"Spoken"
'Thoughts'
Bit beast/master talking

Previously:

Your mother also had the phoenix spirit in her, you know that, right?

Kai nodded.

I was there when you were born and a short time afterwards. I...I had to leave when she died. I lost most of my powers because of it, and only after your powers awakened I also was at full strength again.

'But about a year before my powers awakened I did see glimpses of you. Were you nearby?'

Sometimes. I travelled, meeting other spirits, learning more about the human race. It changes you know. Highly annoying for someone who's lived for more than a century already. teased Dranzer.

Kai grinned.

Try to get some sleep Master Kai. Tomorrow will be a busy day.

'I won't sleep, I know that already. Can't you keep my company until the sun rises?'

If you want that, of course Master Kai.

Chapter 12

When Takao woke up again the sun had already risen. He opened his eyes but didn't see Kai in the bedroom. 'Where has he run off too? Wasn't he planning something today?' wondered the teen as he sat up and stretched himself like a cat. 'Perhaps now I can call for Dragoon...I'm not sure what Kai would do if I called him if he was near...'
Takao closed his eyes again and concentrated, trying to feel his dragon friend. After a while he finally sensed the dragon. He felt far away.

Dragoon. Where are you buddy?

Takao-sama! Are you allowed to contact me?

Dunno, probably not, but he's not here at the moment.

Okay... replied Dragoon hesitantly. Is something the matter?

No. answered Takao leaving a pause. Well, there is something...could you come here?

Where are you now?

Can't you feel me? mocked the teen, knowing Dragoon always asked that same question when Takao needed to know. I'm in the bedroom. You'll find me.

I'm coming. Don't be surprised if I'm not alone though. added Dragoon before he closed the link between them.

"Not alone?" wondered Takao. "What does he mean with that?'

"Rei, I need to know some things." said Kai after he'd knocked on the door and entered his brothers bedroom. The Asian teen and Max were still laying in bed, awake though.
"Morning too Kai." yawned Rei. "Is it a problem if I stay in bed? I'm tired as hell." complained the teen.
"I don't mind." answered Kai sitting down on the end of the bed.
Rei smiled and sat up, but stayed under the covers. Max groaned. He was using Rei's chest as his pillow and now it was gone.
"How long do you think you can keep up the barriers at night? I was planning on leaving as soon as possible, but I realised I have to take care of some other things before."
"As long as I get a couple of hours of sleep every day it won't be a problem to continue the spell. I assume the spell doesn't have to work at day?"
"No. Boris won't be stupid enough to do something during the day..." 'I hope.'
"Then I can keep the spell working for days, weeks, months, years, whatever you want."
"That's a relieve. Thanks Rei. For as far I know only a couple of nights are necessary, but that all depends on the cooperation of grandfather." explained Kai, though he didn't go into details. He wasn't completely sure of his plan yet. Rei nodded. "I'll mentally prepare myself for a long time then." he teased. "Where do you want to go then?"
"I don't know yet..." answered Kai and quickly continued with his second question. He didn't like it when he was asked questions he couldn't answer, even if it was Rei.
"Can you use your magic to find out what someone has dreamt the night before?"
"I...I'm not sure. Why do you need to know? You had a dream and you don't remember what exactly happened?"
"No, not me. It's Tyson. He said he had a dream about me last night, and that he doesn't remember the details. I tried reading his mind, while tapping into your magic, but I couldn't find anything concerning last night. He probably has a way to block me..."
"I could try."
"Please." said Kai.
"Anything else?" asked Rei nicely. He patted Max on his head gently when the teen yawned.
"Only if you know something about the law that I don't know." teased Kai.
"Nope, sorry Bro. You're the expert in that. I never bothered to learn it."
"That's what I thought. Could you come to my room about lunch time? To try if you can find out what Tyson has dreamed?"
"Sure. I'll be there."
"Finally!" reacted Takao when he saw Dragoon enter the bedroom through one of the windows. "I thought you wouldn't come anymore." he teased.

Don't be such a prick Takao-sama. I was busy. reacted Dragoon, a bit too serious in Takao's opinion.

"Okay okay. Sorry. Didn't mean to make you angry." apologised Takao. "What did you mean when you said you probably wouldn't be coming alone?" asked the teen. He'd been thinking about it all the time but he couldn't figure out what the dragon could've meant.

I met another spirit yesterday.

"Like you and Dranzer?"

