Book V: Tranquil Days

Part One: Friendship

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

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

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

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

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

* * *

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

“So, who is your mom?” Kaya asked from Keera’s head.

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

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

“Yeah, we noticed,” Terra said. Keera suddenly grabbed Kaya’s armored tail and gnawed on it playfully.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Good morning!” the twins chorused.

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

“Pretty comfortable,” Sabre remarked. “This is a pretty nice place to live, Dash.”

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

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

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

“Sure, I’ll come,” Ragnarok offered. “Pike took me with him to get food once.”

“I’ll come too,” Amber said, sidling closer to Ragnarok. Yeah, there’s definitely something there, Dash confirmed.

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

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

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

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

“Wow, you’re a lot older than you look, then,” Teyaka commented.

“What do you mean?” Amber asked.

“Well, he lived more than a hundred years ago,” Teyaka answered, flooring both drakens.

“A hundred years!” bother drakens exclaimed. Ragnarok in particular looked pretty shaky.

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

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

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

“Really?” Amber asked. Ragnarok nodded, and they walked out to Teyaka.

Teyaka looked them over, then smiled. “Ready to go?” she asked. They nodded, and she led them down the street. A lot of people they passed seemed to know Teyaka. Then again, she was pretty easy to recognize. Most gave general greetings to Ragnarok and Amber as well.

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

Teyaka led them to a big pile of stacked baskets. She tossed the pouch into one and picked it up. “Follow me,” she muttered around the handle. They walked up and down the aisles, Teyaka tipping a few boxes and cans into the basket with her tail as they passed. Something occurred to her at the end of one aisle, and she turned to her companions. “Oh, do you guys prefer meat over other foods? Most drakens do, but I figured I should ask first.” The drakens nodded, the mention of meat making them feel even hungrier. “Okay, there’s some meat over there,” she said pointing with her tail. “Go grab a few packages and meet me up front. Don’t worry about the price. You drakens get discounts on that stuff, since you’re such big eaters.”

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

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

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

Amber glanced around. “Um, maybe? We’re just here to get some food….”

The other draken laughed. “Yes, a ridiculous amount of variety, isn’t it?”

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

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

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

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

“I’m Ragnarok,” the red draken said.

“And I’m Amber,” Amber said. “It’s nice to meet you, Nia.”

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

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

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

Ragnarok looked at Amber. “Mates…” he repeated.

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

“-but she’s right,” Ragnarok finished, hugging Amber with his wing and smiling broadly.

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

Ragnarok and Amber waved to her as she left, then stood there with each other for a minute. “I bet Teyaka’s waiting for us,” Amber remarked eventually.

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

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

“Hello Teyaka,” he replied. “You’re up pretty early.”

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

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

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

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

“It’s us, Dash,” Ragnarok replied.

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

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

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

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

“Cereal,” Dash said. “Humans and furs usually have it for breakfast, and they pour milk on it.”

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

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

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

“So how is it?” Amber asked him.

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Yeah, but later,” Sabre said, “when we aren’t eating.” They all laughed.

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

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

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

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

Amber swallowed. “It’s not too bad… and I suppose it’d make Dash happy if we ate all of them….”

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

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

“Well, that was a pretty good breakfast,” Ragnarok said.

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

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

“And I’m Emerald!” his sister said. “It’s nice to meet you all.”

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

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

“You’re pretty excited,” Ragnarok commented.

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

“Kaya said mamma told you a story about herself,” Emerald informed them.

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

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

“Yeah, we’ve known him for a while,” Sabre replied.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Yeah, but his tummy’s ticklish,” Emerald said with a grin.

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

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

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

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

“Ragnarok, Keera, and Terra have powers too,” Sabre said.

“Wow, really?” Emerald and Roc said in unison.

“Yup!” the draken twins replied together.

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

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

“At least you didn’t put any holes in the wall,” Ragnarok joked to the twins.

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

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

Roc considered this. “Yeah, she probably would,” he agreed.

