Chapter 3

Long Time No See

The trip was indeed, not a very pleasant one. Steven felt very disoriented as he felt his body twist and turn through the portal of swirling white. The human could see Orion up ahead, falling in the same manner as him. Steven called out, but emitted no voice audible enough to get the fox's attention.

Then he noticed the swirling white begin to change. The swirling slowly ceased as the color darkened to more of a dark gray. Wind began to pick up and blow as his vision began to become cloudy. Soon enough, it was nearly impossible to see. Before everything went black, the last thing he remembered was a sharp pain in his abdomen before the wind began to die back down.

Steven didn't know what happened afterwards, quite possibly because he fell into unconsciousness. The ride felt like the portal he went through to get to the dark world from his last adventure in the dragon world, except without the fainting or pain. He hoped Orion was safe at least.

For the first time in a while, his slumber was dreamless. With his constant dreams of the portal he went through, he forgot how it was to not have any dreams at all. Still, he wouldn't mind having a pleasant dream for once.

Then he felt a cool breeze brush up against his back. The sound of treetops swaying made itself known as a sudden pain rushed through Steven's head for a few minutes. His eyes were kept shut, mainly due to the fact he was very weak and wanted to rest a bit more.

A few minutes passed until he felt something tap against his shoulder.

"Uh . . . Steven?"

Steven groaned. It sounded like Orion, but his head still ached.

"Steven . . . wake up."

Steven didn't respond.

"Stop being lazy! There's something you should really see!"

Finally he decided to speak. "What?" he began a bit harshly.

Obeying the fox, he slowly creaked his eyes open. The first thing he noticed was the sunlight gleaming down onto a grassy plain. Several trees stood tall around them as they were rustled by the slight breeze. Birds chirped as his vision became more clear. In the distance was some mountains with what looked like to be a settlement near the bottom. It seemed to be several miles away however.

Then Steven slightly jumped as a small fox's face suddenly jumped into his view. "Yo!" he greeted with a smile. "You still seem to be alive, no broken bones. Or appendages. Wings seem fine too!"

"Good to know," Steven slurred. "Wait . . .".

Wasting no time, Steven stood up to look at himself, but nearly fell because of poor balance. He had yellow scales, gray horns that curved back, blue wings with a light green tint on the membrane, and a dark gray belly. His dark blue spines stood out as he noticed dark shaded diamond markings on his frontal limbs.

"I'm . . . a dragon. Then that can only mean that this is the dragon realm."

Orion couldn't tell what he was thinking but it seemed he had a lot going through his mind.

"How come I didn't change?" the fox asked, sitting down in front of Steven.

The yellow dragon looked downwards, "Probably because you're a polymorph, or the gods of this world had no plans to make you one."

"Oh . . . that's true I suppose. So are you gonna go by Steven or Cosmo? Cosmo sounds better in my opinion."

"Cosmo please," the dragon quickly replied.

Orion nodded, looking around the area from his spot. He seemed a bit excited to be in a new place he'd never seen before. Cosmo couldn't blame him.

"You've been here before yes? Any idea where we are?"

That was one thing. Cosmo looked around a bit, but nothing really looked familiar.

"I can't say I do, sorry."

Orion shrugged. "No big deal. How about we ask those guys?"

The fox pointed towards the settlement Cosmo noticed from before to see two gray dragons heading his way. Orion took his place beside the dragon as Cosmo attempted to study them before they arrived. It seemed they were headed straight for him, obviously because they peeked their interest.

"Excuse me," the dragon on the left began as he approached Cosmo.

Cosmo made no attempt to turn away. He didn't suspect any danger.

"Yes?" the yellow dragon began as the two visitors stopped a few feet away.

The two gray reptiles looked at each other before the one on the right continued. "Did you see a light? It happened around this area."

"A light?" Cosmo began. "Sorry . . . could you be more specific?"

"It was white and bright. It only lasted a few seconds before it disappeared. We were wondering if you seen it."

Cosmo was about to answer, that is until a small fox jumped on his head.

"Sorry," Orion began. "With the sun and all, we didn't see anything like that."

Cosmo felt slight discomfort as the two gray dragons stared at the small talking red fox laying on his back. He must have morphed to make himself a bit smaller, but it still didn't make a difference as he looked back toward the two dragons to see strange looks on their faces.

"Is that a talking fox?" one of them asked in disbelief.

"There a problem with that?" Orion retorted, not feeling offended or anything, just a bit surprised. "You dragons talk, I didn't freak out over that!"

"No, no, there's no problem. We were just surprised is all." the gray dragon on the right continued. "Apologies sirs, but we saw a light very similar to the one we saw just then and wanted to see what it was."

