As Zoe approached the gateway, she used her water bending to create a gap in the falling water to keep herself and Uri dry as they passed through the gate. She put her hands out, palms facing each other, but not quite touching, her fingers bent so her hands formed a rough circle. She closed her eyes, rotating her hands, causing the water to form a perfect gap large enough for Uri to pass through.

-o0O0o-

When they came out the other side of the gateway, they could see nothing but open ocean. "Where are we?" Zoe asked her companion.

"We must be in the far west. It's where one of the gateways is and it's not near any land. Also the sun is rising in front of us," Uri responded in Zoe's head.

"So where do you suggest we go?"

"We need to find a tribe and buy a map until we can make our own."

"Why do we need to make our own?" Zoe asked, curious.

"So we can put information on that's important for us, but not necessarily others." Uri responded.

"Such as...?"

"Dragon species, hunter presence, which islands that are inhabited and which tribes and towns are friendly. Shall I go on?" Uri responded cheekily.

"Ok ok I get the point," Zoe laughed. "I'm glad you know what we're doing at least," she whispered. "OW! Stupid reptile," she shouted as Uri slapped her with her ear flap. "What was that for? I was complimenting you!"

"Just felt like it," Uri shrugged as well as a flying dragon could.

"Yeah...sure...So where are we going?" Zoe asked, trying to get the conversation back on track.

"We'll go to the village that's mostly water benders in the west, it has a few earth and fire benders living there too. It's the closest and I think there's a few uninhabited islands a short flight from their main island, so we'll have access to resources until we can set ourselves up properly."

"Sounds like a plan." They flew for close to four hours, bantering and Zoe asking question after question. By the time the island came into sight, the sun was already peaking in the sky. They circled around to the back of the island where there was a dense forest that they could use as cover, Uri camouflaging herself and Zoe's armour as they got within sight of the villagers.

They landed in the forest, slowly weaving through the trees until the village came into view. "I'll have to wait here," Uri told Zoe as she dismounted. "Get the map first, avoid eye contact with people and if people ask, just give them your name and say you're a traveller."

"And if I need you?"

"You'll be fine. But we should work on mental communication as soon as possible. And remember, you have the whistle if you get into a tight situation. If you need me to hide you, blow twice softly into the whistle. I'll be waiting here." Uri nudged her arm in encouragement as Zoe flicked up the dragon scaled hood so it went over her helmet, obscuring her face, or what little people would be able to see with her helmet on.

"See you soon," Zoe told her dragon as she walked out of the tree line and into the village.

-o0O0o-

As soon as she entered the village, eyes turned her way. No one approached her, and for that she was grateful. She made her way to the centre of the village where the markets usually were, looking for a map maker. After a short time, she found what she was looking for. The cartographer glanced at her sceptically as she approached. "What can I help you with?" He asked as soon as he was sure it was his stall that the foreigner was approaching.

"I'm after a map, one that covers the largest amount of the world Below," she responded.

"Let me see what I have," the man responded nervously. As he searched through his draws and shelves, he asked his customer a few questions: "so, where are you from?"

"I'm a traveller," she responded flatly.

"Ah, I see. Where are you headed?" He persevered.

"Wherever the winds take me," was the only response he got. He finally found what he was looking for, placing a large map on the table.

"This map shows the entire known world Below. It has each gateway on here too. Will this do?"

"It's amazing, did you make this yourself?" She asked.

"I did actually," the man responded with pride.

"How much?"

"For you, there's no cost."

"I can't just take it without giving you something in return," Zoe protested.

"Please, it's a gift."

Zoe looked at him, unconvinced. "Alright...thank you," she responded, still unsure. She rolled up the map and thanked the man again before weaving through the crowds and heading towards the outskirts of the village.

She was walking past the last few rows of houses when she got the feeling that she was being watched. She turned around and scanned the street and then the rooftops, finding both empty. Feeling nervous, she pulled out her whistle and blew twice into it as softly as she could. Immediately, her armour took on the colours of her surroundings. She ran to the edge of the road so she was running against the walls of the houses so she would blend in better. She was almost to the edge of the forest when she heard a child scream. She stopped dead in her tracks and turned in the direction of the scream, slightly to the right of where she left Uri in the forest. She started forward, running as fast as she could, forgetting about her potential observer.