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

Amber shook her head. “No, we can’t,” Amber told her.

“Well, you might,” Ragnarok said, “you just haven’t found them yet.”

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

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

“Oh, and sometimes mamma takes us to a big swimming pool!” Emerald added.

“Swimming pool?” the twins remarked in unison. “Great!” “Let’s go!”

“Yeah, let’s go ask mamma if we can!” Roc said to his sister, and they rushed out of the room.

“After all that’s happened, it’ll be nice to just relax in the water,” Amber said.

“Yeah, and just have fun for once,” Ragnarok agreed.

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

Sabre laughed. “Well, what are we waiting for?”

* * *

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

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

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

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

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

* * *

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

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

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

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

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

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

“I thought you guys couldn’t swim?” Ragnarok remarked. Closing the clear flight membranes over his eyes, he stuck his head under the water. Emerald was holding herself up with her thick tail. Ragnarok pulled his head back up and laughed. “Here, why don’t you bounce back over here before your tail gets tired,” he suggested.

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

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

“Yeah!” all four cubs replied.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Well then, let’s hurry back,” Dash said.

* * *

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

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

Amber’s breathing quickened a bit. “Oh, um, Ragnarok…I’m…” she stammered, then bolted around him, into Teyaka’s room.

Um, okay? Ragnarok wondered. Was it just him, or was Amber acting weird? And… had she smelled a little different…? It was a nice smell, too. He shrugged. She obviously didn’t want him around at the moment, so he ambled into their room.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Teyaka pawed past a few pages. “Anything else?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

* * *

Part Two: Meeting

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Teyaka?” “Why not you?” the twins asked.

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

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

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

* * *

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

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

Kaya glanced around the room. “Hey, where’s Uncle Dash?” she asked.

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

“Oh, all right,” the cub said.

“Does he do this a lot?” Amber asked.

“Not really,” Kaya responded. “But he’s done it before, when he’s got a lot on his mind.”

* * *

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

Dash imagined his mother walking up and sitting down next to him. “C’mon honey, don’t be so sad,” she’d say with a smile.

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

He could almost feel Skye’s smooth skin nuzzling against him. “It’s okay, honey,” she said to him.

Dash shook his head dejectedly. I just…it’s been so long since I’ve seen you, felt you…. He choked down a small sob.

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

Dash looked over to where his mom wasn’t, and smiled a little. Yeah, you’re right.

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

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

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

Dash sat there for a little while more, than stood up. He put his hands into the pockets of his pants and started to wander aimlessly through the park, lost in thought. He was so lost that he actually managed to walk right into someone, accidentally knocking her over. “Oh, geez, I’m sorry,” he said. “Here, lemme help you up.”

The fur he’d knocked over blinked, looking at him for a second before she accepted his hand. He pulled her to her feet and she brushed herself off. “It’s all right. I guess I’m just as much responsible for not paying attention to where I was going,” she said, rubbing her head.

“I’m really sorry about that,” he said, “and….” He trailed off as he examined her. She was a white tiger, a little taller than he was, and she had pretty blue eyes, and a shining purple, teardrop-shaped gem in the center of her forehead. Her white fur had soft black stripes all over it, and she was wearing a nice lavender dress. The feature that had just caught Dash’s attention, though, was her wings. She had a pair of white-feathered wings coming out of her back. The wings each had a claw sticking up out of the feathers at the wrist joint. “…Wow, you have wings? Are they real?”

The tiger blinked. “Um, yeah…? Why wouldn’t they be?” She stretched one out a bit to show him. “At least, they were the last time I checked,” she said, managing a soft giggle.

Dash stared for a second, then grinned sheepishly. “Um, ehe… sorry, it’s just that I’m the only person on two legs that I’ve ever seen with wings.”

“Really? I find that odd,” she said, raising and eyebrow. “Surely there are others of your race around…. Just one Drakken such as yourself in the world… unless you got here like I did.” She giggled again.

