Nightstar calmly walked along the winding dirt path towards Vane, humming slightly to himself. He felt refreshed from the cold water of the dam, the stress all but gone. Yuki hummed along with Nightstar as she flew alongside him, looking quite cheerful.
"Rather nice day, isn't it?" Nightstar observed.
"Yup! I think the monsters must think so too because we haven't been attacked once," Yuki replied, giggling.
"Heh, heh, that's true," Nightstar agreed, then paused and glanced skyward briefly before looking back down. A smug grin crossed his face briefly before he hid it. "And it's about to get a lot better."
"Oh?" Yuki blinked, tilting her head.
"Looks like Ruby and Nall came looking for us."
"Uh oh..." Yuki blinked, then looked skyward for any sign of the white and red dragons. "Do you think they came to take their stuff back?"
"Even if they were, they're not getting it back."
"What do you think we should do, Nightstar-chan?" Yuki tilted her head towards the black dragon.
"Just keep walking. If they want to talk, they can come to us."
"Okay," Yuki said, then paused and giggled. "Is it okay if I fly instead?"
"Sure." Nightstar chuckled.
"Good." Yuki winked, then giggled. "Little paws weren't meant to walk long distances."
"Indeed!" Nightstar laughed. Yuki giggled with the black dragon, who continued walking. As they walked, Nightstar started to tense, as he sensed the approach of Nall and Ruby. Yuki blinked and looked up as she sensed the same thing, hoping this meeting would go better than last time.
However, Nightstar highly suspected it would end up exactly like the other time and refrained from looking. Yuki kept glancing between Nightstar and the general direction she sensed Ruby and Nall from.
After a few more moments of walking, Nightstar gave in to his urge and glanced over his shoulder just in time to see Ruby and Nall appear on the horizon. Their massive white and red forms soared through the air, clearly visible in the sky. Yuki blinked up at the large dragons, then fluttered over to land on Nightstar's shoulder as the large dragons landed with a grunt.
Nightstar glanced at Yuki, his hair whipping violently in the wind generated by the dragons, and then looked up at Nall and Ruby's large dragon forms. He crossed his arms and tilted his head. "Hm."
Nall shimmered brightly and change back to his human form as Ruby changed in to her baby dragon form. The two dusted themselves off, and then regarded Nightstar and Yuki.
"About time we found you two," Nall grunted.
"Hiii again!" Yuki waved a paw, trying to be cheerful and keep the meeting from blowing up like last time. Nightstar looked at Yuki, and then glanced at Nall.
"Need something?" he asked dryly.
"Yeah!" Ruby snapped, glowering irritably. "We need our stuff back that you stole from us!"
"Oh, is that all?" Nightstar tilted his head, then shrugged and turned his back to the white and red dragons. "I thought it was something important."
"Hey!" Ruby roared indignantly. "It is important!"
"We need our things back, Nightstar," Nall said, trying to be tactful despite his companion's lack of it.
"Oh, I'm sorry!" Nightstar glanced over his shoulder, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "You must have misunderstood... I meant important to me!"
"What!?" Ruby shrieked before glaring. "Why you selfish little-!"
"Selfish, am I?" Nightstar chuckled quietly, his voice soft and surprisingly devoid of the previous sarcasm; he sounded almost tired. "You don't understand anything, do you?"
"Nightstar, we don't have time to argue," Nall said as he gave Ruby a pointed gaze, as if silently trying to tell her to calm down, then glanced back at Nightstar. "We need your help."
"Help?" Nightstar quirked an eyebrow and looked at Nall. "Help with what?"
"Someone named Aika has captured the Blue Dragon and the Star Dragon, and a couple of her minions nearly captured me too last night," Nall explained calmly.
Luckily Ruby refrained from another outburst, merely deciding to silently fume instead as she glared at Nightstar.
"...The Blue-?" Nightstar's eyes widened as he glanced at Yuki. "...Uncle Ditsu..."
"Someone captured uncle!?" Yuki exclaimed in the same instant with a gasp, her eyes widening drastically.
"Yes." Nall nodded, his expression solemn. "Which is why we need all the help and power we can get to stop her quickly. We need to act fast or we'll be next!"
"...This could be it..." Nightstar muttered, his eyes narrowed. Was his dream coming true...? "...I must talk to Papa about this!"
"Fat lot of good he'll be," Ruby muttered. "He's so crazy now he probably doesn't even remember anything except you."
"Ruby!" Nall snapped. "We don't want to start any arguments right now!"
"..." Nightstar fixed Ruby with a gaze, his cheek twitching visibly. "Don't talk about Papa like that."
Ruby grunted, her cheeks puffing out indignantly, and barely managed to bite her tongue.
"We better get all the heroes together too!" Yuki chimed in, very anxious and worried.
"Papa might be a bit unstable... due to circumstances beyond his control..." Nightstar managed to keep his tone level as he glanced at Nall. "But he's still our elder and he knows more than all of us combined."
"Oh, like he knows how to go on dragon rages at the drop of a hat?" Ruby scoffed. "Lucia's back on Blue Star with Hiro so there's no way to keep him from attacking us if we come close!"
"Ruby!" Nall snapped again.
"What? It's the truth!" Ruby declared defensively.
"..." Nightstar's twitch seemed to spread to the rest of his body. "He's a very powerful and wise dragon. He and Uncle Quark grew up together, so he's older than even Nall."
"Do you think he is able to talk to us or only to you?" Nall asked, trying to cut Ruby off before she made another comment. "The last time I went to see him he nearly attacked me and seemed very incoherent. I agree he'd be a big help, but not if he thinks we're enemies too."
"..." Nightstar took a few deep breaths as he tried to will himself to calm down and keep control. He just needed to stay calm... "Papa can talk to me... I don't think he'd recognize you two as he doesn't have any strong memories of you to hold on to..."
"I see..." Nall nodded solemnly then sighed. "I suppose we'll have to try and wait for you to talk to your father about this."
"We can get the other heroes while waiting!" Yuki piped in.
"Oh sure, brilliant idea," Ruby muttered sarcastically. "Why don't we tell the psycho absorbing dragons to wait too while we're running around?"
"Do you think that'd work?" Yuki blinked in amazement at Ruby.
"..." Ruby stared at Yuki as if she were an idiot. "Of course it won't work! I'll bet that Aika's sending out more of her goons to come after us as we speak while we're standing around here flapping our gums!"
"..." Nightstar glanced at Ruby, trying to keep his temper under control. "Would you rather we rush head first in to a situation we know nothing about?" The black dragon quirked a sneer. "We may as well gift wrap ourselves with a note that says 'Eat me!'"
