THE DRAKEN CHRONICLES

Book V: The Tranquil Days

Part One: Friendship

Sunlight trickled in through the window and pooled on the sleeping forms of two drakens, one brown and one red. They were curled together, and as the light hit them, the red draken stirred and his eyes opened.

Ragnarok raised his head and recognized his surroundings. He was in Dash's guest room, where he had spent the night. He lowered his gaze and smiled warmly as he looked over his friend. No, not just friend. After last night, it felt like there was a little more than that between them now. He gazed over her sleek brown and white body, watching her chest rise and fall as she breathed peacefully in her sleep. Petting her lightly with a wing, he quietly said, "Good morning, Amber."

Amber stirred. "Mmm, already?" she said muzzily, smiling. She sat up and stretched, then looked over at Ragnarok and nuzzled him affectionately. "Good morning."

Ragnarok nuzzled her back, then sat back, the tip of his tail swishing across the floor. "Amber..." he said, but couldn't quite find the right words to describe it. Amber nodded; she could feel the connection too. He hugged her tight with his wing, then asked, "Want to go see how the others are?"

Amber nodded. "Sure," she said, and they walked out together.

* * *

Dash walked into the main room, where Keera, Terra, Sabre, and Kaya had spent the night. They were all awake now, and he smiled at the scene. The twins were lying on the ground and talking with Kaya, who was climbing all over them. Sabre was lying on a nearby couch and trying not to laugh.

"So, who is your mom?" Kaya asked from Keera's head.

Keera looked up at her and said, "Her name's Seren. She looks a lot like us-" "-but there's only one of her," her twin finished.

"Hey, I look like my mamma too!" Kaya said.

"Yeah, we noticed," Terra said. Keera suddenly grabbed Kaya's armored tail and gnawed on it playfully.

Kaya laughed. "Hey, cut it out! Whooaa!" she exclaimed as she fell to the ground with a loud thump. She sat up and laughed some more.

"What's going on out here?" a voice said, coming form the cubs' room. Presently, a body followed the voice. It looked a lot like Kaya, but its armor was black. Its fur was brown, and it wore an orange collar. It also looked somewhat ruffled.

Kaya bounded over to him. "Hi Buck! Oh, did we wake you up? I'm sorry," she said.

Buck yawned. "It's okay," he replied. "I was planning to get up anyway." He noticed the others in the room. "Hello there! Who are you?"

Dash said, "These are Keera, Terra, and Sabre, some of my friends. Do you remember me telling you about them?"

Recognition dawned in Buck's eyes. "Oh! You're Uncle Dash's friends! Hi!" he said, walking over to them.

"Hi!" the twins replied. Kaya tried to hop back onto them, but Terra sent her bowling into her brother with a swat of her paw. Dash and Sabre laughed.

Ragnarok watched as the cubs went tumbling past him as he and Amber walked into the room. "Good morning, everyone!" he said, Amber standing next to him. Is it just me, Dash thought, or do they seem...I dunno, closer? Dash shook his head and put it aside for now.

"Good morning!" the twins chorused.

"Looks like we're all up then," Teyaka said as she walked into the room, smiling bemusedly at her cubs wrestling on the floor. "How was your night?"

"Pretty comfortable," Sabre remarked. "This is a very nice place to live, Dash."

"Yeah!" Keera said, and then their tummy rumbled. "Some breakfast would be a good thing, though," Terra added.

Dash hit his hand against his head. "Oh man! In all the excitement, I completely forgot that we're not going to have enough food for all you guys."

"I could go get some," Teyaka suggested. "Would someone like to come help me?"

"Sure, I'll come," Ragnarok offered. "Pike took me with him to get food once."

"I'll come too," Amber said, sidling closer to Ragnarok. Yeah, there's definitely something there, Dash confirmed.

"Then follow me," Teyaka said. She grabbed a small pouch near the door and pushed the door open. She walked out, followed by the two drakens.

Since Teyaka couldn't fly down, the three quadrupeds piled into the elevator. Teyaka reared up and pawed a button, and the ground started moving beneath their feet.

Teyaka turned to Ragnarok. "Back there, you mentioned a Pike. You don't mean the Pike, do you?" she asked.

"Um, if the Pike is the one who Awakened the drakens, then yeah, we're great friends," Ragnarok replied, and Amber nodded.

"Wow, you're a lot older than you look, then," Teyaka commented.

"What do you mean?" Amber asked.

"Well, he died more than a hundred years ago," Teyaka answered, flooring both drakens.

"A hundred years!" both drakens exclaimed. Ragnarok in particular looked pretty shaky.

"Yeah," Teyaka replied, her ears drooping, a bit surprised by their reactions. "I... thought you knew." She looked them over. "Are you two going to be okay?"

Ragnarok steadied himself and looked into Amber's eyes, seeing the same sort of feelings he felt. "We're fine," he said. "Just...a little shaken up, that's all."

The elevator dinged, and the doors opened. Teyaka cast a concerned glance over them, then walked out to give them a moment together. Amber nuzzled Ragnarok, concern and a bit of sadness in her eyes. Ragnarok nuzzled her back, and smiled a little. "I'm okay, really," he said, though he still seemed a little shaky.

"Really?" Amber asked. Ragnarok nodded, and Amber decided to leave him to himself, for now. She gave him another reassuring nuzzle and they walked back out to Teyaka.

Teyaka looked them over, then smiled. "Ready to go?" she asked. They nodded, and she led them down the street. A lot of people they passed seemed to know Teyaka; then again, she was pretty easy to recognize. Most gave general greetings to Ragnarok and Amber as well, a casual nod and hello here and there.

Soon enough, they came to a big building. The doors slid open for them as they walked up to the building, and they walked in.

Teyaka led them to a big pile of stacked baskets. She tossed the pouch into one and picked it up. "Follow me," she muttered around the handle. They walked up and down the aisles, Teyaka tipping a few boxes and cans into the basket with her tail as they passed. Something occurred to her at the end of one aisle, and she turned to her companions. "Oh, do you guys prefer meat over other foods? Most drakens do, but I figured I should ask first." The drakens nodded, the mention of meat making them feel even hungrier. "Okay, the meat department's over there," she said, pointing with her tail. "Dash usually hunts for his own stuff, but we can buy some here for now. Go grab a few packages and meet me back up front, all right?"

Ragnarok and Amber shrugged at each other. "Okay," "Thanks!" they said to Teyaka, and wandered in the direction Teyaka had pointed.

They came to an area that was a little colder than the rest of the store. "This must be the part with the meat," Ragnarok said, remembering his trip with Pike. "They have to keep it colder so the meat can last longer." As they walked into the new area, they noticed another draken, and she noticed them.

She was pretty small, even smaller than Amber. Despite her size though, she seemed to be an adult, probably a lot older than both of them put together. She was a nice golden-yellow color, with darker golden stripes down her back, and had a bunch of small spikes for her crest. "Hello there!" she said, setting down her basket. "You two look a little lost. Need some help?" she offered.