Dash looked at the tiger, a little confused. “Um, Drakken? Don’t think there are any Drakkens here… just us drakens, and I’m not a particularly good example of the species.” He paused, suddenly realizing something. “Wait, ‘got here like I did’?” he repeated.

The tiger scratched her head, and he could see her muzzle redden slightly. “Well, yeah… I guess I’m not normally from around here. What is this place? Am I still on Tanadrine?”

“Erm… Tanadrine? You’re in New Halipont, but…” he replied.

“Oh… well, Tanadrine is the name of my… planet, I guess…. I mean, er… I guess it’s a bit confusing. I came here in search of my dragonette that got himself lost in the void, and now I just can’t seem to find him…. The silly little things seem to like doing this to themselves.”

Dash was a little lost, but laughed at this last bit. “Yeah, my friend Teyaka has a few cubs that seem to like getting into trouble too.”

The tiger giggled. “Cubs are some of the best at doing those things,” she said, rubbing her small swell of a belly absently. “Unfortunately, dragonettes are just the same.”

“So, I guess you’re new to town, um… geez, we haven’t even introduced ourselves,” Dash said. He held out his hand. “Hit there, my name’s Dash. Welcome to New Halipont.”

She chuckled and blushed slightly, then took his hand and shook it. “I am Talbona… my friends call me Tal, though,” she said, smiling softly.

“So, um, dragonettes? Are you looking after them for someone else, or…?” Dash asked.

Talbona shook her head. “No, they’re my bond creatures. I hatched them from eggs…. Well, there’s only one. His name is Buvuelo. He’s blue in color, and has a green soulgem and eyes. Not all too big. He likes getting into trouble, though. There’s nothing around here that would eat him, is there? I could imagine a larger dragon making a tasty snack of him…” she said, frowning at the thought and looking around the area.

Dash laughed kindly. “Nope, I don’t think so. The biggest things around here that eat fresh meat are the drakens, and I doubt anyone would eat him. We, ah, don’t get too many dragonettes out here…” he said, then cocked his head. “So exactly what is a dragonette?”

“Um… well, they’re like very small versions of DeLanna dragons, and… err… um….” She didn’t look very sure of how to explain it, so she did something completely different. She closed her eyes and smoothly changed shape, turning into a small creature that looked a little bit like a draken, but it was more elongated, scalier, and a lot smaller. “This is what they look like, they… just can’t talk, is all. This is exactly what Buvuelo looks like.”

Dash’s eyes went wide in surprise. “Wow, how did you…?” he exclaimed. Well, I’ve seen stranger things, he supposed. Heck, I am one of those stranger things!

Talbona turned back into a winged white tiger, blushing. “Oh… sorry… I’m a druid. Our Goddess blesses us with the ability to use magics, including shapeshifting…. I didn’t mean to frighten you….”

“Frighten me? No no no, I was just surprised, that’s all. I’ve never seen anyone do that before,” Dash told her, then grinned. “I think it’s pretty cool.”

“Well, it is kind of fun…. I mean, over the course of my studies I’ve learned several different forms that I can take. I really enjoy all aspects of my faith,” she said, and smiled softly. “Do you follow a god or goddess?”

Dash cocked his head at her. “Um, I don’t think so…? What’s a god or goddess?” he asked.

Talbona blinked, staring blankly for a moment. “You…don’t know what one is?” she asked, startled.

Dash shook his head. “Um, no. Should I?”

She shook her head too. “No, I don’t think you need to…. If you are happy with the way you live, then why have need to follow a goddess… I do not feel I’d be able to explain it very well for you.”

Dash shrugged. “Okay then, I guess,” he said, then grinned again. “So, you can turn into all kinds of things, huh?”

“Well, yeah, pretty much, I guess… at least, the forms I’ve taught myself to take,” she replied.

“Wow, must not have been easy,” Dash remarked.

