Dragon Storm: Chapter 29: Miracle! Lazz’s Sudden Confession and The shady New Hero!
#29 of Dragon Storm
Author's Note:
Hey there! In this chapter of Dragon Storm, I am going to be introducing a friend of mine. His name is Aresues, and his Fursona is Shayde, a black and sand-yellow Labrador. He is a really good writer, better then me actually, and he has requested to become apart of Dragon Storm. He has his own story if you would like to check it out, just click on his Hyperlink below. Now watch as this story unfolds even more. Enjoy! XD
SoFurry Cast
DS-Rio: http://ds-rio.sofurry.com/
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A Soviet Dragon: http://a-soviet-dragon.sofurry.com/
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Eveser: http://eveser.sofurry.com/
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Naraku: http://naraku.sofurry.com/
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Aresues: http://aresues.sofurry.com/
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ASCII Artwork
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I do not take credit for this artwork.
-PREVIOUSLY ON DRAGON STORM-
" I see... I will work on it." Rio said and dropped to the ground.
" I have thought this to you as a fellow Crimson clan member so please make good use of it. Now, before I go... let me warn you... by telling you this." Naraku said calmly and pointed at the staircase that lead further down into the griffin stronghold.
"Hm?" Rio said and looked at the staircase and it's seemingly endless decent into the black abyss.
"In order to survive, we cling to all we know and understand. And we label it reality. But knowledge and understanding are ambiguous. That reality could be an illusion. All anthros live with the wrong assumptions. Isn't that another way of looking at it?" Naraku said calmly.
Rio was about to reply when suddenly, Rio turned to face the wall and an empty room.
"Naraku?" Rio said.
Rio stood there dumbfounded by Naraku's question and sudden disappearance. He didn't know if this meant that he was dreaming or having a hallucination. Was Naraku even real? Or did Rio just miss how he exited the room so quickly? Rio thought about this as Naraku's voice echoed in his head.
OPENING#2:
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Sha la la I know that someday
I will find what I'm chasing after
I pray that light will shine into your heart
And set your empty soul ablaze
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My desire to see you just once more
Is so strong I cry till my heart's torn
Fireflies have flown into summer
And they will never come back again
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You left me with a kiss on my lips
And told me that you had to go
And although I was sad
I just nodded my head
And then you walked away and left me
I trembled and cried with grief
_ Sha la la I know that someday_
I will find what I'm chasing after
I pray that light will shine into your heart
And set your empty soul ablaze
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Sha la la my dear beloved
I can still see your precious smile
The dazzling light shining from the moon
Illuminates tomorrow's way
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Let it shine; let it shine, to brighten your way!
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I do not own Hotaru no Hikari .
Dragon Storm
CHAPTER 29: Miracle! Lazz's Sudden Confession and The shady New Hero!
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Lazz was still limping through the battlefield where Cross Wing had died and as he did he could see blood of every color, scattered arrows and chimera body parts. It was hard for him to believe it, but the communications tower was destroyed and he didn't want to find out what did that. Soon Lazz saw a black flame that sealed the entry way into the next building so he decided to go around and enter from the side door and as he did he got a rather eerie feeling that he was being watched. As soon as Lazz opened the side door, he only took one step forward before he stopped in shock.
"DON'T MOVE!" Rio yelled and pointed his handgun at Lazz from the ceiling.
"Rio!" Lazz said.
"What? Lazz! I'm so happy you made it!" Rio said and dropped from the ceiling once again, as he had already done it before Lazz's arrival.
"How did you learn how to do that?" Lazz asked.
" I'm not so sure that you would believe me even if I told you. What happened to your arm Lazz?!" Rio asked.
" Wild Horn cut it off as pay back for me blowing his arm off earlier. I'm afraid I won't be able to be as helpful as I have been from this point on." Lazz said.
" It's k! It's my turn to protect you." Rio said.
"Rio... I love you." Lazz whispered.
" What?!" Rio asked in complete shock.
" I said I love you... Rio" Lazz said firmly.
" ..........................." Rio was lost for words.
"It's true. I don't care about this mission anymore. And I was crazy to have ever treated you the way I have been." Lazz exclaimed.
".........." Rio remained silent and looked away.
