I don't want to upload too many too soon, though I literally could upload the entire story since it's complete lol

"Whoa! Did you see that!?" Mabel shouted. She stopped and looked around. "Where are we?"

Her brother sat up holding his head. "Mm, what?" They were in a swampy jungle area filled with massive trees and plants. He quickly got to his feet. "What the!?"

"Teeth!"

He followed his sister's gaze to see the pink dragon hanging awkwardly from the trees with several plant vines tangled around him. "How did you get up there?" he asked as they walked over.

"Uh," Teeth thought for a moment. "I dunno… I'm stuck."

"How do we get him down?" Dipper exchanged glances with his sister.

She shrugged and called back up to the beast. "Use your…teeth! Like a shark!"

"Eh?" He tilted his head then looked around at the vines wrapped around him. He bit at one of them and the vine snapped loudly.

"Yeah!" Mabel said. "Like that! Wait, not that one!" The vines suddenly gave way completely and he fell to the ground with a yelp. Several bugs and small birds took off from the bushes he had landed in. "Are you okay?" Mabel ran over.

Teeth lifted his head and shook it vigorously. "I'm…I'm okay."

"Okay," Dipper looked around. "So, where are we?"

"And where is everyone else?" Mabel added.

…

Flora was back in Telmak, in her underground home amongst the roots of the forest trees not far from where the tether tree was located. She lit a strange lantern-like plant and hung it from the ceiling just as she heard a noise in the other room. The dragoness poked her head around the corner and gasped at seeing Ghost on the floor. "Ghost?"

"Oh," Crusade popped his head up at the other end of the room. "Hey Flora!"

…

Amy quickly looked around at the area she was in; a large crevasse amongst massive jagged mountains and rock walls. The rough rocks and walls were white, bleached by the sun, and no plants could be seen. She spotted a lean yellow dragon huddled near the jagged wall with his head lowered and right wing mangled and limp.

She hurried over and stopped beside his head. When he turned to look at her she hugged him and kissed his snout. "Did you run into that wall?" she laughed.

He stared at her, surprised, before snorting at what she had said and turning away.

"I'll take that as a yes," she said. She walked off a little and looked around and up at the tall mountain walls. The hot sun was reflecting itself off of the white rocks and making the heat worse. "Well, this place sucks." She looked back at Bill as he stood up and slowly walked over. "With a wound like that you'll be stuck as a dragon until it heals. But maybe that's a good thing." She tapped at the rock wall and broke a little piece off. "I'm not sure what kind of rock this is…but it's light and brittle. If we tried to climb it, it would just keep breaking apart."

"Ugh, walking," he growled.

…

Dipper and Mabel sat along Teeth's back, Mabel insisting on being in front, as the dragon made his way through the jungle; they had to situate themselves in a way that they were sitting in the spaces between his large spikes instead of on them. They pushed through thick plants and crossed over and under massive roots but did not seem to be getting anywhere.

"How big is this place?" Dipper glanced around. "Everything looks the same and I can't see past the treetops."

"Are we lost?" Teeth stopped.

"Naw," Mabel laughed. "I've got a pretty good feeling that we'll be out of here before nighttime."

"I don't…" Teeth muttered and started walking again.

…

"So…" Flora sat down as she finished healing Ghost. "That is what happened…but…Ouroboros would not have changed his mind…so easily. Icarus…must be acting on his own accord…"

"Yeah, well good thing Cupid was there too," Crusade huffed. "He's the only reasonable one of them."

"Yes…" Flora nodded. "He reads hearts…not simply actions."

"Should we go looking for all of them?"

Ghost thought for a moment before stretching out on the floor. "Cupid separated everyone in a specific manner, likely for a reason. However, we do not even know where they are anyway. They might not even be in the same world as us."

"So, no?"

"I trust Cupid. He is an old friend."

"Well… Alright then."

