Nathan Charles and Luna Fang: Into the Dragon Realms
By Mutitoon90
Chapter Four
An hour had passed, and the trio of newcomers, which were Crash, Nathan and Luna, had finished their tale to Spyro, the dragon, Sparx, the dragonfly, and Binaca, the rabbit. The trio of the realm were not surprised at the fact that Ripto had tried to conquer a realm that lacked dragons once again, but they were concerned about werewolf's well-being, despite the fact that her blood kept her from submitting to the curse so easily.
"That's incredible!" Binaca exclaimed at the she-wolf, "Ripto's magic is weak, but being able to endure a curse of any kind is no simple feat."
"Don't remind me." Luna rolled her eyes at the curse that was on her, not at the female rabbit's words, "Besides, he was trying to knock out the whole island, if not all three of them."
"That's right!" A smiling Crash chimed in after overhearing the words between the two females, which only gained him Binaca's and Luna's annoyance.
Soon, Nathan went between the women and Crash, who was starting to get a quiet clue from the females.
"That's enough! We've got more pressing matters than this to deal with."
"Right." Luna calmed herself down as she heard Nathan's statement, knowing that the male was right.
Then, Spyro and Sparx started to inject their thoughts into the conversation.
"We better get goin' if we want to catch Ripto and quick!"
Sparx buzzed in argeement while moving in a nod-like fashion.
Then, a bird flew to the six new friends and approached them in a hasty speed. This failed to escape Luna's notice, and it failed to stop her shock since it was a flying penguin wearing a helmet and small rocket launchers.
"Hey, Serge!" Spyro also saw the flying bird, "Long time, no see!"
"It's only been a few months, Spyro." The creature responded in a military tone of towards the purple creature before softening his tone to say, "However, it's always good to see you again, Spyro."
Sparx buzzed in gleeful agreement as he flew around the dragon and then flew around the penguin. That caused the trio of newcomers to the realms to laugh a little, gaining the flippered bird's attention.
"Spyro, who are these creatures; I don't recall ever seeing them before."
"Well," Spyro started to explain to the black and white bird, "these guys are new around here, and they're looking for Ripto."
"Ripto, huh?" Mused the military creature before he announced, "Well, I believe I've just helped this lot in their search."
This caused the trio of friends to look at the bird with great surprise on their faces, and Nathan was that first to ask the bird, however, the question came after he swiftly went to the friend of Spyro.
"You know where Ripto's at!?"
"I'm not for sure," the penguin backed from Nathan before recomposing himself and continuing his statement, "but I've learned of the whereabouts of one of Ripto's underlings."
"One of his underlings?" Nathan repeated, sounding a little disappointed at the news.
"Better that than nothing, Nathan." Crash was quick to comfort his friend, who nearly slumped to the ground in his dismay.
"Which one was it, Sergeant Byrd." Binaca inquried the miliary avian, who was quick to answer.
"It's was Crush, according to my recon team." Byrd, the flying penguin, stated to the she-rabbit.
"Crush, huh?" Spyro took his turn to be amused as he spoke before asking, "Where's he at?"
"At the Arctic Cliffs." Byrd was quick to reply, "That's why I'm here; I'm in need of your help, Spyro. You see, my troops are doing their best to keep Crush from leaving the area, but due to their lack of resistance to the cold weather, I'm losing more men than I can replace."
"That's not good." Nathan said as he rose from his depression, "Even if the troops are penguins."
"Hummingbirds." Spyro voiced out to Nathan, who looked at the dragon and asked, "What?"
"I was raised by hummingbirds, young man, and I'm very proud about that fact!" Byrd seemed to boast about his family, "Also, I'm very aware that I'm not a hummingbird."
"Maybe that's why you can fly!" Crash thoughtlessly stated, causing Nathan and Luna to groan as they covered their faces with their hands.
Byrd chuckled before saying to the orange animal, "That's correct, but we have no time to dilly-dally, when there are things to do now!"
"Yeah," Luna agreed, despite the fact that her voice was caked with dread, "those hummingbirds don't like the cold, soon I'm willing to help."
"Yeah!" Crash hopped up, willing to help as well as the reluctant she-wolf.
Nathan also agreed to help, but he only nodded his head to the penguin, who became gleeful and managed to keep himself in a military fashion at the same time.
"There's no time to lose then!" Announced Byrd as he flapped his flippers, making himself airborne, "Crush is trying to return to Ripto as quickly as possible! Off we go!"