Talbona shook her head. “No, it wasn’t. The hardest form I’ve taken has been my chakat form, really, and that was my fault.… I wasn’t keeping track of how many times I shifted. I was stuck in the form for three days….”

“So, you can only do it a certain number of times?” Dash asked. “And, erm… what’s a chakat?”

“Yeah, I can only do it a few times a day,” she said, “and a chakat is this….” She closed her eyes, concentrating, and carefully shifted into a new form. The top part of it looked like Talbona had, without the wings, but her new bottom half looked like a really big tiger, with her upper body where the head would be. The little bulge in her tummy had moved to the tummy in her lower body, and her wings were now on the lower body’s shoulders.

Dash watched as she transformed. “Wow, that’s neat! You’re still anthro, but sorta not too!”

Talbona blinked. “Anthro?”

“Yeah, anthro. You walk on two legs, shaped like a human, that sort of stuff,” the draken explained.

“Oh, okay. We are called morphs where I come from,” Talbona replied. “This body’s pretty comfortable,” she said, indicating her chakat form, “it just took a bit of time to get used to having two sides….”

“Yeah, I can see how it might,” Dash remarked with a smile. “It looks kinda fun though. You get to have all four legs, but still have two hands too!”

“Well, technically four hands,” Talbona said. She held out one of her forepaws to Dash. He saw that it was a lot like one of Teyaka’s paws, but the inner side of the paw had a sort of thumb on it, so it looked like it would work like a hand. “Makes it all the niftier, though,” she said with a giggle. She sat back as comfortably as she could now, with her bigger tummy under her. “I am learning how to shapeshift others. I haven’t gotten much practice, though. My daughter is a bit reluctant to allow me to test it on her, and is my mate….”

“Wow, you can do others? Well, I suppose you could try it on me,” he said and grinned. “Just draken instead of tiger, right?”

Talbona nodded. “Yeah, if that’s what you want. I haven’t tried it like that, but it shouldn’t be hard…. I’m guessing you’d want to be completely male as well?”

“‘Completely male’?” Dash echoed. “There’s another way than male or female?”

“Well, chakats are both…” she said, blushing slightly. “They’re the only taurs I’ve shifted, too… but like I said, it shouldn’t be too hard to change that….”

Dash smiled at her. “Well, you never know what you can do until you give it a try, right?”

“I suppose,” Talbona said, nodding lightly. She stood up and moved closer to him. “I just need you to sit here, and to concentrate on the form you want to be in.” Dash nodded and smiled. Talbona closed her eyes and started working her magic. After a few seconds, there was a bright flash and a sharp “crack!!” sound, which caused her to fall back slightly, rubbing her eyes to clear them.

Dash stumbled back from the cloud of dust that had been thrown up, coughing. “Does that usually happen?” he asked, rubbing his eyes.

“No, not usually,” she said. “…Oh my.” She stared at him, blinking. “Well… that doesn’t usually happen either.”

Dash glanced over himself, and help up a forepaw. “Wow, I’ve got four legs again! And… wait a second….” He reached up with a hand and felt his smooth muzzle. “Where’d my horn go?” As he became more in tune with his new shape, he noticed that his lower tummy felt pretty heavy. He looked down, and his sides and tummy were bulging out. “And why is my belly so big?”

Talbona circled him and burst into a fit of giggles. “And why do you have breasts?” She chuckled. “What were you thinking about when I shifted you?”

Dash looked around at her. “Huh? I was supposed to be thinking about it?” he asked. “Wha… you mean I’m a female?”

“A pregnant one at that. What, were you thinking about my form or something?” she asked, and giggled softly.

“Um, no… I guess I was still thinking of my mom a little….” Dash rubbed her belly with her tail. “Pregnant? How…?”

“I don’t know,” Talbona admitted. “Hold still and let me see if I can’t fix this some…. It could have to do with you thinking about your mum, though... you know, the maternal feeling….” She looked at Dash, who nodded, and she continued. “Okay concentrate on the form you want to take. The male one.”