…

Amy followed the long crevasse, trying to keep close to one wall to avoid the hot sun as much as possible. As time went on, however, they reached a point where it was no longer possible to avoid. She kept glancing back at Bill, who was following several yards behind with his head lowered. Even with her shoes, the rough ground was painful to walk on and she wondered if it was bothering him too. As far as she knew, Bill had rarely ever used his dragon form, so he was likely not very used to it. It may be far superior to a human body, but even dragons have their limitations depending on their type. One thing she did know, though, was that Bill hated walking. He avoided it if he could.

Eventually, they reached an area where the crevasse expanded with large, jagged overhangs jutting from the walls. At the other end, the walls ended and the horizon could just barely be seen off the edge, but it was still a distance to go.

Amy stopped and picked out a large overhang that curled over and almost reached the ground on one side. "We should probably rest there until it gets a little cooler."

Bill huffed. "I don't need any rest!" He followed her under the overhang anyway and plopped down roughly onto his belly with a grunt. He quickly regretted this action of dropping himself so roughly onto the jagged ground. It was not particularly pleasant.

She shook her head and sat down. It was a relief for her feet and the shade was nice too. After a few minutes she glanced over and noticed Bill examining his hands with a scowl. "What's wrong?"

He glanced at her as if a bit surprised then folded his arms against his chest like cats do. "Nothing. Why?"

"Why are you so stubborn?" she fussed. She moved over to him and pulled one of his hands closer to look. It was far larger than her own hands with huge black claws that would make several species of dinosaurs jealous. His hand was scratched along the palm from walking on the rough stones. These stones were light but rough enough to scratch through dragon scales. Odd, she thought. "It's okay to say when you're hurt or tired you know. Everyone gets hurt sometimes."

He snorted but did not say anything and watched as she carefully picked grit from the scratches.

…

"There," she said as she finished cleaning the scratches in one of his back paws. "All four done."

"I don't know why you bothered," he was laying with his head on the ground and both eyes closed. "It'll just happen again when we start walking again."

"Because, dummy." She smirked when he shot her a look. "If you leave them there, they'll go deeper and get stuck, then infected, and then more annoying for you to deal with."

As he laid his head back down, she took the time to study his appearance. The first and last time she had seen him in this form there was far too much going on for her to be concerned with physical details.

He seemed to be about the same height as Ghost. She estimated that to be around ten feet at the shoulder when standing on all fours. But as muscular as this form was, Ghost was still larger. Stockier, while Bill was leaner and quicker. Counting his long spade-tipped tail, Bill's dragon form was probably forty feet in length at the least. He was likely a bit longer than that though and he had incredibly broad wings.

His scales, she found, were not scales at all. Instead of proper scales, he was covered in a flexible yet hard carapace, almost like the plated armor on a scorpion but far stronger. She assumed this to be the exoskeleton he had when he was in his original form. At least, she was pretty sure that was his original form… The plates along his neck and tail were rectangular in shape and arranged like the bricks of a wall but closer together, nearly fused. Along his underside, from his throat all the way down to the tip of his tail, were larger, pointed plates that were jet black in color and glistened in the harsh sunlight. Unlike the rest of him, these black plates were rough and rigid to the touch. The rest of his body, limbs, face, and wings were covered with a thinner, even more flexible version of the plates along his neck and tail. He was bright yellow, aside from his underside.

He also had a pair large black horns protruding from the back of his head, and a row of black, triangular, flat spikes trailing all the way down his spine. They started at his head, down the neck and back, and along the tail, steadily getting smaller until they ended at the giant black spade at the end of his tail. The spade seemed to be the same kind of material as the black plates along his chest, making it diamond hard and sharp.

Interestingly, he actually had two eyes. She remembered something that either Dionysus or Crusade mentioned about Bill's "all-seeing eye" and figured that that was what the right one was. The one he kept hidden beneath an eyepatch when in "human" form. She had not seen it before that first time she saw him as a dragon. Though, she remembered that sometimes blood would trickle down from the eyepatch some days. Maybe the human form could not handle it, so it bled. He only had one eye in his other form, so the second one must usually be hidden.

