FanFic: Are you ready for round two? Dark Falz's return, sor

[Dragos_Cha]

I'm new, first post, let's see how this goes shall we? For now I'm using only my characters, if they resemble other chars in any way shape or form, it is purely coincednce, thank you.





The hunter stood in the ruins, his back to the wall, panting from running so hard. He checked his pistol, having lost his other weapons in a fall, and found it nearly drained. He swore, hoping that the next room would hold a way out, or perhaps a telepipe. With his mental energies so low, he couldn't even cast Ryuker, and couldn't very well climb back up the way he'd come.

"Well," he said to his mag, "Looks like this is where things get interesting." it simply squeeked at him, hovering a few inches from his face.

"Heh, I know I could get killed in there, so keep out of trouble if I do. If I hear that you've done something like blasting another Hunter, I'll have to come and berate you." he smiled.

The mag squeeked again, seeming unhappy.

"Oh don't worry, the most that will happen to you is a few scratches. Now then, you ready," it bobbed up and down, "Good, here we go!" and he whipped around the corner, pistol ready to fire.

There was silence as he looked around the empty room. It was large, larger than any he had seen so far in this place. There was a large pillar in the middle, more long than wide, and two doors leading off to the sides.

"Or it could be empty," he frowned, "But at this point I could care less. Let's see if we can find anything to help." and he went to check the left door.


Behind the door he found a few boxes, with nothing of real interest to him, though he found a saber in one, and that cheered him up a bit.

"At least with this I can fend things off better," he said, swinging it experimentally, "And it seems like a fine weapon."

The mag agreed, then became iritated by something.

"Hmm," the hunter said, readying the saber. Things appeared in the back of the room, and started after him, "Oh great," and he backed out of the room, "Let's pray the other rooms is more promising, I'm in no shape for a long fight." and he made a dead run around the pillar.

The other room held a strange device, broken beyond recongnition. In the mess he noticed a small crystal, looking like one that would power a photon weapon.

"Here's to hoping this thing still works." he ejected the near dead crystal from his pistol, thrusting the "new" one in and readying it to fire as the things came into view. One came around the corner and he pulled the triger, not expecting what happened next. The gun fired a huge blast, and when the energy passed, the thing was gone, the door erased, and a huge hole punched in the pillar. The pistol barrrel was melting, the rest of it was hot to the touch.

"Good thing I have insulated gloves." the hunter said as the pistol melted away. He removed the crystal before the clip area could fuse shut, sticking it in a pocket and dropping the remains of the gun. He stepped out of the room, finding the other monster gone. It was then he saw the fourth door exiting the room to his right and started toward it.

"I'm getting a bad feeling, how about you?" the mag remained silent.

The door opened before them, and they walked down a long hall to another, larger door. The hunter looked it over, unable to understand the writing before him.

"Rico's messages said she'd decifered(sp) this," he shook his head, "I wish she hadn't gotten lost down here. There aren't many good hunters left aboard Pioneer One, and we could really use her help right now." he touched the door, and it slid slowly open. Inside was darkness, and he could only make out shapes in the darkness. It seemed to be a control room of sorts, though it was long lost to time and decay.

"I re-ally wish I hadn't lost my flashlight." he said, but took a step in anyway. Suddenly the room lit up, revealing not a control room, but more of a throne room. The throne didn't look too inviting however, as there were bonds that would hold a person to the chair.

"But why is there a thing like that here? No one found any signs of living quarters or anything, so why would this be here?"

He was answered by sounds behind him, he spun around, lashing out with the saber. It caught a creature by surprise, and the thing fell. Several others swarmed into the room, surrounding him.

"Oh this isn't good." he said, then began chopping at the hoard. He managed to get a few of them before they were on him, and then darkness fell, his conciousness fading...


"Uhn," his eyes opened slightly, and he saw someone before him, someone familiar, "Rico?" he said in surprise.

The room lit up, and he saw that she was halfway absorbed into a thing similar to the creatures running around the ruins. It descusted(sp) him, though he was to exhausted to lose his lunch.

The things muttered around him, their speech seeming almost human, but his head was fuzzy from the fight, and resulting unconciousness.

"Yes, but we cannot take it from him," said a voice, coming from the thing absorbing Rico, "But he will make a fine addition to the ranks."

"No..." he said, as was taken away. His thoughts drifted to his son that he'd left on their home planet, hoping a better future lay ahead of him than this.

"Sora..." he said.


"FATHER!" Sora yelled, sitting up in his bed.

Looking around he slumped back down again. He'd been having these dreams for the past few months. He was onboard Pioneer Two, waiting patiently the last few days for his Hunter's License to clear and allow him access to the planet's surface. He hoped to find his father, who, like everyone else aboard the first Pioneer ship, had disappeared. His father had been a great Hunter, and he had followed his father's footsteps, to a point. He was a force, holding more control over spells than his father had, but at the cost of not being nearly as strong. He would still make his way on this new world, and find out what had happened.

His mag floated up near his head, distressed by his earlier outburst. He pet it, and it crooned happily, glad to see it's Hunter in no sort of danger.

"We'll get to go down there soon," he told it, "Then we'll see ourselves what went on."




Okay, done for now. Now let's see how the PSOing goes, shall we? ;>

[SC2]

Cool guy!

[Sharkyland]

Good, strong opening so far. I like it, want to see more coming.

[Dragos_Cha]

Hehe, wow, didn't expect a response like that. It may or may not stay as interesting as the begining there, but it should pick up later. It's gonna be lower level characters for a bit, but I think I'll make jumps between some posts where they run around and it's not described. Here we go again!



Sora was heading for the teleporter that led to the surface of Ragol a few days later. His License had been give then okay, and he was now aloud to go down.

"Let's just hope the creatures aren't too strong." Sora said to his Mag. It chirped at him.

"Hey!" someone yelled.

Sora turned around to see someone with a rifle strapped to their back running toward him, waving. They wore an outfit that was mostly purple, her gray hair tied up right above the back of her head.

"Are you heading down to the surface?" she panted when she reached him.

"Yeah, why?"

"Can you give me some help then? I got a really wierd quest, and the client suggested I bring other Hunters. You look like you could handle yourself down there."

"I'm actually just going down for my first time." Sora replied.

"Oh," she was thoughtful for a moment, "Well, I'm sure you can handle it. Nothing in the forests near the dome are that bad. If the going gets tough just take off, we'll go for a war of attrition." (yes I realize that the monsters would keep following them in the "real world" but that doesn't mean you can't just keep backing up! ;> )

"If you say so." he said, feeling more than a little nervous.

"You'll do fine," she gave him a slap to the back, "Now come on!" she stepped onto the teleporter.

"What exactly is it that we're doing?" he joined her.

"Hunting a red Hildebear!" she winked as they disappeared.


It was some time later before they arrived at the forest area nearest the Dome. Sora felt on edge as they stepped off the teleporter pad.

"See," Laura said, "Nothing to it! I told you you'd be fine!"

Sora sighed, looking at the ranger as she started off into the forest again. She was good, really good. She almost scared him as she blasted away at the Boomas and Wolves with her rifle. She also repeatedly cast spells that created red and blue auras around her and her weapon. She said they were called Shifta and Deband, augmenting her offensive and defensive capabilities. She kept casting them because they quickly ran out at her current skill level.

"I'll be able to maintain them longer once I can find a higher level disk," she had said, "For now though they're the best I've got."

They had found a couple of disks during their jaunt, and she had given them to Sora, saying that she already had better. He had at his disposal not only the fire spell he'd been given with his license, but also a lightning spell and a healing spell. They had also found various armors and weapons, a couple of which were broken, but one was still in good condition and fit Sora. A saber they found, "Looks good on you", as Laura had put it.

"It should be around here somewhere..." Laura said, "Just get ready to run if it takes us by surprise. The things are normally viciuos, and theres no telling what this one could be like."

"Right." Sora nodded. They'd had to run a few times already from large packs of the forest animals. If this Hildebear was bigger than they were, a pack could kill them.

"Shh," Laura said, stopping and listening, "What was that?"

"RAGH!" somethign jumped through the foliage to their left straight at Sora, giving him little chance to do anything.

