A/N: Sorry about the late update, been busy with school and some home drama. Anyway, I hope you guys liked the last chapter! Enjoy~

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the story, Shadow, & Night.

Dragon Spirit

Chapter 7

"Gah! Dammit, Josh, not again! I swear I'll smash your face in next time you try that when we're not home!" Neku's voice shouted from his and Joshua's tent.

"But Nekky! You're so cute when you're flustered!" Joshua whined, but I could hear the smirk in his voice.

"Sounds like Joshua tried to get Neku hard again," Tai chuckled as he held me.

"Yeah, it sure does," I snickered, and turned to kiss him. "Good morning."

"Good morning to you, too," he smiled when we parted. Neku suddenly opened our tent and poked his head in, his face flushed in embarrassment.

"Say anything about this, and I swear to god I'll bash your heads in with a brick," he growled, and then left to go back to Joshua. I heard a small snicker from nearby, and then Kyuubi appeared in our tent, balancing on my knee.

"Don't worry, he won't really," the yellow-furred fox assured us. "He's just embarrassed. He'll probably get pissed off and yell at you if you bring it up again, but try not to, for everyone's sake."

"No worries, Kyuubi. Wouldn't dream of it," I told him, and he gave a small, toothy grin.

"I believe you," he replied, and then vanished.

"Let's get up and see about getting some breakfast," Tai suggested, and I nodded in agreement, feeling a small hunger pang in my stomach.

"Hopefully Night and Shadow have caught something by now," I said, and we left the tent. Neku, still blushing and scowling, was sitting next to a smirking and seemingly pleased Joshua. Kidaté was munching on some grass nearby with a tiny smile on her face, and Shadow and Night were walking into the small campsite with a few rabbits.

"Good morning, Yamato," my partner greeted, dropping the rabbits he had by the fire pit and trotting over to me. Shadow copied him, but instead went to Taichi.

"Good morning, Taichi!" the black dragon practically chirped.

"Morning, guys," we replied, and I stroked the top of Night's head as Tai patted the top of Shadow's. We all sat down at the fire pit as the two dragons began skinning the rabbits and lighting the fire to cook them. As they cooked, Joshua spoke up.

"All right, once we eat, we'll head out for the temple," he informed us. Neku nodded.

"This time we'll have to be on high alert, though," he cautioned. "Kyuubi is going to remain with us while we fly on Kidaté for protection, and I'm going to have to access some of my power."

"Same here. It shouldn't take us too long, but we would rather be safe than sorry," Joshua added. Tai and I nodded in understanding.

"What exactly can you guys do as far as fighting goes?" Tai asked.

"Yeah, I've only ever seen Neku punch someone if they try and hit on him," I realized.

"Actually, I have pins that I can use to fight with," Neku answered. "I have one that launches three icicle spears from the ground, one that electrocutes my opponents, another that can shoot large fireballs at my foes, another that allows me to create large pillars of flames from the ground, a pin that allows me to tackle my opponents really fast, and finally, one that lets me summon a type of sword made of light for a powerful slash."

"Damn, that's impressive," I murmured, letting out a low whistle.

"As for me, I can use my cell phone to make things such as vending machines and cars drop on my opponents, and rain powerful beams down on them from above," Joshua smirked.

"Not to mention that you've stolen my mind-reading pin and used it on me," Neku muttered, glaring playfully at his boyfriend.

"Um, yeah, I have," the ashen blonde admitted, giving Neku a sheepish look.

"That's what I thought," the ginger smirked, and ruffled Joshua's hair.

"So, wait, you have a pin that allows you to read people's thoughts?" Tai asked Neku curiously.

"Yup. I don't use it often, though," he confirmed.

"That's so cool!" the brunette crowed.

"Is that how you figured out what was on my mind so often?" I demanded.

"Nah, that was all me being able to figure you out on my own," Neku assured me.

"Damn, you're good, then," Night remarked as he cooked the rabbits.

"Yeah, but I had Joshua to teach me a bit. He's always been good at reading people," the ginger shrugged.

"Wow, I didn't realize he was that good," I said.

"Yep," Joshua smirked. "It took a few years, but I learned quickly."