As a dragon though, Bill did not have his eyepatch. Nor did he have his bowtie and hat. So, he just kept his right eye closed instead. Amy found herself wondering: If it was always hidden in his true form, and he keeps it covered/closed in these forms, and it bleeds… Does that mean that it is sensitive? To air, or light, or…something? Maybe one day she would work up the nerve to ask him about it.

…

Dionysus, who had taken the form of a red hyena, looked out over the top of the great sand dune and studied the landscape. There was nothing but hills of sand for miles and miles. No food, no water, no animals or plants, just a great sea of sand. He was pretty sure of where he was, at least in general. An ancient desert in eastern Telmak known simply as the Dry Sea. He did not know where in the Dry Sea he was, but he was pretty sure that he was in the Dry Sea.

He looked back over his shoulder at the two old humans trying to climb the dune. They were exhausted and Stan was sweating profusely. He waited for them to reach the top then looked back out over the sea.

"This desert goes on for miles," Ford shaded his eyes from the sun. "Even the horizon is nothing but sandy hills."

"Why couldn't that punk send us to Vegas or something?" Stan said between breaths.

Dionysus made a disturbed face as Stan unbuttoned part of his shirt and stepped away from the man.

"Do you have any idea where we should go?" Ford asked the hyena.

He thought for a moment. "Hm… I believe we are in a desert in Telmak called the Dry Sea. The Dry Sea is an eastern area… If we go west, we'd either end up at the Great Cliffs, Great Plains, or the jungle called Telarrk. But that all depends on where in the desert we are. Straight south would eventually lead to the coast, so maybe that's our best bet." He looked up and took note of the sun then turned southward and bounded down the dune.

…

The cliff was a lot further than Amy had originally thought. The sun had already gone by the time they reached it and stars could be seen dotting the sky. It was as bright as if there was a full moon out, but when she looked up, she could not find one. "There's no moon, but it seems like there would be. This must be somewhere in Telmak."

"Or one of millions of other worlds," Bill said. He plopped down, leaning more on his left to get his paws off the ground.

Amy peered down over the edge of the cliff. They were pretty high up but the side of the mountain was sloped so getting down might not be too hard. She looked out at the grassy hills. It was similar to the Great Plains but the hills were larger and the grass was taller. So tall and thin, in fact, that it looked like fur covering the land. She could make out tiny flecks of light appearing from the grass, probably fireflies.

"At least tomorrow we'll be off of these rocks," she said and walked over to Bill. She started cleaning out the scratches in his back paws.

"I can't believe these stupid little pebbles are cutting through my exoskeleton," he growled.

…

"This is even worse than the daytime!" Stan said through chattering teeth. He was sitting with his knees up and arms crossed, shivering in the frosty night air. "Can't you breathe fire?" he asked Dionysus.

"Sure!" Dionysus suddenly transformed into a large dragon completely covered in red plumes. He cupped his hands in front of his chest and breathed flames into them, forming a lasting ball of fire that he placed just inches above the sandy ground. It stayed there and continued to burn on nothing, warming them.

"Thank you," Ford said, "but can you not teleport or?"

"Me? No. I can do all kinds of other weird magic. I can even summon things from nothing, but not living things. And I can't teleport myself or anyone else. Falls under the 'living things' category, ya know? All that other stuff is more Bill's domain, but uh, well, you know. He's a little…under the weather lately." He chuckled at his choice of words.

…

"I knew it," Teeth said as they settled under an arching root of one of the giant trees.

"Knew what?" Dipper asked.

"That when Mabel said we'd get outta here before night, she was wrong."

"Hey!" Mabel said.

…

Amy stretched her arms out after she had finally finished cleaning the scratches. She was sitting between Bill's front paws and leaned back against him. "When we get down into that grass tomorrow, I should be able to use magic to turn it into wrappings of sorts. That way stuff will stop getting in those scratches."

He hummed and stared out at the hills.

