Chapter Five: The Night to Remember
The city roared with festivities and music as Skyro touched down outside the city gates, adjusting his choker once more before joining the crowd of civilians which pushed their way into the city. The evening sun had finally settled below the horizon and the Celestial moons illuminated the land with beauty, making all of the comets which streaked across the sky shine brightly to the eye while the bright lanterns and city lights illuminated the golden city with absolute beauty, making Skyro stare in awe at the large buildings before him.
"Hey handsome don't we look good tonight." Scarlet said behind Skyro, causing the young dragon to turn his head back and gaze at her beauty. She wore two golden collars around her neck while her arms were laced with beautiful gold bracelets.
"Trying to impress Smoke aren't we?" Skyro joked around, nudging Scarlet in the arm while taking a sucker punch in the arm from the beautiful dragoness.
"Oh shut it you twerp, you know how I hate getting dressed up," Scarlet joked, adjusting Skyro's choker for him before turning back towards the city. "The music sounds great from here, I got a feeling that this is going to be an amazing night."
"You said it Scarlet, I think I'm going to dance with Flare tonight." Skyro said, pausing before he finished his sentence however which made Scarlet chuckle a little bit.
"Nervous thought aren't we?" Scarlet said, giggling as Skyro smiled and nodded his head.
"Yeah… can we dance first for a minute before I dance with her, just to get the butterflies out of my stomach?" Skyro asked, not knowing what else to say.
"Sure, I'd love to dance with you, I hope you know how to dance." Scarlet teased as they continued to walk towards the Dragon Study.
"Oh you underestimate me." Skyro said, laughing as he smiled to Scarlet's company.
The entire Cheetah Village gathered around the ring which Hunter's son stood in the center of, awaiting for his opponent.
"Are you sure about this brother, I mean the Ape prisoner is three times his size and it took four of our strongest Cheetah warriors to subdue him." Prowlus asked, leaning down next to Hunter who sat quietly next to his beloved Bianca.
"It takes a lot less effort to kill someone than to subdue them Prowlus… he'll be fine." Hunter said, watching his son bow down on one knee to grab a throwing knife in his left hand and standing back up onto his feet. Two very bulky Cheetah warriors strong-armed the Ape into the ring, releasing him as the archers among the outside of the ring readied themselves in case the Ape tried to escape.
"I hope you don't disappoint me Ape, I don't like an easy fight." Hunter's son said, rotating his right wrist around in a circle one by his side as if he was trying to do something with the bracelet on his right arm.
"Before these archers finish me off, I hope you don't die too quickly before the fun really begins." The Ape said, rushing towards the young Cheetah who sprinted towards the Ape.
"I don't understand son, why rush towards his opponent? Hunter thought to himself, soon realizing what the young Cheetah had planned. Throwing the knife into the Ape's left knee, the brute fell to his knees in pain, trying to dig the knife out of his kneecap while the Cheetah leaped into the air, whipping his right arm back towards the Ape, sending a very sharp dagger attached to a chain rocketing past the Ape's head and sinking into the ground in front of him. Hunter's son then yanked himself back towards the Ape, slamming his right foot into the back of the Ape's head and burying his face into the ground while leaping away from the Ape and collecting the chain and dagger.
"What kind of weapon is that Hunter?" Bianca asked, never seeing such a piece before as Hunter rubbed his chin in wonder.
"I'm not sure, but he seems most comfortable using it however." Hunter said, watching his son whip the dagger back into his hand and allow the Ape to recover and pull the dagger from his knee.
"I'm going to kill you for this." The Ape roared as he charged towards the Cheetah who slid down low and kicked upwards into the Ape's jaw, causing the Ape to stagger backwards before sending the dagger down into the dirt again while landing behind the Ape.
"Not today my friend," the Cheetah said wrapping the chain around the Ape's neck twice and yanking one side over towards one direction, snapping the Ape's neck over to the left, killing him with seemingly the greatest of ease. "My time has not come yet Ape, it will take more than you to kill me."
Hunter stood from his chair in astonishment as he looked over to Bianca and said, "Cancel the archery tests… I think he passed this test in flying colors. What do you say Prowlus?"
"Indeed brother, I think he's earned his name." Prowlus said, shaking Hunter's son's hand as he jogged up to his father.
"Father… I wish to finally know my name." The young Cheetah said as Hunter placed his hand among his son's shoulder.
"You are swift and precise as lighting and deadlier than venom… well done my son, or should I say Titus." The crowd roared with appreciation as Titus shook his father's hand in acceptance to the Cheetah tribe.
"Hey Skyro, when did you get here?!" Smoke shouted over the loud music as he and Flare danced to the beat in the center of the city.