“Okay, now that I know I’m supposed to be concentrating,” Dash said with a wink. She closed her eyes and concentrated.

Talbona chuckled. “Sorry about that,” she said, then closed her eyes too and worked on shifting Dash to a male taur form. She sighed softly, finishing the transition smoothly. “There, all better.”

Dash opened his eyes, looking himself over. “Yeah, I think I’m a guy again….” He rubbed his newly-restored nose horn, then smiled at the tiger. “Thank you, Talbona!” he said. He took a few steps, trying out his new taur legs. It’s been so long since I’ve had four legs… he thought to himself.

“It took me a long time to get used to it as well, so don’t worry,” Talbona said with a chuckle.

“Nah, it’s nothing,” Dash said. “I’ve lived most of my life with four legs, after all.”

“You…you did?” Talbona asked, obviously surprised.

Dash nodded. “Yeah. It’s a really long story, but I used to look like a normal draken,” he told her.

“What does a normal draken look like?” she asked.

Dash grinned. “Well, they look like my lower body does now, but with my head instead of my upper body,” he replied.

“Oh,” Talbona said, chuckling softly. “Why did you decide to become a morph?”

“It… wasn’t exactly something I decided,” Dash said quietly, looking down, his wings and tail drooping. Old as they were, some of those memories still hurt….

“Oh,” Talbona said, frowning slightly. “I’m sorry dear. I didn’t mean to bring up any bad memories.” She stepped next to him and put a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

Dash lay down, still looking a little downcast. “Not your fault, it was an honest question,” he told her. A dew seconds passed, and then Dash looked back up at her. “So, where you’re from, people can choose to turn ‘morph’?”

“Well, we’re kinda just born the way we are, except for a few races like mine. We’re called Felidae, and we have the ability to be morphic or feral,” Talbona explained.

“Okay, so that’s like it is here: you get born that way. I think I’m the only exception,” Dash said, shifting his wings.

“You were turned into it, you said? So your kind can’t normally be like that?” she asked.

Dash nodded. “Right. A long time ago, when they made the first anthro furs, they tried to do it with drakens too, but it didn’t take, for some reason.”

“Eh, well, I guess it depends on the species. My kind was created when the angels and demons took over the bodies of feral animals,” she told him. “The other races of my planet came from the elves and their feral companions…. I guess it depends, like I said…. See, I live on different planet than I’m from… if that makes sense….”

“Uh… kinda, I think,” Dash replied, scratching his side with a hind leg. “We don’t have any elves here, so they had to do it the hard way, I guess,” he said with a wink.

“Oh…well…” Talbona said, chuckling. “So what races are here?”

“Well, there’s the furs. They’re all sorts of stuff that used to be wild animals. Cats, dogs, reptiles, that sort of stuff. And then there’s the humans, and the drakens, of course,” he told her.

“So drakens are just dragons, then?” she asked him.

“Um, I don’t think we’re related at all,” he replied. “It’s only from you that I know they actually exist somewhere. I’ve heard stories about them, though. We look a bit like them, but that’s all.”

“Yes, we have many types of them where I am from. The most common ones are DeLanna dragons, which look like this.…” Talbona took a few paces back and shifted to another form. This one looked a bit like the little one from earlier, but a LOT bigger. Dash took an instinctive step back, then managed to steady himself. Talbona seemed to realized how big she was compared to him and moved her head down to his level. “Sorry…” she said, managing a weak draconic grin.

Dash did his best to stuff his survival instincts, which were currently running in circles and screaming in terror at the sudden appearance of the huge predator, back into their little box. “Eheh, you guys sure are big,” he remarked with a weak laugh.

“Well yeah, I guess… NeLanen is bigger actually. I am only about half her size,” Talbona told him. She closed her eyes and shifted back into her original form, the anthro white tiger. “It all depends on who is in control, really.”

