The Chronicles of the White Dragon Part 2: The Crossroads of Time

by Blackshadow999

When things of history thought lost begin to be seen once more; fear grips many, none can choose how events will turn out in the end. What is left from an ancient war is rediscovered by Saber, but he finds more than he bargained for. An enemy long forgotten returns! and intends to finish wha they started. A tale traversing and transcending even the bounds of time itself. Part 2of3

13. 13 We Meet Again!

A/n

I LIVE! Yes I'm back at long last! This chapter took me a LOT longer than I thought it would when I started writing it back during the summer. But I finished finally, even with school dragging me down with the workload. Okay, a status update, or something like that; chapters 1-8 have been revised and reposted for you reading pleasure! I hope to have chapter 9 done by the end of this month. I'll say this up front and bluntly; I did a fair amount of revision and addition (like 10000+ words worth!) and I hope you all read and enjoy what took me time and effort to do. So… I think I have spouted enough stuff in this pre chapter note, ON WITH THE SHOW!

Chapter 13: We Meet Again!

-Saber's pov-

It is said, that there is a fine line between the state of sanity and insanity. Since they are opposites, you really only need to define one to know what the other is; as it is the absence of the other. So then, sanity can be defined as follows; it's the ability to think and behave in a 'normal' and rational manner as stated in psychology. In laymen's terms; being of sound mental health. I would know better than the average person if not most just how fine that like tends to be. Insanity is, of course the absence of sanity. Now back to the line between the two. I can attest what that line is like from quite a few of the… events in my life and I swear that line moves occasionally. Indeed insanity can be accurately compare to being lost in a shroud of darkness, as it can easily blind us to what truth is and most everything else. Now why might I be going off on a philosophical sanity vs insanity tangent when I'm rarely the philosophical type? Well, let me back up in my tale a little bit and then perhaps you can begin to understand my dilemma that has driven me to this.

Around… oh, I don't know, fifteen minutes or so ago. It seemed longer to me; I was assaulted by at that time, an unknown black dragoness. She held me down in a confining grip, which was completely and utterly unwelcome as she invaded my personal space, which I hold dear in a death grip! While I fought back against the one who was responsible for my imprisonment; my mate Lara, appeared and to my gratitude somehow got the black dragoness to release me, granting me temporary salvation. Of course, after that I fell to the ground and had to deal with the ingrained reaction I have with extreme physical contact specifically from adults… curse you Uncle Douche Bag for that being the case for me.

What had surprised me was when Lara had come over to me and by just her touch, I relaxed and stopped convulsing! I mean her being female would, I would have thought made things worse personally and from experience standpoint! But whether it was Lara being my mate or something else; she is an exception to many things when it comes to me as that keeps being proven. Still have to wonder; how did I get someone like her to stick with someone like myself? It makes little sense to me. Anyway, when I had recovered enough to sit up, I asked Lara, first if she knew this other dragoness and then just who the hell it was that had done that to me! Of course I put the question far better and nice than that, but that's not the point. And I quote the response I received:

"Yes… she is… her name is Umbra… and she is… your mom."

And then can anyone blame me for how I responded to that information?!

"… SHE'S MY WHAAAAT?!"

… End quote. So… yeah… can anyone say they would have taken it all that much differently than I did? I have no memories of parents. Yes I have none, nada; nothing from that time of my life came back to me, other than some of the times I had played with Lara and Koren, along with my final memory in the realm! I have been told about the pair that were apparently my 'parents' when I was here before by Arkanis and Lara. I never expected, even in my dreams, after Arkanis told me they left Carona that I would actually meet either of them and yet, here one of them was. I haven't said anything to Lara about me not remembering much of my past other than a few experiences. I don't know how she would take that were I to tell her that truth.

So back to the tangent I was on, the line between sanity and insanity; there are many things that can push you towards one side of the line or the other. … I would say this event, is pushing me to the insanity side of the line! I seriously doubt any doctor could help with my family problems! Hence, the paradoxical dilemma I find myself in! It's amazing I'm still sane at all anymore on days like this.

-Lara's pov-

As I looked at Saber, taking in his expressions, I was worried for him. Saber rarely expresses his feelings since he returned and it is rare that he shows the expression outwardly. However, his face will sometimes show his emotions for a brief moment and he had this time. I had been short, yet I had seen… shock, slight disbelief; still most of all, pain of something. Why would he feel pain? He was seeing his mother after all the years that have gone by not seeing her. I would have thought he would be happy to see Umbra. I leaned up against Saber, in hopes of comforting him.

"Try to give this a chance."

I whispered this to him. He glanced back at me.

"I will try, but I am not promising anything."

That is not the answer I wanted, yet it will do for the moment. Saber set his gaze on Umbra; who at the moment was on the verge of tears. Umbra took a step forward to which Saber responded by tensing up and taking a step back. Upon seeing this Umbra stopped, adopting an expression of confusion.

"Asreyel?"

"That is NOT my name. My name is Saber."

I looked at Saber questioningly.

"Saber?"

Saber flicked his gaze at me for a moment. Then he went on talking.

"I know that he and I share many physical traits however, we are different in mind and so I am not him."

Umbra still looked baffled at what Saber was saying.

"I do not understand what you mean."

-Saber's pov-

This would be a long and painful explanation… I can see that before this even started. Nothing that Lara can say will make it any easier or change how painful it will be to do this explanation. Oh this is just a peachy piece of miserable cake! I looked at Lara and then to Umbra, my 'mom' as I'm being led to believe. I took a moment to do a short breathing exercise to calm my mind and body for this task that loomed ahead of me. It would be best for me to be upfront and honest in this. The first truth to put down on the 'table', was to admit to Umbra that I didn't remember her or her raising me. Lara probably already suspects my absence of memory in this subject; though I'm not certain if she is certain of that truth.

"What I mean Umbra, is that the one you knew as Asreyel is different than me and though I know of him we are separate. To tell the truth, this is the first time we have met; I don't have any memory of you at all. The only information I have comes from talking with Lara and Arkanis. I'm sorry, but that is the truth."

I didn't know what to expect from this black dragoness. Like I do, when I'm uncertain; I started scratching the left side of my neck in a circular motion. Asreyel and I are separate; I don't like him and he sees me as some kind of ignorant idiot. Yet we are unwillingly stuck together, even if I don't hear him like I used to. He gets drowned out by the rest of the voices which is one of the good things that come from them. I still, hear a harsh and unnecessary comment from him on occasion and dislike them like before! Anyway, as I said, I didn't know exactly what to prepare for. I certainly didn't prepare myself for being tackled by the dragoness! The second she hit me, my body tensed up and as if my body had a mind of its own; struggled with its might to either break the hold or get out of it!

"It does not matter; I can tell you are my dragonet. You still scratch the left side of your neck like you always did when you were nervous. There are other things as well that say that you are who you are, my young one."

When she had said "my young one"; she hugged me just a little tighter, which sent the condition my body had initiated and was going through right now, into overdrive! My mind had gone into a state of panic; meaning thinking calm and clear wasn't something I could effectively do at the moment. The only action I could even think to do and it was out of desperation; that was to change into my human form! I barely had the mental functionality to do it, but I managed to. Miraculously, Umbra opened her embrace for whatever reason and I fell forward, still convulsing uncontrollably and rather badly.

"What… Where did Asre… um Saber go? And what is this creature shaking on the ground?"

I was able to tell that was Umbra; however, I was still too far in panic mode to really be able to do anything. Making many attempts to get myself to calm down and stop shaking and convulsing; I tried all my normal methods that usually work for that purpose. Nonetheless, for some reason, this time none of them worked at all! And the time it naturally takes for this problem to wind down and stop is longer than I have to work with right now. I had no idea what to do in this! Then once again… something unexplainable and amazing happened. I felt a touch of… warmth on my forehead and then… the shaking and convulsions… calmed and went away. All of this in a matter of less than thirty seconds from this single touch of warmth!