"So," she said after a long silence. "What are you going to do when Ragnarok comes?" She felt him tense slightly. "I know you don't really care about everyone else," she said, "but you don't want to die either." More moments of silence. "I asked Ghost that same question you know. He told me that he will fight, because there is a chance that Ragnarok could lose. A chance… He said that only the strong can fight against Ragnarok. They can either fight for that chance, or run and do nothing but wait to perish." Silence. "I want to help too, but I don't think there's anything I could do… Are you afraid?"

"…Yes," he said after a long time.

"Hm. Me too."

Bill tilted his head to look down at her. "You want to fight? Even though you might die?"

"I might die if I don't."

He snorted and looked away then suddenly remembered something and looked back at her. "Do you remember that story about the flowers?"

"The ten Amaranths? Of course."

"That story comes from the Shadow War," he explained. "Those flower graves in the Great Plains are all dragons that died during that time."

"Okay." She nodded.

"The dragons had gathered up one of each type of Amaranth and combined them into a powerful type of light magic. It destroyed many of the shadows and scared away the rest. It ended the war."

"You think that'll work on Ragnarok?"

"He's not a shadow," Bill said, "but it might do something. He's the one who commands the shadows, after all. …It's something, I guess."

"Yeah," she mused.

…

The next morning, Amy stood looking over the edge of the cliff at its slope. "Maybe we should have went down before stopping for the night." She looked up and noticed something flying around off in the distance. "What's that over the horizon?" It was large and whale-like but with a long serpentine body and multiple limbs that appeared to move like paddles. Whatever it was, it was slow and far off.

"Beats me." Bill watched the figure for a moment before he shrugged and moved down the cliffside. "Probably just a spirit."

"Spirit?"

"Yeah. You know, physical, living, breathing versions of magic?"

"Yes, I know what a spirit is." She started down the rocky slope. "But I didn't know they could be that big."

"You think we're in Telmak right?" He used his tail to help her catch her balance back. "The birthplace of magic. If we are then a spirit that big shouldn't be so surprising."

"You say that like I see spirits every day," she huffed.

"Honestly," Bill said, "it looked an awful lot like Aquarius."

"I've never seen him myself. If it was, then we're definitely in Telmak."

…

"Come on slow pokes!" Mabel ran ahead and jumped into a puddle.

"Be careful, Mabel!" Dipper called. "We shouldn't be running around like that here!"

"So…hungry…" Teeth followed behind slowly with his head low to the ground and tail dragging. He stopped, noticing something, and looked up to spot a large bundle of pink fruits hanging from one of the smaller trees.

"Agh!"

"Mabel!" Dipper quickly ran over to find her knee-deep in a bog and sinking. "Hold on!" He looked around frantically and grabbed a long stick then held it out to her. "Grab on!"

She held tight to the stick as her brother tried to pull her free of the sinkhole, but she was already in past her waist and the pull from the thick mud ended up pulling him in too. Dipper gasped for air and shouted. "Help! Ack!"

"Hm?" Teeth quickly swallowed the rest of the fruit and crawled across the tree branches which bent under his weight. He slid down the end of one of the stronger limbs and peered down at the struggling humans.

"We're stuck!"

"Sinking!" Mabel added.

Teeth leaned forward and snatched them both up in his jaws by their shirt collars then sprung from the branch and landed on the other side of the bog. He placed them down and held something out to them with his tail. "I found some food."

The siblings glanced down at the fruit then exchanged frightened looks.

…

After sliding down the cliffside and reaching the grass, Amy had to pick out a few pebbles and debris from the dragon's paws again. She took long pieces from the grass and bound them together with her magic to make bandages of sorts that she used to wrap his paws after healing them to the best of her ability. "That should keep them clean for now. I've never had much practice with my healing magic, so I can only do so much."

Bill examined his wrapped hands curiously. "…Thanks."

"Oh sorry, what was that?" He glared at her and she laughed. She stood up and looked over his damaged wing. "It won't get any better like this. I should probably bind it in place." The wing was bent halfway in an awkward position and the only part he seemed to be able to move was the joint at the shoulder. "It'll hurt though."