Amber glanced around. "Um, maybe? We're just here to get some food...."

The other draken laughed. "Yes, a ridiculous amount of variety, isn't it?"

"I had no idea there were this many kinds of meat in the world," Ragnarok remarked.

"Well, a lot of it is the same meat cut different ways," the draken told him. She pointed a wing at one of the groups of packages. "That's the best you can get for a reasonable price."

Amber and Ragnarok each grabbed one of the suggested packages. They walked back and set them down. "Thanks... um..." Amber said, realizing that she didn't know the other draken's name.

Fortunately, the other draken seemed to realize this as well. "I'm Nia," she said with a smile.

"I'm Ragnarok," the red draken said.

"And I'm Amber," the brown one added. "It's nice to meet you, Nia."

"Nice to meet you as well," Nia agreed. She cast an appraising look over them, then smiled again. "So, how long have you two been mates?" she asked.

Both Ragnarok and Amber stared at her, each other, and back at her. "Mates?" they both echoed.

Nia nodded. "I can tell it in your eyes," she told them, "and I can feel it too. You two were made for each other."

Ragnarok looked at Amber. "Mates..." he repeated softly.

Amber met his eyes and rested her head on his shoulder. "I never thought of it that way-"

"-but she's right," Ragnarok finished, hugging Amber with his wing and smiling broadly.

Nia smiled too, a "my work here is done" smile. "I hope I can see you two again. Have a nice day!" she said, picked up her basket, and walked off.

Ragnarok and Amber waved to her as she left, then sat there with each other for a minute. "I bet Teyaka's waiting for us," Amber remarked eventually.

"She probably is," Ragnarok agreed. He bent down and picked up a package. "Lph gm." Amber grabbed her package, and they walked back toward where they had come in.

As they came near the front, they saw Teyaka, basket on the floor, looking around for them. She spotted them and waved them over. They tossed the packages into the basket. "Okay, I think we've got enough to last us a little while," Teyaka said. She walked over to one of the counters, then reared back and put the basket on top of it. "Good morning Tom!" she said cheerily to the human behind it.

"Hello Teyaka," he replied. "You're up pretty early."

"A couple old friends showed up last night," she explained, motioning to the drakens, "and we didn't have enough for them all."

"Old friends? Good to hear," Tom said. He started taking things out of the basket and running them across the counter, which beeped after each item. Teyaka pulled the pouch out of the basket, sat it on the floor, and pawed it open, looking through it. She pulled out a little card. Tom finished moving the boxes and cans and put them into a few big bags. Teyaka handed him the card, and he ran it through a machine on the counter and handed it back. Teyaka slipped it back into the pouch and put the pouch into a bag. "Have a nice day!" Tom said.

"You too, Tom!" Teyaka replied. She grabbed a bag and walked off. The drakens grabbed the other two bags and hurried after her.

The walk home was as uneventful as the walk there had been. The drakens were glad when they got back, since those bags were starting to feel heavy. They rode the elevator back up, and Teyaka hit their door with one of her paws. Dash's voice called out, "Who's there?"

"It's us, Dash," Ragnarok replied.

"Oh! Okay then, hold on," Dash said. The door opened, and Dash greeted the three of them. "That was pretty quick. Come on in."

They deposited the bags of food in the room Dash called "the kitchen" and Teyaka's cubs bounded in. "Yay, breakfast!" cheered the two darker ones, the male twins.

Dash laughed. "Guess we'd better get you guys fed before we put this stuff away, huh?" he said. He reached into a small door under a counter and pulled out four bowls. He grabbed a brightly colored box from one of the bags, opened the top, and poured a lot of little bits of food into each of the bowls. The cubs cheered and stuck their muzzles into the bowls. A long series of crunching noises ensued.

"Wow, the cubs sure like that stuff," Amber remarked. "What is it?"

"Cereal," Dash said. "Humans and morphs usually have it for breakfast, and they pour milk on it."

Ragnarok walked over to Buck. "Hey, could I try a bit?" he asked.

Buck looked up at him. "Okay," he said, and scooted back a step or two.

Ragnarok took a bite of the cereal, then moved out so Buck could get back to his breakfast.

"So how is it?" Amber asked him.

Ragnarok crunched up his mouthful, then swallowed it. "It's really sweet, sweeter than most fruit!" he said in surprise. Dash laughed, and Amber, Teyaka, and Ragnarok joined in.

After the laughter quieted down, Dash riffled through the bags. He moved several items from one of the bags to the others, then handed a bag with some of the stuff in it to Ragnarok. "Here, why don't you take this to Sabre and the twins and eat it out there? I've got some things to do in here, and then I'll join you," he said. Amber and Ragnarok shrugged at each other and walked into the main room.

"Hi guys!" Terra said as they walked in. Keera sniffed the air. "Ooh, food!" she exclaimed. They had been lying on the floor and talking with Sabre, and now bounded to their feet.

Sabre grinned and waited calmly as Ragnarok brought the bag over. Amber walked up next to Ragnarok, but a lot closer than she normally did. Is something going on there? Sabre wondered, but put it out of his mind as Ragnarok nosed the bag open. "Wow, that stuff smells good," he remarked, standing up to help Ragnarok.

Ragnarok and Sabre pulled out the two packages of meat, which they quickly split into four portions. They all felt ravenous, and ate it all very quickly, while Terra examined the next object in the bag. She pulled out a clear, crinkly bag, which was full of round things. They looked a bit like apples, but they were dark purple, smaller, and squished a little when you poked them. She cut the bag open with a claw and bit into one. "Mmm!" she exclaimed. As she bit, it let out lots of really sweet juices into her mouth. She took another bite, and bit into something hard at the middle. She could probably bite right through it, but she realized that she could just eat all the soft stuff around it, which she did gladly. She spat the hard part out onto the outside of the bag. "Those are really good, but look out for the hard part in the middle," she warned the others.

Ragnarok practically gulped one down and spat out the middle. "Wow, they are good," he remarked. "Nice and juicy, and the middles might be fun to gnaw on."

"Yeah, but later," Sabre said, "when we aren't eating." They all laughed.

Next up was another small bag. Inside were lots of long orange things that were pointy on one end and blunt on the other. Terra sniffed at them, and wrinkled her nose. "Vegetables?" she remarked.

Amber shrugged. "Well, Teyaka got it for us, so we might as well eat them, right?" she suggested.

Sabre sighed and opened the bag. Drakens are omnivorous, but they have a tendency to see eating plants as almost a last resort if you can't get anything else.

Amber pulled one out and crunched it up. "So how is it?" Ragnarok asked.

Amber swallowed. "It's actually not too bad... and I suppose it'd make Dash happy if we ate all of them...."

A few good-natured groans ran through the group, but the orange vegetables were devoured in short order.

The twins looked at the bag. "I think that's all," Terra said. Keera stuck her head in the bag. "Yup, that's all," she confirmed.