Once everything calmed down and I managed to get my breathing pattern back close to normal; I looked up from the ground. I found myself staring into Lara's face that she was pulling back from my face and she was smiling as she continued to look down at me. … I blinked to make sure I wasn't hallucinating; sure enough Lara was still there. … How did she do that?! How did she get my body to calm down by simply touching me?! … Oh never mind! It's not worth the effort to figure out why she can do that right now. I sat up and turned to Lara.

"Thanks Lara… that was helpful."

Lara just kept smiling at me.

"Glad to help."

I sensed movement from the direction that I believe Umbra still was. I twisted around and came to realize that Umbra had closed most of the distance between us by this time and now she was mere feet away from me staring in a confused expression. I quickly sprang to my feet and took a step back.

"Saber?"

Lara moved herself between me and Umbra. I gaped… yes, I openly gaped; at my mate's actions!

"Umbra, I know it is hard to understand, but Saber has changed in ways that we have difficulty comprehending. But, he is himself and there are things that he does not react well to at the moment."

Umbra looked to me.

"But, what is this creature and why does it sound like Saber?"

Curse you side effects of draconic mentality! You make things so difficult!

"I am a human being. And I sound like Saber because I am myself and that is me."

I said this in a flat toneless voice, like it should be obvious. Umbra kept staring at me. I sighed; trying to think of a way to get this dragoness to understand. Meanwhile, I hadn't noticed Lara had made her way to my right side and proceeded to rub her head against my cheek on the same side. I was now made aware, how much Lara had grown since we had met and even since we had become mates; at least when compared to my human form as it really hadn't changed much except gaining a half an inch in height. … I think she is trying to comfort me; a nice thought from her.

"This is the form I have lived in for most of my life… around fourteen years of my life as it happens."

Umbra once again gave me a look of confusion. I sighed at the reaction. I then began; a concise summary of the fourteen years that had ended out being more trudges through all the parts of hell than I even want to count. There was no reason for me to go into detail of the events of my life. Having explained to my friends multiple times had taught me; that dragons would unlikely understand the darker points of human society. To be brutally honest, human beings aren't accepting of those who are different than the majority; that's without any influence from the minorities. Humans themselves, have proven throughout history to be… oh where to start? Well, what are known as the 'seven deadly sins' would probably begin the point of what I have had to see!

I have said before that I don't claim to be religious really; I mean, I know I may blame my luck on the man upstairs and the blasphemer down below. Yet in all honesty, I don't care if they exist or not; it doesn't make much of a difference to me. That's more or less the reason why I don't do the religion thing often. However, I know enough of the basic subject matter to know and understand what is meant and implied when some talk about the 'seven deadly sins'. I have learned four out of those seven far too well for my liking, but that's… for my life.

The four I'm referring to are; sloth, wrath, envy and pride. All but envy can be applied to Uncle Douche bag! My uncle had gotten lazier as I got older, indeed a sloth he has started to become in a fashion. It likely came from the fact that I got tired of coming home to a mess and that's what it had been for a time after my Auntie left. I finally couldn't take any more of that so I cleaned up and kept doing so from that point on. That turned into me being responsible for most if not all the house work and cooking. And so Uncle Douchebag got lazier with me doing the day to day cleaning and cooking.

Pride, I would think would be self-explanatory; he almost from as far back as I can remember has stated that he's better than me. It had just gotten worse over time we have had to live under the same roof. Wrath… even more self-explanatory! Seriously, the man beat me every other day if not more! If that's not wrath; then I don't know what is! I have been saying for years that the man needs anger management, but he rarely if ever listens to me! I don't think anyone can blame me for wanting to be out of that house that would be more accurately called a prison where I was in solitary confinement often!

Last, but certainly not least in the 'deadly sins' that I have gotten to know like one of those 'friends' that we all know and have had at one time or another. You know the type, the one you can't get rid of, and so desperately want to for whatever reason! That is the relationship between myself and envy. At the other prison I was condemned to that adults call school; envy was around me daily. I wasn't the BEST student or top of the class; but I certainly wasn't at the bottom of the dang pile! I had fairly good grades, not like 4.0 or anything like that, but I did better than average in my studies. Combine that to me being different from the majority; that didn't help me make friends… made me more the target for bullies. Oh sure, at first it was to do their homework for them, which I didn't do and refused outright. Well… let's just say that's how the war between bullies and myself started. And only got worse as the years passed!

Anyway, as I was trying to put simply before I rambled on; dragons would unlikely understand what kind of life I have had before coming back to the dragon realm. That's one of the major reasons I don't go into detail often! Plus, discussing my life is akin to being forced to relive as I have to remember things I have tried to forget. Not pleasant to do at all!

"Ah Umbra, there you are. I have been looking for you."

The three of us; that being, Umbra, Lara and myself in human form turned to face the direction that the voice had come from. A brown dragon was there and was coming closer to our location. However, what got me was that the dragon was the serpentine dragon I had bumped into earlier. There was no way I could forget the dragon really; he was the first one I have seen with a serpentine body shape and type, that's something to note. Now the dragon I had bumped into earlier was in front of us and apparently knew Umbra as well. So, who is this guy and what's his story? The dragon walked up to Umbra and gave her tokens of affection much like Lara does to me.

"I had wondered where you had gotten off to. You will never guess what I saw today? A white drag… Umbra… what is it?"

I was about to ask what was going on and how these two know each other; however, Lara beat me to speaking.

"Tetras? Is that you?"

… Tetras? Isn't that the name of…? OH HA HA FATE; VERY FUNNY, HA HA HA! It isn't enough for me to have to meet my adopted parent, specifically my supposed adopted mother; I'm having a load of trouble accepting that… even letting her touch me sets off my reaction to being touched by adults. But no! Fate wants to treat me to a two for one sale from hell! That's in the form of not meeting one of my "adopted parents", I get to encounter both of them.

Just perfect for me! Oh fiddlesticks! Well anyways, "Tetras", after hearing Lara, walked up to her and stared for a couple of minutes.

"Lara? …Is that you?"

Lara nodded and then Tetras… hugged Lara? Actually he kind of wrapped his serpentine body around Lara, but I guess that qualifies as a hug. After Tetras released the hug on Lara; he apparently finally noticed me. When he did see me, Tetras just stared at me for a few minutes. I just looked right back at him. When Tetras did speak, it was pretty much what I expected.

"My, what a curious creature. It looks somewhat similar to apes, yet it is also different. I have not seen anything quite like it."

… Well… at least he didn't directly call me an ape. I have had heard worse things… insulting even if it were up to me to judge. So… what do I do now? … Well… this situation is just getting awkward… I think it is a good time I change back. However, I may regret the choice… who knows? Tetras turned to Umbra and Lara and while those three turned away from me I changed from human to dragon. I stood there waiting for the three dragons talking to each other to finish. After a couple of minutes and nothing changing I was done being silent. I got their attentions back to me by clearing my throat.

"So, you three going to chat all day? If so, then I will go and find something else to do while you three chat away."

Lara and the two adult dragons turned back to face me; the adult dragon and dragoness with expressions of shock. My mate had a smile on her face as she made her way over to me. Once she got to where I was, she rubbed her head against the underside of my head. However, I kept my sight on the two dragons that could and likely were my "adopted parents". Tetras was the first to speak out of the group.

"Ah, you are the white dragon from earlier!"

I nodded. Umbra appeared to be having a kind of argument with herself. She seemed to be trying to decide whether she wanted to rush forward and… *gulp* hug me, or drag; I would assume Tetras and before she does the same as the former option, just with Tetras watching! I want neither option, but I doubt Umbra will give me the choice or have any say in it. Tetras seemed to notice that Umbra was having trouble with something; I could see he was aware by the expression on his face as he looked at Umbra.

"Umbra… what is it? Is this white dragon reminding you of… Asreyel?"

You know what… every time I hear that name… I get a powerful urge to break something! Yet as before I shall resist!

'Aw, now that's not nice for you to say that about the one who was us before you even came into being.'

At hearing the one that infuriated me so; a glower flashed across my face for a little less than a second, before I forcefully wiped it from my face.

'I didn't ask your opinion Jack***!'