Yeah, only this spirit can't fly. teased Dragoon. You want to see him?

"Of course!" said Takao excited.

Come on in Drigger. Called Dragoon. Only a second later a small tiger jumped through the open window on the cupboard and purred.

"Wow. You're beautiful." awed Takao. "Nice to meet you." he added.

Drigger raised his head and purred again.

Nice to meet you too Takao.

"Huh? How come you know my name?" wondered the teen. "Did you tell him Dragoon?"

No Takao-sama. I didn't tell him anything about you. He found it out on his own.

"Oh, okay." said Takao grinning. "As long as Kai doesn't find out." he added eying the door. "So..." he said after a while. "What kind of spirit are you? I know Dranzer is a phoenix and thus is a fire spirit, and Dragoon is a storm spirit..."

I'm the spirit of balance. Earth spirit, I've been called also.

"Cool. Do you have a human friend?"

Yes, though he doesn't know about me yet. He'll find out soon enough though. I was planning on paying a visit today.

"Who is he?" asked Takao interested.

You'll see. I'm not going to spoil all the fun. teased Drigger.

Anyway. said Dragoon. Why did you need to speak with me? he asked.

"Well, I had a dream last night, and I think it was too realistic for it to be just a dream. I saw Kai when he was just a little boy, and some other strange things, but I'm not sure if it really happened in the past or that it's just a metaphor or something like that."

Let me check that for you. Don't block me out. Said Dragoon as he closed his eyes and entered the teens mind.

He searched for the dream, and with Takao's guidance he easily found it. He watched the dream carefully.

If you want to know if the dream really happened or not you have to ask Dranzer or Drigger. said Dragoon after a few minutes of thinking and silence.

"Dranzer and Drigger? Dranzer I can imagine...I saw her in the dream...but no offence, but what has Drigger got to do with the dream?" asked Takao, slightly confused.

He was in the dream too. Remember the tiger at the end, before you woke up? That was Drigger at full strength. explained Dragoon. Drigger cocked his/her head.

When was it Dragoon? asked Drigger.

When you went after Gideon and Boris. answered the Dragon.

When the prince was just a toddler?

Yes.

Oh, that! That was really funny. said Drigger grinning. You've got to imagine how it feels when you are chasing a powerful wizard and he's screaming for his mother just because you're chasing him. I hadn't done anything yet, yet he was so scared!

"So the dream was real after all?" asked Takao.

Drigger nodded.

"Do you think Kai remembers?"

Probably not. said Dragoon. He couldn't even talk back then, it's highly unlikely that he remembers it. And even if he does remember, I think he'd rather not remember that day.

Drigger nodded again. That wasn't a day that you would want to remember. It was luck that the prince was just a toddler. If he were a bit older it probably would've changed him more than he wanted.

"Should I tell him that I've dreamt about him?" asked Takao to the two spirits.

I'm not sure... answered Dragoon. Perhaps...

Drigger didn't answer immediately. Maybe you should...If he wants to win the fight with Boris he needs to know what that man has done to the Hiwatari family in the past.

"But I'm not sure what he wants to do about Boris. I mean, it's not likely he'll listen to me when I give him advice..." said Takao. "But I could always give it a shot..."

Suddenly Dragoon and Drigger felt someone nearing the bedroom. It's Kenny. said Dragoon. Want to hide Drigger? The boy can be trusted.

Then I won't hide. I'd like to meet more humans. said Drigger softly purring. He really liked human contact.

Kenny knocked twice before he entered the room carefully. When he noticed it was only Takao in the room he sighed inwardly. He didn't know why, but he got some strange vibrations from Kai when he'd met him just before. He wasn't sure how, but ever since Takao and Max came in the palace he'd sometimes felt the aura's of several people around him.

"Heya Kenny! Good morning." greeted Takao.
"Morning." said Kenny in response, staring at the small tiger on the bed. He'd been surprised when he saw Dragoon for the first time, but now another spirit surprised him even more.
"Tyson...Is that..."
Takao nodded. "Yup. He's also a spirit, like Dranzer and Dragoon. His name is Drigger."

Nice to meet you. said Drigger leaning through his front paws a bit, his tail wagging.

"N...nice to meet you too." stammered Kenny. "What...Where...How..."
"Relax Kenny." said Takao standing from the bed, playfully smacking the brunette on his back. "He just dropped by, nothing to worry about."
"I...Do you have a human companion like Dranzer and Dragoon?" asked Kenny interested. The tiger seemed so different from the spirits he knew, but on the other hand he could feel some resemblances.