"We might as well do the same thing if we try flying all over Lunar looking for help!" Ruby snapped back. "Lemina's off on some sort of fund raising drive so she's not in Vane last I heard, Ronfar and Mauri are off on some romantic vacation, who knows where Jean's caravan went, or even where Leo is prancing about! By the time we find them there might not be any of us left!"
"We don't need them!" Nightstar growled. "We're dragons... we can handle this ourselves! How can we be protectors of Lunar if we run to the humans whenever we have a problem!?"
"Normally I'd agree with you on that, Nightstar, but they have some sort of crystal that can absorb us dragons," Nall said with a frown. "We need all the help we can get right now. I think that while you talk with your father the rest of us should try at Vane again. We can see if Lemina's mother can help us find her first, or, if nothing else, we can ask for some mages for help and see if there is any information about Aika there."
"...Crystals?" Nightstar muttered, his eyebrows furrowed. "I don't remember any crystals in my dreams. Rings and unicorns, yes... but crystals?"
"...Look out, I think Nightstar might be having a psychotic episode like his dad," Ruby commented to Nall, her voice not going as low as it should have.
"Ruby," Nall hissed at the pink dragon to be quiet.
"...What did you say?" Nightstar's eyes shot up to look at Ruby, his twitch returning.
"Nothing," Ruby muttered, feigning innocence.
"She said that you might be having a psychotic episode," Yuki supplied helpfully, a frown on her face. "That's not a very nice thing to say, Ruby!"
"...That's what I thought she said..." Nightstar's lips curled up in a growl.
"...Look, we shouldn't be arguing with each other," Nall said as he eyed Ruby pointedly, trying to stave off Nightstar's anger. "We should all be concentrating on what we're going to do about Aika!"
Nightstar looked at Ruby pointedly, as if debating with himself over whether or not he should press the matter. He honestly wanted to, secretly delighting in the idea of a confrontation. However, he firmly reminded himself that Ruby was still family. No matter how much he wanted to disown her. "..." Nightstar nodded slowly, his twitch slowly disappearing.
"I'm surprised that we're talking so civilly, considering..." Ruby began then stopped as Nall gave her a sharp look.
"...Considering WHAT?" Nightstar suddenly felt his cheek twitch all over again.
"Look, let's just get back to the subject at hand here," Nall said before Ruby could open her mouth to explain. "We need to act fast or who knows what'll happen!"
"It's not my fault that Nightstar has a bad temper and we got to walk on eggshells around him or he'll snap!" Ruby snapped, glaring defensively at Nall. "So stop acting like this is all my fault!"
"..." Nightstar's eyes narrowed in to slits as his jaw clenched, his twitch spreading through out his body.
"Ruby, comments like that from anyone aren't what we need right now!" Nall returned forcefully.
Yuki glanced at Nightstar with concern then frowned at Ruby. "You shouldn't be saying such mean things about Nightstar!" she exclaimed. "He can't help getting angry when you're mean! I'm angry too and you're not even saying the mean things to me!"
"Sheesh!" Ruby flailed, her temper finally reaching the breaking point, as it seemed everyone was against her. "What is this!? Pick on Ruby day!? Well I'm SOOOOORRRRRYYYY for offending Mr. Sensitive by speaking my mind. If you can't take someone's opinion on something then maybe you really should see a shrink! Maybe he'll cut you a deal on family therapy!"
Nightstar trembled all over as he could feel a great swelling of rage. His breathing grew labored as he felt as if his lungs were being constricted by the sheer force of his anger, unable to get enough air.
"Look, everyone just calm down!" Nall said as he held his hands up in a peaceful gesture. "We don't need to be tearing at each other's throats right now!"
"You mean tearing at my throat, don't you?" Ruby snapped sulkily. "I've been holding myself back and everyone still is getting on my case! All I've been doing is stating the obvious that you've all been trying to ignore!"
The twitch turned in to an outright spasm as Nightstar's eyes snapped shut, his fingers flexing as if they had claws. His breathing turned in to a mixture of gasps and growls as he could literally feel his control dripping away like rainwater, replaced by an incredible surge of hatred and anger. How dare she say such things... how dare she...
He had been trying his best to stay in control and not lose his temper! He had been talking civilly with her, hadn't he!? Hadn't he!? And what did he get for his efforts!?
"..." Yuki looked at Nightstar's twitching form with no small amount of concern. "...Nightstar...?" she whispered as she landed on her partner's shoulder. "Are you okay?"
Nightstar let out a thin growl as he clutched at his head, trying to salvage some shred of his temper. He'd only be proving her right if he lost it.
"You've got to learn a little something called 'tact', Ruby," Nall muttered as he glared with irritation at Ruby.
"Oh, so now I'm tactless, huh?" Ruby returned with a snort of flame.
"Very tactless!" Nall agreed, his temper frayed as well. "And annoying to boot!"
"What did you say!?" Ruby roared.
"You heard me!" Nall snapped.
"I'll show you 'tactless' and 'annoying'!" Ruby growled just before she breathed flames at Nall's head. Nall yelped as he was quickly charred and tried to get away from the flames as quickly as possible.
Yuki sweatdropped as she stared at the two dragons arguing, then quickly turned her attention back to Nightstar. "Nightstar?" she asked gently.
"..." Nightstar growled in response before he straightened up painfully and swallowed. "Y-yes...?"
"Are you okay?" Yuki asked, obviously very concerned, as she leaned in a bit closer on Nightstar's shoulder.
"..." Nightstar nodded slowly, swallowing again before glancing at Nall and Ruby. "...I'm going to go get Papa... and make sure he's all right..." Nightstar sighed, as if trying to expel his anger, then grunted. "I'm not stooping to her level... and venting my anger on anyone else."
"Ow!" Nall grunted as he pat the fire in his hair out, then nodded a bit to Nightstar. "Right..."
"You better stay here with us, Yuki," Ruby huffed, still angry. "Rippuku might mistake you for a snack or something and gobble you up."
"Ah?" Yuki blinked, startled by that comment.
"...Papa wouldn't do that," Nightstar growled.
"Hey, he nearly killed both Nall and me whenever we visit him, and we were in our adult forms at the time!" Ruby declared. "Yuki's just a baby, and she's not even the Blue Dragon, so it wouldn't take much for Rippuku to kill her easy! He might recognize you, but he doesn't recognize anyone else. The rest of us can defend ourselves or at least get away from a black dragon rampage, but Yuki would be killed in one hit!"
"You probably said something to upset him!" Nightstar snarled. "In case you haven't noticed, you've got a big mouth!"
"Big mouth!?" Ruby shrieked, her fur bristling. "I'll have you know that we didn't say more than his name and hello before he attacked us! He's insane! Crazy! Coo-coo! Flipped his lid! Completely and utterly crackers!"
"That's enough!" Nall yelled, trying to stop the argument quickly before it deteriorated any further. "We don't have time to argue like this!"