Now, after hearing Asreyel's comment; the urge to break something got stronger! I cleared my head of these thoughts and brought my attention to the two dragons in front of me. I have my reservations… okay, I have many of them and some of them are extreme! Still, what am I going to say to these two?! THIS EVENT MAKES LITTLE SENSE AND I CAN'T SEE HOW IT CAN GET ANY MORE SO THAN IT IS!

Lara went over to Umbra and Tetras and was talking to them. When she did I felt a presences that I had felt earlier that I had completely forgot had been there. … I JUST HAD TO ASK DIDN'T I?! DANG IT! NEVER MIND THE TWO FOR ONE SALE I WAS GOING ON ABOUT BEFORE! WHY FATE DO YOU SEE FIT TO HAVE A HILARIOUS TIME BY SHOVING A THREE FOR ONE BARGIN SALE DOWN MY THROAT?! … Pardon the mental yelling… rant… back to what I was saying about my situation. I felt a presences from earlier, which would be… my 'mother-in-law' Tiamat. I turned my head and looked at the face of the blue dragoness who still had the look of someone lost in her eyes. I'm kind of curious how long she has been around and how much she has heard… and taken in.

I smiled slightly not knowing what else to do with the blue dragoness being on my right and slightly behind me at the moment. With no idea what to expect for Tiamat, I just kept smiling and stood where I was. If I were to go by experience, Tiamat wasn't very responsive to much of what I did before. She had started by walking up to me and touching me. After touching me she merely commented on my scale color and the only thing I was able to get out of her was her name other than the comment on my scale color. What had followed had been an awkward silence between the two of us.

The last thing I thought would happen was what did; Tiamat moved forward and hugged me gently. I felt myself tense; however, I was able to prevent the shaking for the moment that had happened with Umbra; I hadn't been able with that one. I have no clue why the dragoness did this to me; I still don't completely understand why dragon kind do some of the things they do. I likely never will, I can't really say what the future will hold. My attention returned to the world around me, out of the zone as it were that I usually go into when I think, by the blue dragoness that was currently embracing me.

"You… look sad… why are you… sad?"

Tiamat still spoke in a quiet whisper. She thinks I'm sad? She's still talking to me? I don't know which question to answer first. I mean, sadness is one of the emotions I have felt during this event, but sadness isn't the strongest feeling I have had in this. Although, I would rather not debate which feeling has been the strongest; I have wondered if I have lost my mind already and can't see it or if I'm still in the process of losing my mind. Again, the argument of sanity verse insanity; the conundrum has been haunting me recently. I just wish it could leave me alone! I want to be sane!

"Well, I am kind of sad; but… it is complicated… what I am feeling right now."

I was silent after saying that. Tiamat, I saw out of the corner of my eye; seemed to be thinking.

"It will… be okay… it will work out."

I was about to reply, yet was interrupted by a voice whose owner was ahead of the way my body was facing and not my head.

"MOM!"

My head, which had lowered as I had been thinking and talking with Tiamat; snapped up to gaze at Lara. She was staring in an expression that was a mix of happiness and shock; which was understandable as clinging to me was her mother. Tiamat stared blankly at Lara… oh boy… I see major damage control coming my way in the very near future. My question that I really shouldn't ask, but will anyway; how much damage control will it be? As it happens… oh so often for me; my answer came promptly and clearly.

"… Who are you? I have seen… one with… purple scales… but it was… long ago… but… that could have… been a dream…"

… Oh my freaking good Golly! This may turn out to be some of the biggest and worst damage control I have ever had to do in my life! That's seriously saying something in my case! I was having enough problems with the healing relationship between Lara and Tarra. Now, I have a far more dire situation that I get to attempt to fix! And here I thought I could start recovering from the sleep I lost trying to comfort Lara many nights when she had thought her friendship with Tarra was in trouble; only to have sleep deprivation come back to me and hit me with a vengeance.

-Scene change-

So… yeah, my standing dilemma is… I can't think of a right or proper way to exactly describe it. Why does my life get so complicated so quickly?!

Okay, I believe I said that I would get to do damage control… what I should have said, was I got to try and fail spectacularly at comforting Lara and feeling horrible throughout and after that said event. In other words, I got to experience what's akin to having a rope tied around your ankles, the other end of the rope connected to the back of a hot-rod and being dragged through hell while the hot-rod is gunning at one hundred and twenty plus miles per hour. OH! And did I mention the devil was in the driver seat and has the song "Highway to Hell" blaring at a volume that I can't drowned out the whole torturous trip of being dragged through hell! And he's sing along with the song the whole way! That's what this time of doing damage control felt like. To think that was just the first session; this is going to be very hard on me!

Not to say I blame Lara for breaking down to an extent; her mother said she doesn't know who she is anymore. That hurts! And then Lara's mother being… um broken like she is… that just makes the pain worse. I helped the best I could, which is very little; yet I try. Lara had asked to be left alone for a bit afterwards. I'm worried about the female that I have been growing accustom to having around me. And that's how I find myself milling around the village surrounded by the inhabitance. I'm not going to complain about this as I haven't got this kind of time to myself for a while.

I was walking through the village, with no current worries; that's different for me for a while. I have been in a constantly in a state of worry for some reason or another, which I have little if any control over. Such is life for me; and it has kept getting worse as of late. It wasn't just Neval or Nergal; he just was a catalyst in this. … Why is it that my life ends out being an equivalent to an entertainment show or a sporting event?! I wonder what else… NO! I won't ask that question! I don't want the answer to it! I have more than enough on my plate to deal with right now; I don't need to screw myself over!

It wasn't more than ten seconds then I heard a commotions from the way Neval and I came from to enter the lunar village. I turn slowly to face that direction with a sick feeling of foreboding. Down a ways from the main village I say a growing number of apes appearing out of the forest like ghost or specters. … What the hell is this?! I didn't actually finish asking that question! I might have started to inquire, but I didn't finish… This is going to be one of those kind of days; the ones it would have been easier to not get out of bed! I was noticed by the apes and a large number changed their direction and charged forward towards me. Well then… dress rehearsal for hell it is then! BRING IT!

-Spyro's pov-

I am worried about Saber. With him being attacked last night and though he's okay; with how he was, when he was found worries me! I am glad he's doing better now, but what could do that to Saber. Having seen Saber fight and I know he is not one that can be beaten easily. I have a hard time believing that Saber didn't see anything of the one who did that to him. He takes in details far too well to not have gotten something that could give information to who his attacker was.

The next thing I know there was a commotion heard from the direction that we came into the village last night. I was trying to process what was happening when the large human like male I had seen earlier came out of the trees and into the structures of the village.

"Well all be, if it ain't the other purple dragone… You'll hafta forgive me; I dinin't a catch yer name before."

The way this large creature spoke was very different than any other I have been around… other than Sen and I can't understand what he says without Saber telling me.

"It is Spyro… um Wolfe was it not."

The large… human? Whatever he was, he nodded in confirmation to his name.

"That's wright. Now, even with you being visitors an all… these hairy inturdars are really given us alot of trouble, ya understand? If ya could help us by lenden a paw… well, would be very much obliged."

I agreed on helping Wolfe with trying to keep the inhabitance of the village. As I was I came across Neval. He was looking around and then shaking his head and… I think whispering something. I really do not know Neval much at all; I have only heard mention of him from the guardians. I managed to stop Neval and get his attention.

"Neval, thank the Chronicler, please we need your help protecting the village inhabitance and fending off the apes."

"Well um… Spyro… It is not a good idea for me to fight. So…"

I stared at Neval Confused. Why would it not be a good idea?! At times like this when apes are attacking everyone is needed!

"Neval! Now is not the time to say things like that! The apes are attacking, you can help!"

I am one who normally does not like to argue and I do not do it often; but the village and all those here including ourselves are in danger! It was as I was waiting for Neval's answer; that I noticed something odd. Neval's head… jerked in an unusual way. I know it is probably nothing to worry about or notice, but I have learned something while I have been around Saber. The small details can be just as important as ones that are easy to see and often are more important than those anyone can notice. I wondered what this jerk could mean or why it happened, when Neval spoke.

