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Hey chapter 3!

I am sorry that this one is a little slow, or at least it is to me anyway hope you enjoy. I know that i got this out a little earlier than i said i would but the contest story is just not coming to me :( So i focused on you guys instead :)

*Enjoy. *

Chapter 3: The recovery

"What the hell was that?" Cayden asked, looking to Michael and then Ana who were both frozen in place by what they had just witnessed. Ian had gone from being paralyzed and dying to burning a Naga from the inside, getting regurgitated and then killing the thing with its own bloody fangs. Shaking himself out of his stupor Michael, rushed over to Ian to check him over and pointed to the others littered about the still burning forest.

"Let's just call it a lucky break for now. Check the others," the gryphon ordered, hesitantly touching Ian's forehead to check his actual temperature. He had been able to feel the heat from those flames covering the human's body like his actual feathers had been on fire, but surprisingly Ian was barely even warm. In fact, as far as Michael could tell he seemed to be perfectly fine, just sleeping peacefully on the forest floor.

Counting that as another stroke of luck, Michael looked around at the others. Termal was walking over slowly, obviously in pain, but he didn't seem to be in too much danger at the moment. Kai was on his feet again, with Ana wiping away the blood that was rapidly drying on his neck. The dragon seemed to have been able to heal himself after the Naga bit him, which was fortunate. Michael knew that there was almost nothing that they could have done if Kai had actually started bleeding out. Shiro, however, wasn't in such a good state. Cayden was slowly helping the windragon sit up, but had to stop every few seconds when the youngling moaned in agony. Checking Ian over one more time, Michael walked over to Josh and was relieved to find that the human was only knocked out and didn't have any other wounds.

"Skylar's alive," Cayden called out as he knelt by the humans side, looking him over. Michael breathed a sigh of relief. They were battered. but at least they were all alive. "Should I move him?" the wolf asked.

"Let Kai look at him first," Michael said, nodding to the younger dragon who had finally managed to get away from Ana's probing hands. Kai looked torn for a moment but headed over to look at Skylar before Ian, trusting that Michael would have said something if his mate wasn't alright. "How's everyone else?"

"Fine," Ana said, moving over to Shiro now that her captive dragon had got away.

"Hurting," Shiro groaned, laughing a little weakly as he clutched his side. He had long since stopped trying to stand, and was content to let Ana look at him until Kai could help him out a little.

"I'm good as well," Cayden said, before he looked over to the larger dragon in the group. "What about you Termal? That thing beat on you quite a bit."

"Nothing is broken and the pain will pass," Termal said, but never the less laid himself down when he was closer to everyone else. Kyle was once again on his back, gripping the dragon's neck tightly. Michael once again breathed a sigh of relief. That encounter could have gone far far worse than it had. The gryphon didn't fully understand what had happened, but he wasn't going to question it, more than happy to write it off as sheer dumb luck and leave it at that.

"Erm, people, we have a problem," In an instant Michael's positive outlook was gone, of course there would be a problem. Kai was stood over Skylar's still motionless body, and Cayden looked over to explain what that problem was. "Skylar's back is broken."

"Can you fix it?" was Shiro's instant response, momentarily forgetting his pain as he tried to stand up, only to fall back in pain once again. Luckily, Ana was supporting him this time.

"I don't know how," Kai said. Cuts, bruises and even broken bones Kai could mend, since he knew what they were supposed to be like, but someone's back...the dragon didn't even know where to start. Most bones were just straight or slightly curved shapes, but someone's spine was far more than just a chunk of bone and Kai didn't know enough about it to just 'fix'. What if the bone moved and nerves were damaged, where were the nerves? Kai didn't know, and most importantly, he didn't fully understand. Looking back to the others, Kai shook his head sadly. "I don't know how."