"And what's your definition of 'hello'?" Nightstar spat. "Besides... you practically reek of obnoxious! You don't even have to say anything... you offend just by breathing!"
"Of all the nerve!" Ruby growled, her fur bristling again. "How dare you say something like that about me!? I've been trying to be nice to you and I didn't say 'Hi' to your crazy dad!"
"Trying to be nice to me!?" Nightstar stared at Ruby as if she were an idiot. "You've been nasty and rude this entire time! If this is what you call nice, then you've got worse problems than I do!"
"I am not nasty or rude!" Ruby snapped, snorting flames. "And there's no way anyone can have problems worse than what insane black dragons have!"
"Hah!" Nightstar snorted back. "This coming from a spoiled little brat like you!? You're so delusional and self-centered that you can't, even for one minute, think about anyone but yourself!"
"How dare you!?" Ruby growled. "Nall and I were worried about you, you thieving psycho!"
"Worried about me?" Nightstar sputtered. "Worried about your items, you mean!"
"Which you stole from us!" Ruby returned. "Nall nearly got killed without the sword of Althena!"
"That's enough!" Nall tried again to cease the argument, but was ignored.
"So you admit it," Nightstar muttered. "I'm willing to bet fish the both of you were disappointed to find me safe and sound."
"Admit what?" Ruby sputtered. "Don't twist my words around! You're the thief here! You're the insane dragon! You're the one that goes into deadly rages! If anything you're the one who's probably disappointed we're safe!"
"Oh really?" Nightstar tilted his head, quirking a toothy grin. "Is that why I'm the calm one and you're the one flying off the handle?"
"That's because you're purposely goading me on!" Ruby snarled.
"Am I?" Nightstar smiled, his expression obnoxiously adorable. "Well then, how does it feel to be goaded instead of doing the goading?"
"What do you mean?" Ruby demanded.
"You're constantly saying how bad my temper is..." Nightstar brushed back a lock of hair. "But then you go around blasting Nall with fire because he says something you don't like... It's like everyone has to treat you like a princess or you'll attack them! And now that you've finally come across someone who's not afraid of you, you have absolutely no idea what to do!"
Nall made a face, finding himself agreeing with Nightstar, but didn't dare say so aloud.
"A little fire attack is nothing compared to what you'd do if you're pissed off!" Ruby snarled.
"...That may be true..." Nightstar's lips stressed in to a thin line. "But at least I don't hide behind others. I'm willing to stand up for myself, even if I'm wrong... while you turn tail and run with your tail between your legs the moment anyone tries to call you on your words. You're full of hot air."
Yuki watched the argument with uncertainty. Part of her wanted to try and stop it, while part of her was scared and a little intimidated by Ruby. Maybe it was because Ruby was the Red Dragon and she was just a blue dragon, and thus the pink dragon's fire attack could hurt her badly.
The fact that she was just a baby and thus not very powerful didn't help matters either.
"I don't hide behind anyone!" Ruby roared angrily. "I just have friends unlike you who drags a baby around and risks exposing her to either you or your dad going psycho!"
Yuki flinched at the reference, feeling more than a little put down at how she kept getting reminded about how young, inexperienced, and weak she was.
"Friends?" Nightstar quirked an eyebrow, suddenly feeling rather thoughtful. "No, you don't have friends... you have victims." The black dragon looked up to smile slightly at Yuki, in an almost reassuring manner. "Yuki's my friend... she's here because she wants to be... I don't make her follow me and I certainly don't threaten her like you do to Nall."
Yuki smiled back at little at Nightstar, a grateful look on her face. At least he bared her feelings in mind.
Nall sighed softly. "I hate to interrupt... but we really should get back to what's most important, which is stopping Aika and saving Ditsu and the Star Dragon," he said, trying to take charge of the situation.
"...I'm not the one that started it," Ruby muttered defensively, still pouting and upset at Nightstar.
"You always start it," Nightstar grunted as he snorted, turning his head away. "But what else is new?"
"I do not!" Ruby returned heatedly. "You're the one that starts it!"
"Here we go again," Nightstar sighed, massaging his forehead. "She always has to have the last word... even if she's wrong! Why is it that I have to control my temper but she's allowed to do whatever she wants?"
"Look, let's not start this up again..." Nall sighed heavily, suddenly feeling very old.
"I am not wrong!" Ruby growled, ignoring Nall due to the fact that her temper was frayed badly. "At least when I lose my temper I don't lose my sanity too!"
"You need to get a tighter leash for your girlfriend, Nall," Nightstar jerked his thumb at Ruby. "Or at least a muzzle... maybe then she won't get you or anyone else in to so much trouble."
"Muzzle!?" Ruby sputtered. "If I need a muzzle you must need a straight jacket! And a padded room in some mental institution!"
Yuki grimaced at the argument as her ears folded back. Why couldn't they all just get along? They were family after all!
"..." Nightstar's cheek twitched slightly before he whirled to growl at Ruby. "I'm getting more than a little tired of you throwing accusations like that at me!"
"Ruby, that's enough!" Nall tried to order the pink dragon.
"You have some nerve," Ruby snorted. She spared a glare at Nall. "Keep out of this! This is between me and psycho boy!" She was determined to show Nightstar that she wouldn't run and hide from an argument, so she glared back at the Black Dragon. "I'm only stating the facts!"
"Facts?!" Nightstar snarled. "You don't understand anything!"
"I understand plenty!" Ruby returned. "Your father's psychotic and so are you!"
"MY - FATHER - IS - NOT - PSYCHOTIC!" Nightstar growled, his eyes flashing dangerously. "Stop insulting him!"
"Oooh, I hit a nerve, did I?" Ruby said as she ignored the little voice inside of her trying to warn her of the danger of upsetting a potentially psychotic and very dangerous dragon. "I'm not insulting him! I'm just stating a fact! In case you forgot he attacked me and Nall for no reason at all! And this wasn't even just one occasion either! Nall's gone to see him alone a couple times and he still reacted the same!"
"..." Nightstar growled deep in his throat. "Maybe if you actually came to visit him for reasons other than because you want something maybe he'd actually have some pleasant memories of either of you!"
"We just visited for no other reason than to visit!" Ruby returned hotly. "He just flew off the handle!"
Nall sighed and put a hand to his forehead as he shook his head, giving up for the moment, as there was nothing he could do to stop Ruby on a rant.
"You expect me to believe that?" Nightstar growled. "Everyone avoids him... even you and Nall! And you didn't even know how ill he was at the time!"
"Exactly!" Ruby snapped. "We didn't know he was crazy! We expected civil conversation and instead he tried to bite our heads off! Literally!"
"I'm warning you..." Nightstar hissed, his hair bristling. "Don't insult Papa! He is not insane and he's not crazy! He's just feeling under the weather!"