"Sora!" Laura yelled.

Sora was frozen for a moment, then put his arms forward and quickly said what he thought was the lightning spell, but needles of light sprayed from his hands, exploding on the creatures chest and throwing it back into the bushes.

"Holy cow! How did you do that? What was that?"

"I...I don't know..." he looked at his hands. They were burned slightly, and stung a great deal.

Laura looked over them a second, then nodded, "They'll be fine, just give them a bit, and you may want to keep out of combat 'til we get done. You might be able to cast spells, but try not to cast that again."

"Trust me I won't." he shook his hands, and Laura went to check on the creature.

"The good news is that it's dead, the bad news is that it wasn't the right one."

"Great." he stopped shaking his hands and followed her as she wandered off.


They traversed the forest for another half an hour, running into a few creatures along the way, but no more Hildebears, nor the red 'Bear they were searching for.

"It shouldn't be this hard to find I wouldn't think..." Laura said.

"Maybe it knows we're after it and it's hiding..." Sora suggested.

"Maybe," she replied, "I've heard the creatures have been getting slowly more intelligent since the destruction of Dark Falz."

"Mmm..." Sora said. The news of Dark Falz's appearance in the ruins below Ragol was startling, but at the same time the Hunters who slew it were proclaimed heroes. Now all the Hunters were sent on missions to clear out the remaining monsters on Ragol. The problem was that there didn't seem to be an end to them...

"Hey look." Laura whispered, pointing.

Sora looked where she indicated down below them, and saw a large red animal similar to the Hildebear they'd seen earlier.

"And here I was begining to think they'd been pulling my leg. Come on, let's get a closer look."

"Is that a good idea?" he whispered back.

"Well, I'd prefer not to have to shoot it if I don't have to, so let's hope it's not hostile." and she stepped on a branch by accident.

The 'Bear whirled around, then roared, thundering toward them.

"Holy...!" Laura shouted, then began blasting away with her rifle. The thing ignored her shots, even though several would have felled the previous 'Bear.

"Duck!" she practically screamed, throwing Sora and herself to the ground. The thing sailed overhead, landing a few feet behind them. They jumped to their feet and took off at a dead run, Laura firing back at it.

"You think you can get off that one wierd spell again?" she panted.

"I don't know!" he shook his head.

"Well it's probably a better idea than running like this for much longer!"

Sora kept running for a moment, then stopped and turned around, trying to recall what he'd done to call up the arrows of light. After a moment he had it, saying it as fast as he could. The thing was on him in an instant, and he doubted he could finish before it got him.

Out of nowhere someone did a flying jump kick into the things face, sending it back a couple of feet and knocking it down. Sora stood there agast, staring at the figure who had saved him.

"Finish the spell!" they yelled, looking over their shoulder at him.

"What," he said, still phased, then he saw the thing standing up again, "Oh, right!" and he said the last word, the arrows flying around the person and into the beast. The arrows exploded, and it fell to the ground, appearently dead. Sora collapsed as well, his energy spent as he fell into unconciousness...


"Uhn..." Sora sat up in a hospitol bed, "Where am I?" and he looked around.

"Safe on Pioneer Two," Laura smiled, "Though you had us worried for a bit there.

"Us?" he said, confused.

"Us," and an android walked up beside Laura, "My name is Dark Shade."

"She was supposed to be looking for the red Hildebear too, but we found it first. I wonder if that was god luck or bad?" she smiled wryly.

"Good I'd say," Dark Shade said, "If I'd found it first, I'd have been dismantled by the thing."

"Maybe..." Laura said.

Sora's mag flew over at that point, chittering in front of Sora at how happy it was he was safe.

Sora laughed, "There are times I wish I could understand mags."

"Don't we all." Laura giggled. Dark Shade just looked at the two of them and sighed.

Sora kept laughing, feeling that it had been a good day. He'd made a new freind or two, and had assumingly completed his first mission as a hunter, though he'd have to talk to Laura about that later. For now he would just relax and recover from his first day as a Hunter.



Whew, done. I should really not write as much as I do, I tend to do this a LOT. Oh well, enjoy! Later ;>

[Dragos_Cha]

Sora eventually learned that he had recieved a portion of the job's reward, pretty hefty portion at that.

"You deserve it," Laura explained, "You did blast the thing you know."

"Yeah, and I had burns for a week. I couldn't go on any jobs the entire time!"

"Oh stop whining," Laura giggled, "You can go on missions now. Heck, Dark's out checking for jobs at the Guild right now. She should be back pretty soon here."

"Sooner than you think maybe," the android walked in, "And there was only one job posted. And is it ever a doozy." she tossed a disk on the table.

Sora picked it up, gave it a glance, then threw it in the reader. The job's details were spread across the screen, and as Sora read them, he began to worry.

"This seems a little vague, and none of it seems to go anywhere." he said.

"You're wrong," Laura read over it a second time, "It's a sort of encryption used by only one person I know..." she shook her head and sighed, "And he can be a regal pain in the butt sometimes."

"Why do you say that?"

"He's my brother," she sighed, "And he's probably on some wild jaunt again."

"He sounds serious this time," Dark said, "Like he actually found something."

"You know how he is about this Dark," Laura stood up and began pacing about the room, "He goes on and on about anything he finds saying it's 'the real thing'."

"I keep seeing the same thing over and over in here, 'Floof'. What is that?"

"That's my brother's word for 'Dragon'."


"So why are we out here again exactly?" Sora asked as they hiked up a forest trail.

"After the first sighting of the Dragon, he's been obsessed with the Dragons. He's been out here hunting them for a while now."

"Hunting them?" Sora said.

"Well, not hunting exactly. More like searching for. He's loved them since he was young, and with this, I swear he's gone off the deep end. He rarely goes to his appartment, spending most of his time out here, and taking Guild jobs only when he has to. I'm surprised he hasn't gotten himself killed sleeping out here in this mess."

"It's not so bad," Sora said, "After you get used to it. And besides, I share your brother's love of Dragons, though I doubt if I would necessarily take it to this much of an extreme."

"I doubt if anyone but him would," she said, and they came upon a camp. It had been left only recently, as the fire was just out. Laura shook her head, "He could at least put it out!"

"Why? I just went to take a leak." http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_rolleyes.gif

"That's just like you," Laura said, exasperated, "Must you be like this?"

"Like what? You always act like I'm an idiot." he set down a large gun and set about re-kindling the fire.

"Ugh!" Laura stomped off into the forest.

"Hey Laura! Wait a minute!" and Dark Shade took off after her.

"What's with her?" Sora asked.

"The two of us are siblings, and siblings often don't get along. We're a prime example. She's the older of us, and has always believed me to be childish. I have a better reason than simple shildish whims to find other Dragons."

"Oh? And what would that be?"

He grinned, standing and hefting his gun, "You'll just have to find out. Now c'mon, my sister's gotten in trouble again. I really wish she wouldn't go off in fits like this." and he started off in the direction Laura and Dark had gone.

Sora watched as he went, wondering how he knew that. He wondered as well what kind of trouble she was in. He stood, readying his saber for whatever they might find in the forest.




I'm gonna stop there for the night, need some sleep. Later all ;>

[Dragos_Cha]

Sora and Laura's brother heaeded through the forest in the direction Laura and Dark had gone, and soon found the two in over their heads. A group of large turtle-looking creatures had them backed up against a cliff, and they were only barely fending the creatures off.

"Hey sis," her brother yelled, "Hit the dirt!" and he took aim with his gun.

Laura glanced over, her eyes bulged, and she threw herself and Dark to the ground. Amoment later he fired the gun. Several bolts of energy flew across the gap between himself and the creatures, and a couple fell, roaring as the shots burned holes into them.

"Nice gun." Sora commented.

"Yeah, but I could use some help here. You're a Force right? Blast 'em with something!"

"Oh, right." Sora raised his arms, deciding against using the light arrows. He instead tossed a few fireballs at them.

"Not bad," the brother said as the fireballs, while doing minimal damage, got the attention of most of the creatures, "At least now they can get to a better spot for fighting." and he let fly a second barage to get the full attention of the beasts. Another fell, and the rest started toward the two, faster than either had anticipated.