“‘Who’s in control’?” Dash echoed. “So someone else can be in control too?” Boy, there sure is a lot of confusing stuff about her….

“Well, I am merged with one known as NeLanen. She and I both live in the same body… it’s hard to explain… sorry to be so confusing to you...” Talbona said, then paused and blinked, blushing again. “Oh… I’m sorry… didn’t mean to do that….”

Dash blinked in surprise. “Wow, you can hear what I think too?” He grinned. “Don’t be sorry, it’s kinda fun, like a little puzzle.”

“Well, it’s because of NeLanen…. I can’t do that normally… unless it’s a feral animal,” she explained.

Dash cocked his head. “So there’s really two people in there?” he asked.

“Pretty much,” Talbona confirmed.

Dash laughed. “Reminds me of two of my friends,” he remarked. “Oh?” Talbona inquired.

Dash smiled and nodded. “Yeah. Keera and Terra, a pair of conjoined draken twins. About average size, bright green, and two heads,” he told her with a laugh.

“Well, we don’t have the two heads…. Just when one wasn’t to speak…. Well, if we see one another more often, which I hope we manage to do, you may get to meet her,” Talbona told him.

Dash smiled at her. “I hope we meet more often too,” he replied. “You’re real fun to talk with, and I’d like to meet NeLanen too.”

Talbona nodded. “I don’t have too many friends…” she aid. “Just my Clan that I live with back home….”

Dash got up and padded over to her. He smiled warmly and patted her shoulder. “Well, it looks like you’ve got one more in New Halipont now.”

Talbona chuckled softly. “I thank you for that, it does mean a lot to me,” she said. “I just hope I can remember how to get here to visit….”

“Well, hmm…” Dash muttered. A thoughtful yet goofy grin spread across his muzzle. “I can’t exactly give you a map, unfortunately….”

Talbona chuckled softly. “Don’t worry, NeLanen is good at remembering things. She will remember what it looks like for when we travel the void,” she assured him.

Dash laughed. “Yeah, I suppose that might help,” he said. He cocked his head thoughtfully. “Here, maybe this’ll help too….” He took a step back from Talbona and closed his eyes. He concentrated, unleashing his ice powers, drawing energy to his hands. He pressed his hands together and focused the energy between them. He finished up and opened his eyes, smiling. “Here, you can keep this to remember me by. Maybe it’ll make it easier to find me again,” he said. He handed Talbona a small but perfect crystal of ice.

“Oh wow…” Talbona said, taking it gently and looking at it. “It won’t melt?”

Dash shook his head. “No, my ice doesn’t seem to melt too easily when I focus it like that. Guess it’s just part of the magic.”

Talbona smiled. “Thank you…. Hmm, I’m sure I have something I can give you as well….” She reached into her pouch and pulled out a bit of crystal. Teyaka had shown him a picture of that kind of crystal before. She’d called it… amethyst, that was it! The crystal was a beautiful purple, and it was shaped like the bit of crystal on Talbona’s brow. It seemed to glow softly, too. Talbona held it in her hands and concentrated on it for a few moments before handing it to him. “Here you go, something you can remember me by,” she said.

Dash took the crystal, staring at it in wonder. “Wow… it’s beautiful….” He looked up and grinned. “Thanks!”

Talbona smiled widely. “You’re welcome,” she replied. “Whenever you wish to speak to me, just hold it and think what you have to say. We will hear.”

Dash nodded, and suddenly noticed the little dragonette Talbona had shifted to earlier pop into existence about Talbona’s head. It made a chittering noise and flew down to her shoulder, landing there and nuzzling her cheek.

“There you are, Buvuelo,” she said, scritching the dragonette on the cheek.

“Ah, so that’s the little guy you were looking for?” Dash asked with a grin.

Talbona nodded. “Yes. It was nice to meet you, Dash, and I’m sure we will meet again, but I have to take Buvuelo home now.”

“Have a nice trip, then!” Dash said. “I hope we meet again soon.”

