Hear is the tenth chapter and one of the longest i have ever tryped and retyped to make interrestinging

Mareo and Anime: I didn't think the two were evenly matched, i fact i thought Kale was getting whooped and I threw that last line in their as a way to release some tension. I have taken your suggestion andI have put something in this chapter that suggests towards what the Genesi Squad is doing if it isn't all of them; the rest will be in the next chapter.

Well here is the next chapter, full of memories and some lovey-dovey with Kale and Rahne at the end.

Remembrance of a Dragon

Kale groaned as he walked out of his room and down the hallway; after walking up the stairs and dumping his sword on a table, Kale was making his way to the bathroom for a shower. He was only wearing a pair of pants, his sock, shoes and shirts was ashes thanks to Amara; his pants were not much better, singed and torn.

Chuckling and transforming back to his form, Kale walked into the bathroom and locked the door behind him. Checking to make sure the towels were there, Kale shook his now spiked haired head and looked in the mirror.

His forehead was busted open from Logan's forehead, his cheeks was covered in abrasions from his fists, his lips and chin had cuts running along them from Logan's kicks, his neck was bruised from an elbow blow he had barely dodged; in short he looked like some sore sole who had gone against a bear and had been dragged down a mountain. For some strange reason he started to sing, even though he was exhausted Kale want to sing something as a way to release; so, subconsciously, he began to sing.

"Crowded streets all clear away, one by one

Hollow heroes separate, as they run

You're so cold; keep your hand in mine

Wise men wonder why

While strong men die"

Turning to the shower/tub, Kale turned on the taps and water surged into the tub, swirling around the basin. Shedding the last remains of his clothes, Kale climbed into the shower and drew the curtain across before turning the shower head on; scolding hot water jetted out onto his bleeding and bruised chest, making the chorus rise a few octaves and still maintain it perfect harmony

"Show me how we end this alright

Show me how defenseless you really are

Satisfied and empty inside

Let's give this another try"

Kale winced slightly as the degree of hot water and slowly let the burning hot water wash away the blood that had caked up on his skin. The water washed over the his mangled body, turning a bright scarlet colored from the blood and drained into the tub; strangely, Kale found a song coming even stronger to lips with each wave of the pounding water.

"If you find your family,

Don't you cry?

In this land of make-believe,

Dead and dry.

You're so cold, but you feel alive;

Lay your hands on me one last time!"

As he washed his sides, he felt three scars particularly on either side of him and Kale felt his mind slip in his memories of just before he received them; similar as to when he had when he was in the bar in Ireland, but this time he was watching a scene even further back in his past, .

The rain drummed on the old roof, the wind whistling slightly against the wooden shutters that protected the glassless windows. Candles were brightly in the old room were Kale, in his dragon form, sat facing an older man, a grin twitching on his lips.

Kale was dress in large baggy pants with a pair of larger robe like pants over them, the robes a deep rich red with blue-gold trimmings along the sides, with the pants underneath a royal navy color. He wore a long sleeve train shirt and another set of robes over, the colors the exact same as his pants; in short, he looked like a draconic samurai in training. He had taken his katana from his belt and laid it beside him on the floor, ready to be wielded at a moments notice

He was kneeling on a small section of padding in front of table, which on top of it was a chess board. Kale had the black pieces to him and his opponent was opposite him, with the white pieces. They were sitting in a large room that had a straw padded floor and the doors were open, the rain pouring outside visible. It was midday and the forecast had said that it would rain all day long.

"You're going to lose again, Tattoo. Just admit it." Kale said, his red eyes flickering from the table in between them and to the ethereal, glacier blue eyes of his sensei.

His sensei's head tilted slightly up to him, his eyebrows raised and his own mouth twitching in a smile. Tattoo was a man built of strong and defining features; his cheeks were sunken in and his cheekbones were well defined. He had a slight beard along his jaw line, which became heavier on his chin and around lips. Wild, almost gangly, hair was pulled back and tied with a leather strap in a fierce top knot.