"Holy..." he shouted, not having time to fire again before they were on him. He dropped the gun, barely drawing a purple saber to block an attack. Sora ducked a couple, but got a gash across his side as he tried to get back from them.

A shot caught the one on him in the side of the head as it went for his neck, and it fell limply to the ground. He glanced over to see Laura, rifle aimed in his direction, "You okay Sora?"

"More or less." he said. The wound on his side wouldn't kill him, but it made concentrating on spells difficult. Twice he faltered trying to cast the fire spell, but on the third try, he goofed agian, causing a ring of flame to fly around him, and out a short distance before disipating.

"You might try that a little closer to them." Laura's brother commented.

"I think I'll stay here for now..." Sora said, he held up his hand. A fireball streaked forth and struck one of the ones on Laura's brother, and it fell to the ground. He chopped the other with his saber, and it too fell. Laura and Dark Shade had finished off the remaining creatures by this point, and the three went to check on Sora.

"He'll be fine." her brother said after a minute and some bandaging.

"You're sure?" Laura asked.

"I'm the one who's been in the wilderness recently right? I've had to care for my own wounds. He'll be okay in a bit, though you may want to stay out of any further battles."

"I still don't know your name." Sora said as he stood up.

"It's Jerin." he held out his hand.

"I'm Sora." he shook Jerin's hand.

"Well, Sora, that was some impressive spell casting back there. You seem a little inexperienced to cast things like that."

"I AM, that's just it. They just happen when I'm trying to cast other spells."

"Huh," Jerin looked thoughtful, "We'll have to look into that."

"Why don't you tell us exactly why your brought us out here?" Laura said.

"I'll do better, I'll show you. Come on." and he started out into the woods again. Sora followed him, and Laura and Dark Shade came after him, the three wondering what they were getting into...

[Dragos_Cha]

Well, I'd write today, but I'm out of net time, and that's beside the point. This quick insert is to request of anyone who ACTUALLY reads this to send comments/suggestions to me via private messages. I would just like to get input on my work here, thank you! ;>
http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/sprite.gif Mmmm...Sprite, wish I had some write now...Oh well.

[Dragos_Cha]

Sora, Dark Shade, and Laura followed Jerin through the forest, coming to an area devoid of life. All around them they saw destroyed trees, burnt bushes, rocks melted by some incredible heat. The entire time Sora became more and more nervous.

"What happened here?" Laura said, looking at the devastation as they went.

"I'm not sure," Jerin said, just as surprised as the other three were,"It wasn't like this a few days ago. And those look like photon blasts from one heckuva big gun...Oh no..." and he took off running.

"Jerin!" Laura yelled, running after him.

"This can't be good." Shade went to catch up.

Sora had a sinking feeling, and knew that someone else was close by. Someone, or something, truely evil...


"We're too late..." Jerin fell to his knees before a cave.

"There's a great deal of photon residue," Dark said, "A battle took place here, one that included several Hunters."

"NO!" Jerin bellowed, slamming his fist into the ground, tears streaming down his cheeks.

"What's wrong with you?" Laura asked.

"Their gone," he choked back a sob, "Their both gone. I fought so hard..."

"Who's gone?" Dark asked.

Jerin simply stood up, then walked into the cave. Laura leaned against the cave mouth, deciding to wait for her brother to return. Dark Shade sat down opposite her, and Sora stood there. After a minute he followed the Ramar, slowly walking into the cave.

"What happened?"Sora asked, looking around the interior of the cave. It looked worse than outside, the walls marred with saber strokes and pistol blasts, and even the occasional scorch mark from spells.

"Other Hunters found them. There must have been a mission. I doubt if any one Hunter could have taken her alone."

"Who? Who is it that you keep refering to?"

"The dragon," Jerin sighed, wiping tears from his cheek as he gazed upon the mauled form of what could only be the dragon he refered to, "I found her a few weeks ago, weak from a battle. She didn't trust me at first, but after a while she warmed up to me, though that's an odd thing to say about an iec dragon." he smiled wryly.

"I guess." Sora smiled back.

"There was an egg too. She was very protective of it and only recently let me anywhere near it. I don't see it here, but then they could have taken it. I'll just have to keep my eyes open in the future i guess. Maybe one day I'll find it again," he sighed, standing up, "Okay, let's get the others and...LAURA!" he roared, running out of the cave.

"Jerin!" Sora said in surprise, running after him.

"So you're the one who helped the dragon," someone said as they exited the cave. Sora could tell he was a Force, and a severely injured one to boot, "I'll have you know we went to a lot of work to kill it the last time. That you aided in it's recovery made it stronger than we anticipated. The others had to retreat early, but I managed to finish the job. It wasn;t back at full power, so my fire spells took it down after a while. Now I'll show you what I mean. He held up his hand and a fire appeared there.

Sora and Jerin scowled, both readying their weapons. This would be an interesting battle to be certain.




And with that I must take my leave. Alas, I'll have to finish later. Byee! ;>

[Dragos_Cha]

Sorry to cut it off there, and I'll finish this a bit later, but I'm soon going off to play video games. So Just wait a li-ittle longer, thanks for your patience! ;>

[Dragos_Cha]

"Now then," the mysterious force said, "Should I start big, or just work my way up?"

"I say we don't give him the chance." Jerin whispered to Sora, dropping his shotgun and pulling out a rifle.

"I wouldn't do that," the force smiled, pointing his finger, the tip of which seemed on fire, at the unconcious bodies of Laura and Dark Shade, "Or would you prefer I take out my anger on these two?" he smiled evily.

"Laura!" Jerin yelled. He scowled at the force, then lowered his weapon.

"And don't think i've forgoten about you my young force," he looked pointedly at Sora, ho had been readying a spell, "They'll be just as bad off if you try anything either."

Sora frowned, but maintained his spell. The effect wasn't readily obvious, and few people seemed to notice it, even other forces. This guy was no different. He would just wait for the right moment to complete the spell and blast him.

"Let's try this again..." he kept smiling, his finger still pointing at the two others, his other hand now holding a small flame.

"We've got to do something." Jerin whispered.

"If you can distract him, I might be able to get off my spell. It'll only take me a second to finish it, and considering how bad he looks, I'd say it wouldat the least throw him off long enough for you to get a shot off."

"Ri-ight," Jerin said, looking at his sister, "I guess it's as good a plan as any."

"Just go when you're ready."

"Go." he said, then began running to their left around the force.

"I thought I said not to try anything!" he yelled, the fire on his finger becoming brighter as he wathed Jerin go.

"My turn." Sora, muttered, finishing his spell and throwing it at the force. Arrows of light shot forth, piercing the force all over. He gasped when he saw them, then fell after they stopped. His fire spell sailed off into the sky, making an impressive fireworks display.

"Laura!" Jerin said, checking on his sister.

Sora made sure the force wasn't getting up anytime soon, then went to check on the two as well.

"Uhn," Laura said, openign her eyes, "Anyone get the name of the creature who hit me?" she sat up and rubbed the back of her head.

Dark Shade came back online and sat up as well, taking a few moments to do a diagnostic check of her systems, "Nothing badly damaged, but that shock knocked me for a loop. How long have we been out?"

"Only a couple of minutes I'm guessing." Sora said.

"When I get my hands on who did this I'm gonna..." Laura let the thought hang as she stood up.

"Well he's not going anywhere anytime soon," Sora said, "So that shouldn't be a problem."

"How mistaken you are." they heard a voice behind them. They all looked to see the force on his feet, barely, and he was still smiling.

"Don't you give up?" Jerin asked, aiming his rifle.

"Not easily, though I know better than to try and handle the four of you alone, so I will take my leave. Know however, that you made a poor choice meddling in my affairs. You humans will meet your end soon enough," he looked at them, his eyes widening when they got to Sora, "YOU," he shouted, taking a step back, his smile replaced by abject terror, "What are YOU doing here? I must report this immediately!" and with that he vanished into the air.

"What was that about?" Jerin scratched his head.

"I'm not sure..." Laura said, looking at Sora.

