FSE

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Flames could be seen as buildings of ancient structures stood and fell. People running and screaming for their lives as the onslaught continued. What the people of Fernad feared came to pass: The inevitable destruction of humanity. Many didn't want to believe that a single dragon was the key to their destruction. They believe they didn't exist or that they were just a myth, but they were real alright.

The figure of a dragon appeared over the rubble, but this was no normal dragon, this one has the figure of a human. He was 6' 2" and he was well built. His scales were black with red underbelly and stripes that run along his back, arms, legs and tail. His wings were 6 ft. each, with red scales underneath the wings. His muzzle was long and narrow, his ears were that shaped of an upside-down "V", but curves outwards. All he wore were black cargo pants that appeared torn from previous battles. People feared this dragon the most because he not only has the human-like features, he's acquired magical properties as well as being stronger and faster.

The dragon looks down, with it's red, glowing eyes, watching a small group of people instantly scream as they try to find a way out of a dead end. The dragon smirked evilly, coming closer and closer to the remaining people of Fernad. The group found that there was no way out, turning to face their fate, they watched as the dragon raised his right hand. His hand glowed bright red with energy. A few people closed their eyes, not wanting to see their demise and the remaining few prayed for some kind of miracle to stop the onslaught.

"Praying won't do you any good, humans!", said the dragon, "I'll send you pathetic vermins to oblivion!".

After saying that, he brought his hand down. Incinerating those in the front of him in an instant. After a few minutes of staring into the pile of dead bodies, he turned away with an unsatisfied look on his face.

"My life means nothing to these humans. If that is what they believe, then my destiny is clear: to cleanse this world of humans" says the dragon. Walking slowly away, he accomplished what he thought was his destiny. That is, until the pile started to shift.

"Hmmm? Looks like I missed one..." thought the dragon as he walked over to the pile and removed the corpses on the top. "One more human won't make a difference, as long as I have fulfilled my destiny, it won't...". Upon removing the last corpse, he saw one the most beautiful woman he laid his eyes on. This woman however, did not fear him nor did she close her eyes from her killer. "...matter." said the dumbstruck dragon.

She was 5' 3", her hair was as white as snow, her eyes were green that even shined in darkness. Her body was although dirty, still looked magnificent in shape and color, tanned and smooth. His mind was in awe as how beautiful this human is, but let alone how she survived the blast.

Shaking his thoughts "What am I thinking?! This is a human! No better from the others that have fallen! She must...!". Raising his glowing right hand again, ready to strike her, "Perish!".

Before he struck her, his heart stopped him from killing her, locking his body up. The dragon was frustrated as why his body stopped. Then, the unthinkable happened, She embraced him with a hug. The dragon himself couldn't believe what was happening. His heart was racing and skipping beats. He felt butterflies in his stomach and his cheeks blushed heavily. His right hand still in the same position, but after a few moments in the embrace, he felt like he was defeated and he lowered his hands down to embrace the woman.

"Why couldn't I kill her? Is there more to this woman than my destiny has lead on?". He couldn't bring himself to kill her, so he asked her, "Why is it that I'm feeling like this?".

The woman looked up to the dragon and responded with a very sweet voice, "It's affection...". The dragon thought she's crazy to fall in love with him, especially when he's the one killing her kind.

"Why is it that you feel affectionate to me? I'm a dragon! A monster! I killed your kind and you're the last remaining human in Fernad! You must be crazy to feel that way towards me!" said the dragon in disbelief.

Breaking the embrace, she looked away from the dragon, "I don't know why I feel this way, but I followed my heart to believe what was right".

The dragon soon approached her, "Is that why you embraced me? To follow what your heart says? Or is it because I was about to show mercy to you so you can kill me when I lower my guard?".

The woman shrugs, "No! I just...couldn't help but notice that you had sadness in your eyes. When I held you, you had a good heart beating in you, I just hoped you listened to it". Then, the dragon embraced her, this time, tears fell from the dragon's cheek. He never felt this way before, being with someone was maybe something the dragon wanted all along. The dragon too, followed what his heart has told him as he picked her up with both arms.

"What is your name, woman?" asked the dragon.

The woman looks up at him and says, "Alura".

The dragon looked at her, then to the sky, "Alura, huh? What a beautiful name...my name is Nieka".

Alura looked at Nieka with a puzzled look, "What an interesting name...". They both looked into each other's eyes and smiled.

"Should this be my destiny? To be with this human? To be happy?" thoughts ran through Nieka's mind, but for the first time in his life...he was happy.

Walking past the rubbles from where he entered, his scales changed to their original colors. From black to red and red to white and his eyes changed from red to a golden color.

"Oh! You changed!" said the young surprised Alura. She smiles at the transformed dragon, "You look much better like this...".

Nieka couldn't help but smile as he spreads out his wings, "You really think so? You still don't think I'm different from the rest of you and you treat me like I'm you".

Alura blushes as his dragon wings parted, "Can you let me down? I want to show you something...".

Nieka complied and lets her down gently. Alura turns her back towards Nieka and says, "What I'm about to show you is something only I have".

Nieka didn't understand what she was talking about, but after a few moments, white marks appears on her back. The dragon looked stunned, but still continued to watch as white marks continue to appear on her body. Then, white feathers appear along her shoulder blade and a few moments later, they sprouted into angelic wings. At 5" each, Alura turns towards the stunned looking dragon with her now changed glowing blue eyes.

"So, that's how she survived my blast...she isnt just any human...", thought Nieka, "You look amazingly beautiful, but why do you have to hide it from your people? Don't they know...?". He was cut-off when noticed Alura's sad expression.

Tears started to form around her cheeks and managed to say, "Yes, some do, but they treat me far different from everyone else. I didn't want that! I wanted to be normal like everyone else! That's why I felt alone and rejected by everyone, even my own kind kept a good distance away from me". She was now hysterical, crying that the fact that she was different from her people. "Why is it that I'm different from everyone!?", Alura's wings bent downward as she fell to her knees. Nieka approaches her, gets on one knee and picks up her chin so that both their eyes met.

"You are different, but that what makes you special", Nieka says with a soothing voice.

Alura was taken by surprise as the dragon made her feel more accepted towards him, making her spread her wings out. Then, he picks her up, "Alura, someone as special as you shouldn't be sad. My life was a living hell as long as I can remember and everybody treated me like I'm a monster and hated me for what I look like. You on the other hand, can change your appearance to make yourself like everyone else. I only wish I can do that as well...".

Alura looks at him and smiles, "But you can...you just need help finding out how".

While carrying Alura, Nieka takes flight towards the sky as both continued to converse. An end to civilization is a beginning to a new one; for good or for bad.

**************************************************

Over 3,500 years have passed since the fall of Fernard had happened and civilization grew. The humans made larger cities, better technology and lived very well, but one thing for certain they did not count...

"Hey! Wake up! You're going to be late!" yelled out a young female wolf.

The animals themselves evolved faster than what the humans had expected, but to the point in which they too, have human like figures, but still have basic characteristics of the animals they represent. Such as their mouths, ears, eyes, tails (if they have), as well as other parts they retained. Their senses still, however, remained the same. They were referred to as Anthros, in some cases, but they were referred as Nimalians. However, the humans themselves see these creatures as threats. The reason for such thing is because these creatures are also physically stronger than them. Not all animals however, evolved as fast, some were still in their feral forms.

However, during diplomatic conflicts whether nimalians should live together in the city or not, soon and gradually faded as time went on. Soon, both humans and nimalians lived together in the city. However, the humans thought they were better than the nimalians since the humans mainly governed the city of Fernard. Most of the nimalian populations were in the slums, since most cannot get jobs for themselves to pay for a new home. Those that manage to get by into the middle class were lucky. The humans mainly populated the richer part of the areas of Fernard and only very few nimalians are allowed to be there if thier jobs are exceedingly important.

"It's only 6:45 am....lemme go back to sleep..." mumbled the groggy teen as he looked at the clock.

"Jonathon! It's 7:45 am!" yelled out the young female wolf from the doorway.

Jonathon shot his eyes open and realized he really WAS late. Obviously, he forgot to set his clock ahead by one hour like everyone else had told him to. He didn't really understand why it was really important to set it forward, so he left it as it was and thought he would set it up when he wakes up.