"Well, that was a pretty good meal," Ragnarok remarked.

Two small, armored heads poked around the door frame. One looked exactly like Kaya, but had a green collar. The other seemed to be Buck, until you noticed the red collar. "Good morning!" Terra chirped. "I don't think we've met you two yet." Her twin straightened up her neck. "What? Someone's out there?" she asked Terra, her head still in the bag.

The two cubs laughed and walked into the room. "Hello!" the brown-and-black one said. "My name is Roc."

"And I'm Emerald!" his sister said. "It's nice to meet you all."

"It's nice to meet you too. I'm Amber," the brown draken said. The rest of the drakens introduced themselves, Ragnarok last.

Roc stared at him. "Wow, you're Ragnarok? Cool!" he exclaimed, bounding over to the red draken's side.

"You're pretty excited," Ragnarok commented.

"It's not every day you meet the guy you're named after!" Roc replied. He put his front paws on Ragnarok's back and looked him over.

"Kaya said Mamma told you a story about herself," Emerald informed them.

Amber nodded. "And Dash told us a story about himself, too."

"You guys are his friends, right?" Roc asked, trying to climb on top of his new celebrity, Ragnarok keeping a bemused eye on him.

"Yeah, we've known him for a while," Sabre replied.

"He's a great draken," Keera said, having finally stopped goofing around and shaken the bag off her head. "When we first met him, my leg had gotten hurt in a windstorm, and Dash helped it get better," she said, motioning with the foreleg in question.

"Wow, Uncle Dash did that for you?" Emerald said.

"Yeah, he did," Terra said, and was then distracted by Roc and Ragnarok.

"Y'know, you're pretty heavy for someone your size," Ragnarok said to the cub sitting on his back.

Roc considered this. "Yeah, I guess I am," he said. "I heard Mamma and Uncle Dash talking about it once. They said that since we don't need to fly, we're built more solid than you drakens. Plus, the armor we have makes us even heavier."

"Yeah, I can see how that would work," Sabre said. He walked over and thumped Roc on the back with his tail. "You guys hardly feel that sort of thing, huh?"

"Oof," Ragnarok commented as Roc was thumped down into his back.

"I can feel it," Roc replied, "but not very hard."

"Yeah, but his tummy's ticklish," Emerald said with a grin.

"Hey!" Roc said, jumping off Ragnarok and tackling his sister. The drakens watched as the two rolled around the floor, play-wrestling and laughing. I wonder if I would've been like that as a chick, Ragnarok wondered, then smiled. The twins sure were, so I guess I would have been too. He looked over at Amber, his best friend and new mate. Almost all of the stuff I can remember from when I was a chick has her in it. He honestly couldn't remember when he'd met her, or much of anything from before that. I guess my head wasn't set the right way to remember that sort of stuff back then, he figured.

Roc walked up to him and interrupted Ragnarok's reverie. "Hey, did you know that Uncle Dash has special powers?" he said.

"Yeah, he can make ice out of nowhere!" Emerald added.

Amber nodded. "We've seen him do it. We were there when he first found out that he had the powers."

"Ragnarok, Keera, and Terra have powers too," Sabre said.

"Wow, really?" Emerald and Roc said in unison.

"Yup!" the draken twins replied together.

The cubs hurried over to them. "Could we see it?" Roc asked.

Keera and Terra smiled at each other, and closed their eyes in concentration. A warm breeze of green sparkles blew toward them, circling in the air in front of them. They opened their eyes, which were now glowing a brilliant green. Grinning, they both blew at the pool of sparkles. The energy surged forward into a strong wind, which, despite their weight, sent the cubs tumbling head over tail until they hit the far wall. "Wahahaha!" Roc and Emerald laughed as they lay upside down against the wall.

"At least you didn't put any holes in the wall," Ragnarok joked to the twins.

"So what can you do, Ragnarok?" Roc asked as he picked himself up.

"Me? Well, I can make fire, but I've only done it once, and I think your mom might get mad if I set her home on fire," Ragnarok pointed out.

Roc considered this. "Yeah, she probably would," he agreed.

"Can you two do stuff like that?" Emerald asked Amber and Sabre.

Amber shook her head. "No, we can't," Amber told her.

"Well, you might," Ragnarok said. "We don't really know how they work, after all...."

"So, what do you guys like do for fun?" Sabre asked, deftly changing the subject.

"We do lotsa stuff!" Roc replied. "We play tag, we can play-wrestle, Uncle Dash plays catch with us..." he listed.

"Oh, and sometimes Mamma takes us to a big swimming pool!" Emerald added.

"Swimming pool?" the twins remarked in unison. "Great!" "Let's go!"

"Yeah, let's go ask Mamma if we can!" Roc said to his sister, and they rushed out of the room.

"After all that's happened, it'll be nice to just relax in the water," Amber said.

"Yeah, and just have fun for once," Ragnarok agreed.

Roc poked his head around the door again. "Mamma says we can go! Come on!" he told them, then vanished around the corner.

Sabre laughed. "Well, what are we waiting for?"

* * *

Teyaka and Dash led them all on a short trek. Everyone had decided to come, so it promised to be a fun time. A few blocks past the park, they came to a big area made of a whitish-grey rock with a big smooth-sided hole in the middle. There were chairs and benches spread around the place, and a bunch of people were sitting in them. Most, however, were in the hole itself, which was filled with water. Keera and Terra cheered and gracefully dove in.

Teyaka laughed and hopped onto a nearby bench. "I think I'll stay here today," she told the group. "You guys go have fun!"

Sabre and Dash grinned and dove in after the twins. Ragnarok was ready to follow, but Roc grabbed his wingsail lightly, getting his attention. "Um, could you two come into the shallow end to play with us?" he asked.

Ragnarok and Amber smiled warmly. "Of course," Amber replied. "So, the shallow end?" she asked as they walked over to one side of the pool.

Kaya nodded. "Yeah. It's a lot of fun to play in the water, but we can't swim very well, so we hafta stay there," she explained. They reached a side that, instead of suddenly dropping off, slowly sloped downward. The cubs bounded into the water. Ragnarok and Amber smiled at each other and walked into the water with the cubs.

* * *

Buck ran around, doing those long, slow jumps that you could do when you were in the water, while Ragnarok chased after him. These new drakens were a lot of fun! Ragnarok suddenly jumped in front of him and grabbed the cub with his tail. "Hey! Lemme go!" Buck exclaimed, laughing. Ragnarok laughed and started running again, pulling the cub through the water behind him.

Amber laughed as Ragnarok ran by. Roc and Kaya were paddling around her, while Emerald was sitting on her head. "Hey Amber?" Emerald said, getting her attention. "Where do you guys live?"

Amber looked up at the cub on her head. "Well, we live in a place called the Great Plains, with lots of other drakens," she replied. "But we came from a long time ago, so we're living with you guys for now."