"Don't ask me," he shook his head, "I'm as lost as you are."

Jerin sighed, "Well, in any case, I guess our little joy ride is over. Thanks anyway for coming sis."

"How could I turn down a request from my overzealous twin brother?" she smiled wryly.

"Twin?" Sora just stared at the two of them.

"Yeah, we're twins," Laura said, "I guess I forgot to mention it. I was born first though, and that had some effect on him, making him the younger, trouble causing one."

"Only on occasion." Jerin pointed out.

"That's what you think. Do yuo know how many times he nearly destroyed our house back home?"

"Hey, it's not my fault if dad left his experiments lying around, I was young and curious."

"Like you aren't anymore?"

They continued arguing for a few minutes, but Sora was distracted after Laura's last comment by a noise in the bushes. No one else seemed to notice, so he ignored it, but heard it again a few seconds later. He looked over, but didn't immediately notice anything out of the ordinary. He started toward the bushes, ndheard it again. By the time he reached the bushes, the noise had stopped, and when he went to part the branches, something moved very fast inside them.

"Woah!" he said, nearly having his hand taken off by the thing in the bushes. It lunged forth, throwing him to the ground, then began sniffing at him. After a few moments, it licked him, then got off.

Dazed, Sora sat upto look at his assailant. He blinked, not believing his eyes, and rubbed them before looking again.

A creature about his height now that he was sitting, blue and white in color, stood next to him, looking hopefull.

"What in the world are you?" he said to it, not really expecting a response, but it licked him again anyway.

"And I...Sora," Jerin looked arond, finally noticing the young force was missing. When he found him again, he was astonished, "Sora what..."

"Your guess is as good as mine." he shrugged, standing up. The creature moved around Sora, so that the force was between him and these new people.

"That can only be the dragon hatchling," Jerin said in awe, "Where did you find it?"

"It was in the bushes here," he said, "And jumoed out when it tried to look in. I was afraid it was going to eat me or something. But all its done so far was lick me." he frowned down at it, but it paid no attention to him, now interested in the new people.

"It could believe you to be a parent," Dark Shade said, "That would explain why it's hiding behind you."

"Makes sense." Jerin said.

"Let's see howinterested." Laura said,walking around Sora toward the dragon. It kept its eyes on her, moving as she did to stay behind Sora.

"Gotcha!" Jerin grabbed the little bugger.

It began to screach as soon as it realized someone had picked it up, fighting to get free.

"Geez," Jerin dropped it, and it landed uncerimoniously, stumbling back to Sora, "It certainly has claws anyway."

"It's been determined that it sees Sora as a sorta of protector at the very least." Dark Shade said.

"Looks like your stuck with the thing." Laura smiled.

"Yea, right, like I can just take it back onboard Pioneer Two. They may allow pets, but I think this is stretching it."

"Don't worry about that," Jerin said, smiling, "I can arange it, though you'll both probably be under heavy survailance for a while. I have a friend in the science devision of Pioneer Two's Lab that can easily help us with this." I would suggest you stay here 'till I can talk to them though." and he pulled out a telepipe. It was a device that created a round trip portal to Pioneer Two and back. They would deactiveate after so long so there wouldn't be a load of them all over the place unused, though people would probably use someone else's portal anyeay, being as it would be easier than using their own, but coming to the planet that way was dangerous, as the user may have been nearly overwhelmed by creatures right before they used it.

"I won't be long, try not to get into trouble while I'm gone." he smiled, and disappeared into a beam of light.

"Well," Laura said, "This has been an interesting day."

"No kidding." Sora said, sitting down. The dragon snuggled up to him, quickly falling asleep. IT was about then that Sora wondered why the thing hadn't been hungry. It hiccuped(sp) and belched forth very cold air. Sora watched it disipate, deciding he wasn't going to worry about it too much. He'd have more to worry about if the thing did that intentioanlly to anything in his appartment, or worse to someone who was visiting. This,he decided, sighing, could become a lot of trouble really fast. He hoped that Jerin would have more than just a friend to help him, or he could get into some serious trouble.
As he looked down at the little dragon though, he smiled, even trouble had it's good side.

"Trouble," he said, then started laughing, "What a perfect name!" and he would keep laughing until Jerin got back,uterly confusing all three of his friends. Trouble, the dragon,now that was amusing.



That's all for now, and the funny part is, Sora and I thought up the name at about the same time! Go figure. http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/anime2.gif Byee all!

[Dragos_Cha]

Sora ducked behind a counter in his apartment right before Trouble froze the wall where he had been moments before. He knew it was only a hiccup, but it was still doing damage to the place. He had to teach the little dragon not to use its icy breath. Jerin's friends hadn't been much help. They had as much experience with a baby dragon as he did, but still monitored the two of them. Even now they watched him try and handle the dragons near constant hiccuping.

"I wish they would give me a little help once in a while." Sora muttered, emerging from behind the counter. Trouble imediately wandered over to him and looked sadly up at his face. The little dragon knew when it did something that it shouldn't have, even if it WAS on accident.

"I'm not mad at you Trouble." he smiled, scratching it's head. It cooed happily, giving up a small hiccup that yielded a bit of cold breath. Sora picked her up, hoping that he at least wouldn't get blasted. The good news was that the scientists that were so interested were also paying for all repairs to his appartment. The landlord still complained, but it wasn't as bad as it could have been.

"I just wish you wouldn't do that." he sighed.

There was a rumbling in Trouble's stomach right as the door opened,and Sora saw Laura step over the boundry.

"DUCK!" he yelled.

Laura looked at him funny, then saw Trouble and her eyes widened as she threw herself behind the couch. A blast of cold air froze the doorway, and some of the hall. A few seconds later, the landlord came and looked in the room, scowling at Sora.

"You've done even MORE damage?!?" they practiaclly screached.

"Sorry," he said, smiling wryly, "Don't worry, it'll be fixed in short order."

"Gah!" they said, then carefully continued down the hall.

"Well, still haven't solved that little problem huh?" Laura smiled slightly.

"No," Sora sighed, "But I think she'll stop in time."

"You mean you hope?"

"No. I know that she will eventually, it's just a matter of how soon." he frowned as she hiccuped again, though she sisn't belch forth cold breath.

"That seems an improvement."

"Maybe," he set Trouble down again, "So has anything interesting been happening while I've been stuck here?"

"Aside from the strange creatures that have been popping up everywhere? I just went down to the caves recently and was nearly overwhelmed by these...things! They were larger than the normal sharks, and seemed more like mammals than reptiles. They were tougher too, my shots barely phased them. If not for Jerin's new obsession with explosive weaponry, I think we would have been food for them. The forest has gotten worse too, as have the mines. No one even thinks about going to search the ruins anymore. The first few that tried never came back." she looked unhappy.

"Yeah. What in the world is going on down there?"

"No one knows. There are rumors floating around about something new, something more powerfull than even Dark Falz. These are only rumors, but I've the feeling there is some truth to them."

"Mmm..." Sora frowned. He'd been having dreams again. All disturbing, none too helpfull. They were images of things, in a dark place, deep beneath the surface of Ragol. That was about the limit of what he got from them, "There is something there, I can feel it. I don't know what it is." Trouble seemed to feel what he felt, and came over to him, huddling up to his legs and shivering.

"What's with her?" Laura asked.

Sora didn't answer her, feeling that she wouldn't completely understand what he'd seen and felt. She'd likely brush it off as nightmares. But he knew it was real...

Trouble cried out, wrapping her tail tightly around his right leg. She was scared, really scared. Sora decided he'd better stop before she had a fit. He picked her up again, walking over to the couch and sitting down. He'd have to thin of something less...intimidating.

"You two are an oddity," Laura shook her head, "I have to go to a mission, so I'll see you later." she waved as she wandered off out the door.

Sora frowned. Trouble had calmed down a bit, but she was still nervous. Sora wondered if he hadn't permanently damaged her psyche by thinking the way he had. She'd never responded like that before to anything he'd done. This could set the scientists going again with interest in the poor thing.They had taken her a couple of times after outbursts to see what they could find out up close. The first time she had been too young to really fight back. The second time, however, she had made a great deal about them taking her. It had been a few weeks now, and he had the feeling she would do worse than just injure someone.