"It's alright young one," Termal eventually said. No one knew what to say. If Skylar was disabled, then their task of surviving just became a hell of a lot more complicated, because none of them were willing to leave him behind. Kai didn't waste any time though, quickly moving over to Shiro to help with his ribs. Luckily they were only fractured, so Kai was able to patch them up within ten minutes, during which the others were able to slap together a makeshift stretcher for Skylar. Kai had been adamant that Ian was to rest on his back, and Josh had woken up after some gentle prodding from Cayden.

"This thing is made out of twigs and leaves," Cayden pointed out when the group finally got around to moving away from the sight of their battleground. Luckily the forest fire provided enough light for them to make it within visual range of their own campsite. The small border fires that they made were still burning nicely.

"It's made out of branches and giant leaves," Michael snapped back. Why the wolf had to keep mocking the stretcher that he made, the gryphon had no idea ,but Cayden seemed intent to make Michael admit that it was, in fact, not an amazing piece of survival equipment.

"He's going to fall." Michael almost groaned when the wolf said that, slowly making their way down the side of the crater where they had arrived. Did he really have to tempt fate and say something like that? They were carrying someone with a broken back, for god's sake.

"Cayden," Josh said walking up behind the wolf and punching him in the shoulder lightly. "Stop complaining and just carry him, or hand it over." The human was sporting a large, but surprisingly not painful, bruise across his chest from where the naga had hit him. The group had decided to leave the naga behind; they were too weak to carry any of it back and the forest fire would probably destroy it by tomorrow anyway. None of them felt comfortable eating it anyway.

Cayden mumbled something to himself, but did stop commenting on Michael's handmade stretcher, at least until they had gently set it and Skylar down on the stone circle. Even then, the comments were half hearted, as the wolf kept a constant eye on the surrounding forest. Despite the fires, that naga had been able to completely sneak up on them until Skylar noticed it.

Cayden wasn't the only one keeping an eye out either. Everyone in the group was slowly scanning a section of the tree line with their eyes and other senses. None of them wanted to be caught unawares like they had been the first time, and none of them even considered the possibility of sleeping.

"It's going to be a long night isn't it?" Cayden eventually asked. He leaned back with a sigh, trying to at least get comfortable as he looked around the surrounding forest.

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When morning came around, only the two dragons and Michael were still awake and dutifully watching their surroundings. Kyle had unsurprisingly been the first to fall asleep, the entire day's events having taken their toll on him. The youngest member of the group hadn't moved from Termal's back the entire time though, seemingly content to sleep there as well. Shiro had been next, which considering his injuries wasn't very surprising either. The young windragon had taken to sleeping next to Skylar who hadn't moved all night. Ana was the next, falling asleep on one of Michael's soft feathered shoulders. Cayden and Josh had fallen asleep back to back, using one another for support. Kai had curled himself around Ian protectively, the human's head resting against his belly, the rest of his body guarded by the dragon's tail.

"Urgh." One by one the three watchers all turned to look at Skylar when the redhead groaned, each wondering how they were going to tell him that he had broken his back, and one wondering how he could ever say sorry for not being able to help.

"Hey... Skylar," Kai whispered just loud enough for the human to crack open one eye and turn to look at the dragon. Kai flinched when Skylar looked at him and hung his head.

"Hey Kai, what's the matter?" Skylar asked, before his eyes went wide and did something that Michael, Kai and Termal thought was impossible. Sitting straight up, Skylar looked around frantically until he noticed that he was lying on a stretcher back in the crater. "What happened with the naga? ... And why the hell is my neck so stiff?" Skylar demanded rubbing his neck and stretching it until it gave a loud crack. "Oh god, that it so much better," the human said slowly, getting up and cracking his spine back into place. "Okay, the last thing I remember is getting smashed by that Naga. So. One; what happened to it, and two why do you guys look so freaked out?"

Kai didn't know what to say, and just walked over to Skylar and pressed his muzzle against the human's back. He was fine. Skylar's back was almost completely healed; there were only a few small fractures in his spine, rather than the complete break that was there before.

"How?"