I have. He just doesn't know yet. Besides, you're forgetting something. There are two other spirits in the castle save for Dranzer and Dragoon and me. noted Drigger. But I'm not going to tell who. You'll have to find out yourselves. he teased. Before Takao or Kenny could react he'd jumped out of the window, making his way to his human companion.

"More spirits?" wondered Takao.
"Two other...? Who?" asked Kenny.

Silently and with great stealth Dragoon was also making his way to the window. He wasn't feeling to be questioned about something he'd just found out.
When Takao wanted to ask his spirit the dragon had already left.

"Hey...where did Dragoon go?"

Meanwhile on the palace Grounds.

Tala was training his new pet wolf. To his surprise she (1) listened better than he'd thought. It took her a while to get used to the fact that someone else was trying to control her actions, but when she noticed that he listened to her as well she stopped resisting the red-haired teen unless she wanted to tease him.Tala and Wolborg - the name the redhead had given the wolf - were just playing at the moment. She was laying on him, licking him in his face, her tail wagging.

"Hey, hey, stop it. I know you like me, now get of." played Tala. He loved Wolborg and could handle a overdose of attention some times, but now it was getting a bit too much. "I mean it Wolborg. Get off. You're getting heavy." he added teasing. It looked to Tala that this caught Wolborg's attention, because she stopped her 'assault' on the teen. Her tail stopped wagging and her ears were slowly turning, as if she was scanning the area.
"Good girl." said Tala, patting her, still oblivious to why she'd stopped. When he felt her growl though, he looked at the direction she was looking at too. At first he couldn't see anything but after a few seconds he saw some bushes move, and a small white animal approached them. It was careful of his surroundings, looking around it every so now and then while it made his way to Tala and his wolf-pet.
"Stay here Wolborg. Don't do anything before we know what it exactly is."

Wolborg growled softly.

Well, that certainly is the most warm welcome up until now... teased the white creature. Tala blinked. 'Did it just talk?'

I can talk yes, young Master Tala. Don't be afraid. I'm not here to hurt you. the creature said.

"Who are you?" asked Tala, carefully eyeing Wolborg, curious how she would react.

My name is Drigger. I'm searching for a certain neko-jin.

"Neko-jin? What do you want with him?" asked Tala suspiciously. He didn't trust the small cat for one bit.

Hey! I'm not a cat! I'm a tiger! the spirit complained. I just want to talk with him. Doesn't he deserve a good friend as Wolborg is to you, Dranzer to the prince and the Dragon the prince's slave?

"What...what do you mean? You mean Wolborg is just like Dranzer and that Dragon...and you?"

Does this surprise you that much? There are some differences between me, Dranzer, Dragoon and Wolborg though. How do you think you got Wolborg that far to listen to you in the first place? Wild wolves are untameable.

Wolborg growled. She knew she was like him and the phoenix and the dragon in the castle, but she didn't like the tone of speaking of this tiger.

Leave my Master alone. she growled. Tala blinked again.

"You can talk too?"

I apologise I didn't do so earlier Master Tala, but I didn't think it was necessary for us to bond. We can understand each other without having to understand the language. And to be honest, I don't really like the human language...To many barriers to it... she explained.

Tala nodded. "I understand..."

You...said Wolborg to Drigger. What is your plan?

I don't have a plan. I just want to aid my human counterpart as best as I can, that's all.

I don't trust you. mentioned Wolborg. How do I know you won't do anything else?

Then how come you let the dragon in the castle without a complaint? redirected Drigger. He knew the wolf type spirit was difficult to convince, so he tried not to get too annoyed.

The prince didn't seem to bother, that's the only reason.

"Both of you, calm down." said Tala interrupting them. "What if I call Rei here, he can see for himself if he wants to talk with you, and we'll be able to watch and if necessary budge in when things go wrong." added Tala. He understood Wolborgs distrust, but he also thought that the tiger should be given a chance to prove his story, even though he wasn't sure about his intentions yet.

"Does Rei know of your existence?" asked Tala.

Up until now, no. He doesn't. answered Drigger.

"Okay. I'll go get him. Wolborg, make sure he doesn't go anywhere."

Count on it.

TBC

please review

(1) Huge mistake earlier in chapter 8. I assumed Wolborg was a male, but G-rev showed Wolborg as a quite beautiful woman ' sorry about that.