"Okay, guys, the rabbits are ready," Shadow announced, and the two dragons dished out some rabbit meat for us all. Once we had eaten, we packed up our supplies and got ready to head out. Night and Shadow shifted into their larger forms, and then Tai and I got onto our respective partners' backs. Joshua and Neku mounted Kidaté as Kyuubi hopped onto his partner's shoulder, and then the winged horse took to the skies with the rest of us following. We had been flying for a few hours when Kidaté began to descend.

"Why are we landing?" I called over the wind.

"We're getting close, and Kidaté senses something approaching in the sky, so we're playing it safe," Joshua shouted back. Night perked up and growled at that, and I could feel him reaching out with his telepathy in an attempt to detect any danger. A sudden roar sounded from above, and we all looked up in alarm to see a giant transparent form of a black dragon emerging from the darkening clouds.

"It's Ishu's shadow!" Kyuubi shrieked. "We must land, quickly!" We were swift to heed the fox's advice, and landed in the forest below. As soon as we landed, we took off on the ground, still on our partners' backs, heading for a more condensed part of the forest.

"What the hell is going on?!" Tai wailed.

"It seems Ishu is trying to test our strength!" Kyuubi answered. "We need to get to a thick enough part of the forest so we can fight easier!"

"Got it!" I nodded, and we finally got to a very thick sectioning of trees where the dragons had to climb over roots and such, but Kidaté was struggling to make it through.

"Go on ahead! I'll have to meet with you later!" she ordered, and Neku, Joshua, and Kyuubi got off of her back, so Tai and I quickly backtracked and helped them as she vanished. Neku and Kyuubi climbed onto Night's back with me while Joshua joined Shadow and Tai. An earth-shaking roar boomed above us, and some of the tree covering was ripped away by the shadow's claws.

"We'll have to fight!" I shouted, and Night nodded in agreement. "We'll never get away if we don't fight back!"

"Gotcha. Hold on, let me just…" Neku trailed off, and then fired several fireballs from his palm at the shadow. The shots struck their target, but didn't seem to do any damage. In fact, they seemed to piss it off more. "Dammit!"

"I got it," Night growled, and swiftly whipped around, his eyes turning completely white as he shot a beam of light energy at it. The shadow bellowed in pain, but then retaliated by firing a pulse of darkness from its jaws. "ACK!" Night darted away, taking to the sky, and then Shadow joined us.

"So, you two have finally almost gained your full strength back," the shadowy beast rumbled as we hovered in air. "This should prove to be interesting. But it will become more interesting when you gain back your memories."

"What are you babbling about?!" Shadow demanded.

"Oh, I'm not speaking nonsense, young fool," the shadow smirked. "You'll have to learn about who you really are now, and I'll help you!" Suddenly, the shadow solidified into the real Ishu, and his eyes glowed blood red. When they began to glow, Shadow and Night both howled in agony and plummeted to the ground, reverting to their smaller forms before they could hit the ground. The rest of us managed to land on the branches below with some ease, and then quickly climbed to down to the ground. Taichi and I ran to our partners worriedly. The brunette picked up Shadow and held him protectively.

"What did you do to them?!" I snarled at the giant dragon as I held my partner.

"I merely helped them regain their memories of their pasts," Ishu replied, examining his claws. "After all, it's no fun fighting your grandsons when they can't remember why they hate you. But don't worry; they'll still have their memories of their time since they re-hatched."

"Wait, that's the connection between you and them?" Kyuubi questioned. "How can they not remember it?"

"I won't tell you that here. I can share at Doom's Divide, or they can tell you when they wake up. Whichever comes first," the malicious dragon stated nonchalantly, and then vanished. "See you then, foolish humans…" There was a few short seconds of silence before I snapped.

"FUUUUUUUCCCCCCKKKKKK!" I screamed, slamming my fist into the ground. Tears threatened to spill from the corners of my eyes, but I furiously blinked them back. I refused to cry, especially in front of Taichi. Neku placed his hand on my shoulder in a comforting manner in an attempt to comfort me.

"Come on, Yamato. We need to continue on," he told me. "The sooner we get to the temple, the sooner we can get to safety."