"Why would I do something to help dragons and dragonesses that only care about themselves?!"

… Huh?! I shook my head in bewilderment at what Neval just said.

"Sup all, like, what's happening dudes?"

I spun around to see Sen… I do not understand what he just said. Then again, I feel that way most of the time with what Sen says. Saber seems to understand what Sen says, but he is the only one normally and he tends to tell the rest of us. … Now that I think about it, I have not seen Saber since this morning when he woke up. With the apes attacking… I hope he is alright. There was silence after Sen had spoken.

"Uh dudes, ya all doing okay? You look like you just got raked over man, totally not cool dudes."

Neval stared at Sen than snorted.

"You are the one that is around the white scaled freak. You are as bad as him; go away!"

Neval had not been like this earlier when I had talked to him. Sen, who usually is nice even if no one can understand him looked like he was… getting angry?

"Not cool man. I can like take the insults dude, but I don't let another dis my bro!"

"Spyro what is going on?"

I turned to see Cynder; who was accompanied by Seth, Cyra and Fredrick. I shrugged for I did not exactly know. It was Sen's voice that got the attention of everyone including myself.

"But then, guessed you would be the backstabbing type man. My bro, is rarely wrong on pegging what people are like dude. And he pegged you as bogus guy man, and now we see ya for what my bro pegged ya for Goldie Scales."

What does Sen even mean by… um, bow-gus? And Goldie Scales?

-Saber's pov-

There was screaming and panicking by most of those around. The apes, who I hadn't expected, had thrown a surprise at us and had done so very successfully. By the time I was able to get my senses back into businesslike working order; this once peaceful and quite village had become a chaotic battlefield. I had gotten separated from my friends and those with them; so I don't know where they are at all. I would have said I was now alone, but that isn't so as I felt I had company that I'm certainly not fond of! I turned to my left to face one I hadn't seen for a while and could have gone without seeing for a good while longer if I had gotten my way!

"Kee kee kee kee, we meet again; how wonderful for us!"

I glare at the monkey who has tried many times to kill me, starting not too long after I had arrived in the dragon realm. Yes, standing in front of me was the monkey Mara, the leader of the silent killers. I could tell she wasn't alone and it was easy to for me to sense and understand a fact; I was most likely out matched in this! My glance flicked to my right and found Sheras; I flicked my sight over to the left side and saw the male monkey from the battle outside of Warfang somewhat close to a year ago. The monkey, who got close to doing me in and would have if not for my tail blade. Great, three against one, isn't that just fan-freaking-tastic!

"So we do Mara, can't say it's a pleasure as that would be a lie and I just detest lying, even to those I can call enemies or pests."

I heard Sheras giggle to my right.

"Still have that amusing wit of yours. Admittedly, Mara is not the only one of us who has been looking forward to meeting you again, Saber, was it not?"

Again, that was from Sheras. I sighed at the comment.

"Oh goodie, it sure is nice to be so popular with you lot… really it is. By the way…"

I pointed a talon at the male I didn't know.

"I have yet to get a name for that one, so anyone of you care to answer and give a name?"

"Reyas."

That came from none other than the male monkey himself. I once again, sighed at this development.

"I take it you are still interested and intend to kill me if you get the opportunity, correct?"

There was silence, yet I could feel the killing intent coming off the three monkeys increase slightly in response to my question. There is no doubt they still want to kill me, they do. Well, I will give the same opportunity to kill me as they got before, as little as possible!

Yet in this fight that was about to start, things were already against me. I may be a good fighter, but even I'm not a god by any means! I'm just good at taking a licking and keeping myself going and in the end outlast my opponent. Ridiculous amounts of stamina and extremely long endurance are my saving graces in fights like the one I was in now! I'm fine with facing one silent killer; doesn't matter which one I get to go against, I fine with going one on one with any of them. Going against two of them… I'm still okay with; there are some combinations that would be harder than others, but I'm still, fairly confident I could win that type of fight given enough time and putting forth a great deal of effort. I could probably do three… were I at peak condition. Unfortunately, I'm still recovering from a near death experience with Darkhar the night previous; so… yeah, this fight wasn't going well for me and it was just starting.

I knew I was in direr straights; up 'crap creek without a paddle' so to speak, by little after six or seven minutes into this fight. I was breathing harder than usual, which is a given but still more so then I would like. My 'Orichalcum scales' may have helped me against Darkhar, but they apparently only worked against him and presumably others of the ancient enemy. The monkeys were having trouble against me, yet no more than they had previous times still they were winning for the moment. Well, as they have an advantage in mobility; best to cancel that out by going human!

I shifted into my human form before once again taking stock of my standing. Now that I was human, I had different tools to work with. Of course, I had Yubashiri as well as the grapple shot. And those two tools are wonderful and will be put to excellent use against the silent killers. Then I had my more recent acquisition, the sword I got from my stay with the apes before I had been turned back to a dragon. I had decided to name the sword Cyan and for whatever reason it sounded right. Oh, and of course my increased agility and my martial arts to work with; we can't forget those wonderful things! The battle continued on as for about an hour.

The fight was still a three monkeys versing just me and let me tell you that's a hard fight. I can and have faced multiple opponents in matches and battles, but experienced fighters make such things, know that kind of situation, makes survival much more difficult! In this fight I was learning how to duel wield weapons with the sink or swim method and in very deep water at that. … Well I have always thought being able to duel wield would be handy and cool, so now is as good a time to learn the skill as ever! I held Cyan in my left hand and Yubashiri in my right; granted I wasn't able to strike with as much strength, but the force didn't decrease very much. I was using momentum to try to make up for the drop in strength.

I found that my left gauntlet was perfectly able to successfully block Reyas's ball and chain. I would need to remind myself to personally thank the moles that had helped me build and design this piece of equipment when I get back to Warfang! I had come up with the armored plate gauntlet after going against Reyas the last time and now it proves to be a good idea to work with! I was doing okay against the three silent killers, but I was slowly losing ground to them. Within fifteen minutes I was in a bad position. I needed help and I needed a game changer now! I don't care what it was, as long as I got help, I am good with whatever! I held Yubashiri and Cyan at the ready. As if my thought was heard by some deity or it could have been just coincidence of happenstance; something did happen.

There was a flash followed by smoke in the middle of the field of battle. When the smoke cleared I saw a figure standing there. I stared dumbfounded at the figure I could now not only see clearly, but could identify. The creature in front of me was human and a female. The female was a young woman that stood at about five foot six. For what skin was visible, which was her neck and hands mostly; was close to being porcelain white but not quite. Still she had very white skin. It was also clear as day she had a well-defined hourglass figure; from her well-endowed chest to her cinched waist that I wouldn't doubt other girls would be green with envy! Going down from her midriff which was toned and smooth; to her hips that weren't as big as her bust, yet they couldn't be any more than six inches different!

She had long straight white hair mixed with lavender. Her hair appeared to be like silk, or at least had the same texture and smoothness to it as silk. Two streaks on either side of her bangs that framed her face were a lavender color as was the last inch of the rest of her hair. The girl's hair length was at the moment to her waist though she had her hair in a braid in the back so it was longer when unbraided. She also had two braids on either side of her face, but they aren't as long as her back braid.

Her face was covered by a mask at the moment. The mask was one of those I have seen in books about Japanese history… it's a bit of a hobby of mine. Its base color was white and was shaped to an extent, like a fox. There were pointy ears on the top that were colored red inside yet outlined by white. On the forehead was a circular red cloud spiral in the middle and on either side two short line markings slanted inward. The farthest line out was an inch and the one next to it was an inch and a half. Half an inch below the spiral was a thick gold line went to the top of the nose protruding outward. Around the eye holes was black paint that was slanted for a more Asian look to them and had a small red line at the upward end of the eye piece. There were three lines on the sides where the 'cheeks' would be; reminded me of whiskers. The nose protruded outward as I mentioned before, not completely like a fox's muzzle does; but meant I believe to have the likeness of a fox. Red lines made its mouth on either side of the 'muzzle' to finish the look.