"Oh damn! why didn't you wake me up before!?" Jonathon yelling back as he stumbles off the bed, making a loud thud sound as he hit the floor. Laughter could be heard downstairs as doors open and close.

"I thought you remembered it was daylight savings time, so I thought you remembered to set the clock ahead by one hour like we told you" said a young female wolf.

Her name is Abigale Shieka. She was 5' 4", with all around black fur. She was quite slim for her age, but then again, no one knows exactly the life spans of each Nimalians. She wore blue jeans, a green shirt and an apron on top, showing that she's been cooking breakfast.

Jonathon stood up from the fall he just had and looked around for his clothes. Boxers and a white under shirt is what he usually wears when he goes to sleep.

His full name is Jonathon Jrogenshin. He stood about 5' 8" and wasn't really built like a lot of people were, but a few muscles show that he still works out. He has a mixture of both brown and black hair, his eyes were golden sand color. One thing that made him different from everyone else was that he has black marks on his back. Abigale told him that she found him like that ever since he was found on her doorstep. She too, wanted to know what they were, but every doctor in the city have no idea what they were. They told her it must be a birthmark, so she left it like that. The marks however, were too big to be a normal birthmark, so Jonathon never told anyone else about it.

He searched franticly for his clothes, putting on tan baggy pants and a black shirt on. The shirt was big, but it's all he could find on a short notice. He looked around for his back pack, but couldn't seem to find it underneath all the junk he had in his closet.

"Dammit! Where is it!?" shifting through the pile, he heard a throat being cleared and looked. Abigale was pointing above him and Jonathon looked up. Sure enough, it was in front of him, hanging.

"I knew that was there! I was seeing if you knew where it was!" said Jonathon, blushing in embarrassment.

"Sure you did. Now hurry up! You're going to be late for school!" said Abigale with a stern look of impatience.

Jonathon was shifting through his nightstand, frustrated that he couldn't seem to find was he was looking for. Clearly something special to him as he tries to look for it.

Groaning and clearly not up for a game, Abigale asked, "What is it you're looking for now?".

"My necklace!" responded Jonathon, clearly trying to flip his room upside down just to look for it.

The necklace Jonathon was looking for was his birthstone, since he was found at Abigale's doorstep; it was with him during the time. The shape of this necklace was the same shape like his birthmark, but has a red orb encased in the center. The orb itself is a mysterious object, it's color glows and the center of the orb has an orange pattern that is similar to his back.

"Found it!" exclaimed the happy teen. He rushed downstairs before the mother knew he was out of the room, leaving her to stare at the now empty, but messy room.

"That kid will never change...", chuckled a male wolf.

His name is Bruce Nietram. He's 6' 0", all around grey fur, except his front is white, down to his waist. His eyes were green like an emerald crystal, a scar on his left eye that runs vertical. He's very built, due to the fact that he used to serve in a military before, but was discharged because the injury he retained left him impaired in one eye. He's wearing blue shorts, but not wearing a shirt, revealing his built torso.

Bruce places his hand on Abigale's shoulder, "It amazes how much he's grown" chuckling, reminding him of his own youth.

"Yes, but even though he is different than us, I still consider him my son" said Abigale with a worried look in her eyes.

Bruce just held her closer, "Don't worry, I consider him my son as well and nothing would change that".

The both of them went downstairs and watched as Jonathon went rushing for the door leading outside with a piece of toast in his mouth. "Bye mom! Bye dad!" was all he said before opening the door.

"Hey bro! Where you goin' in such a hurry?" called out a voice from behind him.

Looking back, Jonathon saw his older brother, Darius Ruienku. He was an athletic type of guy, quiet built. He's 6' 3" and he's got a large upper torso since he's the high school's football quarterback. His fur was black, but has grey eye patches. He wears a grey high school gym uniform, but the arm sleeves are ripped off, giving more room for the arm to stretch.

"I'm late! Can't stay and chat bro! Gotta run!" turning to face the door, he heard keys jiggling.

"You know, I can give you a ride instead bro..." smiled Darius as he picked up his gym bag.

Jonathon looks at him with a slight embarassment, "Oh...yea...there's that too" laughing weakly as he sat down, taking out his necklace from underneath his shirt.

"Why do you still have that? Don't you know it makes you look like a girl if you have that around your neck? Get rid of it already!" said Darius with an upset tone.

Jonathon shot an angry glare at Darius and said in a low tone, "I will never get rid of this! It's my birthstone and I intend to keep it".

Darius senses that he was upset with the comment he gave and says, "Sorry bro, it's just I didn't think it was really that important to you, I didn't mean to get you upset..." placing his hand on Jonathon's head and giving it a good ruffle.

"It's his birthstone hun, it means the whole world to him. You should be respectful of that" said the mother. She was washing the dishes as both, Darius and Jonathon got ready.

"Can't stay and talk mom! School! Now!" said Jonathon, pushing his older brother towards the door.

"Bye mom! Looks like I'll drop off Jonathon at school then!" laughing weakly as his sneakers scraping across the hard wood floor.

"Good-bye! Take care you two!" called out Abigale as she finished drying off the dishes.

Darius' car isn't like everyone else's. The vehicles that are avaiable now can fly through the air to their destination much faster and has very good milage. However, Darius has a car that's a hand-me-down. A still usable car that can only runs on gas and on the ground. Red and faded paint can tell the age that it's old. The milage on the car exceeded 999,999 miles on the odometer, so the numbers went back to 3,000 miles. Both Darius and Jonathon gets inside the car and headed out of the driveway. About 10 minutes into the drive, they passed large building and structures that mostly cover the sky, passing familiar places that both of them would usually hang out. Darius parks in the student parking lot arriving to the high school. This school as everything that a traditional school would have. Math, Science, History, Sports, Language, and Technology classes. Of course there are those special activity classes that people would take on their spare periods and time. Getting out of the car, they reached the front entrance, but was soon blocked by his football team mates. Of course, every school has bullies as well.

"Hey Darius! Why'd ya bring ya scrawny brother here? You know he's not good enough to be here!" said one of the human line backers. He's pretty huge, but not as large as Darius though. Muscles ripples through his uniform as he flexes, trying to intimidate Darius, but everyone knows that the linebacker likes to crack jokes.

"I'm just here to drop him off to class. Why not lay off him? He's new around here" said Darius, being as protective of his human brother; he worries that he would get into trouble if he wasn't around.

"Aw, ya know I'm playin' around! Don't worry so much!" laughing heartily, the line backer pats Darius on the shoulder.

Darius turns to look at his brother, "Hey bro, need me to show ya where your classes are at?".

"It's okay, I'll find my way to class now" said Jonathon. Not wanting to give his nimalian brother too much trouble, he heads towards the direction of the front doors.

"Okay bro, I'll see ya after school then!" Darius gives a quick wave and heads off with his team mates. Waving back, Jonathon opens the doors and went inside the already complex building. Jonathon looked at his schedule and finds his least favorite classes: History, Science and Health class. Health class is a requirement that's has to be taken throughout all high schools, so it's not like he had a choice of the matter. History bores him to no end and science class has complicated formulas that just wouldn't make sense to him in anyway they put it.

"Dammit...". Already not liking what he saw, the first class was history class.

After about 15 minutes of searching through the school, he found his class. When he approached the door, he swallows hard in hopes that there wouldn't be as many people. He opens the door and walks in, the whole 50 students looked at the direction at where the sound of the door opened. Over half the students were humans and the rest were nimalians. Jonathon blushed heavily as the students looked at the new kid walking up to the teacher's desk, handing the teacher his schedule.

The teacher looks at the schedule, and back at Jonathon, "You're late, but since it's common for new students to get lost, I'll let it slide for now. Go and find yourself a seat and wait for instructions. I expect that you would be here on time the next time you're come into my class, Mr..." Looking at the schedule to find out the name of the student, "Jrogenshin". Family and close friends use the first names and everyone else in school, work or other places use the second name.

"Yes, sir...Mr...." says Jonathon, trailing off since he doesn't know the teacher's name.