He wore clothes that were similar to Japanese robes and mainly because he had been living in the Japanese society for so long that he had adapted his lifestyle and his whole persona to their culture. He had fairly baggy pants made out of a strange combination of leather and silk, making it very flexible and very strong. The hems were tucked into and overlaid a pair of Japanese boots, which were like an odd hybrid of combat boots and Japanese shoes.

Sticking out from the Japanese belt he wore to hold up his pants, was a pair wakizashi; a shorter version of the katana, the wakizashi were far easier to use than a katana and far more lethal the tanto. Tattoo had become extremely, and to an extent ungodly, good with these shorter swords and had even master the ability to cut an egg into seven pieces without damaging the shell.

As far as shirts, Tattoo never wore them, never; he flat out refused to wear them for reasons of his own. He did wear very long robes that reached his ankles and were held closed around his waist by a thick belt made of similar material. Tattoo's robes never fully shut and always exposed his chest which was covered in its own way.

Tattoo's entire upper body nearly covered in tattoos except for his forearms, neck and face. But his chest and biceps were covered in wild and exotic animals etched into his skin; wrapped around his left bicep and slightly across his right chest was a viper snake, on his stomach was a snarling wolf's face, on his left shoulder and slightly on his left chest was a red hawk perched on a stick, in the crook of his right arm was a spider on a web.

But Kale was one of the few people to ever understand why he had such extensive art on his body, an ordeal that must have hurt unlike anything anyone could know unless they experienced it. Tattoo's tattoos were not put on him, but they had appeared and had given him wild and untamed powers.

Tattoo had the ability to give life to the tattoos on his body and use them as living weapons or as spies. A side effect that he had only reveled to Kale was that his strength was the combine result of all the muscles possessed by the animals that were on his body.

"And who taught you how to play, Kale?" Tattoo asked his face showing a smirk.

He extended his left and the serpent tattoo began to shift under his skin, swimming down him arm, the snake slowly stretched out of his forearm and slithered down to his had, forming its body as it snaked down his skin. It was as if the tattoo was peeling off of Tattoo in a real creature.

The snake head gently picked up a rook and took Kale's left bishop, pulling itself back into Tattoo's body when it was down and resumed its place on his body. Kale sighed and chuckled, his fangs flashing as he did so; he wasn't sure weather he should be disturbed by the fact that he and Tattoo were so accustomed to each others appearances and powers that they didn't show any sign of shock or that that they used their powers for simple games like chess!

"Funny, he looked a lot like you." Kale said as he studied the board; suddenly his attitude became very somber and serious. "Hey, I was wondering; why is a twelve year old mutant who has enough combat and military experience to rival a thirty year veteran has to lead a squad of his kids his own age?"

Tattoo fully looked up into his apprentice's face and burrowed his brow at the expression on his face; Kale's face showed worry and anger, the worry heavily outweighing the anger.

"Kale, you are the strongest and the smartest of them all, in your powers, combative knowledge and situation experiences." Tattoo said his voice filled with pride. "You're far more skilled than SAS or Green Beret that I have ever seen or heard of."

"But I am not a leader, damn it! Sensei, I can't be responsible for other people's lives; I'm a fucking assassin." Kale said his voice raising.

"Kale, when you were teamed up with that sharpshooter and you were ordered to leave him behind because he would slow you down, what did you do?" Tattoo asked him, his hands folding in his lap.

"I carried him to the drop sight and made sure he got to the medical ward." Kale answered, looking thoroughly confused. "Why?"

"That is why. You were unwilling to sacrifice a man's life for your own safety." Tattoo explained, a warm pitying smile forming on his lips. "Did I ever tell you about a man named Kirigi?"

Kale looked puzzled for a moment and shook his head; he had thought back over the six years he had been with Tattoo, learning the various lethal and forbidden fighting styles from his sensei. He had also learnt from various commandoes about military weaponry and tactics, mastering the secrets in a few months; but he had never heard any mention a man named Kirigi.

"Kirigi was my leader long ago; maybe eight, nine years past this summer coming has been the last since I saw him. He found me after I had barely mastered my powers and the art of ninjitsu in Japan; I was foolish because I went with him to find a place. For he, like me, had great power, the gift of moving faster than the winds." Tattoo said, his voice filled with bitter pride; after shaking his head, he continued.

"At first I did not believe his power until I fought him and lost; so I followed him hoping to become better and faster until I proved myself better and I could leave him. He already had my fellow comrades; Stone, Kinkou and Typhoid Mary." Tattoo faltered for a moment after the woman's name and continued a moment later. "We became twisted and hateful people, but I realized why; because we followed a man who was not willing to stop and help those that fought along side him. A man who we called our leader and ally left us behind in the dust when we fell and couldn't keep up."

Tattoo clenched his fist, the tattoos on his body swirling and thrashing in anger, only stopping when he slammed his fist down on the table making the glass chess boards and pieces fly off the table and across the room, while Kale sat there calm as a tree in the face of a storm.

"Many a time I wondered, 'why not leave? He doesn't have that much power to hold me here?' and I had tried to but I had fallen too far in with them to leave. The one chance I truly had to leave was taken when we were assigned to kill this rogue assassin. As we pursued her, she began to eliminate us one by one; until she finally stabbed me and left me or dead." Tattoo smirked when he had finished speaking. "I regain my strength to watch her kill Kirigi and I finally felt freedom for the first time in five years. The woman saw me and braced for an attack but I instead left after saying words that visibly shook."

Kale stared at his sensei in wonder for a moment and realized the man he had come to regard as a father like figure, was once a slave because he had broken one of the most dangerous rules; he had fallen in love with this Typhoid Mary and when she had died, Tattoo had gone after to kill this rogue with vengeance.

But it had been in vain and he had nearly died because of it; but his enemy had become his savior and let him live, as though whatever Tattoo said had nearly killed her. Kale remembered looking at Tattoo's file when he first heard he would be training with him and remembered reading that he had been a part of the Hand.

Kale, at first, had not trust Tattoo until one day they had been ambushed and he and Kale fought along side each other. Kale had only received a single wound, a slash to his left ribs, when he block for Tattoo; he quickly killed the man and the two mutants had been friends ever since.

"Hey Tattoo." Kale said quietly, catching the man slight who raised his eyebrows. "I was wondering did you love Typhoi-"

The door to the room was slowly opened cutting Kale off from answering and they both looked up to the door; they both didn't bother changing or hiding their appearances since everyone in the small village had accepted them as who they were.

Standing at the slightly open door was Yuriko Bai. Yuriko was one of the few children in the village who was the same age as Kale and as such they had become fast friends. She and gently tanned skin and deep earth brown eyes; she had long black hair pulled up into a traditional ponytail.

"Excuse me, Sensei Tattoo," She said softly in Japanese, bowing slightly to him. "I know you requested that you be left alone with Kale-san, but Kenji has come."

Kale felt his eyes blaze with rage as he heard the man's name announced, his scales clicking furiously. Tattoo also shared the anger Kale had, his blue eyes darkening in fury. They had their reason for such disliking of the man made from his pride and bloated ignorance.

"Why has he come here?" Tattoo asked his voice like the wolf on his chest.

"He says has come with his apprentice, Alex Te, so that the two of them might face each other in honorable combat so that the feud can be settled." Yukiko said her eyes fearful for them. "Will you fight him, Kale-san?"

Kale looked at Tattoo and they both shared a look of worry, Kale was only on his second degree black belt in Iaido and Ninjitsu and a black belt in his other styles, while this Alex Te was rumored to be a master of nearly every single Chinese martial art as well as Ninjitsu. Kale wanted to tell the men to go home and stick their challenge up where no sun would ever shine, but it was an honor challenge and he had to honor the man's honor.

"Send for them please, snow sister." Kale said softly in Japanese, his eyes looking at the ground.

The girl bowed her head in sorrow and closed the door; her footstep soon heard gently walking down the hallway.

"Remember Kale; never revel your full abilities unless you absolutely have to. And keep you sword sheathed as long as you can as well, it will most defiantly throw him off guard." Tattoo said as he stood up, followed by Kale.

"Do you think I stand a chance?" Kale asked his voice a little distant.

"Of course I do, Dragon. I don't ever think otherwise." Tattoo said fiercely, grabbing Kale's arm; he gently released it after a moment. "Now, go and meditate."

Kale bowed and went to the far corner of the room and kneeled down closing his eyes and went to a perfectly calm state of mind so he could fight. Breathing in deeply, kale soon blacked out the world and soon focused only on the bright glimmer of his sword.

Kale groaned and shook the water and suds from his spiked hair, splattering the curtain with slight red specks. He had only drifted in him memories for a few seconds, but it felt even farther than he had ever bothered to do and it felt good that he did; but he did not want to remember the fight with Alex Te.

The fight had last for hours, Kale spending most of his time blocking and countering until Te had sliced his ribs open with quick and vicious trusts. The wounds had forced Kale to his knees and he nearly lost the fight, when Alex moved into slice his head off. Kale managed to swiped his feet from underneath him and pin him with his sword as well as Alex's. As a prize for winning, Kale made the two swear that they would never disturb the village again.

With a low groan of relief as his body adjusted to the water, Kale turned his torso slightly to the right and snarled savagely as he felt the hot water tear into his open wounds on his shoulder. Shuddering, Kale felt the electrical scars along his back, starting just above his waistline and ending at his mid back.

Closing his eyes, Kale felt the water run down over a set of slashes that he wasn't forgetting anytime soon. Eight parallel lines ran from under his shoulders and through the electrical burns. Along the ridge of his shoulders, a pair of wicked gashes zigzagged their way behind his neck. Fangs and canine marks went around his the top of shoulder, circling one of his tattoos.

The tattoo was a badge with a banner behind it; on the badge was a Japanese dragon with a DNA strand above it. The badge had the words GENESI SQUAD underneath it in an old English form.

On his left arm, was cord burn wrapped around his whole, more so on his bicep and his shoulder since it was faded on his forearm. On his chest and stomach the, electrical burns continued around in their horrific spider web pattern. Another two parallel slices, although these ones were finer and cleaner, were in a crescent shape from his left shoulder to his right hip. Three cuts were visible on either side of his ribs, just below his elbow line.

On the right side of his upper was a tattoo of wolf's paw print, a marking he had received from a tribe of Sioux Indians that had saved him when he had escaped from the Genesi Squad and the Hassassins blade. The people of the tribe healed him and Kale had remained with them for six months; when he was leaving, the shaman of the village christened him with his Indian name, Serpent Wolf, and titled him as a shaman.

Turning off the water, Kale climbed out of the tub and quickly toweled his body as dry as he could and wrapped the towel around his waist tightly. The length of the cloth reached his knees and both sides over lapped on his front.

Gathering up his clothes, Kale listened outside his door for anyone walking about and went to his room. His room was luckily only two doors down from the bathroom and he made inside quick enough. Dumping the clothes into the hamper, Kale pulled on a pair of dark green, almost jade color, pair of pants and pulled a thick belt around his waist.

Kale glanced up at the window and saw that the sun was shining brightly and beautifully as ever. There was a slight over cast but that only allowed the colors to shine in their own way and enhanced the view from Kale's room, making the grounds look tempting to run through.

A knock on his door shook him from his thoughts and he looked over at the door; he didn't use his super senses to scan to see who it was, he didn't want to. Stretching his arms, he started to make his way to the door.

"Who is it?" Kale asked, as his hand reached for the door knob.

"It's me, Rahne." A soft voice said on the other side.

Kale felt all his blood become fire and ice at the same time, her voice exciting him and frightening him at the same time. It was strange how she was able to make his body act like this and extremely terrifying, like she could touch his soul and wasn't afraid by its wretched appearance.