"Oh," Emerald replied. She sprang off of Amber's head into deeper water. "Hey look! I can stand on my hind legs!" she announced, rearing back and paddling with her forelegs to keep her balance. She was knocked over by the rush of water that accompanied Ragnarok and Buck as they came back. Ragnarok set the cub down and sat down next to Amber, panting a little after all the running.

"Well, that was fun," he remarked to her. "Uh oh, did we knock Emerald into deeper water?"

Emerald had indeed landed back in water deeper than she could stand in. The drakens started toward her to help her out, but then her head poked above the water. "Haha! That was fun!" she said.

"I thought you guys couldn't swim?" Ragnarok remarked. He stuck his head under the water, and saw that Emerald was holding herself up with her thick tail. Ragnarok pulled his head back up and laughed. "Here, why don't you bounce back over here before your tail gets tired," he suggested.

"Okay!" She curled up her tail, then straightened it all at once, propelling herself through the water, back to a depth she could stand in.

A few powerful gusts of wind blew over them, rippling the water, and Dash landed in the water next to them. "Hey guys! Having fun?" he asked with a grin as he sat down.

"Yeah!" all four cubs replied.

"Well, it's about time to go," he informed them, pointing up at the sky, which was starting to darken. They had spent all morning and most of the afternoon playing in the pool.

"Aww!" came the chorus of good-natured groans from the cubs, but everyone climbed out of the water.

While water quickly ran off the drakens' hides, the fur-covered cubs were still sopping wet. Amber laughed. "You guys look smaller when you're wet," she remarked.

Roc looked at her with an exasperated expression, then gave himself a good shake, splattering water all over the drakens. The other cubs shook themselves off too, then grinned at the dripping drakens.

Kaya smoothed down a patch of fur that was still standing up on her side. "Okay, let's go get Mamma and go home," she said, and bounded over to Teyaka's bench.

Teyaka looked up as she heard her cubs coming. "Oh, time to go already?" she said, and stepped down off the bench.

Keera looked up at the sun that was edging toward the western side of the city. "Yup, it's going to start getting dark soon," she said.

"Well then, let's hurry back," Dash said.

* * *

An hour or so later, Amber was sitting alone the room she shared with Ragnarok, reading a book with nice pictures that Teyaka had given her. The room was a nice warm one, with a green furry floor and pale blue walls. It reminded her of the Plains. The first night she had been here, it had made her really homesick, but she liked it now. It was full of both her scent and Ragnarok's scent, and a little of Dash and Teyaka and too. She was looking up when she suddenly felt a funny stirring feeling inside her, behind her tummy. It was a little like something inside her moving, but nothing was moving. It felt a little weird. Suddenly, she smelled Ragnarok's scent a little different, deeper.... She paused, looking down at her belly. What was all that about? she wondered. It wasn't too much, but it worried her a little. Hmm... Teyaka knows a lot. Maybe she'll know about it? Amber stood up, noticing that the area behind her tummy was feeling a little warm. She walked out of the door and hurried toward Teyaka's room.

In the hallway, she almost walked right into Ragnarok. She saw him, and her head went a little fuzzy. She had a little trouble getting thoughts to go thorough her head, and felt a little funny about him, like she... needed him, somehow. She must have looked a little fuzzy too, because Ragnarok asked, "Amber? Are you feeling all right?"

Amber's breathing quickened a bit. "Oh, um, Ragnarok...I'm..." she stammered, then bolted around him, into Teyaka's room.

Um, okay?_Ragnarok wondered. _Is it just me, or was Amber acting kinda... weird? And... had she smelled a little different...? He shrugged. Kind of nice, actually. Oh well.She obviously didn't want him around at the moment, so he ambled into their room.

In Teyaka's room, Amber leaned up against the wall, breathing quickly, almost panting. What's going on? She didn't normally act like that around Ragnarok, but her mind seemed to have gone a little mushy.

Teyaka looked up from her book, noticing Amber with some concern. "Amber? Is something wrong?" she asked.

"Ah, Teyaka...." Think, Amber! She tried to get her brain to work, but it was still clogged up about Ragnarok. "Um, I've been... feeling a little weird all of a sudden, and since you know so much, I thought that maybe you could help me...?"

Teyaka walked over and sniffed at her. "Hmm, you smell different.... Sure, I'll help you. I think Dash got a book on drakens a little while ago.... You stay here, I'll be right back." Amber nodded, and Teyaka hurried out of the room.

Amber moved to a comfortable spot on the floor and curled up on it. I sure hope Teyaka can figure out what's going on, she thought. She was confused by the signals she was getting from her body. She'd never felt this way before.... She shook her head to try and clear it, but she still felt pretty muzzy, and her underside was feeling a bit warmer too. She swished her tail across the floor, waiting for Teyaka and thinking about Ragnarok. He certainly was a nice draken. He was funny, and his skin was a nice-looking color. The rest of him was pretty nice-looking too. They really liked each other, and maybe-

Her thoughts were interrupted as Teyaka came back into the room, a thick book in her mouth. She set it down and sat next to Amber, saying, "I found the book. Tell me how you've been feeling, and we'll see if the book says anything about it."

Amber did her best to collect her thoughts. "Well, um... when it started, I felt something behind my tummy, and that spot's been feeling sort of warm," she related to Teyaka.

Teyaka pawed past a few pages. "Anything else?"

"Well...." A bit of color rose in Amber's face, a reddish tinge coloring her cheeks. "I...I've been thinking about Ragnarok a lot all of a sudden. Does that help?" she offered a little sheepishly, dipping her head and idly pawing at the floor.

Teyaka flipped a few more pages, then ran a paw down one column of words, mumbling to herself. "I think this may be it," she said, pushing the book over to Amber. "Read that bit."

Amber looked down at the page, sounding out a few words that she didn't know. "Once in a great while, sometimes several decades, females go into heat. When they reach age twelve, they are... um, vi-a-ble breeders, but are only fertile while in heat. While the body becomes ready to breed, the female often has feelings of warmth, and is drawn to her mate, or, lacking one, a desirable male. She begins to eks-ude... pher-a-mones to attract the mate as well." She looked up at Teyaka. "You think that's what's happening?" she asked. Teyaka nodded, and Amber considered this, then stood up. "Excuse me, I'm going to go... take a walk," she said, leaving the room.

Out in the hallway, Amber thought about what the book had said. Lost in thought, she walked straight into Ragnarok and they fell into a tangled heap.

"Amber! Here, let me help you..." he said, pushing her back up with his head. "Are you...?" He trailed of, noticing Amber's scent. "Amber?"

Amber looked into his eyed. "Ragnarok, I..." she started, and then something suddenly clicked into place for both of them. Amber's nose was suddenly filled with Ragnarok's scent, and she looked into his eyes with a new light. Ragnarok stared, then began to look at her in the same way. She nuzzled him, then ran into the main room. She gave Ragnarok an enticing look and dove out the opened window. Ragnarok flew out after her, and they chased each other across the night sky. Loops, spirals, they flew gracefully after one another. After one final pass, they landed together on the roof of Dash's home. Ragnarok nuzzled Amber, both of them breathing heavily after their flight. Ragnarok looked into her eyes, silently asking her. She smiled and nodded.