"It's Mr.Tobias. I hope you would know that name well, Mr.Jrogenshin as I will be your instructor for the year", says the nimalian tiger.

Tobias is a nimalian tiger, the history teacher. He's 5' 7" and large around the gut, indicating he doesn't work out as often as he should, but his arms show that they do. He wore a white dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up and black dress pants. Reading glasses could be seen as he reads the assignment that's going to be taught for the day today.

The classroom was a sight to behold though. It was really large to accommodate more than 100 people, a large board at the front (which seems too small for the people in the back to see very well), and the lighting seems inevitable and comfortable. There were posters of famous people of the past that invented, founded and discovered many things. There were stairs on both sides of the classroom, which made getting to seats much easier. Lights lit the sides of the stairs so it made walking up the stairs in the dark easier.

Jonathon went along the right side of the stairs and reached towards the back of the room. Seeing an open seat, he sat down, putting his backpack underneath the open area of the table. The desk looks plain and straight, which is suitable for reading and writing in a large space. There doesn't seem to be a textbook, but a pair of gloves is encased on the left side of the desk. His curiosity got the best of him and he opened the case and puts on the gloves. The gloves were black colored with gold circuit imprints that run along the gloves. He closed his hands, forming a fist, getting a feel for the gloves. Then, he opened his left hand face down and he moved his hand from left to right. A hologram textbook appears on the desk with a hum sound.

"Whoa!" was all he could get out before he stumbled out of seat in surprise. The class turns and laughs at the surprised new kid with a hologram textbook on the desk.

Tobias looked up and saw that Jonathon had discovered the gloves, "Okay class! That's enough! Jrogenshin! Close that textbook by first, closing your right hand to activate textbook mode then open your hand and move it from right to left to close it". Jonathon did as instructed and soon enough, he closed the hologram textbook. He smiled as he can now open a book with his hands.

The teacher cleared his throat, "Well students, it appears that Mr. Jrogenshin here, found the gloves to activate the textbooks. The gloves are top-of-the-line. They not only open textbooks that are always up-to-date, but also have many features we'll go over them later". He went over to his desk and opened a drawer to take out his gloves. The teacher's gloves looked similar to the students, but it has writings on it, indicating that it is for history teachers only. "I would also have to point out that these gloves are not toys for you students to play around with, but tools for you to learn. Also, these gloves can be taken with you when you are issued one. My gloves however, are mine and I can control your gloves if you are not using them properly in my class as well as control the layout of the room"

He turned and faced towards the small board in the front of the class. He pressed something on his glove and entered chalk board mode. With his right paw, he pointed out to the top left of the board two fingers and went from top left to the other side. Then, his left paw came up in an open palm, bringing it downward. A hum sound could be heard as a large hologram board appears, making the students whisper in awe. Tobias turns towards his desk to pick up his workbook and faces back towards to hologram board. Holding the teacher's workbook on the left, he waved his right hand, writing on the hologram board, "Chapter 1: The Founding Land of Fernad".Jonathon smiles as words were formed on the board.

The teacher turns and faces back at the students, "Okay students, on your left hand side, there should be a case inside the desk with the gloves on the inside. These will not be taken with you when you leave, but one will be issued to you one in a week. Now, to open the textbook, close your left hand to activate textbook mode. Then, open them in a palm and swipe from left to right". The students were eager to try on the gloves and did as instructed. A orchestras of hums echoes the classroom as hologram textbooks appear in front of the students. Smiles are seen as students flexed the gloves to get a feel for them.

Jonathon smiles as he opens his hologram textbook and thinks to himself, "This may not be as boring as I thought it would be...".

***********************************************

History class was already over and to Jonathon, it felt like it was too short. Mr. Tobias didn't seem that bad of a teacher either. Jonathon heads down the stairs as he grabbed his backpack and pass the teacher's desk. Students saying their good-byes to the teacher and the teacher waves back with a smile. Jonathon looks at his schedule to see what's his next class would be.

"P.E., hmmm....this oughta be fun...", said Jonathon, just above whisper.

As he navigates through the labyrinth of a school, he finally reached his destination and he was 10 minutes late. He approaches the door and already there was a commotion. Giving a good tug on the door and gets in. Then, he gets beamed in the face with a dodge ball with a loud "plink" and before he realized it he was on the floor with a dodge ball mark on his head.

"You're late! Students who don't arrive to my class on time will get a dodge ball to their faces!"

"Guuuhhh...", was the only thing Jonathon say as the P.E. teacher approached him.

The teacher picked up the half-unconscious kid by the back collar, "Get up! I didn't throw it that hard! Hmmmm..?". Getting a closer look, the teacher really DID hit him hard, "Errrr...whoops..., I knocked him out! Sorry about that kid!".

The P.E. teacher was a nimalian female panther. She stood at 6' 0", her fur was as black as coal and she had a body of a body builder. Even though her body is well maintained, her chest and round bottom stands out pretty well. She wore a white polyester shirt with a whistle around her neck and dark navy blue gym shorts that press against her waist, making her bottom stand out more.

Regaining consciousness, Jonathon felt the burning mark of the dodge ball and tries to speak, but he slurs out, "Yes, ma'am, I won't be la-". Before he even finished his sentence a dodge ball his him in the face, again.

"My name is Ms.Yunimera or Ms.Yuni for short", obviously the black panther didn't like the word "ma'am" as it would make her sound old. Jonathon had, yet again, passed out with another mark of a dodge ball etched into his head as he laid on the floor of the gymnasium.

The gym door opens with an echo as another student arrives late. Ms.Yuni's ears perks as she sees her opportunity to teach another student not to be late to her class. She sees the dodge ball next to her feet and she kicks it up to her hands, then she threw the ball with such force you can almost hear the ball screaming. The student ducked as the ball slammed straight into the door with such force that it left a dent in it.

"Whoa..." were all the comments everyone gave, including the teacher. Ms.Yuni was the most shocked however, never had a student actually been able to dodge a surprise ball, but apparently this one student did.

Ms.Yuni couldn't help but mutter under her breath, "That's amazing...how'd he dodge that?".

"Oh...crap....", was the student's response as he fell backwards,shaking, clearly scared out of his mind. "I just dropped my pencil...and...I just went to pick it up", laughly weakly as his heart was racing to keep up with his scared mind. Everyone's jaws dropped to the ground. Ms.Yuni however, was mostly laughing and embarrassed that he dodged the ball by picking up a pencil he dropped.

"This is gonna be one loooong period. I hope nothing else goes wrong...", thought Jonathon, getting up after two hits in the face with a dodge ball.

"You! Where's your schedule?", asked Ms.Yuni, in a strict, powerful voice. Jonathon stumbles to his feet and digs into his pocket for the schedule and presents it to her. Ms.Yuni looks at the schedule carefully and then a grin is shown creeping along her muzzle, "Jrogenshin­, huh? Well, welcome to Physical Education! I will be your instructor for the year. As you can see, that dodge ball mark is a physical pain you get when you learn not to be late to my class!". She couldn't help but chuckle at her own words.

Even though she's tough with the students, she wouldn't really cause them harm to them, just toughen them up. She means well, but sometimes her methods are harsh. Some students even complained about her methods being a tad harsh to those new to the class, but none of the students were late to her class afterwards.

Ms.Yuni looks down at the dodgeball marked Jonathon and smiles, "Don't worry hun, I won't always be this rough with my students. I can be just as...", approaching the young teen and placing her right paw on his cheek. Jonathon was now blushing brightly red. "...sweet", finishing her sentence with a seductive voice as she turn around with her bottom moving in unison as her tail swishes from side to side.

Jonathon snaps his mind out, "Well, I guess it won't be all that bad. She's rough though, but damn! She's got a mean arm!".

Ms.Yuni walks to the front of the gymnasium and picked up her clipboard with the other student's schedule. After a few moments of looking over each student's schedule, she blows her whistle to get the student's attention and waits for the each student to gather up.

"Okay students! Today we're gonna exercise your body and today we're going to play...", kicking up a dodge ball and catching it in her paws, then she tossed the ball to a student and grins, "...dodge ball".

Jonathon groans, but joins the team on one side as the half the classmates gets on one side and the other half on the other.