"About five minutes ago, wow what a turnout," Skyro yelled, looking over towards Flare, taking in just how beautiful she was. "How long have you two been here!?" Skyro couldn't help but keep looking at Flare and what she was wearing, how the torches and lamps and different colors of confetti and smoke screens made her beautiful eyes and gorgeous curves stand out like no other while her ruby necklace and silver bracelets brought out her beautiful face.
"About ten minutes now, there's so much to do here!" Flare yelled out, watching Smoke point to the blue and yellow dragon on the stage that in turn pointed back to him and stepped forward on the stage.
"Hey my name is Sonic and I hope you all are having a fun night tonight because we're just getting started," Sonic started, making the other dragons in his band begin to play a song very familiar to Skyro. "This song is dedicated to a special birthday boy today from his best friend. Welcome to the jungle everybody!" The song began to play as Scarlet nudged Skyro's arm in an attempt to get him to start dancing.
"Show me what you got." Scarlet edged on as Skyro took her by both hands and began to step to the beat, noticing that Flare and Smoke began to dance as well.
Yeah
Yeah
Well it's too long living the same old lives, yeah!
I feel too cold to live and too young to die, yeah!
Scarlet and Flare both nodded to each other when their eyes made contact as the two dragonesses threw their partners into each other, all four of them laughing as Skyro and Smoke began to dance together.
"Nice form Skyro, you can pass as a girl yet!" Smoke laughed, causing Skyro to roll his eyes as he laughed with his best friend.
"I have to thank you for the song, I'm glad you knew this was my favorite song!" Skyro yelled back, watching as Smoke leaned close to his ear.
"It gets better buddy, just wait." Smoke yelled, throwing Skyro away and into Flare as Skyro's eyes locked onto Flare's as she did the same.
Will you walk the line like it's there to choose?... oh!
Just forget the wit; it's the best to use!
"Shall we dance handsome?" Flare asked, strangely giving Skyro a boost of confidence as he smiled and gazed deeply into Flare's eyes.
"Let's do it gorgeous…" Skyro said in a sexy voice while smiling, taking Flare by the hips as he spun her around and whipped her from side to side while doing some fancy footwork of his own.
Won't you follow me into the jungle, yeah!
Ain't a foe on my path in the heart of the jungle, yeah!
"Wow, look at him go, he's killing it out there." Smoke thought as he and Scarlet began to dance as well.
"Go get her Skyro, you're in control now." Scarlet thought, smiling as Skyro dipped Flare down low to the ground before pulling her back up and letting her collapse in his arms for dramatic effect.
Won't you follow me into the jungle, yeah!
Follow me into the jungle!
"This feeling of adrenaline… I love it." Skyro thought as his heart raced with excitement as he kept his eyes focused on Flare, breathing a burst of fire breath into the air, signaling the large crowd around them to give him and Flare some room to dance. All eyes fell onto the two while everyone continued to dance.
I lost my mind in the city of lights, yeah!
In the backstreets buildings and the burnin' lamps, yeah!
When I heard the thunder, I could feel the rain, yeah!
It's the same to me, just a different name, yeah!
"I've never seen this side of you Skyro, I think I like it!" Flare yelled as Skyro smiled in joy to her words.
"I figured you would Flare." Skyro thought to himself as the music boomed louder, shaking them to their knees as they continued to dance.
I said oh won't you follow me into the jungle, yeah!
Ain't a foe on my path in the heart of the jungle, oh yeah!
Won't you follow me into the jungle, oh yeah!
Skyro then yanked Flare in very close, making his sure his hands were on her hips and her arm were wrapped around his neck as the song came to a close, realizing that their lips were just inches from each other.
Won't you follow me into the jungle?!
"That was our latest hit 'Jungle', we're going to take a quick break since we've been going on for about an hour now," Sonic yelled over the cheering crowd as he began to step down from the stage. "Come back in half an hour for more musical entertainment, but for right now enjoy the festival everyone!" He then jumped down from the stage and ran up towards Skyro and Flare who just released each other.
"Hey thank you for playing that song, it's my favorite." Skyro smiled, shaking the dragon's hand while smiling back to Smoke.
"Hey no problem buddy, Smoke gave me a heads up about your birthday today and I thought we and the band could do something special," Sonic said, accepting Skyro's handshake as he began to turn away. "I just wanted to say those were some killer moves you and your lady friend were dishing out, you topped everyone here." Skyro and Flare blushed as they waved goodbye to the singer of the band.
"Thank you Sonic, we'll talk to you later!" Skyro called out as he and Flare turned back towards Smoke and Scarlet.
"Well let's go check this whole place out, there's so much to do here." Flare said, walking close to Skyro while Smoke and Scarlet walked side to side as well as they all began to walk into the busy city to enjoy the festivities.