Hoodini kept a careful eye on Zigor, as the Zinogre would nod off but quickly wake himself up. This has been going on for a couple hours and Hoodini doesn't want to look away, in fear that if he does, Zigor would fall asleep. The rest of his friends would rotate so the Zigor watcher could switch out and get some rest. Zigor would normally be fine around this time, but because of his lack of sleep during the day, he still felt tired. Hoodini finally blinked, an indication that he should be asleep. Hoodini walked over to Mark.
'Wake up, it's your turn.' Hoodini said. Mark slowly opened his eyes and gave a big yawn.
"No problem, now you get some rest." Mark said. Hoodini nodded and tucked his head into his feathers and shut his eyes, soon giving off whispered cooing, fast asleep. Mark walked up to Zigor and watched him carefully. Zigor still looked horrible. His eyes looked glazed, they were unfocused, and there were bags under his eyes. Zigor had propped himself up against the cave wall, maybe being in a non sleeping position would deter him from wanting to sleep.
"How are you feeling?" Mark eventually asked, wanting to take his mind off things and just talk. Zigor looked up and his eyes looked surprised.
"Ooh, hey Mark. Didn't realise Hoodini went to bed." Zigor explained, looking around and spotting Hoodini leaning against the cave wall sleeping. "I don't feel as bad from before. But I am so tired." Zigor responded, following his response with a yawn, signifying his previous point. Mark was so worried about him, getting tense as Zigor would close his eyes, then feeling slightly relaxed as his eyes opened again. Mark was the last one in the rotation of friends to watch Zigor, so he had to help Zigor till the sun came up, which is going to be a while. Then Mark noticed the Thunder Bugs on Zigor. The little guys appeared to clump together on his back. Before Mark could ask Zigor what the bugs were doing Zigor shivered. That was when Mark realised what was going on.
Mark always has his internal fire source burning within him. It can dim and possibly go out from overuse so fire monster must be careful. That is how any fire monster produces fire, fight off any unknown things in their body, and have a resistance to fire. And with the fire always active, Mark would be warmer than most monster if you were to touch him. Mark hadn't noticed how cool the cave was before the sun went down. So he also didn't notice the drop on temperature as the sun was setting. Mark then looked over at Hoodini and noticed him trying to escape the cold with his feathers. He didn't need to worry about Bryan and Arnold as Bryan is an ice monster and can handle extremely cold temperatures, and Arnold is in the same boat as Mark. Hoodini wasn't sleeping to far away from Zigor so Mark decided to help them out so they didn't get sick, or worst, die.
First off, Mark had to make sure Bryan was comfortable and far enough away from Mark to not feel any uncomfortable heat. So he gently picked him up and placed him on his back, relocating him to as far as he could from them. Zigor watched Mark and was confused by the action. Then Mark walked back to him and sat in front of him. So Mark positioned himself in front of Zigor and to the side of Hoodini. Before Zigor could ask what Mark was doing said monster started to emanate warmth. Zigor's body instantly reacted and gravitated closer to Mark. Even Hoodini, in his unconscious state, moved closer to the warmth.
"But you don't have any large bodies of heat around to heat you up later." Zigor announced, watching as Mark was concentrating so hard, trying to sustain a pleasant heat throughout the night. Mark looked at him.
"Don' worry. You already have a lot on yah plate so don' add, 'worry 'bout Mark' to that dish. Besides, Arnold can provide enough heat to warm me up." Mark explained. He just wanted to make Zigor, who was going through hell right how, feel as comfortable as possible throughout the night. Mark knows that the warmth might lull Zigor to sleep, but he would just have to deal with that on his own, on top of having to provide a constant wave of suppressed heat to Zigor and Hoodini and concentrate really hard to try not heavily burn them, Zigor is weak to fire. And Hoodini, even though he doesn't show it, has signs of slight fatigue. Based on his movements and his speech he knows Hoodini had recently teleported himself and someone else (probably Zigor). If you don't know what to look for, you won't even notice when Hoodini is tired and his magic is recovering. But despite all that Mark wasn't deterred and kept his mind calm, collected, and focused.
Mark had to manage his fire so he didn't get tired quickly, but he also had to manage his mind and concentrate on the fire, but also on Zigor, and a little bit on Bryan. Mark didn't know how long he would have to do this, but he would do it as long as he has to.