"When?" Cosmo asked, politely as he could.

"Earlier today. We saw a black fur dragon walking the path much like you but she claimed she didn't see anything either."

"You talk too much," the other dragon interrupted.

"Not like it matters."

At this point Cosmo was intrigued. There was only one black fur dragon he knew in the dragon world.

"Where did this fur dragon go?"

"Into Clawstone," the dragon quickly answered, referring to the settlement behind him. "Small city but good dragons. If you're traveling you should definitely give it a visit."

Cosmo nodded. "Many thanks. Hope you get the white light thing sorted out."

Without another word, Cosmo quickly made his way by the two gray dragons with Orion still hanging out on his back. If that black fur dragon went into Clawstone, that was where he was going.

"Sir!"

Cosmo didn't want to, but turned to face the guards once again.

"Is this your bag?" one of the guards mentioned, referring to a light brown bag laying on the ground.

"Oh!" Cosmo began. "Yes! I put it down earlier and must have forgotten! Silly me!"

The yellow reptile quickly retrieved it and slung it over his back the best he could. As soon as he could, he began his walk back down the road like before. The items he had before he jumped in the portal felt they were still present in the bag, but it felt unsafe to check with the guards behind him.

"Polite bunch," Orion began, getting into a position where he rested his forepaws on top of Cosmo's head in between his horns. "Where we going anyways?"

"Straight into Clawstone," Cosmo answered.

"Well the scenery is nice," Orion replied with a smirk. "Giant plain, normal trees, even grass. Better than jungle."

"You know you have legs."

Orion hung his head upside-down in front of Cosmo's face, who still kept walking despite the giant obstacle obscuring his vision.

"Walk? But your head is comfy."

"Could you polymorph into a leaf at least?"

"I'll get blown away by the wind," Orion replied, showing his teeth with a smile. "Besides, I won't get into trouble if I'm on your head and not wandering around right?"

"Ugh, fine."

Orion looked back forwards, letting Cosmo see where he was going once again. "Not like you're carrying weight, I only weigh like three pounds when I'm this size."

"Still," Cosmo began. "Exercise is good for you."

"Pft, exercise is good for you," Orion mimicked. "Exercise is good for nothin'!"

Cosmo rolled his eyes, "You're unbelievable."

The cool breeze blew as a silent minute passed. Cosmo was mostly focused on getting to Clawstone so his thoughts were elsewhere, thinking about the fur dragon. He hoped to find her. The fur dragon's presence would definitely help him if it was the dragon he was thinking of.

"So that guy back there said we were in Clawstone?" Orion questioned. "I know you mentioned some other city before."

"Warfang," the dragon reminded.

"Right, Warfang. Do you know where Warfang is from here? I think our best bet is to go to the place you're most familiar with."

"I'm not exactly sure," Cosmo responded, attempting to remember as they approached an entrance into Clawstone. "I think it's south from here."

"So why we heading here?"

"That fur dragon the guard mentioned. She sounded very familiar and I intend to find her."

"Right," the red fox began, then yawned. "Wake me if something interesting happens."

"What?" Cosmo began. "You can't just go to sleep on my head!"

"Why not?"

"Other dragons will annoy me with it."

"Oh boo-hoo. It's no big deal. Just tell them I'm a hat."

No sooner than he said it, Orion quickly poofed into a small straw hat that fit Cosmo's head perfectly. His horns fit through two holes and prevented the sun's rays from reaching his eyes.

"I look ridiculous," Cosmo muttered.

"Well what do you want?" the straw hat replied. "I've been living in a jungle nearly my whole life."

"I would rather tell anyone who asks that you're just my pet fox."

The straw hat quickly polymorphed back into the small fox it was before. Cosmo flinched as the fox landed on his head.

"P-pet? I'm not a pet! I'm not anyone's pet!"

"Well why not just polymorph into a dragon then?"

"Because that would require me to walk!" Orion explained. "Besides, there's some dragons over there. I don't think you would want me morphing in front of someone." Orion then grinned. "Might cause a riot or chaos."

Cosmo wasn't amused as he approached a large gateway into the small city. Some guards stood by the road keeping a close eye on him as he walked by. Even with Orion on his head, they let him pass.

"Keep that pet of yours under control!" the yellow reptile heard from behind.

Orion deeply sighed.

"Don't," Cosmo began, reading the fox's mind. He heard grumbling as a response.

The city seemed pretty quiet. Not much seemed going on as Cosmo walked down the lone road with the fox on his head. Some trash littered the cobbled ground as he passed by a few buildings, some of them having signs in front of them, others not. He guessed they were shops but they weren't seeing much activity at the moment. Some spots had some grass and flowers here and there but the road was mostly cobble.