"Did you say something? Kai?" Skylar asked, wondering what exactly the dragon was looking at. His back did hurt a little but it wasn't anything that he was going to complain about and besides why were Termal and Michael giving him those looks. "Alright, seriously, what have I missed, and why are you looking at me like that?" Michael shared a look with Termal, and both just kind of shrugged before the gryphon opened his beak to explain exactly what had happened.

"Skylar!" That was until he was interrupted by the second youngest member of the who threw his arms around the redhead. "You're okay!" Completely lost and confused by the outburst it actually took Skylar a moment to realise that he was being hugged by Shiro.

"I'm confused," was all Skylar could bring himself to say, looking to Termal for an explanation. "Mal. Spill. Now." Doing his best attempt at a shrug without jostling Kyle, Termal started explaining what happened when Skylar was quite violently knocked out.

"My back was broken?" Skylar asked, looking over his shoulder as best he could, but all that managed was a face full of a grinning Shiro. "You can let go any time, you know."

"I know," Shiro nodded, but didn't let up one bit with his grip. Skylar sighed, not understanding why the kid had to pick on him out of the entire group. His arms were being held against his side as well, so he was trapped by the grinning windragon. Maybe my back really was broken and I died, he thought to himself. This must be hell.

"This is going to be a stupid question, but...how bad was it broken?" Skylar asked. He knew that a spinal injury was serious, but a lot of the time unless the spine was severed it was treatable and completely recoverable. Still, one night was a ridiculous recovery rate.

"It was..." Kai paused, looking for the right word. Skylar's had been the first broken back that he had seen, so he didn't know how to categorise it, but the bone had been completely broken. He could feel and see the break through his skin. When the dragon said as much, Skylar tapped one of shiro's hands lightly, and the windragon let him go so that he could lift up his shirt and look at his back. There was a nasty looking bruise where the break had been, but other than that there was no sign of anything out of the ordinary. genuinely

"A break like that should have taken..." Michael began, stopping when Skylar nodded in agreement.

"Six months, absolute minimum," the human finished off, twisting and turning a little to see if it hurt. When he did though, Kai was back at his side trying to hold him still with his large paws.

"Stop, it's not healed," the dragon said frantically trying to stop Skylar from twisting. He could... 'feel' the cracks in his spine move and rub against each other when he did. Kai didn't really understand it himself, but ever since he and Ian chose to come over to Terra, he had felt funny. When he was looking over everyone before, the healing had come...naturally, with almost no effort. He'd known about his power before, back on Earth with Ian, but it had never been this powerful, or this easy.

"It just hurts a little bit Kai, that all," Skylar said. He was a little worried about the fuss that he was making, but just put that down to the dragon's personality. It was... nice, to see a feral so concerned about someone else's well being.

"Your spine still has cracks," was all Kai said, gently forcing Skylar to sit down and lay back so that there wouldn't be any pressure on his spine. Kai even made him roll over so that he could try and heal it properly. Even if he didn't know anything about spines, Kai was confident that he could fix the cracks that were left.

With nothing better to do, Skylar just let the dragon do as he pleased and slowly nodded off back to sleep. Despite just waking up he was exhausted. He felt like he had just run the London marathon. Just as he was about to drift off though, Shiro knelt down to where Skylar could see him without lifting his head up.

"Skylar, are you..?"

"I'm fine, kid. Just a little tired is all." Skylar couldn't help but smirk when Shiro pouted at him, and realised that maybe the windragon wasn't all bad. "So....you alright?" Skylar asked trying to look anywhere but at Shiro. He didn't want the kid of get it in his head that he actually cared.

"I'm okay," Shiro said, grinning down at Skylar before sitting down on the ground next to him. "Kai helped to fix my ribs. I still have some bruises but you can't see them through my feathers."

"It broke your ribs?" Skylar asked, looking the smaller windragon over critically. Shiro wasn't holding himself like he was in any pain. "So it managed to get you too, huh?" he asked, still wondering how they managed to kill that naga before berating himself. He should never have let go of its tail. Everyone else's injuries were his fault now. Cayden's speed had shocked him, and for a split second he let his mind wander; look what had happened because of it.