" Can't you at least listen to when someone is pouring out their heart to you!?" Lazz said.
" ...Why?" Rio asked.
" Huh?" Lazz asked.
" If this is a joke, it's not funny.... What...the...hell happened?" Rio asked while he squinted his face in anger.
" Nothing. I've come to my senses. There is no use in loving my job more then you Rio. I'm not blind anymore... I'm just being realistic." Lazz explained.
" .............." Rio remained silent and tightened his fists.
" So, Rio... I don't need your promise anymore... to protect your friends... you can stop chasing after that dream for me now..." Lazz said and forced himself to blush despite not wanting to and gave Rio a heartwarming hug.
" Did something happen Lazz? Why are you telling me this all of a sudden?" Rio asked, his tail now swaying side to side.
" No! It's nothing! It's just clear why I fell for you... my mission objective keeps getting further and further away from me, but Rio... you've always been right by my side. You encouraged me. I realized who you really are. You're a hero who protected his friends. Your friends all love you now. And I'm just one of them... little by little you've grown from that no-good, short tempered, immature dragon... to someone wonderful and heroic... and I've watched it happened." Lazz explained and closed his eyes, and then he rested his head on top of Rio's.
".................." Rio remained silent and frowned, now inhaling Lazz's scent.
" The mission objective is growing, and it's breaking me apart, but Rio...I can touch you... you bring me peace... from the bottom of my heart... I lov-" Lazz said, but then got interrupted.
" STOP IT, LAZZ! THIS ISN'T FUNNY!!" Rio shouted, and then pushed Lazz away.
"What are you getting so upset about? I just fell for you... can't you be grateful?" Lazz asked.
" I HATE IT WHEN MY FRIENDS LIE TO THEMSELVES!!" Rio yelled while looking away.
" Are you saying... I'm lying to myself?" Lazz asked while taking a step back.
"..........." Rio remained silent and returned his glare to Lazz.
"I'm the only one who knows what I'm thinking!! If you don't like me, then just say so!!" Lazz said with a slightly raised tone of voice.
"It's just... really random of you... to say something like that." Rio said.
" SOMETHING LIKE THAT!? You think it's easy for anybody to confess their feelings?" Lazz yelled while he clenched the floor beneath him with his sharp claws.
" I'm sure you didn't come all this way to tell me that!" Rio said while raising his tone.
" ALL THIS WAY!? Of course I'd come all this way! You've been chasing after your friends and putting yourself in danger! You should be worried about your own safety!" Lazz exclaimed.
" Look who's talking... I thought I told you to stop smoking!" Rio said while sniffing the air for Lazz's scent.
" You smelled it when I hugged you, huh?" Lazz said while pulling a cigarette out of his pocket and reached out behind him to light it with the still burning black fire blocking the front door.
"Anyway, that is proof that you do not mean what you say. Stop contradicting your self already." Rio said and turned his back.
" Even if you saw through my little ruse, how do you plan on completing this mission now? You have only your twisted father to thank for us even being here." Lazz said as he inhaled the cigarette and exhaled a puff a smoke.
" Listen, it looks like the door at the bottom of those stairs is locked. I will go find the card key to open it. You stay here, you are in no condition to be running around." Rio said.
" Who do you think your talking to? Don't forget, I am a lieutenant of squad eleven in the D.E.O." Lazz said while smoking.
" I want to help my friends. Stay here... I need to get May back. And after that, I'm going back for Necro." Rio said.
"Necro? Rio... I understand May... but don't get to close to Necro. He unlocked his own cell from the inside. Think about it! Why would he need your help if he were only pretending to be a prisoner?" Lazz asked.
" I'm leaving, stay here. I don't need your help anymore... it is you that needs mine." Rio said and grabbed all of his gear, as he walked out of the room.
" Be careful Rio, you'll never know who you will run into next..." Lazz said as he proceeded to smoke in honor of Cross Wing's death.
Rio walked outside and proceeded to walk north. He was all-alone, but he didn't care anymore. He saw General Andal carry May off in this direction, so this is where he wanted to look first. Rio was still confused as to why Andal was crying and even nodded his head in agreement with Rio's action of killing Cross Wing. Soon, Rio lost track of where he was and had wandered off into a wide area with snowy treetops. Rio walked through the endless forest for what seemed like hours before stumbling upon something rather interesting. Rio quickly hid behind a tree and peaked over to see a crowd of griffin soldiers encircling something. It looked like a black canine with a sword fighting off the griffin soldier's single-handily.