* * *

###

Part Two: Loneliness

Keera and Terra paced worriedly around Dash's home. "Where are they?" one moaned. Ragnarok and Amber had vanished last night, and hadn't come back. It was early the next morning. "I wish I knew..." the other twin replied. Teyaka had said that she'd shown Amber something in a book, and that Amber had said she was going for a walk, but no one had seen Amber or Ragnarok since.

"Relax, you two," Sabre said. "They probably just went for a walk together and decided to go sleep on a hilltop or something," he told them, but he didn't seem too sure himself.

Suddenly, they heard the entry window slide open, and they rushed back into the main room. Ragnarok and Amber fluttered in and landed on the floor. The twins tackled Ragnarok and nuzzled him frantically. "Uncle Ragnarok!" "Amber!" "Where were you two?" "We were worried!" "We thought something had happened to you!"

Amber managed a weak, sheepish grin. "We went flying together and... accidentally fell asleep on the rooftop. Sorry for worrying you all," she said, bowing her head.

"It's all right, Amber," Dash said, patting her back. "Next time just give us a little warning, huh?"

Amber and Ragnarok exchanged a knowing look. "Don't worry, I don't think it'll happen again," Ragnarok said with a mysterious smile.

The rest of the group looked curiously at them, but neither of them said anything, and the discussion moved on. "So, what'll we do today?" Sabre asked.

"Hmm, dunno," Dash said, and his expression suddenly became introspective. "You could ask Teyaka about breakfast."

"Teyaka?" "Why not you?" the twins asked.

Dash walked over to the window, which opened for him. "I'm gonna go take a walk, get some thinking done. I'll be back in a little while," he said, and stepped out the window.

Dash fell straight down for a second, then flipped forward and opened his wings, turning a headlong fall into a speedy glide. He flew toward the park, and dropped lightly to the ground on top of his favorite hill.

He sat down and stared off into the sky, twitching his finned tail. This was the place he came to when he had a lot to think about. It was a peaceful spot with a very nice view, so it was a great place to go if you just wanted to let some things go through your head.

* * *

Teyaka walked into the main room, followed by Kaya and Emerald. "Hi Teyaka!" Sabre said. "Where have you been?"

"I was just in the kids' room getting them up and ready for a new day," Teyaka replied.

Kaya glanced around the room. "Hey, where's Uncle Dash?" she asked.

"He said he was going to go think, and then jumped out the window," Ragnarok said.

"Oh, all right," the cub said.

"Does he do this a lot?" Amber asked.

"Not really," Kaya responded. "But he's done it before, when he's got a lot on his mind."

* * *

Dash shook his head, sorting out all the thoughts. One set came to the forefront. Mom.... An image of the light blue draken rose into his mind. I...really miss you.... He wrapped his wings around himself and hugged his legs to his chest. It's been so long... I just want to see you again.... A single tear rolled down his cheek as he sat on top of his hill.

Dash imagined his mother walking up and sitting down next to him. "C'mon dear, don't be so sad," she'd say with a smile.

Normally I'm not... it's just that seeing my old friends has really reminded me of how long it's been, he replied, looking down.

He could almost feel Skye's smooth skin nuzzling against him. "It's okay, honey," she said to him.

Dash shook his head dejectedly. I just...it's been so long since I've seen you, felt you.... He choked down a small sob of loneliness and grief.

The dream-Skye draped a wing over his back and held him tight. "There there," she said. "We'll see each other again soon, I promise." She nuzzled his cheek. "You'll just have to wait a little while, that's all."

Dash looked over to where his mom wasn't. Are you sure...? After a moment, he shook his head and smiled a little. Yeah, you're right.

The dream-Skye looked into her son's eyes. "There, that's better, isn't it? All that gloom doesn't help anything, does it?"

Dash shook his head smiling. No ma'am, he said with a grin. He patted the dream-Skye on the back. Thanks for helping me feel better.

The dream-Skye smiled and hugged him with her wing. "I'll be around any time you need me," she said. With a final nod, she stood up and walked away.

He sighed, gripping his knees gently, and gave a sour chuckle. I'm just glad no one's around... he mused. They'd probably think I was nuts.

He stood up again, sliding his hands into his pockets, and began to slowly wander through the park, lost in his own thoughts. It's not just my mom... I miss everyone, he told himself, looking out over the lake. My first real time out of that valley, and I get stuck hundreds of years away.... He had a new life here, a new home, new friends... but he'd never felt as lonely as he did right now.

He crouched down, picking up a smooth rock from the bank and sent it flying over the water. As he watched it skip, he felt an urge to use his ice powers to cheer himself up somehow, but he shook his head again. He didn't like using those powers around the people in this city; he was a little bit uncomfortable about the hero-praise he got even for just doing what came naturally, and from the wolves' reactions when he first arrived, he figured his powers would cause even more of a stir.

With another sigh, he walked away from the lake's banks, feeling frustrated and helpless. It was even worse, because he knew he shouldn't be feeling like this; he had a wonderful life here, and he'd just rediscovered his lost friends as well!

Kicking idly at a stone, he looked up as he heard something approaching, then chuckled as he saw that it was someone's dog, wandering around the park and trailing its leash. The creature looked up and sniffed, and he crouched down near its level. "Well hey there," he said with a gentle smile. "What're you doing out here?"

The dog barked once, then ambled over to him, stopping to sniff at a clump of flowers along the way. He held out a hand, and as the dog sniffed at it, he snagged the leash with his other one.

A minute later, the dog's human owner jogged over, puffing slightly. The draken looked up from petting the dog, and smiled, holding out the leash. "Thanks Dash," the human panted, giving him a bright smile.

Dash smiled back, handing over the leash back to the human. He had no idea who this man was, but he obviously knew the draken on sight. "Hey, always glad to help," he said automatically, his mouth running on a separate circuit from his teeming brain.

The human grinned back, taking his now-empty hand in a firm handshake. "And always glad to have you around to help," he said with a wink. He turned to jog back off, and over his shoulder added, "Have a nice day, Dash!"

The draken looked down at the hand his acquaintance had shaken. Always glad to help... he repeated silently.

He reached into his pocket, feeling for something he'd always kept with himself for years. Old and familiar, he could use its reassuring presence now. Withdrawing his hand, he lowered his eyes, gazing across a small ice-blue gem.

His father had been a brave draken, Skye had told him when he was a child. He had been the village's leader, as much as the village had one, and he'd been the one who had started the movement of replacing the simple wood huts with the more long-lasting stone ones. He'd also been an adventurous sort, Dash had heard, often taking to exploring the lands outside of their mountain-ringed valley.