"What kind of sickness has you attack your own family? Hmm?" Ruby huffed. "The only sickness I know is sickness in the head! Also known as insanity! Black dragons are infamous for it!"
"..." Nightstar's twitch returned a hundred-fold as his eyes blazed with barely suppressed anger. "This is your last warning... stop insulting my father! He is not insane!"
"I'm not insulting him!" Ruby snapped. "I'm stating a fact! You're acting almost as delusional as he is if you can't see that! Your dad needs psychological counseling and so do you!"
"... I swear..." Nightstar hissed, slowly leaning towards the red dragon as his fingers clenched and unclenched repeatedly. If there was one person Nightstar idolized, it was his father. His father once had the respect of everyone about him; he was the brute force, the sword that could split stone if magic was not enough. Now, in his hour of need, the others dared to insult him!? After all his father had done for them and for Lunar!? Was this how they repayed him; beg him for help when he is strong and spit on him when he was in need himself!? "If you say one more thing about Papa...!"
"What else would I need to say?" Ruby snorted. "I stated the facts, and I just keep restating them until you get it through your thick skull."
"My father is not insane!" Nightstar snarled, inching closer to Ruby unconsciously as he felt the incredible surge of anger reform in the pit of his stomach. "You have no right insulting him!"
"I'm not insulting him, I'm just stating a truth you refuse to acknowledge," Ruby snorted again.
"How would you feel if I called you a cat!?" Nightstar growled, eyes narrowed.
"I am not a cat!" Ruby snarled, her fur bristling. She despised being called a cat more than anything else in the world.
"Oh really!?" Nightstar smirked, displaying his fangs. "You're certainly no dragon!"
"I'm the Red Dragon!" Ruby snapped, displaying her fangs in return. "I'm more of a dragon than you are!"
"Heeere, kitty, kitty, kitty!" Nightstar hissed, his voice practically growling. He knew that all dragons hated being mistaken for a cat; therefore, he understood just how insulting it was to be called one!
"I am not a cat!" Ruby roared as she lost all control of her temper, and breathed a plume of flame in Nightstar's face.
"Ruby-!" Nall yelped and cringed, knowing for certain that the action would not end well.
Nightstar yowled and flinched, shielding his face with his arms as best he could. "You-!"
A sudden loud and shrill scream interrupted anything more that the three dragons could've said or done.
"Yuki-!?" Nightstar snapped his head about, blinking blurrily to see despite the stinging caused by the fire.
Yuki, the source of the shriek, fell off of Nightstar's shoulder, completely blackened by Ruby's unexpected flame attack. Instinctively she scrambled back away from the other three dragons, her movements pained and limping, until she turned to stare with wide eyes. Her entire body twitched due to extreme pain and a soft high-pitched whimpering came from her throat.
Nightstar's eyes widened as the color drained from his face, looking positively stricken.
"Oh my gosh!" Ruby yelped as she realized that in her anger that she had completely forgotten how close Yuki had been to Nightstar when she had attacked. "I'm so sorry, Yuki! I meant to just char Nightstar, not you too!"
"Yuki, are you okay?" Nall asked, very concerned.
"..." Yuki continued to tremble as she kept cringing back. She was rather shaken up by the fact that she had been attacked for no reason, and by her family no less. It may have been an accident, but Ruby's attack caused severe burns all over her body. "...It hurts..." she whimpered, tears in her eyes.
"...Ruby..." Nightstar hissed, his entire body trembling as he bowed his head, his bangs covering his eyes.
"I'm really sorry, Yuki, I-" Ruby began then turned to look at Nightstar, his tone causing her entire body to tense up in alarm.
"Die!" the black dragon flashed as he transformed in to his baby dragon form, lunging at Ruby with an animalistic snarl as his eyes burned with a rage, his control completely shattered.
Ruby shrieked in fear and quickly tried to get away from the enraged black dragon. "It was an accident!" she protested, suddenly very afraid that Nightstar might actually try to kill her.
Nightstar flew after Ruby, his double wings flapping furiously as he snapped after the red dragon with every intention of biting her.
"Nightstar!" Nall cried, sensing the danger Ruby was in. "Calm down! It was an accident! I'll heal Yuki and everything will be fine!"
Nightstar's only response was a sharp gasp as he sucked in air before spewing forth a burst of black energy at Ruby.
Ruby squealed and barely managed to dodge the black energy. However, her bow was not as lucky, and was mostly burnt away in the blast. "Hey!" she yelped. "That was my favorite ribbon!"
"Prepare to join it!" Nightstar snarled as he lunged at the smaller red dragon, trying to tackle her.
"Yeek!" Ruby shrieked as she was bowled over by the much larger dragon. She grunted as she impacted the ground then squealed in fright as she stared with wide eyes up at the angered black dragon. "I said I was sorry! It was an accident! I didn't mean to fry Yuki too!"
"That's enough!" Nall cried as he quickly darted over to the dragons before any real harm could be done. "Nightstar get off of Ruby and calm down right now!"
Nightstar snapped about to fix Nall with a gaze, his eyes particularly piercing and psychotic. "Stay out of this."
Nall started and froze in his tracks from the intensity of the gaze. It momentarily rendered him unable to think or move, much like a deer caught in bright lights.
Nightstar snapped his head back about to glare down at Ruby, hissing. Ruby squeaked, her eyes wide with fright, as she was similarly frozen, save for slight tremors that ran through her body. Nightstar paused, his eyes widening as something in the back of his mind screeched. What was he doing!?
"...Stop it!"
Nightstar yowled as he leapt away from Ruby, very pale even through the fur, and crouched like a cornered animal. His tail lashed behind him as he stared at Ruby, tremors surging through his body.
Tears spilled from Yuki's eyes, washing away blackness from her fur, as she stared at Ruby and Nightstar. Shudders racked through her body, both from pain and fright, as she stared with wide horrified eyes.
"...We're family!" she cried. "We can't be doing this! Althena wouldn't want it!"
Nightstar let out a choked noise as he backed away, uncertain of what to do. His entire body felt alien and disgusting to him; he felt like disappearing in to the ground, away from everyone.
Finally Ruby was able to move again and she scrambled to her feet, backing away from Nightstar quickly, feeling wary that he might snap again.
"... ..." Nightstar shifted nervously, his entire body tense, as he glanced at Yuki.
Yuki couldn't take any more. All of the arguing, the insults, the attacks, the sheer civil war between the dragons... Ruby and Nightstar both proved that, when angered, not even the bond of family could keep them from trying to kill each other, regardless if innocents got hurt. She had never been exposed to such a terrible thing in her life time.
She did the only thing she could do: she ran.
"Yuki! Wait!" Nall yelled again as he quickly ran after the baby dragon as she disappeared into the woods.