Zigor would be lying if he said he wasn't worried about Mark. Despite him being asleep for majority of the day, he still sees what it looks like for young monsters to work their internal elemental source dry and thin, usually referred to as Degrade. Elder dragons are a different story. When they are young, they can use their eternal internal elemental source as much as they want. That is why young Elder Dragons are dangerous, they have so much power, but they don't exactly know how to do control it just yet. But Mark isn't an Elder Dragon, he doesn't have the same eternal elemental source all Elder Dragons have. And depending on how much you push your elemental source you will become very weak. If you push it slightly over, that being Phase 1, some symptoms of Degrade are coughing, having a very mild fever, being slightly off balance, etc. But when it gets worst and the monster pushes itself even further, that being Phase 2, the symptoms include coughing up blood, passing out, feeling numb, etc. And if it is used to the point where there is hardly any elemental juice left in the monster, that being Phase 3, it could lead to a coma or even death. All this doesn't apply to monsters that have no elemental power, as they don't have any internal elemental source.
None of them say it, but they all have had siblings that have died due to Degrade. If a mother doesn't lose any of her offspring to Degrade then she is either considered a very good mother, or a very lucky mother. The different phases have different recovery times, and it is based on a lot of factors. Like exposure to their element, being well hydrated and rested, not expending any more of their elemental power, etc. All of them (minus the Elder Dragons) have experienced the first phase of Degrade, never Phase 2 and definitely not Phase 3.
And Zigor at the moment didn't want Mark to be the first to feel a Phase 2. Mark, at the moment looked alright, staring at Zigor so he doesn't fall asleep. He knows the effects of Phase 1 would kick in soon, but he didn't want Hoodini or Zigor catching hypothermia. They have been in the cold for more than half the night and Mark didn't want them to continue staying in the cold. So if he manages to pass Phase 1, he would happily accept Phase 2 to help his friends. Zigor knew he should object, but he didn't. He knows Mark is stubborn and would most likely refuse. On top of Mark looking to make sure Zigor doesn't doze off, Zigor was making sure that Mark didn't pass out. The first 4 hours and Mark was still going strong. Not once did his heat waver, nor did he feel sick. But until it hit the mid way point Mark started to feel the effects of Degrade. He moaned as a wave a nausea washed over him. Fire monster don't get fevers, but they can still feel the effects of being sick. Mark, from where he sat, started to cough and that alerted Zigor. It wasn't loud enough to wake up the others, but it was audible enough that Zigor heard it.
"Mark, I think you should take a break." Zigor said. He knew he could take the cold just for the sake of letting Mark rest.
"What'd I tell yah man, don' worry 'bout me, worry 'bout yourself." Mark replied back. He coughed again then looked at Zigor. His friend looked horrible. His eyes had bags under them due to lack of sleep, his eyes were slightly glazed over from his injury, and now he wore the most sad face Mark has ever seen him wear. And that is why Mark needed to keep the heat up. He didn't know what the effects the cold would have on Zigor, considering he isn't in peak physical performance. Mark was breathing kind of heavy, eyes closing for short periods of time.
So when the sun barely broke over the horizon and Mark closed his eyes, that was when Zigor had lost the battle and fell asleep, putting his life in danger. But Mark hadn't noticed. His eyes were scrunched up. When Mark finally opened his eyes his blurred vision saw the outline of an unmoving Zigor. Mark started to panic and quickly sprung into action. His body started to heat up more in a panic. All he could think about was waking up his friend. He has heard stories of concussive monsters falling asleep and not waking up, and he did not want Zigor to die when it was his fault. He needed to wake him up NOW.
Mark raised his claw and rested it against Zigor's leg. He knew it would hurt, but he had to wake him up. The skin under Mark's claw started to scorch and created a patch of charred fur and skin. Because of his Degrade problem his mouth was dry and his voice was very raspy, so he couldn't rely on that, he had to use force. Mark, with his other arm, started to shake Zigor violently. When Zigor didn't stir Mark knew what he had to do. He raised the claw that was on Zigor's leg (flinching as he saw the burn mark), and slapped Zigor in the face as hard as he could, trails of fire following his claw. And that did it. Zigor reacted to the pain and slowly opened his glazed over eyes. Zigor looked up at Mark to see him looking at him with frantic, yet relieved eyes.
"Thanks." Zigor said with a slight slur. But Mark didn't reply. Mark's eyes rolled in the back of his head and the Molten Tigrex fell over. Despite Zigor being just woken up from falling asleep forever and not having a lot of energy, he had a lot of energy in his voice.