One thing his mother had been most proud of, though, was that his father had always been unable to ignore a cry for help, and not just from other drakens. One of the stories she had most often regaled him with was when his father had rescued some sort of human lord from an attack by the land's wild beasts. They had slain the man's bodyguards through their greater numbers, and were cornering the man himself, when the draken had swooped in and attacked to save the human. With his element of surprise, he'd been able to take out several of the creatures before they had a chance to act, and against the remaining ones, he and the human had been able to drive them off.

As an act of thanks, the man had given the draken, believing him to be some sort of mystical protector, a small gem of icy brilliance and clarity. His father had cherished the gem, and when he had died before his time, Skye had saved the gem to give to his unborn son.

He closed his hand into a loose fist around the gem. Yes... he had a new place, among these new people. He might miss his old life, but he was here now, and he had a job to do. It was his duty to protect people, and help those in need. He owed it to his father, to the hero of his village.

He smiled again, looking up at the sky. About time to head home, I guess.

* * *

Dash landed softly inside the main room of his home, the window quietly sliding shut behind him. Keera and Terra looked. "Hi Dash!" they said in unison.

"Hello girls!" Dash replied with a smile. He looked around. "Hey, where is everyone else?" he asked.

"Sabre went with Teyaka and her cubs to go play in the park," Terra told him. "And Ragnarok and Amber are snuggling in their room," Keera added with a giggle. "They sure have been acting a little strange lately, huh?" Terra remarked.

"Yeah," Dash agreed. He had a few ideas why, but.... He sat down next to the twins. "So, what are you guys doing?"

"Not much," Keera said. "We found a book that looked fun to read, so we were trying it." They pushed the book forward, and Dash saw it was the book about drakens he had gotten a while back. "It talks about drakens, but it's got a lot of hard words," Terra added. Dash looked at the book and riffled a few pages. "Here, go to page, um, six-one-two!" Keera told him. Dash flipped the pages, seeing it was in a section on birth defects. On one side of the page was... "It's a picture of us!" Terra said with a smile.

Dash couldn't help but laugh. The picture was of a young two-headed female draken, and the caption said, "Keera (right) and Terra (left). Conjoined twins, born during the Awakening."

"I remember Pike taking that picture of us," Keera said fondly. "Yeah, a looong time ago," her twin added with a laugh.

Dash grinned and dropped a hand on Keera's head and rubbed it. "You two sure are something else," he said. Keera closed her eyes with a smile and set her head in Dash's lap. They sat there for a while, Dash petting Keera's head, Keera laying there, boneless and content, and Terra smiling and watching. Dash had a feeling that if the twins were cats, they would have been purring like mad.

Eventually, Keera stirred and half-opened her eyes. Dash stopped, and she picked her head up. "Mmm, felt good," she murmured.

Dash laughed. "I figured as much," he said. He rubbed their back, between their wings, and they both smiled back at him. "You two sure like getting rubs, huh?" he remarked.

"Yep!" the twins answered, rolling onto their back and looking up at him. Dash lightly ran a few claw-tips down their belly, and they both giggled. "Tickles!" they exclaimed in unison. Dash grinned and started actively tickling them, and they burst into a fit of giggles, squirming on the floor.

Amber's head poked around the corner. "Amber... help...!" the twins managed to gasp. Amber grinned and ambled over. She sat down and ran the tip of her tail slowly along the middle of their tummy, and their giggles redoubled.

Amber laughed and smiled at Dash. "Just make sure you quit before they pop," she said with a wink, and ambled off again

Dash decided to be merciful and finally stop. The twins' giggles trailed off, and they rolled over to put the floor between Dash and their tummy. They whapped him lightly on the arm with their tail, and all three of them laughed.

Dash patted Keera's flank. "Well, you two have fun, okay? I'm gonna go take a shower and a nap," he told the twins.

"Okay!" the green drakens replied. Dash walked to his room and pulled off his clothes, first carefully taking out his father's gem and setting it on a table near his bed before easing himself under the covers and closing his eyes.

* * *

Dash drifted, his short dreams fading. For once, he didn't wake feeling the soft bite of loneliness deep in his belly. He knew now that he had a purpose, and that he had people around, close friends that would keep him from being alone again. His eyes slowly eased open, then blinked as a sudden glint of light caught his eye. After a moment, he focused on the chilly beauty of the gem on his nightstand, and smiled softly.

He sat up, pushing the covers off himself with a low yawn. A soft scratch at the door caught his attention, and he called, "Come in."

The handle twisted, and two green heads poked through the doorway. "We heard you wake up," Terra said. "How are you feeling?" Keera added.

"Oh, I'm doing all right. Better than I was this morning," he admitted.

"Well that's always a nice thing," Terra replied, the two of them padding in to sit near his bed. Keera paused in her stride, noticing the icy glint from his nightstand. "Wow, what is that?" she asked, leaning closer.

"This? Well... my dad gave it to me, a long time ago," he said.

"It's really pretty," Terra told him with a smile, eying the gem.

Dash grinned. "Yeah, isn't it?" he agreed. "I like to carry it with me; it... reminds me of him."

"You just carry it?" Keera asked. "What, in your pocket?"

"Er... well, yeah," Dash said hesitantly. "I guess... I guess I ought to figure out a better way to keep it, huh?" The twins both nodded emphatically, and he suddenly grinned. "And y'know, I think I might know just the person to do it, too."

* * *

Odell sat behind the counter, with his elbow on the top and his jaw in his hand. He twitched his scaly tail, utterly bored. People didn't come to buy and fancy diamonds or jewelry just any day. Mainly, it was huge rushes near holidays, and one or two people a week the rest of the time. He sighed and looked up at the clock. Three hours to go.... The lizard sighed again and stared at the counter. He heard a few sets of feet hit the ground outside, and he looked up. Around a few posters on the front window, he saw a green draken and someone white. The door opened, and in walked... "Dash! Nice to see you, man!" Odell exclaimed as the draken walked in. He held out a two-fingered hand, and Dash shook it warmly.

"Hey Odell! How's it going?" Dash asked with a grin.

"Ah, same ol', same ol'," the lizard said with a grin. "I think you may be the first person this week." He noticed Dash's draken companion and hopped over the counter to talk to him too. "Whoa, who are your friends?" he asked as he got a better look, a little surprised but covering it well. His surprise was well-founded, since this draken had two heads!

"Hi there!" the left head said. "I'm Terra!" "And I'm Keera!" the right one said.

Odell crouched down to their eye level. "Well, nice to meet you, Terra and Keera. I'm Odell."

"Nice to meet you too, Odell!" the two chorused, smiling warmly.

Odell laughed and tickled Keera under the chin with the tip of his tail. He stood up and faced Dash. "So, how's it going, Dash?" he asked.

"Pretty good," Dash replied. "Actually, I had a favor to ask you."

Odell smiled earnestly. "Hey, name it. I owe you everything," he said.

Dash nodded. "Well, I wasn't planning on asking for that much," he joked. He set a beautiful bit of icy crystal down on the counter. It was cut into a perfect six-sided shape, and it practically seemed to glow. "My dad gave it to me a long time ago, and I don't think it's right to just carry it around in my pocket, y'know?"