Talbona seemed to suddenly realize something. “Oh… here, let me return you to normal,” she said. Talbona weaved her magic, and when Dash looked down, he had two legs again.

“Thanks, Talbona,” he said, flicking his finned tail.

Talbona nodded. “Please, call me Tal,” she said with a smile.

“Okay Tal, see you later!” he said. Tal smiled, then closed her eyes and vanished.

Dash stood there for a minute, thinking about their conversation, then pocketed the gem. It seemed like a horribly crude way to carry the beautiful crystal, but he didn’t want to accidentally bother Tal. Looking around, the white draken decided it was time to head home.

* * *

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Okay!” the green drakens replied. Dash walked to his room and pulled off his clothes, first carefully taking out Tal’s gem and setting it on a table near his bed. He washed off with a quick shower, then lay down on his bed.

* * *

A few hours later, Dash’s eyes fluttered open. Hmm, guess I’m done with my nap, he supposed. He hopped out of bed, landing lightly on all four legs, and padded over to his dresser. He slipped on his usual black t-shirt, pulled out the pants that went with it, and… waaaait-a-second…. Something isn’t right here…. He rewound the last few thought. Hopped out of bed, landed on all four legs, padded…four legs? What? Dash looked himself over with no small amount of surprise. He was a taur again! He paced a small circle. He wasn’t imagining it, he did have four legs! Strange….

He walked out into the hallway. He heard the sound of sleeping drakens coming from the guest room, so Ragnarok and Amber were asleep. Well, one of them might be awake, wandering around, but they’d been pretty attached to each other lately, so that wasn’t very likely. He poked his head around the corner into the main room. Keera and Terra were laying down, but with their eyes open, and they looked pretty bored. Well, Dash definitely had something interesting for them. He walked out into the room. “Hey girls,” he said.

They looked over at him. “Hi Dash,” they chorused, then went back to the spot on the wall they had been staring at. Nothing connected for a second, and then their head whipped back around, staring at him. The double-take was so perfect that Dash would have fallen down laughing if not for his four legs, and he barely managed to stay upright anyway. The twins glared at him. “What’s so funny?” they huffed.

“Your faces,” Dash barely managed to gasp around the gale of laughter.

The twins glared at him some more, and when he finally calmed down, they got up and walked a circle around him. “What happened to you?” Keera asked.

Dash decided to give them the whole story. “Well, when I was in the park, I met someone who happened to be able to change shapes. She could also change other people’s shapes, so I said that she could try it on me. She eventually managed to turn me into this form, a sort of draken-taur,” he explained. “But…you were normal before you went to bed…?” Terra said, confused.

“Yeah, that’s what I’m wondering about too…” Dash agreed. He decided to run through what else had happened, in the hopes that something would strike him. “She turned me back, and we talked… I gave her an ice crystal, and she gave me… the gem!” he exclaimed, and ran off into his room, the twins hot on his heels. The amethyst gemstone was still sitting where he had left it, and was still glowing slightly. He picked it up and concentrated. Hey Tal? Something kinda strange is going on… he thought.

~Um, Dash?~ he heard in his head. It sounded like Tal’s voice, so he figured that the stone worked. ~What’s wrong? What happened?~

~Well, I went to sleep, and I woke up as a taur…~ he replied.

~You… went to sleep and… woke up a taur?~ Tal said. ~How’d you do that?~

~Um… I dunno? Never exactly happened before,~ he said. ~The only time I’ve ever been a taur was when you turned me into one.~

~Um, you didn’t use the gem for it?~ she replied.

~I don’t think I… wait, the gem can do it?~ he exclaimed.

~Yeah, I made the gem so that you can use it to change yourself into a taur and back,~ she told him.

~Wow, you did that for me? Thanks!~ Dash said.

~Of course, and you’re welcome,~ she replied, and he could feel her smiling.

~So, how do I use it, exactly? I suppose that if I did it in my sleep, I already know, but let’s make sure I do, eh?~ he remarked, sending her a mental wink.