"Come!" the black canine shouted.
Suddenly, the canine jumped high into the air and readied himself with his blade. Just then, the mid-sized group of griffin soldiers all shot their guns. The black and sand-yellow canine swiftly deflected them all with his sword by spinning it in his hand. After which, he landed on the snowy ground and stopped spinning the blade and cut a line in the snow in front of him. The line was kind of arched in front of him, and what's more all the bullets that he had stopped were now all in that line. All the griffins looked surprised by this and quickly ran toward the canine. However, it was too late. The black canine performed an upward strike and sent all the bullets in a scatter burst into all the griffins. What's more, every bullet landed right in their chest, killing them all. Blood was spurted everywhere and in stained the pure white snow a jet-black color.
"How foolish..." The black canine said sternly.
Suddenly, Rio got an incoming call on his codec from his father Quicksilver. Rio didn't hear it going off in his ear at first because of the show that this new character was putting on, but Rio quickly, snapped to his senses and answered the codec call.
"Rio, it's me." Quicksilver.
"Yes? What is it dad?" Rio asked.
" Rio, do you know who that is?" Quicksilver asked.
" No, who?" Rio asked.
" That is Shayde. He is a black and sand-yellow Labrador." Quicksilver explained.
" Shayde? Never heard of him..." Rio said.
" Alright. Then allow me. He enlisted in the Galactic Federation Anthro Police, (G.F.A.P.) later left for unknown reasons. Now he works as a freelance bounty hunter, and is called on by the Galactic Federation Anthro Police to execute missions "because of his superior skills and sense of justice". Shayde is motivated at least in part by wrath as well as an accompanying sense of duty, since his "bounty hunting" helps the galaxy get rid of unsavory elements." Quicksilver explained.
"Shayde typically works alone and being typically emotionless, Shayde reveals only some of his true self to his closest friends. Also, in the canine's scrolls, Shayde is recorded as The Newborn, an "orphaned warrior filled with vengeance". Thanks in part to his Canine heritage; the canines consider him to be the hope of their race. The G.F.A.P. (Galactic Federation Anthro Police) sees him as the protector of the galaxy, and the D.E.O. (Dragon Enforcers Organization) refer to him as the "Skillful Hunter". In fact, there is probably not a single anthro out there that doesn't know about Shayde." Kilala explained.
"I contacted the G.F.A.P. and got their consent to get a hold of Shayde. I asked him if he would accept me tasking him with a mission, a mission to hunt for the Pseudo-chimera Adult. He even said he would not charge me full-price because of an opportunity of fulfilling a "personal stake". I did this some time ago, around the time you had just defeated WarWolf. I tried to contact you since, but every time I tried I could not reach you. I even had one of my fastest privet jets escort him over to the island. I called Lazz instead, but I forgot to tell him because he was... well, not acting himself with a missing arm and all." Quicksilver explained.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ (Flashback: An earlier event) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
"This is Lazz... can you hear me?" Lazz said.
Suddenly, in the cell next to Lazz, Necro's ears twitched and he listened in on the conversation.
"How are you feeling Lazz?" Eubanks asked.
"Never better. I have lost an arm... it was cut off by Wild Horn because I was captured and tortured. Soon after that I woke up in a cell. I don't know where Rio is either." Lazz explained.
"Damn!" Quicksilver said.
"........................." Kilala remained silent.
"Lazz...We received the E-mail you sent us earlier. The government has decided not to give in to their demands. We're trying to buy some more time. Also I can't get a hold of Rio." Quicksilver said.
"Come on Quicksilver...why don't you stop playing dumb? I'm sorry about Rio, but I want the lies to end now." Lazz demanded.
"What are you talking about?" Quicksilver asked.
Kilala and Eubanks looked at each other while Quicksilver formed a fist. Meanwhile Necro paced back and forth in his cell quietly.
