Hey, yours truly here, and I'm back with the fifth chapter!

Arae: Yay! More chapters about me!

Lily: Shut up. They all want to read about me.

Link: Enough, you two.

Jon: Let the love birds fight. I don't own The Legend of Zelda, just for the record.

Lily: If you ever say that again, i swear...

Chapter Five

Jon awoke to a dull, throbbing pain in his head. He groaned softly and sat up. They were still in the golden world, made by the smoke from Death Mountain. Everything still looked the same as it did before Jon collapsed.

He stood up, and looked around for Lily and Arae, but was shocked to see a large wolf and a large snake lying where Arae and Lily should have been lying. Jon took a step backwards, and then began to think.

Where could Arae and Lily be? I don't see any signs of blood, or a struggle…

Jon fumbled for his sword as the wolf began to stir. The wolf had shimmering blue eyes, and its golden fur was shimmering. It gazed lazily up at Jon, and then suddenly became alert. It rose to its legs and growled menacingly for a moment, but then it stopped. The wolf looked at its paws, and looked over its shoulder at its wagging tail. The wolf whimpered as it went in circles, chasing its tail. Jon didn't get what was happening. The wolf seemed… confused.

The snake now awoke, and began to hiss menacingly as it laid eyes upon the golden wolf and Jon. The snake made a move towards Jon, and then stopped. Its head moved this way and that, looking at its long body. It seemed confused, just like the wolf.

Jon's mind began to go to work. Let's see here… they both seem confused… but what are they confused about? There's no sign of them eating Lily or Arae… Are they…

Fearing the answer, Jon looked at the wolf and said, "Lily?"

The wolf looked into Jon's eyes and nodded.

Jon staggered backwards. So, if that wolf was Lily, then the snake was…

"Arae?" Jon asked, his voice barely above a whisper. The snake nodded its silver head. The silver scales glistened in the twilight.

"Ok… ok," Jon said, taking a couple breaths. So my friends are animals. No big deal. But if they're animals… then… am I one too?

Jon slowly looked at his arms. They were black and scaly, and his fingers had long talons at the ends. He continued to look down, and noticed that his whole body was covered in black scales, as black as the dragon's scales. His legs were large and powerfully built, and his feet had five sharp talons each. Jon slowly looked over his shoulder to see a pair of wings folded to his back.

"I'm… a dragon?" Jon whispered in amazement and shock. No, I can't be, Jon thought to himself. I stand upright, my legs are the same length, and my arms are… what about my face? Jon put his taloned hands to his face, and felt a long snout. He opened his mouth and felt sharp teeth.

So I'm like half dragon, half man? Jon asked himself. Sweet. We should be able to get to Death Mountain in no time now.

"So, uh, Lily… can you speak?" Jon asked.

A short bark came from the wolf's mouth, and she shook her head.

"Hm… well, at least you can understand me." Jon shrugged. "We need to get to Death Mountain, and we can get there faster now… with you being a wolf and me being a dragon." Jon smiled a bit as he heard a sharp hiss. "Yes, we haven't forgotten about you, Arae. C'mere. I'll carry you, seeing how you can't move very fast."

Arae hissed again, and then slithered very quickly, faster than any other snake, towards Jon.

"Well, if you think you're so fast," Jon challenged, "let's have a race. We'll race to that tree over there, got it?" He pointed a talon to a tree just a stone throw away. "Ready… set… go!"

Lily and Arae streaked by Jon, whose wings had spread involuntarily and slowed him down. Jon was surprised to see Arae move like a river of quicksilver beside Lily, who was sprinting towards the tree.

"Damn, that snake is fast," Jon muttered as he finally reached the tree, glaring at his outstretched wings. "If only I could work these things…"

Arae hissed again, showing his two curved fangs. Jon heard some a twig snap, and whirled around to see a black creature moving slowly towards him. It wasn't very big, compared to Jon, the creature only came up to Jon's elbow. It held a black club in its hand, and it seemed to be wearing a mask with magenta lines running up and down it in every which way.

Jon grabbed for his sword, but found that it wasn't there. He wasn't worried, for he had some new weapons at his disposal. Lily growled menacingly, and Arae hissed again. Jon didn't know what kind of sound he should make, for he was the only one who could talk, so he merely said, "Come on, then!" and flexed his arms.

