Dragon Riders
By: The White Dragon Rider
Disclaimer: The only thing I own are my OCs Zero and Brass, everyone else are property of their respective owners
Chapter 13: Signs
(With then base storyline now in place I thought I would go onto some "episodes". This one is in honor of the 4th of July. This is the first half of one episode the second half will be posted tomorrow)
It was a beautiful starry night as Max the Blue Dragon Rider and Ord flew through the night sky over Max's home town. The winds were calm and the hot summer evening made the temperature agreeable
This wasn't the first time Max and Ord had snuck out to fly at night, they had done it before to relax and admire the stars in the clear night sky
Emmy was the only one who noticed he was gone since she could detect the energy he gave off when transforming, she said it was alright so long as the didn't do it on school days and that wasn't a problem now that it was summer
Also Max was hoping to pick up any sign of the Phoenix but at this height it was impossible
"Wow I'm amazed at how bright they are" said Ord looking up
"Yeah we can't see them like this on the ground" said Max lying on Ord's back
They had flow particularly high this evening since the cloud cover below them was bad and they couldn't see the stars through it
"I think I see the Big Dipper!" said Max pointing to the constellation
"Don't you mean the Big Sipper?" asked Ord
"No Ord it's the Big and Little Dipper here" explained Max
"Oh, I didn't know" said Ord
Ord was still amazed that so many things about the human world were different from Dragon Land
"They're so beautiful!" said Max looking up
"Yeah" agreed Ord
Max and Ord continued flying for some time through the starry night sky
Max's blue cloak fluttered lightly in the wind as they cruised through the light wind
Ord looked up for a second to gaze at some of the stars that were out of his line of view
Ord spotted something really odd above them as they flew
It looked like a giant bird-shaped black shadow that was blocking out the stars directly above them
"Max what's that?" asked Ord pointing to it
It seemed to be getting bigger
Max looked up to see the shadow getting bigger above them
Max could see the outline of the object as it blocked the night sky above them from view
Max could tell from the outline what it was instantly
"Ord move!" screamed Max urgently
Ord quickly moved to the side of the shadow so that they weren't below it
It was just in time too as not a second later a huge commercial jet plane dropped to the altitude Max and Ord were at in the same spot they had been in half a second before
It was a big white jet plane with a red strip down its side and on the tail
Max could see the red and blue lights on the wings he had seen so many times from the ground when he would look up at the night sky from his bedroom window
Max and Ord could also hear the roar of the engines on the wings; it was so loud it was the only thing they could hear
Ord, who was going deaf from the noise, quickly backed away from the plane and flew far off to the side of it
When he and Max were far enough away from the jet to hear again Ord flew alongside the jet from a safe distance
"What is that Max?" asked Ord
"It's a jet plane Ord, it's a thing humans use to fly" explained Max to the blue dragon
"No wonder you don't use them to fly all the time, they're really loud" said Ord who still had a slight ringing in his ears
"They're quieter on the inside Ord" explained Max
"You fly on the inside of it?" asked Ord
Max let out a laugh "Of course!"
Ord looked at it and saw no one was riding on it and figured Max was right
"What with the numbers?" asked Ord pointing to the number 216 that was on the plane's tail
"I think that's what number plane it is Ord" said Max unsure what they were for as well
"It's really big!" said Ord looking at its size
"Yeah but we have smaller ones too" said Max
"Have you ever rode on one?" asked Ord curiously
"No but Enrique has" said Max
Ord remembered Enrique telling the dragons about his ride on a plane during his first visit to Dragon Land
"So that's what a plane is" said Ord looking at it
It just looked like a really loud metal bird with blinking lights on the wings and some red and white paint on it
Human ways kept amazing Ord even after he had known humans for so long and had even visited their world many times
"Max can we get a closer look?" asked Ord
"Ok, but we better get something to keep out the loud sound" said Max
"I got just the thing!" said Ord happily rummaging around in his pouch
He pulled out two sets of blue earmuffs one small one big
He gave the smaller pair to Max and put on the larger ones
Ord got closer to the giant plane very cautiously
Thankfully the earmuffs worked and they didn't go deaf from the loud roar of the massive engines
Ord pulled up right alongside of the plane so close he could touch it with his claws
Flight 216
"Mommy look!" said a little white girl around Emmy's age with light brown hair that was in pigtails
She shook her mom's arm to try and wake her up
"Not now honey" said her mother who was in the seat next to her trying to sleep in the uncomfortable plane seat
"But mom there's a blue dragon outside the window and he has a boy on his back!" said the little girl looking out the window at Ord and Max
"That's nice honey. Go to sleep now" said her mother not paying attention
Ord flew right up to the little girl's window and gave her a mile while he waved to her
"Hi" said the little girl doing the same thing
Ord then flew upward to the top of the plane and disappeared from view
Flight 216 Flight Deck
"Hey Bill got those weather readouts?" asked the pilot to the navigator
"Yeah, everything's clear for miles we should be safe to land soon" said the navigator
"We'll be landing soon right?" asked the co-pilot
