Stats

Stories

Navigation

5: Lost and Found

"Theral!"

Theral blinked and opened his eyes, only to find himself staring into the face of Siowa right next to his own. He jumped back, banging his head on the overhanging low ceiling above his top bunk.

"Owww! Siowa!"

"Sorry 'bout that!" she gasped apologetically as Theral rubbed the back of his head.

"Poor thing. Here," said the soothing voice of Alia as she handed Theral a bag of ice. "You're the third one to do that this morning. I figured I should just carry ice with me wherever I went."

"The third one? Huh?" Theral sat up, more carefully this time, and hung his legs over the side of the bed.

"Yeah. Me and Perru," came the voice of Kowero, holding a bag full of ice to his head. "This is going to ruin my hair."

"It's messy anyway," Perru said, clutching his own bag of ice.

"So why did you wake me up so early, Siowa? I mean, it's only dawn, and I'm still tired, and..."

"There's a dragon outside!" Atakiru shouted from the doorway. "And there's more coming!"

"I see three. Four," Kicou counted, sticking his head out the window. "No. Three. That one was an illusion caused by the..."

"Who cares?" Theral cried, jumping out of bed and running towards the place where Atakiru was standing. "Come on!"

As he ran, Theral nearly bowled Perru right over. He was, however, quickly followed by the rest of the class, all but Perru forgetting their tiredness and their sore heads.

Naturally, he was the first one outside the doors of the abandoned Academy, but he was also the first to stop short, mouth open in shock.

He'd only seen dragons in the air before, like the rest of his classmates. The three dragons were each a different colour - the first was purple, the second blue, and the third was a green, each a thing of majesty. The group, one by one, gathered there, all with similar expressions on their disbelieving faces.

I never knew dragons were this big, he thought to himself.

Well, there's more to us than meets the eye.

Theral jumped back in alarm. "Who spoke to me?" he cried, provoking confused looks from all of the feline anthros.

"Not me," said Siowa.

"No," Nessha said.

"Definitely not," Perru grumbled.

"I was in a state of shock," Cakatu confirmed.

"Wait," Miwese said. She concentrated her thoughts on the dragons, then spoke in her mind. Hello?

Miwese, said a voice. Good to see you're a smart one.

"Would somebody like to tell me what is going on here?" Amarsi demanded, waving her arms in the air.

Kicou gazed up at the purple dragon. "Telepathy," he said. "Dragons often have the ability to speak to their bonded riders through a mental link, although it is rare to hear one speak to someone outside of this bonded link."

Not with me, the dragon's voice entered each anthro's head this time, projecting her voice to them all. I can talk to anyone I want. Makes life so much easier for me as a Searcher.

A collective gasp and murmur rose up among the fifteen. Cayssi, unlike she normally did, stepped up to the dragon and gave a quick bow, a gesture of respect. "Mizilayt," she said.

The dragon gave a smile and a nod. Yes.

"You know her name?" Amarsi asked, eyes wide with shock.

"She's the Searcher that Starburst is most well-known for," Cayssi nodded. "I've always dreamed of meeting her, and now... she's come to us."

Indeed. And this, she said as a tall, slender woman slid off of her back, is my rider Silvri. We are here with Gefytla and Chehat as well as Tristya and Aoaoth.

Three riders - Silvri, Chehat and Tristya - dismounted their dragons and approached the class of feline anthros. Chehat was the male rider who dismounted the blue dragon, and Tristya was the older woman who gently patted her green as she left her side.

"I guess you know Mizilayt already, then," Silvri spoke. "But it's always up to me to tell you why we're here. As you know, we three are Searchriders... but what you don't know is that we're here to see you."

"Us? Impossible." Perru shook his head. "Now I'm going to wake up. I just know it."

Amarsi slapped him hard on the shoulder. "Believe it or not, Mr. Droopy Face, this is real. If it wasn't, that slap would have woken you up." She glared at him. "I can slap you harder if you want."

"With all due respect," Liao said, stepping forward, "I'm not sure it's us you want to see. We are only here because we were in quarantine, and..."

"Trust us," Tristya said, her gentle eyes gazing into his. "We know what we're doing."

"It's odd coming here when hardly anyone is Searched anymore," Silvri mused. "But we needed you to be transported out of here as soon as possible. You're needed at your bonding sites, and..."

"Whoa. Hold on," Theral said. "You said... bonding sites?"

"Yes. You fifteen - yes, all of you - have been summoned to three different bonding sites in the Nexus... Nidus Avengaea, Nidus Ryslen, and the Warren. We are here to transport you to your destinations."

"If," Chehat said, "and only if, you wish to come."

Cayssi, of all people, was the first to speak up.

"Yes. I will come."

"We will, too," Liao said, his twin sister Alia right beside him.

Siowa and Theral looked at each other and piped up. "Us too!" they cried in unison, practically shaking with excitement.

Kowero, with Nessha on his arm, nodded and agreed to accompany them; followed by the outgoing Amarsi and Atakiru.

Kicou, like all times, had to think it over for a while, but shortly after Cakatu and Miwese both agreed to come as well, he too expressed his answer: another 'yes'.

Miatiwa came forward as well. "I'll come, too. And I promise I won't blow up the whole Nexus in the process."

Cantaze nodded in agreement to coming as well... which left Perru. Cantaze smiled and nodded at Silvri. "He'll come too."

"Cantaze, I won't bond."

"Oh, lighten up," Siowa laughed. "You'll have fun."

"All right, listen up!" Silvri called the fifteen to attention. "You'll be split up into three groups, each of which is heading off to a different bonding-site."

"The first group will come to the Warren's Victory Dance Frenzy with me," Tristya said. "Amarsi, Atakiru, Cantaze, Liao, and Miatiwa."

The five, however odd it may have been for the green dragon, all managed to mount her with Tristya's help. Waving their farewells to their friends, the first five anthros were teleported with their transport dragon into thin air before their friends' eyes.

"Alia, Cakatu, Kicou, Miwese, Perru..." Chehat pronounced their names so they could hear them, "you will be coming to Nidus Ryslen with me."

This group had no problem sitting atop the great blue dragon's back, with the exception of the reluctant Perru, who needed a little extra help to mount Gefytla.

With Chehat's wave, they were gone, disappeared into... well, wherever teleporting dragons went between destinations.

Silvri looked at the last five. "Well, then... Kowero, Nessha, Siowa, Theral, and Cayssi." She nodded and with a smile began helping them up onto Mizilayt's back. "You five are coming with me to Nidus Avengaea... the Copper Minifrenzy, to be exact."

"How long is this going to take?" Kowero asked. "After all, I think teleportation will mess up my hair and..."

"Don't you worry, Kowero," Nessha told him. "You look fine."

And in the blink of an eye, they too were gone.

Cassime Academy had been left behind for good.