The young woman was wearing a top that looked almost exactly like a kimono. The clothing was tight against her as her curves being as defined as they were attested, yet it seemed to be able to let her move freely. This was proved when she looked around herself, probably taking in her surroundings. Then she was wearing shorts that went to her mid-thigh; they were black in color. About two inches below the bottom of the shorts, just above her knees; she wore white socks that went down the rest of the length of her legs. She wore light combat boots, which normally would have clashed horribly with the rest of what she was wearing, but with this woman, it fit perfectly!

By the time I had fully taking in her appearance; the woman looked around and had lifted off her mask. I couldn't help but gape at the young woman when she had done so. Okay, even if it has been around a year since I have seen a human female; that's not exactly why I was dumbfounded. That's not what is causing my jaw to drop in shock though. No, what's causing that would be the fact that I knew this young woman as a quote unquote friend, much like Sen. Her name was…

"Chizuru!"

The young woman turned around and saw me. I heard her gasp as I assumed a response from seeing me.

"Saber?!"

"What are you doing here?!"

I barely finished asking my question when I sensed and heard the encroaching movements of the silent killers I would guess as they had been chasing me. Now wasn't the time for Chizuru and me to chat and catch up with each other; not when we have assassins almost on top of us. Chizuru apparently noticed the movement and within seconds we were back to back facing outward for defense. Chizuru and I had always worked well as a team. She was always a little different kind of like me and that's probably why we have gotten along with one another. Chizuru had been… a friend or the closest idea to that I had. We had met not too long after I had found the dojo.

"Chizuru as nice as it would be to catch up… I don't think now is exactly the best time."

We started slowly spinning, trying to guess where the first attack would come from so that maybe we could predict where those that would follow would attempt to hit us. Chizuru had drawn a Kodachi blade and now it was in her right hand, while her left hand… was holding fire and it was blue?!

"Hey, Chizuru?"

"Yeah?"

We kept going around waiting for the silent killers to make their next move.

"Since when could you make and hold blue fire?"

"As you said before, this really isn't the time to go into details."

"Good point."

I had barely finished replying when the first strike came and it was in the form of Mara rushing forward from the cover of trees and throwing a punch at me. I used Yubashiri to intercept Mara and force her back by swinging down and outward. I heard a bang of metal meeting metal from behind me, and then the sound of fire flying through the air. The attacks kept coming at both of us and if we hadn't been back to back they would have likely separated us and picked us off separately. However, we stayed together and were able to defend against the on-slot.

During this fight I learned and observed that somehow, Chizuru could conjure and manipulate fire of colors I have never seen. Each different colored fire did something a little different than the others. I would have wondered about that, if not for two things; we were in the middle of a fight that should we lose, we will die. The other reason; I can do really weird crap with the elements myself… so I'm not one to talk! I mean, while Chizuru was throwing fire, I was sending lightning, earth and ice shots at those who came at me.

The battle drug on and just kept going in the same basic pattern. That's until there was an explosion around Chizuru and I, forcing the monkeys back and in different directions. I really didn't care about where the explosion came from or what had cause it at this time; it had helped our plight and that's what matters. I glance at Chizuru.

"I guess now we hunt down us some monkeys and make them run or stay down."

Chizuru nodded to me before she shot into the trees after one of the monkeys and I went in the opposite way that at least one if not two monkeys went. I hadn't been running long when I heard scuffling ahead. I picked up my pace and came out the forest and into part of the lunar village. Scanning the area for the target I had been chasing down; I spotted Mara coming out of the rubble of the building she had smashed into when she stopped.

"You lost round one; you ready for round two?"

Mara lunged at me and so started round two! Thankfully, I had gotten my second wind and it was mixed with a little adrenaline! So, this round was going better than round one had as I was doing one on one and I was in slightly better standing at the moment. Mara and I were exchanging blows, not looking where we were or what our fight was doing to the village around us. Thankfully, there was none of the inhabitance where our fight was happening; so, in the idea of inhabitance, no harm no foul I suppose. Can't say the same for the structures around us by any means; they were suffering a good portion of the energy from our fight. It's not like we took notice of the collateral damage we were doing other than the fragments and shards of materials flying in all the direction; we just knew enough about them to dodge them as we fought. This was going to be long, grueling… and one of the more fun fights I have had in a while! … Wait! Now that I think about it, this could work great for stress relief and have I built up stress today that I need to get down! Oh boy, I can have fun with this for stress relief purposes!

-Spyro's pov-

It had taken some time, yet Wolfe, myself and others were able to quell good portion of the panic and chaos that the apes have caused. We were managing okay with all that was going on when I found myself next to Cynder and Lara.

"Spyro!"

"I am fine Cynder."

Cynder still looked me over, checking to make sure I was okay. It was then that Lara asked a question.

"Spyro, do you know where Saber is?!"

I slowly shook my head as I did not know. Sen then chimed in as he was still in the area.

"No worries man, like I was, totally sayin before; my bro can look after himself dude and dudettes."

Moments later, there came a crash from the direction that the apes were coming from. The crash was followed by a series of bangs and crashes; making me wonder what was the cause of the commotion. Most of us could only stare as the crashes got closer to where we were.

"*Crash* THAT ALL YOU GOT FURBALL?! *Crash*"

…. Was that Saber? Two figures burst out of the greenery one was one of the smaller apes and the other was Saber, but he was human right now. He had two of his… swords? No, Saber calls them… blades or something like that; though Saber has not ever used two of them at the same time before that I have seen. The small ape screeched at Saber and lunged at him; and it latched itself on to him. I was about to go and help, but apes rushed forward and took my attention off Saber. Unfortunately, all of us were caught in the same situation.

-Saber's pov-

I could hear the fighting going on around me as I continued round two with Mara. This bout with Mara was going fine until she let out a screech and lunged at me; she managed to latch onto me. Then the fight transformed into something similar to a schoolyard brawl! What Mara doesn't know, is when it comes to schoolyard brawls; I'm king! I have been in more of free-for-all brawls than most ever get into, a side effect of the war with bullies. But I have a lot of experience with these kind of fights and I am mean in them! Mara managed to get around to my back and was, by the ripping sounds I was hearing, tearing up my coat! I like this Coat! Fine Mara, you wish to fight dirty, then prepare to get thoroughly down and dirty monkey!

"Oh! Like to fight rough do you?! Well then, down and dirty fighting it is!"

Mara was keeping around the area of my back so that I would have difficulty reaching her… what a foolish notion that is!

"Time to change this up with a bang!"

Okay... without going into great detail that would take a lengthy amount of time; the fight between Mara and myself, got very dirty and… well, I'll leave it at that to save myself from having to go into explicit descriptions. The main fact that's important from this, would be I'm still king of free-for-all brawls. In other words, I won Mara lost. The same was true of the Apes and those fighting from the village; the apes were forced to run away. The only downside of this would be the mess that was left from all of this.

-Scene Change-

I had stayed in my human form even after the battle. While those around me were helping with the cleanup; I decided to see if I couldn't find Chizuru as I hadn't seen her since she came into the fight. It had started to get dark by the time I spotted my friend Chizuru. Most of the village inhabitance had gathered and were listening to Wolfe; how was filling the position of leader very nicely. I found Chizuru leaning up against a tree outside of the crowd watching, but unnoticed by others. I came up next to her and spoke in a singsong tone of voice.

"~So, whatcha thinking about Chizuru?~"

I fully expected that she would just shrug like she always has every time I have tried to sneak up on her before many times. I have never once been able to surprise Chizuru and I have tried; she somehow always knows before I can surprise her that I'm there. That's why when I observed that Chizuru jerked a little with surprise as I spoke to her, I mentally patted myself on the back for having for the first time caught Chizuru off guard. I have to say that Chizuru isn't one you can sneak up on or surprise easily at all; that is one thing I have learned over the many years! She turned and gave me a glare and started to berate me.