Yuki was deaf to Nall's cries as she ran, her body too injured to risk flight, so instead she merely beat her burnt wings against the air to aid her in running faster on her damaged paws.
Nightstar stared stupidly as Yuki ran away, for the first time in his life uncertain of himself and what to do. After a moment's thought, Nightstar stood up and made to follow Nall. "Yuki-!"
"...You've done enough."
"Ah-?" Nightstar whipped his head about to stare.
Ruby eyed Nightstar warily, her body tense, but kept herself calm as she gazed at him. "We've both done enough," she said quietly yet forcefully. "We scared her away."
"..." Nightstar swallowed slightly and glanced after Yuki. "But Aika... she can't run off-!"
"Nall will catch up to her, calm her down, and protect her," Ruby said quietly as she looked towards where the blue and white dragons disappeared to. "...I don't think she would want to see either of us right now..."
"... ..." Nightstar dropped do the ground and curled up. "...Go on... he'll need your help to protect her..."
"..." Ruby glanced at Nightstar then nodded sharply before she quickly flew after the two. She would have been worried about him being left alone, but with his power and apparent lack of sanity, it was far more dangerous for her to remain alone with him, particularly after what had happened not a few minutes ago.
"..." Nightstar watched Ruby leave before his ears drooped and he lowered his head. "...I'm a monster..."
"Aika! Aika!" the sound of footsteps echoed through the temple as Ookami darted in to the room. Aika paused and looked up, blinking slowly as she drew a thick red cover over a golden mirror. "Aika! The dragons-!"
"They are coming." Aika slowly stood up, then tilted her head. "...But did they figure out where I am... or are they simply lost?"
"One hell of a bad place to get lost at," Karu grunted.
"Lucky, you mean~!" Ookami grinned.
"I don't believe in luck," Karu retorted. "They probably know we're here!"
"Probably isn't good enough," Aika replied as he turned and strode towards the balcony. "Certainty is a must."
"What are you-?" Ookami blinked.
"...I'm going to investigate."
A splash sounded quietly in the forest, only one sound among the many natural noises, soft and common. However, the soft sound of crying was the most uncommon.
Yuki sniffled, hiccupping a little, as she floated in a small stream. After running far from the other dragons, she kept going until her paws and wings hurt too much to go any farther. Luckily she had spotted water and dove in. The cool water helped in soothing her wounds, and enabled her to concentrate on healing her wounds.
Yuki shivered and flew from the water and high into the air once she was healed. She couldn't stop. She had to keep going.
The baby blue dragon knew that she shouldn't be running off on her own, it was dangerous after all, but she just couldn't go back. She was far too upset and confused by what she had seen.
She shivered slightly as she flew off in a random direction above the treetops. She just needed some time to think...
Nall and Ruby had seemed nice, albeit a tad distrusting, but the Red Dragon had proved herself to have a violent temper. Yuki couldn't believe that the pink dragon had attacked her own family, even with just some flame breath in baby form. The things she said were just as harsh as well.
Then there was Nightstar...
Yuki sniffled, her vision blurring, as she thought of her companion. He was so kind and was her best, in fact only, friend. He cared about her so much, but she didn't want him to kill family over her!
It scared her how certain that it seemed that he was about to kill Ruby because of the accidental attack. It was almost as if he were a completely different person, one that Yuki had no idea existed.
It was just too much for one baby dragon to take in at once. Yuki had lived in a cave all her life with a quirky uncle, thus having been sheltered from all the harshness of life. She grew up believing in all of the stories and fairy tales, and in the simplicity that heroes were good and always did the right thing, and friendships were unwavering and would last forever.
Now that she had left the cave things ceased being so simple anymore.
"...I want to go home..." Yuki whimpered, tears staining her fine fur on her cheeks. "...I want my uncle back...!"
Yuki didn't know where she was or where she was going, but still she kept on flying, driven by the intense need to go home and for something simple and true.
"Why the tears, little one?"
"Ah-!?" Yuki blinked, startled, and whirled about in mid-air towards the source of the voice.
Fluttering in front of Yuki, looking particularly calm, was a small purple creature that looked alarmingly like a dragon. She had a red striped mane, with a white striped chest and black striped paws as similar markings of blue and green covered her wings. Her bright red eyes, unnervingly tranquil, stared at Yuki with mild curiosity.
"Ah?" Yuki gasped in confusion as she stared at the creature hovering before her. "...Who... who are you...?"
"Just a curious stranger." The purple dragon tilted her head, smiling slightly. "You just seem lost and distraught... why are you here, of all places, near the ruins of Pentagulia?"
"...I'm at Pentagulia?" Yuki blinked, obviously disoriented. She looked lower at her surroundings, trying to gather her bearings. "...I... didn't know where I was going... I was just... trying to go home..."
"Home?" The purple dragon glanced about before looking at Yuki. "This most certainly is not home, I'm afraid..."
Yuki sighed and slumped slightly in midair, looking down mournfully. "... I guess not..." she sniffed, trying to stop the tears that continued to fall from her puffy and red-tinged eyes.
"Why do you cry?" the purple dragon fluttered closer. "You seem so sad..."
"...My family...," Yuki hiccupped as she looked up at the purple dragon. "Two of them... were so violent... they attacked each other... and one of them... accidentally attacked me too... They're not supposed to do that!" She let out a shaky sob. Part of her wondered the wisdom of telling a complete stranger, let alone someone so unusual, but part of her welcomed a comforting presence. There was something about the purple dragon's voice that seemed so familiar and soothing. It almost reminded her of home...
"Oh my..." The dragon fluttered closer. "That's terrible... no, they most certainly should not do that! What on Lunar were they thinking?"
"I don't know...!" Yuki bemoaned as she put her paws over her face, shaking slightly all over.
"Tsk," the dragon shook her head, sighing.
"Yuki!"
"...Oh?" The purple dragon looked up. "Friends of yours?"
"Ah...?" Yuki blinked as she looked up as well, lowering her paws.
A familiar pair of dragons flew towards them, one white a good distance ahead of a smaller pink one, the latter of whom looking quite guilty.
"...Nall and Ruby..." Yuki muttered as she recognized the two of them. She tensed up slightly, not really wanting to talk to them, particularly Ruby, but something made her stay where she was.
"Oh my." The purple dragon tapped her chin with a paw. "What do they want, do you suppose?"
"Yuki!" Nall called again as he flew closer. "Are you all right?" He then paused as he noticed the purple dragon, his eyes widening in surprise. "Who are you?"
Ruby remained a distance away, deciding not to get too close, as she knew that Yuki probably didn't want to see her right now.
"Just a concerned stranger," the purple dragon replied, fluttering.