"Yeah, if the weather below us clears soon it should be easy" said the pilot
"I'll be glad to land soon, night flights make me nervous no matter how many times I fly" said the co-pilot nervously
"Ah don't worry we all the electronics we have on board it's as easy to land at night as during the day" said the older, more experienced pilot
"It's not the landing it's the flying that gets to me. The night just changes the sky to an endless ocean of shadow and darkness that creeps me out" said the co-pilot
"You been reading too many horror books mid-flight again" said the navigator jokingly
"It's either that or count how many clouds we pass mid-flight" said the co-pilot
"Do what I do…" the navigator flips on a screen at his seat
It has a Sc-fi UFO movie on it
"…set up a system so you can watch the mid-flight movies back here"
"Aren't you two suppose to be working?" asked the pilot sternly
"Hey we're not the ones who talk on a cell phone with their wife while we're flying" said the navigator
"That's different! We talk about important things" said the pilot defensively
"Like how you talked for three hours about what carpet you wanted in the living room?' asked the navigator
"Get back to work!" said the pilot to stop the conversation
The navigator and co-pilot get back to work checking readouts and gauges
"Control tower 6, this is flight 216 out of San Francisco requesting permission to land on runway 3" called the pilot over the radio
"Affirmative flight 216 you have clearance to land on runway three" responded the control tower over the radio
"Rodger estimated ETA: 10 minutes" said the pilot over the radio
"Attention passengers, we shall be landing soon for check your immediate seating area for any personal belongings you may have brought on board" said the pilot over the intercom
"So what did you guys do in San Fran?" asked the pilot to the navigator and co-pilot
"I went and visited the really nice neighborhoods in the marina district" said the navigator
"I went and saw the Golden Gate Bridge" said the co-pilot
"I once flew right over it by mistake because someone messed with the flight plan and…" said the pilot
Before he could finish his story the radio crackled
"Flight 216! Flight 216! Respond immediately!" said the control tower officer
The pilot picked up the radio and responded
"This is flight 216, what's the problem? Over" said the pilot
"We are picking up a strange craft on the radar close to your position. It is unidentified as of now and it's refusing to respond to radio calls. It should be 12 o'clock from your position. It's moving at a low rate of speed and you should be passing it in a few seconds. Do you have a visual? Over" said the control tower
The pilot looked to see cloud cover in front of them
"This is flight 216. That is a negative we do not have visual as of yet, there is some clouds in the way. We should have visual soon. Over" responded the pilot
"Keep your eyes peeled" said the pilot to the co-pilot and navigator
When the plane cleared the clouds the co-pilot was the first to spot it
"WHAT IS THAT!" he screamed pointing out the window
The pilot and navigator turned to see a giant blue ball of light right in front of the plane
Both men screamed and tried to avoid it by turning the controls sharply
But it was too late they wouldn't be able to doge it
Outside the Plane
Max and Ord flying along with the plane
Ord was flying right over the plane about three feet from the plane's roof
He and Max were having a great time messing around outside the plane until they flew through some clouds
Suddenly both spotted a giant blue ball of light floating in front of the plane
Both immediately panicked and prepared to hit it head on
The light suddenly charged right at the plane and, right before it hit, it rose and flew over the plane's roof at high speed
Max and Ord lowered so close to the plane's roof Ord could hug it as the light passed overhead
While Ord was busy flying within a three feet gap between the light's bottom and the plane's roof Max who was on Ord's back looked up as the light passed overhead
To Max everything seemed to be in slow-mo as he looked up at this light that was literally inches from his head
All he could see was swirling blue energy that enveloped the thing above him
Max looked at it with awe as it flew past his face
He curiously placed his hand out to touch it
He felt the energy tingle across his hand but his hand went through the energy and for a brief moment he felt cool metal
As they passed the middle part of the light Max saw a huge, white, circular light that came from the bottom of it
Max looked through the light and caught a glimpse of something that shocked him
All he saw in that glimpse was a gray teardrop-shaped head with no nose, ears, or hair and black eyes looking at him from inches away
Before Max knew what hit him they had passed the white light and had fully passed the light in the sky
All this took milliseconds but those milliseconds felt like minutes to Max
As soon as they had passed it Ord quickly got some distance from the plane's roof and let out a sigh of relief
Max just kept looking back to see the light fly straight up into the sky and disappear
Ord quickly looked up to see if Max was alright
Ord saw him staring at where the light had been
The only emotion on Max's face was shock
"Max what was that?" asked Ord
"I don't know Ord" said Max still looking back
"But when that light passed right over us Ord I thought I saw…I thought I saw…" Max couldn't finish his sentence
"What did you see Max?" asked Ord concerned
"…I saw a face" said Max
"What did it look like?" asked Ord
"All I saw was a gray head with big pure black eyes" said Max
"What was it?" asked Ord worriedly
"I don't know" said Max still recovering from the shock