Amy carefully grabbed the end of the wing and slowly stretched it. He turned quickly and hissed, instinctually pulling his wing away and baring his teeth. "Don't snarl at me!" She hit his nose and he made a strange noise in surprise. "Stop being a baby!"

"I didn't ask for your help!" he retorted.

"Fine," she held her hands up and sat down. "You do it then."

He winced in surprise.

About twenty minutes later, Amy was humming peacefully to herself as she neatly twined blades of grass together and sealed them with magic. Every now and then she heard the painful and annoyed grunts and snorts of the dragon behind her. After a while the noises stopped and she felt a presence close by. "Hm?" she glanced back casually to see the dragon sitting behind her with his head lowered, a look of annoyed embarrassment plastered on his face. "What is it?"

He growled lowly and looked away. "I need help!"

"Ohhh!" she sarcastically acted like she was surprised. "Well I guess I can take that as 'asking' for help." She sighed and got up to examine his wing.

…

Teeth stopped and sniffed at the air. "Smells like saltwater."

From his back, Mabel leaned over to give him an odd look. "How do you smell things without nostrils?"

"Hold on," Dipper cupped his hand to his ear. "Do you hear that? It sounds like water splashing. Or waves. It must be the ocean!"

"Giddyap, Teeth!" Mabel lightly tapped her heels against the dragon's sides and he bounded forward.

…

Amy had managed to correctly fold Bill's wing and wrapped it in place against him with the grass she had bound. She thought he looked kind of silly with the green wrappings around his body and paws. "There!" She grabbed his muzzle and hugged him. "Such a brave boy!"

He narrowed his eye and growled lowly. "Don't patronize me."

She giggled and hugged tighter.

As they walked, Bill found the wrappings actually helpful. They stopped anything from irritating the scratches and the long grass in the field was soft. His wing felt a bit better as well. It still ached but it was no longer hanging loosely and touching the ground, so he did not have to keep holding it up.

Ahead of him, Amy was playing with dragonflies that kept darting around her. Sometimes she would poke one as it passed and it would come back in a big loop and land on her for a moment before jetting off again only to repeat the process. He noticed her laughing quietly and whispering something. "Don't tell me you're talking to bugs?"

She stopped and smiled back at him. "They're quite the conversationalists."

"Really?" He wasn't convinced.

"More than you've been for the past few hours." He wrinkled his snout at her comeback. She looked over at a dragonfly that stopped near her then laughed as it darted away. "He says you should lighten up. How funny is that? Haha!"

"Hilarious," he rolled his eye. He glared at one of the bugs as it stopped in front of him then took off.

"That one said you're pretty," she told him.

"Pretty?"

"She likes your colors. They like bright colors. Most bugs do." She giggled as the same dragonfly swerved back around and landed directly on the dragon's nose. "They were asking if I was afraid of you."

He turned his head to look at her and the dragonfly took off.

"They said you look cruel. Like you've hurt many things." He watched her closely as she reached a hand out for one of the bugs to land. "I'm not afraid of you though. I never was. I told them that you're hurt too." She smiled. "Of course, they said that wasn't an excuse, heheh."

He wasn't sure how to respond, or if he even should. He looked down steadily at one of the bugs resting on a blade of grass. Were these simple little things actually able to read him so well, or was she just saying those things? "How could such a simple-minded thing talk so much?"

"It's hard to explain. You couldn't understand unless you could hear them too. You could learn though."

"Pfft. I have no use for conversation with insects."

"Really?" she tilted her head and smiled. "They see a lot of things most don't. They don't think like we do but their hearts are the same."

"Maybe like yours but not mine," he muttered.

She shrugged. "Maybe you're just confused. I think I figured mine out. Those 'pests' helped too." She looked at the dragonflies as they buzzed around her. "Hm? No, not you guys. You aren't pests." She laughed as they settled down.

