opened him up from the ending point between his lungs to the base of his head getting drenched in his blood. I landed with my back facing him, his blood dripping from my no-dachi, and mixing with mine as it dripped off my armor. The dragon let out a bone-chilling death cry as it fell, crashing to the ground, dead, I turned around and saw a pink tennis ball size ball, the drag energist, the dragon's heart. I pulled it out and dragon decayed into dust, the dragon's blood evaporating. I held it high as I stumbled and fell onto my back. My friends ran over to me as I retracted my no-dachi and put it away and I changed back into my sub-armor and then out of that. The 4 claws marks, were 3 ¾ inches apart and each cut was an inch and a half wide, the first one started from my right hip and went diagonally all the way to my left side, and the last one went from my armpit across my neck and ended at my hair line. Now they had scabbed over, my fur was matted with blood and sweat. I saw through the blood, the faces of my friends looking down at me.
"Whew, I'm glad that's finally over." Serena said.
"Are you okay?" Lita asked me.
"Does he look okay? Who or what the hell are you?" Mai asked me as I lay there. My silver flame aura flared up and coated my body and my symbol appeared on my chest. My wounds glowed and burned as the healing powers of my stone activated. I raised my hand and felt my face and then my chest. My wounds were healed and without leaving a scar too. Moreover, it didn't take very long either.
"Hmm a accelerated healing factor. Interesting." I felt stronger too and climbed to my feet, stretched as I walked over to my bag, and put the drag-energist in it and took out my vest and put it on.
"Hey! Are you listening?" Sakura asked impatiently. I went over, grabbed my shield, and manually closed it as far as I could and put it in my bag. Mai stepped in front of me asked really pissed off.
"Well?" I raised my upper lip slightly and growled quietly. Mai took a step back a little worried.
"Wait. Let me see your eyes." Lita asked as the rest of them gathered in front of me, looking into my eyes. My eyes are blue with swirls of silver around the pupils the silver's intensity changes with emotion.
"What is your name?" Lita asked me. I turned and started to walk away from them, but they surrounded me.
"Fine. My name is Sage." I said in a noble voice, full of pride. They all gasped.
"A Samurai of Fanelia." Slamming my fist against my chest.
"Ow." I rubbed my chest Lita giggled.
"Is that really you Sage?" Mai asked.
"Yes. It is Mai." Lita said.
"Are you sure?" Sakura demanded.
"Look at him." Serena said. They were all checking me out.
"I wonder if this attached." Sakura said to herself as she pulled my tail.
"Aak! Hey cut it out!" I roared they all jumped.
"Come on." Heading towards the school gesturing for them to follow.
"Maybe you should change into something more human?" Lita suggested.
"What?" I put a totally confused look on my face that all my friends knew.
"It is Sage I know that confused look anywhere." Lita said. Serena, Mai, and Sakura agreed.
"Man, took you long enough." I said acting like myself as I pulled out a hunk of deer jerky and dug my fangs into it. I looked around at their stunned faces.
"What? I'm hungry. I'd like ta see you fight a dragon on a half-empty stomach." I said grinning.
"Yep that's Sage for ya." Sakura said. We talked for a while; I was trying to explain to them what exactly happened to me, they were in the light of a streetlight, while I was hidden in the shadows. This one guy came by looking for trouble, he found it. He was harassing my friends and you don't do that while I'm here.
"Back off." I said growling.
"Come out and face me like a man."
"Fine." My friends stepped in front of my hiding spot. I gestured them aside bowing my head. I stepped out of the darkness, teeth bared, and claws unsheathed, I approached him, he was the same size as me. I looked him dead in the eye.
"Yipe." I am not exaggerating, that is what he said frozen to the spot. I took a deep breath.
"RrrrrrOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAARRRRR!" It made my friends jump again but it was worth it to see a 21-year-old dude scream like little girl, wet his pants, and run screaming, blabbering utter nonsense. I just had to start laughing, we laughed and talked about that for a while.
After a few minutes I saw a twinkle in the stars.
"I got to go now." I said just as the blue beam of light fell from the sky and landed on us.
"Wait, don't go!" Mai said as I started to rise off the ground.
"I'll be back as soon as possible I promise! Adios amigos! Ding! Check please! Take care my friends!" I said as they all waved goodbye and I waved back. I shot into the stars watching the Earth get smaller and Gaia appear and get bigger.