"Hey! Jrogenshin! Don't get out first now!", a few students making a few comments while laughing as the game was about to start.

Jonathon just smiles, "Don't worry about me, worry about yourselves".

Ms.Yuni gets to the center with her whistle ready, "Alright students! Get ready...", getting out of the middle and stepping just outside the border. The students get in their running position, stretching and getting ready, but Jonathon just stands with his arms crossed. Ms.Yuni blows her whistle to indicate that the game begins and everyone runs towards the center, all but Jonathon.

The first few students picked up their dodgeballs and threw them to the person closest to them. A some were hit, some were caught and some were dodged. Jonathon just stayed in the back as calm as as he ever been, just watching as a few of his team members get pegged out.

Ms.Yuni notices that Jonathon was just standing there doing nothing in the back and yells out to him, "Hey! Jrogenshin! Get yourself in the game or you're gonna get out!".

Jonathon just looks forward and sees a dodge ball rolling towards him. He gets down to pick it up, but then he notices a dodge ball heading towards him at the corner of his eye. A few students on his team looks back as the ball heads towards him, but Jonathon just smiles.

"Heh, gotcha...", said the student on the other side of the team as the ball headed straight for Jonathon. Then, Jonathon just bends backwards, evading the dodge ball by mere inches. After he evaded the ball, he does a back flip. Spending a lot of time with a family of wolves, he's learned quite a few moves that enabled him to be more agile than normal. He's been training with his father and brother so that he can learn to defend himself. Grabbing a dodge ball while in mid-back flip, he threw the ball back to the person and hitting its mark, nailing him in the chest. It was an impressive maneuver that puts a smile on the teacher.

After about 40 minutes into the game, Ms.Yuni blows her whistle to end the game, "Alright students! Come over to me! I have some announcements to make before class ends".

She waits as the rest of the students gather up in front of her and picks up her clipboard. "Alright, now that I have your attention, I would like to say that you students played very well today. Some of you are in good shape and some of you need some work. We will be participating in some events to get you guys into better shape. In order to participate in these events, you will have to buy the P.E. uniforms in about a week from now. Same goes for locks. There is also going to be a physical exam in a few days"

Jonathon's eyes grew wide and cold sweat ran down his face as the word "physical exam" was mentioned. Something that Jonathon really doesn't like are physical exams since doctors tend to see what they were all the time. Going through another test is really like waiting for paint to dry, except it's doctors and test results which come back negative for anything abnormal.

"Oh no! Not another physical! If they see the marks on my back, they'll run test on me again! Maybe I can skip the day of the exam...", thought Jonathon.

Ms.Yuni continues her lecture, "And if any of you guys missed or skip the day of the exam, you'll have to re-take the exam".

Jonathon curses to himself for having an abnormal body, "Damn! I guess I have no choice but to have the physical".

The teacher looks at the class and notices that Jonathon was lost in thought. Ms.Yuni says her final words as the bell rings for the next class and she passes out the student's schedule back.

As Jonathon comes up to pick up his schedule, Ms. Yuni whispers to him in a sweet voice, "You know, if something is bothering you about the physical, please don't hesitate to tell me, okay? I don't want to make you fell uncomfortable, but the exam has to be done". Jonathon merely blushes and nods as he takes his schedule.

"Now hurry to your next class or I'll pummel you with dodge balls again!". Jonathon has already an idea how her dodge ball throws feel like, so he rather not risk being late to his next class then.

************************************************************

Jonathon looks at his schedule to see which class was next. As much to his surprise, his next class was health class.

"Jeez! Are all my least favorite classes, together or something?". Then, he thought of his history class. He didn't think it was boring at all and he learned a lot from that class. "Hmmm... I guess it's worth a try...", but he soon remembered what Ms.Yuni had said about the physical exam that's going to take place in a few more days.

"What am I going to do? I can't skip it, but I can't tell Ms.Yuni either...arrrrgghh! What am I supposed to do!?". Not looking where he was going, he bumped into someone.

"Hey! Watch where you're going!".

Jonathon snaps out of his trace and realized he bumped into someone.

"Oops! Sorry! I didn't mean it! I wasn't watchi-", then he looked at the person and it was Darius. "Oh Darius! I didn't see you there, sorry", apologizing for the bumping.

Darius simply chuckles and says, "Hey! Hey! It's okay lil' bro! I wasn't lookin' either, but you need help finding your class?".

Darius has been to the school longer than Jonathon has and knows the school layout like the back of his hand. He also knows a few shortcuts to get to classes faster than normal routes. He takes a look at Jonathon's schedule and points him to the right direction, giving him a shortcut to the class just to get there on time.

Jonathon smiles and hurries off to his class, "Thanks bro! See ya after school!". Darius smiles and waves back. Even though they were not blood related, Darius still wishes to help out his human brother in any way he could.

Jonathon arrives to his class without being late this time. He sighs as he opens the door and enters the classroom. The room looks similar to Mr.Tobias's classroom, but posters are about health. He finds an empty seat and sets his backpack down. He looks to the left side of his desk and finds the same pair of gloves, but they're white and the outlines are red.

"This must be for only for health class uses only...", muttering to himself, he flexed the gloves.

He entered textbook mode and opened the health class hologram textbook and sifted through the pages. Most of the students are talking and laughing, so they didn't notice the teacher entering the class room.

"Alright students! Please be seated and pass your schedules to the front and I'll collect them".

The health teacher was a human female. Brunette, 5' 4", green eyes. She wears white dress shirt, white lab coat, and black khakis with black dress shoes. Her hair was long, so she tied it back. She also has black framed glasses hanging around her neck. The students pass up their schedules as the teacher puts on her gloves. She goes into chalkboard mode and writes "Ms.Judy" on the hologram board.

Jonathon looks at the board then back to the textbook, "Ms.Judy huh? Sounds familiar, but can't help it. So far this book seems like an interesting read...", he smiles as he continues to read on. Jonathon scrolls through the hologram book, then he thought about the physical exam.

"Maybe there's something in this book that can help me know more about birthmarks...", as he thought to himself. Suddenly, the hologram textbook enlaged towards the front of the class for the whole class to see. Apparently, Ms.Judy took control of his textbook with her gloves and enlarged it. Jonathon wasn't paying attention to the page and it was on the page of the reproductive organs. He blushes heavily as he was caught looking at those pages.

Ms.Judy then says, "You know Jrogenshin, If you have nothing better to do, but look at reproductive organs all day, then may I ask you to get work on your classwork instead?". The whole class bursted into laughter and Jonathon feels a heat wave of embarrassment.

"This is gonna be one long period...", says Jonathon as he slumps into the seat.

Time passes by as the bell rings and Jonathon already not liking his next class. When he goes to pick up his schedule, Ms.Judy held onto his paper and says, "Sorry Jrogenshin for embarrassing you like that, but I don't want my students to fall behind in class".

Jonathon glares at her, then says, "Maybe you should've thought of something else instead of embarrassing people all day. Besides, I had other things on my mind...". He takes his schedule and heads out the door.

Ms.Judy worries as he left the class and thought, "Maybe I shouldn't have done that, but he needs to be disciplined. However, It is his first day here and I guess it was a little harsh. But still...".

Jonathon looks at his schedule to see what class is next. Still grumbling after the incident in the health class, he wasn't watching where he was going and bumped into someone, knocking down his books.

"What the...!", obviously the nimalian athlete wasn't too happy a freshman knocked down his books.

The athlete was a horse. 6' 2", he easily towers over Jonathon. His fur was brown and his mane was as black as coal. He wears the school's football uniform with the number "26" on both the front and back of the jersey. The uniform color was white and dark red secondary color. His muscles were exceedingly visible through his uniform as his daily training helped out.

Jonathon stops and turns to look at the athlete, then at the books on the ground.

"Oh...sorry. I'll pick tho-". Jonathon then gets pinned to the wall as he was raised about 2", being pressed against his chest, gasping for air.

The athlete pressed harder and harder, "I'm not gonna let some freshman human make a damn fool out of ME!".