"…I understand," I mumbled, and picked Night up so I could carry him. Tai copied me, and we followed Joshua and Neku onward to the temple. We reached it within a few miles, and stopped at the entrance to the temple.

"This is it. This temple will help you to find your true strengths," Joshua said. "Come on. We'll set up camp inside." We all entered the temple, and torches lit up on the walls with alternating orange and blue flames. Kidaté reappeared nearby, and she dipped her head in greeting.

"I see you all got away safely, but I heard from Kyuubi about Shadow and Night," she murmured. Joshua ran his fingers through her mane, and he nodded.

"Yes. Unfortunately, I don't even know how long it will take for them to wake up," the ashen blonde admitted. "We'll have to be patient." The last statement was aimed at Tai and me.

"We understand," Tai replied, but I didn't say anything, just merely nodded. Thanks to Joshua and Neku, we soon had a fire pit made up, and I lit it with a small blue fireball. I kept close to Taichi and Night, and even though I rested my head on the brunette's shoulder, I still refused to sleep, just in case Night woke up. Finally, after I had yawned for the umpteenth time, Neku fixed me with a firm look.

"Yamato, Taichi, go to sleep. Joshua and I will take watch, and we'll wake you if your partners start to come to," he ordered. His tone didn't leave any room for argument, so I nodded once, and Tai and I crawled into our sleeping bag.

"It'll be okay, Matt," my love assured me, seeming as though he was trying to keep his courage up for both our sakes.

"I know, Tai, but he's the closest friend I've ever had," I sighed. Taichi kissed my lips lightly.

"Yeah, I know. But they're both strong," he reminded me. "We need to be courageous for our friends' sakes."

"You're right. I can do that," I smiled slightly. Our pendants began to brightly glow out of nowhere, and we quickly sat up, shocked. The temple shook around us, a few rocks falling further in.

"What's going on?!" Neku yelped, and then Kyuubi noticed our pendants glowing.

"They've accessed their true strengths!" the fox gasped. Suddenly, Shadow's and Night's eyes snapped open, Shadow's eyes glowing orange, and Night's eyes glowing blue. Orange light emitted from the gaps in Shadow's armor, while blue light emitted from the gaps in Night's. Everything in the temple stilled, and the pair of dragons walked over to Taichi and me.

"Taichi."

"Yamato." The dragons spoke our names in unison, and we gazed at our respective partners.

"We've finally regained our memories that had been lying dormant for the past 16 years," they told us. "And with those memories, our true power. Thank you, for everything. It is thanks to you gaining your true strengths of courage and friendship that we were able to wake up again. You never shunned us, nor pushed us away when we needed you, and vice versa. You took us in when you knew next to nothing about us, and basically left behind everything you knew to take on a journey you barely knew about. And for that, we thank you."

"The way you're speaking, it sounds like you're going to leave us," Tai pointed out.

"We may have to. It's going to be an extremely dangerous fight against Ishu. We nearly died the first time we fought him, and we don't want the same thing to happen to our best friends," they replied.

"But…Night, we're… supposed to be…inseparable…" I murmured, tears burning in the corners of my eyes.

"We can't let you go this alone," Tai growled determinedly. "We're partners, and will remain so through to the end." I nodded in agreement.

"…All right, we'll allow you to fight alongside us," Shadow smiled. Night leaned forward, and I stroked the top of his head, making him give a rumbling purr in his chest. "It seems Ishu was wrong about humans after all, dear brother," the black dragon said to Night.

"He definitely was. Claiming that humans would cower in fear of dragons, making it easier to enslave them…what a fool," Night shook his head in disbelief.

"Would you mind telling us about your pasts?" I asked. "I'd like to know my partner better, after all."

"Of course, Yamato," the silver dragon smirked. "Anything for the humans who helped to raise us from hatchlings."

"It's a long story, so you may want to settle in," Shadow warned. We all sat down and gazed at the two dragons, who by now had stopped glowing. Now to find out about their pasts, and their connection to Ishu.

A/N: Sorry about the cliffy, but I'm gonna end this chapter here, and I'll hurry along to update this fic soon! Now to work on Inner Wolf~ R&R, peeps!