Sora smiled, thinking about someone recieving a blast of "refreshing cool air." They would probably be fairly upset over it. He really shouldn't think that though.

Trouble cooed in response to his malicious thought, and he laughed in spite of himself. He and Trouble would get along well in the future. And together, he thought, smiling, they may well solve the new problems plagueing Pioneer 2.

[Dragos_Cha]

Sora swung the partisan in an arc, deftly cutting an apple out of the air. Trouble cheered, and though they just heard the sort of roaring sound she made, Sora smiled, knowing what she meant by it.

"Impressive," Dark Shade said, "Where did you learn to handle one of those things?"

"My father taught me when I was younger," he smiled sadly, "Before he came here on Pioneer One." he looked around the forest, wondering if this was what his father had seen. Recent news claimed that the surface of Ragol had been marred by an explosion that had somehow not destroyed the dome in the process. The government had known this for some time, but had not let it come to light until now.

Trouble brushed up against him, cooing as she did when she knew he was upset somehow. His mag did the same, and he smiled. The pair always knew how to make him feel better.

"You've developed a real bond with her," Laura commented of Trouble. This was the truth. The two had become astoundingly close in a short time. Sora was as baffled as anyone else about the connection, though he felt it anyway.

"Yeah," he smiled, scratching her head absently. She may have appeared to be a pet to most people, but he treated her with the respect he thought she deserved, especially considering what she was, "I just wish the scientists didn't demand to know where we were all the time. It's become a real pain. Any knews from Jerin?"

"None. He's been off mucking about again. We'll hear from him soon I imagine."

"Right." Sora knew where Jerin had gone. To give his last regards to Trouble's mother. Over the course of the weeks since they found trouble, Jerin had been digging a grave for the mother, and had asked Sora to tell no one else of it. Sora had agreed, and wished he could help, but he knew if he did, the scientists would find out and want to study her.

"It's just as well." he said softly to Trouble.

"Hmm?" Laura asked.

"Nothing," Sora smiled, "Hey Shade, spar with me, I haven't had decent practice in a while."

"Very well." Shade smiled back, puling out her saber.

Sora kept smiling, telling Trouble to stay back. In truth he'd had no practice in some time. The partisan had been something he'd had a great deal of trouble with before, and had only recently gotten any good at. He knew Shade would "win," but didn't worry about it, he'd just enjoy the moment.


Short one compared to the norm, I'm out of net time, later! ;>

[Dragos_Cha]

Sora lay on his back in the forest, staring at the sky's dusk colors. He'd come to enjoy random jaunts to the forest these days, bringing Trouble along. It was her original home, or would have been at least, had it not been for that strange Force. What he was doing was still a mystery, and Laura, Shade, and Jerin hadn't found out anything about him, his "friends," or this mission he had supposedly been on. They may never know either.

Trouble picked that time to go running over him, literally, and he let out an umph. She chased after some bug, losing it in the brush, but still jumping in after it. She came out a minute later, pouting, and walked over to lay down beside him.

Sora chuckled, and his mag floated about, looking at the plants around them. It seemed to have a great deal of curiosity about Ragol in general, as all Mags did. It was still young too, like Trouble. He fed his mag when it "asked," which entailed it hovering in front of his face. When he was stuck in his apartment, he'd had a hard time feeding it. Since he was finally able to get back to doing missions though, he'd been able to keep up with it.

The missions had been pretty uneventful so far, mostly delivering things to crews or hunters on the surface, and the occasional hunt for a certain creature, which he more-often-than-not went to the others for help with. He had become better since he'd started, but was still unsure enough of his skills to warrant requesting help. The forest wasn't too much of a problem, if he avoided the occasional Barble. Those were the turtle-like creatures that had started popping up in the forest, another yet unsolved mystery.

The caves however were still a bit of trouble. there seemed to be creatures around every corner, a non-stop stream that could overwhelm a single person easily. He avoided them for now, but planned to go down there eventually.

Trouble suddenly perked up, her ear frills in the air. She started growling deep in her throat, and he could feel her tension as he glanced over to see what was there.

Nothing, asolutely nothing. There was still enough light to see, but he didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. There was a rustling through the trees, and he suddenly realized there was no wind!

"What the..." he said, starting to get up. But something grabbed him, easily pulling him off the ground into the air. It was then he could see the disturbance in the air, the outline of something...

Trouble roared, breathing her icy breath at the thing, and he could see a leg as it's surface was covered in ice. The thing took a step forward, and made to kick her, but she tripped out of the way. Sora snorted as she stumbled over herself and went rolling down the hill. She'd be okay, he hoped, but he had to find a way to get out of this.

"Let's see how it likes a little more ice." he said, putting his hand on it's arm. A second later a spray of ice similar to Trouble's breath enveloped it, showing where the arm was. The thing's attention appearently reverted to Sora, as he felt it squeeze him harder.

Trouble came running back up the hill, breathing her breath as she went. The things entire body was covered once she reached them, and she just kept going. The thing became obviously slugish, and Sora felt its grip losening. He strugled for a moment, and managed to slip free. Panting, he picked up his partisan, bringing it about without even activating the photon blade. It struck the thing in the torso, shattering part of it. It stumbled back, then took off into the woods again.

Sora used the partisan to get to his feet, and Trouble and his mag began making a fuss over him.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," he smiled, "Just winded. I think we shoud probably get back to Pioneer 2 now." and he activated a portal using a telepipe. He would have to tell the others about this, maybe they would have some idea of what it had been. If not, that would be one more thing to add to the list of mysterious events taking place in the recent past.

[Dbc]

This story is pretty good, keep up the good work

[Dragos_Cha]

"And then the thing took off," Sora said, "I think we did some damage, but I wouldn't have thought it was enough to scare it off."

Laura, Dark Sahde, and Jerin looked at each other knowingly, each not wanting to say what they all knew they had to.

"That wasn't some random thing Sora," Laura finally said, "I've no doubt that machine was sent after you specifically. There have been other similar happenings recently of hunters going missing."

"They are always taken at dusk, and are always alone for whatever reason," Dark said, "We currently have no idea why they are taken, but there must be some connection."

"But for now our orders are to sit on this and keep an eye out," Jerin said. When Laura and Dark started giving him funny looks, "What?"

"You shouldn't have said that." Laura frowned.

"Why not," he asked her, then saw the look on Sora's face, "Oh..."

"Your, orders," Sora asked, "Is there something going on here I should know about?"

The three looked at each other again, and Jerin sighed, "We're part of an organization that keeps tabs on some of the more...interesting things that have been happening since we landed on Ragol. So far it had been just a bunch of hunters looking for anything out of the ordinary, but since a couple of months after Falz was slain, things have started happening. The strange creatures popping up everywhere, the considerable increase in the number of creatures, and the recent disappearances. Everything points to something new happening on Ragol."

"And I thought living here while the Dark Falz incident was going on was bad," Sora shook his head, "Now it's just as bad as it was then."

"worse possibly." Laura said.

"Why?" Sora said, having a sinking feeling.

"As we said," Dark said, "the thing was after you. And it will be again when you go back down. If not that one, then another one."

"Grand." Sora sighed.

"It's easy to avoid though," Jerin said, "Just don't go down alone."

"I wasn't alone," Sora said, "Trouble was there too," and he looked at the little dragon, who was sound asleep next to him on the couch, "And she probably saved my butt too. She's actually pretty amazing."

"Hmm..." Jerin muttered.

"This certainly warrants some looking into." Dark Shade said.

"Wait," Sora said, "Are you suggesting we have her fight something? She's still young!"

"Appearently not that young if she saved you." Laura smiled.

Sora frowned, "I still don't like the idea."

"It's not like we won't be there with her. She'll be fine." Laura said.

Sora kept frowning. He didn't feel much better about it, but had the feeling they would do it anyway. He sighed, "Alright, we'll try it, but only after she's awake and fed."

"I'll go get my equipment." Jerin said, standing up and walking out.