Jonathon realizes he was no match for this guy. Some of the athlete's friends even tried to stop him, but he was too strong. Jonathon was losing conciousness as the nimalian crushes his lungs. Jonathon couldn't take it anymore and tries to free himself from the grasp, but the more he moves the harder the nimalian pressed.

"I'm gonna make you wish you never bumped into me again!", anger and hatred could be heard in his tone. Security can't get through as the crowd itself was blocking the only path leading to them.

"S-s-stop!", the fear in Jonathon's voice could be noticed.

The nimalian horse just smiles wickedly and says, "That's right...beg for help...because no one can help you!". He puts his fist back, ready to give Jonathon a beating of a lifetime. Jonathon closed his eyes, not wanting to see it happening.

"I don't think so, Mike...", a familiar voice is heard over the crowd. Mike froze. He too, knew that voice as well.

"D-Darius?", Mike stutters, "What do you want? Can't you see I'm busy teaching some stupid human freshman not to screw with me?".

Darius looks at the person he's pinning to the wall and says in a serious tone that could send chills down anyone's spine, "Let him go....now...".

Mike looks at Jonathon and smiles and says, "Why should I? He's a nobody!". He cocks his arm back, but Darius caught his arm.

"Because he's my brother you moron!", said Darius in a more angered tone. Mike immediately froze in his tracks, looking back at Darius, but still holding Jonathon in his grasp.

It's not common for humans and nimalians to be relatives. Most humans didn't like the idea of raising a nimalian as their predatory insticts could pose a problem to them, making their lives more difficult. Nimalians on the other hand, prefer to have any kind of families to look out for. Whether it would be nimalians or humans, the nimalians can raise a family pretty easily, even if they lived poorly. However, the humans were rejecting the idea of humans being raised by nimalians, since they believe they could turn them into a vicious killers. Though that belief was blowing things way out of proportion and making it more difficult for nimalians to have a family.

"W-w-what!? He's your brother!? But he doesn't even look like you at all! How can he be you're brother!?". Mike was taken back by this as well as the crowd themselves. Darius still has his gaze locked on the giant horse.

"He's my adoptive brother, his name is Jonathon Jrogenshin. Now put him down" , said Darius. Reluctantly, the horse puts down Jonathon. Darius approaches his scared human brother, "How you doing?". Jonathon was scared out of his mind and flinches. Darius held out his hand to pick him up off the ground, but Jonathon pushes his hand away as he rushes away from the crowd. Darius felt his heart sink as Jonathon ran away from him.

Mike scoffs and says, "See? Nothing but a coward! He's just a human!". Darius clenches his fist. Mike was proud for what he's done and laughs. Darius lost it and punched Mike squarely in the jaw, sending him flying towards one of the lockers. Mike was shocked that Darius punched him, but was more angered than shocked. "What in the hell was th-", before Mike could finish, Darius caught him by the throat pinning him up to the lockers.

Darius growls at Mike with hatred in his eyes, "Don't...you...EVER...lay a hand on him again! If you do, I'll kill you!". Darius was furious that Jonathon was hurt. He lets Mike go from his grasp and heads towards the direction of where Jonathon ran off to.

Mike rubs his throat and watches as Darius walks away, "This isn't over...I'll get you for this Darius! You and that human bastard!".

Luckily for Darius, it was lunch time and he has time to look for Jonathon. Meanwhile, Jonathon sits at an empty bench, behind a building, away from everyone. Jonathon gathered his thoughts as he held his necklace close to his heart. The necklace glowed red and soon his chest felt better. His necklace has magical properties that is yet to be fully understood. He doesn't fully understand how it works, but he felt it was necessary to keep it with him at all times. It was his keepsake that made him feel secure.

Magic was a rare property to obtain, but it doesn't mean it cannot be learned. There aren't a lot of people who know how to use magic because it's spiritually tapped power. Spiritually tapped power is very difficult to master because its an unstable matter, but for those that were born with those powers can control them naturally. So, in order to stabilize the magic easier, they were placed in crystal orbs, but these practices have not been able to be successful. The crystal orbs are made of special materials from the earth through centuries of compression. These crystal orbs are called Cylitras. Cylitras are the only known objects capable of storing magic and casting magic the most efficient way possible. However, Cylitras have a limited amount of uses until it needs to recharge, but for each recharge it would be able to be used longer. Cylitras also have the ability to enhance the magic strength contained in it, only if used for a prolonged use. They can also come in different shape, size and color.

Even though Jonathon's chest doesn't hurt anymore, he still felt weak from that encounter. He sat at the bench as he stares into his necklace. He sighs as he puts his necklace back into his shirt. Then, he hears someone approaching. He looks over and sees a young teen walking over with some lunch he brought from the cafeteria.

He's 5' 6", and he's also has well defined forearms and legs. He has medium jet black hair that goes down along the sides, showing off his bangs and he has black eyes that matches his hair. He wore a red t-shirt and black jeans.

He sat next to Jonathon and placed down his backpack underneath the bench. The teen looks at Jonathon and notices that he was upset.

So, he wanted to break the tension and says, "Hi! I'm Sitherio. What's your name?". Jonathon looks at Sitherio, then back to the ground and mutters. Sitherio took a bite out of his meal and says, "I'm sorry I didn't catch that. What's your name again?".

"Jrogenshin", repeated Jonathon.

Sitherio simply took another bite out of his meal and looks Jonathon, "Jonathon Jrogenshin? Darius' younger brother?".

Jonathon sighs and says, "Yeah? So? Are you gonna run away or avoid me now?".

Sitherio chuckles, "No! no! I'd rather make friends than enemies, besides I wanna get to know ya and you don't seem that bad of a guy".

"Is it because you're afraid of Darius that you wanna be friends with me?", asked Jonathon.

Sitherio just laughs and says, "No, It's because...well...I'm new here myself. I recently moved from a town not far from here and I'm kinda nervous here. I also don't have that many friends here, just me and my dog Dune". Jonathon looks down to the ground with a sigh. Breaking the silence, his stomach growled, causing him to blush. Sitherio handed a second tray to Jonathon with today's lunch.

Jonathon looks at Sitherio as he smiles and says, "Go on! Take it! I had a feeling you were gonna be hungry". Jonathon looks at the food and takes the tray as he wolfed it down. He smiles as he ate. Sitherio looks at Jonathon with amazement and chuckles.

He then asked, "Is that a Cylitra you have around your neck?". Jonathon paused and looks at Sitherio with a puzzled look.

"Well, I'm not sure, but yeah I think it is. I had it since I was little, but I'm not sure who gave it to me. Not even my parents know", Jonathon paused for a moment and wondered, "But...how did you know I had one around my neck?".

Sitherio finishes his meal, "Well, I had this ability to "see" Cylitras for a long time now, but this city doesn't seem to have as much as my old town does". Jonathon stares at Sitherio as he was taken back by his ability to see Cylitras. Sitherio continues, "When Cylitras are used, they emanate energy, making them much easier to spot. Cylitras that have magic contained within them have auras surrounding them. The auras can come in different colors depending on how they are used".

"Awesome...", responded Jonathon, "It's cool that you have that ability, but can you tell what type of magic Cylitras have?".

Sitherio ponders the question and says, "Yeah, but yours is different however. It's something I haven't seen before". Jonathon hoped he had the answer, but before he could say anything, Darius shows up.

"Hey bro! I've been wondering where ya went! I had to follow your scent to find ya!".

Jonathon chuckles, "Yeah, you always find me when we're playing hide and go seek when we were little". They both laughed and soon grew quiet. "Oh! I almost forgot! This is my friend, Sitherio. We just met and he gave me some food and kept me company", says Jonathon smiling. Darius looks at Sitherio and smiles.

Smiling back, Sitherio says, "Hi! Glad to meet ya! I saw what happened earlier. I'm glad you showed up when you did. Mike is a bully towards humans isn't he? Why is that?".

Darius shrugs, "Beats me. Maybe if you ask him, he might tell ya".

Sitherio scoffs, "To hell with that! He'll just get pissed and beat me up!".

"It's nice meeting ya Sitherio, but can I talk to my bro alone for a while?", asked Darius, looking at Jonathon.