"Rio? The weird red Dragon from before? Could this voice belong to the friend Rio was trying to save? And if so, then why isn't Rio here now? Even if they were separated couldn't they still contact each other?" Necro thought.
"Pseudo Chimera Adult was designed to launch a new type of nuclear warhead, wasn't it?" Lazz asked.
"..................!" Quicksilver remained silent.
"You knew it all along didn't you?" Lazz asked.
"........................................................" Quicksilver remained silent.
"Why did you try to hide it?" Lazz asked.
".................I'm sorry................." Quicksilver said.
"Can't tell the grunts, huh? You've changed a lot Quicksilver. Pseudo Chimeras, secret advanced weapons nuclear research.... Does the White house know about this? How deep does it go?" Lazz asked.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ (Flash forward: Dragon Talon Forest) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
"Quicksilver, if you think for one minute that I believe you then you are even more foolish then I thought. How long do you plan on hiding the truth from him? Just how many of us do you take as fools? I am on to you..." Kilala thought while turning away from Quicksilver and grinning evilly.
"Rio, Kilala, you fools. Just how long do you expect me not to notice? Rio, I know you are very interested in talking to me about what Naraku told you. There has to be a reason why you didn't want to bring it up. Kilala, you are so busy acting like someone who you aren't and trying hard to win in a noble way, that you haven't even noticed that I have already won this game." Quicksilver thought while moving a knight chess piece over by a king piece and grinning just as evilly as Kilala.
"Now I get what's going on here. They are both up to something. But what? What could they be playing all these mind games for? On the surface it seems as though the child-hood parents are friends, however... under the surface there is a raging war getting ready to start. If I can just figure out which one of them is the greater threat..." Eubanks thought as she exited the room, pushing her glasses up with her ring finger.
"So... in other words... he is my ally." Rio stated as he watched Shayde slaughter griffin after griffin.
Rio took this time to notice Shayde's looks and features. Shayde was an anthro canine that had black fur covering only his head, neck, arms, and legs. Everywhere else was covered in a sandy-yellow color of fur, including his tail. His eyes were an aesthetically interesting dark blue tint with black outlines. It almost seemed as though his eyes were glowing, while glistening. Rio then noticed his blood-red bandanna that was tied around his neck neatly. Then, he spotted his brown sheath that was on his waistline and the blade itself was a silvery color that reminded Rio of Quicksilver's scales. The handle was patterned with yellow diamonds and a red color that engulfed the handle wherever there wasn't a diamond. Lastly, Rio took in the black baggy pants with red outlines he was wearing. They reminded Rio of gothic trip pants, which were Rio's favorite kind of pants to wear and he had many of them at home.
Suddenly, as Rio was watching all of Shayde's movements in awe, he quickly jumped up to get away from a flanking griffin soldier, however, some of the griffin soldiers jumped up with him to engage him in aerial combat. Regardless of the griffin soldier's efforts, Shayde quickly saw one griffin swing with a right hook, however, Shayde not only dodged the swing, but also sliced the griffins head clean off. He seemed unfazed by all the blood that was erupting everywhere. Just then, Shayde let go of his sword and held it like you would a dagger. He then proceeded to slice and dice all the griffins that were airborne with him. First he sliced horizontally to cut another griffin head clean off. Next he sliced upward which cut a griffin soldier in half vertically. Finally, with his blade still above him he performed a sword plunge and stabbed another griffin in the chest. As Shayde was falling head first toward the snowy ground, he used his free hand to break the fall and performed a one-handed backhand spring and then skidded to a stop as he landed back on his feet again.
"H-he is amazing... almost as impressive as Yun." Rio whispered to himself.
Suddenly, the griffin's assault rifles were fired and Shayde blocked and deflected them all again. As the remaining griffin soldiers approached Shayde, he quickly and effortlessly performed a back flip and cut four griffin soldier's heads off as if it were going through silk fabric. Shayde proceeded to hack and slash through all of the remaining griffin soldiers until only one was left. Out of fear, the last griffin took flight and tried to fly away from Shayde, but it found itself quickly lassoed with a rope by the talons. The golden brown rope shimmered in the dim daylight that shone through the thunderclouds. Shayde then effortlessly tugs on the rope and swirled the griffin around and finally slammed him onto the snowy ground with a hard thud. Suddenly, Shayde let out an enormous heat wave from his body and melted the defenseless griffin soldier into nothing. All the nearby snow was also melted away and all that remained was a normal looking forest.