"Are you okay?" Shiro asked, not liking the way that he suddenly frowned, and wondered if Skylar was mad at him or the naga. "I'm fine now, you don't have to worry," Shiro said quietly and was relieved to see a small smile on the human's face, despite Skylar's dark thoughts. "Kai managed to patch us all up."

"Is that right?" The redhead said, looking back at Kai, only to have his head turned back to facing straight by said dragon.

"You're making your spine move. Lay still."

"I thought you were timid and shy, Kai," Skylar chuckled, not really sure if he liked the sudden attitude change, but found that he trusted Kai enough to do as he was told. He wasn't entirely comfortable around Kai or Termal yet, but this was certainly helping.

"Doctor's orders, right?" Michael laughed, remembering something from a film he watched back on Earth. He quickly calmed down when Ana groaned and shifted on his shoulder.

"Always hated doctors," Skylar mumbled, before he tensed when Kai pressed down on his back a little harder than was comfortable. "Present company excluded of course," Skylar said quickly, suddenly feeling very uneasy about Kai having a paw on him, but managed to stop himself from freaking out when Kai moved away from him altogether.

"You're all better," the dragon declared, returning to his protective position around Ian. Skylar sat up and stared at the sleeping human for a moment, before asking the question that was really bothering him.

"Ian killed it in the end," Michael told him, quickly explaining what happened and missed the look that had flashed across Skylar's face. "Never seen anything like that black fire. We could feel the heat even when he was still inside the thing." Skylar was having a hard time restraining himself when he heard words that he had hoped to never hear again.

"'Black fire'?" he whispered, looking to Ian and wondering if it was possible. When he arrived in Fortis he was a wreck, and people had put his ramblings about black fire to his condition and ignored them. If Ian had it then...

"It really gave him a second wind, that's for sure," Michael said, looking over to the still unconscious human. He had thought that Ian would wake up before Skylar, but as Kai nuzzled up to his partner, the gryphon wondered if maybe he was suffering from magic depletion; that aura of black fire must have been costly to him.

"Well he saved us, that's for sure," Shiro commented, moving to sit very close to Skylar, who for once didn't mind the comforting company of the young windragon. the redhead had his gaze fixed on Ian.

"How?" he whispered, not noticing the way that Shiro glanced over to him when he did. The windragon, however, seemed to pick up on his mood and leaned his head down on Skylar's shoulder, shocking the human out of his thoughts. Shiro just smiled up at him.

"We must decide what we are going to do now," Termal pointed out, suddenly drawing all heads towards him. Skylar banished thoughts about black fire and all it could or could not mean and focused. He needed to think of a way out of this situation of theirs. They still had no food or water, and two of their party were magically exhausted. "We need to come up with a way to survive."

"Michael, you were saying that you could sense water?" Skylar began looking in the direction he thought he remembered the gryphon pointing out. "We should probably just move to that body of water and take it from there."

"There has to be some wildlife around there," Michael pointed out. He knew that if there was any, and if it had been there recently, then he would be able to track it. "Our best chance to find food is close to the water."

"What if there's another naga?" Kai asked, looking down at his mate who had yet to rise from sleep despite Kai's best efforts. He wasn't hurt, Kai could tell that much, but Ian was refusing to wake up.

"No way," Michael said instantly. "A naga that size, that powerful, would have a very large territory and defend it. I seriously doubt that there would be another around." The others had to trust Michael's word on that, since they knew very little about nagas other than how dangerous they were, and that was from first hand experience.

"I guess that settles it then," Skylar declared, getting up and stretching himself out. He wasn't about to wake the others, but he didn't want to just sit around until they were ready to wake up either. "I'm going for a walk."

"I'll come with you," Shiro laughed, hopping up right after the redhead with a ridiculous amount of energy. The other just chuckled at the way Skylar groaned out a sarcastic thanks before wandering up to the tree line. Skylar wasn't actually thinking of heading into the forest, but he did want to get a better look around. "Are you okay?" the question actually took Skylar by surprise when Shiro just seemed to blurt it out of thin air, and he had to think for a moment just to nod his head.

"I'm fine, just a little tired." Skylar managed to feel something other than annoyance towards Shiro for about a second, until the windragon decided that he wanted a piggy back ride and ruined the moment. Gritting his teeth, Skylar shocked Shiro off of his back and actually took the time to smirk at the way the dragons feathers puffed up from the electricity.

"Hey, no fair!"

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It only took another hour for everyone except Ian to wake up, but by that point they had reached the consensus that he was suffering from magic depletion and would need some time to return to the world of the living. At Skylar's request, Michael flew out to where the body of water was to scout out if they could even reach it, and to see if he was correct about where it actually was. He managed to return long before everyone was awake and told them that it was right where he thought it was and that they should be able to reach it in a few hours.

There was very little in the way of conversation as they moved through the forest; everyone was too tense and agitated from missing a good night's sleep to really stay in good humour for very long, even Shiro. However, they made good time managing to get to the lake in just under three hours which, considering their condition, was impressive. Skykar and Josh had offered to carry Ian on the stretcher, but Kai had again been adamant that Ian stayed with him.

"Well, isn't that a lovely view," Josh breathed once they caught sight of the lake. The water was crystal clear, and somehow the trees of the forest stopped a couple of metres from the waters edge, not a single branch, root or stray leaf strayed into the area. Taking in the view for a moment, Josh slumped down on the soft grass that surrounded the waters edge just letting himself relax for a few minutes.

Cayden laughed at the display and decided that it was a wonderful idea; the wolf was asleep almost before he hit the ground.

"Guess we know what those bums are going to do while we're working," Ana grumbled, but couldn't muster the strength sound annoyed as she walked up the the water's edge and began to wash her face. The heat from both the forest fire and Ian's flames had left her covered in sweat, and while she was used to the feeling she did not particularly enjoy it. "I take it there isn't any way to get you boys to wander off for an hour or two so that I could have a nice long bath, is there?" She immediately regretted the question when Josh and Cayden sat up at stared at her like they were expecting her to actually take her clothes off.

"That would be a no, my dear," Termal chuckled, after taking several long gulps of water to quench his thirst. "Though perhaps it is for the best, bathing in the drinking water would be ill advised." Ana sighed dramatically at that and shrugged, about to reply when Kyle almost screamed.

"Fish!" Everyone looked shocked at the happy grin that was plastered on the child's face when he hopped off of Termal's back and crouched down on the edge to watch some rather large fish swim back and forth. "Fish fish fish," he chattered to himself, following their movements with his head. The sight was adorable, but before anyone could comment on it the savage roaring of Cayden's stomach drew their attention. The wolf looked positively rabid as he eyed the fish.

"Food." Ignoring the wolf's growl, Ana moved over to crouch beside their youngest member.

"You're okay if we eat them, right sweetie?" she asked, while Michael and Josh did their best to restrain a struggling Cayden. Shiro and Skylar exchanged a look, as if to ask what the hell the wolf's issue was with food, or lack thereof. When Kyle nodded the wolf was released, but was shocked into a small series of spasms by Skylar.

"You'll scare all the fish away if you do that," he growled, wondering how Cayden though that he would catch anything by just jumping into the water like a crazy person. Walking over to the water, Skylar looked to Kyle who was still happily watching the fish. "Got a preference of how you want them to die, kid?" When Kyle shook his head, Skylar stuck his hand into the water, letting some of the fish actually come up to him before releasing weak burst of electricity that easily carried around a small area of the lake.

"Oh," was all Kyle said when near to a dozen fish jerked before floating to the surface, clearly dead, and the ones that didn't die got as far away from the hand as they could.

"There are more over here, Kyle," Termal called from a little way over to the child's left. Kyle barely contained his excitement as he ran over, crouching down again to just watch them swim about.

"Food!" Cayden cried, recovering from his spasms in time to have a fish thrown at his face courtesy of Shiro.

"Bad dog," he admonished, watching as Cayden caught the fish in his mouth and sat down perfectly subdued as he began to dig into the fish raw. "Ew, dude."

"What? Its a Banka fish, they taste better raw," Cayden said around a mouthful of fish. The Banka fish, as he called it, looked like a trout the size of a watermelon. Ana cringed at the sight of Cayden working his way through one, and decided that she was no longer hungry. How the wolf was eating like that without getting blood everywhere she had no idea.

"Yeah, I think I'm still going to cook mine," Josh said, hefting the still functioning hatchet that Skylar made yesterday over to the forest to grab some firewood. Wondering exactly what it tasted like, Skylar crouched down in front of the wolf and cut a small piece of the fish off before popping it in his mouth. Skylar wasn't usually a fan of fish, but he had to admit that banka tasted good.

"Give me a hand?" the redhead asked Shiro, picking up a couple of fish before wandering a little aways from the others. Jumping at the chance to do something for Skylar, Shiro grabbed the remaining fish and handed them to Skylar, who had one of the daggers that he had made last night out in his hand. "Kai, Termal." Grabbing the dragons' attention, Skylar held up a fish. "Raw or cooked?" Termal called back raw, while Kai took a bite out of the one that Cayden was holding.

"Hey," the wolf said, holding his fish a little protectively now, not quite sure why people kept taking a bit out of his.

"Cooked." Kai called back. While the taste was enjoyable, he prefered his meat to be warm.

"Shiro, why don't you get some sticks about this big?" Skylar said, holding his hands out about three quarters of a meter, before he started the process of gutting the fish. It didn't take very long for the group to get the fire going or to cook the fish, despite their size, and within a hour of arriving at the lake everyone was both fed and watered to their hearts content. The group took to lying down in a loose circle, just enjoying the feeling of the sun on their skin, scales, fur and feathers as they relaxed. Kai was somehow basking in the warmth and holding Ian to his side protectively.

Skylar knew that he shouldn't be dropping his guard like this in what was still very much a hostile environment, but he didn't care at that moment. They were all aware that this moment couldn't last forever, though.

"So what do we do now?" Cayden asked, still looking up at the sky. It had passed midday a little while ago but every one of them had been tired, and it felt like a weight had been lifted off of their shoulder upon finding fresh water and some food. They had a way to survive, now they just had to maintain it for however long they needed to.

"I walked around the lake earlier and there are some fresh tracks," Michael said, holding Ana close to him as he basked in the warmth of the sun. "I think that there are some cornarons around that we can hunt for food. They're usually a lot of them in areas where they're found."

"What's a cornaron?" Kai asked, shifting to look around at Michael.

"Its like a... big six legged... komodo dragon... thing."

"Great description," Josh deadpanned.

"Well that's what it is."

"Aren't komodo dragons kinda dangerous?" Skylar commented, knowing full well that they were. They may not have venom or be poisonous, but one bite from them and they could kiss themselves goodbye... well maybe not with Kai around, but Skylar didn't want to take that chance.

"Cornarons are herbivores and ridiculously passive. You could walk right up to one and it wouldn't do anything to you. They breed at an incredible rate as well," Michael clarified. He had seen a komodo dragon in the wild on Earth and cornarons were far nicer creatures.

"Sounds like a cattle species," Ana commented, getting a nod from the other terrans.

"They are. We don't just eat the meat though, we use pretty much every part of it for something or other." Cayden explained. There were so many things you could do with Cornarons.

"Their sweat glands are used as analgesic medicine, their bones can be ground up into a dust that acts as disinfectant," Termal said, listing off the uses that he knew about and thought were the most important. "I've even heard that their blood can be used with any race."

"That one is true," Michael declared. He had to have a blood transfusion a few years back when he first started out as a tracker. Some idiot had the gall to try and mug him and ended up stabbing him. "Thank god for Cornarons."

"Its not just medical purposes though, their scales are melted down and used to make our rope and other little bits like that," Cayden pointed out. Almost no part of a dead Cornaron was left to go to waste.

"Sounds like a buffalo," Josh mumbled, yawning loudly before a thought stuck in his head. "So how did you guys all end up joining the sentinels anyway?" The instant that he asked the question Josh wish he hadn't, not only did it receive a wide range of responses, a small smile on Ana's face to a flinch from Skylar, but Josh had no desire whatsoever to tell of his own beginning.

"I did it because it was offered," Cayden said honestly, since no one else seemed inclined to. "I joined the military but before I could even begin training, before I had even left for training, a tiger just came and outright asked me."

"I think my father had something to do with me being signed up," Shiro admitted sheepishly. Being part of a noble clan did have its advantages. "I had the strongest magic reserves and arua that my family had seen in generations, and I wanted to push myself to the absolute limits of what I could do," Shiro explained, wondering how he could say this without sounding spoiled.

"So you asked daddy?" Skylar finished, with a lot more hostility than Shiro expected, but the windragon couldn't deny the truth and nodded sadly. He really didn't want these guys to think that he was spoiled, though he probably was compared to everyone else here. Even Termal, and he was from a noble clan.

"I have the ability though," Shiro defended. He didn't know why he was trying to prove himself to Skylar so much, but for some reason he wanted it. He didn't want Skylar to think of him as nothing more than a rich brat. "And I have the drive to become one, despite my dad getting me in." Everyone was silent for a moment while the two had their little staring contest, where Shiro was pleading with his eyes and Skylar was just barely holding the contempt back in his.

Skylar didn't know why he was so angry that Shiro was able to just ask to join the sentinels. Maybe it was because of what he went through, but it wasn't fair to compare them. It wasn't like the entry requirements involved some kind of hardship, you just needed the ability and the drive, which Shiro had.

"I'm not judging you kid," Skylar eventually said, ruffling Shiro's hair playfully despite the angry look that was still on his face. Shiro opened his mouth to say something again but closed it again when Skylar tried to smile at him. It failed, but Shiro thought it better to not push his luck.

"I found a wounded tracker. Apparently that warranted an introduction," Josh said, glad that he apparently didn't have to get into his whole life story.

"A tracker found a wounded me." Skylar said, but the way his hand flinched in Shiro's hair let the young windragon know that there was more to it than that. "Guess that also warrants an invitation." Missing the way that Skylar was trying to take attention away from himself, Josh laughed at him.

"Yeah, they seem to just hand them out," he said, shaking his head. "I thought we were meant to be the elite."

"Speak for yourself," Cayden chimed in, slugging Josh in the shoulder with a wolfish grin. "I am the picture of perfection. Right Ana?" The only female of the group blinked owlishly when Cayden started doing strange poses to make himself appear more masculine.

"Yes... perfection," Ana declared, before bursting out in almost hysterical laughter. Everyone soon got caught up in the moment and were laughing at the wolf's antics before long, even Skylar cracked a rare smile. Despite just making a fool out of himself, Cayden sat down with a happy grin; the tense atmosphere from before had been destroyed and everyone was far more relaxed now. It seemed that everyone had some slight history behind their invitation to the Sentinels, he wasn't entirely honest with what he said, Josh wasn't and Skylar sure as hell wasn't telling the whole truth.

It was only when Kai gasped that the group managed to stop themselves from laughing, and looked at what the dragon had reacted to. Ian was awake; the human had his eyes open and was slowly looking around at everyone.

"Morning sunshine," Josh teased grinning over at Ian; the final weight seemed to lift off the group at seeing their final member finally awake.

"Isn't that Kai's line?" Ian replied, groaning and stretching out his aching muscles as he looked around the surroundings. "This is new. How long was I out?"