"Sure! Of course! I'll leave you two alone for a while now", getting up, he picked up his backpack and the trays from lunch and heads off. Darius sat next to Jonathon and waits till Sitherio was out of sight.

Darius places his paw on Jonathon's shoulder, "Hey bro...I'm sorry I wasn't there with you before it happened, It must've been scary...". Jonathon says nothing, still staring sadly towards the ground. Darius continues, "But, how come you didn't defend yourself? We helped trained you for that purpose. So, you wouldn't get bullied".

"He was too strong for me and I couldn't breathe when he had me against the wall. He was crushing my chest like it was toothpicks!", he clenches his fist, "That bastard...". Darius forgotten about Jonathon's chest since he was looking for him everywhere.

"How's your chest feeling by the way? Does it hurt?", asked Darius.

Jonathon just nods his head and says, "I'm fine, but what about you? Did Mike do anything to you?".

Darius grins, "Don't worry about me and Mike won't be bothering you again, I promise you". Jonathon smiles as Darius's comforting words made him feel secure. Darius' stomach growls causing him to blush as Jonathon laughs.

"Come on Darius! Let's get you something to eat now! You must be hungry", says Jonathon.

Darius laughs and says, "Yeah! I'm starving!". They both get up and head towards the cafeteria. Jonathon was glad that Darius was with him and he felt happier than ever, making his necklace glow warm.

**************************************************************

After lunch, Jonathon checks his schedule to see which class is next.

"Science...", he thought, "This ought to be interesting...", Darius told him how to get to his next class, so it would be much easier for Jonathon to get to his class faster. He arrives to his class 3 minutes before the bell rang.

The classroom was large and had about 15 tables in a grid pattern on one side. On another side of the classroom, there was a podium and a board that looks similar to the history class one. There were glass cases that are displayed along the walls of the classroom, showing the inventions of the past. The front of the class had 6 different colored Cylitras: Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. They were the shape of an orb, same as Jonathon's, but larger in size.

A familiar voice is called out from one of the tables, "Hey Jonathon!". Jonathon focuses on the voice being called out to him. When looks around, he finds Sitherio sitting at one of the science tables, waving to him. Jonathon smiles as he heads towards the table where Sitherio was sitting.

"Hey Sitherio! What are the odds of us meeting again in the same class?", says Jonathon as he sat next Sitherio.

"Lucky huh?", Sitherio laughs, "This class ain't that bad either".

"Yeah, it does look pretty cool huh?". Jonathon then remembers that Sitherio can "see" the auras of magic surrounding the Cylitras. "Hey, Sitherio...can you tell me if those Cylitras in the front of the class has anything in them?". Sitherio looks at the front of the class, but sees nothing but the Cylitras.

"Nope, nothing...", says Sitherio, disappointed that there aren't that many magic Cylitras to watch as their auras dance in the air. The teacher arrives as soon as the bell rang.

"Sorry I'm late students! I had things to do". A slam is heard when he puts down a box next to the podium, interrupting the student's conversations.

The teacher is young human male, 5' 7", slim and quite pale. He has gray hair, wore a white lab coat, black dress pants, and white dress shirt. His hair looked as if he just got out of bed and his clothes looked wrinkled, indicating he had no time for minor tasks.

"My name is Mr.Anderson", spoke the teacher as he wrote on the holographic board. He turns and faces the class, "I'll be your science teacher for the year. I hope that you students are as excited!", he pauses, but no response as a dustball rolled across the room. Mr.Anderson clears his throat, "Well...I don't expect you students to be as excited now, but soon you will. Look around and see the wonders of science that has brought us closer to the future". Some students get up to look at them and a few continued talking. Then, Mr.Anderson says, "But, don't touch them! Although they are just replicas, they are still school properties! Don't damage them!".

Both Jonathon and Sitherio gets up to look around as well. Much of everything here seems to be very interesting to the students. After about 15 minutes of looking around, Mr.Anderson told the students to pass up their schedules so that he could mark them in his grading book. Sitherio looks at the Cylitras and reads the tablets underneath each of them. As Sitherio reads, Jonathon looks at the robotics sections. He looks at the robotic arms and reads how it performs it's job. It takes alot of circuits and wires just to move in 3 positions.

After about several minutes of looking at the useless invention, Jonathon decides to talk to Sitherio just to pass the time quicker.

"Damn, I'm bored already!", yawned Jonathon as he sat down next to Sitherio.

"Let's get to know each other better then. After all, we don't know much about each other now do we?", suggested Sitherio. Jonathon nods in approval. It also seemed like a good idea to kill time since Mr.Anderson was pretty busy with his own stuff.

"So...who's gonna start?" asked Sitherio.

"How about you? You know more about me than I know you" says Jonathon.

Sitherio nods, "Yeah, true...It would be fair to tell you more about me. Well, before I moved here I lived in a small town outside this city called Melari. The town is not as technological as this, but we get around...". Sitherio sighs and continues, "Though, to me, I loved my old town. I missed watching the auras dancing in the air, showing the beauty they hold and watching the stars gleam in the night sky as the night breeze blows gently. My parents have taught me everything they know about cylitras. They are both magnificent archers and...".

"Archers?", interrupted Jonathon, "They haven't been around in ages!".

"Yeah, I know. It runs in the family. My family wants to keep the archery skills well-preserved, however, I'm last of my family generations. I just hope to prolong my generation as much as possible. So...what about you?", looking at Jonathon to hear more about him.

Jonathon clears his throat, "Well, I lived with a family of wolves since I was found at their doorstep. I have been learning a few moves from my older bro and father. My father is an ex-military commander. He was discharged because of the injury to his eye".

"Sorry to hear that...", interrupted Sitherio.

"Nah, it's cool. He's okay about it. Though, my mother wishes he could find a long-term job though. It's not really easy trying to find a job in this city. I have a brother and a sister. Of course my brother is Darius and my sister is Celicia". He pauses to think what else he might've missed, but before he could think of anything the bell rang. It was the end of class and school. Both of them look at the classroom clock and realized that time passed pretty quickly than expected.

"Hey! let's talk more about this later. You wanna come over to my place later?" suggested Sitherio.

Jonathon looks at Sitherio and blushes, "Well, I dunno where ya live...maybe Darius can give us lift to my place to show you where I live, then we can walk over to your place afterwards. How's that?". Sitherio nods in agreement and gathers his stuff. They both leave the classroom and see Darius leaning on the wall across from the door.

"Hey bro! Ready to go? I'll give ya a ride back home", holding the keys, looking at Jonathon waiting for a response.

Jonathon nods in response and looks at Sitherio, then back to Darius, "Sure bro, but can you also give Sitherio here, a ride to our place, too? After we show him where we live, he'll take me to his place later". Darius looks at Sitherio and walks up to him, making Sitherio stare down at the ground.

Darius puts a paw on his shoulder and smiles, "Sure! At least he'll meet the family!". Sitherio sighs in relief and smiles as Jonathon looks at him.

Arriving to the parking lot, the trio searches for Darius' car. Upon finding the car, they see Mike and his friends hanging around it. Darius sighs and thought to himself, "Geez...this isn't going to end well...". Laughter is heard from the group as they approach the car.

Mike spots Darius and the other two following him, "Well! Look who it is! Darius and the humans!", says Mike as he jumped off the hood of the car. His friends avert their attention from Mike to Darius' group as they gathered behind Mike. Darius wasn't liking the current situation. He could usually take on a small group, but in this situation, they were athletes and football players. He knows he can't take them on all by himself. Darius ignores Mike and tries to walk pass him, but Mike steps in his way.

Mike grins evilly and asks, "Where do you think you're going?".

Darius glares at Mike, "I'm going home...now step out of the way", responded Darius.

"Oh no...You and that human have unfinished business with me", says Mike as he chuckles.

"You leave him out of this!", growled Darius.

Mike snaps his fingers and a bear and dalmatian nimalians pinned Darius to the car and a doberman nimalian behind Sitherio and Jonathon. The two caught by surprise as the doberman grabbed them in a bear hug. Darius tries to fight off the two that were pinning him down, but they were too strong for him.

"Bring them over to me", Mike commanded.

Jonathon tries to squirm his way free, but couldn't move an inch underneath the arms. Sitherio reaches in his back pocket and grabs a small vial of blue liquid.