Ord stopped following the plane and hovered in the open night sky
The plane continued on its flight to the nearby airport with a lot of freaked out passengers aboard
Both Max and Ord looked around for any sign of the light again but all they could see in the night sky were stars with the occasional dark cloud in between
"What do we do Max?" asked Ord scared now at all that had happened
"Let's go home, it's late" said Max finally coming to grips what had happened
Ord was spooked so he had no problem with getting out of the night sky and going home to Dragon Land
Ord turned and began to fly Max back home
It was a quiet flight as neither was talking due to how spooked both were
Max sat on Ord's back thinking about what had happened and seeing that same image over and over again in his mind of the face he had seen in the light
The Next Day
"Come on Max! Wake up!" said Emmy while trying to get Max to get up out of bed
Max looked at Emmy who was in her red pajamas with the dragons on it as she stood next to his bed
Max quickly pulled the covers over his tired face
"Leave me alone!" said Max angrily under the covers
"Come on Max! Today is the day of the fair! We have to get ready for it tonight!" said Emmy excitedly shaking Max in an attempt to get him out of bed
Max just laid there unfazed by the message
"Max! Wake up! What's wrong?" asked Emmy
"I'm tiered, go away!" said Max angrily
"Why are you so tiered?" asked Emmy
"How late were you out with Ord?" asked Emmy concerned
"Two" said Max tiredly
"TWO?" asked Emmy in shock
"What were doing out till two?" asked Emmy
"Well me and Ord were…" Max began but was cut off by their mom shouting to the children
"Emmy! Max! Breakfast!" came the sound of their mother's voice from the kitchen
"I'll tell you later" said Max sounding nervous as he got out of bed and left the room to head downstairs
Emmy quickly followed nervous about how Max had acted
In the Kitchen
Max walked into he kitchen still in his blue pajamas
Emmy soon followed him
Both children sat at the table and ate their breakfast
As usual their father was at the table reading the newspaper
It was mostly quiet except for their parents talking from time to time
Max and Emmy weren't talking…well Max wasn't
Emmy and Max's parents were becoming concerned at how often this was happening now
Both children always seemed to be quieter lately
Ever since the bank robbery Emmy and Max had been prone to odd behavior and unusual quietness
This had both parents worried deeply
Their mother thought it could be the result of the trauma and stress of being taken hostage and nearly being killed so young
Their father thought that too and guessed that Max probably was affected by the ordeal too since the police had told him how Max had looked himself in his room during the robbery
Both were considering have both of them see a shrink to make sure both were ok
They didn't want both of them to be left traumatized for the rest of their lives
They were partially right about it being a result of the bank robbery but they had no idea what the truth was
Emmy, Max, and Enrique all seriously considered telling their parents but knew they couldn't for Dragon Land's shake
Emmy and Max continued their breakfast until their father spoke up
"Not more of this…" mumbled their father reading the paper
"More of what?" asked their mother
"More odd stuff is going on" he explained
"The Phoenix?" asked Emmy knowing it couldn't have anything to do with the Dragon Riders since they hadn't done anything interesting lately
"No a passenger jet liner claims to have seen a UFO" said their father
Max immediately perked up at this bit of information
He listened as his father read the article out loud
Last night passenger jet 216 of American Airlines was flying its route from San Francisco to the local airport. It was preparing to land around 2:00 A.M. in the morning when the nearby control tower spotted an unidentified object on radar hovering at around the same altitude. The control tower immediately contacted flight 216 which was closing in on the object's location fast and asked for a visual. A minuet later the co-pilot spotted a "huge blue ball of light" in front of the plane. He realized they were going to crash into it and immediately pointed it out to the Pilot and navigator who then took evasive maneuvers to avoid the object. Eyewitness claims by all three crewmembers on the flight deck said the object moved with great speed out of the plane's way. It flew over the plane resulting in a near miss. Several passengers saw the underside of the object as it flew over the plane, it was reported to be blue with a white circular light directly under its center. What makes this sighting interesting is that several passengers claimed to have seen the Blue Dragon Rider and Dragon flying around outside the plane just before the object was sighted…
Emmy shot Max a nervous look
… This has caused a lot of believers in the Dragon Riders to believe they are aliens from another planet. (Great just what they needed…) The official response to this event is "Mass hysteria" and all three crewmembers on the flight deck are being checked out for drug use, drinking, sleep deprivation, and insanity as cause of this sighting. One man in a black suit had this to say "We are the government. You can trust everything we say and do not need to form opinions of your own. There are no aliens and no such things as UFOs, they are all fake things reported by the insane and stupid" he then left the press conference in an unmarked black van being followed by black military helicopters above. This is the most recent in a series of odd events in this area, as of yet these events are unrelated but there is and investigation into these events. So far nothing has turned up besides a lot of rumors and myths.