Odell looked up at him, then nodded. "Yeah. Gimme a little while, and I'll whip something up for you," he said. "You can wait right there, it shouldn't take too long."

Odell busied himself, bustling around with tools and materials. Keera and Terra put their paws on the counter and pulled themselves up to try and see what Odell was doing. "So, how's your mate doing?" Dash asked conversationally.

"Oh, Jess?" Odell replied. "She's doing great. We actually just learned that we're going to be expecting a kid or two soon!" he informed the drakens, breaking into a broad grin.

"Really? Congratulations!" Dash told him, also grinning warmly.

Keera and Terra looked at each other. "Oh, you don't lay eggs?" Keera remarked. "I thought lizards did..." Terra added.

Odell returned to his work. "Nope, even though I've got these scales," he said with a laugh. "Lizards normally do," he told the twins, while still working on Dash's request, "but when us scaled morphs were made, they based us with all the normal mammalian organs, just like everyone else. We look like lizards, but we have kids the same way everyone else does."

"Oh, neat!" Keera said. "Though eggs do seem like a more efficient way to do it," Terra said. "We drakens have to carry our chicks for a year and a half."

"They must get pretty heavy after a while," the reptile joked. The twins both tried to look around either side of him to see what he was doing, but he lightly whapped Terra on the nose with his long tail. "No peeking," he said with a playful grin. Terra wrinkled her nose at him, and the twins dropped their paws back to the ground. "So Jess's gonna be getting a pretty big tummy soon, but I doubt that'll stop her," he said with another laugh.

"Stop her from what?" Keera asked.

"Much of anything," Odell replied, "but about this time of year, it'd be surfing. She loves riding the waves."

"Ooh, that sounds like fun," Terra commented.

"Yeah, but unfortunately, most drakens can't do it very well," he told the twins. "Takes a different kind of balance than you guys usually have, I guess." He looked over and eyed the twins. "And I think you two might have an even harder time of it than most."

The twins looked at each other. "Yeah, you're probably right," Keera said. "Guess we'll just have to watch!" Terra said brightly.

"That's the spirit!" the lizard praised, then became more absorbed in his work, and the drakens piped down for a few minutes. "Okay, that oughta do it!" Odell proclaimed. He turned and walked back to the drakens, something held in his two-fingered hand. He passed it to Dash, who looked at it. The beautiful gem was now edged with gold, with a small loop at one tip, through which was threaded a thin golden chain.

Dash looked at it in wonder, then slipped the chain over his head and held the gem, looking at it. "Wow, thanks Odell!" he said.

The lizard grinned. "I take it you like it," he quipped. "Work better than your pocket?"

Dash nodded with a grin. "Yeah!"

The twins looked at it, then over to Odell. "Wow, it's really pretty!" Keera said. "Thanks for helping Dash!" Terra added.

Odell laughed and dropped a hand on the draken's head, rubbing it a little. "You're welcome, you two," he replied with a grin.

Dash took his hand and shook it. "I can't thank you enough."

"Aw, it's no problem, man," Odell told him. "Like I said, I owe you."

Dash nodded. "All right. It's been fun talking to you, Odell," he said.

"You too Dash," Odell said. He grinned and added, "And it was fun to meet you two," to Keera and Terra.

The twins smiled. "Nice meeting you too!" they said, following as Dash walked out the door. "Bye!"

"See you guys later!" Odell called after them, waving.

"Odell's a real nice lizard," Keera told Dash outside, and Terra nodded.

Dash laughed. "Yeah, he's a great friend," he agreed. "Well, think we should head home?" he asked with a grin.

"Yeah," the twins said with another pair of grins.

* * *

###

Part Three: Return

Dash and the twins quietly flew in through the window and landed in the main room. "Uncle Dash!" one of Teyaka's girls exclaimed and ran over to them.

Identifying the cub by her collar, he scooped her up in his arms and she nuzzled his cheek. "Hello Kaya," he replied. "I see you guys are home from the park."

"Yup," Kaya replied, then pushed against Dash's chest with her forepaws and looked him in the eye. "Are you feeling better than you were this morning?" she asked, with a touch of concern in her voice.

Dash laughed and hugged the little cub. "Yeah, I'm feeling better," he told her.

Kaya smiled and settled back down into his arms. She noticed something shiny on his chest, and then stared at it. "Wow, that's really pretty..." she said, pawing gently at the shiny blue thing on her Uncle Dash's chest.

Dash laughed again. "You like it, huh? It was a gift from a new friend," he told her.

Kaya hopped out of his arms and landed with a small thump. "Your friend must be real nice, to have given you such a pretty thing," she said.

"Yeah, she is," Dash replied. "Maybe you'll get to meet her someday."

"I can't meet her now?" the cub asked.

Dash shook his head. "No, she lives a really long way from here," he said.

Kaya cocked her head. "Oh well," she said with a smile. She turned toward the hall to the rest of Dash's home and called, "Everyone! Dash, Keera, and Terra are back!"

The rest of the group walked into the room. "Hi guys," Sabre said.

Teyaka walked over and sat down next to Dash. "I'm glad you're feeling better," she said, nuzzling his side. Dash scratched her at the edge of her fur, behind one of her ears. Teyaka's eyes closed, and a rumbling noise seemed to start coming from her.

Keera and Terra looked in curiosity, then turned to Kaya. "What's Teyaka doing?" Keera asked her quietly.

Kaya laughed. "Mamma's purring!" she told the drakens. "It's a sound we can make when we're happy, especially when someone's scritching us."

"And Teyaka sounds really happy," Terra said with a smile. Kaya nodded, then got up and padded off to the room she shared with her brothers and sister.

"Hey Dash," Ragnarok said suddenly, and all eyes turned to the red draken. "Do you still have that old bag you kept the map to the Dark One's tower in?"

Dash thought. "Um, yeah, I think I should. Why?" he asked.

"Remember that letter we wrote to ourselves, with the lines of weird symbols?" he continued. "I just remembered what the symbols looked like!"

Dash and Teyaka looked a little confused, but the twins' heads snapped up. "The symbols on the ring!" they exclaimed in unison.

Ragnarok nodded. "And since we're in the future, the ring will be there!"

"We can get home!" Amber cheered.

"There were two sets of symbols," Sabre pointed out. "One might take us home, but what do you think the other was?"

Teyaka was completely lost. "Rings? Symbols?"

"The ring is a thing that makes the portals that take us through time," Ragnarok explained. "It's got funny markings on it that none of us are sure how to read, so we just call them symbols."

"So, do you think there's a way we could get to the Great Plains?" Amber asked Dash.

The white draken grinned and nodded. "Of course. A bus leaves for there every few days. If memory serves, the next one should be leaving... pretty soon, in fact. If we get moving, we can make it!"

"Then what are we waiting for?" the twins exclaimed.