"Mark!" He shouted. He scooted over and grabbed at his fallen friend. Mark's eyes were closed and he was breathing very heavily. And upon closer inspection, his mouth was dripping blood and was making a puddle of it. Zigor was shaking and his heart was pounding. He had never had someone just pass out in front of him before, and had never personally seen someone experience Phase 2 of Degrade. He didn't know what to do. Zigor glanced at Hoodini and, without hesitating, shot an electric bolt at him, startling him awake. The owl didn't look pleased and was about to question Zigor before spotting what the Zinogre cradled in his arms. Hoodini's eyes widened and quickly jostled Bryan and Arnold awake.
"5 more minutes." Bryan complained, rolling over and facing the cave wall. Hoodini wasn't going to deal with this today and slapped the sleeping Barioth. Bryan mumbled but opened his eyes. Before he could even see Hoodini's slightly panicked face his eyes landed on Zigor cradling an unconscious Mark. And all Bryan thought was Degrade. Bryan shot up and zoomed over to Zigor as Hoodini went to wake up Arnold.
Bryan's eyes were frantic and Zigor locked his own frantic eyes with him. Bryan
Looked down to see Mark and his blood. Mark's already red scales hid majority of it. The pair suddenly heard heavy footsteps and saw Arnold facing there direction with worried eyes. He can't see Mark's condition, but he knows what is going on. Arnold walked towards the splotches of blue, white, and red and provided heat. He may not have unlimited elemental power, but he had more than most young monsters, being an Akantor and all. All Arnold was trying to do was raise Mark's temperature and help his exhausted elemental source not have to work so hard to feed itself, and instead get energy from his own fire. All of them knew that they will have to find more of their fire elemental friends to assist Mark. The Molten Tigrex wasn't fit for travel, so Hoodini would have to push himself a second time to find familiar life sources and teleport there. But right now he didn't care if he caught Phase 1 of Degrade, as long as it helps Mark.
Hoodini closed his eyes and tried to find anyone. Suddenly, a ping went off. There were actually a couple body masses near that area, and the one he wanted to find, Tobias. The young Elder Dragon would help with Mark's recover greatly. As Hoodini opened his eyes he glanced at the 3 huddled near Mark, who was still spewing blood from his mouth.
'I'm going to teleport us to the others, brace yourselves" Hoodini said, mentally preparing himself to teleport a big load.
"Wait, but wouldn't that drain you even more?" Bryan said, voice laced with worry. Mark has Degrade, he didn't want Hoodini to get it as well.
'Mark is more important right now.' Hoodini stated, and with that, teleported them out of the cave and onto some sand. Hoodini caught himself from toppling over. His magic was very low and he needed a rest, but not until Mark is stable.
"Hoodini?" A voice said. He spun around and saw Lamar in the water staring at him. As Hoodini looked down the bay he saw more of his friends and sighed in relief. He made it. Suddenly he jolted up, he needed to make sure the others made it to. And as he looked around he saw them all huddled up and blocking Lamar's view of Mark.
'Lamar, something terrible has happened.' Hoodini said, his voice more stressed out than normal, which worried Lamar. Before Lamar could ask, Bryan spotted Lamar and moved out of the way, revealing Mark. Lamar's face went pale, face slack, and his eyes widened. Bryan hoisted Mark on his back and made a break for it, running towards the group, Hoodini following suit. Arnold didn't know where to go and was left behind. But he didn't mind, Mark was all that matters right now. And Zigor couldn't even walk straight let alone run after a Barioth on a mission, so he stayed behind.
Bryan could see the faces of everyone as he passed them but he didn't pay them any attention. He needed to find Tobias. The Barioth spotted him and ran. Tobias had also seen him and met him half way. Tobias motioned for Bryan to set Mark down in the sun. As he did he backed away and let Tobias do the rest. But he didn't. Tobias isn't producing any fire, it was like he was clogged. Tobias just stared at Mark, his blood already staining the sand. Tobias tried to light himself up with his fire aura, but he couldn't, his emotions were getting the better of him. He desperately tried to generate some heat, but to no avail. Suddenly, Glen approached and opened his mouth. Then flames started to light up in his mouth. He sat next to Mark and kept his heat next to the Molten Tigrex. Now, all the fire monsties were gathered around and helping.
"I'll get the other 2." Grant said and walked over to where Zigor and Arnold were, patiently waiting. Tobias just stared in shock. His fire was being suppressed by his stress, and him being stressed about his current situation and Mark, it might be a while before Tobias would be able to use any of his fire abilities. Half the fire monsters stopped and went to rest. So when the first half need to rest the second half can continue and it will be a loop of constant fire providing heat for Mark.
