The Beginning of the End

How little humans truly know. We will always learn something new about an idea we considered ourselves experts on . We cannot predict the future, nor can we be prepared for it. We can only react. And I fear, I may have reacted too late.

There was little warning to the travesties that lay before me, before Sora, before the entire continent, before humans. The morning was as expected. Everyone was tearful at my sudden farewell, but nothing they said could make me linger. Ryu and I left for Sora upon Moregayo. Anxiety filled me as we ascended into the sky.

When we arrived at Sora, nothing seemed to have changed, as expected. I unsummoned Moregayo, and walked up to the Sorakage's office. Everyone was quiet and isolated as usual. No one inquired as to my location these past few days. I was curious as to why, but savored the moment. Ryu left me to attend to his piled up duties, as I made my way to my office, and much paperwork. I turned the golden doorknob to my office, and pushed open the door. I froze. There, before me, was Hinako.

"A nice little place you have here," she mused, sitting on my desk, gazing around. There was another man beside her. He had long dark hair, and cold onyx eyes that bore through me. He reminded me of someone. . .

"S-sasuke?" I breathed, recognizing a strong resembalance to this man and the boy who had nearly killed me before.

Hinako's haughty smirk disappeared from her face, and the man himself seemed to frown also.

"No, this is Itachi, Sasuke's older brother, as well as mine," Hinako frowned. Apparantly, Sasuke was a touchy subject between these two.

"Sarafu, you must be curious as to our abrupt visit. Please excuse our intrusion. However, we've come for something. Something you have. Might you give us your dragon?"

I took a step back. I knew I could withstand Hinako, but this Itachi man. . .if he was the man who had eluded Sasuke all these years, then there was certainly no way I was a match for him. "You can't have any of them!"

Hinako gave a polite laugh, although I'm not quite sure if you can call it that. "Oh, no, dear Sarafu. We don't want your pet geckos! We want the Dragon of the Moon!"

Hearing this, I turned heel and ran. So that's why they're here! I need to get the hell out of here! Under no circumstances can I let them capture me! Ryu! Where are you?!

My anxious thoughts were disrupted by a surprised Ryu rounding the corner and right into my way. We collided, tumbling along the hallway. I rubbed my aching head and gasped as someone grabbed my arm. I turned around and my eyes met the deep blackness of Itachi's. My whole body became still, as if dead for a second. I was swallowed up in his darkness, unable to escape. Then, with a burst of life, my heart began to pound vigorously in my head. Pounding louder and harder, so fast that it might blast out of my chest. I was. . .afraid. No, terrified. I was beyond wetting my pants. I had retreated into the corners of my mind. Screaming silently, so loud that no one could hear. I was frightened by Itachi. His darkness threatened to consume me.

My passivity was interrupted by Ryu, as he yelled, "You! You've come back to hurt Sarafu again?!" By those words, I figured her was glaring at Hinako, and this helped to ease my fear a bit. Hinako, I was not afraid of. "Ryu, hurry we've got to get out of here! Run!" I screamed at him indiscriminately, wrenching myself from what I found to be a not so firm grip of Itachi's. Instead, I grabbed Ryu and high-tailed it out of there, my fear of Itachi suddenly returning.

When I reached the outside of the kage building, something I had hoped never to have happened before did, on this judgement day of mine. The ground beneath me shook. It felt like an earthquake, but Reason told me that that was impossible, seeing as how we weren't on the Earth. But we will soon be. . . This was my last thought before the ground beneath me left my feet. I wasn't falling up, I realized. Sora was falling down. The Sky City of Sora, was falling back down to Earth, and the unsuspecting villages below would be crushed.

As Ryu and I fell, neither of us screamed. The weightless feeling didn't register in our minds, nor anyone else's it seems, for only the sound of the rushing wind could be heard. Then, as I saw the planet drawing closer to me, I began to feel the same fear I did of Itachi. I opened my mouth to scream, but the wind pounding on my lungs, hurt, and instead, I opened my silver wings, flapping against the fast approaching ground with all my might, but Ryu's surplus weight was becoming a burden. Then I could hear the screams of thousands of people, as their minds slowly, too, registered this even as deadly.

Oh, no! The people! They will all die!

Just as my thoughts were thought, a silver lining in the sky drifted by. Silvanoeshi. I scowled, at the traitorous dragon. Upon it was Itachi, Hinako, and some other person, with long blonde hair, that I couldn't exactly tell what gender they were. I almost locked up, as Hinako looked my way, but her confounded dragon gave me an idea.

"I must summon Takuro to save the people, but I need two hands for this," I yelled over the wind.

Ryu looked up at me, with cold, indifferent eyes. He didn't say anything, and that was painful.

"I'm sorry."

Then I released his hand, and his dense body began its descent to the treacherous ground. Quickly, as if my own life depended on it, I bit my thumb, to draw out blood, and formed the handseals, and with a stormcloud, I summoned Takuro, the Weather Dragon. His enormous emerald body coiled in the sky, forming a green plate of scales, to catch many of the people. However, I fear he wasn't fast enough. Ryu was still falling. "RYUUU!" I called horrificly, and folded my wings so that I free-falled my way down.

The white-haired boy looked at me, fear obviously flooding his face. He held his hand up, to try and reach me, as I did the same to him, falling as fast I could. But I wasn't fast enough. The groud was coming ever closer, but I was getting no closer to Ryu. Not to mention that the entire city was falling along with us. I couldn't save him, and I couldn't save the poor people down below.

You wish to save everyone, right? Impossible. You are merely human.

I slightly intook some air, surprised at hearing this deep voice so soon.

I may be human, but you aren't! Please, help me! Help me save these people!

And why should I? What have they ever done for me? If they die, I wil be unaffected.

Please! I beg of you! I'll give you anything you want! Please, just save them!

Alright. I shall, if you give me complete control of your body.

But that's-

Take it or leave it. You have plenty of time to debate over this.

The dragon's sarcasm was annoying, but he was right. The ground must've been only a hundred thousand feet below them, and every second was a hundred feet.

Fine! You can have control! Just save everyone!

Aye.

I felt the familiar beastly urges take over me, but this time it was different. I wasn't kicked out of my body like before. I was consumed by darkness. Or rather, nothingness. I disappeared.

...to be continued.

A/N: Yes. What happened really happened. Sarafu exists no longer.