As Sergeant Byrd flew off, Binaca spoke to the five that wanted to help the flying penguin.
"Guys, you go with Sergeant Byrd, while I go look for Hunter; he could be of some help to us."
"Good." Spyro nodded the cream-shaded rabbit, "We might need the help."
"Tell him where we're going!" Nathan shouted to Binaca, who nodded before turning into a rainbow and flew off into the morning-like skies.
Once the magical rabbit was out of sight, the five followed Byrd to the Arctic Cliffs, ready to confront Crush.
After a while of running or flying, the group, which was led by Sergeant Byrd, found themselves at a portal. Although, Spyro, Byrd and Sparx were familiar to the portals of their native realms, however, Nathan, Luna and Crash were not accustomed to seeing the realm beyond the portal.
"That's new." Nathan mused at the sight of and within the portal.
"What do ya mean?" Spyro asked the human, curious about Nathan's choose of words, and the dragon was not the only one.
"Well," a nervous Nathan backed away a little as the dragon, the dragonfly and the penguin were looking at him intensely, "I'm used to using my portal."
"Your portal?" Byrd asked out at the human, "What do you mean by 'your portal?'
"Well," Nathan started out in a hesitant breath before saying, "I've actually built a portal, but it's supposed to take my friends and me to other parts of our world."
"You built a portal!?" Spyro and Sparx gasped, never had heard of such a thing before in their whole lives.
"Well, I'd call it a wormhole, but it is, in a sense, a portal." The human answered, still feeling the tense stares of the three beings looking at him.
"'Cuse me," Luna injected into the conversation, "but there's a flock of hummingbirds that are freezing their wings off, waiting for us."
"Right!" Byrd heard this and flew off into the portal.
Luna followed the army bird to assist him, and the others followed with Crash at the end of the line.
Once in the realm of Arctic Cliffs, the group was greeted by a giant hummingbird wearing a pair of olive-green ear muffs and a snow-white scarf.
"Sergeant Byrd! It's good to see you again, sir!" The teal-green bird chattered the message through its beak.
"Good to see you in good health, Private!" Byrd responded in a formal manner, "What news do you have?"
"The enemy is still trying to escape," reported the private, "but he's making progess, and we have no knowlegde of how long it'll be before he is sucessful in his escape."
"That doesn't sound good." Crash thought out loud, and the others agreed with him.
"You can say that again, Crash." Luna said as a yawn formed around her mouth, causing Nathan to over-react with worry.
"Luna, the curse!"
One of the wolf-earred woman's silver-blue eyes looked at Nathan with a sharp glare as Luna said, "I'm fully aware of the curse, but the yawn was from the cold is is from the cold weather, which I'm not a big fan of."
"My apologises, ma'am," Sergeant Byrd spoke to Luna, "I'd offer a scarf, but our supplies have been low for a time."
"I understand, Serge." The werewolf replied with a tone that matched with her words.
"Then, what do we do with Crush?" Crash asked the birds, confused about the situation with Crush, the blue thug of Ripto.
"We're thinking of a plan," Byrd answered quickly, "even as we speak right now."
"And you're not a part of it?" Nathan and Spyro inquiried at the same time, surprising each other.
"I am!" The flying penguin shouted at the two questioning allies, but he calmed down quickly and said, "However, I do trust my troops to come up with a plan of attack."
"Uhhh..." The hummingbird looked worried when his commanding officer made that statement, and Byrd did not fail to notice the bird's reaction.
"What is it, Private?" Byrd asked in a somewhat demanding tone, "And don't make me pull rank on you."
"Pull rank?" Crash looked at Luna, who was swift in giving her answer.
"It means using one's authority on another person, despite not wanting to do so."
"Oh!" Crash said upon hearing the explaination, and then he added, "That sucks."
"No kidding." Luna chuckled a little before her teeth started chattering from the cold weather. Turning to the private and the sergeant, she asked, "Is there a fire I can warm myself by?"
"Follow me." The private said, hoping to escape from Byrd's inquiries.
The private's attempt to flee from his commanding officer was in vain, since Byrd followed him and Luna to one of the open fires within the base of operations of the bird troop. Once Luna was by an open flame to warm herself up, Byrd started to question the private again.
The young private finally stopped his retreat and answered the penguin's question.
"No one's been able to think of a plan to stop Crush! It's either far too costy, too risky or too cold to try something!"