"I need to go get a few things as well." Laura said, following him out. Dark Shade just stayed where she was. Since she used her bare hands to fight, she didn't need to get anything. Her mag floated up out of nowhere, as it tended to do, and hovered lazily about the room. Sora's mag joined it, and the two moved about the room in no discernable pattern.

Sora wondered what Troubles little trial would show about her, and hoped that she would be fine after it was over. They probably wouldn't have too much of a problem, so long as nothing out of the ordinary happened. He felt uneasy though, as he had before. There was something, evil, gathering in the darkness beneath the surface of the planet. Something that would be causing a lot of problems in the near future.

[Dragos_Cha]

Note: I'm gonna have to post the continuation of the current line tomorrow, as it is currently at home on our computer there, not here at the evil school. I'll go into other things for now that happen shortly afterward. Anyway...


Sora was nervous, as his companions were taking him and Trouble on a mission of "particular importance". They seemed to believe this, and he was willing to go with them, but into the caves? He remembered Jerin saying he'd had to use high yield weapons, and that alone was bad enough. He just hoped he'd be able to help out.

"We're meeting someone once we get down there," Laura said, "He should be able to help."

"Yeah," Jerin said, "So stop being so nervous." he smiled.

Sora tried to do so as they stepped into the teleporter. Trouble would be there, and that made him feel better, but it was still overwhelming...


A few minutes later they were in the caves, having just finished off a group of Sharks. They'd had little trouble, and were heading through a hall when they happened upon a pair of...strange hunters.

"Would you hold still Cosmo," one, a Ranger in a purple outfit said, "Projectors don't move!"

"But I can't see that part up there!" Cosmo, a red android, replied.

"I told you trying to map out the place would help, but if you move around I can't figure it out."

"Alright Sunblast, alright." and he looked at the wall again so the Ranger could get a good look."

"Umm...are you two the two that are supposed to help us?" Laura asked them.

"If you're Jerin and company yes we are." the ranger smiled. The android turned to greet them, and they got a holographic map of the caves in their faces.

"Could you turn that off please?" Laura asked.

"Aw, fine." the android said, and the hologram disappeared.

"Turn that back on!" Sunblast demanded.

"But she said..."

"I don't care, I don't want to get lost!"

Cosmo shrugged, turning the hologram back on. It took a few minutes for them to get him to turn back to the wall.

"So where do we head from here to get where we're going." Laura said, being intentionally ambiguous about their destination.

"We head down this hall, take the first right, and that should put us where we want to go." Sunblast replied.

"Good," she said, nodding, "Come on guys, we're nearly there already."

"That seemed kind of short." Sora commented to Jerin.

"It does, but they've been down here for a bit scouting it out, they should know." and he followed the others.

"I'm still worried." Sora sighed to Trouble, and they followed the rest.


Gotta cut off there for now, since my ride home should be here. Later all! P.S. Thanks to Sunblast and his bro for story ideas and...interesting characters, LOL.

[Dragos_Cha]

"No, we were supposed to go left there, right there, then straight until we hit the large room." Sunblast said.

"No," Cosmo retorted, "We were supposed to go left, right, then right again!"

Sora sighed. They had been running around in circles for the past few hours. He was pretty sure the map in Cosmo's head had changed a good five times as they went, but no one else seemed to notice. They had come to yet another impase, as the two hunters were yelling at each other about where to go again.

"Maybe it was right, left, straight." Sunblast said.

"No I'm positive it was left, right, right!" Cosmo said.

"Fine, fine, we'll try it your way." Sunblast sighed in exasperation.

"YAY!" Cosmo said, starting off in what he thought was the right direction, the holographic map lighting the way, even though they didn't need it.

Laura sighed along with Sora this time, and the group headed out after the android. After a while the hologram went away, either because he finally thought about it or because the batteries ran out, none of them could be sure.

"Here we are!" Cosmo said, standing before a large metal door unlike the rest they'd seen so far.

Sunblast stared at the door for a minute, then coughed, "Right, we're here. Let's get started." and he went to open the door.

"Wait a sec," Dark said, "The door is trapped!"

"Oh, come on, don't you think Cosmo would have noticed a trap bef..." he was blown away from the door as a trap popped out of the ground and blew up in his face. Laura went to make sure he was okay, and Cosmo smiled.

"I thought that was a trap!" he said smugly.

The others just looked at each other, shrugged, and went through the door once Sunblast was up again. Inside was dark, though Sora had an idea.

"Why not turn on the map again, that should light up the place."

"Good idea," Sunblast said, turning to Cosmo, "Turn it on."

"Sure!" and Cosmo obliged him, blinding the ranger as the map came on right on top of him."

"AGH! MY EYES!" he yelled, staggering about blindly.

The group as a whole sighed, including various mags and Trouble. Sunblast recovered a short time later, and they began investigating the place.

"So why is the kid here?" Sunblast asked of Laura.

"Sora? He's just as involved as the rest of us, simply because he's been targeted by the Sinows that have been running around."

Sunblast nodded, "I see. But you probably shouldn't have brought him down here then."

"I know the risks."

"I don't think you do. Haven't you been hearing the rumors of large numbers of Sinows in the caves recently?"

"What?" she said in surprise.

"LOOK OUT!" Jerin yelled, and there was an explosion shortly after. They turned to see the next room filled with smoke, and Jerin, Sora, and Trouble came running out of it.

"What's happening?" Laura asked.

"There was a new Sinow in there," Jerin said, turning back to the door and leveling a bazooka at it, "The thing activated suddenly. I blasted it with this in the torso and I think I did damage, but it looked pretty sturdy."

"Where are Dark and Cosmo?" Laura asked.

She was answered by the sight of the smoke swirling in the door, then flooding out into the room they were in.

"A photon blast!" Jerin yelled, throwing himself to the floor and dragging Sora down with him. Laura and Sunblast did the same, the four of them waiting in silence for a moment.

"What was that about?" Sora asked Jerin.

"One of them used a Photon Blast. They're strong, but unpredictable. They can sometimes do as much damage to the hunters as to the monsters. They're generated when a mag reacts to the battle stress of their hunter partner, and can often activate without warning."

Sora swallowed hard, not having known until now that mags held that kind of power. He didn't have time to worry about it though, as Dark and Cosmo burst into the room.

"It's not even dented," Dark said, "Whatever it's made of, we can't do anything to it."

"Right," Jerin nodded, putting away his bazooka. He pulled out a long gun, which seemed to have cold air falling from it, and leveled it at the door. When he saw the shadow of the Sinow, he fired, a tunnel forming in the smoke from gun barrel to target. It took the hit, and staggered back, but started forward again a moment later.

"I don't think that did very much..." Laura said.

"Maybe not," and Sunblast pulled out a gun, "But if we keep it up it will." and he fired at the Sinow. The impact from the fireball the gun fired knocked the Sinow back further than the ice gun had, but again it kept coming. They traded off fireing at the thing again and again, getting off several more rounds before the smoke cleared.

The thing was actually smaller than the other machines Sora had fought before, with a more brown-gray tint to its armor plating. It's chest seemed fine, even after all the shots it had taken, and he became deathly afraid of it.

"Give it a good kick Dark!" Jerin yelled, firing again. The thing's chest froze over from the blast, and it was about to start forward again when Dark did a spin kick to the frozen area. It shattered, pieces of plating and ice falling to the ground as it staggered back into the other room.

"How did you do that?" Sora asked, surprised.

"Most things become exceptionally brittle if exposed to heat and cold again and again very quickly. This thing's appearently no different." he smiled.

"Yeah, but it's still coming!" Laura said, aiming her rifle for the open area on the chest.

It was indeed still coming toward them, but what they saw inside wasn't at all what they expected. The wires and mechanisms had been replaced by a strange black organic material, and it was even now spilling onto the floor from the Sinow, which seemed to be slowing down as they watched.

"What is that?" Sunblast said in surprise.

"I'm not sure." Laura was as surprised as he was.

"It doens't matter what it is," Jerin yelled, "Blast the stuff!" and he proceded to fire at will at the thing. Sunblast joined in the blasting, and whatever it was, it seemed to burn and freeze easily enough. But it also seemed to be growing as they fought it.