I failed to react to her glare or hear her chiding me, as I was distracted by a rather unusual and very unexpected sight. I was held as if spellbound by the view of pointy foxlike ears that were now visibly sticking out of Chizuru's hair on her head. They were the same shade of white as her hair was. I barely registered my face form an expression of gawking and awe at what I was seeing. I would have kept staring, but then there was movement I caught that was coming from behind Chizuru. I leaned to my right slightly and… Are those tails waving behind her… from her rear or there a bouts?! Again the 'Tails' as there were multiple tails waving and were the same shade of white as her hair; just like the ears. During my observations, Chizuru was all the while chiding me, completely oblivious that I wasn't really listening to her; I was too busy staring at the odd, yet just as oddly fitting features that I have never seen on her before.

"… Honestly Saber, why do you see the need to try and sneak up on me whenever you see an opportunity?!"

I snapped back to attention at that line. My reply came without me… filtering it at all.

"Well technically in my defense Chizuru, this is the first time I've actually been successful on sneaking up as you put it and surprising you and that's certainly not for lack of trying as you well know. I'm used to you telling me just how useless it is to attempt to sneak up on you… So… since when do you have… um… fox ears… and bushy tails?"

Chizuru blinked at my statement with a look of confusion.

"What are you…"

As she was speaking she felt her head. When she touched the fox ears, Chizuru abruptly stopped talking and stiffened. Her green eyes went wide with her pupils becoming pinpricks. Next she twisted around looking at the blatantly wagging, bushy tails, now I could see there were two of them doing said action by my view. Chizuru ever so slowly twisted back to face me; I could swear there was a quiet creak as she turned. Her eyes were wide with, shock, fear and annoyance as she looked at me. We stared at one another for a full minute which was made of an awkward silence, before Chizuru began to panic. One of her hands went to her head attempting to cover her ears or at least flatten them down to her head. The other went to her behind and held her tails. All of this being done, in Chizuru's attempt to hide these features for whatever reason she had.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm astounded at what I'm seeing; I'll admit it. However, within the last year I have seen far stranger things that someone with fox ears and a tail. Hell I've experienced things that go far beyond stranger than that in the last year! Chizuru has since I first met her been… I don't know… a bit different than other girls I had been around. It's probably one of the reasons we got along as well as we do to a degree. So her having fox ears and tails doesn't add all that much more to her being different in my view.

"AAAAH! No no no, this can't be happening! These aren't supposed to do this!"

I was worried about how Chizuru was acting at the moment; I think anyone would be. Her reaction… well, it worries me greatly. She should know I wouldn't see her differently after seeing… this.

"Chizuru, are you okay?"

Chizuru looked back at my face. It was clear in her eyes that she hadn't wanted anyone to see her ears and tails. Yet, I can't think of why. Yes, you don't see people with ears like that and definitely no tail. But, why should that be such a big deal? Chizuru's expression changed and I could tell she was doing some really quick thinking.

"Um… well… Saber this is… Ah, this is cosplay! He he I'm a cute fox, yip yip, woof woof… he he he…"

I stared blankly at my friend. It's perfectly obvious she is lying; I mean even a child could see that! To think that… seriously, cosplaying?! That's her attempted excuse to get me to write this off! I'm nowhere near that gullible and dumb; she should know that! Chizuru was one of the few that could actually get away with lying to me, even with my amazing abilities to read body language. She was good at making you believe what she told you, even I had to admit that. That's why this excuse she is trying to feed me is so sad; it is dependent on me being dumber than a world class idiot, which I'm not. And so, Chizuru right now, in the condition she's in; couldn't lie convincingly enough to trick an outright gullible idiot! It was just that plain and simple!

"Chizuru… what do you take me for, the pinnacle of moronic dimwits?! You and I know that you're clearly lying. You're not cosplaying; that's more our… well friend, for lack of a better term, Sera's thing. You have never been into cosplaying that I or anyone else knows of; and if you were in to that, someone would have found out. So unless you're coming out of the closet about cosplaying being a secret hobby of yours because you're too embarrassed to admit you're into that kind of thing, your ruse won't work. I wouldn't blame you really though if this was a secret; because if Sera ever found out you had some kind of cosplay hobby… you would go through hell with her for her never knowing. Even, if you did have such a hobby, your acting is so see through and poor that even Sen would say in his lingual manner of his, 'That totally sucks dudette', and that's saying something and you know he would say that! I mean even Sera, the girl who would likely know more about cosplaying that almost anyone else I've been around would have to say that performance sucked! So, best just to start explaining Chizuru. I won't hold anything you say against you."

Chizuru sighs and nods.

"You're right Saber; I'm not cosplaying. I think cosplaying is kind of dumb. Yet when you have to suffer through the things Sera makes you watch her do… well…"

"I'm sorry that you have had to view one of her shows… I have seen one and… that was more than enough to last me a lifetime! … I will never get some of those images out of my head… she ruined classic fairy tales for me!"

Chizuru gave me a pained look.

"Just be happy that you haven't had to be shown her collections of outfits and asked to choose for her… I never thought anyone could take so long to choose clothing! And her reasons for why Sera couldn't wear one outfit compared to another were stupid and pointless!"

"T.M.I. Chizuru! Back to the topic of those ears and tails please!"

Chizuru took her hands away from her head and let go of her tails. Then she continued.

"Well, as you can see I'm not normal or human."

She looked at me nervously. Okay, has she forgotten that she's talking to the king of weird, freaky, creepy and most things non-normal!? I draw that type stuff on a regular basis! And my status in the idea has only gone up since I got here to the dragon realm! I face palmed at Chizuru's statement.

"Chizuru, maybe you haven't noticed over the years we have known each other; that I myself, am around more 'non-humans' than I can count lately. I somehow attract weird and unusual ideas to me; was the case even before I even got here. How you can have missed what my bad luck does to me, has done to me and will likely keep doing to me over the years we have known each other; I could never even guess?!"

Chizuru giggled at my reply while I rolled my eyes.

"So, you some kind of fox woman or something then? What's so bad about that?"

She smiled.

"The proper term is Kitsune, but fox woman would do as well. I'm kind of amazed; most people would be… freaking out much more than you are now."

Okay… I could be strolling down the roads in hell with demons and devils having a bloody civil war and I could have people thinking I was taking a nice, calm Sunday walk in the park. It takes something nearly world shattering to get me freaking out. Anyway, back to the subject at paw… wait, I have hands at the moment! Oh how I have missed them! I have nothing against paws or anything; I just have grown up with hands and so love having use of them.

"Kitsune? What like from the Japanese myths and legends with the nine tailed fox and such?"

Chizuru clapped her hands together.

"Ah! You have heard some of the tales of Kitsunes then?"

I nodded.

"Yeah, Cutler Clouse told me some of them."

Chizuru paused after I had told her whom it was that told me about Kitsune.

"Cutler was it? … Yes, I keep forgetting that he does have Japanese heritage. I hope he didn't… say it in his usual manner."

I sighed at what Chizuru implied, but didn't say directly.

"I'll not repeat what he said, only the subject matter he was talking about."

"I take that to mean he told the tales he did in the sardonic and satirical way that is a part of his speech?"

I stared at my friend for a moment, before I made my reply.

"Chizuru, you do know that both sardonic and satirical pretty much be summed up by saying that Cutler is sarcastic right?"

She nodded.

"Yes however, you are sarcastic, but not the same."

I stiffened at the comment. While it's true that I'm sarcastic and very proud of it… Cutler who is a friendly acquaintance; is sarcastic is a different way than I am.

"No, we are not the same… I know when I should stop being sarcastic, I just choose to keep going half the time. Cutler doesn't seem to know where that point is… plus he is more cynical than me, at least he doesn't filter it where I do. Cutler is really a nice guy… once you get past the couple of personality flaws he has."

Chizuru glared at me.

"You mean his sharp attitude, and the way he gets under most people's skins."

I nodded sadly.

"Yeah, that's to what I'm referring to; just trying to put it nicely."

Chizuru sighed and continued where she had left off before I had brought up our mutual acquaintance.

"Well, there is more truth to those tales than most think."

I looked at her blankly.

"For example?"