…

They finally reached where the jungles trees and plants began to thin out and the smell of saltwater was stronger now. Teeth pushed through the last couple of bushes and looked down, surprised, at the sand beneath his paws.

"Wow." The siblings slid from his back and looked out at the ocean. Over to their right the beach curved around the base of a series of cliffs in the distance. Peaking from the other side was the half-sun painting the sky pink, golden light reflecting over the water and sparkling.

Teeth walked over and tilted his head, mouth gaping. "Huh, we don't have one of those back home."

"A sun?" Dipper gave him an odd look.

"Sun? No. I mean the giant one-eyed cat."

"Huh? But there's no cat – Wait…" He had a lightbulb moment all of a sudden. "We must be in Telmak!"

"Really?" Mabel asked.

"Yeah! I mean, look at the setting sun over there. It's not actually setting; it looks more like it's steadily closing. Like a giant eye!"

"Like the eye of Star Pelt!" Mabel smiled broadly.

"Yeah! Wait – It's a cat?" He looked around at the sky. "How can you tell?"

Teeth shrugged. "Star Pelt is a giant spirit, right? We don't have those back home. We only have shadows."

"What are shadows?" Mabel asked.

"Like bad spirits," he replied. "Eh, spirits are living magic, right? Shadows are like living hate. They're not very nice. Someone told me Ragnarok uses them to control people. Maybe that's why we're not friends anymore… Maybe he didn't leave because he wanted to."

"Who are you talking about?"

"My friend. Shade. Ragnarok punished him once for not listening. He took away his voice. I haven't seen him in a long time, but he's not dead. I know he's not because people talk about him. It always seems like they're talking about someone different though…"

"That's a sad story."

They turned around in surprise at the new voice. Peering at them from the water was the crocodile-sized head of some kind of dragon. She lifted her head up, slowly revealing a very long neck and serpentine body. She was light blue with a pale blue underbelly and a long pink dorsal fin down her back like a ribbon. There were pink fins on either side of her head and she had big round eyes.

The gills along her neck sealed as she raised her head from the water. "Sorry," she said in a kind voice. "I heard voices in my territory, so I came to investigate. This beach belongs to me, you know."

"Oh, sorry," Dipper said. "We're uh, lost."

"Could you tell us where we are?" Mabel asked. "What world we're in?"

"I thought it was strange that humans would be here." She smiled. "Did Gaia let you in?"

"So this is Telmak." Dipper was a bit relieved. "Well, originally she did, but this time we were transported by Cupid. Not our choice, by the way."

"It is rare that one who meets Cupid or his brother survive to tell the tale. They usually only appear to judge the wicked." She leaned forward curiously. "But you three don't look very menacing."

"Really?" He gestured at Teeth. "Not even him?"

She shook her head. "My king is much more frightening than any of you." She laughed. "Well, only in looks that is. My name is Serene by the way."

"King? There are monarchies in Telmak?"

She giggled in amusement. "Ah, I forget… Humans would call it 'husband'. A mated pair of dragons is called a king and queen. Her king, his queen."

"What if they're the same gender?" Mabel asked, throwing her hand into the air as if she was in a school classroom. Her brother eyed her oddly for her action.

Serene smiled sweetly. "Well, they would be a pair of kings. Or a pair of queens, of course!"

"Ohhh, of course!"

"Um," Dipper interrupted. "Do you think you could help us? At least, maybe, provide us with some shelter for the night?"

"Why, certainly! Please, follow me."

Serene had led them around the bend in the coast and into a cave-like opening hidden along the base of the cliffs. She swam in while they walked along the thin trim of sand along the walls. The inside was spacious and the water ended less than halfway into the cave. Serene crawled out of the water and went over to the center of the room where a large fire pit sat. They watched her take something in hand and strike it against the stones until a fire lit. Then she placed a massive pot on a rack above the fire. "My king, husband, should be back any moment now. He went to get some ingredients for dinner."

"Do all dragons live like this?" Mabel was looking up at the tall ceiling.