"What in the world," Sora fell on his rear as he tried to step back. He got from that...whatever, the same feeling that he got from below the surface of Ragol. The deep, evil feeling. It had him scared stiff, but Trouble was as determined as ever. She made her little roar, then ran forward and used her breath to try and fight the stuff.

"Trouble!" Sora fought his fear and stood up, running forward to try and stop the little dragon. He grabbed ahold of her, and was about to pull her back when the thing surged forward and threatened to overtake them in a large wave. Sora cringed, closing his eyes and holding tight to Trouble.

I'll protect you. he heard from nowhere. Suddenly the room was blindingly bright, and he heard something cry out in agony, and then the light was gone. When he opened his eyes again, he found that the thing was gone, or so he thought. When he looked around, he saw what he guessed was the remnants of the whatever. There was a pile of smoldering...stuff on the floor where the base of the wave had been a moment ago.

"What happened?" he said in awe.

"I'm not sure," Jerin said, blinking and rubbing his eyes, "I was blinded for a sec there," he looked around, "But I think it was a good thing..."

"If the thign is gone, I consider it a good thing." Sunblast said.

"But it was interesting!" Cosmo seemed disapointed.

"Quite you!" Sunblast said.

"Well, I think we have the information we came for." Laura said.

"What did we come for," Sora was more than slightly exasperated, "You guys keep dragging me around everywhere, and never tell me anything about what we're doing!"

The rest of the group looked at each other, then Laura nodded, "Alright, we'll tell you all about it once we're back in your appartment on Pioneer 2. It's best if we get out of here as soon as possible."

"I've got a telepipe!" Cosmo said, holding something up.

"No you don't," Sunblast said that's a mine. Hey, wait, is that thing active?"

"Umm...Maybe..." the android said, and there was a high pitched squeal...


That about finishes it up for now. I should be able to post the missing story part a bit later once I'm home. Later all! ;>

[Dragos_Cha]

Ok, finally posting that missing piece here. It happened before the whole caves escapades:

A couple of hours later they arrived on the surface of Ragol. Sora was still nervous about this whole thing, but the others assured him it would all be fine. Trouble wasn't nervous on the least it seemed, as she was nosing around the place like she'd never seen it before. Sora wondered if she just wasn't in in the forest enough, like she knew it was her real home. She was at home with him too though he'd found, and that made him feel better about not simply setting her free in the forest.

"I wonder if she'll have a natural instinct for finding something to fight?" Laura asked.

"Perhaps," Dark said, "She's shown some knowledge of battle at the least, from what Sora said anyway. She should be able to hold her own in a fight against something of her average strength."

"Ri-ight." Sora said. Trouble started wandering off into the forest, and he was quick to follow her, but Jerin grabbed his shoulder and held him back.

"We're trying to find out if she can defend herself, should the need arise for any reason. You can't be following right behind her if we hope to discover that. Just keep her in sight."

Sora frowned, shaking his head. But Jerin was right, they couldn't be right behind her. They would have to follow at a distance, watching her to see how she reacted. He just hoped she wouldn't look around for him when she noticed he wasn't right there.

They traveled through the forest for another half an hour, following the little dragon as she wandered seemingly aimlessly. Laura began to get annoyed, and Jerin was starting to think that their mere presence near her was disuading the monsters from attacking. Dark Shade seemed just as interested as she had earlier, which actually wasn't much to begin with. Sora however, was still just as nervous as when this had started, possibly more-so since he felt something...wrong.

Suddenly Trouble became alert, looking around into the trees and brush. She felt it too now, he could tell from how she acted, subtle movements that he doubted the others would think meant anything. His nervousness was unfounded until the bushes parted and he couldn't see anything parting them!

"It's here!" he yelled, jumping out and spraying his ice spell over the invisible thing. The ice formed over it, then melted off a moment later. The thing grabbed Trouble by the throat right below her head, and they could all hear her gasping for air.

"LET HER GO!" Sora roared. A moment later the things arm shone brightly, then just vaporized. Trouble fell to the ground, and lay there gasping for air. Sora yelled again, his robes flaring out around him, and the area was lit up like the surface of the sun.

The others had to close their eyes to keep from being blinded, and the thing showed up very well before Sora. He raised his arm, blowing off the shoulder of its other arm, which then fell to the ground. It stagered back a few steps, then did a high jump backwards into the forest, easily losing itself from Sora's vision.

Sora stared after it a moment, then he fell to the ground, drained from what he had just done. He remained concious, but barely.

"Sora!" Laura ran to check on him, and Dark joined her, Jerin went to check Trouble.

"Trouble..." he managed to say.

"She'll be fine," Jerin said, more to everyone in general than as a response to Sora, whom he hadn't heard anyway, "She's just winded." He picked her up and brought her over near Sora and the others.

"Good..." Sora muttered, smiling.

"Now we get to wonder about you, however," Laura said, "I've never seen anything like that before!"

"And probably won't again," Dark Shade said, "At least not for a while. He's been brought to the very limit of his power by whatever it was he did."

"Intriguing." Jerin sat back, looking thoughtful.
Sora sighed, feeling sleep approaching. He was at his limits as Dark had said, and needed to rest. He wondered though, how their invisible stalker had become so resistant to ice in less than a day. Maybe there was more than one. He didn't like that thought at all. Plus, now the thing had attacked Trouble, and should have know they were there. Did it know, and simply not think they were a threat? He'd have to speak with the others on this, but only after he'd had a decent ammount of sleep...


There it is, though it may seem chunky in places or something since I had to edit it slightly after pasting it in here. *shrug*

[Dragos_Cha]

"Well?" Sora asked the rest of the group. They were resting in his appartment after Cosmo had accidentally set off his own mine in the caves, nearly frying them all. He had just asked what this organization was that they were appearently all involved in, and was waiting for a response.

"Don't ask memememememe." Cosmo said, and Sunblast smacked his head, which lay on the floor next to his left foot. It stopped repeating, but now made a high squealing noise. Sunblast smacked it a couple more times, but it wouldn't stop.

"We're part of an organization that monitors all odd goings on on Pioneer 2 and Ragol," Jerin said over the noise, "Though recently we've been getting flack from WORKS. They think they sohuld be the ones doing the investigating, but since they had that one major mess-up a while back, they've had serious problems with the government. We've pulled ahead by a bit, and they resent us for it."

"So just who," Sora stopped yelling when he realized that the noise had stopped. Sunblast held some part of Cosmo's head in his hand, triumphant for ending the evil noise, "Who do you work for?"

"Umm..." Laura said, "We can't actually tell you that yet. Once we're sure you won't tell anyone about this, we'll be able to."

"And when will that be?"

"We're planning on taking you down to our base of operations. Just as soon as Sunblast finishes with Cosmo..." she looked over at the pair.

"He'll work for now," Sunblast said, "We can worry about fixing him once we're there."

Rightrightrightright." Cosmo said, his upper body spinning about. Sunblast sighed, shrugging.

The others echoed his sentiment, then they started gettting up.

"You can't tell anyone where we're about to take you," Laura said, "Because this is an undercover organization that needs to work behind the scenes. If we were ever exposed, it could be disasterous to everyone on Pioneer 2."

Sora nodded, and picked up Trouble. He doubted that he'd really have to worry about telling anyone, he didn't really know anyone but them!

[Dragos_Cha]

"RISE FROM YOUR GRAVE!"

Yay for old Sega references, and dredging up old things. http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif I doth return, and hope to continue this story at some point. =^^= We'll see how that goes. >.> Don't really play PSO anymore though sadly. Good hunting to all. http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif

[Araxto]

And back again, again. :p Maybe this time I'll write. Though being as I started this years ago, (What, almost seven now? Eek!) it may or may not go in the same direction as originally intended. :P *wonders at the time of posting if his name will still be Dragos_Cha or not*

Edit: I also wonder what I was thinking with the title, but that was also seven years ago, and influenced by megaman X4. >.>

[Araxto]

"This way!" "That way!" "No!" "Yes!" "No!" "Yes!" Cosmo and Sunblast argued back and forth as the small group headed for the base on Pioneer Two. Sora wondered how they were supposed to be going somewhere secret with the pair going back and forth, walking behind them next to Trouble. Laura, Jerin, and Dark didn't seem to mind, or notice. They just walked on, heading the right way, presumably.