~Well, just hold the gem and concentrate on it, and think of the taur form… the non-female one, of course,~ she said with a chuckle.

Dash laughed. ~Of course, Guess I musta just set my tail or a wing on it while I was dreaming about the taur form, or something like that,~ he figured.

~That could very well be it.~ Tal agreed.

~Well, thanks for your help Tal, and fir the wonderful gem!~ he said earnestly.

~You’re very welcome dear, I’m glad to have been of help,~ Tal replied warmly, and Dash broke the connection and opened his eyes.

Dash realized that the twins had been poking him the whole time. “What’s going on?” Keera asked. “Why are you just standing there?” her sister added. They both sounded a little worried.

“Oh, sorry,” Dash responded. He held out the gem. “My friend gave me this gem. She said I could use it to talk to her, which is what I was doing,” he said. “She just told me that she made it so I can use the gem to turn into this form too!”

“Wow!” the twins exclaimed. They walked a circle around him. “Your bottom part looks like you used to,” Terra said.

Dash sat down and rubbed the back of her neck. “Yeah, I guess it does,” he said with a smile, swishing his tail a lot further behind him than it normally went.

“Well, you seem really happy about all this,” Keera said. “It sure was nice of your friend to give that to you.”

Dash nodded. “Yeah, it’s really nice to have four legs again, even if it’s only for a little bit.”

The twins sat down next to him, leaning against his side. “You know, if that thing’s so special, you can’t just carry it around in your pocket,” Terra said. “Yeah,” Keera agreed, “it’s really pretty, so you should have a pretty way to carry it.”

“Y’know, you’re right,” Dash said. Using the gem, he shifted back to his anthro form, and the twins fell over with a thump. He hopped to his feet and pulled on the pants he had grabbed earlier. “C’mon guys, I’ve got a friend who can help!”

* * *

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

“Hey Odell! How’s it going?” Dash asked with a grin.

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

“Hi there!” the left head said. “I’m Terra!” “And I’m Keera!” the right one said.

Odell crouched down to their eye level. “Well, nice to meet you, Keera and Terra. I’m Odell.”

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

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

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

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

Dash nodded. “Well, I wasn’t planning on asking for that much,” he joked. He set a beautiful bit of amethyst down on the counter. It was cut into a perfect teardrop shape, and almost seemed to glow. “A friend gave it to me, and I don’t think it’s right to just carry it around in my pocket, y’know?”

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

Odell busied himself, bustling around with tools and materials. Dash had already used it to tell Tal about what was going on and that she should just ignore anything that comes through for a little while, so there wasn’t any risk of confusion from that. Keera and Terra put their paws on the counter and pulled themselves up to try and see what Odell was doing. “So, how’s your mate doing?” Dash asked conversationally.

“Oh, Jess?” Odell replied. “She’s doing great. We actually just learned that we’re going to be expecting a clutch of eggs soon!” he informed the drakens, breaking into a broad grin.

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

Keera and Terra looked at each other. “Oh, your species is one of the kinds that lay eggs?” Keera remarked.

Odell returned to his work. “Yup, that’s why I’ve got these scales,” he said with a laugh. “So Jess is gonna be carrying the eggs for a while, and then we’ll just have to keep them warm until they hatch,” he told the twins, while still working on Dash’s request.

“Wow, neat!” Keera said. “That’s a pretty efficient way to do it,” Terra said. “We drakens have to carry chicks for a year and a half.”

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

“Stop her from what?” Keera asked.

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

“Ooh, that sounds like fun,” Terra commented.

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

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

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

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

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

Dash nodded with a grin. “Yeah!”

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

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

Dash took his hand and shook it. “I can’t thank you enough.”

“Aw, it’s no problem, man,” Odell told him. “Like I said, I owe you.”

Dash nodded. “All right. It’s been fun talking to you, Odell,” he said.

“You too Dash,” Odell