I wanted to know what she was getting at, nonetheless at the same time not sure it would be a good thing for me to know. Chizuru kept smiling at me and giggled a little.

"There really are nine tailed foxes. One of the most well-known examples would be Tamamo-no-Mae. Although, the story and legends aren't entirely correct; there were some misunderstandings as I understand it… more unknown circumstances that the tale don't say."

I was getting rather curious how she would know any of this! Sure, she probably is a Japanese demon or fox woman. But come on, those tales come from a time long passed.

"And, just how would you know that there were misunderstandings in those stories?"

"My grandma would talk about them."

… Yeah, my question still stands! The only difference that makes is I would being asking your grandma how she would know.

"And how would your grandma know?"

Chizuru put a finger to her chin.

"Well… it's kind of hard to believe at times, but she was there during the time that those stories were told and written."

Oh right, of course that's the case. A case of rotten and stinking crap! I have met Chizuru's grandma; she's a nice older lady. I'll be the first to say she doesn't look her age of… seventies or however old she is; she looks like she is in her late forties or early fifties. However, her being thousands of years old… I have a hard time buying it! … Wait… I guess I could possibly be older… Curse you Bahamut… and f**k you as well… fiddlesticks!

With the thoughts of Bahamut coming to mind, my mood took a hit and went down to an extent. I admit I have issues with that dragon and leave it at that! I didn't show it outwardly, but I felt it. My head had tilted down as I had been thinking and so I raised it up and looked Chizuru in the eyes.

"Chizuru, do you legitimately think your grandma was alive at that time. I mean, for argument's sake; let's say she was. Your grandma really doesn't seem the type to be mean to others; Hell doubt she had a mean bone in her body. So, why would she ever hang around with those who were considered tricksters and old time con artists?"

Chizuru looked away from me and didn't meet my gaze at all.

"Well… she might seem like that to those who don't know her well especially those that aren't family, but for those she knows… it's a bit of a different story."

I didn't say anything; I was waiting for her to continue. There had to be a reason for her to say that about her grandma.

"Um… you remember the year after you met me, my mother and grandma; the local festival?"

… How could I ever forget that festival?! That was the year I had got flattened and injured, nearly crushed by the SWAT team! That's something you don't exactly forget as long as you live! Still why would Chizuru bring that up? I nodded slowly in answer to her inquiry.

"Well, you remember how my grandma took quite a shine to you within that year and… um grandma has a bit of an odd way of showing when she likes someone."

While it was true about Chizuru's grandma; she had taken a liking to me pretty much at our first meeting. I haven't the faintest clue why she did, but that's not the point in this. Chizuru's grandma would hug me like one would a big teddy bear. Normally I would have been against that, yet there had been something about her grandma that… well for lack of better words put me at ease. Like a great deal of things with me; I can't explain how it works or why it does. Anyways, she was one of the few adults I could stand being around. I don't understand what that has to do with the festival that had ended so badly.

"Okay… what does your grandma showing affection have to do with you bringing up that festival Chizuru?"

She became downcast and didn't look at me.

"Well… She's the reason… the SWAT team was there."

I blinked as I processed the information.

"What do you mean, she's the reason the SWAT team was there?!"

Chizuru sighed sadly.

"She watched your fight with those guys from the other dojo. She saw how one of them had done something underhanded. I think she wanted to help you, yet she also have some fun scaring you a bit; she does do that from time to time. Anyways… she called the authorities and told them a ridiculous story, which the authorities in response sent the SWAT team for and… um… you know what happened after they arrived."

So… that whole incident, other than the part of the fight itself, was caused by Chizuru's grandma?! Is that what she is trying to tell me?! I was getting a little angry at hearing this.

"You knew about her doing this before or after?"

Chizuru gave me a pained smile.

"I found out a couple of days later; she thought you would smile and laugh about what she did later… obviously you didn't, but that's what she thought."

I got two broken ribs, bruising all over my body and several other injuries because of that debacle! And the one that is possibly responsible thinks I would get a laugh out of it?! That's as funny as a rubber crutch in a polio ward! HA HA HA WHEE! Chizuru kept going with her comment.

"As you say about pranks; the mark of a good prank is that no one can pin it or even guess on the culprit. Grandma has really mastered that idea over the many years."

I was fuming at this new information. I however, decided to get back to the previous question pushed down my fury.

"So your grandma likes to prank people, fine; what does that have to do with her and Japanese legends and folklore?"

Chizuru was silent for a minute before she answered me.

"Grandma use to be known by the name of Tamamo-no-Mae, the nine tails."

I just stood there and looked at Chizuru stupidly on the spot after hearing what she had said.

"I'm sorry, I must have heard you wrong. I thought you said that your grandma was once called by the name Tamamo-no-Mae, but that can't..."

"That's what I said. Trust me, looking at her; it can be a lot to swallow."

My eyes were wide at her conformation and the realization of what that meant!

"You're telling me that your grandma Tama, is in fact, one of the most famous beings from Japanese fairytales as well as sparking a great deal of Asian folklore! She's that nine tailed fox?!"

Chizuru simply nodded. My knees were starting to jellify at understanding that one of the nicest older ladies I know; is actually one of the best tricksters that has ever existed. I sunk to my knees then my rear plopped to the ground and I just sat there.

"To think I have been around the one, known to be arguably the greatest prankster and trickster of all time and I didn't even know it."

Chizuru sat down next to me and smiled.

"Yeah, I reacted much like you are now when grandma Tama told me. She has proven that she really is good at fooling others and has had millennia of practice at it."

We sat there in silence for a while, before Chizuru spoke again.

"So… you have been spending your time with dragons then, have you?"

I nodded.

"I would bet Sen would be so jealous were he to find out."

I looked at Chizuru for a moment, and then I broke out laughing.

"What's so funny Saber?"

Instead of replying by answering Chizuru, I dropped to the ground and rolled around laughing at what Chizuru had said. Sen being jealous of the current situation? Not a chance of that! He's on freaking cloud nine and riding it to the fullest, better than Son Goku and his flying Nimbus! Sen's living his dream of not just being around dragons; but also being a dragon himself and he is loving it completely. He's having the time of his life! Chizuru became a little annoyed at me laughing.

"Are you going to tell me the joke that I missed or are you going to just keep laughing?"

It took me a few minutes to calm down even a little. By the time I was able to; I noted that Chizuru had hid the kitsune features. I was about to answer when Chizuru and I heard a voice.

"Yo bro, what's the sweet word that totally has you laughing like that dude?"

Well… I don't think I could have answered the question better myself… and so promptly. This is one of the few times that fate proves to be a nice idea, it's rare but it happens. I managed to contain myself somewhat as both Chizuru and I turned to see the one who had spoken. I saw Sen coming over to us; Chizuru just stared. I couldn't help but resume laughing and rolling around on the ground at the sight of Sen. This scene and circumstance was hysterical to me! It had been clear that Chizuru had recognized Sen's voice, but of course not his current form. It just made this spectacle all the more funny to me!

"What is Saber laughing about?"

That was from Spyro. The next thing I hear was Sen's voice.

"Dunno dude. But whatever has him like this; it's totally awesome man! Bro rarely laughs like this dude!"

I felt a stitch quickly developing in my side from how hard I was laughing and with the scene that was playing out in front of me; it isn't going to stop any time soon! I heard Chizuru sigh in accepted exasperation; I could almost see her shaking her head even though my eyes were closed as I kept rolling back and forth laughing like a mad man. The sound of most of my friends asking questions that went along the lines of what I was doing and why I was doing what I was, came to my ears. After ten minutes of laughing my head nearly off; I managed to calm down and compose myself. I saw that all present were looking at me. Pretty much most of my friends I had made thus far were there; other than Tarra and Lara. Even Spectra was here staring at me with curiosity.

"I take it you're done laughing exuberantly."

I was wiping my eyes as I had broken into tears during my laughing spell. I was about to answer when Sen cut in as he does without thinking.

"Whoa! Chizuru?! I never thought we would see you here dudette. Isn't this place righteous girl?!"