When she reached the spot where she had heard the scream come from, she was met with the sight of Uri standing over a small child as she was being surrounded by who she suspected were hunters. Only Uri had noticed her arrival to the scene. "Hit them with your blunt arrows in the side of their head; not too hard, but hard enough to knock them unconscious," Uri instructed her, the hunters still oblivious. Zoe nodded, proceeding to do as she was told. She climbed as silently as she could, still blending into her environment. When she reached a strong enough branch, she pulled out her bow and nocked an arrow, aiming for the hunter closest to Uri and the child. She took a deep breath in and out, releasing the the string at the same time as she released her breath. In rapid succession, she nocked four more arrows, knocking each hunter unconscious. As soon as the last one dropped to the ground, Zoe leapt out of the tree and immediately pulled a large piece of rope from her satchel, tying the hunters together as securely as she could. She then made her way over to Uri and the child, Uri making Zoe reappear by closing the part of her mind that controlled her scales.

Uri took a step to the side so she was no longer standing over the child. Zoe removed her hood and helmet, kneeling down in front of the child. It was a young girl, Zoe guessed she was only 7 or 8. "Are you alright?" She asked. The girl nodded in response. "What's your name?" She asked in a soothing voice.

"Angel," the girl responded in a small voice.

"What a beautiful name, Angel. What are you doing out here alone?" Zoe asked.

"I was with my daddy, but got lost and then those hunters found me and the pretty dragon saved me." Zoe thought for a moment, before helping the girl stand, clutching onto her hand.

"Do you know the way back to the village from the forest?"

"Yep!" Was the proud response.

"I'm sure your dad will be very worried about you, so we should get you back home as soon as we can. I can only walk you to the edge of the forest, but I'll watch you until I see you get to the village. Is that ok?" Zoe asked her. Angel nodded again. "How about you ride Uri back to the edge of the forest, how does that sound?"

"Really?" Angel asked in an excited tone.

"If you want. Here, let me lift you up." Angel half jumped into Zoe's arms before Zoe set her onto the saddle. The trio walked back to where Zoe and Uri had separated, Zoe answering Angel's rapid fire questions.

"What kind of dragon is she?" Angel asked.

"Uri's a white fury."

"Whoa! Really?"

"She sure is."

"Does that mean you're the new fury rider?"

Zoe glanced at Uri, seeking silent permission before answering Angel, "I am."

"Wow! Hayden's been looking for you for nearly a year now. He's best friends with my uncle," Angel informed as Zoe nodded.

"Here we are. This is where you start your own quest," Zoe told Angel, trying to cheer up the little girl after noticing her face fall from the ride coming to such a quick end. "Before we go our separate ways, tell me, how old are you?" Zoe asked.

"I'm 8!"

"Does that mean you're old enough to carry a weapon to protect yourself?"

"Yep! My daddy's been teaching me how to use a dagger!" She responded proudly.

"Well, how about I give you a little something to protect yourself with on your journey home." Zoe unstrapped one of her many daggers, one with a sheath and handed it to the you girl who was sitting upright in the saddle with excitement. She held the dagger with such careful hands even with it sheathed. Zoe lifted Angel from the saddle and set her down. Angel looked up at Zoe and Uri, giving both of them a hug.

"Thank you for saving me and for giving me your dagger," Angel said in her high pitched voice.

"You're welcome, now make sure you get home safely, alright."

"Ok, I promise. Will I see you again?" She asked.

"I'm sure you will. You're a brave girl, Angel. Go on, I'll wait until you make it to the village." With one last hug for each of them, Angel gripped the dagger tightly and ran off towards the village. When she got to the first row of houses, she turned and waved and then dashed off out of sight.

"Well that wasn't part of the plan," Zoe stated.

"I have a feeling our plans will rarely go to plan," Uri responded. "Congratulations by the way. You took out your first five hunters." She added when Zoe raised her eyebrow at Uri's congratulations.