"When will we get there?" Sora sounded and felt bored, feeling they'd been at this for hours.

Laura fell back to walk next to him, speaking quietly under the almost shouting pair, "Intentionally or not, they're acting as cover while we talk. Someone's been tailing us, and we're trying to throw them off, or lose them. We're thinking that we'll have you and Shade go, while the rest of us divert them."

He nodded, and she moved back up to Dark Shade. They didn't seem to exchange words, but the android fell back to him, walking a bit slower. He and Trouble slowed down to match her as Sunblast and Cosmo started arguing loudly. Shade made an amused sound, and quickly moved Sora and Trouble off to the side, down an alley.

"Laura and Jerin have been egging the two of them on for the past half hour or so. It's why they've been arguing this long. The twins riled them up something fierce just then to distract whoever's following us."

"They still after us?" Sora asked, looking back over his shoulder.

Shade's mag came up out of nowhere, making a sound, and she nodded to it, "Looks like a no. They seem to be intent enough on Sunblast and Cosmo that we're in the clear. We're not too far, either. Come on."

Sora walked after the android, who had picked up her pace, and Trouble pawed along after, making little sounds and snuffling as she took in the alley. He grinned a bit as they went, his mag drifting a bit above his head.

They came to a run-down building a minute later, and Shade stepped inside, beckoning him to follow. Inside was worse than out, and he wondered how a place could get like this in Pioneer Two.

"Stand over there." she pointed behind a table, next to a collapsed doorway. He did, Trouble following, his mag hovering close to him. She nodded, then put her hand on a spot on the wall. Lines of light shot out across the wall, and the floor seemed to drop out from under him for a second, bouncing a bit right after. He nearly lost his balance, going to grab the table, only to find it wasn't there. Trouble's head came up under his hand, steadying him, and he smiled as she let out a happy sound.

"Sorry about that. Helps throw off anyone else that may have been following." she walked to the doorway that had been collapsed, which was now intact, and stepped through. He looked in, seeing a long hall, and moved after her. Trouble brought up the rear, stopping to poke her nose at a loose panel on the wall before trundling after them again.

"Where are we?" Sora was just as curious as the dragon.

"In the base, almost. This leads there, and lets us keep an eye on who's coming, giving us time to react to perceived threats." they rounded a corner, and Sora stopped, seeing a pair of rangers with dual mech-guns trained on them.

"Oh, Shade." the one relaxed, though the android hadn't seemed worried at all upon seeing the two.

"We thought you were someone else," the other hunter raised his weapons, "Expected the whole group in at once."

"Sorry, we were being trailed. They should be in soon. You see anyone else coming?"

The one ranger focused on a display on his goggles, shaking his head after a moment, "Nadda, it's clear for anything."

"Good. Let's go then, can't keep everyone waiting." the two nodded, and they all started off again. Sora was a bit impressed, and less worried than nervous. Trouble seemed a bit anxious as well, both from the bleed-off from him, and that she probably expected it was another visit to the scientists. He knew it wasn't, though he had to wonder as they passed through a large doorway into an even larger room.

(In keeping with how I started this, short-ish posts, partially so I don't go too long, partially so I don't just burn out on it quickly. X3)

[Araxto]

The room they entered was probably the size of the apartment complex he lived in. Or at least, several times the size of his own. He could pick out what seemed to be separate areas within the enormous room, each about the size of his home. He couldn't tell what any of the areas were for, but there seemed to be a fair amount of activity at most of them, with a few that were rather quiet, and one or two that were frantic.

They headed for one that was on the quieter side, and Sora noticed that, amidst looking around, he hadn't noticed when they lost the two guards that had been ahead of them. He looked at Trouble, who was too busy taking in everything with a nervous curiosity, then his mag, which seemed to be about as lost as he was. Trouble seemed to want to just meander around and look things over, but it being a place she didn't know, and this many people, she stuck close to Sora.

"Sir," Dark said as they came up to a man staring at one of the displays in the area, startling Sora a bit, "Sorry for the delay, but we were being tailed. The others should be along shortly."

The man looked up at her at "sir", his stern face blank, and nodded when she finished. He then looked at Sora, and Trouble, the dragon seeming antsy with his gaze on her. He got up, stepping over and kneeling in front of her. She didn't move, but growled menacingly as he looked at her. Sora thought she was about to do something rash when the man suddenly had his fore-finger to the end of her snout, his thumb up in the air.

"Bang!" he brought his thumb down as he said it, spooking the dragon, who jumped behind Sora, and laughed uproariously. Dark made what Sora thought was an amused noise, and felt himself a but confused. By the same token, Trouble no longer felt at all on edge about the man, for some reason, just curious.

The man let out a small chuckle as he moved back to his seat, smiling now, "That never gets old. So you're Sora and Trouble, huh? Apt name, considering." he glanced at one of the screens for a moment, then looked back at them, doing a small salute. "Ryan. Not hard to remember compared to some names. I trust you two didn't have trouble getting here, then?"

"No sir." Sora said, making Ryan laugh again.

"Drop the formalities. Some people may enjoy flaunting their rank around here, but it's not like we aren't all working towards roughly the same goal. Who cares who's climbed more ladders, eh?"

"Due respect," Dark said, leaving off the sir, "The ones who have climbed the most."

"Got that right." he snorted, "You find any more info on that group you ran into before?"

"None. Whoever they are, they keep a low profile, despite their apparent leader being as mush a show-off as he appeared. That, or they have the backing of someone who wants to keep their talents, and activities, quiet."

"That matches about what others have come up with." he nodded, "Probably privately contacted or contracted outside of the Hunter's Guild. Without a name, we haven't been able to find previous missions through the Guild, either."

"We'll keep looking." she stood at attention and saluted, and he waved a hand dismissively at the act. There was a small ruckus from the way they'd come, and all three looked that way.

"Sounds as though they've arrived," Ryan grinned, "Take those two, and see if you can find anything by word of mouth. Someone's got to have seen these guys at some point."

"Right." she nodded, heading back off into the room. Sora saw the others come out of the mess of people running here and there, and Dark Shade all but dragged Sunblast and Cosmo off. Laura and Jerin walked up to where Ryan and Sora were, both giving loose salutes, which he returned.

"Anything new?" Jerin asked. He frowned when Ryan shook his head, turning back to the screen for a moment and tapping a couple of things before turning back. "What about Trouble?"

"She's hilarious." he laughed, the dragon poking her head out from behind Sora again, and Jerin rolled his eyes a bit, "But yes, a short looking over. And please," he looked at Sora, "Keep her from freezing anything? A lot of this stuff can be pretty sensitive to being blasted by cold." he winked, chuckling as he turned back to the screen and waved them away, his face going blank again.

Laura motioned Sora to follow as Jerin stepped away, the three of them, as well as one frost dragon, moved across the room, heading into a hallway and passing several doors. Sora tried to look in a couple, but saw little more than people working at consoles. "What do you guys even do here?"

"Confidential." Laura said before Jerin could answer. He looked put out, but said nothing further.

Sora sighed, and Trouble snorted, cooling the air before her snout enough to be seen for a few moments. He grinned, thankful she wasn't belching ice all over the place. Something occurred to him, and he looked to Laura, "Before you guys got there, she was about to bite Ryan, or freeze him. Then he poked her nose, said 'bang', and she stopped. What was that about?"

The two hunters chuckled, Jerin being the one to answer, "Refers to old movies or something, we aren't totally sure. But from how she acts, he was letting her get his scent. Animals can be a lot more calm around someone once they get the chance to smell em."

"Oh." he looked at the dragon, who looked at him rather unconcerned about the conversation, then sniffed at an open door as they passed it. He grinned, thinking that it reminded him of a pet he'd had when he was younger.

"Alright, here we are." Laura stepped up to the door, Jerin continuing down the hall, "We've got somewhere else to be, but we'll be back before you're done." she gave him a small wave before walking after her brother, leaving him to stare at the door, and wonder just what they wanted to look Trouble over for.