"At this rate we'll be a new Roswell" said their father
"Si, odd things have been happening around here a lot" said their mother
"Yeah" agreed Emmy looking at Max still
Max didn't say anything and just sat at the table silent
'So I wasn't just seeing things' thought Max
"Thing just keep getting weirder around here" said their father
"This is the third time this week someone has spotted something like this, their have been reports on the news lately of UFO sightings in the area and other strange things like animals acting strange and electronics going haywire" added their mother
"Yeah and now we have all those UFO nuts coming here and they'll be attending the fair tonight with all their crazy ideas and stories" said their father annoyed
"It's probably just people mistaking fireworks for UFOs, it is nearly the fourth of July" said their father before shipping his coffee
"That doesn't explain everything" pointed out their mother
"It's probably all nothing" said their father calmly
"I'm not so sure" said their mother
"Let's just drop it, we should be talking about the fair tonight" said their father happily looking at the children
"I can't wait!" said Emmy happily
"Huh? Oh! Um…Yeah me too?" said Max snapping back to reality from the thoughts of the night before and the face
"What time is it?" asked Emmy
"We'll be leaving around 6:00 tonight. Enrique should be here around 5:30 since we are taking him with us" said their father
Emmy gave a happy smile in response while Max drifted off again
The Playroom later that day
Emmy, Max and Enrique were in the playroom
Emmy had been trying to get Max to tell her what had happened last night all day but he wasn't talking
When Enrique came over she explained to him what was going on
"…so he won't tell me what he and Ord did last night" explained Emmy to Enrique while Max sat at the table
"What's wrong Max? What happened?" asked Enrique concerned
Max gave a sigh before answering
"If I told you guys you wouldn't believe me" said Max
"We will Max, after all we've seen we'll believe anything no matter how strange" said Enrique happily
"Yeah" added Emmy
Max realized this was true, after Dragon Land and being Dragon Riders the children knew anything was possible
"Well…" began Max
Max spent five minutes recounting what he and Ord had seen the night before in the sky
"…and then we headed back home" finished Max
Emmy and Enrique looked at him shocked
"You mean you actually saw a UFO up close?" asked Enrique in disbelief
"And touched it?" asked Emmy in a similar tone
"Yup" said Max "It felt like cold metal"
"So what about the face in the bottom of the light? Do you think it was an Alien?" asked Emmy
"I don't know" said Max
"Too bad we can't talk to anyone about what you saw Max" said Emmy thinking someone else might have more of a clue what was going on
"Well I think I might know who we can talk to" said Enrique hesitantly
"Oh no. You don't mean…" asked Emmy with dread
"Yup" said Enrique
"Who?" asked Max
Later
"GRETTINGS YA'LL! Brass is here!" shouted Brass as he came through the door ten minutes after they called him
Emmy just let out an annoyed groan
"Hi Brass" said Max politely
"Hola" said Enrique
"Hi my dragon riding friends, what's up?" greeted Brass
"We have to ask you about something" explained Enrique
"Do you need me to blow something up?" asked Brass excitedly
"No" said Enrique
"DA GONE!" said Brass annoyed
"We were wondering if you knew anything about aliens and UFOs" explained Enrique
"Of course I do! I'm a redneck from Texas, I've seen loads of aliens!" said Brass
"You have?" asked Emmy amazed
"Wait…my bad, those illegal aliens" said Brass
(Expect this joke to be done more than once)
Emmy gave another annoyed moan
"But I do know a lot about aliens and UFOs and all that other cosmic stuff" said Brass
"Really?" asked Max
"Yeah! Why do you ask?" asked Brass curiously
"Max saw one last night" explained Enrique
"Wait! What! Tell me about it" said Brass urgently
Max told Brass about how he and Ord had followed the jet plane and how they had nearly gotten crushed by the how close the light and the plane were flying
"DA GONE!" shouted Brass when Max was done