He pops it open and looks up at the doberman, "Hey buddy...look down". The doberman looks down at him as Sitherio holds the vial just under his nose. Soon, the big doberman was overpowered by the smell of the vial and falls back unconscious. Sitherio puts the quark back on the vial and brushes off. Jonathon watches him in amazement as just that one small vial brought down a huge dog in a matter of seconds.

Sitherio looks at Mike and grins, "Now...can I go home with my friends? Your friend here seemed to have fallen alseep". Mike was furious as his face turned red with anger.

"I won't let some stupid kid make a fool out of me!!", Mike shouted as he charged Sitherio at full speed.

"Watch out!", warned Darius, still pinned to the car.

"Think fast!", says Sitherio as he tossed the vial at Mike and jumps out of the way. The small vial shatters as it hit Mike's chest, showing a blue stain on his shirt. The rampant horse does a quick stop and looks at his shirt.

"Ha! What's this suppose to do? Cool me off? You're an idiot if you think you can beat me!". Mike starts to rush at the young teen, but loses his balance and falls past him.

Sitherio grins and says, "Actually, I already have". Mike tries to get up but soon falls over again and again. He then realizes his vision is going blurry.

"What the hell did you do to me!?", demanded Mike.

"Be carful!", warned Jonathon as Sitherio confidently approaches the fallen horse.

Sitherio looks back at Jonathon and says, "It's cool, he is of no threat now", then directed his attention to Mike, "The blue substance on your shirt is a powerful tranquilizer capable of bringing down large beast in a matter of seconds. First, you'll start to lose basic motor skills. Then, your vision will start to blur. Finally, you'll lose consciousness in a matter of minutes depending how the substance was introduced".

Mike looks at the blurred figure of the kid, "Damn you...I'll get you for this...".

Sitherio gives a serious look to the horse and says, "You know, you brought this upon yourself. I suggest you stop this ridiculous "thing" with the humans".

"Never!", growled Mike.

Sitherio gets up and looks at both of Mike's friends, "You two...leave us alone with your pal here. Take your friend there, too. We're gonna have a little talk...". Both of Mike's nimalian friends look at each other and nod. They both let go of Darius and apologized as they picked up their fallen friend and walked out of the parking lot.

Mike tries to stand, but his body refuses to listen. Sitherio kneels down next to him and pats his back to comfort him. "Now, now...no one else to hear but the three of us. Tell us why you hate humans so much...".

Darius approaches Mike, "Yeah...I've been wondering why are you so against the humans. Now spill it man!".

Mike sees no way out of this, so he starts to talk, "Alright, fine! When I was young, I lived in an orphanage since my parents were killed in a car accident. The person in charge of the orphanarium was a greased up, good-for-nothing, fat human named Charles E. Wells. Whenever he gets the chance, he would beat the orphans and tell them they were worthless, especially the nimalian ones. By the time I was 7, I was adopted by a farmer husband and a meager looking wife of his. My nightmare was just the start from...there...". Mike was trailing off as the drug was taking it's final effect. Sitherio then pops open a vial with aqua colored liquid open and puts it close to the horse's nostrils. The effect was almost immediate as Mike regained consciousness.

"Continue please...", says Sitherio as he placed the vial back in his pocket.

Mike nods and continues, "When I was adopted, the farmer made me work for hours without break, whipping me when I'm resting and gives me little or no food a day. I slept in a cold, poorly structured barn with nothing to keep me warm but my working clothes. Many years have passed and before the farmer died, he tried to sell me to a slaughter house! The humans at the slaughter house were more than happy to buy me off. Now, it was a matter of life or death. So, I ran away before they took me away and found this city. I had found another family like myself and I was happy, but I still couldn't forgive those humans for what they've done to me! You guys happy now?!".

Darius and Jonathon looked at Mike in shock. It would be pretty understandable that anyone would hold a grudge against those that would harm them, but with Mike it was with humans for his past abuse.

Sitherio looks at Mike and gets up, "I'm sorry to hear about what happened to you and I know we can't change your past, but you have to let go of the past and look towards the future. It's up to you if you want to continue hating humans, but your hate would be your downfall. Let's start over...". Sitherio offers Mike his hand, hoping to accept their friendship. Mike was taken back when Sitherio offered his hand. He grasped his hand and gets up.

"I still don't feel comfortable about this, but I guess it wouldn't hurt to try though" said Mike as he scoffs.

Sitherio smiles at Mike and says, "Glad to hear it! The name's Sitherio", putting out his hand. Mike hesitates for a bit, but shakes his hand in acceptance. Darius looks at his watch and realizes they were late.

"Hey guys, we should be headin' home. We're kinda late".

Mike nods, "Alright", then looks at Jonathon, "Hey, um, sorry about earlier. I just...".

Jonathon raised his hand and says, "It's cool. You don't have to apologize. I'm alright". Mike nods and heads off to his car, while Darius and the others got into theirs.

As they started to exit, Darius looks at Sitherio and says, "I'm impressed how well you handled that situation. If it weren't for you, then Jonathon and I could've been in trouble! You're welcome in our family anytime!".

Sitherio blushes as he scratches the back of his head, "Well...I guess I have to thank my family for that! If I didn't have that tranquilizer, things would've ended differently". Jonathon looks at Sitherio with a puzzled look and wonders what else he knows.

"Hey Sitherio, I thought you said your family were archers. What's with the tranquilizer?" asked Jonathon in curiousity.

Darius looks back at Sitherio, "Your family are archers? They haven't been around in a long time!".

"Yeah, I know. I get that a lot", says Sitherio as he blushes, "As early as my family can remember, we relied on our weapons and skills for a long time. Then, on the 5th generation, it seemed that the monsters themselves were getting stronger. The monsters couldn't be harmed since their skin were tougher than usual. Weapons and skills alone can't be able to get the job done, so they developed tranquilizers to render even the most powerful beast unconscious, but weak enough to be handled by humans".

"What's that suppose to mean?", asked Darius with a grin as he makes a left turn.

"I-I-It's not what you think!", stammered the young blushing teen, "You see...the potent smell of the tranquilizer is only strong enough for those with keen sense of smell. My generations only had humans as archers as far as I can tell".

Darius laughs, seeing him stammer like that, "I was only joking, but we're here!", announced Darius as he pulls up on the driveway.

"Well? What do you think?" asked Jonathon, getting out of the car.

Sitherio looks at the house and smiles, "Looks great! When will I meet the rest of the family?".

"Soon" said Darius, "But, don't you think you should call your parents to let them know you're here?".

Sitherio chuckles and says, "Don't need to! I live just around the corner!".

"Cool!", says both Darius and Jonathon in unison. Darius gets out his keys and unlocks the door. When they opened the door, they were greeted by the aroma of food being made.

"Hey mom! We're back!" says Darius. Abigale looks back and sees another person besides Jonathon.

"Hi and welcome back! And who is this? A friend of yours?" asked Abigale.

"Yeah! His name is Sitherio. I met him in lunch today." says Jonathon.

Abigale looks at him and smiles, "Hi! Glad to meet you Sitherio!".

"Same to you, Mrs...?", he trails off since he doesn't know her name.

Abigale smiles as she turns her attention back to the cooking pot on the stove, "You can call me Abigale. Would you like to stay for dinner?".

"Sorry, but I have to get back home soon. Can Jrogenshin come over to my place?" asked Sitherio.

Jonathon walks up to Abigale with a puppy face, "Pleeeeeease....".

Abigale chuckles lightly, "Yes, you may Jonathon, but I want you back by dinner time!". Both the young teens jump with joy as the approval was made. A few minutes later, both Jonathon and Sitherio headed out the door and headed towards the corner of the street.

"Where's your house Sitherio?" asked Jonathon.

Sitherio looks around and points at it a few houses down, "over there...". Jonathon looks to the direction of the house and his jaw dropped to the ground.

The house was huge! It took up two house acres as well as it was two stories high. Sitherio continues to walk and notices that Jonathon was still dumbstruck by the house.