"Are you asking if some of us live in houses like humans?" Serene was preparing some things in the pot. "Many have houses of sorts. It all depends on what kind of dragon they are and where they live. There are different kinds of humans too, yes?"

"That's true."

The pool of water behind them shifted as something big swam in and a large reptilian head lifted from the water holding a large bag in its jaws. The dragon was serpentine like Serene but almost twice her size and dark blue in color. He was a bit frightening with long, crooked needle-like teeth protruding from his mouth like an angler fish and a large spiked sail down his back. He was covered in old scars, too.

They stiffened as the dragon peered down at them with bright yellow eyes, but he merely walked over to Serene and placed the bag down.

"Welcome back, Duncan." The two dragons cutely nuzzled their heads together. "We have some unexpected guests tonight. Dipper, Mabel, and Teeth." She opened up the bag to look over the fish and other ingredients he had brought. "This will do lovely."

Duncan went to the back of the room and settled. "What brings humans to the coast?"

Mabel smirked because his rough deep voice reminded her of a boat captain or pirate.

"We kind of got sent here against our will," Dipper began to explain.

…

It was dark now, and as Amy and Bill were walking through the grass little flecks of light started to float around. Amy stopped and looked around, watching the lights as they blinked. She turned to Bill and smirked. "Let's play a game!"

He looked surprised. "A game?"

"Yeah." She started walking backwards. "Let's play…tag! You're 'it.'"

He watched her run off. "Why? What's the point?!"

"You just don't want to try because you'll lose!" she called and kept running.

He snorted and watched her keep going. "She's serious?" He muttered something under his breath, watched her for a moment, then bounded after her.

It did not take very long for him to catch up. He ran alongside her a moment before leaping in front of her and halting. She squeaked as she tried to stop but ended up running into his arm and falling onto her butt. He looked down at her smugly. "Heh, tag."

Amy got up and smirked. She turned and pointed at the millions of tiny lights that had fled the grass along his path. "Look, they're like ribbons of light. They are quite upset with you right now."

"Like I care!"

She laughed. "They'll be fine. It was time for them to wake up anyway."

"You wanted me to wake up bugs?"

"No," she said. "I wanted you to smile. And you did."

He hadn't realized that he had. He snorted then laid down and curled around her. She sat down and traced her fingers along the scale-like plates on his head until she eventually dozed off against him.

The next morning, Amy was peering over the grassy ledge at the clouds below. "I can't believe it's another cliff!" She noticed a land mass floating amongst the clouds.

"Ah, the Great Cliffs." Bill nodded. "That's where we've been. Hey, you were right! We are in Telmak!"

"The Great Cliffs are floating islands?!" She stood back from the ledge as the wind picked up. "How are we supposed to get down? You're wing is broken."

She hurried over to him as the wind got even stronger. A loud whale-like sound suddenly echoed across the area and an absolutely massive creature flew up from below and started to pass the ledge. The creature was very long with a round whale-like body and appearance and a tail that followed far behind. Along its sides were multiple pairs of large feathered flippers that paddled slowly through the air.

"It's that flying whale!" Amy called over the strong winds it was forcing up.

"It's definitely Aquarius!" Bill used his good wing to shield her. "Third biggest spirit you'll ever see!"

As its head lowered, its long tail followed and the wind settled again. Amy ran over to the edge to see it just below. "Let's catch a ride!"

Before Bill could say anything, she had already got a running start and jumped. The whale ended up being a bit further down than she had thought and as she was freefalling, she thought she might land too hard. The spirit let out another bellow and a soft golden light caught Amy and carefully pulled her onto the whale's head. Moments later, the same light placed Bill beside her.

"Are you crazy!?" Bill snapped at her.

She ignored him. "Thanks!" she shouted and the spirit responded with another bellow; they could feel its body vibrate under them. Way behind them a sound like steam shooting from a pipe sounded and they looked back to see clouds spewing from the blowhole on its back. "It makes clouds!" Amy smiled excitedly.