Cosmo continued down the road when he saw someone up ahead. He needed information from someone within the city and he had to ask someone.

"Excuse me," Cosmo began as he approached the light orange dragon.

"Yes?" the dragon replied, actually revealing to be a dragoness. She turned to face Cosmo as noticed the fox on his head. "Oh how adorable. A baby fox, I haven't seen one of those in ages."

"I'm looking for someone," Cosmo asked, hoping she would disregard Orion long enough to answer his question. "She's a black fur dragon, hard to miss. Have you seen anyone like that recently?"

"Can't say I have," the orange dragoness replied, sounding disappointed. "Sorry."

Cosmo showed a smile. "It's alright. Thanks though."

Quickly moving on before Orion freaked her out, Cosmo made his way further into the city. The little fox did his best to keep quiet as they traveled. The scenery seemed to stay the same though. Not much to look at in Clawstone other than the big mountain it was built in front of. The fox spotted snow on top the mountain's cap and guessed it must have been pretty high up, especially since it seemed to be above the clouds.

Soon enough Cosmo found himself in a large square where many dragons seemed to hang out. Small stands stood alongside the edges of the square where some dragons did business, whether it be selling fruit or oddities. The yellow reptile begun questioning several dragons about the fur dragon, but he always seemed to got the same answer. Nothing. It didn't help having Orion on his back either. The dragon's seemed more interested of why Cosmo was carrying a fox instead of a fur dragon in their midst. He was beginning to grow frustrated at his lack of success.

"Excuse me," a male dragon's voice called out.

Cosmo turned around to see a dark red dragon nearly twice his size standing there. It was a bit startling, especially how intimidating he looked.

"Did I hear that conversation correctly? A black fur dragon?"

Cosmo quickly nodded. "Y-yes. Have you seen her?"

The red dragon nodded. "I have in a matter of fact. She entered the restaurant over there earlier." He pointed toward a small building across the square called 'Drape's Diner'. "She should still be in there, it wasn't that long ago."

Cosmo showed a smile of appreciation. "Thank you sir, I appreciate it."

The yellow reptile wasted no time in heading toward the building. He was almost in a run as he made his way to 'Drape's Diner'.

"This black fur dragon," Orion began. "She's friendly right?"

"Depends on who's side you're on," Cosmo replied, stopping in front of the diner. "Best behavior. No polymorphing. No talking."

"Aw, no talking?"

"Not yet anyways. I don't want anyone freaking out that you're a talking fox."

"Fine," Orion muttered distastefully, setting his head back down in between Cosmo's horns.

Cosmo took a deep breath, then opened the door to the diner. The smell was the first thing he noticed. Meat and salt. The second was the amount of dragons inside.

There wasn't that many. Only a few here and there.

Before he moved, Cosmo heard a growl come from the top of his head.

"Sorry," the reptile heard in a hush tone. "The smell is so good here."

"Excuse me sir," a voice came from over the counter. Cosmo turned to see a light pink dragoness running it. "No pets."

"I'm not a pet!" Orion exclaimed, unable to contain it anymore. "I'm a living breathing being like everyone else."

Everything in the diner was quiet. Cosmo looked around, slightly embarrassed at Orion's outburst. But as he did, he noticed a black fur dragon standing near the counter on the far right, eyeing him suspiciously.

"Oh," the pink dragoness went simply, a bit confused toward Orion. "Sorry sir, it's just I've never seen your kind before. Still, I don't know if I can allow you to eat here."

"Aw c'mon I'm starving. Cosmo help me out here!"

At this point the fur dragon Cosmo was staring at immediately turned to face him. Cosmo could almost see the expression on her face. Disbelief? Surprise? Whatever it was, it caused her to rush over to him in a hurried fashion.

"I'm sorry," the fur dragon began as she stopped in front the dragon. "But did you say Cosmo?"

Orion rolled his eyes, but noticed something as he studied her. "Wait, you're the dragon we're looking for! Right Cosmo?"

The fur dragon's eyes widened as she studied Cosmo from head to toe.

Cosmo couldn't help but utter. "Isis?"

Almost immediately, the fur dragon wrapped her furry forelimbs around Cosmo's neck. The yellow reptile's breath was taken away, but returned the favor as quickly as he could. This was her. Isis, the fur dragon who he had many adventures with in the past.

"Help!" Orion barely managed, attempting to get free from Isis's iron grip. "Can't breath . . . choking . . . on sentiment."

Reluctantly, and for Orion's sake, Isis pulled away. "I can't believe this. You're here!"

Cosmo grinned as he felt Orion slowly stand to his paws. "Of course! But I never expected to find you! So soon even!"