"That doesn't sound good." Spyro announced, which caused Crash to say in response, "Not at all."
Luna was quiet, and so was Nathan; the two humans were thinking of an idea to help Sergeant Byrd's troop to contain Crush.
Spyro and Sparx were looking around the camp of hummingbirds and noticed something at one of the wooden walls of the base. The duo looked back at the group of their allies before dashing off to the wall. Crash saw this and went off after the curious duo.
Luna noticed this, but she chose to keep silent about the actions of the three allies of hers and Nathan's, knowing that the troublemakers, whether or not the mischief that could be made was intentionally, would be a good asset to whatever plan anyone can make. However, if anyone should ask her, the brunette werewolf will answer without hesitantion.
Then, Nathan shouted, "Aha!" That startled Luna, who was not paying attention to the dark haired man's actions and emotions at the moment of time.
"What is it, sir?" Byrd looked at Nathan, who replied artfully, "I believe I've got a plan."
The sergeant and the private listened intently as Nathan gave the plan with full detail and with great exictement. Luna listened as well, but she had a feeling that the three runaway members of the group were either going help or hinder the plan.
When Nathan finished his explaination, he asked the two birds, "Any questions?"
The private hummingbird was the one that launched the inquiry: "Well, what if Crash, who isn't related to Crush, doesn't want to go through wiith the plan?"
"We'll have to ask him." Nathan looked behind him to see where Crash was supposed to be at. When he saw that the Bandicoot was not there, Nathan looked at the she-wolf and asked, "Do you know where Crash is at?"
"From where I stand, he's unknowingly carrying out your plan with Spyro and Sparx." Luna casually answered, expressing a lack of concern for the vanished trio.
"What!?" Nathan yelled out at the werewolf, "Where is he, Luna?!"
As if on cue, a roar echoed throughout the snowy air, grabbing everyone's attentions, including the humans.
"That would answer your question much better than I can." The she-wolf said calmly, earning more of Nathan's annoyance, if not his anger.
"Luna..." The she-wolf heard the former Cortex growl at her, but he heard another roar, causing Nathan to ignore Luna for the sake of his best friend and the new friends that he had made hours earlier.
Then, the form of the three runaways appeared into view. Following the trio was the form of the club-carrying thug, Crush. However, the dinosaur-like creature had an odd coloration on his bluish, scaly flesh.
"What's wrong with him?" Nathan asked, confused by the brute's odd skin color.
"Nothing really," Luna spoke out, still very calm and oddly tense, "however, he's been upgraded magically."
"Upgraded magically?" Nathan copied Luna's words, looking as dumbfounded as he truly was.
"That's right." The she-wolf nodded to Nathan in response, "More likely Ripto's doing, but the 'improvement' is weak. We'd probably knock him onto his back within ten minutes' time."
"That's easy for you to say!" Nathan glared at the female werewolf, "You've got a better chance of beating him within ten seconds' time!"
"Yes, that's true." Luna remained calm, "However, our three friends might do a good job of doing it themselves."
"What?" The dark hairred man's voice echoed throughout the chilly air, "You're the one that said that Crush was upgraded by Ripto's magic!"
"And I've also say that the upgrade's weak as a baby sparrow that's fresh from the egg shell." Luna pointed out with an artful smile on her face, "Easy to beat, even without my strength, and with the combination of the icy weather and the curse, a fight would cause the curse to speed up some more."
"So, you're taking the curse seriously?!" Nathan was once more surprised about the werewolf's words.
"Of course." Luna bluntly replied, still calm about the current situations, "You're surprised about my cool and collected approach about the curse, and after all of the things we've been through together too? To be honest, I'm disappointed in ya, Nathan."
"Really?" The dark hairred young man asked, truly confused about what Luna was saying to him, "Did I really miss something?"
"By a mile." Luna laughed loudly, "You've seemed to have forgotten that I'm capable of taking care of myself, even in the most difficult of situations, and curses have a habit of becoming effective faster when people panic like crazy."
"Really?" Nathan repeated himself, earning a couple of silent giggles of the private hummingbird and the sergeant penguin.
"Uh-huh." The she-wolf smiled at Nathan and his confused expression, "After all, curses are one thing that werewolves know about very well."
"Because your kind has a natural sense that allows them and you to tell how powerful a curse is." Nathan guessed in an almost question-like tone.
"That's right." Luna smiled, but her grin was slightly hinted with mischief.