After a few minutes of descending, they emerged just below the clouds and the ground below could be seen clearly. The spirit bellowed and a green light enveloped Bill. He stiffened a moment, confused, and the grass bandages slipped off and flew away with the wind. His paws and wing were healed.

"Aw, thanks!" Amy patted the spirit's head. It cried out again and she nodded. "He says you can take it from here," she told Bill. "Do you actually know how to fly?"

Bill huffed and readied himself as she climbed onto his back. "I dunno. I haven't done it in a while."

"Wait," she was cut off when he leapt from the whale and dove down.

Terrified, Amy wrapped her arms around his neck the best she could manage and shut her eyes. He grinned, and some thousand feet before reaching the ground, he opened his wings and with a 'swoosh' righted himself. Now at a steady level and speed he looked over his shoulder at her and laughed loudly.

"Are you trying to give me a heart attack!?" she yelled.

…

"Thanks for the stew last night!" Mabel waved from the cliff edge at the dragons in the water below.

"Remember!" Serene called up. "Just go straight north from that spot and you'll find the portal to the Great Plains!"

"Got it! Thanks!" Dipper waved.

They climbed onto Teeth's back. "Giddyap Teeth!" Mabel pointed ahead. "Onward! To victory!"

"Victory!" Dipper pointed as well.

The dragon grinned and bolted forward.

…

Dionysus stopped and gasped upon spotting the portal. They had gotten out of the desert sometime early morning and now they had found the coastal portal that would lead back to the plains. He stood on his hind legs and pointed excitedly at the portal.

"That'll get us back to familiar territory?" Ford asked.

"Yup!"

"Good!" Stan finally caught up to them. "I'm dyin' of thirst here! I don't get why you couldn't have let us hitch a ride!"

"Because you're sweaty," Dionysus told him.

"Grunkle Stan! Dionysus!" they heard a familiar girl's voice.

"Great Uncle Ford!" came another voice.

They looked back towards the portal to see Dipper and Mabel waving excitedly at them from atop the pink dragon.

"Kids!" Stan ran up to meet them and the two siblings jumped down to hug him.

"Ew," Mabel said. "Why are you all sweaty?"

"Told you," Dionysus said.

…

"Bill, look," Amy pointed. "The tether tree is huge even from here."

He swerved down and around the tree for a minute until reaching the front where he landed out of nowhere. Startled, Zephyr yelped and fell backwards from his perch on the roots.

"Oh," Gaia looked a bit surprised. "Hello there." She looked over Bill. "You are using that form now?"

"I didn't really have a choice," Bill said. "Is that a problem?" He narrowed his eye.

"Not at all!" She looked very pleased all of a sudden which threw him off. "I am sure that such a form is easier to keep in this world. Zephyr?"

"Huh?" the blue and white dragon lifted his head up from the ground.

"Go fetch Flora, would you?"

"Er, okay." He hobbled away, still stunned.

Gaia turned back to them. "Flora had a visit from Ghost and Crusade and told me about what had happened. Seems you had a run-in with Icarus and Cupid."

"Yeah," Bill said. "They only tried to kill me."

She ignored his sarcasm. "Well, I contacted Ouroboros and he said he would fix them. Well, Icarus. Cupid did very well. If you have any problems with Icarus again, let me know." She leaned forward and smiled. "But I doubt it since he's bound to get an earful from his father." She straightened herself up. "When Flora arrives, I will have her escort the two of you home. She has already gathered up your friends."

"Bah! They're no friends of mine!" Bill stated loudly.

…

Everyone had gathered in Amy's old barn later to talk about the past few days. Bill, now back in human form, mostly kept quiet and stayed away from the others while Teeth and Dipper had to keep correcting Mabel's inaccuracies and exaggerations. Dionysus had poured everyone wine, which Ford had quickly confiscated from Dipper and Mabel as he scolded Dionysus. Neither of them had planned to drink it though.

Bill was secretly quite pleased when Amy suddenly got up from her seat and joined him by his side in the corner.

To be continued…

How many OCs are you putting in this story? A lot. A lot lot. Lol