Rose watched the dragon closely,remembering everything Jake had told her about him and keeping in mind the different contrivances she had for taking Yang down.The exactness of their dragon forms impressed her but only made it a little more unnerving because it reminded her of the dragon she had sworn to her heart to never slay.I have to keep my eyes locked into his when I go in for an attack,she thought to herself admonishingly as she drew forth his staff,deepening her leer.That'll help me fight him.

"Habits are for those who partake in hobbies."Yang replied back to her loftily,tilting his head as he appeared to take her in."For those who have goals,such as me,the very idea of them are complete wastes of time."

"Let's see if you can spar as well as you can jaw."Thorn replied back in a slightly amused tone,though her main objective to get rid of him was still clear as day on her mind as she aimed her staff a bit more in his direction.

Appearing to be apt to fight with her as well,he waited patiently for her to near a cutaneous sense before he ducked her and as she was an arched sort of position forward,he caught by the ankle but before he could make another move,she whipped around and shot at his wrist;which caused him to resign his hold on her.And yet once he did and his eyes were still on the near miss,she made another turn and landed a kick right into the side of his face.Grinning a bit under her mask,she pushed off and did a backwards flip landing onto the ledge of a building across the road.

"Quite a punch you pack there."He chuckled in a low voice,before letting two of his clones materialise on each side."But let's see how you do with handlin' three of me."his flaming eyes closed in on her,as he nodded to his grinning dopplegangers."If you can tell,I like to keep my numbers odd."

Rolling her ocean eyes at his rather annoying bantering,she birled her staff into her archery mode and without having to look,retrieved three arrows accordingly out of her belt.Trying not to be overcome with the fact that looking at this Jake from the distance that was between them made her feel discomforted,Thorn alligned the three bows and watched while the two clones environed her and thought momentarily.Then,as an idea began to spark in her head,she brought forward the first green luminescent one and aimed it at the right one's chest.Holding her breath,she kept it there.

Counting back from ten in her mind,as soon as she felt the presence of the second clone moving up on her,as well as a third behind her,she drew back the bow and arrow to make the shot on her left but before Yang could ambush her from behind,she dropped to the ground and taking a short roll behind him with using her shoulder;she took up residency at his back and once the two Yang's turned rufescent blazed eyes her way,she used the next one to pierce there abdomen but didn't see as both faded.

Letting her head fall slightly in quiet salvation that she had at least ameliorated the situation in both Jake's and her favor,she was about to go down to the shop to tell him that it was over when something onsetted from the sky like a shooting star and when it was close to her the second she realised,she felt claws clench around her arms and raise her up.

The feeling of containment moved through her as they ascended up again and the sheer dread she felt for not only underestimating the clone but for also now being in his clutch,wasn't the sole thing that filled her with anger.But,as Yang flew in the direction of the street,her eyes caught the sight of a noticably older dragon taking Jake in his human form from the shop and away not far from where they were,she saw he was out of it.

Her blue eyes widened and she attempted to shout out to impede them,which would have made it out if the tip of a tail hadn't been wrapped across her mouth to hinder her trying to shout out to save him.

"Now,now,"his slyly,inimical voice slipped through her inner seething."We wouldn't want to interrupt the duties of an important dragon figure when he's taking in such a threat to the magical world and humanity,do we?"

Calming herself in his hold because she knew it would be in vain to try and struggle against his superior strength,Thorn inquired him knowingly."I don't have to think twice before guessing you took down someone close to him and what a surprise,the very day that he was to be graduating."

"Similiar minds do think alike,I suppose."He responded to her in a rather conceded sigh and flew back down upon the very building they had just fought upon,granting her a release."But what I mind is on,let's cut to the chase.I know about you and you know about me.There are two sides to you and only one two me.I'm stronger then Jake and yet I look just like him.We all know what we want but the question is,do you know what you want or who you want?And no,I don't mean me or him."

Folding her arms over her chest,knowing where he was getting at but not yielding to his teflon ways."There's something I need to know,"she told him,changing the subject."How are you getting all this information?"

"Well,"Yang replied back coolly."Let's just say I like to keep up with the current events of my carefully selected host through some mind reading."

"Odd.I thought dopplegangers could only obtain the various abilities that dragons can display only after their sixth or seventh release."She inserted with just a much edge seeping over her words,inwardly not enjoying this game he was forcing her into but going along anyways just to buy time.