"Do you really think it was a UFO Brass?" asked Emmy
"Of course it was!" said Brass
"How do you know?" asked Enrique
Brass pulled out a laptop from his backpack that was black with a snake sticker on it
He opened it up and turned it on
"What are you doing Brass?" asked Emmy curiously as Brass typed away at it furiously
"Here's how I can tell this was a genuine UFO sighting…" said Brass
"Max did the face you see look like this?" asked Brass showing Max the screen of his laptop
It showed a drawing on a tear-drop shaped gray head with eyes that were the same shape that were all black, the face had no hair or ears, all it had was a super thin mouth and little nose slits
Max looked in shock as it was an almost mirror image of what he had seen in the light
"That's it!" shouted Max at the picture "That's what I saw!"
Emmy and Enrique looked at the picture with interest
"As I thought, this is the classic grey alien description. This is one of the most reported description of aliens and has been claimed to be seen by almost every abductee who reports their encounter. Gray odd-shaped head, pitch black eyes with no pupils, no hair or ears, a small super thin mouth, and small nose slits. Height has varied from accounts from child size to adult size; sometimes a mixture of the two heights is reported. This is the face of the modern alien" said Brass
"So Max saw an alien?" asked Emmy in disbelief
"Oh yeah, he probably got closer to a UFO than anyone outside area 51" said Brass
Emmy and Enrique looked at Max with shock
"When I said you'd attract odd things I didn't even dream of UFOs!" said Brass
"So you think we might be attracting the UFOs here?" asked Emmy
"I don't know, from what I hear a lot of UFOs can focus around an area for a short time then disappear and never come back. Maybe they're just hanging around here for a while before leaving" suggested Brass
"This is confusing" said Max
"But cool! If you guys really do attract UFOs I'm sticking with you! I want to see some aliens!" said Brass happily
"What are you doing today?" asked Brass so he could follow them
"We're going to the fair in a few minutes" explained Emmy realizing how soon they were leaving
"We better get ready" said Enrique
"Perfect! I'm going too" said Brass happily
"You are?" asked Emmy
"Of course! They have fireworks that I can steal!…borrow! borrow! I meant borrow!" said Brass nervously
"Is Zero taking you?" asked Emmy
"No, I'll be driving my hummer to the fair" explained Brass
"So I guess we'll meet you there" said Enrique
"Si! Adios YA'LL!" said Brass before leaving the playroom and making sure to slam the door behind him
"Great" said Emmy in an annoyed tone shaking her head
"So what do we do?" asked Max worriedly to Emmy
"We go to the fair and try to have a good time" said Emmy "And pray nothing weird happens" she added (Like that'll happen)
"Ok" said Enrique happily glad to be getting off the odd subject
"Max! Emmy! Enrique! Time to go!" shouted Emmy and Max's mom from downstairs
"We'd better get going" said Enrique before heading out the door
Emmy began to follow but noticed Max was still in his seat
"What's wrong?" asked Emmy worriedly as she walked over to him
"Well…" said Max reluctantly
"You're still a little freaked out by all this?" asked Emmy sympathetically
"Yeah" answered Max
"Don't worry about it, it's all over" said Emmy cheerily
"I hope so" said Max a little relived before getting up and leaving the room with Emmy to leave for the fair
End Chapter
Next Chapter:
Chapter 14: Close Encounters of the Dragon Tales Kind
Emmy, Max, and Enrique go to the fair to have fun on the Fourth of July. The dragons also go but have to hide most of the time to avoid being seen. Brass follows too and keeps causing problems for other people. While they are there a strange light appears over the fair, it's the same one Max saw before in the sky. It makes several passes before it suddenly crashes into the nearby woods causing a panic among the fairgoers. During the Chaos the children sneak away and transform into the Dragon Riders and set out to investigate what it was. In the forest they encounter something truly out of this world.