"...You can't be a dragon," Nall said as he eyed the purple 'dragon' with suspicion. "None of us are purple. There are only four specific colors plus the Star Dragon. What are you?"
"Yuki dear, are you all right?" The purple dragon ignored Nall.
Yuki looked at the other dragons, looking absolutely lost and confused. "...I just want to go home..." she whimpered.
"I'll take you home, then." The purple dragon flew closer to Yuki.
Nall quickly flew in closer to intercept the purple dragon. "No, I'll do it," he said forcefully, obviously distrusting of the stranger. "I know where Yuki lives."
"Oh, but obviously she doesn't want to see you," the purple dragon replied. "You've upset her enough, haven't you?"
"..." Nall grimaced at the stranger's knowledge, quickly figuring out that Yuki had to have told her what had happened, or at least part of it. "...That was... a loss of control... And the two involved are very sorry about it..." He glanced at Ruby out of the corner of his eye, who flinched and looked down. He then looked back at Yuki. "I can take you home if you want me to, Yuki..."
Yuki looked panicked momentarily, as she didn't want to be in a situation where she had to choose a side between the nice new dragon or Nall. "...I... I..." she stammered, unable to make a decision.
"And how do we know that they will not lose control again?" the purple dragon asked calmly as she flew closer to Yuki. "She needs to be with someone who's mildly stable."
"I'm stable," Nall insisted as he flew closer as well, trying to keep himself between Yuki and the stranger. "I'll keep her company. You don't need to bother yourself with this."
"Mmmm, I see," the stranger nodded slowly. "Perhaps... but this is something for Yuki to decide."
"..." Yuki gave a panicked look, very lost and confused. "...I... I... I don't... I don't know...!" she whimpered.
"It's okay, Yuki," Nall said soothingly as he looked back at the blue dragon. "Just calm down..."
"..." the dragon glanced at Yuki, her expression calm, as she furrowed her eyebrows slightly. However, the expression eased up as she seemingly came to a decision. "I know it must be a hard choice."
Yuki nodded sadly as she looked downwards, looking quite helpless at that.
"I can take you to Ditsu," the purple dragon assured her.
"You can take me to my uncle?" Yuki asked, her eyes widening.
Instantly Nall felt a bad feeling creep over him as he became more wary of the purple dragon.
"Indeed," the purple dragon replied, smiling. "That is who you want to see, right?"
"Uh huh," Yuki nodded vigorously. "Do you know where he's being kept prisoner?"
"Yes, I do." the purple dragon nodded.
"...How do you know where he is?" Nall asked suspiciously.
"Can you take me to him?" Yuki added hopefully.
"I know many things," the purple dragon chuckled. "About you... about everything... but you don't know anything about me, do you?"
"... Who are you?" Nall asked as he tensed, his eyes narrowing dangerously as that ill feeling was getting stronger.
"How rude of me for not introducing myself..." The purple dragon tilted her head before she grinned, far too casually. "I am Aika."
"Aika!?" Nall cried, his eyes widening in alarm. Ruby gasped in horror and quickly flew over towards Nall and Yuki.
Aika continued to smile at Nall, apparently unaffected by his alarm.
"..." Yuki stared in horror. "...You're... the evil... we have to fight...?"
"Evil?" Aika blinked and tilted her head. "I suppose it all depends on your definition of evil, does it not? And, in that light, who's side you are on."
"...Why are you doing this?" Nall growled, tense, and ready to quickly change for battle. "Why have you taken the Star Dragon and the Blue Dragon?"
"Why do you protect Lunar?" Aika returned, calmly. "Why do you defend the humans?"
"Because that's what we were born to do, and because it's what's right!" Nall returned. "Give them back to us right now!"
"Thus, you have my answer!" Aika replied, calmly. "I do what I do... because that's what I was born to do... and because it's what's right."
"It's definitely not right!" Nall returned, glaring harshly. "Give our family back!"
"Who are you to decide that?" Aika asked. "Who are you to decide what is right and wrong?"
"What's right about what you did?!" Nall snarled.
"I did what I was told... and dealt with two problems before they became any worse," Aika countered, calmly. "What is wrong with that? Were you not going to 'deal' with me?"
"To get our family back!" Nall returned angrily. "Why did you take them?!"
"You did not answer my question~!" Aika fluttered back. "But no matter... I am not here to discuss morality with you."
"...You're here to take us too," Nall guessed, as his eyes narrowed.
"It would be the intelligent thing to do," Aika agreed. "I certainly can't let you leave after stumbling so close!"
"So close?" Nall repeated. "So close to what?"
Aika shrugged.
"We won't let you get anyone else," Ruby stated as she hovered next to Nall. "We'll stop you and get the Blue Dragon and Star Dragon back!"
"I would have been concerned," Aika admitted. "If the black dragon had been here... but I don't have anything to worry about as it stands. You're all children!"
"Children!?" Ruby bristled, offended.
"Children," Aika replied as she started to glow. "And why should I fear children when it took Althena herself to defeat me on the Blue Star?"
"Ruby! Change quickly!" Nall barked as he started to glow as well. "Yuki, you too if you can!"
Ruby nodded and quickly started to glow a brilliant pink.
Yuki made a face, still quite uncertain, as things were so confusing to her, but started to glow as well.
The wind shrieked loudly, filling the sky with its outraged cries as Aika was engulfed with violet light. When the light finally died down, it revealed a large violet colored dragon with a red mane. Her paws were gold with black stripes and the tuff of her chest was striped with white. Her wings spread, displaying the rainbow color underneath and the blue and green stripes on top.
Aika let out a thin snarl, then gave a mighty shudder and shook herself. As she did so, a lump formed on the right side of her head while a bright green tattoo of a dragon's face appeared on her chest. Aika flinched, then let out a snarl as the twisted form of a blue dragon head burst forth from the lump and let out a similar snarl.
"See, Yuki?" Aika called, her voice rich. "I did not lie... here is Ditsu!"
"That's... uncle...?" Yuki asked with wide eyes. She had changed into a sizable blue dragon, although nowhere near the size of Ruby and Nall, both of whom hovered before her, nearly blocking her view of Aika. However, she saw enough to be able to stare at the twisted blue dragon head.
The blue dragon head whipped about to grin at Yuki, flicking its tongue out at her. Aika simply chuckled.
"Monster!" Ruby roared angrily as she glared hatefully at Aika.
"Let him go!" Nall growled. "You don't have your minions with you and you're up against three dragons instead of just one."
"Correction, I'm up against two inexperienced dragons and a baby," Aika replied, the blue head nodding with agreement. "While I, on the other hand, have the power of two full grown dragons in addition to my own."
"Two?" Ruby repeated as she tensed and looked Aika over for any sign of the Star Dragon's head.