Dash ran and grabbed the bag, and the group headed for the front door. They were in the process of leaving when several shouts came after them.

"Hold on!"

"We're coming too!"

"Yeah, this sounds like fun!"

The group looked back, and Teyaka's cubs hurried out to join them.

"Well, I guess we can't just leave them here alone..." Amber said.

"All right, you four can come with us," Teyaka decided. The cubs cheered and joined the group. "Now let's get going!"

They had to take two of the elevators, because of the size of their group. It took a good deal of hustling, but they made it to a building with a really big car in front of it. Dash ran inside to get them tickets, and the rest of the group waited outside, watching the people getting into the big car. When Dash came out, they went to get in too.

There was a really small set of stairs inside the big car, the "bus." Dash went in first, and handed a bunch of small bits of paper to the fur, a cat, at the top of the steps. The cat smiled and let them go into the bus.

The front half had a lot of rows of chairs, two on each side of a big pathway in the middle. The chairs all looked really cushy and comfortable. There were a few humans and furs sitting in them. They were apparently going to the Plains too. The floor had a soft, colorful covering on it that matched the chairs. Realizing that they were first-time riders, the cat smiled at them. "The draken seats are in the back," he said kindly.

The group smiled back and moved toward the other end of the bus. Here, the rows of chairs stopped. In their place were a bunch of large mats, which looked a lot cushier than the chairs. A couple were already occupied, and one or two non-drakens were sitting back there with their draken friends. The group sat down one to a mat, except for Ragnarok and Amber, who lay next to each other on one mat. The cubs shared a mat, and Dash sat between Teyaka and the twins, leaning against the wall. "Well, the ride's gonna start in a few minutes. We'll be at the Plains tomorrow morning," Dash told his friends.

"So we're going to just sit here all day?" Keera asked. "Sounds a little boring," Terra added.

"Just remember, it's taking us back to the Plains," Sabre remarked.

"Finally going back home," Amber murmured happily, closing her eyes and leaning against Ragnarok's shoulder. Ragnarok smiled and wrapped her in a wing.

The twins looked at them with a bit of interest, and the cat at the front called back, "Everyone set?" A murmur of positive replies came back up to him, and he nodded and sat down in the seat at the very front. "All right, here we go!"

Suddenly, a roaring came from the front and the ground started shaking. Sabre, Keera and Terra sprang to their feet, ready to fight whatever it was. Even Amber started to jump up, but her mate held her back, laughing. "Calm down guys, it's just the bus," he told them. They glanced around warily, but sat back down, looking a bit ruffled. Ragnarok laughed again. "Don't worry, I did the same thing my first time in a car too," he told them, and the bus started moving forward.

* * *

Several hours later, the bus was still rolling, and it was getting pretty dark. Ragnarok and Amber were curled up, asleep together, and Sabre was sleeping too. The cubs were playing a little game Teyaka had brought in a bag of her own, and Teyaka was reading a book she had brought. Keera and Terra had their forepaws on a window sill and were staring in wonder at the rapidly passing scenery. Keera turned her head toward Dash. "How have the Plains been lately? Do you know?" she asked him.

"Well, um..." Dash replied. "A lot of drakens live there, but some humans and furs do too now. It's mostly just the same old huts that have been there since the drakens were Awakened. Nowadays, of course, drakens live all over the place, and lots of ones who weren't born in the Plains go there to see what it's like there."

Keera looked away ruefully. "I miss Mom..." she said quietly. Terra looked at her sister, and nuzzled her reassuringly. "I do too," she said, "but we'll be back home soon."

Dash noticed something in what Keera had said. "Your mom? I don't think Sabre, Amber, or Ragnarok have ever talked about their parents," he remarked.

The twins shifted uneasily and lowered themselves to the floor. "Um, I don't think any of them really ever knew their parents," Keera said. At Dash's look of surprise, Terra said, "Remember, they weren't that old when they were Awakened. Their parents could have died - or just left - a long time before then." "And from what they've said," Keera continued, "they don't really have many memories from before they were Awakened, and what they do have is pretty hazy."

"Wow... you guys are just full of surprises," Dash muttered. "They never knew their parents...."

Keera's eyes widened in surprise as she realized something. "Oh... here we are, complaining about how much we miss our mom, and you've been away from your friends and family for years, all thanks to us..." she said quietly. Terra's eyes widened too, and she bowed her head. "Oh...geez...sorry," she said guiltily.

Dash patted their back, where they both could feel it, and they both looked up. "It's all right," he said with a smile. "All the stuff that happened wasn't your doing, and it certainly wasn't your fault that I came with you guys." The twins' look brightened a little, and Dash nodded.

Teyaka looked over. "And think of all the good that came out of it," she told the twins. "If it weren't for Dash, I might still be wandering the streets, voiceless, hungry, and miserable...." She shuddered a bit and curled up tighter. "Mmm... not fun memories...." Keera stretched out a wing and ran it down Teyaka's side. Teyaka looked over and saw the concern on their faces. "It's all right," she said with a reassuring smile. "All behind us now, right?"

The twins nodded. Dash looked out a window. "Well, we've still got a while to go before we get there," he remarked.

Terra yawned widely. "I think I'll follow those three's example and get some sleep," she muttered. Keera poked her sister and said, "Well, let's at least face the window, so I can still look out at stuff." The twins shifted on their mat, turning to the window. "G'night guys," Terra murmured, laying her head down. Keera grinned and rolled her eyes at her sister, and started looking out at the scenery again.

Dash laughed quietly. "You two sure are a pair," he said with a grin, and Teyaka laughed too.

Keera looked over with a grin and started to say something, but then yawned hugely instead. "Mm... think I might get some sleep too..." she mumbled as she laid her head down and shut her eyes.

Dash laughed again, and Teyaka looked at the green drakens curiously. "I thought she wasn't going to sleep?" she remarked.

"When one of the twins falls asleep, the other usually follows," Dash replied with a grin, "whether she intends to or not." He patted Keera's flank.

"We don't," Buck said from off to the side. "Roc can be asleep, and I can still be up."

"Well yeah," Dash said, "but are you two in the same body?"

"Well, um, no," Buck admitted.

Ragnarok murmured something in his sleep and snuggled closer to Amber. "Those two sure seem to like each other," Emerald said.

"From what I've heard, they've been friends their whole lives," Dash told her.

"Wow," Emerald replied, "their whole lives? That's a long time!" Teyaka laughed, and then silence reigned for a minute.

"Well guys, we're going to have a big day tomorrow," Dash said. "I think we should all get some sleep." A chorus of good natured groans came from the cubs' mat, but they curled up and were soon fast asleep.

Teyaka looked at Dash. "So, are we really going to go back in time to where your friends came from?"

Dash nodded. "That's the plan," he said.

Teyaka put a forepaw on his leg. "You guys sure have been through a lot," she said.

Dash nodded. "Yeah, and I get the feeling we've still got a lot more in store for us."

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED...