Henken Kessei Ch III: True Powers Awakened
Kaien tossed and turned in his sleep, despite Giran's rather large arm holding him down. Giran had been woken by the sound of Kaien softly whimpering, causing a look of worry to cross Giran's muzzle. Holding Kaien close to him, Giran began to nuzzle his neck, trying to make sure Kaien knew that he was still there. Giran, being a rather worrisome type of soul, knew that something was not going on right with his new love. Little did he know that inside of Kaien's mind, there was a battle that someone cannot fight without a sharp intellect and keen sense of justice.
Meanwhile, Kaien was standing in the darkest reaches of him own mind. Doubting his sanity, he looked around frantically to try and find a way out, to find anything familiar to him. Suddenly, he felt something tug on his choker chain he wore around his neck as a necklace. He spun around quickly, almost falling over to find nothing behind him. Suddenly, there was another tug and he quickly turned around again to see nothing. "Ok," Kaien said in a worried tone, "If there is someone or something out there, stop messing around. It's not funny..." There was a small sound, like something scurrying around on the ground behind him. Kaien turned and looked down, seeing a small orb of black light hovering just inches above the ground. The small orb took the shape of a small and feral, translucent dragon that was staring up at Kaien. Suddenly, the dragon doubled in size, standing a few feet taller than Kaien. Kaien reacted quickly and jumped back, taking his defense stance as the dragon raised one of its claws. The dragon seemed to be pointing at something behind Kaien, so Kaien turned around and looked to see a mirror image of himself, only taller. This image seemed to be a more intimidating version of Kaien, sporting a pierced lip, his left ear was pierced, and he wore a black leather jacket over his onyx shirt and black pants. Like Kaien, this dragon also didn't wear any type of footwear. Shocked, Kaien turned to see the other dragon that had pointed had vanished, so he jumped away from the image. "What do you want from me?" Kaien asked as he reestablished his fighting stance. The dragon did not speak a word, with the exception of a chuckle. He shifted his body to where he was in the Dragon Taijutsu attack stance.
The two dragons stare one another down before the older Kaien moves one foot and vanishes. Kaien gasps and starts looking around, trying to find the older dragon. However, he could not find any signs of the dragon. Suddenly, the dragon appears behind Kaien and grabs Kaien in a headlock with one arm; held Kaien'ss arms locked behind his back, and used his tail to hold Kaien'ss own tail. Kaien struggled to get out of the grasp, but to no avail as the dragon tightened his grip. The dragon lowered his head down to Kaien'ss ear, whispering to the helpless dragon, "If I can get you this easily, then you won't be able to get away from here." The dragon gave Kaien a nip on the shoulder before letting the small dragon go. Kaien turned around to see the older him smiling, then the dragon suddenly kicked Kaien in the stomach, throwing him about 6 feet into the air. Just before Kaien hit the ground, darkness formed underneath his body, somewhat softening the landing. The older Kaien chuckled darkly, "Well, at least you know how to control your dark instincts. That will prove helpful in battle." Kaien grunted as he stood up, his right claw holding his stomach. "What," Kaien choked out, "was that??" The older Kaien shook his head, "You've also gotta get faster. It takes you too long to read your opponent's movements."
With another twist of his ankle, the dragon vanished again, leaving Kaien in a state of panic. Kaien heard something behind him, so he turned and punched, only swinging at air. Suddenly, the dragon was behind him again, catching Kaien in a bear hug and lifting him off the ground with ease. "You," older Kaien whispered, "are still not concentrating enough. You need to focus on the environment around you to keep up." The dragon let go of Kaien before grabbing his wrist and slinging him across his shoulder and slamming Kaien into the ground. "To tell the truth, Kaien, I can see everything you are doing or thinking." Kaien looked up to see the older Kaien's eyes spinning slightly. Kaien, fed up with being thrown around like a new day hatchling, uses his tail to push himself up to his feet. He turns on the heel of his foot and punches the older Kaien in the chest, causing a slight gasp of breath. The older Kaien chuckled and looked up, smiling as if he was proud, since he noticed something different about the younger Kaien's eyes. There were two marks in the young dragon's eyes that resembled triangles spinning around the pupil in his eyes. "Good," older Kaien said contently as he walked up to his younger counterpart, "You have unlocked your special ability. Now, I guess it's time to give you all the knowledge you'll need to get out and back to your life."
The older dragon grabbed Kaien's wrist quickly yet gently and spun him around where Kaien's back was up against the older dragon's stomach and chest. The dragon lowered his head down to Kaien's neck, slightly licking it. "You know," he said calmly, "you're pretty damn cute right now. Feels bad that I've gotta put you through pain now." Kaien's eyes quickly spun and he moved to escape, but he was too late. The older dragon had bitten down on Kaien's right shoulder, perfectly even with Giran's marks. Suddenly, Kaien saw images in his mind and heard voices, seemingly talking in a new dialect, but he couldn't understand what they were saying. Kaien yelled as the dragon bit down harder, blood seeping through the wounds and out of the older dragon's mouth. After this continued for what seemed like an eternity, the dragon finally released Kaien. Kaien fell over, unconscious. The older Kaien spoke softly as he faded away, "I'm always here when you need help. All you have to do is concentrate and speak the words." With that, Kaien could feel himself leave the confines of his mind and return to his body. He bolted upright with his eyes still closed, startling Giran who was sitting up already. "Kaien!" Giran exclaimed, "Are you ok? I heard you whimpering in your sleep and..." Kaien smiled at Giran, speaking calmly, "Hey love...ready to go home?" Giran tilted his head as Kaien opened his eyes, showing the two marks in them. "Kaien, what happened to your eyes?" Kaien chuckled, "This is gonna help us get out of this hellish place." Kaien grins and stands up, helping Giran up. "Well, Kaien said confidently, "Let's get out of this place." With that, they grabbed their bags and started walking back towards the labs."