"Here, darling." Aika pointed at her chest, where the blazing green tattoo glowed brilliantly. "But as none of you were staring at my chest, I guess no one noticed."
"Let them go," Nall repeated as he tensed up in preparation for an attack. "We're stronger than you give us credit for!"
"And I'm stronger than you can imagine," Aika replied, flexing her claws one by one. The blue head rolled its eyes at the three, then snorted. "Now, I'd recommend that you stop babbling and make this quick. Yuki is just a baby and though she can turn in to a dragon, she cannot hold that form for very long... meaning, that if you still want this so called 'advantage,' you'd better make this quick."
Nall growled, knowing that Aika was right, and felt at a disadvantage, as they didn't know much about their opponent and yet she seemed to know a lot about them. "Have it your way," he snapped just before he launched a breath attack at the multi-headed dragon. Ruby was quick to catch on and followed suit, with Yuki doing likewise after reminding herself that she had to fight too.
Aika chuckled as she stopped flapping, dropping through the air and effectively dodging all three breath attacks at once.
"After her!" Nall cried and quickly dove downwards after Aika, Ruby and Yuki quickly following his lead.
"Mmmm, the white one seems to be the most troublesome," Aika mused as the blue head snarled. "I'll have to deal with him first." With that, the blue head reared back and spat a burst of water at the trio.
"Scatter!" Nall barked and quickly veered to the left of the water attack.
Ruby yelped and quickly dove forward to avoid it, curving her dive somewhat.
Yuki started, not being used to combat, so she ended up reacting too late to dodge. Luckily, however, she thought fast enough to return the spray of water with one of her own to counteract it.
"It's funny," Aika laughed as she flew past Yuki, the blue head snapping about to laugh at her. "Blue dragons are generally the first ones that fall before me... like your mother!"
"...My mother?" Yuki blinked as she whirled towards Aika, startled.
"Look out, Yuki!" Ruby cried as she quickly flew to the blue dragon's side, wasting no time in launching a blast of flame at Aika.
Nall followed hurriedly, building up his energy deep within him to try to concentrate on a stronger blast.
Aika whipped about, the blue head surging to spit its water breath at the fire and effectively counter it. "Of course, Yuki dear... too bad all I could get from absorbing her was her voice... that nasty Rippuku interrupted my meal... and I'm quite pleased to know he's still alive so I can take revenge for that!"
"...My mother's voice..." Yuki whispered as she felt a horrible icky feeling at the pit of her stomach. It suddenly made sense why Aika's voice sounded so comforting and kind, making her feel like she was almost home; it was her mother's voice!
Ruby spat a curse at her fire breath being countered, but was undaunted as she tried again.
Nall charged Aika, his chest expanded and muscles clenched, before he spat a powerful white lightning attack at the multi-headed dragon.
Aika flew upwards, her large wings carrying her easily towards the clouds as she twisted her lithe body about to dodge both blasts with the agility of a dancer. "Just wait, Yuki dear...!" the multi-headed dragon crowed. "You'll be with your mother and uncle soon!"
"..." Yuki quaked with rage, tears once again in her eyes, only now they were tears of anger. "YOU MONSTER!" she shrieked just before she spat a burst of lightning at Aika and charged after the purple dragon.
Aika chuckled as she flapped her wings, surging higher and higher towards a patch of clouds in the sky. "Temper, temper! One would think you were one of those nasty black dragons!"
"You took my mother and uncle from me!" Yuki cried and breathed another bolt of lightning at the multi-headed dragon.
Ruby and Nall quickly pursued as they built their breath attacks in their chests, unable to get a clear shot for fear of hitting Yuki.
Aika simply laughed as she disappeared in to the cloud completely, the bolt of lightning following her and disappearing.
"Wait, Yuki!" Nall tried to call out as loudly as he could despite how the action was messing up with building his energy. Unfortunately, Yuki didn't seem to hear as she charged into the clouds after Aika.
"No! Idiot! That's what she wants!" Ruby couldn't help but cry out, completely losing her hold on the build up of her power.
Quickly Nall followed after the two into the clouds, determined to catch Yuki quickly before Aika got her. "Yuki!" he cried. "Get out of the clouds!"
Yuki whirled as she finally heard Nall's cry, but, unfortunately, found herself lost in the clouds, unable to find Aika or a quick way out.
"Yuki!" Nall called again, hoping that the blue dragon would hear him.
Anything Nall might have said next was cut short as, without warning, two pairs of jaws snapped out from the cloud and sunk in to the flesh of his neck.
Nall let out a choked scream, unable to breathe as the jaws clamped down tightly onto his throat, cutting off his oxygen. He struggled violently to get away, lashing out wildly with his claws, as his breath attack had been rendered useless.
Ruby didn't hear the scream, unfortunately, and waited anxiously for some sign of anyone emerging from the clouds, knowing that if she followed after them it would be too easy to be attacked.
Yuki quickly flew through the clouds where she last heard Nall's voice, hoping to at least find him as he might be near the way back out.
Aika's eyes glittered viciously as she glared at Nall, her teeth deep within the white dragon's body as her claws lashed out to grab a hold of Nall.
Nall would have cried out in agony if he could as his thrashing grew ever weaker. His body started to glow a brilliant white as his motions began to cease all together just before he disappeared.
Aika arched her back and let out a roar of triumph as she dropped out of the clouds, gliding as a hideous lump started to form opposite the blue head.
"What!?" Ruby gasped and stared in horror at the new lump, immediately remembering what had occurred when she saw that happen before. "Nall!"
Ruby's fears were confirmed as a white dragon head burst out of the lump, shrieking noisily. The blue head joined in as Aika snorted, grimacing, and fanned her wings to stop her descent.
"No..." Ruby whispered, horrified, as she stared at the white dragon head. Immediately she tensed with rage, glaring bayfully at the multi-headed dragon. "I'll kill you!" she shrieked just before she spat flames at Aika, pouring all of her anger into it.
Aika grunted as she concentrated on flying, the white and blue dragon heads snapping about to spit their breath to both counter and attack Ruby.
Ruby yelped and quickly moved to dodge the attack that got through, feeling more than a little alarmed and outnumbered. Still, she knew that she had to try and avenge Nall, so she tried another breath attack at a different angle.
Aika smirked and, with a snap of her tail, surged directly at the red dragon with a sneer. The situation was definitely in her favor, as neither of the remaining dragons could fend off her dual attacks.
Unfortunately, her overconfidence got the best of her as a sudden sneak attack of lightning breath struck her back, as she concentrated all of her attention on Ruby.
"Ah-?!" Aika's eyes widened as the white dragon head snapped about to snarl with fury. She had forgotten about-!
At seeing the distraction Ruby charged forward, still using her flames to counter the blue head, and then lashed out with her claws at Aika's main head as she darted past towards Yuki as the blue dragon emerged from the clouds.