Kale opened the door and there she stood, just a little smaller than him in his doorway. She smiled sweetly and Kale couldn't help but smile back at her, warmth radiating off of her like a fire and roasting him with her flames.

"Hey, what brings you to the dragon's lair?" Kale said, stepping aside so that she could enter which she did.

"I brought ye sword case, ye left in thee danger room." She said holding his katana's scabbard out to him.

"Thank you, I didn't realize I had left behind." Kale said, his hand brushing over hers as he took it.

They looked at each other instantly and both felt blushes begin to burn on their faces. Kale shuffled his feet and walked over to the sword, sheathing it while Rahne bit her bottom lip and smiled slightly.

"I was wonderin', Kale, where did ye learn how to fight like that?" Rahne asked, her eyes gazing down his back to follow the scars that he was branded with.

"Japan mostly; I spent four years on an island just off the coast learning with my Sensei." Kale said, turning back to face her. "He was the best fight I have ever seen, except maybe Logan who thoroughly kicked my arse."

Rahne giggled as she moved closer to Kale and she poked him in the chest playfully, her face mischievous and coy. Kale chuckled at her, but suddenly stopped when Rahne accidentally brushed her fingers against his chest, gliding over his scars. He looked down at her hand and then back up to her, excepting to see to see horror and disgust; what he did see was worry and concern.

"Who did all this to ye?" Rahne asked softly, her green eyes boring into Kales red ones.

"Who said one person did them?" Kale said, smiling sadly. "Each and every scar has a story that I am forced to remember and live with. The mental scars, however, left by all of the things that I have done wrong are what haunt me the most."

Rahne stood in perfect silence, her eyes never breaking from Kale's; he was like a shatter stained window, the picture a mystery forever until some one is willing to put the pieces back together, regardless of the sharps shards of glass. Rahne took a beep breath then placed two of her fingers on his left shoulder and gently followed the curves of his scars down to his hip; she then looked up into his face.

His eyes were wide and burning almost, but not glowing yet; his breathing had quickened at the fearless contact on his body. Rahne noticed that the tips pf his fingers twitched slightly as her hand linger on his body, but he made no move to stop her.

"How did you get that one?" She asked breathlessly.

"Pair of claws that I nearly didn't dodge; I was lucky just to get this." Kale said in a horse voice.

"These?" Rahne ran her fingers along his rips on either side, her eye firmly lock now on his body.

"Samurai sword, f-from an honor battle that I won; the man barely nicked me with the sword and the damn thing brushed against my ribs." Kale found it hard to focus on the story, with the way Rahne was touching and talking with him.

She was being so kind and careful, that her movements were almost foreign to him. Skin that seemed to rival the softness of silk, her hand worked their way to his left arm and wove around his bicep and elbow as they traced the cord burn on his arm.

"This one?" Her voice was now of to his left, her face just in his peripheral vision.

"Cord that was wrapped around arm was lassoed onto a bus full of kids that was going over a cliff. My brother has similar ones, except his are around both of his shoulder and across his chest." Kale said, his head tilting slightly to see her.

Rahne didn't know why she was touching, but that she craved to feel his skin underneath her fingertips and to let his fire rage on her skin. Her primal instincts were constantly pulling her towards him for some reason and that was the main reason she hadn't been able to spend a moment with out the image of him burned into her mind.

Walking behind him, Kale for some reason knelt down so she could see his scars better. At the position was in now, his head was in perfectly alignment with her stomach and she could easily peer down on him. Rahne ran her hand along the ridge of his back and felt the jagged and fierce scars rippling underneath. They had been done in hatred and anger, she could feel it.

"What happened here?" Rahne said her voice singing in his ears.

"My best friend sliced my back open with his psychic energy claws because he thought I was unworthy of being a leader when I made a mistake." Kale said pain laced in with his voice.

Crouching down and spreading her fingers, Rahne gently let her hands fall down and saw her fingers were perfectly in line with the eight slash marks; she then realized that someone had dug their fingers into his back.