"We should probably get out of here before they come looking for us. And the other rider, by the sounds of it," Zoe stated nonchalantly. Uri nodded in agreement, the duo taking off to find an uninhabited island that they could camp on for the night.

After an hour of flying and Zoe consulting their new map, they landed on a relatively small island that had a large mountain with a large cave network through it. They found a cave near the top of the mountain that was only accessible through flight, Zoe removing the bags from Uri's harness once they landed.

They then went down to the freshwater stream they had seen on their way in. While Zoe collected water, Uri flew to the ocean and caught enough fish for the two of them before picking Zoe up and heading back to the cave. By the time they got back, the sun was starting to set, the sunset visible from the west facing cave mouth.

After cleaning and cooking her fish, Uri and Zoe sat in silence and watched the sun set, looking for the green flash that people spoke of, but was rarely seen. After the sun had set without seeing the green flash, Zoe lay down against Uri, the dragon draping her wing over Zoe like a blanket before the two drifted off to sleep.

He had been looking for the fury rider for 11 months now and he'll admit, he was getting frustrated. He was currently sitting at the table with his best friend Zeb and his wife, Alice, in their kitchen, clutching a mug of coffee.

"You have to have some idea," Zeb told him who was sitting across the table.

"I've told you, I've travelled the whole world Below and I haven't found any trace of her. No one has even come across a traveller they haven't seen before," Hayden sighed.

"Are you going to keep looking?" Zeb asked.

"I have to, don't I?"

"You could always wait for her to seek you out."

"That won't happen," he responded, taking a sip from his mug.

Zeb sighed, deciding to change topic, he asked: "so what are we going to do to celebrate your birthday? It's the big one nine this year."

"If I'm not still looking for the other rider or blowing up hunter ships, then nothing," he responded in a monotone.

"You're a ray of sunshine aren't you." Zeb told him. "You're still young, you should be celebrating. I'm old now so I have to live through you."

"Yeah right," Hayden laughed into his mug. "There's nothing old about you. You're only 23 and you still act like a 16 year old."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing, my friend, nothing," Hayden laughed. Hayden drained his mug and stood up. "I better head off, thanks for the pep talk earlier, before you brought up my failed attempts at tracking down a dragon and a rider with no training," Hayden finished sarcastically.

"No problem. And Hayden, I know you're the fury rider, but you're still young...so try and live a little, you know?"

"Thanks mate. I'll come by before I leave the region and head back south." With that, Hayden left the house and wandered to the market to top up on supplies before he would leave the island.

As he got closer to the market, he noticed the tense atmosphere. He weaved his way through the crowd, people nodding or smiling at him before continuing on their way. He made his way deeper into the market before he found the source of tension. There was a person, dressed in white armour with a hood pulled over their head, walking through the market. They had a pair of swords strapped across their back along with a quiver of arrows. There was a metal contraption hanging from their waist on one side, and something wooden, no bigger than the hilt of his retractable sword, was strapped to the other side. There was no doubt that this person hard knives and daggers concealed in every place possible, they practically radiated 'danger!'.

He followed the stranger at a distance, just keeping them in sight until they stopped at the cartographer's stall. Hayden stood at the edge of the shop next to the map stall so he was within earshot, but not close enough to seem suspicious. "What can I help you with?" He heard the owner ask (he was pretty sure the cartographer was called Wulfric).

I'm after a map, one that covers the largest amount of the world Below," was the response. He guessed they were female judging by their voice.

"Let me see what I have. So, where are you from?"

"I'm a traveller." At this, Hayden peered over to see if he could see her face but found it was still obscured by the hood.

"Ah, I see. Where are you headed?"

"Wherever the winds take me."

'Well that's helpful,' Hayden thought, seeing Wulfric place a map on the table.

"This map shows the entire known world Below. It has each gateway on here too. Will this do?"

"It's amazing, did you make this yourself?"

"I did actually."

"How much?"

"For you, there's no cost."

"I can't just take it without giving you something in return." The stranger seemed uncomfortable about taking something without paying.

"Please, it's a gift."

"Alright...thank you." With that, the stranger rolled up the map and started walking back the way she had come.