Aika jerked back, bringing her wings forward with a sharp jerk, propelling herself backwards just in time to barely avoid the claws at her face.
"Damn," Ruby snapped as she whirled around beside Yuki towards their opponent. She eyed the baby dragon, realizing that if they didn't get away, chances were that they would be absorbed too. "Yuki," she hissed lowly so only Yuki would hear. "When I say 'now' you fly left as fast as you can while I fly right. That way at least one of us will escape to get help."
However, Yuki's response was silenced as two blasts of lightning slammed in to the both of them before either dragon could react.
The girls shrieked and fell in different directions, both momentarily stunned and pained by the blasts. Ruby was the first to recover, righting herself with a growl, and quickly breathed a blast of fire at Aika in retaliation.
However, Yuki wasn't as quick to recover, and fell further, her head swimming. In the distance she heard the vague noises of battle over the rush of the wind in her ears until it was drowned out completely.
Finally she was able to gather enough bearings to heal and right herself. Quickly she looked up for Ruby and Aika, and then froze as her eyes widened in horror.
Aika smirked viciously as she regarded Yuki, as a cat would regard a mouse, as the white and blue dragon heads cackled, a red one quickly joining in.
"Ruby!" Yuki cried in horror. Fear struck her, as she knew that she was the only one left, and that there was no way she could stand up against the intense power of Aika. The blue dragon went over her options and quickly dove downwards, flapping her wings to aid in her decent.
Aika blinked, then grunted and surged down after Yuki with a snarl. She tucked her wings in slightly, gliding down as she watched the blue dragon and wondered what she was up to.
Yuki's plan was revealed as she suddenly dove into the ocean below with a giant splash, disappearing into the water.
Aika jerked back, flapping her wings once to stop her descent, and simply glided across the water in small circles. "...I see... she can breath under water..." Aika fluttered upwards slightly when she got too close to the water, then contented herself to just peer at it thoughtfully. "...Even if the blue dragon head can breath under water, the others can not..."
The purple dragon seemed to pay less attention to the water and more to her own thoughts. "...She must be trying to run away... she knows she cannot fight me by herself... that has to be the logical explanation... but how can I get her out of the water?" Aika's eyes widened before she smirked. "Of course... now I just need her general location..." With that, the blue dragon head reared back, sniffing, before pointing forward like a trained hunting dog.
"Got you..." Aika hissed, the white dragon head joining the blue before the two of them reared back and spat twin bolts of electricity in to the general area the blue head had pointed at.
Bubbles emerged violently from the water, carrying a scream with them, just before the baby turned adult dragon quickly flew out of the water.
"There!" Aika cackled as she lunged at Yuki.
Yuki shrieked, her eyes widening in horror, as she saw the multi-headed dragon lunging at her. Quickly she flew high into the air, trying to get away from Aika as quickly as possible.
Aika followed after Yuki, smirking viciously as the other three heads cackled.
Yuki's eyes teared up at the combination of fear and the wind blowing into them due to her speed. "S-someone... please..." she began to whimper before shrieking. "HELP ME!"
"And what good is screaming going to do you?" Aika snorted.
Yuki whimpered again, knowing it to be true, so she kept trying to fly higher and faster for as long as her rapidly dwindling energy would allow.
Aika smirked as she cried out with triumph, decreasing the distance between them as she quickly started to catch up.
Desperately Yuki turned her head back and spat a bolt of lightning at Aika, hoping to at least distract the multi-headed dragon in order to get away.
Aika smirked as the blue dragon head countered it easily, her claws reaching out as she drew ever closer. Yuki squealed in alarm as she quickly concentrated on going as fast as she possibly could. She screamed again for help, loudly, praying that someone might hear her.
Unfortunately things seemed to go from bad to worse as the blue dragon's energy ran out. Her body glowed brilliantly for a few moments before she reverted back to her diminutive baby form.
Aika sneered as she lunged forward with a final thrust of her wings, her teeth glittering as she made to snap down on the baby dragon.
However, she didn't get too far.
The purple dragon let out a shriek of pain and confusion as she was knocked aside, a pair of sharp claws digging in to her sides. She kicked out reflexively, vaguely aware of her claws coming in contact with another large body.
Yuki gasped and whirled sharply to see what had happened.
Nightstar snarled as he whipped his four wings back, stopping himself as Aika flew back with a cry.
"Nightstar!" Yuki cried, overjoyed.
Nightstar glanced at Yuki, then snapped his head about to snarl as Aika recovered and glowered at him with all four heads.
"...You'll pay for that, Spawn of Rippuku..." Aika growled, the other heads hissing with agreement.
Yuki wasted no time in flying over to Nightstar and away from Aika as fast as her tiny wings would allow. Nightstar glanced again at Yuki before turning to face Aika once more. Aika growled as she flexed her claws, regarding Nightstar with a surprising amount of animosity.
"Your father was an irritation," Aika growled. "And it looks like you're growing up to be just like him!"
Nightstar snorted.
"Nightstar!" Yuki cried again, tired, but very happy, as she finally reached Nightstar. "You came to save me!"
Nightstar grinned slightly, then tensed and snapped his wings backwards to propel himself back as Aika lunged at him.
"Eyes up front, now!" Aika hissed. "Wouldn't wanna lose so soon after your dramatic entrance!"
Yuki yelped and barely managed to latch onto a patch of Nightstar's fur with her tiny paws as he flew backwards, so that she wouldn't be separated from him.
Nightstar retaliated with a snort of his dark energy breath, which Aika quickly dodged before surging skyward.
"We have to get out of here," Nightstar grunted. "We can't fight her alone!"
"R-right!" Yuki said loudly for her tiny voice to be heard over the rush of air, as she clung tightly to Nightstar's fur for dear life.
"It's too late!" Aika whipped about as the red head spewed fire at the black dragon. Nightstar jerked back and fluttered out of the way, his twin pairs of wings making him incredibly fast. Aika, however, was undaunted and continued after him.
Nightstar scowled as he glared at Aika before he took a deep breath and belched out a thick black smog in to the multi-headed dragon's face.
Aika yelped and jerked back, covering her nose with her paws to try and fend off the disgusting stench as the other dragon heads yowled in protest. She sputtered for a few minutes, flailing her wings furiously in an attempt to either blow away the smog or escape, before she was able to open her eyes...
To find Nightstar and Yuki gone.
Aika's eyes widened, watering slightly, before her snout wrinkled up angrily. "B-black dragon...! Blue dragon...!"
The other dragon heads tilted back to roar out their frustration, spitting their blasts in random directions despite the futility of it all.
"...You may have escaped me this time..." Aika growled. "But next time..."
The other dragons growled in agreement.
"Next time..."