"Who would want to do this to you?" She asked in horror.

"My ex-girlfriend; she and I were together for five months when she sliced my back open with her black talons and kicked me off a building." Kale replied, a tremor of anger running through his body.

Rahne glanced over and saw the bite marks on his shoulder, recognizing four canines and ten other teeth impressions. They were perfectly around his tattoo and almost were a part of it.

"You were bitten?" She asked, looking over his shoulder and into his eyes.

"Aye, I was." Kale said with slight smile and stood up, turning so he faced her. "It was a feline mutant that I tried to help but thought I was going to try and kill her."

"And the burns?"

"Electrical and I was struck by lightening." Kale said smirking at her relieved expression until he added more. "A mutant controlling electricity and lightening brought a rain of lightening down on me because he and his teammates thought I had betrayed them."

Rahne soon changed from relieved to pitying and it pained Kale that head inflicted that form of damage on her. Their eyes locked, Rahne reached out and gently cupped his lightly bearded cheek and stroked it with her thumb. Kale closed his eyes at the contact and breathed deeply at the burning heat that Rahne was creating on his face. Kale opened his eye and looked at her as he took her soft hand in rough one, gently holding her.

"You shouldn't have had to feel so such pain, Kale." She said her voice sorrowful and her grip tightening a little.

"Don't be, I deserve what I got, even if it wasn't at the time." Kale said kissing her finger tips. "Besides, I'm glad I told you."

"Why" She asked, a little confused.

"Because you are the first person to touch them without repulsion or the want to do more and that is something I am truly grateful for." Kale said, releasing her hand.

"Thanks." Rahne said shyly. "I'll see ye at dinner then?"

"Aye me lady, you will." Kale said.

They smiled at each other for a few minutes as she left and once she had, Kale fell back on his bed. He still craved fro her touch and wanted more of it, but he wanted to take his time Rahne; he didn't want to screw things up again, like he had with Phoenix.

Wherever the hell that bitch is, I hope she never leaves and never finds me Kale thought grimly because I will not hesitate to hurt her this time.

In a dimly lit room, a computer screen has four people gathered around it and they are all reading the information. On the screen there is a picture of Kale leaving his house in Ireland.

"So we finally find the Lt. Dragon." A spiked golden haired Australian said sarcastically, cracking his knuckles. "Yeah think he'll still be there, Tempest?"

"I don't know, Gabriel; I hope to god he is." A teen with long blue dreadlocks said angrily; he then turned swiftly to the two other people in the room. "When do we go get him?"

"Patience, my dear Tempest, we must first find id he is still there then get him; he is still better than all of us in combat, remember?" A woman's voice said from the shadows.

"I remember, Phoenix." Tempest said darkly, his eye glowing blue for a moment.

"Hard not to if he kicks you through a wall." A man with violet eye and two pink ponytails said, folding his arms across his chest. "Did it hurt?"

Tempest made a move to get up, but Gabriel stopped him by placing a restrain hand on his shoulder.

"Piss off, Psyche Sickle. I don't remember you doing too well either since we lost Decibel." Gabriel sneered.

This made the violet eyed teen's arms glow and long blades appear; he would have tried something if a large feathered wing spread before him. Stepping out of the shadow, a girl with long red and gold hair, whose body was covered in feathers and her face shaped like an eagle, made her presence known.

"Enough." She said sharply, making everyone back down. "Our two groups have ordered that we work together and hunt this bastard down. Not kill each other. So focus on your mission and remember; he is the target who we have known most of our lives. Use his weakness to your advantage."

As if to illustrate her point, he held out her hand and shot a fireball out, blowing up the computer. After a few moments silence, Phoenix looked at them with a hard and ruthless glare.

"Am I clear?" Seeing their nods, Phoenix turned to the door. "I'll contact our bases ad let them know what we know so far."

Oooooo...someone might be in danger. Please review with anything you think of the story and suggestions if you want.

Lin