"About a day," Josh said before shrugging at Ian's first comment. "And I can't nuzzle ya like he can so I stole the line."

"Are you okay?" Kai asked doing just that and nuzzling up to his mate as the dragon checked him over again.

"I'm fine," Ian replied, sniffing and then grimacing. "Still smell like that thing's insides, though."

"We would have chuckled you in the water but we have to drink that," Ana said, even though Ian had basically just echoed her earlier thoughts. "Besides, if we all smell then we can suffer together."

"I can bathe you if you wish?" Termal suddenly cut in, with a tone that had everyone guessing as to if he was actually serious or not.

Ian frowned at the elder dragon, trying to weigh up that statement as best he could. "Uh...sure?"

Being given permission and being very serious, Termal actually shuffled over and started licking at Ian's face. The coarse rough texture of Termal's tongue easily removed the thin layer of dried sweat and naga saliva from Ian's face and neck as the dragon diligently licked at every bit of exposed skin that he could. He even started bathing Ian's hair where small clumps had formed because of the dried saliva.

"Is it weird that I find this fascinating?" Josh suddenly asked, and despite himself Skylar found that he had wanted to ask the same thing. It was so simple, but yet he couldn't take his eyes off of what Termal was doing and had a sudden feeling of jealousy that sent the redhead's mind into a frenzy of confusion.

"Are you going to remove your clothes?" Termal finally asked when he was done, looking Ian up and down. The clothes themselves were still covered in the juices but they could be washed quite simply at a later time.

Ian carefully considered that question, looking around the group, weighing up potential embarrassment with the revolting smell that assailed his nose every time he breathed in. "I might need to use you or Kai as a privacy screen," he finally said.

"Shy Ian?" Cayden couldn't help but comment, knowing full well that he would want exactly the same.

"You humans confuse me at times," Termal admitted. He had read certain things about humans, but he was shocked to find that humans were so embarrassed about exposing their bodies. He didn't understand at all, but then again a feral dragon like himself had no need for clothes and was technically 'naked' at all times so maybe he just lacked perspective. "Kai if you please 'shield' us from the others prying eyes."

"Aww and I was enjoying the show," Josh whined when Kai spread out a wing to act as a curtain for Ian to get behind.

Ian pulled off his top, before looking at Kai and sighing. "You know, Termal's right, it doesn't matter. And you can't possibly shield me until we find some clothes, which could be days."

"Say please and I'll make you some," Skylar joked from behind Kai's wing.

"And please stay behind there," Ana pleaded doing her best to even avoid looking at the wing. "The boys might be alright with you flaunting around naked but I would rather you not dance around in front of me, thank you very much."

"I think flaunting and dancing are strong words," Ian called back, pulling the rest of the clothes down and meeting Kai's eyes as he did so. "Besides, I've got a real nice ass, Ana," Ian grins, teasing her. "You're missing out."

"I'm sure that I'll survive," she quips dryly, casting a glance to Michael who just grins at her slyly.

"I would advise those be burned," Termal said as he stared at the small pile of ruined clothes, before he began bathing Ian's skin properly. Before long Ian was declared clean by Termal and was suddenly thrust a new pair of clothes by Skylar, who looked far too pale as he tried to stagger back to where he had been sat before.

"Those... should be... permena." Before he could stagger another step the redhead found his shoulders being supported by Cayden who quickly helped him to the ground.

"Guess creation magic takes its toll," Josh mumbled, as they all watched Skylar pass out.

"Yeah, it really drains the user from what my old friend told me." Michael said wondering how Skylar could be so good at creating things after only half a year of training. It should take years, minimum. Shaking those thoughts from his head, the gryphon just put them down to talent and turned to face Ian. "So I guess that now you're all cleaned up, it would be a good idea for you to explain what the hell happened with that naga. Don't you think, Ian?"

Hey guys hope you enjoyed it, like i said i thought it was a slow chapter if you thought so don't be afriad to say I like feedback even if it is negative.

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