Chizuru and I sighed in sync at Sen's question and I followed it with my comment to him.

"Sen… why is it that you see the need to say whatever thought comes to your mind? Can you not read the flow of the conversation?"

Chizuru followed me up with her own piece.

"Indeed Sen, I was talking to Saber and you interrupted… on the other hand; I see you have changed quite a bit since last I saw you."

Sen was bouncing a bit as he answered Chizuru.

"Yeah, it's awesome right?! I'm like totally a killer dragon Chi! I'm livin my dream dudette!"

Chizuru got the expression of annoyance back on her face.

"I have lost count of how many times I have told you not to use that silly nickname you came up with for me. It sounds stupid! Are you trying to get under my skin like Sera does?!"

Sen stopped bouncing.

"That's harsh Chi; on me and Sera dudette! She can be a little over baring fer sure, but she has always been seriously full of energy. It's who she is girl; she's just being herself dudette."

Everyone was silent and it got uncomfortable really fast. I cleared my throat to break the silence.

"Hey everyone, this is Chizuru Diaon, a… friend of mine."

Chizuru bowed to all the dragons and dragonesses in a formal greeting. Spectra was the first out of the group to speak up.

"Interesting, yet another human; however, unchanged into another form. Very interesting indeed."

Well, long discussion made short; Chizuru was better received than Sen was. Probably due to the fact that her language skills are far better and understandable than Sen's and her manners can outdo mine! … Not that outdoing me in manners is all that hard, but still. Everything was going perfectly fine… that's until we traveled further into the village and there we bumped into Lara and Tara… along with my 'adopted parents'. When that was added to the circumstances happening… things went from good to horrible for me! Allow me to elaborate what I'm talking about.

So the group I was in got to the central area of the lunar village. Well, that's when Lara spotted me and as in times before, she made a b-line for me. She gave me some of her usual signs of affections to show in her view that she cares. I'm just glad she isn't in the state she was before… to have to try to comfort a nearly inconsolable female, is just the pits and deep ones at that! It was as I was thinking this I felt someone staring; I turned to find it was Chizuru. The look on her face… Oh she had best not! With my peripheral vision I observed that everyone was pretty much talking amongst themselves. I noted that Chizuru was snickering and obviously holding in her laughter that directed at me and my expense. I glared at Chizuru with an expression that dared her to come out and say what was so funny.

It was plain that Chizuru had gotten the message that I had given her. She just didn't choose to follow the nonverbal message I sent. Chizuru's snickers turned into her laughing; it wasn't to the extent that I had earlier, but it was along the lines that I had done. I felt a great deal of annoyance at her actions. Most in the area were now looking at Chizuru. I decided to wait for her to stop, before I have her explain why she was doing what she is. Eventually, Chizuru calmed down enough to be able to speak again and so I asked my question.

"Chizuru, what is so funny; might I ask?"

My female friend smiled at me and I really didn't like how she was smiling at me!

"I never expected you Saber in your lifetime, to get yourself a girlfriend!"

I felt myself jerk at hearing Chizuru's exclamation. Is she… How can she… What is she trying to imply!?

"What are you trying to say Chizuru?!"

Chizuru began to snicker again. Lara took umbrage to Chizuru's actions and made her views of this vocal.

"And what is wrong with Saber not being able to get this… girl-friend idea?!"

… Oh Lara, you're not helping this situation! You're making it worse; especially with you not even knowing what a 'girlfriend' is. Actually that's kind of the sad thing in this. Lara said what is wrong with me not being able to have a life companion or in the common terms here, a mate. I have a mate, which is Lara and she says what is wrong with me not getting a mate?! … Is there anyone else seeing what is wrong with this or is it just me seeing things?!

"Lara please, just stop. You are not helping in this situation. You are just hurting yourself along with me."

Lara turned to face me with a questioning look. Chizuru had closed the distance between where I was and where she had been. I was sighing in defeat and shaking my head as Chizuru came over to where I was. Chizuru walked over to Lara and stood in front of her. The two females took a couple minutes and studied one another. It was interesting that Chizuru had a height of five feet six inches, and Lara's height was seven feet two inches. There was a difference of a foot and eight inches, where height was concerned. That however, didn't seem to be much of a thing with the two females. Following the staring contest, Chizuru glanced over to me.

"I assume that not understanding the meaning of particular words is something that comes up at times and is what causes misunderstandings like this?"

Chizuru's question acted like a trigger in my brain; I felt feelings of unfairness swell within me. I dropped to my knees and started hitting the ground with my right fist.

"You have no idea! How many times this has happened! How frustrating it is for me to have to attempt to explain what something means and they not grasp the concept!"

I managed to regain control of myself after a minute as I don't like to show emotions around others. When I had gotten back in control, I looked over at Lara who was still looking confused. I sighed before I spoke to her.

"Lara, a girlfriend is what human males call the female they are interested in and most of the time would eventually become life companions or as it is put here, mates. So, you kind of said 'what is wrong with me not being able to find a mate'. Not that you knew so I would not blame you as you did not know better. Do not worry about it Lara; it is okay."

I watched Lara as she processed the information I gave her. I could see the expression on her face become one of understanding and guilt as she comprehended what I had just told her. Her head lowered down as she spoke.

"Saber I am sorry! I did not mean it!"

I rolled my eyes and felt a smile grow on my face. I strode over to her and patted her head now that it was at a level to where I could pat her head.

"As I just said, it is fine Lara. I know you did not mean it."

"I never thought I would see you successfully console a girl Saber."

I swung around to face Chizuru who had spoken to me. I gave her a deadpan look as I replied.

"Necessity and experience are amazing teachers, aren't they?"

My friend just smiled and nodded, while I sighed.

"So, Chizuru; you interested in joining our merry band and coming with us?"

Chizuru did agree to come with us. And so yet another of my human 'friends' somehow appears in the Dragon Realm. I will have to ask her later if she knows how she got here. Hopefully, she'll give me a better and more understandable explanation than I got from Sen. With the reappearance of the apes and the attack from Darkhar; I'm justifiably worried I think. Before this trip, the future was looking… kind of nice and pleasant; now it didn't look so bright.

Chapter end

A/n

LAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! I have introduced another mainstream character; Chizuru! She will play a part in this story, I assure you! Thank you readers for waiting and being patient with me. I hope the reaction that Saber had to… his family issues, was satisfying as that's how I would have seen it were I in his position (Glad I'm not!). Please take the time to write a review; I do like them so as they help me improve this story. I don't know how long it will take me to get out another chapter, school is time consuming. So don't bother asking, I don't have an answer.

By the way all, ArcticDragon Rider has started a forum (put "www" and fanfiction followed .net first as this format doesn't let website addresses be in text) /topic/159449/140172684/1/Chronicles-of-The-White-Dragon-Ideas-and-Discussions-Forumopic/159449/140172684/1/Chronicles-of-The-White-Dragon-Ideas-and-Discussions-Forum" for anyone who wishes to put forth ideas. I will look at it as I can, but for those who would prefer to put forth idea that way and not as private messaging, feel free.

Megblaster

Yes, as this chapter and I believe either ch 5 or 6 inferred Tetras would Be Saber's 'adopted' father. Will Saber accept him…? I don't know right now. He has a lot to deal with as of late if you can't tell from the last few chapters.

Vulpimaru

I hope that I got Neval (in reality Nergal) being against fighting, for his own reasons right. I will get him to fight later, but it didn't work out at this point. We'll see how things turn out.

HolyCross9

Well… he's still sane for the moment! I can't see how long that will last, who know? I say one's state of mind is different for everyone; it's all 'in the eyes of the beholder' as the phrase goes. Thankfully, Saber is an honest gentleman most of the time and… everything will work out… well I hope it will. That's for the stories development to decide! Cynder's case, she's still in the early stages of the idea, but as new soon to be parents, they don't know much at all… so, panic and the like.

Poisonfirethunder

I thought about that, but then one night I was watching anime with a friend (Naruto if you couldn't guess the reference) And saw the scene that inspired the idea. I couldn't stop laughing for a time after that.