"Oh! I forgot to mention that my parents are rich as hell since my father owns a mining corporation and my mother is an Alchemist for the military. Sorry I didn't tell you that before, but I didn't want friends because of the money I had. I just needed to know if you'd be my friend as a person and not by wealth...", he looks down to the ground, in shame that he might've upset his new friend for deceiving him.

Jonathon puts his hand on his shoulder, "I can see why you want to hide it. I don't blame you for deceiving me in order to prove which one I'm friends with, but I have no doubt in my mind that I'd pick you as a friend anytime". Sitherio smiles as the words gave him comfort to know he really has a true friend to depend on.

"However, there is one thing that bothers me though. Why is it you chose to live down here in the middle class part of the city and not in the richer part?" asked Jonathon in suspicion.

"Well, the rich class is boring as hell and they have way more rules than here. It's also very expensive to even live there as well as learn there" responded Sitherio as he sighs.

Upon arriving the front door, Sitherio unlocks the front door and signals Jonathon to come inside. Sitherio was greeted by his feral dog, Dune, as he jumped up to lick his face as he welcomes his friend back.

Dune's fur is sand colored except the underbelly was white and his eyes were sky blue. He stood at 3' 4" and if he stood on his hind legs, he would stand about 5' 8".

"Ha ha! Hi Dune! I missed you too! Now get down!", he laughs as Dune obeys and follows him. Jonathon is in awe at the inside of the house.

The living room on the left was as big as a basketball court. The right was a dinner table to accommodate more than 20 people and the chandelier is an impressive piece of work too. Both the rooms had no 2nd floor restrictions, so the room's ceiling was the roof itself.

Jonathon whistles impressively, "Nice place!".

Sitherio looks back at Jonathon and says, "Eh...it's alright. Can't really say I'm happy with it, but I guess I'm used to it now". He walks over to an intercom and presses a button on it. "Hey pops, I'm home! I also brought over a friend an-", he was cut off when his father interrupted.

"Friend? Well that good to hear son! Right now, I'm a little busy and things might get a little loud...", upon saying that an explosion is heard and smoke is seen coming out of the basement door. Sitherio's dad coughs as he exits the basement, "Damn crap! Always blowing up like that!". He turns to face Sitherio and sees Jonathon looking around. "Ah you must be my son's friend! Hi! I'm his father, Lance".

Lance was a very well built man. He stood at about 5' 10" and almost looks like Sitherio, except he looks older and his hair is longer by mere inches. He wore blue denim jeans and a navy blue shirt with a lead apron on. He also wore heavy-duty working gloves that appears to be used through years of labor. There was a scar on his right cheek and a few scars on either arms.

Jonathon beams Lance a smile with a firm hand-shake,"Hi! Glad to meet you Mr.Lance! I'm Jonathon. I live just right around the corner from here".

Lance chuckles, "You can call me Lance and just around the corner you say? Well, I hope to meet your family one day, but at the moment I have my hands tied with business. You guys can head out back as this house can get loud while I'm working". Both the teens nod in agreement and head off into the backyard. Sitherio sits at a chair, while Jonathon sits on a hammock and Dune lays next to Sitherio's feet.

"Sorry that we couldn't head to my room. My dad tends to work downstairs at the basement and cause some loud noises".

Jonathon simply waves his hands, "Nah, It's okay. I thought he would be busy crunching numbers and such".

"Well, he does go and inpect the mines from time to time, but he tends to go down at the basement to work on some stuff", says Sitherio.

Jonathon looks at him curiously, "What kind of stuff?".

Sitherio shrugs his shoulders, "Not sure, but he says not to go down there since some of his works have 'bugs' in them, they tend to malfunction at times". Jonathon lays back into the hammock more comfortably.

"What about your dad? What does he do?" asked Sitherio.

Jonathon ponders the question himself since his dad had to jump from job to job most of the time.

"Not sure anymore. He gets a job from time to time, but doesn't stay in it for long. However, he earns quite a lot just from a few days of work. It seems odd to me, but if it puts food on the table and a roof under our head, I'm not complaining".

The two talked for what seemed forever and soon it was dark. Jonathon looks at his watch and realizes how late it was.

"Hey I have to head back home now. Thanks for inviting me over. Maybe if you want, you can come over to our house tomorrow". Sitherio nods, "Sounds like a plan!". Jonathon heads out the front door and heads back to his house. Sitherio waving good-bye to his new friend for tonight.

Street lights light up the sidewalk, as nightfall came. The cool night wind blows gently as Jonathon walks along the path he took to get to Sitherio's house. Half-way to his home, he heard something approaching him from behind. He turns to face what was behind him, but finds no one.

"Weird", says Jonathon as he continues his way back. About a few more yards into the walk, he stopped as his necklace glowed bright red. "What the...!?". This surprised Jonathon as this time, he felt something WAS behind him. He turned his head and much to his surprise, saw a figure with red glowing eyes. "What in the hell is that!?" says the shocked teen.

The figure was shrouded in shadow, making his eyes the only thing visible. The figure stood up onto its hind legs and spread its wings, making it's shape more recognizable. Jonathon stumbles off-balance and falls back in surprise.

"A dragon!? That's impossible! How can they exist!? They were extinct for nearly 4,000 years!". His fear over-whelmed his ability to think as the dark dragon approached him slowly. "Oh man! This can't be happening! It can't!". Then, the shrouded dragon opened his jaw wide and roared out loud. This caused Jonathon to plug his ears with his hands in pain.

"Someone help...".

Nothing.

Not even that roar even stir anyone in their sleep. He was alone with no one around.

"Somebody...please...HELP!", closing his eyes in hopes this nightmare comes to an end. Then, his necklace glowed brightly red. The shadow figured dragon hissed at the light as it started to burn it's scales, frantically shaking off the burn. Finally, it gave up and dove straight into the ground, disappearing into the darkness. Jonathon opens his eyes and sees that the dragon was gone.

"What in the hell is going on? The dragon was just here...now, its not". He picks himself up and heads off back home. "It's best if I don't talk about this...they'll think I'm going crazy". He looks down and notices his necklace is glowing softly. "Maybe I'm not going crazy...", thought Jonathon as he opens the front door. Abigale hears the front door and checks who it was.

"Oh Jonathon! You're home! Come on, you must be hungry! Let's eat!", says Abigale as she happily sets the table.

"Not tonight mom. I'm going to bed now", Jonathon says in a tired voice. Abigale looks at him worried as he went upstairs to his room.

When the family sat at the table, Abigale continues to stare at the empty seat where Jonathon sat.

Bruce caught this and asked, "What's wrong dear?".

Abigale sighs and says, "Well, It's Jonathon. I dunno what's wrong but he skipped dinner and went straight to bed".

Bruce chuckles light-heartly, "Maybe it's that "phase" he's going through. It differs from ours, but I'm guessing he becoming a man now...". Abigale nods, hoping it was just that.

"Or...he might've eaten over at Sitherio's house and had so much fun he gotten tired...", Darius interjects.

Abigale thought that was it as it explains a lot, but for now, Jonathon was home safely and that's all that matters to her.

Jonathon laid in his bed, staring at the necklace as it glows longer than it has before. The markings in the center itself changed gradually, but soon reverted to it's original shape.

"Geez...what a day...", mumbled Jonathon, "I don't know what's going on, but tomorrow might be better...". His mind flash backed to the shadowed figure of a dragon, remembering the fear of how he felt that very moment. "I know what I saw was real, but everyone will think I'm crazy if I talk about it". He turns off his lamp and watches his necklace glow warmly in his hands. He felt his eyelids get heavier as he was dozing off into a deep sleep. "Maybe...this necklace has something to do with that dragon...". In no time at all, he fell fast asleep with his necklace glowing around his neck.

*****************************************************************************

A shadowed figure dragon appears from the ceiling of a dark cave, falling down and landing hard on it's side. Other shadow ferals aided the dragon to it's feet.

"What is the meaning of this Veril!?", bellowed the darkness, "Explain yourself!". The shadowed dragon stands on all four, but winces in pain from the previous encounter.

"My lord...", as he coughs, "he's back...". The other shadowed ferals murmur to each other, asking questions.

"Who is back?", asked the darkness.

Veril tries to stand and says, "It's Nieka! He's back my lord!".