Then, a roar of defeat echoed in the air, telling all in the area that Crush lost to Crash Bandicoot, Spyro the dragon and Sparx the dragonfly.
"Like I'd said," Luna maintained her clever smile, "those three were able to beat up the oversized brute."
"I can't say that I like being wrong or not." Nathan chuckled at himself, but Luna interjected her statement with a grin on her face: "That depends on what you're wrong about."
A scoff-sounding laugh flew out of Nathan's mouth as he responded to the statement from the she-wolf, "You're got a point there, Luna."
Soon, Crash returned to his friends, followed by Spyro and Sparx. The look of the Bandicoot's face showed a concern about his own well-being; Luna was laxed about stuff, like reckless actions, however, Nathan was much more stern when it came to his friends' well-being.
Nathan was the first to reach Crash, and the werewolf and the military birds were close behind the young man. As he reached the Bandicoot, the human confronted the marsupial.
"What were you thinking!?" Yelled Nathan, who was not happy with Crash's course of action,
"You could have been killed easily!"
"It wouldn't be the first time for me and you." Chuckled Crash, who wasn't too worried about his friend's reaction at that point, "Besides, you're guilty of the same thing, even if it was a few years ago."
"What are you talking about?" Nathan demanded to know.
"You don't remember?" Luna sounded surprised even though she was still smiling, "It was after you and Crash stopped your Uncle Neo's plan to conquer the world the first time."
The dark-hairred ex-Cortex realized what his friends were talking about, and he was quick to defend himself in a form of an explaination.
"That's different! Brio and I were trying to stop Neo Cortex's efforts to take over the world! It doesn't count!"
"No, it doesn't." Luna shook her head, "Especailly since you fought off and recuited a real werewolf, and that's without any concern for your safety to boot."
Nathan's face became neon-red as Luna spoke, and once the she-wolf was done teasing him, Nathan replied hotly to Luna's words.
"Aren't you the one that chose to let off some steam, since your grandparents were planning on keeping you out of a certain group?"
That detered Luna's following statement for only a moment; Luna was shocked by Nathan's verbally counter, removing her grin for a moment, but she regained it on her face as she responded to the rapier-like comment.
"That's true, but most guys would just run off to the nearest police station. You, on the other hand, stood your ground. Of course, you did think that I was a dude at the time."
A fresh blush appeared on the young man's face as he recalled that time when he encountered Luna for the first time. It was one of the scariest memories that Nathan had in his mind, and he was raised by his monster of a father.
It was after defeating his uncle, Neo Cortex, with Crash Bandicoot, and he and Brio had learned that someone was after the power crystals for a power source. One of the stops was Japan's sceneic countryside, where one of the crystals were resting at before he took it with permission from those that owned the crystal, and it was home to the Hanyo clan, which were Luna's family by her mother.
Nathan had found himself in a very dense and lush part of the forest that was owned by the Hanyo family, and he also found himself lost. Looking to his map, he heard a noise behind him, causing him to pull out his gadget. Whatever was out there, Nathan was ready to fight off the being.
Just then, a huge, wolf-like being entered the then-teenager's sights and flashed its fangs at Nathan before swiping at him with claws that were fully extended.
The young man dodged the slash, and at that moment, Nathan realized that the man-wolf was not going to stop attacking. Pulling out his 'toy,' Nathan was ready to fight off and did just that.
The fight lasted for ten minutes, and the winner was a blushing Nathan, who saw the loser, the 'wolfman,' change into a human girl in her late teens and was naked. The young man could not enjoy his victory, because of his awkardness around women, especially when they were lacking any form of clothing.
Returning to reality, Nathan saw Luna, his ally and friend, still smiling at him. At moments like that one he and Luna were in, things could not be any better for them.
Crash, who have heard the story before, laughed at he spoke out to his friends that he had followed into the magical realms.
"I could only imagine the look on Nathan's face when he saw you naked, Luna! Ha, ha!"
"Thanks a lot, Crash!" Growled a red-faced Nathan, "I don't care for being reminded of that moment, like that!"
Then, Spyro and Sparx looked at each other and shook their heads at the sight.
"What a shame..." Spyro announced to the dragonfly, who buzzed around the dragon, "That guy's in love, and there's nothing worse than a warrior in love."
Sparx buzzed something to Spyro, who responded by saying, "Well, I guess you're right about that; after all, Luna does know how to fight and doesn't get blinded by her feelings about him."