Remi, Kade, and Cyrus all saw the commotion, but didn't know what was going on. All they saw was fire spewing out from a group surrounding something. As Remi looked around he saw the new friends that joined. He noticed Grant guiding Arnold to the group and assisting Zigor in walking. 'Oh no, something happened to him, time to make room.' Remi thought, scooting over so that Grant could place Zigor next to him. Cyrus on the other hand saw Hoodini leaning heavily against a tree, resting. Whatever they went through, it was rough. Kade noticed Travon and Neville's bodies hugging someone. Upon closer inspection it was Bryan. The Barioth seemed in much better condition then the other 2. Kade then brought his attention to the many bodies huddled on the beach. Since there were so many of them he couldn't see any outlined of what they were looking at.
"Ar-r-re yo-o-u-u o-o-ok-k?" Cyrus asked, noticing Zigor's panicked face. The Zinogre shook his head.
"What happened to you guys?" Remi added. Zigor looked up at them and gave them a defeated look.
"From the ver beginning evry thing wen wrong." Zigor said, slurring his words.
'He has a concussion, a bad one.' A voice cut in. They glanced at Hoodini who had taken a seat in there little shaded area.
'But that is not all.' Hoodini stated, glancing over at the group of people, who at this point made the transition into the next group and Arnold joined in. 'Mark has Phase 2 of Degrade.' Hoodini said, cutting right to the bad news. The three's face went slack and so did a few others looking on. Hoodini had broadcasted the message to everyone not aware of Mark's situation. Suddenly Yuma ran forward towards the group, the curious monster seemed to be the only one that didn't get the message. Which makes sense, the youngest one shouldn't have to carry so much stress as he already has. But Magnus stopped him and said something to the young one that deterred him from proceeding further, bless him. Everyone just looked on and watched the fire monsters work to bring Mark up to a stable elemental level.
"What happened?" Kade asked, watching the group carefully. Hoodini looked down.
'I'm not entirely sure, I was asleep when it happened.' Hoodini explained. 'But Zigor knows.' Hoodini elaborated. The group looked at Zigor, who still hasn't taken his eyes off of the mass of fire. Sleep is far from his major priority right now.
"Zigor, what happened to him?" Remi asked, trying his best to move to a spot where he can see the fire group. Zigor turned around and was the first time he peeled his eyes away from the group. Zigor looked so worried.
"It was my fault." He said. The others obviously didn't believe him, but they wanted to know what happened to spark this. "He wanted to hea' up the cave to stop me and Hoodini from gettin' too col' so he used his fire to hlp. Bt when I went to sleep he woke me up and he used the las bit fire to do it before succumbin' to Phase 2." Zigor explained, words still slurred but he got his message across. They looked at him with sorrow and understanding. This was Mark's decision, he wanted to help them, and he would do anything to help them. Even if it meant using up a lot of his elemental power. No one said anything, but they would have done the same thing in Mark's shoes.
And after a gruesome 20 minutes of non-stop fire, Mark finally became stable. His breathing steadied and the blood started to slow down. He is still in Phase 2, but now it would be more easy for his body to recover on its own. His own body isn't shutting down any more and is giving the fire source time to repair itself. As the fire monsters took a well deserved break everyone else would subconsciously look over at Mark to see if his elemental power is rising or falling. The color of one's scales is an easy way to tell if they are slowly losing elemental power, and in Mark's case, his scales would turn a grey color. So to help sped up the process, Mark was left in the sun and was surrounded by a ring of fire to help. The sun and fire isn't going to heal him fully, only give him a boost till the fire either goes out or the sun goes down. It's a temporary way of helping Mark get better.
Zigor was relieved that Mark had a better chance at seeing a new day and all his friends again. Zigor didn't want to be overrun with guilt, as he knows Mark is only in this situation because of him.
Magnus took it upon himself to distract Yuma so he didn't focus on Mark, Kade, Remi, and Hoodini. His innocent soul didn't deserve this kind of stress. Yuma wasn't properly introduced to the cruelness of the world and they didn't want to be the ones to explain to him life and death. Yuma has experienced loss, being a Yian-Kut-Ku it was bound to happen. They were easy targets and they came in large numbers. 2 out of the 12 eggs would make it through infancy, and 3 if the mother is lucky. And Yuma so far only has 4 other siblings. Magnus distracted Yuma with play, and would play in the water as far away from Mark as he could. But despite their current situation, more of them are together again, and that is what is keeping them from the depths of worry and sadness.
Author Note
First time doing one of these, but here we go. So the first letter of the name matches the first letter of their species (I know, so creative) so that it makes it easier for me and for you to understand who is who. I don't mention their species a lot, but it is there, somewhere. Here is a hint, every time there is a character introduced after the Beginning, their species will follow right after. If any of you have questions, just ask and I will give you all names and species.