The creature didn't make a sound, but kept moving towards Jon and his friends. "Circle out," Jon muttered. "We'll surround 'im."

Lily and Arae went in opposite directions to cover the creature's flanks. The black thing paid no attention to Lily or Arae, but seemed to be intently watching Jon. Jon took a step forward, baring his teeth.

The creature lifted its club in what Jon reckoned was its battle stance. It seemed ready to fight, but then it shrieked loudly, making Jon's head pound. He saw Arae turn from brown to silver, his fangs in the creature's ankle. The creature kicked wildly, but Arae's teeth were deep. Lily sprung up and bit deep into the creature's neck. The creature fell to the ground, unmoving. Arae turned brown again, and Jon could hardly see the snake move on the ground.

"So, you're a color changing snake, eh?" Jon commented. "Very nice." Arae seemed to almost smile at that comment, as much as a snake can smile. "Now I just need to figure out how to work these wings…"

Arae and Lily watched Jon for the better part of an hour as he tried to learn how to use his wings. He shrugged his shoulders back and forth, moved his arms, he even tried running and jumping into the air. Lily and Arae looked hopefully as his wings beat once, twice, three times, making Jon hover in the air, but then they stopped and he crashed to the ground. Arae and Lily sighed inwardly and dashed over to help Jon.

"I almost had it," Jon was muttering. "I just lost my concentration. I'm gonna try again." This time, when he jumped, the wings beat for longer, and Jon began to fly straight up, very slowly. He fell back down to the ground again, but quickly got up. "This is confusing… I can get up, but how do I get back down?" he muttered to himself. "Or fly faster? Or side to side? Gah…" He didn't quit, however, and kept trying to figure out how to master the aspect of flying with wings.

Lily and Arae were quite entertained with watching Jon fly up and come crashing down to earth. He didn't seem to get hurt, so they merely watched. Arae was coiled up, his head moving from side to side slightly, a red tongue flicking in and out of his mouth. Lily was watching with half closed eye lids. She was about to go to sleep when she heard a cry from Jon, and her and Arae watched as Jon began to fly up, and then back wing down, and then fly up again. The wings on Jon's back beat fiercely, and he began to fly forwards at an upwards angle, slowly at first, but then faster. He was soon gone from sight. Lily and Arae looked into the sky for any trace of him, but they found none.

Suddenly, a shadow loomed over them, and Lily and Arae turned just in time to see Jon diving straight for them. They ducked, waiting for the impact, but Jon swooped upwards just in time, hovering over them.

Arae was in a frenzy, spitting and hissing madly as Jon landed neatly on the ground. "That is awesome!" Jon exclaimed happily, jumping up and down like a little boy. "It's like I know what I'm doing, but not! It's like… I can feel what's happening, but it's like there's something inside of me that beats my wings, and I just… tell it where to go. It's like a new muscle that I've never felt before." Jon sat down. "I can't explain it… I just knew how to do it, once I figured it out. It's like a talent these dragons must have."

Lily gazed back at Jon lazily, but inside, she was very proud of Jon.

Arae was still hissing and spitting, so Jon grabbed the silver snake in his hand. "C'mon, shape shifter, I'll take you for a ride!"

Lily barked happily as the snake turned bright red, then blue, then sea green, then gold as Jon flew into the sky, beating his large wings. She could hear Arae's hisses of protest as Jon flew about in the sky. Jon couldn't do any fancy aerial maneuvers, but he could turn quickly and fly fast.

After a few minutes, Jon flew back to the ground and dropped Arae. Arae was still changing colours, and hissing madly. Jon only laughed. "Little bugger tried to bite me!" he told Lily.

Arae nodded his aqua blue head, and then hissed again.

Arae: Why am I a SNAKE?

Lily: Hah! Yes! I'm a wolf!

Jon: Well, I beat you all! I'm a dragon man!

Me: Arae, come on. You're a colour changing snake. What more could you need?

Arae: I'm super fast too.

Me: Well... I won't ruin too much. That's for the next chapter.

Arae: What? Tell me!

Jon: Only if people review. Hehehe.