Hayden continued to follow the girl. After listening to that most recent exchange, he was starting to think that he may finally have found the rider that had been causing him so much frustration. Once they had left the crowds of the market, Hayden decided to take to the roof tops instead so he wouldn't be seen. He followed her to the last few rows of houses before she stopped dead in her tracks and turned around so suddenly that if he was on the ground, he would have been caught. Instead, he lay flat on his stomach on the roof in case she looked up. It was a good thing he did, because she immediately scanned the roofs. After finding nothing, she reached beneath her armour and pulled something out that was tied around her neck. She raised it to her lips for a few seconds and then returned it. 'Bingo,' Hayden thought. That had to have been a whistle that only fury riders possessed. Just as he was about to make himself known, the girl disappeared. Like she literally just disappeared. He scanned the area, coming up blank. After several minutes of seeing nothing, Hayden blew his own whistle, calling his dragon. Atlas arrived just in time for him to witness his rider's little tantrum, laughing in his unique draconic way and earning himself a glare from his rider.

-o0O0o-

That afternoon, Hayden was standing on the edge of a cliff with Atlas, strapping his bags to the saddle. "Hayden!"

Hayden turned and saw Zeb and his older brother, Dean, running towards him. "We found her, the fury rider," Zeb said as they reached Hayden and Atlas.

"So did I," he responded tonelessly. "Except I lost her as soon as she thought she was being followed."

Zeb and Dean exchanged looks before Dean continued. "We have something that might help you track her." At this, Hayden rose his eyebrows. "Apparently she got Angel out of a bit of trouble in the forest; took down five hunters before they even saw her. She took Angel to the edge of the forest and gave her this," Dean told him, presenting a dagger in a leather sheath. Hayden pulled the dagger out, Dean still holding the sheath, and inspected it. It was light, and wasn't a metal he recognised. He was a smith so he knew his metals and alloys, but he had never seen this one before. It was more silver than grey, and reflected the sun's rays like a mirror. It had a decorative handle with vines and leaves wrapping around the handle with one vine extending the length of the blade. It was a beautiful piece of workmanship, Hayden was impressed.

"What do you think?" Zeb asked.

"It's incredible. I've never seen something like this before..." he trailed off.

"There's one more thing," Dean said. Hayden looked up, curious. "Angel said that it's a white fury."

"You're joking, right?"

Dean shook his head.

"Are you sure Angel saw it right? I mean she could have just assumed because the rider wore white armour that-"

"She saw the dragon. It protected her until the rider turned up. And she rode it, apparently. She said she asked if the dragon was a white fury and the rider said it was, said its name was Uri."

"I'm not doubting her or anything, it's just that-"

"A white fury hasn't been seen in close to a hundred years?"

"Well...yeah. Here, see if you can get a scent," Hayden said, holding the dagger out to Atlas. Atlas sniffed the dagger for a good few minutes before coming up blank.

"There's nothing there," Atlas said in Hayden's head.

"What do you mean there's no scent?" Hayden responded out loud.

"I mean it just smells like metal. There's no dragon or human scent."

"Oh my god..." Hayden groaned. "What is it going to take to track this girl down!"

-o0O0o-

Before Hayden and Atlas left the island, Atlas flew them to the forest where Angel had said the hunters were. The pair looked everywhere for scales or anything they may have left behind but found nothing. They then headed to the surrounding islands that were uninhabited and searched every cave and cranny on the first two islands before it got too dark and they set up camp.

The next day, they struck gold. Well they would have if they had been several hours earlier. They were searching a network of caves on another island when Atlas stopped, his nose to the ground. "I found something," he said.

"What is it?" Hayden asked, coming over to inspect.

"I can't see anything but I can smell it. I think it's a dragon scale."

"There's nothing there."

"There is. I can feel it with my claw. This is when your delicate hands come in handy and you can pick it up," Atlas told his rider cheekily. Hayden bent down and felt around where Atlas's claw was.

"What the..." he said as he picked something up he couldn't see. It felt exactly like a scale and felt like a similar size and shape to Atlas's. "let's go," he said, pocketing the scale and jumping on Atlas's back who followed the fading scent.