"Enough evasion."He finally declared in a slightly impatient tone and then made his way down in front of her,causing her to take several steps back until she was about two feet from him."Have you decided?Why would it matter either way?We both look nearly alike and it's clear as day that you're having identity issues.Just make it easy on us both,choose."

Thorn stood up to full height to observe him more carefully,everything she saw about this dragon seemed to resemble the original one except for his eyes which she found herself avoiding.Why couldn't she look into them as she had anticipated to do in order to remind herself that it was the real Jake she was fighting?Fear of being drawn to him that way was currently being mounted down by just the natural temptation to look,just the averge impulse to see what she might find was starting to get the best of her and it grew steadily,until she could almost feel the heat of desire from him now burning into her;reaching in and trying to pry out her locked down part.

"So,what will it be?"He spoke again,sounding triumphant."Will you be-"

Abruptly,Thorn smashed herself into Yang's stomach before he even had a chance to finish and deploying out her staff,almost had it pointed to his neck and yet he managed to grasp it,causing her to inhale sharply.But it was not from his move,it was now that their eyes were locked and he had her right where he wanted her.

The great,malicious intent to do wrong that was so pure in his soul reflected out into the short distance between him and gazing into them,she was surprised to realise she was starting to quake at having to see into their depths and yet it sent a ray of clarity into her.Looking into Jake's eyes,she felt at home in contrast to looking into the coldblooded eyes of a creature bent on the same deeds as her uncle.

"I'm going to slay you now."She told him in calmingly,terse words,starting to bring her weapon up to his left ear."Say goodbye,you cheap imitation."

But something she didn't expect to happen drowned her hopes of getting away unscathed,as he coiled his tail around her legs and gave her a good thrash to the ground.To prevent a concussion,she pressed the staff up to her body to break her fall and only experience a few beads of pain cord up in her arms and legs.Changing the staff into a gravity surf board,she let not another second go by and was out between the two buildings.

As she got up to her feet,she was about to hit the speed button that was foot accessible,when she felt him knock against the board and causing her to fall down,she would have landed to the ground had a cloths line not been there and found herself balancing on it with mostly ease.

Her arms felt a bit heavy as she swayed some,trying to get away,she had almost made it to the end when he caught her and pinned against the brick wall almost too roughly;causing her to be able to detect the distinct difference from them again.Jake's fighting was move free-spirited and improvised,Yang's was more resourceful and cut-and-dry to the core.

But as she was about to try and say something,he brought his muzzle close to face until she turned it to the side and she felt the sickening sensation of his humid,almost sticky breath mist off the only part of her mask that revealed skin.Gritting her teeth,she heard him tell her deeply.

"I'll let you go this time so you can have some time to think about it and then once you do,we'll begin our reign together.The well-intentioned dragons,the Huntsman and others will fall in time."his words were vile and contaminated to her and ever oblivious to it,he continued with a sobered pitch to his voice."But you get one chance to join me...just one.And,just to help you get a taste of what I'll give you if you don't follow through..."

She felt him jab her just hard enough into the cheek with a balled back fist and she was about to try to tell him again,when he felt him shred down one of his ebony claws across her shirt and felt the stinging of the claw's tips going just enough to cause her to stiffen up.Curled,black bone to her fair-skinned,yet tough chest;all the way down in a slanting slide.

But what made her want to hang his hide up on a mantle,was how slow and delicate he performed it.Last but not least and before she could try to strike him,he tossed her down into a large bin of dirty cloths down inside the alley,her mind numb and her heart thudding brashly.As she watched him fly away from the place she now lay,her whole body swallowed in blistering pain,she knew she had to get to Jake.Though she would never join with Yang,they had to find a way to bet him at his own game.

But first...she managed to climb out and stumble over to retreive her staff laying nearby,even as the aching in her was barely allowing her to stand,she pulled out a map from Laoshi's shop that showed where the Isle of Draco was located and dialed the coodinates into it's key pad.Jake has to know the truth,the whole truth before it's too late.

To Be Continued...

A/N:Well,this certainly doesn't seem like things are going to clear up but maybe they can devise a plan to stop Yang,who knows?Will update when I can but updates may not be so frequent as I start back to college.

LP