The light pink dragoness from the counter was intrigued by now. She leaned over the counter and began in a low tone. "You know him?"

Isis quickly nodded, her eyes beginning to water from sheer happiness. "I do. We've known each other for a long time now. Been good friends the first day we met."

Cosmo couldn't help but feel fuzzy inside.

"I'm starving," Orion blurted out. "Got any food?"

Cosmo rolled his eyes. "I have some fruit in my bag."

The little fox wasted no time to plunge into Cosmo's bag.

"Watch out for the knife," Cosmo said lowly.

"Got it," the yellow reptile heard in response. Soon enough, it sounded like Orion found something worthy of him to eat.

Isis looked around the diner a bit, then back at Cosmo. "We need to catch up, let's go."

Cosmo nodded. "No disagreement here."

The two of them walked out the diner, leaving the small amount of dragons inside a bit confused as to what just happened. It didn't matter to either of them though. All Isis was worried about was leading them away from the square and onto the nearest street. Soon enough, all was quiet once more as the made their way down the road as Orion still munched on whatever fruit he had found.

Finally, Cosmo was the first to break the silence. "How did you get here?"

Isis smiled. "Same as you I'm guessing. Portal?"

"In the jungle," Cosmo finished. "Dreamed about it?"

"Yep."

"Felt a need to check it out?"

"Yep."

"Wait a second!" a voice emanated from Cosmo's bag. Orion quickly crawled out to look at Isis. "It was you who got passed me and used the portal without my permission!"

"Huh?" Isis began. "Well you're pretty small. Easy to miss. Besides, I was running from a panther at the time."

"I was the panther!" Orion exclaimed in a matter-of-fact tone.

Isis showed clear signs of confusion toward the fox. Clearly this animal was just a fox in her point of view.

"He's a polymorph," Cosmo answered. "He was the one chasing you."

"What? Why?"

"I wanted to keep the portal safe," Orion answered. "But you got there before I did."

"How about Cosmo?" Isis replied, a bit surprised about Orion. "Did he get past you too?"

"No," Orion answered turning back toward Cosmo's bag. "I let him in as long as he let me come with him."

"Actually," Cosmo objected. "If I recall correctly I had a knife against your throat and you folded."

Isis turned toward Cosmo, "You were about to kill that little fox?"

"He was a polymorphed panther! I didn't know at the time. But he explained everything before I did him in."

Orion rolled his eyes. "Whatever, you still wouldn't be here if it weren't for me."

The little canid returned his attention to the fruit he was eating in the bag on Cosmo's back. It seemed all he was worried about at the time was getting rid of the empty void in his stomach.

"So . . . what's your plan?" Isis asked. "As if I need to ask."

"Gonna head to Warfang," Cosmo replied nonchalantly. "I need to see Kali."

"Are you sure it's a good idea?"

"What do you mean?"

Isis stopped to look Cosmo in the eyes. The yellow reptile stopped as well, but mostly out of confusion.

"Cosmo, what if we're forced to leave again?"

Cosmo was quiet. He didn't think of that.

Isis continued. "The dreams we had that made us search for the portal. What if we're needed in the dragon realm again? What if when our role is complete once more the gods will throw us out yet again?"

Cosmo turned, deep in thought. He didn't want Kali to go through the same hardship again. Disappearing from her arms was something he didn't want her to go through again. He didn't know if she could take it.

"I need to at least see if she's okay," Cosmo replied. "Kali, Star, Torch, and Micha."

Isis nodded. "I have a friend to visit as well. I wouldn't mind know how she is doing. Not to mention Spyro and Cynder. They were a part of this too."

Cosmo smiled. "I guess my answer still stands. I want to go to Warfang."

"Right," Isis began with a sigh of approval. "Luckily we're in a city I'm familiar with. If we head south we should end up in Garipton. Beyond that is the road to Warfang. It's quite a walk though."

"Why don't we fly?" Cosmo suggested.

Isis snorted. "I haven't been in a dragon body for months. It'll take me a few days to break back into it. Not to mention I can't breathe any elements yet."

"I guess it's gonna take a little bit for our inner dragons to show," Cosmo said, looking up towards the partly cloudy sky.

"Walking!?" A voice emanated from within Cosmo's bag exclaimed.

"Relax," Cosmo began. "Everyone knows you're just gonna lounge on my back the whole time."

"Hmm." Isis showed a grin. "Seems like we have a third in our party."

The fur dragon then saw the fox's head poke out of Cosmo's bag. She noticed some orange liquid on lips and giggled as a result.

"The name is Orion! It's a pleasure! Now back to my mango."

"Don't eat everything in there!" Cosmo warned.

"Yeah, yeah, don't worry about it."