"Hmph. Child's play." Shayde said calmly while standing a cool pose of him holding his sword high with both hands.
Suddenly, a fireball emerged from the treetops and hit a flanking griffin up above Shayde. As the burning griffin hit the ground, Shayde looked up toward the small cliff and saw where his heat wave left some charred spots. He proceeded to look further up the small cliff and spotted a snowy terrain, not hit by Shayde's heat wave, and then, standing on it, he saw a red and black striped anthro dragon. His mouth was still spewing out flames from his fireball attack just now. This red dragon was turned so that his back was to Shayde and his head was turned sideways a little. The red dragon sported a small black bow on his back with a silver quiver and silver arrows each with a crimson red feather on it. He also had his black and red sword held out in one hand while holding his S&W 9mm semi automatic handgun in his other hand. The red dragon was standing in a rather cool pose himself.
"Ah. You must be Rio." Shayde said calmly.
"Heh! Yeah... that's me, and your Shayde." Rio said just as calmly and jumped down the small cliff to meet Shayde.
" Quicksilver told me to look for you." Shayde said while sheathing his sword.
" Yeah. My dad told me about you. Looks like we are allies." Rio said while putting his sword in its sheath and placing the handgun in its holster.
" Yup. So... Rio. Where is this pseudo-chimera thing at anyway?" Shayde asked while tilting his head sideways.
" I will inform you... if you be my friend... Shayde." Rio said while holding out a gentle hand for a handshake.
"You want to be my friend?" Shayde asked.
"Yeah. I saw you fighting off all those griffin soldiers by yourself. I think you are cool!" Rio said as he swung his long red tail side to side.
" Alright, Rio... you have twisted my arm." Shayde said in between his laughter and reached out to shake hands with Rio.
======================== (Meanwhile) =============================
"I wonder why Rio left his green vest behind?" Lazz asked himself while digging inside of the pockets to find some extra ammo for Rio's handgun and some healing ointment.
Just then, Lazz felt the air around him get thinner; it was harder to breathe. Lazz quickly turned around to find Aisu standing in the doorway. Lazz felt a panic attack coming, but he held it in and just stared at Aisu.
"What do you want, Aisu?" Lazz asked in a stern voice.
"Where is Rio? Tell me where he is!" Aisu said just as stern.
" And if I don't?" Lazz asked, taking a step back out of fear, realizing how much stronger Aisu had gotten since last they met.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ (Flashback: An earlier event) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Lazz was still limping through the battlefield where Cross Wing had died and as he did he could see blood of every color, scattered arrows and chimera body parts. It was hard for him to believe it, but the communications tower was destroyed and he didn't want to find out what did that. Soon Lazz saw a black flame that sealed the entry way into the next building so he decided to go around and enter from the side door and as he did he got a rather eerie feeling that he was being watched. As soon as Lazz opened the side door, he only took one step forward before he stopped in shock.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ (Flash forward: Griffin stronghold) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
" I knew I felt something before... I WAS being watched." Lazz thought to himself.
"If you don't then I will have no choice, but to kill you where you stand. What did you think I was going to do?" Aisu asked sarcastically and took a step forward.
"............................" Lazz remained silent, completely stunned by Aisu's new Quintessence readings.
"Holy crap! What do I do now? I can't fight like this. He has me cornered... I'm sorry Rio... but I'm going to have to tell him where you are...forgive me." Lazz thought to himself.
"He is in the forest to the north." Lazz said out loud.
"Hmph..." Aisu muttered and then left the room quickly.
"At long last Rio your G.O.N. shall be mine!" Aisu thought while walking toward the forest just in front of him.
"Wh-what have I done...? Rio won't be able to beat him, his Quintessence level is far beyond Rio's... he'll never win." Lazz stated in shock.
To be continued..................
Author's suspenseful questions:
Lazz may have saved himself, but can Rio be saved now that Aisu is on his way?
And what about Quicksilver, Kilala, and Eubanks? What are they each hiding?
Tune in next time!
THANKS FOR READING!!! XD